TOP STORIES

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Thursday, May 7

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FEARS OF 'BACKSLIDE' AS LOCKDOWNS LOOSEN As Europe and the U.S. loosen their lockdowns against the coronavirus, health experts are expressing growing dread over what they say is an all-but-certain second wave of deaths and infections. “We’re risking a backslide that will be intolerable,” said Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University. German authorities began drawing up plans in case of a resurgence of the virus. Experts in Italy urged intensified efforts to identify new victims and trace their contacts. And France, which hasn’t yet eased its lockdown, has worked up a “reconfinement plan” in the event of a new wave. [AP]

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TRUMP REBUKES NURSE ON NATIONAL NURSES DAY President Donald Trump is getting called out on social media for his treatment of a nurse during a National Nurses Day event in the Oval Office. “PPE has been sporadic,” Sophia L. Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, said. Thomas, who has been reusing her own N95 mask for weeks, said nurses adapt to what she said was a “manageable” situation. But Trump zeroed in on her first line. “Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people,” he said. [HuffPost]

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WHO WARNS OF MORE OUTBREAKS IF LOCKDOWNS EASE TOO QUICKLY The World Health Organization warned that countries emerging from coronavirus restrictions must proceed “extremely carefully” or risk a rapid rise in new cases. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries needed to ensure they had adequate measures to control the spread of COVID-19 like tracking systems and a quarantine provision. “The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach,” he said. [Reuters]

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Get the latest coronavirus updates on our dedicated page

RENT THE RUNWAY IS RISKING WORKERS' LIVES Martina stood outside the Rent the Runway warehouse where she works in Secaucus, New Jersey, in mid-April and took a deep breath. She was dreading going inside — there were rumors that several of her co-workers had fallen ill from the coronavirus as it ravaged the tri-state area. But she needed the money, and management had given warehouse workers two options: Work without hazard pay, or stay home and don’t get paid at all. Rent the Runway is using a lockdown loophole to keep distributing shipments of high-end fashion apparel to be rented and worn in isolation -- frequently by people posing for mirror selfies. [HuffPost]

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RUTH BADER GINSBURG RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released from the hospital Wednesday, a day after receiving a nonsurgical gallbladder treatment. Ginsburg, 87, is “doing well and glad to be home,” a statement from the Supreme Court said. She will return to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in the coming weeks for follow-up outpatient visits related to her acute cholecystitis, a benign inflammation of the gallbladder. Eventually, the hospital will have her in to remove a gallstone, the cause of her condition. [HuffPost]

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SINCLAIR TO PAY RECORD $48 MILLION FINE Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to pay a $48 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission resolving a probe into the company’s abandoned deal to buy Tribune Media in what the agency said was its largest-ever civil penalty. Sinclair Chief Executive Chris Ripley said in a statement the company was pleased with the resolution. “Sinclair is committed to continue to interact constructively with all of its regulators to ensure full compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations,” said Ripley, who is the company’s president. [Reuters]

WHAT'S BREWING

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TRUMP: CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE WILL STAY, BUT SHIFT FOCUS Trump said his coronavirus task force would shift its focus to reviving U.S. business and social life, prompting the top Democrat in Congress to warn that ignoring science and the need for more testing would put Americans at risk. The task force to date has included medical professionals focused on battling the pandemic, some of whom have at times offered guidance at odds with Trump’s, including on when to ease stay-at-home orders and lockdowns on the economy. [HuffPost]

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FIRST IMMIGRANT IN ICE DETENTION DIES OF CORONAVIRUS An immigrant being held in detention at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in San Diego has died of COVID-19. A 57-year-old detainee at ICE’s Otay Mesa facility, which is run by private contractor CoreCivic, died early Wednesday of complications of the coronavirus disease after being hospitalized since late April, according to San Diego County officials. This is the first reported COVID-19 death of an immigrant in ICE custody. [HuffPost]

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BETSY DEVOS' ROLLBACK OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS' RIGHTS IS COMPLETE A new rule by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will reshape how colleges handle sexual misconduct ― speeding investigations, adding protections for the accused and allowing schools to skirt responsibility for assaults entirely if they take place off-campus. The 2,000-page rule, which was released Wednesday, addresses how K-12 schools and colleges are required to implement Title IX, the civil rights law created to ensure gender equality in education. [HuffPost]

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TOP TRUMP DONOR TAPPED AS NEW POSTMASTER GENERAL 

Louis DeJoy, a top Republican donor and ally of Trump, has been named the new head of the U.S. Postal Service as it weathers a barrage of criticism from the White House. The Postal Service’s Board of Governors said DeJoy, a North Carolina business operator and head of fundraising for August’s Republican National Convention in Charlotte, would work to preserve and protect “this essential institution” in his new role. [HuffPost]

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JUSTIN AMASH TRULY DOESN'T CARE IF HE'S AN ELECTION SPOILER Amash, running as a Libertarian, says he's in the presidential race to win and favors neither Trump nor Joe Biden. And he's unconcerned how his long-shot run might affect the outcome. "I anticipate running a campaign that harms both candidates’ chances,” Amash told HuffPost's Matt Fuller. “I mean, that’s the point.” [HuffPost]

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CORONAVIRUS COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE EAT MEAT The commercial meat industry, highly centralized and largely controlled by four companies — Cargill, JBS, Smithfield and Tyson — has been rocked by the coronavirus. As the virus spread to some of the country’s largest meat processing facilities, it killed workers and forced plants to shut down for deep cleaning. Nearly 5,000 meatpacking employees have contracted COVID-19 at 115 meat and poultry processing facilities. The price of beef and pork has plummeted and livestock producers have resorted to euthanizing surplus stock. [HuffPost]

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IT'S TIME TO END ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA Election night is supposed to be a night of hyper cable news hosts, color-coded Magic Walls, flickering needles and overwrought homilies to U.S. democracy that ends, maybe in the wee hours, with the American People making a Decision. But the 2020 election will be different. Nearly every state anticipates a radical increase in voters casting their ballots by mail to stay safe amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. This will fundamentally alter the speed at which votes are tabulated. It is unlikely a victor will be declared on Nov. 3. [HuffPost]

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Illustrated PSA

The world is trying to cope with the coronavirus, from the serious to the mundane. We’re dealing with jamming full lives into one apartment or house, and trying to stay calm about a world full of an invisible virus. We’re trying to learn how to homeschool our kids, or to make bread for ourselves. It’s a whole new world, and HuffPost is launching a new illustrated series about how to live in it.

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Each week, we’ll feature an artist offering their vision for how to handle the world as it is today. We hope they make you think, make you smile, or just offer something to do other than staring wistfully out the windows.

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Click on the image to see a full-size version. See previous entries in the series here.

Illustration by Erik Carter

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