October 6th COVID-19 and Wildfire Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 10/06/2020 08:37 PM PDT
Michael Dembrow

October 6, 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.

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything in this newsletter.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • Positive Cases: OHA reports that 246 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is 33,575.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 4,341. The cumulative total is now 711,633.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive test results in Oregon is 5.7%.  The national ratio today is 4.7%.
  • Deaths: I’m very sorry to report 9 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. You can read about the Oregonians we’ve lost further down in the newsletter. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 581.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports an additional 23 COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic is now 2,680.
  • 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 55 additional presumed positives today. There are currently 1,765 Oregonians who have been presumed positive for COVID-19 to date.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 178 (6 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 127 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 147 (32 fewer than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 683 (58 fewer than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 55 (12 more than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 18 (1 more than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 801 (10 fewer than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • The Governor’s press conference today focused on the new rapid antigent COVID tests coming to Oregon, which I reported on yesterday. The first 15,000 have arrived and are being sent out to areas affected by wildfire.  We’re expecting another 80,000 next week and each week for the remainder of this calendar year.  Other areas for prioritization will be populations that are particularly vulnerable (residents of long-term care, migrant agricultural workers, communities of color).  You can watch the press conference here.
    • As I mentioned above, migrant agricultural workers are particularly susceptible to the spread of the virus. This article from the Salem Reporter explains why that is.
    • The first round of comprehensive COVID testing in Oregon’s long-term care facilities has been completed. All staff and consenting residents at the state’s 683 nursing homes have been tested.  Going forward, staff will be tested once a month and broader testing will take place in facilities where there are new cases.  Here is more information about this testing program.
    • The latest set of county school reopening metrics has just been released. You’ll see the impact of the recent rise in cases: where 20 counties were formerly eligible to move to K-3 reopening, that number has dropped to 12, based on COVID cases per 100,000. On a related note, in today’s press conference the Governor and OHA Director Pat Allen hinted that the statewide standard of 5% for reopening may soon be relaxed, at least until the new, broader COVID tests are deployed and we get a better understanding of the true prevalence of the virus.

Monday Wildfire Update

Favorable weather conditions have allowed firefighters to continue to strengthen containment lines and prevent any substantial increases in acres burned.  Increasing winds today were causes for concern, but they don’t seem to have had much effect.  We see a slight reduction in containment for the Lionshead Fire, but that may be a reporting issue.  We see a big increase in containment for the Slater Fire in Josephine County.

Below again are two tables that reveal the progress made over the last 24 hours.

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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.

Additional Wildfire-Response Statistics and Information: 

The Oregon Emergency Management Department is now limiting its updates to Monday/Wednesday/Friday, so the data below is the same as yesterday’s.  I’ll update it tomorrow.

  • I’m happy to report that the number of confirmed fatalities remains at 9, and the number of those confirmed missing remains at 3.
  • The number of Residences destroyed: 3,124
    • Single Family: 1,069
    • Multi-Family (Apartment): 197
    • Manufactured Homes: 1858
  • Other structures destroyed: 1,400
  • More than 500 additional Oregonians successfully registered with FEMA for individual assistance over the weekend, bringing the total number to 7,383 Oregonians who have already had their applications approved. Nearly $16 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 immediate disaster-related needs like replacing essential household items, medical and dental expenses, diapers, etc.
  • 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:

Wildfire Informational Resources

Here again are some other resources that I would recommend:

Additional News Items on the Wildfires

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 301. Two-thirds of the new cases are again outside of the Portland Tri-County area, with Lane county again the county with the largest number.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Baker (1)

Benton (9)

Clackamas (28)

Clatsop (3)

Columbia (3)

Coos (7)

Crook (1)

Deschutes (12)

Douglas (3)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (8)

Jefferson (2)

Josephine (1)

Klamath (1)

Lane (52)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (7)

Malheur (9)

Marion (34)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (51)

Polk (11)

Umatilla (9)

Union (1)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (1)

Washington (30)

Yamhill (11)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 573rd COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Sept. 16 and died on Oct. 5 in her residence.

Oregon’s 574th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Sept. 22 and died on Oct. 3 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 575th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Aug. 29 and died on Oct. 4 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 576th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Sept. 29 and died on Oct. 3 at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 577th COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Sept. 8 and died on Oct. 5 at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 578th COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old man in Malheur County who tested positive on Aug. 31 and died on Oct. 4 at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon’s 579th COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on July 31 and died on Aug. 4

Oregon’s 580th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old woman in Wasco County who tested positive on Sept. 18 and died on Sept. 26 in her residence.

Oregon’s 581st COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Multnomah County who died on Sept. 2 in her residence.

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