Tag: COVID-19

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Report: 18 States In Coronavirus ‘Red Zone’

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom, obtained an unpublished report prepared for the White House coronavirus task force regarding 18 states currently in the coronavirus “red zone.” Included in the report were recommendations to roll back reopening measures as more and more cases are confirmed and test positivity continues to rise. From CNN:

The “red zone” is defined in the 359-page report as “those core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) and counties that during the last week reported both new cases above 100 per 100,000 population, and a diagnostic test positivity result above 10%.”

The report outlines measures counties in the red zone should take. It encourages residents to “wear a mask at all times outside the home and maintain physical distance.” And it recommends that public officials “close bars and gyms” and “limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer,” which would mean rolling back reopening provisions in these places.

The report comes despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that states reopen and a push to send the nation’s children back to school, even as cases increase.

“Now we’re open, and we want to stay open and we will stay open. We’re not closing. We’ll put out the fires as they come out,” Trump said at a White House event earlier this month.

The 18 states currently in the red zone for cases: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. These 11 states are in the red zone for test positivity over ten percent: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Washington. All of those – except for Washington state – are in the red zone for cases as well.

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News Round-Up: July 17, 2020

Broadway star Norm Lewis
Some news items you might have missed: • What To Watch This Weekend: I’ll definitely be watching Tony Award nominee and all-around super-talent Norm Lewis in concert with SiriusXM’s Seth Rudetsky at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Broadway audiences know the oh-so-handsome Lewis from his performances in Phantom of the Opera, Once on This Island, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago and more. Continue reading “News Round-Up: July 17, 2020”

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Trump Admin: Hospitals To Bypass CDC, Send Coronavirus Data To HHS

Donald Trump
In a move that surprised many health officials, the Trump administration has ordered all data regarding the treatment of coronavirus patients to be sent directly to the Department of Health and Human Services instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In light of Donald Trump’s claims the virus death count figures have been ‘inflated,‘ health experts worry the data could be distorted for political gain. From the New York Times:

The new instructions are contained in a little-noticed document posted this week on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. From now on, H.H.S., and not the C.D.C., will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.

Officials say the change will streamline data gathering and assist the White House coronavirus task force in allocating scarce supplies like personal protective gear and the drug remdesivir. Some hospital officials welcome the move, saying it will relieve them of responding to requests from multiple federal agencies, though others said the C.D.C. should be collecting the data.

“The C.D.C. is the right agency to be at the forefront of collecting the data,” said Dr. Bala Hota, the chief analytics officer at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Public health experts have long expressed concerns that the administration is politicizing science and undermining the disease control centers; four former C.D.C. directors, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, said as much in an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Washington Post. The data collection shift reinforced those fears.

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CA Governor Shuts Down Restaurants, Bars, Theaters & More Due To COVID-19 Surge

Gov. Gavin Newsom (CA)

Gov. Gavin (image via Facebook)
Governor Gavin Newsom of California has announced on Monday he’s moving his state back to a modified version of his original stay-at-home order after reports that there had been 8,358 new COVID-19 cases reported in the state over the past 24 hours. Additionally, the number of deaths in the Golden State due to the virus at this writing totals 7,053 according to Johns Hopkins University. More from Deadline:

Hospitalizations over the past 14 days are up 28 percent. ICU admissions have risen 20 percent. Both of those counts are down in comparison to where they were two weeks ago, from 50 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

The test positivity rate, according to state figures, has risen to about 7.7 percent over the last seven days. That’s up substantially.

As a result, “We are moving back into a ‘modification mode’ of our original stay-at-home order,” said Newsom. “This is a new statewide action, effective today.”

The governor announced that he is requiring all counties to close their restaurants, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, wineries, zoos and bars.

Additionally, L.A. and 29 other counties on the state’s monitoring list must close fitness centers, places of worship, nail and hair salons and indoor malls. Other L.A.-local counties impacted include Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego, Orange and virtually every other county in Southern California.

Newsom did not announce an end date to the re-instated order.

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Chris Wallace Calls Out Betsy DeVos For Threatening To Defund Schools

Good for Fox News’ Chris Wallace for calling out so-called Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Wallace asked DeVos about a threat she and Donald Trump have issued saying they plan to cut off funding for schools that don’t agree to re-opening schools this fall during the coronavirus pandemic. “Both you and the president have threatened to cut off funding for schools systems that don’t open fully in the fall,” Wallace explained. “Are you and the president unilaterally going to cut off funding that’s been approved by Congress — and most of the money goes to disadvantaged students or students with disabilities?” First of all, many school systems do intend on delivering classes online at the very least. So those teachers and administrators ARE trying to do what they can safely. Second, the idea that the re-opening of schools is only about students is ludicrous. Schools need adults – teachers and staff – to operate. Children could be bringing the coronavirus to school and infecting those adults. OR passing it on to other students who could then infect their grandparents…#smh Watch below.

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Filed Under ‘Life Comes At You Fast’

I really don’t need to comment. I’ll just let this all speak for itself. On April 28, a Facebook user named Richard Rose in Ohio posted the above message. On July 1, he was officially quarantined having tested positive for the coronavirus. The next day, he shared this: Shortly before his death from COVID-19 on July 4, this was posted on his Facebook: I’ll add to this the tale of a 30-year-old Texas man via The Daily Mail:

A Texas man has died after attending a “Covid party” because he thought coronavirus is a hoax, authorities said.

The man was 30 years old at the time of his death, according to Methodist Healthcare Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jane Appleby.

Appleby told news organizations that the patient, who has not been named, had attended a so-called Covid party prior to contracting coronavirus.

“This is a party held by somebody diagnosed by the Covid virus and the thought is to see if the virus is real and to see if anyone gets infected,” Appleby told News 4 San Antonio.

The man who attended the party then became critically ill.

While in the hospital, Appleby said that just before he died, he looked at his nurse and said, “I think I made a mistake, I thought this was a hoax, but it’s not.”

Appleby also told KSAT that, “He didn’t really believe. He thought the disease was a hoax. He thought he was young and he was invincible and wouldn’t get affected by the disease.”

I get no joy from sharing this. But, it’s an obvious cautionary tale to those who continue to refuse to wear a mask or even believe the COVID-19 crisis exists. (h/t Boy Culture)

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Two Theaters Approved By Actors Equity To Resume Performances

Woman on stage in a play

Woman on stage in a play Theatermania reports that Actors Equity Association (AEA), the national labor union representing stage actors and stage managers, has approved two Massachusetts theaters to produce new productions in the very near future. Barrington Stage Company and Berkshire Theatre Group have both worked with AEA to move forward with their plans.

Barrington Stage Company is producing Harry Clarke, a one-man show that will employ two Equity members, a performer, and a stage manager. It begins performances in August.

Berkshire Theatre Group is mounting the musical Godspell, an outdoor production with a cast of about 10 and two stage managers.

Both theaters have agreed to safety features that include testing for Equity members and those who come in contact with them.

Other new measures to ensure the safety of workers and audiences: Berkshire Theatre Group, for example, will stage Godspell outdoors for 96 audience members.

Barrington Stage Company is using its indoor facilities but has removed seating, reducing its house capacity to 163 down from over 500. Patrons will be required to wear masks.

It also has committed to an isolated backstage area and regular electrostatic spraying to clean the facilities. Additional entrances and exits are also being built, and all performances will be intermissionless.

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News Round-Up: July 6, 2020

Walk The Moon lead singer Nicholas Petricca (photo: Anna Lee)
Some news items you might have missed: • Global Pride 2020: More than 57 million people from more than 163 countries joined the 27-hour virtual event, Global Pride 2020, that took place on June 27. Major artists including Laverne Cox, Elton John, Adam Lambert, Olivia Newton-John, Kesha, and Pabllo Vittar appeared alongside world leaders including former US Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and openly gay Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. • Andrew Christian Blog: I’m not saying they’re sugar daddies but check out this list of the ‘6 Richest Gay Men in the World.’ • Instinct Magazine: On the last day of Pride Month, Nicholas Petricca (pictured above), lead singer of pop band Walk The Moon (‘Shut Up and Dance’), came out as bisexual on his Instagram page. Petricca posted a photo of a quote by Harvey Milk followed by a four-minute video where he started the video by saying, “Hi. My name is Nicholas. I’m the lead singer of a band called WALK THE MOON and I’m bisexual.”

• CinemaBlend: Matt Bomer explains why it’s been so important to tell the story of a gay superhero on DC Universe’s Doom Patrol. In his role as ‘Larry Trainor/Negative Man,’ Bomer says he gets to not only address the issue of coming out, but overcoming the guilt and shame many LGBTQ people feel in their journey. • Heavy: Corey Hannon, who became infamous over the weekend for heading out to gay mecca Fire Island believing he was infected by the coronavirus, has been banned from all Fire Island bars and restaurants for his shenanigans. • Pink News: Marvel star Tessa Thompson says her bisexual character, Valkyrie, will ‘push the bounds of’ queer representation in future films. Thompson has already told fans to expect a queer storyline in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, teasing that as Asgard’s new king, “she needs to find her queen.” • ABC News: About six-and-a-half years after criticizing then-President Barack Obama for doing the same, Donald Trump is weighing in on the controversial Redskins team name. The franchise put out a statement on Friday saying that it plans to “undergo a thorough review of the team’s name.” With a name change seeming all but certain for Washington’s NFL team, Trump tweeted his disapproval on Monday.