Coronavirus Quick Hits: The States Are Now Working Together on When to Reopen

Here are some of the major coronavirus developments that are making headlines right now . . .

1.  A Federal Reserve official believes we’ll see 18 months of rolling shutdowns.  Quote, “We could have these waves of flareups, controls, flareups, and controls until we actually get a therapy or vaccine.”

And with mixed messages from the federal government, states are now beginning to work together to figure out when they can ease stay-at-home restrictions to get businesses open, including seven states in the northeast and three in the west.

At the White House press conference yesterday, President Trump announced that he has the authority to decide when to open businesses again.  However, that’s not actually what the Constitution says . . . it’s entirely up to the states.

The president also said he’s not planning to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, even though he retweeted someone saying “Fire Fauci” on Sunday night.  Quote, “I retweeted somebody, I don’t know.”  Fauci currently has an approval rating of 80%.

2.  Debt collectors are trying to get their hands on your $1,200 federal payment.  And less than 1% of the small businesses who’ve applied for loans have received them so far.

3.  A study found that two ways to lower transmission rates once people go back to work are opening windows for air flow, and letting in more natural light.

4.  A study of chloroquine in Brazil was stopped after many patients developed irregular heartbeats and 11 died.  Chloroquine is closely connected to hydroxychloroquine, the coronavirus treatment that President Trump has been promoting.

Meanwhile, South Dakota is going to be the first state to hold clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine.

5.  An evangelical pastor in Virginia who proudly kept packing people into his church after the stay-at-home rules went into effect has died of coronavirus.

6.  A pregnant woman in Washington went into a coma from coronavirus . . . and gave birth.  Now she’s awake from her coma and recovering.  And yes, she was surprised to find she had a baby when she came out of the coma.

7.  A woman in North Carolina who hadn’t left her house in three weeks and stayed in a different room than her husband STILL caught coronavirus.  She believes she caught it from a delivery person or a package.