October 7th COVID-19 and Wildfire Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 10/08/2020 01:20 AM PDT
Michael Dembrow

October 7, 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 COVID news is mixed overall.  Case counts are up a little from yesterday, but that may be due in part to a little more testing.  As a result, the positivity rate for today is a little lower than it has been (though still higher than it needs to be for in-person school reopening). COVID hospitalization rates are up, reflecting the higher case counts that began a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, we’re only seeing two additional COVID deaths today.

You’ll find a variety of updates in today’s newsletter.

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 268 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is 33,843.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 5,144. The cumulative total is now 716,777.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive test results in Oregon is 5.2%.  The national ratio today is 5.9%.
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 2 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 583.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports an additional 25 COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic is now 2,705.
  • 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): 197 (19 more than yesterday). Of those, 129 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 136 (9 fewer than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 602 (81 fewer than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 39 (16 fewer than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 14 (4 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 791 (10 fewer than yesterday).
  • Dashboards
  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • Here’s more information from OHA about the plans for expanded testing once the big influx of federal testing materials arrive.
    • The OSU TRACE study team have done another analysis of COVID in Corvallis now that fall quarter has begun and many students have returned. Through a combination of wastewater analysis and in-person testing, their analysis suggests that 3 people out of 1,000 carried the virus on September 26 and 27. This rate is slightly higher than it was in the fall, but not significantly so.  You can read about the testing and the conclusions here.
    • ODOT has put out a press release with information about the effort to clear the wildfire-affected roads.
    • OHA has just reported four new workplace outbreaks around the state. Workplaces with more than five cases are listed by name in the Weekly COVID Report. Outbreaks with more than 20 cases (employees and family members) are reported to the public as they occur.  Here are the four that were just reported:
      • New Seasons in Washington County
      • Oregon State Hospital in Salem
      • McDonald’s in Medford
      • Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI)—41 cases so far
    • Speaking of the Weekly Report, it has just been released. You can read it here.  I’ll report on its details tomorrow.
    • The Portland Public Schools Board announced today that it will stay with comprehensive distance learning through January 28. That’s the end of the second quarter of this academic year. They’ve based that decision on the increasing case counts that we’re seeing in the Portland Metro area.  They are hoping to have some in-class education and some school-based activities in the meantime. You can read the announcement that went out to PPS families here.

Wednesday Wildfire Update

Below again are two tables that reveal the progress made in containment of the six remaining major fires 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: 

  • I’m happy to report that the number of those confirmed missing has been reduced to two. The number of confirmed fatalities remains at 9.
  • The number of Oregonians still in congregate shelters has gone down to 118.
  • OEM’s report today pegs the number of residences destroyed at 4,078, up from 3,124 (this time there is no breakdown by type of residence destroyed). The number of Residences destroyed: 3,124.  The number of non-residentials structures destroyed remains at 1,400.
  • More than 500 additional Oregonians have successfully registered with FEMA for individual assistance since Monday, bringing the total number to 7,986 Oregonians who have already had their applications approved. $16.5 million dollars has already been approved for distribution.
  • 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:

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 305. 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 (3)

Benton (4)

Clackamas (22)

Columbia (7)

Coos (6)

Crook (1)

Deschutes (11)

Douglas (3)

Jackson (21)

Jefferson (1)

Josephine (6)

Klamath (2)

Lake (1)

Lane (53)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (31)

Malheur (5)

Marion (25)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (43)

Polk (3)

Tillamook (5)

Umatilla (13)

Wallowa (2)

Wasco (4)

Washington (26)

Yamhill (5)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 582nd COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Sept. 24 and died on Oct. 5 in his residence.

Oregon’s 583rd COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old woman in Deschutes County who tested positive on Aug. 26 and died Oct. 5 at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

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