Cactus Hugs has been tracking local stories about the coronavirus.   For a rundown of all of our updates, click here. Stay safe, stay at a good social distance. Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs. For ways to keep this website going (and free!), click here.

As of 3 pm Monday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

• 50,744 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.  1,262 people have been reported positive since Friday.
• 972 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. The county reported 55 new deaths since Friday.

Here’s the latest from the Coachella Valley:

August 24 — #COVID19 in the #CoachellaValley (+/- from FRIDAY):

13,121 confirmed cases (+234)
299 deaths (+8)

That puts us at 650 new cases reported over the last 7 days, a slower rate than in recent weeks. pic.twitter.com/IGeuGEt2mW

— Kevin Duncliffe (@kevinduncliffe) August 24, 2020

CORRECTION: above I should have said

“+7 from last Sunday”

(not Saturday)

— Kevin Duncliffe (@kevinduncliffe) August 24, 2020

As of 4 pm Monday, San Bernardino County has confirmed:

• 45,246 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
• 692 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.

As of 4 pm Monday, the State of California has confirmed:

• • • • 673,678 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
      • 12,198 people are confirmed to have died in the state of CA from the coronavirus.

According to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States, there are at least 5,714,636 cases of Coronavirus in the U.S.; at least 176,927 people have died in the U.S. from coronavirus.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 24, 2020

There's going to be a lot of…talk this week. But the truth is in the chart below, and the article here. Trump failed on coronavirus. And not only did he fail, but he's refused to accept that failure, and come up with a plan that could succeed. https://t.co/Dt36hVP2tE pic.twitter.com/dw7v5rYnqD

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) August 24, 2020

More than 100 University of Southern California students are under a 14-day quarantine in response to a coronavirus outbreak in off-campus housing https://t.co/u9yKMeHoIY pic.twitter.com/SUWYPQVdce

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 24, 2020

Florida man who believed coronavirus was a hoax loses wife to Covid-19 https://t.co/11UZeEfF15

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 24, 2020

When might Riverside and San Bernardino counties get off the state’s COVID-19 watchlist?  The Press Enterprise takes a look and, well, there’s still a a way to go.  While hospitalizations in each county have dipped a bit over the last couple of weeks, transmission of the virus is still high.  State measures say that a county should see no more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days. As of Monday, Riverside County’s rate was 165.3 per 100,000 and San Bernardino County’s rate was 200.3 per 100,000.

A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with coronavirus more than four months after recovering from a first episode of the disease.  The case suggests that immunity to the virus can be short-lived and raises questions about vaccines against the virus.

The coronavirus can survive for up to three weeks on frozen meat and fish, according to a new study that has not yet been peer reviewed.  Those behind the study warn about the danger of contaminated food which could be shipped around the world in sparking new outbreaks of the disease.

A woman who made headlines after she was fired from her job of building an maintaining Florida’s coronavirus website now has a new project, a site tracking coronavirus at schools and colleges.  The site can be seen here.

Californians on unemployment may eventually receive an extra $300 per week under an agreement reached between the state and the federal government on Friday. It’s unclear how long it will last and just when it might begin.  Those on unemployment had been receiving double that amount through July.  For those trying to call the unemployment office with questions, good luck.  It appears 60% of calls these days are going unanswered.

Palm Springs will still see a parade this November as part of Pride, but it’s going to be a bit different. The CEO of Greater Palm Springs Pride told the Desert Sun that the plan is to hold a socially-distanced car caravan parade on Nov. 7. “The car caravan is going to be a very unique Pride parade for Palm Springs,” he told the paper. “We certainly anticipate it’s going to be the largest caravan that we’ve ever seen in Palm Springs.”

A Zoom outage affected businesses and schools on Monday.  Local districts moved fast, switching from the online conferencing system to Google Meets.

Taco Bell is launching a new kind of restaurant to better serve during the pandemic.  Taco Bell Go Mobile will have two drive thrus, with one acting as a mobile order pickup.  The restaurants will also be able to track your location to know when to have your food ready.

Finally…

When their wedding reception was canceled due to COVID-19, this bride and groom didn't let the food go to waste. Instead, they brought it to a women's and children's shelter and served it to about 100 people there 💗 pic.twitter.com/drGfCIdlnx

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 24, 2020

Stay cool.  Stay safe.  Wear a mask.

Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs.

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