npr--2020-05-07--'One Alligator Apart': Pandemic Puts New Business Models On The Menu For Restaurants

'One Alligator Apart ' : Pandemic Puts New Business Models On The Menu For Restaurants As more states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions , restaurants are working through exactly how they will get back to business .
When Florida eased restaurant restrictions this week , the notorious Flora-Bama roadhouse reopened its doors , the sounds of live music drifting with the sea breeze .
This sprawling 11-acre complex on the Gulf of Mexico at the Florida-Alabama state line is known for its local musicians , Gulf oysters and cold beer .
But there are no throngs of people dancing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Outdoor spaces have been converted to sit-down dining only .
A host will seat you at a picnic table that has been set in the sand at least 6 feet away from other tables .
Signs are posted throughout showing what physical distancing looks like in a very Florida way : `` One alligator apart . ''
`` You know we 're trying to do the right thing as a business , '' says Cameron Price , one of the restaurant 's owners .
`` We have to walk that difficult walk of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time being the people that are trying to help you have a good time . ''
Having a good time looks a lot different today than it did when the Flora-Bama shut down on March 16 .
Price says the roadhouse closed a week before stay-at-home orders when it became clear the coronavirus was spreading in the United States .
`` We were in the heat of spring break , and we had a thousand , 2,000 people in here at night , '' he says .
`` It was like this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' During the shutdown , owners and managers planned for how to get back in operation , transforming from a crowded bar to a spread-out restaurant .
It 's a conversation now happening at restaurants around the country as more states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions .
If dining is allowed to resume , many states are curtailing it to half-capacity or less to maintain social distancing .
Industry leaders say it 's unclear if smaller operations will be able to make a profit under those conditions .
`` We know we 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sure what it 's going to look like , '' says Naomi Pomeroy , chef and owner of the restaurant Beast in Portland , Ore. , an intimate space with communal dining for 26 people .
`` I 'm pretty sure that nobody 's going to be clamoring to sit at a communal table until everyone 's vaccinated , '' Pomeroy says .
`` So I need at my own restaurant to be able to restructure my whole plan . ''
Pomeroy is one of the founders of the Independent Restaurant Coalition , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a $ 120 billion fund to help restaurants and their laid-off workers .
These restaurateurs say the Paycheck Protection Program is n't working for them .
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , the food and beverage industry lost 417,000 jobs in March — nearly 60 % of the nation 's job losses .
When and whether customers will return is part of the equation of getting back to business .
Chef Donald Link owns a group of restaurants in New Orleans , including Cochon and Herbsaint .
He has dealt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hurricane Katrina .
But this feels different , he says .
`` As bad as Katrina was , you knew that one day it would just be over .
We 'll clean up , we 'll rebuild and get back to it , '' Link says .
`` You know , this is a lot more unknown . ''
Right now restaurants are limited to takeout , drive-through or delivery in Louisiana .
But Link expects the state to allow dine-in eating to resume in a limited fashion sometime in June .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afford to eat out and if they 'll be anxious about returning to restaurants , or even New Orleans , an early hot spot for infection .
`` It 's still going to be a long time before we can get the tourists back , '' Link says .
`` I do n't think anyone 's going to be jumping on airplanes in four weeks . ''
Link 's restaurant group has laid off nearly 400 people .
He says he has lost 95 % of his business .
He has kept two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and to provide free family meals for his workers every other day .
But even doing takeout in the pandemic has been a challenge .
Link says he had to close it down and reconfigure when people started congregating in the restaurant .
His contingency planning for reopening includes going to reservations only in a spread-out dining room so people wo n't linger while waiting for tables , doing away with the check presenter folios , and removing hot sauces and salt and pepper shakers from the tables .
`` I assume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks , which is a bummer , '' Link says .
`` There wo n't be a lot of hugging and handshaking and back-slapping and all that . ''
His goal is to keep everything sterile , but `` I do n't want people to feel like they 're dining in a hospital room either . ''
Link says customers and staff will have to adapt to prevent a resurgence of the virus , which he says could cost lives and destroy the restaurant industry .
Back at the Flora-Bama , Destiny McQueen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the oyster bar as she shucks raw oysters to order .
She 's relieved to be back at work after going more than a month without pay .
`` I was happy when they called us back to at least come start getting the place cleaned up and stuff , '' McQueen says .
`` Then when we found out we were opening , it was great . ''
Workers are screened for symptoms before starting their shifts .
A new hand-washing station and rum-scented hand sanitizer are scattered around the property — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at keeping workers and customers safe .
Regular customer Tom Denev appears glad to be back , even in the new circumstances .
`` I come in and like wow , 'They 've got it set up by CDC standards , ' `` he says .
`` It 's the right thing .
Got ta get the businesses going again , but we also have to have safety . ''
Co-owner Price says the new safety protocols seemed to hold on the Flora-Bama 's first day back .
But as the weekend nears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a challenge keeping people vigilant .

'One Alligator Apart': Pandemic Puts New Business Models On The Menu For Restaurants
Enlarge this image toggle caption Debbie Elliott/NPR Debbie Elliott/NPR
As more states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions, restaurants are working through exactly how they will get back to business.
When Florida eased restaurant restrictions this week, the notorious Flora-Bama roadhouse reopened its doors, the sounds of live music drifting with the sea breeze.
This sprawling 11-acre complex on the Gulf of Mexico at the Florida-Alabama state line is known for its local musicians, Gulf oysters and cold beer.
But there are no throngs of people dancing. Indoor bars and poolrooms are closed. Outdoor spaces have been converted to sit-down dining only. A host will seat you at a picnic table that has been set in the sand at least 6 feet away from other tables. Signs are posted throughout showing what physical distancing looks like in a very Florida way: "One alligator apart."
Coronavirus Live Updates Alaska Restaurant Owner: Reopening Far From Profitable, But Still Worth It Alaska Restaurant Owner: Reopening Far From Profitable, But Still Worth It Listen · 4:41 4:41
"You know we're trying to do the right thing as a business," says Cameron Price, one of the restaurant's owners. "We have to walk that difficult walk of being the enforcers and at the same time being the people that are trying to help you have a good time."
Having a good time looks a lot different today than it did when the Flora-Bama shut down on March 16. Price says the roadhouse closed a week before stay-at-home orders when it became clear the coronavirus was spreading in the United States.
"We were in the heat of spring break, and we had a thousand, 2,000 people in here at night," he says. "It was like this isn't the responsible thing to do."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Debbie Elliott/NPR Debbie Elliott/NPR
During the shutdown, owners and managers planned for how to get back in operation, transforming from a crowded bar to a spread-out restaurant.
It's a conversation now happening at restaurants around the country as more states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions. If dining is allowed to resume, many states are curtailing it to half-capacity or less to maintain social distancing. Industry leaders say it's unclear if smaller operations will be able to make a profit under those conditions.
"We know we're walking into something that we're not sure what it's going to look like," says Naomi Pomeroy, chef and owner of the restaurant Beast in Portland, Ore., an intimate space with communal dining for 26 people.
"I'm pretty sure that nobody's going to be clamoring to sit at a communal table until everyone's vaccinated," Pomeroy says. "So I need at my own restaurant to be able to restructure my whole plan."
Pomeroy is one of the founders of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, a group calling on Congress to pass a $120 billion fund to help restaurants and their laid-off workers. These restaurateurs say the Paycheck Protection Program isn't working for them. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the food and beverage industry lost 417,000 jobs in March — nearly 60% of the nation's job losses.
When and whether customers will return is part of the equation of getting back to business.
Chef Donald Link owns a group of restaurants in New Orleans, including Cochon and Herbsaint. He has dealt with disaster before, coming back after Hurricane Katrina. But this feels different, he says.
"As bad as Katrina was, you knew that one day it would just be over. We'll clean up, we'll rebuild and get back to it," Link says. "You know, this is a lot more unknown."
Right now restaurants are limited to takeout, drive-through or delivery in Louisiana. But Link expects the state to allow dine-in eating to resume in a limited fashion sometime in June. He wonders whether people will be able to afford to eat out and if they'll be anxious about returning to restaurants, or even New Orleans, an early hot spot for infection.
"It's still going to be a long time before we can get the tourists back," Link says. "I don't think anyone's going to be jumping on airplanes in four weeks."
Link's restaurant group has laid off nearly 400 people. He says he has lost 95% of his business. He has kept two small restaurants open for takeout and delivery, and to provide free family meals for his workers every other day.
Louisiana Gov. Rings Alarm Over Coronavirus Infection Rate In The State Louisiana Gov. Rings Alarm Over Coronavirus Infection Rate In The State, With New Orleans As Its Epi Listen · 1:58 1:58
But even doing takeout in the pandemic has been a challenge. Link says he had to close it down and reconfigure when people started congregating in the restaurant.
His contingency planning for reopening includes going to reservations only in a spread-out dining room so people won't linger while waiting for tables, doing away with the check presenter folios, and removing hot sauces and salt and pepper shakers from the tables.
"I assume we'll be all wearing gloves and masks, which is a bummer," Link says. "There won't be a lot of hugging and handshaking and back-slapping and all that."
His goal is to keep everything sterile, but "I don't want people to feel like they're dining in a hospital room either."
Link says customers and staff will have to adapt to prevent a resurgence of the virus, which he says could cost lives and destroy the restaurant industry.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Debbie Elliott/NPR Debbie Elliott/NPR
Back at the Flora-Bama, Destiny McQueen is wearing a mask and gloves behind the oyster bar as she shucks raw oysters to order. She's relieved to be back at work after going more than a month without pay.
"I was happy when they called us back to at least come start getting the place cleaned up and stuff," McQueen says. "Then when we found out we were opening, it was great."
Workers are screened for symptoms before starting their shifts. A new hand-washing station and rum-scented hand sanitizer are scattered around the property — all part of the new protocols aimed at keeping workers and customers safe.
Regular customer Tom Denev appears glad to be back, even in the new circumstances.
"I come in and like wow, 'They've got it set up by CDC standards,' " he says. "It's the right thing. Gotta get the businesses going again, but we also have to have safety."
Co-owner Price says the new safety protocols seemed to hold on the Flora-Bama's first day back. But as the weekend nears, he says he expects larger crowds and a challenge keeping people vigilant.


npr--2020-05-07--Students To Get Graduation Pomp At Drive-In Theater Despite Circumstances

Students To Get Graduation Pomp At Drive-In Theater Despite Circumstances Amid all the disappointments and cancellations for high school seniors this year because of COVID-19 , many schools around the nation are scrambling to salvage at least some sort of graduation for the class of 2020 .
Many are considering holding ceremonies online , or staging some sort of drive-by celebration .
`` To not have [ graduation ] just does n't seem right to us , '' says Ken Freeston , schools superintendent in North Salem , N.Y. '' Abolutely , they 've earned it , '' he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they started brainstorming last month for ways to get their seniors some pomp , despite the circumstance .
But the idea of standing 6-feet apart on a football field , or parading graduates past the school for a social-distanced salute did n't cut it .
Eventually , they came up with another , more novel idea , to hold graduation at a venue about an hour north of the school .
Within a day , they drove up to visit , fell in love with the place , started negotiating a contract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ logistics .
The school would bring security guards , and a custodian to wipe the bathrooms .
The venue agreed to a full refund if the state were to change regulations again and make the gathering illegal .
And the school insisted it all be kept top secret , for fear that other schools might steal their idea , and their site .
They did n't want to spark a bidding war for what is one of only a couple dozen of its kind in all of New York state .
`` Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said with a chuckle .
As soon as they inked the contract , the school released a video announcing the plan .
On the screen , DiGrandi calls for a drumroll , describes the news as bigger than `` Armstrong landing on the moon , '' and cuts to the two senior class advisers singing along to `` Stranded at the Drive-In '' from the movie Grease .
Watching it from home , senior Kayley Decina was amused , but still confused , until the advisers , Gina Kappes and Kristin Doherty spelled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Graduation 2020 will take place at a drive-in theater on June 22 .
`` Oh my God , '' Decina squealed .
`` That 's awesome ! ''
and immediately declared the plan even more fun than a regular graduation .
`` It 's one literally for the history books , '' agreed Senior Emmet Halton .
To actually put on a cap and gown to cap this crazy year is huge , he said .
`` Considering it 's just been a blur the past month or two , I think it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we get that sense of closure .
Decina has been craving it .
`` I 've literally been crying every day about not having a graduation and not seeing my friends , '' she said .
`` So I think having this last hurrah is really going to help .
And it means a ton . ''
Kids are already planning to decorate their cars .
They are limited to one per family , and if they have a sunroof they can pop through to cheer and toss their caps .
The valedictorian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's 56-foot-wide screen in high definition .
And while North Salem 's 103 graduates may not get to walk , DiGrandi plans to march from car to car , passing out diplomas from a proper social distance .
He 's recruited an old industrial arts teacher to build him a retractable arm to extend at least 6 feet .
`` I was thinking one of those alligator grippers like my grandmother would have , '' he said .
`` And I would just dip into the car with the diploma .
You know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It would be great . ''
And after the ceremony , well , they 're not gon na let a trip to the drive-in go to waste .
It did n't take long to settle on what movie would be most appropriate to show : Groundhog Day , exclaimed DiGrandi .
`` Because it kind of feels that way for these kids . ''
But if all goes according to plan , at least graduation day will feel different .
And North Salem may well be sending off their students with a more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possibly offer : how to roll with life 's curveballs .

Students To Get Graduation Pomp At Drive-In Theater Despite Circumstances
Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of Gina Kappes Courtesy of Gina Kappes
Amid all the disappointments and cancellations for high school seniors this year because of COVID-19, many schools around the nation are scrambling to salvage at least some sort of graduation for the class of 2020. Many are considering holding ceremonies online or staging some sort of drive-by celebration.
"To not have [graduation] just doesn't seem right to us," says Ken Freeston, schools superintendent in North Salem, N.Y.
National Surprise Celebration For 220 N.C. Graduating High School Seniors Surprise Celebration For 220 N.C. Graduating High School Seniors Listen · 2:23 2:23
North Salem High School Principal Vince DiGrandi agrees.
"Absolutely, they've earned it," he says.
Along with the school's senior class advisers, they started brainstorming last month for ways to get seniors some pomp, despite the circumstance. But the idea of standing 6 feet apart on a football field, or parading graduates past the school for a social-distanced salute didn't cut it. Eventually, they came up with another, more novel idea — to hold graduation at a venue about an hour north of the school.
Within a day, they drove up to visit, fell in love with the place and started negotiating a contract with the owner and hammering out logistics. The school would bring security guards and a custodian to wipe the bathrooms. The venue agreed to a full refund if the state were to change regulations again and make the gathering illegal. And the school insisted it all be kept top secret, for fear that other schools might steal the idea, and the site. They didn't want to spark a bidding war for a place that is one of only a couple of dozen of its kind in all of New York state.
"Not that we're competitive," Freeston said with a chuckle.
As soon as they inked the contract, the school released a video announcing the plan.
On the screen, DiGrandi calls for a drumroll, describes the news as bigger than "Armstrong landing on the moon," and cuts to the two senior class advisers singing along to "Stranded at the Drive-In" from the movie Grease.
YouTube
Watching it from home, senior Kayley Decina laughed out loud at the scene but was still confused until the advisers, Gina Kappes and Kristin Doherty, spelled it out: North Salem High School graduation 2020 will take place at a drive-in theater on June 22.
"Oh, my God! That's awesome!" Decina squealed, and immediately declared the plan even more fun than a regular graduation.
"It's one literally for the history books," agreed senior Emmet Halton. To actually put on a cap and gown to cap this crazy year is huge, he said. "Considering it's just been a blur the past month or two, I think it's going to be really good that we get that sense of closure."
Decina has been craving it.
"I've literally been crying every day about not having a graduation and not seeing my friends," she said. "So I think having this last hurrah is really going to help. And it means a ton."
Kids are already planning to decorate their cars. They are limited to one per family, and if they have a sunroof they can pop through to cheer and toss their caps.
The valedictorian's speech will blare from the drive-in's 56-foot-wide screen in high definition.
And while North Salem's 103 graduates may not get to walk, DiGrandi plans to march from car to car, passing out diplomas from a proper social distance. He has recruited an old industrial arts teacher to build him a retractable arm to extend at least 6 feet.
"I was thinking one of those alligator grippers like my grandmother would have," he said. "And I would just dip into the car with the diploma. You know, they could take a picture. It would be great."
And after the ceremony, well, they're not going to let a trip to the drive-in go to waste.
It didn't take long to settle on which movie would be most appropriate to show. "Groundhog Day," exclaimed DiGrandi. "Because it kind of feels that way for these kids."
But if all goes according to plan, at least graduation day will feel different. And North Salem High School may well be sending off its seniors with a more memorable lesson than any commencement address could possibly offer: how to roll with life's curveballs.


npr--2020-05-07--U.S. Was Behind On Payments To WHO Before Trump's Cutoff

U.S. Was Behind On Payments To WHO Before Trump 's Cutoff In mid-April , when President Trump declared , `` Today I 'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization , '' Jimmy Kolker did a double take .
`` We were already in arrears before he said anything , '' says Kolker , who was an assistant secretary for global health affairs during the Obama administration .
Kolker has seen the U.S. get behind before on its payments to the WHO , though never to the degree that it has during the Trump administration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past century , he notes that close to $ 200 million was already past due the WHO .
No country owes the World Health Organization more in annual dues than the United States .
The $ 118 million that Washington is supposed to pay the group this year amounts to nearly a quarter of the annual fees the WHO assesses to all 194 of its member states .
On top of this year 's overdue payment , according to the WHO , the U.S. also still owes $ 81 million from last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and reneging on a commitment that 's very clear that we made , '' says Kolker of the delinquent U.S. payments , `` and that we want to uphold and want other countries to uphold . ''
The money for the WHO was actually approved by Congress last year in its annual appropriation for the United Nations .
Democrats in Congress do n't think the president can simply decide to withhold the money .
`` He can do it temporarily , but he ca n't do it as a policy , '' House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declared intention to cut WHO funding , in an interview on All Things Considered .
`` If he wants to hold up some money , that is questionable in terms of its legality .
But he can not stop the money ever from going . ''
There are actually two pots of money at stake .
The first is the funding already approved by Congress , whose payment the U.S. has fallen behind on .
The second pot of money is future spending to support the WHO .
Those yet-to-be-appropriated funds are what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a State Department spokesperson who requested anonymity , the 60- to 90-day funding halt that Trump ordered affects only that new money for the WHO — not the funds Congress has already approved .
Trump says a review is needed to investigate what he calls the WHO 's failure to challenge official Chinese government accounts with `` credible reports from sources in Wuhan '' about human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus in December .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned last month on Fox News that there might be no more money coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` It may be the case that the United States can never return to underwriting , having U.S. taxpayer dollars go to , the WHO , '' Pompeo told Fox host Laura Ingraham .
`` We may need to be , have even bolder change than that . ''
According to Pompeo 's director of foreign assistance , James Richardson , the secretary of state and former CIA director wants to redirect global health funding to groups other than the WHO .
`` There are plenty of amazing and highly qualified organizations implementing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richardson told reporters late last month at a State Department briefing , `` and to be honest , no organization — or country , for that matter — is owed a single nickel from the American people . ''
But with its hefty backlog of unpaid dues , what the U.S. actually owes the WHO is well more than a nickel .
As the nation responsible for 15 % of the WHO 's overall budget , the U.S. now stands alone among the world 's wealthy nations in not paying off not only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last year 's as well .
Yet at the same time that the U.S. has n't paid back dues , it has made other payments .
The WHO did receive about $ 57 million in payments from the U.S. in early January , hours after the organization put out a public statement about a new outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan , China , of `` unknown cause . ''
But those funds were to settle only the balance of what had been owed for 2018 and a part of membership dues for 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million to the WHO for its COVID-19 response fund .
Those mixed signals on payments are why Ashish Jha , director of the Harvard Global Health Institute , says Trump is simply seeking to make the WHO a scapegoat .
`` I do n't think that there is any real appetite in the U.S. government to walk away from WHO for the long run , '' Jha noted in a webinar organized this month by the Council on Foreign Relations .
`` This is much more political posturing , so part of me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president and his bluster a little less seriously . ''
Especially when that president says he 's cutting off funding to the WHO and , it turns out , money for the organization was already being held up .

U.S. Was Behind On Payments To WHO Before Trump's Cutoff
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
In mid-April, when President Trump declared, "Today I'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization," Jimmy Kolker did a double take.
"We were already in arrears before he said anything," says Kolker, who was an assistant secretary for global health affairs during the Obama administration.
Kolker has seen the U.S. get behind before on its payments to the WHO, though never to the degree that it has during the Trump administration. Amid the worst global health disaster of the past century, he notes that close to $200 million was already past due the WHO.
No country owes the World Health Organization more in annual dues than the United States. The $118 million that Washington is supposed to pay the group this year amounts to nearly a quarter of the annual fees the WHO assesses to all 194 of its member states.
On top of this year's overdue payment, according to the WHO, the U.S. also still owes $81 million from last year.
"It's certainly irresponsible and reneging on a commitment that's very clear that we made," says Kolker of the delinquent U.S. payments, "and that we want to uphold and want other countries to uphold."
The money for the WHO was actually approved by Congress last year in its annual appropriation for the United Nations. Democrats in Congress don't think the president can simply decide to withhold the money.
"He can do it temporarily, but he can't do it as a policy," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Trump's declared intention to cut WHO funding, in an interview on All Things Considered. "If he wants to hold up some money, that is questionable in terms of its legality. But he cannot stop the money ever from going."
There are actually two pots of money at stake. The first is the funding already approved by Congress, whose payment the U.S. has fallen behind on.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Denis Balibouse/Reuters Denis Balibouse/Reuters
The second pot of money is future spending to support the WHO.
Those yet-to-be-appropriated funds are what appear to be in peril. According to a State Department spokesperson who requested anonymity, the 60- to 90-day funding halt that Trump ordered affects only that new money for the WHO — not the funds Congress has already approved.
Trump says a review is needed to investigate what he calls the WHO's failure to challenge official Chinese government accounts with "credible reports from sources in Wuhan" about human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus in December.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned last month on Fox News that there might be no more money coming from the U.S. for the WHO.
"It may be the case that the United States can never return to underwriting, having U.S. taxpayer dollars go to, the WHO," Pompeo told Fox host Laura Ingraham. "We may need to be, have even bolder change than that."
According to Pompeo's director of foreign assistance, James Richardson, the secretary of state and former CIA director wants to redirect global health funding to groups other than the WHO.
"There are plenty of amazing and highly qualified organizations implementing these programs around the world," Richardson told reporters late last month at a State Department briefing, "and to be honest, no organization — or country, for that matter — is owed a single nickel from the American people."
But with its hefty backlog of unpaid dues, what the U.S. actually owes the WHO is well more than a nickel. As the nation responsible for 15% of the WHO's overall budget, the U.S. now stands alone among the world's wealthy nations in not paying off not only this year's annual assessment, but last year's as well.
Yet at the same time that the U.S. hasn't paid back dues, it has made other payments. The WHO did receive about $57 million in payments from the U.S. in early January, hours after the organization put out a public statement about a new outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, of "unknown cause." But those funds were to settle only the balance of what had been owed for 2018 and a part of membership dues for 2019.
And it did send $30 million to the WHO for its COVID-19 response fund.
Those mixed signals on payments are why Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, says Trump is simply seeking to make the WHO a scapegoat.
"I don't think that there is any real appetite in the U.S. government to walk away from WHO for the long run," Jha noted in a webinar organized this month by the Council on Foreign Relations. "This is much more political posturing, so part of me just sort of says we should take the president and his bluster a little less seriously."
Especially when that president says he's cutting off funding to the WHO and, it turns out, money for the organization was already being held up.


npr--2020-05-07--Why Fake Video, Audio May Not Be As Powerful In Spreading Disinformation As Feared

Why Fake Video , Audio May Not Be As Powerful In Spreading Disinformation As Feared Sophisticated fake media has n't emerged as a factor in the disinformation wars in the ways once feared — and two specialists say it may have missed its moment .
Deceptive video and audio recordings , often nicknamed `` deepfakes , '' have been the subject of sustained attention by legislators and technologists , but so far have not been employed to decisive effect , said two panelists at a video conference convened on Wednesday by NATO .
One speaker borrowed Sherlock Holmes ' reasoning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't happen .
`` We 've already passed the stage at which they would have been most effective , '' said Keir Giles , a Russia specialist with the Conflict Studies Research Centre in the United Kingdom .
`` They 're the dog that never barked . ''
The perils of deepfakes in political interference have been discussed too often and many people have become too familiar with them , Giles said during the online discussion , hosted by NATO 's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence .
Following all the reports and revelations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 , citizens know too much to be hoodwinked in the way a fake video might once have fooled large numbers of people , he argued : `` They no longer have the power to shock . ''
Tim Hwang , director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative , agreed that deepfakes have n't proven as dangerous as once feared , although for different reasons .
Hwang argued that users of `` active measures '' ( efforts to sow misinformation and influence public opinion ) can be much more effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devious types of fakes — mis-captioning a photo or turning it into a meme , for example .
Influence specialists working for Russia and other governments also imitate Americans on Facebook , for another example , worming their way into real Americans ' political activities to amplify disagreements or , in some cases , try to persuade people not to vote .
Other researchers have suggested this work continues on social networks and has become more difficult to detect .
Hwang also observed that the more deepfakes are made , the better machine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very sophisticated , real-looking fake video might still be effective in a political context , he acknowledged — and at a cost to create of around $ 10,000 , it would be easily within the means of a government 's active measures specialists .
But the risks of attempting a major disruption with such a video may outweigh an adversary 's desire to use one .
People may be too media literate , as Giles argued , and the technology to detect a fake may mean it can be deflated too swiftly to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` I tend to be skeptical these will have a large-scale impact over time , '' he said .
One technology boss told NPR in an interview last year that years ' worth of work on corporate fraud protection systems has given an edge to detecting fake media .
`` This is not a static field .
Obviously , on our end we 've performed all sorts of great advances over this year in advancing our technology , but these synthetic voices are advancing at a rapid pace , '' said Brett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the technology firm Nuance .
`` So we need to keep up . ''
Beranek described how systems developed to detect telephone fraudsters could be applied to verify the speech in a fake clip of video or audio .
Corporate clients that rely on telephone voice systems must be wary about people attempting to pose as others with artificial or disguised voices .
Beranek 's company sells a product that helps to detect them and that countermeasure also works well in detecting fake audio or video .
Machines using neural networks can detect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also says it can analyze a recording of a real known voice — say , that of a politician — and then contrast its characteristics against a suspicious recording .
Although the world of cybersecurity is often described as one in which attackers generally have an edge over defenders , Beranek said he thought the inverse was true in terms of this kind of fraud detection .
`` For the technology today , the defense side is significantly ahead of the attack side , '' he said .
Hwang and Giles acknowledged in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will proliferate and become lower in cost to create , perhaps becoming simple enough to make with a smartphone app .
One prospective response is the creation of more of what Hwang called `` radioactive data '' — material earmarked in advance so that it might make a fake easier to detect .
If images of a political figure were so tagged beforehand , they could be spotted quickly if they were incorporated by computers into a deceptive video .
Also , the sheer popularity of new fakes , if that is what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a disinformation weapon .
More people could become more familiar with them , as well as being detectable by automated systems — plus they may also have no popular medium on which to spread .
Big social media platforms already have declared affirmatively that they 'll take down deceptive fakes , Hwang observed .
That might make it more difficult for a scenario in which a politically charged fake video went viral just before Election Day .
`` Although it might get easier and easier to create deepfakes , a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effectively , your Facebooks and Twitters of the world , are getting a lot more aggressive about taking them down , '' Hwang said .
That wo n't stop them , but it might mean they 'll be relegated to sites with too few users to have a major effect , he said .
`` They 'll percolate in these more shady areas . ''

Why Fake Video, Audio May Not Be As Powerful In Spreading Disinformation As Feared
Enlarge this image toggle caption Marcus Marritt for NPR Marcus Marritt for NPR
Sophisticated fake media hasn't emerged as a factor in the disinformation wars in the ways once feared — and two specialists say it may have missed its moment.
Deceptive video and audio recordings, often nicknamed "deepfakes," have been the subject of sustained attention by legislators and technologists, but so far have not been employed to decisive effect, said two panelists at a video conference convened on Wednesday by NATO.
One speaker borrowed Sherlock Holmes' reasoning about the significance of something that didn't happen.
"We've already passed the stage at which they would have been most effective," said Keir Giles, a Russia specialist with the Conflict Studies Research Centre in the United Kingdom. "They're the dog that never barked."
The perils of deepfakes in political interference have been discussed too often and many people have become too familiar with them, Giles said during the online discussion, hosted by NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.
Following all the reports and revelations about election interference in the West since 2016, citizens know too much to be hoodwinked in the way a fake video might once have fooled large numbers of people, he argued: "They no longer have the power to shock."
Tim Hwang, director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, agreed that deepfakes haven't proven as dangerous as once feared, although for different reasons.
Hwang argued that users of "active measures" (efforts to sow misinformation and influence public opinion) can be much more effective with cheaper, simpler and just as devious types of fakes — mis-captioning a photo or turning it into a meme, for example.
Influence specialists working for Russia and other governments also imitate Americans on Facebook, for another example, worming their way into real Americans' political activities to amplify disagreements or, in some cases, try to persuade people not to vote.
Other researchers have suggested this work continues on social networks and has become more difficult to detect.
Defense is stronger than attack
Hwang also observed that the more deepfakes are made, the better machine learning becomes at detecting them.
A very sophisticated, real-looking fake video might still be effective in a political context, he acknowledged — and at a cost to create of around $10,000, it would be easily within the means of a government's active measures specialists.
But the risks of attempting a major disruption with such a video may outweigh an adversary's desire to use one. People may be too media literate, as Giles argued, and the technology to detect a fake may mean it can be deflated too swiftly to have an effect, as Hwang said.
"I tend to be skeptical these will have a large-scale impact over time," he said.
One technology boss told NPR in an interview last year that years' worth of work on corporate fraud protection systems has given an edge to detecting fake media.
"This is not a static field. Obviously, on our end we've performed all sorts of great advances over this year in advancing our technology, but these synthetic voices are advancing at a rapid pace," said Brett Beranek, head of security business for the technology firm Nuance. "So we need to keep up."
Beranek described how systems developed to detect telephone fraudsters could be applied to verify the speech in a fake clip of video or audio.
Corporate clients that rely on telephone voice systems must be wary about people attempting to pose as others with artificial or disguised voices. Beranek's company sells a product that helps to detect them, and that countermeasure also works well in detecting fake audio or video.
Machines using neural networks can detect known types of synthetic voices. Nuance also says it can analyze a recording of a real, known voice — say, that of a politician — and then contrast its characteristics against a suspicious recording.
Although the world of cybersecurity is often described as one in which attackers generally have an edge over defenders, Beranek said he thought the inverse was true in terms of this kind of fraud detection.
"For the technology today, the defense side is significantly ahead of the attack side," he said.
Shaping the battlefield
Hwang and Giles acknowledged in the NATO video conference that deepfakes likely will proliferate and become lower in cost to create, perhaps becoming simple enough to make with a smartphone app.
One prospective response is the creation of more of what Hwang called "radioactive data" — material earmarked in advance so that it might make a fake easier to detect.
If images of a political figure were so tagged beforehand, they could be spotted quickly if they were incorporated by computers into a deceptive video.
Also, the sheer popularity of new fakes, if that is what happens, might make them less valuable as a disinformation weapon. More people could become more familiar with them, as well as being detectable by automated systems — plus they may also have no popular medium on which to spread.
Big social media platforms already have declared affirmatively that they'll take down deceptive fakes, Hwang observed. That might make it more difficult for a scenario in which a politically charged fake video goes viral just before Election Day.
"Although it might get easier and easier to create deepfakes, a lot of the places where they might spread most effectively, your Facebooks and Twitters of the world, are getting a lot more aggressive about taking them down," Hwang said.
That won't stop them, but it might mean they'll be relegated to sites with too few users to have a major effect, he said.
"They'll percolate in these more shady areas."


npr--2020-05-07--Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Says Biden Sexual Assault Allegation 'Not Clear Cut'

Editor 's note : This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y. , says an accusation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden is `` not clear cut , '' but that it remains of great importance to listen to survivors and allow for proper due process in such cases .
Speaking to NPR 's Morning Edition , Ocasio-Cortez said that it was not clear how much of the accusation against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Biden was rooted in fact .
She is concerned , though , that an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hypocrisy from her party and potentially alienate victims of sexual violence .
`` It certainly seems as though something has happened .
I 'm not sure '' she said , later adding , `` frankly , this is a messy moment , and I think we need to acknowledge that — that it is not clear cut . ''
Tara Reade , a former Senate staffer , says that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 by pinning her against a wall and penetrating her vagina with his fingers .
She also said other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made her feel uncomfortable .
Reade could not remember the exact location or date of the alleged assault but said it happened when a supervisor asked her to deliver a duffel bag to Biden on Capitol Hill .
Biden initially did not respond directly to Reade 's claims , but told MSNBC last week : `` I 'm saying unequivocally , it never , never happened . ''
A friend of Reade 's , who spoke to NPR , said Reade told her of the same alleged assault at the time .
Reade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of the account .
Reade 's former neighbor told NPR she detailed the same accusation to her 2-3 years after it allegedly occurred .
Reade says she complained of harassment , but not assault , to three then-Biden aides .
All three told NPR that those conversations never happened .
Ocasio-Cortez says that the public response has wrongly focused on the political implications of the accusation .
`` Instead of focusing on her account , instead of focusing on her story as a survivor , people are fast forwarding to the political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'Do you want Trump to win ?
Will you be voting for Joe Biden ? '
And that denies justice in this situation . ''
Asked what that justice should look like , Ocasio-Cortez said she 'd look to what the alleged victim is asking for .
In Reade 's case , she says , `` if anything , it sounds like she simply wants to be heard .
... it seems as though she does not feel she 's been heard yet . ''
Last month , Reade filed a police report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Police Department because she was worried about her safety after receiving `` online harassment . ''
Ocasio-Cortez says she will vote for Biden for president but has so far declined to endorse him .
An endorsement , she says , `` has to do with an understanding of what we are fighting for together . ''
`` I think an endorsement means we have come to a place where we have come to a place where we have developed a vision together not just for winning [ in November ] but for getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Biden will face President Trump in the Nov. 3 election as the Democratic Party 's nominee .
Trump has himself faced a number of sexual assault accusations from multiple women , which he has denied .

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Says Biden Sexual Assault Allegation 'Not Clear-Cut'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Samuel Corum/Getty Images Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault.
Updated at 10:30 a.m. ET
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says an accusation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden is "not clear-cut," but that it remains of great importance to listen to survivors and allow for proper due process in such cases.
Speaking to NPR's Morning Edition, Ocasio-Cortez said, "There have been investigative journalists that have corroborated certain aspects of her account — that is undeniable — [and] have raised questions about other aspects of her account." She is concerned, though, that an early rush to take sides could signal hypocrisy from her party and potentially alienate victims of sexual violence.
"It certainly seems as though something has happened. I'm not sure," she said, later adding, "Frankly, this is a messy moment, and I think we need to acknowledge that — that it is not clear-cut."
Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer, says that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 by pinning her against a wall and penetrating her vagina with his fingers. She also said other behavior, like touching her shoulders, made her feel uncomfortable. Reade could not remember the exact location or date of the alleged assault but said it happened when a supervisor asked her to deliver a duffel bag to Biden on Capitol Hill.
Biden flatly denies Reade's account.
Biden initially did not respond directly to Reade's claims but told MSNBC last week: "I'm saying unequivocally, it never, never happened."
A friend of Reade's, who spoke to NPR, said Reade told her of the same alleged assault at the time. Reade's brother recalled his sister telling him some of the account. Reade's former neighbor told NPR she detailed the same accusation to her two or three years after it allegedly occurred. Reade says she complained of harassment, but not assault, to three then-Biden aides. All three told NPR that those conversations never happened.
Ocasio-Cortez says that the public response has wrongly focused on the political implications of the accusation.
"Instead of focusing on her account, instead of focusing on her story as a survivor, people are fast forwarding to the political implications," she said. " 'Do you want Trump to win? Will you be voting for Joe Biden?' And that denies justice in this situation."
Asked what that justice should look like, Ocasio-Cortez said she'd look to what the alleged victim is asking for. In Reade's case, she says, "if anything, it sounds like she simply wants to be heard. ... It seems as though she does not feel she's been heard yet."
Last month, Reade filed a police report with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department because she was worried about her safety after receiving "online harassment."
Ocasio-Cortez says she will vote for Biden for president but has so far declined to endorse him. An endorsement, she says, "has to do with an understanding of what we are fighting for together."
"I think an endorsement means we have come to a place where we have developed a vision together not just for winning [in November], but for getting our country to a better place."
Biden will likely face President Trump in the Nov. 3 election as the Democratic Party's nominee.
Trump has faced a number of sexual assault accusations from multiple women, which he has denied.


npr--2020-05-07--U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing?

U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short .
How 's Your State Doing ?
To safely phase out social distancing measures , the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus , experts say .
But how much more ?
The Trump administration said on April 27 the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections .
The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the last seven days , according to the nonprofit Covid Tracking Project .
Doubling that would mean doing around 496,000 a day .
Will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states try to hit ?
One prominent research group , Harvard 's Global Health Institute , proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country .
This projection , released Thursday , is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need , which was between 500,000 and 600,000 daily .
Harvard 's testing estimate increased , says Ashish Jha , director of the Global Health Institute , because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the U.S. is worse than projected earlier .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [ dying ] , '' he says .
But each state 's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak , explains Jha .
The bigger the outbreak , the more testing is needed .
Thursday Jha 's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15 .
In the graphic below , we compare these estimates with the average numbers of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Jump to graphic ) Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate To make their state-by-state estimates , the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts .
They calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed the virus .
( The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average . )
`` Testing is outbreak control 101 , because what testing lets you do is figure out who 's infected and who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` And that lets you separate out the infected people from the non infected people and bring the disease under control . ''
This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up .
First , test all symptomatic people , then reach out to their close contacts and test them , and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves .
Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state : the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive .
Communities that see around 10 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are probably testing enough , the World Health Organization advises .
If the rate is higher , they 're likely missing a lot of active infections .
What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10 % positive benchmark .
Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard ; they are mostly larger , less populous states : Alaska , Hawaii , Montana , North Dakota , Oregon , Tennessee , Utah , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with large outbreaks — New York , Massachusetts and Connecticut among others — are very far from the minimum testing target .
Some states that are already relaxing their social-distancing restrictions , such as Georgia , Texas and Colorado , are far from the target too .
Jha offers several caveats about his group 's estimates .
Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates .
They found that while there was significant variation in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ models tend to point in the same direction , i.e .
if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing , the others generally did too .
The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts , which they say has tracked closely with what 's actually happened on the ground .
Still the researchers caution , these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide .
If social distancing is relaxed , testing needs may grow The Harvard testing estimates are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states continue social distancing through May 15 .
And about half of states have already started lifting some of those .
Jha says , that without the right measures in place to contain spread , easing up could quickly lead to new cases .
`` The moment you relax , the number of cases will start climbing .
And therefore , the number of tests you need to keep your society , your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing , '' warns Jha .
Testing alone is not enough A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's safe to open up on testing data alone .
States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases , of two weeks at least , according to White House guidance .
If their cases are instead increasing , they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too .
And Jha warns , testing is step one , but it wo n't contain an outbreak by itself .
It needs to be part of `` a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ begin to reopen .
In fact , his group 's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people .
`` I do n't want anybody to just look at the number and say , we meet it and we 're good to go , '' he says .
`` What this really is , is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers . ''
The targets are floors not goals States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think of that as a starting point .
`` We 've always built these as the floor , the bare minimum , '' Jha says .
More testing would be even better , allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges .
In fact , other experts have proposed the U.S. do even more testing .
Paul Romer , a professor of economics at New York University proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident , every two weeks , isolating those who test positive , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Jha warns that without sufficient testing , and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts , there 's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks .
`` I think what people have to remember is that the virus is n't gone .
The disease is n't gone .
And it 's going to be with us for a while , '' he says .

U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing?
Note: The graphic in this story is no longer being updated. For more recent data, visit our new post on this topic.
To safely phase out social distancing measures, the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, experts say. But how much more?
The Trump administration said on April 27 that the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections. The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the past seven days, according to the nonprofit COVID Tracking Project. Doubling that would mean doing about 496,000 a day.
Will that be enough? What benchmark should states try to hit?
One prominent research group, Harvard's Global Health Institute, proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. This projection, released Thursday, is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need, which had been between 500,000 and 600,000 daily.
Loading...
Harvard's testing estimate increased, says Ashish Jha, director of the Global Health Institute, because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the United States is worse than projected earlier.
"Just in the last few weeks, all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [dying]," he says.
But each state's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak, explains Jha. The bigger the outbreak, the more testing is needed.
On Thursday, Jha's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15. In the graphic below, we compare these estimates with the average numbers of daily tests states are currently doing.
Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate
To make their state-by-state estimates, the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts. It calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed to the virus. (The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average.)
"Testing is outbreak control 101, because what testing lets you do is figure out who's infected and who's not," Jha says. "And that lets you separate out the infected people from the noninfected people and bring the disease under control."
This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up. First, test all symptomatic people, then reach out to their close contacts and test them, and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves.
Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state: the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive. Communities that see about 10% or fewer positives among their test results are probably testing enough, the World Health Organization advises. If the rate is higher, they're likely missing a lot of active infections.
What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10% positive benchmark.
Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard; they are mostly larger, less populous states: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Several states with large outbreaks — New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, among others — are very far from the minimum testing target. Some states that are already relaxing their social distancing restrictions, such as Georgia, Texas and Colorado, are far from the target too.
Jha offers several caveats about his group's estimates.
Estimates are directional, not literal
Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates. They found that while there was significant variation in the projections of outbreak sizes, all of the models tend to point in the same direction, i.e., if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing, the others generally did too.
The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts, which they say has tracked closely with what's actually happened on the ground. Still, the researchers caution, these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide.
Loading...
If social distancing is relaxed, testing needs may grow
The Harvard testing estimates are built on a model that assumes that states continue social distancing through May 15. And about half of states have already started lifting some of those.
Jha says that without the right measures in place to contain spread, easing up could quickly lead to new cases.
"The moment you relax, the number of cases will start climbing. And therefore, the number of tests you need to keep your society, your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing," warns Jha.
Testing alone is not enough
A community can't base the decision that it's safe to open up on testing data alone. States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases, of two weeks at least, according to White House guidance. If their cases are instead increasing, they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too.
And, Jha warns, testing is step one, but it won't contain an outbreak by itself. It needs to be part of "a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need to have in place" when they begin to reopen.
In fact, his group's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people.
"I don't want anybody to just look at the number and say, we meet it and we're good to go," he says. "What this really is, is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers."
The targets are floors, not goals
States that have reached the estimated target should think of that as a starting point.
"We've always built these as the floor, the bare minimum," Jha says. More testing would be even better, allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges.
In fact, other experts have proposed that the U.S. do even more testing. Paul Romer, a professor of economics at New York University, proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident, every two weeks, isolating those who test positive, it could stop the pandemic in its tracks.
Jha warns that without sufficient testing, and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts, there's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks. "I think what people have to remember is that the virus isn't gone. The disease isn't gone. And it's going to be with us for a while," he says.
Loading...
Daniel Wood contributed to this report.


npr--2020-05-07--A Few Schools Reopen, But Remote Learning Could Go On For Years In U.S.

A Few Schools Reopen , But Remote Learning Could Go On For Years In U.S. May 7th is the date that Montana Gov .
Steve Bullock , a Democrat , declared it was safe to open up schools .
The state has had fewer than 500 reported cases of coronavirus as of this week .
But according to the state 's Office of Public Instruction , just a few school districts , in small towns , have taken the governor up on the offer .
That gap , between a state executive proclaiming schools OK to open , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in just a few schools , shows the logistical challenges educators and state officials around the country face in any decision to reopen .
Willow Creek School , in Three Forks , Montana , is opening its doors and expects a few dozen of its 56 students to show up .
Troy , a northwestern Montana town , is holding limited and voluntary , `` study hall '' visits , focusing on special education students , as well as some outdoor activities .
The town of Glasgow says it will open its schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devices .
Libby , a town of fewer than 3,000 , is allowing students to come back to the single middle/high school to meet face-to-face with teachers , for what amounts to targeted tutoring sessions .
They can sign up for an appointment to get help in a subject they 're struggling with .
Craig Barringer , the superintendent of Libby 's schools , said that educators made this decision based on surveying parents .
When it came to elementary school students , `` The parents felt they were more able to handle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Not so at more advanced academic levels .
`` When you get into even seventh-grade math , parents ca n't give the assistance that they need if they really get stuck . ''
There 's a long list of precautions being taken , says Barringer : Students will be greeted at the door .
They 'll be encouraged to wear masks .
They 've put up hand-sanitizing stations .
`` We have breaks in between scheduled appointments so we can clean and air out the smell of cleaner . ''
Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society beyond education .
As childcare for millions of working parents , they are a cornerstone of any attempt to reopen the economy .
They are hubs for community relationships , and distribution points for essential social services .
But , before any of that , they must be safe places for children .
With those various functions in mind , education leaders are putting out plans that forecast some very big changes to what public school might look like in the coming months and even years .
The complications are leading to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels of government in many places .
In California , Gov .
Gavin Newsom , a Democrat , talked about trying to open up for summer school as soon as July .
But school leaders in Palo Alto and Sacramento countered that it would be more likely that they 'd have to push the start of the school year later by a few weeks because of all the planning necessary to open up safely .
In Georgia , even as Gov .
Brian Kemp , a Republican , has been out ahead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up some businesses , there are a few districts that chose to end the school year early , putting an end to their efforts with remote learning .
And the Washington , D.C. , public schools have also decided to end the school year early , pledging to tack those weeks back on by starting earlier in August .
In Washington State and in Chicago , leaders have acknowledged that some form of remote learning might continue off and on through the 2020 - 2021 school year or even beyond .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Teachers , the nation 's second-largest teachers union , put out a detailed blueprint for reopening .
And so did the American Enterprise Institute , the conservative thinktank , which asked retired state superintendents , city chancellors and other school leaders to weigh in .
These two plans have a lot in common as far as basic medical recommendations : the need for rapid and repeated coronavirus testing of students and staff , contact tracing , stepped-up hygiene and cleaning and reducing class sizes to allow for social distancing .
Here are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' minds : New York 's Democratic Governor , Andrew Cuomo , this week announced that the state will be working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ( which is a supporter of NPR ) to `` reimagine schools . ''
The foundation has been a supporter of a range of technological innovations in education , from AI to `` personalized learning , '' sometimes generating controversy .
Regardless of the particular path any district takes , the pandemic is likely to be a turning point as far as the role of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The AFT and AEI blueprints both say remote learning should continue while schools are doing staggered schedules , so that all the kids can keep up .
Both plans also foresee further waves of the virus leading to future school shutdowns , another reason to keep remote learning plans in place just as school districts have done for years in the case of snow days or tornadoes .
The plans envision schools running in parallel , both online and in-person .
That requires huge investments going forward in materials , equipment and training @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for families .
Beyond the risk of spreading the virus , there 's a laundry list of other whole-child concerns to consider , both the AFT and AEI plans say : Learning loss .
Missed socialization .
A probable increase in child abuse and domestic violence while students have been home .
Lost family members .
Many , many families out of work .
To meet all of these needs , the American Federation of Teachers plan recommends an idea that 's been around for a while : `` community schools . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are being used for food distribution .
Clearly , that 's become their essential , non-duplicated function in an emergency .
Could more schools , then , add housing , mental health or health-care services on top of that ?
A related idea is to bring the kids with likely higher needs back to campus early , or keep them there longer , such as for summer school .
As Troy , Mont.
, and schools in other countries like Israel have done , should educators focus on bringing back special education services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inequalities if you start the most vulnerable kids first , '' says Weingarten .
The AEI plan points out that there are privacy problems both with online learning and with the kind of public health surveillance required to control a pandemic in person .
`` What data is it OK to share ? ''
asks Rick Hess at AEI , who co-authored the report .
`` If we 're talking about tracking and tracing , we 're getting very invasive . ''
And then , with remote learning , Hess adds , `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upon products that were never designed to be used with tens of millions of children at home . ''
He points to incidents of `` Zoombombing , '' online harassment and pranks that led many large school districts to abandon the videoconferencing service .
A seemingly minor issue that illustrates how complicated it can really be to open schools is transportation .
As the AEI plan points out : How can you do social distancing on the school bus ?
Do you run three times as many school buses so each kid gets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do that at the same time as you 're still using buses to run food to students , as many districts in rural areas are doing ?
The more you dig into the details , the more you realize how staggering of an effort this will be .
`` It 's going to be a scheduling nightmare , a logistical nightmare , '' sums up Randi Weingarten , the head of the AFT .
`` And God forbid a kid or a teacher gets sick .
The knives are going to come out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''

A Few Schools Reopen, But Remote Learning Could Go On For Years In U.S.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Charles Krupa/AP Charles Krupa/AP
May 7 is the date that Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, declared it was safe to open up schools. The state has had fewer than 500 reported cases of the coronavirus as of this week.
But according to the state's Office of Public Instruction, just a few school districts in small towns have taken the governor up on the offer. That gap — between a state executive proclaiming schools OK to open and the reality of tiny groups of students gathering in just a few schools — shows the logistical challenges educators and state officials around the country face in any decision to reopen.
Willow Creek School in Three Forks, Mont., is opening its doors and expects a few dozen of its 56 students to show up. Troy, a northwestern Montana town, is holding limited and voluntary "study hall" visits, focusing on special education students, as well as some outdoor activities. The town of Glasgow says it will open its schools on a limited basis to students without devices.
Libby, a town of fewer than 3,000 people, is allowing students to come back to the single middle/high school to meet face to face with teachers, for what amounts to targeted tutoring sessions. They can sign up for an appointment to get help in a subject they're struggling with.
Craig Barringer, the superintendent of Libby's schools, said that educators made this decision based on surveying parents. When it came to elementary school students, "The parents felt they were more able to handle them and/or more able to help them."
Not so at more advanced academic levels. "When you get into even seventh-grade math, parents can't give the assistance that they need if they really get stuck."
There's a long list of precautions being taken, Barringer says.
Students will be greeted at the door. They'll be encouraged to wear masks. They've put up hand-sanitizing stations. "We have breaks in between scheduled appointments so we can clean and air out the smell of cleaner."
Public schools play a range of roles in society beyond education. As child care for millions of working parents, they are a cornerstone of any attempt to reopen the economy. They are hubs for community relationships and distribution points for essential social services.
But, before any of that, they must be safe places for children. With those various functions in mind, education leaders are putting out plans that forecast some very big changes to what public school might look like in the coming months and even years.
The complications are leading to a patchwork effect and a disconnect between levels of government in many places.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, talked about trying to open up for summer school as soon as July. But school leaders in Palo Alto and Sacramento countered that it would be more likely that they'd have to push the start of the school year later by a few weeks because of all the planning necessary to open up safely.
In Georgia, even as Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, has been out ahead of the rest of the country on opening up some businesses, there are a few districts that chose to end the school year early, putting an end to their efforts with remote learning.
And Washington, D.C., public schools have also decided to end the school year early, pledging to tack those weeks back on by starting earlier in August. In Washington state and in Chicago, leaders have acknowledged that some form of remote learning might continue off and on through the 2020-2021 school year or even beyond.
In the past few days, the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers union, put out a detailed blueprint for reopening. And so did the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank, which asked retired state superintendents, city chancellors and other school leaders to weigh in.
These two plans have a lot in common as far as basic medical recommendations: the need for rapid and repeated coronavirus testing of students and staff, contact tracing, stepped-up hygiene and cleaning, and reducing class sizes to allow for social distancing.
Here are four tough problems that are on experts' minds:
Running remote and in-person learning in parallel
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, this week announced that the state will be working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (which is a supporter of NPR) to "reimagine schools." The foundation has backed a range of technological innovations in education, from AI to "personalized learning," sometimes generating controversy.
Regardless of the particular path any district takes, the pandemic is likely to be a turning point as far as the role of technology in public, K-12 education.
The AFT and AEI blueprints both say remote learning should continue while schools are doing staggered schedules, so that all the kids can keep up. Both plans also foresee further waves of the virus leading to future school shutdowns, another reason to keep remote learning plans in place just as school districts have done for years in the case of snow days or tornadoes.
The plans envision schools running in parallel, both online and in-person. That requires huge investments going forward in materials, equipment and training for teachers, and equipment and connectivity for families.
Serving the neediest and traumatized kids
Beyond the risk of spreading the virus, there's a laundry list of other concerns to consider, both the AFT and AEI plans say. Learning loss. Missed socialization. A probable increase in child abuse and domestic violence while students have been home. Lost family members. Many, many families out of work.
To meet all of these needs, the American Federation of Teachers plan recommends an idea that's been around for a while: "community schools." Public schools across the country right now are being used for food distribution. Clearly, that's become their essential, non-duplicated function in an emergency. Could more schools, then, add housing, mental health or health care services on top of that?
A related idea is to bring the kids with likely higher needs back to campus early, or keep them there longer, such as for summer school. As Troy, Mont., and schools in other countries like Israel have done, should educators focus on bringing back special education services first?
"I think it mitigates inequalities if you start the most vulnerable kids first," says Randi Weingarten, the head of the AFT.
Privacy
The AEI plan points out that there are privacy problems both with online learning and with the kind of public health surveillance required to control a pandemic in person.
"What data is it OK to share?" asks Rick Hess at AEI, who co-authored the report. "If we're talking about tracking and tracing, we're getting very invasive."
And then, with remote learning, Hess adds, "a lot of school districts are relying upon products that were never designed to be used with tens of millions of children at home." He points to incidents of "Zoombombing," online harassment and pranks that led many large school districts to abandon the videoconferencing service.
Transportation
A seemingly minor issue that illustrates how complicated it can really be to open schools is transportation. As the AEI plan points out: How can you do social distancing on the school bus? Do you run three times as many school buses so each kid gets their own row? Do you do that at the same time as you're still using buses to run food to students, as many districts in rural areas are doing?
The more you dig into the details, the more you realize how staggering of an effort this will be.
"It's going to be a scheduling nightmare, a logistical nightmare," Weingarten sums up. "And God forbid a kid or a teacher gets sick. The knives are going to come out that the school is responsible for it."


npr--2020-05-07--Democracy At Risk In Central And Eastern Europe, Report Finds

Democracy At Risk In Central And Eastern Europe , Report Finds Democracy is weakening across Central and Eastern Europe as well as Eurasia amid the rise of Chinese and Russian influence , according to a new report by Freedom House , a Washington , D.C.-based nonprofit .
The annual report — Nations in Transit 2020 , Dropping the Democratic Facade — covers 29 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia , and says there are now fewer democracies in the area than at any point in the last 25 years .
`` Many leaders in this region are no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rule of law , '' Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz said in a statement , adding that the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the people of these countries to even more abuse .
The study found that Hungary no longer qualifies as a democracy , Poland is headed in the same direction , and China and Russia are compromising fragile democratic institutions in nations that emerged from the former Yugoslavia .
Abramowitz says both the European Union and the United States are failing to stand up for basic democratic values , ceding regional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is time for European leaders who are committed to freedom to address the crisis in their own neighborhood , '' Abramowitz said .
`` The United States also has a pivotal role to play and should rededicate itself to a foreign policy that emphasizes the defense of democratic values . ''
Hungary is in the European Union and yet Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has faced little blowback from Brussels after a decade of dismantling democratic institutions .
His nationalist Fidesz party has demonized migrants and `` pro-migration liberals '' such as Hungarian-American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accuse Orbán and Fidesz of stoking renewed anti-Semitism in Hungary by attacking Soros — among others — who survived the Holocaust in Budapest with forged papers .
Fidesz has sidelined its opponents by pushing through constitutional and legal changes to consolidate power .
Most media outlets in Hungary are run by the government or its supporters .
More recently , the government pushed through a revisionist school curriculum promoting nationalist writers and dropping the works of Hungary 's only recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature , Imre Kertész , a Holocaust survivor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running the country by decree , after securing emergency powers to manage the coronavirus pandemic .
The emergency law has no sunset clause .
Freedom House says Orbán , who is a strong ally of President Trump , has `` dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions . ''
Hungary 's government spokesman , Zoltán Kovács , responded by calling the report biased because it receives some funding from Soros ' Open Society Foundations .
`` With their Soros funding they 've declined , becoming the fist of the party that is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Anyone who does n't conform to their liberal view , gets downgraded . ''
Mike Smeltzer , a Freedom House research analyst , points out that the nonprofit receives funding from many sources , including the U.S. government .
`` The Hungarian government would rather try to shoot the messenger than deal with the substantive points raised in our reports , which exhaustively document a serious decline in freedom and democratic practice in the country , '' Smeltzer told NPR .
`` In our report , Hungary is the only country in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Freedom House says democracy is also slipping away in Poland , another EU nation .
The report blames the `` systematic , targeted , and aggressive nature of the government 's attacks on judicial independence . ''
In the Balkans , Serbia and Montenegro — once part of Yugoslavia — have also seen democratic declines after `` years of increasing state capture , abuse of power , and strongman tactics , '' according to the report .
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović `` have tipped those countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of contentious relations with the EU , both countries have grown closer to Beijing and Moscow .
`` The Russian and Chinese governments are moving in with money and propaganda , trying to win hearts and minds , '' Smeltzer says .
`` And yes , it 's in large part due to the absence of the EU and U.S .
But , that does not mean that Balkan politicians are not making use of the situation and trying to turn it to their own advantage . ''
In an effort to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Balkans , EU leaders on Wednesday expressed `` unequivocal support '' for all Balkan nations to eventually join the bloc .
They also said they would help the Balkans with a coronavirus recovery plan in addition to $ 3.6 billion already promised .

Democracy At Risk In Central And Eastern Europe, Report Finds
Enlarge this image toggle caption Tamas Kovacs/AP Tamas Kovacs/AP
Democracy is weakening across Central and Eastern Europe as well as Eurasia amid the rise of Chinese and Russian influence, according to a new report by Freedom House, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.
The annual report — Nations in Transit 2020, Dropping the Democratic Facade — covers 29 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia and says there are now fewer democracies in the area than at any point in the past 25 years.
"Many leaders in this region are no longer pretending to care about democracy or the rule of law," Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz said in a statement, adding that the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the people of these countries to even more abuse.
The study found that Hungary no longer qualifies as a democracy, Poland is headed in the same direction, and China and Russia are compromising fragile democratic institutions in nations that emerged from the former Yugoslavia.
Abramowitz says both the European Union and the United States are failing to stand up for basic democratic values, ceding regional influence to Beijing and Moscow.
"It is time for European leaders who are committed to freedom to address the crisis in their own neighborhood," Abramowitz said. "The United States also has a pivotal role to play and should rededicate itself to a foreign policy that emphasizes the defense of democratic values."
Democracy fades within a democratic bloc of nations
Hungary is in the European Union, and yet Prime Minister Viktor Orban has faced little blowback from Brussels after a decade of dismantling democratic institutions. His nationalist Fidesz Party has demonized migrants and "pro-migration liberals" such as Hungarian American philanthropist George Soros.
Human rights monitors accuse Orban and Fidesz of stoking renewed anti-Semitism in Hungary by attacking Soros — among others — who survived the Holocaust in Budapest with forged papers.
Fidesz has sidelined its opponents by pushing through constitutional and legal changes to consolidate power. Most media outlets in Hungary are run by the government or its supporters. More recently, the government pushed through a revisionist school curriculum promoting nationalist writers and dropping the works of Hungary's only recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Imre Kertesz, a Holocaust survivor.
Since March, Orban has been running the country by decree after securing emergency powers to manage the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency law has no sunset clause. Freedom House says Orban, who is a strong ally of President Trump, has "dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions."
Hungary's government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, responded by calling the report biased because it receives some funding from Soros' Open Society Foundations. "With their Soros funding they've declined, becoming the fist of the party that is the Soros network," Kovacs tweeted. "Anyone who doesn't conform to their liberal view, gets downgraded."
Mike Smeltzer, a Freedom House research analyst, points out that the nonprofit receives funding from many sources, including the U.S. government.
"The Hungarian government would rather try to shoot the messenger than deal with the substantive points raised in our reports, which exhaustively document a serious decline in freedom and democratic practice in the country," Smeltzer told NPR. "In our report, Hungary is the only country in the EU that's not a democracy."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Darko Vojinovic/AP Darko Vojinovic/AP
Freedom House says democracy is also slipping away in Poland, another EU nation. The report blames the "systematic, targeted, and aggressive nature of the government's attacks on judicial independence."
In the Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro — once part of Yugoslavia — have also seen democratic declines after "years of increasing state capture, abuse of power, and strongman tactics," according to the report. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic "have tipped those countries over the edge."
Stung by years of contentious relations with the EU, both countries have grown closer to Beijing and Moscow. "The Russian and Chinese governments are moving in with money and propaganda, trying to win hearts and minds," Smeltzer says. "And yes, it's in large part due to the absence of the EU and U.S. But that does not mean that Balkan politicians are not making use of the situation and trying to turn it to their own advantage."
In an effort to check China's growing financial influence in the Balkans, EU leaders on Wednesday expressed "unequivocal support" for all Balkan nations to eventually join the bloc. They also said they would help the Balkans with a coronavirus recovery plan in addition to $3.6 billion already promised.


npr--2020-05-06--Nursing Home Association Asks For $10 Billion In Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds

With more than 11,000 resident deaths , nursing homes have become the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis .
Now , they 're asking the federal government for help — $ 10 billion worth of help .
The American Health Care Association , the trade organization for most nursing homes , called the impact on long-term care facilities `` devastating . ''
In a letter sent this week to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar , they ask for the federal government to designate relief funding from the CARES Act for nursing homes the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money would be used for personal protective equipment , salaries for expanded staff , and hazard pay .
In addition , some of the funds would make up lost revenue for nursing homes that have been unable to admit new residents because of the outbreak .
The AHCA also wants nursing homes to have more access to testing and some members of Congress want that too .
This week , 87 members of the House of Representatives sent their own letter to Azar , as well as to Seema Verma , the administrator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Services , which regulates nursing homes .
The letter asks those agencies to direct states — which have received billions of dollars for increased testing — to give priority to long-term care facilities .
The letter also notes that nursing homes are now required to report their numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , but that they ca n't meaningfully do this unless they can test everyone in the facility .
Democrats in both the House and the Senate have also introduced legislation intended to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff and residents .
The bill would require nursing homes to take a range of actions , from providing better infection prevention , to supplying sufficient protective gear , to protecting a resident 's right to return to the nursing home after they 've been treated for COVID-19 at a hospital .

Nursing Home Association Asks For $10 Billion In Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ted S. Warren/AP Ted S. Warren/AP
With more than 11,000 resident deaths, nursing homes have become the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. Now, they're asking the federal government for help — $10 billion's worth of help.
The American Health Care Association, the trade organization for most nursing homes, called the impact on long-term care facilities "devastating." In a letter sent this week to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, they ask for the federal government to designate relief funding from the CARES Act for nursing homes the way it has for hospitals.
The money would be used for personal protective equipment, salaries for expanded staff, and hazard pay. In addition, some of the funds would make up lost revenue for nursing homes that have been unable to admit new residents because of the outbreak.
The AHCA also wants nursing homes to have more access to testing, and some members of Congress want that, too. This week, 87 members of the House of Representatives sent their own letter to Azar, as well as to Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes. The letter asks those agencies to direct states — which have received billions of dollars for increased testing — to give priority to long-term care facilities.
The letter also notes that nursing homes are now required to report their numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that they can't meaningfully do this unless they can test everyone in the facility.
Democrats in both the House and the Senate have also introduced legislation intended to make things safer for both nursing home staff and residents. The bill would require nursing homes to take a range of actions, from providing better infection prevention, to supplying sufficient protective gear, to protecting a resident's right to return to the nursing home after they've been treated for COVID-19 at a hospital.