East Oregonian : E.O., March 21, 2020, WEEKEND EDITION, Image 1

WEEKEND EDITION
MILTON-FREEWATER BUSINESS TURNS
OUT THOUSANDS OF HAND-CRAFTED
CLAY ITEMS EVERY YEAR
LIFESTYLES, B1
MARCH 21-22, 2020
144th Year, No. 111
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
CORONAVIRUS | MOST NEW CASES IN SINGLE DAY BRINGS STATE TALLY TO 114, A7
STATE SHUTDOWN
Options
available
for parents
Different approaches
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Umatilla County show varied responses to COVID-19
By ANTONIO SIERRA AND
ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
U
Free resources
available for
parents trying to
homeschool
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The six-week
school closure announced by Gov.
Kate Brown last week has suddenly
given some parents a lot more time
with their children than they were
expecting.
For some, it might be a time for
relaxation or chores, but others are
looking for ways to continue their
child’s education at home.
Kari Goodheart, of Hermis-
ton, said she is currently working
on picking out a curriculum for her
12-year-old twin boys to study for
the foreseeable future. There are a
lot of homeschooling options out
there, she said, from secular pri-
vate schools to public online char-
ter schools to Christian-based
homeschooling.
She said she is excited to turn
her home into a learning environ-
ment, and to be a part of her chil-
dren’s’ learning experience. She
thinks the experience will allow her
sons, who often get bored at school,
to work at an accelerated pace, but
said she thinks once school is back
open they will choose to return for
social reasons.
“I will let them decide, but I
have a feeling they will want to see
their friends again,” she said.
Amber Street, of Hermiston,
who has homeschooled in the past
but hadn’t been doing so this year,
suggested that parents forcing chil-
dren to sit at a desk all day going
through a structured curriculum
might not be the way for stressed-
out parents to go right now.
“I made a list with my son of
what he wants to learn about, and
of course, there are dinosaurs, but
there are also things like the coun-
try of Israel,” she said. “That’s
what we’re going to be working
on, and theoretically he’ll be more
cooperative.”
She said there are ways to incor-
porate learning naturally through-
out the day — learning measuring
and cooking skills while helping in
the kitchen, for example, or learn-
ing through reading and games.
And even if parents are holding
See Parents, Page A8
The Oregonian Photo via AP/Beth Nakamura
OREGON
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state fo emergency on March 8,
nearly a week after the CTUIR and 10 days before Umatilla County.
Brown’s announcement was followed by days of mandates with in-
creasingly tight controls over daily life in an eff ort to curb the spread
of COVID-19.
UMATILLA COUNTY
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Umatilla County declared a state of alert on March 12 before declar-
ing a state of emergency six days later. Umatilla County’s decision to
declare a state of emergency fell in line with other regional counties
and the city of Pendleton, and restricted access to public buildings.
CTUIR
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The CTUIR Board of Trustees declared a state of emergency on March
2 after a Wildhorse Resort & Casino employee tested positive for
COVID-19. CTUIR’s initial reaction was followed by moratoriums on
water service disconnects and evictions in tribal housing.
MATILLA COUNTY —
Within hours of Oregon
Health Authority’s March 2
announcement that Umatilla
County had received its fi rst case of
novel coronavirus, the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation declared a state of emergency.
It would take another 16 days for
Umatilla County to follow suit.
According to Umatilla County
Public Health Director Joe Fiumara,
some county health department staff
were preparing for COVID-19 in
February before the fi rst case even
appeared in Oregon. But when a
case appeared in Umatilla County,
Fiumara also said the health depart-
ment was scrambling to fi gure out
how to adjust its phone systems to
properly handle the sudden surge of
calls because it had previously been
set up for calls related to February’s
fl oods.
“The fact that we’ve had two of
these back-to-back emergencies has
stretched us pretty thin in a lot of
areas,” Fiumara said.
The county ultimately leaned
on the state’s resources and its 211
phone number to help fi eld calls and
answer questions. Meanwhile, Uma-
tilla County Commissioner George
Murdock, the board of commission-
ers’ public health liaison, booked
an emergency fl ight home from
the National Association of Coun-
ties’ legislative conference in Wash-
ington, D.C., to support the health
department.
Despite that, Fiumara and Uma-
tilla County Public Health Offi cer
Dr. Jon Hitzman said Friday they
advised the board of commissioners
against declaring an emergency until
recently out of concern for creating
more panic and because the county’s
fi rst cases of COVID-19 hadn’t over-
whelmed them.
“There’s always concern about
public perception with this. We felt
taking that step at that time would
have driven more panic than it
would have solved any problems
that we were having,” Fiumara said.
“As things continued to escalate, of
course, that decision evolved.”
In the days that followed the
tribes’ emergency declaration, an
incident command team was formed
with a $1 million budget, almost all
tribal events were canceled, access
to tribal government buildings was
restricted and Wildhorse was par-
tially closed to the public.
The tribes also advised residents
not to travel more than 75 miles
REPORTED CASES*
INTERNATIONAL: 275,225
DEATHS: 11,384
UNITED STATES: 15,219
U.S. DEATHS: 201
OREGON: 114
UMATILLA COUNTY: 2
MORROW COUNTY: 0
OREGON DEATHS: 3
*as of 5 p.m. Friday, March 20
Sources: Oregon Military De-
partment’s Off ice of Emergency
Management, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and Worl-
dometer.com
FAQ
WHAT IS THE RISK OF
MY CHILD BECOMING
SICK WITH COVID-19?
Based on available evidence,
children do not appear to be at
higher risk for COVID-19 than
adults. While some children
and infants have been sick with
COVID-19, adults make up most
of the known cases to date. You
can learn more about who is
most at risk for health problems
if they have COVID-19 infection
on CDC’s current Risk Assess-
ment page.
Source: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF
COVID-19 DIFFERENT
IN CHILDREN THAN IN
ADULTS?
No. The symptoms of COVID-19
are similar in children and
adults. However, children
with confirmed COVID-19 have
generally presented with mild
symptoms. Reported symptoms
in children include cold-like
symptoms, such as fever, runny
nose, and cough. Vomiting
and diarrhea have also been
reported. It’s not known yet
whether some children may be
at higher risk for severe illness,
for example, children with un-
derlying medical conditions and
special health care needs. There
is much more to be learned
about how the disease impacts
children.
Source: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
SHOULD CHILDREN
WEAR MASKS?
No. If your child is healthy, there
is no need for them to wear a
face mask. Only people who
have symptoms of illness or
who are providing care to those
who are ill should wear masks.
Source: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
See Approaches, Page A8
‘Testing is the key to solving this pandemic’
COVID-19 test
backlog frustrates
local doctors
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — While
President Donald Trump
touts a dramatic upsurge in
COVID-19 testing, three local
physicians see it differently.
The doctors — Dr. Mal-
colm Townsley, Dr. Russell
Harrison and Dr. Jonathan
Hitzman — described long
turnaround times and a short-
age of testing supplies. Both
state and commercial labs,
they said, are swamped.
To w n s -
ley, an inter-
nist
who
works out of
the clinic at
St. Anthony
Hospital,
Harrison
expressed
frustration.
“Testing is the key to solv-
ing this pandemic,” he said.
“It’s critical for hospitals to
be able to test. Right now,
we are treating patients (with
symptoms similar to corona-
virus) as if they have COVID-
19. We’re burning through
gowns, masks and gloves.
We’re going to run out of this
equipment soon.”
During testing, provid-
Hitzman
Townsley
ers use a several-inch swab
to obtain a sample from the
nasal passageway. The sam-
ple goes into a test tube fi lled
with a viral preservative
medium, and then is frozen
for transport to a lab.
“The medium is in short
supply,” said Harrison, who
practices family medicine in
Pendleton. “That has been a
real problem.”
So far, none of the three
physicians has sent out a test,
mostly because of daunting
backlogs at the labs.
“If I did a test today, it
would sit in my freezer for a
week before the lab picked
it up,” said Harrison, adding
that it would take at least a few
more days for a result, maybe
even a week or 10 days. By
that time, a patient could be
recovered or dead. “We really
don’t have any testing for the
public for COVID-19.”
“The idea that you can go
to the doctor and get tested is
inaccurate at this moment in
this community,” Townsley
said.
Hitzman, who practices
at Pendleton Family Medi-
cine and serves as Umatilla
County health offi cer, said
wryly that getting tested is
about as likely as fi nding a
roll of toilet paper. He was
only half kidding.
Currently, there are two
avenues for testing, the doc-
tors said, and both take time.
The Oregon State Pub-
lic Health Lab can test up
to 80 samples per day, all
from patients who have met
the stringent CDC criteria
for who can be tested. They
include hospitalized patients
with symptoms, symptom-
atic individuals with chronic
medical conditions or health
See Testing, Page A8