Federal judge denies emergency request to release Illinois inmates due to Covid-19
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The 10 inmates named in the lawsuit – convicted on a range of felonies including murder – argued that keeping them incarcerated in the face of a pandemic amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
Although Dow is keeping the case open – and encouraged state officials to work their hardest to preserve the health of prisoners – he refused to order the state to release, by his estimate, “at least 12,000 inmates, almost one-third of the prison population in Illinois.”
Florida wants to allow families receiving SNAP benefits to buy food online
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The federal waiver requests that SNAP recipients be allowed to use their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards for online food purchases, which is currently prohibited under federal regulations.
Colorado meat-packing plant closed after outbreak
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The union that represents 3,000 employees at the JBS plant in Greeley said in a letter to state, county and company officials that two of its members have died.
The union says at least 50 employees are infected with the virus. The company, which is headquartered in Greeley, put the number of infected workers at 36.
The company said it was spending $1 million on test kits.
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Anonymous donor gives every household in a small Iowa town $150 in gift cards
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"I said to him, 'At 500, you're darn near giving a gift card to every single household in Earlham'," Lillie said. "When I told him there were 549 households in town, he said 'Done.' And that was it. I was ecstatic because it made sure everyone would get a card."
But what Lillie didn't know was that the donor wasn't going to buy 549 cards in all -- they were buying 549 gift cards from each of the three businesses. In total, they donated $82,350, meaning each business received more than $27,000.
There are now more than half a million coronavirus cases in the US
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The national death toll has passed 18,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
New York remains the epicenter of the country's outbreak, with 174,481 cases statewide and 7,884 deaths.
The pandemic could threaten global food supply
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Border closures, movement restrictions, and disruptions in the shipping and aviation industries have made it harder to continue food production and transport goods internationally -- placing countries with few alternative food sources at high risk.
Tyson Foods is installing walk-through body temperature scanners
“We’ve purchased more than 150 infrared walk-through temperature scanners. So far, we have the scanners installed in four facilities: pork plants in Iowa and Indiana and poultry plants in Arkansas and Georgia," said Tom Brower, Tyson’s senior vice president of health and safety, on Friday.
The move comes after the company suspended operations at its Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant this week when more than two dozen workers contracted Covid-19 there.
Brazil's coronavirus death toll almost tripled in a week
The national death toll was 359 on April 3. On April 10, it reached 1,056.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has continuously rejected containment measures that affect the country’s economy, saying the financial impact is much worse than the pandemic itself.
He has previously dismissed the coronavirus as a "little flu," and pushed to lift self-isolation measures imposed by governors in several affected Brazilian states.
If you violate quarantine in South Korea, you will have to wear a tracking bracelet
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In a government survey, more than 80% of respondents supported the use of electronic bracelets, with many saying that preventing the virus from spreading further was the most important consideration.
Coronavirus live updates: US reaches half a million cases - CNN
