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.
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As of 4 pm Friday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:
- 4,817 people have tested positive for COVID-19. 61 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours.
- 204 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. There were 12 new people reported dead in the last 24 hours.
- There are currently 193 confirmed cases hospitalized, with 79 of them in the ICU.
- There have been 2,480 official recovered cases in the county.
- The county has conducted 66,576 tests.
https://twitter.com/kevinduncliffe/status/1258893235734208512
As of 4 pm Friday, San Bernardino County has confirmed 2,629 cases of COVID-19. There have been 11 deaths in San Bernardino County.
As of 2:30 pm, there have been 63,698 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California. There have been 2,610 confirmed deaths in the state.
The numbers are increasing everyday. They are not just numbers. They are people. The individual stories are heartbreaking:
A 17-Year-Old Honor Student Who Loved Making TikToks Has Died Of The Coronavirus https://t.co/rfFLRv8owY
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) May 8, 2020
Rep. Maxine Waters discloses that her sister has died of #coronavirus. https://t.co/15ZLGJe1tM pic.twitter.com/7Ld7HiqKDx
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) May 8, 2020
A Nebraska woman says she's heartbroken by Smithfield Foods' response after sharing that her grandfather died from the coronavirus and that her aunt and uncle, also employees at their pork processing plant became ill. https://t.co/z92Hp8VoUn
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 8, 2020
After a month-long battle with the novel coronavirus, longtime boxing trainer and popular Manhattan bar owner Jimmy Glenn has died. He was 89. #RIP https://t.co/0GC4XfB1gX
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) May 8, 2020
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced the California will send every voter a mail-in ballot for the November election. Newsom said sending postage-paid ballots will be the best solution to the anxiety voters may feel if they had to go to the polls. Republicans criticized the move, with Donald Trump’s campaign saying that it could “undermine election security.” At least 67 people got coronavirus after going to or working the polls during Wisconsin’s election on April 7.
CA is now a vote by mail state.
Every registered voter will receive a mail-in ballot for the Nov election.
We’ll also provide safe in-person voting options.
The right to vote is foundational to our democracy. No one should be forced to risk their health to exercise that right.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 8, 2020
JUST IN: the @realDonaldTrump campaign has responded to this news out of California.. Spox @TimMurtaugh tells @CNN said this move will “undermine election security”.
Full statement:
via @DJJudd https://t.co/jSHczb9fei pic.twitter.com/fk3HHjQhSS— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) May 8, 2020
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors met again on Friday, just three days after punting on a decision on whether or not to rescind four items in the county’s health orders. Two of the supervisors did not wear masks to the hearing.
Wonder how these guys will vote on the face-covering order, lol pic.twitter.com/j0M5WiHjvU
— Sam Metz (@metzsam) May 8, 2020
Sam Metz of the Desert Sun has was following the proceedings and, well…
""A couple little bats in China and 70,000 communist agents spread it around the world," Glenn Stull said. "I'm tellin' you this whole thing's a hoax!" pic.twitter.com/DclbIN4f1R
— Sam Metz (@metzsam) May 8, 2020
aaaand we've entered Godwin's Law territory: "Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people, tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people," Jessica Shermans says. Only other time with these restrictions in history was in Nazi Germany, she adds. pic.twitter.com/yIBcn7GIz1
— Sam Metz (@metzsam) May 8, 2020
"InfoWars & Alex Jones are alive and well," Shannon Denton says. pic.twitter.com/tNsEqKgzEt
— Sam Metz (@metzsam) May 8, 2020
As for how the board is handled things, Jeff Horeseman of the Press Enterprise has that:
OK, a lot just happened.
Supervisor Chuck Washington tried to speed things up in order to get to the point of deliberation. Many folks in audience showed up to hear us deliberate, he said.
— Jeff Horseman (@JeffHorseman) May 8, 2020
Washington – all the K-12 schools want us to keep the school closure order. Proposed keeping that, but rescinding the other three.
There was hooting and hollering in the board chambers throughout all this.
We're now back to public comment.
— Jeff Horseman (@JeffHorseman) May 8, 2020
How did it end? Well…
SUPERVISORS RESCIND ORDERS 5-0
— Sam Metz (@metzsam) May 9, 2020
The Press Secretary for Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for coronavirus. President Donald Trump told the media on Friday morning that a “press person” named Katie had tested positive. Before releasing her name, NBC confirmed with Katie Miller her diagnosis. She told them she is asymptomatic. A White House official told NBC that Miller was at the White House and was showing “symptoms” on Friday morning before discovering the positive result.
VP Pence's press secretary Katie Miller confirms to @NBCNews that she has tested positive to COVID-19. She says she's asymptomatic. Miller's husband is Stephen Miller, a top aide to President Trump.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 8, 2020
As this marks the second positive case in the White House this week, the administration has added new procedures including the staff wearing face coverings and the White House press corps being tested:
NEW WH procedures after aides test positive for coronavirus. -Deep/more frequent cleaning of West Wing
-Requiring staff who serve president & close to him throughout day to wear face coverings
-Members of WH press corps will be offered free testing @carolelee @albamonica— Susan Kroll (@suekroll) May 8, 2020
A document from the Department of Homeland Security obtained by Yahoo News reveals that the Secret Service has 11 current coronavirus cases. The document also shows that 23 members of the Secret Service have recovered from COVID-19 and an additional 60 employees are currently self-quarantining.
The Associated Press has uncovered a trove of emails that show the nation’s top public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spending weeks working on guidance to help the country deal with a public health emergency, only to see their work quashed by top White House officials with little explanation. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday that the documents had not been approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. According to AP, the emails show that Redfield did actually clear the guidance.
The state allowed some retailers to reopen on Friday by using curbside and pickup options. The Desert Sun caught up with would-be shoppers on El Paseo, with some confused as to why more stores on the street, such as the Apple store, weren’t open. “I was hoping they were going to be open,” one shopper said. “I had heard that some stores were going to be opening again today.”
Desert Water Agency reminds stores, businesses and any unoccupied buildings that may be reopening after a long time off to run stagnant water down the drain before drinking or using for other typical uses. Water sitting still in pipes for extended periods can build up microbes or mold and become discolored. “Seasonal residents are familiar with flushing water when they return from long absences,” DWA Lab Director, Paul Monroy said in a press release. “Out of an abundance of caution and pursuant to CDC guidelines, we’re recommending any buildings that have been vacant to flush water when they return to operation.”
Rancho Mirage reopened its dog park as well as its pickleball and tennis courts on Friday.
A New York Times opinion piece used cell phone data to determine how crowded certain types of businesses get and how long people tend to linger at each in an effort to determine which types of businesses might be safer to reopen than others. The analysis was an effort to find potential third option between just keeping everything closed or opening everything up with a health risk. Once again, it is just an opinion piece, but it is an interesting read about what types of places are more likely to be, in their words, “super-spreaders” through the lens of contagion like a yoga class, a busy corner store or a crowded neighborhood bar.
The Palm Springs Air Museum continued their Friday Flyovers over parts of the Coachella Valley today. They also posted a pretty cool video of last week’s flyover:
Finally, I know these are strange and hard times – so please, especially on this Mother’s Day Weekend, be kind to each other. We are all in this together.
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.
