There’s a lot going on. Here are today’s COVID-19 updates that you should know.
Your daily dose of hope
In the UK, over 500,000 volunteers signed up to assist vulnerable individuals who cannot leave their homes – when the request for help was made, nearly five people per second answered the call.
“It looks like kindness.” Mutual aid – cooperation for the sake of the common good – is making a comeback in the states, as citizens rally to support their communities.
Over 6,000 mental health professionals and 40,000 healthcare workers volunteered to work in New York. The 6,175 mental health professionals will provide free online mental health services.
News you need to know
America at the epicenter: The United States now leads the world in the most confirmed cases of coronavirus.
A record of 3.28 million people have filed for unemployment benefits. The industries most impacted include hotels, airlines, restaurants, and automakers.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Britain, has tested positive for coronavirus. He is the first leader of a major Western country known to have contracted the virus.
President Trump has called off the plans for GM to manufacture ventilators, stating he didn’t believe that the number of ventilators requested was correct, and citing he didn’t like the price tag for them. Earlier in the week, Governor Cuomo of New York said he needed 30,000 ventilators. He said the state had acquired about 7,000 units, and FEMA was offering 400 more. Where this leaves the United States now as the virus just begins to overwhelm healthcare systems is unknown.
Data of the day
Quote of the day:
“I know what the fear is.
The fear is not for what is lost.
What is lost is already in the wall.
What is lost is already behind the locked doors.
The fear is for what is still to be lost.”
― Joan Didion
