January 6th COVID Update

January 6, 2022

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.

The new year has already been quite eventful for us here in Oregon on the political/legislative front.  Long-time Senate President Peter Courtney formally announced that he will not be running for reelection, bringing to an end his 38 years of elected public service in Oregon. He will be finishing out his final term, which concludes at the end of this year. And our long-time (though not in Courtney’s league) Speaker of the House, Tina Kotek, announced today that she is stepping down (from both her position as Speaker and Representative for HD 44) on January 21 to focus on her campaign for Governor. Neither announcement was really a surprise, but both were reminders that pages turn and change is inevitable. 

I want to take the opportunity to thank them both for their tremendous service to the Legislature and to the state.  I certainly have not always agreed with every one of their decisions, but based on my own direct experience with them, I can say that in their own very different ways, both Peter and Tina represent the best of what it means to step up and be a public servant, looking at the big picture of the state as a whole.

Similarly, though in a very different way, today—January 6—is a reminder of how much we as a nation rely on the good will and responsible actions of public servants and a public that is committed to the institutions of our democracy. There are so many lessons still to be learned from the events of that day one year ago; I hope that we as a nation can get to the point where we can face those lessons honestly and without partisan baggage.

Switching gears to the many challenges of the third calendar year of COVID in this state, with the new year we find ourselves witnessing record numbers of new cases and higher positivity rates each day.  This newsletter itself will bear witness to some really startling case numbers.  The graphs show extremely steep growth curves here in Oregon.  Despite this, amazingly, we’re continuing to do better than most other states right now. As of this morning, COVID ACTNow has Oregon as the sixth lowest state for new cases per 100K and the Portland metro area as among the lowest of the nation’s 100 largest urban areas. It gives you an idea of how hard this variant is hitting other parts of the country. Similarly, our number of pediatric and other hospitalizations remains relatively low.

Speaking of pediatrics, the big increase in pediatric infections is clearly a concern for the parents of young children--particularly those too young to be vaccinated.  You'll see further down in the newsletter that OHA has updated its pediatric dashboard to provide more information.  While we are seeing a big increase in pediatric cases (albeit coming off of a relatively low base), the largest number of infections is actually among teens.  And the number of severe cases has remained relatively stable (and actually lower than it was during the August-September Delta surge). Still, the experience of what's actually happening with kids bears close watching.  You'll see in this newsletter that I'm starting to track and graph the number of kids who have been admitted to Pediatric ICUs.

We don’t yet know for sure why we’re doing better in general than most other states.  It’s likely due in part to our relatively high vaccination rates and the indoor masking and other policies that we kept in place during Delta and its aftermath.  But it may also be a consequence of Omicron having come to this state later than some other places.  Time will tell.

We are coming to understand more about this variant and how it works in the body.  You’ll find references to many of those insights in this newsletter. While cases are skyrocketing, COVID cases in our hospital ICUs are increasing much more gradually, and the number of those on ventilators has actually gone down over the last week (as has the number of children needing ICU services). The number of new deaths has not really gone up (or at least not yet). The share of new COVID cases for people who have been fully vaccinated (i.e., breakthrough cases) has gone down over the last week, and those in our hospitals and especially our ICUs sadly continue to be overwhelmingly unvaccinated. 

While the effects of Omicron may not be as severe as earlier strains, the disease remains hugely disruptive for those who find themselves infected, and we’re seeing impacts of these disruptions on businesses, schools, and other public services.  As just one example, even though fewer infections are leading to hospitalizations, we’re seeing fewer available staffed beds in our hospitals because more and more of our medical staff are out sick. Once again, we owe so much to those in our hospitals and other institutions who are working tirelessly to keep things afloat.

And don’t get me started on all the shortcomings of our testing capacity in this country!  You’ll see plenty of evidence of those shortcomings in the links to articles from Oregon and around the country.

So, overall, we are seeing an increasing understanding of the virus, and a few silver linings, but we appear to have a difficult next few weeks still ahead of us. Again, we’ll know more in a week.

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

Next Constituent Coffee This Saturday!

This Saturday is the first non-New Year’s-Day Saturday of the month, so January 8, 9:00-10:30 a.m., will be our next zoom coffee.

It’ll be a chance to hear about the upcoming legislative days, the potential impact of changes in legislative leadership, the latest on COVID and the state’s response, and the latest on the 2022 session and the bills  that are already in preparation--and of course a chance for you to share your priorities and questions.

Hope to see you there!  You can register here.

Coming Up: January Legislative Days and the February Session

As I mentioned last week, next week the Legislature will hold a series of remote committee hearings for the last of our so-called “Interim Leg Days” prior to the 2022 session in February.  We had hoped that these would at last be in person and were planning for that, but Omicron has put a big wrench in those works. 

(I also mentioned that we were still hoping for in-person committee hearings in February, but that will not happen.  Although the Capitol itself will remain open to the public, committee meetings will need to be remote, as they were during the 2021 session.  Senate and House floor votes, on the other hand, are constitutionally required to be in person.

One thing that will be different in February will be the presence of metal detectors at the entrances to the Capitol.  Legislation passed last session allows the legislature to prohibit weapons from being brought into the building, so everyone will need to be screened upon entrance, including legislators. This is not unusual for most legislatures, but it will take some getting used to for us here in Oregon.  I wish we didn’t have to do this, but recent events (notably, what occurred at the Capitol in December 2020) have unfortunately made it necessary.

Coming back to Leg Days, committees will meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and various task forces and work groups meeting on Monday and Friday.  We’ve just received a revised committee schedule for all of the hearings.

Agendas for these meetings have now been posted. You’ll find them on olis.oregonlegislature.gov.  There are two ways to see them:

• You can go to Committee Agendas Online, where you’ll find them all. You can scroll down to the committee that you want and see its agenda. (You can then click on the committee name to get to the committee’s webpage to find the posted meeting materials, eventually including links to the proposed committee bills.
• You can go to olis.oregonlegislature.gov and then click on Committees, then click on the individual committee that you’re interested in.

Each of those websites will include links that will allow you to watch the hearings live or recorded.

Another feature of these Leg Days will be the introduction of the Committee Bills that will be in play during the short 2022 session.  Each committee gets to introduce three bills this session, and they will be presented during the Leg Days hearings.  In order for them to be introduced, the committee will need to vote to allow that to happen.  Generally, this is a pro forma vote, designed simply to get a bill into the legislative queue, but sometimes on the more controversial issues, individual legislators will choose to vote against even their introduction.

Some of the committee websites have already posted their three committee bills for the session. (The Senate and House Education Committees have.)  The others should be posted over the next few days.  It’s a way for you to get an idea of some of the topics of discussion that we can expect in February.  Most of next week’s hearings will also include previews of those topics, along with the personal bills that legislators will be introducing soon. (Each legislator gets two bills.)

I’ll be sending out another newsletter over the weekend with more detailed information about the items scheduled for discussion next week. 

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OREGON CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE

• New COVID Cases: OHA reports 7,615 new COVID cases today, vs.1,948 last Thursday, and 1,350 the Thursday before that. That’s an average of 4,001 per day for the last week (vs. 1,528 per day the previous week and 695 the week before). The cumulative number of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic is 449,267.
• 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 Omicron variant is supplanting Delta now.  This graph 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 9,059 positive test results today (vs. 3,753 last Thursday). That’s an average of 5,144 per day for the 7 days since the last newsletter (vs. 2,029 per day the previous week). The cumulative total of positive test results since the beginning of the pandemic is now 607,931.
• Total Tests: OHA reported an additional 38,880 tests today (vs. 24,212 last Thursday). That’s an average of 25,855 per day for the last week (vs. 17,626 for the previous week). Our cumulative total of reported tests is 8,841,837.
• Positivity Rate: The test positivity ratio for Oregon today was an incredible 23.3% (vs. 7.3% last Thursday). That’s an average of 19.4% per day for the last week (it was 11.1% per day for the previous week and 5.7% the week before). 
• Hospitalization Information:
  • Patients Currently with Confirmed COVID-19: 588 (148 more than last newsletter)
  • ICU Patients Confirmed w COVID-19: 110 (17 more than last newsletter.)
  • Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 38 (2 fewer than last newsletter and 13 fewer than the previous week)
  • Available Ventilators: 862 (13 more than last newsletter).
• Hospital Capacity:
  • Available Adult ICU Beds: 42 (7% availability) (8 fewer than last newsletter).
  • Other Available Adult Beds: 221 (5% availability) (44 fewer than last newsletter).
  • Available Pediatric ICU Beds: 6 (15% availability) (3 more than last Thursday).
• Here’s a link to more OHA data on hospital capacity.
• Deaths: I’m sorry to report 9 additional COVID deaths today (vs. 15 last Thursday).  That’s an average of 8 per day for the week since the last newsletter (vs. 8 the previous week). The total number of COVID deaths in Oregon is 5,728.
• Vaccinations:
  • Today, OHA reported that 19,475 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry Jan. 5. Of that total, 1,666 were initial doses, 1,507 were second doses and 7,087 were third doses and booster doses. The remaining 8,574 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry Jan. 5.
  • The seven-day running average is now 10,873 doses per day, down from 13,766 last week.
  • Total doses administered: 6,821,455
    • 3,843,712 Pfizer/Comimaty vaccines
    • 173,529 Pfizer Pediatric vaccines (up from 161,871 last week)
    • 2,535,103 Moderna vaccines
    • 258,024 Johnson & Johnson vaccines
  • Progress towards Governor’s goal of 2 million boosters by the end of January (announced Dec. 17):
    • When the challenge began, 949,749 people had received a booster dose.
    • Since then, 245,803 Oregonians have received a booster.
    • As of today, Oregon needs 754,197 people to get a booster to reach the goal.
  • Total Oregonians vaccinated so far: 3,062,365 (up by 13,738 from last week)
    • 2,779,724 now fully vaccinated with two doses (up by 12,969 from the previous week)
  • So far, 74.3% of all Oregonians have received at least one dose
    • 78.5% of those 5 and older
    • 83.1% of those 12 and older
    • 84.5% of those 18 and older
    • 95% of those 65 and older
  • 66.6% of all Oregonians are now fully vaccinated
    • 70.5% of those 5 and older
    • 75.1% of those 12 and older
    • 76.5% of those 18 and older
    • 89.3% of those 65 and older
  • 40.3% of all Oregonians have received a booster shot
    • 43.8% of those 18 and older
    • 56.8% of those 50 and older
    • 67.3% 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.

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Additional Brief Updates and Links

• Here’s an interesting essay from an epidemiologist and infectious disease modeler at Columbia University, taking us into the most likely scenarios for January. He predicts an intense month of disruption.
• Here’s a national overview of Omicron from Axios..
• Though we’re hearing of some universities that have switched back to remote learning for this quarter/semester, the great majority are continuing to meet in-person, despite Omicron.
• Here’s the latest Checkup with Dr. Wen, in which the doctor focuses on strategies for keeping kids safe from COVID.
• We’re starting to feel the effects of the Omicron surge on the economy, particularly because of the timing of the surge (coming during the holiday season). Economists don’t expect long-term negative effects, but the pain in the short term will be felt.
• Here’s an interesting piece from the Oregonian’s Fedor Zarkhin on the difficulty of fully assessing hospitalizations right now. Hospitals in the Portland area are not consistently reporting whether their patients were admitted FOR a COVID-related ailment, or if they were discovered to be positive for COVID in the course of their admission. So the overall COVID hospitalization numbers may actually be lower than reported.
• Here’s the latest from OPB on the lack of access to COVID testing here in Oregon.
• And with Omicron spiking in Washington County (see more in the County Report below), Beaverton School District has decided it cannot keep up with its "Test-to-Stay" policy.
• President Biden has announced that the U.S. is doubling the order of Pfizer's COVID-treatment pills.
• Confronted with clear evidence that boosters provide a great deal of protection from severe sickness from Omicron, along with increasing evidence that vaccines were safe for adolescents, earlier this week the FDC lowered the eligible age for boosters from 16 to 12. It also lowered the waiting time after the second vaccine from six months to five.
• And then on Wednesday that decision was confirmed by the CDC.
• Here's an interview with OHA Director Pat Allen about the current state of Omicron in Oregon by the Capital Chronicle’s Lynne Terry.
• The Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority have issued an advisory calling on districts either to temporarily suspend extracurricular activities or require strict adhesion to COVID protocols at those events. Here's more.
• And here’s more about Portland Public Schools' decision to allow sports and other extracurricular events to continue, but with strict masking and other protocols.
• We’re still waiting for definitive answers on whether or not our ICUs will run out of room. Here’s a national perspective on whether or not our ICUs will run out of room. from the New York Times.
• The New York Times’ David Leonhardt looks at some of the ways in which Omicron is milder. some of the ways in which Omicron is milder.
• With boosters becoming (fortunately) more widespread, there is discussion of whether an additional shot (i.e., a fourth dose) might be in order for those who are seriously immunocompromised (e.g., recipients of organ transplants, cancer patients, those with rheumatoid arthritis).
• And here's an interview with Dr. David Aronoff, Chair of Medicine at Indiana University, on the subject of the fourth dose.
• And an article on this subject from today's New York Times.
• With many of the Omicron cases not subject to testing and detection by traditional testing methods, it’s hard to have a clear picture of the extent of COVID infection in various  communities. A better bet may be the wastewater analysis method that was developed by people at Oregon State University.
• Or maybe we should just turn to the dogs!
• Along those same lines, a small, pre-publication study is calling into question the actual ability of home rapid tests to detect Omicron when there’s most risk of contagion.  It’s early days, but we may be hearing more about this problem soon.
• Some experts thought we knew how COVID was going to end. And then Omicron hit.
• The President of the American Medical Association has just issued a statement that is very critical of the CDC's decision to reduce isolation time without including a testing requirement.
• The CDC seems always to find itself under fire for poor messaging. (Here's another example.)  Here's an interesting piece of the lows AND highs of its messaging during the pandemic.
• Despite the best of intentions, there’s increasing evidence that the public-health aims of the vaccine lotteries didn't work.
• The Carnival season has begun in New Orleans. City officials are hoping that with unusually strict restrictions (for the South at least) in place—including masking and vaccination requirements for entry into indoor venues—they will be able to avoid the outbreaks that occurred in 2020.  Let’s hope they’re right.
• Here’s a portrait of someone who finds himself at the heart of COVID controversies, someone that I have really come to respect over the last year: Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill.

Briefing on COVID-19 in Oregon Tomorrow

OHA will host a press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Jan. 7, about COVID-19 in Oregon. Speakers will include Oregon State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill and Peter Graven, Ph.D, director of the Oregon Health & Science University Office of Advanced Analytics. You can watch the press conference on Youtube in real time or after the fact.

Looking for a Testing or Vaccination Site?

Here again is OHA's list of large, free testing sites for you to use.  And here’s a list of  free vaccination and booster sites.

OHA Updates Vaccine Metrics Dashboard

OHA’s Vaccination Metrics dashboard has been updated today to include several metrics that people have been asking for:

• Tracking people eligible for a booster, if they haven’t received one yet, and showing when they are eligible.
• Seven-day running averages for people initiating with one dose and people who have received a booster dose to monitor uptake; the information will also be available at the statewide level and for each county, by age group, by rarest race and ethnicity.
• The age tab of the dashboard will include a new chart showing the percentage of people who have received at least one dose by age and rarest race and ethnicity at the statewide level.

OHA Also Updates Its “Epi Curve” Dashboard

Today, OHA published more features to the dashboard with Oregon’s epi curve showing the number of COVID-19 cases by date of illness onset. This curve is frequently referenced in public health discussions about collective efforts to reduce the number of infections and to “flatten the curve.”

Sudden surges of COVID-19 infections can lead to more people needing medical care than our hospital systems can treat at one time. Reducing the number of infections also prevents healthcare systems from exceeding their capacity.

The updated dashboard features filters to explore county-level trends in COVID-19 case counts and whether the person was ever hospitalized during their illness.

Two new charts also compare case counts during statewide waves. Data collected on COVID-19 shows increases and decreases in new case counts. Factors that affect these outcomes are new variants, vaccinations, and behaviors that promote transmission such as large events and gatherings. The third statewide wave that peaked in winter 2020-2021 and the fifth statewide wave that peaked in summer 2021 were the longest in duration.

The current statewide wave that started in mid-December 2021 has recorded the highest number of weekly cases, but of course we don’t yet know how long it will last. For more details, you can filter by county to explore how county-level trends compare to statewide waves.

Weekly County Report: County and Statewide Numbers Continue to Show Explosive Effects of Omicron

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 case counts and rates for the last four weeks, including the week that ended Sunday, January 2.

The news this week reveals the impact of Omicron in virtually every county.

This report shows that the statewide infection and test positivity rates have more than doubled in the last week. The state as a whole is now at HIGH Risk of infection. The infection rate jumped from 163 per 100K to 357.2 per 100K; the test positivity rate has jumped from 7.4% to 15.6%.  

Last week we saw a  shocking turnaround is in Multnomah County, and every day is setting a new record for that populous county. We see another doubling of Multnomah County’s numbers from last week.  But we’re now seeing even larger jumps in other counties, particularly our more rural counties.  And in the Portland Metro area, Washington County has been particularly hard hit this week.

 Most of the Portland metro hospitals continue to have a relatively high number of available ICU beds.

OHA Weekly Report Shows Statewide Increase in Cases and Hospitalizations, Decrease in Deaths

OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report released on Wednesday showed skyrocketing daily cases and a sharp increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations, while deaths declined. Omicron has clearly struck Oregon (though amazingly we are the sixth LEAST affected states in terms of new cases.

• OHA reported 16,791 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, Dec. 27, through Sunday, Jan. 2 — a staggering 140% increase over the previous week. 
• There were 290 new COVID-19 related hospitalizations, compared to 185 last week — a 57% increase.
• There were 43 reported COVID-19 related deaths, down from 89 reported the previous week. 
• There were 136,474 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, nearly identical to the previous week’s 136,789. (Both weeks also had long holiday weekends, likely suppressing the number of reported tests. We are seeing much higher test numbers in the last few days.)
• The percentage of positive tests doubling from 7.4% to 15.7%. 

Yesterday’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 64 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, as opposed to 48 the previous week (marking a turnaround from the previous downward trend).

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

7/8/21              22 facilities

8/4/21              33 facilities

9/1/21            144 facilities

10/6/21         163 facilities

11/3/21           87 facilities

12/1/21            54 facilities

1/05/21            64 facilities

The total number of deaths for people in congregate care can be seen below.  As you’ can see, even as the number of cases is increasing, the number of deaths in congregate care has plummeted, at least for now.  This is likely due to the very high level of vaccinations among residents.

8/4      1,374 (pandemic total)      

8/11    1,385 (pandemic total)       +11

9/1      1,441 (pandemic total)       +22

10/6    1,574 (pandemic total)       +27

11/03   1,701 (pandemic total)      +29

11/24  1,826 (pandemic total)       +36

12/1    1,847 (pandemic total)       +21

12/8    1,863 (pandemic total)       +16

12/15  1,890 (pandemic total)      +27

12/22  1,912 (pandemic total)       +22    

12/29   1,922 (pandemic total)      +10

01/05   1,923 (pandemic total)      + 1

The Outbreak Report also includes the latest data on COVID in workplaces, childcare centers, and public and private K-12 schools. 

The Latest on Pediatric Cases and Hospitalizations

OHA has also updated its dashboard on pediatric cases, including hospitalizations and deaths.  So far, fortunately, only 3 Oregon children (under age 18) have died of COVID, and pediatric hospitalizations remain rare. (They were at their highest during the August-September Delta wave.)

However, COVID-19 cases (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) are increasing sharply among children ages 0 to 17 as the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to spread, according to the latest weekly dashboard report of pediatric COVID-19 case data

In the most recent full week’s data, published today, pediatric case rates rose across all age groups and were highest among people ages 12 to 17. Compared to people who identify as White, pediatric case rates were 3.3 times higher among people who identify as Black, 2 times higher among people who identify as Asian and 1.7 times higher among people who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native.

Vaccination rates are lowest among children under the age of 18 (with those under 5 not yet being eligible), and authorization has only just begun for boosters for those 12 and up, so this is an age group that warrants very close attention, even though the risk of hospitalization and death remains very low.

Growing Number of COVID Cases Are Again Among the UNvaccinated

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released today, reported 15,239 cases of COVID-19 during the week of Dec. 26 to Jan.1.  Of those cases, 10,579, or 69.4%, were unvaccinated people and 4,660, or 30.6%, were vaccine breakthrough cases. This is a sizeable reduction in the proportion of breakthrough cases reported last week (36.7%)

The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

Twenty-six breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings, up from last week’s 15.

To date, there have been 58,841 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon out of a total of 449,267.

Cases of COVID-19 continue to remain far more common in unvaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is again more than four times higher than in vaccinated people (it was three times higher a week ago).

Where the vaccines really make a difference is in preventing serious COVID cases.  Nearly all breakthrough cases show no symptoms, or symptoms that are relatively mild.  To date, only 4% of the small percentage of vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized (down from 4.3%), and 1.2% have died. Nearly all the COVID patients in ICUs and on ventilators have been unvaccinated.

Serious breakthrough cases are generally found in people who are aged and infirm, and who are not as responsive to the vaccine as younger people are.  The average age of vaccinated people who have died remains 81. 

To date, more than 3 million Oregonians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

New OHSU Forecast Continues to Show Declines in COVID Hospitalizations, Again Sees Lower Risk of Another Surge in Oregon

The current OHSU forecast report, published January 6, uses data provided by OHA and others that project how fast the virus may spread in the population and provides projections on possible outcomes, including infection rates and impacts on hospital capacity.  The lead author is Dr. Peter Graven, Director of OHSU’s Office of Advanced Analytics

This forecast builds on the one last week that let us know we can expect an ongoing increase in hospitalizations due to pressure from the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, but less so than had originally been feared. This is partly due to actions that Oregonians have been taking to curb the contagion (masking, reduced indoor close contact, and boosters).  Thanks in part at least to these actions, Oregon so far has not been hit as hard as many other states. (Thanks everyone for doing your part!)

However, we must expect the increase in hospitalizations to continue for the next few weeks, despite these precautions, because Omicron came here relatively late.  This  problem will be compounded by the fact that more and more medical personnel are themselves having to miss work because of infection.

Here are key observations in this week’s report:

• The number of people in Oregon hospitals has begun a steep increase that is expected to continue. As of Jan. 6, 588 people were in Oregon hospitals, up from 237 more than two weeks before.
• Cases have increased to record levels in the last two weeks
• Behavior has responded in ways consistent with reducing the spread of COVI-19. Masking remains high, while indoor activities are quickly declining.
• As of Jan. 6, 17% of occupied ICU beds had COVID patients in them statewide, a portion that has not increased.
• The number of people in hospitals in states where omicron arrived earlier greatly exceeds, per capita, the levels during the delta surge in Oregon.
• While the portion of hospitalized people in ICUs is declining in early-omicron states, the total number of ICU patients is increasing sharply.
• Pediatric hospitalizations remain steady in Oregon, with 10 as of Jan. 4. However, nationwide, the U.S. average is 2 and a half times the level in Oregon per capita. In early-omicron states, it’s four times higher.
• Right now, Oregon is the 11^th  lowest state for pediatric hospitalizations.
• Flu cases remain low.  Just 16 cases were reported, compared with 1,277 in a similar week two years ago. 
• The forecast shows hospitalizations hitting a peak of 1,652 on Jan. 27, followed by a sharp drop in February. 
• As in other states and countries, the surge is expected to begin in urban areas and in younger people before moving into rural and older populations.
• Vaccination continues to provide good protection against hospitalization, but should not be relied on to prevent infection. Social distancing and masking will be needed in all populations to slow spread of the virus.

And the Deaths:

Here is information about the 73 additional deaths that have been reported since last Thursday’s newsletter, up from 57 the previous week.  However, you’ll see that most of the deaths from Monday and Tuesday are actually from November or even earlier.

Friday, December 31, through Monday, January 3

Oregon’s 5,656th COVID-19-related death is a 69-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 26 and died Dec. 23 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,657th COVID-19-related death is a 69-year-old man from Yamhill County who tested positive Dec. 20 and died Dec. 26 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,658th COVID-19-related death is a 70-year-old man from Yamhill County who tested positive Dec. 10 and died Dec. 30 at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,659th COVID-19-related death is a 65-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Dec. 24 and died Dec. 30 at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,660th COVID-19-related death is a 51-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 22 and died Dec. 24 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 5,661st COVID-19-related death is a 66-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 15 and died Dec. 16 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 5,662nd COVID-19-related death is a 75-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 6 and died Dec. 29 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,663rd COVID-19-related death is a 75-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 19 and died Dec. 31 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,664th COVID-19-related death is a 61-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Nov. 13 and died Dec. 29 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,665th COVID-19-related death is a 93-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive Sept. 14 and died Dec. 24 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,666th COVID-19-related death is a 66-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 29 and died Dec. 30 at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center.

Tuesday, January 4

Oregon’s 5,667th COVID-19 related death is a 77-year-old man from Klamath County who tested positive Nov. 5 and died Nov. 14 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,668th COVID-19 related death is a 58-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Nov. 3 and died Nov. 14 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,669th COVID-19 related death is a 58-year-old woman from Multnomah County who tested positive Sept. 27 and died Nov. 1 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 5,670th COVID-19 related death is a 66-year-old man from Morrow County who tested positive Oct. 9 and died Nov. 4 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,671st COVID-19 related death is a 60-year-old woman from Columbia County who tested positive Oct. 13 and died Nov. 3 at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,672nd COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Oct. 26 and died Nov. 11 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,673rd COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Nov. 5 and died Nov. 11 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,674th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 13 and died Nov. 13 at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,675th COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old man from Yamhill County who tested positive Nov. 2 and died Nov. 16 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregon’s 5,676th death is a 48-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Oct. 20 and died Nov. 14 at Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,677th COVID-19 related death is a 42-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Nov. 1 and died Nov. 13 at Adventist Health Portland.

Oregon’s 5,678th COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive Nov. 8 and died Nov. 21 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,679th COVID-19 related death is a 70-year-old woman from Clackamas County who tested positive Oct. 27 and died Nov. 16 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,680th COVID-19 related death is an 86-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive Oct. 26 and died Nov. 8 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,681st COVID-19 related death is an 82-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive Oct. 5 and died Nov. 25 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,682nd COVID-19 related death is a 70-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive Oct. 22 and died Nov. 13 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,683rd COVID-19 related death is a 91-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive Oct. 29 and died Nov. 20 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,684th COVID-19 related death is an 84-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 17 and died Nov. 22 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,685th COVID-19 related death is a 70-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive Sept. 26 and died Nov. 18 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,686th COVID-19 related death is a 73-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 28 and died Nov. 29 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,687th COVID-19 related death is an 86-year-old woman from Yamhill County who tested positive Nov. 10 and died Nov. 25 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,688th COVID-19 related death is an 89-year-old woman from Washington County who died Nov. 10 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,689th COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Nov. 7 and died Nov. 20 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,690th COVID-19 related death is a 78-year-old man from Baker County who tested positive Oct. 28 and died Nov. 28 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,691st COVID-19 related death is an 82-year-old woman from Klamath County who tested positive Nov. 3 and died Nov. 9 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,692nd COVID-19 related death is a 73-year-old woman from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Nov. 28 at Kaiser Westside Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,693rd COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Nov. 29 and died Nov. 28 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,694th COVID-19 related death is an 81-year-old man from Lake County who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Nov. 22 at St. Charles Bend.

Oregon’s 5,695th COVID-19 related death is a 76-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Nov. 9 at Portland VA Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,696th COVID-19 related death is a 56-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Nov. 13 at Providence Milwaukie Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,697th COVID-19 related death is a 54-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 25 and died Jan. 3 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,698th COVID-19 related death is a 75-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 23 and died Dec. 30 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,699th COVID-19 related death is a 91-year-old man from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 20 and died Jan. 2 at Asante Ashland Community Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,700th COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Jan.1 and died Jan. 2 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,701st COVID-19 related death is a 41-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 27 and died Dec. 31 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,702nd COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old woman from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 23 and died Jan. 2 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,703rd COVID-19 related death is a 56-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 19 and died Jan.1 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,704th COVID-19 related death is a 53-year-old man from Jackson County who tested positive Dec. 11 and died Dec. 30 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,705th COVID-19 related death is a 67-year-old woman from Douglas County who tested positive Dec. 11 and died Jan. 3 at Mercy Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,706th COVID-19 related death is an 83-year-old man from Douglas County who tested positive Nov. 15 and died Jan. 1 at his residence.

Oregon’s 5,707th COVID-19 related death is a 60-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Dec. 6 and died Dec. 31 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,708th COVID-19 related death is a 76-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 21 and died Dec. 26 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,709th COVID-19 related death is a 99-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 13 and died Dec. 26 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,710th COVID-19 related death is a 98-year-old woman from Lane County who tested positive Dec. 21 and died at her residence.

Wednesday, January 5

Oregon’s 5,711th COVID-19-related death is a 47-year-old woman from Yamhill County who tested positive Dec. 27 and died Dec. 27 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,712th COVID-19-related death is a 72-year-old woman from Yamhill County who tested positive Oct. 23 and died Nov. 28 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,713th COVID-19-related death is a 62-year-old man from Washington County who tested positive Dec. 1 and died Dec. 30 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,714th COVID-19-related death is a 93-year-old woman from Tillamook County who tested positive Dec. 27 and died Jan. 1 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,715th COVID-19-related death is a 58-year-old woman from Tillamook County who tested positive Dec. 10 and died Jan. 3 at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,716th COVID-19-related death is a 69-year-old woman from Polk County who tested positive Dec. 2 and died Jan. 2 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,717th COVID-19-related death is an 80-year-old man from Linn County who tested positive Dec. 17 and died Jan. 4 at Good Samaritan Regional Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,718th COVID-19-related death is a 76-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive Dec. 13 and died Jan. 4 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,719th COVID-19-related death is a 74-year-old man from Coos County who tested positive Dec. 6 and died Dec. 20 at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Idaho.

Thursday, January 6

Oregon’s 5,720th COVID-19-related death is an 82-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive May 15 and died on June 19 at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,721st COVID-19-related death is an 85-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 31 and died Jan. 4 at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,722nd COVID-19-related death is a 79-year-old man from Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 14 and died Jan. 4 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,723rd COVID-19-related death is a 78-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 27 and died Jan. 2 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,724th COVID-19-related death is a 52-year-old man from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 31 and died Dec. 31 at Salem Hospital.

Oregon’s 5,725th COVID-19-related death is a 78-year-old woman from Marion County who tested positive Dec. 11 and died Dec. 30 at her residence.

Oregon’s 5,726th COVID-19-related death is a 73-year-old man from Lane County who tested positive Jan. 1 and died on Jan. 4 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

Oregon’s 5,727th COVID-19-related death is an 82-year-old woman from Josephine County who tested positive Jan. 3 and died Jan. 5 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center.

Oregon’s 5,728th COVID-19-related death is an 86-year-old man from Clackamas County who tested positive Dec. 30 and died Dec. 31 at his residence.

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: 503-281-0608
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301