Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that most California counties will soon be in the state's most restrictive COVID-19 tier amid a surge in cases and that the state is considering a curfew. "California is pulling an emergency brake," he said in announcing that 41 counties, which comprise over 94% of the state's population, will be in the purple tier, effective Tuesday. Last week, 13 counties were in the state's most restrictive tier.

“We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is experiencing the fastest increase in cases we have seen yet -- faster than what we experienced at the outset of the pandemic or even this summer. The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes."

When counties are in the purple tier, indoor operations for places like museums, houses of worship, gyms and restaurants are not allowed. When counties move into the less restrictive red tier, they can resume indoor operations at several businesses -- but with modifications.

sig230 wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:20 am We're number two; now have the second highest number of known Covid-19 cases in the US; only behind New York.

All Quiet on the Governor Front.

sig230 wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:20 am We're number two; now have the second highest number of known Covid-19 cases in the US; only behind New York.

All Quiet on the Governor Front.

Wino wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:43 am

sig230 wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:20 am We're number two; now have the second highest number of known Covid-19 cases in the US; only behind New York.

All Quiet on the Governor Front.

Our outstanding Guv is now planning on higher office and there is talk he will run for Prez. in 2024. I can see a Trump/Abbott ticket along with the demise of our nation should this come to pass.

Abbott is a total waste of carbon.

Loving County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. With a population of 134 as of a 2017 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, Loving County is the second-least populous county in the United States after Kalawao County, Hawaii (which has a population of 88) and the least populous of the contiguous United States.[1] Loving County has no incorporated communities; its county seat and only community is Mentone.

Desperately seeking to find a seemingly responsible way to hold dinner parties, some people have started to get tests for the coronavirus as a way to clear themselves to attend dinner parties without needing to wear masks or keep their distance. That’s absolutely the wrong thing to do, according to Dr Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of public health.

Ferrer said on Monday that she has heard of groups of young adults going to get tested for the coronavirus on a Thursday in hopes of getting the negative results by Saturday morning, and then having a dinner party on Saturday night. But such tests provide a false sense of security — and engaging in this practice can still result in the dinner party becoming a super-spreading event that can transmit the highly contagious virus widely.

“That’s actually a false sense of security. It’s a false narrative,” Ferrer said. “Your test result that you got Saturday morning was from Thursday when you got tested, and it said, ‘On Thursday, you were negative,’” Ferrer said. “It says nothing about whether you’re still negative on Saturday.

highdesert wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:15 am Red states haven't cornered the market on stupid people.

Desperately seeking to find a seemingly responsible way to hold dinner parties, some people have started to get tests for the coronavirus as a way to clear themselves to attend dinner parties without needing to wear masks or keep their distance. That’s absolutely the wrong thing to do, according to Dr Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of public health.

Ferrer said on Monday that she has heard of groups of young adults going to get tested for the coronavirus on a Thursday in hopes of getting the negative results by Saturday morning, and then having a dinner party on Saturday night. But such tests provide a false sense of security — and engaging in this practice can still result in the dinner party becoming a super-spreading event that can transmit the highly contagious virus widely.

“That’s actually a false sense of security. It’s a false narrative,” Ferrer said. “Your test result that you got Saturday morning was from Thursday when you got tested, and it said, ‘On Thursday, you were negative,’” Ferrer said. “It says nothing about whether you’re still negative on Saturday.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/false- ... socialize/

In his latest anti-science appeal to Americans, White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas on Monday night called on families to ignore the guidance of public health experts who say the holiday season should not include indoor gatherings—suggesting to Fox News that families should take the risk even for elderly or sick relatives this Thanksgiving because they will no longer be alive next year.

"This kind of isolation is one of the unspoken tragedies of the elderly who are now being told don’t see your family at Thanksgiving," Atlas, who has no public health expertise, told Fox host Martha MacCallum. "For many people this is their final Thanksgiving, believe it or not.

featureless wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:37 am Not good, highdesert. I was hoping CA had it's shit together enough to miss this wave. I guess not. Stay safe.

Supreme Court declines to order virus safety steps for vulnerable Texas inmates

AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to order Texas officials to beef up safety measures at a Southeast Texas prison where 20 inmates have died from COVID-19.

Two at-risk inmates at the Wallace Pack Unit, which houses geriatric and medically vulnerable prisoners, asked the high court to reinstate a trial judge’s September order requiring safety steps that included disinfecting common areas, providing inmates with cleaning supplies, conducting weekly testing and enforcing social distancing and a face mask mandate.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay blocking the judge’s order last month while it decides whether to uphold or overturn it, with oral arguments set to be heard Dec. 3 in the case.

The Supreme Court declined to intervene Monday, although two liberal justices said they would have allowed the safety measures in response to a life and death situation, particularly with a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court weeks if not months away.

“Twenty lives have been lost already. I fear the stay will lead to further, needless suffering,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent.

“The people incarcerated in the Pack Unit are some of our most vulnerable citizens … but are unable to take even the most basic precautions against the virus on their own. If the prison fails to enforce social distancing and mask wearing, perform regular testing, and take other essential steps, the inmates can do nothing but wait for the virus to take its toll,” wrote Sotomayor, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan.

The justices who denied the inmates’ request issued no statement explaining their ruling.

The order for increased safety measures came from Houston-based U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, who concluded after an 18-day trial that Texas prison officials recklessly disregarded the health risks posed by the pandemic, particularly for vulnerable inmates housed in communal dormitories where more than 500 inmates tested positive for the coronavirus.

In addition to ordering regular disinfecting with bleach products, Ellison’s injunction required improved isolation for infected inmates, contact tracing, unrestricted access to hand soap and, for inmates in wheelchairs, access to hand sanitizer.

In blocking Ellison’s injunction, the 5th Circuit Court said the prison’s policies were reasonable and inmates would not be put at substantial risk because the number of positive cases in the Pack Unit had fallen “drastically.”

Sotomayor criticized that line of reasoning.

“The threat of a second outbreak is ongoing,” she wrote. “If the injunction’s safety measures are not implemented and maintained, this ‘relentless pandemic’ may again engulf the Pack Unit.”

YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:30 am Just read that NYT article on Loving County, Texas. They have been lucky, but their luck won't hold. Children are bussed to school out of county--sooner or later they, or the temp workers, will pass it to a local. Of course, the UV rays and social distancing are helping. Still, my son's HS has 10x as many students as Loving has residents. Remember when West Virginia and Ohio were thought to be virus-free?
WV had 34,460 cases and 585 deaths. Ohio has 305,364 cases and 5,778 deaths.

Nobody is immune. Loving is simply lucky, so far.

North Dakota Hits Highest COVID-19 Mortality Rate In The World

North Dakota had the highest COVID-19 mortality rate of any other state or even any other country in the world last week, according to a shocking analysis by the Federation of American Scientists.

South Dakota ranked third-worst in the world.

Both states also have the lowest rates of face mask use in the nation.

The rates are what health experts would expect in a war-torn nation — but not in the U.S., the scientists said.

“How could we allow this in the United States to happen?” Dr. Ali Mokdad, a health professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, told USA Today. “This is unacceptable.”

It’s a situation “as bad as it gets anywhere in the world,” complained Dr. William Haseltine, president of Access Health International, who blamed state leaders for failing to adopt lifesaving health measures.

North Dakota had the lowest mask-wearing rate in US in October, according to survey data. States without masks mandates saw sharp spikes.

Dakotas also has the highest per capita rate of #COVID19, according to the CDC as of November 6. #MaskUp https://t.co/zinXIolLgU pic.twitter.com/bNsHRxV9W9

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 16, 2020
North Dakota, which first hit the top of the FAS global mortality charts last month, tallied 18.2 deaths per million last week, and South Dakota had 17.4 deaths per million, according to the FAS analysis.

North Dakota finally moved last week to require masks in certain settings and imposed business restrictions. “Our situation has changed, and we must change with it,” Republican Gov. Doug Burgum said in a somber video message Friday after health care workers pushed for a mask mandate.

But South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican favorite of President Donald Trump, remains adamantly opposed to a mask mandate and frequently questions if masks are any use in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

She also welcomed mass gatherings in her state this summer, including the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and the state fair — action Haseltine equated to manslaughter.

“The facts are simple: mask mandates, harsh lockdowns, massive testing and contact tracing haven’t worked — in the United States or abroad,” Noem’s spokesperson Maggie Seidel falsely insisted in an email Monday to The Associated Press. Scientists and medical and public health experts armed with actual evidence strongly disagree.

NEW: North Dakota & South Dakota rank #1 & #3.... Our analysis shows 18 of the 50 worst #COVID19 hotspots with the highest mortality worldwide are in the US. And all this reflects deaths arising from older cases arising 3 weeks ago in Oct. Nov case surgingbad Dec death wave. pic.twitter.com/AgdSum14Dw

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 16, 2020
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s model predicts that under current conditions, total deaths in North Dakota and South Dakota will more than double by March 1. That means more than 3,000 more people are expected to die of COVID-19 by then in the two states with a combined population of fewer than 2 million people.

As of Monday, 749 residents had died of COVID-19 in North Dakota, which has nearly 12,000 active cases. Hospitals are so overwhelmed that they’re allowed to use health care workers who are infected with COVID-19 provided they’re asymptomatic.

South Dakota reported 23 new COVID-19 deaths on Sunday after a record daily death toll of 53 the previous day, The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. There are more than 18,000 active cases in the state, and, as of Monday, a total of 644 people had died.

Cases are surging across the nation. The virus has killed 1,000 Americans a day over the past week.

YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:30 am Remember when West Virginia and Ohio were thought to be virus-free?
WV had 34,460 cases and 585 deaths. Ohio has 305,364 cases and 5,778 deaths.