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SATURDAY– MONDAY • December 12, 2020
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Good day to our valued subscriber Marinus Delint of Cove
EDUCATION
Back to
distance
ed in
January?
Five Union County
school districts may
be required to close
campuses again
By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — From
onsite to online — again.
Students in the Cove, Elgin,
Imbler, North Powder and Union
school districts may
have to go from
receiving instruc-
tion onsite to online
once more in early
January due to the
COVID-19 pan-
Lakey-
demic. The state
Campbell
may mandate this
move in these fi ve
school districts, all
which now offer
onsite instruction,
unless COVID-19
rates in Union
County decline.
Pettit
The state’s Safe
Harbor program, which allows
small school districts in small
counties to offer onsite instruc-
tion even if their counties have
COVID-19 rates above the state
threshold, is set to expire Jan. 4,
2021.
Should this occur, the Cove,
Elgin, Imbler, North Powder and
Union school districts would
have to begin offering only dis-
tance education to students.
The La Grande School District,
which is not a Safe Harbor dis-
trict because of its larger size,
is not offering general onsite
instruction now.
North Powder School District
Superintendent Lance Dixon
said he is hopeful the state will
take action to prevent cam-
puses from closing by extending
the Safe Harbor deadline or
changing the metrics counties
have to meet for schools to offer
onsite instruction. He said if the
COVID-19 rate falls signifi cantly
in Union County, its fi ve smaller
school schools would not have to
shift to distance education.
Dixon said he believes the
state should take into account
how successful Union Coun-
ty’s small school district’s have
been at preventing COVID-19
outbreaks before forcing their
students back into receiving
Kaleb Lay/The Observer
Workers with the Center for Human Development, Union County’s public health arm, guide a patient through the process of taking a
COVID-19 drive-thru test Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. CHD will hold similar testing events Dec. 14 and 21, and results from the nasal swab
tests are available in three to fi ve days.
Dark days ahead
Center for Human Development to hold free COVID-19 testing
clinics; first vaccines arriving Dec. 15-22 in Oregon
By Kaleb Lay
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Across the state
and nation this week, COVID-19 con-
tinued its unforgiving spread and claimed
thousands of lives every day. The week
was one of dark tidings and silver lin-
ings, as dire projections for Oregon’s
near future met with slivers of hope for
the expected arrival of the fi rst doses of
a vaccine.
Spread
Union County saw positive cases of
COVID-19 taper off somewhat this week,
recording 38 total cases between Sunday,
Dec. 6, and Friday, Dec. 11. The county’s
public health arm reported one death on
Thursday, bringing the local death toll to
nine.
While daily cases have tapered off,
local spread continues.
Outbreaks once again grew at Wild-
fl ower Lodge Assisted Living Com-
munity, La Grande, where at least fi ve
people have died. Staff at the long-
term care facility declined to provide
details on the outbreak but did issue a
statement.
Kaleb Lay/The Observer
The Center for Human Development, La Grande, held the fi rst of three free COVID-19
testing clinics on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Similar events, which provide drive-thru test-
ing, will be offered Dec. 14 and 21. For more information, visit chdinc.org.
FREE COVID-19 TESTING
• Where: Center for Human Development, 2301 Cove Ave., La Grande
• When: Dec. 14 and Dec. 21, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Register and select your appointment time at www.doineedacovid19test.com.
• One person per appointment, each person must register individually. The clinic is drive-thru,
does not require insurance and the nasal swab is self-administered.
See, Dark days/Page 5A
Rural benefits
See, Distance/Page 5A
Change in counting COVID-19 tests expected to
be an advantage for rural Oregon counties
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — A change in
counting COVID-19 tests will
benefi t rural Oregon — once the
state fi gures out how to accu-
rately account for all the tests.
Previously, the state was
not counting multiple tests
taken by a single person, which
failed to account for many neg-
ative tests taken weekly or
INDEX
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monthly by health and long-
term care workers. However,
as the Oregon Health Authority
is switching its system, rural
county health offi cials say many
of the results from the rapid
tests they are using, which are
reported differently, are not yet
being counted at all.
Grant County Health Depart-
ment Clinic Manager Jessica
Winegar said, like other rural
WEATHER
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TUESDAY
Outdoors ...... 1B
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State .............. 6A
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Weather ........ 6B
counties, most of its testing is
with the rapid tests. She said
Grant County sent many more
than the 393 rapid tests the state
recently reported.
“I am 100% sure,” she said.
However, she said they
cannot recount them after they
go to OHA.
Harney County Public Health
Administrator Nic Calvin said,
as a county that is primarily
testing via the rapid and antigen
tests, the county’s test results are
not accurate.
In the fi rst week of
November, the state reported
two positives and 79 negatives.
In reality, Calvin said, Harney
County had between 10
and 20 positive rapid test
results that week.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
26 LOW
38/30
A bit of snow
Rain/snow
shower
PROPOSED APARTMENTS FOR ALL AGES
State health offi cials did not
immediately respond to the
Blue Mountain Eagle’s request
for comment. Eastern Oregon
health offi cials said the state is
aware of the problem, but has
not provided a time frame in
which they expect to fi x it.
The problem
Umatilla County Public
Health Director Joe Fiumara
said rapid tests, which account
for a majority of the types of
tests administered in rural coun-
ties, will not be counted for the
next couple of weeks.
OHA said laboratory tests
comprise the majority of tests
given in Oregon and as such are
See, Benefi ts/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 148
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com