REGION
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Report: Harney County has highest COVID-19 death rate on West Coast
County’s death rate, 487 per 100,000 over
the past two years, surpassed that of any
other county in the state
By LYNNE TERRY
Oregon CApital Chronicle
SALEM — Harney
County had the highest
COVID death rate on the
West Coast, according
to a report published on
Monday, April 4.
The Poor People’s Pan-
demic Report 2022 shows
that 36 people died in Harney
County between February
2020 and February 2022,
giving the county a death rate
of 487 per 100,000 people.
That’s higher than any other
county in Oregon, Wash-
ington or California.
Imperial County in
Southern California, where
860 people died over the
two-year period, came
next with 475 deaths per
100,000. The highest death
rate in Washington state
was in Columbia County in
the west-central part of the
state. A total of 13 people
died over the two-year span,
giving it a rate of 326 deaths
per 100,000, the report said.
The report, which relied
on death data from Johns
Hopkins University in Mary-
land, was prepared by the
Poor People’s Campaign, an
advocacy group for low-in-
come people, and the Sus-
tainable Development Solu-
tions Network, a nonprofi t
created by the United Nations
to promote sustainable
development.
Overall, Oregon, Wash-
ington and California had
among the lowest COVID
death rates in the country.
Galax County in Virginia had
the highest rate at 1,134 per
100,000. Hancock County
in Georgia came next with
a death rate of 1,029 per
100,000. It was followed by
Motley County in Texas,
with 1,000 people dying per
100,000.
“The 10% of counties that
had the highest death rates
had death rates exceeding
approximately 526 deaths per
100,000,” Alainna Lynch,
senior research manager of
the Sustainable Development
Solutions Network, told the
Capital Chronicle in an email.
The Oregon Health
Authority said Oregon fared
much better than many states
because so many Orego-
nians wore masks and fol-
lowed other COVID man-
dates. “Our COVID-19
strategy helped to save lives
and kept cases and hospital-
izations lower than in other
states,” Rudy Owens, an
agency spokesperson, said in
an email.
The report considered vac-
cination rates but said they
didn’t explain variation in
death rates.
“Average vaccination
rates are in general higher
in the highest income coun-
ties than in the middle- and
low-income counties; how-
ever, these diff erences do
not explain the whole vari-
ation in death rates in the
later waves of the pan-
demic,” the report said.
Poverty and
demographics
Poverty and demographics
wound together as the
common thread, according to
the report.
“Counties with the
highest death rates are
poorer than counties with
lower death rates, with
higher percentages of
people of color,” the report
said. “The 300-plus counties
with the highest death rates
COVID DEATHS IN
OREGON COUNTIES
Rick Vetter/Contributed Photo
Wind speeds hit 74 mph in Harney County on April 4, 2022. The low-
population Eastern Oregon county has the highest COVID death rate
on the West Coast.
have a poverty rate of 45%,
which is 1.5 times higher
than in counties with lower
death rates.”
The health authority
said the pandemic made it
clear that not everyone has
an equal opportunity to be
healthy.
“This includes people
of color, people with low
incomes, people who iden-
tify as LGBTQ+, people
with disabilities, and people
who live in rural areas of the
state,” Owens said. “People
in these communities face
considerable barriers due to
inequities in the social and
physical infrastructures that
aff ect health.”
Nic Calvin, director of
Harney County’s Public
Health Department, said pov-
erty could have been a factor
in the county’s death rate.
“In terms of access to the
vaccine, it’s completely free
so we’ve tried to break down
any barriers,” he said. “Once
a person got COVID, poverty
could have been a factor” in
the severity of the disease.
The report found that
in Harney County, nearly
40% were living in pov-
erty, defi ned as a maximum
of $2,265 a month for one
person and $4,625 a month
for a family of four.
In Josephine County,
which had the second highest
death rate in the state at 354
deaths per 100,000, nearly
44% were living in poverty,
the report stated. In Mal-
heur County, which had the
third highest death rate at
330 deaths per 100,000 in
the two-year time span, the
report found that 48% were
living in poverty.
Calvin said Harney Coun-
ty’s low population — about
7,300 people — could have
skewed the numbers.
“We’re such a small pop-
ulation,” he said. “If we have
an additional fi ve people die,
that puts our per-capita death
rate higher.”
Politics and race
Other Eastern Oregon
counties also have low pop-
ulations, and among the
lowest vaccination rates in
the state. Lake County has
the lowest vaccination rate
in the state, with 46% of
adults receiving one dose,
according to the Oregon
Health Authority. Malheur,
Grant, Gilliam and Baker
come next, in that order.
Harney County has the sixth
Anthony Lakes wraps up successful ski season
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
NORTH POWDER — It
wasn’t the snowiest winter
on record, but Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort had
plenty on its slopes to keep
skiers and snowboarders
sliding all season.
“Overall, we had a great
season,” said Chelsea Judy,
marketing director for the
ski area in the Elkhorn
Mountains about 45 miles
southwest of La Grande.
A dearth of early storms
delayed the start of the
season until Dec. 18.
But once the resort was
open, the snow base was
suffi cient, despite a pro-
longed dry stretch that
lasted for most of Feb-
ruary, to keep Anthony
Lakes on its usual schedule
through the fi nal day,
Sunday, April 3.
The importance of the
resort’s elevation — 7,100
feet at the lodge, the highest
base elevation among
Northwest ski areas —
proved itself yet again, Judy
said.
Anthony Lakes’ lofty
position largely insulates it
from thaws that can force
less-elevation ski areas to
temporarily close or reduce
operations due to a lack of
snow.
Much of the winter’s
snow fell in December and
early January.
March, which in many
years brings the biggest
storms of the winter, was
something of an anomaly
this year, with only about
two feet of total snow.
Nonetheless, “we had
great skiing all year and the
snowpack held up great,”
Judy said.
She didn’t have vis-
itor numbers available, but
Judy said this season was
“defi nitely quieter than last
year.”
During the fi rst year
of the pandemic, outdoor
recreation proved pop-
ular across the West as the
cancellation of most large
events prompted people
to seek other forms of
entertainment.
Camping and hiking in
the summer were attractive
since social distancing was
simpler.
And the trend continued
into the winter of 2020-21,
with skiers, both downhill
and cross-country, fl ocking
to Anthony Lakes and other
resorts.
This winter was more
typical in terms of atten-
dance, Judy said, although
last winter’s growing pop-
ularity of cross-country
skiing continued this year.
Some other, less wel-
come, eff ects of the pan-
demic did dissipate this
season.
Last winter, Anthony
Lakes limited seating on
the chairlift to ensure social
distancing, and that, com-
bined with the large crowds,
resulted in longer lift lines
and waits than is typical.
This winter, though, the
seats accommodated three
skiers as usual, with much
shorter lines, Judy said.
She said visitors also
appreciated the end of the
indoor mask mandate in
early March.
The only other signif-
icant eff ect of the pan-
demic was a four-day clo-
sure of the lodge in early
January — the resort was
open for skiing — when
several employees were out
after testing positive for
COVID-19.
According to Anthony
Lakes, the resort paid
$555,000 in wages to
employees from October
2021 through the end of
the season.
The resort’s total expen-
ditures during that period
were $807,000, 90% of
which were spent locally.
Its “support local” pro-
gram, which gives visi-
tors a discounted $25 lift
ticket if they bring a recent
receipt of $40 or more from
a locally owned restau-
rant or shop in Baker and
Union counties, resulted
in 289 tickets being sold,
representing a minimum
of $11,560 spent in local
businesses.
The resort’s free skiing
program for fi fth and sixth
graders had an average of
45 students over the eight-
week program.
Anthony Lakes also
hosted 24 youth and com-
munity groups, off ering dis-
counted rates, this winter.
Although the ski season
has ended, Anthony Lakes
plans to have meals and
other events at the lodge
this summer. More infor-
mation is available at www.
anthonylakes.com.
County rates per 100,000
people
Harney County: 487
Josephine County: 354
Malheur County: 330
Douglas County: 318
Jeff erson County: 316
Lake County: 292
Crook County: 279
Baker County: 273
Klamath County: 271
Union County: 265
Umatilla County: 255
Grant County: 250
Morrow County: 233
Wheeler County: 225
Tillamook County: 211
Gilliam County: 209
Coos County: 209
Jackson County: 204
Wasco County: 199
Wallowa County: 194
Curry County: 191
Marion County: 181
Hood River County: 180
Yamhill County: 175
Linn County: 175
Sherman County: 169
Columbia County: 141
Polk County: 137
Lincoln County: 132
Multnomah County: 125
Deschutes County: 122
Clackamas County: 121
Lane County: 116
Clatsop County: 94
Washington County: 81
Benton County: 63
lowest rate: 56% of adults
have had at least one dose.
“Like most Eastern
Oregon counties, there was
some resistance to getting
vaccinated due to the polit-
ical nature of the vaccine,”
Calvin said. “We have had
vaccinations available every
day basically since the vac-
cine came out.”
The Oregon Health
Authority, which considers
equity a top priority, has
acknowledged that racial
and ethnic minorities had the
lowest vaccination rates in
the fi rst half of 2021. But the
agency said it has since nar-
rowed the diff erence between
minorities and whites. About
67% of adult Hispanics have
had one dose compared with
83% of whites, according to
July 1, 2021, estimates from
the U.S. Census bureau.
The discrepancy is even
bigger when looking at
booster shots. About 28%
of Hispanics have had one
booster shot compared with
49% for whites.
The state’s most pop-
ulous counties, largely in
the Willamette Valley, all
have relatively low poverty
rates, like Deschutes, and
low deaths rates. Benton
County, which had the
lowest death rate in the state
at 63 deaths per 100,000,
had a poverty rate of 33%,
comparable to most other
Willamette Valley counties.
Race was a factor in high
rates in counties across the
country, the report said, but
it appeared to be less rele-
vant in Oregon, where 87%
of the population is white.
For example, in Harney
County only 5% were His-
panic, and in Josephine
County, with the second
highest death rate, 7% of the
population was Hispanic.
That compared with Mal-
heur County, where 34%
were Hispanic.
The groups behind the
report hope it will rally
members of Congress and
President Joe Biden to do
more to help poor people.
“The fi ndings of this
report reveal neglect, and
sometimes intentional deci-
sions, to not focus on the
poor,” said Bishop William
Barber II, president of the
nonprofi t advocacy group
Repairers of the Breach. “It
is further evidence why we
have called for the president
to meet, at the White House,
with a diverse delegation of
poor and low-wealth people,
religious leaders and econo-
mists to put addressing pov-
erty and low wealth front
and center.”
La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR
975-2000
www.lagrandeautorepair.com
MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
AVAILABLE
ACDelcoTSS
Joe Horst
Mobile
Mobile Service
Service
Outstanding
Computer Repair
Fast &
& Reliable
Reliable
Fast
Open
for
all 24/7
your
Call or Text
Call or Text 24/7
Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831
Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831
Stay up-to-date
Microsoft’
If your with
computer
is s most
advanced
operating
system to date,
in despair
call Outstanding
Windows
11
Computer
Repair!
Desktops and laptops in stock
www.outstandingcomputerrepair.com
Or upgrade yours today for the best security!
Refurbished Desktop & Laptops For Sale
House calls (let me come to you!)
Drop Offs & Remote Services are Available
All credit cards accepted
2022
I
Northeast Oregon
PHOTO
CONTEST
Charles & Eileen
Stewart
10304 A 1st St.
Island City, OR
An-
cstewartpc@gmail.com
541.910.5435
Pay cash or
Rent to own
Visit lagrandeobserver.com and enter today!
Authorized Dealer