The latest news stories in the Klamath Basin and around the state of Oregon from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS News/Talk 1450AM/102.5FM, BasinLife.com and The Herald & News.
Monday, April 6, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Monday
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 11am, then a chance of rain showers during the day, high near 54. Snow level rising to 5400 feet. Overnight a 20% chance of rain, low of 31.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 62. Light northwest wind. Overnight low of 32.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 67.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 71.
Friday
Sunny, with a high near 69.
Today’s Headlines
The Klamath County Public Health Air Advisory is Green until noon today.
Klamath County Public Health is announcing one additional case in the county. The countywide total number of confirmed cases is now 15. Of those 15 cases, 14 are active, and one is in recovery.
Klamath County Public Health says that at this time 293 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the county.
KCPH says that 11 of the confirmed cases are women. Four of the confirmed cases are men. 3 of the 15 cases have been hospitalized for the virus.
Total number of confirmed cases by county for the southern Oregon region:
Klamath: 15 total confirmed cases. 14 active cases, 1 case in recovery.
Jackson: 37
Josephine: 14
Lake: 0
The Oregon Health Authority is announcing 69 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,068 cases.
The new cases being reported by the OHA are in the following counties: Clackamas (6), Columbia (3), Klamath (1), Lane (3), Linn (2), Marion (10), Multnomah (24), Polk (2), Sherman (1), Umatilla (2), Washington (12), Yamhill (3).
The OHA is also reporting one new death from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in Oregon to 27. The Oregon Health Authority says it was a 62-year-old female in Multnomah County, who tested positive on April 2, 2020, and died on April 2, 2020, in her residence. It is unknown at this time if she had underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 23rd COVID-19 death is a 65-year-old man in Marion County, who tested positive on March 26, 2020, and died on April 2, 2020, at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. He had underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 24th COVID-19 death is a 59-year-old man in Multnomah County, who tested positive on March 24, 2020, and died on April 3, 2020, at his residence. He had underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 25th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Multnomah County, who tested positive on March 30, 2020, and died on April 2, 2020, at her residence. She had underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 26th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Multnomah County, who tested positive on March 23, 2020, and died on April 1, 2020, at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center. She had underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 27th COVID-19 death was a 62-year-old Multnomah County woman who tested positive April 2 and died the same day in her residence, according to OHA. It was not known Sunday if she had underlying medical conditions.
The case of COVID-19 at Kingsley Field announced last week has been identified as an airman at the base.
173rd Fighter Wing Commander Col. Jeff Edwards said in a video posted to Facebook that the airman is “doing better” and “recovering.” Master Sgt. Jennifer Shirar, of the 173rd Fighter Wing emphasized that the base will continue to operate and that F-15s will continue to fly in Klamath skies.
She said they definitely are taking a look at things and sanitizing the area that the person was located and doing tracing on where this airman was and who they interacted with, but we are still continuing to fly.
Shirar said the base has been following safety guidelines and social distancing practices even before Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order went into effect and while she cannot speculate on the Governor’s actions said Kingsley Field is “ready and prepared” to help if it is needed.
The American Red Cross is urging citizens who are not presently working to donate blood as coronavirus lockdowns have resulted in a drastic reduction in blood donations.
Additional safety measures are being implemented to assure the health of donors.
Appointments are required in order to maintain proper social distancing requirements. Rebecca O’Rourke, account manager for American Red Cross PNW says they have lost thousands of blood donations due to COVID-19 across the states and need healthy individuals to give blood as soon as possible, and we are setting up in stationary locations to help us with additional sanitization practices, and taking extra steps to ensure we see only healthy donors.
Blood donations will be collected from April 14-17, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Community Center.
Additional drives will be held at Sky Lakes Medical Center on Tuesday, April 28, 12-5:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 29 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., and Thursday, April 30 from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. To schedule a donation visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS
Due to quickly changing circumstances surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and resulting artist schedule changes, Britt Music & Arts Festival has decided to postpone its third 2020 Britt Presents Announcement and several announced concerts.
Britt is also delaying the opening date for the 2020 season. The first concert of the season will be the Best of Britt: Happy Together Tour on July 9th. Britt is working with artists who were originally scheduled to perform in June rescheduling concert dates to later in the season.
The Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals concert has been rescheduled to Aug. 22. Britt is optimistic that other artists originally scheduled in June will be rescheduled for late summer and is currently working closely with the artists to establish new dates.
Britt will inform ticketholders as soon as the new dates are confirmed. Due to scheduling conflicts, Tanya Tucker is unable to reschedule.
Klamath County and the City of Klamath Falls voted to donate $25,000 each to bolster the local restaurant industry while also paying it forward to nonprofits in town that help feed people in need such as the Klamath Food Bank.
The County funds will be distributed throughout the county and will include the restaurants and nonprofits in outlying areas. Commissioner Derick DeGroot said he is encouraged by the incredible support our community has shown our restaurants and other small businesses. Together we will ensure that everyone makes it through this crisis.
The support everyone in Klamath has shown each other is incredible and the reason why we will come back from this stronger than ever.
The City also voted to donate money directly to the Klamath Food Bank in addition.
Please Refrain from Conducting Outdoor Burning
In response to the “Stay Home, Save Lives” Executive Order to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 virus, a coalition of Oregon state agencies are asking Oregonians to voluntarily refrain from conducting outdoor burning.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office (OSFM), Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) recognize that many Oregonians use fire as a necessary tool to manage their lands, including industrial forest landowners, farmers, small woodland owners, and rural residents. However, it’s important to weigh possible effects on the wider community before choosing to burn. Please be a good neighbor.
Smoke from fires during the current pandemic may result in the following negative consequences for the public and first responders:
- Smoke inhalation can cause upper respiratory symptoms, which could be incorrectly attributed to COVID-19, leading to unnecessary testing or self-isolation.
- Exposure to smoke and other forms of air pollution can increase the risk of contracting infectious respiratory disease such as COVID-19, increase the severity of existing respiratory infections, and worsen underlying chronic respiratory conditions.
- There is a severe shortage of personal protective equipment to reduce smoke exposure at this time.
- First responders and other emergency services are operating at a reduced capacity and have limited resources to respond to out-of-control burns.
COVID-19 affects the respiratory system. Fever, cough and difficulty breathing are the most common symptoms. While some people with COVID-19 are hospitalized, most patients recover at home, where smoke from a nearby outdoor burn could worsen their condition. To avoid additional health impacts, all people in Oregon are asked to voluntarily refrain from conducting outdoor burning activities until further notice.
Burning that can be delayed includes:
- Debris burning around one’s property
- Burn barrels
- Industrial burning
- Slash and forest burning
- Agricultural burning that would impact neighbors and can be delayed
Local officials may already have prohibited outdoor burning in your area. If you must conduct outdoor burning, please first check with your local fire agency to see if outdoor burning is still allowed. If it is, please follow best burn practices, which can be found on the website of the Office of the State Fire Marshall.
DEQ, ODF, OSFM, and ODA encourage the public to use the following alternatives to burning when available:
- Recycle paper products when possible
- Compost or chip yard debris on site
- Haul to a yard debris composting or recycling site
- Reuse old lumber
For more information, visit:
ODF – https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Fire/pages/Burn.aspx
DEQ – https://www.oregon.gov/deq/aq/Pages/Burning.aspx
ODA – https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/NaturalResources/Pages/Burning.aspx
OHA COVID-19 website – https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19
This is a rapidly evolving situation. The latest COVID-19 response and protocols information is available at the Oregon Health Authority | COVID 19 Updates webpage. Additional information can be found on the CDC website.
Business Loan Programs
The rapidly evolving response to coronavirus is having a major impact on American businesses and workers as many workplaces shut down, either out of necessity or an abundance of caution.
For southern Oregon in particular, the good news is that many small businesses were already eligible for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
The Oregon congressional delegation has lobbied the SBA to support the state’s request for a SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration for all counties in Oregon, which would provide resources to businesses that face closures and lay-offs due to the coronavirus response.
…For complete details on these and other stories see today’s Herald & News. Wynne Broadcasting and the Herald and News…stronger together to keep you informed.
More Local Klamath Basin News Here.
The latest State of Oregon Covid-19 News & Preparedness Information Here.
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