Coronavirus Quick Hits: Rent Is Due as the U.S. Crosses 30 Million Unemployed

Here are some major coronavirus developments making headlines . . .

1.  The Director of National Intelligence put out a statement yesterday saying they’ve found NO evidence the virus was manmade.  The same day, President Trump claimed that he HAS seen evidence it came from a lab, adding fuel for conspiracy theorists. However, both things COULD be true. The virus could have come from a lab even if it wasn’t manmade.

2.  A new poll found a lot of people are struggling with who to trust for information on the virus.  Only 23% trust the president “a great deal.”  32% said the same about the media.

3.  The USNS Comfort medical ship left New York yesterday after arriving a month ago.  Only 182 people were treated on board for things like non-COVID-19 related surgeries.

4.  Over 30 million Americans have now filed for unemployment since the crisis began.

5.  Millions of Americans who’ve been laid off have to pay rent in the coming days, and landlords are bracing for rent strikes.  In a new survey yesterday, 1 in 10 people said they won’t have money to pay their rent or mortgage this month.

6.  Should we stagger people back to work, and use the crisis as a chance to shorten the workweek to four days permanently?  A new article in “The Atlantic” makes the case.

7.  And some positive news:  South Korea says that hundreds of people who tested positive after beating the virus did NOT relapse.  They were false positives that detected dead virus fragments.  So that’s more evidence the virus doesn’t reactivate or reinfect people who’ve had it.