No new COVID-19 cases were reported today in Union County, keeping the total at four confirmed cases. Wallowa County remains at one confirmed case. The total number of cases in Oregon is 1,633.
Wednesday, April 15, the public meeting regarding the local response to COVID-19 will be held. In order to respect social distancing, the event will be live-streamed on the NE Oregon Joint Information Center Facebook page at 6 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/NEOJointInformationCenter If you have COVID-19 related questions you would like addressed at the meeting, please email them to neoregonjic@gmail.com. Questions will be answered as time allows.
City of La Grande announced today that in order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to comply with the Governor’s Executive Order, Morgan Lake will remain closed which includes no fishing. The park gate will remain locked and restrooms closed. No camping is allowed. The annual fishing derby at the lake is also cancelled this year.
Business Oregon, in partnership with Travel Oregon and Small Business Development Centers, is collecting information through a survey from local businesses to measure how COVID-19 closures have impacted the local economy. Information gathered by the survey will be vital to policy-makers who are working to provide assistance to businesses during the crisis. Responses are confidential and will not be shared publicly, only aggregate information will be shared. Representatives are working to target businesses specifically to capture estimated revenue impacts as well as information around canceled events, employee impacts, and more. The survey will remain open through Wednesday, April 15. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BusinessOregon
Oregon Governor Kate Brown held a press conference today and said the process to get back to some normalcy will take time. Brown said the way the state gets back to that are:
1) Slowed growth: fewer cases of COVID-19
2) Adequate PPE to protect health care workers and first responders
3) A robust public health framework: increased testing, contact tracing, and effective isolation
“It will not be easy,” Governor Brown said at the press conference. “It will take longer than we want.”