By Tim Gruver
Oregonians can hit the gym again and take in a movie, but if they go out to eat, they will have to do it outside, Gov. Kate Brown decided late Tuesday.
Currently, 26 of Oregon’s 36 counties remain at “Extreme Risk” for COVID-19 transmission under the four-tiered health metric Brown unveiled late last year. The system is updated every two weeks and based on case and positivity rates as reported by counties to the Oregon Health Authority.
Until Tuesday, counties in “Extreme Risk” were forced to keep gyms, fitness centers, theaters, museums, and other indoor entertainment venues closed.
Under Brown’s latest order, “Extreme Risk” counties can now open all of the above to a maximum of six people for every 500 square feet. Meanwhile, bars and restaurants in the same tier are still restricted to outdoor dining only as they have been since last fall.
The decision has not sat well with Oregon restaurants that have cried foul over the governor’s latest health restrictions after a year of punishing job losses.
Of the 25,500 jobs Oregon lost in December, nearly all were from the hospitality industry, according to the Oregon Employment Department’s last job report.
“It doesn’t make sense to me how I can have all this space to safely spread out my customers in my restaurant and have the government continue to tell me I can’t use it when I know I can do it safely,” said Treva Gambs, owner of Gamberetti’s Italian Restaurants based in Albany and Salem.
CDC guidelines cite indoor dining with reduced capacity and social distancing as a relatively high-risk activity for COVID-19 transmission.
But the past year has seen mixed messages from state officials across the board.
Brown has reopened and shuttered restaurants several times in the past 11 moths over health concerns despite skepticism from state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger last summer.
“In our data, there is no clear evidence of significant transmission in bars or restaurants,” Sidelinger told reporters in July.
The Oregon AFL-CIO’s own database of workplace pandemic outbreaks, based on OHA case rate data, shows “food services and drinking places” account for about 1.5% of all cases to date.
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA) boss Jason Brandt pointed out that data in a Tuesday statement calling once again for Brown to reopen eateries.
“Oregonians in our industry can’t pay their monthly bills with two weeks of employment certainty at a time,” Brandt said. “We must open some indoor dining statewide now, and we can do it safely.”
Health officials nationwide still worry the spread of a COVID-19 strain first discovered in the United Kingdom could accelerate outbreaks if more infectious.
The OHA has stated the new strain, no matter how infectious, is still reason to wear a face mask in public, maintain six feet of distance from other people, and stay home when possible.
On Wednesday, the OHA reported 731 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 new deaths from the pandemic, raising the state’s total cases to 140,063 and the death toll to 1,924.
Those new case numbers are some of the lowest in the state since October.
In the meantime, ORLA, Uber, and other interest groups are lobbying for placement in Oregon’s upcoming Phase 1c of vaccinations which will follow the state’s vaccination of seniors, teachers, and healthcare workers, among others.
Originally published by The Center Square. Republished with permission.
