Today, Governor Brown added four additional counties, including Union County, to the list of counties to be on a Two-Week Pause of social activities to help stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. These “pause” measures will be in effect for two weeks, from Nov. 11 through Nov. 25, for Malheur, Marion, Multnomah, Jackson, Umatilla, Washington, Baker, Union and Clackamas counties.
Returning our school-aged students to in-person instruction is a priority for the Governor. These pause efforts are designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help more counties meet the metrics for in-person instruction.
The Two-Week Pause measures include:
· Urging all businesses to mandate work from home to the greatest extent possible.
· Pausing long-term care facility visits that take place indoors to protect staff and residents.
· Reducing maximum restaurant capacity to 50 people (including customers and staff) for indoor dining, with a maximum party size of six. Continuing to encourage outdoor dining and take out.
· Reducing the maximum capacity of other indoor activities to 50 people (includes gyms, fitness organizations/studios, bowling alleys, ice rinks, indoor sports, pools, and museums). This does not impact group size requirements in K-12 schools and Limited In-Person Instruction;
· Limiting social gatherings to your household, or no more than six people if the gathering includes those from outside your household, reducing the frequency of those social gatherings (significantly in a two-week period), and keeping the same six people in your social gathering circle.
This effort does not directly impact school operations under ODE’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance or the metrics for opening to in-person instruction, including the exception for Limited In-Person Instruction (LIPI).
It has been shown that schools can mitigate risk of transmission when they implement the public health protocols in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance. Schools providing in-person instruction or activities in the counties listed above shall continue to partner with LPHAs to respond appropriately to any local outbreaks.