Monday, May 11th, 2020
White House Exposure, Vaccine Volunteers & Workers Rewarded
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
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Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to review the latest happenings...
White House New Precautions
Top doctors in charge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic are going into isolation. Infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, CDC Director, Dr. Robert Redfield, and FDA Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn all came in contact with all least 1 White House aide who later tested positive for the virus. So they’ll be self-isolating for two weeks. Vice President Mike Pence also came in contact with people who now have COVID-19. However, he will be returning to the White House today. Both Vice President Pence and President Trump are being tested every day. So far, they’ve been testing negative.
Read More: AP, USA Today, ABC News
Reopening Risks
President Trump said he believed COVID-19 would go away without a vaccine. However, public health experts, like the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, are pushing back. Dr. Tom Inglesby told Fox News COVID-19 will remain a problem until a vaccine is developed. He says the U.S. is still in the early stages of the pandemic, even though nearly 80,000 Americans have already died from it.
Read More: FOX News, Baltimore Sun
Case Count/Death Toll: Johns Hopkins
People Volunteer to be Infected
Thousands of people are volunteering to get infected with the new coronavirus. They want to participate in a “human challenge trial.” They would purposely be exposed to COVID-19, just to see if a vaccine works. The FDA has never allowed this for a disease like this one, that doesn’t have a cure. However, advocates say it’s necessary to speed up the testing phase. Opponents say it’s not ethical since doctors don’t know enough about the long-term effects of the virus. As of now, there’s no plan to do this in the U.S.
Read More: USA Today, Forbes, NBC News, 1DaySooner
Little Richard Dies
The world is remembering a rock and roll pioneer. Little Richard died Saturday after a battle with bone cancer. He’s known for hit songs like “Tutti Frutti” and “Good Golly Miss Molly,” as well as outlandish costumes and showmanship. Other musical legends, like Elton John, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie, have said they idolized Little Richard. He was 87 years old.
Read More: NPR, Rolling Stone
GA Arbery Murder Investigation
Georgia law enforcement is working with new evidence to investigate the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. His family’s lawyers say surveillance video shows Arbery at a property under construction, doing nothing illegal, then jogging down the road before being ambushed. The suspects are Gregory and Travis McMichael, who are father and son. They weren’t arrested and charged with murder until two months after the shooting. Now, the Georgia Attorney General is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate how local law enforcement originally handled the case.
Read More: AP, CNN, AJC, WJXT
Tesla Sues CA County
Electric carmaker Tesla is suing to reopen. CEO Elon Musk filed the lawsuit against Alameda County in California since county officials won’t let him reopen his factory in Fremont. Musk is now threatening to move Tesla’s headquarters to either Texas or Nevada. Health officials say they’re working with the company on a reopening plan.
Read More: CNN, The Verge, ABC News
FDA Approves New COVID Test
The FDA has approved a new, rapid COVID-19 test that promises to diagnose patients in as little as 15 minutes. Just like the old tests, this one requires a nasal swab. But the results come in faster because the test only looks for virus proteins, rather than genetic material. Also, it doesn’t require fancy lab equipment to read results, so the test can be processed in most doctors’ offices. However, the new test is only about 85% accurate, so the FDA says when this new test comes back negative, results should be backed up with the traditional swab test.
Read More: WSJ, CBS News, FDA
UFC Restarts
After a roughly two-month hiatus, the UFC made its return over the weekend. It held fights in Jacksonville, Florida without fans in the stands. All fighters had to be tested for COVID-19 before the event. President Trump recorded a “congratulations” message for the UFC, saying it’s important to get sports back. Two more nights of fights are scheduled this week.
Read More: ABC News, AP
Tech Companies Reopening
Several tech companies are working to rebound from coronavirus-related shutdowns. Apple says it’s going to reopen some of its U.S. stores this week in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska. The stores will reportedly be doing temperature checks for both customers and employees. They will also have a limit on how many people can be inside.
Both Facebook and Google plan to start reopening offices this summer. However, they are giving most employees the option to work from home for the rest of the year.
Apple to Reopen US Stores: Mashable, The Verge, CNBC
Google & Facebook Work-from-Home: The Verge, Forbes. Variety
Hospital Staff Gifted Free Vacations
More than 4,000 frontline workers at a New York City hospital are getting free vacations. American Airlines and Hyatt Hotels teamed up to send each person on a 3-day trip. They can pick from a variety of destinations in the U.S. and the Caribbean. This applies to doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff like food service workers. They’ll get to take their vacations later this year or next year.
Read More: CBS News, USA Today, Hyatt, American Airlines
Monday Monday: New Consumer Trends
Market researcher Euromonitor International found consumer trends have changed a lot since stay-at-home orders went into effect. People are now buying more self-care products and services. It seems we’re all more inclined to support local businesses and locally-produced products. As for what trends have changed since January, people aren’t buying reusables anymore, even though they’re better for the environment. Disposable products are more popular now. Also, at the beginning of the year, people were spending lots of money on bike sharing, scooter sharing, etc. Now, transportation is out.
Read More: WSJ, Euromonitor