KWSO News for Mon., Aug. 16, 2021

The Warm Springs community COVID-19 Update for Monday (8/16/21) reported 1 new case of COVID-19 from 35 tests conducted on Friday, August 13, 2021 at the Health & Wellness Center. There are currently 13 people with active COVID-19 and 10 close contacts receiving daily monitoring. There is an upswing in COVID-19 cases mostly for unvaccinated individuals. The main thing you can do to protect from getting COVID-19 is to be vaccinated.

The Warm Springs sanitation department has their garbage truck repaired and running today. Regular pick-up routes will resume today. Have your toes set out at the end of your driveway to be emptied.

The Bootleg Fire reached 100 percent containment The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region said on Sunday. The fire started on July 6 in the Fremont-Winema National Forest was caused by a lightning strike that grew to more than 413,000 acres which is less than 650 square miles. At one point, there were about 2,000 fire personnel.

Oregon is about to overhaul its recycling system. Last week/[Friday, Aug. 6] Governor Kate Brown signed into law the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act. It requires state regulators and manufacturers to work together on new recycling programs for packaging, paper products, and food service ware. Under the new law, Oregon will become the second state to require companies to pay for part of the cost of recycling their packaging products.

Oregon’s governor says she will deploy up to 1,500 National Guard troops to hospitals around the state to support healthcare workers as COVID-19 surges with the rapid spread of the Delta variant. Starting Aug. 20 she will send an initial 500 Guard members to serve as equipment runners in hospitals and help with COVID-19 testing, among other things. There are 733 people hospitalized with the virus in Oregon, including 185 in intensive care units. Hospitals have warned they are near capacity as the state endures a fourth wave of the outbreak.

The United States Census Bureau released the long awaited results of the 2020 count this week, showing significant population growth in central Oregon and among people of color. Over the past decade, Deschutes County has seen the largest population gains with an increase of 26 percent. Oregon’s population grew by 11 percent. Oregonians identifying as Black or African American grew by 19%, while the number of Asian residents increased by 38% American Indian and Alaska Native residents grew by 18%.