June 12, 2020
Governor Brown responded to Oregon’s significant increase in COVID-19 infections by pausing Multnomah County’s application for reopening, as well as other county applications for entering Phase 2.
She said to think of it as a “yellow light” that will “give public health experts time to assess what factors are driving the spread of the virus.”
Multnomah County had applied for Phase 1 reopening today. Hood River, Marion and Polk counties also had applied for Phase 2, but Oregon has seen an increase in COVID-19 infections throughout the state.
Governor Brown held a press conference today to address this decision.
The Oregon Supreme Court today vacated a ruling by a Baker County judge that attempted to temporarily block Governor Brown’s stay-at-home executive orders relating to COVID-19. The orders stay in effect as a result of the ruling.
In this opinion, Judge Matthew B. Shirtcliff states that the plaintiffs argued that the executive orders had expired, but the court concluded that the circuit court had erred when it determined that the governor's executive orders had violated the 28-day statutory time limit.
“The Governor issued the orders pursuant to ORS chapter 401, which authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency that continues until it is terminated either by the Governor or the Legislative Assembly,” the court wrote.
We know that this is a complicated time and wanted to remind you that help is available. OHA’s COVID-19 website includes behavioral health resources. We have also recently added a section on resources for veterans:
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ODVA’s Veteran Navigator: A comprehensive hub site for resources for veterans, military service members, and their families
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Oregon Military Helpline: Free and confidential crisis intervention and sensitivity to military-specific issues
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VA Crisis Line: Connect with caring, qualified responders with the Department of Veterans Affairs
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MakeTheConnection.net: Connects veterans, their family members and friends, and other supporters with mental health information, local resources and veterans’ own stories of recovery
Today, OHA released its updated modeling report, showing the projections for the COVID-19 progression in Oregon. With limited data since reopening, counties being reopened at different times and recent increases in cases, the report provides three different scenarios. In all scenarios, however, recent data and model calibration show transmission has increased since reopening began on May 15.
- The most optimistic scenario the model assumes a 10-percentage-point increase in transmission after reopening on May 15. It shows the number of new infections per day would remain relatively stable over the next month.
- The less optimistic scenario the model assumes a slightly larger increase in transmission (15 percentage points) after May 15, which fit the recent observed hospitalization and diagnoses trends better. It shows the number of new infections per day will gradually increase over the next month (approximately 170 additional new infections per day).
- The most pessimistic scenario the model assumes a 15-percentage-point increase in transmission after May 15 plus an additional 10-percentage-point increase in transmission after May 25. Under this scenario, the number of new infections per day will increase more dramatically. Compared to the most optimistic scenario, this model projects about 14,000 more cumulative infections, 925 more new infections per day, and 17 more new severe cases per day by July 3.
OHA uses this modeling for data analysis and planning purposes and releases it on a bi-weekly basis.
COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 173, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
Oregon Health Authority reported 142 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today bringing the state total to 5,377. The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Clackamas (9), Columbia (3), Deschutes (2), Hood River (3), Jackson (2), Klamath (2), Lincoln (14), Marion (29), Multnomah (36), Polk (9), Umatilla (5), Union (4), Wasco (3), Washington (21).
Oregon’s 172nd COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old man in Washington County, who tested positive on May 10 and died on June 11 in his residence. He did not have underlying medical conditions.
Oregon’s 173rd COVID-19 death is a 68-year-old man in Multnomah County, who tested positive on June 1 and died on June 10 at Adventist Hospital. He had underlying medical conditions.
More information is available for Oregon’s 164th COVID-19 death. He is a 71-year-old man in Malheur County, who tested positive on June 1 and died on May 31 at the Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. He had underlying medical conditions.
Notes:
- Two cases previously reported in Jefferson County were determined not to be cases; the county case count has been adjusted to reflect this.
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