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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2021)
2A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021 | APPEAL TRIBUNE COVID-19 Continued from Page 1A Falling rates of COVID-19 across the United States mask a harsh reality – the overwhelming majority of those getting sick and being hospitalized to- day are unvaccinated, while vaccinated patients are becoming rare. Hospitals in states with the lowest vaccination rates tend to have more COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, according to hospital data col- lected in the past week by the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services and vaccination rates published by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention. Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas and Idaho currently have the highest per- centage of COVID-19 patients on aver- age in their ICUs; those states all have vaccinated less than 40% of their pop- ulation. Medical centers say there’s also an obvious change in the age of their sick- est patients, as older people are much more likely to be vaccinated than younger. “We’re all seeing the same thing – when someone does get sick and comes to the hospital, they’re much more like- ly to be young and unvaccinated,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Cathy Bennett, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, said the picture is the same in her state. “As COVID vaccinations rolled out across New Jersey, there’s been a major shift in the ages of patients admitted to the hospital,” said Bennett. “Unlike last spring, when those 65 and older ac- counted for the majority of hospitaliza- tions, we’re now seeing more young people hospitalized with COVID.” In Ohio, Salata said the shift should be reassuring, showing the vaccines work. “It sends a very strong message to the hesitancy people out there because the data speaks for itself,” he said. Doctors say there are multiple rea- sons people aren’t yet vaccinated. There are the hesitant, who still have questions and sometimes fall prey to misinformation, and the opposed, who often harbor anti-government or anti- science sentiments. “We’ve had a little success when we’ve spoken to them on a one-to-one basis. We can give them the informa- tion that they need to make their deci- sion,” said Dr. Gerald Maloney, chief medical officer for hospital services at Geisinger health network, which runs DE M G N I D AN AND KUBOTA! M E D S JO B KX033-4R1A L2501HST nine hospitals in Pennsylvania. Some still can’t easily access vac- cine, either because it’s not available nearby or because they can’t get time off work. And while the U.S. government paid for all vaccines and vaccinations so no one should be charged, others remain fearful they will be on the fi- nancial hook for a shot, Maloney said. Last week, Health and Human Ser- vices secretary Secretary Xavier Be- cerra clarified in a letter that providers may not bill patients for COVID-19 vaccines. There’s still a lot of work to be done to create the trust necessary for these groups to embrace vaccination, Malo- ney said. “The people who say, ‘It’s my body, my choice?’ Well, it’s not all about you,” he said. “It’s also about the peo- ple that you’re around.” At this point, every vaccination is a win, one more person who can’t pass the virus along. That’s especially true in families where children can’t be vaccinated and are still at risk. At Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio, “we have not seen any kiddos who have been admitted to the hospi- tal who have been vaccinated,” said Dr. Michael Bigham, a pediatric inten- sivist in the critical care unit. Among children 11 and younger, who can’t yet get the vaccine, having vaccinated family members is keep- ing them out of the hospital, and pro- tecting them against MIS-C, the mul- tisystem inflammatory syndrome that can be a rare but dangerous afteref- fect of a COVID-19 infection in chil- dren. “Most of the kids we’re seeing in the hospital with COVID or MIS-C had COVID in their household, maybe a parent or a grandparent, and most of those individuals had not been vacci- nated,” he said. The message from health care workers is unanimous: They just aren’t seeing many vaccinated people get sick. In New Jersey, the percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations among those ages 18 to 29 has increased 58% since the beginning of the year. By comparison, the percentage of CO- VID-19 hospitalizations among the 65 and older age group – with a state- wide vaccination rate of more than 80% – declined by 31.2%. 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Power (HP/KW) and other specifications are based on various standards or recommended practices. K1048-04-145829-10 Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309 Phone: 503-399-6773 Fax: 503-399-6706 Email: sanews@salem.gannett.com Web site: www.SilvertonAppeal.com Staff News Director Don Currie 503-399-6655 dcurrie@statesmanjournal.com Advertising Westsmb@gannett.com Deadlines News: 4 p.m. Thursday Letters: 4 p.m. Thursday Obituaries: 11 a.m. Friday Display Advertising: 4 p.m. Wednesday Legals: 3 p.m. Wednesday Classifieds: 4 p.m. Friday News Tips The Appeal Tribune encourages suggestions for local stories. Email the newsroom, submit letters to the editor and send announcements to sanews@salem.gannett.com or call 503-399-6773. Classifieds: call 503-399-6789 Retail: call 503-399-6602 Legal: call 503-399-6789 Missed Delivery? 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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Crater Lake still limited by COVID-19 Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK A visit to Oregon’s only national park still won’t be quite normal this summer thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Crater Lake National Park won’t have boat tours on the lake, trolly tours around the lake or ranger-led programs to start a summer that could see a rec- ord number of people visit the deepest lake in the United States. “We’re definitely still in more of a CO- VID-19 posture this summer,” park spokeswoman Marsha McCabe said. “The thing is that we had to start plan- ning for the summer during last winter (when the COVID-19 situation was much worse). We also have to follow guidelines that limit how many people we’re staffing in housing units, which means we don’t have as many people as normal and it limits our ability to do ev- erything.” The park’s visitor’s center also will be closed — although rangers will be avail- able to answers questions at an outdoor contact station at the park’s rim. And at Crater Lake Lodge, only registered guests are allowed in, as opposed to the general public being able to buy food and explore the historic hotel. But the experience won't be com- pletely slimmed down. All the trails and viewpoints will be open. The Rim Café and Anne Creek restaurant and store in the Mazama Village will be open, albeit with capacity limits, as will restrooms throughout the park. The Mazama campground and cab- ins are also open. The campground is first-come, first-served in June but dur- ing July moves to all reservations, and anyone planning to arrive during peak months should make a reservation now, McCabe said. “We anticipate an extremely busy season,” she said. “Last year July and August hit all-time records for visits, and we’re expecting some of the same this year. We want to encourage people to arrive early or later in the day, be- cause if you come right at midday, espe- cially on a weekend or holiday weekend, you could be waiting in line for over an hour just to get in.” The numbers are no joke. In 2020, a whopping 209,678 people visited in July and 222,368 arrived in August. The abnormally hot and dry spring has allowed the park to clear much, but not all of the snow that typically lingers into the summer. The north and west entrances are already open and McCabe said she expects the entire Rim Drive to be open by July 4. Another important pathway, Cleet- wood Cove Trail, the only way to get down to the water, will also open soon, McCabe said. She stressed that going into the lake’s caldera via any other route is not allowed and can not only get visitors hurt, but also get them a fine. Likewise, people are not allowed to bring inflatable boats to float on the water. Visitors can swim in the frigid lake, but can’t paddle their own crafts on what’s among the pur- est water bodies in the world. “Last year we had so many people try- ing to get into the caldera, which is so dangerous," she said. "We also had some people sneak down inflatable boats in their backpacks. We’re going to have staff out there seven days per week monitoring this summer. It’s one of the clearest lakes in the world and we’re trying to protect that.” McCabe mentioned that once the sea- son gets rolling, there are less visited places on the East Rim Drive such as Mount Scott or Sun Notch worth check- ing out for a quieter experience. She added that the park is hoping to add ranger-led interpretive programs lat- er in the summer. “We don’t want to commit to anything, but people should check back as the sum- mer progresses,” she said. Overall, McCabe said, visitors should plan to be as self-sufficient as possible. Between major crowds and capacity lim- its, people may not be able to get food in a speedy manner, which makes bringing food, water and other amenities impor- tant. “There are plenty of great things to do, all the trails and stuff outside are open and we’re ready,” she said. “But if you can, midweek is always going to be a quieter experience.” Crater Lake National Park fast facts How to do it: Most people drive around 33-mile Rim Drive, which circles the collapsed volcano past many trail- heads and viewpoints. How to get to the lake: The only place to get to the actual waters of Crater Lake is hiking down via Cleetwood Cove Trail. Depth of Crater Lake: 1,949 feet How cold is Crater Lake? The average temperature is 38 degrees. In the sum- mer, the surface can warm up to 55 or 60 degrees. Not open in 2021: Boat tours, trolly tours, visitor's center, ranger-guided pro- grams Zach Urness has been an outdoors re- porter, photographer and videographer in Oregon for 13 years. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hik- ing Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
