Indian State Employees Seen Spraying Migrant Workers with Disinfectant

Employees of the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh were caught on video spraying some migrant workers with bleach disinfectant that is typically used to sanitize buses. According to an officer in charge of Covid-19 operations in this state, around 5,000 people have been sprayed. They claim that they were just disinfecting the people from the virus. However, the method of disinfecting is controversial. The chemical disinfectants can be dangerous and they have no effect when the virus is within people. A couple of Indian officials have said that the actions of the employees were unnecessary and overzealous. The affected workers are under medical surveillance. This event connects to the issue of migrant workers in India. 45 million migrant workers have been moving from cities back to their rural hometowns after losing their job due to the pandemic. Officials have been ordered to find migrant workers and quarantine them for 14 days to prevent the spread of the virus.

1. Do you think that people will continue to react to the coronavirus situation in negative ways similar to this?
2. Do you think India is handling the migrant workers the right way?
3. What do you propose India should do to confront the coronavirus problem especially considering their huge population and immense poverty?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/india/india-migrant-workers-sprayed-intl/index.html

President Trump Announces Extension on Social Distancing Guidelines

       On Sunday, President Trump announced an extension on nationwide social distancing guidelines at the White House news conference. The extension will now have the quarantine last till April 30. These guidelines include  for people to avoid groups of 10 or more people and for older people to stay at home. He had previously mentioned that the federal social distancing guidelines would possibly end by Easter. We have seen the number of people infected and deaths rise,  as health advisers have warned the President about. President Trump states,"The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end." He was previously concerned with how the social distancing would affect the economy, but this new extension is a turnaround from that. He predicts that the United States will be on its way to recovery by June 1, expecting a lot of "great" things to happen. However, many people will be out of a job for more than a month now, taking a big hit as the quarantine gets extended.

1. Do you think this extension will have much of an effect on the spread of COVID-19?
2. Do you think the President should extend or lessen the quarantine time?
3. How do you think those without jobs will be affected by the extension?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/29/politics/trump-coronavirus-press-conference/index.html

Delivery workers threaten strikes over lack of coronavirus protection

As the coronavirus has put many countries into lockdown, many people have turned to online purchasing to minimize contact with others. One giant company whose workers threaten to strike is Amazon. The workers are angry that proper protection from coronavirus has not been provided by the company. US senators have written to Jeff Bezos, the Amazon boss about the safety concerns, but the company says they are taking extra precautions for the increase of online shopping orders. They stated how the company was taking more time to clean its facilities and introduced staggered shifts and break times for extra precautions. An open letter was also addressed to the staff, written by Mr. Bezos, to thank them for their work. Amazon is also looking to hire more workers for their warehouses around the world in order to meet the demand. The worker's pay would also be increased around the world, the pay increasing $2 per hour in the US while workers are told to work overtime. Amazon has been receiving questions from US lawmakers about shortages of protection and cleaning supplies, and sick leave policies. There have also been strikes in France and Italy from workers and some legal complaints about the problems arising in Spain. Another company facing threats for strikes is Instacart. The shoppers and Gig Workers collective accused the company of putting the delivery workers in the front line for risk and profiting off that. Both companies are met with angry people who argue that the firms should provide protective gear as coronavirus continues to keep most of the world on lockdown. 

1. What should the companies be doing to provide more protection or services for their workers who are still working or are unable to?

2. Will people still working, despite the precautions taken, spread the virus even more? 

3. Due to the growing demand for online shopping, how are other businesses affected? What can be done to help the smaller businesses who depend on customer visits?  

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52096273

Hospitals Overwhelmed from Covid-19

      Due to the surge of corona virus patients, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed. Hospitals are dealing with low supplies and dangerous conditions. Patients as well as hospitals have to wait several days for test kits to come back and have to take up space while waiting. Hospitals are also having to deal with a low supply of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which allows doctors to safely treat their patients. Since there is a low supply of PPE, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff are contacting Covid-19, which is making them unable to work and overwhelming the hospitals even more. In addition to the lack of supplies, some places are already experiencing a lack of space to hold of there patients. Hospitals are making makeshift beds and converting unessential rooms into space for patients. The space shortages are getting so bad that Elmhurst hospital in queens even had to buy a refrigerator truck just to hold the bodies of the patients that have died.

1. What do you think hospitals should do to conserve the resources they have?
2. Do you think that hospitals should be doing anything different?
3. Do you think that people with Covid-19 should stay at home to conserve space for people with sever symptoms.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/health/coronavirus-thousand-deaths-thursday/index.html

Senate Announces $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill

      Early Wednesday, Mitch McConnell announced that the White House and Senate leaders struck a $2 trillion deal involving sending checks directly to Americans due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  $250 billion of the $2 trillion are to be set aside for direct payments to individuals, $350 billion for small business loans, $250 billion for unemployment insurance, and $500 billion for distressed companies in need of loans. Full details of the bill are yet to be released, but an estimate shows that approximately 90% of Americans would be eligible for some type of payment. Individuals earning $75,000 adjusted gross income or less are eligible for payments of $1,200, with an additional $500 per child. This payment scales down by income. It is unclear when the checks will be mailed, however, because the bill is still a draft.

1. How do you think this bill could help both individuals and businesses?
2. What could be a possible negative outcome of the stimulus plan?
3. What could this bill do for the country as a whole?

source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/what-matters-march-25/index.html

Communities of Faith- Not About Structures

Most people have to adapt to the new COVID-19 outbreak in less than ideal ways, but communities and groups have also been affected. Many communities of faith have been broadcasting their services online, using any digital communication the world has offered up, from Facebook live to email to Apple TV. Matt Hagee, the lead pastor of a church in Texas offered the idea that communities and places of worship are not so much about the structure, as much as they are about the people in the community and making sure they take care of each other and stay connected. Many places of worship provide more than just broadcasting their services though, and Mr. Hagee's church is checking in on the elderly, and providing support to people who need it, although in his area they don't have as strict of a quarantine as in other places.

Discussion Questions:

1. How will people with strict self-quarantine rules, and who rely on services provided by communities of faith be affected by the closure of in-person services?

2. What would be the most effective way of keeping a community in touch and connected, even throughout quarantine?

3. What are some challenges that could occur for people without computer/internet access? How can they be solved?

Source: https://www.jpost.com/International/Pastor-Matt-Hagee-to-Post-Community-of-faith-is-not-about-structures-622196

Why the World Losing Trees Matter


The U.S. is losing approximately 36 million trees every year. This has many adverse effects on the environment. There have already been many signs. For example, last year's summer was record breaking in terms of temperature. Trees are scientifically proven to affect the temperature and can lower the temperature by as much as 10 degrees fahrenheit. The loss of trees does not only affect the temperature, but the atmosphere as well. The annual loss of trees and the increasing loss of trees has a negative effect on the air quality. The study they did reveals that, based upon the trees role in pollution and energy, the loss of trees costs the U.S. about $96 million a year. Trees also have other positive effects like, reducing flooding, water quality improvement, and they provide habitats for animals. The more we continue to decimate our wildlife, the worse our environment will get. We should try to plant more trees around the world and protect the ones we have.

Do you think that laws should be made to protect trees, and if so what kind of laws?
How do you think the international community is responsible for deforestation and the preservation of wildlife?
With climate change gaining more and more attention, how do you think the response to deforestation will change?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/20/health/iyw-cities-losing-36-million-trees-how-to-help-trnd/index.html