A2
THEASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST25, 2020
IN BRIEF
Authorities investigate boat collision
on the Columbia River
Authorities are investigating a boat collision that
occurred Monday morning on the Columbia River in
Astoria.
Officials say two boats sank and 11 people entered
the water after one boat collided into another near the
West Mooring Basin.
The people were reportedly pulled out of the water
by nearby boaters.
One injury was reported.
“This incident highlights the necessity for every
single boater to be constantly wearing a life jacket,”
Petty Officer Trevor Lilbum, the public affairs liai
son at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River, said in a
statement.
“Buoy 10 means a multitude of private and commer
cial vessels operating in close proximity to each other.
Captains must exercise situational awareness and com
municate with other captains to insure the safety of
every boater.
“A successful fishing trip can turn tragic so fast that
the difference between life and death is wearing a Coast
Guard-approved life jacket.”
Warrenton man dies in crash
A Warrenton man’s body was discovered Sunday
afternoon on state Highway 53 after police responded
to a report of a single-vehicle crash.
Investigators learned Kelly D. Ferguson, 48, was the
driver and that the crash had occurred sometime earlier.
Police say Ferguson was driving northbound when
he drove off the shoulder and cement stabilization wall.
The vehicle flipped and fell down a steep embankment
into heavy brush and trees.
The vehicle was not clearly visible from the roadway
and was seen by people who were picking mushrooms.
Ferguson was reported missing on Aug. 9.
Civil War reenactment
canceled due to virus
The Northwest Civil War Council has canceled the
annual Civil War reenactment on Labor Day weekend
because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The “Battle for Clatsop County” event was sched
uled for Sept. 4 through Sept. 7 at the Clatsop County
Fairgrounds.
“We are looking forward to coming back in 2021 to
share the history of the American Civil War with you,”
the council said in a statement.
Fall wine walk canceled
in Seaside over virus
SEASIDE — The Seaside Downtown Development
Association’s November Fall Wine Walk is canceled
due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The SDDA Board of Directors waited as long as
possible to make the difficult decision of calling off this
wonderful event,” Laurie Mespelt, the association’s
executive director, said in a statement. “It is one of the
best fundraisers for the association as well as a coveted
event for the merchants.”
Hundreds of visitors typically attend Wine Walk, as
wineries offer samples inside downtown businesses,
alongside shopping, snacks, music and art showings.
Sales help fund the association’s beautification
efforts, which include flower baskets, sea stars and
lighting.
—
The Astorian
ON THE RECORD
Theft
• Misty Armstrong, 38,
of Warrenton, was arrested
Friday at Walmart in War
renton for theft in the sec
ond degree and crimi
nal mischief in the third
degree.
Disorderly conduct
• Fred Kelly, 53, ofWar-
renton, was arrested Friday
on S.E. 12th Place in War
renton for disorderly con
duct in the second degree.
Dill
• Ashley Johnson, 35, of
Seaside, was arrested Sun
day at Home Depot in War
renton for driving under
the influence of intoxi
cants, reckless driving and
driving while suspended.
•
Michael William
Stunkard, 41, of Astoria,
was arrested Saturday on
Hillcrest Loop and U.S.
Highway 30 in Astoria for
DUII and hit and run.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 1 p.m., work
session, (electronic meeting).
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
WEDNESDAY
Astoria Parks Board, 6:45 a.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m., (elec
tronic meeting).
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Transportation District Board, 9 a.m.,
(electronic meeting).
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Virus outbreak on trawler
suggests antibody protection
By SANDIDOUGHTON
Seattle Times
Crew members from a
Seattle-based fishing boat
that experienced an explo
sive outbreak of the novel
coronavirus have serendipi-
tously provided what could
be the first direct evidence
that antibodies can protect
people from reinfection.
Blood samples collected
before the vessel sailed in
May showed that three of
the 122 people aboard had
robust levels of neutralizing
antibodies — the type that
block the virus from enter
ing human cells — indicat
ing they had been previously
infected and recovered. All
three were spared during the
shipboard outbreak, which
quickly spread to more than
85% of the crew.
“It’s a strong indication
that the presence of neutral
izing antibodies is associ
ated with protection from
the virus,” said Dr. Alex
Greninger, assistant director
of the University of Washing
ton Medicine Clinical Virol
ogy Laboratory and co-au-
thor of a report posted on
the preprint server MedRxiv
that has not yet been peer-re
viewed. “It’s hopeful news.”
However, it’s not really
surprising, Greninger added.
Researchers are generally
confident that prior infec
tion will provide some level
of immunity. But what
constitutes
a
protective
immune response and how
long immunity lasts is still
unknown and of vital impor
tance to the race for vaccines
and other treatments.
Early
vaccine
trials,
including one in Seattle, have
induced strong antibody
responses in volunteers. But
the only direct evidence so
far that neutralizing antibod
ies can protect against infec
tion have come from mon
keys and other laboratory
animals.
It wouldn’t be ethical to
deliberately expose humans
to the virus — even people
who have recovered from
infection. But in this case,
researchers from the Univer
sity of Washington and Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center were able to analyze
results from a natural exper
iment that played out in the
close quarters and isolation
of a vessel at sea.
“While this is a small
study, it offers a remarkable,
real-life, human experiment,”
Danny Altmann, professor of
immunology at Imperial Col-
Greg Gilbert/Seattle Times
More than 85% of the crew on the Seattle-based factory trawler American Dynasty became
infected with the coronavirus earlier this year.
lege London, wrote in a com
mentary on the report. “Who
knew immunology research
on fishing boats could be so
informative?”
The report does not iden
tify the vessel, but Greninger
confirmed it is the fac
tory trawler FV American
Dynasty, which was fishing
for hake off the Washington
state coast when the outbreak
struck. A statement from
American Seafoods, which
owns the ship and several
others, said the company has
partnered with the University
of Washington on its testing
program and shares the data.
the virus during the outbreak,
Slifka said.
As part of ongoing efforts
to protect fishing fleets, 120 of
the 122 crew members were
tested both for active infec
tion, via nasal swabs, and pre
vious exposure, via antibody
blood testing, in the two days
before the ship left port.
None of the nasal swabs
was positive. But 18 days
into its voyage, the ship
returned to shore after a crew
member became sick and
needed hospitalization. Mon
itoring over the next 50 days
showed that 104 crew mem
bers had been infected.
‘WHO KNEW IMMUNOLOGY
RESEARCH ON FISHING BOATS
COULD BE SO INFORMATIVE? ’
Danny Altmann | professor of
immunology at Imperial College London
“We hope that their study
will be beneficial to the
broader scientific commu
nity in learning more about
COVID-19,” said Valen
tina Zackrone, chief human
resources officer at American
Seafoods.
Mark Slifka, an immu
nologist and vaccine devel
oper at Oregon Health &
Science University who was
not involved in the work,
described it as “very, very
interesting.”
The keys were the pre
departure blood testing of
nearly the entire crew, and
the stunning rate of infection
— which means it’s unlikely
that the three crew members
with neutralizing antibodies
were simply not exposed to
After learning of the out
break, Greninger and his
colleagues reexamined the
results from the earlier blood
tests and conducted addi
tional tests on leftover spec
imens. Before departing, six
crew members tested posi
tive for antibodies that bind
to the capsule of the novel
coronavirus, but only three
of those also had neutralizing
antibodies.
While none of the crew
members with neutralizing
antibodies reported symp
toms or became infected, the
other three all got the virus
— suggesting their initial
results might have been false
positives, Greninger said.
That adds to growing con
cern about the accuracy of
many antibody tests and their
ability to indicate immunity,
Slifka pointed out.
Statistical analysis sug
gests it’s highly unlikely to
be a random coincidence that
all three people with neu
tralizing antibodies escaped
infection. But the study
doesn’t offer an explanation
for the 15 other crew mem
bers who also apparently
never became infected. It’s
possible their jobs or actions
on the boat shielded them
from exposure, Greninger
said.
Genomic analysis of virus
from 39 crew members sug
gests that all the strains
are closely related, but it
doesn’t prove they all origi
nated from a single infection,
Greninger said.
The analysis doesn’t rule
out the possibility that peo
ple can catch COVID-19
more than once, Slifka said,
though it strongly suggests
those who develop neutral
izing antibodies may be pro
tected. But the number of
cases is too small to draw
sweeping conclusions, he
added.
This isn’t the first insight
about the novel coronavi
rus to come from studying
ships. Analysis of the out
break early in the pandemic
on the Diamond Princess
cruise ship helped establish
the importance of asymp
tomatic people in spreading
the virus. Federal researchers
who examined sailors on the
aircraft carrier USS Theo
dore Roosevelt, where nearly
1,000 people were infected,
documented a robust, neu
tralizing antibody response
in more than half of those
tested.
Inslee clamps down on agritourism activities
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Much of Washington
state’s agritourism industry
will be sidelined this year
under
coronavirus
rules
released last week by Gov.
Jay Inslee.
Customers can’t pet or
view animals. And hay rides
are out, as are games and
touching farm equipment.
Farmer Hilary Huff
man called the rules a “gut
punch.” They’ll nix most
activities at her agritourist
farm, The Patch in Ellens-
burg, Washington.
“We can sell pumpkins.
You know who else can sell
pumpkins? Safeway,” she
said.
The agritourism rules
went into effect immedi
ately and apply in the 34
counties that have pro
gressed past phase one in
Inslee’s four-phase plan to
reopen Washington busi
nesses. Any farm that
breaks a rule can be fined
$10,000.
Agritourism
custom
ers must wear face cov
erings and keep at least 6
feet apart. The rules ban
activities such as wagon
rides, haunted houses, play
grounds, farm equipment
“exploration,” animal view
ing, petting areas, paintball
and campfires.
A governor’s spokesman
/ \
Rachel Smith/The Patch
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has banned wagon rides and some
other agritourism activities on farms to prevent the spread of
the coronavirus.
said the Health Department
gave strong direction to
allow only primary activi
ties such as U-pick, U-cut
and pumpkin patches.
“We don’t want families
lingering, even in an out
door environment,” he said
in an email.
In writing the rules,
the governor’s office said
it consulted two farms,
including Maris Farms in
Pierce County.
Maris Farms co-owner
Joanne
Templeman
said
the farm wasn’t involved in
drafting the rules and had no
influence on the outcome.
Templeman read a draft
of the rules last week. “The
final rules do not reflect any
of our comments,” she said.
Prohibitions on play
grounds, viewing animals
and rides to fields are more
restrictive than rules for
public parks, zoos and pub
lic transportation, she said.
The farm already had a
safety plan that included
operating at 50% capacity
and a sanitizing protocol.
“I thought we had a plan
that was exceedingly safe,”
Templeman said.
The governor’s office
didn’t consult the Wash
ington Farm Bureau, direc
tor of government relations
Tom Davis said. Farmers
might to be able to adjust
activities if they knew more
about the concerns of health
officials, he said.
“Farmers know how to
mitigate problems,” Davis
said. “If we take away this
season from them, I’m not
sure how many will survive
and be around next year.”
Snohomish County agri
tourist farms will “kindly”
ask the governor’s office to
modify the rules, said Sarah
Ricci, who, along with her
husband, owns Bob’s Com
and Pumpkin Farm.
“I think the governor’s
office is reasonable and am
optimistic they will work
with us on this,” she said.
The rules will require
one-way traffic flows in
the fields and “appropriate
signage to ensure washing
of fruits/vegetables before
consumption & use.” Visi
tors can’t be driven to fields
and must be encouraged to
sanitize their hands coming
and going.
Huffman said she has
been working with county
health officials. She said
she’s stocked up on san-
itizer, gloves and masks.
“We had a good, solid
plan.”
Huffman said she had no
idea the governor’s office
was going to write rules
for her farm. She said she
wasn’t sure whether she
should continue investing
in the upcoming season and
hope for revisions, or cut
her losses.
“There’s no sense to
this,” she said. “We don’t
pay the bills on pumpkins.
We pay the bills on guests.”