BREAKING: Marion & Polk Counties Head to Extreme Risk Classification

In the extreme risk category, restaurants, bars, fitness centers and other businesses are required to alter operations again. You can find all regulations by risk category on this chart.

 

Given the surge and increased numbers across the board, the Governor has decided to remove the “warning week” for the next three weeks and the “buffer week” will also be on pause. Movement week data will now be released on the following schedule:

 

 

Additional updates from the Governor’s office:

 

 

Governor Brown did state that with the vaccination effort underway, this should be the last round of restrictions which she will impose on our business communities around the state and the current round of regulations should last no longer than three weeks. County risk classifications are evaluated on a weekly basis and based on the most current public health data available. The next round of county assessments will take place on Tuesday, May 4th. You can review the most current county by county data sets here.

 

“In partnership with many of Oregon’s key business associations and advocacy groups, leaders across Oregon boldly declare that we are far too deep into the COVID-19 pandemic to be again targeting any one or two specific industries with arbitrary regulations. The data simply does not provide evidence showing that restaurants, gyms & fitness clubs, and entertainment venues are responsible for the surge in COVID virus rates or necessitated hospitalization. The Oregon small business community has consistently kept both customers and employees safe throughout the pandemic. Our restaurant and fitness industries in Oregon have been asked to withstand the worst of these targeted restrictions and the numerous changes to mandates and regulations. The most recent data from Marion County on COVID-19 rates demonstrates that the restaurant and retail industries combined make up less than 1% of the spreading of cases in Marion County. Now is the time for state leadership to immediately prioritize legislation which directly helps our Oregon small businesses remain viable after this third round of limited capacity and indoor seating shutdowns. As a community built on small businesses, the best way we can help our locally owned establishments is by keeping our dollars local with Salem-owned companies. Our Salem small business community has always stood behind the various needs of our Salem residents, be it our local nonprofit organizations, churches, youth sports, our educators and their students, and countless other efforts which insure an inclusive and engaged community. Now is OUR time to stand behind these businesses facing the most daunting restrictions. If you have the means to purchase meals-to-go or delivery, we humbly encourage you to do so in the weeks ahead – our local restaurants are depending on us to insure they are open-for-business years into the future.”