Staff at Salem Hospital receive bunny ears and support from Daniel Phillips on April 7, 2020 (Diane Beals/Salem Reporter)
This digest provides all-in-one-place access to reporting on the novel coronavirus outbreak. A statewide media collaboration is sharing coverage among Oregon’s newspapers and broadcast outlets. Salem Reporter is part of that collaboration.
Question? If you have questions about the outbreak, the disease or other related matters, email [email protected].
Hospital workers saved his mom’s life after a stroke. Now he’s cheering them on.
Daniel Phillips has become a fixture at Salem Hospital over the past week, standing on the sidewalk to provide moral support (and Easter Bunny costume ears) to workers on the front lines of the pandemic.
PHOTOS: Cherriots get ready to roll through Salem and Keizer – with limited service
Passengers will get places to stand while waiting for buses at the Cherriots transit centers. And ridership on buses will be limited when service resumes on Tuesday. On Monday, transit employees got ready to roll out clean buses.
As businesses turn to a federal relief program, questions stand between paychecks
The federal Paycheck Protection Program has kept banks busy since its rollout on Friday. The speed the program was implemented has created questions for businesses and banks.
OTHER COVERAGE FROM AROUND THE REGION:
THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE: Oregon coronavirus layoffs total 169,000; Here’s a running tally
More than 169,000 Oregonians filed new unemployment claims the last two weeks of March, more than in the prior 39 weeks combined. The state’s restaurant and bars employed 155,000 before the coronavirus outbreak prompted Gov. Kate Brown to order them all closed in hopes of containing the contagion.
THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE: Portland-area living rooms, kitchens transform into classrooms as schools launch distance learning amid coronavirus closures
Portland mom Becky Steckler spent much of Monday trouble-shooting. Her two children, like tens of thousands of Portland-area students, returned to class in some form this week after an extended spring break. Since all Oregon schools closed three weeks ago, Steckler’s home has transformed into a classroom as families in every corner of the state including hers have had to adjust to a new normal wrought by the global coronavirus pandemic.
BEND BULLETIN: Central Oregon continues efforts to delay peak infections
Central Oregon should hit its peak number of people infected with COVID-19 in June, based upon current estimates, not this week like some hot spots in the United States that are in the midst of “peak death week.” The University of Washington estimates 81,671 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. by June 1. The same model, which is updated daily, projects the peak need for U.S. hospital beds on April 16 at 140,823, but by June 1 dropping to 1,195 beds.
OPB: Are You Still Your Child’s Teacher? Here Are More Resources To Help You Through
Late last month we published a story with some resources to help parents and guardians who suddenly found themselves filling the role of their children’s teacher. We hope you found the first set of resources helpful, as you try to engage and educate the kids who would normally be at school. Since that article was published, the Oregon Department of Education has shifted its expectations from optional supports termed “supplemental learning” during the closure, to required plans it’s calling “Distance Learning For All.” But, uncertainty remains as to what “distance learning” will look like at different schools, and how long your kids will be out of school.
EAST OREGONIAN: Initial state funding to help local health departments cover labor costs
The Oregon Health Authority recently dished out $4 million in funding to support local COVID-19 responses across the state, and most health departments in Eastern Oregon are using that to keep paying their personnel during the pandemic. “The fact is, it’s going to personnel,” said Joe Fiumara, director of Umatilla County Public Health. “Our personnel expenses dwarf our material expenses.”
MALHEUR ENTERPRISE: TVCC classes zoom into virtual world
ONTARIO – A recent evening class in Sammy Castonguay’s general science course kicked off with the usual – a little introduction, attendance and some small talk about the earthquake that had rattled the region. Less usual was the way Castonguay, an adjunct instructor in earth sciences, conducted his class, speaking into a screen in his empty classroom and staring across a sea of mini-faces on his own computer.
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