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June 14, 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 reported number of COVID cases is a big drop even from the lower number of cases that we’ve become used to. I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t trust those numbers too much. If you look at the county reports further down in the newsletter, you’ll see that it’s missing a number of counties, while others are dramatically lower than they have been. In other words, it’s a typical Monday, which reports on Sunday’s numbers. Sunday’s numbers are generally the lowest and least reliable. We’ll see what tomorrow’s numbers look like.
Having said that, we are clearly still on a downward trajectory if you look at our numbers week over week. As you’ll see in the just-released County COVID Metrics Weekly Report, our statewide infection rate has dropped to just below 90 per 100K residents, the lowest it has been in months (down from 252 per 100K just a month ago). Multnomah County’s infection rate is now just 70 per 100K for the week, with a test positivity rate under 3%. Clearly, the vaccines are working. The counties with high infection rates are all counties with low vaccination rates.
 Today was a very difficult day on the Senate floor. Not due to any of the bills that we addressed and passed, for they were all fairly routine. It was the result of the loss that I mentioned in Friday’s newsletter, the loss of Lawanda Manning, partner to Senator James Manning, Jr., our Senate President Pro Tem. Over the weekend, the media, social media, our emails have been filled with testimonials to them both, reflective of the special place that Lawanda holds in the hearts of legislators, staff, and everyone else whose lives she touched. The Senate President asked six of us—three Democrats, three Republicans—to share thoughts about Lawanda on the Senate floor, and it was an extremely emotional time for us all. James was not there himself today, but a profound awareness of his pain and loss was present in each of us.
In addition, over the weekend another of our colleagues—Senator Tim Knopp from Bend—lost his mother after a long illness. He was there and shared with us warm stories about his mother and their years together.
Tim’s mother’s passing was long in coming, while Lawanda’s was sudden and shocking. But in either case, the pain and sense of loss is very, very real. Partisan differences shrink in comparison.
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 127 new COVID cases today. The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 205,154.
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Variant COVID Cases: Here are the 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 268 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 297,720.
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Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 6,594 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is now 5,268,017.
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Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 4.1%.
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Hospitalization Information:
- Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 174 (11 more than yesterday)
- ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 46 (7 more than yesterday).
- Available ICU Beds: 151 (27 more than Friday)
- Other Available Beds: 586 (101 more than Friday).
- Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 20 (7 more than yesterday)
- Available Ventilators: 769 (20 fewer than Friday).
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Deaths: I’m happy to report 0 additional COVID deaths today. The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is 2,730.
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Vaccinations:
- As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
- New Immunizations Reported Today: 11,430
- 7,793 were conducted and reported yesterday
- 3,637 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 16,766 doses per day.
- Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 4,215,661
- 2,382,590 Pfizer doses
- 1,674,408 Moderna doses
- 156,692 Johnson & Johnson doses
- Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,323,460
- 2,038,610 now fully vaccinated with two doses
- The number of Oregonians who still need to get a first dose for Oregon to reach the 70% threshold is now 76,089 (down by 11,613). However, the CDC has still not fully fixed its reporting problems, so this number may actually be lower. They say it’ll be fixed by tomorrow.
- To date, 5,375,995 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 38,390 additional doses so far this week.)
- 78.4% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 83.0%.
- 56.9% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (64.3% of those 16 and older, 67.7% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
- 49.5% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (57.1% of those 16 and older).
Additional Brief Updates
- In a trend that echoes what we’re seeing in Oregon, an analysis by the Washington Post shows that COVID rates are generally dropping in states with high vaccination rates and rising in states with lower vaccination rates. Here's more.
- We received news today that another COVID vaccine has completed its clinical trials with tremendous success. It may not be needed here in the U.S. now, but could be of great value elsewhere in the world. Read more here.
- Someone has just let me know that the American Society of Virology has been holding a series of vaccine education town halls, giving people the opportunity to ask questions of experts from major colleges and universities. The next one is Thursday. Here's more information. (Thanks, Matt!)
- The New York Times has a feature on the inordinate impact that COVID has had on Hispanic-American families.
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 127. Here is today’s breakdown by county:
Baker (1)
Benton (1)
Clackamas (25)
Clatsop (5)
Columbia (2)
Crook (2)
Deschutes (9)
Douglas (12)
Grant (1)
Harney (9)
Josephine (3)
Lane (5)
Linn (13)
Morrow (2)
Multnomah (30)
Union (1)
Washington (3)
Yamhill (3)
And the Deaths
No deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported today.
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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