Wednesday Morning C-19 Update

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

IN NORTH DAKOTA - 0 NEW DEATH, STILL A TOTAL OF 13... 6 OF THEM IN CASS COUNTY 

IN MINNESOTA - 17 MORE DEATHS TUESDAY / 160 TOTAL - 3 IN CLAY COUNTY, BUT NO NEW DEATHS YESTERDAY 

IN SOUTH DAKOTA - AFTER 2 WEEKS WITHOUT A FATALITY, ONE TUESDAY....NOW A TOTAL OF 8 

ACROSS THE U-S.....THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY YET WITH MORE THAN 27-HUNDRED.....IN ALL, DOCTORS SAY MORE THAN 45-THOUSAND HAVE DIED FROM THE VIRUS.... 

ACROSS THE WORLD ONE OF THE HIGHEST DAYS AS WELL, NEARLY 7-THOUSAND....176,000 HAVE DIED IN ALL. 

NEW CASES TUESDAY -

• IN NORTH DAKOTA 18 OUT OF 240 PEOPLE TEST POSITIVE.....7.5 PERCENT............WE'VE TESTED JUST SHORT OF 15-THOUSAND....10 IN CASS CO. TESTED POSITIVE TUESDAY - 255 IN ALL.... 

• 97 IN MINNESOTA...THE LOWEST NUMBER IN THE LAST 7 DAYS....BUT ONLY 897 TESTS FOR A POSITIVE RATE OF 11.4 PERCENT.....A TOTAL NOW OF 2,67 HAVE TESTED POSITIVE ...IN CLAY COUNTY, 6 NEW CASES, 68 IN ALL. 

• IN SD, 70 NEW CASES - WELL BELOW 7 DAY AVERAGE..., 1,755 IN ALL

• ACROSS THE US....ABOUT 23-THOUSAND NEW CASES.....NOW 816,000 TOTAL.......

• ACROSS THE WORLD...72,000 WITH A TOTAL OF JUST OVER 2.5 MILLION SINCE THIS BEGAN.

THE NUMBER HOSPITALIZED THIS MORNING-

• IN NORTH DAKOTA ...17 ....SAME AS THE DAY BEFORE.........

• IN MN, 237 ARE IN HOSPITAL CARE, ALSO UNCHANGED

• ACROSS THE COUNTRY, JUST OVER 14,000 ARE IN SERIOUS OR CRITICAL CONDITION

AND IN THE U-S, NEARLY 83-THOUSAND HAVE RECOVERED, WHILE WORLDWIDE THAT NUMBER IS NEARLY 690-THOUSAND

 ON THE TRENDLINES THIS MORNING -

•  SOME GOOD NEWS....ONE OF THE LARGEST JUMPS CAME TUESDAY IN THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WHO HAVE RECOVERED FROM THE VIRUS IN THE U-S....ALMOST 10-THOUSAND PEOPLE TODAY ALONE HAVE A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH

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THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTS THIS MORNING THAT NORTH DAKOTA IS ONE OF FOUR STATES IN A CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL TESTING TRIAL….THE TESTING IS UNDERWAY IN NURSING HOMES TO TEST RESIDENTS WHO ARE ASYMPTOMATIC….GOVERNOR BURGUM ALLUDED YESTERDAY TO FEDERAL HELP THAT WAS ON THE WAY TO NORTH DAKOTA FOR TESTING EFFORTS...THE OTHER 3 STATES ARE NEBRASKA, NEW MEXICO, AND TENNESSEE….THE CDC HAS ABOUT 500 STAFF IN THE FIELD IN STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND WILL HIRE ANOTHER 650 TO HELP WITH CONTACT TRACING…

TEST RESULTS ARE IN FROM TESTING DONE LAST WEEK AT FARGO’S GLADYS RAY HOMELESS SHELTER ...FARGO CASS PUBLIC HEALTH SAYS THERE WERE 70 TESTED, AND THREE POSITIVE RESULTS...THE FORUM REPORTS THAT FARGO’S OTHER HOMELESS SHELTER REPORTS NO POSITIVE TESTS….

MORE THAN A WEEK OF NEGOTIATIONS HAS FINALLY LED TO A REFILL OF THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM....The Senate TUESDAY passed a $484 billion deal to replenish the small-business loan program that’s been overrun by demand and to devote more money to hospitals and coronavirus testing. The House is expected to approve it TOMORROW.  and President Trump said he would sign it into law....It would increase funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by $310 billion. It would also boost a separate small-business emergency grant and loan program by $60 billion, and direct $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to a new coronavirus testing program.

ALSO TUESDAY PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID LARGE COMPANIES THAT TAPPED THE PROGRAM THE FIRST TIME AROUND WILL BE REQUIRED TO REPAY THE LOAN.  SHAKE SHACK OFFICIALS HAVE ALREADY SAID THEY'LL RETURN THEIR 10 MILLION DOLLARS....THE PRESIDENT CONGRATULATED THE COMPANY FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING, AND SAID ORGANIZATIONS LIKE HARVARD, WILL HAVE TO PAY THEIR MONEY BACK TOO.

AND THE PRESIDENT ALSO SAID THAT ANOTHER NEW PROGRAM WILL SOON BE LAID OUT - A PHASE 4 - THAT WOULD FUND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO GET THE INDUSTRY OF THE COUNTRY IN MOTION....HE SAYS IT'S TIME TO RE-START THE COUNTRY - SOT.....

MEANWHILE IN BISMARCK TUESDAY, GOVERNOR DOUG BURGUM TALKING CONFIDENTLY ABOUT TESTING.  HE SAYS SUPPLIES ARE STILL BEING BUILT UP ACROSS THE STATE FOR THE MASS TESTING THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO REOPEN THE STATE MARKETPLACE ON MAY 1....BUT THERE ALREADY IS ENOUGH SUPPLY TO TEST ANYONE WHO IS SHOWING SYMPTOMS......SOT

BURGUM SAYS THERE IS USUALLY A 2 DAY LAG TIME FROM TESTING TO RESULTS, SO THE LOW NUMBERS OF BOTH POSITIVES AND TESTS YESTERDAY, ARE MORE AN INDICATION OF SLOWER WEEKEND ACTIVITY THAN A DECLINE IN THE ACTUAL VIRUS....HE SAYS THE TEST SAMPLE OF 240 IS DISAPPOINTING SINCE HIS GOAL IS 1-THOUSAND TESTS A DAY.

FARGO'S VILLA MARIA NURSING HOME IS THE LATEST LONG TERM CARE FACILITY TO REPORT A CONFIRMED CASE OF THE VIRUS....NOW MORE THAN A DOZEN CARE FACILITIES ACROSS THE STATE HAVE CONFIRMED CASES....INCLUDING 10 IN THE METRO AREA....BETHANY ON 42ND IN FARGO ANNOUNCED TUESDAY THAT IT WILL  conduct testing ON ALL STAFF AND RESIDENTS TODAY ....

ONE MONTH AFTER CLOSING IT'S DOORS, WEST ACRES MALL IN FARGO ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL CONTINUE ITS SELF IMPOSED CLOSURE INDEFINITELY.  THE MALL HAS BEEN CLOSED SINCE MARCH 19TH.

VALLEY NEWS LIVE REPORTS THAT People living in North Dakota will soon get a vote by mail application in their mailboxes.....Cass County says the application is for an absentee ballot for the June 9 election.

IN MINNESOTA, THE BUZZ IS ALL ABOUT NURSING HOMES IN THE TWIN CITIES AREA WHERE 113 of Minnesota’s 160 COVID-19 deaths HAVE TAKEN PLACE....OF TUESDAYS 17 FATALITIES, 14 WERE IN TWIN CITIES AREA NURSING HOMES...STATE DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES KRIS ERESMAN SAYS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES IS THE AVAILABILITY OF TRAINED DOCTORS, NURSES, AND HOSPICE WORKS WHO ARE NOT UNDER QUARANTINE...MEAN WHILE THERE IS STILL A LARGE NUMBER OF ESSENTIAL WORKERS GOING IN AND OUT OF THE FACILITIES PROVIDING MEALS AND ASSISTANCE, INCREASING THE RISK OF INFECTION TO RESIDENTS....

TESTING CAPABILITIES ARE RAMPING UP IN MINNESOTA’S TOP HEALTH LABS,, IT’S JUST THE FUNDING THAT LAGS….THAT FROM THE STAR TRIBUNE THIS MORNING WHICH REPORTS THAT THE U OF M CAN RUN 20,000 DIAGNOSTIC TESTS A DAY, THE MAYO CLINIC SAYS IT CAN RUN 56-HUNDRED AND HENNEPIN COUNTY CAN RUN 1-THOUSAND ….AS FAR AS THE ANTIBODY TESTS, MAYO SAYS IT CAN RUN 20,000 A DAY AND THE U SAYS IT CAN DO 15-THOUSAND….UNIVERSITY OFICIALS HAVE ASKED LAWMAKERS FOR A $20 MILLION DOLLAR APPROPRIATION TO HELP FUND THE ANTIBODY TESTING.

CALIFORNIA Health officials say two people died with the coronavirus in California weeks before ANYONE STARTED KEEPING TRACK.....Santa Clara County officials said Tuesday the people died at home Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, BUT THE first death in the nation from the virus WAS Reported on Feb. 29 in Kirkland, Washington. The Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation Tuesday that tissue samples sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CAME BACK MONDAY positive for the virus.

A bill introduced IN THE MINNESOTA SENATE  would allow businesses to apply for permission to reopen if they have a plan to safely operate. And the measure would require a yes-or-no-answer from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) within three business days.

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY black residents make up 13 percent of known cases so far, which is higher than the  7 percent black population in Minnesota. HEALTH COMMISSIONER Jan Malcolm SAYS black Minnesotans face disproportionate rates of illnesses that TEND TO MAKE THEM MORE VULNERABLE TO SEVERE DISEASE... BUT WHILE THEY MAKE UP A DISPROPORTIONATE PERCENTAGE OF CASES, Black Minnesotans ONLY account for 5 percent of deaths, compared to 13 percent of known infections.

President Donald Trump announced what he described as a "temporary suspension of immigration into the United States" on Tuesday, an executive order barring those seeking permanent residency green cards but not temporary workers.

Trump said he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. But he said there would be "certain exemptions" included in the order WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN FINALIZED.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first at-home tests for the coronavirus….The kits allow patients to collect nasal swab samples at home and mail them in for results….They’re called Pixel by LabCorp Covid-19 At-Home Kits…. Patients then can access their results online….. LabCorp will make the tests available in most states in the coming weeks. they will prioritize healthcare workers and first responders first since initial quantities of the kits will be limited…..People will need to fill out an eligibility survey and have a doctor's order to be able to get the at-home test kit. Each kit costs $119

THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSED DOWN MORE THAN 630 POINTS ON TUESDAY TO FINISH JUST OVER 23,000.  THAT'S A 2.5% LOSS.  WTI CRUDE OIL CLOSED UP 2 DOLLARS TO FINISH AT $13.94