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April 1, 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.
COVID case numbers are up again, as are hospitalizations. They’re not large increases, but they’re taking us in the wrong direction. Fortunately, so far the number of new deaths is staying very low.
And also we’re seeing big increases in the number of vaccinations. The number of new vaccinations reported today was the highest so far, or close to it. As a result of increased supply and ability to distribute and administer the vaccines, additional counties are able to speed up their eligibility timeline.
Today my newest legislative colleague was sworn in--Andrea Valderrama. selected by the Multnomah County commissioners to fill the House District 47 seat held by Diego Hernandez before he resigned under a cloud. You can read about her swearing-in ceremony at the new Gateway Green Park in NE Park (a neighborhood park that we visited during one of our recent Bike Town Halls) here. I look forward to working with Andrea in her new capacity as a legislator. (By the way, her appointment means that the Oregon House now has a majority of women legislators—something that has been too long in coming.)
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 521 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 165,524.
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Variant COVID Cases: OHA reports no additional cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Oregon today. The total number of such cases is still 19, and the P.1 (Brazilian) variant is still at 1. There are still 0 reported cases of the other variants.
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Positive Test Results: OHA reported 664 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 239,933.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 17,671 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,209,611.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 3.8%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 155 (16 more than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 39 (3 more than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 170 (23 more than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 581 (10 more than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 16 (1 more than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 792 (6 fewer than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 2 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,385.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 46,587.
- 29,262 were conducted yesterday
- 17,325 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: 1,853,084
- 941,848 Pfizer doses
- 867,101 Moderna doses
- 43,075 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 1,187,599
- 701,413 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- To date, 2,366,785 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon (22,000 more doses than yesterday for a total of 260,830 so far this week).
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Additional Brief Updates:
- The CDC has dialed back the suggestion by its director that people who had been fully vaccinated never become infected by the virus. They clarified that it’s unlikely but not impossible, hence the need to continue to be careful. More here.
- The Washington Post has a story showing that the plant that ruined the Johnson & Johnson vaccines had a record of violations.
- As we legislators continue to receive emails from people calling on us to ban “COVID Passports” from Oregon, Here's "Everything You Need to Know About COVID Passports."
Coming This Saturday: April Constituent Coffee
The Saturday is the first Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for a zoom constituent coffee. It’ll be another chance for you to let me know your priorities and suggestions, hear about what’s going on at this point in the session, find out more about what’s in the works, and ask any questions that you have.
It will go from 9 am to 10:30 am. You can sign up here. Hope to see you there!
I’m Reactive!!!!
I’m happy to report that I received my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine this afternoon. It was fast and easy at my nearby Walgreens. So far, no side-effects to report.
Interestingly, I also learned today the results of an antibody test of my most recent platelet donation on Saturday. As I’ve mentioned before, the Red Cross routinely tests platelets for COVID antibodies as part of a national study to track the prevalence of asymptomatic cases. My previous donation, 9 days after receiving my first dose, had once again been negative for antibodies. But this one, donated two weeks later, showed that I was “REACTIVE” to the COVID spike protein. Here’s what that means:
Reactive test result: Indicates that your initial antibody test was reactive for COVID-19 antibodies. The Red Cross uses two antibody tests to generate our results. While it is uncommon, some donations may not complete both tests due to processing issues. The initial test detects antibodies to the spike protein of the virus, that are produced in response to viral infection or the vaccine. The other detects antibodies to a different part of the virus called the nucleocapsid protein, which are produced in response to infection, but not by the current vaccines. If a donor has had the COVID-19 vaccine, they will generate antibodies against the spike protein but not the nucleocapsid protein, which will only occur in the event of a COVID-19 infection. A reactive result on the antibody test usually requires about one to three weeks from the receipt of the first dose of a vaccine.
So, in my case, things appear to have gone as expected.
At the Legislature: House Finally Passes Some Bills
After days spent having to endure the reading a single bill aloud, House Republicans agreed to waive the bill-reading requirement and allow several important appropriations bills to be debated and voted straightaway. They included the bills funding summer learning programs and wildfire response that the Senate already passed. They’ll head to the Governor now for her signature and disbursement.
The House also passed an important bill making it easier for cities to turn hotels and motels into shelters and low-income housing. You can read more about that here.
The agreement to waive reading only applied to these bills, so it is probably back to slowdown when the House next meets on Monday.
Additional Counties Able to Expand Eligibility Early
Today, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced that three additional counties have submitted attestation letters, signaling their intention to immediately offer COVID-19 vaccinations to expanded eligibility groups. The three are Baker, Clatsop, and Gilliam.
They join Benton, Coos, Crook, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union and Wheeler.
By attesting, these counties can now begin vaccinating all individuals in Group 7, a few days ahead of the anticipated start date on Monday.
Group 7 is composed of:
- Frontline workers as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- People living in multi-generational households.
- People aged 16-44 with one or more health conditions with increased risk
Here are details about this and other groups.
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 521. Fewer than 1/3 of today’s cases are in the Portland area. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (7)
Benton (8)
Clackamas (39)
Clatsop (7)
Columbia (16)
Coos (7)
Crook (2)
Curry (4)
Deschutes (30)
Douglas (17)
Grant (7)
Jackson (73)
Jefferson (2)
Josephine (30)
Klamath (22)
Lane (30)
Lincoln (2)
Linn (20)
Malheur (2)
Marion (40)
Multnomah (71)
Polk (12)
Tillamook (13)
Union (4)
Washington (48)
Yamhill (8)
And the Deaths:
Oregon’s 2,384th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man in Klamath County who tested positive on March 15 and died on March 31 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,385th COVID-19 death is a 48-year-old woman in Union County who tested positive on March 17 and died on March 30 at St. Luke’s Boise 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:
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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