As the global death toll continues to rise, passing the 300,000 mark (nearly 1/3 of those from the US), most countries remain on lockdown. But not here.
Instead, the president is (once again) trying to distract away from the virus outbreak while pushing for an economic re-opening. Apparently he is off of his scheme of blaming China and saying the virus was created and is now focusing on the made-up Obamagate and a slew of other misinformation. The president's border wall is still a "top priority" during this crisis, according to Fox News. And testing, the president says, is "overrated".
Similarly, Fox News is cutting back on its coverage of the virus in favor of promoting the "Obamagate" anti-Obama conspiracy theory to distract from the devastation caused by the president's mishandling of the virus outbreak.
Dr. Rick Bright is warning about the "darkest winter in modern history," saying that virus will rebound and the government really has no plan in place for dealing with it, etc.
A new report says that COVID 19 is killing people 20 times more per week than the flu does. Kidney injuries are seen in 1/3 of COVID 19 patients.
The virus is being used as a weapon against police, grocers and others here in the US. A woman in England spat on two policemen and a nurse, claiming she had the virus, as well.
The death toll and the number of infected continues to grow in Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts has a model that predicts it will have a much higher number of dead there soon. My friend Art sent me an updated article with more deaths and infections listed as well as a personal note saying he was "ready to move."
Michigan has seen a surge of new cases as a lab gets its backlog of testing completed. Protests still continue in the state, with one protester bringing an ax to protest with.
Two Native American tribes in South Dakota have established roadblocks to keep people off of their reservations (and possibly infecting its people), much to the dismay of the republican governor of the state who is threatening to sue.
Pennsylvania has had more deaths and more cases. One hospital in Philadelphia is seeing a lot more cases than its rival hospital.
Minnesota is poised to re-open, as their infected rate and death rate continue to climb.
Iowa has had more deaths and more cases.
Mississippi is re-opening casinos next week.
Despite the fact that the state has a growing number of cases and at least 38 skilled nursing facilities with outbreaks, in Wisconsin, the state's supreme court struck down the governor's stay-at-home orders. People are running out to go to bars and eat in restaurants. I can just see other states following suite. Oh man... We are in for a big mess.
Some re-opened restaurants are now charging a COVID 19 surcharge.
One report says that if just 80% of Americans wore masks, the virus rate would plummet. Loud talking (without a mask) is said to leave the virus in the air up to 14 minutes.
The World Health Organization is saying that the virus may never go away. A vaccine is still a good way off. However, a new antibody test has been developed that is said to be "100% accurate." Using antibodies to treat patients has proven to be effective.
When Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke to Senators on Monday, the president was trying to say the death toll numbers were probably inflated...while Dr. Fauci made the case for them being under-reported. Trump also called Dr. Fauci's warnings about opening too soon--especially schools--"unacceptable." Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx have seemed to disappeared from the president's daily briefings on the virus.
A study shows that cats can spread the virus to other cats.
My friend Erich in San Leandro sent me this chart on Wednesday, comparing our number of cases and deaths to that of South Korea, who discovered the virus there the same day we discovered it here. It's already dated as we're less than 100 away from 86,000 deaths here. But clearly, Korea was far more on the ball.
CALIFORNIA:
18 counties were given green lights to re-open schools, restaurants and malls...with modifications.
LOCAL:
Two employees of a south valley Target test positive for the virus.
A correctional officer at the Fresno County Jail has tested positive for the virus.
A Food Maxx worker in Fresno has also tested positive for COVID 19.
Funnel cakes will be available at a drive thru event at the Fresno Fairgrounds this weekend only (Better get your fair food now. It might not be available this fall...)
CREATIVITY:
One Chicago neighborhood hosts a social distancing dance party every evening at 6 p.m.
In Los Angeles, one high school got creative with a Prom in a Box.
Put on your creative thinking caps. There is another call for short horror films made during the pandemic. The Nightmares Film Festival is looking for entries for its Shut-In Shorts competition. Entries can be 5 minutes long or less.
Speaking of horror movies, this is brilliant. It is made to look like a trailer for a new horror film, CORONA MAN:
The Quarantine Kitchen guy has another cocktail recipe. This time it is a Brandy Old Fashioned...and a reminder to do your Census (which kind of got forgotten by most of us in the virus mess... Mine was done though).
This guy is back with a look at the next disaster of 2020 following the virus, Murder Hornets:
Here's a take on The kink's song LOLA:
MAIL BAG:
Mikey in Iowa sent me a quick note:
"When we went to the grocery store, the hamburger was $5.99 a pound," he said. "Wow! Walmart was completely out of all meat. We found the hamburger at HyVee. It's a block away from Walmart. HyVee was limiting the meat purchases, but all their prices were higher than normal. At least gas is cheaper. It's $1.75 a gallon here."
I also heard from Kim in Wisconsin:
"Things are still good in my little city," she said. "The Supreme Court struck down my governor's Stay-At-Home-Order. Everything opened today. Bars, stores, and my coffee shop are completely open for business. The coffee shop is being careful and only allowing 10 people in there dining area. I feel this is a recipe for disaster. We will see a lot more sick. I am excited to see my friends, but a little scared yet. I feel we needed a little more time.
"On a fun note, I will be going on a paranormal investigation in June at The Sheybogan Insane Asylum. I'm super excited. I will be wearing an N95 mask, just because of allergies as well as the virus. I will for sure be careful. It will be June 20th if everything stays well. Otherwise my family and friends are all well. Life is good."
SHIRLEY:
I'm a bit worried about the old girl. Wednesday night had been one of my worst night's of sleeping issues yet. I ended up taking a bit of sleeping pill and finally fell asleep rather late. Fortunately I slept, but didn't get up until around 11 or so. I went to check on Shirley (she'd decided to sleep in the dog house igloo on the patio the night before), it was nearly noon. I looked all over for her, She wasn't on the far side of the house or under any of her favorite bushes. Where was she?
She often hides and I thought I'd just look for her again later.
As I walked back to the house, I spotted her inside of her igloo. At noon? That is so unlike her...
At first, I was worried that she was dead. She is usually up around 8 or 9 and wants to go exploring as soon as she is up. She generally heads to bed around 5 or 6 p.m. Why was she in the dog house so early/late? I talked to her, but she didn't react. I reached in and touched her front foot. She jerked her back foot, but that was it. I touched her front foot again and she moved it and opened her eye wide. Had she merely been sleeping? I guess so.
She often takes naps during the day, but not in her dog house. It's always on the grass or, more likely, under a bush. I don't know if she just hadn't started her day until late, like myself...or if she had just been napping in there for some reason.
After waking her, she did come out and toodle around the yard a bit. At just after 5 pm, though, she came in the house and headed straight for her cardboard condo and bed.
I guess she is okay, but she is old. As I've said before, my family has been caring for her for nearly 40 years...and she was already a fully mature tortoise when we got her. How old she is really--50? 60?70? More?--we have no idea. So I can't help but be concerned about her.
ME:
On Wednesday morning, the tree people came.
There were three workers, none wearing masks and one of them was smoking, actually.
One guy worked a chainsaw. The other two dragged the branches off to a wood chipper.
They made pretty quick work of it, although they didn't arrive until nearly 1 p.m. (when I was told they would be there at 9 a.m.).
The wood chipper was amazing. I'm glad they brought that along, as I was wondering if I would have to dispose of the branches and wood myself.
They said that someone else would be making an appointment to grind down the stump.
I'm glad it is gone, but the spot looks pretty bare without the tree there now. I'll have to replace it at some point.
I still have not had any word as to when my muscle biopsy will be rescheduled. It was supposed to have been on Thursday, but was canceled due to the rise of COVID 19 cases in the area. My procedure was deemed non-urgent.
Later still, around 5 p.m., I will be zooming with my friends for another remote cocktail party. Whoo hoo!
Okay, Shirley has called it a day. I suppose this entry is pretty much done as well.
Stay SAFE. Stay SHELTERED. Stay ALIVE.
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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Thank you for visiting and leaving a note. Shirley says hello. Stay safe yourself. What are you doing for fun? CHEERS!