Free Republic

The NBA has done vaccine PSAs with Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, but there's a strong belief the league's top players -- many of whom who are Black -- can impact many more in Black and Brown communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. "In the African American community, there's been enormously disparate impact from COVID ... but now, somewhat perversely, there's been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African American community for understandable historical reasons," Silver said recently. "If that resistance continues, it would be very much a double whammy...

It's not just humans who have been impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic. Pet cats have tested positive, as has a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York. On Monday, the San Diego Zoo announced that members of its gorilla troop have COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. The gorillas reside at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, a 1,800-acre facility that houses rhinos, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes and the endangered gorillas.

"It shouldn't take mayors and governors begging the federal government for help. Congress and the sitting administration needs to do their job. The American people need help right now."

Latinx workers have endured worse economic outcomes from the pandemic than white workers due to a lack of remote-work access, steep job losses and pre-existing wage and health-care disparities, a new report says. The virus’s economic impact fell particularly hard on Latina workers, who were overrepresented in the industries most devastated by COVID-19-induced shutdowns, according to the analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

Gov. Charlie Baker laid out a four-phased plan to restart the state’s shattered economy on Monday but stopped short of saying which industries will get the green light first. Baker said the “goal” is to begin reopening some businesses on May 18 “starting with the businesses with the least face-to-face contact” and gradually opening up from there. The final phase will be achieving what Baker called a “new normal.” “We want to whip this virus into the rearview mirror but none of that is going to happen overnight,” Baker said during a coronavirus briefing at the State House on Monday.