July 17th COVID-19 Update

Michael Dembrow

July 17, 2020

I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and looking out for your neighbors and friends.  

Once again the COVID news is mixed today.  The case count was down somewhat, but the number of those who’ve lost their lives to the virus has risen by five, including a woman who was only 35.

On the good news front, you’ll also find information about the new online system for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.  This is the program for several categories of workers and the self-employed, who don’t fit into the regular system and have been very slow to process.  I know that the Department is counting on this change to speed things up; let’s hope that’s the case.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reports that a record 278 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID (if we include those newly presumed positive, that number is 307). The cumulative total for those testing positive is 13085.
  • Total Tests: The number of tests increased by 5,234. The cumulative total is now 32,3478.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive tests for today is 5.3% of total tests. The national percentage today is 9.1%. 
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to have to report 5 additional deaths due to the coronavirus.  The total number of deaths in Oregon in now 254.
  • Hospitalized: OHA is reporting 16 new COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is now 1,327.
  • 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 total number of presumed positives is 717.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 242 (23 more than yesterday). Of those, 158 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 143 (1 fewer than yesterday).
    • Other Available Beds: 750 (91 more than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 64 (1 more than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 34 (1 more than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 779 (2 fewer than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • PPE:

At Last:  Online Filing for Pandemic Unemployment (PUA)

As of late this afternoon, the long-awaited PUA online filing system is functioning.  Legislators just received an email description from the employment director asking us to share this information with our constituents.  As I’ve mentioned before, PUA processing has really been hampered by everything having to be done by hand.  Even those who have been collecting benefits have seen those benefits stop while claims processors have been going through the lengthy process of certifying their weekly claims. This will all now be automatic.

It’s a crucial part of getting the department to its goal of getting all PUA claims initially processed by August 8.

As you’ll see in the email from Director Gerstenfeld, they are recommending that everyone use this system now, including those who have already filed their initial claim manually and are still awaiting approval.  Having their information in the system will speed up their processing.

If you’re using the system and run into any problems, please let us know, and we’ll do what we can to help.

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 307. The majority of the state’s new cases are again from outside the Portland Tri-County region.  Twenty-six of the state’s 36 counties report new infections.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Benton (2)

Clackamas (19)

Clatsop (1)

Columbia (2)

Coos (4)

Deschutes (12)

Douglas (3)

Hood River (2)

Jackson (12)

Jefferson (7)

Josephine (2)

Klamath (2)

Lane (10)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (3)

Malheur (9)

Marion (39)

Morrow (6)

Multnomah (88)

Polk (3)

Tillamook (2)

Umatilla (38)

Union (2)

Wasco (1)

Washington (37)

Yamhill (2)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 250th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Wasco County who tested positive on June 27 and died on July 15 at OHSU Hospital.

Oregon’s 251st COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on July 8 and died on July 14, in his residence.

Oregon’s 252nd COVID-19 death is a 99-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on July 8 and died on July 15, in his residence.

Oregon’s 253rd COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on July 6 and died on July 16, in her residence.

Oregon’s 254th COVID-19 death is a 35-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on July 6 and died on July 11, in her residence.

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,

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