NEWS
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
HeRMIsTOnHeRaLd.COM • A3
HH file photo
Umatilla County’s third COVID-19 patient to die of the
virus died at Good Shepherd Medical Center.
Third Umatilla
County resident
dies of COVID-19
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edITOR
HH file photo
A “Heroes Work Here” sign honors essential workers at Guardian Angel Homes in Hermiston in April. Deidre Torres hopes people
will parade through town in support of social distancing rules that protect essential workers on May 30.
Essential workers organize counterprotest
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edITOR
When one group of
Hermiston-area residents
rallies on May 30 to protest
restrictions put in place to
slow the spread of COVID-
19, some essential work-
ers those rules could help
protect are planning to
make their voices heard in
counterprotest.
Deidre Torres is spear-
heading a demonstration
she calls “Essential not Sac-
rificial” that will take place
at noon on May 30, the
same time as the “Herm-
iston Freedom Rally” pro-
test downtown. Participants
plan to meet in their vehi-
cles in the Bi-Mart parking
lot, displaying signs calling
for a safe reopening plan,
and drive through town in
a socially distanced form of
protest.
“We’ll be following the
(Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention) guide-
lines to protect people, pre-
vent exposure and keep
everyone safe,” she said.
Torres said she isn’t
against reopening busi-
nesses again in some form,
but she objects to ideas
espoused by at least some
organizers
of
Reopen
Hermiston that businesses
shouldn’t be required to
follow safety rules, such
as wearing masks, and that
mass gatherings should start
again immediately.
“I’m not necessarily
against reopening, I’m just
against a complete, unilat-
eral reopening without a
“Everyone has made
sacrifices,” she said. “I’m
not able to attend my little
brother’s graduation cere-
mony. I’ve been quarantin-
ing for two months. I hav-
en’t hugged my mother for
two months.”
Rebecca Wallace Corff,
who is helping Torres orga-
nize the event, said hospital
workers are often “gagged”
“I’M NOT NECESSARILY AGAINST
REOPENING, I’M JUST AGAINST
A COMPLETE, UNILATERAL
REOPENING WITHOUT A
SCIENCE-BASED PLAN.”
— Deidre Torres, Hermiston resident
science-based plan,” she
said.
She said she just wants to
make sure that local govern-
ment officials know that not
everyone agrees that every-
thing should be opened up
now. She said many essen-
tial workers she knows are
also worried not only about
getting the virus, but also
spreading it to others who
are more vulnerable.
by privacy laws that don’t
allow them to discuss
details of what they have
personally seen while treat-
ing COVID-19 patients.
But as a hospital worker
herself, what she can say is
the things she has seen are
enough to make her scared
that people aren’t taking the
virus seriously enough.
“It’s a horrible disease,”
she said. “You don’t want
to get it, and you don’t want
your kids to get it.”
She said she hopes peo-
ple will see the counter-
protest and realize there is
a “silent majority” that are
in favor of practicing social
distancing.
A Gallup poll published
May 19 found that 54%
of Americans were “very
confident” social distanc-
ing measures saved lives,
while 31% of respondents
said they were “moderately
confident.”
Wallace Corff said she
understands that when
human beings are scared,
they retreat to a place of
denial as a way to handle
their fears. But she said if
people don’t trust the gov-
ernment, she hopes they
will trust doctors, nurses
and other health care pro-
fessionals who want every-
one to be safe and healthy.
With dueling protests in
Hermiston set for the same
day, Essential not Sacrificial
participants are encouraged
to stay in their vehicles and
not interact with protesters
in either camp. A code of
conduct for the event can be
found on the Essential not
Sacrificial Facebook page.
A third Umatilla County
resident has died of COVID-
19, Umatilla County Public
Health announced Monday.
The patient was a
70-year-old woman, who
tested positive on May 4
and died May 16 at Good
Shepherd Medical Cen-
ter in Hermiston. The
health department reported
she had underlying health
conditions.
“We encourage everyone
to be respectful as a family
in our community grieves,”
the county stated.
As of Tuesday, May 19,
Umatilla County reported
102 confirmed cases of
COVID-19, and three pre-
sumptive cases where some-
one was showing symptoms
after being close contact
with a confirmed case.
Seventy-eight patients
are considered recovered
after not displaying symp-
toms for at least 72 hours. Of
the 24 active cases remain-
ing, one patient is currently
in the hospital.
A total of 1,366 Uma-
tilla County residents have
been tested for COVID-
19, according to the health
department, with 1,263
tests coming back negative.
A map of confirmed cases
last updated May 12 on the
health department’s web-
site shows between 51 and
75 confirmed cases in the
Hermiston ZIP code and 16
to 25 in Umatilla so far.
According to data com-
piled by Lane County
Public Health, Umatilla
County had the third highest
COVID-19 rate per 100,000
population as of May 18,
just behind Multnomah
County.
The health department
stated in its news release that
as businesses reopen, every-
one should keep in mind
that COVID-19 is still circu-
lating in the community, and
take as many precautions as
they can to slow its spread.
Those precautions include
everyone staying home
when sick, people over the
age of 60 or with underlying
health conditions staying
home even when well, stay-
ing at least 6 feet away from
others and wearing a mask
in public. They also include
good personal hygiene, such
as washing your hands fre-
quently, not touching your
face and sneezing or cough-
ing into a tissue or your
elbow.
Anyone in need of men-
tal health services at this
time can call Lifeways at
866-343-4473 to discuss
what services are available.
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priorities
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