7 Major Coronavirus Developments — 6 Feet May Not Be Enough — May 28, 2020

Now, More than 40 Million Americans Have Lost Their Jobs

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits since the start of the coronavirus outbreak has now topped 40 million.

An additional 2.1 million people filed jobless claims for the first time last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday.

A total of 40.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the past 10 weeks.

RI State Senator Calls for State to be Immediately Reopened

Senator Elaine Morgan posted the following to Facebook:

My fellow Rhode Islanders due to an overwhelming outcry from my constituents I can no longer remain silent. I am petitioning our governor and RI General assembly to be brave and open up our state without restrictions. Our constitutional rights are under attack by an unseen enemy. Politicians are paralyzed with fear to take an adversarial stand. I swore an oath to uphold and defend our RI constitution.

This past Memorial Day while visiting my father's gravesite in the Rhode Island veterans cemetery, I was moved by the bravery and dedication of servicemen and women who gave their lives defending our constitutional rights. These brave men and women fought for our country with bullets against a visible enemy. America was built on bravery and challenge. Giving the ultimate sacrifice.... their lives to protect the freedoms and liberties that we hold so dear. Do not let these sacrifices be in vain by voluntarily giving up those rights. Today we are the beneficiaries and must honor them by continuing to defend the same constitutional rights. Never before in our history have we citizens been ordered to give up freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom to peacefully protest, freedom from unreasonable searches or seizure, and freedom of unrestricted Interstate travel.

We all mourn for everyone lost due to covid-19 and in no way am I minimizing those deaths. We have patiently adhered to the restrictions mandated to us for over three months now. We are now under attack by an enemy Within... biological warfare. Our constitutional rights are now under attack by an unseen and different enemy. If this pandemic is biological warfare we need to stand up and fight it. The only way we are going to win this war is to get out there build up immunity and antibodies against the virus that was created. Healthy people recover from this virus.

We cannot let fear defeat us and cause total destruction to our nation. Do your own research on this by using non-bias, uncensored platforms. Doctors agree many of these restrictions are not logical or based on science. There are however professionals out there who believe the numbers of deaths are being inflated. Doctors have also addressed the wearing of masks by healthy people is very controversial. Masks are not shown to protect against being infected. Masks actually have a detrimental effect on the respiratory, cardiovascular, and cognitive functions. They actually deplete and weaken the immune system. Are we setting ourselves up for a Resurgence of this virus in the fall by weakening our immune systems? People need to have a choice whether to wear a mask or not.

Now is the time to put a stop to this warfare, a different kind of warfare than we have ever encountered on a national level. We cannot let it defeat us by causing total destruction to our nation. Healthy Americans need to get back to work. Be brave and stand up to this kind of warfare! We cannot let fear and hysteria destroy our nation. This is why I am petitioning our governor and RI General assembly to be brave and open up our state without restrictions.

Senator Elaine J. Morgan
RI Senatorial District 34

Commerce RI Hosts Two Live Events on Thursday

Following the discussion, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. The sessions are as follows: 

Personal services (Hair, Nails, Massage Therapists, Etc.): Thursday, 10:30 a.m. — Watch HERE

Restaurants: Thursday, 4:30 p.m. — Watch HERE

American Airlines Cuts 30% of Management and Support Staff

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

American Airlines will cut its management and administrative staff by 30% as the airline prepares to shrink, with demand decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.

American is among the airlines that have said they are starting to see signs that demand is picking up after government travel bans, stay-at-home orders and fears of infection brought travel to a near halt in March and April. But the modest gains won’t be enough to save thousands of industry jobs. Carriers think it could take years for travel to return to the same level as before the virus.

“We must plan for operating a smaller airline for the foreseeable future,” Elise Eberwein, American’s executive vice president of people and global engagement, wrote in a letter to employees Wednesday.

Amazon Says It Will Keep Most Temporary Workers

Amazon, who has reportedly hired nearly 125,000 sort-term workers to respond to increased demand, now says it will keep a majority of those new workers.

Numbers

14,353 Cases in Rhode Island

94,220 Cases in Massachusetts

655 Deaths in RI 

6,547 Deaths in Massachusetts

1,735,859 Cases in the United States

101,762 Deaths in the United States

5,814,886 Global Cases

357,984 Global Deaths

2,515,676 Global Recoveries

GoLocal LIVE -- Thursday, May 28, 2020

10:00 AM Author and Security Expert Anthony Amore

12:00 PM - Dr. Michael Fine, Former RI Director of Health

1:00 PM - Governor Gina Raimondo Briefing

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gov. Raimondo has reversed her policy and is now allowing reporters to attend press conferences and directly ask questions.  For more than 6 weeks she had blocked reporters from directly asking questions for the public to hear.