May 5, 2020 3:35 a.m.
On Friday, Governor Kate Brown signed Executive Order 20-24 which extended Oregon’s state of emergency regarding COVID-19 for 60 additional days, unless it is terminated earlier.
The Governor’s Deputy Communications Director, Charles Boyle told News Radio 1240 KQEN more about what that means. Boyle said the state of emergency declaration is the legal underpinning for the executive orders the Governor has issued “to keep Oregonian’s healthy and safe throughout this crisis”. That would include the Stay Home, Save Lives executive order, as well as her orders to help address the economic impact of the crisis, such as the moratorium on residential and commercial evictions, according to Boyle.
Boyle said extending the state of emergency declaration until July 6th, allows those orders to stay in effect. However, the Governor can still lift her orders as the COVID-19 situation warrants, as she recently did with her order delaying non-urgent medical procedures.
Boyle told KQEN the Governor has made it clear that “our efforts to move forward with safely reopening Oregon will be incremental, and based on science and data”. He said the new order “allows that process of reopening Oregon safely and carefully to continue”.