September 13th COVID-19 and Wildfire Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 09/13/2020 08:47 PM PDT
Michael Dembrow

September 13, 2020

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

Fire conditions remain very difficult, but the worst of the spreading seems to be behind us.  I’m happy to report that evacuation orders are being downgraded or rescinded entirely in much of Clackamas County.  Many Oregonians remain missing, but many have been located, including nearly all of the fifty who were on the Medford missing-person list.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that air quality remains dangerous for most of the state. Here in Portland, the predictions are that our air quality will improve from “Hazardous” to merely “Unhealthy” in the next 24 hours.

Because it’s the weekend, legislators again didn’t receive a formal Wildfire briefing today, but I’ve collected some additional updates and links to resources that I hope you’ll find useful.  I also provide a summary of a briefing some of us had today with the Department of Corrections.

On the COVID front, today’s case count is lower, but so is the reported number of tests, so the result is a higher positivity rate.  Again, this may be the result of reporting anomalies, something we’ll know better in a few days.  As I mentioned yesterday, the coming week will be a really important time, as we’ll know the effects of the Labor Day weekend and will hopefully not see the upwards surge that we saw in previous holiday weekends.

Since it’s Sunday, you’ll find only partial reporting on some of the metrics tracking coronavirus in Oregon.  Instead of giving us the positive test results alone, over the weekend OHA combines those numbers with the relatively small number of those who are presumed to be positive based on their symptoms and close proximity to someone who has tested positive, but whose test results have not yet come back.  But it still gives us a good idea of what’s going on. 

We also don’t get hospitalization numbers over the weekend, so we won’t know what the rate of increase is till tomorrow.  Deaths are reported, however, and today OHA reported the death of five Oregonians.

As I’ve been doing on Sundays, I’m including updated information about how COVID is affecting people of different ages.  We see the same trends as in past weeks: COVID cases are most prevalent in younger people.  When it is passed on to older people, however, it becomes much more dangerous (though we continue to see a slight increase in hospitalizations and deaths among those under the age of 50).

Again, please let me know if you have any questions about any of the information in this newsletter.

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reports that 185 additional Oregonians have tested positive or are presumed positive (see below for definition) for COVID. OHA does not report positive test results alone over the weekend. I’ll be able to readjust the numbers on Monday to remove the presumed positives. The cumulative total for those testing positive and presumed positive is 29,337.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 2,516. Today’s increase in total results also includes presumed positives in the total results. Nevertheless, the test numbers seem low. I’ll readjust the numbers on Monday when we get further information. The cumulative total is now 612,620.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive test results in Oregon is 7.4%.  The national ratio today is 5.3%.
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 5 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 509. (This is in spite of yesterday’s total having been 505.  One of the deaths reported yesterday was discovered to have been an out-of-state resident, so was subtracted from today’s total.)
  • Hospitalized: OHA does not report on hospitalizations over the weekend. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID thus remains at 2,235.
  • 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. The number of new presumed positives today is 19. The total number of presumed positives is currently 1,405.
  • Other Hospital Information: OHA DOES NOT REPORT hospitalization information over the weekend, so the numbers below are the same as Friday’s.
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 161 (1 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 100 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 128 (26 fewer than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 613 (5 fewer than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 43 (3 more than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 19 (1 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 778 (9 fewer than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • Oregon OSHA has issued a set of expectations for employers whose workers work outdoors and may be exposed to wildfire smoke.
    • Again: If You Want to Receive LWA Benefits:  The temporary Unemployment Insurances Lost Wages Assistance program is now underday.  It will restore half of the expired $600 federal supplement for the five weeks between July 26 and September 5.  It’s only available to people who can certify that their loss of work was due to the pandemic.  That’s automatic for those on PUA.  Those on regular UI or extended benefits UI will need to self-certify that their unemployment was due to the pandemic.  Here’s a set of Q&A’s about the programthat tells you more about the program, will show you what to do, and provides the appropriate links.

Sunday Wildfire Update:  Conditions Slowly Improving

Most of the fires on the west side of the Cascades are continuing to expand, but they are doing so slowly, and largely in a way that is not putting additional population areas at risk. As a result, evacuation notices are being downgraded or lifted in many parts of the state.  Conditions are not as favorable now on the east side of the mountains, and we are seeing some big expansions in the southeastern part of the state.

We still don’t have a clear picture of the potential loss of life, as search-and-rescue teams are only now beginning their work. 

For an up-to-the-minute look at what’s going on in each of these fires, including acres burned, percentage contained, known loss of life, and other data, I’d suggest that you go to OEM’s State of Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard.

Here again are some other resources that I would recommend:

More News Items for You

Department of Corrections Briefing:

Several legislators were briefed this afternoon on what occurred during the emergency relocation of approximately 1,300 adults in custody, mainly women, from Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville to other facilities, mainly Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras. 

The recommendation on Thursday to move the adults in custody came from the State Fire Marshal  and the Oregon State Police at a time when there were fears that the Riverside and Beachie Creek fires would join, create their own weather system, and jump I-5, which would put it in a position to attack the prison. (Fortunately, that has not occurred.)  Most of Clackamas County was on some form of evacuation alert status at the time.

What we heard from Corrections Department Director Colette Peters was that the move took much longer than expected and was full of problems.  Because of the suddenness of the move, it was similar to other forced evacuations we’ve seen in the last week: AICs could only take the clothes they were wearing, medication and sanitary items they had in their cells, their phone books, and very little else.  Where it was different, of course, was that on top of the emergency nature of the relocation were all the security protocols they were under.

A variety of transportation vehicles were conscripted for the move, including local school buses, none of which had bathrooms on board.  Normally, when DOC does AIC transfers, they’re able to stop at certain bathroom facilities en route if the trip is long.  In this case, those facilities were closed because of the fires.  Given the abruptness of the departures, the fact that many AICs had to wait in their buses before being sent off in waves, the length of the trip to central Oregon, and the time it took to process them once they got there, the results for many were frankly awful, especially for women who were in the midst of their menstruation period.  Sanitary supplies were actually put on the buses, but without rest stops, they were useless. 

For some, the transport period did not end until they were finally processed in as late as 9 the following morning (Friday).  Many of the AICs themselves stepped up to help with the move and didn’t rest until it was over.

Friday too had its challenges. It took a while to get hot food provided. Long-overdue controlled medications were finally able to be given starting in the morning and into the afternoon.  Air quality was poor.  Before the transfer, air quality in Madras had been better than in the Valley, but unfortunately that had changed by the time they arrived.  Poor air quality in the facility due to smoke remains a problem. 

Meanwhile, all this created problems for the men who had been housed at Deer Ridge and had to relocate to other parts of the facility—far inferior to what they were used to--in order to make way for the incoming women.  A protest resulted, largely peaceful, but it was tense and tempers were frayed.

According to Director Peters, things were much improved by Saturday, with regular meals, meds, and other necessities.  But clearly everyone wants to see a return to Coffee Creek as soon as possible.  However, that return will be able to be done very differently, in stages, with bathroom facilities set up along the way. 

Some of the awful things we’ve been reading on social media and in the press about this emergency evacuation are not true, according to the Director.  There were no knife attacks, no mass brawls, no exposure to AICs with known COVID infections. Nevertheless, Director Peters expressed her deep regrets for the serious problems that did occur and promised that they will not occur on the return.

Incidentally, those who had been in quarantine for COVID at Coffee Creek were sent to a special unit at the Oregon State Prison and never came in contact with the other AICs. All of those were men from other facilities who had been sent to Coffee Creek for treatment because of its superior medical facilities.  So far in the pandemic, there have not been any known cases of COVID among female AICs.

Legislators also asked about conditions at the Oregon State Prison, where AICs from the Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) remain. (Those from Santiam and Mill Creek have already returned.)  Conditions there remain poor.  It’s an old facility, and air quality is also very bad there. Conditions are cramped.  It’s a situation that hopefully will also end soon.

Legislators requested that there be more extensive COVID testing once AICs return to their home facilities.  While COVID is no longer rampant in Salem corrections facilities, anytime AICs from different units mix with a variety of outside staff coming from different parts of the state, there’s a potential for transmission.  Early detection is going to be critical right now, and that means widespread testing.

As an Oregon legislator and Judiciary Committee member, I want to express my regrets to the AICs that have had to go through this painful experience, hope we can all learn from it, and take steps to do better next time.  At the same time, I do want to express my appreciation to the staff, the school bus drivers, and others who put in long, difficult shifts without sleep in order to make the evacuation possible. 

I also want to thank the twenty or so Coffee Creek women who did not make the move because they’re out on the lines fighting fires right now.

Looking at Age Metrics

Here again are this week’s statewide case, hospitalization, and death metrics by age.  Here is updated information as of September 11.  The percentages for each category have not really moved at all. You’ll see again that younger people have come to dominate the category of new cases: 70% of all cases so far have been in Oregonians below younger than 50.

However, effects of the disease become much more severe when it is transmitted to older people. Seventy percent of COVID hospitalizations are among those OVER the age of 50.  Deaths remain dominated by those above the age of 70 (nearly three-fourths of all deaths), though we continue to see many losses among people in their 50s and younger.

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 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 185.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Benton (2)

Clackamas (9)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (3)

Douglas (1)

Gilliam (1)

Jackson (13)

Jefferson (1)

Josephine (4)

Lane (8)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (3)

Malheur (26)

Marion (27)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (38)

Polk (6)

Umatilla (6)

Wasco (1)

Washington (33)

And the Deaths

The 504th COVID-19 death reported yesterday, Sept. 12, was deemed to be an out-of-state resident and has been removed from OHA’s case counts. This case was reported to the appropriate state of residence.  

Oregon's 505th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Aug. 29 and died on Sept. 7 at his residence.

Oregon's 506th COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Aug. 26 and died on Sept.12 at her residence.

Oregon's 507th COVID-19 death is a 76-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Sept. 3 and died on Sept. 12 at his residence.

Oregon's 508th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Sept. 4 and died on Sept. 12 at his residence.

Oregon's 509th COVID-19 death is a 89-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Aug. 31 and died on Sept. 10 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

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.

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