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THURSDAY
•
June 18, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Dennis Johnson of La Grande
SPECIAL REPORT
Community reels from outbreak
By Ronald Bond and
Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Union
County on Wednesday
added only two new cases
of COVID-19 to its total,
but the 242 still is good
enough for the fi fth most in
the state.
The county on Tuesday
added 119 confi rmed cases
of COVID-19, making it
the hotspot in the state,
according to the Oregon
Health Authority. The spike
prompted business to shut
doors and the city of La
Grande to close parks. The
Union County Board of
Commissioners voted to
recommend rolling back to
Phase 1 guidelines.
The board of commis-
sioners met Wednesday
morning via a Zoom call
to address the communi-
ty’s concerns about the
outbreak. Members of the
Center for Human Devel-
opment, the Union County
Sheriff’s Offi ce, La Grande
Police Department and
the Incident Management
Team’s J.B. Brock sat in on
the meeting to provide fur-
ther information and rec-
ommendations. In addition
to recommending the roll
back to Phase 1, commis-
Screenshot of Lighthouse Church video
Church members of La Grande’s Lighthouse Pentecostal Church placed their hands on one another during a service
April 26 in this Facebook photo, despite Gov. Brown’s executive order to stay home and limit large gatherings of people.
The church is the source of the COVID-19 outbreak in Union County.
sioners voted to recommend
wearing masks.
The two motions are
only recommendations.
Commissioner Matt Scarfo
said the board is looking
into what power it has to
enforce and regulate phases
and mask use. Commis-
sioner Donna Beverage said
Contact tracing key to
mapping spread of virus
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
UNION COUNTY
— Union County public
health workers are getting
some help tracking down
who might be a victim of
the coronavirus outbreak.
The county has fi ve
public health staff working
on investigations. Thomas
Jeanne, deputy state health
offi cer and epidemiolo-
gist, said during a Tuesday
afternoon call with
media the Oregon Health
Authority is providing 10
additional contact tracers,
two on the ground in
Union County and eight
working remotely.
Contact tracers take up
their work after investi-
gators have identifi ed and
notifi ed people who have
been in close contact with
someone who has or is
likely to have COVID-19.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention, contact tracers
go through a four-step
process.
Step one is rapid noti-
fi cation of exposure. Con-
tact tracers will call those
close contacts to notify
them they may have been
exposed to the virus. The
CDC suggests all com-
munication should be over
phone, text or email —
however, if in-person com-
munication is required,
tracers must adhere to
social distancing standards
and wear personal protec-
tive equipment.
A person with a con-
fi rmed case may choose
to voluntarily identify
close contacts. During
this notifi cation no iden-
tifying information about
the person with the case
is given, even if the close
contact asks.
Step two is to inter-
view the contact to fi nd out
if there is any additional
potential for a spread.
The contact tracer will
ask questions about a per-
son’s identifi cation, such
as name, date of birth and
contact information, in
addition to demographic
details, such as race, eth-
nicity and disability infor-
mation. The tracer also
could ask about a person’s
occupation and if they are
feeling any symptoms of
COVID-19.
Contact tracers treat
the answers as confi den-
tial and private, and they
do not ask for someone’s
Social Security number,
See, Tracing/Page 6A
she would rather trust res-
idents to voluntarily enact
Phase 1 guidelines.
La Grande Police Chief
Gary Bell and Union
County Sheriff Boyd Ras-
mussen confi rmed there
will be no formal enforce-
ment of guidelines.
“I know some would like
to see us take more heavy-
handed enforcement action,
but it is really diffi cult at
this time,” Bell said. “These
are good people.”
The two top local law
enforcement offi cers said
their agencies will continue
to look into complaints
about people not following
guidelines and make rec-
ommendations to those who
don’t to reconsider their
actions to keep the commu-
nity safe.
“I think we are prepared
as any community to deal
with this,” Rasmussen said.
“We were put on the map
with how this has happened
and we are on the map on
how we are going to handle
this.”
Public Health Adminis-
trator Carrie Brogoitti said
what happens next in the
county depends on every
member of the community
stepping up.
“We don’t have a reliable
treatment or vaccine,” she
said. “So the tools we have
to use are the preventative
measures.”
“This is a big deal,” La
Grande Mayor Steve Clem-
ents said Wednesday. “It’s a
community crisis that needs
See, Outbreak/Page 5A
Wallowa hospital ready to help
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE —
Wallowa County may
have avoided the brunt
of COVID-19 cases, but
the hospital there stands
ready to help neighboring
counties, such as with the
massive surge in cases
reported this week in
Union County.
“While there is no
way to predict the poten-
tial needs of other hospi-
tals related to a COVID
surge, we are committed
to helping our fellow hos-
pitals any way we can,”
said Brooke Pace, com-
munications and public
relations director for Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital,
Enterprise.
Pace said the 25-bed
hospital is unlikely to be
called upon to help since
critical coronavirus patients
are more likely to go to
facilities with a larger
Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
Wallowa Memorial Hospital, Enterprise, stands ready to
help hospitals in neighboring counties, such as with the
recent COVID-19 surge in Union County. The tent outside
the ambulance entrance is for testing of possible COVID-19
patients.
capacity for intensive care
patients.
“Due to our size, if
transfers happen, we are
more likely to receive non-
COVID patients,” she said.
She said she does not
know how many beds are
available, as that changes
hourly. But the hospital is
nowhere near capacity at
present.
However, Pace said, the
hospital has made plans.
“In a surge situation,
our overfl ow plan would
See, Wallowa/Page 6A
Baker County offers hospital beds, contact tracing, call center
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — Baker
County has offered assis-
tance as Union County offi -
cials respond to Oregon’s
biggest COVID-19 outbreak .
Baker County’s emer-
gency response team also is
prepared for potential new
cases. Baker County has had
only one confi rmed case of
the virus, reported May 6.
“It’s prudent for us to
keep all of our staff ready,”
said Mark Bennett, a Baker
County commissioner and
the county’s incident com-
mander during the pan-
demic. “We’re not an island.
We’re a little more sensitive
because we’re so close and
we have so much interaction
with Union County.”
Bennett said he spoke
with Union County Com-
missioner Paul Anderes on
Monday and offered to have
some of Baker County’s 14
contact tracers help with
the Union County investi-
gation, or any other assis-
tance Baker County could
provide.
“We offered right away,”
Bennett said.
Bennett said Anderes told
him both the state and Uma-
tilla County also are helping,
and so far none of Baker
County’s contact tracers
have been needed.
Saint Alphonsus Med-
ical Center in Baker City,
the county’s only hospital,
has “a surge plan in place
and (we) are prepared for an
increase in patients should
that occur,” Laura Huggins,
a spokesperson for the hos-
pital, wrote in an email to
the Herald on Tuesday.
The plan Baker County
submitted to the state prior
a call center if the Baker
County Health Department
starts to receive more calls
from concerned residents
than its staff can handle.
The call center, which
would be staffed by county
employees, is designed to
give residents the informa-
tion that’s also available
on the county’s COVID-19
website, www.bakercounty-
covid19.com.
Bennett said he under-
stands that not all residents
have internet access, and
that some would prefer to
talk to a person.
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to Phase 1 of reopening,
which started May 15,
stated Saint Alphonsus had
boosted its capacity from
25 beds to 35, including fi ve
intensive care unit beds.
In addition, the county
has arranged an alternate
site with the capacity for up
to 60 more beds.
Bennett said the coun-
ty’s emergency manage-
ment team had a discussion
Monday, and the team con-
fi rmed the county’s contact
tracers are ready if needed.
Bennett also said the
county is ready to operate
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Issue 73
3 sections, 22 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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