September 2nd COVID-19 Update

September 2, 2020

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

I’m happy to report that Oregon is continuing to experience positive trends in the fight against COVID.  Today’s number of confirmed cases (126) is the lowest it’s been since June, and the same could be said for our positivity rate of 2.8%. (It would likely be lower if we were able to test as much as we should.)  The rate of new hospitalizations is also low, as is our reported deaths for today (3). 

This good news is confirmed if you look at the results of the just-released OHA Weekly COVID Report, which is summarized below.  We seem to be trending towards the “Best Case” scenario described in the epidemiological modeling.  If that continues—and we don’t experience a fall setback—that will be great news for Oregonians and for our economy.

Having said that, we are approaching a critical moment.  As was true elsewhere in the country, we experienced a big setback as a state during the Memorial Day and July 4^th weekends.  It’s so tempting to throw caution to the wind and indulge in a bit of close-proximity revelry, so hard to break with tradition and focus instead on keeping ourselves and others safe.  But it’s so important that we do so.  Every little bit, every potentially avoided point of transmission, will help as we move forward.

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• Positive Cases: OHA reported on Saturday that 126 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total for those testing positive is now 25,765.
• Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 4,579. The cumulative total is now 565,072.
• Ratio: The percentage of positive cases in Oregon is 2.8% of total results. The national percentage today is 4.7%. 
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 3 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. You can read more about the Oregonians we lost further down in the newsletter.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now at 468.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports that an additional 5 Oregonians have been hospitalized for COVID. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is at 2,167.
• 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 14 new presumed positive cases today.  The cumulative number of those presumed positive is 1,310.
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 139 (7 more than yesterday). Of those, 88 have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 152 (4 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 720 (29 fewer than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 45 (4 fewer than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 22 (2 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 760 (9 fewer than yesterday).
• Dashboards
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 79,092,266 (up 644,842 from yesterday).
  • Positive Tests: 6,072,291 (up 30,431 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 177,645 (up 1,021 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 Updates
  • Aimee Green of The Oregonian has an article that looks more closely at the record number of COVID deaths in Oregon in August.
  • OHA has released its new 2020-24 State Health Improvement Plan, Healthier Together Oregon. It builds off of what we have learned from COVID about health inequities and disparities to create a roadmap for a better Oregon for everyone.  Check it out.

Second Legislative Hearing on Unemployment Benefits Today, Public Testimony Tomorrow

The Senate Committee on Labor and Business has been holding a series of hearings on September 1^st , 2^nd , and 3^rd on the problems and challenges around the Oregon Employment Department. 

They again met this morning for nearly four hours to hear from Acting Director David Gerstenfeld, more specifically about the CARES Act and other new federal programs.  You can watch/listen to today’s hearing here.

Thursday will be an opportunity for the public to share concerns and suggestions via oral public testimony. The deadline for signing up to do that was this afternoon at 5 pm, but it’s not too late to send in written testimony.  You can find information on how to do that on the agenda page for tomorrow’s hearing.

Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform Meets on Thursday

The Joint Committee will continue its work in a hearing on Thursday at 1 pm.  Prior to the last special session, they were working on six concepts, two of which were finalized and passed.  Many of these were attempts to build on and make necessary improvements to bills that were passed during the first special session.  The hearing will also introduce several new concepts being developed for the 2021 legislative session, including one related to qualified immunity. 

You can find the most current forms of all the legislative concepts under Meeting Materials.  Updated versions will be continually posted, so keep checking.

The hearing on Thursday will also be an opportunity to take public testimony, and the above link will show you how to do that in written form and orally.

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 ongoing reduction of transmission in Oregon, with declines 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 23-30:

• We are continuing to see a decline in the number of new cases. Last week OHA recorded 1,558 new cases of COVID-19 infection—down 8.6% from the previous week’s tally of 1,704. This is the lowest number of new infections that we’ve seen since the end of June.
• The statewide infection rate is now 631 cases per 100,000 Oregonians.
• The percentage of positive test results is continuing to decline. Last week’s positivity rate was 4.4%, the lowest it’s been for 2 months.
• Since death is a “lagging indicator,” the death rate has not gone done correspondingly. Thirty-nine Oregonians were reported to have died last week, 7 more than last week’s number of new deaths (32). The cumulative death rate since the beginning of the pandemic is 11 deaths per 100,000 Oregonians, with a cumulative total of 459 on August 30. 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 26,550 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 plurality of new cases are now “sporadic,” rather than traced to outbreaks.
• About two-thirds of cases reported contact with a confirmed case, most commonly from someone in their household.
• 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 19 report, the August 26 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. Black Oregonians are 4 times more likely to contract the disease than are White Oregonians, Native Americans 4.6 times more likely, Latinx Oregonians are 6.8 times more likely, and Pacific Islanders are now 10.8 times more likely. These disparities have increased a bit this week.

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, and the Hispanic, which is much lower).  Whites in Oregon are generally much more likely to die from the disease than are Non-Whites.

The weekly report now includes graphs showing how Public Health agencies are doing in contact tracing for different racial and ethnic groups.  For the most part, the initial interviews and follow-ups with Oregonians of color appear to be comparable with White, non-Hispanic Oregonians, with the exception of the interview rate for Black Oregonians..

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 45 (down from 51) long-term care facilities that are still considered active.  They are responsible for 748 cases (down from 799) and 74 deaths (up from 71). 

In addition, there are 88 outbreaks considered resolved (up from 81). They are responsible for 1,365 cases (up from 1,198) and 181 deaths (up from 159).  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 2,113 cases (up from 1,997 last week) and 255 deaths (up from 230 last week) for the 133 facilities (up from 131). 

The number of new cases in long-term care facilities (16) appears to be slowing down.  Deaths in Long-Term Care facilities constituted 56% of all COVID deaths in Oregon (458) as of August 30. That’s a percentage that has remained stable.

In addition to the listed facilities, there are 28 (three more than last week) 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 73 workplaces (down from 86 last week) listed as “Active” this week, totaling 2,138 (up from 2,092 last week). 

114 workplaces (up from 94) are listed as “Resolved,” totaling 1,770 cases (up from 1,476 last week).  

The total number of cases for both is thus 3,908 (up from 3,568 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.

The top two workplace outbreaks in Oregon today are again 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 still have only 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.  They are roughly the same (from Umatilla/Morrow, Jefferson, and Malheur Counties) as they’ve been for the last few weeks:

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. 97914 Ontario in Malheur County

97875 (Stanfield in Umatilla County), which was #5 last week, has switched place with 97914, which had been 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 140. Nearly 2/3 of the new cases were from outside the Portland Tri-County area.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (1)

Clackamas (4)

Coos (2)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (1)

Douglas (1)

Jackson (14)

Josephine (3)

Lane (11)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (1)

Malheur (8)

Marion (19)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (32)

Polk (7)

Sherman (1)

Umatilla (13)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (1)

Washington (16)

Yamhill (1)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 466th COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old woman in Polk County who tested positive on Aug. 27 and died on Aug. 29. Location of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 467th COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Aug. 14 and died on Aug. 29 at Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford.

Oregon’s 468th COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on July 29 and died on Aug. 31 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 (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