npr--2020-05-21--Trump And Biden Wage An Uneven Virtual Campaign

Trump And Biden Wage An Uneven Virtual Campaign If you 're a supporter of President Trump , longing for the excitement and MAGA-kinship of a big rally , Trump 's campaign has built the next best thing .
It 's a massive digital operation that creates an interactive world where President Trump is flawless , Republicans are saviors , while Democrats and Joe Biden are wrong and dangerous .
They encourage supporters to `` forget the mainstream media '' and get their `` facts straight from the source , '' an insular information ecosystem featuring prime time programming , accessed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new Trump 2020 app .
Campaign manager Brad Parscale recently likened the Trump digital operation to the Death Star from the Star Wars movies .
Well , Joe Biden 's campaign is now comparing itself to the rebel alliance , the rag-tag crew fighting the Empire with whatever it could piece together .
All of this matters so much more because the coronavirus pandemic has brought the traditional presidential campaigning to a standstill .
Biden is stuck at home in Wilmington , Del.
, while Trump is deprived of his raucous rallies , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now largely being waged over the Internet .
It 's an arena where Biden is outmatched by his Republican opponent on a few levels .
He does n't have the social media dominance that Trump does .
He also does n't have Trump 's instincts to entertain and outrage .
Instead , the presumptive Democratic nominee is trying to counter with a brand built on empathy and experience .
And Biden 's campaign is counting on the idea that it 's what people want in a crisis , even if four decades as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessarily prepare someone to create viral moments .
`` The things that we 're obviously trying to do in a virtual space are create those opportunities for interaction , '' said Biden digital director Rob Flaherty , `` and sort of fill the void of leadership that we 're seeing in Washington right now where the VP is an empathetic and competent leader in a time where people are craving both empathy and competence . ''
The Biden message is focused on the incredibly strong headwinds that President Trump faces in his reelection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recession .
The president 's campaign is counting on being able to overcome it all , at least in part with a digital behemoth that it 's been building and perfecting since 2015 .
Parscale 's elevation to campaign manager after being Trump 's digital director in 2016 sent an early signal of what would drive the 2020 campaign .
The Biden campaign , on the other hand , has a digital presence that 's admittedly still in development .
They 're looking outward to put him in as many places as possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as possible .
That means Biden 's team is organizing meetings over Zoom , conducting local TV interviews with anchors in battleground states , beaming the former vice president onto cable shows from his basement , and collaborating on Instagram with celebrities like soccer star Megan Rapinoe , who may have a bigger following than the candidate .
`` We really try to think about what is the broadest , widest array of creative programming that we can do to get him in front of people who are not necessarily dialed into politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are looking at this crisis and feeling an incredible sense of uncertainty about what they 're seeing from Trump , '' said Kate Bedingfield , Biden 's communications director .
Every night at 8 p.m .
ET , you can tune into a Team Trump webcast on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube and in the campaign 's app , starting with a slick intro that 's part campaign ad , part movie trailer , part cable news show open .
Trump does n't appear live , but glowing descriptions of him are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign aides and members of the Trump family , with big name guests like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , who are teed up to amplify the Trump message .
`` Why do Democrats insist on keeping people out of work , holding them hostage over ridiculous demands , '' Lara Trump , the president 's daughter-in-law asked McConnell on a recent webcast .
It looks like cable news , but in reality it 's more like an elaborate infomercial .
Graphics in the lower third of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump merchandise and prompts to download the Trump 2020 app or text the campaign .
There are multiple commercial breaks during each program , which feature a mix of pro-Trump and anti-Biden campaign ads , information about how to volunteer , and more reminders to download the app .
`` The Democrats and the fake news media hate my father more than they love our country and they are doing whatever it takes to tear us down at the expense of the American people , '' Donald Trump Jr. says in one ad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why we need every American patriot to step up and join our fight .
Just download our app . ''
The Biden campaign does n't have anything akin to its own version of a flashy prime-time cable lineup .
Instead , in a given week , they deliver a mix of virtual content : organizing meetings with former Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg , Zoom fundraisers with donors , and virtual roundtables with Democratic governors to discuss COVID-19 .
On a recent Thursday afternoon , Biden joined Democratic Govs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Connecticut , and Phil Murphy of New Jersey to talk about their states ' responses to the virus and what the federal government ought to do to help .
The events do n't have the snazzy production value you see when tuning into an evening of Trump campaign programming .
Biden led the discussion from his patio at home in Wilmington , Del.
, with the sound of geese in the background .
These virtual events have some of the familiarity of a traditional Biden campaign event — intro music , periodic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to get away from the virus , '' Biden jokes at one point ) and the turns of phrase that have long been dubbed `` Bidenisms . ''
For all those personal touches , they also lack the fundamental intimacy of in-person campaign events .
Still , both Biden and his campaign insist they 're able to reach millions of people this way , brushing off the criticism that the Biden basement show is somehow hurting their campaign .
For them , it 's not just about how the message is delivered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , convinced that the November election will be a referendum on how President Trump has handled the coronavirus , and that gives them , they believe , an advantage .
And the critique of Trump 's response is delivered consistently .
`` The federal government should be having your backs , and has n't done it enough , '' Biden told the governors .
`` He 's been incompetent , the way in which he 's responded to it , '' Biden recently said on ABC 's Good Morning America , in yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meanwhile , Trump has all the advantages of incumbency .
His trademark rallies are gone for now , but with the White House testing everyone who could come near him for COVID-19 , Trump can fly in Air Force One to swing states for official events that have all the contours of his rallies .
On a visit to a Pennsylvania manufacturer of protective equipment used by health care workers , the Trump campaign soundtrack played over the speakers and Trump 's speech featured the usual jeering at the press in the back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden has n't traveled anywhere for the last couple of months .
Instead , he and his wife Jill Biden have begun `` virtual travel days , '' where they host multiple events in one day in a key battleground state .
On Wednesday , for example , Biden held a virtual roundtable `` in '' La Crosse , Wis. , to discuss rural issues .
Then , later in the day , he held a virtual rally in Milwaukee .
Throughout the primary season , voters often attended Biden rallies for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hand and take a photo with him on the rope line after he had finished a speech .
That experience is hard to replicate digitally .
One major challenge of not holding in-person events is that a candidate is forfeiting valuable local news coverage , something President Trump can pick up with his official travel .
`` Most people do n't go to those rallies , '' explained John Sides , a political science professor at Vanderbilt University .
`` But you 're trying to use those events as an opportunity to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to communicate to voters with messages and visuals that are scripted by you , as opposed to posed to you by a reporter . ''
Local news is consistently considered one of the most trusted news sources across the political spectrum , and Biden 's campaign has put a high premium on interviews in battleground states .
Last week , he did interviews with stations in Nevada , North Carolina and Arizona .
Arizona has traditionally voted Republican , but the Biden campaign recently said it intends to target Arizona , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solid GOP states : Georgia and Texas .
Biden often beams into TV shows from his basement , flanked by books and family photos .
His strategy is about emphasizing empathy and character , and doing that in a way that can maximize reach .
Still , the fact is Biden is still largely stuck in his house , and he 's often forced to explain that in these interviews .
`` I 'd much rather be out , but our governor has a shelter-in-place order here in the state .
I 'm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ KLAS-TV in Las Vegas .
He insists that he 's listening to the scientists and that staying indoors while Trump is on the road has n't changed the race .
He points to polling that shows he 's maintained a consistent lead over the president in recent weeks .
`` Matter of fact , in a bizarre way , the president , the more he 's out there the more he hurts himself , I think , '' Biden said in that same interview .
This is a view shared by many Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presence has n't helped him in recent weeks .
`` In a quest for content there is no way the Biden campaign is going to be able to produce as much as a reelection campaign and hyper politicized White House that turns official events into campaign stops , '' said Jesse Ferguson , who worked on Hillary Clinton 's 2016 campaign .
`` The imbalance is real , for sure .
But is it a problem ?
Not necessarily .
One of the most pervasive emotions people feel about Trump is exhausted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ traveling to battleground states to campaign , his campaign is still trying to organize supporters in those key states .
The campaign says it 's trained thousands of volunteers over Zoom meetings in the last few weeks .
On a recent Zoom call , Gabriella Cascone , the Biden campaign 's national training director , walked some 700 volunteers in Pennsylvania through the process of making community check-in calls .
The campaign 's current phone banking strategy is not about attacking Trump or getting out the vote , it 's about being a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Really , these are meant to be a way to let folks know that we care about them and we 're thinking about them in this time , '' Cascone told volunteers over the call .
`` It 's important that we follow the vice president 's lead in demonstrating this deep empathy and concern toward our supporters . ''
That was the approach taken by the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee a month and a half ago .
But wellness checks have been replaced with scorched-earth scripts meant to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Last Tuesday , Joe Vazzano , a Republican regional field director in Southwestern Pennsylvania , used Zoom to walk about 100 Trump campaign volunteers in his area through the process of making calls to voters .
It was a `` national week of action , '' which meant there was an extra push to train volunteers and get them working the phones .
The aim is to beat up Biden , tie him to China and paint him as an establishment figure with conflicts of interest because of his son Hunter 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were given to read when calling voters included lines like , `` Beijing Biden promoted trade deals that killed American jobs and shipped them overseas to China '' and `` Beijing Biden 's relationship with China benefited his family .
His son , Hunter was involved in a business deal with a Chinese investment fund . ''
This dovetailed with ads the Trump campaign was running on television stations in the same swing states the volunteers were calling .
Over the course of the week , the Republican Party , which is fully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 500 training sessions like that one .
Volunteers and staff organizers made 10 million calls , a new record according to the RNC .
The Biden campaign did not provide metrics for an equivalent time frame .
According to the Facebook Ad Library , the Trump campaign spent more than twice as much last week on Facebook ads as the Biden campaign , and it included a three-day test of a dizzying array of hits on Biden .
Some portrayed him as old and unfit , others as a puppet of China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump has is taking someone 's perceived greatest strength and turning it into a weakness , '' said Jason Miller who was senior communications adviser on the 2016 campaign .
He says in the face of the coronavirus , the Trump campaign is `` controlling the variable it can control for — going negative on Biden . ''
Teddy Goff , a Democratic strategist who ran Barack Obama 's 2012 digital operation , concedes Trump is incredibly talented at capturing attention , but he 's skeptical that the president 's virtual programming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people for a general election .
`` Donald Trump can send a berzerk tweet that kind of ping pongs around the right-wing Twitter-sphere and gets 50,000 retweets , and it probably does n't persuade a single voter , '' he said .
`` And it might actually turn off a couple of voters . ''
The Trump campaign is n't really doing persuasion .
It 's firing up the base , finding supporters who did n't vote last time and getting them to vote this time .
`` This is about protecting your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not persuade them to vote for someone else , but might keep them from turning out , '' said Stefan Smith , who was the online engagement director for Pete Buttigieg 's presidential campaign and has spent a lot of time looking at the Trump app and the Team Trump video offerings .
`` Keep them angry and you keep them engaged , '' he added .
On his own Facebook page , Trump has over 29 million followers .
Less than 2 million follow Joe Biden .
Twitter tells a similar story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million for Biden .
The Biden campaign barely made any digital hires for months , but Flaherty says they have plans to double their staff soon , though he would n't provide any specific staffing numbers .
Since the Biden campaign went mostly virtual in late March , it 's had over 125 million views of its videos and online content , while Trump 's campaign has had nearly three times as many views since April 1 , according to numbers provided by the campaigns .
The Biden team argues that , since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in some ways he 's actually punching above his weight .

Trump And Biden Wage An Uneven Virtual Campaign
Enlarge this image toggle caption YouTube/Donald J Trump YouTube/Donald J Trump
If you're a supporter of President Trump, longing for the excitement and MAGA-kinship of a big rally, Trump's campaign has built the next best thing. It's a massive digital operation that creates an interactive world where Trump is flawless and Republicans are saviors, while Democrats and Joe Biden are wrong and dangerous.
They encourage supporters to "forget the mainstream media" and get their "facts straight from the source," an insular information ecosystem featuring prime time programming, accessed in its most pure form through the new Trump 2020 app.
Campaign manager Brad Parscale recently likened the Trump digital operation to the Death Star from the Star Wars movies.
Well, Biden's campaign is now comparing itself to the rebel alliance, the rag-tag crew fighting the Empire with whatever it could piece together.
All of this matters so much more because the coronavirus pandemic has brought traditional presidential campaigning to a standstill. Biden is stuck at home in Wilmington, Del., while Trump is deprived of his raucous rallies, so the battle for the presidency is now largely being waged over the Internet.
The Trump campaign has a slick intro to its nightly webcasts with a version evoking action movie graphics in a virtual rally arena. YouTube/Donald J Trump YouTube
It's an arena where Biden is outmatched by his Republican opponent on a few levels. He doesn't have the social media dominance that Trump does. He also doesn't have Trump's instincts to entertain and outrage.
Instead, the presumptive Democratic nominee is trying to counter with a brand built on empathy and experience. And Biden's campaign is counting on the idea that it's what people want in a crisis, even if four decades as a senator and vice president don't necessarily prepare someone to create viral moments.
"The things that we're obviously trying to do in a virtual space are create those opportunities for interaction," said Biden digital director Rob Flaherty, "and sort of fill the void of leadership that we're seeing in Washington right now where the VP is an empathetic and competent leader in a time where people are craving both empathy and competence."
The Biden message is focused on the incredibly strong headwinds that Trump faces in his reelection bid: a pandemic and a deep recession. The president's campaign is counting on being able to overcome it all, at least in part with a digital behemoth that it has been building and perfecting since 2015. Parscale's elevation to campaign manager after being Trump's digital director in 2016 sent an early signal of what would drive the 2020 campaign.
The Biden campaign, on the other hand, has a digital presence that's admittedly still in development. It's looking outward to put him in as many places as possible and in front of as many people as possible.
That means Biden's team is organizing meetings over Zoom, conducting local TV interviews with anchors in battleground states, beaming the former vice president onto cable shows from his basement, and collaborating on Instagram with celebrities such as soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who may have a bigger following than the candidate.
"We really try to think about what is the broadest, widest array of creative programming that we can do to get him in front of people who are not necessarily dialed into politics day in and day out, but are looking at this crisis and feeling an incredible sense of uncertainty about what they're seeing from Trump," said Kate Bedingfield, Biden's communications director.
A prime-time president
Every night at 8 ET, you can tune in to a Team Trump webcast on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and in the campaign's app, starting with a slick intro that's part campaign ad, part movie trailer, part cable news show open. Trump doesn't appear live, but glowing descriptions of him are a constant.
The programs are hosted by campaign aides and members of the Trump family with big name guests such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who are teed up to amplify the Trump message.
"Why do Democrats insist on keeping people out of work, holding them hostage over ridiculous demands?" Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, asked McConnell on a recent webcast.
Enlarge this image toggle caption YouTube/Donald J Trump YouTube/Donald J Trump
It looks like cable news, but in reality it's more like an elaborate infomercial. Graphics in the lower third of the screen rotate through discount codes to buy Trump merchandise and prompts to download the Trump 2020 app or text the campaign.
There are multiple commercial breaks during each program that feature a mix of pro-Trump and anti-Biden campaign ads, information about how to volunteer and more reminders to download the app.
"The Democrats and the fake news media hate my father more than they love our country and they are doing whatever it takes to tear us down at the expense of the American people," Donald Trump Jr. says in one ad, speaking intensely. "That's why we need every American patriot to step up and join our fight. Just download our app."
A daytime Democrat
The Biden campaign doesn't have anything akin to its own version of a flashy prime-time cable lineup. Instead, in a given week it delivers a mix of virtual content: organizing meetings with former Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg, Zoom fundraisers with donors and virtual roundtables with Democratic governors to discuss COVID-19.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, Biden joined Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Phil Murphy of New Jersey to talk about their states' responses to the virus and what the federal government ought to do to help.
Enlarge this image toggle caption YouTube/Joe Biden YouTube/Joe Biden
The events don't have the snazzy production value you see when tuning in to an evening of Trump campaign programming. Biden led the discussion from his patio at home in Wilmington with the sound of geese in the background.
These virtual events have some of the familiarity of a traditional Biden campaign event — intro music, periodic tangents ("Those Canadian geese are trying to get away from the virus," Biden jokes at one point.) and the turns of phrase that have long been dubbed "Bidenisms." For all those personal touches, they also lack the fundamental intimacy of in-person campaign events.
Still, both Biden and his campaign insist they're able to reach millions of people this way, brushing off the criticism that the Biden basement show is somehow hurting their campaign. For them, it's not just about how the message is delivered, it's about the message itself, convinced that the November election will be a referendum on how Trump has handled the coronavirus, and that gives them, they believe, an advantage.
And the critique of Trump's response is delivered consistently.
"The federal government should be having your backs and hasn't done it enough," Biden told the governors.
"He's been incompetent, the way in which he's responded to it," Biden recently said on ABC's Good Morning America, in yet another interview from his home studio.
Air Force One vs. local airwaves
Meanwhile, Trump has all the advantages of incumbency. His trademark rallies are gone for now, but with the White House testing everyone who could come near him for COVID-19, Trump can fly in Air Force One to swing states for official events that have all the contours of his rallies.
On a visit to a Pennsylvania manufacturer of protective equipment used by health care workers, the Trump campaign soundtrack played over the speakers and Trump's speech featured the usual jeering at the press in the back, the insults and name-calling.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP
Biden hasn't traveled anywhere for the last couple of months. Instead, he and his wife, Jill Biden, have begun "virtual travel days," where they host multiple events in one day in a key battleground state. On Wednesday, for example, Biden held a virtual roundtable "in" La Crosse, Wis., to discuss rural issues. Later in the day, he held a virtual rally in Milwaukee.
Throughout the primary season, voters often attended Biden rallies for the opportunity to shake the vice president's hand and take a photo with him on the rope line after he had finished a speech. That experience is hard to replicate digitally.
One major challenge of not holding in-person events is that a candidate is forfeiting valuable local news coverage, something Trump can pick up with his official travel.
"Most people don't go to those rallies," explained John Sides, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. "But you're trying to use those events as an opportunity to get some attention to your campaign and to be able to communicate to voters with messages and visuals that are scripted by you, as opposed to posed to you by a reporter."
Local news is consistently considered one of the most trusted news sources across the political spectrum, and Biden's campaign has put a high premium on interviews in battleground states. Last week, he did interviews with stations in Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona.
Arizona has traditionally voted Republican, but the Biden campaign recently said it intends to target Arizona, along with a couple of other traditionally solid GOP states: Georgia and Texas.
Former Vice President Joe Biden appears for an interview with a local television program in Phoenix. azfamily YouTube
Biden often beams into TV shows from his basement, flanked by books and family photos. His strategy is about emphasizing empathy and character and doing that in a way that can maximize reach.
Still, Biden is still largely stuck in his house, and he's often forced to explain that in these interviews.
"I'd much rather be out, but our governor has a shelter-in-place order here in the state. I'm obeying that order," Biden told KLAS-TV in Las Vegas.
He insists that he's listening to the scientists and that staying indoors while Trump is on the road hasn't changed the race. He points to polling that shows he has maintained a consistent lead over the president in recent weeks.
"Matter of fact, in a bizarre way, the president, the more he's out there the more he hurts himself, I think," Biden said in that same interview.
This is a view shared by many Democratic consultants, who say Trump's constant presence hasn't helped him in recent weeks.
"In a quest for content there is no way the Biden campaign is going to be able to produce as much as a reelection campaign and hyper politicized White House that turns official events into campaign stops," said Jesse Ferguson, who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. "The imbalance is real, for sure. But is it a problem? Not necessarily. One of the most pervasive emotions people feel about Trump is exhausted."
Organizing battleground neighbors
Even though Biden is not yet traveling to battleground states to campaign, his campaign is still trying to organize supporters in those key states. The campaign says it has trained thousands of volunteers over Zoom meetings in the past few weeks.
On a recent Zoom call, Gabriella Cascone, the Biden campaign's national training director, walked some 700 volunteers in Pennsylvania through the process of making community check-in calls. The campaign's current phone banking strategy is not about attacking Trump or getting out the vote, it's about being a comforting neighbor in a moment of crisis.
"Really, these are meant to be a way to let folks know that we care about them and we're thinking about them in this time," Cascone told volunteers over the call. "It's important that we follow the vice president's lead in demonstrating this deep empathy and concern toward our supporters."
That was the approach taken by the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee a month and a half ago. But wellness checks have been replaced with scorched-earth scripts meant to cause maximum harm to Biden's image.
Last Tuesday, Joe Vazzano, a Republican regional field director in Southwestern Pennsylvania, used Zoom to walk about 100 Trump campaign volunteers in his area through the process of making calls to voters.
It was a "national week of action," which meant there was an extra push to train volunteers and get them working the phones. The aim is to beat up Biden, tie him to China and paint him as an establishment figure with conflicts of interest because of his son Hunter's business activity.
The scripts the volunteers were given to read when calling voters included lines like "Beijing Biden promoted trade deals that killed American jobs and shipped them overseas to China" and "Beijing Biden's relationship with China benefited his family. His son Hunter was involved in a business deal with a Chinese investment fund." This dovetailed with ads the Trump campaign was running on television stations in the same swing states the volunteers were calling.
Over the course of the week, the Republican Party, which is fully integrated with the Trump campaign, held about 500 training sessions like that one. Volunteers and staff organizers made 10 million calls, a record according to the RNC. The Biden campaign did not provide metrics for an equivalent time frame.
Social media reach
According to the Facebook Ad Library, the Trump campaign spent more than twice as much last week on Facebook ads as the Biden campaign, and it included a three-day test of a dizzying array of hits on Biden. Some portrayed him as old and unfit, others as a puppet of China.
"One of the greatest strengths President Trump has is taking someone's perceived greatest strength and turning it into a weakness," said Jason Miller, who was senior communications adviser on the 2016 campaign. He said that in the face of the coronavirus, the Trump campaign is "controlling the variable it can control for — going negative on Biden."
Teddy Goff, a Democratic strategist who ran Barack Obama's 2012 digital operation, concedes that Trump is incredibly talented at capturing attention, but he's skeptical that the president's virtual programming is actually reaching the right kinds of people for a general election.
"Donald Trump can send a berserk tweet that kind of ping-pongs around the right-wing Twittersphere and gets 50,000 retweets, and it probably doesn't persuade a single voter," he said. "And it might actually turn off a couple of voters."
The Trump campaign isn't really doing persuasion. It's firing up the base, finding supporters who didn't vote last time and getting them to vote this time.
"This is about protecting your voters from anything that might, maybe not persuade them to vote for someone else, but might keep them from turning out," said Stefan Smith, who was the online engagement director for Buttigieg's presidential campaign and has spent a lot of time looking at the Trump app and the Team Trump video offerings. "Keep them angry and you keep them engaged," he added.
On his own Facebook page, Trump has more than 29 million followers. Fewer than 2 million follow Joe Biden. Twitter tells a similar story: about 80 million for Trump, 5.4 million for Biden.
The Biden campaign barely made any digital hires for months, but Flaherty says they have plans to double its staff soon, though he wouldn't provide any specific staffing numbers.
Since the Biden campaign went mostly virtual in late March, it has had more than 125 million views of its videos and online content, while Trump's campaign has had nearly three times as many views since April 1, according to numbers provided by the campaigns.
The Biden team argues that since their candidate has millions fewer followers, in some ways he's actually punching above his weight.


npr--2020-05-21--Ideal Nursing Homes: Individual Rooms, Better Staffing, More Accountability

Nursing homes were not on our minds much before the COVID-19 pandemic .
Then their residents began dying by the thousands .
While there are no definitive figures , nursing home residents and staff appear to account for about one-third of the roughly 90,000 COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. , according to The New York Times .
Those figures may be low because some states do not report such figures and the CDC is just beginning to collect them .
The stunning death toll has brought scrutiny to an industry that many believe is due for an overhaul .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , staffing levels , adequate training for staff , effective regulations and oversight all are raging as states battle to control the ravages of the pandemic .
`` There 's lots of hubbub '' around nursing homes , says Dr. Louise Aronson , a geriatrician , professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco , and author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood .
And it 's important , she says , that the public keep that focus .
`` The way we 've created nursing homes , '' she says , `` they 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's altogether too easy for people to go back to their lives and just kind of forget about it and not make a difference . ''
There have long been ideas among people who study nursing homes — or work in them — for ways to make them safer and more humane .
Before the pandemic , these ideas were n't of much interest to anyone outside the field .
But those proposed innovations are now attracting a wider audience .
What first drew that wider audience was the shocking speed with which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But slowly , they 're learning that nursing homes struggled with infection control long before the coronavirus came around .
It 's the most frequently cited deficiency by health inspectors .
Annually , well over a million nursing home residents contract infections and as many as 388,000 die from them .
Even after the pandemic began , nursing home inspectors found that one-third of nurses and nursing assistants did not wash their hands properly and a quarter were using personal protective equipment ( PPE ) incorrectly .
But nursing homes have n't had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those failings , says Charlene Harrington , a professor of Nursing and Sociology at the University of California San Francisco .
`` The fines are so small that they do n't really have an impact on the nursing home , '' she says .
`` It 's just the cost of doing business . ''
The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the nursing home system .
Facilities were short of PPE .
Tales abounded of nursing home staff wearing rain ponchos and goggles from hardware stores because they could n't get proper gowns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal government only began providing supplies this month , and it 's not much : FEMA says it will send two shipments , each containing a one week supply of PPE , to every nursing home in the country by July 4 .
Nursing homes also have not been a priority for testing , which is a key step to catching infections before they can spread .
In a recent phone call with state governors , Vice President Mike Pence encouraged them to see that all nursing home residents and staff were tested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration is not mandating this .
Yet , despite nursing homes overwhelming number of cases and deaths , obtaining tests has remained a struggle .
`` Do I feel that sometimes maybe nursing homes get the short shrift of things ? ''
asks Daniel Ruth , president and CEO of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living , which includes a skilled nursing facility .
`` The answer is 'yes . '
Our acute hospital partners have a much louder voice for advocacy . ''
But now that nursing homes have the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for more support .
The American Health Care Association and the affiliated National Center for Assisted Living have asked Congress and the Trump administration for $ 10 billion .
They say the money will be used for additional staff , hazard pay , and to make up for the losses they 've taken due to their inability to admit new patients during the COVID-19 crisis .
`` The truth is that nursing homes have not failed America .
The public health system has failed nursing homes , '' said Mark Parkinson , president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living , in a column by the Morning Consult .
`` Long-term care facilities are doing everything possible to stop the spread of this virus .
But we need help . ''
The two trade organizations commissioned a survey showing overwhelming numbers of voters think that nursing homes deserve more financial support from the federal government .
More financial support could come with a price .
Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would create new requirements for nursing homes in staffing , infection control , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I 've been teaching nursing homes and studying this area for 20 plus years , '' says David Grabowski , professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard School .
`` I 'm still waiting for the individual that wants to go to a nursing home ; that person probably is n't out there . ''
Grabowski says that 's in part because the facilities value the needs of the institution over the needs of the individuals who make their homes there .
`` I would really think about smaller home environments where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the residents , '' Grabowski says .
He imagines houses with just eight to 12 residents living together .
`` I think in general , we 've had way too much focus in terms of regulation on quality of care and not enough on the quality of life in these homes . ''
Limiting occupancy can also help control the spread of infection , says Daniel Ruth , CEO and president of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living .
`` I absolutely believe that all rooms should be single rooms , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rooms at the Jewish Home , as the nursing facility on the campus is known .
Currently , many nursing homes house residents two or three or even four to a room , all sharing one bathroom , making it easier for infections to spread .
One way to improve residents ' quality of life , Grabowski says , would be revamping the inspection system .
`` Unfortunately , we 've been much more about identifying problems than we have been about working with facilities to help solve those problems , '' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handled by one state bureaucracy and quality improvement by another .
He 'd like to see them combined .
`` Imagine I 'm a surveyor right now , going into a nursing home to look at their infection control .
If I see a problem with the way the staff is using the personal protective equipment , '' Grabowski says , `` I can write that down on a sheet of paper and take that back and say there were problems .
[ Or ] I could help them immediately start to fix @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agrees that `` the survey system is broken . ''
In a conference call last month with reporters , Parkinson said that it `` focuses on too many things , '' making it hard to prioritize .
He calls the system `` punitive '' and `` combative . ''
Parkinson says he hopes to sit down with stakeholders when the pandemic is over `` and figure out a better way . ''
Professor Charlene Harrington of the University of California , San Francisco , says a `` better way '' would be to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem of nursing homes , which she says is inadequate staffing .
Nursing assistants , she says , are `` running from one resident to the other without hand washing , '' which she says is one of the main reasons that nursing homes are so often cited for poor infection control .
So many of the citations that nursing homes receive — from poor infection control , to patients with bed sores , to nutrition problems — can all be traced back to insufficient staff , says Harrington , but it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly .
`` Over 70 % of nursing homes are for-profit , '' she says , contending they reduce staff to lower their costs .
`` That 's the primary way that for-profit companies can save money . ''
But Grabowski thinks the major reason that nursing homes do n't have enough staff is Medicaid .
It pays the bills for most nursing home residents , but it does n't pay much .
Nursing homes can barely break even on a Medicaid resident .
`` There 's under-investment in care generally and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` And why ca n't we pay more for these services and value the people that provide care for all of us in these settings ?
You know , we 're getting what we pay for right now .
And it 's unfortunately not a very good outcome . ''
There might be better outcomes if most nursing homes were n't designed to make money , says Daniel Ruth of the Jewish Home .
`` If I was the king of the world , there would be a much greater proportion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ruth says the Jewish Home 's nonprofit status made it easier for him to do something that other facilities have struggled with during the pandemic .
Under a directive from the state of California for all nursing facilities , the Jewish Home began accepting COVID-positive patients discharged from hospitals .
That was in early April .
Since then , none of its prior residents have been infected , nor have any of its staff taking care of the new COVID-positive patients .
Ruth says that he was not only able to devote a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the COVID-positive patients and give them a dedicated staff , he was also able to take rooms that might ordinarily be filled with residents and convert them to spaces for the staff to relax , shower , and do laundry , which also protect them from infection .
`` We took beds out of service , we took dollars away from the income statement , '' Ruth says .
`` We obviously knew what the economic impact of doing that would be , but we felt [ it was ] part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says he does n't believe that a for-profit nursing home would have made the same choice .
`` The financial interests of for-profit nursing homes are too often in conflict with their mission to care for older adults , '' Harrington says .
And the only way to fundamentally change that is to change the ownership structure , she says , regulating them like a utility .
`` You would have very tough financial requirements , you would have stricter requirements of who could become an owner .
Only owners with good track @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
`` And you would have very strict standards around their staffing and the way they pay their staff and treat their staff . ''
People never picture themselves in a nursing home , Harrington says .
But they should .
And they should think about what they would like for themselves .
`` Until we start doing that , '' she says , `` we 're going to allow them to continue to operate on a sub-par level . ''
A nursing home is `` basically considered ... a place you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know what else to do with them , '' Louise Aronson says .
As a society , we would never put up with the state of nursing homes today if it were n't for our general disregard of older people , Aronson says .
`` We imagine older people to be of very little value .
So it 's kind of like time served as a human being .
All those years you spent working and raising your family , they eventually become worth nothing . ''
To show respect for older adults @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes be more like actual homes , stylish and stimulating , rather than soulless , institutional corridors of plastic and stainless steel .
`` So your room would look like a place somebody actually wants to live , not like a cell or a hospital room , '' she says .
`` You would have access to outdoor activities .
There would be , you know , plants and animals and lots of visitors and music and activities that were easy to get to . ''
Nursing homes could even be incubators for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Aronson .
She envisions the creation of `` really great looking showers that somebody can roll [ a wheel chair ] into . ''
Or cool looking walkers or beds that move up and down .
`` Because the stuff that will work in these modern nursing homes will work in all our [ own ] homes , too . ''
And that would make our homes age-friendly , Aronson says .
We might be able to put off moving to a nursing home for a long time .
And we might be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nursing home is also our home .

Ideal Nursing Homes: Individual Rooms, Better Staffing, More Accountability
Enlarge this image Taechit Taechamanodom/Getty Images Taechit Taechamanodom/Getty Images
Nursing homes were not on our minds much before the COVID-19 pandemic. Then their residents began dying by the thousands.
While there are no definitive figures, nursing home residents and staff appear to account for about one-third of the roughly 90,000 COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S., according to The New York Times. Those figures may be low because some states do not report such figures and the CDC is just beginning to collect them.
The stunning death toll has brought scrutiny to an industry that many believe is due for an overhaul. Questions about the way it's paid for, staffing levels, adequate training for staff, effective regulations and oversight all are raging as states battle to control the ravages of the pandemic.
"There's lots of hubbub" around nursing homes, says Dr. Louise Aronson, a geriatrician, professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco, and author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood. And it's important, she says, that the public keep that focus.
"The way we've created nursing homes," she says, "they're so separate from real life that it's altogether too easy for people to go back to their lives and just kind of forget about it and not make a difference."
There have long been ideas among people who study nursing homes — or work in them — for ways to make them safer and more humane. Before the pandemic, these ideas weren't of much interest to anyone outside the field. But those proposed innovations are now attracting a wider audience.
What first drew that wider audience was the shocking speed with which the coronavirus tore through nursing homes. But slowly, they're learning that nursing homes struggled with infection control long before the coronavirus came around.
It's the most frequently cited deficiency by health inspectors. Annually, well over a million nursing home residents contract infections and as many as 388,000 die from them.
Even after the pandemic began, nursing home inspectors found that one-third of nurses and nursing assistants did not wash their hands properly and a quarter were using personal protective equipment (PPE) incorrectly.
But nursing homes haven't had to worry about inspectors citing them for those failings, says Charlene Harrington, a professor of Nursing and Sociology at the University of California San Francisco.
"The fines are so small that they don't really have an impact on the nursing home," she says. "It's just the cost of doing business."
The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the nursing home system. Facilities were short of PPE. Tales abounded of nursing home staff wearing rain ponchos and goggles from hardware stores because they couldn't get proper gowns and face shields.
Yet, the federal government only began providing supplies this month, and it's not much: FEMA says it will send two shipments, each containing a one week supply of PPE, to every nursing home in the country by July 4.
Nursing homes also have not been a priority for testing, which is a key step to catching infections before they can spread. In a recent phone call with state governors, Vice President Mike Pence encouraged them to see that all nursing home residents and staff were tested for the coronavirus, but the Trump administration is not mandating this. Yet, despite nursing homes overwhelming number of cases and deaths, obtaining tests has remained a struggle.
"Do I feel that sometimes maybe nursing homes get the short shrift of things?" asks Daniel Ruth, president and CEO of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, which includes a skilled nursing facility. "The answer is 'yes.' Our acute hospital partners have a much louder voice for advocacy."
But now that nursing homes have the public's attention, the industry is pushing for more support.
The American Health Care Association and the affiliated National Center for Assisted Living have asked Congress and the Trump administration for $10 billion. They say the money will be used for additional staff, hazard pay, and to make up for the losses they've taken due to their inability to admit new patients during the COVID-19 crisis.
"The truth is that nursing homes have not failed America. The public health system has failed nursing homes," said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, in a column by the Morning Consult. "Long-term care facilities are doing everything possible to stop the spread of this virus. But we need help."
The two trade organizations commissioned a survey showing overwhelming numbers of voters think that nursing homes deserve more financial support from the federal government.
More financial support could come with a price. Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would create new requirements for nursing homes in staffing, infection control, and quality of life for residents.
Long-time nursing home analysts offer some other innovative ideas.
Smaller is better
"I've been teaching nursing homes and studying this area for 20 plus years," says David Grabowski, professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard School. "I'm still waiting for the individual that wants to go to a nursing home; that person probably isn't out there."
Grabowski says that's in part because the facilities value the needs of the institution over the needs of the individuals who make their homes there.
"I would really think about smaller home environments where we value the caregivers and we value the residents," Grabowski says. He imagines houses with just eight to 12 residents living together. "I think in general, we've had way too much focus in terms of regulation on quality of care and not enough on the quality of life in these homes."
Limiting occupancy can also help control the spread of infection, says Daniel Ruth, CEO and president of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living.
"I absolutely believe that all rooms should be single rooms," Ruth says, as are almost all rooms at the Jewish Home, as the nursing facility on the campus is known. Currently, many nursing homes house residents two or three or even four to a room, all sharing one bathroom, making it easier for infections to spread.
Change the inspection system
One way to improve residents' quality of life, Grabowski says, would be revamping the inspection system.
"Unfortunately, we've been much more about identifying problems than we have been about working with facilities to help solve those problems," he says.
Right now, inspection is handled by one state bureaucracy and quality improvement by another. He'd like to see them combined.
"Imagine I'm a surveyor right now, going into a nursing home to look at their infection control. If I see a problem with the way the staff is using the personal protective equipment," Grabowski says, "I can write that down on a sheet of paper and take that back and say there were problems. [Or] I could help them immediately start to fix that."
AHCA President Mark Parkinson agrees that "the survey system is broken."
In a conference call last month with reporters, Parkinson said that it "focuses on too many things," making it hard to prioritize. He calls the system "punitive" and "combative." Parkinson says he hopes to sit down with stakeholders when the pandemic is over "and figure out a better way."
Professor Charlene Harrington of the University of California, San Francisco, says a "better way" would be to refocus the inspection system on the fundamental problem of nursing homes, which she says is inadequate staffing.
Nursing assistants, she says, are "running from one resident to the other without hand washing," which she says is one of the main reasons that nursing homes are so often cited for poor infection control.
Enlarge this image David Pereiras / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm David Pereiras / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm
So many of the citations that nursing homes receive — from poor infection control, to patients with bed sores, to nutrition problems — can all be traced back to insufficient staff, says Harrington, but it's something they're almost never cited for directly.
Harrington blames nursing home owners for the low staff levels.
"Over 70% of nursing homes are for-profit," she says, contending they reduce staff to lower their costs. "That's the primary way that for-profit companies can save money."
But Grabowski thinks the major reason that nursing homes don't have enough staff is Medicaid. It pays the bills for most nursing home residents, but it doesn't pay much. Nursing homes can barely break even on a Medicaid resident.
"There's under-investment in care generally and in staff in particular," Grabowski says. "And why can't we pay more for these services and value the people that provide care for all of us in these settings? You know, we're getting what we pay for right now. And it's unfortunately not a very good outcome."
Re-think ownership
There might be better outcomes if most nursing homes weren't designed to make money, says Daniel Ruth of the Jewish Home.
"If I was the king of the world, there would be a much greater proportion of nursing homes run by not-for-profits." Ruth says the Jewish Home's nonprofit status made it easier for him to do something that other facilities have struggled with during the pandemic.
Under a directive from the state of California for all nursing facilities, the Jewish Home began accepting COVID-positive patients discharged from hospitals. That was in early April. Since then, none of its prior residents have been infected, nor have any of its staff taking care of the new COVID-positive patients.
Ruth says that he was not only able to devote a separate wing of the facility to care for the COVID-positive patients and give them a dedicated staff, he was also able to take rooms that might ordinarily be filled with residents and convert them to spaces for the staff to relax, shower, and do laundry, which also protect them from infection.
"We took beds out of service, we took dollars away from the income statement," Ruth says. "We obviously knew what the economic impact of doing that would be, but we felt [it was] part of our mission and values." Ruth says he doesn't believe that a for-profit nursing home would have made the same choice.
Law Concerns Over Giving Nursing Homes Civil Immunity Protections Concerns Over Giving Nursing Homes Civil Immunity Protections Listen · 3:24 3:24
Professor Charlene Harrington of UCSF agrees.
"The financial interests of for-profit nursing homes are too often in conflict with their mission to care for older adults," Harrington says. And the only way to fundamentally change that is to change the ownership structure, she says, regulating them like a utility.
"You would have very tough financial requirements, you would have stricter requirements of who could become an owner. Only owners with good track records would be allowed," Harrington says. "And you would have very strict standards around their staffing and the way they pay their staff and treat their staff."
People never picture themselves in a nursing home, Harrington says. But they should. And they should think about what they would like for themselves.
"Until we start doing that," she says, "we're going to allow them to continue to operate on a sub-par level."
Get creative
A nursing home is "basically considered ... a place you send people when you don't really know what else to do with them," Louise Aronson says.
As a society, we would never put up with the state of nursing homes today if it weren't for our general disregard of older people, Aronson says. "We imagine older people to be of very little value. So it's kind of like time served as a human being. All those years you spent working and raising your family, they eventually become worth nothing."
To show respect for older adults, Aronson would like to see nursing homes be more like actual homes, stylish and stimulating, rather than soulless, institutional corridors of plastic and stainless steel.
"So your room would look like a place somebody actually wants to live, not like a cell or a hospital room," she says. "You would have access to outdoor activities. There would be, you know, plants and animals and lots of visitors and music and activities that were easy to get to."
Nursing homes could even be incubators for design that would help everyone, says Aronson. She envisions the creation of "really great looking showers that somebody can roll [a wheel chair] into." Or cool looking walkers or beds that move up and down. "Because the stuff that will work in these modern nursing homes will work in all our [own] homes, too."
And that would make our homes age-friendly, Aronson says. We might be able to put off moving to a nursing home for a long time. And we might be a lot happier if some day the nursing home is also our home.


npr--2020-05-21--Our Pandemic Habits Cut Carbon Emissions, But It's Not Clear They'll Last

Our Pandemic Habits Cut Carbon Emissions , But It 's Not Clear They 'll Last With businesses closed and people at home the country is using a lot less energy and emitting fewer of the greenhouse gases that warm the climate .
The big question is whether any of these energy-saving habits we 're developing now will stick as daily life starts to return to normal .
U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to decrease an extraordinary 11 % this year , according to the Energy Information Administration 's May Short-Term Energy Outlook .
But that may not last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rise again by 5 % next year as stay-at-home orders are lifted and the economy begins to recover .
There 's a lot of uncertainty in those projections because there are a lot of unknowns that will depend on hundreds of millions of decisions by individuals like Lee Carpenter .
`` We 've been a one-car household as long as my wife and I have been together , and we 've been together for 20 years , '' Carpenter says .
But that 's about to change because of COVID-19 .
Carpenter lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decisions .
She and her wife chose a house close to a rail line so Carpenter could take public transportation to Temple University , where she 's a law professor .
`` I 'm not sure that I 'll feel comfortable or safe taking mass transit for the foreseeable future , unfortunately , '' she says .
And the rail line is shut down now because of the pandemic , so she 's decided to buy a second car .
Carpenter figures her carbon footprint is still less than before since the family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how her energy consumption might change as life returns to normal , her guess is as good as anyone 's .
`` Right now I think I 'm doing the same thing that everyone is doing , which is really finding myself with an inability to project out what I 'll be doing more than about three weeks into the future , '' says Carpenter .
Do n't see the graphic above ?
Click here .
A big part of our energy use is habits — how we commute , when we turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and how often we go to the store .
We 're all changing those habits now .
Transportation experts are watching for clues to determine what will be the broader effects of all this change .
Late summer and early fall could be an important period to learn what new habits people might adopt .
`` The first metric is when schools open , when children leave the homes or the parents have the option of sending the kids to school , '' says Anurag Komanduri with the transportation consulting firm Cambridge Systematics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mass transit agencies are able to convince riders that measures like wearing masks and cleaning buses will keep them safe .
And there 's the big question of when companies will start to recall employees who are working at home now .
Already Americans are driving more as local officials relax stay-at-home orders .
Still , changes in how people commute could also save energy .
`` We waste billions of gallons of fuel every year , for example , in traffic commuting , everybody at the same time , '' says Amy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Council on Foreign Relations .
She says now that some employees have learned they can successfully do some work from home , they may choose to stop sitting in traffic at rush hour – maybe take that first morning meeting over video conference .
`` We could come in at a staggered way and not waste fuel , '' Jaffe says .
Twitter , for one , says some employees are welcome to give up commuting for good and work from home .
Some Google and Facebook employees will work from home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jaffe also says more people are shopping online and using delivery services now .
If that sticks it could lead to lower energy consumption because companies like UPS use navigation and computers to determine efficient routes .
`` In 2017 when UPS put in that system they saved 100 million miles of vehicle travel , '' Jaffe says .
The company says that saved about 10 million gallons of fuel , and the emissions they produce .
To be sure , the pandemic 's impact on greenhouse gas emissions will not be nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The U.N. has said emissions need to be cut 7.6 % every year for the next decade to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius , the goal of the Paris climate agreement .
Still , this unprecedented period of experimentation could lead to lasting changes that help that effort .
We 'll find out in coming months .

Our Pandemic Habits Cut Carbon Emissions, But It's Not Clear They'll Last
Enlarge this image toggle caption Elise Amendola/AP Elise Amendola/AP
With businesses closed and people at home the country is using a lot less energy and emitting fewer of the greenhouse gases that warm the climate.
The big question is whether any of these energy-saving habits we're developing now will stick as daily life starts to return to normal.
U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to decrease an extraordinary 11% this year, according to the Energy Information Administration's May Short-Term Energy Outlook.
But that may not last long. The agency projects emissions will rise again by 5% next year as stay-at-home orders are lifted and the economy begins to recover.
There's a lot of uncertainty in those projections because there are a lot of unknowns that will depend on hundreds of millions of decisions by individuals like Lee Carpenter.
"We've been a one-car household as long as my wife and I have been together, and we've been together for 20 years," Carpenter says. But that's about to change because of COVID-19.
Carpenter lives in Philadelphia and tries to make environmentally-friendly decisions. She and her wife chose a house close to a rail line so Carpenter could take public transportation to Temple University, where she's a law professor.
"I'm not sure that I'll feel comfortable or safe taking mass transit for the foreseeable future, unfortunately," she says.
And the rail line is shut down now because of the pandemic, so she's decided to buy a second car. Carpenter figures her carbon footprint is still less than before since the family canceled several cross-country airplane trips.
Asked how her energy consumption might change as life returns to normal, her guess is as good as anyone's.
"Right now I think I'm doing the same thing that everyone is doing, which is really finding myself with an inability to project out what I'll be doing more than about three weeks into the future," says Carpenter.
Don't see the graphic above? Click here.
A big part of our energy use is habits — how we commute, when we turn on the heat or air conditioning, and how often we go to the store. We're all changing those habits now. Transportation experts are watching for clues to determine what will be the broader effects of all this change.
Late summer and early fall could be an important period to learn what new habits people might adopt.
"The first metric is when schools open, when children leave the homes or the parents have the option of sending the kids to school," says Anurag Komanduri with the transportation consulting firm Cambridge Systematics.
Komanduri also is interested in whether mass transit agencies are able to convince riders that measures like wearing masks and cleaning buses will keep them safe. And there's the big question of when companies will start to recall employees who are working at home now.
Already Americans are driving more as local officials relax stay-at-home orders. Still, changes in how people commute could also save energy.
"We waste billions of gallons of fuel every year, for example, in traffic commuting, everybody at the same time," says Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
She says now that some employees have learned they can successfully do some work from home, they may choose to stop sitting in traffic at rush hour – maybe take that first morning meeting over video conference.
"We could come in at a staggered way and not waste fuel," Jaffe says.
Twitter, for one, says some employees are welcome to give up commuting for good and work from home. Some Google and Facebook employees will work from home through the end of the year.
Jaffe also says more people are shopping online and using delivery services now. If that sticks it could lead to lower energy consumption because companies like UPS use navigation and computers to determine efficient routes.
"In 2017 when UPS put in that system they saved 100 million miles of vehicle travel," Jaffe says.
The company says that saved about 10 million gallons of fuel, and the emissions they produce.
To be sure, the pandemic's impact on greenhouse gas emissions will not be nearly enough to address the warming climate. The U.N. has said emissions need to be cut 7.6% every year for the next decade to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal of the Paris climate agreement.
Still, this unprecedented period of experimentation could lead to lasting changes that help that effort. We'll find out in coming months.


npr--2020-05-21--She Gets Calls And Texts Meant For Elon Musk. Some Are Pretty Weird

She Gets Calls And Texts Meant For Elon Musk .
Some Are Pretty Weird There are a lot of people trying to reach celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk .
Sometimes , though , they get Lyndsay Tucker , a 25-year-old skin care consultant .
Tucker , who works at a Sephora beauty store in San Jose , Calif. , had never heard of the Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO until a couple years ago , when she began fielding a steady stream of calls and text messages intended for him .
`` I asked my mom , 'Hey , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I was also now starting to get phone calls — 'for this guy Elon Musk .
I do n't know who this is , ' `` Tucker said .
`` And my mom 's jaw just dropped . ''
Turns out , Tucker 's cellphone number used to be registered to Musk .
On any given day , she receives at least three calls or texts intended for Musk , whom she has never met .
If the maverick billionaire stirs controversy , as he is wont to do , her phone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Full disclosure : I reached out to Musk during one of those controversies , when he threatened to sue the California county that is home to Tesla 's headquarters over its coronavirus-related restrictions .
Instead , I got Tucker . )
She has accidentally intercepted far more interesting calls than mine , however .
One woman volunteered to go to space with SpaceX .
Another person sent a blueprint for a bionic limb .
`` Which is , No .
1 , really cool , '' Tucker said .
`` But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ built . ''
A South African businessman asked about buying 1,000 trucks .
The Internal Revenue Service called about a complicated tax issue .
`` I assumed I had messed something up , '' Tucker said about that call .
`` It was a huge relief they were n't looking for me . ''
Former Walt Disney executive John Lasseter texted about the Tesla he bought , calling it a `` magnificent car !
!
! ''
and adding , `` The self driving is a trip ! ''
`` I actually ended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his son , '' Tucker said of Lasseter .
`` I got to talk to him and apologized for never messaging his father back , '' she said .
`` We ended up laughing about it . ''
Recently , Jeff Gold , an Atlanta-area inventor , who did business with Musk in the 1990s , sent a text about some coronavirus research .
`` He gave me his number a long time ago , '' Gold said .
`` I just went on and tracked down the correct number and resent my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tucker 's number was once associated with a condo Musk bought and sold years ago in Palo Alto , Calif. After Musk got rid of the number , AT & T randomly reassigned it to Tucker .
But online , the number took on a life of its own .
It was replicated on dozens of listing websites as Musk 's current digits .
NPR reached out to Musk to see whether he knew about his long-lost number .
He replied with a short email .
`` Wow , '' Musk said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 'm surprised it 's still out there somewhere . ''
Some of those who texted Tucker said Musk himself provided the number to them .
When NPR asked Musk whether he gave out that number to people he was trying to dodge , he did not respond .
However people obtain the number , it is often up to Tucker to convince them she is not Musk .
`` They say , 'Oh , how do I know you 're not Elon ? '
`` she said .
`` And they suddenly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even though they 're obviously talking to a woman on the phone . ''
The incessant calls and texts offer Tucker a rare window into the life of the flamboyant tech CEO , a glimpse she finds `` amusing . ''
Yet sometimes it can feel like a full-time job .
`` Whenever I see his name pop up in the news , I 'm like , 'OK , I have to actually learn what he said because , chances are , someone is going to message me about it or call me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Even though I find it funny most of the time , it does get irritating sometimes when it 's like call after call after call . ''
Though she intends to keep the number , her ability to respond to all the Musk calls and texts changes by the day .
To those who think it is Musk ignoring their calls and texts , Tucker has a message : '' I 'm sorry .
Sometimes I do n't respond if I 'm having a rough day .
So if you did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ probably me , not him , '' she said .
`` Do n't feel too let down . ''

She Gets Calls And Texts Meant For Elon Musk. Some Are Pretty Weird
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jessica Chou for NPR Jessica Chou for NPR
There are a lot of people trying to reach celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk. Sometimes, though, they get Lyndsay Tucker, a 25-year-old skin care consultant.
Tucker, who works at a Sephora beauty store in San Jose, Calif., had never heard of the Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO until a couple years ago, when she began fielding a steady stream of calls and text messages intended for him.
"I asked my mom, 'Hey, I keep getting these text messages' — and I was also now starting to get phone calls — 'for this guy Elon Musk. I don't know who this is,' " Tucker said. "And my mom's jaw just dropped."
Turns out, Tucker's cellphone number used to be registered to Musk. On any given day, she receives at least three calls or texts intended for Musk, whom she has never met.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
If the maverick billionaire provokes a scandal, as he is wont to do, her phone blows up with a torrent of messages. (Full disclosure: I reached out to Musk during one of those controversies, when he threatened to sue the California county that is home to Tesla's manufacturing plant over its coronavirus-related restrictions. Instead, I got Tucker.)
She has accidentally intercepted far more interesting calls than mine, however. One woman volunteered to go to space with SpaceX. Another person sent a blueprint for a bionic limb. "Which is, No. 1, really cool," Tucker said. "But I have no idea how it's built."
A South African businessman asked about buying 1,000 trucks. The Internal Revenue Service called about a complicated tax issue.
"I assumed I had messed something up," Tucker said about that call. "It was a huge relief they weren't looking for me."
Former Walt Disney executive John Lasseter texted about the Tesla he bought, calling it a "magnificent car!!!" and adding, "The self driving is a trip!"
"I actually ended up going to the same college as his son," Tucker said of Lasseter.
"I got to talk to him and apologized for never messaging his father back," she said. "We ended up laughing about it."
Recently, Jeff Gold, an Atlanta-area inventor, who did business with Musk in the 1990s, sent a text about some coronavirus research.
"He gave me his number a long time ago," Gold said. "I just went on and tracked down the correct number and resent my text."
Public records show that Tucker's number was once associated with a condo Musk bought and sold years ago in Palo Alto, Calif. After Musk got rid of the number, AT&T randomly reassigned it to Tucker. But online, the number took on a life of its own. It was replicated on dozens of listing websites as Musk's current digits.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jessica Chou for NPR Jessica Chou for NPR
NPR reached out to Musk to see whether he knew about his long-lost number. He replied with a short email.
"Wow," Musk said. "That number is so old! I'm surprised it's still out there somewhere."
Some of those who texted Tucker said Musk himself provided the number to them. When NPR asked Musk whether he gave out that number to people he was trying to dodge, he did not respond.
However people obtain the number, it is often up to Tucker to convince them she is not Musk.
"They say, 'Oh, how do I know you're not Elon?' " she said. "And they suddenly want proof that I'm not him even though they're obviously talking to a woman on the phone."
The incessant calls and texts offer Tucker a rare window into the life of the flamboyant tech CEO, a glimpse she finds "amusing." Yet sometimes it can feel like a full-time job.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jessica Chou for NPR Jessica Chou for NPR
"Whenever I see his name pop up in the news, I'm like, 'OK, I have to actually learn what he said because, chances are, someone is going to message me about it or call me about it,' " Tucker said. "Even though I find it funny most of the time, it does get irritating sometimes when it's like call after call after call."
She intends to keep the number, since she's an aspiring actress with a network of contacts who know her by those digits.
But she acknowledges that her ability to respond to all the Musk calls and texts changes by the day.
To those who think it is Musk ignoring them, Tucker has a message.
"I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't respond if I'm having a rough day. So if you didn't get a response, it's probably me, not him," she said. "Don't feel too let down."


npr--2020-05-20--Expedition To Salvage Titanic's Wireless Telegraph Gets The Go-Ahead

Expedition To Salvage Titanic 's Wireless Telegraph Gets The Go-Ahead In the final hours it took the R.M.S .
Titanic to sink , wireless telegraph operators issued a series of increasingly frantic messages calling for rescue .
They went from detailed to desperate .
The last transmission — issued just a few minutes before the `` unsinkable '' ship disappeared below the surface of the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg — was just five words : `` Come quick .
Engine room nearly full . ''
The messages offer a poignant record of the final moments of chaos and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And this week a federal judge ruled that the wireless telegraph set may be recovered from the wreckage .
U.S. Judge Rebecca Smith said retrieval of the Edwardian technology — the most advanced of its time — `` will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic , those who survived , and those who gave their lives in the sinking , '' the Associated Press reported .
The decision is a victory for RMS Titanic Inc. , a private company with exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a decades-long legal battle to gain the right to extract the equipment and other artifacts from the ship .
In 2000 , an earlier judge denied the company permission to cut into the shipwreck or detach any part of it .
But Smith appeared swayed by RMST 's argument that remnants of the luxurious vessel are rapidly deteriorating .
`` While many items that remain in and around the Titanic wreckage have the ability to enlighten generations on the lives of its passengers , only one item holds the story of all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president of the company said in a statement on Facebook .
He added that the system `` remains an unsung hero , responsible for countless generations of families that exist only because the radio cried out on behalf of their ancestors .
For that reason , we must recover this incredible piece of history , to rescue the radio that saved 705 lives from being taken from the world that fateful night . ''
Many archeologists and preservationists oppose the project , saying it desecrates what is a grave for the 1,500 crew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's maiden voyage .
RMST has two working plans for retrieving the telegraph .
The first would involve using a remotely operated vehicle to enter Titanic through a skylight over the room where the machine is held .
The second would require cutting a hole into the hull .
Smith 's Monday decision includes some conditions .
Most notably that the court must approve the company 's funding plan `` to ensure that RMST not only has the money to raise the artifacts , but also to conserve and document them , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of financial strife , the salvage company recently emerged from bankruptcy and is under new ownership .
RMST is planning the expedition to Titanic this summer .

Expedition To Salvage Titanic's Wireless Telegraph Gets The Go-Ahead
Enlarge this image toggle caption Angie Wang/AP Angie Wang/AP
In the final hours it took the R.M.S. Titanic to sink, wireless telegraph operators issued a series of increasingly frantic messages calling for rescue.
They went from detailed to desperate.
The last transmission — issued just a few minutes before the "unsinkable" ship disappeared below the surface of the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg — was just six words: "Come quick. Engine room nearly full."
The messages offer a poignant record of the final moments of chaos and tragedy aboard the Titanic in April 1912.
And this week a federal judge ruled that the wireless telegraph set may be recovered from the wreckage.
U.S. Judge Rebecca Smith said retrieval of the Edwardian technology — the most advanced of its time — "will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking," the Associated Press reported.
The decision is a victory for RMS Titanic Inc., a private company with exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship. It has been waging a decades-long legal battle to gain the right to extract the equipment and other artifacts from the ship.
In 2000, an earlier judge denied the company permission to cut into the shipwreck or detach any part of it. But Smith appeared swayed by RMST's argument that remnants of the luxurious vessel are rapidly deteriorating.
"While many items that remain in and around the Titanic wreckage have the ability to enlighten generations on the lives of its passengers, only one item holds the story of all of the survivors," Bretton Hunchak, president of the company said in a statement on Facebook.
He added that the system "remains an unsung hero, responsible for countless generations of families that exist only because the radio cried out on behalf of their ancestors. For that reason, we must recover this incredible piece of history, to rescue the radio that saved 705 lives from being taken from the world that fateful night."
Many archeologists and preservationists oppose the project, saying it desecrates what is a grave for the 1,500 crew and passengers who died on the ship's maiden voyage.
RMST has two working plans for retrieving the telegraph. The first would involve using a remotely operated vehicle to enter Titanic through a skylight over the room where the machine is held. The second would require cutting a hole into the hull.
Smith's Monday decision includes some conditions. Most notably that the court must approve the company's funding plan "to ensure that RMST not only has the money to raise the artifacts, but also to conserve and document them," according to National Geographic.
After years of financial strife, the salvage company recently emerged from bankruptcy and is under new ownership.
RMST is planning the expedition to Titanic this summer.


npr--2020-05-20--Money Tracker: How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election

Money Tracker : How Much Trump And Biden Have Raised In The 2020 Election Which presidential candidate has the fundraising @ @ @ @ @ much money the campaigns of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have raised @ @ @ @ @ their Federal Election Commission filings .
( Keep in mind that Trump 's reelection campaign @ @ @ @ @ . )
This tracker will be updated with each monthly report , prior to the @ @ @ @ @ , the universe of campaign finance is far bigger than what one candidate raises alone @ @ @ @ @ , which can raise and spend unlimited amounts , can help or hurt the fortunes @ @ @ @ @ On both Biden 's and Trump 's sides , these independent groups have raised tens @ @ @ @ @ their own .
Each party also has its own committee to help elect the president @ @ @ @ @ concert with the official campaign and further contributes to the war chest .
Do n't @ @ @ @ @ story ?
Click here .

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


npr--2020-05-20--Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots

Researchers : Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots , researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said on Wednesday .
Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets since January discussing the virus and found that about 45 % were sent by accounts that behave more like computerized robots than humans .
It is too early to say conclusively what individuals or groups are behind the bot accounts , but researchers said the tweets appeared aimed at sowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that it looks like it 's a propaganda machine , and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks , but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that , '' said Kathleen Carley , a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University , who is conducting a study into bot-generated coronavirus activity on Twitter that has yet to be published .
Researchers identified more than 100 false narratives about COVID-19 that are proliferating on Twitter by accounts controlled by bots .
Among the misinformation disseminated by bot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitals being filled with mannequins , or tweets connected the spread of the coronavirus to 5G wireless towers , a notion that is patently untrue .
Such bogus ideas on the Internet have caused real-world harm .
In England , dozens of wireless towers have been set on fire in acts officials believe have been fueled by false conspiracy theories linking the rollout of 5G technology to the coronavirus .
`` We 're seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we 'd predicted based on previous natural disasters , crises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Using a so-called bot-hunter tool , researchers flagged accounts that tweet more than is humanly possible , or claim to be in multiple countries within a few hour period .
Researchers say they examine a Twitter account 's followers , frequency of tweeting and how often the user is mentioned on the platform in determining whether the tweeter is a bot account .
`` When we see a whole bunch of tweets at the same time or back to back , it 's like they 're timed , '' Carley said .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same exact hashtag , or messaging that appears to be copied and pasted from one bot to the next . ''
A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment on the Carnegie Mellon findings , but the company says it has removed thousands of tweets containing misleading or potentially harmful information about the coronavirus .
Twitter says its automated systems have `` challenged '' 1.5 million accounts that were targeting discussions about COVID-19 with malicious or manipulative behavior .
Last week , Twitter unveiled new labels that will accompany misleading , disputed or unverified tweets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tamp down the rapid spread of tweets carrying harmful and false information about the global health crisis .
Where in the world most of the bot accounts are based is still being probed by researchers , though some reports have implicated Russia actors in the spread of misinformation in the U.S. amid the pandemic .
Reuters in March reported that Russian media have recently deployed a widespread disinformation campaign against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus to create panic and distrust .
Efforts to fight back against the spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the federal government and election security experts keep a watchful eye on the November election .
American intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election .
Experts believe Russian actors will try to influence the 2020 vote as well , including by using social media to amplify their messages .
Carley with Carnegie Mellon said countering bot accounts on Twitter is not a simple task .
Blocked accounts can resurface and the disinformation networks are sophisticated and difficult to completely root out .
She offers this advice , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for tweets being sent out very quickly , or profile images and usernames that appear suspicious .
`` Even if someone appears to be from your community , if you do n't know them personally , take a closer look , and always go to authoritative or trusted sources for information , '' Carley said .
`` Just be very vigilant . ''

Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jeff Chiu/AP Jeff Chiu/AP
Updated at 7:55 p.m. ET
Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday.
Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets discussing the virus since January and found that about 45% were sent by accounts that behave more like computerized robots than humans.
It is too early to say conclusively which individuals or groups are behind the bot accounts, but researchers said the tweets appeared aimed at sowing division in America.
"We do know that it looks like it's a propaganda machine, and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks, but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that," said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is conducting a study into bot-generated coronavirus activity on Twitter that has yet to be published.
Researchers identified more than 100 false narratives about COVID-19 that are proliferating on Twitter by accounts controlled by bots.
Among the misinformation disseminated by bot accounts: tweeted conspiracy theories about hospitals being filled with mannequins or tweets that connected the spread of the coronavirus to 5G wireless towers, a notion that is patently untrue.
Such bogus ideas on the Internet have caused real-world harm. In England, dozens of wireless towers have been set on fire in acts officials believe have been fueled by false conspiracy theories linking the rollout of 5G technology to the coronavirus.
"We're seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we'd predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises and elections," Carley said.
Using a so-called bot-hunter tool, researchers flagged accounts that tweet more than is humanly possible or claim to be in multiple countries within a few hours' period. Researchers say they examine a Twitter account's followers, frequency of tweeting and how often the user is mentioned on the platform in determining whether the tweeter is a bot account.
"When we see a whole bunch of tweets at the same time or back to back, it's like they're timed," Carley said. "We also look for use of the same exact hashtag, or messaging that appears to be copied and pasted from one bot to the next."
In response to the Carnegie Mellon findings, a Twitter spokesman pointed to the company's previous statements arguing that the term bot can be used to describe a wide range of behavior on the platform, not all of which is in violation of Twitter's rules.
"People often refer to bots when describing everything from automated account activity to individuals who would prefer to be anonymous for personal or safety reasons, or avoid a photo because they've got strong privacy concerns," the Twitter spokesman said, adding that describing an account as a bot can be deployed by "those in positions of political power to tarnish the views of people who may disagree with them or online public opinion that's not favorable."
Nonetheless, Twitter says it has removed thousands of tweets containing misleading or potentially harmful information about the coronavirus.
Twitter says its automated systems have "challenged" 1.5 million accounts that were targeting discussions about COVID-19 with malicious or manipulative behavior.
Last week, Twitter unveiled new labels that will accompany misleading, disputed or unverified tweets about the coronavirus, an effort that attempts to tamp down the rapid spread of tweets carrying harmful and false information about the global health crisis.
Where in the world most of the bot accounts are based is still being probed by researchers, though some reports have implicated Russian actors in the spread of misinformation in the U.S. amid the pandemic.
Reuters reported in March that Russian media have recently deployed a widespread disinformation campaign against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus to create panic and distrust.
Efforts to fight back against the spread of false information about COVID-19 come just as the federal government and election security experts keep a watchful eye on the November election.
American intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Experts believe Russian actors will try to influence the 2020 vote as well, including by using social media to amplify their messages.
Carley with Carnegie Mellon said countering bot accounts on Twitter is not a simple task. Blocked accounts can resurface, and the disinformation networks are sophisticated and difficult to completely root out.
She offers this advice, though: Look out for subtle typos, for tweets being sent out very quickly, or profile images and usernames that appear suspicious.
"Even if someone appears to be from your community, if you don't know them personally, take a closer look, and always go to authoritative or trusted sources for information," Carley said. "Just be very vigilant."


npr--2020-05-21--570 Workers Have Coronavirus At North Carolina Poultry Plant

Meat processing plants across the country are struggling with outbreaks of the coronavirus .
That includes the Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Wilkes County , N.C. More than 2,200 workers were tested at the Wilkesboro plant and 570 were positive for the coronavirus .
Tyson said a majority of the workers who had the virus did n't show any symptoms .
The outbreaks have happened despite Tyson temporarily closing parts of the facility for deep cleaning and worker absences related to quarantines and other factors .
The company says it plans to ramp up operations again this week .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wilkesboro .
He said local officials are doing all they can in a difficult situation .
`` The hard part is it 's a balancing act .
We 're trying to protect the community , we 're trying to protect the Tyson team members but we are also under the mandate for the federal government to do everything we can to keep that Tyson plant operating to provide food for the nation , '' said Noland .
This is the second time this month the plant has temporarily halted operations .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a suspected outbreak .
Previously , the Wilkes County Health Department tested 200 workers on site , and 39 were positive for the virus .
Tyson also tested hundreds of employees on site and did n't release those results until yesterday .
The company says several new safety measures have been put in place at the Wilkesboro site .
Those include plastic dividers between workstations , daily temperature checks with thermal scans , even tents outside for more break room social distancing space .
But some of these measures were already in place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Labor advocates say the industry is n't doing enough to protect workers in these kinds of facilities and many employees are n't confident in these protections to come back to work .
The company also has temporarily idled plants in other states including , Iowa , Indiana and Nebraska .
And Tyson 's not alone .
Meat and poultry processing plants have become coronavirus hot spots throughout the U.S. Smithfield Foods and Hormel Foods are among those that have shuttered plants because of COVID-19 outbreaks .
`` We are working closely with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members and their families , and to help manage the spread of the virus in our communities , '' said Tom Brower , senior vice president of health and safety for Tyson Foods in a press release .
`` We are using the most up-to-date data and resources to support our team members , and we are committed to ensuring they feel safe and secure when they come to work . ''
Tyson is the largest employer in Wilkes County and pumps in hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive for the virus will receive paid sick leave .
The Wilkesboro plant is among 30 production facilities in the U.S. where the company is rolling out additional COVID-19 testing and on site medical services for workers .

570 Workers Test Positive For Coronavirus At North Carolina Poultry Plant
Enlarge this image toggle caption Keri Brown/WFDD Keri Brown/WFDD
Meat processing plants across the country are struggling with outbreaks of the coronavirus. That includes the Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Wilkes County, N.C.
More than 2,200 workers were tested at the Wilkesboro plant, and 570 were positive for the coronavirus. Tyson said a majority of the workers who had the virus didn't show any symptoms.
The outbreaks have happened despite Tyson temporarily closing parts of the facility for deep cleaning and worker absences related to quarantines and other factors. The company says it plans to ramp up operations again this week.
Ken Noland is the town manager of Wilkesboro. He said local officials are doing all they can in a difficult situation.
"The hard part is it's a balancing act. We're trying to protect the community. We're trying to protect the Tyson team members. But we are also under the mandate for the federal government to do everything we can to keep that Tyson plant operating to provide food for the nation," Noland said.
This is the second time this month the plant has temporarily halted operations. It was closed for cleaning earlier this month after a suspected outbreak. Previously, the Wilkes County Health Department tested 200 workers on-site, and 39 were positive for the virus. Tyson also tested hundreds of employees on-site and didn't release those results until Wednesday.
The company said several new safety measures have been put in place at the Wilkesboro site. Those include plastic dividers between workstations, daily temperature checks with thermal scans, even tents outside for more break room social distancing space. But some of these measures were already in place and didn't stop this latest outbreak.
Labor advocates have said the industry isn't doing enough to protect workers in these kinds of facilities and many employees aren't confident in these protections to return to work.
The company also has temporarily idled plants in other states including Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska. And Tyson's not alone. Meat and poultry processing plants have become coronavirus hot spots throughout the U.S. Smithfield Foods and Hormel Foods are among those that have shuttered plants because of COVID-19 outbreaks.
"We are working closely with local health departments to protect our team members and their families, and to help manage the spread of the virus in our communities," Tom Brower, senior vice president of health and safety for Tyson Foods, said in a press release. "We are using the most up-to-date data and resources to support our team members, and we are committed to ensuring they feel safe and secure when they come to work."
Tyson is the largest employer in Wilkes County and pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy each year.
Tyson said workers who test positive for the virus will receive paid sick leave. The Wilkesboro plant is among 30 production facilities in the U.S. where the company is rolling out additional COVID-19 testing and on-site medical services for workers.