A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2022
REGION
Family disputes state report claiming COVID-19
contributed to Wallowa County woman’s death
BY RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
SALEM — The family of a
Wallowa County woman who
died in December is disputing
an Oregon Health Authority
report that COVID-19 had
anything to do with her death.
“Definitely not a COVID
death,” said Josh Barnett, a Sa-
lem resident, of his mother,
Theresa Malec, a former resi-
dent of Wallowa.
Malec died at Barnett’s home
in Salem on Dec. 15, 2021,
about two weeks after being
diagnosed with liver cancer,
Barnett said.
Barnett said there was a de-
lay in the processing of her
death certificate, and when he
received it, he had some sus-
picion that her death might
be called a COVID-19-related
death.
On Jan. 27, OHA reported
the death of a 70-year-old Wal-
lowa County woman in its
daily COVID-19 report. It said
the woman died on Dec. 15 af-
ter a positive test on Aug. 4.
While OHA does not pro-
vide names on its report —
and declined to confirm to
the Chieftain if the death it
reported was indeed Malec —
Barnett said it’s not too diffi-
cult to make the assumption
that the death in the report was
his mother.
COVID-19, though, was not
what killed her, he said, and
Josh Barnett/Contributed Photo
Theresa Malec, a former Wallowa
resident, died Dec. 15, 2021. Her
family believes she is listed as a
COVID-19-related death in Wal-
lowa County, and is refuting the
Oregon Health Authority’s report.
the death certificate, which
he provided to the Chieftain,
shows that.
Contracted COVID, but
defeated it
Barnett said his mother —
who earlier in the year had
defeated breast cancer before
the unexpected liver cancer
diagnosis — did indeed have
COVID-19 in early August,
but healed up only a couple
days after receiving treatment.
“She got ivermectin and the
(monoclonal antibody) infu-
sion therapy. She was tired for
a couple, three days,” he said.
Unprompted, Barnett also
said Malec had not been vac-
cinated.
The death certificate
The text on the death certif-
icate made Barnett wonder if
Malec would be classified as a
COVID death.
The certificate — Barnett
shared the document with
the Chieftain and gave per-
mission to publish the infor-
mation in it — lists cardiac
arrest, respiratory arrest and
liver cell carcinoma as the
causes of death.
Below that, it lists anxiety
and breast cancer as signifi-
A new diagnosis
cant conditions contributing
He said his mom sounded to death.
“really tired, winded,” in a
Next to those, it states “his-
phone conversation with her tory of covid 19 (2 negative
Nov. 29.
tests).”
The next day, she was in
The funeral home that
the emergency room in En-
worked with Barnett said it had
terprise, originally given a di- “never seen this on a death cer-
agnosis of pancreatic cancer, tificate, ever,” he said. “I had
Barnett said. She was Life-
that feeling.”
Flighted that night to Walla
His feeling was confirmed on
Walla, where it was deter-
Jan. 27 when OHA reported the
mined, instead, the diagnosis 70-year-old Wallowa County
was liver cancer.
woman’s death, which the
She also initially tested
Chieftain reported later that
positive for COVID while at day. Barnett reached out the
Walla Walla, Barnett said, but following day seeking to clarify
that positive test was followed the details.
by two negative tests for the
coronavirus — the second
Seeking answers
about a week later — which
Barnett said OHA was not
enabled Barnett to get into
forthcoming on details in an
the hospital to visit her.
email response to his brother,
Barnett eventually took
Ty, who also had been seeking
Malec to his Salem home
answers.
The OHA told the Chief-
where she was put on hospice
tain it could not comment
and died about a week later.
“She didn’t want to be
vaccinated, but she did
fight it naturally. She pulled
through,” he said.
After overcoming COVID,
Barnett said his mom had re-
turned to much of her normal
activities, and had been driv-
ing weekly to Walla Walla for
treatment of her breast cancer
before defeating it.
“They had given her the all
clear on the breast cancer,” he
said.
Restaurants
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Brigid Musselman rings up a purchase while Aaron Walter creates a coffee drink on
Jan. 28, 2022, at Sweet Wife Baking in Baker City.
Rich, poor,
old, young.
Compassion
doesn’t
discriminate.
Our calling is you.
specifically on if Malec was
listed as a COVID-19-related
death, and that it “cannot pro-
vide any specific information
related to a person’s death or
death certificate,” according to
Tim Heider, OHA public in-
formation officer.
The OHA did confirm to
Ty Barnett in an email Josh
Barnett shared with the Chief-
tain that it does use the phrase
“COVID-19-related deaths”
and that it could mean a per-
son who had COVID-19 died,
but that it wasn’t necessarily
the cause.
“The deaths we report
each day include people who
died with COVID-like symp-
toms, which in some cases
means that a person did not
necessarily die as a result of
COVID-19. Sometimes public
health cannot determine (the)
exact cause of death, so our
data focuses on people who
most likely or definitely had
COVID-19 and died, based on
local reports,” the email stated.
The OHA’s Investigative
Guidelines state that any of
the following are considered a
COVID-19-related death:
• “Death of a confirmed
or probable COVID-19 case
within 60 days of the earliest
available date among exposure
to a confirmed case, onset of
symptoms, or date of spec-
imen collection for the first
positive test;
six feet apart, but some
guests still prefer to avoid
the dining room.
Continued from Page A1
“There are a number
At the Geiser Grand Ho- of guests who still want
tel, owner Barbara Sidway room service,” she said.
In response, her kitchen
said she hasn’t been too
has created “pinwheel
short staffed.
platters” — a plate of
“We have people who
sandwiches made with
have been here so long,
fillings in a rolled up torti-
they’re cross trained,” she
lla, then sliced.
said. “We’re doing OK.”
These will stay as a per-
She does, however, look
manent offering for hotel
over job applications ev-
guests and local diners,
ery day.
“We’re mindful that we she said. She may also of-
want to be ahead of it,” she fer online ordering in the
future.
said.
The Geiser has seen a
The hotel restaurant
few issues with food sup-
is open for breakfast and
dinner. Tables are spaced ply — for instance, the live
• “Death from any cause in
a hospitalized person during
their hospital stay or in the 60
days following discharge and
a COVID-19-positive labo-
ratory diagnostic test at any
time since 14 days prior to
hospitalization; or
• “Death of someone with
a COVID-19-specific ICD-10
code listed as a primary or con-
tributing to it.”
Josh Barnett believes the
numbers are inflated, and
points to the fact that indi-
viduals who die directly from
COVID or die of a different
cause (but have COVID) are
counted together.
“They’ve already admitted
there is a difference (between)
dying from COVID and dying
with COVID,” he said. “I think
they’ve been conflating the two
on purpose to make the num-
bers look as bad as they can.
“I don’t believe the state has
been giving the right answers
for a long time.”
As for his family, he said he
wants the truth — whatever it
ends up being.
“I just want the record
straight in terms of being hon-
est,” he said. “...I don’t want
my family or anybody else’s to
be used, not as a pawn, but as
‘chalk up another line to it.’ … I
know that OHA is saying it’s a
COVID death when I was there
the whole time. I know that’s
100% false.”
Maine lobsters ordered in
early January were delayed
in shipping and arrived
just hours before dinner,
instead of a day ahead.
(Sidway said the lobster
dinner is a nod to the orig-
inal Geiser Grand menu,
which featured lobsters
that arrived on the trans-
continental railroad.)
Jamie Kassien, co-owner
of D&J Taco Shop, said
food supply costs continue
to rise.
“The beef market is all
over the place, causing
prices to skyrocket,” he
said. “Chicken and pork are
going up a lot due to bad
weather in the Midwest.”
He said high gas and
diesel prices are also affect-
ing the cost of supplies.
“Overall every single
thing we buy, from plas-
ticwear to to-go boxes, are
all doubled or tripled in
price,” he said.
This time of year is tra-
ditionally slow — and
Kassien said that is the
case now — but he’s also
worried about the possi-
bility of canceled events
this summer, which
would affect traffic at lo-
cal businesses.
“I don’t think the local
citizens understand how
much we truly need sup-
port right now,” he said.
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