NEWS
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
Tips for keeping homes and businesses clean during COVID-19
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
If there’s an upside to a
global pandemic, it might
be that everything is cleaner
than usual.
Greg Wilke of Mariposa
Cleaning Services in Pend-
leton said the businesses his
service cleans are stepping
up their game, sanitizing sur-
faces every couple of hours
and asking cleaners to come
in multiple times a week.
“They’re being really
careful,” he said.
There has been confl ict-
ing research and advice on
exactly how long COVID-
19 can live on various sur-
faces, but it seems the virus
can at minimum remain a
threat for infection for sev-
eral hours, and more likely
several days. A combination
Cases
Continued from Page A1
following social distancing
guidelines.
According to the health
department, 268 tests total
have been conducted in
Umatilla County.
The public health depart-
ment stated in its news
release that the state is “still
in the middle of a severe
cold and fl u season” and
as such, not everyone with
respiratory symptoms needs
to be tested.
Patients can be tested at
the discretion of their health
care provider after other ill-
nesses, such as infl uenza
and pneumonia, have been
ruled out, but they may also
be told to just rest at home
and isolate themselves if
their symptoms are mild.
Anyone
experiencing
COVID-19 symptoms, such
as fever, cough or short-
ness of breath, should call
their primary care provider
before visiting a clinic so
that staff can prepare to
receive them.
of hand washing and sani-
tizing surfaces can help pre-
vent people from acciden-
tally transferring the virus
from a door knob to their
nose or mouth.
Wilke said surfaces that
are touched frequently by
multiple people — door han-
dles, light switches, keypads
— are most important to san-
itize several times a day. His
business cleans the less fre-
quently touched areas too,
however, and does detail
work like vacuuming fur-
nace fi lters. He has also been
trying to help customers stay
stocked up on cleaning sup-
plies as the stores continue to
run low.
As people buy cleaning
supplies they aren’t used
to using, or substitute com-
mon household items, such
as bleach or vinegar when
the stores run out, reading
labels is an important part
of using the products safely
and effectively. Bleach, for
example, can create danger-
ous gases when mixed with
cleaning products containing
ammonia.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention gives
advice for proper household
cleaning on its website. Best
practices include wearing
gloves while cleaning, wash-
ing hard surfaces with soap
and water fi rst to remove
dirt, and then sanitizing them
using an Environmental Pro-
tection
Agency-approved
disinfectant as directed.
“As directed” usually
means letting the liquid sit on
the surface while it does its
work. Spraying a cleaner on
a surface, and then immedi-
ately wiping it off with a dry
The Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Preven-
tion released guidelines last
week encouraging every-
one to wear a mask in pub-
lic. Offi cial medical masks
such as N95 masks should
generally be reserved for
health care providers, but
homemade cloth masks and
makeshift items like ban-
danas can help prevent peo-
ple — particularly those
with no symptoms who
don’t realize they are conta-
gious — from spreading the
virus into the air when they
talk or cough.
Governor Kate Brown
encouraged Oregonians to
follow CDC guidelines in a
recent statement.
“Like every other strat-
egy we have used to address
this crisis, wearing home-
made masks will only be
effective if we all work
together,” she said.
“Continue to stay home
to the maximum extent
possible, and add wear-
ing a homemade mask to
the list of precautions you
are practicing when you go
out in public. Make sure
you are still abiding by all
the social distancing mea-
sures we have in place. And,
please only wear homemade
masks, not medical masks
that are desperately needed
by our frontline health care
workers treating COVID-19
patients.”
According to the Ore-
gon Health Authority, the
state has had a total of 1,181
known cases and 33 deaths
related to COVID-19 as of
Tuesday afternoon. So far
23,007 people have been
tested statewide.
Of the reported cases
in Oregon, at least 329
COVID-19 patients are
hospitalized, while 756 are
not and the hospitaliza-
tion status of 96 cases are
unknown to the state. Six-
ty-nine COVID-19 patients
are on a ventilator, and the
state currently has 816 ven-
tilators available, according
to OHA.
According to a tally kept
by the New York Times of
each state’s reported cases,
the United States had at
least 395,090 confi rmed
cases since Jan. 21 as of
Tuesday afternoon, with at
least 12,786 deaths.
paper towel reduces its effec-
tiveness at killing germs.
Lysol wipes and Clo-
rox wipes, for example,
direct users to let the sur-
face remain visibly wet for
at least 10 seconds to sani-
tize the surface, and at least
four minutes to disinfect it.
(The CDC considers sanitiz-
ing reducing germs to a gen-
erally “safe” level while dis-
infecting kills all the germs
on a surface).
Stephen Dean is an indus-
trial hygienist in Hermiston,
who consults with compa-
nies on the best ways to keep
workers and customers safe
from illnesses like COVID-
19. He said businesses
should consult the guidelines
put out by the Oregon Occu-
pational Safety and Health
(OSHA) for preventing the
spread of COVID-19 in the
BTW
Continued from Page A1
“We wish you could
have witnessed the grati-
tude expressed, and smiles
you brought to our staff’s
faces,” the hospital wrote
on Facebook.
One of the hospital’s
neighbors also posted a
large sign thanking Good
Shepherd staff for their
courage in the face of a
pandemic.
• • •
Madison Hynes, an
agriculture
and
math
teacher at Riverside Jr./Sr.
High School in Boardman,
received one of Eastern
Oregon University’s Inspi-
rational Teacher Awards.
The university allows
freshmen on the dean’s list
to nominate a teacher who
inspired them on their path,
and Hynes was recognized
by Joseph O’Brien.
• • •
The city of Umatilla
has closed its public parks
to help fi ght the spread of
COVID-19. Parks will be
Thank you to the following businesses for supporting
workplace.
“Those are best practices
from the best hygienists in
the industry,” he said.
Those guidelines include
recommendations, such as
cleaning break rooms at least
twice per day and providing
sanitizing wipes for work-
ers to wipe down their work-
space on a regular basis.
Dean said at home, peo-
ple should take the same
sort of precautions in fre-
quently sanitizing surfaces
they touch often, particularly
with unwashed hands. Those
areas can include things like
door knobs, steering wheels,
keys, cellphones and handles
on sinks and showers. Peo-
ple should also avoid sharing
things like utensils and water
bottles.
If you don’t have sanitiz-
ing sprays or wipes, washing
closed, with the exception
of the marina and area trails.
City hall and the library are
also closed to the public.
The city has been try-
ing to fi nd other ways to
infuse some fun into resi-
dents’ days, however, and
is partnering with Uma-
tilla School District to
send Easter eggs home to
students with their home-
work packets, and to drop
off eggs to residents who
request them.
• • •
Community
Coun-
seling Solutions is offer-
ing virtual visits and phone
calls to help local residents
handle the stressors of
COVID-19, including vis-
its with prescribers.
Call 541-676-9161 or
visit
www.community-
counselingsolutions.org to
learn more.
• • •
Banner Bank is work-
ing to help customers with
current fi nancial burdens by
easing some rules for cus-
tomers affected by COVID-
19 shutdowns, including
waiving late fees for per-
sonal loans and credit cards
hard surfaces with soap and
water works great too.
“Hand soap kills the
virus,” Dean said.
He said germs and aller-
gens can get caught up in
furnace and air conditioning
fi lters, so now is a good time
to change those too.
If someone sneezes or
coughs, those germ-laden
droplets often settle onto
the fl oor, where other peo-
ple can step on them. Dean
said people should be tak-
ing their shoes off before
entering their home where
possible to avoid tracking
germs into the house. They
should also change clothes
when they get home from
public places like the gro-
cery store.
“You don’t want to wear
the same clothes at home as
you do in public,” he said.
and offering payment defer-
ral options for individual
customers and businesses.
For more information,
contact Banner Bank at
541-567-2291.
• • •
Pendleton Cattle Bar-
ons Weekend, set for May
1-2 at the Pendleton Con-
vention Center and Pend-
leton Round-Up Grounds,
has been canceled due to
the ongoing effects of the
COVID-19 outbreak.
“We are deeply saddened
over the need to postpone
this premier event,” said
Andy VanderPlaat, presi-
dent of the board of direc-
tors, “but we are optimis-
tic that our decision will be
a small step in helping our
nation recover quickly.”
Cattle Barons Week-
end expressed their thanks
to sponsors, vendors, par-
ticipants and spectators
in bearing with them as
all possible options were
considered.
Pendleton Cattle Bar-
on’s Weekend can be fol-
lowed at https://www.cat-
tlebarons.net/ on Facebook
and Instagram.
AN AMAZING GIFT FOR AN AMAZING
Newspapers in Education
Their generous support of the Hermiston Herald NIE program helps provide copies of the newspaper
and unlimited access to HermistonHerald.com and the e-Edition to schools throughout the community.
1090 W. Hermiston Ave.
Hermiston, OR
541-567-8229
JeremyJLarsonDMD.com
1739 N. First St.
Hermiston, OR
541-564-0264
OldWestFCU.org
Delgado’s Beauty Salon
& Medical Massage
1150 W. Hartley Ave. #D
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-571-3629
541-567-3908
$44.95
plus shipping
offer expires May 10, 2020
Hardcover book • $10 off • Limited supply
Bert's Auto
Salvage & Towing
DuPont Pioneer
Hermiston
541-567-1860
pioneer.com
Starvation Ridge Farming
750 W. Elm Ave. Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-6414 • UmatillaElectric.com
$34.95
980 SE Columbia Dr,
Hermiston, OR 97838
2212 SE 9th St. Hermiston, OR 07838
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
MOTHER’S DAY
IS MAY 10!
541-276-1260
BLUECC.EDU
Rick’s
Car Wash
620 E. Main St.
Hermiston, OR
Our patients are the very
heart of our practice
79937 S. Edwards Rd.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-5842
BertsAutoSalvage.com
30775 Baggett Ln.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-1042
541-567-5050
QUIZNOS.COM
1565 N. FIRST ST. #9
HERMISTON, OR 97838
YOUR
BUSINESS HERE:
Call Today & Donate!
800-522-0255
Order online today at
UMATILLA.PICTORIALBOOK.COM
Order by mail now (discount expires 5/10/20):
☐ Ship my order to me: $34.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. Order will be shipped to the address
below. Quantity: ___ x $41.90 = $______ total
Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order
Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com
Name
Address
RE/MAX
(541) 289-5454
1055 S Hwy 395 Ste 313,
Hermiston, OR 97838
corteva.us
1705 E. Airport Rd.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-289-9800
eotechermiston.com
For more information on the NIE Program, visit HermistonHerald.com/hh/nie. To make a donation, call 800-522-0255.
City
State
Phone
E-mail
Zip
From the archives of Athena Public Library, City
of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society,
Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural
Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society
Send form and payment to:
East Oregonian
211 SE Byers Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801
or call 800-522-0255