|
March 5, 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 our COVID case numbers, reported deaths, hospitalizations, and positivity rates all show declines. The likely anomaly that I pointed out last night (abnormally low test results and high positivity rate) did turn out to be an error in test reporting that resulted in an abnormally high number of test results today. To smooth things out, I combined the two days and reported on the average of them below.
We’re seeing especially low numbers in the Portland Metro region. The case numbers for the state in general are low, but the Portland region represents less than 20% of them today. If this keeps up, we’ll likely see Multnomah County downgraded from “High Risk” to “Moderate” next week.
Yesterday’s number of COVID vaccinations set another record, with nearly 40,000 vaccinations being reported (yes, I was one of them!) With the ability to administer shots at this rate, and with additional doses coming into the state, we can expect that many of you in the Metro area who have been waiting patiently or impatiently will be getting a call soon.
The big news today is the Governor’s announcement that she expects all elementary schools to be returning to some form of in-person instruction by the end of the month and middle and high schools by mid-April. You’ll find more information about this announcement further down in the newsletter. I support this decision, as long as it’s clear that families that are not comfortable with sending their kids back into the school building have legitimate options. I’ll talk more about that, as well as about the need for fun and creative summer programs for kids in tomorrow’s or Sunday’s newsletter.
In the meantime, 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 251 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 156,884.
-
Variant COVID Cases: OHA reports no additional cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Oregon (still 11) nor of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant (still 1).
-
Positive Test Results: OHA reports 827 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 226,972.
-
Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 52,906 tests today, while yesterday’s was 10,629; this was obviously a reporting anomaly. The two day average is a more realistic 31,768. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 3,850,973. Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon over the last two days is 2.6%. The national ratio today is 3.9%.
-
Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 132 (8 fewer than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 30 (1 more than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 173 (2 fewer than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 564 (51 fewer than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 12 (2 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 795 (13 more than yesterday).
-
Deaths: I’m sorry to report 9 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,293.
-
Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 38,632
- 22,438 were conducted yesterday
- 16,194 were conducted earlier, but the reports were received yesterday (there can potentially be a three-day window for reporting)
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 1,082,241
- 553,422 Pfizer doses
- 527,754 Moderna doses
-
Today’s National Numbers:
- Total Tests: 361,224,072 (up 1,744,417 from yesterday).
- Total Cases: 28,654,639 (up 68,787 from yesterday).
- Deaths: 512,629 (up 2,221 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:
- As I mentioned in the intro to this newsletter, we vaccinated a record number of Oregonians yesterday, as more doses come into the state. We are looking at as many as 200,000 vaccinations occurring next week. Nevertheless, it will take a special effort to identify and find many of the individuals who are eligible but not really plugged into the process. This is a national problem. This story from the AP features the experience of someone in Portland as well as others in different parts of the country.
- Now that the U.S. Senate is getting closer to passing the new American Relief Package, you may be wondering how much in federal dollars will be coming to Oregon. Here’s a story from USA Today that discusses the distribution criteria and has an interactive map that shows what each state should be receiving.
It’s Constituent Coffee Time!
Saturday morning is the first Saturday of the month, so it’s time for another zoom constituent coffee from 9 to 10:30 a.m. This is your chance to get an update on legislative business, challenges, and goals, and enter into a dialogue with me and other constituents.
Here's the link to register for the Coffee.
Hope to see you there!
Governor Will Issue an Executive Order On School Reopening
The Governor announced today that she expects all schools in areas that are no longer in Extreme Risk to reopen their schools to in-person or hybrid (where students are spend some time in-person and some time remote) within the coming weeks. Here’s a release from OHA. I’ll provide more detail and commentary tomorrow.
Governor Kate Brown will issue an executive order to return Oregon public school students to the classroom. In a letter to the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education, she directed all Oregon public schools to offer universal access to in-person instruction on or before the weeks of March 29 for K-5 students and April 19 for students in grades 6-12.
After the weeks of March 29 and April 19, all public schools in Oregon will operate under either a fully on-site or a hybrid instructional model when counties meet or exceed Oregon’s advisory COVID-19 metrics. Those who want to remain in comprehensive distance learning, or who have health needs, may do so. Comprehensive distance learning for all will be an option for school districts when community transmission rates of COVID-19 warrant a transition, as determined by state or local public health directives. OHA and the Oregon Department of Education will issue updated guidance to match the directives set out by the Governor by March 19.
To learn more, see today’s press release.
And here’s reporting from OPB.
Coming Up Next Week: Redistricting Hearings
As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, one of the most important tasks before the Legislature this year is to agree upon a set of redistricting maps based on information from the most recent census. The Legislature is charged with drawing the new boundaries for all legislative and congressional districts as a result in population shifts (which may well have resulted in an additional congressional district for Oregon. Unfortunately, as a result of COVID and problems in the previous administration, the census numbers are not yet available and likely won’t be before the completion of this session. Nevertheless, we will be proceeding as if we’ll get an extension from the Oregon Supreme Court or whatever else it takes to get the job done. Senate and House redistricting committees have been formed and will begin the necessary process of taking public testimony on the “communities of interest” that are required when deciding upon the boundaries of a district. That process is about to begin. This year the typical “road show” to different parts of the state to take testimony will be done virtually.
The first of them for residents of SD 3 will be next week. Here’s an email that legislators in Congressional District 3 received informing us of the opportunities for residents to testify:
As required by Oregon law, the House and Senate committees on Redistricting will be holding a series of ten public “virtual roadshow” meetings to take testimony from Oregonians all across Oregon regarding the redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines. There will be two meetings held in each of the five congressional districts; the agendas for the meetings contain links by which interested citizens can submit written testimony and/or sign up to present testimony orally over Microsoft Teams.
This e-mail is to notify you of the two meetings that will be held (virtually) on Congressional District 3 – as all or part of your legislative district resides within that congressional district – and to forward the request from the House and Senate redistricting committee chairs (Rep. Andrea Salinas and Sen. Kathleen Taylor) that you share the information regarding these meetings with your constituents and elected officials in your district.
The meeting dates are as follows (with links to the agendas below):
- Thursday, March 11th – 5:30 – 7:30 PM
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/CommitteeAgenda/HRED/2021-03-11-17-30
- Saturday, April 10th – 9:00 – 11:00 AM
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/CommitteeAgenda/HRED/2021-04-10-09-00
These hearings are required to be scheduled prior to the preparation of draft legislative and congressional redistricting maps. There are also plans for additional “virtual roadshow” meetings after proposed maps have been completed.
Please share this information with your constituents or anyone you see fit. You can also refer them to the Oregon State Legislature’s redistricting webpage: www.oregonlegislature.gov/redistricting. You can view the one-page informational flyer for the redistricting meetings here:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/232781
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 251. More than 80% of all COVID cases reported today were from outside the Portland Tri-County area. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (7)
Benton (5)
Clackamas (17)
Clatsop (1)
Coos (31)
Crook (1)
Curry (5)
Deschutes (15)
Douglas (24)
Grant (3)
Jackson (29)
Jefferson (1)
Josephine (7)
Klamath (4)
Lake (1)
Lane (14)
Linn (4)
Malheur (4)
Marion (22)
Multnomah (13)
Polk (10)
Tillamook (4)
Umatilla (10)
Union (2)
Wallowa (1)
Washington (15)
Yamhill (1)
And the Deaths:
The first 32 deaths explained below were reported yesterday and the information finalized and released this morning. As expected, nearly all of these are deaths that occurred in December, January, or early February but are only now being reported to OHA. Most of today’s 9 reported deaths actually occurred in December and January.
Oregon’s 2,253rd COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 28 and died on Feb. 9 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,254th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 6 and died on Jan. 8 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,255th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 18 and died on Feb. 6 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,256th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on Feb. 2 and died on Feb. 6 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,257th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Feb. 1 and died on Feb. 8 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,258th COVID-19 death is a 97-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 25 and died on Feb. 3 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,259th COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man in Coos County who tested positive on Jan. 18 and died on March 3 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,260th COVID-19 death is an 86-year-old man in Deschutes County who tested positive on Dec. 30 and died on Jan. 16 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,261st COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old woman in Deschutes County who tested positive on Dec. 28 and died on Jan. 31 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,262nd COVID-19 death is a 92-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 21 and died on Feb. 4 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,263rd COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Dec. 4 and died on Jan. 26 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,264th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 20 and died on Feb. 6 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,265th COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old man in Jefferson County who tested positive on Jan. 14 and died on Feb. 3 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,266th COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old man in Jefferson County who tested positive on Jan. 10 and died on Jan. 29 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.
Oregon’s 2267th COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old man in Josephine County who tested positive on Feb. 21 and died on March 3 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,268th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Josephine County who tested positive on Jan. 6 and died on Jan. 31 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,269th COVID-19 death is a 39-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Dec. 15 and died on Jan. 23 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,270th COVID-19 death is a 101-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on March 1 and died on March 2 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,271st COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 17 and died on Dec. 19 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,272nd COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 5 and died on Feb. 14 at Adventist Health Portland.
Oregon’s 2,273rd COVID-19 death is a 48-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 2 and died on Feb. 8 at Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,274th COVID-19 death is a 76-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 30 and died on Jan. 23 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,275th COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 2 and died on Jan. 24 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,276th COVID-19 death is a 98-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on Jan. 22 and died on Jan. 28 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,277th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 3 and died on Dec. 31.
Oregon’s 2,278th COVID-19 death is a 51-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Dec. 7 and died on Jan. 30 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,279th COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old woman in Polk County who tested positive on Jan. 20 and died on Jan. 24 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,280th COVID-19 death is a 45-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on Dec. 27 and died on Jan. 18 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,281st COVID-19 death is a 60-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Jan. 6 and died on Jan. 21 at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,282nd COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Jan. 11 and died on Jan. 23 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,283rd COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old man in Washington County who tested positive on Jan. 2 and died on March 3 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,284th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Yamhill County who tested positive on Dec. 29 and died on Jan. 29 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,285th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old woman in Deschutes County who tested positive on Dec. 25 and died on Jan. 20 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,286th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Deschutes County who died on Jan. 24 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,287th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 28 and died on March 3 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,288th COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 27 and died on Feb. 26 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,289th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old woman in Josephine County who tested positive on Dec. 22 and died on Feb. 19 at Stanford Health Care.
Oregon’s 2,290th COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 27 at his residence.
Oregon’s 2,291st COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on Dec. 23 and died on Dec. 29 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,292nd COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old woman in Polk County who died on Jan. 27 at her residence.
Oregon’s 2,293rd COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old woman in Washington County who tested positive on December 31 and died on Jan. 10 at her residence.
 
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
| 
