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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, MARcH 21, 2020
State closes campgrounds
starting in April over virus
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Tech Sgt. Aaron Perkins/Oregon National Guard
Tents are going up at Providence Seaside Hospital in preparation for a coronavirus outbreak.
Hospitals: ‘We’re really geared up
for the positive test, if it ever happens’
continued from Page A1
surgeries, would be commu-
nicated directly by caregiv-
ers or providers. The hospital
has 25 beds but has plans to
expand to handle additional
patients if necessary.
“We are facing uncertain
times in health care,” the hos-
pital said. “Things are chang-
ing so rapidly that in some
circumstances, yesterday’s
decisions are being amended
today.”
Mike Antrim, a spokes-
man for Providence Sea-
side, said the 25-bed hospi-
tal is adding an additional
16 beds. Camp Rilea person-
nel with the Oregon Military
Department also worked with
state and Providence Seaside
maintenance crews in putting
up tents outside the hospital.
The tents will be used
for testing and triaging
people who get sick from
COVID-19.
Elective surgeries are
medically necessary but can
be delayed, according to
David Northfield, a spokes-
man for the Oregon Associa-
tion of Hospitals and Health
Systems. Examples are knee
or hip replacements, cataracts
or a deviated septum.
Testing is difficult
The message this week
from local public health offi-
cials on testing for the coro-
navirus was dire: Act like
everyone around you could
have the virus, but don’t
expect a test for it soon unless
you’re suffering from pneu-
monia-like symptoms.
“The health care commu-
nity is just as frustrated with
the inability to test as the pub-
lic is,” said Ellen Heinitz, a
naturopathic physician and
Clatsop County’s commu-
nity health project manager.
“We would love to do that in
a heartbeat if we could. It’s
just the roadblocks to that are
not something we have con-
trol over.”
State labs and the federal
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention are lim-
ited in how many sample kits
they can give out or process,
Heinitz said.
To be considered for a
test, a person needs to be in
need of hospitalization and
show symptoms of a lower
respiratory infection, severe
shortness of breath and other
pneumonia-like symptoms.
They also have to first test
negative for the flu, which
was already in season prior
to the spread of the coronavi-
rus, along with a host of other
illnesses.
Heinitz and other health
officials have preached the
basics: Wash hands with hot
soap and water for at least
20 seconds; keep a distance
from other people; regularly
clean and disinfect surfaces;
get a flu vaccine; and stay
home if sick.
“If they have something
mild, stay at home, quaran-
tine yourself for 14 days or
until you have no symptoms
for three days — whichever
is longer,” Heinitz said.
Scott Docherty, a local
photographer
and
web
designer, was among the few
tested by a local health care
provider.
Docherty said he imme-
diately quarantined himself
in his house after falling ill
around a week-and-a-half
ago. He went into his med-
ical provider Tuesday with
coughing fits, a stuffy nose
and a high fever, fearing
pneumonia. The provider
confirmed he didn’t have
pneumonia before testing
him for COVID-19, he said.
“They weren’t sure they
were going to test me,” he
said. “Their criteria is pretty
strict for testing people right
now.”
He and his wife, Mary,
were told to quarantine them-
selves for at least another two
weeks, he said, although he
doesn’t expect his test results
for coronavirus back until
Monday.
The
Oregon
Health
Authority reported that 2,550
people had been tested for
coronavirus in Oregon as of
Friday morning, with 114
positive. Clatsop County
hasn’t recorded a positive
case, but officials said they
don’t know how many peo-
ple have been tested locally.
“The negative tests are
great news,” said Michael
McNickle, the county’s pub-
lic health director. “That just
shows the number of tests
we’re taking are all nega-
tive. That’s actually good
news. We’re really geared up
for the positive test, if it ever
happens.”
Some states have set up
drive-thru testing sites. The
county has a plan in place to
set one up, but it wouldn’t be
very useful without enough
testing kits or the capacity to
process them, McNickle said.
Providence Health & Ser-
vices announced that tests for
COVID-19 would be pro-
cessed in their regional lab.
The lab will process tests col-
lected in eight Providence
hospitals in Oregon, includ-
ing Providence Seaside.
Limits on hospitals
The limits on visits to hos-
pitals follow state restrictions
on Oregon long-term care
facilities intended to protect
the elderly and the disabled,
who are at greater risk from
the virus.
Only essential medical
and emergency personnel and
visitors to residents who are
at the end of life are allowed
at nursing homes, assisting
living facilities, residential
care facilities, adult foster
homes and group homes for
people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities.
Oregon is erecting a 250-
bed temporary hospital at the
state fairgrounds in Salem to
free up other hospital beds
around the state for coronavi-
rus patients.
The Oregon Medical Sta-
tion is a mobile emergency
hospital that the state pur-
chased several years ago in
case of a health crisis.
The state’s overriding goal
is to slow the progression of
COVID-19, so as not to over-
whelm Oregon’s health care
system. Brown and other
state officials said that is why
restaurants, bars, schools and
all large events have been
closed or canceled.
“All the things we’ve
been trying to do, as griev-
ously hard as they are for the
economy, are single-mind-
edly aimed at the notion of
making sure we don’t run
out of hospital capacity,” Pat
Allen, the director of the Ore-
gon Health Authority, told the
state Legislature’s Joint Spe-
cial Committee on Coronavi-
rus Response on Wednesday.
“This is a situation that
will not last for weeks. This
will last for months and
potentially a lot of months,”
Allen said.
Along with setting up the
temporary hospital in Salem,
officials want hospitals to
create 1,000 temporary beds
statewide. Officials also are
exploring whether hotel, col-
lege dorm rooms or other
places could be used.
“Are there facilities we
can literally stand up in park-
ing lots?” Allen said.
These would be so-called
“step down” facilities, requir-
ing fewer traditional medical
staff. Allen said they could
serve patients who normally
would be released from hos-
pitals into nursing homes and
other care facilities, which
now have been closed to the
public; less-sick patients who
otherwise would be sent to
regular hospitals; and home-
less people and others who
no longer require hospitaliza-
tion but cannot continue their
recovery at home.
Retired health profession-
als and others with medical
training could be tapped to
help staff these facilities.
“The idea is to basically
within the next three to four
weeks stand up as much of
that kind of collection of care
as we possibly can,” Allen
said.
dick Hughes of the Ore-
gon capital Bureau contrib-
uted to this report.
Popular campgrounds in
Clatsop County will close
in April to help reduce the
spread of the coronavirus.
State
agencies
announced a temporary
closure of campgrounds
at state parks, forests and
wildlife areas from April
3 through May 8. The
state suspended all drop-in
camping beginning Thurs-
day, but reservations will
continue to be accommo-
dated through April 2.
The closure will affect
the large campgrounds and
yurt and cabin rentals at
Fort Stevens State Park and
Nehalem Bay State Park.
State campgrounds are
built into relatively small
areas by design, accord-
ing to information from the
Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department.
“Maintaining
social
distance is difficult,” the
department noted. “Work-
ing with fewer staff and
volunteers is becoming a
reality, making it difficult
to maintain proper clean-
ing procedures. To support
the state goal of reducing
transmission of COVID-
19, temporary campground
closures are necessary.”
The closures will not
affect plans people may
have to camp at Nehalem
Bay over Oregon’s spring
break, but park managers
have already fielded can-
cellations as concern about
the coronavirus grows.
Ben Cox, park manager
of the Nehalem Bay Man-
agement Unit, had started
to ramp up to meet the
expected demand at the
campground.
“The phenomenon for-
merly known as the shoul-
der season is no longer a
thing,” he said. “We get
pretty busy starting in
March.”
He had brought on sea-
sonal staff earlier than has
been typical and had moved
shifts around to accommo-
date the expected influx.
But between the cancel-
lations that have already
happened and the state’s
decision not to allow any
drop-in camping, Cox
expects Nehalem Bay will
look a little emptier than
usual.
Port: Docking could be controversial
continued from Page A1
The record cruise ship
season expected to help offset
those losses has so far been
halted by the coronavirus.
Major cruise lines announced
a voluntary suspension of
operations through early
April amid the outbreak.
Astoria,
Clatsop
County and the Port jointly
announced that no passen-
ger-carrying cruise ships
would be allowed to dock
until after June 1.
Canada has disallowed all
cruise ship tourism until July.
Most cruise ships are reg-
istered to foreign govern-
ments, so they need to stop
in a foreign country before
visiting multiple U.S. ports.
Bruce Conner, the Port’s
cruise ship marketer, cast
doubt on any ships stopping
in Astoria as long as Canada
is off limits.
As of last weekend, there
were around 40 cruise ships
operating out of U.S. ports
still at sea, according to the
Cruise Lines International
Association. About a quarter
were expected to come into
port by Monday, with the rest
soon ending their voyages.
“Given that there isn’t
enough space in some ports
for all of the ships, we’re
docking them at other ports
during our voluntary pause in
operations,” Carnival Cruise
Line spokesman Vance Gul-
liksen told travel website The
Points Guy. “We’re using a
combination of ports in the
U.S. and (The) Bahamas as
well as anchoring some ships
at sea.”
Some residents on the
North Coast have called
for the cruise ship sea-
son in Astoria to be can-
celed entirely as a precaution
against the coronavirus. The
prospect of cruise ships tem-
porarily docking at the Port,
even with skeleton crews,
could be controversial.
“The health and welfare
of the city is going to super-
sede any business opportu-
nity,” Isom said.
The Port has reached out
to the city, county, Columbia
Memorial Hospital and Coast
Guard on what it would take
to make the business venture
tenable.
Astoria Mayor Bruce
Jones laid out his criteria for
allowing the cruise ships to
dock: no passengers, no coro-
navirus concerns and no crew
allowed off the ship. Ships
would have to agree to make
their medical teams, kitchen
staff and rooms available if
asked by the county, he said.
“If all these conditions
were met, then the Port,
county and city would decide
how to proceed,” Jones said.
Dirk Rohne, the presi-
dent of the Port Commission,
said that while the optics of
a cruise ship in town might
make people nervous, the
risk would be low, and rev-
enue is critical for the Port.
The ships could also be an
emergency asset with their
medical teams and extra
space, he said.
“We’re not going to do
anything to compromise the
public’s trust,” Rohne said.
“Ultimately, working with
the city and county, public
health is the first and fore-
most concern.”
Caring for our
community
Providence Seaside Hospital is committed to protecting your health and safety. To help
reduce the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, here are some of the plans
we’ve launched to care for our communities:
• We are following federal, state and local guidelines for personal protective equipment,
visitor regulations and safe patient admission, and the transport and treatment of
patients who have contracted the virus.
• We are committed to protecting our patients’ privacy and will not acknowledge when
we are treating people with COVID-19.
If you think you may have been exposed to the virus, we urge you to call your
health care provider or connect to a health care expert through a respected app.
Providence Express Care Virtual provides affordable visits with nurse practitioners who
can screen, assess, prescribe, and provide recommendations and follow up, all via
smartphone, computer or tablet.
Most people who contract this strain of coronavirus will only experience mild symptoms.
However, people who are elderly or are chronically ill, or who have compromised immune
systems or other health issues should seek medical help if they meet the criteria for
COVID-19 exposure.
As a community, we must all take precautions to lessen the spread of the virus.
It is extremely important for you to:
• Wash your hands thoroughly and often
• Cover your coughs and sneezes, using the crook of your arm and not your hands
• Avoid touching your face, especially your eyes, nose and mouth
• Avoid crowds
• Avoid shaking hands
Here are resources for up-to-the-minute information about the COVID-19 coronavirus:
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov
• Oregon Health Authority: healthoregon.org/coronavirus or call 211
• Providence: Providence.org/oregon
• Express Care: Virtual.Providence.org
Providence.org/northcoast