Politics and Current Events

Politalk

By: Isaac Patterson

What are the parties’ solution to COVID-19? This pandemic is the largest disaster in recent memory, and as always, Americans look to our elected officials for answers. Also, as always, those answers are radically divided on party lines. Here is a handy breakdown to illustrate these varied stances:

According to polling, 75% of Democrats believe the pandemic is a real threat, whereas 54% of Republicans believe the pandemic is being blown out of proportion. Meanwhile, most Democrats agree that social distancing regulations should be in place as long as they need to be, and while many Republicans agree, some take their cues from President Donald J. Trump who has recently argued that “the cure must not be worse than the disease.”

It is the general consensus of experts such as the CDC that social distancing is necessary, but how long it will go one depends on a number of factors, such as when the US hits its peak of cases and the number starts to decrease. Here in Cambridge, we’ve been staying home for a relatively long time, but some states have just started. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, only issued a statewide stay at home order on April 1st, citing lack of advice from the White House as the reason for his delay. President Trump is now on board with social distancing, but has previously downplayed the need for responses by comparing it to the common flu, even going so far as to call it a “Democrat hoax” to hurt his re-election chances.

The Stimulus Bills

Because of the damage of COVID-19 and the necessary social distancing responses, the U.S. economy has been thrown into deep uncertainty. Senate Republicans introduced a stimulus (giving money) bill to keep the economy going. However, Democrats disagreed with the bill and introduced their own in the House. This breakdown catalogs the differences between the two:

Funds Sent to Americans:

Democrats: $1,500 to anyone with a tax ID number, but higher earners will have to pay it back in taxes in the future. The unemployed will receive an additional $600 per week.

Republicans: $1,200 to people who pay taxes.

Funds Sent to Hospitals:

Democrats: $150 billion to health care providers and community health centers, plus an additional $80 billion to hospitals.

Republicans: $75 billion total.

Funds Loaned to Airline Companies:

Democrats: $61 billion in aid, requires airlines to cut carbon emissions by half by 2050. An additional $1 billion for sustainable fuel development.

Republicans: $58 billion in aid, with no strings attached.

Funds for Education: Funds for Small Businesses:

Democrats: $60 billion Democrats: $500 billion in loans

Republicans: $20 billion Republicans: $300 billion in loans

Funds for Food Assistance: Funds for the Department of Defense:

Democrats: Whatever is necessary Democrats: $8 billion

Republicans: $15.6 billion Republicans: $10 billion

Democratic Frontrunner Joe Biden Accused of Sexual Assault.

Many upcoming Democratic primaries have been postponed due to Covid-19, and there are no big campaign events happening for the same reason. Currently, Joe Biden sits safely in lead over the only other remaining candidate, Bernie Sanders, but with many delegates left to go, a new development might destabilize that. Tara Reade, a woman who worked as a staff assistant in then-Senator Biden’s office, has recently publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her. She had previously accused him of inappropriate touching when other women came forward and were dismissed, but went quiet due to backlash and being called a Russian asset, based on a pro-Putin poem she had written. In January, she contacted the Time’s Up legal defense fund, a non-profit that helps with the legal fees of victims of sexual assault, but she was told by Time’s Up that supporting her could jepordize their non-profit status because of Biden’s campaign. On March 26, Reade gave an interview on a podcast describing her sexual assault in 1993. The following day, the Biden campaign denied the allegation, as they have all previous allegations.

What are nations of the world doing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

By: Kai Alm

COVID-19 is caused by the betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and was first reported by Chinese authorities on January 7, 2020. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that are in many different species, for example, bats, camels, cattle, and cats. The alphacoronavirus and betacoronavirus genera descend from the bat gene pool. SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV are both of the B lineage of betacoronaviruses. COVID-19 spreads both from animals to humans and from human to human, and was thought to have originated in animal markets in Wuhan, China. The severity of the disease has a large range, with many patients who are asymptomatic, to severe illnesses that can cause death. The elderly and those with underlying conditions are at heightened risk. It has been reported that 80% of deaths were in cases of a patient 65 or older. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

In every major nation so far, travel restrictions have been imposed in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Social distancing has been encouraged in almost all countries except Australia and Iran. Restaurants and bars are closed in many, including Italy, Spain, the United States, France, and Germany. However, only a select few have widespread testing available, notably Italy, South Korea, and Singapore. Italy, Spain, and China are under almost complete lockdown.

As of April 1, China has reported no new cases for almost every day in the past two weeks. If their numbers are truly correct, only 1/40, or 2,004 of their total cases, are still active. However, they have recently stopped including asymptomatic cases in their infection count. China has already faced heavy scrutiny in the past for attempting to suppress knowledge of their SARS outbreak in 2002-2004. However, they did seem to act quickly, first starting a lockdown in Wuhan on January 23. They enforced more draconian policies in the following weeks. For example, residents were unable to leave their apartments without permission, and the private use of cars was banned.

The United Kingdom has about 30,000 confirmed cases to date. Their prime minister Boris Johnson initially supported a policy to gain “herd immunity,” which is a method of containing the virus which results in a significant enough percentage of the population having immunity to the virus, in this case by letting the virus run its course. This is not yet supported by science and is not recommended by medical experts. Johnson has changed his mind after researchers at the Imperial College of London projected that around 250,000 people in Britain would die if the virus wasn’t immediately slowed. The UK has now imposed a lockdown, only allowing for essential trips, such as food and medicine, or exercise. It is also noteworthy that Johnson himself tested positive for the coronavirus.

Singapore is one of the most successful countries so far in containing the outbreak, with only 879 cases and three deaths. There are a number of factors leading to their success, including a good healthcare system, being one of the only countries with widespread testing, tracing programs to find contacts of the infected, and a small and receptive population. They have allowed certain businesses and universities to open with strict guidelines about the sizes of gatherings. Singapore has imposed 14-day quarantines for all new arrivals into the country.

The United States is now far ahead of any other country in terms of the sheer number of confirmed cases, at 213,010, followed by Italy with 110,574. This may be due to the delayed action by President Donald J. Trump, who claimed on January 22, “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.” He now seems to have a relatively serious mindset, saying that “If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus, and we are going to have a big celebration all together.” Trump has enacted federal guidance on social distancing and schools and businesses are being shut down across the nation.

So what can be learned from the COVID-19 epidemic? Widely available testing and tracing of those who may have been in contact with the infected were imperative to China’s success in responding to the epidemic. Another important factor to note, according to Gary Liu, the CEO of the South China Morning Post, is that government officials were sharing data. China may have withdrawn information on the virus as the first cases may trace back to November 17. They also punished the whistleblower doctor, Li Wenliang. But apart from prevention, we must also acknowledge the profound economic damage and lack of medical capacity to deal with such a full scale epidemic. According to Vox, “the 2,353-point drop of the Dow Jones on March 12, 2020, was the worst single-day drop in history— until March 16, when the Dow fell 2,997.10 points.” The United States economy lost 701,000 jobs in March. 6.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits in the last week of March in the US. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure stability in crises like this to help all citizens and plan ahead. We can’t just wait until everyone gets the disease and is out of a job before we do anything. This responsibility falls on the politicians and government officials. This is why we have a government.

CURRENT NEWS

By: Mariela Allen-Cadet

Political: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, sports gamblers have turned their bets to U.S politics because all sports events are cancelled and major leagues are on pause. The people who put money down on their favorite team are left without anything to fuel their ‘passion.’ So, as 2020 presidential voting gets more intense, they’ve seen a new opportunity. In a March 30th Politico article, “Frustrated Gamblers Turn to Politics as the Only Game in Town,” by Tony Rehagen, it quotes John Lester of BookMaker, a gambling website, who wrote in an email, “Our [sports betting] handle is down 80 percent for March 2020 vs. March 2019, however, our handle in political markets is up 200 percent for March 2020 (basically since sports stopped) vs. January and February combined.” That is a huge change, considering that political betting wasn’t a gambling hot-spot before the virus.

Sad News: Recent data has shown that women are hit harder than men by the measures instituted to protect against coronavirus. A Reuters article, “Coronavirus Measures Will Hit Women Harder Than Men, Charities Warn,” by Amber Milne from April 1 states that though the fatality rate from coronavirus among men is slightly higher than women, more women are dying of other causes. Since the beginning of the quarantine, domestic violence rates are going up. Milne writes, “Some countries have already seen a rise in domestic violence since quarantine measures were put in place to arrest the spread of the virus, and women’s charities have said they are bracing for more.” Another concern caused by the COVID-19 outbreak is a fear of teen pregnancies spiking like they did during the Ebola outbreak because of the absence of school and the freedom to do other activities. Many students may find themselves in quarantine with sexually abusive men in the house. Other girls may find that they don’t have the resources or access they need to deal with sexual assault, like going to a shelter or even being able to go to a Planned Parenthood.

COVID-19 and Our Environment

By: Prionti Talukdar & Semaj Daniels-Almond

All around the world, millions of people are suffering from the coronavirus. Many countries including China, Italy and America have felt the impact from this ‘pandemic.’ Schools, small business, theaters, restaurants are closed for an unknown amount of time. Although this is a horrible thing happening in our world, it's not all negative. There are some pros to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

A majority of the world is on lockdown because of this crisis, which is causing fewer people to use their cars or fly. Because of this lack of traffic, there is less air pollution and CO2 emissions. Across the world, countries are reporting that their air pollution is decreasing due to the COVID-19. As one article noted, “Levels of air pollutants and warming gases over some cities and regions are showing significant drops as coronavirus impacts work and travel.”

It is well known that some humans just don't care for the earth. They litter anywhere: in parks, while walking, even at the beach. When people go to the beach, they will most likely leave their trash anywhere or throw it in the ocean, which is very unhealthy for ocean life. Since the spread of the coronavirus forced everyone to remain inside, much less trash has been dumped in the ocean. Another article noted that an “unexpected effect on the environment from the coronavirus has been seen in Venice, Italy. With tourists numbers culled because of the virus, the waters in Venice's canals are cleaner than they have been in living memory." This is outstanding news knowing the canals are fresh and the fishes can swim in clear water.

MORE PROS TO THE CORONAVIRUS: HOW TO AVOID GETTING COVID-19:

1. More room on public transit 1. Wash your hands

2. Animals roaming freely 2. Keep distance

3. Brings awareness to hygiene 3. STAY HOME

4. Showing people that actions have consequences 4. Cover your coughs

5. Avoid contact with your face