July 8 COVID-19 Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 07/08/2020 10:42 PM PDT
Michael Dembrow

July 8, 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.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA has reported that an additional 191 people have tested positive.  The cumulative total for those testing positive is now 10,277.
  • Total Tests: OHA reports an additional 4,340 total tests. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is now 275,727.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive tests results for today is again 4.4%. You can see Oregon’s ratio for the last two weeks in a graph below.  The national percentage today is 9.5%.
  • Deaths: I regret to report 4 additional deaths due to the coronavirus.  The total number of deaths in Oregon is now 224.
  • Hospitalized: OHA has reported 14 additional hospitalizations due to COVID. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is now 1,155.
  • 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.  OHA reports 26 new presumed positives today.  The total number of presumed positives is now 540.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 188 (3 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 124 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 124 (6 fewer than yesterday).
    • Other Available Beds: 710 (24 fewer than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 57 (2 more than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 27 (5 more than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 781 (2 more than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • PPE:
  • Additional Brief Items:

Weekly COVID Report Released

This week's report was released this afternoon. 

Here are some of OHA’s broad observations of where we are now, based on data from June 29-July 5:

  • We are seeing a continued resurgence in COVID-19 transmission. OHA recorded a 51% increase from the previous week.
  • 11 Oregonians were reported to have died, one fewer than last week.
  • A record weekly number of 32,355 COVID tests was reported. This was a 14% increase over the previous week.
  • The percentage of positive test results increased from 4.2% to 5.0%.
  • Hospitalizations increased for the fifth consecutive week but remained below earlier peaks in March and April.
  • OHA believes that this is because younger people, who have lower risk of hospitalization and death, predominate among recent cases.
  • ICU bed usage remains well under capacity statewide.
  • These increases continue to no longer be mainly due to large outbreaks at workplaces and long-term care facilities and more due to what OHA calls “sporadic cases,” which suggests that the disease is spreading more broadly into the community.
  • 75% of recent cases are Oregonians younger than 50.
  • Again this week fewer than 95% of cases identified on most recent days were able to be contacted by local public health staff within 24 hours, suggesting that more investigatory resources are needed.

The report again demonstrates significant disparities among racial groups.  You can see this in the charts below, with data that I’ve taken from the June 24 report, the July 1 report, and from this report.  It allows you to see at a glance the proportion of case counts within different racial groups and ethnic groups (technically, “Hispanic” is not a race and is counted as an ethnic group, with numbers from a separate chart). 

You’ll see again how much higher the rates per 10,000 are for most racial/ethnic groups compared to White Oregonians, and you’ll see that the spread continues to increase.  Black Oregonians are now 4.5 times more likely to contract the disease than are White Oregonians, while Latinx Oregonians are nearly 6 times more likely, and Pacific Islanders an incredible 16 times more likely. You’ll also again see that the percentages of those hospitalized or dying from the disease are significantly lower for non-Whites than for the population of White Oregonians. Interestingly and fortunately, the percentage of infections that lead to hospitalizations and to death continues to go down.

The OHA has confirmed that this may be a function of age: many of those contracting the virus via workplace outbreaks are from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) populations.  These frontline workers tend to be younger and thus somewhat less likely to experience severe consequences from the disease. 

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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.

This week’s report shows 23 outbreaks in long-term care facilities that are still considered active.  They are responsible for 434 cases and 34 deaths.  In addition, there are 36 outbreaks considered resolved.  They are responsible for 580 cases and 97 deaths.  The total for active and resolved facilities is thus 1,014 cases (up 96 from last week) and 131 deaths (up by 7 from last week). The listed facilities include all where there was at least one death and at least three cases, so the above total should include all of the deaths in Oregon, but there may be additional cases out there that are not included.

Similarly, there are separate listings for workplace outbreaks that are “active” and “resolved,” but without deaths identified by workplace.  So far, eight deaths have been the result of workplace outbreaks, a figure unchanged from last week. 

The Weekly Report again includes names and case counts for child care facilities that enroll 30 or more children and have five or more cases. In addition to the outbreak at KinderCare in Lake Oswego reported last week, this week’s report includes an outbreak of 5 at a facility in Nyssa in Malheur County.

The Weekly Report also will include the total number of facilities statewide—no matter how many children they enroll—that have five or more cases.  This week there was one such facility.

You’ll see that the zip code list again reveals the various hot spots around the state, presented in terms of cases per 10K residents.  The top five should come as no surprise:

97365 (Newport, where the Pacific Seafood outbreak has entered the community), 97838 (Hermiston, site of the big workplace outbreak at Lamb Weston), 97850 (LaGrande, site of the big outbreak at the Pentecostal church), 97882 (Umatilla, also home of many Lamb Weston workers), and 97026 (agricultural Marion County).  Umatilla displaced Warm Springs in the top five this week.  Here is a zip code locator for you to use as you look at the zip code numbers.

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 217. Two-thirds are again from outside the Portland Tri-County region.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (3)

Clackamas (19)

Clatsop (1)                                        

Columbia (1)

Coos (2)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (3)

Douglas (2)

Harney (1)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (5)

Jefferson (1)

Josephine (2)

Klamath (1)

Lane (10)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (8)

Malheur (12)

Marion (15)

Morrow (10)

Multnomah (30)

Umatilla (43)

Union (3)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (1)

Washington (31)

Yamhill (9)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 221st COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old woman in Benton County who tested positive on May 31 and died on June 28, at her residence.

Oregon’s 222nd COVID-19 death is a 55-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on June 22 and died on June 28, at his residence.

Oregon’s 223rd COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on June 18 and died on July 5, at her residence.

Oregon’s 224th COVID-19 death is a 36-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on June 3 and died on July 7, at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Additional Graphs:

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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.

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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,

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,

dembrow signature

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