Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Last Friday, Governor Brown announced that she was instituting a statewide, one-week pause on county reopening applications. No county will advance beyond its current phase for at least seven days.

She did this because Oregon saw new COVID cases on the rise and the statewide total of new cases was at an all-time daily high this past week. When compared to the previous week our cases increased by 75% during the week ending June 7. Additionally, Oregon’s test positivity rate increased from 1.9% to 3.0%. This is still far better than many states in the country, but a cause for caution and concern among public health officials nonetheless.

The rise in cases appears to be caused by a number of factors: workplace outbreaks around the state (including Lincoln, Multnomah, Hood River, Clackamas and Umatilla counties), an increase in social gatherings, and the general risk that comes with reopening and people being in their communities together. 

While the news of rising cases is concerning, there are elements of good news. Emergency department visits remain below 1% and are stable, the Oregon Health Authority says we are meeting our statewide contact tracing goal, and more than 18,000 tests were conducted in the last week, an all-time high. 

For us to care about each other and our economy, we must wear masks while doing anything in our community, wash our hands frequently, and keep a distance from those around us. “It’s been concluded that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission, and this inexpensive practice, in conjunction with extensive testing, quarantine, and contact tracking, poses the most probable fighting opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to the development of a vaccine. It is also important to emphasize that sound science should be effectively communicated to policy makers and should constitute the prime foundation in decision-making amid this pandemic. Implementing policies without a scientific basis could lead to catastrophic consequences.”

For more details about the virus transmission, check out the data from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America  and for local reporting, check out this article from OPB. 

Long Term Care 

From the beginning of this pandemic, when we were just learning about COVID-19 during informational hearings in early March, I advocated to protect the residents and workers of long-term care (LTC) facilities. My professional experience of caring for patients in LTC drives my advocacy for this vulnerable population. 

I am pleased to see Governor Brown released a Comprehensive Coronavirus Testing Plan for LTC and I look forward to hearing the full details from the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Human Services this week and will share as soon as those details are released. 

You can read the press release here. And check out this article from AARP: “Will We Ever Hug Again;  Finding new ways to show affection amid the COVID-19 outbreak.” I sure miss hugging my patients, and friends.

Oregon Department of Education

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) released initial guidelines for K-12 students to return safely for the 2020-21 school year. School districts, educators, and parents will need to work together to make sure our young people can be successful this fall.

The full 46-page guidance, called “Ready Schools, Safe Learners,” can be found here and will be updated throughout the summer and into the school year as the state progresses in its fight against coronavirus. The guidance was put together in collaboration with the Oregon Health Authority to do everything possible to protect community health. The Oregonian has an article about the guidelines here.

This is uncharted territory, and it’s clear this virus will be in our communities in some form for the foreseeable future, so the focus is on safe reentry of staff and students based on what we know. The framework focuses on each school district crafting an Operational Blueprint for Reentry. Each blueprint will be tailored to the local context and informed by local needs. Each district plan will need approval by ODE.

Each Operational Blueprint for Reentry must address eight essential elements, which the full guidance discusses in more details:

1. Public Health Protocols

2. Facilities and School Operations

3. Response to Outbreak

4. Equity

5. Instruction

6. Family and Community Engagement

7. Mental, Social and Emotional Health

8. Staffing and Personnel

By August 15 or prior to the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, the local school board (or private school operator) must review the Operational Blueprint for Reentry and make it available to the community online. The blueprints will require that every school building, under the direction of the district, determine whether they teach all students on site, teach all students through new comprehensive distance learning, or utilize a hybrid model.

Telehealth

Increasing access to health care through virtual visits has been well received by patients and healthcare providers alike. In fact, these changes have broken down barriers to health care and increased access for many patients who otherwise found it difficult to access the traditional model of face-to-face care. I will work to ensure telehealth services apply universally and not solely in times of pandemic outbreaks or public health emergencies. 

Thank you to the Lund Report for your report “Panel: Telehealth Use Has Expanded But Access Remains A Problem.”  and to Oregon Health Forum for allowing us to discuss this important topic.  It's time to increase access to telehealth and to fix the digital divide before we further worsen health disparities.  Read about the discussion here,

SBA Disaster Loans Receive Deferment Through December 31, 2020 

The US Small Business Administration announced the SBA will be granting disaster loan deferments through December 2020. Somethings to know: 

This is being automatically applied and requires no further action on your part. Interest still accrues during a deferment.  If you have a Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) in place you must cancel the PAD to prevent it from drafting during the deferment period and set it back up after the deferment period.  

Important information about canceling an existing Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD).

• If you set the PAD up through a third-party financial institution or a BillPay app, the SBA cannot make any modifications including cancellation. You must contact the appropriate office of your financial institution to make any changes.
• If you set it up through https://pay.gov/ neither the SBA nor PAY.GOV can make any changes to the PAD on your behalf.
• The only way the SBA can modify a PAD, including cancellation is if you set the PAD up through the sStay informed about COVID-19:
  • Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Office of Emergency Management lead the state response. 
  • United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.
  • Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response. Servicing office with custody of your file or the SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center.
  • A cancellation can be requested by contacting the servicing office with custody of your file or SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center.
  • Please note, once the deferment period comes to an end you must re-establish your PAD as this will not be done automatically.
  • If you have additional questions or require further assistance, please call our Disaster Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or, for the deaf and hard-of-hearing 1-800-877-8339 (Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time) or email us at: [email protected]

Oregon response: The Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Office of Emergency Management lead the state response.

United States response: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.

Global response: The World Health Organization guides the global response.

Happy Pride!

I was once asked why I care about LGBTQ+ issues and why it's a political problem.  Simply put, no one should be legally discriminated against because of their inherent being; in this case our queer brothers and sisters deserve the same legal protections as straight people. Today the Supreme Court decided to uphold these protections, in a 6-3 decision to protect employees from workplace discrimination.  These protections are rooted in Title XII of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

If you would like to read more about this landmark case and why it is necessary, you can read an article here.

Have Local Questions About City, County or School Board? HD 37 resources:

• Clackamas County
• West Linn
• Washington County
• Tualatin
• King City
• Durham
• TTSD school district
• WLWV school district

Please email me if you have questions, comments, or concerns - my office will do all we can to help you. 

To subscribe or read past newsletters

For up-to-date Covid 19 information from the Oregon Health Authority, please check this link 

Governor Brown’s COVID-19 Resource page. 

And if you want to follow up-to-date statistics from the Oregon Health Authority for case counts, testing counts, breakdowns by geography, demographic, and hospitalization information go here. Under the first dropdown, “COVID-19 Cases in Oregon'' there is a daily update with more information linked just below the total test results:

Thank you for reading! We will get through this together.       

Sincerely,

Rachel Prusak