Cuban docs fighting coronavirus around world, defying US

ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ, Associated Press•April 3, 2020

HAVANA (AP) — For two years the Trump administration has been trying to stamp out one of Cuba’s signature programs __ state-employed medical workers treating patients around the globe in a show of soft power that also earns billions in badly needed hard currency.

Labeling the doctors and nurses as both exploited workers and agents of communist indoctrination, the U.S. has notched a series of victories as Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia sent home thousands after leftist governments allied with Havana were replaced with ones friendlier to Washington.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought a reversal of fortune for Cuban medical diplomacy, as doctors have flown off on new missions to battle COVID-19 in at least 14 countries including Italy and the tiny principality of Andorra on the Spanish-French border, burnishing the island's international image in the middle of a global crisis.

“I am aware of the position of the United States, but we are a sovereign country and we can choose the partners with which we are going to have cooperation,” Andorran Foreign Minister María Ubach said.

In the city of Crema in the hard-hit Lombardy region of northern Italy, 52 Cuban doctors and nurses set up a field hospital with 32 beds equipped with oxygen and three ICU beds.

“This is a strongly symbolic moment because the Crema hospital has been going through an extremely complicated situation from the start,” Lombardy’s top social welfare official, Giulio Gallera, said at the inauguration last week. “The number of patients who have filled and continue to fill the emergency room and departments has truly put the medical personnel to a hard test.”

The Trump administration has sought to cut off income to Havana as part of a long-term tightening of sanctions. And it continues to discourage countries from contracting Cuban medical workers despite the pandemic, arguing that their pay and conditions fall short of industry standards.

“The government of #Cuba keeps most of the salary its doctors and nurses earn while serving in its international medical missions while exposing them to egregious labor conditions,” the State Department said on Twitter last week. “Host countries seeking Cuba’s help for #COVID-19 should scrutinize agreements and end labor abuses.”

Cuba currently has about 37,000 medical workers in 67 countries, most in longstanding missions. Some doctors have been sent as part of free aid missions, but many countries pay the government directly for their services. In some other cases international health bodies have paid.

The most recent deployments of at least 593 doctors from the Henry Reeve Brigade — founded by Fidel Castro in 2005 and named after a 19th-century American volunteer who fought for Cuban independence from Spain — have also been to Suriname, Jamaica, Dominica, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Venezuela and Nicaragua, some of them reinforcing existing medical missions.

All have been billed as tied to the coronavirus epidemic, even though some of the countries have few confirmed cases so far. None of the agreements or financial terms have been made public.

Havana has said it receives about $6 billion a year from the export of public services, and medical services make up most of that. When Brazil expelled Cuban doctors in 2018, a few details emerged including that the country had been paying $3,100 per month for each doctor with 70% of that going into the pockets of the Cuban government.

Doctors typically make less than $100 per month working on the island, so doing an overseas mission means a significant pay hike even if those salaries remain low by international standards.

Andorran newspaper Diari d'Andorra reported Wednesday, citing Health Minister Joan Martínez Benazet, that one of the 39 Cuban doctors in the country had tested positive for coronavirus and was quarantined in a hotel. The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Infection is a serious risk for those on the front lines. In Italy alone, over 10,000 medical workers have contracted the coronavirus and more than at least 69 doctors have died.

For most people the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe, life-threatening symptoms like pneumonia.

Cuban officials have been proudly posting videos of doctors being applauded as they arrive to begin work, and blasting the Trump administration for its criticisms.

“Shame on you. Instead of attacking Cuba and its committed doctors, you should be caring about the thousands of sick Americans who are suffering due to the scandalous neglect of your government and the inability of your failed health system to care for them,” Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, wrote on Twitter.

Argentine officials have also said they are discussing possible coronavirus help from Cuba, and another mission should leave soon for Angola.

Cuba has a relatively high number of medical workers per capita — officials say there are currently about 90,000 in the country of 11 million.

The Henry Reeve Brigade has deployed previously on infectious disease missions, famously helping fight Ebola in West Africa in 2014.

That effort took place in cooperation with the administration of then-President Barack Obama, seen as easing relations ahead of the diplomatic thaw between the two countries later that year.

___

Andrea Rodríguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP

South Africa's ruthlessly efficient fight against coronavirus

By Andrew Harding - Africa correspondent,BBC•April 3, 2020

The Gauteng government deployed a team of health workers to the Stjwetla informal settlement to test people for COVID-19 on day 5 of National Lockdown on March 31, 2020 in Alexandra, South Africa

One week into South Africa's nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and it is tempting - dangerously tempting - to breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, look at how much has already been achieved. More than 47,000 people have been tested, and 67 mobile testing units have been organised.

There are even drive-through testing centres. Soon the country will be able to test 30,000 people every day. To date, only five deaths from the virus have been confirmed. About 1,400 have tested positive for Covid-19.

'Formidable leadership

South Africa seems to have acted faster, more efficiently, and more ruthlessly than many other countries around the world.

Heading the fight here against Covid-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged as a formidable leader - composed, compassionate, but seized by the urgency of the moment and wasting no time in imposing tough restrictive steps and galvanising crucial support from the private sector.

And one rung below the president, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has likewise garnered near universal praise for his no-nonsense, energetic performance, and his sober, deeply knowledgeable, daily briefings.

"What we may currently be experiencing is the calm before a heavy and devastating storm"", Source: Zweli Mkhize, Source description: South Africa's Health Minister, Image: Zweli Mkhize

Of course, there have been mistakes, and worse. The police and army have, at times, acted with thuggish abandon in their attempts to enforce the three-week-long lockdown, humiliating, beating, and even shooting civilians on the streets of the commercial capital, Johannesburg, and elsewhere.

There has been confusion about some of the regulations, clumsy messaging and U-turns from some of the country's less impressive ministers.

Above all, there has been the struggle to impose social distancing and effective hygiene in South Africa's poorest, most crowded neighbourhoods, where many fear the virus could yet wreak havoc.

But overall, as South Africans mark their first week under one of the strictest lockdowns introduced anywhere in the world - no jogging outside, no sales of alcohol or cigarettes, no dog-walking, no leaving home except for essential trips and prison or heavy fines for law-breaking - there is an argument to be made that a government so often attacked as corrupt and inefficient, and a private sector so often seen as aloof and greedy, are rising to meet what is widely anticipated to be the greatest challenge this young democracy has ever seen.

It is fitting that the man now loudly warning the nation against any hint of complacency - indeed about the profound dangers of such complacency - is the health minister himself.

"What we may currently be experiencing is the calm before a heavy and devastating storm," said Dr Mkhize, gravely, at Wednesday's official launch of a new batch of mobile laboratories.

"Unless we move fast we will soon be swarmed. There will therefore be no further warning before the pounding descends upon us.

"There will not be time to prepare what we will not have put in place in the next seven days," Dr Mkhize said, noting that the virus has already begun to spread inside the country and that "we don't as yet have a true picture of the size of the problem".

In other words, for all South Africa's impressive early steps, the real battle lies ahead and the real test of the country's health system has yet to begin.

Planning for danger. [ Flu season will start next month ],[ Hospitals and clinics will be flooded ],[ Fertile ground for spreading coronavirus ],[ Send more teams quickly into communities to test for Covid-19 ],[ Build treatment centres for Covid-19 patients in each town ],[ Get medics from China and Cuba to help ], Source: Source: South Africa's Health Ministry, Image

Given that this is one of the world's most unequal societies, it is already clear that the battle will be fought, lost, or won, in the country's poorest communities.
'Shambles and incompetence'

It is also clear that - for all the impressive, skilled leadership available at the highest levels of the South African state, government, and private sector - years of cronyism, corruption and economic stagnation have damaged key institutions.

"We are not well prepared and positioned as a country… after a decade of the hollowing out of state institutions," conceded Adrian Enthoven, a prominent businessman now helping to run a solidarity fund set up to collect and administer private contributions to the fight against the coronavirus.

"We were in a much stronger position going into the global financial crisis [of 2008] than we are today."

More on Africa and the virus:


Live tracker: Coronavirus in Africa


Fighting al-Shabab's propaganda against coronavirus


Zimbabwean broadcaster died 'alone and scared'


Ghana mourns mass funeral ban


The fake coronavirus stories spreading in Africa

Those same concerns apply in provincial health departments, sometimes led by incompetent political appointees.

"The clinicians are getting on with it. But the senior management is overwhelmed. It's always been a shambles. They're mostly cadre-deployed. There's no leadership capacity. They're completely out of their depth and very anti any co-operation with the private sector," said one senior figure in a provincial department, speaking to me on condition of anonymity.

A walk through the township of Alexandra, on the edge of Johannesburg, is another sobering reminder of how difficult it may yet prove to contain the virus.

Despite the new presence of army patrols, constant messaging about social distancing in the media, pick-up trucks dispensing free hand-sanitiser, and the speedy intervention of testing units trying to track down those who might be exposed to the first confirmed case there, the dirt streets and narrow alleys remain crowded with children playing football and friends strolling to visit each other.

Informal traders who ignored the lockdown have had their goods seized

There is concern about the virus in Alexandra, but for now that feels eclipsed by the more pressing issues of lost jobs, unaffordable food, and the near impossibility of isolating yourself or your family for any extended period when home is a single room with no running water or toilet.

The virus has already brought South Africa's systemic challenges - and its enduring inequalities - into sharp relief.

But a sudden, extreme crisis - like a war or similar emergency - offers the tantalising possibility of radical change, of forging new alliances, of disrupting failing systems and patterns, of exposing bad leadership in the most unforgiving manner, and of bringing the most talented and dynamic people to the fore.

Some of those changes are already under way.

NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE
"Shoot them dead": Duterte orders police to kill Filipinos who defy coronavirus lockdown

Christina Capatides,CBS News•April 2, 2020


In the Philippines, the 57 million residents of the country's main island, Luzon, are under strict lockdown orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite that, many in a Manila slum took to the streets Wednesday to protest a lack of supplies, arguing they had not received any food packs since the lockdown started two weeks ago.

The local government refutes those claims and clashed with protestors, ultimately arresting 20 people who refused to return home.

Poland is making quarantined citizens use a selfie app to prove they're staying inside. Singapore is using Bluetooth signals between cellphones to keep track of who people come into contact with.

But Duterte's threat may be the boldest. "I will not hesitate my soldiers to shoot you," Duterte said in forceful tones Wednesday. "I will not hesitate to order the police to arrest and detain you. Now, if you are detained, I will leave it up to you to find food."

On Thursday, as often happens after Duterte makes these sorts of inflammatory public remarks, Filipino officials rushed to insist that the president was simply using hyperbole to communicate the gravity of the situation.

"Probably the president just overemphasized on implementing the law in this time of crisis," Philippine National Police Chief Archie Gamboa said, adding that officers understood that they were not actually being instructed to kill troublemakers.

---30---

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/evgeny-lebedev-its-not-racist-to-say.html

Shenzhen becomes first Chinese city to ban eating cats and dogs

BBC•April 2, 2020

Most Chinese people don't actually consume dogs and cats and never plan toShenzhen has become the first Chinese city to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat.

It comes after the coronavirus outbreak was linked to wildlife meat, prompting Chinese authorities to ban the trade and consumption of wild animals.

Shenzhen went a step further, extending the ban to dogs and cats. The new law will come into force on 1 May.

Thirty million dogs a year are killed across Asia for meat, says Humane Society International (HSI).

However, the practice of eating dog meat in China is not that common - the majority of Chinese people have never done so and say they don't want to.

"Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals, and banning the consumption of dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan," the Shenzhen city government said, according to a Reuters report.

"This ban also responds to the demand and spirit of human civilization."

The race to find the source of coronavirus in wildlife

Animal advocacy organisation HSI praised the move.

"This really could be a watershed moment in efforts to end this brutal trade that kills an estimated 10 million dogs and 4 million cats in China every year," said Dr Peter Li, China policy specialist for HSI.

However, at the same time as this ruling, China approved the use of bear bile to treat coronavirus patients.

Bear bile - a digestive fluid drained from living captive bears - has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine.

The active ingredient, ursodeoxycholic acid, is used to dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. But there is no proof that it is effective against the coronavirus and the process is painful and distressing for the animals

Brian Daly, a spokesman for the Animals Asia Foundation, told AFP: "We shouldn't be relying on wildlife products like bear bile as the solution to combat a deadly virus that appears to have originated from wildlife."

EVGENY LEBEDEV: It's NOT racist to say China's vile markets are to blame for coronavirus and they MUST ban them

By EVGENY LEBEDEV FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 21 March 2020

From the taiga snow forests of Russia’s far east to the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, I have been on the frontline of the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. With my publications, the Evening Standard and the Independent, we have campaigned for more than a decade against the horrors of animal poaching. Now coronavirus has emerged as yet another gruesome consequence of the way we treat animals.

It is clear now that Covid-19 first crossed over from another species, and one potential origin is the pangolin, or scaly anteater. This mammal is poached in Africa and Asia for use in traditional Chinese medicine and has the questionable honour of being the most hunted creature in the world.

As I saw only last week in Chad, they are majestic, beautiful animals in the wild. Yet in China, they are pathetic, caged things.

Source of the misery: Caged wild animals at the market in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated

Pangolin meat is seen as a delicacy, but some Chinese also believe the scales, once dried and treated with urine, can tackle nervousness and excessive crying in children. I’m willing to wager there are more, not fewer, anxious children thanks to this peculiar tradition.

According to the Zoological Society of London, 75 per cent of new infectious diseases come from animals.

Why, then, does China continue to permit the existence of unhygienic live animal markets, where disease transmission is known to happen?

Why haven’t the Chinese authorities tackled poaching, animal cruelty and pseudoscientific ‘traditional’ medicine with the same ferocity that they have applied to Falun Gong religious group or Uighur culture?

Inside the coronavirus 'ticking time bomb': How illegal food...
Bat curry continues to fly off the shelves in Indonesian...

The Communist Party has passed laws banning the illegal wildlife trade and cracking down on live markets. But it did the same during the SARS outbreak of 2002- 2004 (another coronavirus), then quietly relaxed the ban a few months later.

The Chinese government appears desperate to avoid any blame for this outbreak. It is mobilising diplomats to spread conspiracy theories, and disingenuously relying on the Western language of anti-racism to avoid criticism. But criticism is all too necessary if things are to change.

It is not ‘racist’ to confront the medieval beliefs of so-called traditional medicine around the world. Culture is not a fixed thing, a museum for others to gawk at. It is a constantly evolving conversation and we have to be part of it.

If China fails to act, the rest of the world should take steps to force its hand.


It is clear that Covid-19 first crossed over from another species, and one potential origin is the pangolin (pictured: an ambulance drives by a street cleaner in Wuhan on January 22)

It is Chinese culture, after all, that is at the epicentre of a global crisis of animal rights.

It is what fuels the pitched battles between rangers and poachers in sub-Saharan Africa. It is Chinese money that lines the pockets of criminal traffickers and terrorists such as Boko Haram and AlShabaab. We all know how that money is spent.

And it is this same culture of barbarity that leads to filthy cages in filthier markets where miserable animals from snakes and bats to pangolins are imprisoned. Not even familiar domestic animals such as dogs are spared. They can be bludgeoned to death or cooked alive. In some areas their legs are hacked off while they are still alive.

The illegal wildlife trade corrupts everything it touches. African ecosystems have been destroyed, while elephant populations are only just beginning to recover thanks to organisations such as Space For Giants. And now we are seeing another horrifying facet of the corruption, as viruses spread from trafficked animals to humans.

It would be a sweet irony if this virus were the saviour of the critically endangered pangolin. If one good thing comes out of this terrible pandemic, let it be a reassessment of the atrocious and disgusting animal trade that has given us two coronaviruses this century alone.

In his novel The Plague, Albert Camus correctly identified that the sickness afflicting humanity was not simply a disease, but a result of the way man chooses to live his life.

I’ve seen the rotting, maggot infested carcasses of elephants murdered for their tusks in the savannah too many times.

It’s a sight no one should endure ever again.

Now nature has threatened us with the same fate, it’s time we finally listen.

Evgeny Lebedev is the proprietor of the Evening Standard and Independent publications. He is also patron of the conservation organisation Space For Giants.

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/shenzhen-becomes-first-chinese-city-to.html

Fauci Tamps Down Hype About Coronavirus Drug Based on ‘Not Very Robust Study’

Lindsey Ellefson,The Wrap•April 3, 2020



Dr. Anthony Fauci, a now-recognizable face in the country’s battle against the coronavirus, used a Friday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends” to caution against hyping up the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus.

Fox News’ Steve Doocy asked the doctor about a poll that found that 37% of doctors in the world believe is the most effective medicine against the coronavirus and mentioned strong support he’s seen from guests on the network, notably Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Fauci dismissed the study, saying it wasn’t very “robust.”

He went on, “But getting back to what you said just a moment ago, that ‘x’ percent — I think you said 37% — of doctors feel that it’s beneficial: We don’t operate on how you feel. We operate on what evidence is, and data is, so although there is some suggestion with the study that was just mentioned by Dr. Oz — granted that there is a suggestion that there is a benefit there — I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug.”

Brian Kilmeade, another co-host of the popular morning show, pressed Fauci on whether the drug could be useful in preventing the virus: “I would be very curious, Doctor, to see if anyone who was taking this for lupus or arthritis has gotten the coronavirus. That would be one way to go the other way to see about this study.”

“I mean, obviously this is a good drug in many respects for some of the diseases you mentioned, and the one thing we don’t want to happen is that individuals who really need a drug with a proven indication don’t have it available,” Fauci admitted, though he was still quick to caution that what some doctors think is still irrelevant.

Under cover of pandemic, Trump’s NLRB moves to make unionizing ‘nearly impossible for workers’

Published April 3, 2020 By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams


“The Trump NLRB takes this moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have. Shameful does not even begin to describe this.”

The National Labor Relations Board finalized a rule this week that critics warn could make unionizing “nearly impossible for workers” at a moment when employees across the nation are fighting for stronger protections against the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed rule change from the board—which is controlled by three appointees of President Donald Trump—was published in the Federal Register on April 1. The new rule would eliminate the NLRB’s “blocking charge policy,” which permits the delay of union election results if the employer is accused of unlawful coercion or other unfair labor practices.

“The board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”
—Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO

The proposal would also allow employees to file for decertification of a union in as few as 45 days after the union is voluntarily recognized by an employer. Under the new rule, a petition for decertification could be filed if just 30% of employees in a bargaining unit support the move.

Opponents of the new rule said the changes could empower employees to illegally manipulate union election results and allow a minority of workers to decertify a union that a majority of workers voted to form.
The rule is set to take effect on May 31 after a 60-day public comment period.

Heidi Shierholz, labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), called the rule change “unbelievable.”

“The Trump NLRB takes this moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have,” tweeted Shierholz. “Shameful does not even begin to describe this.”


UNBELIEVABLE. The Trump NLRB takes THIS moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have. Shameful does not even begin to describe this. (For background, here are our comments on the proposed rule https://t.co/lbdCyqKUS6) https://t.co/DQ6zbvc8Gl
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) March 31, 2020

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement that “the board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”

“Donald Trump’s caustic hostility to collective bargaining has manifested itself in the most anti-worker NLRB in America’s history,” said Trumka. “The labor movement will fight these actions with everything we have.”

The proposed rule comes as grocery store employees and other workers deemed essential amid the coronavirus outbreak are walking off the job and holding “sick outs” to protest unsanitary workplaces and lack of protective gear.

The new rule marks the second time in less than a month that the Trump administration has advanced a union-busting proposal.

Last month, as Common Dreams reported, unions accused Trump of exploiting the coronavirus crisis to attack organized labor after the Federal Labor Relations Authority issued a rule proposal that would allow federal employees to cancel union dues at any time after a year of membership, rather than in the annual 15-day window established under current law.

In a blog post on Tuesday responding to the NLRB proposal, EPI government affairs director Celine McNicholas wrote that “it is unconscionable that the agency responsible for ensuring workers have the right to a voice in the workplace has denied them the ability to exercise these rights.”

“Today and in the coming weeks, many workers will walk off the job over concerns for their health and safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” McNicholas wrote. “These workers are risking their lives to deliver services that have been deemed essential to our nation.”

“At the very least,” said McNicholas, “we should demand that the federal agency responsible for ensuring these workers have the rights to a union and collective bargaining use our taxpayer dollars to conduct union elections for workers who want representation, as opposed to issuing rules that make it harder for workers to have a voice on the job.”

The U.S. economy is entering the 'deepest recession on record'

‘It’s not like we have a massive recession or worse,’ 

says Trump after millions lose their jobs
TRUMP REPLACES HOOVER AS WORST PRESIDENT TO PRESIDE OVER A DEPRESSION

Myles Udland Markets Reporter,Yahoo Finance•April 2, 2020

Jobless numbers are 'terrible' but that was anticipated: Expert

The U.S. economy is struggling right now.

BOOM GO CRASH

On Thursday, we learned that initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled a record 6.648 million for the week ending March 28, more than doubling the prior week’s reported total of 3.238 million that had also marked a record high. Distressingly, last week’s data was also revised higher on Thursday to 3.307 million.

And while the labor market fallout from the coronavirus-related economic hard-stop we’re experiencing has been the most abrupt and severe so far, economists at Bank of America Global Research believe the broader economic downturn we’re entering will result in the worst recession in modern U.S. history.

Read more: What is a recession? Here are the basics

“The recession appears to be deeper and more prolonged than we were led to believe just 14 days ago when we last updated our forecasts, not just in the U.S. but globally as well,” said BofA economists led by Michelle Meyer.

“We now believe that there will be three consecutive quarters of GDP contraction with the US economy shrinking 7% in 1Q, 30% in 2Q and 1% in 3Q. We expect this to be followed by a pop in growth in 4Q. We forecast the cumulative decline in GDP to be 10.4% and this will be the deepest recession on record, nearly five times more severe than the post-war average.” (Emphasis added.)

In 2008, the economy experienced a cumulative recessionary decline in GDP of 4%, the most since World War II. BofA is expecting the 2020 recession will be more than twice as severe in terms of the total GDP decline.

Economists at Bank of America expect that the GDP declines seen in the current recession will be the worst on record, more than doubling the drop seen during the financial crisis. (Source: Bank of America Global Research)

The labor market impacts are also expected to be eye-popping as the recession crests in the summer.

Bank of America expects that up to 20 million people will lose their jobs through the third quarter with the unemployment rate potentially peaking north of 15%.

“The shock is unlike anything we have experienced before with part of the economy effectively put into an induced coma,” BofA adds.

“The pain is sudden and acute. But we think there is a recovery on the other side. The first step is to solve the public health crisis and stop the spread of COVID-19. The next step is to slowly open the economy with businesses returning and people going back to work.”

Bank of America expects that GDP will pop 30% in the fourth quarter. But the firm still believes “this will be a slow recovery overall as many workers will be displaced and businesses adapt to a period of lost revenue.”

The consumer economy stumbles

AND FALLS FLAT ON ITS FACE, ALL THOSE CONSUMERS ARE NOW UNEMPLOYED 
Over the last few years, when questions about the Federal Reserve’s actions and the health of the global economy came into question, investors became accustomed to citing the strength and health of the U.S. consumer as the backbone of the bull market and economic expansion.

And indeed, just under 70% of GDP growth comes from consumer spending. Since the fourth quarter of 2013, no single quarter has seen U.S. consumer spending rise less than 3%.

But this trend looks set to come to an end.

Using its proprietary data that tracks spending from Bank of America debit and credit cardholders, Meyer and her team note that by the end of March about 20% of consumer spending categories had declined more than 40%.

The number of American workers filing for unemployment claims is exploding across the country.

“It makes sense that the consumer cut back [in March],” Meyer and team write.

“Part of the decline was ‘forced’ since non-essential businesses closed in many regions, automatically cutting sales. And as consumers sheltered at home, their needs change. But we also think it reflects a broader weakness for the consumer as they face job cuts and a significant negative wealth shock. This naturally leads to more cautious behavior.”

The debate around what the period after coronavirus will look like in the U.S. economy still centers on three letters: V, U, and L. Each letter outlines a path for the economic recovery post-virus.

But as Meyer’s commentary outlines, recessions change just about everything about consumer behavior. And boiling these changes down to one letter is futile. When recessions hit, workers that retain a job grow more worried about losing their job. Consumers with exposure to the stock market have seen their net worth decline. And the collective economic memory we all share shifts from recalling recent periods of relative prosperity to the darkest days of restaurants, bars, and shops closing overnight.

And all of these combine to create an environment in which consumers are more cautious and spending is restrained. To the extent that “animal spirits” powered increases in spending during expansions, a recession short circuits these trends.

In this March 13, 2020 file photo, unionized hospitality workers wait in line in a basement garage to apply for unemployment benefits at the Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles. More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, far exceeding a record high set just last week, a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Data challenges

Like most economists writing about the coronavirus-related slowdown, BofA also notes that capturing the extent of the economic fallout from the coronavirus poses several challenges.

That’s particularly true given the speed and magnitude of the changes mandated by lawmakers and the lag on which economic data is reported.

“There are two things to remember here,” Meyer’s team writes with respect to the data likely to be reported over the next months and quarters. “First, we are reporting the quarterly GDP figures as an annualized quarterly change. So don't be taken by the 30% drop in 2Q, it is really a 8.5% decline from one quarter to another rather than the economy shrinking by a third in one quarter.”

Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman recently wrote about how to think about the annualized data set to be reported later this year.

“The other consideration,” Meyer writes, “is that it may be difficult for the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to capture the degree of weakness given the reliance on surveys and historical interpolations. During the last recession, it took several releases with downward revisions before the depth of the downturn was understood.”

Myles Udland is a reporter and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

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Navy Capt. Crozier, fired for letter about coronavirus on USS Roosevelt, gets big send-off from sailors
Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY•April 3, 2020651 Comments


This handout photo released by the US Navy shows Captain Brett Crozier addressing the crew for the first time as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during a change of command ceremony on the ships flight deck in San Diego, California on November 1, 2019.

Navy Capt. Crozier, fired for letter about coronavirus on USS Roosevelt, gets big send-off from sailors
WASHINGTON – Videos posted on social media showed a huge send-off for Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander of an aircraft carrier who was ousted Thursday after sending a letter pleading with Navy leadership to protect his crew from the spreading coronavirus.

One video from the Facebook account of Michael Washington shows hundreds of service members on the hanger deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is currently docked in Guam, chanting "Captain Crozier! Captain Crozier!" and clapping.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.washington.5458/videos/10216506735516262/
Someone in the video says, "and that's how you send off one of the greatest captains you've ever had," and adding "The GOAT [Greatest Of All Time], the man for the people."

Crozier was fired just four days after he pleaded for help as the coronavirus ravaged his crew on the Roosevelt. Crozier had sent an urgent letter to the U.S. Navy on Sunday, seeking to evacuate and isolate the crew as cases of coronavirus infection increased on the vessel. The letter, which was published in the San Francisco Chronicle, had been sent out broadly via email, creating "panic" on the vessel, according to Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. Modly said Crozier had "exercised extremely poor judgment."

But overnight Thursday, videos surfaced on social media showing a raucous going-away for Crozier and the term "Captain Crozier" started trending on Twitter as many praised his decision to protect his crew.

A video from Facebook user Taliah Peterkin appears to show Crozier walking down the gangway of the ship before saluting the ship and waving good-bye. 
https://www.facebook.com/100006162696918/videos/2529251917290207/

In the four-page letter to Navy officials, Crozier had asked for the crew of the aircraft carrier to be evacuated and for "decisive action" as the coronavirus spread onboard.

"We are not at war, and therefore cannot allow a single Sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily," Crozier wrote.

Democrats who lead the House Armed Services committee blasted Modly for firing Crozier. The lawmakers acknowledged Crozier improperly went outside the chain of command in releasing his letter, but they called his dismissal an overreaction.

More: Navy fires USS Theodore Roosevelt captain days after he pleaded for help for sailors with coronavirus

More: Captain of aircraft carrier asks U.S. Navy to evacuate crew amid 'accelerating' COVID-19 outbreak

As of Wednesday, about one-quarter of the 4,800 member crew had been tested for the virus, and 93 had been found to have COVID-19. About 1,000 sailors had been evacuated from the ship.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Tom Vanden Brook


This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Capt. Brett Crozier gets send-off from USS Roosevelt

The Gig Workers Of America Tell Us Why They Are Going On Strike During Coronavirus
Elly Belle Refinery29 March 31, 2020


As of Monday, March 30, a large percentage of some of the most vulnerable workers in the United States are on strike — and making history in the process. The first mass strike of gig workers came in response to coronavirus concerns, and began with workers for Instacart, the grocery shopper and delivery giant. They announced plans to strike after their work conditions became dire in coronavirus epicenters like New York, and, starting Monday, united by refusing to take orders and make deliveries.

In striking, Instacart workers refused to accept orders until the company provides hazard pay of at least an additional $5 per order as well as free safety gear (hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and soap) during the pandemic. They’ve also demanded that the company expands its paid sick leave to include workers with pre-existing conditions whose doctors have advised them not to work during the pandemic.

But, members of the Instacart community aren’t alone. Workers at both Amazon and Whole Foods (which is owned by Amazon) also announced plans to strike at the same time. While workers in Europe have been striking for weeks, U.S. workers are just now catching up.

Whole Foods workers planned to stage a nationwide “sick-out” starting Tuesday, March 31, with their demands including: guaranteed paid leave for workers who must isolate or self-quarantine instead of coming to work; health care coverage for part-time and seasonal workers; hazard pay; better commitment to ensuring all locations have access to adequate sanitation equipment; and, immediate shutdown of any and all locations where workers test positive for COVID-19.

These strikes are monumental in demanding such dramatic changes in these companies’ conditions, but what’s truly historic about these particular protests is that they are being organized and carried about by a usually defenseless segment of workers: those engaged in the gig economy — comprised of freelance workers who do everything from driving cars to delivering packages, food, and other supplies. Gig economy members are not full-time employees of Instacart or Amazon, and as such, don’t get the typical benefits of those who are. But they’re still working — and are actually the ones on the frontlines of the current COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring Americans receive everything from groceries to staples like toilet paper and cleaning supplies.

At present, workers in at least 11 different warehouses across the country including in New York, Michigan, Florida, Texas, California, and Kentucky, tested positive for coronavirus, but have yet to receive benefits like paid sick leave or hazard pay. Most recently, Whole Foods workers in New York and a Whole Foods worker in Chicago tested positive for coronavirus.

While it’s unknown exactly how many gig workers Instacart employs across the country, Amazon employs almost 800,000 employees (both gig workers and full-time, benefitted employees) nationwide. Whole Foods employs nearly 100,000 workers (both gig workers and full-time) in the U.S. And given the rate that the virus is spreading, it’s inevitable that gig workers will continue to see positive test results from coronavirus without proper protections in place. Still, employees in extremely at-risk positions like these across the country have not been provided benefits for the hazardous, precarious working situations into which they’ve suddenly been foisted. 

While it’s a really stressful time for anyone, working a job like this just amplifies that stress.

Sarah Polito, an Instacart worker from the small town of Newark in upstate New York, who has been working for the company as a freelancer for about two years, told Refinery29 that while not all Instacart workers agree with the strike, she still believes it’s ultimately necessary for the good of everyone. “Instacart published something about how they’re committed to protecting workers. However, our demands have still not been met,” Polito says. The accounts they use to work for Instacart can be deactivated by the company for non-compliance at any time, according to Instacart workers. “We are all going to be losing money, which is huge — especially right now with COVID-19. Everyone is struggling.”

One of the main points of the strike is to spread awareness of how Instacart workers are treated and the lack of benefits and protections they have. But according to the workers, who are risking their accounts being deactivated in the process, this calculated risk is worth it — considering the alternative. “Not being given proper PPE, disinfectants and wipes, we aren’t able to take the best precautions, so we’re constantly worrying about everything, so while it’s a really stressful time for anyone, working a job like this just amplifies that stress,” Polito tells Refinery29.

Despite these widespread protests, Instacart claims it’s providing the best benefits the company possibly can at this time, and has even instituted no-contact deliveries to protect both shoppers and customers. But, in the wake of the pandemic, Instacart also moved to hire about 300,000 more full service shoppers, money that might better be used to protect and pay current workers, says Polito. Currently, Instacart workers can make as little as $7 per order, according to Polito.

Another Instacart worker in New Hampshire, Jesse Rogue,* who also occasionally travels and works in the Boston metro area, says that Instacart has been a primary income source for the last two years. In the past month, it’s been their only source of income.

“I delivered to a woman today who has been using Instacart for a while because she has a physical disability and can’t go to the store herself. She had heard about the strike and was really worried that she wouldn’t have a way of getting groceries,” Rogue tells Refinery29. “That’s part of the reason why we need a strike — we know that if Instacart workers are going to work sick and that’s who we are going to be infecting, we know that this job is important right now for public health, but it’s also risky. If gig workers are taking on risk without protection, when we’re also more likely to be uninsured or even undocumented, and we’re not getting benefits, it’s going to cause way more widespread problems.”

If gig workers are taking on risk without protection, when we’re also more likely to be uninsured or even undocumented, and we’re not getting benefits, it’s going to cause way more widespread problems.

In the last four weeks, Instacart says they’ve introduced more than 15 new product features, new health guidelines, new shopper bonuses, new sick leave policies, and new safety supplies, as well as pay for those affected by COVID-19. “Our team has an unwavering commitment to safely serve our shoppers in the wake of COVID-19, and we’ll continue to share additional updates over the coming days, weeks and months ahead as we further support this important community,” Instacart said in a statement sent to Refinery29.

While employees still move to strike for at Instacart, Amazon and Whole Foods workers have reached a similar consensus regarding safety concerns. Aside from seeing minor adjustments to company policy, like now allowing cell phones on the floor for those who need to make emergency calls, Amazon workers say that the company’s inadequate response has left them more vulnerable to becoming infected. “All employers need to prioritize the health and safety of their workforce at this time,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union of Amazon, said in a statement. The company, which is also the parent company of Whole Foods, has continued to “maximize its enormous profits even over its employees’ safety,” says Appelbaum.

According to details provided by the company, Amazon is taking measures to safeguard their employees as much as possible. “In addition to all we’re doing to ensure health and safety at our buildings, we also recently implemented daily temperature screenings at our Staten Island fulfillment center as an additional preventative measure to support the health and safety of our customers and employees,” they said in a statement to Refinery29.

Christian Smalls, an Amazon worker from New Jersey who spoke with Jacobin, says that the situation at the facility he works at, known as JFK8, is “horrendous.” According to Smalls, even workers who have tested positive for the disease have been allowed back in the building again and again, putting others at risk. “The way the policy works is that you only get paid quarantine if you get tested and it comes back positive. But we know you can’t even get a test unless you’re really sick, and even then it takes a while to get the results. So you get people who are obviously sick as a dog coming into work,” Smalls explained. In solidarity with Amazon warehouse and delivery workers going on strike, tech workers for Amazon are also pledging not to work for the company until it meets demands.

In response to accusations from Amazon workers on Staten Island, Amazon says they are simply “unfounded.” When asked for comment, Kristen Kish, a spokesperson for Amazon, said to Refinery29, “Of the more 5,000 employees at our Staten Island site, 15 people — less than half a percent of associates — participated in today’s demonstration. Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis. Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable.”

Despite this, Smalls, the worker who helped organize a walkout from an Amazon fulfillment center that made national headlines, issued a statement after being fired from his position late in the day. “Today, I stood with my co-workers because conditions at JFK8 are legitimately dangerous for workers and the public. Amazon thinks this might shut me up, but I’m going to keep speaking up. My colleagues in New York and all around the country are going to keep speaking up,” Smalls said, adding, “We won’t stop until Amazon provides real protections for our health and safety and clarity for everybody about what it is doing to keep people safe in the middle of the worst pandemic of our lifetimes.”

It is extremely important these stories get out to the public because we are called essential workers but people are still treating us like bottom tier workers who don’t need better pay and protections.

Now, more and more employees are sharing their accounts of working for major companies in the gig economy. A Whole Foods worker from Seattle who wished to remain anonymous said that employees aren’t even allowed to wear protective masks unless they go to HR and go through some sort of special process. “The stores want to maintain an image, and fear that customers will think our workers are sick if they wear a mask. And on top of that, we’re on a point system that can get us fired very quickly if we call out and don’t use PTO,” she tells Refinery29. It is unclear from the company whether or not this is the policy at all Whole Foods stores.

Still, the Whole Foods worker strike, or sick-out, she explains, is important for workers to demand PTO be available to those who have not tested positive for COVID-19. “There are no protections for people who choose to self isolate or have existing health problems that are scared to come to work. Many people cannot get a hold of a test in Seattle. A lot of people do not qualify. If you can’t get a hold of a test in time, then you aren’t eligible for that PTO. It is extremely important these stories get out to the public because we are called essential workers but people are still treating us like bottom tier workers who don’t need better pay and protections.” According to this worker, not many precautions have been taken in her store except for providing extra bottles of hand sanitizer.

While workers are not certain what their companies will do in response to the strikes, they believe the message here serves a greater purpose: They refuse to work during a pandemic without adequate protection. By striking, they’re putting their income at risk, which comes with its own kind of anxiety, but they know it’s necessary to hold companies accountable, and that the gig economy cannot continue to be a loophole for labor rights.

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