Lane County dropped down to the “high risk” level for COVID-19 on Feb. 26, creating new, more relaxed guidelines concerning gatherings. While this changes how businesses can function, Lane County Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis said that residents need to stay vigilant in order to keep improving.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown downgraded Lane County to “high risk” due to the county bringing cases down below 200 per 100,000 people. Much of this is attributed to the community’s adherence to guidelines and the University of Oregon’s ability to keep positive testing students isolated, Davis said. 

“This is promising and we’re excited about this trajectory, but it becomes more important than ever that people really start to think about COVID-19 as part of their daily routine,” Davis said.
LCPH is encouraging residents to stay mindful of their actions moving forward, especially with new variants arriving in Oregon. The culture surrounding illnesses has changed significantly during the pandemic, and residents are likely to keep wearing masks and isolating themselves when sick even when most of the population is vaccinated, Davis said.

“We as a community need to collectively keep the risk factors of COVID-19 in the back of our minds every day, and not rely on health guidelines or governor’s orders for our direction,” he said.

Restaurants can now host 25% of indoor capacity or 50 people, whichever is smaller. Indoor dining has been prohibited in Lane County since before Brown’s two-week freeze implemented back in November. While this is a relief for many local establishments, they’re still responsible for keeping their employees and patrons safe. 
“It has not been this busy since before COVID,” Trent Ness, a UO senior and employee at Bill & Tim’s Barbecue, said. “It just went from zero to one hundered.”
Like many other locally owned restaurants, Bill & Tim’s served majority take out during the winter months, with only six outdoor tables. They moved to hosting 25% capacity indoors on the first day it became legal again.

Bill & Tim’s saw a significant decline in business when the pandemic began but was still able to stay afloat through support from take-out patrons. The restaurant’s owners will likely open to 50% capacity as soon Lane County moves into the “moderate” risk level in order to bring as much business in as they can, Ness said. 

While relaxed guidelines are good news to many restaurant owners, their employees are ultimately on the front lines.

“The fear of COVID seems much, much higher for the people who work full time because it’s just kind of a class thing,” Ness said. “For people under a certain parameter of income, having COVID means you can’t earn money for two weeks.”

Lane County could move into the “moderate risk” category soon if the current trend continues, Davis said. During the week of Feb. 28, the Oregon Health Authority monitored Lane County’s new case and hospitalization numbers, making a decision to change or keep the standing during the following week. If new cases drop below 100 per 100,000 people, they’ll be moved down to “moderate risk,” which would allow 50% capacity in restaurants and gyms and 75% in retail stores.

Benton County remains in the “extreme risk” level and is petitioning to be brought down because the vast majority of their cases come from the Oregon State University campus. This is something that Lane County is considering, as well. Even though case numbers look high, hospitalizations rates are relatively low, Davis said. 

“The fact that the spread has been at its lowest within the last four months, predominantly in our younger populations, means that the overall health impact hasn’t been felt as dramatically,” he said.

With UO’s spring break approaching, LCPH is encouraging all students to continue using safe practices even if they travel. While Lane County is on a path to reach “moderate risk” level, an influx of positive tests from students could threaten the progress made. If students decide to travel, they should get tested when they return to Eugene and isolate before getting their results, Davis said. 

“It’s completely unrealistic to expect people not to try to get away for a bit, especially with all that’s been going on,” he said. “You can do that and still stay healthy.”