COVID-19 Response: Umatilla and Morrow Counties

Over the past couple months, COVID-19 has begun to severely impact the most rural parts of the state, and eastern Oregon has been no exception. As of now, there are two active outbreaks in Umatilla and Morrow counties, both of which are linked to warehouses and factories. Right now, the cases of COVID-19 in Umatilla county are more than 5x the statewide average, and Hispanic people make up 40% of all COVID-19 cases in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Since the formation of our radio show, Acción Rural Hispana in March, we have continued to form relationships with Hispanic and medical leaders throughout the state, and have become a community partner of Oregon Health Authority. Through this partnership, ORA not only continues our weekly radio series, Acción Rural Hispana, but has distributed hundreds of bags filled with face masks, hand sanitizer and COVID-19 related information for the Spanish speaking community in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

This is needed now more than ever as Oregon has exceeded over 20 outbreaks throughout the state. We also know from studies conducted since the beginning of the pandemic, that Hispanics and BIPOC are particularly at risk nationwide.

Here is a graphic from a study conducted in early July 2020 by the New York Times:

And here is a sobering quote from that same article: “Latino and African-American residents of the United States have been three times as likely to become infected as their white neighbors, according to the new data, which provides detailed characteristics of 640,000 infections detected in nearly 1,000 U.S. counties. And Black and Latino people have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people, the data shows.” You can read the article in full here.

On Friday, July 24th, Morrow and Umatilla team members packed hundreds of bags with PPE, hand sanitizer and informational materials on COVID-19 for distribution across both counties. On August 2nd, in collaboration with Hermiston based organization, Raíces and the Northwest chapter of United Farm Workers, we hosted a drive-thru event where we continued to distribute PPE, sanitizer, informational materials and food to the Hispanic community in Hermiston.

We understand how important it is to be connected to each other and use communal power to support one another, especially now. People are the heart of community organizing and we would love to have you join us. Sign up here for updates or become a member here.

Check out photos from both events below:

7/24: Umatilla & Morrow county team members ready to get to work!

7/24: The team filled hundreds of bags with PPE, hand sanitizer and COVID-19 educational materials.

8/2: ORA board member with our partners from Raíces!