The House passes a coronavirus economic relief package that includes paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free testing, and money for food stamps.
As to what’s next in the Senate: More legislating.
Covid-19 resources: statistics updated live; envelope calculations by a virus expert; Johns Hopkins situation reports; some excellent coverage in the Nextdraft newsletter, and on Kottke generally.
Other stuff: nearly 100 ways to not freak out during Covid-19; information for freelance artists; rules for playdates; advice from the Wu Tang Clan; for those for whom it’s possible, stfh.
Photographs of the groceries that no one wants to buy right now.
“Not to be alarmist but if Kevin Bacon tests positive we’re all fucked.”
Entertainment for the housebound: nightly Met Opera streams; Yo-Yo Ma plays you Dvořák; other things to stream this week; Howard Markel’s When Germs travel; the Quarantine book club.
Special Announcement: In her Tournament of Books decision this week, Helen Rosner said she'd be willing to attend a book club to discuss the novels further. Well, emeritus ToB producer Nozlee Samadzadeh decided to take her up on it. Tomorrow, Sunday, at 4pm Eastern, join the two of them and So Many Damn Books' Drew Broussard for “Rooster After Hours,” a book club video chat. Perfect for social distancing! ��
See also: Blackwell’s Rare Books rates various manuscripts for their application as toilet paper.
Yes, the toilet paper shortage is real, though it should be brief. But food suppliers are worried about restocking stores while keeping workers safe.
“He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them.”
European states are strikingly ahead of the US on the coronavirus testing and tracking front. They're also (mostly) shut down.
Two Chinese foundations are donating 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks to the US.
Why the US is so behind on testing: bureaucracy, equipment shortages, unwillingness to share, and failed leadership.
A sad, compelling story of two young medical professionals who worked long hours in Wuhan and contracted Covid-19.
An essay about the difficult decisions around visiting sick family when you’re worried you might make them worse.
The Twitter trend of #sunshinesongs is high school kids, facing cancellation of their spring musicals, singing on social media.
People across Italy have been making music and singing from the windows to keep up morale while locked inside.
Yes, the world is full of suspect surfaces right now. But the durability of a coronavirus doesn't mean you can't open your mail.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Suspending the NBA season was a glorious act of patriotism. (Compared to a timeline of Trump playing down the coronavirus threat.)
There’s evidence that Republicans and Democrats are split about their coronavirus concerns, but that is expected to change fast.
Study finds that in Liberia, volunteers limited damage from Ebola by distributing information within their own communities.
The silk roadblock: the spread of the coronavirus exposes Nigeria's reliance on China.
In the early ‘90s, NYC beat back a tuberculosis epidemic laying waste to its poor and at-risk.
To fight epidemics, a 19th-century Japanese legend says to make a drawing and show it to everyone—so that's what people are doing on social media.
For those who face depression: The most exasperating piece of advice commonly offered to suffering people ("time heals") is also the truest and most comforting.
Related/unrelated: Photographs of people dressed to see Cher.