July 2, 2020

ByAnnette Powers

Today, five new COVID-19 cases were announced for Union County bringing the total to 347.  Of this total, 20 have recovered.  Union County has had a total of 1,704 negative tests processed. Wallowa County has a total of 10 positive cases, one listed as recovered, and 432 negative tests processed.  Oregon Health Authority announced 375 new cases today in the state of Oregon, bringing the state-wide total to 9,294. 

The Union County Incident Management Team (IMT) will be transitioning the COVID-19 incident response back to Center for Human Development (CHD) Public Health tomorrow, July 3.  Members of the IMT will stand ready to support the Center for Human Development or to stand up again should the situation necessitate reactivation.

Throughout the past month, assistance provided by members and volunteers of the IMT included coordination and support of several testing clinics, resources, and information sharing.  Although there has been a continued daily report of additional positive case counts over the past several weeks, the curve has been flattened, hospital capacity has been maintained and efforts continue in protecting our vulnerable populations.  The virus is and will remain in our community, but hospital capacity, contact tracing and investigations are currently at manageable levels. 

Completely stopping the spread of a novel virus is not possible, but continued vigilance will help to manage the spread and allow for local hospital capacity as well as protection of our vulnerable populations.  Staying home when you exhibit symptoms, continued good hygiene such as hand washing, supporting one another, and wearing a cloth face covering at indoor public locations especially where social distancing cannot be maintained can help to prevent additional virus spread within our community. 

This will be the final daily update provided by the NE Oregon Joint Information Center unless the situation warrants a change in reporting.  Press releases and social media postings will continue, but will be provided by individual agencies.  COVID-related information can be found on Facebook at the following locations:

https://www.facebook.com/chdinc.org
https://www.facebook.com/grh01
https://www.facebook.com/UCEmergencyServices
https://www.facebook.com/OregonHealthAuthority

The Union County Incident Management Team involved many participants from various agencies as well as individual volunteers.  This included members of the Union County Search and Rescue; La Grande Rural Fire Protection District; La Grande School District; City of La Grande Police Department, Fire Department, and City Parks; Grande Ronde Hospital; Center for Human Development; Oregon Department of Forestry; Life Flight Network; Oregon State Police; Oregon State Fire Marshall; Oregon Health Authority; Union County Administrative Office, Sheriff’s Department, and Emergency Services.  Incident management would have been difficult without the continued collaboration, communication, and coordinated response provided by these dedicated professionals serving the citizens of Union County.

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