September 3rd COVID-19 Update

Michael Dembrow

September 3, 2020

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

COVID case numbers are back up today compared to yesterday’s very low counts.  We’ll see going forward which day turns out to be more typical.  If it’s yesterday’s count, we’re looking at a rapidly improving situation, with ongoing declines in hospitalizations and deaths; if it’s today’s, then we’re looking at remaining where we are for quite some time.  Either way, we’re certainly better off than most parts of the country, which is a testament to our taking this challenge more seriously than others.  But we’d all like to see more rapid declines.

Again, a lot will depend on what happens this Labor Day weekend.  The public health experts are really worried that people will (understandably) want to relax, lower their guard, dispense with the face coverings and the social distancing, party with people outside their usual households, and the result will be a big increase in the disease. Let’s hope enough people remain careful to prevent that from happening.

Let’s also hope that we have a more peaceful weekend in Portland than we did last weekend, that people are not allowed into our city to provoke violence, that those who engage in protest resist the tactics of violence.

On that subject, I added my name today to a joint statement by the Governor and a number of local elected and community leaders calling for an end to violence, vigilantism, and white supremacy, and recommitting ourselves to continuing nonstop the work of racial justice and equity.

Labor Day is a time to remember and celebrate the spirit of solidarity and respect for those who do essential work in our communities.  Never is that more needed than this year. 

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reported on Saturday that 250 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total for those testing positive is now 26,015.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 4,732. The cumulative total is now 569,804.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive cases in Oregon is 5.3% of total results. The national percentage today is 6.1%.
  • 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 470.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports that an additional 8 Oregonians have been hospitalized for COVID. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is at 2,175.
  • 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 1,321.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 133 (6 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 87 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 171 (19 more than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 709 (11 fewer than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 43 (2 fewer than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 26 (4 more than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 775 (15 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
    • Malheur County in Eastern Oregon continues to be a COVID hotspot, with one of the highest infection rates in the state. Part of the problem they face is their proximity to Idaho, which is seeing big case counts in the area adjacent to Ontario. Idaho has issued very few restrictions designed to halt the spread of the disease, which adds to the problem.  Here’s an article from The Malheur Enterprise explaining the problem.
    • The Office of Economic Analysis has begun to provide a series of interesting graphs showing the trendlines for the disease and economic effects in its blog. These will be updated each week.
    • The Bend City Council is again asking tourists to stay away from Bend until after Labor Day in an attempt to keep the spread of COVID down and improve their chances of reopening their schools.

Public Testimony on Unemployment Benefits This Morning

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

They met for the final time this morning to take public testimony, hearing for more than an hour from people calling in to share their experiences, which were universally negative. You can watch/listen to today’s hearing here.  Nearly 100 pieces of written testimony were submitted as well.

The committee will be taking up this issue again during Legislative Days (on September 22).  In the meantime, Director Gerstenfeld committed to looking into the cases of everyone who called in to testify.

Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform Meeting

The Joint Committee continued its work in a hearing this afternoon.  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 introduced several new concepts being developed for the 2021 legislative session, including one related to qualified immunity.  Public testimony was taken on all the concepts. 

You can listen/watch the hearing by clicking on the play button in the above link.

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

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 274.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (2)

Clackamas (24)

Columbia (2)

Coos (4)

Deschutes (4)

Douglas (1)

Jackson (18)

Jefferson (6)

Josephine (1)

Lane (13)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (2)

Malheur (23)

Marion (36)

Morrow (7)

Multnomah (65)

Umatilla (15)

Wallowa (4)

Wasco (1)

Washington (40)

Yamhill (6)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 468th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on July 14 and died on Aug. 23, at Vibra Hospital of Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 469th COVID-19 death is a 56-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Aug. 1 and died on Aug. 22, at Providence St. Vincent.

Oregon’s 470th COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on July 8 and died on Aug. 21 in her residence.

NOTE FROM OHA: OHA has more information about Oregon’s 416th COVID-19 death first reported on Aug. 22. She was a 37-year old woman who tested positive on Aug. 10 and died on August 15, at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. She had no known underlying conditions. Due to a data compilation error, she was also reported as Oregon’s 449th COVID-19 on Aug. 29. OHA regrets the error

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