We now have more than 3 MILLION CASES of the virus in the United States (3,118,075). On Wednesday, more than 60,000 new cases were reported. We have had 133,291 deaths. One report warns that the US may be in for a full blown nationwide outbreak.
The president (who must think he is smarter than scientists --- even though his niece says he had to cheat on his SATS to get into college and that his sister did his homework) has officially withdrawn the US from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.). Even by doing that (effectively putting his head further into the sand) it is still NOT going to make the virus go away (or his poll numbers go up). The White House's new strategy is that they hope Americans will “grow numb to the escalating death toll and learn to accept tens of thousands of new cases a day.”
VIRUS NEWS:
The W.H.O. is looking into evidence that suggests the virus is airborne, meaning it can live in the air for sometime.
"Silent spreaders" may be responsible for half of the virus cases out there. One report suggests that more than 80% of young people with the virus are asymptomatic.
A new model suggests that, without masks being worn, we can expect 200,000 or more deaths by November.
Although the death rate has been declining (we'll see for how long now that hospitals are being overcrowded), President Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci disagree on why this is happening. (I'll take the opinion of the scientist, thank you...) Dr. Fauci says he thinks partisanship is making the virus situation worse (and we know which side that is the leading cause of that...). Still, the president insists we are in a good place with the virus. The president, who reportedly cheated on his SATs and had his sister do his college coursework for him, even criticized Dr. Fauci for the doctor's response. CNN says that Trump is in "open dispute" with health officials.
Scientists are now warning about a wave of COVID-related brain damage. One report suggests that even a mild case can cause severe brain damage.
Still think the coronavirus is the same as the flu? This article explains how much more deadly this virus is over the flu.
Could air conditioning be spreading the coronavirus?
Officials say states like Texas and Arizona reopened too quickly. Dr. Fauci says that states with climbing virus numbers should halt reopening.
The governors of Florida and Texas are taking different paths now as virus numbers continue to spike in their states. One is keeping with Trump. The other is following the advice of scientists.
One-time Republican vice-president nominee Sarah Palin once said "Death Panels" would be “downright evil.” In the world of COVID-19, Trump made them a reality.
Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, reiterated the president's baseless claim that 99% of cases of the virus are harmless.
CNN fact checked the president's false claims that we have the lowest death rate from the virus.
Experts are saying that Trump is "flirting with disaster" for holding rallies and not wearing a mask.
The mayor of Houston, Texas has denied the Republican Party from having their scheduled convention there due to the outbreak.Of course, he is now being sued by the GOP for doing this.
Florida has become the world's epicenter for the virus outbreak.
The Republican National Convention is scheduled for Florida, August 24 - 27. The president will accept his party's nomination for president at the convention. Those in charge of putting the convention together are having a tough time. As the virus spreads and spreads, there is already talk about low attendance. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has already said he won't be attending.
The president will be in hot spot Florida on Saturday for an anti-drug trafficking event and then a campaign fundraiser.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is skipping a summit meeting with Trump. His country has the virus under control, more or less....while ours is drowning.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, has seen a surge in cases in the wake of the Trump rally there.
The governor of Illinois likened the federal response to pleas for help likened it to states having to play a sick Hunger Games game show.
Despite the dramatic upswing in case numbers, the president wants schools open in the fall and says he will put pressure on governors to open them. The president of the National Education Association had a fiery response for the president's edict. The governor of Maryland said he thinks the president is confused. However, schools in Florida are being forced to reopen in August despite the surge going on there. Schools in Austin, Texas will also be reopening, even though they are seeing a 527% daily virus case increase above from when they closed the schools in March. The CDC has updated their guidelines for schools reopening after the president made his threats.
In addition to wanting schools to reopen, international students will be kicked out of the country if the universities they are attending here are virtual learning only this fall.
There are 56 hospital ICUs in Florida that are jam-packed maxed out.
A report says that doctors are now better at treating people with COVID 19 than they were in March.
In the UK, researchers are coming up with better ways of treating COVID 19 patients.
As the demand for testing increases as the virus spreads, getting results back is taking longer.
A state lawmaker in Ohio said to "stop getting tested."
Vaccines being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech are showing good results.
Want to volunteer to receive a dose of a trial vaccine? A website is available to help you sign up for it.
Regeneron will soon be starting phase 3 of its testing of an antibody drug to treat or prevent the coronavirus.
Antibodies in your body from the virus do not last all that long, studies have shown. Doctors are perplexed by former COVID patients and how quickly their antibodies seem to dissipate.
Tom Hanks, the first celebrity with COVID 19, spoke out against those not practicing social distancing or wearing masks. The actor admitted that his own antibodies to the virus are diminishing.
A doctor in New Jersey is seeing some of his patients getting re-infected.
Five myths about mask wearing have been explained.
Bill Nye the Science Guy has even explained the importance of wearing a mask.
Starbucks is now requiring masks in all US locations.
"See-through" clear masks help those with autism and hearing loss.
My friend Scott Nicholson tweeted this: "If Trumpers suddenly masked up and declared it a Trump thing, I don't think the sane people would suddenly unmask in childish spite." Brilliant strategy.
Can the virus live on your clothes or in your car? This report may have the answers you are looking for.
Doctors in Texas have ranked activities from least to most likely for catching the coronavirus from.
New York's Governor Cuomo has announced that any visitors planning on visiting New York from the following states (The states are: AL, AR, AZ, CA, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, LA, MS, NC, NV, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT.) will have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
Since the outbreak, Asian Americans have had racial harassment and attacks. Asian American children may be the most affected by these attacks.
The EPA has approved two Lysol products as the first products to effectively kill the virus on surfaces. (I have been trying to buy Lysol since this thing began... It's IMPOSSIBLE to get.)
Disaster workers in Michigan have come down with COVID 19 and say they were treated "worse than animals."
A 23-year-old COVID 19 survivor still cannot taste or smell 4 months after contracting the virus.
A woman in Oregon has been having symptoms since March.
A woman celebrated her 100th birthday and beat COVID 19.
The recent PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) has been rife with scandal as to who got these small business loans designed to help businesses keep employees with paychecks and benefits during the pandemic. Many of the loans have gone to dubious sources and some seem like outright stealing.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to COVID 19 contractors that had previously been accused of fraud.
Joe Biden has released a plan to help curb the economic downturn the virus has brought on.
The Magic Kingdom at DisneyWorld in Florida has reopened--despite the state being so crazy infected. Here is a video from a YouTuber showing what the park is like:
Downtown Disney re-opened yesterday with a "soft opening."
United Airlines and American Airlines have cancel flights to Hong Kong after crews test positive for the virus.
The upcoming HALLOWEEN sequel, HALLOWEEN KILLS starring Jamie Lee Curtis, has now been pushed back to October 2021 due to the virus. It is just one of a long list of movies that have been held back.
STATES:
The governor of Massachusetts signed a bill allowing state residents to vote by mail. The state, which has gotten its numbers down, had only 162 new cases Wednesday.
The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia has tested positive for the virus.
Yesterday, Florida added 8,395 new cases (!!!!) and had 120 deaths. As the state's numbers explode, questions remain on the state's shaky handling of contact tracing. The Miami-Dade area has closed down restaurants once again. Meanwhile, a man dressed as the grim reaper, visited the state's beaches.
Virus numbers in Pennsylvania have gone beyond 92,000.
A sheriff in Ohio, a state that requires masks, will not enforce the mask law as he explains.
Minnesota, like the rest of the nation, is trending up. The governor is considering making masks mandatory.
Michigan's governor is threatening to get tougher on face mask requirements if the tide of new virus cases can't be lowered.
Students at the University of Alabama, who knew they had tested positive but were asymptomatic, attended parties anyway...and spread the virus.
In Mississippi, 26 state legislators and 10 other employees within the capitol building have tested positive for the virus.
North Dakota's had 100 new cases yesterday.
Tennessee reported 1,605 new cases yesterday.
A judge has blocked the governor of Kentucky from enacting COVID 19 rules.
The governor of Louisiana says that all of the good they did at the beginning of the pandemic has been wiped out in the last three weeks.
Colorado added 452 new cases on Wednesday.
A church in Texas, that has had 50 members get sick with the virus, plans to reopen despite the skyrocketing numbers in the state. A county in the southern part of the state plans to arrest those who have tested positive but fail to self-isolate.
Utah had 722 new cases on Wednesday.
The mayor of Phoenix, Arizona says that her state opened too soon. Things are so bad in Arizona, one report suggests it could dethrone Florida as the virus capital of the world.
GLOBAL:
Globally, the cases of the virus have surpassed 12 million (currently 12,268,630). There have been 554,953 deaths.
Brazil's president, Jair Balsonaro, who has taken a page from President Trump's virus response playbook, has tested positive for the virus. The president, who--like Trump--has been promoting hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug, to fight the virus. He is taking it in his own fight against the virus. The Associated Press dubbed him the "poster boy" for this dubious COVID 19 treatment. And he has vetoed COVID 19 precautions for the country's indigenous (and now endangered) people. Meanwhile, a gravedigger in the country, who has seen the results of the virus first hand with the hundreds of graves he's dug, has taken the virus far more seriously than his president has.
Lockdowns may be in the near future for Israel as cases there continue to climb. For the second time in a week, numbers of new cases there have topped 1,000.
India has become the third hardest-hit country by the virus.
Melbourne, Australia is now on a 6-week lockdown after an outbreak in Victoria.
Ghana is one of the countries driving the virus numbers up in Africa. But the continent is being pummeled.
Fiji reported its first virus case in more than 2 1/2 months.
CALIFORNIA:
Three more counties (bringing the total up to 26) are being monitored closely by the state due to rising case numbers. Napa County is one of the new counties on that list.
California is bracing to see a massive increase of COVID patients at hospitals in the coming weeks.
In a hospital in El Centro, every patient in its ICU is positive for COVID 19 and staff is overwhelmed.
Seven prisoners in San Quentin prison have died from the virus.
UC Berkeley has 47 new cases of the virus that have been linked to frat parties.
The mayor of Los Angeles is considering reinstating stay-at-home orders as cases there spike.
More restaurants in Orange County have been closed due to outbreaks within them.
Hot spots around the San Diego area are flaring up.
LOCAL:
Local hospitals are preparing for a surge in cases.
There are 84 investigators in Fresno County tracing COVID 19 cases.
Madera County has seen a fast rise in cases.
Clovis City Council members have started to wear masks. Hopefully the entire city will follow suit.
Fresno Unified School District and Sanger Unified have several learning options for parents to explore for the coming school year.
Visalia restaurants may still operate outside.
Westwood BBQ was busted for violating the governor's orders.
CREATIVITY:
There's another horror movie competition. The Horror Lockdown Short Film Competition is looking for original 5-minute (or shorter) horror films. The deadline is July 18 (actually July 19---but it's in England, so...I bumped it up a day). Details are HERE. Good luck!
Randy Rainbow is back and poking fun at our president in this spoof of a song from THE LITTLE MERMAID:
Here is a make-up tutorial from our (impersonator) president, Donald Trump:
SHIRLEY:
I don't know if it's just her age, the heat, or both...but Shirley has not wanted to go out at all. So, I've been having to pick her up and put her by the door. I leave it open for her to decide if she wants out or not. She eventually goes outside -- but doesn't go far. But she comes running (in extra slow tortoise speed) when I call her to come inside. That actually amazes me.
When she does come in, she's been going to the opposite end of the kitchen (away from her cardboard condo) and goes to sleep in the corner on the far side of the refrigerator. The other day, I heard this noise that sounded like she knocked something over. It was a low-hanging framed movie poster that she had knocked cockeyed. I went in to straighten it and...accidentally bonked her on the head. I felt sooooo bad about that. She kept her head pulled far inside all of that evening, no matter how much I tried to talk to her or pet her. She was obviously unhappy and probably sore. Poor baby.
Yesterday, I again put her by the door and she went out. She stayed in the flower bed, was there when I fed her (and she ate), but was gone later one when I decided to have her come in (because it had gotten so hot). Where was she? I called her, but didn't see her. I did hear noises by the trash cans. Was it my next door neighbors at their cans? Maybe Shirley was over there? I went to look and was surprised to find her--sideways--behind a garbage can.
I don't know what she was doing or how (or why) she got in that position. I pulled the can mostly out of the way(I didn't want to take a chance that she'd fall over--so i didn't pull it fully out of the way), and righted her. She sat there a long moment, recovering. But came "running" when I called her to come in.
She tried to burrow (unsuccessfully) into the tile a bit and then went back to sleep in that corner on the other side of the fridge.
ME:
This week, I had a lot of errands to run. On Monday, I had to go to the dermatologist's office. I gave myself way too much time. So, when I got downtown, I decided to hit Starbuck's. There was a huge line at the drive thru, so I used the app on my phone and ordered. The staff was all masked. However, the barista helping me had her nose peeking out over hers. GRR.
It was weird to see no customers inside and it was interesting to see the seating closed off from use by the public.
After my doctor appointment, I needed to go to the bank. They had a security guard, mask requirement and social distancing rules in effect.
On Monday afternoon, Ricki and I had a Zoom call with our friends Barb and Norm in Omaha. We hadn't seen them since the fall of 2009 when we had all met in Taos, New Mexico for a fun-filled week. Erich would have joined us for the Zoom call, but he was on his way to Los Angeles with his friend Irene.
I had to visit one of my pharmacies on Wednesday. Everyone was masked up. Hooray.
However, one of the postal employees was not masked. True, she was behind a plexiglass screen, blocking her from the customers. But what about her co-workers? Rude.
As I said in the previous entry, Erich and Irene went to Los Angeles on Monday. Irene needed a minor medical procedure done. Instead of doing it in the Bay Area where she lives, she likes the person she sees in LA who does it. Erich went with her for companionship. I am worried about both of them, of course. I hope they are being careful.
I've been getting updates. They were in (was it?) Woodland Hills the first couple of days for Irene's appointment, then moved on to Santa Monica afterwards. They've been dining out at nice places (with outdoor patios) and making their own cocktails (since the bars are closed). The hotels are cheaper than normal and they are having a nice time, so they've extended their trip and are heading home on Saturday instead of later today. So, I'll have two weeks of worry before I am sure that they are okay again. EEEK!
Stay SAFE! Stay SHELTERED! Stay ALIVE!
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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