COVID-19 INSIDER

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First COVID-19 death confirmed in RGV

April 05, 2020

Willacy County reported a fatality from the coronavirus late Saturday night, the first in the Rio Grande Valley. The man who died was in his 60s, but officials in Willacy County could not say what his exact age is or where exactly he lived. He died Saturday. However, they did say he died in a hospital, but could not confirm what hospital. Authorities in Willacy County referred questions about the man to the Texas Department of State Health Services, adding that limited information was provided to them by the agency. “I want the family of the deceased to know that we know and understand how hard it must have been for y’all to go though what you all have gone though in the last days and weeks,” said County Judge Aurelio Guerra. He also offered his condolences. “I want you to know on behalf of the county, the cities and indeed the Rio Grande Valley, our deepest condolences to you and your family and God bless,” he said. This is the first death from COVID-19 since th...

Multiple patients on hospital ship test positive for COVID-19

April 05, 2020

Patients onboard the Navy’s hospital ship Comfort tested positive for COVID-19 after being transferred Friday from a facility in New York City, Fox News first reported. The ship, which arrived with a mission of treating non-COVID patients to alleviate the burden on the city’s increasingly overflowing hospitals, accepted “less than five” patients who were infected, officials told Fox News . Initial screenings prior to boarding the ship did not reveal that the patients had contracted the virus. The Navy previously confirmed its screening process for boarding the hospital ship — one instituted in accordance to CDC guidance — consists only of a temperature check and “a series of questions addressing [the] member’s recent health and contact history.” Such procedures have been criticized by many, including a medical professional and spouse of one of the Comfort’s sailors, as being considerably inadequate. “We know that the traditional symptoms don’t show themselves the same ...

The nation’s monthly jobs report published earlier this week was jarring. I write before its publication, but expect the unemployment rate to more than double. Monthly job losses are sure to crush the previous record of September 1945. Despite this, it is worth noting that September 1945 was surely the most welcomed month in all of human history, marking the end of World War II. We would be wise to view the unemployment rate and other short-term economic data as imperfect measures of human flourishing. Last week, Dr. Fauci, a man who no longer requires introduction, predicted 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from COVID-19. This eye-popping figure accounts for the extreme measures now being taken in many parts of the nation. Business as usual would’ve likely resulted in a tenfold loss of life. Faced with these large numbers, we need to place a more personal context on this tragedy, and muse upon the potential change this will lead to in our economic lives. At the top range, Dr. Fauci’s estimates are more than five times the annual American deaths from automobile accidents. This means that by late April, nearly every adult will know someone who has died of COVID-19, and someone in every neighborhood, school and place of work will have been sick with it. Such suffering cannot fail to have broad effect on the structure of our economy. ►MORE FROM MICHAEL HICKS: We are still underreacting to COVID-19 risks Like Americans in the Civil War and World Wars, the COVID-19 imposes sacrifice upon nearly everyone. This is far different from 9/11, or other recent shocks. Today, we face weeks, if not months, of home isolation. The risk of spreading the disease will influence matters great and small in all our lives. As economist, I see several things open to meaningful change. Federalism has been too ignored in American politics and budgeting. I’ve long argued that state and local governments are more critical to securing the general welfare than is the federal government. This crisis makes that clear. Likewise, the role of the presidency has grown too strong, and must be limited by Congress. Whatever else his flaws, Mr. Trump provides a singularly exquisite example why we need to devolve power away from the federal government and place more limits on the presidency. Our wisdom on state and local budgets will also evolve. Many state and municipal governments pursued low tax rates as a source of enduring prosperity. Places with large, unfounded pension debts, like Illinois and specifically Chicago, are viewed as especially imprudent. COVID-19 reveals new unfunded liabilities in state and local governments who believed in error that their low tax rates marked them as fiscally responsible. Today, millions of students nationwide are out of school with no meaningful instructional alternative. Their schools don’t own sufficient computers for use at home and faculty don’t have the software for instruction. The inability to meet Constitutional requirements of public education is a more damaging unfunded liability than a grossly underfunded government pension system. Moreover, the students least likely to have instructional material are more likely to face other economic and educational challenges. The aftermath of this disease will necessitate tough choices on both higher taxes and unpopular cost-cutting in education. COVID-19 will influence how we perceive the rural and urban divides. Rural places will be short on key infrastructure, like broadband internet, but urban places are likely to bear the brunt of economic dislocation. The most "at risk" sectors are clustered in cities. This is a very different turn of events from the Great Recession and will alter the political economy of government interventions. Much of this seems like "bigger government," but I suspect the reaction will be more nuanced. The CARES Act has many deep flaws that will unroll over the coming weeks. The bill does far too little for the most disrupted workers, small to medium-sized companies and state budgets. It is bad enough that this might be the relief bill that influences all future relief bills. I predict Americans are about to be incensed over bail-outs to highly profitable not-for-profit hospitals and tourism industries, while Main Street business disappear in droves. COVID-19 also uncovered more than usual bureaucratic problems. The Food and Drug Administration is an agency begging to be entirely reworked, preferably into a not-for-profit like Underwriters Laboratories. Likewise, states now scramble to undue licensing restrictions on healthcare workers and foreign physicians. These should be permanently undone. We can find other ways to ensure provider quality without building tools for anti-competitive labor markets. We will also find that many neglected social institutions matter more deeply to our lives than most of us expected. The disoriented feeling that grips so many of us today is nearly identical to what I felt as a young soldier heading to war. My comrades and I had only days to prepare, possessed little idea of what to expect and had no idea when it would end. We depended on one another, more than at any time in our lives. Strong social institutions haven’t been this important to the well-being of Americans in almost 80 years. I have been watching COVID-19 since early January as it threatened domestic manufacturing production. The only enduring feature of the past three months is that the outlook worsens every day. As that continues, nearly every institution, every government, every business and every family will be affected. One day the outlook will be better, and we can look forward past these tough days. Then, we must be introspective. The changes this disease brings will be crafted by us, for good or ill. Michael Hicks is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics and the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.

April 05, 2020

Nicole Boivin of Berwick has always been a healthy person, and she has taken extra care to keep a safe distance from other people and wash her hands since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Despite all that, she got it — and it was bad. [Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county] “I have just come out of the darkness of this thing after 12 days of the worst illness I have ever experienced in my life and hope to never experience again,” she told her friends on Facebook Wednesday. “If you think the social distancing practices are a joke, if you think the stay-at-home order is bogus, if you cannot appreciate the major risk you are putting yourself, your loved ones, or your neighbors in by not following these parameters, you are so very wrong.” For Boivin, 45, her ordeal began on March 18. During the workday, she had no symptoms, she said — but when she came home, she had a slight headache. In the night, she woke up with a low fever, whic...

Michael Hicks: Long-term changes from COVID-19

April 05, 2020

The nation’s monthly jobs report published earlier this week was jarring. I write before its publication, but expect the unemployment rate to more than double. Monthly job losses are sure to crush the previous record of September 1945. Despite this, it is worth noting that September 1945 was surely the most welcomed month in all of human history, marking the end of World War II. We would be wise to view the unemployment rate and other short-term economic data as imperfect measures of human flourishing. Last week, Dr. Fauci, a man who no longer requires introduction, predicted 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from COVID-19. This eye-popping figure accounts for the extreme measures now being taken in many parts of the nation. Business as usual would’ve likely resulted in a tenfold loss of life. Faced with these large numbers, we need to place a more personal context on this tragedy, and muse upon the potential change this will lead to in our economic lives. At the top range, Dr. ...

Young COVID-19 patient: ‘See my face’

April 05, 2020

Natalie Kikkenborg is finally beginning to feel like herself again — nearly three weeks after the 36-year-old Westville fitness instructor and single mom’s temperature first shot up to 102 degrees, and over one week after she tested positive for Covid-19. She wants people to see her and know about her experience, in part to dispel misconceptions about who is or isn’t at risk during the pandemic. Her fever has subsided. Her splitting headaches have gone away. She has regained her sense of taste and smell. And she’s more sure than ever that the best way New Haveners can protect themselves and their community is by staying home to the greatest extent possible. Kikkenborg is one of over 70 New Haveners so far who have tested positive for the infectious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Medical professionals, public health experts, and local political leaders have warned that the actual number of infected New Haveners is almost certainly much higher co...

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 5 April

April 05, 2020

In this daily round-up, we'll bring you a selection of the latest news updates on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected. In today's top stories: An update on the numbers as COVID-19 continues to spread; US President Donald Trump issues a dire warning; signs of hope in Spain; and a round-up of some of our latest COVID-19 content. 1. How COVID-19 is spreading around the globe At time of writing, there are currently more than 1,213,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection around the world, with 65,652 confirmed deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University . Almost 250,000 people are known to have recovered from coronavirus. The US remains the worst-affected country in the world, with over 312,000 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, in the city where the coronavirus pandemic began - Wuhan in China's Hubei province - parts of the city are showing tentative signs of reopening. Residents have slowly been retur...