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April 28, 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.
The big news today has long been awaited for thousands of Oregonians: The Employment Department announced today that it is at last able to accept applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This is for those workers who previously could not apply for UI benefits because they never paid into the system. However, the CARES Act opens up benefits to these previously excluded workers (self-employed, independent contractors, Gig workers, those who previously lacked enough qualifying work hours).
We were warned that the new application process is still largely manual and clunky, but they wanted to get it going, and they promise to keep working on it and make it more automated. Aside from the mechanics of processing the claims, the department has had to deal with what seem to be ever-evolving federal requirements: they just received the “final” set of guidelines for the new program in a 25-page document last night. Whew.
You can read all the details in the body of the newsletter.
I’m sad to say that today the OHA reported the largest one-day death count that I can remember: seven more Oregonians were reported to have lost their lives to the virus. Ironically, you’ll also see one of the lowest numbers of new cases in the last month, at 33. We can’t make too much of one-day numbers, as they can reflect all sorts of anomalies. But eventually, a reduced number of new cases should be reflected after a few weeks in a reduced number of deaths. Let’s hope for both.
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 31 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at 2,385.
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Total Tests: The total number of tests in Oregon now stands at 52.242 That’s an increase of just 1,044 tests, quite a reduction from yesterday’s big increase.
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Ratio: The percentage of positive results still remains under 5% (4.6% to be exact!). That remains much lower than the national average (coming down, but still at 17.3%).
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Deaths: I’m afraid I have to report that 7 more Oregonians have died from the disease, which I believe is our largest one-day number to date. The total number of deaths in Oregon is now 99.
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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 565. This is an increase of 11 from yesterday.
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Other Hospital Information:
- Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 243 (a decrease of 4 from yesterday). Of those, 116 have already received a positive test back.
- Available ICU Beds: 293 (a decrease of 3 from yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 2,049 (an increase of 15 from yesterday)
- ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 65 (2 fewer than yesterday)
- COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 28 (4 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 784 (6 fewer than yesterday)
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Today’s National Numbers:
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PPE:
- The Emergency Coordination Center has received 50,000 new face shields in the last 24 hours.
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Additional Quick Updates:
- Although our state economist is still working on projections for what will certainly be a poor revenue forecast, the Governor has directed all agencies to draw up plans for cutting 8.5% of their current budgets. This level of cuts would potentially result in a total reduction of $1.847 billion. She is hoping that that amount, in combination with what had been projected to be an ending fund balance of more than $1 billion will get us through the current biennium (which expires June 30, 2021).
- Many of us are looking forward eagerly to the rollout of new serology tests will that will indicate the presence of antibodies in a person’s blood, demonstrating that they had at one time been infected by COVID. Unfortunately, as an article from Kaiser Health News in today’s Oregonian suggests, “Such high hopes, however, are running smack into the roadblocks of reality.” It’s a good summary of where we are with these new tests.
- I’ve just learned of a COVID outbreak at the National Frozen Foods plant in Linn County. OHA and the Emergency Coordination Center are working with Linn County Public Health to contain it.
Additional Daily Graphs:
Oregon Employment Department Begins to Accept PUA Applications (at last!)
Today legislators were briefed on the roll-out of the expansion of unemployment benefits to groups previously expanded, as a result of the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Our economy has become increasingly dependent on the work of independent contractors, Gig workers, and part-time workers, along with those who have managed to create businesses for which they are the sole employees. The downside to this kind of work is that when financial downturns arrive, they and their families are extremely exposed. Fortunately, Congress stepped up and included them in the safety net that has been established to deal with this crisis. Looking forward, we’re going to have to figure out a way to do things differently, and better.
But let’s return to the present. The department has been working on incorporating this new group of workers for weeks now, awaiting final guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor, which has finally arrived. They reached out to a group of applicants who had applied prematurely (though they of course didn’t know that) and probably received error messages because they weren’t eligible for regular UI. They used a group of five thousand applicants as a pilot project in building the new system.
As I mentioned above, at this point the system is still nearly all manual, so it’s going to be cumbersome to begin with. Applicants need to furnish information that was never before required of workers (it was left up to their employers to provide), and the department wasn’t sure exactly what they needed to ask. The process will become more improved and more refined and more automated even as it is underway.
In the meantime, here is a press release that went out today detailing the process that should be followed. The department's COVID-19 website has been updated with instructions, FAQs, and the application form itself for potential applicants.
The Department believes that there are around 10,000 PUA workers who have already filed applications. They will try to reach out to everyone and let them know that they need to reapply.
In the meantime, we’ve been asked to pass on the following message to workers who attempted to file in the last few weeks using the online claims system, are in the PUA category, have already filed initial and weekly claims and have an established PIN, but of course have not received benefits: You should complete the PUA application and certification process at http://workinginoregon.org/pua/en/ (English) or http://workinginoregon.org/pua/sp/ (Spanish).
Workers may find themselves unable to answer all the questions that are asked. The best advice for right now is to do your best, file, and you’ll be contacted if they need more information from you. Don’t wait until you can get answers via phone or email. Even if you don’t have good records for your self-employment/gig work, you’ll likely be eligible for the minimum base UI amount ($205 per week plus the $600 federal bonus), and can then subsequently work with the department if your situation is clarified and warrants an increase. For the most part, your 2019 tax return will be your best way of showing the nature of your work and will suffice.
And again, remember, that you’ll be eligible for retroactive payments and flexibility with due dates as long as you make a good-faith effort to comply.
And Further Information For UI Filers
As you can imagine, much of today’s meeting with the department was spent on problems and complaints that legislators have been receiving from desperate applicants who are not yet receiving benefits. Here is what we learned, which I hope will be helpful:
- The new PUA application process is the “Third Wave” of new programs implemented by the department in response to the pandemic (the first was expanded eligibility for UI for “regular” workers who had to stay home; the second was the new $600 per week premium for all workers). Future “waves” will include extension of benefits beyond the initial period of PUA, enhancement of the Work Share program, and reimbursement for the UI waiting period.
- As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, many applicants have definitely heard the message to not use the phone system but to contact the department via email. And as a result, that system too has gotten clogged up, with response time taking as long as a week and a half. They are working hard to bring that time down.
- Again, even in normal times it takes several weeks for benefits to arrive. These are not normal times.
- The Department has been hearing from legislators (including me) who have asked them how to advise workers who are being called back to work but don’t feel safe in doing so. We were told that if workers are advised by their medical providers or public health officials that they are in a vulnerable category that should be self-quarantining, they should be able to count on continuing to receive UI benefits. Otherwise, it will be very case-specific, definitely dependent on their employer’s ability to guarantee a safe workplace.
- We also learned that this is something Employment departments all over the country are starting to wrestle with and potentially learn from one another.
- And what if someone is called back to work, but only on a part-time or occasional basis? They’ll still be able to receive their $600 per week federal bonus plus any difference between what they earn and what they would have received in their base UI.
- The base UI in Oregon is between $205 per week and $648 per week, depending on their earnings while working. (The $600 federal weekly bonus is on top of that.)
- What if they are self-employed and have received one of the Paycheck Protection Program small business grants or loans? If they use those dollars to pay other workers or for other business expenses, then it doesn’t affect their UI. If they pay themselves out of that PPP grant or loan, then it’s considered pay and their UI is reduced by that amount.
- Some are wondering how to answer the question about availability for work if they’re obliged to remain at home to care for a family member. If the reason that you are not at work is a result of circumstances created by the pandemic, the answer is yes.
Hope this helps. Please continue to reach out to our office if you have questions, advice, or help. And also—if you ARE receiving benefits, let me know that too. It would be helpful to get a sense of where and when the system is working despite these challenges.
OHA Weekly Report Released
We’ve just received OHA’s weekly demographic report on COVID infections, hospitalizations and death. You can read it here. You’ll find information about recovery rates, including recovery rates by county, You’ll also find a list of care facilities that have had more than 3 confirmed cases and/or at least one death. It will allow you a quick view of those facilities where outbreaks have occurred, a few of them very significant.
Nearly every death that has been reported makes mention of the individual having had an underlying medical condition. They are now reporting on those underlying conditions. Here is the chart for this week:
There have been a total of 92 deaths among COVID-19 cases. We have obtained comorbidity data for 73 of the deaths from case interview or medical records review and they are reported below in Table 5. “Other” is a broad category that encompasses a range of other significant underlying medical conditions that do not fit in the categories provided. We routinely review the “other” category to recategorize underlying medical conditions that fit under the other categories.
Department of Corrections Reports
The Department of Corrections has begun posting daily updates of the number of tests and the outcomes of those tests at each state correctional institution. You can get to the tracking page, FAQs, and other resources at the department’s COVID-19 website.
You’ll see that the hardest hit facility right now is the Shutter Creek minimum security institution in Coos Bay, with 13 adults in custody and 2 corrections officers having tested positive for the virus. OHA is working with the facility and with the Coos County Emergency Manager to contain the outbreak.
If an AIC is in a facility without 24-hour medical care, they are being moved to one of two different locations, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (Wilsonville) and Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI, Ontario), which have proximity to healthcare resources, negative pressure rooms, and 24-hour medical care. I’m happy to report that there have been no deaths to date among AICs and officers.
I know that many of you are wondering about potential plans for selective release of individuals who are medically at-risk and/or very close to their release dates. I have nothing new to report at this point.
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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