#AloneTogether
* “What we’re seeing in the Southern Hemisphere will be happening here.”–Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. Deaths are on the rise in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s winter.
* Pandemic plus protests: The number of Floridians seeking background checks for the purchase of guns surged in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. The state processed more than 30,000 background checks in the week after Floyd’s killing. That was more than twice the number processed over the same period last year.
* 63 million: The federal government’s surplus doses of hydroxychloroquine now that the FDA has deemed the antimalarial medication ineffective in treating the coronavirus.
* “What we are seeing at this rally is a very overt denial. How bizarre has this gotten?”–Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, on the conspicuous absence of face covers worn by attendees of the recent Trump Tulsa indoor rally.
* More than 100,000 people have been infected throughout Florida–about 1 in every 206 people.
* Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has tested positive for the coronavirus.
* “Our cases are shifting in a radical direction younger.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis.
* 86,298: The number of Florida workers who applied for unemployment benefits last week. That’s the first time since mid-March that the number has been under 100,000. The pre-pandemic record of weekly claims is 40,403 in 2009–during the Great Recession.
* Florida added 182,900 jobs in May. In April, Florida lost 1.1 million jobs.
* “If we wear masks, we can put an end to this spread. That’s the bottom line.”–Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
* “We have a choice, St. Pete. … We can wear a mask, protect ourselves and others, or we can contribute to someone’s death. Maybe even our own.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, in unequivocally announcing that businesses must require their employees to wear masks.