July 9th COVID-19 Update

July 9, 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.

I’m sorry to have to report that our case count today is again the highest total daily case count since the onset of the pandemic. OHA attributes the recent increase in cases to a combination of workplace outbreaks, especially in the more rural areas, and community spread. Sadly, today’s reported deaths have risen to six, and nearly 200 Oregonians are currently hospitalized for COVID.

Of course, we’re not alone.  On the national level, the infection rate (in terms of positive test results) is back in double-digits, and the hospitalization and death rate is starting to creep back up.  As you know, this trend is largely being driven by states that reopened early and have been compelled to backtrack.

We continue to be in better shape than most states.  In part, our high case count is the result of increased testing, and the more important metric--percentage of positive test results--is half the current national level. But even though the numbers and percentages relatively relatively low here, the numbers are nearly six times and the percentage of positives more than three times what they were a month ago.

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• Positive Cases: OHA has reported that an additional 355 people have tested positive.  The cumulative total for those testing positive is now 10,277. 10632
• Total Tests: OHA reports an additional 5,792 total tests. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is now 281,519.
• Ratio: The percentage of positive tests results for today is 6.1%. You can see Oregon’s ratio for the last two weeks in a graph below.  The national percentage today has risen back to double-digits, at 11.8%.
• Deaths: I regret to report 6 additional deaths due to the coronavirus.  The total number of deaths in Oregon is now 230.
• Hospitalized: OHA has reported 7 additional hospitalizations due to COVID. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is now 1,162.
• 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 34 new presumed positives today.  The total number of presumed positives is now 556.
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 192 (4 more than yesterday). Of those, 140 have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 125 (1 more than yesterday).
  • Other Available Beds: 698 (12 fewer than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 59 (2 more than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 25 (2 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 787 (6 more than yesterday).
• Dashboards
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 38,032,966 (up 500,354 from yesterday).
  • Positive Tests: 3,101,339 (up 58,836 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 125,590 (up 867 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 Items:
  • The Oregon Senate President and the Speaker of the House issued an announcement today that they will ask the Legislative Emergency Board to create an emergency program that will immediately send $500 relief checks to Oregonians who have filed for Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Insurance benefits but are still caught in the backlog. The money will come from federal Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars.  The E-Board is currently scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 14.  There’s more on Unemployment Insurance below.
  • The Oregonian has a nice story about the improving recovery rates in Oregon's hospitals, something that we’ve been seeing in the OHA weekly COVID reports. The cause seems to be a combination of improved treatment techniques and the fact that the population of those becoming infected and hospitalized is becoming younger and otherwise healthier.
  • The University of Oregon is partnering with Marion County Public Health on validating a new, quicker and cheaper form of COVID testing using saliva. You can read about it here.
  • The Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform met for the second time today to hear about Qualified Immunity, Training Models, Community Policing in Eugene, and Whistleblower Protections. You can find a variety of written testimony and PowerPoints here.  Tomorrow's meeting will focus on use of force and the militarization of the police.

Update from the Employment Department

Legislators have learned that the Employment Department is finishing up work on a new website designed to make it easier for claimants to get their questions answered without having to go to the hotline.  We were told that it would be launched by the end of the week.  Then next week the Department will be rolling out its new online system for PUA weekly claims.  This will eliminate the need for those weekly updates to be processed by hand, freeing up workers to speed up work on the backlog of new PUA claims, and prevent the problem of payments being suspended while workers catch up on the weekly filings.

Here's a detailed update with more information about these changes, the current timelines for resolving the backlog, and advice for claimants.

I know it’s not much relief for those who have been waiting for months to get their payments, but this is a problem we’re seeing all over the country.  California’s backlog, for example, is now at 2 million. Other states report similar proportionate problems.  Some states are also seeing problems with the solvency of their programs, which Oregon fortunately is not.  Our program remains among the most fiscally solid in the country.  Workers can feel confident that once their case is addressed and finalized, they will get the back payments that they are owed.  I do receive reports each day of people getting multiple checks and being in a position at last to pay off their accumulated debts.  I’m sorry there aren’t more.

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 389. Forty percent are from outside the Portland Tri-County region.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Benton (1)

Clackamas (20)

Clatsop (1)                                        

Columbia (2)

Coos (4)

Deschutes (5)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (7)

Jefferson (8)

Josephine (2)

Klamath (1)

Lake (2)

Lane (18)

Lincoln (15)

Linn (3)

Malheur (31)

Marion (47)

Morrow (12)

Multnomah (86)

Polk (2)

Umatilla (55)

Union (4)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (5)

Washington (46)

Yamhill (8)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 225th COVID-19 death is a 63-year-old woman in Crook County who became symptomatic on July 1 after close contact with a confirmed case and died on July 8, at her residence.

Oregon’s 226th COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 4 and died on July 3. The place of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 227th COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on June 26 and died on July 7, at his residence.

Oregon’s 228th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on June 10 and died on July 2 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 229th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old woman in Clackamas County who died on June 18 at her residence. More details are pending.

Oregon’s 230th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on May 9 and died on June 1, at his home.

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