Texas Hotspot Edition. This week, we track the hardships connected to one of the 38 states (includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) with rising COVID-19 caseloads: Texas. Decisions to reopen without adequate preparation are powering the caseload surge nationwide, with 59,880 cases on July 9, the sixth single-day record in the past 10 days. As of July 10, the U.S. had more than 3.1 million cases and 133,000 deaths. The spiking pandemic brings more than sickness – it also inflicts severe economic hardships. Below you can see how Texas and Houston have very high earnings losses; nearly two-thirds of Houston’s households included someone who lost earnings. Large proportions of people in Houston and Texas did not have enough to eat sometimes or often in the previous week, and even higher numbers could not pay their rent. There are looming deadlines making this a very dangerous time. On July 25, the moratorium on evictions from federally-subsidized or backed units will expire, and on July 26, the $600/week in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will end. Instead of providing timely assistance to stave off disaster, the Senate recessed until July 20. The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES act.
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