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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As you’ll read below, our COVID-19 numbers continue to go in the wrong direction. With colder weather keeping us inside more and the holiday season approaching, I’m really concerned we could see a return to stay-at-home restrictions.
We can each do our part – wear masks, wash hands, watch our distance with others. Individual responsibility is important.
It’s also critical to reduce community spread by managing workplace outbreaks at jobs where people can’t work from home. This means when you’re feeling sick and think you have the virus, you need to stay home and quarantine. But we know this is really hard to ask people to do when they need the work hours for financial security.
To help, the Legislative Emergency Board dedicated $30 million for a COVID-19 Temporary Paid Leave Program. The program supports workers who need to quarantine or isolate due to COVID-19 exposure but can't otherwise qualify for COVID-19-related paid sick leave or don’t have access to COVID-19-related paid time off. Qualified workers receive a $120 per-day payment for up to 10 working days ($1,200 total) for the time they need to quarantine or isolate.
Yesterday, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) announced that more than 2,000 people have been approved to receive benefits. More than $2 million has been dispersed through this program, and money is still available to help more people.
Qualifications include confirmation that the applicant is:
- Working at a business or job site in Oregon at the time of application;
- Expected to earn less than $60,000 individually or $120,000 jointly in 2020;
- Not able to work (including telework) because of the need to quarantine or isolate;
- Not seeking or using benefits from similar COVID-19 quarantine relief programs, unemployment insurance, or workers’ compensation in Oregon or another state;
- Not seeking or using other forms of employer-provided paid for the same time period;
- Not laid off or furloughed at the time of application; and
- Has notified their employer of the need to quarantine or isolate.
For more information or to apply, go to oregon.gov/covidpaidleave or call 833-685-0850 (toll-free) or 503-947-0130 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The website also has an eligibility quiz (available in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese) to help people who are not sure if they qualify.
The online application is available in English, Spanish, and Russian. Those who do not have access to the internet can call 833-685-0850 (toll-free) or 503-947-0130. Those who need help in another language can call 503-947-0131, with additional information available at http://dcbspage.org/FFE7U.
Yesterday, our weekly average for daily cases exceeded 500 for the first time, which The Oregonian reported here. Initial data from the Oregon Health Authority also shows a spike in test positivity last week. We hit 8.4% of tests being positive for the virus – a high point for that rate and our eighth week in a row above 5%.
Here are the latest daily numbers since my last newsletter on Friday, which marked the first time we recorded 600 new cases:
- Saturday, October 31: 555 cases, 14 deaths
- Sunday, November 1: 524 cases, 2 deaths
- Monday November 2: 557 cases, 1 death
- Tuesday, November 3: 495 cases, 9 deaths
Yesterday, we reached a record-high 180 active hospitalizations and today we exceeded 700 cumulative COVID-19 deaths. While we’re still below our capacity threshold, public health officials reiterated last week we are on track to reach hospital capacity by mid-December, as the Associated Press reported here.
The latest COVID-19 Epidemic Trends And Projections from the Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM), which can be read in full here, noted that if spread of infections continues at the current level over the next month, we will hit around 1,100 new infections per day.
“Unfortunately,” the report notes, “epidemiologic data and hospital occupancy data over the last few days suggest that cases have been increasing again rather than remaining steady.”
Still, there is reason for hope in this report. IDM reiterates what we already know: this virus is very sensitive to changes in transmission. If we double down on our efforts to do the basics of mask-wearing and distancing, we can return to the transmission levels we saw in August and cases will decline.
With this data as a backdrop, I strongly encourage you to start planning adjustments to your typical holiday plans. This year, staying home is the safest way to avoid exposing yourself and others to infection. It’s the best way to keep our loved ones and ourselves safe.
While it’s a good idea to get a COVID-19 test before you travel anywhere, please know that a negative test result does not mean you have a free pass. Some tests produce a high percentage of false negatives. Even if you test negative, please follow stringent safety protocols if you must travel.
If you must travel during the holidays, the safest way to do so is to travel by car and only with people you live with. Traveling by car with friends or family who are not part of your household raises infection risk for all passengers due to proximity and duration of exposure.
If you must travel in the coming months, please follow these tips from the Oregon Health Authority:
- Limit your exposure to non-household members for 14 days before visiting older adults or family members who are at higher risk of infection.
- Get your flu shot at least two weeks prior to travel.
- Wear an approved face covering in crowded areas including airports, airplanes, buses or trains.
- Stay in a separate room from others when you arrive at your destination.
- After returning home, quarantine for 14 days and limit your exposure to those outside of your household.
Again, now’s the time to start planning on how you will keep yourself and others safe this holiday season.
If you’ve been impacted by recent wildfires, the federal government is temporarily allowing the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase "hot food products prepared for immediate consumption." You can read more here.
Normally, SNAP benefits can’t be used this way. But, if you’re a SNAP or Disaster SNAP recipient in the counties listed below, you can use those benefits to purchase hot or prepared foods from authorized SNAP retailers until Friday, November 20. Examples of allowable prepared foods include hot deli foods, fountain drinks, a slice of hot/prepared pizza, hot soup, salad bars, and sandwiches.
The waiver applies in the following 23 counties: Benton, Clackamas, Columbia Coos, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, Washington, and Yamhill.
And, throughout the state, if you and your family need help finding food assistance, you can find the nearest food pantry or pick-up site here through the Oregon Food Bank.
Disasters can be incredibly draining, both physically and emotionally. From a global pandemic to raging wildfires, we’ve certainly had our fill this year.
Stress, anxiety and other depression-like symptoms are common reactions after a disaster. For adults and children having negative feelings or thoughts, free crisis counseling is available through the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Disaster Distress Helpline. This national hotline provides immediate, free and confidential crisis counseling and support for people experiencing emotional distress from natural or human-caused disasters. It operates 24/7, 365 days a year.
To connect with a trained counselor, call 800-985-5990 (for Spanish, press 2) or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 (for Spanish, text "Hablamos" to 66746).
For more information and to find related resources, visit samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline.
- The Oregon Health Authority reported 495 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 46,460. The OHA also reported nine more deaths, meaning 701 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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