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Curry County hotels, motels and other lodging facilities may be able to reopen on May 1, despite safety measures still existing at the state level to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon.

At a special meeting Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved rescinding a March 27 order that shut down all lodging facilities in the county. Director of County Operations Julie Schmelzer is expected to return to commissioners April 29 with a new order for the chairman to sign.

The Curry County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday also agreed to sign onto a letter to Governor Kate Brown requesting a “phase one opening” in Southwestern Oregon, this includes reopening any barbershops, beauty salons and restaurants that had been shuttered as a result of the pandemic. The letter will be sent on behalf of Curry, Coos, Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties, according to Curry County Commissioner Court Boice.

“Douglas County has signed it and I have a note from Josephine County that they have signed it,” Boice said, referring to the letter. “I’ll be very surprised if Jackson didn’t sign it and I’ve already talked to two Coos County commissioners. The approach is if we organize together as a region we’ll be able to deal better with the state.”

There is one active positive COVID-19 case and three recovered cases in Curry County as of Friday, according to the Curry County Office of Emergency Management. Of 130 tests that have been administered, 126 are negative.

According to Schmelzer, none of the patients who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including the active case, had to be hospitalized. Schmelzer said Wednesday the latest patient, identified on April 18, has no symptoms and is self isolating.
She said the Curry County public health administrator is in ongoing contact with patients and is investigating on a daily basis.

In Jackson County, 48 people have tested positive for COVID-19. In Josephine, that number is 19 with one death, according to the Oregon Health Authority. In Coos County, four people tested positive for the novel coronavirus and in Douglas County, 23 people tested positive.

In Oregon, 2,177 people tested positive for COVID-19 statewide and 86 people have died, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

A total of 45,492 people have been tested for the virus.

On Monday, following the release of President Trump's Opening America Up Again guidelines, Brown issued a similar plan for Oregon.

The first phase of the Oregon plan advises vulnerable individuals to continue to shelter in place. The plan also advises all members of the public to continue to maintain a physical distance from others, avoid socializing in groups of more than 10, minimize non-essential travel and continue to work remotely if possible.

The first phase of Brown’s plan takes a regional approach to hospitals and health care facilities resuming non-emergency procedures. A work group would be established to reopen bars, sit-down dining and personal services. Childcare would also resume, according to Brown’s plan.

Boice and representatives from other counties participated in a call to the governor’s office Monday. He said the governor allowed them to express their concerns and question her plans around “getting the economy working again.”

The letter states there is adequate capacity to manage the current COVID-19 caseload in all five counties mentioned. Boice, who read the letter to Brown’s office aloud, said he did research to be able to include Curry County in that statement, but needed someone in Curry County to verify that the information is accurate.

Though it’s calling for businesses to reopen, the letter stated that a proposed regional approach to getting Oregon’s economy running again would still call for social distancing, including mask wearing.

For situations where social distancing can’t be maintained, including beauty salons and barbershops, the letter called for “heightened sanitation requirements,” Boyce read.

“We encourage those who can to continue to work from home and to require to stay home if they’re sick,” Boice read. “We’ll provide free testing to any person referred by a medical professional and constantly monitor conditions to limit and mitigate any rebound in reported cases.”
 
According to Schmelzer, the order to shutter lodging facilities came from the county, not from Brown’s office, and didn’t have an expiration date. Commissioners not only need to discuss when that expiration date should be, but also any conditions for allowing lodging facilities to accept visitors again.

“Will there be stipulations like one party per room?” Schmelzer asked rhetorically. “Something like that.”

Christopher Paasch, chairman of the Curry County Board of Commissioners, argued that though he’s not an economist, the economic devastation to the county will be worse than the disease itself. It’s in Curry County’s best interest to begin to reopen, but it needs to do so in a measured way, he said.

Paasch said he would work with David Brock Smith, who represents Curry County in the Oregon House of Representatives, other cities and coastal communities. Allowing hotels and motels to accept travelers again is a first step, Paasch said.

“We can bring back an order to do that and also start to talk about getting local businesses back open again, restaurants,” he said, adding that people will have to self-police themselves when it comes to maintaining an appropriate distance from each other. “If we do not begin to start the wheels moving forward to get this county to reopen, the devastation we will face, the loss of businesses… it will devastate us.”

Paasch’s colleague, Sue Gold, agreed with him, calling the approach common sense.

“If you go to grocery stores, people are acting in a good way,” she said. “I don’t see why they can’t act in a good way going to parks or motels. I’ve received a number of letters from motel owners crying out to get things open. I’m all for it.”

Though Gold Beach City Manager Jodi Fritts said she wanted lodging facilities to be able to open up, she was worried about what an influx of travelers would do to the availability of food and other supplies to locals. She said she sent pictures to commissioners of sparse shelves at McKay’s Market on Wednesday. Fritts also pointed to the crowds on the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, saying many people are “stir-crazy” and want to get to the coast to recreate.

“If we have an influx of visitors, even on a normal scale, forget that we’re having this going on, but on a normal scale, our supermarkets can’t keep up right now,” she said. “It’s not their fault. It’s a supply issue.”

Brookings City Manager Janell Howard said though the City Council hasn’t yet discussed the issue, the city is supportive of reopening businesses safely. In looking forward, however, she said working with public health is important to make sure businesses don’t open too soon.

“I agree the economic crisis overshadows the health crisis by a long shot, and I realize there are two camps and a whole bunch of in between,” Howard said, adding that one extreme side wants to reopen everything while the other wants people to “never come out of their homes.” “It’s our job as government to find that in between. We need to move slowly, but we really need to move.”

Curry County Sheriff John Ward also weighed in on the plan to reopen lodging facilities. He noted that many people have lost their jobs and are having trouble paying their rent and mortgage as a result of the pandemic. Ward also disagreed with Fritts on whether reopning lodging facilities will draw a flood of people.

Ward also noted that three of the four COVID-19 cases Curry County saw have recovered, so only one person is positive currently.

“I’m not saying we’re not going to get anymore,” he said. “It’s possible, but it won’t be a surge. This is my opinion and you can take it for what it’s worth, but there won’t be a surge of problems. The economic recovery is going to be nonexistent if we do not get people back to work so they can make some money.”

Documents

• Curry County Commissioners April 22 agenda

• Oregon's plan to reopen businesses

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