October 27, 2020 2:45 p.m.

On Tuesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown extended her declaration of a state of emergency regarding COVID-19 for an additional 60 days, until January 2nd, 2021.

The release said the state of emergency declaration is the legal underpinning for the executive orders the Governor has issued throughout the crisis. Extending the state of emergency declaration allows those orders to stay in effect.

Brown said, “As early as January of this year, the Oregon Health Authority began its COVID-19 preparedness efforts as cases spread overseas. Since then, more than 600 Oregonians and over 200, 000 Americans have died from COVID-19 – and last week, we set a daily record with 550 new cases”.

Brown said extending the COVID-19 state of emergency is not something she does lightly, but she said that not taking action would mean “…an even greater loss of life”. Brown said the second wave of COVID-19 has arrived in the United States and this time is “…hitting all our communities”.

Brown said her goal is to keep Oregon on track to open more schools for in-person instruction for students, and to keep open businesses, communities and economies. Brown said without safety precautions in place, Oregon could quickly see its case counts spike as well.

Brown said, “We must continue to work together and follow the simple steps that have kept us safe throughout this pandemic: washing our hands, wearing face coverings, watching our physical distance, staying home when sick and avoiding social get-togethers, especially indoors”.

Emergency orders are reevaluated every 60 days. The findings of this review process are listed in a link with our story at www.541radio.com: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18537UyQYYmDq35ePysn5Zwgi2hFsLb6l/view