“We Really Need Help”: Coronavirus Overwhelms the Countryside of Oregon | Coronavirus

Salem-Heather Griggs calls her ear at a makeshift office that once served as a prison in the countryside of Pendleton, the most famous rodeo of the annual rodeo.

Her positive tone masks her fatigue when she tells the other party that she may have been exposed to COVID-19. She’s been calling thousands of times since March, and she’s been feeling tense lately.

Coronaviruses defeated a small Oregon community where farmers grow crops such as potatoes, onions and grains. About 16% of people in Umatilla County test positive for COVID-19. This is a measure of how widespread the disease is in the community. The World Health Organization recommends keeping below 5%.

In Umatilla County, with a population of 77,000, the virus has infected more than 1000 people, overwhelming limited resources and employees.

“I’m tired,” said Griggs, who works as a contact tracer.

For the entire state, Sunday was the fourth consecutive day and more than 300 cases were reported.

Pandemics in major US cities have been devastating to rural areas, with some recent documented per-capita latest cases confirmed in the past two weeks. The virus infects thousands of poor rural people every day, overwhelms struggling healthcare systems and increases the responsibility of civil servants who frequently perform multiple jobs that they have never signed up for. I am.

Authorities believe that many of the outbreaks in rural America are due to outbreaks at work, living facilities, and social gatherings. Food processing plants and farms where people usually work in tight spaces have proven to be hotspots.

Umatilla County has the highest number of confirmed cases per capita in Oregon, surpassing Multnomah County this month. However, the total population of Multnomah is 10 times. Rapid growth in Umatilla and most of Oregon’s rural counties has helped drive confirmed state growth.

Contact tracking

In response to the pandemic, Umatilla County divided the virus-related work into 30 public health departments.

For Griggs, that meant her role in overseeing the mother-child section of the agency was changed to contact tracking and investigation. Every day she asks people with positive test results about the people they have spent and calls on them to warn.

“We’re a small county, so I don’t think there’s one public health person who’s not somehow involved,” said Griggs, who works with eight other contact tracers.

Other rural counties in the United States are also seeing a surge of cases of the virus.

According to data compiled by the Associated Press, Arkansas’ forested hot springs county has led the country in new confirmed cases per capita over the past two weeks.

Also, near the top of the list are far more places such as Scully and Crockett in Texas.

Judge Scally County announced last week that 169 prisoners and 11 employees in prison tested positive for COVID-19. In Crockett County, where the population density is less than 2 people per square mile, 71 people test positive. The number of infections is believed to be much higher, as many have not been tested, and research suggests that people can be infected with the virus without upsetting.

Authorities are aware that the number of cases in rural areas is low compared to the city’s total, but even a small increase can drive a small community to the edge.

“We have found that we are really overwhelmed by the rapid number of rises we are seeing now,” said George Murdock, Umatilla County Commissioner. “We really need help.”

The county received guidance, contact tracers, case inspectors, and equipment from the state, but Murdoch said it might need further assistance. Authorities have COVID-19 or need alternative housing to live with multiple families and field teams to serve at-risk residents and to distribute federal assistance to poor families. He said.

“They are forced to go to work to survive.”

According to Murdoch, the fact that many rural jobs cannot be done domestically has exacerbated the effects of the virus. Authorities point to cases where people continued to work despite the mild symptoms of coronavirus, which led to an outbreak.

“They are forced to go to work to survive. They have no advantages. They cannot commute on the production line,” he said.

Out of 24 rural counties in Oregon, 12 reported outbreaks at work at farms or meat and seafood processing plants. Umatila County has reported at least six workplace outbreaks since mid-June.

To combat the proliferation of cases, local governments are already reorganizing and organizing the responsibilities of workers who are already fulfilling multiple roles.

Lieutenant Melissa Ross, a spokeswoman for Morrow County Sheriff in North Central Oregon, updates journalists on drug busts and fatal crashes. She also oversees the records and civil department. In addition to her job role, she will be a spokeswoman for the county’s emergency management team, providing updates on case numbers and other virus-related information.

“That’s what happens when you live in a small country in the countryside of America,” Ross said.

Those communities already depend on a limited medical system.

Lake County, where Oregon, California, and Nevada meet has only one hospital. Next is 90 miles. In order to serve 7,000 inhabitants, the county has taken the extraordinary step of calling not only to operate a hospital in the health district of the lake, but also to supervise the health department during a pandemic.

“We think it works better in coordinating care for the entire population,” said district chief executive Charles Tveit. “That’s why we got involved.”

Although rural areas have fewer resources than major cities, Murdoch said they share the same responsibility for protecting people’s security. “Here we are used to being ourselves,” he said. “But this is bigger than us.”