May 4th COVID-19 Update

May 4, 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 is a relatively good day for COVID in Oregon.  Case numbers are up, but not by too many.  Hospitalizations are down a little.  COVID deaths are up but still relatively low. 

The number of vaccinations is starting to move back up (as usually occurs after the weekend), but it’s still somewhat low.

The best news, though, is that the counties that had to move into Extreme Risk status on Friday will be able to move back into High Risk this coming Friday.  The pressure on hospitals appears not to have hit the threshold to require another week at Extreme Risk—but the triggering threshold was just barely avoided this week.  Let’s hope it continues.    

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 748 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 187,611.
• 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 this week: 168 (up from 112) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 13 cases (up from 7) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 18 (up from 10) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant.  In addition, we are now seeing 159 (up from 140) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 519 (up from 479) of the B.1.429 variant. 
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 941 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 269,377.270,318
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 15,193 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 4,458,961.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 6.2%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 345 (6 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 79 (1 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 153 (8 fewer than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 518 (98 fewer than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 35 (5 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 799 (7 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 6 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,508.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 28,336
      • 19,574 were conducted yesterday
      • 8,762 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 33,153 doses per day.
    • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,092,175
      • 1,668,140 Pfizer doses
      • 1,324,330 Moderna doses
      • 98,414 Johnson & Johnson doses
    • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 1,870,643
      • 1,314,226 now fully vaccinated with two doses
    • To date, 3,931,985 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 178,410 more than yesterday, for a total of 187,040 so far this week.)
      • 78.6% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 77.8%.
      • 45.9% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (51.2% of those 16 and older).
      • 32.1% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (36.0% of those 16 and older).
      • To date, 3,744,945 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s an additional 40,170 since yesterday, for a total of 344,530 coming in this week.)
        • 80.7% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 77.9%.
        • 44.3% of Oregonians have received at least one dose.
        • 30.5% 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:
  • I’ve just learned that the Golden Dawn Clinic in Southeast Portland is offering an ongoing COVID-19 vaccination clinic.  It’s at 8035 SE Holgate Blvd. It is open Mon-Sat from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. You can call 503-788-9378 to schedule an appointment. 
  • Here’s another article from the New York Times looking at  the reasons for the current vaccination slowdown.
  • As Pfizer awaits an expected approval next week from the FDA of an emergency use authorization to give its vaccine to children 12 years old and older, we’ve learned that they are now requesting a subsequent emergency authorization for children age 2 to 12.
  • Oregon State University is now the first public university in Oregon to announce that it will require proof of vaccination for on-campus students, faculty, and staff in the fall. It joins several private colleges and universities in making this decision.
  • The Governor finds herself the object of another lawsuit filed by business interests protesting her emergency declarations and safety restrictions.
  • NPR reports that children now constitute 22% of all new COVID cases and speculates as to why.
  • People around the country, including the President, arerethinking the nation's vaccination strategy, arguing that the time has come to move away from large vaccination sites in favor of more customized, targeted outreach.
  • Experts are now arguing that achieving.herd immunity is unlikely. Here’s a New York Times take on that.
  • Here’s a VOX article looking to Israel as a model for achieving effective herd immunity with a 60% vaccination rate.
  • Axios reports that Pfizer is planning to start sending out smaller-sized shipments. That’s a good thing.

Coming Up:  Town Hall This Wednesday

Representatives Barbara Smith Warner (HD 45) and Khanh Pham (HD 46) and I will be holding another zoom town hall this Wednesday evening at 5:30.  We’ll be joined by House Ways and Means Co-Chair Dan Rayfield at the beginning to talk about the budget process and prognoses.

You can sign up for it here.

Hope to see you there!

Changes to County Risk Levels

The Governor issued  a press release today with some unexpected good news.  Those counties that moved into Extreme Risk status last Friday will go back to High Risk this coming Friday.  This means that limited indoor dining and access to indoor exercise facilities can resume.

I must admit that this came as a surprise to me. I was expecting MORE counties to move into Extreme Risk, not fewer.   As I mentioned in last night”s newsletter, the per-100K levels of a number of most counties has continued to rise, warranting an increased number of counties in Extreme Risk. 

However, the Governor did say a few weeks ago that she would not move states into Extreme Risk unless statewide COVID hospitalizations hit 300 (which seemed a long shot at the time) and hospitalizations continued to increase by 15% each week—those metrics taken together would have predicted a dangerous level of stress on our hospital systems. 

In the weekly numbers reported yesterday, the per-100K levels warranted placement in high risk.  The hospitalization figures remained well above 300.  But the new-hospitalization-increase rate didn’t quite hit the 15% threshold: it just barely missed the mark, coming in at 14.9%.  It’s good news, but we’re obviously right on the edge. 

Hopefully, the coming one-week reprieve from Extreme Risk will extend as a result of declining case numbers and hospitalizations.  That will happen only if vaccinations continue at a good pace and people continue to take this new surge and the new COVID variants seriously. 

Here’s what the Governor had to say:

“I know this will bring relief to many across the state. However, the lifting of Extreme Risk health and safety measures comes with great personal responsibility for us all. If Oregonians continue to keep up their guard, follow High Risk health and safety measures, and get vaccinated as fast as possible, we should see our COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates decline. I’d like to thank Oregonians for taking this surge seriously for the last several weeks. It’s because of you that our hospitals have not been overwhelmed.”

Until the case numbers come down, Oregonians will need to continue to wear face coverings and keep their distance from one another, and take social interactions outdoors, particularly if they’ve not been vaccinated.  If they can do that, and if more and more Oregonians are vaccinated, we’re looking at a long-awaited broad reopening this summer.

 Here are the new County risk levels. 

You can see the specific activities allowed for each risk level in this chart.

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 748.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (3)

Benton (20)

Clackamas (69)

Clatsop (2)

Columbia (3)

Coos (5)

Crook (11)

Curry (1)

Deschutes (58)

Douglas (7)

Grant (3)

Harney (1)

Jackson (36)

Jefferson (3)

Josephine (16)

Klamath (52)

Lake (2)

Lane (50)

Lincoln (2)

Linn (30)

Malheur (13)

Marion (45)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (115)

Polk (15)

Tillamook (4)

Umatilla (16)

Union (2)

Wasco (2)

Washington (148)

Yamhill (12)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2,503rd COVID-19 death is a 61-year-old man from Jefferson County who tested positive on April 6 and died on April 17 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.

Oregon’s 2,504th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on April 27 and died on April 27 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,505th COVID-19 death is a 66-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on April 18 and died on April 21 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,506th COVID-19 death is a 62-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on April 19 and died on April 22 at his residence.

Oregon’s 2,507th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on April 19 and died on April 26 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Oregon’s 2,508th COVID-19 death is a 47-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on April 17 and died on May 1 at Legacy Mount Hood 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

• 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