npr--2020-07-16--Another Revenue Hit For Colleges: Canceled Summer Camps

Every summer , about 250 middle and high school students gather at the University of Michigan for the MPulse Summer Performing Arts Institutes .
The lecture halls and stages on the Ann Arbor campus come alive with young musicians and dancers and the sounds of string instruments , percussion and student voices singing to the beat of contemporary Broadway .
This year , those lecture halls are empty and the stages silent .
MPulse is one of countless college summer programs canceled or moved online by the coronavirus pandemic .
Despite virtual alternatives , many colleges and universities , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in revenue .
`` Any school that relies heavily on summer revenue is going to have a hard time making ends meet , '' says Chris Marsicano , an assistant professor of the practice of higher education at Davidson University .
`` The pain is still going to be real for even the wealthiest of institutions . ''
Broadly , colleges are financed in three ways : from state appropriations , tuition and fees , and from endowments .
But there 's also auxiliary revenue , which Marsicano says comes from summer camps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MPulse was able to move 10 of its 12 summer programs online .
But with two programs devoted to theater and dance canceled , that will cost the university about $ 200,000 in revenue , says Sarah J. Rau , director of engagement and outreach for the University 's School of Music , Theatre & Dance .
`` We are an independent entity financially , '' Rau says .
This means that the program does n't receive any money from the university to cover its direct costs .
`` Summer programs , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receive to support that , is key to our area 's fiscal survival . ''
Marsicano says summer program revenue is vital for schools that do n't receive much state funding or are heavily dependent on tuition and fees .
But this does not mean that the remaining colleges are immune to any financial impact .
`` Every single college or university in the country , whether it 's a community college or a public flagship university or a large research university , '' Marsicano says , is `` feeling some pain from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Summer camps on college campuses can focus on various areas , including sports , computer science , robotics and radio , television and film .
Tim Huchton , the camps on campus coordinator for the American Camp Association , says if you think of every single academic department on a college campus , there 's probably a camp for it .
The closures are also affecting the employees of these institutions , says Marsicano .
Staff members such as dining service workers , who work weekly or monthly positions , often supplement their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or support summer camp students .
Roughly 9 % of those workers , says Huchton , `` who would be working in dining halls normally during the summer helping to feed a bunch of 12- to 15-year-olds , '' have been furloughed or laid off .
At Michigan , Rau says she hires roughly 90 faculty members and guest artists and 40 student counselors for MPulse each summer .
With two canceled programs this year , she 's employing only 60 faculty members and guest artists and 10 counselors .
Beyond lost revenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other issues at stake here : `` I 'm more concerned about the equity implications for those students who would not normally have an opportunity to spend any time on a college campus , let alone an entire summer . ''
He adds that summer camps can be major recruiting tools for colleges seeking to expand the diversity of their student enrollment .
`` If we ca n't run that program , it becomes harder to recruit and retain low-income students , students of color and students who come from international backgrounds , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are hugely important in building a diverse and inclusive class . ''
Huchton agrees and says : `` Many times kids do n't see themselves on that college campus and they do n't get the opportunity to ever think , 'Maybe college is really for me . '
These programs are doing a lot of great research or community building to help kids understand that 'You could have a place at this college as well . '
``

Another Revenue Hit For Colleges: Canceled Summer Camps
Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick Smith/Getty Images Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Every summer, about 250 middle and high school students gather at the University of Michigan for the MPulse Summer Performing Arts Institutes. The lecture halls and stages on the Ann Arbor campus come alive with young musicians and dancers and the sounds of string instruments, percussion and student voices singing to the beat of contemporary Broadway.
This year, those lecture halls are empty and the stages silent. MPulse is one of countless college summer programs canceled or moved online by the coronavirus pandemic. Despite virtual alternatives, many colleges and universities, like Michigan, are losing millions of dollars in revenue.
"Any school that relies heavily on summer revenue is going to have a hard time making ends meet," says Chris Marsicano, an assistant professor of the practice of higher education at Davidson University. "The pain is still going to be real for even the wealthiest of institutions."
Broadly, colleges are financed in three ways: from state appropriations, tuition and fees, and from endowments. But there's also auxiliary revenue, which Marsicano says comes from summer camps, dining services and special events.
MPulse was able to move 10 of its 12 summer programs online. But with two programs devoted to theater and dance canceled, that will cost the university about $200,000 in revenue, says Sarah J. Rau, director of engagement and outreach for the University's School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
"We are an independent entity financially," Rau says. This means that the program doesn't receive any money from the university to cover its direct costs. "Summer programs, the tuition revenues and the grants that we receive to support that, is key to our area's fiscal survival."
Marsicano says summer program revenue is vital for schools that don't receive much state funding or are heavily dependent on tuition and fees. But this does not mean that the remaining colleges are immune to any financial impact.
"Every single college or university in the country, whether it's a community college or a public flagship university or a large research university," Marsicano says, is "feeling some pain from the lack of summer revenue."
Summer camps on college campuses can focus on various areas, including sports, computer science, robotics and radio, television and film. Tim Huchton, the camps on campus coordinator for the American Camp Association, says if you think of every single academic department on a college campus, there's probably a camp for it.
The closures are also affecting the employees of these institutions, says Marsicano. Staff members such as dining service workers, who work weekly or monthly positions, often supplement their income during the summer by helping feed or support summer camp students.
Roughly 9% of those workers, says Huchton, "who would be working in dining halls normally during the summer helping to feed a bunch of 12- to 15-year-olds," have been furloughed or laid off.
At Michigan, Rau says she hires roughly 90 faculty members and guest artists and 40 student counselors for MPulse each summer. With two canceled programs this year, she's employing only 60 faculty members and guest artists and 10 counselors.
Beyond lost revenue, however, Marsicano says there are other issues at stake here: "I'm more concerned about the equity implications for those students who would not normally have an opportunity to spend any time on a college campus, let alone an entire summer."
He adds that summer camps can be major recruiting tools for colleges seeking to expand the diversity of their student enrollment.
"If we can't run that program, it becomes harder to recruit and retain low-income students, students of color and students who come from international backgrounds," Marsicano says. "These programs are hugely important in building a diverse and inclusive class."
Huchton agrees and says: "Many times kids don't see themselves on that college campus and they don't get the opportunity to ever think, 'Maybe college is really for me.' These programs are doing a lot of great research or community building to help kids understand that 'You could have a place at this college as well.' "


npr--2020-07-16--U.S. Says Russian Hackers Are Trying To Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research

U.S. Says Russian Hackers Are Trying To Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research The National Security Agency , as well as its counterparts in Britain and Canada , all said Thursday that they 're seeing persistent attempts by Russian hackers to break into organizations working on a potential coronavirus vaccine .
The Western intelligence agencies say they believe the hackers are part of the Russian group informally known as Cozy Bear .
The intelligence agencies refer to it as APT29 .
That group has been linked to Russian intelligence and was blamed for hacking Democratic Party emails in the 2016 U.S. presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history of targeting governmental , diplomatic , think-tank , health care and energy organizations for intelligence gain so we encourage everyone to take this threat seriously , '' said Anne Neuberger , the NSA 's cybersecurity director .
`` We can say one thing — Russia has nothing at all to do with these attempts , '' Dmitry Peskov , a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin , was quoted as saying by the state-run Tass news agency .
The Western intelligence agencies did not name any of the organizations being targeted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on whether the hackers had obtained any information , or what they might do with any such information .
But for several months now , the U.S. and others have been warning health care organizations to safeguard all sensitive information related to a potential vaccine .
`` We are imploring all those research facilities and hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that are doing really great research to do everything in their power to protect it , '' Bill Evanina , the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center , told NPR in May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. officials had already been warning about China , which has has a long track record of stealing Western intellectual property .
`` We have the full expectation that China will do everything in their power to obtain any viable research that we are conducting here in the U.S. , '' Evanina said back in May .
`` That will be in line with their capabilities and intent the last decade plus , and we are expecting them to continue to do so . ''

U.S. Says Russian Hackers Are Trying To Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ted S. Warren/AP Ted S. Warren/AP
The National Security Agency, as well as its counterparts in Britain and Canada, all said Thursday that they're seeing persistent attempts by Russian hackers to break into organizations working on a potential coronavirus vaccine.
The Western intelligence agencies say they believe the hackers are part of the Russian group informally known as Cozy Bear. The intelligence agencies refer to it as APT29.
That group has been linked to Russian intelligence and was blamed for hacking Democratic Party emails in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
"APT29 has a long history of targeting governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, health care and energy organizations for intelligence gain so we encourage everyone to take this threat seriously," said Anne Neuberger, the NSA's cybersecurity director.
Russia denied the accusation.
"We can say one thing — Russia has nothing at all to do with these attempts," Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, was quoted as saying by the state-run Tass news agency.
The Western intelligence agencies did not name any of the organizations being targeted. In addition, there was no word on whether the hackers had obtained any information, or what they might do with any such information.
But for several months now, the U.S. and others have been warning health care organizations to safeguard all sensitive information related to a potential vaccine.
"We are imploring all those research facilities and hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that are doing really great research to do everything in their power to protect it," Bill Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told NPR in May.
Prior to Thursday's announcement, U.S. officials had already been warning about China, which has has a long track record of stealing Western intellectual property.
"We have the full expectation that China will do everything in their power to obtain any viable research that we are conducting here in the U.S.," Evanina said back in May. "That will be in line with their capabilities and intent the last decade plus, and we are expecting them to continue to do so."


npr--2020-07-16--Rwanda's Genocide Ended 26 Years Ago. Survivors Are Still Finding Mass Graves

From the street , the home looks like any other in this neighborhood on the outskirts of Kigali , Rwanda 's capital .
A pitched terra-cotta roof rises above the sturdy brick wall surrounding the property .
The blue metal gate has neat triangles mounted across the top to ward off potential intruders .
But when the front gate swings open , an extraordinary scene emerges .
Inside , the yard is pocked with shovel holes , some of them dozens of feet deep .
Next to the holes are mounds of dirt , with the tops of leafy banana @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owners planted the trees to hide mass graves after the 100-day genocide that raged from April 7 to July 15 , 1994 .
Now , thousands of bodies are still being recovered and laid to rest at nearby genocide memorials .
Innocent Gasinzigwa , 70 , is a volunteer with Ibuka , an organization of genocide survivors helping to honor the memory of those who were killed ( ibuka means `` remember '' in the Kinyarwanda language ) .
After receiving a tip that this property contained mass graves , he and his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ground all across the yard .
`` It sounds different when there 's a well underneath , '' he explains through a translator .
He walks over to one such `` well '' — a hole 20 or 30 feet deep , that was not dug to find water , but to hide hundreds of bodies .
At his feet , small rocks and dirt tumble down into the darkness .
Official estimates put the death toll of the genocide between 800,000 and 1 million people .
Extremist Hutu militias carried out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an ethnic minority , as well as members of the Twa ethnic group and moderate Hutus who protected those fleeing the violence or refused to participate in the violence .
As many as half a million women were raped .
`` These people need to be buried in respect '' Joseph Nkurunziza , the co-founder and director of Never Again , a peacebuilding organization focused on preventing genocide , calls it a `` genocide of proximity , '' where neighbors and even relatives turned against each other .
Many of the survivors of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , both physical and emotional .
Gasinzigwa 's wife and seven children were among those killed .
He bears a machete scar across the back of his neck and left ear from where a génocidaire tried to decapitate him .
Gasinzigwa escaped by the grace of God , he says , and that 's why he does this work of recovering victims ' remains and giving them a proper burial in a nearby memorial cemetery .
`` It 's my purpose to do that , '' he says .
`` These people need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nkurunziza says that proper burials are an important part of overcoming trauma .
`` If you lost your loved one , there 's a time you mourn .
You pay your last respects .
And then you bury , '' he says .
`` For purposes of healing the broken hearts , it is essential that the dead can have a decent burial . ''
Rwandans frequently visit these sites — cemeteries , memorials , even digs like this — to remember the victims and to vow it will never happen again .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ volunteers like Gasinzigwa are still finding and exhuming mass graves all over the country .
Going back to the past can be difficult , Nkurunziza says .
`` But it 's something that you ca n't shy away from because it happened . ''
It took 30 years of colonizers stoking ethnic tensions in Rwanda for the violence to erupt , Nkurunziza points out .
Healing is `` not something that can be achieved in the middle of the night . ''
`` That history that people observed — it is a bit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just forget it . ''
The sites serve as a reminder of what happened — and , he says , `` a commitment that this should n't happen again . ''
`` The only way is forgiveness '' A young man , paid by Rwanda 's government to help excavate this site , plunges his bare hands into the earth , turning his palms up and sifting the orange-red dirt until all that remains are bone fragments — maybe 2 or 3 inches long .
He sets them aside on a blue tarp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of dirt , he picks up a hammer and delivers a few sharp blows .
It could contain a calcified body part .
So far , they have found the remains of an estimated 2,500 people in this dig alone ; they expect to find at least double that before they are done .
Gasinzigwa carefully sets aside any personal items and every scrap of clothing they recover in the hopes that some survivors are able to identify the remains of their loved ones .
This was the seventh mass grave site Gasinzigwa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year and a half after he began working in this village , Masaka , and the neighboring town , Kabuga .
In all , Gasinzigwa and his workers have laid about 70,000 people to rest , and thousands of bodies have also been discovered by other volunteers at other sites throughout the country .
Gasinzigwa is certain that there are more graves nearby ; he just does n't know where to look yet .
This area was frequently used as a burial site for two reasons : It was on the outskirts of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fleeing violence in the capital , and it was relatively undeveloped .
After the genocide , houses were constructed — knowingly or not — atop the graves .
The man who built this home was a top military leader during the genocide , and his children were members of a local militia .
They set up a roadblock at the intersection down the road to intercept Tutsis , and they would bring victims here for dismemberment , decomposition and burial .
The military leader 's elderly wife still lives here ; she is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bones in the dirt outside her bedroom .
`` The only place that she does n't want us to go is in the house , '' Gasinzigwa says .
`` There 's also another 'well ' in the house . ''
When the family built the home , they wanted to cover up that mass grave specifically , the tipster told him .
When his crew is done combing through the yard , the police will evict the woman and the workers will tear down the house .
When he discovers graves from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over to the police , but they 're sometimes released with no charges .
It 's disappointing , he says , but retribution is n't the point .
`` What matters is that the bodies of the genocide victims are finally put to rest , '' he says .
His wife and six of his children have already been laid to rest ; one child remains unaccounted for .
But he does n't do this out of some misplaced yearning for them .
He says he has come to peace with what happened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all of the killing — they did n't get anything from it , '' he says .
`` For my heart to be cleansed , the only way is forgiveness . ''
He seems aware this may be difficult for outsiders to comprehend , so he continues to explain .
`` It 's the only way to do it , '' he says .
If he did n't forgive , the hate would only fester and turn toward vengeance , and then he would be no better than they were .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way — it 's the only thing I can do , to forgive . ''
He paused and then said simply , `` To be able to go past that is to approach God . ''
A few days after Gasinzigwa showed NPR the grave site , he was striding down the street again .
He 'd gotten another tip : another mass grave , only a few hundred yards away from the last .
Melody Schreiber is a freelance journalist who reported from Rwanda on a fellowship with the International Women 's @ @ @ @ @ @

Rwanda's Genocide Ended 26 Years Ago. Survivors Are Still Finding Mass Graves
Enlarge this image toggle caption Melody Schreiber Melody Schreiber
From the street, the home looks like any other in this neighborhood on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda's capital. A pitched terra cotta roof rises above the sturdy brick wall surrounding the property. The blue metal gate has neat triangles mounted across the top to ward off potential intruders.
But when the front gate swings open, an extraordinary scene emerges.
The yard is pocked with shovel holes, some of them dozens of feet deep. Next to the holes are mounds of dirt, with the tops of leafy banana trees poking through.
It was just late last year that people were searching through 25-year-old mass graves.
The home's owners planted the trees to hide mass graves after the 100-day genocide that raged from April 7 to July 15, 1994. Now, thousands of bodies are being recovered and laid to rest at nearby genocide memorials.
Innocent Gasinzigwa, 70, is a volunteer with Ibuka, an organization of genocide survivors helping to honor the memory of those who were killed (ibuka means "remember" in the Kinyarwanda language). After receiving a tip that this property contained mass graves, he and his crew took sledgehammers and delivered blows to the ground all across the yard.
"It sounds different when there's a well underneath," he explains through a translator.
He walks over to one such "well" — a hole 20 or 30 feet deep, that was not dug to find water, but to hide hundreds of bodies. At his feet, small rocks and dirt tumble down into the darkness.
Official estimates put the death toll of the genocide between 800,000 and 1 million people. Extremist Hutu militias carried out the mass slaughter primarily of Tutsis, an ethnic minority, as well as members of the Twa ethnic group and moderate Hutus who protected those fleeing the violence or refused to participate in the violence. As many as half a million women were raped.
"These people need to be buried in respect"
Joseph Nkurunziza, the co-founder and director of Never Again, a peace-building organization focused on preventing genocide, calls it a "genocide of proximity," in which neighbors and even relatives turned against one another.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Melody Schreiber Melody Schreiber
Many of the survivors of the violence still grapple with its scars, both physical and emotional.
Gasinzigwa's wife and seven children were among those killed. He bears a machete scar across the back of his neck and left ear from where a génocidaire tried to decapitate him. Gasinzigwa escaped by the grace of God, he says, and that's why he does this work of recovering victims' remains and giving them a proper burial in a nearby memorial cemetery.
"It's my purpose to do that," he says. "These people need to be buried in respect."
Nkurunziza says that proper burials are an important part of overcoming trauma.
"If you lost your loved one, there's a time you mourn. You pay your last respects. And then you bury," he says. "For purposes of healing the broken hearts, it is essential that the dead can have a decent burial."
Rwandans frequently visit these sites — cemeteries, memorials, even digs like this — to remember the victims and to vow it will never happen again. A quarter of a century later, volunteers like Gasinzigwa are still finding and exhuming mass graves all over the country.
Going back to the past can be difficult, Nkurunziza says. "But it's something that you can't shy away from because it happened."
It took 30 years of colonizers stoking ethnic tensions in Rwanda for the violence to erupt, Nkurunziza points out. Healing is "not something that can be achieved in the middle of the night."
"That history that people observed — it is a bit hard 25 years down the road to just forget it."
The sites serve as a reminder of what happened — and, he says, "a commitment that this shouldn't happen again."
"The only way is forgiveness"
A young man, paid by Rwanda's government to help excavate this site, plunges his bare hands into the earth, turning his palms up and sifting the orange-red dirt until all that remains are bone fragments — maybe 2 or 3 inches long. He sets them aside on a blue tarp. When he encounters a large clump of dirt, he picks up a hammer and delivers a few sharp blows. It could contain a calcified body part.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Melody Schreiber Melody Schreiber
By last fall, they had found the remains of an estimated 2,500 people in this dig; they expected to find at least double that before they are done. Gasinzigwa carefully sets aside any personal items and every scrap of clothing they recover in the hopes that some survivors are able to identify the remains of their loved ones.
This was the seventh mass gravesite Gasinzigwa had unearthed by September 2019, a year and a half after he began working in this village, Masaka, and the neighboring town, Kabuga. In all, Gasinzigwa and his workers have laid about 70,000 people to rest, and thousands of bodies have also been discovered by volunteers at other sites throughout the country. Gasinzigwa is certain that there are more graves nearby; he just doesn't know where to look yet.
This area was frequently used as a burial site for two reasons: It was on the outskirts of Kigali, where génocidaires would intercept Tutsis fleeing violence in the capital, and it was relatively undeveloped. After the genocide, houses were constructed — knowingly or not — atop the graves.
The man who built this home was a top military leader during the genocide, and his children were members of a local militia. They set up a roadblock at the intersection down the road to intercept Tutsis, and they would bring victims here for dismemberment, decomposition and burial.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Melody Schreiber Melody Schreiber
The military leader's elderly wife still lives here; she is taking a nap even as workers recover bones in the dirt outside her bedroom.
"The only place that she doesn't want us to go is in the house," Gasinzigwa says. "There's also another 'well' in the house."
When the family built the home, they wanted to cover up that mass grave specifically, the tipster told him. When his crew is done combing through the yard, the police will evict the woman and the workers will tear down the house.
When he discovers graves from the genocide, Gasinzigwa turns the homeowners over to the police, but they're sometimes released with no charges. It's disappointing, he says, but retribution isn't the point.
"What matters is that the bodies of the genocide victims are finally put to rest," he says.
His wife and six of his children have already been laid to rest; one child remains unaccounted for. But he doesn't do this out of a yearning for them. He says he has come to peace with what happened.
"All of what they did, all of the killing — they didn't get anything from it," he says. "For my heart to be cleansed, the only way is forgiveness."
He seems aware this may be difficult for outsiders to comprehend, so he continues to explain. "It's the only way to do it," he says. If he didn't forgive, the hate would only fester and turn toward vengeance, and then he would be no better than they were. "For me, it's the only way — it's the only thing I can do, to forgive."
He pauses and then says simply, "To be able to go past that is to approach God."
A few days after Gasinzigwa showed NPR the gravesite, he was striding down the street again. He had gotten another tip: another mass grave, only a few hundred yards away from the last.
Melody Schreiber is a freelance journalist who reported from Rwanda on a fellowship with the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).


npr--2020-07-16--A Family Secret Inspired A New Book About Leprosy

In 1998 , NPR correspondent Pam Fessler learned a family secret that had been covered up for 63 years : Her husband 's grandfather had leprosy .
Her father-in-law revealed that he had returned from school one day to discover that his dad had simply disappeared , taken by public health authorities from their home in New York to the national leprosarium of the United States in Carville , La .
He was confined there for the rest of his life .
Astounded , Fessler began digging into one of the most dreaded diseases in history .
Back when Morris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many people believed — incorrectly — that leprosy meant someone was cursed , highly contagious and that their fingers and toes would soon fall off .
A diagnosis would lead to being ostracized and quarantined for life , even in the United States .
Now the disease is called by the less stigmatizing name of Hansen 's in honor of the scientist who discovered the bacterium that causes it .
Because widely available treatments can avert or reverse the symptoms , which include discolored skin patches , nerve numbness and loss of sensation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
These days , 250,000 new cases are diagnosed each year , mostly in India , Brazil and Indonesia , with about 200 in the United States .
The story of Carville , which was founded as the Louisiana Leper Home in 1894 , gave Fessler a window into the evolution of this disease .
It remained in its original location until what was then called the Gillis W. Long Hansen 's Disease Center was moved to Baton Rouge in the late 1990s , though the Carville location continued to house patients until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her newly published book , Carville 's Cure : Leprosy , Stigma , and the Fight for Justice , and the relevance this story holds today .
If Hansen 's is curable , why do new cases occur ?
Stigma and misinformation can still keep patients from seeking help .
Sometimes people have internalized the stigma , afraid to reveal their illness because they fear this may be God 's punishment for something terrible they did .
The world is dealing with COVID-19 .
Why should people care about leprosy now ?
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the ways in which the lack of knowledge about a disease can open the way to misinformation and misguided policies that are not based on sound science .
At the turn of the 20th century , a number of doctors correctly called Hansen 's one of the least contagious of all infectious diseases , with malaria , smallpox and yellow fever posing more serious and widespread threats .
But other doctors disagreed .
Their fears about contagion were then amplified by the public 's anxiety that rising numbers of immigrants would bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the novel Ben-Hur , which was widely read at that time , affirmed the belief that victims of the disease are cursed by God .
It also depicts the hero 's mother and sister suffering from leprosy in agonizing detail .
All those factors drove public pressure to isolate people with the disease from society and to the formation of the hospital at Carville , where many people remained separated from their families for the rest of their lives .
The irony is that with Hansen 's there was very little actual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we now know that 95 % of humans are immune .
But there was a public overreaction in support of isolating patients .
By contrast , we know that COVID-19 is extremely contagious , and yet many people are choosing not to follow public health guidelines .
In both cases , what it shows me is that in the absence of solid leadership and information , the public pushes the health authorities to act in ways that fit the public 's own perceptions , beliefs and fears .
And , of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot we do n't know , which only exacerbates the problem !
Is there another parallel in the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric to stoke anxiety ?
The turn of the century was a time of xenophobia with widespread fear that Asian immigrants were going to take away American jobs .
They were also worried that Asian immigrants would bring with them a disease they called the `` Oriental leprosy . ''
Labor leader Denis Kearney , for instance , warned about `` moon-eyed lepers , '' and a former head of the Louisiana @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filthy leprous hordes from Asia '' coming here to spread the disease .
Despite there being no evidence at all , the biggest fear was that Asians who worked in laundries would spit into the clothes .
Today , COVID-19 has been called the `` kung-flu .
`` And there are many cases of Asian Americans being shouted at and accused of causing and bringing COVID to the United States .
These are all examples of how some people can weaponize a disease to denigrate and demonize immigrants .
It is appalling , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the book .
Although Carville operated in the midst of the Jim Crow South , you say the patients formed a community that in some ways was a model of diversity .
How so ?
This was amazing .
Here we are in the Deep South in the first half of the 1900s , and these patients , 300 to 500 at a time , had all been thrown together by their common illness and bound together by the shared discrimination they also suffered .
They were of Asian descent , Hispanic descent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poor , children and adults .
There was some segregation in the dormitories and the dining room , but the classrooms were integrated , their social activities were integrated and everybody got paid the same amount for doing the same jobs .
They were there together , and that helped encourage and propel them to stand together to form an advocacy campaign that in 1946 succeeded in their regaining their voting rights [ which had for many years been rescinded ] .
So you also found some positive aspects ?
Yes , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the resilience of human beings .
And we see this with COVID , too , in all these wonderful health care workers and communities trying to help people with the illness .
Hopefully this will also lead to a COVID vaccine and treatments .
Diane Cole writes for many publications , including The Wall Street Journal and The Jewish Week , and is book columnist for The Psychotherapy Networker .
She is the author of the memoir After Great Pain : A New Life Emerges .
Her website is dianejcole.com .

A Family Secret Inspired A New Book About Leprosy
Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of the Koll family Courtesy of the Koll family
In 1998, NPR correspondent Pam Fessler learned a family secret that had been covered up for 63 years: Her husband's grandfather had leprosy. Her father-in-law revealed that he had returned from school one day to discover that his dad had simply disappeared, taken by public health authorities from their home in New York to the national leprosarium of the United States in Carville, La. He was confined there for the rest of his life.
Astounded, Fessler began digging into one of the most dreaded diseases in history.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Allison Shelley/NPR Allison Shelley/NPR
Back when Morris Koll was whisked away in 1935, many people believed — incorrectly — that leprosy meant someone was cursed, highly contagious and that their fingers and toes would soon fall off. A diagnosis would lead to being ostracized and quarantined for life, even in the United States.
Now the disease is called by the less stigmatizing name of Hansen's in honor of the scientist who discovered the bacterium that causes it. Because widely available treatments can avert or reverse the symptoms, which include discolored skin patches, nerve numbness and loss of sensation, the number of cases has plummeted. These days, 250,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, mostly in India, Brazil and Indonesia, with about 200 in the United States.
The story of Carville, which was founded as the Louisiana Leper Home in 1894, gave Fessler a window into the evolution of this disease. It remained in its original location until what was then called the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center was moved to Baton Rouge in the late 1990s, though the Carville location continued to house patients until 2015. We spoke to Fessler about her newly published book, Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice, and the relevance this story holds today.
toggle caption National Hansen's Disease Museum
If Hansen's is curable, why do new cases occur?
Stigma and misinformation can still keep patients from seeking help. Sometimes people have internalized the stigma, afraid to reveal their illness because they fear this may be God's punishment for something terrible they did.
The world is dealing with COVID-19. Why should people care about leprosy now?
I've been particularly struck in both cases by the ways in which the lack of knowledge about a disease can open the way to misinformation and misguided policies that are not based on sound science.
toggle caption National Hansen's Disease Museum
At the turn of the 20th century, a number of doctors correctly called Hansen's one of the least contagious of all infectious diseases, with malaria, smallpox and yellow fever posing more serious and widespread threats. But other doctors disagreed. Their fears about contagion were then amplified by the public's anxiety that rising numbers of immigrants would bring leprosy with them. Further fueling that, the novel Ben-Hur, which was widely read at that time, affirmed the belief that victims of the disease are cursed by God. It also depicts the hero's mother and sister suffering from leprosy in agonizing detail. All those factors drove public pressure to isolate people with the disease from society and to the formation of the hospital at Carville, where many people remained separated from their families for the rest of their lives.
The irony is that with Hansen's there was very little actual danger of contagion. In fact, we now know that 95% of humans are immune. But there was a public overreaction in support of isolating patients. By contrast, we know that COVID-19 is extremely contagious, and yet many people are choosing not to follow public health guidelines.
In both cases, what it shows me is that in the absence of solid leadership and information, the public pushes the health authorities to act in ways that fit the public's own perceptions, beliefs and fears. And, of course, with COVID, there's still a lot we don't know, which only exacerbates the problem!
Is there another parallel in the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric to stoke anxiety?
The turn of the century was a time of xenophobia with widespread fear that Asian immigrants were going to take away American jobs. They were also worried that Asian immigrants would bring with them a disease they called the "Oriental leprosy." Labor leader Denis Kearney, for instance, warned about "moon-eyed lepers," and a former head of the Louisiana Board of Health cautioned against "vicious filthy leprous hordes from Asia" coming here to spread the disease. Despite there being no evidence at all, the biggest fear was that Asians who worked in laundries would spit into the clothes.
toggle caption National Hansen's Disease Museum
Today, COVID-19 has been called the "kung-flu."And there are many cases of Asian Americans being shouted at and accused of causing and bringing COVID to the United States.
These are all examples of how some people can weaponize a disease to denigrate and demonize immigrants. It is appalling, and it is another reason I wrote the book.
Although Carville operated in the midst of the Jim Crow South, you say the patients formed a community that in some ways was a model of diversity. How so?
This was amazing. Here we are in the Deep South in the first half of the 1900s, and these patients, 300 to 500 at a time, had all been thrown together by their common illness and bound together by the shared discrimination they also suffered. They were of Asian descent, Hispanic descent, white, Black, rich, poor, children and adults. There was some segregation in the dormitories and the dining room, but the classrooms were integrated, their social activities were integrated and everybody got paid the same amount for doing the same jobs. They were there together, and that helped encourage and propel them to stand together to form an advocacy campaign that in 1946 succeeded in their regaining their voting rights [which had for many years been rescinded].
toggle caption National Hansen's Disease Museum
So you also found some positive aspects?
Yes, this is also a hopeful story about community and the resilience of human beings. And we see this with COVID, too, in all these wonderful health care workers and communities trying to help people with the illness. Hopefully this will also lead to a COVID vaccine and treatments.
Diane Cole writes for many publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Jewish Week, and is book columnist for The Psychotherapy Networker. She is the author of the memoir After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges. Her website is dianejcole.com.


npr--2020-07-16--Pandemic And Protests Spark Record Gun Sales

Mandy Collins lives in Little Mountain , S.C. , with her husband and three kids .
The 38-year-old never owned a gun before .
Her husband does n't have one either .
But after the pandemic hit , she spent $ 450 on a powerful handgun .
`` With all the toilet paper gone and everything , people just started acting crazy , '' she says .
`` I guess the fear of the unknown and letting prisoners out of prison , and I just ... decided I wanted to go ahead and just purchase one . ''
Some states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic who are near the end of their sentences , who are older or who are deemed not dangerous .
`` After seeing all the riots and the lack of arrests , '' Collins says that too made her happy she 'd bought the gun .
`` I am so glad I did . ''
National protests about police brutality and racial justice have remained largely peaceful .
Fears over the pandemic and protests are driving millions of Americans to buy guns at a record pace .
And nearly half of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David Chipman is a former special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives who is now with Giffords , a gun violence prevention group .
The U.S. hit a monthly record for gun sales in March after the virus outbreak , he says .
`` You can see again on May 25 , when George Floyd was murdered and then the lawful protests and the looting and rioting that followed as well , again saw an enormous spike in gun sales , '' he says .
Chipman says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The government does n't track firearms sales , but it does track background checks that are required to buy guns from licensed dealers .
For handguns in June , those were nearly three times higher than a year earlier .
Phillip Levine is an economist and professor at Wellesley College who just co-wrote a report looking at gun permit data and Google searches .
`` The search term 'buy gun ' is a really good indicator of gun sales , '' he says .
Levine estimates that , so far , about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been sold since the pandemic started .
He also looked at other Google searches that contained racist language .
And in his analysis racial tensions are driving at least some of the surge in sales .
`` I would reject the premise that people who are buying firearms are doing so because they 're racist , '' says Lawrence Keane , the general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation , a gun industry trade group .
He says people are buying guns because all the uncertainty and unrest has them concerned about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sales spike it 's because an event such as a school shooting is seen to make gun control laws more likely .
And it 's gun enthusiasts , people who already own guns , who are going out and buying more .
But something different is happening now .
`` We 've surveyed retailers who tell us that about 40 % of their customers are first-time buyers , '' Keane says .
Michael Weeks , the owner of the Georgia Gun Store in Gainesville , says from what he 's seeing , `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
He says he 's not doing much business with people who already own guns .
And he says his new customers are people of all different races and income levels .
`` We see a wide diversity of people come to the door , '' he says .
`` It 's all over the board . ''
Kevin Cummins , who runs Advantage Firearms Education and Training in St. Louis , says he 's seeing all kinds of people showing up to take classes .
A hospital nurse was a recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purchased a firearm and did not know how to load the firearm , did n't know anything about it , was scared to death of it , '' Cummins says .
Millions of people suddenly owning a gun for the first time has Chipman , the former ATF agent , worried that many wo n't get proper training .
He says previous spikes in gun sales have resulted in more accidental deaths — including children .
And he says people should n't be brandishing and waving guns around like he sees in YouTube @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence .
`` I was taught that you do n't pull your gun unless you intend to use it . ''
Even though Cummins runs a firearms school , he tells people that before getting a gun , they should get a can of pepper gel .
That 's similar to pepper spray but it wo n't blow back in your face .
Cummins is also a lieutenant at a local police department .
He says `` 95 % of the situations people are going to encounter with crime do not warrant the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cummins says to protect yourself , pepper gel is almost always `` a much better tool than a firearm . ''
Still , the industry group says 2020 is on track to be the biggest year ever for gun sales in America .

Pandemic And Protests Spark Record Gun Sales
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kellie Weeks Kellie Weeks
Mandy Collins lives in Little Mountain, S.C., with her husband and three kids. The 38-year-old never owned a gun before. Her husband doesn't have one either. But after the pandemic hit, she spent $450 on a powerful handgun.
"With all the toilet paper gone and everything, people just started acting crazy," she says. "I guess the fear of the unknown and letting prisoners out of prison, and I just ... decided I wanted to go ahead and just purchase one."
Some states have released prisoners for home detention amid the pandemic who are near the end of their sentences, who are older or who are deemed not dangerous.
"After seeing all the riots and the lack of arrests," Collins says that too made her happy she'd bought the gun. "I am so glad I did."
National protests about police brutality and racial justice have remained largely peaceful.
Fears over the pandemic and protests are driving millions of Americans to buy guns at a record pace. And nearly half of them appear to be first-time gun owners.
David Chipman is a former special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who is now with Giffords, a gun violence prevention group. The U.S. hit a monthly record for gun sales in March after the virus outbreak, he says.
"You can see again on May 25, when George Floyd was murdered and then the lawful protests and the looting and rioting that followed as well, again saw an enormous spike in gun sales," he says.
Chipman says that lasted all the way through June.
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The government doesn't track firearms sales, but it does track background checks that are required to buy guns from licensed dealers. For handguns in June, those were nearly three times higher than a year earlier.
Phillip Levine is an economist and professor at Wellesley College who just co-wrote a report looking at gun permit data and Google searches. "The search term 'buy gun' is a really good indicator of gun sales," he says.
Levine estimates that, so far, about 3 million more guns than usual have been sold since the pandemic started.
He also looked at other Google searches that contained racist language. And in his analysis racial tensions are driving at least some of the surge in sales.
The gun industry disputes that.
"I would reject the premise that people who are buying firearms are doing so because they're racist," says Lawrence Keane, the general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group.
He says people are buying guns because all the uncertainty and unrest has them concerned about their safety.
Usually, when gun sales spike it's because an event such as a school shooting is seen to make gun control laws more likely. And it's gun enthusiasts, people who already own guns, who are going out and buying more.
But something different is happening now. "We've surveyed retailers who tell us that about 40% of their customers are first-time buyers," Keane says.
Michael Weeks, the owner of the Georgia Gun Store in Gainesville, says from what he's seeing, "most of it is new gun owners." He says he's not doing much business with people who already own guns. And he says his new customers are people of all different races and income levels.
"We see a wide diversity of people come to the door," he says. "It's all over the board."
Kevin Cummins, who runs Advantage Firearms Education and Training in St. Louis, says he's seeing all kinds of people showing up to take classes.
A hospital nurse was a recent customer. "She had just recently purchased a firearm and did not know how to load the firearm, didn't know anything about it, was scared to death of it," Cummins says.
Millions of people suddenly owning a gun for the first time has Chipman, the former ATF agent, worried that many won't get proper training. He says previous spikes in gun sales have resulted in more accidental deaths — including children.
And he says people shouldn't be brandishing and waving guns around like he sees in YouTube videos. He says that can provoke violence. "I was taught that you don't pull your gun unless you intend to use it."
Even though Cummins runs a firearms school, he tells people that before getting a gun, they should get a can of pepper gel. That's similar to pepper spray but it won't blow back in your face. Cummins is also a lieutenant at a local police department.
He says "95% of the situations people are going to encounter with crime do not warrant the use of a firearm." So Cummins says to protect yourself, pepper gel is almost always "a much better tool than a firearm."
Still, the industry group says 2020 is on track to be the biggest year ever for gun sales in America.


npr--2020-07-16--Statue Of Protester Is Removed In England, One Day After Replacing Slave Trader

Statue Of Protester Is Removed In England , One Day After Replacing Slave Trader Well , that did not last long .
Just over 24 hours after the sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester went up in Bristol , the British city has pulled it down .
Local officials removed artist Marc Quinn 's statue of Jen Reid on Thursday morning , ending its brief stint atop a plinth that previously bore the statue of infamous slave trader Edward Colston .
`` We 're not taking down the statue of a Black Lives Matter protester ; we 're taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who erected it without permission and without any conversation with the city , '' Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees told Sky News on Thursday .
`` We 've set up a process that we think is really important to make sure that at a very delicate time we include the whole city and make sure everyone feels respected .
And it was put up outside of that process and therefore has to come down . ''
The swift move comes as little surprise .
Rees made clear Wednesday , when the statue went up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city 's permission .
And even Quinn and Reid , in introducing the work , said it was intended to be temporary .
Still , the short-lived statue represents an important chapter in a controversy around Colston that has embroiled the city for years .
For his contributions to Bristol around the turn of the 18th century , the man 's name is on buildings and streets throughout Bristol , in addition to a bronze monument that stood on the plinth downtown for some 125 years .
But the money with which he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Royal African Company , which for years had a British monopoly on the West African slave trade .
The company abducted and sold tens of thousands of people into slavery in the Americas .
Thousands of others are believed to have died on the brutal trans-Atlantic journey .
Some Bristol residents have made efforts in recent years to remove the statue in his honor .
Last month , demonstrators took matters into their own hands during protests against racial injustice .
The protesters toppled the statue and rolled it into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then that Reid stepped onto the newly vacated plinth herself and raised a Black Power salute , fist held aloft in a gesture captured on camera .
The image caught Quinn 's eye and ultimately became the model for the piece the pair collaborated on .
Now , after its daylong turn in the spotlight , the statue has been removed to a local museum .
It will be held there `` for the artist to collect or donate to our collection , '' the Bristol City Council tweeted Thursday .
`` Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into without local understanding or clarity on the outcomes the action is trying to achieve , '' Rees explained on Twitter .
`` We do n't need to be rushed .
We need space to work things out , to maximise the chance we can move forward together . ''

Statue Of Protester Is Removed In England, One Day After Replacing Slave Trader
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ben Birchall/AP Ben Birchall/AP
Well, that did not last long.
Just over 24 hours after the sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester went up in Bristol, the British city has pulled it down. Local officials removed artist Marc Quinn's statue of Jen Reid on Thursday morning, ending its brief stint atop a plinth that previously bore the statue of infamous slave trader Edward Colston.
"We're not taking down the statue of a Black Lives Matter protester; we're taking down the work of a London-based artist who erected it without permission and without any conversation with the city," Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees told Sky News on Thursday.
"We've set up a process that we think is really important to make sure that at a very delicate time we include the whole city and make sure everyone feels respected. And it was put up outside of that process and therefore has to come down."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Matthew Horwood/Getty Images Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
The swift move comes as little surprise. Rees made clear Wednesday, when the statue went up, that it was placed without the city's permission. And even Quinn and Reid, in introducing the work, said it was intended to be temporary.
Still, the short-lived statue represents an important chapter in a controversy around Colston that has embroiled the city for years.
For his contributions to Bristol around the turn of the 18th century, the man's name is on buildings and streets throughout Bristol, in addition to a bronze monument that stood on the plinth downtown for some 125 years.
But the money with which he made those contributions came from his work with the Royal African Company, which for years had a British monopoly on the West African slave trade.
The company abducted and sold tens of thousands of people into slavery in the Americas. Thousands of others are believed to have died on the brutal trans-Atlantic journey.
Some Bristol residents have made efforts in recent years to remove the statue in his honor. Last month, demonstrators took matters into their own hands during protests against racial injustice. The protesters toppled the statue and rolled it into the waters of the harbor.
It was then that Reid stepped onto the newly vacated plinth herself and raised a Black Power salute, fist held aloft in a gesture captured on camera. The image caught Quinn's eye and ultimately became the model for the piece the pair collaborated on.
Now, after its daylong turn in the spotlight, the statue has been removed to a local museum. It will be held there "for the artist to collect or donate to our collection," the Bristol City Council tweeted Thursday.
"Our challenge isn't something to be waded into without local understanding or clarity on the outcomes the action is trying to achieve," Rees explained on Twitter. "We don't need to be rushed. We need space to work things out, to maximise the chance we can move forward together."


npr--2020-07-16--GOP Scales Back Convention Plans, Relenting On Virus Restrictions

The Republican Party announced Thursday morning that it is scaling back its upcoming nominating convention and will hold what party chair Ronna McDaniel is calling a `` convention celebration '' next month in Jacksonville , Fla .
Bowing to the realities of holding a mass gathering in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida , which has seen a spike in new cases , attendance at the convention during its first few days , Aug. 24-26 , will be limited to delegates only , which is a little more than 2,500 people .
On the final day of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when President Trump will give his acceptance speech , each of those delegates will be able to have a guest , and alternate delegates will be able to attend .
This will bring a total of around 7,000 people , an expected attendance in line with Trump 's one post-pandemic rally in Tulsa , Okla. , last month .
The specific location of speeches and other events remains unsettled , with McDaniel listing the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena , an indoor facility seating 15,000 people , along with other nearby outdoor facilities as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evening events .
McDaniel also listed health safety measures the party plans to implement .
`` This plan includes but is not limited to on-site temperature checks , available PPE , aggressive sanitizing protocols , and available COVID-19 testing , '' she wrote .
Despite adjusting plans in the midst of the surge in COVID-19 across Florida , McDaniel still criticized North Carolina Gov .
Roy Cooper , a Democrat , saying he decided `` to play politics '' by insisting on pandemic-related restrictions for the originally planned convention in Charlotte .
Formal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party officials , will take place in Charlotte on Aug. 24 .

GOP Scales Back Convention Plans, Relenting On Virus Restrictions
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Wong/Getty Images Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Republican Party announced Thursday morning that it is scaling back its upcoming nominating convention and will hold what party chair Ronna McDaniel is calling a "convention celebration" next month in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bowing to the realities of holding a mass gathering in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida, which has seen a spike in new cases, attendance at the convention during its first few days, Aug. 24-26, will be limited to delegates only, which is a little more than 2,500 people.
On the final day of the Republican National Convention, Aug. 27, when President Trump will give his acceptance speech, each of those delegates will be able to have a guest, and alternate delegates will be able to attend. This will bring a total of around 7,000 people, an expected attendance in line with Trump's one post-pandemic rally in Tulsa, Okla., last month.
The specific location of speeches and other events remains unsettled, with McDaniel listing the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, an indoor facility seating 15,000 people, along with other nearby outdoor facilities as locations that will host different daytime and evening events.
McDaniel also listed health safety measures the party plans to implement. "This plan includes but is not limited to on-site temperature checks, available PPE, aggressive sanitizing protocols, and available COVID-19 testing," she wrote.
Despite adjusting plans in the midst of the surge in COVID-19 across Florida, McDaniel still criticized North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, saying he decided "to play politics" by insisting on pandemic-related restrictions for the originally planned convention in Charlotte.
Formal convention business, with less than 200 party officials, will take place in Charlotte on Aug. 24.


npr--2020-07-16--Money Tracker: How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election

Money Tracker : How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election Updated on July 16 at 9:55 a.m .
ET Which presidential candidate has the fundraising advantage ?
Here 's how much money the campaigns of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have raised so far , according to their Federal Election Commission filings .
( Keep in mind that Trump 's reelection campaign had a fundraising head start . )
This tracker will be updated with each monthly report , prior to the general election .
Of course , the universe of campaign finance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raises alone .
Each party has its own committee to help elect a president , which can work in concert with the official campaign and further contributes to the war chest .
And campaigns often announce those joint fundraising totals before filing their FEC paperwork , so what this tracker has and what the campaign says can differ .
Also , groups like super PACs , which can raise and spend unlimited amounts , can help or hurt the fortunes of a presidential nominee .
On both Biden 's and Trump 's sides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of millions of dollars on their own .
Do n't see the graphics in this story ?
Click here .
This story was originally published on May 20 , 2020 .

Money Tracker: How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election
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Updated on December 4 at 8:35 a.m. ET
Which presidential candidate has the fundraising advantage?
Here's how much money the campaigns of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden raised, according to their Federal Election Commission filings. (Keep in mind that Trump's reelection campaign had a fundraising head start.)
This is the final update, reflecting contributions through November 23.
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Of course, the universe of campaign finance is far bigger than what one candidate raises alone. Each party has its own committee to help elect a president, which can work in concert with the official campaign and further contributes to the war chest.
And campaigns often announce those joint fundraising totals before filing their FEC paperwork, so what this tracker has and what the campaign says can differ.
Also, groups like super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts, can help or hurt the fortunes of a presidential nominee. On both Biden's and Trump's sides, these independent groups have raised tens of millions of dollars on their own.
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Don't see the graphics in this story? Click here.
This story was originally published on May 20, 2020.
Photos: Gage Skidmore/Flickr


npr--2020-07-16--America Went Shopping For Clothes Again In June

America Went Shopping For Clothes Again In June Retail sales jumped 7.5 % in June , giving stores and restaurants a boost , and spending on clothing doubled .
But that came before a new surge in coronavirus cases prompted renewed shutdowns in several states .
Last month , spending ticked up 1.1 % from a year earlier — the first annual increase since the pandemic began to hammer the economy , the Commerce Department said Thursday .
Retail sales crashed in a historic plunge this spring as people stopped going out to eat and shop — especially for clothes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first big bounceback of 18.2 % across all types of stores and establishments , as states and cities allowed more businesses to open their doors in hopes that the worst of the crisis was over .
Here 's where people were spending in June , compared with a month earlier : Still , the economic recovery is being hampered as the coronavirus keeps spreading across the nation .
The country set a new daily record of reported cases on June 26 , surpassing the previous worst day in April .
A number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans by , for example , restricting social gatherings or even reclosing stores , restaurants and bars .
This has led to another wave of layoffs and furloughs as the unemployment rate remains in double digits .
Many households have already allocated their one-time $ 1,200 government relief checks .
And the padded unemployment benefits , which helped boost spending in May and June , are expiring this month .
Companies `` continue to report declines in demand , '' suggesting that `` the rate of businesses reopening may be faster than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said in a recent report .
Businesses also cited the lack of customers as the biggest factor restricting their ability to return to pre-pandemic levels .

America Went Shopping For Clothes Again In June
Enlarge this image toggle caption Seth Wenig/AP Seth Wenig/AP
Retail sales jumped 7.5% in June, giving stores and restaurants a boost, and spending on clothing doubled. But that came before a new surge in coronavirus cases prompted renewed shutdowns in several states.
Last month, spending ticked up 1.1% from a year earlier — the first annual increase since the pandemic began to hammer the economy, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
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Retail sales crashed in a historic plunge this spring as people stopped going out to eat and shop — especially for clothes — during the pandemic. May saw the first big bounceback of 18.2% across all types of stores and establishments, as states and cities allowed more businesses to open their doors in hopes that the worst of the crisis was over.
Here's where people were spending in June, compared with a month earlier:
Clothing and accessories stores: +105.1%
Electronics stores: +37.4%
Furniture stores: +32.5%
Sports, music and other hobby stores: +26.5%
Restaurants and bars: +20%
Department stores: +19.8%
Gas stations: +15.3%
Big-box stores: +2.7%
Grocery stores: -1.6%
Online retailers: -2.4%
Still, the economic recovery is being hampered as the coronavirus keeps spreading across the nation. The country set a new daily record of reported cases on June 26, surpassing the previous worst day in April. A number of states have walked back their reopening plans by, for example, restricting social gatherings or even reclosing stores, restaurants and bars.
This has led to another wave of layoffs and furloughs as the unemployment rate remains in double digits. Many households have already allocated their one-time $1,200 government relief checks. And the padded unemployment benefits, which helped boost spending in May and June, are expiring this month.
Companies "continue to report declines in demand," suggesting that "the rate of businesses reopening may be faster than the rate of customers coming back to stores," the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said in a recent report. Businesses also cited the lack of customers as the biggest factor restricting their ability to return to pre-pandemic levels.


npr--2020-07-16--'TikTok Changed My Life': India's Ban On Chinese App Leaves Video Makers Stunned

When India imposed coronavirus restrictions in late March , Arman Rathod 's work dried up .
The 29-year-old had made a living washing cars and painting statues of Hindu gods in his hometown of Valsad , in western India .
Broke and bored under lockdown , Rathod and his friends started recording videos of themselves in April on the social media app TikTok .
Dressed in a baggy button-down , Rathod would gyrate on a dusty patch of ground under a tree in his village , while a friend filmed him .
His 15-second dance videos , set to Indian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , he amassed 7 million followers .
He made money off it — enough to support his family during the pandemic — through ad sponsorships .
Fans sent him gifts .
TikTok even sent him an iPhone .
`` My dreams were coming true ! ''
he tells NPR by phone from his village .
`` I got calls to choreograph Bollywood movie songs and appear on TV dance shows . ''
But all that ended abruptly on June 29 , when India 's government banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese-owned apps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's security and sovereignty .
The order came amid heightened tensions between India and China after their soldiers had brawled on the two countries ' unmarked border high in the Himalayas earlier in the month .
India said 20 of its troops were killed ; China has n't divulged any casualties .
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed `` strong concern '' about the ban .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo applauded India 's move and suggested the U.S. may follow suit .
The Trump administration has already taken action against other Chinese technology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they would improperly share users ' information with China 's Communist Party .
The head of TikTok 's India branch said the company complies with India 's data privacy and security rules and `` has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government , including the Chinese Government . ''
The companies behind the banned apps now have until July 22 to answer 79 questions from the Indian Information Technology Ministry , including whether they censored content or worked on behalf of a foreign government , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TikTok is n't just a teen craze .
It 's a livelihood for some people .
It has given birth to new social media celebrities , many of them working-class folks , like Rathod , in villages far from India 's cosmopolitan megacities .
They 've used the app to find fame , empowerment and even a path out of poverty .
But now , India 's TikTok stars have become collateral damage in a geopolitical flare-up between the world 's two most populous countries .
Owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seconds to a minute .
In India , these mostly consist of people lip-syncing to pop songs , dancing and enacting Indian movie scenes .
You can choose whom to follow , but an algorithm also peppers your feed with videos from strangers .
That 's how people like Rathod got noticed .
TikTok is estimated to have been downloaded more than 2 billion times .
Before the ban , up to a third of its regular users — some 200 million people — were believed to be in India , analysts say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ market , in terms of traffic , outside China .
Unlike Facebook-owned Instagram , which in India supports only Hindi and English , TikTok supports several Indian languages .
TikTok 's loyalists are often India 's second-tier towns or villages .
Many were first-time social media users , unable to read or write English , drawn to TikTok in part because it 's primarily video and not text-heavy like Twitter or Facebook , according to NPR interviews with Indian TikTok users and analysts .
Here 's a sampling of stars : a goatherd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1990s ; a partially blind man dancing in a field with his wife ; a queer makeup artist breaking gender stereotypes .
`` Before TikTok , small-town Indians who aspired to showcase their talent had to move to the big city to get noticed , '' says Sumit Jain , an amateur dancer who owns a clothing shop in a town 200 miles from Bollywood 's capital , Mumbai .
`` TikTok lets us do that from home . ''
Jain , a skinny 28-year-old with a mop of curly hair , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — down from more than 4 million before the ban .
Upon hearing news of the ban , some Indian TikTokers scrambled to post final goodbye videos for their fans , before their apps went dark .
TikTok disappeared from Apple and Google Play stores in India .
Even users who had already downloaded the app can no longer access any content on it .
If you visit its website in India it says , `` The App is currently unavailable as per the directive by Govt .
of India . ''
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
Anger has swelled across India over last month 's killing of Indian troops , the deadliest clash with the Chinese in decades .
Some Indians have made a public display of destroying their Chinese-made TVs .
One government minister even called for Chinese food to be banned .
Nationalist TV anchors are lauding the app shutdown .
`` We the people of India , standing behind the government , have the ability to hit China where it hurts ! ''
journalist Arnab Goswami proclaimed on his prime-time TV news show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's trumpeting a new slogan , `` self-reliant India '' — has long wanted Indians to develop apps rather than use Chinese ones .
`` The Indian government is trying to tap into the national sentiment [ of anger at China ] sweeping India right now .
The Modi government has tried to reduce its reliance on Chinese products since coming to power [ in 2014 ] , '' says Akhil Bery , a South Asia analyst at the Eurasia Group think tank .
`` India views its trade deficit with China as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there have long been concerns about data transfers and the privacy of the app .
So these conversations had been circulating , and the current clash with China likely accelerated that . ''
This is n't the first time TikTok has run into trouble in India .
The country banned the app briefly in April 2019 after a court ruled that it illegally `` promoted '' child pornography by failing to block inappropriate content .
TikTok later removed more than 6 million videos and the ban was lifted .
There have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died in accidents while making TikTok content .
If Beijing retaliates , the ban could end up costing India dearly .
More than half of India 's so-called unicorns — startups valued at more than $ 1 billion — have Chinese investment and China 's government could simply order the country 's companies to pull that money , Bery tells NPR .
`` However , this seems to be a calculation that the government of India has made and is willing to accept , '' he says .
While India has been TikTok @ @ @ @ @ @ @ user volume , it has not been a top revenue generator for the company — likely because online ads sell for less in India than elsewhere .
TikTok 's parent company ByteDance made $ 17 billion in revenue in 2019 , according to Bloomberg .
The Indian market 's share was just $ 5.8 million — less than 1 % .
Still , Chinese media say the ban could cost ByteDance as much as $ 6 billion .
Being locked out of its fastest-growing international market could hurt TikTok 's global ambitions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initial public offering , Bery says .
Meanwhile , tech companies are vying to nab TikTok 's millions of users in India .
A handful of national competitors reportedly got a surge of downloads within 48 hours of the ban .
This month , Instagram debuted Reels for the Indian market , where users can post 15-second videos with music .
`` TikTok was the only platform of its kind .
If I did n't post for a few days , I used to get scores of messages asking if I was OK. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , '' says 26-year-old Anita Meena , a housewife in northern India who used to post TikTok videos of herself performing local folk dances .
`` I was just getting to the point where I could have started making money from TikTok , but then it got banned . ''
She says she 'll focus on YouTube now .
But she 's not convinced she 'll have the same following there .
All of the TikTok stars NPR interviewed for this story say they understand why the Indian government banned the app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they bemoan the loss .
`` TikTok changed my life , '' Rathod says .
`` I felt like I was finally doing what I was born to do . ''

'TikTok Changed My Life': India's Ban On Chinese App Leaves Video Makers Stunned
Enlarge this image toggle caption Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images
When India imposed coronavirus restrictions in late March, Arman Rathod's work dried up.
The 29-year-old had made a living washing cars and painting statues of Hindu gods in his hometown of Valsad, in western India. Broke and bored under lockdown, Rathod and his friends started recording videos of themselves in April on the social media app TikTok.
Dressed in a baggy button-down, Rathod would gyrate on a dusty patch of ground under a tree in his village, while a friend filmed him. His 15-second dance videos, set to Indian pop songs, went viral. Within weeks, he amassed 7 million followers.
He made money off it — enough to support his family during the pandemic — through ad sponsorships. Fans sent him gifts. TikTok even sent him an iPhone.
"My dreams were coming true!" he tells NPR by phone from his village. "I got calls to choreograph Bollywood movie songs and appear on TV dance shows."
But all that ended abruptly on June 29, when India's government banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese-owned apps, calling them a threat to India's security and sovereignty. The order came amid heightened tensions between India and China after their soldiers had brawled on the two countries' unmarked border high in the Himalayas earlier in the month. India said 20 of its troops were killed; China hasn't divulged any casualties.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed "strong concern" about the ban.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo applauded India's move and suggested the U.S. may follow suit. The Trump administration has already taken action against other Chinese technology companies, such as Huawei, saying they would improperly share users' information with China's Communist Party.
The head of TikTok's India branch said the company complies with India's data privacy and security rules and "has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government."
The companies behind the banned apps now have until July 22 to answer 79 questions from the Indian Information Technology Ministry, including whether they censored content or worked on behalf of a foreign government, according to national news reports.
In India, TikTok isn't just a teen craze. It's a livelihood for some people. It has given birth to new social media celebrities, many of them working-class folks, like Rathod, in villages far from India's cosmopolitan megacities. They've used the app to find fame, empowerment and even a path out of poverty. But now, India's TikTok stars have become collateral damage in a geopolitical flare-up between the world's two most populous countries.
A small-town favorite
Owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, TikTok hosts homemade videos ranging from 15 seconds to a minute. In India, these mostly consist of people lip-syncing to pop songs, dancing and enacting Indian movie scenes. You can choose whom to follow, but an algorithm also peppers your feed with videos from strangers. That's how people like Rathod got noticed.
TikTok is estimated to have been downloaded more than 2 billion times. Before the ban, up to a third of its regular users — some 200 million people — were believed to be in India, analysts say. It was the app's biggest market, in terms of traffic, outside China.
Unlike Facebook-owned Instagram, which in India supports only Hindi and English, TikTok supports several Indian languages. TikTok's loyalists are often India's second-tier towns or villages. Many were first-time social media users, unable to read or write English, drawn to TikTok in part because it's primarily video and not text-heavy like Twitter or Facebook, according to NPR interviews with Indian TikTok users and analysts.
Here's a sampling of stars: a goatherd lip-syncing to a romantic Bollywood song from the 1990s; a partially blind man dancing in a field with his wife; a queer makeup artist breaking gender stereotypes.
"Before TikTok, small-town Indians who aspired to showcase their talent had to move to the big city to get noticed," says Sumit Jain, an amateur dancer who owns a clothing shop in a town 200 miles from Bollywood's capital, Mumbai. "TikTok lets us do that from home."
Jain, a skinny 28-year-old with a mop of curly hair, has 3.8 million followers on the app — down from more than 4 million before the ban.
Upon hearing news of the ban, some Indian TikTokers scrambled to post final goodbye videos for their fans, before their apps went dark.
TikTok disappeared from Apple and Google Play stores in India. Even users who had already downloaded the app can no longer access any content on it. If you visit its website in India it says, "The App is currently unavailable as per the directive by Govt. of India." But Indian videos are still visible from outside the country.
Tapping into national outrage
Anger has swelled across India over last month's killing of Indian troops, the deadliest clash with the Chinese in decades. Some Indians have made a public display of destroying their Chinese-made TVs. One government minister even called for Chinese food to be banned.
Nationalist TV anchors are lauding the app shutdown. "We the people of India, standing behind the government, have the ability to hit China where it hurts!" journalist Arnab Goswami proclaimed on his prime-time TV news show.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who's trumpeting a new slogan, "self-reliant India" — has long wanted Indians to develop apps rather than use Chinese ones.
"The Indian government is trying to tap into the national sentiment [of anger at China] sweeping India right now. The Modi government has tried to reduce its reliance on Chinese products since coming to power [in 2014]," says Akhil Bery, a South Asia analyst at the Eurasia Group think tank. "India views its trade deficit with China as a national security concern. With TikTok, there have long been concerns about data transfers and the privacy of the app. So these conversations had been circulating, and the current clash with China likely accelerated that."
This isn't the first time TikTok has run into trouble in India. The country banned the app briefly in April 2019 after a court ruled that it illegally "promoted" child pornography by failing to block inappropriate content. TikTok later removed more than 6 million videos and the ban was lifted. There have been other safety concerns too: Indians have died in accidents while making TikTok content.
If Beijing retaliates, the ban could end up costing India dearly. More than half of India's so-called unicorns — startups valued at more than $1 billion — have Chinese investment and China's government could simply order the country's companies to pull that money, Bery tells NPR.
"However, this seems to be a calculation that the government of India has made and is willing to accept," he says.
While India has been TikTok's largest foreign market in terms of user volume, it has not been a top revenue generator for the company — likely because online ads sell for less in India than elsewhere. TikTok's parent company ByteDance made $17 billion in revenue in 2019, according to Bloomberg. The Indian market's share was just $5.8 million — less than 1%.
Still, Chinese media say the ban could cost ByteDance as much as $6 billion. Being locked out of its fastest-growing international market could hurt TikTok's global ambitions, especially as it considers listing for an initial public offering, Bery says.
A race to replace TikTok
Meanwhile, tech companies are vying to nab TikTok's millions of users in India. A handful of national competitors reportedly got a surge of downloads within 48 hours of the ban. This month, Instagram debuted Reels for the Indian market, where users can post 15-second videos with music.
"TikTok was the only platform of its kind. If I didn't post for a few days, I used to get scores of messages asking if I was OK. On the streets, people would recognize me," says 26-year-old Anita Meena, a housewife in northern India who used to post TikTok videos of herself performing local folk dances. "I was just getting to the point where I could have started making money from TikTok, but then it got banned."
YouTube
She says she'll focus on YouTube now. But she's not convinced she'll have the same following there.
All of the TikTok stars NPR interviewed for this story say they understand why the Indian government banned the app and support that action — even as they bemoan the loss.
"TikTok changed my life," Rathod says. "I felt like I was finally doing what I was born to do."


npr--2020-07-16--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

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

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


npr--2020-07-16--Tracking The Pandemic: Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State?

Tracking The Pandemic : Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State ?
More than 3 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 130,000 have died .
Though growth in new cases slowed in late spring , by mid-June new cases began to trend upward nationally .
In the graphics below , explore the trend in new cases in your state to see whether cases are rising , falling or staying level .
You can view the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , a curve chart and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case trends over the last three weeks .
Or to see states ' total cases and deaths on a map , click here .
The following chart displays states ' trends in new daily case counts , total cases , and per capita totals .
To compare state outbreaks , the trend lines for average new daily cases are graphed against each state 's total case count to date .
This highlights a state 's daily growth relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case counts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As cases slow , the curve levels or bends down .
In New York , site of the country 's largest outbreak , the state 's curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
Since then , new cases have fallen from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to fewer than 700 per day in late June .
Some states , such as Hawaii , have declined to just a dozen new cases per day , while others are growing .
Arizona , which had leveled off at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw a sudden sharp spike in new cases in June .
The coronavirus has hit some states much harder than others .
For much of the pandemic , a large share of U.S. cases have been centered around New York City .
As of early June , New York state , Connecticut and New Jersey accounted for about 30 % of total cases in the nation and 42 % of deaths , although new cases have been dropping in these three states .
Across the country , other large , populous states such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high totals as well .
Some smaller states have had a heavy burden of disease relative to their population size , such as Nebraska and Iowa , which have high case counts per capita , and Louisiana and Michigan which have a high death count per capita .
Explore the map below to see totals and per capita figures around the country .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
For more detail on your state , the table below shows the change in average new cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over week .
States marked in shades of red are showing growth , those in shades of green , are showing declines .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
In early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in the state 's daily numbers until the JHU team was able to reconcile the historical data .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn contributed to and Carmel Wroth edited this story .

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


npr--2020-07-16--India Sets Record For Its Daily Coronavirus Count

With 32,695 new coronavirus cases , India broke its own record Thursday for the virus 's biggest daily spike .
India has been setting such records almost daily .
Only the United States and Brazil have had more infections .
In late March , India imposed one of the world 's earliest , strictest coronavirus lockdowns , while its caseload was still low .
But early last month , it eased those restrictions because of the damage they caused to the economy .
Curfews and curbs on movement had left at least 100 million people out of work .
Among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who got stranded in urban centers or industrial zones , far from their families , when public transit shut down .
Several of them starved to death on the side of the road , trying to walk hundreds of miles home to their villages .
Now the virus is surging , and individual states and cities are reimposing restrictions .
The latest is Goa , a western coastal state famous for backpackers and beach resorts .
It has imposed a three-day lockdown and nighttime curfew beginning Thursday night — just two weeks after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a dozen other Indian states are doing the same .
The eastern state of Bihar began a two-week lockdown Thursday .
Bihar is one of the poorest parts of India , with a population of 128 million and a fragile , overloaded health system .
The state has been reporting more than 1,000 cases a day despite very limited testing capacity .
India 's total caseload is nearing 1 million .
The Health Ministry reported 606 additional deaths Thursday for a total of 24,915 fatalities since the pandemic began .
The real numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Testing has been limited nationwide .
In hot spots such as Mumbai , a doctor 's prescription was required to get a test , until last week .

India Sets Record For Its Daily Coronavirus Count
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dar Yasin/AP Dar Yasin/AP
With 32,695 new coronavirus cases, India broke its own record Thursday for the virus's biggest daily spike.
India has been setting such records almost daily. Only the United States and Brazil have had more infections.
In late March, India imposed one of the world's earliest, strictest coronavirus lockdowns, while its caseload was still low. But early last month, it eased those restrictions because of the damage they caused to the economy.
Curfews and curbs on movement had left at least 100 million people out of work. Among the hardest hit were migrant workers, who got stranded in urban centers or industrial zones, far from their families, when public transit shut down. Several of them starved to death on the side of the road, trying to walk hundreds of miles home to their villages.
Now the virus is surging, and individual states and cities are reimposing restrictions.
The latest is Goa, a western coastal state famous for backpackers and beach resorts. It has imposed a three-day lockdown and nighttime curfew beginning Thursday night — just two weeks after the state reopened for tourists.
About a dozen other Indian states are doing the same. The eastern state of Bihar began a two-week lockdown Thursday. Bihar is one of the poorest parts of India, with a population of 128 million and a fragile, overloaded health system. The state has been reporting more than 1,000 cases a day despite very limited testing capacity.
India's total caseload is nearing 1 million. The Health Ministry reported 606 additional deaths Thursday for a total of 24,915 fatalities since the pandemic began.
The real numbers, however, could be far higher. Testing has been limited nationwide. In hot spots such as Mumbai, a doctor's prescription was required to get a test, until last week.