CHN’S COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship June 12

June 12, 2020

June 12, 2020

States are allowing businesses and other facilities to reopen, usually with some restrictions. COVID-19 is not done, though. We have passed the 2 million mark for cases in the U.S. and half the states plus Puerto Rico have seen cases trending up in the past two weeks. While some people are going back to work, close to half of all households (nearly 120 million people) include someone who lost income from work, with Latinx almost 1.5 times as likely to experience lost earnings as White households. 12 million of the poorest among us have not gotten help they are eligible for, and growing numbers have not had enough to eat or been able to pay their rent. Black Americans’ death rate from the coronavirus remains higher than other racial groups. Through mid-May, that meant 13,000 more Black Americans would have remained alive if their death rate were no higher than the White rate. That has now risen to 14,400 more deaths. Without more action, urgently needed aid will expire and state services will go unfunded. The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES act.

114,000/ 2 million+

Number of confirmed deaths/cases in the US, as of 6/12/20 from John Hopkins University. Click to tweet.

14,400

How many more Black Americans would be alive if Blacks died at the same rate from COVID-19 as Whites. Black COVID mortality rate is 2.3 times as high as Whites’. (Data through June 9.) 1,200 more Latinx and 200 more indigenous people would similarly be alive. Tweet this.

6 times, 5 times

The Black death rate from COVID-19 is 6 times the White rate in D.C.; 5 times the White death rate in Kansas and Wisconsin, as of June 9. Tweet this.

25 states plus Puerto Rico

These had COVID-19 cases trending upward in the most recent two weeks (out of the period from 1/22 – 6//10). Of these, 15 hit their peak caseloads during the most recent two-week period. Tweet this.

63%, 54%, 49%, 43%

Households in which someone lost employment income since March 13 (through June 2):

Respectively, for Latinx, Black, Asian, White households. Tweet this.

35.4 million

The number of workers either receiving or applying for unemployment benefits through May 30. Tweet this.

35%, then zero

Of the 35.4m workers receiving or applying for UI, more than one-third are self-employed or gig workers. If Congress does not renew their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, these workers will receive nothing after July 31. Tweet this.

12 million people…

The number eligible but have not received their $1,200 “stimulus” cash, because they are too low-income to need to fill out a tax form and don’t know to claim their cash by requesting it online. They’re owed about $12 billion. Tweet this.

While 5 billionaires

Gained $75.5 billion in income during two pandemic months (3/18-5/19) – Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, Buffett and Ellison. Tweet this.

22%, 17%, or 7%

Percentage of people who sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past 7 days:

Black (21.7%)
Hispanic/Latinx (16.9%)
White (6.9%)

Tweet this.

Almost 2x as likely

Essential workers are almost twice as likely as non-essential workers to use SNAP/food stamps. That’s because these health, agriculture, food, transportation, etc. workers earn disproportionately low wages. Tweet this.

One in four

23.7% of people not working because they’re caring for children home because of the pandemic sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the previous week; also true of 26.4% of people not working because of sickness/disability. Tweet this.

More than 3.7 times

People in households where someone lost income from work were more than 3.7x as likely to be uninsured as people in households where no one lost work income (14.5% vs. 3.9%, week ending June 2). Tweet this.

More than one-quarter

27.4% of Black households did not pay or deferred rent in the previous month. Latinx: 22.3%; Whites: 11.9%; Asians: 10.8%. Tweet this.

Minus 5.3 million workers

5.3 million state and local government workers will likely be laid off by the end of 2021 if Congress does not pass $1 trillion in state and local aid. That means declining services. If they only approve $500b, the loss will be 2.6 million workers. Tweet this.