UPDATE (4:33 p.m. PT) — The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced Friday that it would be canceling its fall 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The festival had been scheduled to begin performances at its Ashland theaters in early September.
The cancellation follows an announcement by Gov. Kate Brown Thursday that all large gatherings in the state will be on hold until at least October.
“The health and safety of our entire Ashland community, including artists, staff, volunteers, patrons, and Festival partners, is our highest priority,” OSF artistic director Nataki Garrett said in a statement.
“It is with great sadness that we are forced to cancel OSF’s 2020 Fall season," Garrett continued. "My primary goal is to protect the future of this celebrated 85-year-old organization and to bring great theatre back to our stages in 2021."
The Shakespeare Festival had previously canceled spring and summer performances and scaled back the plays the repertory cast would perform.
Festival officials said in a statement that canceling the fall season will cause significant financial consequences. Officials are asking 2020 ticketholders to consider donating the value of their tickets back to the festival, or accepting vouchers for tickets in 2021.
Northwest summer baseball largely on hold
With large public gatherings likely banned well into the fall, many of Oregon’s summertime events, including collegiate baseball, will be canceled or postponed.
The Corvallis Knights announced Friday their 2020 season is canceled. The Knights aren't alone shutting down their season; so have the Bend Elks and Bellingham Bells.
“We were facing quite a few COVID-related restrictions that would have made it very difficult to operate," said Dan Segel, the CEO of the Knights. "The latest news on the gatherings was the end of the road for us.”
Segel said he looked at every possible way to salvage the season, but unfortunately, none were viable.
“The challenges were just too much for sure,” he said.
However, not all hope is lost. The Portland Pickles are planning to continue their season, but without fans.
“We still feel comfortable enough to take the leap forward to provide, you know, some sort of baseball because we think we ought to bring some happiness to the community at a time where there isn't a lot,” said Pickles general manager Ross Campbell.
Despite the setback, Segel is keeping a positive attitude and looks forward to the 2021 season.
“It's sad, it's disappointing," he said. "It's a whole new game, you know? And we're gonna come after it, and we're going to make things better. So I'm optimistic. We just gotta get to that next year and be the best we can be this year."
Oregon's coronavirus case total clears 3,000
Oregon health officials Friday confirmed 75 new coronavirus cases, bringing the state’s total to 3,032.
Health officials also reported five new presumptive cases. Presumptive cases are people who have not tested positive but have coronavirus symptoms and have had close contact with a confirmed case.
Officials also announced three new coronavirus-related deaths.
In Oregon, 124 people are now known to have died from COVID-19.
Clark County reports 1 new coronavirus case
In Southwest Washington, Clark County Public Health Friday reported one new confirmed case of coronavirus, bringing the county’s total number of known cases to 375.
Clark County has removed one case from its case count after learning the person lived in a different county.
No new deaths were reported Friday. In total, 23 people are known to have died of COVID-19 in Clark County.
The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health show 16,388 diagnosed cases of the coronavirus and 905 related deaths.
TriMet requires face coverings for employees
TriMet, the public transportation agency for the Portland metro area, said Friday that it is requiring face coverings for all of its employees working on the transit system or on other worksites where they cannot practice physical distance starting Monday.
Employees who have a medical reason to not wear face coverings may be exempt from that requirement.
Related: TriMet Sees Decrease In Ridership Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The agency is also strongly recommending riders wear face coverings as well.
Although ridership is still down about 67% from its normal weekly numbers, TriMet said it has seen a recent increase in ridership, with people taking more than 30,000 more trips last week than the previous week.
“We understand that people are anxious to get out and about, especially with the nice weather, but we urge people to stay home just a little while longer,” the agency said in a statement.
TriMet still has a rider limit in place for its buses — no more than 10 individuals, or up to 15 if people are riding together (couples or families with children).
Grocery store unions demand Kroger-owned stores to continue ‘Hero Pay’
Grocery store unions are asking Kroger-owned grocery stores, such as Fred Meyer and QFC, to continue paying employees a $2 an hour “Hero Pay” bonus.
According to the United Food and Commercial Local 555 union based in Tigard, Kroger notified employees that starting May 17 it would stop paying the bonus.
“Essential employees are literally putting their lives on the line for their employer and communities,” Dan Clay, president of UFCW Local 555, said in a statement. “We need everyone to step up to protect essential workers and their families.”
UFCW Local 555 represents more than 24,000 workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
“We recognize that each state has a unique plan to reopen for business, along with a unique timeline to do so,” a spokesperson with Kroger said. “We will continue to monitor the situation in each state that we operate and review the plans for our associates respectively.”
Early results in from pioneering Corvallis tracing study
The first results are in from Oregon State University's survey of COVID-19 in Corvallis — it looks like about two people out of every thousand are currently infected.
“This is a snapshot in time,” said Jeff Bethel, an OSU epidemiologist involved in the survey, in a press release. The program, called Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community Leven Coronavirus Epidemics, or TRACE-COVID-19, aims to take several such snapshots every weekend through May 17 and possibly beyond. By looking at the spread of the virus over such a long period in time, they hope to learn more about how the virus is moving through their community. When it started, it was the first community-wide survey launched to track COVID-19 over time.
The study began in late April with a trial survey to make sure the methods worked. The following weekend, they tested 455 people in 237 households. The houses were randomly selected, but researchers wanted to make sure that the participants also reflected the demographics of Corvallis, so they’re spread across several neighborhoods.
Participants were told their results, and they were also shared with the Oregon Health Authority and other departments. They don’t have enough data yet to start pulling out demographic information, but they tested nearly 900 people during the second weekend of their study. Once those results are in, they’ll be able to report results of different demographics, and look at the prevalence of different symptoms.
“Ultimately, these numbers aren’t good news or bad news,” said Ben Dalziel, who is also involved in the survey, in a press release. There haven’t been any other studies on community prevalence for OSU’s team to compare their results to. But Dalziel says that two confirmed cases for every 1,000 residents is still enough to worry about. “If we reopen too quickly, we risk another phase of exponential growth in the number of infections.”
Making hand sanitizer from beer
What do unsold kegs of beer and barrels of corn syrup have in common? They can both be used to create hand sanitizer for communities facing the coronavirus pandemic. Rogue Ales & Spirits, in Newport, Oregon, shows us how.