Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina to begin reopening . . . The governors of Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina on Monday afternoon announced new plans to bring their states' economies closer to full force amid signs the coronavirus outbreak is slowing. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said certain businesses, including gyms and hair salons, can reopen beginning this Friday. Meanwhile, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed his state's stay-at-home order, previously extended to April 30, will end that day. And, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said businesses previously deemed nonessential -- department stores, flea markets, florists, bookstores and music shops -- could reopen their doors. Fox News

 

Coronavirus may mutatate widely; most deadly in Europe, New York . . . There could be as many as 30 different strains of coronavirus, a study of patients in China has claimed. Zhejiang University scientists studied a small number of patients with the disease and uncovered tens of mutations - 19 of which had never been seen before. Some mutations boosted the virus' ability to invade cells in the body, others helped the disease multiply more rapidly. The most deadly strains were genetically similar to the ones that spread in Europe and in New York, reported the South China Morning Post. Meanwhile, the weaker strains were similar to those found circulating within other parts of the US, such as Washington State. Daily Mail

 

Coronavirus protests spread . . . Conservatives rallied in state capitals from Pennsylvania to Arizona on Monday to reopen businesses from the coronavirus shutdown, a groundswell warning to governors to halt the unprecedented expansion of their powers. Several hundred demonstrators in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, defied Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s ban on mass gatherings — and social-distancing guidelines — to protest the governor’s tight restrictions on “non-essential” business. The boisterous rally included an excavating company’s truck cab painted with the message “Jesus is my vaccine” that blew its horn as it drove past the gathering. Washington Times

 

 

Bloomberg sued over failing to pay campaign workers through November . . . Mike Bloomberg has been hit with a class action lawsuit from a former campaign organizer, claiming the billionaire terminated thousands of staffers during the coronavirus crisis despite ensuring them they would be paid until November. Grette Fernandez filed the suit on Monday in the Southern District of New York, claiming she uprooted her life from Washington D.C. to Pennsylvania in February to work as an organizer for Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign. She claims Bloomberg's campaign promised that she would have her $6,000-a-month job through the general election, which is in November. Daily Mail

 

 

AOC celebrated oil crash in now-deleted tweet . . . Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted -- then quickly deleted -- a celebration of the news that U.S. equity markets crashed on Monday, with oil prices turning negative for the first time in history.

"You absolutely love to see it," Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described "democratic socialist," wrote on Twitter. She was responding to a post which stated that oil prices were at negative values. "This along with record low interest rates means it's the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet. *cough*," Ocasio-Cortez continued. Fox News

 

Kim Jong Un was in critical condition after surgery . . . Mystery surrounded Kim Jong Un’s health after U.S. and South Korean officials gave differing accounts of the North Korean leader’s condition following his unusual absence from recent holiday celebrations. Kim was in critical condition after undergoing cardiovascular surgery last week and the Trump administration wasn’t sure of his current health, said U.S.officials, who asked not to be identified. One of the officials said the White House was told that Kim took a turn for the worse after the procedure, while CNN earlier cited a U.S. official with direct knowledge saying the 36-year-old leader may be in “grave danger.” The White House declined to comment. Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office said that Kim was conducting “normal activities” in a rural part of the country assisted by close aides and no special movements were detected. Moon spokesman Kang Min-seok said earlier there was nothing to confirm on the speculation over Kim’s health. Bloomberg

 

Palace releases video of Queen Elizabeth as a child in celebration of her birthday . . . Poignant private home videos of the Queen playing with her younger sister Margaret were released by the Royal Family today to celebrate the monarch turning 94. The touching archive films from the Royal Collection Trust reveal candid memories of the two sisters growing up and provide a rare insight into family life for the Queen as a young Princess Elizabeth. The clips - sure to help boost the country's mood during the coronavirus pandemic - show Elizabeth playing with a pram as a toddler, on a seesaw and playing in a garden and dancing on a yacht with Margaret. In a strong display of unity, Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Charles led tributes for the monarch after a turbulent week for the Royal Family in which Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to withdraw all forms of co-operation from many of the country's most popular news titles. Daily Mail

 

New Zealand could ELIMINATE the coronavirus . . . While most countries are working on ways to contain the coronavirus, New Zealand has set itself a much more ambitious goal: eliminating it altogether. And experts believe the country could pull it off. The virus “doesn’t have superpowers,” said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland. “Once transmission is stopped, it’s gone.” Geography has helped. If any place could be described as socially distant it would be New Zealand, surrounded by stormy seas, with Antarctica to the south. With 5 million people spread across an area the size of Britain, even the cities aren’t overly crowded. And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has taken bold steps, putting the country under a strict lockdown in late March, when only about 100 people had tested positive for the new virus. Her motto: “Go hard and go early.” New York Post

 

Death toll froom Canada's worst mass shooting rises to 19 . . . 

The death toll from the worst mass shooting in Canadian history rose to 19, including a police officer and the gunman, Canadian police said on Monday, adding that they expected to uncover more fatalities from the weekend massacre in Nova Scotia. The gunman, who at one point masqueraded as a policeman and also painstakingly disguised his car to look like a police cruiser, shattered the peace of rural communities in the Atlantic province during a 12-hour rampage that started late on Saturday, authorities said on Sunday. Reuters

 

Banks warn new small-biz funds could run out in two days . . . Congress is poised to add $300 billion to the loan program, but banks are handing out $50 billion per day. The legislation also likely won't tackle controversial elements of the program’s structure, chiefly an exemption that allowed large companies such as Shake Shack and Ruth's Hospitality Group to obtain tens of millions of dollars in loans, as well as rules that encouraged banks to favor their existing customers. The hurried rescue effort had only just begun to operate as intended when funding lapsed Thursday. Politico

 

Restaurants' bailout problem: Unemployment pays more . . . Restaurants represent less than 9 percent of Paycheck Protection loan recipients, but as of March accounted for the majority of layoffs nationwide as the contagion took hold. “They’re not going to come back to work because unemployment is too attractive,” said Tom Colicchio, the renowned restaurateur and “Top Chef” judge. Unemployment benefits vary by state, but in 2019, before the coronavirus crisis, the average weekly benefit nationwide was $370. A $600 sweetener that the stimulus bill added, on a temporary basis, to weekly unemployment checks raises the average weekly benefit to $970, an amount that approximates average weekly pay nationwide and is nearly double average weekly pay within the food industry. Dental assistants, security guards and travel agents similarly stand to earn more money on unemployment than they can by working. Politico

 

Coronavirus-stricken George Stephanopoulos running around without a mask . . . George Stephanopoulos had already irked Hamptons residents by going out in public after his wife contracted Covid-19 – but now the “GMA” anchor is battling the virus himself and is ignoring mandates to wear a mask in public. The pale-looking ABC Newsman was spotted by The Post on Monday afternoon taking a stroll in East Hampton, engrossed in a long conversation on his mobile phone with his mask hanging around his neck. One outraged witness said Stephanopoulos – who announced he tested positive for the virus last week after his wife Ali Wentworth contracted it – was seen leaving his Hamptons home in a pair of shorts and walking for about a mile along East Hampton lanes, with his mask down the entire time. New York Post

 

 

TV reporter accidentally shows naked man in shower during segment . . . A TV reporter’s segment about at-home hair trimming during the coronavirus pandemic turned into a steamy soap opera when she accidentally filmed a man naked in the shower behind her. KCRA-TV reporter Melinda Meza was delivering a live dispatch from her bathroom Friday, trying to demonstrate how many people are dealing with salon closures, when she apparently gave her viewers an eyeful. “Y’all see this naked man on #KCRA #news ? Lol,” asked one viewer who posted the video on Twitter. “I did!” responded another viewer, who posted her own shot of the segment taken from a different angle on her screen. NY Daily News

 

 

Pot delivery business booming in California . . . Facing isolation and rising stress because of the novel coronavirus, Californians are buying more cannabis products, especially for home delivery. 

The state, which legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, has imposed a stay-at-home order to prevent the virus’ spread, and many people fear going out because of the infection risk. As a result, cannabis sales for delivery are booming.  “It is a lot of trying to quell the anxieties, stress, stuff like that, helping (them to) sleep at night,” said Alex Brown, a 27-year-old delivery driver for The Pottery, a cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles. Reuters

 

Sounds like a reasonable strategy to alleviating the tedium.