Wednesday, April 1, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon sees record unemployment
Search and Rescue:
Curtail risky activities
Deschutes County
Sheriff9s Office Search and
Rescue (SAR) is asking
Central Oregonians to cur-
tail outdoor activities that
put them at risk of needing
rescue. The agency is con-
cerned about the potential
impact on search and rescue
volunteers and on medi-
cal services as the region
deals with the COVID-19
pandemic.
<We are currently see-
ing many people turn to the
outdoors for recreation and
exercise right now, which
is allowed by Governor
Brown9s executive order
20-12,= said DCSO Public
Information Officer Sgt.
William Bailey. <I under-
stand that the ability to
be outside and exercising
helps maintain our mental
and physical health dur-
ing these trying times. This
increased outdoor recreation
has recently led to numerous
lost and/or stuck motorists
on snow-packed forest roads
as well as lost hikers, snow-
shoers and snowmobilers.=
Rescues are more compli-
cated right now because of
COVID-19 restrictions.
<The majority of our
search and rescue missions
are carried out by our DCSO
SAR volunteers,= Sgt. Bailey
explained. <They are selfless
heroes who like everyone
else across the nation are
prioritizing their own health
and the needs of their fami-
lies during the COVID-19
pandemic. If you get lost
or injured and require SAR
assistance, you are plac-
ing the SAR volunteers in
a position where they may
have to break social distanc-
ing requirements to rescue
you. You may be potentially
taking the SAR volunteers
out of the rotation should
quarantine protocols become
necessary.=
The SAR is asking all
outdoor users not take part
in high-risk activities. These
activities include backpack-
ing, climbing, backcountry
7
skiing and snowmobil-
ing, or any other activ-
ity that puts people at risk
for potential rescue. Those
who venture out are asked
to stay on well-established
trails, do not go alone, tell
a responsible person the
details of their plan, and take
extra supplies in case of an
emergency.
<You will also be rely-
ing upon an already stressed
healthcare system should
you be injured, which will
divert fire and hospital
resources away from their
pandemic response,= Sgt.
Bailey said.
Additionally, travelers are
urged to avoid snow-packed
forest roads, as snow depths
are hard to determine at
times and manageable turn-
around points can be rare.
Sheriff L. Shane Nelson
said, <Please do your part
to keep yourself, your fam-
ily, and our community safe.
We are all in this together
to do our part to lessen the
effects of the COVID-19
pandemic. If you choose to
go outside to exercise and
recreate right now, we want
you to be conservative and
take the extra steps to do so
safely.=
During the week of March
15, the Oregon Employment
Department received more
than 76,500 initial claims for
Unemployment Insurance
benefits.
During the first three
days of the week of March
22, initial claims have been
tracking at record levels
again. This comes as a sharp
increase from 4,900 initial
claims filed during the week
of March 8.
The
Employment
Department is taking several
measures to meet the unprec-
edented need for unem-
ployment benefits, which
is largely due to reduced
hours and layoffs related to
the COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic.
The
Employment
Department has enhanced
the performance and stability
of the online claims system.
Over the past two weeks,
the agency also hired new
employees, shifted exist-
ing staff working in other
program areas, and trained
them, doubling the number
of employees working on
unemployment claims.
Record levels of unem-
ployment claims cause
longer wait times, as the
department works to gather
and process the details fac-
toring into each individual
Serving Sisters Since 1976
claimant9s eligibility and
weekly benefit amount. We
encourage Oregonians who
have lost their jobs to file
claims using the online sys-
tem to lower wait times by
phone, https://secure.emp.
state.or.us/ocs4/index.cfm.
A new video from the
Employment Department
shows step-by-step details
for filing an online claim,
h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e .
com/watch?v=mUhgL-
FKIVE&feature=youtu.be.
The department also con-
tinues to offer job seeker and
employer services, includ-
ing more phone and vir-
tual options for appropriate
social distancing.
The
Employment
D e p a r t m e n t 9s C O V I D -
19 webpage (https://
g o v s t a t u s . e g o v. c o m /
ORUnemployment_
COVID19) serves as a
resource guide. It includes
an overview of the unem-
ployment insurance pro-
gram, along with questions
and answers about spe-
cific COVID-19 coronavi-
rus-related situations and
unemployment benefits.
The
Employment
Department has also
enacted temporary rules,
adding more flexibility for
unemployment benefits to
help Oregonians affected
by COVID-19 business
closures.
Of the 76,500 ini-
tial claims filed, the
Employment Department
has detailed information for
the 22,800 claims processed
during the week.
The leisure and hos-
p i t a l i t y s e c t o r, w h i c h
includes hotels and res-
taurants, saw the greatest
number of initial claims
for unemployment ben-
efits (10,700). This reflects
some of the early impact
of public health and safety
measures.
Many initial claims also
came from workers in health
care (2,100) and retail trade
(1,400).
Multnomah, Washington,
and Lane counties had the
largest number of processed
claims during the week of
March 15.
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