Tour de Force

Coronavirus Updates

Global cases rose to nearly 3.14 million yesterday with more than 217,800 deaths. The number of confirmed U.S. cases rose to almost 1.04 million with 59,266 confirmed deaths.

• Argentina on Monday said it plans to suspend all commercial flights for the next four months, one of the more stringent travel bans in the world.
• Belgian officials are working to launch a campaign to ask citizens to start eating french fries at least twice a week, as the country’s sizable potato industry experiences excess demand.
• Spain on Tuesday announced a four-phase plan to begin reopening the country’s economy, while Russia extended nationwide lockdown measures for another two weeks.
• Lebanon saw mass protests on Monday and Tuesday nights that left one dead in Tripoli. The country has been in a deep financial crisis since October, which has worsened under the virus.
• New York City on Tuesday experienced a military fly-over - featuring the Air Force’s Thunderbirds and Navy’s Blue Angels - to honor the city’s first responders (video).
• All 50 U.S. states are experiencing their own unique virus situations - here’s a look at the restrictions in place across each one.

Severe Storm System Moves Through U.S.

A large storm system hit the Southern and Midwestern U.S. Tuesday night, causing parts of nine states to issue severe weather warnings. The storms have brought about high winds, very large hail, and scattered tornadoes, and are expected to persist into Wednesday in parts of the Southeast.

More: This marks the third major storm system to hit the U.S. in the past three weeks, with Southern states among the hardest hit.

The Race To The White House

Hilary Clinton in a virtual town hall on Tuesday endorsed Joe Biden for president, the same day that former staffers from Bernie Sanders’ campaign announced the formation of a Super PAC to support Biden. Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) late Tuesday said he has launched an exploratory committee to seek the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president.

More: Here’s an in-depth timeline covering the evolving story surrounding former staffer Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden.

The Coronavirus Effect

• Quest Diagnostics announced that consumers can purchase a COVID-19 antibody test online that is then delivered straight to their home.
• Ford announced a $2 billion loss for Q1, and predicted a $5 billion hit for Q2. Google beat analysts expectations for Q1 revenue, but fell slightly short on earnings.
• TripAdvisor said it will reduce staff by 900 employees, in addition to the 200 employees let go earlier this year. The cuts represent about 25% of the company’s workforce.
• JetBlue on Tuesday became the first U.S. airline to require its passengers to wear face coverings during flights.
• BestBuy will begin to gradually reopen with in-store consultations by appointment only starting in May.

Trolls On A Roll

According to the WSJ, Universal’s Trolls World Tour has amassed nearly $100 million in rental fees since the movie was released on several streaming platforms on April 10 for $19.99. In just three weeks, the sequel to Trolls (which pulled in $153.7 million at the box office) has reportedly already made Universal the same amount of revenue as the original did over its entire five month box-office stint, since movie theaters typically receive ~50% of the box office compared to a ~20% cut taken by streaming services.

More: AMC Theaters late Tuesday said they will no longer show films produced by Universal in response to CEO Jeff Shell’s pledge to release future movies online and in theaters at the same time during the virus outbreak.

Even More: The Academy has said films will not need to have a theatrical release in order to qualify for the 2020 Oscars.

A Run For Their Money

Allbirds began selling its first running shoe for $125 online, as well as at their four retail locations currently open overseas. Despite the fact that almost all their retail stores are closed, co-founder Tim Brown said the company forged ahead with the release since more people are turning to running for exercise while stuck in quarantine.

Love Thy Neighbor

Kjetl and Zoe Njoten live four doors down from Erik and Jen Strom, but prior to the coronavirus outbreak the two couples had never interacted beyond the occasional “Hello.”

At a recent community get-together, the Njotens and Stroms bonded over their shared Norweigan heritage. During the next few hours of conversation, Kjetl and Erik slowly uncovered they were, in fact, distant relatives - the two share the same great-great-grandfather.

Settled Out Of Court

Kimberly Wieneke and her husband have been fostering two-year-old Jaden for just over one year, and recently made plans to adopt him once their parenting rights expired on April 16. However, their in-person court date was soon canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Fortunately, Kimberly realized that there was nothing stopping them from holding the adoption proceedings entirely online. Jaden was later officially adopted over Zoom in the presence of a judge.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Six-year-old Callaghan McLaughlin had been looking forward to opening up a lemonade stand in his front yard once the weather started to warm. Due to recent events, however, the youngster has been forced to change his plans.

Instead of selling lemonade, Callaghan has begun setting up a daily ‘drive-by joke stand,’ where local residents roll down their windows and share in some laughter as they pass by.