Thousands attend a California rodeo despite state’s order against public gatherings

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Gov Gavin Newsom has informed a California county that it cannot reopen after two thousand people defied the state’s stay-at-home order to attend a rodeo on Sunday.

Pictures showed large groups congregating at the Cottonwood Rodeo in Shasta County. Many attendees sat close to one another without face coverings. 

Don Johnson told KRCR: ‘We have constitutional rights. We have inalienable rights given to us by God.’ 

Daniel Warner added: ‘This event has been going on for 50 years, it is a tradition for probably most of us, the rest of them that are here have been tired of being cooped up for months.

‘If you’re worried about everybody that you’ve ever came in contact with, why would you even bother going outside?’ 

The Cottonwood Rodeo said it provided hand sanitation stations and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it would not be enforcing the stay-at-home order.

In California, there are more than 69,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 2,779 deaths.

Once Newsom learned of the rodeo, he announced Monday evening that the event directly led to a delayed reopening for the county. 

According to a statement from the Shasta County Public Health officials, the rodeo ‘has delayed the county’s ability to re-open retail businesses, restaurants and more during Stage 2’.

Shasta County officials said they reached out to the the rodeo organizer last week but ‘he refused to cancel’.

Officials noted that the rodeo made national headlines and ultimately caught the attention of Newsom. 

‘I am not happy and the state isn’t happy and it’s impacting the approval of our variance,’ health officer Dr Karen Ramstrom said in the statement.

‘We’re all frustrated. It was inappropriate and it put the community at risk of disease transmission among attendees and the people they are in contact with, which could include vulnerable people who did not attend. 

‘It jeopardizes the ability for all Shasta County businesses to move forward into full Stage 2 opening, which delays our economic recovery,’ Ramstrom added. 

Ramstrom also encouraged those who attended the rodeo to get tested for COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the virus.  

Elsewhere in the US, shocking footage emerged of a Colorado restaurant that was packed with diners for Mother’s Day, in defiance of the state’s lockdown rules. 

Video taken inside Castle Rock’s C&C Coffee and Kitchen and shared online shows crowds of people waiting for their food, enjoying drinks at tables and sitting close by to one another, many without masks.  

In a Facebook live video owner April Arellano thanked everyone for their support, showing off her packed restaurant. She added: ‘So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up.’

But Colorado Gov Jared Polis’ office slammed the footage, saying: ‘These restaurants are not only breaking the law, they are endangering the lives of their staff, customers and community.’  

Restaurants and bars in the state are still limited to takeout only with social distancing restrictions. In the footage people appear to be drinking coffees and drinks at tables inside the restaurant. 

Sharing the footage online, Nick Puckett wrote: ‘Happy Mother’s Day from C& C in Castle Rock, where the owner said this is almost double a normal Mother’s Day.’

The health department said: ‘We are disappointed that Cookies and Crème has decided to ignore the Governor’s Safer at Home order and open up today with no attention to social distancing.’ 

Businesses that violate the governor’s safer-at-home directive are subject to a fine up to $1,000 or a jail term, according to the Denver Post.

A spokesman for the governor told the newspaper that ‘Coloradans can contact their local public health department if they believe someone is violating Safer at Home’. 

One customer intends to do just that. He said he will file a complaint against the Castle Rock restaurant after witnessing the packed environment.  

‘I wasn’t even going to eat the food even if I had gotten it. I walked in, took the picture and turned right around,’ he told the Denver Post.

Additionally, the Health Department said in a statement it plans to ‘follow up with this restaurant to ensure that they, like other restaurants in the county, take appropriate steps to protect the public health, by limiting service to curbside and take-out service. 

As of Monday, Colorado has reached 972 deaths from the coronavirus, and more than 19,700 people have tested positive for the illness.

State data shows more than 3,600 people have been hospitalized since the outbreak. Fewer than 600 people were in Colorado hospitals with symptoms of the illness as of Friday.

Castle Rock’s C&C Coffee customer Holly Burrell told 9News: ‘I’m here to support this because I love the fact that we all have choices. That’s what being an American is about. 

‘I think we need to focus on the healthy people being out and the people that aren’t healthy to stay in.’

In Ross Township, Pennsylvania, there were long lines outside a local Red Lobster for take out. 

Gov Tom Wolf ordered most Pennsylvania residents to stay at home until June 4, extending a statewide order he first imposed April 1 to slow the spread of the new virus. 

In Las Vegas restaurants are back pouring drinks as the city begins to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, phase one of Nevada’s ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ officially commenced, with dine-in restaurants, retail stores, hair dressers and nail salons all allowed to open for the first time seven weeks. 

Despite the rush on restaurants and barbershops Saturday, the world-famous Las Vegas strip still remains remarkably quiet, given that casinos are still closed. 

New Yorkers flocked to Manhattan’s Central Park on Sunday. Most families and groups appeared to practice social distancing while at the park, but there were several people who weren’t wearing masks. 

Meanwhile in Domino Park in Brooklyn, police patrolled the area to make sure people were social distancing. 

Photos of the park showed people walking and running with family and friends as officers stood nearby.

US coronavirus deaths surpass 81,000 as fatalities are predicted to hit 137,000 by August due to relaxed social distancing measures in majority of states

The US coronavirus death toll surpassed 81,000 on Monday as fatalities are predicted to hit 137,000 by August due to relaxed social distancing measures in the majority of states. 

At least 81,612 Americans have died from the coronavirus and there are more than 1.3 million infections across the country. 

The new death toll was reported around the same time a top coronavirus model revealed a projected American death toll of 137,000 by August.

The influential model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is projecting a slight increase in expected COVID-19 deaths as a result of increased mobility across the country. 

Since the model’s predictions were updated this week, the projected death toll has increased by 2,700.

The slight increase comes as some states continue to ease social distancing measures and people start moving more following weeks of lockdowns. 

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The director of the institute that created the White House-endorsed coronavirus model says the moves by states to re-open businesses ‘will translate into more cases and deaths in 10 days from now’.

Dr Christopher Murray said states where cases and deaths are going up more than expected include California, Illinois, Arizona and Florida.   

In California, deaths are projected to double by August to 6,000, according to the IHME model. It is an increase of 1,420 on its projections at the start of last week.  

Another 88 deaths were recorded in California over the weekend, bringing the death toll in the state to 2,718. The total number of infections has now reached more than 67,800.     

Despite the figures, Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, the county with 40 per cent of the new cases, was packed with sun bathers on Sunday. 

‘Some good-ish news coming out of New York and New Jersey and Michigan, where the death cases and death numbers are coming down faster than expected,’ Murray told CBS on Sunday.

‘Some other states where cases and deaths are going up more than we expected – Illinois and then Arizona, Florida, California as examples of that.’  

Researchers said the increased numbers in these states were the result of ‘a combination of updated daily death and case data, recent actions to ease previously implemented social distancing measures, and steadily rising levels of mobility in many places’. 

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Illinois are projected to have the five highest COVID-19 death tolls through August, the model forecasts. 

Fewer deaths, however, are now expected in hard-hit New York and New Jersey.

New York, which currently has 21,000 deaths, is projected to have more than 31,000 deaths by August, according to the model. 

In New Jersey, the model predicts more than 14,000 deaths by August. The state currently has more than 9,200 deaths.  

The model’s latest findings show that, over the last few weeks, five states – Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Georgia – have seen at least a 20 per cent increase in mobility patterns. 

Thirteen states have experienced between a 15 and 20 per cent increase: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

‘While at least some of these patterns may be related to formal easing of social distancing policies, this upward trend in movement began in several places long before state-level mandates were relaxed,’ Murray said. 

‘Unless and until we see accelerated testing, contact tracing, isolating people who test positive, and widespread use of masks in public, there is a significant likelihood of new infections.’ 

California was among the first to go into lockdown with some of the strictest measures in the country and has now begun to open back up. 

However, it should be noted that its easing of restrictions only began on Friday – too soon to have been picked up in the findings of the researchers.

‘The virus has not changed,’ LA county health director Barbara Ferrer told the Los Angeles Times. ‘It can still spread easily, and it can still result in serious illness and death.’ 

Some businesses have been able to reopen such as clothing, sporting goods, florists and other retailer stores for curbside pickup.

Governor Gavin Newsom said last week: ‘We are entering into the next phase this week. End of the week, with modifications, we will allow retail to start operating across the spectrum.

‘This is a very positive sign and it has only happened for one reason: the data says it can happen.’   

It is still recommended that those with underlying medical conditions and those ages 65 and older do not participate in any interactions however.

There’s still an indefinite stay-at-home order and gatherings in a single location are prohibited. 

Dining in at restaurants is still prohibited and only takeout is available. Nonessential businesses must still run only a minimal operation or work remotely. Offices are to remain closed. 

Newsom said that different counties would require different measures based on the localized extent of the contagion. 

Long Beach is set to reopen its beach bike and pedestrian parks, tennis courts and parking lots for public parks on Monday. 

Although beaches and beach parking lots will stay shut. Gatherings and picnics are still banned and those who use the recreational areas will need to stay six feet apart. 

It comes as officials in Los Angeles County traced a local COVID-19 outbreak to a birthday party which took place after the lockdown order was issued.  

The Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) said that a disease investigation team discovered more than five laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases and many more ill individuals who were linked to the gathering in the Los Angeles County area. 

PPHD said the celebration was attended by a large number of extended family members and friends and the first person identified with the disease, was coughing and not wearing a face covering at the event.

The PPHD said in the announcement on Saturday that guests were also not wearing face coverings or practicing social distancing.  

The PPHD did not state what date the party occurred but California’s shutdown began mid-March. 

In a warning to families in time for the Mother’s Day holiday, they advised loved ones not to break social distancing rules by getting together from different households.

The PPHD said that as a result of the close contact, COVID-19 spread among attendees.

But they also used the outbreak as an example of how contact tracing done well can help clamp down on the deadly disease.

‘This is an example of how good contact tracing can identify disease clusters and tell us more about the spread of disease in our community,’ PPHD epidemiologist Dr Matthew Feaster said. 

‘We’re grateful to our large team of public health nurses, case investigators, and contact tracers who help track the virus and prevent the disease from spreading to other members of our community.’  

‘Pasadena residents who stay home keep themselves and their loved ones protected from COVID-19,’ said Dr Ying-Ying Goh, director and health officer of PPHD. 

‘Although we are moving forward with small modifications to the Safer at Home Order, gatherings of people who do not live in the same household are still prohibited.

‘The virus remains highly contagious. Social distancing, frequent hand washing, and wearing face coverings remain our best defenses against the further spread of COVID-19 in our community.’ 

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