March 27th COVID-19 Update

March 27, 2021

Dear 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.

COVID case counts are lower today than yesterday’s, but they remain higher than they were a week ago.  On the other hand, deaths due to COVID fortunately remain very low, the result of lower case counts and hospitalizations in previous weeks, along with vaccines generally going to the most at-risk Oregonians.

To those of you celebrating the first Passover seder this evening, best wishes for a happy holiday, despite this being the second Passover under the difficulty restrictions of COVID.  Unlike last year, though, it’s easier now to imagine an exodus from this pandemic. 

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 426 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 163,702.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA doesn’t report on variants over the weekend, so  so the reported number of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Oregon remains at 18, and the P.1 (Brazilian) variant is still at 1.  There are still 0 reported cases of the other variants.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 540 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 237,223.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 16,416 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,148,510..
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 3.3%.
• Hospitalization Information: Over the weekends, OHA only provides updates on the first two bulleted items below:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 118 (10 more than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 22 (4 more than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 184 (same as yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 739 (48 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 8 (1 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 795 (4 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 2 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now at 2,375.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 34,508
      • 20,559 were conducted yesterday
      • 13,949 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: 1,689,738
      • 842,659 Pfizer doses
      • 807,926 Moderna doses
      • 37,937 Johnson & Johnson doses
    • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 1,090,248
      • 631,028 now fully vaccinated with two doses
    • To date, 2,107,955 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon (an additional 21,060 doses).
      • 80.2% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 77.6%. 
      • 26.6% of Oregonians have now been vaccinated.
      • 15.4% 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 1b.

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 426. Nearly 2/3 of today’s reported cases are from outside the Portland Tri-County area.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (7)

Benton (9)

Clackamas (47)

Clatsop (2)

Columbia (8)

Coos (10)

Crook (2)

Curry (3)

Deschutes (25)

Douglas (11)

Grant (1)

Hood River (3)

Jackson (49)

Jefferson (1)

Josephine (21)

Klamath (22)

Lane (19)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (3)

Marion (31)

Morrow (3)

Multnomah (42)

Polk (4)

Tillamook (6)

Umatilla (8)

Union (4)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (2)

Washington (69)

Yamhill (6)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2,374th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Linn County who tested positive on March 14 and died on March 26 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,375th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old woman in Grant County who tested positive on March 11 and died on March 23 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:

• 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