COVID-19 Update, October 19, 2020: "People Are Tired of COVID"

The above statement was made by the president on a phone call to campaign staffers. Well, he's certainly right about that. The coronavirus continues to spread globally and nationally, especially in the US Midwest. What the president was saying was that he doesn't want to talk about COVID-19. But the way things are going, that will be pretty hard to do.

The latest:

The number of COVID-19 cases world wide is now more than 40 million: tinyurl.com/yxbtx2l9.

The US passes eight million cases of COVID-19, with nearly 220,000 dead: tinyurl.com/y43xkpmu. On Friday, the US records 69,000 new cases in a single day, the highest number since July: tinyurl.com/yxcqtl6a. Hospitals in the rural Midwest are overwhelmed with new cases: tinyurl.com/y6kydpu9.

The US budget deficit reaches $3.1 trillion: tinyurl.com/y4multjb.

"The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn;" the president, on the campaign trail, plays down the effects of the coronavirus: tinyurl.com/y3y53zcu. Twitter removes a tweet by Dr. Scott Atlas, falsely claiming that masks don't help prevent the spread of COVID-19: tinyurl.com/yxlgjyxf. The White House coronavirus task force is riven by infighting, centering around the flagrantly unscientific pronouncements of Atlas: tinyurl.com/y479janw. The president lashes out in a call to campaign staff, calling Dr. Anthony Fauci "a disaster," adding "people are tired of COVID:" tinyurl.com/yyqdpevq.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm warns that the next six to 12 weeks will likely be "the darkest of the entire pandemic:" tinyurl.com/y3tfkkvz.

Pfizer makes clear the obvious, stating that it will not have a vaccine ready by Election Day: tinyurl.com/y34kk82f.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appear to be close to agreement on a stimulus bill: tinyurl.com/y3su7q46. Going his own way, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will try on Tuesday to move forward a stand-alone Paycheck Protection Program bill: tinyurl.com/y5krhtfn. Pelosi sets a deadline of Tuesday for her and Mnuchin to reach an agreement if a bill is to be passed before the election: tinyurl.com/y5pu4rdw.

USITT's Conference and Stage Expo, originally scheduled to be held in Columbus, Ohio in March, will take place online: www.usitt.org/conference21.

The pandemic causes enrollments to drop at many New England colleges and universities: tinyurl.com/y5z9nz6p.

A new Department of Defense study finds that the chances of getting COVID-19 is low if everyone is wearing masks: tinyurl.com/yyz9wjyo.

With COVID-19 cases spiking in battleground states, fears rise of looming election chaos: tinyurl.com/yykpxb87.

Well, that's one way to do it: The Flaming Lips stage a concert with performers and audience members in plastic bubbles: tinyurl.com/yxrg8gcp.

Food for thought:

Why more men die from COVID-19 than women: tinyurl.com/y3hlgmk5.

How that motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota may have turned the Upper Midwest into the country's latest COVID-19 hotspot: tinyurl.com/y5jlywfb.

The challenge of keeping the vaccine in cold storage is enormous: tinyurl.com/y397bdef.

The US is getting up to speed with COVID-19 testing, but keeping track of the results is still a challenge: tinyurl.com/y223uw7s.

Researchers develop a way of predicting the cytokine storms that unleash the worst cases of COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y42hknjj.

Around the country:

In California:

San Francisco tries out a universal basic income program for artists: tinyurl.com/y6p8lnlx.

In Florida:

The state is headed in the wrong direction, posting the biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases since August: tinyurl.com/yxhvv9b5.

Miami-Dade schools have now reported 60 cases of COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y2pkbw95.

A bad weekend for football: Saturday's Florida International University game is postponed thanks to an uptick in COVID-19 diagnoses among the team and staff: tinyurl.com/y6x9v23l. The University of Florida Gators game is off, too: tinyurl.com/y4z2g2ux.

Miami's New World Symphony, getting creative, streams a concert to a local drive-in: www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article246474495.html.

In Hawaii:

The state drops its quarantine, sees 8,000 tourists on the first days: tinyurl.com/yxtt32ho.

In Illinois:

"We are in a new wave," says the governor, as COVID-19 cases rise sharply: tinyurl.com/y2tuyjda. The governor also calls out the president, blaming him in part for the rise in cases: tinyurl.com/y4fcg2sr.

In Indiana:

The state set a new record for daily COVID-19 infections reported: tinyurl.com/y2muywe3.

In Kansas:

COVID-19 spreads through the state's rural areas, where healthcare resources are thin: tinyurl.com/y3wlj2xr.

In Montana:

The state's healthcare system is quickly being overwhelmed by COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y4ya43lt.

In New Mexico:

Shooting on the Netflix film The Harder They Fall, starring Idris Elba, is halted when someone on the production tests positive for COVID-19: tinyurl.com/yyqc4d6a.

In New York:

Governor Andrew Cuomo says cinemas outside New York City can open on October 25. Caveats: 25% of capacity, audiences no bigger than 50, and eligible counties must have an infection rate of lower than 2% for 14 days: tinyurl.com/y423bt3k.

Good news: New York City schools are seeing a vanishingly small number of COVID-19 infections: tinyurl.com/y6os7z. Bad news: School attendance reveals a yawning gap in equality: tinyurl.com/y3x58tcf.

A Hasidic synagogue in Brooklyn is barred from holding a wedding, scheduled for Monday, that would have attracted 10,000 attendees. You read that number right: tinyurl.com/y5vj6533.

The police bust up a 200-guest party at a Queens catering hall: tinyurl.com/y4gsx7tk.

In Ohio:

According to a national tracking website, the state currently is suffering the most virulent spread of COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y3ddnhle. On Saturday, the state breaks it previous record for new cases in a single day; it's the fourth record increase in a single week: tinyurl.com/y5ddmm2r.

In Pennsylvania:

Philadelphia's Kimmel Center struggles to find a new financial model: tinyurl.com/yy3mgsek.

In Virginia:

"One of the best revivals ever:" So says a church's Facebook post about an event that sickened at least 42 people with COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y4vu9nep.

Around the world:

In Argentina:

The organizers of an EDM festival, scheduled for December, refuse to cancel: tinyurl.com/y3gg6dlt.

In Belgium:

The country sees a "tsunami" of new infections: tinyurl.com/yxhv66ko.

In China:

With the pandemic essentially crushed, the country's economy surges 4.9% in the third quarter: tinyurl.com/y2r25mex.

In Israel:

Seriously ill members of the ultra-Orthodox community are shunning hospitals for home care, a decision with unintended social consequences: tinyurl.com/y3uoonck.

In Italy:

The second wave of COVID-19 strikes hardest in the country's south: tinyurl.com/y5rj2qxp.

In Switzerland:

A new World Health Organization study finds that the drug Remdesivir doesn't help patients hospitalized with COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y6dbqyb4.

In the UK:

The government's film and television restart plan goes live; among other things, it provides compensation for future coronavirus-related losses: tinyurl.com/y3vu2d6j.

Wales goes under temporary national lockdown: tinyurl.com/y39wlksn.

For your entertainment:

The Metropolitan Opera streaming service focuses on comic operas this week: tinyurl.com/y5j4brx6.

For your pleasure:

Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom, Jr. wonder "Where is the Love?" tinyurl.com/y3xf5pss.

That's all for today. Stay safe. Vote. -- DB

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