Gov. Kate Brown defended her decision Friday to enact “extreme risk” COVID-19 restrictions across 15 counties -- encompassing 80% of Oregon’s population -- saying acting now will end up preventing so much more misery as a fourth surge batters the state.
“I was presented with data showing two paths that Oregon could take: One in which we took no additional action and stood by while more people die from this disease,” Brown said during a live-streamed news conference Friday. “Or another that required a temporary tightening of restrictions for certain counties but could save hundreds of lives and prevent as many as 450 of hospitalizations over the next three weeks. As your governor, I chose to save lives.”
To be precise, a COVID-19 forecast released by Oregon Health & Science University Friday predicts the state will prevent an additional 714 people from being hospitalized and an extra 176 deaths by the end of the summer because the governor is now instituting the extreme risk rules, meant to tamp down significantly on the coronavirus’ spread.
The governor’s restrictions have been the source of great consternation and some pushback from struggling businesses and weary residents. But she also has received support from those accepting of the grim forecasts and eager for the pandemic to end.
The newly designated extreme risk counties stretch across the state, encompassing parts of eastern, central and southern Oregon, as well as much of the populous Willamette Valley. The full list includes: Baker, Clackamas, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk and Wasco counties.
The restrictions prohibit indoor dining at restaurants and bars, as well as limit gyms, movie theaters, bowling alleys and swimming pools to a maximum of six patrons indoors. Gym-goers are allowed 45 minutes to work out. Religious institutions will be asked to set an indoor capacity of 25% or 100 people, whichever is smaller, although those restrictions are not mandatory.
About 30% of Oregonians are fully vaccinated. When asked by a reporter why she wasn’t allowing vaccinated people to patronize businesses indoors -- such as dine inside a restaurant -- Brown said she worries that would be unfair because some ethnicities haven’t been immunized at the same rate as the overall general population.
“Our vaccine distribution efforts, while fairly effective and efficient, have not been as equitable as I would like,” Brown said. “And we are working hard to close the vaccine gaps that exist among our communities of color.”
State figures show while Latinos comprise more than 13% of the population, they account for less than 7% of the total people vaccinated. Black people comprise 2.2% of Oregon’s population, but account for about 1.7% of people who’ve received shots.
Brown said she expects the current restrictions to last one to three weeks -- ending just before OHSU’s forecast predicts Oregon will peak at 473 hospitalized patients on May 22, then begin to drop. Each week for the past few weeks, the forecast has worsened Oregon’s predicted hospitalizations, largely because of residents’ increasing fatigue over COVID-19 safety measures.
Hospitalizations stood at 334 Thursday.
New known daily cases were averaging over 800. OHSU’s forecast Friday didn’t predict at what level new cases will peak, but a state forecast last week said they could increase to between about 950 and 1,600 before mid-May.
Although Brown said she was acting now -- at the appropriate time -- to save lives, new cases have been surging for at least five weeks. So have hospitalizations and positivity rates. When asked by a reporter why she didn’t act earlier and if she agreed with statements Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen made to OPB’s Think Out Loud about needing the public to accept the restrictions by first showing them hospitalizations had truly reached concerning levels, Brown didn’t directly answer.
“I think you have to have some level of public support for these to be successful,” Brown said.
She later added: “It is more challenging, frankly, for Oregonians to understand why these safety protocols need to be in place, that the pandemic has forced upon us -- when we have vaccines.”
Brown renewed her call for everyone 16 and older to get vaccinated. She said doing so would help reopen Oregon’s economy by the end of June.
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-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
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Governor says ‘extreme risk’ COVID-19 restrictions will save ‘hundreds’ in Oregon: ‘I chose to save lives’ - OregonLive
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