| THE BIG STORY
New York is now an epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic
Thanks in large part to a surge in testing, thousands of new coronavirus cases have been identified in New York. In total, almost 16,000 people have tested positive in the state — almost 5% of all the confirmed cases globally – although again, this is in large part because of a surge in testing. Across the US, about 35,000 people have tested positive; 471 have died.
Here are the latest numbers on the outbreak in the US and around the world, via our live tracking pages.
New York’s expanded lockdown went into full effect last night, meaning only essential businesses will open today. A growing number of states have introduced stay-at-home orders — alongside New York, California and Illinois, in recent days Ohio, Louisiana, Delaware, and Philadelphia all followed, putting almost 19 million more people on lockdown.
A major new financial relief and economic stimulus bill is still being haggled over in Congress. Yesterday Senate Democrats blocked a procedural vote on it, saying that among other things, the Republican proposal doesn’t do enough to guarantee that companies receiving bailout money don’t fire their workers after taking the cash.
There has already been a massive wave of layoffs across the US, with analysts expecting the largest weekly surge in unemployment claims ever recorded when the numbers are released this week. According to our live tracking page, based on early data from just 17 states, there have already been almost 700,000 unemployment claims filed — more than at the peak of the 2008 recession.
via the BuzzFeed News unemployment tracker STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Are black communities being overlooked in coronavirus testing?
A group of doctors in Virginia is raising questions about the racial breakdown of coronavirus testing, calling on the CDC to include race and ethnicity in its data on how many tests have been administered in the US.
“We know in the US that there are great discrepancies in not only the diagnosis but the treatment that African Americans and other minorities are afforded. So I want to make sure that in this pandemic, that black and brown people are treated in the same way and that these tests are made available in the same pattern as for white people,” said Dr. Ebony Hilton, an associate professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Virginia.
With tests still in limited supply, doctors often have to pick and choose who to test, often relying on subjective evaluations of how people describe symptoms like exhaustion or pain. And once those evaluations come into play, Dr. Hilton said, they’ve vulnerable to the same implicit biases that impact so many other aspects of American life.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images HOW TO PLAGUE How To Plague is BuzzFeed News' new advice column for these incredibly confusing times, hosted by the one and only Katie Notopoulos. This week, she tackles reader questions including: is it ethical to keep on ordering random non-essential stuff from Amazon? And what’s the situation with letting other people pet your dog?
Katie will answer all your coronavirus etiquette questions and ethical dilemmas, and when she doesn’t have a good answer, she’ll ask the experts. Do you have a question you want answered? Let it rip.
SNAPSHOTS Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in isolation at a prison in upstate New York. He was moved to the prison days ago; previously he was being held at the Rikers Island facility in New York City where dozens of inmates have tested positive in the last week.
The International Olympic Committee says this summer’s Tokyo Olympics may need to be rescheduled. “Cancellation is not on the agenda,” it said.
One politician who has found his moment in the coronavirus crisis: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “The last few weeks have been a revelation for DeWine’s doubters and vindication for those who believed his governorship could be more than a capstone” to his long career, Henry Gomez reports.
The pandemic and the surrounding chaos has been awful for women undergoing IVF. Many must make an agonizing decision whether to put their treatment on hold.
Fabrice Coffrini / Getty Images LIVE THROUGH THIS How to survive a yet another plague
Mark Schoofs watched his partner die of AIDS in 1991, and was at the frontlines of reporting on the global epidemic, winning a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of its spread in Africa. Here’s his wise and beautiful advice for how we can get through this, which we will.
“The virus is here, though, whether we fight for a better society or not. The best memorial we gave to those who died of AIDS was not anything carved in stone. It was a stronger LGBTQ community, more rights, and a health care system that worked at least a little better,” he writes.
“Now, with COVID-19 striking everyone, our secret strength is that we are in this together. Hold onto that truth and amplify it, because it has enormous power.” AMONG THE REINDEERS IN EASTERN SIBERIA Russia’s Jared Leto
In late February Max Adeev, a photographer in Russia, headed into the wilderness of Yakutia, a remote region of eastern Siberia that is one of the coldest places on earth. He was traveling with a group of reindeer herders, completely off the grid, as part of an eight-year project that he’s aiming to turn into a book. Max Adeev He didn’t make contact with the outside world for a couple of weeks, and when he got his first phone signal on March 17, he discovered that….the world had come unstuck?
‘“I left the world unattended for 10 days and it was enough for it to fall apart,” Adeev told BuzzFeed News. “Just in 10 fucking days.”
Don’t let the world fall apart today, we’re depending on you,
Tom P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Tom Gara and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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