COVID-19 has claimed at least 75 lives in Oregon at last report, with more than 39,000 tested and five percent resulting in positive identification of active coronavirus. Testing is still very scarce in Oregon, with only 932 persons per 100,000 being tested, putting Oregon among the worst tier of states. Kansas is even worse with 623 per 100K tested, while New York has tested a much higher percentage of its population, 3,160 per 100K tested, with thirty-nine percent testing positive. Four hundred and seventy-eight people died of coronavirus in New York hospitals yesterday, the lowest amount in the last two weeks. In Washington State, where 1,840 are tested per one hundred thousand population, there are 12,671 testing positive, or 9%, and 658 people have died from the pandemic.
Some States, such as New York, are beginning to add persons who died with COVID-19 listed on their death certificates to the official total, resulting in sharply higher numbers. Fox News, Red State, and other conservative media are pointing to that practice not as adding to an accurate count but rather as padding the numbers, as part of the conceit that the entire pandemic is actually an attempt to unfairly attack President Trump so that he will lose the upcoming election. Flag-waving pro-Trump crowds have appeared at several State capitols to demand that the quarantines be lifted early, and the President has strongly implied on Twitter that armed violence against the State quarantine authorities is necessary and acceptable.
WSYR in Syracuse is reporting that New York Governor Cuomo is expected to offer guidance to hospitals as to when they can again offer elective surgery. Elective surgery, or surgery that is not done on an immediate life-threatening or emergency basis, has been closed down across the nation in response to the shortage of personal protective equipment, ventilation equipment, and associated surgical medications caused by the pandemic. This has resulted in the layoff of substantial personnel from hospitals across the country, and it is expected that New York's actions and advice on the matter will affect the availability of surgery salons nationwide. WSYR interviewed the CEO of Syracuse's Saint Joseph hospital, Leslie Paul Luke, who said “Some of these community members are in pain or by waiting, their disease state actually advances further and so delay actually causes more problems in the end. So we definitely want to get back to that as soon as we can." Meanwhile the State of New York has begun what officials call "the most aggressive" statewide antibody testing. Health officials say the testing is essential for reopening the economy.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said yesterday"Any plan to start to reopen the economy has to be based on data and testing, and we have to make sure our antibody and diagnostic testing is up to the scale we need so we can safely get people back to work." The testing is predicated on the assumption that persons who have shaken off the coronavirus probably have immunity to it for some length of time, though there have been some indications from South Korea that re-infection may be possible in some cases.
President Trump is using the coronavirus emergency to further his anti-immigration agenda, banning all immigration despite the fact that the USA is now the center of the pandemic, with more than 783,000 diagnosed cases and at least 42,094 deaths. Trump tweeted “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!”
The Paycheck Protection Program, which notoriously ran out of money last week, is a part of the pandemic relief passed by Congress earlier this month. Congress rushed through additional funding for the program today, offering hope for small businesses who had applied for forgivable loans to cover their payrolls. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier today that he believes the $450 billion relief package could be passed in the Senate as soon as this afternoon. Of the $310 billion in the bill for the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, $125 billion will be sent, according to Schumer, "exclusively to the unbanked, to the minorities, to the rural areas, and to all of those little mom and pop stores that don't have a good banking connection and need the help." According to Schumer, the deal also includes $30 billion for national coronavirus testing and another $75 billion for hospitals.
A draft proposal for re-opening the Oregon economy, not intended for the public, has been obtained by the Oregonian. The paper wrote "Easing restrictions in place since March would be contingent on seeing declines in identified coronavirus cases and increasing the state’s capacity to test people and trace their contacts, among other things. Modeling suggests Oregon may not be able to reopen parts of its economy until late May at the earliest." The draft envisions partial opening procedures for " schools and organized youth activities; sit-down restaurants; gyms; bars; personal services; large venues such as churches and theaters, and would include visitors to hospitals or senior care centers, and non-emergency medical procedures." Phase One would still call for all vulnerable people to stay home, though it does not yet define that group. The draft policy would stillminimize non-essential travel, encourage working from home, and discourage social gatherings of more than 10 people.
You've been listening to a KBOO News Update. Stay informed with our full Evening News Broadcst at 5PM, and turn to kboo.fm for a daily coronavirus update from an award-winning local journalist. For KBOO News, I'm Theresa Mitchell.
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