npr--2020-06-10--Policing Is An 'Avatar Of American Racism,' Marshall Project Journalist Says

Policing Is An 'Avatar Of American Racism , ' Marshall Project Journalist Says In the wake of George Floyd 's death at the hands of police , protesters across the country are demanding systemic changes in the way American police forces operate and are funded .
Journalist Jamiles Lartey says the discussion about policing feels different now than it has in the past .
`` You 're hearing so much less of the 'few bad apples ' argument and so much more of the , 'What is wrong with this system ? '
[ argument ] , '' he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Marshall Project , a nonprofit news organization that covers the U.S. criminal justice system .
He previously reported on criminal justice , race and policing for The Guardian , where he was part of a team that created an online database tracking police violence in 2015 and 2016 .
Lartey notes that America 's model of policing is a relatively recent phenomenon : `` Policing was n't always this way .
It was n't always this big .
It was n't always this bureaucratic , '' he says .
`` Modern policing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and listeners recognize today — is really a product of the 20th century . ''
He says that Floyd 's death — and the deaths of other black people in police custody — highlight the need to change a broken system .
`` There 's so many things that we currently ask our police to respond to — whether it 's a noise complaint or a car accident — that do n't necessarily fit into a reason why someone would need to show up with a deadly weapon , '' Lartey says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to rethink institutions , especially when they 're relatively new , especially when they 've changed a lot over the last 20 , 30 or 40 years . ''
On destructive acts of protest , like looting and arson I think it is important to keep in mind that to the extent that there has been destructive acts of protests , looting , that there 's a range of causes : Are there passionate , angry people who were lashing out in grief and frustration ?
Yes .
Are there anti-capitalists who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of revolutionary praxis and are using this as an opportunity ?
Yes .
Are there pure opportunists who want to get free stuff and are taking advantage of the chaos ?
Definitely .
Are there chaos agents who are trying to give the protesters a bad name and potentially see violence against them ?
It appears that that was the case as well .
So I think it 's really important that when we are trying to analyze these moments that we 're not reductive about the socio-economic phenomena , like destructive protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's an important distinction between measuring the efficacy of violent protests or destructive protests versus the morality of it .
The morality of it is going to be personal and subjective .
Most of us can think of moments and places where we find violence or destruction useful and justified , and moments where we do n't .
Now , the efficacy of it is something that we can probably wrap our heads around .
But again , it 's complicated .
If the point is to get attention , then destruction works @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hearts and minds and the political center , then it probably does n't .
And if holding public officials hostage and forcing them to appease your demands is the point , it might depend on the public official .
I think something that you 'll hear a lot ... is that , `` Two wrongs do n't make a right , '' which is an ethical and spiritual intuition in many traditions , but it 's not a particularly American one .
Our whole criminal justice system is based on the premise that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humans and fining poor people money they do n't have are morally wrong , but it 's how we define justice in most cases in this country .
On a model of protest used in the '80s and '90s , where protest organizers met with police beforehand — and why that model is less common now The negotiated management model of protest is this idea that community thought leaders would be meeting with police .
Ahead of a protest , they 'd say , `` Here 's what we 're going to protest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how .
This is how we expect it all to go down . ''
And they 'd come up with a plan to essentially let people exercise their First Amendment rights in the fullest way possible .
And there would be this expectation on both sides that the police would stick to the plan that they agreed to , that the protesters would stick to the plan that they agreed to .
This took a lot of the uncertainty and mistrust out of the calculation and allowed people to express themselves .
... @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was always very clear who community thought leaders were , and in many respects , they were folks who are connected to the establishment ... church leaders , people in the church , the spiritual religious leaders .
Now , that 's not necessarily the folks who are leading Black Lives Matter protests today .
Some of them are .
Some of them are n't .
So I think there 's a lot of reasons why that model has fallen out of favor .
I think it largely has to do with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to do with just a changing cultural attitude about how police approach their job .
But it also has to do with the fact that I think , ideologically and structurally , in many ways , the police and the folks who are protesting are further away from one another within the society , whereas before they were both members of an establishment and a community .
On a softer way of policing protests known as the `` Madison model '' I spoke to [ former Madison , Wis. , Police Chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in many ways the forefather of this kind of softer approach to policing protests .
... And what he described to me is you show up in regular uniforms , people can see your face .
( This was obviously outside the context of a pandemic . )
You listen , you relate .
You talk to people about their grievance .
And in exchange for asking officers to make themselves fairly vulnerable in this way , you have these more well-equipped cops waiting somewhere close by in case things go bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talked to him , he said ... `` You never , never , never , never start with the show of force and power because it ratchets up everyone 's expectations for violence and ... generate [ s ] it . ''
And again , just when we think about escalation and de-escalation , that makes sense .
You show up with the most aggressive version of how you can respond to something , and it ratchets up the perception of everyone who 's there of where this is going to go .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ chiefs told me over and over again [ that ] just showing up in soft uniforms to a protest full of angry people does not in and of itself guarantee a peaceful , satisfactory resolution .
The work starts before that .
There needs to be some baseline level of trust between police and between a community that they 're going to do what they said they were going to do .
If you 're talking about one of these pre-negotiated plans for a protest , that they 're going to abide by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of trust between police and a community , and too often it 's overdrawn in both directions , and there 's no way to really approach it as anything but a war .
As one of the retired law enforcement folks I spoke to said , `` The time to make friends is before you need them . ''
On why reforms within the Minneapolis police department did n't prevent George Floyd 's death Malcolm X once said , `` You ca n't legislate goodwill . ''
And I think it 's maybe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our time .
And if I can take the liberty of elaborating on it , I 'd say you ca n't regulate goodwill or implement it with a consent decree or a strategic policy initiative either .
So , yes , we can outline specific line-level reforms that were promised and not implemented or implemented unevenly or ineffectively .
Let 's take neck restraints , for example .
Many departments have chosen to ban those outright .
But when the Minneapolis police department addressed them in 2014 , they chose to leave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was permissible , then so too was this kind of restraint .
It maybe makes sense that if you 're legally justified to pull out your gun and shoot someone , you 're also justified to choke them .
That 's the argument that 's typically made , and a lot of use of force policies make it .
But by leaving that carve out , there 's a significant ambiguity there in the policy .
You 're asking officers , in the heat of the moment , or in the heat of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about whether or not this particular situation merits or makes it reasonable to restrain someone 's neck in that way .
But putting aside that specific example , a lot of changes were made .
The Minneapolis department adopted a slew of changes after this voluntary review in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Justice .
And they automated their system for flagging problem officers as the Department of Justice recommended .
They rewrote their use of force policy with a focus on the `` sanctity of life . ''
They required officers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abusive in front of them .
And all of those would seem to be measures that would have lessened the possibility that an incident like what happened to George Floyd would happen .
But they did n't .
And so I think that 's going to beg some really tough questions moving forward for reformers about why not .
And I kind of think it comes back to the words of Malcolm X : If there is a culture in an organization whereby the application of force to black bodies is the norm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's the M.O .
You ca n't really policy change that away .
The news that the city plans to disband its police department and kind of functionally start over again seems to be a recognition of that fact , as does this newfound popularity broadly of defund and abolition movements .
On why screening for racist officers is not going to fix the problem of racism in police departments I 've always found it instructive to think of the police and policing as this kind of avatar of American racism .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the folks who we hire to actuate something that 's far more distant than a person 's individual biases .
I 'm sure listeners will be familiar with the Central Park incident involving Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper [ no relation ] a few weeks back : A white woman was walking her dog off leash .
This black man , Christian Cooper , asked her to put her dog on the leash , per the park rules .
And she instantly seemed to feel very threatened and started calling the police and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threatened by a black man .
This went viral just before George Floyd was killed .
And part of the reason that the Amy Coopers of the world feel so comfortable using the police as their own kind of personal racism valet is because that 's in line with how they 've operated in our society .
Which is to say , even if you or I or we have never called the police on a black person for some deeply unserious reason , as a society we outsource the keeping of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... And this is so important : Officers themselves do not have to be ideologically white supremacist to be performing that function .
So we spend a lot of time on this surface level question of how do we get police officers as individuals or as departments to treat black people better .
But in sum , the way police treat black people in America is symptomatic of how America feels about black people , which is this state of conditional citizenship steeped in mistrust and in fear .
Amy Salit and Seth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this interview .
Bridget Bentz , Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web .

Policing Is An 'Avatar Of American Racism,' Marshall Project Journalist Says
Enlarge this image toggle caption Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images
In the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of police, protesters across the country are demanding systemic changes in the way American police forces operate and are funded.
Journalist Jamiles Lartey says the discussion about policing feels different now than it has in the past. "You're hearing so much less of the 'few bad apples' argument and so much more of the, 'What is wrong with this system?' [argument]," he says.
Lartey is a staff writer for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that covers the U.S. criminal justice system. He previously reported on criminal justice, race and policing for The Guardian, where he was part of a team that created an online database tracking police violence in 2015 and 2016.
Lartey notes that America's model of policing is a relatively recent phenomenon: "Policing wasn't always this way. It wasn't always this big. It wasn't always this bureaucratic," he says. "Modern policing — the policing that you and I and listeners recognize today — is really a product of the 20th century."
He says that Floyd's death — and the deaths of other black people in police custody — highlight the need to change a broken system.
"There's so many things that we currently ask our police to respond to — whether it's a noise complaint or a car accident — that don't necessarily fit into a reason why someone would need to show up with a deadly weapon," Lartey says. "Sometimes as a society, you need to rethink institutions, especially when they're relatively new, especially when they've changed a lot over the last 20, 30 or 40 years."
Interview highlights
On destructive acts of protest, like looting and arson
I think it is important to keep in mind that to the extent that there has been destructive acts of protests, looting, that there's a range of causes: Are there passionate, angry people who were lashing out in grief and frustration? Yes. Are there anti-capitalists who see looting and destruction as a form of revolutionary praxis and are using this as an opportunity? Yes. Are there pure opportunists who want to get free stuff and are taking advantage of the chaos? Definitely. Are there chaos agents who are trying to give the protesters a bad name and potentially see violence against them? It appears that that was the case as well. So I think it's really important that when we are trying to analyze these moments that we're not reductive about the socio-economic phenomena, like destructive protests or looting. ...
I think there's an important distinction between measuring the efficacy of violent protests or destructive protests versus the morality of it. The morality of it is going to be personal and subjective. Most of us can think of moments and places where we find violence or destruction useful and justified, and moments where we don't. Now, the efficacy of it is something that we can probably wrap our heads around. But again, it's complicated. If the point is to get attention, then destruction works. If the point is to win hearts and minds and the political center, then it probably doesn't. And if holding public officials hostage and forcing them to appease your demands is the point, it might depend on the public official.
I think something that you'll hear a lot ... is that, "Two wrongs don't make a right," which is an ethical and spiritual intuition in many traditions, but it's not a particularly American one. Our whole criminal justice system is based on the premise that two wrongs make a right. Caging humans and fining poor people money they don't have are morally wrong, but it's how we define justice in most cases in this country.
On a model of protest used in the '80s and '90s, where protest organizers met with police beforehand — and why that model is less common now
The negotiated management model of protest is this idea that community thought leaders would be meeting with police. Ahead of a protest, they'd say, "Here's what we're going to protest. Here's when and where and how. This is how we expect it all to go down." And they'd come up with a plan to essentially let people exercise their First Amendment rights in the fullest way possible. And there would be this expectation on both sides that the police would stick to the plan that they agreed to, that the protesters would stick to the plan that they agreed to. This took a lot of the uncertainty and mistrust out of the calculation and allowed people to express themselves. ...
That was in a moment where it was always very clear who community thought leaders were, and in many respects, they were folks who are connected to the establishment ... church leaders, people in the church, the spiritual religious leaders. Now, that's not necessarily the folks who are leading Black Lives Matter protests today. Some of them are. Some of them aren't. So I think there's a lot of reasons why that model has fallen out of favor. I think it largely has to do with the militarization of U.S. police. It largely has to do with just a changing cultural attitude about how police approach their job. But it also has to do with the fact that I think, ideologically and structurally, in many ways, the police and the folks who are protesting are further away from one another within the society, whereas before they were both members of an establishment and a community.
On a softer way of policing protests known as the "Madison model"
Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael Jackson/The Marshall Project Michael Jackson/The Marshall Project
I spoke to [former Madison, Wis., Police Chief] David Cooper, who I see is in many ways the forefather of this kind of softer approach to policing protests. ... And what he described to me is you show up in regular uniforms, people can see your face. (This was obviously outside the context of a pandemic.) You listen, you relate. You talk to people about their grievance. And in exchange for asking officers to make themselves fairly vulnerable in this way, you have these more well-equipped cops waiting somewhere close by in case things go bad.
But David Cooper, when I talked to him, he said ... "You never, never, never, never start with the show of force and power because it ratchets up everyone's expectations for violence and ... generate[s] it." And again, just when we think about escalation and de-escalation, that makes sense. You show up with the most aggressive version of how you can respond to something, and it ratchets up the perception of everyone who's there of where this is going to go. ...
Law enforcement officials and former police chiefs told me over and over again [that] just showing up in soft uniforms to a protest full of angry people does not in and of itself guarantee a peaceful, satisfactory resolution. The work starts before that. There needs to be some baseline level of trust between police and between a community that they're going to do what they said they were going to do. If you're talking about one of these pre-negotiated plans for a protest, that they're going to abide by that. There's this metaphorical bank of trust between police and a community, and too often it's overdrawn in both directions, and there's no way to really approach it as anything but a war. As one of the retired law enforcement folks I spoke to said, "The time to make friends is before you need them."
On why reforms within the Minneapolis police department didn't prevent George Floyd's death
Malcolm X once said, "You can't legislate goodwill." And I think it's maybe one of the most astute political observations of our time. And if I can take the liberty of elaborating on it, I'd say you can't regulate goodwill or implement it with a consent decree or a strategic policy initiative either. So, yes, we can outline specific line-level reforms that were promised and not implemented or implemented unevenly or ineffectively.
Let's take neck restraints, for example. Many departments have chosen to ban those outright. But when the Minneapolis police department addressed them in 2014, they chose to leave this carve out where if deadly force was permissible, then so too was this kind of restraint. It maybe makes sense that if you're legally justified to pull out your gun and shoot someone, you're also justified to choke them. That's the argument that's typically made, and a lot of use of force policies make it. But by leaving that carve out, there's a significant ambiguity there in the policy. You're asking officers, in the heat of the moment, or in the heat of several moments, to make a distinction about whether or not this particular situation merits or makes it reasonable to restrain someone's neck in that way.
But putting aside that specific example, a lot of changes were made. The Minneapolis department adopted a slew of changes after this voluntary review in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Justice. And they automated their system for flagging problem officers as the Department of Justice recommended. They rewrote their use of force policy with a focus on the "sanctity of life." They required officers to intervene when a fellow cop became abusive in front of them. And all of those would seem to be measures that would have lessened the possibility that an incident like what happened to George Floyd would happen. But they didn't. And so I think that's going to beg some really tough questions moving forward for reformers about why not.
And I kind of think it comes back to the words of Malcolm X: If there is a culture in an organization whereby the application of force to black bodies is the norm, that's the expectation. It's the M.O. You can't really policy change that away. The news that the city plans to disband its police department and kind of functionally start over again seems to be a recognition of that fact, as does this newfound popularity broadly of defund and abolition movements.
On why screening for racist officers is not going to fix the problem of racism in police departments
I've always found it instructive to think of the police and policing as this kind of avatar of American racism. The police are racism representatives.
I've always found it instructive to think of the police and policing as this kind of avatar of American racism. The police are racism representatives. They are the folks who we hire to actuate something that's far more distant than a person's individual biases.
I'm sure listeners will be familiar with the Central Park incident involving Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper [no relation] a few weeks back: A white woman was walking her dog off leash. This black man, Christian Cooper, asked her to put her dog on the leash, per the park rules. And she instantly seemed to feel very threatened and started calling the police and telling them that she was being physically threatened by a black man. This went viral just before George Floyd was killed.
And part of the reason that the Amy Coopers of the world feel so comfortable using the police as their own kind of personal racism valet is because that's in line with how they've operated in our society. Which is to say, even if you or I or we have never called the police on a black person for some deeply unserious reason, as a society we outsource the keeping of the racial order to police every day. ... And this is so important: Officers themselves do not have to be ideologically white supremacist to be performing that function.
So we spend a lot of time on this surface level question of how do we get police officers as individuals or as departments to treat black people better. But in sum, the way police treat black people in America is symptomatic of how America feels about black people, which is this state of conditional citizenship steeped in mistrust and in fear.
Amy Salit and Seth Kelley produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.


npr--2020-06-11--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak Since the new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan , China , in December , the infectious respiratory disease COVID-19 has spread rapidly within China and to neighboring countries and beyond .
The first confirmed coronavirus cases outside China occurred on Jan. 20 , in Japan , Thailand and South Korea .
On Jan. 21 , the first case in the U.S. was identified in Washington state .
On Jan. 24 , the first two European cases were confirmed in France .
By Feb. 1 , eight European nations had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month later that count had risen to 24 countries with at least 2,200 cases , most of them in Italy .
On March 11 , Italy eclipsed 10,000 cases and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic — the first since H1N1 in 2009 .
That 's also when China , the original epicenter , began seeing drops in daily counts of new cases .
March also saw exponential spread of the virus throughout the U.S. , with all 50 states reporting cases by March 17 .
This particular virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the third strain of coronavirus known to frequently cause severe symptoms in humans .
The other two strains cause Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome .
Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States .
This story was originally published on March 30 , 2020 .

Coronavirus world map: We've now passed the 600 million mark for infections
Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated. The last update was Sept. 5, 2022. For current data about COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data are useful resources.
In late January 2020 only a few dozen COVID-19 infections had been identified outside of China. A year later, the world tallied its first 100 million cases. It took the globe just 7 more months to pass the 200 million mark— then another 5 months to hit 300 million, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Now the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and has been blamed for more than 6 million deaths.
The United States, India and Brazil in that order have had the most COVID cases and the three nations collectively account for almost half of all recorded infections so far in the pandemic.
Explore the chart below to find a country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January 2020.
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Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time. The first chart compares each continent to each other, while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region.
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This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.


npr--2020-06-11--Tracking The Pandemic: Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State?

Tracking The Pandemic : Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State ?
More than 2 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 110,000 have died .
The growth in new cases and deaths overall has at least temporarily slowed , but that pattern has n't been consistent across the country .
New hot spots are emerging as others subside .
Many states began relaxing some social distancing measures in May , and health leaders are watching for signs that the virus is starting to spread more aggressively .
In the graphics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases in your state to see whether cases are rising , falling or staying level .
To jump to a map of total cases and deaths by state , click here .
The following chart displays states ' trends in new daily case counts , total cases , and per capita totals .
To compare state outbreaks , the trend lines for average new daily cases are graphed against each state 's total case count to date .
This highlights a state 's daily growth relative to the overall size of its outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counts grow quickly , the curve bends upward .
As cases slow , the curve levels or bends down .
In New York , site of the country 's largest outbreak , the state 's curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
Since then , new cases have fallen from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to 1,000 per day in early June .
Some states , such as Hawaii , have declined to just a handful of new cases per day , while others are growing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ around 15,000 total cases in May , saw a sudden increase in new cases in June .
The coronavirus has hit some states much harder than others .
For much of the pandemic , a large share of U.S. cases have been centered around New York City .
As of early June , New York state , Connecticut and New Jersey accounted for about 30 % of total cases in the nation and 42 % of deaths , although new cases have been dropping in these three states .
Across the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California , Illinois and Texas have high totals as well .
Some smaller states have had a heavy burden of disease relative to their population size , such as Nebraska and Iowa , which have high case counts per capita , and Louisiana and Michigan which have a high death count per capita .
Explore the map below to see totals and per capita figures around the country .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
For more detail on your state , the table below shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day in each state , week over week .
States marked in shades of red are showing growth , those in shades of green , are showing declines .
The data used here are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn contributed to and Carmel Wroth edited this story .

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
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The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-06-11--Five Coronavirus Treatments In Development

Right now , there is only one drug shown by rigorous scientific testing to be helpful for treating COVID-19 .
That drug is the antiviral remdesivir made by Gilead Sciences .
But remdesivir 's proven benefits are modest : reducing hospital stays from 15 to 11 days .
So there 's an urgent need for better therapies .
The good news : there are some on the horizon .
Some are being tested now , some will be begin testing soon , and others are in the beginning of the pipeline .
Researchers are expecting to see a benefit from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is plasma taken from patients who have had the disease and recovered .
Their plasma contains the antibodies their bodies made to successfully fight off the disease , so the theory goes that giving those antibodies to people currently sick with COVID-19 could help them recover .
It 's an approach that has been used in the past to treat diseases for which there were no effective medicines , including SARS and Ebola , although results are mixed .
There are several efforts underway to expand the use of convalescent plasma for treating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been proven .
Mayo Clinic leads one effort , Michigan State University leads another .
A similar approach uses something called hyperimmune globulins .
These are concentrated versions of the antibodies contained in the convalescent plasma .
In addition to using plasma products for therapy , they might also be used to prevent infection in medical workers and other high-risk individuals .
Remdesivir is what 's known as an antiviral drug .
It blocks the ability of the coronavirus to make copies of itself and thereby spread through someone 's body .
Antiviral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other viral infections including HIV are also being tried for COVID-19 , so far without proven success .
But a new kind of antiviral drug that appears promising is called EIDD-2801 .
It was created by scientists at a not-for-profit biotech company owned by Emory University .
Studies in animals have shown it can reduce the symptoms of SARS , another disease caused by a coronavirus .
Last month , the pharmaceutical giant Merck signed a collaborative agreement with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop EIDD-2801 , which has already begun testing in humans in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EIDD-2801 has over remdesivir is it can be taken as a pill rather than intravenously .
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made molecules that can mimic the human immune system 's antibodies .
They can be used to target cancer cells , or other undesirable cells such as those that have been infected with viruses .
They have been used successfully to treat a wide ranger of diseases , from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis .
They work by supplementing a person 's own immune system with antibodies targeted against a specific invader .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antibodies targeted against specific regions of the coronavirus .
From the earliest days on the pandemic , researchers have focused on monoclonal antibodies as a potential treatment .
There are dozens of groups working on making versions of monoclonal antibodies .
The first to begin studies in humans is one developed by the Canadian biotech company AbCellera and the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly .
A second drug based on monoclonal antibodies begins trials in humans today .
The drug is actually a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies .
It 's made by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paper in the journal Science , company scientists show the cocktail approach can reduce the chance the virus will develop resistance to the drug .
The new drug will be tested both as a treatment for patients with both mild and severe COVID-19 disease , and as a way to prevent people at high risk of getting infected with the coronavirus from developing disease .
One of the features of the coronavirus that makes it so devastating to human health is its ability to send some 's immune system into overdrive .
Inflammation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's own efforts to fight off a disease .
But if that inflammation runs out of control , it can cause severe damage .
In the case of COVID-19 , that damage is frequently to the lungs , making it hard for a patient to breath .
There are a variety to drugs already on the market that can be used to tamp down the immune response , and there are existing several drugs being tested on patients with COVID-19 .
The problem with these drugs is they suppress someone 's immune system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ability to fight off the virus , thereby making the viral infection worse .
Clinicians say it will take time to learn when and how much of these drugs to use to be of most help to patients .
It may be possible to design novel drugs for COVID-19 that are different from anything that currently exists .
To that end , the White House has launched a The COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium .
Part of the idea is to create computer models for how the virus infects cells , and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It 's also possible that computing and artificial intelligence could identify existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19 .
It also could be used to track best practices in the way treatments are used .

Five Coronavirus Treatments In Development
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Right now, there is only one drug shown by rigorous scientific testing to be helpful for treating COVID-19. That drug is the antiviral medication called remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences. But remdesivir's proven benefits are modest: reducing hospital stays from 15 to 11 days.
So there's an urgent need for better therapies. The good news is that there are some on the horizon. Some are being tested now, some will be begin testing soon, and others are in the beginning of the pipeline.
Convalescent plasma
Researchers are expecting to see a benefit from treating COVID-19 with convalescent plasma. This is plasma taken from patients who have had the disease and recovered. Their plasma contains the antibodies their bodies made to successfully fight off the disease, so the theory goes that giving those antibodies to people currently sick with COVID-19 could help them recover. It's an approach that has been used in the past to treat diseases for which there were no effective medicines, including SARS and Ebola, although results are mixed.
There are several efforts underway to expand the use of convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19 patients even before its benefit has been proven. The Mayo Clinic is leading one effort, Michigan State University leads another.
A similar approach uses something called hyperimmune globulins. These are concentrated versions of the antibodies contained in the convalescent plasma.
In addition to using plasma products for therapies, they might also be used to prevent infection in medical workers and other high-risk individuals.
Antivirals
Remdesivir is what's known as an antiviral drug. It blocks the ability of the coronavirus to make copies of itself and thereby spread through someone's body.
Antiviral drugs that have been used to treat other viral infections including HIV are also being tried for COVID-19, so far without proven success.
But a new kind of antiviral drug that appears promising is called EIDD-2801. It was created by scientists at a not-for-profit biotech company owned by Emory University. Studies in animals have shown it can reduce the symptoms of SARS, another disease caused by a coronavirus. Last month, the pharmaceutical giant Merck signed a collaborative agreement with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop EIDD-2801, which has already begun testing in humans in the United Kingdom. One significant advantage EIDD-2801 has over remdesivir is that it can be taken as a pill rather than intravenously.
Monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made molecules that can mimic the human immune system's antibodies. They can be used to target cancer cells, or other undesirable cells, such as those that have been infected with viruses. They have been used successfully to treat a wide ranger of diseases, from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis.
They work by supplementing a person's own immune system with antibodies targeted against a specific invader. In the case of COVID-19, that would be antibodies targeted against specific regions of the coronavirus.
From the earliest days on the pandemic, researchers have focused on monoclonal antibodies as a potential treatment.
"There are a variety of monoclonal antibodies in development that look very good," says John Mellors, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The first to begin studies in humans is one developed by the Canadian biotech company AbCellera and the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
A second drug based on monoclonal antibodies begins trials in humans today. The drug is actually a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies, made by the pharmaceutical company Regeneron.
In a forthcoming paper in the journal Science, company scientists show the cocktail approach can reduce the chance the virus will develop resistance to the drug.
The new drug will be tested both as a treatment for patients with both mild and severe COVID-19 disease, and as a way to prevent people at high risk of getting infected with the coronavirus from developing the disease.
Immune modulators
One of the features of the coronavirus that makes it so devastating to human health is its ability to send someone's immune system into overdrive.
Inflammation is a result of the immune system's own efforts to fight off a disease but if that inflammation runs out of control, it can cause severe damage. In the case of COVID-19, that damage is frequently to the lungs, making it hard for a patient to breathe.
There are a variety to drugs already on the market that can be used to tamp down the immune response, and there are existing several drugs being tested on patients with COVID-19. The problem with these drugs is they suppress the immune system, so they may reduce someone's ability to fight off the virus, thereby making the viral infection worse. Clinicians say it will take time to learn when and how much of these drugs to use to be of most help to patients.
The future
It may be possible to design novel drugs for COVID-19 that are different from anything that currently exists. To that end, the White House has launched a The COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium. Part of the idea is to create computer models for how the virus infects cells, and then create ways to block that infection process. It's also possible that computing and artificial intelligence could identify existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19. It also could be used to track best practices in the way treatments are used.


npr--2020-06-11--Trump To Address 'Disparities' At Dallas Event

President Trump on Thursday will meet with pastors , law enforcement officials and small business owners at a church in Dallas and is expected to discuss plans for a national `` holistic revitalization and recovery , '' a White House official said .
In his latest response to protests over police brutality , sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis , Trump is expected to discuss ways to address `` historic economic , health and justice disparities in American communities '' at the event , the official said .
This comes as demonstrators and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ additional visibility to the social and economic hardships faced by many racial minorities in the country .
It was unclear how detailed Trump 's discussion would be .
On Wednesday , White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump had been working on `` proposals to address the issues that the protesters had raised across the country , legitimate issues '' for 10 days but said she was not certain it would be revealed on Thursday .
Trump is also set to hold a fundraising event while in Dallas , his first in-person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump , who has campaigned on `` law and order '' themes and has been backed by police unions , has faced condemnation over his response to the protests .
Polling shows most Americans think Trump has increased racial tensions .
Trump held a roundtable at the White House with law enforcement officials on Monday , where he suggested that he was open to ideas for how policing can be done `` in a much more gentle fashion , '' but he has resisted suggestions that systemic racism is a problem in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focus on his administration 's economic and criminal justice reform initiatives , saying that a strong economy was the `` greatest thing that could happen for race relations . ''
In the Wednesday briefing , McEnany took the same approach , declining to say whether the president believed there was a problem with institutional racism within the United States and instead pointing to what she described as Trump 's belief in the fundamental goodness of most police officers .
`` There are injustices that we have seen , clearly .
That tape of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , difficult to watch , and it was really a beautiful funeral yesterday , all the great testimonies to his life .
We recognize those injustices , '' McEnany said .
`` But this president knows fundamentally that most police officers in this country are good . ''

Trump Outlines 4-Point Plan To Address 'Disparities' At Dallas Event
Enlarge this image toggle caption NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Updated at 7:55 p.m ET
President Trump on Thursday met with pastors, law enforcement officials and small-business owners at a church in Dallas to discuss plans to "build safety, opportunity and dignity," following recent nationwide protests against police brutality.
"It's going to end up very good for everybody," Trump said.
The new model calls for: increasing access to capital for small business owners in minority communities; confronting racial disparities in health care; an executive order to encourage police departments to meet professional standards for use of force and de-escalation tactics, as well as a pilot program for social workers to work with police departments; and a push for Congress to enact school choice – a longstanding policy of his administration.
Trump's remarks, a response to recent protests and calls for racial justice sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, did not mention Floyd by name. But, he continued to speak harshly of the protesters who have demonstrated in large numbers across the country in response to the killing and lavished praise on police and law enforcement.
Attorney General William Barr, who has also taken a hard line against protesters, also attended the event.
Floyd's death, as well as other recent high-profile killings of black people at the hands of white police officers, have been decried as racist. Activists say these incidents are indicative of broader, systemic issues with the manner in which law enforcement engage with minority communities.
Trump, who has himself faced criticisms of engaging in racist and culturally insensitive rhetoric, called on Americans to avoid accusing others of racial prejudices.
"Americans are good and virtuous people. We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear. But we'll make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labeling tens of millions of decent Americans as racist or bigots," Trump said.
The administration's four-point plan, which a White House official described as a move towards "holistic revitalization and recovery," comes as demonstrators and officials across the country have called for additional visibility to the social and economic hardships faced by many racial minorities in the country.
The Dallas trip comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working on legislation to address violence and racial profiling in policing.
Democrats in the House have introduced the wide-ranging Justice in Policing Act, which, among other actions, would ban the use of chokeholds and lift restrictions on pursuing cases of misconduct against officers.
Senate Republicans, led by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, are working on their own set of changes. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who is part of the group working on the GOP plan, says they are focusing on increasing transparency, particularly in cases of use of force, and funding for body cameras. In an interview with NPR, Lankford also mentioned a lack of diversity in law enforcement recruiters and bolstering efforts to have police departments "match the ethnicity of the actual community."
Trump, who has campaigned on "law and order" themes and has been backed by police unions, has faced condemnation over his response to the protests. Polling shows most Americans think Trump has increased racial tensions.
Trump held a roundtable with law enforcement officials on Monday at the White House, where he suggested that he was open to ideas for how policing can be done "in a much more gentle fashion," but he has resisted suggestions that systemic racism is a problem in policing.
Trump has also sought to focus on his administration's economic and criminal justice reform initiatives, saying that a strong economy was the "greatest thing that could happen for race relations."
Responding to a question of whether the president believed there was a problem with institutional racism within the United States, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday took the same approach, declining to address whether Trump believed in systemic racism and instead pointed to what she described as Trump's belief in the fundamental goodness of most police officers.
"There are injustices that we have seen, clearly. That tape of George Floyd was inexcusable, gut wrenching, difficult to watch, and it was really a beautiful funeral yesterday, all the great testimonies to his life. We recognize those injustices," McEnany said.
"But this president knows fundamentally that most police officers in this country are good."


npr--2020-06-11--A GOP Congressman Officiated A Same-Sex Wedding. Now He Faces A Primary Challenge

Alex Pisciarino and Rek LeCounte 's wedding day last July was hot — the kind of soupy mid-summer heat that slows the South to a crawl .
`` We warned everybody to wear seersucker and some light fabric , '' LeCounte said .
`` And some folks did n't did n't listen to us and you could tell how they wish they had . ''
The couple was married by Rep. Denver Riggleman , R-Va. , who represents Charlottesville and southwestern Virginia .
They 'd volunteered for Riggleman 's 2018 congressional campaign and liked his libertarian brand of conservatism .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ if I did n't , '' Riggleman said of the request in an interview .
`` The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln , we 're the party of individual liberty . ''
But it 's also the party whose 2016 national platform called marriage between a man and woman `` the foundation for a free society . ''
A 2019 Pew poll found around 45 % of Republican voters support same-sex marriage , a number that has steadily increased over time .
The wedding sparked a backlash and nomination challenge from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seat when local Republicans members meet this weekend for a convention to ratify their party 's candidates this fall 's election .
For Good , a born-again evangelical Christian and former Liberty University athletics director , Riggleman 's laissez-faire approach to same-sex marriage is emblematic of failings that make him unfit for office .
It 's not just same-sex marriage .
In a debate with Riggleman last month on WINA , Good claimed his rival harbors liberal tendencies .
`` He 's out of step with the base of the party on life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's out of step on marriage .
He 's out of step on immigration .
He 's out of step on health care , on climate , on drug legalization . ''
It may not matter that President Donald Trump tweeted in December that Riggleman had his `` Total Endorsement , '' or that Riggleman has so far raised eight times as much money as his challenger .
Virginia allows political parties to choose between an party-run nominating convention or a primary .
Riggleman 's fate rests with roughly 3,500 party activists at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The relatively small number of convention-goers could mean Riggleman is in trouble , according to Kyle Kondik , managing editor of Sabato 's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics .
`` It restricts the people who can participate to people who are involved Republican activists who are more conservative even than your average Republican primary voter , '' Kondik said .
The risk for those party activists , Kondik said , is that Good could be a less attractive candidate in the general election .
Kondik said Republicans already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Representatives .
If the GOP has to spend money to boost Good in a district that Trump won by 13 points , he thinks that climb could be even steeper .
`` They seem very caught up in this gay marriage issue when I think a lot of Republicans — and a lot conservatives — have moved on from it , '' Kondik said .
On key votes related to LGBTQ rights , Riggleman has also stuck to the party line .
He voted against Democratic efforts to enshrine sexual orientation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and voted against a resolution that condemned Trump 's ban on allowing transgender people to serve in the military .
Republicans have n't won a statewide seat in Virginia since 2009 — a reflection , Kondik said , of their unwillingness to elect more moderate candidates that would be palatable to a diversifying state .
For months after the wedding , Pisciarino and LeCounte were flooded with messages .
Some people questioned their conservative credentials , calling them `` sodomites , '' and arguing that same-sex couples could not constitute a family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that getting to know the couple had caused them to turn a corner .
For LeCounte , the aftermath strengthened his resolve to re-elect Riggleman to get out a message : `` You can support LGBT equality and still be a staunch conservative , and , surprise , surprise , get elected and win elections . ''
First , Riggleman has to clear Saturday 's convention vote .
The decision to hold a convention rather than a more open primary was made by a powerful district committee .
Two members of the committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` There 's nothing wrong with people on the district committee supporting or working for candidates , '' Good told Charlottesville talk radio station WINA in an interview in April .
`` All it has to do is be disclosed . ''
Riggleman said the party convention process is corrupt and said he would not commit to endorsing Good if he 's defeated .
`` They know they ca n't beat me any other way , '' Riggleman said .
`` Anywhere else , that would be called bribery . ''
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have lined up to take on the winner of Saturday 's convention .
All have raised more money than Good but not Riggleman .

A GOP Congressman Officiated A Same-Sex Wedding. Now He Faces A Primary Challenge
Alex Pisciarino and Rek LeCounte's wedding day last July was hot — the kind of soupy mid-summer heat that slows the South to a crawl.
"We warned everybody to wear seersucker and some light fabric," LeCounte said. "And some folks didn't didn't listen to us and you could tell how they wish they had."
The couple was married by Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., who represents Charlottesville and southwestern Virginia. They'd volunteered for Riggleman's 2018 congressional campaign and liked his libertarian brand of conservatism.
"I'd have been a coward if I didn't," Riggleman said of the request in an interview. "The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln, we're the party of individual liberty."
But it's also the party whose 2016 national platform called marriage between a man and woman "the foundation for a free society." A 2019 Pew poll found around 45% of Republican voters support same-sex marriage, a number that has steadily increased over time.
The wedding sparked a backlash and nomination challenge from Bob Good that may cost Riggleman his seat when local Republicans members meet this weekend for a convention to ratify their party's candidates this fall's election. For Good, a born-again evangelical Christian and former Liberty University athletics director, Riggleman's laissez-faire approach to same-sex marriage is emblematic of failings that make him unfit for office.
It's not just same-sex marriage. In a debate with Riggleman last month on WINA, Good claimed his rival harbors liberal tendencies.
"He's out of step with the base of the party on life," Good said. "He's out of step on marriage. He's out of step on immigration. He's out of step on health care, on climate, on drug legalization."
It may not matter that President Donald Trump tweeted in December that Riggleman had his "Total Endorsement," or that Riggleman has so far raised eight times as much money as his challenger.
Virginia allows political parties to choose between an party-run nominating convention or a primary. Riggleman's fate rests with roughly 3,500 party activists at a drive-in convention set for Saturday.
The relatively small number of convention-goers could mean Riggleman is in trouble, according to Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
"It restricts the people who can participate to people who are involved Republican activists who are more conservative even than your average Republican primary voter," Kondik said.
The risk for those party activists, Kondik said, is that Good could be a less attractive candidate in the general election. Kondik said Republicans already have an uphill climb retaking the House of Representatives. If the GOP has to spend money to boost Good in a district that Trump won by 13 points, he thinks that climb could be even steeper.
"They seem very caught up in this gay marriage issue when I think a lot of Republicans — and a lot conservatives — have moved on from it," Kondik said.
On key votes related to LGBTQ rights, Riggleman has also stuck to the party line. He voted against Democratic efforts to enshrine sexual orientation and gender as protected classes in anti-discrimination law, and voted against a resolution that condemned Trump's ban on allowing transgender people to serve in the military.
Republicans haven't won a statewide seat in Virginia since 2009 — a reflection, Kondik said, of their unwillingness to elect more moderate candidates that would be palatable to a diversifying state.
For months after the wedding, Pisciarino and LeCounte were flooded with messages. Some people questioned their conservative credentials, calling them "sodomites," and arguing that same-sex couples could not constitute a family.
Others, however, told them that getting to know the couple had caused them to turn a corner. For LeCounte, the aftermath strengthened his resolve to re-elect Riggleman to get out a message: "You can support LGBT equality and still be a staunch conservative, and, surprise, surprise, get elected and win elections."
First, Riggleman has to clear Saturday's convention vote. The decision to hold a convention rather than a more open primary was made by a powerful district committee. Two members of the committee have received payments from Good's campaign.
"There's nothing wrong with people on the district committee supporting or working for candidates," Good told Charlottesville talk radio station WINA in an interview in April. "All it has to do is be disclosed."
Riggleman said the party convention process is corrupt and said he would not commit to endorsing Good if he's defeated.
"They know they can't beat me any other way," Riggleman said. "Anywhere else, that would be called bribery."
Some Democrats see an opportunity. Four candidates have lined up to take on the winner of Saturday's convention. All have raised more money than Good but not Riggleman.


npr--2020-06-11--Yosemite Welcomes Back Visitors After Coronavirus Closure

When Sacramento area couple Amy George and her husband Kyle Monhollen heard Yosemite National Park was reopening Thursday , they rushed online to see if any day passes were left .
`` I was drinking my coffee , '' she said .
`` I was like , I 'm just gon na see .
July 22 has some day passes .
Great !
That 's our 20th anniversary , Kyle and I . ''
Yosemite is opening with many restrictions after shutting down in March to protect people from COVID-19 .
Only about half of the average June visitors will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make an online reservation for each car .
Also , park shuttles are n't operating .
The park began accepting reservations Tuesday .
It will issue 1,700 day passes each day and an additional 1,900 passes for reservations at campsites or hotels in the park .
`` We 're going to be monitoring conditions daily .
We 're going to make adjustments as needed .
And we 're going to work to maintain safe conditions for visitors , '' said Jamie Richards , a spokesperson for the park .
Those who arrive at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away at the gate .
People who visit on Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System ( YARTS ) , by bus , on foot or on horseback do n't need a day-use reservation .
Annual pass holders will still need to get a day-use reservation ahead of time .
Only two campsites are open , one larger site with a limit at 50 % capacity and a smaller camp that allows horses .
Other camp facilities are closed due to staffing .
During the nearly three-month closure , wildlife has flourished with the usual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it 'll be interesting to see how animals in the park respond again to people .
`` We 've seen a lot of bears out and active , '' she said .
`` We will see when the park reopens how the animals continue to react and adapt to visitors coming back . ''
The closure and scaled-down reopening are having a huge affect on communities and businesses that surround the park .
`` It 's a light at the end of the tunnel , '' said Tony McDaniel with the Yosemite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visitors spent more than $ 1.7 billion in the four California counties that surround the park .
Brooke Smith , with Visit Yosemite Madera County , said that could drop by as much as half this year .
`` Between fires and government shutdowns this is definitely the longest we 've ever gone with Yosemite National Park being closed , '' she said .
Smith said it 's not all negative for short-term rental owners , because people are escaping the Central Valley for places like Bass Lake near the park .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so much business for their vacation rental properties , '' she said .
`` It 's very interesting .
People are loving the Airbnb model right now and they are booked and sold-out in many places . ''
Even with the shutdown the real estate market in the hills of Madera County has been in a decent place , said Katie Miller , an Oakhurst-based London Properties realtor .
She thought she was going to see a downturn in sales when COVID-19 restrictions began , but she said `` fortunately for us , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ locked in with family members or people for two months .
They feel like they need a bigger home like real quick . ''
One company anticipating the opening is the Yosemite Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad , which shut down with the rest of California in March .
`` We lost every single tour group and school group that we had coming up here , '' said Scott McGhee , who runs the operation .
This is n't the first time the historic railroad has had to close down .
`` We 've @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control , '' McGhee said .
`` The last major one being a wildfire that happened very close to our property .
And then another wildfire that happened miles away from here , but the smoke affected us . ''
McGhee is excited the park is reopening and is glad there 's a raft of new safety protocols in place , including only accepting online reservations .
`` We do n't want to attract huge groups of people , '' he said .
`` We hope that in those cities and surrounding communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Others like Colette Goga , who runs the dog-friendly Yosemite Wine Tails on Highway 41 into Yosemite , said she almost went out of business .
She said she did n't qualify for federal small business loans .
`` It 's been harsh , '' she admitted .
`` That 's three months rent , three months of utilities and zero income .
It 's been eye opening , gut wrenching .
`` To only be open for four or five months will pretty much catch me up , '' she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down again for three more months and I 'm going to be toast . ''

Yosemite Welcomes Back Visitors After Coronavirus Closure
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ezra David Romero/CapRadio Ezra David Romero/CapRadio
When Sacramento-area couple Amy George and her husband Kyle Monhollen heard Yosemite National Park was reopening Thursday, they rushed online to see if any day passes were left.
"I was drinking my coffee," she said. "I was like, I'm just gonna see. July 22 has some day passes. Great! That's our 20th anniversary, Kyle and I."
Yosemite is opening with many restrictions after shutting down in March to protect people from COVID-19. Only about half of the average June visitors will be allowed in, and they must make an online reservation for each car. Also, park shuttles aren't operating.
The park began accepting reservations Tuesday. It will issue 1,700 day passes each day and an additional 1,900 passes for reservations at campsites or hotels in the park.
"We're going to be monitoring conditions daily. We're going to make adjustments as needed. And we're going to work to maintain safe conditions for visitors," said Jamie Richards, a spokesperson for the park.
Those who arrive at the park without reservations will be turned away at the gate. People who visit on Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS), by bus, on foot or on horseback don't need a day-use reservation. Annual pass holders will still need to get a day-use reservation ahead of time.
Only two campsites are open, one larger site with a limit at 50% capacity and a smaller camp that allows horses. Other camp facilities are closed because of limited staffing.
During the nearly three-month closure, wildlife has flourished without the usual human visitors and their cars. Richards said it'll be interesting to see how animals in the park respond again to people.
"We've seen a lot of bears out and active," she said. "We will see when the park reopens how the animals continue to react and adapt to visitors coming back."
The closure and scaled-down reopening are affecting communities and businesses that surround the park.
"It's a light at the end of the tunnel," said Tony McDaniel with the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau.
Last year visitors spent more than $1.7 billion in the four California counties that surround the park. Brooke Smith, with Visit Yosemite Madera County, said that could drop by as much as half this year.
"Between fires and government shutdowns, this is definitely the longest we've ever gone with Yosemite National Park being closed," she said.
Smith said it's not all negative for short-term rental owners, because people are escaping the Central Valley for places like Bass Lake near the park.
"We have businesses who have never seen so much business for their vacation rental properties," she said. "It's very interesting. People are loving the Airbnb model right now and they are booked and sold-out in many places."
Even with the shutdown, the real estate market in the hills of Madera County has been in a decent place, said Katie Miller, an Oakhurst-based London Properties realtor.
She thought she was going to see a downturn in sales when COVID-19 restrictions began, but she said "fortunately for us, sometimes, you know, you get locked in with family members or people for two months. They feel like they need a bigger home like real quick."
One company anticipating the opening is the Yosemite Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad, which shut down with the rest of California in March.
"We lost every single tour group and school group that we had coming up here," said Scott McGhee, who runs the operation.
This isn't the first time the historic railroad has had to close down.
"We've had our share of incidents beyond our control," McGhee said. "The last major one being a wildfire that happened very close to our property. And then another wildfire that happened miles away from here, but the smoke affected us."
McGhee is excited the park is reopening and is glad there's a raft of new safety protocols in place, including only accepting online reservations.
"We don't want to attract huge groups of people," he said. "We hope that in those cities and surrounding communities they come and rediscover us this summer."
Others like Colette Goga, who runs the dog-friendly Yosemite Wine Tails on Highway 41 into Yosemite, said she almost went out of business. She said she didn't qualify for federal small business loans.
"It's been harsh," she admitted. "That's three months rent, three months of utilities and zero income. It's been eye opening, gut wrenching.
Goga plans to reopen this weekend.
"To only be open for four or five months will pretty much catch me up," she said. "But you shut me down again for three more months and I'm going to be toast."


npr--2020-06-11--Released From Iranian Prison, U.S. Student Xiyue Wang Says He Was Held As A 'Hostage'

Released From Iranian Prison , U.S. Student Xiyue Wang Says He Was Held As A 'Hostage' Until his release in December , American student Xiyue Wang spent more than three years behind bars in Iran — not because Iranian authorities hoped to glean any information from him , he says , but because they believed he would be useful in their negotiations with the U.S. Wang , a naturalized U.S. citizen and graduate student at Princeton University , was released in a prisoner exchange between the two countries .
He says he had been in Iran for academic research related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something Princeton — which made behind-the-scenes efforts to secure his release — confirmed .
Iranian authorities sentenced Wang in 2017 to 10 years in prison for espionage .
But the officials who interrogated him over the years did n't seem to care much about what he did or did n't know , according to Wang .
He says he was being held for different reasons .
`` They told me quite explicitly just that 'we need a deal with America , ' `` he tells Steve Inskeep of NPR 's Morning Edition .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he says .
`` They said , 'We want our money back from the United States .
We want our detainees back , and you have to be a spy in order for that to happen . '
`` Iranian officials threatened that he would not see his wife and son if he did not confess , he says .
So , he says they ordered him simply to write , in English and Persian , that he was a spy .
`` One sentence , '' he explains : `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States . '
That 's it . ''
`` I was a hostage , '' he adds .
`` They made it very clear .
They did n't use the word 'hostage , ' but from what they described the situation , I was a hostage .
'It 's not important what you 've done ' — they told me , 'We know what you have done — but it is important that you are a spy , so we can make a deal with United States . '
`` Wang ultimately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ north of Tehran , during which he says he was tried in court and sentenced without being allowed to see evidence against him .
Now he is back in the U.S. , studying and teaching again at Princeton .
Diplomats from both countries agreed to swap him with an Iranian scientist , Massoud Soleimani , whom U.S. authorities had accused of violating trade sanctions .
After a struggle to publicize Wang 's cause and obtain his release , his wife Hua Qu calls the experience and its safe conclusion `` a victory of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his wife and son in December in Germany , where U.S. and international authorities managed the exchange .
`` That moment , I felt as if time had stopped for us for three-and-a-half years , '' he remembers .
But of course , it had n't : `` My son — he was very different , taller .
He was a chubby little boy as a 3-year-old , when I left .
Now he 's 7 . ''
Wang says he learned an important lesson during his ordeal that he 'd like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's not a `` good idea '' for U.S. nationals to visit Iran until the relationship between the two countries stabilizes .
But aside from that takeaway , he says he remains confused about what the travail was all for , exactly .
`` Of course I was angry .
I think that that 's to be expected .
Who would n't be , if a person spends 40 months in prison for nothing ? ''
he says .
`` But I do n't exactly know — and it is to my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wang says he hopes one day he will find out what really happened .

Released From Iranian Prison, U.S. Student Xiyue Wang Says He Was Held As A 'Hostage'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Until his release in December, American student Xiyue Wang spent more than three years behind bars in Iran — not because Iranian authorities hoped to glean any information from him, he says, but because they believed he would be useful in their negotiations with the U.S.
Wang, a U.S. citizen and graduate student at Princeton University, was released in a prisoner exchange between the two countries.
He says he had been in Iran for academic research related to his doctorate in Eurasian history, something Princeton — which made behind-the-scenes efforts to secure his release — confirmed.
Iranian authorities sentenced Wang in 2017 to 10 years in prison for espionage.
But the officials who interrogated him over the years didn't seem to care much about what he did or didn't know, according to Wang. He says he was being held for different reasons.
Enlarge this image toggle caption U.S. State Department via AP U.S. State Department via AP
"They told me quite explicitly just that 'we need a deal with America,' " he tells Steve Inskeep of NPR's Morning Edition.
"They were very straightforward about that," he says. "They said, 'We want our money back from the United States. We want our detainees back, and you have to be a spy in order for that to happen.' "
Iranian officials threatened that he would not see his wife and son if he did not confess, he says.
So, he says they ordered him simply to write, in English and Persian, that he was a spy.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
"One sentence," he explains: "'I am a spy for the United States.' That's it."
"I was a hostage," he adds. "They made it very clear. They didn't use the word 'hostage,' but from what they described the situation, I was a hostage. 'It's not important what you've done' — they told me, 'We know what you have done — but it is important that you are a spy, so we can make a deal with United States.' "
Wang ultimately spent some 40 months in a prison north of Tehran, during which he says he was tried in court and sentenced without being allowed to see evidence against him.
Now he is back in the U.S., studying and teaching again at Princeton. Diplomats from both countries agreed to swap him with an Iranian scientist, Massoud Soleimani, whom U.S. authorities had accused of violating trade sanctions.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
After a struggle to publicize Wang's cause and obtain his release, his wife Hua Qu calls the experience and its safe conclusion "a victory of humanity and diplomacy."
Wang reunited with his wife and son in December in Germany, where U.S. and international authorities managed the exchange.
"That moment, I felt as if time had stopped for us for three-and-a-half years," he remembers. But of course, it hadn't: "My son — he was very different, taller. He was a chubby little boy as a 3-year-old, when I left. Now he's 7."
Wang says he learned an important lesson during his ordeal that he'd like to see other scholars follow — that it's not a "good idea" for U.S. nationals to visit Iran until the relationship between the two countries stabilizes.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
But aside from that takeaway, he says he remains confused about what the travail was all for, exactly.
"Of course I was angry. I think that that's to be expected. Who wouldn't be, if a person spends 40 months in prison for nothing?" he says. "But I don't exactly know — and it is to my great interest to find out."
Wang says he hopes one day he will find out what really happened.


npr--2020-06-11--Thousands Of Workers Say Their Jobs Are Unsafe As Economy Reopens

Thousands Of Workers Say Their Jobs Are Unsafe As Economy Reopens The past few months have weighed heavily on Edgar Fields .
He 's been meeting with workers at chicken processing plants around Georgia and nearby states .
His union represents them , and many have become sick .
Some have died .
`` You know , you lay in the bed and you ca n't sleep because stuff is on your mind ?
I 've got to do this .
I 've got to do that , '' he says .
`` That 's what I wake up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do to protect my members to where they have a safe work environment to go to ? ''
For example , Fields says , take a Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Camilla , Ga. Tyson confirms more than 100 workers there tested positive for the coronavirus and four died .
Fields says the company promised to spread the workers out 6 feet apart .
But it 's not doing that everywhere in the plant .
`` In some places they have n't spread them out at all , '' Fields says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ He says the company could do it if it processed fewer chickens .
He 's also pushing for on-site testing for the coronavirus at the plant .
Tyson tells NPR in a statement , `` Our top priority is the health and safety of our team members . ''
The company says it 's checking workers ' temperatures and requiring them to wear masks .
And that they wear face shields in `` the limited areas in the plant where neither barriers nor physical separation is feasible . ''
The company also says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' federal safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .
But therein lies the heart of a big problem , according to safety advocates .
The federal government has issued guidelines for employers during the outbreak — but those are n't mandatory or enforceable .
`` They have decided not to issue any specific requirements for employers to keep workers 6 feet apart , to keep workers in masks , '' says Debbie Berkowitz , a former chief of staff at OSHA .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ can comply with it , or they can ignore it . ''
As a result , she says , `` OSHA has received thousands of complaints from terrified workers from all over the economy . ''
Berkowitz is now working with the nonprofit National Employment Law Project .
She says there are still some things workers can do .
If an employer is n't following even the suggested federal guidelines from OSHA and the CDC , workers should still file a complaint with OSHA .
She says you can do that confidentially at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the employer , and that in itself can be a strong nudge to improve safety measures .
`` Sometimes that can make all the difference in the world , '' she says .
Workers may also have state-level protections .
`` There are states where the governors have , by executive order to protect the public , have set some real requirements in the workplace , '' Berkowitz says .
`` Workers really need governors and health departments to step in because the federal government has failed here . ''
Loren Sweatt , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , says the agency is not failing workers .
`` We have over 5,000 complaints , and our inspectors are investigating all of them , '' Sweatt said at a recent hearing in Congress .
`` So yes , the agency has been doing its job since the beginning of this pandemic . ''
The AFL-CIO disagrees .
The big labor union group is suing OSHA to get it to issue emergency national mandatory safety requirements for the outbreak .
Meanwhile , the economy continues to reopen .
And while meat processing plants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outbreaks , people with plenty of other types of jobs are worried about their safety , too .
`` I 'm feeling anxious .
It 's stressful because I feel like my back is up against a wall , '' says Ashley Weiner , a hairstylist who has two young children in Portland , Ore .
Hair salons are about to reopen there , and she 'll need to make money .
So she 'll be touching clients ' heads and breathing next to them indoors all day .
She says she worries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to get high-quality face masks .
`` I know people who work in the medical field here , and they say they do n't have enough supplies themselves , so then how are we going to be getting access to these supplies ? ''
Weiner asks .
Berkowitz says you can call your state health department , governor 's office and attorney general 's office to find out what the state-level protections are in your area .
Another issue advocates for workers are watching : Republican lawmakers in Washington want to shield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contract the coronavirus .
The lawmakers argue that employers need that protection to reopen , but critics say it would result in more unsafe workplaces .

Thousands Of Workers Say Their Jobs Are Unsafe As Economy Reopens
Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael Conroy/AP Michael Conroy/AP
The past few months have weighed heavily on Edgar Fields. He has been meeting with workers at chicken processing plants across Georgia and in nearby states. His union represents them, and many have become sick. Some have died.
"You know, you lay in the bed and you can't sleep because stuff is on your mind? I've got to do this. I've got to do that," he says. "That's what I wake up in every morning thinking, 'What can I do to protect my members to where they have a safe work environment to go to?' "
For example, Fields says, take a Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Camilla, Ga. Tyson confirms more than 100 workers there tested positive for the coronavirus and four died. Fields says the company promised to spread the workers out 6 feet apart.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
But it's not doing that everywhere in the plant. "In some places, they haven't spread them out at all," Fields says. "They're still close." He says the company could do it if it processed fewer chickens. He's also pushing for on-site testing for the coronavirus at the plant.
Tyson tells NPR in a statement, "Our top priority is the health and safety of our team members." The company says it's checking workers' temperatures and requiring them to wear masks. And that they wear face shields in "the limited areas in the plant where neither barriers nor physical separation is feasible."
The company also says its safety measures "meet or exceed" federal safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
But therein lies the heart of a big problem, according to safety advocates. The federal government has issued guidelines for employers during the outbreak — but those aren't mandatory or enforceable.
"They have decided not to issue any specific requirements for employers to keep workers 6 feet apart, to keep workers in masks," says Debbie Berkowitz, a former chief of staff at OSHA. "The guidance is voluntary. Employers can comply with it, or they can ignore it."
As a result, she says, "OSHA has received thousands of complaints from terrified workers from all over the economy." Berkowitz is now working with the nonprofit National Employment Law Project.
She says there are still some things workers can do. If an employer isn't following even the suggested federal guidelines from OSHA and the CDC, workers should still file a complaint with OSHA. She says that can be done confidentially at osha.gov.
Berkowitz says OSHA will contact the employer, and that in itself can be a strong nudge to improve safety measures. "Sometimes that can make all the difference in the world," she says.
Workers may also have state-level protections.
"There are states where the governors have, by executive order to protect the public, have set some real requirements in the workplace," Berkowitz says. "Workers really need governors and health departments to step in because the federal government has failed here."
Loren Sweatt, the top Trump administration official overseeing OSHA, says the agency is not failing workers. "We have over 5,000 complaints, and our inspectors are investigating all of them," Sweatt said at a recent hearing in Congress. "So yes, the agency has been doing its job since the beginning of this pandemic."
But Berkowitz says almost none of those investigations have been on-site, in-person inspections, which could result in enforcement actions. And she says that with only voluntary federal guidelines, there's not much OSHA can do in the way of enforcement anyway.
The AFL-CIO disagrees. The big labor union group is suing OSHA to get it to issue emergency national mandatory safety requirements for the outbreak.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mike Goetz Mike Goetz
Meanwhile, the economy continues to reopen. And while meat processing plants have seen some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks, people with plenty of other types of jobs are worried about their safety, too.
"I'm feeling anxious. It's stressful because I feel like my back is up against a wall," says Ashley Weiner, a hairstylist who has two young children in Portland, Ore.
Hair salons are about to reopen there, and she'll need to make money. So she'll be touching clients' heads and breathing next to them indoors all day. She says she worries that customers and salons won't be able to get high-quality face masks.
"I know people who work in the medical field here, and they say they don't have enough supplies themselves, so then how are we going to be getting access to these supplies?" Weiner asks.
Berkowitz says you can call your state health department, governor's office and attorney general's office to find out what the state-level protections are in your area.
Another issue advocates for workers are watching: Republican lawmakers in Washington want to shield employers from legal liability if their workers contract the coronavirus. The lawmakers argue that employers need that protection to reopen, but critics say it would result in more unsafe workplaces.


npr--2020-06-11--Music Teacher's 'Weekend' Project Turns Into Almost 40,000 Face Shields

Face shields are critical gear for those on the front line of the ongoing coronavirus crisis .
But like other pieces of PPE , they often still are n't available .
But one volunteer group , using 3D printers at home , has made nearly 40,000 NIH-approved face shields for health care workers and first responders — from New Jersey to the Navajo Nation .
Jacob Ezzo is a beloved middle school chorus teacher in South Orange , N.J. , who 's earned commendations for his ability to get kids to love music .
In mid-March , Ezzo school was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` We went home Friday on that half day thinking it was just going to be a 72-hour , use up our snow days , clean the school and come back '' situation , he says .
Ezzo had bought himself a 3D printer a few months earlier , and he 'd seen some blueprints online for how to make face shields .
He figured he 'd experiment over the long weekend .
`` It was on Sunday that I printed it off , my first one , because I was like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I 'll do something interesting , ' `` he laughs .
The teacher thought this would just be a short-term project to help out .
`` When we all started this , '' he says , `` we thought , 'We 're acting as a stopgap .
We 're plugging a small hole in the dam until the big industries come online and take over . '
And they just never came . ''
Soon , Ezzo had connected with dozens of other volunteers — not just in his community , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the SOMA New Jersey 3D Printers Alliance ; SOMA stands for the neighboring towns of South Orange and Maplewood .
( The sibling communities are suburbs of New York City and adjacent to the city of Newark .
Their county , Essex , is among the hardest hit in New Jersey — a national hotspot for the coronavirus . )
Just as Ezzo encourages his students to sing , he helped connect some of them with the volunteer effort .
Zubin Kremer Guha , 18 , is a high school senior from South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He 's also one of Ezzo 's former students .
`` One of the biggest things I do is the robotics club , '' Kremer Guha explains .
`` That 's actually how I first got into 3D printing , to make parts for those robots .
I saw the opportunity where I could help people out in this hard time .
So I thought , if I can , why not ? ''
This student has become the most prolific printer in the group .
So far , he 's printed more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on several machines that hum away 24 hours a day .
He 's also one of the lead coordinators on the project — all while he 's finishing up his senior year and taking his AP exams .
His mom , Devyani Guha , who is also another group coordinator , says that he is going through an astonishing amount of plastic filament to print the shields .
`` Zubin actually did some personal fundraising and we stockpiled what at that time seemed like a huge number of us .
We got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my God , we are set . '
'' They were n't .
They 've since bought about 300 kilos of filament , and their house has been pretty much taken over by spools and printers .
Another organizer is Nino Badridze , a psychology professor living in Maplewood .
She says that she wanted to be able to be proud of what she did to serve others during the pandemic .
`` In 10 , 20 , 30 , 40 years ' time , '' she observes , `` we are all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and think about how we walked through them .
And sitting at home and baking bread was not as gratifying , although I do that a lot too ! ''
So far , the group has delivered more than 39,000 face shields , including to more than three dozen hospitals .
Frances Jacobus-Parker is another volunteer coordinator ; she 's an art historian in Princeton .
She says needs are shifting — away from hospitals and more towards long-term care facilities , like nursing homes .
`` Everybody recognizes this is a crazy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jacobus-Parker observes .
`` This is not how how these how medical supplies sort of ideally should be being produced .
They should be produced in large-scale manufacturing facilities .
But it 's been a remarkably effective way to get PPE into the hands of people who need it . ''
The group has already been hailed by N.J. Gov .
Phil Murphy — and Jacob Ezzo says that the volunteers will keep on making the face shields , for as long as they 're needed .
`` Every step of the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a whole team of people that have stepped up selflessly just to help out , which I think has been just absolutely incredible .
And we 've been able to take whoever has shown up wanting and willing to help , whether they are a grandparent or 7 years old . ''
The littlest ones are helping to assemble the shields — so the older volunteers can ship them , or drive them to the people who need them .

Music Teacher's 'Weekend' Project Turns Into Almost 40,000 Face Shields
Enlarge this image toggle caption Anastasia Tsioulcas/NPR Anastasia Tsioulcas/NPR
Face shields are critical gear for those on the front line of the ongoing coronavirus crisis. But like other pieces of PPE, they often still aren't available. But one volunteer group, using 3D printers at home, has made nearly 40,000 NIH-approved face shields for health care workers and first responders — from New Jersey to the Navajo Nation.
Jacob Ezzo is a beloved middle school chorus teacher in South Orange, N.J., who's earned commendations for his ability to get kids to love music.
In mid-March, Ezzo's school was suspended as the coronavirus crisis set in. "We went home Friday on that half day thinking it was just going to be a 72-hour, use up our snow days, clean the school and come back" situation, he says.
Ezzo had bought himself a 3D printer a few months earlier, and he'd seen some blueprints online for how to make face shields. He figured he'd experiment over the long weekend. "It was on Sunday that I printed it off, my first one, because I was like, 'Oh, I have Monday off. I'll do something interesting,' " he laughs.
The teacher thought this would just be a short-term project to help out. "When we all started this," he says, "we thought, 'We're acting as a stopgap. We're plugging a small hole in the dam until the big industries come online and take over.' And they just never came."
Soon, Ezzo had connected with dozens of other volunteers — not just in his community, but across New Jersey. They call themselves the SOMA New Jersey 3D Printers Alliance; SOMA stands for the neighboring towns of South Orange and Maplewood. (The sibling communities are suburbs of New York City and adjacent to the city of Newark. Their county, Essex, is among the hardest hit in New Jersey — a national hotspot for the coronavirus.)
Just as Ezzo encourages his students to sing, he helped connect some of them with the volunteer effort. Zubin Kremer Guha, 18, is a high school senior from South Orange who attends Columbia High School. He's also one of Ezzo's former students.
"One of the biggest things I do is the robotics club," Kremer Guha explains. "That's actually how I first got into 3D printing, to make parts for those robots. I saw the opportunity where I could help people out in this hard time. So I thought, if I can, why not?"
Enlarge this image toggle caption Anastasia Tsioulcas/NPR Anastasia Tsioulcas/NPR
This student has become the most prolific printer in the group. So far, he's
printed more than 3,000 face shields at his home, on several machines that hum away 24 hours a day. He's also one of the lead coordinators on the project — all while he's finishing up his senior year and taking his AP exams.
His mom, Devyani Guha, who is also another group coordinator, says that he is going through an astonishing amount of plastic filament to print the shields.
"Zubin actually did some personal fundraising and we stockpiled what at that time seemed like a huge number of us. We got 26 spools and we thought, 'Oh my God, we are set.'"
They weren't. They've since bought about 300 kilos of filament, and their house has been pretty much taken over by spools and printers.
Another organizer is Nino Badridze, a psychology professor living in Maplewood. She says that she wanted to be able to be proud of what she did to serve others during the pandemic. "In 10, 20, 30, 40 years' time," she observes, "we are all going to think back to these times and think about how we walked through them. And sitting at home and baking bread was not as gratifying, although I do that a lot too!"
So far, the group has delivered more than 39,000 face shields, including to more than three dozen hospitals. Frances Jacobus-Parker is another volunteer coordinator; she's an art historian in Princeton. She says needs are shifting — away from hospitals and more towards long-term care facilities, like nursing homes.
"Everybody recognizes this is a crazy way to mass produce anything," Jacobus-Parker observes. "This is not how how these how medical supplies sort of ideally should be being produced. They should be produced in large-scale manufacturing facilities. But it's been a remarkably effective way to get PPE into the hands of people who need it."
The group has already been hailed by N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy — and Jacob Ezzo says that the volunteers will keep on making the face shields, for as long as they're needed.
"Every step of the way," Ezzo says, "there is a whole team of people that have stepped up selflessly just to help out, which I think has been just absolutely incredible. And we've been able to take whoever has shown up wanting and willing to help, whether they are a grandparent or 7 years old."
The littlest ones are helping to assemble the shields — so the older volunteers can ship them, or drive them to the people who need them.