The Daily Moth 3-26-2020
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, March 26. Here are updates on coronavirus.
Last night the Senate passed a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, the largest in history. It includes direct payments to most Americans, enhanced unemployment insurance with an additional $600 per week, $500 billion in loans to large corporations, $367 billion to support small businesses, and $100 billion for hospitals. It is expected to pass the House and be quickly signed by President Trump.
Those who receive SSI and SSDI benefits will be eligible to receive direct payments. I will be posting a separate video on this.
Today it was revealed that 3.3 million people filed for unemployment insurance last week, which is a record. You can see from this graph from Axios how the unemployment numbers have astronomically risen. We know many are out of work because there are multiple states and counties that have shut down, affecting hundreds of thousands of businesses and organizations.
But investors did not show concern as U.S. stock markets had a third straight day of positive gains, buoyed by the stimulus bill. It’s the biggest 3-day gain since 1931. We’re still not anywhere near the level we were in February.
China announced it will temporarily bar foreigners from entering the country beginning midnight on March 28. China has reportedly succeeded in stopping the coronavirus from spreading, but is seeing new cases come from those who come to China from other countries. It is a complete reversal because in the past couple of months, the U.S. and other countries restricted travelers from China, and now it’s the other way around.
The U.S. is still reporting ever-growing confirmed cases of COVID-19. As of this afternoon, there are over 80,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and by the time this video is captioned and posted, we’ll probably surpass Italy and China’s numbers. We do not have as many deaths as Italy or China. We have over 1,100 deaths, while China has almost 3,300 deaths and Italy has over 8,200 deaths. Our numbers of infections and deaths in the future will depend on how much support our healthcare system get and on our behaviors — staying at home and practicing social distance.
In separate but related news, there are two news stories of individuals who face criminal charges for coronavirus pranks.
In Pennsylvania, police in Hanover Township said a woman purposefully coughed on $35,000 worth of fresh food, bakery items, and meat. Staff at the store disposed of the items and disinfected everything. The woman was arrested and is facing charges, but it is not clear what the charges could be. The woman is now getting mental health treatment.
In New Jersey, a man was charged with making terroristic threats after he allegedly intentionally coughed on a grocery store employees and said he had the coronavirus.
CNN reported that the Justice Department said the virus is a “biological agent” and threatening to spread it is considered a terrorist threat.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-stimulus-package...
https://www.axios.com/china-foreigners-visas-coronavirus...
https://www.cnn.com/.../woman-coughed-on.../index.html
https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases20/pr20200324b.html
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A deaf woman from Detroit, Michigan, Joyce Davis, passed away due to complications from COVID-19 on Sunday, March 22 in Detroit.
As far as we know, she is the first deaf person in the U.S. to die from coronavirus. She was 71 years old and would have been 72 next month.
This was her sign name. She was a retired teacher from the Detroit Public Schools.
Sheryl Emery, a long-time friend of Joyce, said she was admitted to the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit because she had some breathing issues. Sheryl said the hospital didn’t realize she had the coronavirus until six days later.
SHERYL EMERY:
She went in the hospital because of other health issues. When she was in the hospital, they didn’t find that she had the coronavirus until almost six days after she went in the hospital.
THE DAILY MOTH:
She had pneumonia and COVID-19 and ultimately passed away on Sunday morning.
Sheryl said she is not sure how Joyce contracted the virus, but said she was a very social person who loved to attend church, go shopping, and go out to restaurants.
There is a very high rate of infections here in Michigan, especially in the Detroit area, so Joyce was one of those impacted.
Sheryl said when she last talked with Joyce last week, she had no complaints about her nurses or doctors, but she was frustrated at how the hospital managed interpreters because her interpreters were stretched thin with other assignments at the same time.
SHERYL EMERY:
I know that when Joyce Davis was at the hospital, she explained to me some of her frustrations with the hospital service. She really appreciated all of her interpreters who were assigned to work with her, but the hospital didn’t seem to be very organized for communication access. She said the interpreters worked really hard but often there was only one interpreter scheduled. Sometimes doctors or nurses would come in but the interpreter was already pulled away someplace else in the same hospital. There may have been three or four other deaf patients so one interpreter would have to rotate among them to try and serve all of the deaf people at the same time.
THE DAILY MOTH:
I reached out to the hospital to ask for a response on the delay in diagnosis of COVID-19 and on the interpreting issue, but did not receive an immediate reply. We know that hospitals all over the U.S. are overwhelmed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The details of the funeral and final resting place for Joyce is not yet determined. Sheryl said Joyce’s family is spread out across the states and they are working out the details. We know it is a difficult time to travel and to assemble because of the pandemic.
I asked Sheryl what she remembers about Joyce.
SHERYL EMERY:
She loved deaf children. She was very dedicated to deaf children. She loved her family. She had two children of her own, a son and a daughter.
[Image of Joyce Davis with her adult son and daughter]
I remember that she would always sing. She loved to sing. She loved to praise God. Those are the things I will remember the most about her.
THE DAILY MOTH:
Thank you for your time, Sheryl. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Joyce Davis.
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THE DAILY MOTH:
Hello! You’re Melinni “Mel” Taylor, founder of Deaf Future Works, a consultation service for people who have SSI, SSDI, and related things. Thank you for joining us!
MEL TAYLOR:
It’s my pleasure.
THE DAILY MOTH:
The Senate just passed a $2 trillion stimulus package that will include payments of $1,200 to most Americans. Does this include those who receive SSI and SSDI benefits? Will they still get the payments? There has been some confusion from the Deaf community so could you clear it up?
MEL TAYLOR:
Okay, $1,200 will go to adult individuals who earn less than $75,000, for an individual person. For couples who earn less than $150,000, they will get $2,400. It will be $500 per child. That’s what the bill says. Now for people who receive SSDI, which is based on work history and payments into the system, and this includes their family’s past payments into the system, if they become disabled they can get SSDI, they can get the stimulus money.
Now for those on SSI, they can get the stimulus money as well.
THE DAILY MOTH:
For those who are on SSI and SSDI, maybe they have not filed a tax return. They may be concerned if they will get their money. Can you explain how money will be sent to them?
MEL TAYLOR:
That’s a good question. In 2008, the government was unprepared in sending stimulus money to people. They couldn’t figure out what to do because many people didn’t file their taxes. Many people on SSI don’t file for taxes, anyway. It’s because SSI benefits are not taxable. So if they are not working, the IRS doesn’t have that information and they don’t need to file taxes. But, Social Security does provide 1099 tax forms.
THE DAILY MOTH:
For the end-of-year reports.
MEL TAYLOR:
Yes, the end-of-year reports, that information includes how much SSI money was given. So, that information is available and that information will be used because the social security number is there and likely the address is there as well. That’s how the IRS will send out the checks. If you already have a direct deposit set up, that’s where the IRS will send it directly to your bank account. If not, they will probably look at the address on the 1099 and mail it to you. They did say sending money via mail would take a bit longer, of course. Direct deposits are faster. It will come in April. They did not say which day specifically, but hopefully soon. They are trying to be quick with the payments.
THE DAILY MOTH:
So it means, for sure, those who are on SSI and SSDI will get the $1,200 payments, as long as they don’t earn more than $99,000 or if it’s more than $75,000, it’ll be a bit less and phase out. But the majority of people on SSI and SSDI do not earn more than $75,000. I’m assuming that most are under that range.
MEL TAYLOR:
Right. That’s why they said “most Americans will get the payments.”
THE DAILY MOTH:
Now, I wonder, if a person doesn’t have SSI or SSDI and has a job, but lost their job because maybe they worked at a restaurant, or in the hotel industry, or on a cruise, and they see their job shut down. Can they apply for both unemployment and SSDI at the same time?
MEL TAYLOR:
Yes. They certainly can. If you lost your job and apply for unemployment insurance, you can go ahead and apply for SSDI or SSI. Either one. You have to apply. If you already have SSDI and work part-time and lost your part-time job, and still have SSDI, you can go ahead and apply for unemployment. Did you know that? You can do that because unemployment insurance benefits doesn’t have anything to do with disability. It’s about employment. So if you lost your job, it doesn’t matter if you already have SSDI. You can go ahead and file for unemployment. The same goes for those on SSI. You can go ahead. And unemployment insurance will increase with a $600 max every week for four months.
THE DAILY MOTH:
Right.
MEL TAYLOR:
People can really benefit from that money if they lost their job. They can use that money big time.
THE DAILY MOTH:
I really appreciate your time and insights. Thank you so much Mel!
MEL TAYLOR:
You’re welcome.
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