November 13th COVID-19 Extra Update

November 13, 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 during this past week.

Here is the update that I promised you, including the latest COVID data released yesterday, which allows me to update the weekly report and graphs. (We received no reports from OHA on Thursday because of the Veterans Day holiday.)  You’ll also find the latest Breakthrough Report (showing those who have been infected despite having been fully vaccinated; Oregon is one of the few states that provide this data on a regular basis).  You’ll also see information on the COVID deaths from Thursday and Friday, along with links to a few COVID-related articles that have appeared yesterday and today.

You'll see that the week-over-week COVID metrics continue to improve here in Oregon. (The only exception is related to COVID deaths.  Again, though, we're seeing the effect of newly-reported deaths from last spring and summer that have become known as a result of a comprehensive data update.)

I had hoped to give you a comprehensive description of the upcoming Legislative Days committee hearings, but I’ll get that to you later today or tomorrow.  In the meantime, you can check out all of the agendas that have been posted online here.

Until the next newsletter, please stay healthy and safe, and let me know if you have any questions about information in today’s newsletter.

OREGON CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• New COVID Cases: OHA reports 906 new COVID cases today, vs. 1,491 last Thursday. (However, this is probably an undercount, since yesterday was Veteran’s Day.) That’s an average of 8,097 per day for the 8 days since the last newsletter (vs. 1,050 per day the previous week). The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 378,174.
• Variant COVID Cases:
  • OHA is now showing us not only this week’s variant cases but the growth of the different variants in Oregon over time. You can see in the graph above just how the Delta variant has come to dominate cases here in Oregon.  It is updated every Wednesday.
  • OHA’s Variant Dashboard provides current and new variant case numbers for the state as a whole but also for different parts of the state. It too is updated each Wednesday.
• Positive Test Results: OHA reported 1,341 positive test results today (vs. 1,491 a week ago). That’s an average of 1,185 per day for the eight days since the last newsletter (vs. 1,369 per day the previous week). The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 516,538.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 21,632 tests today (vs. 22,590 a week ago). That’s an average of 19,228 per day for the eight days since the last newsletter (vs. 19,427 for the previous week). Our cumulative total of reported tests is 7,798,718.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today was 6.2% (vs. 6.6% a week ago). That’s an average of 6.2% per day for the eight days since the last newsletter (it was 7.1% per day for the previous week). 
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 482 (50 fewer than last newsletter)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 120 (3 fewer than last newsletter.)
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 58 (4 fewer than last newsletter)
  • Available Ventilators: 866 (10 more than last newsletter).
• Hospital Capacity:
  • Available ICU Beds: 58 (7 fewer than last newsletter)
  • Other Available Beds: 267 (13 fewer than last newsletter).
• Here’s a link to more OHA data on hospital capacity.
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 10 additional COVID deaths today (vs. 74 last Thursday).  That’s an average of 26 per day for the week since the last newsletter (the same as the previous week).  The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is 4,750.
• Vaccinations:
  • On Friday OHA reported that 22,859 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Nov. 11. Of that total, 5,551 were initial doses, 676 were second doses and 7,881 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 8,486 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Nov. 11.
  • Total doses administered: 5,750,347
    • 3,3399,538 Pfizer/Comimaty vaccines
    • 17,750 Pfizer Pediatric vaccines
    • 2,111,262 Moderna vaccines
    • 235,091 Johnson & Johnson vaccines
  • The seven-day running average is now 15,980 doses per day (down from 17,085 last week).
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 2,860,653 (up by 35,354 from last week)
    • 2,631,923 now fully vaccinated with two doses (up by 51,781)
  • 69.3% of all Oregonians have received at least one dose
    • 81.1% of those 18 and older
    • 79.7% of those 12 and older
    • 94.4% of those 65 and older
  • 63.4% of all Oregonians are now fully vaccinated
    • 74.6% of those 18 and older
    • 73.1% of those 12 and older
    • 88.0% of those 65 and older
  • 17.0% of all Oregonians have received a booster shot
    • 18.2% of those 18 and older
    • 27.9% of those 50 and older
    • 39.8% of those 65 and older
  • All these percentages are from the CDC Data Tracker.They include vaccinations administered by the VA and Tribal Health Services.
  • For more details, including the demographics of those receiving the vaccine and the number of vaccinations by county, go to the OHA vaccinations dashboard.
  • Bloomberg Newsprovides a wealth of easy-to-read information on the trajectory of vaccinations—by state, nationally, and internationally.

Additional Brief Updates and Links

• The CDC is stepping back from its previous “herd immunity” goal of somewhere between 70% and 85%, based on growing understanding that the Delta variant of COVID is different from earlier pandemic diseases. Here's more.
• Here’s more on the way that COVID misinformation is spread on talk radio, despite a number of talk radio hosts dying of the disease.
• Yesterday’s New York Times podcast The Daily was an interesting interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci. The previous day’s was an exploration of how  public health officials find themselves under siege.
• Here’s something that Kaiser-Permanente has sent out to members updating the latest research on COVID-19 vaccines.
• There appears to be a close link between those with severe cases of COVID and those who experience sleep-related hypoxia (sleep apnea).
• VOX looks at some of the big questions still out there about boosters and booster policy.
• We’ve been hearing a lot of encouraging reports about the new antiviral drugs that can be used to prevent mild cases from becoming severe. Here's how they work.
• COVID is currently surging in many of the colder parts of the country. What does that portend for the winter?

Revised County Report: Numbers Going Down Again

***My summary of this week’s report in Thursday’s newsletter included elements from the previous week’s newsletter that should have been deleted.  Please use this one.

The latest OHA county report, showing weekly increases/decreases in COVID spread for each county and for the state as a whole, was released on Monday. It shows the latest case counts, including the period that ended Sunday, November 7.

The report shows our statewide infection rate has once again started to decline, while test positivity rates has gone down to its lowest level since September (6.4%).  Most counties showed declines last week as well.

Multnomah County was the lowest in the Portland Metro Region, with an infection rate just over 100 per 100K residents and a test positivity rate of 4.3%, the lowest in the state.  It was followed by Washington County and Clackamas County. Only Clatsop and Curry had lower infection rates than Multnomah in this week’s report.

Share of Breakthrough COVID Cases Goes Up to Highest Level So Far

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released yesterday, found that 71% of the 6,776 reported COVID-19 cases between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6 occurred in unvaccinated people.  In other words, 29% (1,962) of all cases were breakthrough cases, affecting Oregonians fully vaccinated.  This is an increase from last week’s 24.6%.

The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

Cases of COVID-19 remain far more common in unvaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is four times higher than in vaccinated people. To date, there have been 39,686 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon (10.5% of the 378,174 total cases so far).

The increasing share breakthrough cases may be attributed to the increased number of people vaccinated (thus creating a larger proportion potentially to be infected) and the slightly waning effectiveness of the vaccine over time (suggesting that more of those vaccinated should consider getting a booster).

However, nearly all of the breakthrough cases involve mild or no COVID symptoms.  To date, only 4.4% of the already relatively small number of vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and only 1% have died.

Nearly all of those currently in our hospital ICUs are unvaccinated.  The same is true of those who have died. 

And the Deaths:

Here is information about the additional 20 deaths that were reported yesterday. Most were in their 50s and 60s.

Oregon’s 4,731st COVID-19 related death is a 94-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive on Aug. 25 and died on Sept. 5 at her residence.

Oregon’s 4,732nd COVID-19 related death is a 54-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive on Aug. 27 and died on Sept. 7 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,733rd COVID-19 related death is a 68-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive on Aug. 16 and died on Aug. 16 at his residence.

Oregon’s 4,734th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Deschutes County who tested positive on Aug. 28 and died on Sept. 5 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.

Oregon’s 4,735th COVID-19 related death is a 77-year-old woman from Deschutes County who tested positive on July 29 and died on Aug. 28 at St. Charles Bend Hospital.

Oregon’s 4,736th COVID-19 related death is a 54-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on Aug. 14 and died on Aug. 29 at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,737th COVID-19 related death is a 65-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive on Nov. 1 and died on Nov. 9 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,738th COVID-19 related death is a 62-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on Oct. 30 and died on Nov.4 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,739th COVID-19 related death is a 57-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on Oct. 27 and died on Nov. 4 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. \

Oregon’s 4,740th COVID-19 related death is a 58-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive on Oct. 20 and died on Nov. 7 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,741st COVID-19 related death is a 69-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive on Nov. 3 and died on Nov. 9 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,742nd COVID-19 related death is an 85-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive on Oct. 25 and died on Oct. 27 at his residence.

Oregon’s 4,743rd COVID-19 related death is a 72-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive on Oct. 18 and died on Nov. 2 at his residence.

Oregon’s 4,744th COVID-19 related death is a 61-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive on Nov. 4 and died on Nov. 10 at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,745th COVID-19 related death is a 68-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive on Oct. 9 and died on Oct. 19 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,746th COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive on Sept. 9 and died on Oct. 22 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,747th COVID-19 related death is a 94-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 4 and died on Nov. 6 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 4,748th COVID-19 related death is an 82-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive on Oct. 14 and died on Oct. 23 at her residence.

Oregon’s 4,749th COVID-19 related death is a 77-year-old woman from Malheur County who tested positive on Oct. 27 and died on Nov. 11 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho.

Oregon’s 4,750th COVID-19 related death is an 88-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive on Nov. 3 and died on Nov. 10 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

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

• Here is the OHA’s coronavirus page, with links to a number of resources. 

• Here’s a daily data tracker from the CDC.

• Oregon's Office of Emergency Management 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 Department of Education 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: 503-986-1723
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301