Friday, August 14, 2020

8-14: do you regret all the lying?


Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory on Kamala Harris’s Eligibility to Be Vice President

NYT

Orange County Sees Overall Coronavirus Trends Improving, Anaheim and Santa Ana Remain Hot Spots

Voice of OC

     Orange County continues to see a decline in coronavirus hospitalizations after numbers spiked last month because of the wave of cases in June, but virus hot spots remain in Anaheim and Santa Ana. 

     “Hospitalizations continue to trend downward with the most recent report being 438 COVID patients, down from 671 one month prior. Patients in the ICU (are) also trending down with 143 in ICU, down from 231 one month ago,” states Thursday’s daily situational report from the county Office of Emergency Services.

. . .

     The continuing decline indicates OC could come off of the state watchlist, which limits business and school classroom reopenings. Counties are put on the watchlist for high positivity rates and increasing hospitalizations. 

. . .

     “The numbers do include the backlog and based on the numbers that we see today and an analysis from our team, we do think we are below the 8% (virus positivity) threshold that has been an issue for us in the past,” [County Chief Executive Officer Frank] Kim said. 
     State health officials mandated counties can’t come off the watchlist if they are above that threshold — meaning no more than 8% of tests conducted in a seven-day period can be positive. 

     As of Thursday, the countywide positivity rate was 7.6%. 

     Meanwhile, [interim Health Officer Dr. ClaytonChau is still reviewing waiver applications from OC elementary schools in their efforts to reopen classrooms in the upcoming school year. 

     It’s unclear if schools will be allowed to reopen. State guidelines call for an agreement between school districts, school administrators, community groups, parents, teachers, local health officers — like Chau — and state health officials before any school can bring students back in person. 
     “Because the state has put the monitoring list on pause, we won’t know. I’m hoping we will find out at the end of this week,” Chau said. “The Health Care Agency will post a list of waiver applications on our website … none have been approved or denied at this time.”

 

Orange County awaits remaining backlogged coronavirus test results from state -- The state is expected to fully restore backlogged COVID-19 test results to counties by the end of the week. The data from July 31 to Aug. 4 were lost after a technical issue affected the state’s electronic system that gathers the information. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/13/20

Trump admits to blocking Postal Service funding to undercut voting by mail -- President Trump said Thursday that he would block a funding boost for the U.S. Postal Service to handle an expected flood of mail-in ballots in coming weeks, admitting it’s part of a White House effort to limit Americans voting by mail and raising the chances of chaos surrounding the election in November. Eli Stokols in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/14/20

 

Biden, Harris call for all states to mandate masks after first joint Covid-19 briefing -- Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris called on Thursday for every governor to mandate mask-wearing in public for at least the next three months, citing studies that say it would save more than 40,000 lives and speed the nation’s economic recovery. Alice Miranda Ollstein Politico -- 8/14/20

 

As California’s hospitalizations decline, COVID-19 deaths persist at a staggering rate -- Deaths from COVID-19 continued to come at a rate of well over 100 per day in California and more than 1,000 each day nationwide, while California appeared to be close to eliminating its recently discovered backlog of tests. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 8/13/20


More Tuition Cuts

Inside Higher Ed

     More colleges continue to cut tuition rates in response to pressure from students and families.

My boy, Teddy

Dems Seek Flexibility for New International Students

Inside Higher Ed

     Seventy-five Democratic lawmakers sent a letter Thursday to Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf calling on him to revise guidance that would bar international students who are taking online courses from entering the U.S. this fall. The Trump administration rescinded a policy that would have prohibited continuing international students from taking an online-only course load after facing multiple lawsuits, but the administration then said new students cannot come to the U.S. if their course loads this fall will be entirely online….


Excitement. Fear. Resignation. Welcome to the Fall Semester.

CHE

     Campus life in the Covid-19 era is underway at the University of Kentucky, bringing an eerie juxtaposition of the familiar and the menacing.




In many ways, still miss the good old days
Someday
Someday

Yeah, it hurts to say but I want you to stay
Sometimes
Sometimes

(continue)




Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...