8-13: nope, it's over 200,000 dead

✅The True Coronavirus Toll in the U.S. Has Already Surpassed 200,000

NYT

Across the United States, at least 200,000 more people have died than usual since March, according to a New York Times analysis of estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is about 60,000 higher than the number of deaths that have been directly linked to the coronavirus.

. . .

But as the number of hot spots expanded, so has the number of excess deaths across other parts of the country. Many of the recent coronavirus cases and deaths in the South and the West may have been driven largely by reopenings and relaxed social distancing restrictions….

✅Newsom defends economic recovery efforts and task force amid criticism about transparency -- Facing criticism that his economic recovery plans have lacked transparency, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday outlined efforts to help businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic, and embraced legislative efforts to help workers, including protections against evictions. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/13/20

✅Governor: New data show California is ‘turning the corner’ -- California is showing improvement in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.... Daisy Nguyen Associated PressLuke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 8/13/20

 

✅California coronavirus deaths double, with rural areas and suburbs hit hard -- California’s second surge of the coronavirus has resulted in a near doubling of weekly deaths since the spring — with almost 1,000 fatalities in the last week alone — and radically shifted the geography of the outbreak, a Times data analysis found. Rong-Gong Lin II, Iris Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/13/20

 

✅Medical experts speak out against [Republican] Anaheim councilwoman’s claim that wearing masks causes dental issues -- ... Ben Brazil in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/13/20

✅Trump says Postal Service needs money for mail-in voting, but he’ll keep blocking funding -- President Trump says the U.S. Postal Service is incapable of facilitating mail-in voting because it cannot access the emergency funding he is blocking, and made clear that requests for additional aid were nonstarters in coronavirus relief negotiations. Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post$ -- 8/13/20

 

✅‘Awfully late’: In 11th hour reversal, San Jose teachers allowed to work from home -- Less than 24 hours before teachers were set to give their first lessons of the new school year from inside their empty classrooms, the San Jose Unified School District has decided to give them the choice to work from home. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/12/20

 

✅California paid a price for mask shortage in dollars and lives, coronavirus study finds -- At least 15,800 essential workers would not have contracted COVID-19 if California had stockpiled enough masks and other protective equipment, while the state would have saved $93 million weekly on unemployment claims for out of work healthcare workers and avoided overpaying for supplies, according to a UC Berkeley Labor Center study released Wednesday. Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/12/20

✅California’s post-prison chaos: Thousands released early, including many with coronavirus -- .... Robert Lewis CalMatters -- 8/12/20

 

✅OC Board of Education and Department Ramp Up Taxpayer Spending On Internal Lawsuits

Voice of OC

The county’s elected education leaders have been stuck in litigation against each other for close to two years, costing taxpayers millions that are paid out of the same accounts.

 

✅Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit Alleging OC Sheriff, Prosecutors Illegally Use Informants

Voice of OC

The court’s focus will be whether the informant program is ongoing and whether it is illegal, the appeals justices wrote.