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Up to the minute
review of the current Corona Virus Covid-19 facts and effects in New
York City. Click here |
Breaking
News
Corona
Virus Pandemic |
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Frank X. Didik
Covid-19 breaking news
The facts and only
the facts, without editorialization or opinion. You decide what to believe.
Continually updated.
April 21, 2020 - President Donald Trump says that his immigration
restrictions will also apply for 60 days to green card applicants.
April 21, 2020 - President Donald Trump is demanding that Harvard
University pay back corona virus aid. Harvard University has over 40
billion dollars endowment in reserve.
April 21, 2020 - Oil prices continued to fall to its lowest price
since 2002. The American shale oil industry is at a complete standstill.
April 20, 2020 - President Donald Trump states that he
will issue an order to suspend immigration.
April 20, 2020 The Governors of South Carolina,
Georgia, and Tennessee have announced that most businesses will be
permitted to open either now or by April 30.
April 20, 2020 - Oil prices crash. A 55 gallon barrel
of "West Texas Crude" crashed to negative numbers today, to
an astounding minus $39 per barrel, that is that the producers were
paying the buyers to take the oil. The reason for this is that all of
the storage facilities are filled to capacity and because of the lock
down, oil consumption has dropped dramatically. This price drop is
clearly temporary since now the wells have stopped pumping and thus
output has dropped. In certain cases, such as the Alaska pipeline, it
is extremely difficult and costly to stop oil flow for a variety of
technical reasons.
April 16, 2020 - The $349 billion dollar Paycheck
Protection Program for small businesses, distributed by the Small
Business Administration (SBA), has run out of money and their
application website now states "NOTICE: Lapse in Appropriations.
The SBA is currently unable to accept new applications for the
Paycheck Protection Program based on available protections". In
the few days that the money was available, the SBA made 1,660,000
loans. According to the SBA, there are 30,200,000 small businesses in
the country, thus about one in twenty small businesses received these
loans. There is some controversy since a publicly traded company with
over 5,000 employees received a loan and another major company
received a loan, only to file for bankruptcy that was apparently pre-planned.
April 16, 2020 - Protests by thousands of protesters
have converged on the state houses of Minnesota, Pennsylvania,
Kentucky, Michigan and other states demanding that businesses and
other activities be resumed. Many constitutional guarantees are
mentioned including freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, the
pursuit of happiness and others. Many protesters do not believe in
the severity of the Corona Virus and compare it with the yearly flu.
April 15, 2020 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
extends PAUSE till May 15, 2020.
April 15, 2020 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issues
an executive order stating that all people must wear masks or face
coverings, if they might be closer than six feet from one another in
public or if they go into a supermarket.
April 14, 2020 - President Donald Trump stopped
funding the controversial United Nations World Health Organization
(WHO). Up to this point, the United States had funded approximately
50% of the WHO's annual budget.
March 30, 2020 - A report from the Federal Reserve of
St. Louis district said in a recent analysis that the US
will lose 47 million jobs, resulting in an unemployment rate of
32.1%. During the Great Depression of 1929 to 1936, the highest
unemployment rate was 24.9%. The original projections by James
Bullard, the chairman of the St. Louis Federal Reserve was an
unemployment rate of 30%.
originally all would be back by August, with some
optimistically saying as early as April 15th
March 25, 2020 - Congress passes a 2 Trillion dollar
economic stimulus package that includes a one time payment to every
citizen who earns less than $95,000 per year. A working couple
earning less than $190,000 will get $2400 and a further $500 per
child. The initial payment is based on a persons 2018 tax return or
their 2019 return, if it has been filed. However the final
determination will be the 2020 tax return so that in theory, if the
person earns above the threshold in 2020, the money will have to be
returned. The exact procedure has not be announced as of today. A
variety of emergency loans for businesses and banks has been also
been authorized. One such loan, that may not have to be repaid is a
$10,000 Small Business Agency SBA loan, but there is a cap as to the
total amount available.
March 24, 2020 - Mayor Bill DeBlasio plans to release
non violent prisoners from jail to prevent the rapid spread of Corona
Virus in prison. District Attorneys from most New York City Borough's
object to this plan stating that crime will rise.
March 23, 2020 - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
has extended the April 15 tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020.
March 20, 2020 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued
an executive order known as "Pause" which is a ten point
program. Key points include:
-
100% closure of non essential businesses statewide,
effective at 8PM on Sunday. Exceptions made for essential service
such as groceries and health care.
-
"Matilda's Law, named after his mother, provides
protections for those who are 70 and older, people with compromised
immune systems and those with underlying illnesses.
-
Orders a 90 day moratorium on any residential or
commercial evictions
The ten point executive order includes:
Effective at 8PM on Sunday, March 22, all
non-essential businesses statewide will be closed
-
Non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size
for any reason (e.g. parties, celebrations or other social events)
are canceled or postponed at this time
- Any concentration of individuals outside their
home must be limited to workers providing essential services and
social distancing should be practiced
- When in public individuals must practice social
distancing of at least six feet from others;Businesses and entities
that provide other essential services must implement rules that help
facilitate social distancing of at least six feet
- Individuals should limit outdoor recreational
activities to non-contact and avoid activities where they come in
close contact with other people
- Individuals should limit use of public
transportation to when absolutely necessary and should limit
potential exposure by spacing out at least six feet from other riders
- Sick individuals should not leave their home
unless to receive medical care and only after a telehealth visit to
determine if leaving the home is in the best interest of their health
- Young people should also practice social
distancing and avoid contact with vulnerable populations
- Use precautionary sanitizer practices such as
using isopropyl alcohol wipes.
"Matilda's Law" includes the following rules
for vulnerable populations:
-
Remain indoors
- Can go outside for solitary exercise;Pre-screen
all visitors and aides by taking their temperature and seeing if
person is exhibiting other flu-like symptoms
- Do not visit households with multiple people;Wear
a mask when in the company of others
- To the greatest extent possible, everyone in the
presence of vulnerable people should wear a mask
- Always stay at least six feet away from individuals
- Do not take public transportation unless urgent
and absolutely necessary.
March 18, 2020 - Macy's announced that it is laying
off the majority of its123,000 employees.
March 15, 2020 - There is a belief that after the
economic shutdown is over, the economy and life will snap back to
normal. There is considerable question to this, as there is a fear
that those who have their jobs suspended, will not be able to pay
their accumulated rent, mortgage payments and other accumulating
bills, even after they return to work after the shutdown. There is
the further issue that restaurants, and companies may not be able to
catch up with their own accumulating rents, mortgages, loans and
other bills and may have to layoff or fire employees or close their
businesses entirely, if the shutdown continues over a period of time.
March 12, 2020 - President Donald Trump suspends all
travel to Europe. This order is soon extended to the rest of the world.
 
www.News1.net
(New
York City, USA)
Copyright©
1977 - 2020 by Frank X. Didik, All Rights Reserved
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Corona Virus / Covid-19
History, and
basic facts
The Corona Virus, which is also known as the
the Novel Corona Virus, Covid-19 and the China flu, first emerged in
Wuhan China in October, 2019. It quickly spread to other countries.
Some countries, such as Italy and the United States are said to have
had the greatest number of infected cases, though the actual number
of cases and the actual number of those infected who become
critically ill or who have died is not understood. A quick, reliable
test for this virus is still in the development stage, and the
existing tests being used are significantly inaccurate with many
false positives and false negatives, as of April 15, 2020. With this
in mind, people who are said to have the virus and diagnosed
primarily by their symptoms which include loss of smell, sustained
fever and often respiratory problems. In worst cases, people
diagnosed with the virus are placed on ventilators. Still, most of
the symptoms of Corona Virus are almost identical with the yearly flu.
It is estimated that up to 90 percent of those
who contract Corona Virus experience do not experience any symptoms
whatsoever, however during their undetected illness, they are said to
be carriers of the virus and can spread the virus, but this has not
been proven. According to Italian health authority, those who die of
the virus are almost exclusively those who are suffering from one,
two or three critical illnesses such as cancer or heart disease or
are people who suffer from chronic obesity, diabetes or other
ailments. Surprisingly, smokers and drinkers do not seem to have a
greater mortality rate than others. There is a question of whether
those who die, die with Corona virus or because of Corona virus.
The average age of those who died in Italy was
81 years old. In China, the average age of death attributed to Corona
Virus was 78 years. The average age of death attributed to Corona
Virus in Norway is 88 years old, though Norway has only a handful of
detected cases. According to the New York City Department of Health,
as of April 14, just under 7,000 people are believed to have died
with or because of the Corona virus. Of these almost 7,000 people,
only 137 died without any known background disease or ailment. It
would seem that children below 12 years old are almost immune to this disease.
Starting in early March, masks were hard to find and
optional, particularly since a virus is vastly smaller than the
filtering capability of masks. By late March, it was acknowledged
that the virus would often accumulate in micro water particles and
thus the masks would be useful. In the case of New York State,
Governor Cuomo ordered on April 15, that all people must wear masks
if they might be closer than six feet from one another in public.
All Churches were encouraged and have
"voluntarily" closed till the fear of the virus is over.
This has never happened before and if the Churches and synagogues had
had been forced to close by government decree, it would have violated
the U.S. Constitution.
Signs are everywhere encouraging the people to avoid
contact with others, maintain social distancing of six feet (two
meters), wear a mask and frequently wash hands.
Some essential services, such as this Post Office,
have painted squares on the sidewalk to assist in "Social
distancing", that is, for people to separate by six feet (2 meters).
Because of the massive demand for masks and protective
shields, some stores donated their stock of such items to local
hospitals, as did this Harbor Freight Tolls in Brooklyn did.
Certain items have mostly disappeared from supermarket
shelves. Items include toilet paper, bottled water, sanitizing
napkins and cleaners.
Gasoline prices have plummeted by almost a dollar in
just one month from March 10 to April 10. The price for high octane
gasoline in New York City is approximately $2.55 per US gallon.
The major bridges have very little vehicular traffic
as this photograph of the entrance of the Manhattan Bridge, on the
Manhattan side shows.
In the early evening, the streets are deserted but
almost every light in every apartment is on.
Some people have questioned the number of Corona
infections and deaths, in both directions. The primary question is
wether people are dying from some other cause and just happen to have
the Corona virus or if Corona virus is the actual cause of their death.
At first, people were going stir crazy and were
extremely bored staying alone in their apartments. At that time, I
was getting constant telephone calls and texts from friends,
acquaintances and business associates, Now however, people have
become used to this. I believe that many shopping and routine habits
have been broken and that if and when this historic fear of the virus
ends, that people will not necessarily resume their old lifes but
rather continue to enjoy the new, solitary norm. The result I feel is
that many restaurants, stores and perhaps churches, may not see their
old customers returning as quickly as they had hoped.
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