7 Major Coronavirus Developments - New Jobs Report Shows "Depression Level Unemployment" - May 8
GoLocalProv News Team
7 Major Coronavirus Developments - New Jobs Report Shows "Depression Level Unemployment" - May 8
The U.S. Labor Department announced the figures Friday morning.
"The report underscores the speed and depth of the labor market’s collapse as the coronavirus pandemic took a devastating toll. In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, a half-century low. And even since the survey was taken, millions of people have filed claims for jobless benefits," reported the New York Times.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"The April job losses alone far exceed the 8.7 million in the last recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. The only comparable period came when the rate reached about 25 percent in 1933, before the government began publishing official statistics," NYT continued.
SLIDES: 7 Major Coronavirus Developments -- May 8, 2020 -- BELOW
"Worth noting: You’re only counted as unemployed if you’re actively looking for work, but many Americans aren’t looking for work because of state-imposed lockdowns — effectively warping the rate," wrote Axios on Friday. "Because the report only captures data through mid-April, the current unemployment rate is almost certainly higher."
WATCH LIVE: Former RI Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine Friday at NOON
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — May 8, 2020
Lifting Stay at Home Order
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced Thursday that the current “stay at home order” in Rhode Island will be officially lifted on Saturday.
The following changes will happen with the start of Phase 1 on May 9:
- Non-critical retail stores will reopen with capacity limits.
- Anyone who has deferred health care needs should call their doctor and ask about an in-person visit.
- Elective medical procedures resume under safety guidelines.
- Offices can start allowing people to come and go on a very limited basis.
- Some state parks will reopen with limited parking.
Food Bank Demand Up 42%
According to the RI Food Bank, "Compared to the same time period last year, we delivered 42% more food to member agencies, community organizations and through our state, city and town emergency management agencies."
"We regularly serve 53,000 guests each month at our 168 member agencies throughout the state. In a survey of just ten of our largest member organizations, they reported that together they saw a total of 3,000 more guests for the month of March when comparing 2019 to 2020," said the agency.
Donate Here
Resources for Businesses
Need information on how to re-open a business?
Commerce RI has created multiple guides and checklists for business owners and managers.
Study Says RI Not Ready to Re-Open
A new study is saying that only nine states are running enough coronavirus tests to contain outbreaks and reopen by May 15 — and Rhode Island is not one of them.
The Harvard-NPR analysis released Thursday says that states meeting the criteria are Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
According to the analysis, Rhode Island is testing "far fewer" than the estimated minimum needed.
“Originally, the Harvard team projected the U.S. would need to do between 500,000 and 600,000 tests daily to safely reopen. The team said they revised their projection upwards, to 900,000, because the latest data shows the outbreak is worse than earlier models showed,” reported Forbes.
New Providence Testing Locations
With recent additions, there are four accessible COVID-19 testing sites located at:
Providence Community Health Center
Drive-up and Walk-Up Testing
Bailey Elementary School, 65 Gordon Avenue
401-444-0404
Clinica Esperanza
Drive-up Testing
Clinica Esperanza, 60 Valley Street
401-408-0238
Rhode Island College
Drive-up Testing
600 Mt Pleasant Avenue
Call physician for referral & location details
Rhode Island Free Clinic
Drive-up and Walk-Up Testing
647 Broad Street
401-92-COVID (401-922-6843)
Numbers
10,530 Cases in Rhode Island
73,721 Cases in Massachusetts
388 Deaths in RI
4,552 Deaths in Massachusetts
1,292,879 Cases in the United States
76,942 Deaths in the United States
3,934,813 Global Cases
271,095 Global Deaths
1,350,951 Global Recoveries
GoLocal LIVE -- Friday May 8, 2020
10:30 AM - Rebecca Couto da Silva LIVE from Bolzano, Italy
12:00 PM - Dr. Michael Fine, Former RI Director of Health
1:00 PM - Governor Gina Raimondo Briefing
EDITOR'S NOTE: Raimondo does not allow Rhode Islanders to hear reporters' questions. Nearly all governors across the country and the White House allow reporters to ask questions directly and for the public to hear the questions and the responses.
