npr--2020-12-10--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak On Sept. 28 , the world marked a tragic milestone : 1 million deaths from COVID-19 .
That 's according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University .
And public health experts believe the actual toll – the recorded deaths plus the unrecorded deaths – is much higher .
While the number of cases has slowed in many countries that were hit hard early on by coronavirus , the number of new cases continues to increase .
Since early July , new daily cases averaged over 200,000 worldwide .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January .
At over 15 million cases , the United States leads the world 's COVID-19 crisis .
In late spring and early summer , new COVID-19 cases were largely driven by cases in the Americas .
While the U.S. has consistently had the most new daily cases of coronavirus in the region , Brazil 's new daily cases increased rapidly between May and August .
However , in September , several countries that had previously flattened their curve saw a resurgence in cases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , daily case counts have risen swiftly since June .
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 .
To compare country outbreaks , the chart below graphs trend lines for average new daily cases and deaths against each country 's totals to date .
This type of visualization highlights a state 's daily growth or decline relative to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In countries like Israel , which is seeing a second wave of case growth after an initial wave in April , the line forms a V-shape , as the initially bent curve spikes upwards again .
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Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated.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--2020-12-10--There's Rich, And Then There's Jeff Bezos Rich: Meet The World's Centibillionaires

There 's Rich , And Then There 's Jeff Bezos Rich : Meet The World 's Centibillionaires You probably think 2020 has turned out to be a pretty lousy year , what with the coronavirus pandemic , a global recession and unceasing partisan warfare in Washington .
Then again , you 're not Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk .
Thanks to soaring stock prices at Tesla , the company Musk founded , the quirky South African-born entrepreneur has seen his personal wealth soar to unimaginable heights of $ 157 billion .
In fact , Musk is one of only five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a personal fortune exceeding $ 100 billion , according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of Dec. 8 .
But even Musk is not quite as rich as Bezos .
With a net worth of $ 186 billion , the Amazon founder is by far the wealthiest person on the planet .
He 's so rich that , like Musk , Bezos has his own rocket company .
In fact , Forbes magazine once called Bezos the richest human being who has ever lived .
His wealth is simply staggering , says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helps compile the billionaire index .
`` It is bigger than the GDP of most countries in the world .
I mean , it is larger than the market cap of many companies that are on the S & P 500 , '' she says .
To put it further into perspective , Bezos ' net worth is bigger than the gross domestic product of Hungary or Ukraine , according to data from the International Monetary Fund .
Rounding out the group of five centibillionaires are Musk , Bill Gates of Microsoft with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault with $ 109 billion and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg , the poorest of the five , with $ 107 billion .
The rising fortunes of the billionaires come in the midst of a pandemic that has thrown millions out of work , with many families still struggling to make ends meet .
But sectors such as technology have benefited as those who are better off have streamed more videos and shopped more online while stuck at home .
Surging technology shares have , in turn , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came roaring back from the lows of March to touch record highs .
And the surging shares have helped a number of executives : Seven of the 10 wealthiest people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are American technology tycoons .
In fact , Musk and Zuckerberg each ascended to the $ 100 billion club this year after shares of Tesla and Facebook rose 677 % and 39 % , respectively .
To Chuck Collins , director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the almost unprecedented disparities of wealth in the United States today .
`` It 's not anything to celebrate .
It 's kind of a disturbing milestone , '' he says .
`` But I think it 's a predictable outcome of four decades of flat wages and steadily concentrating wealth and power . ''
It 's not just the centibillionaires who are doing better .
A report from the Institute for Policy Studies showed that the collective wealth of the country 's 651 billionaires has jumped by more than $ 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the start of the pandemic .
But few of these wealthy Americans approach the fortunes of the centibillionaires , even as many of the ultra-rich have also given away billions of dollars , including Gates through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation .
Bezos , for example , has such a staggering fortune that despite going through a messy divorce and giving up a third of his Amazon shares to his ex-wife , MacKenzie Scott , he still remains the world 's richest person .
Such is his fortune that his divorce may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scott was ranked as the 18th-richest person in the world , with a net worth of $ 61 billion , bigger than the GDP of Croatia or Uruguay .

There's Rich, And Then There's Jeff Bezos Rich: Meet The World's Centibillionaires
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Updated at 10:33 a.m. ET
You probably think 2020 has turned out to be a pretty lousy year, what with the coronavirus pandemic, a global recession and unceasing partisan warfare in Washington.
Then again, you're not Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.
Thanks to soaring stock prices at Tesla, the company Musk founded, the quirky South African-born entrepreneur has seen his personal wealth soar to unimaginable heights of $147 billion.
In fact, Musk is one of only five centibillionaires in the world, or someone with a personal fortune exceeding $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of Dec. 9.
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But even Musk is not quite as rich as Bezos. With a net worth of $182 billion, the Amazon founder is by far the wealthiest person on the planet. He's so rich that, like Musk, Bezos has his own rocket company.
In fact, Forbes magazine once called Bezos the richest human being who has ever lived. His wealth is simply staggering, says Bloomberg wealth reporter Devon Pendleton, who helps compile the billionaire index.
"It is bigger than the GDP of most countries in the world. I mean, it is larger than the market cap of many companies that are on the S&P 500," she says.
To put it further into perspective, Bezos' net worth is bigger than the gross domestic product of Hungary or Ukraine, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.
Rounding out the group of five centibillionaires are Musk, Bill Gates of Microsoft with a net worth of $129 billion, French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault with $110 billion and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the poorest of the five, with $105 billion.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Composite from Getty Images/Getty Images Composite from Getty Images/Getty Images
The rising fortunes of the billionaires come in the midst of a pandemic that has thrown millions out of work, with many families still struggling to make ends meet.
But sectors such as technology have benefited as those who are better off have streamed more videos and shopped more online while stuck at home.
Surging technology shares have, in turn, helped prop up a stock market that came roaring back from the lows of March to touch record highs.
And the surging shares have helped a number of executives: Seven of the 10 wealthiest people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are American technology tycoons.
In fact, Musk and Zuckerberg each ascended to the $100 billion club this year after shares of Tesla and Facebook rose 677% and 39%, respectively.
To Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, the rise of the centibillionaires is another sign of the almost unprecedented disparities of wealth in the United States today.
"It's not anything to celebrate. It's kind of a disturbing milestone," he says. "But I think it's a predictable outcome of four decades of flat wages and steadily concentrating wealth and power."
It's not just the centibillionaires who are doing better. A report from the Institute for Policy Studies showed that the collective wealth of the country's 651 billionaires has jumped by more than $1 trillion to $4 trillion since roughly the start of the pandemic.
But few of these wealthy Americans approach the fortunes of the centibillionaires, even as many of the ultra-rich have also given away billions of dollars, including Gates through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bezos, for example, has such a staggering fortune that despite going through a messy divorce and giving up one quarter of his Amazon shares to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, he still remains the world's richest person.
Such is his fortune that his divorce may mint yet another centibillionaire one day. Scott was ranked as the 18th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $61 billion, bigger than the GDP of Croatia or Uruguay.


npr--2020-12-10--Johns Hopkins, Long Believed An Abolitionist, Actually Owned Slaves, University Says

Johns Hopkins , Long Believed An Abolitionist , Actually Owned Slaves , University Says Historians for Johns Hopkins University discovered that the founder of the Baltimore-based school owned slaves , contrary to the long-held belief that the wealthy philanthropist was a staunch abolitionist .
Researchers Martha S. Jones and Allison Seyler made the discovery after delving into previously undiscovered government census records as part of a university-led project on the school 's history .
The findings `` complicate the understanding '' the Johns Hopkins community has toward its founder , University President Ronald J. Daniels and other school officials wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It calls to mind not only the darkest chapters in the history of our country and our city but also the complex history of our institutions since then , and the legacies of racism and inequity we are working together to confront , '' the officials wrote .
The census records show Hopkins owned slaves as late as 1850 .
This is contrary to a long-held narrative that Hopkins ' father , motivated by his Quaker faith , freed all slaves on the family plantation by 1807 , when Hopkins himself was only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ born in 1795 , was the owner of one slave listed in his household in 1840 and four slaves listed in 1850 , according to the newly discovered census information .
By the 1860 census , no slaves were listed as being in his household .
Maryland abolished slavery in 1864 .
Hopkins , an entrepreneur and investor , left a $ 7-million bequest — at the time , the largest in U.S. history — after his death in 1873 at age 78 .
The money , which is nearly $ 150 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open a hospital , orphanage , and the university .
Among other things , the premier institution plays a crucial role in tracking the global COVID-19 infection and death rates during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Officials said the school plans to continue with its Hopkins Retrospective project to find more information about the school 's history and to glean a fuller picture of the founder they thought they knew .
Hopkins ' personal papers and other records were either destroyed or lost long ago , the school said Wednesday .
Instead , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hopkins ' will , correspondence with trustees , and a short book written by the benefactor 's grandniece , as historical evidence .
The book , written by Helen Thom and published by the school 's press in 1929 , says her great uncle was a `` strong abolitionist . ''
The book reiterates the tale that Hopkins ' parents freed all enslaved people on their Anne Arundel plantation south of Baltimore by 1807 .
This act , Thom wrote , put significant financial strain on the family .
Subsequently , at age @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the plantation to find work in Baltimore .
However , the researchers Jones and Seyler found nothing to substantiate that claim .
They did find evidence of a partial freeing of slaves in 1778 by Johns Hopkins ' grandfather , but also uncovered continued slaveholding and transactions involving enslaved people going on decades later .
Jones and Seyler also looked more closely at an 1863 letter from the Hopkins Brothers firm , a business in which Johns Hopkins was a principal owner .
The letter details the acceptance of a slave as collateral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they located an additional obituary detailing Hopkins as holding `` antislavery political views '' and as purchasing a slave for the purpose of later freeing him .
Questions remain over the slaves that were listed on the census forms .
There is no other information about their circumstances or the nature of their relationship with Johns Hopkins .
The university officials said , `` Like so many others who have made meaningful contributions to our country 's history , Mr. Hopkins is a complex and contradictory person whose story holds within it multiple @ @ @

Johns Hopkins, Long Believed An Abolitionist, Actually Owned Slaves, University Says
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rob Carr/Getty Images Rob Carr/Getty Images
Historians for Johns Hopkins University discovered that the founder of the Baltimore-based school owned slaves, contrary to the long-held belief that the wealthy philanthropist was a staunch abolitionist.
Researchers Martha S. Jones and Allison Seyler made the discovery after delving into previously undiscovered government census records as part of a university-led project on the school's history.
The findings "complicate the understanding" the Johns Hopkins community has toward its founder, wrote University President Ronald J. Daniels and other school officials in an open letter Wednesday.
"It calls to mind not only the darkest chapters in the history of our country and our city but also the complex history of our institutions since then, and the legacies of racism and inequity we are working together to confront," the officials wrote.
The census records show Hopkins owned slaves as late as 1850. This is contrary to a long-held narrative that Hopkins' father, motivated by his Quaker faith, freed all slaves on the family plantation by 1807, when Hopkins himself was only a boy.
Hopkins, who was born in 1795, was the owner of one slave listed in his household in 1840 and four slaves listed in 1850, according to the newly discovered census information. By the 1860 census, no slaves were listed as being in his household. Maryland abolished slavery in 1864.
When he died in 1873 at age 78, Hopkins, an entrepreneur and investor, left a $7 million bequest — at the time, the largest in U.S. history — that was used to open a hospital, orphanage and the university. The money is nearly 150 million in current dollars.
Among other things, the premier institution plays a crucial role in tracking the global COVID-19 infection and death rates during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Officials said the school plans to continue with its Hopkins Retrospective project to find more information about the school's history and to glean a fuller picture of the founder they thought they knew.
Hopkins history
Hopkins' personal papers and other records were either destroyed or lost long ago, the school said Wednesday. Instead, the university has until now primarily used Hopkins' will, correspondence with trustees, and a short book written by the benefactor's grandniece, as historical evidence.
The book, written by Helen Thom and published by the school's press in 1929, says her great uncle was a "strong abolitionist." The book reiterates the tale that Hopkins' parents freed all enslaved people on their Anne Arundel plantation south of Baltimore by 1807. This act, Thom wrote, put significant financial strain on the family. Subsequently, at age 17, Johns was forced to leave the plantation to find work in Baltimore.
However, the researchers Jones and Seyler found nothing to substantiate that claim. They did find evidence of a partial freeing of slaves in 1778 by Johns Hopkins' grandfather, but also uncovered continued slaveholding and transactions involving enslaved people going on decades later.
Jones and Seyler also looked more closely at an 1838 letter from the Hopkins Brothers firm, a business in which Johns Hopkins was a principal owner. The letter details the acceptance of a slave as collateral for a debt.
Even so, they located an additional obituary detailing Hopkins as holding "antislavery political views" and as purchasing a slave for the purpose of later freeing him.
Questions remain over the slaves who were listed on the census forms. There is no other information about their circumstances or the nature of their relationship with Johns Hopkins.
The university officials said, "Like so many others who have made meaningful contributions to our country's history, Mr. Hopkins is a complex and contradictory person whose story holds within it multiple truths."


npr--2020-12-10--U.S. Government May Find It Hard To Get More Doses Of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine

U.S. Government May Find It Hard To Get More Doses Of Pfizer 's COVID-19 Vaccine With Pfizer 's COVID-19 vaccine poised for Food and Drug Administration authorization for emergency use , there 's speculation about when the United States will buy another batch of doses — and whether the Trump administration already missed its chance .
Although a Pfizer board member says the government declined to buy more doses beyond the initial 100 million agreed upon in July , Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told PBS Newshour that this is inaccurate .
The company never made a formal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliver and when — two things that are needed to sign an additional deal .
`` They refused to commit to any other production or delivery by a time certain , '' he said , explaining that the initial doses will be delivered by March , and there is an option for the government to buy another 500 million after that .
`` I 'm certainly not going to sign a deal with Pfizer , giving them $ 10 billion to buy vaccine that they could deliver to us five , 10 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sense . ''
Azar said the government started new negotiations with Pfizer in early October , but `` they still resisted giving us any date by which they would do it . ''
He said they 're making progress in their negotiations , but the government is willing to use `` every power of the Defense Production Act '' to get the additional necessary Pfizer vaccine doses .
Pfizer board member and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Tuesday that the federal government declined `` multiple times '' to purchase more doses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and it may have missed out on getting more in the second quarter of 2021 .
`` Pfizer did offer an additional allotment coming out of that plan — basically the second quarter allotment — multiple times , '' Gottlieb told CNBC .
Gottlieb noted that the government has agreements to buy hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines from six manufacturers as part of Operation Warp Speed , the Trump administration 's more than $ 10 billion push to make a coronavirus vaccine available in record time .
He suspects the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would ultimately get the FDA 's authorization .
`` That perhaps could be why they did n't take up that additional 100 million option agreement , which really would n't have required necessarily them to front money .
It was just an agreement that they would purchase those vaccines , '' Gottlieb said .
`` So Pfizer has gone ahead and entered into some agreements with other countries to sell them some of that vaccine in the second quarter of 2021 . ''
And that could mean there 's less available for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to do so .
The New York Times first reported Monday on the negotiations for more doses , saying that Pfizer offered the U.S. government between 100 million and 500 million additional doses and warned that its vaccine could be in short supply , given demand around the world .
As a result , a second allotment might not be available to the U.S. until next June .
A senior administration official told reporters during a briefing Monday that the Times reporting was n't accurate : `` We 're in the middle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ca n't talk publicly about it , but we feel absolutely confident we will get the vaccine doses for which we 've contracted and will have a sufficient number of doses to vaccinate all Americans who desire one before the end of second quarter 2021 . ''
A spokesperson for HHS echoed that explanation in a series of tweets on Tuesday , saying , `` At no time did OWS turn down an offer from Pfizer for any number of millions of doses having a firm delivery date and quantity , and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American public . ''
Pfizer did n't respond to NPR 's request for comment on this story .
In July , Pfizer signed a $ 1.95 billion agreement with Operation Warp Speed .
As part of the deal , the government agreed to purchase 100 million doses of Pfizer 's vaccine , but the transaction would occur only if the vaccine Pfizer is developing in partnership with BioNTech , a German company , received the FDA 's OK .
It 's not unusual for a company under contract with the government to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doses in the first allotment , said Franklin Turner , a partner at McCarter & English who specializes in government contracting .
But there can be any number of reasons the government might decline .
`` If I had a dime for every time the government took a step or a position that seems counterintuitive and quite frankly , mind-boggling , I 'd be a very rich human being at this point in my life , '' Franklin said .
Pfizer 's vaccine could be given the green light this week .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convene on Thursday and advise the FDA on whether to authorize the vaccine for emergency use in the pandemic .
It 's possible the government could have gotten better follow-on delivery contract terms to begin with , said James Love , director of Knowledge Ecology International .
Though he noted that the intellectual property rights in the contract are n't particularly favorable to the federal government either , as NPR has reported .
`` At some point , not placing orders when the whole world is placing orders , was a mistake , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did miss out on more doses because it declined them , it would be `` a spectacular failure , '' said Rena Conti , a health economist at Boston University .
`` Contracts are forward-looking , that means we could have ( and did ) sign contracts with other manufacturers that reserve future capacity when it became available , '' she said .
`` We should have [ been ] including language in every contract reserving the rights to more quantity in advance at a given price . ''
Although the Pfizer contract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 500 million doses of its vaccine , that transaction would require a separate agreement , and the price would be subject to change , the contract says .
`` Having more quantity reserved is smart economics given the uncertainty entailed in which vaccine comes to market in a given time period , and which vaccine will be most safe , [ effective ] and able to manufacture at scale , '' Conti said .
`` There is no downside cost or risk to having these forward contracts and there is plenty to gain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can contact NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin at slupkin @ npr.org .

U.S. Government May Find It Hard To Get More Doses Of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine
Enlarge this image toggle caption Liam McBurney/Bloomberg via Getty Images Liam McBurney/Bloomberg via Getty Images
With Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine poised for Food and Drug Administration authorization for emergency use, there's speculation about when the United States will buy another batch of doses — and whether the Trump administration already missed its chance.
Although a Pfizer board member says the government declined to buy more doses beyond the initial 100 million agreed upon in July, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told PBS Newshour that this is inaccurate. The company never made a formal offer saying how many doses it would deliver and when — two things that are needed to sign an additional deal.
"They refused to commit to any other production or delivery by a time certain," he said, explaining that the initial doses will be delivered by March, and there is an option for the government to buy another 500 million after that. "I'm certainly not going to sign a deal with Pfizer, giving them $10 billion to buy vaccine that they could deliver to us five, 10 years hence. That doesn't make any sense."
Azar said the government started new negotiations with Pfizer in early October, but "they still resisted giving us any date by which they would do it." He said they're making progress in their negotiations, but the government is willing to use "every power of the Defense Production Act" to get the additional necessary Pfizer vaccine doses.
Pfizer board member and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Tuesday that the federal government declined "multiple times" to purchase more doses of Pfizer's vaccine over the summer, and it may have missed out on getting more in the second quarter of 2021.
"Pfizer did offer an additional allotment coming out of that plan — basically the second quarter allotment — multiple times," Gottlieb told CNBC.
Gottlieb noted that the government has agreements to buy hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines from six manufacturers as part of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's more than $10 billion push to make a coronavirus vaccine available in record time. He suspects the government is betting more than one vaccine would ultimately get the FDA's authorization.
"That perhaps could be why they didn't take up that additional 100 million option agreement, which really wouldn't have required necessarily them to front money. It was just an agreement that they would purchase those vaccines," Gottlieb said. "So Pfizer has gone ahead and entered into some agreements with other countries to sell them some of that vaccine in the second quarter of 2021."
And that could mean there's less available for the U.S. government to buy when it's ready to do so.
The New York Times first reported Monday on the negotiations for more doses, saying that Pfizer offered the U.S. government between 100 million and 500 million additional doses and warned that its vaccine could be in short supply, given demand around the world. As a result, a second allotment might not be available to the U.S. until next June.
A senior administration official told reporters during a briefing Monday that the Times reporting wasn't accurate: "We're in the middle of a negotiation right now and we can't talk publicly about it, but we feel absolutely confident we will get the vaccine doses for which we've contracted and will have a sufficient number of doses to vaccinate all Americans who desire one before the end of second quarter 2021."
A spokesperson for HHS echoed that explanation in a series of tweets on Tuesday, saying, "At no time did OWS turn down an offer from Pfizer for any number of millions of doses having a firm delivery date and quantity, and it's a shame that someone is misinforming the American public."
Pfizer didn't respond to NPR's request for comment on this story.
In July, Pfizer signed a $1.95 billion agreement with Operation Warp Speed. As part of the deal, the government agreed to purchase 100 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine, but the transaction would occur only if the vaccine Pfizer is developing in partnership with BioNTech, a German company, received the FDA's OK.
It's not unusual for a company under contract with the government to suggest a modification, such as more doses in the first allotment, said Franklin Turner, a partner at McCarter & English who specializes in government contracting. But there can be any number of reasons the government might decline.
"If I had a dime for every time the government took a step or a position that seems counterintuitive and quite frankly, mind-boggling, I'd be a very rich human being at this point in my life," Franklin said.
Pfizer's vaccine could be given the green light this week. A panel of outside experts is set to convene on Thursday and advise the FDA on whether to authorize the vaccine for emergency use in the pandemic.
It's possible the government could have gotten better follow-on delivery contract terms to begin with, said James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International. Though he noted that the intellectual property rights in the contract aren't particularly favorable to the federal government either, as NPR has reported. "At some point, not placing orders when the whole world is placing orders, was a mistake," Love said.
If the U.S. did miss out on more doses because it declined them, it would be "a spectacular failure," said Rena Conti, a health economist at Boston University.
"Contracts are forward-looking, that means we could have (and did) sign contracts with other manufacturers that reserve future capacity when it became available," she said. "We should have [been] including language in every contract reserving the rights to more quantity in advance at a given price."
Although the Pfizer contract includes the option to buy an additional 500 million doses of its vaccine, that transaction would require a separate agreement, and the price would be subject to change, the contract says.
"Having more quantity reserved is smart economics given the uncertainty entailed in which vaccine comes to market in a given time period, and which vaccine will be most safe, [effective] and able to manufacture at scale," Conti said. "There is no downside cost or risk to having these forward contracts and there is plenty to gain for the American public."
You can contact NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin at slupkin@npr.org.


npr--2020-12-10--'The Perfect Storm': How Vaccine Misinformation Spread To The Mainstream

'The Perfect Storm ' : How Vaccine Misinformation Spread To The Mainstream Kolina Koltai first heard about the coronavirus back in January , but not from newspapers or TV .
Instead , she read about it in anti-vaccination groups on Facebook .
`` They were posting stories from China like , 'Hey , here 's this mysterious illness , ' or 'Here 's this something that seems to be spreading , ' '' she said .
While few others in the U.S. were talking about the virus back then , people opposed to vaccination were paying attention , Koltai said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new disease would trigger the creation of a vaccine that , in their view , could be `` forced onto everyone . ''
Koltai is well versed in these kinds of conspiracy theories about vaccines .
A researcher at the University of Washington 's Center for an Informed Public , she has studied the growing anti-vaccination movement on Facebook since 2015 .
Until recently , such claims circulated mostly in groups dedicated to vaccine scrutiny , alternative health and parenting .
But the pandemic has created what she called `` the perfect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mainstream .
`` There 's so much we do n't know , so much uncertainty and uncertainty makes us all so prone to misinformation to try to quell that feeling , '' she said .
Falsehoods have multiplied and can be found anywhere from neighborhood chats to groups for pet owners , because so many people have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines .
The hoaxes also have been propelled by groups opposed to lockdowns and mask wearing , and by proponents of Qanon , a fact-defying , pro-Trump conspiracy theory .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Plandemic '' that went viral this summer , thanks in part to conspiracy theorists , echoed falsehoods Koltai had seen earlier in the Facebook groups she follows .
`` The summary was essentially that this was all part of a larger plan — to use the word 'plandemic ' — to either mess with President Trump or as a way to force vaccines , '' she said .
`` Part of a larger narrative that they 're going to force things onto us to get to this new world order . ''
Baseless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that vaccines will be used to track or control people rank among the most mentioned pieces of misinformation this year , according to Zignal Labs , a media analytics company .
The spread of false claims about the vaccines on social media is so troubling because it risks undermining public health efforts .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , said last week that 75 to 85 percent of people need to get vaccinated to bring the pandemic to heel , let the economy recover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their daily routines .
A recent Gallup survey found 37 percent of Americans are not willing to get a COVID vaccine , versus 63 percent who are .
Imran Ahmed , CEO of the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate , which tracks online misinformation , calls the spread of vaccine misinformation `` a really powerful parallel pandemic to the real pandemic . ''
A YouGov survey his group commissioned this summer found people in the U.S. and U.K. who rely on social media for information about the pandemic were less likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than those who get their news from traditional media .
The group also found the 150 largest anti-vaccination accounts on social media gained 8 million followers since January .
Ahmed says these twin pandemics amplify each other .
`` One being biological and one being social , [ they ] are working in concert to really undermine our capacity to contain COVID , '' he said .
The social networks are well aware of the problem .
Facebook , Google 's YouTube and TikTok say they are removing debunked claims about COVID vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on its policy .
Recently , Facebook took down some of the biggest anti-vaccination groups and pages .
Ahmed says , even with these moves , public health officials face an uphill battle to persuade enough people to get vaccinated , while vaccine opponents have a lower bar .
`` Their job is not to persuade people not to take a vaccine , it 's to inject doubt , '' he said .
`` That 's it .
That 's all you 've got to do for their side . ''
Editor 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are among NPR 's financial supporters .

'The Perfect Storm': How Vaccine Misinformation Spread To The Mainstream
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pool/Getty Images Pool/Getty Images
Kolina Koltai first heard about the coronavirus back in January, but not from newspapers or TV. Instead, she read about it in anti-vaccination groups on Facebook.
"They were posting stories from China like, 'Hey, here's this mysterious illness,' or 'Here's this something that seems to be spreading,'" she said.
While few others in the U.S. were talking about the virus back then, people opposed to vaccination were paying attention, Koltai said, because they have long worried that a new disease would trigger the creation of a vaccine that, in their view, could be "forced onto everyone."
Koltai is well versed in these kinds of conspiracy theories about vaccines. A researcher at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, she has studied the growing anti-vaccination movement on Facebook since 2015.
Until recently, such claims circulated mostly in groups dedicated to vaccine scrutiny, alternative health and parenting. But the pandemic has created what she called "the perfect storm" for vaccine misinformation to hit the mainstream.
"There's so much we don't know, so much uncertainty and uncertainty makes us all so prone to misinformation to try to quell that feeling," she said.
Falsehoods have multiplied and can be found anywhere from neighborhood chats to groups for pet owners, because so many people have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. The hoaxes also have been propelled by groups opposed to lockdowns and mask wearing, and by proponents of Qanon, a fact-defying, pro-Trump conspiracy theory.
The discredited claims in a video titled "Plandemic" that went viral this summer, thanks in part to conspiracy theorists, echoed falsehoods Koltai had seen earlier in the Facebook groups she follows.
"The summary was essentially that this was all part of a larger plan — to use the word 'plandemic' — to either mess with President Trump or as a way to force vaccines," she said. "Part of a larger narrative that they're going to force things onto us to get to this new world order."
Baseless claims that the virus was planned and that vaccines will be used to track or control people rank among the most mentioned pieces of misinformation this year, according to Zignal Labs, a media analytics company.
The spread of false claims about the vaccines on social media is so troubling because it risks undermining public health efforts. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week that 75 to 85 percent of people need to get vaccinated to bring the pandemic to heel, let the economy recover and enable people to get back to their daily routines.
A recent Gallup survey found 37 percent of Americans are not willing to get a COVID vaccine, versus 63 percent who are.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which tracks online misinformation, calls the spread of vaccine misinformation "a really powerful parallel pandemic to the real pandemic."
A YouGov survey his group commissioned this summer found people in the U.S. and U.K. who rely on social media for information about the pandemic were less likely to say they would get a COVID vaccine than those who get their news from traditional media.
The group also found the 150 largest anti-vaccination accounts on social media gained 8 million followers since January.
Ahmed says these twin pandemics amplify each other. "One being biological and one being social, [they] are working in concert to really undermine our capacity to contain COVID," he said.
The social networks are well aware of the problem. Facebook, Google's YouTube and TikTok say they are removing debunked claims about COVID vaccines. Twitter says it's still working on its policy.
Recently, Facebook took down some of the biggest anti-vaccination groups and pages.
Ahmed says, even with these moves, public health officials face an uphill battle to persuade enough people to get vaccinated, while vaccine opponents have a lower bar.
"Their job is not to persuade people not to take a vaccine, it's to inject doubt," he said. "That's it. That's all you've got to do for their side."
Editor's note: Facebook, Google and TikTok are among NPR's financial supporters.


npr--2020-12-10--As Climate Envoy, Kerry To Seek 'Ambition' With 'Humility'

As Climate Envoy , Kerry To Seek 'Ambition ' With 'Humility' John Kerry is looking to resume climate diplomacy that was disrupted under President Trump .
The former secretary of state is one of several Obama administration officials appointed by President-elect Biden .
Their goals include restoring what had been seen as the normal functions of the U.S. government when they were last in it .
The mission is especially clear in Kerry 's case .
In 2015 , he signed a global climate accord as his granddaughter sat on his lap to suggest its importance to future generations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ President-elect Biden wants Kerry to bring the U.S. back in .
The 76-year-old Vietnam veteran , former senator and diplomat will serve as Biden 's climate envoy .
On Wednesday , Kerry conducted his first two interviews since accepting the post , including one with NPR .
Kerry said rejoining the Paris accord is just the first step .
He expects to spend much of 2021 working toward an already scheduled climate summit in November .
`` We have to raise the ambition of every nation in the world in order to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — my task specifically -- will be to help negotiate that , '' he said .
Kerry also spoke of approaching the job with `` humility , '' because the U.S withdrew from the agreement once before .
`` It 's simple for the United States to rejoin , but it 's not so simple for the United States to regain its credibility , '' he said .
One of his challenges will be to convince other governments the U.S. will abide by its commitments .
Two Democratic presidents , Clinton and Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only to have two Republicans , George W. Bush and Trump , withdraw from them .
And Kerry argued that the marketplace is on the side of clean energy .
`` Real business people , '' he said , `` understand that there 's money to be made '' in a transition to renewable fuels .
You hope to negotiate new , stronger agreements .
Wo n't other countries wonder if the U.S. will just drop out at the next change of administration ?
That question will certainly be raised but I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
First of all I believe that Donald Trump is an aberration .
... What is clear is that the marketplace itself , globally , is moving in this direction .
Just today there 's an announcement by a company that 's promising to be net neutral in carbon production by 2040 .
The day before , I spoke with an airlines president and he talked about what his airline is going to be doing – spontaneously , automatically .
Real business people , real leaders within the business world understand that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understand that there 's money to be made in producing the products .
Anybody who has the breakthrough on battery storage is going to have the key to the future .
Can you collaborate with China on climate issues even as the United States competes with China on other issues ?
They were a partner on climate as we competed with them at other things during the Obama administration .
We 've been there , done that .
But if we do n't work as a primary extraordinary effort on climate , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are major challenges with respect to some of the things that China is doing .
China banks are still funding coal-fired power production , new plants in various countries that are touched by the One Belt , One Road program .
So we have to talk to China about that .
But we have to do it in a way that does n't force people into a corner to hunker down and head towards conflict .
What are the conversations you 're having with energy companies ?
I 'm reaching out to them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right now .
We have to wait till January 20th before we engage substantively promoting any policy .
But I 'm listening to what their needs are on how they view the world so I can begin to understand better what the possibilities may be once the president is sworn in on January 20 .
Do you feel you can make progress given the unique challenges in this country , where a minority of climate deniers can stop a lot of what you would see as progress ?
I believe the way we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing people very specifically what the benefits are , what the facts are , and by building a consensus .
I mean , that is the process of a democracy .
It 's been made harder in these last years because of denialism that has been exacerbated purposefully by entities and by politicians .
But I do believe the marketplace actually has the ability to be a very powerful force for good and for things to happen and politicians can kind of get in the way and provide some road bumps but they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happening now .

As Climate Envoy, Kerry To Seek 'Ambition' With 'Humility'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Erin Clark/Boston Globe via Getty Images Erin Clark/Boston Globe via Getty Images
John Kerry is looking to resume climate diplomacy that was disrupted under President Trump.
The former secretary of state is one of several Obama administration officials appointed by President-elect Biden. Their goals include restoring what had been seen as the normal functions of the U.S. government when they were last in it.
The mission is especially clear in Kerry's case. In 2015, he signed a global climate accord as his granddaughter sat on his lap to suggest its importance to future generations. President Trump withdrew from the agreement. President-elect Biden wants Kerry to bring the U.S. back in.
The 76-year-old Vietnam veteran, former senator and diplomat will serve as Biden's climate envoy. On Wednesday, Kerry conducted his first two interviews since accepting the post, including one with NPR.
Kerry said rejoining the Paris accord is just the first step. He expects to spend much of 2021 working toward an already scheduled climate summit in November.
"We have to raise the ambition of every nation in the world in order to get this job done, and our task — my task specifically-- will be to help negotiate that," he said.
Kerry also spoke of approaching the job with "humility," because the U.S withdrew from the agreement once before.
"It's simple for the United States to rejoin, but it's not so simple for the United States to regain its credibility," he said.
One of his challenges will be to convince other governments the U.S. will abide by its commitments. Two Democratic presidents, Clinton and Obama, have now negotiated climate accords, only to have two Republicans, George W. Bush and Trump, withdraw from them.
And Kerry argued that the marketplace is on the side of clean energy. "Real business people," he said, "understand that there's money to be made" in a transition to renewable fuels.
Interview Highlights
You hope to negotiate new, stronger agreements. Won't other countries wonder if the U.S. will just drop out at the next change of administration?
That question will certainly be raised but I think there's a very clear answer to it. First of all I believe that Donald Trump is an aberration. ... What is clear is that the marketplace itself, globally, is moving in this direction. Just today there's an announcement by a company that's promising to be net neutral in carbon production by 2040. The day before, I spoke with an airlines president and he talked about what his airline is going to be doing – spontaneously, automatically. Real business people, real leaders within the business world understand that this is an imperative. They also understand that there's money to be made in producing the products. Anybody who has the breakthrough on battery storage is going to have the key to the future.
Can you collaborate with China on climate issues even as the United States competes with China on other issues?
They were a partner on climate as we competed with them at other things during the Obama administration. We've been there, done that. But if we don't work as a primary extraordinary effort on climate, we're all cooked.
Right now there are major challenges with respect to some of the things that China is doing. China banks are still funding coal-fired power production, new plants in various countries that are touched by the One Belt, One Road program. So we have to talk to China about that. But we have to do it in a way that doesn't force people into a corner to hunker down and head towards conflict.
What are the conversations you're having with energy companies?
I'm reaching out to them because I want to hear from them right now. We have to wait till January 20th before we engage substantively promoting any policy. But I'm listening to what their needs are on how they view the world so I can begin to understand better what the possibilities may be once the president is sworn in on January 20.
Do you feel you can make progress given the unique challenges in this country, where a minority of climate deniers can stop a lot of what you would see as progress?
I believe the way we make progress is by delivering, by showing people very specifically what the benefits are, what the facts are, and by building a consensus. I mean, that is the process of a democracy. It's been made harder in these last years because of denialism that has been exacerbated purposefully by entities and by politicians. But I do believe the marketplace actually has the ability to be a very powerful force for good and for things to happen and politicians can kind of get in the way and provide some road bumps but they're not going to stop what's happening now.


npr--2020-12-10--With Far-Right Extremism On The Rise, Germany Investigates Its Police

With Far-Right Extremism On The Rise , Germany Investigates Its Police Four years ago , Simon Neumeyer enrolled in the Saxony State Police Academy in the eastern German city of Leipzig as a 19-year-old cadet .
`` At the time , I naively thought the police were 100 % committed to law and order , '' he remembers .
His naiveté began to wear off on the academy 's target-shooting grounds while he and his fellow cadets , guns in hand , listened to a lecture from their commander .
`` He told us we have to shoot well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany , '' Neumeyer recalls .
`` I thought to myself : 'Wow .
This is very racist . '
`` Later , my ethics teacher complained about foreigners celebrating loudly in the city center on New Year 's Eve and that this was his home .
These teachers were basically passing their racism on to us cadets . ''
Neumeyer tells NPR he finally spoke up one day when an academy teacher used the N-word in class .
To his surprise , he remembers his classmates not defending him , but loudly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ class celebrated it , '' he remembers .
`` And when I spoke up and said , 'You ca n't use that word , ' a fellow cadet banged on his desk and said it 's high time it was acceptable to use that word again . ''
Over time , Neumeyer says his fellow cadets ostracized him .
He became more disillusioned and , within a year , gave up his dream of becoming an officer .
After leaving , he published text messages on his Instagram account that his fellow cadets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ message , whose phrases rhyme in German , reads : `` We 're from Cottbus , not Ghana .
We hate all Africans . ''
After posting the messages , Neumeyer 's story went viral on social media in Germany , prompting the Saxony Police to conduct an investigation .
In an email to NPR , the Saxony Police says it investigated three cadets accused of sending racist posts over WhatsApp and removed one of them from the police force .
The second cadet had already quit , and the third cadet 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a breach of duty , '' it says .
The Saxony Police also conducted an investigation into two teachers as a result of Neumeyer 's complaints and told NPR `` no evidence of racist tendencies was found . ''
It notes , though , that it brought these cases with the teachers to educate them in how to recognize `` xenophobic tendencies . ''
Barely a week has passed this year without new revelations of racism or far-right extremism plaguing Germany 's police and security agencies .
Whether it 's officers participating in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prepare for a doomsday scenario , extremism remains a persistent problem among those who enforce the law in the country .
`` Right-wing extremist slogans and pictures are being shared over WhatsApp , and extremists within Germany 's own security structures are collaborating to stockpile weapons , '' says Andreas Speit , one of Germany 's top experts on right-wing extremism .
`` They 're ready to fight against those who think differently than them . ''
Racism and extremism among the police is a sensitive issue in Germany , a country still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jews during its Nazi dictatorship in World War II .
Despite this troubled history , Speit says the German government often drags its feet when investigating racism .
Most cases come to light because of anonymous tipoffs , he says , and the resulting investigations take too long .
`` That these investigations are difficult for the police is evident from the fact that the federal interior minister is not very open-minded when it comes to initiating an empirical study on right-wing sympathies among Germany 's security forces , '' Speit says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country 's police and security agencies , has repeatedly refused to admit there 's a problem with racism or right-wing extremism among the rank and file of the police .
In July , as protests erupted across the U.S. and Europe over the killing of George Floyd , Seehofer abruptly halted a study into racial profiling among German police .
Three months later , when the results of another government study revealed 377 suspected cases of right-wing extremism among Germany 's 42,000-strong federal police force and more than 1,000 suspected cases in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seehofer dug in his heels .
`` We are dealing with a small number of cases , meaning we have no structural problem with right-wing extremism in the security forces , '' he said in a news conference announcing the study 's results .
Speit thinks Seehofer and the rest of the government need to take more aggressive measures to ensure the police do n't become a home for extremists .
That begins with examining the type of people who want to be officers in the first place .
Security forces `` are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Speit .
`` So training in multicultural sensitivity needs to be intensified , because they have so little experience of other cultures in their daily lives . ''
The city of Berlin is beginning to address this .
It 's on a mission to hire more women and immigrants to serve in the police , and this year it created a new position for an extremism commissioner who will oversee how police prevent extremism — of any kind — and train cadets to identify it .
On a recent morning at the Berlin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and down rows of desks as the sun illuminates the faces of 20 cadets .
He is teaching a class on Germany 's rule of law .
`` We talk at length about racism and right-wing ideology , '' Igelmund tells NPR .
`` Ultimately , we share a common understanding of values .
You can only be here if you accept these values .
If you reject them , you 're in the wrong place . ''
But when Igelmund opens the floor to a discussion about racism , many cadets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cadet Mark Steffan says racists are a problem and do n't belong in the police force .
`` But the police are simply a cross section of society , and there 's no reason why you would n't encounter racist officers , '' he says .
`` What I find problematic is the generalization that all cops are bad .
If you have 26,000 officers and there are around 200 racists , that 's just 1 % . ''
Steffan turns to his classmates and asks : `` Does that mean the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question lingers in the classroom , and nobody answers it .
Eventually , Sebastian Bartz , another cadet , breaks the silence .
As it stands , he says , cadets must take a 2 1/2-year basic training program that partly aims to root out racists .
Police in some countries , including the U.S. , do n't train nearly as much .
`` We 've spent half a year alone on how to use a weapon , how to arrest someone , intercultural communication — all this paired with legal training , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 're constantly tested on this for an additional two years .
We know our stuff .
But in the U.S. , you 've got officers patrolling the streets after just six months of training . ''
As a comparison , police officers in the U.S. typically have one-fifth of the training that their German counterparts have .
According to a 2016 report by the Justice Department , U.S. police officers participate in basic training ( other than field training ) , on average , for 21 weeks .
In another part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refugees from Syria , Iraq and Afghanistan , the groups brought together to learn from each other under the academy 's behavioral training program .
Officer Eckhardt Lazai oversees the program .
He describes a moving session in which one of his officers began to cry .
`` She had heard the story of a refugee who fled Syria and his whole family drowned in the Mediterranean , '' says Lazai .
`` And she was crying , literally .
So we do n't want people to cry , but we want them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ position here as a police officer . ''
Lazai says more than a third of his police academy classes are nonwhite cadets from immigrant families .
And he says it 's crucial for his officers to understand how their position of privilege has evolved through Germany 's troubled history of institutional racism .
`` The question of racism is always connected , wittingly or unwittingly , with our past , '' says Lazai .
`` It 's the truth .
Maybe 10 years ago , if you would have asked me that question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it 's not a problem . '
But the more I deal with this subject , think about it , I 'm aware of the fact that the past is not over .
It 's part of us if we want it or not . ''
All you have to do , says Lazai , is to walk around the academy 's campus to see that .
His office is inside a building that , more than a century ago , served as the police academy for the state of Prussia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it became training grounds for Adolf Hitler 's Nazi forces , housing officers of the dreaded SS paramilitary group .
Today , Middle Eastern refugees are on these grounds , training Lazai 's officers .
He says it 's progress — but more needs to be done .
Esme Nicholson contributed to this story from Berlin .

With Far-Right Extremism On The Rise, Germany Investigates Its Police
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rob Schmitz/NPR Rob Schmitz/NPR
Four years ago, Simon Neumeyer enrolled in the Saxony State Police Academy in the eastern German city of Leipzig as a 19-year-old cadet.
"At the time, I naively thought the police were 100% committed to law and order," he remembers.
His naiveté began to wear off on the academy's target-shooting grounds while he and his fellow cadets, guns in hand, listened to a lecture from their commander.
"He told us we have to shoot well, because there are many refugees coming to Germany," Neumeyer recalls. "I thought to myself: 'Wow. This is very racist.'
"Later, my ethics teacher complained about foreigners celebrating loudly in the city center on New Year's Eve and that this was his home. These teachers were basically passing their racism on to us cadets."
Neumeyer tells NPR he finally spoke up one day when an academy teacher used the N-word in class. To his surprise, he remembers his classmates not defending him, but loudly defending their teacher.
"The entire class celebrated it," he remembers. "And when I spoke up and said, 'You can't use that word,' a fellow cadet banged on his desk and said it's high time it was acceptable to use that word again."
Over time, Neumeyer says his fellow cadets ostracized him. He became more disillusioned and, within a year, gave up his dream of becoming an officer.
After leaving, he published text messages on his Instagram account that his fellow cadets had sent to each other. One message, whose phrases rhyme in German, reads: "We're from Cottbus, not Ghana. We hate all Africans."
After posting the messages, Neumeyer's story went viral on social media in Germany, prompting the Saxony Police to conduct an investigation.
In an email to NPR, the Saxony Police says it investigated three cadets accused of sending racist posts over WhatsApp and removed one of them from the police force. The second cadet had already quit, and the third cadet's role "could not be confirmed as a breach of duty," it says.
The Saxony Police also conducted an investigation into two teachers as a result of Neumeyer's complaints and told NPR "no evidence of racist tendencies was found."
It notes, though, that it brought these cases with the teachers to educate them in how to recognize "xenophobic tendencies."
Barely a week has passed this year without new revelations of racism or far-right extremism plaguing Germany's police and security agencies. Whether it's officers participating in neo-Nazi chat groups or hoarding ammunition to prepare for a doomsday scenario, extremism remains a persistent problem among those who enforce the law in the country.
"Right-wing extremist slogans and pictures are being shared over WhatsApp, and extremists within Germany's own security structures are collaborating to stockpile weapons," says Andreas Speit, one of Germany's top experts on right-wing extremism. "They're ready to fight against those who think differently than them."
Racism and extremism among the police is a sensitive issue in Germany, a country still haunted by the murder of 6 million Jews during its Nazi dictatorship in World War II. Despite this troubled history, Speit says the German government often drags its feet when investigating racism. Most cases come to light because of anonymous tipoffs, he says, and the resulting investigations take too long.
"That these investigations are difficult for the police is evident from the fact that the federal interior minister is not very open-minded when it comes to initiating an empirical study on right-wing sympathies among Germany's security forces," Speit says.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who oversees the country's police and security agencies, has repeatedly refused to admit there's a problem with racism or right-wing extremism among the rank and file of the police. In July, as protests erupted across the U.S. and Europe over the killing of George Floyd, Seehofer abruptly halted a study into racial profiling among German police.
Three months later, when the results of another government study revealed 377 suspected cases of right-wing extremism among Germany's 42,000-strong federal police force and more than 1,000 suspected cases in its army over a three-year period, Seehofer dug in his heels.
"We are dealing with a small number of cases, meaning we have no structural problem with right-wing extremism in the security forces," he said in a news conference announcing the study's results.
Speit thinks Seehofer and the rest of the government need to take more aggressive measures to ensure the police don't become a home for extremists. That begins with examining the type of people who want to be officers in the first place.
toggle caption Rob Schmitz/NPR
Security forces "are dominated by white men," says Speit. "So training in multicultural sensitivity needs to be intensified, because they have so little experience of other cultures in their daily lives."
The city of Berlin is beginning to address this. It's on a mission to hire more women and immigrants to serve in the police, and this year it created a new position for an extremism commissioner who will oversee how police prevent extremism — of any kind — and train cadets to identify it.
On a recent morning at the Berlin Police Academy, trainer Ewald Igelmund paces up and down rows of desks as the sun illuminates the faces of 20 cadets. He is teaching a class on Germany's rule of law.
"We talk at length about racism and right-wing ideology," Igelmund tells NPR. "Ultimately, we share a common understanding of values. You can only be here if you accept these values. If you reject them, you're in the wrong place."
But when Igelmund opens the floor to a discussion about racism, many cadets admit it's difficult to eradicate. Cadet Mark Steffan says racists are a problem and don't belong in the police force.
"But the police are simply a cross section of society, and there's no reason why you wouldn't encounter racist officers," he says. "What I find problematic is the generalization that all cops are bad. If you have 26,000 officers and there are around 200 racists, that's just 1%."
Steffan turns to his classmates and asks: "Does that mean the police have a far-right problem?"
His question lingers in the classroom, and nobody answers it.
Eventually, Sebastian Bartz, another cadet, breaks the silence. As it stands, he says, cadets must take a 2 1/2-year basic training program that partly aims to root out racists. Police in some countries, including the U.S., don't train nearly as much.
"We've spent half a year alone on how to use a weapon, how to arrest someone, intercultural communication — all this paired with legal training," says Bartz. "And we're constantly tested on this for an additional two years. We know our stuff. But in the U.S., you've got officers patrolling the streets after just six months of training."
As a comparison, police officers in the U.S. typically have one-fifth of the training that their German counterparts have. According to a 2016 report by the Justice Department, U.S. police officers participate in basic training (other than field training), on average, for 21 weeks.
In another part of the Berlin Police Academy, midcareer officers meet refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the groups brought together to learn from each other under the academy's behavioral training program. Officer Eckhardt Lazai oversees the program. He describes a moving session in which one of his officers began to cry.
"She had heard the story of a refugee who fled Syria and his whole family drowned in the Mediterranean," says Lazai. "And she was crying, literally. So we don't want people to cry, but we want them to realize I'm in a privileged position here as a police officer."
Lazai says more than a third of his police academy classes are nonwhite cadets from immigrant families. And he says it's crucial for his officers to understand how their position of privilege has evolved through Germany's troubled history of institutional racism.
"The question of racism is always connected, wittingly or unwittingly, with our past," says Lazai. "It's the truth. Maybe 10 years ago, if you would have asked me that question, I would have said, 'No, it's not a problem.' But the more I deal with this subject, think about it, I'm aware of the fact that the past is not over. It's part of us if we want it or not."
All you have to do, says Lazai, is to walk around the academy's campus to see that. His office is inside a building that, more than a century ago, served as the police academy for the state of Prussia. Decades later, during the Third Reich, it became training grounds for Adolf Hitler's Nazi forces, housing officers of the dreaded SS paramilitary group.
Today, Middle Eastern refugees are on these grounds, training Lazai's officers. He says it's progress — but more needs to be done.
Esme Nicholson contributed to this story from Berlin.


npr--2020-12-10--Poll: Majority Of Sports Fans: 'Don't Play Indoors' As Coronavirus Surges

Life has become more challenging , and potentially dangerous , as winter weather forces more people inside during the coronavirus pandemic .
And the concerns extend to the world of sports .
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll with the Center for Sports Communication at Marist College reveals 56 % of American sports fans believe people should not be participating in indoor team sports , such as basketball .
`` That kind of surprised me , '' said Center for Sports Communication director Jane McManus .
`` I was expecting there to be less of a clear indication , '' McManus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinking about the effect the pandemic is having on sports . ''
But she said there are `` clear majorities , '' when you ask fans not just about participation , but also the potential for coronavirus spread .
Of those , 56 % also said they were either concerned or very concerned that playing indoor team sports will spread the virus in their local community .
The telephone survey of 1,065 adults was conducted Dec. 1-6 .
In it , 603 respondents said they were sports fans .
Jose Gonzalez , 27 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soccer .
He 's also a basketball fan and is `` just starting to get into football . ''
He 's one of those in the majority – no indoor sports .
`` For most people , it 's not like pro sports where they get tested [ regularly ] , '' Gonzalez said .
`` Regular people like me , let 's say I go out and have a 5-on-5 basketball game and it 's not like [ anyone in that game ] will get tested .
They might have the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catch it .
That 's why I think it 's not safe . ''
Gonzalez is among the 57 % of millenials ( 18-39 ) who think there should n't be indoor sports .
The largest group who answered similarly was baby boomers ( 56-74 ) at 65 % ; the smallest was Gen-X ( 40-55 ) at 52 % .
But all were majorities of the respondents in their groups .
Testing was key for Gonzalez , and for that reason , he thinks professional athletes are OK to play .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 22 .
Players , coaches and other key staff members are expected to get daily tests , most of the time .
But the league wo n't play in a pandemic-protected `` bubble '' as it did in the season that ended in October .
No NBA players tested positive for the virus after they entered the bubble at Walt Disney World near Orlando , Fla. , in July .
`` You know how the NBA did its bubble , '' Gonzalez said .
`` It 's not like that 's going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The poll found 40 % of sports fans believe people should be allowed to play indoor team sports , including 58-year-old Karen Jeske from Portage , Wis .
But a big factor for her is personal responsibility among those playing indoors .
`` If one of the people on the team had any doubts that they may have the COVID , '' Jeske said , `` then I would think , as a decent human being , that they 'd get themselves tested .
If they had any doubts , then they should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ praying to God they 'd all think that way . ''
But Jeske , a former certified nursing assistant who now works at a convenience store , worries about younger kids playing indoor sports .
`` The thing that scares me with high school kids , '' she said , `` is that not every parent is attentive , or cares .
There are decent parents out there who do consider their kids ' health .
But not every parent 's like that .
And that 's what we have to worry about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Because really and truly it 's a crapshoot . ''
Jeske is among just 18 % of sports fans who say fans should be allowed to attend games for indoor team sports .
`` I 'd go if I thought I was in good health , '' said Jeske , who follows Wisconsin 's pro sports teams including the NBA 's Milwaukee Bucks , the NFL 's Green Bay Packers and Major League Baseball 's Milwaukee Brewers .
`` [ But ] if I had a stuffy nose or any of that stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game . ''
While not a majority , 46 % of sports fans said people should not be allowed to attend games for indoor team sports .
It 's the largest percentage of respondents to the poll question about fan attendance , and McManus thinks it represents , along with other survey results , a seriousness among fans that 's noteworthy .
Especially considering the narrative early in the pandemic that fans just wanted to have their sports , to watch and play , regardless of the potential dangers .
`` What I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , `` is that the majority of fans are very aware of the risks and realities that we 're living in and how it 's impacting sports .
It appears to me they want people to be safe , they do n't for the most part want fans in the stands , they do n't want unnecessary travel for college athletes and they 're aware that indoor sports could lead to some community spread . ''
McManus also was intrigued by the response to a poll question about whether there should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , scheduled for Feb. 7 , 2021 , at an outdoor stadium in Tampa , Fla .
The largest group of sports fan respondents — 49 % — said no .
Fans should n't attend the game .
`` I kind of feel [ the Super Bowl ] is the most spectator-y of events , right ? ''
McManus said .
`` That 's the pure entertainment sports event , where you are n't balancing the need of someone to exercise or to be active .
There 's no positive benefit associated with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out and playing basketball in a community where there 's little spread .
`` Think about the celebs , the parties , the money spent to get a ticket , who 's in the luxury suites .
There 's a lot that goes along with the Super Bowl .
So to ask whether or not fans should be allowed is kind of to ask whether or not life should continue as normal . ''
The 49 % , McManus said , `` says a lot about where we are in terms of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To me it shows that life is not normal and that people do n't want the illusion of life as normal when we really are in a situation where people have to be careful . ''
McManus , a longtime sports writer , is currently a columnist at Deadspin .
Earlier this year , several months into the pandemic , she tweeted `` sports are the result of a functioning society , not the precursor .
If you like sports so much , you should be pushing for a better response to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sacrifice of some number of pro athletes and their kin . ''
She thinks organized sports ' response to the virus has , at times , been less than better .
Even dishonest .
Yes , pro leagues have created voluminous health and safety protocols .
But they 've also put cardboard fans in empty stadiums .
Piped in fake crowd noise .
In the survey results , McManus sees not only a seriousness about the pandemic , but an unwillingness by sports fans `` to be fooled . ''
`` And I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , `` having looked at this poll and these numbers , if people would n't appreciate better modelling from sports , for what we 're going through right now , and how we 're supposed to behave in our actual lives , knowing what the risks are and knowing what 's at stake . ''

Poll: Majority Of Sports Fans Say Don't Play Indoors As Coronavirus Surges
Life has become more challenging, and potentially dangerous, as winter weather forces more people inside during the coronavirus pandemic.
And the concerns extend to the world of sports.
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll with the Center for Sports Communication at Marist College reveals 56% of American sports fans believe people should not be participating in indoor team sports such as basketball.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
"That kind of surprised me," said Jane McManus, director of the Center for Sports Communication.
"I was expecting there to be less of a clear indication," McManus said, "of what fans were thinking about the effect the pandemic is having on sports."
But she said there are "clear majorities" when you ask fans not just about participation, but also the potential for the spread of the coronavirus. Of those, 56% also said they were either concerned or very concerned that playing indoor team sports will spread the virus in their local community.
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The telephone survey of 1,065 adults was conducted Dec. 1-6. In it, 603 respondents said they were sports fans.
Jose Gonzalez, 27, of Phoenix loves soccer. He's also a basketball fan and is "just starting to get into football." He's one of those in the majority – no indoor sports.
"For most people, it's not like pro sports where they get tested [regularly]," Gonzalez said. "Regular people like me, let's say I go out and have a five-on-five basketball game, and it's not like [anyone in that game] will get tested. They might have the virus without knowing it and then we'll catch it. That's why I think it's not safe."
Gonzalez is among the 57% of millennials (18-39) who think there shouldn't be indoor sports. The largest group who answered similarly was baby boomers (56-74) at 65%; the smallest was Generation X (40-55) at 52%. But all were majorities of the respondents in their groups.
Testing was key for Gonzalez, and for that reason, he thinks professional athletes are OK to play. The NBA begins a shortened regular season Dec. 22. Players, coaches and other key staff members are expected to get daily tests most of the time. But the league won't play in a pandemic-protected "bubble" as it did in the season that ended in October. No NBA players tested positive for the virus after they entered the bubble at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., in July.
"You know how the NBA did its bubble," Gonzalez said. "It's not like that's going to happen for us normal people."
The poll found 40% of sports fans believe people should be allowed to play indoor team sports, including 58-year-old Karen Jeske from Portage, Wis.
But a big factor for her is personal responsibility among those playing indoors.
"If one of the people on the team had any doubts that they may have the COVID," Jeske said, "then I would think, as a decent human being, that they'd get themselves tested. If they had any doubts, then they shouldn't be there.
"I'm praying to God they'd all think that way."
But Jeske, a former certified nursing assistant who now works at a convenience store, worries about younger kids playing indoor sports.
"The thing that scares me with high school kids," she said, "is that not every parent is attentive or cares. There are decent parents out there who do consider their kids' health. But not every parent's like that. And that's what we have to worry about with high school or schoolchildren. Because really and truly it's a crapshoot."
Jeske is among just 18% of sports fans who say fans should be allowed to attend games for indoor team sports.
"I'd go if I thought I was in good health," said Jeske, who follows Wisconsin's pro sports teams, including the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, the NFL's Green Bay Packers and Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers. "[But] if I had a stuffy nose or any of that stuff, I wouldn't be at that game."
While not a majority, 46% of sports fans said people should not be allowed to attend games for indoor team sports. It's the largest percentage of respondents to the poll question about fan attendance, and McManus said she thinks it represents, along with other survey results, a seriousness among fans that's noteworthy.
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It's especially so considering the narrative early in the pandemic that fans just wanted to have their sports, to watch and play, regardless of the potential dangers.
"What I see in this data," McManus said, "is that the majority of fans are very aware of the risks and realities that we're living in and how it's impacting sports. It appears to me they want people to be safe, they don't for the most part want fans in the stands, they don't want unnecessary travel for college athletes and they're aware that indoor sports could lead to some community spread."
McManus also was intrigued by the response to a poll question about whether there should be fans at the NFL's Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 7 at an outdoor stadium in Tampa, Fla.
The largest group of sports fan respondents — 49% — said no. Fans shouldn't attend the game.
"I kind of feel [the Super Bowl] is the most spectator-y of events, right?" McManus said. "That's the pure entertainment sports event, where you aren't balancing the need of someone to exercise or to be active. There's no positive benefit associated with that like, say, kids going out and playing basketball in a community where there's little spread.
"Think about the celebs, the parties, the money spent to get a ticket, who's in the luxury suites. There's a lot that goes along with the Super Bowl. So to ask whether or not fans should be allowed is kind of to ask whether or not life should continue as normal."
The 49%, McManus said, "says a lot about where we are in terms of what we want our normal to be. To me it shows that life is not normal and that people don't want the illusion of life as normal when we really are in a situation where people have to be careful."
McManus, a longtime sports writer, is currently a columnist at Deadspin. Earlier this year, several months into the pandemic, she tweeted that "sports are the result of a functioning society, not the precursor. If you like sports so much, you should be pushing for a better response to the virus, not the de facto ritual sacrifice of some number of pro athletes and their kin."
She thinks organized sports' response to the virus has, at times, been less than better. Even dishonest. Yes, pro leagues have created voluminous health and safety protocols. But they've also put cardboard fans in empty stadiums. Piped in fake crowd noise. In the survey results, McManus sees not only a seriousness about the pandemic but an unwillingness by sports fans "to be fooled."
"And I don't wonder," McManus said, "having looked at this poll and these numbers, if people wouldn't appreciate better modeling from sports, for what we're going through right now, and how we're supposed to behave in our actual lives, knowing what the risks are and knowing what's at stake."


npr--2020-12-10--California Struggles To House Thousands Of Homeless Placed In Hotels During Pandemic

California Struggles To House Thousands Of Homeless Placed In Hotels During Pandemic After three years of bouncing between shelters , relatives ' couches and a tent she pitched in downtown San Francisco , Gillette Christa , 63 , and her 17-month-old dog , Shepherd , finally got into stable housing .
`` It was like taking a load off , '' she said .
`` We were able to finally rest . ''
But now her future is uncertain as she waits to hear where she will go next .
Like some 22,300 people across California , Christa was placed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of a program called Project Roomkey – an effort to temporarily house seniors , and people who were medically vulnerable , to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic .
And now she 's waiting to find out if she 'll get placed into long-term assisted housing .
`` I 'm trying to stay optimistic , '' she said .
When Gov .
Gavin Newsom announced the program in April , the focus was on providing places for people experiencing homelessness to safely shelter in place during the pandemic .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a jumping-off point for permanent housing .
`` We 're not just thinking short-term , '' he said during an April 3 press conference outside a motel in Sacramento .
`` We 're also beginning to process an orientation of focus and energy around long-term supports , so that we can get people off the streets in a permanent way . ''
But data from seven Bay Area counties near San Francisco , which was analyzed by KQED , show that nearly 16 % of the people who have already been discharged from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made it into permanent housing , or 345 people out of 2,196 .
The remaining 84 % have gone on to emergency shelters , transitional housing , friends or family , other hotels paid for with private funds , drug rehab facilities , jail , or to tents , cars and encampments .
At least 15 people have died .
Counties across the state are beginning to stop operating these hotels as shelters and are moving as many as possible into permanent housing .
But that 's a big challenge in a state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affordable housing .
The California Housing Partnership estimates the state needs 1.3 million new affordable homes for all the people who need them .
`` No matter how you look at it , the big picture is the big picture , '' said Heather Freinkel , a managing attorney for the Homeless Action Center .
`` There is not enough permanent housing . ''
Last month , Newsom announced $ 62 million in grants for counties to help them transition more people into long-term homes , including $ 35 million to pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finding housing , and landlord incentives , among other things .
The state has also doled out more than $ 800 million for some of the hotels and other buildings to be converted into permanent and transitional housing .
It will create more than 6,000 new units of permanent and transitional housing .
But it 's still a small fraction of the need .
Despite the low percentage of people who 've made it into housing so far , Freinkel still thinks Project Roomkey has been a success .
Placing any number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ housing should be lauded , she said .
`` The point [ of Project Roomkey ] is an emergency intervention to prevent the most vulnerable people from being exposed to COVID-19 , '' she said .
`` Considering all the barriers and the lack of available housing , it 's a great accomplishment that even some people were able to obtain permanent housing . ''
In San Francisco , officials have backed off plans to stop operating seven of its Project Roomkey hotels by the end of the month , and will instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remaining 22 hotels are slated to cease operating as a shelter in November .
San Francisco supervisors on Wednesday urged city officials to keep the hotels open for as long as possible and introduced legislation last month to mandate that everyone in the hotels gets placed into permanent housing .
But Abigail Stewart-Kahn , the city 's interim director of Homelessness and Supportive Housing , told KQED the hotel program is not sustainable .
Rooms cost roughly $ 260 per night , she said , compared to between $ 70 to $ 90 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hotel rooms come with three meals a day , laundry service , wellness checks , security guards and case management .
FEMA pays for 75 % of the cost of running the hotels as part of the emergency response to the coronavirus .
California counties have been relying on additional federal funding from the CARES Act , which is set to expire at the end of the year , as well as other state grants or local funding to make up the remaining 25 % .
Robert Barker , a spokesman for FEMA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providing reimbursement on a month-to-month basis for the emergency shelters as long as there is need .
`` These are extremely expensive compared to other solutions , '' Stewart-Kahn said in an interview .
`` They were always intended to be temporary . ''
For those who have gotten into long-term housing , the program has been a lifeline .
Jessica Ellis , 45 , and her 8-year-old son , King , lost their apartment in June .
They were living in Albuquerque , New Mexico , and the landlord raised their rent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bug infestations , the air conditioning stopped working for seven days during a heat spell , and the heat had stopped working during the previous winter .
Rather than fight the landlord over the rent increase , Ellis decided to leave .
She wanted a fresh start .
`` I just did n't feel like trying to get water out of a rock , '' she said .
`` That 's why we had to go . ''
Her son is autistic , and she heard about programs in the Bay Area that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put all their belongings in storage , packed up their car and hit the road .
`` When I saw the 'Welcome to California ' sign , '' Ellis said , `` I started crying .
It was such a relief . ''
After 10 days without knowing where she would be able to find a place to live , Ellis got in touch with an intake worker at Catholic Charities who placed her and King at one of the Project Roomkey hotels .
`` It was like , 'Praise God , ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ single mom to know there were three meals a day I could come get , that was wonderful . ''
Ellis and her son got keys to their new apartment in San Francisco 's North Beach neighborhood in September , which she pays for with a Section 8 subsidy .
After moving every year for the past seven years , Ellis said they finally have a place where they know they can stay for good .
`` It 's a place where hopefully , King can be longer than a year , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this wonderful little boy he 's growing into . ''
San Francisco 's Stewart-Kahn said the city is committed to making sure everyone in the hotels would be transferred to `` short , medium or long-term '' placements when they leave and that she believes there is adequate capacity available .
`` We can try to wait until there is perfection , but we are never going to get there , '' she said .
`` This is an opportunity to end homelessness for more people in San Francisco than anyone in our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do . ''
With the coronavirus infection rates rising and many congregate shelters closed or at reduced capacity , advocates for people experiencing homelessness say it 's critical that the people in these hotels stay housed .
Dr. Margot Kushel , a professor of medicine and the director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California in San Francisco said it would be `` unconscionable '' to allow older , medically vulnerable people chosen for the program to go back into homelessness .
`` To return them to homelessness would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a tragedy , '' she said .
Gillette Christa said she 's not sure when she 'll find out whether she 'll get a permanent home or temporary housing .
She fractured her ankle in three places in August , she said , and it 's still healing .
`` There 's the fear that there may not be a match , '' Christa said .
`` And my ankle wo n't be close to well . ''
But , she said , she 's already met with a housing coordinator who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ housing .
`` I 'm hopeful , but I 'm not counting chickens , '' Christa said .
`` I 'm waiting for them to hatch . ''

California Struggles To House Thousands Of Homeless Placed In Hotels During Pandemic
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ben Margot/AP Ben Margot/AP
After three years of bouncing between shelters, relatives' couches and a tent she pitched in downtown San Francisco, Gillette Christa, 63, and her 17-month-old dog, Shepherd, finally got into stable housing.
"It was like taking a load off," she said. "We were able to finally rest."
But now her future is uncertain as she waits to hear where she will go next.
Like some 22,300 people across California, Christa was placed in a hotel in San Francisco as part of a program called Project Roomkey – an effort to temporarily house seniors, and people who were medically vulnerable, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic. And now she's waiting to find out if she'll get placed into long-term assisted housing.
"I'm trying to stay optimistic," she said.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the program in April, the focus was on providing places for people experiencing homelessness to safely shelter in place during the pandemic. But, he also said it would be a jumping-off point for permanent housing.
"We're not just thinking short-term," he said during an April 3 press conference outside a motel in Sacramento. "We're also beginning to process an orientation of focus and energy around long-term supports, so that we can get people off the streets in a permanent way."
But data from seven Bay Area counties near San Francisco, which was analyzed by KQED, show that nearly 16% of the people who have already been discharged from the hotels as of Nov. 20 have made it into permanent housing, or 345 people out of 2,196.
The remaining 84% have gone on to emergency shelters, transitional housing, friends or family, other hotels paid for with private funds, drug rehab facilities, jail, or to tents, cars and encampments. At least 15 people have died.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Beth LaBerge/KQED Beth LaBerge/KQED
Counties across the state are beginning to stop operating these hotels as shelters and are moving as many as possible into permanent housing.
But that's a big challenge in a state that already has a chronic shortage of affordable housing. The California Housing Partnership estimates the state needs 1.3 million new affordable homes for all the people who need them.
"No matter how you look at it, the big picture is the big picture," said Heather Freinkel, a managing attorney for the Homeless Action Center. "There is not enough permanent housing."
Last month, Newsom announced $62 million in grants for counties to help them transition more people into long-term homes, including $35 million to pay for rental subsidies, case management, help finding housing, and landlord incentives, among other things.
The state has also doled out more than $800 million for some of the hotels and other buildings to be converted into permanent and transitional housing. It will create more than 6,000 new units of permanent and transitional housing.
But it's still a small fraction of the need.
Despite the low percentage of people who've made it into housing so far, Freinkel still thinks Project Roomkey has been a success. Placing any number of people who have been homeless into permanent housing should be lauded, she said.
"The point [of Project Roomkey] is an emergency intervention to prevent the most vulnerable people from being exposed to COVID-19," she said. "Considering all the barriers and the lack of available housing, it's a great accomplishment that even some people were able to obtain permanent housing."
Mounting costs
In San Francisco, officials have backed off plans to stop operating seven of its Project Roomkey hotels by the end of the month, and will instead keep operating them through March. The remaining 22 hotels are slated to cease operating as a shelter in November.
San Francisco supervisors on Wednesday urged city officials to keep the hotels open for as long as possible and introduced legislation last month to mandate that everyone in the hotels gets placed into permanent housing.
But Abigail Stewart-Kahn, the city's interim director of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, told KQED the hotel program is not sustainable. Rooms cost roughly $260 per night, she said, compared to between $70 to $90 for other types of housing. The hotel rooms come with three meals a day, laundry service, wellness checks, security guards and case management.
FEMA pays for 75% of the cost of running the hotels as part of the emergency response to the coronavirus. California counties have been relying on additional federal funding from the CARES Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year, as well as other state grants or local funding to make up the remaining 25%.
Robert Barker, a spokesman for FEMA, said the federal agency would continue providing reimbursement on a month-to-month basis for the emergency shelters as long as there is need.
"These are extremely expensive compared to other solutions," Stewart-Kahn said in an interview. "They were always intended to be temporary."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Beth LaBerge/KQED Beth LaBerge/KQED
A place to grow
For those who have gotten into long-term housing, the program has been a lifeline.
Jessica Ellis, 45, and her 8-year-old son, King, lost their apartment in June. They were living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the landlord raised their rent, she said. The apartment had bug infestations, the air conditioning stopped working for seven days during a heat spell, and the heat had stopped working during the previous winter.
Rather than fight the landlord over the rent increase, Ellis decided to leave. She wanted a fresh start.
"I just didn't feel like trying to get water out of a rock," she said. "That's why we had to go."
Her son is autistic, and she heard about programs in the Bay Area that might help him. So, they put all their belongings in storage, packed up their car and hit the road.
"When I saw the 'Welcome to California' sign," Ellis said, "I started crying. It was such a relief."
After 10 days without knowing where she would be able to find a place to live, Ellis got in touch with an intake worker at Catholic Charities who placed her and King at one of the Project Roomkey hotels.
"It was like, 'Praise God,' " Ellis said. "For a single mom to know there were three meals a day I could come get, that was wonderful."
Ellis and her son got keys to their new apartment in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood in September, which she pays for with a Section 8 subsidy.
After moving every year for the past seven years, Ellis said they finally have a place where they know they can stay for good.
"It's a place where hopefully, King can be longer than a year," she said, "and grow into this wonderful little boy he's growing into."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images
A long-term home
San Francisco's Stewart-Kahn said the city is committed to making sure everyone in the hotels would be transferred to "short, medium or long-term" placements when they leave and that she believes there is adequate capacity available.
"We can try to wait until there is perfection, but we are never going to get there," she said. "This is an opportunity to end homelessness for more people in San Francisco than anyone in our field has ever gotten the opportunity to do."
With the coronavirus infection rates rising and many congregate shelters closed or at reduced capacity, advocates for people experiencing homelessness say it's critical that the people in these hotels stay housed.
Dr. Margot Kushel, a professor of medicine and the director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California in San Francisco said it would be "unconscionable" to allow older, medically vulnerable people chosen for the program to go back into homelessness.
"To return them to homelessness would be a big lost opportunity and frankly, a tragedy," she said.
Gillette Christa said she's not sure when she'll find out whether she'll get a permanent home or temporary housing. She fractured her ankle in three places in August, she said, and it's still healing.
"There's the fear that there may not be a match," Christa said. "And my ankle won't be close to well."
But, she said, she's already met with a housing coordinator who is working to get her into long-term housing.
"I'm hopeful, but I'm not counting chickens," Christa said. "I'm waiting for them to hatch."
KQED staff reporter Molly Solomon contributed to this report.