COVID-19 Update 2020-04-07

There are 1,423,998 confirmed cases of COVID-19 confirmed globally so far today, up from 858,361 last Tuesday, with 81,887 deaths and 301,70 7 recoveries.

Global confirmed cases increased by 73,135 yesterday, compared to a 48,461 increase on March 25th and a 20,585 increase on March 18th. There are +77,962 new cases reported globally so far today.

Spain now has more confirmed cases than Italy, while France has seen a spike in daily fatalities. France is reporting +1,417 deaths today. The US has reported +1,875 deaths today, marking the first day COVID-19 fatalities in the US outpaced all other causes of death including Heart Disease and Cancer. COVID-19 killed over twelve times more people today than seasonal flue.

Seismologists, urban sound researchers, ornithologists and marine ecologists the world over are rushing to collect data on a once in a lifetime shutdown of the most noisy human activities. “All day long now I hear birds singing. It stops me in my tracks to hear the sound of their wings.” says Sylvia Poggioli, an NPR correspondent in Italy.

There are +27,560 new confirmed cases in the US so far today, bringing the total to 394,564.

According to The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, provided the US maintains extensive social distancing measures, resource demand from COVID-19 cases in the US will peak in 8 days on April 15th, after which need for hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators will begin to decrease. Projections differ greatly by region, as California is projected to see a median of 1,783 fatalities, while New York is projected to see a median of 15,618 fatalities. Case load in most of Europe and the United States is projected to be close to zero by July 1st.

There are 17,165 confirmed cases in the California so far today, compared to 138,863 cases in New York.

According to KSBW8 news, 56 citations have been handed out in Santa Cruz County for not social distancing after numerous complaints about tourists coming to the area.

The total cases confirmed in Santa Cruz county is 76.

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