The top story this afternoon, The Chinese province of Jilin has put 108 million people into lockdown after 34 new cases of Coronavirus were discovered, resulting in one death. Government officials have closed schools in addition to stopping busses and trains from leaving the province.
The official response is in sharp contrast to how US officials are approaching the pandemic. The state of Oregon has lifted some measures today.. Even states with large outbreaks of coronavirus are relaxing lockdown restrictions.
The Stock Market is up in early morning trading on news that Moderna has started phase 1 of a covid 19 trial. Fed Chair Jarome cautioned in an interview with 60 minutes last night that the economy won’t fully recover until a covid-19 vaccine is complete. Adding, “In the long run, and even in the medium run,” the chairman said, “you wouldn’t want to bet against the American economy. This economy will recover. And that means people will go back to work. Unemployment will get back down. We’ll get through this.”
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States exceeded 1.5 million on Monday, as total deaths caused by the new coronavirus approached 90,000, according to a Reuters tally of state and county figures.
Most U.S. states reported a drop in new cases of the respiratory illness for the week ended May 17, with only 13 states seeing a rise in infections compared to the previous week, a separate Reuters analysis found.
Tennessee had the biggest weekly increase with 33%. Louisiana’s new cases rose 25%, and Texas reported 22% more cases than in the first week of May
All three of these states recently removed restrictions on social gatherings and reopened businesses in highly publicized, but much criticized, decisions by their governors.
In local news, a Portland man is suing his landlord for violating social distancing rules by hosting numerous house parties that he says are endangering his health.
Freelance journalist Cory Elia filed the lawsuit May 18 in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
He alleges that his Southeast Portland landlord, Dee Plumlee, repeatedly invited multiple people over to the house to party and drink alcohol without maintaining social distancing and without using personal protective equipment, thus subjecting her tenant to an increased risk of exposure to the coronavirus. She also threatened to shoot Elia if he was unable to pay rent.
The complaint argues that by inviting the tenant onto her property and charging him rent, Plumlee is required by Oregon law to maintain a safe and habitable environment for her tenant.
This from the Guardian newspaper: Cellphone location data suggests that demonstrators at anti-lockdown protests – some of which have been connected with Covid-19 cases – are often traveling hundreds of miles to events, returning to all parts of their states, and even crossing into neighboring states.
The data raises the prospect that the protests will play a role in spreading the coronavirus epidemic to areas which have, so far, experienced relatively few infections.
The anonymized location data was captured from opt-in cellphone apps, and data scientists at the firm VoteMap used it to determine the movements of devices present at protests in late April and early May in five states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and Florida.
The state department Inspector General who was fired by Trump on Friday was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for dodgy arms deals when he was dismissed from his post by the President.
According to Democratic congressional aides, Linick had nearly completed an investigation into a highly controversial decision by Trump and Pompeo last May to approve $8bn in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates without consulting Congress.
Donald Trump declared his intention to fire the state department inspector general, Steve Linick, on Friday, saying the decision was taken at Pompeo’s advice.
Congress has 30 days to investigate the decision, but the Senate has so far declined to investigate any of the multiple firings of public officials in watchdog roles, as Trump has steadily dismantled the machinery of government oversight.
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