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June 4, 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
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Positive Cases: OHA has reported that 70 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at.4,350.
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Total Tests: The total number of tests in Oregon now stands at 136,549. 139,188. That’s an increase of 2,639 tests.
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Ratio: The percentage of positive results for today is 2.7%. Today’s national percentage is 4.6%. See below for a graph showing Oregon’s daily percentage changes over the last 14 days.
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Deaths: I’m relieved to report 0 additional deaths due to the coronavirus. The total number of deaths in Oregon remains at 159.
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Hospitalized: The number of Oregonians who have been hospitalized with symptoms, and who have also tested positive for the disease, increased by 12, and is now at 812.
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Presumptive Cases: OHA is now including “presumptive COVID-19 cases” in its daily reports, consistent with recently amended guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A presumptive case is someone who does not yet have a positive PCR test result but is showing symptoms and has had close contact with a confirmed case. If they later test positive by PCR, those will be recategorized as confirmed cases. Today the number of new presumptive cases is 6, and the total of presumptive cases is now at 124.
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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): 124 (12 more than yesterday). Of those, 56 have already received a positive test back.
- Available ICU Beds: 206 176 (30 fewer than yesterday).
- Other Available Beds: 981 (41 fewer than yesterday).
- ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 40 (13 more than yesterday).
- COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 13 (3 more than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 783 (4 more than yesterday).
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Dashboards:
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Today’s National Numbers:
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PPE:
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Additional Brief Updates:
- The number of workers at National Frozen Foods in Albany and their household members has grown to 41. The facility was the first in Oregon to receive an OSHA fine for inadequate worker distancing.
- One of the hardest hit of Oregon’s long-term care facilities has been Prestige Senior Living Orchard Heights in West Salem (Polk County). The Salem Reporter has an in-depth story on the problems here.
Emergency Board to Meet on Friday to Disburse $322 Million in COVID Relief
As I mentioned yesterday, the Legislature’s bicameral Emergency Board will be meeting tomorrow to authorize another round of disbursements from the federal COVID Relief Fund. The meeting is at 3 pm. Here is a link to the agenda, which will also allow you to watch the hearing live or after the fact. Here are the items up for approval:
 
You can find details under the meeting materials for tomorrow’s meeting.
The agenda also includes item #15, which is the funding for the agricultural worker protection program that I’ve described in previous newsletters and #16, which allows the EBoard to make the above expenditures from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. The agenda also includes #17 and #18, essentially routine allocations to the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and the Racing Commission needed to keep those departments going. Under normal conditions those last two would have been done during the last legislative session, but the Republican walkout prevented that from happening.
Let me know if you have any questions about any of these proposals.
25 Counties Apply/Approved for Phase Two Reopening
The Governor announced today that nearly every county that has applied for Phase Two Reopening has been approved. Most applied to begin tomorrow, whereas some requested a start date over the weekend.
Here are the counties that have been approved to enter Phase Two on Friday, June 5:
Benton
Curry
Douglas
Grant
Jackson
Klamath
Lake
Lane
Linn
Morrow
Wallowa
Wasco
Wheeler
Union
Here are the counties approved to be begin on Saturday, June 6:
Baker
Clatsop
Columbia
Coos
Crook
Gilliam
Harney
Josephine
Malheur
Sherman
One county has applied to begin on Monday, June 8:
Tillamook
Three counties who have applied are still under review as of this writing:
Deschutes
Jefferson
Umatilla
Further Information about Phase Two
The Governor’s Office and OHA released new guidances on a couple of other Phase Two elements: Gatherings and Venues/Events.
GATHERINGS:
- Maximum of 50 people indoors
- 100 people outdoors
- Can be up to 250 under certain circumstances and the facility is large enough, and groups are separated.
- Should limit activities such as singing, playing instruments and exertion (heavy breathing) around others indoors as this increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 among groups. It is recommended that these activities take place outdoors, if possible and that physical distancing requirements be maintained or increased.
- Many specifics regarding layout and other requirements.
VENUE AND EVENT OPERATORS:
- Many of the same requirements as for gatherings.
- To the extent possible, operators should use touchless or cashless payment options, and scan tickets without physical contact with attendees.
- To the extent possible, operators should route foot traffic in a one-way direction to minimize close contact between attendees.
- Should prohibit attendee parties larger than 10.
We can probably expect more detailed FAQs in the coming days.
Where Are Today’s New Cases?
If we put together the positive test results and new “presumptive” cases reported today, the overall number of new cases is 76. Here is the breakdown by county for today:
Clackamas (9)
Coos (1)
Crook (1)
Deschutes (5)
Jackson (1)
Jefferson (1)
Lane (3)
Lincoln (5)
Linn (2)
Marion (12)
Multnomah (30)
Umatilla (1)
Wasco (1)
Washington (3)
Yamhill (1)
Again: Upcoming Legislative Committee Hearings
This week’s committee hearings are all on the Senate side. I’m listing them all below in order of appearance. You can click on them to see their agendas, and you can use the same links if you want to watch the hearings (either live or after the fact) or get to the meeting materials once they’re posted.
Most of the hearings will be COVID-focused, but most will also include briefings, updates, and reports on a number of other issues, and in many cases will include topics likely to be the subject of legislation next session.
June 5
Senate Committee on Wildfire and Recovery, 8:00 am
Senate Housing and Development, 12:00 pm
June 10
Senate Rules and Executive Appointments, 12:00 pm (No agenda posted yet. The meeting will be for the purpose of confirming executive appointments.)
Additional Graphs:
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. Also, if someone forwarded you this newsletter and you’d like to get it directly, you can sign up for it 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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