Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Saturday evening, May 2

By
Casey Dolan
-
(?: Sue Farris)

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 4 pm Saturday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 4,164 people have tested positive for COVID-19.  85 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours.  
  • 161 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. There were 5 people reported dead in the last 24 hours.
  • There are currently 210 confirmed cases hospitalized, with 83 of them in the ICU.
  • There have been 1,945 official recovered cases in the county.
  • The county has conducted 52,577 tests.

As of 3 pm Saturday, San Bernardino County has confirmed 2,182 cases of COVID-19.  There have been 97 deaths in San Bernardino County.

As of 2 pm Saturday, there have been 52,596 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California.  There have been 2,159 confirmed deaths in the state.

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

The US recorded an estimated 37,100 excess deaths in March and the first two weeks of April as COVID-19 spread.  That’s nearly 13,500 more than are now attributed to the coronavirus for that same period, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health. The Yale team’s analysis suggests that the number of excess deaths accelerated as the pandemic took hold. “I think people need to be aware that the data they’re seeing on deaths is very incomplete,”  a Yale professor of epidemiology who led the analysis told the Post.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says a second round of coronavirus cases is “inevitable” come fall.  “I’m almost certain it will come back, because the virus is so transmissible and it’s globally spread,” he said earlier this week.  Fauci believes Americans could be in for “a bad fall and a bad winter” if the country is unprepared.  CNN looks at what can be done to try to stop it.

After the top watchdog at the Department of Health and Human Services released a report on the shortages in testing and personal protective gear at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump replaced her.

New evidence suggests people who test positive for the coronavirus can stay infectious for longer than previously thought, according to LA County’s public health director. “A person may be able to infect other people for a longer period of time than was initially thought when we had the guidance that people needed to self-isolate for 7 days, plus 72 hours after fever and symptoms subsided,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer told KTLA. The county’s new guidance is that they should stay home and away from others for at least 10 days after symptoms first appear, and 72 hours after fever and symptoms subside, without the use of fever-reducing medication.

As Riverside County Supervisors plan to consider lifting the health orders of the county’s health officer this week, Congressman Mark Takano of Riverside has voiced concerns. “I am concerned by the Supervisors’ proposal to rescind the COVID-19 public health orders made by Dr. Cameron Kaiser to keep our communities safe,” Takano said in a statement. “Any actions related to public health made during this pandemic without consultation with and approval by scientific and medical experts are dangerous.”  The congressman added, “While I’m sensitive to the eagerness of getting back to normal, we must ensure that any plans to reopen our local economy are supported by scientific and medical data proving that reopening businesses will not pose a danger to workers and families.”

Ralphs and Food 4 Less plan to offer COVID-19 testing to their employees based on symptoms and medical need, the company announced on Saturday.  Testing will likely begin in a couple of weeks. “Tests in California will leverage a combination of at-home kits and public testing locations,” a spokesman told KTLA.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday that he was closing Orange County beaches because, unfortunately, people were gathering in crowds and not practicing social distancing.  On Saturday, people in Laguna Beach gathered in crowds and did not practice social distancing to protest the move:

Meanwhile, there are no crowds at the Huntington Beach Pier:

A Victorville gym is defying health orders and reopened this weekend. “This brought me to a moment in my life where I realized I was being a B****!! By letting down the people that matter most to our community!!” the owner of GYM HD wrote on Instagram and Facebook. “By not providing a service that helps them get through all the bull s***! And gives them hope, strength, and health.” A spokesperson for the city said officials were “appalled by The Gym’s egregious violation” of the county’s public health order and that the gym has been issued a notice of the order’s violation.  The gym now has three days to comply with it or “escalate the situation to a citation and further.”

Frankie’s Italian Bakery in Cathedral City is helping local musicians during the pandemic.  The eatery is exchanging free loaves of bread to customers who donate a gift card, then giving the gift cards to music artists. “We put the word out there for people to come in and just donate a gift card from one of the local supermarkets and they drop their cards in here,” the manager of Frankie’s told KESQ. “We give the donor a loaf of bread and then musicians come in and they come in regularly. We don’t ask any questions and we just hand them one of the gift cards,” Arias added.

About 2,000 free meals were handed out in Coachella on Saturday by Sikh temple Gurdwara Sahib and Chandi Group USA:

Photos: Sikh temple and Chandi Group USA distribute food in Coachella during coronavirus. https://bit.ly/35rRhxZ

Posted by Desert Sun on Saturday, May 2, 2020

Sure, being on lockdown sucks, but Yahoo explains its the best time to do an “armpit detox”

Finally, Chicago’s iconic lion statues are now following the health orders to wear a mask:

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.

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