News by the Numbers: April 13–19

More than 5 million Americans filed for unemployment in the week ending April 11, bringing the total to 22 million in just four weeks, according to the Department of Labor. This record unemployment erases nearly all of the job gains made since 2009’s Great Recession.

In a week, COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S. doubled from 20,000 to 40,000, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Deaths in New York City, however, decreased for the third straight day on Sunday.

Nursing home deaths—about 7,000— account for one-fifth of the total COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S., according to a tally performed by the New York Times. New Jersey alone has reported outbreaks in nearly two-thirds of the state’s long-term care facilities resulting in 1,500 deaths.

More than 2,000 Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Sunday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—all while maintaining safe social distancing. Netanyahu’s attempt to form an “emergency” government with rival Benny Gantz was viewed by Gantz supporters and Netanyahu critics as a degradation of democracy and an exploitation of power and societal limitations necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Netanyahu and Gantz on Monday signed an agreement to form a national emergency government which the former opponents will lead together.

Hundreds of people over the weekend gathered in state capitols around the country including Texas, Michigan, Indianna, Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia, and Colorado to protest COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Using language like "flatten the fear," and calling for "freedom" and "liberty," protestors cited government overreach and constitutional infringements as the impetus for the rallies.

Despite claims from organizers and participants that these are grassroots protests, many are funded and organized by rightwing groups—including one paid for by the family of education secretary Betsy DeVos. A Pew Research poll found that, contrary to the protests, 66% of Americans are concerned that restrictions on businesses and public gatherings will be lifted prematurely.

Eighteen people died in a mass killing in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia over the weekend. The gunman, disguised as a police officer, shot people in their homes and set houses on fire in what officials believe to be a mix of targeted and random attacks. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police officers. It is the deadliest attack in Canada’s history.