Report: 8 Oregon counties failing to contain COVID-19 should go into lockdown now
OSPIRG study says Jefferson County among those with data in 'red'
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A public interest research group studying state COVID-19 data is calling for an immediate lockdown of eight counties, including Jefferson County, for at least two weeks for failing to contain the virus.
The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) released a fact sheet on Friday analyzing the performance of Oregon’s 36 counties against three critical benchmarks for COVID-19 containment: (1) daily case reports, measured on a per capita adjusted basis; (2) testing volume, measured by test positivity over the most recent week of available data; and (3) success of contact tracing efforts, measured by the percentage of cases that could not be traced to a known source over the most recent week of available data.
Based on these findings, the group is calling for immediate action to stop the spread of COVID-19 by returning eight hard-hit counties (rated “Red” or “Failing”) to lock down for at least two weeks.
OSPIRG also warned that 12 additional (“Yellow”) counties were at risk of losing control of the virus in their communities, including Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties.
“There’s no reason to wait to take action -- we’ve already seen the consequences of delay in Texas, Arizona, Florida, and California,” said Numi Lee Griffith, OSPIRG’s health care advocate. “The surge in cases we’re seeing now is the result of infections that occurred weeks ago.
"Some businesses - bars, and indoor dining especially - cannot be safely operated, with the level of spread we’re seeing throughout the US,” she continued. “Without a nationwide ban on non-essential interstate travel, we need to shut down these high-risk businesses.”
NewsChannel 21 reached out Saturday to Gov. Kate Brown's office and the Oregon Health Authority for a response or comment on the report, but has not yet heard back from either.
