May 29th COVID-19 Update

May 29, 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.

Tonight’s newsletter reveals ongoing declines in all COVID metrics. 

Now that we are into the Memorial Day Weekend, we’ll see if we again experience big upticks in cases on this holiday weekend.  With the growing number of vaccinations (we appear to be a little over two weeks away from hitting the 70% mark that will allow the entire state to reopen) and the beautiful weather that is making it easier to have lower-risk outdoor gatherings and dining, perhaps we’ll see a break at last in that chain of big holiday outbreaks.

And while we’re on a positive note—big congratulations to the Trailblazers today!

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 376 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 201,004.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA has just released updated variant case counts on Wednesday: 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 517 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 291,566.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 12,545 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,125,618.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.1%.
• Hospitalization Information: OHA only reports on the first two bulleted items over the weekend and on holidays.  I’ll catch you up on changes in the remaining metrics on Tuesday.
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 257 (3 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 56 (3 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 149 (18 more than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 522 (68 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 34 (6 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 774 (2 fewer than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 1 additional COVID death today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,666.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 31,325
      • 15,280 were conducted and reported yesterday
      • 16,045 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 27,472 doses per day.

• Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,929,204
  • 2,171,355 Pfizer doses
  • 1,594,895 Moderna doses
  • 141,575 Johnson & Johnson doses
• Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,230,411
  • 1,831,484 now fully vaccinated with two doses
• To date, 5,101,436 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (The total for last week was 355,201.)
  • 77.0% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 80.2%.
  • 54.5% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (61.8% of those 16 and older, 64.9% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard***).
  • 44.6% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (51.7% of those 16 and older***).
    • ***OHA doesn’t update the numbers for 16+ or 18+ over the weekend or on holidays.

• 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:
  • Professor Zeynep Tufekci, who has written a series of insightful opinion pieces on the pandemic for the New York Times, has a new piece, where she explains why "COVID's Deadliest Phase May Be Here Soon."
  • Back when N95 masks were in short supply, there was a big effort to make them here in this country and calls for ongoing investment in domestic manufacturing of medical goods. Unfortunately, competition from China is putting many of these new businesses into bankruptcy.  Read more here.
  • In another example of ideological conflict over the COVID vaccine, we learn today that 117 unvaccinated nurses and other staffers at Houston Methodist Hospital are suing the hospital over a requirement that hospital personnel be vaccinated against COVID, as they are required to be against the seasonal flu.. 99% of the hospital’s 26,000 staffers have met the requirement. However, the 117 unvaccinated say  they don't want to be treated like guinea pigs.
  • Over the last few days we’ve been hearing of plans to reopen the investigation into whether or not the source of the COVID pandemic was negligence in the Wuhan lab researching rare diseases. The Washington Post has put together a timeline of the evolving thinking on this issue.
  • In last night’s newsletter, I reported on Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill’s statement that Oregon schools will be opening full-time in the fall. Here is a draft of the guidance that is being developed in anticipation of reopening in the fall.

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 376. Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Benton (4)

Clackamas (38)

Clatsop (2)

Columbia (6)

Coos (3)

Crook (4)

Curry (2)

Deschutes (30)

Douglas (13)

Harney (6)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (18)

Jefferson (9)

Josephine (8)

Klamath (11)

Lane (28)

Lincoln (1)

Linn (11)

Malheur (2)

Marion (43)

Multnomah (59)

Polk (5)

Sherman (3)

Umatilla (13)

Union (3)

Wasco (4)

Washington (39)

Yamhill (16)

And the Death:

Oregon’s 2,666th death is a 79-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive on May 15 and died on May 26 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend.

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