Nearly a dozen African American pastors around the U.S. are reaching out to the Trump administration about the “alarming number of deaths” in black communities from the pandemic. At a virtual news conference this week, the group called for the equal distribution of testing, treatment, and protective gear to black and poor communities, essential wage workers, healthcare workers, prisons, and shelters.. Initial data shows that African Americans account for a higher percentage of coronavirus cases.
“Black and brown people are being tested the least but dying the most,” said Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes III, a pastor at Dallas’ Friendship West Baptist Church. “We appeal to federal and state leadership to prioritize healing humanity over restarting the economy.”
Business & Politics
The Small Business Association has officially run out of the $349 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a message on the SBA’s website. Unable to accept new applications or enroll new lenders, the SBA, in addition to the Trump administration, urged lawmakers to renew the funding.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded that negotiations are ongoing while reiterating her party’s demands to include funding for additional money for state and local governments and hospitals.
Another 5.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. In total, 22 million Americans have filed first-time claims since mid-March due to the impact of the coronavirus.
In light of yesterday’s unemployment numbers report and the quagmire of getting financial help to U.S. citizens and small businesses, the Trump administration pushes harder to reopen the economy.
In his call with senators and business leaders this week, Trump was urged to increase testing for the coronavirus before states reopen.
The Pandemic
After an anonymous tip to police, 17 people were found dead at the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in New Jersey, located about 55 miles northwest of New York City. Families who lost loved ones say they received word of their sick relatives in a form letter. In one case, the letter arrived after the patient died.
Earlier this week, the Andover Township Police Department received an anonymous tip of a body being stored in a shed. By the time police arrived, the body had been removed from the shed, but 17 bodies were located in a small morgue intended to hold no more than four people.
Two buildings at the long-term care facility now have more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases. More than 180 other residents and staff are showing respiratory or flu-like symptoms.
Two Tyson Foods employees in an Iowa plant have died of complications from coronavirus. Tyson, one of the world’s largest meat processors, closed the pork plant on April 6 after more than two dozen cases of the virus were reported.
Almost 700 immigrants have been released from U.S. detention centers amid concerns that the coronavirus is spreading rapidly through some facilities. Meanwhile, Guatemala’s Health Minister Hugo Monroy says migrants deported back to Guatemala from the United States now account for many coronavirus cases in the country.
The Food and Drug Administration announced that the sedative drug Propofol has been added to the FDA’s drug shortage list due to its frequent use for ventilated patients. Some asthma drugs, including Ventolin inhalers, are also on the drug shortage list.
World Health Organization is warning the public that drinking alcohol does not protect against coronavirus. Misinformation around the coronavirus continues to circulate online, including the myth that consuming high-strength ethyl alcohol or ethanol can kill the coronavirus.
