February 4th COVID Update

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February 4, 2021

Friends and Neighbors,

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.

In tonight’s newsletter you’ll find the latest COVID report (positive on all the metrics), along with today’s update on vaccinations (our rate of inoculations shows improvement relative to other states).  Also, some information on new bills and the link to Saturday morning’s constituent coffee.

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 730 new COVID cases today.  This count is a combination of positive test results and those who are presumed positive. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 145,320.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reports 833 positive tests 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 191,923.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 20,074 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 3,253,665.
• Positivity Rate: Today’s test positivity ratio for Oregon is 4.1%. The national ratio today is 7.4%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 261 (5 fewer than yesterday)
  • Available ICU Beds: 160 (7 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 574 (31 more than yesterday).
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 58 (5 fewer than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 24 (4 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 764 (19 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 7 COVID deaths. You’ll find more information about those we’ve lost recently further down in the newsletter. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 1,998.
• Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
  • New Immunizations Reported Today: 15,173
    • 11,519 administered yesterday
    • 3,654 administered previously and report received yesterday
  • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 486,856.
    • 267,242 Pfizer doses
    • 219,043 Moderna doses
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 378,067.
    • 103,566 now fully vaccinated with two doses
  • To date, 706,575 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
    • 68.9% of these doses have been administered so far (national average is now 63.8%). Oregon is currently #15 in successfully administering the doses it has received.
    • For more details, including the demographics of those receiving the vaccine, here is a link to more information about the vaccine and vaccination protocols.
    • Here is the daily vaccination tracker from Bloomberg.
    • And here is a link to each county's vaccination website. It provides access information for those in Category 1a and (eventually) in 1b.

• Today’s National Numbers:
  • Total Tests: 318,604,926 (up 1,678,444 from yesterday).
  • Total Cases: 26,455,629 (up 123,907 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 446,134 (up 5,212 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can visit that site HERE https://covidtracking.com/data/national
• Additional Brief Updates:
  • The Governor will hold a COVID-focused press conference Friday at 11 am. You can watch it live or after the fact here.
  • You may have heard that the Legislature’s ability to fulfill our responsibility of redistricting our legislative and congressional seats this year (as required by our state constitution for the year after the census) has been seriously compromised by the previous administration’s slow rollout of census data. At this point, it will be impossible for us to finish the work before the end of the session.  The Legislature is currently exploring legal options.  And we are not alone.  For those of you interested in taking a deep dive, here's a policy brief from the nonpartisan association of state legislators, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
  • The Statesman-Journal answers 10 questions parents are asking about school reopening in Oregon.

Constituent Coffee on Saturday

This Saturday is the first Saturday of the month, so we’ll have a virtual coffee via Zoom.  This is your chance to get an update on legislative business, challenges, and aspirations, and enter into a dialogue with me and other constituents. 

Here's the link to register for the coffee.

Hope to see you there!

New Bills Introduced This Week

Though most of the Legislature’s work continues to be done remotely, legislators do need to come into the Capitol periodically in order to hold floor sessions.  For now, the primary purpose of these sessions is to “first-read” newly-filed bills.  During the month of February, we’ll be doing this on a weekly basis: the House meets on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday. 

Here are the new Senate bills and here are the new House bills.

From OHA: In ase you missed it: Facebook Live Q&A on Schools

If you missed yesterday’s OHA Facebook Live Q&A on schools potentially reopening to in-person instruction, you can still watch Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill and OHA Deputy State Health Officer and Epidemiologist Dr. Thomas Jeanne answer school-related questions. Watch the video in English or Spanish.

Here are the time stamps for the questions:

7:59 – If the teachers are vaccinated, why do we need to wait so long for our older children to go back to school?

10:02 – What is being done to support students with special needs who have been denied access to their IEPs?

11:49 – When will sports, particularly outdoor sports, be allowed for students?

13:48 – Won’t teachers need to be revaccinated, and how will that impact the reopening of schools?

14:44 – Why aren’t all school cases reported on the School Outbreak Report? I’ve heard of cases in Estacada, but don’t see those there?

17:45 – How are private schools that are already offering in-person instruction being overseen? How is compliance with state requirements being enforced?

19:50 – Since much is unknown about transmission of the virus in youth, what is the state doing to enhance contact tracing and data acquisition to assess transmission risk?

21:54 – My child’s classroom has no windows that open.

25:30 – Reviewing the plan for opening schools, it states that schools that are open are encouraged to stay open regardless of the local case load – is that accurate?

28:37 – I’m so eager for my child to return to school, but I’m at high risk for serious COVID-19 illness. Is there discussion around vaccinating parents?

29:22 – Will ODE adjust the [Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance] post-vaccination?

29:55 – What timeline do you see for after-school programs that offer wraparound services to communities?

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 730. Here is the breakdown of cases by county today:

Baker (3)

Benton (32)

Clackamas (48)

Columbia (6)

Coos (16)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (17)

Douglas (23)

Harney (4)

Hood River (2)

Jackson (47)

Jefferson (13)

Josephine (19)

Klamath (7)

Lake (7)

Lane (67)

Lincoln (6)

Linn (14)

Malheur (1)

Marion (75)

Multnomah (141)

Polk (7)

Tillamook (2)

Umatilla (55)

Union (6)

Wallowa (5)

Wasco (4)

Washington (85)

Yamhill (17)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 1,992nd COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Baker County who became symptomatic on Jan. 20 after contact with a confirmed case and died on Jan. 30 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,993rd COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Deschutes County who tested positive on Jan. 14 and died on Jan. 31 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,994th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 25 and died on Feb. 2 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 1,995th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Dec. 31 and died on Feb. 2 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,996th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on Jan. 30 and died on Feb. 2 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,997th COVID-19 death is a 99-year-old woman in Wasco County who tested positive on Jan. 30 and died on Feb. 1 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.

Oregon’s 1,998th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old man in Coos County who tested positive on Jan. 28 and died on Feb. 3 at Bay Area Hospital.

Additional Graphs:

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.

Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23

email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
phone: 503-281-0608
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301