Wednesday, February 9, 2022
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Something
in OHA
data does
not add up
W
hen you read the details of Josh
Barnett’s story on A1 about
trying to right the record on
his mother’s apparent COVID-19-related
death, something doesn’t add up.
But not from him — from the Oregon
Health Authority.
As far as we (and he) can tell, his
mother, Theresa Malec, who died in
mid-December, is the woman listed by the
OHA as the 14th COVID-19-related death
in Wallowa County.
His family is the first that we are aware
of in the county to refute COVID-19 hav-
ing a role in a loved one’s death. The death
certificate, and Barnett, both state the
cause of Malec’s death was liver cancer.
Barnett offered to share the certificate
with the Chieftain. Following an interview,
he gave us permission to publish the cause
of death information and that portion of
the document.
And after looking at what was provided
by Barnett and speaking to him, and then
looking at what OHA has given, Barnett’s
case is much more compelling than the
state’s.
For one, Malec’s passing occurred
more than four months after her positive
COVID test in August, which, by Barnett’s
account, she had fully recovered from.
Even OHA’s own documents say for a
passing to be counted as a COVID-related
death, the time limit from an individual’s
first known positive test or symptom onset
to their passing is 60 days.
OHA also counts a COVID-19-related
death if the death certificate lists specific
COVID-related codes. Yet the death certif-
icate for Barnett’s mother has no such code
listed, and the only mention of her COVID
history on the document states there were
two negative tests.
(Interestingly, while it doesn’t seem to
apply here, the other criteria for a COVID-
19-related death is “Death from any cause
in a hospitalized person during their hos-
pital stay or in the 60 days following dis-
charge and a COVID-19-positive labora-
tory diagnostic test at any time since 14
days prior to hospitalization” (emphasis
ours). Does that not strike anyone as odd?)
To be fair, we cannot be 100% cer-
tain that the woman in the OHA report is
Malec, as OHA has not — and said it can-
not — provide identifying information.
The entity also could not confirm if Bar-
nett’s mother, when given her name, was
the individual. And yes, Barnett said it was
OK for us to ask the OHA that question, as
well.
But when you look at the timeline for
Malec’s passing, in a county as small as
Wallowa County, it’s pretty easy to put two
and two together.
More details are needed to get to the
bottom of this particular case, but at the
moment, Malec’s passing — and Barnett’s
account and document — raises some seri-
ous questions about the validity of OHA’s
data in this case, and could weaken its
overall credibility.
This is not written to discredit the losses
felt by people who have been severely
impacted by COVID. There is no doubt
it’s real, and many have died from it.
But as you look a little deeper into
OHA’s data, it’s clear something does not
add up.
LETTER to the EDITOR
Stockgrowers comment
on stranded cattle
We, the Wallowa County Stockgrow-
ers, feel the need to comment on the
unfortunate series of events, some out of
the stockman’s control, that occurred in
the Upper Imnaha area stranding groups
of cattle in deep snow.
You don’t have to be a cattleman to
know that mother nature can deal a tough
hand. This came into play in this situ-
ation on a large scale, both locally and
statewide. The stage was set by record
drought in 2021, exacerbated by unsea-
sonably warm, wet weather that pro-
duced a green-up at high elevations
causing cattle to scatter in an unprece-
dented manner. This mild weather ended
abruptly and was followed by a three-
day blizzard that blew down thousands
of trees, piled and drifted several feet
of snow blocking roads and trails. The
weather — a one-day record for snow-
fall in Joseph — was so severe that even
aerial surveillance was made nearly
impossible.
The nature of news doesn’t allow for
the reports of how many livestock are
gathered from the range, protected from
predators and shown incredible animal
husbandry practices that most people
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the
right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-398-5502 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2022. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
• • •
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of
residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will
not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO: editor@wallowa.com, or via mail to Wallowa County Chieftain, 209 NW 1st St.
Enterprise, OR 97828
General Manager, Karrine Brogoitti, kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
News Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Classifieds/Inside Sales, Julie Ferdig, jferdig@bakercityherald.com
Advertising Assistant, Devi Mathson, dmathson@lagrandeobserver.com
To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-398-5502
or email editor@wallowa.com
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
USPS No. 665-100
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
would call heroic. These types of events
are commonplace and part of everyday
ranching across our great industry. The
introductory phrase of our mission state-
ment of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Associ-
ation is to “promote environmentally and
socially sound industry practices.” We
continue to hold ourselves to these stan-
dards and remain committed to provide
for the livestock in our care, and practice
responsible stewardship of our rangeland.
The Wallowa County Stockgrowers is
a member organization that supports the
livestock industry and its members.
Wallowa County Stockgrowers officers
Tom Birkmaier, president
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