March 8th COVID-19 Update

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March 8, 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.

Tonight’s newsletter provides the latest COVID numbers, which show us that our recent positive trends are continuing.  As you’ll see, Oregon remains one of the best-performing states in containing the spread of the virus and one of the better states in administering COVID vaccines.

You’ll find details about the newly-announced summer learning programs and the latest plan for vaccination appointments at the Convention Center.

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 234 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 157,515.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA reports no changes on the variants in Oregon, so  the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Oregon is still at 11 and the P.1 (Brazilian) variant is still at 1.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reports 227 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 228,019.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 7,436 tests today Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 3,877,065.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 3.1%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 119 (3 more than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 33 (1 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 183 (10 more than Friday)
  • Other Available Beds: 754 (190 more than Friday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 1 (2 more than Friday).
  • Available Ventilators: 770 (25 fewer than Friday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 2 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,298.
• Vaccinations: As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
  • New Immunizations Reported Today: 21,793
    • 12,853 were conducted yesterday
    • 8,940 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: 1,163,828
    • 581,606 Pfizer doses
    • 578,852 Moderna doses
    • 2,554 Johnson & Johnson doses

• • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 1,163,828
    • 581,606 Pfizer doses
    • 578,852 Moderna doses
    • 2,554 Johnson & Johnson doses
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 740,428
    • 419,136 now fully vaccinated with two doses
  • To date, 1,420,125 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (57,590 more than yesterday’s report)
    • 82.0% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 79.1%. 
    • 18% of Oregonians have now been vaccinated.
    • 10.2% of Oregonians have now been fully 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.

• Additional Quick Updates:
  • The CDC has issued, opening up a new advisory for people who have been fully vaccinated, a partial return to normalcy.  Read more here.
  • Here’s a comprehensive picture of where we are in Oregon in combating the disease from COVID ActNow.  Relative to other states, it’s a gratifying picture.
  • Interested in seeing where the states are in terms of reopening their schools? Here's a tracker that provides a national picture. 
  • Starting this week, the House too has begun meeting twice a week and voting on bills. Here’s a list of the House bills that were newly introduced today. Here's a list of the House bills that were newly introduced today.

OHA Announces New Vaccination Process for Portland Area

We received word today from OHA with more information about how the new appointment process for seniors will work.  You can read more about it here. OHA will provide the randomly-selected names of seniors  to the hospital consortium that is running the Convention Center.  They will then be contacted to set up an appointment.

This week we’ll see 41,000 vaccines, mainly Pfizer-Biontech, though some Moderna as well, delivered to the Convention Center mass vaccine site. Many of them will be second doses, but at least 15,000 will be first doses for seniors.

I was told by OHA today that nearly 60% of Oregonians 80+ have been vaccinated at this point, and 40% of those 65 and above. 

FEMA Awards $110 Million To Oregon For Vaccinations

With approximately 200,000 new vaccine doses projected to come to Oregon each week, we will need to ramp up our vaccination infrastructure beyond the already-high numbers that we’re experiencing.  We learned today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $110 million in federal funding to assist the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and partners in operating dozens of COVID-19 vaccination centers throughout the state.

The FEMA-supported vaccination centers will be able to administer more than 2 million vaccines during the 90-day operational period. Timelines are still under review.

Grants for emergency protective measures are funded through FEMA’s Public Assistance Grant Program, which reimburses communities for actions taken for response and recovery from a disaster.

Oregon Summer Forward   

As I mentioned last night, an announcement was forthcoming about a big state investment in summer programs that will provide opportunities for kids to learn while having fun, doing art, building things, getting outdoors. 

This has been a priority of mine since the beginning of this legislative session, and I pleased to say that the Governor and legislative leaders jointly announced the new program this morning. Here is the Governor's press release announcing the new program.

And here are the details of the $250 million proposal. I’ll let you know more about it as plans solidify.

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 234. Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Benton (5)

Clackamas (26)

Columbia (2)

Coos (4)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (7)

Douglas (22)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (22)

Jefferson (3)

Josephine (5)

Klamath (2)

Lane (1)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (6)

Marion (22)

Multnomah (31)

Polk (3)

Washington (57)

Yamhill (2)

And the Deaths

Oregon’s 2,297th COVID-19 death is a 73-year-old woman in Lane County who tested positive on March 5 and died on March 5 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,298th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old man in Douglas County who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on March 5 at Mercy Medical Center.

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.
• 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 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: 503-281-0608
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301