Coronavirus Update: $500 Emergency Relief Checks Available Statewide

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus Update: $500 Emergency Relief Checks Available Statewide

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Starting today, Oregonians facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for a one-time relief payment of $500. All the information can be found at this website: https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov. The Oregonian has a good story here.

This program is the culmination of an idea that Senate President Peter Courtney and I had last month: Let's get people some financial help as easily as possible, especially when unemployment benefits have been delayed. Our idea led to the legislative Emergency Board approving $35 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars for 70,000 payments of $500 per person.

This first-of-its-kind program is a partnership between state government and 10 financial institutions, with more than 150 branch locations participating, serving the entire state. You can find all locations by region here.

The goal is to provide a streamlined process with a simple application that allows Oregonians to get an appointment and receive their money the same day.

To be eligible, a person must:

  • Be a current resident of Oregon and 18 years or older.
  • Be able to prove their identity and that they are an in-state resident.
  • Attest that they are experiencing severe financial hardship directly or indirectly due to the Governor’s Stay Home, Save Lives executive orders.
  • Have earned $4,000/month or less pre-tax prior to their income loss due to COVID-19.
  • Not have received all unemployment payments they are owed.

Again, all the information can be found at the website link above. It’s a good idea to print out the application and fill it out ahead of time so the visit at the credit union or bank goes quicker. Please remember we’re in a pandemic – wear a mask when you visit a branch location, keep your distance from others while waiting in line, etc. Please protect yourself, others, and the people working to issue the payments.

Oregonians are hurting, and many are desperate for financial assistance. This pandemic has caused an economic crisis on a scale we haven’t seen before, which is why we needed to get creative. I hope the program can do some good, right now.


New Weekly Data

Oregon crossed the 400 people threshold for deaths from coronavirus today. More on those latest numbers are available below.

The Oregon Health Authority published its weekly COVID-19 report, which can be read in full here. Below are some highlights from the report:

  • From Monday, August 3, through Sunday, August 9, OHA recorded 2,122 new cases of COVID-19 infection – down slightly from last week’s tally of 2,278.
  • There were 29 Oregonians reported to have died from coronavirus, down from last week’s toll of 39.
  • The percentage of positive tests decreased from 6.4% to 5.4%.
  • Hospitalizations have stabilized in recent weeks: 143 were reported during August 3–August 8, very similar to the previous week’s 141.
  • The age group with the highest incidence of reported infections continues to be 20-29-year-olds.
  • Most cases continue to be “sporadic,” meaning that no source for the case was identified. This is consistent with diffuse community spread.

What If I’m Diagnosed with COVID-19?

Yesterday, my newsletter focused on my frustration with the continued reports of supply chain issues that threaten our testing capacity as this pandemic rages on.

While this point stands, in the haste to make it, I mistakenly noted that our weekly testing total was at a 10-week low, not taking into account that newer reporting methods made the most recent week’s numbers lower. My apology for the confusion. However, it does not take away from the need to develop a comprehensive testing plan given the absence of a coherent vision at the federal level.

With that said, I also want to provide more information on what to do if your test comes back positive.

If you have a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, you need to self-isolate for at least 10 days, even if you don’t have symptoms. This means:

  • Staying away from everyone as much as possible, including the people you live with and family members.
  • Not sharing utensils or bathrooms with others.
  • Only leaving home to seek medical treatment.

If you have a fever, you additionally need to self-isolate for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone (without the use of fever-reducing medication) and your symptoms improve.

If you feel better and have no symptoms at the end of your self-isolation period, you can resume normal activities. If you still feel sick, call your doctor for next steps.

To learn more, read OHA’s tips about how to self-isolate here. More details about testing are available here. The graphic below also explains more about what to expect if you test positive for COVID-19.


COVID-19 Diagnosis Expectations

Information for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

The Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Disabilities Services has launched a series of animated videos to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families learn about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal was to create a simple, visual learning tool that would inform people with I/DD about COVID-19 to help keep people safe and healthy and explain important information in plain language. These videos include:

You can click the image below to watch the video about contact tracing.


IDD COVID-19 Video

The Latest News

  • While the economic freefall seems to have leveled out, nothing is getting any easier for a lot of folks, and people need to stay housed during this pandemic. So, my top priority for September is making sure we can extend the state’s eviction and foreclosure protections for another six months. I was quoted here in Willamette Week this morning in reference to these housing protections, which are set to expire at the end of next month.
  • The Oregonian reported here on the issue of ensuring all ballots postmarked by the Saturday before Election Day are counted, regardless of when the U.S. Postal Service delivers them. I’ve been alarmed by the state of mail delivery and the impact it could have on safe and fair elections, particularly during a pandemic.
  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 203 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 23,870. Sadly, 11 more people have died, meaning there have been 408 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 8-19-2020

OHA Epi Curve 8-19-2020

OHA County Map 8-19-2020

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 (including Teddy) will get through this together.


Teddy 8-19-2020

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