Tuesday Morning C-19 Update

NOTE - Below is a radio-friendly notepad used on the Need To Know Morning Show on AM1100 The Flag WZFG.  Spelling, punctuation, etc are not edited.  

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THE UP TO THE MINUTE NUMBERS.....FIRST THE FATALITIES

• IN NORTH DAKOTA MONDAY, ONE NEW DEATHS, NOW A TOTAL OF 9
• IN MINNESOTA NO NEW DEATHS - STILL A TOTAL OF 70
• IN SOUTH DAKOTA - NO NEW DEATHS, STILL A TOTAL OF 6
• ACROSS THE U-S..... 1,524 MAKING THIS TWO STRAIGHT DAYS OF DECLINING NUMBERS, AND BY SEVERAL HUNDRED....ABOUT 23,500 HAVE DIED IN ALL...
• ACROSS THE WORLD , 53-HUNDRED HAVE DIED, MAKING A TOTAL OF JUST OVER 119-THOUSAND

NEW CASES MONDAY -

• 23 IN NORTH DAKOTA....A NEW SINGLE DAY HIGH, MORE ON THAT IN A MINUTE....THERE HAVE NOW BEEN 331 ACROSS THE STATE TO TEST POSITIVE. 9 IN CASS COUNTY
• 29 IN MINNESOTA, A HUGE DROP OFF BUT THERE'S MORE TO THIS STORY...THAT IN A MINUTE....A TOTAL NOW OF 1,650. ...IN CLAY COUNTY, NO NEW CASES TODAY, A TOTAL STILL OF 40.
• IN SD, 138 NEW CASES, 868 TOTAL
• ACROSS THE US....ABOUT 25-THOUSAND WITH 585-THOUSAND TOTAL....
• ACROSS THE WORLD...70,000 WITH A TOTAL OF 1.9 MILLION SINCE THIS BEGAN.

THE NUMBER HOSPITALIZED -

• IN NORTH DAKOTA THERE ARE 13 PEOPLE IN THE HOSPITAL UP ONE FROM YESTERDAY.
• IN MN, 157 ARE IN HOSPITAL CARE, UNCHANGED FROM YESTERDAY
• ACROSS THE COUNTRY, JUST OVER 12,700 ARE IN SERIOUS OR CRITICAL CONDITION...THAT'S UP 1,000 FROM YESTERDAY
• AND WORLDWIDE, THE NUMBER IS JUST OVER 51-THOUSAND

AND IN THE U-S, NEARLY 36-THOUSAND HAVE RECOVERED, WHILE WORLDWIDE THAT NUMBER IS JUST OVER 443-THOUSAND.ON THE TRENDLINES THIS MORNING:

• NORTH DAKOTA HAD IT'S HIGHEST NUMBER OF NEW CASES MONDAY, WITH 23....THE PREVIOUS HIGH WAS 22 ON MARCH 31.....IT HAD BEEN 15 OR LOWER FIVE OF THE LAST SIX DAYS....ONE POSSIBLE REASON WHY, THE STATE DID A LARGE TESTING EXERCISE IN A KNOWN HOT SPOT IN MOUNTRAIL COUNTY, WHERE THE FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION IS LOCATED...GOVERNOR BURGUM SAYS IT'S NOT A SURPRISE WHEN A HIGHER TESTING SAMPLE IS USED, IN A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED AREA.
• IN MN, A BIG DROP FROM THE AVERAGE IN NEW CASES AND DEATHS....THE STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTED YESTERDAY A LARGE JUMP ABOUT 100 OVER THE AVERAGE....AND 6 DEATHS....AND SAID THAT MANY OF THE NUMBERS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HELD UNTIL TODAY, SO THE 2 DAY TREND WOULD BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE IN CASES AND WELL BELOW AVERAGE IN DEATHS....IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE TODAY IF THE DEATH COUNTY TAKES A JUMP IN MN...
• WITH 9 DEATHS, 2.7% OF THOSE TO TEST POSITIVE HAVE DIED....3% OF THOSE TO BE TESTED, HAVE BEEN POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS.
• THE U-S DEATH TOTAL OF JUST OVER 22-THOUSAND MEANS THE U-S CONTINUES TO HAVE MORE DEATHS FROM THE VIRUS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY.....BUT IN TERMS OF CASES PER CAPITA, THE U-S STANDS JUST 19TH...

SOME COMPARISONS FOR YOU....THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS BETWEEN 300-THOUSAND AND 650-THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE OF THE FLU WORLDWIDE EACH YEAR...WE ARE NOW JUST OVER 114-THOUSAND ON THE CORONAVIRUS...IN THE U-S .....THE CDC ESTIMATES THAT ABOUT 40-THOUSAND AMERICANS HAVE DIED OF INFLUENZA SINCE OCTOBER 1...OUR CORONAVIRUS DEATH COUNT IS NOW JUST OVER 22-THOUSAND....***************************LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR TUESDAY MORNING HEADLINES.ND GOVERNOR DOUG BURGUM SAYS HE'LL OFFER FURTHER ORDERS TODAY REGARDING THE PARTIAL BUSINESS CLOSURES THAT ARE IN EFFECT UNTIL NEXT MONDAY THE 20TH....BURGUM MAINTAINED A CAUTIOUS TONE, SAYING IN HIS PRESS CONFERENCE MONDAY THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THE STATE BACK TO FULL SPEED BUT WE HAVE TO BE SMART, AND THAT NORTH DAKOTA STILL DOES NOT HAVE THIS PANDEMIC BEHIND US....THE LATEST PERSON TO DIE WITH THE VIRUS IS A MAN IN HIS 80'S WITH UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS WHO LIVED IN MORTON COUNTY, WEST OF BISMARCK...THE STATE'S NEW HOT SPOT IS MOUNTRAIL COUNTY IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE STATE...Six OF THE 23 NEW CASES TODAY WERE THERE....Over the weekend, health officials performed about 260 drive-thru tests in the county, which  includes the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation...BURGUM ALSO said more than 48,000 STANDARD claims for unemployment benefits have been filed with Job Service North Dakota since March 16. Nearly 10,000 special claims have also been filed by those who previously exhausted benefits and gig workers who would ordinarily be ineligible to receive benefits through the state but have received special designation .THE FORUM REPORTS THAT A SECOND PETITION HAS SURFACED ASKING NORTH DAKOTANS TO COMMENT ON A SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER....A FARGO WOMAN STARTED A PETITION 2 WEEKS AGO TO LOBBY GOVERNOR DOUG BURGUM TO IMPOSE A STRICT SHELTER IN PLACE TO HELP THE STATE'S RESIDENTS STAY HEALTHY....BUT A NEW PETITION BY A RESIDENT NAMED LUKE TIBOR HAS CIRCULATED, ASKING BURGUM NOT TO TAKE THAT STEP....BOTH PETITIONS HAVE MORE THAN 5-THOUSAND SIGNATURES.MN GOVERNOR TIM WALZ MONDAY issued an order extending his EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY UNTIL May 13...THE MOVE ISN'T SITTING WELL WITH SOME Republican lawmakers who said the governor should loop them in to make MORE OF THE DECISIONS AFFECTING THE STATE....A BIPARTISAN GROUP OF LAWMAKERS IS ASKING WALZ TO ALSO ALLOW RESTATURANT OWNERS TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES WHEN THEY SELL CARRYOUT OR DELIVERY MEALS....NORTH DAKOTA HAS THE CLAUSE IN PLACE ALREADY....WALZ SAYS HE'S VERY OPEN TO IT, AND ASKED THE LEGISLATURE TO SIGN A BILL AND HE'D QUICKLY APPROVE IT.23 Minnesotans have NOW been charged with violating Gov. Tim Walz’s emergency orders aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, revealing that authorities continue to tack on the count as a secondary offense to other crimes.
The charge HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST PEOPLE LIKE....a man who exposed his genitals to people on a bike trail.....a man who allegedly met up with a prostitute at a suburban hotel..... and a business owner who kept his Brainerd lingerie and underwear store openVALLEY NEWS LIVE REPORTS THAT THE Moorhead Police Department SAYS A NEW SCAM IS MAKING THE ROUNDS....A PERSON SAYING THEY ARE A Sergeant with the Moorhead Police Department informs RESIDENTS they had an open warrant. THE SCAMMER tells them a subpoena was sent to the citizen, and they failed to respond AND THAT a warrant has been issued for them.....BUT IF THEY PAID SOME MONEY they would not be arrested at this time due to COVID-19.About 200 portable beds have set up on the floor of the Fargodome to help manage a possible surge of patients from the pandemic.....North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says at this time, he does not expect the beds will be necessary, but he says the state has the responsibility to “prepare for a worst case scenario.” The University of Mary Fieldhouse in Bismarck is also being prepared for the possibility of extra patients.Trinity Health in Minot announced plans MONDAY  to furlough about 350 employees and cut executive pay as the health system deals with the financial costs of the coronavirus pandemic.....Under the cost-cutting plan, 12% of Trinity’s 2,800-member workforce was placed on furloughTHE BISMARCK TRIBUNE REPORTS THAT March boardings at all eight of North Dakota’s commercial airports when compared to the same month in 2019 were down anywhere from 23% at Devils Lake to 49% at Grand Forks, according to the state Aeronautics Commission.  FARGO WAS DOWN 40 PERCENT, WILLISTON DOWN 36% AND MINOT WAS OFF 45%..Virginia-based Smithfield Foods is closing its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls until further notice after hundreds of employees tested positive for the coronavirus ....The plant, which employs about 3,700 people in the state's largest city, has become a hot spot for infections.  293 of the 730 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Dakota work at the plant.“Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos revealed Monday that he's tested positive for the coronavirus, but has been relatively symptom-free.....He said the only potential symptoms he has felt were a lower back ache that he had attributed to a hard workout, and a briefly diminished sense of smell.President Donald Trump TOLD REPORTERS MONDAY THE UNITED STATES HAS HIT A MILESTONE IN TESTING..........SOT......(TAG ON PAGE)HE ALSO SAID THAT INFECTIONS ARE STABILIZING and new hospitalizations in hot spots like New York slowed over the weekend, providing EVIDENCE THAT OUR STRATEGY TO COMBAT THE VIRUS IS WORKING....THE PRESIDENT ALSO SAID THAT HE ALONE HAS the authority to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. ...SOME GOVERNORS ARE PUSHING BACK SAYING THEY HAVE primary constitutional responsibility for ensuring public safety in their states..After a weekslong battle with COVID-19, Jacqueline Cruz, the mother of Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, died Monday as a result of the virus, the Wolves said. She was 59.,,,Cruz had been battling the virus for over a month,President Donald Trump is likely to announce restrictions on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization this week over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as the administration and conservative allies ramped up their criticism that the United Nations agency catered to China early in the outbreak and jeopardized global health.The Food and Drug Administration HAS approved the first saliva-based coronavirus test...., Rutgers University SAYS Current testing requires health professionals to take samples from a patient’s nose or throat, AND THEN WORKERS HAVE TO THROW AWAY THE GLOVES AND MASKS...But with this test, patients will spit in a tube several times and give it to the health professional for testing, making it less likely they will get infected...THE LEAD DOCTOR SAYS Saliva testing will help with the global shortage of swabs for sampling and increase testing of patients, and it will not require health care professionals to be put at risk to collect samples.A DOWN DAY ON WALL STREET SAW THE DOW JONES CLOSE OFF 328 POINTS TO FINISH AT 23,390....THE SP 500 WAS ALSO DOWN BUT THE NASDAQ SQUEAKED OUT A 38 POINT GAINA NEW report ABOUT THE CONCERT INDUSTRY SAYS THAT REVENUE FOR SHOWS THIS YEAR COULD BE down by as much as $9 billion THIS YEAR....THAT WOULD BE A a decline without parallel in the modern music business......The pandemic has upended what should have been a banner year for the concert business. The top 100 tours were up nearly 11% compared to the same time last year, with huge tours from the likes of Elton John, the Rolling Stones and the Eagles all scheduled for summer