Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Monday evening, April 27

By
Casey Dolan
-
(?: Katie Martin)

Cactus Hugs has been tracking local stories about the coronavirus.   For a rundown of all of our updates, click here. Stay safe, stay at a good social distance.

Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs. For ways to keep this website going (and free!), click here.

As of 1 pm Monday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 3,643 people have tested positive for COVID-19.  80 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours.  
  • 141 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. 23 people have died in the last 24 hours
  • There are currently 215 confirmed cases hospitalized, with 75 of them in the ICU.
  • There have been 1,245 official recovered cases in the county.

As of 8 pm Sunday, San Bernardino County has confirmed 1,772 cases of COVID-19.  There have been 82 deaths in San Bernardino County.

As of 2 pm Monday, there have been 44,844 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California.  There have been 1,753 confirmed deaths in the state.

The numbers are increasing everyday.  They are not just numbers.  They are people.  The individual stories are heartbreaking:

An employee at the Ironwood Prison, near Blythe, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Monday, it was announced that Colorado and Nevada have joined a pact that already includes California, Washington, and Oregon.  The states will work together to develop a plan to lift restrictions on daily life and reopen economies:

During his daily news conference on Monday, Gov. Newsom chastised those who were seen at crowded beaches over the weekend.  “This virus doesn’t take the weekends off,” Newsom said. “The only thing that will set us back is people stopping to practice physical distancing and appropriate social distancing. That’s the only thing that’s going to slow down our ability to reopen this economy.”

As the Washington Post reports, U.S. intelligence agencies issued dire warnings about COVID-19 in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for the Trump administration in January and February, months during which the President and other officials downplayed the threat of the virus.

The White House announced on Monday their plans to, going forward, increase America’s capacity for testing for the coronavirus:

During a press conference on Monday at the White House, President Trump said he “can’t image why” there have been reports of people injecting or inhaling disinfectants:

If you are having trouble trying to get the status of your stimulus check through the IRS website, the LA Times offers a suggestion: try using all caps.  No seriously.

Things are pretty quiet these days at the Palm Springs International Airport.  Last year at this time, there were about 130 flights per day. An airport official told the Desert Sun, there are currently about 20 flights in and out of Palm Springs each day “with very thin passenger loads.”

The La Quinta City Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday evening.  The mayor emailed the Desert Sun that, during the meeting, the council will discuss “our budget and the impacts of COVID-19 on our current revenue and projections for the next fiscal year.”

Two California business executives, who allegedly tried to make nearly $5 million off the pandemic-related shortage of masks and personal protective equipment, were arrested on Monday. They are accused of conspiring to commit wire fraud through a price-gouging operation involving their company.

Experts believe it’s likely that theme parks such as Disneyland will not reopen until at least January and, even then, attendance may only be at 50% of what it was before the pandemic.  So how would the theme park reopen and keep social distancing measures?  An alleged plan that has recently surfaced online, that some say was leaked by a Disney employee, would see things reopen with limited capacity, no parades, no castle shows, no firework displays and health checks performed at every security checkpoint. In addition, the protocol would require guests to sign a form, clearing Disney of any liability for potential exposure to the novel coronavirus.

KESQ’s John White will be doing his anchor shift at home this week:

Thinking about some takeout?  Here are some options in the Coachella Valley:

Aprovecha en esta cuarentena nuestros PAQUETES SUPER ECONOMICOS FAMILIARES en La Noria Fonda Cenaduría. Paquetes desde…

Posted by La Noria – Fonda, Cenaduria y Cafe on Saturday, April 25, 2020

Open for Take-Out 11am-9pm!!

Posted by Tack Room Tavern on Sunday, April 26, 2020

That’s all for this evening. Stay safe. Stay smart. Stay home.

Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs.

Important information:

Congressman Raul Ruiz has posted a list of local resources and information.

The Washington Post offers plenty of ways that you can help during the coronavirus pandemic.

If you see someone price gouging, there is now a number for that.

The New York Times has an interactive map where you can track every coronavirus case in the United States.

The Washington Post is out with a guide to what you should know about the coronavirus.

Here is a memo by the Department of Homeland security identifying critical infrastructure workers.

The United Way of the Desert has assembled a nice list of information and resources available during the coronavirus here.

These are scary and anxious times.  Be safe and kind to each other out there and, please, remember to wash your hands.

Anything we missed? Let us know about it.