Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Monday, July 27

By
Casey Dolan
-
(?: Sharon Calcagno)

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 3 pm Monday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 35,187 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.  1,720 people have been reported positive since Friday.
  • 671 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. The county reported 34 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Here’s the latest from the Coachella Valley:

As of 3 pm Monday, San Bernardino County has confirmed:

  • 29,131 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19. That’s 2,335 cases reported since Friday.
  • 384 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.  This includes 12 people reported dead in the county since Friday.

As of 4 pm Monday, the State of California has confirmed:

      • 457,569 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
      • 8,496 people are confirmed to have died in the state of CA from the coronavirus.

As many coronavirus cases and coronavirus related deaths as there have been lately…and there have been a lot of cases and deaths…health officials in California believe that we may be at the beginning of a plateau. “We are at the phase of just beginning to flatten the curve, albeit at a higher level than before,”  a UCLA medical epidemiologist and infectious disease expert told the LA Times. “I would anticipate — depending upon the cooperation of the public — we would start seeing cases beginning to go down in the next couple of weeks.”

Just four days into Major League Baseball’s season, multiple games were cancelled and much doubt has been cast that the season will even finish after at least 14 members of the Miami Marlins tested positive for coronavirus:

Major League Baseball has had months, millions of dollars, and loads of resources to try to open the safest way possible. It all broke down in four days.  Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is saying it’s fine to send kids, teachers, and staff back to schools and colleges…with no plan and scarce resources.

Speaking of the Trump Administration and college-aged people…

Meanwhile, the President of the United States is clearly hard at work and focused on the most important issues:

 

Results of a COVID-19 antibody testing study in Riverside County indicate there may have been as many as 118,000 to 175,400 infections among residents. Officials say the finding underscores the need to wear face coverings as people may have the virus without any symptoms, then easily spread it to others when not wearing a mask or keeping six feet of distance.  “We continue to learn new information about coronavirus, and this survey adds important research to the growing knowledge of COVID-19,” said Riverside County Board Chair and Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “We still must protect everybody out there who is susceptible to getting sick, and we should do so by wearing face coverings, physical distancing, washing our hands and avoiding gatherings.”

A reminder: Perez and the other county supervisors turned two days of hearings on the original county mask order into a clown show and voted to do away with a mask order in early May.  

The city of Palm Springs has issued a new supplementary order that will require restaurants, bars, wineries, distilleries, and breweries to close from 11 pm until 5 am starting on Friday.  The move is intended to minimize large gatherings.

Senate Republicans released their coronavirus relief bill on Monday and they propose cutting weekly emergency unemployment benefits from $600 to $200 until states can bring a more complicated program online.  There are also several provisions not directly related to the coronavirus, including $1.8 billion for construction of a new FBI headquarters in Washington…and there’s a big reason for that:

Google announced on Monday that its employees will be working from home…for at least another year.

Microsoft looked at the effects that working from home was having on its employees and found that people were working about 4 hours a week more during the pandemic.  Why?  Well, researchers suggested that people were taking time out during the day for other domestic essentials such as walking their dog and teaching their child. So employees began work earlier and finished later.

A Riverside restaurant is getting creative in order to stay open and serve customers:

Finally…

Stay safe.  Wear a mask.  Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs.

These are stressful times for all of us. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and our desert community stronger. This link has some resources to help with coping and also numbers to call or text if you, or someone you know, feels overwhelmed.

Please, take care of yourself and each other. You are important. You are valued. You are loved. ??

Anything we missed? Let us know about it.

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