There are 1.1 million cases of the coronavirus in the United States. We have had 65,000 deaths.
Critics of the shelter in place orders have said that the coronavirus is a hoax and that the flu kills more people annually than this new virus. That is no longer a true argument as the deaths continue to mount up.
States continue to re-open while infection rates continue to climb. Researches say that this is going to cost more lives. Some say that the second wave could be far more deadly. What is WRONG with people?
Georgia has now been open for a week. Yesterday, it saw its caseload jump up by another 1,000.
Tenneessee still plans on re-opening, despite a 10.9% jump in cases.
With more than 7,000 cases, Alabama re-opened on Thursday.
Wisconsin's numbers spiked again yesterday. The state reached a record number of new cases.
Pennsylvania added 1,200 new cases yesterday as the state readies to start re-opening. Philadelphia has more cases of the virus among meat plant workers than anywhere else.
A Tyson meat packing plant in Nebraska has had a huge infection rate.
In Mississippi, workers at a chicken plant are sick, but officials deny there is a problem. The governor of Mississippi was prepared to re-open more businesses and lift more restrictions, but the number of cases shot up and there were many more deaths---so he is holding back for now.
The governor of Michigan, after facing armed protesters the day before, extended the state of emergency for her state after Republican-controlled lawmakers refused to do so. The death toll in the state is now 4,000. A Michigan toddler spent a month battling COVID19 with temperatures that reached as high as 107.
The White House has blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying before the House Appropriations Committee about the response to coronavirus situation. (Of course, they did...)
Thousands (of idiots) protested the governor of California's continued sheltering in place orders.
Locally, things are progressing slowly but surely. Fresno's Shelter In Place order has been extended through May 31.
The Big Fresno Fair is sponsoring the Food Fair Feature. Every weekend, a different Fresno Fair food vendor will be holding a drive thru at the fair grounds.
A Clovis couple made lunch for 100 frontline workers at a local hospital in appreciation for all that they are doing during the pandemic.
A Tulare police detective dressed as Batman surprised and delighted kids in quarantine as he drove around neighborhoods in town.
Since the theaters in Los Angeles (and across the country) are shuttered, 3-D Space is going to be streaming select short films from their 16th Annual L.A. 3-D Movie Festival on their YouTube page tomorrow (Sunday May 3) at 2 pm Pacific time. Grab your 3-D glasses and take a watch, if you can.
Someone has created a fun, space-age moving background to use for Zoom chats.
My friend Christa in Santa Monica posted a fun parody link in the comments section I thought I'd repost here in case it was missed. Thanks Christa.
Speaking of friends, I heard from several yesterday. All had interesting news to report as life goes on amid lockdown. Cathy and Travis told about their plans for the day:
"We're now into May and moving ahead," Cathy said. "I think we might go to Home Depot for a few plants today and Office Depot. We're doing a quick pop-in. I bought a gallon of 80% alcohol sanitizer. I put it in a spray bottle and spray door knobs, faucets and the bottom of our shoes when we come in from outside. Target is also a great place to find items for the pandemic."
My friend Linda gave me a quick update:
"I took one of Rod's (her son) dogs to the pet ER last Saturday night," she said. "You have to wait in your car. I was there for 5 1/2 hours and she stayed until Tuesday. She's now diabetic and we have to do shots every day now. Ugh."
Mikey, in Iowa, checked in:
"Things here are the same as far as the confirmed cases go," he said. "Still just the one.
"Today, some local businesses are going to open, but most are staying closed.
"I had to change a flat tire yesterday. Luckily I was in my driveway when I discovered it. It seems that every time the county grades this gravel road, it kicks up tiny objects that puncture tires. I wonder if Walmart will be open to do a flat repair. I will be taking the wheel in and dropping it off, so they won't have to touch my car. They say they are available to do 'emergency' jobs. To them, an emergency is a flat tire. Either they will repair it, or if it is not repairable, they will replace it."
Kim, my CNA friend, also dropped me a line:
"Things in Wisconsin have spiked," she said. "Brown County has over 1,200 cases just in that county alone. That county is about an hour from me. They have opened an event center as a testing facility. Yikes!
"I also got some scary news yesterday. I got an e-mail from work that said I have had a possible exposure to COVID. The patient tanked (did poorly) on oxygen and that is what is concerning to them. They moved this person to a room to rule out COVID. I did have limited contact with this person. I did take vitals once and checked on them a couple times. The patients did their personal care on their own, so I did not have to wash them up or help with teeth brushing, which would of raised my risk. The results should be in tomorrow and we'll go from there on what they want me to do. Otherwise, I am off of work. I'm praying that the result is negative. I did not hear from employee health today, so that is good news.
"In other news, we had grandma's funeral yesterday with military honors. I was able to go to the cemetery. I stayed in the back and left before anyone else. I also wore a mask. I was so happy she got her military honors. She was an awesome lady."
Mt friend and former co-worker, Sarah, let me know how things were with her:
"Can you believe my daughter, Payton Belle, turned 10 yesterday," she said. "In spite of everything, she really had a fantastic birthday. Michael (her husband) and I stayed up until after 1 a.m. the night before to decorate the inside of our home with signs and poems hanging from the ceiling. Then, she picked all the meals for the day; we enjoyed waffles in the morning and steak for dinner, for what may be the last time with all this crap going on. At 11 a.m., I also organised a birthday drive-by parade. It was so heart warming, and both she and I cried. It was overwhelming to see the love, albeit at a distance.
"My heart yearns to hug others again. I think that's what I miss most. I'm a hugger, but that can't happen with friends and family who I'm not quarantined with. Gosh. I can't even shake hands or high five my students any more for that matter."
Sarah included a video of the drive-by birthday parade for her daughter:
I spoke with my friend Nedra yesterday. Her coronavirus test results were negative, but she still needs to self-quarantine because she had visited her mother in the nursing home. Her mother was positive for COVID 19. I asked about her mom. Nedra said that her fever had broken the day before. She says she was told that they think she is out of the woods with this and will retest her after five days of no fevers. Nedra has been FaceTiming her every day. She says at first her mom was scared, but now she just doesn't want to be bothered. And she's eating up a storm. Amazing!
Shirley played 'possum most of the day. I found her up waiting to go out when I got up this morning. I opened the door for her to go out, but...she decided to go back to bed and turned around to go back to her box.
Later in the afternoon, she wanted to go out. I let her out and she sat in the sun for about a half hour or so. The gardeners arrived and I scooped her up and brought her back inside. The noises that the gardeners made for the half hour or so they were here scared her, and she went back to her box.
Once the gardeners left, I put her back outside. A little while later, I went out to check on her. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. I was coming back in and took a peek inside of her little igloo doghouse...and there she was, asleep. She had a rough day.
As for me, another day disappeared, but I know not where it went. I cooked up a bunch of taco meat and froze the rest of the hamburger I got at Costco yesterday. I worked on my blog (a never-ending task). It took me all day to watch one movie. That's it. Yet the day is gone, somehow.
I hope your day was fuller and more exciting than mine.
Stay SAFE. Stay SHELTERED. Stay ALIVE.
CHEERS!
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CHEERS!