Monday 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.

HERE ARE THE KEY NUMBERS THIS MORNING.....

IN NORTH DAKOTA.... the 3 NUMBERS WE'RE WATCHING -- FIRST THE POSITIVE RATE  ....64 POSITIVE OUT OF 1,097 TOTAL TESTS....THATS 5.8 PERCENT - HIGHER THAN THE DAY BEFORE, BUT CONSISTENT WITH THE 7 DAY AVERAGE..........SECOND, THE HOSPITALIZED NUMBER IS UP ONE AT 18.... THIRD THE DEATH COUNT .... ALSO UP ONE TO 17.... THE VICTIM IS FROM CASS COUNTY - A WOMAN IN HER 80'S.... AND NOW 10 OF THE 17 DEATHS HAVE BEEN FROM CASS COUNTY.........OF THE 64 TO TEST POSITIVE, CASS COUNTY HAD 40....326 HAVE RECOVERED, THAT'S UP 16....

IN MINNESOTA - 156 POSITIVE OUT OF A SAMPLE SIZE OF 2,300.....AT 6.5 PERCENT THAT POSITIVE RATE IS THE LOWEST IN 2 WEEKS AND WELL BELOW THE 7 AND 14 DAY AVERAGES....170 ARE IN HOSPITAL CARE - THAT NUMBER IS ABOVE THE 7 DAY AVERAGE..THERE ARE 115 IN THE ICU AND THAT NUMBERS IS VERY CLOSE TO THE 7 DAY AVERAGE........SUNDAY SAW THE HIGHEST DEATH COUNT TO DATE WITH 28......IN ALL, 272 AVE DIED....2 OF THOSE NEW DEATHS WERE IN CLAY COUNTY, A RESIDENT IN THEIR 90'S AND ONE IN THEIR 80'S.  8 HAVE NOW DIED IN ALL IN CLAY COUNTY.....NEARLY 18-HUNDRED HAVE HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED.

IN SOUTH DAKOTA - ONE NEW DEATH - NOW A TOTAL OF 11.....ABOUT 80  NEW CASES....2,213 IN ALL..64 ARE HOSPITALIZED,.....AND MORE THAN 12-HUNDRED HAVE RECOVERED....

ACROSS THE U-S.....DOCTORS SAY MORE THAN 55-THOUSAND ARE NOW DEAD...ABOUT 12-HUNDRED REPORTED YESTERDAY....WELL BELOW THE TREND LINES BUT WEEKEND REPORTING IS OFTEN INCOMPLETE.....15-THOUSAND ARE HOSPITALIZED -- LEVEL FOR THE LAST 7 DAYS....THERE ARE 26-THOUSAND NEW CASES....

ACROSS THE WORLD DOCTORS SAY 206-THOUSAND ARE DEAD ..........880-THOUSAND HAVE RECOVERED.

ON THE TRENDLINE TONIGHT......

MINNESOTA SEES THE sixth day in a row WHERE  the DEATH COUNT has either matched or set new highs.....THE PEAK HAS NOT YET HIT IN MINNESOTA…

NURSING HOMES CONTINUE TO BE HAMMERED BY THIS VIRUS....OF THE 28 DEATHS TODAY, 23 IN LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES.

AND WE HAD OUR YOUNGEST DEATH IN MN REPORTED SUNDAY, A 44 YEAR OLD....WHO had underlying health problems and lived in an assisted-living facility in Hennepin County

IN NORTH DAKOTA THE TREND IS UP IN TERMS OF NUMBERS WHO ARE HOSPITALIZED...TODAY THERE ARE 18, UP ONE FROM YESTERDAY...JUST OVER A WEEK AGO THERE WERE ONLY 10.

HERE ARE YOUR MONDAY MORNING HEADLINES -

THE ND NATIONAL GUARD TELLS WZFG RADIO THAT IT COMPLETED 1,013 TESTS SATURDAY AT THE FARGODOME....RESULTS WON'T BE KNOWN UNTIL EARLY IN THE WEEK....THERE WAS A SECOND TESTING EVENT SUNDAY IN FARGO, AT AN UNDISCLOSED HALFWAY HOUSE.

THE MUCH FOLLOWED UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON’S IMHE INSTITUDE MODEL FOR DEATHS IN THE U-S HAS BEEN REVISED UPWARD….THE MODEL WHICH STARTED AT 171-THOUSAND, HAD BEEN REVISED DOWNWARD MULTIPLE TIMES TO 61-THOUSAND….THE MODEL NOW PREDICTS JUST UNDER 68-THOUSAND U-S DEATHS BY AUGUST 4TH….WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT 13-THOUSAND MORE THAN THE CURRENT NUMBER OF JUST OVER 55-THOUSAND….

THE NORTH DAKOTA PROJECTION HAS ALSO BEEN RAISED….IT NOW PREDICTS 356 DEATHS BY AUGUST 4TH.

THE STATE OF GEORGIA RETURNS TO “ALMOST NORMAL” TODAY...HAIR, NAILS, TATTOOS, GYMS, BOWLING, MASSAGE, ALL OPENED ON FRIDAY….THEATERS AND RESTAURANTS GO TODAY…SOCIAL DISTANCING, MASKS, AND SANITATION ARE ALL BEING DEMANDED BY STATE OFFICIALS.

SEVERAL OTHER STATES ARE STARTING TO LIFT RESTRICTIONS TODAY, INCLUDING, ARK, MS, MONTANA

Minnesota is moving ahead with an initial loosening of workplace restrictions TODAY THAT WILL ALLOW as many as 100,000 RESIDENTS WHO WORK IN manufacturing, INDUSTRIAL, and office work to return to THE JOB, joining the 2.6 million Minnesotans who are already working.  THIS AS THE STATE SAW IT'S HIGHEST SINGLE DAY DEATH COUNT SUNDAY, AT 28.....Meanwhile, residents are waiting to see whether Walz is going to extend or modify the statewide stay-at-home order that is set to expire May 4.

THE BIG TALKERS OVER THE WEEKEND - THE ECONOMY AND TESTING....ONE OF THE BIG QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IS THE LONG TERM FUTURE OF THE ECONOMY ONCE IT REOPENS. MANY EXPECT CONGRESS TO PASS ANOTHER STIMULUS PACKAGE….. ON ABC'S "THIS WEEK," WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER KEVIN HASSETT TALKED ABOUT WHAT WILL COME NEXT, AND EXPRESSED EXTREME CONCERN OVER HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE LOST JOBS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC.......SOT

THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SAYS ONE IN SIX WORKING AMERICANS HAS FILED AN UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIM AT SOME POINT IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS…

An official unemployment rate HAS NOT YET BEEN ANNOUNCED IN ND, BUT THE FORUM CALCULATES THE NUMBER TO BE NEAR 18%,...... That rate would shatter the state's record high of 7.4%, which happened in February 1983.

MILLIONS OF AMERICANS ARE STILL WAITING FOR THOSE STIMULUS PAYMENTS….IF YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, AND WONDERING WHEN IT MIGHT ARRIVE....GO TO THE IRS.GOV WEBSITE, AND CLICK ON  THE "Get My Payment".... YOU’LL BE ABLE TO FILL IN YOUR INFORMATION, AND GET YOUR ESTIMATED PAYMENT DATE AND IF YOU’LL GET A CHECK OR DIRECT DEPOSIT….

THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE REPORTS THAT THE FOCUS OF THIS SUMMERS TOURISM MARKETING WILL CHANGE.... In previous years,  campaigns have reached into Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. Now the marketing will turn more to in-state residents, who already are HITTING THE STATE’S TOURISM WEBSITE IN RECORD NUMBERS.. The Tourism Division also will look to cooperate with local entities, such as cities' convention and visitor bureaus.

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka appeared in A TWITTER VIDEO SUNDAY  saying he wants churches to reopen SOON. The Gull Lake Republican said many pastors in Minnesota are ready to restart Sunday services, understanding that worshipers need six feet of social distancing and may not be able to touch anything during the service....HE SAYS "If you can congregate at a big box store safely on a Sunday, you should be able to attend your place of worship,

Help is on the way for independent contractors and self-employed Minnesotans who find themselves out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic.....The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced it has begun making Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to those workers, who are newly eligible for weekly unemployment checks under the CARES Act.

AND A NEW REPORT BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE INDICATES Lower-income groups, who depend on the service industry for jobs, are taking the biggest impact from the shutdown of an economy that is driven by services like hotels, bars and restaurants. They work in the hard-hit retail sector and are dependent on others being able to shop and dine and travel, activities which ARE ALL SHARPLY DOWN DURING THE PANDEMIC….