5 things to know for July 28: Coronavirus, stimulus, vaccine, election 2020, North Korea
Not to start your day with a dose of anxiety, but the US Food and Drug Administration has expanded its list of potentially deadly hand sanitizer products. Time for some label checking. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)
1. Coronavirus
The US could see “further suffering and further death” if steps aren’t taken to contain the coronavirus, says Dr. Anthony Fauci. Given that the country has been averaging more than 1,000 deaths a day for a few days now, that’s no surprise. Florida alone is approaching half a million cases, and a group of more than 5,000 health care professionals is pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to issue a statewide mask rule. Child Covid-19 hospitalizations in the state are also up, just weeks before students are expected to return to schools. The situation in the US is even more ominous when you consider other countries that seemed to have the virus under control, like China, Japan, Vietnam and Australia, are suddenly seeing resurgences. The World Health Organization’s director general called the pandemic “easily the most severe” public health emergency the organization has ever faced.
2. Stimulus
It’s here: Senate Republicans formally unveiled their hotly anticipated $1 trillion stimulus proposal. It’s called the HEALS Act, which stands for Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools — all priorities GOP leaders say they’ve addressed in the bill. The proposal does include that talked-about cut in unemployment benefits. Under the legislation, payments would be cut down from $600 a week to $200 a week for the next two months, followed by a payment program designed to replace a majority of lost wages for the rest of the year. Critics say many low-income workers still wouldn’t be able to recoup their losses. The HEALS Act also features $1.75 billion for the design and construction of a new FBI headquarters. GOP legislators said that was a request directly from the President — and some of them aren’t fully on board with its inclusion in the bill.
3. Vaccine
The first Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States is now underway. The trial is expected to enroll about 30,000 adult volunteers and will evaluate the safety of the vaccine and whether it can prevent symptomatic Covid-19. The drug is being developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna and a group within the National Institutes of Health. It’s one of 25 potential vaccines in clinical trials around the world, and Dr. Anthony Fauci says this could be the fastest the medical community has ever gotten this far in developing a vaccine after such a short period of working with a known virus. There’s such an eagerness for something to stop this pandemic that thousands of people have expressed their interest in participating in clinical trials that would expose them to the virus — even if it means potentially putting themselves in danger.
4. Election 2020
The road to November’s presidential election is looking more and more unfamiliar. The Democratic National Convention is coming up in the middle of August, and people close to the event say that the convention will feature only two hours of televised programming a day. That’s a big departure from the usual day-long slates of events, speakers and political hullabaloo. The University of Notre Dame has also announced that it will withdraw from hosting the first presidential debate in late September due to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, President Trump is continuing to push back against the wave of support for mail-in voting stirred by pandemic concerns.
5. North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says “there will be no more war on this earth” and North Korea’s “safety and future will be secured forever” because of the country’s nuclear arsenal. These claims came during a ceremony observing the 67th anniversary of the armistice that effectively ended the Korean War. While the tenor of Kim’s comments are nothing new, they are a reminder that leaders in the international community have their work cut out for them if they want North Korea to accept any kind of diplomatic deal that requires a scale-down of its nuclear program. North Koreans have hinted that they’re open to another diplomatic summit between Kim and President Trump, like the one that sparked so much optimism in 2018. But there’s no indication that the two sides are willing or able to meet on common ground any time soon.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
A bunch of players on the Miami Marlins tested positive for Covid-19 and a few games had to be canceled. Now the whole entire baseball season is in question.
Hmm, didn’t baseball used to be a lot more fun than this?
The NFL has canceled preseason games ahead of the 2020 season
Sorry, you’ll have to find a different way to overreact to your team’s potential.
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas welcome a baby girlÂ
It’s a joyous day for House Jonas and the Queen of the North.
Melania Trump wants to renovate the Rose Garden
I beg your pardon, she’s promising us a new rose garden.
Google will let employees work from home until at least next summer
Did you hear that, Google gang? Yoga pants FOREVER.
Happening later
The nominations are …Â
The Emmy nominations will be announced today, setting the stage for an unprecedented virtual ceremony in September.
TODAY’S NUMBER
51,512
That’s how many prints have sold — at least — of the limited edition Topps baseball card featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci’s first pitch during last week’s Washington Nationals season opener. That makes it the bestselling card in the history of ToppsNow, the company’s collection of limited-edition cards.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“As the founding fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.”
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who described slavery as a “necessary evil” in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Cotton was attempting to criticize the 1619 Project, a New York Times initiative that reframes US history around the year 1619, when the first slave ship arrived on America’s shores. Instead, is comments invited immediate and vehement criticism.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here >>>
AND FINALLY
That horse has good tasteÂ
Feeling anxious? Overworked? Here’s violinist Ray Chen serenading a horse. See? All better now.
