March 2nd COVID-19 Update

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Michael Dembrow

March 2, 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 was a mixed bag for COVID metrics:  low case count, increased hospitalizations, a larger number of deaths (13)—though only a few occurred in the last week—and a very low test positivity rate.

We learned today that a person in Douglas County has tested positive with the P.1 (Brazilian) variant of COVID-19.  That’s in addition to the 10 cases of the UK variant already reported.

Yesterday’s reported vaccinations were low for a Monday.  That’s probably in part because yesterday’s appointments at the Convention Center had to be canceled (as were today’s).  Still, our overall administration rate remains above 80%.   

A bit of personal news:  As I mentioned in last night’s newsletter, I became eligible for the COVID vaccine yesterday.  While waiting for my call from the Convention Center schedulers, I tried the pharmacy sites to no avail.  Woke up early this morning, checked my email, and saw that I’d received a tip from a newsletter reader and former teaching colleague (thanks, Marilyn!) that a friend of hers had just snagged an appointment at her local Walgreens.  So, I immediately gave it a shot (sorry) and within moments Kiki and I had both secured appointments for our first doses this week.  A batch had apparently been provided to Walgreens overnight.  We had lucked out. 

I’ll let you know how it goes.  

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

 

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • New COVID Cases: OHA reports 269 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 156,037.
  • Variant COVID Cases: The total number reported in Oregon remains 10 for the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant.  We have also just learned of a case of the Brazilian variant in Douglas County.  It will presumably show up in tomorrow’s daily report from OHA.
  • Positive Test Results: OHA reports 346 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 224,697.
  • Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 8,257 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 3,760,400.
  • Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon is 2.9%. The national ratio today is 4.0%.
  • Hospitalization Information:
    • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 149 (17 more than yesterday)
    • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 29 (2 more than yesterday).
    • Available ICU Beds: 161 (32 fewer than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 529 (137 fewer than yesterday).
    • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 11 (same as yesterday).
    • Available Ventilators: 793 (3 fewer than yesterday).
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 13 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,225.
  • Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 10,911
      • 3,894 administered yesterday
      • 7,017 administered previously and report received yesterday
    • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 997,448
      • 517,277 Pfizer doses
      • 479,434 Moderna doses
    • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 636,477
      • 355,455 now fully vaccinated with two doses
    • To date, 1,244,505 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (3,090 more than yesterday)
      • 80.1% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 76.8%. 
    • 15.7% of Oregonians have now been vaccinated.
    • 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: 357,068,278 (up 1,349,529 from yesterday).
  • Total Cases: 28,453,529 (up 54,248 from yesterday).
  • Deaths: 506,373 (up 1,885 from yesterday).
  • These national numbers come from the COVID Tracking Project. You can visit that site HERE https://covidtracking.com/data/national
  • Additional Quick Updates:
    • President Biden announced a new timetable for vaccine availability: one that would get every adult American vaccinated by the end of May.  This will partly be enabled by a new partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck to ramp up vaccine production.  He’s also calling for immediate vaccination of teachers.
    • Here’s an article from VOX about just how good the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is.
    • The CDC has issued new guidelines for when schools can fully or partially reopen. According to these standards and the latest county metrics, schools in the Portland Tri-County area would be cleared for hybrid instruction.

 

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 269. Nearly ¾ of all COVID cases reported today were outside the Portland Tri-County area.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (2)

Benton (3)

Clackamas (20)

Columbia (2)

Coos (3)

Crook (1)

Deschutes (6)

Douglas (20)

Gilliam (1)

Harney (2)

Jackson (44)

Jefferson (2)

Josephine (20)

Klamath (5)

Lake (2)

Lane (24)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (6)

Marion (26)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (28)

Polk (4)

Tillamook (3)

Umatilla (11)

Union (1)

Washington (23)

Yamhill (6) 

 

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2,213th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old woman in Baker County who tested positive on Feb. 24 and died on Feb. 26 at her residence..

Oregon’s 2,214th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old man in Baker County who tested positive on Feb. 24 and died on Feb. 26 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,215th COVID-19 death is a 100-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 25 and died on Feb. 16 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,216th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Douglas County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 28 at her residence.

Oregon’s 2,217th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old woman in Deschutes County who tested positive on Jan. 23 and died on Feb. 16 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 2,218th COVID-19 death is a 27-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 26 and died on Feb. 19 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,219th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 28 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

Oregon’s 2,220th COVID-19 death is a 72-year-old woman in Linn County who tested positive on Jan. 12 and died on Feb. 26 at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

Oregon’s 2,221st COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 6 and died on Feb. 14 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,222nd COVID-19 death is a 57-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Feb. 8 and died on Feb. 10 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,223rd COVID-19 death is a 58-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 29 and died on Feb. 19 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,224th COVID-19 death is a 79-year-old man in Yamhill County who tested positive on Jan. 25 and died on Feb. 9 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,225th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old woman in Coos County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 28 at Mercy Medical Center.

 

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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.

 

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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,

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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