OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
COVID-19: Where do we go from here?
I
felt a strong sense of déjà vu last
week when I had to scramble to
post information about a sudden,
late-night announcement from Gov.
Kate Brown about Umatilla County
being sent back to the “stay home”
phase of the pandemic.
It felt like March,
when we had a constant
parade of new restric-
tions to announce. I don’t
think anyone suspected
that fi ve months later we
Jade
would be back to square McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
one, but here we are.
In many ways, we’re
actually in a worse position now,
with more people sick and no rush
of sudden fi nancial help from Con-
gress for closed businesses and laid-
off workers. The Hermiston Herald
survived the plunge in advertising
revenues last time by cutting four
of our seven remaining positions. I
worry about what the future holds in
this newest round of shutdowns, but
I know many of our advertisers and
readers are in an even worse position
as “nonessential” businesses. We are
working on plans to help with that,
including free listings for businesses
impacted by the shutdown.
Like most people, I have com-
plaints about how some elected offi -
cials, from the governor to county
commissioners, have handled aspects
of this. It was frustrating to see week
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Masked shoppers leave Walmart in Hermiston on Monday, July 6, 2020. Wearing a mask is one
of the ways health experts across the world have said can help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
after week of troubling numbers for
Hermiston with little real action to
proportionately step up the response,
only to slam the brakes on our econ-
omy overnight.
Whatever people’s opinions on
whether a shutdown is the right
action, however, this is the reality we
live in. We were told if we didn’t han-
dle reopening responsibly and our
numbers started increasing too fast
that reopening would be reversed.
That’s exactly what has happened.
We also know what will come
next: Three weeks from the shutdown
date, offi cials will evaluate a wide
range of metrics for our county, such
as the percent of COVID-19 tests that
are coming back positive (this keeps
counties from trying to cheat the sys-
tem by testing fewer people). If our
numbers have improved enough, we
get to move back to Phase 1. If not,
restrictions stay in place.
No amount of venting on Facebook
about how much you hate the gov-
ernor will help reopen a single busi-
ness or school in Umatilla and Mor-
row counties. The only thing we can
control is our own actions in helping
us get to a place where businesses can
legally reopen and customers will feel
it is safe to return.
Do whatever you think will help to
get us there. Keep your interactions
with people not living in your house-
COLUMN
hold to a minimum, and outdoors
where possible. Work from home if
you’re able. Wear a mask and keep it
securely on the whole time you’re in
contact with others. Be vigilant about
hygiene and cleaning. Get tested if
you think you might have COVID-
19, and quarantine until the results are
back. Cooperate with contact tracers.
Commit to being a patient voice of
reason and a good example.
I’ve lived in Hermiston seven years
as of next month, and I’ve stayed so
long because I’ve enjoyed my time
here. Overall, this is a good commu-
nity with good people in it. But our
continued position as the coronavi-
rus capital of Oregon is an embarrass-
ment. No one in the rest of the state is
talking about Hermiston’s generosity
or our can-do attitude. They’re specu-
lating why we have been particularly
bad at protecting our nursing home
residents and essential workers, and
calling us ignorant.
Other former COVID-19 hot spots
have reformed. New York City, once
the face of COVID-19 for the United
States, got the virus under control and
is seeing a fraction of the cases they
were this spring. The same is true of
Italy.
We can do this. But we can’t
expect to keep going exactly as we
have been and somehow see a differ-
ent outcome.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Interning amid a pandemic
Shutdown is tough, but necessary Governor’s education priorities
to contain coronavirus
contradictory
hen I fi rst arrived in Hermiston three owners that I had the opportunity to talk to —
months ago as an eager Snowden but there were times where I didn’t always feel
intern, I didn’t know what working like I fi t in.
as a reporter for the Hermiston Herald and the
Watching residents warring over wearing
East Oregonian would look like amid a
masks, or hearing some residents and
pandemic.
county commissioner candidates say
The usual reporting I would have
out loud that systemic racism does not
done, such as talking to people face-to-
exist— in those moments I felt I was the
face, was no longer the routine. It was,
farthest from belonging here.
instead, replaced with phone calls and
At the same time, though, I found
email exchanges and distant tele-con-
protesters in the same community Sat-
versations. Loneliness set in, and I
urday after Saturday march in the sun to
Nada
found myself missing the familiar.
fi ght against systemic racism. I talked to
Previous mentors told me the best Sewidan
people who sewed masks for their fel-
way to learn about a community is to
low neighbors, and just as there were
step into it, to walk around in the city and moments where I felt isolated, there were
greet its residents and business owners, to more moments of community. Some residents
intently listen to people’s stories and watch trusted me with their stories, some cried on the
the way their expressions shifted throughout phone to me, while others passionately spoke
conversations.
of their businesses, friends and families.
Instead, when I arrived, the streets were
I believe the most important part of this sum-
mostly empty. Most of the stores were shut- mer is that I learned about people who I never
tered or looked equally as abandoned. I under- would have known. To connect with strangers,
stood the pandemic had changed the landscape a reminder that sharing stories will always be
of the city, but it looked very different in a one of the most important modes of discovery.
small town than in a city like Portland.
This is what I believe I’ve built here in the
I’d given myself a crash course on the his- past three months, these countless moments of
tory of the county, and tried to quickly under- connection. Not simply a resume or a portfo-
stand its complexities and struggles, as well as lio of clips for future positions, but real, human
its nuances and uniqueness. But no matter how connection and understanding despite a diffi -
much I read search results about the city on cult time.
Google, I did not fully come to know these cit-
I’ve dedicated so much of my time to jour-
ies until I lived among their residents.
nalism, and I’m excited to do the work that I
My reporting then became centered around love and respect deeply in the future, but one
discovering and understanding as much as I thing I know — I will always take my experi-
could through the articles I wrote and the con- ence in Hermiston and Pendleton with me.
versations I had.
The past three months demonstrated, in
Although I couldn’t report much face-to- remarkable and extraordinary ways, that
face, I spent countless hours on the phone despite uncertainties, there will always exist
speaking with business owners, city offi cials this humanness.
and residents. I heard the worry in their voices
I’m left thinking about one important piece
whenever we talked about unemployment or of advice my mentors have given me over the
the pandemic, but I also heard stories of joy years: humanity in stories, fi rst and always.
and community.
— — —
I enjoyed the time I spent here in the city
Nada Sewidan is the Hermiston Herald and
— the friends I made, my co-workers whom East Oregonian’s summer intern. She com-
I called for advice, the residents and business pletes her internship on Friday, Aug. 7.
In his recent open letter to Gov.
Kate Brown, Hermiston Mayor Dave
Drotzmann questioned Brown’s deci-
sion to return Umatilla County to
“baseline” from Phase 2 of reopen-
ing. Drotzmann admitted to “a surge”
in COVID cases after reopening, but
claimed we should not “fl inch and
shut everything back down.” The
county reports a 1,500% increase in
total cases since we went to Phase 2
on June 5. That’s quite a “surge,” and
it clearly doesn’t meet even the Phase
1 metrics of “declining disease prev-
alence” and represents “a signifi cant
increase in cases.”
Drotzmann celebrated the fact we
“only have 314 active cases,” but
according to the recent study con-
ducted by OSU, as many as 3,000
Hermiston residents may have
COVID, representing 17% of the
city’s population.
Drotzmann also dismissed our
county’s death count at “only ... 23
deaths.” That number means Uma-
tilla County has suffered 7% of all the
COVID deaths in Oregon, despite hav-
ing less than 2% of the state’s total
population.
Mayor Drotzmann is correct that
we need more and quicker testing in
our county, but he may be pointing his
fi nger in the wrong direction.
It is well known that there is a
nationwide testing crisis that desper-
ately needs competent leadership from
the federal government to solve. Test-
ing and shutting down is not an either/
or proposition.
We do need expeditious testing
and better contact tracing, but we also
need to shut down until we actually do
fl atten the curve — because that has
not happened yet.
William Webb
Hermiston
W
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 30
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as
soon as they are discovered. Incorrect information will be
corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on the Opinion page
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SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the
Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local,
state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer
letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
length and for content.
What Gov. Kate Brown meant during
her education announcement:
• “There is clear evidence that chil-
dren receiving instruction and support in
school is far better for them academically
... fosters our students’ social and emo-
tional well-being, their overall health,
and often their physical safety,” but ...
• “Providing nurturing in-person rela-
tionships and learning to our youngest
children is absolutely critical to develop-
ing the reading and language skills and
social development necessary for their
long-term success,” but ...
•”Equity has to be at the forefront of
our decision-making,” but ...
• “I will push, I will cajole and I will
demand nothing but excellence from our
districts and our educators,” but ...
• “Students are harmed by lost instruc-
tional time,” but ...
• “Distance learning cannot fully
replace in-person instruction, especially
for our youngest students,” but ...
• “We know that brain development
and learning in the earliest years occurs
primarily through nurturing and respon-
sive interactions with adults and other
children,” but ...
• “Many families across Oregon will
struggle to make that (online learning)
work not because they don’t want to, but
likely because all available adults work
jobs with less fl exible schedules, they
are essential workers and or their work
requires them to leave their home,” but ...
• “As I’ve said before, all options are
on the table to restrict the transmission of
the virus, but it is really in the hands of
Oregonians,” but ...
“I will be closing schools and mak-
ing unrealistic requirements for opening
schools.”
Thank you for my fi rst unit of
study on our doublespeak governor.
Daniel Sharp
Hermiston
Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers.
Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include
a telephone number so they can be reached for questions.
Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries. The
obituary can include small photos and, for veterans, a
fl ag symbol at no charge. Expanded death notices will be
published at no charge. These include information about
services. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper
punctuation and style.
Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at
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hermistonherald.com, by fax to 541-276-8314, placed via the
funeral home or in person at the Hermiston Herald or East
Oregonian offi ces. For more information, call 541-966-0818 or
1-800-522-0255, x221.