Monday, May 25, 2020

PANDEMIC FALLOUT - Update 5/25/2020

"As restrictions are lifted, how to apply lessons from health care workers to daily lifePBS NewsHour 5/18/2020

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SUMMARY:  In all but two U.S. states, stay-at-home orders are being lifted, and businesses are reopening.  But can the lifting of restrictions be safe, when COVID-19 is still increasing in many parts of the country?  Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and chair of the joint health care venture Haven, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how to control virus spread as daily activities resume.




"As Fed plans new lending program, Senate is divided over coronavirus aidPBS NewsHour 5/19/2020

The 'money is more important than people's lives' Republicans are the problem.

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SUMMARY:  President Trump joined a Republican Senate luncheon Tuesday, where he defended his reported use of controversial antimalarial medication hydroxychloroquine.  He also said he would temporarily waive regulations that could complicate business openings or slow economic growth.  Meanwhile, senators from the two parties diverged on when and how to provide more pandemic relief.  Yamiche Alcindor reports.




"Newsom: California reopening ‘driven by evidence, not ideology’PBS NewsHour 5/19/2020

You tell 'em Governor!

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SUMMARY:  California was one of the first U.S. states to see a significant outbreak of the novel coronavirus, but in the past few weeks, the curve of infection there has flattened.  As a result, Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced plans to loosen some restrictions.  He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss COVID-19 trends in his state, the data he’s using to make decisions and what he needs from the federal government.




"In Putin’s Russia, health care workers treating COVID-19 pay a deadly pricePBS NewsHour 5/19/2020

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SUMMARY:  Russia has announced nearly 10,000 new COVID-19 infections in just the last day, bringing its national total close to 300,000.  Half of the cases are in Moscow, where health care workers say protective gear and training for how to treat the disease are lacking.  Meanwhile, there are questions about why Russia's official virus deaths are relatively low.  Special correspondent Julia Chapman reports.




"Why American nursing homes have been hit so hard by coronavirusPBS NewsHour 5/19/2020

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SUMMARY:  Nursing homes across the country are facing a desperate situation during the coronavirus pandemic.  In 17 states, more than half of reported COVID-19 deaths have been at these facilities.  Chronic staffing shortages, made worse by the virus, and inadequate infection control procedures exacerbate the threat amid the population that is the most vulnerable.  Lisa Desjardins reports.




"All 50 states partially reopen as CDC quietly releases its guidelinesPBS NewsHour 5/20/2020

The Trump Administration edited (stunted) version that is.

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SUMMARY:  All 50 states have now taken some steps to reopen after COVID-19 shutdowns.  Their approaches vary, with only minor restrictions remaining in states like Texas, while New York still has strict limitations in place.  Federal guidance from the CDC was released quietly, but its recommendations aren't mandatory.  Meanwhile, WHO officials warned that the pandemic isn’t going away.  Stephanie Sy reports.




"How the Trump administration is leveraging COVID-19 to tighten immigrationPBS NewsHour 5/20/2020

More 'stop the criminal brown people' attitude from Trump.

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SUMMARY:  The Trump administration is saying increased security on the U.S.-Mexico border is necessary to prevent the coronavirus' spread.  As a result, more than 900 migrant children were deported in March and April shortly after they reached the border -- much more quickly than normal, and without standard safeguards observed.  John Yang talks to Caitlin Dickerson of The New York Times.




"What computer-based models can tell us about coronavirus — and what they can’tPBS NewsHour 5/20/2020

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SUMMARY:  For months, scientists and public officials have relied upon computer-based models to try to predict the trajectory or the coronavirus outbreak.  But models are not crystal balls, and all of them involve human assumptions.  Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the efforts that go into making these models -- and their ultimate purpose -- are more complicated than many of us realize.




"How a disdain for government undermined U.S. pandemic responsePBS NewsHour 5/18/2020

Thanks to lying, self-serving Trump.

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SUMMARY:  Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, questions have been raised about why the U.S. federal government was not better prepared for such a crisis.  Scrutiny of President Trump has been intense, but questions extend beyond him to the efficacy of government and civil service more broadly.  William Brangham talks to the American Enterprise Institute’s Yuval Levin and The Atlantic’s George Packer.




"As 2.4 million file for unemployment, Trump insists economic recovery is nearPBS NewsHour 5/21/2020

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SUMMARY:  As U.S. businesses prepare for gradual reopenings, the number of Americans filing for unemployment seems to be leveling off.  Still, the Labor Department says more than 38 million people sought jobless benefits in the past nine weeks.  But as he departed for Michigan to tour a Ford factory now making ventilators, President Trump insisted that economic recovery is imminent.  Yamiche Alcindor reports.




"New COVID-19 model shows why early action mattersPBS NewsHour 5/21/2020

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SUMMARY:  A newly released analysis of coronavirus' spread in the U.S. suggests a haunting hypothetical: that if social distancing and stay-at-home orders had been implemented only a week earlier, more than 30,000 lives might have been saved.  But that alternate scenario relies upon computer-based modeling that has its limitations.  Miles O’Brien joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how this data can be useful.




"How the pandemic has pushed U.S. retail toward the brink of collapsePBS NewsHour 5/21/2020

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SUMMARY:  For more than two months, the toll of unemployment in the U.S. has grown each week.  The retail sector, which was already struggling before the pandemic, is among the hardest hit, with stores closed or at reduced capacity and consumers nervous about spending money.  And many economists believe these lost jobs will not be returning anytime soon.  Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.




"Can U.S. transit workers be kept safe on crowded buses and trains?PBS NewsHour 5/21/2020

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SUMMARY:  U.S. transit workers have been hit hard by the coronavirus.  More than 120 have died from the disease just within New York City Transit, and drivers and transport workers represent the second-largest share of work-related cases, according to a Harvard study.  Sarah Feinberg, interim president of New York City Transit, joins William Brangham to discuss reducing risks for these essential workers.




"A virologist answers viewer questions about coronavirus transmissionPBS NewsHour 5/21/2020

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SUMMARY:  During this unprecedented crisis, we all have questions -- and the NewsHour is turning to experts for answers.  In this edition of Ask Us, virologist Angela Rasmussen of Columbia University joins Amna Nawaz to take viewer questions on transmission of the novel coronavirus, including whether it can be contracted from swimming pools and street surfaces.




"How virus research has become a point of tension for the U.S. and ChinaPBS NewsHour 5/22/2020

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SUMMARY:  The Trump administration has emphasized the possibility that the novel coronavirus was accidentally released by scientists at a Chinese lab.  While that accusation remains unproven, China’s oversight of such scientific research has come under scrutiny in the past, and now, an area in which the U.S. and China previously collaborated has grown fraught with tension.  Nick Schifrin reports.




"What we know about COVID-19 antibodies — and what we don’tPBS NewsHour 5/22/2020

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SUMMARY:  Scientists say antibody testing could be a key tool in the fight against the novel coronavirus.  Still, many questions remain about the accuracy of antibody testing.  The Food and Drug Administration has tried to crack down on inaccurate tests, but scientists aren’t even sure yet what a positive test means for immunity.  John Yang reports.




"Remembering 5 more victims of the COVID-19 pandemicPBS NewsHour 5/22/2020

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SUMMARY:  The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has climbed past 95,000 this week.  As the staggering numbers reverberate, we take a moment to remember five people killed by the disease, including an opera singer, a father of six and a 25-year-old budding therapist.




"Thousands lost medical coverage as pandemic approachedPBS NewsHour 5/23/2020

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SUMMARY:  Since President Trump took office the number of people without health insurance in the U.S. has risen by nearly 2 million, joining tens of millions of others without coverage.  Health professionals now worry some coronavirus victims may avoid visiting doctors, helping COVID-19 to spread.  Simon Ostrovsky reports on a new federal policy that's driving thousands of immigrants to give up insurance.



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