Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2020)
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2020 | 3A COVID-19 Continued from Page 1A ily members, roommates or other close contacts of the workers who tested pos- itive. By the OHA’s methodology, the same person is counted as an employee of one business, the spouse of someone at an- other business and the parent of a child at a daycare center. “A quick answer is (the) OHA should be very careful and clear on how they define ‘associated,’ and not just group every infected person who is related to a worker from a workplace outbreak as part of that outbreak,” said Chunhuei Chi, Oregon State University Director for the Center for Global Health. OHA Deputy State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Jeanne said the agency’s track- ing and reporting of workplace out- breaks is the department’s standard practice for infectious diseases. But the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a unique spotlight to it. “I think that’s kind of our best prac- tice there,” Jeanne said. “It’s really kind of our routine approach.” The methodology for reporting work- place outbreaks varies from state to state, meaning the reported numbers could be skewing the true size and scope of outbreaks. Oregon publicly reports workplace outbreaks of more than five cases at businesses with at least 30 employees. Michigan, for example, counts two in- fections at a workplace as an outbreak. Iowa doesn’t publicly report outbreaks of fewer than 10% of employees. “Using that word ‘outbreak’ is a mis- nomer,” Freres Lumber human resource manager Marilyn Gueltzow said. “I don’t know why they don’t just use ‘These are the cases. This employer has 430 em- ployees and there’s a reported five cases associated,’ rather than labeling it as an outbreak. “It’s definitely not fair. In our busi- ness environment this year, it could cause people to lose business.” Childcare center outbreak grows without them knowing it When Mercedes Johnston learned a worker at the Little Village Learning Center,the childcare facility she owns and operates, tested positive for CO- VID-19 on Sept. 2, she closed the center. Johnston said she was told by the OHA that she needed to close for 10 days, but she opted to remain closed un- til Sept. 21 as a precautionary measure. Little Village reopened and tried to go back to normal. But days later, the OHA reported the outbreak from her business had grown to 20 people. And then on Oct. 7, the OHA reported they had 22 infections. Johnston said she lost about 10 cus- tomers after she reopened because of the increase in reported cases. Johnston said when she asked repre- sentatives of the OHA why her center was credited with more cases, she said she was told more people in one of her employees’ or client’s families had test- ed positive for COVID-19. But the OHA wouldn’t be more spe- cific, citing laws that protect patient pri- vacy. “The Oregon Health Authority needs to be transparent with the school,” Johnson said. “You need to tell me who they are so if I see them that I know they’re not supposed to be here.” Standard practice for reporting Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Oregon in January, the Oregon Health Authority has led the tracking of the novel coronavirus in Oregon and dis- seminated information about where the disease is prevalent. In April, the OHA started reporting outbreaks of COVID-19 at long-term care facilities. And in May it started re- porting what it calls “large workplace outbreaks,” which include workplace outbreaks of more than five cases for employers with at least 30 workers. “We’ve got a pretty standard prac- tice, not just for COVID, but all the in- fectious diseases that we track,” Jeanne said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local public health authorities have the legal author- ity for investigating disease outbreaks, but there are no federal guidelines on how to trace cases associated with an outbreak. Chi said classifying people who are infected with COVID-19 who have been associated with the workplace is a gray area in epidemiological reporting. He said knowing how many people in total are infected from a workplace out- break is helpful in an epidemiological investigation in tracking how the virus has spread from that workplace. But Chi said cases associated with a workplace outbreak should provide clear evidence the person who was in- fected has no other exposure, including their workplace or personal contacts, to be counted. “Therefore, the real issue here about how OHA defines workplace outbreak is how it ascertains the ‘associated’ condi- tion,” Chi said. “This is often very com- plex if the person has many other op- portunities to be exposed to an infected person other than the said outbreak.” Freres Lumber workers sorting veneer are separated by plastic dividers on Thursday in Mill City. The measure was taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. PHOTOS BY ABIGAIL DOLLINS/STATESMAN JOURNAL Large workplace outbreaks can threaten communities Large outbreaks of COVID-19 can pose a health risk for a larger area. An outbreak at Pacific Seafood in Newport in June saw 186 cases attribut- ed to the processing facility. Not long after the Pacific Seafood outbreak, workplace outbreaks were re- ported at Local Ocean (12 cases), Geor- gie’s Beachside Grill (8), the Newport McDonald’s (7) and Clearwater in New- port (7). Similar occurrences have followed in Umatilla and Morrow counties where one or several large employers have had a large number of cases followed by smaller outbreaks at sites such as res- taurants. Business owners maintain the lack of information given by the OHA could be putting them at risk of further infec- tions. At Little Village Learning Center, Johnston said she doesn’t know if a child or adult who has been exposed is returning to the center and potentially infecting her. “I told her this way, your guidelines suck,” Johnston said. Being identified can hurt businesses Freres Lumber in Lyons saw its work- force drop significantly during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March it had 475 employees, ac- cording to president Rob Freres. But or- ders dwindled so much and they ran out of room for storage that the company shut down for a week in May. The num- ber of workers fell to about 400 by June. Since then, the company has strug- gled to hire more employees to get back up to full production levels. Gueltzow said being named an out- break has made it harder to find new employees and retain its current ones. Gueltzow said the company has been diligent in its protections against the vi- rus, including requiring face masks, plastic dividers between employees when they can’t maintain six feet dis- tance, giving employees who had con- tact with a person known to have had COVID-19 14 paid days off, and having employees eat lunch in their cars or out- doors to stay separate. But on Sept. 23, the company was added to the OHA’s weekly list of work- place outbreaks. The OHA reported Freres had its first case Aug. 16 and by Sept. 5 it had five. “And I will tell you that from the 8/16 magical date that they started tracking, we had one positive,” Gueltzow said. “And we did have three other people who were out, but it was family issues. It was their child or their wife.” Gueltzow said the company learned the wife of one employee contracted COVID-19 and their employee let them know. That employee was given sick leave for two weeks even though he has tested negative. The spouse, it turns out, works for Amazon in Salem, and she was also counted in their case total. “She’s not on (our) site and her hus- band is not infected, but we’re going to get hit with that case,” Gueltzow said. In the meantime, the outbreak at Freres continues to grow, according to the OHA. The lumber company is now credited with 14 cases, even though it only knows of one employee who has tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 18. Getting off the list Counties perform contacting tracing to help limit the spread by identifying those who were close contacts of some- one known to be infected. The counties ask those infected for information such as where they work and who the infect- ed person has been around and reports it to the OHA, which adds the individual cases to their workplace totals. To get off the list of active outbreaks, a company must be free of cases for the past 28 days. Getting off the list of closed outbreaks requires 56 days with- out a case. Some companies in Oregon have been on the list since the beginning of the pandemic and, due to their size, are Information about COVID-19 is continuously displayed in a break room at Freres Lumber. unlikely to get off it. Amazon’s Salem (40 cases) and Troutdale (69 cases) facilities have been on the list since late May, and their most recent cases have been in October. The largest active workplace out- breaks in the state are prisons, includ- ing Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario with 496 cases and Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pen- dleton with 400. Two Rivers Correction- al Institution in Umatilla is fourth with 126 cases. There were 75 current workplace out- G G U R breaks identified in the OHA’s Oct. 14 re- port, representing more than 2,000 cases. Nine childcare facilities were credited with 63 cases. The OHA reported that there have been 24 deaths associated with work- place outbreaks in the state, but it has declined to attribute those cases to spe- cific employers. Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler ERSATILE V & , H G U O ED, T L3301 • 33 Gross HP, † 3-Cylinder Kubota Diesel Engine • 2WD or 4WD • Choice of Transmission • Performance-Matched Implements Available RTV1100 † KX033-R43A • 24.8 Gross HP, 3-Cylinder Kubota Diesel Engine • Variable Hydro Transmission (VHT-X) • Standard 4-Wheel Drive • 24.8 Gross HP † Kubota Diesel Engine • Optional Hydraulic Angle Blade • Strong Bucket Breakout Force OVS ® MCMINNVILLE OVS ® AURORA 2700 ST. JOSEPH RD. 19658 HWY. 99 E. MCMINNVILLE, OR HUBBARD, OR (503) 435-2700 (971) 216-0111 www.ovs.com • 800-653-2216 STORE HOURS: Mon–Fri: 8–5 • Sat: 8–Noon FULL SERVICE SHOPS AT BOTH LOCATIONS! $0 DOWN, 0% A.P.R. FINANCING FOR UP TO 84 We’re working to keep you working. Offer good until 12/31/20 * MONTHS * ON SELECT NEW KUBOTAS *0% Down, 0% A.P.R. financing for up to 84 months on purchases of select new Kubota L3301 equipment from participating dealers’ in stock inventory is available to qualified purchasers through Kubota Credit Corporation, U.S.A.; subject to credit approval. Example: 84 monthly payments of $11.90 per $1,000 financed. Contract term begins from the date of first payment which is due 90 days from the contract date. Example: Purchase made on 9/1/20, first monthly payment is due 12/1/20. Some exceptions apply. Terms subject to change. Offers expire 12/31/20. This material is for descriptive purposes only. Kubota disclaims all representations and warranties, express or implied, or any liability from the use of this material. For more information, see Dealer or go to KubotaUSA.com. † For complete warranty, safety and product information, consult your local Kubota dealer and the product operator’s manual. Power (HP/KW) and other specifications are based on various standards or recommended practices. K1213-04-144497-21
