"As We Confront a Pandemic, U.S. State and Federal Government Must Support Local News," Suzanne Nossel and Viktorya Vilk, Slate, March 27, 2020
"The passage of $2 trillion in economic stimulus to jumpstart the U.S. economy is a significant benchmark in the coronavirus outbreak. But there’s a life-or-death industry that still urgently needs an immediate infusion of cash: local journalism. As federal agencies dole out dollars and Congress discusses future stimulus packages, it is imperative that some of those funds are explicitly set aside to bolster the local news industry.

When news broke of COVID-19-related deaths at a nursing home in suburban Washington state, the Seattle Times kicked into high gear. As the global news media devoured the story, local reporters kept area residents up to date on school closings, health regulations, store hours, and supply shortages confronting local health workers, not to mention obituaries. Ever since, the paper has remained in overdrive as far as journalistic output and increased audience, providing an information lifeline for one of the country’s hardest-hit communities."

Go here -> https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/coronavirus-local-news-funding.html

In this three-part series, we explore the decline in local news coverage across America. Host Dan LeDuc interviews journalism experts, travels to a “news desert” where the daily newspaper recently printed its last edition, and visits the newsroom of a paper that is bucking the trend and doubling down on its investment in community coverage.  Join us as we discover:

The Impact
News Deserts
A Good Story"

Go here -> https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/02/28/the-loss-of-local-news

"Plaza, 60, works in Los Angeles, where most non-essential businesses, as well as schools, have been closed. A "stay in place" order was issued as of midnight on Thursday evening, Mar. 19. Plaza is a mother of four and a member of the Filipino Worker Center, an affiliate of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA).

Everybody calls me, “Lee.” I'm 60-years-old and I've been a caregiver for six years. I’m a registered and certified nursing assistant and licensed home health aid in the state of California. My job involves assisting my clients with their activities of daily living like feeding, dressing, and personal grooming. Right now my client is a 98-year-old bedridden woman who has dementia. She also has a hip injury. She is hard of hearing, and she needs total care. She used to be in a nice home, but recently she was transferred to a nursing home because of her situation. [She doesn’t have] children and her husband is dead. Her only family is her niece, but since last week, when President Trump declared a national emergency, family visits [have been] totally banned."

Go here -> https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/home-caregiver-during-coronavirus-pandemic-180000828.html

And here -> https://www.wvtf.org/post/lacking-support-home-health-workers-are-frontlines-pandemic#stream/0

"At least 196 million Americans have gotten the same message in recent days: As the coronavirus spreads, the safest place for them is at home.

But for all too many, home is actually dangerous. Every year, more than 10 million Americans experience domestic violence, and experts fear that the pandemic and the isolation necessary to combat it could drive those numbers even higher.

Getting out of an abusive home already poses incredible challenges for survivors. But now, shelter-in-place orders could increase the amount of control wielded by abusers, Alejandra Y. Castillo, CEO of the YWCA USA, the nation’s largest provider of services and housing for domestic violence survivors, told Vox. Even making a phone call could become difficult when people are forced to be together essentially every moment of every day. “If you’re in a shelter-in-place situation,” Castillo said, “abusers are monitoring your every move.”

Go here -> https://www.vox.com/2020/3/26/21193814/coronavirus-domestic-violence-shelters-covid-19-abuse

"Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or dementia often involves a team of people. Whether you provide daily caregiving, participate in decision making, or simply care about a person with the disease — we have resources to help.

Most likely, dementia does not increase risk for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, just like dementia does not increase risk for flu. However, dementia-related behaviors, increased age and common health conditions that often accompany dementia may increase risk."

Go here -> https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/coronavirus-(covid-19)-tips-for-dementia-care

"Family Caregiver Alliance is committed to continuing to support caregivers through the evolving situation associated with the coronavirus. During this time of heightened awareness about public health and reducing risk of exposure for ourselves and those we care for, it’s very important to gather updated information from trusted sources.

"For more than a week, Linda Quinn, 81, has isolated herself inside her Bellevue, Wash., home to keep away from the coronavirus. Her only companion has been her goldendoodle, Lucy. To blunt the solitude, Ms. Quinn’s daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons wanted to hold video chats with her through Zoom, a videoconferencing app. So they made plans to call and talk her through installing the app on her computer.

But five minutes before the scheduled chat last week, Ms. Quinn realized there was a problem: She had not used her computer in about four months and could not remember the password. “My mind just went totally blank,” she said. Panicked, Ms. Quinn called a grandson, Ben Gode, 20, who had set up the computer for her. Mr. Gode remembered the password, allowing the call and the Zoom tutorial to take place — but not until Ms. Quinn got him to promise not to tell the rest of the family about her tech stumble."

Go here -> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/technology/virus-older-generation-digital-divide.html?referringSource=articleShare

"RUTLAND, Vt.—My mother called last week. FaceTime had stopped working. What should she do? Reboot your iPhone, I wanted to say. But my mother is 96 and doesn’t know how to reboot anything. Plus, she’s hard of hearing. Phone conversations do not go well.

She lives 2 miles away in a very nice senior living community, and until four weeks ago, had rarely been away from my father. My dad did everything from run their dishwasher to change channels on the TV. But on February 23, he suddenly collapsed and went from the ER to a nursing home, 2 miles in the other direction. He suffers from a still-undiagnosed condition that's most likely Parkinson’s disease."

Go here ->https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/28/will-social-isolation-have-a-bigger-impact-on-the-bravest-generation-than-coronavirus-152353

 

"At a White House press briefing on Friday, Peter Alexander, a correspondent for NBC News, asked President Trump about the psychological toll of the covid-19 crisis: “Nearly two hundred dead, fourteen thousand who are sick, millions, as you witnessed, who are scared,” Alexander said. “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?” Trump shot back, “I say that you’re a terrible reporter, that’s what I say. I think it’s a very nasty question, and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people.” For weeks, the President seemed oblivious to the scope of the coronavirus threat; now he seems heartless about the spiralling anxiety among Americans and ignorant about the physiology of fear, after a week unprecedented in American history, during which much of the country has closed down, the economy has ground to a halt, and millions have been told to stay home. Since last week, state officials have ordered one in three Americans—living in New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, and Massachusetts—to remain indoors. For many of the rest of us, normal life has been suspended as the tally of cases soars. It all feels eerily apocalyptic—and, for most, scary."

Go here -> https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-loneliness-from-coronavirus-isolation-takes-its-own-toll

"When Romance Is a Scam-More con artists are finding their marks on all manner of social media platforms, knowing that the payoff from older victims can be big," Paula Span, New York Times, March 27, 2020
"Ellen Floren was not looking for love.

The criminals who lured her into an online scam last summer approached her not on a dating site, where she might have been wary, but through the neighborhood hub called Nextdoor.

A man who said his name was James Gibson said he’d noticed her profile on the site. He also lived in her Chicago neighborhood, he told her, specifying a street. Could they have a conversation? “He was very polite: ‘I hope I’m not out of line. I just found you very attractive,’” recalled Ms. Floren, who is 67 and a part-time educational consultant. They chatted on the site for a week or so. “Then it was, ‘Is it OK if we email?’”

Go here -> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/well/elderly-romance-scam.html?referringSource=articleShare

"U.S. attorneys in Milwaukee and Madison and state officials ask consumers to report fraudulent cures and claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic Vaccine kits. “Silver Solution” treatment. Even coronavirus-fighting toothpaste. The swindles have begun. As Americans struggle to cope with the spread of COVID-19, they will also need to brace themselves for “disaster fraud” — those cons that rely on post-catastrophe chaos to separate people from their money. 

Go here -> https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2020/03/coronavirus-frauds-cons-begin/

"Gov. Tony Evers issued an order Friday relaxing a range of rules governing Wisconsin’s health care workforce — an effort to maximize the number of doctors, nurses and physician assistants available to help during the all-hands-on-deck coronavirus pandemic.

“Our healthcare professionals are on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, and it is critical that we maximize the size of our workforce and eliminate unnecessary barriers so we can effectively meet the demand for care,” Evers said in a statement."

Go here ->  https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2020/03/evers-health-care-workforce-coronavirus/

"Gov. Tony Evers banned landlords throughout Wisconsin from evicting tenants and ordered lenders statewide to halt foreclosure actions for 60 days, according to an emergency order issued Friday.

The order also brings to a halt sheriff's sales, which are the auctions where foreclosed properties are sold.

"Evictions and foreclosures pose a direct and serious threat to the health and well-being of Wisconsinites, especially as we ask that everybody remain safer at home," Evers said Friday during an online news conference. "This order is another step we can take to prioritize the health and safety of Wisconsinites during this public health emergency."

Go here -> https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/27/coronavirus-wisconsin-governor-evers-bans-evictions-foreclosures/2914254001/?csp=chromepush