September 17, 2020

Yelp data shows 60% of small businesses that closed during the pandemic have now shuttered permanently, with 97,966 total permanent closures and restaurants and bars among the hardest hit. The figure is a concrete measure of the economic destruction wrought by lockdowns, separate from the virus case counts that dominate the news. The U.S. death toll approaches 200,000 as Pew reports the public is now evenly divided on vaccine willingness, down from 72% in May. Pence’s former lead coronavirus task force aide publicly slams Trump and endorses Biden in a campaign video, a defection from inside the administration’s own pandemic response apparatus.

An internal AstraZeneca safety report sheds light on the neurological condition suffered by the vaccine trial participant whose illness triggered the worldwide pause, revealing the episode involved transverse myelitis, a spinal cord inflammation. The White House is revealed to have abandoned a plan to send 650 million face masks across the U.S. via the Postal Service in April, a decision that undercuts the narrative that the administration did everything it could. Van Morrison announces he will release lockdown protest songs attacking the government and “scientists making up crooked facts,” and Facebook cracks down on groups that give health advice, expanding its misinformation enforcement from individual posts to entire communities.

Fauci honored with new bobblehead: 'Facepalm edition'

You know you’re famous when there are multiple bobbleheads honoring your likeness.

Fox

Revenge porn new normal' after cases surge in lockdown

Cases of 'revenge porn' have risen by a fifth this year, with lockdown to blame, say campaigners.

BBC

Victorian child deaths spike during Covid lockdown after series of home accidents

Eight children under the age of five die in two months as kids spend more time at home

The Guardian

Children in low-income families suffered more emotional problems during lockdown

Children from low-income households demonstrated heightened mental health difficulties throughout lockdown, further findings from a study tracking four- to 16-year-olds during the pandemic has revealed.

Nursery World

AG Barr compares pandemic lockdown to slavery during Hillsdale College speech, takes aim at BLM

The comments came while Barr was visiting the conservative college in rural Michigan.

MLive

Tunbridge Wells grandfather Paul Perkins took his life after Covid-19 lockdown worries

A 'happy, generous and funny' taxi driver took his own life because of financial concerns arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Kent Online

Why the U.S. Still Has a Severe Shortage of Medical Supplies

Months into the pandemic, the problems with the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile remain. There continue to be shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), ICU medications, and test-kit reagents. In this article, the authors — members of teams involved in the efforts by the federal Supply Chain Task Force to understand the causes of the shortages and fix them — identify three systemic problems and offer ideas for fixing them.

Harvard Business Review

Fauci Was Right: Covid-19 Cases Are Rising Again Following Labor Day Weekend Travel

The country's top infectious disease expert had warned that this would happen.

Forbes

Yelp data shows 60% of small businesses that closed during the pandemic have now shut their doors permanently and 97,966 firms in total have closed for good - with restaurants and bars among the hardest hit

As of August 31, 163,735 total U.S. businesses on Yelp had closed since the pandemic began in March, with 97,966 of those going on to shutter permanently, according to a report from the company.

Daily Mail

New data shows small businesses in communities of color had unequal access to federal COVID-19 relief

Data show that congress’s major COVID-19 relief program for small businesses has not distributed the more than 5 million loans evenly across the country.

Brookings

From survival to revival: How to help small businesses through the COVID-19 crisis

In this proposal, Steven Hamilton of The George Washington University calls for a significant expansion of refundable tax credits to help support small businesses through this crisis.

Brookings

Governments should invest to overcome the coronavirus crisis — but don’t forget climate change, says expert

Governments should continue to make investments that combat climate change even while they are focusing on coping with the coronavirus pandemic, said Judith Rodin, President Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania.

CNBC

Facebook is cracking down on groups that give health advice and promote violence

Facebook announced new policies that will limit the spread of groups on its social network that focus on giving users health advice as well as groups with ties to violence.

CNBC

Tucker Carlson Cries Censorship After His COVID-19 Posts Flagged as Misinformation by Facebook, Instagram

Tucker Carlson hit back at Facebook, saying it 'censored' a clip from his Fox News show that promoted a COVID-19 conspiracy theory.

Variety

The U.S. Has an Empathy Deficit

Scientific American

NYU Student Confronts Cops Not Wearing Masks in Subway Station

The MTA’s $50 fine for anyone who is found not wearing a mask went into effect on Monday and a New York University student wants to know why the rules don’t apply to NYPD officers. Mihai Ciocan says he was inside the Clark Street subway station in Brooklyn on Tuesday when he saw two police officers standing less than six…

NBC

White House abandoned plan to send 650 million face masks across the U.S. in April, report says

Newly uncovered documents suggest the government had initially intended to utilize the Postal Service in early pandemic response plans.

CNBC

Hundreds pose nude wearing only masks for London art installation

CNN

Shunning masks is a central sacrament of the Trump cult: Reason can't compete with faith

Trump's followers believe their leader has given their lives meaning. It's public health versus mass delusion

Salon

How Vermont became a 'model for the country' in responding to the coronavirus pandemic

How Vermont became a 'model' state in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

ABC

U.S. Public Now Divided Over Whether To Get COVID-19 Vaccine

There are widely held concerns about the safety and effectiveness of a possible vaccine and the pace of the approval process.

Pew

Trump contradicts health advisers on coronavirus vaccine timetable as death toll mounts

Washington Post

How American Journalism Died

Media partisans believe that destroying Trump justifies any biased means necessary.

Naitonal Review

Pence’s former lead coronavirus task force aide slams Trump and endorses Biden in new video

CNN

Internal AstraZeneca safety report sheds light on neurological condition suffered by vaccine trial participant

CNN

The Slow-Fingered President

Donald Trump has been eager to tweet on many subjects—but notably reticent to emphasize public health.

The Atlantic

U.S. plans to provide free coronavirus vaccines, aims for return to ‘regular life’ in Q3 2021

The coronavirus has infected 29.65 million people globally, as of Wednesday, and killed at least 936,905 people so far.

CNBC

Attorney General William Barr Faces Backlash After Comparing Pandemic Lockdowns to Slavery

Black America Web

U.S. House resolution opposes anti-Asian coronavirus rhetoric, including Trump's 'China virus'

Reuters

How tutoring programs can combat the “Covid-19 slide”

J-PAL North America released a new publication highlighting the sizable impact tutoring programs can have on student learning.

MIT

What COVID-19 could mean for the future of “work from home”: The provocations of three women in the academy

Wiley Online

Strong relationships help kids catch up after 6 months of COVID-19 school closures

The Conversation

Who gets a COVID vaccine first? Access plans are taking shape

Advisory groups around the world release guidance to prioritize healthcare workers and others.

Nature

The impact of banning alcohol during Covid-19

Some countries have experimented with alcohol prohibition during the pandemic to keep hospitals emptier. What was the impact?

BBC

What crowdsourced big data may be able to tell us about COVID

How We Feel app lays groundwork to use big data to understand and predict coronavirus infection.

Harvard

WHO says safety comes first as over 170 nations join COVID-19 vaccine plan

Reuters

Good nutrition can contribute to keeping COVID-19 and other diseases away

The Conversation

September 17, 2020

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