UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla and Morrow counties are into the next phase of reopening from COVID-19 restrictions.

After the state announced on Thursday, June 4, that it needed to review Umatilla County’s Phase 2 application further, county officials finally got approval the afternoon of Friday, June 5.

“Just as it was the first time around, it would have been much better to have just been approved rather than sitting around waiting to get word,” said Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock. “I can’t begin to tell you how stressed and anxious Umatilla County residents have been about this.”

Counties approved for Phase 2 are able to expand gathering sizes, reopen public spaces and venues, such as movie theaters and pools, and ease other restrictions placed on businesses in the previous phase.

Umatilla County enters Phase 2 on Saturday, June 6, while Morrow County was one of 14 Oregon counties that entered Phase 2 on Friday, June 5.

“We will proceed with caution,” Morrow County Commissioner Melissa Lindsay said. “I know people are really ready to get back to work and get their businesses open, and so we have to think about the economy as well as the health. If we continue to be as successful as we have been, we would very much look forward to a Phase 3.”

To enter Phase 2, counties needed to continue meeting the Phase 1 criteria and had to demonstrate they are tracing 95% of new cases within 24 hours along with tracing a minimum of 70% of cases to a previously confirmed case over one- and two-week periods.

According to Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara, there were two of these metrics that flagged the county’s application for further review by the state.

Fiumara said the Oregon Health Authority pulls county data on Wednesdays to publish in its weekly report on Thursday. When the state pulled Umatilla County’s data from the last seven days on June 3, it showed an increase in the percentage of positive test results along with four of nine new cases that couldn’t be traced to a known source.

However, Fiumara said the increase in positive test rates was a result of a single day where three tests were positive out of 30 conducted, skewing results to show an increase of 10%. But when averaged out over the seven days, he said those positive test rates dropped below 2%.

“That got flagged as being an upward trend,” Fiumara said. “My argument was one day doesn’t indicate a trend.”

The contact tracing challenges were the result of all four cases that couldn’t be traced to a known source also being linked to out-of-county travel, Fiumara said, whether that was for work, leisure or medical care.

In a Friday, June 5, press release announcing the approval of Umatilla County’s application, the state explained in its own words the reasoning for the hangup.

“In Umatilla County, the county saw an increase from a comparatively low baseline,” the release stated. “Public health officials have made timely contact with all new cases. The public health investigation has not shown ongoing community spread as the source of the cases. Public health officials continue to trace new cases, in collaboration with their counterparts in Washington.”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Fiumara has highlighted that local percentages and data trends can be difficult to parse because of the relatively low case numbers in the county. While he understood why the state flagged Umatilla County’s statistics for further review, Fiumara was frustrated in the state’s execution of the process.

“A lot of my frustration is that at the time they reached out looking for additional information, they had already made their decisions about the other counties,” Fiumara said.

According to Fiumara, he and other county officials met with the Oregon Health Authority around 2 p.m on Thursday, June 4, to discuss the state’s concerns with the application. Within the hour of their meeting, the governor’s office had sent out a press release announcing that 26 other counties were already approved for Phase 2.

The next phase means an increase in indoor group gatherings from 25 to 50 people, and outdoor group gatherings are permitted up to 100 people. Faith communities will also be permitted to expand gatherings to 250 people, so long as they can provide 35 square feet for each person.

People are also permitted to return to work in indoor office spaces for limited hours, although the Oregon Health Authority recommends people continue to work from home.

For restaurants and bars, Phase 2 will allow for extended hours from 10 p.m. to midnight and expanded outdoor seating.

Zoos, gardens and museums are also included in Phase 2 plans, though the governor’s office is in the process of drafting guidelines for their reopening. State officials have also indicated a plan to allow collegiate athletes to begin training for an eventual return to competition.

Pools, bowling alleys and arcades will be allowed to reopen with physical distancing protocols in place, and noncontact youth sports can begin with equipment sharing guidelines.

The state also updated its guidance for face coverings during its June 3 press conference to include that all employees will have to wear face coverings in public transit, grocery stores, gyms, entertainment facilities, pools, pharmacies, and personal service providers.

Once in Phase 2, counties won’t return to Phase 1 and if there’s an increase in cases the Oregon Health Authority would quickly quarantine new cases and effectively contact trace.

As of Friday, June 5, there were 130 reported cases of COVID-19 in Umatilla County and 12 reported cases in Morrow County.

Fiumara said Umatilla County’s data hasn’t shown an increase in cases as a result of the first reopening phase, but one could still be coming and health officials still expect reopening will eventually lead to at least some small surges.

As for large summer gatherings like the Pendleton Round-Up, Murdock said there’s been no indications that Phase 3 is coming soon. State officials have stated that Phase 3 won’t be possible “until a reliable treatment or prevention is available.”

“I think this is as close to normal as we’re going to get for quite some time,” Murdock said. “We should all be preparing to be in Phase 2 probably throughout the fall.”