The Daily Dive

Who is getting all the money? The Small Business Association and the Treasury Department have released the names of more than 660,000 businesses that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program. The program has given payouts to lawmaker-connected businesses including car dealerships, casinos, construction companies and restaurants. Nicholas Wu, politics reporter at USA Today, joins us for more on the PPP.

Next, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump have both said they are looking at banning TikTok from the U.S. The reasons may differ however. Pompeo says there are national security concerns and President Trump might want ban it to punish China for the conronavirus. Sam Shead, tech correspondent at CNBC, joins us for more.

Finally, there is an ongoing discussion about how COVID-19 spreads through the air. We know that it can spread from respiratory droplets when someone coughs or sneezes, but there is a growing body of evidence showing that is can spread through even smaller aerosolized droplets that can linger in poorly ventilated areas. Kat Eschner, contributing editor at PopSci, for why COVID’s airborne transmission may deserve more attention.

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The hunt is on for vaccine test subjects and coronavirus researchers are having to compete to recruit tens of thousands of healthy people for phase 3 trials. While drugmakers usually recruit patients through advertising on social media or at doctor’s offices, they are now looking at pharmacies, enlisting churches in the search and even requesting that their own employees and families ask around. Jared Hopkins, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the search for vaccine trial participants.

Next, a world leader in pandemic preparedness at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has said that we might have to deal with wearing masks for several years as it will take time for a vaccine to hit the masses. He also suggests that there will be no summer time lull in cases leading us to a another big wave in the fall. Claire Reilly, host of “Hacking the Apocalypse” and senior editor at CNET, joins us for this and how technology is being leveraged to help the fight against COVID-19.

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As the coronavirus continues its spread throughout the country, some hospitals are also struggling to contain the spread inside its walls. While it's only a small number of overall cases, U.S. medical centers have reported over 5,000 cases of patients catching coronavirus after being admitted for other conditions and that number does not include cases of medical staff that have caught the virus at work. Melanie Evans, hospital reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more on how hospitals try to protect both staff and patients from infection.

Next, we continue to monitor how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the economy, and for the retail sector, it looks like it will be a tough rebound. Retail lost about 1.2 million jobs between March and June and many store closure that were supposed to be temporary might end up being permanent. Online shopping will continue to grow and brick and mortar stores will have to continue to adjust their models to buy online and pick up in-store as shopping in person continues to face difficulties. Jennifer Kingson, managing editor for business news at Axios, joins us for more.

Finally, another sector hit hard by the economic shutdown is the freelance, creative worker with multiple gigs. This is especially evident in places like Los Angeles, that have built an economy on these freelancers. Performers, production crews, ride-share drivers and personal trainers were among the first to lose work and will likely be the last to make a full comeback. Tim Puko, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for the difficult comeback of freelance workers.

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This year, the graduating class of Paradise High School has had to deal with the current coronavirus pandemic and still recover from the Camp Fire which devastated the community. For the second year in a row, graduation at Paradise High School has been a triumph over disaster. As the pandemic hit, classes had to go online again, and while the community had come close together after the fire, this time was different, stay at home orders and isolation prevented students from banding together in the same way. The near future for them may still be a mystery as many colleges have not finalized plans for the fall, but the students are ready to face any challenge presented to them. Justine Calma, reporter at The Verge, joins us for the Paradise Class of 2020.

Next, as the school year approaches in the fall, it might not be the best course of action to treat schools like COVID hot zones. Thankfully, children are, by and large, spared most of the effects of the virus. They are only half as likely to get infected as adults and while they can transmit the disease, they seldom cause outbreaks. In the meantime, as schools in other countries have already opened, we can look to them to see what has worked and what has not. Some of the most appropriate safety measures could include testing and contact tracing, improved ventilation in classes, and keeping students with a single group of peers throughout each day. David Zweig, contributor to Wired, joins us for more.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate and accused madam for Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested on charges that she recruited and groomed underage girls for abuse by Epstein. The charges say that Maxwell would try to befriend the young girls and normalize the abuse by discussing sexual topics and prompting them to give Epstein massages. Devlin Barrett, national security reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Next, the 4th of July will not be the same this year as various states are closing down beaches, bars and restaurants, and shutting down fireworks displays in response to rising COVID-19 cases.  Officials are targeting places that younger people tend to congregate as the rise in cases are affecting more people in their 20s and 30s. Rachel Adams-Heard, reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how more young Americans are getting the coronavirus.

Finally, the country is facing three simultaneous disasters. The pandemic, the economic fallout from that, and civil unrest in response to police brutality. Many people are responding the only way they know how, with anger. Elizabeth Chang, wellness editor at the Washington Post, joins us with tips to get out of the “anger incubator” we are living in.

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Several Texas bar owners have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbot over his order to shut down bars for a second time since the pandemic began. Bar owners feel like they are being unfairly targeted when restaurants that serve alcohol can remain open and other businesses can continue to operate. Bars are especially vulnerable because people tend to gather in close quarters for extended periods of time, there is poor air ventilation, and virus particles can spread with people speaking loudly. Sarah Blaskovich, reporter at the Dallas Morning News, joins us for more.

Next, Moderna is currently the front-runner in developing a coronavirus vaccine. They will be entering the third phase of clinical trials this month with about 30,000 people participating. While there is a lot of hope riding on Moderna to come through, the company has no track record in developing an approved drug and is also using an unproven approach to making the vaccine. Still, the company is worth $24 billion because of its current work. Peter Loftus, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more on vaccine front-runner, Moderna.

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It’s happening again. As we moved to reopen the country, cases are starting to surge and the demand for testing is increasing. But testing shortfalls are causing long lines in hard hit states such as Florida and Texas. Without a vaccine, testing has become the first line of defense and delays complicate everything. Emma Court, healthcare reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how testing is hitting a snag again.

Next, the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University has become the gold standard for tracking COVID-19 cases and deaths. They help provide near real-time data on how coronavirus is spreading across the world in an environment where case counts are consistently inconsistent. Kyle Swenson, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, despite promises that people should not have to pay for getting sick with COVID-19, doctors are discovering costly long term health effects ranging from kidney failure to heart and lung damage and the question is whether health care providers and insurers will pay for the long term effects. In the meantime, many are being saddled with huge hospital bills. Susannah Luthi, healthcare reporter at Politico, joins us for the costs of treating COVID-19.

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Forty-five years after committing his first murder, Joseph James DeAngelo has pled guilty to being the Golden State Killer. In total, he pled guilty to 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnap, and 62 rapes and other crimes he was not officially charged with. He will serve life in prison without parole and be spared the death penalty. San Stanton, reporter for the Sacramento Bee, joins us for the Golden State Killer’s guilty plea.

Next, the drug maker Gilead has set the price for remdesivir, its anti-viral drug which has been shown to be an effective treatment for COVID-19. For people on private insurance, it will cost $3,120 for a five day treatment. Gilead says that it could save hospitals about $12,000 per patient. Zachary Brennan, reporter at Politico, joins us for more on the costs of treating COVID-19.

Finally, American intelligence officials have said that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It is still unclear if the program actually existed, but President Trump says he was never briefed on the subject. Missy Ryan, national security reporter for the Washington Post, joins us for what we know.

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