COMMUNITY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020
SCHOOLS
Continued from Page 1A
The requirements aren’t as strict
for students in grades K-3, who
Brown says studies have shown are
less likely to contract and spread
the coronavirus.
The District had planned to bring
all students from K-6 back to school
for modifi ed in-person classes on the
fi rst day of the new year.
Those in Grades 7-12 were to be
taught from the start in a hybrid
model that called for dividing the
students into two cohort groups
that would rotate between online
and in-person study every other day
throughout the four-day week.
But based on the metrics the
governor announced Tuesday, Baker
County’s rate of new weekly positive
cases exceeds the standard for hav-
ing any in-person classes, including
a hybrid model.
“Our metrics today are pretty
clear,” Witty said. “Under the cur-
rent guidelines, we’re doing compre-
hensive distance learning.”
COVID
Continued from Page 1A
“I’m very thankful that
the people we’ve talked to,
they want to reduce the risk
of anyone else getting sick,”
Hills said. “They don’t want
to put any of their family
members at risk, or anyone in
the community.”
Hills said people who have
tested positive have cooper-
ated with the county’s contact
tracers to compile a list of
people whom they might have
inadvertently infected.
And these patients have
also complied with the
county’s request that they
self-isolate at home for 10
days after the onset of symp-
toms, and for 24 hours after
symptoms dissipate, she said.
Hills said people who have
been in close contact with a
resident who tested posi-
tive have also cooperated, by
self-quarantining for 14 days
after having had close contact
with an infected person. The
county also asks those people
to take their temperature
twice per day and report the
results, as well as any other
possible COVID-19 symp-
toms, to the Health Depart-
ment.
“From our interactions
with people, I think that,
yes, the majority of them are
following our guidance,” Hills
said.
Case investigation
process
Hills said the rate of con-
fi rmed cases has been slow
enough that she’s been able
to conduct all the initial inter-
views with infected residents.
Baker County’s weekly
peak has been nine cases
from July 19-25, according to
the Oregon Health Authority
(OHA).
Of the 29 positive tests,
28 have been reported since
June 30, including two new
cases on Friday.
(The county’s fi rst case was
reported May 6.)
As of Friday, 922 county
residents have tested nega-
tive for COVID-19, according
to the OHA. That’s about
At the Aug. 5 noon meeting,
which will be conducted remotely
by Zoom,Witty will present more
information and ask the Board for
its decision on the issue.
To be able to offer any in-person
classes for grades 4-12, a district
must be in a county that has a new
case rate of 10 per 100,000 popula-
tion or less for three straight weeks,
and a test positivity rate of 5% or
below for three straight weeks. In
addition, the overall Oregon positiv-
ity rate has to stay below 5% for
three straight weeks.
For Baker County, more than one
positive case per week would pre-
vent in-person school from taking
place under the current metrics.
The requirement for having in-
person classes for grades K-3 is 30
cases for 100,000 population or less
for three straight weeks.
Witty presented a chart compar-
ing seven rural Oregon counties
that would be held to the same stan-
dards as Oregon’s most populous
counties on the western side of the
state.
5.5% of the county’s estimat-
ed population of 16,800.
Hills said that when she
receives confi rmation about
a positive test, either from a
doctor or medical clinic, she
telephones the patient.
In most cases the person
has already been notifi ed by a
health care provider, she said,
although in some cases she
has told the person about the
positive test.
Hills said the initial phone
call generally lasts around
20 minutes. She asks the
patients about symptoms
and any underlying medical
conditions they might have.
A crucial part of the inter-
view, though, is compiling
the list of the person’s close
contacts. The Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion defi ne close contact as
being within 6 feet of another
person for 15 minutes or
longer, Hills said.
Those criteria apply
regardless of whether the en-
counter happened indoors or
outdoors, and whether or not
either of the people involved
was wearing a face covering,
she said.
Hills said she asks patients
to list all potential close
contacts from two days before
symptoms began.
She said all the people
who have tested positive had
symptoms of varying degrees.
Generally local residents who
don’t have symptoms aren’t
being tested because they
don’t meet the CDC criteria
for testing.
Because it can be challeng-
ing for people to remember
who they might have had
close contact with over a
period of a week or longer,
Hills said that after her initial
Harney County, for example, is
the state’s largest county by area
with 10,133 square miles, and
has less than one person (0.7) per
square mile. Under the current
metrics, Harney County, which as of
Friday had recorded eight positive
cases, could not have even one per-
son test positive in a week and still
qualify to have in-person classes.
Harney County has 10 separate
schools or districts.
In seeking change in the state-
wide system, Witty showed a draft
presentation that regional repre-
sentatives plan to share with state
leaders in the hope of prompting
more fl exibility for rural counties.
On Thursday, Witty discussed the
presentation with the Board. Among
other points, the paper points out
that the long distances between
communities in rural counties make
it diffi cult for residents to interact.
“This needs to be taken into
consideration when calculating the
threat of community spread,” the
presentation states.
The regional group would
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
propose, instead, that local health
offi cials be given authority to set the
metrics for an area based on their
fi rsthand experience and knowledge
of their counties.
Witty said offi cials from the
governor’s offi ce and the Oregon De-
partment of Education are willing to
look at making changes.
“Folks are working with us and
are attempting to come up with
strategies that make sense, especial-
ly for frontier counties,” Witty said.
“We too have a responsibility,” he
said. “We want to keep our students,
staff and families safe. But this met-
ric of one size fi ts all, doesn’t quite
fi t Baker County.”
Witty asked the Board for guid-
ance about how to proceed. He
said he envisions comprehensive
distance learning in a block of six
to nine weeks when classes get
underway. As coronavirus trends are
analyzed, a move to in-person school
might be possible at that time.
Witty said he would expect staff
to be in their buildings during the
all-online learning model.
symptoms, and then asks the
person to self-quarantine for
14 days from the date of the
close contact.
The county encourages
people who have symptoms
to visit a doctor and, ideally,
be tested.
Self-quarantine means
the person tries to avoid
contact with others as much
as possible, generally leaving
home only for doctor’s ap-
pointments, or to take a walk
or car ride if it’s possible to
avoid contact with others.
People are also asked to
try to minimize contact with
others in their household, if
they don’t live alone.
Hills said the self-quar-
antine period is important
because a person can infect
others up to two days before
symptoms begin.
Hills said there have been
situations in which a person
who was listed as a close
Contact tracing
contact by an infected person
Once Hills has compiled the subsequently had symptoms
list of close contacts, she or an- and also tested positive.
other county employee starts
Some of these cases
the contact tracing process.
involved transmission by a
Thus far she and four other
tracers have been able to
handle the workload, al-
though Hills said the county
has additional people trained
to do contact tracing if neces-
sary.
Contact tracing is similar to
the interview with the person
who tested positive.
Hills said she phones the
person and explains — if the
person hasn’t already been
notifi ed by the resident who
tested positive, as sometimes
has happened — that he or
she might have been in close
contact with an infected
person.
She inquires about possible
phone interview she sched-
ules a follow-up call to give
people more time to consult a
calendar, talk with relatives
or otherwise refresh their
memories.
“We try to help jog their
memory,” she said.
Typically close contacts
occur at social gatherings, ap-
pointments or similar events,
Hills said.
A person who has shopped
at a store, for instance,
probably won’t have any
encounter that qualifi es as a
close contact. However, Hills
said she asks people to make
sure they didn’t, say, stop to
talk with a fellow shopper for
longer than 15 minutes at the
grocery store.
Hills said the number of
people on the fi nal list of close
contacts has varied, in Baker
County’s 29 cases, from as few
as two people to around 10.
Open for dining in
“I’ve told the union that one of
the things I’m going to require is
that you’re in your class,” he said,
adding that the full breadth of
availability to the new technology
equipment is accessed from the
classrooms.
“We’ve got to have really good
expectations with students, families
and staff and accountability mea-
sures built in,” Witty said.
Food service and child care also
will be two major components of the
new school year.
“It’s defi nitely part of our strategy
to be able to offer child care to our
employees as well as to essential
workers,” Witty said.
Board members agreed that
plans should be fi nalized as quickly
as possible for the benefi t of the
community’s children and families.
“I like the idea of getting another
week of information,” said direc-
tor Julie Huntington. “From my
perspective, kids need routine and
they need to know what’s expected
of them. They just don’t adapt well
to everything being up in the air.”
Some people have initially
believed they were suffering
from allergies, she said.
Hills urges residents to be
especially vigilant in taking
stock of their health, and to
not ignore symptoms such
Recovered patients
as a sore throat, headache
Hills said the Baker
or muscle aches just be-
County Health Department cause they don’t also have a
doesn’t follow up on cases
cough or a fever.
for the purpose of determin-
Although the latter two
ing whether the person has symptoms are strongly
recovered.
associated with COVID-19,
The OHA does maintain
neither is defi nitive. People
some statistics about the
can be infected with the
recovery rate, but the data
virus and not have a fever
are not separated by county. or a cough, she said.
However, no one in Baker
Hills says people who feel
County has died as a result sick should at a minimum
of COVID-19 infection.
stay home from work and
Moreover, county offi cials try to minimize their con-
have said no one is hospital- tact with others.
ized for treatment.
And she urges people who
have cold-like symptoms to
Recommendations for
visit a doctor and, potential-
residents
ly, be tested for COVID-19.
Hills said that in inter-
Hills said the county’s
viewing the residents who
ultimate goals are to protect
tested positive, it’s clear
the community and to
that in many cases symp-
handle the pandemic to the
toms of infections are “very extent possible to ensure
mild.”
businesses can remain open.
resident to a family member
in the same household, and
others involved the infection
of an acquaintance who isn’t
a member of the household,
Hills said.
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