PPE For Medical Workers Treating Coronavirus Begins To Run Low Again

The personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again as the virus resumes its rapid spread and the number of hospitalized patients climbs.

A national nursing union is concerned that gear has to be reused. A doctors association warns that physicians’ offices are closed because they cannot get masks and other supplies. And Democratic members of Congress are pushing the Trump administration to devise a national strategy to acquire and distribute gear in anticipation of the crisis worsening into the fall.

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Coronavirus Outbreak In California Assembly Delays Legislative Session

Legislative hearings will be delayed in California after a coronavirus outbreak in the Legislature, put the state Assembly’s return to work from a scheduled summer recess on pause indefinitely.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D) made the announcement after Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D) and four others who work in the state capitol tested positive for the coronavirus, which is suspected to have spread as staffers and legislators met in Sacramento to pass the budget last month. The capitol is now closed for disinfecting, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

Burke said in a tweet Monday that she was informed of likely “mask-to-mask” exposure to COVID-19 when the Assembly conducted its meeting in person. She tested positive for the virus on Saturday.

“Currently, my daughter and I have no symptoms, but will be remaining in quarantine until released by a doctor,” Burke wrote in the tweet. 

The news comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) confirmed on Monday that the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 has increased in the state by more than 50 percent over the past two weeks as infections continue to rise and he reverses plans for the reopening of many businesses.

Many state legislatures had closed their doors earlier this year as the pandemic began to spread across the United States. California lawmakers, missed nearly two months of work  after the legislature’s first unscheduled recess in 158 years, according to the Associated Press. Since then many states have allowed legislatures to resume work with some restrictions to limit the virus’ spread.

California lawmakers were originally scheduled to return from summer recess on July 13 and work through to the end of the legislative session on August 31.

Mississippi GOP Sen. Applauds Removal Of ‘Divisive’ Confederate Emblem From State Flag

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) on Monday praised his state’s move to officially erase the Confederate battle emblem, which is a symbol of white supremacy, from the Mississippi flag.

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Florida Orders Schools To Reopen For In-Person Instruction In Spite Of Climbing COVID-19 Infections

Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran (R) issued an executive order on Monday requiring all schools in the state to reopen for in-person instruction in the upcoming academic year, even as coronavirus cases in the state climb unabated.

The order states that “school districts and charter school governing boards must provide the full array of services that are required by law so that families who wish to educate their children in a brick and mortar school full time have the opportunity to do so.”

Barring advice or orders from the Florida Department of Health and local health departments, Corcoran’s order requires schools to offer full-time instruction “at least” five days a week for children of families who seek full-time in-person instruction even as many districts, including the Miami-Dade school system put forward alternative options for schooling, including models that would blend online and in-person learning. 

The county’s Superintendent Alberto Carvalho praised the order in a tweet on Monday calling it “fair and balanced.”  

President Trump made calls on Twitter to reopen schools in the fall, accusing
“Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats” on Monday of not wanting schools to reconvene for in-person instruction for “political reasons, not for health reasons,” that would somehow help Democrats gain the upper hand in upcoming elections. 

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in keeping with the president’s messaging  also tweeted that American education must be “fully open and fully operational this fall” – but failed to offer any kind of organized strategy for how to do so safely, leaving state and local officials once again to fend for themselves and make calls of their own. 

Duckworth Invites Tucker Carlson To ‘Walk A Mile In My Legs’ After He Accuses Her Of Hating America

After Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused Purple Heart recipient Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) of hating America, the senator reminded him on Monday night that between the two of them, only one lost both legs while serving in the U.S. military.

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Atlanta Mayor Recounts Her ‘Startling’ Reaction To Testing Positive For COVID-19

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on Monday that she tested positive for COVID-19 despite experiencing no symptoms. Continue reading “Atlanta Mayor Recounts Her ‘Startling’ Reaction To Testing Positive For COVID-19” →

Grassley Decides To Skip RNC Because Of ‘The Virus Situation’

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Monday said that he has decided against attending this year’s Republican National Convention for the first time in 40 years because of “the virus situation.” Continue reading “Grassley Decides To Skip RNC Because Of ‘The Virus Situation’” →

Int’l Students Taking Online Classes Because Of COVID Can’t Stay In U.S., ICE Says

International students could be forced out of the country if they take too many online only courses this fall — even though many universities are planning on using remote education to slow the spread of COVID-19.

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Stone Shares A ‘300’ Meme To Again Attack Judge, Prove His Loyalty

Roger Stone equated his nearly-finished legal fight with the epic Battle of Thermopylae in his latest Instagram post, a legend that has taken hold in the imaginations and self-styling of the young and right-wing.

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On the Schools #1

From TPM Reader JS on the whether the schools should reopen in the Fall …

I’m a high school teacher. I teach math in a rural, Title I school. I have very conflicted feelings about the re-opening, but I can tell you there is a very vocal portion of my colleagues that feel like being sent back this fall is being treated like cannon fodder (check out /r/teachers for example). I disagree with that and I think between masking and the mounting evidence that children are weaker vectors, makes the situation more manageable. I’m also a parent I know that my kids need to do something soon or they are going to be damaged for life, not just due to lost learning (something in my household that isn’t as big of a problem) but due to the isolation.