Day 85: Ecuador

The world's case count stands at 2.92 million, with over 200,000 deaths. The US is at 960,000 cases and 54,000 deaths. Both Turkey and New Jersey have now exceeded 100,000 cases. Ecuador is on the list at 22,000 cases and 574 deaths, but the New York Times reports the suspected number of deaths is fifteen times higher, because there were approximately 7,600 excess deaths in March and early April.

With the Quest-inspired jump yesterday, Massachusetts has exceeded 50,000 cases, but today's numbers have settled down to the usual 5% rise. The governor still considers us (and Connecticut) to be in the middle of the surge, while Vermont and New Hampshire are leaving surge territory, and New York and New Jersey are (allegedly) completely past the surge. Only Rhode Island has yet to surge; he thinks it will happen in a week. (Those Massachusetts folks with houses straddling the state line should exercise caution when entering their living rooms next week.)

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that, according to her father, Patricia Dowd (the California woman who was retroactively declared the first coronavirus death in the US) showed no symptoms at the time, though earlier reports said she'd told her brother she was too sick to attend a funeral. There's still no confirmation or denial that she attended CES, only that she hadn't travelled internationally.

A thousand-year-old mill in England has gone back into operation due to the demand for flour.