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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2021)
A7 OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Saturday, January 2, 2021 COVID-19: ‘Life is going to be different now’ Continued from Page A1 ical Center in Hermiston as health care workers were injected with the Moderna vaccine. Morrow County followed suit on Wednes- day, Dec. 30, administering some of their doses to police and public safety staff. Spir- its were high at the hospitals as people began to anticipate the end of the pandemic. According to the Ore- gon Health Authority, only 277 people have been vacci- nated. With vaccine supplies still modest, when the gen- eral public will begin gain- ing access to the vaccine is still an open question. 3. COVID-19 surges in Umatilla County State and local officials were alarmed by COVID-19 trends in Umatilla County over the summer, as the county outpaced the rest of the state in new cases. The surge started at the end of May and peaked around the end of July before drop- ping sharply after Umatilla County was sent back to baseline restrictions on Aug. 1. Hermiston, in particular, had so many cases over the summer that, despite cases later spiking elsewhere in the state, as of Dec. 23 Ore- gon Health Authority’s data showed the Hermiston ZIP code still has still reported more cases since the start of the pandemic than any other ZIP code in the state. Umatilla County Pub- lic Health officials said the summer surge in Umatilla County was largely driven by people coming to work sick, and many of the Herm- iston area’s largest employ- ers saw outbreaks. Lamb Weston’s plant in Hermiston closed down for deep clean- ing on June 15 after an out- break that would eventually affect nearly 200 people. The summer also saw a surge in deaths after the virus got into Regency Hermiston Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in an outbreak first reported on July 13, which, according to OHA, included 97 cases and 15 deaths linked to the facility. 4. Pandemic forces cancelation of 2020 Pendleton Round-Up The board resisted as long as it could, but eventually COVID-19 forced it to can- cel the 2020 Round-Up. For the first time since World War II, Pendleton did not host a rodeo or any of the other accompanying events. In the initial months of the pandemic, the Round-Up Association maintained the rodeo would go on as usual during the second full week of September. Even as Gov. Kate Brown announced in May that all of the sum- mer’s large events needed to be canceled or significantly altered, the association kept its cards close to its vest. In June, the rodeo’s board of directors relented and announced that the 2020 Round-Up was canceled. It immediately pivoted to announcing a new initiative called Let’er Buck Cares, a Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian File Barbara Dickerson protests in support of stronger COVID-19 precautions in prisons outside of Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton on July 10, 2020. Dickerson’s husband is an inmate at EOCI who tested positive for COVID-19, and she alleges the prison is not doing enough to protect its inmates. charity campaign to raise money for organizations economically affected by the cancelation of the rodeo. Behind the scenes, the Round-Up and its allies had been negotiating directly with the governor’s office to figure out a way to hold the rodeo, going as far as to draft and present a document that showed how the Round-Up would operate with health precautions. But the Round-Up pulled the plug itself once officials realized hosting a full-sized audience wasn’t an option. 5. Wildhorse clears out guests after employee tests positive for coronavirus Wildhorse Resort & Casino on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation closed all of its facilities when an employee tested positive for the coro- navirus in early March. Guests were quickly ush- ered off the premises as offi- cials scrambled to address the impending issue and calm the rising panic. “In an abundance of cau- tion, Wildhorse Resort & Casino has closed to com- plete a thorough and deep cleaning as a response to reports of a presumptive pos- itive case of COVID-19,” said spokeswoman Mary Liberty-Traugher that day. Quickly, the casino’s sur- rounding areas resembled “a ghost town.” The employee was attending a basket- ball game at Weston Middle School when they fell seri- ously ill and required med- ical attention. They were transported to Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington, where they tested positive. The case came at the start of what has now been a nearly 10-month pandemic, with no clear end in sight. 6. ‘I wouldn’t put much money on that’; county health director says most schools unlikely to reopen in 2020 When schools initially closed their doors to stu- Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File Millie West gives a haircut at the Wagon Wheel Barber Shop in Pendleton on May 15, 2020. The barbershop, which has newly reopened, is making use of trash bags as disposable capes until they can find an alternative. dents in March, teachers and administrators initially anticipated that the break would only be temporary, a short period supplemented by packets and online learning. But with a few excep- tions, most local students never returned to a tradi- tional classroom in 2020 as Umatilla County struggled to keep its COVID-19 case numbers down. As schools were getting ready to embark on the 2020- 21 school year in August, Joe Fiumara, Umatilla County Public Health director, put a damper on schools reopen- ing before the end of the year, saying he wouldn’t “put much money on that.” The main impediment to reopening in Umatilla County was the area’s test- ing numbers. To reopen, the county needed to keep its test positivity rate below 5% for three successive weeks. At the time, the county’s rate stubbornly remained in the double digits. Since then, Gov. Brown has moved the goalposts for- ward to try to make reopen- ing a more attainable pros- pect. But Umatilla County continued to fall short of the goals. The governor recently announced that meeting the metrics are no longer required to reopen in 2021, but school will likely con- tinue to look different in the new year. 7. With COVID confirmed in Pendleton prison, loved ones say not enough is being done to protect those inside Compared to prisons nationally, which have suf- fered some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks since the pandemic began, it took some time before coronavi- rus reached the Eastern Ore- gon Correctional Institution. The prison announced its first confirmed cases on July 8, and went into quaran- tine due to an outbreak five days later, at which point 16 inmates and three staff had tested positive, according to officials. Family members with incarcerated loved ones, con- fined in close quarters with infection spreading, quickly spoke to the East Orego- nian about a variety of con- cerns regarding the condi- tions inside the prison and what they called a failure on the prison’s behalf to follow CDC guidelines like wearing a mask and social distancing. Prison officials said in an email that the institution “followed the guidelines established by the Agency Operations Center in con- junction with the DOC Chief Medical Officer, Oregon Health Authority and Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention.” Since the pandemic began, 452 adults in custody Celebration: Continued from Page A1 the virus. Less than a week later, she died, Davis said. Growing up near his aunt, Davis said he would see her nearly every day. Her blunt, cranky and bold demeanor is what he’ll miss the most. Lately, he’s been reflect- ing on one of her favorite quotes. “She used to always say, ‘Be ready so you don’t have to get ready,’” he said. “Be prepared for whatever’s going to come on, so you don’t have to worry about what’s going to come on. And to this day, it’s kind of like what we have to do here. We’re ready,” no mat- ter what the challenges the pandemic might bring. The highlight of Davis’ year came with the newly Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian Fireworks explode over the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. completed adoption of his 2-year-old son, Landon, a foster child. He and his wife also foster Landon’s sister, Lily, who turned 7 months old on New Year’s Day. For Josh Ruiz-Burleson, who helped set up the fire- works at EOTEC, his 2020 at EOCI have tested positive, and four have died. In total, 73 staff have tested positive, with 69 returning to work, according to prison officials. “These are our husbands, our sons, our fathers, our brothers, our uncles, our loved ones,” said Lydia Jar- rell, who stood outside the prison with several other women on July 10, protesting the dangerous conditions of the prison. She spoke about her husband, who she hadn’t seen physically in over four months, and choked back tears. “This is already a scary time as it is, and we’re stuck out here worrying about them in there — helpless — with nothing we can do.” November, and in an attempt to curb its spread, Gov. Brown announced the state would return to the safety measures that were in place in March in a “two-week freeze.” The freeze shuttered gyms, limited restaurants and bars to takeout only and closed event venues. Gro- cery and retail stores were also limited to 75% capac- ity, and social and religious gatherings were limited, with the threat of possi- ble fines or arrests if peo- ple blatantly disobeyed the precautions. The move quickly incited deep concern among busi- ness owners, who said they would not survive another shutdown. In Umatilla County, health officials said most cases were being traced back to large social gather- ings — mostly parties — that at times exceeded 50 or more people. The major- ity of the cases were among young people, Joe Fiumara, the county’s public health director, said. Since then, almost all Oregon counties remain in a form of shutdown similar to that of the freeze, as reported cases, death and hospital- ized continued to spike to heights that to some were once unimaginable. Only now are cases slowly begin- ning to decline on average, but they remain significantly higher than what was being reported in late summer. 10. After weeks of closures due to COVID-19, local businesses began reopening their doors The pandemic was surg- ing across Oregon to new record-high case counts in In May, with coronavirus cases seemingly under con- trol in Umatilla County, local businesses began to reopen when Gov. Brown approved the county’s approval for entering Phase I reopening. Businesses were slow to reopen due to require- ments for personal pro- tective equipment, limited capacity inside businesses, a short turnaround to prepare for reopening, and a general feeling of uncertainty and anxiety over how the com- munity would react to bring- ing things back to a relative normal. The first phase allowed restaurants, bars, personal service providers and retail- ers to reopen with modified accommodations specific to each business sector. One of the earliest local businesses to see large gath- erings of customers was Wagon Wheel Barber Shop on Southeast First Street in Pendleton, as many residents hadn’t had their hair cut in months. Staff wore masks and gloves, and helped cus- tomers maintain social dis- tancing. Overall, custom- ers said they were relatively unbothered by the restric- tions, as they wore masks and were asked COVID-19 screening questions. “Life is going to be dif- ferent now,” one man who received a haircut that day said. “It’s just going to be a part of life. It’s a new reality.” highlight has been spend- ing more time with his four kids, playing board games and sharing meals. Helping them through online school has been challenging, but their neighbor, a retired school teacher, offered to help out, he said. “My kids need to be in school,” he said. “They’re like me. They learn hands on. I have a special-needs child who needs more hands-on (learning) and one-on-one. Unfortunately, we’re not able to get that. And I think a lot of parents are struggling with the same thing.” A mechanic for Mid Columbia Bus Company, Ruiz-Burleson said he worked alongside bus driv- ers in 2020, bringing hun- dreds of meals to children who typically get break- fast and lunch at schools in Stanfield, Umatilla and Hermiston. “We have a lot of driv- ers who will do whatever they need to do to get that job done, which is awe- some,” he said. “And being a father of four, we do have our struggles, but you know, we do what we have to do to keep them going.” Ramsey, who helped set up the fireworks on New Year’s for free because he wanted to bring a sense of joy to his community, said he is looking forward to the simple things in normal life — restaurants, bowling alleys, working as a leader with the Royal Rangers, a group similar to the Boy Scouts, he said. “There’s hope in 2021,” he said. “It seemed like after February, there was no hope. And then it seemed like, OK, it’s a new year, maybe let’s get some hope and get some things open. And we’ll see everything as it goes.” 8. OSU study estimates 17% of Hermiston residents were positive for COVID-19 on July 25-26 As Hermiston’s COVID- 19 cases far outpaced the rest of the state, Oregon State University researchers con- ducted door-to-door testing for COVID-19 on July 25-26. Based on data from 471 samples collected from 249 randomly selected house- holds, in addition to tests on COVID-19 levels in Herm- iston’s wastewater, scientists calculated that 17% of Herm- iston residents were positive for COVID-19 that weekend. They also stated the fact that the positive sam- ples were from neighbor- hoods across the commu- nity showed the virus was widespread throughout the community. Researchers conducting the tests were met with more suspicion in Hermiston than in previous communities where the TRACE COVID- 19 program had been con- ducted, with a reported 66% of residents who were con- tacted declining to partici- pate in the free, voluntary tests. 9. Oregon put in ‘two-week freeze’ to slow rapid spread of COVID-19