The White House released new guidance Thursday afternoon for states to slowly begin reopening during this COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. This guidance does not provide a time frame for relaxing social distancing restrictions, but rather serve as more of a list of criteria for local leaders to use in making decisions.
What We Know:
- Glitches are preventing millions of Americans from receiving their stimulus payments on time. Meanwhile, a new lending program for small businesses has stopped accepting claims because it is simply out of money.
- Draft guidance on reopening from the CDC and FEMA were detailed about things like daycares, churches, and workplaces with vulnerable employees, but those specifics did not make it into the White House guidance. At the Thursday White House briefing, Trump said some states would be able to take the first steps to reopen “tomorrow”.
- The U.S. labor market is tumbling closer to Depression levels, with an additional 5.2 million people filing for unemployment benefits last week. A staggering 22 million Americans have filed jobless claims over the past month.
- Thousands of complaints have been filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over coronavirus safety lapses, including a lack of masks and working in close quarters. Many other countries suffer similar dilemmas.
- Japan expanded its state of emergency to cover all 47 prefectures as infections spread. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that his country’s lockdown would be extended for roughly 3 more week. Moreover, Italy’s Civil Protection Agency announced 525 deaths, increasing the death toll in the country to 22,170.
As far as China is concerned, reports have stated its economic output fell by an annualized 6.8 percent in the first quarter. That drop marks the first contraction since the country began releasing figures in 1992, showing just how devastating this pandemic can be economically.
