There are now 3,576,430 cases in the United States, with 77,295 of those reported just yesterday. There have been 138,359 deaths here. The Atlantic is warning that a "death surge" is coming along with all of the new cases. A new model now predicts more than 224,000 US deaths by November 1.
VIRUS NEWS:
The president is living in his own fantasy land. He isn't leading. He has no concept of what is really going on out there.
Vice President Mike Pence is the leader of the Coronavirus Task Force. Like the president, he has been an absolute failure at this task, as this video shows:
All virus data will now be sent directly to the Trump Administration instead of the CDC. Might we see the case numbers magically "drop" now (even when hospitals are over run with patients)?? Virus data has already started to disappear according to one report. GEEZ! The president, delusional as ever, still suggests that if we did half of the testing we do, we'd have half of the cases.
New York's Governor Cuomo slammed the president and his virus response, saying it is a "virus of
American division and federal incompetence."
The Republican governor of Maryland also slammed the president for his continued lack of action.
Florida now has more cases of the virus than most countries of the world! The state had a record of 156 deaths in the last 24 hours.
A virus test can cost between $20 or $850 a nationwide study has shown.
Testing results can vary. One reporter in Germany got his results the same day. Another reporter waited 13 days...and was still waiting for results...here in the US.
California is working to get a backlog of tests--some a couple of weeks old--processed.
Officials in several states are seeking options as hospitals run out of ICU space.
A 26-year-old Florida woman died after a hospital didn't give her a COVID 19 test.
Texas and Arizona have called in big, refrigerated trucks to act as temporary morgues as the deaths start to pile up there.
The governor of Oklahoma announced Wednesday he was positive for the virus....but was still not sure about ordering mask use, despite the fact that another record number of cases for the state, 1,175, were reported the same day.
The CDC says that we could control the virus in just one or two months if EVERYONE wore masks.
There is more and more evidence showing the benefits of masks during the pandemic.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a national "Mask Up, America" campaign.
The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia says that the president broke the law by not wearing a mask (which is a law now) on his visit there on Wednesday. However, later that day, Georgia's governor pulled rank and rescinded the mask order. He then later sued the mayor over the mask mandate.
Contrary to the president, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been warning the citizens of his state of Kentucky about the virus and urging them to mask up.
An unmasked man in Michigan was called out by a 77-year-old man, who he later stabbed and killed.
Walmart and Sam's Clubs will now require masks at all of their stores across the country. Several other stores, such as Starbucks and Best Buy, have followed the lead.
A 24-year-old in Texas survived 80 days in the hospital and says she regrets not wearing a mask.
Face masks with filters add a layer of protection says a study.
There is concern that a new mandatory face mask law in England could backfire.
A dentist has shared how to prevent cavities while wearing masks.
A toddler in Tulsa, Oklahoma is battling the virus. His mother asks everyone to please wear a mask.
The CEO of SalesForce believes masks are like seat belts; they should be required and people fined who do not use them.
Physical distancing mandates and measures could also help reduce the infection rate.
There is a report that an unborn baby has contracted the virus from his infected mother.
Despite the president's and Secretary of Education Betsy Devos' insistence that schools reopen in the fall (or face funding cuts), the California State Superintendent of Education says that most schools in the state should not open while the virus is so rampant in the state.
Teachers in Florida are updating their wills before returning to classes in the fall, according to reports.
The Orange County Board of Education in California voted to return students to classrooms without social distancing or masks. The largest school districts in Orange County say that they will not comply with the county's Board of Education vote.
A teacher who contracted COVID 19 warns against in-classroom teaching.
Nearly one thousand cases have come from outbreaks associated with day care facilities in California.
Virginia is paying millions for coronavirus protections so they can safely reopen schools in the fall.
Pennsylvania has announced it's plans for returning to school in the fall.
A school district in North Carolina has decided to go with online school this coming year.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, will be making his decision about in-person classroom learning later today.
The director of the CDC says that masks are the key to reopening schools.
The president wanted to deport international students that were not attending classes in person and only virtually in the coming school year. That is no longer happening.
The University of Oxford's vaccine is said to be the frontrunner in the race to develop one.
The drug company Moderna's proposed vaccine has done well in phase 1 of testing with all volunteers showing immune response. The company is already making millions of doses---even before finishing all phases of testing and being approved.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is looking for volunteers to try its new trial vaccine.
SinoPharm, a Chinese pharmaceutical company preparing a vaccine, has given pre-test doses to its top executives before being approved for human use.
The US says it will deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine in early 2021.
Russian hackers are apparently trying to steal vaccine research.
No surprise, but a new study shows Hydroxychloroquine shows that it is not beneficial even is you are not in the hospital.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says that a rise in the virus case numbers was inevitable because the country reopened too soon.
One of the president's assistants and the Director of Trade and Manufacturing, Peter Navarro, has claimed that Dr. Fauci has been "wrong" many times during the pandemic. (And our president has been right? When?)
Dr. Fauci calls the attacks on him from the president and his administration "bizarre." He also says he is "walking a tightrope" as people keep trying to pit him against the president.
A new poll shows that most citizens in the US do not trust the president, but do trust Dr. Fauci.
Despite the president and his administrations attempts to discredit him, Republican senator Lindsey Graham broke with Trump and spoke in support of Dr. Fauci.
There was a warning that an uptake in cases this winter could be more deadly than the initial outbreak.
Vaping could put young adults at a higher risk for getting the virus, a study says. A study shows 1 in 3 young adults are at risk for a serious case of COVID 19.
More than 130 Tesla workers tested positive.
Fast food workers in Illinois and California went on strike Wednesday, claiming they had inadequate protection. One Burger King employee died from COVID after managers ignored her symptoms.
Virginia has become the first state to adopt COVID 19 worker safety rules.
Kroger grocery stores are not giving coin change during the pandemic.
The FDA has recalled even more hand sanitzer.
The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California has been canceled for this coming year.
The CDC has banned cruise ships from docking in the US until October.
The European Union has extended its travel ban on the USA as cases here continue to rise.
Trump may be losing part of his base over his handling of the virus situation (We can only hope this is true...)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even criticized the president and his handling of the virus outbreak.
Remember the president's claims that the virus would go away with the summer heat? That is clearly not happening.
Many of Trump's loyal supporters are still clinging to COVID 19 conspiracy theories.
Former game show host Chuck Woolery posted unfounded conspiracy theories on Twitter about the virus, which the president later re-"tweeted". The next day, Woolery posted that his own son had tested positive for the virus and then apparently deleted his account.
A United Nations representative warned that if richer countries don't act soon to control this, "failure to act now will leave the virus free to circle the world."
While the president is busy doing nothing about the virus (other than trying to divert attention away from it, ignore it, cover it up, and play golf), he did find time to promote GOYA food products.
The Republican party wants Trump to change his tune on mail-in voting during the pandemic...otherwise they now believe they will be slaughtered in the November election.
This report shows you how you can tell if your disinfecting wipes work against the coronavirus.
A startup company has a new disinfection sanitizing station that has a walk through component to clean everything.
STATES:
Five states (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,Massachusetts and Vermont) have done an amazing job beating the virus back---and keeping it there. This is what they've done right and other states should be doing.
Governor Cuomo says there is evidence that restaurants there are not following social distance rules and he threatens closures--not wanting his state to spike up again. As New York City prepares to enter Phase 4, no new indoor activities will be included.
The governor of New Jersey says those coming into the state who do not isolate for 14 days can and will be fined heavily. The state's case numbers and death rate is starting to creep up again apparently.
Maryland uncovered a $500 million coronavirus unemployment scheme.
Virginia reported 904 new cases yesterday.
South Carolina had 1,842 and a state record of 69 deaths yesterday.
A lawmaker in Florida, which is the epicenter of the outbreak for the world right now, blatantly says his state is doing fine. (The idiot doesn't even know what "epicenter" means... GEEZ!) Nearly 1/3 of the state's children that have been tested have been positive for the virus. The state is facing a Rendesevir shortage and the size of the Republican convention has been capped. The governor of Florida now blames the media (!?!) for the state getting complacent and having the virus mushroom around them. That was totally fact checked by CNN. And still he does NOTHING. Young people are still partying causing further spread.
The governor of Pennsylvania is warning his citizens of a new surge of the virus. He has put restrictions on bars and restaurants in order to curb the virus.
Michigan had it's highest increase in cases since May with 891 new cases. A house party in the state is linked to 43 new cases.
The governor of Ohio told his citizens to "take immediate action" to stop the spread of the virus---but gave no mandates.
Attendees at a funeral in Tennessee may have been exposed to the virus. The mayor of Nashville has asked citizens to wear masks there.
Louisiana had an additional 2,000 cases added yesterday.
Nursing homes in Texas are having the virus sweep through them relentlessly.
Two counties in southeast Nebraska have closed public buildings due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Montana had 134 new cases yesterday.
New Mexico had 300 more reported cases yesterday.
Utah had an additional 954 cases reported yesterday. The state is having an issue getting tests processed and has many more waiting to be done. A meeting on the importance of masks was canceled when residents without masks packed a meeting room.
A more infectious mutation of the virus has been linked to the spike in new cases in Nevada. Casinos in Las Vegas are ramping up safety measures again in an effort to stave off the virus and stay open.
A small birthday luncheon in Tacoma, Washington became an outbreak cluster. The governor of Washington has issued new orders concerning social gatherings.
Oregon reported 437 new cases of the virus yesterday.
GLOBAL:
There are 13,809,681 cases of the virus worldwide. 589,978 deaths have been reported since this global catastrophic outbreak has started.
Worldwide, the pandemic has caused unrest and many protests for various reasons.
India had 32,695 new confirmed cases on Wednesday. The country now has a million cases altogether. The rich are fleeing to other countries.
Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro is still testing positive for the virus. He has not recovered yet, although he is still touting hydroxchloroquine (which may be why he is still sick?) (At least he is now wearing a mask.) The country has 2 million cases and has had more than 76,000 deaths. The country has been utterly devastated by the virus.
Drug cartels in Colombia are enforcing their own COVID 19 rules and killing those who do not comply. The city of Medellin is having weekly lockdowns in an attempt to keep hospitals from reaching capacity.
Bolivia's president and Venezuela's Socialist Party leader have both tested positive for the virus.
In Venezuela, the case numbers are spiking and there are concerns the healthcare system there will collapse.
Thousands of Venezuelan migrants are lined up at the borders, trying to return to their country in the face of the pandemic, but are unable to.
In Chile, police dogs are being trained to sniff out COVID 19. The country's economy, once robust, has been decimated by the virus.
Paris Disneyland reopened as Europe continues to see low virus numbers.
A pub in London is using an electric "fence" to remind patrons to social distance.
The European Union may be closed to Americans, but the Maldives is open to anyone--surprisingly.
CALIFORNIA:.
California saw record-breaking new cases on Tuesday when 11,126 cases were confirmed
Governor Newsom rolled back California's reopening, closing most indoor venues, which is leaving business owners scrambling for options to keep open.
Los Angeles County had a record number of cases yesterday when 4,592 confirmed cases were reported.
LA County is seeing the highest rates of hospitalizations since the virus first appeared.
A Whole Foods in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles has had an outbreak there.
LOCAL:
Fresno County hospitals are seeing surges but two programs could help ease the burden.
Military healthcare workers will be helping out at Kaweah Delta Hospital in Visalia.
A health clinic in Fresno is offering rapid COVID 19 testing.
Fresno County has seen a spike in suicides since the pandemic started.
Wastewater in Mariposa County has tested positive for the virus.
130,000 families have needed help from the Central California Food Bank since the pandemic started.
Fresno's Cornerstone Church says that it intends to ignore Governor Newsom's orders and hold services this Sunday.
CrossCity Church is also having services, but is holding them outdoors as well as virtually.
Central Unified School District will start the year off with distance learning.
Fresno Unified is "discussing" remote education for the 2020-2021 school year.
Clovis Unified will be open for in-person learning in classrooms this fall.
Visalia Unified has announced its plan to reopen with some students on campus.
Porterville Unified is giving students and family a choice of either returning to class or having their education done remotely this fall.
Tulare County has started a $7.5 million grant program for small businesses.
Will the Big Fresno Fair be canceled? Officials are taking a wait-and-see approach. Two plans are on the table (below). The live entertainment has been canceled, though.
Madera Fair Camp will go on virtually even though the fair itself has been canceled.
Central Valley businesses have had to get creative and take it outside during the current shutdowns. A brewery in downtown Fresno is geared up to do that. Clovis businesses can also apply for permits to do similar things.
Salons have, of course, been closed down again (which may mean another DIY haircut in my future again. EEK!)
The CycleBar in Clovis will be holding outdoor classes during the shutdown.
CREATIVITY:
Creativity is not limited to videos. Here is a selection of signs people have created during the pandemic:
MAIL:
My friend Eric in Costa Mesa, California dropped me a quick note. His birthday was Monday andI had called and left a message asking how is special day was (and to tell him I hadn't mailed his gift yet...).
"I didn't do much Monday," he said. "I was gone to Inland Empire all day Tuesday to buy (for eBay). All of the Salvation Army's in Orange County have reclosed. I think we're going to close down again."
I had several notes from teacher friends about the virus and the possible return to school. My friend Janet said her district, Clovis, hadn't decided what is going on just yet when she wrote over the weekend:
"Our district hasn't announced plans for August," she said. "We are hoping for a decision on Wednesday night at the board meeting. We have been running our summer daycare program.Very challenging."
My friend Paula is a Kindergarten teacher who works in (I think) Visalia Unified.
"We are still waiting to hear from our administration as to what school will look like in 4 weeks," she says. "They met with teachers in June to discuss possible options and then have been very quiet since. Needless to say, it’s driving me crazy. By now my class would have been set up, plans made, lessons prepped and none of that has even begun yet. We are a district that is prepared to do distance learning, but it was one of the hardest things I have ever done back in March and that was with kids who had been in school for 8 months already. Starting a school year with brand new Kindergarteners virtually, if that becomes the plan, is going to be interesting. As for me, the parent, we have already decided to choose the distance learning plan that will be offered to my high schoolers. They hate it, but they understand it’s hopefully short term. I hate all of this so much. We have basically not left home since March, other than Lowe’s, doctor appointments, and grocery store trips. We did finally get haircuts once they opened back up, but I’m not going back to the gym yet. I'm just not comfortable with that. So. we have been swimming a lot, cleaning a lot of things that needed to be cleaned, and trying to deal with three teenagers all in different stages of puberty! 😩"
My friend Beth works in Central Unified at the school I worked oat years ago. She said:
"School is supposed to start in a month, August 12," she said. "We still don’t know what it will look like. The plan that the district would like is classes divided into two groups. Group A attends Tuesday and Thursday. Group B attends Wednesday and Friday. Monday’s, we have PLC (Professional Learning Community) with the team, staff meetings, class meetings online, and rest of day is for planning. Teachers would be onsite every day. This would require nightly sanitizing of classrooms plus added hand washing stations, social distancing in classes, which they hope to accomplish with only half the class at a time, and face masks when moving about classroom. Breakfast and lunch would be brought to the classroom, so kids would eat in class. Who knows what we do about restrooms and recess. Crazy, huh? The board meeting is tomorrow night to discuss this and try to make decisions. Many teachers not happy about proposal."
My friend Shookie sent a note. She is an educator at a prison. Fortunately she works with inmates working towards college credits as more of a proxy and does not have a regular class of students daily.
"We usually have 70 students a day coming and going, but have not seen our students since March 13th," she says of her college students. "We were just delivering packets on Friday and picking them up the next Friday," she says of her college students.
"They had developed a plan for how to get students back in the classroom (for the general education classes) with social distancing and masks. This was going to be implemented when we returned from summer break at the beginning of July. But with the way things are now, that has been put on hold.
" If people would wear their masks and stop acting like nothing was wrong, we would be meeting with our students now in a limited setting."
My friend Ashley is a school psychologist in Alameda County in California. Since I had heard from several of my friends in education, I asked Ashley what her district's plans were.
"OMG I don't know," she said. "They are offering parents an opportunity to do virtual learning or a hybrid of in person and virtual. They're offering the staff nothing. It's a sh*t show! The school psychologists have decided to affiliate with the teachers union, which is a big move for us. Hopefully it'll protect us."
Another friend texted me. I don't think she would mind my sharing this if I did so anonymously, but her boyfriend actually went on a trip.
"He actually went to Vegas with three friends a few weeks ago, if you can believe that," she said. "It was when things were 'opening up.' I stayed away for two weeks, and he's fine. But, sheesh. Shocking. They all wore masks all of the time and the casinos had Plexiglass and separated seating."
I had a chatty note from my friend Mikey in Iowa:
"Things here are about the same," he said. "The COVID cases are really jumping up in numbers since the 4th of July celebrations. For some reason, our little town has been known for some time as the best fireworks display in the county. Other towns have their own displays, but everyone from miles around comes to our little town on the 4th. The powers that be decided not to cancel the display and, of course, there was no social distancing or masks worn. Now the numbers are jumping because of it.
"The town next door to us just had a "COVID birthday party" for all the people that had birthdays during the quarantine in April and May. We will probably see another jump in numbers in a couple weeks or so.
"We wear masks everywhere and I carry around a tiny spray bottle of alcohol/water mix to douse anything I have to touch. So far, so good. I had to go into the courthouse to have a title change on a SUV we just bought. They had a sign stating they require masks inside the courthouse. There were plastic barriers between the customers and the staff, BUT none of the staff were wearing masks; including the maintenance workers. Also, there was one customer that had taken his mask off when he was doing his transaction, then put it back on afterwards. It kinda' irritated me seeing that because there was a fan sitting on the floor in the hallway outside the room he was in, aimed at me waiting in line for the department I needed.
"Anyway, I have a "mine canary" kind of thing going on as an early warning detection. The postman never wears a mask and he sees a lot of the locals. Most of the locals also don't wear masks. So, I use him as my "canary in the mine". As long as he is still there when I go in to mail the seed orders, I'm OK. LOL!
"Also, I'm not sure if it's helping, but we have been taking zinc. Other than that, nothing much has been going on."
Mikey also included a photo of himself all masked up.
I had a note with the gift of a DVD from my author friend, Scott Nicholson. In regards to life there and the virus, he wrote:
"We are fine. I'm painting the upstairs and gardening, with a little writing on the side. Masks and staying at home. North Carolina is getting worse, but half of it is Trump Country. So far, so good."
SHIRLEY:
Shirley has not been digging on the heat...at all. On Monday she kept one of her legs and her head in her box all day long (leaving the bulk of her body exposed).
On Tuesday she wanted to stay in as well. On Wednesday, however, I made sure she went out. Wednesday was our coolest day in a while, only getting up into the high 90s. She spent the entire day under a bush. When I brought her in, she did eat some (after crawling on top of her food and smashing it).
She then crawled over to another corner of the dining room and tried to burrow into the tile again. Silly girl.
She spent the rest of the day in her cardboard condo and did not emerge from it at all on Thursday (although I did hear her moving about in there occasionally).
ME:
Again, my life has been rather dull. (But, hello? There's not much to do when self-isolating). I did pick up groceries again on Tuesday. It is so much easier to do it this way, except I never trust the shoppers with produce (so invariably, I don't get any) and I always seem to forget things I would have gotten had I strolled the aisles myself. Oh well...
In regards to groceries, when I do get produce (usually at Costco), I find myself constantly in a race to consume it ASAP before it spoils. Jeepers. Within the last 24 hours I've eaten one of those big sacks of asparagus just the day after wolfing down a bag of organic squash. Needless to say I haven't been constipated---at least not this week.
On Wednesday, I finally got my butt off to a UPS store. I needed to return something to Amazon, send a birthday present off to my friend Eric in Costa Mesa and get my brother's birthday card out. It was blazing hot...and there was a line. However, social distance markers allowed us to line up safely...in the heat. UGH!
I hope YOUR life has been far more interesting and exciting.
Stay SAFE! Stay SHELTERED! Stay ALIVE!
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
Comments