Coronavirus Update: Silver Linings to End a Challenging Month

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus Update: Silver Linings to End a Challenging Month

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

It’s the end of the month, and I know that across the country, there are so many families who are understandably nervous given the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium.

In Oregon, however, the Legislature has made housing protections a primary focus of the recovery from this pandemic, which is why we were able to extend the statewide ban on evictions due to nonpayment during last June’s special session.


Eviction Moratorium 7-31-2020

This month has certainly been filled with challenges. We’ve continued to see a rise in coronavirus cases and deaths due to increased community spread. Here are the daily counts for confirmed cases and deaths since my last newsletter:

  • Wednesday: 304 cases, 8 deaths
  • Thursday: 416 cases, 5 deaths
  • Friday: 373 cases, 6 deaths

This week, Governor Brown updated the counties that are on the County Watch List, which allows the state to prioritize resources and assistance to counties that are seeing the broadest spread of coronavirus. Lincoln and Union counties have been removed from the list after making progress reducing the spread, while Hood River, Marion and Multnomah counties have been added.

The following 10 counties are now on the Watch List: Baker, Hood River, Jefferson, Lake, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Umatilla, and Wasco.

Additionally, effective at noon today, Umatilla County has returned to baseline status and Morrow County has returned to Phase 1 given the widespread nature of cases in those two counties. You can read the Governor’s rationale for those decisions and more data about those two counties here. As The Oregonian reported here, Oregon State University researchers estimate that up to 17% of residents in Hermiston - the largest city in Umatilla County - have been infected by coronavirus.


Oregon County Watch List 7-31-2020

While there is no doubt this month has been incredibly difficult for so many, there are some silver linings to be found in the Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, which can be read in full here.

The percentage of positive tests in a seven-day stretch decreased from 6.6% to 5.1%, following weeks of growth. Additionally, weekly cases (while still high) decreased for the first time since May. This is great news, particularly as metrics were announced this week connecting public health metrics to allowing K-12 students to return to in-person learning (covered here). Hospitalizations have continued to increase since the beginning of June, which is concerning, but ICU bed usage still remains well under capacity statewide.

So, there is reason for optimism, despite the continued growth of COVID-19 infections. Our success in winning this fight depends on every single one of us doing our part to re-flatten the curve. We can do this as long as we stay in it together!


The 3 Ws

Special Session to Rebalance the State Budget

Today, Governor Brown announced she will convene a special session on Monday, August 10, to focus on rebalancing the state budget. You can read her full announcement here.

The state’s legislative budget writers, the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, have identified programs and services critical to Oregonians that must be preserved and thus have worked to protect essential investments in public education, health care, child welfare, housing, economic development, and other critical areas during this unprecedented public health and economic crisis. Their budget plan is available here.

As we head toward a special session focused on adjusting the state budget, I appreciate the Governor’s support for addressing urgent issues like police accountability. The Legislature made progress on this issue in June, but the work is far from finished and we need to continue to build on the momentum of this historic movement.


New Oregon County Testing Dashboard

The Oregon Health Authority has a new, expanded version of Oregon’s “COVID-19 Testing and Outcomes by County” dashboard. The dashboard now includes additional information on weekly trends in the percent of COVID-19 tests that have been positive by county and weekly trends in the total number of persons tested for COVID-19 by county, which helps OHA understand changes in the burden of COVID-19 in communities across Oregon.


OHA New County Dashboard 7-31-2020

The Latest News

  • The Oregon Employment Department will start offering early prepayments to tens of thousands of unemployed workers who are waiting to have their claims adjudicated. The Oregonian reports on this development here.
  • The Oregonian has more details here on the 26-year-old man who passed away from COVID-19 this week. He is believed to be the youngest person in the state to die from the virus.
  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 373 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 18,492. Sadly, six more people have died, meaning there have still been 322 Oregonians to die of the coronavirus. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.

OHA COVID-19 Update 7-31-2020

OHA Epi Curve 7-31-2020

OHA County Map 7-31-2020

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

 

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