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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week, we reached more than one million known deaths caused by COVID-19 worldwide. The news came not long after Oregon recorded a weekly test positivity rate above 6% and set a single-day record last Friday with 457 recorded cases.
Here are the latest daily totals since last week:
- Friday, September 25: 457 cases, 3 deaths
- Saturday, September 26: 277 cases, 4 deaths
- Sunday, September 27: 242 cases, 1 death
- Monday, September 28: 181 cases, 0 deaths
- Tuesday, September 29: 299 cases, 8 deaths
- Wednesday, September 30: 220 cases, 4 deaths
- Thursday: October 1: 363 cases, 1 death
While the daily case count hasn’t spiked over 400 since the new high last week, these numbers are still far higher than we want. The rises in test positivity are concerning and 560 Oregonians have now died from this virus.
While I know we all want to spend time with friends and family after many months of reduced contact, we must continue to follow public health guidance. These stories from the Oregon Health Authority about incidents that have been fueling recent outbreaks show that our individual behavior can have significant public health consequences:
- An Oregon county has 13 cases associated with four university outbreaks, including a Greek house and three athletic teams.
- A county has 22 cases associated with three university outbreaks, including two Greek houses and a large back-to-school party.
- Another county has an outbreak that now includes 19 cases. It started with a small group who met for a prayer group while some also participated in a sewing group. One of the household members has died. None of the people reported wearing masks. The cases range in age from young children to 80s.
- Employees in a local company had an employee Labor Day party and now six employees are positive.
So, please, continue to exercise extreme caution, follow all public health guidance, and stay home if you feel sick.
As the pandemic continues, more data is showing that the economic impact is disproportionately falling on lower-income communities and exacerbating the wealth gap. This was clear in our recent state revenue forecast and is highlighted on a national scale in this article in Bloomberg interviewing economist Raj Chetty.
He says the recession caused by the pandemic “has essentially ended for high-income individuals,” while the bottom half of American workers represented almost 80% of the jobs still missing.
The coronavirus recession also threatens to deepen Oregon’s housing crisis. In June, the Legislature passed a ban on residential and commercial evictions due to non-payment, which was set to expire at the end of September. I was glad to see that Governor Brown took action this week to place a new extend the ban on residential evictions through the end of the year. Last week, Multnomah County extended its residential pandemic eviction ban to January 8, 2021
You can read more about the Governor’s decision here and read coverage from The Oregonian here.
On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority released its latest COVID-19 Weekly Report, which can be read in full here. Below are some of the notable highlights and the most commonly reported symptoms, led off with cough and headache.
- During Monday, September 21, through Sunday, September 27, OHA recorded 1,999 new cases of COVID-19 infection—up 32% from last week’s tally of 1,511.
- The number of Oregonians newly tested rose 29%, to 24,243, while the percentage of tests that were positive was unchanged from last week’s report at 6.2%.
- There were 18 Oregonians reported to have died in association with COVID-19—the same number as last week.
- There were 143 Oregonians hospitalized, up from 116 in the previous week.
- The age group with the highest incidence of reported infection continues to be 20–29-year-olds.
- Persons <30 years of age have accounted for 37% of reported cases but only 9% of hospitalizations and 0.64 of deaths.
- Reported COVID-19 case rates decrease in subsequent decades of life, but hospitalization and death rates increase with age; 264 (48%) of the 547 deaths have been among persons at least 80 years of age, and 377 (75%) in persons 70 and older.
The Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) provides protected time off of work for parents or guardians caring for children whose school or childcare provider is closed because of the pandemic. “Closed” includes schools that have transitioned to distance learning or a hybrid online and in-person model.
You can take up to 12 weeks of Oregon Family Leave time per calendar year using “sick child leave.” If you have sick time or other paid time saved up, you can use that, but otherwise this time is generally unpaid.
OFLA sick child leave may be taken “intermittently,” which means you can take time off all in one chunk or break it up, such as two days a week.
Your job is protected while you are off work. That means your employer must keep providing you with the same level of healthcare benefits as when you are working, and you must be returned to your old job or a similar position if your old job doesn’t exist anymore.
You can read the full release about OFLA from BOLI here. More information and an FAQ are available at https://www.oregon.gov/boli/ofla.
Oregon Public Broadcasting has more information here about a joint partnership to provide free testing for the Latinx community this week. The piece notes that Hispanic and Latino people make up 36% of total COVID-19 cases in the Portland metropolitan area region, even though they make up only 11% of the population.
As state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in May, “It’s institutions that discriminate, and our society as a whole that discriminates, and this virus has brought that to the forefront.” I appreciate that the Latino Network has partnered with the Oregon Health Authority and Multnomah County Health Department to provide free testing events.
The events are Thursday from 3-8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Latino Network’s Rockwood Office in Southeast Portland. Pre-registration is required here.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) received federal approval to issue Pandemic EBT benefits in September to promote increased food security for families who receive no-cost meals through participation in the United States Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.
Benefits started being distributed on Monday, September 28. Recipients may see two deposits on their Oregon EBT card – an initial deposit of $100 and a second deposit for all students receiving an amount over $100. Amounts vary by school district.
The full release from OED and DHS is available here and coverage from Oregon Public Broadcasting about lunch money getting to families in need here.
Last week, the Legislative Emergency Board approved $10 million of additional funding to help Oregonians who lost their homes to wildfire.
The Oregon Legislature established the Wildfire Damage Housing Relief program in 2015 to provide financial assistance to low-income households that have had damage or loss to their primary residence due to fires.
To apply for up to $7,000 in assistance, applicants must have an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and meet other qualifications. Oregonians can apply for assistance here. Funding is limited. Additional resources are available at: https://wildfire.oregon.gov/.
The Emergency Board also approved $1.7 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to assist state election systems impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure Oregonians have safe access to the ballot this year. The funds will cover personal protective equipment, Plexiglas/Sneeze guards, additional office equipment to address lack of staff, laptops for remote work, and additional ballot drop boxes to compensate for those located in office buildings that are closed.
More detail on all of the items the Emergency Board approved last week is available here.
- This week, Governor Brown announced she is convening a Wildfire Economic Recovery Council. You can read more about the council here. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports here how recent rainfall has helped keep active wildfires at bay.
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The Oregonian notes here that residents who need help with hazardous materials cleanup in the following counties should check with their local governments for support: Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion and Wasco.
- The Oregon Employment paid out $225 million in unemployment bonuses to 148,000 people on Wednesday, the first day the state began issuing the $300 weekly bonuses, The Oregonian reports here.
- TriMet announced this week they will again be accepting cash for fares, starting today, as Willamette Week reports here. The transit agency stopped taking cash in March to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
- Governor Brown this week commuted the sentences of 66 adults in custody this week to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As Willamette Week reports here, 10 are considered medically vulnerable to the virus and 56 are within two months of their release date.
- The Oregon Health Authority announced 363 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 33,862. The OHA also reported one more death, meaning 560 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. 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
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