OFF PAGE ONE
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021
Masks:
Continued from Page A1
Cinedigm & Fathom Events/Contributed Photo
Kathleen Quinlan, left, an Academy Award nominated actress in “Apollo 13” is featured in
“The Stairs.”
Horror:
Continued from Page A1
nearly two dozen wins and
counting, including top
honors at several festivals.
According to its syn-
opsis, the chilling fi lm is
set 20 years after the mys-
terious disappearance of
an 11-year-old boy and
his grandfather. A group
of friends fi nd them-
selves along the same trail,
unaware of a long-forgot-
ten evil lurking just beyond
the tree line. What started
as a weeklong adventure
with friends quickly turns
into a terrifying fi ght for
survival as they come face-
to-face with the thing that
nightmares are made of.
Presented by Cinedigm
and Fathom Events, the
fi lm viewing is Thursday,
Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. at Cin-
emark Grand Cinema 12 in
Walla Walla. Tickets can
be purchased at the theater
box offi ce or in advance via
www.fathomevents.com/
events/The-Stairs.
Jones said the fi lm will
who tested positive July 23
and died July 27. The state
has yet to confi rm where she
died and if she had underly-
ing conditions.
“The mask is not about
protecting yourself,” Fiu-
mara said. “The mask is
about protecting those you
interact with.”
The recommendations
come as Umatilla County
reports one of the largest
COVID-19 case spikes in
Oregon, with about 8% of
the state’s total cases over
the past two weeks despite
accounting for just 2% of
its population. The coun-
ty’s case rate during that
same time period was more
than seven times higher than
Multnomah and Washing-
ton counties, which each
have more than 500,000
more residents than Uma-
tilla County.
Health offi cials say the
surge is largely due to social
gatherings and large sum-
mer events that have ensued
since the state lifted all pan-
demic restrictions on June
30. Infection is spread-
ing almost entirely among
unvaccinated people, health
offi cials say.
Less than 40% of Uma-
tilla
County
residents
have been fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, accord-
ing to federal data.
Hospitalizations spike
Cinedigm & Fathom Events/Contributed Photo
Adam Korson, best known for playing Josh Bloom in the TV
show “Imposters,” is part of the cast in “The Stairs.”
be released Aug. 27 on
DVD/BluRay/VOD
in
conjunction with a week-
long run at a few select
theaters.
Melody Fowler, vice
president of acquisitions
for Cinedigm, said “The
Stairs” delivers what hor-
ror fans look for in a movie
— real scares, suspense
and a terrifying conclu-
sion. In addition, with its
well-developed
charac-
ters, superb stunts, cre-
ative design and eff ects,
and the fi lm’s strong fes-
tival reception with genre
fans, Fowler said it “fur-
ther confi rms that it is a
must-see” fi lm. Director
Peter “Drago” Tiemann
agreed, saying the isolation
the characters face creates
an added level of tension.
“The idea of being
hunted by an unknown taps
into a visceral part of us,”
he said, “and we become
part of the story.”
The masking recom-
mendations also come as
COVID-19 hospitalizations
surge statewide and at some
regional hospitals.
More than half of all
patients hospitalized at CHI
St. Anthony in Pendleton
tested positive for COVID-
19, according to a hospital
spokesperson.
The hospital has reported
a “signifi cant uptick” in
positive COVID-19 cases
during the previous week,
nearing peak numbers last
winter, the spokesperson,
Emily Smith, said in an
email. Fourteen people have
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Registered nurse Heather McLeod enters a negative pressure
room used for COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, July 27, 2021,
in the medical/surgical unit at CHI St. Anthony Hospital,
Pendleton. As of that morning, the hospital had seven COVID-19
cases, according to hospital spokesperson Emily Smith.
been hospitalized with the
virus last week, with eight
hospitalized on July 26
alone.
Local hospitals will
sometimes refer critically ill
patients to other facilities for
a higher level of care. But
regional hospitals have been
“unable to accept transfers”
because they are full with
patients, Smith said.
For one patient in need of
a transfer, health care work-
ers reached out to 15 diff er-
ent hospitals before fi nding
one with an available bed,
Smith said.
“We’re seeing a big
surge,” Fiumara said. “And
if they’re already having
issues with having enough
room and being able to
transfer people out when
appropriate, that doesn’t
speak well for if this surge
continues.”
On July 23 and July 24
alone, approximately 40%
of patients who came to the
hospital with COVID-19
symptoms tested positive.
None had been vaccinated
against COVID-19.
The emergency depart-
ment’s physician director on
July 26, reported a threefold
increase in patients testing
positive in the department
during the past fi ve days,
Smith said.
Good Shepherd Med-
ical Center in Hermiston
said they are also seeing
an increase in hospitaliza-
tions and positive COVID-
19 tests. Five people were
hospitalized with COVID-
19 at the facility last week
as more patients are com-
ing to the emergency depart-
ment and Good Shepherd
Urgent Care with COVID-
19 symptoms, according to
Caitlin Cozad, the hospital’s
spokesperson.
The hospital’s testing
positivity rate has also more
than doubled since earlier
this month. From June 29 to
July 12, 9.3% of tests came
back positive. And from
July 13 to July 26, that num-
ber jumped to 23.5%.
Fiumara said he expects
hospitalization rates to con-
tinue to climb, as is common
when infection skyrockets.
Just a few weeks ago,
CHI St. Anthony’s tested 73
people. Five of those tests
came back positive, amount-
ing to a positive test rate of
6.8%. But last week, the hos-
pital has tested 107 people
with 28 coming back posi-
tive. That’s a positivity rate
of 26.1% — a number that
doesn’t include the patients
who come to the hospital
known to have COVID-19.
The hospital reports
between 25% and 30% of
its daily visits now are due
to COVID-19, which Smith
said “has risen dramatically
in the last week.”
Since the pandemic
began, Umatilla County has
reported 9,395 COVID-19
cases. That’s roughly 12%
of the county’s population.
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