"Early data of the Covid-19 crisis, broken down by race, is alarming. In the US, in Chicago, as of early April 2020, 72% of people who died of coronavirus were black, although only one-third of the city’s population is. In Georgia, as of 17 April, white people accounted for 40% of Covid-19 cases where race was reported, although they represent 58% of the state. In the UK, of the first 2,249 patients with confirmed Covid-19, 35% were non-white. This is much higher than the proportion of non-white people in England and Wales – 14%, according to the most recent census." On why it appears that COVID-19 has a bias.
"Wisconsin health department: 36 people positive for coronavirus after primary vote… The count of people exposed to the virus during the April 7 election is likely to grow in the coming weeks." (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he will allow his stay-at-home order for the Lone Star State to expire on Thursday, commencing a phased exit from the social distancing measures meant to mitigate the novel coronavirus pandemic." Welcome to decisions being made about your health on the basis of the economy rather than what is actually most helpful to your health. Without widespread testing (and I'll note here, individuals may be tested multiple times) and contact tracing this will lead to a second spike. Also, many places of business are better closed than being mandated to 25% capacity.
"The southern state of Tennessee saw its biggest one-day jump in new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Sunday as the state's governor and neighboring Georgia move to reopen parts of their economies, despite significant concerns." This will not end well.
"President Donald Trump's surprisingly public rebuke of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's reopening plans is still reverberating through state capitals across the country and is contributing to decisions by some governors to take a slower approach in opening businesses in their state, Republican officials in a half-dozen states told CNN." This is what's known as "playing both sides to you can claim to be right no matter what the outcome."
"Brewer and Kowalski are among a global surge of people logging on to crowd-working sites due to the economic contagion of Covid-19. Millions of people are suddenly out of work or facing reduced hours, with many stuck at home sheltering in place. Crowd work can be done from anywhere with an internet connection." Working for pennies. The t-shirt sites I sell on are almost the same thing.
"Since the coronavirus outbreak exploded in the U.S., President Donald Trump has liked to portray the surging pandemic as a totally shocking problem that no one could have seen coming. 'It snuck up on us,' Trump said on March 18, calling the virus 'a very unforeseen thing.' It has now become very clear, of course, that the president and his administration were not in any way caught off-guard by the pandemic, receiving multiple heads-up about the looming catastrophe as the virus starting its spread from such sources as the World Health Organization, multiple federal agencies, and even Trump’s own economic adviser… Now, the Washington Post reports that warnings about the coronavirus even made their way directly to the Oval Office as part of the president’s daily intelligence briefing—you know, the one that he famously likes to totally ignore." More than a dozen times in January and February.
"President Donald Trump on Monday urged the nation's governors to "seriously consider" reopening schools as part of his push to restart the economy, though many states have already recommended against resuming the school year." President Trump, still a day late and a dollar short.
"Twenty-six million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits as of April 23, as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. And many of them are discovering what plenty of people already knew: our system is dysfunctional."
"A family-run network of pro-gun groups is behind five of the largest Facebook groups dedicated to protesting the shelter-in-place restrictions, according to an NBC News analysis of Facebook groups and website registration information." Those "grass roots" organizations that are just money making scams.
"In an interview on Monday, the Senate majority leader said it’s 'highly likely' the next coronavirus response bill will aid local governments whose budgets have been decimated by lockdowns and now face spiraling deficits. But to unlock that money, McConnell said he will "insist" Congress limit the liabilities of health care workers, business owners and employees from lawsuits as they reopen in the coming weeks and months." He's also walking back his, "let them declare bankruptcy" statement. But let's be clear here, he wants to release businesses from legal liability for reopening too early. Or for companies like Amazon or the meat packers who intentionally ignored health advice to keep workers distant from each other, to catch outbreaks quickly, and to shut down, he wants to make sure those businesses can't be sued for the disease and deaths they caused.
"Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department will intervene if stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic become too restrictive, directing federal prosecutors 'to be on the lookout' for state and local directives that could be violating constitutional rights." This is Bill Barr being the good lapdog of the president and trying to threaten recalcitrant states to lift their stay-at-home orders. This is the second time he's tried this. He still doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. Fuck off, Bill.
"Just as it affects us all, the coronavirus is affecting our nation's prison population. Inmates across the country are seeking early release in hope of avoiding contracting the virus in their detention facilities. Earlier in April, we learned that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former attorney and self-described "fixer," is supposed to be released from prison early as a result of a coronavirus outbreak in Otisville, New York, where he is serving his sentence." How about no, does no work for you? This is a backdoor attempt at commutation for some of these people.
"The political whirlwind convulsing Brazilian politics has intensified with the supreme court approving an investigation into explosive allegations that the president, Jair Bolsonaro, illegally attempted to interfere in the federal police."
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