WLD56 by C.M.I.

Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878

Remote learning

Reedsport projects

New Seattle tight end still in Carolina, B1

Interim city manager weighs in, A2

CLEAR 64 • 45 FORECAST A9 | WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020 | theworldlink.com | $2

Lodging restrictions lifted City vote in line with lifted restrictions CHERYL UPSHAW The World

COOS BAY — In a unanimous vote Tuesday evening, the Coos Bay City Council lifted a voluntary order asking city hotels, motels and short-term rentals not to rent to non-essential lodgers. This vote came after similar mandatory restrictions were lifted at the county level late last week. The meeting was held virtually.

The vote was called a “procedural issue” by Coos Bay Mayor Joe Benetti and City Manager Rodger Craddock. Benetti wondered aloud whether the council needed to vote on the issue at all, since the measures were voluntary. Craddock said the initial measures weren’t even “sent out” as stronger county measures superseded them The original resolution setting lodging restrictions was set to expire on June 1, but Craddock issued a new resolution asking that it be amended to end immediately following Tuesday night’s vote. The council voted unanimously to end the restric-

tions. The council initially passed Resolution 20-07 in early April, asking for area hotels, motels and short-term rentals to follow voluntary restrictions that only allowed rentals to essential workers, local residents, those without shelter, and those who needed a room for medical reasons. These voluntary measures were soon overwritten at the county level, when Coos County Board of Commissions made the restrictions mandatory. The measures were put in place to discourage tourism and recreational stays that could po-

tentially spread the new coronavirus. Specifically, the measures were in response to an influx of tourists during spring break. The resolution passed unanimously and with almost no discussion beyond Benetti and Craddock’s comments. However, at the end of the meeting, council members commented that they hoped to see the public continue to take measures, such as wearing masks in public and practicing social distancing. Benetti commented that he was anxious to see the area reopen, and that taking these safety measures would allow reopening to occur.

Councilman Drew Farmer is cautious in his assessment of the situation. “I can see folks wanting to get back to work, it’s just — how do we do that in the safest manner possible?” he said. Further, he pointed out that while the city took some action to reopen Tuesday night, it would not supersede non-essential travel restrictions at the state level. Joseph Monahan, General Manager of the Best Western Holiday Motel, was happy to hear that the city had lifted the voluntary restrictions along with the county. The measures Please see Lodging, Page A9

Stand Down to move forward

Fishing Salmon Harbor

Services available to veterans in need JILLIAN WARD The World

careful enough as they reopen. A century ago, the Spanish flu epidemic’s second wave was far deadlier than its first, in part because authorities allowed mass gatherings from Philadelphia to San Francisco. As Italy’s lockdown eased this week, Dr. Silvio Brusaferro, president of the Superior Institute of Health, urged “a huge investment” of resources to train medical personnel to monitor possible new cases. He said tracing apps — which are being built by dozens of countries and companies — aren’t enough to manage future waves of infection. “We are not out of the epidemic. We are still in it. I don’t want people to think there’s no more risk and we go back to normal,” said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, head of the institute’s infectious-disease department. In Germany, authorities may reimpose restrictions on any county that reports 50 new cases for every 100,000 inhabitants within the past week. Lothar Wieler, head of Germa-

COOS COUNTY — In the midst of an ongoing pandemic, the biggest outreach event for veterans in the area is still moving forward as planned … for now. The annual Veterans Stand Down, recognized as the largest in the state in recent years, helps an average of over 300 veterans. Many of these are veterans who need specific services, such as medical care or getting a new veteran ID, while others are homeless who need help finding shelter. Last week, the Veterans Stand Down Committee met to discuss whether or not to move forward with the planning for the upcoming Aug. 14 event. Now is usually the time when area organizations are invited to sign up as vendors to help connect veterans to services. Committee co-lead Krystal Hopper said “we haven’t canceled the Stand Down yet,” adding that many vendors are already signed up. “Everyone is trying to make it happen, but we are waiting to hear if we can hold an event with so many people,” she said. “And if not, we will look at a possibility to postpone it.” Right now, according to committee co-lead Carol Gardner, other Stand Downs across the state scheduled for late spring or early summer are starting to cancel due to the pandemic. “If it is held, we will follow state safety guidelines,” Gardner said. Last year, the Stand Down aided a total of 354 veterans and 53 identified homeless. Of those 53 individuals, most were veterans but not all. “And I say ‘identified’ homeless because there are always a certain segment of people we don’t catch who don’t want services and don’t register for anything,” she said. “These numbers are the people we know of.” According to Gardner, some veterans who had attended the Stand Down have been able to find employment through ven-

Please see Virus, Page A9

Please see Veterans, Page A9

Amy Moss Strong, The World

Fishing boats float along the docks at Salmon Harbor in Winchester Bay on Sunday evening.

The second virus wave: How bad will it be as lockdowns ease? ROME (AP) — From the marbled halls of Italy to the wheat fields of Kansas, health authorities are increasingly warning that the question isn’t whether a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths will hit, but when — and how badly. In India, which partly relaxed its lockdown this week, health authorities scrambled Wednesday to contain an outbreak at a huge market. Hard-hit New York City shut down its subway system overnight for disinfection. Experts in Italy, which just began easing some restrictions, warned lawmakers that a new surge of virus infections and deaths is coming, and they urged intensified efforts to identify victims, monitor their symptoms and trace their contacts. Germany warned of a second and even a third wave and threatened to re-impose virus restrictions if new cases can’t be contained. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Wednesday with the country’s 16 governors to discuss further loosening restrictions that have crippled Europe’s largest economy. “There will be a second wave,

but the problem is to which extent. Is it a small wave or a big wave? It’s too early to say,” said Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity unit at France’s Pasteur Institute. France, which hasn’t yet eased its lockdown, has worked up a “re-confinement plan” to ready for that second wave. Many areas are still struggling with the first wave. Brazil for the first time locked down a large city, the capital of Maranhão state. Across the ocean, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa has shot up 42% in the past week. Infections were expected to surpass 50,000 there on Wednesday. An Associated Press analysis, meanwhile, found that U.S. infection rates outside the New York City area are in fact rising, notably in rural areas. It found New York’s progress against the virus was overshadowing increasing infections elsewhere. “Make no mistakes: This virus is still circulating in our community, perhaps even more now than in previous weeks,” said Linda Ochs, director of the Health Department in Shawnee

County, Kansas. The virus is known to have infected more than 3.6 million and killed more than 251,000 people, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins that all experts agree is an undercount because of limited testing, differences in counting the dead and concealment by some governments. The U.S. has seen over 71,000 deaths amid its 1.2 million confirmed infections, and Europe has endured over 144,000 reported deaths. “Burying both parents at the same time? It’s hard,” said Desmond Tolbert, who lost his mother and father in rural Georgia. Because they had the virus, he couldn’t be with them when they died. President Donald Trump, with his eye on being reelected in November, is pushing hard to ease state stay-at-home orders and resuscitate the U.S. economy, which has seen over 30 million workers lose their jobs in less than two months. Trump is expected to wind down the country’s coronavirus task force, possibly within weeks, despite concerns that states aren’t being

SOUTH COAST A2 OPINION A4 OBITUARIES A5

facebook.com/theworldnewspaper

COMICS A6 WEATHER A9 SPORTS A10

twitter.com/TheWorldLink

instagram.com/theworldlink