Coronavirus daily update: Thursday, Aug. 13

The golf exception

The Wyndham Championship kicked off in Greensboro today — if not exactly as planned, at least with a degree of similarity to its original blueprint.

Things generally suck in professional sports right now, but golf, which by nature involves a measure of social distancing, is okay, both to play and compete on high levels. I’m usually out there in some for or other, but there are no fans this year and a very short media list — short enough, anyway, not to include me.

Today Harold Varner III — a Black guy! — tore up the course with -8 through 18 holes, with Canadian Roger Sloan and fellow American Tom Hoge on his heels after 12 holes.

Some other sporting news: The NHL is also running, and it’s the playoffs. The Carolina Hurricanes play the Boston Bruins tonight, down 1 game to none.

And the ACC has said they will play football this fall.

In the paper

A new TCB hit the streets this morning, with a lot of great reporting.

• Jordan Green goes longform on Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general with a mean streak.
• Then he doubles back with a piece on the Confederate monument in Lexington, those who want it gone and those who defend it — literally.
• An educator gives some advice on teaching controversial topics in schools.
• Nik Snacks gets outside.

The numbers

• Don’t make too much of this story about a state reporting error — yes, tests administered were overcounted by about 200,000 since April, but, according to the DHHS, that did not affect actual case counts nor the percentage of positive tests (though that seems impossible), and all numbers at the state site have been adjusted.
• The state is back on an upward climb when it comes to new cases: 1,763 today, 1,166 yesterday. We’re at 140,824 total.
  • We’re still seeing 7 percent positive tests.
• Guilford County. reporting late yesterday, claims 5,760 total today, which means 67 news ones over the last two days. There have been 157 deaths (2.73 percent) and 3,402 recoveries (59.06 percent).
• Forsyth County adds 59 today to make 5,440. 4,539 have recovered (83.43 percent) and 53 deaths (0.97 percent).

A diversion

In Massarati and the Brain, A billionaire secret agent fights Nazis and hunts treasure with his brilliant nephew and a shiny car. For some reason I thought this was a TV series, but it was a one-off made-for-tv movie in 1982 from Aaron Spelling at the height of his prowess. I also thought it was “Maserati,” like the car. But shit, I was 12.

Program notes

• Tonight’s featured image is an unfinished portrait, “Boatmen of Barcelona” by Spanish artist Dionisio Baixeras y Verdaguer  in 1886. Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection.
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