The Western Word is coming to you, STILL, I repeat STILL, coronavirus free, from deep inside an underground bunker in Montana. The bunker also serves as the worldwide headquarters for The Western Word blog!

Quote of the day…

When I was your age, I had to walk 10 feet through shag carpet to change the TV channel. –Anonymous

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you’re a first-time visitor, this is the weekly column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary sometimes sprinkled with sarcasm and humor.

This week’s topics include Census forms in the mail, unemployment claims, coronavirus cases/deaths, Secretary of the Navy’s trip, airline travel, coronavirus poll, Easter & coronavirus, Apollo 13, Census self-response rate, chilling new coronavirus study, plus much more!

65,600,000

That’s how many paper Census forms are being mailed to people who did not complete the 2020 Census questionnaire online. The 2020 census will guide the distribution of some $1.5 trillion in federal spending and help determine how many congressional seats each state gets in a process known as apportionment. (Time)

People should have completed the process online and save the government some money...

6,606,000

In the week ending April 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 6,606,000, a decrease of 261,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 219,000 from 6,648,000 to 6,867,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,265,500, an increase of 1,598,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 54,750 from 2,612,000 to 2,666,750. (DOL.gov)

431,753

At least 431,753 cases of the highly contagious novel coronavirus have been reported in the United States and its territories, according to a Reuters tally of state and local government sources. At least 14,771 have died of the illness across the United States, with the largest numbers so far in New York State. (Reuters)

This data is from early Thursday morning…

243,000

That’s how much the Secretary of the Navy’s recent trip to Guam cost taxpayers. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly flew to Guam on a Gulfstream 550 jet last weekend to address sailors aboard the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt. Modly’s profanity-laced speech to the sailors, during which he branded the fired captain of the ship as “naive” and “stupid” for seeking aid, prompted Modly to offer his resignation Tuesday. (USA Today)

It’s good that Modly resigned…

90

Newly revised federal rules will let the airline companies cut some routes by as much as 90% through September and eliminate others altogether to avoid flying nearly empty planes. (Bloomberg)

As for my glass is half full statement: gas is cheap…

81

Eighty-one percent of U.S. adults say their lives have been disrupted either a great deal (33%) or a fair amount (48%) by the coronavirus situation. (Gallup)

I am surprised it’s not higher…

68

That’s the percent of Easter observers who say coronavirus will affect their Easter spending plans. (WalletHub)

Maybe this means there will be more candy on sale after Easter…

50

On Monday, April 13, it will be 50 years since the words “OK, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” came from Apollo 13 after one of their oxygen tanks burst. (AP)

I love the movie…

38.2

That’s the 2020 Census self-response rate for Montana as of April 7, 2020. That ranks Montana 45th in response rates. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Many Montanans are afraid of the ‘gubment.’

6

A chilling new study claims just 6% of all coronavirus cases are actually being detected. If true, this means up to 25 million people around the world could have Covid-19, far more than official estimations. Researchers from Göttingen University in Germany claim a huge proportion of infected people are flying under the radar. (DailyStar)

They may not get coronavirus under control until there’s a vaccine for it.

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