Joblessness soars as COVID-19 pandemic accelerates across US
10 July 2020
The past week saw a marked acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. There were more than 375,000 coronavirus cases reported in the United States during the last seven days, more than the number of cases reported in February, March and the first week of April combined. The daily official number of deaths, which had been decreasing in the country to an average of just above 500 each day, shot up to more than 800 for the past three days.
As a result, there are now 3.2 million people that have been infected by the pandemic virus and more than 135,000 that have died. While 1.4 million have recovered, another 1.8 million people currently have active cases of COVID-19, half a million more than a month ago. Worldwide, there are more than 12.3 million total confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 556,000 deaths.
There were also another 1.3 million people who filed for unemployment for the first time last week, the 15th week in a row that new unemployment claims have been above 1 million and more than six times the number who newly filed this week last year. In addition, 18.1 million people placed continuing claims, more than 10 times those of a year ago.
Diane Higgins, of Chelsea, Mass., right, unloads boxes of donated food at a Salvation Army while people impacted by the coronavirus wait in line for food, Tuesday, June 30, 2020, in Chelsea, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
The unemployment figures, moreover, only capture about half of those threatened with economic destitution in the wake of the shutdowns and layoffs in March and April in response to the pandemic. More than 1 million people filed claims last week under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to those who are self-employed, and thus can’t get normal unemployment benefits, or who are unable to work for COVID-19 related reasons.
The total number of people receiving this second type of assistance is 14.4 million, bringing the total number of people currently getting aid during the pandemic to 32.5 million. If the number of people receiving state and federal aid were a state, that state would be more populous than Texas.
Alongside the historically high unemployment figures, the National Bureau of Economic Research issued a paper noting that two-thirds of the workers currently receiving benefits are getting more money than they would be on the job. A fifth of them are currently getting double their salary. While the paper argues for a reduction of benefits or their elimination, it ignores the fact that its findings ultimately underscore the social crisis that had existed in the United States even before the pandemic.
Dr. Ali Khan, a former health official at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was more direct in his comments. He told CNN, “If you’re not doing the … things we’ve talked about in the past to get this outbreak under control, starting with test and trace … your only option is to shut down.”Amid the ongoing public health and economic crises, there are increasing calls from medical professionals to again shut down states with growing outbreaks. Infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci noted yesterday in an interview on FiveThirtyEight that four states—Arizona, California, Florida and Texas—currently account for about half of the new infections in the country. He advocated at least pausing the reopenings in those states, as well as closing enclosed areas where large numbers of people gather, such as bars.
These warnings echo those that have been issued by the World Health Organization since countries around the world began to emerge from lockdown in late April. They noted then that lockdowns are only a temporary measure, one designed to allow public health systems to recover from the shock of a surge of infections, as well as set up mass testing and contact tracing capabilities.
While some states have been able to recover from their record highs of daily infections and deaths, such as New York, others have continued to see a steady rise in cases. California, for example, had a stay-at-home order in effect since March 19, but allowed many types of businesses to partially reopen in May. This included retail stores, restaurants and recreational facilities, as well as factories and other manufacturing plants.
The state’s new case numbers, however, have shot up in the past month. Unlike New York, which has had a sharp decline in daily cases, California’s trend has been only flat or upward. It has seen a 275 percent increase in its number of new cases since May 25 and now reports more new cases each day than any state except Texas and Florida. California also leads the nation in daily deaths. Wednesday it reported 150 fatalities and yesterday at least 135.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s death count, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer warned, “Our cases are rising. The rate of infection is increasing. And the number of hospitalizations are up. And today, we’re even seeing a small increase in the number of deaths.” She was also forced to admit, “Tragically, we do expect that more of our loved ones and neighbors may die of COVID-19 in the coming weeks with all of the increases we’re seeing with hospitalizations.”
The city has again begun to limit testing. While testing had become more widespread in May and parts of June, the growth in cases has forced Los Angeles to allow coronavirus testing only for those showing symptoms or working in an enclosed and crowded area, and for those who have come in contact with another person confirmed to have the virus. At the same time, local officials have estimated that 1 in 140 people living in LA County are unknowingly infected with the virus and are now far less likely to be tested.
Houston, Texas faces a similar situation. There are more than 40,000 cases just in Harris County, which includes Houston. As cases spiral upward, Houston also faces inundated hospitals and testing shortages. Staffing and bed shortages at the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital last Sunday meant that at least 10 coronavirus patients who needed intensive care were forced to wait in the hospital’s emergency room pending transfer to other area hospitals. The growing crisis forced Mayor Sylvester Turner to cancel the upcoming in-person convention of the Texas Republican Party.
At the same time, paramedics for the city are reporting an increasing number of people dying at home before they can receive hospital care. While many of the fatalities are no doubt from the coronavirus, it is also likely that many have died of a heart attack, stroke or other sudden and dangerous medical condition that was not treated as a result of the overflowing hospitals during the pandemic.
BIDEN’S AMNESTY WILL ENABLE 40
MILLION MEXICAN FLAG WAVERS TO BRING UP THE REST OF MEXICO!
NOW DO THE MATH ON AMERICA’S
HOUSING, HOMELESS AND JOBS CRISIS!
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden revealed
plans to undo all of the Trump administration's immigration policies if
elected in November and vowed to provide a pathway to citizenship for
millions of illegal immigrants.
BLOG EDITOR: THE REAL NUMBER OF ILLEGALS IN U.S. OPEN BORDERS
IS UNKNOWN BUT ESTIMATED TO BE IN EXCESS OF 40 MILLION.
Approximately 11 million people who are illegally residing in the United States would be given a way to become U.S. citizens, the opposite of President Trump's 2016 campaign promise not to give "amnesty" to this demographic. People who worked in essential jobs during the coronavirus pandemic would have an advantage over other immigrants. Biden's plan was heavily influenced by former campaign foe, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is further left than Biden on the issue. The Biden campaign said its focus in reforming immigration policies, including refugee levels, asylum protocols, and detention center standards, is meant to bring in a new era of justice and law enforcement, countering "systemic racism" in the immigration system. A Biden administration's first 100 days in office would include a halt on all deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but he would not abolish the federal agency, despite calls by more progressive lawmakers to do so. Biden would cut up ICE's contracts with for-profit detention facilities, which ICE uses to hold tens of thousands of detainees nationwide. |
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9. End the border wall and
“provide a roadmap to citizenship for the millions of undocumented
workers.” A Biden administration would stop
the construction of the “unnecessary, wasteful, and ineffective wall on the
southern border” — thus allowing an open border — while also giving voting
citizenship to the eleven million-plus illegal aliens who are already here,
permanently changing the American electorate and enshrining Democrats in power
forever.
9
Radical Ideas in the Biden-Sanders ‘Unity’ Platform
9 Jul
20201,135
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
released the policy recommendations of their “unity task force” on Wednesday.
The proposed platform marks Biden’s
continued shift to the left, as the so-called “moderate” candidate — a label he
has rejected — continues
to be steered toward more radical positions to appeal to the party’s base,
offering “revolutionary institutional changes.”
Here are nine of the most radical proposals in the “unity”
document:
1. “Rejoin the
Paris Climate Agreement … on Day One.” Even many on the left agree that the Paris Climate Agreement
does little to slow climate change. It is a symbolic commitment by the rest of
the world to reduce emissions, while most of the burden falls on the United
States. Our economy has reduced emissions anyway on its own, thanks to the
shift to natural gas and the advent of fracking technology, which the left
hates and wants to phase out over time.
2. Shift the entire “fleet
of 500,000 school buses to American-made, zero-emission alternatives” in five
years. This is among the more wild-eyed
proposals in the platform’s climate change section. It is not clear who will
produce these buses (presumably to run on battery power), or what is to be done
with half a million currently functional buses that run on ordinary fuel, and
how local school districts are meant to afford the cost. The platform provides
no further details.
3. “End cash bail.” The platform calls for eliminating cash bail across the country
— a radical experiment in criminal justice reform that has only just begun in
California and New York, with results that are deeply concerning. The idea is
to reduce inequities, but in practice the end of cash bail means releasing
violent criminals to commit more crimes. One suspect in antisemitic attacks in
New York City late last year, for example, was repeatedly re-arrested after her
releases.
4. “Stop the practice of
arresting children for behavior that ought to be handled in the principal’s
office.” The Democrats want to stop
what they call the “school-to-prison pipeline,” arguing students of color
suffer disproportionate suspensions and arrests (which would mean that liberal
teachers are racist). But as Andrew Pollack points out, failing to arrest
violent children could allow them to buy guns as adults, which is how the
Parkland, Florida, shooting happened.
5. “We will repeal
so-called ‘right to work’ laws.” It is not
clear how Democrats will actually do this, since these laws are made at the
state level. But “right to work” laws — freeing employees from being forced to
join unions — have been a huge economic boost to states that have adopted them.
Working-class Americans — especially minorities — have voted with their feet,
moving from the highly unionized Rust Belt to the “right to work” South, where there
are more jobs.
6. “Democrats will recognize
unions with majority sign-up—via so-called ‘card check’ processes.” The “card check” violates the right to a secret ballot,
and allows organizers to intimidate workers into voting to certify unions. The
idea is so radical that even George McGovern, the left-wing Democratic
presidential nominee in 1972 who lost to President Richard Nixon in a
landslide, came out against it the
last time Democrats tried to mandate it, in 2009.
7. “Oppose private school
vouchers.” There is growing support for
school vouchers that allow students to escape failing public schools in their
local districts by choosing alternative schools — including private and
religious schools. Vouchers are especially popular with minority families, who
are desperate to escape the failing system in which the teachers’ unions have
trapped their children. Democrats also want to restrict the expansion of
charter schools, too.
8. Provide a “public
option” toward universal health care. This idea was so radical ten years ago that Democrats left it
out of Obamacare. But it is the beginning of “Medicare for All,” which Sanders
wants to impose on everyone, and Biden wants to offer as a choice (for now).
There is no thought of achieving universal health care outside government,
building on the recent reforms under the Trump administration, such as
tele-medicine — just more federal bureaucracy.
9. End the border wall and
“provide a roadmap to citizenship for the millions of undocumented
workers.” A Biden administration would stop
the construction of the “unnecessary, wasteful, and ineffective wall on the
southern border” — thus allowing an open border — while also giving voting
citizenship to the eleven million-plus illegal aliens who are already here,
permanently changing the American electorate and enshrining Democrats in power
forever.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior
Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on
Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7
p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert
Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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