The Coming Presidential Election Will Be Defined By the Pandemic
As the ball dropped to mark the start of 2020, you could be forgiven for thinking you could see into the future and guess the news story that would define American life this year: the presidential election. Instead, COVID-19 has become the master narrative setting the tone for everything else this year, including the race between President Donald Trump and the Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Molly Ball, a political reporter for TIME, says the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped how she’s reporting on the 2020 election. Instead of zipping from one swing state to another, she’s been off the campaign trail since February. The crisis has also forced candidates to find a new forum for their political struggles, moving their campaigns into the digital space.
And as Ball writes for TIME this week, the virus has also reshaped the conversation around the election, giving issues like public health and inequality new salience, and making it a priority for a growing number of Americans to elect a leader who can shepherd the country through an unprecedented crisis.
For many people, the heft of this crisis has made Trump’s flaws “suddenly loom larger,” Ball writes. Only 40% of Americans approve of his job performance, and Americans disapprove of his handling of the pandemic by a 20-point margin compared to those who believe the President has done a good job with COVID-19. A majority of Americans now support social distancing measures as the priority over restarting the economy, contrary to the President’s message. According to Ball, Trump’s effort to make the pandemic a partisan issue has mostly failed: “If the pandemic has revealed the fault lines in American society, it has exposed something else too: some things are still too important to get caught up in politics.”
More than 18.8 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 AM eastern time today, and more than 707,000 people have died.
Here is every country with over 250,000 confirmed cases:
Although European countries continue to have far fewer per capita cases of COVID-19 per day than the U.S., there are warning signs that the pandemic could be resurging in the region. France reported 3,309 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the most daily cases reported since May 28, and Germany reported 1,285 on Thursday, the most reported since June 18, according to Johns Hopkins’ COVID-19 tracker.
Meanwhile, a report released earlier today raises concerns about insufficient COVID-19 testing in many countries across the African continent, according to Reuters. According to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, just 10 countries (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Mauritius) are conducting 80% of new coronavirus testing on the continent, as Africa nears one million total cases of COVID-19.
Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, was placed on a six-week total lockdown today as the country battles its own second wave of COVID-19 cases, according to Reuters. As non-essential businesses close, about 250,000 people will be thrown out of work, per the AP.
In the U.K., COVID-19 is expected to reshape this year’s London Marathon. The Times reported that the race, which has already been postponed to Oct. 4 from April 26, will now also likely be limited to elite runners and take place in one of the city’s Royal Parks, instead of through the city—leaving the roughly 40,000 amateur runners expected annually in the dust until next year.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded more than 4.8 million coronavirus cases as of 1 AM eastern time today. Nearly 53,000 people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On August 5, there were 52,810 new cases and 1,388 new deaths confirmed in the U.S. Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Earlier today, the U.S reported an additional 1,186,000 seasonally adjusted unemployment claims for the week ending Aug. 1—while Congress continues to grapple over the details of a new stimulus package. Senators Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi both told CNBC today that they believe Congress will reach a relief agreement in the near future. “I think the one thing we agree on—most of us, at least—that the economy needs a boost,” McConnell said.
COVID-19 has had a dire impact on the American airline industry. About 52% of Americans who flew at least once a year before the pandemic said they are not comfortable flying in a Franklin Templeton-Gallup Economics of Recovery Study poll conducted in July and published today. Perception of flying is largely divided along age lines: 69% of people older than 55 said they are uncomfortable flying at all, compared to just 33% of people ages 18 to 34.
In an interview with POLITICO published today, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he thinks the U.S. can avoid another lockdown, calling it a "a misperception that either you shut down completely and damage a lot of things, mental health, the economy, all kinds of things, or let it rip and do whatever you want." However, he added, people must get “on board” with public health measures such as masks and physical distancing. “When you have a weak link, then the whole system is unsuccessful.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wants to pull the plug on large parties in the second-most populous city in the U.S. Yesterday, the mayor authorized the city to cut the electricity and water of any Los Angelenos who defy social distancing measures and hold big gatherings in businesses or homes. California has the most COVID-19 of any state, and nearly half of its cases have been reported in Los Angeles County.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of August 6, 1 AM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
An Economic Depression Is Ahead
Right now, the future feels deeply uncertain, but one thing that is becoming clear is that the world is headed for a global economic depression. The crisis is likely to last longer and cut deeper than any other seen by most people alive today, writes TIME’s Ian Bremmer. Read more here.
TikTok Is On the Frontlines of the China-U.S. Tech Battlefront
As the relationship between the U.S. and China continues to crumble, TikTok, a video clip app beloved by Gen Z, has been stuck in the middle. To rescue the app, Bytedance, the Chinese tech company that developed TikTok, wants to sell it to Microsoft, but the deal has been complicated by the Trump administration’s claim that the U.S. Treasury deserves a chunk of the fee. Read more here.
A Pop Quiz For Reopening Schools
The question of whether or not to send children back to school this fall is on many parents’ minds right now. NPR has compiled a list of things to look for to determine whether a given school is taking enough steps to keep your child (and the rest of your family) safe. Read more here.
The Pandemic Could Worsen Underemployment
As 18 million Americans cope with unemployment, the workforce is facing another crisis: underemployment. According to a new analysis, between 8% and 11% of Americans were underemployed as of 2016, the Atlantic reports. 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.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
沒有留言:
張貼留言