Tanzina Vega: In Oregon, like so many states across the US, COVID hospitalizations are now at record levels. On Sunday alone, health officials reported more than 800 new cases of COVID-19. Just two days earlier, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the disease, hearkening back to the early days of the pandemic.
Starting today, there will be a two-week freeze in Oregon, limiting restaurants and bars to take out only, and closing gyms, museums, and other places of indoor and outdoor recreation. Already the new restrictions are being met with backlash, some business owners, especially in the restaurant industry, and some elected officials have criticized the decision, with some worried about what it will mean for their businesses survival. What do the new restrictions mean for the state? To answer that and more, we went right to the source.
Kate Brown: My name is Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon.
Tanzina: Here's what governor Brown told me about why the two week-freeze was necessary.
Kate: Hospitalizations are rising sharply in Oregon and in fact, our Metro area hospitals are being stretched to capacity and some have voluntarily begun to stop surgeries to preserve beds and staff capacity. These measures are necessary to give Oregon a fighting chance to stop COVID-19 cases.
Tanzina: Governor, are you also concerned about the potential shortages for medical personnel from other parts of the country, given that so much of the country is now battling COVID-19 much more than it was in the beginning of the pandemic?
Kate: Absolutely. My top priority as governor is to save lives and keep Oregonians healthy. We use science and data here to make decisions, but as you know we're surrounded by hotspots from Idaho to Washington to California. Each one of us can make a difference. We're truly all in this together and we all have to take action to keep ourselves healthy, our families healthy, and our communities healthy.
Tanzina: Governor, you mentioned the state of California and Washington. You also recently signed a new coronavirus travel advisory in conjunction with those two states and those two governors. What's the hope there?
Kate: Our is that we will send a very clear message to folks living on the West Coast. We want you to travel, but we want you to do it safely and we ask you to quarantine for two weeks, both prior to your departure and upon your return. The virus obviously spreads very readily from person-to-person and it's critically important that we protect our vulnerable populations, our elderly, our folks with underlying health conditions, and appreciate the willingness of my fellow governors on the West Coast to take immediate action.
Tanzina: There are also limits that you've put on private social gatherings, limiting those to six people, but governor, with those private gathering limitations and the travel advisory restrictions, how are you expecting to enforce those, particularly as we head into the first of a couple of holidays, namely Thanksgiving?
Kate: I've directed the Oregon state police to work with local law enforcement to enforce gathering what limits, but it's much in the same way as local officers respond to noise complaints for loud parties, for example, and issue citations. I'm not expecting law enforcement to be going door-to-door, but certainly, in cases where there's a flagrant violation, people should and will be cited.
Tanzina: What's the threshold you're looking for in terms of determining whether further restrictions will be needed?
Kate: Look, I've said all along, I'm not going to be the party police. This is really up to individuals to take responsibility for their actions. What we know is that informal social gatherings are superspreader events, so I've asked Oregonians to limit their social gatherings, keep it to their own household and no more than six people and no more than two households. I know this is really, really hard. We all want to spend Thanksgiving with our families.
I have to tell you, we have great family events, friends, family, fabulous food, we play games. But I would rather celebrate in a very small group this Thanksgiving and then have a fabulous festivity next Thanksgiving and see all of my family members live through this pandemic.
Tanzina: There are obviously other issues that are happening here in terms of the COVID-19 impact and part of that is the economic struggles that many people are facing. There's no coronavirus aid in sight from Congress. How are you planning to help those Oregonians who are struggling right now financially?
Kate: When I issued our "Stay home. Save lives" order in March, there were a couple of things. Number one, Oregonians didn't have pandemic fatigue. Our businesses were more resilient and we knew then that Congress would step up and deliver a coronavirus relief package. Here, obviously, we're all tired of the pandemic, so there's that level of fatigue, and our businesses are much less resilient. Oregon is truly a small business state. Our small businesses are the heart and soul of our economy, they are the lifeblood of who we are as a people.
I am going to be investing $50 million of coronavirus relief funds into our [unintelligible 00:05:35] small businesses to make sure that they can survive but the other piece is really, really important. We are reaching a cliff, a coronavirus relief fund cliff, our resources from the federal government run out on December 30th, 2020. We need Congress to act. We need them to put aside the political differences.
I don't give a damn if you're Democrat or Republican, we need you to work together in Congress and deliver a second coronavirus relief package to provide aid to the states and local governments, to our tribes that are suffering, to our businesses, large and small that have borne the brunt of this pandemic.
Tanzina: In addition to that, many communities are hurting. Many people are facing-- As eviction moratoriums run out throughout the country, many people are also facing the possibility of losing their residences or their homes. What's the state of evictions so far in Oregon?
Kate: We have an eviction moratorium in place till the end of the year. I am working with the state legislature to come up with a package to address not only the moratorium side, but frankly we have a lot of small landlords who are hurting financially because their tenants can't pay the rent. We need a package that addresses both needs. I am hopeful that we can put politics aside and do what's right for Oregon, but Congress also needs to step up here.
I sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Senator McConnell, outlining specific needs that we have, and we desperately need $350 million in rental relief. These are not resources that the states have. Every state has this level of need. Unlike the federal government, we can't borrow money. We have to balance our budget. We've stepped up in ways we've never seen before to address the pandemic. We need Congress to take action, sooner rather than later.
Tanzina: Portland, Oregon has become the center of, at least over the summer, a lot of the social justice protests that we've seen unfold across the country. The state of Oregon become one of the places where militia groups have become increasingly dangerous. What is your response to those militia groups and others who would in some ways be considered domestic terrorists?
Kate: Look, I have been very, very clear, these nationalist groups are unwelcome here in Oregon. Their hate and violence is unacceptable. I've worked with elected officials from both sides of the aisle to denounce their work. Frankly, our President should be doing the same. I look forward to welcoming an administration that will denounce white supremacy and white nationalism. This is the United States of America.
Tanzina: Governor, how are you dealing with the people, including other Oregon elected officials, who oppose your restrictions? What's your response to the push back?
Kate: I am continuing to make decisions based on science and data. I know that there are people who are in denial, that this virus is real, but that's unfortunate that they see it that way. I expect our elected officials to hold themselves to a higher standards and make sure that our constituents, wherever they live in Oregon, are getting the information they need to protect their families and themselves from COVID-19.
Tanzina: Governor Kate Brown of Oregon. Thank you so much and best of luck to you.
Kate: Thanks, Tanzina. Be safe out there.
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