New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that nearly 20 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases between mid-February and early April were health care workers. That number is expected to rise, the agency says, “as more U.S. communities experience widespread transmission.”
Americans are starting to receive their stimulus checks, as called for under the CARES Act. The payments are part of the government’s efforts to relieve the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. You can check on the status of your stimulus check here.
Federal officials have made it clear that once a COVID-19 antibody test becomes widely available, public and private health insurance plans will be required to cover the test at no cost to patients. The tests, health officials say, show whether someone has been exposed to the coronavirus and whether their immune system has produced antibodies that will keep them from getting sick again or infecting others.
Emerging U.S. data show that black and Hispanic Americans may be disproportionately affected by severe cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. “We do not think people of color are biologically or genetically predisposed to get COVID-19,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in a recent press briefing. Instead, he pointed to social factors and “a higher incidence of the very diseases that put you at risk for severe complications from coronavirus.”
The CDC is encouraging all Americans to wear cloth face masks or homemade face coverings in public when 6-foot distancing is difficult to maintain in an effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Experts emphasize that other preventive measures, such as handwashing and social distancing, are still crucial.
Members of the White House task force are asking all Americans — not just those living in communities experiencing a spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases — to adhere to the Coronavirus Guidelines for America through April in order to prevent thousands more deaths from the virus.
VIA Times – April 2020 Issue Vital News, Vibrant VIews for Asian Americans in Chicago & Midwest
