June 23rd COVID-19 Update

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 06/24/2021 01:27 AM PDT
Michael Dembrow

June 23, 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.

Sorry, this newsletter is getting out so late, but I wasn’t able to start working on it till very late this evening.  I spent all of this afternoon at the very moving celebration of life for Lawanda Manning in Eugene.  Along with music and spiritual messages, there was a video message from Senator Ron Wyden and testimonials from Governor Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney, Senator Lew Frederick, Representative Janelle Bynum, and others.  Their testimonials served to bring our memories of Lawanda into sharp relief while acknowledging her both as a wonderful person and a real public servant.  Nearly all senators and many House members were there to pay tribute and support Senator James Manning in his grief and loss.  He'll be leaving soon to take her back to St. Louis for her funeral on Friday.

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What was really special about today's celebration was the number of people that it brought together, many of them people I hadn’t seen in person since the pandemic began. It felt wonderful, a final gift from Lawanda in bringing us all together in person.  It was strange and particularly poignant to simultaneously say goodbye to her and at the same time say hello again to many old friends and colleagues.

It was followed by a gathering of many of my Senate colleagues for some food and drink, and it felt for the first time as if the heavy cloud of the pandemic really was starting to lift.

In COVID news, we’re continuing to see lower case numbers today, and also lower vaccination numbers.  We’re gradually getting closer to that seemingly elusive 70% target—with fewer than 40,000 adult Oregonians to go, you’ll see below that we’re now at 68.9%.

Sunday, by the way, is the end date for the vaccination lottery.  It’s not clear how many people have been motivated to get vaccinated with those big prizes in mind, but in any case there will soon be some very happy Oregonians out there.

On the legislative front, as you’ll see below, the final budget documents with all the capital construction projects (an enormous number, all over the state) and final allocations have been posted on the legislative website.  You’ll find a link to them further down. 

We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, given the break that we took this afternoon.  Fingers crossed for a good, productive day.

Please stay safe and let me know if you have any questions about information in today’s  newsletter.

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TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

  • New COVID Cases: OHA reports 233 new COVID cases today.  The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 207,333.
  • Variant COVID Cases: Here are this week’s case counts for the COVID variants in Oregon, cumulative from the beginning of the pandemic (just released)::
    • 1,538 (up from 1,433) cases of the B.1.1.7 (formerly known as the U.K. variant, now called the Alpha) variant,
    • 315 cases (up from 286) of the P.1 (formerly Brazilian, now Gamma) variant,
    • 132 (up from 125) cases of the B.1.351 (formerly South African, now Beta) variant.
    • In addition, we are now seeing 1,106 (up from 1,028) cases of the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant (Epsilon)and
    • 10 cases (same as last week) of the new B.1.617.2 (Delta).
    • 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 320 positive tests today. The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 300,533.
  • Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 9,041 tests today. Our cumulative total of reported tests is 5,355,263.
  • Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today is 3.1%.
  • Hospitalization Information:
    • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 155 (20 more than yesterday)
    • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 34 (1 fewer than yesterday).
    • Available ICU Beds: 132 (7 more than yesterday)
    • Other Available Beds: 386 (55 fewer than yesterday).
    • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 17 (2 more than yesterday)
    • Available Ventilators: 813 (same as yesterday).
  • Deaths: I’m sorry to report 2 additional COVID deaths today.  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is 2,759.
  • Vaccinations:
    • As of the end of yesterday, here are the latest numbers:
      • New Immunizations Reported Today: 8,306
        • 4,465 were conducted and reported yesterday
        • 3,841 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 10,112 doses per day.
  • Total First and Second Doses Administered So Far: 4,326,249
    • 2,447,918 Pfizer doses
    • 1,712,278 Moderna doses
    • 163,958 Johnson & Johnson doses
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,360,737
    • 2,115,776 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 38,143 (down by 6,463).
  • To date, 5,466,475 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. (That’s 3,530 more doses than yesterday, for a total of 29,000 additional doses this week.)
    • 79.1% of these doses have been administered so far. The national average is now 84.1%.
    • 57.8% of Oregonians have received at least one dose (65.2% of those 16 and older, 68.9% of those 18+, which is the CDC standard).
    • 51.7% of Oregonians are now fully vaccinated (58.9% of those 16 and older).
  • Want to see how close each county is to hitting the 65% target for moving to lower risk? Here's an interactive map and more, showing percentages for total population and for eligible population (residents age 16+).  It shows how close each county is to hitting the 65% target.
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Additional Brief Updates

  • The Oregonian has surveyed members of Oregon’s congressional delegation and the Oregon Legislature to see who has and has not been vaccinated. Most either failed to answer or declined to answer.  Nearly all Democrats said they have been; all but one Republican legislator either failed to answer or refused to answer.  Read more here.
  • Here’s the latest update from the New York Times on what scientists know about the Delta variant.
  • Colleges are split on whether or not to require next year’s students to be vaccinated. Here's more on that. Here in Oregon, our public universities and most private universities are requiring it, while Portland Community College has said it will not.

 

Legislature Set to Approve Additional $80 Million in 82nd Avenue Repairs

Thursday morning the Capital Construction Subcommittee of Ways and Means will meet to approve a long list of bonding, construction, ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act), and end-of-session final budget items (AKA “The Christmas Tree”).  I’m delighted to say that after many years of effort, the Legislature will approve the final $80 million needed to fully transfer ownership of 82nd Avenue in Portland.  This road, currently Hwy 213 north of the Clackamas County border, is what’s known as an “orphan highway,” meaning it’s a state road that also functions as an important city street.

To bring the street up to city standards, extensive safety enhancements will be needed: including paving, safety crossings, curb repair, ADA improvements, and other things.  Neighbors have been meeting for years to identify the needs, and many of us legislators have been working on this for years, joined most recently by Representative Khanh Pham, who has been a strong champion of this effort (as was her predecessor, Rep Alissa Keny-Guyer).  It’s wonderful to see these years of effort pay off.

The money from the Legislature will be matched by allocations from both ODOT and PBOT.  Securing this city/state partnership was critical to nailing this down at last.  I’m very pleased.  Lives will be saved and livability enhanced dramatically in that area.

If you want to see the big final budget bill that will be voted on tomorrow, you can see it here..  You can find the agenda for tomorrow’s Cap Construction Committee hearing, with links to all the bonding and other capital project bills here.

 

COVID Weekly Data and Outbreak Reports Released: Declines Continue

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows decreases in daily cases and an increase in hospitalizations from the previous week.

  • OHA reported 1,697 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, June 14, through Sunday, June 20. That represents a 4.7% decline from the previous week and the lowest weekly case count in nine months.
  • However, new COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose slightly from 152 to 161.
  • There were 26 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 36 reported the previous week.
  • There were 68,601 tests for COVID-19 for the week of June 13 through June 19, down from 70,779 the previous week.
  • The percentage of positive tests was 3.3%, down from 4.0% the prior week.

Today’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 21 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings.

          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

            6/09/21        19 facilities

            6/16/21        22 facilities

            6/23/21        21 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 233.  Here is today’s breakdown by county:

Baker (7)

Benton (4)

Clackamas (14)

Columbia (3)

Coos (8)

Crook (3)

Curry (5)

Deschutes (14)

Douglas (11)

Grant (1)

Harney (2)

Hood River (1)

Jackson (18)

Jefferson (4)

Josephine (6)

Lane (13)

Lincoln (3)

Linn (14)

Malheur (2)

Marion (29)

Morrow (2)

Multnomah (27)

Polk (8)

Umatilla (7)

Union (1)

Wasco (10)

Washington (12)

Yamhill (4)

 

And the Deaths:

Oregon’s 2758th COVID-19 death is a 27-year-old woman from Lane county who tested positive on June 20 and died on June 21 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend.

Oregon’s 2759th COVID-19 death is a 67-year-old man from Marion county who tested positive on May 30 and died on June 20 at Salem Hospital.

 

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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,

dembrow signature

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