West Hollywood Council Member John Duran has been posting a daily COVID-19 update on his personal Facebook page, which he keeps open to the general public. His commentary on the current coronavirus pandemic delivers stats through his personal stream of consciousness in the hopes to engage the community on the ongoing effort to flatten the curve.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a Facebook page. Council member Duran is allowing us to share his COVID-19 update with our readers.
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Daily Update for Thursday, April 30, 2020
LA County Cases 22,485 (up from 20,976)
LA County Deaths 1,056 (up from 1000)
APRIL IS DONE and gone. WHAT BRINGETH MAY?
FOOD Banks – West Hollywood has 4 operational food banks. The food banks are delivering food to people so that you may continue to shelter at home. Check out city website for additional information. If you have food insecurity, it is time to ask for help!
RENT ASSISTANCE for Weho Residents – you can apply and receive a grant for $1000 through National Council for Jewish Women or the Alliance for Housing and Healing. Go to city website. Also, remember to notify your landlord in writing that you will be short on May’s rent due to COVID19. They have to defer any unpaid rent until 12 months after the emergency period ends. That end could be June 30th. Deferred rents may occur for April, May and June.
STAY AT HOME ORDER – the Governor announced yesterday that the stay at home order could be relaxed in the next 2 weeks. Hang in there for a couple of more weeks. And once the order is lifted, remember we still need to practice social distancing and face coverings for months ahead.
FOOD STAMP recipients – do you already get Food Stamps? If so, you can now use your EBT card to shop online from providers like Amazon, Walmart, etc.
TEST ME ONCE, TEST ME THRICE – Testing is becoming more widely available. But remember – not all tests are 100% accurate. Being told that you are currently infected means quarantine at home and contacting all those you may have exposed inadvertently. Testing negative today doesn’t guarantee you will be negative tomorrow or next week. It’s just a snapshot of time for this moment. Having the antibodies means you were already exposed and went through it. Scientists aren’t ready to say with 100% certainty that you now have immunity. But – generally with viruses – you probably do. But stay tuned. This is a novel virus. We can’t be certain yet because it is so new. We are all going to have to be continuously tested as we move forward in community.
FAUCI says REMDESIVIR shortened recovery time for seriously ill patients. Good! And he compared it to AZT. Bad! AZT was a terrible drug. Did it help kill HIV virus 35 years ago? Yes. It also killed people with serious side effects. At this time, no reported side effects with Remdesivir. But remember – the mono therapy of just one drug will not be the end game. It’s not a miracle pill. Hopefully it’s a building block to add additional drugs in the future to block the reproductive cycle of the virus. We will eventually need combination therapy like we have with HIV.
For those of us who don’t like chaos or confusion, you may have to SHIELD your eyes and minds during the month of May. We are going to start to re-open. And the death and dying hasn’t stopped.
It’s not going to be orderly as hard as all levels of government and commerce will try. I have to remember to be PATIENT and KIND with other human beings who are as frustrated and fearful as I am. Being a horse’s ASS at this moment in history is absurd.
Finally, if I am a decision maker in any arena, I need to keep thinking through the new normal for the upcoming months and possibly year. Social distancing in public areas. Temperature readings before entry. Face coverings. New floor plans. Take out and delivery. Online opportunities. GOVERNMENT is NOT going to solve the problem for every possible circumstance. You KNOW the guideposts. We can do this.
APRIL is DONE. And MAY is going to be CHAOS. Anchor myself to science and reason. Forward WE go together…….
