September 11, 2020
As wildfires continue throughout the state, please continue to take care of yourselves and those around you. Keep an eye on local conditions in case evacuation levels change and find resources at wildfire.oregon.gov.
With wildfire smoke creating unsafe air quality conditions that are expected to persist for several days, please remember to follow these tips to protect yourself and your family:
- Stay indoors as much as possible.
- Limit activity outdoors.
- If you have heart or lung disease or respiratory illnesses such as asthma, follow your health care provider’s advice about prevention and treatment of symptoms.
- Reduce other sources of smoke, such as cigarette smoking and wood-burning stoves, for example.
- Check current air quality conditions. Go to oregonsmoke.blogspot.com to find the current air quality and wildfire smoke resources.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water.
- Remember that while cloth masks and face coverings do not protect you from wildfire smoke, they do offer protection against COVID-19. N95 respirators may offer some protection if properly fit-tested and worn. Otherwise, they may create a false sense of security. N95s are not available in children’s sizes.
- Learn more about the dangers of wildfire smoke and how you can stay safe by visiting healthoregon.org/wildfires.
Things change fast during a wildfire. There’s a lot of uncertainty right now, but one thing you can do is get prepared in case you need to evacuate. If you must evacuate for any reason, be sure to bring:
- An emergency food and water supply: https://bit.ly/3bT5G9P .
- An emergency medicine supply: https://bit.ly/2F4ihej. Make a plan to keep medications that need refrigeration cold.
- Emergency power sources for medical devices and flashlights: https://bit.ly/2FptO7t (don’t forget extra batteries).
- Safety and personal items, including a face covering and hand sanitizer to protect against COVID. Face coverings do not protect against wildfire smoke.
- Important documents, including medical documents, wills, passports and personal identification: https://bit.ly/3k1n0Mn.
- Reduce smoke in your vehicle by closing your windows and vents and running your car’s air conditioner in recirculate mode to lower air intake from outside and to stay cool. Check www.tripcheck.com to help plan a safe route.
Today, Gov. Kate Brown announced that Jackson and Jefferson counties have been removed from the County Watch List and that Umatilla has met the prerequisites to move to Phase 2, effective immediately.
“I want to commend Jackson, Jefferson and Umatilla counties for their efforts in curbing community spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Brown said. "Their work in reducing community transmission shows that we can reduce the spread of this disease if we all work together."
Umatilla remains on the list along with Malheur and Morrow counties.
Learn more in today’s news release.
COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 499, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA also reported 215 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 28,865.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (6), Clackamas (14), Columbia (1), Coos (2), Curry (1), Deschutes (3), Douglas (1), Jackson (7), Jefferson (3), Klamath (1), Lane (8), Linn (3), Malheur (27), Marion (36), Morrow (2), Multnomah (59), Polk (5), Umatilla (9), Union (2), Wasco (2), Washington (17) and Yamhill (4).
Oregon’s 498th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old man in Jefferson County who tested positive on Aug. 5 and died on Sept. 10 at St. Charles Medical Center Bend. He had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 499th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Aug. 24 and died on Sept. 1 at Adventist Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.
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