New York, NY – As of April 6, the rates of death from COVID-19 are twice as high for Latinos and Black residents of New York City as they are for white residents. According to the Bureau of Communicable Disease Surveillance System, the rate of death from COVID-19 is 22.8 people per 100,000 among the Latino community, 19.8 per 100,000 people among the Black community, and only 10.2 per 100,000 white people. These numbers are based on 63% of confirmed cases in New York City.
Minneapolis, MN – AFSCME Local 2822, representing almost 1300 clerical workers working for Hennepin County, is planning an April 17, 12:30 p.m. Car Convergence that will pack the Ridgedale Library parking lot, the site of the Hennepin County Library Administrative Offices, at 12601 Ridgedale Drive in Minnetonka.
New York, NY – As of April 14, the death toll from COVID-19 jumped by 3700, up to 10,000 in New York City. While the Bronx’s confirmed infection rate is in line with the city’s, the borough has the highest per-case fatality rate in NYC. There are various conditions that make the people of the Bronx especially vulnerable to the virus.
San José, CA – The COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping through the United States, with over 600,000 confirmed infections and almost 25,000 deaths as of April 14, is hitting African Americans the hardest. While complete data has not been released by the federal government – just one of a long list of failures – early and partial data shows that nationwide, African Americans are dying at twice the rate of other Americans from COVID-19.
Minneapolis, MN – In a press conference held by video on April 14, several immigrant rights organizations announced a week of action happening this week to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and elected officials at the state and county level take action now to free all immigrants held in ICE detention in the state.
Minneapolis, MN – The Political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Steff Yorek stated, April 13, “At least 16,500 people have died in the capitalist United States of COVID-19. This compares very unfavorably to socialist China which has had less than 3400 deaths.
Lansing, MI – UPS Teamsters across the country are speaking out about their experience battling for masks, gloves, cleaning supplies and transparency about potential exposures. Due to either crowding or contact with the public, every job at UPS puts workers at increased risk of exposure. Even if workers had all the supplies they needed, the inherent risk can never be eliminated.
New York, NY – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that he has increased the maximum fines for not adhering to social distancing orders. Previously $500, the maximum fines suddenly jumped to $1000. The NYPD has also started arresting people for not social distancing, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio claims “is about educating people, helping them understanding the new reality.”
Tampa, FL – UPS workers in Tampa have won their campaign for hand sanitizer, masks, gloves and other PPE. This campaign was a hard-fought win against management, who initially refused to accommodate for worker safety. Concerned preloaders did not buy management's excuses on why PPE was unnecessary, and waged a successful informational campaign, rallying workers together to fight for their safety.
Over the past few days the Armed Forces of the Philippines (APF) has stepped up in its propaganda drive against the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People's Army (NPA) in a desperate attempt to discredit the ongoing public health and economic campaign of the people's army and the mass organizations to help the efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minneapolis, MN – The University of Minnesota held a special Board of Regents meeting on April 7 in which they discussed their plans to respond to budget impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York, NY – On April 9, organizers from New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) hosted an live stream about tenant rights and organizing under COVID-19.
Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people took their cars to Chicago’s jails and detention centers on Tuesday morning, April 7, to demand a mass release of incarcerated people in the city. Isolated from each other in their cars, they were united in their message: Jails, prisons and detention centers must be depopulated before the spread of COVID-19 turns them into death camps.
Shenzhen, China – Car horns, construction projects and the hustle of people heading to work: these are the sounds I’m greeted with every morning as life has mostly returned to normal in China. This is in stark contrast to only a month and a half ago when the streets were completely barren in Shenzhen, the sixth largest city in China and a city of 13 million people. If not for everyone wearing medical face masks and temperature checks at the entrance to every building, no one would believe we were still in the middle of a global pandemic. However, this is the reality in China, which has almost completely defeated COVID-19.
San José, CA – Much of the day-to-day news coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been on the plight of New York City, which has been the hardest hit to date. With more than 8 million people, NYC is the largest city in the United States, but the number of COVID-19 infections, at more than 63,000, is more than any other entire country in the world except for the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and China. The death toll of more than 2500 is more than every other country in the world except for Italy, Spain, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Iran and China.
New York, NY – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on April 4 that China has donated 1000 ventilators to the state of New York. This act further shows the contrast between how China has handled the novel coronavirus versus the United States, and how socialism is better equipped to handle public health crises than capitalism can.
San José, CA – The headline news that the unemployment rate for March jumped by almost a full percentage point, to 4.4%, was bad enough. The actual unemployment rate was much higher by the end of March, given that the more 10 million people who lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the last two weeks of March were not counted. Adding in these workers would have increased the unemployment rate by more than 6%, raising the total rate at the end of March to about 10.5%.
![Car with the slogan "Free them all" at Governor's Mansion.](https://i.snap.as/I1Q14H0U.jpg "Car with the slogan \\"Free them all\\" at Governor's Mansion. \(Fight Back! News/Staff\)")
