A Chicago first responder and mother have been issued a citation for disorderly conduct after video of her son’s party went viral this past weekend. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was unaware of the party that was hosted by her 26-year-old son because she was working on a 24-hour shift on that day. She hadn’t seen her family in almost two months due to the risk of exposing her relatives to coronavirus.
The video also caught the attention of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who called the party “reckless and utterly unacceptable.”
The son said he only invited about 20 to 30 people to celebrate the lives of friends who died of gun violence, but word about the party got out and swelled to host almost 200 people. “It really hasn’t been hitting home for us like that, but now I see the error of everything,” he said.
“The Chicago Department of Public Health will follow up with the owners of the property and attendees to ensure any health risks that could have arisen from this party are monitored and mitigated,” police said in a statement.
OUR COMMUNITY
Beloved Brooklyn schoolteacher Rana “Zoe” Mungin has died from complications of COVID-19 after she was initially denied three coronavirus tests. In our previous report from April 1, Mungin was on life support. Mungin experienced all of the symptoms associated with the virus, including having a fever, shortness of breath, and a severe headache, but was still denied a test for COVID-19. The 30-year-old was a 2011 graduate of Wellesley College, where she majored in psychology.
Morehouse College is teaming up with a tech giant Microsoft to give incoming students Surface tablets for new enrollees. The need for personal computers have become even more dire as college campuses closed and in-person classes were moved online in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
THE PANDEMIC
A second round of the coronavirus is “inevitable,” infectious disease Dr. Anthony Fauci says, but emphasizes that just how bad it becomes will depend on the progress the country makes in the next few months. If states begin lifting restrictions too early, Fauci says, the country could see many more deaths than predicted.
CITIES & STATES
As states such as Texas, Georgia, Florida and more let stay-at-home restrictions expire today, no state that has opted to reopen has met the federal target of 14 consecutive days of declining coronavirus cases. States are anxious to restart their economies and get citizens back to work as another 3.8 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the last week. In total, more than 30 million people have filed first-time claims since the coronavirus closed the country in mid-March.
Los Angeles becomes the first U.S. city to offer a free coronavirus test to all residents who want one. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s announcement is a welcomed development as county health officials reported a surge in the number of new cases on the same day.
Hundreds of Michigan residents, some wielding guns, protested outside the state Capitol building in Lansing on Thursday, in protest of an extension of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
To brace for the long-term effects of the pandemic on the 2020 football season, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he will forgo his $40 million-a-year salary. In addition, NFL executives will face pay cuts and league employees who can’t do their work from home or whose workload has been drastically reduced will be furloughed starting May 8.
Rideshare company Lyft is laying off 17% of its workforce to reduce costs as demand for rides continues to drop. Hundreds more of its corporate employees will be furloughed or experience pay cuts. Uber may be moving in a similar direction by cutting 20% of its workforce.
