21 New Cases, 1 New Death in Douglas County; 17 Residents Remain Hospitalized

(DCCRT) Douglas County COVID-19 Test Results: As of 12:00 pm Today, Thursday, December 10, 2020, there are TWENTY-ONE (21) people with new positive test results, ONE (1) new presumptive case and ONE (1) additional death since our noon case update yesterday. The total number of cases (people with positive test results and presumptive) in Douglas County is now at 1,160*. Currently, there are SEVENTEEN (17) Douglas County COVID-19 patients that are being hospitalized, 16 locally and 1 out-of-the-area. Our Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team, under the direction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Public Health Officer and Douglas Public Health Network continue to devote all resources available to our local COVID efforts. Another COVID-19 Related Death of a Douglas County Resident Our Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, has confirmed the death of one more Douglas County resident from the COVID-19 virus. Our twenty-seventh death is an 84-year-old man who tested positive for COVID and was admitted to the hospital on November 27, 2020. He died yesterday, Wednesday, December 9, 2020. In the interest of privacy for the loved ones of this resident, no additional information will be released. “Today we are reporting one more COVID-related death of a Douglas County resident. On behalf of my family, my fellow Board of Commissioners, Dr. Dannenhoffer, DPHN staff and the DCCRT team, we send our sincere condolences and prayers to the family, friends and neighbors of this beloved resident,” commented Commissioner Tim Freeman. “The deaths of eight Douglas County residents have been reported since Friday. Sadly, more are anticipated in the days and weeks to come. Our day-to-day activities have a direct impact on the spread of the virus in Douglas County, and we urge community members to help save lives by following the safety guidelines in this report.” Especially During the Holiday Season - You Are the Key to Controlling the Spread of COVID! It is no secret that the key to stopping the continued spread of the coronavirus is, YOU, our residents, our families, our communities and our businesses. Please celebrate safely this holiday season. Prevention is the best medicine, and not just to help stop the spread of COVID, but for your overall health and wellbeing as well. If each and every individual in our county would make a real concerted effort to implement prevention measures into their daily routine, we could see a huge decrease in our COVID case numbers. We need each and everyone one of our residents to take the necessary steps to minimize the spread of germs and contagions. You can help by staying home this holiday season, keeping gatherings to just your household, maintaining healthier eating habits; incorporate exercise and cleaning routines; being cautious and keeping distance from others; making modifications to how you socialize with others; choosing no contact deliveries and services; and staying home if you are sick. The suggestions we make and the guidelines presented by public health are not just for your health and safety, but for the health and safety of everyone, including our kids, our grandparents, our coworkers, our first responders, our teachers and our businesses. We know we sound like a broken record, but our primary focus is to do everything we can to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our residents. Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Official, urges residents to stay home when they are sick to help protect others from getting sick and spreading disease. This means not only staying home from work and school, but also staying home from all other activities and social events. Please, if you are sick, even if you just have a runny nose or stuffy head, do not got to work or attend gatherings, church, parties, events, weddings, game nights, prayer groups, or go work out at the gym and expose others to your illness. Tips to Help Stop the Spread of COVID • Make a habit of washing and sanitizing your hands, regularly. That means washing after you eat, if you touch new surfaces, go to the bathroom, open a door, go to the store, go to the post office or after a meeting. Also try and avoid touching your face as much as possible. • Please wear a mask when you are around others not from your household. Not just for your protection, but for the protection of others. • Stay at least six feet apart from anyone that is not from your immediate household. This means paying attention to the distance stickers at the store, the bank, at restaurants and at businesses. Please be respectful, kind and polite, by giving people ample space. • Stay home from work, school and play if you are sick. This includes not running errands or going shopping or inviting visitors to your home. If you need help, reach out to friends, family or utilize an app or businesses that offer no contact deliveries or services. • Minimize travel, especially out of the state and limit visitors to your home. • Minimize attending social gatherings or going places where there are large groups of people. The DCCRT team, under the direction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, along with Dr. Dannenhoffer and Douglas Public Health Network encourage residents to make prevention measures a part of their everyday routines. Local Cases Being Supported in Isolation and Quarantine Currently, DPHN is supporting 194 cases in isolation, as well as another 318 contacts in quarantine in Douglas County. Isolation is recommended for confirmed and presumptive cases, quarantine is recommended for contacts of confirmed or presumptive cases. Currently, staff is supporting an astounding 512 total contacts in isolation or quarantine. This number represents a snapshot of the significant amount of work being done by our county and Douglas Public Health Network to help control the spread of COVID-19. Getting Tested & Testing Clinics The next drive-through testing clinic is on Friday, December 11, 2020, in Roseburg. As a reminder, 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. Patients without a Primary Care Provider that are looking for a COVID-19 test should contact the Sutherlin Aviva Health Clinic at (541) 459-3788. The first drive-through testing site was piloted in the county on March 17, 2020. Since then, there have been 2,084 tests performed in local drive-through clinics, while additional testing continues in hospitals, urgent cares and clinics. The drive-through clinics are led by DPHN, in conjunction with partner agencies including; Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team, Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Public Works, local volunteers and local health professionals. COVID Business Relief Funding for Douglas County - Applications Available Now The Douglas County Board of Commissioners were pleased to announce that they have finally received the grant and funding information from the State of Oregon for the Federal CARES Act Coronavirus Business Relief Fund program that was announced on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, as coming soon to all Oregon counties. The allocation of Federal CARES Act dollars for financial assistance to support Oregon businesses who have been detrimentally impacted by COVID-19 has been divided up amongst the 36 Oregon counties, and each county is responsible for establishing a local application process and allocation program. In a press release, the CCD Business Development Corporation announced that they have been contracted by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners to administer approximately $1,450,000 in grant funds for the Douglas County COVID-19 Business Grant Program. The funds allocated to Douglas County are a part of the Federal CARES Act Funds that have now trickled down to our local area. These funds were allocated to counties to deploy in the form of grants to small businesses who have been financially impacted. CCD Business Development Corporation is a private nonprofit Oregon corporation which was formed in 1971. CCD enjoys a national reputation as one of the leading economic development organizations in the United States and is the federally recognized Economic Development District for Coos, Curry and Douglas counties. NOTICE: SHORT TIMELINE TO APPLY! To Apply: The application is available at www.ccdbusiness.org and applications will be accepted through 5:00 pm on Friday, December 11, 2020. You can also access the application on Douglas County Government’s website at www.co.douglas.or.us “Please be aware that there is a very short window to apply for these funds, so we encourage everyone that has a business in Douglas County, that is eligible to apply, to get their application in as soon as they can! As we have mentioned before, we know that many of our local businesses have been tremendously impacted by COVID, and we are excited to finally see that they will be able to apply for some much-needed financial relief,” stated Commissioner Chris Boice. The CCD press release provided the following information in order to apply for the grant. Eligible Grant Amounts will be from $5,000 - $75,000. It is intended that these funds are equally accessible to all businesses within the following categories: • Hospitality - (Hotels/Motels, Bed-and-Breakfast Inns, RV Parks, Recreational/Vacation Camps, Caterers, Wineries, Breweries, Event Planning, Travel Agencies, Tour Operators, Theme Parks, Bowling Alleys and Theaters) • Restaurants that do not have a drive-up option. • Gyms & Fitness Facilities • These federal funds are directed to affected businesses with 100 or fewer employees • Eligible Applicants: Small business must be located in Douglas County. • Businesses that meet the following eligibility requirements: • The business is headquartered in Oregon and has its principal operations in Oregon. • If required by Oregon law to be registered with the Oregon Secretary of State to do business in Oregon, the Business is so registered. • The business was affected in either one of the following two ways: - For-profit and non-profit (limited to 501(c)(3) corporations) businesses that were prohibited from operations as directed by Executive Orders 20-12 or 20-65. - For-profit and non-profit (limited to 501(c)(3) corporations) businesses that can demonstrate a one-month decline in sales of 25% or more, incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, between March 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020 as compared against the same period of time in 2019. The following businesses are ineligible to apply for or receive funding: • Passive real estate holding companies and entities holding passive investments. • Non-profit entities that do not have federal 501(c)(3) status. • Businesses that experience a decline in revenues for reasons other than those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. seasonal or cyclical business cycles.) • Businesses that are delinquent on federal, state or local taxes that were due on or before the date of application. • Businesses that do not comply with all federal, state and local laws and regulations. • Businesses that have closed and do not intend to reopen. CCD Executive Director Theresa Haga added, “You may be wondering what’s the catch and how do I qualify? The catch is we need businesses to apply and act fast. There is a very short window of time to disburse a large amount of money. We have a small staff working hard to contact as many local businesses as possible, but we really need the community to step up and help us spread the word again. If you are hesitant to apply, don’t be. We are still facing an unknown future with winter ahead of us. We want to help as many of our local businesses as possible while the money is available.” If you have any questions, you can email CCD at info@ccdbusiness.org or call (541) 672-6728 or contact Douglas County Government at: dcinfo@co.douglas.or.us or call (541) 672-3311. Oregon COVID-19 Case Update Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reports new cases once a day on their website at www.healthoregon.org/coronavirus. OHA also releases a daily situation status report and a weekly report that details the overall picture of the COVID-19 outbreak within our state. The daily report details positive and presumptive cases, as well as deaths by county and statewide, while the weekly report is more in depth and includes statistical data related the severity of cases by age, gender, zip codes, ethnicity, as well as information on workplace and senior care facility outbreaks in Oregon. Find additional information on the state or Federal COVID-19 response go to Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control, and 211Info. Oregon COVID-19 Presumptive OHA expanded their reporting for COVID-19 case management to now include presumptive COVID-19 cases in their total case number. DPHN is reporting the number of people with new positive test results and any new presumptives and uses the OHA’s definition of presumptive as having had close contact with a known, confirmed COVID-19 case, showing symptoms and not yet having a positive nasal swab/PCR or antigen test for COVID-19. Testing continues, as DPHN has been holding 2-3 clinics a week and hospitals, urgent cares and clinics continue to test. DPHN continues their epidemiologic investigations, identifying individuals who may have had close contact with individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19, advising and supporting quarantine and isolation. OHA Reporting and Definition for Recovered As per the Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 Investigative Guidelines, the number of recovered cases is no longer being assessed or reported by OHA. Up until May 1st, 2020 recovery from COVID-19 was defined as being afebrile (not feverish), without the use of antipyretics (medicine to reduce a fever), and having resolution of cough, shortness of breath and diarrhea for at least 72 hours. As more was learned about symptoms, recovery and contagious period, the definition of recovered changed. Beginning May 1st, OHA stopped reporting recovered cases while also separating recovery from contagious or isolation period. Many cases were no longer contagious, as they were outside of the contagious period, but still having lingering symptoms. To be consistent with OHA and to adapt as we learn more about this new virus, we removed the column in our chart listing recovered cases. At that point, we added the number of those in isolation, roughly indicating active or infectious cases of COVID-19 in Douglas County. Facebook Live with Dr. Bob Please join us on Friday, December 11, 2020 at 4:00 pm for the next Facebook Live event with Dr. Bob. hosted by DPHN on the DPHN Facebook page. Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer will continue their normal schedule of Facebook “Live Q&A Updates” next week with both his Tuesday night at 6:00 pm and Friday night at 4:00 pm on the DPHN Facebook page. Residents are still able to submit their COVID-19 questions to Dr. Bob during the live shows, but you can also email your questions to: Facebookquestions@douglaspublichealthnetwork.org. Dr. Bob and the DPHN team will do their best to respond to as many questions as they can during their weekly updates. Stay Informed with Accurate Local Information LOCAL COVID-19 INFORMATION Stay up to date on COVID-19 in Douglas County on the Douglas County Government website or the DPHN website. Your Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Douglas County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, DPHN and the Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team (DCCRT) have been working hard to cooperatively provide accurate and timely information to Douglas County residents since March 8, 2020. Our local COVID-19 updates represent the coordinated effort of the agencies that make up the DCCRT. Douglas County Resource/COVID-19 Hotline: (541) 464-6550 Douglas County Commissioners and Douglas Public Health Network have added a resource and referral service to the current COVID-19 hotline for Douglas County residents. The added service will help residents get connected to resources and services due to the local wildfires. Referral and resource information will be available about local emergency shelters, livestock and animal boarding options, donation locations, volunteer opportunities, welfare check referrals, food and water resources and help with health and wellness questions. This is NOT the hotline for Fire Updates or Evacuation information. Please contact or follow DFPA and DCSO for the most up-to-date wildfire information. The Resource/COVID-19 Hotline is (541) 464-6550. It is staffed from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, 7 days a week until further notice. Questions about Governor’s New Statewide Metrics and Rules? If you have questions or need more information on statewide mandates, guidelines or rules, go to the Governor’s COVID-19 website at https://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19/ or call the Business Oregon's Navigator Hotline at (833) 604-0880. For information on COVID-19 in other counties and around Oregon, call 211 or visit 211info. Who Do You Contact to Report Compliance Issues with the Governor’s Statewide Rules? Please do not call 911, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office or Douglas County Offices to report compliance issues with the Governor’s orders. The Governor has directed the State offices for Oregon Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to be the enforcement agencies responsible for ensuring restaurants, bars, and other businesses comply with COVID-related rules. For more information or to report compliance issues contact: OSHA: (800) 922-2689 or OSHA website or OLCC (503) 872-5000 or OLCC website