OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021
Oregon revises hospitalization projections
By REBECCA ELLIS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — A new
projection from Oregon
Health and Science Uni-
versity shows COVID-19
hospitalizations peaking
at about 1,250 in mid-Feb-
ruary, driven by a surge in
the omicron variant. That’s
a signifi cant drop from ear-
lier forecasts.
OHSU data scien-
tist Peter Graven had
sounded alarms in a Dec.
17 press conference that
an omicron surge could
lead to between two and
three times the number of
COVID-19 patients hospi-
talized as there had been
during the surge in the
delta variant. His original
model predicted a peak of
between 3,000 to 2,000
hospitalizations linked to
the pandemic, depending
on the preventive steps
Oregonians take in the
coming months
OHSU offi cials are now
revising their estimates.
While forecasters say
Oregon is poised to “expe-
rience an unprecedented
wave of infections” from
the omicron variant, they
say it could lead to fewer
hospitalizations than they
initially believed.
In a press release,
OHSU said it’s adjusted its
predicted peak hospitaliza-
tion numbers from as many
as 3,000 to about 1,250.
OHSU senior commu-
nications specialist Erik
Robinson said the fore-
cast “refl ects changes in
assumptions about omi-
cron,” including new data
from Europe that indicates
a lower hospitalization rate
Kristyna Wentz-Graff /Oregon Public Broadcasting, File
An Aug. 19, 2021, fi le photo shows a patient critically ill with
COVID-19 in Portland. New forecasts say a surge in infections linked
to the omicron variant may result in fewer new hospitalizations
than offi cials originally feared.
from this variant than from
other strains of the virus.
Graven’s most recent
forecast uses data from
Denmark that shows the
hospitalization rate appears
to be about 70% lower with
omicron than from illness
caused by the delta variant.
The Denmark study is
part of a growing body of
early research that sug-
gests that the omicron
coronavirus variant may
be less likely to result in
severe illness and lead to
a hospital visit. Early esti-
mates from researchers
in London suggest people
infected with omicron are
15% to 20% less likely, on
average, to be hospitalized
than those with the delta
variant, and 40% to 45%
less likely to stay in the
hospital for one or more
nights, as reported by The
New York Times.
Graven predicts that if
Oregonians take steps to
reduce the spread of the
virus — such as getting
vaccinated and boosted
— the surge in hospital-
izations would be around
what people saw during the
surge in delta cases. Hos-
pitalizations for the delta
variant peaked at 1,187
people on Sept. 1.
If people don’t take
steps to mitigate the spread
of the virus, OHSU’s
model predicts, as many as
1,700 people could be hos-
pitalized by February. That
has the potential to over-
whelm Oregon’s hospitals.
According to the latest
fi gures from the Oregon
Health Authority, a total
of 398 people are pres-
ently hospitalized due to
COVID-19 across the state.
The state also reported
1,900 daily COVID-19
diagnoses Tuesday, Dec.
28, the most new cases
reported in a single day
since September.
Sams takes helm at
National Park Service
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Before
he can settle into his job
leading one of the largest
national park systems in
the world, Chuck Sams still
needs to pack.
Calling from his River-
side home, Sams said he has
to to clear out his soon-to-
be-former house as he and
his family look to complete
the move to Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, a suburb of Wash-
ington, D.C., some 2,600
miles away from Pendleton.
“We’re going from 3,200
square feet to 1,100 square
feet,” he said. “It’s a chal-
lenge, but we’ll fi gure it out.”
In his fi rst interview with
EO Media Group since he
was confi rmed and sworn
in as the director of the
National Park Service, Sams
summarized the past four
months, from the time Pres-
ident Joe Biden announced
his nomination to the day
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Deb Haaland swore in Sams
at the base of the Lincoln
Memorial.
“It’s a front-row seat to
the U.S. Constitution,” he
said.
Sams said he already had
built up a rapport with sev-
eral senators through his
previous nonprofi t work,
making it easier for him to
build support for his confi r-
mation. At a time when the
U.S. Senate is starkly polar-
ized, the only bump to a
confi rmation vote by unan-
imous voice vote was the
attempt Sen. Dan Sullivan,
R-Alaska, made to delay the
vote. But Sams quickly met
with Sullivan and allayed his
concerns enough to move
forward with the vote.
Throughout the entire
process, Sams received vocal
support from the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation. Sams,
an enrolled member of the
CTUIR, worked in tribal
government through early
March, and the tribes posted
a series of congratulatory
messages as Sams advanced
through his nomination and
confi rmation. On Friday,
Christmas Eve, the tribes
hosted Sams once more at
its annual celebration at the
Mission Longhouse, hon-
oring him with a song.
Sams said he was grateful
for the tribes’ support and
started listing mentors
such as Antone Minthorn,
Les Minthorn and Frenchy
Halfmoon who not only
encouraged him to get an
education and work his way
through tribal government,
but to look beyond it.
“I recognize I didn’t get
to where I am on my own,”
he said. “I stand on the
shoulders of ancestors who
came before me.”
While Sams’ confi r-
mation won many plaudits
around the country, expecta-
tions also are high.
Many national parks
intersect with land where
American Indians were
removed or excluded to
establish the parks, and
tribal leaders told High
Country News they hope to
work with Sams’ adminis-
tration to secure access to
those lands.
Sams said the Biden
administration already has
put in work in that eff ort,
with the president signing
an executive order meant
to strengthen nation-to-na-
tion relationships between
the federal government and
tribal nations. Sams added
he and Haaland are open to
continuing discussions with
tribes on co-management
agreements.
“Many of these lands are
not just (connected to) one
particular tribe: There are a
number of tribes who have
usual and accustomed rights
and privileges to the land-
scape,” he said. “So you have
to go into these consultations
with that understanding, fi g-
uring out how tribes can
bring traditional ecological
knowledge to the table and
be able to implement that.
The administration has been
very clear that they want to
use that.”
One of the few areas
where Sams faced public
scrutiny from senators
during his confi rmation
hearing was the issue of the
backlog in deferred mainte-
nance built up at the 423 of
national parks, monuments
and sites, with senators
asking Sams what he would
do about the park infrastruc-
ture in their home state.
Sams will have an extra
$6.5 billion to use toward
park maintenance created
through the Great Amer-
ican Outdoors Act passed by
Congress in 2020 in addition
to additional funds expected
through the recently passed
infrastructure bill.
“The staff at National
Park Service have worked
very hard to look at how we
even calculate the number
of projects we have to do,
including the cost,” he said.
Therefore we’re able to really
look at it strategically and
(ensure) that money is dis-
tributed across the 50 states
and U.S. territories so that
we can tackle this issue.”
Another issue Sams
inherits is reports of harass-
ment and discrimination
within the service’s rank
and fi le. A 2017 survey
revealed 40% of park service
staff reported experiencing
harassment during the past
year, according to High
Country News. The service
commissioned a follow-up
report to investigate the issue
further, called “NPS Voices
Report.” But in a November
letter to Sams, a group called
Public Employees for Envi-
ronmental Responsibility
accused the park service
of burying the report and
encouraged Sams to take
action and remove toxic
employees from the service.
Sams said the park ser-
vice has been doing work
in the past three years to
address the issues raised in
the report, but he promised
to do more.
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