The Daily Moth 3-23-2020
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Monday, March 23. Here are are coronavirus updates.
The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan seems like it will be postponed, likely to 2021, because of the coronavirus pandemic. USA Today received confirmation from International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, who is a Canadian. He predicted it would be postponed. The games were supposed to start on July 24. Pound said more details would come in the following weeks on the next steps. The IOC has faced increasing pressure from Canadian, Australian, German, and Brazilian delegations after they said they would not participate. USA Today said they do postpone (which is not official yet), this would be the first time the Olympics have been suspended, but there were cancellations of the Olympics in 1916 due to World War I and 1940 and 1944 because of World War II.
More and more states are now telling their residents to stay home and for and nonessential businesses to tell their workers to work from home or to close up. There are now at least 13 states with varying levels of directives and enforcement: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Last night the Senate did not have enough votes to advance a $1.8 trillion coronavirus stimulus package because Republicans and Democrats couldn’t come to an agreement on how the money would be distributed. That bill included language about stimulus checks to taxpayers, loans for small businesses, extended unemployment insurance, and loans to airlines and other industries.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (KY) accused Democrats of playing games with the American economy and American people. He said they have five Senators who are in self-quarantine. They can’t vote, causing a 47-47 deadlock between Republicans and Democrats. All of the 5 self-quarantined Senators are Republicans.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (NY) said they voted no on the bill because it gave huge bailouts to large corporations without enough oversight and because it doesn’t do enough for health care workers.
Today the Senate tried again to work out a deal, but failed a second time to agree on the same reasons.
New York Gov. Cuomo said he is issuing an emergency order to require hospitals in the state to increase their capacities by at least 50 percent. There are over 20,000 cases of COVID-19 in New York state alone. Over 130 people have died. The state is already under a “stay-at-home” order.
Harvey Weinstein tested positive for COVID-19 while in prison. He was recently transferred from Rikers Island in New York City to a different prison near Buffalo.
India has put most of the country under a lockdown and is grounding all domestic flights starting midnight on Wednesday. International flights had already been restricted. There are about 400 confirmed cases in the country and they are trying to prevent it from spreading.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was tested yesterday for COVID-19 and today her spokesperson said the test was negative.
President Trump tweeted today in all caps, “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”
Last week Trump issued guidelines that encouraged Americans to limit social gatherings to 10 people, follow the directions of their state and local authorities and to stay home if they felt sick. That 15-day period ends next Tuesday.
It is not clear what Trump means by the cure being worse than the problem itself — some said it means that Trump thinks the restrictions on Americans’ movements is hurting America more than helping it with the spiraling economy and millions of people facing extended job losses.
Trump retweeted several tweets by others that suggested us to isolate high risk groups and let the rest of us get back to work.
What this shows is that Trump might be thinking of going in a direction opposite of what many state governors are going towards.
Amazon and Walmart said they are hiring a combined 250,000 workers because demand has skyrocketed during the pandemic as more people stay home. Instacart said they are going to hire 300,000 workers. That means if you’re out a job from the hotel or restaurant industry, you might be able to find work with those companies.
U.S. stocks have dropped today. The DOW Jones went down over 800 points and is now at almost 18,000 points. To show you the impact of coronavirus on U.S. socks, we can look at this graphic to see a recent high point in the DOW — you see that it is almost 30,000 points. In March, it’s plunged down.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has committed itself to buying an unlimited amount of government bonds to support the American economy by making more cash available for banks and organizations.
As of 4:00 this afternoon, there are over 370,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world. 16,381 have died while 100,885 have recovered.
The U.S. has over 41,000 confirmed cases, second to Italy’s 64,000 cases. China has the most cases with over 80,000. The U.S. has at least 573 people die, while Italy reported over 6,000 deaths.
https://www.axios.com/senate-coronavirus-bill-vote-d87bf444-7b27-48c0-9feb-d1f5b4900a93.html
https://wxow.com/2020/03/23/list-of-states-with-stay-at-home-orders/
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-walmart-hiring-how-to-apply-2020-3#walmarts-online-application-takes-about-an-hour-to-complete-stores-will-call-prospective-candidates-for-a-pre-screen-and-may-provide-a-verbal-job-offer-by-the-end-of-the-call-4
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THE DAILY MOTH:
Italy was one of the first countries to order a full country lockdown in response to the coronavirus. “The Daily Moth” reporter Callie Frye reached out to two deaf Italians to describe the lockdown and how it has affected them as deaf individuals.
Text: When was the lockdown imposed?
ANTONIA SARACENO:
Everybody in Italy stays at home. In the north of Italy, they have been on lockdown for a long while since last month February until now. And for southern Italy, it began March this month because the Italian government has decided it is best to impose a national quarantine.
Text: Are police outside to enforce the quarantine?
ANTONIA SARACENO:
We do have police present on the streets. They make sure people do not go out for non-essential reasons. If one gets caught, police will give a 200 euros fine. When someone breaks the rule repeatedly, they will be put under house arrest for 3 months. What about essential errands such as grocery shopping, banking and others? You have to print a form called “auto-certification” from the internet and check out the boxes for essential errands you plan to do. You must carry the form with you at all times when you go out and run errands. Police will take a look at your form and honor your permission to go out.
BIAGIO PASSARELLI:
After I learned about emergency announcements, I immediately went out for grocery shopping the next day because I have a family, especially a baby. I drove back home after grocery shopping and saw a lot of police cars on the streets as police are strictly enforcing nationwide quarantine. Police were asking people, including myself, what are we doing outside? I had to show the form as a proof I am not shopping for a single person and that we are a family of three. The Italian government has a form for people to print out a form and fill out preventing people to go outside for non-essential errands. Police will check forms and sign them making sure people go out for grocery shopping, visiting pharmacy stores to pick up medications and to go to work. That is it.
Text: Are news accessible for deaf Italians?
BIAGIO PASSARELLI:
On March 10, I remember that evening where I was having a meal with friends and we were socializing. Suddenly, we saw breaking news on television from our high level government imposing emergency and urgent orders. You know the orders such as keeping a 1 meter distance from people, staying at home, not allowed to go out for non-essential errands and others. During that news announcements, there was no picture in picture sign language interpreter and captions. Many Deaf people in the community were outraged by that and then sent a lot of emails demanding communication access. After that, they apologized and since now they have been providing communication access. Their very first news announcement didn’t have sign language interpreters and captions, though.
ANTONIA SARACENO:
Yes, we have access to the announcements from Italian government and press conferences with both sign language interpreters and captions. Thanks to our Deaf organization here in Italy who have already urged them to provide access. Before that, we would receive important announcements from government but they forgot about Deaf people. There were no captions and sign language interpreters. Our Deaf organization as well as Deaf community sent a lot of emails demanding them to provide access. However, in Italy, we never have seen a picture in picture sign language interpreter on television. We are fortunate to receive plenty information on coronavirus in Italian Sign Language (LIS) plus we have sign language interpreters who would hear news then interpret the information in LIS on Facebook. I applaud them for doing that every day!
Text: Are you affected or know someone who was affected by coronavirus?
BIAGIO PASSARELLI:
Unfortunately yes, my friend’s friend’s friend has been infected with coronavirus. They shared about their experience and it was very difficult. They are gasping for air and have serious breathing issues so they rely on an oxygen ventilator. It is heartbreaking.
THE DAILY MOTH:
Thank you, Callie and Antonia and Biagio for sharing.
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#DeafBing: Delivering Mail While Deaf
ESMERALDA N.
Hello! I’m working now while everything is shut down. I’m wearing gloves because I don’t want to get the coronavirus. Deaf Bing What? My job is to deliver mail to mailboxes or by walking sometimes. So, Deaf Bing What? It’s when I’m sorting my mail, let me show you. The mailbox is over there. Look behind me. When I’m sorting the mail, someone will come behind me and start talking. I don’t even realize it and when I turn around, I’m spooked! The person will apologize and laugh and say “I didn’t mean to scare you. Do you mind if you send this mail?” Sure. Sometimes they will say “Sorry, can I pick up my mail?” I will have to ask them which number it is and give it to them. Deaf Bing! I can’t hear! Sorry, you have to learn to tap on my shoulder instead of using your voice.
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That is all for today. Stay safe, stay healthy, and practice social distancing. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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