NEWS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11
Umatilla County returns to Phase 1
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
to Phase 2 is Sept. 11.
Umatilla County was
allowed to return to Phase
1 of reopening on Friday,
Aug. 21, after its COVID-
19 metrics improved
signifi cantly.
Mayor David Drot-
zmann said during the
Hermiston City Council’s
meeting on Monday, Aug.
24, that he spoke with
Gov. Kate Brown earlier
that day, and she congrat-
ulated the community on
doing what needed to be
done to decrease its num-
bers enough to move back
into Phase 1 after three
weeks.
“She said the results
were dramatic, and we’re
seeing results from that
and our numbers going
down, she gave applause
to Umatilla County for
that,” he said.
According to a news
release from Brown,
between the county’s
return to baseline and its
return to Phase 1, Uma-
tilla County’s test positiv-
ity rate went down from
32% to 18.8%. Its total
weekly cases went down
from 320 to 166 and its
cases per 100,000 people
went down from 394 to
205. The county’s “spo-
radic” case rate of cases
not able to be traced back
to a source were down
from 94 per 100,000 to 58
per 100,000.
Drotzmann said the
governor told him many
of the outbreaks in the
state are stemming from
social gatherings, how-
ever, and so she is asking
communities to continue
to push education on the
dangers of such gather-
ings and the need for peo-
ple to social distance and
wear masks.
He said if the county
stays on its current trajec-
tory it will be another 200
days before Hermiston
schools will meet the cur-
rent criteria for reopening.
“Her plea to us today
is to try to work with
our communities to con-
trol the social gathering
issues — wearing masks,
distancing, outdoor gath-
erings, that sort of stuff,
washing hands — to try
and get our kids back to
school,” he said. “I would
agree with that message. I
would agree that we need
to get our kids back to
As of Aug. 25, Umatilla
County had reached a total
of 2,445 confi rmed cases
of COVID-19 since the
pandemic began, and cur-
rently has 142 presump-
tive cases (meaning the
person is showing symp-
toms after being exposed
but has not received a test
result yet), nine hospital-
izations and 35 deaths.
On Aug. 24, Umatilla
County Public Health
announced the deaths of
three individuals who
had tested positive for
COVID-19.
They were a 66-year-
old man who tested posi-
tive July 23 and died Aug.
20 at Kadlec Regional
Medical Center in Rich-
land,
Washington;
a
64-year-old man who
tested positive Aug. 3 and
died Aug. 23 at Regency
Hermiston Nursing and
Rehabilitation Center; and
a 71-year-old woman who
tested positive July 23 and
died Aug. 23 at Regency
Hermiston Nursing and
Rehabilitation Center. All
three had underlying con-
ditions, according to the
news release.
According to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control
and Prevention, the United
States has recorded 5.7
million cases of COVID-
19 and 176,617 deaths of
individuals with COVID-
19. According to the Ore-
gon Health Authority,
Oregon has confi rmed
25,391 cases and 427
deaths.
Statistics for Aug. 25
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Echo School District second grade teacher Billie Parker, left, prepares reading and writing journals for her students as teaching
assistant Been Magnuson sets out student materials ahead of student pickup on Aug. 19, 2020. Government leaders are
encouraging Umatilla County residents to reduce social gatherings to help the county’s schools be able to reopen sooner.
school, and so we as lead-
ers need to communicate
that.”
While enforcement of
the restrictions in differ-
ent phases of reopening
have mostly been left to
state agencies to handle,
Brown has in recent days
stated that she may turn
to local law enforcement
to ask for help in enforc-
ing rules about gatherings
and what can be open.
Drotzmann said when he
asked Brown about what
resources the state would
be providing to help with
that, it was “pretty clear”
there wouldn’t be any.
When councilors asked
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston whether
his department had the
resources to take on sig-
nifi cant enforcement of
COVID-19 rules, Edmis-
ton said the department
has already been stretched
thin by other problems
and would fi nd it diffi cult
to fi nd the resources to do
so.
Police continue to
respond to increasing
numbers of calls related
to homelessness and men-
tal health issues, Edmis-
ton said, and the depart-
ment has faced a slew
Steel on the inside where it matters most.
Shops
Garages
Commercial
Industrial
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of high-profi le crimes,
including multiple shoot-
ings in the area this year.
The department also used
up a month and a half’s
worth of overtime budget
related to a shooting and
multiple protests on Aug.
21-22.
“To add more to the
load while trying to nego-
tiate, I don’t know if civil
unrest is the right word,
but unhappiness, what-
Call For An Appointment:
Toll Free
1-855-525-4677
Hermiston:
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541-289-4601
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ever the case may be —
that’s a lot to ask,” he said.
According
to
the
state’s guide for reopen-
ing phases, under Phase
1, personal care services,
such as barber shops and
salons can reopen, as can
gyms and malls. Bars and
restaurants can reopen
for in-person dining until
10 p.m. Indoor social
gatherings are limited to
10 people. Civic, cultural
and faith-based gather-
ings are capped at 50 peo-
ple. Physical distancing,
masks and other require-
ments are still in place,
and recreational facilities,
such as bowling alleys and
swimming pools, remain
closed until Phase 2.
Counties must wait
three weeks before apply-
ing to enter a new phase,
meaning the soonest Uma-
tilla County could return