October 16th COVID-19 and Wildfire Update

Michael Dembrow

October 16, 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 newsletter again shows a large number of new cases, but unfortunately that cannot be attributed to more testing, as the number of reported tests has gone down today.  As a result, our positivity rate for the day has risen back up to 6.6%. Sadly, we learned of six new COVID deaths today.

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 386 additional Oregonians have tested positive for COVID. The cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic is 36,971.
  • Total Tests: The number of reported tests has increased by 5,889. The cumulative total is now 773,225.
  • Ratio: The percentage of positive test results has risen to 6.6%.  The national ratio today is 5.9%.
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 6 additional deaths due to the coronavirus today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 617.
  • Hospitalized: OHA reports 18 new COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic is now 2,886.
  • 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 32 new cases presumed positive for COVID-19.  The cumulative number of presumed positives is 1,964.
  • Other Hospital Information:
    • Patients Currently with COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 190 (9 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 149 have already received a positive test back.
    • Available ICU Beds: 161 (2 fewer than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 664 (55 more than yesterday).
    • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 44 (5 fewer than yesterday).
    • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 15 (1 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 786 (8 fewer than yesterday).
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  • Today’s National Numbers:
  • Additional Brief Updates:
    • Given what we’ve been seeing in the daily reports, it will likely come as no surprise to you that Lane County has just been added to the County tracing and other efforts.  It joins Benton, Clatsop, Malheur, and Umatilla on the list.  Here’s the press release related to this decision.  And here are the latest county-by-county metrics relevant to the watch list.
    • A lot of what’s driving the big increases in Lane County are of course the students returning to the University of Oregon, particularly those living off-campus. We’ve just received an email from U of O describing some of the steps that they are taking to address the problem.  They’re expanding their testing program to include off-campus students, testing 4,000 additional students per week as a first step. If a quarantine is required for students living in congregate off-campus settings (e.g., fraternities and sororities), the quarantine will apply to everyone living there, not just the student who has tested positive.  The email also includes a message to the university community from UO President Michael Schill. 
    • FEMA has just issued information and advice for evacuees who are beginning to repair their homes. Here it is in English and in Spanish.
    • OHA has updated its rules regarding school swimming pools. For schools in both Phase One and Phase Two areas, pools can be used both for team workouts and competitions AND for the general public, as long as the safety guidelines are met.  Here is the revised guidance.

Friday 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.  You’ll see that the reported containment has not changed.

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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.

Wildfire Impact/Recovery Updates

Oregon Emergency Management has provided us with two updates today.  Here is the regular recovery update (appears MWF).  And here is the weekly update for legislators.

Here again are some highlights:

  • The number of fatalities (9) and missing persons (1) remains the same.
  • The number of residences reported destroyed has gone down a little to 4,002. More than 1,400 structures other than residences have also been destroyed.
  • According to the Red Cross, 1,794 Oregonians remain in emergency housing. Of those, 81 are living in RVs and tents, and 1,713 are in hotels/motels and other short-term settings.  There are no evacuees living in indoor congregate shelters any longer.
  • The number of Oregonians who have registered with FEMA for individual assistance has soared to 19,608. FEMA has already approved for $19.1 million in assistance grants.
  • Here they are by county:
    • Clackamas County: 1,656
    • Douglas County: 9,256
    • Jackson County: 3,816
    • Klamath County: 160
    • Lane County: 1,336
    • Lincoln County: 697
    • Linn County: 566
    • Marion County: 1,674
  • In addition, 1,911 Oregonians have applied for short-term critical needs assistance. They have received $955,500 so far.
  • Still, if you know of anyone who has NOT yet registered, please direct them to the following:

Wildfire Informational Resources

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 418.  Here is the breakdown by county for today:

Benton (2)

Clackamas (45)

Columbia (3)

Coos (5)

Crook (1)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (18)

Douglas (5)

Jackson (18)

Jefferson (3)

Klamath (2)

Lane (53)

Linn (12)

Malheur (17)

Marion (35)

Morrow (5)

Multnomah (86)

Polk (13)

Tillamook (3)

Umatilla (17)

Wasco (2)

Washington (58)

Yamhill (14)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 612th COVID-19 death is a 50-year-old man in Jefferson County who tested positive on Oct. 6 and died on Oct. 14, in his residence.

Oregon’s 613th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Sept. 24 and died on Oct. 12, at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 614th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Curry County who tested positive on Oct. 5 and died on Oct. 12. Place of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 615th COVID-19 death is a 65-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Aug. 7 and died on Sept. 23, at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 616th COVID-19 death is a 94-year-old woman in Hood River County who tested positive on Oct. 8 and died on Oct. 14. Place of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 617th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Sept. 6 and died on Oct. 2, in his 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.

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