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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2020)
The Columbia Press 4 November 27, 2020 Virus: State’s single-day death count reachest highest ever Continued from Page 1 tied to its plants in Newport. Later in the summer, Pa- cific Seafood had outbreaks at plants in Clackamas and Coos counties. Clatsop County Pub- lic Health officials and the company had conflicts over whether workers should quarantine or continue work- ing and the Oregon Health Authority stepped in. The memorandum of un- derstanding signed by both parties Monday clarifies the roles and responsibilities of each party as well as how fu- ture responses will be han- dled. The complete memoran- dum can be seen on the Clat- sop County website, co.clat- sop.or.us. County statistics Since the pandemic began, Clatsop County has had 352 cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday. There has been one death and five hospitaliza- tions. There were 68 active cases Tuesday and 266 peo- ple had recovered. During the past six days, the county recorded 38 cases. State statistics Oregon set a somber record Tuesday with the highest ever death count in a single day. Twenty-one people died, bringing the total number of state deaths to 847 and a to- tal coronavirus case count of 67,333. “We feel pain and sorrow for our neighbors who’ve lost their lives to COVID-19 and the families they leave behind,” said Patrick Allen, Oregon Health Authority di- rector. “And each death we record is a reminder that COVID-19 is a life-threaten- ing virus that’s easy to catch, a warning that more Orego- nians will die if we don’t con- tain it and a call to action to stop its spread.” About one in four Orego- nians have been tested for COVID-19, ranking the state 30th in testing nationwide, according to Dr. Melissa Sut- ton, the state’s lead medical expert for testing strategy. Employment help Those who have lost wages during the two-week freeze can find help from the state. Gov. Kate Brown imposed the freeze, which ends Dec. 2, in an effort to curb the spiraling numbers of people catching the virus and dying. Residents whose employ- ment is impacted by the freeze can begin or restart claims with the Oregon Em- ployment Department by going to the agency’s web- site and finding the “Online Claim System.” Those having problems restarting a claim should use the “Contact Us” form and select the “Restart- ing my claim” option. Employers who lay employ- ees off because of the freeze should use the state’s layoff reporting form, which will al- low the Oregon Employment Department to process em- ployees’ claims more quickly. The Employment Depart- ment is prepared for an in- crease in claims as a result of the statewide freeze. The National Guard is sup- porting the department’s more than 1,000 employees focused on claims, which is in addition to the 300 adju- dicators. The best way for claimants to get in touch with the de- partment is by submitting a message via the “Contact Us” form. Messages are reviewed within one week. Coffee: Unlocking java’s charms Continued from Page 1 novel education platform, which I intend to use as the basis for a remote general chemistry-type laboratory sequence,” he said. The UO’s contributions in- clude a collaboration with the Oregon Center for Electro- chemistry. And students will have roles in the research. Experiments will occur in Or- egon, England and Italy. Members of the scientific team are trained in sensory science, food science, chem- istry and mathematics. “The University of Oregon is a first-class public research university, and professor Hendon is a well-known, pio- neering coffee scientist,” said Peter Giuliano, executive di- rector of the Coffee Science Foundation. “For this proj- ect, they will lead an interna- tional research collaboration that is likely to produce excit- ing innovations in espresso science.” Earlier this year, Hendon and an international team of coffee-interested colleagues published a paper in the journal Matter, showing that grinding beans for espresso more coarsely and extract- ing a shot of the brew more quickly than current practic- es dictate could lead to a sav- ings of $1.1 billion a year for U.S. coffee shops. In the new project, the team will develop new tools that promise to transform the way espresso is measured, includ- ing the creation of a device that will allow for the rapid assessment of coffee chemis- try and flavor. What they develop will transform an existing espres- so brewing control chart into a new version that includes the latest research on senso- ry, chemical and physical sci- ences. The Coffee Science Founda- tion is a nonprofit organiza- tion dedicated to advancing the understanding of cof- fee and securing its future through research, knowledge building, and outreach. Partial funding will come from the Simonelli Group of Italy, a leader in the coffee machine industry.