Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Issued on: 05/06/2020 - 22:54

Washington (AFP)

US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to slash the number of troops it maintains in Germany by more than a quarter in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The newspaper said the Defense Department would cut the number of military personnel by 9,500 from the current 34,500 permanently assigned to Germany postings.

The Journal also said a cap of 25,000 would be set on how many US troops could be inside German at any one time, whether in permanent postings or temporary rotations, half of the current allowance.

The move would significantly reduce the US commitment to European defense under the NATO umbrella, though it could also impact Pentagon operations related to Africa and the Middle East.

White House and Pentagon officials declined to confirm or deny the story, which comes amid tensions between the Trump administration and European allies over longstanding cooperation agreements.

Washington in particular does not think Germany spends enough for its own defense.

John Ullyot, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement that as commander in chief, Trump is always reassessing the presence of US forces overseas.

"The United States remains committed to working with our strong ally Germany to ensure our mutual defense, as well as on many other important issues," Ullyot said.

2020 AFP

Read more:
US planning to slash troops in Germany: report - RFI

Our worst-case scenario for a 20% decline in prices and those of others seeing 30% plus falls are unlikely thanks to support measures and the earlier reopening of the economy. To get these worst-case scenarios would require a second wave of coronavirus cases & so a renewed shutdown or another down leg in the economy in response to a surge in bankruptcies.

However, further falls in prices are still likely, as true unemployment (to become clear after September) remains high for several years, government support measures and the bank payment holiday end after September, immigration falls and likely government measures boost housing construction. Our base case is for national average prices to fall around 5-10% into next year. Sydney & Melbourne are likely to see 10% falls as they are more exposed to immigration and have higher debt levels whereas Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth & Hobart are only likely to see small falls and Canberra prices are likely to be flat.

This may be seen as a reasonable outcome in terms of making housing more affordable but without posing a big threat to the economy (via a downwards spiral of falling prices and negative wealth effects on consumer spending) at the same time.

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Australian house prices starting to fall - collapse likely averted but expect more weakness ahead - Livewire Markets

Kottayam: The Kerala Police suspect the role of a quotation gang in the murder of a 55-year-old woman, Sheeba Salih, at Thazhathangady in Kottayam district.

Sheeba, 55, was found dead at her house, Shani Manzil, at Parappadath in Thazhathangadi on Monday morning, while her husband, Mohammad Salih, was found unconscious nearby with assault wounds.

The police have found that Sheeba and her husband had financial dealings with several people. It is suspected that a dispute over the financial deal had led to the murder.

The investigation points fingers at a gang, based out of Thazhathangady, and involved in financial dealings.

It was also suspected that the assailants had not plotted the murder. Instead their objective was to extort money from the couple.

The cops reached this conclusion as the assailants had not used lethal weapons to attack the couple. However, when the dispute escalated, the assailants were provoked to attack the couple using the tea table in the room. Though electric wires were tied around the victims' bodies, there was no proof of them being electrocuted.

Attacked & tied up

The assailants had first hit Sheeba and then attacked Salih. Both of them were tied up using electric wires and the assailants ransacked the house. They then left the gas cylinder open. They exited the house through the back door and fled the house in the couple's car. Sheeba's relatives said that the gold bangles, chain and earrings worn by her, and the ornaments stored in the cupboard were missing.

As the victims had suffered grievous injuries, the police suspect that the assailants have a criminal background, or have a history of substance abuse or mental illness.

It is also suspected that the car and gold ornaments were stolen to make it appear as a case of burglary and mislead the investigation.

Meanwhile, the police have found CCTV images of a person, suspected to be the culprit, fleeing in a car from the crime scene. Though images of the car as it passed through Kumarakom and Vechoor were found, the car is yet to be traced. The police have also received information that their car was taken to Kochi, based on CCTV visuals. The probe team hopes to the nab the culprits within two days.

The police, however, suspect the involvement of more than one person as it is unlikely that a lone individual can attack two people in the house and tie them up.

The police are probing the three possible angles of personal enmity, dispute over financial dealings and burglary in the blood-chilling incident.

The heinous manner in which the couple were attacked prompted the police to suspect that the culprits harboured enmity against them. The police team is also checking whether the assailants planned to set the house on fire, by leaving the gas cylinder open.

The police also found blood-stained gloves from the house. Following the scent of the blood-stained glove, the police sniffer dog had run up to near the Arupuzha bridge on Kottayam Road, which is 1km away.

The police recorded the statements of some people who frequently interacted with the couple on Tuesday.

The case is probed by a 13-member team led by DySP R Sreekumar. DIG Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar and district police chief G Jayadev are also following-up on the investigation.

Autopsy findings

The post-mortem report has said that Sheeba had died of head injuries. Her skull was fractured in the impact of the attack, leading to haemorrhage. Several wounds were also found on the body. The autopsy also found signs of assault.

Though live electric wires were found on the bodies, the post-mortem report does not say that Sheeba was electrocuted. However, the body parts will be sent to the forensic lab in Thiruvananthapuram for more tests.

Police surgeon Dr Ranju Raveendran, who is also the Kottayam Medical College forensic department chief, carried out the post-mortem.

Sheebas husband continues to be in a critical condition at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. The 65-year-old had undergone a surgery at the hospital.

Sheeba's funeral was held at the Taj Juma Masjid in Kottayam on Tuesday evening. Her daughter Shani and her husband, who are in Muscat, watched the funeral proceedings through a video call.

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Quotation gang behind Kottayam womans murder? - Onmanorama

The plants and saplings I used to care for on our roof are gone. For a week, we had no electricity. We saw the rescuers work day and night though. They said it was too risky to restart supply as a lot of the areas were still submerged and there were torn wires lying all around, she says.

Indrani Roy Mitra Joint Managing Director Mitra and Ghosh Publishers, Kolkata

Ascion of the family that owns one of Bengals biggest book publishing companies with sales of several Crores of Rupees every year, she was working with an international NGO at Gopalpur On Sea in Odisha when the supercyclone struck in 1999.

I have now seen two of the worst ones but this one was definitely the strongest. I have never been so afraid in my life. All of us were huddled in one room in our 100-year-old house. It was like apocalypse. Somehow, our old structure held out, whereas I saw the balcony of a modern apartment in my area collapse. Fortunately, my house had power too though just six houses apart, the neighbourhood did not have any power for over three days.

She was heartbroken though when she finally visited her office in the historic Boi Para (The Books Neighbourhood), the largest book market in the world where thousands throng the length of Kolkatas College Street.

There was waist-high water and the 500 second hand book sellers had lost everything. Their stalls were lying strewn all over the main road, pages wet and tattered. Giant trees had been felled. The College Street like you knew it once has vanished, she says, choking on her own words.

The rest is here:
First person accounts of the devastation by super cyclone Amphan - National Herald

The deal to sell Peterboroughs electricity distribution system to Hydro One is set to close on Aug. 4, states a new city staff report and now city councillors have four new proposals to evaluate as they mull how to use the proceeds.

Councillors had previously considered banking the proceeds in a Toronto investment firm or backing its own renewable energy company, but now they can also think about four new ideas: creating a home energy retrofit program, creating a trust to support renewable energy projects, investing in a local bank or creating a stream of grants for local charities.

City council approved the sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI) more than three years ago after a contentious debate. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2018 and approval from the Ontario Energy Board came in April.

PDI is the wires and poles distribution arm of Peterborough Utilities Inc., which will continue to exist as a power generation company.

The agreement to sell PDI to Hydro One includes the wires, poles and transformers of Peterborough Utilities, which delivers electricity to 37,000 customers in Peterborough, Lakefield and Norwood.

Although the sale price is $105 million, the city is expecting to receive somewhere between $50 million and $55 million once fees and debate are paid.

In a virtual meeting on Monday, councillors will discuss the idea of striking a new group made up of city staff plus three councillors (Andrew Beamer, Gary Baldwin and Dean Pappas) to review all options for use of the sale proceeds and make recommendations to council later.

Councillors will also vote Monday on a staff recommendation to invest 100 per cent of the sale proceeds and spend only the returns from the investment.

At a meeting earlier this year at City Hall, councillors heard two detailed pitches: one to place the money in a bank portfolio with the Toronto non-profit One Investment and the other to invest instead in renewable hydro and solar generation facilities of the municipally owned City of Peterborough Holdings Inc. (CoPHI) in a plan that would return dividends to the city.

But now the city has received four new proposals that merit consideration, states the staff.

Those new proposals include:

Alan Slavin, climate activist and physicist, suggests investing the sale proceeds but using the interest as homeowner loans for energy retrofits.

Fred Irwin, founding director of Transition Town Peterborough, suggests the creation of a trust fund to ensure theres money available to maximize local renewable power generation in the future.

George Ripoll, investment adviser at BMO Nesbitt Burns, suggests investing through a local bank with a Peterborough-based adviser rather than going with the Toronto-based non-profit ONE Investments.

The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough suggests banking most of the sale proceeds but setting aside at least 20 per cent or $10 million for a new fund, with interest disbursed as grants for charities.

Although the sale closes Aug. 4, the report states that council may not have settled yet on a final plan by then and if thats the case, the money would be placed in a short-term investment.

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PDI is a branch of Peterborough Utilities Inc., which was founded 105 years ago.

The previous councils decision to sell it wasnt popular with some residents who said at public meetings they didnt want the city to lose control of the asset because electricity rates could increase over time.

But CoPHI, which governs PDI, had advised council at the time that replacement of PDIs aging infrastructure would cost so much it would soon threaten the distribution systems viability and so the city was better off to sell.

joelle.kovach@peterboroughdaily.com

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Deal to sell Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One closing in August - ThePeterboroughExaminer.com

New Jersey is home to an array of architectural styles, from historic homes to contemporary builds. Whether you have an antique home with bubble glass or sleek walls of glass in your modern abode, get your windows looking their best with a professional window washer.

The pros will spray a high-grade cleaning solution on your windows, squeegee away, and finish with a microfiber towel. Here's why you should get in on the impressive results.

1. Results Look Better Than DIY

Unlike your average bottle of Windex, professional cleaning services use professional-grade solutions and equipment. Plus, they can safely access all of your windows and their hard-to-reach corners.

2. Pros Don't Cut Corners

If you're DIYing your window cleaning, chances are you want to be done as soon as possible. Professionals take pride in their work and clean your windows thoroughly. That's how good companies uphold their reputation. You can be sure everything will be spotless.

Looking for a window washer? Find a professional in your area.

3. It's Usually Cheaper Than DIY

If you tally up all of the equipment you'd need to DIY the joba hose, spray nozzle, squeegee, ladder, window cleaning solution, rags, and extension polesyou're looking at nearly $300. The average cost to clean windows is around $200.

Of course, the cost of the job will vary based on the number and size of your windows (typically between $150 and $300), but between materials and your own time, hiring a pro is actually a bargain.

4. You Can Get a Package Deal

Many professional window cleaning services provide other services. Oftentimes, they can offer bundle deals. You might be able to add on power washing, gutter cleaning, interior maid services, or even custom work like tinting.

You might want to go the extra mile and have your blinds, screens, sills, and tracks cleaned. Ask your contractor if these additional elements are included or charged separately.

5. It Looks Great!

Of course, squeaky-clean windows make your home look better. They boost your curb appeal from the outside, which can make a big difference if you're trying to rent or sell your spaceor simply want it to look great for passersby.

HomeAdvisor is a Patch promotional partner.

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5 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Window Washer In New Jersey - Patch.com

Summer is nearly here, and with this fresh new season comes the chance to spiff up your home. Whether you're looking for ways to improve your home's curb appeal, inspiration to start your spring cleaning or a little direction on seasonal home maintenance projects, these five ideas will help you spring into summer on the right foot.

Repaint your front door

As your yard fills with bright tulips, daisies and daffodils, consider adding a pop of color to your front door to match. This quick project can go a long way in boosting curb appeal and making your home stand out from the others in the neighborhood. It's best to complete this project over a few warm, dry days to make sure the paint adheres and dries correctly. Talk to a painting pro to get the best result.

Wrap up your spring cleaning

It's not too late to finish those spring cleaning projects. Whether you're purging old clothes from the back of your closet, wiping down the refrigerator (and the coils in back) or doing a deep clean of the baseboards, blinds and ceiling fans, a good tidy will get your home shipshape. Be sure to give your home's exterior some TLC as well. A power-washing pro can help you shine things up and ditch grime on your driveway, patio, porch and siding.

Upgrade your landscaping

Now's a great time to clean up the yard and start creating an outdoor space that you can enjoy. Whether you choose to plant a few new trees to your yard or completely overhaul your landscaping, it's a good idea to talk to a professional to make sure your project goes smoothly. If you're not ready to commit to a huge change, you can start small with a container garden or make a few improvements by fixing slopes, reviving dead grass and trimming overgrown shrubs and bushes.

Fix up your fence

An old, damaged or unattractive fence is not an effective (or appealing) barrier for your home. If your fence is looking a little worse for wear, take the opportunity to give it an upgrade this spring. A fencing pro can help you choose the best option for your space. Some popular fencing materials include cedar, vinyl, composite and aluminum. If you're happy with the style of your current fence, restaining or resealing it can make it look like new.

Repair your driveway

Now that we've left freezing temperatures and harsh weather behind, go outside and take a look at your driveway to see if it needs any repairs. Freezing and thawing cycles can cause cracking and damage to concrete and asphalt driveways, so it's important to check for damage in the spring. Damaged pavement can create issues with drainage, and small cracks will only worsen over time. Consult with a professional to correct any issues quickly. If you have a gravel driveway, double-check to make sure water isn't pooling in certain areas, as this can indicate drainage issues as well.

HomeAdvisor is an online marketplace connecting homeowners with trusted service professionals to complete home projects. Visit HomeAdvisor.com.

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Home projects to kick off this summer - The Providence Journal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released what it calls general considerations on safe actions for reopening houses of worship, but worship communities can accept or reject those considerations.

Religious worship allows tens of millions of Americans to demonstrate devotion to a higher power. It gives people an opportunity to commit and recommit to a set of values. In-person services foster a sense of community and belonging.

Unfortunately for millions whose lives are enriched by communal worship, traditional services are ideal places for virus transmission: lots of people, close together.

As a physician specializing in internal medicine I suggest, for now at least, that we reexamine how we worship. After all, what better way to embody the values of your faith than to take steps to protect one another?

Even with the uncertainty and variability of reopening plans, scientifically and medically sound information is available. For starters, youll want to assess your individual risk, the prevalence of the virus in your area and the availability of testing.

The four pillars

You may consider guidelines suggested by Dr. Atul Gawande, noted surgeon and author. He proposes four essential pillars for safe reentry into communal spaces: hygiene, distancing, screening and mask use.

All four must operate together to minimize transmission. Will your place of worship be able to enact these pillars? For example:

1. Will you have easy access to hand-washing or sanitizing?

2. Will communal surfaces and shared spaces be wiped down?

3. Will attendance be limited to allow distancing, and will attendees be screened with temperature checks and self-screening questionnaires?

4. Will your place of worship enforce mask use and distancing?

Anything short of all four pillars increases transmission risk.

And even with all the precautions, people with infections can be asymptomatic so despite the screening measures, you cant be sure who has the virus and whether you might become exposed.

Short, outdoors

Other factors influence viral spread. The dose you receive is higher when youre close to someone not wearing a face covering. Someone sneezing and coughing increases the number of virus particles near you. Singing or speaking forcefully releases more virus than speaking quietly. Outdoor rates of transmission are much lower than those indoors.

Thats why its best if services are short, outdoors and with no singing or physical contact. Only a limited number of attendees, spaced widely and wearing masks properly, would participate.

Early in the pandemic, faith leaders adapted their services: removing holy water, forbidding handshakes, limiting group size and livestreaming. Buddhist monks seeking alms wore face shields. But others protested any restrictions.

In dealing with the virus, we still have much to learn. But values common to all religions exist compassion, kindness, respect for fellow humans and some variation of the Golden Rule. Until more is known about COVID-19, lets choose a path following one of the major tenets of my profession: First, do no harm.

Dr. Claudia Finkelstein is a medical doctor and associate professor of family medicine at Michigan State University.

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How to be as safe as possible in your house of worship - Longview News-Journal

Tropical Storm Bertha signaled the start of hurricane season when it made landfall last week in South Carolina.Dominion Energy customers in Virginia and the Carolinas can continue to expect excellent response from crews this hurricane season as a result of measures taken to adapt to coronavirus impacts, stated a Dominion Energy press release. Crews have access to resources necessary to respond safely and quickly to storm-related outages.

Our team is prepared for a busy hurricane season and have spent the past three months incorporating new practices and health and safety guidelines that protect us, our colleagues and the public from spreading the coronavirus, said Ed Baine, senior vice president of power delivery. Even with additional precautions necessary during these unprecedented times, our crews will continue to be responsive and prepared to restore power safely and quickly.

Dominion reports that employees are following the hygiene practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the use of face coverings, frequent hand washing and the use of gloves. Workstations and vehicle interiors are wiped down each day. Additionally, employees check their temperature and answer health screening questions at least once every day.

In addition to essential services such ashospitals, fire and police departments, public water systems and 911 call centers, coronavirus testing and treatment centers have also been added to the companys restoration strategy.

As we saw with previous storms, including Hurricane Dorian, we have an experienced power restoration team, as well as a comprehensive plan to respond to the extensive damage that severe weather can cause, said Keller Kissam, Dominion Energy South Carolina president of electric operations. We encourage our customers to be prepared at home to keep their families safe with emergency supplies, including face masks, hand sanitizer and wipes.

There are many ways to begin preparing early. Dominion offers the following tips to prepare for severe weather:

Create an emergency kit with flashlights, batteries, cleaning supplies and face coverings.

Prepare a first-aid kit with bandages, anti-bacterial wipes, over-the-counter medications and prescription medications.

Remember to carry your healthcare information with you and to prepare your medical devices, especially if you are disabled or elderly.

Download the Dominion Energy App to track restoration efforts and report outages quickly and safely.

Prepare a supply of water and non-perishable food.

Charge your phone and other electronic devices fully before the storm arrives.

Make sure your contact information is updated in Dominions system so that they have a way to get in touch with you.

Safety is always our first priority, states Dominion. Heres how you can stay safe during storms:

Beware of downed power lines. Assume they are energized and dangerous. Stay at least 30 feet away and call Dominion Energy immediately.Virginia and North Carolina customers please call 1-866-366-4357. South Carolina customers please call 1-888-333-4465.

Connect your generator properly. Ensure it is fueled and tested before the severe weather arrives. Follow the manufacturers instructions and always operate outdoors with good ventilation.

For more information, visitDominionEnergy.com/outages/outage-safety-and-preparation/hurricane-prep.

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Dominion Energy adapts to ensure quick response to hurricanes during coronavirus pandemic - The Coastland Times - The Coastland Times

This report is published in two parts. Part 1 reviews the Citys timeline of response in the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak and existing data on Latinx workers as essential workers in the City. Part 2 hears directly from six essential Latinx workers who contracted COVID-19 in San Francisco while on the job during the initial lockdown phase and about their experience seeking and accessing help when they were sick.

Compared to other large cities, San Francisco has fared remarkably well in limiting infections since the first novel coronavirus cases were reported three months ago. The early shelter-in-place order issued across five Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, on March 16 was crucial to this outcome. In the last two weeks, the curve of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and the number of patients hospitalized in acute care and intensive care units started trending down in the City. Last week, on May 28, Mayor London Breed drew a new timeline and plan for safely reopening San Francisco. This hopeful turn in the epidemic restrictions, however, came with strict health orders that indefinitely extended the shelter-in-place order and made wearing facemasks mandatory outside.

For the rest of the year, the valve on health order restrictions will open and close; it will be touch and go, depending on the rise and fall of infections in the weeks to come. Officials will need to collect and share as much information as possible about the virus and how the virus is moving within our communities for everyone to be on board with the next steps. Lessons must also be swiftly gleaned from the first wave of contagion in San Francisco in preparation for a possible, or perhaps inevitable, second wave, including who has been most impacted by the virus and why.

According to City data, as of June 1, 43 lives have been lost to the novel coronavirus. Ninety-three percent of these deaths involved people with one or more underlying health conditions, and 46.5 percent of those deaths are of Asian people. The specific health conditions of those lost lives have not been made known, but the Center for Disease Control (CDC) informs, based on currently available information and clinical expertise from across the country, that older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions, such as chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions, diabetes, severe obesity, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, liver disease, and immunocompromised conditions, might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Yet, in San Francisco, deaths have taken a toll on people in the prime of their life: 23 percent of lives lost were in the 31-40 age range, 19 percent among 18-30 years old, and 18 percent in the 41-50 age range. In other words, 60 percent of all lives lost have been of young to middle aged people.

Nationwideworldwidethe virus has yet to be fully understood. For example, is it just a respiratory illness or also a cardiovascular disease, which would explain why it severely aggravates the health of those with diseases like diabetes, and not only those with underlying respiratory illnesses. The medical jury is still out, and as a result, so is a consensus on the most effective course of treatment. Prevention, therefore, is the first line of defense when combatting a new epidemiological event like COVID-19.

Prevention measures have unfortunately and disproportionately failed the Latinx community of San Francisco during the initial crisis. Per City data published on June 1, Latinx people represent 47.4 percent of all cumulative COVID-19 confirmed cases in the City since the start of March, despite representing only 15 percent of the City population. This percentage has been steadily increasing, even as the contagion rates have slowed down and testing rates gone up.

Understanding the timeline of the outbreak in San Francisco and taking stock of the governments preparedness and capacity to deal with an epidemic can help explain why the Latinx people continue to be overexposed to COVID-19. The role of Latinx workers, both documented and undocumented, as essential laborers in the City is also a clear factor to consider.

On May 28, the shelter-in-place order was indefinitely extended in the City. The City must provide a better response to all essential workers going forward, but especially, right now, to the Latinx community in order to beat back the spread of the virus within this community and protect Latinx people against grave health and economic consequences and greater social marginalization.

Timeline of the Outbreak in San Francisco

Acknowledging the high volume of travel to and from mainland China, the government of San Francisco began preparing for the appearance of the COVID-19 disease on Jan. 21 by activating the Operations Center of the Department of Public Health (DPH). The Operation Center supervises and coordinates health and medical responses in the epidemic. Preventive measures were also issued instructing the public to wash our hands, cover our sneezes and coughs, and stay home if we felt sick.

Six days later, on Jan. 27, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC coordinates government responses during an active disaster. The DEM, in general, supports government agencies to ensure that essential public services are provided after a disaster, and that they are prepared to accelerate post-disaster, long-term recovery and reconstitution. DPH toolkits published online have a decisive post-disaster outlook, and one best suited perhaps to unpredictable events such as earthquakes that can affect infrastructure. The Citys capacity to avoid the disaster that struckan epidemicrequired a decisive preventive response to contagion. Prevention requires widespread testing and contact tracing to contain the spread of a virus.

On Feb. 25, Mayor Breed issued a declaration of a local emergency, which legally allowed the City greater agility in mobilizing resources, accelerating emergency planning, staffing response centers, and coordinating agencies, among other actions. No Coronavirus or COVID-19 cases had yet been reported in San Francisco, but it was only a matter of hours or days given that other Bay Area counties had begun announcing infections from community spread: Santa Clara and Sonoma County were followed a week later, on March 2, by confirmations of cases from community spread in San Mateo.

In other words, these cases were unrelated to travel to China, the patients were unrelated to each other, and had no prior contact with any known carriers of the COVID-19 virus. The virus had already moved from person to person, away from the originally infected person or community, and it was no longer possible to trace the original source of the novel virus. For San Francisco, and the Bay Area at large, this was bad news. It meant that many unidentified cases had been missed and the transmission of the virus could no longer be checked at its source. It was in circulation and spreading.

On March 3, Twitter told its Bay Area employees to start working from home. The next day Facebook and Google followed suit. The corporate and financial offices of downtown San Francisco shutdown in tandem.

In coordination with the CDC and as part of the existing national influenza surveillance network, the San Francisco DPH Laboratory (SFDPHL) began testing for COVID-19 on March 2. Three days later, the first two cases of COVID-19 in San Francisco were confirmed: a 90-year old man in serious condition, and a 40-year old woman in fair condition being treated at two different hospitals. They had contracted the virus through community transmission. On March 8, the City confirmed a total of eight cases. In the days that followed, San Franciscos Health Officer escalated health recommendations: large events were cancelled of over 100 people, vulnerable populations were urged to limit outings, businesses asked to limit employee exposure, and the public was urged to practice social distancing and hand washing. A variety of social security measures were also put into motion, including a moratorium on evictions, penalty waivers for delinquent payments on water and power, and funding for homeless shelters and SROs.

On Monday March 16, 11 days after the first COVID-19 cases were identified in San Francisco, the Health Officer of San Francisco issued a shelter-in-place order to further limit the spread of the disease. The order, one step down from a full emergency lockdown, allowed residents to leave home only for essential businesses and travel, and listed a series of essential businesses that would remain open.

The shelter-in-place order was a coordinated action of Health Officials across five Bay Area counties of the order, and in it saved lives, it undoubtedly saved lives. Consider that New York City issued a similar order on March 20, but by then, it was reporting 2,952 new daily cases and 29 deaths per day with numbers exponentially climbing.

Two weeks after tech and corporate workers were ordered to work from home by their employers, essential workers continued to work harder than ever, commuting on the empty streets of San Francisco. For the first time, we woke up to learn who beyond first responders were essential workers: garbage collectors, restaurant workers, delivery people, tow-truck drivers, construction workers, grocery cashiers, and transport drivers to name a few. We could finally name them for what they were: essential to the day to day functions of the City, whether documented or undocumented. And yet, they are among the lowest paid.

On March 17, Dr. Grant Colfax, the head of DPH, explained to the Health Commission of the Board of Supervisors that the SFDPHLs capacity to test and contact trace for COVID-19 was very small, compounded by a lack of CDC testing kits. The DPH initiated a process of establishing a testing plan with UCSF to track the availability of tests (including at private labs) to understand who, how many and where people were being tested. Toms Aragn, the Health Officer of the City, at the Board of Supervisors meeting that day also stressed that the real spread of the virus in the City was unknown due to the lack of testing. On March 24, the Citys Health Officer ordered private and public labs in San Francisco to report complete COVID-19 testing information to the DPH.

Available testing also followed mandatory CDC guidelines which prioritized symptomatic healthcare workers, seniors and people with underlying chronic or immunocompromised conditions. Testing was next made available to people who showed severe symptoms: a fever with acute respiratory illness, such as a cough or difficulty breathing, requiring hospitalization. In other words, if a person came in with a fever or cough or shortness of breath but didnt require hospitalization, a test was denied and they were sent back home. The obvious problem with this approach was that cases went undetected, even when people felt ill enough to ask for help at a public hospital.

Access to testing for COVID-19 became a test of privilege. By mid-March, those with health insurance or the means to cover the out-of-pocket expense could get a doctors order for a test in a private medical facility in the Bay Area such as Stanford, Kaiser, John Muir Health, and Forward. The rest would have to wait until March 23, when the first free tests for active COVID-19, without doctors orders, were made available in the Bay Area at the Hayward Fire Station. Drop-ins were still heavily screened according to CDC guidelines.

While around the globe the sick overwhelmed hospital capacity and the death count rose exponentially, each day that followed in San Francisco seemed to bring a new positive response from the City government: nurses were expeditiously hired, relief provided for artists, the City bought N95 masks, and hotel rooms were available for those ill with COVID-19 who needed to quarantine.

The City response appeared gloriously successful and forward-thinking, except for two events: a worrisome outbreak at San Franciscos largest nursing home, the Laguna Honda Hospital, at the end of March, followed by an outbreak in San Franciscos largest homeless shelter, the MSC South. On April 13, the City confirmed that 90 residents and 10 staff members of the MSC South homeless shelter tested positive for COVID-19. The news came after weeks when experts relentlessly lobbied for and Supervisors urged the Mayor to shelter the 8,000 homeless residents of the City in empty and available hotel rooms to reduce the spread of the disease. Instead of solving homelessness, Mayor Breed went with her longstanding stance against housing the homeless of San Francisco, no less in the middle of a historic pandemic.

It was in the days of public outrage over the MSC South outbreak that questions also arose about whether the virus lurked undetected among the Latinx population of the City. The questions began when Unidos en Saluda partnership between UCSF, the Latino Task Force for COVID-19, DPH, and the District 10 (D10) communityannounced that the second densest census tract in the City and the highest with a significant Latinx population had been selected for a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 testing effort from April 25-28. As a resident of the tract, I reached out to Unidos en Salud asking about the spread of the illness in the Mission District and specifically that tract, but my questions were deflected with a canned answer about researchers needing a densely populated census tract. I sensed, as many others probably did, that there was gato encerrado, something fishy going on. We didnt wait long for answers.

In advance of the Unidos en Salud testing dates, on April 20, the DPH released a Map of the Coronavirus Impact in the City by Zipcode. The 94110 zip code, which covers a vast part of the Mission District, since then continues to show the highest number of COVID-19 cases, and the third highest density of cases in the City. In San Francisco, the Latinx population is most heavily concentrated in the Mission District, but also in the Tenderloin District and Excelsior District. The north and south corridors of the Mission District overlap with the 94103 and 94112 zip codes, respectively. The 94103 zip code mostly covers SOMA but also the north edge of Mission District. This zip code then and now continues to have the highest density of COVID-19 cases in the City. The 94112 zip code that carries south into the Excelsior and Outer Mission sustains the second highest number of COVID-19 cases.

In releasing the map, the City informed that of 1,216 confirmed COVID cases up to April 20, Latinxs represented 25 percent of the positive cases. Unidos en Salud cited a higher statistics: ~34% of COVID-19 cases (with known race/ethnicity, as of April 18th) are in Latinx population, despite Latinx people comprising only ~15% of SFs total population. Unidos en Salud further confirmed that 80 percent of the hospitalized coronavirus patients at San Francisco General Hospital were Latinx, where generally, Latinx people comprise 30 percent of the hospital population. The statistics were alarming.

Before then, the City released data on the Coronavirus epidemic piecemeal, and information about the impact on the Latinx community had been entirely unknown. If not for the Unidos en Salud study, how long did the City plan on withholding statistical information literally vital to the health of the Latinx community? How many cases could have been avoided if the Latinx community had been better informed of the developing situation? The City officials acted recklessly in failing to disclose the spread of the virus among the Latinx population in real time. As of May 31, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco have more than doubled, and the Latinx population now represents 47.3 percent of all COVID-19 confirmed cases in the City of San Francisco.

In four days of testing, Unidos en Salud increased the total number of COVID-19 tests in the City by 29 percent, and days later released initial results from that one census tract: out of nearly 3,000 people tested, 62 people tested positive for active COVID-19. While seemingly low, the 2.1 percent infection rate was 2 percent above the city reported rate at the time. Moreover, of those who tested positive 95 percent where Latinx and 90 percent of those positive cases represented people who could not stay at home to work. The results highlighted the role that Latinx people were playing as essential workers, as well as their economic vulnerability that impeded them from staying at home.

A 2017 survey by Mission Promise Neighborhood of 584 households with children in the Mission District shows that in the year prior, two in five families had gone without basic needs, including housing, health care, food and child care. Seventy-seven percent of the 447 respondents to questions on household income were earning less than $35,000 a year with 30 percent living below the federal poverty threshold at the time. At the time, almost all families were spending more than half their income on rent, with food related expenses being the next highest expense. Unemployment among these families was nearly four times that of the City rate, with 21 percent of working parents working more than one job to make ends meet. This snapshot of the Mission Latinx families provides a worrisome outlook for a community today simultaneously facing an epidemic and economic depression.

Following up on the Unidos en Salud results, the Bay Area Equity Atlas analyzed data from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey provided by the Center for Economic and Policy Research that describes the characteristics of essential workers in the nine-county Bay Area. The data shows 1.1 million essential Bay Area workers account for 28 percent of the regions workforce. Among these essential workers, people of color are overrepresented: 66 percent of essential workers were people of color, even though only 58 percent of all workers were people of color. Of all essential workers in the Bay Area, 43 percent are immigrants, and 31 percent of essential workers are Latinx (even though Latinx people are 21 percent of all Bay Area workers).

A further breakdown by specific essential industries shows that Latinx people represent a majority percentage of essential work in construction, cleaning and waste management, grocery, convenience and drug store, domestic services, trucking, warehouse and postal services, and agricultural work in the Bay Area. In regards to women, the Bay Area Equity Atlas found that Latina workers make up one- tenth of the labor force, but nearly half of all domestic workers (47 percent), 37 percent of building cleaning services/waste management workers, and 23 percent of childcare and social services workers.

By the numbers, the extended City and State shelter-in-place order place the brunt of our survival needs square upon the shoulders of essential workers of all stripes, and their labor exposes them the most to contagion. In the case of San Francisco, it is the Latinx population, both documented and undocumented that is most impacted by illness in the City, physically and economically, whether out of exposure to the illness or lack of income, without any fallback resources.

The restrictive access to existing testing in the City left Latinx essential workers overexposed and under-attended. The City did not expand access to free testing at its two CityTestSF to essential workers (without a requirement for a doctors referral) until early May. Now that the City has significantly expanded its number of free and accessible testing to anyone who lives or works in the City, Latinx people as a percentage of cumulative COVID-19 cases continue to go up.

There are lines of over 500 people a day at the various food pantries in the Mission District. These families with mixed or undocumented immigration statuses are ineligible for most of the federal and state relief funds and unemployment benefits. In any case, the one-time $500 City or state handouts for undocumented works cannot adequately compensate their high-risk labor or their economic losses after falling ill to COVID-19 for playing an essential role in sustaining our quality of life in San Francisco. The virus, even when it has not made them ill, but left them unemployed, is leading the Latinx community towards extreme poverty.

These days, we protest the humanitarian homeless crisis in the City. We protest the legacy of police brutality and inequity against the Black community. But we must also protest the disproportionate suffering of the Latinx community and other people of color as they bear the brunt of the disease in the City as essential workers. Echoing the Bay Area Equity Atlas recommendations, the essential working class of San Francisco needs to be supported by guaranteeing its basic human rights to living wages, paid and expanded sick leave, safe working conditions. free testing and free health care, facilitated by culturally appropriate methodologies, and stable housing, through eviction moratoriums, cancelled rent, mortgages, and utility payments

Its the only humanitarian way forward.

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Essential, Sick and Marginalized: Latinx people represent nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in the City - El Tecolote