COVID-19 is spreading in Oregon and will be with us for a while. But we have the ability to prevent the virus from owerwhelming our communities.
Oregon has a framework toreduce transmission and protecting Oregonians from COVID-19 until a vaccine can be distributed.
There has been recent promising news on the treatment and vaccine front, but these developments alone will not protect us from COVID-19 and allow us to get back to normal. We are continuing to build up testing capacity and our public health system continues to investigate cases, do contract tracing and provide supports for those who need to isolate or quarantine to recover and protect others.
All Oregonians all have a part to play by continuing to:
Gather only in small groups
Keep at least six feet away from others outside your household
Avoid touching your faces
Find the Status of Activities in Your County
Note: All activities are subject to more detailed, sector-specific guidance. Subject to more detailed sector-specific guidance, all activities assume mask usage, minimum physical distancing, provision for hand hygiene and enhanced cleaning protocols. Congregate homeless sheltering, Outdoor Recreation & Sports, Youth Programs, Childcare, K12 Schools (including sports), Higher Education and current Division 1 and Professional Athletics exemptions operate under sector specific guidance for all risk levels.
Understand Your County's Risk Level
As we live with COVID-19 through the fall, winter and into the spring, risk reduction measures are important to limit the spread of disease, reduce risk in communities more vulnerable to serious illness and death and to help conserve hospital capacity (especially staffed ICU bed capacity) so that all Oregonians continue to have access to quality care.
Disease spread and percent positivity determine the Risk Level for activities allowed. Some of this data includes case rates for larger population counties or absolute cases for smaller population counties. Other metrics serve as additional data for context. Counties must remain in a risk level for at least 4 weeks before being moving to a less restrictive phase, and must propose community mitigation measures to minimize risk based on disease spread. The Oregon Healthy Authority and the Governor’s Office use this data to assign risk level, but counties may choose to remain in a more restrictive risk level for the safety of their community.
Table explaining basic factors that inform risk level.
| Spread (plus other factors) |
Equals | Risk Level assigned
|
|---|
| Minimal spread | = |
Lower Risk |
|---|
| Moderate spread | = |
Moderate Risk |
|---|
| Substantial spread | = |
High Risk |
|---|
| Widespread | = |
Extreme Risk |
|---|
Understand how data is used to make decisions
As preventing COVID-19 becomes the “new normal,” we rely on science and data to help us weather this pandemic. And, as we learn more about the virus itself, we are changing the way we use data about the spread of disease to inform guidance to reduce risk of transmission in the community.
We know that COVID-19 and the measures we are taking to control the spread have been difficult – impacting our mental health and the economy. Some communities in our state – communities of color, individuals with disabilities and the elderly – have been especially impacted by COVID-19. But by working together we can reduce the spread of disease, allow more students and staff to return to school with lower risk and start to revitalize the economy. Below is the framework guiding our approach to reduce transmission and protect Oregonians from COVID-19.
Public Health Indicators
We use indicators of disease spread to determine which restrictive measures will reduce risk from COVID-19. The principles for reducing risk inform sector specific guidance to protect workers, customers and others in these sectors.
Indicators
| Applies to |
Minimal Spread |
Moderate Spread |
Substantial Spread |
Widespread
|
|---|
| Rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 over 14 days | Counties with
30,000+ people | <50.0
| 50.0 to <100.0 | 100.0 to <200.0 | ≥200.0
|
|---|
| Number of COVID-19 cases over 14 days | Counties with
<30,000 people | <30
| 30 to <45 | 45 to 59 | ≥60 |
|---|
| Percentage test positivity over previous 14 days | All counties | <5.0% | 5.0% to <8.0% | 8.0% to <10.0% | ≥10.0% |
|---|
The following indicators will be presented alongside data on disease spread for context of early warning, severe disease, public health response, and health equity impacts.
| Indicator | Metric |
|---|
| Disease Activity Presented for Context of Early Warning and Severe Disease |
|---|
COVID Like Illness (CLI) indicator, to monitor for early warning trends
| Weekly statewide trend presented
|
|---|
Number of county residents newly admitted to the hospital by week
| Presented for all counties with five or more cases, including trend
|
|---|
Number of congregate living facilities with active outbreaks
| (link to weekly report)
|
|---|
| Public Health and Health Care Response |
|---|
Percentage of COVID-19 cases with follow-up initiated within 24 hours
| Presented with trend |
|---|
Percentage of COVID-19 cases traced to a known per week
| Presented with trend
|
|---|
| Healthy Equity Considerations (developing metric_ |
|---|
Vulnerability index being developed internally, and now there are additional national metrics that have been designed. Will require community engagement before release
| Presented with trend |
|---|
1If there is an outbreak in a DOC facility, the AIC’s will be manually excluded from cases rates and cases counts in that county, if this results in the county moving to a lower level of disease spread. The action will be noted as well.