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May 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.
COVID hospitalizations continue to rise today, while new cases and deaths remain relatively low. You’ll find a variety of metrics and links to the latest stories in this evening’s newsletter.
I regret to report that bill reading returned to the Senate floor today. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
The K-12 State School Fund did pass the Senate this morning almost without debate It sets a funding floor of $9.3 billion for the next biennium. Education advocates and the Legislative Fiscal analysts remain at odds over whether or not this amount keeps districts whole for the future. Advocates are pushing for more.
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 424 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 199.391.
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Variant COVID Cases: The most recent variant case counts include case counts include 716 (up from 425) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 78 cases (up from 29) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 56 (up from 35) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant. In addition, we are now seeing 237 (up from 196) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 631 (up from 586) of the B.1.429 variant. 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.
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Positive Test Results: OHA reported 891 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 289,305.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 17,619 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,071,236.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 5.1%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 274 (8 more than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 75 (same as yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 144 (22 fewer than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 494 (87 fewer than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 37 (2 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 784 (8 more than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 4 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,628.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 25,851
- 15,160 were conducted and reported yesterday
- 10,691 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 30,070 doses per day.
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,811,840
- 2,124,214 Pfizer doses
- 1,550,655 Moderna doses
- 135,220 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,182,229
- 1,755,318 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- To date, 4,958,765 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 183,829 more than yesterday, for a total of 212,530 additional doses so far week.)
- 76.9% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 80.2%.
- 53.4% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (61.0% of those 16 and older, 64.3% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
- 42.9% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (50.1% of those 16 and older).
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Additional Brief Updates:
- Here’s the latest news from the Governor’s Office regarding updated county risk levels. It includes Multnomah County’s move on Thursday from High Risk to Lower Risk.
- Even as Multnomah County is preparing to move to Lower Risk status this week, county health officials are asking county residents to wear masks when in indoor public spaces,whether or not they’ve been vaccinated.
- The CDC has quietly announced that it will no longer be investigating asymptomatic and mild breakthrough COVID cases. It will continue to investigate the circumstances of those who have been severely affected (i.e., hospitalized) or died after having been fully vaccinated. Again, the numbers are extremely small relative to the number of people who’ve been vaccinated, and the numbers of those who have been severely affected or died is much less than that.
- LaPine High School in Central Oregon has temporarily gone back to remote learning after 15 staff and students tested positive for COVID. The resulting quarantine would have involved half of the school, so the principal decided on the temporary closure. Here's more.
- As a result of positive experiences during the pandemic, the Biden administration is looking at taking permanent steps to make it easier for federal workers to work from home.
- OHA reports a big increase in wasted vaccine doses. as more vials are being broken down to get vaccines to more difficult-to-reach individuals in smaller groups.
- Moderna has announced that it is ready to seek FDA authorization for its vaccine to be administered to 12-15 year olds. It hopes to join Pfizer in being able to make its vaccine available to this age group. Here's more.
- Axios reports the results of an interesting poll showing that more people would prefer government mandates with respect to COVID restriction rather than “vaccine passports.” Here's more.
Wednesday at 12:30: Facebook Live on Face Coverings
To mask or not to mask? If you’re looking for more information about the latest directives regarding face coverings for those vaccinated and unvaccinated, OHA has scheduled a Facebook Live on Wednesday to get answers from OHA experts. Should be interesting.
Where Are Today’s Cases?
If we put together the positive test results and new “presumptive cases” reported today, the overall number of new cases reported is 424. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (2)
Benton (4)
Clackamas (48)
Columbia (7)
Coos (3)
Crook (3)
Crook (5)
Deschutes (48)
Douglas (19)
Grant (1)
Harney (1)
Jackson (24)
Jefferson (12)
Josephine (7)
Klamath (18)
Lane (26)
Linn (16)
Malheur (3)
Marion (41)
Morrow (1)
Multnomah (57)
Polk (3)
Umatilla (21)
Union (5)
Washington (39)
Wheeler (1)
Yamhill (12)
And the Deaths:
Oregon’s 2,625th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive on April 12 and died on May 21 at Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,626th COVID-19 death is a 78-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on May 1 and died on May 1 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,627th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive on May 3 and died on May 11 at Salem Hospital.
Oregon’s 2,628th COVID-19 death is a 24-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive on May 18 and died on May 18.
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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