Here’s the latest news (local and national) on the COVID-19 crisis. Check back for more updates throughout the day!
• Governor Kate Brown is encouraging people to stay at home, but is stopping short of declaring “shelter in place.” What’s the difference, you ask? Our Alex Zielinski has more.
Just in – 26 new cases of #COVID19 in Oregon pic.twitter.com/nooMFqYdFQ
— Mike Benner (@MikeBennerKGW) March 20, 2020
• Gov. Kate Brown also issued a warning that we’re “a couple of days off” from running out of protective gear for our front line medical responders, and the state is looking for donations. Want to help first responders? They are currently looking for donations of Personal Protective Equipment, including latex free gloves, procedural masks, surgical masks, respirators, face shields, hand sanitizer, and more. Drop off at Portland Fire and Rescue, Mon-Fri, noon-4 pm, 1300 SE Gideon, AND Multnomah County Headquarters, 501 SE Hawthorne (loading dock on 6th).
• Italy is setting the sort of records nobody wants to see: The country’s one-day death toll from the novel coronavirus was 627, up from 425 on Wednesday.
• Studies of the Coronavirus in Italy have shown that the mortality rate in men is double that of women in every age group.
• Also setting speed records in categories we don’t want to be leading: Fastest rise in Coronavirus cases? Europe, Iran, and the United States.
• Thanks to our federal government’s malicious ineptitude, we won’t know how many cases of COVID-19 are out there—but we can at least track the number of confirmed cases on a state-by-state basis via this chart at the Atlantic.
Virtually every time Donald Trump speaks the stock market dives. If resignation is not an option, he needs to step aside, be quiet and let the professionals handle the crisis unencumbered.
pic.twitter.com/sDolXEUXHa
— Publius (@ThePubliusUSA) March 20, 2020
• After closing the Canadian/American border earlier this week, today sees the closing of the Mexican/American border as well.
• Starting today, the Oregon Convention Center will turn into a temporary 130-bed homeless shelter for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the government is moving national tax day from April 15 up three months to July 15—though if you want your refund sooner, then filing before then is a good idea.
• Georgia, Ohio, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Kentucky have postponed their primaries due to COVID-19. Oregon has not. Maybe there’s something to this vote-by-mail thing…
Guys, disinfecting wipes should not be flushed down the toilets. They’re bad for public sewer systems, and they’re also bad for septic systems.
Stop it. https://t.co/pGLHWKDUzf
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) March 20, 2020
• People are turning to video games as a way to pass the time in self-quarantine. Maybe don’t buy those games from GameStop? Especially not after corporate told store managers they had to stay open because they “believe GameStop is classified as essential retail.”
• In much nicer video game news: local arcade QuarterWorld is renting arcade cabinets and pinball machines to local homes.
• Ex-presidential candidate Andrew Yang has seen his Universal Basic Income idea adapted into the federal government’s $1 trillion relief proposal, and now he’s kicking in $1 million of his own money, to be distributed among low-income workers across America.
• Want to support local small businesses AND the Mercury at the same time? Donate to the Mercury‘s Small Business Advertising Fund!
• Finally, looking for something to do while holed up in the house? DO NOT MISS the Mercury‘s indispensable “The 24 Best Things To Do (While Staying Safely Socially Distanced) in Portland This Weekend.”