WEEKEND EDITION
THE WEEK
IN PHOTOS
A ‘CHURKEY’ BY ANY WINTER SPORTS
OTHER NAME IS FACING AN UPHILL
THANKSGIVING DINNER BATTLE DUE TO ‘FREEZE’
LOCAL, A9
REGION, A3
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 16
PENDLETON
Sewer
tests show
rise in
COVID
Sample collection
equates to average of
25 new COVID-19
cases per day
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — COVID-19
has shown a resurgence in Uma-
tilla County over the past month,
and Pendleton’s sewers are refl ect-
ing it.
The city of Pendleton has
been testing its wastewater treat-
ment plant for COVID-19 since
April, and its last couple of tests
have shown signifi cant growth in
November.
The most recent report from a
sample collected on Monday, Nov.
16, not only detected COVID-19 in
the city sewer’s system, but mea-
sured it out at 630,000 genome
copies per liter of sewage. Accord-
ing to Biobot Analytics, the Mas-
sachusetts lab that processes the
city’s samples, that’s the equivalent
of an average of 25 new COVID-19
cases per day. That’s a sharp rise
from mid-October, when Biobot’s
projections showed Pendleton was
averaging in the single digits.
Pendleton Wastewater Super-
intendent Mark Milne said he’s
still skeptical of some of the pro-
jections Biobot makes based on
its sewage samples. In addition
to a case count projection, Bio-
bot also estimated that Pendle-
ton’s sewer system, which serves
both the city and Mission on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, had
higher COVID-19 concentration
levels than 88% of all quantifi able
samples collected in the past three
weeks.
But Biobot’s pitch has always
been that its analysis can cast a
wider net than what testing data
shows, especially for a disease
where carriers can be largely
asymptomatic and access to tests
is sometimes limited. Accord-
ing to a Johns Hopkins University
study that includes Washington,
D.C., and Puerto Rico, Oregon has
the third lowest testing rate in the
nation.
Despite his skepticism over
some of Biobot’s projections,
See Sewage, Page A11
SPORTS, B1
REGONIAN
NOVEMBER 21-22, 2020
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Looking for a change in approach
Eastern Oregon
offi cials hope letter
will spur reform of
COVID-19 handling
By BRYCE DOLE and
JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Elected lead-
ers from Eastern Oregon coun-
ties who signed on to a letter ask-
ing Gov. Kate Brown for changes
to her approach to COVID-19 shut-
downs say the letter was not in
direct response to the current two-
week “freeze,” but was crafted over
several weeks as an outline of what
Barreto
Elfering
they hope to see happen as the state
continues to address fl uctuations in
COVID-19 numbers.
The letter, dated Wednesday,
Nov. 18, and signed by 51 county
commissioners and state legisla-
tors, asks Brown to allow restau-
rants and bars to stay open through-
out the pandemic, to fully reopen
schools, to reopen state agencies,
such as DMV offi ces, to the pub-
Findley
Levy
Murdock
lic and to allow religious leaders
to use their own best judgment in
operating their places of worship. It
also urges her to allow local elected
offi cials to work with county health
departments to come up with their
own versions of Phase 1 and Phase
2 for COVID-19 regulations.
“A one-size-fi ts-all approach to
shutting down the state was log-
ical and appropriate in March
Shafer
when the onset of this pandemic
was new and was unknown,” the
letter states. “Over time, we have
learned, adapted, adjusted and
improved. Keeping counties and
regions in a Phase II for an indefi -
nite period of time is a one size fi ts
all approach that does not work any
longer.”
See Letter, Page A11
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton Police Department Lt. Tony Nelson walks by the historic Rainbow Cafe on March 17, 2020, to ensure the bar had closed as ordered after
throwing a St. Patrick’s Day party in lieu of shutting down during the fi rst round of restaurant shutdowns in March.
ENFORCING THE ‘FREEZE’
Law enforcement in Umatilla County decline
to enforce Gov. Brown’s restrictions unless
in the case of egregious circumstances
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Law
enforcement offi cials
in Umatilla County are
saying they will not be
cracking down on social
gatherings exceeding
six people during Gov.
Kate Brown’s two-week
“freeze” unless the gathering is in
a public space or involves blatant
disregard for the health and safety
of communities.
Pendleton Police Chief Stu-
art Roberts and Hermiston Police
Chief Jason Edmiston said they
will be encouraging residents to
comply with the measures, but
will be leaving enforcement to
the discretion of individual offi -
cers. Roberts said that circum-
stances would have to be “fairly
egregious” if his offi cers were to
respond with citations or arrests.
“I’m just going to make it clear,
if somebody calls in and says,
‘My neighbor’s got 10 people over
at their house,’ we’re not coming,”
Roberts said. “It’s not something
that we’re going to waste time
and energy and effort on. I can’t
think of another time in my tenure
where we’ve been asked to take
on a regulatory role that has such
Edmiston
Roberts
political implications.”
The governor’s mandate,
which began Wednesday, Nov. 18,
is an attempt to slow the recent
record-breaking spike in corona-
virus cases statewide. The state
has repeatedly set new records in
cases, deaths and hospitalizations
over the past two weeks, accord-
ing to health offi cials.
The Oregon Health Authority
reported Friday, Nov. 20, 1,306
new suspected or confi rmed cases
of the disease as the daily average
case count reached 1,000 cases
COVID-19 NUMBERS
for the fi rst time since the pan-
demic began. A record 20 Orego-
nians were reported on Thursday,
Nov. 19, to have died carrying the
virus, as hospitalizations reached
a record-high 414.
The
lockdown
measures
announced by Brown are the
same as those from last March.
They restrict social gatherings
to no more than six people from
two separate households. Viola-
tors could receive citations of up
to $1,250 or even 30 days in jail.
“Now, I understand that the
baseline of all this is the safety
and well-being of our commu-
nities and to confi ne the spread,
if not eradicate it to a certain
degree, and I’m more than will-
ing to do my part,” Roberts said.
“But there’s some point where it
See Freeze, Page A11
2 WEEK TOTALS FOR WEEK ENDING 11/20/20
IN UMATILLA COUNTY
RISK LEVEL
HIGH
TOTAL
2 WEEK
CASE COUNT
390
TOTAL
CASE GOAL
40
OR LESS
OVER 2
WEEKS
POSITIVE
TEST RATE
%
25
POSITIVE
4.3 TEST GOAL
%
%
5