Oregon Health Authority statistics on Wednesday reported five new confirmed or presumptive COVID-19 cases in Wasco County, four in Hood River County, and two in Gilliam County, with Hood River County seeing its second fatality from COVID-19 during the pandemic.  Hood River County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg said in a Facebook video that the person who died was in their ninth decade of life.  Wasco County is now at 426 total cases, with 315 listed as recovered by the North Central Public Health District using a 30-day standard since the onset of symptoms and in stable medical condition.  Hood River County is now at 338 total cases for the pandemic, with the County Health Department indicating 308 are out of isolation.  Gilliam County is now at 21 with 11 recovered.

The Hood River County Christmas Project has seen a substantial increase in applications for assistance, and that’s expected to continue throughout the registration process.  The Project’s Bruce Holmson says last year they assisted 471 families during the holidays, but they are already over 600 this year, and expect to get to somewhere between 700 and 800 by the time the application deadline of December 7 arrives.  Holmson says they could use the community’s help to make sure they can meet all of the requests.  They calculate needing approximately $100 per family.  Each family will receive a food gift card to a local grocery store and toy gift cards for each child.  To donate to the Hood River County Christmas Project, go online to hoodrivercountychristmasproject.com, or mail a check to P.O. Box 872 in Hood River, zip code 97031.

The Oregon Employment Department announced late last week it will use its equilibrium schedule for payroll taxes in 2021, but interim agency director David Gerstenfeld says they are able to keep increases minimal in spite of the unemployment insurance system facing an unprecedented demand for benefits.  Gerstenfeld says that’s in part due to federal funding for much of the benefits being paid out, but it’s also because of the health of the Oregon Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which Gerstenfeld says kept the state afloat in the Great Recession and will likely remain solvent through the current pandemic.  Gerstenfeld says borrowing money leads to higher costs for employers, and he’s confident that will not be the case in Oregon.

Work along the Historic Columbia River Highway and State Trail will bring trail closures and lane closures on the highway. At the Oneonta Tunnel, look for flaggers and single lane closures on the Historic Highway as Oregon Department of Transportation crews repair damage caused by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire.  In addition, further east at Toothrock Tunnel, the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail will be closed between the Toothrock Trailhead and Eagle Creek for installation of rockfall mesh and to stabilize the hillside above the tunnel’s east portal.  The work is up slope from the eastbound Interstate 84 exit ramp at Eagle Creek.  The Toothrock Trailhead will also be closed but expect no impact to traffic on Interstate 84.  Work is scheduled to continue through December 12.  Next week, the trail will be open from Thanksgiving through November 29 for the holiday weekend.  These are ODOT’s last two major Gorge repair projects remaining from the fire three years ago.

Washington Gorge Action Programs’ food assistance is seeing new clients, but overall demand has remained the same to this point.  WAGAP Nutrition Program Manager Janeel Booren said the increased availability of food stamps and other financial assistance are among the reasons they didn’t see a spike in demand, but she wouldn’t be surprised if that changes now.  WAGAP is accepting both monetary and food donations for its locations in both Skamania and Klickitat counties.  Go to wagap.org for information on how to donate and on when their five food bank locations are open.

Oregon Employment Department Acting Director David Gerstenfeld is expecting a spike in unemployment claims with the two-week freeze in place, but exactly how big that will be is difficult to tell.  Gerstenfeld says it’s hard to predict because each year at this time there is a regular seasonal increase in filings, and there is not much historical data on pandemics to look back on, but they are estimating 51,000 Oregonians will be impacted.  Gerstenfeld did say the department is in a better position to deal with a surge in claims than at the outset of the pandemic.  He cites better infrastructure, streamlined operations, increased communication and user-friendly on-line options, and most importantly an increase in the number of employees involved in claims processing from 275 to over 1,200.

With COVID vaccines coming closer and closer to being released, and promising test results from both Pfizer and Moderna in the last couple of weeks, health officials are starting to plan how they would be distributed.  Hood River County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg outlined in a Facebook video what is going on to get ready, noting the County has had a vaccine distribution plan dating back to before COVID and has been refreshed.  Health officials have indicated once vaccine becomes available, front line health care responders and those most at-risk from COVID will be prioritized.  Until then, they emphasize the importance of wearing face masks in public, practicing social distancing, and washing hands frequently.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce is planning to move forward with its plans for a “reverse” Starlight Parade next week.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says the changes they had already made to the event by keeping the floats stationary and having the community drive by them were already mostly complaint with the new restrictions, and any changes would be to the floats themselves and the ability to have people on them.  The “reverse” parade will be next Friday, November 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Third Street in downtown The Dalles, with floats parked in the left hand lane and cars slowly driving by in the right hand lane.

Hood River County School District Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn and County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg conducted an on-line forum Monday night to present information and answer questions about safety plans for reopening schools.  Polkinghorn says he recognizes the anxiety people feel about going back into classrooms at some point, particularly with increasing rates of COVID-19.  But he also notes while comprehensive distance learning works well for some families, for others it has been difficult, so the district now plans to focus on in-person learning for students who are struggling.  Polkinghorn says students experiencing Internet connectivity issues and needing to complete federally-mandated assessments that can only be done in person are their first priority for in-person learning, followed by students in the district they have identified as struggling.

The North Central Public Health District says Wasco County’s surge in COVID-19 cases over the weekend did not involve any large outbreaks that would have met public reporting thresholds of five or more cases at businesses with 30 or more employees.  23 new COVID cases were reported for Wasco County over the weekend, with 17 on Saturday.  In a statement on Monday, the district said a majority of them were due to family get-togethers.  That’s in line with what’s being seen throughout the state, with social gatherings as a driver of COVID transmission.  The district indicates while many of the weekend’s cases were due to household spread or from small gatherings, Wasco County has also seen an increase in the proportion of “sporadic” or “community spread” cases, or those with no known link to another case.