President Trump COVID-19 update
President Trump started this week as he ended the last week at Walter Reed Medical Center recovering from COVID-19. Commander Sean Conley leads the medical team giving care to President Trump.
“The president has continued to improve. As with any illness, there are frequent ups and downs over the course, particularly when a patient is being so closely watched 24 hours a day,” says Conley.
Many say the White House Rose Garden event to name Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the nominee for the Supreme Court, was the spreader. After that, the president, the first lady, two senators, a former governor and the former counselor to the president, all contracted coronavirus. There is contact tracing going on to try and pinpoint where the president’s infection originated.
The Senate, meantime, is moving to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee despite new coronavirus cases. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the Senate will not have any floor activity, including scheduled votes, until at least October 19. The two week break came after three senators revealed positive coronavirus tests last week. Two of those Republican senators, Utah’s Mike Lee in North Carolina’s Thom Tillis sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee’s chairman, Republican Lindsey Graham, says the panel will not delay confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. That process will begin next week on October 12th, despite objections from Democrats.
AISD Superintendent sends message about returning to campus
Austin School District Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde has sent word to all teachers and staff telling them unless they’ve already been given an exception, they should return to campus today. A lot of teachers want hazard pay, but Elizalde has said that’s just not possible.
“If it were something that we could do, I assure you I would be saying ‘let’s do it!’ It is not something that financially would be sustainable,” says Elizalde.
Hundreds of teachers have threatened to not show up. Elizalde says having all teachers and staff return is important to ease the burden on those who have already been working from campus.
A day before in-person classes resumed in the Austin district, numerous teachers and supporters held a rally in opposition to the plan. Fifth grade teacher Daniel Sanchez tells CBS Austin he is returning but only because it doesn’t want to lose his job.
“My livelihood is at risk because I oppose this movement of being forced to go back to school,” says Sanchez.
The district will be operating at 25% capacity, and many of them say there’s no reason 100% of teachers should have to return right now. The Austin school district is asking all parents to screen their children for symptoms of COVID before letting them ride the bus to school this morning. Officials say you should also accompany your children to the bus stop and wait with them until they get on. Temperatures will also be checked before allowing the student on each bus and anyone who has a temperature above 100 degrees will be sent home.
COVID-19 update
There has been some ebb and flow to Travis County’s COVID-19 hospital numbers in recent days. After climbing up into the mid-eighties late last week, the number of patients has dropped back down to 75 this morning. Ventilator usage is still low. ICU bed space is ample. 665 cases are active. That’s 50 more than this time on Friday morning. 29,799 cases are confirmed and overall there are 28,705 recoveries.
In Williamson County, hospitalizations have plateaued over the past week or so. And as of today, still 11 people are needing inpatient treatment. Out of the county’s 8,706 total cases, 128 are currently active and 8,435 are recoveries. The rate of new infections in Williamson County is lower than it is in both Travis and Hays counties.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-10-5-20
The Business of Business : Austin is a weekly podcast with the goal of providing practical advice for SMB owners and managers on a variety of topics including advertising and marketing, operations, tech, news and trends, management and finance. The podcast is hosted by KLBJ-AM veteran Kenny Rahmeyer and features a conversation with a subject matter expert.
