COVID-19 Updates – AVA and Albany businesses

Travel Advisory for Non-Essential Travel (Oregon Travel Advisory  updated 04/28/2021)

Effective April 28 – May 6, Linn County will move to Extreme Risk and Benton County will remain in High Risk. Given the surge and increased numbers across the board, the Governor has decided to remove the “warning week” for the next three weeks and the “buffer week” will also be on pause. Movement week data will now be released on the following schedule:

• Tuesday, May 4 – Movement data released
• Friday, May 7 – County Risk Levels change
• Tuesday, May 11 – Movement data released
• Friday, May 14 – County Risk Levels change

A complete list of counties and their associated risk levels is available here. For full details on restrictions look here.

On April 24, 2021 the State of Oregon released new reopening guidance on isolation and quarantine found here. and on April 29, 2021 new guidance on facemasks was released and can be found here,

Jump to:

• Restaurants
• Businesses
• Hotels
• Closures of Note
• Events status
• Resources

Statewide Recommendations for Travel have also been updated to reflect conditions for those who have been vaccinated.

In counties with EXTREME RISK, the following activities will be allowed, with health and safety protocols in place:

Social and At-Home Gathering Size — Indoor & Outdoor

• Maximum 6 people
• Recommended limit: 2 households

Eating and Drinking Establishments

• Indoor dining prohibited
• Takeout highly recommended
• Outdoor dining allowed
• Outdoor capacity: 100 people maximum, including individual dining pods.
• Outdoor seating: 6 people per party and per table maximum, limit 2 households.
• Individual dining pods allowed outdoors subject to outdoor capacity limit.
• Dining Pod Seating: Limit 1 household, four (4) people maximum per pod.
• For establishments that operate VLTs indoors:
  •  Customer capacity: Maximum six (6) people total (not including employees); limit one (1) individual per VLT.
  •  Indoor on-site consumption of food and drink is prohibited, including at VLTs.
• 11:00 p.m. closing time

Indoor Recreation and Fitness Establishments

• For establishments 500 sq. ft. or larger:
•  Client capacity: Maximum six (6) people total (not including employees)
  • Require minimum 25 feet physical distancing between households.
  • Employee capacity: Limit to the minimum number of employees needed to operate a space.
• For establishments smaller than 500 sq. ft:
  • Client capacity: Maximum one (1) person total;
  • Employee capacity: Maximum one (1) employee total.
• Indoor on-site consumption of food and drink is prohibited except for individual water bottles.
• Indoor full-contact sports allowed for adult/club/youth sports with guidance requirements
• Indoor full-contact sports allowed for K-12 with submitted plan

Indoor Entertainment Establishments

• For establishments 500 sq. ft. or larger:
  • Customer capacity: Maximum six (6) people total (not including employees) in shared indoor entertainment spaces.
  • Require minimum six (6) feet physical distancing between households.
  • Employee capacity: Limit to the minimum number of employees needed to operate the establishment.
• For establishments smaller than 500 sq. ft:
  • Customer capacity: Maximum one (1) person total;
  • Employee capacity: Maximum one (1) employee total.
• Indoor on-site consumption of food and drink is prohibited.
• 11:00 p.m. closing time

Retail Stores, Indoor and Outdoor Shopping Centers/Malls

• Capacity: Maximum 50% occupancy
• Curbside pick-up encouraged

Faith Institutions*, Funeral Homes, Mortuaries, Cemeteries

• Indoor Capacity: Maximum 25% occupancy or 100 people total, whichever is smaller
• Outdoor Capacity: 150 people maximum • Recommended: limit services to one hour

Offices

• Require remote work, if able
• Close offices to the public, if possible

Outdoor Recreation and Fitness Establishments

• Maximum 100 people
• Outdoor full-contact sports allowed for adult/club/youth sports with guidance requirements
• Outdoor full-contact sports allowed for K-12 with submitted plan

Outdoor Entertainment Establishments

• Maximum 100 people
• 11:00 p.m. closing time

Personal Services

• Allowed

In counties with high risk, the following activities will be allowed, with health and safety protocols in place:

• Limiting indoor social get-togethers to no more than six people, outdoor social get-togethers to no more than eight, from no more than two households.
• Indoor dining available, not to exceed 25% capacity, max 50 capacity, 11:00p Close Outdoor Dining Available, max capacity 75, max 6 per table, limit 2 households.
• Indoor recreation and fitness Establishments at max 25% capacity or 50 total (whichever is smaller).
• Indoor Entertainment Establishments at max 25% capacity or 50 total (whichever is smaller).
• Retail stores at max 50% of capacity, encourage curbside pick-up.
• Indoor and Outdoor Shopping Centers/Malls at 50% of capacity, encourage curbside pick-up.
• Faith institutions, funeral homes, mortuaries, cemeteries at indoor max 25% capacity or 150 total (whichever is smaller), 200 outdoor.
• Outdoor recreation and fitness establishments at max 75 people.
• Outdoor entertainment establishments at max 75 people.
• Personal services are still allowed under sector restrictions.
• Long term care facility visitation allowed under sector restrictions.

*modifications to the guidance for indoor activities in Extreme Risk counties, took effect January 29. These modifications allow for a maximum of six people indoors at facilities over 500 square feet (for all indoor activities except dining) with associated guidance for ongoing social distancing, cleaning protocols, and face coverings. For facilities smaller than 500 square feet, the modified guidance allows for 1:1 customer experiences, such as personal training. The updated guidance for indoor recreation is also posted on coronavirus.oregon.gov .

More information on the county risk level framework is available here:
Disease Spread Table
County Risk Level Table
Guidance by Activity

please note: Masks are required statewide at all times unless you are:

At your own residence.

In your own personal vehicle.

Under five (5) years of age.

Eating or drinking.

Engaged in an activity that makes wearing a mask, face covering or face shield not feasible, such as when taking a shower.

Sleeping.

In a private, individual workspace.

Removing the mask briefly because your identity needs to be confirmed by visual comparison, such as at a bank or if interacting with law enforcement.

A complete list and map of counties, and their associated risk levels is available here.

Social gatherings– it is strongly encouraged not to gather with more than one other household, limited to 6 people maximum. If indoors, continue to physically distance and wear masks and only not be masked together while eating. If possible (weather permitting) be outside.

Linn County is in currently in Phase II of Oregon’s planned phased reopening and listed as Extreme Risk. Businesses are taking every precaution to keep customers and employees safe. Restaurants are currently offering take out and delivery options. Many businesses are open while others are offering alternative options. We will continue to update this page as new information is available.  Please contact AVA to add or update information here.

Please be patient as we all work through this process. We have provided links directly to their pages to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date information possible. Please feel free to reach out to us with questions via phone or e-mail.

The AVA lobby is open by appointment, knock or call for a limited number of people per current state regulations. AVA’s team is still available through phone and email, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, of course you can find our visitor information on the website or free Albany Explorer App. 

Stay local, stay safe and support your local community.

Restaurants

Businesses

Hotels

Closures of note

Here is an update on closures in Albany:   The Historic Carousel & Museum is open by reservation for a limited number. The Albany Regional Museum will remain closed while Linn County is in Extreme Risk. The Monteith House Museum is open only by appointment. Links are on the Businesses page above.

Events status

To keep our customers informed, we will continue to update our online calendar of events as reports come in and actively reach out to confirm with event planners for events that have been canceled or rescheduled.

If you have questions regarding an event status, feel free to call us at 541-928-0911. We will get an answer for you as soon as we can.

We will also post to our Albany Visitors Association Facebook page when we are notified of an event cancellation or as new events are added, so follow us and be informed: https://www.facebook.com/albanyvisitorsassociation/

Resources

For more information on the Coronavirus and efforts to keep it from spreading, please refer to the following reliable sources:

City of Albany https://www.cityofalbany.net/coronavirus

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) where you can also subscribe to OHA Coronavirus Updates (the latest news about COVID-19 in Oregon.) https://www.oregon.gov/oha/Pages/index.aspx

Travel Oregon Travel Alerts Refer to Travel Oregon’s “Travel Alerts” web page to keep current with the latest recommendations and announcements about COVID-19 within our state. https://traveloregon.com/travel-alerts/

Keep calm, wear your mask and hand wash on!