There are now 5,044,864 cases of the coronavirus in this country. There have been 162,938 deaths here so far. Yesterday, we officially crossed the 5 million cases mark, and have only had four days since July 21st that we have not had more than 1,000 new cases. Other countries are down to practically nothing, but here it continues to rage, with no signs of slowing down... Yet, when asked if he made any mistakes with the coronavirus outbreak here in the US, the president said he had not.
VIRUS NEWS:
The president held a last-minute "press conference" that was more of a mini-campaign rally at one of his private golf clubs in New Jersey. He had several members of the club invited into the conference, none socially distancing or wearing masks. When asked about this, the president said they were "peaceful protesters." (Where are those secret military police with their tear gas and rubber bullets who have been attacking other peaceful protesters?)
In Ohio, another thinly disguised mini-rally (the governor was supposed to attend, but was diagnosed with the virus and had to self-quarantine), while the audience was waiting, the song LIVE AND LET DIE was played. How appropriate during a Trump pandemic...
A new report says that children can easily get severe COVID-19, especially Hispanic or African American children.
As schools prepare to reopen, it was reported that more than 97,000 children have tested positive during the last two weeks of July.
A teacher in Minnesota shared her frustrations about school reopenings by shouting out and interrupting the governor's speech.
Teachers in Gwinnett County Georgia protested the proposed return to the classroom at the school district headquarters on Friday with signs and honking horns. 260 employees of the district have either tested positive for or been exposed to the virus.
A superintendent of schools in Arkansas discussed how his state is planning on address the school year in this audio interview from NPR.
A school administrator in Arizona died of COVID 19 yesterday.
A staff member and 2 students at a Catholic school in Indiana have tested positive.
Last week a student in Georgia took a photo of the crowded halls of her school and was suspended for doing so. While the suspension was lifted, 9 people at the school tested positive for the virus.
Thailand will be opening its schools this week--but there the virus is more or less controlled.
Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates have been working to help adolescent girls in less developed countries continue to get educations and care during the pandemic.
A Wisconsin woman is still struggling with the virus after getting it in March.
Experts say we are still not doing enough to contain the spread of the virus.
The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1818 also had mask laws enacted with results similar to what we are seeing now.
Here is yet another video that demonstrates how droplets escape when breathing and it also illustrates which masks are better than others.
The Trump campaign sent supporters emails asking them to wear masks.
The governor of Illinois along with experts emphasized the importance of the mask rule to the people of her state.
A woman who purposely coughed on a cancer patient during a dispute about masks was arrested and charged.
With or without a vaccine, the virus may never go away.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the chance of any coronavirus vaccine being highly effective are not great.
Bill Gates claims that the US is the only country to have such insane and uncoordinated testing practices.
Testing delays force labs to prioritize test results for some--and delay others.
Ohio's governor tested positive for the coronavirus. He then retested and was negative. A third test was also negative. He called this testing confusion a "wake up call."
Artificial Intelligence has created new "recipes" for drugs that could be used to combat the coronavirus.
There have been four US deaths linked to methanol-based hand sanitizers.
Time Magazine has an excellent article on the virus, the upcoming election, and the president.
According to Fox News (read the article--which is different than the video), the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis called for a 6-week economic shut down to try and get the virus outbreak under control...before things get worse.
With talks for the new virus relief package stalled as the Senate and House of Representatives cannot reach an agreement, the president (trying to bolster his failing polls) signed several executive orders to bypass Congress. However, what he ordered, if even constitutional, isn't nearly what he is claiming it to be. Virus stimulus aside, he is also trying to end Social Security and Medicare, which the majority of the Americans rely on. Many GOP senators are not pleased with the president's latest stunt.
Anthony Scaramucci, the former Trump staffer, said that he thinks the president should be tried for criminal negligence for all of the deaths from the virus here. (Yes, I know... It's just Anthony Scaramucci's opinion---but I believe it as well.)
As the virus continues to ravage the country and the need for mail-in voting for the November election grows, there is new-found concern about the president's new appointee to the post office in regards to keeping the election fair.
A right-wing pastor who is a strong Trump supporter and apparently has been one of his spiritual advisers (When does he ever go to church?) says the coronavirus was created by Satan to stop the re-election of Trump.
Another Trump crackpot, the leader of Bikers for Trump, told CNN that the pandemic was planned by the left to ruin Trump's economic growth in this country (seemingly ignoring the fact that it is affecting the rest of the world as well).
The 250,000 (maskless) 10-day biker rally occurring in South Dakota was condemned by a doctor on CNN as being a possible superspreader event. He also said that such stupid activities as this have the rest of the world laughing at us. (So true!)
Those bikers in South Dakota need to check their route maps. They will not be allowed to cross through tribal lands and will be stopped at checkpoints.
A cruise to Alaska was cut short when a case of the virus flared up on board.
A hotel in Massachusetts was fined for holding a 300-person wedding, which broke COVID-19 regulations. The next day, the same hotel held an event for 190 people.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta answered kids' questions about the virus.
Even though there has been less pollution since the outbreak, it has done "nothing" for eradicating global climate change.
This is brilliant, funny, and oooooo...I so hope the Trump supporters see this somehow and take it to heart. Ha!:
GLOBAL:
There are 19,862,599 cases of the coronavirus worldwide. There have been 731,349 deaths globally.
It took Brazil 3 months before it had 50,000 dead. That number more than doubled in just 50 days--and shows no sign of slowing any time soon.
In Chile, the death toll has topped 10,000.
While some European countries are seeing surges, Italy, which was hit so very hard at the beginning of the pandemic, is back to relative normal.
London is virtually a ghost town during the pandemic...and many are thinking of leaving the city permanently.
In Greece, the islands have locked down tightly as infection rates soar there.
Pandemic advice that the president ignored is helping Vietnam beat the virus.
New Zealand has marked 100 days without a new case of the virus.
As the US passes the 5 million cases mark, people around the world are baffled by our mostly non-existent response to the pandemic. We truly have become almost the laughing stock of the world.
STATES:
New Hampshire added 14 new cases yesterday.
Massachusetts gained 286 new cases and 14 deaths yesterday.
New York has been seeing the lowest percentage for testing of positive cases since March.
New Jersey jumped up another 378 cases with 5 more deaths yesterday.
North Carolina was up 1,452 new cases Sunday. The state has tested nearly 2 million people.
Georgia tallied up another 3,169 new cases of the virus yesterday.
Florida had an amazing 6,229 new cases on Sunday with an additional 77 deaths.
A nursing home in West Virginia reported 8 deaths related to the virus.
Ohio added 879 cases of the virus on Saturday, sending the state's total over 100,000.
Kentucky announced it had 425 new cases and 1 death on Sunday.
Tennessee reported an increase of 2,127 new cases on Sunday.
Indiana had 1,048 new cases on Sunday.
Wisconsin added an additional 621 new cases yesterday as it inches closer to a grim 1,000 death toll. Two bars in the state were cited for violating pandemic orders.
A new 806 cases were added to Minnesota's total yesterday.
Louisiana reported 2,710 new cases on Sunday.
NorthDakota is up another 91 cases as of Sunday.
South Dakota had another 129 cases added yesterday.
There were 83 new cases in Nebraska yesterday.
Texas is still a major hotspot. Neuces County alone had 1,171 new cases on Sunday with 2 deaths.
The state had its first cases of the virus in housecats.
Utah reported 376 new cases yesterday.
There were 176 new cases in Idaho yesterday.
Washington had an additional 549 new cases and 2 deaths on Sunday.
One article listed the 10 most infected (per capita) zip codes in Oregon.
Alaska announced 86 new cases and 1 death on Saturday.
Hawaii has re-instated its inter-island quarantine requirements in a further effort to slow the spread of the virus. There were 152 new cases alone yesterday.
CALIFORNIA:
A glitch has caused anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000 health tests, including COVID 19 tests, to have gone unprocessed.
California now has more than 10,000 dead from the virus and the most cases of any state in the nation. How did we get here? This article takes a look at the causes.
Orange County had 16 more deaths and 322 new cases on Saturday.
Palo Alto in Santa Clara County has seen a sharp increase in cases.
Santa Barbara County went up 66 more cases on Sunday.
A ninth staff member of San Quentin prison has died from the virus.
A dog training business in Los Angeles has gone virtual during the pandemic.
Four high school students have created a coloring book to teach younger children about the pandemic.
LOCAL:
The Central valley is one of the top hot spots for the virus, according to the White House.
A local non-profit organization is making masks to help Fresno homeless students.
A 12-year-old boy was the driving force behind a back-to-school giveaway for needy students in Fresno.
A Clovis teenager started an artistic fundraiser to benefit theaters that have been hard hit by the virus outbreak.
A free virtual concert, pre-recorded in the north valley, is available for viewing.
CREATIVITY:
Here are the last (???) of the Quarantine Barbies created by a grandma in Orange County, Tonya Ruiz.
This is brilliant. Last week the president had an interview for HBO. When asked about the death toll here, he infamously said "It is what it is" to the started interviewer. This is a wonderfully done "remix" of the interview:
I really dig Puddles the singing clown. Apparently he has been around for years. I only just recently discovered him for myself. This is a new-ish (3 weeks old) cover of THE RAINBOW CONNECTION from THE MUPPET MOVIE:
There are some really brilliant political ads out there---mostly from Republicans opposed to Trump and Trumpism. Here are some more recent examples (There are just SO MANY!):
Speaking of politics, here is a dig someone created at Ivanka Trump that is pretty good:
Finally, my friend Christa sent me this link. WILL & GRACE star Sean Hayes was recently guest hosting JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE. A nurse from Santa Maria, California was a remote guest on the show. He thought he was being interviewed because he is a healthcare worker. Instead, Hayes surprised him by marrying he and his partner on the air:
MAIL:
My friend David sent me a note on Friday. He wanted to correct either something I said or something in an article I included about what is going on in Melbourne, the city in Australia that is having the outbreak:
"Just a small correction for the blog....," he said. "We haven't started week six of lockdown. We just started the first of six weeks of heavier lockdown.
Melbourne (but not the whole state of Victoria) was actually on its third week of the reintroduced stage 3 lockdown up until this week. That means we were free to move about to shop and see doctors and exercise and all stores were open.
"As of last Monday, Victoria as a whole state, was placed into stage 3 lockdown and Melbourne (and greater Melbourne) were placed into stage 4 lockdown. I'm in the stage 4 area and this now means:
- we have a curfew between 8pm and 5am every day.
- the only people who can travel outside of curfew are essential workers and they must carry a work permit signed by their boss or risk a fine.
- we can now only leave the house for a maximum of about two hours a day (1 hour for exercise and 1 hour for shopping for groceries).
- only one member of the household is allowed to go for the daily shop.
- we are not allowed to travel further than 5km of where we live (for some people this means if they were staying with someone else when the stage 4 happened they will be staying there for the next six weeks).
- masks are still mandatory everywhere.
- you can leave the house to go to a doctor appointment.
- all stores have closed (except takeaway food and pharmacies and grocery stores).
"It's an odd place to be right now. The streets empty after 8 at night."
SHIRLEY:
Shirley stayed in again all day Friday, so on Saturday morning I put her by the door and let her out. She wandered throughout the yard. I fed her, but had to move her plate in front of her three times in three different locations before she finally ate. I was busy doing stuff around the house when I noticed her on the patio walking away from the sliding glass door. She'd apparently come to the door and wanted in. So, I opened the door and called her. She happily came inside and went to her box. It was only a little after 2 pm, way earlier than her usual bedtime. but it was HOT out there...
Erich is still visiting. We also had company on Saturday night. (More about that in a minute.) There was much activity in the kitchen the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. By the next day, Shirley had somehow turned her cardboard condo completely around, so the door was facing the wall. She stayed inside all day Sunday, snoozing.
Silly girl...
ME:
I am due back at work today, August 10th. It ain't happening. I am just not physically able to do it. So, on Friday I sent the personnel department at the hospital a note explaining that my doctor would not release me to go back to work as of yet...and that they should go ahead and send me my termination papers. I forwarded the note to my direct manager (Jacque) at work as well.
I had told Jacque earlier in the week that she should probably get the termination papers ready. She scrambled to come up with a Plan B for me. She (and the new manager I haven't met, Eleana) came up with a plan to work in the Labor Pool, sitting and taking temperatures all day. That was nice of them--and I thanked Jacque for thinking outside of the box for me. She said stressed to the new manager "how vital you are to our team." Zowie! That was nice to hear ---I am sooooo going to miss my people there---but I am not going back, even to just sit on my butt all day and take temperatures.
The personnel person said she understood. But she and "the leader" (Just who that is, I do not know.) want to do a type of exit interview with me later this morning around 10 a.m.
Now, of course, I have to figure life out. There's insurance to figure out, money to live on, etc.
On Saturday, Erich and I had Shookie and Vye over. Erich and Vye had birthdays earlier in the week and we wanted to celebrate those. Also, somehow we had never gotten together before the lockdown to exchange Christmas gifts and so we finally got around to doing the 2019 holiday gift exchange. Ha!
We practiced social distancing, of course. We were on the patio -- arriving and leaving through the gate. They each had a chair with a small side table and a bottle of hand sanitizer. The only part of the house they visited was the dining room to get their food, using napkins to grab the handles of serving utensils. (Shookie later used the guest bathroom, with paper towels --instead of regular hand towels--- for hand drying, that she could throw away.)
It was hot, but I had set up fans for them to use. It got more pleasant as the sun set and the day wore on. And it was soooooo nice to see them. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them. Seeing them on Zoom was one thing---but seeing them live and in person was just great.
The gift exchange was delightful. Vye had made each of us a special Christmas tiki surprise. It was a plastic coconut cup with a straw and a Santa hat. inside of it was a lei, a palm tree-shaped swizzle stick, a tube of lip balm, a mini-hand sanitizer bottle, and some tropical candies.
Vye also gave me this groovy solar-powered tiki light statue. How tiki-fabulous! THANK YOU, Vye!!
Shookie was also very thoughtful. She gave me a, as she calls it, a Zoodle (to make spaghetti-like veggies with) a book on tiki of Waikiki! Tiki-licious! THANK YOU, Shookie!!
We also did a Zoom call while all together with Ricki up in Oregon. It was a pretty swell evening, with cocktails, munchies and these two incredible salads (a quinoa salad and a Thai-like noodle and shrimp salad thing) that Erich made. I also made a pretty groovy fruit salad.
Yesterday afternoon, I had a call from my mom's friend Della's daughter's boyfriend, who is a pediatric neurologist in the Bay Area. He looked at my biopsy results and was kind enough to tell me what he thought. He asked several questions and gave me an indication of what I should be expecting from my new neurologist (Dr. Bhatia) when my referral goes through.
Because my legs are affected bilaterally, he doesn't think it is an autoimmune thing. He says that is usually has "patchy" affectation. He said it could be as simple as a deficiency of something like B-12 or copper. He said my test didn't show amyloids, but they don't always show up in the kind of tests I had. He did recommend highly that I have genetic testing done -- and he sent me a link to a place that offers free genetic testing if my doctor orders it. While no one in my family has a problem like mine that I am aware of, it wouldn't hurt to see what my genetics show.
For now, I am in a holding pattern. But I feel as if I am moving forward and will soon have some answers. In the mean time, neither Erich or I have started to get sick following our trip to the coast for his birthday. That's another positive thing. You've got to stay positive, right?
Stay SAFE. Stay SHELTERED. Stay ALIVE.
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
Comments