A2 THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021
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DESCHUTES COUNTY
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
COVID-19 data for Sunday, Feb. 7:
Deschutes County cases: 5,568 (30 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 47 (zero new deaths)
Crook County cases: 720 (5 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 16 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 1,830 (6 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 25 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 147,122 (393 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,023 (4 new deaths)
GENERAL
INFORMATION
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
130
(Dec. 4)
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new coronavirus. Coronavi-
ruses are a group of viruses that can cause a range of symptoms. Some usually
cause mild illness. Some, like this one, can cause more severe symptoms and
can be fatal. Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
108 new cases
120
(Jan. 1)
90
new
cases
110
*No data
available on
Jan. 31
due to state
computer
maintenence
(Nov. 27)
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often with soap and water for
at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid touching your face. 3. Avoid close contact with
sick people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public, stay 6 feet from others and wear a cloth
face covering or mask. 6. Cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough into
your elbow. 7. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
100
90
80
70
60
47 new cases
541-382-1811
50
(Nov. 14)
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
7-day
average
ONLINE
www.bendbulletin.com
28 new cases
(July 16)
40
31 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(Sept. 19)
9 new cases
20
(May 20)
1st case
10
(March 11)
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ADMINISTRATION
Groups warn of salmonella killing finches in west
Associated Press
STATELINE, Nev. — An
outbreak of salmonella is kill-
ing finches across the western
United States, including birds
in the Lake Tahoe region, wild-
life officials say.
The Tahoe Institute for Nat-
ural Science and Lake Tahoe
Wildlife Care issued an alert this
week for the public to be on the
lookout for sick or dead finches
associated with bird feeders.
Dead siskins have been
found in recent weeks in back-
yards in the Carson Valley and
Truckee, California.
The deaths are believed to be
related to an outbreak of salmo-
nellosis, a common and often
fatal bird disease caused by the
salmonella bacteria. The prob-
lem appears to be especially
bad along coastal Northern
California, Oregon and Wash-
ington.
Most of the affected birds are
Pine Siskins, but Lesser Gold-
finch and other finch species
can fall victim to salmonellosis
as well.
The bacteria are spread
through droppings, especially
where bird seed piles up be-
neath feeders or in-tray feed-
ers where the birds can simply
stand among the seeds.
Community members can
help stop the spread of salmo-
nellosis by discontinuing back-
yard bird feeding through Feb-
ruary, to encourage these birds
to disperse and forage naturally,
officials said. Given the wide-
spread and lethal impacts of the
outbreak, tray feeders should
not be used at this time, they
said.
“If you continue to feed
birds, please keep an eye out
for signs of visibly sick or dying
birds, and remove and thor-
oughly clean your feeders im-
mediately, leaving them down
for several weeks,” the wildlife
groups said a press release.
“Pine Siskins often can be
tame, but sick siskins will be ex-
ceedingly so, and appear lethar-
gic, puffed up and often show
sunken eyes.”
It is possible, although quite
rare, for salmonella bacteria to
transfer from birds to humans
through direct contact with in-
fected birds or droppings, the
groups said. When handling
dead birds or bird feeders, re-
member to wash hands thor-
oughly afterward.
Tube feeders and thistle
socks may have reduced risk
of transmission, but it is highly
recommended that any feeders
be cleaned regularly: any time
the feeder is refilled, but at least
once a week.
Effective feeder cleaning in-
volves soaking feeders in a 10%
bleach solution, scrubbing,
rinsing, and allowing them to
dry. Many bird lovers elect to
maintain duplicate feeders, so
that they can deploy a fresh
feeder while the other is being
cleaned, they said.
Anyone who observes dead or
visibly sick finches should con-
tact the LTWC at 530-577-2273
or the TINS at 775-298-0060.
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ý
Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
Idaho congressman
unveils plan to breach
dams, save salmon
Pandemic
Continued from A1
“The separation part is re-
ally rough, rough rough,” said
Simmons. “My daughter went
to the hospital and we saw her
once through the glass when
they put her on the ventila-
tor, and then we never saw her
again until after she died.”
Across the country, termi-
nally ill patients — both with
COVID-19 and other dis-
eases — are making similar
decisions and dying at home
rather than face the terrify-
ing scenario of saying farewell
to loved ones behind glass or
during video calls.
“What we are seeing with
COVID is certainly patients
want to stay at home,” said Judi
Lund Person, the vice presi-
dent for regulatory compliance
at the National Hospice and
Palliative Care Organization.
“They don’t want to go to the
hospital. They don’t want to go
to a nursing home.”
National hospice organiza-
tions are reporting that facil-
ities are seeing double-digit
percentage increases in the
number of patients being cared
for at home.
The phenomenon has
played out Carroll Hospice in
Westminster, Maryland, which
has seen a 30% to 40% spike in
demand for home-based care,
said executive director Re-
gina Bodnar. She said avoiding
nursing homes and coronavi-
rus risks are the biggest factor
behind the increase.”
Lisa Kossoudji, who super-
vises nurses at Ohio’s Hospice
of Dayton, pulled her own
mother, now 95, out of assisted
living and brought her home
to live with her after the pan-
demic hit. She had gone weeks
without seeing her mother and
was worried that her condi-
tion was deteriorating because
she was being restricted to her
room as the facility sought to
limit the potential for the virus
to spread.
Her mother, who has a con-
dition that causes thickening
and hardening of the walls
of the arteries in her brain, is
now receiving hospice services.
Kossoudji is seeing the fam-
ilies she serves make similar
choices.
“Lots of people are bring-
ing folks home that physically,
they have a lot physical issues,
whether it is they have a feed-
ing tube or a trachea, things
that an everyday lay person
would look at and say, ‘Oh my
gosh, I can’t do this,’” she said.
“But yet they are willing to
bring them home because we
want to be able to be with them
and see them.”
Associated Press
Charlie Riedel/AP
Mortuary owner Brian Simmons holds a photo, on Jan. 28, of his
daughter Rhonda Ketchum who died before Christmas of COVID-19 in
Springfield, Missouri. Simmons has been making more trips to homes
to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed since the pandemic
hit. For many families, home is a better setting than the terrifying sce-
nario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or during video
calls amid the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, hos-
pice workers cared for patients
dying of heart disease, cancer,
dementia and other terminal
illnesses in long-term care fa-
cilities and, to a lesser extent,
home settings. Many families
hesitated to go the die-at-home
route because of the many lo-
gistical challenges, including
work schedules and compli-
cated medical needs.
But the pandemic changed
things. People were suddenly
working from home and had
more time, and they were more
comfortable with home hos-
pice knowing the alternative
with lack of visitation at nurs-
ing homes.
“What happened with
COVID is everything was on
steroids so to speak. Every-
thing happened so quickly that
all of a sudden family members
were prepared to care for their
loved ones at home,” said Car-
ole Fisher, president of the Na-
tional Partnership for Health-
care and Hospice Innovation.
“Everything accelerated.”
“I have heard families say, ‘I
can care for my aged mother
now very differently than I
could before because I am
working from home,’” she
added. “And so there is more
of a togetherness in the family
unit because of COVID.”
Dying at home isn’t for ev-
eryone, however. Caring for
the needs of a critically ill rela-
tive can mean sleepless nights
and added stress as the pan-
demic rages.
Karen Rubel recalled that
she didn’t want to take her own
81-year-old mother to the hos-
pital when she had a stroke in
September and then pushed
hard to bring her home as soon
as possible.
She is president and CEO
of Nathan Adelson Hospice
in Las Vegas, which has desig-
nated one of its in-patient facil-
ities for COVID-19 patients.
“I get where people are com-
ing from,” she said. “They are
afraid.”
SEATTLE — A Republican
congressman has proposed
removing four hydroelectric
dams in the Northwest as
part of a sweeping new plan
to address the decades-long
problem of how to save
salmon populations without
upending a system that pro-
vides power to millions of
people.
The $33.5 billion proposal
from Rep. Mike Simpson
of Idaho would breach four
dams on the Lower Snake
River by the end of the next
decade, freeing up the water-
way for long-ranging salmon
that are also a key food
source for orcas. The plan,
which was unveiled late Sat-
urday, would pay for finding
ways to replace the dams’ key
roles in energy, agriculture
and transportation.
The idea is unusual for
a Republican and marks
the first time a sitting se-
nior elected official has ever
asked the region to consider
breaching dams that are
still functioning, the Seattle
Times reported.
Key to Simpson’s plan
would be asking for some
$33 billion in a jobs-and-in-
frastructure stimulus pack-
age expected from the Biden
administration this year. As
Democrats take power in the
nation’s capital, the congres-
sional delegations from Dem-
ocratic-leaning Northwest
states such as Washington
and Oregon will have greater
clout.
Simpson has also gotten
the interest of some officials
from groups such as power
utilities, businesses and farm-
ers. They’re worried if they
don’t come to an agreement,
they might see a plan handed
down from a judge instead.
Environmentalists have
long supported breaching the
dams, and in exchange — un-
der Simpson’s plan — they
would agree not use their key
leverage tool: lawsuits, the
Idaho Statesman reported.
The conversation comes at
a key time for the fish. Eight
dams along the Snake and
Columbia rivers hinder their
migration to the Pacific and
half of the young salmon die
on the trip. Idaho salmon
runs have dwindled from the
millions of wild fish to only a
few thousand some years.
The Bulletin will feature your Happy
Valentine’s Day messages in our
classifi ed section on Sunday, Feb. 14.
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