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“Peter & Wendy” Review on page 19. Photo by Kevin Berne
Desert Hot Springs, CA PERMIT NO 00005
April 1, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 25
Social Distancing Extended Trump says peak in Covid-19 deaths in the US to ‘hit in 2 weeks,’ extends social distancing guidelines till April 30 By Desert Star Staff US President Donald Trump has said that nationwide coronavirus guidelines would be extended for another month, citing model data suggesting that the US
should brace for the peak in death rates in two weeks. “The peak - the highest point of death rates...is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump said as he was delivering an update on the coronavirus
situation in the US on Sunday. Citing estimates suggesting that if social distancing guidelines had not been introduced, 2.2 million people could have died as a result of the pandemic in the
US, Trump said that it was essential to prolong the existing measures until the end of April. “Now we’re looking at numbers that are much, much lower than that,” he said. Speaking on CNN’s ‘State
of the Union’ earlier on Sunday, Trump’s Covid-19 advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that “between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths” may be Continues on Page 4
Locals Produce Homemade Medical Masks; Experts Advise Caution
By Desert Star Staff PALM DESERT, Calif. -Local groups are springing up across the state to produce homemade face masks for medical providers if they run out of the real thing. But some experts say the masks may do more harm than good. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website that health care providers might use homemade masks as a last resort. But Ken Zinn, political director with National Nurses United, said the N95 respirator is the minimum protection necessary for all health care workers. “They downgraded the
guidance to allow hospitals to say to nurses and other frontline workers, ‘Well, just wear a scarf or a bandanna,’” Zinn said. “This is absurd. Scarves, bandannas, surgical masks, none of them keep front-line health care workers safe.” A 2015 study published in the British Journal of Medicine cautioned against cloth face masks, saying they may increase infections because they retain too much moisture and don’t filter out enough particles. Some doctors have warned they may give a false sense of security. On Monday, North
Continues on Page 5
Mask-maker groups are spreading on Facebook as people stuck at home search for ways to help in the COVID-19 crisis. (Shelley Blume/Coachella Valley Mask Makers)