|
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Four months battling this pandemic. It seems a lot longer, right?
I think we’d all hoped the summer would be different. Instead, things have continued to be challenging. This week has been rough.
Today, the Oregon Health Authority announced nine confirmed deaths from coronavirus, a new single-day record for confirmed deaths, only three days after we matched our previous record of seven. This includes four people in their 60s. As I mentioned earlier in the week, three of the seven people whose deaths were recorded Tuesday were below the age of 60.
Every death from this virus is a tragedy, regardless of age. It’s getting clearer, though, that despite who we think is vulnerable to this virus, we’re all at risk and must do everything we can to protect each other.
In the last seven days alone, there have been 2,356 new confirmed cases and 28 deaths.
This comes after 6.6% of all Oregonians tested for COVID-19 had a positive result last week, another increase from the previous week (6.2%), according to the OHA’s weekly report. The report also noted that hospitalizations have increased since the beginning of June. Thankfully, ICU bed usage remains “well under capacity” statewide.
Community spread has continued to increase, and recent contact tracing efforts suggest that more resources are needed to properly investigate infections. Here is the latest from the OHA bi-weekly modeling report earlier this week:
- If the current transmission rate continues, new daily infections would rise steadily over the next four weeks to around 1,600 infections a day by August 13, with 27 new hospitalizations per day.
- If transmission decreases by 10 percentage points from current rates, the estimated number of new infections would decrease over time to 600 infections a day by August 13, with 17 new hospitalizations per day.
- Finally, a pessimistic scenario, in which transmission increases by 10 percentage points from the current rates, shows 2,300 new daily infections by August 13 with 46 new hospitalizations per day.
As OHA Director Pat Allen said at a press conference today, which The Oregonian covered here, “The coming weeks are pivotal, they will determine what school looks like for students and educators and how we sustain reopening Oregon. We can contain COVID-19 once again if everyone does their part.”
Despite the concerning numbers, there is reason for hope and optimism. We know what to do, so let’s all do our part.
If you opt to stay inside to get away from the heatwave coming to much of the state this weekend, please do not socially gather with large groups indoors, as tempting as it may be.
As a reminder, the following rules are now in effect statewide, as of today:
-
Gathering sizes in venues is now capped at 100 people: Taking this action, even in Phase 2 counties, means fewer people will be close together in confined spaces.
- This reduces the risk of “super-spreader” events seen in our state and around the nation.
- The farther we are apart, the harder we make it for the virus to spread.
-
New mask requirements: Face coverings are now required indoors publicly for every Oregonian age 5 and older, as well as outside when six feet of distance between people cannot be maintained.
- Masks protect other people from virus-laden droplets that might be transmitted by the wearer.
- There’s also emerging evidence that masks protect the wearer from other people by filtering out some virus particles that can cause infection.
-
10 p.m. curfew on all restaurants and bars: Wherever people gather, there’s a higher risk COVID-19 will be present and will pose a danger.
- Many restaurants and bars have made efforts to provide a safer experience to their customers.
- However, a uniform statewide curfew curtails the amount of time people can interact in restaurants and bars, which means fewer opportunities for COVID-19 to spread.
Be safe and take care of each other this weekend!
Yesterday, the Oregon Health Authority announced the distribution of $9.4 million in CARES Act funds to 173 community based organizations to respond to the pandemic through culturally- and linguistically-responsive activities in communities across the state. The organizations will help with:
- Outreach and community engagement;
- Contact tracing, working with local public health authorities; and
- Providing people with social services/wraparound supports.
I’m glad to see this critically important funding go forward. COVID-19 continues to impact communities of color at higher rates, particularly the Latinx, Black, and Pacific Islander communities. This is unacceptable, and this program is a needed step toward reducing these disparities.
More information on this funding is available here.
Tomorrow, the extra $600 per week in federal unemployment benefits known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) will end. The state has paid out more than $2 billion in these benefits since the program started in March.
After July 25, Oregonians receiving unemployment benefits will still receive regular unemployment benefits or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits for each week you are eligible, but the extra $600 will end.
If you haven’t yet been paid for any weeks between March 29 and July 25, you will still get the extra $600 per week for those weeks once your claim is processed, for all the weeks you were eligible.
Congress has not moved forward quickly enough to extend these much-needed benefits, and it appears that any extra assistance could be weeks away. This is really frustrating.
If you or someone you know needs some help, there may be help available for paying rent, utility bills, food, and more. Please visit 211info.org or call 2-1-1 to find out more. Free interpretation will be provided for non-English speakers.
And since we’re talking about unemployment benefits, a quick update on how things are going on the backlog of claims. The Oregon Employment Department says their backlog is down to 44,000 unprocessed claims. Interim director David Gerstenfeld said Wednesday that the pace of clearing the backlog is improving and that he believes the department is “turning the corner,” as The Oregonian covers here.
I spoke with Director Gerstenfeld this week. I appreciated his candor and his willingness to hear the concerns and questions my office is fielding. The online PUA application has enabled the department to assign more people to processing claims, and this is a very needed development. Despite the progress, I won’t stop pushing until every claim is processed, every person knows the status of their claim, and benefits are getting into people’s hands.
Meanwhile, I hope to be able to make an announcement next week on when people will be able to apply for the $500 Emergency Relief Checks. It’s only been ten days since the Emergency Board approved that program, and we’ve made incredible progress, so stay tuned.
With an online application for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims now available, many folks are asking: Should I resubmit my initial PUA application through the new online application?
Here is what the Oregon Employment Department says:
The original application date serves as an important part of determining when you become eligible for benefits. If you received a notification that your initial claim was received, you should not resubmit your application. If you did not receive notification, and your claim is not showing up in the system, you should submit your application through the new form. We are working quickly on processing all remaining claims and remain cautiously optimistic that we will meet our goal of processing them by August 8.
The PUA online application and reporting system can be found here.
On Thursday morning, I joined 44 Oregon legislators in demanding the withdrawal of federal officers from Portland. Below is the full text of the letter we sent to U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf.
As representatives from communities across the State of Oregon, we are writing to request that you immediately remove federal personnel from the streets of Portland unless authorized by the city’s elected officials. We are aligned with members of our federal delegation, including Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Congress members Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer, Governor Kate Brown, our Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, and Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, in our shared assessment that the uninvited presence of federal agents is an abuse of power.
Upon assuming office, we each took a vow to defend the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Oregon. We take that responsibility to heart. Confronted with clear evidence that federal agents are engaging in unconstitutional activities resulting in significant harm to individuals and our community as a whole, we are obligated to respond.
We refuse to allow our streets to be a playground for political theatrics intended to deflect attention from the president’s failure to control a deadly pandemic. We will not stand by while violent actions exacerbate conditions on our streets.
Accordingly, we demand the immediate withdrawal of federal operatives from the City of Portland.
Meanwhile, I was stunned by a decision late this afternoon from a U.S. District Court judge which rejected Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s attempt to make federal officers identify themselves and their agency before arresting or detaining a person and to prohibit arrests that lack probable cause. Oregon Public Broadcasting covers the story here.
The judge’s ruling basically says Oregon has no standing to protect its people from the federal government. As Attorney General Rosenblum asked in her response to this decision, "If the state of Oregon does not have standing to prevent this unconstitutional conduct by unidentified federal agents running roughshod over her citizens, who does?"
Governor Brown announced this week the release of draft guidance for early learning and child care programs across the state. Oregon Public Broadcasting covered the release here. The guidance is now open for public comment through this Sunday, July 26, and the finalized guidance is expected to be released by Friday, August 14.
A copy of the draft guidance is available here. Feedback on the draft guidance may be submitted in English here or in Spanish here.
- The City of Portland approved a spending plan for its $114 million in CARES Act funding. The Oregonian has more coverage here.
- The Oregon Health Authority reported 396 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 16,104. Sadly, nine more people have died, meaning there have been 282 Oregonians to die of the coronavirus. On Thursday, OHA announced 331 confirmed cases and two deaths. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.
To read past newsletters, you can go to this link. For up to date information, please check this link to the Oregon Health Authority where regular updates are posted: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Pages/News-Releases.aspx
Please email me at Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov if you have specific concerns that have not been addressed by the OHA. Our office will do all we can to help and protect all Oregonians.
Thank you for reading! We will get through this together.
Best,
Tina Kotek
State Representative
House District 44
Speaker of the House
email: Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1200
address: 900 Court St NE, H-269, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/kotek
| 
