The Hood River County Health Department announced Friday that a fruit packing facility in the Mid-Valley has been identified as having a cluster of COVID-19 cases.  According to the Department, the cluster has occurred at Webster Orchards/The Fruit Company, even though the exact source has not been identified, meaning health officials cannot trace anyone to another case, indicating that it was community acquired.  Whenever more than one COVID-19 case is linked to an agricultural or long term care facility it is classified as an “outbreak” by the Oregon Health Authority.  Once five or more cases ae identified, the OHA releases the information in its weekly report.  The department says the company is providing housing, food, and support for their employees, adding officials feel the outbreak is well controlled at this time, noting the company had put safeguards in place for their employees before the outbreak started.

North Wasco County School District 21 announced that it will use a comprehensive distance learning format to start the upcoming school year.  In a letter to parents, D-21 interim superintendent Theresa Peters said they plan to use the online format through October 16.  Health metrics will determine whether they can go to a hybrid format after that.  Peters said they will be following the guidelines from the Oregon Department of Education for Comprehensive Distance Learning which is more rigorous than what was put together last spring.  She says it will provide “a more engaging, robust learning experience for students.”  Peters added building blueprints for when the district can bring students back into classrooms will be posted on the D-21 website next week, along with a way for parents to provide feedback.

The Dufur School District is getting ready to start classes in September online after the state announced its metrics for reopening school.  Superintendent Jack Henderson said they had been working on a number of different scenarios to start the school year, adding one thing the Dufur district will be trying to do is educate parents on how to help oversee their child’s learning and providing guidance on how long students should be engaged in educational activities.  He said all Dufur students will be registered in an online platform to help teachers guide students and hopefully help families as well.  Henderson adds the district will also narrow down the means by which teachers communicate with students compared to in the spring to a single platform.  The district is planning Zoom meetings to help parents understand their plans, with the first set for this Thursday at 7 p.m.  The link for that meeting will be sent out on Monday.

Klickitat County continues to wait for the opportunity to resubmit its application to the state of Washington for Phase 3 of reopening.  The County had submitted its application on July 1, but Governor Jay Inslee put a pause on all phase advancements the next day, and County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn expects it will be at least a couple of more weeks before they can resubmit.  Quinn said as of this morning there are currently sixteen active COVID-19 cases in Klickitat County.  She believes County residents are doing a good job with helping to curb COVID-19 transmission, but did say social gatherings remain a concern.

The Dalles Public Works Department will be painting the center and side lines on all streets throughout the community Monday through Thursday beginning at 6:00 a.m. each day.  Motorists are asked to watch for the crews and avoid driving on the wet paint.  The paint truck will be preceded and followed by warning vehicles, with signs calling attention to the wet paint.  The trucks will be spaced according to the necessary drying time of the paint.  Attempting to pass or drive between the trucks will result in a messy striping job and paint damage to the motorist’s vehicle that is difficult to remove.  Proceed with caution around work areas and observe all temporary traffic control devices.

23 western pond turtles reared at the Oregon Zoo conservation lab for nine-months were returned to the wild in the Columbia River Gorge on Thursday.  As part of the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, conservation scientists “head-start” newly hatched turtles gathered from wild sites, nurturing them at the zoo for up to a year.  In addition to the 20 wild hatchlings brought to the lab last fall, this year’s release includes three turtles that hatched at the zoo.  Keepers prepare the turtles for life outdoors by giving them plenty of time outside to acclimate to changing temperatures.  Once the turtles reach about 50 grams, they’re taken to ponds in the Gorge, where a team of conservationists returns them to their natural habitat and monitors them for safety.  In one study, scientists estimated that 95% of the turtles released back to sites in the Gorge survive annually.  The western pond turtle, once common from Baja California to the Puget Sound, is listed as an endangered species in Washington and a sensitive species in Oregon.  The Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project is a collaborative effort by the Oregon Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bonneville Power Administration, USDA Forest Service, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and other partners.  

The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday added Hood River County to its watch list of counties as they deal with COVID-19.  During an OHA media briefing, state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said counties go on the watch list if the rate of sporadic, or untraceable, COVID-19 cases is greater than 50 per 100,000 people in the last two weeks, and more than five sporadic cases during that time period.  Hood River County Health Department Director Trish Elliott said the County has had more than five sporadic cases in the last two weeks.  Sidelinger says being on the watch list is not punitive, nor does it move a county back a phase in reopening.  He says the OHA increases communication with the county to determine technical assistance and resource needs to assist in the response to COVID.  Elliott said at this point she has not been told what kind of assistance the OHA would provide Hood River County.  Multnomah and Marion counties were also added to the watch list Thursday.  Wasco County was place on the list three weeks ago.  Lincoln and Union counties were removed from the list.  

For the first time since May, Oregon has seen a decline in the weekly reported cases of COVID-19.  Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen said reported cases dropped by seven percent for the week ended July 26, and the percentage of positive tests dropped from 6.6% the prior week to 5.1%.  Allen said those numbers could be an indication measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 are working.  Allen added young people still represent the highest percentage of COVID-19 cases in Oregon. and there continues to be wide spread of the virus through recreational gatherings along with an increase in sporadic cases.  He also said hospitalization rates are showing signs of leveling off.

Hood River County School District Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn told an on-line parents forum Thursday that on-line learning will be more rigorous this fall than in the spring when they were operating in crisis mode.  The district announced it will go to “comprehensive distance learning” to start the academic year after the state released COVID-19 metrics that made it unlikely the district could open with a hybrid model involving at least some in-building teaching.  Polkinghorn said the distance learning plan for this year puts more of the expectations and rigor back into the school day.  Polkinghorn says the earliest they would expect to be able to go into classrooms is November.  The district will continue to offer the on-line Hood River Options Academy as an option for parents, which Polkinghorn says is best for students who can work independently and with a flexible routine.

Hood River County and Wasco County’s COVID-19 case numbers went up by two each in numbers available Thursday.  Hood River County Health Department Director Trish Elliott reported Thursday that the County’s total pandemic number is now 164, with 140 reported as out of isolation.  Wasco County is now at 152 for the pandemic, and reports 65 recovered.  Wasco County uses a 30-day standard before listing a COVID-19 patient as recovered.  Sherman County remains at eight and Gilliam County three.  Statewide, the OHA reported 416 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 in its Thursday report, bringing the state total to 18,131.  Umatilla County reported 101 new cases, but the OHA says that was due to a delay in processing of electronic laboratory reports.  The OHA also reported five deaths that occurred between July 23 and Tuesday, moving that number to 316.  In Washington, Klickitat County on Thursday reported four more positive COVID-19 cases, leaving its total at 109, with 90 listed as recovered and 16 as active cases.  Three of the new cases were reported in the Goldendale area and the other in White Salmon.  Skamania County remained at 47 positive cases and 40 listed as recovered as of Thursday morning.  Washington state officials confirmed over 750 more cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 54,985. Seven more deaths also were reported, raising the death toll to 1,555.