Australians Home Coronavirus hoarding
This is actually disgusting. Why in the hell would you post this on social media for everyone to see? I hope your local Australians give you hell. All the stuff she hoarded could’ve gone to her local food bank
This 7-year-old is making and delivering care packages to the elderly shut in by the coronavirus
CNN) — Cavanaugh Bell is a 7-year-old on a mission: “To help other people and let them know that I got their back,” he told CNN.
At a time when senior citizens must stay in to avoid the coronavirus, the spirited boy in Gaithersburg, Maryland, decided to make them care packages.
“The packages include toilet paper, some flushable wipes, hygiene products and a bunch of food,” he said.
‘She’s my best friend’
The idea came when Bell realized his 74-year-old grandmother is in a high-risk age group for coronavirus.
“One day I was thinking about my grandma and I was like ‘Oh, mommy she shouldn’t be going out to the grocery store because it’s coronavirus season. She’s my best friend.’ “
After helping his grandma, the boy with the big smile and bigger heart looked at his grandmother’s neighbors at her senior citizen home — and worried.
“He was so heartbroken that he didn’t have enough to give to everyone,” Llacey Simmons, Bell’s mom, told CNN.
So Bell used $600 he’d saved up to fund his first batch of care packages.
“I asked him how much money he wanted to use from his savings– $50 or $100? He’s like ‘let’s use all of it.’ “
Bell assembled more than 100 care packages and hot meals to deliver.
The community joins in
When news spread of the first-grader’s good deed, donations began to roll in.
It’s become more of a community project that way. But only Bell and his mother make the deliveries.
“We aren’t allowed to gather in large groups,” the supportive mom shared.
And with an overflow of donations, Simmons and Bell have created a community care pantry in Gaithersburg.
“Hopefully we can help a thousand people. We plan to do this until we run out of donations or until the pandemic is over,” Simmons said,
“It makes me feel beautiful inside because I like giving back.” Bell said.
If you would like to contribute to Bell’s community care pantry, you can donate to his GoFundMe account.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Llacey Simmons
At 90, she said her final goodbyes as doctors prepared her to die from coronavirus. Then she survived
(CNN) — Geneva Wood knew her life was about to end. She could feel it with every strained breath.
She was well aware her 90-year-old lungs were filling with fluid. She was drowning from the inside out. The coronavirus had taken hold and she had one last request.
“I said to the doctor, this is the end. I’m not gonna make it and I want to see my family,” Wood told CNN. “And that was my only wish and desire was to be able to talk to my children again.”
Her doctor agreed. She was dying. Her children were called to see their mom alive one last time. With so little oxygen in her lungs Wood was losing the ability to talk.
Her daughter, Cami Neidigh, drove from home to the hospital.
“They didn’t think that she was going to make it, and that we should go ahead and come on down while she can still talk to us,” her daughter said.
The news was doubly devastating for the family. Wood had been recovering from a stroke.
“It was kind of cruel, you know,” Neidigh said. “She had just learned to live again.”
Wood’s family had chosen to send her for rehab to the nearby Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, after her stroke. When Wood arrived months earlier, she couldn’t talk. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t speak well enough to be understood.
The staff cared for her until she could do all those things.
“All I could do was jabber and they taught me to live again,” Wood said. “I went there for therapy, which they provided. What the staff did for me was great.”
But as she regained her strength, the coronavirus spread through the Life Care Center of Kirkland. It became the first place in America to have a major deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Only nobody realized it at the time. The virus was spreading like a deadly plague inside the facility long before people switched to elbow bumps instead of handshakes, and before self-distancing and stay-at-home orders became the norm.
Geneva Wood suddenly found herself infected like 80 other patients there.
She was rushed to the hospital where the virus began taking her breath away.
“I coughed a lot.” Wood said “I had trouble breathing, I was just tired. I just wanted to sleep and rest and just leave me alone.”
She had never felt the kind of exhaustion that came with Covid-19. The spitfire of a great-grandmother says she survived the flu dozens of times while raising her children and survived the Great Depression and World War II, but she never wanted to give up until she got the coronavirus.
But her body fought it. And she survived, with her humor intact.
“I’m not dead yet,” Wood quipped to the nurse who she asked to bring her water.
Wood was one of the lucky ones. Fifty-five people associated with the Life Care nursing home died, many younger than her.
Now Wood is home and able to speak with her family, who she once feared she might never see or talk to again.
She snuggled up next to her daughter in her big comfortable chair and marveled at how happy she was just to be home.
“I love it here. One of the things I fought for was to be able to be with my kids. To give them a hug or a kick or whatever they needed,” Wood said.
Her daughter cracked up. Her feisty, strong-willed mother was back.
“That’s, that’s what I’m here for.” Wood laughed. “To take care of their needs. If they need a hug that’s what they need and if they need a kick in the rear, that’s what they get.”
Her daughter is relieved to hear her mom joke again.
“It’s been a brutal roller coaster ride,” she says.
And Neidigh wants anyone who is writing off the elderly as those who can be sacrificed to coronavirus for the sake of others or for the economy to remember people like her mother. She says nobody should get to choose who gets to live or die and that the world could used the wisdom of the elderly. They still have something to give.
“You can’t put a price on life like that,” Neidigh said.
CNN’s Leslie Perrot contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Wood Family
Man intentionally coughs on gas pump handle, mentions coronavirus
A California man may face charges in Arizona for intentionally coughing on a gas pump handle while referencing the spread of coronavirus, police said.
The man, identified only as a 23-year-old man from Winterhaven, was questioned after cops in Yuma received multiple reports of video circulating on social media Saturday showing the unsanitary deed, police said.
The suspect later admitted to coughing on the pump during an interview Sunday at the Yuma Police Department, Sgt. Lori Franklin said.
“He came in willingly and did a full interview,” Franklin said. “He admitted to the fact that that was him on the video.”
The man got the idea “from other social media videos” he’d previously seen on the internet, police said in a statement.
“He blatantly coughed on the handle and said, ‘This is how you get coronavirus,’” Franklin said of the footage, which was posted to Snapchat.
The suspect did not show any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, police said.
Charges of unlawful use of infectious biological substance — a felony — will now be sent to Yuma County prosecutors for review, Franklin said.
A spokeswoman for Yuma County Attorney Jon Smith said his office had not received the case as of Monday.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/arizona-cops-bust-man-for-coughing-on-gas-pump-handle/
Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Man faces $50K fine for escaping quarantine to visit girlfriend
An Australian man blew off his coronavirus self-quarantine to visit his girlfriend — and even used public transportation to get there — and could now be fined up to $50,000, according a report.
The 35-year-old man, whose name was not released, was busted Sunday, West Australian police announced on Facebook.
The man arrived in West Australia from Victoria on March 28 and was required to self-quarantine for 14 days at a Perth hotel under the state’s Emergency Management Act, police said.
But instead, he snuck out of his Travelodge hotel Friday and Saturday night because he “wanted to see his girlfriend” and had no one to bring him food, 7 News reported.
Police visited his hotel room early Saturday after being contacted by hotel staff, but he was not there, according to the report. When he showed up 45 minutes later, he told authorities he went out to tend to a personal problem.
Police directed him not to leave again unless it was for a medical emergency — but he flouted their orders and left around 9 p.m. that night, wedging open a fire escape door and fleeing down the emergency stairwell, the outlet reported.
CCTV footage captured him returning around 4 the next morning.
Hotel staff told police they spotted the man outside his room on five occasions over the course of four days.
Cops said he used public transit in his travels, 7 News reported.
He was denied bail at a court appearance Monday, with prosecutors arguing he showed “complete negligence for the conditions of the Emergency Management Act” and had “put the community of Western Australia at risk,” according to the report.
He was remanded and ordered to make a court appearance over video on Thursday.
“Custody is far worse than staying in a hotel,” WA Premier Mark McGowan said at a Monday press conference, according to news.com.au. “He has already suffered a consequence. He can now suffer a penalty of up to $50,000 and further incarceration.”
“He has done the wrong thing, he has been caught,” McGowan added. “I expect the law will deal with him fairly harshly.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/man-faces-50k-fine-for-escaping-quarantine-to-visit-girlfriend/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Massive fire near Florida airport burns more than 3,500 rental cars
More than 3,500 rental cars were damaged or destroyed in a fire that burned near a Florida airport before being contained late Friday.
The Fort Myers News-Press reports the cars were in a grassy area used as an overflow lot by car rental companies that service Southwest Florida International Airport. The vehicles weren’t occupied.
Witnesses said they heard multiple small explosions and flames leaping high into the air as the flames spread across the area. Another 3,850 vehicles were undamaged, according to airport spokeswoman Vicki Moreland.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/fire-near-florida-airport-burns-more-than-3500-rental-cars/
Photo Credit: Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office
Auto insurance companies return $800 million in premiums because no one is driving
Two insurers — Allstate and American Family Insurance — announced Monday they will give back about $800 million to their auto insurance customers because people are driving far less during the coronavirus crisis.Allstate (ALL) said it will refund about 15% of premiums paid by its customers in April and May, which comes to a total of about $600 million.”Given an unprecedented decline in driving, customers will receive a Shelter-in-Place Payback,” said Allstate CEO Tom Wilson “This is fair because less driving means fewer accidents.”Allstate’s payments will go to all US and Canadian customers with personal auto insurance, whether or not their state has any kind of stay-at-home order. American Family, which only serves customers in 19 states, also said its payments would go to all of its customers.American Family Insurance said it will give back about $50 per car that a household has insured with the company via a one-time payment. It said that will total about $200 million.
Allstate and American Family also said their customers who are having financial problems because of a loss of income can delay payments on insurance premiums without penalty if they contact the companies.Both are also expanding insurance coverage for customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine and other goods. Standard personal auto insurance policies typically exclude coverage that is used for a customer’s car.And Allstate says it is also offering anyone in the United States, whether or not they are an Allstate customer, free identity protection for the rest of the year “since our lives have become more digital.”
Is it enough?
But Allstate is probably giving back only a fraction of the money it is likely to save from reduced insurance claims during the crisis said Dan Karr, the CEO of ValChoice, a data analytics company that acts as a watchdog on the insurance industry. Figures reported by Allstate to state insurance regulators show it pays out a little more than $1 billion a month in auto insurance claims, he said. Karr’s modeling suggests that those claims are likely falling by about 85% due to the reduced number of accidents.”I think it’s great what Allstate did. But where’s the rest of savings?” Karr told CNN Business. He said American Family Insurance’s refund will probably equal even less of the average premium than Allstate’s target of a 15% reduction.
It’s too soon to know exactly how far claims will decline because of the drop in driving, said Allstate spokesman Justin Herndon. He said the company may give additional payments to customers as it gets more data on claims.”We decided to act quickly to put our customers first. This is something we’ll keep looking at,” he said.American Family said it has seen between a 20% to 40% in claims on a weekly basis between the pandemic declaration on March 11 through last Friday. Other consumer groups praised the moves by the insurers.”Is it enough? Probably not,” said J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. “[But] Allstate and American Family deserve praise for their industry leadership on this vital first step. While it’s too early to tell if the amounts promised are enough to reflect the big drop in auto accidents, the actions by American Family and Allstate are the right thing to do to help policyholders beleaguered by Covid-19 restrictions and job loss. We urge other insurers to take similar actions quickly.”
Will others follow suit?
Karr said he wouldn’t be surprised to see other insurers follow Allstate’s lead. Industry leader State Farm, which is a mutual insurance company owned by customers, is “closely monitoring our automobile insurance losses and are considering how best to take this into account and return value to our auto insurance policyholders,” according to a statement from the company. It said it expects a decision by the end of the week. Progressive (PGR) said it is “exploring how to best return some premium to customers to reflect the decreased exposure that comes with less frequent driving during the pandemic and expect to have those plans in place soon.” Spokespeople with Geico, owned by Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their plans. An 85% drop in the number of accidents is a conservative estimate, Karr said. He said that data confirms that is the percentage of accidents that happens during periods of heavy traffic, which are almost completely absent in areas with stay-at-home orders.
Auto insurance companies will probably continue to benefit from reduced driving even after stay-at-home orders are lifted in some states, he said, noting a large number of people will continue to work from home either full or part-time. Others will continue to be out of work because their employer went out of business during the crisis. Workers driving or riding in cars to and from work makes up for about 28% of miles driven by vehicles in a normal time, according to the Federal Highway Administration.”Data shows accident rates go up exponentially as traffic increases, and even a 5% reduction in traffic will make a difference,” he said. “Even people who are still driving because they are essential workers, the accidents rates will be way down.”
For those whose insurers are not offering money back, Karr said those customers should call their insurer and change the coverage on the vehicle from use for work to personal use, assuming they are staying home. That will produce savings as well. But they should be sure to change it back to commuting use once they are using the car to get to and from work once again.
Article via CNN
Man allegedly tried to burn disabled wife after learning he didn’t qualify for relief check
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico man is facing charges after police say he became enraged he didn’t qualify for a COVID-19-related stimulus check and tried to set his wife on fire.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Joe Macias was arrested Wednesday shortly following an argument with his disabled wife, where he allegedly doused her with gasoline.
The wife told police Macias had come home around 5 p.m. with a four-pack of beer and “upset because he did not qualify for the stimulus check.”
According to police, the 63-year-old Macias threw gas on his wife and their mobile home.
The wife told officers Macias then pulled out a cigarette and attempted to light it several times, but was unsuccessful due to the lighter getting gasoline on it.
Police say officers later found Macias walking down the street, his clothes soaked in gasoline. Officers also discovered the victim, her hair the cand pajamas soaked in gasoline, on the floor inside a nearby trailer.
Macias charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and aggravated battery against a household member.
No attorney was listed for him in online court records.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/coronavirus-nm-man-allegedly-tried-to-burn-wife-over-relief-check/
Photo Credit: AP