HERMISTON, Oregon. – José García reached into the bed of his truck and cautiously took out a sealed plastic bag. Inside was a homemade mask that a worker had given Mr. Garcia in one of the sprawling farm fields surrounding his home in Northeast Oregon. The mask was made of a single carefully folded paper towel with a rubber band stapled at each end.
“When I saw this, I cried,” said Garcia.
In an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Mr. García, an addiction counselor, spends his days off volunteering to deliver masks from the local health department to field workers. Like many residents of rural Oregon, Mr. Garcia is preparing for an increase in coronavirus cases that feels almost inevitable as local farms and food processing facilities move into the off-season. harvest.
Oregon, once one of the most successful states in managing the pandemic, is now experiencing a viral spike in rural areas. Agricultural areas like Umatilla County, where Mr. Garcia lives and works, now have some of the highest case rates in Oregon.
“I know it’s going to get worse,” said Garcia. “It is almost as if we are alone.”
The coronavirus hit Oregon early, with emerging cases in February. But unlike two of its neighboring states, Washington and California, Oregon was not quickly overwhelmed by the pandemic. The state has registered more than 12,000 infections, far fewer than most of its neighbors. But as the state reopens after an early shutdown, cases are skyrocketing. The state set a grim record on Thursday with 389 new infections.
If the spread of the virus continues at its current rate, models from the Oregon Health Authority predict that Portland hospitals will reach capacity in a month, and hospitals across the state will be overwhelmed in 90 days.
“We are caught between California and Washington,” said Governor Kate Brown. “We are not an island, and the virus knows absolutely no jurisdictional limit.”
The increase has been most drastic in rural areas of the state, where the outbreaks have been sparked by large gatherings at churches, food processing facilities, funerals, and graduation parties.
Ms. Brown directed Oregon residents to wear masks in public buildings, effective July 1. It also introduced a spending package to finance protective equipment and quarantine payments for agricultural workers.
And on Monday, Brown said he was issuing a state ban on indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people, saying the state needed to crack down on social events that were spreading the virus. The ban would limit things like birthday parties and book clubs, but would not apply to businesses or churches “at this time,” he said.
Oregon public health officials hope that the recent festivities on July 4 will produce new cases, as happened after the Memorial Day meetings. But despite efforts to find contacts, public health officials are encountering more and more people who cannot determine how they became infected with the virus, a troubling indication of the spread of the community.
“Our biggest concerns are these home and patio meetings where people meet with a group from other homes,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak, a state epidemiologist and chief health advisor for the Oregon Health Authority.
“Oregonians generally have a ‘We’re all in this together’ mindset,” he said, noting that the public had generally followed public health advice. But he added: “I think we are starting to see a reversal of that trend now.”
Dr. Cieslak said his staff had observed the public in recent weeks engaging in more than what they have dubbed “IBF” – blatantly infectious behaviors – such as attending indoor events without wearing masks.
“We have people who are very concerned about the virus and are doing everything under their control,” said Bill Elfering, Umatilla County Commissioner, who has seen an increase in cases, partially driven by a local processing facility. foods. “We have other people who say, ‘Oh, I will survive, and don’t tell me to wear a mask, because I won’t.'”
In neighboring Union County, more than 300 cases of coronavirus have been linked to United Pentecostal Church Lighthouse, which held large gatherings in late May and early June.
John Howard, a Union County resident and former county commissioner, said his brother, Paul, was not a member of the church, but had contracted the virus when it spread from the church to the rest of the community.
Howard said it pained him to be separated from his brother while hospitalized, and he was only able to see him briefly as he was transferred from the local hospital to one in Idaho that has a room dedicated to virus patients.
“We were able to see him on the stretcher,” Howard recalled. “He saw us and recognized us.”
On the morning of July 1, her brother died. He was 62 years old. “This did not have to happen,” said Howard.
Recent outbreaks have exacerbated tensions in rural Oregon communities, and between the governor, who is considered to represent the state’s largest population centers in western Oregon, and county leaders in rural eastern Oregon.
Umatilla County commissioners have seen their economy battered by the shutdown. The county typically hosts one of the largest rodeos in the United States each fall, which injects millions of dollars into the local economy and generates significant tax revenue. But the event was canceled, leaving county commissioners concerned about their budget as they are spending more to combat the pandemic.
“I think a big part of the problem is that metropolitan areas drive the bus,” said John Shafer, one of the commissioners. “They are dictating what happens here.”
He added that the county would follow Ms. Brown’s health guide, but said communication about state health orders had been poor and concerned that the realities of rural life, such as lack of high-speed Internet access. that made remote learning difficult, were not being considered as the state produced its guide for the school year.
Rural leaders said they felt neglected by the state when they saw their urban counterparts appear at press conferences alongside the governor. Some said they were confident that a mask order was not being prepared, only to hear days later that masks would, in fact, be required across the state. Oregon’s decision to hold on to some federal emergency funds increased the sense of neglect, rather than sending it directly to rural communities.
The state used some of its federal aid funds to buy protective equipment for the counties, reasoning that it could more easily buy and distribute bulk supplies. But the decision meant that rural counties did not receive the cash they hoped to fund their public health efforts, including hiring contact trackers, and to provide aid grants to local businesses.
Umatilla County was expecting several million dollars for the virus response, Shafer said, but so far it has only received about $ 725,000. Other states did not follow the Oregon approach, granting funds directly to counties.
The governor, in an interview, acknowledged that it has been difficult to manage the virus in a state with so many competing regional priorities.
“He is honestly uptight with everyone right now and he has been,” Brown said.
She said Congress should have guided states on how to spend aid money.
“We did something different,” he said. “I honestly don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but we thought it was better for us as a state to buy and pay for PPE.”
As severe as the recent workload has been, many fear that the upcoming harvest season may make matters worse as additional farmworkers enter and processing plants go live.
A recent outbreak at one of Hermiston’s largest employers, a potato-chip-cutting facility, added 37 cases to the Umatilla County total.
“That’s what our public health department is hammering at: if you’re sick, stay home,” Shafer said. “If you find yourself in that situation where you’re trying to support your family, you could put up with it.” and go to work. That is going to be a great peak. “
On a recent afternoon, Mr. Garcia delivered masks and boxes of groceries from a local food bank at an organic watermelon and melon farm outside the city. Marta Cernas, a worker there, said her crew would double in size once the harvest begins in a few weeks. To prepare, the farm ordered a thermometer to check worker temperatures and installed additional sinks so workers can wash their hands more frequently.
Still, she said she was concerned about getting sick. “It affects us all,” he said. “Everyone here and the whole world.”
Mike Baker contributed reporting from Seattle.
