June 5th COVID-19 Update

June 5, 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.

OHA has reported 91 positive COVID test results today, the third highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic.  At first glance, this is worrisome, particularly in the midst of reopening and the large gatherings that have been occurring recently in protest to the murder of George Floyd. We are watching these numbers very closely.

Much of the reason for that large number is that the number of test results reported today was nearly double the normal number.  Those positive results only amounted to 2.3% of overall tests given, actually a reduction from yesterday’s rate and still one of the lowest in the nation.  As always, you can see bar graphs with the 2-week trends of test numbers, test results, and hospitalizations below.

The OHA also attributes some of these higher infection numbers to the success of contact tracing:  as the close contacts of individuals who’ve tested positive are traced, it’s not surprising that they would turn up positive, even if they appear asymptomatic. Identifying them as positive is an important step in containing the spread of the virus.

As you’ll see below, Multnomah County has applied to enter Phase One of the reopening a week from today, and three additional counties have been approved for Phase Two.  Something that I neglected to mention (sorry, I should have) is that for now at least, visits to friends and loved ones in congregate care cannot be allowed.  It’s just too risky.  As someone who has had to restrict my contact with a loved one in long-term care to Facetime calls, I know how tough this is for us on the outside and them on the inside. But it’s clear that these restrictions have saved many lives.  Let’s not forget that.

In a similar vein it’s important for us all to remember that whether or not one is living in a Phase One county or a Phase Two county, it will continue to be crucial to protect the well-being of individuals in at-risk categories. Those who are older and have medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 cannot be participating in the general reopening.  Until there are effective treatments or vaccines, it remains too dangerous.  Anything you can do support them and their ability to stay away from others for now will be deeply appreciated.

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• Positive Cases: OHA has reported that 92 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at. 4,442
• Total Tests: The total number of tests in Oregon now stands at 143,118. That’s a big increase of 4,000 tests.
• Ratio: The percentage of positive results for today is 2.3%. Today’s national percentage is 5.2%.  See below for a graph showing Oregon’s daily percentage changes over the last 14 days. 
• Deaths: I’m sorry to have to report 2 additional deaths due to the coronavirus.  The total number of deaths in Oregon is now at 161.  
• Hospitalized: The number of Oregonians who have been hospitalized with symptoms, and who have also tested positive for the disease, increased by 7, and is now at 819.
• 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 128.
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 121 (3 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 59 have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 176 (same as yesterday).
  • Other Available Beds: 957 (24 fewer than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 39 (1 fewer than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 16 (3 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 779 (4 fewer than yesterday).
• Dashboards:
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 19,231,444 (up 550,915 from yesterday).
  • Positive Tests: 1,892,727 (up 28,615 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 103,201 (up 1,100 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can follow their updated numbers for each, state and the nation as a whole here.
• PPE:
  • In the last 24 hours the Emergency Coordination Center has not received any additional Personal Protective Equipment. You can track the history of incoming and outgoing PPE shipments here.
• Additional Brief Updates:
  • As expected, Multnomah County applied for Phase One reopening today. If approved, their Phase One reopening plan will go into effect a week from today, June 12.  You can see its latest (June 3) reopening metrics here.
  • I mentioned yesterday that an earlier report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that eight nursing home workers have died of COVID-19 was incorrect, due to incorrect reporting from a facility. I’ve just received a clarifying message from DHS providing some additional details about the error.
  • Last night I sent out the list of items to be considered by the Legislative Emergency Board this afternoon. The E-Board did approve all the proposed items except for items #8 and #9, for a total of $247 million.  Those were very important allocations to support businesses, including cultural/arts operations.  Those items were withdrawn before the meeting so that more work could be done to improve the way that those dollars will be distributed.  We can expect the E-Board to return to those items soon.  You can see the details of all these proposals here.

Additional Three Counties Approved for Phase Two

I mentioned yesterday that three counties were still under review: Deschutes, Jefferson, and Umatilla.  Each had disqualifying aspects of their metrics.  Upon consideration, the OHA and Governor have approved them for Phase Two.  Here’s what the OHA had to say about the rationale for the approvals:

• In Deschutes County, the new COVID-19 cases were traced to a known outbreak or were associated with out-of-state travel.
• Jefferson County started with a comparatively low number of cases. Public health officials have made contact with 100 percent of all new cases. Jefferson County public health officials are also working closely with tribal health officials at Warm Springs to respond in the county.
• In Umatilla County, there was an increase from a comparatively low baseline. Public health officials have made timely contact with all new cases and have not found ongoing community spread as the source of the cases. Public health officials continue to trace new cases in collaboration with their counterparts in Washington.

New Guidelines for Testing Released

OHA has just released this week’s testing report.  You’ll see that 20,126 COVID viral tests were conducted last week. Our testing capacity continues to be able to do 37,702 tests per week, well above the requirement of 12,572 per week (30 tests per 10,000 individuals). 

Last week the OHA released new guidelines for testing including priorities and recommendations. The new guidelines encourage the testing of ALL Oregonians who show symptoms. It generally discourages the testing of people who are asymptomatic, but it does indicate some situations in which it would be appropriate for people to be tested despite not having symptoms of the disease.  Included among them are people known to have been in contact with infected individuals, people working or resident in congregate care, and people from populations particularly vulnerable to the effects of the virus.

OHA continues to discourage the use of serological (“antibody”) testing as a diagnostic tool.

New Statewide Guidances for Zoos, Museums, and Outdoor Gardens

Zoos, museums, and outdoor gardens are now authorized to reopen throughout the state, including in Multnomah County, under a newly released set of guidelines. In addition to the usual requirements for sanitation, social distancing, face coverings for employees, and separation of parties, here are a few special elements:

• No drop-in childcare.
• No play structures.
• Must close by 10 pm.
• Picnic tables and chairs need to be set up to allow distance between parties.
• If they have a retail store, the store needs to follow the same requirements as retail stores in general.

And Statewide Guidances for Outdoor Recreation Organizations

OHA has also released new guidances that go into effect all over the state for outdoor recreation organizations.  You’ll see that it generally the same as the guidances for outdoor events listed under Phase Two.  There are the usual requirements for sanitation, face coverings for employees, social distancing, and other specific details.  Here are a few noteworthy elements:

• No contact sports.
• Picnic tables and chairs need to be set up to allow distance between parties.
• Recommends that some parking spaces be closed to allow for separation between parties.

And for Retail Stores (esp Clothing)

The new statewide guidelines for retail stores resemble what we’ve seen before, but with some additions based on additional knowledge of transmission of the virus.

• Stores should (but are not required to) prohibit customers from trying on things that are worn on the face. (cloth masks, scarves, headbands, eyewear).
• Stores are free to choose to reopen fitting rooms or not. (Current evidence does suggest that the virus is transmitted via clothing.)
• Stores should develop a return policy that recognizes concerns about the virus.
• Though not required, stores are encouraged to continue to offer customers contactless pickup options.

And Childcare

OHA has released new statewide guidelines for childcare.  It focuses on the need to keep groups of children stable and consistent in order to contain transmission (and presumably to do more effective contact tracing).  In addition,

• Childcare workers are not required to wear face coverings, but they cannot be prohibited from doing so.
• Children under 2 should not wear face coverings, and children over the age of 2 should only do so if under close adult supervision.
• Children should not be allowed to wear a face covering while sleeping or if they cannot remove the face covering independently.
• The guidelines also apply to other early learning programs, such as respite care, summer school, and kindergarten transition. These programs are open to all families, not just the families of essential workers.

And Transit

The new statewide guidance for transit includes some new recommendations:

• Hand sanitizers on buses and trains.
• Plastic barriers between drivers and customers if 6 feet of distance can’t be met.
• One-way traffic flow.
• If possible, develop alternative transit options for individuals who are ill and need to seek medical care.

And Finally, Summertime Day Camps

Though overnight camps have been prohibited, day camps will be allowed throughout the state according to new guidelines. They include many of the same new requirements as are in the new childcare guidelines. They also include some unique elements, including

• Steps to minimize casual encounters from outside individuals, including volunteers.
• Limiting parent presence except for special events.
• Maintaining extra distance for activities that include brass or woodwind instruments (because of the risk of spread of droplets).
• Guidelines for transportation on field trips.
• Guidelines for swimming (pools only allowed in Phase Two counties).

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 97.  Here is the breakdown by county for today: 

Benton (5)

Clackamas (6)

Deschutes (1)

Douglas (1)

Hood River (9)

Jackson (1)

Jefferson (9)

Klamath (1)

Lincoln (4)

Linn (3)

Malheur (1)

Marion (17)

Multnomah (12)

Umatilla (1)

Wasco (3)

Washington (20)

Yamhill (4)

You can see by these numbers, particularly in the more rural areas, the effects of greater testing, more contact tracing, and the effects of workplace outbreaks.

And the Deaths

The OHA has provided the following details about those that we’ve most recently lost to the virus:

Oregon’s 160th COVID-19 death is a 63-year-old man in Multnomah County, who tested positive on April 29 and died June 3, at the Portland VA Medical Center.

Oregon’s 161st COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old woman in Marion County, who tested positive on May 31 and died June 3, at Salem Hospital.

As is routinely reported, both had underlying medical conditions in addition to COVID.

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:

• Multnomah County has a status report on reopening.
• You can view the reopening status of all 36 counties here.
• Here is the OHA’s coronavirus page, with links to a number of resources. 
• Oregon's Office of Emergency Management now has a website for information about COVID-19.
• You can sign up here for regular coronavirus updates from OHA.
• Multnomah County has an excellent website with lots of really important advice and guidance.
• Here’s one from the Governor’s Office.
• The Employment Department has put together a webpage with Q&A’s on a number of employment issues related to COVID-19 (e.g., eligibility for Unemployment Insurance benefits).
• The Oregon Education Department has a new site for COVID-19 updates.
• The Department of Corrections has a COVID tracking website.

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