Governor Brown extends COVID-19 state of emergency

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced she will be extending the local state of emergency until January 2, 2021.

A state of emergency declaration gives governing state bodies access to federal emergency funding, which will be used to combat the coronavirus pandemic locally.

“As early as January of this year, the Oregon Health Authority began its COVID-19 preparedness efforts as cases spread overseas,” writes Governor Brown in the news release. “Since then, more than 600 Oregonians and over 200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 — and last week, we set a daily record with 550 new cases.”

Over the last few months, Oregon has seen a new daily high in reported coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

At the time of writing, the state of Oregon has seen 42,808 cases of the virus and 664 fatalities.

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“Extending the COVID-19 state of emergency is not something I do lightly, but we know all too well that not taking action would mean an even greater loss of life. The second wave of COVID-19 has arrived in the United States, and this time it is hitting all of our communities.”

Extending the COVID-19 state of emergency is not something I do lightly, but not taking action could mean even greater loss of life. My goal is to keep Oregon on track to reopen – and keep open – more schools and businesses. https://t.co/VqWkn76tZw

— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) October 27, 2020

“We must continue to work together and follow the simple steps that have kept us safe throughout this pandemic: washing our hands, wearing face coverings, watching our physical distance, staying home when sick, and avoiding social get-togethers, especially indoors,” continued Governor Brown.