Coronavirus Journal for November 2020

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Coronavirus

Situation summary: The United States reported more than 4 million coronavirus cases in November, which is higher than the total number of cases seen all year by most other countries (exceptions being Brazil and India).

November 1 – 9,198,700 cases in the US with 230,994 deaths

Saints won in a nailbitter against the Bears but it was otherwise a calm and easy day.

November 2

Worked on the upstairs office/apartment. Tossed three contractor bags of trash and found lots of cool things – my paternal grandmother’s last will and testament, an award to my maternal grandmother for her work NOAA, lots of pictures including me modeling this spiffy yellow and black tracksuit in front of Ferris Barracks when we were stationed in Erlangen Germany in 1973.

November 3 – The Louisiana Department of Health reports 1,150 new #COVID cases reported to the state. The vast majority (95%) of these new cases are tied to community spread, rather than congregate settings. The majority of these new cases are among 18-29yo (21%); 17% are among 30-39yo; 16% are among 40-49yo; 13% are among 50-59yo; 12% are among 60-69yo; and 11% are among 70+yo. Today’s reported cases come from all regions of the state, with the most coming from Acadiana (23%), Greater Baton Rouge (19%) and Bossier/Shreveport (19%) areas. They report 17 additional #COVID deaths today, bringing Louisiana’s death toll to 5,737. The Alabama Public Health Department reports 194,892 cases with 2973 deaths.

I drove to Michelle’s so I could take her to go vote. Her mom had already yelled at her for her support of the medical marijuana amendment so I took her to the Seminary Community Center on Highway 49. The line wrapped around the parking lot, which was full so I parked on the highway and was buffeted by cars roaring by while I waited for her to do her civic duty. Afterwards, we ran some errands and had lunch and I went the rest of the way to New Orleans.

November 4 – US cases 9,465,646 with 233,535 deaths

Surging caseloads in nearly every state pushed the United States to a record 104,004 new infections today

I worked in the yard – sweeping up leaves and other debris and picking up all the fallen branches. I filled the trash can and two contractor bags before my allergies got too bad to continue working. I still need to rake and fix the parts of the fence that blew down but I’m not seeing any other damage from the Theta, thank goodness.

November 6 Today America had more than 122,000 new infections, and more than 1100 people died.

November 7 – 9,831,030 cases in US with 236,989 deaths

An analysis by the Associated Press shows that 93% of the 376 counties with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases per capita voted for Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/counties-worst-virus-surges-voted-trump-d671a483534024b5486715da6edb6ebf

November 10 – Alabama Public Health reports 206,567 total cases with 3120 deaths. Louisiana Public Health reports 189,682 total cases with 5829 deaths.

IWO’s board meeting was this evening. We spent some time talking about the election and what the results mean before getting down to business.

We also gave a certificate of appreciate to Senator Karen Carter Peterson for her work as Chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party for the past 8 years. She came onto the zoom call so we could give her the certificate as personally as possible (we had already delivered the framed copy to her office).

Nov 11

Today states reported 144,000 new cases and 1,562 Americans died, the highest number of deaths since May 14.

It is Veterans Day. I thanked Dad for his service.

Nov 12

Today more than 153,000 new cases were reported, with 66,000 people hospitalized. More than 10.4 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 242,000 have died.

Nov 13 – US cases 10,715,764 cases with 244,217 deaths

I went to Fort Morgan Public Beach and took a brief walk. Lots of shells.

In case anyone needs reminding, here is the updated list of Trump’s atrocities – https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-978?s=03

Nov 14

Americans killed in World War I: Over 116,000

Americans killed in Vietnam War: Over 58,000

Americans killed in Korean War: Over 36,000

Americans killed by the coronavirus: Over 242,000

Nov 16

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States passed 11 million on Sunday. It took 100 days for the nation to log its first 1 million cases; it took just six days to get from 10 million to 11 million.

Nov 19

IWO hosted a Zoom in support of Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight. She did a marvelous job of mobilizing voters and Louisiana needs to do the same. We were able to have Councilmember Helena Moreno and US Congressman Cedric Richmond join us for the virtual event. The organization gave $1000 and we tried to raise that again from the members to support the election of 2 Democratic Senators from Georgia.

Nov 22

Today the G20, which consists of leaders of developed or developing countries from around the world, met virtually. When members of the G20 began to talk about responses to the global pandemic, Trump left the meeting and went golfing. This was his 298th golf trip during his presidency. Today America surpassed 12 million coronavirus infections.

The Saints pummeled the Falcons to win 24-9.

Nov 23

Took my Dad’s truck to Michelle’s house as, in the clear out, there were several metal shelving units that needed a new home and she was in big need of outside storage. We rearranged her porch to accommodate them, filled them and tossed a bunch of stuff in the dumpster that had been trashed from the last couple of storms

Nov 24 – The Louisiana Department of Health reports 3,266 new #COVID19 cases reported to the state since November 23, 2020. The total number of cases reported to the state is 224,403. Individuals between 18-29 represent 20% of these cases. There have been 39 deaths reported to the state since yesterday. The current total death count is 6,323.

We drove to Gulf Shores for the holiday, stopping to drive-by Shopkick all along the way, not going into any stores but seeing what registered for points from the safety of the car.

The Louisiana Governor, John Bel Edwards, announced that the state had to reimpose tighter restrictions and return to Phase 2 because of the rising COVID19 cases and increased hospitalizations across the state.

Nov 25 – The Alabama Public Health Department reports 239,318 coronavirus cases with 3,532 deaths.

Made pecan pie brownies as an alternative to the overly sweet but hugely traditional pecan pie. They came out pretty good and the recipe here

Nov 26

Happy Thanksgiving. I grilled the bone-in turkey breast and we also had green bean casserole, dressing and mashed potatoes. We sat with at least 6 feet between the guests and moved the post meal conversation to outside.

Nov 27 – Coronavirus cases in the U.S. topped 13 million today, even as many Americans ignored Thanksgiving travel warnings.

Mom and I received a chest of drawers from the refinisher – it looks amazing. He was able to bring out the wood grain of the walnut and get all the drawers open. He had a well wrapped box of things he pulled out of the drawer (he trashed all the clothes).

Nov 28

We had my sister and her husband over. She cut everyone’s hair and I made hot turkey sandwiches as a riff off Kentucky Hot Browns. Recipe here

Nov 29

I drove Michelle back to her home and took her grocery and sundry shopping along the way to get her well stocked up.

November 30 – The Louisiana Department of Health reports 171 #COVID19 cases reported to the state since November 29, 2020. The total number of cases reported to the state is 232,414. Of these cases, 110 are confirmed cases and 61 are probable cases. 1,166 new tests have been reported to the state, bringing the total number of tests to 3,495,253. There have been 13 deaths reported to the state since yesterday. The current total death count is 6,420.

Coronavirus Journal for October 2020

Tags

Coronavirus

I totally thought I had published this one back in November. Oops!

October 1 – Alabama Covid-19 cases are 155,744 with 2,548 deaths. Louisiana had 166,584 cases with 5,329 deaths.

October 2 – 46,459 other Americans were also diagnosed with Coronavirus today and 906 Americans died on Friday from Covid-19.

Donald Trump is positive for Covid-19. After months of bungling the US response and refusing to follow basic healthcare mandates, he is wife and several other prominent Republicans looked to have infected at the superspreader event that was the Amy Barret announcement.

I spent my morning rescuing mom’s Tupperware from the freezer. We will be getting it hauled to the street and she didn’t want to lose them so I braved the stench and alien growths to get them out. I only puked once!

The adjuster for the insurance company came out today to look at the wind damage. There are three places in the house and one in the garage where water leaked. As the tree which fell into the house has already been removed, I had to send him my pictures of the tree in place.

Went to Publix on my way home for groceries. Everyone in the store had on a mask.

Oct 3 –

My sister and her husband and both her kids came to the house to work. I had the worst job – I was working in the guest bedroom and trashing the flood water swollen and mold covered books.

Oct 5 – 1,429 Americans died from COVID-19 while Donald Trump was in the hospital.

Dad’s birthday was today but he had scheduled his truck diagnostic so I drove behind him to Daphne and the Toyota dealership. They said they’d be done in two hours, so he opted to stay and I went back home by way of cheap gas.

Oct 6 –

Test drove a 2020 CRV with mom today. That’s the car she wants.

Oct 7 – In the past week, there were over 300,000 new COVID-19 cases reported with 7 states reporting more than 10,000 new cases each.

Packed up the cars and got mom settled at my sisters in advance of Hurricane Delta. It is going to hit Louisiana but there is a non-resident evacuation of Gulf Shores and neither she nor I are willing to be that close to the Gulf of Mexico with at least tropical storm force winds and rains possible. Dad, of course, refuses to leave as the evacuation order is just for tourists.

I went by the house and made up a 10% bleach solution which I used to begin cleaning the wood furniture. I then did what I could to secure the house ahead of storm and pack the car of the stuff I plan to take to Michelle.

Oct 8 – Louisiana cases 170,621 cases with 5,416 deaths

Went to Office Depot to buy flash drives for the pictures of the house for both my parents to have for them to do the inventory of contents. I then went down to Gulf Shores to give dad a tutorial on his new laptop computer. Got him on Gmail and into his investment accounts and insurance. Made two copies of the pictures and uploaded them onto his computer.

Left by way of the bank and McDonalds where I picked up lunch for Mom and I.

October 9 – 36.5 million cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide with 1,061,000 deaths

Drove to Michelle’s to beat Hurricane Delta to Mississippi. We went and paid her water bill, visited the bank and went shopping at the Friday sales at three grocery stores.

October 10 –

I did some organizing of Michelle’s house and cut her hair before heading to New Orleans. As I left the Hattiesburg area, the sky turned a brilliant blue and stayed gorgeous all the way home. I chatted with my next door neighbor for a bit before unpacking the car and organizing my stuff.

October 11 – Louisiana cases are 172,059 with 5462 deaths.

Today is National Coming Out day so I wore my Legalize Gay shirt as I ran errands. My friend, Ayame, made me a mask in honor of RBG. I think it is pretty styling.

October 12 – At least 215,000 people in the United States have died of covid-19

Got to the Civil District Court at 7:30 but they didn’t let us in until 8am. They took our temperature before letting us through security and directed us to the jury lounge for check in. We were given a 2 page coronavirus questionnaire and directed to sit in the lounge in chairs spaced well apart or in three opened courtrooms on the first floor.

After an hour, a group of 20 of us were taken upstairs to a courtroom on the 3^rd floor. We sat well spaced out there, too. Then they called my name and I was taken into another jury lounge. It was bitterly cold in there. The bathrooms were just for jurors and cleaned regularly and the coffee and water dispenser could only be used with gloves on.

We were released for lunch and then back to the 3^rd floor courtroom for another couple of hours. We were released for the day and were given parking vouchers.

I received a call at 5:30 asking me to come back at 9:30 tomorrow.

Seventeen U.S. states hit new highs in their seven-day averages of coronavirus cases on Monday,

October 13 –

Went back to Civil District Court for voir dire. It is a mesothelioma cases of a longshoreman exposed to asbestos. He had two law firms (national plus local counsel) and there were three companies, each with their own team of lawyers. The questioning went from 10:00 to 1pm with a ten minute break. The 14 of us were spread out around the room – 1 in the witness stand, two of us in the jury box and everyone else spread out among the other seats. The judge said the trial itself would have us in the jury lounge watching on zoom so the exposure was less.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the safety measures – lucite between workers and people, social distance, cleaning, masks – all made me feel safer.

October 14  – US cases 7,864,872 with 215,871 deaths

Found out I didn’t get picked for the jury.

October 15 –

Bought more boxes (these for pictures and mirrors)

U.S. coronavirus cases surpass 8 million – we hit this milestone just three weeks after recording its 7th million case. The US accounts for more than 20 percent of all infections and deaths globally, with Covid-19 claiming over 217,000 lives in the United States. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/16/us-8-million-coronavirus-cases-429802

October 16 – Latest Louisiana COVID-19 numbers 174,638 cases 5,527 deaths

The United States has now seen its highest number of new COVID-19 cases since July, with more than 69,000 new cases reported nationwide today.

I early voted at the Smoothie King Center with my friend, Julie. We were in and out in 30 minutes.

October 17 – 218000 people have died in the US from COVID19 with 8,049,000 cases reported

I went and got a flu and tetanus (tdap) shot today. Ron came by but with the wrong sized boards and so left. He promises to come back tomorrow to finish the stairs and do the porch.

Smoked ribs and made focaccia.

October 18 –

Drove to Gulf Shores after having Ron and one of his guys work for a few hours. Had a zoom call in the evening to talk about opposing amendment 1.

October 19 –

Met one woman at the house and she cleaned several rooms of debris while I packed up all the pictures off the walls. Seems like every time I turned a corner there was another picture.

October 20 – 8,124,211 cases in the US with 220,940 deaths

Had three gals helping at the house, they cleaned out the office and master bedroom and my parent’s walk in closet.

October 21 – 8,293,000 cases with 221,000 deaths in the US

We packed up the kitchen today. It was quite the task as some of the stuff needed to go into boxes for them to access as soon as they move into their next house and the other stuff that could wait plus some stuff I didn’t even know they had. Lots of weird gadgets and single use items.

Oct 22 –

I’m weary of the president’s endless mendacity. Tonight, I wanted to hear how our next leader will, immediately, combat a pandemic and try to right our sinking economy, while starting a process to unite our divided country. As this “debate” ended, the New York Times tallied more than 74,000 new coronavirus cases in the United States today. That’s the second highest daily total of the entire pandemic. We can’t let this continue.

October 23 – The US sets another new record of 83,000 Covid-19 cases in a single day. This after yesterday’s 77,000 cases set the record of a highest ever single day.

Oct 24 –

My sister and her family came by the house to get their stuff out – furniture that my folks won’t need in a smaller house, hobby items like the scuba gear, kayak, peg boards, hunting decoys, the ATV, etc.

Oct 25 –  8,602,872 cases with 225,061 deaths in the United States

October 26 – 8695375 cases in US with 225,634 deaths

At least five people on the staff of Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for the coronavirus, including Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short. The vice president is not going to quarantine – instead, he is continuing to campaign.

October 28 –

Hurricane Zeta made landfall this evening and the eye went right over New Orleans. I was over in Foley (as mom and I had followed the Gulf Shores recommendation for evacuation for those in low lying, flood prone areas like Fort Morgan and Little Lagoon) at my sister’s house for the storm. There was lots of wind and rain but other than the blue tarp that was covering the missing shingles from Hurricane Sally, no additional damage.

October 29 –

I filled up 8 large boxes plus lots of 5 gallon buckets of fertilizer, phosphorus and other chemicals, boat batteries, and rusty gallon cans of household paint and other hazardous materials. I loaded it into Dad’s truck – it filled up the back of the Tundra and had him take it to the landfill in Magnolia Springs. It cost him $42 as they charged per gallon for paint.

October 30 –

Today the U.S. had more than 100,000 new infections. A scathing new report from a congressional panel chaired by Jim Clyburn (D-SC) calls the administration’s response to the pandemic “among the worst failures of leadership in American history.”

I got some good pictures of the sunset

and the full moon

October 31, 2020 – 9,114,418 cases in the United States with 230,336 deaths

Kathy, Wayne, Kim and Kat came over to get more stuff from Mom and Dad’s house. We also had the fun task of moving the Shopsmith (a heavy lathe, saw machine) overland to his neighbor’s workshop. We used the Egyptian way of making pyramids to create a bridge of planks for it to roll on and brute strength to move it over obstacles. He has agreed that, if I find a place for it, I will get it back but he will be able to use it until then.

It was a cloudy night so the moon was well up in the sky before it was clear enough to photograph.