December 7th COVID-19 Update

December 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.

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 1,331 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 85,788.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reports 5,410 positive test results since Friday, an average of 1,803 per day. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is 122,431. 
• Total Tests: OHA reports an additional 66,607 test results since Friday, an average of 22,202 results per day. Our cumulative total of tests is 2,153,661.
• Positivity Rate: The average positivity rate for the last three days is 8.1%.  The national ratio today is 10.0%.  
• Deaths: I’m sorry to have to report 12 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 1.045.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports 153 new hospitalizations since Friday, an average of 51 per day. The cumulative number of those who have been hospitalized with COVID is 5,012.
• 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): 622 (26 more than Friday). Of those, 565 (8 more than yesterday) have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 160 (14 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 791 (130 more than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms: 128 (1 more than yesterday).
  • COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 65 (6 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 726 (19 fewer than yesterday).
• Dashboards:
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 205,934,174 (up 1,835,388 from yesterday).
  • Total Cases: 14,717,065 (up 183,030 from yesterday.)
  • Deaths: 274,745 (up 1,371 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can follow them here.
• Additional Brief Updates:
  • The Statesman-Journal’s Bill Poehler has a story updating the rebuilding effort going on in the Santiam Canyon.
  • The CDC is now recommending that all Americans wear face coverings anytime they are indoors outside of home.
  • Portland is planning a new round of $500 prepaid cards to help people harmed by coronavirus. Read more here.

Senate Committee Meetings This Week

Today marked the beginning of two weeks of “Leg Days,” where legislative committees meet (remotely for now) to hear updates on issues of concern and introduce the first round of bills for the next session.  This week is devoted to Senate hearings, and next week for House hearings.  On Wednesday the Senate Rules Committee (of which I’m a member) will be considering Governor appointments to executive positions, boards, and commissions.

Here's the calendar for the rest of this week:  The links will take you to the agenda, meeting materials, and meeting video.

Tuesday, December 8

Senate Human Services,  9 a.m.

Senate Labor and Business, 1 p.m.

Wednesday, December 9

Senate Finance and Revenue,  9 a.m.

Senate Mental Health, 9 a.m.

Senate Rules and Executive Appointments, 1 p.m.

Senate Veterans and Emergency Preparedness, 1 p.m.

Thursday, December 10

Senate Government Accountability and Information Technology,  9 a.m.

Senate Judiciary (meeting jointly with House Judiciary), 9 a.m.

Senate Housing won’t be meeting this week. 

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 1,290. Here is the breakdown of reported cases by county for today:

Baker (5)

Benton (19)

Clackamas (134)

Columbia (7)

Coos (9)

Crook (6)

Curry (8)

Deschutes (66)

Douglas (11)

Grant (1)

Harney (3)

Hood River (3)

Jackson (21)

Jefferson (44)

Josephine (21)

Lane (78)

Lincoln (17)

Linn (50)

Malheur (11)

Marion (165)

Multnomah (330)

Polk (24)

Umatilla (15)

Union (7)

Wasco (16)

Washington (225)

Yamhill (35)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 1034th COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old woman in Gilliam County who tested positive on Dec. 1 and died on Dec. 6 at Mid-Columbia Memorial Hospital.

Oregon’s 1035th COVID-19 death is a 50-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Dec. 2 and died on Dec. 5 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend.

Oregon’s 1036th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Linn County who tested positive on Nov. 20 and died on Nov. 25 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1037th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old woman in Linn County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Nov. 27 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1038th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 29 and died on Dec. 5 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 1039th COVID-19 death is a 50-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 29 and died on Dec. 4 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1040th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Nov. 25. Place of death is being confirmed.

Oregon’s 1041st COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 30 and died on Nov. 30 at providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1042nd COVID-19 death is a 37-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 27 and died on Nov. 29 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1043rd COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 3 and died on Dec. 3 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1044th COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 21 and died on Nov. 25 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1045th COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Benton County who tested positive on Dec. 1 and died on Dec. 4 at his residence.

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