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COVID-19 watch Tracking Hardship - July 17, 2020 |
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Congress returns to Washington on Monday, July 20, with deadlines only days away for expiring unemployment benefits and the end of evictions moratoria. That’s a very dangerous combination: back rent will come due while half of American households have lost earnings and 25 million jobless people will start losing $15 billion per week in unemployment benefits. Senate Republicans are expected to unveil a relief bill sometime in the coming week, perhaps totaling $1 trillion - $1.4 trillion. That’s already movement from Majority Leader McConnell’s initial stance (for zero/wait and see), but it is not nearly adequate. McConnell is moving because, in light of surging caseloads (close to 3.6 million U.S. cases and 138,000 deaths) and continuing hardship, people nationwide are demanding it. They want legislation that matches the need; they don’t want billions more in tax breaks for businesses. The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES Act – the time is now.
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22,000 to 65,000 |
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From June 16 to July 16, the number of daily cases of COVID-19 rose from 23,045 to 65,273 (7-day averages). Tweet this. |
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16,000; 2,200; 400 |
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How many Blacks, Latinx, and Indigenous people would be alive if COVID-19 mortality rates for these groups had been the same as for whites (as of July 7). Tweet this. |
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+ 2.5 million |
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How many more people said they were unemployed in the past 7 days over a two-week period (from 7 days ending 6/23 to 7/7). Tweet this. |
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Half…or more |
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Half of all households reported that someone had lost work income since March 13. That was true of 62% of Latinx, 58% of Black, 53.5% of Asian, and 45% of white households. Tweet this. |
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25 million; $15.4b |
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25 million jobless Americans will lose their $600/week in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation after July 26 if Congress does not act. Failing to prevent the cutoff will cost workers and the economy $15.4 billion per week starting July 27, according to the Century Foundation. Tweet this. |
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For the full report, click here. Sign the petition: The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES act. Share this on Facebook and Twitter.
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