June 5, 2020 / By Antonia Noori Farzan, Jennifer Hassan, Siobhán O’Grady, Miriam Berger, Katie Mettler and Samantha Pell
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said Friday that he wants every New Yorker to get a free test for the novel coronavirus causing covid-19 — a recommendation he stressed for the tens of thousands of protesters marching shoulder to shoulder, or mask to mask, throughout the city this past week.
De Blasio announced on Wednesday that he was also making the coronavirus test free for all of New York City. He added Friday that there will be two new mobile covid-19 clinics offering testing in the neighborhoods of Soundview and Kew Gardens starting next week.
Here are some significant developments:
- A decline in the U.S. unemployment rate has sent the Dow skyrocketing more than 700 points at the opening bell. The Labor Department reported May unemployment fell to 13.3 percent, a stunning improvement from the 14.7 percent set in April, as states began to slowly reopen their economies and allow Americans to go back to work.
- The authors of a high-profile study that found the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine could have dangerous side effects for covid-19 patients retracted it on Thursday, saying that they “can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.”
- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that more of Michigan is ready to enter stage five of six in the state’s phased reopening plan. Under this fifth, “containing” stage of Whitmer’s guidelines, salons, gyms, and movie theaters can serve customers if they follow covid-19 preventive measures.
- Police in Australia’s most populous state are appealing to the Supreme Court to block a Black Lives Matter rally scheduled for Saturday, saying that the event cannot take place safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Federal health officials announced Thursday that laboratories will be required to report race and ethnic data about each person tested for the coronavirus to ensure that those tests are being carried out on an equitable basis.
