August 26th COVID-19 Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 08/26/2020 09:12 PM PDT
Michael Dembrow

August 26, 2020

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 reports that 204 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID, The cumulative total for those testing positive since the beginning of the pandemic is 24,289.
  • Total Tests: The number of tests has increased by 4,753. The cumulative total is now 531,456.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive cases today in Oregon is 4.3% of total results. The national percentage today is 6.4%. 
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 6 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. You can read more about those we’ve just lost further down in the newsletter.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now at 433.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports that an additional 25 Oregonians have been hospitalized with COVID-19. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic is 2,063.
  • 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   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 18 new presumed positives today. The total number of presumed positives is now 1,282.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 140 (14 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 99 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 154 (17 more than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 715 (32 more than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 48 (5 fewer than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 26 (1 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 773 (5 more than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • 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 Updates

Latest OHA Weekly COVID Report Released

OHA released its WEEKLY COVID REPORT today.  It is again a very comprehensive snapshot of different aspects of transmission of the disease in Oregon over the past week or so.  It confirms what we’ve been seeing in our daily reports:  an overall stabilization of transmission in Oregon, with a slight decline in new infections, declining positivity, declining testing, declining hospitalizations, and declining deaths.  However, it also shows ongoing disproportionality among racial and ethnic groups.

Here are some of OHA’s broad observations of where we are now, based on data from August 16-22:

  • We are continuing to see a decline in the number of new cases. Last week OHA recorded 1,704 new cases of COVID-19 infection—down 13% from the previous week’s tally of 1,963.
  • The statewide infection rate is now 594 cases per 100,000 Oregonians.
  • The percentage of positive test results is continuing to decline. Last week’s positivity rate was 5.1%.
  • 32 Oregonians were reported to have died last week, roughly the same as last week’s number (31). The cumulative death rate since the beginning of the pandemic is 9 deaths per 100,000 Oregonians, with a cumulative total of 420 on August 23. This is a mortality rate of 1.7% of reported cases.
  • As I’ve reported before, our testing is not what it should be. Last week’s 24,177 tests were reported.  That number will go up as more results come in for last week, but even when those numbers are added, it will be clear that we continue to test well below our capacity.
  • The age group with the highest incidence of reported infection continues to be 20–29-year-olds, with rates decreasing in subsequent decades of life.
  • We continue to see an increase in what OHA calls “sporadic cases,” which suggests that the disease is spreading more broadly into the community. The majority of new cases are now “sporadic,” rather than traced to outbreaks.
  • Among those that are not sporadic cases (i.e., where the source has been able to be traced), COVID is most commonly being spread from household member to household member.
  • Black Oregonians are less likely to be interviewed as part of contact tracing than are White Oregonians; Latinx Oregonians are more likely to be interviewed than are other Oregonians.

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.

Racial/Ethnic

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 August 12 report, the August 19 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).  They remain relatively stable. 

You’ll see again how much higher the rates per 100,000 are for most racial/ethnic groups compared to White Oregonians. (To be consistent with its school-reopening metrics, OHA is now reporting on a per-100K basis.) Black Oregonians are 3.8 times more likely to contract the disease than are White Oregonians, Native Americans 4.4 times more likely, Latinx Oregonians are 6.4 times more likely, and Pacific Islanders are now 10.5 times more likely. (This multiple has actually gone down steadily over the last month.)

You’ll also again see that the percentages of those hospitalized from the disease are comparable for non-Whites than for the population of White Oregonians (the exception  is the Pacific Islander, which is higher).  Whites in Oregon are generally much more likely to die from the disease than are Non-Whites.

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Outbreaks at Long-Term Care Facilities

The report lists outbreaks at long-term care facilities with more than five residents that have three or more confirmed cases or at least one COVID death. 

This week’s report lists outbreaks in 51 (up from 49) long-term care facilities that are still considered active.  They are responsible for 799 cases (up from 678) and 71 deaths (up from 53). 

In addition, there are 81 outbreaks considered resolved (up from 70). They are responsible for 1,198 cases (up from 1,136) and 159 deaths (up from 156).  To be listed as a “resolved” outbreak, a facility must not have had a new case in at least 28 days.

The total for active and resolved facilities is thus 1,997 cases  (up from 1,814 last week) and 230 deaths (up from 209 last week) for the 132 facilities (up from 119).  Deaths in Long-Term Care facilities constituted 55% of the all COVID deaths in Oregon (417) as of August 23.

However, in addition to the listed facilities, there are 25 congregate settings with five or fewer beds that have also had three or more confirmed cases or one or more deaths, so the above totals are actually somewhat higher.

To date, there has still been only one death of a staff member reported.

Workplace Outbreaks

Similarly, there are separate listings for workplace outbreaks that are “active” and “resolved,” but without deaths identified by workplace.  Case counts include all persons linked to the outbreak, which may include household members and other close contacts. To protect privacy, OHA is only reporting workplace outbreaks with five or more cases and only for workplaces with at least 30 workers.

So far, eight deaths have been the result of workplace outbreaks, a figure fortunately unchanged for more than two months.

You’ll find 86 workplaces (down from 88 last week) listed as “Active” this week, totaling 2,092 (down from 2,365 last week). 

94 workplaces (up from 79) are listed as “Resolved,” totaling 1,476 cases (up from 1,014 last week).  

The total number of cases for both is thus 3,568 (up from 3,379 last week).

Those listed include workplaces with at least 5 cases identified among workers or family members. They are listed in descending order of number of cases.

I’m pleased to report that two of the largest active outbreaks—Pacific Seafood in Newport and the Oregon State Prison in Salem—have been moved to the “Resolved” category.  (To be considered resolved, there cannot have been an additional case for 28 days.)

What this means, though, is that the top two workplace outbreaks in Oregon today are in state prisons. I will add that I don’t believe that the 8 deaths attributed to workplace outbreaks include the deaths of adults in custody.  There have been three.

Childcare Outbreaks

The Weekly Report again includes names and case counts for childcare facilities that enroll 30 or more children and have five or more cases.  The same four are listed; again, only one (Trout Creek Bible Camp in Corbett) is still considered active.  The outbreaks at the other three centers are now considered resolved.

Without listing them by name, the Weekly Report also includes the total number of smaller facilities (i.e., enrolling fewer than 30 children) that have had five or more cases.  OHA reports that there have been three such facilities

Infections by Zip Code

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, as they’re the same as last week’s, though with #4 and #5 switching places.

  1. 97818 (Boardman in Morrow County)
  2. 97761 (Warm Springs in Jefferson County)
  3. 97838 (Hermiston in Umatilla and Morrow Counties)
  4. 97882 (Umatilla in Umatilla County)
  5. 97882 (Umatilla in Umatilla County)
  6. 97875 (Stanfield in Umatilla County)

Four out of the top five zip codes are again in the Morrow/Umatilla area.  Ontario in Malheur County (97914) is again on deck at #6.

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 222. Nearly 2/3 of cases are again outside the Portland Tri-County area, and again Jackson County (Ashland/Medford) is showing a high case count.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Benton (1)

Clackamas (15)

Columbia (1)

Coos (5)

Deschutes (4)

Douglas (4)

Jackson (25)

Jefferson (2)

Lane (8)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (1)

Malheur (9)

Marion (38)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (54)

Polk (1)

Umatilla (24)

Union (3)

Wasco (1)

Washington (18)

Yamhill (3)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 428th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man in Baker County who tested positive on August 11 and died on August 21 in his residence.

Oregon’s 429th COVID-19 death is a 92-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on August 1 and died on August 15 in her residence.

Oregon’s 430th COVID-19 death is a 55-year-old man in Jefferson County who tested positive on June 26 and died on August 25 at St. Charles Medical Center Bend.

Oregon’s 431st COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman who tested positive on June 25 and died on August 25.

Oregon’s 432nd COVID-19 death is a 55-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on May 5 and died on August 15.

Oregon’s 433rd COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on August 16 and died on August 22 at Adventist Health Portland.

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 (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