What A Day - Full Contact Tracing

Episode Date: April 17, 2020

The Trump administration is now saying what everyone else knew all along: it’s up to the states to determine how and when they begin easing out of lockdowns. The CDC is going to hire hundreds of people to ramp up efforts at contact tracing. And the White House is hoping to get 5 million people tested for coronavirus by the end of the month. Around the world, fears around COVID-19 have exacerbated bigotry. We discuss how this is manifesting in China, where the government is suggesting that foreign visitors are the main risk to the health of Chinese citizens. And we're joined by comedian and writer Caroline Goldfarb for headlines: Fashion Nova’s bad text, Keystone XL pipeline hits a setback, and Cory Booker’s quarantine binge-watch.

It's Friday, April 17th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, reminding you that tomorrow is technically the start of the weekend. Ah, weekend. You know, I remember this concept. So long ago, though, it was like, it's almost like another lifetime. Yeah, I've put blackout shades in my house and I live in a timeless void. Aww. I've put blackout shades in my house and I live in a timeless void. Aw. On today's show, a check-in on the lockdown economy and then some headlines. But first, the latest. I'd like to dedicate this song to all of the healthcare workers who've been working tirelessly to keep us healthy and safe.

We greatly appreciate you. When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are. Wow. That was my queen, Beyonce, the flag on my Animal Crossing island, kicking off, you know, just a true Disney classic

for healthcare workers from an event that they did on ABC last night. But in news, the Trump administration, eager to restart an economy that's been put on pause by coronavirus, issued guidelines to states on Thursday for how to go about doing so. It was

a major about face from his total authority statement just a few days ago. So Gideon, what all do we know? Yeah, so the administration is basically saying what everyone else has known all along. It's going to be up to states to determine how and when they begin the process of easing out of their lockdowns. On a call with governors reported by the New York Times, the president said, quote, you're going to call your own shots. But he also said that if states were in a position to do so, they could open before May 1st. That's sort of reflecting his eagerness to get things open, even when it's not safe to do so. Here's what we know specifically about the guidelines

that they put out. There's no specific timeline attached, but the process is broken into phases. Before entering the first reopening phase, it says that states need to have a downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases for a 14-day period. Hospitals need to be able to treat patients without crisis care and have a testing program in place for their healthcare workers. All right. So if all of that's met, then what? Then you move into the phase portion of this. Phase one is where people would be encouraged to not socialize in groups bigger than 10. Remote work would still be encouraged and schools and bars would remain closed.

Interestingly, though, they're saying gyms, movie theaters and restaurants can open with strict distancing rules in practice. Then phase two, if states show no signs of rebound, would allow schools to reopen and advise against social gatherings of 50 with remote work still encouraged. Then finally, there's a phase three, which would allow for unrestricted staffing at work and the return of bars, but with more standing room. Well, I've always been a fan of bars with standing rooms, so I think it's a good idea. Well, it very much seems like things will be far from normal for a while, right? And it's certainly a lot more cautious than much of what Trump has been saying in recent days. But a lot of it depends on testing and hospitals not being overwhelmed

for states to even begin the process. So that's a major hurdle, to say the least. Yeah, that's exactly right. There's all this criteria to start modest reopenings like we're talking about, but how do any of these states even get there? On tracing, which is one element of it, when you keep track of anyone who was infected and people they may have been in contact with during that time, there's reporting that the CDC is going to hire hundreds of people to work on contact tracing to help this effort. But some health officials say that that is nowhere near enough.

To complement that, the CDC is discussing using 25,000 Census Bureau workers to do the tracing as well. More on the topic of tracing in just a second. But on testing, the White House was saying that they were hopeful to get to 5 million tested by the end of the month, which is still just a small percentage of the overall population in the country, to ramp up, it's going to take a lot of assistance. And there are shortages of swabs and chemicals used to process the tests, which means many places are still only testing people who, for instance, show symptoms, which doesn't capture the whole picture and the whole population that could be at risk. Antibody tests, which show whether somebody has ever had the virus, are still in development as well, but there are questions about how accurate they are at the moment. Anyways, while all of this is happening yesterday on the federal level, we saw the formation of

another coalition of states in the Midwest joining up to figure out how and when to safely reopen. That's Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Yeah, so Midwest plus Kentucky. We like to glom on when it's cool. All right. Well, states want the federal government to use its power to step in with money and coordination to get testing ramped up. That could be coordinating supply purchases, distribution, hiring tracing staff, etc. These are the things the states say they mostly can't handle by themselves. Though we are seeing at least one state with its own plan. So that's Massachusetts. What are they doing? Yeah, so they're the first state in the country to heavily invest in a program for this increased contact tracing.

They're talking about it being staffed with 1000 people and a budget of $44 million. And it's a tracing system that's different from what we've seen in other countries like South Korea that has relied on a form of digital surveillance. countries like South Korea that has relied on a form of digital surveillance. In South Korea, cell phones have been used to track proximity of people to other known infected people, a process that has raised privacy concerns naturally. But in Massachusetts, it's more of an old school method. They're essentially training staff to be kind of like private investigators in a way. The tracers in the state are basically calling newly diagnosed patients and their contacts for one-on-one interviews, essentially to go through the process of where have you been, who have you talked to,

all of those things. So that's a window into how time intensive and difficult the process can be to actually do it right. But in the meantime, the economy remains semi-closed, and we got a new measure on how that's actually impacting people. Akilah, catch us up on that. All right. So more bad news for America. We got the updated unemployment numbers yesterday, and an additional 5 million people filed for those benefits. That brings our total to 22 million people in just the last four weeks. That amounts to almost a decade of job gains put on hold or completely lost in just a month. And one of amounts to almost a decade of job gains put on hold or completely lost in just a month. And one of the big takeaways from the data is that we are seeing

job losses extending to every single sector. It's not just travel and entertainment and restaurants. It's everywhere. So, you know, this continues to be an unprecedented crisis. Yeah, it's pretty bleak. But we know that stimulus checks are rolling out, phasing in. On yesterday's show, we talked about who checks are rolling out, phasing in. On yesterday's show, we talked about who was supposed to be getting them and when. Any more word on how it's going so far? Yeah, it's not great. Here's the thing about being broke in America. It's really expensive. If for any reason your bank account is overdrawn, some banks are putting your stimulus payment towards your outstanding balance. So let's just consider that many Americans have been home and out of work for a month or more without receiving any

assistance. And, you know, unemployment checks can take up to six weeks on their own just to be deposited. That means on top of an overdraft fee for every transaction you may have made in the past month, there could also be a daily overdrawn account fee of five to ten dollars. In some cases, it's even more. So for the sake of argument, even if your account is just overdrawn and you haven't had to buy anything for a whole month, you could still be looking at something like $500 in bank fees. So that stimulus check is cut nearly in half. Yeah, it's completely immoral. And it's also just a policy flaw, too, because it defeats the purpose of what is called a stimulus check that's supposed to get people to spend to stimulate the economy, not the banks. Right. Yeah. I don't know why you would give your check directly to the bank, but

that's what they're expecting. But there is a little spot of hope. So all of this reporting that has put banks on blast for this has really encouraged a lot of them to stop the practice of taking that money. USAA said that they're going to give back the money that they took out of those accounts. And other big banks like Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citibank have all said that they're going to pause collection on negative balances for customers up to 30 days. So that's nice. And that'll make a difference for their customers. But there's also thousands of banks in this country. So hopefully more of them do the same. Yeah, it should be a lesson for times when we're not in a pandemic as well.

But that's not the only problem some are having in getting benefits from the CARES Act, yeah? Yeah. So the rollout of payments has had a bunch of snags. So, for example, millions of people who filed their taxes through preparation services like H&R Block or TurboTax didn't get their payments because the IRS didn't have their direct deposit information on file because of the way those companies act like a middleman. The IRS says it's working on it and that you can put your information on their get my payment tool. But lots of people are saying that tool isn't working either. And then just one more economic news item. So thousands of people have filed OSHA complaints against their companies over workplace safety concerns with the virus. The Washington Post got the documents from a Freedom of Information Act request,

and they found that basic measures like supplying personal protective equipment and enforcing social distancing, you know, they're just, that's most of the grievances is that people are being put in danger. Right. So that's an overview of the United States. Across the world, though, we're also seeing fears around the coronavirus exacerbating bigotry of all kinds. We've seen this in India, where Muslims have been increasingly targeted and victims of violence. But let's talk here for a second about how this is manifesting in China. All right. So, you know, we tend to think about bigotry and nationalism as a U.S. problem. But in China, xenophobia and racism has been highlighted by this crisis in a really big way. The Chinese government denounced, you know, all of those racist attacks against Asians overseas when the outbreak was centered in China.

But they're being really quiet right now, you know, now that people from other countries are being scapegoated as public health risks in their own country. Officials there continue to emphasize that most of China's new cases are now imported, but purposely breeze past the fact that many are just Chinese citizens returning home. And it's gotten so bad that other countries have started to denounce it. In one instance, that's not funny, but it's like kind of funny to me for reasons. So a McDonald's in China has apologized after a video went viral showing a laminated sign at the restaurant that said black people were barred from entering. The restaurant obviously has since been closed and employees have to undergo sensitivity training. But I think it's just kind of funny that as the world is reeling from an international health crisis,

some dumb people have time to not only write a racist message, but have it laminated. Lamination is not a quick art. It's just not. But also deriving power from banning someone from an individual McDonald's, a restaurant that exists literally everywhere, is just a level of pathetic I just personally can't relate to. So there's a lot more to cover. We're going to keep you all posted, but that's the latest. Friday! WOD Squad! Oh my god. We made it to Friday. Can you believe it? I can. I am so tired.

I have big plans to stay home for the foreseeable future. So do you. So let's check in. Giddy, I like doing media recs for people on Fridays. Anything you think people should watch? Okay, I promised this because it is very good and relates to Kentucky. There's a documentary called Harlan County, USA. Oh, man.

It is on Criterion. If people are like, documentary, not really feeling it, quick summary. There is a massive coal miner union strike, or there's a massive coal miner strike as they're fighting for a contract in their union in the 70s in Kentucky. And it's basically the story of all these people in this town and this whole county facing, at certain times times bullets from people trying to stop them from forming this union and the process that they go through for doing it. And it's really like uplifting and scary and intense, but it's really cool. That sounds awesome. And I'm going to dumb down that recommendation with a question.

Did they have really great accents as well? Yes, incredible accents. I think somebody also may have mentioned that it might be on YouTube. I want to double check that before I promise it, but yeah, just track it down. Very cool, very crazy movie. But what do you recommend?

All right, so not going to be a documentary. It's going to be my next video for Comedy Central. So last week we had a video come out. It was an updated patty cake routine with my friend Milana Vayntrub. This week we have another episode going on Comedy Central's social media channels at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. I think you are going to like it. If I had to allude to it, I'd say this one is very relatable. It is about the moment when you realize you both hate the same person. That's all I will say. But yeah, that's pretty much what I think people should watch. And, you know, television overall. This is a good twofer. I think we have like a yin yang thing going on. You can have a good high low, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's

always, it's good to balance out. There you go. Boom, another week. Perfect temperatures. Check in on your weird extended family that you don't really like, but you do sometimes find entertaining. And we're going to catch up again on the other side of the weekend. Let's wrap up with some headlines headlines

so we have a very special guest today caroline goldfarb she's a comedian she's a tv writer she runs the viral instagram account official sean pin how? Hey guys, what's up? What's good? You know, just living in a pandemic. I feel that. I feel that. Well, I'm happy to be here. I love the pod and I love you guys. I love you more. So let's just jump into some headlines then, shall we? Let's do it. Here we go. A federal judge in Montana has revoked a key permit needed to complete the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. A coalition of environmental groups sued the engineers behind the pipeline, arguing that they didn't consider the effects of construction on endangered species. Hmm. With some key construction activities suspended, there are expected to be major delays to the project. The case doesn't completely shut down work on the pipeline,

but the company behind the pipeline still faces other legal battles brought on by tribal communities seeking to stop construction in light of the pandemic. Usually I like stories about laying pipe, but that one's... Same. I don't like that one. That was sad. All right, well, online retailer Fashion Nova is facing criticism for a promo they ran after the U.S. government started sending out stimulus checks for coronavirus relief.

Yeah. Fashion Nova shoppers or Nova Scotias, as I like to call them. Just a little thing that I say that pretty much no one else says. All the time. Oh, yeah. Well, so the shoppers got a text that said, and I quote, when that stimulus deposit hits, star eyes emoji, money bag emoji, save up to 80% site-wide. And let me just be the first to say, thank you, Fashion Nova,

because there is nothing we need in the middle of a historic recession more than frontless thongs and holographic nipple covers. True. Am I right? Ladies, Gideon, come on. Yeah. Gideon, show me nipple covers. Am I right? Ladies, Gideon, come on. Gideon, show me nipple covers. I've been saying it. They're already out.

I know the listeners can't hear, but Gideon is flinging around a really cute nipple tassel right now that he bought on Fashion Nova for 80% off with a stimulus check. As I do for every recording. Gideon, we love that about you. And you know, Fashion Nova hasn't yet commented on the blowback, but they are working with Cardi B on a $1 million fund that gives people who are in

need of financial support $1,000 each. Odds are those people will spend at least a portion of that money on something called backless glitter chaps. I need those. Absolutely. That's like Zoom. That's my Zoom outfit all the time. Mercury, the fun goopy metal that was like a video game for kids in the 1960s, scored a major win yesterday. That's because Trump's EPA rolled back an Obama-era regulation, which could allow coal-fired power plants that release mercury and other pollutants to significantly relax their standards. In essence, the EPA makes decisions about regulating polluters based on cost-benefit analyses, and they change the way they make their calculations so regulations look more costly and less beneficial. They cook the books, and in this case, the books are our fragile planet. What's really crazy is that some coal plants didn't even want this rule because they already spent millions getting up to code and now they can squirt wet chrome into the sky with no repercussions they

feel like they wasted their money i mean it makes sense mercury pollution causes brain damage in children trump is following through on his promise to keep the brain damage industry alive oh well make america brain damaged again there it is oh wait. After being inexplicably missing for over a month, the president of Nicaragua reappeared on national television yesterday. It is a coronavirus miracle. He's like the Great Pumpkin. President Daniel Ortega delivered a speech in front of cameras echoing his administration's refusal to follow public health recommendations. He made no mention of where he's been for the past 33 days. He didn't even acknowledge that he completely disappeared from the public eye in the midst of a global pandemic.

Ortega did make sure to call the pandemic a, quote, sign from God and claim that there was only one death in the country related to COVID-19. Incredulous. Experts suspect there to be many undetected cases. Nicaragua is one of the few remaining countries to not have social distancing measures. So he's kind of like the Nicaraguan Richard Simmons

when he came back. Yes. Yes, where has he been? I'm sorry, is anyone else still thinking about when Gideon said squirt wet chrome? I'm like, I haven't heard anything since then. It's playing on a loop. The listener stopped listening, so you can talk about it.

The good thing is that we know who to blame for such disturbing phrases. It's head writer John Milstein. It is. And he needs to be punished. All right. We got to get through these headlines. We got to squirt some more chrome here. OK, so Senator Cory Booker is using his time in lockdown the same way that many of us are.

And that's by marathoning the 2014 to 2019 era family comedy Jane the Virgin, which aired on the CW for those that don't know. Yeah. So Booker's girlfriend, Rosario Dawson, she is in the last two seasons of the show. And she told Entertainment Tonight that since Cory has nothing but time and obviously a deep respect for Gina Rodriguez on his hands, he's now caught up on every episode. So give it up for Cory Booker, you guys. He caught up on Jane the Virgin. Okay. Sounded a little unpassionate there.

And this isn't the first time that Cory's been outed as a Janey act, by the way. Here's him discussing the show with a reporter at a Democratic debate last year. And it was a really value-based show, something that your whole family could watch that really affirms the best of who we are. And at a time that we're seeing moral vandalism from the highest office in the land,

it's nice to watch a show that's unifying in our country. Is Jane the Virgin really unifying our country? Where have I been? Yeah, I know. I guess we all need to watch it and then maybe it'll work. It's like Cory Booker lives in an alternate universe where it's not like The Sopranos or The Wire at the top of everyone's must-watch TV. He's like, Jane the Virgin is the show we all have to be watching right now.

Yes. And, you know, that is the kind of passion we needed from Corey on the debate stage, you know? If he had been up there promising Jane the Virgin for all, Universal Netflix, Gina Rodriguez in every pot, you know, stuff like that,

I think we'd be looking at a pretty different election right now. Also, Senator Booker, if you're listening, and I think you are, if you like Jane the Virgin, I would highly recommend checking out some other CW shows like Stargirl or iZombie. Just, you know, switch it up. Check them out.

Something in that vein for sure. Well, thank you so much for coming on our show, Caroline. Do you have anything you'd like to plug? Where can our listeners find you? You can find me on the internet, of course. And keep an eye out for my upcoming seven-part investigative podcast

about Jeremy Renner's app. This is not a joke. It's coming to Comedy Central sometime during the quarantine. I'm literally doing a serious, serial-esque podcast on Jeremy Renner and his app. I loved the Renner app. Holy shit.

I loved it so much that I'm dedicating my entire quarantine to it. So get at me. This is God's work. Bless you. Thanks for having me, guys. You're the best. Thank you so much for coming on. And those are the headlines.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. We review, buy us something from Fashion Nova and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just things written on your T-shirt that show up backwards in the mirror like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick.

And enjoy your weekend, you Janeyaks. Jane the Virginiacs. That's going to stick, I think. Sonia Tunn is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.