There are nearly 3.7 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the world right now. There have been more than 257,000 deaths globally. There are more than 1.2 million cases here and we have had 71,000 deaths (with nearly double that anticipated before this is over with). The president acknowledges that it is"possible" that more lives may be lost in the push to re-open the country. He also says that the White House's virus task force could be closing up shop in about a month. What!?! They're done? Hello? The virus is still here killing people...by the THOUSANDS!
A group called The Lincoln Project put out a video yesterday about the horrible state our country is in now and pointed the finger of blame (rightly so) at our president.
This sent the president into a rage and he took to Twitter, as he always does. Instead of addressing the contents of the video and offering to counter what it says, the president tried to belittle the makers of the video, calling them "losers." Why is this man still our president?
To further frustrate the president, the director working on a vaccine who was ousted, filed a whistle blower complaint against the Trump Administration saying that they ignored coronavirus warnings.
On Monday, the president said we would have a vaccine by the end of the year. Yesterday, he backpeddled.
A new report says that the virus was likely spreading around the world late last year. A mutated strain has appeared that is said to be more contagious than the original. Now there is concern that the virus could induce Kawasaki Disease in children.
The White House has been pushing false information that it had proof the virus was created in a lab. The White House's own virus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, just shot a hole through that by stating there is no evidence that the virus was created or genetically modified in a lab. The doctor also says the virus spreads "like wildfire"--and yet states are still re-opening. Although he was blocked from a committee meeting in the Democrat-run House of Representatives, the doctor will be speaking at a meeting in the Republican-controlled Senate on May 12th.
Wisconsin had 300 more cases yesterday. Michigan's numbers continues to climb as the state had another 447 cases yesterday and 44 more deaths. Georgia continues to ease social distancing rules as the states infected number and death toll climb.
1,400 workers at three Tyson chicken processing plants in Iowa have been infected.
A man in Southern California wore what looked like a KKK hood to go to the grocery store recently.
A security guard in Michigan was shot and killed after asking a customer to wear a face mask.
The United Kingdom has overtaken Italy for the most deaths in Europe associated with the virus. The UK has had 29,501.
Russian doctors have mysteriously plunged to their deaths from questionable window falls.
Locally, there are 2,007 cases in the Central Valley. Of those, only 504 have recovered. More workers in the Valley's Ruiz Foods processing plants have been infected. However, car dealerships and furniture stores will be re-opening in Fresno, CA starting May 11. The Clovis City Council voted to eliminate the city's emergency order--even though the governor's statewide orders are still in effect--and had businesses starting to open yesterday. One local photographer took the situation and decided to create some great senior portraits in a year that no one will forget.
I found a humorous little video of two buddies social distancing while at "a bar".
I found this terrific MARY POPPINS virus parody as well.
This was a fun video.
This was clever:
And this one was a fun take on Disney characters and songs.
The mailbag is full today. I've heard from so many people.
My friend Vye texted me when she completed a project:
"Paint by numbers meditation magic," she said. "I am quite capable of creating my own art and did so for years. But it seemed such a lockdown sort of thing to do and it was so soothing. Kind of turning off of the brain but still getting a nice outcome."
"I don’t think I’ll ever get used to teaching this way," she said of remote education. "I’m giving it the old college try. My team is wonderful, and we work well together.
"Tom (husband) and I are doing fine. He has been off on disability since January, recovering from hand surgery (Dupuytrens Syndrome). He’s getting antsy about staying in. He gets out a couple of times a week for physical therapy, thank goodness, and he does a lot of yard work."
Sara is another teacher friend of mine (although I knew her from when we both worked for the newspaper--The Fresno Bee). She also sent a note.
"Here's my excitement for the week -- this week is Teacher Appreciation Week," she said. "Coincidentally, at my school, teachers are finally being allowed to go back in and clean out student desks, so their parents can pick their stuff up some time next week (of course, following social and physical distancing guidelines). I might as well start the process of shutting down my classroom for the summer. I don't look forward to it. I'll be taking their work down off the walls, but not seeing their faces. It's heartbreaking. I'm also terrified of what I'll find in their desks. (Yuck!) Well, hopefully next school year, parents will appreciate teachers like never before. But people tend to have short memories. We shall see.
"Other than that, we are in the process of re-landscaping our front yard. Michael is excited because he gets to use a sledge hammer to break up the concrete. Oh, the little things we find joy in... Ha! We're putting in a drought-tolerant landscape (I think I read somewhere that it's actually called xeriscaping - not sure though)."
My friend Linda in Castro Valley sent a note. She is someone I also know from working on a newspaper. I met her while at The San Leandro Times.
"All’s well, although the weeds just keep on coming," she said.
"As far as I know, my family is fine.
"Your coronavirus diary has inspired me to do a mini-version for myself. Only the odd and humorous stuff will be in it. Like today, I may try to do something with my hair color. Depending how that goes, it may end up in my diary. Especially if it goes wrong.
"It’s really unfortunate that Castro Valley had to cancel it’s Earth Day recycling program this year. We’ve had so much time to clean things out that we have tons to recycle. Paper and old electronics are piled high. We also have a lot to donate to Goodwill, but it occurred to me that they will have a hard time reopening since people in thrift stores touch everything to check out condition. So maybe they won’t reopen ? Or be taking donations?
"Right behind my house is a church parking lot and they have been using gardening machinery & leaf blowers like crazy back there. We wonder if maybe they’re sprucing up the parking lot to have outdoor church. So far, it’s all noise and no sanctuary."
Linda included a photo of her weeding efforts. Bravo! She has far more ambition and drive than I do.
I went to nursing school with my friend, Kirk. He is a nurse in downtown Fresno at Community Regional Medical Center.
"I'm doing good," he said. "We're crazy busy at work, just because of lack of quick responding to my small department needs vs blanket policies affecting the entire hospital. Oh well. I have a job and am getting tons of hours. Other than that, there's nothing happening. I'm unaffected by the “19,” other than how it impacts my daily life (closed businesses, hospital policies, lack of toilet paper, etc).
"I think my hospital has like 11 positive patients. Clovis (Clovis Community--a sister hospital) has about the same, though sometimes a couple more than us, surprisingly. I figure they have the 'higher class' patients, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve yet to know anyone who has contracted it. In my department, we work very close to each other, and the doctors. There's a lot of closeness and... Nothing. I'm keeping fingers crossed though, because that could change.
"It sounds like it is bad in congested cities. We had a warning that the East Coast didn’t. I haven’t been following that closely so I am not up to date at all."
Cindy I know her from the MySpace days. She was Tank Girl back then, and that is how I still think of her. She lives in southern Oregon, which is far more rural. She has a different outlook on the situation.
"I am well," she said. "None of this affects Don (husband) or myself. He continues his job at the Grange, I continue my days of retirement, gardening, walking the bike path with a friend, etc. I watch a lot of HBO late in the afternoon,so that's been a treat. I don't follow the news on this as I have a different take on it.
"I know of no one that has gotten the China flu; not my family and friends or from Don's work. No one knows anyone that has had it.
"I for one and ready to rally the economy and get back to business."
My friend Scott Nicholson is a novelist. I forget how we met. It may have (probably) been MySpace as well. I don't recall. I made two "commercials" for Scott several years ago. They are amateurish, but were fun to do. One was for a comic book he had done called DIRT. The other was for the re-release of his first novel, THE RED CHURCH, which I was amazed to see is still on his Amazon author page. Ha! He sent a note to let me know how he was doing. He lives in North Carolina.
"We made a trip to town yesterday," he said. "Traffic was very light. We had two curbside grocery pickups (one worker didn't have his mask over his nose!) and I went in Publix to get a few things. I knew pork was going to be in shortage, so I stocked up on bacon. Most of the fresh cuts of pork were completely gone. I got six packs of bacon and there was plenty, but I expect, because of the curing process, bacon will be in short supply in a week or so. I also scored the last two bottles of isopropyl alcohol and a gallon of aloe vera juice so we can make our own sanitizer. Most people had masks but again, almost none of the college-age people did and they all used the line with the cashier instead of the self-checkout. Weird.
"We also picked up Chinese takeout, but only after I went to the restaurant door and checked on the open kitchen. Two cooks widely distanced with masks, a couple of other masked workers and they weren't rushed, so it felt safe enough. Then one guy came in without a mask and I stayed far away. When I got to the car, my wife mentioned him and asked if I recognized him. I said, "I just saw an idiot without a mask so I didn't look too closely." We ate a nearby park, the only people under the picnic shelter.
"Then I went fishing and caught five trout. I was with a friend and his son, but we stayed distant and drove separately. We went for a walk and bonfire with another couple Sunday night, again socially distanced, and we all ate together but we brought our own food. So we're finding a way to live with this. I fear the worst, but I know enough people are going to be responsible that at least I can choose the company I keep.
"We're at 8 cases in our county. The neighboring county had an outbreak at a Tyson chicken factory and their cases went from 21 to 115 over the past week. Eeek! So expect chicken to get in short supply and more expensive, too."
Penny and her husband Mark are also from the MySpace days. They live in Georgia and are in the midst of the state's re-opening.
"Mark is an audio engineer and that industry got hit first and hardest. He -- and all our friends in that business -- lost all of their gigs at the beginning of March and he doesn't have anything on the books until the end of June. That has made things a little difficult, but we're managing. All our family are fine health-wise. My daughter is able to work from home. Both of my boys are essential. so they're still working. My parents are locked down tight.
"There are some things opening up slowly here. Mark and I ventured out to Waffle House last Friday. It was just us and the waitress and the line cook and we all had on masks. It was nice to hang out with people again.
My friend Mallory I have known for ages...since my late teens or very early 20s, I think. Although she lives just on the other side of town, I have not seen her in forever. She dropped me a note.
"Martin (longtime boyfriend) and I are fine," she said. "I really miss swimming, but I’m walking to keep active. Fresno City College has my footprints all over the place and so far the campus cops haven’t thrown me out.
"Chris (her brother) and Paul (his partner) are well but [according to Chris] bored. Yesterday they were baking bread. I got to visit them a while back. [I hadn’t seen them in 10 years.]
"I agree with you about everything re-opening too soon. People need to put on their big girl pants and accept the situation. We ALL have shitty hair! Get over it! Friends I consider to be at least somewhat intelligent have said the dumbest things. 'Gee, I guess I can’t go visit the grandkids.' What part of 'stay home' do you not understand? Jeez...
"When this madness is over - whenever that may me - let’s get together. Like with my brother, it’s been too long!
My friend Rosa lives in London, but is from Spain originally. I met her through a vintage movie poster collectors forum and got to meet her in person (finally) just over a year ago during my European trip. She is amazing and mysteriously/magically works within the British Government in some capacity. She sent a note and a photo.
"I'm very tired, working long hours," she said. "The whole British Government is working on COVID response and recovery and European Union exit ("Brexit"), and, as you know, we also have to start our negotiations with the US on a new trade deal.
"What can I say? I'm working around the clock. At least family is okay, which is the MOST important thing to me.
"I'm very sorry you have a president and son-in-law and first daughter who couldn't care less about real numbers. Please look after yourself. This is serious. Not something you should trust to 'self -made' connoisseur Ivanka and favourite son-in-law."
My friend Mauro lives near Parma in northern Italy. He is learning English, but he is a better time speaking than writing it. He let me know how things were going there and it was good to hear from him.
"Here we reopened 50% this week," he said. "But my wife and I didn't stop working. She has a truck company, so she worked everyday to move things around the country. I work in a mechanical company to make spare parts for the food company, so I can't stop work. We live in a food area and people have to eat.
"We saw news in the TV from whole world. And USA too....your politicians thinks only at money. Because you are governed by a tycoon. If you were governed by priest, you are all in the monastery.
"Yes it's a big risk (to re-open the country), but we're closed from 55 days. So we try to open. We wait to see what happens and then the government will decide what do.
"We are fine, fortunately. Today in Parma region, zero died by coronavirus!
David in Australia let me know how things are down under for he and his partner, Pablo.
"Pablo and I are doing well," he said. "Lockdown is a bitch, but we still get to leave the house so things could be worse.
"Pablo has been working every day. He does tiling and rendering of rich people's swimming pools and there is a lot of work right now.
"I am working from home. I think I mentioned that I work for the Health Practitioner regulator, so I am busily investigating complaints about doctors and nurses. I had only just started the new job when the pandemic hit, so I've spent more time working from home than in the office for this job.
"As for Australian's, we are idiotic in our own special way. It's true that none of us would run out and drink bleach....and we very rarely listen to our PM. (He is such a tool. During the bad bushfires earlier this year, he took a family holiday to Hawaii. Moron.) But the Aussies love a barbie (barbecue), a beer and the beach. Most of the idiotic stuff is crowding the beach when it was reopened, so they had to close it again.
"No one is protesting the lockdown. We hate it, but know it's our civil duty. We are all feeling quite proud of what we have done for our country, so that's a nice feeling.
"Whenever I see Trump on TV I cringe a little bit for you.
"Oddly enough, all our hairdressers stayed open. They were a little miffed as to why they were considered an essential service. I am just really looking forward to going to my favourite Peruvian restaurant when this is all over. And miss the cinema terribly.
"We also have this car that has never gone for a big country trip, so I'd love to be able to drive further than my own suburb again..."
I heard from my friend Angel. He is one of my friends in Colombia. His English is not so good. Instead, he sent this little video of him being safe and masked up.
Shirley got herself stuck today. At least, I think she was stuck. She was under this bush all yesterday afternoon. I let her be, but as darkness came, I needed to get her in. She was still there... but I couldn't really budge her. I was eventually able to pull her free, but it took a while. I just hope I didn't hurt her in the process. Silly girl. (I hope she is okay...)
Today I had my appointment to get labs drawn at the hospital. I got up at 6 so I could wake up. (I'm not a morning person and I can not just get up and go-go.) I sat at my computer to check my email...and the power went off. It wasn't just the computer, but the whole house was blacked out. Swell. I shaved with just the light from the opaque bathroom window, wondering how I'd get my car out of the garage. Just before I jumped in the shower, the lights came on. Hooray!
I got in the car and tried to start it. Oops--I had forgotten to bring the keys with me. The door into the house was locked. That wasn't a big deal, I thought, I'll just use the spare hanging on a hook in the garage behind these piled boxes. But the key wasn't there. I had a second spare hidden outside on the patio and was able to get in the house and grab my keys. Phew! Off I went...
The hospital seemed much busier than it had been the last time I had to get labs drawn. I had to go through the security and health checkpoint to get in. That slowed me down--even though I have an employee ID. They had X's on the ground for social distancing reasons.
Jasmine, one of the PCTs (Patient Care Technicians) was the one doing the temperature reading/health screenings. She used to work in my department. It was nice to see her, but I really didn't want anyone else to see me that I knew. I felt weird being there, like an imposter or something.
Despite having an appointment, my lab draw ran late. In fact, I was never properly checked in and have not even paid my co-pay yet. I was just called in without having had that done.
Afterwards, I made a quick visit to the bathroom (o' the joy of diuretics...). It is so weird seeing myself in a mask, I took a picture.
Following that, I went to the health records area. A long while back I had visited the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ. They had wanted copies of my MRIs. I had had them sent, but apparently they never got them. I wanted new copies that I could send myself. I got them ordered and was told it would be a few days before they were ready. Fine.
I thought about visiting my department, but I didn't know who would be there that day. Sandy, probably--and I'd loved to have seen her--but who else would be there? I thought it would be best to just avoid and left.
On the way home, I saw this billboard thanking essential workers. I thought that was nice, whoever put it up.
I was about 3/4 of the way home, cruising through the Taco Bell drive thru for breakfast (It was my nod to Cinco de Mayo), when my phone rang. It was the hospital. My MRI disks were ready. Swell. I went all of the way back to the hospital.
When I got there, instead of parking on the left side of the hospital that is closer to the lab, I opted to park on the right side, which is closer to the imaging department. The imaging entrance is right next to the emergency room. On the way, I encountered a roadside security/health check station. I guess it was to pre-screen patients before they went to ER? I kind of felt like a boob explaining I was just getting some imaging disks. But they saw my ID badge hanging from my mirror and let me go on.
Stay SAFE. Stay SHELTERED. Stay ALIVE.
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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