vox--2020-05-18--The killing of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black jogger in Georgia, explained

After two months of limited investigation into the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery — an unarmed black man who was attacked by two white men while jogging — the Department of Justice is determining whether hate crimes charges are warranted in the case , and has begun a review of how Arbery ’ s killing was handled .
On May 5 , Arbery ’ s family released a graphic video showing the last moments of the 25-year-old ’ s life .
Two white men — Gregory McMichael , 64 , a retired district attorney investigator and police detective , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had armed themselves and followed Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him jog by ; they later told police officers they believed Arbery to be a suspect in two burglaries in the Satilla Shores area .
Arbery ’ s mother , Wanda Cooper-Jones , told CBS News that the video “ proves that my son was not committing a crime .
He was out for his daily jog and he was hunted down like an animal and killed.
” The footage sparked outrage among criminal justice advocates across the country , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a grand jury to investigate the fatal shooting .
An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found Arbery was killed by two shotgun blasts to his chest , and that his wrist was also wounded by a shotgun .
Two days after the video was released , the McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault .
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation followed this arrest with an announcement that the man who captured the video — the McMichaels ’ neighbor , William “ Roddie ” Bryan — was now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death has been compared with the shooting deaths of many other unarmed black people , including 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and Botham Jean , who was killed in his Dallas apartment in 2018 .
The release of the video has sparked protests in Georgia — where social distancing requirements were recently relaxed — with hundreds of people marching through Satilla Shores , promising to “ run with Maud ” and chanting , “ We want justice !
” “ The video is very clear that they were on the truck with guns hunting him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Crump , who represents Arbery ’ s father , told the Associated Press .
“ I don ’ t know what more you need to make an arrest.
” Prior to the video ’ s release , the only public record of Arbery ’ s final moments were the statements the McMichaels gave to police .
An investigation into the shooting had been limited , as a series of prosecutors recused themselves from the case .
This has frustrated Arbery ’ s supporters , who argue that his killing — and the subsequent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how little has changed in an area of Georgia that ’ s been described as dotted with Confederate flags , with a history of mobs of white men taking justice into their own hands in a manner that leaves black men dead .
Everything we know about Ahmaud Arbery ’ s killing Arbery , a former high school football star , was passionate about staying in shape , according to friends and family , who told the New York Times he often spent his free time running .
He went for one such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Satilla Shores , a few miles away from his home in Glynn County .
“ The video is very clear that they were on the truck with guns hunting him down .
I don ’ t know what more you need to make an arrest.
” Gregory McMichael claims he was in his front yard when he saw Arbery “ hauling ass , ” after which he ran inside to get a weapon and his son , Travis .
He told police that he said , “ Travis , the guy is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s go.
” By “ the guy , ” he meant the person responsible for what some in the neighborhood have described as two burglaries .
Larry English , a man whose home was under construction in the McMichaels ’ neighborhood , said someone stole $ 2,500 in fishing gear from him earlier this year , but he never reported the theft , he told the Daily Beast ; he has also never accused Arbery of committing any crimes .
It has since come to light , however , that the Glynn County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , asking him to reach out to Gregory McMichael whenever he “ got action ” on his surveillance camera , according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .
“ Greg is retired Law Enforcement and also a Retired Investigator from the DA ’ s office , ” Officer Robert Rash texted English , along with McMichael ’ s phone number .
“ He said please call him day or night when you get action on your camera.
” English ’ s attorney said her client never took McMichael up on his offer .
Trespassing on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a common occurrence .
In mid-May , CNN obtained 11 surveillance clips from English ’ s attorney and found that multiple people , including women and children , had entered the home in the months leading up to Arbery ’ s death .
The only confirmed instance of Arbery himself being on the property was on February 23 .
The second burglary in the area was reported to police by Travis McMichael , who said a 9 mm pistol was stolen on January 1 from a vehicle parked outside his home .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s killing , Gregory McMichael said the burglar had been caught on surveillance video and that Arbery matched the description of the suspect .
There seemed to be concern about Arbery ’ s presence in the neighborhood for much of his time there on the afternoon of February 23 ; several calls , at least one of which was from the McMichaels , were placed to 911 .
Satilla Shores is a predominantly white neighborhood , one the Daily Beast ’ s Justin Glawe describes as featuring “ several homes ... decorated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president ’ s smiling face with the phrase , Make liberals cry again.
” The first featured a caller expressing distress about Arbery being near a house that is under construction on property owned by English .
The dispatcher asked what Arbery was doing wrong but never received an answer .
Arbery ’ s family has said he ’ s always been inquisitive and was likely just having a look at the bones of the home , since that ’ s something one doesn ’ t see every day .
After that first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which the caller said , “ I ’ m out here at Satilla Shores .
There ’ s a black male running down the street.
” The caller can be heard yelling , “ Watch that .
Stop , damn it !
Stop !
” but stops responding to the dispatcher ’ s inquiries .
As these calls were being made , the McMichaels were preparing to pursue Arbery .
George McMichael told police he armed himself with a .357 magnum while his son got a shotgun .
George told police he felt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d seen Arbery in the neighborhood previously with his hand in his pants in a manner suggestive of a firearm .
Then the men got into Travis McMichael ’ s pickup truck and began to chase Arbery through the neighborhood .
Arbery ’ s uncle told the Brunswick News that Arbery was amazingly fast and agile .
And the police report suggests that — despite being on foot — he evaded the McMichaels for a time .
George McMichael claims his son tried to cut off Arbery with his truck , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other direction .
The police report mentions another person , identified only as “ Roddy ” — William Bryan — who tried unsuccessfully to cut Arbery off with his vehicle .
McMichael claims they were able to catch up with Arbery and shouted out of the truck , “ Stop , stop , we want to talk to you , ” before stopping the truck beside him , at which point Travis exited with his shotgun .
Then , McMichael claims , Arbery attacked his son , the two men fought over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and then Arbery fell , bleeding .
The officer who wrote the report said Arbery died not long after police arrived on the scene .
But the video — filmed by Bryan from his vehicle — appears to show something slightly different .
Civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt , who is representing Arbery ’ s family , reposted the video on his Twitter account on May 5 .
As the vehicle turns a bend in a road , a black man wearing a white shirt — what Arbery was described as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen running .
A white pickup truck , ostensibly the McMichaels ’ , blocks his path ; a white man is in the street next to the driver ’ s side of the truck , and another stands in the flatbed .
The video is blocked by the dashboard for a moment , and some unintelligible yelling can be heard .
The video then shows the black man trying to run around the truck .
It ’ s not possible to see what happens next , but there ’ s a gunshot ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who was standing in the road reappear in the frame , engaged in a struggle , and move off the road , again leaving the video ’ s frame .
As the man in the flatbed brings up his firearm , there ’ s another gunshot .
The video Merritt posted ends with the struggle — seemingly over possession of a firearm — continuing .
A longer version available online features a third gunshot , and the black man falling to the pavement , his shirt seemingly red with blood .
While the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ on the ground ‘ bleeding out , ’ ” according to the report .
Travis McMichael had blood on his hands ; his father said this was from Travis rolling Arbery ’ s body over to check for a gun .
An autopsy report released May 12 revealed that Arbery was shot twice in the chest and “ had a third wound ” on one of his wrists .
Arbery ’ s supporters say this is a clear case of racist murder — but complications have inhibited an investigation Advocates for Arbery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case of racial profiling ; in his caption for the video , Merritt wrote , “ Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him without justification.
” It ’ s a sentiment echoed by others , including presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden , who tweeted , “ The video is clear : Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood.
” Stacey Abrams , who narrowly lost Georgia ’ s 2018 gubernatorial election and who has said she hopes to become Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ full investigation , appropriate charges , and an unbiased prosecution.
” But charges have been slow in coming , due to conflicts of interest and Georgia ’ s stand-your-ground law and citizen ’ s arrest law .
The case is on its fourth prosecutor ; the first put in charge of the case , Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson , recused herself because she ’ d previously employed George McMichael .
The district attorney of Waycross , Georgia , George Barnhill , was then assigned to it , but he recused himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his son works in Johnson ’ s office .
Barnhill officially recused himself in an April 7 letter — and in it , he wrote that his son and Gregory McMichael “ both helped with the previous prosecution of Arbery ” on behalf of Johnson ’ s office .
Arbery was convicted of probation violation after facing a shoplifting charge in 2018 , something Barnhill pointed out in an earlier letter in which he laid out the reasons he believed the McMichaels had done nothing wrong .
In that letter , dated April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health issues , and highlighted not just the shoplifting issue , but also the incident that led to Arbery being placed on probation : having brought a gun to campus while he was in high school .
The letter also notes Georgia has an open-carry law , a separate state law allows a private citizen to attempt arrests if an “ offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge , ” and that it has a stand-your-ground law that allows someone who feels threatened “ to use deadly force to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first try to retreat or call law enforcement .
Merritt has dismissed Barnhill ’ s interpretation of these laws , telling CNN he doesn ’ t believe the McMichaels were trying to make a citizen ’ s arrest , noting that the McMichaels ’ statements frame the shooting as an act of self-defense .
And he said the citizen ’ s arrest law says “ you actually have to be observing the crime or be in the immediate knowledge of the crime ” but argues the McMichaels never claimed this was the case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gregory McMichael had his law enforcement certification suspended last year after repeatedly failing to complete required training .
He also received a warning in 2014 for neglecting to finish mandatory firearms and use-of-force classes .
Merritt has also pushed back against other claims in Barnhill ’ s letter , including the references to Arbery ’ s mental health and previous interactions with the legal system .
“ The reference to ... alleged conduct from high school or shoplifting is absurd and has nothing to do with his murder , ” Merritt said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gregory McMichael , and Arbery , however .
When Barnhill recused himself in an April 7 letter , he wrote that his son and Gregory McMichael “ both helped with the previous prosecution of Arbery ” on behalf of Johnson ’ s office .
The real impetus behind the killing , Merritt suggested , can be seen in the 911 calls , when the caller fails to give a clear reason for the call but does note , “ There ’ s a black male running down the street.
” Gregory McMichael told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was irrelevant and that he “ never would have gone after someone for their color , ” saying instead that Barnhill ’ s letter is the “ closest version of the truth.
” Meanwhile , pressure has mounted for Barnhill and Johnson to be removed from office .
Protesters gathered at the Glynn County Courthouse on May 16 to demand their resignations .
“ Racism is real in America and racism is real in Brunswick , Georgia and we come today to send a message to the racists and the supremacist that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have , ” Rev .
Timothy McDonald said at the protests , Reuters reported .
Investigations have ramped up since the video went viral On the day the graphic video went viral , the third district attorney on the case — Tom Durden of Hinesville , Georgia — announced that a grand jury would investigate the killing , and accepted an offer from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation , an independent state agency with investigative and forensic expertise , for assistance .
Two days after the state took over the case , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Glynn County jail .
They both face charges of aggravated assault and murder .
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds also announced that Bryan was also under investigation .
“ Hypothetically , if we believe there ’ s probable cause for an arrest , then we ’ ll do it , ” Reynolds said in regards to whether there will be further arrests in the case , according to BuzzFeed News .
On May 10 , Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced he had asked the Department of Justice to investigate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset , ” Carr said in a statement .
“ The family , the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers , and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.
” Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec responded , saying , “ The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice , the FBI , and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fully to support and participate in the state investigation .
We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate.
” Meanwhile , Carr reassigned the case to a new district attorney , Joyette Holmes of Cobb County , which is northwest of Atlanta .
In a statement , Carr said that while Durden had been executing his duties well , he believed someone with more resources was needed .
“ This case has grown in size and magnitude since [ Durden ] accepted the appointment on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ As an experienced District Attorney , Tom has recognized that another office is better suited from a resource perspective to now handle the case.
” Holmes is the first black woman to lead Cobb County ’ s district attorney office , and has served in that role since 2019 .
She was previously a chief magistrate , and has served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney .
Attorneys of Arbery ’ s family have praised the decision , with Merritt and Chris Stewart , another of Cooper-Jones ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carr to assign a new district attorney to the case as they felt “ the south Georgia prosecutorial community was tainted by the delay in action prior to the video being released.
” Correction : An earlier version of this story miscategorized the incidents described by Larry English and Travis McMichael .
They were described as thefts or burglaries .
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Editor’s note, November 24, 2021: This article was last updated in June 2020. Travis and Gregory McMichael and William Bryan have since been found guilty in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder. To read our latest coverage of the verdict, click here.
The three white men arrested in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery — an unarmed black man who was attacked while jogging — were indicted on murder charges Wednesday by a grand jury in Georgia.
Arbery was killed on February 23, when Gregory McMichael, 64, a retired district attorney investigator and police detective, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, armed themselves and followed him in a pickup truck after seeing him jog by. They later told police officers they believed Arbery to be a suspect in two burglaries in the Satilla Shores area.
The McMichaels — along with neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, who filmed the incident — were arrested and charged last month with murder. And on Wednesday, District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes announced that the Glynn County grand jury had returned an indictment on all three defendants, including four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
While the shooting happened months ago, the case did not receive national attention until Bryan’s graphic video — released by Arbery’s family and showing the last moments of the 25-year-old’s life — went viral on May 5.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told CBS News that the video “proves that my son was not committing a crime. He was out for his daily jog and he was hunted down like an animal and killed.”
The footage sparked outrage among criminal justice advocates across the country, and led to the call for a grand jury to investigate the fatal shooting. The Department of Justice is also looking into hate crime charges and reviewing how Arbery’s killing was handled on the state and local levels.
Arbery’s death has been compared with the shooting deaths of many other unarmed black people, including 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and Botham Jean, who was killed in his Dallas apartment in 2018. Protests have continued in Georgia — where social distancing requirements were recently relaxed — with hundreds of people marching through Satilla Shores, promising to “run with Maud” and chanting, “We want justice!”
“The video is very clear that they were on the truck with guns hunting him down,” civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents Arbery’s father, told the Associated Press. “I don’t know what more you need to make an arrest.”
Prior to the video’s release, the only public record of Arbery’s final moments were the statements the McMichaels gave to police. An investigation into the shooting had been limited, as a series of prosecutors recused themselves from the case over their ties to Gregory McMichael. This has frustrated Arbery’s supporters, who argue that his killing — and the subsequent actions of local law enforcement — shows how little has changed in an area of Georgia that’s been described as dotted with Confederate flags, with a history of mobs of white men taking justice into their own hands in a manner that leaves black men dead.
Everything we know about Ahmaud Arbery’s killing
Arbery, a former high school football star, was passionate about staying in shape, according to friends and family, who told the New York Times he often spent his free time running. He went for one such run on February 23, ending up in Satilla Shores, a few miles away from his home in Glynn County.
“The video is very clear that they were on the truck with guns hunting him down. I don’t know what more you need to make an arrest.”
Gregory McMichael claims he was in his front yard when he saw Arbery “hauling ass,” after which he ran inside to get a weapon and his son, Travis. He told police that he said, “Travis, the guy is running down the street, let’s go.”
By “the guy,” he meant the person responsible for what some in the neighborhood have described as two burglaries. Larry English, a man whose home was under construction in the McMichaels’ neighborhood, said someone stole $2,500 in fishing gear from him earlier this year, but he never reported the theft, he told the Daily Beast; he also never accused Arbery of committing any crimes.
It has since come to light, however, that the Glynn County Police Department contacted English in December 2019, asking him to reach out to Gregory McMichael whenever he “got action” on his surveillance camera, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Greg is retired Law Enforcement and also a Retired Investigator from the DA’s office,” Officer Robert Rash texted English, along with McMichael’s phone number. “He said please call him day or night when you get action on your camera.” English’s attorney said her client never took McMichael up on his offer.
Trespassing on English’s property was, apparently, a common occurrence. In mid-May, CNN obtained 11 surveillance clips from English’s attorney and found that multiple people, including women and children, had entered the home in the months leading up to Arbery’s death. The only confirmed instance of Arbery himself being on the property was on February 23.
The second burglary in the area was reported to police by Travis McMichael, who said a 9 mm pistol was stolen on January 1 from a vehicle parked outside his home. In the police report filed after Arbery’s killing, Gregory McMichael said the burglar had been caught on surveillance video and that Arbery matched the description of the suspect.
There seemed to be concern about Arbery’s presence in the neighborhood for much of his time there on the afternoon of February 23; several calls, at least one of which was from the McMichaels, were placed to 911. Satilla Shores is a predominantly white neighborhood, one the Daily Beast’s Justin Glawe describes as featuring “several homes ... decorated with Trump flags, one bearing the president’s smiling face with the phrase, Make liberals cry again.”
The first featured a caller expressing distress about Arbery being near a house that is under construction on property owned by English. The dispatcher asked what Arbery was doing wrong but never received an answer. Arbery’s family has said he’s always been inquisitive and was likely just having a look at the bones of the home, since that’s something one doesn’t see every day.
After that first call, 911 received another, in which the caller said, “I’m out here at Satilla Shores. There’s a black male running down the street.” The caller can be heard yelling, “Watch that. Stop, damn it! Stop!” but stops responding to the dispatcher’s inquiries.
As these calls were being made, the McMichaels were preparing to pursue Arbery. Gregory McMichael told police he armed himself with a .357 magnum while his son got a shotgun. He told police he felt the weapons were called for because he’d seen Arbery in the neighborhood previously with his hand in his pants in a manner suggestive of a firearm. Then the men got into Travis McMichael’s pickup truck and began to chase Arbery through the neighborhood.
Arbery’s uncle told the Brunswick News that Arbery was amazingly fast and agile. And the police report suggests that — despite being on foot — he evaded the McMichaels for a time. Gregory McMichael claims his son tried to cut off Arbery with his truck, but that he turned around and ran in the other direction.
The police report mentions another person, identified only as “Roddy” — William Bryan — who tried unsuccessfully to cut Arbery off with his vehicle.
McMichael claims they were able to catch up with Arbery and shouted out of the truck, “Stop, stop, we want to talk to you,” before stopping the truck beside him, at which point Travis exited with his shotgun. Then, McMichael claims, Arbery attacked his son, the two men fought over the shotgun, two shots were fired, and then Arbery fell, bleeding. The officer who wrote the report said Arbery died not long after police arrived on the scene.
But the video — filmed by Bryan from his vehicle — appears to show something slightly different. Civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt, who is representing Arbery’s family, reposted the video on his Twitter account on May 5.
As the vehicle turns a bend in a road, a black man wearing a white shirt — what Arbery was described as wearing in 911 calls — can be seen running. A white pickup truck, ostensibly the McMichaels’, blocks his path; a white man is in the street next to the driver’s side of the truck, and another stands in the flatbed. The video is blocked by the dashboard for a moment, and some unintelligible yelling can be heard. The video then shows the black man trying to run around the truck.
It’s not possible to see what happens next, but there’s a gunshot; the black man and the white man who was standing in the road reappear in the frame, engaged in a struggle, and move off the road, again leaving the video’s frame. As the man in the flatbed brings up his firearm, there’s another gunshot. The video Merritt posted ends with the struggle — seemingly over possession of a firearm — continuing. A longer version available online features a third gunshot, and the black man falling to the pavement, his shirt seemingly red with blood.
While the police were en route, Arbery was “on the ground ‘bleeding out,’” according to the report. Travis McMichael had blood on his hands; his father said this was from Travis rolling Arbery’s body over to check for a gun.
An autopsy report released May 12 revealed that Arbery was shot twice in the chest and “had a third wound” on one of his wrists.
Arbery’s supporters say this is a clear case of racist murder — but complications have inhibited an investigation
Advocates for Arbery argue his killing is a very clear case of racial profiling; in his caption for the video, Merritt wrote, “Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him without justification.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by others, including presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who tweeted, “The video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood.”
Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election and who has said she hopes to become Biden’s running mate, demanded a “full investigation, appropriate charges, and an unbiased prosecution.”
But charges were slow coming, due to conflicts of interest and Georgia’s stand-your-ground law and citizen’s arrest law.
The case is on its fourth prosecutor; the first put in charge of the case, Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson, recused herself because she’d previously employed Gregory McMichael. The district attorney of Waycross, Georgia, George Barnhill, was then assigned to it, but he recused himself after Arbery’s mother pointed out his son works in Johnson’s office.
Barnhill officially recused himself in an April 7 letter — and in it, he wrote that his son and Gregory McMichael “both helped with the previous prosecution of Arbery” on behalf of Johnson’s office. Arbery was convicted of probation violation after facing a shoplifting charge in 2018, something Barnhill pointed out in an earlier letter in which he laid out the reasons he believed the McMichaels had done nothing wrong.
In that letter, dated April 3, Barnhill suggested Arbery had mental health issues, and highlighted not just the shoplifting issue, but also the incident that led to Arbery being placed on probation: having brought a gun to campus while he was in high school.
The letter also notes Georgia has an open-carry law, a separate state law allows a private citizen to attempt arrests if an “offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge,” and that it has a stand-your-ground law that allows someone who feels threatened “to use deadly force to protect himself,” without having to first try to retreat or call law enforcement.
Merritt has dismissed Barnhill’s interpretation of these laws, telling CNN he doesn’t believe the McMichaels were trying to make a citizen’s arrest, noting that the McMichaels’ statements frame the shooting as an act of self-defense.
And he said the citizen’s arrest law says “you actually have to be observing the crime or be in the immediate knowledge of the crime” but argues the McMichaels never claimed this was the case.
The Washington Post also reported that Gregory McMichael had his law enforcement certification suspended last year after repeatedly failing to complete required training. He also received a warning in 2014 for neglecting to finish mandatory firearms and use-of-force classes.
Merritt has also pushed back against other claims in Barnhill’s letter, including the references to Arbery’s mental health and previous interactions with the legal system.
“The reference to ... alleged conduct from high school or shoplifting is absurd and has nothing to do with his murder,” Merritt said.
The shoplifting case does connect Barnhill, Gregory McMichael, and Arbery, however. When Barnhill recused himself in an April 7 letter, he wrote that his son and Gregory McMichael “both helped with the previous prosecution of Arbery” on behalf of Johnson’s office.
The real impetus behind the killing, Merritt suggested, can be seen in the 911 calls, when the caller fails to give a clear reason for the call but does note, “There’s a black male running down the street.”
Gregory McMichael told the Daily Beast Arbery’s race was irrelevant and that he “never would have gone after someone for their color,” saying instead that Barnhill’s letter is the “closest version of the truth.”
Meanwhile, pressure has mounted for Barnhill and Johnson to be removed from office. Protesters gathered at the Glynn County Courthouse on May 16 to demand their resignations.
“Racism is real in America and racism is real in Brunswick, Georgia and we come today to send a message to the racists and the supremacist that we will fight you with everything that we have,” Rev. Timothy McDonald said at the protests, Reuters reported.
Investigations have ramped up since the video went viral
Two days after the state took over the case, the McMichaels were arrested and booked in a Glynn County jail. A day later, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds announced that Bryan was also under investigation. He was charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment two weeks later.
On May 10, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced he had asked the Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the case. “We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” Carr said in a statement. “The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.”
Meanwhile, Carr reassigned the case to a new district attorney, Joyette Holmes of Cobb County, which is northwest of Atlanta. In a statement, Carr said that while Durden had been executing his duties well, he believed someone with more resources was needed.
On June 24, Holmes announced an indictment with nine counts against each of the three defendants: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Correction: An earlier version of this story miscategorized the incidents described by Larry English and Travis McMichael. They were described as thefts or burglaries.


vox--2020-05-18--Georgia’s Covid-19 cases aren’t declining as quickly as initial data suggested they were

Amid misleading claims from President Donald Trump about testing capacity and concerns about the effects of the reopening of nonessential businesses , a number of states are facing criticism for poor reporting of their testing data — a problem that makes it more difficult for both lawmakers and the public to understand how the pandemic is affecting their states as they work to make informed public health choices .
The issue has been particularly notable in states that have reopened , like Georgia and Virginia , but has affected others as well — and has been seen on the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Disease Control ( CDC ) testing numbers do not match up with those shared by states .
Georgia ’ s Department of Public Health has been criticized in particular for sharing misleading data .
Last week , it corrected a graph on its website that appeared to show confirmed case counts decreasing ( shown below ) ; the data , however , was not arranged in chronological order .
The x-axis of the graph was not ordered chronologically , a method that caused the highest values to be clustered on the left , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regardless of when those values were recorded .
Georgia has struggled with presenting data clearly and accurately before , the Atlanta Journal Constitution notes , like when it changed the scale used in a heat map of the state ’ s counties , a modification that made it appear that counties had fewer cases than they actually did , or when the department released a daily confirmed case count that was impossible based on the number of tests conducted .
Adding to the confusion is the fact that some of its data is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other states and countries .
In the hope of providing a picture of exactly when changes in spread rate began , the state backdates positive test results to the day the infected person says they first became symptomatic .
For a time , this meant some of the department ’ s case count graphs were constantly shifting , as confirmed cases for days already past increased .
To make this policy more clear , the state ’ s newest graphs feature a “ 14-day window ” — based on the amount of time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — that make it clear recent data is subject to change .
State officials have blamed these missteps on an outside vendor , and Gov .
Brian Kemp ’ s office has claimed it is not pressuring the Department of Public Health to provide data supporting Kemp ’ s decision to reopen nonessential businesses .
“ We are not selecting data and telling them how to portray it , although we do provide information about constituent complaints , check it for accuracy , and push them to provide more information if it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s communications director Candice Broce told the Journal-Constitution .
Critics of the state ’ s statistical work have expressed concern that something more than general ineptitude is behind the muddled data .
“ I have a hard time understanding how this happens without it being deliberate , ” Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark told the Journal-Constitution .
“ Literally nowhere ever in any type of statistics would that be acceptable.
” Georgia is striking for the number of times it has been criticized for its data — and the fact that misleading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they weigh how fully they should engage with their state ’ s reopening : At the moment , stores , gyms , salons , and movie theaters are among the businesses that have been allowed to reopen .
Georgia isn ’ t alone in its problems with reporting information ; other states have had problems sharing data that has obscured the reality of the situation on the ground .
For instance , until last week , Virginia combined its viral and serological test results .
That decision was criticized by public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Harvard Global Health Institute , who told the Atlantic , “ It is terrible .
It messes up everything.
” The merging of the two test results leads to misleading figures because the viral tests simply show whether a person is infected and is at risk of spreading Covid-19 , while serological tests show whether a person has antibodies meant to fight off the coronavirus .
Mixing the two may seem like a way to get a broad picture of how many people have and have had Covid-19 , but the sum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are infected right now — information badly needed by both lawmakers and the public , particularly in states like Virginia that are reopening nonessential businesses .
The federal government has not been immune to sharing uncertain data either .
For months , the CDC did not have comprehensive testing data available on its website .
The agency is now reporting more comprehensive data , but an analysis by the Atlantic found the CDC ’ s state-by-state testing data does not align with the data reported by the states themselves .
The magazine ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ write : In Florida , they note , the CDC shows more than 200,000 more tests than the state ’ s total .
What ’ s behind these discrepancies is unclear : It could involve several factors with differing data collection practices , including whether agencies count multiple tests given the same person as one test or multiple .
Similarly , pinpointing the cause of opaque data at the state level is difficult .
States promoting the reopening of nonessential businesses may have an incentive to share data supporting that choice ( particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decline in cases before reopening is attempted ) .
But it isn ’ t clear that any state errors are malicious — they could be the result of sloppiness or poor science .
Even if all of the data were perfect , everyone — lawmakers , public health officials , and the public — would have an incomplete picture .
There ’ s been an uptick in testing , but not every American who wants or needs a test can get one .
The fact that symptoms don ’ t manifest immediately means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some infected people won ’ t be accounted for — at least not immediately .
That ’ s why the right testing data is important : Decisions on reopening and other policies are made based on incomplete information , and it is better to have as much as possible .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Amid misleading claims from President Donald Trump about testing capacity and concerns about the effects of the reopening of nonessential businesses, a number of states are facing criticism for poor reporting of their testing data — a problem that makes it more difficult for both lawmakers and the public to understand how the pandemic is affecting their states as they work to make informed public health choices.
The issue has been particularly notable in states that have reopened, like Georgia and Virginia, but has affected others as well — and has been seen on the federal level, with some noting Centers for Disease Control (CDC) testing numbers do not match up with those shared by states.
Georgia’s Department of Public Health has been criticized in particular for sharing misleading data. Last week, it corrected a graph on its website that appeared to show confirmed case counts decreasing (shown below); the data, however, was not arranged in chronological order. The x-axis of the graph was not ordered chronologically, a method that caused the highest values to be clustered on the left, and the lowest on the right, regardless of when those values were recorded.
Georgia has struggled with presenting data clearly and accurately before, the Atlanta Journal Constitution notes, like when it changed the scale used in a heat map of the state’s counties, a modification that made it appear that counties had fewer cases than they actually did, or when the department released a daily confirmed case count that was impossible based on the number of tests conducted.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that some of its data is tallied in a manner different from most other states and countries. In the hope of providing a picture of exactly when changes in spread rate began, the state backdates positive test results to the day the infected person says they first became symptomatic. For a time, this meant some of the department’s case count graphs were constantly shifting, as confirmed cases for days already past increased.
To make this policy more clear, the state’s newest graphs feature a “14-day window” — based on the amount of time it can take for symptoms to manifest — that make it clear recent data is subject to change.
State officials have blamed these missteps on an outside vendor, and Gov. Brian Kemp’s office has claimed it is not pressuring the Department of Public Health to provide data supporting Kemp’s decision to reopen nonessential businesses.
“We are not selecting data and telling them how to portray it, although we do provide information about constituent complaints, check it for accuracy, and push them to provide more information if it is possible to do so,” Kemp’s communications director Candice Broce told the Journal-Constitution.
Critics of the state’s statistical work have expressed concern that something more than general ineptitude is behind the muddled data.
“I have a hard time understanding how this happens without it being deliberate,” Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark told the Journal-Constitution. “Literally nowhere ever in any type of statistics would that be acceptable.”
Georgia is striking for the number of times it has been criticized for its data — and the fact that misleading numbers are being presented to its citizens as they weigh how fully they should engage with their state’s reopening: At the moment, stores, gyms, salons, and movie theaters are among the businesses that have been allowed to reopen. Georgia isn’t alone in its problems with reporting information; other states have had problems sharing data that has obscured the reality of the situation on the ground.
For instance, until last week, Virginia combined its viral and serological test results. That decision was criticized by public health experts like Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, who told the Atlantic, “It is terrible. It messes up everything.”
The merging of the two test results leads to misleading figures because the viral tests simply show whether a person is infected and is at risk of spreading Covid-19, while serological tests show whether a person has antibodies meant to fight off the coronavirus. Mixing the two may seem like a way to get a broad picture of how many people have and have had Covid-19, but the sum does little to illustrate how many people are infected right now — information badly needed by both lawmakers and the public, particularly in states like Virginia that are reopening nonessential businesses.
The federal government has not been immune to sharing uncertain data either. For months, the CDC did not have comprehensive testing data available on its website. The agency is now reporting more comprehensive data, but an analysis by the Atlantic found the CDC’s state-by-state testing data does not align with the data reported by the states themselves. The magazine’s Robinson Meyer and Alexis C. Madrigal write:
Using the state numbers that match the CDC’s output most closely, in 22 states, the CDC’s reported number of tests diverges from the number reported by the state government by more than 10 percent. In 13 states, it diverges by more than 25 percent. In some cases, the CDC’s tallies are much higher than what states are reporting; in others, much lower.
In Florida, they note, the CDC shows more than 200,000 more tests than the state’s total. What’s behind these discrepancies is unclear: It could involve several factors with differing data collection practices, including whether agencies count multiple tests given the same person as one test or multiple.
Similarly, pinpointing the cause of opaque data at the state level is difficult. States promoting the reopening of nonessential businesses may have an incentive to share data supporting that choice (particularly given that federal guidance suggests a 14-day decline in cases before reopening is attempted). But it isn’t clear that any state errors are malicious — they could be the result of sloppiness or poor science.
Even if all of the data were perfect, everyone — lawmakers, public health officials, and the public — would have an incomplete picture. There’s been an uptick in testing, but not every American who wants or needs a test can get one. The fact that symptoms don’t manifest immediately means even once testing is scaled up, some infected people won’t be accounted for — at least not immediately. That’s why the right testing data is important: Decisions on reopening and other policies are made based on incomplete information, and it is better to have as much as possible.


vox--2020-05-18--Essential workers are losing their hazard pay even though the hazard isn’t over

At Megan McHonie ’ s job , social distancing is all but impossible .
A floral clerk at a King Soopers grocery store in Colorado Springs , Colorado , she comes into close contact with shoppers every day .
“ When I ’ m outside watering the plants , the customers don ’ t keep within six feet of me at all , ” she told Vox .
“ They ’ re actually within touching distance.
” McHonie has been anxious about coming to work during the pandemic , but one thing she appreciated was the $ 2-an-hour “ hero @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company , Kroger , gave essential workers like her starting at the end of March .
But Kroger ’ s “ hero bonus ” raises ended on May 16 , even as coronavirus cases continued to rise across the country .
The grocer isn ’ t alone — other companies that instituted some form of additional pay for workers earlier this year in recognition of their position on the front lines are now rolling back those increases , even though the danger is far from gone .
Starbucks , for example , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for workers at the end of May , according to the Los Angeles Times .
Meanwhile , some companies that employ essential workers right now have seen increased sales and boosted executive pay in recent months .
Kroger , for example , saw same-store sales increase 30 percent in March as customers stocked up on groceries , according to Winsight Grocery Business .
And Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen received a 21 percent increase in compensation last year , boosting his income to more than $ 14 million .
The company has not responded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Many essential workers , by contrast , are making less than a living wage even with the increase in pay .
And they urgently need more money both to pay their bills and to stay safe during the pandemic , says Molly Kinder , a fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies hazard pay .
For example , many low-wage workers can ’ t afford cars , meaning they risk exposure to the virus on public transit during their commutes to work .
Millions of essential workers also lack health insurance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making any illness potentially financially devastating for them and their families .
“ When your employer gives you low wages , ” Kinder said , “ those low wages make you less resilient to the disease.
” Democrats in Congress have proposed a plan to give essential workers a pay raise higher than the small amounts companies have been offering , and to extend it through the end of the coronavirus crisis .
Sen. Mitt Romney ( R-UT ) has put forth a plan to give workers a similar raise , though for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to move forward without the support of more Republicans in Congress .
Meanwhile , workers like McHonie continue to put themselves at risk while their CEOs make millions .
“ For him to line his pockets while we ’ re suffering on the front lines is not okay , ” she said of McMullen .
“ It ’ s selfish and it ’ s evil.
” Hazard pay used to be associated with the military .
The pandemic changed that .
Before the pandemic , hazard pay was often something military or government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assignments , Kinder said .
But now , people who never thought they were taking a dangerous job , such as grocery store workers , are facing daily exposure to a deadly virus .
And overwhelmingly , they ’ re asking for a raise .
In her interviews with dozens of essential workers in recent weeks , Kinder said , “ Everyone brought up the issue of hazard pay.
” Several large companies did institute some form of additional pay for essential workers .
Like Kroger and Starbucks , for example , Amazon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raise .
Walmart paid bonuses of $ 300 to full-time workers and $ 150 to part-timers in April , and plans to do so again in June .
“ When your employer gives you low wages , those low wages make you less resilient to the disease ” Some workers , however , say such amounts are a drop in the bucket when it comes to compensating them for what they ’ re facing .
Kevin Smith , a meat department manager at a King Soopers store in Longmont , Colorado , says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guidelines in his store .
“ The other day I had a customer that kept stepping toward me , ” he said .
“ I would take a step back , trying to keep some distance between us , and I accidentally bumped into a customer behind me.
” Smith has been sleeping in a separate bedroom from his wife , who has a congenital heart defect , to avoid exposing her to the virus .
“ I worry about being exposed to all these people and bringing it home , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think I ’ d ever get over it if something happened to her.
” For him , an extra $ 2 an hour “ is not going to make a difference , ” he said , adding that for many part-time workers , that works out to only about $ 40 a week .
And now , even that small increase is in jeopardy , with Kroger ending its “ hero bonus ” raises on May 16 .
After pressure from workers ’ unions , the company said in a statement to Supermarket @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evaluating compensation .
“ Our temporary ‘ hero bonus ’ is scheduled to end in mid-May .
In the coming months , we know that our associates ’ needs will continue to evolve and change as our country recovers , ” the statement read .
“ Our commitment is that we will continue to listen and be responsive , empowering us to make decisions that advance the needs of our associates , customers , communities and business .
We continuously evaluate employee compensation and benefits packages.
” Then , on May 15 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hourly raises , it would give workers a lump-sum bonus it calls “ Thank You Pay.
” The bonus — $ 400 for full-time workers and $ 200 for part-time employees — will be paid in two installments , on May 30 and June 18 .
But it ’ s not clear what happens after that .
The United Food and Commercial Workers ( UFCW ) International Union , which represents Kroger workers , decried the decision to replace salary increases with a bonus .
“ The reality is that Kroger is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UFCW International president Marc Perrone said in a May 16 statement .
“ This is not how we treat heroes in America.
” And with their hourly pay bump set to expire in mid-May , Smith said , “ a lot of the workers feel so disrespected .
We ’ re beginning to call it ‘ zero pay.
’ ” There are proposals in Congress to extend hazard pay , but their future is uncertain Outside of Kroger , many other workers are set to lose their pay increases as well .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scheduled to expire at the end of May .
Dollar Tree and Chipotle also instituted hazard pay for workers but similarly plan to roll it back this month , according to the business watchdog group Just Capital .
Hazard pay at Target was scheduled to expire at the end of May , but the company announced on May 18 that it would extend the increase through July 4 .
But of all the companies Just is tracking , only the cable operator Charter Communications has made its hazard pay permanent .
Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with states beginning to reopen , and Americans moving around more , essential workers could face more exposure to the virus .
“ There ’ s nothing to suggest that these jobs are safer now than they were even two weeks ago , ” Kinder said .
“ In fact , as coronavirus is further spread throughout the population , it ’ s likely that these workers are even more at risk.
” “ There ’ s nothing to suggest that these jobs are safer now than they were even two weeks ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first place .
The raises were concentrated at large corporations , such as grocery store chains , that saw a spike in demand during the pandemic and needed to hire new employees , Kinder said .
Many workers in the health care industry — including those who make low wages , such as cooks in nursing homes and home health aides have seen no jump in wages even though they face very high risk , Kinder explained .
The HEROES Act , House Democrats ’ proposal for the next pandemic stimulus package @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide many essential workers — including health care workers and grocery store employees — with a raise of $ 13 an hour , far more than what most chains have offered .
And the raises would last through the end of the coronavirus crisis , rather than expiring this month .
Senate Democrats have introduced a similar proposal .
Romney , meanwhile , on May 1 put forth a proposal he calls Patriot Pay to give essential workers up to an additional $ 12 an hour .
His plan would last only through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , calls for cost-sharing between the federal government and employers .
But so far , he is the only congressional Republican to express interest in hazard pay , Kinder said .
And Democrats will need the support of Senate Republicans if they hope to secure additional pay for essential workers .
These workers are in dire need of more money .
Even before the crisis hit , many were struggling to make ends meet .
One in three essential workers lives in a household making less than $ 40,000 a year , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One in seven has no health insurance , and millions rely on food stamps .
And the pandemic has made living in poverty more dangerous than ever .
Many low-wage workers have to get to work on crowded public transit , Kinder said — she recently spoke to one worker who makes five transfers as part of his commute .
Many are also living in multigenerational households , where they risk spreading the coronavirus to children or older relatives .
One worker , a housekeeper at a nursing facility , told Kinder that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could afford to live apart from her son , a cancer survivor who has asthma and is at especially high risk .
“ Every single worker that I ’ ve talked to is so much more worried about what this means for their loved ones than themselves , ” Kinder said .
Meanwhile , even in the midst of an economic crisis , some of the companies planning to roll back hazard pay are watching sales soar .
Around Mother ’ s Day , McHonie ’ s King Soopers store “ crushed our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the floral department , “ I sold out of product for two days.
” “ I think I deserve a pay raise , ” she said .
Update , May 18 : This story has been updated with new developments in hazard pay by Kroger and Target , as well as a statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers ( UFCW ) International Union .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to @ @ @

At Megan McHonie’s job, social distancing is all but impossible.
A floral clerk at a King Soopers grocery store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she comes into close contact with shoppers every day. “When I’m outside watering the plants, the customers don’t keep within six feet of me at all,” she told Vox. “They’re actually within touching distance.”
McHonie has been anxious about coming to work during the pandemic, but one thing she appreciated was the $2-an-hour “hero bonus” that King Soopers’ parent company, Kroger, gave essential workers like her starting at the end of March.
But Kroger’s “hero bonus” raises ended on May 16, even as coronavirus cases continued to rise across the country. The grocer isn’t alone — other companies that instituted some form of additional pay for workers earlier this year in recognition of their position on the front lines are now rolling back those increases, even though the danger is far from gone. Starbucks, for example, is planning to end a $3-per-hour raise for workers at the end of May, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, some companies that employ essential workers right now have seen increased sales and boosted executive pay in recent months. Kroger, for example, saw same-store sales increase 30 percent in March as customers stocked up on groceries, according to Winsight Grocery Business. And Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen received a 21 percent increase in compensation last year, boosting his income to more than $14 million. The company has not responded to Vox’s requests for comment.
Many essential workers, by contrast, are making less than a living wage even with the increase in pay. And they urgently need more money both to pay their bills and to stay safe during the pandemic, says Molly Kinder, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies hazard pay. For example, many low-wage workers can’t afford cars, meaning they risk exposure to the virus on public transit during their commutes to work. Millions of essential workers also lack health insurance, jeopardizing their ability to seek treatment and making any illness potentially financially devastating for them and their families. “When your employer gives you low wages,” Kinder said, “those low wages make you less resilient to the disease.”
Democrats in Congress have proposed a plan to give essential workers a pay raise higher than the small amounts companies have been offering, and to extend it through the end of the coronavirus crisis. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has put forth a plan to give workers a similar raise, though for a shorter period. Neither is likely to move forward without the support of more Republicans in Congress.
Meanwhile, workers like McHonie continue to put themselves at risk while their CEOs make millions. “For him to line his pockets while we’re suffering on the front lines is not okay,” she said of McMullen. “It’s selfish and it’s evil.”
Hazard pay used to be associated with the military. The pandemic changed that.
Before the pandemic, hazard pay was often something military or government employees got when they took on dangerous assignments, Kinder said. But now, people who never thought they were taking a dangerous job, such as grocery store workers, are facing daily exposure to a deadly virus. And overwhelmingly, they’re asking for a raise.
In her interviews with dozens of essential workers in recent weeks, Kinder said, “Everyone brought up the issue of hazard pay.”
Several large companies did institute some form of additional pay for essential workers. Like Kroger and Starbucks, for example, Amazon and Target gave workers a $2-per-hour raise. Walmart paid bonuses of $300 to full-time workers and $150 to part-timers in April, and plans to do so again in June.
“When your employer gives you low wages, those low wages make you less resilient to the disease”
Some workers, however, say such amounts are a drop in the bucket when it comes to compensating them for what they’re facing. Kevin Smith, a meat department manager at a King Soopers store in Longmont, Colorado, says customers aren’t following social distancing guidelines in his store.
“The other day I had a customer that kept stepping toward me,” he said. “I would take a step back, trying to keep some distance between us, and I accidentally bumped into a customer behind me.”
Smith has been sleeping in a separate bedroom from his wife, who has a congenital heart defect, to avoid exposing her to the virus. “I worry about being exposed to all these people and bringing it home,” he said. “I don’t think I’d ever get over it if something happened to her.”
For him, an extra $2 an hour “is not going to make a difference,” he said, adding that for many part-time workers, that works out to only about $40 a week.
And now, even that small increase is in jeopardy, with Kroger ending its “hero bonus” raises on May 16. After pressure from workers’ unions, the company said in a statement to Supermarket News on May 8 that it was evaluating compensation.
“Our temporary ‘hero bonus’ is scheduled to end in mid-May. In the coming months, we know that our associates’ needs will continue to evolve and change as our country recovers,” the statement read. “Our commitment is that we will continue to listen and be responsive, empowering us to make decisions that advance the needs of our associates, customers, communities and business. We continuously evaluate employee compensation and benefits packages.”
Then, on May 15, the company announced that instead of continuing the hourly raises, it would give workers a lump-sum bonus it calls “Thank You Pay.” The bonus — $400 for full-time workers and $200 for part-time employees — will be paid in two installments, on May 30 and June 18. But it’s not clear what happens after that.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents Kroger workers, decried the decision to replace salary increases with a bonus.
“The reality is that Kroger is choosing to ignore this pandemic,” UFCW International president Marc Perrone said in a May 16 statement. “This is not how we treat heroes in America.”
And with their hourly pay bump set to expire in mid-May, Smith said, “a lot of the workers feel so disrespected. We’re beginning to call it ‘zero pay.’”
There are proposals in Congress to extend hazard pay, but their future is uncertain
Outside of Kroger, many other workers are set to lose their pay increases as well. At Amazon and Starbucks, extra compensation is scheduled to expire at the end of May. Dollar Tree and Chipotle also instituted hazard pay for workers but similarly plan to roll it back this month, according to the business watchdog group Just Capital.
Hazard pay at Target was scheduled to expire at the end of May, but the company announced on May 18 that it would extend the increase through July 4. But of all the companies Just is tracking, only the cable operator Charter Communications has made its hazard pay permanent.
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to multiply. And with states beginning to reopen, and Americans moving around more, essential workers could face more exposure to the virus. “There’s nothing to suggest that these jobs are safer now than they were even two weeks ago,” Kinder said. “In fact, as coronavirus is further spread throughout the population, it’s likely that these workers are even more at risk.”
“There’s nothing to suggest that these jobs are safer now than they were even two weeks ago”
Many never got hazard pay in the first place. The raises were concentrated at large corporations, such as grocery store chains, that saw a spike in demand during the pandemic and needed to hire new employees, Kinder said. Many workers in the health care industry — including those who make low wages, such as cooks in nursing homes and home health aides have seen no jump in wages even though they face very high risk, Kinder explained.
The HEROES Act, House Democrats’ proposal for the next pandemic stimulus package, includes a Heroes Fund that would provide many essential workers — including health care workers and grocery store employees — with a raise of $13 an hour, far more than what most chains have offered. And the raises would last through the end of the coronavirus crisis, rather than expiring this month. Senate Democrats have introduced a similar proposal.
Romney, meanwhile, on May 1 put forth a proposal he calls Patriot Pay to give essential workers up to an additional $12 an hour. His plan would last only through July and, unlike Democrats’ proposals, calls for cost-sharing between the federal government and employers.
But so far, he is the only congressional Republican to express interest in hazard pay, Kinder said. And Democrats will need the support of Senate Republicans if they hope to secure additional pay for essential workers.
These workers are in dire need of more money. Even before the crisis hit, many were struggling to make ends meet. One in three essential workers lives in a household making less than $40,000 a year, as Annie Lowrey reports at the Atlantic. One in seven has no health insurance, and millions rely on food stamps.
And the pandemic has made living in poverty more dangerous than ever. Many low-wage workers have to get to work on crowded public transit, Kinder said — she recently spoke to one worker who makes five transfers as part of his commute. Many are also living in multigenerational households, where they risk spreading the coronavirus to children or older relatives. One worker, a housekeeper at a nursing facility, told Kinder that if her wages were increased, she could afford to live apart from her son, a cancer survivor who has asthma and is at especially high risk.
“Every single worker that I’ve talked to is so much more worried about what this means for their loved ones than themselves,” Kinder said.
Meanwhile, even in the midst of an economic crisis, some of the companies planning to roll back hazard pay are watching sales soar.
Around Mother’s Day, McHonie’s King Soopers store “crushed our sales goals,” she said. In the floral department, “I sold out of product for two days.”
“I think I deserve a pay raise,” she said.
Update, May 18: This story has been updated with new developments in hazard pay by Kroger and Target, as well as a statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union.


vox--2020-05-18--Lockdowns worked. Now what?

Lockdowns worked. Now what?

Flattening the curve through social distancing has worked in restraining Covid-19 ’ s growth , according to new research published in Health Affairs .
But that raises the question : What now ?
Researchers from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville studied the effects of four different social distancing policies — school closures , closing restaurants and bars , bans on large gatherings , and shelter-in-place orders — to tease out both their individual and cumulative effects in flattening the curve .
They studied the period from March 1 , before any of these policies had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when Georgia became the first state to start relaxing its social distancing measures .
The bottom line , according to their modeling : These government interventions have worked to reduce the spread of the coronavirus .
The goal of flattening the curve was to prevent local health systems from becoming overwhelmed , which could have led to even higher fatalities than the US has already seen ( about 90,000 , as of Monday morning ) .
Even New York City , the hardest-hit place in the country , has not seen its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way .
Take together the reduced spread through social distancing and the medical system being able to meet the Covid-19 need , and there is solid evidence that flattening the curve has worked .
One of the supplemental charts in the Health Affairs paper makes the case : “ The highly visible , strong government-imposed measures achieved one key goal : dramatically reducing the spread of Covid-19 disease while allowing the health care system to not get overwhelmed , ” Aaron Yelowitz , one of the University of Kentucky economists who co-wrote the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ In principle , the measures also bought time to develop a more effective testing and contact tracing infrastructure , although we will see whether that actually has been achieved as states start to reopen.
” Their new research was thorough in attempting to isolate the effect of government policies specifically .
They presumed some degree of voluntary social distancing even in the no-intervention scenario , and also accounted for the availability of Covid-19 testing and the differences in susceptibility to the coronavirus in various places , depending on population density and age @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every conceivable variable .
They note that they do not attempt to measure how mask-wearing or closing public parks and beaches or restrictions on visits to nursing homes might affect Covid-19 ’ s spread and impact .
Nevertheless , over the period they studied , the percentage of the US population subjected to these government policies grew to 95 percent — and the effect they find on the coronavirus is sizable .
Not all of the interventions had an equal impact , however , according to the Kentucky-based economists .
They found statistically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as closing bars and restaurants , but not for closing schools or banning large gatherings .
The ban on large gatherings was closer to statistical significance than the school closures and , when accounting for the imprecision of any modeling like this , it is possible those restrictions had an effect that the researchers ’ simulations simply failed to measure .
But the authors also floated other possibilities .
For instance , when schools were closed , kids and families might have instead had social interactions outside of school .
The researchers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread between when kids were out of school or in school , despite fears that they could be asymptomatic carriers .
Likewise , formal large events could have been replaced by informal ones .
It ’ s also possible the ban on large gatherings had a limited effect because many of those events were already canceled before the government policy was actually instituted .
This could explain why the shelter-in-place orders — which would have also restricted those informal interactions — had the biggest measurable effect .
The authors say they hope their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how to start reopening their local economies .
They avoid being too prescriptive but observe that , based on what they found , keeping schools closed but lifting shelter-in-place orders would be expected to lead to cases increasing again .
Ready or not , the US is starting to reopen .
I think all of us can understand people ’ s yearning to get life back to something resembling normalcy after two months of lockdown unlike anything any of us have experienced in our lives .
And we have growing evidence that certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outdoors — are less risky than others .
One way to alleviate all of the pent-up frustrations , as well as jumpstart the stagnated economic activity that has taken its own devastating toll , is to give people an outlet .
Research like this new Health Affairs paper provides more information about what works best and what doesn ’ t .
They also gesture at other variables they did not measure that warrant more study , such as mask-wearing or activities at public parks .
We have to seek a middle ground between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked to slow the spread and the natural need for social interaction and the urgency of relieving the economic crisis .
But all of these discussions are undergirded by one important reality .
Many people , the vast majority of us , are still susceptible to Covid-19 .
A sloppy end to social distancing could mean a rapid rebound in the virus ’ s spread .
“ At issue moving forward is whether cases averted simply turn into cases delayed , ” the Kentucky economists wrote , “ and a premature return to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” This story appears in VoxCare , a newsletter from Vox on the latest twists and turns in America ’ s health care debate .
Sign up to get VoxCare in your inbox along with more health care stats and news .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Flattening the curve through social distancing has worked in restraining Covid-19’s growth, according to new research published in Health Affairs.
But that raises the question: What now?
Researchers from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville studied the effects of four different social distancing policies — school closures, closing restaurants and bars, bans on large gatherings, and shelter-in-place orders — to tease out both their individual and cumulative effects in flattening the curve. They studied the period from March 1, before any of these policies had been put into effect, to April 27, when Georgia became the first state to start relaxing its social distancing measures.
The bottom line, according to their modeling: These government interventions have worked to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Adoption of government-imposed social distancing measures reduced the daily growth rate by 5.4 percentage points after 1–5 days, 6.8 after 6–10 days, 8.2 after 11–15 days, and 9.1 after 16–20 days. Holding the amount of voluntary social distancing constant, these results imply 10 times greater spread by April 27 without SIPOs (10 million cases) and more than 35 times greater spread without any of the four measures (35 million).
The goal of flattening the curve was to prevent local health systems from becoming overwhelmed, which could have led to even higher fatalities than the US has already seen (about 90,000, as of Monday morning). Even New York City, the hardest-hit place in the country, has not seen its hospitals overrun in any kind of systemic way.
Take together the reduced spread through social distancing and the medical system being able to meet the Covid-19 need, and there is solid evidence that flattening the curve has worked.
One of the supplemental charts in the Health Affairs paper makes the case:
“The highly visible, strong government-imposed measures achieved one key goal: dramatically reducing the spread of Covid-19 disease while allowing the health care system to not get overwhelmed,” Aaron Yelowitz, one of the University of Kentucky economists who co-wrote the paper, told me over email. “In principle, the measures also bought time to develop a more effective testing and contact tracing infrastructure, although we will see whether that actually has been achieved as states start to reopen.”
Their new research was thorough in attempting to isolate the effect of government policies specifically. They presumed some degree of voluntary social distancing even in the no-intervention scenario, and also accounted for the availability of Covid-19 testing and the differences in susceptibility to the coronavirus in various places, depending on population density and age.
The researchers could not account for every conceivable variable. They note that they do not attempt to measure how mask-wearing or closing public parks and beaches or restrictions on visits to nursing homes might affect Covid-19’s spread and impact. Nevertheless, over the period they studied, the percentage of the US population subjected to these government policies grew to 95 percent — and the effect they find on the coronavirus is sizable.
Not all of the interventions had an equal impact, however, according to the Kentucky-based economists. They found statistically significant effects from the shelter-in-place orders as well as closing bars and restaurants, but not for closing schools or banning large gatherings.
The ban on large gatherings was closer to statistical significance than the school closures and, when accounting for the imprecision of any modeling like this, it is possible those restrictions had an effect that the researchers’ simulations simply failed to measure. But the authors also floated other possibilities.
For instance, when schools were closed, kids and families might have instead had social interactions outside of school. The researchers failed to detect a meaningful change in spread between when kids were out of school or in school, despite fears that they could be asymptomatic carriers. Likewise, formal large events could have been replaced by informal ones. It’s also possible the ban on large gatherings had a limited effect because many of those events were already canceled before the government policy was actually instituted.
This could explain why the shelter-in-place orders — which would have also restricted those informal interactions — had the biggest measurable effect.
The authors say they hope their findings will help inform policymakers in deciding how to start reopening their local economies. They avoid being too prescriptive but observe that, based on what they found, keeping schools closed but lifting shelter-in-place orders would be expected to lead to cases increasing again.
Ready or not, the US is starting to reopen. I think all of us can understand people’s yearning to get life back to something resembling normalcy after two months of lockdown unlike anything any of us have experienced in our lives. And we have growing evidence that certain activities — particularly those that take place outdoors — are less risky than others. One way to alleviate all of the pent-up frustrations, as well as jumpstart the stagnated economic activity that has taken its own devastating toll, is to give people an outlet.
Research like this new Health Affairs paper provides more information about what works best and what doesn’t. They also gesture at other variables they did not measure that warrant more study, such as mask-wearing or activities at public parks. We have to seek a middle ground between maintaining the social distancing policies that have worked to slow the spread and the natural need for social interaction and the urgency of relieving the economic crisis.
But all of these discussions are undergirded by one important reality. Many people, the vast majority of us, are still susceptible to Covid-19. A sloppy end to social distancing could mean a rapid rebound in the virus’s spread.
“At issue moving forward is whether cases averted simply turn into cases delayed,” the Kentucky economists wrote, “and a premature return to light measures would make this more likely.”
This story appears in VoxCare, a newsletter from Vox on the latest twists and turns in America’s health care debate. Sign up to get VoxCare in your inbox along with more health care stats and news.


vox--2020-05-18--How masks helped Hong Kong control the coronavirus

New York City , with a population of about 8.4 million , has had over 28,000 coronavirus deaths as of May 18 .
Meanwhile , Hong Kong has officially recorded only four Covid-19 deaths , despite having 7.5 million residents .
One reason that could help explain the stark disparity : In Hong Kong , nearly everyone wears a face mask in public .
If any city in the world was likely to experience the worst effects of the coronavirus , Hong Kong would have been a top candidate .
The urban area is densely populated and heavily reliant on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very few open spaces .
Moreover , a high-speed train connects Hong Kong to Wuhan , China , where the coronavirus originated .
Hong Kong , it seemed , was doomed .
But almost as soon as the outbreak first began in the city , millions of residents started wearing masks in public .
One local told the Los Angeles Times that the government didn ’ t have to say anything before 99 percent of the population put them on .
Experts now say widespread mask usage appears to be a major reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why the city hasn ’ t been devastated by the disease .
“ If not for universal masking once we depart from our home every day , plus hand hygiene , Hong Kong would be like Italy long ago , ” K.Y .
Yuen , a Hong Kong microbiologist advising the government , told the Wall Street Journal last month .
“ Not wearing masks in Hong Kong is like not wearing pants ” In one way , the ubiquity of Hong Kong ’ s masks is rather ironic .
Starting last spring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Hong Kong to protest a set of laws that would give mainland China — which isn ’ t supposed to have full control over the city until 2047 — more power over Hong Kong .
To protect themselves from police tear gas and avoid the city-state ’ s ubiquitous surveillance cameras , millions of protesters donned masks .
In an effort to quash the movement last October , Hong Kong ’ s China-backed government banned the wearing of face masks in public .
The hope was that forcing demonstrators to show their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Just a few months later , the coronavirus happened .
As the coronavirus first hit the city , Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam fumbled her response , not wearing a mask during a press conference and , eventually , wearing one incorrectly in public .
She also asked government employees not to wear masks .
By April , public health experts in Hong Kong were calling on the government to not only repeal the mask ban but also to mandate the wearing of masks in public as a means of curbing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by then , almost everyone was already wearing them , ban be damned .
Indeed , the fact that the government seemed to advocate against masks may have helped make them more popular .
Almost in protest , residents started wearing masks in large numbers and helping the most vulnerable communities obtain them .
The city has faced pandemics before , including the 1968 flu , which began in Hong Kong and killed about 1 million people worldwide .
When SARS came to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2003 , residents took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask .
Partly as a result , the city lost only 300 people during that crisis .
Experts say that instilled a sense among the people of Hong Kong that masks are vital to thwarting a pandemic .
That sense was reignited when the coronavirus hit .
Now they ’ re everywhere .
“ Not wearing masks in Hong Kong is like not wearing pants nowadays , ” Alex Lam , a Hong Kong lawyer , told the Wall Street Journal in April .
As the Journal also noted , some taxi cabs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inside unless they wear a mask .
Someone walking around the city without a mask on invites harsh looks from passersby and even verbal reprimands .
Even the public address system on Hong Kong ’ s metro asks riders to wear masks at all times .
Despite Hong Kong ’ s mask ban officially remaining in place , some of the government ’ s health officials now praise the citizenry for organically putting the coverings on without being told to do so .
Such praise makes sense , as the latest research indicates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus .
Masks look like an increasingly important way to curb Covid-19 ’ s spread It ’ s worth noting that Hong Kong also implemented a strong testing , tracing , and isolation program , in addition to strengthening travel rules and closing bars at the end of March .
Those moves , perhaps just as much as masks , have helped keep Hong Kong ’ s coronavirus death toll low .
But the masks , research shows , are still very important .
In April , researchers from the University of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found that masks stopped sick people from spreading Covid-19 .
“ A mask could catch a lot of the virus a sick person would otherwise be breathing or coughing out , ” Ben Cowling , the head of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong ’ s School of Public Health and a co-author of the study , told the Wall Street Journal at the time .
“ Wearing them at least provides some protection for others.
” On May 13 , Vox ’ s Matthew Yglesias also pointed out that in April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kong and in Europe calculated that if 80 percent of a population can be persuaded to don masks , transmission levels would be cut to one-twelfth of what you ’ d have in a mask-less society .
However , that study has yet to be peer-reviewed .
On Sunday , another team from the University of Hong Kong determined that the benefits of face masks were massive .
Using 52 hamsters in cages , the team found that non-contact transmission dropped by around 75 percent when masks were present .
“ The findings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge , ” Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung told reporters .
It does appear , then , that masks are one of the top reasons why the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong isn ’ t so dire .
One wonders whether the rising number of cases and deaths in the US would be lower if Americans similarly adopted such widespread mask-wearing habits .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

New York City, with a population of about 8.4 million, has had over 28,000 coronavirus deaths as of May 18. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has officially recorded only four Covid-19 deaths, despite having 7.5 million residents.
One reason that could help explain the stark disparity: In Hong Kong, nearly everyone wears a face mask in public.
If any city in the world was likely to experience the worst effects of the coronavirus, Hong Kong would have been a top candidate. The urban area is densely populated and heavily reliant on packed public-transit systems, and it has very few open spaces. Moreover, a high-speed train connects Hong Kong to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus originated.
Hong Kong, it seemed, was doomed.
But almost as soon as the outbreak first began in the city, millions of residents started wearing masks in public. One local told the Los Angeles Times that the government didn’t have to say anything before 99 percent of the population put them on.
Experts now say widespread mask usage appears to be a major reason, perhaps even the primary one, why the city hasn’t been devastated by the disease.
“If not for universal masking once we depart from our home every day, plus hand hygiene, Hong Kong would be like Italy long ago,” K.Y. Yuen, a Hong Kong microbiologist advising the government, told the Wall Street Journal last month.
“Not wearing masks in Hong Kong is like not wearing pants”
In one way, the ubiquity of Hong Kong’s masks is rather ironic.
Starting last spring, pro-democracy activists took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a set of laws that would give mainland China — which isn’t supposed to have full control over the city until 2047 — more power over Hong Kong. To protect themselves from police tear gas and avoid the city-state’s ubiquitous surveillance cameras, millions of protesters donned masks.
In an effort to quash the movement last October, Hong Kong’s China-backed government banned the wearing of face masks in public. The hope was that forcing demonstrators to show their faces would make them stay home instead.
Just a few months later, the coronavirus happened.
As the coronavirus first hit the city, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam fumbled her response, not wearing a mask during a press conference and, eventually, wearing one incorrectly in public. She also asked government employees not to wear masks.
By April, public health experts in Hong Kong were calling on the government to not only repeal the mask ban but also to mandate the wearing of masks in public as a means of curbing the coronavirus’s spread.
But by then, almost everyone was already wearing them, ban be damned. Indeed, the fact that the government seemed to advocate against masks may have helped make them more popular. Almost in protest, residents started wearing masks in large numbers and helping the most vulnerable communities obtain them.
Hong Kong’s numerous experiences with deadly pandemics also played a role.
The city has faced pandemics before, including the 1968 flu, which began in Hong Kong and killed about 1 million people worldwide. When SARS came to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2003, residents took it seriously and nearly everyone wore a mask. Partly as a result, the city lost only 300 people during that crisis.
Experts say that instilled a sense among the people of Hong Kong that masks are vital to thwarting a pandemic. That sense was reignited when the coronavirus hit. Now they’re everywhere.
“Not wearing masks in Hong Kong is like not wearing pants nowadays,” Alex Lam, a Hong Kong lawyer, told the Wall Street Journal in April.
As the Journal also noted, some taxi cabs and shops won’t let people inside unless they wear a mask. Someone walking around the city without a mask on invites harsh looks from passersby and even verbal reprimands. Even the public address system on Hong Kong’s metro asks riders to wear masks at all times.
Despite Hong Kong’s mask ban officially remaining in place, some of the government’s health officials now praise the citizenry for organically putting the coverings on without being told to do so.
Dr. Pak-Leung Ho, head of Centre for infection at @hkumed, thinks it was due to the stepped-up vigilance of #HKers that no. of #COVID19 cases in #HK didn't skyrocket like Iran and Italy. He highlighted universal mask-wearing as one of the reasons widespread outbreak didn't occur. pic.twitter.com/jq1V5s04l2 — Alex Lam 林偉聰 (@lwcalex) March 4, 2020
Such praise makes sense, as the latest research indicates that near-universal mask-wearing is critical to fighting the coronavirus.
Masks look like an increasingly important way to curb Covid-19’s spread
It’s worth noting that Hong Kong also implemented a strong testing, tracing, and isolation program, in addition to strengthening travel rules and closing bars at the end of March. Those moves, perhaps just as much as masks, have helped keep Hong Kong’s coronavirus death toll low.
But the masks, research shows, are still very important.
In April, researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Maryland found that masks stopped sick people from spreading Covid-19.
“A mask could catch a lot of the virus a sick person would otherwise be breathing or coughing out,” Ben Cowling, the head of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health and a co-author of the study, told the Wall Street Journal at the time. “Wearing them at least provides some protection for others.”
On May 13, Vox’s Matthew Yglesias also pointed out that in April, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and in Europe calculated that if 80 percent of a population can be persuaded to don masks, transmission levels would be cut to one-twelfth of what you’d have in a mask-less society. However, that study has yet to be peer-reviewed.
On Sunday, another team from the University of Hong Kong determined that the benefits of face masks were massive. Using 52 hamsters in cages, the team found that non-contact transmission dropped by around 75 percent when masks were present. “The findings implied to the world and the public is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge,” Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung told reporters.
It does appear, then, that masks are one of the top reasons why the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong isn’t so dire. One wonders whether the rising number of cases and deaths in the US would be lower if Americans similarly adopted such widespread mask-wearing habits.