San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Tycoon funds relief efforts
Nearly two months after an embarrassing end to his presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg is again deploying his massive personal fortune — this time to combat the coronavirus.
The billionaire former New York City mayor is spending tens of millions of dollars to bolster social services, feed first responders and help local officials trace the spread of the coronavirus in the city that has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.
Bloomberg plans to spend $10.5 million to build a contact tracing program, which would help local officials follow the spread of the virus in an effort to contain it.
Beyond the tracing work, Bloomberg’s philanthropic operation announced a $40 million pledge to support efforts to curb the spread of COVID19 in low and middleincome nations.
NEW YORK Cadets called back to campus
For President Trump, this was the year he would finally get one of the special perks of being president — delivering the commencement address at West Point. But the graduation was postponed because of the coronavirus. Then a week ago, Trump abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be speaking at West Point. That was news to everyone, including officials at West Point, the New York Times reported, citing three people involved with or briefed on the event. With Trump’s preemptive statement, officials at West Point are now summoning 1,000 cadets scattered across the country to return to campus in New York, the state that is the center of the outbreak.
West Point officials say the size and scope of the ceremony will be determined “by safety considerations for cadets and the entire West Point community.”
WASHINGTON Construction projects restart
Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a plan that allows existing construction projects to resume in Washington state as long as strict coronavirus social distancing protocols are followed.
Before work on the projects can restart, all contractors must develop and post a plan at each site that addresses use of the personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, onsite social distancing and sanitation. In addition, a sitespecific supervisor will be designated to enforce the safety plan to monitor the health of employees, and employees will undergo training on the new policies.
MINNESOTA Infections close meat plants
A Hormel Foods subsidiary is halting production at a pair of Minnesota turkeyprocessing facilities after some employees tested positive.
JennieO Turkey Store Inc. says 14 employees have tested positive at two plants in Willmar, in western Minnesota. The plants employ about 1,200 workers. The facilities will be deep cleaned.
The plants are the latest to close nationally as meat processing plants wrestle with coronavirus infections among workers.