The Hill’s Coronavirus Report: Unemployment claims now at 41 million with 2.1 million more added to rolls; Topeka mayor says cities don’t have enough tests for minorities and homeless communities
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
> Unemployment surges to 41 million with 2.1 million more added to rolls
> Trump marks ‘very sad milestone’ of 100K coronavirus deaths
> Sen. Tim Kaine and wife test positive for COVID-19 antibodies
> Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls for investigation into OSHA inspections during pandemic
> Trump accuses Michigan Gov. Whitmer of ‘double standard’ following marina flap
> NAM reports despite worsening business conditions, industry keeping doors open
> Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla says cities don’t have enough tests for minorities and homeless communities, says CNAs are unrecognized tireless heroes making $7.25 an hour
Grim milestone: U.S. tops 100,000 coronavirus deaths with no end in sight. A staggering wave of death has brought the world’s largest economy to its knees as the federal government struggles even now to mount a concerted nationwide response. As of Wednesday evening, the U.S. had recorded 1,695,776 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 100,047 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. (The Hill)
2M more Americans file new jobless claims, pushing coronavirus toll past 40M. Since the week ending March 22, more than 40 million Americans have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits as the spread of COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed to slow it forced thousands of businesses to close up shop. The national unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent in April, and 14.5 percent of the U.S. workforce had received jobless benefits as of the week ending May 16, according to the Labor Department. (The Hill)
THE INTERVIEW
Topeka, Kansas Mayor Michelle De La Isla
Some highlights from interview with The Hill’s Steve Clemons:
About the tensions between those who do not take health concerns seriously and those who do: “But the keyword was something that you just said. It’s liberty. We in our country talk about our liberty. … We are responsible as well not only for ourselves, but for our fellow citizens. And as we are exercising those liberties, we have to have the facts so that we are able to protect each other.”
About whether the federal government is doing enough: “But the tests are still not enough in order for us to do broad testing like we need in the African American, the Hispanic population, and in the homeless population.”
About her health heroes: “You know, I think that this is a great time in our country for us to talk about not just the nurses and the doctors, but our CNAs. Our CNAs are phenomenal. The clerks at the pharmacy desk that are not the certified pharmacist, but they are the ones that are having that face-to-face contact with you. Those individuals that are delivering food, the people that are helping Meals on Wheels, the people that are working that cash register, the people that are helping you get your food and your nourishment, these are individuals that are being paid more than likely $7.25 or $7.50, and these are heroes. These are the individuals that are keeping our economy going, and I think that we have to take a broader look at how we sustain these individuals.”
Watch the full interview here.
THE HILL’S CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Welcome to The Hill’s Coronavirus Report. It’s Thursday, May 28.
Editor’s Note.
I have been wondering for years what would trigger a profound collapse of confidence in U.S. global leadership along the lines of the British Suez Crisis of 1956-57, which accentuated America’s definitive “coming out” as the world’s leading superpower and sent the British looking for new and smaller things to do. This pandemic may be that moment, and certainly there are other writers including my friend Parag Khanna and Stephen Marche who are thinking along those same lines. But even before them there were others who pointed to the trend. Charles Kupchan’s book, “The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the 21st Century,” written in 2003 amid the U.S. invasion of Iraq, punctured America’s superpower mystique and showed the world the limits of American financial, military and leadership power. And another was Princeton’s G. John Ikenberry, who wrote the seminal “Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order.”
Kupchan and Ikenberry teamed up recently in a very smart op-ed titled “Global Distancing” in The Washington Post. They write that “traditionally, a catastrophe like this — something that touches everyone — triggers an ordering moment in international politics. Nations should be aligning their efforts to develop a vaccine, contain the disease, produce and allocate medical equipment, and stabilize the global economy. They should be strengthening the World Health Organization (WHO). But nothing of the sort is happening. Countries are competing for, and hoarding, medical equipment as they engage in a biotech arms race to find a vaccine. They are closing their borders and scapegoating foreigners. The United States is treating the WHO like a punching bag.” They go on to write that the United States, Russia, India and China are all essentially derelict in their roles as leading global stakeholders and are doing little to converge together in response to the human and economic carnage wrought by this pandemic.
Singaporean scholar and diplomat Kishore Mahbubani wrote essentially the same thing in The Hill. In particular, Mahbubani calls for strategic focus, and his hypothetical question of “what would Churchill do?” in such times — perhaps as a way of reaching the reading pile of President Trump. The Cliff Notes version: Don’t carry on a trade war with China and block scientists from working together across those two key nations when they are both under siege from a vicious and destructive, highly contagious virus.
The flaw of all of these thinkers at the moment, from my vantage point, is that they believe the times can be managed. Mahbubani believes that China’s time has arrived and America should just learn to live with it — acquiesce and all will go smoothly. Ikenberry and Kupchan think “global cooperation on the pandemic” can best be achieved by Trump’s electoral loss in November with a vibrant return to the liberal ideals of Woodrow Wilson and FDR, and perhaps to American global leadership along with China.
If this is America’s “Suez moment,” the truth is that the rest of the world is already moving on and won’t easily trust U.S. leadership or prerogatives again. We saw some of that when the U.S. tried to guide economies after the 2008-09 financial crisis. That was a foreshock of the downfall of American leadership we are seeing today — and there will be no quick fix, sadly. This virus has generated significant geopolitical tensions and mistrust, not attacking only our bodies, but our willingness to solve great global problems. And it’s going to be that way for a long time. We have to prepare and get better at the choices we collectively make as we make the slide down in our relative weight in the world.
– Steve Clemons
Your Coronavirus Report team includes Steve Clemons, editor-at-large of The Hill, and researcher Andrew Wargofchik. Follow us on Twitter at @SCClemons and @a_wargofchik. CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Hill’s Coronavirus Report. To stay up to date on all things coronavirus, visit TheHill.com and SUBSCRIBE to our Overnight Healthcare.
THE HILL ‘VIRTUALLY’ LIVE
ICYMI: Catch up on last week’s programs
The U.S. is reporting 1,709,996 reported cases and 101,002 deaths. Brazil still leads the rest of the world with the most cases and stands at 411,821. The next national leaders are Russia at 379,051 and the United Kingdom at 270,507. A sampling of others includes Turkey at 160,979; India at 165,358; Saudi Arabia at 80,185; and Singapore at 33,249.
New York has reported that 29,529 people have died from COVID-19 as of the time of this newsletter. 11,339 dead in New Jersey. 5,083 in Illinois. 6,547 in Massachusetts. 3,918 in California. 5,373 in Pennsylvania. 5,334 in Michigan. Texas, 1,581. Maryland, 2,428. Georgia has lost 1,963. Virginia, 1,338. 1,392 in Colorado. 1,095 in Washington. 539 in Wisconsin. 590 in Alabama. 693 in Mississippi. 453 in the District of Columbia. 329 in New Mexico. Oklahoma, 325. 54 in South Dakota. 131 in Puerto Rico. 55 in Vermont. 14 in Wyoming.
15,192,481 COVID-19 test results have been recorded in the U.S.
WASHINGTON WATCH
Trump marks “very sad milestone” of 100K coronavirus deaths. President Trump on Thursday morning said that the United States had reached a “very sad milestone” in exceeding 100,000 deaths due to the novel coronavirus, expressing sympathy for those who have lost loved ones. (The Hill)
Tim Kaine tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said on Thursday that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, an indication that they have previously been infected with the disease. (The Hill)
Lack of child care poses major hurdle as businesses reopen. Child care remains a central obstacle to reopening the economy as the school year ends and camps and summer programs remain on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. (The Hill)
PILING ON… Two Indiana billboards suggest people think twice about going to Michigan during the pandemic. As vehicles leave Indiana, they encounter an electronic sign that reads: “Now Entering Michigan: Really? You’re sure about this?” Likewise, southbound travelers are greeted with a sign as they cross into Indiana that reads: “The Great State of Indiana Welcomes Michiganders To A Free-To-Roam State. We Thank You for the Revenue!” But the man behind the billboards said they are actually meant to support Michiganders during their quarantine, not poke fun at the restrictions in place. (CNN)
LAWMAKERS TWEETS
@SenSanders 1.4 million people who work in the health industry have no health insurance at all. Americans are working in hospitals amid a deadly pandemic without any health coverage. How insane is that? We need Medicare for All.
@USRepKCastor Horribly, in just a few months time, far more than U.S. military deaths in Vietnam, Iraq + Afghanistan wars combined; 39 times the # of Americans who were killed at Pearl Harbor and 31 times the number of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
@SenatorCollins During this public health crisis, America’s first responders have continued to work on the front lines and keep our communities safe. The next COVID-19 relief package must include additional funding to support these brave men and women.
ACROSS THE NATION
Immigrant doctors prepare for family’s deportation if they die of coronavirus. Immigrant doctors practicing in the United States are bracing for their family’s deportation, should the doctors die from coronavirus. “If I get sick and if something happens to me, it’s basically over for my family,” Parth Mehta, a hospitalist in Peoria, Ill., told NBC Asian America. He added: “It’s kind of weird that we are considered essential when it comes to saving lives, but we are considered nonessential when it comes to immigration purposes, and your family faces the risk of deportation if you die.” (The Hill)
Here’s what will be different Friday, when most of the state of Illinois (but not Chicago) moves into phase three of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s (D) reopening plan. All four regions of the state are poised to move into the next phase of Pritzker’s reopening plan Friday, which means many restaurants will be back open for outdoor service and “nonessential” retailers will be open to shoppers. Except in Chicago, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said restrictions won’t be loosened until “early June.” (Chicago Tribune)
Big Wyoming Summer Rodeos Canceled Over Virus. A little over an hour after news broke that Cheyenne Frontier Days has been canceled, Governor Mark Gordon (R) announced Wednesday that the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo also will not take place in 2020. (K2 Radio)
WORLD VIEW
Salvadoran leader says he takes hydroxychloroquine. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he uses hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug touted by President Trump as a potential coronavirus cure, even though international health experts have questioned its efficacy and have warned of harmful side effects. “I use it as a prophylaxis. President Trump uses it as a prophylaxis. Most of the world’s leaders use it as a prophylaxis,” said Bukele during a press conference. (CNN)
What Bolsonaro said as Brazil’s coronavirus cases climbed. That Brazil saw warning signs would be a dramatic understatement. As COVID-19 raced across Europe, knocked the U.K. prime minister flat and throttled New York City earlier this year, Brazil had plenty of notice that a catastrophe was on its way. But was some of the danger drowned out by the megaphone of its bombastic President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly dismissed the virus as a “little flu”? (CNN)
English Premier League to return on June 17 after 100-day break amid coronavirus. The Premier League is set to resume on June 17 after the clubs gave “Project Restart” the green light at a shareholders meeting on Thursday. (ESPN)
SCIENCE
Researchers ponder why COVID-19 appears more deadly in the U.S. and Europe than in Asia. It is one of the many mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic: Why has the death toll from COVID-19 apparently been lower in Asia than in Western Europe and North America? Even allowing for different testing policies and counting methods, and questions over full disclosure of cases, stark differences in mortality across the world have caught the attention of researchers trying to crack the coronavirus code. (Washington Post)
BUSINESS
NAM survey: Despite drop in optimism, majority of manufacturers keeping doors open. The National Association of Manufacturers on Thursday released the results of the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2020 showing that despite a historic drop in optimism, to nearly 34 percent, and challenging business conditions, the vast majority of manufacturers (98.7 percent) have continued or only temporarily halted operations. (NAM)
CVS says it will reach goal of opening 1,000 coronavirus test sites on Friday. CVS will reach its goal of opening 1,000 coronavirus testing sites across the country on Friday, the drug store chain announced. Final sites will open across 30 states and Washington, D.C., the company said in a press release. (The Hill)
GDP fell 5 percent in the first quarter. America’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 5 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to the Commerce Department’s second estimate, more than the 4.8 percent level first announced. The first quarter’s economic numbers included two months of normal growth followed by a devastating March, as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and lockdowns across the country slowed commerce to a trickle. (The Hill)
ISSUES, CAUSES, PASSIONS
The Paycheck Protection Program excludes black and Latino small businesses, so fix it. While the House prepares to revamp the government’s small-business aid program, there needs to be a serious reckoning about how this program is driving racial inequality in our country. (Rashad Robinson and Janet Murguía for The Hill)
We cannot ignore the links between COVID-19 and the warming planet. The emergence of COVID-19 suggests that global warming may present an even graver threat to human welfare than many recognize. (Richard Richels, Henry Jacoby, Gary Yohe, and Ben Santer for The Hill)
GENEROUS SPIRITS
Dolly Parton releases new song ‘When Life is Good Again’. The legendary singer/songwriter released her quarantine-inspired song with Entertainment Weekly. “When Life is Good Again” touches on themes of friendship, compassion and becoming better people. Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University for coronavirus research in April. She also launched “Goodnight with Dolly,” a virtual series in which she read children’s bedtime stories. (CNN)
ICYMI: STEVE’S INTERVIEWS, 15 MINUTES EACH
> Steve interviews National Portrait Gallery Director KIM SAJET
> Steve interviews former Senate Majority Leader BILL FRIST
> Steve interviews Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Director TOM INGLESBY
> Steve interviews CDC Director ROBERT REDFIELD
> Steve interviews Mastercard CEO AJAY BANGA
> Steve interviews Teva USA President and CEO BRENDAN O’GRADY
> Steve interviews US Surgeon General JEROME ADAMS
> Steve interviews former NIC Director GREGORY TREVERTON
Watch all Coronavirus Report interviews here.
YOUR WORLD, YOUR STORIES
SEND US YOUR OWN PICS – from your own walks or adventures – during this time of physical distancing but social connection. And SEND US YOUR STORIES of how teleworking is going, what you have learned from homeschooling, new ways to exercise, and special moments or standout heroism you want to share. What’s working for you? What’s comic in these dark days?
Send to YourStories@TheHill.com. Our thoughts are with you, our readers, and we hope and trust that no matter the weight of burdens on you now — and it’s not a good story for everyone we know — that we all stand together, resilient and confident, on the other side of this. There will be another side.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Hill’s Coronavirus Report. To stay up-to-date on all things coronavirus, visit TheHill.com and SUBSCRIBE to our Overnight Healthcare.
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