Some of the nation’s wealthiest men are now advising the President on how and when to reopen the U-S economy. Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, this morning took part in a White House conference call about how to reopen the U.S. economy in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The phone call followed an announcement Tuesday by U.S. President Donald Trump about the formation of an advisory council on how to open up the country. After Donald Trump claimed on Monday that he had quote “total authority” to reopen the economy, he backed off that claim today after pushback from governors, including New York’s Andrew Cuomo. But that was after Trump, apparently joking, called Cuomo and other governors ‘mutineers’. Health experts have repeatedly warned about reopening the economy too quickly – recommending instead a slow and cautious approach.
In New York, the Governor has ordered everyone to wear face coverings in public, as the state continues to battle the worst coronavirus outbreak in the US. This comes after a video went viral on the internet showing police in Philadelphia forcibly removing a black commuter from a bus for not wearing a mask. This was contrasted with Spanish transit officers, who are going around the subways and bus stations in Spain handing out masks.
The US government has for several weeks now been refusing all asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border, no matter how desperate the conditions they are fleeing. Guatemalan officials have called the US the ‘Wuhan of the Americas’ for their wanton spreading of the virus among deportees. The country’s health minister says deportation flights from the US are driving up coronavirus cases in Guatemala, as the US government is taking no precautions to prevent the spread of the virus in immigration detention facilities. One flight of people deported from the US to Guatemala had seventy five percent of the passengers test positive for coronavirus upon arrival in Guatemala.
In Oregon news, a new report by the Oregonian newspaper has found that more than half of the fifty five deaths from coronavirus in the state are linked to nursing homes and care facilities. The deaths span 13 nursing, assisted living and independent living homes in six counties, and include the cluster at the Southeast Portland nursing home Healthcare at Foster Creek. Nine people have died of the virus at that facility, and fifty have tested positive.
The Oregonian newspaper itself has announced pay cuts for virtually all employees. The newspaper is heavily dependent on advertising revenue, which has all but disappeared during the pandemic outbreak. The pay cuts will be between 2 and 20 percent, and will last from May through December. In addition, Oregonian employees will be required to take unpaid furloughs of different lengths in the coming months. Other local media outlets are also making cuts - The Portland Mercury switched to online-only distribution in mid-March and temporarily laid off editorial staffers. Willamette Week laid off five workers and reduced its print run. KGW, a PBJ news partner, is also furloughing workers at one-week intervals in April.
Meanwhile, demands from Oregon prisoners and their families to address coronavirus in Oregon’s prisons and jails have gone unanswered by Governor Kate Brown. Yesterday Governor Brown held a press conference in which she stated that she does not plan to have any early releases for adults in custody. This is in sharp contrast to Washington and California, which have both released hundreds of non-violent offenders. A group of inmates watching Brown’s press conference on a television in a common room reacted violently, according to the Willamette Week newspaper.
A driving protest outside the Columbia River Correctional Institution in Northeast Portland on Thursday involved dozens of cars honking horns and posting signs in their car windows, demanding that inmates be provided with facemasks and soap. Meanwhile, a group of civil rights attorneys filed a federal lawsuit demanding Brown release Oregon inmates who were nearing the end of their sentence. In the past week, more than a dozen inmates and prison staff in Oregon have tested positive for the virus.
Supporters of a Metro ballot measure to fund homeless services in the Portland area say the COVID-19 crisis may be increasing the likelihood of its approval at the May 19 primary election. Campaign consultants released a recent poll on Measure 26-210 showing that fifty seven percent of voters support it, while only thirty six percent oppose it. If approved by Metro voters, Measure 26-210 would impose a 1% tax on individual incomes of more than $125,000; and profits of businesses with incomes of more than $5 million. The funding would provide homeless services including rent assistance, job training, mental health treatment and addiction counseling.
President Donald Trump has halted U.S. funding for the World Health Organization and is reviewing how it has handled the coronavirus. Doctors and survivors of the virus have published open letters asking him to reconsider, saying that the World Health Organization manages to support national health plans and emergency responses in more than 150 countries with an annual global budget smaller than that of one New York City hospital system. It is also the only organization in the world with the infrastructure and ability to identify emerging diseases, as it did with COVID-19 and every major health threat in modern history.
The number of cases of COVID-19 hit the two million mark yesterday, with the largest increase in the US. There are now six hundred thirty five thousand cases in the US, with just under thirty eight thousand dead.
A reminder to all our listeners that the Governors of Oregon and Washington have issued executive orders for all residents to stay home unless doing essential work or going out to make essential purchases. This helps slow the spread of this virus, and appears to be working in both states – as long as people continue to follow the orders to remain home and stay separated from other people.
- KBOO