A hospital in Clark County went into lockdown Friday night, as protesters gathered outside the building, apparently on behalf of a woman who they claimed had refused a COVID-19 test while in the care of the medical facility.
The protest reportedly ended around 9:15 p.m. after the patient was released, but no one is being allowed into the hospital until Saturday unless they have business there, according to KATU-TV. The protest began around 6:30 p.m.
According to a live stream shared online, protesters said a woman in her 70s had been hospitalized at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center the previous night with a urinary tract infection, and declined to take a coronavirus test. A woman narrating the livestream said hospital employees would not allow her to leave.
The videos show a woman who identified herself as the hospital patient’s daughter standing at the door without a mask, yelling at officers and demanding to be allowed inside.
KOIN-TV reported that Clark County Sheriff’s deputies said they protected the hospital and worked to have the patient — a woman — released. No arrests were made and deputies did not resort to any crowd control measures; however, they said a small scuffle broke out when the hospital went into lockdown. The group of people tried to enter the hospital through the emergency room entrance and someone in the crowd used pepper spray.
