Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Tuesday evening, May 12

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 4 pm Tuesday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 5,248 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
    • 59 people have been reported to have tested positive in the last 24 hours
  • 225 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.
    • 8 people have been reported dead in the last 24 hours.
  • There are currently 185 confirmed cases hospitalized.
    • 69 of those people in the ICU.
  • There have been 2,911 official recovered cases in the county.
  • The county has conducted 75,069 tests.
    • There have been 1,920 reported tests in the last 24 hours.

As of 4 pm Tuesday, San Bernardino County has confirmed 3,078 cases of COVID-19.  There have been 120 deaths in San Bernardino County.

As of 1 pm Tuesday, there have been 69,715 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California.  There have been 2,802 confirmed deaths in the state.

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

 

A new report is calling a choir practice in Washington State a superspreader event. The act of singing may have spread the virus in the air and onto surfaces, according to a report from Skagit County Public Health. “One individual present felt ill, not knowing what they had, and ended up infecting 52 other people,” said the lead author of the report.  Two choir members died of COVID-19 after attending the March 10 practice.  Only eight members  reported not deeling any ill effects. The rehearsal was held  two weeks before the state’s stay-at-home order.

In the vast majority of cases, COVID-19 is a respiratory infection that causes fever, aches, tiredness, sore throat, cough and, in more severe cases, shortness of breath and respiratory distress. But now researches are seeing an increasing number of reports of neurological symptoms. Several reports have described COVID-19 patients suffering from Guillain–Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder where the immune system responds to an infection and ends up mistakenly attacking nerve cells, resulting in muscle weakness and eventually paralysis.

The city of La Quinta voted to require facemasks in grocery stores and pharmacies on Monday, following Riverside County voting away the mask order last week.   The city’s order also “strongly recommend” the continued use of face masks and physical distancing in all other stores and businesses in the city.  It’s not clear why the city thinks masks are vital in a grocery store, but not quite as vital in another type of store.  The council also voted to allow driving ranges and private golf and tennis lessons.  They also revised short-term rentals to be defined as 30 days (down from 60).  The 3.5 hour closed-door meeting also saw a vote in support of a letter generated by Riverside County to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting that the county, who voted against the input of their own health officer last week, be allowed to use a local approach to reopen, rather than state health guidelines.

Speaking of which, the county’s board of supervisors unveiled their alternative to the state’s guidelines for reopening things like dine-in restaurants, offices, childcare, and retail and it allows for many more COVID-19 infections and deaths.  Instead of waiting until the county records fewer than 10 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents and no deaths for 14 days, the county is just looking for a downward trend in the number of new coronavirus cases reported for 14 days and a downward trend in the percentage of county residents that test positive.

Meanwhile, it appears that Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home orders will remain in place for another three months:

 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that restaurants and offices where workers aren’t able to work from home can reopen for dine-in service in counties certified as meeting state benchmarks for addressing the pandemic, but they should implement changes to guard against spreading the virus.  “As we begin these modifications — and we already have reopened 70-plus percent of the economy — as we begin to modify with these dine-in opportunities, let’s make sure we do so cognizant not only of our own health but the health of our most vulnerable and those are our seniors,” Newsom said.

 

Twitter announced on Tuesday that employees of the company are now allowed to work from home…for as long as they want…even after the pandemic is over.  “Twitter was one of the first companies to go to a WFH [work from home] model in the face of COVID-19, but we don’t anticipate being one of the first to return to offices,” the company said in a statement.

All 23 campuses of the California State University system plan to go almost completely online for the fall.  Officials believe that there might be some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. “Our university when open without restrictions and fully in person… is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity,” Chancellor Timothy White said on Tuesday. “That approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now.”

House Democrats announced a huge COVI9-19 stimulus bill on Tuesday with a price tag expected to be more than $3 trillion. The legislation would have funding for state and local governments, coronavirus testing, and a new round of direct payments to Americans.  Republicans are instead focusing on shielding businesses and  corporations from potential lawsuits:

 

Johns Hopkins University is offering a free online course on contact tracing. “The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contact tracing across the country, requiring thousands of people to learn key skills quickly,” says the syllabus. “The job qualifications for contact tracing positions differ throughout the country and the world, with some new positions open to individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent.” You can learn more and register for the weeklong course, which began this week, here.

Riverside County is asking for people under 25 to get tested:

And finally, the mystery we posted about yesterday has been solved, though it has left us with more questions than answers:

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.

The New York Times has an interactive map where you can track every coronavirus case in the United States.

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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