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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope your week is ending on a good note.
Thank you to the 200+ people who attended last night’s 2021 Session Virtual Town Hall with Senator Lew Frederick, Representative Tawna Sanchez and me. We really appreciated the thoughtful questions and engagement.
It’s so important to hear directly from Oregonians about their concerns and interests - which the pandemic has, of course, made more challenging. But also more interesting. Doing a virtual town hall is a fun experience. We weren’t able to get to every question (80 questions!), so I’ll be following up in future newsletters with answers to questions we didn’t have time for last night.
The latest COVID-19 Weekly Report from the Oregon Health Authority, which can be read in full here, brings some positive news to what has been a dreary month:
- During Monday, January 18, through Sunday, January 24, 2021, OHA recorded 4,119 new cases of COVID-19 infection, which is a 48% decrease from last week’s total.
- There were 221 Oregonians newly hospitalized this week with COVID-19 (an average of 32 per day), down 33% from last week’s 332.
- There were 74 Oregonians who died in association with COVID-19, down from last week’s record high of 195.
This is similar to the overall national trend, as cases are down across the country. Nationwide, January has been the deadliest month of the pandemic thus far. Sadly, we appear to be well on our way to 500,000 deaths in the United States, even as the vaccine distribution is ramping up.
As I say at the end of each newsletter, we’re going to get through this together. It’s frustrating that we don’t yet have a bigger and consistent vaccine supply from the federal government, so this will be a long process. It's important to be patient and encourage everyone you know to get the vaccine when they are eligible to do so.
Starting today, there are modifications to the public health guidelines for Extreme Risk counties.
The guidelines now allow for a maximum of six people indoors at facilities over 500 square feet (for all indoor activities except dining) with associated guidance for ongoing social distancing, cleaning protocols, and face coverings. For facilities smaller than 500 square feet, the modified guidance allows for 1:1 customer experiences, such as personal training.
You can read more about the status of activities in your county by going here. And below are the latest updates to County Risk Levels across the state, which also go into effect today. The next assignment of risk levels will be announced February 9 and take effect February 11.
Extreme Risk (25): Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Crook, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Umatilla, Union, Wasco, Washington, Yamhill
High Risk (2): Douglas, Lincoln
Moderate Risk (1): Grant (moved from Lower)
Lower Risk (8): Curry (moved from Moderate), Gilliam, Harney, Lake (moved from Moderate), Sherman, Tillamook (moved from Extreme), Wallowa, Wheeler
On February 15 and 17, the House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery will be holding two virtual public hearings to gather information from Oregonians about their post-fire experiences and needs related to shelter, clean-up, and rebuilding following the Labor Day wildfires.
These stories will help the committee identify where to focus its efforts this legislative session. KTVL covered the first committee’s first meeting, which took place on Monday, here.
All members of the public are invited and welcome to join the meetings to share their stories. If you or someone you know has been impacted by the Labor Day wildfires, please consider signing up or encouraging them to sign up to testify.
Testimony will be organized by each region of the state affected by the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. Please note the date and time window for testimony from your region:
- Monday, February 15th (5:30 – 8:30 pm): Canyon/Valley (@ 5:30), Metro (@ 6:30), Coast Regions (@ 7:30)
- Wednesday, February 17th (5:30 – 8:30 pm): Southern Region
If you want to submit written testimony, a helpful guide can be found here. Below is how you can register for testimony by phone or video.
You must register in advance to provide verbal testimony during the public hearing. There are two ways to register:
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INTERNET: Look up the House Wildfire Recovery Committee meeting agenda on the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) website (link here) and follow the testimony registration link on the agenda. The system will send you an email with a registration meeting link and instructions for delivering your verbal/video testimony using the Microsoft Teams platform.
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PHONE: Call toll-free 833-588-4500. The phone system will provide you with a phone number and access code to call into the meeting and deliver your verbal/audio testimony.
- If you are unable to access a phone or internet, a public access station will be set up outside of the State Capitol building on the evening of the hearing where you can deliver your testimony into a publicly provided laptop.
Please contact Laura Kentnesse at laura.kentnesse@oregonlegislature.gov or 503-986-1731 if you have additional questions.
As part of our ongoing efforts to establish and fund language translation services to make the legislative process more accessible, the Legislature is hiring two full-time positions: a language access coordinator and a staff interpreter. This will help ensure consistent access to the legislative process for non-English speakers and is just the start of a funded commitment to strengthen equal access to the legislative process.
Applications can be submitted here for the language access coordinator position and here for the staff interpreter.
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The Oregonian reports here that Portland Public Schools is looking at April 8 as the date to start in-person learning for most elementary and middle school students.
- After concerns over vaccine shortages, Governor Brown announced the state is sending an additional 17,000 doses to the Portland metro area, as Oregon Public Broadcasting reports here.
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KGW has a helpful explainer here on how eligible residents of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties can register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Wildfire cleanup in the McKenzie River Valley is moving into a new phase, as the Register-Guard reports here.
- The Oregon Health Authority reported 976 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 141,729. The OHA also reported eight more deaths, meaning 1,938 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, 63,089 Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been 382,368 total doses administered. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus and vaccines 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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