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Your Coronavirus Update – Today, July 16, 2020
National & International
Walmart (Sam’s Clubs) customers will have to wear masks. Other national stores are joining this call for mask wearing by customers, such as Kroger, Kohls – and all members of US Retailers Association are being asked to do so.
California has closed all indoor establishments – restaurants, bars, gyms, hairdressers – have been shut down statewide
Oxford Univ. research is offering success with a vaccine which offers longer protections.
JCPenney to cut 1,000 jobs, close 152 stores. The layoffs will affect corporate, field management, and international roles.
California is back to rationing tests due to limited supply.
California to Release 18,000 Prisoners to Protect ‘Health and Safety of Incarcerated Population’
Some schools are delaying in-classroom school, preferring to start online first; includes Atlanta, Philadelphia, Richmond, VA. South Carolina leaves option for parents. New Jersey is considering hanging clear shower curtains around the children’s desks
In Oregon, new daily infections are triple what they were a month ago, overwhelming the state’s testing capacity.
Across the U.S., 25 percent of schools don’t employ a school nurse
Moderna begins final stage of testing of a vaccine. They are located in Cambridge, MA. In past testing, the vaccine prompted an immune response in all 45 trial subjects.
Florida called the poster child for what’s gone wrong. The Governor has left decisions up to local city mayors.
GM will be calling back hundreds of workers to ramp up production of trucks.
Atlanta, San Diego, and Los Angeles opt for online back-to-school option first
An island that once served as a quarantine site during the Spanish flu is being marketed as a refuge from the coronavirus for a cool $250,000 a week, plus expenses. Portland entrepreneur Noah Gordon planned to host high-end weddings on House Island. Now he’s marketing it as a coronavirus-free safety zone.
Hong Kong Disneyland will shut down again on Wednesday because of an uptick in coronavirus cases, less than a month after it reopened,
The Empire State Building’s observatory is reopening on July 20, but at a sharply reduced capacity
The policy to require foreign students to leave the country has been overturned.
Doctors are adapting what they learned in their training in how to deliver bad medical news to patients – for how to do that using telemedicine – whether on video or audio, only: https://bit.ly/3h1QVT9
36 high school students test positive for COVID-19 at sports camps in Illinois.
Hospitals nationally will now send all coronavirus patient information to a central database at the Department of Health and Human Services. From now on, the department — not the CDC — will collect daily reports about the number of patients each hospital is treating, the number of available beds and ventilators, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.
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The CDC director: “I really do believe if the American public all embraced masking and we all really did it rigorously … over the next four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control.”
Sam Adams closes Boston tap room patio due to influx of out-of-state visitors from COVID-19 hotspots
1,000 lives were saved by organ donation in 2019. After a devastating March and April, new challenges are being learned for for once-routine procedures
Florida new confirmed cases decreasing.
Over 30 cases identified & hundreds being screened at bars in Montreal.
Four cadets test positive first day at West Point
The Paper Store has entered bankruptcy and 3,000 employees are at risk
Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston is canceled
There will be no Swan Boat rides in the Boston Public Garden this summer for the first time in nearly a century and a half
Rhode Island & Vicinity
Massachusestts’ ban on reusable bags in grocery stores was quietly lifted, allowing 139 city and town plastic bag bans to go back into effect, without notice to store owners.
RI Foundation gives $1.7 million to mental health organizations in RI, related to services due to COVID19
St. Mary’s Feast in Cranston will be scaled down to masses and the Virgin Mary sculpture being driven in a car, with no flowers added. Take-out food and live streaming on Facebook.
Block Island businesses are experiencing a shortage of seasonal workers
Rhode Island has the debt capacity to borrow another $200 million this year, on top of the $387 million in bonds proposed in the original fiscal 2021 budget submitted by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, according to General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.
Three RI nursing homes have said they will strike on July 29th if demands are not met for increased wages, etc. Genesis Greenville Center , Hopkins Manor, and Genesis Pawtucket Nursing Center. The local chapter of the RISEICUCouncil is organizing. Informational pickets will be set up at Charlesgate Nursing Home, Aldersbridge Nursing Home and Genesis Greenville.
Brown University has launched a new, deep-dive site on coronavirus, health, research, campus policies, and more – it is open for all to read: https://healthy.brown.edu/
The Matouk company of Southcoast, MA will donate 50,000 masks to Providence schools.
New England Patriots are planning for fans to be in the stands this season, with 20% occupancy, and has sent a letter to season ticket holders. Blocks of 10 seats or less, and no seating in front rows. Seats offered to season ticket holders first. Fans would be required to socially distance from others and wear masks at all times.
Avenue Grill, on Mineral Spring Avenue, in North Providence was listed on 7/8 as a violating restaurant on COVID19 safety protocols.
Michael Bidwill, Arizona Cardinals owner, had been treated for COVID19, and is now discharged from Newport.
As the age of those testing positive in RI has gotten younger, in keeping with national trends, the state will be “rolling out [an educational campaign] about mask wearing.“
Fulltime faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design has agreed to certain concessions in exchange for no faculty layoffs during the next academic year.
Al Forno, and Capriccio will open for takeout only.
Red Fin, in downtown Providence, has permanently closed.
“Real estate [in Newport] has exploded here — it’s crazy,” said Tracie Hall, a Realtor with Keller Williams. “This pandemic has made people realize they can work wherever they want, so they move to a place like Newport.” This includes rentals, low and high end purchases, and even sight-unseen purchases: https://bit.ly/32hRNz7
“UNO hopes to remain at Providence Place and is in negotiations to arrive at a rent in which the company can reasonably operate. Ultimately, though, it’s up to the owners of the mall. Meanwhile, we are pleased to have our nearby Warwick location open for business” (ProJo)
RI Data
Deaths: 2 – 1 in 60s, 1 in 80s.
52 new cases; 59 hospitalized; 5 in ICU, 3 are on ventilators
102 new cases yesterday – no question social gathering is source of uptick in cases
Governor’s address:
Data: If we don’t follow the rules, we are endangering people’s lives, businesses, children going back to school, etc. Past few days there has been a slight uptick in hospitalizations and cases. First time we’ve seen more than 100 cases since 6/10. Statewide positive rate is just under 2%. Ages 20-29 is 7%. Young people: “Your unwillingness to follow the rules is putting everyone at risk”. RI is in an ok place, but it could change in days. We are not immune.
Gov: “We are a year away from a vaccine.”
Beaches: Struggling to keep control of crowds. 50,000 more cars than last year. Visitation and parking way up. Two tough beaches for crowds – Misquamicut and Scarborough. Changes: Effective tomorrow, parking lots will be reduced to 25%. You can walk in, but don’t park illegally, they are enforcing. Masks will be passed out. Increasing staff (may be National Guard) so tempers don’t flare in those areas. Suggesting people don’t go all day – just go for a few hours.
National Guard: relationship set to end, but hopefully will continue with full federal reimbursement. Will also use COVID relief funds to hire contact tracers if need be.
Economy: Small businesses. Amount of suffering is unprecedented. Insecurity if jobs are coming back, if businesses can survive. “New normal” – “I don’t love that term, the old normal wasn’t that great for a lot of people. No degrees, person of color, victim of systemic racism, chances are you were working 1 or 2 jobs, 40, 50, 60 hours a week and worried about your future. Education, retraining will be essential.
Will use $200 million for education, training, housing, small business relief, helping child care centers – “drop in the bucket” relative to the need – will be targeted.
1/3 of unemployment filings have been in fields of food, hospitality, retail.
17,000 have received $2.3 billion in funding from federal PPE. In addition RI created a loan program and technical support for 300 businesses. 500 new laptops, PPE, Miscrosoft programs for teleworking, etc. Level of struggle still significant. Additional $100 million effort – $50 million to direct cash to re-opening assistance – PPE, rent, utilities, etc. 20% for minority owned businesses. Grants for up to $15,000 for each eligible RI business impacted. Applications in next couple of weeks, and details at: CommerceRI.com. Other states are ahead of RI in doing this, but it’s been a challenge for them – we’re trying to get it right. 20 or fewer employees – lost significant revenue in last 2 months.
$26 Million for critical small business support – nonprofit, tech assistance, repositioning program – how to allow people to work from home, how to sell online, etc. Many businesses closed without a path forward – travel agency, etc.
$20 Million to small businesses from RI Small Biz Fund and federal economic development fund for $5 Million for tourism.
Entrepreneurs & Emerging businesses of color – more coming
Dr. Scott: Some people not home when contact tracers call – they are hearing people are “not home” – download the Crush Covid app.
Serology testing: Early warning system. Excited to launch new serology testing. Antibody testing. Tells us if someone was previously exposed to virus. 2nd round of testing. May was first. 2.2% of people who were tested were exposed. Next round open to people in high contact professions and front line fields. First responders, National Guard, RIDOH staff, nursing home staff, etc. FirstSeroSurvey.com – testing confidential and voluntary – more details to come. RI is one of 3 sites across US – Detroit, NYC, and RI.
Questions:
Backlog in testing: Dr. Scott – laser focused on turnaround time. Turnaround time averaging from swab to result: 3 days, ES Clinical – 5; LabCorp – 6; Hospital – 1-2 days; Mayo – 2 ½; RIDOH – under 2 days. Rapid Test – still do have some embedded in certain places – hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Contact Tracing: If testing takes 5-6 days and you are still talking to people, this is a big problem for infection control. 17% of people will not interact with RIDOH contact tracers.
Question on timeline for small biz $50Million: Is it capped and does CommerceRI review each one? Questioning timeline – 2 weeks – now another 2 weeks. Need is so huge, we want to get it out quickly – we don’t want to make mistakes. In Utah – it isn’t going out for some reason. However long it takes is how long it takes. $50M plus $26 – on top of that $20 ($100M) – first round. We may run through it quickly. Rules to prioritize by category – such as restaurants might be first hit. Questions on viability of businesses. Some review for some. Mainly first-come, first served – need array – minimum loss of biz, 30%; another checkpoint at 50% business loss. Timeline: funds could be 4 weeks after application done – 2 weeks plus 4 weeks = 6 weeks.
Beach question: this weekend will be in the 90s – cars could be towed. Gov. is giving advanced notice so people can make alternate plans. Won’t this just put the demand on other beaches? Gov. said 70% of people who go to Misquamicut are not from RI. This is what we’ll try for now.
RISE Together proposal: Want RI to be competitive with other states.