Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Tuesday, June 23

By
Casey Dolan
-
(?: Sue Farris)

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 Tuesday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 14,431 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.  631 people have been reported positive in the last 24 hours.  That number is the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began. 
  • 431 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. This number includes 7 people reported dead in the last 24 hours.

Here’s the latest from the Coachella Valley:

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

  • 10,010 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 234 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

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

  • 190,394 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 5,618 people are confirmed to have died in the state of CA from the coronavirus.

 

The Coachella Valley might be seeing less snowbirds this fall and winter.  As it turns out,  Canada’s health care system will only cover citizens traveling abroad for three days, so they typically supplement their health coverage by purchasing travel insurance – and those policies aren’t covering coronavirus these days.

A Palm Springs City Hall employee has tested positive for COVID-19.  The city sent six employees who had direct exposure to the employee home with orders to get tested and quarantine.

You have probably heard about numerous businesses closing for cleaning in the Coachella Valley after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.  As the Desert Sun points out, the county does not require this. In fact, businesses aren’t required to do anything other than maybe take a call from the health department offering suggestions.

And this is why, despite things reopening, we all need to be smart and safe.  There is a virus out there spreading and our leaders have basically left it up to us to figure out how to safely negotiate how to live during a pandemic. One would think a business owner would openly disclose a positive case, allowing those who may have been in contact with COVID-19 to get tested and take precautions because, you know, humanity. At the same time, many business owners also likely worry about having their reputations tarnished as word spreads on social media. Bottom line: Most business owners care about their customers and the community and are doing things right.  But, even by doing things right, there will still to be positive cases.  That’s just the way this thing works and most of us get that and understand.  Of course, there are some business who are not practicing safe guidelines and are putting their customers, employees, and the community at risk and, until our public officials do more to get them to change their ways, the best we can do is to choose not to do business with them.

What precautions should small businesses take when it comes to employees during the pandemic?  The Press Enterprise asked a lawyer, who shared numerous things including the biggest: if an employee tests positive, they need to leave the workplace and go home. There is even a refundable tax credit available if this happens.

Chapman University economists are predicting an end to the recession in the US, with an economic recovery expected to start next month. And while the end of the recession would be good news, they do predict that bankruptcies, business closures and changes in consumer preferences and lifestyles will keep spending from getting back to pre-COVID levels.

The state of Nevada saw a record 462 new confirmed cases reported Tuesday.  Cases in the state started to quickly increase came amid an uptick that started about two weeks after casinos in Las Vegas reopened.

During a rally at a Phoenix church on Tuesday, President Donald Trump mentioned that he didn’t know the “19” in COVID-19 is there to indicate “2019”.  He also, once again, showed he’s a racist:

Earlier in the day he complained that he wasn’t getting enough positive stories written about him during a pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 120,000 Americans:

A warning to show just how quickly the virus can spread, Shasta County health officials say a man in his 20s showing coronavirus symptoms attended a “large family gathering” a few weeks ago.  He then tested positive.  20 people at the gathering were asked to self-quarantine.  12 of them have now tested positive and most are showing symptoms.

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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