December 9, 2021 10:20 a.m.

Sutherlin City Manager Jerry Gillham has clarified information regarding the sudden closure of City Hall on Wednesday.

Gillham said, “Because of a COVID outbreak within City Hall, we’ve been forced to close operations for a period of time to get healthy again”.

Gillham said that Douglas County did not direct the decision, but rather agreed that this was the most prudent approach in response to the number of employees impacted. A post on the city’s Facebook page put up Wednesday said the closure had come at the direction of County Public Health Officer Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer.

Thursday morning, Gillham said staff is working to reopen City Hall before the ten-day quarantine period, but the decision will be made upon the retesting outcomes scheduled for next Monday or Tuesday.

Gillham said, “We sincerely regret having to take this action”. He said because of the swift movement of COVID throughout the building and in spite of proper face covering and distancing, staff couldn’t comprehensively contact-trace the origin. Gillham said the best option was to send all employees home for a period of time to exhaust the outbreak.