October 1st COVID-19 and Wildfires Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 10/01/2020 09:04 PM PDT
Michael Dembrow

October 1, 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.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reports that 330 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is 32,201.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 5,965. The cumulative total is now 690,204.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive test results in Oregon is 5.5%.  The national ratio today is 5.1%.
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 1 additional death due to the coronavirus today. You can read more about the Oregonian we lost further down in the newsletter. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 560.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports an additional 15 COVID hospitalizations today. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is 2,613.
  • 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 33 new presumed positives today.  There are currently 1,661 Oregonians who have been 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): 179 (9 more than yesterday). Of those, 132 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 178 (15 more than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 651 (15 more than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 49 (1 more than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 18 (4 more than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 819 (17 more than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • Josh Lehner of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis just published another interesting post in the OEA blog, an initial analysis of the losses due to the recent wildfires. He estimates that the value of homes and possessions exceeds $1 billion. Much of that will come back into the state via insurance payments that will lead to an estimated 2,000 new homes built, requiring around 2,000 new construction jobs.  It’s still too early to tell what the losses will be to forestry (i.e., lost timber) and the effects of people and businesses choosing not to return.
    • The Employment Department was able to meet its target of starting payments yesterday of the $300 per week Lost Wages Assistance federal supplement (replacing the $600 per week that ended at the end of July). It covers the period from the end of July to the first week of September.  So far, $225 million has gone to nearly 148,000 individuals.  Applicants need to self-certify that they are eligible, and it’s not too late to do that.  Here’s information that we received today about how to apply for that and also for Disaster Unemployment. And here’s a story from The Oregonian about the LWA payments.
    • The Department of Revenue issued a release today assuring those that were affected by the wildfires that they won’t have to worry about penalties or late fees and letting them know that they can get copies of lost records free of charge.
    • Sanne Godfrey of the Roseburg News Review has a story about a dispute between the high school teachers at Roseburg High who are refusing to do in-person classes as called for by the school district—but apparently in violation of state reopening metrics. This is an unusual twist on a tension that we’re seeing around the state.
    • Kaiser Health News put out an article about the creation of clinics to deal with those suffering from long-term physical and mental health consequences of COVID.
    • As you know, the Red Cross has been once again at the heart of the effort to shelter and support those hardest hit by the wildfires. Legislators just received a summary of the work that they’ve been doing around the state and their plans going forward.  You can read it here.

Thursday Wildfire Update

Progress continues to be made on a number of the big fires, even on the Slater Fire in Southwestern Oregon, where smoky conditions (most of the smoke actually coming up from California) are making air efforts impossible.

Below again are two tables showing overall containment and good progress on several of the six remaining major fires, one showing containment and acres burned yesterday and the other for today.  

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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.

  • There have been more than 7,500 personnel from 39 states and multiple Canadian provinces assigned to fires in Oregon since Labor Day. This number doesn’t include many of the government employees, landowners, forestland operators, and members of the community who fought alongside and supported firefighting personnel over the past few weeks.
  • I’m happy to report that the number of confirmed fatalities remains at 9, while the number of those confirmed missing has been reduced from 9 to 3. Every loss is a tragedy of course, but these are remarkably low numbers given the devastation we experienced. We owe a great deal to many people for this.
  • The number of residences and structures destroyed by wildfire remains unchanged in today’s reporting:
    • Residences destroyed: 3,124
      • Single Family: 1,069
      • Multi-Family (Apartment): 197
      • Manufactured Homes: 1,858
    • Other structures destroyed: 1,403
  • Another 400 Oregonians have successfully registered with FEMA for individual assistance over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 6,607 households that have already had their applications approved. $14.1 million dollars has already been approved for distribution.
  • 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.
  • 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 needs to register with FEMA first.
  • Again, if you know of anyone who has NOT yet registered, please direct them to the following:

The Office of Emergency Management put out a reminder to those returning to their homes to pay special attention to disposal of hazardous waste, which requires special handling. Specifically,

  • Fuel, propane tanks and petroleum products
  • Car batteries, engine oil and antifreeze
  • Solvents, aerosols and paint
  • Fertilizers and pesticides
  • Bleach and disinfectants
  • Ammunition

Those dealing with the after-effects of the Clackamas County fires can take advantage of a special hazardous waste collection event that DEQ has organized in Sandy this Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.  You can find the details here.

Wildfire Informational Resources

Here again are some other resources that I would recommend:

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 363.  Nearly two-thirds of today’s cases are from outside the Portland Tri-County area.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (1)

Benton (4)

Clackamas (25)

Columbia (7)

Coos (5)

Deschutes (7)

Douglas (5)

Jackson (27)

Jefferson (9)

Klamath (1)

Lane (32)

Linn (16)

Malheur (11)

Marion (37)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (71)

Polk (3)

Umatilla (47)

Union (1)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (5)

Washington (36)

Yamhill (10)

And the Death

Oregon’s 560th COVID-19 death is a 44-year-old man in Klamath County who tested positive on Sept. 21 and died on Sept. 30, at Sky Lakes 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