Governor Kate Brown held a press conference today to provide an update on the status of COVID-19 in Oregon. The conference addressed the recent increase in cases and hospitalizations: 

• Cases have increased 20% or more for the last five weeks. 
• Oregon is the state with the highest rate of increase in cases over the last two weeks. 
• Hospitalizations are increasing at almost double what they were a week ago.  
• The portion of hospitalized cases of people who are 18 to 34 has increased by almost 50 percent. 

“As we are facing widespread cases, driven by new, more contagious variants, 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 die from this disease, and 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,” Gov. Brown said.

“There is some good news. The same scientific modeling also shows that over the course of the next two-to-three weeks, based on current vaccination rates, we can get ahead of these variants. Following that trajectory, we should be able to lift restrictions statewide and return to a sense of normalcy no later than the end of June.”

A Governor’s Office press release from today’s conference is available here.