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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
Trump said on Monday that he plans to sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the U.S. He made the announcement via Tweet, saying he would temporarily halt immigration “in light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy”—referring to COVID-19—“as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens.”
COVID highlights a digital divide. The need for expanded broadband access across the country has been made even more apparent by the current crisis. People stuck at home are seeking access to vital services online such as small-business loans, unemployment benefits and IRS payments to school classes and telemedicine. Pelosi and Trump have said they want to push forward infrastructure legislation that would include broadband funding but have sought shorter term programs instead.
Most Americans are dissatisfied with Trump’s response to COVID-19. 54 percent of people surveyed in a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll give the president negative marks for his handling of the outbreak in this country and offer mixed reviews for the federal government as a whole.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil markets, dropped 15% to $20.67 a barrel, their lowest level since 2002. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, dropped below zero for the first time in history.
There are now 2.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. 787,960 of those cases are in the U.S. The global death toll is 171,249, the U.S. death toll is 42,364. The U.S. has tested 4 million people, far fewer than several other countries per capita.
WHAT I’M READING + WATCHING + LISTENING TO
THE COMMENT
“OSHA also can and should go beyond C.D.C. guidelines to require measures such as staggered shifts and lunch breaks and construction of barriers to protect employees in jobs like manufacturing and meatpacking that require close quarters. And it should carefully evaluate updated C.D.C. guidelines that permit employers to bring some workers back to the job after potential Covid-19 exposure before a two-week quarantine. Some say the new policy, meant to keep essential businesses running, risks re-exposing workers. Minnesota’s Department of Health, by contrast, has maintained a recommendation for a 14-day quarantine for workers after exposure.” - The New York Times Editorial Board
THE STRANGEST
THE AV ROOM