August 10th COVID-19 Update

August 10, 2020

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

Today’s COVID numbers continue to be in decline.  That includes hospitalizations, deaths, and cases.  Obviously, it’s too soon to tell whether or not this is a real trend, but for now the signs are good. 

As I write this, we are in what I hope will be the waning hours of a 1-day special session.  We’ve passed all the Senate bills, and are waiting to go back on the Senate floor to vote on the House bills and finish up our work, ideally before midnight.  It's still in the balance, so stay tuned.  See below for a report. 

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• Positive Cases: OHA reports that 823 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID since Friday, an average of 274 positive tests per day. The cumulative total for those testing positive is 20,385.
• Total Tests: The number of tests has increased by 13,010 since Friday, an average of 4,337 per day. The cumulative number of tests since the pandemic began is now 449,629.
• Ratio: The percentage of positive tests today is an average of 6.3% of total results for the last three days. The national percentage today is 5.8%. 
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 1 additional death due to the coronavirus today. You can read more about the person we lost further down in the newsletter.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 357.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports that an additional 40 Oregonians have been hospitalized with COVID since Friday, an average of 13 per day. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic is 1,798.
• Presumptive Cases: OHA is 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 a cumulative total of 1,103 Oregonians presumed positive.
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 214 (10 more than Friday). Of those, 152 have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 157 (16 fewer than Friday)
  • Other Available Beds: 794 (145 more than Friday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 58 (7 more than Friday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 22 (4 more than Friday).
  • Available Ventilators: 780 (1 more than Friday).
• Dashboards
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 62,513,174 (up 720,603 from yesterday).
  • Positive Tests: 5,060,880 (up 42,003 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 154,947 (up 427 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 received 400,000 additional surgical masks. You can track the history of incoming and outgoing PPE shipments here.
• Other Brief Updates:
  • OHA released an explanation of cumulative case counts.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association have just issued a joint report on children and COVID.  It shows how COVID is affecting children nationally and in each state. We’re seeing growing numbers of cases among children, including among very young children, as part of the national resurgence in cases.

Special Session #2—Day 1

Day 1 of the special session has gone much as expected.  Senators met at 8 a.m. to adopt session rules and introduce the Legislative Concepts that were destined to be Senate Bills or Senate Resolutions. (You’ll see all the bills and resolutions below.)

There was some uncertainty about whether or not we would need to put an explicit requirement in our session rules that face coverings be worn.  Had we done so, the session would certainly have started us off on a very controversial note.  Fortunately, unlike during the first special session, when three Republican Senators refused to wear face coverings, this time everyone did.  (Four of our Republican colleagues chose not to attend today’s session.)

In the end, Senate Republicans voted against the session rules because as part of our coronavirus response, the rules prohibit the public from coming into the Capitol. They argued that we should not be interfering with the public’s ability to watch the proceedings and interact with legislators in person.

Two committees were created for the session. The Committee on Policies for the Special Session), which considered the Police Reform bill (HB 4301) and the fix to the legislative complaint procedure (HCR 221).  The Committee on the Second Special Session of 2020, which included the leadership of the two parties and the two chambers, took up all the rest. 

Some of the bills proved to be particularly controversial.  The university bonding bill included a requirement that workers on projects over $200,000 need to be provided health and retirement benefits and that 15% of them be in apprenticeship programs; in addition, efforts need to be made to diversify the workforce.  Republican House and Senate members opposed these provisions in the bill, arguing that it would make it impossible for rural contractors who don’t provide health benefits to bid on projects. (Most of you know where I stand on this.  I believe that any state projects need to include fair pay and benefits, promote apprenticeship, and promote a diverse workforce.)

Another that proved controversial, to the point of failure in committee (it would have passed on the floor if it had made it there), was SB 1702, which would have allowed educational workers to bypass the adjudication process by temporarily suspending a statute requiring them to do so.  In nearly every case, adjudication will result in approval, but it’s currently a hoop these workers have to go through.  By relieving many thousands of Oregonians of this requirement, it would shorten the timeline for the rest of those in the queue.  However, there was strong feeling among all the Republicans and one Democrat that this would give one group of workers an unfair advantage over others, and so the bill was voted down and everyone will be required to wait longer.  Lots of unhappiness about how this went down.

The Senate came into session this evening to consider Senate bills. It was infused with a fair amount of partisan rancor, but ultimately all the bills passed easily in a bipartisan manner.  Meanwhile, the House is meeting now to consider the House bills that came out of committee. 

As I write this, the Senate is adjourned till 9 pm and hope to get through all the House bills before we sine die and leave.  It’s not clear if the House will need to return tomorrow or not.

Here are all the bills that were taken up on Monday and their status as of this writing.

HB 4301 (was LC 27): This bill brings together two of the policing reform bills.  It clarifies the prohibition on use of “chokeholds” and other police actions that cut of breathing or blood circulation (such as the action that caused the death of George Floyd.  It also incorporates what had previously been LC 761 for the Joint Committee on Transparency in Policing and Use of Force Reform, clarifying when use of physical force is acceptable and when it is not. Passed from Committee. Passed the House. Passed the Senate.

HB 4302 (was LC 13):  This LC makes necessary changes to mining fees that should have been done in February but weren’t, again as a result of the Walkout. It’s needed to fund the work of the Department of Geology and Mining Industries for the second year of the biennium. Passed from Committee.

HB 4303 (was LC 25): This will be the bill transferring $400 million from reserves (the Education Stability Fund) to the General Fund to help rebalance the budget. Passed from Committee

HB 5221 (was LC 22): Addresses reductions needed as a result of reductions in lottery revenue and other funding sources. Passed from Committee.  Passed the House.

HCR 221 (LC 21): This resolution makes necessary modifications to the Legislature’s new complaint procedure, fixing several problems that have arisen. Passed from Committee, Passed the House

SB 1701 (was LC 1):  This is the first of the LCs designed to improve the process for becoming eligible for unemployment benefits. Clarifies situations in which workers are able to work part-time while receiving benefits. Passed from Committee; Passed the Senate.

SB 1702 (was LC 3):  This is the second of the LCs designed to clarify the UI process.  This one focuses on educational workers (excluding college/university teachers, researchers, and administrators) who have been laid off during summer months and are being denied benefits. Failed To Pass Out Of Committee.

SB 1703 (was LC 4): The third of the UI LCs, this one makes it easier for Employment Department personnel who are processing PUA claims to receive Department of Revenue tax information for claimants in a way that protects the confidentiality of that information.  This is intended to speed up the adjudication process for PUA claimants. Passed from Committee, Passed the Senate.

HB 4304 (was LC 5): This one includes a number of budget transfers and technical fixes that are part of the rebalance, some of which were planned but unable to proceed in February as a result of the Republican Walkout.  Authorizes an analysis of the costs and payment responsibility for wildfire suppression.  Passed from Committee, Passed the Senate.

SB 5721 (was LC 10): This is the first of the bonding LCs.  It authorizes university building construction, and includes provisions requiring apprenticeship and participation from women, minorities, and veterans.  Passed from Committee, Passed the Senate.

SB 5722 (was LC 11):  This is the second of the bonding bills. It implements the provisions of the above bonding bill. Passed the Committee, Passed the Senate. 

SB 5723 (was LC 12):  This is the major budget rebalance bill.  You’ll find the reductions and increases here. Passed the Committee, Passed the Senate.

SCR 221 (formerly LC 23: This is the “sine die” resolution, the bill that allows us to adjourn when the work is over. Passed the Committee, Will Be Voted On At the End.

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 227.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (2)

Clackamas (10)

Columbia (1)

Crook (2)

Deschutes (7)

Douglas (1)

Hood River (2)

Jackson (8)

Jefferson (11)

Lane (5)

Lincoln (2)

Linn (3)

Malheur (21)

Marion (27)

Morrow (15)

Multnomah (45)

Polk (6)

Umatilla (15)

Washington (37)

Yamhill (8)

And the Death

Oregon’s 357^th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on July 29 and died on August 5 in his residence.

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