ONTARIO, Oregon — Malheur County in southeast Oregon has a population of just over 30,000. It borders four counties in Idaho and its largest city, Ontario, holds about a third of the county's residents.
Malheur County has recorded 1,937 positive and presumptive cases of COVID-19, and 1,359 of those cases are in Ontario.
One big reason? Its close proximity to Idaho.
"We have close to 50,000 people come into Ontario every day," Malheur County's Public Heath Director Sarah Poe said. "So when we're talking about the spread and the risk in our community, we have to talk to Idahoans, both the Idahoans who are coming into Malheur County to shop and work, but also any Malheur County residents that go into Idaho to shop or work."
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With no sales tax, a higher minimum wage and legal marijuana, Oregon offers attractive benefits to many Idahoans.
"There's definitely a draw in many ways that people come into Ontario every day," Poe said.
Malheur County saw its largest spike in cases during the summer months, with 229 testing positive in the week beginning July 5. For the next 11 weeks, the county averaged just over 100 positive tests.
"Overall, our cases are down some from when we saw some big surges in July and August," Poe said. "Over time, we have acclimated to having more cases and I think that although we're doing better, we need to be careful to say that we're doing great."
In Oregon, one out of every 98 people has tested positive for COVID-19. In Multnomah County, the state's most populated county, one out of every 82 has tested positive. In Malheur County, one out of every 16 people has tested positive.
"We still see a high number of cases and we're seeing a high sporadic rate, which means we have a lot of cases that don't know where they were infected, which means that we probably have more cases than we've detected," Poe said.
The county has recorded large outbreaks at the Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) in Ontario. 526 people associated with SRCI have tested positive. Smaller outbreaks have occurred at long-term living centers, schools and various other workplaces, according to the state's weekly report.
In just the four Idaho counties that border Malheur, there are 11,919 total cases of COVID-19. In Payette, which borders Ontario there are 1,132 cases. The largest number is in Canyon County with 9,940 cases.
"We need people on the Idaho side to recognize that we're working really really hard to get our kids back in school in person, where that is happening in most schools in Idaho, but it is not happening in Malheur County," Poe said.