COVID-19 Update 2020-03-31

There are 856,045 confirmed cases of COVID-19 confirmed globally so far today, up from 422,574 last Tuesday, with 42,069 deaths and 176,965 recoveries.

23 days of Lockdown measures in Italy may be showing some positive results, as the numbers of daily new confirmed cases have slowed, after peaking at 6,577 March 21st. Italy reported 4,050 new confirmed cases yesterday and 4,053 today.

There are +23,161 new confirmed cases in the US so far today, bringing the total to 186,949.

The US is now reporting more new cases daily than any other country including Italy.

About 2 fifths of all US confirmed cases are in New York, followed by New Jersey, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Florida and Illinois. New cases in Washington state have slowed dramatically.

As of the 28th of March, Covid-19 is now the third most common daily cause of death in the US, behind only Heart Disease and Cancer. That means that Covid-19 is now killing more Americans per day than either Car Accidents, Strokes, Alzheimer’s or Diabetes. Yesterday, Covid-19 killed ruffly three times more people than seasonal Flu.

California is showing some signs the Shelter in Place policy may be helping, as Bay Area Emergency Rooms continue to operate under capacity as of March 30th.

There are 8,254 confirmed cases in the California so far today, compared to 75,795 cases in New York.

A tradition of applauding from balcony windows at sunset to show support for health care workers has spread from Italy to much of the world. San Francisco and much of the Bay Area will see cheering and howling at 7PM this evening.

The total cases confirmed in Santa Cruz county is 49.

FEMA has asked families to limit food stockpiling and “Please only buy what your family needs for a week”, explaining that “Freight flows are not disrupted, but stores need time to restock.”

Many local department stores have had shortages of certain items. Several stores limited the number of certain items per customer to prevent hoarding. Some stores are offering pick up or delivery services.

There is no reason to expect food shortages.

Visit the Coronavirus Daily Update Page on KSCO.com for more info.

You can find out more from the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency, by going to santacruzhealth.org.

If you experience Fever, Cough or Shortness of Breath, please call your Health Care Professional.

Regardless of how healthy you are, to protect the most vulnerable, don’t be a disease vector. Take action by staying home as much as possible.

As is always true to prevent any communicable disease, stay home if you are sick, wash your hands frequently, cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid touching your face, and remember, don’t pick your nose!!

– The COVID-19 Update from KSCO’s Director of Digital Media, Jonty McCollyer