April 15th COVID-19 Update

April 15, 2021

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

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’s reported COVID cases reflect the ongoing nature of the trend that we’ve been experiencing lately.  Washington and Oregon are both showing increased cases now.  Hospitalizations have come down a bit, and COVID deaths remain relatively low.

As we prepare for the big increase in vaccination eligibility next Monday (everyone over the age of 16 will be eligible), vaccinations continue at a good pace.  The seven-day running average is now 38,728 doses per day.

We learned more about the agreement that led Oregon House Republicans to waive the requirement that bills be read aloud in their entirety before voting.  That requirement is waived for the remainder of this legislative session.  As I reported last night, the price for that is that the House Redistricting Committee will now have equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans.  We learned today that a second aspect of the deal is an assurance that every House and Senate district will receive a share of the federal ARP dollars for investment in local projects, to the tune of $2 million for each House district and an additional $4 million for each Senate district.  This element of the deal is still a work in progress, however.  We should find out more about this investment process in the next few days.

We can already see what a difference this makes.  Close to fifty House bills made it off the House floor today and are now on their way to the Senate for assignment to committees.

In the Senate we confirmed a number of Commission appointments today and passed 10 bills, two of them my own priorities.  You can see all the Third Reading bills passed today here.

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 733 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 172,931.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA is now producing a Variant Tableau dashboard providing current variant case numbers for the state as a whole and for various parts of the state.  The reported numbers are the same as yesterday:  69 cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 4 cases () of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 8 cases) of the B.1.427 (South African) variant.  In addition, we are now seeing 124 cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 474 of the B.1.429 variant. 
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 1,029 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 249,152.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 21,384 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,411,902.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.8%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 195 (5 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 53 (1 more than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 151 (2 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 552 (52 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 22 (2 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 811 (1 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 6 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,455.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 44,971
      • 29,445 were conducted yesterday
      • 15,526 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: 2,399,856
      • 1,242,067 Pfizer doses
      • 1,069,416 Moderna doses
      • 87,339 Johnson & Johnson doses
    • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 1,516,589
      • 966,834 now fully vaccinated with two doses
    • To date, 3,015,855 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 11,100 doses more than yesterday, or 243,720 for the week so far.)
      • 79.6% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 77.6%.
      • 37.0% of Oregonians have received at least one dose.
      • 23.4% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated.
      • For more details, including the demographics of those receiving the vaccine and the counties in which the vaccines are being administered, 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.

• Additional Brief Updates:
  • Here’s a look at the current surge in cases and hospitalizations. from the Washington Post.
  • The New York Times reports on the potential post-pandemic economic boom that appears to be on the horizon.
  • When I had more time to really analyze the weekly COVID data from OHA, I was able to follow the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on our Pacific Islander communities. Here's a story from OPB on efforts to make sure Pacific Islanders are quickly vaccinated.
  • Here’s an update on what's happening at PDX. As you’ll see, air travel has been rising dramatically, though still far below pre-pandemic levels.
  • The CDC reports that if airlines would leave their middle seats open, COVID transmission rates would decrease by up to 57%, according to a recent study.
  • A Monmouth poll indicates that nearly half of all Republicans would avoid getting the vaccine if offered. It also suggests that half of all adult Americans have already received at least one dose.

Coming Up:  Another Ways and Means “Road Show”

We’re approaching that point in session where budgetary decisions for the next two years will begin to be made.  As usual, that won’t happen until the public has had a chance to weigh in with their priorities.  This usually comes in the form of a somewhat grueling series of “road shows,” as legislators travel around the state to hear directly from individuals in a succession of 2-minute oral testimonies and thousands of pages of written testimony.  It’s always enlightening and always painful, as we hear about the huge and varied levels of need there are out there.

This year, thanks to COVID, it will be different.  All the “road shows” will be virtual.  Instead of being held at a local community college or city hall, into which hundreds of people cram in hopes that their time driving or riding the bus will yield a couple of minutes of air time, this year time will be equally at a premium, but the distances traveled won’t be so great. 

The Road Shows continue on Saturday afternoon, this time for residents of CD 2.  Here is the overall schedule:

And here is the Ways and Means Webpage for Saturday with the links to the meeting agendas, info on how to sign up to testify, and how to watch the meeting and testimony.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Summer Accelerating Learning Programs

As I’ve reported, the Legislature has allocated $250 million for summer programs for young people.  School districts, non-profits, and others will be able to offer programs to allow young people to reengage with learning, with nature, and with others this summer.

As the next step in that process, the Oregon Department of Education has just released a Summer Learning Best Practice Guide to help school districts build on the skills, resources, lived experiences and innate gifts that students possess before the next school year starts.  This guide draws upon research and best practices for how to design and implement summer learning programs. Summer learning programming envisions a range of offerings including tutoring programs, peer-to-peer support, learning and enrichment camps, bridge and transition programs, college courses, community service and apprenticeships, credit recovery opportunities, work-based learning, and more traditional summer school.  In addition, this guide recognizes the heightened need for summer learning programs to provide a strong foundation of care, connection, and healing for students and their families as our communities continue to grapple with the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice. 

The Department has released several other publications as part of this effort:

• Student Learning: Unfinished, Not Lost - Shifts the narrative and recognizes the many strengths our students bring to school each day. 
• Ready Schools, Safe Learners - Includes the health and safety protocols that need to be in place to serve students on-site.
• Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund - Offers federal funding sources to support summer learning. 
• Summer Academic Support Grants Resources - Includes information on summer enrichment and learning resources made possible by House Bill 5042A. Specific guidance on how to access these resources will be available on or about April 23. 

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 733. Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (14)

Baker (16)

Benton (18)

Clackamas (63)

Clatsop (3)

Columbia (10)

Coos (9)

Crook (5)

Curry (3)

Deschutes (53)

Douglas (10)

Grant (1)

Hood River (6)

Jackson (34)

Jefferson (5)

Josephine (13)

Klamath (46)

Lane (74)

Lincoln (6)

Linn (23)

Malheur (2)

Marion (56)

Morrow (1)

Multnomah (120)

Polk (22)

Tillamook (3)

Umatilla (9)

Union (3)

Wasco (8)

Washington (98)

Yamhill (13)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2,450th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on Jan. 14 and died on April 9 at her residence.

Oregon’s 2,451st COVID-19 death is a 71-year-old woman in Baker County who tested positive on April 7 and died on April 14 at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,452nd COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man in Clackamas County who tested positive on March 22 and died on April 5 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,453rd COVID-19 death is a 52-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on March 24 and died on April 14 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,454th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old man in Linn County who tested positive on March 24 and died on April 8 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend.

Oregon’s 2,455th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old man in Polk County who tested positive on March 31 and died on April 13 at Salem Hospital.

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