Coronavirus Update: Rising Cases in Younger Oregonians

ViewOnline
House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus Update: Rising Cases in Younger Oregonians

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Yesterday’s newsletter provided an update on the Oregon Health Authority’s weekly testing summary. Here’s a link to the summary, which didn’t make it into the newsletter. Sorry for the omission!

I wanted to focus again on the rising and disturbing number of cases among younger Oregonians across the state. Recent OHA data has shown that 10.3% of confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases in the state are traced to people under 18 years old. The Oregonian reported yesterday about the first reported summer camp outbreak in the state, where 25 camp members and staff in Corbett tested positive. Most at the camp did not wear masks, according to the article here.

This age group is at a far lower risk for hospitalization from the virus (1.5%) compared to adults (9.7%). But as we work to save lives, reopen schools, and keep our businesses open, everyone who carries the virus presents a risk to others who may be more vulnerable and more likely to suffer complications or death.

Here are how coronavirus symptoms have been reported in younger Oregonians compared to adults.


Pediatric Signs and Symptoms 8-5-2020

In addition to protecting others, getting our overall test positivity rate down is essential to allowing children to get back into the classroom. If Oregonians - regardless of age - do not take proper precautions, our numbers will continue to go up, and we will not meet the necessary metrics to return to in-person learning.

As a reminder, in order to resume in-person instruction in any form, including hybrid instruction models when students are only sometimes in the classroom, the following conditions must be met:

County Metrics (Must be Met Three Weeks in a Row)

  • 10 or fewer cases per 100,000 people over 7 days
  • Test positivity of 5% or less over 7 days

Statewide Metrics (Must be Met Three Weeks in a Row)

  • Test positivity of 5% or less over 7 days

To monitor how well your county is doing on these metrics, here is the latest county-by-county data from OHA. As an example, I’ve broken out data for Multnomah County from the last four weeks.


MultCo Test Positivity Data

Joint Policing Reform Committee Meets This Week

The Joint Committee On Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform met today and will meet again tomorrow. Today’s meeting wrapped up public hearings on legislative concepts the committee has discussed over the last few weeks. The agenda can be found here and the meeting can be streamed here.

As we head toward Monday’s special session focused on rebalancing 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 energy of this historic movement.

Tomorrow, the committee will have an informational meeting about alternative police responses for people in mental health crises. That agenda is available here.


Unemployment Updates

My office continues to get questions from Oregonians about the complexities of receiving unemployment benefits. Thank you for connecting with us, and please continue to reach out if you’re experiencing complications. We will do our best to facilitate information sharing with the Oregon Employment Department (OED) on your behalf. As a reminder, you can read answers to frequently asked questions about unemployment benefits here.

I also wanted to let you know about a webinar OED will host on Thursday (tomorrow) about a program to help Oregonians who are waiting for an adjudication review.

The department recently announced a new way they are able to get benefits to Oregonians who are still waiting. Called “Benefits While You Wait,” this option can help those who are waiting for their claim to be reviewed by an adjudicator to determine whether they are eligible for regular unemployment or the PUA program.

The department is proactively notifying claimants who fall into this group by email and robo calls. “Benefits While You Wait” will be the topic of the webinar on Thursday at 1 pm. You can register for that here.


Benefits While You Wait Webinar

Recession Impacting Low-Wage Workers

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis has another interesting blog post here looking at the long-term challenges brought on by the pandemic. This post has a particular focus on housing, elevating questions like how permanent our new work-from-home world will be and what impact that could have on housing markets. Two points from the post are important to highlight:

First, economist Josh Lehner notes that “low-wage workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic and recession to date.” Homeowners and people who can work from home have clearly felt the pandemic differently than Oregonians in front-line jobs that don’t typically pay well.

Second, he reaffirmed the direct link between managing the public health crisis and how the economic recovery will progress:

“The biggest risk remains the pandemic itself,” he writes. “There is no trade off between public health and the economy. It is not either/or. It is neither or both. And right now the worsening health situation increases the possibility of more permanent economic damage, a slower recovery, or even a double-dip recession.”


The Census Needs Your Help!

I’m discouraged by the news this week that the U.S. Census Bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census at the end of September. This is a full month earlier than originally planned. NPR has more details here.

Getting an accurate population count is essential to the democratic process. For Oregon, the 2020 Census will be an opportunity to ensure that we receive the federal dollars to fund vital community programs, as well as the appropriate representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Census provides critical resources our communities need like housing, education, transportation, health care and more.

If you haven’t already, please fill out your census information as soon as possible to ensure you meet this new deadline. Oregon’s total self-response rate is currently above 65%, so there is more work to be done! You can see more data by clicking on the image below, and you can fill out your form at the following link: https://my2020census.gov/


Census Website

The Latest News

  • The Bend Bulletin reports here about the rising rate of COVID-19 among tribal members living on Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs land. The tribal government recently extended its community quarantine by two weeks. In addition to targeted support for all of Oregon’s recognized tribes, the legislative Emergency Board recently allocated $3.58 million to the tribal community for emergency water infrastructure as the tribe faces an ongoing water crisis.
  • The Oregonian has an uplifting story here about a local chef who launched a program during the pandemic to feed Oregonians in need. More information about the program, called the Fed Project, can be found here.
  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 299 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 19,979. Sadly, five more people have died, meaning there have still been 338 Oregonians to die of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, OHA reported 342 new and confirmed cases and five confirmed deaths. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.

OHA COVID-19 Update 8-5-2020

OHA Epi Curve 8-5-2020

OHA County Map 8-5-2020

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