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COVID-19 on the Rise in 29 States; Immigrant and Communities of Color Carry Brunt of Devastation

HeadlineJun 23, 2020

Twenty-nine states are reporting surges in coronavirus cases as the country continues to reopen. On Monday, President Trump once again blamed increased testing for elevated case numbers, even as the White House dismissed a remark by Trump at his Tulsa rally Saturday about “slowing down testing” as a “joke.” The U.S. now has over 2.3 million confirmed cases and over 120,000 reported deaths — more than twice the number of cases and fatalities than the second-hardest-hit country, Brazil. The World Health Organization warned Monday against “politicizing” the pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself; it’s the lack of global solidarity and global leadership. We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world.”

A new study out of Harvard confirms the virus continues to disproportionately hit Black and Latinx communities, highlighting the risk to younger people. Latinx people aged 35 to 44 have a mortality rate nearly eight times higher than white people, while Black people in the same age group have a mortality rate nine times higher than white people. This comes as another study on the economic impacts of the coronavirus reveals around half of New York City’s immigrants are now unemployed due to the pandemic.

In the South, new outbreaks have been observed in states including Georgia, Florida and Texas. Florida hit the 100,000-infection milestone Monday. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Monday COVID-19 is spreading at an “unacceptable rate,” yet he has no plans to shut down the state. Meanwhile, two more Trump campaign staffers tested positive for the coronavirus following Trump’s Tulsa rally Saturday.

One hundred economists are calling on lawmakers to invest at least $50 billion into the child care industry, which has been left reeling amid the pandemic. The economists write, “Child care is a critical piece of our economic infrastructure. … A major federal investment … will ensure greater parental employment, save roughly one hundred thousand small businesses, and contribute to a more efficient economic recovery.”

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