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April 18, 2020
Dear Neighbors and Friends:
I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and looking out for your neighbors and friends.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
***Please notice that I’m now using an exponential scale for the Y axis on this graph. Doing it this way allows for a more realistic sense of the upward curves of these three data points (positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths).
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Positive Cases: OHA has reported that 59 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at 1,844.
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Total Tests: Today’s reported testing numbers reflect an increase of 1,262 test results from yesterday, bringing the total test results so far to 37,583.
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Ratio: Though the overall numbers are increasing, our ratio of positive results still remains just under 5%. That’s much lower than the national average (still over 19%).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report that the deaths of two more Oregonians were reported yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths in Oregon to 72.
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Hospitalized: The number of Oregonians who have been hospitalized with symptoms, and who have also tested positive for the disease, is now at 449. This is an increase of 22 from yesterday.
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Other Hospital Information:
- Available ICU Beds: 302 (an increase of 28 from yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 2,106 (an increase of 94 from yesterday)
- Patients Currently w CO VID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 290 (a decrease of 11 from yesterday). Of those, 131 have already received a positive test back.
- ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 74 (5 more than yesterday)
- COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 37 (4 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 790 (10 fewer than yesterday)
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Today’s National Numbers:
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PPE:
- The Emergency Coordination Center received 1,188,600 surgical masks and 10,000 face shields in the last 24 hours.
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Testing:
What If We Were to Reopen Harney County?
Harney County is Oregon’s largest county in terms of area (10,226 square miles, larger than six states), but has a population of only 7,393 (75% of the county is actually federal land). There have been no reported COVID-19 infections in the county to date.
With the Governor suggesting last week that she would be open to a regional approach to easing the Stay Home restrictions, Harney County might logically be a place to start. To that end, the two legislators who represent the county—Senator Lynn Findley (R-Vale) and Mark Owens (R-Crane)—have drafted a proposal to the Governor for using Harney County as a pilot project for the first steps in the process.
It’s an interesting and well thought out proposal. You can look at it here. Let me know what you think.
Department of Education Announces Plans for Students in Grades 9, 10, and 11
Last week I reported on the changes that the Oregon Department of Education had announced regarding graduation requirements for the Class of 2020. A few days ago the Department released its next set of guidances to local school districts, this one focused on students in the lower high school grades. Here is a bulletin describing the changes.
There are a couple of notable changes. First, because of the current disruptions, juniors (i.e., the Class of 2021) will not be expected to fulfill the “Essential Skills” part of the diploma requirements, but subsequent graduating classes will. Second, all districts are being directed to move from letter grades to Pass/Incomplete (or local equivalent) for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. Students who have not achieved a passing grade for a course by the end of the school year will receive an Incomplete grade for the course and given the opportunity to continue to work to get the grade up to a Pass.
This is an approach that other states are also taking in response to the pandemic. ODE has been told that colleges and universities won’t penalize students for having P grades on their transcript for this period. You can read the details of the guidance here.
ODE has set up a Distance Learning for All website that addresses a number of issues related to educational responses to the COVID crisis.
If you have any questions about how these directions are being implemented in your district, I’d suggest that you go directly to your district’s COVID website. Here are the links for residents of SD 23:
What About Students Who Are Taking AP Courses?
Many high school students have been taken Advanced Placement courses this year, with the goal of taking end-of-year national exams to show their proficiency. Obviously, the norms for this program have been disrupted along with everything else. Yet according to the College Board, the company that oversees the national AP program, 91% of AP students would still like to be able to take the exams. What are their options? I just received an advisory from the College Board describing the options available for students and their families. You can read about it here.
And If Students Want to Take the SAT/ACT Exams?
I reported last week that Oregon’s universities have chosen to join others around the country in no longer requiring that applicants have taken the SAT or ACT standardized exams. Nevertheless, many students do want to take the exams and are worried about the future. Here is a press release from the people at the SAT with information about their plans for the coming months and ongoing resources that students can access.
Want to See Past Newsletters?
If there was COVID-related information in a past newsletter that you want to go back to, but find you’ve deleted it, you can always go to my legislative website (www.senatordembrow.com), click on “News and Information,” and you’ll find them all there.
AND FINALLY,
Here again are some resources that you will find useful:
If the above links are not providing you with answers to your questions or directing you to the help that you need, please consider me and my office to be a resource. We’ll do our best to assist you or steer you in the right direction.
Best,
 Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23
email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
phone: 503-986-1723
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
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