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Stranger Than Fiction
A brief daily note of things you might find interesting or useful
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TOP NEWS
Reopening doubles death toll projection. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which produces a COVID-19 forecast sometimes cited by the White House, doubled its previous death-toll projection to reflect increasing movement of people and the relaxation of social-distancing guidelines in some places as many states start to reopen their economies.
COVID-19 vaccine enters human testing. Researchers have begun giving healthy volunteers in the U.S. an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE. The clinical trial will help the researchers evaluate whether the candidates are safe, which produces the strongest immune response that could fend off the coronavirus and what the dose should be.
Army faces social distancing restrictions while preparing for deployment. Barracks that normally bunks 44 soldiers instead will hold only 12, in cots spaced 6 feet apart. When waiting in line at an assembly building, troops must stand in prespaced squares, painted red. Masks, gloves and eye protection will be required. So will temperature checks, quarantines and social distancing.
Americans continue to give President Trump negative marks for his response to the outbreak. State governors, however get widely positive remarks, a trend that has been consistent throughout the pandemic. Trump’s ratings are 44 percent positive and 56 percent negative, in line with where he was two weeks ago and only slightly worse than a week ago.
WHAT I’M READING + WATCHING + LISTENING TO
THE COMMENT
“If they’re heroes, pay them like heroes — and protect them like the precious resources they are….Such plaudits, though presumably welcome, haven’t shielded these pandemic “warriors” from growing ill and dying in staggering numbers. The United States owes these workers more. Those around the country taking on great risk so that the rest of us can stay home should be compensated for that risk. Yet home health aides can make as little as $9 an hour for the privilege of exposing themselves to a deadly disease.” - Catherine Rampell
THE STRANGEST
THE AV ROOM