NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, September 18, 2021
COVID-19 wave has crested, but recovery unlikely before holiday season
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s
record wave of COVID-
19 cases appears to have
crested, but the long recov-
ery will likely stretch into
the winter holiday season.
“I’m happy to deliver
some promising news —
daily cases and hospital-
izations are slowly coming
down from record highs,”
said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the
state epidemiologist, during
a Thursday, Sept. 16, press
call.
New infections and
deaths also remain high but
are trending down the past
two weeks after eight weeks
of rising numbers driven by
the highly contagious delta
variant.
But it will take as long to
get down from the crest as it
took to get there, about two
months, according to state
forecasts.
“ T he delt a va r ia nt
remains a formidable threat,”
Sidelinger said.
With more than 1,000
COVID-19 patients state-
wide — nearly all unvacci-
nated — hospitals are reeling
and medical attention is
delayed to not just virus
patients, but heart attack
victims, those injured in car
crashes and other life-threat-
ening incidents.
“These capacity levels are
EO Media Group, File
Emergency room personnel hustle to care for patients at St. Charles Medical Center Bend in August 2021.
not sustainable. Our health
system remains under signif-
icant stress,” Sidelinger said.
T he Oregon Health
Authority on Sept. 16
reported 46 new COVID-19
related deaths in the state,
raising the overall death toll
during the crisis to 3,536.
Despite the recent sharp rise
in cases, Oregon’s overall
per capita death rate ranks
46th among the 50 states.
The Johns Hopkins Coro-
navirus Resource Center
reported that as of Sept. 16
the pandemic has killed 4.66
million people worldwide,
including 667,894 in the
United States.
COVID-19 trend fore-
casts from Oregon Health
& Science University last
month held out the possi-
bility that after dropping
through September and
October, COVID-19 levels
could fall to levels not seen
since the very beginning
of the pandemic. But the
latest forecasts show a later
and slower decline. Hospi-
talizations are projected to
be below 200 per day by
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Thanksgiving. Oregon resi-
dents should hope for the
best, but prepare for the virus
to once again impede holiday
cheer.
“We’re not fortune tell-
ers,” Sidelinger said. “We
will probably all be consid-
ering celebrating differently.
We may shiver a bit out in the
cold.”
The rebound could slow
or stall amid challenges
from several factors, includ-
ing Labor Day holiday
weekend socializing, K-12
schools reopening to in-class
Baker City man sentenced to federal
prison for theft of COVID-19 funds
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Clearing and
showers around
Mostly cloudy,
showers; cool
65° 50°
65° 47°
Mostly sunny and
cool
Warmer with
sunshine
Partly sunny,
breezy and nice
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
65° 45°
74° 49°
79° 50°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
70° 51°
69° 52°
70° 45°
77° 51°
79° 47°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
65/54
57/44
67/47
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
65/52
Lewiston
66/54
72/53
Astoria
62/52
Pullman
Yakima 66/48
63/51
64/51
Portland
Hermiston
66/57
The Dalles 70/51
Salem
Corvallis
62/52
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
60/45
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
67/53
63/41
62/45
Ontario
76/53
Caldwell
Burns
77°
41°
81°
48°
97° (1938) 27° (1965)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
63/54
0.00"
0.04"
0.17"
1.97"
1.66"
5.48"
WINDS (in mph)
81/50
62/36
0.00"
0.09"
0.28"
4.46"
8.68"
8.93"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 61/40
66/55
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
65/50
67/54
73°
39°
79°
50°
97° (1938) 30° (1965)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
63/50
Aberdeen
58/45
64/49
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
63/53
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
70/54
Sun.
SSW 7-14
SW 7-14
WSW 8-16
WSW 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
58/42
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:37 a.m.
7:00 p.m.
6:34 p.m.
3:39 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Sep 20
Sep 28
Oct 6
Oct 12
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 103° in El Centro, Calif. Low 16° in Stanley, Idaho
instruction, the return of
college students, and major
events such as the Pendleton
Round-Up and college foot-
ball games.
“Every opportunity that
brings people together is an
opportunity for the disease to
spread,” Sidelinger said.
The severity of the flu
season and the level of wet
and cold weather that may
cause people to congregate
indoors more could also
contribute to infection levels.
All are occurring as the
state experiences its high-
BAKER CITY — A Baker
City man who pleaded guilty
in June to misappropriating
COVID-19 relief funds was
sentenced Thursday, Sept.
16, to 10 months in federal
prison.
Jeremy Michael Claw-
son, 32, pleaded guilty on
June 8 to one count of theft
of public money. As part of
the plea agreement, Clawson
also agreed to pay $125,200
in restitution to the U.S. Trea-
sury.
Prosecutors and Claw-
son’s attorney agreed to a
two-year prison term but
recommended U.S. District
Court Chief Judge Marco A.
Hernandez reduce that to 10
month because he is serving
a 19-month sentence at the
Snake River Correctional
Institution, Ontario.
The state time came after
Clawson pleaded guilty on
Sept. 29, 2020, in Baker
County Circuit Court to
attempting to elude a police
officer and driving under the
influence of intoxicants the
month before.
Baker City police officer
Justin Prevo arrested Claw-
son at 11:45 p.m. on Aug.
21, 2020, according to court
records. Clawson was driving
the 2016 Dodge Challenger he
bought with part of the federal
COVID-19 loan and failed to
stop and drove south, running
through two stop signs.
Clawson’s arrest happened
10 days after he deposited
$145,200 from a federal
loan into an Umpqua Bank
account he and his girlfriend
opened.
He received the Economic
Injury Disaster Loan through
the Small Business Admin-
istration, according to U.S.
Attorney Billy J. Williams.
That was one of the financial
aid programs in the CARES
Act that Congress passed in
late March 2020.
According to court docu-
ments, shortly after depos-
iting the $145,200, Clawson
made large cash withdraw-
als at the drive-thru window
of the Umpqua Bank branch
in Baker City. On Aug. 17,
2020, he received a $49,905
cashier’s check from the bank
to buy the Dodge Challenger.
Umpqua Bank investiga-
tors noted the unusual activ-
ity on Clawson’s account and
reported it to the SBA.
Federal agents seized the
Wallowa County has four
new COVID-19 deaths
SALEM — The Oregon Health Author-
ity on Thursday, Sept. 16, reported four new
COVID-19 deaths in Wallowa County, bring-
ing the total during the pandemic to 10. Three
of the deaths were from cases during the most
recent surge of the virus, which started in
July, and a fourth was from earlier in the year.
The earliest of the four was of a 79-year-
old woman who tested positive on April 28
and died May 11. The woman, who had under-
lying conditions, died at St. Joseph Regional
Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, the OHA
update said.
The other three deaths came within a week
of each other. First was a 69-year-old man
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
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postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
high
low
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who died on Aug. 20, six days after testing
positive for COVID-19. It’s not yet known if
he had underlying conditions.
A day later, on Aug. 21, an 84-year-old
man died, also six days after testing positive
for the virus. The man had underlying condi-
tions.
Four days later, on Aug. 25, a 56-year-old
woman tested positive and died the same day.
It’s unknown yet if she had underlying condi-
tions.
The three August deaths are the first
reported by OHA during a spike in cases that
has seen roughly 290 people in the county
contract the virus in the past two months.
On Sept. 15, the OHA reported three new
cases of COVID-19, which brings the county
total to 489.
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EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
80s
Dodge and approximately
$50,000 in cash from the
fraudulent loan pursuant to
federal warrants and volun-
tary abandonment of funds in
third parties’ possession.
SBA loan documents
showed the loan was made
to benefit Halperin Manu-
facturing Company in San
Diego, California. There is no
record of any such company,
but the loan application
listed the company’s owner
and claimed it employed
350 people. Investigators
contacted the person listed
as the owner, but that person
denied owning or being affil-
iated with any such company.
That person also told
investigators the address in
San Diego was their personal
residence and not a commer-
cial property with 350
employees.
In early September 2020,
investigators from the SBA
and the U.S. Secret Service
learned about Clawson’s
arrest near Baker City while
driving the Dodge.
Clawson later told author-
ities he had received a large
inheritance from his father,
including $30,000 in cash he
had on his person during a
subsequent arrest.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
-10s
est infection rates of the
entire crisis, which is now
into its 19th month since
the first case in Oregon
was reported at the end of
February 2020.
Sidelinger’s press call
came just after the announce-
ment that Reynolds High
School in the Portland suburb
of Troutdale, the state’s
second largest high school,
would close for a week
because of likely COVID-19
exposure.
Setbacks to in-class
instruction were expected,
Sidelinger said. He noted the
Oct. 18 deadline for school
staff to be fully vaccinated.
Anyone — teachers, staff,
parents, students — who
believes they were exposed
to COVID-19 needs to isolate
and not come to school.
“They are not drivers of
infection,” Sidelinger said
of schools. “The drivers of
infection is the community.”
Following masking and
social distance protocols and
encouraging anyone who
has not been vaccinated to
get their shots was the best
counterattack.
Those who remain unvac-
cinated, go unmasked and
gather in groups are being
selfish because their deci-
sions put others at risk,
Sidelinger said.
“Come together as a
community,” he urged. “Vacci-
nations work, masks work.”
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