From DC to the nation’s heartland, officials are weighing economic and public health concerns against one another.
As states ponder the financial benefits and the public health risks of reopening workplaces, the White House itself has become something of a COVID-19 hot spot.
In addition to the President’s valet and the Vice President’s press secretary testing positive for COVID-19 last week, a number of administration officials have self-quarantined, including:
Vice President Mike Pence, who, of course, was in contact with his press secretary that tested positive, reportedly stayed away from the White House this past weekend, but is not self-quarantining himself, and will show up for work this week. However, he is “laying low,” according to one source.
On the legislative side, “bit” and “Rooseveltian” are the words Democrats have been using when talking about the next stimulus package – priced at $3 trillion – which they introduced on Tuesday and are expected to vote on Friday. The package is to provide Americans with vast and wide-ranging economic relief from the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, there was a story from a Montana tiki bar last week that reflects a trend at the national level, with regard to confusing government reopening guidelines. The bar owners were given contradictory instructions from the governor’s office and the county health department when they asked: could mermaids swim in the aquarium that patrons watch from their bar stools, or are schools of swimming mermaids going against social distancing? The governor said yes, health department said no.
Meanwhile, at the national level, the CDC released a draft of guidelines for reopening different types of workplaces on Tuesday of last week. On Thursday, the White House pulled that guidance back and said that it was too strict – and, maybe a little late in the game – so it would never see the light of day. Similarly, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission put out guidance on Wednesday for employers returning to the workplace, and pulled back on it by Thursday.
The state and local government finally agreed that the mermaids of Montana do get to swim – though they have to do it one at a time – but we are still waiting for consistent guidelines from the federal government on how they want to see workplaces reopen in the context of this pandemic.
Programming Note: Matthew Albright is a permanent panelist on Monitor Mondays. Listen to his live reporting every Monday, 10-10:30 a.m. EST
EDITOR’S NOTE Day 3 of the federal shutdown continues. This article by Mark Spivey is part of a special section today published by RACmonitor and
As expected, the federal shutdown began early Wednesday morning. What’s unknown is how long it will continue. Neither congressional Republicans nor Democrats appear to be
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