Washington County, four others cleared for lower risk May 18 2021
Benton, Deschutes, Hood River and Lincoln counties will also move to the more permissive COVID-19 risk category.
Five Oregon counties including Washington County, the state s second-most populous will move to the most permissive risk category for the spread of COVID-19 this Friday, May 21.
Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday afternoon, May 18, that at least 65% of residents age 16 and older in Benton, Deschutes, Hood River, Lincoln and Washington counties have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and that those counties have also fulfilled her requirement to submit an equity plan to demonstrate how they ll improve vaccination rates among demographics that are lagging behind the general population. Because of that, Brown said, those five counties can move to the lower risk designation clearing the way for larger gatherings and more business activities.
Washington County beats Multnomah County in Lower Risk application May 14 2021
Multnomah County officials said they could not submit their plan for closing the vaccination gap in time.
Multnomah and Washington counties split over applying to be moved quickly into the Lower Risk pandemic restriction categories authorized by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
Both counties are close to meeting the standard Brown announced on Wednesday that 65% of residents 16 and older must have received their first COVID-19 vaccination.
Washington County applied to move out of the more restrictive High Risk category by also submitting a plan to the Oregon Health Authority to close the vaccination gap between ethnic groups. If approved, the county could be classified as Lower Risk on Friday, May 21.
May 13 2021
The Oregon Health Authority reports 733 new cases, increases the total to 193,732 by May 13.
Oregon health officials reported 14 new COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, raising the state s death toll to 2,572.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 733 new confirmed and presumptive cases of the virus. Oregon has now tallied a total of 193,732 cases since the start of the pandemic.
There were 351 people being treated for COVID-19 at Oregon hospitals and 88 patients in ICU beds on Thursday.
Another 30,037 new vaccine doses were added to Oregon s immunization registry. To date, Oregon has administered a total of 1,881,250 first and second doses of Pfizer, 1,437,343 first and second doses of Moderna and 116,551 single doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
Multnomah County plans to reach Low Risk COVID-19 status before Memorial Day on May 28.
Oregon health officials hope businesses will either enforce a mask policy or check customers vaccine status.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger said on Friday, May 14, that the state is still working on releasing guidance for businesses but said that they either need to enforce mask wearing or implement a plan that they are checking the vaccination status of those who come in. We would anticipate that an establishment or business will have to have a system in place for asking about vaccines status and verifying that. Right now I would anticipate that would be seeing a card with the individual s name, the vaccine site and date they got it, it could be a picture of the vaccine card or record from provider on their phone, but just a way of seeing that, said Sidelinger, the State Health Officer and State Epidemiologist.