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Your Coronavirus Update – Today, June 13, 2020
Photo: Western Hills Middle School students’ belongings from the sudden departure and no-return back in March. A schedule has been made for pick-up by families. Teachers volunteered to pack up desks and lockers.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
Eiffel Tower plans June 25 opening, with mask required
“Every activity that involves interacting with others has some degree of risk right now,” Dr. Jay Butler, the leader of the CDC’s COVID-19 response, said during a briefing.
Florida on Friday set another record for new cases of COVID-19 with 1,902, according to numbers released by the state health department.
New Jersey’s former Gov. Christie is offering $2-3,000 micro-loans to stimulate small business – having raised $100K which has now been increased to $200K
Amid an alarming rise in coronavirus cases across the United States, the PPE situation is especially dire at hospitals serving communities of color or patients on Medicaid.
Georgia to remove most restrictions on restaurants and movie theaters
Over 26 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance claims over the past five weeks, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
About 86.8 million cloth facial coverings will be distributed by Dept. of Transportation to airports, and 9.6 million coverings will be distributed to 458 transit agencies and Amtrak.
States that had committed to using contact tracing apps or expressed interest are now backing away from those claims. The few states that have rolled them out have seen only tepid responses. And there are no indications of any momentum for the apps at a national level. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/coronavirus-contact-tracing-apps-were-tech-s-chance-step-they-n1230211
Millions of children around the world are at risk of being pushed into child labor due to the coronavirus crisis, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization and UNICEF.
Moscow is urging residents to stay home during official holiday celebrations
The return to school of Beijing students in years 1, 2 and 3 has been delayed after two new coronavirus infections were diagnosed in China’s capital. The students were scheduled to return to school this coming Monday.
New Hampshire is planning for outdoor visiting at nursing homes
Vermont is planning to open schools in the fall
Long Island restaurants opened for outdoor dining
South Korean government officials have resisted calls to reimpose stronger social distancing guidelines that were relaxed in April, citing concerns over hurting a fragile economy, as their numbers rise.
The vaccine, developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Moderna, will be tested in 30,000 volunteers—some given the real shot and some a placebo.
Northwestern Memorial performed the first lung transplant on a Covid survivor.
Some nursing homes have attempted to claw back stimulus checks from residents on Medicaid; they have been flagged by the Federal Trade Commission’s elder justice office, which said it had received reports from Iowa and other states.
Some scientists have suggested existing vaccines such as the polio vaccine could offer temporary protection against the coronavirus until a specific vaccine can be developed. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1187
The registration of new voters dropped dramatically in the USA amid the coronavirus pandemic, challenging efforts of both major political parties to enlist supporters in battleground states before the 2020 election.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is preparing to ramp up service across all of modes of transit, including subways, buses, ferries and commuter rail.
The RI Bridal industry and event planners are leading an effort to get guidelines for events from the Governor as more national warnings about large gatherings are being issued.
The RI Catholic Newspaper will begin to publish a paper issue once again, having been on-line only during the pandemic.
Boston college professors are speaking out about their concerns about going to back to their college and university classrooms – those who are older and worried about their personal health as well as younger professors with childcare responsibilities who would prefer to teach online.
Federal Hill restaurants will open this coming Friday to more outdoor seating.
The Newport Oyster and Chowder Festival and the Seafood Festival at Bowen’s Wharf have been canceled.
Around 30% of physician practices in Massachusetts have been considering closing down and around 20% have been weighing consolidation or selling their practice, according to ModernHealthcare.com
Over 1,000 RI state employees have opted for the furlough pay program.
Serology Testing: A conference call was held on Friday morning by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) to update reporters on the results of the randomized COVID-19 serology testing that was conducted in Rhode Island in May. Randomly selected 5,000 people in RI to come in for testing at five Stop and Shop locations throughout Rhode Island. 10-15% responded. Serology testing determines whether someone has antibodies for a virus, indicating whether they have been previously exposed to that virus.
2.2% rough estimate of having had Covid – was higher in some communities – CF 26% positive; Prov 24% positive. Hispanics and Blacks were higher than the 2.2%
Numbers are relatively low. Many may think they have had it – level of infection is low. Points to need to keep using preventive measures.
Abbott Architect Test – one of the more accurate tests was used.
Working with local clinics to ramp up testing access in communities with higher impact. Doing multilingual advertising.
Demographics – only 50% of tests had demographic information (gender, age, etc) associated with them.
2.2% overall
Hispanic Latinos – 8.2% (range 3.4-15.8%)
Black – 5.2% (range 0.3-18.7%)
White – 0.9% (range .1-2.4%)
Herd immunity – comes into play with large majority – RI is nowhere near that
RI Data
Deaths: 10. 3 in 60s, 3 in 70s, 1 in 80s, 3 in 90s. 9 in nursing homes
RI Governor’s address:
Continued steady decline in cases and hospitalizations. Tough to report another 10 deaths.
Testing: SOS Testing – Symptomatics. Outbreaks. Surveillance.
If you are in a close contact job, you can get a test free of charge. RI is doing about 400 tests a day from this group, but can handle 900 a day. Expanding asymptomatic program to include restaurant workers and bus drivers. Go to portal.ri.gov or call 222-8022 to get tested. Opening more testing centers in communities hardest hit.
Landlords: $5 million initiative for affordable housing. Housing Now campaign launched with RI Realtors and RI Housing. Asking landlords to pledge 100 rental units by July 1st to be rented to people who have housing vouchers. $2,000 signing bonus for first unit made available and $500 for each additional unit. $2,000 per unit for move in upgrades up to code. Call 2-1-1.
Transparency Portal: $1.25 billion relief funds from federal government.Transparency.ri.gov/covid19 will launch today and be updated monthly.
Serology Testing: Dr. Scott noted disparity in results. 8.2% of Latino population who were tested were exposed to the virus. 5.2% of African-American population and 1% of Caucasian were exposed. Overall average was 2.2%. Serology testing is not useful enough now for an individual type of testing.
Questions:
Wedding question – no new guidance – 15 and below, 25% attendance in church, mosque, etc. When does phase 3 happen? Early July? Hopeful next week we can announce date of phase 3. A difference between a restaurant and a wedding – because they don’t know each other – at a wedding they will be mingling, dancing, etc. Phase 3 – what will numbers look like? 50, 75, 100?
Schools – Response to administrators who say busing and other details are impossible: “if I were a superintendent, I’d be anxious, but I’d be getting to work” – they need to lead in a very difficult circumstance. Next Friday more guidance. Wants to see all kids in school every day – that is the goal. Contingency plan if can’t be done. $42M going by formula to cities/towns. That formula will be receiving cuts, though. Hopeful of more stimulus money.
Christopher Columbus statue: Should not have been vandalized – worth a discussion. Difficult issue. Culturally important statue for Italian Americans, Debate renewed about state name change: would you consider executive action to do this? Should be put on the ballot this year. If it doesn’t pass, she would absolutely do it by executive order.
Nursing Homes: Total deaths about 630 – roughly 75% of deaths in state.