December 4th COVID-19 Update

December 4, 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.

I’m sorry to say that OHA has reported the biggest jump ever in new COVID cases.  This may be the beginning of the Thanksgiving-related increases that we’ve been expecting, or it may be a function of test reporting catching up. (We’ve heard from OHA that test reporting was delayed in some areas or testing itself was postponed as a result of the holiday.) The number of newly-reported tests really soared today—as a result, the positivity rate actually went down fairly significantly to 6.5%, about half the national rate. It may be that increased testing is catching a greater number of the cases that were otherwise going undetected.  If so, that’s a good thing.

Sadly, the number of reported COVID deaths also set a new record, with 30 deaths reported.  This took us over the 1,000 mark, much more quickly than had been expected.

Nevertheless, there are signs that the freeze that has just ended did reduce transmission, with transmission rates last week being below what they were at the end of October, according to the latest modeling update, which I’ll be reporting on tomorrow.  In her press conference today, the Governor expressed a great deal of gratitude for the Oregonians who have made and are continuing to make sacrifices during the freeze and beyond.  Even if we do see an increase in cases as a result of Thanksgiving, it will hopefully subside as a result of increased mask wearing, more people working at home, and smaller gatherings in those counties deemed to be at Extreme Risk of the disease spreading.

Please stay safe, and let me know if you have any questions about today’s newsletter. 

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• New COVID Cases: OHA reports 2,176 new COVID cases today.  This count is a combination of positive test results and those who are presumed positive (see definition below).  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 81,437.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reports an additional 2,830 positive test results today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 117,021.
• Total Tests: OHA reports 43,730 additional test reports today. The cumulative total of tests given since the beginning of the pandemic is 2,087,054.
• Positivity Rate: The rate of positive test results for Oregon is 6.5% today.  The national ratio today is 12.1%.  
• Deaths: I’m sorry to have to report a new record, 30 additional COVID deaths today. You can read about the Oregonians we lost further down in the newsletter. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 1,003.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports 56 new COVID hospitalizations. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is now 4,859.
• Presumptive Cases: OHA is including “presumptive COVID-19 cases” in its 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.  
• Other Hospital Information:
  • Patients Currently with COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 596 (33 fewer than yesterday). Of those, 557 (2 fewer than yesterday) have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 146 (13 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 661 (102 more than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 127 (5 more than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 59 (7 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 745 (16 more than yesterday).
• Dashboards:
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 200,259,581 (up 1,854,869 from yesterday).
  • Total Cases: 14,146,191 (up 224,979 from yesterday.)
  • Deaths: 269,791 (up 2,563 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can follow them here.
• Additional Brief Updates:
  • The University of Oregon has just provided lawmakers with an update on how COVID is affecting the UO community.
  • For more information about the Governor’s news conference today, here’s thorough reporting by the Oregonian’s Andrew Theen.

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 reported for is 2,176. Nearly 2/3 are from outside the Portland Tri-County region, with record case numbers in several of those counties. Here is the breakdown of reported cases by county for today:

Baker (15)

Benton (25)

Clackamas (176)

Clatsop (15)

Columbia (8)

Coos (30)

Crook (20)

Curry (6)

Deschutes (129)

Douglas (28)

Gilliam (1)

Grant (3)

Harney (3)

Hood River (27)

Jackson (172)

Jefferson (33)

Josephine (37)

Klamath (97)

Lane (127)

Lincoln (11)

Linn (65)

Malheur (37)

Marion (188)

Morrow (18)

Multnomah (388)

Polk (43)

Sherman (1)

Tillamook (4)

Umatilla (74)

Union (20)

Wasco (21)

Washington (319)

Yamhill (35)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 974th COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 20 and died on Dec. 1 at Kaiser Westside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 975th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 25 and died on Nov. 28 at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center..

Oregon’s 976th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Nov. 16 and died on Dec. 2 at McKenzie Willamette Medical Center.

Oregon’s 977th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 6 and died on Nov. 23 at her residence.

Oregon’s 978th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died at her residence. Date of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 979th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 8 and died at her residence. Date of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 980th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 30 and died on Dec. 1 at her residence.

Oregon’s 981st COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Polk County who tested positive on Nov. 23 and died on Dec. 1 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 982nd COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Nov. 30 and died on Dec. 2 at his residence.

Oregon’s 983rd COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 29 and died on Dec. 3 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 984th COVID-19 death is a 74-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 20 and died on Dec. 2 at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.

Oregon’s 985th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Dec. 3 at Salem Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 986th COVID-19 death is a 76-year-old man in Lincoln County who tested positive on Nov. 23 and died on Nov. 29 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center-Riverbend.

Oregon’s 987th COVID-19 death is a 68-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 25 and died on Dec. 2 at his residence.

Oregon’s 988th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 18 and died on Dec. 2 at Portland VA Medical Center.

Oregon’s 989th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Nov. 11 and died on Dec. 2 at Rogue Valley Medical Center.

Oregon’s 990th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Douglas County who tested positive on Nov. 10 and died on Nov. 26 at his residence.

Oregon’s 991st COVID-19 death is a 94-year-old woman in Jackson County who tested positive on Nov. 9 and died on Dec. 3 at her residence.

Oregon’s 992nd COVID-19 death is a 94-year-old woman in Jackson County who tested positive on Nov. 10 and died on Dec. 1 at her residence.

Oregon’s 993rd COVID-19 death is a 52-year-old woman in Klamath County who tested positive on Oct. 9 and died on Dec. 2 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 994th COVID-19 death is a 59-year-old man in Klamath County who tested positive on Oct. 9 and died on Nov. 28 at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.

Oregon’s 995th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 15 and died on Nov. 15 at his residence.

Oregon’s 996th COVID-19 death is a 76-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 30 and died on Dec. 1 at her residence.

Oregon’s 997th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 28 and died on Dec. 2 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 998th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Oct. 5 and died on Nov. 1 at his residence.

Oregon’s 999th COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 16 and died on Nov. 25 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1000th COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 10 and died on Nov. 23 at Adventist Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1001st COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 25 and died on Nov. 25 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1002nd COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 30 and died on Dec. 3 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1003rd COVID-19 death is a 96-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Nov. 24.

Additional Graphs:

**You can find a breakdown of regional availability here.

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