September 29th COVID-19 and Wildfire Update

September 29, 2020

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

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• Positive Cases: OHA reports that 288 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is 31,678.
• Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 4,345. The cumulative total is now 677,770.
• Ratio: The percentage of positive test results in Oregon is 6.6%.  The national ratio today is 4.5%.
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 8 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 555.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports an additional 20 COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is 2,558.
• 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. There are currently 1,613 Oregonians presumed positive for COVID-19.
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 173 (18 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 122 have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 189 (40 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 779 (26 more than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 53 (9 more than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 17 (2 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 818 (4 more than yesterday).
• Dashboards
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 103,155,189 (up 812,773 yesterday).
  • New Cases: 7,154,198 (up 36,947 from yesterday.)
  • Deaths: 197,868 (up 739 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.

Tuesday Wildfire Update

The work on the major fires holds, with further containment on the Holiday Farm and Archie Creek fires.  That’s good news.  But those managing our firefighting effort are urging us to be cautious:   “For the rest of the week, temperatures will range 10-15 degrees above normal. With multiple red flags warnings and warm weather conditions, Oregon is still in active fire season.  Oregonians are asked to do their part to help prevent human-caused wildfires while firefighting resources remain focused on containment of current wildfires.”

Below again are two tables showing ongoing progress on the major fires, one from yesterday and one from today.  

Again, for maps and up-to-the-minute details on the individual fires, I’d direct you to OEM’s State of Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard.

You can find an up-to-the-moment status report on road closures from ODOT’s Trip Check tool.

• I’m happy to report that the number of people confirmed fatalities remains at 9, while the number of those confirmed missing also remains at 9.
• In the latest OEM report, the number of residences reported destroyed has been reduced to 1,396. The number of other structures (barns, outbuildings, businesses) destroyed has been reduced to 1,403.
• More than five hundred additional Oregonians have successfully registered with FEMA for individual assistance over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 6,050 households that have already had their applications approved. $12.3 million dollars has already been approved for  
• Assistance provided by FEMA for homeowners can include grants for repairs to make their primary home habitable. Rental assistance is available to pay for temporary housing for homeowners and renters. Assistance can also help with other disaster-related needs like replacing essential household items, medical and dental expenses.
• We learned today that in addition to FEMA grants, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers low-cost disaster loans for homeowners, renters, and businesses. This includes Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) for small businesses. Anyone seeking an SBA disaster loan need to register with FEMA first.
• Again, if you know of anyone who has NOT yet registered, please direct them to the following:

• Call 1-800-621-3362
• Online through the FEMA website
• Through the FEMA mobile app

Wildfire Informational Resources

Here again are some other resources that I would recommend:

• Again, for one-stop information about fires, firefighting response, smoke levels, relief for evacuees, and much more, you can find a variety of Wildfire-related Resources at the Governor’s Wildfire Website.  I really encourage you to check this one out first—there’s a wealth of info and links here, including on how to volunteer, donate, or otherwise help. 
• Here are regular updates on road conditions from ODOT.regular updates on road conditions from ODOT.
• The Office of Emergency Management provides regular updates at the OEM Twitter page and at the OEM Facebook page.

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 299.   Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (1)

Benton (8)

Clackamas (28)

Clatsop (2)

Columbia (3)

Coos (1)

Crook (1)

Deschutes (7)

Douglas (7)

Jackson (11)

Jefferson (4)

Josephine (5)

Klamath (10)

Lane (32)

Linn (4)

Malheur (9)

Marion (49)

Morrow (4)

Multnomah (52)

Polk (3)

Umatilla (11)

Wallowa (1)

Washington (41)

Yamhill (5)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 548^th COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Sept. 9 and died on Sept. 17 in her residence.

Oregon’s 549^th COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on July 3 and died on Sept. 3 in her residence.

Oregon’s 550^th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Aug. 31 and died on Sept. 20 in his residence.

Oregon’s 551^st COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Sept. 9 and died on Sept. 27 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 552^nd COVID-19 death is a 68-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Sept. 5 and died on Sept. 25 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 553^rd COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old woman in Yamhill County who tested positive on July 30 and died on Aug. 18 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 554^th COVID-19 death is a 57-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Aug.19 and died on Sept. 11 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 555^th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Sept. 10 and died on Sept. 22 at Portland Adventist Medical Center.

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