Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team - Daily Local Update - April 24, 2020 (Photo) -04/24/20

DOUGLAS COUNTY COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM - DAILY LOCAL UPDATE

JOINT INFORMATION CENTER PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 24, 2020

(Douglas County, Ore.)  The Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team (DCCRT) held a press conference today to provide a comprehensive overview of the accomplishments and emergency preparations of the DCCRT team and our agency partners in response to the COVID-19 crisis and current events.  Our team of local leaders and health professionals spoke about DCCRT planning, emergency management, public safety, clinical updates, local health agency status, economic impact and reopening Douglas County. 

Commissioner Chris Boice opened the conference and talked about our letter to Governor Brown asking for a regional approach to her Phase One Reopening Oregon plans that suggested an earlier safe re-opening plan for SW Oregon Counties including: Douglas, Coos, Curry, Josephine and Jackson.  Of course the reopening would be under the authority of Oregon’s Governor and the guidelines she sets forth.  All five SW Oregon counties voted unanimously to approve and sign the letter that will be sent to the Governor today.  Click here to read a copy of the letter.

Commissioner Tim Freeman followed with a discussion about how the DCCRT was formed and the collaborative efforts by all of those involved with the EOC, including Douglas County Commissioners, Douglas County Sheriff, Douglas County Public Works, Douglas County Building Facilities, Douglas Public Health Network, Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer (Public Health Officer), Aviva Health, Lower Umpqua Hospital, US Forest Service, Roseburg VA, Mercy Medical Center, Umpqua Health Alliance, Evergreen Medicine, Douglas Forest Protective Association, Red Cross and the Joint Information Team.  He then spoke about reopening our region and the incredible team of local medical professionals who are ready to handle capacity, testing, screening and treatment if the outbreak spikes in our area.

KC Bolton, CEO of Aviva Health and the DCCRT CO-Incident Commander addressed the media with a message about hope for the future.  He is optimistic because we have local healthcare organizations that have worked positively together in unprecedented ways to create a plan that supports our hospitals, and they ready for whatever comes our way.  

Bolton stated that, “The county’s low case rate is not an accident, but a result of the County’s and DPHN’s hard work and the public taking seriously the call to implement social distancing.  Our team believe in the value of every human life, and our mission is to save as many lives of Douglas County citizens as possible regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender identification or political affiliation.”  

Commissioner Kress made the announcement that after being closed for 33 days, the Douglas County Courthouse will be reopening on Monday, April 27, 2020, but with very strict social distancing procedures to provide a safe and healthy workplace for our employees and the visiting public. Click here to read the complete Reopening Courthouse press release.

Those procedures include:

• Urging citizens to follow the Governors executive orders to ‘Stay Home, Save Lives.’
• Only visit the courthouse if necessary
• Ask the public to please stay home if you are sick.
• Encourage citizens to continue to utilize our online, email and phone systems as your primary point of service. 
• For citizens who need to visit and conduct business at the courthouse, we strongly encourage you to call the office beforehand to schedule an appointment. 
• Departmental contact information is listed on the county’s website. 
• If you are visibly sick, you will be asked to leave. 
• Please follow posted guidelines for department and building use in regards to entering offices, standing in line, gathering and keeping your distance from others. 
• For the safety of everyone, please keep at least 6-feet between you and everyone else at all times, wash your hands often, wear a mask when possible, use hand-sanitizer and stay home if you are sick. 
• Hands-free sanitizers will be available at the main entrances to the courthouse, and each individual department will have hand sanitizer and masks available for the public.  

We also heard from Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Official about the current status of COVID-19 in our county; how immensely we are prepared for any case surges; how we will address any outbreaks( if they should happen), and how proud is for our citizens for staying true to the orders from the state and keeping themselves healthy.

Additionally, agency partners, Dr. Jason Gray, Chief Medical Officer with Mercy Medical Center; Shawn Tyson, Executive Assistant to the Associate Director and VA Incident Commander; Dr. Tanveer Bokkari, VP, Quality & Health Equity with Umpqua Health Alliance and Ryan Fowler, Chief Administrative Officer with Lower Umpqua Hospital (via proxy of Commissioner Kress) all spoke about what they are doing to ensure the safety of their employees, their internal incident commands, their role in the DCCRT, the opening of non-medical procedures and the cooperation of our entire medical community. 

Our Douglas County Sheriff, John Hanlin spoke about the amazing work our Emergency Manager Wayne Stinson has done in the DCCRT and in working with state and federal partners to find and acquire resources.  He also spoke about the great work his team of deputies, 911 dispatchers and staff have done in continuing to provide services despite the crisis. Hanlin ended with a sincere thank you to the public for their cooperation in staying home during this difficult time. 

Commissioner Boice and Freeman wrapped up the conference with a few questions from the media and expressed their thanks to the DCCRT agency partners, team members and to our citizens for their help in keeping our numbers low and staying safe at home.   (Coming soon: We will be releasing an online video of the entire press conference on the County’s website and Facebook page soon, so stay tuned in for the link.)

Local COVID-19 Test Results

As of 12:00 pm, April 24, 2020, there are no new cases of COVID-19 in Douglas County.  The total number of positives in Douglas County remains at twenty-three. The report from OHA yesterday showed Douglas County had a new case bumping the county to 24, but that was a typo and has since been corrected. Click here to read Oregon JIC Press Release issued today with the correction.  Douglas County still has twenty-three positive cases. *  Of the twenty-three, fourteen have recovered.  There have been zero deaths and 796 negative tests for COVID-19 in the county. Two of the twenty-three people that have tested positive are still hospitalized in different hospitals.  Douglas Public Health Network continues their epidemiologic investigations, identifying individuals who may have had close contact with individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19 and advising quarantine. Fourteen of the individuals who tested positive earlier have now recovered. DPHN defines recovery as an end to all symptoms after a positive test for COVID-19.

Get Tested

If you are having symptoms of COVID-19 including cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches and pains, diarrhea, sore throat or decreased sense of smell and taste, talk to your health care provider about being tested for COVID-19.

Given the growing availability of commercial labs and the improving availability of testing supplies and PPE DPHN has revised their guidelines to providers on testing. DPHN has sent out communications to the local health care community alerting them of the increased availability of testing for their patients.  DPHN also announced Wednesday that Quest labs is now offering the IgG antibody test for COVID-19 locally. Testing without a provider order is not yet available.

Oregon COVID-19 Case Update

Oregon Health Authority reports new cases once a day on its website at www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus.  The Oregon Health Authority is also releasing the daily situation status report, which is produced jointly with Oregon Office of Emergency Management. It details the overall picture of the COVID-19 outbreak within the state and the response across government agencies. Read more here about the daily situation status report.

Facebook Live with Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer

Join us tonight, Friday April 24, 2020 for the next virtual town hall Q&A with Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, your Douglas County Public Health Officer at 6:00 pm, hosted by DPHN and found on the DPHN Facebook page.

Office of the State Fire Marshal Extends Rules Allowing for Self-Serve Gas to May 9, 2020

The Office of the State Fire Marshal extended the temporary rule change that allows Oregon gas stations to provide self-service on a voluntary basis, in order to address shortages of workers experienced by gas retailers statewide.  The rules change was first announced on March 28 and then extended on April 11 to April 25. Today, State Fire Marshal Jim Walker extended the deadline another two weeks, through May 9.

“We want to thank Oregonians and Oregon businesses for being flexible during these challenging times,” said Walker. “As we continue to monitor this ongoing situation, we feel it is best to extend this option for an additional two weeks.”

The extension of the change will still allow station attendants to help customers while avoiding face-to-face and hand-to-hand contact. It also continues to ensure physical distancing measures are in place. Attendants will continue to sanitize station equipment and fuel nozzles and assist customers with their refueling as needed. Self-service is not mandatory. This option allows some fueling stations to maintain their operations with fewer workers and lets Oregonians, particularly essential workers who must travel, still commute without the uncertainty of not being able to find open gas stations. Unattended self-service is permitted when a gas station owner exhausts all staffing options. Stations that do not have an attendant on duty are still required to post safety signs for physical distancing and instructions showing customers how to operate a fuel pump correctly. This extension of the self-service rules change has not affected areas of the state that were already authorized for self-service refueling under state law.  Information about the extended rules change for self-service gasoline can be found on the OSFM website.

2020 Douglas County Fair

The 2020 Douglas County FAIR is still scheduled to take place from August 4 thru August 8 this summer. Today they    announced that Country Artist, Brett Young will perform on Wednesday, August 5 at 7:30 pm, in the Amphitheater.  All concerts are FREE with Fair Admission; Reserved Seating will be available for purchase.  Keep watching their Facebook page for more exciting news on the 2020 Douglas County Fair.  Please note that they will continue to assess the current Social Distancing regulations and keep you up to date with any changes including when tickets will be on SALE.

President Signs $484 Billion Bill That Revives Paycheck Protection Program for Small Businesses

President Trump today signed a $484 billion bill that includes $320 billion to revive the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. The bill also includes $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for COVID-19 testing.

The Paycheck Protection Program was initially funded at about $349 billion through a bill passed in late March. However, due to overwhelming demand, the funds ran out quickly. This will give businesses with up to 500 employees another shot at applying for the loans, which are forgivable if the business is able to avoid layoffs or quickly re-hire employees previously laid off. Applications must be made through local lending institutions; contact your bank if you are interested in applying. Many lenders struggled to set up and process applications when the program first launched, and some businesses missed the window to apply; now, small-businesses will have another opportunity. However, the Consumer Bankers Association warned this week that much of the new funding may be eaten up by existing applications that were still in the queue when the initial pot of funding ran out. Of the new $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $60 billion is reserved for smaller lenders. PPP loans can be for up to $10 million; the size of the loans is based on each company’s payroll size. Each business can apply for one loan. The new legislation, the fourth coronavirus relief bill signed into law by President Trump, also adds $50 billion to the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and $10 billion to the SBA’S Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Grant program.

Daily Tips: Dinner-and-a-Movie Friday

Tonight’s meal recommendation: Spaghetti and meatballs! Involve your kids in the preparation, then kick back and watch a movie with an Italian theme or where spaghetti makes a cameo. Some ideas: The Disney classic “Lady and the Tramp,” “Elf,” or “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” For grown-ups, consider these classics: “Moonstruck,” “Eat, Pray Love,” or (for an edgier evening) “The Godfather.” If you’re looking to cut down on carbs, here’s a recipe for zucchini spaghetti. Or, if you’re vegetarian, here’s one for simple marinara sauce.  Not wanting to cook?  Check out all the local options for takeout and delivery of delicious meatballs and spaghetti.  Sit back and enjoy your dinner and a movie night. 

Be A Life Savor: Donate Blood

Leaving home to donate blood is considered a lifesaving need.  Those who are healthy, feeling well and are eligible to give blood, platelets or convalescent plasma, are urged to participate. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of hundreds of Red Cross blood drives, resulting in more than 9,000 fewer blood donations.  Anyone interested in donating must make an appointment by visiting www.redcrossblood.org. To save time during your donation, complete your health history questions prior to arriving. Appointments can also be made using the Red Cross Blood Donor App or calling (800) 733-2767.

4/27/2020         9:00 am - 2:00 pm        South Umpqua High School, Myrtle Creek(Sponsored Elks Lodge#1943)

4/27/2020         1:00 pm – 6:30 pm       Roseburg Blood Donation Ctr, 1176 NW Garden Valley Blvd., Roseburg

4/28/2020         10:00 am - 03:30 pm     Roseburg YMCA of Douglas County (Sponsored by UCC)

4/29/2020         10:00 pm - 03:00 pm    Glendale High School, Glendale (Sponsored by Special People's Depot)

4/29/2020         10:30 am - 03:30 pm     South River Community Health Center, Winston

4/30/2020         9:00 am - 2:00 pm        North Bend High School, North Bend

5/01/2020         1:00 pm – 6:30 pm       Roseburg Blood Donation Ctr, 1176 NW Garden Valley Blvd., Roseburg

5/01/2020         10:30 am - 04:00 pm     Sutherlin Community Center, Sutherlin

Stay Informed with the Accurate Information

Your Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer and the Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team have been working hard to cooperatively provide accurate and timely information and a response to Douglas County residents. If you have questions about resources available, call the COVID-19 hotline, staffed by local volunteers at (541) 464-6550.  Stay up to date on COVID-19 in Douglas County on the DPHN website at www.douglaspublichealthnetwork.org.  Find additional information on state, federal and international COVID-19 response from the following websites: Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and by calling or logging onto 211Info.

*Local case data includes all tests done in the county, and are not exclusive to DPHN testing. Further, reporting numbers are accurate as of time listed on this release.  These numbers may not match other organizations, who report at different times of the day.