PASADENA: The city recorded seven new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and no new deaths. The new numbers bring the city’s total cases to 2,845. The number of average new infections reported daily in the city had declined to 3.4 as of Oct. 15, according to city data. As of Saturday, it had climbed past 14 with 8 new cases reported on Halloween. Pasadena had recorded a total of 2,838 cases of COVID-19 and 129 deaths since the onset of the pandemic.
Huntington Hospital reported treating 24 COVID-19 patients on Friday.
Regarding the election aftermath, the City of Pasadena put out this statement: "We have no indication of any activity that would disrupt our business districts or our neighborhoods; however, we are monitoring the situation constantly. Our priority is the safety and security of our community. We want to ensure a positive voting experience for our public, but we are always prepared for any potential disruptions. We take pride in hosting large scale events at the Rose Bowl and Convention Center and the renowned Tournament of Roses Parade where countless hours of preparedness and training help produce safe events. Our Police Department is in contact with federal, state, county and regional law enforcement representatives to stay up to date with any local concerns. We have a robust communications plan in place should public notification alerts be necessary. Our City looks forward to locals participating in the voting process on Tuesday."
LA COUNTY: Los Angeles County reported 1,590 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths on Sunday, Nov. 1, bringing the county’s totals to 309,190 cases and 7,074 fatalities.
The number of people hospitalized in the county because of the coronavirus increased from 783 Saturday to 799, with 28% of those people in intensive care, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
L.A. County revised its County Health Officer Order this past week, -- Reopening Safer at Work and in the Community for Control of COVID-19: Blueprint for a Safer Economy - Tier 1, dated Oct. 23, 2020. The order was revised to: permit batting cages, miniature golf and go-cart racing for outside services; personal care establishments to offer services indoors with modifications; clarify permitted food services at indoor malls and shopping centers; increase the percentage of students with high needs; and permit schools to reopen TK-second grades for classroom instruction with a waiver application. See more information at the L.A. County COVID-19 website.
County COVID-19 Community Equity Fund Community Partners + County of Los Angeles Public Health + Health Services Los Angeles County Deadline extended, due date: November 2, 2020 | 12:00 PM
The County COVID-19 Equity Community Fund will form partnerships with selected grassroots community-based organizations (CBOs) that possess cultural and linguistic expertise and their community’s trust to reach historically under-resourced and hard to reach communities. Selected CBOs will receive funding, mentorship, training and technical assistance to support their internal infrastructure, workforce and sustainability as they provide prevention services, activities and social and medical resources to their communities. Click Here to Learn More + Apply
Free Refrigerators for L.A. County Stores: The Healthy Stores Refrigeration Program supports small businesses and neighborhoods by offering free energy-efficient refrigerators to independent grocery and corner stores. These refrigerators allow grocers to expand their healthy food options and may help them save money on their energy bill. How does it work? Grocery and corner stores email HRSP@isd.lacounty.gov to start the process and confirm eligibility. A representative will work with the business owner to complete an interest form and choose one to two refrigerators. The business owner completes a survey before and after installation. A representative will provide resources on sourcing, marketing, and selling healthy food to be stocked in new refrigerators. Priority is given to businesses located in Los Angeles food deserts or communities disproportionately affected by pollution. Learn more through this informational flyer (English, Spanish). For questions and inquiries, reach out to HRSP@isd.lacounty.gov.
CALIFORNIA: California added 4933 new coronavirus cases on Saturday for a total of more than 933,000. There have been more than 17,500 deaths in Calfiornia.
After plateauing for weeks, case counts have ticked up in recent days. Over the last seven days, the state averaged 4,188 cases per day, with 3.1% of tests coming back positive.
Over the past week, the state has averaged 4,188 new cases and 44.4 new deaths per day.
US coronavirus cases increased by 97,000 on Friday, by far the largest one-day jump since the start of the pandemic, with Midwestern states leading a wave of infections, hospitalisations and deaths across the country just days before the presidential election. That’s more than one new case every second. The growth is worst in the Midwest and Southeast, as this map shows.
Friday’s increase was led by the big industrial states of the Midwest, many of which are key battlegrounds for Tuesday’s election. Illinois and Ohio set single-day records with 6,943 and 3,845, respectively. Wisconsin had 5,096 new confirmed cases, its second-highest daily increase, according to the state health department.
As the coronavirus soars across the country, charting a single-day record of 99,155 new cases on Friday and surpassing nine million cases nationwide, tracing the path of the pandemic in the United States is no longer simply challenging. It has become nearly impossible.
Some good news: Survival rates among severe virus patients are improving. At N.Y.U.’s hospital system, the death rate dropped to 8 percent in August, from 26 percent in March.
INTERNATIONALLY: France has emerged as the epicenter of the second wave of coronavirus infections now sweeping much of Europe, causing hospitals to brace for a surge of new patients and pushing the government to consider tough new restrictions in some places.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans on Saturday to shut down pubs, restaurants and most retail shops throughout England, a stark reversal in the face of grim projections that the country could face a deadly winter from the coronavirus unless it takes draconian action.
A growing number of countries are trimming the length of time people potentially exposed to the coronavirus need to self-quarantine to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. Their reasoning: Shorter spells might help manage the pandemic by encouraging greater compliance.
A large English study showed the number of people with Covid-19 antibodies declined significantly over the summer, suggesting that getting the virus might not confer long-lasting immunity from future infection.
The survey of 365,000 adults in England who tested themselves at home using a finger-prick test showed the proportion of people testing positive for Covid-19 antibodies declined by 26.5% between June 20—12 weeks after the peak of infections in the country—and Sept. 28.
Housebound: A struggling rental market could usher in the next U.S. housing crisis. Total outstanding rent debt is estimated to be far less than what was lost when the subprime-mortgage bubble burst. But the tens of millions of people potentially facing eviction far exceeds the 3.8 million homeowners foreclosed on in 2007-10.
The results also suggested that people who didn’t display symptoms were likely to lose detectable antibodies before those who had showed symp- toms. The study, conducted by Imperial College London and the Ipsos Mori polling organization, was funded by the Brit- ish government, which announced the results and published the study on Monday night. The results haven’t yet been reviewed by other experts.
The pandemic has created a demand for puppies—sometimes from far away. Enter flight nannies, who take them to their new homes. (Read)
The U.S.’s first clock shift since the pandemic’s arrival in earnest is coming Nov. 1—and for those no longer working in offices, the effects could be more intense than usual. (Read)
Luxury auto makers are partnering with insidery clothing companies, targeting a young demographic that could someday evolve into a reliable customer base. (Read)
THE ECONOMY:
From the New York Times: A rise in coronavirus cases in the United States, new restrictions on activity in Europe and a standoff in Washington over aid for struggling businesses and out-of-work Americans left investors reeling on Monday. The S&P 500 fell 1.9 percent in Wall Street’s worst day in over a month.
“You can only pretend that Covid was not a problem for so long,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Conn. “I think the market has finally kind of gotten it through its head, at the same time, that there’s very little shot at stimulus.” Shares in Europe also ended lower as more limits were introduced to try to combat a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. In Spain, the government declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew. In Italy, cinemas and gyms are closing and indoor dining ends at 6 p.m. In France, a six-week curfew for most of the country began on Friday.
U.S. economic output increased at the fastest pace on record last quarter as businesses began to reopen and customers returned to stores. But the economy has climbed only partway out of its pandemic-induced hole, and progress is slowing.
Gross domestic product grew 7.4 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The gain, the equivalent of 33.1 percent on an annualized basis, was by far the biggest since reliable statistics began after World War II.
The rebound was fueled in part by trillions of dollars in federal assistance to households and businesses. That aid has since dried up, even as the recovery remains far from complete: The economy in the third quarter was 3.5 percent smaller than at the end of 2019, before the pandemic. By comparison, G.D.P. shrank 4 percent over the entire year and a half of the Great Recession a decade ago.
The Wall Street Journal reports that: Fallout from missed rent payments is threatening a large swath of the U.S. population, as the expiration of eviction bans draws near. A large number of renters have been unable to pay some or even all of their rent since March, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shut down most businesses. Many businesses remain closed or only partially open, pushing renters into unemployment and draining their savings. Federal and local eviction moratoriums have protected many of them from losing their homes if they missed payments during the pandemic. But the national eviction ban and some state and city protections are set to expire by January or sooner. Renters then will be on the hook for months of missed payments, which even those who have jobs could struggle to pay.
From New York Times reporter Will Parker: Renters aren’t building equity with their monthly rent payments. And when hard times hit, refinancing or taking out another mortgage is not an option. That’s part of why the pandemic’s effect on renters—many falling behind on their monthly payments—is shaping up to be much worse than on homeowners. It doesn’t help that renters tend to have less saved up for emergencies: According to a 2017 study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, homeowners had a median cash savings of $7,300, while renters had just $800.
From the WSJ: Raytheon Technologies Corp., the biggest aerospace supplier by sales, said it is cutting 20,000 jobs this year-up from a previously announced 15,000-as it adjusts to the shrinking airline industry and the sharp drop in jetliner orders and deliveries.
least $15 an hour.
MORE:
From Fair Warning: More than 90,000 people were evacuated from their homes in and near Irvine in Southern California to escape the Silverado Fire and the smaller Blue Ridge Fire, which seriously injured two firefighters, Ana Facio-Krajcer, Will Wright and Johnny Diaz report for The New York Times. The fires have been fueled by high winds and dry conditions. Southern California Edison said it was investigating whether its equipment could have sparked the fires, according to the Los Angeles Times. The state’s biggest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, cut electricity to 361,000 customers in 36 counties to try to prevent starting more fires while the conditions are so conducive to spreading flames.
HAPPY (or Happiest Place on Earth) NEWS:
Disneyland is in the midst of recalling hundreds of furloughed employees after it was announced that a portion of California Adventure would reopen in November. (The Hollywood Reporter)