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February 14, 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.
Today’s COVID numbes show a further decline in new cases and zero COVID deaths reported today. Were there really no deaths yesterday or was this a function of the usual weekend disruption in reporting? Probably the latter. When they do come in, they’ll be placed in their proper place in the epidemiological tables, as will those late-reports that came in yesterday and Friday. Overall, COVID deaths have been steadily declining, as have new cases and hospitalizations.
Today’s case count is the lowest it’s been in many months.
Not surprisingly, yesterday’s vaccinations were a fraction of where they have been lately, and tomorrow’s will likely be similar. Vaccinations were again canceled today in the metro area and in other parts of the state. It will be a test of our vaccination-delivery infrastructure to see how quickly we’re able to get back on track. The doses are there, and presumably so is the capacity to administer them to those whose appointments were rescheduled along with those who have appointments for this week. We’ll see how it goes.
Finally, I want to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you were able to spend some quality time with your loved ones. For us here in Oregon, it’s a special day for another reason—it’s the anniversary of our statehood. Oregon became the 33rd state in the nation on February 14, 1859. Happy 162nd Birthday to us all!
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
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New COVID Cases: OHA reports 254 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 150,281.
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Variant COVID Cases: OHA continues to report a total of 4 Oregonians who have tested positive for the B.117. (UK) variant and none of the other variants. We haven’t seen any new cases in the last two weeks. (However, though Oregon’s testing for the variants is more extensive than in most states, testing for variants remains limited.)
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Positive Test Results: OHA reports 308 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 197,349.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 8,749 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 3,406,934.
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Positivity Rate: Today’s test positivity ratio for Oregon is 3.5%. The national ratio today is 5.1%.
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Hospitalization Information: Over the weekend, OHA only reports on the first two bulleted items. The others are the same as Friday’s.
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 213 (3 fewer than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 52 (3 more than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 165 (13 more than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 673 (90 more than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 27 (2 more than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 813 (8 more than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m pleased to report 0 newly-reported COVID deaths. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon remains at 2,137.
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Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 7,206
- 4,028 administered yesterday
- 3,178 administered previously and report received yesterday
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 677,194
- 360,276 Pfizer doses
- 316,272 Moderna doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 479,699
- 192,371 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- To date, 885,250 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
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Today’s National Numbers:
- Total Tests: 335,049,221 (up 1,419,862 from yesterday).
- Total Cases: 27,428,733 (up 71,844 from yesterday).
- Deaths: 475,786 (up 1,363 from yesterday).
- These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can visit that site HERE https://covidtracking.com/data/national
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Additional Brief Updates:
Links to Vaccination Sites – With Some Updates
If you’re 75 and older, you’ll be able to start signing up for a COVID appointment on Monday. Some of you have already been able to snag one of the limited number of appointments on the pharmacy site, which I believe are filled for now (though it doesn’t hurt to try) or have been able to get an appointment because you’re in the 80+ category.
Most counties have already vaccinated everyone in the 1a category (frontline healthcare workers; staff and those living in nursing homes and other congregate care facilities; those living at home but receiving medical care from a caregiver; those with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities and their caregivers), and some have fully vaccinated their educational and childcare workers. Following a court order, many adults and juveniles in incarcerated custody are now being vaccinated as well.
If you had an appointment for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday at the Convention Center or the outdoor airport site, you should already have been contacted with a new appointment date. If you had an appointment sometime in the coming week, you should still be able to count on it happening as scheduled. For better or for worse (I think it’s for better) here in Oregon appointments are not being made unless it is certain that doses will be available.
If you’re part of the Kaiser system, you can register directly with them at their site.
If you want to use the Pharmacy Program, which is just getting underway, here are the chain pharmacies’ websites; individual Health Marts will need to be contacted directly. However, know that each pharmacy is receiving a maximum of 100 doses right now, and they’re just taking reservations on a week by week basis.
People can also phone their local pharmacy and try to schedule an appointment over the phone.
For those in the Portland area who are eligible (75 and above starting on Monday), the large vaccination sites at the Convention Center (indoor) and the Airport (drive-through) are also available. You can make your appointment by going to the OHA vaccination website https://covidvaccine.oregon.gov/ and use the scheduling tool. You’ll be able to choose either vaccination site there.
Update: As I mentioned a few days ago, Monday morning at 9 is the time that new appointments will be opened up for those seeking appointments at the Convention Center or the drive-through at the PDX airport (assuming that Sunday’s snow cancellations don’t affect that). The next round will be opened up on Thursday morning at 9. Use either 211 or the appointment tool on the OHA website below.
If you’re outside the Portland area, go to your local county website for more info. Here is a link to each county's vaccination website.
If you haven’t yet signed up for Get Vaccinated Oregon notifications, I encourage you to do so. Just go to getvaccinated.oregon.gov and click on “Check Eligibility” if it’s your first time.
And finally, if you’d rather speak directly to a person, you’ll want to phone 211. It’s a service that can connect you not only to vaccinations but to a variety of social services and supports. The Governor has recently called up 30 National Guard soldiers to assist them in staffing their phone lines, which has substantially reduced wait times.
Here's an article from today's Oregonianwith additional information that you might find useful.
News from the Capitol
Committee Hearings Canceled Monday and Tuesday
As a result of the power outages and difficult driving that has ravaged Salem and other parts of the state, there will be no committee meetings on Monday and Tuesday this week. You may wonder why that’s necessary, given the fact that committees are meeting remotely, obviating the need for “snow days.”
In fact, a certain amount of work still needs to be done in person by our I.T. people and others who support the committee work, and obviously we need to be sure that we have power to run the equipment. In addition, and equally importantly, we don’t want to hold hearings when many legislators and those who want to testify are unable to attend because they have no power in their homes.
So, committee chairs and staff are scrambling to put out revised agendas for this week and next, trying to accommodate the schedules of those who had been prepared to do presentations and offer invited testimony. Stay tuned to the websites of the committees that you’re especially interested in for updates.
I was looking forward to a couple of important hearings in Senate Education tomorrow. Mondays are “Post-Secondary” days in the committee, and we were planning to hear a bill recognizing the 75th Anniversary of Portland State University (Go Viks!); a bill directing our colleges and universities to include a box in registration materials that would allow them to report if they are a custodial parent as well as a student (which will give the institutions a better sense of the services that these students may need to be successful in school); and a bill that will create a Common Course Numbering system for colleges, universities, and dual-credit high school programs in order to make transfer easier and less expensive for students everywhere in the state. I was really looking forward to these hearings and moving forward on this important work. But we’ll find another time for them soon.
Tuesday would have been the day for the House’s weekly floor session to introduce new bills. They’ll need to wait till the following Tuesday.
What’s Going On with Redistricting?
One of the major tasks for the Legislature this year is to come up with a plan to redistrict our legislative and Congressional districts. The number of House and Senate districts is fixed in our state constitution—30 Senate districts, each of which comprising two House districts, and thus 60 House districts. Each district is meant to be equal in population represented. With population shifts around the state, that means that we periodically need to recalculate district boundaries if we want to keep the constituents equal in number. That happens every ten years, following the release of the decennial federal census numbers. Those numbers are normally released at the end of the previous year.
The House and Senate then form a joint committee tasked with recommending a redistricting plan that redraws the district boundaries in a way that reflects the new population shifts. They hear from population experts, go around the state to hear from local people about what a rationally-drawn district would look like from their perspective. As nearly as practicable, by law districts must be contiguous, utilize existing geographic or political boundaries, not divide communities of common interest, and be connected by transportation links. The law also requires that districts must not be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent, or other person.
The Legislature as a whole must eventually vote on the recommended plan, and the Governor must concur. If we’re not able to do that by July 1, responsibility shifts over to the Secretary of State and potentially the courts upon appeal. We were able to do this entirely via the Legislature in 2011, for the first time in decades.
In addition to legislative district boundaries, states also have the responsibility of resetting Congressional boundaries every ten years. This year is potentially even more consequential than usual, as Oregon has the potential to be given a sixth Congressional district because our population has increased relative to other states. For Congressional redistricting we don’t have the same July 1 deadline.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. This year, however, because of COVID disruptions and further disruptions caused by the Trump administration, the census numbers are not ready. We have our Redistricting committees trained and ready to go, but it's not clear what they will be able to do in the short run.
We just learned in the last few days that we cannot count on the final census numbers arriving before the end of September. This obviously creates a huge problem for us, since our Legislative session ends at the end of June. But most states are facing comparable challenges. (If you’re really interested and have time on your hands, here’s a link to the voluminous redistricting resources at the National Conference of State Legislatures, NCSL).
We don’t know how exactly this will be resolved, but I can say that the Legislature will be exploring legal options. Our Legislative Counsel Committee was supposed to have met on Friday to discuss hiring outside counsel to research and advise us on our options. It was rescheduled for tomorrow due to Friday’s weather and obviously now needs to be rescheduled again.
Our options could potentially include petitioning the Oregon Supreme Court to allow the deadlines to be extended. We would then need to come back to finalize and approve the plan in a Special Session in the fall. We’d still potentially have six months or so before the 2022 primary elections and a year before the General, so that could work. A few states hold their general elections in odd-numbered years (i.e., this coming November). I’m not sure what options they have.
I’ll keep you informed on how this develops.
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 254. Two-thirds of today’s reported cases were again from counties outside the Portland Tri-County region. Here is the breakdown of cases by county today:
Benton (3)
Clackamas (11)
Columbia (2)
Coos (11)
Crook (3)
Deschutes (22)
Douglas (17)
Harney (5)
Jackson (11)
Jefferson (2)
Josephine (7)
Klamath (7)
Lane (32)
Linn (7)
Marion (21)
Morrow (1)
Multnomah (46)
Polk (1)
Umatilla (6)
Union (1)
Wasco (2)
Washington (29)
Yamhill (6)
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,
 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
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