COVID-19 COVERAGE
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Wednesday, April 1, 2020
IN THIS ISSUE
HEALTH CARE WORKERS FACE SHORTFALL OF
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT................A1
COUNTY APPROVES $125,000 FOR EMERGENCY
OPERATIONS CENTER......................A3
BROADBAND PROVIDERS SEE SPIKE IN
INTERNET USE..................................A3
AN UPDATE FROM THE GRANT COUNTY HEALTH
DEPARTMENT....................................A4
MORE COVID-19 STORIES .........A7, A9
152nd Year • No. 14 • 16 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
RETAIL STORES IN GRANT COUNTY ADJUST TO
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
THE NEW NORMAL
Jolene Moulton, manager of
the Blue Mountain Mini Market
in Mount Vernon, sells a lottery
ticket Thursday.
Mt. Vernon
man wins
$6.3 million
Megabucks on
free lotto ticket
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Robert McCauley of Mt. Ver-
non is Oregon’s newest Mega-
bucks jackpot winner after
matching all six of his numbers
on a free ticket from an earlier
drawing — winning $6.3 million
on March 23.
Blue Mountain Mini Mar-
ket manager Jolene Moulton
said 80-year-old McCauley prac-
ticed proper social distancing and
went to the Mini Mart’s drive-up
window to pick up his ticket.
Moulton said McCauley
almost did not get the right ticket.
“I checked Bob’s ticket and
actually gave him the voucher
slip that came with his free
ticket,” said Moulton. “As he
was walking away, I saw the free
play ticket sitting on the counter
and realized Bob had the wrong
ticket. I called him back to the
window and gave him the free
ticket.”
Moulton said the next day,
March 24, customers were ask-
ing who won the $6.3 million
jackpot, as a printout from the
ticket machine said, “the winning
$6.3 million Megabucks ticket
was sold in the city of Mount
Vernon.”
Moulton, who said she had
only sold three Megabucks tick-
ets the day before, sent some-
one over to McCauley’s home to
check the ticket.
Moulton said McCauley, after
learning that he had purchased
the winning ticket, called the Lot-
tery office to make an appoint-
ment and with a small group of
family and friends, traveled to
Salem to claim his prize.
Chuck Baumann, Lottery
spokesperson, said McCauley
declined to speak to the media.
Baumann said McCau-
ley chose to take the bulk-sum
option, which splits the prize
in half, and after taxes, he took
home $2.14 million.
Moulton said McCauley is
a regular at the Blue Mountain
Mini Market.
“It could not have happened
to a nicer person,” Moulton
said.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
A masked customer at Chester’s Thriftway Friday.
Keeping shelves stocked difficult amid virus outbreak
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
A
Blaine
Huffman,
owner of
Huffman’s
Select
Market.
s the number of
COVID-19 cases con-
tinue to climb across
the state, retail stores
in Grant County are
grappling with the new normal.
Owners and managers at Ches-
ter’s Thriftway, Len’s Drug and
Huffman’s Select Market are
focused on keeping both their staff
and customers safe and healthy
while trying to keep their shelves
stocked with items such as toilet
paper, flour and eggs.
Blaine Huffman, the owner of
Huffman’s Market, said he has
never seen anything quite like this in
his 31 years in Grant County.
“Maybe with the gas shortage
in the 1970s, but that was just one
product,” said Huffman.
Huffman said his store is only
allocated certain amounts of toilet
paper, hand sanitizer, flour, sugar
and bread.
Luckily, he said the city of Prairie
City donated the toilet paper from its
office after the closure.
The store is selling one roll, per
family, per day.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
See Normal, Page A16
Charles Lawrence wipes down the shelves at Chester’s
Thriftway March 24.
Grant County feels the impact of PPE shortage
Hospital preparing for
influx of COVID-19
cases
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
More COVID-19 tests have been
administered in Grant County than
are being reported by the Oregon
Health Authority, but the county
faces a lack of personal protective
equipment required to administer
future tests.
Lindsay said there have been a
total of 21 COVID-19 tests admin-
istered in Grant County with one
test coming back positive, 16 neg-
ative and four awaiting results as of
Tuesday.
Lindsay said, although the Ore-
gon Health Authority shows that
only five tests have been adminis-
tered in the county with one posi-
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
A tent in the Blue Mountain Hospital Emergency Room parking lot will allow
the hospital to triage patients during an influx.
tive result, the data is not up to date
including private labs.
“Up until three weeks ago, the
Oregon State Public Health Lab-
oratory was the only lab process-
ing COVID-19 tests in Oregon,”
Lindsay said. “The data that was
reported by the Oregon Health
Authority came from the OSPHL.
At that time, the data was an accu-
rate reflection of the testing that
was occurring in all counties in
Oregon. In the last several weeks,
private labs have begun testing for
COVID-19.”
Lindsay said all
labs would relay
the results directly
to the health care
provider
who
ordered the test
Quade Day
and would report
the positives to the
Health Department.
However, Lindsay said there is a
considerable delay with private labs
reporting negative results to OHA.
“It is best to assume COVID-19
is out there,” Lindsay said. “We just
don’t have the testing capacity to be
entirely sure.”
At one point last week, Lindsay
estimated the county had about 30
test kits but only about 10 sets of the
personal protective equipment —
gown, mask, face shield and gloves
— that the OHA requires to test for
infectious diseases.
See Hospital, Page A16
Health care workers prepare for ‘marathon’ fight against virus
By Dick Hughes
For the Oregon Capital Bureau
Health care and retail work-
ers told harrowing tales Monday
of working without adequate pro-
tections against sick patients and
customers.
Meanwhile, the state’s emer-
gency manager warned that Ore-
gon was only in the first mile of
what could be a marathon to defeat
the new coronavirus here. Andrew
Phelps said that assessment was
based on the experiences in other
states and countries.
During a video press conference
on Monday hosted by SEIU 503,
Gov. Kate Brown, members of
Congress, union members and oth-
ers blasted federal officials for not
providing enough personal protec-
tive equipment to states. Hospitals,
nursing homes, state and local gov-
ernments, and others are having
difficulty finding equipment avail-
able on the open market.
“I’m already anticipating I will
be infected because I lack per-
sonal protective equipment,” said
Casey Parr, a respiratory therapist
at OHSU. A 35-year-old, he is con-
sidering for the first time whether
to write a will.
OHSU President Dr. Danny
Jacobs said 12 staff members have
tested positive for COVID-19.
Nike is in the prototype stage of
making and testing face shields for
potential use at OHSU. Brown and
others called on the Trump admin-
istration to provide the specifica-
tions — some of which are pro-
tected by patents — that would
allow Oregon companies to start
manufacturing personal protective
equipment.
Some nurses in Central Ore-
gon wear the same N95 protec-
tive mask for three weeks straight,
according to Sarah Laslett, execu-
tive director of the Oregon Nurses
Association. Portland nurses wear
swim goggles as partial protection.
See Virus, Page A16