Tuesday, March 31st, 2020
Governors Ask for Help, Worker Strikes & Girl Scout Cookies
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
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Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...
Help Coming
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling on nurses and doctors from around the country, current or retired, to travel to New York to help overwhelmed hospitals deal with the influx of COVID-19 patients. Already, close to 80,000 former medical professionals have stepped up. Also, a navy hospital ship arrived in Manhattan, equipped with 1,000 beds. A different navy ship arrived in Los Angeles last weekend. In California, coronavirus hospitalizations reportedly doubled the last four days. Gov. Newsom is also asking for medical students and retired medical workers to help. In Chicago, the largest conference center in North America is being converted into a temporary hospital with 3,000 beds for COVID-19 patients. Another convention center is becoming a makeshift hospital in New Orleans.
Help for NY: Reuters, ABC News, AP
Temp Hospitals: Chicago Tribune, WGN, The Hill, WDSU
Current & Future Outbreaks
The nation’s leading doctors put out some new predictions for the next few months. The White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the U.S. this year is the best-case scenario, and she's urging people all around America to follow social distancing guidelines now (even if you think your city or town isn't hit hard yet). Already, more than 3,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, yet far more have recovered than have died from it. Meanwhile, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, believes this new coronavirus could re-emerge in the fall, even if we do get a handle on the current outbreak in the next few months. However, by then, we should be better equipped with testing and treatments.
Read more: Johns Hopkins, NBC News, NY Times, Forbes, NY Post
Economic Impact
The Federal Reserve’s St. Louis district estimates the unemployment rate could hit 32% or higher before this pandemic is over. However, one expert told CNBC the worst of it will likely be brief. Once the virus goes away, people will get back to work. For now, several big companies are taking hits. Macy’s is furloughing most of its workers - about 100,000 workers - and Gap and Kohl’s also say they’re furloughing about 80,000 workers each. Rent the Runway is laying off its entire retail staff. Air Canada is laying off 15,000 people. The country’s largest newspaper publisher, Gannett, is cutting pay and hours for newsroom employees through June. That’s because even though subscriptions are up, ad revenue is stalling. Meanwhile, Facebook is trying to help local journalism. It set aside $100 million to help fund newsrooms.
Unemployment Predictions: USA Today, CNBC
Job Cuts: NBC News, ABC News, Washington Post, NYT
Facebook Invests $100 million: Variety, Axios
Olympics & NCAA
The 2020 Summer Olympics are now set to start July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. That’s almost exactly one year after the original date.
The year 2021 will also be big for college athletes. The NCAA is working with players who had their seasons shortened by the coronavirus pandemic. It decided to give them another year of eligibility for spring sports, like baseball, softball and lacrosse.
Olympics Rescheduled: ESPN, NYT
NCAA Extra Eligibility: AP, CBS Sports
Ventilators, Vaccine, & N95 Masks
Ford and General Electric are making ventilators together. The companies announced they plan to produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days to help hospitals treat new coronavirus patients. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson announced its made progress on a COVID-19 vaccine. The drugmaker plans to start human trials in September. It hopes to have it ready for the public by early next year (another company already started human trials). More good news for doctors and nurses: the FDA gave the company Battelle the go-ahead to sanitize N95 masks so they can be re-used as the country faces a shortage.
Ford, GE Ventilator Mission: Axios, TechCrunch, Business Insider
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Testing: WSJ, Forbes
FDA Approves Method to Clean N95 Masks: The Verge, TechCrunch, Press Release
Worker Strikes
Employees at several major companies are on strike, saying they’re not getting proper protection during this pandemic. Some workers at Amazon-owned Whole Foods are planning a nationwide “sick-out” today. They’re demanding better paid sick leave and more hazard pay. Already yesterday, employees at an Amazon fulfillment center walked off the job, and workers from the grocery delivery app, Instacart, began a nationwide strike. Each of these companies say they’re already taking extra precautions to keep employees and customers safe.
Read More: VICE, TechCrunch, Mashable, Engagdet, NPR
HQ Trivia Comeback & Audible for Kids
It seems HQ Trivia is making a comeback. That’s a live game show app that lets you earn money if you get all the answers right. It shut down last month, but is now reportedly back for good.
Meanwhile, Audible says its giving away hundreds of children’s stories for free. You can start listening by going to stories.audible.com
HQ Trivia Comeback: WSJ, Axios, The Verge
Audible Stories for Kids: Mashable, Business Insider, Audible
Girl Scout Cookies Online:
You can now buy Girl Scout cookies online since scouts aren’t allowed to do door-to-door sales or work cookie booths. Girl Scouts recommends ordering them for yourself and/or you can donate cookies to first responders, frontline workers, or other local volunteers.
Read more: CNN, Girl Scouts
Talk to Me Tuesday Question: Are student loans affected?
A: The $2.2 trillion stimulus package should help a lot. The relief deal Congress passed, and President Trump signed, allows you to stop making monthly federal student loan payments through September 30. Interest will be suspended and your balance will freeze. Meanwhile, your account and your credit should remain in good standing. Still, the stimulus only covers student loans made directly by the federal government. It’s always a good idea to check with your student loan servicer for more details about your personal situation.
Read More: WSJ, Forbes