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June 8, 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.
Yesterday’s unusually low COVID case counts (the result of weekend reporting) have gone up somewhat today—higher, but still relatively low for the middle of the week. They’re actually very much in line with what the epidemiologists were predicting a couple of weeks ago in their last forecast. Hospitalizations are going down substantially, starting to reflect the decline in infections that began a few weeks ago.
You’ll also see that the countdown of unvaccinated adult Oregonians is getting us closer to the 70% target, dipping below the 100,000 mark. At the current rate, we should get there within the next two weeks. As you’ll see in one of the articles linked to below, that’s faster than the nation as a whole.
Meanwhile, in the Legislature we again had another floor session in the Senate that was free of required bill readings (that’s been the case for the last two weeks). As a result, we again got through a fairly long list of bills in short order. Among those I got to carry on the Senate floor was a resolution honoring the remarkable accomplishments of author Beverly Cleary (whose characters had my neighborhood as their fictional stomping ground) and a bill calling for investments in renewable offshore wind power off the Southern Oregon coast.
We’re increasingly starting each session with what are called “concurrence motions.” If the House chooses to amend a Senate bill that we sent over to them, we have the choice of concurring (agreeing) or not concurring with their amendments. The decision is essentially in the hands of the chair of the committee from which the bill originated. If we concur, it heads to the Governor for her signature. If we do not concur, a conference committee with members from the two chambers is convened to try to work out the differences. We have not seen a need for any conference committees yet, but it’s always possible.
I actually came close on a bill that the House passed yesterday and is coming up for a concurrence vote tomorrow (the one related to class size and collective bargaining), but in the end have decided at this point to go with the House amendments.
With just a little over two weeks left in the session, every day is an adventure . . .
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 307 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 203,671.
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Variant COVID Cases: Here are the cumulative case counts for the COVID variants in Oregon: 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.
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Positive Test Results: OHA reported 497 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 295,389.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 12,367 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,226,007.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.0%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 172 (34 fewer than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 36 (14 fewer than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 170 (8 fewer than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 488 (71 fewer than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 23 (6 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 768 (1 more than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 6 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is still 2,700.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 17,285
- 6,688 were conducted and reported yesterday
- 10,597 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 14,560 doses per day.
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 4,104,279
- 2,305,439 Pfizer doses
- 1,645,746 Moderna doses
- 151,143 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,292,591
- 1,951,646 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- Number of Oregonians who still need to get a first dose for Oregon to reach the 70% threshold: 97,168 (9,287 fewer than yesterday)
- To date, 5,326,285 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 6,930 more than yesterday, so 36,640 doses have come in so far this week.)
- 77.1% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 81.7%.
- 56.1% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (63.6% of those 16 and older, 67.1% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
- 47.7% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (55.3% of those 16 and older).
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Additional Brief Updates:
- The latest County COVID Metrics Reporthas been released. It shows another week of declining infection rates and positivity rates for the state as a whole and for nearly every county.
- I linked to a story last week about some of the employees in the Houston Methodist Hospital system who were refusing to be vaccinated. Here's a follow-up story about the 178 nurses and other employees (out of nearly 25,000) who were suspended as a result of their refusal.
- The Washington Post has a story about the likelihood that the country won’t hit President Biden’s target date of July 4th for getting to 70% of adult Americans (though Oregon certainly will). The impediment? The states that didn't vote for him.
- The New York Times has a story about Oregon Republican Legislators' call for Representative Nearman to resign. The Times sees it as a contrast with Congressional Republicans’ approach to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Governor Announces Changes in County Risk Levels
Following the update to the County COVID Metrics Report (see above), the Governor announced changes to County Risk Levels.
You’ll see that Lane, Coos, and Wasco counties will move down to Lower Risk tomorrow. Lane County will make the move as a result of having achieved the 65% vaccination threshold, and the other two counties will move because of declining COVID metrics.
Josephine and Yamhill counties will move down from High Risk to Moderate Risk tomorrow. The only upward move will be Harney County, which will move up from Lower Risk to Moderate Risk on Friday, as a result of rising case counts.
Effective through Thursday, June 17, there will be 21 counties at the Lower Risk level, 4 at Moderate Risk, and 11 at the High Risk level.
A complete list of counties and their associated risk levels is available here.
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 307. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (3)
Benton (5)
Clackamas (35)
Clatsop (6)
Columbia (6)
Coos (4)
Crook (4)
Curry (1)
Deschutes (8)
Douglas (21)
Harney (3)
Hood River (1)
Jackson (18)
Jefferson (3)
Josephine (7)
Klamath (3)
Lane (27)
Linn (12)
Malheur (3)
Marion (35)
Multnomah (31)
Polk (4)
Umatilla (14)
Union (3)
Wasco (1)
Washington (45)
Yamhill (4)
And the Deaths
Oregon’s 2,695th death is a 71-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive on May 18 and died on June 6 at Mercy Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,696th death is a 57-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive on May 19 and died on May 31 at Legacy Silverton Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,697th death is a 93-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive on May 28 and died on June 4 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,698th death is a 100-year-old man from Union County who tested positive on May 10 and died on June 4 at Grande Ronde Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,699th death is a 75-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on June 2 and died on June 5 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.
Oregon’s 2,670th death is a 70-year-old man from Deschutes County who tested positive on May 18 and died on May 27 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.
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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