Rodeo fans fill the stands Sept. 11, 2019, at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds for the opening day of the 2019 Round-Up. Gov. Kate Brown announced a mask requirement for outdoor events, such as the Round-Up, to begin Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

UMATILLA COUNTY — With COVID-19 cases continuing to surge in Eastern Oregon and around the state, Gov. Kate Brown expanded the mask mandate to include outdoor events where social distancing isn’t possible.

The new rule goes into effect Friday, Aug. 27.

With the region still in the midst of its summer events season, the mandate will affect several large events in the weeks ahead, including the Pendleton Round-Up. Umatilla County Public Health director Joe Fiumara said masks were a good tool in slowing the spread of the virus in crowds and was preferable to the shutdowns or cancellations.

“One of my fears is that more steps will be taken, and it won’t be economically neutral,” he said.

For its part, the Pendleton Round-Up Association is planning to comply with the new mandate.

“We are excited about the 111th Pendleton Round-Up and the prospect of the economic impact it will bring to the community, county and region,” Round-Up publicity director Pat Reay said in a statement. “We intend to follow all county and state guidelines at the event as they continue to evolve.”

In a typical year, the Round-Up not only draws thousands of rodeo fans from across the Northwest and beyond, but also a legion of volunteers, vendors, contractors and other assorted visitors. Fiumara said officials from public health and Round-Up have been meeting monthly to discuss the Round-Up’s health plan and likely will meet a few more times ahead of the rodeo, which commences the second full week of September. Fiumara said holding the Round-Up still presents concerns over the potential spread of COVID-19, but government officials will need to weigh the lives it puts at risk versus the effect any kind of curtailment will have on the community’s mental and economic health.

Fiumara said vaccines still are the most effective way of halting the spread of the virus and the public health department will try to use the Round-Up to its advantage. Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock in a weekly update of COVID-19 data reported 1,217 vaccinations occurred in the county in the third week of August, an increase from the week before, when there was 1,021.

While a location hasn’t been determined, Fiumara said the county will hold some sort of vaccination clinic during the Round-Up week. The department offered vaccinations at the Umatilla County Fair, a modest success that led to 37 vaccinations at the fair itself and another 34 at the parade.

The Round-Up is less than three weeks away, but Umatilla County will undergo its first test with the mandate when the Greater Hermiston CityFest descends on Butte Park on Aug. 28, the day after the new rules go into effect.

Organized by the Portland-based Luis Palau Association in conjunction with more than 60 churches in Umatilla and Morrow counties, CityFest is a faith-based event offering Christian music, extreme sports demonstrations and other family activities. Levi Park, the director of festivals for the association, said his organization was prepared for an expanded mask mandate as a possibility.

All attendees will be provided with a mask at the entrance if they don’t bring their own, and the event emcee will remind the crowd to wear it throughout the event. CityFest also will place social distancing markers throughout the park in addition to sanitation stations. CityFest organizers are invested in keeping their audience members healthy, Park said, because the event is supposed to represent hope, especially in the face of the pandemic.

Eastern Oregon not spared from delta variant

Brown has reintroduced and expanded the mask mandate as Oregon’s hospital system strains under dramatic increase in COVID-19 patients in need of ICU care. Although Eastern Oregon is faring better than other regions of the state in terms of available hospital beds, Pendleton’s CHI St. Anthony Hospital still is advising community members to mask up and get vaccinated.

“For your health and that of your family and friends, St. Anthony encourages everyone to abide by the Governor’s mask requirements,” St. Anthony CEO Harry Geller said in a statement. “However, the best way we have to fend off the Delta variant and the next one likely to come after that is the vaccine. We urge everyone to get vaccinated now.”

The new mask requirement also comes as the state announced new vaccine mandates for health care workers and teachers on Aug. 19.

The move already is drawing opposition from unvaccinated health care workers who don’t want the jab, despite the vast number of experts saying the vaccines are safe and effective against all forms of COVID-19 and are the country’s best bet for ending the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 23 granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.

The requirement has prompted local health care workers to organize an anti-vaccine rally at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton the evening of Aug. 26. On Facebook, rally organizers call the latest vaccine mandates “tyrannical.” So far, more than 260 people have responded to the event via Facebook.

Only 55% of all licensed health care workers in Umatilla County are vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to the 70% statewide average, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The county’s total ranks ninth from last in Oregon.

More than 70 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Umatilla County since the beginning of the month as the delta variant ravages Oregon and hospitals statewide are flooded with patients.

And with 14 deaths reported since the beginning of the month, and four reported Aug. 25 alone, the county is quickly approaching its all-time record for reported COVID-19 deaths in a single month.