Stranger Than Fiction

A brief daily note of things you might find interesting or useful

April 01, 2020

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TOP NEWS

  • The U.S. could see over 2,000 deaths per day from COVID-19 starting in two weeks. The projections come from the University of Washington which show the illness could result in nearly 84,000 deaths in the U.S. by early August. The U.S. government projects a total U.S. death toll of 100,000 to 240,000 by the time COVID-19 has subsided. Without social distancing measures that have been put in place, they project that number could have been as much as 2.2 million.

  • Spain passes 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The country now has more cases than any country except Italy and the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin is working remotely after learning the doctor who gave him a tour of Moscow’s main hospital last week had tested positive for COVID-19.

  • COVID-19 is creating greater inequality. An Axios-Ipsos survey shows “Americans with less education and lower incomes far more likely either to have to keep showing up at their workplaces — putting themselves at greater daily risk of infection — or more likely to have seen their work dry up.” Leaving New York City to give birth at a less burdened hospital in the U.S. is an option for few of the means to afford it.

  • The divide between online and brick-and-mortar retailers is growing. One of the many shifts in the economy cause by COVID-19 is consumers buying nearly all of their purchases online, and is hastening the move for other businesses to move there. Telemedicine and online therapy is growing, while virtual classes for yoga, fitness and education are booming.

  • Unemployment checks are expected to reach states this week. An unprecedented 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits two weeks ago. It’s unclear how smoothly those payments will be distributed with the system overloaded at a level that has never been seen before. Payments have been doubled in some states, a increase of up to $600 a week.

THE ELECTION

THE COMMENT

“The dirty little secret is everyone’s talking to Biden’s campaign,” said Sean McElwee, co-founder of the liberal think tank Data for Progress. “There will be fights, but at the end of the day, progressives still hold votes in the Senate and increasingly Democratic voters stand behind our views. I expect we’ll see Biden embracing key planks of the ambitious agenda progressives have outlined on issues like climate and pharmaceutical policy.”

THE STRANGEST

THE AV ROOM