COVID-19 news: GOP floats ‘sacrifice the elderly’ trial balloon; U.S. becomes new world hotspot

COVID-19 news: GOP floats ‘sacrifice the elderly’ trial balloon; U.S. becomes new world hotspot
NewsColony

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted the proposal: “We’re not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable.”

• Online, a new “#DieForTheDow” hashtag mocked and condemned the would-be tradeoff. And do Republicans understand that the Americans they are suggesting be sacrificed to reopen the economy are disproportionately their own base?

• Arguments that the elderly and immunocompromised are most at risk from the virus have tended to overshadow the real truth: The virus is threatening plenty of younger and healthier people as well.

• The United States is primed to become the new world epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, as U.S. cases rise above those of Italy and other tertiary hotspots—with few signs of decelerating. Especially at risk in this country: “low-income people, people in rural areas, homeless people, single parents, inmates, and more.”

• Private businesses are beginning to take aggressive actions themselves to help fight COVID-19 in their communities.

• Trump’s continued insistence that specific named drugs may be “game changers” in fighting COVID-19 has caused at least one American death when an elderly couple took a similar drug in the belief that it would prevent COVID infection. These drugs have not been proven to be effective, though trials are underway; nevertheless, lupus sufferers and other Americans are now facing shortages of one of the much-needed drugs as other Americans hoard it after hearing Trump describe its supposed benefits.

• Despite clear dangers of pandemic spread in the typically overcrowded and unsanitary facilities, the government continues to confine asylum-seeking families in detention centers rather than releasing them. Those not yet admitted to the United States, instead being forced to remain in Mexico by new administration policy, will be waiting longer as U.S. immigration courts postpone all cases through April 22.

• At least five people have tested positive for the virus after attending a “disco party” at Trump’s Rancho Palos Verdes, California, golf club. Six of his private businesses are now shut down due to the pandemic.

• Liberty University, run by fervent Trump ally Jerry Falwell Jr., announced it would be reopening the campus despite pandemic measures. There is no word on what steps will be taken to prevent virus transmission to the neighboring community; Falwell says only that “99% of [students] are not at the age to be at risk and they don’t have conditions that put them at risk.”

• While Fox News personalities were dismissing the possibility of nationwide pandemic and downplaying the number of likely deaths, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch was self-isolating to avoid the virus.

• The first political ads condemning Trump’s response to the pandemic highlight his continued dismissals of the virus even as U.S. cases continued to mount.

• Be wary of evangelical organizations promoting homeschooling as long-term answer to pandemic spread. Few regulations and little oversight continue to plague the movement and endanger children.

• Hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise as Trump promotes a new talking point shifting blame for his own poor response to the emerging pandemic by calling it the “Chinese virus” in public events. This is because Trump’s most reliable viewers are (1) racist and (2) some of the stupidest people in America.

• Lighter news to end on: Combatting the stress of the pandemic and its effects with viral videos and #ClubQuarantine

Source: Daily Kos NewsColony: Politics

The post COVID-19 news: GOP floats ‘sacrifice the elderly’ trial balloon; U.S. becomes new world hotspot appeared first on NewsColony.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2Jc6LvR

Volunteers book hotel room for homeless man with SingapoRediscovers vouchers

NewsColony Volunteers book hotel room for homeless man with SingapoRediscovers vouchers © The Independent Singapore Singapore — A group of volunteers from the Mummy Yummy Singapore welfare organisation donated their SingapoRediscovers Vouchers to book a hotel room for a homeless man. The man, who was identified as Jayden, did not have a place to live while waiting for the Housing Board (HDB) to allocate him a rental flat. In a Facebook post on Mummy Yummy Singapore’s page on Wednesday (Dec 16), the volunteers said: “We used our $100 Rediscover Singapore vouchers to redeem hotel stay for him and successfully booked 9 days worth of stay at 3 days per voucher.” They added that they were unable to book a longer stay because of higher hotel rates over Christmas and New Year. The volunteers hoped that they would be able to bridge Jayden’s stay until he got a flat. “Thanks our government for giving us these vouchers which in return we can put them to good use for people in need,” th...

Disabled people are still vulnerable, even as COVID-19 normalizes their ‘special’ needs

Disabled people are still vulnerable, even as COVID-19 normalizes their ‘special’ needs NewsColony Perhaps it’s appropriate that public notices of the COVID-19 crisis began as an ableist cruelty. Health officials assured the nation that only the elderly and those with chronic health conditions would be seriously affected; most Americans (i.e., the normal people) would have only mild symptoms and be fine. x A friendly reminder: people who will be high-risk patients if we get coronavirus can hear you when you reassure everyone we’re the only ones who might die. Ã¢Â€Â” Alexandra Brodsky (@azbrodsky) February 29, 2020 Soon after the announcement of those assurances, the likelihood of high-risk people surviving was further limited by the people more likely to be fine. Shopping frenzies cleared stores of essential supplies needed everyday by many disabled people, like thermometers, hand wipes, masks, and IV infusion supplies. Accustomed to their needs ...

JANE FRYER: The judo master who made me the fall guy… aged 97!

NewsColony JANE FRYER: The judo master who made me the fall guy… aged 97! Jane Fryer is pictured above with Jack Hearn. ‘See, I’d get you round the neck and press on your Adam’s apple,’ he grins, silver moustache bobbing, white teeth flashing. ‘ And if I carried on with that, you’d be dead in a minute’ There is a startling moment in Jack Hearn’s extremely spick and span kitchen, when I’m standing between his trophy table and the wall and he’s telling me how he could finish me off with his huge, bearlike paws. ‘See, I’d get you round the neck and press on your Adam’s apple,’ he grins, silver moustache bobbing, white teeth flashing. ‘ And if I carried on with that, you’d be dead in a minute.’ We have already had a lively discussion about whether he should, or should not, throw me over one of his surprisingly wide shoulders on to his beautifully vacuumed living room floor. ‘I could throw you, of course I could! But I won’t,’ he says. ‘It’s not fair — you don’t know...

NewsColony

Search This Blog