March 17 Coronavirus Updates
Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth. It is Tuesday, March 17. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Here are some of the top updates on the coronavirus pandemic.
As of 4:30 EST, there are over 196,000 cases of coronavirus in the world and almost 6,000 cases in the United States. All 50 states and Washington, D.C. have cases after West Virginia confirmed their first case of coronavirus. At least 100 people in the U.S. have died.
The Trump administration announced they would talk with Congress on a plan to send checks to Americans over the next two weeks to help with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It is not known how much money they are thinking of. The payments would be a part of a larger $850 billion stimulus plan to help support the U.S. economy. The New York Times reported that the payments could cover two weeks of pay. What that amounts to is unknown. Sen. Mitt Romney recently proposed an idea to send $1,000 to Americans, so it could be that amount. Three Senate Democrats have proposed to send up to $4,500 to almost all adult and child in the U.S. this year. So the exact amount is unknown, but it seems like the average American can expect to get some kind of cash support from the federal government.
The Trump administration also said taxpayers will have a three-month extended cushion to make income tax payments for the 2019 tax year. It is still encouraged for most Americans to file their taxes by April 15 so they can get tax refunds. This does not apply to state taxes — you will have to check what your state says.
The Social Security Administration will close all its local offices because of coronavirus. You can still call your local offices. There was some concerns from deaf people who wanted to know if Social Security would maintain their payments to beneficiaries — and so far there is no indication that the SS payments will be affected. The checks should come in for beneficiaries as usual, but the offices will be closed for in-person meetings.
U.S. stocks had a much better day today. The DOW Jones went up by over 1,000 points, likely because of the news of the Trump administration’s plan to financially support Americans.
The mayor of New York City said residents should prepare for a “shelter in place” order within the next 48 hours. This would be the second major city after the San Francisco area to have such an order. It means that people will have to stay in their homes at all times, unless they have to pick up groceries, pick up prescriptions, drive to work (if they have to), or walk their dog. New York City has over 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Arizona, Florida, and Illinois held their primaries today. Ohio’s primaries were postponed to June 2 after a back-and-forth between a judge and the state governor on whether to postpone it or not. It’s postponed. We’ll see tonight how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted turnout in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois — and of course, the results for Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
Maryland has postponed their primary elections originally scheduled for April 28 to June 2.
Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have been released from a hospital in Australia and will be in self-isolation. They announced last week they tested positive for COVID-19.
The European Union has agreed to close off its external borders for 30 days.
NBA team Brooklyn Nets said four players have tested positive for the coronavirus. Only one has symptoms. The Athletic reported that Kevin Durant is one of the four who tested positive. The NBA season was suspended last week after an Utah Jazz player tested positive. Since then many major sports leagues and tournaments have been suspended, postponed, or cancelled.
Marriott said they would start to close their properties worldwide and furlough tens of thousands of employees. The employees will not get pay but will keep their health benefits.
Las Vegas resorts Venetian and Palazzo will be closed until at least April 1. The owner of the resorts, Las Vegas Sands, said they are doing this out of an abundance of caution.
All Macy’s stores will close starting tomorrow until March 31.
The U.S. Defense Department (The Pentagon) announced they would make 5 million N95 masks and give it to the federal government for it to distribute to those who need it. The Defense Department will also provide 2,000 ventilators that were designed for military use and train civilians on how to use them.
That is all the updates for now.
https://www.nytimes.com/.../coronavirus-update-latest...
https://www.axios.com/
https://www.cnbc.com/.../treasury-and-irs-to-delay-tax...
https://www.nbcnews.com/.../coronavirus.../ncrd1162161...
https://thehill.com/.../488011-trump-administration-eyes...
https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2020/#3-2020-2
https://www.cnn.com/.../coronavirus-outbreak.../index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/.../esper-pentagon-provide...
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