LOCA^OP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, April 24, 2020 3A
Jobless rate rising to Depression levels
House passes nearly S500B spending package in response to economic crisis
MATT ROURKE I Associated Press
A person wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks past a shuttered
business in Philadelphia, Thursday, April 23.
BY DAVID CRARY,
REGINA GARCIA CANO
AND ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Unemployment
in the U.S. is swelling to levels last
seen during the Great Depression
of the 1930s, with 1 in 6 American
workers thrown out of a job by the
coronavirus, according to new data
released Thursday. In response to
the deepening economic crisis, the
House passed a nearly $500 billion
spending package to help buckled
businesses and hospitals.
More than 4.4 million laid-off
Americans applied for unemploy
ment benefits last week, the gov
ernment reported. In all, roughly 26
million people — the population of
the 10 biggest U.S. cities combined
— have now filed for jobless aid in
five weeks, an epic collapse that
has raised the stakes in the debate
over how and when to ease the
shutdowns of factories and other
businesses.
In the hardest-hit corner of the
U.S., evidence emerged that per
haps 2.7 million New York state
residents have been infected by the
virus — 10 times the number con
firmed by lab tests.
A small, preliminary statewide
survey of around 3,000 people
found that nearly 14% had antibod
ies showing they had been infected,
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Just in
New York City, with a population of
8.6 million, Health Commissioner
Oxiris Barbot said as many as 1 mil
lion may have been infected.
In Washington, many House
lawmakers wore face masks and
bandannas — and some sat in the
otherwise vacant visitors gallery
to stay away from others — as they
debated the latest spending pack
age. A near-unanimous vote sent it
to President Donald Trump in the
evening.
Anchoring the bill is the admin
istration’s $250 billion request to
replenish a fund to help small-
and medium-size businesses with
payroll, rent and other expenses.
Trump said the bill “will help small
businesses to keep millions of work
ers on the payroll.”
Abroad, there was mixed news
about the epidemic. Some coun
tries, including Greece, Bangladesh
and Malaysia, announced exten
sions of their lockdowns. Vietnam,
New Zealand and Croatia were
among those moving to end or ease
such measures.
In Africa, COVID-19 cases surged
43% in the past week to 26,000,
according to John Nkengasong,
director of the Africa Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The figures underscored a recent
warning from the World Health
Organization that the virus could
kill more than 300,000 people in
Africa and push 30 million into des
perate poverty.
Brazil’s health ministry con
firmed 407 deaths due to the out
break in the last 24 hours, a daily
high for the country.
Huge lines have formed at food
banks from El Paso, Texas, to the
Paris suburbs, and food shortages
are hitting Africa especially hard.
At a virtual summit, European
Union leaders agreed to set up
a massive recovery fund to help
rebuild the 27-nation bloc’s ravaged
economies. While no figure was put
on the plan, officials said 1-1.5 tril
lion euros ($1.1-1.6 trillion) would
be needed.
The coronavirus has killed
nearly 190,000 people worldwide,
including more than 100,000 in
Europe and about 47,000 in the
United States, according to a tally
compiled by John Hopkins Univer
sity from official government fig
ures. The true numbers are almost
certainly far higher.
In the U.S., the economic con
sequences of the shutdowns have
sparked angry rallies in state capi
tals by protesters demanding that
businesses reopen, and Trump has
expressed impatience over the
restrictions.
Some governors have begun
easing up despite warnings from
health authorities that it may be
too soon to do so without sparking a
second wave of infections. In Geor
gia, gyms, hair salons and bowling
alleys can reopen Friday. Texas has
reopened its state parks.
Few Americans count on Trump
as a reliable source of information
on the outbreak, according to a
survey from The Associated Press-
NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research. About 23% said they
have high levels of trust in what he
tells the public, while 21 % said they
trust him a moderate amount.
On the economic front, few
experts foresee a downturn as
severe as the Depression, when
unemployment remained above
14% from 1931 to 1940, peaking
at 25%. But unemployment is con
sidered likely to remain elevated
well into next year and probably
beyond, and will surely top the 10%
peak of the 2008-09 recession.
Janet Simon, laid off as a waitress
at an IHOP restaurant in Miami,
said she has just $200 in her name
and is getting panic attacks because
of uncertainty over how she will
care for her three children. Simon,
33, filed for unemployment a month
ago, and her application is still
listed as “pending.”
“I’m doing everything to keep my
family safe, my children safe, but
everything else around me is falling
apart,” Simon said. “But they see it,
no matter how much I try to hide
my despair.”
Corey Williams, 31, was laid off
from his warehouse job in Michigan
a month ago and saw his rent, insur
ance and other bills pile up while
he anxiously awaited his unem
ployment benefits. That finally
happened on Wednesday, and he
quickly paid $1,700 in bills.
“It was getting pretty tight, pretty
tight,” he said. “It was definitely
stressful for the last few days.”
While the health crisis has eased
in places like Italy, Spain and
France, experts say it is far from
over, and the threat of new out
breaks looms large.
“The question is not whether
there will be a second wave,” said
Dr. Hans Kluge, the head of the
WHO’s Europe office. “The ques
tion is whether we will take into
account the biggest lessons so far.”
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel criticized some German
states for moving too briskly in
trying to reopen their economies.
Germany has been praised for its
approach to the pandemic and has a
much lower reported death toll than
other large European countries.
“We’re not living in the final
phase of the pandemic, but still at
the beginning,” Merkel warned.
“It would be a shame if premature
hope ultimately punishes us all.”
Governments are bearing that
risk in mind with the onset of Rama
dan, the holy month of daytime
fasting, overnight festivities and
communal prayer that begins for
the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims with
this week’s new moon. Many Mus
lim leaders have closed mosques or
banned collective evening prayer to
ward off infections.
The virus has already disrupted
Christianity’s Holy Week, Passover,
the Muslim hajj pilgrimage and
other major religious events.
Authorities in the capital of
Indonesia, the most populous
Muslim-majority nation, extended
restrictions to cover all of Rama
dan. Turkey banned communal
eating during the holiday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran
Khan bowed to the country’s cler
ics, refusing to close mosques
despite doctors’ warnings that such
gatherings could further spread
the virus in a country with a fragile
health care system.
Trump’s criticism adds to tough choices in Ga.’s reopening
CURTIS COMPTON I Associated Press
Chairs are stacked on top of tables, seen through the front windows of
Minori’s Italian Ristorante Wednesday, April 22, in Forsyth, Ga.
BY JEFF AMY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — President Donald
Trump’s blunt disapproval of Geor
gia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to
let certain businesses reopen in
limited ways is only complicat
ing the decisions of many owners,
workers and customers amid the
coronavirus pandemic.
Hair stylist Shannon Stafford
said Thursday that she was having
second thoughts about reopening
her Savannah salon Friday as she
weighed the clashing messages
from the president and fellow
Republican Kemp.
“Do you want us to remain
closed? Do you want us to reopen?”
Stafford said Thursday. “Every
thing, just the back and forth, it
does have me a little uncertain
whether to proceed.”
Stafford said she planned to
open her doors to allow her stylists
to return to work if they choose.
She also planned to keep appoint
ments with three clients who had
already booked.
“Whether I decide to move for
ward with taking some clients, I’m
not certain,” she said.
With Georgia’s reported coro
navirus cases rising near 22,000
and deaths hitting 881 on Thurs
day according to the state Depart
ment of Public Health, reopening
was already mired in unattractive
choices. Businesses that have had
breaks on rent and loan repayment
might find creditors less forgiving
if they reopen. Employees might
have to report to work or risk los
ing unemployment benefits. And
customers must decide how much
they want to risk for that haircut
PLAN
■ Continued from 1A
substitutes who have been
out of work since schools
switched to online learning.
“We’ve used some long
term substitutes for teachers
who might be out on medical
leave or something like that,
but the day-to-day subs, we
haven’t had to use them at all
actually since we have closed
schools for face-to-face and
gone to strictly teleworking.”
All jobs given to GCSS fac
ulty and students would be
non-clinical positions.
One of the greatest areas
or workout.
Experts say increasing testing
for infections and tracking down
those who have been in contact
with infected people are key to
preventing a increase in cases
as activity expands. Georgia has
ranked in the bottom 10 states for
testing per capita, but the state
reported nearly 7,000 tests from
Wednesday to Thursday, the most
so far in a day.
Kemp is allowing elective medi
cal procedures to resume Friday
and the close-contact businesses he
had ordered closed may reopen,
including barber shops, nail salons,
gyms, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys
and massage therapists. On Mon
day, limited in-restaurant dining
may resume and movie theaters
may reopen. All the businesses are
subject to restrictions including
separating workers and enhanced
sanitation.
Kemp has defended the move
as measured, but he’s been widely
criticized, with Trump saying
Wednesday that he told Kemp by
phone that “I totally disagree” with
the decision.
The move is driven in part by
economic concerns. Georgia pro
cessed another 244,000 unemploy
ment claims last week. In the five
weeks since the crisis began, 1.1
million Georgians have filed for
unemployment — more than one-
fifth of the state’s workforce.
Joining those hesitant to reopen
to the public, Georgia’s Roman
Catholic bishops released a letter
Thursday saying more than 200
churches statewide will remain
closed through May.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a fellow
Republican, piled onto Kemp on
Thursday morning, issuing a state
ment and appearing on Fox News
to support Trump and criticize the
governor.
“Leadership is about making
decisions and communicating
them effectively and I think the
governor has caused a lot of confu
sion by picking seemingly random
businesses to open but leaving the
stay at home order in place,” Col
lins said in a statement.
For Collins, the criticism is
personal: Kemp appointed Kelly
Loeffler to the U.S. Senate to
replace Johnny Isakson instead
of him. Now Loeffler and Collins
are among 20 candidates jousting
in an all-party November elec
tion for the remaining two years
of the term. Loeffler appeared
with Kemp on a conference call
Wednesday — minutes before
Trump attacked him — support
ing the governor’s plan. Thursday
found Loeffler riding the fence,
saying she wasn’t “going to play
politics.”
“Both President Trump and
Governor Kemp are showing
strong leadership during these
unprecedented times — and I’m
honored to be working with them
to reopen our economy based on a
measured, data-driven approach,”
Loeffler said in a statement.
Business owners are trying to
sort through the competing imper
atives. Jack Ryan is vice president
of Peak Fitness Solutions, which
owns eight fitness clubs in North
Carolina and Georgia.
“Our guiding principle has to be
taking great care of our staff and
our members and keeping them
safe,” Ryan said. That doesn’t
include opening Friday because “I
think that would be irresponsible,”
he said.
Ryan said officials haven’t pro
vided adequate information on
what precautions gyms should
take. The business is also trying
to obtain disinfecting supplies,
already running low before it
closed in March, plus masks and
gloves for staff.
The governor’s order has put
additional pressure on businesses,
Ryan said. Now there’s fear they
may lose customers to competitors
that do open Friday, he said.
With soaring joblessness, Geor
gia officials loosened rules on
unemployment benefits. Labor
Commissioner Mark Butler said
workers can now earn up to $300
a week without losing any jobless
benefits, up from $55 previously.
Butler emphasized workers who
are called back to work but don’t
want to return may still be able to
receive jobless benefits.
of need would be hospital
entrance screeners responsi
ble for screening all patients
and visitors entering NGHS
facilities. Collins said she’s
been attempting to reach
bilingual potential appli
cants who could effectively
communicate with both
English-speaking and Span
ish-speaking patients.
NGHS would also poten
tially take on what Marinelli
referred to as “material han
dlers,” who would transport
packages or other supplies
where it needs to go.
All temporary workers
would be fitted with requisite
personal protective equip
ment, according to Marinelli.
NGHS has already been
contacted by around 30 inter
ested GCSS staff members
and students, and about 15
of those have already started
orientation to be ready if
needed.
Marinelli said the contin
gency plan is just the latest in
a series of community initia
tives to support NGHS that
have been integral in keeping
operations running smoothly
throughout the events of the
past few weeks.
“I think it’s very important,
and it has to be a two-way
street,” he said. “We exist for
the community. We need to
give back just as much as or
more than what our commu
nity is giving us. And we very
much see it that way. ”
LABOR
■ Continued from 1A
“Even if we added 10,000 people today
that were trained to answer the phone,
we would still not be able to keep up with
the volume we’re having right now,” But
ler told reporters in a briefing Thursday
afternoon. “When you’re talking about
this many claims, it is not unreasonable to
think that there’s 200,000 trying to call us
at any given moment of any given day.”
The current jobless rate for Georgia is
4.2 percent and the national rate is 4.4%,
according to the labor department’s
website.
So, Hall County is faring much better,
on average, than the rest of the state.
“Having a diversified business commu
nity helps buffer our local economy from
the worst part of an economic downturn,”
said Tim Evans, the Greater Hall Cham
ber of Commerce’s vice president of eco
nomic development.
Gainesville-Hall County has a broad
base of manufacturing, professional ser
vices and health care services.
“Some businesses will be more able to
adapt and weather this economy more
than others,” Evans said.
Also, Gainesville-Hall “is fortunate to
have a large number of essential busi
nesses in manufacturing, food process
ing, logistics and some consumer retail
and professional services.”
Still, “there are business sectors that
will feel the brunt of the pandemic,
including hospitality, personal services,
dine-in restaurants and destination retail
centers like shopping and outlet malls,”
Evans said.
Go to www.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesvilletimes/ to view today’s obituaries.
