Tuesday Morning C-19 Update

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE UP TO THE MINUTE NUMBERS.....

THERE HAS BEEN ONE NEW DEATH IN NORTH DAKOTA, MAKING NOW 4 IN ALL.....THIS ONE AN EMMONS COUNTY RESIDENT - IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE -  IN HIS 70'S WITH AN EXISTING HEALTH CONDITION....THE NUMBER DID NOT APPEAR ON THE STATE'S DAILY UPDATE BECAUSE IT HAD NOT BEEN CONFIRMED BY 11 AM WHEN THE REPORT IS RELEASED....BUT BURGUM BROKE THE NEWS AT HIS 3:30 PRESS CONFERENCE....18 MORE PEOPLE TEST POSITIVE....THE TOTAL NOW IS 225.... 11 MORE IN CASS COUNTY - 65 NOW IN ALL, 27 MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTY....….. THERE ARE NOW ALMOST 72-HUNDRED WHO HAVE BEEN TESTED STATEWIDE ...74 HAVE HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED.....32 ARE HOSPITALIZED ....IF YOU'RE TRACKING THE MORTALITY RATE IN ND....WE STAND RIGHT NOW AT 1.77 PERCENT, 4 DEATHS WITH 225 CONFIRMED CASES.

ONE MORE DIED IN MINNESOTA MONDAY - ..BRINGING THAT NUMBER TO 30….The VICTIM was a 98 year-old resident of an assisted living facility in Ramsey County…....51 NEW CONFIRMED CASES YESTERDAY...AND NOW A TOTAL OF 986 CONFIRMED CASES…6 NEW CASES IN CLAY COUNTY, NOW 19 IN ALL ......ABOUT 28-THOUSAND HAVE BEEN TESTED....470 HAVE RECOVERED....THE AVERAGE AGE OF THOSE TO DIE IS 86....

TWO FATALITIES IN SOUTH DAKOTA MONDAY DOUBLING THE DEATH COUNT TO 4.........48 NEW POSITIVE TESTS THERE ....288 NOW TOTAL..... ABOUT 6-THOUSAND HAVE BEEN TESTED....

MONDAY WAS THE FIFTH STRAIGHT DAY IN THE U-S WITH MORE THAN A THOUSAND DEATHS.....1,243 ON MONDAY.... MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY'S SINGLE DAY TOTAL YESTERDAY..., THE SECOND HIGHEST SINGLE DAY TOTAL YET IN THE US....AND MORE THAN 10-THOUSAND ARE NOW DEAD - THAT NUMBER STANDING AT JUST UNDER 10,900........WITH MORE THAN 27-THOUSAND CONFIRMED NEW CASES MONDAY....TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES NOW MORE THAN 360-THOUSAND ......BUT....ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, ALMOST 20-THOUSAND HAVE HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED....

worldwide THE DEATH TOLL JUMPED BY ABOUT 5-THOUSAND....CURRENTLY STANDING AT JUST MORE THAN 74-THOUSAND....MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION CONFIRMED CASES........... WHILE ALMOST 280-THOUSAND have had the virus worldwide and have recovered...

COMPARING TO FLU NUMBERS....BETWEEN 30-THOUSAND AND 60-THOUSAND DIE OF THE FLU EVERY YEAR IN AMERICA.....SO WHILE OUR TOTAL NUMBER OF CORONAVIRUS DEATHS IS STILL WELL SHORT OF THAT, AT ALMOST 10-THOUSAND 900, .....WE ARE RAPIDLY APPROACHING THE TOTAL OF 12,469 THAT DIED OF THE SWINE FLU A LITTLE MORE THAN A DECADE AGO....

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LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR TUESDAY MORNING HEADLINES.

The Fargo City Commission LAST NIGHT - ON A FIVE-NOTHING VOTE - PASSED A NON-BINDING RESOLUTION CALLING FOR TENANTS AND LANDLORDS TO WORK TOGETHER WITH BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ON RENT AND MORTGAGE PAYMENTS...COMMISSIONER JOHN STRAND SAID 60% OF FARGO RESIDENTS LIVE IN APARTMENTS AND THE VIRUS HAS CAUSED MANY TO LOSE THEIR JOBS....

Both the Cass County Commission and the Fargo City Commission APPROVED VOTING BY MAIL FOR THE UPCOMING JUNE PRIMARY ELECTION...33 of NORTH DAKOTA'S 53 county commissions have approved the vote by mail process. In light of COVID-19, Governor Doug Burgum signed an executive order waiving the requirement for each county to have one polling place, so as to conform with The White House and CDC’s social distancing guidelines....The counties are now able to use a five-day window to count the absentee ballots, although no results will be announced until the time when the polls would normally close.

MINNESOTA UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS CONTINUE TO SKYROCKET....A TYPICAL WEEK IN MN YIELDS ABOUT 5-THOUSAND APPLICATIONS....BUT IN THE LAST 2 WEEKS THE AVERAGE HAS BEEN MORE THAN 110-THOUSAND.....350-THOUSAND HAVE APPLIED FOR BENEFITS SINCE MARCH 16..... 38,000 North Dakotans, ABOUT 9% of the state's entire workforce, have filed FOR UNEMPLOYMENT SINCE MARCH 16.

MORE THAN 43-HUNDRED PEOPLE HAVE NOW SIGNED THE PETITION ON CHANGE.ORG TO ASK ND GOVERNOR DOUG BURGUM TO ISSUE A SHELTER IN PLACE. ALMOST 3-THOUSAND HAVE SIGNED IT IN THE LAST 2 DAYS.........BURGUM TALKED ABOUT IT AT HIS MONDAY PRESS CONFERENCE, SAYING HE HOPED THAT THE PEOPLE WHO SIGNED IT WERE ACTUALLY FROM NORTH DAKOTA, AND HAD TAKEN TIME TO UNDERSTAND THAT NORTH DAKOTA REALLY ISN'T ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER STATES WHO HAVE ISSUED A MANDATE....SOT

THERE WERE 2 NEW EXECUTIVE ORDERS ISSUED MONDAY BY THE GOVERNOR...People who test positive AND THOSE WHO LIVE WITH THEM, Must self-quarantine for 14 days or face Class B misdemeanor charges, which can result in a $1,500 fine AND 30 days in prison.....The other order BANS VISITATION AT NURSING HOMES AND LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES EXCEPT IN SPECIAL CASES LIKE END OF LIFE SITUATIONS....

BURGUM SAYS HE IS OPEN TO ISSUING A STRONGER STAY AT HOME ORDER, IF THE SITUATION CALLS FOR IT....BUT RIGHT NOW North Dakota has the third lowest rate in the country of positive cases at 3.1% of all tests performed, and about 9 out of 1,000 residents have been tested, the 10th highest proportion of any state.....BUT REITERATED THAT THE PEAK FOR NORTH DAKOTA IS STILL LIKELY WEEKS IN THE DISTANCE.

The 11 new cases in Cass County MONDAY bring the total up to 65 — nearly 30% of the state's total.....Four of the new Cass County cases come in people of at least 60 years of age, while the remaining seven cases are in people under 50.

MEANWHILE IN MINNESOTA, THE BUZZWORD IS FACE MASKS.....AT GOVERNOR WALZ'S DAILY PRESS BRIEFING MONDAY, STATE HEALTH COMMISSIONER JAN MALCOLM SAYS WE ARE ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO WEAR MASKS, BUT ONLY THE RIGHT ONES......SOT

Gov. Tim Walz hinted MONDAY that he plans to extend the current stay-at-home order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Minnesota, but with a tailored approach that allows some businesses to resume normal operations....THE STAR TRIBUNE REPORTS THAT Walz acknowledged the risk of scaling back mitigations that are working — especially with a presumed surge in cases in the weeks ahead ......WALZ said he is conducting a "sector by sector" analysis of businesses that could reopen after the current stay-at-home order expires Friday.

The idea of a scaled-back order COMES AMID TWO PIECES OF GOOD NEWS FOR THE STATE.... both the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota ARE REPORTING PROGRESS IN developing antibody tests that could identify when people have recovered from cases of COVID-19 and may no longer be at risk of contracting or spreading the virus. ...

ALSO MONDAY, Forecasting by the University of Washington's Institute for Health  also dropped the predicted COVID-19 death toll in Minnesota in the next four months from 932 to 625.

One of the nation’s top public health officials suggested Monday THAT the death toll from the  coronavirus will be  QUOTE - “much, much, much lower” than models have projected.....CDC DIRECTOR ROBERT REDFIELD SAID SOCIAL DISTANCING EFFORTS HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL AND THAT EARLY PROJECTIONS OF 100 TO 240-THOUSAND DEATHS WILL NOT TURN OUT TO BE REALITY....HE DID SAY CURRENT DEATH NUMBERS MAY BE UNDERSTATED BECAUSE ACTUAL NUMBERS OFTEN LAG BY 1-2 WEEKS IN CERTAIN AREAS....AND SOME CORONERS WITHOUT TESTING MAY INCORRECTLY LABEL A DEATH TO BE CAUSED BY PNEUMONIA.

Allstate and American Family Insurance -- announced Monday they will give back about $800 million to their AUTO insurance customers because people are driving far less during the coronavirus crisis....AND HAVING FEWER ACCIDENTS....

The steep rise in coronavirus deaths appeared to be leveling off Monday in hard-hit New York, ..GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO SAID The state has been averaging just under 600 deaths per day for the past four days. As horrific as that number is, the steady daily totals were seen a positive sign THAT THE ESCALATION MAY BE SLOWING.

SO JUST HOW MANY WILL DIE IN THE US IN ALL....A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE University of Washington's, PROJECTIONS.....DR. ANTHONY FAUCI FROM THE PRESIDENTS TASK FORCE, SAID AT ONE TIME THAT IT LOOKED LIKE 100 TO 200 THOUSAND MIGHT BE THE NUMBER....BUT THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE is now projecting about 82,000 U.S. deaths through early August, or 12 percent fewer than previously forecast, with the highest number of daily deaths occurring April 16....

CHINA PLANS ON LIFTING ITS WEEK'S LONG LOCKDOWN TOMORROW...AFTER REPORTEDLY SEEING A LARGE DROP IN DEATHS AND CASES THERE IN RECENT WEEKS....

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson, A VICTIM OF covid-19, was moved into an intensive care unit  LAST NIGHT AFTER HIS condition worsened, government officials announced.....Johnson "remains conscious AND IS TAKING OXYGEN BUT NOT ON A VENTILATOR.....HE'S BEEN BATTLING THE VIRUS FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF.