January 13th COVID-19 Update

January 13, 2021

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 report that we’re seeing some increases today in all the COVID metrics: cases, positivity rate, hospitalizations, and deaths.  Today’s high death count account is again partly the result of late reporting of deaths that should have been included in earlier counts. 

The great majority of today’s deaths actually occurred in December or earlier, the lagging consequence of the surge in new that occurred in November.  That surge led the Governor to impose the COVID freeze and risk-level restrictions that began before Thanksgiving and appear to have stopped the spike in new cases that we were seeing at the time.

Nearly all the reported deaths were Oregonians over the age of 70, but there were exceptions, one of which is a very notable one and led to the following statement from OHA:

“Every death from COVID-19 is a loss for friends and families,” said Dr. Bukhosi Dube, senior health advisor with the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. “Today's reported death of a 19-year-old, who had underlying conditions shows, again, that because a person may be younger than the most at-risk groups, they may still suffer life-threatening consequences from the virus.”

While older people are at higher risk of having more severe outcomes, including hospitalizations and death, COVID-19 has led to hospitalizations of persons under the age of 40. State data show that about 5% of patients who have been hospitalized for their illness were between the ages of 10 to 39 years old. In Oregon, this is the fourth COVID-19 related death in individuals younger than 30 since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of Jan. 13, 103 persons between the ages of 10 and 19 have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon.

I don’t yet have anything to report on the developing plans for how the additional COVID vaccines will be provided to school personnel and people over 65.  The Vaccine Advisory Committee is meeting Thursday morning.  I’m sure they will be briefed on the latest news and will be asked for their recommendations.  You can watch the meeting live or recorded, get informational materials, and see the agenda at the Committee’s website.

In the meantime, as you’ll see below, we are continuing to see ongoing improvement in the current pace of 1a vaccinations.  Forty percent of the doses received have already been administered.

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

TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• New COVID Cases: OHA reports 1,346 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 129,109.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reports 1,168 positive test results today. (Individuals may have had multiple tests come back positive, and each is now counted separately.) The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 172,744.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 17,886 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 2,874,572.
• Positivity Rate: Today’s test positivity ratio for Oregon is 6.5%. The national ratio today is 12.2%.
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 41 additional COVID deaths today. You can read about the Oregonians that we’ve lost further down in the newsletter. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 1,708.
• Hospitalized: OHA reports 71 new COVID hospitalizations. The total number of new hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic is 7,123.
• Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
  • New Immunizations Reported: 14,722
    • 9,071 administered yesterday
    • 5,651 administered previously and report received yesterday
  • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 129,781
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 119,979
    • 9,568 now fully vaccinated with two doses
  • To date, 321,225 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
    • 40% of these doses have been administered so far (national average is 36.4%).
  • For more details, including the demographics of those receiving the vaccine, go to the OHA Vaccinations Dashboard.  And here is a link to more information about the vaccine and vaccination protocols.  Finally, here is the daily vaccination tracker from Bloomberg.
• 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): 470 (23 more than yesterday). Of those, 434 (31 than yesterday) have already received a positive test back.
  • Available ICU Beds: 132 (5 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 596 (66 fewer than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 103 (10 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 52 (4 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 774 (2 more than yesterday).
• Dashboards:
  • Oregon (OHA)
  • Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, & Yamhill Counties
  • Oregon COVID Cases by Zip Code
• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 273,754,398 (up 1,793,568 from yesterday).
  • Total Cases: 22,757,516 (up 219,090 from yesterday.)
  • Deaths: 375,471 (up 4,022 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can visit that site here.
• Additional Brief Updates:
  • I’ve previously mentioned that the Legislature is scheduled to hold in-person floor sessions next Tuesday, January 19, the same day that remote committee meetings are also scheduled to begin. Well, we have a change of plans.  As a result of advice from State Police, based on concerns around extremist actions being planned for Inauguration Day and the days leading up to it, that has been changed.  The floor session will occur later in the week and the remote committee hearings will not begin until Thursday (i.e., the day after the Inauguration).  Why cancel remote hearings?  Even though meetings are remote, some legislative staff still need to be in the Capitol building to provide necessary support, and we don’t want to put them potentially in harm’s way. It’s sad that it has come to this, but it’s better to keep people safe. 
  • Many of us can’t wait to get the COVID vaccine so that we can immediately go back to “normal” life as soon as we get that shot. It’s important to recognize that the vaccine does not produce immediate immunity—it will take some days for your body to create the necessary antibodies that will protect you, and with the current vaccinations you need to wait for the second dose to be fully protected.  We saw this reality with the Congresspersons who apparently were infected during the assault on Congress that put them in close contact with others who refused to wear masks—they had just received their first doses just a couple of days before.  Similarly, too many people assume that a negative COVID test result means they are COVID-free.  There are many reasons this is a false assumption.  Today’s Washington Post gives us reasons not to trust a false negative.

Info from This Week’s OHA Weekly COVID Report Shows More Stability

OHA released its WEEKLY COVID REPORT today. It is again a very comprehensive snapshot of different aspects of transmission of the disease in Oregon over the past week or so. 

This week’s report shows ongoing increases of various COVID metrics, but the rates of increase have decreased from the previous week’s increases. 

Here are some of OHA’s broad observations of where we are now, based on data from Monday, January 4 through Sunday, January 10:

• OHA has reported 8,150 new cases of COVID-19 infection, a 3% increase over last week’s total of 7,913. This is a much smaller rate of increase than last week’s 17% increase.
• The number of COVID tests unfortunately declined again, to 113,648 (down from the previous week’s 123,821).
• The positivity rate increased again, from 7.5% to 8.2%.
• The number of new COVID hospitalizations stabilized last week (357 vs. the previous week’s 358) after an increase of 6% the previous week.
• The number of COVID deaths last week increased last week, from 73 to 107, the largest increase in several weeks.
• The cumulative death rate since the beginning of the pandemic reached 1,613 on January 10. With a cumulative case count of 126,608 on January 10, this is again an average case fatality rate of 1.3% (though the fatality rate is much higher for older Oregonians—it has increased to 17.6% for those over 80).

The report again provides information about disease symptoms and risk factors; along with racial/ethnic/age/gender demographics. It provides an update on people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and the number of COVID patients at various hospitals around the state.

It no longer includes information on outbreaks in long-term care, workplaces, child care, and K-12.  That information is now included in a separate Outbreak Report.

Racial/Ethnic

The report again demonstrates significant disparities among racial groups.  You can see this in the charts below, with data that I’ve taken from the December 30 report, the January 6 report, and from this January 13 report..  It allows you to see at a glance the proportion of case counts within different racial groups and ethnic groups (technically, “Hispanic” is not a race and is counted as an ethnic group, with numbers from a separate chart). 

To help you understand the racial/ethnic data reported in the weekly report, I’ve also created a chart that shows the hospitalization and death rates per 100K population, along with the infection rates per-100K population for each racial/ethnic group.

You’ll see again how much higher the case rates per 100,000 are for most racial/ethnic groups compared to White Oregonians. Black Oregonians are 2.3 times more likely to contract the disease than are White Oregonians, Native Americans nearly 3 times more likely, Latinx Oregonians are nearly 4 times more likely, and Pacific Islanders are now 4.2 times more likely. The differences, while still large, have nearly all continued to go down slightly from week to week.

You’ll also again see that hospitalization rates among those who have contracted the disease are quite a bit lower for Latinx, and somewhat higher for Pacific Islanders than for the population of White Oregonians.  Among those who have contracted the disease, the percentage who ultimately die of it remains somewhat higher for Whites than for people of color, much higher than for Hispanics. (This is likely a function of the fact that Latinx Oregonians tend to be younger, and the disease is particularly virulent among those who are older.)

However, you’ll also see in the final chart that when examined as a proportion of their populations in Oregon, the hospitalization and death rates for Blacks, Native Americans,  Latinx, and especially Pacific-Islander Oregonians continue to be disproportionally high. (The hospitalization rate for Pacific Islanders is more than 6 times the rate for Whites, while their death rate is nearly three times the rate for Whites.)  Looking at these probability rates helps us to see why it’s so important that special outreach needs to be made to members of these racial/ethnic groups.

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 is 1,346.  Here is the breakdown of cases by county today:

Baker (16)

Benton (29)

Clackamas (105)

Clatsop (10)

Columbia (13)

Coos (9)

Crook (19)

Deschutes (89)

Douglas (25)

Gilliam (1)

Grant (8)

Harney (2)

Hood River (6)

Jackson (58)

Jefferson (23)

Josephine (64)

Klamath (32)

Lake (2)

Lane (98)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (50)

Malheur (24)

Marion (97)

Morrow (9)

Multnomah (307)

Polk (28)

Tillamook (11)

Umatilla (52)

Union (7)

Wasco (13)

Washington (110)

Yamhill (26)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 1,668^th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Dec. 8 and died on Dec. 25 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,669^th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 9 and died on Jan. 10 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,670^th COVID-19 death is a 98-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on Dec. 2 and died on Dec. 8 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,671^st COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Columbia County who tested positive on Nov. 12 and died on Dec. 12 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,672^nd COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Crook County who became symptomatic on Jan. 1 and died on Jan. 8 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 1,673^rd COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Curry County who died on Dec. 20 at Curry General Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,674^th COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old woman in Douglas County who tested positive on Nov. 21 and died on Jan. 4 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,675^th COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Dec. 10 and died on Jan. 11 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,676^th COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old woman in Jefferson County who tested positive on Dec. 28 and died on Jan. 10 at St. Charles Medical Center—Bend.

Oregon’s 1,677^th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Dec. 10 and died on Dec. 19 at McKenzie Willamette Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,678^th COVID-19 death is a 94-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Jan. 2 and died on Jan. 10 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart—Riverbend.

Oregon’s 1,679^th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 16 and died on Dec. 3 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,680^th COVID-19 death is a 19-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Nov. 19 and died on Dec. 6 at Oregon Health Science

Oregon’s 1,681^st COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 25 and died on Jan. 2 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,682^nd COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old woman in Benton County who tested positive on Dec. 14 and died on Jan. 1 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,683^rd COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 16 and died on Nov.  30 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,684^th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Oct. 23 and died on Nov. 22 at Portland VA Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,685^th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 23 and died on Dec. 5 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,686^th COVID-19 death is a 76-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 24 and died on Dec. 7 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,687^th COVID-19 death is a 94-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 27 and died on Dec. 11 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,688^th COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 2 and died on Dec. 15 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,689^th COVID-19 death is a 50-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 6 and died on Dec. 15 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,690^th COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 10 and died on Dec. 20 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,691^st COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 11 and died on Dec. 20 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,692^nd COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 16 and died on Dec. 19 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,693^rd COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Multnomah County who died on Dec. 26 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,694^th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 28 and died on Dec. 19 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,695^th COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old man in Polk County who tested positive on Dec. 11 and died on Jan. 1 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,696^th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman in Polk County who tested positive on Dec. 23 and died on Jan. 4 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,697^th COVID-19 death is a 58-year-old woman in Polk County who tested positive on Dec. 28 and died on Jan. 9 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,698^th COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on Dec. 27 and died on Jan. 1 at Good Shepherd Community Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 1,699^th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on Dec. 28 and died on Jan. 6 at Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,700^th COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old man in Umatilla County who tested positive on Dec. 30 and died on Jan. 10 at Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,701^st COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 3 and died on Dec. 11 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,702^nd COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 12 and died on Jan. 2 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,703^rd COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 9 and died on Dec. 22 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,704^th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 24 and died on Jan. 7 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,705^th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 30 and died on Jan. 4 at his residence.

Oregon’s 1,706^th COVID-19 death is a 92-year-old woman in Yamhill County who tested positive on Dec. 4 and died on Dec. 17 at her residence.

Oregon’s 1,707^th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman in Yamhill County who tested positive on Jan. 4 and died on Jan. 8 at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,708^th COVID-19 death is a 27-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 18 and died on Nov. 27 at Oregon Health Science University.

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