Oregon Places 15 Counties Under Its Strictest Lockdown Restrictions

Cases are widespread, driven by new, more contagious variants. Oregon leads the nation for our rate of increase in cases over the last two weeks. In fact, this is the fifth straight week Oregon has recorded case increases of 20 percent or more. Our hospitalizations have nearly doubled what they were a week ago. While fewer seniors are being hospitalized, thanks to vaccinations, Covid-19 is now knocking more younger people off their feet. The portion of hospitalized cases of people 18 to 34 has increased by almost 50 percent. I was presented with data showing two paths Oregon could take. One, in which we took no additional action and stood by while more people died from this disease. Or another, that required a temporary tightening of restrictions for certain counties but could save hundreds of lives and prevent as many as 450 hospitalizations over the next three weeks. As your governor, I chose to save lives. And I recognize that this puts many Oregon businesses and working families in a difficult place. So I’ve worked with the legislature to secure $20 million in urgent relief for Oregon businesses impacted by extreme risk. We can get this aid quickly in the hands of our businesses. And I encourage all impacted businesses to apply for assistance. Economic relief is something I can do as your governor to help Oregonians impacted by this fourth surge. What I can’t do is bring back someone’s life lost to this virus.