Philly actors, musicians, dancers can’t imagine when they’ll work again | Coronavirus Newsletter

TL;DR: The key to reopening is screening, and the U.S. is still falling far short, grappling with a global shortage of testing chemicals and nasal swabs. Meanwhile, Philly’s performing artists wonder when they will work again, and area colleges are openly discussing delaying the fall semester. In hard-hit New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy says the state is “still a number of weeks away” from reaching the first phase of reopening the economy.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg, health@inquirer.com)

🛑 Gov. Murphy said he would lift the stay-at-home order as “one state,” as New Jersey reported nearly 110,000 positive coronavirus cases as of Sunday.

🔒Americans should expect social distancing measures to last throughout the summer, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, Deborah Birx, said on Sunday.

🥃The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board says it ‘geographically picked’ which liquor stores to reopen. Its decision ignored some Philadelphia neighborhoods.

🏠 On Beechwood Street in South Philadelphia, “it’s as if someone flipped the switch to end the rhythm of life.” See Barbara Laker’s narrative and Jessica Griffin’s portraits of this very Philly block here.

🏖️ Even as Jersey Shore officials and business owners try to figure out what social distancing looks like at the beach, one North Wildwood motel said it was throwing in the towel until 2021.

🇺🇸 Military funerals with the ceremonial folding of the flag, playing of taps, and 21-gun salutes are no longer conducted. But at VA cemeteries like Washington Crossing in Bucks County, the burials continue. See photographer Tom Gralish’s gallery here.

📷 How an Inquirer photographer found a grim scene at Philly’s medical examiner’s office.

Local coronavirus cases

📈As of Sunday evening, there are nearly 30,,000 reported cases in the Philadelphia area. Track the spread here.

Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday an additional 3,730 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the state’s positive case count to 109,038. An additional 75 people have died from the disease, bringing the death toll to 5,938. The governor reported 6,573 residents are hospitalized, including 1,804 in critical care. Over 1,400 are on ventilators, Murphy said on Twitter.

In Camden County, meanwhile, 20 more people have died from the coronavirus, officials announced Sunday, raising the county’s death toll from the virus to 118. Half of the latest victims were from Voorhees, many were in their 80s and 90s.

Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said the latest daily death toll was one of the highest since the pandemic began, even as the number of new positive cases reported Sunday — 70 — was “relatively low.” He added, “This is why we cannot rush to reopen or return to normal life.”

Jefferson Health System has enough high-tech lab machines to process 10,000 diagnostic tests for the coronavirus every day. Instead, the Philadelphia-based network of 14 hospitals is doing only about 1,000 tests a day. The problem, Jefferson Health president Bruce A. Meyer told the Inquirer, is that hospitals across the United States are grappling with a global shortage of testing chemicals and nasal swabs. “If we could do 10,000 tests a day, we would. We’d like to test our entire staff,” Meyer said of the system’s 25,000 employees. “We are worried we have asymptomatic virus [spreaders] in our workforce.”

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Our daily lives might seem like some version of the Food Network show Chopped: making something decent out of these bizarre ingredients we’ve been handed. But on the more literal what’s for dinner level, Inquirer food writer Jenn Ladd asked 5 local Chopped chefs how they’d handle the ingredients found inside one of the free boxes of food handed out by Philadelphia in partnership with two of its largest food banks. From mushroom and bean croquettas to pan fried veggie burgers, see what they came up with.

🏈 Watch Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans in the fifth installment of the Inquirer’s Gary Thompson-led One Movie, One Philly. Then join Glen Macnow and Marcus Hayes for the One Movie, One Philly livestream.

🦅 Speaking of football, the NFL draft gave Eagles fans lots to obsess over.

🎧 Sam Hunt, Mountain Goats and Lucinda Williams have new music to distract you from the coronavirus. Music critic Dan DeLuca reviews them.

🎲 Grace Dickinson has all the best puzzles and games to play right now and how to get them.

👨‍⚕️Brad Pitt played Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday Night Live.

Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.

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