June 2nd COVID-19 Update

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June 2, 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.

Our COVID numbers have caught up with reality following the holiday weekend.  You’ll see our first full reporting from counties in this newsletter. They are “normal” within the current overall decline in cases, which is a good sign.  COVID hospitalizations are down, as is our test positivity rate, and the number of COVID deaths.

On Wednesdays we normally get our weekly COVID Data and Outbreak reports.  They have not appeared yet today, presumably because of delays due to the holiday weekend.  I’ll report on them tomorrow.

Today was another productive day on the Senate floor, with bill readings again avoided, and no need for an afternoon session.  The House, which has a large number of bills waiting in its queue, did have an afternoon session and got through many, though not all, of its backlog.

Policy bills that were referred to the Ways and Means Committee (because they required funding) are at last starting to be referred to subcommittees for hearings.  There will be policy bills heard tomorrow in the Education subcommittee, the General Government subcommittee, and the Transportation and Economic Development subcommittee.  Expect many more next week.

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 356 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 201,996.
• Variant COVID Cases: OHA has just released updated variant case counts on: 1,152 (up from 983) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 176 cases (up from 142) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 86 (up from 80) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant.  In addition, we are now seeing 277 (up from 257) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 700 (up from 688) of the B.1.429 variant.  OHA is now producing a  Variant Dashboard, providing current variant case numbers for the state as a whole and for various parts of the state.  It’s updated each Wednesday.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 370 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 292,946.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 8,706 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,157,272.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.2%.
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 227 (11 fewer than yesterday)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 67 (2 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available ICU Beds: 140 (30 fewer than yesterday)
  • Other Available Beds: 471 (131 more than yesterday).
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 36 (2 fewer than yesterday).
  • Available Ventilators: 764 (3 more than yesterday).
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 3 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is now 2,674.
• Vaccinations:
  • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
    • New Immunizations Reported Today: 14,457
      • 9,428 were conducted and reported yesterday
      • 5,029 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 21,005 doses per day.

• Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 3,976,039
  • 2,221,232 Pfizer doses
  • 1,608,333 Moderna doses
  • 144,595 Johnson & Johnson doses
• Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,247,597
  • 1,863,888 now fully vaccinated with two doses
• To date, 5,275,295 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (This is 92,620 more than yesterday. The total number of doses coming in this week so far this week is 185,240.)
  • 75.4% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 80.9%.
  • 55.1% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (62.5% of those 16 and older, 66.0% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
  • 45.6% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (53.2% 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:
  • As COVID cases recede in the U.S., at least for those who are vaccinated, it’s easy to feel that we’ve turned a corner. But for the world as a whole, that’s hardly the case.  Here's a global perspective with some speculation over whether, given the reduction in demand here, it’s not time to be sending more of our vaccines to other countries.

Yes, It’s Time to Think About a Potential Evacuation

As I mentioned the other day, the flip side of our beautiful, warm weather is the increased danger of drought and wildfire, the unfortunate companions of climate change.  For people in many parts of the state, certainly in Southern and Central Oregon, it’s time to prepare for a potential evacuation.  OHA provided the following advice about what to consider, with links to further info:

With wildfires in parts of the state, it's important for everyone to be prepared so you are ready to go. We also want to acknowledge the importance of taking care of your mental health in stressful situations like these. This is especially important if you're still recovering from last year's wildfires. Taking care of your mental health could look like making a self-care plan, getting support in your community or talking with people who care about you. For more mental health resources, visit our Safe+Strong website.

If you must evacuate for any reason, be sure to bring:

• An emergency food and water supply: https://bit.ly/3bT5G9P
• An emergency medicine supply: https://bit.ly/2F4ihej.
• Make a plan to keep medications that need refrigeration cold.
• Emergency power sources for medical devices and flashlights: https://bit.ly/2FptO7t(don’t forget extra batteries).
• Safety and personal items, including a face covering and hand sanitizer to protect against COVID. Face coverings do not protect against wildfire smoke.
• Important documents, including medical documents, wills, passports and personal identification: https://bit.ly/3k1n0Mn.
• Reduce smoke in your vehicle by closing your windows and vents and running your car’s air conditioner in recirculate mode to lower air intake from outside and to stay cool.

Check www.tripcheck.com to help plan a safe route.

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 356. Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (5)

Benton (8)

Clackamas (32)

Columbia (2)

Coos (3)

Crook (5)

Curry (4)

Deschutes (16)

Douglas (7)

Grant (7)

Harney (11)

Hood River (2)

Jackson (33)

Jefferson (13)

Josephine (7)

Klamath (8)

Lake (1)

Lane (26)

Lincoln (2)

Linn (12)

Malheur (8)

Marion (40)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (32)

Polk (10)

Umatilla (26)

Union (2)

Wallowa (1)

Wasco (1)

Washington (25)

Yamhill (4)

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2,675th COVID-19 death is a 53-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive on May 4 and died on May 31 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.

Oregon’s 2,676th COVID-19 death is a 54-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive on May 17 and died on May 27 at his residence.

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