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UNDATED (AP) — With states lifting their coronavirus restrictions according to their own timetables, Americans are facing a bewildering multitude of decisions about what they should and should not do to protect themselves and their neighbors. Is it safe now to join the crowds at the beach or go out to eat at a favorite restaurant? To visit the elderly parents you haven’t seen in nearly two months? The less-than-satisfying answer from the experts is: It depends. The quandary comes as the confirmed death toll from coronavirus in the U.S. has surpassed the 58,220 American service members killed in Vietnam, according to a Johns Hopkins University count.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered meat processing plants to remain open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply. An executive order signed Tuesday by the president uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to keep plants open and prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union says 20 food-processing and meatpacking union workers in the U.S. have died of the virus. And they say the country can't have a secure food supply unless workers are kept safe.
NEW YORK (AP) — The government says it has approved an additional $50 billion in loans to small businesses, although banks are complaining that a bottleneck at the Small Business Administration is severely slowing the process. Banking industry groups say the SBA’s loan processing system is still unable to handle the volume of loan applications from business owners trying to get aid under the Paychceck Protection Program, part of the government’s $2 trillion coronavirus aid program. In a memo, the SBA said it intentionally slowed down the process to make it more reliable. But some banks said they were not able to get any applications into the system.
PHOENIX (AP) — The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is suing the federal government over its denial of federal coronavirus relief payments to U.S. citizens who are married to immigrants without social security numbers. The lawsuit was filed in Maryland on Tuesday on behalf of six American citizens who were denied coronavirus relief checks because they filed and paid taxes with a spouse who has what’s known as an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or a way for immigrants without legal status to still pay federal taxes, which millions do. Americans married to immigrants say they've been unfairly targeted.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Tribal nations are urging the federal government to quickly disburse coronavirus relief funding after a judge handed them an early victory in a legal battle involving the money. At least 18 tribes sued the federal government seeking to keep any portion of the $8 billion in funding allocated to tribes out of the hands of Alaska Native corporations. A judge in Washington D.C. issued a ruling late Monday to temporarily halt any payments to the corporations while he settles the larger question of eligibility. The decision clears the U.S. Treasury Department to begin distributing money to 574 federally recognized tribes. An attorney for the agency declined comment.
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