News from across the nation and stories of interest for our readers of BasinLife.com
MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020
Today’s Headlines
The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) today recommends that gatherings of 50 people or more in the U.S. be canceled, postponed for the next 8 weeks because of coronavirus.
The change in ideas, rules and announcements are coming at a constant rate around the nation. Governors across the country are closing schools statewide, both public and private schools, now affecting nearly 30 million children across the U.S.—more than half of the nation’s school enrollment.
The historic closings have taken place across 26 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in most of the nation’s largest school districts including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, according to Education Week, which is keeping a running tally.
The country’s largest school district, New York City, which had been the most prominent holdout, decided Sunday afternoon to close through April 20.
The shutting of so many schools across the nation has massive economic, academic and social repercussions. It forces millions of parents to stay home from work to look after their children, handcuffing businesses and local economies. And it shuts down the main access point for food and social services for millions of children who don’t otherwise have access to either.
In outlining the ripple effects of closing schools, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said summer schedules and summer camps could be affected and students might need more time to graduate. Even so, closing schools for eight to 20 weeks may be the best way to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it said.
Because schools are responsible for teaching and learning—even if schools are closed—the Education Department on Friday eased a host of accountability measures.
In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown has closed schools through March 31st.
Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said schools in New York City are pivotal in providing food for students. Among the system’s roughly 1.1 million students, about 500,000 receive subsidized meals.Children are less prone than adults to get sick from the new coronavirus, but children could be transmitting it as they are known to do with the influenza virus, said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University. “We don’t have really good information,” Dr. Schaffner said.
Closing schools is the most effective non-pharmaceutical intervention to slow the disease, said Nicholas Christakis, a Yale professor who has been studying the spread of the disease. Cities that closed schools earlier and longer during the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918 had much lower mortality rates, he said.
Governors of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey said Monday morning they have agreed to close city bars, restaurants, movie theaters and casinos starting at 8 p.m. Monday. The governors said essential businesses like supermarkets and gas stations will be able to stay open after 8 p.m., though all non-essential businesses must close. Restaurants will be able to offer take-out and delivery.
Starbucks has announced no one will be allowed to sit in their shops across the nation.
CORONAVIRUS TRACKER
The latest U.S. numbers and world numbers.
U.S. internet and wireless providers have announced temporary measures to make getting online less expensive during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Most notable is Comcast’s free public Wi-Fi for all for 60 days, effective immediately. Home-based Xfinity hotspots are not included, but Wi-Fi access points in public locations and at small businesses are.
… AT&T and Charter Communications also announced free public Wi-Fi for 60 days, with Charter offering free broadband for households with students through college age who don’t already have a subscription. Verizon was among the many providers to also announce a moratorium on late fees and disconnections.
… T-Mobile announced that it would provide unlimited smartphone data to all current subscribers and increase the data allowance to schools and students using their digital learning programs.
… Cox said it would increase speeds on low-cost broadband plans and Sprint said it would give subscribers unlimited data for 60 days, among other changes. Comcast and AT&T also temporarily lifted data caps.
One major question mark: If you contract COVID-19 and recover, are you immune for life? The scientific community doesn’t have a clear answer. Nevertheless, Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola at an emergency meeting made a self-described bold proposal: that the city consider the notion of infecting its first responders so they could develop antibodies.
The Tennessee man who bought almost 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to resell on Amazon is giving them away. When Matt Colvin heard about the first coronavirus death in the United States, on March 1, he started driving around the Chattanooga area buying up bottles of hand sanitizer to sell on Amazon. But then Amazon cracked down on overcharging for COVID-19 basic necessities and he was stuck with it all in a storage shed. Now Matt’s giving it away.
Las Vegas police have arrested a Walmart shopper who allegedly wore a hazmat suit and sprayed people and produce with an unidentified clear liquid, causing a panic in the store and leading to an evacuation.
Police were called to the Walmart Saturday night. Witnesses had said that the person wore a hazmat suit and sprayed 13 people with what was described as a clear liquid, leading to a full evacuation of the store. As of Sunday evening it was still not known what was in the substance that the suspect sprayed, but police said there were no immediate health side-effects to those who were sprayed. None of the people who were sprayed showed symptoms, and none had to the taken to the hospital.
Of course stores around the country are reportedly selling out of toilet paper as people worried about quarantines due to the coronavirus outbreak attempt to stock up.
One pizza place in Wisconsin saw the situation and decided to help out. ZaRonis in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, posted on its Facebook page that they not only had toilet paper, but were willing to sell it. Customers are able to order four rolls at the cost of $3.25.
… The pizza place announced the sale on Facebook, where the company posted, “Yep….ZaRonis has toilet paper. You can order it for delivery as well. You will find it online under ‘sides of sauce.’ Please, only 4 per household….because that’s enough to get you through until the stores restock.”
KFC offering delivery service.
As the coronavirus outbreak plays out, we are being encouraged to avoid large crowds and stay inside whenever possible, especially those of us who are in high-risk groups. For that reason, delivery is expected to be in huge demand, and many companies are even waiving fees.
KFC just announced it’s offering free delivery through April 26, though it didn’t specifically cite the coronavirus as a reason for doing so. To qualify for free delivery, all you have to do is spend a minimum of $12 on orders placed through KFC’s website or its delivery partners: Grubhub and Seamless.
Federal authorities warned consumers over the weekend about fake home-testing kits for the coronavirus after customs agents intercepted a package at Los Angeles International Airport filled with vials labeled as COVID-19 test kits.
The parcel arriving from the United Kingdom was declared as purified water vials valued at nearly $200. But when U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspected it they discovered the labels referring to the virus.
… Testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is only conducted in verified state and local public laboratories across the country.