Coronavirus news, USA

This 9 April 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Republicans CONFIDENT Coronavirus Isn’t Killing People

Republicans are confident the coronavirus death tolls number are a lie. What more did they have to say? John Iadarola and Emma Vigeland break it down on The Damage Report.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE DYING AT AN ALARMING RATE. HERE’S WHY. Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services started releasing official data on April 2 showing that, although just 14% of the population of Michigan is Black, 33% of coronavirus cases and 41% of deaths were in the Black community. And it’s not just poverty. Though Detroit is 80% Black with a poverty rate of roughly 35% ― more than triple the national average ― more affluent suburbs with substantial African American populations are also getting hit hard. [HuffPost]

DETROIT’S NURSING HOMES ARE THE NEXT HOT SPOT A spike in the number of coronavirus cases in Detroit’s nursing homes is straining the region’s hospitals and is partially responsible for an uptick in the state’s already-high mortality rate. Now public health officials are working to head off the kind of facility-based outbreak that has killed hundreds of elderly nursing home residents. Epidemiologist Teena Chopra estimated that about 60% of coronavirus-infected residents who are admitted to metro Detroit hospitals die. [HuffPost]

Bill O’Reilly: Coronavirus victims were “on their last legs anyway“.

TRUMP ADMIN. BUNGLED STOCKPILE ALLOTMENT Trump administration health officials said that 3.5 billion N95 masks were needed to respond to the epidemic, but only 0.33% of that number were distributed to states, according to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “Now that the national stockpile has been depleted of critical equipment, it appears that the Administration is leaving states to fend for themselves,” the committee chairperson said in a statement. As the stockpile dwindled, the government sent states with vastly different populations the same amount of supplies. [HuffPost]

U.S. IS SUDDENLY OK WITH BANNED HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE MAKER The Food and Drug Administration lifted import curbs on hydroxychloroquine produced by a tainted Indian pharma company on the same day that Trump promoted his controversial theory that the anti-malarial drug could help COVID-19 patients, documents show. As late as August 2019, the FDA had censured India’s Ipca Laboratories, a company producing close to 70% of the world’s hydroxychloroquine, for a “cascade of failures.” [HuffPost]

MSNBC interrupts briefing so doctor can refute Trump’s ‘mystifying’ claim that zinc can treat COVID-19: here.

PANDEMIC COULD FORCE HALF A BILLION INTO POVERTY The economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world could push 580 million people ― 8% of humanity ― into poverty, causing the first increase in global poverty since 1990. As the global economy comes to a standstill, stories of distress are becoming familiar in almost every country ― but especially in the developing world, where social safety nets are thin or often missing. [HuffPost]

Lost your job and need health insurance? Here’s what you can do.

PASTOR: ‘TRUE CHRISTIANS DON’T MIND DYING‘ IF INFECTED AT CHURCH Rev. Tony Spell, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church in the Louisiana city of Central, is facing six misdemeanor charges after defying Gov. John Bel Edwards’ orders aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Spell shrugged off critics saying he’s putting his congregants at risk, saying: “Like any zealot or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. True Christians do not mind dying.” [HuffPost]

The coronavirus is exposing America’s housing crisis.

PetSmart deems dog grooming “essential”, pressuring hundreds to come into work.

Most New York virus cases came from Europe, not Asia, gene tests show.

Former Major League Baseball player is now sick with COVID-19.

GOP SENATOR VOWS TO SELL OFF STOCKS AFTER VIRUS TRADE BACKLASH Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is liquidating all of the individual stock shares she and her husband own together after reports revealed that she sold up to $3.1 million in stock after Congress was briefed by U.S. health officials on the coronavirus in January. The reports that she and another Republican senator sold shares that tumbled once the virus hit the U.S. ignited fierce criticism focusing on Republicans’ attempts to downplay the severity of the pandemic. [HuffPost]

AMERICANS WILL GET CHECKS SOON — BUT NOT UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS When Congress passed the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package last month, it included urgently needed cash payments for low-income Americans as businesses shuttered nationwide: $1,200 per individual, $2,400 for joint filers and an additional $500 per child. However, it excluded millions of immigrants from getting relief. The bill’s language leaves out those without Social Security numbers — largely undocumented people. [HuffPost]

CHILD SEX ABUSE REPORTS SPIKE WITH VIRUS LOCKDOWNS For most, sheltering in place is a sensible act of self-protection amid the coronavirus pandemic. But home can be a dangerous place for some ― like children in abusive situations. Children face a heightened risk for sexual abuse during this time, child advocates told HuffPost. [HuffPost]