OHA recommends masks indoors; Lane sees largest COVID increase since February - The Register-Guard

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Lane County Public Health reported two deaths and 97 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, setting the death toll at 173 and the countywide case count to 14,653.

Tuesday's cases were the largest batch of daily cases reported since Feb. 3, when 117 cases hit the county in a day. There were 256 people considered infectious, a 36% increase over Monday's 188.

The delta variant, a much more contagious strain of the virus, is behind the latest surge as it has beaten out the less contagious variants before it, Lane County Senior Public Health Officer Dr. Patrick Luedtke said.

"It's probably going to stay that way for four, five or six weeks, and then it will either slowly decrease because most people have been infected and got immunity, or it too will be pushed out by another variant that's out there circulating just waiting for its turn," Luedtke said. 

The good news, Luedtke added, is that more people are vaccinated than ever, so the peak is not likely to be as high as previous surges. The amount of people vaccinated will also decrease the number of deaths and hospitalizations the surge brings.

With the delta variant surging around the county, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending people vaccinated against the coronavirus start wearing masks indoors again.

The new mask guidance announced Tuesday comes nearly 11 weeks after the CDC said fully vaccinated Americans no longer needed to wear face masks.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Oregon Health Authority recommended universal mask use in public indoor settings throughout the state to protect Oregonians from COVID-19. The recommendation comes in response to a large jump in cases and hospitalizations and new national guidance calling for masking measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.

“Today’s reported sharp rise in cases and hospitalizations in Oregon are sobering reminders that the pandemic is not over, especially for Oregonians who remain unvaccinated,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state epidemiologist and state health officer.

OHA’s recommendation aligns with the CDC’s new guidance issued Tuesday that everyone, including fully vaccinated persons, wear a mask in public indoor settings. OHA’s recommendation applies statewide, and not just areas with higher infections and high transmission, as cases have increased across the state in recent weeks due to the delta variant.

The state of Oregon has left it to counties and school boards to decide if they want to enforce mask mandates. Lane County Public Health is currently drafting a framework for the Lane County Commissioners to consider. Public health can only advise these governing bodies, unless the governor declares another emergency.

"When there's an emergency declared, then local public health has more powers, but we don't have that now," Luedtke said. 

For now, public health officials encourage people to continue the same precautions that have been advised throughout the pandemic.

"Masks and social distancing are how we manage this pandemic," Luedtke said. "Vaccines are how this pandemic ends."

Seventeen people were hospitalized Tuesday, up one from Monday, with four in intensive care, down one from Monday, and three on ventilators, unchanged from Monday.

As of Saturday, 210,737 people in Lane County have been fully vaccinated, 55.26% of the total population, with 424,516 first and second doses administered.

Long-term care facilities remain an issue

A large outbreak hit a memory care and assisted living facility earlier this month in Florence and initially infected nine staff members and 20 residents. On Tuesday, Jason Davis, Lane County Public Health spokesperson, said that six of the 97 new cases came from the same facility's outbreak.

More: COVID-19 outbreak in Florence accounts for 18% of county's weekly cases

Days after the outbreak began, the facility shared in a news release that 87% of residents, but only 36% of staff, were fully vaccinated. The issue of vaccinated residents but unvaccinated workers seems to be a trend and not an outlier.

"We're calling around to these facilities, and we're hearing the same stories," Davis said.

Long-term care facilities that voluntarily reported weekly COVID-19 vaccination data to the OHA had 84% of residents and 62% of staff completely vaccinated as of May 9, the most recent data available. Facilities weren't required to share this data until June 1, and the new data isn't yet public. 

Long-term care facility workers, other healthcare employees and first responders cannot be legally mandated to vaccinate according to a 32-year-old Oregon state law. The state is the only one in the country dealing with the barrier. 

ICYMI: Oregon law prohibits mandating health care workers to vaccinate

Luedtke and other health officials anticipate a much larger surge in the fall, when cold and humid conditions create the perfect conditions for increased spread of the virus.

As many remain unvaccinated and mutations of the virus create more variants, the "heavy lifting" of slowing the spread of the virus is still ahead, Davis warned. He encouraged residents to talk to their friends and family about getting vaccines, as public health campaigns can only go so far.

"We still have a long ways to go," Davis said. "We still have people in our community that are unvaccinated and we will continue to lose them."

Register-Guard digital editor John Heasly and USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

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2021-07-28 00:00:00Z