unemployment claims Archives

Coronavirus Update: Week 11

Businesses in some parts of the country are finally up and running again, but things aren’t going smoothly. Some states are seeing the beginning of a second wave of the coronavirus, and the U.S. has officially passed 2 million confirmed cases. Many are still unsure how to balance the needs of the economy with public safety concerns. The treasury secretary is warning that we cannot face another shutdown without dire consequences, and the White House task force has scheduled a meeting to try and find a way to reduce the spread while keeping the economy open.

Harvard Doctor Warns of 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths By Fall

Because the number of cases continues to rise in many states, Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, fears that the number of deaths from the virus will reach 200,000 in the next few months.

According to Jha, “sometime in September, we’re going to cross 200,000, and we still won’t be done. This pandemic is going to be with us until next spring or summer when we have a vaccine. This is not faded.” The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in the U.S. is currently more than 113,000.

U.S. Has Passed 2 Million Confirmed Cases

The U.S. has reached 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, June 10. Infections are rising in at least 20 states that have lifted their restrictions. A trusted model is projecting an increase in cases in the fall, so the White House coronavirus task force will meet on June 11 to discuss actions to reduce the numbers.

Meanwhile the Treasury Secretary has made it clear that the US economy will not be shut down again, even as cases rise. “We can’t shut down the economy again. I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage, and not just economic damage, but there are other areas,” Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC, calling President Trump’s initial decision “very prudent” but saying “we’ve learned a lot” since then.

A Second Wave Of Coronavirus In Some States

green wave — Some states have seen a second wave of the Coronavirus since reopening.

Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas are seeing spikes in cases leading to hospitalizations. California’s hospitalizations are at their highest in almost a month. Other states have not seen such spikes yet, but it is still too soon to see what will happen following widespread reopening. Texas reported its highest number of new cases in a 24-hour period, 5,504, on Wednesday, June 10.

Florida reported that coronavirus cases are up to 82,719 in total, with 3,018 deaths so far. This past week they saw back to back days of over 2,000 confirmed cases each day. Employees in restaurants and bars were confirmed with the virus, so businesses began to shut back down for safety despite the state remaining open.

NYC Gives $3 Million To Assist Businesses

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said 36 people died from the virus on Wednesday, June 10, which is “close to its lowest point.” Because the number of cases is decreasing, the state continues to reopen. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city is going to make available $3 million dollars to help “mom and pop” restaurants and small businesses. The funds will be part of the city’s “Restaurant Revitalization Program,” which will provide grants of up to $30,000 to 100 selected restaurants.

New Unemployment Claims Rise As Stocks Drops

The U.S. had seen a temporary drop in unemployment claims as businesses began reopening, but claims have now gone up again. More than 1.5 million people filed for unemployment for the first time last week.The stock market, which had been relatively strong, also dropped. The DOW fell 1.308 points, the S&P dropped 3.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.5%.

U.S. Army Lab Selects Lead Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate

The U.S. Army lab has selected a lead vaccine candidate, as well as 2 backup vaccine candidates to advance to the next stage of research. “The candidates were narrowed down from more than two dozen prototypes in order to determine the candidates that elicited the most promising antibody response in preclinical studies,” a statement from the lab said.

Coronavirus Update: Week 10

States all over the country have begun transitioning to the yellow phase, allowing businesses to reopen. With businesses opening people are finally able to return to work resulting in a drop in unemployment claims. While this is something many have been waiting for, it also raises the risks of people spreading the virus once again. Hospitalizations correlated with the coronavirus are on the rise, and as of now the U.S. has seen a total of over 110,000 deaths. Businesses opening back up pose a risk of spreading coronavirus, and paired with the nations recent rise in protests experts say there is a real risk of another spike in cases. Protests across the nation have caused several testing sites to close down so it is impossible to accurately know how these conditions are affecting case numbers until they reopen.

Unemployment Claims Drop

In the last week of May, unemployment claims dropped to 1.9 million. This is the lowest number of claims since the coronavirus pandemic started in March.

More than 40 million people have applied for unemployment benefits since the pandemic started, and roughly 21.5 million are continuing to receive them.

The job market is “crawling out of the hole now,” said Torsten Slok, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities. “We do have the worst behind us,” he said.

Civil Unrest Forces Testing Sites To Close

Due to the recent protests, at least 70 coronavirus testing sites across the U.S. have been forced to close. Many of these sites were in private pharmacies in what are deemed “socially vulnerable” neighborhoods. While some worry that the protests will cause a spike in cases, the closures will make it harder to identify outbreaks and actual numbers of cases among protesters.

U.S. Hospitalizations On The Rise

According to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA chief, coronavirus hospitalizations are on the rise around the country as states push to reopen. He fears that this could become a big problem when flu season begins in the fall. If there are outbreaks of both viruses at once, health systems will become strained and hospitals will not have enough resources or room to treat everyone.

New York City is on track to begin phase 1 of the reopening process on June 8.

NYC On Track To Reopen Monday, June 8

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city is seeing its lowest number of people testing positive for the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. This news means that the city is on track to begin phase 1 of the reopening process on June 8. The mayor also said that the city will distribute 2 million free face masks to businesses in order to help protect employees.

“Phase one is going to go on, and we will build from there,” de Blasio said. He also stated that phase 2 could begin as early as July.

Las Vegas Casinos Reopen With Safety Measures

Las Vegas has reopened many casinos, beginning with The D and Golden Gate, who opened their doors just after midnight on June 4. Casinos claim they are opening safely, taking preventative measures such as requiring dealers to wear face masks, and checking the temperatures of both guests and workers.

“We have, interestingly, the largest book of conventions in our history for the next 12 months, they start right now. And toward the end of August, we are hopeful that in some way we can start bringing conventions back to town,” said Steve Hill, president and COO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Record Numbers In Brazil & Mexico

Over the past two weeks, other countries besides the U.S. have also reported a rise in new coronavirus cases. Brazil and Mexico reported their highest one-day virus-related death tolls on June 3. Mexico is the 14th country to surpass 100,000 confirmed cases.

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