Our Response to COVID-19: Information
Globally
Good evening,

October 6, 2020 -- The world passed the symbolic marker of 36 million confirmed cases this evening. Although second ranked India has now been hovering around 70,000 new daily cases and the United States is stuck at about 45,000 cases, other regions of the world are peaking again, some daily or every other day, such as the UK, Czechia, and Iran, while Canada peaked yesterday, with numbers unseen since early May. Noteworthy, the accelerating spread of the virus in Czechia has moved the country from rank 63 in total cases to rank 45 in only three weeks. Near peak countries today included Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania, while Italy, Belgium, Portugal and France announced high plateau numbers, Iraq, India, and Indonesia also published high numbers although slightly lower than they had been in the last few days. Today, the coronavirus killed 8,370 people globally, a significantly higher number than the 5,986 daily average documented over the last seven days.

COVID-19 in the world today:

  • COVID-19 Global cases: 36,034,134 (+335,758)
  • COVID-19 Global deaths: 1,054,440 (+8,370)
  • COVID-19 Global death rate: 2,93%
  • COVID-19 Global testing*: 678,663,979 confirmed tests (+3,032,423)
  • COVID-19 Global positivity rate: 5.31%
  • COVID-19 Global single-day positivity rate: 10.14%

*:incomplete data set.
Tip: click on any of the graphs for larger and clearer images and click on READ MORE to view the complete articles. Also, please forgive the occasional typos.
UK COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 12
  • 530,113 cases (+14,542) peak
  • 42,445 deaths (+76)
  • 26,147,138 tests (+281,287)
  • positivity rate 2.06%
Iran COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 13
  • 479,825 cases (+4,151) peak
  • 27,419 deaths (+227)
  • 3,284,217 tests (+48,090)
  • positivity rate 3.69%
Canada COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 26
  • 168,960 cases (+2,804) peak
  • 9,504 deaths (+23)
  • 7,695,259 tests (+69,466)
  • positivity rate 2.23%
Czechia COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 45
  • 90,022 cases (+4,456) peak
  • 789 deaths (+31) peak
  • 1,476,013 tests (+18,698)
  • positivity rate 6.10%
COVID-19 disrupting mental health services in most countries, WHO survey | who.int
World Mental Health Day on 10 October to highlight urgent need to increase investment in chronically underfunded sector

5 October 2020 News release -- The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding.

The survey was published ahead of WHO’s Big Event for Mental Health ̶ a global online advocacy event on 10 October that will bring together world leaders, celebrities, and advocates to call for increased mental health investments in the wake of COVID-19.

WHO has previously highlighted the chronic underfunding of mental health: prior to the pandemic, countries were spending less than 2 per cent of their national health budgets on mental health, and struggling to meet their populations’ needs.

And the pandemic is increasing demand for mental health services. Bereavement, isolation, loss of income and fear are triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones. Many people may be facing increased levels of alcohol and drug use, insomnia, and anxiety. Meanwhile, COVID-19 itself can lead to neurological and mental complications, such as delirium, agitation, and stroke. People with pre-existing mental, neurological or substance use disorders are also more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection ̶ they may stand a higher risk of severe outcomes and even death. 

“Good mental health is absolutely fundamental to overall health and well-being,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “COVID-19 has interrupted essential mental health services around the world just when they’re needed most. World leaders must move fast and decisively to invest more in life-saving mental health programmes ̶ during the pandemic and beyond."

Survey finds major disruptions to critical mental health services

The survey was conducted from June to August 2020 among 130 countries across WHO’s six regions. It evaluates how the provision of mental, neurological and substance use services has changed due to COVID-19, the types of services that have been disrupted, and how countries are adapting to overcome these challenges.

Countries reported widespread disruption of many kinds of critical mental health services:

  • Over 60% reported disruptions to mental health services for vulnerable people, including children and adolescents (72%), older adults (70%), and women requiring antenatal or postnatal services (61%).
  • 67% saw disruptions to counseling and psychotherapy; 65% to critical harm reduction services; and 45% to opioid agonist maintenance treatment for opioid dependence.
  • More than a third (35%) reported disruptions to emergency interventions, including those for people experiencing prolonged seizures; severe substance use withdrawal syndromes; and delirium, often a sign of a serious underlying medical condition.
  • 30% reported disruptions to access for medications for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. 
  • Around three-quarters reported at least partial disruptions to school and workplace mental health services (78% and 75% respectively).
In the US
The US ended the day with 38,918 new cases, below the 7-day average of 44,522. As observed in the last two weeks, midwestern states are still in the red while California appears to have significantly lowered the rate of the COVID-19 virus spread. Oklahoma and Idaho are seeing spikes while Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Nebraska all posted high plateau numbers confirming their respective contagion as aggressively rampant.
Oklahoma COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 27
  • 93,346 cases (+1,364) spike
  • 1,066 deaths (+11)
  • 1,294,532 tests
  • positivity rate 7.21%
Idaho COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 36
  • 45,082 cases (+660) spike
  • 492 deaths (+5)
  • 321,794 tests (+1,849)
  • positivity rate 14.01%
More teens report Covid cases in their household than national average, survey finds | cnbc.com
About 8% of U.S. teenagers or a member of their household have had Covid-19, higher than the national average of 6%, according to Piper Sandler’s semiannual survey of teen consumption trends.

Some health officials have pointed fingers at teenagers and young adults for local outbreaks, citing parties and gatherings that don’t follow social-distancing guidelines. As of Sept. 30, 362 deaths of people ages 15-24 have involved Covid-19, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

The coronavirus pandemic has upset teens’ daily lives, changing everything from how they socialize to how they spend their time and money. Overall teen spending has fallen 9% to $2,150 this year, compared with the same time in 2019.

Teen spending has also shifted to new interests. Video games now make up a 10th of teens’ spending, its highest level yet, according to the survey of 9,800 respondents, who answered the questions between Aug. 19 and Sept. 22.

That’s likely because 57% of teens said they are spending more time playing video games this year compared with 2019. Thirty-one percent say they play daily, compared with 26% of teens reporting daily usage in the spring survey. A majority of teens are hoping to purchase Sony’s PS5 or Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, which are expected to debut in November. That’s also higher than in the spring. 

Roughly a quarter of respondents said the virus affected their part-time jobs or ability to find work, but a third have part-time jobs, down from 37% in the spring survey, which tallied responses in late February. The largest employer of the age demographic has historically been the restaurant industry, which has been roiled by the crisis.

More than three-quarters of the survey respondents said they went back to school either in a hybrid format or completely... READ MORE
COVID-19 in the USA

  • Cases: 7,718,004 (+38,918)
  • Deaths: 215,735 (+703)
  • Death rate: 2.80%
  • Testing: 116,255,981 individual tests (+752,850)
  • Positivity rate: 6.81%
  • Single-day positivity date: 5.17%
US top 5 infected states:

  1. California: 837,670 COVID-19 cases, 16,235 deaths
  2. Texas: 813,947 COVID-19 cases, 16,646 deaths
  3. Florida: 720,125 COVID-19 cases, 14,791 deaths
  4. New York: 501,824 COVID-19 cases, 33,330 deaths
  5. Georgia: 324,650 COVID-19 cases, 7,229 deaths
In California
As more California counties can ease restrictions, others move backward | kcra.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly gave an update Tuesday on counties that have moved forward and backward on the state's four-tier reopening system.

Yuba County has moved into the less restrictive red tier, joining several other Northern California counties that have been able to ease some coronavirus restrictions.

When a county is in the red tier, it has the OK from the state to reopen restaurants for indoor dining with modifications. Movie theaters, gyms and houses of worship can also resume indoor operations, although there are capacity limits.

Schools cannot reopen for in-person instruction until the county has been in the red tier for two weeks.

Here's a breakdown of which counties have changed tiers:

New counties in red tier:
  • Merced
  • Ventura
  • Yuba

New county in orange tier:
  • Inyo

New counties in yellow tier:
  • Humboldt
  • Plumas
  • Siskiyou
  • Trinity

New county moving back to purple tier:
  • Tehama

New county moving back to red tier:
  • Shasta

Before unveiling the tier changes, California health officials released the details of a new equity metric that’s meant to incentivize counties to reduce infections across all neighborhoods.

Counties with low disparities will be able to move quicker through the state’s color-coded reopening tiers, said Dr. Erica Pan, acting state health officer.... READ MORE
  • COVID-19 California cases: 837,670 (+1,699)
  • COVID-19 California deaths: 16,235 (+57)
  • COVID-19 California death rate: 1.94%
  • COVID-19 California testing: 15,430,421 individual tests (+128,740)
  • COVID-19 California positivity rate: 5.43%
  • COVID-19 California single-day positivity rate: 1.32%
In the Central Valley
The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

10/6/2020 COVID-19 UPDATE: Reporting 12 cases from the public bringing the total number of reported cases to 4,718. 
Of the 4,718:
  • 449 active case (including 4 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County)  
  • 4,199 recovered (8 released from isolation) 
  • 70 deceased 

Madera County is averaging 21 new cases per 100,000 residents, with 294 new cases revealed over the last 14 days. We need to get down to an average of 11 cases per day or 154 cases over 14 days to switch from purple to red. Today, the seven local counties together confirmed 348 new infections and 9 new coronavirus deaths. COVID-19 has killed 1,361 of our neighbors since it claimed its first central valley victim on March 26, a little over 6 months ago. Our friends and neighbors are needlessly dying, many families are suffering. Science and the courage to follow its logic will solve this pandemic, any other discourse is inadequate.
COVID-19 in Madera + 6 local counties (+% is the positivity rate)

  • Mariposa: 76 cases, 2 deaths, 6,111 tests, 1.24+%
  • Merced: 9,090 cases (+57), 149 deaths (+1), 56,537 tests, 16.08+%
  • Madera: 4,718 cases (+125), 70 deaths, 59,981 tests, 7.87+%
  • Fresno: 28,791,cases (+61), 406 deaths (+7), 301,062 tests, 9.56+%
  • Tulare: 16,607 cases (+117), 265 deaths, est. 138,392 tests, 12.00+%
  • Kings: 7,933 cases (+14), 82 deaths, 87,013 tests, 9.12+%
  • Kern: 32,609 cases (+87), 387 deaths (+1), 198,559 tests, 16.42+%

COVID-19 in the 7 counties together

  • 7 counties cases: 99,824 (+348)
  • 7 counties deaths: 1,361 (+9)
  • 7 counties death rate: 1.36%
  • 7 Counties tests: 847,655 (est.)
  • 7 Counties positivity rate: 11.78%
Keep observing the simple yet proven habits of physical-distancing, mask-wearing, and frequent hand-washing, that will help drive down new infections and new deaths numbers, to a level low enough so as to give us a chance to reopen our schools for onsite education and thus, reopen our economy. Nothing else will work until we have a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
From our hearts to yours,

Fredo and Renee Martin
Workingarts Marketing, inc.
+1-559-662-1119

PS: We welcome comments and questions. If you wish to review previous reports, we now host past issues here.