Wednesday, May 6 coronavirus & top news briefs
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, May 6. Here are coronavirus and top news briefs.
CBS News did an analysis of which states had the fastest-growing confirmed cases of COVID-19 by looking at the number of cases on May 3 and comparing it against the week before — on April 26. Illinois is #1 with 4,050 more new cases. Minnesota is #2 with 1,815 more new cases. Texas is in third, Virginia is fourth, Maryland is fifth, and Iowa is sixth.
New York state said they have seen 64 cases of children with a disease that seems to be related to COVID-19 — a dangerous inflammatory syndrome that occurs days to weeks after COVID-19 illness. It includes persistent fever, abdominal symptoms, rash, and sometimes serious cardiovascular symptoms. New York is calling this disease the “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Associated with COVID-19.”
In another New York state news — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the majority of recent coronavirus hospitalizations were those who were staying at home and are non-essential or retired workers. Cuomo said based on statewide surveys, most of the hospitalized were over 50, live downstate, and have pre-existing conditions.
In Dallas, a hair salon owner named Shelly Luther was sentenced to one week in jail because she illegally kept her business open. She received a citation, a cease and desist letter, and a restraining order, but still kept her business open. She was among the protesters in Texas against shutdowns and said she was keeping the salon open so she could feed her kids. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the sentencing was excessive.
Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are now over 47,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 53 African countries with the most confirmed cases in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria. Over 1,800 people have died. The World Health Organization (WHO) said they are concerned about African countries because many do not have strong health systems or have shortages of personal protective equipment.
The WHO said that it is possible that France had a case of COVID-19 on December 27. The individual was thought to have pneumonia but is now confirmed infected with COVID-19. Now some countries are re-testing samples of patients who had respiratory symptoms in December and January to better understand how the virus spread.
Spain announced they would soon declare a day for a national mourning for the over 25,000 people who died from COVID-19. There are over 219,000 people who tested positive.
South Korea has successfully contained the spread of the coronavirus. Today they reported zero new local infections and only two imported cases. ABC News said it’s the lowest number in almost 80 days. I remember when South Korea was one of the hardest hit countries with COVID-19, and now they’ve turned things around by focusing on testing, contact tracing, and treatments. Since February, South Korea has had over 10,800 confirmed infections and 255 deaths. South Korea is now reopening museums and libraries.
The United Kingdom has almost 200,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 29,500 deaths. It’s more deaths than Italy’s 29,315.
There is a new artwork by famed and mysterious artist Banksy that has been put on a wall of a hospital in Southampton, England. It shows a young boy holding an action figure of a nurse, making it look as if he is making it fly like a superhero. There is a basket (maybe a wastebasket) that shows a Batman and a Spider-man action figure slumped in it. The art piece is titled “Game Changer.” The artwork will be auctioned with the proceeds going to the UK National Health Service (NHS). The true identity of Banksy is unknown and his art is worth millions of dollars.
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to the hospital on Tuesday because she had an infection caused by a gallstone. She received treatment that did not involve surgery. She was still able to participate in today’s Supreme Court oral arguments via phone from the hospital. Ginsburg is 87 years old. A case today was about whether employers with moral or religious convictions could choose to deny to provide their employees access to free contraceptive coverage (birth control). News reports said there was the sound of a toilet flushing in the middle of the arguments.
In Georgia, a video was released yesterday that showed a 25-year-old black male named Ahmaud Arbery who was shot and killed by two white males who chased him in a pickup truck. He was shot at point-blank range while jogging on a road when two white males drove in a pickup truck. The shooting was on February 23 in Brunswick.
The video shows Arbery trying to run around the truck, which was stopped in the middle of the road. Someone fired a shot, then Arbery is seen struggling with another man. Two more shots are fired, and Arbery is seen trying to run away and collapsing.
Police said the two men are Gregory McMichael (64) and his son, Travis (34). As of today, neither have been arrested. Gregory used to be a police officer and once worked for a local prosecutor. Lawyers representing Arbery’s family said they are demanding the two men be arrested, calling the shooting a “modern-day lynching.” Arbery’s family is suspicious of local police because they said police told them at first that Arbery was involved in a burglary and was confronted by a homeowner who shot at him, the family later found out that he was shot while jogging.
A police report said Gregory (the father) thought Arbery was a burglar and decided to get his handgun while his son grabbed a shotgun and chased him in their truck. A third man, who is a neighbor, joined in the chase.
A local district attorney said he would present the case to a grand jury in Glynn County to consider bringing charges. Right now a grand jury can’t be convened until June due to COVID-19.
There is a lot of outrage on social media over the shooting and the lack of arrests.
NBA star and activist LeBron James expressed outrage on Twitter, posting an image of Arbery and saying “We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he has directed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to start an investigation.
That is all the updates for today. I am working on several Deaf News stories and I will be sharing some of them tomorrow. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/06/supreme-court-clashes-over-trump-contraceptive-coverage-rules.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/states-coronavirus-cases-growing-fastest/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/new-banksy-artwork-hospital-nhs-heroes-a4434176.html
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Cuomo-Those-recently-hospitalized-with-COVID-19-15250457.php
https://twitter.com/i/events/1257826553360052225
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/bring-charges-against-brunswick-shooter/fz7taEww0Nqfedg8JgXm2K/