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June 17, 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.
We have good days and bad days in coronavirus response. Yesterday was a bad day, with various records broken here in Oregon. Today has turned out to be a good day, with the case count reduced by more than half, a big increase in testing, and consequently a return to a low percentage positive test ratio (2.3%). That’s what happens when you have a day without a big outbreak somewhere.
On the other hand, hospitalizations are up, and this seems to be a growing pattern. Since hospitalizations are “lagging indicators” and of course indicate potentially very dangerous and even lethal results, growing numbers are troubling. We’ll see if this continues.
In today’s newsletter you’ll be able to read about a couple of important announcements by the Governor regarding face coverings and reopenings, as well as a separate effort on behalf of broader use of face coverings that I’ve been part of, and this week’s OHA COVID Weekly Report.
Finally, I want to report that some changes were announced late this afternoon regarding Senate committee assignments. I’ll be turning over the Environment and Natural Resources gavel to my friend from Southern Oregon, Senator Jeff Golden, and taking on the assignment of chairing Senate Education. I’ll have more to say about this new assignment in tomorrow’s newsletter.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
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Positive Cases: OHA reports that 110 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID-19. The cumulative total is now 6,007.
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Total Tests: The cumulative total number tests in Oregon now stands at 184,139 That’s an increase of 4,802.
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Ratio: The percentage of positive results for today is 2.3%. Today’s national percentage is 4,9%. See below for a graph showing Oregon’s daily percentage changes over the last 14 days.
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Deaths: I’m afraid I have to report 1 additional death due to the coronavirus today. The total number of deaths in Oregon is now at 183.
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Hospitalized: OHA reported 17 new hospitalizations today. The cumulative total of those who’ve been hospitalized for COVID-19 is now 929.
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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. The number of new presumed cases has increased by 12, and the total number of those presumed positive is 211.
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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): 158 (16 more than yesterday, 33 more than the day before). Of those, 85 have already received a positive test back.
- Available ICU Beds: 168 (7 fewer than yesterday).
- Other Available Beds: 794 (36 fewer than yesterday).
- ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 54 (4 more than yesterday).
- COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 26 (4 more than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 781 (8 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:
- Union County has voluntarily moved back from Phase 2 to Phase 1 in order to better contain the community spread of the virus that struck the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church. This is the first time that we have seen such a decision to step back.
Governor Brown Orders Face Coverings For Seven Counties
In a move that many of us have long been awaiting, the Governor announced today that she is instituting a requirement, beginning a week from today (i.e., June 24) that Oregonians in the following counties must wear face coverings while in indoor public spaces (e.g., grocery stores and other businesses): Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Hood River, Marion, Polk, and Lincoln.
This announcement coincides with an effort by Multnomah County-area legislators to see the county adopt an ordinance to that effect. Just this morning I and 23 other legislators, all of whose districts are partly or completely in Multnomah County, sent a letter to the commissioners urging such a decision. You can read the letter here. I hope you’ll see from the letter just why this decision makes sense. It’s also supported by a number of leaders of “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities, including Portland City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty as a way to keep Oregon’s most at-risk communities safe.
Lincoln County itself has already adopted such a face-covering requirement out of concerns over community spread following the big outbreak at Pacific Seafood there.
Governor Announces New Reopening Plan
The Governor also announced today that she is approving Multnomah County’s request to begin Phase One reopening on Friday. You’ll recall that she put the reopening on hold just before it would have begun last week out of concern from her medical advisors that the disease was progressing very quickly and the metrics needed further analysis. Since then, the case numbers have continued to go up, but the increase in hospitalizations and the percentage of positive tests have remained relatively modest and manageable.
She also made what I consider to be the sensible decision of grouping together the Tri-County area (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington) as a single unit for future reopening decisions. Clackamas and Washington Counties won’t be able to move into Phase Two until Multnomah does, no sooner than 21 days from Friday. Since there is so much interaction between the three counties, it just makes sense to have them on the same timeline.
She has made the same grouping decision for Marion and Polk Counties, both of which will be allowed to move to Phase Two this Friday (as will Hood River), and they will apply jointly for any further changes in the future. The two counties share the Salem urban area, its medical resources, and, from what we’ve seen, transmission of the virus.
The OHA has just released a reopening report that provides an explanation of why it has recommended these transitions to Phase One and Phase Two.
New OHA Weekly Report Released – With Some New Features
OHA today released its COVID weekly report.
Here is the big-picture takeaway from this week’s report: For the third week in a row, newly reported COVID-19 cases increased over the previous week. During the week ending June 14, the number of COVID-19 tests reported (24,708) increased substantially (35%) compared to the preceding week while the percentage of tests positive remained approximately the same (3.1% vs. 3.0% during preceding week). The number of new infections reported daily are now at the highest levels seen in Oregon since the emergence of COVID-19. Fortunately, hospitalizations and deaths remain well below their peaks. However, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 typically occur two or more weeks after onset of illness, so peak hospitalizations and deaths from current cases will likely occur in two to three weeks. The percentage of emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-19-like illness remain below 1%, suggesting that many of the cases now being reported are lower in severity or otherwise not coming through EDs..** Large workplace outbreaks (Table 6) continue to account for much of the recent case burden, although some counties without large outbreaks have also experienced increases. Despite increasing case loads, since early May, local public health staff have successfully contacted at least 95% of new cases to begin investigating and initiate contact tracing, a key indicator for public health control efforts.
The report reveals two new trends: approximately one-third of the new cases statewide are due to outbreaks (though in some counties of course they represent a far higher percentage); and more than half of the new cases are now in people under the age of fifty (likely partly due to the influence of workplace outbreaks).
The report again, provides information about signs, symptoms, and risk factors; racial/ethnic/age/gender demographics; recovery; outbreaks in long-term care; workplace outbreaks; hospital rates; and the breakdown of cases by zip code.
The listing of long-term care facilities now includes both those considered “active” and those considered “resolved.” It’s easier now to get a sense of the total cases and deaths that involve residents and staff of long-term care facilities. That’s a good improvement. I’m still hoping to see separate listings for workers added in the future.
You’ll see that the zip code list reveals the various hot spots around the state. As a result, the Marion County zip codes don’t dominate quite as much. Here is a zip code locator for you to use as you look at the zip code numbers.
The report now includes graphs that show the progression of the disease over time (“MMMR,” the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) for different racial/ethnic groups. I’m afraid to relay that the infection rates for white Oregonians versus the various BIPOC groups in Oregon continues to widen. Positive test results have grown the most for Black Oregonians. I’d like to think that this is due in part to more testing being made available to them, and perhaps it is. But it really speaks again to the impact of racial health disparities in this nation and in this state.
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 122. This is by far the largest case count we’ve ever had here in Oregon. Here is the breakdown by county for today:
Benton (3)
Clackamas (17)
Deschutes (2)
Jackson (2)
Josephine (2)
Klamath (3)
Lake (1)
Lincoln (3)
Marion (17)
Morrow (1)
Multnomah (34)
Polk (1)
Umatilla (12)
Union (2)
Washington (2)
And the Death:
The OHA had this to say about the person we most recently lost to COVID-19:
Oregon’s 183rd COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old woman in Clackamas County, who tested positive on June 4 and died on June 11. Her place of death is being confirmed. She had underlying medical conditions.
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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