npr--2020-10-14--How 3 Women From Wuhan Cope With COVID: Rap, Poetry And Moonpies

How 3 Women From Wuhan Cope With COVID : Rap , Poetry And Moonpies How have women from Wuhan , China , the former epicenter of the coronavirus crisis , been faring over the past few months ?
In some ways , they were the first guinea pigs of the pandemic .
As the world watched in shock as the city locked itself down to stop the spread of disease , not knowing that this extreme measure would soon be their own fate , these women faced unprecedented mental , physical and emotional hurdles .
We spoke to three women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hubei province to see how they 've been coping during the pandemic : A rap mogul who sprang into action as a medical volunteer , a grandmother who 's happy to step outside again ( and tease her granddaughter in the U.S. ) and a writer now living in Las Vegas who uses her poetry to fight stereotypes against Chinese people — and finds joy by dancing hopelessly .
Read their stories , check out our special report on 19 women facing the coronavirus crisis — then find out how to nominate a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the story .
On a mid-September Saturday night in Wuhan , China , Deng Ge , founder of the hip-hop record label Bad Commune , walked into 404 Club .
Her label was co-hosting a hip-hop party at the bustling venue , and hundreds of fans gathered to see the show .
The sounds of music mixed with people cheering on the dance floor was deafening .
Only a few people in the audience were wearing a mask .
It 's hard to imagine that this was the same city that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a few months ago .
`` It feels like we just woke up from a nightmare , '' she said .
Deng , 42 , a single mom to a 6-year-old daughter , has been a part of Wuhan 's music scene for decades .
In college , she formed a band when punk rock reigned supreme in the city .
Then she discovered rap music .
Three years ago , she quit her job as an art school professor to found the all-female rap group Bad Girls .
`` None of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
`` We support each other . ''
Since COVID-19 cases in Wuhan have slowed down and the city reopened in April , Deng has been able to focus on her music again .
But things were n't always like this — especially at the beginning of the pandemic .
Deng first realized the coronavirus outbreak was worse than expected around the beginning of the Lunar New Year in January .
She saw a post on WeChat , the Chinese social media platform , of someone selling 10,000 masks — specifically for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something was really going wrong with Wuhan at that moment , '' Deng recalled .
Shortly thereafter , the city announced its lockdown .
Her instinctive reaction was to become a community volunteer , she said .
At that time , the outbreak was spreading rapidly .
All hospitals were extremely short of medical supplies .
Medical workers were desperately calling for help on social media .
Deng said that broke her heart .
She bought the 10,000 masks for 18,000 yuan ( $ 2,650 ) with her own money and donated them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she organized her own volunteer group with three women to coordinate donations and deliver more supplies to hospitals .
Deng called her team the `` Angel Squad . ''
Deng and the Angel Squad `` did n't take even one day off '' during the nearly 80 days of lockdown .
And because she did n't want to worry them , she did n't give her family too many details about what she was doing .
She was in and out of medical equipment factories and local hospitals , potentially exposing herself to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the government did not interfere .
Deng said that 's because they recognized how flexible and responsive the volunteers were .
These days , however , life almost feels back to normal , she said .
Deng is about to release Purgatory Pink , Bad Girls ' second album .
She 's hoping to line up more live concert gigs , which are now allowed in Wuhan .
During our conversation , Deng was sitting in her studio , in a tile-roofed house in a part of Wuhan called Hankou .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And it has a tiny garden where Deng 's cats like to play around .
She reflected on the months she spent living through Wuhan 's lockdown , which she described as an `` unbelievable and strange time . ''
She even tried not to read any news at the time .
`` I must stay emotionally stable , '' she said .
`` That is the way I protect myself . ''
All over China , her city is famous for its cherry blossoms .
As a local , Deng always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flowers .
But on the first day after Wuhan reopened , even though the blooming period was almost over and the flowers were about to wither away , she took another look .
`` It was the first time in my life that I realized how beautiful they are , '' she said .
Back To ( Almost ) Normal Life — And Even Teasing Her Granddaughter A blurry golden mass engulfed the screen during a video call as my Nainai 's voice chirped up from behind : `` It 's a meat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have them in the U.S .
I 'll freeze some for the next time you visit . ''
My grandma , Zhou Nai , is more optimistic about our eventual reunion than I am — but for good reason .
In Wuhan , everything has mostly returned to pre-pandemic life .
For the Mid-Autumn Festival , she 's going to watch a dazzling light show over the Yangtze River with my uncles ' families and millions of other mask-clad Wuhanese locals .
The countless mooncakes decorating her kitchen counter , a dessert eaten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the neighborhood mart or gifted from various relatives .
From this conversation , you 'd never have guessed this city was in total lockdown just months ago .
Nainai proudly rotated the mooncake around the camera before setting it down and showing her face again .
Not that it 's much easier to see her .
She does n't understand how cameras work , so each of our calls captures only a third of her face .
Technical barriers like these are the main challenges nowadays for my 80-year-old grandparents .
Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when they were isolated from the outside world for months , my 12-year-old cousin , Bean , just managed to teach them how to join WeChat video calls for weekly family check-ins .
But they felt left behind as activities they had always done in person , like grocery runs and health checks , migrated online .
`` Thankfully , a community helper came each week to ask if we needed anything .
Your uncle also dropped off food to us , '' she explained .
When the quarantine lifted , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just to the apartment courtyard to stretch their legs , then on to bus rides to the grocery store and the clinic .
At each stage they 'd have their temperature checked before stepping inside .
`` Have you gone to East Lake ? ''
I asked , recalling Wuhan 's largest park and one of their favorites .
She sighed .
`` No , they [ now ] require reservations through WeChat to limit crowds .
We have n't bothered to figure out how to do that . ''
Her son and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work and school .
Both of Bean 's parents work at a hospital , so they 're extremely careful each time they visit .
They change their clothes before entering and spray so much disinfectant that Nainai has to crack open a window .
My grandparents used to accompany Bean to school every morning and send him home-cooked meals .
Now , they choose their battles wisely every time they go outside .
`` Bean 's clothes permanently smell of chlorine now , '' Nainai joked .
`` We 've adopted many new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when we come home , steaming our bowls before eating and leaving chopsticks in the rice cooker to kill germs . ''
Sounds of chopping and oil sizzling punctuate the background of our calls .
My grandpa brings heaping dishes fresh from the wok — pan-fried noodles , fish and bok choy glazed in soy sauce , and a side of fermented tofu as a palate cleanser — as I watch enviously from the other side of the screen .
He likes to chase down his meal with a shot of baijiu , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nainai scolds him playfully .
At night , they play a few rounds of the popular Chinese card game Dou Dizhu ( `` Fight the Landlord '' ) before going to bed by 10 p.m. Nainai does n't like to talk much about her fears .
I asked if she knew of any friends who got COVID-19 , but she quickly brushed me off .
`` When you 're my age , people die left and right !
You find out when you realize they have n't called in a while , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
She waved her hand and looked away before smiling back at me .
`` I just hope I 'll live to see my grandkids get married .
Anyways , are you seeing anyone ? ''
We shared a sweet moment of laughter from opposite sides of the world .
Despite this unfortunate year , I 'm glad she still does n't hesitate to tease her granddaughter .
Her bright spirit pushes the family forward .
Here 's how the writer Sally Wen Mao has been spending the pandemic .
She 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on her new book .
Twice a week she goes to the swimming pool at her Las Vegas apartment building .
And she likes to `` dance hopelessly , '' she said — most recently to Spanish versions of songs from the '90s anime TV show Sailor Moon .
`` It 's embarrassing , '' she said .
`` But I 'm obsessed . ''
Mao , 33 , author of the critically acclaimed poetry collections Oculus : Poems and Mad Honey Symposium , was born in Wuhan , China , and moved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She said she 's been `` plugged into '' the pandemic since January , watching for news out of Wuhan where family members still live .
`` I 've had this year to think about the pandemic and see the ways in which it revitalizes this narrative of Chinese people being agents of disease , '' she said in a Zoom call from Vegas ( where she moved in March in advance of a literary fellowship at Black Mountain Institute ) .
A lime-green aurora swirled above her head in her virtual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been a way for her to make sense of COVID-19 and `` transmute all those feelings into something that other people can connect to . ''
In March , she wrote the poem `` Wet Market , '' published in Literary Hub .
In the early days of the pandemic , these markets were blamed as the source of COVID-19 .
`` It got me thinking about the ways we frame certain places when they are racialized .
People would n't be blaming farmers markets in Berkeley , '' she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wuhan at age 12 on her first trip back to China since she and her family left .
`` A lot of them were selling fruits and vegetables , '' said Mao .
In her poem she wrote : '' Wet markets are diverse — they 're like any other market , '' she says .
`` Some markets sell certain types of meat , but not all of them . ''
She 's also found great comfort in reading — mostly women authors : Bluebeard 's First Wife by Ha Seong-nan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Toni Morrison .
`` Other people 's art is a source of strength , '' said Mao .
While Mao said she 's been lucky during the pandemic — she has a place to live , a book to write — she 's been struck by `` how difficult it is to find intimacy . ''
`` I might see myself as accomplished in some ways , but if I 'm not in a romantic relationship , then that 's seen as a failure [ by society ] , '' she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more defined by their roles as wives , mothers and caregivers than themselves , she explained .
It 's a theme she 's been pushing back against in the book she 's now writing , a collection of fictional stories about the nine-tailed fox , a ubiquitous female spirit in Chinese folklore .
`` Young female ghosts are the most tragic figures in Chinese culture , '' she said .
`` They do n't have children to pray for them or give them offerings .
So they are cut off from the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's tragic about them is that they 're unmarried , '' she added .
Mao admits that she 's been struggling with loneliness and isolation .
But lately she 's been more perturbed by current events .
They 've filled her with a sense of hopelessness — an absence of `` a sense of future . ''
So she 's been turning over this line of poetry in her head , from `` wo n't you celebrate with me '' by Lucille Clifton : We 'd like to tell more stories about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Is there a woman in your community who has overcome great challenges in their personal lives ?
Or is helping others with their challenges ?
Send an email to goatsandsoda @ npr.orgwith your nomination , with `` Women 's Stories '' in the subject line .
We may feature them in a future story on NPR.org .

How 3 Women From Wuhan Cope With COVID-19: Rap, Poetry And Mooncakes
Enlarge this image toggle caption Image provided by Deng Ge; Yuri Hasegawa; and screen grab by Laura Gao. Image provided by Deng Ge; Yuri Hasegawa; and screen grab by Laura Gao.
How have women from Wuhan, China, the former epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, been faring over the past few months?
In some ways, they were the first guinea pigs of the pandemic. As the world watched in shock while the city locked itself down to stop the spread of disease, not knowing that this extreme measure would soon be their own fate, these women faced unprecedented mental, physical and emotional hurdles.
About this story This story is part of an NPR Special Report on women in the pandemic, "Portraits Of Resilience." Over the span of three weeks in September and October, NPR photographed and interviewed 19 women around the world. They shared their challenges and fears — and how they are overcoming them. Read profiles of the women here.
We spoke to three women from the capital of central China's Hubei province to see how they've been coping during the pandemic: A rap mogul who sprang into action as a medical volunteer, a grandmother who's happy to step outside again (and tease her granddaughter in the U.S.) and a writer now living in Las Vegas who uses her poetry to fight stereotypes against Chinese people — and finds joy by dancing hopelessly.
Read their stories, check out our special report on 19 women facing the coronavirus crisis — then find out how to nominate a woman to be profiled at the bottom of the story.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Image provided by Deng Ge Image provided by Deng Ge
Rap Mogul With An Activist Side Hustle
On a mid-September Saturday night in Wuhan, China, Deng Ge, founder of the hip-hop record label Bad Commune, walked into 404 Club. Her label was co-hosting a hip-hop party at the bustling venue, and hundreds of fans gathered to see the show.
The sounds of music mixed with people cheering on the dance floor was deafening. Only a few people in the audience were wearing a mask. It's hard to imagine that this was the same city that had been at the center of the pandemic just a few months ago.
"It feels like we just woke up from a nightmare," she said.
Deng, 42, a single mom to a 6-year-old daughter, has been a part of Wuhan's music scene for decades. In college, she formed a band when punk rock reigned supreme in the city. Then she discovered rap music. Three years ago, she quit her job as an art school professor to found the all-female rap group Bad Girls. "None of us leans on men," Deng said. "We support each other."
Since COVID-19 cases in Wuhan have slowed down and the city reopened in April, Deng has been able to focus on her music again. But things weren't always like this — especially at the beginning of the pandemic.
Deng first realized the coronavirus outbreak was worse than expected around the beginning of the Lunar New Year in January. She saw a post on WeChat, the Chinese social media platform, of someone selling 10,000 masks — specifically for use in Wuhan.
"I felt something was really going wrong with Wuhan at that moment," Deng recalled. Shortly thereafter, the city announced its lockdown.
None of us leans on men. We support each other.
Her instinctive reaction was to become a community volunteer, she said. At that time, the outbreak was spreading rapidly. All hospitals were extremely short of medical supplies. Medical workers were desperately calling for help on social media.
Deng said that broke her heart.
She bought the 10,000 masks for 18,000 yuan ($2,650) with her own money and donated them to a medical center. Soon, she organized her own volunteer group with three women to coordinate donations and deliver more supplies to hospitals. Deng called her team the "Angel Squad."
Deng and the Angel Squad "didn't take even one day off" during the nearly 80 days of lockdown. And because she didn't want to worry them, she didn't give her family too many details about what she was doing. She was in and out of medical equipment factories and local hospitals, potentially exposing herself to the coronavirus. Despite the strict lockdown, the government did not interfere. Deng said that's because they recognized how flexible and responsive the volunteers were.
These days, however, life almost feels back to normal, she said.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Image provided by Deng Ge Image provided by Deng Ge
Deng is about to release Purgatory Pink, Bad Girls' second album. She's hoping to line up more live concert gigs, which are now allowed in Wuhan.
During our conversation, Deng was sitting in her studio, in a tile-roofed house in a part of Wuhan called Hankou. It's close to her daughter's kindergarten. And it has a tiny garden where Deng's cats like to play around.
She reflected on the months she spent living through Wuhan's lockdown, which she described as an "unbelievable and strange time." She even tried not to read any news at the time. "I must stay emotionally stable," she said. "That is the way I protect myself."
All over China, her city is famous for its cherry blossoms. As a local, Deng always thought she'd seen enough of the flowers.
But on the first day after Wuhan reopened, even though the blooming period was almost over and the flowers were about to wither away, she took another look.
"It was the first time in my life that I realized how beautiful they are," she said.
Images provided by Deng Ge. Text by Xueying Chang
toggle caption Laura Gao for NPR
Back To (Almost) Normal Life — And Even Teasing Her Granddaughter
A blurry golden mass engulfed the screen during a video call as my Nainai's voice chirped up from behind: "It's a meat mooncake! I don't think you have them in the U.S. I'll freeze some for the next time you visit."
My grandma Zhou Nai is more optimistic about our eventual reunion than I am — but for good reason. In Wuhan, everything has mostly returned to pre-pandemic life. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, she's going to watch a dazzling light show over the Yangtze River with my uncles' families and millions of other mask-clad Wuhanese locals. The countless mooncakes decorating her kitchen counter, a dessert eaten during this festival, were bought fresh from the neighborhood mart or gifted from various relatives. From this conversation, you'd never have guessed this city was in total lockdown just months ago.
toggle caption Laura Gao for NPR
Nainai proudly rotated the mooncake around the camera before setting it down and showing her face again. Not that it's much easier to see her. She doesn't understand how cameras work, so each of our calls captures only a third of her face.
Technical barriers like these are the main challenges nowadays for my 80-year-old grandparents. Right before the height of quarantine in Wuhan, when they were isolated from the outside world for months, my 12-year-old cousin, Bean, just managed to teach them how to join WeChat video calls for weekly family check-ins. But they felt left behind as activities they had always done in person, like grocery runs and health checks, migrated online.
"Thankfully, a community helper came each week to ask if we needed anything. Your uncle also dropped off food to us," she explained.
When the quarantine lifted, they cautiously began venturing outside again — initially just to the apartment courtyard to stretch their legs, then on to bus rides to the grocery store and the clinic. At each stage they'd have their temperature checked before stepping inside.
"Have you gone to East Lake?" I asked, recalling Wuhan's largest park and one of their favorites.
She sighed. "No, they [now] require reservations through WeChat to limit crowds. We haven't bothered to figure out how to do that."
Her son and grandson, Bean, visit often after work and school. Both of Bean's parents work at a hospital, so they're extremely careful each time they visit. They change their clothes before entering and spray so much disinfectant that Nainai has to crack open a window. My grandparents used to accompany Bean to school every morning and send him home-cooked meals. Now, they choose their battles wisely every time they go outside.
"Bean's clothes permanently smell of chlorine now," Nainai joked. "We've adopted many new hygiene habits, like washing our hands when we come home, steaming our bowls before eating and leaving chopsticks in the rice cooker to kill germs."
Sounds of chopping and oil sizzling punctuate the background of our calls. My grandpa brings heaping dishes fresh from the wok — pan-fried noodles, fish and bok choy glazed in soy sauce, and a side of fermented tofu as a palate cleanser — as I watch enviously from the other side of the screen. He likes to chase down his meal with a shot of baijiu, a potent white rice liquor, while Nainai scolds him playfully. At night, they play a few rounds of the popular Chinese card game Dou Dizhu ("Fight the Landlord") before going to bed by 10 p.m.
When you're my age, people die left and right! You find out when you realize they haven't called in a while, and then you move on.
Nainai doesn't like to talk much about her fears. I asked if she knew of any friends who got COVID-19, but she quickly brushed me off.
"When you're my age, people die left and right! You find out when you realize they haven't called in a while, and then you move on with your day."
She waved her hand and looked away before smiling back at me. "I just hope I'll live to see my grandkids get married. Anyways, are you seeing anyone?"
"During a pandemic, Nainai?" I scoffed.
We shared a sweet moment of laughter from opposite sides of the world. Despite this unfortunate year, I'm glad she still doesn't hesitate to tease her granddaughter. Her bright spirit pushes the family forward.
Photos and text by Laura Gao
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuri Hasegawa for NPR Yuri Hasegawa for NPR
A Writer Strikes Back With Poetry — And Hopeless Dancing
Here's how the writer Sally Wen Mao has been spending the pandemic.
She's teaching a virtual poetry workshop. Working on her new book. Twice a week she goes to the swimming pool at her Las Vegas apartment building. And she likes to "dance hopelessly," she said — most recently to Spanish versions of songs from the '90s anime TV show Sailor Moon.
"It's embarrassing," she said. "But I'm obsessed."
Mao, 33, author of the critically acclaimed poetry collections Oculus: Poems and Mad Honey Symposium, was born in Wuhan, China, and moved to the U.S. when she was 5. She said she's been "plugged into" the pandemic since January, watching for news out of Wuhan where family members still live.
"I've had this year to think about the pandemic and see the ways in which it revitalizes this narrative of Chinese people being agents of disease," she said in a Zoom call from Vegas, where she moved in March in advance of a literary fellowship at Black Mountain Institute. A lime-green aurora swirled above her head in her virtual background.
toggle caption Yuri Hasegawa for NPR
Writing, she said, has been a way for her to make sense of COVID-19 and "transmute all those feelings into something that other people can connect to."
In March, she wrote the poem "Wet Market," published in Literary Hub. In the early days of the pandemic, these markets were blamed as the source of COVID-19. "It got me thinking about the ways we frame certain places when they are racialized. People wouldn't be blaming farmers markets in Berkeley," she said.
She recalls visiting a wet market in Wuhan at age 12 on her first trip back to China since she and her family left. "A lot of them were selling fruits and vegetables," said Mao. In her poem she wrote:
Screenshot by NPR
"Wet markets are diverse — they're like any other market," she says. "Some markets sell certain types of meat, but not all of them."
She's also found great comfort in reading — mostly female authors: Bluebeard's First Wife by Ha Seong-nan, Luster by Raven Leilani and a lot of Toni Morrison. "Other people's art is a source of strength," said Mao.
While Mao said she's been lucky during the pandemic — she has a place to live, a book to write — she's been struck by "how difficult it is to find intimacy."
"I might see myself as accomplished in some ways, but if I'm not in a romantic relationship, then that's seen as a failure [by society]," she said.
In many cultures, women are more defined by their roles as wives, mothers and caregivers than themselves, she explained. It's a theme she's been pushing back against in the book she's now writing, a collection of fictional stories about the nine-tailed fox, a ubiquitous female spirit in Chinese folklore.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuri Hasegawa for NPR Yuri Hasegawa for NPR
"Young female ghosts are the most tragic figures in Chinese culture," she said. "They don't have children to pray for them or give them offerings. So they are cut off from the world."
"But the only thing that's tragic about them is that they're unmarried," she added.
Mao admits that she's been struggling with loneliness and isolation. But lately she's been more perturbed by current events. They've filled her with a sense of hopelessness — an absence of "a sense of future."
So she's been turning over this line of poetry in her head, from "won't you celebrate with me" by Lucille Clifton:
come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
Photos by Yuri Hasegawa. Text by Malaka Gharib
Nominate A Woman
We'd like to tell more stories about women's lives in the pandemic.
Is there a woman in your community who has overcome great challenges in their personal lives? Or is helping others with their challenges? Send an email to goatsandsoda@npr.orgwith your nomination, with "Women's Stories" in the subject line. We may feature them in a future story on NPR.org.


npr--2020-10-14--In Cleveland, Homeless Get A Helping Hand With Mail-In Ballots

In Cleveland , Homeless Get A Helping Hand With Mail-In Ballots After about a year of living in the streets of Cleveland , James Harrison checked into a hotel this summer which is part of a city program to protect high-risk homeless people during the pandemic .
So when when volunteers held a voter registration drive at the motel , Harrison decided to fill out a form and register .
`` My vote counts , you know what I 'm saying ? ''
Harrison said .
`` I ai n't ever voted .
This will be my first time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election , many people are getting ballots mailed to them at home .
But not having an address can be an insurmountable barrier for homeless voters like Harrison .
He has had issues with his health for years and is recovering from surgery .
So he ca n't make it to a polling station , nor can he write well enough to fill out a mail-in ballot .
He says he 's not the only one at his motel in that situation .
`` You 've got quite a few people in here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it 's going to be difficult for us , '' Harrison said in a phone interview .
Harrison is one of around 150 people in Cleveland who will now be able to vote thanks to registration drives here aimed at making sure the democratic process is accessible to everyone , regardless of housing status .
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is coordinating an effort to let homeless people use the addresses of local shelters and churches to register and receive ballots .
`` In order to even get a ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to send in that ballot application '' which they receive by mail , Martin said .
`` We 've tried to streamline the process . ''
Voting by mail is a better option for many people experiencing homelessness because it allows them to circumvent requirements for government documents or the need to find transportation to a polling place , says Karen Leith with League of Women Voters of Hudson in Ohio .
The organization is working with about 35 local nonprofits and county agencies to register people experiencing homelessness .
Those efforts required @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the options available , she says .
Many states , including Ohio , require government identification for in-person voting , Leith says , and not all homeless people have something that qualifies .
Leith says voter guides distributed by her organization recommend using the last four digits of a Social Security number as identification .
In Ohio , there have been legal battles over placement of drop boxes and the circumstances under which poll workers can collect ballots .
And Martin says even after ballots are filled out , organizations like hers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a drop box or polling place because that could be considered ballot harvesting .
What her volunteers can do is arrange transportation for homeless voters .
The coalition is also supplying donated postage .
Harrison is touched by those efforts .
He says he feels gun violence in Cleveland has gotten so bad and healthcare so hard to obtain he wants to have some kind of influence with the people who make the policies .
`` Now , I feel like , is the time for me to go in and voice my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But I do need a little help . ''

In Cleveland, Homeless Get A Helping Hand With Mail-In Ballots
Enlarge this image toggle caption Spencer Platt/Getty Images Spencer Platt/Getty Images
After about a year of living in the streets of Cleveland, James Harrison checked into a hotel this summer that is part of a city program to protect high-risk homeless people during the pandemic.
So when when volunteers held a voter registration drive at the motel, Harrison decided to fill out a form and register.
"My vote counts, you know what I'm saying?" Harrison said. "I ain't ever voted. This will be my first time to vote."
In this year's election, many people are getting ballots mailed to them at home. But not having an address can be an insurmountable barrier for homeless voters like Harrison.
Here & now Voting While Homeless During The Pandemic Voting While Homeless During The Pandemic Listen · 6:38 6:38
He has had issues with his health for years and is recovering from surgery. So he can't make it to a polling station, nor can he write well enough to fill out a mail-in ballot. He says he's not the only one at his motel in that situation.
"You've got quite a few people in here that's handicapped, like myself, and it's going to be difficult for us," Harrison said in a phone interview.
Harrison is one of around 150 people in Cleveland who will now be able to vote thanks to registration drives here aimed at making sure the democratic process is accessible to everyone, regardless of housing status.
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is coordinating an effort to let homeless people use the addresses of local shelters and churches to register and receive ballots.
It's a two-step process, says coalition spokesperson Molly Martin.
"In order to even get a ballot to send by mail, people need to send in that ballot application" which they receive by mail, Martin said. "We've tried to streamline the process."
Voting by mail is a better option for many people experiencing homelessness because it allows them to circumvent requirements for government documents or the need to find transportation to a polling place, says Karen Leith with League of Women Voters of Hudson in Ohio. The organization is working with about 35 local nonprofits and county agencies to register people experiencing homelessness. Those efforts required educating both the volunteers and the community on the options available, she says.
Many states, including Ohio, require government identification for in-person voting, Leith says, and not all homeless people have something that qualifies. Leith says voter guides distributed by her organization recommend using the last four digits of a Social Security number as identification.
In Ohio, there have been legal battles over placement of drop boxes and the circumstances under which poll workers can collect ballots.
And Martin says even after ballots are filled out, organizations like hers cannot collect or deliver them to a drop box or polling place because that could be considered ballot harvesting.
What her volunteers can do is arrange transportation for homeless voters. The coalition is also supplying donated postage.
Harrison is touched by those efforts. He says he feels gun violence in Cleveland has gotten so bad and health care so hard to obtain he wants to have some kind of influence with the people who make the policies.
"Now, I feel like, is the time for me to go in and voice my opinion," Harrison says. "But I do need a little help."


npr--2020-10-14--COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce Barely 'Inching Up' As Cases Surge

The United States has more than 50,000 contact tracers for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit , according to a survey of states conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in collaboration with NPR .
The total number of contact tracers reported in all U.S. states and territories was 53,116 .
That 's four times the number of contact tracers states reported to NPR in its initial survey in late April , but still falls far short of the more than 100,000 public health experts have been calling for since the pandemic began , seven months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in terms of increasing the contact tracing personnel , [ though ] still only really halfway to where we need to be , '' says Danielle Allen , director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University , and a co-author of a handbook of COVID-19 policy .
This latest survey shows a nearly 30 % increase from NPR 's last survey in early August , which found 41,122 contact tracers across the country , but some of that increase is due to the fact that more states are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feels stagnant , '' says Crystal Watson , a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security .
She oversaw the survey in collaboration with NPR .
`` I do n't see a lot of evidence that we have a new push or renewed interest in trying to prepare for what we might see this winter , '' she says , `` and we 're already seeing cases tick up across the U.S. and in Europe . ''
Here are six takeaways from this latest survey 1 .
Most states ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Only a handful of states currently have enough public health workers to investigate their coronavirus cases , according to an NPR analysis .
This has been the case each time NPR has surveyed states .
This time , only Oregon and Vermont and Washington , D.C. have enough .
Four more states — Maine , Montana , New York , and Hawaii — have enough when reserve staff are included .
And 44 states fall short of need .
The analysis , based on state case counts over the past 14 days , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at the George Washington University .
As in June and August , NPR assumed workers are calling 10 contacts per case and that tracers reach 45 % of contacts and follow up with them every other day — a conservative estimate , to reflect the real-world challenges health workers face .
Watson says states need to keep increasing staffing to help curb transmission , but that contact tracing ca n't stop the pandemic on its own — especially when cases are surging in many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a new threshold above which contact tracing ca n't keep up : 10 coronavirus cases per day per 100,000 people .
That threshold is `` based both on the data that we 're seeing and on discussions that we 've had with public health officials at the local and state levels . ''
`` It 's easy for these systems to become overwhelmed , '' Watson explains .
When cases rise , they can rise quickly — much faster than a public health team can hire more tracers .
The threshold underscores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ silver bullet — it is a necessary component of a successful response , but we ca n't rely on it once we have out-of-control epidemics in communities , '' she says .
Instead , communities need to turn to more aggressive interventions , such as closing businesses and mask mandates .
Jane Yackley , an epidemiologist with the Tennessee Department of Health agrees that contact tracing can only be successful when combined with other measures .
She highlights the need to `` make staying home the easy choice '' for people who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues to be one piece of the puzzle - it will not eradicate COVID-19 and it can not work if people can not ( or will not ) comply , '' Yackley wrote in response to the survey .
`` The perceived 'failure ' of contact tracing is a failure of expectations .
Contact tracing alone can not control this level of disease . ''
3 .
States adapt to surging cases and plan to hire more staff Asked if they had needed to change their contact tracing process during a surge , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported they had not , while others said the question was not applicable or the answer was unknown .
`` I do think that many programs will be overwhelmed at some point during this pandemic , '' Watson says .
`` So it 's worth considering what that means for contact tracing — whether it means that more federal support is needed , more reserve staff or different approaches to contact tracing when transmission gets really high . ''
More than half of states that responded to the survey said they plan to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seven months into the response .
In all , states reported plans to bring on more than 3,500 workers .
`` I think it means they can now see the value of it both for actually contributing to disease suppression and for delivering really valuable data , intelligence and knowledge , '' Allen says .
`` They realize they need to catch up . ''
One state that said that increased cases were causing delays in contact tracing efforts was Wisconsin .
`` We are maximizing limited resources in attending to the surge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increased complexity — of cases , '' Elizabeth Goodsitt , a communications specialist wrote in response to the survey .
She noted that `` the fluctuations in workload makes staff retention challenging , '' and funding issues may be hindering local health departments from hiring and training up new staff quickly .
Michigan , which had relied primarily on volunteers to handle contact tracing , has also had to adjust .
`` This worked really well until colleges and schools led to large increases so we are flexing to more paid staff , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Health and Human Services wrote in response to the survey .
4 .
More states are sharing contact tracing data with the public Contact tracing is also a tool for understanding where transmission is happening in a community .
`` The thing that 's incredibly valuable about contact tracing at this point is the literal intelligence — the knowledge and understanding — that it gives decision makers , '' Allen says .
`` If you can work out that you have a whole cluster coming from one specific kind of activity , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — you have to shut down everything . ''
In this survey , nearly every state reported gathering transmission information and other metrics from contact tracing .
Twenty-two states reported sharing that information publicly on a government website — up from 14 states last time .
Watson points out that public information about contact tracing staff numbers is surprisingly less likely to be public than details about transmission .
5 .
Many states have launched apps but are concerned about public acceptance The traditional method of contact tracing is people and resource intensive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview every person who tests positive , and follow up with that person 's close contacts for days to ensure they quarantine .
Since the spring , there 's been a great deal of interest in a technological shortcut .
North and South Dakota were early adopters of contact tracing apps .
Since Google and Apple joined forces to facilitate the creation of contact tracing apps , Virginia has launched one , along with New York and New Jersey .
In all , the new survey found 20 states reported currently using a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with nine more planning to deploy one in the future .
The main concerns states cite about these apps were related to getting the public to use and accept this technology , with privacy concerns close behind .
`` I 'm curious to see how many people download these apps , how much of a push public health departments put on people adopting them — I think really remains to be seen , '' Watson says .
And it may be difficult to measure how much these apps help curb the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Precisely because they 're privacy protective , it 's actually very hard to figure out what kind of impact they 've had , '' she explains .
Lookng to countries like Switzerland that have been using apps , she says they `` definitely catch some cases , but it 's at the margins , it 's not like it 's a transformative thing .
It 's definitely not the kind of thing that 's going to make or break our response . ''
In other words , there 's no getting around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who can do the time-consuming , labor-intensive work of making a lot of phone calls .
States have tried to meet the need for contact tracers without a lot of help or resources from the federal government .
Some have relied on volunteers , others have raised money from private philanthropists .
The need is significant .
In April , a group of former federal officials who wrote a letter to Congress calling for increased contact tracing support estimated that $ 12 billion in federal funding would be needed to pay for new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress to better fund and coordinate contact tracing , but the prospects of a coronavirus relief bill have grown dim with the election only weeks away .
Watson says in the face of rising case numbers , members of the public and policy makers might be tempted to `` blame contact tracing for failing if transmission starts to run away again and I think it 's not fair to put that on contact tracing , especially when it 's not been resourced appropriately . ''
Without this financial support , Allen says the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` just keep inching up , '' even if coronavirus cases spike .

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce Barely 'Inching Up' As Cases Surge
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ben Lonergan/AP Ben Lonergan/AP
The United States has more than 50,000 contact tracers for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to a survey of states conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in collaboration with NPR.
The total number of contact tracers reported in all U.S. states and territories was 53,116. That's four times the number of contact tracers states reported to NPR in its initial survey in late April, but it falls far short of the more than 100,000 that public health experts have been calling for since the pandemic began seven months ago.
"I see us inching up in terms of increasing the contact tracing personnel, [though] still only really halfway to where we need to be," says Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University and a co-author of a handbook of COVID-19 policy. This latest survey shows a nearly 30% increase from NPR's last survey in early August, which found 41,122 contact tracers across the country, but some of that increase is due to the fact that more states are now included.
Contact tracing staffing "feels stagnant," says Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She oversaw the survey in collaboration with NPR. "I don't see a lot of evidence that we have a new push or renewed interest in trying to prepare for what we might see this winter," she says, "and we're already seeing cases tick up across the U.S. and in Europe."
Here are six takeaways from this latest survey
1. Most states' contact tracing workforce falls short of need
Only a handful of states currently have enough public health workers to investigate their coronavirus cases, according to an NPR analysis. This has been the case each time NPR has surveyed states. This time, only Oregon and Vermont and Washington, D.C., have enough. Four more states — Maine, Montana, New York, and Hawaii — have enough when reserve staff are included. And 44 states fall short of need.
The analysis, based on state case counts over the past 14 days, was done using an estimating tool developed by The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at the George Washington University. As in June and August, NPR assumed workers are calling 10 contacts per case and that tracers reach 45% of contacts and follow up with them every other day — a conservative estimate, to reflect the real-world challenges health workers face.
2. Amid case surges, contact tracing can't solve everything
Watson says states need to keep increasing staffing to help curb transmission, but that contact tracing can't stop the pandemic on its own — especially when cases are surging in many places.
She and her team landed on a new threshold above which contact tracing can't keep up: 10 coronavirus cases per day per 100,000 people. That threshold is "based both on the data that we're seeing and on discussions that we've had with public health officials at the local and state levels."
"It's easy for these systems to become overwhelmed," Watson explains. When cases rise, they can rise quickly — much faster than a public health team can hire more tracers. The threshold underscores that contact tracing "is not the silver bullet — it is a necessary component of a successful response, but we can't rely on it once we have out-of-control epidemics in communities," she says. Instead, communities need to turn to more aggressive interventions, such as closing businesses and mask mandates.
Jane Yackley, an epidemiologist with the Tennessee Department of Health, agrees that contact tracing can only be successful when combined with other measures. She highlights the need to "make staying home the easy choice" for people who are infected or exposed.
"Contact tracing continues to be one piece of the puzzle; it will not eradicate COVID-19 and it cannot work if people cannot (or will not) comply," Yackley wrote in response to the survey. "The perceived 'failure' of contact tracing is a failure of expectations. Contact tracing alone cannot control this level of disease."
3. States adapt to surging cases and plan to hire more staff
Asked if they had needed to change their contact tracing process during a surge, six states said they had, 21 reported they had not, while others said the question was not applicable or the answer was unknown.
"I do think that many programs will be overwhelmed at some point during this pandemic," Watson says. "So it's worth considering what that means for contact tracing — whether it means that more federal support is needed, more reserve staff or different approaches to contact tracing when transmission gets really high."
More than half of states that responded to the survey said they plan to hire still more contact tracers, even seven months into the response. In all, states reported plans to bring on more than 3,500 workers.
"I think it means they can now see the value of it both for actually contributing to disease suppression and for delivering really valuable data, intelligence and knowledge," Allen says. "They realize they need to catch up."
One state that said that increased cases were causing delays in contact tracing efforts was Wisconsin. "We are maximizing limited resources in attending to the surge in number — as well as the increased complexity — of cases," Elizabeth Goodsitt, a communications specialist wrote in response to the survey.
She noted that "the fluctuations in workload makes staff retention challenging," and funding issues may be hindering local health departments from hiring and training up new staff quickly.
Michigan, which had relied primarily on volunteers to handle contact tracing, has also had to adjust. "This worked really well until colleges and schools led to large increases so we are flexing to more paid staff," Katie Macomber of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services wrote in response to the survey.
4. More states are sharing contact tracing data with the public
Contact tracing is also a tool for understanding where transmission is happening in a community.
"The thing that's incredibly valuable about contact tracing at this point is the literal intelligence — the knowledge and understanding — that it gives decision-makers," Allen says. "If you can work out that you have a whole cluster coming from one specific kind of activity, then that's what you shut down — you don't have to shut down everything."
In this survey, nearly every state reported gathering transmission information and other metrics from contact tracing. Twenty-two states reported sharing that information publicly on a government website — up from 14 states last time.
Watson points out that public information about contact tracing staff numbers is surprisingly less likely to be public than details about transmission.
5. Many states have launched apps but are concerned about public acceptance
The traditional method of contact tracing is people and resource intensive — trained public health workers call and interview every person who tests positive and follow up with that person's close contacts for days to ensure that they quarantine.
Since the spring, there has been a great deal of interest in a technological shortcut. North and South Dakota were early adopters of contact tracing apps. Since Google and Apple joined forces to facilitate the creation of contact tracing apps, Virginia has launched one, along with New York and New Jersey.
In all, the new survey found 20 states reported currently using a contact tracing app or related technology, with nine more planning to deploy one in the future. The main concerns states cite about these apps were related to getting the public to use and accept this technology, with privacy concerns close behind.
"I'm curious to see how many people download these apps, how much of a push public health departments put on people adopting them — I think really remains to be seen," Watson says.
And it may be difficult to measure how much these apps help curb the spread of the virus, Allen says. "Precisely because they're privacy protective, it's actually very hard to figure out what kind of impact they've had," she explains.
Looking to countries like Switzerland that have been using apps, she says they "definitely catch some cases, but it's at the margins, it's not like it's a transformative thing. It's definitely not the kind of thing that's going to make or break our response."
In other words, there's no getting around the need for many trained public health workers who can do the time-consuming, labor-intensive work of making a lot of phone calls.
6. Still no significant federal resources
States have tried to meet the need for contact tracers without a lot of help or resources from the federal government. Some have relied on volunteers; others have raised money from private philanthropists.
The need is significant. In April, a group of former federal officials who wrote a letter to Congress calling for increased contact tracing support estimated that $12 billion in federal funding would be needed to pay for new hires. There are some efforts in Congress to better fund and coordinate contact tracing, but the prospects of a coronavirus relief bill have grown dim with the election only weeks away.
Watson says that in the face of rising case numbers, members of the public and policymakers might be tempted to "blame contact tracing for failing if transmission starts to run away again and I think it's not fair to put that on contact tracing, especially when it's not been resourced appropriately."
Without this financial support, Allen says the country's contact tracing workforce will likely "just keep inching up," even if coronavirus cases spike.


npr--2020-10-14--Gen. Milley: 'We're Trying To End A War Responsibly, Deliberately'

Gen. Milley : 'We 're Trying To End A War Responsibly , Deliberately' After nearly two decades of fighting , the Trump administration is trying to bring an abrupt end to the war in Afghanistan , and the U.S. military is trying to manage that end effectively .
Last week , President Trump tweeted that American troops `` should '' be home from Afghanistan by Christmas , while National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a Las Vegas speech that the number of troops there will drop to 2,500 early next year .
In an interview with NPR , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mark Milley , said he did n't want to get into future numbers , beyond the drop to 4,500 troops next month .
Pressed on the number O'Brien used , Milley brushed that comment aside as `` speculation , '' adding that no final decisions have been made by the president and any further reductions must be made with an eye toward conditions on the ground .
`` The key here is that we 're trying to end a war responsibly , deliberately , '' Milley said , `` and to do it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. vital national security interests that are at stake in Afghanistan . ''
That has long been the military 's view .
A string of commanders have said that there 's no military solution to the Afghan war , only a political solution with the Taliban .
But they insist the country can no longer be a safe haven for terrorist groups like al Qaeda , the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks who enjoyed the Taliban 's hospitality in Afghanistan .
Under the February agreement signed by the U.S. and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next spring but only if the Taliban agree to certain conditions , including a break with al Qaeda .
So far the Taliban have not done that , and military officials say Taliban fighters are still working with the group .
`` I think Milley is being brilliant here , '' said Michael O'Hanlon , a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution with wide experience in Afghanistan .
`` No one knows how seriously to take Trump 's recent tweet so it 's better to focus on substance and on technocratic matters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' For his part , O'Brien said nothing about substance in his remarks in Las Vegas , only the number of troops down to 2,500 .
And Pentagon officials were left flat-footed about the speech .
`` I ca n't imagine any reason for O'Brien to have made that remark except for political purposes , '' said Laurel Miller , who runs the Asia program for the International Crisis Group and who worked at the State Department on Afghanistan issues during the Obama administration .
`` There is no national security rationale for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what will have after the next planned drawdown – to 4,500 by the U.S. election – much less announcing what does not seem to be an actual decision . ''
The competing comments on U.S. troop reductions have caused confusion in Afghanistan .
The Taliban welcomed Trump 's home by Christmas tweet , while Afghan officials worried there could be an early pullout of American support .
As for Milley 's comments , one U.S. official who advises the Afghan government , and requested anonymity because he 's not authorized to talk with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dismissal of O'Brien 's number was greeted as `` great news . ''
On Twitter , some responded to Milley 's comments on O'Brien by saying he was violating civilian control of the military .
But retired Army Gen. Tony Thomas , who ran the U.S. Special Operations Command , tweeted that Milley was `` solid '' in what he had to say .
`` NSA ( National Security Advisor ) is not in the chain of command , '' Thomas wrote .
All this comes as the Taliban continue talks in Doha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and have also increased attacks on Afghan forces , requiring U.S. forces to come to their aid during the past week in southwestern Helmand Province with some rare airstrikes .
`` The Taliban need to immediately stop their offensive actions in Helmand Province and reduce their violence around the country , '' said Gen. Scott Miller , the American commander in Afghanistan .
`` It is not consistent with the U.S.-Taliban agreement and undermines the ongoing Afghan peace talks . ''
Vikram Singh , a former Pentagon official who now works at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war has continued now for nearly 20 years at every American force level .
The U.S. troops , he said , `` provide some leverage over the parties in the conflict .
But it should be clear now that American troops levels have little to do with ending the war . ''
The Taliban want international support and funds , Singh added .
`` The best way to meet those goals is with peace among Afghans .
Continuing the war – as the Taliban are doing now with terrible harm to innocent civilians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's a bad option for all Afghans , including the Taliban , '' Singh said .

Gen. Milley: 'We're Trying To End A War Responsibly, Deliberately'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael Reynolds/AP Michael Reynolds/AP
After nearly two decades of fighting, the Trump administration is trying to bring an abrupt end to the war in Afghanistan, and the U.S. military is trying to manage that end effectively.
Last week, President Trump tweeted that American troops "should" be home from Afghanistan by Christmas, while National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a Las Vegas speech that the number of troops there will drop to 2,500 early next year.
In an interview with NPR, the nation's top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley, said he didn't want to get into future numbers, beyond the drop to 4,500 troops next month. Pressed on the number O'Brien used, Milley brushed that comment aside as "speculation," adding that no final decisions have been made by the president and any further reductions must be made with an eye toward conditions on the ground.
"The key here is that we're trying to end a war responsibly, deliberately," Milley said, "and to do it on terms that guarantee the safety of the U.S. vital national security interests that are at stake in Afghanistan."
That has long been the military's view. A string of commanders have said that there's no military solution to the Afghan war, only a political solution with the Taliban. But they insist the country can no longer be a safe haven for terrorist groups like al Qaeda, the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks who enjoyed the Taliban's hospitality in Afghanistan.
Under the February agreement signed by the U.S. and the Taliban, U.S. troops will leave by next spring but only if the Taliban agree to certain conditions, including a break with al Qaeda. So far the Taliban have not done that, and military officials say Taliban fighters are still working with the group.
"I think Milley is being brilliant here," said Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution with wide experience in Afghanistan. "No one knows how seriously to take Trump's recent tweet so it's better to focus on substance and on technocratic matters, not which number now reflects policy."
For his part, O'Brien said nothing about substance in his remarks in Las Vegas, only the number of troops down to 2,500. And Pentagon officials were left flat-footed about the speech.
"I can't imagine any reason for O'Brien to have made that remark except for political purposes," said Laurel Miller, who runs the Asia program for the International Crisis Group and who worked at the State Department on Afghanistan issues during the Obama administration. "There is no national security rationale for making a decision right now as to what will have after the next planned drawdown – to 4,500 by the U.S. election – much less announcing what does not seem to be an actual decision."
The competing comments on U.S. troop reductions have caused confusion in Afghanistan. The Taliban welcomed Trump's home by Christmas tweet, while Afghan officials worried there could be an early pullout of American support.
As for Milley's comments, one U.S. official who advises the Afghan government, and requested anonymity because he's not authorized to talk with the press, said the general's dismissal of O'Brien's number was greeted as "great news."
On Twitter, some responded to Milley's comments on O'Brien by saying he was violating civilian control of the military. But retired Army Gen. Tony Thomas, who ran the U.S. Special Operations Command, tweeted that Milley was "solid" in what he had to say.
"NSA (National Security Advisor) is not in the chain of command," Thomas wrote.
All this comes as the Taliban continue talks in Doha, Qatar, with the Afghan government and have also increased attacks on Afghan forces, requiring U.S. forces to come to their aid during the past week in southwestern Helmand Province with some rare airstrikes.
"The Taliban need to immediately stop their offensive actions in Helmand Province and reduce their violence around the country," said Gen. Scott Miller, the American commander in Afghanistan. "It is not consistent with the U.S.-Taliban agreement and undermines the ongoing Afghan peace talks."
Vikram Singh, a former Pentagon official who now works at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the war has continued now for nearly 20 years at every American force level.
The U.S. troops, he said, "provide some leverage over the parties in the conflict. But it should be clear now that American troops levels have little to do with ending the war."
The Taliban want international support and funds, Singh added.
"The best way to meet those goals is with peace among Afghans. Continuing the war – as the Taliban are doing now with terrible harm to innocent civilians – is always an option. But it's a bad option for all Afghans, including the Taliban," Singh said.


npr--2020-10-14--'So Hard To Prove You Exist': Flawed Fraud Protections Deny Unemployment To Millions

'So Hard To Prove You Exist ' : Flawed Fraud Protections Deny Unemployment To Millions Organized crime rings have targeted state unemployment systems during the pandemic , seeking to steal money through fraudulent claims .
And that 's a problem .
But arguably a bigger problem is that some of the systems in place to prevent fraud have hurt millions of innocent people , keeping the benefits they deserve in limbo .
They 're people like Sevy Guasch , who lost his job as a food and beverage manager at a Marriott hotel near San Jose , Calif .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He went online , entered his information , and waited .
And waited .
He could n't get through on the phone .
After more than a month , Guasch was told to mail in more proof of his identity .
`` My driver 's license , my picture of my passport , my copy of my W-2 . ''
But the process dragged on .
The state unemployment department needed another document .
Each time , it would take at least several weeks to hear back .
After six months , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money .
And he has n't been able to find another job .
The whole thing just seemed so avoidable to him .
`` It 's so hard to just prove that you exist . ''
In California alone , millions of people are having a hard time proving they exist as they struggle to get the unemployment benefits they deserve .
And it turns out a lot of these delays really have been unnecessary .
A big part of the problem : antiquated fraud prevention systems .
They are n't catching many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wrong people are getting caught in the net — tangled up unnecessarily for months on end .
Guasch is 32 years old and he 'd been saving up to go to community college to try to study software development .
He moved into a cheaper apartment .
But he 's still had to drain his entire savings to pay for college — about $ 17,000 .
There 's not enough left to pay rent next month .
`` I do n't want to get angry , '' Guasch says .
`` But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In California , as cases like Guasch 's mounted , it became clear that way too many people were waiting far too long to get unemployment benefits they desperately needed .
Over the summer , the state brought in Jennifer Pahlka .
She agreed to co-chair a `` strike team '' to figure out why there have been such long delays during the pandemic .
Pahlka was a top technology advisor in the Obama White House and the founder of the non-profit , Code for America , which helps improve government computer systems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discovered .
Minor discrepancies — like someone using their middle initial in applying for benefits when their full middle name appeared on their drivers license or social security card — would send up a red flag for potential fraud .
And then the person would be required to provide additional `` identity verification . ''
That would mean a manual review by workers swamped with 10 times the normal number of claims .
`` If you applied for unemployment assistance , you had a 40 % chance of getting flagged for manual processing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what apparently happened to Sevy Guasch in San Jose .
Pahlka found many other people suffered through similar agonizing delays .
`` Those 40 % of people , which is a lot , have very little chance of getting paid in any reasonable time frame , '' she says .
At a hearing with lawmakers in July , Sharon Hilliard , the head of the California unemployment system , or EDD , apologized to those people , saying , `` what I want to make sure everyone understands is that EDD sincerely regrets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's strike team realized the delays did n't need to be happening .
The anti-fraud ID verification process was completely outdated .
`` Sadly , they have n't been protecting the system from much fraud .
They catch very few people . ''
So millions of people , 40 % of those applying , have faced delays .
And how much fraud did the system detect ?
`` Less than half of 1 % of people are caught as fraudulent through this tactic , '' Pahlka says .
This is not just a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the country are facing big delays .
`` People that should be getting benefits in three weeks on average , are getting their benefits in seven or eight weeks , '' says Andrew Stettner a researcher at the Century Foundation .
And that 's just the people who actually get their benefits .
Stettner says of the more than 40 million claims that have been filed nationally , about 40 % of those people still have not been paid any money .
`` We have to do better , '' says Stettner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systems are n't the only problem .
But fixing them would make a big difference .
At least in California , things are now changing .
The state has followed a recommendation from the strike team and brought in an outside company with a much more sophisticated system that 's it 's launched just over the past week .
Pahlka says now people can verify their identity quickly when they apply just using their phone .
Applicants take a photo of their ID and send in a selfie .
They 're asked questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Software does the verification rather than overworked staff members .
Pahlka says it 's hoped that 90 % of applicants can now get verified quickly and avoid the dreaded manual review .
For his part , Sevy Guasch , who burned through his college savings while waiting for his benefits , says a representative finally told him his case was coming along nicely .
There was just one more step .
`` She let me know that I 'm literally ready , they have all of my information entered . ''
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to give the final approval .
`` So I found out I 'm waiting on my mysterious hero wherever they may be , '' he said .
The mysterious hero just came through .
Guasch tells NPR his account now shows , more than six months after he applied , that the state of California has finally started to pay him his unemployment money .

'So Hard To Prove You Exist': Flawed Fraud Protections Deny Unemployment To Millions
Enlarge this image toggle caption Sevy Guasch Sevy Guasch
Fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits have been a problem for a long time, and states have set up systems to try to prevent such fraud. But lost in that effort is arguably a bigger problem: Some of those systems have hurt millions of innocent people, keeping the benefits they deserve in limbo.
They're people like Sevy Guasch, who lost his job as a food and beverage manager at a Marriott hotel near San Jose, Calif. In March, he applied for unemployment benefits. He went online, entered his information, and waited. And waited.
He couldn't get through on the phone. After more than a month, Guasch was told to mail in more proof of his identity.
"My driver's license, my picture of my passport, my copy of my W-2."
But the process dragged on. The state unemployment department needed another document. Each time, it would take at least several weeks to hear back.
After six months, Guasch still hadn't received any unemployment money. And he hasn't been able to find another job.
The whole thing just seemed so avoidable to him. "It's so hard to just prove that you exist."
In California alone, millions of people are having a hard time proving they exist as they struggle to get the unemployment benefits they deserve.
And it turns out a lot of these delays really have been unnecessary. A big part of the problem: antiquated fraud prevention systems. They aren't catching many bad guys filing false claims. And the wrong people are getting caught in the net — tangled up unnecessarily for months on end.
Guasch is 32 years old, and he had been saving up to go to community college to try to study software development. He moved into a cheaper apartment. But he had to drain his entire savings — about $17,000. There's not enough left to pay rent next month.
"I don't want to get angry," Guasch says. "But it's been really frustrating."
In California, as cases like Guasch's mounted, it became clear that way too many people were waiting far too long to get unemployment benefits they desperately needed. Over the summer, the state brought in Jennifer Pahlka. She agreed to co-chair a "strike team" to figure out why there have been such long delays during the pandemic.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Clementine Hecker Clementine Hecker
Pahlka was a top technology adviser in the Obama White House and the founder of the nonprofit Code for America, which helps improve government computer systems.
Here's what the strike team discovered. Minor discrepancies — like someone using their middle initial in applying for benefits when their full middle name appeared on their driver's license or Social Security card — would send up a red flag for potential fraud. And then the person would be required to provide additional "identity verification." That would mean a manual review by workers swamped with 10 times the normal number of claims.
"If you applied for unemployment assistance, you had a 40% chance of getting flagged for manual processing," Pahlka says. This is what apparently happened to Guasch.
Pahlka found many other people suffered through similar agonizing delays.
"Those 40% of people, which is a lot, have very little chance of getting paid in any reasonable time frame," she says.
At a hearing with lawmakers in July, Sharon Hilliard, the head of the California unemployment system, or EDD, apologized to those people, saying, "What I want to make sure everyone understands is that EDD sincerely regrets any payment delays."
But Pahlka's strike team realized the delays didn't need to be happening. The anti-fraud ID verification process was completely outdated.
"Sadly, they haven't been protecting the system from much fraud. They catch very few people."
So millions of people, 40% of those applying, have faced delays. And how much fraud did the system detect? "Less than half of 1% of people are caught as fraudulent through this tactic," Pahlka says.
This is not just a problem in California. Millions of people across the country are facing big delays.
"People that should be getting benefits in three weeks on average, are getting their benefits in seven or eight weeks," says Andrew Stettner a researcher at The Century Foundation.
And that's just the people who actually get their benefits. Stettner says of the more than 40 million claims that have been filed nationally, about 40% of those people still have not been paid any money.
"We have to do better," says Stettner. He says the outdated fraud prevention systems aren't the only problem. But fixing them would make a big difference.
At least in California, things are now changing. The state has followed a recommendation from the strike team and brought in an outside company with a much more sophisticated system that has launched just over the past week.
Pahlka says now people can verify their identity quickly when they apply just using their phone. Applicants take a photo of their ID and send in a selfie. They're asked questions only they would know how to answer. Software does the verification rather than overworked staff members.
Pahlka says it's hoped that 90% of applicants can now get verified quickly and avoid the dreaded manual review.
Sevy Guasch, who burned through his college savings while waiting for his benefits, says a representative finally told him his case was coming along nicely. There was just one more step. "She let me know that I'm literally ready, they have all of my information entered." But Guasch said someone with more authority still had to give the final approval.
"So I found out I'm waiting on my mysterious hero wherever they may be," he said.
The mysterious hero just came through. Guasch tells NPR his account now shows, more than six months after he applied, that the state of California has finally started to pay him his unemployment money.


npr--2020-10-13--Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Counting On Oct. 15

Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Counting On Oct. 15 The Trump administration can end counting for the 2020 census early after the Supreme Court approved a request to suspend a lower court order that extended the count 's schedule .
The high court 's order on Tuesday , following an emergency request the Justice Department made last week , helps clear the way for President Trump to try to alter the count while in office by excluding unauthorized immigrants from the numbers used to reallocate congressional seats and Electoral College votes for the next 10 years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the unsigned court order .
Hours after the ruling was released , the Census Bureau announced it will keep accepting responses online at My2020Census.gov through Oct. 15 until 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time .
The bureau has also set Oct. 15 as the postmark deadline for paper forms , as well as the end date for collecting phone responses and door knocking at unresponsive households .
In a statement , Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers ' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law , one of the attorneys who helped bring the lawsuit to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the order `` will result in irreversible damage '' despite the challengers ' efforts to `` secure more time on the clock to achieve a fair and accurate count . ''
Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community — one of the lawsuit 's plaintiffs — called the ruling `` a bitter pill for us to swallow here on the Reservation '' in Arizona .
`` With no explanation or rationale , a majority simply decided that our people do not deserve to be counted , thus continuing a long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ margins of the U.S. society at large and economy , '' Lewis said in a statement .
Sadik Huseny , a plaintiffs ' attorney with the law firm Latham & Watkins , said in a statement that the challengers `` remain focused on ensuring that the Bureau 's data collections , and whatever data processing timelines the Bureau may implement , are consistent with the Constitution and the [ Administrative Procedure Act ] 's standards for reasoned decision making . ''
The court 's ruling is the latest turn in a roller coaster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the count .
Last-minute changes by the Census Bureau and its skirting of an earlier court order for the count have left local communities and the bureau 's workers across the U.S. unsure of how much longer they can take part in a national head count already upended by the coronavirus pandemic .
Lower courts previously ordered the administration to keep counting through Oct. 31 , reverting to an extended schedule that Trump officials had first proposed in April in response to delays caused by the pandemic and then abruptly decided to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judges have ruled , would give the bureau a better chance of getting an accurate and complete count of the country 's residents , which is used to determine how political representation and federal funding are distributed among the states over the next decade .
Justice Department attorneys say the Census Bureau is under pressure to meet a legal deadline of Dec. 31 for reporting to the president the first set of census results — the latest state population counts that determine each state 's share of the 435 seats in the House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn , also determine how many Electoral College votes each state has to determine who becomes the U.S. president in 2024 and 2028 .
Since May , however , career officials at the bureau have warned that the agency can no longer meet the Dec. 31 reporting deadline because of the pandemic .
Judges in lower courts have also noted that the national counts from the years 1810 through 1840 were delivered late and Congress later stepped in to approve deadline extensions .
In her dissenting opinion , Sotomayor wrote that `` meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accuracy of the census is not a cost worth paying , especially when the Government has failed to show why it could not bear the lesser cost of expending more resources to meet the deadline or continuing its prior efforts to seek an extension from Congress . ''
Still , if the commerce secretary , who oversees the bureau , were to present the new state counts to the White House by Dec. 31 , that would ensure that even if Trump did not win reelection , he could attempt to carry out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to who is counted when determining the reallocation of House seats .
Despite the Constitution 's requirement to include the `` whole number of persons in each state '' and the president 's limited authority over the census , Trump wants to try to exclude unauthorized immigrants from those numbers .
That effort has sparked another legal fight that is also before the Supreme Court .
On Friday , the court is set to discuss whether to hear oral arguments for that case in December .

Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Counting On Oct. 15
Enlarge this image toggle caption Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Updated at 10:40 p.m. ET
The Trump administration can end counting for the 2020 census early after the Supreme Court approved a request to suspend a lower court order that extended the count's schedule.
The high court's order on Tuesday, following an emergency request the Justice Department made last week, helps clear the way for President Trump to try to alter the count while in office by excluding unauthorized immigrants from the numbers used to reallocate congressional seats and Electoral College votes for the next 10 years.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the lone dissenter from the unsigned court order.
Hours after the ruling was released, the U.S. Census Bureau announced it will keep accepting responses online at My2020Census.gov through Oct. 15 until 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time. The bureau has also set Oct. 15 as the postmark deadline for paper forms as well as the end date for collecting phone responses and door knocking at unresponsive households.
In a statement, Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the attorneys who helped bring the lawsuit to extend the census schedule, noted that the order "will result in irreversible damage" despite the challengers' efforts to "secure more time on the clock to achieve a fair and accurate count."
Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community — one of the lawsuit's plaintiffs — called the ruling "a bitter pill for us to swallow here on the Reservation" in Arizona.
"With no explanation or rationale, a majority simply decided that our people do not deserve to be counted, thus continuing a long history of leaving Indian peoples at the margins of the U.S. society at large and economy," Lewis said in a statement.
Sadik Huseny, a plaintiffs' attorney with the law firm Latham & Watkins, said in a statement that the challengers "remain focused on ensuring that the Bureau's data collections, and whatever data processing timelines the Bureau may implement, are consistent with the Constitution and the [Administrative Procedure Act]'s standards for reasoned decision making."
The court's ruling is the latest turn in a roller coaster of a legal fight over the timeline for the count. Last-minute changes by the Census Bureau and its skirting of an earlier court order for the count have left local communities and the bureau's workers across the U.S. unsure of how much longer they can take part in a national head count already upended by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lower courts previously ordered the administration to keep counting through Oct. 31, reverting to an extended schedule that Trump officials had first proposed in April in response to delays caused by the pandemic and then abruptly decided to abandon in July.
More time, judges have ruled, would give the bureau a better chance of getting an accurate and complete count of the country's residents, which is used to determine how political representation and federal funding are distributed among the states over the next decade.
Justice Department attorneys say the Census Bureau is under pressure to meet a legal deadline of Dec. 31 for reporting to the president the first set of census results — the latest state population counts that determine each state's share of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. The numbers, in turn, also determine how many Electoral College votes each state has to determine who becomes the U.S. president in 2024 and 2028.
Since May, however, career officials at the bureau have warned that the agency can no longer meet the Dec. 31 reporting deadline because of the pandemic. Judges in lower courts have also noted that the national counts from the years 1810 through 1840 were delivered late and Congress later stepped in to approve deadline extensions.
In her dissenting opinion, Sotomayor wrote that "meeting the deadline at the expense of the accuracy of the census is not a cost worth paying, especially when the Government has failed to show why it could not bear the lesser cost of expending more resources to meet the deadline or continuing its prior efforts to seek an extension from Congress."
Still, if the commerce secretary, who oversees the bureau, were to present the new state counts to the White House by Dec. 31, that would ensure that even if Trump did not win reelection, he could attempt to carry out the unprecedented change he wants to make to who is counted when determining the reallocation of House seats.
Despite the Constitution's requirement to include the "whole number of persons in each state" and the president's limited authority over the census, Trump wants to try to exclude unauthorized immigrants from those numbers.
That effort has sparked another legal fight that is also before the Supreme Court. On Friday, the court is set to discuss whether to hear oral arguments for that case in December.


npr--2020-10-14--Putin Announces Approval Of A Second Unproven Coronavirus Vaccine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the approval of a second new coronavirus vaccine in as many months – but neither has completed the kind of extensive and rigorous three-phase trials required in the U.S .
Speaking during a televised news conference , Putin said the new vaccine developed by Siberian biotech company Novosibirsk 's Vektor [ State Virology and Biotechnology Center ] , a former Soviet-era bioweapons lab .
Large-scale studies , such as those required for vaccines developed in the U.S. , are designed to assess not only if a vaccine works , but whether it is free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show up once millions of people are immunized .
EpiVacCorona , described as a `` peptide-based shot , '' has yet to even begin such trials and its `` registration '' — a bureaucratic procedure undertaken by the Russian Health Ministry , which amounts to regulatory approval — is likely to be viewed as risky , at best .
Early trials of the latest vaccine on 100 volunteers were successful , Putin said .
He also said that Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and the head of Russia 's consumer safety watchdog , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine known as EpiVacCorona .
Wednesday 's announcement came days after the Kremlin said that another vaccine `` registered '' in August had only just begun a second round of Phase III safety and efficacy trials .
That vaccine , known popularly as Sputnik V , has been met with skepticism both inside and outside of Russia .
At the time of its approval , Putin said that his daughter had already been given two doses of the vaccine and that she was well after experiencing a slight fever that later went away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian teachers , meant to be among the first to received Sputnik V , were not eager to take the vaccine .
Russia 's teachers union even started an online petition calling on its members to refuse the vaccination until clinical trials are complete .
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic , more than 23,000 people have died in Russia from COVID-19 and it ranks fourth in the world for confirmed infections after the U.S. , India and Brazil .

Putin Announces Approval Of A 2nd Unproven Coronavirus Vaccine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the approval of a second new coronavirus vaccine in as many months – but neither has completed the kind of extensive and rigorous three-phase trials required in the U.S.
Speaking during a televised news conference, Putin said the new vaccine developed by Siberian biotech company Novosibirsk's Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center], a former Soviet-era bioweapons lab.
Large-scale studies, such as those required for vaccines developed in the U.S., are designed to assess not only if a vaccine works, but whether it is free from dangerous side effects that might only show up once millions of people are immunized.
EpiVacCorona, described as a "peptide-based shot," has yet to even begin such trials and its "registration" — a bureaucratic procedure undertaken by the Russian Health Ministry, which amounts to regulatory approval — is likely to be viewed as risky, at best.
Early trials of the latest vaccine on 100 volunteers were successful, Putin said. He also said that Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and the head of Russia's consumer safety watchdog, Anna Popova, had both received the vaccine known as EpiVacCorona.
Wednesday's announcement came days after the Kremlin said that another vaccine "registered" in August had only just begun a second round of Phase III safety and efficacy trials.
That vaccine, known popularly as Sputnik V, has been met with skepticism both inside and outside of Russia. At the time of its approval, Putin said that his daughter had already been given two doses of the vaccine and that she was well after experiencing a slight fever that later went away.
Last month, CNN reported that Russian teachers, meant to be among the first to received Sputnik V, were not eager to take the vaccine. Russia's teachers union even started an online petition calling on its members to refuse the vaccination until clinical trials are complete.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 23,000 people have died in Russia from COVID-19 and it ranks fourth in the world for confirmed infections after the U.S., India and Brazil.


npr--2020-10-14--Barron Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus, But Now Negative

Barron Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus , But Now Negative Barron Trump , the 14-year-old son of President Trump and Melania Trump , tested positive for COVID-19 , after initially testing negative .
The First Lady made the announcement on Wednesday in a post called , `` My personal experience with COVID-19 , '' on the White House website , adding it was one of her greatest fears as a parent .
A wave of relief washed over her when the boy first appeared to be untouched by the virus after she and the president were diagnosed with the highly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short lived .
`` I could n't help but think 'what about tomorrow or the next day ? '
`` she wrote .
`` My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive .
Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms .
In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together .
He has since tested negative . ''
She experienced `` a roller coaster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cough and fatigue while recuperating at the White House .
According to her own account , the first lady did not receive the same level of experimental drug therapies as the president , saying she took `` a more natural route in terms of medicine , opting more for vitamins and healthy food '' to help her recover .
Meanwhile , the president , who is 24 years her senior , suffered symptoms so severe that he was treated with oxygen and flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he received @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's doctor , Sean Conley , on Monday announced that Trump had `` tested negative , on consecutive days , using the Abbott BinaxNOW antigen card . ''
Over the course of her illness , Melania Trump said , she spent a lot of time in reflection about her family , the country and `` staying true to who you are . ''
`` I want people to know that I understand just how fortunate my family is to have received the kind of care that we did .
If you are sick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one who is sick—I am thinking of you and will be thinking of you every day , '' she said .
The first lady encouraged the public to `` live the healthiest life they can . ''
And while she promoted the benefits of a balanced diet and fresh air , she did not mention the benefits of social distancing or wearing a mask .
`` We are in unprecedented times—and with the election fast approaching , it has been easy to get caught up in so much negative energy , '' she @ @

Barron Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus, But Now Negative
Enlarge this image toggle caption Julio Cortez/AP Julio Cortez/AP
Barron Trump, the 14-year-old son of President Trump and Melania Trump, tested positive for COVID-19, after initially testing negative.
The First Lady made the announcement on Wednesday in a post called, "My personal experience with COVID-19," on the White House website, adding it was one of her greatest fears as a parent.
A wave of relief washed over her when the boy first appeared to be untouched by the virus after she and the president were diagnosed with the highly contagious coronavirus.
But that relief was short lived.
"I couldn't help but think 'what about tomorrow or the next day?' " she wrote.
"My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive. Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms. In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together. He has since tested negative."
She experienced "a roller coaster of symptoms" like aches, a cough and fatigue while recuperating at the White House. According to her own account, the first lady did not receive the same level of experimental drug therapies as the president, saying she took "a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food" to help her recover.
Meanwhile, the president, who is 24 years her senior, suffered symptoms so severe that he was treated with oxygen and flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he received care for three days.
The president's doctor, Sean Conley, on Monday announced that Trump had "tested negative, on consecutive days, using the Abbott BinaxNOW antigen card."
Over the course of her illness, Melania Trump said, she spent a lot of time in reflection about her family, the country and "staying true to who you are."
"I want people to know that I understand just how fortunate my family is to have received the kind of care that we did. If you are sick, or if you have a loved one who is sick—I am thinking of you and will be thinking of you every day," she said.
The first lady encouraged the public to "live the healthiest life they can." And while she promoted the benefits of a balanced diet and fresh air, she did not mention the benefits of social distancing or wearing a mask.
"We are in unprecedented times—and with the election fast approaching, it has been easy to get caught up in so much negative energy," she said.