By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon is likely a day away from crossing the threshold of 20,000 cases since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state reported Wednesday.
The infection count was announced on a day when Gov. Kate Brown also released a report on enforcing violations of COVID-19 restrictions, a four-state agreement on telehealth and reiterated she was considering travel restrictions during the crisis.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 299 new infections, bringing the total since February to 19,789. Five more deaths were also announced, two in Umatilla and one each in Josephine, Clackamas and Washington counties.
Brown late Wednesday said the state had reached a pact with Washington, Colorado and Nevada to coordinate standards of care, payment, access, confidentiality and stopping fraud or abuse.
“The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently announced its intention to make permanent some of the telehealth flexibilities afforded during this pandemic,” Brown said. “Telehealth is here to stay.”
In a separate report, Brown said the vast majority of bars, restaurants, breweries, tasting rooms and other spots serving alcohol have been meeting state face covering, hygiene and physical distancing requirements.
About 93 percent of the 3,600 licensed establishments subject to unannounced inspections since July 4 were in compliance with laws and rules. Most acted immediately to rectify any violations and were open to instructions from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission on how to remain in compliance.
Only about 1 percent — less than 40 — of the spot-checked businesses were referred to the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for further investigation and possible fines and sanctions.
OSHA made “spot checks” of 5,000 Oregon businesses and investigated over 60 citizen complaints regarding alleged violations of the COVID-19 directives. Only 14 citations and five “Red Warning Notices” were issued.
OLCC inspectors also reported some business owners were openly disobeying the legal orders. OLCC on Tuesday suspended the liquor license of a Rogue River bar and restaurant.
“Let me be clear: businesses that do not follow the health and safety guidance established by the Oregon Health Authority are putting their employees, their customers, and their communities at risk,” Brown said.
Worst of all, Brown said lawbreakers can cause community spread of COVID-19, that could cause health officials to shut down all businesses — the good along with the bad.
Brown continues to consider possible travel restrictions, which she briefly mentioned during a press conference on July 29. Oregon is in discussion with neighboring states on how to curb in-bound leisure travel during the busy summer season. The Oregonian reported Tuesday night that Brown’s staff has been having conversations — without many details — with legislators on the idea of implementing travel restrictions.
Charles Boyle, a Brown spokesman, reiterated Brown’s desire that any limits on travel not impact commercial transport or business travel. No agreement or decision is pending.
In its weekly report, OHA said the percentage of tests that come back positive has been on the rise for eight or the past nine weeks. The state reported Monday that positive rates are now at 6.1 percent — higher than any time since March, at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in Oregon. The positive rate had dropped to 1.6 percent in mid-May, just before the phased “reopening” of the state economy.
Early in the pandemic’s effects in Oregon, outbreaks were often driven by clusters of workplace outbreaks or infections sweeping through long-term care facilities. Overall, long-term care residents who tend to be older and in poorer health, have accounted for about 47 percent of all deaths, down from 53 percent earlier in the crisis. Prisons and other correctional facilities have also accounted for large outbreaks.
But state health officials say the overall growth in cases is primarily driven now by a diffused but highly common “community spread” that cannot be traced back to a single source.
A spike in new infections in Eastern Oregon led Brown on July 31 to order Umatilla County to move two phases back, to the restrictive “baseline” business, activity and crowd size restrictions in place after the early March emergency order to “Stay Home, Save Lives.” Beginning in mid-May, most counties began moving into less restrictive phases. Morrow County has also seen a sharp increase in infections and was ordered from Phase 2 to Phase 1, while agreeing to work with the state on voluntary measures to slow the growth of cases.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread business closures and layoffs around the world. In Oregon, there have been 650,000 new unemployment claims between March 15 and Aug. 1, according to the state Employment Department.
Brown said ensuring healthy, safe communities would allow for a relatively rapid recovery once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes widely available — which international scientific groups have said could be by early next year.
“We still have a long road ahead of us,” Brown said. “Infections continue to rise. But I’d like to thank Oregonians, business owners, and local officials for stepping up to the plate.”
- The Oregon Capital Bureau in Salem is staffed by reporters from EO Media and Pamplin Media Group and provides state government and political news to their newspapers and media around Oregon, including YachatsNews.com