Good news for both Portland Timbers and Thorns ahead of their weekend matches after Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that she will lift COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining, gym visits, and fan attendance at sporting events and other things.
By dropping to High risk or lower, Oregon showed its first drops in new coronavirus cases and statewide hospitalization rates dipping below 15%, pushing 15 high risk counties including Multnomah to go from extreme to high risk.
This is considered good news for both Timbers and Thorns hosting 15% of the capacity crowd, but without food and beverage services.
As the Timbers will host their arch-rivals the Seattle Sounders in the always contested Cascadia Derby on Sunday, May 9, 2021, at 12:00 pm PST. For the Portland Thorns, they will host Gotham FC in the NWSL Challenge Cup Championship game on Saturday, May 8 at 10:00 AM PST.
For Governor Kate Brown, she based herself on today’s numbers, and keeping a commitment to Oregonians, in a statement, Beginning Friday all counties in Extreme Risk will return to High Risk.
As Oregonians continue to get vaccinated each week, her expectations are that will not be a return of Extreme Risk again for the duration of the pandemic. For both Timbers and Thorns matches, these will be televised nationally.
Portland Timbers
