Wednesday, May 20th, 2020
50 States Ease Restrictions, Evacuations Underway & Social Media ‘Shops’
All the news you need in 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 reading about the latest happenings…
More States Reopen
All 50 states are now in some phase of reopening. Connecticut is the latest state to lift restrictions. Starting today, it’s letting people dine at outdoor restaurants or go into retail shops. Also, a region near Albany, New York is starting its first phase of economic reopening today. However, health experts say not all states are reading to reopen. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows at least 17 states have recorded a daily increase in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past week, while 16 others have shown decreases.
Read More: WSJ, CNN, State-By-State Trends
Case Count/Death Toll: Johns Hopkins
States Testing Data Issues
Some public health officials worry states are giving a false impression the virus is more under control than it is.
-In Virginia, Texas, and Vermont, officials have been combining the results of viral tests and antibody tests. Experts say that makes testing totals look impressive, but doesn’t give a true picture of how the virus is spreading (even if it's not intentional).
-In Georgia, officials published a graph showing daily COVID-19 cases declining. However, they were not arranged in chronological order. So if you didn’t pay close attention to the dates on the graph, you might have thought things were getting better in time when they weren’t. Georgia’s governor apologized and the graph was taken down.
-In Florida, a data scientist says she was fired for refusing to manipulate data. She was in charge of the state’s coronavirus information portal. The scientist says her supervisors told her they needed to drum up support for the state’s reopening. But she didn’t want to censor records, so she was let go. The governor’s office defended the decision, saying a lot more went into the decision to fire her.
Read More: NBC News, AP, Tampa Bay Times, Florida Today
U.S. Extends Migrant Restrictions
The CDC director is indefinitely expanding a public health order that basically seals the country’s borders to unauthorized migrants. That includes people seeking asylum and unaccompanied children. Under the order, authorities can quickly remove most people who cross the border without proper documentation. They get sent to Mexico, Canada, or their home countries, which are usually in Central America.
Read More: CBS News, AP
Economic Recovery Senate Hearing
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke with lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee yesterday. Mnuchin said there will be more job losses in the next month, but that improvements will come in the second half of the year as businesses get back to full capacity. Powell said it’s not just about restarting businesses. It’s about people feeling safe and comfortable enough to spend money. He doesn’t think that will happen until a vaccine is widely available.
Read More: NY Times, Axios, WSJ
Relief Package Talks
Congress’ next relief package is stalled. House Democrats passed a new $3 trillion stimulus bill on Friday. It was built around aid for local governments and more direct payments to Americans. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans want to look at what’s already worked and not worked before discussing new aid.
Read More: AP, Politico, Reuters
Midwest Flooding
Thousands of people are having to evacuate their homes in central Michigan because of potentially catastrophic flooding. Two river dams broke last night about 140 miles north of Detroit. Michigan’s governor says the town of Midland could be under 9 feet of water today. About 10,000 people are under evacuation orders, but so far, there aren’t reports of anyone hurt.
Read More: AP, CNN
Facebook Launches Shops
Facebook just launched a new feature called “shops.” It lets businesses turn their Facebook and Instagram profiles into online storefronts. Customers just have to click one tab to browse and buy items. Facebook reportedly plans to take small fees from the virtual shops, but the real money will come from extra advertising. The feature is being rolled out now.
Read More: The Verge, Mashable, Engadget, Facebook
Changing Business Landscape
Walmart says it will discontinue the online-only marketplace Jet.com. Walmart acquired Jet for $3 billion a few years ago, but now, Walmart.com is doing well on its own. Meanwhile, it’s worse news for fans and employees of Pier 1. The home goods store is permanently closing all 540 of its locations. Also, say goodbye to Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder. The product was once a household staple, but in recent years, thousands of customers claimed the powder gave them cancer. From now on, Johnson & Johnson will only sell corn-based baby powder.
Walmart Discontinues Jet: TechCrunch, CNBC
Pier 1 Closing Stores for Good: CNN, ABC News
J&J to Stop Selling Talc Baby Powders: USA Today, NBC News
Joe Rogan on Spotify
One of the most popular podcasts in the world is moving exclusively to Spotify. Starting September 1, The Joe Rogan Experience will stay free, but will only be available to Spotify users. As of last year, comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast was getting downloaded about 190 million times a month.
Read More: The Verge, Engadget
Hulu, ESPN+, Disney+ Bundle
You can now get 3 popular streaming services for the price of Netflix. You can now bundle Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ for $13/month in total. That saves you about 25% from buying each individually. No word yet on whether this deal is here to stay, or if it’s a limited-time option.
Read More: Decider, Rolling Stone
Work Wednesday: Women CEOs Fortune 500 Record
A record number of women are running some of America’s largest corporations: 37 companies on this year’s Fortune 500 list are led by women. That’s up from 33 last year and just two women 20 years ago. However, there’s a long way to go before women are equally represented. They only run about 7% of the businesses on the Fortune 500.
Read More: ABC News, NBC News, Fortune