I'm trying to get my mind around a Conservative government announcing this a few minutes ago:
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced the government will pay the wages of British workers to keep them in jobs as the coronavirus outbreak escalates.
In an unprecedented step, Sunak said the state would pay grants covering up to 80% of the salary of workers kept on by companies, up to a total of £2,500 per month, just above the median income.
“We are starting a great national effort to protect jobs,” he said. “It’s on all of us.”
Sunak said there would be no limit on the funding available to pay people’s wages.
The government is also deferring the next quarter of VAT payments, which is the equivalent of injecting another £30bn into the economy and is designed to help companies stay afloat.
(Another thing that I just learned: Sterling has dropped 12% against the dollar in the past week, hitting £1 = $1.1641 a few minutes ago.)
Closer to home:
- Governor JB Pritzker is about to announce a "shelter-in-place" order for Illinois starting tomorrow. California announced a similar measure yesterday.
- The President snapped at a reporter when asked to say something to give Americans hope. (Well, it was an answer, anyway.)
- James Fallows says the man should just stop showing up to press conferences and let the experts talk.
- NPR explains the differences between SARS-CoV-2 and influenza.
- Bruce Schneier looks at ramped-up surveillance in the time of pandemic, and how to balance civil safety and civil rights.
- CityLab looks at what the pandemic has done to public transit.
- The Washington Post asked five writers, including John Scalzi, to speculate on what will change after the pandemic.
And finally, Mother Jones asks "How do you know if you're living through the death of an empire?"