NY police union warns city will 'fall apart' if enforcement of social distancing does not end The union representing New York City’s police officers warned that the city will “fall apart” if the police force is used to enforce social distancing measures. “This situation is untenable: the NYPD needs to get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether,” Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said in a statement, referring to the New York Police Department. The NYPD’s involvement in enforcing the city’s social distancing orders is facing scrutiny after video surfaced of an officer hitting a man in Manhattan while trying to separate people. Three men in total were arrested in the incident, and an officer is on modified duty, pending an internal review. Lynch accused the city’s leadership of providing the police force only “vague” guidelines on how to enforce the measures and said criticism of the NYPD’s involvement in making sure people separate from one another was inevitable. "The cowards who run this city have given us nothing but vague guidelines and mixed messages, leaving the cops on the street corners to fend for ourselves," he said. "Nobody has a right to interfere with a police action, but now that the inevitable backlash has arrived, they are once again throwing us under the bus." "As the weather heats up and the pandemic continues to unravel our social fabric, police officers should be allowed to focus on our core public safety mission," he continued. "If we don’t, the city will fall apart before our eyes.” The city dispatched 1,000 police officers Saturday to ensure people follow social distancing orders as the weather heats up. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) called the weekend incident in Manhattan “unacceptable” but insisted that the boosted police presence would ultimately help the city. “Just the appearance of the NYPD causes people to correct their behavior,” de Blasio said during a press conference on Monday.
Fed’s Bullard Urges U.S. Reopening to Avoid Risk of Depression Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said policy makers need to mitigate the ongoing risks from the coronavirus in the second half of the year and gradually reopen the U.S. economy to avoid deeper harm. “The shutdown can’t go on forever because if it does, deep into the second half, then I think you risk getting into a financial crisis or even a depression scenario,” Bullard told CNBC television in an interview on Wednesday. “And if you get into that I think even health outcomes would be way worse.” The U.S. central bank last week left interest rates unchanged just above zero and has continued to expand its already-historic response to the crisis by broadening some of the nine emergency lending programs the Fed has unveiled since March to keep credit flowing as Americans hunker down to limit contagion. The St. Louis Fed president said he wasn’t surprised by Wednesday’s ADP Research Institute report that U.S. companies cut payrolls by more than 20 million jobs in April, which he characterized as stemming from a partial shutdown of the economy as a way to ensure public health. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect U.S. government data due on Friday to show the unemployment rate surged last month to 16% from 4.4% in March. Worst Ever “The jobs report will be one of the worst ever,” said Bullard, who is not a voter this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. The St. Louis Fed president predicted the unemployment rate will be “extremely high,” possibly climbing to 20% or above during the shutdown. “I think it can come down under double digits by the end of the year,” he said. Policy makers need to mitigate the risks of the virus just as they live with other risks, Bullard said, even if scientists are unable to create a vaccine anytime soon. Gradually reopening the economy can be done “in a healthy way so we can keep the disease under control,” Bullard said. “Our main goals here, and I think we are succeeding so far anyway, stay out of financial crisis, and stay out of depression while you are trying to deal with this pandemic.” Bullard said Fed programs intending to ensure liquidity have been successful “but we could do more if necessary.” The Fed’s policy rate is near zero and expected to stay there for an extended period, but the economy is not particularly sensitive to rates during a partial shutdown, he said. “So far so good,” he said. “I think our liquidity measures are looking good.”
MS is calling a V shape due to unprecedented response from the Fed and government. They think 8 quarters to return to growth levels pre-covid, but the first 4 will be sharper than the last 4.
http://www.stationgossip.com/ Thousands of homeless people are ejected from New York subway as it closes for the first time in 115 years so workers can perform a deep clean after vagrants flooded network during lockdown(21 Pics) http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/05/thousands-of-homeless-people-are.html
So basically the Trump administration has no guidance or plan to the states on re-opening the economy. The message is "You are on your own". US shelves detailed guide to reopening country https://apnews.com/7a00d5fba3249e573d2ead4bd323a4d4 The Trump administration has shelved a document created by the nation’s top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging coronavirus outbreak. The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen. It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance “would never see the light of day,” according to a CDC official. The official was not authorized to talk to reporters and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The AP obtained a copy from a second federal official who was not authorized to release it. The guidance was described in AP stories last week, prior to the White House decision to shelve it. The Trump administration has been closely controlling the release of guidance and information during the pandemic spurred by a new coronavirus that scientists are still trying to understand, with the president himself leading freewheeling daily briefings until last week. Traditionally, it’s been the CDC’s role to give the public and local officials guidance and science-based information during public health crises. During this one, however, the CDC has not had a regular, pandemic-related news briefing in nearly two months. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has been a member of the White House coronavirus task force, but largely absent from public appearances. The dearth of real-time, public information from the nation’s experts has struck many current and former government health officials as dangerous. “CDC has always been the public health agency Americans turn to in a time of crisis,” said Dr. Howard Koh, a Harvard professor and former health official in the Obama administration during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009. “The standard in a crisis is to turn to them for the latest data and latest guidance and the latest press briefing. That has not occurred, and everyone sees that.” The Trump administration has instead sought to put the onus on states to handle COVID-19 response. This approach to managing the pandemic has been reflected in President Donald Trump’s public statements, from the assertion that he isn’t responsible for the country’s lackluster early testing efforts, to his description last week of the federal government’s role as a “supplier of last resort” for states in need of testing aid. A person close to the White House’s coronavirus task force said the CDC documents were never cleared by CDC leadership for public release. The person said that White House officials have refrained from offering detailed guidance for how specific sectors should reopen because the virus is affecting various parts of the country differently. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The rejected reopening guidance was described by one of the federal officials as a touchstone document that was to be used as a blueprint for other groups inside the CDC who are creating the same type of instructional materials for other facilities. The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, day care centers and other institutions. It had been widely shared within the CDC and included detailed “decision trees,” flow charts to be used by local officials to think through different scenarios. One page of the document can be found on the CDC website via search engines, but it did not appear to be linked to any other CDC pages. Some of the report’s suggestions already appear on federal websites. But the guidance offered specific, tailored recommendations for reopening in one place. For example, the report suggested restaurants and bars should install sneeze guards at cash registers and avoid having buffets, salad bars and drink stations. Similar tips appear on the CDC’s site and a Food and Drug Administration page. But the shelved report also said that as restaurants start seating diners again, they should space tables at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart and try to use phone app technology to alert a patron when their table is ready to avoid touching and use of buzzers. That’s not on the CDC’s site now. “You can say that restaurants can open and you need to follow social distancing guidelines. But restaurants want to know, ‘What does that look like?’ States would like more guidance,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The White House’s own “Opening Up America Again” guidelines released last month were more vague than the CDC’s unpublished report. They instructed state and local governments to reopen in accordance with federal and local “regulations and guidance” and to monitor employees for symptoms of COVID-19. The White House guidance also included advice developed earlier in the pandemic that remains important like social distancing and encouraging working from home. At a briefing Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany echoed the administration’s stance that state’s are most responsible for their own COVID-19 response: “We’ve consulted individually with states, but as I said, it’s (a) governor-led effort. It’s a state-led effort on ... which the federal government will consult. And we do so each and every day.” The CDC is hearing daily from state and county health departments looking for scientifically valid information with which to make informed decisions. Still, behind the scenes, CDC scientists like those who produced the guidance for “Opening Up America Again″ are working to get information to local governments. The agency still employs hundreds of the world’s most respected epidemiologists and doctors, who in times of crisis are looked to for their expertise, said former CDC director Tom Frieden. People have clicked on the CDC’s coronavirus website more than 1.2 billion times. States that directly reach out to the CDC can tap guidance that’s been prepared but that the White House has not released. “I don’t think that any state feels that the CDC is deficient. It’s just the process of getting stuff out,” Plescia said.
It should be noted that this study assumed that COVID-19 restrictions were not being loosened and that there was no improvement in the economic conditions for these businesses. 52% of American small businesses expect to close within six months because of coronavirus: Study https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...ithin-six-months-because-of-coronavirus-study Government responses to the coronavirus pandemic could cost the United States the majority of its small businesses. A new survey from the Society For Human Resource Management found that 52% of American small businesses expect to be out of business within six months, according to Bloomberg News. The survey of 375 firms was conducted between April 15-21 and doesn’t factor in improved business conditions that were announced since then. “SHRM has tracked Covid-19’s impact on work, workers, and the workplace for months,” SHRM Chief Executive Officer Johnny Taylor Jr. said. “But these might be the most alarming findings to date. Small business is truly the backbone of our economy. So, when half say they’re worried about being wiped out, let’s remember: We’re talking about roughly 14 million businesses.” The survey also found that over a third of small firms anticipate they can keep going after six months, while 14% aren't sure. Thirty million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus hit the U.S., and a recent study showed that roughly 30% of American small businesses were forced to close temporarily in the last couple of weeks. The dire numbers come as people across the United States in places such as Michigan and California are taking to the streets to protest government lockdown measures and make the case to local officials that it’s time to reopen. A study released this week suggested that anxiety and stress over lockdown measures, including job losses and business closings, will destroy 7 times more years of life than the current lockdowns will save.
We will not know or truly feel the full extent of this lockdown for several months, probably well into next year. Safe to say we'll be dealing with the economic mess long after Covid has come and gone. Was it all worth it will be argued for years and that too will be very subjective like the risk of the virus itself. If you lost everything then the answer will be no, the lockdown was too severe. If it was a mild nuisance and you live in an area where Covid took a toll then you're likely to say yes, we had to do it.