A3
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021
August
5th, 6th and 7th
SIX
YEAR
ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION!
ST. HELEN’S BEEF
BONELESS
NY STRIP STEAKS
EJ Hersom/U.S. Department of Defense
Oregon will require personnel in health care settings to show proof of vaccination or undergo
weekly COVID-19 tests.
$ 99
6
Virus: State’s weekly report
outlined community spread
Continued from Page A1
would apply starting Sept. 30
so hospitals and other health
care providers and workers
have time to prepare.
“The more contagious
delta variant has changed
everything,” the governor
said in a statement. “This
new safety measure is neces-
sary to stop delta from caus-
ing severe illness among
our fi rst line of defense: our
doctors, nurses, medical stu-
dents and front-line health
care workers. Protecting our
front-line health care work-
ers through vaccination will
also enhance the safety of
the patients in their care.
“Severe illness from
COVID-19 is now largely
preventable, and vacci-
nation is clearly our best
defense. Vaccination and
weekly testing ensure Ore-
gonians can safely access
health care and employees
can go to work in an envi-
ronment that maximizes
health and safety measures
for COVID-19.”
Statewide patterns
The Oregon Health
Authority’s weekly report
on the community spread of
COVID-19 outlined the pat-
terns statewide for the last
few weeks of July.
In Wallowa County, 1
out of 4 people tested for
COVID-19 was positive.
Umatilla County had 915
cases per 100,000 people,
by far the most in the state.
Multnomah
County,
the state’s most populous,
reported 1,013 new cases
over the two-week time
frame, its shallower rise still
driving big total numbers.
Lake County was the
only one of Oregon’s 36
counties to record a drop in
reported cases.
The arrival of the weekly
report once meant Brown
would assign risk levels
based on the prevalence of
COVID-19 within county
boundaries.
Where a county fell on
the risk chart determined
what businesses could be
open, how many customers
could go into stores, how
late bars could stay open
and whether diners could sit
down for a meal or had to
buy takeout.
The measurements —
cases per 100,000 popula-
tion and percentage of tests
that were positive — con-
trolled Oregon residents’
lives for much of the past
fall, winter and spring.
With the steep drop in
the infection rate as a major-
ity of Oregonians started
getting vaccinated, Brown
unshackled the fate of local
lives and economies from
the weekly report’s ups and
downs. At the end of June,
the governor handed over
control of public health
decisions to counties.
The weekly reports con-
tinue to come out, though
the health authority delayed
delivery of the numbers this
week by a day. If the list still
carried restrictions, at least
22 counties — including
‘COUNTIES, CITIES AND
EMPLOYERS ALSO HAVE THE
ABILITY TO INSTITUTE THEIR
OWN SAFETY MEASURES AND
REQUIREMENTS, AND WE EXPECT
LOCAL LEADERS IN AREAS MOST
IMPACTED BY COVID-19 TO TAKE
ACTION.’
Charles Boyle | spokesman for Gov. Kate Brown
Clatsop County — would be
under the extreme risk level,
which carried the highest
restrictions.
Clatsop County had 238
cases per 100,000 popu-
lation and a test positivity
rate of 8.7%, higher than the
statewide rate of 205 cases
per 100,000 and a test pos-
itivity rate of 6.9%.
In early July, Oregon
showed a seven-day aver-
age of 110 new cases in the
whole state. It had not been
so low since early June 2020
when the pandemic was still
in its early days.
There would be four
waves of infection by the
beginning of this sum-
mer. But the arrival of vac-
cines seemed to guaran-
tee the dark days of winter,
when the seven-day aver-
age topped out at 1,515 new
cases, were gone forever.
Now, Oregon is back to
wintry numbers of infec-
tions, and some hospitals are
again stretched to the limit.
A saving grace is that most
of the most vulnerable —
the very elderly and those
with serious medical condi-
tions — have had access to
vaccinations. That has made
the wave of deaths that once
followed after reported
infections and hospitaliza-
tions shallower and shorter.
Brown’s decision to lift
restrictions on June 30 when
the state closed in on vacci-
nating 70% of eligible adult
residents came as new infec-
tions were at their lowest
levels in over a year.
But just as the state
opened up, the delta variant
arrived in force. In areas of
the state with large numbers
of unvaccinated people, it
wreaked immediate havoc.
Rapid spread
The Oregon Health
Authority is investigat-
ing the role of the Whisky
Music Fest concert in Pend-
leton in July that drew
12,000 and has led to dozens
of reported virus cases, pri-
marily in Umatilla County.
The investigation under-
lines a structural problem
with the state’s plan to have
local authorities enforce the
rules. Public health offi cials
are hired by local govern-
ment offi cials. The offi cials
are elected by local vot-
ers. In areas where vacci-
nation rates are low, includ-
ing much of eastern and
southwestern Oregon, there
is still doubt — and some-
times outright hostility —
toward any restrictions such
as mandatory masks.
Umatilla County Pub-
lic Health Director Joe Fiu-
mara told the East Ore-
gonian this week that he
expects COVID-19 cases to
rise because of the county
fair later this month.
“I think if you’re try-
ing to reduce cases, I think
canceling the fair would be
a way to do that,” Fiumara
said. “And I think it would
be an eff ective way to pre-
vent additional spread.”
But Fiumara said he
would not formally rec-
ommend cutbacks or clos-
ing the event because of the
backlash that would ensue.
“I’m not sure all the fall-
out from canceling it would
be worthwhile. I think there
would be a lot of pushback,”
he said.
For her part, Brown and
her administration have put
the focus back on counties,
many of which were clam-
oring for months for more
local control.
While other states and
cities are pushing for man-
datory rules, Oregon’s
mask-wearing guidance is
voluntary.
The state has issued a
requirement that workers
and visitors to state build-
ings must wear masks.
After a second mandate
following federal Centers
for Disease Control and Pre-
vention guidance to require
masks in schools, Brown
got a taste of blowback over
the past few days as schools
boards and parents pushed
back.
Instead of waiting for the
state to impose new sanc-
tions, Brown has said local-
ities should step up, “follow
the science” and take action
themselves.
“While we have learned
not to rule anything out,
we also know that local-
ly-driven response eff orts
are most eff ective at this
stage in the pandemic to
reach unvaccinated Orego-
nians,” said Charles Boyle,
a spokesman for Brown.
Boyle said nothing is
stopping locals from acting
— and the state is ready to
help with materials such as
vaccines and public health
workers — to make any
action a success.
“Counties, cities and
employers also have the
ability to institute their
own safety measures and
requirements, and we expect
local leaders in areas most
impacted by COVID-19 to
take action,” Boyle said.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
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