Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Saturday, May 30

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 Friday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 7,486 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 323 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

Note: Riverside County is now releasing data only Monday – Friday

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

  • 5,200 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 204 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

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

  • 109.506 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 4,136 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

The numbers increase everyday.  They are more than just numbers.  They are people we have lost:

 

The Desert Sun looked at the data and as San Bernardino County officials continue to push the governor for more parts of the economy reopen, the county’s own public health data released on Saturday shows that COVID-19 is spreading above the allowed limits.   5,200 people in the county have been infected by the virus, and 204 people have died. That’s a case fatality rate of 3.9%. The county is testing at a rate of 71 tests per 100,000 residents a day, far below the 150 per day requited by the state in order to move through the next stage of reopening.  Despite falling short, county staff told the state they could achieve the metric and were allowed to move forward with reopening.

The United States Supreme Court rejected a request from a California church to block limitations on the number of people who could attend religious services during the coronavirus pandemic.  The decision was 5-4.  Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberals on the bench, and wrote separately to explain his vote. “Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” Roberts wrote. “Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports, and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed on Friday that the spread of coronavirus has stabilized in California, due to the stay-at-home order and other health guidelines.  “It’s because of your extraordinary work, 40 million of you, we bought time,” he said during his daily news conference on Friday. “We never allowed that curve to take off like other parts of this country. We’ve had stability for weeks and weeks and weeks.”

Riverside County is now allowing short-term rentals again, as of Friday – a day which also saw 10 new reported deaths of coronavirus in the county.   “This is another step forward in the reopening process and supports hospitality, a pillar of the Fourth District economy,”  Riverside Co. Supervisor V.Manuel Perez said in a press release. “Rental properties can be safe environments for guests to stay in while providing income to families.”  While rentals are once again allowed county-wide, individual cities may still have an order in place not allowing them. The order, which does not allow for hotels or motels, offers the following guidance:

  • Rentals allowed in private homes where the guest rents the entire home and does not
    share any common areas with others. Home-sharing is not allowed.
  • No events or group gatherings are permitted until approved by the State of California. Only
    guests registered for the home should be on premise.
  • Complete a deep cleaning after each rental, using products and protocols outlined by the
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • Ensure a 24-hour reservation gap between when a guest departs and a new arrival

Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the CDC, said that the coronavirus started spreading in the United States days before the government imposed a travel ban. During a three-week period starting at mid-January to early February, the coronavirus had already infected several Americans, according to the CDC. “As America begins to reopen, looking back at how COVID-19 made its way to the United States will contribute to a better understanding to prepare for the future,” he said during a call with reporters on Friday.

The Superintendents of the LA and San Diego school districts — whose combined districts represent 915,000 children and workers — said on Friday the state’s school districts need more funding and assertive health department intervention or they can’t consider reopening campuses in the fall. “Opening our schools will not be as easy as separating desks or placing pieces of tape on the floor,” they said in a statement. “A robust system of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing will need to be in place before we can consider reopening schools. Local health authorities, not school districts, have to lead the way on testing, contact tracing and a clear set of protocols on how to respond to any occurrence of the virus.”

The Palm Springs Air Museum is reopening on Monday. The facility says they will operate as an open-air facility, with all hangar doors will remaining open during business hours:

Here are some of the most clicked links in our updates over the past week, in case you missed them:

“The pandemic isn’t over. But America sure seems over it.” The Washington Post examines the current state of America in a post you might want to set aside five minutes to read.

As hair salons reopen, many are asking what the safest practices are for when heading to a salon.  This article has some tips for customers (speaking of tips, be sure to tip your stylist or barber a little extra, if you can, as they are required to do a lot more work these days to keep things safe).  For those in the industry, here are the guidelines from California on how to safely open.

The Palm Springs Windmills Tours are now being conducted as self-driving tours.  You take our own car through the windmill farm and there are some cool photo opps along the way (that you are allowed to get out of your car for).  Here’s the info.

Restaurants are reopening around the Coachella Valley, Riverside County, and the country – which has left a lot of people asking: is it safe to sit inside a restaurant with the air conditioning running? The Washington Post has a nice article delving into that very question here.  For those without the time to read it (or if a paywall appears), the best move is to sit outside (a non-covered patio if possible) and, if you are going to opt for indoors, look for a seat near an open window (not likely when it’s 110 degrees) or at least near the AC register or vent where air is being pumped in.

Finally…

That’s all for this evening. Stay safe. Stay smart. Stay home.  Updates will resume on Monday.

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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