July 23rd COVID-19 Update

Michael Dembrow

July 23, 2020

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

The COVID roller-coaster is unfortunately moving back up today.  The percentage of positive cases has jumped back up by more than two percent and new hospitalizations continue the trend of large daily increases.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Remember, tomorrow (Friday) is when the new statewide requirements begin in an effort to tamp down the current surge in COVID that we are experiencing overall.  See the graphic at the bottom of the newsletter for the key changes.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reports that 314 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total for those testing positive is 14,900.
  • Total Tests: The number of tests increased by 5,691. The cumulative total is now 35,7678.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive tests for today has gone back up to 5.5% of total tests. The national percentage today is 9.2%. 
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to have to report 2 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. Further down in the newsletter, you’ll find information about those we’ve  most recently lost.  The total number of deaths in Oregon in now 273.
  • Hospitalized: OHA is reporting 32 new COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is now 1,465.
  • 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 an additional 17 presumed positives today.  The total number of presumed positives is now 813.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 225 (6 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 161 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 152 (2 more than yesterday).
    • Other Available Beds: 690 (55 more than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 52 (9 fewer than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 28 (2 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 782 (3 more than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • PPE:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • OHA reported today that they have contracted with 170 community groups to help with contact tracing around the state. Locating individuals who may have had contact with the virus is just one small piece of the process.  More important is working with them to accept the risk, get tested, and self-isolate as appropriate; that’s where local community-based groups can be really helpful. You can read about these contact tracing programs here.
    • I gave an update a couple of days ago on the OSU TRACE study in Corvallis, Bend, and Newport. We’ve just learned that the next round of testing will be in Beaverton this Saturday. This one is a little different.  It’s being done in partnership with the International Refugee Center of Oregon (IRCO). They are looking for Oregonians who identify as immigrant, refugee, and/or BIPOC, with or without symptoms.  This is a free community testing event. 
    • I reported yesterday that Warm Springs is the zip code with the highest rate (per 10,000) of infection in the state. The Warm Springs Tribal Council has passed a resolution calling for all residents to quarantine for two weeks, leaving home only for essential activities and wearing face-coverings when they do so.  You can read more about it here.
    • Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis has just released a report on working from home. Obviously, more people are being forced to work at home these days.  What does it mean for us going forward?  Will we see more of that after the pandemic ends?  You’ll see in the slides included in the blogpost that Oregon was already second in the nation in people working from home.  They predict that with the right broadband support, many more will do so.
    • I joined a number of my House and Senate colleagues in a letter to Attorney-General Barr and Acting Secretary Homeland Security Wolf calling for the immediate removal of federal forces from the streets of Portland. You can read the statement here.

CORRECTION FROM YESTERDAY

I’m reproducing the racial/ethnic charts that I gave you yesterday with information from OHA’s weekly COVID report, but with an error corrected.  The third chart was incorrectly titled “July 12, 2020.”  It was a typo.  Should have been “July 22, 2020.”  (Thanks for pointing it out, Jane!) These charts are an important window into the disproportionate way in which COVID is affecting different populations over time.

On that front, I want to recommend a new podcast that’s part of the series Beat Check that Andrew Theen of the Oregonian does.  It’s titled "Why people of color in Oregon are disproportionately hit by the coronavirus" and features reporter Celina Tebor.  She focuses on the extremely high infection rates among Pacific Islanders in the Metro area and Eastern Oregon, and also talks about outreach efforts with Guatemalans working in seafood processing in Newport.

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Next Set of Ways and Means Subcommittees Meetings Tomorrow

Last week I shared with you the proposed plan to rebalance the state budget in preparation for the next special session that will likely be held in August.

The final Ways and Means Subcommittees will be meeting tomorrow morning, July 24.

Here’s the schedule for tomorrow.  If you click on the links, you’ll see the agendas for each of the subcommittees and can click on “Meeting Materials” to see the detailed proposals for each major budget area.  The agenda page will tell you how to sign up to testify orally or via written testimony.  You can watch the meeting by clicking on the video icon.  And of course all the hearings and materials are online and available for your perusal.

Friday, July 24:

Public Safety: 9 am-12 pm https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2019I1/Committees/JWMPS/2020-07-24-09-00/Agenda

Transportation and Economic Development: 1-4 pm https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2019I1/Committees/JWMTR/2020-07-24-13-00/Agenda

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 331. A little over 2/3 of the state’s new cases are again from counties outside the Portland Tri-County region.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Clackamas (18)

Columbia (3)

Coos (3)

Crook (1)

Deschutes (18)

Douglas (13)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (8)

Jefferson (3)

Josephine (3)

Klamath (13)

Lake (1)

Lane (12)

Lincoln (5)

Linn (3)

Malheur (10)

Marion (39)

Morrow (4)

Multnomah (77)

Polk (13)

Tillamook (1)

Umatilla (39)

Wasco (6)

Washington (33)

Yamhill (4)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 272nd COVID-19 death is a 74-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on June 29 and died on July 16, at Good Shepherd Health Care System.

Oregon’s 273rd COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on July 8 and died on July 21, at Salem Hospital.

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