The Oregon Health Authority notified Baker County that the county is now on the list of counties on a “two-week pause” of social activities. This takes effect November 11 and lasts through November 25.

On Friday, November 6, Governor Kate Brown announced that new measures pausing social activities to help stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 would be implemented in counties that were experiencing an increase in community transmission.

Governor Brown stated, “The Two-Week Pause measures are designed to reduce the number of people we interact with and the frequency of those encounters.” These measures include: reducing restaurant capacity to 50 people (including customers and staff), urging businesses to mandate work from home to the greatest extent possible, limiting social gatherings to your household or no more than 6 people if the gathering includes those from outside your household.

Revised OHA guidance for counties on the pause list including limiting social gatherings to no more than 6 people and restaurant occupancy to no more than 50 people including staff can be found HERE 

The two-week pause measures will apply to counties that are experiencing a case rate above 200 per 100,000 people over a two-week period, or more than 60 cases over a two-week period for counties with less than 30,000 people. Counties being placed on the Two-Week Pause include: Jackson, Malheur, Marion, Multnomah, Umatilla, Baker, Clackamas, Union and Washington.

Governor Brown’s full remarks can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-q7KEAXEcryFx6pGoNRsvrM4DTWTLdGs/view. These measures will replace the County Watch List process that was implemented in July.