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Oregon reports 178 new COVID-19 cases today, with 43 of them in Multnomah County as the state's population center awaits approval to reopen tomorrow.
Both the statewide cases and Multnomah County figures appear to be one-day records since the pandemic began. Yet Multnomah is not even the state's leading county for new cases today—that's Clackamas County, which began reopening nearly three weeks ago and is now seeing a spike in cases.
The new one-day record statewide comes four days after the previous record was set: on Sunday, June 7, when the Oregon Health Authority reported 146 new cases. The Portland Tribune reported that the percentage of tests that come back positive is also rising, to 3.4%.
The new numbers were disclosed shortly before Gov. Kate Brown is expected to announce whether Multnomah County and its largest city, Portland, can enter the first stage of reopening. Restaurant dining rooms, bars and beauty salons would be allowed to open under new rules starting tomorrow.
As WW reported Wednesday, Multnomah County officials have pursued a reopening strategy despite several warning signs that the COVID-19 threat has not subsided. Cases are rising both locally and statewide. County officials say the Portland area has met its benchmarks for testing and contact tracing the disease, making it possible to reopen public spaces with less risk of outbreak.
Yet the decision by County Chair Deborah Kafoury and other officials to seek a reopening also suggests that county leaders no longer believe it is politically feasible to keep Portlanders at home, especially after the sight of massive crowds marching against police violence for the past two weeks.
Multnomah County representatives are expected to comment on the new numbers shortly.
