Unfortunately, the state only updates its public health indicators dashboard once a week, on Thursdays. In the case of Multnomah County, which put in its application to reopen on June 6th, with a target reopening date of Friday, June 12th, this leaves less than 24 hours for third parties to evaluate the state’s decision before it moves forward.
It’s possible that the increasing numbers are, as OHA has suggested, merely indicative of the significant improvements the state has made in testing and contact tracing capacity over the last 2 months. However, it would be deeply irresponsible for the state to continue moving forward without taking the time to evaluate the worrisome trends we’ve seen this week. Multnomah County should not be approved for Phase I until cases begin to fall again.