States Begin Lifting Restrictions On Elective Health Care—But With Major Changes

TOPLINE

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Oregon Governor Kate Brown joined 11 other states on Thursday by announcing they would gradually lift restrictions on elective health care services, with Beshear adding that providers “will operate vastly different than they did before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019.”

KEY FACTS

Chief Critic

In an interview with Willamette Week, Dr. Sharon Meieran, an emergency room doctor in Multnomah County, Oregon, said resources in some areas of the state are “inadequate” to accommodate elective procedures. Kevin Mealy, a spokesman for the Oregon Nurses Association, agreed, stating that it is “not safe for [certain facilities] to resume non-urgent surgeries.”

Interestingly, Democrat Kate Brown got words of support from a political adversary. Oregon House Republican Leader Christine Drazan celebrated the decision, stating “Oregonians will once again have access to necessary medical procedures. While this is just a small step toward getting Oregon back to work, it is an important one.”

Tangent

Kentucky’s coronavirus response may have looked extraordinarily different had it not been for Democrat Steve Beshear’s 0.37% margin of victory in the 2019 Kentucky Gubernatorial election. 

His Republican opponent, Governor Mike Bevin, dismissed the severity of coronavirus in early March, tweeting, “BREAKING NEWS: Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling… Everyone is advised to take cover immediately and to bring lots of toilet paper with them when they do so.” Beshear, by contrast, was widely praised for his measured and early response to the pandemic.

Big Number 

3,481. Kentucky was up to 3,481 cases of coronavirus on Thursday with 191 total deaths, Beshear announced. That outpaces Oregon, which reported 2,127 cases and 83 deaths.