The coronavirus outbreak quickly and radically changed American life, especially in the cities. While subways, buses and rail lines normally serve as the backbone of urban life, ridership has dropped as many people work from home and others avoid public transit for fear of contracting or spreading the virus. At the same time, the economy tanked, which depressed tax revenues that transit systems count on to function.
Facing plummeting ridership and unprecedented financial loss, public transportation systems across the country are desperate for government relief. They got some in March through the CARES Act, which included $25 billion for public transit. But to survive, they’ll likely need much more. Opponents claim that the pandemic is just hastening the inevitable death of mass transit, and that pouring in more government money is a waste of resources. But for those who depend on public transportation, its death is unthinkable.
“Without help, these systems are facing very real consequences that could have both public health and economic repercussions,” says TIME reporter Alejandro de la Garza, who spoke with more than 30 people—from subway conductors to policy makers—for his latest story. “More importantly, this is an aspect of the crisis that directly affects the lives of some of the most vulnerable Americans, especially essential workers.”
Public transportation serves a wide swath of the population, and most transit riders are people of color, who have already been hit hardest by the pandemic. One analysis found that 67% of essential workers using public transportation are non-white. Mass transit is also vital to restarting urban economies. “I don’t know how you have a functioning economy without people being able to get to their jobs,” Beth Osborne, director of advocacy group Transportation for America, told de la Garza.
Congress is currently debating another coronavirus-related relief bill, which is likely to include at least some money for public transportation. But even if transit systems get more federal help, the future looks bleak. Health fears all but ensure a sustained drop in ridership, at least until an effective vaccine is widely available.
Still, de la Garza managed to find a glimmer of hope amid these grim projections: With fewer people commuting to work, cities across the country have claimed city streets for use by the public, not cars, and are creating more space for cycling. Not surprisingly, many people like the changes. Yet any benefits that may come from new, creative uses of public space and transportation are diminished by the emergency in front of us right now.
“When you add up all the effects of a failing transit system,” de la Garza says, “you get another national crisis all its own.”
More than 14.9 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 AM eastern time today, and more than 616,000 had died.
Here is every country with over 250,000 confirmed cases:
While the Indian capital region of Delhi has so far reported about 125,000 cases of COVID-19, the virus may be much more prevalent there. In a new study, India's National Center for Disease Control tested recently-collected blood samples from more than 21,000 Delhi residents and found antibodies in about 23% of them, CNN reports. That strongly suggests that far more people in the area have been infected than official numbers indicate, given that some 19 million live there. With nearly 1.2 million cases overall, India now ranks behind only Brazil (about 2.1 million) and the United States (nearly 3.9 million).
Australia—well into its second wave of the virus—reported more than 500 new cases today, the most in a single day since late March. Almost all of the new cases were located the state of Victoria. Residents of Melbourne, the state capital and an economic hub, are currently in a six-week lockdown, yet numbers are still rising because of inadequate contact tracing and lax compliance with lockdown and quarantine orders. “Unless we have people who get tested staying at home and isolating until they get their results, then we will not see these numbers come down,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said earlier today.
When Japanese officials made the painful decision in late March to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021, it seemed like a long way off. Now? Not so much, considering how tough it’s been to control the pandemic. At this point, organizers aren’t sure whether they can hold the games even a year from now. “If the current situation continues, we couldn’t,” Yoshiro Mori, the president of the games’ organizing committee, said during an interview with Japanese media, the Associated Press reports . Yet he's optimistic that a vaccine will be produced in time to allow the Olympics to go on as scheduled. “Whether the Olympics can be done or not is about whether humanity can beat the coronavirus,” Mori said.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded nearly 3.9 million coronavirus cases as of 1 AM eastern time today. Nearly 142,000 people have died.
On July 21, there were 64,534 new cases and 1,082 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded more than 1,000 new deaths yesterday, its highest number since June 2. The latest outbreaks are centered in the South, but other states are trouble spots, too: California now has more than 409,000 cases, surpassing the previous high-water mark set by New York. (New York still holds the unenviable record for most COVID-19 deaths in the country, with more than 32,000; it also has about twice as many cases per capita as California.)
Holding his first coronavirus briefing in months yesterday afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump finally acknowledged the escalating health crisis gripping the country. “It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better,” Trump said. He also encouraged Americans to wear masks—a precaution he has been slow to embrace—when they can’t stand far enough away from one another. “Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact,” he said. Trump also repeated his claim that the coronavirus will “disappear,” though there are no signs that will happen.
On the vaccine front, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today a nearly $2 billion contract with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to receive the first 100 million doses of the company’s vaccine for “large-scale production and nationwide delivery”—should it prove to be safe and effective, and pending emergency approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If all goes well, the first doses could be manufactured by the end of this year. As part of the deal, the U.S. would have the rights to acquire up to 500 million more doses, and the vaccine would be free for Americans.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of July 22, 1 AM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Getting Test Results Can Take Weeks. That’s a Public Health Failure
We’ve heard it again and again: if you’re concerned you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus, get tested so that you don’t spread it to others. But as testing delays mount, people across the country are facing long waits for results, which means stress, anxiety and sometimes risky behavior. Read more here.
Coronavirus Explodes Inside a Texas Prison
Three weeks ago, a federal medical prison in Texas had only three confirmed cases. Now, more than 500 women there have tested positive, making it one of the largest prison outbreaks in the nation, the AP reports. Read more here.
How Uruguay Kept the Virus in Check
Uruguay’s location between Brazil and Argentina, both viral hotspots, should have set it up to be hit hard by the coronavirus. But the country has been largely spared, the Washington Post reports, with just over 1,000 cases and only 33 deaths. As the country begins to reopen, the world is looking to Uruguay for insights about what went right. Read more here.
What Life Is Like Inside the NBA Bubble
The National Basketball Association is set to return next week like you’ve never seen it before: with players and the reporters who cover them confined to a “bubble” in Orlando. Covering the event as a journalist is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, but when you have to wear a device that beeps when you get within six feet of another person—among other bizarre requirements—it’s certainly a strange experience, Tom Kludt writes in Vanity Fair. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Mandy Oaklander and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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