Oregon’s statewide COVID-19 restrictions are largely lifting on Wednesday, June 30.

“Effectively, Oregon is 100% open for business,” Gov. Kate Brown said in a press call Friday, June 25.

After the deadline passes, statewide mandates on masks, social distancing and capacity limits of restaurants and venues will be removed.

But Brown and health officials said the crisis for the state is not over.

“Some 98% of people dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated,” Brown said.

Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen said the pandemic is not over, but the management of the crisis will shift to local officials.

County commissioners will be responsible for public health decisions and the state will only compile statistics and offer assistance.

“Local officials will be responsible for those decisions and for the consequences,” Allen said.

As the risk level framework was set to expire, six counties still remained in high risk status for the final week, including Umatilla County, where only 31% of the total population and 40% of the population over age 16 are vaccinated. Meanwhile eight counties in the state have more than 65% of their population over 16 vaccinated.

Allen warned that areas with high numbers of unvaccinated residents were in danger of infection flare-ups with the limits lifted.

“They’re dry tinder,” Allen said.

Setting a firm deadline was needed as the state headed into the popular July 4 weekend, Brown said.

“Obviously businesses and venues need certainty on reopening,” she said.

She touted the state’s COVID restrictions as life-saving, noting the state had one of the lowest per capita COVID-19 death rates in the nation.

Also onJune 25, the Oregon Department of Education released new guidance for school districts to prepare for the upcoming school year. According to the new framework, schools will be expected to offer full-time, in-person instruction, and rules on masks and social distancing will become “advisory” instead of mandatory.

Umatilla County officials concerned

Among counties in Northeastern Oregon, Umatilla County is an outlier when it comes to risk levels. Baker, Union, Wallowa and Morrow counties all remained at lower risk for weeks, and some for months.

Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara said there could be a number of explanations for this, including the county’s greater population density and its industrial facilities increasing the risk of infection, but it’s difficult to pin exactly why the county continues to report relatively high case counts.

Umatilla County is being dragged across the state’s 70% finish line by western counties with much higher vaccination rates. But county officials are worried that reopening may lead to case spikes in the county due to its low vaccination rate.

“Somehow, being over the line gives the impression that COVID is over,” Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock said. “And that’s a false assumption. It’s not. It’s not over, even if Oregon opens up, it’s not over here. It’s going to continue.”

Two weeks ago, Umatilla County reported 76 cases, 35 more than the previous week, according to county health data. That’s the steepest weekly case spike the county has reported since April, after reporting declining weekly cases for five straight weeks. Cases declined again this past week.

“We were trending downwards, and that (case spike) keeps us solidly in that high risk unfortunately,” said Fiumara. “I wish it wasn’t this way. But, we’re waiting for the rest of the state to carry us across the goal line.”

Fiumara said much of the county’s cases are being traced back to small social gatherings but with no large outbreaks. However, he said people who have been exposed often are reluctant to cooperate with contact tracers, all but assuring cases are going unreported and making it difficult to track the spread of infection.

Fiumara and Murdock each said nearly all reported cases are coming from people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“We have vaccination sites open all over the county,” Murdock said. “It is not an accessibility problem. We have enough sites, and we have enough vaccine. We just don’t have enough people willing to get a shot.”

Murdock described the county’s vaccine rate as “extremely demoralizing.” He added he believes residents likely will be less inclined to get vaccinated when restrictions are lifted.

Fiumara said it’s been frustrating to see people choose not to get vaccinated, as it has likely contributed to the county remaining among the state’s most stringent restrictions for longer than almost any county in Oregon.

“We knew what the outcome of that choice was going to be,” Fiumara said of residents not getting vaccinated. “We were going to stay in high risk. We were going to stay in these restrictions longer.”

Fiumara and Murdock each said they are glad the county’s economy is primed to reopen when the state reaches 70%. But with the county’s vaccination rate remaining low, they said it’s possible cases could spikes around the large upcoming summertime events and holidays.

“I think we’ll experience cases of COVID longer than most other counties,” Murdock said.