April 28, 2021 3:40 a.m.

The state director of a national business organization is reacting to Governor Kate Brown moving 15 of the state’s 36 counties back to the Extreme Risk category, starting on Friday.

Anthony Smith, of the National Federation of Independent Business said, “Public health officials continue to identify informal social gatherings as a primary driver of the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, but these new restrictions are once again targeting businesses, even those businesses that have done everything asked of them to keep their employees and customers safe”.

Smith said the approach, “…may be effective in grabbing headlines and thereby raising public awareness that the state’s authority to fight the virus hasn’t yet ended, but it does so by unfairly punishing the small-business owners”.

Smith said while the move may be another pandemic-related inconvenience for some, for those whose livelihoods depend on businesses being open, the news is completely devastating.

The release said in a recent press conference Brown stated she is planning to “lift most restrictions and fully reopen our economy no later than the end of June”.