Posted September 24, 2021

By Tristan Hansen

Staff Editor

Amidst the perpetual fluctuations of the global Covid situation, the Delta variant is proving a unique and unprecedented challenge to lawmakers, healthcare professionals, schools, and everyday people alike.

It’s been just under two years since the virus first broke out in China’s Hubei province in late-Nov./early-Dec. 2019, and in the past 22-or-so months the world has responded to these challenging and extraordinary circumstances in a variety of different ways. Whilst some countries have managed to effectively mitigate the spread and minimize complications, others have experienced numerous severe waves of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. The virus’ origin country, China, for example, has only reported 95,851 cases (66.59 per million) and 4,636 deaths to date (as of Wednesday), while the United States leads the world in cases with 43,257,006 (129,755.31 per million) and deaths with 697,055.

In the U.S., cases and deaths peaked during Dec. 2020-Feb. 2021, with the single-day case record being set at 300,777 on Jan. 8, 2021 and the single-day death record being set on Feb, 12, 2021 at 5,463, according to data accumulated by the New York Times. Oregon’s statewide trends have mirrored nationwide ones fairly closely, with Covid cases and deaths experiencing an initial spike between Dec. 2020-Jan. 2021. Both Oregon and the entire U.S. alike began seeing cases rapidly subside after this peak, and the months of June and July largely provided a respite from the worst of the pandemic. During this period, public officials nationwide began lifting Covid-related restrictions. Oregon’s Kate Brown, for instance, lifted the state’s mask mandate and capacity limits on June 30.

This honeymoon period, however, was short-lived, largely due to the emergence of the so-called “Delta variant”. First discovered in India, the Delta variant, also known as the B.1.617.2 strain, is regarded as being considerably more contagious than previous variants and may also be more likely to hospitalize or kill infected patients. The first U.S. case was identified in March, and it wouldn’t take long for the variant to proliferate across the entire country. In early May the variant accounted for around 1.3 percent of new infections; this number would increase to 9.5 percent by June and now stands at nearly 99%.

The key to the Delta variant’s high transmissibility and ability to cause more severe illness seems to be the greater amount of virus material it produces in the body. It’s reported that the Delta variant reproduces at around 1,000 times the rate of other variants. This overwhelms the immune system and results in infected people carrying more virus in their noses and throats. It’s also for this reason that the Delta variant is believed to be notably more likely to cause “breakthrough cases” (cases among vaccinated people). While the vaccines remain effective at preventing severe illness and death and generally ensure that those infected experience only mild systems, the Delta variant has shown itself to be able to overcome antibodies in the nose and throat, at least initially, before being defeated by more robust immune responses in more important organs, like the lungs.

Covid-19 cases and deaths would once again begin increasing after June and early July’s lows, dashing widespread optimism at the time that the worst of the pandemic was behind us. By August, Covid cases nationwide reached levels not seen since February, and by September case levels mirrored those seen in January. Oregon has been particularly impacted by the Delta variant; August and September represented a higher peak than Dec. 2020/Jan. 2021, with Sept. 7 setting Oregon's single-day case record at 5,776 cases and tying Dec. 16’s death record with 54. Rural counties in Southern and Eastern Oregon have been particularly impacted, with Grant County having the highest number of average daily cases per capita with 204 per 100,000 as of Sept. 24, followed by Harney, Lake, and Malheur counties with 195, 125, and 92 average daily cases per 100,000, respectively. Multnomah County, meanwhile, has the third lowest number of average daily cases per capita with 21 per 100,000, with only Wheeler and Curry counties seeing less spread. As of Sept. 23, there were 885 Covid patients hospitalized throughout Oregon, with 263 occupying intensive care unit (ICU) beds. According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), less than 10% of hospital beds are currently available.

Naturally, this increased level of transmission has prompted leaders to begin reinstituting many of the same restrictions that were rescinded during the June-early July period, with many going even further and implementing mandates that had not yet been seen prior to this recent wave. Multnomah County officials issued a universal mask recommendation on July 26, urging that people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. Indoor mask usage was then made mandatory across Oregon once more beginning on August 13, and the mandate was extended to outdoor public settings on August 25. Furthermore, Oregon is requiring that all K-12 teachers and healthcare workers be fully vaccinated against the virus by Oct. 18, with some executive branch employees also being required to be vaccinated by this date. Executive branch employees represented by the Service Employees International Union, however, have had their deadline extended to Nov. 30.

Joe Biden introduced vaccine mandates at the federal level on Sept. 9, announcing that health workers at facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid and employees of the federal government and contractors who work with the federal government must be fully vaccinated. The most controversial plank of Biden’s new Covid strategy, however, is his requirement that private employers with 100 or more employees require said employees be vaccinated or provide weekly negative tests. The policy has received fierce backlash from Republicans, with many state governors and congresspeople harshly condemning the move and the RNC even threatening to sue the Biden administration once it goes into effect.

The partisan backlash Biden’s vaccine mandate has elicited is indicative of an overall partisan split in attitudes towards Covid and Covid-related policy. Only seven states—Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Hawaii, New Mexico, Illinois, and Nevada—require masks be worn in indoor settings regardless of vaccination status, and only Oregon requires that masks be worn in all outdoor public settings, while Washington requires masks for outdoor public events attended by 500 or more people. Sixteen states—including Oregon—require that schools enforce mask mandates —while eight states actually ban schools from implementing mandates at all. All 8 states —Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina—are deep-red. Twelve states, again all deep-red, also have laws prohibiting vaccine mandates in some capacity, primarily as they pertain to government employees This is in spite of the fact that many of the same governors who have championed these policies previously supported mandating different vaccines. For example, in 2017 Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb required that public college students receive the meningitis vaccine. This year, however, he enacted a law prohibiting state or local governments from requesting or requiring proof of Covid vaccination.

In fully reopening school this fall for all students, David Douglas has complied with all relevant state and local requirements and guidelines. The school has testing capabilities and has hosted or co-hosted numerous vaccination clinics, and all students and staff are required to wear masks. Teachers have been required to create and enforce seating charts for contact tracing purposes, with students who may have been exposed to the virus being asked to quarantine. At neighboring Reynolds High School, 901 students and staff were quarantined over just four infections, largely due to the school’s failure to finalize and adhere to classroom seating charts. The school has temporarily reverted to Comprehensive Distance Learning and plans to return to full in-person instruction on Sept. 27.

Some effort has been made to socially distance at DDHS, but with a student body nearly 3,000 strong this hasn’t always been feasible. School hallways are swarmed with students walking nearly shoulder-to-shoulder during passing time, and many classrooms are not physically large enough to space students the requisite three three feet from each other. Thus far, two exposure events have taken place. It’s still unclear how well DDHS will fare this school year, and even whether or not in-person instruction will be the standard throughout the entire year.