UPDATE (7:46 p.m. PT) — Oregon state and local health officials reported 49 new known coronavirus cases Friday. There are now 1,785 confirmed cases in Oregon.
Oregon officials also reported six new coronavirus-related deaths Friday.
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Seventy people in the state have died with COVID-19.
The Oregon Health Authority said the latest six deaths were:
An 88-year-old Clackamas County woman who had underlying medical conditions. She tested positive April 15 and died one day later at Adventist Medical Center.
A 95-year-old Linn County man with underlying medical conditions. He tested positive April 2 and died April 14 at his residence.
An 86-year old Linn County man with underlying medical conditions. He tested positive April 6 and died April 15 at his residence.
A 65-year-old Marion County woman with underlying medical conditions, who tested positive March 26 and died April 6 at Salem Hospital.
A 91-year-old Marion County woman with underlying medical conditions. She first tested positive April 12 and died April 16 at her residence.
A 76-year-old Multnomah County woman with underlying medical conditions. She tested positive April 7 and died April 11 at Adventist Medical Center.
Washington eclipses 600 deaths
Clark County Public Health said Thursday that there are seven new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Southwest Washington. There are now 265 confirmed cases there.
To date, 15 people in Clark County have died.
The latest available data from the Washington Department of Health indicated the state had reported 11,445 diagnosed cases of the coronavirus and 603 related deaths.
Oregon businesses have been approved for more than $3.8 billion in federally backed stimulus loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to data posted Friday by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
That amounts to more than 18,700 loans for Oregon businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Washington businesses were approved for almost $7 billion in PPP loans.
The data reflects loan approvals through midday Thursday, the same day the $349 billion federal program ran out of funds. The program’s rollout was plagued with issues for Northwest business owners. Efforts to replenish the emergency loan program for small businesses have so far stalled in Congress.
About 75% of approved loans nationwide were for $150,000 or less.
Portland Clinic furloughs workers, cuts pay
The Portland Clinic announced this week that it has furloughed and reduced hours and pay for a combined more than 400 employees.
According to a WARN notice sent to the state, the clinic said it furloughed 193 employees for 60 days as of April 6 and has temporarily closed two of its clinics to consolidate staffing at its three other locations.
The clinic said it has also reduced hours and pay for 246 employees, including management and partners, and that doctors have taken a 20-30% pay cut for April and May.
The cuts are due to restrictions on non-emergency medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic, Portland Clinic chief executive officer Dick Clark said in the letter to the state.
“We hope to be able to return all these employees to work in June but will comply with state and federal authorities in that regard,” Clark wrote.
Clackamas County’s tourism department undergoes cuts, restructuring
Clackamas County Tourism & Cultural Affairs said Friday that it’s facing restructuring amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The department, which serves as the tourism marketing arm of Clackamas County, said it forecasts a 75% budget cut due to lack of tourism and travel to the area.
Starting May 1, staff for the department will be reduced to two employees. The department itself will be folded into the county administration department.
The department is funded by a 6% lodging tax on hotels, motels, campgrounds and vacation rentals in the county.
Worker at Beaverton unemployment call center tests positive for coronavirus
The Oregon Employment Department alerted union members at a Beaverton call center last week that one of their coworkers had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Portland Tribune reports workers at the Oregon Employment Department have been accusing the agency for weeks of violating Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order.
Employees at that call center, and another in Bend, are in charge of processing Oregonians’ unemployment claims.
The Oregon Employment Department Thursday said it had received more than 50,000 initial unemployment claims last week in addition to more than 240,000 in the prior three weeks.
Oregon lawmakers working on emergency aid package
Oregon lawmakers will likely have a special remote hearing in the coming days to offer aid to groups like renters, hospitals, domestic violence survivors and workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Although a special legislative session was scrapped, lawmakers in both parties said they anticipate the Legislature’s Emergency Board will meet sometime next week to allocate tens of millions of dollars in emergency funds while the state is waiting for federal stimulus payments.
The Emergency Board has around $50 million to work with. House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said she hoped to leave around $20 million in the fund to address future hazards like wildfires.
Oregon governor working to waive unemployment ‘waiting week’
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Thursday that she’s working with the Oregon Employment Department to end “waiting week” — the lag time between when jobless Oregonians file for unemployment benefits and when they start to receive checks.
Brown said the process won’t be simple or quick and will require “thousands of hours of programming to make this change.”
Multnomah County suspends eviction moratorium
In an effort to streamline the rules regarding evictions during the COVID-19 crisis, Multnomah County commissioners decided to suspend the region’s moratorium issued early last month in favor of the statewide rules. Multnomah County renters will still have six months to pay back deferred rent payments.
On all matters besides repayment, residential tenants and landlords should now look to the state’s order, issued by Gov. Kate Brown on April 1. The state’s rules do not require tenants to let their landlords know that they’re not going to be able to pay rent on or before the day it’s due in order to be protected. The state’s rules also do not require the renter to show documentation proving the reason they can’t pay is related to COVID-19.
But Brown’s moratorium makes no mention of a grace period for when deferred rent payments will be due to landlords. So the county is keeping the part of its order that allowed six months for tenants to pay back the money. This period will begin after either the governor’s moratorium expires or the county’s state of emergency ends, whichever is later.
Postcards from the pandemic: Stuck at the dock
Commercial fisherman Clint Funderburg docked his boat in Newport after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the market for Dungeness crab.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
