Police: 3 shot at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, shooter in custody

May 21, 2020

Bree Burkitt, Arizona Republic
Published 7:53 p.m. MT May 20, 2020 | Updated 9:05 p.m. MT May 20, 2020

Three people were shot at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale on Wednesday and the shooter is in custody, according to Glendale police.

Police responded to Westgate around 7:25 p.m. after receiving multiple reports of a shooting in the area, according to Glendale police spokesperson Officer Tiffany Ngalula.

Ngalula said that three people were shot with one in critical condition. They were taken to a nearby hospital. The two other victims received non-life threatening injuries.

The shooting was no longer active when police arrived, Ngalula said.

The shooter, whom Ngalula did not identify, was found in the Westgate area. Ngalula said police “challenged” him and were able to safely take him into custody.

A video circulated on social media Wednesday night, appearing to show a man claiming to be the shooter. One of the videos showed the man with a semi-automatic rifle.

Ngalula said they were aware of the video and asked anyone who has them to share them with Glendale police to aid with their investigation.

Sen. Martin Quezada tweeted that he witnessed a shooter in the area armed with an AR-15.

“I just witnessed an armed terrorist with an AR-15 shoot up Westgate,” he wrote. “There are multiple victims.”

Please stay out of the #Westgate area. Preliminary info from our dispatch is there were at least two persons struck by gunfire and one person is in custody. PIO is enroute to the scene. Media staging for now will be West of the Arena.

— Glendale Police (@GlendaleAZPD) May 21, 2020

Numerous other videos showed store employees and guests sheltering in place.

Police are still asking those in the Westgate area to shelter in place as they continue to investigate.

Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted that his office was monitoring the situation closely and the state is ready to assist as necessary.

YAM Properties, a commercial real-estate company owned by GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, in 2018 bought the Westgate Entertainment District.

Amber Liptai, a spokeswoman for Parsons’ parent company BIG YAM, in a statement said property management and security is working with the Glendale Police Department.

“We are deeply troubled by this incident and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families,” Liptai said. “Westgate will continue to work closely with the Glendale Police Department and in-house security to best ensure the safety of our customers, tenants and residents.”

Westgate opened in 2006 just ahead of the Arizona Cardinals’ first season playing in Glendale. The complex is next to State Farm Stadium, which has hosted two Super Bowls.

Sports are at the center of Westgate, which is adjacent to Gila River Arena, a NHL hockey and concert venue.

Westgate, with its signature fountains, features many restaurants, bars, shops and offices. It’s one of the Valley’s notable entertainment destinations and annually is filled with college football fans in town for the Fiesta Bowl.

This is a developing story.

Reach public safety reporter Bree Burkitt at bburkitt@republicmedia.com or at 602-444-8515. Follow her on Twitter at @breeburkitt.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale-breaking/2020/05/20/arizona-sen-quezada-multiple-people-shot-westgate-entertainment-district-glendale/5234085002/

G.O.P. Voters Back QAnon Conspiracy Promoter for U.S. Senate

admin

May 21, 2020

G.O.P. Voters Back QAnon Conspiracy Promoter for U.S. Senate

Jo Rae Perkins won her primary campaign in Oregon as the QAnon conspiracy theory has continued to gain momentum in Republican circles.

A 2013 photo of Jo Rae Perkins, who won the Republican Senate primary in Oregon.Credit…Timothy J. Gonzalez/Statesman Journal, via Associated Press

May 20, 2020

SEATTLE — Republicans in Oregon have selected a Senate candidate who promotes the QAnon conspiracy theory, the latest sign that conservatives are increasingly willing to embrace a movement built on a baseless series of plotlines about President Trump battling a shadowy globalist cabal.

Jo Rae Perkins was carrying about 50 percent of the vote in Oregon’s primary as of Wednesday afternoon, vanquishing three other Republican candidates to become the party’s nominee for the seat currently held by Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. While the incumbent is considered a strong favorite, and Ms. Perkins’s embrace of fringe ideas could alienate mainstream voters, she has the backing of party leaders for a seat Republicans held as recently as 2009.

Ms. Perkins said in an interview that the vote in Tuesday’s election was “monumental” as she saw QAnon supporters around the state and the country back her campaign.

“We are seeing more and more people getting emboldened as we see more and more information get out there,” she said. “And as people put together more and more pieces of the puzzle, they can see, yeah, this is real.”

The conspiracy theory began in 2017 when someone claiming to have top-secret information began posting under a pseudonym to the online message board 4chan. Those continuing posts from the person identified as “Q” have woven a fantastical plot about the planet’s elites: a global cabal of politicians and celebrities controlling governments, media, banks and a child sex-trafficking ring.

The posts portray Mr. Trump as a heroic mastermind working with patriotic members of government to dismantle the cabal and “deep state” actors, leading up to mass arrests of the likes of former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others. Adherents pore over each new Q message, hunting for clues and patterns, pointing out coincidences involving the number 17 because Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet and embracing theories such as the idea that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his own death and is alive now posting as Q.

While some of Q’s most fundamental claims — for example, that the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election would actually end with prominent Democrats being imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay — have never come to fruition, the movement has continued to seep into mainstream conservative circles. Mr. Trump has stoked the flames with references to “deep state” and retweets of Qanon adherents. Q signs have appeared at rallies for Mr. Trump, and believers have been arrested in a series of troubling episodes, including an armed standoff near the Hoover Dam.

Those actions have raised growing fears that delusional theories about a covert battle for global control could lead to more violence. Last May, the F.B.I. included QAnon in an intelligence bulletin that warned of potential violence stemming from “fringe political conspiracy theories.” But pushback against the conspiracy theory has been met with yet further theories of a growing plot.

“I believe that that was some of the deep state actors in the F.B.I. trying to put out disinformation,” said Ms. Perkins, an insurance agent who had previously lost primary campaigns for seats in Congress in 2018, 2016 and 2014. She has promoted other issues in her campaign, including expanding the wall at the border with Mexico and restricting the size of the federal government.

A series of candidates for public office have promoted or dabbled in the conspiracy theory, but Ms. Perkins’s victory has offered the most compelling evidence that Republican voters were willing to embrace proponents of the conspiracy theory. A spokesman for the Oregon Republican Party did not immediately return a call seeking comment, but the party’s vice chairwoman, Tracy Honl, said in a brief interview that she supported Ms. Perkins’s candidacy.

Oregon has largely backed Democratic statewide candidates in recent history, with its last Republican governor serving in the 1980s. In Tuesday’s election, voters in the Portland area approved a new tax to fund homeless services.

Jim Pasero, a political consultant and publisher in Portland who once ran speechwriting operations for the Republican National Committee, said that Democrats had so come to dominate politics in Oregon that mainstream Republicans hesitate to run for office.

“People are afraid to put money into Republican contests,” he said. “So the fringe candidates get to have a voice.”

But the state also has deep Republican pockets, largely in rural areas, and a Republican secretary of state. Alek Skarlatos, known for helping foil a terrorist attack on a train in Europe in 2015, was running as a Republican in the state’s 4th Congressional District and won on Wednesday with 87 percent of the vote.

Joseph Lowndes, a political scientist at the University of Oregon who researches right-wing political trends, said the Republican Party in the state had shifted rightward since the 1990s but in the past few years had turned increasingly toward the fringe.

Mr. Lowndes attended one of the recent reopening rallies and said he was surprised how many QAnon advocates were there. He said that even if there were Republicans who were not fully on board with the movement, the theory was not taboo in the way the John Birch Society once was.

“It’s clearly growing,” he said.

Q posts have also helped shape growing wariness of government interventions to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Q has portrayed the virus response as a larger plot to undermine the president and his re-election.

Ms. Perkins expressed wariness about the medical leaders advising the president and said she would not get any vaccine that would be developed in response to the coronavirus.

“I don’t know what they are pumping me full of,” Ms. Perkins said. “I don’t want that crap.”

Ms. Perkins said she saw Mr. Trump as being involved in the Q effort, saying that she believed he was posting online under the pseudonym Q+. While she insisted that Q was real and that it was “a mathematical impossibility” for Q not to be real, she later left open the possibility that Q was not.

“It’s always a possibility that Q is fake,” Ms. Perkins said. “But I do not believe at this point in time, based on everything that I know, that Q is fake.”

Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting.

Reopening guidance for churches delayed after White House and CDC disagree

admin

May 21, 2020

Reopening guidance for churches delayed after White House and CDC disagree

Guidance for reopening houses of worship amid the coronavirus pandemic has been put on hold after a battle between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House, which was resistant to putting limits on religious institutions, according to administration officials.

The CDC this week issued a detailed road map for reopening schools, child-care facilities, restaurants and mass transit. On Tuesday night, the agency issued additional guidance in the form of “health considerations” for summer camps, including overnight camps, and youth sports organizations and colleges.

But there are currently no plans to issue guidance for religious institutions, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss policy decisions.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said President Trump and “all Americans want to see their churches safely open again. Not only is it good for the community, it’s their right under the Constitution to worship freely without government intrusion. The Trump administration will always protect that right and continue to partner with states to ensure congregations are properly protected as restrictions are responsibly eased.”

A coronavirus outbreak at an Arkansas church that killed three and infected dozens, as well as recent church closures in states at the forefront of reopening efforts, are already challenging the wisdom of the CDC not issuing guidance, experts said.

The Arkansas outbreak, detailed in a CDC report this week, began after a pastor at the church and his wife attended church events over six days in early March and spread the virus to others. At least 34 of 92 attendees at church events became infected, including the three who died, all over the age of 65. An additional 26 infections and one death in the community were probably linked to contact with people infected at the church events, according to the report.

Public health experts said the lack of reopening guidance for religious institutions puts some of the most vulnerable at risk for contracting covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Worshipers tend to be older than the population at large and are among the most at risk from the virus, said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University.

“You’re talking about that group that is really vulnerable to this virus, and those are the ones you don’t have guidelines for and that you need to protect,” she said.

Smith is helping a Cleveland-area church navigate the safest way to reopen. She and a graduate student have gone over every aspect of the church service, from “what the priests are doing, to getting people into the church, to taking the host,” she said.

But “it should not be our responsibility” to guide the church if there are existing federal recommendations, Smith said. Any guidelines would be voluntary and intended to “keep people safe,” she said. “You think that would be the responsibility of the government. Churches could choose what to implement. . . . It just is really frustrating to me that these have not been released.”

CDC draft guidance on houses of worship was the subject of much internal debate at the White House last month. Some aides did not want any guidance for religious institutions. Others thought recommendations were too restrictive.

In the end, the decision to hold back reopening guidance for religious institutions came from some White House and coronavirus task force officials who did not want to alienate the faithful and believed that some of the proposals, such as limits on hymnals, the size of choirs or the passing of collection plates, were too restrictive, according to two administration officials.

Trump and Vice President Pence have maintained close ties to conservative religious leaders during the shutdown, scheduling private calls and asking for support as they try to reopen the nation, the officials said.

Officials in Pence’s office, the Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council raised concerns about the guidelines for religious institutions, the officials said.

There were conversations about scaling back the guidelines, but after weeks of discussion, they were left out entirely, one of these officials said. At one point, officials discussed various religious groups and even called pastors and other religious leaders to see if they could shape the guidelines in accordance with “faith traditions,” according to one senior administration official.

A draft CDC document that detailed reopening guidelines recommended that faith communities consider temporarily limiting community sharing of prayer books, hymnals and other worship materials; consider using a stationary collection box, the mail or electronic payment instead of shared collection trays or baskets; and avoid or consider suspending choir or musical ensembles during services.

About a third of Americans — 31 percent — attend religious services at least once a week, the Pew Research Center reported last fall, down from 37 percent a decade earlier.

Nancy Davidge, spokeswoman for the Episcopal Church, did not have immediate comment about the decision to hold back reopening guidance for congregations, or whether the denomination had lobbied the White House.

Chieko T. Noguchi, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the prelates have not discussed the CDC guidelines’ omission of churches. Asked whether the bishops had advocated a position on the guidelines with the White House, Noguchi declined to comment. The Catholic Church is the country’s largest faith group.

Other denominations are offering general suggestions to congregations about reopening. The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s second-largest faith group, issued a checklist May 7 through its public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Item No. 1: “Identify reliable, local sources of information. . . . Choices must be made based on objective data, not subjective impressions.”

lena.sun@washpost.com

josh.dawsey@washpost.com

michelle.boorstein@washpost.com

Cyclone Amphan Slams India and Bangladesh

admin

May 21, 2020

Cyclone Amphan Slams India and Bangladesh

Millions fled, and several deaths have been reported, but for the moment, at least, residents say it appears it could have been much worse.

Paradeep, India, as Cyclone Amphan made landfall Wednesday.Credit…EPA, via Shutterstock

NEW DELHI — A dreaded cyclone tore through eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, knocking down trees, smashing countless shacks and killing at least several people, but, it appeared, causing less devastation than initially feared.

The combination of an impressive evacuation effort and the storm weakening as it swirled onto land seems to have spared many lives.

Just a few days ago, meteorologists were calling the cyclone, named Amphan, one of the most dangerous storms in decades. And preparations for it were complicated by the fact that the cyclone hit in the middle of the pandemic, with both India and Bangladesh locked down and experiencing an alarming rise in coronavirus infections.

Many villagers along India’s coast were apprehensive about rushing into packed emergency shelters, where they feared they would catch the virus. Hundreds of shelters weren’t even available because they had been converted into quarantine centers two weeks ago.

Still, by Wednesday evening, more than three million people had been whisked from their homes along the Bay of Bengal and were staying in shelters. The Bangladeshi authorities also managed to evacuate 520,997 animals, they said, including cows, goats, buffalo, chickens and ducks.

In Bangladesh, people sought safety at a shelter in Gabura as the storm neared. — Credit…Reuters

One of the worst-hit cities was Kolkata, once the capital of British India, which is home to many fragile buildings hundreds of years old. The eye of Cyclone Amphan passed close to the city, bringing with it 100-mile-per-hour winds and ropes of rain.

The storm split trees into pieces, exploded transformers, tipped over electricity poles and damaged many homes — unusual destruction for the city, which lies more than 50 miles inland from the Bay of Bengal and is typically spared major cyclone damage.

“It’s a pretty bad storm,” said Jawhar Sircar, a retired government administrator, speaking by telephone as rain lashed the windows of his house in south Kolkata. “Trees are falling. Flower pots are falling. Things are flying from here to there.”

Another Kolkata resident, Manu Bandyopadhyay, a contractor, was despondent about losing his ancestral home in a fishing village. His grandfather was a fisherman.

“If he were alive today,” Mr. Bandyopadhyay said, “he would have cried.”

As the cyclone bore down, humanitarian organizations were especially worried about the one million Rohingya refugees stuck in muddy camps in coastal Bangladesh, where they ended up after fleeing massacres in Myanmar a few years ago. Many of the refugees live on denuded hillsides in flimsy homes made from sticks and plastic tarps.

But the storm skirted that area, dumping it with heavy rains but not washing away homes, as many aid workers and refugees had feared.

“We are staying inside and praying to Allah that the cyclone doesn’t affect us,” said Enayetullah, who goes by one name and lives with his three children in the Kutupalong refugee camp, near the town of Cox’s Bazar.

Image

Roofs were reinforced in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.Credit…Ro Yassin Abdumonab, via Reuters

The Indian and Bangladeshi authorities are getting good at large-scale coastal evacuations.

After a cyclone in 1999 killed thousands of people, both governments built hundreds of new emergency shelters. They aren’t picturesque — picture a bare two-story, peeling-paint, cement-block rectangular building on stilts, almost resembling a crab. But the structures, some designed by the faculty at one of India’s elite universities, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, have proved stormworthy.

Officials have also tightened up their methods of getting the word out — through text messaging, television commercials and old-fashioned door-to-door pleas to evacuate.

Last year, Indian officials moved more than a million people out of harm’s way when another cyclone was bearing down, and once again, for this storm, they seemed to have done a thorough job of evacuating villagers and pre-positioning rescue teams.

All day Tuesday and Wednesday, emergency crews in orange jumpsuits and yellow hard hats plied the beach roads, urging people through megaphones to leave their homes and go to the evacuation shelters as an increasingly frothy sea pounded the sea walls and spilled into the roads.

“Do Not Go Out In The Storm,” said a message featured prominently on Indian television stations.

Video player loading — Cyclone Amphan hit India’s coast as the country and neighboring Bangladesh are struggling with coronavirus infections. The storm also caused floods in Sri Lanka.CreditCredit…Reuters

The cyclone made landfall around 4 p.m. near the Indian town of Digha, on the eastern coast, with wind speeds between 80 and 100 miles per hour.

Though damage assessments were still sketchy on Wednesday night as Amphan continued to churn into northeastern India, the authorities said several people had died, including an infant boy crushed after the wall of his mud hut crumbled and fell on him.

A Bangladeshi Red Crescent volunteer drowned after a rescue boat capsized during a rescue operation. At least two other deaths were reported in India media.

The cyclone washed away bridges connecting Indian islands to the mainland and left many areas without electricity or phone service, the West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, told reporters Wednesday evening. She said that while a clearer picture of the devastation would emerge by Thursday, there had been at least seven deaths, The Associated Press reported.

But many residents said this was better than they had expected.

On Monday, Cyclone Amphan swept over the Bay of Bengal as the strongest cyclone ever recorded in the region. But by Tuesday a phenomenon called vertical wind shear — the shifting of winds with altitude — had disrupted the storm’s rotational structure, weakening it.

Amphan initially grew powerful because the waters it passed over were exceedingly warm, as high as 88 degrees in parts of the Indian Ocean. Warmer water provides more energy to fuel such rotating storms.

Climate change is raising ocean temperatures, but other factors, including natural variability, can play a role. While it is not possible to say whether any one specific storm like Amphan was made more powerful by climate change, scientists have long expected that tropical storms like it will increase in strength as the world warms.

Image

Indian emergency workers removing an uprooted tree near the border between the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha.Credit…Reuters

The storm drenched the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a wildlife refuge, home to endangered species including Bengal tigers.

Belinda Wright, the executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said that some of the villages on the fringes of the wildlife refuge had been badly hit, and that she received a panicked call Wednesday afternoon from a man she works with in a village on a remote island.

The man said dozens of people had holed up in a concrete shelter built on top of a school. Outside, trees had snapped, dead livestock were sprawled across the ground and huge waves threatened to destroy 12-foot high dikes that protected the village of mud huts from being completely obliterated.

If the dikes fail to hold, she said, “They don’t stand a chance.”

“He was very, very emotional,” Ms. Wright said. “I could hear children crying in the background. He said to me: ‘This might be the end. This might be the last time I talk to you.’”

But several hours later, Ms. Wright reached him.

“The embankment held,” she said. “He sounded extremely positive and sort of triumphant that he had survived.”

Suhasini Raj contributed reporting from Lucknow, India, and Henry Fountain from Albuquerque, N.M.

Dr. Siegel predicts ‘more deaths of despair’ than from virus: ‘Lockdowns don’t work’ if contagion widespread

admin

May 21, 2020

Dr. Siegel predicts ‘more deaths of despair’ than from virus: ‘Lockdowns don’t work’ if contagion widespread

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday that “lockdowns don’t work” once a virus becomes widespread as the debate over when and how to continue reopening the country rages on.

“Lockdowns don’t work if there is already a lot of virus in the area, in the community, in the state, the country,” Siegel said.

The NYU Langone internist referenced what he called a “shocking” JPMorgan study released Wednesday indicating that states and countries where lockdowns were implemented have had a higher rate of COVID-19 cases than locations that remained open throughout the pandemic.

“South Dakota, which was never locked down, has had almost no cases over the last several days,” Siegel noted.

“In Hong Kong … they have a very ineffective government. You know why they have been able to do so well with only four deaths from COVID-19?” Siegel said, “Because the people behaved. They knew how to do social distancing. It wasn’t locking down. Locking down definitely doesn’t make the problem better … if there is already a lot of virus.”

Siegel urged state leaders to ease restrictions as soon as possible, citing concerns of an uptick in “deaths of despair.”

CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

“You know what locking down does? Locking down destroys our health care system to the point where we have more heart attacks [in patients] that are not going to the hospital now,” he said. “More strokes that are not going to the hospital now. More cancer that is not being screened. People say they are afraid to go to the emergency room right now. “

On Tuesday, more than 600 doctors signed on to a letter calling on President Trump to end the so-called “national shutdown,” calling stay-at-home orders keeping businesses closed and kids home from school a “mass casualty incident” with “exponentially growing health consequences.”

“Suicide, drug abuse, alcoholism,” Siegel said, “there are going to be more deaths of despair than from the virus itself.”

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Melania Trump to take part in CNN global town hall

admin

May 21, 2020

Melania Trump to take part in CNN global town hall

(CNN)First lady Melania Trump will take part Thursday evening in CNN’s weekly global town hall on coronavirus. Her remarks, which will be pre-recorded, are the first solo broadcast message from Trump since the onset of the pandemic.
It is anticipated she wi…
Read More

Sean Hannity warns New Yorkers to ‘grab your wallets’ because ‘you’re about to get robbed’

admin

May 21, 2020

Sean Hannity warns New Yorkers to ‘grab your wallets’ because ‘you’re about to get robbed’

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

Sean Hannity called for America to reopen “right away” Wednesday, saying that the time had come to eliminate “one size fits all” lockdown orders before slamming New York‘s response to the coronavirus emergency.

“This is the cover of The New York Post tomorrow,” Hannity said, as a graphic displayed the front page of the tabloid’s Thursday edition.

“It reads, ‘The Big Apple is dying. Its streets are empty. Tens of thousands of have been plunged into poverty. Our leaders have no plan, no answers. New Yorkers have already learned to social distance. Businesses can adjust. The elderly and sick can continue to be isolated. But it needs to end. Now,'” Hannity said, quoting columnist David Marcus.

“Here’s my prediction,” the host went on. “New York City, New York state leaders, so-called leaders, they will not listen until it’s too late.

“Grab your wallets if you live in New York. You’re about to get robbed,” Hannity warned. “They are going to rob you because they’ll never be able to get their way out of this mess they created.”

POLITICO KNOCKS MEDIA FOR INCORRECT PREDICTIONS OF DESANTIS’ FLORIDA REOPENING FOLLOWING POSITIVE ROLLOUT

Hannity criticized the initial stay-at-home order, saying it may have killed more people than the coronavirus.

“In the absence of conclusive data, these lockdowns were justified initially, but millions of lives were being destroyed with little consideration that the lockdowns might not only cause economic devastation, but potentially more deaths than COVID-19 itself,” Hannity said. “Now these endless, one-size-fits-all lockdown orders … they need to end now.”

The host then declared that if Americans want to know how to open the country, they should follow the lead of states like Texas and Florida.

“We know how to do this. We know how to do it safely. Americans are screaming to get their freedom and their country back. And they’re even willing to wear masks in the appropriate situations,” he said. “Florida got it right. Texas got it right. And guess what? Now it’s time for all the states to follow their lead.

“And by the way, we can learn from some states that were successful. More importantly, we need to learn from the abject failures, meaning New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan.”

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Hannity also said the media owed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis an apology for their criticism of his reopening strategy.

“You owe Governor DeSantis a huge apology because you accused him of wanting to kill grandma because you opened Florida’s beaches. Grandma wasn’t going to the beach in her bikini,” Hannity said. “Grandma was sheltering in place because he [DeSantis] already sent his National Guard and every state agency to every elderly care facility and nursing home … So they were preparing the whole time. Guess what? They weren’t wrong. Others were.”

All 50 States Are Now Reopening. But at What Cost?

admin

May 21, 2020

All 50 States Are Now Reopening. But at What Cost?

Governors face intensifying pressure to reopen their economies, but experts warn it could mean thousands of new deaths.

A family dined outside in West Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday. The state was among the last to take the plunge toward reopening.Credit…Jessica Hill for The New York Times

May 20, 2020

In Connecticut, flags that had been lowered during the somber peak of the coronavirus pandemic were raised to full-staff on Wednesday to signal a return to business.

In Kentucky, gift shops creaked open their doors.

And across Alaska, restaurants, bars and gyms, which have been open to small numbers of customers for weeks, were getting ready to rev back up to full capacity. “It will all be open,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced, “just like it was prior to the virus.”

The United States has crossed an uneasy threshold with all 50 states beginning to reopen in some way, two months after the coronavirus thrust the country into lockdown. But there are vast variations in how states are deciding to open up, with some forging far ahead of others.

The increasing moves to lift restrictions on businesses — or at least open up outdoor spaces like beaches and state parks — reflect the immense political and societal pressures weighing on the nation’s governors, even as epidemiologists remain cautious and warn of a second wave of cases.

With millions of people out of work and many Americans entering their third month isolated at home, the push to take action rivals what states faced at the beginning of the crisis, when governors were urged to shut down.

“You have 50 different governors doing 50 different things,” said Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine. “There will be states that open too soon or states that are too conservative. It is hard to thread the needle.”

Kel Rossiter, owner and lead guide of Adventure Spirit, and a customer walking up Cannon Mountain, N.H., on Wednesday. Smaller outdoor group activities were starting to be allowed in the state. — Credit…John Tully for The New York Times

But if reopening has become a buzz word among politicians — many states have issued sweeping documents with color-coded plans to “rebound” and “bounce back” — life remains far from normal in most places across America. Even in Georgia, which opened many businesses last month ahead of other states, restaurants are seeing only about 15 percent of normal traffic, according to data published by OpenTable, a restaurant reservation website.

The White House has said that states should have a “downward trajectory” of cases over a 14-day period before reopening, but many states reopened well short of meeting those benchmarks. Some epidemiologists see warning signs of a rebound, especially in the South, and because it can take as long as three weeks for a newly infected person to become sick enough to go to the hospital, the impact of reopening is unlikely to be detectable immediately.

“We really are playing with fire here in a very broad sense,” said Charles Courtemanche, an economist at the University of Kentucky. In a recent paper for the journal Health Affairs, he estimated that the number of confirmed cases in the United States, which reached a million at the end of April, would have been closer to 35 million without the restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders that began in mid-March. “Just because it hasn’t been a catastrophe yet in your state, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the potential to be,” he said.

Ipakoi Grigoriadis was left to navigate the complexities while fielding breakfast orders at her family’s diner, Pop’s Family Restaurant, in Milford, Conn., which reopened to outdoor dining on Wednesday as Connecticut lifted its stay-at-home order and allowed some businesses to reopen.

“It is still a little scary considering we don’t exactly know what this is,” said Ms. Grigoriadis, who said the restaurant was taking a number of precautions. Employees were instructed to wear masks and gloves at all times, she said, and patrons were expected to wear masks while at the restaurant as well — “except when they are eating and drinking.”

Connecticut was among the last states to take the plunge toward reopening, representing the more cautious approach that has defined much of the Northeast. New York, which has seen by far the most cases and deaths in the nation, is proceeding with a regional reopening that excludes hard-hit New York City. In Washington, D.C., a stay-at-home order is in effect until June and the surrounding region remains closed.

Image

Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut reopened to some on Wednesday and is expected to reopen to the public on Friday.Credit…Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Several states on the West Coast and certain Democratic-led states in the Midwest have also moved slowly, taking a regional or step-by-step approach.

By contrast, a number of states in the South opened earlier and more fully. Businesses have been open with social distancing requirements for nearly a month in Georgia, where the number of new cases has remained more or less the same. Mississippi saw its largest single-day increase in reported cases and deaths only after the state began to reopen.

The variation illustrates the political and regional differences that have come to define the state-by-state response to the coronavirus, as governors navigate a pandemic that comes with no political playbook.

Texas, the nation’s second-largest state, with 29 million residents, had among the shortest stay-at-home orders in the country when it reopened many businesses on May 1, in a move that appealed to the state’s pro-business spirit. But weeks later, officials reported the highest one-day total of new cases, and some fear many businesses will still not survive.

Of the more than 50,000 restaurants in Texas, 12 percent have gone out of business because of the pandemic, said Emily Williams Knight, chief executive of the Texas Restaurant Association. She said she expected that up to 30 percent would “not make it through the crisis.” The state’s restaurant industry has already lost 700,000 jobs, she said, and would most likely lose more.

“I think you see customers now having an emotional impact of driving up and having a restaurant they’ve spent years at simply closed, with a note saying, ‘Thank you for your patronage over the years,’” she said.

While scores of restaurants flounder or even collapse, El Arroyo, a popular Mexican restaurant at the western edge of downtown Austin, found a ticket to survival with a savvy marketing move — the sale of to-go margaritas. The restaurant has since begun serving customers on its patio and will return to indoor dining when Texas allows restaurants to expand to 50 percent capacity for indoor sales from 25 percent, starting Friday.

Image

A group of people removed their masks to eat lunch outside of Central Market, a Texas grocery chain, this month.Credit…Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

“We’re full,” said Shane Thompson, the manager. “People are happy to be out and about.”

In Louisville, Ky., a handful of customers browsed through the bourbon, horse-themed jewelry and collectible items that stocked the Kentucky Derby Museum gift shop on Wednesday, when the state lifted restrictions on retail stores.

“We really didn’t know what to expect,” said Rachel Collier, a spokeswoman for the museum, which remains closed even as the gift shop opened back up. She said the museum’s revenue had declined by 95 percent during the pandemic, which also forced the Kentucky Derby to be postponed for the first time in 75 years.

Even without the boon of tourism, she said, a small but steady stream of customers drifted through the gift shop on Wednesday, many eager to buy cups engraved with this year’s canceled derby date. “We are pleasantly surprised,” she said.

Researchers expect that reopening the United States could cause thousands of additional deaths, while also saving several million jobs, a balancing act that has swung more toward the economy in recent weeks.

Updated May 20, 2020
- How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?
  
  Over 36 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $100,000, a Fed official said.
- Is ‘Covid toe’ a symptom of the disease?
  
  There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing.
- Can I go to the park?
  
  Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.
- How do I take my temperature?
  
  Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
- Should I wear a mask?
  
  The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.
- What should I do if I feel sick?
  
  If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
- How do I get tested?
  
  If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.
- Should I pull my money from the markets?
  
  That’s not a good idea. Even if you’re retired, having a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so that your money keeps up with inflation, or even grows, makes sense. But retirees may want to think about having enough cash set aside for a year’s worth of living expenses and big payments needed over the next five years.
- How can I help?
  
  Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities.

A forecast from the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that the number of cumulative deaths from the virus in the United States would rise to 157,000 from the current about 92,000 by the end of July if states maintained restrictions. A partial or full reopening could bring an additional 15,000 or 73,000 deaths, respectively.

Researchers found that the biggest risk for negative health outcomes was probably not state regulations, but people’s own behavior. If Americans get out of the habit of social distancing — returning to their pre-pandemic behavior by not wearing masks or staying six feet apart — the forecast predicted that deaths could rise by as many as 135,000.

“Everyone wants us to talk about policy, but in fact personal behavior still matters a lot here,” said Kent Smetters, the faculty director at the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

Many are still hesitant. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most Americans were somewhat concerned that lifting restrictions in their area would lead to new infections, and at least half were very or extremely concerned. About six in 10 people were in favor of people remaining in their homes except for essential needs.

[Sign up for California Today, our daily newsletter about the Golden State.]

Mary Lou Giles, a 73-year-old resident of El Dorado County, Calif., said that she and her husband planned to shelter in place for another several weeks, though businesses in her remote mountain county between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe were allowed to reopen sooner than in other parts of the state.

“I sincerely hope there will not be a surge in Covid cases as a result of what I believe is a premature rush to reopen,” she said. “But I’m not willing to gamble.”

Reporting was contributed by David Montgomery, Sarah Maslin Nir, Jill Cowan and Mike Baker.

Stimulus checks: 4 million Americans could receive prepaid debit cards soon

admin

May 21, 2020

Stimulus checks: 4 million Americans could receive prepaid debit cards soon

Trump sends millions of Americans signed letters

Roughly 4 million Americans should soon receive their government stimulus payments through a prepaid debit card, according to the Treasury Department. The cards are being mailed to people who haven’t provided their banking information to the IRS, such as low-income households without bank accounts or taxpayers who don’t typically receive a tax refund via direct deposit.

Although 140 million Americans have received stimulus payments since the IRS began sending the coronavirus relief checks in mid-April, another 10 million taxpayers are still waiting on the funds. The payments are part of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act, which took effect at the end of March.

The stimulus payments amount to $1,200 for single people who earn less than $75,000, while married couples who earn less than $150,000 get $2,400. Children under 17 are eligible to receive $500.

Some taxpayers who are still waiting for their money have expressed frustration with the process. Because the IRS was forced to close its telephone help center due to the pandemic, consumers haven’t been able to connect with an agency representative. As a remedy, the IRS said on Monday it’s adding 3,500 workers who will soon answer questions about the payments.

The debit cards, called Economic Impact Payment (EIP) Cards, will be sent to 4 million taxpayers instead of a paper check or direct deposit. The cards can be used to make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs or transfer funds to personal bank accounts without any fees, the Treasury Department said. The cards will be accepted at any store where Visa cards can be used, according to the agency.

Trump pushes for reopening as Senate holds hearing on CARES Act economic stimulus programs

The Treasury also said the cards will be issued by MetaBank beginning this week, which will include instructions on how to activate and use the card.

For consumers, the stimulus checks have prompted many questions about who is eligible to receive the money and how to ensure timely payment. The Social Security Administration this month published a seven-page “how-to” for Social Security recipients, which provides guidance on what beneficiaries should do to make sure they get their payments.

Many Americans that receive extra Social Security benefits for low-income aged, blind or disabled people — the Supplemental Security Income program — are likely to receive their stimulus payments this month through direct deposit or the mail, according to the Social Security Administration.

Coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ by touching surfaces or objects, CDC now says. But it still ‘may be possible’.

admin

May 21, 2020

Coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ by touching surfaces or objects, CDC now says. But it still ‘may be possible’.

Jessica Flores, USA TODAY
Published 9:06 p.m. ET May 20, 2020

The CDC and a new study look at how long the coronavirus can live on surfaces.

USA TODAY

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has always warned that “it may be possible” to become infected with coronavirus by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.

It just “does not spread easily” in that manner, the agency now says, nor by animal-to-human contact, or vice versa.

“COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning about how it spreads,” says the CDC’s recently updated guidelines. “It may be possible for COVID-19 to spread in other ways, but these are not thought to be the main ways the virus spreads.”

Dr. John Whyte, chief medical officer for the healthcare website WebMD, told Fox News that the CDC’s slight update brings clarity and helps to reduce fears.

“Many people were concerned that by simply touching an object they may get coronavirus and that’s simply not the case. Even when a virus may stay on a surface, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually infectious,” Whyte was quoted.

For hours, even days: How long does the coronavirus live on surfaces?

“I think this new guideline helps people understand more about what does and doesn’t increase risk. It doesn’t mean we stop washing hands and disinfecting surfaces. But it does allow us to be practical and realistic as we try to return to a sense of normalcy,” he said.

The CDC still warns that the main way the virus is spread is through person-to-person contact, even among those who are not showing any symptoms.

The main way to prevent infection, the CDC says, is by practicing social distancing and staying at least 6 feet away from others, washing your hands with soap and water, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently-touched areas.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that coronavirus can live on some surfaces for up to three days and up to three hours in the air.

It can live up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel, according to the study.

The CDC, however, has said that catching the coronavirus from boxes delivered by Amazon or on your takeout food bag is highly unlikely “because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces.”

Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and David Oliver, USA TODAY

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last Slide Next Slide

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/05/20/coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-surfaces-objects-cdc/5232748002/

1...1,8411,8421,843...2,782 Page 1,842 of 2,782

Global Statistics

How to Help Workers Hurt by the Pandemic: Give, but Safely

All Sport Contests Are Canceled Over Coronavirus Concerns

What You Can Do Right Now to Combat the New Coronavirus

The Coronavirus Epidemic Might Be Much Worse Than We Thought

Global Statistics

How to Help Workers Hurt by the Pandemic: Give, but Safely

All Sport Contests Are Canceled Over Coronavirus Concerns

What You Can Do Right Now to Combat the New Coronavirus

The Coronavirus Epidemic Might Be Much Worse Than We Thought

Police: 3 shot at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, shooter in custody

G.O.P. Voters Back QAnon Conspiracy Promoter for U.S. Senate

Reopening guidance for churches delayed after White House and CDC disagree

Cyclone Amphan Slams India and Bangladesh

Dr. Siegel predicts ‘more deaths of despair’ than from virus: ‘Lockdowns don’t work’ if contagion widespread

Melania Trump to take part in CNN global town hall

Sean Hannity warns New Yorkers to ‘grab your wallets’ because ‘you’re about to get robbed’

All 50 States Are Now Reopening. But at What Cost?

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

Is ‘Covid toe’ a symptom of the disease?

Can I go to the park?

How do I take my temperature?

Should I wear a mask?

What should I do if I feel sick?

How do I get tested?

Should I pull my money from the markets?

How can I help?

Stimulus checks: 4 million Americans could receive prepaid debit cards soon

Coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ by touching surfaces or objects, CDC now says. But it still ‘may be possible’.

Quick Links

Must Read

Grand Jury Deliberations in Breonna Taylor Case Will Be Released

Video shows alleged ballot harvesting in Ilhan Omar’s district

A Once-in-a-Century Climate ‘Anomaly’ Might Have Made World War I Even Deadlier

Sean Hannity claims Dems ‘put all their eggs in the debate basket’ ahead of first Biden-Trump showdown

Popular Articles

Grand Jury Deliberations in Breonna Taylor Case Will Be Released

Video shows alleged ballot harvesting in Ilhan Omar’s district

A Once-in-a-Century Climate ‘Anomaly’ Might Have Made World War I Even Deadlier