Change is the only constant and as we launch into a new week, we will have new changes ahead as we all navigate life in the climate of a world health pandemic. But, as we are taking each day together we will let you know the latest, laid out in simple form. Your Covid-19 Cliff Notes are here.
As we follow the latest of the world pandemic, there is a lot (A LOT!) of information to digest, we will break it down from the larger (World) scope and work our way in here to Eau Claire and our own back yard and day to day lives. Trying to outline the basics and keep the information accurate, bite size, and easy to follow.
First of all, COVID19 is the name given to COronaVIrus Disease 2019, for the year that it was first detected. Now that we have that established we will look at the latest cliff notes.
WORLD: Pope Francis is calling for a temporary worldwide ceasefire. The Pope called for a global halt to hostilities yesterday so countries can protect their people from the coronavirus pandemic. During his Angelus broadcast, the Pope said COVID-19 knows no borders. The global death toll from the coronavirus now tops 30-thousand. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center says Italy leads the world in Covid-19 deaths with over ten-thousand. Over 670-thousand cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide.
NATIONAL: Hospital ships are setting up in the nation’s two largest cities. The Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy has already started taking on patients in the Port of Los Angeles while its sister ship the USNS Comfort is expected to arrive in New York today. Both ships are treating non-COVID 19 patients in a bid to reduce the strain on hospitals. In New York City, part of Central Park is set to open as a 68-bed field hospital Tuesday while the L.A. Convention Center is poised for a similar move.
President Trump says that the coronavirus could kill a hundred thousand people in the U.S. Trump also extended the federal government’s recommended social distancing guidelines until April 30th.
STATE: The number of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin passed a milestone over the weekend. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday said that over eleven-hundred people in the state are now sick with the virus. There are confirmed cases in 42 counties. DHS says 17 people in the state have died from the virus. Another 16 thousand people have been tested and confirmed to not be sick.
LOCAL: Ten people are sick with the coronavirus in Eau Claire County. The latest count from the state shows ten people sick in Eau Claire County, four people sick in Chippewa County, and three people sick in Dunn County.
More than a thousand people want to see Eau Claire schools drop letter grades for this spring semester. A new petition urges the school district to switch to pass/fail grades for this semester. The petition says students don’t know when they will come back to school, and are trying to finish their classes online. More than eleven-hundred people have already signed the petition. There is no word from the Eau Claire district about the proposal.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST PREVENTION TIPS AND INFORMATION FROM THE CDC.
