Coronavirus daily update: Tuesday, June 23

We all wear masks

Sorry for missing the update last night, but I was caught up in a street protest in Winston-Salem that shut down University Parkway and the intersection of Coliseum Boulevard and Reynolda Road for a time. Got some video right here, if you’re interested.

But things are happening! Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan has declared that within city limits, facemasks must be worn “anytime a person will be in contact with other people in public or private spaces where it is not possible to maintain proper social distancing.” That goes for public transit as well.

In Winston-Salem, Mayor Allen Joines is mulling the same solution. Because, let’s face it: Things are not going well.

Some news

• The European Union is considering a travel ban against United States citizens because of our country’s failure to effectively deal with the coronavirus.
• In North Carolina, Phase 2 is scheduled to end Friday. But seeing as we have met none of the metrics to get to the next level, we probably should not plan on it. The numbers will give a more clear picture.

The numbers

• We have 848 new cases in NC, which is 44 more than yesterday, which means 0 days of declining numbers in that metric.
  • There are 915 North Carolinians currently hospitalized, 45 more than there were yesterday, the second straight day of increases.
  • Those 848 came on 15,336 tests — 5.53 percent, which is not bad, lower than yesterday’s rate of 7.06 percent, so there’s two days of decrease here, and also two days of increased testing.
• We’ve got a new statewide update on congregate-living outbreaks associated with COVID-19. So far 48 deaths in Guilford County among staff and residents, none in Forsyth. Click the link for details.
• Guilford County reports 2,482 cases, 48 new ones today. 1,418 recoveries and 101 deaths. That’s 963 active.
• Forsyth County now has 2,615 total cases, with 40 new ones today. There have been 1,662 recoveries and 29 deaths, leaving 924.

A diversion

Maskatron was not only the greatest villain in the “Six-Million Dollar Man” TV show, with the ability to don masks to look like any other member of the cast, but he was also the greatest toy to come out of the franchise, way cooler than Steve Austin, with his red sweats and removable bionics. But it’s damn near impossible to find on YouTube. So instead I’m running the very first crossover between the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, ripped straight from the airwaves of 1978, commercials included.

Program notes

• From the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s public-domain collection, tonight we’ve got a Japanese mask by Myōchin Muneakira from 1745.
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