Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Wednesday evening, April 1

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, and thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs.

As of 1:30 pm Wednesday, Riverside County officials have confirmed 429 people have tested positive for COVID-19.  There have been 13 confirmed deaths in the county.

As of 8 am Wednesday, San Bernardino County has confirmed 183 cases of COVID-19.  There has been 6 deaths in San Bernardino County.

As of 4 pm Wednesday, there have been 9,640 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California.  There have been 207 deaths in the state.

The state of California could face as many as 5,000 coronavirus deaths a week if the state’s stay-at-home policies are relaxed too early, a health official in Contra Costa County stated on Wednesday.

Some researchers believe coronavirus was circulating around Southern California in February. As the Press Enterprise reports, doctors throughout LA County started seeing a wave of patients with flu-like symptoms in February, which would’ve meant an unusual third wave of the seasonal flu.  While symptoms were up, the percent of laboratory specimens from these patients testing positive for the flu declined – which may mean that people were suffering from something other than the seasonal flu, with COVID-19 being a possibility.

An engineer deliberately ran a train off the tracks near the Port of LA in an attempt to crash into and damage the USNS Mercy hospital ship, according to officials.  Eduardo Moreno, 44, said he thought the ship was “suspicious” and did not believe “the ship is what they say it’s for.'”

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and the songwriter behind the title track from the movie “”That Thing You Do!” has died from coronavirus at the age of 52:

Economists are predicting economic output in the United States could fall as much as 9% this year, which would be more than three times the sharpest drop during the Great Recession.

Those on social security will be required to file a tax return to receive their $1,200 stimulus check due to some insane guidelines posted Wednesday by the Trump Administration:

Congressman Raul Ruiz has a three point plan to get supplies to healthcare professionals who desperately need them:

His opponent in this fall’s election tweeted this:

The UC schools will ease admissions requirements for students applying to its nine campuses this year.

Local real estate agents are giving home tours on Zoom and finding other creative ways to show and sell homes these days:

See all that Gallery Links II & III has to offer. Visit our website to take a video tour of our beautiful communities….

Posted by Gallery Homes on Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Based on the line at the Palm Springs Home Depot sent to us by Johnathon, there are a lot of home projects underway these days in the Coachella Valley.  And it seems the store is now set up for social distancing for those waiting in line.

Disneyland passholders are, understandably, upset they are still being charged for their season passes.

The City of Twentynine Palms has closed access to all playground and exercise equipment, as well as public restrooms in city parks

The city of La Quinta posted an open letter from the City Manager to residents addressing closed golf courses and pickleball courts,  making the legal case for the closings – and I can only assume some have been calling threatening to sue if they can’t play pickleball and, dude, this freakin’ town, man.

A Palm Desert orthodontist is using his 3-D printer to make masks for healthcare workers.

FIND Food Bank will be starting twice-monthly free food distributions in the parking lot across from the Palm Springs Convention Center beginning tomorrow.

Dringk, which had been providing everything from hot meals to groceries to toilet paper suffered an unexpected setback, but has hopes it can be resolved soon:

Denny’s delivered 200 meals to healthcare workers in Palm Springs.

Normally, the Neighbors 4 Neighbors program at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church feeds about 400 families per week.  Las week they served 655.

The travel time from LA to Palm Springs is unbelievable:

The Food Network’s Ina Garten has a a hell of a cocktail recipe for you:

That’s all for this evening.  Thanks for not doing any dumb April Fool’s jokes today.  As always, thank you for your support of Cactus Hugs.  Take care of yourself, your family, and your neighbors – and, please, be well.

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.

If you see someone price gouging, there is now a number for that.

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

The Washington Post is out with a guide to what you should know about the coronavirus.

Schools are closed, but free student meals are available.  Here is the information on meal programs during this time for each Coachella Valley school district.

Here is a memo by the Department of Homeland security identifying critical infrastructure workers.

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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