COVID-19
In the past week there were 31 new COVID-19 cases reported to the Oregon Health Authority from the Florence area (1761). Cases of the virus for more rural areas are being tabulated once a week by the OHA. There were 1941 cases reported for the state and 147 for Lane County yesterday. The OHA are also reporting that hospitalizations have surpassed the 400 mark at 402 with 59 individuals in ICU. Locally an employee tested positive at Shorewood Senior Living. The facility conducted tests on all staff and residents and arrived at two more positive tests on Tuesday. The facility is going to do another round of testing today. The positive tests were confirmed by Shorewood to be residents that were fully vaccinated and reportedly have mild symptoms and are being monitored closely.
Lane County GDP Growth
Lane County is in the top 4 in Oregon for increase in its GDP over the previous year. The report by Smart Asset yesterday shows the 2020-2021 to be a growth of 415 million dollars. during the pandemic the county showed a growth in business as well increasing by 2.1%. Multnomah County was atop the list with more than 1.1 billion in growth while business expanded by just 2%. Dechutes County showed the largest percentage of business growth but ranked 6trh in Gross Domestic Product Growth.
Health Care Workers Win New Contract in Lincoln City
Hospital workers in Lincoln City cited the cost of living on the coast as one of the reason they sought out an increase in wages. Yesterday more than 100 members of SEIU local 49 have succeeded in getting more than 10% increases in wages over the first year of their contract. The Health Care workers are employed at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital. Brittany King is a CT Special imaging technologist there. She says many workers have been struggling to afford living in the community, a sentiment that has resounded in many coastal communities including Florence.
“There are a lot of members that told me specifically that, ‘I think this is a wage that I can live with, that means I don’t have to leave Samaritan.”
King says workers have dealt with a number of tragedies in recent years, including the pandemic and 2020 wildfires. Their new contract also expands education funding. Rachel Eggerton works as a CNA at the hospital. She says the community got behind them after a rally on Memorial Day Weekend.
“Once they saw us out in the rain rallying, they realized, ‘Ok, maybe there’s something wrong. Maybe we need to help out our health care workers, because they’ve been there through thick and thin for the entire pandemic, regardless of whatever’s happening.’ We still provided the care that they needed.”
Ice Cream Social
Tomorrow Oregon Pacific Bank will celebrate the fourth of july with their annual Ice Cream Social. OPB will be serving a free scoop of BJ’s Ice Cream from Noon until 4 pm at their financial center at 1355 Highway 101. The event also serves as a thank you to the community for the support received over the years. During the event there will also be a collection of Donations for the Friends of Florence in Memory of Bev Berning.