Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Thursday, July 2

By
Casey Dolan
-
Mission Shores Rancho Mirage (?: Frank Lopez)

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 Thursday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 18,720 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.  679 people have been reported positive in the last 24 hours.
  • 465 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. This number includes two people reported dead in the last 24 hours.

Here’s the latest from the Coachella Valley:

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

  • 13,152 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 265 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

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

  • 242,854 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 6,205 people are confirmed to have died in the state of CA from the coronavirus.

Before the updates, two quick things:

1) This will be the last update until Tuesday, July 7.  I need a break.  We all do, amirite? Please, have a good 4th of July Holiday.  Be safe, don’t gather in large groups, and don’t scare my cats and all the neighborhood dogs by setting off a ton of illegal fireworks all damn weekend. 

2) As crappy as things have been over the last couple of days, weeks, months, and I wanna say years?, there is hope. Even those who resisted being smart, leading by example, and caring for their community are now coming around to the realities of life during a pandemic – which means we all need to wear a mask if we want to slow the spread and have some sort of economy. It’s hard enough just worrying about staying safe, the security of your job and paying your rent everyday, but to throw in having to deal with some asshole refusing to wear a mask because of dumb tribal political reasons just makes everything ten times worse.  But look below, even those you never would’ve thought would come around are now doing so…and that’s great for all of us:

Now on with the updates:

A Lake Elsinore man posted his regret on Facebook about contracting the coronavirus after he attended a party in June. A day later, he died from COVID-19. “Some of you may know, but most don’t,” Thomas Macias, 51, wrote. “I … went out a couple of weeks ago” and contracted the coronavirus. “Because of my stupidity I put my mom and sisters and my family’s health in jeopardy.  This has been a very painful experience Hopefully with God’s help,” he added, “I’ll be able to survive this.” He died the next day.

Imperial County has stopped indoor religious services, closed county parks, and limited nonessential retail to curbside pickup. The county has only two hospitals and has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The City of Palm Springs has added a few additional times when wearing a mask is required in the city:

  • Outdoors, standing, walking, hiking, bicycling or running, on any sidewalk that is adjacent to a business.
  • In fitness centers, including gyms, yoga studios and dance fitness studios. They must be worn at all times, including during exercise.
  • Picking-up food, or in-person dining, at a restaurant that is allowed to be open.

It’s tough to keep up these days with what is open and what is not.  The county put out an infographic to help:

Things were looking so good in California, until they were not. So what happened?  Officials told Politico they put too much faith that residents would continue social distancing in bars, restaurants and backyards.  As far as California’s leadership through the pandemic, a Harvard professor of health policy told the Wall Street Journal there was “no medical rationale” for letting California reopen so quickly. “I’m surprised,” he added. “Gov. Newsom seemed like he understood the data and basic science.”

The governor warned Californians to follow health orders heading into the holiday weekend on Thursday. “If 40 million people want to turn their back on civil society and abuse the rules, laws and regulations on a consistent basis, then society begins to erode,” he said. “If you’re not seeing behavioral changes then we think citations are appropriate where there’s abuse.” Newsom added that there’s a financial incentive for counties to enforce health orders: The new budget has $2.5 billion in local funding contingent on enforcing orders that county health officers have issued – which is a much better reward than ignoring health orders and getting invited to wake up at 3 am to be on Fox News.

Congressman Raul Ruiz appeared on CNN to speak about helping Black, Latino, and Native American communities, who are disproportionately being affected by coronavirus:

Meanwhile, his opponent in November’s election took to Twitter to express that she believes “its criminal” to ask senior citizens and public employees to wear masks when its a little hot outside:

With dining inside not an option in Riverside County for at least a few weeks, restaurants are going to have to get creative.  One effort is underway at Eureka! Indian Wells, which has announced a new whiskey club, which gives those who join a new, small-batch bourbon to take home every month, plus other goodies:

If you are a restaurant trying something creative, we want to help. Let us know what you are up to.

Finally…

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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