THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 5A
COVID-19
the majority of COVID-19
deaths account for a minor
share of the cases. Based
on tracking data from the
OHA, as of Jan. 19, those
age 60 or older had tal-
lied only 17.3% of Oregon’s
positive COVID-19 cases,
while those ages 10 to 39
had tallied 49.3%.
While it may be true
that younger people are less
likely to die from COVID-
19, the data show that
younger populations are
driving the spread of the
disease, while older popula-
tions are bearing the brunt
of that spread.
Continued from Page 1A
roughly 1.67% — nearly
17 times higher than the
average death rate of the fl u
during the past three years.
The national death rate
is closely mirrored in Union
County, where 1,114 cases
of COVID-19 had resulted
in 16 deaths as of Monday,
Jan. 18, according to the
Center for Human Devel-
opment. That puts the local
death rate at just over 1.4%.
At that rate, more than one
in 70 Union County resi-
dents who tested positive
for COVID-19 died as a
result.
While COVID-19 may
feel like the fl u to some
individuals who contract
it, the effects of the ill-
nesses are dangerously dif-
ferent. As of Tuesday, Jan.
19, COVID-19 had killed
18,755 Americans in just
the preceding seven days,
according to the CDC.
‘It doesn’t affect
younger, healthy
people’
The overwhelming
majority of deaths from
COVID-19 occur in elderly
populations, for whom
the disease is particularly
deadly. According to the
Oregon Health Authority,
‘Masks don’t work’
There are many varia-
tions on this misconcep-
tion, including sentiments
that only “sealed” or high-
quality masks can prevent
the spread of COVID-19.
Many seem to stem from
the fact that the COVID-19
particle is extremely small
and can pass through cloth
masks or that gaps between
a mask and a person’s face
can allow for the passage
of air.
Dr. Stephen Hunsaker,
a hospitalist with Grande
Ronde Hospital who grew
up in Baker City, explained
the function of masks
in a recent interview on
EOAlive TV:
“The mask doesn’t catch
Kaleb Lay/The Observer
A sign in a window overlooking Adams Avenue in down-
town La Grande on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, calls for an
end to COVID-19 “lockdowns.” Public health restrictions
aimed at staunching the spread of the disease have forced
some businesses to shut their doors and limited social
gatherings for months in Union County.
roughly one in fi ve people
older than 80 who
contracted COVID-19 in
Oregon died as a result,
and deaths of those 60 or
older accounted for 1,642
of Oregon’s 1,808
deaths, or 90.8%, as of
Tuesday, Jan. 19.
This has led to an
apparent misconception
that COVID-19 affects only
the elderly and therefore
younger and healthier pop-
ulations do not need to take
the virus as seriously.
However, the same pop-
ulations that account for
coronavirus,” Hunsaker
explained, “but it does catch
those little tiny water drop-
lets you exhale, and those
water droplets have the
majority of the virus that
you’re exhaling. So, in that
way, the mask actually does
help. It’s not a hundred per-
cent, but it’s certainly better
than not having anything.”
Additionally, study after
study from numerous insti-
tutions — the University
of California San Fran-
sisco, the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Preven-
tion, The Lancet medical
journal and the Proceedings
of the National Academy of
Sciences — have indicated
consistent mask-wearing
drives down COVID-19
transmission rates. And the
Institute for Health Met-
rics and Evaluation mod-
eled a best-case scenario
for the future of the pan-
demic in which universal
mask-wearing smothers the
spread of the disease.
Masks have been repeat-
edly proven effective in
curtailing the spread of
COVID-19.
‘The vaccine is
dangerous/untested’
Misinformation around
the two COVID-19 vaccines
authorized for emergency
use in the U.S. has exploded
since they were rolled out in
December. Some common
misconceptions about vac-
cines claim that they are
untested or even dangerous.
The vaccines underwent
extensive testing before
the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration authorized
them for emergency use.
The Pfi zer-BioNTech vac-
cine was tested on 44,000
people of varying age and
ethnicity, and the Mod-
erna vaccine was tested
on 30,400 people, many of
whom reportedly worked in
occupations that put them
at high risk of infection,
according to FDA memo-
randums on the review of
the vaccines.
Through testing on
those tens of thousands of
people, both vaccines were
shown to prevent serious
symptoms of COVID-19.
Common side effects of the
vaccine included pain at the
injection site, muscle and
joint pain and chills.
Both vaccines were
found to be both safe and
effective.
While some people
have had allergic reactions
to the vaccines, including
one person at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital in
Enterprise who has since
recovered, recipients are
monitored after injection
for signs of anaphylaxis,
and reactions have proved
to be exceedingly rare.
PRESIDENT
Continued from Page 1A
pandemic.
“The will of the people
has been heard, and the
will of the people has been
heeded. We’ve learned
again that democracy is
precious and democracy
is fragile. At this hour, my
friends, democracy has
prevailed,” Biden said.
“This is America’s day.
This is democracy’s day. A
day in history and hope, of
renewal and resolve.”
And then he pivoted to
challenges ahead, acknowl-
edging the surging virus
that has claimed more than
400,000 lives in the United
States. Biden looked out
over a capital city dotted
with empty storefronts
that attest to the pandem-
ic’s deep economic toll
and where summer pro-
tests laid bare the nation’s
renewed reckoning on
racial injustice.
“We have much to do
in this winter of peril,
and signifi cant possibili-
ties: much to repair, much
to restore, much to heal,
much to build and much
to gain,” Biden said. “Few
people in our nation’s his-
tory have more challenged,
or found a time more chal-
lenging or diffi cult than the
time we’re in now.”
His predecessor’s
absence underscored the
healing that is needed.
Flouting tradition,
Donald Trump departed
Washington ahead of the
inauguration rather than
accompany his successor
to the Capitol. Though
three other former pres-
idents — Bill Clinton,
George W. Bush and
Barack Obama — gath-
ered to watch the cere-
monial transfer of power,
Trump, awaiting his
second impeachment trial,
instead fl ew to Florida
after stoking grievance
among his supporters with
the lie that Biden’s win was
illegitimate.
Biden, in his third run
for the presidency, staked
his candidacy less on any
distinctive political ide-
ology than on galvanizing
a broad coalition of voters
around the notion that
Trump posed an existential
threat to American democ-
racy. Biden did not men-
tion Trump by name in the
early moments of his inau-
gural address but alluded
to the rifts his predecessor
had helped create.
“I know the forces that
divide us are deep and
they are real. But I also
Dick Mason/The Observer
The La Grande Fiddle Club relies on the virtual meeting
platform Zoom due to the COVID-19 restrictions on in-per-
son gatherings. During the pandemic, the club has grown
from 30 members meeting once a week to 47 members
meeting every school day afternoon.
MUSIC
Continued from Page 1A
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris bumps fi sts with President-elect Joe Biden after she
was sworn in during the inauguration, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, at the U.S. Capi-
tol in Washington.
know they are not new.
Our history has been a
constant struggle between
the American ideal that
we all are created equal
and the harsh, ugly reality
of racism, nativism, fear,
demonization that have
long torn us apart,” Biden
said. “This is our historic
moment of crisis and chal-
lenge, and unity is the path
forward and we must meet
this moment as the United
States of America.”
Biden came to offi ce
with a well of empathy and
resolve born by personal
tragedy as well as a depth
of experience forged from
more than four decades in
Washington. At age 78, he
was the oldest president
inaugurated.
More history was made
at his side, as Kamala
Harris became the fi rst
woman to be vice pres-
ident. The former U.S.
senator from California
is also the fi rst Black
person and the fi rst person
of South Asian descent
elected to the vice pres-
idency and will become
the highest-ranking
woman ever to serve in
government.
The two were sworn
in during an inauguration
ceremony with few paral-
lels in history.
Tens of thousands of
troops are on the streets to
provide security precisely
two weeks after a violent
mob of Trump supporters,
incited by the Republican
president, stormed the
Capitol in an attempt to
prevent the certifi cation of
Biden’s victory.
“Here we stand, just
days after a riotous mob
thought they could use vio-
lence to silence the will of
the people,” Biden said.
“To stop the work of our
democracy. To drive us
from this sacred ground.
It did not happen. It will
never happen. Not today,
not tomorrow. Not ever.
Not ever.”
The tense atmosphere
evoked the 1861 inaugu-
ration of Lincoln, who
was secretly transported
to Washington to avoid
assassins on the eve of
the Civil War, or Roos-
evelt’s inaugural in 1945,
when he opted for a small,
secure ceremony at the
White House in the waning
months of World War II.
The day began with a
reach across the aisle after
four years of bitter partisan
battles under Trump. At
Biden’s invitation, congres-
sional leaders from both
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parties bowed their heads
in prayer in the socially
distanced service just a
few blocks from the White
House.
Once at the Capitol,
Biden will be adminis-
tered the oath by Chief Jus-
tice John Roberts; Harris
will be sworn in by Jus-
tice Sonia Sotomayor, the
fi rst Latina member of the
Supreme Court. Vice Pres-
ident Mike Pence, standing
in for Trump, was sit-
ting nearby as Lady Gaga,
holding a gold microphone,
sang the National Anthem
accompanied by the U.S.
Marine Corps band.
The theme of Biden’s
approximately 30-minute
speech will be “America
United,” and aides said
it would be a call to set
aside differences during a
moment of national trial.
Biden will then oversee
a “Pass in Review,” a mil-
itary tradition that honors
the peaceful transfer of
power to a new com-
mander in chief. Then,
Biden, Harris and their
spouses will be joined
by that bipartisan trio of
former presidents to
lay a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier at Arlington
National Ceremony.
the breakout rooms are a
great teaching tool. Arnold
always assigns one student
in a breakout room to be its
leader.
“Kids like to be selected
to be leaders,” she said.
“It gives them a feeling of
importance.”
A drawback to teaching
music virtually is students,
who are in their homes,
don’t play instruments
together. This means they
aren’t able to hear the whole
group at once, making it dif-
fi cult to learn to carry their
own part while hearing mul-
tiple parts, Arnold said.
Another shortcoming
is students have to learn
to tune their instruments
themselves and are respon-
sible for fi xing broken
strings and the like, which
means they usually have
to go to a local music store
for repairs that otherwise
could have been done in an
in-person class.
Arnold enjoys teaching
online, but said that she will
always prefer providing
in-person instruction. She
said it makes it much easier
to quickly respond to stu-
dent needs.
“You can provide instant
feedback,” Arnold said.
The educator noted,
though, the move to make
the string club virtual is
proving so successful that
an online school district
Ukulele Club was recently
added, which meets once a
week and has 15 members.
It is run with the help of
Kate Dunlap, a Greenwood
elementary music teacher,
Jennifer Slippy, a Central
counselor, and Sheldeen
Yiftheg, a Central parent.
Arnold said the posi-
tive reception the district’s
strings club has received
after going online will
infl uence how it operates
once the pandemic is over,
with the club likely to pro-
vide both in-person and
online instruction.
“It will be a hybrid,” she
said.
Of the club’s 47 mem-
bers, 44 are in the La
Grande School District
and three are in the Imbler
School District. The stu-
dents are in grades three
to fi ve. Fiddle Club mem-
bers make up the bulk of
the Student Symphony.
Arnold hopes that by
keeping the virtual ele-
ment in the future the club
can be expanded to include
students from other Union
County school districts and
those in Baker County.
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