OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
East Oregonian
Workers:
County reports
two more deaths
from COVID-19
Continued from Page A1
“Right now, the staff are
tired,” said Brian Patrick,
vice president of nursing
at Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston. “A lot
of what’s weighing on them
is that there’s an answer out
there for the pandemic. But
everything’s so politicized
that the protection isn’t
being taken advantage of.
We continue to see a rise in
patients coming through the
emergency department every
single day and I don’t expect
that to lighten up at all.”
This makes life away
from the hospital difficult
for some health care work-
ers. Some nurses say they are
struggling with anxiety and
burnout. And the political
division, staff shortages and
shifting policies and proce-
dures has left them strug-
gling to cope.
“I can’t have normal
conversations with people
not in health care and listen
to their political ideology or
health care thoughts with-
out attaching a patient in a
difficult situation to that,”
St. Anthony nurse Judith
Lindsey said, crying. “I
don’t think that people real-
ize that’s what’s happening
when they talk to people
that are seeing this day-to-
day. It’s a bit emotional to
me. And that takes a toll, for
sure.”
When Maranville gets
home from work, he has
little to no energy. He takes
off his scrubs and shoes in
the garage and immediately
heads for the shower before
helping put the kids to bed.
“But that’s as much as I
do,” he said. “My wife carries
all the burden after my shift.
If she knows I’ve had a long
and busy shift, she’ll just let
me shower and let me veg out
and eat dinner.”
COVID-19
hospitalizations,
deaths spike
Over the past month,
COVID-19 hospitalizations
in Umatilla County surged
to levels never seen before
during the pandemic. As
hospitals across the region
filled to the brim, staff were
left scrambling, often reach-
ing out to more than a dozen
different hospitals before
finding an available bed for
patients needing a higher
A9
Nine COVID-19
deaths hit Umatilla
County during
the past week
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Judith Lindsey exits the room of a COVID-19 patient Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, in the critical
care unit at CHI St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton.
level of care.
Lindsey recalled one
patient who couldn’t get a
higher level of care because
hospitals everywhere were
full. They didn’t have the
equipment nor expertise
at the time to care for the
patient, she said. That patient
didn’t make it.
“That was a very sad
moment for me, and for all
my coworkers, because we
were just doing the best that
we could,” she said. “We
knew it wasn’t enough. It’s
an indescribable feeling as a
health care provider.”
During the past week,
Umat illa Cou nt y has
reported nine COVID-19
deaths. That’s the most
the county has reported
in a single week since the
pandemic began. They died
in nursing homes, hospitals
and in their homes. One
victim was just 29 years
old.
More than 70 people
have been hospitalized with
COVID-19 at St. Anthony
and Good Shepherd since
the beginning of August,
according to hospital spokes-
persons. But for some work-
ers, those data points do little
to encapsulate the feeling of
caring for patients for weeks
on end.
Galen Thompson, a nurse
in St. Anthony’s critical care
unit, said the most difficult
moments come while caring
for couples and family
members at the same time.
She recalled early in the
pandemic when an elderly
couple was hospitalized
with COVID-19. Only one
of them survived.
“That was sad,” she said.
“That was difficult.”
At times, Thompson has
had to tell family members
of COVID-19 patients that
they can’t see their loved
ones. Health care workers
can put the patients on Face-
time, “but that’s just not the
same,” she said.
Misinformation runs
rampant
In addition to what’s
faced in pandemic hospi-
tals, Thompson pointed to
a stressor that several health
care workers say has made
their jobs even more drain-
ing — social media.
Misinformation and skep-
ticism over the seriousness of
the pandemic has left some
health care workers feeling
unappreciated by a commu-
nity that scoffs at masks and
distancing and doubts vacci-
nations. And that skepticism
also stretches to some health
care workers, too. Multiple
health care workers said their
coworkers are reluctant to get
vaccinated.
“I try not to even look
at the stuff, because it is so
maddening to know what’s
going on and to hear people
say it’s not real or it’s being
overplayed by the media,”
Maranville said.
Some patients don’t even
believe they have COVID-
19, despite their test results
and their symptoms, multiple
health care workers say.
“I’m hoping that some of
these patients that decided
not to get vaccinated and got
ill can share their stories with
other people,” Lindsey said.
“That could be something
that positively impacts other
people’s choices.”
Hospitalizations during
the past week have lulled
slightly, but with large
summer events bringing
people together en masse,
health care workers said
they are waiting anxiously
for cases to ramp up again.
“As the number drops,
we’re wondering when the
next wave is going to hit us,”
Patrick said.
That makes it even more
essential for people to get
vaccinated, health care
workers say. Lindsey said
she encourages unvaccinated
COVID-positive patients to
share their stories, hoping
they might change a few
minds.
“Our masks and our
vaccines aren’t all for us,”
Lindsey said. “They’re for
our community. It’s commu-
nity health. So much of what
we’re asking our community
to do is not for the individual;
it’s for everyone.”
Lindsey retains one
memory she considers
emblematic of the health care
workers’ experience through
the latest surge.
On a recent night, the
emergency room was
slammed with COVID-19
patients, many of whom
were not doing well. Only a
skeleton crew was working,
Lindsey said, but “every-
body in the entire hospital
— no matter their politics,
no matter their ideas about
the vaccine” worked together
to take care of everybody.
“It’s kind of a silver
lining to me that there’s a
lot of divisiveness going
around right now,” she
said, “but when it’s needed,
people come together.”
PENDLETON — The
Oregon Health Authority
reported two more Umatilla
County COVID-19 deaths
Monday, Aug. 23, raising
the county’s death toll to 108
since the pandemic began.
The disclosure comes
as the county reported 69
new COVID-19 cases, a
slight decline from the
record-breaking surge seen
in previous weeks.
The first victim is a
54-year-old man who tested
positive Aug. 14 and died
Aug. 17 at Good Shepherd
Medical Center, Hermiston.
He had unspecified underly-
ing health conditions.
The second victim is a
66-year-old man who tested
positive July 19 and died
Aug. 13. The state has yet to
determine where he died. He
had unspecified underlying
health conditions.
The county has reported
nine COVID-19 deaths
during the past week, a new
pandemic record.
App shows your risk
of COVID-19 exposure
Feds approve Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Resi-
dents in Umatilla County
in a group of 50 have a 57%
chance of of meeting some-
one with COVID-19, while in
Morrow Count there is a 73%
chance.
That’s according to the
application 19 and Me, devel-
oped by a team of engineers
and data experts at Mathe-
matica, the app uses analytics
from multiple mathematical
tools to track regional data
across the United States.
App users can input their
ZIP code, age and behavioral
habits, such as indoor dining
and sports watching, and find
out their risk of exposure to
COVID-19.
For Eastern Oregon, the
numbers vary. Grant County
scored the lowest risk out of
all Eastern Oregon coun-
ties: 1 in every 924 resi-
dents were infected with
the virus, according to the
web tool (which accounts
for unreported cases of
infection). The app pegged
Morrow County with having
the highest risk, where 1
in every 39 residents are
infected with COVID-19.
The chance of at least one
person in 50 having COVID-
19 in Morrow County is 54%,
according to the app, and in
Baker County the risk is
64%. But in Grant County,
the app reported the risk was
down to 5.3%.
The tool also calculates
an abstract risk assess-
ment number that scores
the severity of exposure
and susceptibility to infec-
tion. Unvaccinated individ-
uals who don’t use a mask or
follow Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
handwashing guidelines
have a higher number than
those who are vaccinated and
follow guidelines for hand
washing and mask use.
Vaccinations remain a
safe and effective way at
reducing the risk of hospi-
talization and symptoms of
the virus, according to local,
state and national experts. In
addition, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration gave
full approval to the Pfiz-
er-BioNTech vaccine for
COVID-19 on Monday, Aug.
23, making it the first vaccine
for COVID-19 to move past
emergency use status.
Fair:
Continued from Page A1
“We enjoy getting to see friends
and having family around,” Lentz
said.
Erin Heideman, the Morrow
County 4-H coordinator and a part
of Oregon State University’s exten-
sion office, agreed the community
aspect was one of the best parts
of having the fair back this year.
Between emceeing the youth live-
stock show and answering ques-
tions, Heideman’s passion for the
future of agriculture is obvious.
“At the end of the day, it’s all
about how do we support our youth
and how do we promote agricultural
education. This is how we do it,”
she said. “Our hope is that as these
young people grow and develop that
they’ve been under the tutelage of
some pretty amazing adults that
then become the next generation of
producers.”
She said while numbers in 4-H
and FFA dropped a bit because of
COVID-19 in 2020, it has seen a
large increase in renewed interest
lately.
“I think it’s it’s the value of the
work ethic,” she said, “the camara-
derie amongst parents and commu-
nity and the opportunity to really
teach our kids where their food and
fiber comes from.”
Beth Dickenson, the county’s
FFA advisor and one of Heideman’s
friends from their time at OSU,
spoke about how it’s more important
than ever to get children involved in
agriculture.
“The more time that goes on, the
less connection that more and more
people have,” Dickenson said. “And
so then this becomes a novelty and
a misunderstood industry. You want
to eat and you want clothes, and you
want lumber to build your home or
your remodel, but you don’t know
where it comes from. And then you
pass legislation and vote for legisla-
tion and it goes against all the things
that you want.”
“We are all in this together,”
Heideman said. “We all make
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Spectators watch local youths show their goats Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at the Morrow County Fair in Heppner.
sure kids are doing well. We are
concerned about their safety and
well-being. We want them to be
extremely competitive but ulti-
mately our job is to raise the next
generation of Morrow County citi-
zens. That’s our job.”
Heideman said there’s a ton of
work that goes into events such as
the Morrow County Fair, 4-H and
FFA programs and it wouldn’t be
possible without the copious number
of volunteers.
“We have some amazing volun-
teers who are helping these kids be
successful in their arena,” she said,
“and it’s a real team effort.”
Many of the volunteers are
kids as well — some who showed
started working in the barn as early
as 5:30 a.m. and stayed until after
6 p.m. to clean up and place fresh
hay down after the competitions
were finished.
“It’s hard,” she said. “It’s really
hard and it’s not always roses. This
(the showmanship) is the roses part
of it.”
But livestock wasn’t the only
part of the Morrow County Fair
this week. With a rodeo, rides,
mouth-watering food and musi-
cal performances, attendees had a
multitude of options to spend their
day. For those lucky enough to be
at the fair around 5 p.m., they had
the opportunity to listen to 9-year-
old Sarrafina James play hits from
Metallica to Flamenco on her
ukulele.
According to Justin James, her
dad, she had just auditioned for
“America’s Got Talent” before
COVID-19 struck and forced every-
one indoors. Putting in two to three
hours of practice a day for the last
year and a half, she was able to
pick up the instrument quickly and
perform alongside her dad’s hypno-
tist and comedy shows.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Haden Cimmiyotti, 10, of Heppner, hangs on to a mechanical bull Satur-
day, Aug. 10, 2021, at the Morrow County Fair in Heppner.
He said people have loved seeing
Sarrafina play songs that challenge
even grown adults, and she’s loved
the crowd so far.
“It’s been an absolutely amazing
fair,” he said.