April 15 coronavirus updates
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth. It is Wednesday, April 15. Here are updates on the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump announced last night that the U.S. would halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump said the WHO did not take measures to investigate the virus when it started spreading in China and that the WHO gave bad information from the Chinese government to the world. Trump said his administration would do an investigation.
The WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus said they “regret” the U.S. President’s decision.
According to CNBC, almost 15% of WHO’s budget, about $900 million, comes from the U.S., so the funding halt will be a significant impact on the international organization as they are dealing with this pandemic and a myriad of other diseases.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s funding halt is “senseless” and illegal and that she would challenge it. Pelosi said Trump is a weak person because he blames others instead of taking responsibility.
Bill Gates tweeted that halting funding for the WHO during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. He said no other organization can replace the WHO and their work in slowing down the spread of COVID-19.
In Michigan, there were thousands of demonstrators who drove around the state capitol building in Lansing to protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order, which bans travel between two residences and stores from selling nonessential items such as furniture, paint, or garden supplies. Some protested on foot on the capitol building grounds. Police were on scene, but there were no arrests or violence.
Gov. Whitmer said a few days ago that “we must stay the course to save lives.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to require people to wear a mask on their faces if they are out in public and and cannot be 6 feet away from others. This means that if you’re going grocery shopping, walking on a sidewalk with other people around, or riding on public transportation, you must wear a mask.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the D.C. stay-at-home order would be extended from April 24 to May 15.
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on air travel, ABC News reported that the TSA screened less than 90,000 passengers on Tuesday compared to 2.2 million passengers on the same Tuesday of last year. That’s a huge drop. 403 TSA employees tested positive for COVID-19. Three died while 45 recovered.
The CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield warned that there may be a second wave of coronavirus infections in the winter because respiratory viruses follows a “seasonality pattern similar to the flu.” The CDC said it is important that the U.S. improves its testing and healthcare services.
Harvard researchers said that the pandemic might continue into 2022 if there is no effective treatment or vaccine and that people around the world may have to continue practicing some level of social distancing. The researchers proposed “intermittent distancing” until there is a treatment, vaccine, or an increase in healthcare capacity.
President Trump’s signature will be on the paper stimulus checks that are set to go out next month. It will be on the “memo” area.
The IRS has already sent out millions of direct deposit payments to qualifying taxpayers and their children if they are 16 or under. This includes who receive Social Security benefits. The payments have started, but is not complete.
Some people said they’ve not yet received the money, but some people said they got the money. The money will be sent in stages for those who qualify. It’s not all at once.
The IRS has a website where you can check your payment status by typing in your social security number and street address, but it doesn’t work for everyone because many said they are only seeing a website that says “Payment Status Not Available” and there’s nothing more they can do.
If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and have children aged 16 or under, the SSA website encourages you to enter information about yourself and your children on the IRS’s Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info page. I have to warn you that the IRS website will say those on Social Security do not need to file out the information, which can seem contradictory. I would lean on what the SSA website says. So you can feed your information if you are a SSI recipient with children and did not file tax returns. When you put in your information, you can get your money if you are qualified.
In the world of sports, there may be a quicker return to “normal,” with sports games — but without fans.
UFC President Dana White said the UFC would hold a match on May 9 but the location is unknown. He is likely thinking of filming a fight but with no in-person audience. He previously wanted to hold a fight this Saturday on tribal land in California, but executives at ESPN and Disney pushed back on the idea. But there’s a match coming up.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has authorized the WWE to tape matches at their private venue in Orlando.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with ESPN that it would be safe to have professional sports game come back if the games are held without fans and the players are kept in hotels with frequent testing.
That’s all the updates I have for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/14/trump-pulls-who-funding-says-organization-must-be-held-accountable/
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/who-regrets-trumps-decision-to-withhold-funding-says-focus-is-on-saving-lives-in-coronavirus-pandemic.html
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-vows-to-challenge-trumps-dangerous-illegal-move-to-freeze-who-funding
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/04/15/lansing-capitol-protest-michigan-stay-home-order/5136842002/
https://twitter.com/Grady_Trimble/status/1250474955197812737
SSA: https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/
IRS: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/29038491/dr-anthony-fauci-promotes-single-site-fan-free-return-sports
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ufc-dana-white-eyes-las-021411430.html
—