7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Raimondo's Confusing Mask Order — April 19, 2020
GoLocalProv News Team
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Raimondo's Confusing Mask Order — April 19, 2020
On Saturday, Raimondo and members of her senior staff announced during her daily briefing that all workers in all environments would need to wear masks.
Raimondo made the announcement while standing with the Director of the Department of Administration Brett Smiley, and Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott -- neither were wearing masks. Smiley never spoke during the briefing.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTPress secretary Jennifer Bogdan can be seen at the beginning of the broadcast entering the State House State Room next to the Governor and not wearing a mask.
Masks: Earlier this week, the Governor signed an executive order issuing clear direction about face coverings. The following directives take effect today:
All employees of customer-facing businesses, office-based businesses, manufacturers, nonprofits and construction workers must wear cloth face coverings when they are at work. Additionally, all customer-facing businesses must take steps to remind customers to wear face coverings. The only exceptions are for anyone whose health would be in jeopardy.
In follow-up questions by GoLocal about why Raimondo's team was not complying with the order -- Michael Healey a spokesman for the Raimondo administration wrote in an email Saturday, "Government officials are not exempt. The EO applies to all. But I think you’d agree it would be very difficult for the Governor and other state officials participating in the daily press conferences to make themselves be heard while wearing face masks, and also difficult for Rhode Islanders watching the press conferences to understand what the speakers were saying."
READ 7 Major Coronavirus Developments BELOW
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — April 19, 2020
Need to Increase Testing Dramatically
Experts are calling for a dramatic increase in testing.
Harvard researchers argue that the country needs to increase testing to 500,000 per day.
“I’m not asking the federal government to do more than they need to,” Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said on Saturday. “But we do need their coordination. We need their partnership.”
Haiti on the Verge
Haiti, the country that seems to be hit hardest by every natural disaster, is once again on the edge.
The BBC reports:
With barely 60 ventilators for 11 million people, Haiti is the most vulnerable nation in the Americas to the coronavirus. While many countries would struggle to cope with a serious spread of Covid-19, Haiti might never recover from one.
The reality inside Haiti's intensive care units is even bleaker than that number - taken from a 2019 study - suggests. According to Stephan Dragon, a respiratory therapist in the capital, Port-au-Prince, the true number of ventilators is actually closer to 40, and maybe 20 of those aren't working.
"We also have a very, very limited group of doctors who know how to operate them," Mr Dragon said.
Photo: U.S.Military
Corporate Debt Is Elephant in Room
Low-interest rates have fueled corporate borrowing for the past decade -- and both Republicans and Democrats have driven federal deficits to record levels above record levels.
Now, that borrowing puts major corporations at risk.
"The federal government is on its way this year to spending nearly $4 trillion more than it collects in revenue, analysts say, a budget deficit roughly twice as large relative to the economy as in any year since 1945.
Business borrowing also is setting records. Giant corporations such as ExxonMobil and Walgreens, which binged on debt over the past decade, now are exhausting their credit lines and tapping bondholders for even more cash," reports the Washington Post.
Numbers
4,491 Cases in Rhode Island
36,372 Cases in Massachusetts
137 Deaths in RI
1,560 Deaths in Massachusetts
675,640 Cases in the United States
34,522 Deaths in the United States
2,178,149 Global Cases
145,329 Global Deaths
546,743 Global Recoveries
Garden Centers - In-Store Shopping Closed
Governor Gina Raimondo has ordered that starting Sunday, big box stores that include garden centers are required to close open browsing and shopping options within their garden centers.
Garden center sales will be temporarily limited to pickup, delivery, and appointment options – as is the case for free-standing garden centers.
Raimondo is expected to issued guidelines for garden stores to re-open by April 27.
Battles Brewing at Colleges
Will college students receive rebates for this semester?
If classes are online, what will be the cost structure?
Will freshmen attend in the fall or take a semester or a year off?
And, as GoLocal first reported, more than 100 student body presidents and representatives from public and private colleges and universities from across the United States released a letter Tuesday urging graduate schools and employers to evaluate Spring 2020 applicants with the widespread effects of COVID-19 in the mind.
The list of representatives of the colleges includes all of the Ivy League universities, UC Berkeley, Washington University, NYU, Notre Dame and dozens of others.
The letter released on Tuesday is titled "Admissions & Postgraduate Opportunities In Response to COVID-19," and calls on employers, graduate schools, and governing bodies like the Association of American Universities to:
● Not penalize students who have opted, or were required, to take classes pass-fail
● Not rescind pre-existing offers solely based on Spring 2020 grades
● Lighten or remove GPA cutoffs for eligibility of specific programs
● Lower thresholds for standardized test scores and prioritize holistic applicant review for both undergraduate and graduate admissions
“By standing together as a united collective and calling for these critical policies, we hope graduate schools and future employers will prioritize equity and accessibility in wake of this unprecedented pandemic," said William Zhou, Brown University's Student Body President.
GoLocal LIVE Schedule, Sunday, April 19, 2020
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.
