A Small Pennsylvania Town Offers Snapshot Of Economic Toll, Political Tensions And Growing Fears
Manufacturing workers in Hazleton were exempted from Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order. And then they started getting sick. In other news on the economic toll of the outbreak: recovery is likely to be long and bumpy; why stimulus funds were sent to dead Americans; kids who are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents struggle to get help; and more.
The New York Times:
He Was Ready To Retire. But The Coronavirus Took Him.
Just off Wyoming Street in Pennsylvania’s hilly, working-class city of Hazleton, Laury Sorensen and her husband, Emil, lugged groceries from a pickup truck upstairs to her parents’ wood-frame home. They sought to spare Ms. Sorensen’s father, Rafael Benjamin, a trip to the supermarket in a time of infectious plague. He ran enough risk working for Cargill Meat Solutions in an industrial park outside the city. The Pennsylvania governor had issued a shutdown order but exempted Cargill, which packages meat in plastic wrap. (Powell, 5/5)
Politico:
Grim Business Outlook Clouds Trump’s Hopes For ‘Tremendous Rebound’
The stock market is defying coronavirus gravity and President Donald Trump is promising a “tremendous rebound” in the economy in the second half of the year. But investors could be in for another shock as Covid-19 continues to kill Americans and devastate the private sector. A parade of companies, including some of the nation’s largest profit machines, are reporting lower profits or warning that earnings could struggle in the coming months as consumers stay cautious and businesses assume the crash position. Many other CEOs are simply throwing up their hands and offering a giant shrug. (White and Ward, 5/5)
Reuters:
Expect A Bumpy Recovery? Exchanges May Provide An Upside
As market volatility has eased after the mayhem of March, investors betting on a rocky economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis are buying shares of exchanges that are poised to profit if more turmoil ensues. (Westbrook, McCrank and Dogra, 5/6)
NPR:
IRS Sends Some $1200 Checks For Coronavirus Pandemic Relief To Deceased People
The IRS has paid out more than $207 billion in Coronavirus relief payments to individual taxpayers, as part of the $2 trillion package passed by Congress known as the CARES Act. And among the recipients of those $1,200 payments are the bank accounts of dead individuals — a problem that could impact millions of American families. (Mak, 5/6)
The Washington Post:
U.S. Citizen Children With Undocumented Parents Unfairly Denied Coronavirus Relief, Federal Lawsuit Asserts
Legal advocates at Georgetown University Law Center filed a constitutional challenge Tuesday on behalf of millions of children who are U.S. citizens and have been denied $500 coronavirus economic relief payments because one or both of their parents are undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit argues that a provision of the federal Cares Act “violates the equal protection principles” of the Fifth Amendment by prohibiting payments for children of parents who file taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number, a substitute for a Social Security number that is used mostly by immigrants without legal status. (Hsu, 5/5)
The Washington Post:
Big Companies Are Paying Shareholders Dividends And Laying Off Thousands Of Workers
Since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, Caterpillar has suspended operations at two plants and a foundry, Levi Strauss has closed stores, and toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker has been planning layoffs and furloughs. Steelcase, an office furniture manufacturer, and World Wrestling Entertainment have also shed employees. (Whoriskey, 5/5)
The Washington Post:
Starbucks Will Reopen 85 Percent Of Its Coffee Shops, But With New Protocols
Starbucks plans to reopen 85 percent of its U.S. coffee shops by the end of this week, with an emphasis on mobile ordering, contactless pickup and cashless payments, as more cities and states ease lockdown restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s mobile app — which is already used by roughly 20 million customers — will include new options for voice ordering and curbside pickup, chief executive Kevin Johnson wrote in a letter to customers Monday. (Bhattarai, 5/5)
