March 19, 2020, 9:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 9:00 p.m. ET By During a lockdown, try to keep a routine, and some ice cream, a crisis expert says. Root vegetables have a long shelf life — think Russia. Credit... Brittainy Newman/The New York Times Judith Matloff, who teaches crisis reporting at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, has found herself in some tight situations, like being trapped in a hotel during a civil war in Angola. The experience, she said, was dicier than, say, staying inside a New York apartment to avoid a dangerous virus, but there were some similarities, too. Her new book, “How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips You Hope to Never Need,” won’t be available until May, but she recently shared some insights on surviving a lockdown. The following interview is an edited and condensed version of the conversation. What are the five most important things, outside of food, that you need for survival in a New York apartment? Medicine: a month’s worth of prescriptions and over-the-counter items like allergy, aspirin, cold and flu, Imodium, and an emergency first-aid kit with gauze, tape, ointment for burns, a tourniquet and plastic gloves. Each crisis has its own particulars — the electricity is unlikely to fail in this situation. That said, it’s always good to have spare batteries and flashlights in the house, but I wouldn’t start panicking and rushing out and getting them now if you don’t already have them. Five thousand dollars in cash, or look at your monthly budget and double that. Also: Something to amuse and distract yourself: reading material, videos, board games. A way to exercise in the house: yoga, resistance bands and weights. We need a way to work off the stress. Put together all your financial documents in one place, along with a contact list of everyone you might need to call in case of an emergency. There should also be a point of contact person who knows all of your passwords. Right now my husband and I are revisiting our wills, just in case. What items are necessary to keep in your refrigerator and freezer? Stock up on meat, fish, vegetarian casseroles and ice cream. Long-life cheese that can last a few months. Lots of root vegetables, carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets, and turnips — think Russia. Those last a long time. I don’t wish Spam upon anyone. Juice and milks with long shelf life. Do you believe in maintaining a daily routine? Absolutely. You want a sense of control over your life and a routine helps you with that. If you have a set schedule you have targets to move toward. For people who are not used to working at home, a lack of structure can be confusing. What are the signs of cabin fever? What can you do about it? Feeling panic, antsy, claustrophobic. That’s when you have to leave the house and take a walk around the block. Or take deep breaths through the nose and then let it out slowly. Call a friend; share how you’re feeling. Cut down on your news consumption. Read more

March 19, 2020, 8:45 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 8:45 p.m. ET By Two Lakers have tested positive for coronavirus. Two Los Angeles Lakers players have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team announced tonight. Both players “are asymptomatic, in quarantine and under the care of the team’s physician,” the team said. Most Lakers players received tests for the coronavirus on Wednesday after the Nets announced that four of their players had tested positive — with Kevin Durant, the Nets’ injured star forward, publicly confirming he was one of the four. At least two Lakers players have not yet received tests, according to two people with knowledge of the testing who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The Nets’ final game before the N.B.A. indefinitely suspended league operations was a victory over the Lakers at Staples Center in Los Angeles on March 10. The two Lakers who tested positive will take the count of N.B.A. players known to have the virus to 10. Those include Durant, Detroit’s Christian Wood, Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, the Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart and three unidentified Nets. I was tested 5 days ago and the results came back tonight, which were positive. Ive been self quarantined since the test, thank goodness. COVID-19 must be taken w the highest of seriousness. I know it’s a #1 priority for our nations health experts, & we must get more testing ASAP pic.twitter.com/xkijb9wlKV — marcus smart (@smart_MS3) March 19, 2020 Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, confirmed in an ESPN interview Wednesday night that the full rosters of eight teams had been widely tested. Seven of those teams are publicly known: Utah, Oklahoma City, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, the Nets and the Lakers. Read more

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March 19, 2020, 8:30 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 8:30 p.m. ET By Who qualifies for paid leave under the new coronavirus law? A woman and her children getting some air on Wednesday in Washington. Families have struggled with child care as schools around the country have shut down. New legislation on paid leave should help at least some of them. Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times The coronavirus emergency relief package, which became law Wednesday, gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off work because of the virus. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers. What type of paid leave does the law offer? It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. Which workers qualify? Most workers at small and midsize companies and nonprofits can get the paid leave, as can government employees, as long as they’ve been employed for at least 30 days. Which workers are excluded? Those at companies with more than 500 people — 48 percent of American workers — are excluded. Workers at places with fewer than 50 employees — 27 percent of workers — are included, but the Labor Department could exempt small businesses if providing leave would put them out of business. Employers can also decline to give leave to workers on the front lines of the crisis: health care providers and emergency responders. Are part-time and self-employed workers eligible? Yes. Part-time workers will be paid the amount they typically earn in a two-week period. People who are self-employed — including gig-economy workers like Uber drivers and Instacart shoppers — can also receive paid leave, assuming they pay taxes. They should calculate their average daily self-employment income for the year, then claim the amount they take as a tax credit (they can reduce their estimated quarterly tax payments in the meantime). How much money do I get while on leave? If you are sick or seeking care for yourself, you earn the full amount you are usually paid, up to a maximum of $511 a day. If you are caring for a sick family member or a child whose school or day care is closed, you earn two-thirds of your usual pay, up to a daily limit of $200. How do I go about taking leave? The Labor Department must issue guidelines by April 2 to assist employers in calculating how much paid leave their employees should get. After that, you should be able to simply notify your employer, take the leave and get paid the amount specified by the law. What if I work at a big company? You can take any sick leave your company already offers. Eighty-nine percent of employees at these companies have paid sick leave, but rarely as long as two weeks, and low-wage workers are least likely to have it. (Some big companies, like Walmart and Target, have added paid sick leave for coronavirus.) Under a 1993 law, you’re eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid family and medical leave, as long as your company has at least 50 employees; you’ve worked there for a year; and you meet other qualifications. Is the paid leave permanent? No. It’s meant as a response to coronavirus, and expires Dec. 31. Is the government going to give workers other aid? Yes. This package included other types of aid, including unemployment benefits, free coronavirus testing and food and medical aid. The Trump administration has asked Congress for $1 trillion to make direct payments to American taxpayers and to small businesses. And lawmakers are introducing other legislation, including a Democratic plan for more paid leave. The New York Times is running a hub for personal finance help during this crisis, with information about collecting unemployment, paying rent, paying bills and more. Read more

March 19, 2020, 8:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 8:00 p.m. ET By George R.R. Martin is writing the next ‘Game of Thrones’ novel. George R.R. Martin, center, said he had been writing “The Winds of Winter” while in an isolated location. Credit... Monica Almeida/Reuters What better place to overcome writer’s block than in self-exile? George R.R. Martin, whose best-selling “A Song of Ice and Fire” series inspired the hit HBO show “Game of Thrones,” said he was in a remote, isolated location and was filling his days during the coronavirus pandemic by working on his epic fantasy universe. Fans have been agitating for “The Winds of Winter,” the sixth of seven projected books, for years. The first five were published between 1996 and 2011. Mr. Martin, 71, said he knew he was in the demographic most vulnerable to the coronavirus. “As ancient as I am, I cannot recall ever having lived through anything like the past few weeks,” Mr. Martin wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “Truth be told, I am spending more time in Westeros than in the real world, writing every day. Things are pretty grim in the Seven Kingdoms … but maybe not as grim as they may become here.” He wrote that he felt fine and was taking all sensible precautions. “Some days, watching the news, I cannot help feeling as if we are all now living in a science fiction novel,” he said. “But not, alas, the sort of science fiction novel that I dreamed of living in when I was a kid, the one with the cities on the Moon, colonies on Mars, household robots programmed with the Three Laws, and flying cars. “I never liked the pandemic stories half so well.” Read more

March 19, 2020, 7:45 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 7:45 p.m. ET By Nilo Tabrizy and U.S. cities looked starkly different before and after the coronavirus. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:43 - 0:00 transcript Scenes From U.S. Cities During Coronavirus Pandemic Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out. I would just say enjoy your home. Stay. I would just say, right now. We have to get this problem fixed. Welcome to Miami! Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out. Credit Credit... Carlo Allegri/Reuters Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out.

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March 19, 2020, 7:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 7:00 p.m. ET By Steven Kurutz and As book tours are canceled, authors connect with readers online. From left: Hilary Leichter; Gabriel Bump; Celia Laskey;

Emily Nemens Credit... From left: Sylvie Rosokoff; Jeremy Handrup; Leonora Anzaldua; James Emmerman Last week, TaraShea Nesbit was gearing up to promote “Beheld,” her new novel about the Mayflower passengers and what happens after they arrive in America. The book had all the makings of a success: early hype, glowing reviews, support from her publisher, Bloomsbury, which had planned a multicity tour. Now, all of the events are canceled. Ms. Nesbit, like many Americans, is sheltering at home in Ohio. And she’s stuck wondering if the novel she spent five years writing will find a readership. “I didn’t expect a pandemic. But who does?” she said in a phone interview on Monday, the day before her book’s publication. Of the lost publicity opportunities, she added, wistfully, “Hopefully some of that is still going to happen.” Many authors find themselves in a similarly unenviable position of having their books released into the world during a global crisis. Media outlets that might have interviewed them are consumed with covering the pandemic. Audiences that might have discovered the work are too worried to pay attention. And the artists themselves risk poor taste to self-promote in a time of fear and mourning. So many of them are putting their book tours on hold. Don Winslow, the best-selling thriller writer, canceled his 20-city book tour for his forthcoming title, “Broken.” Stephanie Danler, author of the hit novel “Sweetbitter,” is, for now, going ahead with her tour for her new memoir, “Stray.” But a scheduled appearance in Minneapolis has gone virtual, and more cancellations may loom. For first-time novelists, the cancellations can feel especially crushing. Years of hard work (and often solitary time) culminate in seeing their book come into the world: going to festivals and bookstores to read sections aloud and connecting with readers face to face, inhabiting with others the worlds they built. Still, some of them are finding inventive ways to connect with their readers. Last week, Hilary Leichter, whose novel “Temporary” hit bookstores on March 3, was supposed to appear at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn to promote her book. But the event was canceled. “And then! The writer and bookstore owner Emma Straub had me and my editor, Emily Gould, stop by the store yesterday to film a short Q. and A. for Instagram,” Ms. Leichter wrote in an email. “They even let me sing a couple of songs on my ukulele.” Later that day, she said, her husband and her fellow debut author, Emma Copley Eisenberg, “hosted a surprise digital book launch over Zoom.” Ms. Nesbit is trying a “virtual book launch,” using Google Hangouts to connect with readers. Another Bloomsbury author, Sarah J. Maas, held a live YouTube chat to promote her latest novel, “House of Earth and Blood,” which went on sale earlier this month. Robin Kall, who runs a popular author series in Providence, R.I., called Cardigan Connection, is using her platform to do remote interviews with dozens of authors caught up in similar circumstances, she said. “The format will be me trying not to cry, and talking about the book,” Ms. Nesbit said of the virtual approach. “Trying to remember all those salient points when I thought I was going on book tour.” Kevin Nguyen, whose first novel, “New Waves,” came out earlier this month, sees the constraints as an opportunity to rethink the book tour. “The reality is that book events, while still effective in some ways, are becoming increasingly irrelevant,” he said. “Which makes sense. Reading is a private, intimate act. Book tours have been a way to try and make these things social. (How many events do you go to that feel like they drag on for too long?) They’re also expensive, and unless you’re one of a handful of already well-established authors, publishers are seeing them as an expense with very little return. I’m hoping these hurdles encourage us to think about how book promotion can be reinvented.” An earlier version of this post misstated the status of Stephanie Danler’s book tour. It is still on, though some events may be virtual. Read more

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March 19, 2020, 6:30 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 6:30 p.m. ET By A family grapples with safety and the pleas of their 92-year-old father. Joseph Trinity, pictured here in the 1950s, lived at home until last month, when a fall sent him into a rehabilitation center. Our columnist spoke to a family faced with a wrenching coronavirus question: Do we leave our father in the nursing home?



His daughters were not at his bedside, holding his hand. His sons were not making him smile with wisecracks about the institutional setting. His grandchildren were not cheering him up with reports from the distant world of youth.



Joseph Trinity’s family members were there one day, and then they were not, for the same reason much of the world is trying to suppress the human desire to be with one another: the coronavirus. Mr. Trinity had found himself in a New Jersey rehabilitation facility that, like most health care institutions across the country, had declared a no-visitor policy to stem contagion. But he is 92, and in fragile health; family sustains him.

March 19, 2020, 5:30 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 5:30 p.m. ET By Graham Bowley and One campaign to help workers raised $64,000. But be sure to give safely. As seats emptied, many workers at cultural venues were let go. But fund-raising campaigns are popping up online to help the newly unemployed meet their immediate financial shortfalls. Credit... George Etheredge for The New York Times As the coronavirus began to shut down movie theaters across the country this past week, Nellie Killian, a 38-year-old film programmer in Brooklyn, had an idea. On Saturday she and three colleagues launched an online appeal to raise funds for laid-off theater workers in New York. “You are telling these big corporations you should be closing for health reasons, but the people who are going to pay the immediate price are these hourly employees,” Ms. Killian said in an interview. “It really is a very small-scale stopgap effort to try to get people grocery money for this week.” So on Monday, she sent out a tweet, targeting the public, of course, but addressed to a few of the high-profile stars who have tested positive for the virus. “Hello @tomhanks, @RitaWilson, and @idriselba, If you are bored in quarantine and would like to support movie theater workers in NYC who aren’t getting paid this week, help us get the word out!” By today, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $64,000.



Initiatives of this sort, born from the best of human impulses, have surfaced before in the days following events like Hurricane Sandy or the attacks of 9/11. And like those days, when a few unscrupulous types tried to hide among the well-intentioned, charity experts warn donors to react with their heads as well as their hearts so that only the many legitimate funds benefit from their generosity. Nothing but good will is evident in the appeals that have begun so far.



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March 19, 2020, 5:15 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 5:15 p.m. ET By A horse track pledged to keep going. Then a worker tested positive. Races are suspended at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus. Credit... Sarah Blesener for The New York Times A worker who cared for horses at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting the New York Racing Association to reverse its plans to hold a full slate of races there this weekend. The worker was in quarantine where he lives at nearby Belmont Park, a track that hosts one of the Triple Crown races each year. Belmont Park is not in season for racing, but nearly 600 people live in facilities there to feed, groom and walk horses that would need care whether or not they are running. The case comes as state regulators have largely allowed horse racing to continue across the United States, with gamblers betting online and without fans in the stands.

March 19, 2020, 5:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 5:00 p.m. ET By Here’s how to donate blood as coronavirus threatens the U.S. supply. Donating blood at Bloodworks Northwest in Seattle. Credit... Karen Ducey/Getty Images The Red Cross normally supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood. But as of March 18, more than 4,500 of its blood drives had been canceled, resulting in nearly 150,000 fewer donations. Typically, the Red Cross needs to receive 13,000 blood donations daily, so it has already lost around 11 days of stock. Red blood cells are viable for 42 days, platelets for only five, so it’s essential to keep new donations coming in. Blood banks around the country are pleading for donors to step up. Here are answers to common questions about donating blood during the pandemic: How can I find a place to donate? Check the American Association of Blood Banks locator, visit the Red Cross website, or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. You can also find information through the America’s Blood Centers website. Who can give blood? Almost any healthy person can, although requirements may vary by state. Blood donation will impact neither your own health nor your immunity, experts say. Talk to your local center about eligibility guidelines. In these new circumstances, you’ll be asked where you’ve recently traveled and what your personal coronavirus exposure has been. In most states you have to be 17 and above; with parental consent, some states allow donors to be 16. You must weigh at least 110 pounds. There are no standing upper age limits. Dr. Claudia Cohn, director of the Blood Bank Laboratory at the University of Minnesota and chief medical officer of AABB, said that normally, older Americans are the country’s best donors. “They give a disproportionate amount of blood,” Dr. Cohn said. “Even though we think their risk is very low, we want to protect them if they want to be careful about going out.” That means blood centers are asking younger people to step up and donate more often than they usually do. Can coronavirus be contracted by donating? “This is not a blood-borne disease, that is clear,” Dr. Cohn said. “Blood itself is safe.” Coronaviruses in general don’t seem to be blood transmissible, as evidence from earlier outbreaks of SARS and MERS has shown. How are blood centers ensuring donor safety? “We completely understand people are hesitant,” said Dr. Pampee Young, the chief medical officer of biomedical services for the Red Cross. “We want to reassure the public that we’re handling this with an abundance of caution.” Many blood centers have substantially ramped up ordinary precautions, with staff members conducting extra temperature checks, on both themselves and donors. It’s recommended that gloves be changed more often. Efforts are being made to clean equipment more frequently and space donors at least six feet apart. Many centers have extended hours. “With centers taking extra measures to eliminate risk, it’s safer than going to the store,” Dr. Cohn said. I was told to shelter in place. Can I still donate? Yes. “The recommendations are to shelter in place except for essential things,” said Dr. Young. “Public health officials recognize that blood donation is essential and they’ve made an exception for it.” Will I be able to get a coronavirus test if I donate blood? No. A rumor to this effect recently circulated on the internet. It is false. Read more

March 19, 2020, 4:45 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 4:45 p.m. ET By A coronavirus vignette: An older couple makes a large withdrawal at the bank. In his life, the designer Hilton Hollis has had two intense “this is real” moments. The first one was the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, when a distraught woman at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village asked him if he could use his height to pin a poster of her missing husband atop a board. “I lost it,” he recalled an interview on Thursday. “That moment was a defining moment of realizing what had just happened.” At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, standing in line at his local Chase Bank branch at 73rd Street and Broadway, Mr. Hollis had his second moment of horrible, awful clarity. A teller asked an elderly man in front of him why he was making such a huge cash withdrawal — an amount that looked to Mr. Hollis, who was next in line, like tens of thousands of dollars in cash. The man was wearing a mask and gloves, and he looked frail and sick. He had a difficult time walking up to the window. The man’s wife, also wearing a mask and gloves, was at the next window, also withdrawing huge amounts of cash. She overheard the question. “What did you say to him?” she called out to the bank teller, Mr. Hollis said. “I didn’t say anything bad,” the teller replied. But the wife would not let it go. She asked him again. “I just asked him what he was going to do with all this money he’s taking out,” the teller said. The woman got angry. “That is none of your business,” she said. “But if you must know, he has the virus, we have 13 grandchildren, and we are dividing our money among them.” Mr. Hollis was shocked. Eventually, the couple collected their stacks of what looked like $100 bills, stuffed them in their pockets, and slowly left the bank. “You could tell they were both ill,” Mr. Hollis said. “And at that moment, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is reality. This is what we’re living with now.’” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who are mildly ill with Covid-19 should stay home whenever possible and avoid contact with others. Read more

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March 19, 2020, 4:30 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 4:30 p.m. ET By Even though they are apart, Alvin Ailey dancers perform together. The video came out of an idea from the dancer Miranda Quinn, who remembered the opening sequence of “The Brady Bunch”: “How they’re all in little squares,” she said. Credit... Screengrab from Danica Paulos' video compilation. As the lyrics go in “I Been ’Buked” — the opening section of Ailey Ailey’s masterpiece, “Revelations” — “There is trouble all over this world.” Don’t we know it. Last week after Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater abruptly ended its tour and sent its dancers home, Danica Paulos — who creates content on Instagram for the group — asked her fellow company members if they were, she said, “down to create some positivity and some inspiration.” Ten dancers, including three who are retiring this year — Danica Paulos, Akua Noni Parker and Hope Boykin — grace the resulting video, in which they are shown in their own environments performing “’Buked.” Miranda Quinn, a dancer, described it as “very vulnerable and about creating and nurturing hope through community,” adding that she thought it “was perfect for what’s happening now.”

March 19, 2020, 4:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 4:00 p.m. ET By Our language continues to expand with ‘contactless delivery.’ Jeff Schroeder, the general manager of the Publican in Chicago, takes an order for a packaged dinner. Credit... Joshua Lott for The New York Times The concept of contactless delivery is simple. A restaurant’s kitchen prepares food that is then boxed up and sent out to an address where a gloved messenger quietly deposits it at the door. The hungry customer and the person making the delivery keep a safe distance between them. It’s not the kind of service with a smile that the hospitality industry prides itself on. But for thousands of restaurants across the country, ordered to close their dining rooms to slow the spread of the coronavirus, contactless delivery may be their only chance to stay open and avoid wholesale layoffs. “We’re now taking phone orders,” said Jerry Greenberg, the chief executive of the parent company for the restaurant Sugarfish. “We haven’t answered phones in our restaurants in quite some time,” he went on, explaining that Sugarfish doesn’t accept reservations and that all delivery orders were placed online until this week.

March 19, 2020, 3:30 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 3:30 p.m. ET By Sapna Maheshwari and Retail workers are anxious about continuing their shifts. Before Gap announced it was closing starting Thursday, many workers expressed growing anxiety. Credit... John Taggart for The New York Times The retail industry has endured a recent raft of bankruptcies and closures, as well as the pressure of new tariffs in the past year. It makes the prospect of losing weeks of business to the coronavirus even more chilling for many stores. But staying open has also caused anxiety for their employees. Anyia Johnson, a barista at a Philadelphia-based Starbucks, said that she had skipped three scheduled shifts since last Thursday, when she went home early with aches, chills and a cough. She said she was especially concerned about coronavirus because she has a heart murmur, but that some of her colleagues continued to work with similar symptoms. “The higher-ups — the C.E.O., the district managers, the board — they don’t understand what’s going on on the lower level,” Ms. Johnson said. “They’re not in the store with us, not interacting with customers on the front lines.” A Starbucks spokeswoman said Tuesday that “we aren’t hearing concerns” from other workers in the store. Ms. Johnson said she was told Wednesday that she would be approved for two weeks of paid leave. The Macy’s in Manhattan’s Herald Square had opened its doors to customers at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, as planned. Three days before, the company said that a worker at the store had tested positive for the coronavirus. But other workers were still being asked to commute to a job that required close interaction with the public. By the end of the day, Macy’s announced that it was closing the Herald Square location and hundreds of stores nationwide through the end of the month. It said it would continue to compensate its workers. Many prominent retailers like Apple, Patagonia, Nike and Lululemon had also closed. But other chains like TJX, the owner of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, Kohl’s and Starbucks remained open as of Wednesday morning, putting their employees — many of them relatively low-paid hourly workers — at potential risk. Gap stores were also open, although they planned to close on Thursday. TJX and Kohl’s did not respond to requests for comment. “This crisis is really shining a light on inequality across our nation and economy,” said Liz Dunn, the founder of Pro4ma, a retail analytics company. Even as some people gripe about working from home, she said, “a lot of people can’t, and it’s likely they’re a lot more vulnerable in terms of what an economic downtown will do to their ability to feed their family and keep themselves housed.” Noam Scheiber contributed reporting. Read more

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March 19, 2020, 3:15 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 3:15 p.m. ET By The Ebola crisis can teach us about quarantines. The Roberts family in North Salem, N.Y., recently received a mandatory quarantine order from the state related to the coronavirus until their tests returned negative. Credit... Monica Jorge for The New York Times Long before the coronavirus swept across the United States, pushing millions of Americans into some form of isolation, the state of Connecticut forced eight people into mandatory quarantine during the Ebola virus scare. With Ebola raging across West Africa, two Yale graduate students and an immigrant family arrived from Liberia. The country had the highest death rate during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, but neither the two students nor the family had been directly exposed to any victims, their lawyers say. In a case still on appeal and designed by a Yale Law School clinic partly to try to set a modern legal precedent on quarantine rights, they sued over their treatment in a case that raises far-reaching questions relevant to outbreaks, whether Ebola or coronavirus or some other health risk. “You feel a bit like a pawn,” said Ryan Boyko, 36, then a Yale graduate student who was quarantined. “You don’t know what the outcome is going to be, and you don’t know when you will get your freedom back.” The plaintiffs claimed that Connecticut failed to meet basic requirements, including providing services and the right to appeal. Legal experts warn that the lack of clear laws regarding mandatory quarantines will cause widespread confusion. As states face difficult choices while putting residents under coronavirus quarantine, they are bracing for the inevitable wrangling in the courts. Read more

March 19, 2020, 3:00 p.m. ET March 19, 2020, 3:00 p.m. ET By Mistakes in responding to powerful storms might help with the coronavirus. People shop at a Gristedes grocery store in Battery Park City, where New York City ordered a mandatory evacuation ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Credit... Michael Appleton for The New York Times What lessons about the response to hurricanes can be applied to a global pandemic? A storm expert weighs in. The coronavirus has been likened to climate change, but since the response to global warming has been poor to date, that comparison offers more insight into what hasn’t worked than what has. As for weather disasters, our response to powerful storms in recent years has improved dramatically. The coronavirus has been called, with some justification, a “slow-motion hurricane.” Despite the many clear differences, there are some lessons from actual hurricanes that could aid the coronavirus response. For instance, sometimes, disasters can bring out the best in people. Images of private citizens in boats rescuing strangers off roofs after Hurricane Katrina were truly uplifting, even as the larger scene in which they occurred was devastating. With this disaster, even more than with a hurricane, we will need to rely on each other, on a much larger scale and for a much longer time than any of us are accustomed to. We need young and healthy people to take all possible measures not to get the virus — even at possible cost to themselves, and even though their own risk of suffering serious harm from the virus is very low — in order to slow the spread for the benefit of those most at risk. And as economic activity declines with widespread social isolation, we need those whose livelihoods are not at risk to give some consideration to those whose are, and support them. Read more