Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #42

[otto]

But a lot of 401K's, and IRA'S are being gutted by the stock market so the people with any money now, won't be buying. And in the closest major city to me, business are closing permanently. It's a trickle down effect, if small business close, employees don't have wages anymore, and you can't expect the government to simply fund your lifestyle forever. College students don't have any companies to market their skills to because the old workers are holding on to their jobs. I expect property sale values will be half of what they were 2 months ago, although the states will be raising the valuations and property taxes to try to compensate for their expenditures regarding Covid-19. The more this drags out, the worse the economy will get. Guess we will just have to get use to it.

MOO

Thank you for that - I too am thinking that property values will have a significant drop. Taxes will likely go up once the virus has passed to make up for the enormous over-spending that is necessary now to keep people with basics such as roof over their head and food. I hadn't thought of all the stock market losses, but that too will factor into what is left of savings.

Hopefully college students will be innovative and set up their own companies, just like people did in the 50s and 60s.

 

[gitana1]

Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged salespeople to spread falsehoods about coronavirus - The Boston Globe

"WASHINGTON — Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged their sales teams to share false information about the coronavirus to help land bookings with potential customers, including that the virus can’t affect people in ‘‘tropical temperatures,’’ leaked e-mails from a company whistle-blower show.

The e-mails, first reported by Miami New Times, show the lengths to which the US cruise giant’s leaders have gone to protect the company against the devastating financial impact of the pandemic, which has infected more than 121,000 people around the world and killed more than 4,300."
-----------------------------------
"The recommended lines, written last month by a manager whose LinkedIn profile suggests the person has worked at the company for more than eight years, also compared the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus with the flu and said, falsely, that the virus ‘‘cannot live in the amazingly warm and tropical temperatures that your cruise will be sailing to.’’

‘‘The only thing you need to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen?’’ the manager wrote in an e-mail addressed to dozens employees in two sales offices in Florida."
----------------------------------------------------------
"In the e-mail of one-liners, sales representatives were told to ‘‘NOT USE THESE unless the coronavirus is brought up.’’ But the whistle-blower said the virus is callers’ top concern: ‘‘Every single call we’re getting right now is about the virus. Everyone wants to know what’s going on, what’s happening to the ships. Most people just want to cancel.’’
-------------------------------------------------------
"In another leaked Norwegian Cruise Line e-mail, another sales manager based at the company’s Miami office suggested that ‘‘medical fear stories’’ were being exaggerated to make ‘‘more moola for the fat cats at major media houses.’’

‘‘Focusing all of your attention is actually illogical, especially when we live in a world of daily threats and dangers anyhow,’’ the manager wrote under the headline ‘‘The coronavirus will not affect you.’’ ‘‘Fact: Coronavirus in humans is an overhyped pandemic scare.’’"
------------------------------------------------------------
More at link.

Blood on their hands. And on the hands of every single person who minimized this for the sake of a buck.

 

[Tricia]

CLICK HERE AT 10:00 PM EASTERN TONIGHT AS PODCASTER AND WEBSLEUTHS MEMBER GRAY HUGHES IS OUR GUEST ON WEBSLEUTHS YOUTUBE LIVE.

Thank you,
Tricia

 

[COSCitizen]

And just think of the people stuck in those tiny rooms some of which don't even have windows. There was a couple on the news a while ago that were on one of the ships, and have a room with no windows, and haven't been out of the room once in at least a week. I'm claustrophobic and would be literally climbing the wall and completely stir crazy. Horrifying to even think about.

We went on one cruise quite a while ago (Norwegian) for my in-law's 50th anniversary and family reunion. Since we were both still working, we got one of the staterooms with a tiny balcony and I was glad since I have a tendency toward claustrophobia. However, despite the upgrade, and getting to see all the extended family, I had no desire to ever go on another mega cruise. At that was before all the scandals about norovirus and Legionnaire's disease on board ships. Let alone COVID-19.

 

[escape2sc]

If you are on social security, be sure to read.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/01/bailout-checks-social-security/

Can you summarize ? Article requires a subscription to read. TIA

 

[Midgie2]

Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged salespeople to spread falsehoods about coronavirus - The Boston Globe

"WASHINGTON — Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged their sales teams to share false information about the coronavirus to help land bookings with potential customers, including that the virus can’t affect people in ‘‘tropical temperatures,’’ leaked e-mails from a company whistle-blower show.

The e-mails, first reported by Miami New Times, show the lengths to which the US cruise giant’s leaders have gone to protect the company against the devastating financial impact of the pandemic, which has infected more than 121,000 people around the world and killed more than 4,300."
-----------------------------------
"The recommended lines, written last month by a manager whose LinkedIn profile suggests the person has worked at the company for more than eight years, also compared the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus with the flu and said, falsely, that the virus ‘‘cannot live in the amazingly warm and tropical temperatures that your cruise will be sailing to.’’

‘‘The only thing you need to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen?’’ the manager wrote in an e-mail addressed to dozens employees in two sales offices in Florida."
----------------------------------------------------------
"In the e-mail of one-liners, sales representatives were told to ‘‘NOT USE THESE unless the coronavirus is brought up.’’ But the whistle-blower said the virus is callers’ top concern: ‘‘Every single call we’re getting right now is about the virus. Everyone wants to know what’s going on, what’s happening to the ships. Most people just want to cancel.’’
-------------------------------------------------------
"In another leaked Norwegian Cruise Line e-mail, another sales manager based at the company’s Miami office suggested that ‘‘medical fear stories’’ were being exaggerated to make ‘‘more moola for the fat cats at major media houses.’’

‘‘Focusing all of your attention is actually illogical, especially when we live in a world of daily threats and dangers anyhow,’’ the manager wrote under the headline ‘‘The coronavirus will not affect you.’’ ‘‘Fact: Coronavirus in humans is an overhyped pandemic scare.’’"
------------------------------------------------------------
More at link.

Wow! That’s is disgusting.

Our cruise was through RCCL. We’ve cruised for years and loved it.

The travel insurance companies are just thieves. I had an URI in early January and thought it wasn’t good to travel. My doctor agreed. I made a special trip to my Dr.s office to get my Dr.s letter as they requested, then they turned around and asked me to have my doctor fill out another 2 page form. Not only do I not want to go back to my Dr because of the exposure risk, I cannot in good conscience ask my Dr. to dilly dally around right now with what doctors have been hit with. They want you to jump through hoops and/or give up.

 

[Jax49]

Can you summarize ? Article requires a subscription to read. TIA

Try this link:

The list of those who won't get a $1,200 aid check is growing and includes some surprising groups

 

[MassGuy]

Italy’s Coronavirus Death Toll Is Far Higher Than Reported

MILAN–—In the town of Coccaglio, an hour’s drive east of here, the local nursing home lost over a third of its residents in March. None of the 24 people who died there were tested for the new coronavirus. Nor were the 38 people who died in another nursing home in the nearby town of Lodi.

These aren’t isolated incidents. Italy’s official death toll from the virus stands at 13,155, the most of any country in the world. But that number tells only part of the story because many people who die from the virus don’t make it to the hospital and are never tested.

In the areas worst hit by the pandemic, Italy is undercounting thousands of deaths caused by the virus, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows, indicating that the pandemic’s human toll may end up being much greater, and infections far more widespread, than official data indicate.

Italy’s hidden death toll shows what could lie in store for the worst-hit areas of the U.S., Europe and many other countries in the weeks ahead if the coronavirus is not tamed fast. The burden that the pandemic puts on health-care systems can cause so many deaths that it is hard to gauge the full human cost.

 

[10ofRods]

This is so horrible! 6 weeks old!!! We all know babies do not have an immune system at this age. I would like to know who in the family has it and could it have been avoided? Like I'm so interested in the asymptomatic cases. Those case do not show symptoms, so those individuals can pass the virus and not even know it! It's so scary! That is why my family has tried to stay confined in our home. We go out for necessities but even that trip may get us and we know that!

There was that case where the husband went in the delivery room with symptoms, turned out to be CoVid.

I'm going to say one small thing in people's defense (even though it upsets me as it does everyone of you). So many younger people do not read or listen to news. At all. They will find out about this when some sports figure gets it and even then it won't compute.

When they get sick, it's just a cold, right? We've all gone to work or play with colds. Normal in America. We need to be firm about staying home when sick if we're going into the future, because colds and flu are still harmful to everyone.

Love this lady. A true tender heart, paired with a sharp mind.

I love her. I wonder to whom she donated the money, because I bet she researched that part.

 

[MsBetsy]

And a whole truck load of TP wasted.
18-wheeler carrying toilet paper crashes in Dallas

DALLAS - A tractor-trailer loaded with toilet paper went up in flames early Wednesday morning near Dallas.

The driver of the 18-wheeler reportedly lost control around 4:30 a.m. on westbound Interstate 20 near Interstate 45. The truck ended up on its side and caught fire.

Yeah, I saw that! If it hadn't burned there probably would have been a bunch of people scrambling all over trying to get to a roll of toilet paper.

 

[margarita25]

Spain's death toll from coronavirus has risen by a record amount for the second day in a row with cases now over 100,000 as the crisis shows no sign of slowing.

The country registered 864 new deaths between Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing the total from 8,189 to 9,053.

The number of new infections rose by 7,719, jumping from 94,417 on Tuesday to 102,136 at the same time Wednesday.

Does anyone know why?

Yes I know exactly why.

My post from Sunday:

“Spain coronavirus: How nation became one of world's pandemic hotspots - CNN

“Unseasonably warm weather, Champions League football and other major events, homes on the beach and the café culture: just a few of the factors that may have helped carry an insidious virusacross southern Europe -- from country to country and city to city, from Italy to Spain and Portugal.”

[...]

“On February 19, nearly 3,000 Valencia football fans traveled from Spain to Milan to watch their team play Atalanta in a European Champions League game. Some 40,000 Italians were also at the game, many of them from Bergamo and surrounding towns.”

[...]

“Milan was buzzing that evening, according to the Mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori. Besides those who attended the game, "others watched it from their homes, in families, in groups, at the bar," Gori said this week. "It is clear on that evening there was an opportunity for a strong spread of the virus."”

[...]

But in other respects, life in Spain went on pretty much as normal. Bars and cafes were open; unseasonably warm weather brought Spaniards out into common spaces. Rallies for International Women's Day on March 8 brought tens of thousands onto the streets across Spain, including a crowd estimated at 120,000 in Madrid. Two female cabinet ministers who attended the event later tested positive for coronavirus, although it's not known how they contracted the virus. Opposition parties have criticized the government for allowing those events to go ahead.”

Health workers prepare to receive the first coronavirus patients at Ifema exhibition complex in Madrid on March 22.

Atalanta fans cheer during a Champions League match between their team and Valencia on February 19 in Milan.

-more at link

Last edited: Sunday at 6:18 AM
—-

More reference:
Coronavirus in Spain is 'frightening on every level'. So how did things get so bad there?

“How 'Game Zero' might have spread COVID-19 to Spain

“It's remarkable how quickly the coronavirus has spread around Spain, but an explanation on one of the ways it might have got there dates back to a soccer game in Milan.

Last week, the Associated Press reported how almost a third of citizens from one of the worst-hit regions in Italy, Bergamo, made a short trip to Milan's famed San Siro Stadium on February 19 to watch their team, Atalanta, in a Champions League match against Spanish side Valencia.

Nearly 2,500 Valencia fans also attended the match, which had an official attendance of 45,792 and has been dubbed by some media as "Game Zero".

Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori acknowledged the conditions for virus contagion would have been high at the match during a live Facebook chat in Rome last week.

"If it's true what they're saying that the virus was already circulating in Europe in January, then it's very probable that 40,000 Bergamaschi in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them," he said.

"As is possible that so many Bergamaschi that night got together in houses, bars to watch the match and did the same."”

——

Soccer Game Attended by 40,000 Fans Likely Made This Italian City a Coronavirus Epicenter
MARCH 25, 2020

“(ROME) — It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium.

Nearly 2,500 fans of visiting Spanish club Valencia also traveled to that Champions League match.

More than a month later, experts are pointing to the Feb. 19 game as one of the biggest reasons why Bergamo has become one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic — a “biological bomb” was the way one respiratory specialist put it — and why 35% of Valencia’s team became infected.

The match, which local media have dubbed “Game Zero,” was held two days before the first case of locally transmitted COVID-19 was confirmed in Italy.

“We were mid-February so we didn’t have the circumstances of what was happening,” Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori said this week during a live Facebook chat with the Foreign Press Association in Rome. “If it’s true what they’re saying that the virus was already circulating in Europe in January, then it’s very probable that 40,000 Bergamaschi in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them. As is possible that so many Bergamaschi that night got together in houses, bars to watch the match and did the same.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t have known. No one knew the virus was already here,” the mayor added. “It was inevitable.””

[...]

““I’m sure that 40,000 people hugging and kissing each other while standing a centimeter apart — four times, because Atalanta scored four goals (the final result was 4-1) — was definitely a huge accelerator for contagion,” Lorini told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“Right now we’re at war. When peace time comes, I can assure you we will go and see how many of the 40,000 people who went to the game became infected,” Lorini added. “Right now we have other priorities.””

[...]

“Before the match, Valencia fans freely roamed around Milan and gathered at some of the city’s plazas, including the Piazza del Duomo, drinking and chanting team songs.

Looking back, the conditions for virus contagion were high, with thousands of people gathering without much concern — at a time when the outbreak in Europe wasn’t yet known — and then traveling back home. Nearly 30 busloads of fans made the 60-kilometer (37-mile) trip from Bergamo to Milan.”

 

[otto]

Try this link:

The list of those who won't get a $1,200 aid check is growing and includes some surprising groups

Isn't that something! The people who actually need the money right away have several hurdles, such as ensuring that everyone in the family has a SS number and that taxes have been filed. I guess everyone needs to go online to file their paperwork right away. Are 17 and 18 year old supposed to file separately? They can't be entirely excluded.

 

[BHughes]

There was that case where the husband went in the delivery room with symptoms, turned out to be CoVid.

I'm going to say one small thing in people's defense (even though it upsets me as it does everyone of you). So many younger people do not read or listen to news. At all. They will find out about this when some sports figure gets it and even then it won't compute.

When they get sick, it's just a cold, right? We've all gone to work or play with colds. Normal in America. We need to be firm about staying home when sick if we're going into the future, because colds and flu are still harmful to everyone.



I love her. I wonder to whom she donated the money, because I bet she researched that part.

Yea, but by this time surely everyone knows about this pandemic even if they don't watch the news? And I do understand about being colds, no need in Dr visit. I am like that all the time! But this is a critical time that we must really pay attention to our symptoms. IMO

Parton is donating to research currently being conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on a cure for the coronavirus, amid the global pandemic.
Dolly Parton donates $1 million to coronavirus research | TheHill

 

[Jax49]

Isn't that something! The people who actually need the money right away have several hurdles, such as ensuring that everyone in the family has a SS number and that taxes have been filed. I guess everyone needs to go online to file their paperwork right away. Are 17 and 18 year old supposed to file separately? They can't be entirely excluded.

A confused mess. There are other articles which say there is NO need to file.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Can you summarize ? Article requires a subscription to read. TIA

The Trump administration is requiring Americans who receive Social Security to file a tax return to receive their $1,200 economic stimulus payment, an added step that is causing confusion and could prevent millions from easy access to relief.

Many lawmakers and advocates for the poor say filing a tax return shouldn’t be necessary for people on Social Security because the government already knows how to send this population monthly checks. The $2.2 trillion aid legislation, passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, said that if someone has not filed a 2019 or 2018 tax return, the U.S. Treasury should get their information from Social Security, if applicable.

But, the Internal Revenue Service posted a notice on its website on Monday instructing Social Security recipients who do not normally send in a return to file a “simple” tax return, which will be available soon.

 

[10ofRods]

Thank you for that - I too am thinking that property values will have a significant drop. Taxes will likely go up once the virus has passed to make up for the enormous over-spending that is necessary now to keep people with basics such as roof over their head and food. I hadn't thought of all the stock market losses, but that too will factor into what is left of savings.

Hopefully college students will be innovative and set up their own companies, just like people did in the 50s and 60s.

With their huge debt load (in the US)?

The stock market will eventually rebound, but I do feel for recent retirees who were depending on their own retirement funds.

 

[otto]

Yes I know exactly why.

My post from Sunday:

“Spain coronavirus: How nation became one of world's pandemic hotspots - CNN

“Unseasonably warm weather, Champions League football and other major events, homes on the beach and the café culture: just a few of the factors that may have helped carry an insidious virusacross southern Europe -- from country to country and city to city, from Italy to Spain and Portugal.”


[...]

“On February 19, nearly 3,000 Valencia football fans traveled from Spain to Milan to watch their team play Atalanta in a European Champions League game. Some 40,000 Italians were also at the game, many of them from Bergamo and surrounding towns.”

[...]

“Milan was buzzing that evening, according to the Mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori. Besides those who attended the game, "others watched it from their homes, in families, in groups, at the bar," Gori said this week. "It is clear on that evening there was an opportunity for a strong spread of the virus."”

[...]

But in other respects, life in Spain went on pretty much as normal. Bars and cafes were open; unseasonably warm weather brought Spaniards out into common spaces. Rallies for International Women's Day on March 8 brought tens of thousands onto the streets across Spain, including a crowd estimated at 120,000 in Madrid. Two female cabinet ministers who attended the event later tested positive for coronavirus, although it's not known how they contracted the virus. Opposition parties have criticized the government for allowing those events to go ahead.”

Health workers prepare to receive the first coronavirus patients at Ifema exhibition complex in Madrid on March 22.

Atalanta fans cheer during a Champions League match between their team and Valencia on February 19 in Milan.

-more at link

Last edited: Sunday at 6:18 AM

—-

More reference:

“How 'Game Zero' might have spread COVID-19 to Spain

“It's remarkable how quickly the coronavirus has spread around Spain, but an explanation on one of the ways it might have got there dates back to a soccer game in Milan.

Last week, the Associated Press reported how almost a third of citizens from one of the worst-hit regions in Italy, Bergamo, made a short trip to Milan's famed San Siro Stadium on February 19 to watch their team, Atalanta, in a Champions League match against Spanish side Valencia.

Nearly 2,500 Valencia fans also attended the match, which had an official attendance of 45,792 and has been dubbed by some media as "Game Zero".

Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori acknowledged the conditions for virus contagion would have been high at the match during a live Facebook chat in Rome last week.

"If it's true what they're saying that the virus was already circulating in Europe in January, then it's very probable that 40,000 Bergamaschi in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them," he said.

"As is possible that so many Bergamaschi that night got together in houses, bars to watch the match and did the same."”

Coronavirus in Spain is 'frightening on every level'. So how did things get so bad there? - ABC News

——


Soccer Game Attended by 40,000 Fans Likely Made This Italian City a Coronavirus Epicenter
MARCH 25, 2020

“(ROME) — It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium.

Nearly 2,500 fans of visiting Spanish club Valencia also traveled to that Champions League match.

More than a month later, experts are pointing to the Feb. 19 game as one of the biggest reasons why Bergamo has become one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic — a “biological bomb” was the way one respiratory specialist put it — and why 35% of Valencia’s team became infected.

The match, which local media have dubbed “Game Zero,” was held two days before the first case of locally transmitted COVID-19 was confirmed in Italy.

“We were mid-February so we didn’t have the circumstances of what was happening,” Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori said this week during a live Facebook chat with the Foreign Press Association in Rome. “If it’s true what they’re saying that the virus was already circulating in Europe in January, then it’s very probable that 40,000 Bergamaschi in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them. As is possible that so many Bergamaschi that night got together in houses, bars to watch the match and did the same.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t have known. No one knew the virus was already here,” the mayor added. “It was inevitable.””

[...]

““I’m sure that 40,000 people hugging and kissing each other while standing a centimeter apart — four times, because Atalanta scored four goals (the final result was 4-1) — was definitely a huge accelerator for contagion,” Lorini told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“Right now we’re at war. When peace time comes, I can assure you we will go and see how many of the 40,000 people who went to the game became infected,” Lorini added. “Right now we have other priorities.””

[...]

“Before the match, Valencia fans freely roamed around Milan and gathered at some of the city’s plazas, including the Piazza del Duomo, drinking and chanting team songs.

Looking back, the conditions for virus contagion were high, with thousands of people gathering without much concern — at a time when the outbreak in Europe wasn’t yet known — and then traveling back home. Nearly 30 busloads of fans made the 60-kilometer (37-mile) trip from Bergamo to Milan.”

World leaders had a responsibility to pay attention and stop mass gatherings well before the virus was out of control. I will never accept that they didn't bother to react because it wasn't yet a problem in their hospitals. It's their job to pay attention and make tough, unpopular decisions to protect their societies. It was pure arrogance to think that the virus was a China problem, plus Hong Kong, Japan, S. Korea, Cruise ships, etc. and that world travel would not spread the virus.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I am not typically required to file a tax return. Can I still receive my payment?
Yes. People who typically do not file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return to receive an economic impact payment. Low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities who are otherwise not required to file a tax return will not owe tax.

How can I file the tax return needed to receive my economic impact payment?
IRS.gov/coronavirus will soon provide information instructing people in these groups on how to file a 2019 tax return with simple, but necessary, information including their filing status, number of dependents and direct deposit bank account information.

Economic impact payments: What you need to know | Internal Revenue Service

 

[10ofRods]

Isn't that something! The people who actually need the money right away have several hurdles, such as ensuring that everyone in the family has a SS number and that taxes have been filed. I guess everyone needs to go online to file their paperwork right away. Are 17 and 18 year old supposed to file separately? They can't be entirely excluded.

It's been 20 years since we've had to (required to) put down the SSN of our dependents on IRS forms. All babies have to have a SNN. You can't claim them as a deduction without the SNN.

So, if you claimed someone as a dependent in 2018 (filed in 2019), you're good to go.

No, dependents do not file separately. The IRS is basing the checks on 2018 filings. A dependent is a dependent until another filing is made. (I think at age 25 you have to check some boxes to continue them as a dependent).

Almost no one needs to go online to file any paperwork as far as I know and I'd like to see a .gov statement that we do.

People whose status changed in 2019 can go ahead and file right now (this is not "extra paperwork" this is what we do every year).

They are saying over and over and over that it's based on our 2018 filings. So I guess if some reason you made a mistake on that return, you could refile. Otherwise, file your 2019 return as you usually would.

They are using our US universal system, which is the IRS.

It's true that you should have filed your taxes in 2018. If you never owed any money to IRS because you've never worked and you've somehow managed not to be someone's dependent (i.e., you're homeless or living with parents and not disabled and you're past 25) you may have to take steps to refile for 2018 and hope for the best (everyone over 25 who isn't a dependent should have gone ahead and filed - for reasons).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (but with sources).

Here's the government's view:

I am not typically required to file a tax return. Can I still receive my payment?
Yes. People who typically do not file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return to receive an economic impact payment. Low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities who are otherwise not required to file a tax return will not owe tax.

I am not typically required to file a tax return. Can I still receive my payment?
Yes. People who typically do not file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return to receive an economic impact payment. Low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities who are otherwise not required to file a tax return will not owe tax.

So SS recipients can file 1040EZ (I'd do it online if I were doing it) and get their checks. If they have grown-up kids who qualify due to being disabled, that is taken care of by the 1040EZ form. Which is truly EZ to file (and you should have gotten statements as to your SS entitlements for 2019 already - but IME, they allow you to estimate as well, which can be done by looking at your banking statements).

 

[Picklebot]

How Christian Siriano Turned His Fashion House Into a Mask Factory


On the morning of March 20th, the thirty-four-year-old fashion designer Christian Siriano sat in the living room of his country house, in Danbury, Connecticut, watching the must-see TV of the moment: the daily press briefings of Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, about the state’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo was asked, by one reporter, whether he wished that President Trump would invoke the Defense Production Act, which would allow him to force companies in other industries to begin manufacturing desperately needed medical supplies, including ventilators and P.P.E., or personal protective equipment, like masks and goggles. “Look, if I had a New York State Defense Production Act I would use it,” Cuomo answered, adding, “If you’re making clothing, figure out if you can make masks. I’ll fund it.”

Siriano, a former “Project Runway” winner who has dressed the likes of Michelle Obama and Taylor Swift, realized that he was in a position to help. He had closed his atelier a week earlier, as the outbreak in New York City was accelerating. But his team of eight sewers had brought their machines with them. Siriano had intended to keep them busy—and on the payroll—with client orders for wedding dresses and gowns for fall galas. At noon, he tweeted at the governor: “If @NYGovCuomo says we need masks my team will help make some. I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help.” Within an hour, a representative from Cuomo’s office had slid into Siriano’s direct messages and accepted his offer.

...

During his first week of quarantine, Siriano had spent his free time working on a series of paintings. Each showed a female figure done in the sparse, fluid style of the midcentury Vogue illustrator René Bouët-Willaumez, wearing a wispy gown and a matching face mask. On Instagram, Siriano posted a photograph of himself posing with three of the paintings. “I guess this is what my collections will be for a while now,” he wrote in the caption. “A tulle gown and mask to complete the look.”

Siriano sold the paintings and funnelled the proceeds into his mask operation—all the work he’s done so far has been pro bono.