The City of Madras on Tuesday sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown asking her to ease some COVID restrictions in Jefferson County to help local businesses begin to get back on their feet.
The letter, written by Mayor Richard Ladeby on behalf of the city council, asks Brown to give the community the same leeway to reopen it has given Oregon school districts.
Brown and the OHA have put the onus on school districts in deciding whether local cases are declining enough to bring kids back to the classroom.
Students statewide, including Jefferson County, are now returning to in-person learning as cases fall in many places.
Ladeby says giving counties the same flexibility “will allow our most heavily impacted business groups to reopen in a safe manner, following CDC guidelines.”
“With these types of guidelines, we will show our business community that we trust them to conduct commerce in a way that is sensitive to the well-being of our citizens while providing a means for their economic survivability,” the letter states.
According to the OHA, Jefferson county has reported 1,782 COVID cases and 45 deaths as of Tuesday.
County health officials have told Ladeby the county’s numbers are down from the previous 30 days.
