Watch: Gov. Kate Brown speaks about Oregon’s latest coronavirus updates

Gov. Kate Brown held a press conference Friday to discuss Oregon’s ongoing response to COVID-19. She was joined by representatives from the Oregon Health Authority.

Officials shared the state’s latest coronavirus modeling, which included projected hospitalizations, and also discussed the state’s plans for vaccinations.

This press conference comes after Brown announced Tuesday that 25 of the state’s 36 counties are at “extreme risk” of coronavirus transmission and face the most stringent of new restrictions for businesses and social gatherings for at least two weeks.

Brown’s list named five more counties than originally outlined last week, when the governor unveiled a four-tiered structure for implementing restrictions. Counties are placed in different categories based on case and test-positivity rates, with restrictions growing based on risk level.

Virtually all of the state’s most populous counties, including Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Lane and Jackson, are in the “extreme risk” category.

The restrictions are aimed at slowing hospitalizations, which rose sharply through November. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 stood at 559 on Thursday, with 109 of those people in intensive care.

Watch a replay of the press conference in the video above.

— The Oregonian/OregonLive