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June 9, 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.
In terms of COVID metrics, today was a very good day. Case counts were well under 300, a rare event other than on a weekend for several months. Hospitalizations are down again. COVID-related deaths are up, but that’s due to late reporting from the CDC of death that probably date from more than a month ago. (I say “probably” because as of this writing the individual details haven’t yet been released.) You’ll see from the just-released weekly reports that this good news is part of an ongoing trend.
On the other hand, vaccinations continue to be somewhat moribund, especially first doses of adults. Oregon continues to be among the better states for getting second doses to those who’ve already received their first dose, and we’re doing well with our younger eligible. However, for those in the 18+ range—i.e., those who are counted for our 70% vaccination threshold—fewer than 4,000 were reported today. At that rate, we’ll hit the 4th of July target, but not by much. Let’s hope it picks up.
A constituent let me know today that a diehard “vaccine hesitant” friend of hers did decide at last to get a first dose. Their motivation? The chance of winning $1 million in the vaccination lottery! Well, whatever works. But not enough people are making that decision. We’ve heard talk about the Governor seeking a change in the lottery format, calling for more frequent prizes to get people more excited about it. Stay tuned for more on that.
In the meantime, today Lane County joined the six other counties (Benton, Washington, Hood River, Lincoln, Multnomah, and Deschutes) with the requisite 65%+ of its residents (16 and older) to move to Lower Risk status.
Things are moving smoothly in the Legislature as we approach our final two weeks of session. The Senate continues to complete its floor agenda each day, and I will say that spirits remain pretty positive and amicable overall. Republicans are continuing to waive the requirement to read bills aloud.
Policy bills with budget requirements are starting to be assigned to their Ways and Means subcommittees and passing as expected. It’s been a pleasure for me to see a few of my long-time priorities—University Tuition Equity for COFA students (residents of the Micronesian Islands with whom the U.S. and Oregon have a special relationship); Common Course Numbering for college and universities, making transfer simpler, easier, and less expensive; and funding for important youth employment programs—all assigned to the Ways and Means subcommittee on Education, on which I sit. I’m also optimistic that we’ll at last be able to fund colleges and universities at their requested levels and pass a number of much-needed education policy bills in the subcommittee.
More to come.
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 269 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 203,933.
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Variant COVID Cases: Here are the updated cumulative case counts for the COVID variants in Oregon: 1,240 (up from 1,152) cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 200 cases (up from 176) of the P.1 (Brazilian) variant, and 108 (up from 86) cases of the B.1.351 (South African) variant. In addition, we are now seeing 279 (up from 257) cases of the B.1.427 variant, and 716 (up from 700) 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 321 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 295,710.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 11,252 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 2.9%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 164 (8 fewer than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 36 (same as yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 148 (22 fewer than yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 475 (13 fewer than yesterday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 21 (2 fewer than yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 779 (11 more than yesterday).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report 16 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is still 2,716.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 21,934
- 12,736 were conducted and reported yesterday
- 9,198 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 15,264 doses per day.
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 4,125,027
- 2,319,302 Pfizer doses
- 1,651,646 Moderna doses
- 152,192 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,295,281
- 1,972,379 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- Number of Oregonians who still need to get a first dose for Oregon to reach the 70% threshold: 93,444 (3,724 fewer than yesterday)
- To date, 5,331,115 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 4,830 more than yesterday, so 41,470 doses have come in so far this week.)
- 77.4% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 81.8%.
- 56.2% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (63.6% of those 16 and older, 67.2% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
- 48.0% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (55.8% of those 16 and older).
Weekly COVID Data and Outbreak Reports Released: All Metrics Continue to Improve
The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows the sixth consecutive week of declining cases and lowest weekly case count since last September.
- OHA reported 1,725 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, May 31, through Sunday, June 6. That represents a 26% decline from the previous week.
- New COVID-19 related hospitalizations also declined from 190 to 112. That’s also the lowest since last September.
- There were 20 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 50 the week before. (Some perspective: the previous week’s reporting included reports from the CDC that dated back a month or more. Last week’s count only included recent deaths.)
- There were 72,443 tests for COVID-19 for the week of May 30 through June 5. This is unfortunately a decline in testing from the previous week’s 94,084.
- The percentage of positive tests was 3.8%. This is a big drop from 4.5% the previous week and 5.4% the week before that.
Today’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 19 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings. This is the lowest in many months.
1/13/21 202 facilities
2/10/21 116 facilities
3/10/21 44 facilities
4/14/21 24 facilities
5/12/21 42 facilities
6/9/21 19 facilities
The Outbreak Report also includes the latest data on COVID in workplaces, childcare centers, and public and private K-12 schools.
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 269. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (2)
Benton (2)
Clackamas (37)
Clatsop (1)
Columbia (3)
Coos (1)
Crook (2)
Curry (3)
Deschutes (19)
Douglas (14)
Gilliam (1)
Grant (6)
Harney (3)
Hood River (1)
Jackson (15)
Jefferson (6)
Josephine (7)
Klamath (4)
Lake (1)
Lane (10)
Lincoln (3)
Linn (8)
Malheur (7)
Marion (40)
Multnomah (32)
Polk (7)
Umatilla (7)
Union (3)
Wallowa (1)
Washington (14)
Yamhill (7)
And the Deaths
The OHA reports 16 additional deaths today. Many of these are likely late-reports coming in from the CDC that require some research from OHA to provide individual information. As always happens when we get these late-reports, that causes a delay in OHA’s releasing the individual info. It will likely come to us in the morning.
 
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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