KWSO News for Tue., Aug. 4, 2020

There were 11 new cases of COVID-19 between last Friday (7/31/20) and Monday (8/3/20) according to the Community COVID-19 UPDATE from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. There have been 192 total positive cases of COVID-19 in since the pandemic began. 134 individuals have recovered. 2034 tests have been done and there are 10 test results pending.

COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 328, the Oregon Health Authority reported on Monday. It also reported 272 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 19,366. 4 new cases were reported in central Oregon.

Curbside COVID-19 specimen collection is now available at six St. Charles clinics. The service will be available to any person with a physician’s lab order and no appointment is needed.  In Madras at St. Charles Family Care, 480 NE A St., collection will be available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Before going to any St. Charles collection site, individuals are asked to blow their nose at home and wash their hands afterward, but to avoid using nasal spray or nasal salve 24 hours prior to collection.

The Boil Water Notice is still in effect for Warm Springs Agency area. Conservation of water is critical as repairs will take time; please continue to conserve water. The water available for the Agency community continues to be reported as low. Construction is scheduled to begin within the next two weeks, and there will be a 1 to 2 day period when water will be shut off. The Shut Off days will be announced when they are determined.

As of this week, the Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art at the University of Oregon and other Pacific Northwest universities, will provide grants for local artists. As KLCC’s Elizabeth Gabriel reports in Eugene, the funding will support Oregon artists responding to the Black Lives Matter movement:

Oregon Health Authority released its Weekly Testing Summary Monday, showing 35,424 test results were reported during the week of July 26 – Aug. 1.  Of those test results 2,174 were positive, indicating a test positivity of 6.1 percent, one of the highest rates observed since the early pandemic.

A reservation burn ban went into effect this week due to Extreme Fire Danger conditions. With dry fuel conditions and persistent drought and potential lack of water for fire suppression, it is critical to take precautions to help protect people, property and resources. All outside agricultural and residential burning is not allowed – including weed burning and burn barrels. Outdoor camp fires are also not permitted during the ban. Ceremonial and traditional fires are exempt. Warm Springs Fire Management is not issuing any burn permits at this time.

The U.S. Census Bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, a month sooner than previously announced, the bureau’s director confirmed Monday in a statement. The mandated count of every person living in the US is used to determine the distribution of political representation and federal funding for the next decade. If you haven’t already completed the 2020 census for your household – you can complete it online at My2020Census.gov.