January 29, 2021 3:50 a.m.

House Republican Leader Christine Drazan is asking Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority to reverse a decision to limit the release of COVID-19 information and statistics.

In a statement issued Thursday night Drazen said: “Yesterday the Oregon Health Authority announced suddenly that the agency would no longer publicize key information related to COVID-19 deaths in Oregon”. Drazen said that information has been released for months without incident and “…is critical to allowing the public to understand how and who the virus is impacting”.

Drazen said Oregonians have been asked to sacrifice so much in so many ways and “…deserve access to all relevant available information”.

Drazen said the decision to suspend access to key information calls into question the Governor’s commitment to transparency and accountability “…at a time when state-level decisions have made Oregon a national outlier by ignoring CDC guidelines and dismissing a science-based approach to vaccine distribution”. Drazen said to maintain trust and preserve transparency, Governor Brown and OHA “…must reverse yesterday’s decision and commit to providing clear, consistent, and timely data in all categories moving forward”.

A number of media outlets in the state have also questioned the change in what information is being released by OHA.