Starting Friday, Umatilla County will regain its Phase 1 reopening status following a weeks-long spike in COVID-19 transmissions, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Wednesday.
Umatilla County was demoted to a baseline status of “stay-at-home” on July 31.
Over the past three weeks, the northeastern county reported a significant decline in positive COVID-19 test rates and cases.
Test rates dropped from 32 percent to 18.8 percent and total weekly case counts are down from 320 to 166, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
The county’s COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people is also down from 394 to 205 cases.
“I want to acknowledge the efforts community members and local officials have made in Umatilla County to curb the spread of COVID-19 enough so that the county can return to Phase 1,” Brown said in a statement. “As I’ve said before, reopening comes with risk, which is why we are taking a cautious, phased approach.”
Umatilla’s numbers are still well above the state’s health metrics for schools reopening this fall—5 percent positive test rates for three weeks and 30 cases per 100,000.
Most Oregon school districts, including those in Portland, Salem, Medford, and Eugene will start the year online only.
Malheur and Morrow counties have yet to see their previous phases of reopening restored since Brown rolled them back in late July and early August.
On Thursday, OHA reported 301 new COVID-19 cases along with four more COVID-19 deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s total case count to 24,165 and the death toll to 412.
