Today's Liberal News

Contact tracing is critical to getting COVID-19 under control, and the U.S. is failing at it

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimates that state and local health departments need $3.6 billion to effectively conduct contact tracing of the coronavirus to reduce transmission. They’ve received $631 million so far from Congress. Contact tracing is the process of finding out all the people an infected person might have exposed to the virus while carrying the disease.

‘Everybody is sick’: ICU nurse quits after almost two dozen staff members test positive for virus

“Everybody is sick,” ICU nurse Stefanie Davis told local outlet CBS 12. “We don’t have enough people to take care of the patients and we’re concerned about patient safety. And yet when we voiced those concerns, it’s like nothing … like you’re silenced.”

Davis, who left her job at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the outlet that many fellow nurses are out sick with the virus.

The Atlantic Daily: The State of Trumpism

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.DOUG MILLS / THE NEW YORK TIMES / BLOOMBERG / GETTYThe polls aren’t getting better for Donald Trump. As the 2020 election nears, the president’s numbers continue to lag behind those of Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

The Culture of Policing Is Broken

Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy; Paul Spella / The AtlanticIt’s one of the most remarkable poll results of the current moment. From May 29 to June 2, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll asked voters whether they were more troubled by the actions of the police and the death of George Floyd, or by protests that had turned violent. By a more than two-to-one margin, they said they were more troubled by the actions of the police.

Cautious Reopenings Across Europe

Over the past few weeks, governments across Europe have been slowly easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions—some moving in phases, others more quickly. Nonessential businesses, churches, museums, and more public places are being allowed to host visitors once again, with new rules in place to enforce smaller crowd sizes and proper social distancing. Collected below are images from across Europe over the past two weeks, as different countries emerge from months of pandemic lockdown.

‘If You’re Still Comfortable, You’re Not Doing Enough’

Jumaane Williams is a progressive activist who’s worked to change policing for years. He’s also New York City’s public advocate, its highest elected official after Mayor Bill de Blasio. He’s been a fixture at New York protests for years—from Occupy Wall Street to Ferguson to Eric Garner—and he thinks this moment could be different, if Americans are willing to have an honest conversation.

Trump Could Still Break Democracy’s Biggest Norm

Say Joe Biden wins the presidential election in November. On the morning of January 20, Donald Trump will enter the Oval Office and leave a handwritten letter to Biden on the Resolute desk. Later, Trump and his wife, Melania, will stand in the White House’s North Portico to await a visit from the president-elect and his wife, Jill. After the armored limousine glides up the driveway, the couples will exchange pleasantries and maybe gifts before heading inside for coffee.

Goodbye, Columbus: Bree Newsome Bass on the Movement to Topple Racist Statues Across the Globe

As protesters worldwide continue to topple monuments to racists, colonizers and Confederates as part of the wave of demonstrations against racism and state violence, we speak to Bree Newsome Bass, artist and antiracist activist based in North Carolina, who five years ago was arrested at the state Capitol in South Carolina after scaling a 30-foot flagpole to remove the Confederate flag.

Black Trans Lives Matter: Movement Pushes for Justice & Visibility Amid “Epidemic” of Violence

At least 15,000 people marched through Brooklyn Sunday to protest violence against Black transgender people, particularly women, who face disproportionate levels of violence at the hands of police and on the streets. The protest came as two more Black trans women were killed last week, in Ohio and Pennsylvania. They are believed to be at least the 13th and 14th violent deaths of transgender people in the United States this year.

Supreme Court Bars Workplace Discrimination Against LGBTQ People; Ruling May Be Transformative

In a historic 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, forbidding workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, applies to gay and transgender people. The decision comes just days after the Trump administration reversed health protections for transgender people under the Affordable Care Act. “This truly is a historic ruling,” says Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project.