Oregon Governor Kate Brown reinstates order to stay home for Umatilla County

Gov. Kate Brown ordered rural Oregon County with the worst COVID-19 outbreak to stay home again.

The renewed stay-at-home order takes effect in Umatilla County on July 31 at noon. It is the first time that the Governor has withdrawn a county from the reopening.

“After weeks of trying other measures to control the disease, our only option is to temporarily close certain businesses and other community amenities,” Brown said in a July 30 statement. “I hope that these measures help the community to control the spread of COVID-19 quickly.”

Restaurants in Umatilla County must move only for take-out and delivery. And the following businesses should close: “gyms, shopping malls, venues, indoor and outdoor entertainment facilities, and personal services businesses.”

Morrow County, meanwhile, must return to Phase 1.

Umatilla County, which includes the cities of Hermiston and Pendleton, has seen a resurgence of the virus that lasted most of July. How WW reported earlier this month, Umatilla County had a higher case rate than Arizona, a state that was experiencing the worst outbreak in the country.

The governor’s office provided a bulleted list of facts about the county, including:

The governor’s office says the Oregon Health Authority assigned seven case investigators and 29 contact trackers to Umatilla County as of July 26.

Morrow County has a slightly lower case rate: 213 cases per 10,000 people. The positivity rate is higher than that of Umatilla, suggesting a larger outbreak: 30%. But the number of new cases per day is less: seven.

OHA has assisted the county with two case investigators and a public information officer.