Today was one of those days where I sat at my desk all day, and was busy all day … and then all of a sudden, it was the early evening, and my to-do list was just as long as it had been first thing this morning.
I was going to tell you my harrowing and baffling story of trying to navigate the federal small-business loan process, but that’ll have to wait until later this week. In the meantime, strap yourselves in for news from this completely not normal Cinco de Mayo:
• The county supervisors’ meeting today—at which supervisors are considering rescinding county health orders that go further than the state’s orders—has been something of a debacle. As of this writing, it’s still going on.
• As reported in this space yesterday: The county is opening two new testing sites in the valley—one in Mecca, and one in DHS. KESQ has the details.
• Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the Trump administration is preparing to close up shop on the coronavirus task force. However, it will be replaced with “something in a different form,” says The New York Times. Well, OK then!
• To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Dr. Rick Bright—the just-fired head of the federal office charged with developing a COVID-19 virus—has filed a whistleblower complaint, claiming the Trump administration ignored his warnings about the virus.
• Because we simply are NOT allowed to have nice things anymore, a preliminary study shows that COVID-19 mutated fairly quickly into a more-contagious version of itself.
• Yet more evidence that we really don’t know much of anything about this virus yet: Yesterday, we mentioned encouraging news about a Japanese drug called favipiravir. Well, it turns out that drug can cause some pretty bad birth defects.
• After that depressing news, here’s an NBC News report on a joint project by New York University and Pfizer that’s attempting to have a vaccine ready by the end of the summer.
• The governor said today the Northern California counties that violated state orders by reopening already have made a “big mistake.” However, he did not say whether the state would take any action.
• From The Conversation: A person’s genetics may determine how badly a person is affected by the coronavirus. Read more about the research into the matter here.
• NPR breaks down the aforementioned complete debacle that is the government’s small-business loan program.
• Here’s not a link to a story, but a site with all sorts of great stories: The Appeal is a fantastic news source for criminal-justice issues, and it’s been doing fantastic coverage of the complete mess the coronavirus has caused in our nation’s prisons. Check it out for yourself.
• Speaking of complete messes, there’s our food-supply chain. The Los Angeles Times does a fine job of explaining what’s gone wrong—and what changes some businesses have made to keep things running.
• There is a special place in hell for the decision-makers at this Dallas-based restaurant company, because they’re telling employees they can’t wear masks or other personal protective equipment while they work. And then there’s this tidbit, from The Dallas Morning News: “The employees said those who chose not to work were told they would not be scheduled for further shifts. Not being terminated, however, would preclude employees from being able to file an unemployment claim.”
• STAT (which, if you’ve never heard of it, is owned by the same company as the Boston Globe) looks at three ways this whole virus thing could go. None of them are particularly great.
• Do your glasses keep fogging up whilst wearing a mask? Two doctors from England, via CNN, explain how to prevent that.
• From the Independent: Running out of things to watch? Our TV columnist recommends these 13 dumb TV comedy series for these dumb times in which we live.
• This man is my new personal hero: A North Carolina high school principal made sure all 220 of his graduating seniors got a personal parade.
• Meanwhile, in Utah, 5-year-olds are getting stopped on the freeway trying to get to California so they can buy Lamborghinis. No, I have not yet had any margaritas yet.
That’s enough for today. Wash your hands. Wear your mask. Give to a local charity for two for Giving Tuesday Now if you can—perhaps the Desert AIDS Project, or the LGBT Community Center’s Food Bank, or Shelter From the Storm. We will be back tomorrow.