Oregon extends COVID-19 state of emergency through beginning of March 2021

The previous executive order would have expired on January 2nd, 2021, but has now been extended sixty days to expire on March 3, 2021, KATU 2 reports.

The governor said that the decision to extend the state of emergency was due to the rising infection and death rates in the state.

"As we near 100,000 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, and with hospitals and health care workers stretched to their limits, there is no doubt that COVID-19 continues to pose a public health threat. We continue to lose too many Oregonians to this deadly disease, including over 100 reported deaths in the last two days." Governor Brown said in a statement Thursday.

The Governor's Office added "...the declaration is the legal underpinning for the Governor’s COVID-19 executive orders and the Oregon Health Authority’s health and safety guidance."

Twenty nine counties in the state are considered in the "extreme risk level," one county at a moderate risk level and six counties at a lower risk level; determinations that will last through the end of December, according to the Governor's office.