COVID-19: Need-to-Know News from
the USA
Gen Z was fed up with the status quo. Coronavirus could affirm their beliefs.
Why Share It: This article documents America’s changing political landscape. Generation Z — which includes those born from 1997 to 2012, according to the Pew Research Center — grew up amid soaring inequality, is politically liberal, increasingly activist and fed up with the status quo. Now, the coronavirus crisis may solidify their political identity, experts say. Some Gen Zers see grim validation of their support for government-run programs and social-welfare policies that were less popular with their parents and grandparents. Seventy percent of them believe that the government should be doing more to solve problems, compared with 53 percent of Gen Xers and 49 percent of Baby Boomers, according to Pew.
Virus Throws Millions More Out of Work, and Washington Struggles to Keep Pace
The New York Times
Why Share It: Federal lawmakers had hoped that the relief packages would encourage employers to keep employees on the payroll. Now, economists are increasingly agreeing that the U.S. government’s efforts to help the economy were too small and came too late to prevent businesses from abandoning their workers.
In the absence of a national testing strategy, states go their own way
The Washington Post
Why Share It: With public health experts in wide agreement that testing is a prerequisite for the U.S. economy and society to reopen, this Washington Post report about how the federal government has no nationwide strategy is extremely alarming — especially since states are filling the void and their tests vary greatly, with resource-rich states having more comprehensive plans, while poorer ones lag far behind.
