Much like the rest of America, Oregon is experiencing a significant spike in coronavirus cases. Nov. 13, 2020, marked the second day the state’s new cases exceeded 1,000.
Governor Kate Brown issued a stricter “pause in reopening” set to begin on Wednesday, November 18, superseding the pause established two weeks earlier.
For the following two weeks (four weeks in Multnomah County), all restaurants and bars will return to take-out only, gyms and fitness organizations will be closed, and both indoor and outdoor recreational areas will be closed.
The freeze includes limiting “gatherings (indoors and outdoors) to no more than six people total, and from no more than two households,” according to KATU. Faith-based gatherings are limited to 25 people indoors and 50 outdoors. Grocery stores, malls, and retail stores must restrict occupancy to 75 percent.
Indoor visitations at long-term care facilities are prohibited. However, the ban does not affect “congregate homeless sheltering, outdoor recreation and sports, youth programs, childcare, K-12 schools, K-12 sports currently allowed, current Division 1 and professional athletics exemptions, and higher education,” reports KATU.
The coronavirus restrictions bring new travel rules jointly issued by California, Oregon, and Washington. All residents are asked to limit non-essential travel and to self-quarantine 14-days afterward. However, for residents in Northern Oregon and Southern Washington who travel back and forth for jobs, neither governor made no mention of this.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, daily cases remained well below 280 until June 16. On the 23rd, there was a spike to 403 new infections with ups and downs until October 26, when the spike began with 526 reported new cases. Thereafter the coronavirus infection rate continued to climb:
The Oregon Health Authority reported seven more deaths and 1,076 new cases. Oregon is now averaging a record 904 cases a day over the past week, more than 2 ½ times the volume from three weeks earlier.
Other states are scrambling to reign in the coronavirus infections that multiply exponentially during the past several weeks. Health officials believe the spike is the result of community spread.
The United States coronavirus daily infections hit another record on November 12 — 163,402 cases.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Oregon has recorded 54 386 confirmed infections and 756 deaths. Overall, there are 10.8 million coronavirus cases in the United States, with 244 thousand deaths.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
The Oregonian: Coronavirus in Oregon: State tops 1,000 new cases for second day in a row; by Brad Schmidt
KATU 2: Oregon governor issues statewide two-week freeze due to coronavirus spike; by Mary Johnson
CNBC: California, Oregon and Washington issue Covid travel advisory urging 14-day quarantine
The Washington Post: Live updates: Oregon, New Mexico enact new virus restrictions as U.S. shatters case record again
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Governor Kate Brown’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of dmdosstone’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
