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Among the large gatherings still taking place in the midst of the novel coronavirus' arrival in Portland: a trade show hosted this morning by Multifamily NW, the guild of Portland's largest landlords, at the Oregon Convention Center.
A Multifamily NW executive said the organization was following the lead of the Oregon Health Authority.
"We've been closely monitoring all alerts and information from the Center for Disease Control and the Oregon Health Authority and will continue to follow their lead," Deborah Imse, Multifamily NW's executive director, said in an email this morning before the event. "As you know, Governor Brown has declared a state of emergency around COVID-19 to utilize more resources for containment of new cases, but OHA has not advised the cancellation of large-scale events. We expect less than 300 people to attend the Reverse Tradeshow."
Multifamily NW is not alone among groups that have plans for gatherings at the Oregon Convention Center this month. More than a dozen groups remain slated to use that large venue, including the Multnomah County Democrats and Chess for Success, a chess tournament for kids.
But other groups have decided to cancel their events.
Related: Only a Handful of Conventions Have Cancelled Portland Trips
Metro officials say they are responding to outbreak by cleaning surfaces repeatedly and by providing hand sanitizer throughout venues, but they haven't decided to cancel the conventions.
"We're deferring to public health authorities," Heather Back, a spokesperson for Metro. "As you can imagine, we're constantly checking in with our public health authorities."
But there is precedent for public agencies canceling large public meetings. Washington Gov. Jay Islee today announced plans to restrict gatherings of more than 250 people. Also today, the city of Portland canceled a public gathering citing the risk of spreading the virus. The Portland Building has been scheduled to formally reopen.
"Experts tell us that large gatherings create opportunities to transmit the virus which compromises the safety of senior citizens, people with underlying health conditions and others who are especially vulnerable," wrote Heather Hafer, a spokesperson for the city's Office of Management and Finance, in an advisory to the media. "Because of this, the event is delayed until further notice."