May 27th COVID-19 Update

May 27, 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 COVID case counts remain stable, right where the last epidemiological forecast predicted they’d be at this point.  We did pass one of those unfortunate milestones today: more than 200,000 COVID cases have been reported in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic.  Another sad marker was reported today; it turns out that one of the deaths included in yesterday’s count was a 15-year-old boy from Marion County, who died over the weekend.

Following yesterday’s report of 11 deaths, today we received word of another 21.  Those are still in the process of being examined by OHA, and we’ll get a more detail description of the individuals tomorrow.  Most likely they will turn out for the most part to be like today’s—mainly reports of deaths that occurred a month ago or more that were late coming in from the CDC.  They’ll make this week’s count look as if a spike has occurred, but we’re not really seeing a surge in deaths, just a catching-up of reporting.

It’s still not clear when and if the Capitol will reopen to the public this session, but we have learned that in any case the building will be largely shut down once the session is over for completion of ongoing maintenance projects designed to make it earthquake resistant and a healthier environment.  This work has been going on during the session to some extent, especially on the outside and in the less accessible spaces.  Starting in early July, legislators will need to vacate their offices until the end of the year.  The chambers themselves will be open for the intended special session for redistricting in September, but our designated weeks of committee hearings in September and December will again have to be virtual. (Fortunately, we’re used to that now . . .)  Our main committee hearing rooms will be off-limits until the 2023 session, so makeshift locations will need to be used for the short 2022 session in February and early March. 

Believe it or not, this will actually be less disruptive for us than was originally planned.  When these plans for seismic and environmental improvements were first being made back in 2016, the original conception was for us to be entirely out of the building and in another location for 2-3 years. (This is what’s currently happening next door for the Oregon Supreme Court.) The current plan will be full of disruptions and irritations, but much less so than it could have been.

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 433 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 200,210.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA has just released updated variant case counts: 983 (up from 716) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 142 cases (up from 78) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 80 (up from 56) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant.  In addition, we are now seeing 257 (up from 237) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 688 (up from 631) 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.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 584 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 290,469.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 13,629 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,098,280.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.4%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 256 (17 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 68 (9 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 131 (15 fewer than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 454 (13 fewer than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 40 (2 more than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 776 (5 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 21 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,660.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 29,611
      • 16,348 were conducted and reported yesterday
      • 13,263 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 29,106 doses per day.

• Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,867,274
  • 2,154,794 Pfizer doses
  • 1,572,082 Moderna doses
  • 138,587 Johnson & Johnson doses
• Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,206,455
  • 1,790,838 now fully vaccinated with two doses
• To date, 5,012,285 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 15,920 more than yesterday, for a total of 266,050 additional doses so far week.)
  • 77.2% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 80.5%.
  • 53.9% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (61.5% of those 16 and older, 64.7% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
  • 43.7% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (51.1% of those 16 and older).

• 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
• Want to see how close each county is to hitting the 65% target for moving to lower risk? Here's an interactive map showing percentages for total population and for eligible population (residents age 16+).  It shows how close each county is to hitting the 65% target.

• Additional Brief Updates:
  • The FDA has authorized another antibody treatment for severe COVID cases.
  • I recently linked to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released this month surveying Americans on their feelings about vaccination and why they have not sought out a vaccine. Today’s Washington Post explores one of the major barriers:  concerns about missing work as a result of side effects from the shot, particularly for the 25% of workers who don’t have access to paid sick leave. 
  • Here’s a COVID state-of-affairs report from The New Yorker, examining "The Beginning of the End of the American Pandemic."

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 433.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (2)

Benton (3)

Clackamas (50)

Clatsop (1)

Columbia (8)

Coos (4)

Crook (4)

Deschutes (41)

Douglas (24)

Harney (2)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (22)

Jefferson (3)

Josephine (12)

Klamath (13)

Lane (17)

Linn (23)

Malheur (4)

Marion (54)

Morrow (5)

Multnomah (64)

Polk (4)

Tillamook (1)

Umatilla (17)

Union (1)

Wasco (1)

Washington (38)

Yamhill (14)

And the Deaths:

This morning OHA was able to release individual information on the 11 deaths reported yesterday. The 21 reported today will be described tomorrow.  As you’ll see, most of the 11 were from a month ago or longer.

Oregon’s 2,629th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman from Coos County who tested positive on May 13 and died on May 21 at her residence.

Oregon’s 2,630th COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on April 1 and died on April 15 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 2,631st COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old woman from Hood River County who tested positive on May 5 and died on May 14 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,632nd COVID-19 death is a 15-year-old boy from Marion County who tested positive on April 1 and died on May 22 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Oregon’s 2,633rd COVID-19 death is a 91-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on April 29 and died on April 29 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,634th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on Feb. 27 and died on April 2 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 2,635th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old woman from Multnomah County who died on April 18 at her residence.

Oregon’s 2,636th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on April 29 and died on May 17 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,637th COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on April 3 and died on April 3 at her residence.

Oregon’s 2,638th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old man from Tillamook County who tested positive on April 24 and died on April 28 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,639th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old woman from Yamhill County who tested positive on Feb.1 and died on March 8 at Willamette Valley 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