PORTLAND, Ore. — Cases of COVID-19, a new strain of coronavirus, began popping up in the United States in January. The first case in Oregon was reported on Feb. 28.
We post a new blog post every day that tracks the daily changes in Oregon and Southwest Washington as we get them. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LATEST UPDATES
BY THE NUMBERS
As of Thursday evening:
- Oregon: 121 deaths, 2,957 cases, 70,426 tests (67,469 negative) Latest Oregon numbers
- Washington: 870 deaths, 15,905 cases, 224,813 tests (208,908 negative) Latest Washington numbers
- United States: 74,844 deaths, 1,244,119 cases Latest U.S. numbers
- World: 267,233 deaths, 3,813,123 cases Latest global numbers
REAL-TIME UPDATES
11:00 p.m.
- Portland EMT returns home after helping with coronavirus response in New Jersey. Learn more
7:15 p.m.
- The pandemic has brutally gutted budgets for the city of Portland and Multnomah County, forcing tens of millions of dollars in cuts heading into the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Learn more
6 p.m.
- Following Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement that large gatherings and events will not be allowed until September at the earliest as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Oregon State Fair announced that this year’s fair is officially canceled. Learn more
3:30 p.m.
- Oregon health officials on Thursday reported six more deaths of COVID-19 in the state. The death toll in Oregon is now 121 people. Learn more
- The Oregon Air National Guard will be making flyovers over hospitals and other places in Oregon on Friday. Learn more
- Summer camps may reopen May 15; large gatherings canceled until at least September in Oregon. Learn more
- Do Oregonians have to wear masks in public? Learn more
1:05 p.m.
- Another 19,600 Oregonians filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to data released by the Oregon Employment Department. There have been 381,800 Oregonians who have filed unemployment claims in the past six weeks, since the coronavirus outbreak began. Learn more
12:40 p.m.
- Gov. Kate Brown announced new guidance and a new, three-phase plan for counties and businesses as part of her framework to restart public life in Oregon. Learn more
Highlights of the plan include:
- Counties with few or no COVID-19 cases could enter Phase 1 by May 15
- Employees in businesses where social distancing cannot be maintained are required to wear face coverings
- Childcare facilities and some summer schools and camps can open May 15, with social distancing and other new restrictions in place
- Concerts, sporting events and large gatherings will be canceled through at least September
9 a.m.
- The Washington County Fair has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. "There are too many unknowns related to keeping the community safe right now," said Washington County Fair Board President Gary Seidel. The fair board said it looks forward to bringing the fair back in 2021.
7:45 a.m.
- Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will have a press conference at 11 a.m. today to discuss new guidelines for the reopening of Oregon. KGW will live stream the press conference on kgw.com and our social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter).
- It's been just over two months since the world changed so much, so let's revisit three important areas of this pandemic and examine how things are going in Oregon. Learn more
- Portland Public Schools voted to furlough all staff for one day a week through July to save money during the pandemic and then use money from unemployment and the federal bailout to backfill their pay. Learn more
- Nearly 3.2 million U.S. workers applied for unemployment last week, raising the total layoffs since the coronavirus struck to 33 million. Oregon's unemployment numbers will be released later this morning. Learn more
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