The Post's coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free
to access from this email.
|
|
|
The latest
Since March, doctors have been reporting unusual blood clots in
covid-19 patients that were leading to some terrible outcomes,
including strokes in people who were young and otherwise healthy. Now a
new study finds that blood thinners can be an effective treatment
in warding off these outcomes and boost the chance for survival among
the sickest people. Read
about the study and why physicians are hopeful.
These seven siblings haven't lived under the same roof in more than
50 years. But when their mother was diagnosed with covid-19, they
flocked from six different states to be near her — and camped outside
her window. “If
these were going to be mom’s final days, we all wanted to surround
her,” the youngest sibling said.
In the week after Georgia allowed restaurants, hair salons and
other businesses to reopen, 546,159 out-of-state
visitors showed up, mostly from surrounding states
where restrictions were still in place, according to cellphone location
data. Also in the data: more Americans seem to be staying at
home, even as restrictions are lifting. Check
out the maps that show county-level detail on where people are still
out and about the most.
The White House has shelved
a document created by the CDC that
offers guidance to local leaders on how to reopen safely,
after determining that it was “overly specific,” according to a task
force official, the Associated Press reported. It was supposed to
publish last week, but an agency official said they were told it
“would never see the light of day,” according to the
AP.
Locations where black people are a high percentage of the
population account for more than half of coronavirus cases and nearly
60 percent of deaths, a study found. The researchers
also concluded that socioeconomic
factors were better predictors of infection and death rates than
underlying health conditions.
The emergency disaster lending program for small businesses
has been so overwhelmed that it slashed its loan limit from $2 million
to $150,000 and blocked nearly all new applications.
Congress gave the disaster loan program more than $50 billion in new
funding recently. But
by many accounts, it is failing spectacularly.
More than 33 million Americans lost their jobs during the
outbreak, and a new
poll finds that 77 percent of them believe they will get them back
when the crisis is over. Optimism is high, but economists warn over 40
percent of job losses could become permanent. Hispanics
are nearly twice as likely as whites to have been laid off or furloughed,
according to the same poll, showing the pandemic's disproportionate
toll.
Other
important news
Arizona, a state where cases and deaths continue to accelerate, halted
a partnership with health experts predicting coronavirus cases would
continue to mount, after the governor announced plans to lift
restrictions.
The chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court sparked a backlash
by saying
the covid-19 outbreak is among meatpacking workers, not ‘the regular
folks’.
Major League Baseball is expected to make
an initial proposal to address the conditions for starting the 2020
season this summer.
A
McDonald’s customer shot employees after being asked to leave
because of coronavirus restrictions.
Another great reason to just stay inside: The
polar vortex is about to unleash an Arctic blast in the Eastern U.S.
(Yes, it's May.)
|
|
|
Live updates and more
Track
deaths and confirmed cases in the U.S. and across
the world.
Post
reporters across the world are publishing
live dispatches 24 hours a day.
Read
the latest about the cases
and impact in the D.C. area.
Submit
a question and The Post may answer it in a future
story, live chat or newsletter.
|
|
|
Your questions, answered
“Today I received a $1,200 stimulus check addressed to my
mother, who died in September 2018. What do I do with it?” —Deborah
in Minnesota
We’re afraid you’ll have to return it, as will many others who were
also sent stimulus payments on behalf of dead relatives.
“A payment made to someone who died before receipt of the payment
should be returned to the IRS,” the tax agency recently wrote
on its stimulus FAQ page.
The IRS wouldn’t tell The Washington Post how many dead people it
erroneously sent checks to, but dozens of bewildered family members
have contacted us. It appears to be another unfortunate side effect of
the unprecedented effort to get emergency cash into the hands of tens
of millions of people within a matter of weeks, in hopes of abating an
economic collapse.
“The Treasury Department authorized the IRS to send the first wave
of stimulus payments to people who received refunds on tax returns
filed in 2018 or 2019,” Michelle
Singletary, The Post's finance columnist, writes. “The agency
already had bank account information to deliver those payments
electronically,” and so out the checks went — even to people who had
died since they last filed taxes.
In at least one case, the government actually printed “DECD” for
deceased next to the recipient’s name.
To add complication on top of complication, the IRS is putting the
responsibility on those who got the errant checks to send them back,
which might be as simple as writing “Void” on the back and mailing it
to the appropriate office.
But widows and widowers who filed taxes jointly with their spouse
may have to take yet another step, and calculate how much of their
stimulus money is their own and how much needs to be returned on behalf
of the departed. And people who have already cashed the dead person’s
check will have to write another one to pay the IRS back, per the
agency.
Our sympathy goes out to anyone in this situation.
Read more: IRS
says stimulus payments sent to dead people have to be returned
|
|
|
Today’s top reads
Find more stories, analysis and op-eds about the outbreak on our coronavirus
page, including:
- How Gov. Northam
decided when Virginia might emerge from shutdown
- ICE detainee in
California is first in U.S. immigration custody to die of
coronavirus
- Hotels across NYC will
offer rooms to people with mild covid-19 cases
|
|
|
This fox knows good journalism
|
|
|
|
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire