KWSO News for Mon., Jan. 24, 2022

The Warm Springs community COVID-19 Update for Friday (1/21/22) reports 35 new cases of COVID-19 from 141 tests conducted on Thursday (1/20/22) at the Health and Wellness Center.  4 positive tests were reported by Outside Facilities. There are currently 5 Warm Springs residents Hospitalized with COVID-19. There is 1 presumptive case from a home test or in the home with a positive and symptomatic. There are 128 people with active COVID-19 and 49 close contacts receiving daily monitoring. Being fully vaccinated is one of the best ways to protect yourself, your family, and your community from COVID-19 illness.   Data show that COVID-19 boosters help broaden and strengthen protection against COVID-19 variants including Omicron. Last Friday, Indian Head Casino had opened after being closed for more than a week due to staff shortages. They closed at 2am Saturday morning and will remain closed with an anticipated reopening date of Friday January 28^th due to COVID-19 and shortage of staff again.

Nationally and locally, omicron is putting a strain on healthcare: not with an excess of patients, but with a shortage of staff.  Jim McGovern is Chief Medical Officer at Peacehealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield. “So, this is a different surge. The last one was about patient volumes. This is about staffing. We have 100 staff out on quarantine right now. They’re part of the community. They’re getting COVID like they haven’t before.” McGovern says they’re having a hard time moving people out of the hospital into nursing facilities because those places are short staffed too.  Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden visited Peacehealth and Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg Friday. He said as chair of the Senate finance committee he’d push for tuition reductions for nursing students. The Oregon National Guard arrived this week at local hospitals to help with the staffing crunch.

The American Red Cross and Bloodworks Northwest say there’s an unprecedented shortage of lifesaving blood in the region. Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is calling for a rule-change to make more people eligible to give blood. KLCC’s Rachael McDonald has more. “Men who have sex with men and women who have sex with Men who have sex with men are not allowed to donate blood if they’re sexually active. This rule goes back to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Wyden says there needs to be a change in the rules because this policy is not based on science.  “If folks in the LGBTQ community pass all the screens, the way everyone else does, I believe they ought to be allowed to donate at a time when there’s such an urgent need for blood.” Wyden says he is making that push on the federal level. There is a pilot study underway by the FDA that could lead to a rule change. I’m Rachael McDonald reporting.”

In Sports: The Madras High School Lady Buffs basketball was in action Friday and traveled to Estacada in league action. The Lady Buffs came away with a 59-30 victory to extend their winning streak to 4 games. Next up for the lady buffs they are hosting North Marion who is on a losing streak of their own tomorrow night in the Buffalo Dome. Buff Boys basketball hosted Estacada in league action on Friday and came up short with a 65-56 loss and extended their losing streak to 5 games. They will look to right the ship in their next league game when they travel to North Marion tomorrow, tip off is set for 7pm.

In a Wild NFL Divisional Playoff weekend, only one home team came out victorious and that was Kansas City as they outlasted the Buffalo Bills in a wild Overtime game to win 42-36. To get to Overtime, Kansas City needed to get a field goal to tie the game with 13 seconds left and they did just that to send the game to overtime. In overtime, they received the kickoff and drove down the field behind the arm of Quarterback Patrick Mahomes as he threw the game winning touchdown to Tight End Travis Kelce to end the game. In the other AFC playoff game, the #1 Seed Tennessee Titans hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and came away with a loss as the Bengals took the game on a last second field goal to win the game 19-16. In the NFC, #1 seed Green Bay Packers were led by MVP Quarterback Aaron Rodgers as they hosted the San Francisco 49ers. In a very close defensive game, the 49ers are moving on to the NFC championship game after kicking the game winning field goal to win the game 13-10. Aaron Rodgers is now 0-4 against the 49ers in the playoffs. In the other NFC matchup, the Tom Brady led Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the Los Angeles Rams. After going down 27-3, Tom Brady led the Buccaneers back and tied the game at 27 before the Rams drove down the field and kicked the game winning field goal to send the Rams to the NFC Championship game 30-27. The conference championship games will be held next Sunday as Kansas City hosts its 4 AFC Championship game in a row, taking on the Cincinnati  Bengals at noon. Then the LA Rams host the 49ers at 3:30pm.