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The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 61,409 as of Monday, including 5,853 deaths, state officials report.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 622,000 have recovered in the U.S., with more than 2.2 million cases reported across the country. More than 119,000 have died in the U.S.
Worldwide, more than 8.9 million people have been confirmed infected and over 468,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different ways nations count the dead and deliberate under-reporting by some governments.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.
Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.
Can someone spread the virus without being sick?
People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest).
Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects
It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
How easily the virus spreads
How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained, spreading continually without stopping.
Prevention & Treatment
There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, including:
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Stay home when you are sick.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
Derick is a Senior Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.
It has been fivemonths since the novel coronavirus started infecting Americans. Since then, the U.S. has lost more than 119,000 people to the sickness it causes — COVID-19.
So many have been touched by the deaths of family and friends. Here we remember just a few of those who continued working during the pandemic because their jobs called for it and who, ultimately, lost their lives.
On the last dinner Yves-Emmanuel Segui had with his family, “we went to this African food and art center in Harlem,” his daughter Morit Segui recalls. “My dad insisted [on] this dinner, and I was so busy with work — we kept pushing it back.”
Courtesy of Morit Segui
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Courtesy of Morit Segui
On the last dinner Yves-Emmanuel Segui had with his family, “we went to this African food and art center in Harlem,” his daughter Morit Segui recalls. “My dad insisted [on] this dinner, and I was so busy with work — we kept pushing it back.”
Courtesy of Morit Segui
Yves-Emmanuel Segui, 60
Pharmacist in Yonkers, N.Y.
“I think that he just thought: ‘Work as usual. There are a lot of sick people and that’s even more of a reason for me to work,’ ” his daughter Morit Segui, a resident physician and OB-GYN in the Bronx, says of her father.
Hear Yves-Emmanuel Segui leave a voicemail for his daughter Chloe
Yves-Emmanuel Segui had been a pharmacist in Ivory Coast for more than 10 years when political unrest forced the family to leave in 2004. The family immigrated to the U.S. for what he said were “better opportunities.”
But Segui had a hard time getting his pharmacy license in the United States. There was a language barrier — he spoke French — and the skills for pharmacists in Ivory Coast are much different, more like being a nurse.
Morit says her father took the pharmacy licensing test eight times. He never gave up — and finally passed.
Segui got a job at a community pharmacy on the border of Yonkers and the Bronx about two years ago, but he continued to make ends meet as a parking garage attendant in Newark, N.J. He died on April 6 of COVID-19.
“I have so many good memories of growing up in the Ivory Coast with my dad. Going to get ice cream was one of the happiest things. Taking trips through the country with him. I love driving because of that — he taught me how to drive,” Morit says.
And she fondly recalls him staying up late with her at night after they moved to the U.S., helping her translate her homework (the main language in Ivory Coast is French)so she could get through it. “When I was going through his things, I found the same dictionary we used to translate every word,” she says.
Morit’s last memory of her dad is meeting him at the halfway point on his two-hour commute.
“Finally, it was time for his dream to be realized. No one expected him to die so soon after working so hard,” she says.
Jose Diaz Ayala with his daughters Gianna, left, and Laylanny in 2015.
Emily Brandon/Courtesy of Grisel Pineda
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Emily Brandon/Courtesy of Grisel Pineda
Jose Diaz Ayala with his daughters Gianna, left, and Laylanny in 2015.
Emily Brandon/Courtesy of Grisel Pineda
Jose Diaz Ayala, 38
Police sergeant in Palm Beach County, Fla.
“It’s good to be a police officer because you are helping people. You save people and it’s scary, but you are saving people,” says his 7-year-old daughter, Bianca.
Hear Jose Diaz Ayala’s Daughter Bianca Talk About Her Dad
Hear Diaz Ayala’s Daughter Gianna Talk About Her Dad
“He had promised the girls some trips over the summer. And our daughter’s quinceañera is coming up, and that’s a big deal, especially for a father and for his daughter. And I know he was working a lot for that as well,” says Grisel Pineda, Diaz Ayala’s former wife and the mother of his girls, referring to the coming-of-age celebration for Latinas.
Sgt. Jose Diaz Ayala was an officer in the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. He died on April 4 at age 38 of complications due to COVID-19.
He left behind three daughters, all under the age of 15. They and their mom remember Diaz Ayala as someone who could always make them laugh.
“I get my catchphrases from him,” says daughter Gianna, 10. “This is an A/B conversation so C your way out of it!”
Diaz Ayala’s 7-year-old daughter, Bianca, says her dad took her on adventures, such as going on rides at the carnival. “I think he rode the scary one with me. I think because I was scared. I think I sat in his lap, or I sat next to him. I always held his hand with two hands because his hand’s really big.”
Pineda was divorced from Diaz Ayala but says the two remained friends. “He was extremely protective of the girls, like when it came to boys.”
One time, Diaz Ayala found out that his eldest daughter, Laylanny, had been sharing gummy bears with a boy at school. “And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, no. You only share your gummy bears with your dad and that’s it! No more gummy bears for the rest of the school year!’ ” Pineda recalls.
Pineda says that after the pandemic got worse, Diaz Ayala was working overtime at the sheriff’s office — despite the risks — for some extra spending money.
His daughters lost their provider, their protector. But more than that, says 14-year-old Laylanny, they lost their best friend.
“He was young at heart. The way he talked to you, he just talked to you like you were the same age as him. Like you were, like, equal,” she says.
Rose Harrison holds her newest grandchild, her 10th, in January.
Courtesy of Amanda Williams
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Courtesy of Amanda Williams
Rose Harrison holds her newest grandchild, her 10th, in January.
Courtesy of Amanda Williams
Rose Harrison, 60
Nurse in Hamilton, Ala.
“She worked her entire life. She worked three jobs most of the time. She loved her family,” daughter Amanda Williams says of her mother. “Mother was the absolute definition of self-sacrifice. Pure love, selflessness. She was a natural giver.”
Hear Rose Harrison leave a message for her granddaughter
Rose Harrison worked nursing jobs and owned a barbecue restaurant with her husband. She was mother to three, and in another prize role, she was a grandmother to 10.
Harrison cared for her patients at two nursing homes in Alabama during her career until she died of COVID-19 on April 6. She was 60.
“Mother went to nursing school, later in her 20s when the textile plant she worked at closed down. As unfortunate as it was at the time, it was actually a blessing,” Williams says. “She was able to enter the nursing profession, which was definitely her calling.”
Williams adds that her mother was a motivator for her. “Nursing school, being difficult as it is, she was able to push through it with, you know, us three children. And I use that as my inspiration ’cause I was a single mom when I went through nursing school, and I had three small children. And so I thought, ‘If she could do it, I can do it.’ “
Harrison had been a nurse for 30 years.
“I think she just, she didn’t consider herself first; she always put others before herself, so I know that she was more worried about the other residents than herself,” Williams says.
She fondly remembers her mother playing, laughing and dancing with her grandchildren.
“She was just a sassy, sassy woman from Alabama that would speak her mind,” Williams recalls. Harrison loved Alabama football and country foods — she was best known for her banana pudding and strawberry shortcake.
“Her family was her everything. She was the foundation of our family. She was who everyone turned to for comfort.”
Gianmarco Bertolotti at his home in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens.
Courtesy of Monique Bertolotti
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Courtesy of Monique Bertolotti
Gianmarco Bertolotti at his home in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens.
Courtesy of Monique Bertolotti
Gianmarco Bertolotti, 42
Mason at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City
“I want to make sure that his light lives on, you know; he was taken from us in such a dark way. I want to make sure people remember him,” says Bertolotti’s sister, Monique.
Hear Gianmarco Bertolotti’s voice in a message to his sister
Gianmarco Bertolotti was always creative, his sister says. He loved going to concerts and making art — and that same creativity helped him become a mason at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Bertolotti kept going to work until he was hospitalized himself on April 15 after being diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. He died on April 22 after contracting COVID-19 while continuing to work.
Bertolotti loved New Orleans — its culture and music — which he discovered by accident and shared with Monique.
“My brother was like an explorer in life, you know, and then he explored without restriction,” Monique says. She says he went to New Orleans on a cross-country trip for his first time with friends. “My brother was drawn to the same things I was drawn to. He loved the music. He loved the people. He loved like the freedom of expression down there.”
In remembering Bertolotti, members of his family say they want to be more like him — to find more ways to enjoy life.
“My uncle wants to approach life more gently and not to sweat the small stuff. I would like to explore life without restriction, like my brother did,” Monique says. “I would love for my dad to do the same thing. My dad is very old school and very responsible, but this, this loss is tremendous for him. My brother was his best friend.”
Zlatko Veleski in August 2016 on the rooftop of a building in New York City.
Courtesy of Katerina Veleska
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Courtesy of Katerina Veleska
Zlatko Veleski in August 2016 on the rooftop of a building in New York City.
Courtesy of Katerina Veleska
Zlatko Veleski, 53
Building porter in New York City
“Everything was about my mom and him. Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, her birthday. He surprised her every time — he would come with roses or anything just to, like, make her feel better. He just had that kind of heart,” Katerina Veleska says of her father.
Hear Zlatko Veleski’s Daughter Katerina Talk About Him
Zlatko Veleski — known as Goldy to his friends — was a family man and a champion for his fellow worker. He was a maintenance worker in the twin towers during the Sept. 11 attacks — and escaped. Veleski was active in his labor union, voicing concerns about the health and safety of his co-workers during the pandemic.
He worked until March 30 and then tested positive for the coronavirus. He died on April 8 at age 53.
Veleski’s daughter, Katerina, 26, says her parents shared a strong bond. They met in Macedonia, where her father grew up, when her mother was on a trip there. After they got married, he came to America with his new wife.
“My mom went over there for vacation, and they met each other, dated for 10 days, and she just knew that he was the one,” the daughter says. Her mom was 19 at the time. “They were inseparable. Anything that my dad did was with her. He, anything that he did, was for her.”
Katerina recalls the 50th birthday party they threw for her dad at their church. “My two nieces were there — which are his two granddaughters — and they put cake on his face, which at anybody’s birthday he is the first one to put cake on their face. Everybody saw my mom next to him so they took that as an opportunity to just scream, ‘Kiss.’ … We were just mesmerized by how much love they still have after all those years.”
Veleski died two days before the couple’s 32nd anniversary.
“She feels like she basically lost her best friend. … It’s just hard day by day. It’s a day without him,” Katerina says of her mother.
Devin Dale Francis proposed to Micaela Scott in 2018.
Courtesy of Micaela Scott
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Courtesy of Micaela Scott
Devin Dale Francis proposed to Micaela Scott in 2018.
Courtesy of Micaela Scott
Devin Dale Francis, 44
Radiology technician in Miami
“He was a good guy, a great father and the greatest soul mate, you know, a very hard worker … and a good chef,” MicaelaScott says of her fiancé.
Hear Devin Dale Francis’ fiancée, Micaela Scott, Talk About Him
Devin Dale Francis was a front-line worker twice over. The hospital radiology technician also had a job with an airline.
He was months away from getting married when he died of COVID-19 on April 8. Francis was known as Gummy Bear by his friends when he was younger. And he loved to cook.
He was smart, liked to crack jokes and was “quick-witted,” Scott says. “He would put a smile on your face. … Nothing really got to him.”
Their daughter, Dekayla, turned 11 in May.
“He was very shy. But if you knew him, you’d never really see him mad,” Scott says.
She fondly recalls when they got engaged:
“When he proposed … it was Christmas; he proposed to me ’cause when we first met, we met around Christmas. I wanted a perfume. … So when I opened it, I was so happy. Like, oh, my God, he got me — so I’m thinking that’s all I got. I was excited about just that. We went to my parents’ house. Later on that day, he proposed to me.”
Esequiel “Zeke” Cisneros with his wife, Brenda Cisneros, left, and stepdaughter Angie Monroe.
Courtesy of Angie Monroe
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Courtesy of Angie Monroe
Esequiel “Zeke” Cisneros with his wife, Brenda Cisneros, left, and stepdaughter Angie Monroe.
Courtesy of Angie Monroe
Esequiel “Zeke” Cisneros, 64
Nurse at a psychiatric hospital in Medical Lake, Wash.
“For me, he was just a genuine support all the time. Like it was clear that he was there, no matter what, for us — so for me,” Angie Monroe says of her stepfather. “He was kind of like a good luck token that you knew you always had in your pocket.”
Hear Angie Monroe Talk About Her Stepfather, Esequiel “Zeke” Cisneros
Esequiel “Zeke” Cisneros was a nurse working with psychiatric patients at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake, Wash. He contracted COVID-19 and died on April 13, two days before his 25th wedding anniversary.
“He had apparently picked out a couple [of] rings for my mom’s birthday in June, and he picked out a 25th-anniversary ring. … So we … had to go get those. And that was a really hard thing to do,” Monroe says.
Cisneros had been a nurse for 20 years, working alongside his wife, Brenda, also a nurse at the hospital.
“It was clear that he cared about people. You have to be a nurse. I think it was clear that he cared about us, too,” she says. “Every time that anything would happen, stressful, you know, lives are stressful, or anytime that we needed anything. He was always there for us.”
Cisneros loved reading – on topics such as history and economics – and wrote fiction.
“It was kind of calming to talk to him. One thing for sure, with Zeke, is that if you started talking to him, you knew you were gonna be there for several hours. It wasn’t, like, a short conversation,” Monroe says.
And, she says, he really loved her mom — and would tell her lots of jokes.
“I know for a fact that he just loved my mom dearly, like, he was the epitome of a gentleman. He was the type of guy that would open the door for her. … He would buy her roses, flowers like every day and every week,” she says.
The couple had matching dogs – his was Ricky and hers was Lucy — named for the characters in the classic TV sitcom “I Love Lucy.”
“I went all the way through undergrad and grad school as a single mom, and I wouldn’t have made it without him,” Monroe says. “He had that confidence, confidence in you, that you didn’t have. There was never any doubt in my ability. He told me, ‘You’re amazing, you know, you can do it.’ And I knew he did that for a lot of people.”
Erlin Galarza, 66, was a New York City bus driver.
Courtesy of Transport Union Workers
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Courtesy of Transport Union Workers
Erlin Galarza, 66, was a New York City bus driver.
Courtesy of Transport Union Workers
Erlin Galarza, 66
Bus driver, New York City
“He loved the church. He loved his job,” Ana Maria Galarza says of her husband of 42 years. “He wanted always to help people. That’s one other thing, is that if anybody needed help, he would tell them, you know, ‘I’m here. If you need me, I can help you.’ “
Erlin Galarza drove New York City buses. He was a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus driver, and he contracted the coronavirus while he was working — months before a planned retirement.
He always liked hearing the stories of people traveling alone on the bus.
Hear Erlin Galarza’s Wife, Ana Maria, Talk About Him
Galarza sang in two church choirs. Music enchanted him even as a boy in Ecuador. He just wanted to sing.
“When he was about 10, there was a big choir, and he went one night when they were rehearsing. And then the director came, and she said, ‘No, you’re too young. You cannot come in here.’ And he sat at the door for hours until they were done. And when he came to the United States, the first church that he visited had a choir. He got so excited, and he joined the choir until his death. So he was born with the music in his soul, I think.”
Ana Maria says she misses how her husband would call her from work just to check in. Sometimes she still looks out for him in the lobby of their building.
“He would tell me what time he was going to come, and I’d get to greet him at the door every afternoon or every night. Sometimes I forget, and I think he’s coming. When you spend most of your life with a person and then this person is gone so quickly, it’s hard.”
Jeffrey Baumbach and his wife, Karen.
Courtesy of Kaila Baumbach
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Courtesy of Kaila Baumbach
Jeffrey Baumbach, 57
Nurse in Stockton, Calif.
“My dad was the type of person to always make everyone laugh. If you were ever having a bad day or needed someone to talk to, my dad would always be there. No matter how you met my dad, once you meet him, you will instantly love him. … He was just a genuine person, and he loved everyone,” says daughter Kaila, 26, of her dad.
Hear Jeffrey Baumbach’s Daughter Kaila Talk About Her Dad
Jeffrey Baumbach was a nurse in Stockton, Calif. He died of COVID-19 at age 57 on March 31.
“The main reason he became a nurse in the end was because he wanted to help people,” Kaila says. “All he ever wanted to do was help everyone.”
Kaila says she was always amazed by how her dad remembered everyone he met. When she questioned him about it, he told her it’s not the face or name that’s memorable – it’s the stories.
Baumbach would jokingly make up answers to questions when he didn’t know the real one. The family would call them “Jeffisms.” Kaila recalls: “He would just smirk at you and tell you what he thought was the answer. And it was usually always wrong, but it would make us laugh.”
One of her favorite memories of her dad is of taking him with her to get tattoos when she graduated from high school. “I was really scared to go alone.” And then there was the time her acceptance to a California college she wanted to attend was withdrawn. She was devastated. Her dad picked her up and drove her to the college and demanded to know what happened. They figured it out — and she was accepted.
Baumbach and his wife, Karen, were married for 33 years.
“It was the ideal marriage. When I eventually get married, that’s exactly how I want my marriage to be. It was full of love,” Kaila says. “And they always showed how much they loved each other just by doing the little things. And they always put each other first. … They’re my role models.”
And her dad was always there for everyone, she adds.
“I cannot thank him enough for always being there for me. I cannot thank him enough for all that he’s taught me. I cannot thank him enough for showing me how to live life to the fullest. And I cannot thank him enough for teaching me how to love and loving me for me.”
Scott Blanks, left, with his friend Vincent Estrada at Estrada’s wedding in December.
Courtesy of Vincent Estrada
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Courtesy of Vincent Estrada
Scott Blanks, left, with his friend Vincent Estrada at Estrada’s wedding in December.
Courtesy of Vincent Estrada
Scott Blanks, 34
Dental assistant in Whittier, Calif.
“Scott really had the ability to leave these imprints on everybody’s lives, even though he would move on or people would move on; they still remembered him. It wasn’t so much what he said to us, his friends — it was the way he made us feel,” says his friend Vincent Estrada.
Hear Scott Blanks’ Friend Vincent Estrada Talk About Him
Scott Blanks was a dental assistant and barista. Despite a busy life, Blanks always made time for his friends. It could be a spontaneous visit to Boston in the middle of winter or a regular night out dancing.
He became sick with COVID-19 and died on March 27, two weeks after being hospitalized.
Estrada had known Blanks for 10 years. The two met online and started spending time together.
“Scott was very comfortable with himself. He just really just owned who he was from a very young age. I did not. I had a very hard time, as a Latino gay Catholic man, coming to terms with who I was,” Estrada says. “And I remember one time we were together and then he just, he was very direct. He just turned to me and he goes, he said, ‘So are we dating? Are we friends or what?’ “
Estrada said he didn’t know what he wanted; he just knew he did not want to be alone.
“He just said, ‘It’s OK, boo.’ And then he just hugged me,” Estrada recalls. “I think he saw that I was in a difficult place in my life. He was just always around, and he slowly made me find myself again and be more confident.”
Estrada got married in December.
“He got to see me dressed up marrying another man. … For him to see that I had [come] to this moment was very special. I could just see Scott beaming there and big smile on his face,” he says.
Estrada remembers a video of Blanks dancing at his wedding.
“They’re doing a Mexican line dance to Spanish music with Scott. So it’s all Latinos. And then here’s this African American guy dancing, this, this Mexican line dance, and he’s doing it better than everybody else.”
That was the last time Estrada saw him.
Meghan Collins Sullivan produced and edited this project. Michael May, Gerry Holmes and Catherine Whelan edited for radio. Matt Kwong and Taylor Haney contributed reporting. Katie Daugert, Nicolette Khan, Sarah Knight, Elizabeth Metzger, Greta Pittenger and Julia Wohl with NPR’s Research, Archives & Data Strategy team fact-checked. Lee Smith copy edited. Alyson Hurt consulted on design.
If you’d like to join us in this project of remembrance, please fill out the form below.
Beachgoers take advantage of the opening of South Beach June 10 in Miami Beach, Florida. | Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
Florida politicians signaled concern Monday morning over a dramatic uptick in the state’s coronavirus infection rate, urging residents — particularly young people — to stay vigilant about social distancing as the state prepares to host part of the Republican National Convention in two months.
“We are obviously extremely concerned,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican, said of the Sunshine State spike in an interview on CNN, noting that his city would not be moving into its third phase of reopening because of the increase in cases.
Calling mitigation measures like wearing a face covering and social distancing “pretty basic,” GOP Sen. Rick Scott warned Floridians that the virus is “still deadly” and reiterated that it was imperative to stay focused on the continued threat.
“First off, I mean, we clearly haven’t beat it so I think everybody is concerned when they read about the cases, the number of cases up,” Scott told CNBC on Monday morning, adding later that “we’re not out of the woods — we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“We’ve got to — every one of us — to take this seriously, wear your mask, social distance. Don’t go to places you don’t have to go to,” he continued.
The heightened urgency comes as the state saw its largest daily increase in new infections yet over the weekend, with the Florida Department of Health reporting 4,671 confirmed cases on Saturday. That number dropped on Sunday, with the state reporting only 2,779 new cases, though it’s still more than double the number of new cases being reported daily in early April when Gov. Ron DeSantis reluctantly implemented a statewide shelter-in-place order.
The state started its reopening in early May, but Florida’s number of coronavirus cases didn’t begin to climb significantly until earlier this month. The rate of positive tests compared to the number of overall tests conducted has also climbed, ruling out the possibility that the increase in cases is simply the result of more testing — an argument the White House has put forward, as did DeSantis until last weekend.
“The fact of the matter is, our percentage positives, or the percentage of people that are tested that are positive has gone up dramatically,” Suarez, the Miami mayor, told CNN, explaining that his city’s positivity rate nearly doubled from around 8 percent positive to 14 percent over the last week. “It has really nothing to do with an increased amount of testing,” he added.
Hospitalizations for Covid-19 are also up, but fatalities and ICU availability, which tend to lag behind diagnoses, have not yet surged to the point of generating major concern among lawmakers.
“We’re nowhere near yet sort of a surge that would truly challenge our hospital capacity,” Miami Beach, Fla., Mayor Dan Gelber, a Democrat, said in an interview on CNN. “But we can’t wait until we get to those points to start being concerned and acting accordingly.”
The surge has kicked off a mobilization to better enforce existing coronavirus restrictions, as photos and videos emerge of crowded bars and restaurants, and a push to emphasize that young people are not immune to the virus. As of Monday morning, the largest percentage of the state’s cases are found in people between the ages of 25 and 34.
On Saturday, DeSantis said that the state is “up for the challenge” of bringing those numbers down and would step up enforcement of existing restrictions, a pledge Gelber echoed.
“It’s painful, because these are members of a wonderful industry that has really suffered mightily during this, but there’s just not another option. We can’t let this trajectory continue to the point where we have to shutter in place at home again,” he argued. Gelber said he would be reaching out not only to restaurants and bars, but also hotels and places of worship “to urge them to do a little bit better or a lot better.”
But the mayor also contended that “we probably have the tools to avoid” needing to shutter the city a second time, citing face masks, social distancing and basic hygiene.
Asked whether stronger guidance from the CDC on face masks — a topic on which it has wavered — would help, Gelber took a shot at the agency.
“We’ve been following the guidelines,” he said, asserting that the CDC “has been late and hasn’t given us a great playbook, if one at all, frankly. So we’ve sort of been on our own, trying to write this thing as we go along.”
Suarez has not required masks in Miami, but said despite tapping the breaks on reopening, an order to wear masks is “certainly an option we cannot discount.”
But while Scott, a former Florida governor, repeatedly called for Floridians to follow the CDC’s recommendation of wearing face masks in public, the senator stopped short of calling for a statewide mandate from DeSantis. It’s an issue the governor has left to local leaders, and a spokesperson for Scott said he agrees with DeSantis that face coverings should not be mandated.
Scott also made clear he does not wish to see another shutdown, even as cases keep rising.
“I think we have to keep reopening our economy, but we’ve got to do it safely,” he said, though he stressed that “we all want to get the vaccine done as quickly as possible” to facilitate a return to normalcy.
The increase comes as Jacksonville, Fla., prepares to host President Donald Trump in just two months to accept the Republican nomination for president, after the RNC ditched its plans to hold the entire convention in Charlotte, N.C., due to coronavirus restrictions.
The RNC has not yet announced any safety precautions that will be put in place for Trump’s nomination speech in Jacksonville, where thousands of attendees are expected to pack an arena.
Scott said that, as a former governor, “I’d like everything to be in Florida.” But he urged a focus on public health for the upcoming convention.
“You have to do this safely — people need to wear masks. They need to social distance, you have to do this in a manner [where] no one gets sick,” he said. “So let’s all — let’s try to get back to normal as fast as possible but let’s do it in a safe manner. We got to do this safely so continue to see this uptick in the number of cases.”
Arek Sarkissian and Gary Fineout contributed to this report.
Two men charged with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter sign in California were employees of a sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office.
They were issued citations for vandalism following investigations by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, which employed one of the men.
“I’m deeply disappointed that one of our employees involved himself in this type of illegal activity, especially when this is an infringement on someone’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” Sheriff Bill Ayub said Saturday in reference to Darrin Stone, who works in his office as a service technician.
Surveillance video showed Stone, 60, of Thousand Oaks, damaging the sign with a knife this past Friday and on June 11, Captain Eric Buschow said.
A homeowner in Thousand Oaks had used a large tarp to erect the BLM sign, he said.
The homeowner also posted surveillance camera footage of the sign being damaged on social media, which led to detectives recognizing Stone as the vandal, Buschow said.
redit…Ventura County Sheriff’s Office” src=”https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/06/640/320/Darrin-Stone-vandalism-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1″>
Darrin Stone, an employee with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested after detectives said surveillance footage showed vandalizing a Black Lives Matter sign in Thousand Oaks, Calif. with a knife.
redit…Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (Ventura County Sheriff’s Office)
The DA office employee was identified as Craig Anderson, 59, of Thousand Oaks. He was an investigative assistant in the Ventura County DA’s Office.
A top outside political adviser to President Trump took a swipe at the Trump reelection campaign on Monday, in the wake of a smaller-than-expected crowd at the president’s weekend rally in Tulsa, Okla.
“I think a fundamental mistake was made. Over promising and under-delivering is the biggest mistake you can make in politics,” said Corey Lewandowski, who managed Trump’s first presidential campaign from its inception in 2015 until June of 2016 and who remains a close outside political counsel to the president.
The president and his campaign touted early last week that they had received 1 million requests for tickets to the rally, which was Trump’s first since the coronavirus swept across the nation in March.
“Over 1M ticket requests for the @realDonaldTrump#MAGA Rally in Tulsa on Saturday,” campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted last Monday.
And at a White House gathering on Thursday, the president said, “We’re going to be in Oklahoma. And it’s a crowd like, I guess, nobody’s seen before.”
Lewandowski noted that regardless of the number of ticket requests, “it’s always about the turnout.”
“I lived this as you know, I did this when candidate Trump was running. We won 38 primaries and caucuses under my stewardship, obviously all due to Donald Trump, but we never did something like this,” he said. “And what that means is we have to go back and re-evaluate the system in which people were getting those tickets and determining if they were real, if they were robots, and putting additional protocols in place so this doesn’t happen again.”
Lewandowski made his comments in a Monday morning interview on the news-talk radio program “New Hampshire Today with Jack Heath.”
What exactly happened on Saturday remains a matter of dispute. Trump critics, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., boasted that teenage activists had sabotaged the rally’s turnout by requesting tickets for the event online and then not showing up.
The Trump campaign pushed back hard at the suggestion they were duped. Parscale said over the weekend that “registering for a rally means you’ve RSVPed with a cellphone number and we constantly weed out bogus numbers, as we did with tens of thousands at the Tulsa rally, in calculating our possible attendee pool. These phony ticket requests never factor into our thinking.”
The campaign also accused protesters of blocking access to the event and suggested that media coverage of the coronavirus risk dissuaded people from attending.
Further, the campaign pushed back on any suggestion that the turnout reflected flagging enthusiasm, noting the millions who watched the rally across the country. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said the rally attracted more than 4 million viewers “across all of the campaign’s digital media channels,” a figure that doesn’t count television viewers.
“These numbers represent unmatched enthusiasm behind the President’s re-election and a massive audience that Joe Biden can only dream of,” he said in a statement.
Heading into Saturday’s rally, the campaign expected to fill Tulsa’s BOK Center, which has a capacity of 19,000. And they set up a stage outside the arena where the president was scheduled to address an overflow crowd of up to 40,000 supporters. On Friday, Parscale – tweeting photos of the outdoor stage being constructed – said “This will be the 1st time that POTUS speaks to BOTH crowds in person — inside & outside. If you come to the rally and don’t get into the BOK Center before it’s full, you can still see the President in person!”
President Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak at a campaign rally at the BOK Center, Saturday, June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Okla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
But as the crowds did not materialize on Saturday to the degree expected, the Trump campaign had the outdoor site dismantled just before the president’s arrival at the arena.
A spokesperson for the Tulsa Fire Department told Fox News on Sunday that fire marshal records show just under 6,200 scanned tickets were logged for the rally at the BOK Center. The figure doesn’t include Trump team staff members or private suites, which were fully booked.
But Murtaugh disputed the fire department’s count, stressing that “12,000 people went through the metal detectors so that number is way off.” And he emphasized that the lower level of the arena was mostly full.
TV images showed much of the upper tier of the arena remained empty during the rally, with other space visible in the lower seating areas as well.
The president – speaking at the rally – blamed the media, saying, “I’ve been watching the fake news for weeks now, and everything is negative. Don’t go, don’t come, don’t do anything. Today, it was like I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
And Parscale charged in a tweet that “the fact is that a week’s worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of COVID and protesters, coupled with recent images of American cities on fire, had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally.”
The president and his campaign also pointed fingers at protesters outside the arena, arguing that “we had some very bad people outside. We had some very bad people outside. They were doing bad things.”
Parscale claimed that “Radical protesters, fueled by a week of apocalyptic media coverage, interfered with @realDonaldTrump supporters at the rally. They even blocked access to the metal detectors, preventing people from entering. Thanks to the 1,000s who made it anyway!”
According to on-the-ground reports, one sizeable group of protesters did temporarily block one of the three main entrances to the arena – after many Trump supporters had already entered the venue.
Chicago saw its highest number of gun violence victims in a single weekend this year with 104 people shot across the city from Friday evening to Monday morning, 14 of them fatally. Five of those killed were minors.
The weekend saw more shooting victims but less fatalities than the last weekend of May, when 85 people were shot, 24 of them fatally — Chicago’s most deadly weekend in years.
In a Sunday news conference, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown reflected on the surge in gun violence. “Bullets don’t just tear apart the things they strike,” Brown said. “Bullets also tear apart families. Bullets destroy neighborhoods and they ruin any sense of safety in a community.”
Five children killed
The latest child fatality happened early Monday in Austin on the West Side.
Two boys, 15 and 16, were walking in an alley at 12:18 a.m. in the 4700 block of West Superior Street when someone fired at them, possibly from a gray sedan, according to Chicago police. The 15-year-old was shot in his leg, chest and abdomen. He was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead. The other boy, 16, was hit in the ankle and also taken to Stroger. He was in fair condition.
Saturday night, a 13-year-old girl was killed and two other teens were wounded in Austin on the West Side.
The girl was inside a home about 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of North LeClaire Avenue when the shots were fired, and she was struck in the neck, police said. Amaria J. Jones was taken to Stroger, where she was pronounced dead, authorities said.
Two boys, 15 and 16, were sitting on a porch when one of them noticed a red laser pointing at him and heard gunfire, police said. The younger boy was struck in the back and the older boy was struck in the leg. They were taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.
The toddler, identified as Mekay James, was struck in the back about 6:25 p.m. when someone in a blue Honda pulled behind the black SUV the boy’s 27-year-old father was driving in the 600 block of North Central Avenue and fired several rounds, authorities said.
A police source said the father was believed to be the intended target of the shooting.
The father drove the boy to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, police said, but the boy was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. The father was also treated for a graze wound to the abdomen.
Two teenage boys were killed just over an hour before that in South Chicago.
Jasean Francis, 17, and the 16-year-old were in an alley about 5:10 p.m. in the 7900 block of South Luella Avenue when a male suspect approached them and fired shots, authorities said. Francis was shot in the back, chest and hand while the 16-year-old was shot in the back and side. Both were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.
Monday morning
The weekend’s latest fatal shooting left a man dead Monday morning in Lawndale.
The 41-year-old was on the street at 4:26 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Harrison Street when someone shot him in the face, according to police. He died about an hour later at Stroger. A person of interest was taken into custody after people near the scene identified him as the possible shooter.
Minutes earlier, another man was killed in East Garfield Park.
The 30-year-old was walking at 4:18 a.m. in the 100 block of South Washtenaw Avenue when someone in the alley fired shots, according to police. He was hit in the neck and taken to Stroger, where he died.
Sunday
Early Sunday, a man was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting in Humboldt Park.
The men were arguing with a group about 12:04 a.m. in the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue when they were shot, authorities said. Alexis Perez, 41, was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead on the scene. Two other men, 23 and 21, both went to Stroger in good condition. The older man was shot in the knee and hip while the younger man was shot in both legs. A fourth man, 34, was shot in his legs and arms. He was treated and released from Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Sunday evening, a shooting left one man dead and another wounded Sunday evening in Humboldt Park.
A 34-year-old man was hit in the arm and abdomen and was taken to the same hospital in critical condition, police said.
Ten minutes earlier, a man was shot to death in West Rogers Park on the North Side.
Gary Tinder, 20, was walking about 7:20 p.m. in the 6200 block of North Troy Street when someone approached and shot him in the abdomen, authorities said. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead.
Saturday
Two men were shot, one of them fatally, in another attack Saturday evening in Austin.
Officers responding to reports of a person shot at 7:46 p.m. in the 200 block of North Central Avenue found the two men on the sidewalk, authorities said. Alonzo X. Robinson, 27, was shot in the torso and taken to West Suburban Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The other man, 32, was hit in the left foot and taken to the same hospital in good condition.
Less than an hour before that, a man was fatally shot and another was injured in Logan Square on the Northwest Side.
The men, 23 and 24, were outside about 7 p.m. in the 1900 block of North Western Avenue when a group of males approached them yelling gang slogans, according to police. The group asked what gang the men were with, and a fight ensued. During the altercation, one of the males pulled out a gun and fired shots.
The 23-year-old man was struck in the neck and pronounced dead on the scene, police said. The 24-year-old was hit in the arm and was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in good condition.
Friday
A 33-year-old man was killed Friday night in Garfield Park on the West Side.
Almos Collum was driving about 10:25 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Congress Parkway when a black SUV approached and someone inside fired into his vehicle, authorities said. He was shot multiple times and taken to Stroger, where he died at 10:49 p.m. He lived in Austin.
The weekend’s earliest homicide happened less than an hour earlier blocks away in Austin.
Three men were outside about 9:52 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Gladys Avenue when someone in a passing vehicle unleashed gunfire, police said.
Johnny Teajue, 33, was shot in the neck and taken to Stroger, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in Washington Park.
A 34-year-old man was shot in the foot and is in good condition at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, police said. A 43-year-old man who was shot in the lower back took himself to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition.
Nonfatal attacks
The injured included a 16-year-old girl shot early Monday in an East Garfield Park shooting that left four other people wounded.
The group was at a large gathering on the street at 2:45 a.m. on South Central Park Boulevard when someone fired shots from a passing vehicle, according to police. The girl was hit in the abdomen and taken to Stroger in critical condition. A 24-year-old woman shot in the leg and a 32-year-old man shot in the arm were taken to the same hospital in good condition.
Two other men, 30 and 31, were each shot in the leg and went to Mt. Sinai Hospital on their own in good condition, police said.
On Sunday night, a 12-year-old girl was grazed in a shooting that also wounded a man in Burnside.
She was outside with a group of people about 9:50 p.m. on East 90th Place when someone in a black vehicle fired shots, police said. The girl was grazed on the leg and taken to Trinity Hospital. A 21-year-old man was shot in the hip and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. Both were in good condition.
A teenage boy was shot early Sunday in Humboldt Park on the West Side.
The 17-year-old was in a vehicle with three other people at 12:36 a.m. on West Hirsch Street when someone walked up and started shooting, according to police. The vehicle took off and hit several parked cars. The four occupants got out, at which point the suspect shot the teen in the abdomen. He was taken to Stroger in fair condition.
Another teen boy was grazed by a bullet early Saturday in Little Italy.
The 17-year-old was driving about 12:45 a.m. on South Loomis Street when someone in a gold sedan fired shots, police said. He was grazed in the ribcage and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.
A few minutes later, a 64-year-old woman was shot inside her home in Humboldt Park on the West Side.
She was inside at 12:49 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Lawndale Avenue when bullets came through her window, according to police. The woman was hit in the arm and taken to Norwegian American Hospital in fair condition. She did not appear to be the shooter’s intended target.
The weekend’s first shooting wounded a 35-year-old woman Friday evening in South Shore.
She was with a group of people about 6:30 p.m. in the 7400 block of South Phillips Avenue when a light-colored SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, police said. She was shot in the arm, and her condition was stabilized at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
At least 67 other people were hurt in shootings throughout Chicago between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.
Last weekend’s gun violence killed two people and wounded 31 others across the city.
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Podcast superstar Joe Rogan recently called out celebrities who took part in a viral “I Take Responsibility” campaign with a profanity-laced rant claiming the actors simply want attention and they’re “so wrapped up in the liberal, progressive ideology” that they can’t see how “dumb” it looked.
“This latest thing where all these actors have this black and white video where they’re talking about racism…. What are you doing? You know what that is? These mother—–s haven’t gotten any attention for months because they haven’t filmed,” Rogan said on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
Joe Rogan slammed celebrities who took part in a viral ‘I Take Responsibility’ campaign with a profanity laced rant claiming the actors simply want attention. (Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images)
“You f——g morons… You’re taking responsibility? No, you’re trying to get attention. That’s what you’re doing,” Rogan said. “If they ever feel like doing that again, call me, I’ll tell you how it’s gonna turn out.”
WARNNING THIS VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE
In the video for the “I Take Responsibility” campaign that was published earlier this month, multiple high-profile white celebrities were featured taking “responsibility for turning the racist tide in America,” denouncing police brutality, and committing to learning more “about issues facing the black community.”
Sarah Paulson, Aaron Paul, Kesha, Justin Theroux, Debra Messing, Bryce Dallas Howard and other stars stare at the camera and say “I take responsibility” for “every not-so-funny joke, every unfair stereotype, every blatant injustice.”
The video alluded to the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jefferson, which have sparked global protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Going for a jog should not be a death sentence,” the celebrities continue. “Sleeping in your own home should not be a death sentence. Playing video games with your nephew should not be a death sentence. Shopping in a store should not be a death sentence. Business as usual should not be life-threatening.”
Rogan said any actor who thinks they can make a difference when it comes to racism should “stop acting” and “go to a f—–g doctor and get your head checked.”
While many fans praised the message of solidarity, others said the video seemed forced and it reminded them of actress Gal Gadot’s video montage of celebs singing “Imagine” during the coronavirus pandemic. It seems Rogan agreed with the critics.
“Just the f—k up and wait, you’re a week away from filming again,” Rogan said. “Some of them are so wrapped up in the liberal, progressive ideology that they literally can’t see how dumb this looks to the rest of the world.”
Rogan was at the center of his own controversy last week when footage of a 2011 podcast with comedian Joey Diaz was unearthed, showing the “Joe Rogan Experience” namesake laughing while his guest made crude comments about soliciting oral sex from women in exchange for allowing them to perform on his comedy stage.
Fox News’ Jessica Napoli contributed to this report.
