April 25th COVID-19 Update

April 25, 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.

Nothing particularly noteworthy to point out today.  COVID cases and COVID deaths are down a little, which is not unusual for weekend reporting.  Hospitalizations are down as well, though still very close to triggering Extreme Risk placements for a number of counties, depending on how things look tomorrow. 

The number of Oregonians in the ICU for COVID remains the same as yesterday. 

The number of vaccinations reported is again what we’ve come to expect on weekends. 

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 780 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 180,700.
• 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 have increased: 112 (up from 69) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 7 cases (up from 4) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 10 (up from 8) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant.  In addition, we are now seeing 140 (up from124) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 479 (up from 474) of the B.1.429 variant.  
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 958 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 261,096.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 12,465 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,608,162.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 6.8%.
• Hospitalization Information: OHA only reports on the first two bulleted items over the weekend. I’ll catch you up on the other metrics on Monday.
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 291 (4 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 66 (same as yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 148 (8 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 543 (30 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 27 (3 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 798 (14 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 1 additional COVID death today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,485.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 33,721
      • 25,099 were conducted yesterday
      • 8,622 were conducted earlier, but the reports were received yesterday (there can potentially be a three-day window for reporting)
      • The 7-day running average is now 34,852 doses per day.
    • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 2,799,129
      • 1,476,009 Pfizer doses
      • 1,229,880 Moderna doses
      • 92,057 Johnson & Johnson doses
    • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 1,724,442
      • 1,162,442 now fully vaccinated with two doses
    • To date, 3,400,415 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s the same as was reported yesterday, for a total of 331,690 for the week.)
      • 82.3% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 78.7%.
      • 42.2% of Oregonians have received at least one dose.
      • 28.3% 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 troubling development:  more people are starting to skip their second COVID vaccine doses.
  • Following recommendations from the CDC, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Committee has given permission for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to resume in the western states. Here's more.
  • The latest blog column by State Economist Josh Lehner shows us further evidence of the big difference between the way that low-income workers and higher-income workers have been affected by the COVID recession. This is different from past recessions, as is the level of federal support, and the prospects for a relative rapid recovery. Here's more on this subjectfrom the Oregonian’s Mike Rogoway.
  • There’s speculation that the B.1.1.7 (UK) COVID variant is now the most prevalent form of the coronavirus here in Oregon. Here's more about that.
  • From The Washington Post’s Parenting section, here is a survey of the changes COVID has imposed on families that many parents would like to keep.
  • We know that vaccinations are essential to fighting back the current and future surges of the virus. To be successful, we need to make vaccination as contagious as the virus is. Here's how.
  • For those of you who like to travel, here’s incentive for you: we learned today that the European Union will allow Americans to travel to Europe this summer—if they have proof of vaccination.

The Week Ahead in the Legislature

As of this writing, House members are cleared to return to the Capitol tomorrow to begin catching up on the bills that were left on hold when they were forced to adjourn last week due to COVID.  House floor sessions are scheduled for 10 am and 5 pm Monday through Wednesday and 10 am on Thursday.  The Senate will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Bills are currently listed through Wednesday, but more will surely be added.  Here are some observations:

• The Senate currently has 11 bills scheduled for floor votes on Monday and 11 bills scheduled for Wednesday.
• The House currently has 19 bills scheduled for floor votes on Monday, 26 bills on Tuesday, and 3 bills scheduled for Wednesday.
• The House has 9 bills related to policing reform on the docket for votes on Monday.
• Most of this week’s Senate bills (so far) are non-controversial. Among the more controversial Senate bills are SB 580 (Monday), which would make class size a mandatory subject of collective bargaining in our schools. (I’m carrying that one.)
• The House has HB 2510 (safe storage) on the schedule for Monday because its scheduled vote last Monday was postponed to tomorrow. However, it’s no longer needed because its provisions have been incorporated into SB 554, which should appear on the schedule sometime this week.  Don’t be surprised to see HB 2510 referred back to committee tomorrow.
• If you’d like to follow any of these floor sessions, do the following:
  • Go to olis.oregonlegislature.gov.
  • Click on Session at the top.
  • Open the calendar or use the arrow to get to the date you want to see.
  • Open the tap for Senate Third Readings or House Third Readings.

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 780.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (2)

Benton (8)

Clackamas (89)

Clatsop (1)

Columbia (8)

Coos (3)

Crook (15)

Deschutes (85)

Douglas (4)

Grant (27)

Hood River (2)

Jackson (15)

Jefferson (1)

Josephine (10)

Klamath (37)

Lake (1)

Lane (36)

Lincoln (6)

Linn (31)

Malheur (1)

Marion (111)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (169)

Polk (8)

Tillamook (2)

Union (1)

Wasco (3)

Washington (81)

Yamhill (21)

And the Death:

Oregon’s 2,485th death is a 95-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive on April 21 and died on April 24 at Asante Three Rivers 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