04/24/20 04/24/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new w york city, the epicenter of the pandemic, this is democracy now! >> it is a joke when republicans say the urgency around this bill -- the only folks they have urgency around our folks like ruth's chris steakhouse and shake shack. amy: is the house has is a new half trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill, congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez is the sole democrat to vote no, saying

it falls far short on protecting those at greatest health risk, including essential frontline workers, and could let millions go hungry. we'll get response from the american prospect's david dayen and from riya ortiz, a domestic worker organizer in queens, new york, the epicenter of the epicenter of the pandemic. then georgia is reopening nonessential businesses today, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, ms. arch -- massage their fifist, despite a rising number of covid-19 deaths. >> you're crying to see our cases continue to go up but we are a lot better prepared for that we were over a month ago. we have the hospital bed capacity. amy: the georgia governor is opening the state over the objections of mayors in savannah, atlanta, augusta, and more. and we will look at the communityy in n crisis unfoldinn gaza as covid-19 sprpreads.

know herere in gazaz there arare no resources to fight this virus. we're all in god's hands here. amy: we will speak with dr. dr. loubani about what he sought his recent trip to gaza and how canada with universal health care is handling the pandemic. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to demococracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodmaman. the e novel coronavirurus contis toto ravage the united states, where the ofofficial death tolls rapidly approaching 50,000 -- more than a quarter of the 191,1,000 dedeaths reported worldwide from covid-19. a tally by johns hopkins researchers thursday found more than people died of the disease 3000 in the u.s. in just 24 hours. and many funeral directors and medical examiners say thousands more u.s. deaths from covid-19 remain uncounted. the disease continues to batter the u.s. economy. on thursday, the labor

department reported another 4.4 million u.s. workers filed for unemployment benefits over the last week, raising new jobless claims over the past five weeks to more than 26 million -- a scale that hasn't been seen since the great depression. on capitol hill, house lawmakers went back to vote overwhelmingly to approve another $483 billion in emergency relief. most will replenish the paycheck protection program, set up to provide forgivable loans to small businesses. new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez lasted republicans for refusing to take up new direct payments to u.s. residents, food aid, rent, and in the latest relief bill. and she pointed to big businesses like corporate chain restaurants that got tens of millions of dollars in loans meant for small businesses. >> only folks that have urgency around our folks like ruth's chris steakhouse and shake shack. those are the people getting

assistance in this bill. we have to fight to find hospitals, fighting to fund testing. that is what we are fighting for in this ill. it is unconscionable. if you had -- make sure that we include red in mortgage reliefef for our constituents. amy: most lawmakers, including house speaker nancy pelosi, wore masks throughout thursday's historic proceedings, except when delivering speeches from the house floor. pointedly, a group of at least a dozen house republicans refused to cover their faces, over the objections of their colleagues and the medical advice of the house physician. at least 34 members of congress have tested positive for covid-19, which has touched the families and friends of many across capitol hill.l. this is california democratic congressmember maxine waters. >> i'm going to take a moment to dedicate this legislation to my dear sister who is dying in a hospital in st. louis, missouri, right now, infected by the

coronavirus. amy: massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate elizabeth warren said thursday her oldest brother died in an oklahoma hospital this week, three weeks after he tested positive for the coronavirus. donald reed herring was 86 years old. senator warren tweeted -- "it's hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say 'i love you' one more time -- and no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close." at t the white house, ththe top scientisist at the departmtmentf homeland security on thursday outlined new research showing the novel coronavirus suffers from exposure toto warm m and hd conditions and from high l leves of u ultraviolet light. the findings, which h have not t been peer-r-reviewed, suggest te coronavirus may become less contagious durining summer mont. president trump seized on the news at thursday's white house coronavirus task force briefing. pres. trump: so supposing we hit the body with the tremendous --

whether r it is ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and i think you said that has -- you're going to tested. and if you brought the light ininside the body, either throuh the skin or some other way. i think you said you're going to test that, too. it sounds interesting. that see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute, one minute. is there a way we can do something like that i injection inside. amy: in response, democratic lysol disinfectant issued a stern warning that "under no circumstance should are disinfectant products be administered into the human body through injection, ingestion, or any other route. dr. craig spencer, director of global health in e emergency medidicine at new w york'ss presbyterian/columbia hospital, responded on twitter -- "instead of being asked about

how we improve our #covid19 response in the coming months, doctors are being asked to comment on why people shouldn't drink things like bleach or isopropyl alcohol. this has to stop." president trump also said thursday he disagreed with his top coronavirus tatask force scientist, dr. anthony fauci, that the u.s. needs to significantly ramp up testing. public health experts say a vast expansion of both diagnostic and serology tests is needed before any states can safely begin reopening their economies. outside the white house, dozens of drivers blared car horns thursday as they drove along pennsylvania avenue, displaying protest signs reading, "trump lies people die" and "#giveusppe!" a small group of protesters deposited effigies of body bags on the sidewalk outside the trump international hotel as the protest convoyoy surrounded the bubuilding. >> every day people are dying

unnecessarilily because they d't have testing, don't have adequate ppe, don't have adequate planning, don't have adequate leadership. we need the president to resign. amy: in new york city, the death toll from covid 19 is nearing acaccording to data cocompiled y 16,400 johns hopkins u universi. on thursday, governor andrew cuomo said about one in five residents of new york city have antibodies to the novel coronavirus in their blood, suggesting infection rates are an order of magnitude higher than the number of confirmed cases. the announcement was based on preliminary results from a study that randomly sampled 3000 people at grocery stores across new york state. if the numbers hold, the death rate from coronavirus infections in new york is about 0.5% -- less lethal than world health organization estimates, but still many times deadlier than the seasonal flu.

and the novel coronavirus remains far more contagious than influenza. health experts are concerned about the accuracy of dozens of new serology tests that have only just reached the market, with little vetting by the food and drug administration. and it's still not known whether people with antibodies to coronavirus are imimmune to a second round of the disease or how long any immunity mightt lastst. in georgia, , republican governr brian n kemp has defied ththe sk warnings of f public health experts and is reopening many nonessssential businesses beginning today. >> we will allow gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, bardi out studios, hair designers, nail care artists, aestheticians, their respective schools, and massage therapist to reopen their doors this friday april 24. amy: the associated press reports president trump and vice

president pence told governor kemp on tuesday they approved of his aggressive plan to reopen businesses, just one day before trump reversed course and publicly said he opposed the plan. in california, governor gavin newsom said thursday his state had suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic, with 115 deaths in 24 hours. newsom said it's still much too soon to end social distancing policies. >> i know there is the desirire, people are making calls on an hourly basis think it is time to open backup. consider the deadly stay in california, the last 24 hours. eight .5% increase in t the totl number of deaths. we saw 5.6% increase in the total number of people tested positive in the state of california. amy: despite the grim numbers, california has suffered far fewer per-capita deaths from covid after public health 19 officials moved earlier than other states to order residents to remain at home as the virus

spread.. in medical news, a draft manuscript of a report from a long-aitited cnicacal trial in china ndnds thantiti-val druru remdesiv f faileto l low the death ras s or roverery mes ofof covid-19 pieients. the findgsgs havnot t yepasseded peer review. eliminarresusults a s stu by the n york ste departnt health owed therug tout preside trump aa curati focovid-19 hydroxhloroqui, had no efct on paents' recovers. researers at ntheastern iversityay the nel cororovirus spad undetted in major ties, including boston, chicago, new york,k, san francio and seattle in early february, far earlier than previously known. the researchers estimate 28,000 people in u.s. cities were ininfected b by march 1, when te were just 23 c confirmed cases f the disease.e. the department of health and human services new spokespspson repeatedlyly made racist commens

about chinese people and claimed democrats wanted the coronavirus to kill thousands of people. michael caputo, a long-time republican political operative and trump ally, was appointed last week as assistant secretary for public affairs at hhs. in since-deleted social media posts archived online, caputo tweeted -- "millions of chinese suck the blood out of rabid bats as an [bleep]p]and eat the out of anteaters." in follow-up tweets, caputo wrotote, "don't you have a bat o eat?" and "you're very convincing, wang." in ecuador, , "the new york tim" reports the country's covivi19 death toll is s 15 times higher than the officiaial government count, making it one of the worst in the world. "the times'" analysis of official death registrations in ecuador reveal a staggering 7600 more people died of covid-19 frorom march 1 to april 15 than the average mortality rate in recent years. this spike is in stark contrast to the 5 503 deaths the governmt attribibuted to the coronavivirs of april 15. brazil has reported d its highet

daily y death toll since the beginning of t the pandemic, wih over 400 covid-19 deaths within 24 hours. this comes as far-right president jair bolsonaro continues to lash out against restrictions imposed by local governments across brazil to control the spread of the coronavirus. in peru, medical workers are protesting the country's hospitals' lack of preparedness with coronavirus cases topping 20,000 and a death toll of over 500. many hospitals are on the verge of a collapse. this is a nurse at one of the worst affected hospitals in lima. >> we have to use face masks right now with the exposure we are having and to dispose of them. that is whwhat the world health organization has said, which is to use and dispose. but we have to wear the face mask for the whole month. we have to use three for a whole month. we u use it and we usese it. where i work, colleagues have become infected. amy: in mexico, hospital workers

are speaking up against the recent abuse and discrimination they have received from strangers and authorities, who believe doctors and nurses are helping spread the coronavirus. over 20 medical staff across mexico reported being assaulted, thrown off buses, and some were banned from entering their own homes. one nurse described being thrown bleach thrown at her as she walked home after a shift treating covid-19 patients. a new report warns salvadoran president nayib bukele is taking authoritarian measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in el salvador, as human rights leaders in the country say bukele is using a pandemic to further his militaristic agenda. the report also sounds the alarm on the chronic shortage of water in el salvador and urges the government to establish adequate protocols to ensure the protection of women, girls, lgbtq people, and others during the pandemic. in a statement, the committee in solidarity with the people of el salvador, which authored the report, wrote -- "this pandemic will be a death sentence for those who could otherwise be saved by a humane and comprehensive public health approach."

in p puerto rico, transgender rights authohorities -- advocats are demanding local authorities investigate the recent killing of two transgender women who were found burnt to death inside a vehicle in the eastern coast of the island. serena angelique velazquez and layla pelaez are among at least four transgender people killed in puerto rico this year. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracacynow.org, the quarante report. i'm amy goodman. members ofof congress returned o washington, d.c. and votedd , thursdaday nearly unanimouslyo approve half a trillion dollars in new covid-19 emergency funding. the relief bill adds anothther $310 billionon for the small business p paycheck protection program just as the small business administration reports some 1.6 million small businesses received funding from the program, but hundreds of thousands more still waiting to just hear back about their application status after the program ran out of money last week. much of the money was allocated to large corporations.

the new relief bill also provides billions in aid to hospitals and for testing. but critics say it falls far short on providing funding for states and cities, and additional money to expand the supplemental n nutrition assistance program. more than 30 state attorneys general say the move could force 3 million people to go hungry in the middle of a pandemic. just one democrat voted against the bill. congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez, who spoke out on the house floor. ,> on behalf of my constituents the most impacted district in america, calling people, losing their families every day, it is a joke when republicans say they have urgency around this bill. the only folks i have urgency around our folks like ruth's chris steakhouse and shake shack. those are the people getting assistance in this bill. you not try to fix this bill for mom and pops. we have to fight to find hospitals.

fighting to find testing. that is what we are fighting for in this bill. it is unconscionable. if you had urgency, would legislate like rent was due -- thank you very much. amy: alexandria ocasio-cortez was speaking as she was holding her mask. this comes as democrats have called for key priorities to be added to a new phase 4 bill, including more funding for rental assistance, election security, and the u.s. postal service. for more, we go to david d daye, executive edititor of the amerin prospect where he writes a daily update on the pandemic called "unsanitized," his latest looks at "the fight to learn who the fed will bail out." welcome back to democracy now! and thanks so much for joining us. why don't you start off by reviewing what happened? we just played aoc. she was the sole democrat come along with four republicans, to vote against this stimulus pack. explain who is s getting bailed out t and who isn't. remarkable scene that

was in the house of representatives to see everybody in masks and they have the shshuttling of people in and cln house of representatives every -- i think they went alphabeticalally. ththe vote took about an hour. this bill does replenishes the small business lending fund, the ppe, for about 300 billion or more. hospital billion for differing of costs and 25 billion to surge testing but it leaves out come as you mentioned, all of the very important measures that progressives have been asking for but have not received. and now republicans got the small business replenishment that they wanted and it is hard to see what the incentive is for republicans to come to the table

onto first roundnd. amy: why was it almost unanimous? certainly, i don't think anybody is saying this money is not needed. i think what aoc and others are saying is that they're disappointed thahat this did not have the key measures forr indivividuals moritz relelief, fixing the posostal service, guaranteeing vote by mail for the elections in november, payroll support and things like that. progogressives that i haveve tad to a are very upset that leverae keeps leakining out here over ad ovover again. in the last big bill in march, you had a giaiant corporate babailout. now you h have the smalll busins relief that has been put in that small is a relevant term, 500 employees or less in franchises

can still apply. so that is kind ofof what thee republicanans wanted. now democrats are going to try to get their priorities through and i think it is going to be a pretty dififficult road. amy: on wednesesday, senate mamajority leader mitch mcconnel said he's against t giving stats more federal a aid in future pandemic legislation, suggesting states should instead consider babankruptcy. this was new york governor cuomo's response. >> as soon as the senate passed it, this current bill, senator mitch mcconnell goes out and says, maybe the states should declare bankruptcy, ok? this is one of the really dumb ideas of all time. amy: that is governor cuomo who just met with donald trump in washington. he called mcconnell the grim reaper. written an, you've lot about governors gaining power right now. talk about mcconnell suggestion, let state go bankrupt as the

corporations are funded. and the rise of governors. >> i think this is for one reason one reason only, it is to undercut public pensions. employeesout public and trying to get out the benefits that they earned, that they deserve o over the course f their workining lifetimes. mcconnell and the republicansns ideologically opposed to public workers and public pensions for some time. they see their moment to strike. the hole in state and local budgets is absolutely massive. about $3 trillion was spent last year on state anand local government. we've only seen about $150 billion in the cares act, last month's bill, fill that hole. there's probably going to be a $1 trillion hole in these budgets.

this is absolulutely dire. if you want to see another depression, , watch ththe austey of thehe state and local level, -- theynd localities have to cut services or raise taxes. dire andereally mcmcconnell seems to feell likee holds s them hostage. we have seen governonors rise in prominencece during this coronavirus pandemic. they certainlyly have been ableo make policy decisions. prpresident trump hahas sort off givenn thehem the ability to mae policy decisions by sort of taking responsibility away from himselelf. and that has been great, but they run up against a wall when it comes to spending. they only have the revenues they can take in. mcconnell is try to exploit that. it is really damaging.

amamy: s senator elizabeth w waf massachusetts and ro khanna lost a dear constituent to covid-19, introduce essential workers bill of rights. we will talk in a minute with a domestic worker organizer in the epicenter of the epicenter in queens. but if you can talk about, very quickly, this and other demands that progressives are making right now, as clearly, one after another, the stitimulus bills ae being passed. >> yeah, i mean, temporary workers standarard for workpkpce safety is absolutely critical. we are seeing our frontline workers come down to q quit infections of the coronavirus. rent is due on may 1. all of t these things now go ino a next bill that republicans -- it is going to be hard-pressed for them to deal witith. i think the key is there's no real pressure on nancy pelosi.

nancy pelosi has been a one-woman congress for the last momonth or so. the cononstituents -- the other representatives have not been involved in policymaking. i have told from one progressive organization, they're going to try to get members to stay out front, g give us some of these demands that we need for our constituents or we are not going to vote e for t this nenext pac. they want that guarantee upfront. to pressure popolicy to ininclue some of thisis stuff and work oa bill that actually meets the american people, especially in these districts. amy: david dayen, thank you for being with us executive editor , of the american prospect where he writes a dadaily update on te papandemic called "unsanitized." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: joan baez singing bob dylalan's "foreverer young," dedicating it to the "heroes of our time." health care workers, farmworkers, truckerer and manyy otother essential workers.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. to talk more about how the bills in washington have affectedd essentntial workers, letet's brg into the conveversation riya orz , lead organizer and case manager for the non-profit damayan migrant workers association in new york city. queens is the epicenter of the epicenter. every time we talk about the number of deaths, for example, in new york city, we actually do not actually know the numbers because in new york city alone, we're talking about hundreds of people -- 200 10 300 people a day -- that are dying in their homes that are not being counted. and all too often this is happening in queens, the most diverse borough in the world. talk about how the coronavavirus affected peopople you represent, domestitic workers, o they are, what is happening to them right now. >> goodd mororning, a a need.

thank you fofor that question. i'm actually joioining you from the epicenter of the epicenter in queens. i live in n jackson heights, queens, in new york city, a few blocks away from the hospitital with the mostst numbf infected patients in thehe u.s. morning comen t the in the night, rain or shine. grassroots the organization based in new york city that serves and empowers latino domestic workers, babysitters, eldercare givers, housekeepers and other low-wage migrant workers such as restaurant buserss and jelly workers. they care for the elderly andd ththe children, the most vulnerable most of this makes domestic work essential work. domestic work makes all work possible. in our experience on the first two weeks of the pandemic, interviewed about 84 members and 80found out that 65% of the

were fired, laid off, or had her hoururs reduced. that is about seven out of 10 of our members. 65 out of the 80 are also labor trafficking survivors who were trafficked by ambassadors and diplomats who work in the consulates and then united nations or were trafficked by placement agencies, hotels, resort owners, and rich professionals. they were already not doing well before this started. the pandemic test made things severely worse for them. the pandemic also unmasked the government's true nature. capitalism has relegated our and what communities will survive and i, who will eat and not you to come who will receive care. my community was rated as one of the communities that will die. quickly thatvery either our community members and risk painful death

due to coronavirus in their homes, like you mentioned, or die because of hunger were physical, mental, and emotional stress because they are not working. members areome our agonizing where they will get the money for food for rent or money to send back home because their families are also struggling in the philippines. caregiver who it is trafficked by a turkish diplomat. she was caring for this elderly patient. she was very careful that no virus would come in the house. him, likecare for they tend, even life the bottom of his feet just to make sure he is very clean. but the elderly got infected through his speech therapist. in turn, she was infected. she was sick for almost two or three weeks. she had to quarantine in their

home. because she lives with her husband and two kids, we just assumed the entire family was infected. income,no insurance, no no safety net that is being given toto the rest of the public. peoplee wil they had to make sure they had groceries. we give them groroceries, many r grocery shopping. we refer them to a doctor who closely monitors their situation. our organizers, who are also labor trafficking survivors, were doing d daily check-in'ss o makeke sure they're ok. theyey slept with the lights opn because they were afraid they would die while sleeping. that is the situation of the elderly caregivers who are caring for the most vulnerable in society. amy: i want to turn to another domestic worker. filipininaene, caregivever, nanny. she lived with her employer at the beginning of the p pandemic.

the employoy moved to o the hamptons in march, bringing her with them. after month, she asked for time f.f. my work hours weree chahanged p.m.8 8:00 a.m. until 10:0:30 oror 1 11:00 p.m.. if you''re livining with your employers cocome in is hard to t off, even if ththey say, yes,s,u can. but still, w when you're there,e are going to do something. amy: that is arlene speaking at a zoo news confeferencee of riya ortiz's organization. >> arlene is one o of our board members. she works for an employer who, like many of the rich peopople n nenew york, fled new york and wt to the hamptons. ththey know they cannott survive this pandemimic without theheir

workers, so they brought arlene with them, like many of our members. but there shshe had no security. she was working day in and day out. another member who was asked strongly by her employer to work bubut was forced to work seven days a week, 10 hours a day - -- so that is 70 hours a week. as we know, workers, even undocumented, are still protected by the law. they can only work 44 hours live in.. that means 26 hours were not being paid overtime. i had to assist her and make her choose come and you want to live in the situation or stay i in te situation or g go home with no income?? she chose to leave because the employer was actualllly a doctor in mount sinai and was sick with fever alalong with the entire family. ththey wanted to make surere she wasn't bringing in the virus in their home, but they were

already sick. she had to really think about her family, if she would like to keep working with them. amy: and the stimulus bills. the effect they have on the kind of people that you are representing -- we're not talking about a couple dozen people. we are talking about thousands of people. see 20go to corona, can blocks along a people lining up to get food. where e do the stimulus packages plplay in here? >> those are our members, too. many of our members aree undocumented. they a are not eligible for unemployoyment insururance. they''re not eligible for the stimulus pacackage. they're not going to get $1200 in the mail. we have to rely y on resources that damayan is raising. $400ighghts is giving financial assistance to any domestic worker who is struggling right now.

we are making sure members of our community are availing that. you're doing through delivery. they've been n out of workrk for almost sixix weeks. things are being done but it t s not t enough to o serve the wors -- the domestic workers who are essential workers and kekeep the city running. amy: riya ortiz, thank you for being with us. she is a domestic worker organizer, lead organizer case manager for the non-profit damayan migrant workers association in new york city. newsweek called her one ofof the heroes of the pandemic. this is demomocracy now!, democracynow.o.org, the e quarae repoport. i'm m amy goodman. now to georgia. that's right, georgia. georgia is opening up for business today. it is rereopening nonessentitial busisinesses today, despite e a rising number of covid-19 related deaths in the state and the objections of mayors in savannah, atlanta, and augusta.

as georgia's death toll passes 900, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases it's 22,000. governor brian kemp, who beat stacy adams in the election, has ordered hair salons tattoo , shops, nail parlors, gyms, barbershops and bowling alleys to reopen. restaurarants and movie ththeats are set to reopen on monday. public health officials warn lifting strict social distancing measures will lead to more deaths.. this is governor kemp speaking earlier this week. >> weeden we have more people moving around, we probably can see our cases continue to go up but we are a lot better prepared now that we were over a month ago. we have the hospital bed capacity. amy: the associated press reports president trump and vice president pence told governor kemp on tuesday they approved of his aggressive plan to reopen businesses just one day before trump reversed course and publicly said he opposed the plan.

on thursday, the southern christian leadership conference issued a strong warning to the governors of georgia, texas and other states who are considering reopening their economies. sclc president dr. charles steele, jr. said in a statement -- "we cannot use poor people as sacrificial lambs like they did to people during the tuskegee experiment. the businesses that are being reopened are the ones where poor people have to work and put their lives at risk." well, for more, we go to pine lake, georgia, where we are joined by geororge chidi. he is public policy director for padsplit, an atltlanta-basased affordablele housing organizati. he is a former city councilperson for pine lake, former reporter for the atatlana journal-constitution. thank you for j joining us. can you explain what is happening? you are going to make a list of businesses that should not be open right now, if you asked the public health officials all of this country, including georgia, i daresay they would make the l list of te nonessential businesses that the governor is openingng t today in

georgi why i is this s happenin? please, exexplain. >> my sense of it is a doesn''t really have to do withth pubc health at all. i cacan't imagine memebody reaey mani/pedi no. evenen though massage parlolorsd bobowling alleys are supposed to be open, nobody is going.. there is wididespread skepticism here i in georgiaia about doinga of this. is ababouthat this reducing the potential unemploymentntnsurance cost t to the state. thorder to open n these bubusinesses s supersedes an orr hehe made to close the specific businesses a few weeks ago. t earlier this s week, started to s see projections aut what the budget shortfalll was going to l look like in georgia.

we are looking at $4 billionon ththat we were not going to have before. ththe unemploymement fund has at $2.6.6 billion in it. that is s when to be a c crisiin ouout a year. i i think the governoror is tryg to act now to avert that crisis later. amy: but explain what t the coconnection is. are you saying if he says you can go back to work, then those people w who work in thesese pls can't file for unemployment? theyey can't say, no, i just dedecided toto stay home once he says they can go bacack to work? >> it is a a little momore complicated than thahat. people can file. the question is whether or notot the filing will be accepted. whether or not ty will actually g get money and h how. restaurant reopens -- and sosomeesestaurants a areoing to reoeopen -- and they cacallbk their employees and say, hey, we need you to be a server, b but e employees don'n't believe t they have enough personal protetectie

o or theyor whatever -- just believe they are going to bebe sick, w well, they willile for unememployment but thehen ty have got to o make the case for the d d emplmentnt before the department o of bobor. it is not alamdunk. if the business s is clolosed, f course they' g going t getet ona plumbing entrancnce. it of the business is s open -- according to the department of lalabor standas riright now, fer of infection alonene is not a sufficientnt cause for unemplployment coverage. basisically, it is settiting pee up for a fight that might take two o weeks, three weeksks, four weeks, lononger - frankly, some pepeople will give up,p, and i k that is s what they want. they want pepeople tgigive up their attempt to get unemployment, find a a job that mit t be substanandard relativeo theirr skills, and keep from hitting the pubublic nine. amy: s so can you give us a theheown, geoeorge chidi, of

people w who worork in thehese busisssses, economicic and racil demographic breakdowown? >> let's start with nanail salo. because nailil salalons, really, nail salons? amy: how do you do that without touching people -- and of course, people can wear gloves, but you have to be so close. we talked ababout arms length, that is far less than six x fee. light,nail technicians, there are health and safety guidelines t that have been released. it essentially turns a an l techchnician into a licenensed prpractical nurse. there's nono wayay -- everybodys a m mask, everybody needs a new mask for e each new person. amy: that is morere than dodocts and nurses getet in this country right t now. >> right. there is nono way they're goioing to bebe ae to gt eir r hands on that kind o of equipment.

everything has to be covered in plastic and recovered after every y person comes through the nail salon.. temperature checks fofor everyby who walks through the doooor. it is absurd. nonobody is gogoing to b be abl- amy: can you talk about the governors relationship, a a cloe ally president trump. ap is reporting both trump and pence told kemp this is a gogood idea and then reversed course after enormous pressure from m e top govevernment scientist arne president trump, and now are saying kemp is making a wrong decision. is it t possible that kim full o back -- you have e not even hit the peak in gegegia right nonow. thee d debts are vastly y increg eaeach dayay. arguing we pete a week or two ago. i do not believe that is te.e. ouounumbers aree increasining. it doesn't look l like a decline yet. trump is going to trump.p.

trump p is about what he i is gd for trump. honenestly, i think hehe put his finger in the wind. therere is massisive skeptpticif the governor in geoeorgia right now. nobody wants to o do this. there is nono up swelling off desi t to g go bowling right no. frfrankly, i think he got feedek frfrom the groround and saiaid,s better for me, t trump, to throw kemp under the bus so i don't look dumb. amy: can you talk about the schedule protest that was callld off to reoeopen the state becaue the governor said don't worry, i am reopening the state? you've spent so much of your time, george chidi, following the alriright in geoeorgia. talklk about the people who make up this essusure groupup and how popowerful they are. therere are a bunch o of y yahs

--we have a problem w with the alt-right in georgia. let's start with that. geget iteris to sell o of alt-rt terrorist arrested about two just about ango hour west of atlanta. they were planning to attempt to assassinate people who were aligned with the n nt for movementnt. it is astroturf, mosostly. - -- the protest movement in georgiaia was being pued pririmarily by political groups that have a agenda. -- whenpolitical groupss trump p started toto come out ad say, yeah, yeah, this is aood idea like, i could see the pullckck happenining. some of the protest groups ---- sosome of the folks protestingg more anti-fafactors ineorgiaia.

one of the main protesest leades but theti-i-vaxx p person, rest weree 3 3% militia people. reaeal problem. amy: the cdc, , the centnters fr disease control and prevention, is headqdquarterered in georgian atlantata. >> yes, , its. amy: final comment? >> we know better. whatever your seeing from ourr governor from the people of georgia knknow better thanan th. we a are staying home. we are not just social distancing, we shining other people whoho are not sociaial distancing. this order is ---- has nothing o do with h blic healtlth. it has e everything to do withte financial help of the state. i am sensitiveve to thatat. we are going too have a rorow problem in n about a year, but i think it is imimportt t right nw to deal with the heaealth crisis that we're looking at right now. amy: george chidi, thanank you r

being with us public policy , rector foror padsplit, an atlanta-based affordable housing organization. former city councilperson for pine lake. thanank you so much. when we come bacack, it has been dedescribed as an open-air pris. soso what doeses it mean when cd makes its way there? we are talking about gaza. stay with us. ♪ [music break]k]

amy: the choir of roedeanan school in south africa v virtuay sisinging leonarard cohen's "halallelujah." this is democrcracy now!, dedemocracynow.org, , the ququae report. i'm amy goodman. we are turningng now to gaza, where fears continue to grow about what a rampant outbreak of the e coronavirus might do to te occupied palestinian territory, already crippled by years of israeli sanctions. the gaza strip thus far has only reported 17 confirmed cases of

covid-19, but this week the israeli army halted testing there after just two days of administering tests. on thursday, the international committee of the red cross donated medical equipment to gaza hospitals. but its weak medical system remains ill equipped to serve an influx of patienents. the red cross reports gaza has just 93 ventilators for a population of more than 2 million palestinians. this is gaza health ministry official abdullatif alhaj. >> facing covid-19 as the pandemic in gaza is facing this overstretchedan health system due to factors siege andyears of poverty and shortage of many resources. amy: crowded refugee camps in the occupied territories are particularly at risk. this is um-shady, a palestinian woman living at a refugee camp in gaza with her family,y, speaking to o the bbc. >> w we know here in gaza, there

are no reresources likeke this virurus. we are all in gogod's handnds h. people don''t have enough to o t and there is no work. hahad there b been any meanans o work, we would have helplped ourselves but weanan' go ouou there. borrod money touy food d r this week. next week, i might n not to pluggablble to borrow anytythino feed these kids. amy: for more, we're joined by dr. tarek loubani, palestinian-canadian doctor, emergency physician based in london, ontario, canada. he volunteers in the gaza strip and returned from a trip there last month. dr. loubani recently wrote an op-ed in the "washington post" titled "gaza is an open-air prison. as covid-19 spreads, it's time to l lift the sisiege." dr. loubani, it is great to have you back on democracy now! talk about the situation there. whwhat is happening in gaza? >> in the gaza strip right now, we see a sitituation in which hy

clearly we are not able e to detect the a active cases that e happening and d are definitely circulating withthin the gaza strip. testing is severely limited. there are -- there have been fewer tests in gaza thrhroughout the entire pandemic than there were in south korea yesterday. so we know we don't s see all of the cacases that exist. we know wewe don't have the capacity to treaeat. and we know these cases are not just circulating, but are also about to spike in terms of f thr civility -- severity and consequences. amy: talked about the latest news out of gaza. first, want to go to the world-renowned linguist my political dissident noam chomsky. i just had a chancnce to speak with him and week or two ago from his home where he is sheltering at home in tucson, arizona, and asked him what the coronavirus pandemic means for gaza. close international institutions have pointed out that by 2020,

that is now gaza will probably become barely livable. about 95% of the water is totally polluted. the place is a disaster. trump has made sure that it will get worse. from theew funding support systems for palestinians in gaza and the west bank. some funding for palestinian hospitals killed the funding. they were not praising him enough. they were nonot respectful of te god, so therefore, we will strangle them, even when their barely surviving under a harsh and brutal ridging. amy: if you could expand on what professor chomsky is saying, tarek loubani dr. tarek loubani. by the is merely military when you were there as you were there as a medic

helping people in gaza involved with the nonviolent protest who wewere being gunned down. >> the situation in gaza has been terrible e for years. i have been going there fofor about a decade. one of the things that always shocked me is each trip i think to myself, this cannot possibly get worse. and then each trip, it does. truly one of the worst visits i have had. we had some permit in electricity. we were up to five or six hours a day of electricitity of people , that is so wonderful. but in hospital, supplies were out. we barely have enough g gloves o proceed d day-to-day. for example, usually, i would carry a pair of gloves in my pocket and only put one when i treat a patient so that i would spare the other one. then with my bare handnd, woulud

trtry to patch maybe areas that were notot as contaminated or sensitive. situation iny a which something like the coronavirus is bound to keep spreading and a situation where i understand there are lots of geopolitical factors that are at play here -- and i just think what we need right now, if palestine is this open-air prison where gaza is this open-air prisoson, is just a moments s parole. ththis situation is so severe ad so dire that it is not t only going to impact on the gazans -- though i think i i should be the main cononsideration -- but it will also impact on everybody around. the virus does not care about the geopolitics. it will go to egypt. he will go to jordan. it will go to israel. it will infectct all of those populalations and make it impopossible for them to contrtr ththe vid situatioion. amamy: what has to happen there,

dr. loubani? >> the first thing is s an unrestriricted perermission forl memedical aid, medical s suppli, medidical personnel to enter. that is number one. it must have been effective immediately. we have all withthin the medical community, not been requesting or demanding that the israelis do this, wee havave been begging for them to do this. this is s not a situation in whh i think there can beuch right or egogo about it. thth is a situtuation of absolue catastrophe. the israelis really dodo, in a g way, hold d th k keys. that is why so manany of us are imploring them to justt stop for a moment with the s severity of the siege. you know what,t, then we can go back to status quo once t the disaster is s addresessed. the second thihing is we can't treat what we can't see. resumed t those tests to imimmediately,y, even if there s not an u unrestrtricted liftingf ththe siege for medical personl

and medical equipment. at thehe very least, the tests have to start flowing. thirirdly, one of the disasters that is happening g right nonow, there are about 2000 people in quarantined but the people who are t trying to support them in quarantined don'n't have any pp. the first two cases came from outside but the next 15 cases were people who hahad been i in contact with those people in gaza -- slightly different in the west bank. we need personal p protectivee eqequipment. the gazans are trying g and peoe in the west bank k are trying to make your own, as they are elsewhere. but it is impossible to do that under the current conditions. amy: we only have a few minutes, but i wanted to go where you are right now to canada, you're based in london, ontario. your canadian doctor, emergency room physicician. can yoyou talk about how canada has approached this, how it compares to the united states, the massive lack of testing and

ppe personal protective equipment for the doctors, the nurses, the custodian come the cleaning staff at all ofof these hospspitals? whatat has it been likike in ca? >> obviously, the situation in canadas much betetter than t the united states.s. i think we can chalk that up to a couple of factors.s. one ofof them is ththe fact we e for medical cacare system that will care for anybody under any condition without payment a at e poinint of care. of course, we payay for our memedical system but we don't do it whehen we s show up to the hospital.. nobody asked for a c credit card or a bl.l. ifif people arare not able to py who are not covered and that the health s system, that t we takea risk-based apppproach and obvios the,e, for public healalth, evererythi i is cored.d. yet a big aspect is people are woworried about poverty. candidate is no panacea, but they're n not as worried outt povertrty because there are s se social s safety net. the real pillars of the response

are things like makingng sure everybybody can acce h health ce . wewe have that in cacanada. makingng sure everybody y can sy away from m work and not bee worried about t ending up on the streets. it is not as good as w we want , but we have e that i in large pt in canada. canada hasas many problems, but when you look to our neighbobors in the southth, it is obvious tt the way in which h canada hasast up its system anand guaranteed care has reduced the case look tremendously and is giving us a fighting chance. amy: finally, you just had one of the worst as occurs in canadian history, a 22 people dead and looks like at discount in nova scotia. yet this 51-year-old man who posed as a police officer, currently ap is reporting just had a fight with his girlfriend, she survived the attack but so often these mass shootings are related to domemestic violence d abuse of women.

nonow the primeme minister trudu is talking abobout tightening gn rules s in canada. if you could overall comment on what t this has meant for c cana most of there will be a news conference today where they will be r releasing the news information around this? >> i from the east coast of canada and still have family there so this did hit close to home for me. i think as an emergency room phphysician, we see the impactsf gunshot wounds anand we see the impacts of domomestic violencecs well. of course, in domestic violence situationsnshaving thehe availabibility o of a gun is a surefirere ingredient in the recipe for disaster. of course, as an emergencycy physician, i applaud the cacanadian government for doing what they can to impmprove gun control regulation. i don't know enough about the situation in nova scotia too comment vevery intelligently, bt

in general with what we s see wh gun-related viviolence, it is obvious that even though canada does a better jobb than the uniteded states with gun contrt, there is still some way to go. canadian doctors have called for this in a concerted way over the past few years. , thank. tarek loubani you for being with us, palestinian-canadian doctor, emergency physician based in london, ontario, canada. in "theinto your piece washington post." democracacy now! is working with as few people onsite as possible. the majority of our amazing tetm is w working from home. if youou want to get our daily quarantined reports, democracy now!'s daily show and all its reportrts and trananscript vided audio podcast form, you can send 6686866 democracynow to oror sign up online at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for

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more d deep than dancncing for e sami: i've finally ended up in andalusia, in southern spain, the birthplace of flamenco. [men speaking spanish] [flamenco guitar playing] man: ole. [men speaking spanish] sami: flamenco is something much more deep than dancing for the tourists in a taverna, with a rose behind one ear. flamenco is powerful stuff. emotions are not held back. the soul is not spared. the technical virtuosity of the best flamenco musicians is unbelievable. the music is rhythmic science, inincorporatig