Here are the latest number of cases and deaths as of today (4/21) at noon: Over 2.54 million cases have been reported with 176,926 deaths on a worldwide basis; In the U.S., 823,610 reported cases with 45,105 deaths (which has doubled in over a week), and in Colorado: 10,447 cases with 486 deaths. Numbers are still increasing with several countries starting to slow down on both cases and deaths due to stay at home or lockdown orders.
In the U.S., Governor Cuomo met with President Trump today to seek more relief and obtain more testing kits for New York State as more people die there. He told MSNBC, “The meeting went well and I think it was productive.” Although both Trump and Cuomo have traded barbs recently, both want to work together to solve this looming crisis. More than 258,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in New York and more than 18,800 people have died as of Tuesday afternoon. All but eight states have ‘Stay at Home orders including our U.S. territories. The eight are recommending social distancing, which hasn’t proved to be extremely effective, but time will tell!
Meanwhile, the Missouri Attorney General is suing China for the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit alleges China is running an “appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction” amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The lawsuit alleges that the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China and other governing bodies in the country misrepresented and concealed the seriousness of the outbreak from the rest of the world during the period of December 2019 through January 2020. I suspect more states will follow suit with more lawsuits by other nations as well.
Interestingly, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees at Denver International Airport (DIA) have contracted the coronavirus. TSA indicated 17 TSA employees at DIA tested positive for coronavirus. All but one of those employees are screening officers. This happened in early April according to the report. Only one of the three security areas is open today at DIA due to the low volume of flights and passengers.
Thee economy is taking a tailspin downward. Oil prices have plummeted to under -$30 per barrel. Jokingly or sadly, the worldwide oil companies and OPEC will be paying car owners to buy their gasoline, since nobody is driving anywhere. Apparently, Russia and OPEC have been negotiating to stop the freefall in prices.
However, several states are encouraging businesses to re-open on a limited scale, probably due to protestors wanting to go back to work and to stop the loss of sales tax revenue and layoffs in the state governments. Not sure this is wise just yet as the number of cases and deaths in the U.S. are still rising.
Stay Home, Stay Safe, and Stay Healthy!