03/30/20 03/30/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, the u.s. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, this is democracy now! pres. trump: together we have done a very good job but to point to come after 2.2 million deaths and maybe even bebeyond that, i'm feeling good about what we did last w week. amy: it has been d described ass e p public health failure of f e ntury as t the united d states leads ththe world in coronavirus

infections, , a record numumberf amererans filed d for unemplployment. gasping for air, gasping for care. what does global hehealth justie look like? we will speak with twoo y ye professors who cite decades of auststerity make it haharder to fight t the pandemic.. they proropose a new deal for public health. then more than 100 million people across the united states have been ordered to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus, but what about people who are homeless? hub forucks was a big homeless people to use the bathroomom, so how are they washing their hands? the mall is close. no bathrooms. there's a 24 hour bread and butter, but they are not letting people he the bathroom. so how are people supposed to wash their hands? amy: we will look at the homeless people in new york city shelters and on the streets who

have been left with no way to safely shelter-in-place. then to oakland and los angeles, where group of unhoused mothers, elders, and families have reclaimed vacant homes to stay safe during the pandemic. >> we want all of these houses to be occupied by hun n bein no imimdiately. especily now wh the ronaviru its a safe haza to ve all o these pelele on e ststres while there e empty houses and safe homes. they are empty. we are not doing anything wrong. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll from the covid-19 pandemic is nearing 35,000 as confirmed cases have now risen to over 730,000. the united states continues toto lead in coronavirus cases wiwith over 143,0,000 known infections-

though the true number is certain to be far higher due to lack of access to tests. there are over 2500 deaths. on sunday, president trump walked back earlier statements about lifting social distancing advisories by easter after -- instead extending the government guidelines through the end of april. he said the peak death rate is likely two weeks from now. dr. anthony fauci, head of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, warned coronavirus could kill between -- up to 200,000 americans but that any estimate was still a moving target. trump addressed the possible us death toll while speaking at his sunday news briefing. pres. trump: you're talking about 2.2 million deaths. 2.2 million people from this. and so if we can hold that down as we are saying to 100,000, it is a horrible number, maybe even

less so we have between 100000 and 200,000, we altogether have done a very good job. amy: the 2.2 million figure comes from one projection model if no measures were put in place to slow down the spread of the virus. trump also boasted about his tv ratings at his news briefings, comparing them to monday night football, said he was beating it, and attacked pbs news reporter. >> you said repeatedly you think some of the equipment that governors are requesting, they don't actually need. he said new york might need 3030,000 -- you set it on fox news. pres. trump: why don't you -- why y don't you act in a little more positive? it is always trendy get you, get you. that is why nobody trusts the media anymore. used work foru "the times" and now you work for someone else.

let me tell you something, be nice. >> my question is -- pres. trump: del threatening. amy: as states continue to issue dire warnings about the severe lack of medical equipment, trump ordered general motors friday to produce 40,000 ventilators under the e defense production act, and the cdc issued new travel advisories for new york, new jersey, and connecticut, urging people to refrain from non-essential domestic travel. trump previously said he would impose a quarantine on the tri-state area, which some state officials said was not in his purview. he walked that threat back. some states are taking their own measures to stop new cases of coronavirus from traveling across state lines. rhode island governor gina raimondo sunday it will require all out-of-state visitors to self-quarantine when entering rhode island. on friday, she initially applied the order to just new yorkers. florida recently unveiled new measures to combat the spread of coronavirus after coming under criticism for not shutting down

beaches during spring break, including an interstate highway checkpoint and requirements that travelers from new york and new orleans self-quarantine for two weeks. the florida governor said he is deploying the national guard members to intercept travelers from the new york city area at airports.. governor ron desantitis also sad the ststate would suspend vacatn rentals for two weeks. in other news from florida, a reporter f for the "miami herar" and "the tampa bay times" " says desantis blocked her from entering a press bririefing aftr she reququested the office allow for social distancing and video press briefings to protect the journalists. in washington state, the american academy of emergency medicine condemned the removal of a bellingham er doctor who publicly called out his hospital's lack of protection for workers. earlier this month, dr. ming lin posted on facebook that peacehealth st. joseph medical center was not following

appropriate testing protocols and exposing health care workers and patients to unnecessary risks. coronavirus cases have been mounting across prison populations with hundreds of confirmed covid-19 cases among prisoners and staff in multiple jails in new york, chicago, and around the country. new york police commissioner dermot shea said he expects coronavirus cases among police officers to reach 900 today. nearly 14% of the new york police force was out sick on sunday according to commissioner shea. around 700 new jersey police officers have tested positive for the coronavirus. 400 detroit police officers are now in quarantine. the detroit police commissioner has tested positive for covid-19. in philadelphia, city officials have ended talks with the owner of what was once the hahnemann university hospital, which shut down last year after being

purchased by a private equity firm. the owner of the property told philadelphia to either buy the hospital, which has room for nearly 500 beds, or pay nearly $1 million per month to lease it. in illinois, a 9-month-old died after contracting covid-19, the first known infant death from the coronavirus in the u.s., in healthcare news, trump said cigna and humana are waiving co-pays for coronavirus treatment but some healthcare experts say insurance companies are set to make huge profits from the virus crisis, in part, by hiking up premiums next year. cbs news announced emmy-award winning producer and cbs news executive maria mercader died from coronavirus. she was 54 years old and had survived cancer, which she battled for over two decades. new york remains the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the united states with more than

1000 deaths and over 60,000 cases statewide -- over half of those in new york city. new york city mayor bill de blasio said sunday residents who do not adhere to strict social distancing rules can be fined up to $500 as the city scrambles to stem a surge in new cases. new york governor andrew cuomo said friday new york will build eight temporary hospitals. tents started going up in central park over the weekend and an emergency field hospital is expected to be open on tuesday to start caring for overflow patients from nearby mount sinai west hospital. nurses from jacobi hospital in the bronx held a demonstration to protest the lack of personal protective equipment, or ppe, as they face a spike in coronavirus cases. this is emergency room nurse kelley cabrera. >> this moment is for all of us right now on the front lines to come together to show the world that we are real people taking

care of real people. we are here to show the federal government that we exist. yes, we are here in protest of the fact they have the capabilities and the resources to help us and they sadly have chosen not to do so. amy: you can see our interview with kelley cabrera and pediatric emergency nurse sean petty at democracynow.org. nurses across the country, including in georgia, illinois, and california, have staged similar protests in n recent da. on sunday, trump accused hospitals of hoarding ventilators and questioned why masks are disappearing from hospitals. unproven accusations that he made. in more news from new york, governor cuomo released an executive order saturday, saying hospitals could not force pregnant people to give birth without a chosen support person. the order comes in response to a move by the new york presbyterian and the mount sinai

hospital systems to bar partners from labor and delivery rooms, causing widespread outrage. new york became the latest state to postpone its presidential primary, originally scheduled for next month, to june 23, the same date as state legislative and congressional elections. in california, governor gavin newsom says his state received 170 broken ventilators from a national stockpile, but that a silicon valley company was working to fix them. california cases have topped 6000 with over 130 deaths. in more news from california, the mayor of lancaster has said a teenager who is believed to have died from covid-19 last week was turned away from an urgent care clinic because he did not have health insurance, and he had a heheart attack on e way to the hospital. president trump signed the record-breaking $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package into law friday after the house

of representatives passed the massive bill earlier in the day. on the house floor, new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez blasted the bill's $500 billion corporate bailout. >> we have to go into it is about eyes wide open. what did this in a majority fight for? one of the largest corporate bailouts with a few strings as possible and american history. shameful. the greed of that fight is wrong . for crumbs for our families. and the option that we have is to either let them suffer with nothing or to allow this greed and billions of dollars which will be leveraged to trillions of dollars to contribute to the largest income inequality gap in our future. amy: president trump said he will not adhere to oversight provisions for the corporate that hisnd administration will not provide documentation to audit the money. workers of undocumented

hahave been left t out of the governrnment stitimulus plan a y facece some e of the highehest s of job loss. immigrant rights groups are also warning trump's so-called public charge rule, which allows officials to deny green cards and visas to immigrants who use public benefits, has left some too scared to seek medical help . dozens of immigrants at the northwest detention center in tacoma, washington, have been on hunger strike since friday to protest their continued imprisonment despite the risks -- at the fourth -- for-profit group geo group. >> we're just asking for deportations to be postponed while the pandemic passes. i think we are human. we are not animals to be treated as the worst thing in this country. we're asking for humanitarian visa. amy: a federal judge in los angeles has urged the government to work to release of imprisoned migrant children amid the worsening cororonavirus outbrea.

in labor news, workers for grocery delivery app instacart are going on strike today to demand the company implement appropriate safety measures and give them hazard pay. workers in staten island, new york, are walking off the job today, accusing amazon of continuing to work out of the warehouse despite multiple coworkers testing positive for covid-19. workers are demanding amazon close and sanitize the fulfillment warehouse before ththey return to worork. on whole foods workers are tuesday, calling for a "sick out" to demand hazard pay, guaranteed paid time off for workers who self-quarantine, and the extension of health care coverage to part-time and seasonal workers. in europe, italy's death toll is nearing 11,000 as the country 100,000 covid-19 cases. spain reported nearly 840 new coronavirus deaths sunday, its highest daily increase as its

death topped prime minister 7300. pedro sanchez announced saturday all non-essential workers must remain at home for the next two weeks as the government ramps up measures to contain the pandemic that has pushed hospitals and morgues to the brink. france, italy and spain -- three of the hardest hit countriries n europe -- are calling onhe european union to do more to helplp combat coronanavirus, includuding providining funds to help finance thehe countries'' response to the pandemic. this is spanish prime minister sanchez. >> the response cannot only be national. it must be a european response. it has to be a response where we all row is one whether we are dutch, spanish, portuguese, italian, german. it has to be a european response. amy: italian prime minister conte warned that nationalist instincts could gain strength if the european union fails to act.

in britain, officials say the nation could be under some type of lockdown n for six months orr momore. british primime minister boris johnson isis onef f nearly 20,00 knowown coronavivirus patienentn britain. he tested positive for covid-19. over 1200 people have died. in russia, moscow is starting a lockdown today, affecting nearly 13 million residents. over 1000 infections have been reported in the russian capital. in belarus, authoritarian president alexander lukashenko's response to the pandemic is in stark contrast to other european leaders as he refused to implement any protective measures, and advised citizens of belarus to drink vodka and visit the sauna to combat the infection. in japan, the popular comedian ken shimura has died after contracting covid-19 at the age of 70. known for his slapstick style, he was a regular fixture on japanese variety shows.

his death comes as the japanese government has resisted imposing a lockdown or social distancing measures, citing concerns for the economy. japan recorded over 170 new cases on sunday, 68 of those in tokyo. testing has s remained extxtremy limited. in the phihilippines, lalaw enforcement t officers have reportedly b been subjectingng people whoho violate thehe natil lockdown to o humiliating g and violenent punishmentnt, includig locking ththem in crowdededog cages. in the middle east, the first coronavirus death in syria was reported sunday, one week after it announced its first confirmed case. saudi officials say they shot down balliststic missiles on the southern border with yemen days after warring parties in yemen agreed to a nationwide cease-fire amid the coronavirus pandemic. an outbreak in yemen would have catastrophic effects in the war-torn country, which is already home to the world's worst humanitarian crisis thanks to the u.s.-supported, saudi-led war, which has decimated the

health care system. meanwhile, as fighting escalates in libya between the so-called libyan national army and the united nations-backed gogovernment, officials say thee arare now eight confirmemed cas. libya says it is freeing around 450 prisoners as part of the effort to stem the spread of the virus. in brazizil, as president jajair bolsonaro contininues to downply the coronavirus pandemic, governors across the country hahave decided they will promote social distancing anotherer memeasures. meanwhile, press freedomom grous are e denouncing boslonanaro's recent approval of a provisional regulation restricting access to public records, including information about how the covid-19 pandemic is impacting brazil. in central america, guatemalan officials have confirmed a man who was deported from the u.s. last week has tested positive for covid-19. in panama, at least people died four and two others have tested popositive aboard a dutctch-ownd cruiuise ship anchored near pana

city. u.n. body says the african continent is two to three weeks away from its peak of coronavirus cases and needs an emergency economic stimulus of $100 billion to ensure its healthcare systems can cope with the oncoming onslaught. nigeria, africa's most populous county, has ordered residents of lagos and abuja to stay at home. nigeria has registered around 100 cases but testing is very limited. in kenya, sesecurity forces in mombasa deployed tear gas and with batons as they tried to board a passenger ferry ahead of a 7:00 p.m. curfew. in south africica, police and military forces fired rubber bullets at shoppers gathered outside a johannesburg supermarket amid a nationwide lockdown. nearlyly 1300 cases have been recorded in south africa, ththe highest number on the continent. in a wreck, u.s. coalition forces withdrew sunday from -- in iraq, u.s. coalition forces withdrew sunday from a third base in the e north of the couny as the military continues to consolidate its troops following attacks earlier this month.

the k1 airbase is site of a december rocket attack that killed an american contractor and triggered a series of retaliatory attacks s between u. forces and iranian-backed militias and the trump ordered assassination of iran's top military commander qassem soleimani. reverend lowery worked closely with dr. mark luther king junior until king's assassination in 1968. lowery organized the boycott of segregated buses in montgomery, alalabama, 1 1955. he delivered prorotesters' demas to geoeorge wallace, t the sta's segregationist governor, at the 1965 mararch for voting rights from s selma to montgomery. in 2006, at ththe funeral forr coreretta scott king, reverend lowery b blasted president geore w. bush over the iraq war and his conservative agenda, even as

bush sat in the front row. he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom in 2009 by president barack obama. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. it has been described as the public health failure of the century. as the global death toll from the covid-19 pandemic tops 34,000 with 723,000 confirmed cases, the united states continues to lead in coronavirus cases with over 143,000 known infections -- though the true number is certain to be much higher because of the extreme lack of testing. the u.s. is now reporting nearly 2600 deaths. after receiving widespread condemnation for downplaying the threat of the virus, on sunday president trump reversed course on lifting social distancing advisories by easter and extended the government

guidelines through the end of april. this comes after he signed the record-breaking $2 trillion coronavirus bill into law friday that has been condemned by critics for including corporate slush funds and a record 3.3 million americans have filed for unemployment. on friday, the head of the international federation of red cross warned social unrest could erupt among people who live in poverty and now lack sources of income amid the covivid-19 cris. whoe have a lot of people ararvery marginalized. the so-called black hole o of werety y with the daiaily jobss otr r way to live.e. in the most d difficultlt neighborhoods in the bigig c ci, i'm a afraid in aewew weeks wee will have e soci proroblems. this is a social bomb that c can

explode at any moment because they don't have any way to have an income or find an income. amy: when we come back, we will be joined by a yale epidemiologist and law professor who are proposing a new deal for public health. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: that is the toronto symphony playing from their homes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the global death toll from the 35,0009 pandemic nearing and ththe confirmed cases nearig three quarters of a million around the world. we're joined now by two yale professors who co-authored a piece for the "boston review," headlined "alone against the virus," in which they argue decades of neoliberal austerity will make it harder to fight the

coronavirus pandemic. they write -- "at every step, a rapaciously profit-driven health care system and an austerity-ravaged state will make this virus harder to manage. inequality is itself associated with poorer health outcomes, including lower life expectancies across nations. the coronavirus is about to illustrate that epidemics are great levelers: they can collapse social classes, even if -- as with all forms of collapse -- the people at the bottom get the worst of it." they go on write -- "the question today is whether we can learn something from coronavirus that might not only help us mitigate the harm of this pandemic, but build a new infrastructure of care that allows us to better protect the most vulnerable -- and us all." with us now to discuss their article e d their argument is

gregg gonsalves, assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at yale school of public health. co-dirirector of the global heah justice papartnership. and amy kapczynski, professor of law at yale law school and cofounder of the law and political economy blog. co-director of the global health justice partnership. we welcome you both to democracy now! how thisn talk about pandemic has really applied a microscope to health and justice, not only in this country, but in the world will stop amy kapczynski, why don't you begin? >> thehey you so much. there are many ways inin which e coronavirus pandemic is really revealing the enter logic of our system. one thing is to think of how our health care system is structured. the fact that people face the

question of whether they can afford testing, whetheher they n afford to go in and get theeatment -- for example, ideologigical plplace would be o the doctctor. butheyey ca't. all of those features along g wh the underfundnding of thehe infrastructure t that we need to respond d to this,s, for examplo we have e enough h hospital bed? do we have the resources given to our p public hehealth experts that can allow them to respond? all of those kinds of things are going to make this pandemic far worse than it needed to be. another really important piece of this is our r personal state. the united states is extreme to the degree to which we put people in prpresent and we incarcerate e punitive measures for migratation. spreadidedemic is goingng to like wildfire e in prisons. we know prisons s are drivers of epidemics anand we know all l of those who are bein heldd in immigration detention are a grave risk and those kinds of things, the fact we have

people and ourher society with this kind of punitive approach is going to mean the epidemic is going to be extraordinarilily hard to contrl in those places and because we are all connected, becomes harder to control elsewhere. can gregg gonsalves, if you talk about the failure of the response. the astounding fact that president trump's posting that he applied a very early travel ban and yet even with this early travel ban, did not push for the accessss to tests --which perhas of the number one measure to prevent the spread -- and also the protective gear to the heroes and heroines of the united states, the medical professionals all over this country who o are the hardest ht right now. >> sure. as you mentioned, this is the public health failure not of

this entry, but probably the pastst 100 yeaears of back to te 1918 great influence epidemic. -- influenza epidemic. we knew in december this was going to be a g global pandedem. it was like sars that swept across the world and w we had three monthshs to repoport. there were r reports internallyy earlyating ndc essay even january to give us moree breathing room for the publilic health resesponse, butut the government sat on its hands. first it said we're not going ee the who world health organization tests and we're goining use our own. they ran into the implementation of the tests and had to start from scratch. we gotot three months ininto the pandemic with no real publicic health response from our national government. then we had the sosort off contradictory set of pronouncements from the white house. the presidenent underer place te seriousness of thehe epidemic while scientists like dr.

seeony fauci says we could 200,000 deaths in this c countr. we had sort of a a collapse of leadershipip from t the cdc alle way up to the white house in which we were quite, frankly, with our pants down for aa pandemic that was swsweeping the world as early as january we could have anticipated this. amy: as we move forward, professor, from any be dominated -- epidemiology perspective, how did the neoliberal popolicies of the united states, a and defined that term "neoliberal" the kind of private health care system we to,o,how does it contribute accelerate the panandemic in t s country? i would let amy defefined neneoliberalalism, but i think e see eveven in the wake e of the affordrdable care acact, we stil haveve many uninsureded, underirinsured in ththis countr.

we have a whole class of people ououtside care. undocumentnted immigrants, prisoners, the homelesess. in order to conontain this epidemic, we need to know testing, where it is a and to wt extent, but also get people into care to be treated and taken care of, to get them the resources they need to do social distancing. social distancing. social distancing is our maiain public health tool against this virus, and unlike o other countries in europe such as denmark -- which is providing 80% of salaryy support to o peoe in ordrder to let them stay home anand a whole set of other socil servicices we don't give in country to our populace -- we are going to make it veryry difficulult for people to prevet the e disease from spreading in their communities. if this is what neoliberalism is, draghi.com e every man a and womaman for himself, then maybe that is a good definition of what it is and it is hazardous to your health.

withprofessor, you go back dr. fauci way back to the years of massive aids activism. he was the leading figure during the reagan years around aids. can you talk about your relationship with him and his approach to this pandemic? trace the trajectory from aids toto what t we're seeinnow. seen the aidsas epidememic, ebola, h1n1, sars. he has been n on the frontline f all of t these epidemics. eaearly relationships with him were contentious. protested against him, locked horns with him many times in the late 1980's and early 1990's. amy: you are part of act up. >> i was. what h has been cleared the e lt decade or more, he turned out to be a very trustworthy, science-based, evidence-basedd

figure for helping the united states understand how to respond to infectiouss disease such as during t the ebola crisis when e hugged a nurse w who had b been treated for ebola at t the national institute for healtlth. hehe has beeeen the one person n the popodium at the whe e house who is been n able to sosort of speak truth to power and say what thehe facts are rather than what the s spin is coming g outf surgeon general adams and the rest. amy: amy kapczynski, i will leave it to you to define these neoliberal policies that you have said have worsened in this pandemic the effect of it in the united states. and to lay out what our system is today, now insurance companies that say they will not only not charge for testing, but not charge for treatment are called heroes in a private system. but afterwards, will immediately increase people's insurance costs.

what is a new deal for public health? but begin on the issue of neoliberal policies. >> sure. it is commonly defined by scholars as s a politicall movot that in fact s sought to change our relationshship between marat anand democracy. peoplele often think of it as coming to prominence in the 1980's a and 1990's. think of the reagan n and thatcr programs as key pillars of neoliberal policy a aroaches. so theyy demand, for example, deregulalation, the starving off ththe state, thehe expansion ofe profit motive to more and more parts of society. the organization of more and more parts of society according to market logic. deregulation, privatization, and the prpriority givenen to markes over society and over people. so with that s sort of in mind,i

think it is pretty y clear how e have built n not only health cae workmem but also a system of , for example, wherere there iso sick pay f for so mamany milliof americans. they canannot stay home whenen y are sick. that is driven by a prophet logic. that is driven by an extractive id about how business should relate to human beings. it is one that underlines the health o of all of us. everyone''s to really come aware of at this moment, if you're looking at stay home when they're sick that none of us can be protected from things likike the coronavirus.s. and many things beyond that. that is the prophet logic -- - e same logicic that starves the state, that -- another thing we talk about in our pieces the way public healtlth has been underfununded. and the waway donald trump is se the a apotheosis of this. he said at some point i in one f the early pressss conferences tt he did not want a lot of people sitting around prpreparing fofor epididemics because that t was d of wasted overhead.

that kind of logic is what leaves us unprepared to deal with the deep structural vulnerabilitities and to deal wh crcrisis. andd that isis really where we e at. we don't have the resources at hand. we don't haveve the institutions wewe neeeed to get care e and mo people quickly. and we don't have ways to support people to do what our society needs as all to do right now, which is to stay home and take care of one another by stayingg home and engaging in social distancing. so what does a new system look like? one of the keyey pillars of the new deal for public health as greg and i see it is something that medicare for all soso thate need people to be able to access care in this country without concern they're going to go bankrupt, which is what so many people face today, and we need to extend the circle of care to everyone so we are all protected and so that we canan all then be connected in this circle of care. so beyond that, of course things like sick pay and rights for workrkers. i ththink you will see that plas that give workers rirights are gogoing to feel bebetter andnd

contribute more to our -- places that treat them as disposable. we need more powerful workers, more sick pay, expansion of the welfare state to keep people in do notion where they c can jujust the productive wowork ofr society, but the r reproductive work. like t the caring for r one ano. which is w what we're doing all righght now, staying at hohome d caring for one another. and that doesn't coununt on most memeasures of the economy.y. staying home doesn't t count. staying hohome is not productive in the way people ordinarily think about t the economy. inin the system, n neolibeberal economics we have been given, is one that systematically exploits the kind of carere we give her e another that is unpaiaid and doesn't t provide us with the resources we need to kind of reproduce ourselelves in societ. so we need thosese resources. we also need to rollback the carceral state and putting people in extraordinary grave

dadanger even in o ordinary tims and providing us with none of the things that we really need to be able to addresss the underlying causes of things lile ying and o our society. -- of those pieces together along with the recognition that in fact behind me is something we need to build an economy that is worthy of the society we want to live in rather than one that treats people as disposable and that kind of exploits our planet and also are forms of care in the way this one just today. amy: gregg gonsalves, where does medicare for all fit into this picture? how do you see it saving the lives of not only the most vulnerable, but of everyonone? it is interesting. there is a p piece i in "the ti" today that talks about covid care for all. it isink we're -- i think

interesting becauause this is wt has brought us to this brink. the failurure of care in the united states, which is not capitulated anywhere else and that rest o of the woworld, hasd us to a point wherere it depepes on who youou are whether y you'e goining to getet sick and whethr you going to get well, whether you're going to get infnfected r not t with coronavir.. unless wtakeke care of each other from coast to o coast, frm north to south, east to west,t,e are going toto b vulnerablble -e are all as vulnerarable as the most vulnerable person in society.y. unless u undocumenteted immigra, the incarcerated, the homeless are brought into the circle of care with healthth care universalllly accessible across the united states, it will always be somebody who is going to get sick, who could be ththe spark that sets off the next epidemic. amy: gregg gonsalves and amy kapczynski, there's so much to talk about. we will link to your pieces.

both at yale university. gregg gonsalves is assistant professor at yale. they're both co-authors of "markets v. lives: claims that the cure is worse than the disease rely on a false tradeoff between human needs and the economy." when political leaders say shelter at home, what about when you don't have a home? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "ojitos verdes" peperformd via video conference by mariachi escandon of roma middle school in the border town of roma, texas. in the midst of this pandemic. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united aids, new york city. here in new york state, the death toll has surpassed 1000 with more than 60,000 cases. that is a series under estimate because the lack of access we have to tests. in new york city, which accounts for more than half the state's cases, sirens can be heard blaring around the clock as the city scrambles to treat the growing number of critically ill patients. but as new yorkers and people around the world are told to stay at home to prevent the

spread of the virus, tens of thousands of unhoused people in new york city shelters and on the streets have been left with no way to safely shelter in place. the virus is already spreading through the city's shelter system, where at least 70 cases have been reported in 45 shelters and two people have died. the news outlet the city reported saturday that four unsheltered homeless people have also tested positive for covid-19 and three are still hospitalized. advocates for the unhoused say these numbers will get far worse if the city continues to fail to provide adequate bathrooms, public sanitation stations, and proper shelter for homeless new hospitalized. advocates for the unhoused say yorkers living on the street. democracy now! reached charmel lucas, a member of picture the homeless who has lived in the shelter system for fivive years, reached on the phone last week. she exprpressed concerns about unshsheltered homeless people lt on the streets amid the pandemic. big hub for was a homeless people to use the

bathroom. so how are they washing their hands? the mall is closed. no bathrooms. 24 our bread and butter, but they're not letting people use the bathroom. tohow are people supposed wash their hands? amy: meanwhile, those living in the city's packed shelter system say it is too crowded to allow for safe social distancing. this is bernard ward, who was living in a new york city shelter in downtown brooklyn until last week. we reached him on the phone. >> when the virus first hit and people are always requesting for ,loves and masks and they said we are not able -- it wasn't in their budget. i said, wasn't in your budget? that did not make sense. this is an epidemic. the maintenance personnel was there cleaning up the dining

area, the hallways, by dormitory. it was 20 or more people in the dining area closed up together with no protection serving meals -- you know, they did not cover it. it was ridiculous. amy: all the while, new yorkrk city is continuing to break up homeless encampments, despite the recommendation of the centers for disease control and prevention. new yorkrk mayor bill de blasiso said sunday residents who do not adhere to strict social distancing rules can be fined up to $500 -- a rule that advocates warn will disproportionately affect unhoused people. for momore, we're going to kiana davis, advocate and policy analyst with the safety net project at the urban justice center. welcome to democracycy now! lay out the issue here in new york and then we wilill go to l. and oakland.

>> sure. here in new york, what we are really saying is the city continue to disregard an de-prioritize the needs of people living on the street andd in our s shelter system. vacant there are enough spaces in n the c cy, both hotes and apartments, where the city could be housing people. wewe know that folks o on the st are continuing to be heavily policed. the cityty relies on the police force to mananage and monitor homelessss folks insnstead of services in the way of housing or bathroomsms or handwashing stationons or even basic supplies and necessities for people on the street. we have seen the police continuingng to conduct s street swsweeps of f homeless folks wen the street, despite cdc and the hud guidance advising the city that is not what thehey shouldle doing, that that is a risk to further spreading coronavirus

and covid-19. heard fromas you bernard, in ththe shelters, thte are inadequate cleanings happening,g, lack of basic sanitation suppliess, a lack of ability to social distanance of and as you m mentioned just this weekend, the may announced they're going to start finding people for not complying with social distancing r rules when people who do not have a home, who arare on the street, do nont have a way to socially distance. amy: so talk about what your demands are now a and now many people are we talking about new york city? >> we know there are over r 17,0 adult shelters, single adults, many of whomom are in, get settings, dorm like shelter spaces, and about 3500 -- a little mor than 3500 folks on the street and an estimate. so our demands, what we are prioritizing at this point t is thatat the city should be using vacant hotels to ensure safety

fofor peoplele on the street ano are in the shelters. we know ththere aree over 100,00 vacant hotel units right nowow n new york c city that could be being usus to offer r isolation spaces for people who want that. we also always wanant to tie ito a a longer demand to house homeless people, homeless folks in our city now. evereryone who needs a h home sd be able to access one. we know there is a huge vacant housing stock in our city that could be being offered to folks on the street and in shelters, which would allow folks to socially distance, self-quarantine, take care of themselvlves. we know housing is health care. we also are demanding increased services for people on the street a and in shelters -- some of the things i mentioned like increasing handwashing stations, having m more access t to drop n spaces for homeless folks, increasing distancing in

shelters, and cleanining in shshelters. another importantt demand is around policing. we believe there should not be ongoing policing that targets homeless people such as the street sweeps, such as finding people who are not socially distancicing will we know that will inevitably directly target homeless fololks who are on thee street who do not haveve a place to go. in the last one is access t to food and access to health care. about one thirird of the country is a new york city have had to shatteter their doors asas a ret of covid-19. we want to make sure that people have access to food that is both needsible and meets their and accommodates whatever dietary restrictions as well as access to health care. amy: we will continue to cover this. we want to thank you for being .ith us, kiana davis we're going to move on to oakland and l.a. but i want to

end with this new york comment lucas.mel >> houousing at shelters. housing at shelters. housing, not a shelter. now you have all of these people in these shelters all these years and now you have a pandemic and they don't have their own apartment to lock down , cook food. so what is the city going to do differently after we get through this? what are they going to do differently for people in the shelters? are you going to get them into apartments faster before another pandemic happens? what are they going to do? what is the e plan for the next time? what is the plan? amy: "what is the plan" asks charmel lucas.

a special thanks to libby rainey. we turn now to california where the number of cases has passed 6000 with 132 deaths. the enentire state hasas been dered to sheltlter in n place, t more than 100,000 people are still living on the streets. a recent study estimates that nearly 2600 unhoused people will need to be hospitalized for the vivirus in l.a. alone and d neay 1000 will need intensive care. governor newsom has pledged thousands of hotel rooms for homeless people while mayoror ec gagarcetti says hehe will l open rerecreational centeters sheltee unhoused. san francisco is looking to convert churches and schools in the shelters but calls are growing for the state to use vacant homes to shelter the unhoused and apply other drastic measures to protect people without homes. for more, we go to oakland to carroll fife, director of the oakland office for alliance of californians for community

empowerment. key organizer and the moms 4 housing movement earlier this year when unhoused mothers occupied a vacant house until they were eventually able to win its sale. in a minute, we will also go to a mom in los angeles who has joined a new movement to occupy empty houses. carroll fife, we begin with you and california. lay out the issue in oakland right now. the moms movement that we covered so extensively has taken on new urgent meaning right now when people arare trying to shteter at homee -- i if they hd one. >> correct. thank you for that coverage, the intensive coverarage that you al did. and justst like the speaker from new york said, t the situation n oakland, california, i is exacty the same. there are still vacant a are going ihat

lived in and people are stillll living on t the streets, mothers and chchildren are still livingn the e streets. pandemic thatat is susupposed to - -- well, t the governor saiaid we have to shelteter-inlalace butf yoyou don't have a a place to sheltetr in, thehen you can't do that. it really puts everyone in jeopardy. if they are as serious as they say they are, they will immedidiately open up thesee hotels, open up spaces -- theree are still luxurury units all l r the city of oakland that have, like, huge vacancy rates. we need to get people in them for the sake of everyone, for the sake of every single resident in our city. amy: i want to bring in -- i want to go to los angeles. we're joined by martha escudero, mother of two and reclaiming our homes member. she was the first to reclaim an empty house in california

earlier this month. if you can start off by talking about the group of unhoused mothers, elders, and families that are occupying 13 vacant homes to stay safe duduring the pandememic, martha? y you, amy y goodman, thank soso much for this coverage. yeyes, w we are part of a a grop called reclaiming our homes. i'm a mother of two.. they are 10 0 and eight years o. we became awarare of these houss being empty. ththere are a about 200 that t e owned by t the califorornia s se and are still l sittingg vacantt while we a are in a crisis. the whole state of california rent has gone so high in these last few yeaears thahat it h has become skid row. it is really a moral for us -- for the state to be hoarding thesese empty houseses when thee

are soso many people on the streets, espececially during ths pandemic musust up so we feel it is r really important for the mt vulnerable p pple to bee housed in be ablele to kekeep up their hygiene so w we don't spread the virus. so we are asking the goverernoro have all of f these vacant homes opened immediately to be housedd by the most vulnerable -- the elderly, the ones that are chronically ill. and we believe housing is a human right and should be affordable and equitable for everyone. and if the government is not working fast enough, comes to the power of the people to bee able to love and protect each other and fund solutions -- find solutions for our government that is not doing itits job. amy: can you talk about the city's response, the mayor's response to your -- you are speaking to us from one of the houses that your group is occupying, from where you're living. he announced los angeles would use rec centers to shelter the unhoused and g governor newsom s announunced the state will use

hotels what are you sayining? c caltrans homes, i know that mayor has more jurisdictionon. howevever, there is alalso couny andnd theity-owned, school district owns a lot of vacant homes that are livablele, that are ready -- these homes, for exexample, a lot of the peoe arare saying they y were not propererly taken care of. they had mininor issues, somomef them. we were ablele to fifix them. we, the community, reclaimiming ourr homeses, if the govovernmet cocould do the same -- they have been hoaoarding these for like 0 years,s, 20 years. they need to act faster, esespeciallyly during this pand. this is a moral and unjust -- they are not doing enough. we need to take that power within our own hands. amy: martha escudero carroll fife -- carroll fife in oakland, we just did a segment on health

justice and what that looks like in a pandemic. can you talk about the issue of racial justice in this pandemimc and unhoused people finding safe spaces to be in come not to infect themselves, their families, and d the overall commununity? >> housingng is health. it is foundndational to healtlt. without it, you can't actually have the things that you need in ororder to t thrive, i in ordero live. it is s a death sentence in oaklandd for the unsheheltered population. and for our seniors and for thee people w who don''t hahave acceo mutualources thatt are aid organizatations have been providing.g. ouour hospitals are overstaffed. rununning over. they have not seen the whole curve actually hit right now.. they have nonot seen an onslaugt of the patients that theyey wil obably getet over the next few days or nenext few weeks, but ty

are nonot preparered -- nonone s were ppapared for r this. justst likour familyly dn in l.a. said, if f the government s nott doing what theyey need to , then w we will b be forceced tot ourselves. itit is a racial -- itit runs ag racial lines like every otheher ..sue in o our country it impmpacts black folks a and n folklks the most. right now our populatation of homeless folks i in oakland is 70%. that meaeans if you are unshelterered and you are prededominantly black, thanan is a death h sentence for youou. there are peopople on the strers that are frighghtened that their lives are going to end because no one cares about them. amy: can you talk about open passing a two month freeze on evictions? and for those who have lost their jobs in this, to trillion dollar bill sasaying americansne going toto get a cheheck in n te mamail, how do o people who ared how to get a check in the mail?

>> youou donon't. it is a farce. it is a fafarce. itit is designed toto make it ar ththat our goverenent is doioing something. at that is still because of commununity pressure of groups like a section and protect oakland renters, thehe group tht works together with our city councilmember bass to pass this moratorium, whicich is stronger than any other moratororium in r that -- itthe state, was because of commumunity pressure that these things happppen. and thth is unfortunatate. in the sitituations s were livin right now, it really is life or deathh foror 70 peopople. we can do better. amy: carroll fife, thank you for being with us alliance of , californians for community empowerment. spspeaking to us frorom her homo keep the communities safee and stop the spread. and martha escudero, mother of two and reclaiming our homes member, speaking from the first reclaiming our homes house,

speaking to us again from home to protect the whole community. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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