buzzfeednews--2020-04-16--Costco Is Thriving During The Coronavirus Pandemic. Its Workers Say They’ve Paid The Price.

Costco has long been beloved by employees , some of whom have worked there for decades .
But the retailer ’ s decision-making during the coronavirus pandemic has tested their loyalty and compromised their health .
The last day Regina Lee was in the office , she was coughing so badly it rattled her whole body .
The Costco Travel agent didn ’ t often work on Saturdays , but she ’ d picked up an extra shift on March 14 to help field the barrage of calls from customers trying to cancel cruises amid the coronavirus pandemic .
Beloved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missed a day of work in her 20 years at the company .
That day , though , her coworkers kept wondering why she was there .
Ten days earlier on March 4 , officials in King County , Washington — home to Costco ’ s headquarters and the initial epicenter of the US outbreak — called on businesses to let their employees work from home during a “ critical moment in the growing outbreak.
” Major Seattle-area companies like Microsoft and Boeing heeded that warning , shuttering their corporate operations and shifting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not .
That same day , Costco CEO Craig Jelinek emailed thousands of workers at the company ’ s sprawling corporate campus in Issaquah , Washington , to say that allowing corporate employees to work remotely wouldn ’ t be fair to the “ great number of Costco employees locally and across the country ” in its stores who could not .
“ Our jobs here are to support our retail business , and we ’ re not prepared at this point to have corporate employees work from home , ” he wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employee in the US to die of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , after she collapsed at the Everett , Washington , home she shared with her sister , Willa , and their mother , Susie .
Two weeks later , they were dead too .
The Lees are now three of the more than 31,000 people who have died in the US — and nearly 140,000 people globally — from the novel coronavirus .
With 547 retail warehouses across the US , Costco has become a lifeline for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , more than 100 employees and contractors told BuzzFeed News that the $ 140 billion global retailer placed thousands of workers at its corporate offices and stores at risk through its lack of transparency on confirmed cases , disregard for warnings , and inability to adjust long-standing policies during a critical period .
These people , most of whom asked for anonymity for fear of losing their jobs , said Costco left its workers unprotected and uninformed on the front lines of the worst global health crisis of their lifetimes .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Regina ’ s brother Raymond Lee told BuzzFeed News .
“ Shame on Costco .
They say , ‘ We take care of employees.
’ Bullshit.
” “ No higher priority than your own well-being ” Costco employees said the company should have seen this coming .
In conversations with BuzzFeed News , both corporate and warehouse workers wondered why Costco management was so slow to enact firm coronavirus protocols at its North American locations , given what the global retail giant had seen in its stores in Asia , where the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may have let the virus spread further than it otherwise would have .
According to interviews and internal memos obtained by BuzzFeed News , at least 21 people at Costco ’ s corporate offices and at least 62 workers at warehouses across the US have tested positive for COVID-19 .
According to employees , at least two have died after contracting the disease .
Meanwhile , workers at Costco ’ s warehouses — what the company calls its stores — said the retailer didn ’ t do enough to prepare or protect them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stock up on toilet paper , cleaning supplies , and bulk groceries as coronavirus fears ramped up in March .
Some employees who spoke to BuzzFeed News said warehouse managers failed to properly inform them of confirmed coronavirus cases among their colleagues and were slow to shut down or professionally sanitize their stores — leaving them and their members at risk .
“ Working for Costco during this devastating point of time has become a living nightmare , ” a Los Angeles–based warehouse employee told BuzzFeed News , noting that the company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They will continue to prioritize the needs of the business over their employees ’ well-being , even when we are in a state of emergency .
We were never prepared for this.
” Costco , its CEO , and members of its leadership team did not respond to repeated requests for comment on a detailed list of questions regarding its response to the coronavirus pandemic .
In a March 21 memo obtained by BuzzFeed News , Jelinek suggested he would not be responding to press inquiries .
“ As we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aren ’ t spending a lot of time engaging with the media and other occasional critics , ” he wrote .
While many companies in the US , including Starbucks , Trader Joe ’ s , and Amazon , were slow to respond , in part because their leaders followed the federal government ’ s haphazard messaging and response , Costco ’ s management had plenty of warning .
On an earnings call 11 days before Lee died , the company ’ s chief financial officer touted its response to the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , both countries where it has stores .
Costco has also weathered previous health crises , including the 2002–03 SARS outbreak .
In conversations with BuzzFeed News , Costco workers from an array of positions across the US detailed circumstances they deemed irresponsible .
Two pregnant women in Texas were so concerned about their working conditions they took extended , unpaid leaves , their manager said .
In Ohio , a manager described the “ carelessness ” of ignoring social distancing protocols by keeping every checkout register open .
Employees in Las Vegas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mill around and touch nonessential items like clothes and patio furniture .
A manager in Michigan said elderly hourly workers were made to sanitize an area of the store where an infected employee had been without being told what and why they were cleaning .
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“ I do think Costco has implemented some good practices now , but it just took too long , ” the Michigan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the entire time instead of taking the opportunity to be a leader in the industry.
” Since BuzzFeed News first reported on working conditions at Costco facilities during the outbreak , the company has strengthened its response .
More than a week after Lee ’ s death , it enabled most of its corporate employees to work remotely .
It also confirmed it would temporarily boost warehouse pay by $ 2 an hour , promised to provide masks and gloves , shortened store hours , required plexiglass shields on registers , and limited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ store at a time , though some employees say those aren ’ t being followed .
BuzzFeed News obtained an internal memo sent earlier this month that shows that Costco now monitors employees ’ temperatures in accordance with federal guidelines .
The company has also ramped up its messaging to employees and its CEO has visited multiple warehouses to thank his workers .
Detailing potential risk factors in its 2019 annual earnings report , Costco warned of potential “ public health issues ” that “ could disrupt our operations ... or have an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels . ''
But the coronavirus pandemic , at least in its early weeks , seems to have had the opposite effect .
As people flocked to warehouses to stock up for weeks of self-isolation , Costco ’ s sales jumped more than $ 1.6 billion , or 11.7 % , in the five weeks leading up to April 5 , according to a recent financial report .
E-commerce sales were up nearly 50 % .
Those numbers were “ strong , ” said CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson , who noted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them to pick up customers ” and build upon its membership count of some 100 million cardholders .
Costco had seen crisis-inspired sales booms before .
In 2003 , as SARS wreaked havoc on Asia , its stores in Taiwan — where it now has 13 locations — not only weathered the storm but thrived .
“ People would come to Costco to buy food because they trusted it , ” Richard Chang , Costco ’ s senior vice president of Asia , said in a 2018 interview .
So as the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Korea , company leaders who ’ d been through the SARS crisis temporarily closed and cleaned affected locations while implementing strict daily disinfecting and social distancing regimens .
“ Our warehouses have overall remained open with only a few total days of closures at a couple of locations in Korea , as well our Shanghai location , [ and ] there has been some limitations required on the number of people in the facility at a given time , ” Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said on a March 5 earnings call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s workers aware of the measures taken to protect their foreign colleagues wondered why the same wasn ’ t being done for them .
In private Facebook groups for employees and in interviews with BuzzFeed News , they fumed about the disparity between the precautions taken abroad and what was happening in the US .
“ When you look at the Costcos in [ South ] Korea , they shut down the entire store and cleaned it , ” one employee at the company ’ s Hayward , California , warehouse told BuzzFeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shut down to control how many people were in the store .
There hasn ’ t been one deep cleaning .
The employees there are decked out with masks .
[ There ’ s a ] commitment to protection.
” Meanwhile , as wave after wave of customers clamored for paper towels and pasta at US locations , employees at a number of Costco warehouses said managers floundered amid a lack of clear direction from higher-ups about social distancing and customer limits .
At the store in Culver City , California , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gavin Newsom advised citizens to avoid large crowds , door count sheets provided to BuzzFeed News illustrated the chaos .
From 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. , employees at the door checked in 4,015 Costco cardholders .
The total door count for that day was 10,371 members , which does not account for the fact that multiple people can enter the store on the same membership card .
“ We were having 3,500 people allowed to come in at a time and no masks have been required , ” a supervisor at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19 .
“ Everyone is sharing gloves .
We ’ re bringing our own , and if we have enough we give them to each other.
” At one point , as Costco stores racked up banner days , with some regularly exceeding sales of $ 1 million every 24 hours , employees struggled to buy supplies for their own families .
They ’ d often find that crucial items like baby formula and disinfecting wipes were sold out by the time their shifts ended .
Multiple warehouse workers told BuzzFeed News they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we weren ’ t considered and we are like little guinea pigs looking at sales , ” said one Culver City warehouse employee , adding that management took nearly a day to tell them about a colleague ’ s positive COVID-19 test , after cleaners in hazmat suits wiped down the areas where they worked .
“ The store will manage $ 600,000 to $ 1 million on a normal day .
The other day we were at $ 1.4 million.
” At the end of March , Costco mandated that every location @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9 a.m. every Friday , according to internal documents seen by BuzzFeed News .
Gregory Ulrich had just acclimated to his new warehouse in Norwalk , Connecticut , when he abruptly called in sick around mid-March .
His colleagues immediately worried that the manager , an esteemed Costco veteran of nearly 20 years , had contracted the virus .
The affable 57-year-old had been “ coughing up a storm ” for a few days , an employee told BuzzFeed News , explaining that “ Norwalk had a huge outbreak , so people were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday , March 27 , Ulrich was rushed to the hospital , a friend told BuzzFeed News .
He died the following Monday from complications associated with the novel coronavirus .
Alicia Ramnarine , a former Costco colleague , told BuzzFeed News that Ulrich was always cheerful , kind , and “ a gentle man in a place full of chaos.
” Ulrich ’ s family declined to comment .
According to two employees , warehouse leaders held two “ emergency meetings ” addressing the coronavirus panic .
At the first , around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no one at the store had the virus and that people who spread rumors to the contrary could be fired because of the “ severity of the misinformation , ” a worker in attendance said .
At the second meeting , about a week later , management said they “ did not know about his positive results ” and that they were going to enact more safety measures .
Norwalk , Connecticut , had 17 confirmed COVID-19 cases at the time .
That number has since swelled to 747 cases and 32 deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warehouse break room the day Ulrich died , management called his death “ a great loss ” and said that the longtime employee would be “ profoundly missed.
” As the store closed for the night , workers watched as a hazmat crew came in and disinfected the store ’ s cash registers .
The following day , the Norwalk store ’ s general manager posted a second letter in the break room , saying he did not know Ulrich had the coronavirus because “ his doctors did not feel he had it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The store leader told staff in bold letters to “ DEMAND ” to be tested if they were feeling symptoms as “ doctors are waiting far too long to test people on their assumption that their patients don ’ t have it.
” A spokesperson for Greenwich Hospital of the Yale New Haven Health System declined to comment on Ulrich ’ s case , citing patient privacy laws .
At the time , his Norwalk colleagues had been hearing about coronavirus cases at other warehouses and saw every cough as a potential danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus feel that management should have been more vigilant in monitoring for early warning signs and done a better job enforcing social distancing rules .
“ I remember posts in our employees group page about measures some warehouses were taking , and many of us did wonder what we were waiting for .
It was like business as usual , ” one employee told BuzzFeed News , adding that his colleagues were “ scared ” to come into work .
However , another worker there said he was “ happy ” with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not respond to requests for comment on safety protocols at the Norwalk location .
As of April 6 , three other workers have tested positive for COVID-19 , according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News , bringing the Norwalk warehouse ’ s total case count to at least four .
The experience of the employees in Norwalk is not unique .
At more than a dozen warehouses across the country , workers told BuzzFeed News that management at their locations was often slow to implement safety measures and failed to adequately inform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among their colleagues .
Some workers have taken it upon themselves to tally the cases , using a private , employee-only Facebook group to share information about coworkers who have reportedly contracted or died from COVID-19 .
Labor advocates said the federal government ’ s own dismissiveness of the virus , blundered response , and weak guidelines set the tone for Costco and other major retailers .
Protocols from the CDC and FDA offer “ very minimal guidance ” on how to protect workers and could enable businesses to pressure employees to return @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick , Peter Dooley , senior project coordinator for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health , told BuzzFeed News , calling essential workers the “ most at-risk and the most neglected.
” “ The messaging from the top was of total denial for action or precaution , and the shame of it is that we had examples of what had been put in place in other countries , ” Dooley said .
“ The real problem is the deception for people to think that they 're not at risk , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have grocery workers dying from the virus .
If a worker gets sick with the illness it should be a presumption it was work exposure.
” Costco ’ s corporate leaders have been issuing new temporary operational guidelines for all its US warehouses .
On March 27 , they told managers that they ’ re required to provide masks , gloves , and plexiglass screens at checkout stands , sanitize registers every 15 minutes , and limit common contact points like silverware dispensers in break rooms .
Some changes are happening , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s too late .
In New York , the Westbury warehouse on Long Island has at least eight infected workers , according to company notices provided to BuzzFeed News .
Amanda Rosado , a deli worker at Costco ’ s Port Chester , New York , location told BuzzFeed News that by this month four of her coworkers had tested positive for COVID-19 , a situation she described as “ a holy fucking clusterfuck.
” The 31-year-old told BuzzFeed News that during a recent Saturday shift , she noticed that a supervisor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ red eyes , but he continued to work without gloves , handling cash that was later touched by dozens of employees .
Later , he went home sick .
Another colleague she worked with recently in the meat department had tested positive for the coronavirus , according to letters sent by another employee to BuzzFeed News .
And she couldn ’ t help but wonder : “ How many people might have gotten sick because they walked into my warehouse ?
” Rosado has worked for Costco since she was 19 .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also cares for a brother with HIV , she said she felt vulnerable because of her managers ’ lax approach to safety .
She told BuzzFeed News that one person she ’ s worked closely with in the small deli room has been sick , and that another coworker went home with a terrible cough , only to come back a week later .
The warehouse where Rosado works is just 15 minutes away from New Rochelle , New York , an early coronavirus hot spot and containment zone , but it only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of April , she said .
Fearful of contracting the virus and bringing it home to her kids and immunocompromised brother , Rosado decided to take a leave of absence , using some of her vacation days to cushion the financial blow .
At first , she said she was told she did not “ fall under the criteria ” to apply for a coronavirus-related break , where employees could request unpaid time off if they ’ re high-risk , concerned about working , or have symptoms — though she said she ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coworker and has chronic asthma .
“ I want to do what I feel is right for me and my family , ” she said .
“ Working at Costco is like fighting an invisible enemy with a blindfold and no weapons.
” Costco did not respond to requests for comment on the exchange .
Among the most marginalized workers at Costco are its contractors , some of whom were thrown into difficult roles to keep up with demand , from packaging to loading supplies in crowded distribution centers .
After Costco shuttered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March , it placed the sample servers , who were employed by a third-party company named Club Demonstration Services , on sanitization teams to keep them on the payroll .
It was a tough spot to be in , several former CDS sample servers told BuzzFeed News .
They needed the money — but some of the tasks , including walking the length of warehouses to clean where a potentially sick person had been , were difficult for the workers , many of whom were over 65 and had preexisting health problems .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ abruptly fired all 30,000 workers , as BuzzFeed News first reported , without warning or severance .
In an announcement , Costco said it would be using its own employees to clean .
By Friday , March 13 , Washington had recorded 694 cases of COVID-19 and more than 100 deaths , the majority of which were in King County .
The news deeply unsettled employees at Costco Travel and the company ’ s corporate offices , who told BuzzFeed News of their mounting anxiety as coworkers developed coughs or flulike symptoms .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they said , pointing to their open floor plans with close-quartered pods , crowded shuttles that ran between parking lots and other buildings , and shared eating areas .
Many employees wanted to work from home but were forbidden from doing so .
Some told BuzzFeed News that Costco ’ s resistance to remote working stemmed from its “ old-school ” culture , where long-serving executives didn ’ t understand its merits .
Employees said management refused to give them laptops and often cited solidarity with their warehouse colleagues as justification for forbidding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for staying open in harsh weather , and if warehouse workers could brave snowstorms , management said , so should office employees .
If you got snowed in , that counted as a sick day .
“ Costco thinks it is the USPS and wo n't close for anything , ” one former employee of 15 years said .
“ You have to bring your butt into work , despite the conditions.
” As the coronavirus spread across King County , executives stuck to the same logic , sending emails that they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stay home , and suggesting that those people who were considered “ high-risk ” use paid time off .
The majority of office workers , though , were expected to come in if they wanted to collect a paycheck , and those without vacation time were left in difficult positions .
Costco did not respond to repeated requests for comment about these policies .
The death of Lee shocked her coworkers .
She was a favorite among colleagues , who remembered her smile and knack for leaving chocolates on people ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Lee ’ s fellow agents had been answering the onslaught of calls when at around 11:30 a.m. , management cut off their phone lines .
The office became abruptly , eerily quiet .
Then an email arrived in their inboxes .
“ I was so mortified that they didn ’ t close the office when my friend died , ” said one travel employee who has been with the company for more than a decade .
“ Costco is my family , and I love them — but that really tore it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Lee ’ s death , CEO Craig Jelinek said in an email that company leadership was “ now encouraging more employees at the Home and Regional office to work remotely.
” Later that evening , the retailer posted a message from Jelinek on Facebook addressed to Costco members , noting that it “ is firmly committed to the health and safety of our members and employees ” and was “ complying with public health guidance.
” At the time , Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee had closed schools and banned gatherings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but had yet to issue a stay-at-home order .
According to corporate employees , Costco began disclosing confirmed COVID-19 cases in company-wide emails three days after Lee 's death , sometimes sending multiple notes in a day .
It kept employees at its corporate offices until March 25 — long after its corporate peers had shuttered theirs and two days after Inslee ’ s executive order mandating residents stay home .
The campus , though , has remained open and some employees have told BuzzFeed News that they ’ ve seen colleagues and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offices .
On March 25 , Gruening congratulated his team on the shift to working from home .
By the end of that workday , Costco corporate had confirmed that at least nine of its employees , including a worker at a campus deli , had tested positive for COVID-19 .
“ Frankly , it is absolutely amazing that we ’ ve been able to transition from 100 % onsite to a fully functioning remote-work program in under two weeks , ” the Costco Travel vice president wrote in an email to staff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hard work , quick thinking and resourcefulness of many.
” As of April 9 , at least 21 corporate and travel employees have tested positive for COVID-19 , according to internal emails obtained by BuzzFeed News .
Ten of those people work in the travel department , and four of them sit on the same floor as Lee .
One of those agents , who was officially diagnosed March 19 , had been complaining on Facebook about her high fever and loss of taste two weeks earlier .
`` This is what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can ’ t afford to stay home and they come in , ” an employee told BuzzFeed News .
Workers said they ’ re infuriated and frustrated that their leaders did not enact stronger precautionary measures .
Some , like an IT employee who worked in another building down the road from Lee and contracted the virus , wondered what would have happened if management had simply listened .
The first week of March , when the total of coronavirus cases in King County surpassed 70 , the IT employee had come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couldn ’ t get tested due to the scarcity of kits .
Reading headlines about hospitals rationing masks and infected Washington residents quarantined in motels , the employee sent multiple emails to several leaders notifying them about their coronavirus-like symptoms , expressing fear for the worker 's close-quartered colleagues , and asking to work from home .
It was going to get bad , the employee warned in emails , and no one was taking it seriously .
In response , this employee said , they were reprimanded for overreacting .
It took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approved to work from home right before Lee died .
Shortly after , the employee tested positive for COVID-19 .
Now their entire family is sick too .
So far , according to internal emails , eight people who work in the same building have told Costco they have the virus .
“ I was sick and trying to shout from the rooftops : ‘ This is serious !
’ ” the employee said , voice breaking .
“ I was sitting there , absolutely helpless.
” It ’ s been nearly a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a tumultuous halt , forcing millions of Americans out of work and to stay at home .
As the initial panic subsided , so too has the early chaos at Costco ’ s warehouses .
Though stores often see significant lines , the people who work at them are better protected and better compensated .
There are fewer shoppers in stores and more masks , and temperature checks .
In certain states , lawmakers have heard and acted upon food service workers ’ fears and concerns .
Washington state passed new protections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forcing high-risk employees into unsafe conditions or penalizing or firing them for refusing to work in them .
The governor ’ s proclamation came just days after the Trump administration announced that employers do not have to officially document coronavirus cases .
Back in Issaquah , Costco ’ s corporate employees have settled into their new remote working routines .
Travel staffers are still fielding calls , occasionally from people inquiring about deals on cruise packages .
On April 3 , agents received a message about Regina Lee .
Kathy Robinson , Costco @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operations , sent an email to employees noting that the “ rapid transition to work from home did not allow us to fully digest the news of Regina ’ s passing.
” In her note , the executive called the 59-year-old a “ quiet and beautiful person ” who “ always included your name when she walked by and said hi.
” She included a link to her obituary page for people to share their thoughts .
They did .
Although Lee was soft-spoken , she lit up the office with her giggle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trays .
She will be greatly missed , they wrote .
They ’ re in shock that she ’ s dead .
Raymond Lee is too .
He continues to struggle with the idea that most of his immediate family is dead .
His sisters , Regina and Willa , were getting ready to retire , he told BuzzFeed News , and they had just paid off the mortgage on the home they shared with their mother .
“ I ’ ve lost a total of two younger sisters and my mother in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The week before , I buried my baby sister .
And the following Friday , I buried my mother and my other baby sister.
” Some of his sister ’ s colleagues have called him to offer condolences .
It ’ s been nice , he said , but it ’ s not the call he ’ s been waiting for .
“ No one from Costco has made one call to say that they ’ re sorry for the loss of Regina , ” he said .
“ Isn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their employees like family.
” ●

The Costco family
It’s been nearly a month since the pandemic brought the country to a tumultuous halt, forcing millions of Americans out of work and to stay at home. As the initial panic subsided, so too has the early chaos at Costco’s warehouses. Though stores often see significant lines, the people who work at them are better protected and better compensated. There are fewer shoppers in stores and more masks, and temperature checks.
In certain states, lawmakers have heard and acted upon food service workers’ fears and concerns. Washington state passed new protections on April 13, prohibiting companies from forcing high-risk employees into unsafe conditions or penalizing or firing them for refusing to work in them. The governor’s proclamation came just days after the Trump administration announced that employers do not have to officially document coronavirus cases.
Back in Issaquah, Costco’s corporate employees have settled into their new remote working routines. Travel staffers are still fielding calls, occasionally from people inquiring about deals on cruise packages.
On April 3, agents received a message about Regina Lee. Kathy Robinson, Costco Travel’s associate vice president of operations, sent an email to employees noting that the “rapid transition to work from home did not allow us to fully digest the news of Regina’s passing.” In her note, the executive called the 59-year-old a “quiet and beautiful person” who “always included your name when she walked by and said hi.” She included a link to her obituary page for people to share their thoughts.
They did. Although Lee was soft-spoken, she lit up the office with her giggle, kind gestures, and giant cookie trays. She will be greatly missed, they wrote. They’re in shock that she’s dead.
Raymond Lee is too. He continues to struggle with the idea that most of his immediate family is dead. His sisters, Regina and Willa, were getting ready to retire, he told BuzzFeed News, and they had just paid off the mortgage on the home they shared with their mother.
“I’ve lost a total of two younger sisters and my mother in two weeks,” he said. “The week before, I buried my baby sister. And the following Friday, I buried my mother and my other baby sister.”
Some of his sister’s colleagues have called him to offer condolences. It’s been nice, he said, but it’s not the call he’s been waiting for.
“No one from Costco has made one call to say that they’re sorry for the loss of Regina,” he said. “Isn’t that something? Costco says they treat their employees like family.” ●


buzzfeednews--2020-04-16--The High COVID-19 Infection Rate At This Michigan Prison Has Inmates Fearing For Their Health

Parnall Correctional Facility , near Jackson , has an infection rate higher than New York City jails and Cook County jail in Chicago .
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If you have story tips about how coronavirus is affecting Detroit and Michigan , including health care workers and nursing homes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan prison that 's emerged as a hot spot for coronavirus cases has a rate of infection that exceeds rates at jail systems in New York City and Chicago , both of which have garnered national attention as large sources of the outbreak .
At Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson , 10 % of prisoners and 21 % of staff have tested positive for COVID-19 , according to a Detroit Free Press analysis of Department of Corrections data .
The percentage of the incarcerated population sickened by the novel coronavirus at Parnall has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Cook County jail in Chicago , which the New York Times described last week as the largest known source of infections in the United States .
Parnall ’ s rate is also higher than that of Rikers Island and other New York City jails , which have a collective infection rate of 8 % , according to the Legal Aid Society .
Like Chicago , New York City ’ s jail system has a higher COVID-19 case count and a population more than twice as large as Parnall .
Among prisons that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center in Illinois has a slightly higher infection rate than Parnall at 11 % .
The infection rate and high proportion of positive tests at Parnall signals that the confirmed cases are only the `` very tip of the iceberg , '' said Dr. Josiah Rich , professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brown University and director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island .
`` If you find that 10 % of people in a facility are infected and you 're only [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % , then there 's a lot more infection than you realize .
So that ’ s a problem for the people who are incarcerated , it ’ s a problem for the staff , it 's a problem for the staff ’ s families .
And of the people that get infected and have to be transferred out to local hospitals , it 's a problem for the local health care system . ''
At the start of the outbreak , the minimum-security prison about 75 miles west of Detroit housed 1,641 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ housed in single cells in a unit known as 10 Block marked the arrival of the coronavirus at the facility on March 25 .
Now 162 prisoners from every housing unit are confirmed to have the virus , including four men who have died , according to Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz .
Of the 63 Parnall staff confirmed to have COVID-19 , more than half are officers .
The rate of infection among residents in surrounding Jackson County is 0.1 % .
“ Certainly Parnall has been the hardest hit , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been doing everything they can to limit the spread there .
But it is very difficult to try and slow the spread in a congregate setting like this .
You 're seeing it in nursing homes .
You 're seeing it in jails .
And you 're seeing it in some of our prisons.
” Since a man from an Upper Peninsula facility was confirmed as MDOC ’ s first prisoner case of COVID-19 , the department has tested 707 inmates .
Results have come back positive for 454 prisoners as of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands more cases across the prison system .
About half of the state 's 29 prisons have at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 , with an overall infection rate of 1.2 % among roughly 38,000 prisoners .
Ten percent of 454 prisoners who ’ ve contracted COVID-19 have been sent to community hospitals .
Eleven prisoners have died .
Staff cases have climbed to 175 , or 1.4 % of employees .
Two MDOC employees have died .
Nearly 2.3 million people are incarcerated in prisons , jails , juvenile detention centers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with more than half locked up in state prisons , according to the Prison Policy Initiative , a criminal justice think tank .
Anticipating the arrival of the coronavirus , advocates and health experts across the country began sounding the alarm a few months ago .
They say that jails and prisons are like “ petri dishes ” in which COVID-19 could run rampant among an aging population that ’ s particularly vulnerable to disease .
“ It ’ s the duty of every state to recognize that a prison sentence shouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a pandemic , ” said Wanda Bertram , spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative .
In Michigan , prisoners , their families , and corrections officers have told the Free Press in recent weeks that they fear how quickly COVID-19 is spreading behind bars .
“ I have panic attacks , ” said Juanita Reynolds , 45 , of Tuscola County , who worries about the possibility of her husband contracting the coronavirus before he ’ s paroled from Parnall in August .
“ I have anxiety issues .
It makes it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , president of the Michigan Corrections Organization union , pointed to the setup of Parnall ’ s housing as one factor that likely allowed the virus to spread quickly .
Three pole barn buildings hold about half the facility ’ s prisoners in open bay settings : eight-man cubes with partial walls and no doors .
The rest of the population is housed in single-man cells with open bars .
“ We ’ ve known since the beginning of this crisis that once it penetrates a facility that has an open bay setting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really difficult to contain , ” Osborn said .
“ It had probably spread much more quickly in there before the department had been able to get a handle on it.
” Reynolds said she tracks the department ’ s daily updates on prisoner and staff infections posted online .
The growing case count keeps her on edge .
“ We ’ ve yet to have a day where there ’ s been more negative tests than positive , ” Gautz said of the last several weeks .
“ Hopefully we 'll start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but we do n't want that to be because we 're not doing enough testing.
” Just by being incarcerated , Gautz said , all prisoners technically meet the criteria for testing if they show one symptom of COVID-19 .
The department has about 750 test kits on hand for prisoners , he said .
Staff who show symptoms , meanwhile , need to seek testing in the community .
That ’ s been a challenge , though Osborn said the department recently secured slots for officers to get rapid testing in Detroit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other employees who come and go across multiple shifts each day , the boundaries between prisons and the communities in which they ’ re located are porous .
Experts say the notion that corrections institutions are separate from communities is a fallacy .
While Parnall has the highest infection rate , prisons in the southeast and south central parts of the state have also been hit hard : • At the Detroit Reentry Center , 6 % of prisoners had confirmed cases and one prisoner died after contracting COVID-19 .
One staff member @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have confirmed cases .
The community infection rate across the city is 1 % .
• At Macomb County Correctional Facility , 5 % of prisoners and staff are infected .
The community infection rate in ZIP Code 48048 , where the facility is located , is 0.4 % .
• In Branch County , 5 % of prisoners at Lakeland Correctional Facility have confirmed cases and 7 % of staff .
In Branch County , 0.1 % of the population has been infected — 30 confirmed cases .
• At Huron Valley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County , 3 % of prisoners and staff have confirmed cases and two prisoners have died .
In ZIP Code 48197 , where the facility is located — 0.3 % of the local population had a confirmed case of COVID-19 .
Osborn said the department 's four facilities in Jackson and two to the south — Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater and Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian — employ more than 1,300 officers , plus more civilian support staff .
Many of those employees travel from communities across the southern quarter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lansing , and Kalamazoo .
To combat the pandemic , “ we need to consider prisons and jails as reservoirs that could lead to epidemic resurgence if the epidemic is not adequately addressed in these facilities everywhere , ” Rich at Brown University and two other infectious disease specialists wrote in an essay published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine .
Among other steps , the article recommends the release of prisoners who aren ’ t likely to offend again , as well as the elderly and ill — measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan .
Gautz has said the department is working to speed up paroles .
The department by law can not consider prisoners for release before they ’ ve served their entire minimum sentence .
Governors in states including New Jersey , Washington , and Pennsylvania have stepped in and signed executive orders to begin releasing vulnerable inmates to help stem the spread of COVID-19 .
Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer so far has not ordered the early release of prisoners in Michigan .
The ACLU of Michigan said Whitmer could swiftly lower the prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steps such as temporarily reinstituting the use of good-time and disciplinary credits to advance parole eligibility , waiving technical requirements for parole such as completing classes in prison , and expanding the use of commutations and medical parole for elderly or frail prisoners .
`` Lives can be saved , but only if we act now to protect people who are most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19 , '' ACLU of Michigan Legal Director Dan Korobkin said in a statement .
Efforts in other states have centered around releasing prisoners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people like DeAngelo Thomas , who has been in prison for 16 years for assault with intent to murder and says he was wrongly convicted in Wayne County .
His earliest release date is three years away .
“ Why not release a guy who ’ s been down as long as I ’ ve been down ?
” said Thomas , 42 , of Detroit , who said he 's eager to return home to his wife and three daughters .
“ We ’ re not coming back to prison , especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan.
” Thomas knows three prisoners at Parnall who 've died of COVID-19 .
`` I wake up and praise God every morning I wake up without a fever , '' he said .
A component largely overlooked as prisons and jails grapple with how to slow the spread of COVID-19 is proper training on PPE , said Dr. Homer Venters , former chief medical officer of the New York City jail system .
He offered the example of a corrections officer who is handed a mask , and within a day or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it around their neck because no one instructed them how and when to use it .
Or , an inmate who cleans the facility is asked to clean the cell of a symptomatic prisoner with no advice on personal precautions .
“ The frontline staff for infection control are the officers and detained people .
But most of the plans I 've seen around the country fail to really appreciate that , ” said Venters , president of the nonprofit Community Oriented Correctional Health Services .
“ Now you have lots and lots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and very scared correctional officers because nobody 's taking the time to really engage with them as part of that infection control team.
” Angie Jackson usually covers the challenges of formerly incarcerated citizens at the Detroit Free Press as a corps member with Report for America , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project , with support from the Hudson-Webber Foundation .
Kristi Tanner is the computer-assisted reporting coordinator at the Free Press .

The infection rate and high proportion of positive tests at Parnall signals that the confirmed cases are only the "very tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Josiah Rich, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brown University and director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island.
"If you find that 10% of people in a facility are infected and you're only [testing] a little more than 10%, then there's a lot more infection than you realize. So that’s a problem for the people who are incarcerated, it’s a problem for the staff, it's a problem for the staff’s families. And of the people that get infected and have to be transferred out to local hospitals, it's a problem for the local health care system."
At the start of the outbreak, the minimum-security prison about 75 miles west of Detroit housed 1,641 prisoners. Positive tests of four prisoners housed in single cells in a unit known as 10 Block marked the arrival of the coronavirus at the facility on March 25. Now 162 prisoners from every housing unit are confirmed to have the virus, including four men who have died, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz. Of the 63 Parnall staff confirmed to have COVID-19, more than half are officers.
The rate of infection among residents in surrounding Jackson County is 0.1%.
“Certainly Parnall has been the hardest hit,” Gautz said. “The staff have been doing everything they can to limit the spread there. But it is very difficult to try and slow the spread in a congregate setting like this. You're seeing it in nursing homes. You're seeing it in jails. And you're seeing it in some of our prisons.”
Since a man from an Upper Peninsula facility was confirmed as MDOC’s first prisoner case of COVID-19, the department has tested 707 inmates. Results have come back positive for 454 prisoners as of Tuesday.
Rich said there could be thousands more cases across the prison system.
About half of the state's 29 prisons have at least one confirmed case of COVID-19, with an overall infection rate of 1.2% among roughly 38,000 prisoners. Ten percent of 454 prisoners who’ve contracted COVID-19 have been sent to community hospitals. Eleven prisoners have died.
Staff cases have climbed to 175, or 1.4% of employees. Two MDOC employees have died.
More positive tests than negative
Nearly 2.3 million people are incarcerated in prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers and other facilities across the country, with more than half locked up in state prisons, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a criminal justice think tank.
Anticipating the arrival of the coronavirus, advocates and health experts across the country began sounding the alarm a few months ago. They say that jails and prisons are like “petri dishes” in which COVID-19 could run rampant among an aging population that’s particularly vulnerable to disease.
“It’s the duty of every state to recognize that a prison sentence shouldn’t become a death sentence just because of a pandemic,” said Wanda Bertram, spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative.
In Michigan, prisoners, their families, and corrections officers have told the Free Press in recent weeks that they fear how quickly COVID-19 is spreading behind bars.
“I have panic attacks,” said Juanita Reynolds, 45, of Tuscola County, who worries about the possibility of her husband contracting the coronavirus before he’s paroled from Parnall in August. “I have anxiety issues. It makes it worse.”
Both Gautz and Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization union, pointed to the setup of Parnall’s housing as one factor that likely allowed the virus to spread quickly. Three pole barn buildings hold about half the facility’s prisoners in open bay settings: eight-man cubes with partial walls and no doors. The rest of the population is housed in single-man cells with open bars.
“We’ve known since the beginning of this crisis that once it penetrates a facility that has an open bay setting, it’s going to be really difficult to contain,” Osborn said. “It had probably spread much more quickly in there before the department had been able to get a handle on it.”


buzzfeednews--2020-05-13--They’re Working In Healthcare During A Pandemic. They Don’t Get Health Insurance.

“ As a nurse or a doctor , at least you 're getting paid a decent amount of money to risk your life , '' one hospital clerical worker earning $ 15 an hour told BuzzFeed News .
As the novel coronavirus began spreading in the United States in February and March , a clerical worker at the University Medical Center New Orleans was spending her shifts going in and out of patients ’ rooms , collecting insurance information .
It didn ’ t take long for her to get sick .
In early March , as coronavirus cases began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she came down with chills , body aches , and shortness of breath .
When she finally got a test three weeks later , it came back negative for COVID-19 .
But there are concerns about some tests returning false negatives , and she doesn ’ t trust that hers was performed correctly .
Nearly two months and several hospital visits later , she said she has been stuck at home and hasn ’ t fully recovered .
When she was risking infection at work , the woman , who asked not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from her employer , was earning just $ 15 an hour .
As she is not a full-time employee , unlike the clinical staff at her hospital , she doesn ’ t get paid sick time or vacation days .
She also doesn ’ t get health insurance .
The only reason she isn ’ t saddled with thousands of dollars of medical debt is that she made so little working at the hospital that she qualified for the state ’ s Medicaid program , which was recently expanded to include adults earning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nurse or a doctor , at least you 're getting paid a decent amount of money to risk your life , ” the woman told BuzzFeed News .
“ It pisses me off because they 're not looking out for the most vulnerable people who do n't have benefits.
” She added : “ They want people to risk their lives and get paid little to nothing .
It 's not worth it .
It 's just not.
” The New Orleans staffer is a part of the healthcare industry ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home health aides , records clerks , nursing assistants , and hospital janitors — who are risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic with little or no safety net .
More than 800,000 healthcare workers and almost 1.1 million of their children live in poverty across the US , according to a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Public Health .
The researchers found that roughly 18.5 million people are employed in the US health industry .
And nearly 10 % of them — 1.7 million — earn so little that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1.4 million have no health insurance at all .
Women of color , like the New Orleans staffer , are overrepresented in the industry 's lowest-paid rungs .
Researchers found that nearly half of black and Latina women healthcare workers earned less than $ 15 an hour .
“ It 's a vast , unseen , low-paid workforce , ” said Atheendar Venkataramani , a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the study ’ s authors .
“ There 's a tremendous amount of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these low-wage jobs are held by women and underrepresented minorities.
” Venkataramani became interested in the topic several years ago when he was a primary care doctor in Massachusetts .
One of his patients was a home health aide who earned little more than the state minimum wage and only sporadically had health insurance .
“ It seemed incredibly unfair to me that this person , who is at some level a colleague of mine — we 're both in the same industry , but to provide her medical care required dealing with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ socioeconomic circumstances , ” he said .
“ It was kind of an eye-opening experience for me .
It did n't seem particularly fair.
” Hospitals employ low-paid workers in a range of different jobs .
Some are performing administrative work or answering phones , while others are cooking meals or cleaning rooms or working as security guards .
All face a risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic .
Just last week , the New York Times reported on three hospital administrative staffers who were part of the “ invisible army ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment at Queens ’ Elmhurst Hospital Center and replenishing supplies .
All three contracted the coronavirus and died .
Sepia Coleman , a healthcare worker in Memphis , has spent 30 years working in the industry .
She still works two jobs , one as a home health aide at $ 10.50 an hour , and another on the night shift at a nursing home at $ 12 an hour .
`` We are in the room when no one else is , ” said Coleman .
“ Doctors and nurses only come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; we 're there all the time .
We have to make sure their vitals are OK. We have to watch them to see if they have any change in behavior or color .
We are beyond essential .
We are the main component of the healthcare system , but we get no credit for that.
” Neither of her jobs offers paid sick leave ; if she contracts the virus , she has no idea how she will pay her bills .
`` I work with sick patients .
That 's what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick pay ?
” Coleman told BuzzFeed News .
“ I 'm disgusted and I 'm really hurt .
I knew the healthcare system was broken , but this pandemic has shown their true colors with all the greed and neglect — not just of residents , but of us , too .
It 's just like they do n't care.
” Joyce Barnes of Richmond , Virginia , has also worked in healthcare for over 30 years .
Even in the best of times , she said , working as a home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ You do n't get any raises .
You do n't get any vacation time .
You do n't get paid sick time .
You have to work all the time , ” she said .
“ I 've always felt like we 're not getting the respect that we deserve , ” she said .
“ I 've always said home care workers are the forgotten ones — but now with this COVID-19 going on , it 's even worse.
” Barnes works two jobs from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paid $ 9.40 an hour , the other $ 8.25 an hour .
Both of her clients ’ care is paid for through Virginia ’ s Medicaid program .
She doesn ’ t receive benefits through either job and makes slightly too much to qualify for Medicaid herself .
She does not have health insurance .
Venkataramani , the health policy professor , believes the coronavirus pandemic should force a reckoning in the industry .
“ We have to have a tough conversation about whether we are fairly compensating workers who are doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are essential for the functioning of the hospital , ” he said .
“ We have to ask ourselves , ‘ Are we in this multibillion-dollar industry valuing the work that these folks do properly ?
’ ” As she gets better , the New Orleans worker is at a crossroads .
At $ 15 an hour , she makes more at her hospital job than she could get working in a hotel or restaurant — income she needs to take care of her son .
But she wonders whether it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health , which runs the hospital , said it is committed to taking care of all of its employees , whether or not they have health insurance .
“ If an LCMC Health employee contracts COVID-19 as a result of work exposure , LCMC Health is committed to paying all medical expenses as it relates to treatment and recovery , ” said Mary Beth Romig-Haskins , head of marketing and public affairs .
“ A top priority is to also ensure our employees have the resources they need to seek screening , testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Employee Health program.
” Still , the hospital staffer can ’ t help wonder what might happen to her family if she dies .
“ I 'm scared because there 's too much uncertainty with this virus , ” she said .
“ Right now , hospitals have to step up and pay people a lot more and have to at least offer some kind of life insurance benefits if we die on the job .
”

As the novel coronavirus began spreading in the United States in February and March, a clerical worker at the University Medical Center New Orleans was spending her shifts going in and out of patients’ rooms, collecting insurance information.
It didn’t take long for her to get sick.
In early March, as coronavirus cases began exploding in the city after Mardi Gras, she came down with chills, body aches, and shortness of breath. When she finally got a test three weeks later, it came back negative for COVID-19. But there are concerns about some tests returning false negatives, and she doesn’t trust that hers was performed correctly. Nearly two months and several hospital visits later, she said she has been stuck at home and hasn’t fully recovered.
When she was risking infection at work, the woman, who asked not to be identified as she feared reprisal from her employer, was earning just $15 an hour. As she is not a full-time employee, unlike the clinical staff at her hospital, she doesn’t get paid sick time or vacation days. She also doesn’t get health insurance. The only reason she isn’t saddled with thousands of dollars of medical debt is that she made so little working at the hospital that she qualified for the state’s Medicaid program, which was recently expanded to include adults earning low incomes like her.
“As a nurse or a doctor, at least you're getting paid a decent amount of money to risk your life,” the woman told BuzzFeed News. “It pisses me off because they're not looking out for the most vulnerable people who don't have benefits.”
She added: “They want people to risk their lives and get paid little to nothing. It's not worth it. It's just not.”
The New Orleans staffer is a part of the healthcare industry’s often overlooked class of hourly workers — home health aides, records clerks, nursing assistants, and hospital janitors — who are risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic with little or no safety net.
More than 800,000 healthcare workers and almost 1.1 million of their children live in poverty across the US, according to a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. The researchers found that roughly 18.5 million people are employed in the US health industry. And nearly 10% of them — 1.7 million — earn so little that they get healthcare through Medicaid. Another 1.4 million have no health insurance at all.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-20--She Got Her Great-Granddaughter A Dress For Her Birthday. She Died Of The Coronavirus Before Giving

She Got Her Great-Granddaughter A Dress For Her Birthday. She Died Of The Coronavirus Before Giving It To Her.

“ She taught me how to read and write in Russian .
She taught me how to braid hair .
She was the most peaceful person .
“ Yevgeniya Belaya began every morning with calls to her two daughters .
“ No matter what , 8 a.m. , ” Milana Granovskiy said in an interview .
“ Wherever I am .
On vacation .
At work .
If I was at work , she would want to make sure I got there OK. ‘ Did the trains run well ?
’ ” The family always kept close , ever since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 years ago , after the collapse of the Soviet Union .
Over the years , Yevgeniya — Zhenya , they called her — struggled with her weight and diabetes , rarely leaving her Brooklyn home for anything other than a family gathering .
When the coronavirus pandemic forced her children and grandchildren to stay put , the daily check-ins remained a comforting ritual .
Then , earlier this month , after having trouble breathing and staying awake , Yevgeniya was rushed by ambulance , and without her phone , to the hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would learn she had tested positive for COVID-19 .
A few days after that , Yevgeniya died at age 73 .
She and her husband , Yuriy , had been married for more than 50 years .
“ She was afraid to die alone , ” Granovskiy said .
“ Unfortunately she died this way.
” Over her final six days , Yevgeniya was cut off completely from her family .
No visitors were allowed , and there was no one willing or able to smuggle in a phone .
Calls to nurses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family was lucky if they got one update a day on her condition .
“ I get it , they ’ re super busy , but there ’ s no connection there , ” Julie Peysakhova , one of Yevgeniya ’ s granddaughters , told BuzzFeed News .
“ They ’ re focused on getting their patients what they need , not on the family members calling .
They would say they would give a call back , but nobody would call back.
” It was a devastating end for a family that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former Soviet Union , Yevgeinya had worked as a bookkeeper in Tashkent .
After settling in the US , she transitioned into childcare out of her Brooklyn home , including for her four grandchildren .
“ She taught me how to speak Russian , ” Peysakhova recalled .
“ She taught me how to read and write in Russian .
She taught me how to braid hair .
She was the most peaceful person .
I have literally never heard her yell in my lifetime .
When everything else in the world was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that would be the one to calm everyone down.
” Because of her health issues , Yevgeniya mostly did n't leave the house later in life .
Her kids and their kids came to her .
But in the last year , she had been getting out more , taking walks and turning out for more family get-togethers .
“ Things for the first time in years were really looking up for her , healthwise , ” Peysakhova said .
One of Yevgeniya ’ s last errands before New York ’ s stay-at-home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s 7th birthday in March .
She made it to a nearby store , where she found a pink , polka-dotted coat and matching outfit and a St. Patrick ’ s Day–themed dress .
“ And she never got to give it to her , because of course we couldn ’ t have a party , ” Peysakhova said .
“ We just told her to wait it out , that we would see her when this was all over , and that she could give it to her herself .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As March turned to April , Yevgeniya ’ s family knew her health was worsening .
On top of her breathing troubles , she was pale , weak , and shaky .
The hospital admitted her on April 3 , but it wasn ’ t until Yevgeniya ’ s third day there when the family got through to someone who could provide information on her condition — a physician assistant who told Peysakhova ’ s mother that Yevgeniya had tested positive for COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
No @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , given how little she left home .
She had received in-home health care , and Milana worried her mother may have contracted it after arriving at the hospital .
“ I can only imagine her waking up and feeling terrified about what was happening and wondering why her family wasn ’ t there , ” Peysakhova said .
“ She didn ’ t speak English that well , so there was also the matter of , is there anyone even explaining what is happening to her ?
” Yevgeniya died on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Passover .
“ People always say that the first day of Passover , only the holy people die , ” Milana said .
From there , arrangements to properly mourn and bury Yevgeniya were emotionally exacting .
“ After she passed , one of the first emails we had gotten from the hospital was asking if we would be arranging for her body to be picked up , or if they should just put her in the mass burial site in New York , ” Peysakhova said .
“ That ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asking if we should just throw her in this mass burial .
It ’ s very impersonal.
” Efforts to find the nice coffin they believed their mother and grandmother deserved — and had set aside money for — were fruitless , with the funeral homes they contacted unable to help .
They only got the closure of seeing Yevgeniya ’ s body when a rabbi snapped a photo from the socially distant burial last week , Peysakhova said .
The family remained in their cars , on a rainy day , listening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speakerphone .
Then cemetery staff rushed them out .
Another burial was about to begin .
“ It ’ s not like you even have a minute to sit there and process what ’ s happening , ” Peysakhova said .
“ You got ta go because we have 10 other funerals today.
” The family ’ s concerns have shifted to the patriarch , Yuriy .
He hasn ’ t been sick , but he is worried about getting ill or infecting a visitor .
“ Every morning we have to call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of course he lives alone now .
”

Yevgeniya Belaya began every morning with calls to her two daughters.
“No matter what, 8 a.m.,” Milana Granovskiy said in an interview. “Wherever I am. On vacation. At work. If I was at work, she would want to make sure I got there OK. ‘Did the trains run well?’”
The family always kept close, ever since emigrating from Uzbekistan to New York nearly 30 years ago, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Over the years, Yevgeniya — Zhenya, they called her — struggled with her weight and diabetes, rarely leaving her Brooklyn home for anything other than a family gathering. When the coronavirus pandemic forced her children and grandchildren to stay put, the daily check-ins remained a comforting ritual.
Then, earlier this month, after having trouble breathing and staying awake, Yevgeniya was rushed by ambulance, and without her phone, to the hospital. Days later the tight-knit Jewish family would learn she had tested positive for COVID-19. A few days after that, Yevgeniya died at age 73. She and her husband, Yuriy, had been married for more than 50 years.
“She was afraid to die alone,” Granovskiy said. “Unfortunately she died this way.”
Over her final six days, Yevgeniya was cut off completely from her family. No visitors were allowed, and there was no one willing or able to smuggle in a phone. Calls to nurses overwhelmed with patients went unreturned. The family was lucky if they got one update a day on her condition.
“I get it, they’re super busy, but there’s no connection there,” Julie Peysakhova, one of Yevgeniya’s granddaughters, told BuzzFeed News. “They’re focused on getting their patients what they need, not on the family members calling. They would say they would give a call back, but nobody would call back.”


buzzfeednews--2020-04-20--Smithfield Foods Is Blaming “Living Circumstances In Certain Cultures” For One Of America’s Largest

Smithfield Foods Is Blaming “Living Circumstances In Certain Cultures” For One Of America’s Largest COVID-19 Clusters

New details show how Smithfield Foods failed to take action in the crucial days before the plant turned into one of the nation ’ s largest coronavirus clusters .
Was there any way to prevent the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota from becoming one of the country ’ s largest known coronavirus clusters , with more than 700 workers infected ?
It ’ s hard to know “ what could have been done differently , ” a Smithfield spokesperson said , given what she referred to as the plant ’ s “ large immigrant population.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than they are with your traditional American family , ” she explained .
The spokesperson and a second corporate representative pointed to an April 13 Fox News interview in which the governor of South Dakota , Kristi Noem , said that “ 99 % ” of the spread of infections “ wasn ’ t happening inside the facility ” but inside workers ’ homes , “ because a lot of these folks who work at this plant live in the same community , the same buildings , sometimes in the same apartments .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with nearly a dozen workers and their relatives point to a series of management missteps and half measures that contributed significantly to the spread of the virus .
A BuzzFeed News investigation has uncovered new information showing the company did little to inform or protect employees during the critical two weeks after the first case at the plant surfaced .
Then , with confirmed cases rising quickly , Smithfield introduced new safety protocols but applied them unevenly across the plant ’ s departments , leaving hundreds of workers exposed .
In late March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case leaked , workers began seeing flyers on notice boards and doors .
“ If you are at work and feeling sick , ” the flyers stated , “ tell your Supervisor and go directly home.
” But the directive was posted only in English , three employees said , even though many of the plant ’ s 3,700 workers have limited comprehension of English .
Safety notices at the plant are usually translated into as many as five languages .
On April 1 , the company took the unusual step of offering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to show appreciation for those still coming in — but it was also an incentive for workers from all eight floors to pass through the cafeteria .
On April 6 , two weeks after the first confirmed case and with the number of infections rising , Smithfield implemented mandatory temperature checks and shut down at least one floor “ for cleaning & sanitation , ” according to a company text message to employees .
Yet the rest of the plant stayed open .
As more people called in sick , Smithfield management stayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis at the Sioux Falls facility , only informing employees about a confirmed case if they ’ d recently been “ in contact ” with the person , according to the spokesperson , while encouraging others in company text messages to “ Please report to work as previously scheduled.
” Are you still working during the coronavirus outbreak ?
We 'd love to hear your story .
Reach out at albert.samaha @ buzzfeed.com or via one of our tip line channels .
Eighteen days after the first case , once 238 workers had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all floors for 48 hours to deep-clean the plant , as well as install cardboard dividers at workstations and plexiglass shields on cafeteria tables .
Even then , it moved slowly : Smithfield announced the temporary closure on April 9 but said it would not occur for another few days to allow for an orderly reduction in supply .
On April 10 , Michael Bul Gayo Gatluak , a 22-year-old immigrant from South Sudan , clocked in at the hog kill department on the sixth floor .
His job requires him to stand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , really close ” to other workers along the production line where pig carcasses are chopped .
“ The job is so heavy , ” he said .
“ You have to breathe so hard.
” When he got home that night , he started feeling ill .
He said he tested positive for COVID-19 three days later .
“ With how we work on the line , I would say I got sick because of them not taking safety measures , ” Gatluak told BuzzFeed News .
“ When they had their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think they acted accordingly.
” The plant is now closed indefinitely , cutting the country off from about 5 % of its national pork supply .
With 725 confirmed cases among workers and 143 more traced to them , the Smithfield outbreak has eclipsed most of the country ’ s worst-hit nursing homes and prisons among the largest community outbreaks .
One Smithfield worker , 64-year-old Agustin Rodriguez , died on April 14 from COVID-19 complications .
Smithfield denied that company policies contributed to the spread of the virus , and said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communicated with them extensively about safety protocols .
The corporate spokesperson whom the company provided to answer BuzzFeed News ’ questions — on the condition that her name not be used — said that higher-ups have worked “ around the clock ” from the beginning of the outbreak and posted handwashing directives as early as February , but have been hindered by national shortages of protective equipment .
Last week , Smithfield shut down plants in Wisconsin and Missouri after employees there tested positive for COVID-19 , and announced it was providing all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 million Responsibility Bonus , ” which amounts to around $ 2,500 per person .
Presented with a detailed list of questions , the spokesperson said that it was “ purposefully misleading ” to portray Smithfield “ as reacting to a positive case rather than the very proactive approach ” that the company took to the pandemic when it began , but she did not contest any specific facts .
An ongoing BuzzFeed News investigation has exposed how companies around the country have put hourly workers at risk of exposure to the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confines passing chunks of raw meat through the building , meat processing plants have been especially vulnerable .
More than a dozen have fully or partially stopped production since the pandemic began , with hundreds of workers falling ill at plants across the country .
Workers at JBS meatpacking plants in Colorado and at a Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Georgia have died from COVID-19 .
But for now , the Smithfield facility in South Dakota stands out .
The first case arrived when the pandemic was in full swing , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies everywhere changing the way they worked .
The outbreak spread faster than at any other plant .
Gatluak recalled hearing about a confirmed case on March 24 from his manager .
Though this was the first known exposure at the facility , the manager announced “ no changes ” to operations , he said .
The English-language notices telling people to go home if they felt ill appeared the next day , Gatluak recalled .
“ People were still reporting to work normally.
” The Argus Leader , Sioux Falls ’ newspaper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive case on March 26 .
The next day , another Smithfield worker who had been out sick for several days began feeling short of breath and drained of energy , barely able to get out of bed , said her 20-year-old daughter , Amy Cruz .
She went to the doctor , took a COVID-19 test , and four days later received a positive diagnosis .
She immediately called a Smithfield HR representative to convey the result , Cruz said .
In the days that followed , as more workers called in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smithfield bosses informed only employees “ who may have come in contact with that person , ” the spokesperson said — not the whole floor .
The spokesperson said that exposed employees were placed on two-week paid quarantine leave but declined to say how many there have been .
The rest of the workforce continued on for a week without knowing how many of their colleagues had been infected , and with no additional protective equipment .
Like many of the hundreds of thousands of hourly workers who supply the country with food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice of going without a paycheck or risking their health for jobs that typically pay less than $ 20 an hour .
Some Smithfield employees who spoke to BuzzFeed News requested anonymity because they feared getting fired , but two allowed their children to discuss the matter openly .
For both daughters , Amy Cruz and Sara Telahun Birhe , the Smithfield plant was an ever-present backdrop since their earliest memories .
Cruz ’ s mother , four of her uncles , and an aunt have all worked at the plant for more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; one of those uncles tested positive two weeks after Cruz ’ s mother did .
Birhe was 6 when her mother started working at the plant 16 years ago , after emigrating from Ethiopia , where she owned a café .
They lived near the facility , in a neighborhood in northeastern Sioux Falls , where Birhe grew close with the children of other Smithfield workers : families from Mexico , Nepal , Honduras , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , El Salvador , and elsewhere .
“ Family events and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” she said .
“ Our parents worked this job , and because of that we were all friends.
” Her mom earned $ 17 an hour , which is nearly double the state 's minimum wage , which went a long way in Sioux Falls .
Over her years at the plant , she bought a car and a house and saved enough money to pay Birhe ’ s college tuition .
She knew of one former Smithfield worker who went on to open a restaurant , another a grocery store .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing their parents come home from work exhausted , plopping down on the couch to rest before dinner , going to bed early for 6 a.m. shifts .
But their parents ’ sacrifice took on a new light when the pandemic reached the Smithfield plant .
Birhe recalls a series of conversations with her cousins about whether they should try to get their parents to stop going to work .
“ Our parents were worried about paying our bills , and we were worried about their health , ” she said .
Unemployment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who quit their jobs without being sick or at a high risk , and many at Smithfield had built stable careers with higher pay than what would be available if they started fresh elsewhere .
One worker ’ s daughter , who requested anonymity , said that she , her brother , and her mother had all been laid off or furloughed from their own jobs .
For her father , who began at the plant 15 years ago after migrating from Mexico , “ it wasn ’ t an option if you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ He ’ s proud of what he does .
He feeds so many people.
” Over the week following the first confirmed case at the plant , workers continued to dine in the cafeteria as normal .
To keep production flowing seamlessly on all floors , crews synchronized their breaks based on their position on the processing line : On each floor , a team of workers would take lunch once they finished a batch and passed it down to the next team .
They filed through hallways and staircases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sixth-floor cafeteria , which is mostly staffed by immigrants from Latin American countries .
Gatluak found the meals delicious , he said : “ Every day we get something new.
” Three employees estimated that at least 200 people from various floors would be in the cafeteria at any given time .
On April 1 , a day after Cruz ’ s mother tested positive , Smithfield management directed entire floors to take lunch breaks in deliberately staggered shifts to reduce crowds .
But alongside those precautions came the announcement that lunch was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eat their homemade meals in the locker room rather than risk passing through the dining area .
A Smithfield representative declined to comment on the free lunch .
Over the next few days , Smithfield started introducing new safety measures .
Management put up new flyers encouraging social distancing in the cafeteria and set up tents outside the facility for mandatory temperature checks .
Those with a fever were sent home with instructions for where to get tested .
Still , many workers brought their own masks because Smithfield provided only hairnets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t do any good , ” one worker said .
And , as the Argus Leader first reported , the company offered a $ 500 bonus to employees who didn ’ t miss any shifts in April .
“ That was not a good move , because if anyone fell sick they ’ d be like , 'Oh , I have to go to work because I have to get that bonus , ' ” Gatluak said .
When the company ceased operations on the eighth-floor packing department on April 6 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , two employees said .
Company text messages noted that the floor was “ shut down for cleaning & sanitation ” ; the department ’ s workers were told they should not come to work but would be paid for the week .
“ All other departments will be operating as scheduled , ” the message stated .
Smithfield did not respond to a question about why it closed that floor and not the others .
It is unclear how many cases Smithfield was aware of during this time .
The company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protections .
But on April 8 , the state health department announced an outbreak of 80 confirmed cases at the plant .
The next day , the company announced it would “ suspend operations in a large section of the plant ” — but not until April 11 .
Only on April 12 and 13 would the plant “ completely shutter ” for “ rigorous deep cleaning ” and the construction of “ additional physical barriers to further enhance social distancing.
” Gatluak said he clocked in at work on April 10 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking precautions to minimize the chances of exposing his mother and brother at home .
He washed his hands regularly and sanitized everything he came into contact with , “ from doorknobs to stair rail , the handles , countertops , ” he said .
“ I know I was a risk because of where I was working.
” He began to feel a headache , fever , and chills after returning home from his shift .
The next morning he called the hospital , then took a test at a drive-through center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed cases at the plant hit 190 .
Still , Smithfield maintained its plans to reopen the plant after the 48-hour shutdown .
But on April 11 , Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken and Gov .
Kristi Noem published a letter asking Smithfield ’ s CEO to close the plant for longer .
The next day , Smithfield complied , closing it down indefinitely .
The company warned of the economic impact of an extended shutdown .
“ It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sullivan said in a statement that day .
“ These facility closures will also have severe , perhaps disastrous , repercussions for many in the supply chain , first and foremost our nation ’ s livestock farmers.
” Two days later , Gatluak said he received his positive test result .
He has had relatively mild symptoms .
Another member of his crew has also tested positive , he said .
Smithfield workers and their relatives now account for more than half of South Dakota ’ s confirmed cases , a pool of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to volunteer as test subjects for the nation ’ s first statewide clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine , an antimalarial drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a potential coronavirus treatment but which has not yet been proven as effective against the virus .
Noem announced last week that the testing would begin once at least 2,000 people signed up .
While 45 states have issued stay-at-home orders , the governor has declined to do so .
On Monday , April 13 , a Smithfield worker in his fifties received a company text message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Sioux Falls facility for a full shutdown .
Please report to work on Tuesday as previously scheduled.
” One of around 50 workers at the plant that day , he deboned ham in the basement freezer and filled in on several other jobs to make up for the reduced staff .
Though most of the plant had shut down , his department was near the end of the processing line , just before the meat was packed and loaded .
Operations would continue until all the meat in stock had made its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trucks .
He kept the mood light around his children , especially when they expressed concern .
When his daughter showed him a news story listing his plant as one of the five biggest outbreaks in the country , he quipped , “ Oh boy , I ’ ve never been in the top five of anything !
” By April 14 , Smithfield had built plexiglass barriers on cafeteria tables , installed cardboard dividers between worker stations , and provided plastic face shields .
The basement worker ate his lunch in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day in recent weeks .
He worked 13 hours that shift , until every piece of pork passing through his station was packaged .
When he returned home , he took a seat at the kitchen table , his shoulders slumped , and told his family he didn ’ t have to go into work anymore .
“ He was just so relieved , ” his daughter recalled .
“ I ’ ve never seen him so tired.
” When she asked him if everyone else was done too , he shook his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to go in tomorrow.
” ●

Gatluak recalled hearing about a confirmed case on March 24 from his manager. Though this was the first known exposure at the facility, the manager announced “no changes” to operations, he said. The English-language notices telling people to go home if they felt ill appeared the next day, Gatluak recalled. “People were still reporting to work normally.”
The Argus Leader, Sioux Falls’ newspaper, broke the news of the first positive case on March 26. The next day, another Smithfield worker who had been out sick for several days began feeling short of breath and drained of energy, barely able to get out of bed, said her 20-year-old daughter, Amy Cruz. She went to the doctor, took a COVID-19 test, and four days later received a positive diagnosis. She immediately called a Smithfield HR representative to convey the result, Cruz said.
In the days that followed, as more workers called in sick with symptoms and tested positive, Smithfield bosses informed only employees “who may have come in contact with that person,” the spokesperson said — not the whole floor. The spokesperson said that exposed employees were placed on two-week paid quarantine leave but declined to say how many there have been.
The rest of the workforce continued on for a week without knowing how many of their colleagues had been infected, and with no additional protective equipment. Like many of the hundreds of thousands of hourly workers who supply the country with food and other necessities, they faced the choice of going without a paycheck or risking their health for jobs that typically pay less than $20 an hour.
Some Smithfield employees who spoke to BuzzFeed News requested anonymity because they feared getting fired, but two allowed their children to discuss the matter openly. For both daughters, Amy Cruz and Sara Telahun Birhe, the Smithfield plant was an ever-present backdrop since their earliest memories.
Cruz’s mother, four of her uncles, and an aunt have all worked at the plant for more than two decades since migrating from Guatemala; one of those uncles tested positive two weeks after Cruz’s mother did.
Birhe was 6 when her mother started working at the plant 16 years ago, after emigrating from Ethiopia, where she owned a café. They lived near the facility, in a neighborhood in northeastern Sioux Falls, where Birhe grew close with the children of other Smithfield workers: families from Mexico, Nepal, Honduras, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, and elsewhere. “Family events and birthday parties and weddings and quinceañeras,” she said. “Our parents worked this job, and because of that we were all friends.”
Her mom earned $17 an hour, which is nearly double the state's minimum wage, which went a long way in Sioux Falls. Over her years at the plant, she bought a car and a house and saved enough money to pay Birhe’s college tuition. She knew of one former Smithfield worker who went on to open a restaurant, another a grocery store.
Birhe and her cousins were used to seeing their parents come home from work exhausted, plopping down on the couch to rest before dinner, going to bed early for 6 a.m. shifts. But their parents’ sacrifice took on a new light when the pandemic reached the Smithfield plant. Birhe recalls a series of conversations with her cousins about whether they should try to get their parents to stop going to work. “Our parents were worried about paying our bills, and we were worried about their health,” she said.
Unemployment benefits aren’t available for people who quit their jobs without being sick or at a high risk, and many at Smithfield had built stable careers with higher pay than what would be available if they started fresh elsewhere. One worker’s daughter, who requested anonymity, said that she, her brother, and her mother had all been laid off or furloughed from their own jobs. For her father, who began at the plant 15 years ago after migrating from Mexico, “it wasn’t an option if you go to work,” she said. “He’s proud of what he does. He feeds so many people.”
Over the week following the first confirmed case at the plant, workers continued to dine in the cafeteria as normal. To keep production flowing seamlessly on all floors, crews synchronized their breaks based on their position on the processing line: On each floor, a team of workers would take lunch once they finished a batch and passed it down to the next team. They filed through hallways and staircases, joining teams from other floors in the sixth-floor cafeteria, which is mostly staffed by immigrants from Latin American countries. Gatluak found the meals delicious, he said: “Every day we get something new.” Three employees estimated that at least 200 people from various floors would be in the cafeteria at any given time.
On April 1, a day after Cruz’s mother tested positive, Smithfield management directed entire floors to take lunch breaks in deliberately staggered shifts to reduce crowds. But alongside those precautions came the announcement that lunch was now free, though some employees preferred to eat their homemade meals in the locker room rather than risk passing through the dining area. A Smithfield representative declined to comment on the free lunch.
Over the next few days, Smithfield started introducing new safety measures. Management put up new flyers encouraging social distancing in the cafeteria and set up tents outside the facility for mandatory temperature checks. Those with a fever were sent home with instructions for where to get tested.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-10--The Weirdness Of Watching New Seasons Of TV Made Before Lockdown

Filmed before the coronavirus locked down most of the world , the new seasons of Insecure and High Maintenance are stark reminders of a world that does n't exist anymore .
( Spoilers for High Maintenance . )
It took less than 10 minutes once I started watching the new season of Insecure for a throwaway line to jolt me back to our new , sobering reality .
Issa ( Issa Rae ) and Molly ( Yvonne Orji ) are shopping at a clothing store talking about Molly ’ s hot ( !
!
! )
new potential bae , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A nigga got jungle fever and he is infected , ” jokes Molly .
“ Okay , he patient zero in this motherfucker !
” replies Issa .
It ’ s an innocuous-enough joke , par for the course for the characters — but watching this episode weeks into pandemic-induced lockdown , I was jarred .
Though this new fourth season of Rae ’ s HBO comedy was obviously written and filmed before the coronavirus outbreak shut down most of the world , watching the five episodes of Insecure made available for critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ machine and traveling back to an alternate universe .
It ’ s a world where people in Los Angeles still go to busy coffee shops and bowling alleys , instigate late-night booty calls , and hike on Sundays with people they don ’ t live with .
That the new season is centered around Issa ’ s attempts to mount a block party in Inglewood certainly doesn ’ t help with the surreality of watching the show now .
Remember block parties ?
Where strangers inevitably rub up against each other , jostling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food with their germ-infested , unwashed hands ?
Insecure is not the only TV show where this disconnect will occur , of course ; new and forthcoming seasons of many series that are supposed to be set in contemporary times will automatically seem antiquated by default when they eventually air .
The new fourth season of High Maintenance , whose finale aired on HBO last Friday , is also wild to watch now — hinging as it does on chance encounters between New Yorkers and a weed dealer who is n't afraid to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment .
Both shows adhere to a certain kind of verisimilitude .
They ’ re both comedies anchored by the details of daily life in bustling big cities that allude to current events , be they politics or economic struggles , in a way that makes watching them now , as we live through an unprecedented time , feel particularly strange .
They are stark reminders of the world we used to live in — a world that doesn ’ t exist anymore .
From its conception , Insecure has straddled the line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was a noted and unexplained cosmetic glow-up for every character in Season 2 , some uncomfortable realities have also found their way into this sun-kissed LA , where a surplus of beautiful black men of all shades date dark-skinned black women with natural hair .
In Season 3 , Trump ’ s election — and the ancillary bigotry against Latino people that has festered since then — appears in subtle ways .
Issa and Frieda ( Lisa Joyce ) , her coworker at the perennially out-of-touch education nonprofit We Got Y ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the school they have been assigned to volunteer with .
It appears that the vice principal , a black man with a grating laugh , doesn ’ t like Latino students and won ’ t help Issa and Frieda try to increase enrollment with that demographic .
Issa ’ s doomed efforts to solve the problem eventually lead to her being demoted .
It ’ s a subtle example of a tension that is all too real — bigotry against Latinos in the black community does exist , and figuring out how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficult .
In other newsy plot points , Molly finds out she ’ s been making less money at work than her white peers , and Lawrence ( Jay Ellis ) has an app idea that isn ’ t properly critiqued because his white liberal bosses are too afraid of offending him to offer useful feedback .
Economic precarity is a part of this world too .
Lawrence starts the series unemployed and has to humble himself by taking a sales job at Best Buy ; when Issa ’ s rent goes up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to move out of her apartment and ends up ( inexplicably , given that she has family in the area ) living with a former boo for the free rent .
She also starts driving for Lyft .
Watching this new season , I couldn ’ t stop thinking about how screwed Issa would be in the current recession .
Her nascent career in event planning would be shuttered .
It ’ s unlikely she ’ d be able to make any real money driving with Lyft — even if she were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up passengers .
And certain aspects of Insecure that already bothered me , like the frustrating class stereotyping that rears its ugly head again in the season premiere , feel even more obnoxious given our current economic reality .
Issa is a property manager , and her interactions with tenants like Trina , a single mom with an attitude , are supposed to be comic relief .
But in light of the disproportionate number of black people who will be devastated by the developing recession and are unable to build wealth through homeownership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is not to say that the new season of Insecure is bad .
The petty relationship dramas that fuel the show are still compelling ; the sex scenes are both funny and hot , and there are some great one-liners .
( “ That missionary be hitting though.
” ) The outfits and hairstyles alone will make you ache to go to a day party — and then wonder when you ’ ll ever be able to go to a party again .
Such is everyday life with the coronavirus ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simple pleasures .
High Maintenance offers a similarly jarring viewer experience , depicting a New York City teeming with moments of poignant , unexpected community .
A charming weed dealer known only as The Guy ( Ben Sinclair ) traipses around the city on his bike selling pot as viewers get peeks into the lives of his buyers — from This American Life producers to an Upper East Side doorman .
The latest season , its fourth on HBO , has been uneven , though there have been certain standout episodes : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the life of an intimacy coordinator and her asexual love interest , and “ Solo , ” about a trans man ’ s crushing inability to be alone ( you certainly wonder how he ’ d cope in self-isolation ) .
High Maintenance , beloved by “ coastal elites ” like myself , certainly has a tendency to give its nonwhite and lower-income characters “ some quirk , hidden talent or non-normative sexuality , ” thus “ depend [ ing ] on its audience ’ s prejudices in order to undercut them , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an essay for the New York Times Magazine .
But the series ’ ability to remind us how similar we ultimately are to one another can still be very moving , even if it is a little cloying .
That sensibility has been baked into the DNA of the show , ever since Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld created it as a web series back in 2012 , before HBO picked it up in 2016 .
Take the Season 2 premiere , “ Globo.
” In the episode , an unexplained national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but it ’ s not explicit ) leaves the city reeling .
People check their phones in dismay .
Therapists are calling in sick , unable to help their clients .
“ Thank god you ’ re working , ‘ cause I woke up to an email that was like , ‘ Hey , Brian , we really need you to come in today , ’ and I was like , did you read the fucking news ?
” says one of The Guy ’ s customers , played with pitch-perfect hysteria by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a train car of subway passengers trying to keep a little boy ’ s balloon in the air as he and his dad ride home after a long day .
The implicit message : In moments of great stress and uncertainty , we seek solace where we can find it , even in the company of strangers .
That same idea is also present in the most recent season finale .
A Nor ’ easter upends travel plans for a flight attendant and her sister , so they are forced to stay at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a small apartment full of flight attendants from all over the world , waiting to get to their next destination on Christmas Day .
It ’ s a peak High Maintenance setup : all these people unexpectedly in one place , making due in a power outage and with limited bed space .
Watching the episode , which also features The Guy and his niece having a meaningful heart-to-heart over Hanukkah donuts , the reality of some of the more intangible things this current pandemic has taken from all of us really hits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tragedy or uncertainty or disaster , yes , we ’ ve hunkered down with loved ones — but we also go to the neighborhood bar or restaurant , talk to strangers on the street , offer platitudes to each other in attempts to make sense of it all .
Such things are rightfully impossible to do now .
It 's difficult not to feel some kind of nebulous grief as a result .
In the last scene of the finale , we see The Guy in the airport , embarking on a spontaneous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he walks to his gate , the camera lingers on passersby heading toward their own destinations .
It ’ s a fitting note for the show to end on , especially if the series isn ’ t renewed for another season .
Airports are hubs , full of strangers going about their business , all with thousands of stories individual to them , vectors of commerce and companionship .
But now the specter of our current crisis looms over all of this , and we inevitably see all those people as vectors of @ @ @ @ @ @

It took less than 10 minutes once I started watching the new season of Insecure for a throwaway line to jolt me back to our new, sobering reality. Issa (Issa Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji) are shopping at a clothing store talking about Molly’s hot (!!!) new potential bae, Andrew (Alexander Hodge). “A nigga got jungle fever and he is infected,” jokes Molly. “Okay, he patient zero in this motherfucker!” replies Issa. It’s an innocuous-enough joke, par for the course for the characters — but watching this episode weeks into pandemic-induced lockdown, I was jarred.
Though this new fourth season of Rae’s HBO comedy was obviously written and filmed before the coronavirus outbreak shut down most of the world, watching the five episodes of Insecure made available for critics felt like strapping myself into a time machine and traveling back to an alternate universe. It’s a world where people in Los Angeles still go to busy coffee shops and bowling alleys, instigate late-night booty calls, and hike on Sundays with people they don’t live with. That the new season is centered around Issa’s attempts to mount a block party in Inglewood certainly doesn’t help with the surreality of watching the show now. Remember block parties? Where strangers inevitably rub up against each other, jostling to see the headliner, eating street food with their germ-infested, unwashed hands?
Insecure is not the only TV show where this disconnect will occur, of course; new and forthcoming seasons of many series that are supposed to be set in contemporary times will automatically seem antiquated by default when they eventually air. The new fourth season of High Maintenance, whose finale aired on HBO last Friday, is also wild to watch now — hinging as it does on chance encounters between New Yorkers and a weed dealer who isn't afraid to visit people's apartments without personal protective equipment.
Both shows adhere to a certain kind of verisimilitude. They’re both comedies anchored by the details of daily life in bustling big cities that allude to current events, be they politics or economic struggles, in a way that makes watching them now, as we live through an unprecedented time, feel particularly strange. They are stark reminders of the world we used to live in — a world that doesn’t exist anymore.