"Shelter-in-Place" Day 1
COVID-19 lockdowns sweep the Bay Area | #TC54
Hey y’all,
As you may or may not have heard, San Francisco Bay is under a “shelter-in-place” order until April 7. It’s not quite a lockdown of 6.7 million people – we can still walk outside and go grocery shopping – but it’s quite an adjustment. I’m thinking about all the parents and elder caretakers who have exponentially more to handle right now.
It’s been heart-warming to see the number of young folks organizing online to help our more vulnerable populations make it through this crisis. Community and mutual aid are the only ways we’re all going to make it through this. That means reaching out to your older neighbors to see if they need someone to go shopping for them, asking your neighbor with kids if they need an extra hand with anything, or even being forceful with your peers that we all need to #StayTheFHome.
In light of the pandemic (and my being trapped inside), I’m going to try to publish on a daily basis and so I’ve made some adjustments to the format below. No more long lists of links (not every time anyway, haha)! Instead, the only sections are the “Three Things to Know.” Today, the topics are:
One American Thing: Wars in the Middle East
One International Thing: COVID-19 Pandemic Updates
One Cultural Thing: LGBTQ+ Rights
We’re all slowly but surely getting forced into our homes like mice, so building and leaning on a digital community is more important than ever! In every edition during the “shelter-in-place” order, I’ll include a thread to get a conversation going among the Third Cultured community. Join the discussion below!
Stay safe and healthy, my beautiful people!
Kyle
“A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost.”
– Ferdinand Foch, French general and military theorist
Three Things to Know
One American Thing: Wars in the Middle East
In Afghanistan, the peace deal with the Taliban is in jeopardy after the Afghan government put a hold on the planned transfer of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, citing a need for a longer period of time to review the list of requested prisoners.
In Iraq, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi the US will take “additional action as necessary in self-defense” in response to a second rocket attack on a military base in Iraq over the weekend that wounded three Americans and two Iraqi service members. The first attack occurred last Wednesday, killing two American troops, and the US retaliated against the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah (KH) on Thursday by destroying five of its weapon storage facilities. On Monday, the US announced it will move hundreds of troops out of bases in Iraq to larger bases in the country, Syria, and Kuwait. The Pentagon clarified the move has been planned for months because of the rising terrorist activity in other parts of the country.
In Syria, hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees are returning to collect the rest of their belongings during the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey. None have hope that the peace will hold for long, so they don’t plan on staying.
One International Thing: COVID-19 Pandemic Updates
It starts with two basic strategies: 1. Suppression: Try to keep #SARSCov2 from spreading. Interrupt transmission and bring number of new cases all the way down. That’s what China did. 2. Mitigation: Accept that spread is inevitable, but try to slow it down and reduce impact.Total Confirmed: 190,644; Total Recovered: 80,648; Total Deaths: 7,519
Monday saw the largest single-day increase in US deaths with 18, bringing the nation’s total to 85. As many as 200K to 1.7m Americans could die, but some facets of American life are actually advantages to avoiding infection.
Vaccine trials started on Monday, but won’t be ready for 12-18 months.
For every one confirmed case, there are 5-10 undetected. #StayTheFHome
What does “flatten the curve” mean?(Graphic: CDC and Visual Capitalist)
Beijing and Washington are now pointing fingers at each other as the total number of deaths/infections outside China surpassed internal cases. The CCP’s propaganda machine went into overdrive to shift the blame for China’s first economic contraction since 1976. In a continuing escalation, Beijing revoked the press credential for journalists at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, China wants to create its own WHO. (Graphic: Statista)
White House announced stricter guidelines: 1) COVID-19 response could last until August. 2) Avoid gatherings of 10 people or more. 3) No nationwide quarantine – how could they enforce it? – but there will be “hot spot” quarantines. 4) Trump admitted the economy may see a recession.
The Fed cut its key interest rate to near-zero and approved $700B in QE as the post-2008 recession bull market came to an end on Monday, which was the worst day for the stock market since 1987 and the third-worst ever.
Trump wants to mail checks to the American people to cushion the economic blow from COVID-19 related closings. The White House is planning at least $850 billion in aid in the coming weeks to prop up the U.S. economy, as airlines, retailers, restaurants, sporting events, and other businesses face mounting struggles from spreading shutdowns.
The Department of Health and Human Services suffered a DDOS attack related to its coronavirus response.
Supreme Court postponed oral arguments for its March session, the first postponement since the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.
GOP Senators can’t decide what to do with the House’s (363-40) coronavirus relief package and, even though Trump endorsed the bill on Friday, the White House is backing the Republican’s effort to gut it by including an exemption for large employers to the paid sick leave provisions.
The US states of Louisiana, Georgia, and Kentucky delayed their Democratic primaries. Ohio’s governor tried to postpone but his lawsuit was rejected by the state court because absentee voting began in February. Bright side? Trump cannot cancel the November election (without enshrining President Nancy Pelosi on January 20, 2021).
Travel between non-EU nations and the EU will be suspended for 30 days. France is also postponing the second part of its elections.
Silicon Valley’s response, specifically Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube:
"We are working closely together on COVID-19 response efforts. We're helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world. We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe."
A “shelter-in-place” order went into effect for the San Francisco Bay Area – 6.7 million people – at midnight, lasting until April 7.
Don’t panic. Groceries and pharmacies will continue to be stocked.
Some “Work From Home” tips now that it’s the new norm and suggestions on how to help out your more vulnerable neighbors. Among the communities most forgotten and at risk: homeless shelters and prisons.
One billion students from 105 countries are out of school worldwide.
Rich people have always been assholes during plagues.
One Cultural Thing: LGBTQ+ Rights (Graphic: Axios)
The Trump administration is going out of its way to block LGBTQ+ Americans from being counted in the 2020 Census.
LGBTQ+ people are at greater risk from the COVID-19 virus.
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