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White House Takes New Line After Dire Report on Death Toll

Fri, 2020-03-20 15:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

President Donald Trump at a Monday news conference on the Covid-19 pandemic. Doug Mills / The New York Times

nytimes.com - by Sheri Fink - March 17, 2020

Sweeping new federal recommendations announced on Monday for Americans to sharply limit their activities appeared to draw on a dire scientific report warning that, without action by the government and individuals to slow the spread of coronavirus and suppress new cases, 2.2 million people in the United States could die.

To curb the epidemic, there would need to be dramatic restrictions on work, school and social gatherings for periods of time until a vaccine was available, which could take 18 months, according to the report, compiled by British researchers. They cautioned that such steps carried enormous costs that could also affect people’s health, but concluded they were “the only viable strategy at the current time.”

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The New Coronavirus Can Live On Surfaces For 2-3 Days — Here's How To Clean Them

Tue, 2020-03-17 05:06 — Kathy Gilbeaux

When an infected person touches a surface, like a door handle, there's a risk they leave viruses stuck there that can live on for two to three days. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

npr.org - by Allison Aubrey - March 14, 2020

How long can the new coronavirus live on a surface, like say, a door handle, after someone infected touches it with dirty fingers? A study out this week finds that the virus can survive on hard surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours and on cardboard for up to 24 hours . . .

. . . And given that wipes are hard to come by at many stores at the moment, you can instead buy an EPA-registered disinfecting spray, such as one on this list from the Center for Biocide Chemistries, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by Dr. David Warren, an infectious disease specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Or make a bleach-based spray yourself. You can make a DIY cleaning spray by mixing 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water, according to the CDC.

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Coronavirus: ‘recovered’ patient dies as China reports discharged cases falling ill again

Thu, 2020-03-05 06:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Volunteers take a pregnant woman into the Wuhan Maternal and Child Health Hospital to be tested for the coronavirus. Photo: Xinhua

scmp.com - Gigi Choy and Teddy Ng - March 5, 2020

A 36-year-old man has died of respiratory failure in Wuhan, five days after being discharged from one of the makeshift hospitals built to contain the outbreak, according to a report by Shanghai-based news portal The Paper . . .

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Lab for Coronavirus Test Kits May Have Been Contaminated

Mon, 2020-03-02 05:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A researcher works in a laboratory developing testing for the coronavirus. Photo: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

axios.com - by Jonathan Swan, Caitlin Owens - March 1, 2020

A top federal scientist sounded the alarm about what he feared was contamination in an Atlanta lab where the government made test kits for the coronavirus, according to sources familiar with the situation in Atlanta . . .

. . . The FDA official who visited the Atlanta lab, Timothy Stenzel, is the director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health . . .

. . . Stenzel is a highly-regarded scientist and diagnostics expert. He was on the ground in Atlanta to deal with technical issues and happened to stumble upon the inappropriate procedures and possible contaminants.

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Officials Announce Possible Coronavirus Outbreak in Washington Nursing Facility

Sat, 2020-02-29 15:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Life Care Center of Kirkland (KIRO)

thehill.com - by Peter Sullivan - February 29, 2020

Officials on Saturday announced a possible outbreak of coronavirus at a nursing facility in Washington State, a serious situation given the risks the virus poses to elderly people.

The possible outbreak is at a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Wash., called Life Care Center, officials from Washington state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on a media call Saturday.

There are two presumptive positives associated with the facility, one a health care worker and the other a woman in her 70s.

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Tough Summer for the Power Grid. But the Microgrids are Working

Tue, 2019-10-29 03:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Ameren microgrid. S&C Electric

microgridknowledge.com - by Elisa Wood - August 2, 2019

Severe heat and storms across the US this summer have strained the electric grid and caused extensive power outages. But the microgrids are working.

Consider the following examples . . .

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500,000 in California Are Without Electricity in Planned Shutdown

Thu, 2019-10-10 05:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A map on the website of Pacific Gas & Electric showing locations impacted by the blackout on Wednesday morning. The purple icons represent areas where the power was shut off preemptively. Credit pgecurrents.com

CLICK HERE - PG&E - Outage Map

Pacific Gas & Electric is cutting electricity as a precaution against sparking wildfires in high-wind conditions.

nytimes.com - by Thomas Fuller - October 9, 2019

A deliberate power outage that spanned large parts of Northern California on Wednesday sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for gasoline and other essentials as strong, gusty winds and months of dry weather put the state on alert for wildfires.

The state’s largest power utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, said it had cut power to 500,000 customers soon after midnight. A second round of cuts affecting 250,000 more customers in the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area had been scheduled for noon but was delayed. . . .

. . . Once the two phases are complete, around 2.5 million people will be without electricity, according to one estimate.

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Scientists Predict Climate Change Will Make Dangerous Heat Waves Far More Common

Wed, 2019-07-17 04:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days (2019)

CLICK HERE - PAPER - Increased frequency of and population exposure to extreme heat index days in the United States during the 21st century

time.com - by Jamie Ducharme - July 16, 2019

People all across the U.S. have been sweating through heat waves this summer, and new research suggests they should get used to it.

Over the next century, climate change will likely make extreme heat conditions—and their concordant health risks—much more frequent in nearly every part of the U.S., according to a paper published in the journal Environmental Research Communications. By the end of the century, it says, parts of the Gulf Coast states could experience more than 120 days per year that feel like they top 100°F.

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Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate (2018)

Mon, 2019-04-29 07:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Union of Concerned Scientists - Underwater - Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate (28 page .PDF document)

ucsusa.org - June 2018

Sea levels are rising. Tides are inching higher. High-tide floods are becoming more frequent and reaching farther inland. And hundreds of US coastal communities will soon face chronic, disruptive flooding that directly affects people's homes, lives, and properties.

Yet property values in most coastal real estate markets do not currently reflect this risk. And most homeowners, communities, and investors are not aware of the financial losses they may soon face.

This analysis looks at what's at risk for US coastal real estate from sea level rise—and the challenges and choices we face now and in the decades to come.

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California Utility Firm Suspected of Starting Deadly Wildfires Goes Bankrupt

Thu, 2019-01-17 04:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A firefighter battling the Camp fire, which became California’s deadliest in history. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

Pacific Gas and Electric, which supplies 16 million residents, is under investigation for its role in the Camp fire and others

theguardian.com - by Vivian Ho - January 14, 2019

The utility company that services more than a third of California announced on Monday it plans to file for bankruptcy by the end of the month. Several deadly wildfires believed to have been caused by the company left it with potential liabilities of at least $30bn.

The board of directors of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has determined that the move “is ultimately the only viable option to restore PG&E’s financial stability to fund ongoing operations and provide safe service to customers”, the San Francisco-based company stated in a filing at the Security and Exchange Commission.

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