Lincoln County Commissioner Kaety Jacobson spoke to the public Sunday on behalf of Lincoln County and her fellow commissioners with a COVID-19 update.
I am Kaety Jacobson, the chair of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and am speaking on behalf of the County and my fellow Commissioners. I am here in the Board of Commissioners’ meeting room which is currently set up as our Joint Information Center, as we coordinate our community response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Lincoln County, the State of Oregon, and the Nation have all enacted Declarations of Emergency. We are in the midst of a crisis unprecedented in our living generations. Actions that we take now will have consequences for months and years to come. We understand from our local, state and national public health officials, that the trajectory of this virus can only be limited, and the curve flattened, if we act collectively and decisively.
Many of our businesses have already sacrificed greatly to help flatten the curve of the spread of the disease to keep Oregonians safe. Our local community has also, to a large degree, acted upon Governor Brown’s Stay Home to Stay Healthy directive. Unfortunately, we have had many visitors show up on the Oregon Coast and in Lincoln County contrary to this directive and to the advice from public health authorities. This puts our communities, our citizens, and our limited resources at great risk. We are asking those who have plans to visit the coast, to please postpone those plans until after this crisis is over, we will welcome your business then. To those visitors that are already here, please return home!
Towards that end, many coastal communities and counties have already begun taking action to limit or close tourism services at this time. Lincoln County is convening a joint meeting scheduled tomorrow with Lincoln County and its Cities to discuss and take coordinated action across Lincoln county to address this risk.
This is an extremely difficult time that has forced all of us to make changes in our way of life and to sacrifice greatly to reduce the spread of this virus. As Commissioner Hunt said in our last Board of Commissioners meeting, “there are no good choices, only good decisions.”
Please know that the county continues to work hard to address the needs of our citizens during these challenging times. Please stay safe.
Information – COVID – Lincoln County
https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/hhs/page/2019-novel-coronavirus
