With stay-at-home orders in place, gig workers are among the hardest hit. With few exceptions, musicians are part of the gig economy. With the live music industry on lockdown, musicians can’t work. And if they can’t work, they don’t get paid.
On Thursday, May 14, 8pm to 10pm ET, the Jazz Foundation of America will present #TheNewGig Live!, a digital fundraiser benefiting jazz, blues and roots musicians who have lost gigs due to the coronavirus.
JFA has established a COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund to help musicians and their families survive the Coronavirus Lockdown. To make a donation, visit jazzfoundation.org/covid19.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is fiddling with black lives. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that more than 80 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were black. The New York Times reported:
As Georgia reopens many businesses over objections from President Trump and others, a new study illustrates the high rates of coronavirus infection among black people in the state.
The report, released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that more than four-fifths of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the study were black. They were not more likely than other groups to die from the disease or to require a ventilator. Still, of the 297 patients in the study whose race and ethnicity were known, 83.2 percent were black.
“That is a very high rate of infections,” said Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, a cancer surgeon and the president of Howard University, who was not involved in the C.D.C. report. He said the high percentage of blacks in the study likely reflects the patients’ occupations.
“A lot of it may come from the fact that African-Americans are essential employees in our system,” he said, adding, “Everything from bus drivers to health care workers and cleaning services, they are on the front line, and therefore are far more likely to be exposed.”
Since Kemp made his devilish decision, there have been 4,799 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 263 additional deaths.
The national death toll from the coronavirus is 54,161 and counting. The grim statistic didn’t stop Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp from relaxing his stay-at-home order and allowing some businesses to reopen including barbershops, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys, and massage and tattoo parlors.
Given the favorable data, enhanced testing, and approval of our healthcare professionals, we will allow gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools, and massage therapists to reopen their doors this Friday, April 24, 2020.
On Monday, April 27, 2020, movie theaters, restaurants that offer dine-in service and private social clubs can hang an “open for business” sign on the front door.
At the time of Kemp’s announcement, Georgia had 18,947 COVID-19 cases with 733 deaths. As of this writing, there are 22,695 confirmed cases and 904 deaths.
There are idiots and then there are “covidiots” like Kemp from whom President Donald “Let them drink bleach” Trump is now keeping his social distance. During a coronavirus task force briefing-cum-carnival show, Trump said:
If you ask me am I happy about it? I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy about Brian Kemp.
African Americans say Kemp is out of pocket. They are staying home.
With a covidiot like Kemp in charge, there will be many rainy days and nights in Georgia.
