Will Deschutes County Reopen? We Still Don't Know (Update: Now we do.)

Editor's note: Deschutes County Commissioners told the Source early Wednesday that the state had approved the County's application to begin Phase One of reopening, starting Friday. We're working on an update; check our home page for a longer story soon.

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners, along with the rest of Central Oregon, is still waiting to hear from state officials about the status of the county’s application to enter Phase One of the reopening process.

Here at the Source, we've been anxiously checking the State’s application status page all day, anticipating what we can then tell the public about this big change.


Deschutes County Administrator Tom Anderson said the county received two notices from the governor’s office saying the application was received; one Friday and another Saturday. Anderson said he expects to hear back from the State by Thursday, at the latest. Last week, state leaders indicated Wednesday would be the day they would decide which of the counties that applied would be able to reopen and which might stay closed.

Deschutes County commissioners met Wednesday morning for their regularly scheduled Wednesday meeting, going over additional details of the county’s reopening plan—including hiring additional staff for Deschutes County Health Services and partnering with NeighborImpact to lease motel rooms for the unhoused who test COVID-19 positive.

Commissioner Phil Henderson, who wore a mask at Wednesday's meeting, said when they found out the status of the reopening plan, he would like the Phase One announcement press conference to be an in-person affair, because virtual meetings are “clunky.”