Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, an Emergency Room Doctor, Signed Onto a Letter Calling for People to Stay Home

360 Portland doctors and other health professionals in an open letter to Vice President Mike Pence called for key federal action to address novel coronavirus.

A restaurant worker cleans a door handle in Southeast Portland. (Joy Bogdan)
By Rachel Monahan

As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown weighs whether to close down bars and restaurants or institute a curfew, at least 360 medical professionals are asking U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for more dramatic action to keep people apart—or, in the parlance of the pandemic, to engage in more social distancing.

Those medical professionals signed an open letter tonight calling for federal action on the new coronavirus outbreak.

"No one should leave their homes in impacted regions except for medical care, essential supplies, essential work services and compelling other reasons that are clearly defined," they write. "Virtual work options should be encouraged for all businesses, whenever possible."

Among the signatories are Multnomah County commissioner Sharon Meieran, an emergency-medicine doctor, and Lisa Reynolds, a pediatrician, who is running for the state legislature.

They also call for eliminating evictions and foreclosures "until COVID-19 has been contained"; closing the schools; tracking at the state level anyone who is in self-quarantine.

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