Coronavirus crisis, USA news

This 21 April 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

New York City Emergency Doctor Shares Message for Lockdown Protesters | NowThis

Doctor Dara Kass has a message for everyone protesting stay-at-home orders — in short, stop.

In US news and current events today, people nationwide are urging local governments to lift lockdown regulations amid the coronavirus pandemic. Protestors have been demonstrating in front of state Capitols, and outside of governors’ homes, and creating massive traffic jams on local highways.

In that way, stopping health care workers from reaching their patients.

One emergency medical doctor, Dr. Dara Kass, has a message for stay-at-home order protestors who want COVID-19 lockdown regulations lifted. Doctor Kass says only tracking and tracing the virus will work for us, lifting safety protocols will only jeopardize any progress we’ve made.

Global COVID-19 infections, deaths rise amid drive to revive corporate profit-making. By Benjamin Mateus, 21 April 2020. With COVID-19 cases in US nearing 800,000, Georgia, Tennessee and Vermont joined the list of states and cities announcing the reopening of public venues and businesses.

“They have our lives in their hands”. Amazon concealed COVID-19 case at Pennsylvania warehouse. By Samuel Davidson and Kayla Costa, 21 April 2020. With management demanding that production continue despite unsafe conditions, workers are now speaking out and organizing wildcat walkouts.

Truck drivers, logistics workers face high risk from COVID-19 exposure: here.

From the World Socialist Web Site, 21 April 2020:

Minnesota Hormel workers demand protective equipment

Meatpacking workers at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota are appealing to Democratic Governor Tim Walz to be reclassified as “first responders” as opposed to “essential workers” in an effort to obtain personal protective equipment. The 2,500 workers at the plant often work shoulder to shoulder and have been unsuccessful in procuring masks and other equipment to guard against coronavirus infection.

… Of several plants in the surrounding agricultural region of southern Minnesota that process hogs, chicken and cattle, Hormel continues operations and is only staggering shifts to limit the interaction of workers.

The Austin Hormel plant was the scene of the 1985–86 year-long strike that saw Democratic Governor Rudy Perpich dispatch the National Guard to help crush the strike by Local P-9.

COVID-19 in New York City claims the lives of at least 27 homeless people. By Harry Matthews, 21 April 2020. Access to hygiene supplies and adequate space to isolate is hard to come by within the city’s shelter system, which is a patchwork of 450 different shelters with varying policies and resources.

While the virus is known to be significantly more lethal for older people and for those with underlying conditions, it would be a horrible mistake to think that young people are somehow immune because of their age. There have been many harrowing cases of young people who caught the virus and ended up needing hospitalization and intubation, some of whom have died: here.

Trump threatens to adjourn Congress. By Tom Carter, 21 April 2020. As strikes and walkouts break out with increasing frequency, the political establishments around the world stumble further and further to the right.

US farm relief program hands billions to agribusiness while millions lack food. By Alex Findijs, 21 April 2020. The farm relief program will protect the profits of the ruling class, while farmers are dumping produce because the distribution chain has been disrupted.

COVID-19 kills jazz saxophone master Lee Konitz. By John Andrews, 20 April 2020. COVID-19 has claimed the life of Lee Konitz, one of the foremost improvisers of post-war jazz.