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Marion County ordered to cut restaurant capacity, halt long-term care visits in effort to slow Covid spread

Libby Anderson serves coffee at Archive with a mask and safe distancing on June 17, 2020. (Cathy Cheney/Salem Reporter)

This story was updated at 4:50 p.m. to include a statement from Marion County.

Marion County restaurants, gyms and museums will have to halve the number of people who can be inside for two weeks under a set of new restrictions Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday to halt what she called an “alarming” rise in Covid cases across Oregon.

The governor also said people should only socialize with those in their households and in any event gather with no more than six people.

The rules, which Brown called a “pause on social activities,” apply from Nov. 11 to Nov. 25 to five counties which are currently seeing high rates of new Covid cases. Polk County is not among them, meaning west Salem restaurants, gyms and other businesses can continue operating under existing rules.

Brown also warned she was now ready to impose even more stringent restrictions if the surge in Covid cases isn’t checked soon.

“If we don’t stop the spread, further closures are imminent,” Brown said.

The new guidance comes after weeks of Brown and Oregon Health Authority officials pleading with Oregonians to limit social gatherings and exposure to others outside their household as cases and hospitalizations across Oregon rose. The state on Thursday reported 805 new cases of Covid and 204 Oregonians hospitalized with the virus, both records since the pandemic began.

“The virus can very quickly snowball out of control. We’re seeing that in real time and certainly lives are at stake,” Brown said.

The new measures urge but do not require businesses to have employees work from home as much as possible, cut restaurant seating capacity and indoor venue limits to 50 and recommend people not gather with those outside their household.

They also prohibit visits to long-term care facilities, which were only recently allowed, and require residents to limit social gatherings to those in their own household, or to no more than six people total. 

There is no change to religious gathering rules or to local schools, where teachers have returned to classrooms for limited in-person teaching.

The rules apply to counties reporting more than 200 new Covid cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, including Marion, Malheur, Umatilla, Jackson and Multnomah. Marion County most recently recorded 224 cases per 100,000 residents in the two weeks ending Oct. 31, according to OHA data, with daily reported cases rising since. That measure statewide is 140 cases.

Brown and health officials reiterated that private social gatherings continue to drive the spread of the virus and can provide a vehicle for young people who don’t realize they’re sick to infect people vulnerable to serious illness or death.

She said Friday’s restrictions are an attempt to slow the virus’ spread ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“If you’ve already made plans that don’t fall in this guidance, please change them,” Brown said.

Brown’s focus on social gatherings echoes a report this week from Alisa Zastoupil, public health program supervisor for Marion County, who told county commissioners that the health department has recently traced local cases of Covid back to an indoor baby shower and a large wedding. 

The county has also seen a rise in the number of Covid cases health workers can’t trace back to a known source, hitting 58% the week of Oct. 25.

Rachael Banks, the state public health director, said health workers have recently identified a Halloween party attended by several people infectious with Covid. She said nine additional people got Covid at that party and ultimately spread the virus into two long-term care facilities which are now seeing outbreaks, including one death.

The decision provoked pushback from county leaders, who said in a news release that many of the activities Brown is targeting don’t match where the county’s data shows the virus is spreading.

“Putting additional burdens on businesses will not prevent these private gatherings from happening and has the potential to increase private social gatherings,” the release said.

They noted that Salem Hospital has not seen a spike in Covid-related hospitalizations even as hospitalization numbers are increasing statewide, and suggested improving access to testing was a better strategy for controlling the virus’ spread.

Jason Brandt, president of Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, said limiting the number of people allowed inside a restaurant will cripple restaurants and push more Oregonians to gather in small groups indoors in private homes.

“A lot of restaurant operators are already emotional about this as you would expect,” he said.

Brandt said the restaurant association reads OHA’s weekly workplace outbreak list religiously and pointed to the low number of restaurant outbreaks as proof they aren’t driving infections. 

“We continue to see very few, if any, restaurant locations in the data reports for workplace outbreaks and then new restrictions come online. I think it would be natural to feel targeted and that’s how many of them feel right now,” Brandt said.

State health officials have repeatedly said as much in press briefings in September and October, noting they aren’t tracing a significant number of cases back to restaurants and bars, though limited contact tracing resources mean pinpointing the virus’ spread to a specific indoor business can be difficult.

Asked why the state was targeting indoor businesses if social gatherings are driving the virus’ spread, Brown said her goal is to reduce the overall community transmission of the virus and pointed to the growing number of cases that can’t be traced back to a source.

Marion County’s workplace outbreaks have largely been at food packing plants and large institutions like the Oregon State Penitentiary and Oregon State Hospital.

Jeremiah Gray, divisional director of operations at Bonaventure, said it’s heartbreaking that seniors at the southeast Salem facility might not be able to see their family members for the holidays. 

“For us as a company we find it unfortunate that our residents, seniors are taking the brunt of not seeing their family,” he said. 

In an email Jessica Penland, executive director of Farmington Square Salem, said the south Salem facility is scheduling virtual visits with family members and making plans for a safe return to visits. 

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Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.