Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #68

[JerseyGirl]

Fauci is staying on White House coronavirus task force, source says

Doctor Anthony Fauci is staying on with the White House coronavirus task force despite the recent White House attempts to discredit him, a source said..

Trump does not plan to dismiss Fauci, and probably couldn't directly fire him if he wanted to, White House officials have determined. Trump insisted on Monday that his relationship with the doctor remains strong.

 

[JerseyGirl]

France's president in favor of mandatory face masks in indoor public spaces

French President Emmanuel Macron said he is “in favor” of making wearing face masks mandatory in enclosed public spaces to limit the spread of coronavirus, adding that the measure could be enforced as early as August 1.

"I would like to make masks mandatory in all enclosed public spaces," Macron said Tuesday following France’s Bastille Day ceremony. "There are risks that [the outbreak] could be starting again and we need to be prepared,” he added, recommending that “all citizens wear masks as much as possible, outside as well as inside.”

The president’s remarks come just a day after the UK government announced that wearing face masks in shops and supermarkets in England would become compulsory starting July 24.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Florida now has more coronavirus cases than China and Italy

Coronavirus cases are soaring in Florida. Across the state, at least 48 hospitals have zero ICU beds available, and Miami is "now the epicenter of the pandemic," an infectious disease expert with the area's Jackson Health System said.

The situation is so serious in Florida, the state has more cases than all but eight entire countries — including some of the pandemic's first hotspots.

The entire country of China has less than 1/3 the total Covid-19 cases that Florida does. As of Monday, China had 85,117 total cases since the pandemic started, compared to Florida's 282,435.

As of Monday, Italy (population 60 million) had 243,230 cases from throughout the pandemic. Florida (population 21 million) has already surpassed that number, at 282,435.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Whihala Beach in Whiting, Indiana to close indefinitely due to 'alarming disregard' of COVID-19 protocol

WHITING, Ind. (WLS) -- As Chicagoans wait to find out when beaches and pools in the city will be open, the Mayor of Whiting, Indiana has announced he's closing Whihala Beach effective Wednesday.

Whihala Beach is located only 20 miles from downtown Chicago. With temperatures in the 80s and 90s lately, it's been a hot spot for people trying to escape the heat with a dip in Lake Michigan.

But Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura said there has been an "alarming disregard" of all COVID-19 protocol. He said there have been unusually large crowds at Whihala and with the smaller beach area due to the high water levels has made it difficult for people to comply with social distancing requirements and other CDC guidelines.

Stahura said he regrets having to close the beach until further notice, but it's needed to keep people safe.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Miami Beach mayor says “mixed messages” from federal, state leaders hinder effort to stop Covid-19

There’s been an attempt to downplay the coronavirus, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said, decrying “mixed messages” from federal leaders and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“For crying out loud, we had the vice president here last week telling us that we're in a much better place, and then immediately … we had the worst couple days in the history of the pandemic anywhere in the world,” Gelber said.

Gelber said that Miami-area leaders will enforce new stay-at-home orders soon if hospitals cannot care for all people, not just Covid-19 patients.

“I suspect if, in a week of or two, this is not changed in any way, then we’re all going to do it — whether or not the governor wants us to or not,” he said.

 

[JerseyGirl]

NYC mayor's fund raises more than $50 million for Covid-19 emergency relief

The mayor’s fund to advance New York City has raised $54.5 million for Covid-19 emergency relief. Over 9,000 donors contributed to this fund to help frontline workers and vulnerable New Yorkers, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The funds will also assist in saving businesses, aid immigrants and support youth.

The Restaurant Revitalization Program will be part of the fund, which will support 1,000 unemployed and underemployed restaurant workers, and approximately 100 restaurants.

The city also is creating micro-grants to directly support survivors of domestic violence, adding that “the pandemic has brought new horrors for those who shelter in place with an abusive partner”, an official said.

The immigrant emergency relief fund has so far provided 13,000 households across 180 zip codes representing 41,000 New Yorkers with one time emergency financial relief.

 

[SouthAussie]

Miami Beach mayor says “mixed messages” from federal, state leaders hinder effort to stop Covid-19

There’s been an attempt to downplay the coronavirus, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said, decrying “mixed messages” from federal leaders and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“For crying out loud, we had the vice president here last week telling us that we're in a much better place, and then immediately … we had the worst couple days in the history of the pandemic anywhere in the world,” Gelber said,

Gelber said that Miami-area leaders will enforce new stay-at-home orders soon if hospitals cannot care for all people, not just Covid-19 patients.

“I suspect if, in a week of or two, this is not changed in any way, then we’re all going to do it — whether or not the governor wants us to or not,” he said.

About time that they stopped listening to the mixed messages. imo

Use some common sense and do what is best for their people, even if that goes against the political rhetoric that they are hearing.

What is worse? Losing your political position due to straying from the party guidelines, or knowing that you are responsible for many deaths and much spreading disease?

 

[margarita25]

Greater Houston records highest single-day total for new COVID-19 cases

“HOUSTON — Monday was another record-breaking day across the Greater Houston area. Together, 20 Houston-area counties reported 3,037 new COVID-19 cases. The previous single-day record was set when 2,596 cases were reported on Saturday.

"The virus is running rampant," Mayor Sylvester Turner said during a briefing on Monday. "It is still out of control."”

[...]

"What we do in the month of July will pretty much determine what will take place next month," Turner said about schools reopening. "It needs to flatten, and then come down and stay down like in Europe."

Turner and Hidalgo agree the longer it takes to shut things down, the higher the cases will climb and the longer it will take to flatten the curve again.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

Mississippi governor: Wearing a mask "is the right thing to do. Don’t mock it."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is urging people in his state to weak masks and spoke out against residents in the state who don’t believe in the reality of coronavirus.

“I’m telling you: It is very, very real. You can see it in our death toll. We are in the thick of things," the Republican governor wrote on Facebook. He went on to further say that the best way to avoid spreading the virus and shutdowns of schools, sports, and work is to wear a mask.

In a subsequent post on Facebook, Reeves spoke to people who refuse to wear masks or speak out against face coverings saying, “mask-shaming in either direction is dumb and counterproductive.”

 

[Reasonable & Just]

Texas school districts won't get supplemental CARES Act funds they were expecting; TEA puts money toward state funds

The CARES Act money is being put to good use by many districts, but I wonder if the money is enough for retrofits (like ventilation, dividers, and building/trailer expansions), and for PPE which is becoming scarce again and subject to price increases. Some of the money is used for budget shortfalls from the last school year, so I wonder what will be left over.

ETA - hope this helps: Trump team eyes school funds boost in next virus aid bill

 

[JerseyGirl]

Florida coronavirus: Record number of deaths reported Tuesday

Florida health officials on Tuesday reported a record 132 new coronavirus-related deaths among residents and more than 9,100 new cases of COVID-19.

The 132 deaths is the biggest single-day spike Florida has seen since the beginning of the pandemic, however that doesn't mean all of these people died in the past 24 hours.

Another 9,194 cases of coronavirus brings the statewide total to 291,629. The death toll is now 4,409.

Florida has 48 hospitals with no ICU beds

Out of 309 facilities being tracked, Florida has 48 hospitals with no available ICU beds, and 31 hospitals with just one available ICU bed, according to the state's Agency for Healthcare Administration. These numbers will fluctuate throughout the day.

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami, and Osceola County, home to the cities of Kissimmee and Celebration, are especially hard-hit.

Miami-Dade is reporting a positivity rate of 22.1%.

Osceola County's positivity rate stands at 22.8%.

Duval County, home to Jacksonville, and Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, both have positivity rates at 16%.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Wisconsin added to NY travel advisory

Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin have been added to New York's coronavirus travel advisory, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

Those four states join Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Delaware has been removed from the list.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have a travel advisory in place for states with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a week average, or any state with 10% of higher positivity rate over a week average. Travelers arriving in the tri-state area from those states must quarantine for two weeks.

 

[margarita25]

Mayor Turner announces Army Medical Task Force arrives in Houston, sets up at UMMC

 

[JerseyGirl]

Virginia Beach and Montana see new jumps

Virginia Beach, Virginia, may be a new spot to watch, according to an internal FEMA memo. Virginia Beach reported 317 new cases for the week ending July 8 -- a 92.1% increase over the previous week.

Montana is also seeing a drastic jump. On July 9, the state reached a new single-day record of 96 new cases. There were 377 new cases reported in the week ending July 8 -- a 59.1% increase week-over-week.

Arlington, Virginia See Highest One-Day Coronavirus Case Total Since May

Thirty-four new cases of COVID-19 in Arlington were reported overnight, a one-day case total that’s the highest since late May.

The new cases bring Arlington’s trailing seven-day case total to 110, the first time that figure has been in the triple digits since mid-June.

Arlington has now recorded a cumulative total of 2,660 coronavirus cases, or about 1.1 cases for every 100 residents. That compares to 1.6 and 1.3 cases for every 100 residents in neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County, respectively..

 

[rogue ant]

6 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch Coronavirus

6 places you are most likely to catch coronavirus--
of note, hair salons are not on this list and yet one of the first things governors close are hair salons and i don't get it

Very true. Beauty salons are a very risky proposition IMO. In Ontario, the City of Kingston had an outbreak tied to a nail salon. I don't think hair salons are any safer. My Covid hair is pretty horrendous but I'm not ready to go to the salon yet. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/kingston-ontatio-salon-covid19-outbreak-1.5631049

 

[JerseyGirl]

Hawaii delays reopening to tourists until Sept. 1

The plan was to allow tourists who have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of their trip to Hawaii to bypass that mandatory two-week self quarantine starting in August. But with the increase of cases in the state and the growing number of cases nationwide, officials decided to delay it by a month.

"I am announcing today that we will be delaying the launch of the pre-travel testing program until September 1," said Ige during the press conference. "The outbreaks on the mainland are not in control and we don't believe that situation will change significantly by Aug. 1st".

Said Ige: "We did believe it would be in the best interest of everyone here in the state of Hawaii to delay the start of the program to Sept. 1. I know this increases the burden of businesses here in Hawaii …we still believe in the pre-testing program and we will take actions to implement it safely."

 

[margarita25]

Texas ER doctor says Houston hospitals stretched to their limits: 'It's been very terrifying'
ERs and ICUs are overflowing into children's hospitals, the doctor said

"”But, what we're worried about right now is the collateral damage," she said. "When you overwhelm a health care system with anything – especially an infectious disease like we are right now – you don't just worry about the patients dying from COVID. Then it's patients dying of completely otherwise preventable causes of death. You know, appendicitis, heart attacks, strokes – everything gets affected when a health care system is overwhelmed."”

 

[WildOrchid]

Do we need links to report local-to-us happenings? I don’t think we do. Anyway, nearby my house is an ocean community (tourists). A takeout restaurant on the boardwalk just had 3 employees test positive for covid. Think about all the tourists who interacted there to buy pizza etc. The employees are now under quarantine, the restaurant is closing for 2 days to be professionally sanitized, and any other employees who had contact must now provide a negative test to return to work. How in the world do they track down all those tourists who flock from here, there and everywhere?
Additionally, I got an email that a spa I used to frequent is closed for 2 weeks due to a covid positive client being there a few days ago. All employees now must quarantine. The spa was alerted via contact tracing. And here we go again. This really is a mind****.

 

[Trino]

Everything You Need To Know About The Travel Credit Stimulus

How The Travel Credit Could Work

So far, the Explore America tax credit is an idea floating around the Senate and House halls. No official legislation includes this credit (yet). The U.S. Travel Association provides the best insight on how the travel credit stimulus might work. This multi-layer credit can help travel-related companies with the best post-coronavirus travel deals and restaurants get some revenue back.

Travelers can deduct up to 50% of qualifying travel expenses (up to $4,000) for domestic travel on their federal income taxes. The current proposal lets them claim travel expenses between the date of enactment and December 31, 2021.

You don't get immediate reimbursement like you would with a credit card travel credit. But, this credit can help you get a larger tax refund (or avoid owing income tax) at tax time. People may want to travel but cannot due to unemployment or medical debt. The tax credit can help you afford to travel to domestic and international places that are open.

Deductible Food And Entertainment Business Expenses

Businesses are primarily relying on Zoom meetings to arrange business with new and existing clients. The credit may provide an incentive for business travelers to hit the road again for overnight trips. The current proposal is to fully deduct food and entertainment business expenses for up to three years. This deduction then reduces to 50% of eligible costs.

IMO people need $$, not a vacation, and they need it now, not an income tax deduction. Sorry about the travel industry, but it's suffering right along with retail. Even car sales are hurting. People need to survive, pay day to day expenses, support their children. A vacation IMO is the last thing they would think of doing, especially when expenses loom over their heads.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

New White House campaign in conjunction with various businesses and the Ad council. Very nice-looking site, and very navigable, with links to job training. Getting lots of flack (to be expected), but I hope this helps people! Pass it on!

White House campaign to help jobless 'find something new'

Find Something New