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Dear Friends and Neighbors
It has been over a month since we declared a state of emergency over COVID-19. Oregonians are proving that they are resilient and willing to stand up for their friends, neighbors, and communities, even when that means making personal, professional and economic sacrifices. We need to keep up this statewide team effort if we are going to turn the tide against Coronavirus. Please reach out to my office if you need support, have questions, or would like to share an idea, and please share this newsletter with anyone you think might benefit from more information on this quickly evolving crisis.
- Oregon Health Authority and the City of Portland have partnered with community organizations and contractors to produce information videos in multiple languages. Click on the images below to view videos in English, Spanish, and many more languages.
image capture and link to informational video on COVID-19
Click on the image above to watch and share an informational video produced by Multnomah County, and translated into over a dozen languages.
enlace a un video informativo sobre COVID-19
Haga clic en la imagen de arriba para ver un video informativo en español sobre COVID-19
- Governor Brown recently announced that Oregon, Washington and California are entering into a West Coast Agreement to address COVID-19. Governors Brown, Inslee, and Newsom will formulate a shared plan for reopening our interconnected economies, that prioritizes the health of our residents and which relies on the guidance of health experts. In a joint statement the governors said their four primary goals will be:
- Protecting vulnerable populations at risk for severe disease if infected. This includes a concerted effort to prevent and fight outbreaks in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
- Ensuring an ability to care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This will require adequate hospital surge capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment.
- Mitigating the non-direct COVID-19 health impacts, particularly on disadvantaged communities.
- Protecting the general public by ensuring any successful lifting of interventions includes the development of a system for testing, tracking and isolating. The states will work together to share best practices.
- You can read the full joint press release here.
- Status Report: Oregon now has 1,584 positive cases of COVID-19, with 360 confirmed cases in Washington County. Click on the table below to see more information and updates from Oregon Health Authority.
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Table showing the current status of testing and cases of COVID-19 in Oregon
In this graph, you can see that Oregon is doing well compared to neighboring states and the country as a whole, because we took early and decisive action.
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However, our rates of infection and testing are inconsistent across the state. I am working with my colleagues in the state government, and with partners at the local and federal level to increase Oregon’s testing capacity.
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We will not be able to relax distancing measures until we have seen steady decline in cases over the course of several weeks AND until we have the ability to do broad disease surveillance across the state.
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- We are entering our first week of Distancing Learning For All. Schools will not reopen this year, and we are all entering uncharted territory. To help us through this unprecedented time Oregon Department of Education, Hillsboro School District and Forest Grove School District have put together some resources:
- ODE has created a comprehensive resource page with essential COVID-19 links, links for school leaders, parents and families, and mental health support.
- Hillsboro School District has distance learning information here.
- Forest Grove School District has supplemental learning materials here.
- I understand that parents, teachers and students will all experience anxiety as we navigate these new modes of learning, especially around grading and gaining course credits. The first concern for our education leaders is to get our 2020 graduating seniors through this last period of their k-12 education. The next priority is to give guidance to the rest of our high school students that adequately addresses our unique High School Curricular requirements. Kindergarten through 8th grade use a proficiency based system which will have different needs than our High Schools.
- If you have questions or information you would like to share, reach out to your school principal, or reach out to my office and I will do my best to facilitate.
- Oregon Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority have launched a multi-agency support team to assess the needs of long term care facilities experiencing increased COVID-19 cases, and help them access resources to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to residents and staff. You can learn more about this joint effort in this press release. Oregon State Public Health Labs will test up to five symptomatic residents or staff to confirm the presence of COVID-19 in a facility. Facilities may also use their reference lab for testing if the lab is able to ensure timely testing of 1-3 days for turning around results. Congregate care facilities can choose additional testing strategies to meet their unique needs, resources and testing capacity.
- As of Friday, April 10th, 4% of Oregon’s congregate care facilities and 1% of adult foster homes have had confirmed cases of COVID-19. This does not include facilities for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or Mental Health Facilities.
- Below are some additional resources for adult care providers:
The Nonprofit Association of Oregon will be holding webinars this week to update and provide resources for nonprofits in Oregon. See the details for two upcoming sessions below.
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Ask the Experts – Oregon Community Foundation and Funders’ Response to COVID-19, Tuesday, April 14, Noon – 1 p.m. PT: Max Williams, President and CEO of Oregon Community Foundation and Sonia Worcel, Chief Community Impact Officer will provide an update on what Oregon Community Foundation is doing to support the nonprofit sector. They will share information about the Oregon Community Recovery Fund and how that’s moving, what they’re hearing about and seeing firsthand from the philanthropic community, and the challenges and opportunities philanthropy and the nonprofit sector are facing together. Register for the session here.
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Contingency Planning and Emergency Response for Nonprofits Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis, Thursday, April 16, Noon – 1 p.m. PT: NAO has brought together two experts in emergency response and contingency planning (Susan Romanski of Mercy Corps and Steph Sharp, CEM CBCP of CareOregon) to provide an overview of the stages and steps domestic nonprofits should be considering as we respond to the public health crisis and adjust our organizational priorities and actions to respond and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. It is never too late to build your organization’s awareness of the right steps to take and what contingencies you should be planning for. Join this informative session! Register for the session here.
Employers and Employees
The following list of resources is from Oregon’s Secretary of State’s Office. The fastest way to get in touch with the SOS team is by emailing business.sos@oregon.gov, using the “Need Help?” button found on most state agency websites or visiting www.oregon.gov/smallbusiness.
Education Links
Local Government
Utilities Assistance
Food and Housing Assistance
Top Image: Rep McLain on a zoom call with colleagues at home; Image bottom left: Rep McLain at an event with Former Governor Barbara Roberts (pre-Coronavirus); Image bottom left: Rep McLain at an NCSL event with State Senator Michael Dembrow (pre-Coronavirus)
I miss seeing my friends and colleagues in person, but zoom has become a decent substitute!
Yours truly,
 Representative Susan McLain
House District 29
email: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1429
address: 900 Court St NE, H-376, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain
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