Baker County moves from “Extreme” to “High” risk category
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Friday, February 5th, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories
BAKER COUNTY – (Release from Baker County) Effective immediately, Baker County is moving from the ‘extreme’ to ‘high risk’ ranking category with the State of Oregon. The high-risk category will allow restaurants to resume indoor dining and gyms to reopen at limited capacities, among other changes. Baker County requested the Oregon Health Authority review data that was used to calculate the county’s positivity rate. After careful review, officials found some of the data was not being reported correctly, which ultimately impacted Baker County’s risk level ranking. The Oregon Health Authority and the Governor’s office have moved Baker County back to the ‘high risk’ category, and are correcting the data reporting problem moving forward. Commissioner Mark Bennett says, “This is a great step in the right direction for our community and local businesses. I’m grateful for the work of Nancy Staten, the Health Department Director, Jason Yencopal, the Emergency Management Director, and Dr. Eric Lamb, the County’s Public Health Officer, for their work in identifying the discrepancy and following up. Thank you, too, to the State of Oregon for working with us to review the data and correct the issue.”
