Mark Bennett

Baker County has a “slim” chance to avoid moving into the extreme risk level this Friday, April 30, but County Commissioner Mark Bennett doesn’t yet know how small that opportunity will be.

Gov. Kate Brown announced on April 23 that at least 12 of Oregon’s 36 counties, including Baker, could go to extreme risk, which brings the most severe restrictions including a ban on indoor dining in restaurants and bars, due to a surge in virus cases over the past couple weeks.

Baker County hasn’t been in the extreme category since Feb. 4.

In late March the governor said that no county, regardless of its case counts, would move to the extreme level so long as the statewide total of people being treated in hospitals for COVID-19 didn’t exceed 300.

That change kept Baker County from moving to extreme risk on April 23. The county’s total of 79 new cases during a two-week period ending April 17 would have previously qualified the county for extreme risk. The threshold for that risk level is 60 cases over two weeks.

But over the past week the number of people hospitalized in Oregon for COVID-19 treatment has increased significantly, from 200 on April 17 to 295 on April 24.

The number dropped to 291 on Sunday, April 25.

Bennett said that after participating in a conference call on Friday with state officials, he believes that “if we can keep our numbers low there is a slim chance of negotiating out of (moving to extreme risk).”

But as of Monday, April 26, Bennett said state officials hadn’t given counties details about how the state will determine which counties move to extreme risk should the hospitalization total surpass the 300 mark.

In the past the state has set risk levels for each county based on its case counts — and, for counties with larger populations, positivity rates — for a recent two-week period.

The state apparently will use a different measurement period in determining which counties move to extreme risk, but Bennett said he has yet to see specifics.

Regardless, he said the fewer the cases the county has, the stronger the county’s negotiating position should be.

“We’re certainly going to keep up the advocacy,” Bennett said. “It’s a full-court press. We will push it really hard.”

The county’s trend over the weekend was encouraging, Bennett said.

After reporting 14 new cases on April 21 and 11 more on April 22 — the fourth-highest two-day total during the pandemic — the county’s daily totals from Friday through Sunday were six, two and one.

The county’s daily new case rate has dropped slightly in the second half of April, from 6.2 per day from April 1-15, to 5.1 per day from April 16-25.

Staten said last week that the major sources of the recent surge in cases are private social gatherings.

Baker School District reports 3 new cases

The Baker School District reported that one individual each at Brooklyn Primary School, South Baker Intermediate School and Baker High School tested positive for COVID-19 last week. The district announced the positive cases on Friday, April 23.

The district, which until recently had distinguished between students and staff who tested positive, no longer does so, identifying them only as “individuals” and the school each is associated with.

Students or staff who were in close contact with one of the people who tested positive will be asked to quarantine temporarily.

As of Tuesday, April 27, a total of 25 students, and no staff members, are quarantining in the district, said Lindsey McDowell, the district’s public information and communications coordinator. Of the 25 students, 16 are attending Baker High School.