COVID UPDATES. TIME TO DECIDE ABOUT SPREADING COVID

[Incogbenzo77]

I live in one of the lower southern states and I read yesterday that covid cases have spiked 175%!! Very few people are wearing masks and everything seems to be back to business as usual for the most part. Luckily, I am not working right now due to health issues so I am pretty much still in quarantine except for grocery runs.

[Charon]

Some states hit pause, others press on amid spike in virus

Utah and Oregon put any further reopening of their economies on hold amid a spike in coronavirus cases, but there was no turning back Friday in such states as Texas, Arkansas and Arizona despite flashing warning signs there, too.

One by one, states are weighing the health risks from the virus against the economic damage from the stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions out of work over the past three months.

And many governors are coming down on the side of jobs, even though an Associated Press analysis this week found that cases are rising in nearly half the states — a trend experts attributed in part to the gradual reopening of businesses over the past few weeks.


Virus Outbreak New York | People walk by Rainbow clothing store Tuesday June 9 2020 in Mount Vernon N Y Counties north of New York City are reopening clothing stores as part of Phase 2 during the coronavirus pandemic AP Photo Mark Lennihan
COVID-19 impacts the world

Texas hit highs this week for hospitalizations and new COVID-19 cases, prompting Houston's top county official, Lina Hidalgo, to warn that "we may be approaching the precipice of a disaster." Meanwhile, the state went ahead with allowing restaurants to expand eat-in dining Friday to 75% of capacity, up from 50%.

"Oh, yeah, I've been concerned," 32-year-old Renata Liggins said as she settled in front of a plate of brisket at Black's Barbecue in Austin and the number of people now hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas climbed to its highest level yet, at more than 2,100. But "it just feels I can finally breathe a little bit."

Alabama, which began reopening in early May, has seen more than a quarter of the state's 23,000 cases come in the past two weeks as Republican Gov. Kay Ivey emphasized personal responsibility.

Arkansas, which has seen both hospitalizations and active cases more than double since Memorial Day, reported its largest one-day spike in new coronavirus cases Friday. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said at least 11,547 people in the state have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 731 cases over Thursday.

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Hutchinson said he expected more increases in the coming week but would press ahead with plans to further ease virus restrictions on businesses starting Monday. Capacity limits will be increased for restaurants, bars, theaters and other businesses while other social distancing restrictions remain in place.

"Regardless of what we see in the next week, we made the right decision to go ahead and lift some of these restrictions so we don't cause more damage to people's lives and their livelihood," Hutchinson said.

Arizona has become one of the most troubling hot spots in the U.S. as new cases have surged to more than 1,000 a day, up from fewer than 400 before stay-at-home orders expired in mid-May.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has given assurances the health care system can handle it, and Arizona Health Director Dr. Cara Christ said: "We are not going to be able to stop the spread, and so we can't stop living as well."

California, which implemented the country's first statewide stay-at-home order, entered the most expansive phase of its gradual reopening Friday. Wineries started uncorking their bottles and welcoming people back to their tasting rooms, and hotels, zoos, museums and aquariums were also allowed to reopen. San Francisco restaurants resumed outdoor dining, and the San Diego Zoo opened on a limited basis.

Cases are rising as the state expands testing, but health officials say key metrics to watch are the positivity rate among those tested and hospitalizations, and both have remained relatively steady in recent weeks as businesses gradually reopened. The state has "guardrails and cautions" in place that give officials confidence to continue reopening, said Mark Ghaly, the state's health and human services secretary.

Health officials in Oklahoma warned Friday that a spike in coronavirus cases in the Tulsa area is linked to indoor events and people who attend such gatherings should take health precautions. Tulsa Health Department spokesperson Leanne Stephens said an undetermined number of cases were linked to two recent indoor gatherings but declined to name them.

The warning comes a week before President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally at the city's BOK Center, which has a listed seating capacity of more than 19,000. Stephens said the warning was unrelated to the rally.

So far, only a small number of governors have shown a willingness to retreat, or at least hit pause.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah and Democratic Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said they would halt lifting further restrictions for the time being as new cases flare.

"As I've said before, reopening comes with real risk," Brown said in announcing a one-week pause that will affect, among other places, Portland, the state's biggest city.

She said the increase in positive test results was caused in part by the reopening of some counties. Oregon reported 178 new cases Thursday, the highest count since the outbreak began.

Elsewhere across the country, Iowa allowed bars, restaurants, theaters and other businesses to pack in more customers. Swimming pools, senior centers and adult day care centers were also cleared to open back up. Iowa is still seeing hot spots, especially near meatpacking plants.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott "is making pretty clear at this point he wants the economy to open," a worried Austin Mayor Steve Adler said. "My hope is that when he sees what kind of surge there's going to be, he does act at a stat

[Incogbenzo77]

Everyone is in a big hurry to get back to life as we once knew it but if the US sees another dramatic spike in new cases then we will see even more deaths and more financial strain on the economy. I think if I really watch my spending and become a little more frugal with my resources I can get through the summer without returning to work so that's what I'm going to try and do. It's just me and my dog in our own little self quarantine and it can get lonely sometimes but better lonely than dead.

[Charon]

That is good. Wish i had a pet. Gotta move cuz house is being torn down. But, do we take covid tests to get a rental? And we know many a rental agent will lie.

All the rentals are in the places or towns which had the most covid deaths. So i am not rushing to go look at a place that four people have to share. None of whom will be older and with underlying conditions.

Those of us whom did self quarantine for our safety, have the highest number of deaths from covid in NY. So, when the rest of us whom self quarantined do go out, we are prime pickings for the second wave.

Does anyone remember all those numbnutz coughing on food and licking icecream and all? i have to wonder if they helped bring the illness to full force. We did have a Terror group whom attempted biological warfare by going into restaurants and spraying the salads and food on display with bacteria. But not enough died and they were caught. Years ago. About fifteen?

Gonna have to trust in the Lord. But i surely would love to go see my family in Heaven. It is just that covid can be horrific on a body and mind. Forever. Yeah I already have the bad lungs from the Lupus. Hmmm.

Stay safe all. You do have responsibility for how u conduct yourself around others. This is beyond highly contagious.

[Incogbenzo77]

Charon I don't know what I would have done without my little dog during this time. He is only a year old and he was right there beside me through the longest roughest days. I prefer his company to most humans lol.

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Charon, I don't know what I would have done without my little dog during this time. He is only a year old and he was right there beside me through the longest roughest days.  I prefer his company to most humans lol.

[barq2]

I live on county line. One county masks are mandatory other one they are not, I shop in the mandatory one because everyone wears them. Now that the focus hasn’t been covid 24/7 on the news people act like it’s over and aren’t wearing masks or social distancing. I can’t imagine what the numbers of new cases will be in 2 weeks after all the protests. Here people are mostly wearing mask for protests but not practicing social distance because how can you in a protest.

Being on the line must produce some weird situations for you, like with the masks! Sounds sensible to go where people are wearing masks.

Anyway the UK government was very noncommittal about masks, saying there was a lack of evidence they protect you. Then that shifted to "probably better than nothing if you are inside". Now they are advising masks, and from Monday they will be required for public transport. The emphasis has shifted from protecting yourself, to protecting those you come into contact with.

In a wider sense the UK government have massively screwed up managing this pandemic, especially given that Italy was warning us and the government didn't listen. One of their scientific advisers has just said that if the lockdown had started just 1 week earlier there would have been half as many deaths. I know there is an element of hindsight, but there were people arguing for an earlier lockdown at the time. Indeed I did my own personal lockdown starting about 10 days before the official one.

Back to the masks... I think two things happened. Firstly UK gov emergency planning had been for a 'flu pandemic, so when it was a coronavirus they weren't prepared. Secondly they'd tried to save money and so the national emergency stash of masks and other protective gear was pitiful. I suspect they were desperate to buy up all masks available for the NHS (to protect doctors, nurses, etc) and really didn't want the general public buying them. Remember at that point people were panic buying toilet paper, and hand gel was like gold dust! The most positive view I can take of the UK government's actions is that they lied about masks to try and keep them for clinical use. 

However they started out with very high compliance, people following the rules they'd been given. As things like the mask issue came to light the lies came apart. The result is trust in the government has plummeted. If there is a 2nd wave of C-19 in the winter, I don't think people will be anything like so compliant.

There have been BLM protests in the UK as well as USA. British people are used to police who don't carry guns and so a lot of American policing can appear aggressive. So that was the context in which the UK saw George Floyd being choked to death. People were horrified and generally perceived it as racist. So from that the BLM protests have actually been racially mixed - it's certainly not just PoC. The one I went to was nearly half White people. It was angry, but peaceful if that makes sense. The police stood back and let the protests go ahead. The one I attended had thousands of people but no arrests. People marched along several streets and there was a moderate amount of social distancing - no way was it the 2 metres we are being advised by government. I don't think I saw anyone without a mask, so I hope that and it being outdoors means there won't be too much transmission of the virus. Some people had organised and made masks for anyone who didn't have them, and there was free hand gel too. It seemed a sincere effort to be as safe and peaceful as possible.

Yesterday there was a backlash protest from neo-nazis and the very extreme far right. Not only was there violence and rioting, but it led to the surreal sight of men wearing swastikas giving a statue of Winston Churchill nazi salutes as a sign of respect!!! That made my brain melt. 

Sorry, a rather long and unfocused post. However I hope it's interesting to hear how this is playing out in other countries.

[Slick]

I keep watching the morning and nightly news and my concern is growing concerning the number of states and the amazingly wild spiking of cases!!

I am doing all I can to protect myself but just in the past week, I was in a grocery store and a fairly large 'farmers market' and to my Horror - the employees behind the counters did not have masks on!!  At the Farmers Market, the gentleman in front of me just had some berries and produce.  He proceeded to ask the older guy behind the register (one of the owners) how they were managing to keep the virus at bay!!  At the front of the store there was a wet dirty cloth with a spray bottle for you to use or not on your cart.  Well, the cashier started to get upset with the customer and asked him if he had ever had to wear a mask for an 8 hour shift and that nurses had been in the store and told him the masks were dangerous to wear for that long!!!
Needless to say the customer in front of me left to avoid any confrontation and I ALMOST went ahead with my order until this older man covered his mouth with his bare hand and coughed!!  I just walked out!!

I get it that masks can be uncomfortable for long periods, but if we eliminate the masks, what are the choices we have to prevent the spread??

I would have thought that after watching the events unfold in New York with the refrigerated trucks to hold bodies, etc. that we, as a society, would have learned just a small lesson on face covering!!!

Sorry for the rant, but I will be continuing to wear my masks for many a months to come!!

Please Take Care of Yourself!!!!

Hugs!!!
Slick

[Orange rabbit]

Slick keep wearing the masks. The masks are supposed to be used only once then thrown away. Not worn 10 times. They will pick up stuff that is in the air if one keeps wearing them.

I feel fortunate that the state I live in now requires that every person that leaves their house and goes into any type of store or farmers market or walking trail, has to wear a mask or they are not allowed in. Plus every store has sanitizer at the front door, and wipes, plus at the grocery stores most of them have someone wiping down carts before a person even gets one.

However this weekend, I was curious and took a drive to my downtown which is in the suburbs from the large city which I live near. Restaurants just opened up to allow eating outside. I didn’t see many tables 6 ft apart and no one eating had masks which of course how could they while eating. But there were many people walking on the sidewalks and I would say almost everyone except for about 10% was wearing a mask.

So I think it depends on where you live, and how your state has attacked this virus. I find it interesting that the governors of each state really have a impact on how their state has done. My governor has been exceptional but our state numbers have started to rise again. So he announced today that if the hospitals start filling up again we will go on another lock down. Yuk but I think that is the only way to be safe u til they figure out how to treat this.

If I were you, if you could find a another grocery store to shop at. You might not be able to if you live in a small town. I have found that my trip to the grocery store is the only fun thing I have been doing.

OR

[happyvibe]

I live in one of the most hard hit states and although I think the state and city could have acted faster. The slow process of reopening in phases has been the right approach. Although I do worry now there will be a second wave I’m sticking to wearing my mask and only seeing family. I see large groups of people together and Im not willing to take that chance.
Masks should have been a mandate from the beginning. So many organizations failed to really grasp the enormity of the situation CDC, WHO etc

[BeReel1010]

I agree, where I am we are opening in phases and our numbers are staying low thankfully. Just wanted to put this out there for anyone*** who is looking for or needs cleaning supplies like Lysol spray, wipes, Clorox spray, wipes, antibacterial etc. literally anything you may need to help.. After I was losing so much hope trying store after store,  I found this Fb group and I’ve literally been able to get everything I needed. Wanted to share with family here Helping Hands Cleaner Group