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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As we head into the long Thanksgiving weekend, here’s a quick reminder to get your flu shot if you haven’t done so yet. It will protect you from getting sick and help our health care system from getting further overwhelmed.
Last week, I urged Oregonians to stay home and keep it small this Thanksgiving. While we all desperately want to see our friends and family and return to a sense of normalcy, staying home is the best way to keep our loved ones safe.
We also need to help our heroic health care workers.
In South Dakota recently, a clip of an emergency room nurse describing the horrific scene at her hospital went viral. Among the shocking things she revealed was that numerous patients who were dying from COVID-19 are still in denial that the virus is real.
I was sad to hear this echoed by my colleague, Representative Maxine Dexter, who is also an intensive care unit doctor, during an appearance on Oregon Public Broadcasting. It’s devastating to hear that these situations of conspiracies and denial are unfolding here.
Please make no mistake about how dangerous things are right now. In one hospital in Medford, as the Associated Press reports here, almost 10% of the emergency room nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors have been infected with COVID-19. This story from KPTV features a woman who contracted the virus in March and is still feeling symptoms eight months later. And as KATU reports here, some hospitals are setting up temporary morgues and surge tents as cases continue to spike.
We’ve hit more than 1,000 new cases in each of the last seven days, and today the Oregon Health Authority recorded a record-high 21 deaths. Today, hospitalizations hit another record high (474), as The Oregonian reports here. We also reached greater than 14% weekly test positivity last week.
The emotional and physical toll this is putting on our health care workers is enormous. I hope you take the time to read this opinion piece by a number of state representatives and senators in the medical field urging us to stay safe and trust the science. And today, nearly 800 Oregon doctors signed a letter urging Oregonians to follow the recent Freeze put in place statewide.
There are so many reasons these circumstances are so difficult. But there are also so many reasons to look out for each other. Our family, our friends and our dedicated health care workers all need our support now – and that starts by being safe this holiday weekend.
In addition to the record hospitalization data we’ve been seeing, last week’s COVID-19 Weekly Report from the Oregon Health Authority featured a couple of other concerning trends.
The report recorded a large number of active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate living settings across the state over the last two months. For example, as Jefferson Public Radio reports here, one facility in Southern Oregon recently had more than 100 cases and another in Washington County was at 74. We know that outbreaks in these kinds of facilities can be particularly dangerous, given the ages and underlying conditions among residents.
Secondly, individuals of Hispanic ethnicity continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus, accounting for 42% of cases with ethnicity reported even though they are only 13% of Oregon’s population. This continues to mirror a nationwide trend, in places ranging from Washington to North Carolina to Maryland and others. This pandemic has highlighted the income inequality and structural racism in our society, which manifests in many complex ways, including when workers don’t have the same ability to work from home. This story from KGW has more important context from organizations like Centro Cultural and Latino Network.
As a reminder, individuals in the Latinx community can schedule drive-up testing through Multnomah County by calling (503) 988-9093, and the Virginia Garcia Clinic is offering testing in Washington and Yamhill counties to migrant and seasonal farmworkers by appointment.
Yesterday, the House Committee on Housing held an informational meeting about the current proposal to extend the statewide eviction moratorium and establish a landlord compensation fund to help stabilize the rental market. You can watch coverage from KATU here and KGW here.
The pandemic is the biggest public health crisis of our lifetime, and the eviction moratorium is working because people have stay housed at a time when they need this protection the most. The current moratorium expires at the end of December. Legislators would need to meet in special session to approve the proposal under consideration.
You can find out more about the proposal here and here.
Things are stressful everywhere. If domestic abuse is already a problem in a relationship, the coronavirus pandemic might be making it worse (being stuck at home with an abuser, financial stress, etc.).
If you’re experiencing an emergency, call your local emergency phone number (911 in most communities). If you need a domestic violence service provider or shelter immediately, call the Call to Safety Crisis Line at 1-888-235-5333 for referrals to local programs.
For more resources, you can also go to the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence website.
I was thrilled to see that the Oregon Employment Department (OED) is now issuing waiting week payments for eligible Oregonians.
The “waiting week” is the first week of your claim when you meet all eligibility requirements. You must claim the week, but you are not paid for it. Because of the pandemic shutdown, the federal government said it would pay benefits for that first week, and then the state waived the waiting week for unemployment insurance claims from March 8, 2020, through January 2, 2021.
If you filed an eligible initial claim for regular unemployment insurance and you claimed your initial week during this period, you will be paid for this first week. The waiting week does not add any more benefits to your claim balance (your maximum benefit amount). You will still receive 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance benefits.
The waiting week FAQ here has more details.
Here are some additional details:
- Those whose waiting week falls between March 29 and July 25 will get a $600 FPUC payment.
- Those whose waiting week falls between July 26 and September 5 will get an extra $300 LWA payment.
OED will continue paying waiting week payments for claims filed through January 2, 2021. If you have exhausted your benefits (with a $0 balance), you will NOT receive a waiting week payment. This is because you have hit your maximum benefit amount and essentially already received your waiting week payment.
Oregonians who received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) or Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) will not receive a waiting week payment, as those programs pay claimants' first eligible week.
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible for a waiting week, or when your waiting week is, you can log in to the Online Claims System to see what amount you will receive. Go to your claim’s status and select “Where is my check?”
While most people will receive their payment within three business days, it will be a longer process for about 25% of eligible claimants. If you receive PEUC, Extended Benefits, or Workshare, the department will need to manually process your payment. That could take 30 to 60 days. You do NOT need to contact the Employment Department to receive your payment, even if your payment will be manually processed.
Preventing Flood and Fire: Disaster survivors affected by the September wildfires and straight-line winds are encouraged to check in with a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mitigation specialist about the best ways to repair and rebuild property so that it is safer and stronger following wildfires. For information, email FEMA-R10-MIT@fema.dhs.gov and a FEMA hazard mitigation specialist will respond. In addition, check with your local county to complete your Right Of Entry Forms to allow state and federal workers to remove wildfire debris from your property. For more information go to wildfire.oregon.gov
FEMA Deadline: If you were impacted by wildfires this year and haven't yet registered with FEMA, don't miss the deadline to apply for assistance: Monday, November 30. If you live in Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn or Marion counties, and were impacted by wildfires, visit disasterassistance.gov, download the FEMA app, or call 800-621-3362 for information on eligibility and how to apply.
DUA Deadline: The deadline to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is this Friday, November 27. If your employment was impacted by the recent Oregon wildfires and you have not submitted a DUA application, make sure to apply ASAP. For more information, go here.
Due to the state government holiday, Oregon Employment Department offices will be closed on November 26 and 27.
- Governor Brown, along with Oregon’s Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, wrote a letter urging Congressional action for more COVID-19 relief. I’ve been disappointed by the lack of urgency from Congress about another relief package, and it’s critical for our state to have a strong recovery. We need more help! You can read the letter here.
- Public health officials in Oregon are urging people with COVID-19 to call their close contacts and not wait for overwhelmed contact tracers to do it for them, as The Oregonian reports here.
- The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,011 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 67,333. The OHA also reported 21 more deaths, meaning 847 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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