Tillamook County has a message for potential visitors during the remaining weeks of the summer: Please stay home; our hospital and morgue are close by or almost.
This is no exaggeration.
“The COVID Delta variant is spreading like wildfire among the unvaccinated in our community,” the county Board of Commissioners said in a press release.
Published on Tuesday, August 24, the statement described the rapid infection rate of the Delta variant, with 361 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the past two weeks. This is more than the first ten months of the pandemic, which meant that 325 people tested positive from March 2020 to January 1, 2021.
Commissioners added that Adventist Health Tillamook, a 25-bed hospital, had 17 patients (seven with COVID) earlier this week. The increase has forced this facility to suspend elective surgeries, convert the intensive care unit and the medical / surgery unit into COVID wards and limit the majority of visitors.
While the hospital would normally transfer critically ill people to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, this is no longer a given option, as OHSU also experiences a flood of patients.
The situation is now so dire that commissioners say they have asked the state for a refrigerated truck. This decision was pushed once the Waud Funeral Home, located in Tillamook, reached its maximum authorized capacity of nine bodies. From 18 to 23 August, there were six new deaths due to COVID and the commissioners are expecting more.
Given these alarming figures, county leaders are asking people to get vaccinated (if they haven’t already) and cancel scheduled meetings.
“Cancel or reschedule face-to-face meetings, events and celebrations,” the statement said. “Work and meet remotely whenever possible. These are the darkest days of the pandemic so far and everyone is at risk. ”
And they’re not the only ones who want people to restrict their travels. On Monday, August 23, the Tillamook County Parks Department announced it would not allow any new camping reservations, in an attempt to preserve the health and safety of staff and guests. Restrictions have no expiration date at this time.
The department will honor all pre-booked stays for the immediate future, but showers will remain closed (at all facilities) to help quell the spread of the virus. For additional information on cancellation or rescheduling of the reservation, campers are asked to visit the parks department website.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Lincoln County, popular tourist destination Chinook Winds Casino shared on social media that it would expand its COVID closure.
The Lincoln City complex closed its doors again on August 12 due to the state’s sharp rise in cases. It was estimated that this temporary stop would last about two weeks. However, the Siletz Executive Board and the Chinook Winds executive team decided this week that the danger posed by the Delta variant justified a longer suspension of operations.
The new specific reopening will be set for September 2nd. All previous hotel reservations will be canceled and refunded automatically.
Related: Lincoln City’s Chinook Winds Casino closes again for at least two weeks due to the Delta variant