Census Bureau to launch coronavirus survey
WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau will track changes among small businesses and the American public due to the coronavirus pandemic in a pair of surveys the agency announced late Tuesday.
The Small Business Pulse Survey and Household Pulse Survey will try to get a glimpse of the public in the middle of a pandemic. In its justification to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Census Bureau said no other survey has been able to adequately capture the impacts the crisis has had on the country.
Over the next three months, the Census Bureau will ask small businesses and households about economic upheaval, stay-at-home measures and other ways the pandemic has influenced their lives. The agency plans to send emails in the next few weeks.
“These rapid response data will provide federal, state and local agencies critical information to guide real-time response and interventions,” the agency wrote in its OIRA submission.
Census officials will send the survey to more than 13 million households and compile the results weekly, the agency said. The survey will ask for gender, race and ethnicity, as well as questions that signify the times, like whether people have been able to stop worrying, whether they have enough food and whether they’ve had to put off medical care due to the pandemic.
Several other agencies, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, have sought OIRA approvals to gain more information about the public during the coronavirus pandemic. The Census Bureau wrote that beyond the Pulse Survey, it plans to collect other information about the pandemic in its larger, more formalized surveys, such as the Current Population Survey, later this year.
“The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for months, possibly years, to come … given the rapidly changing dynamics of this situation, we must respond to the acute need for data on the situation as it is unfolding now,” the agency wrote.
The small-business survey will include results for all 50 states and the 50 largest metropolitan areas. The household survey will include results for all the states and the 15 largest metropolitan areas.
—CQ-Roll Call
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Harvard pushes back against Trump’s claim it took stimulus money for small businesses
Harvard University is pushing back hard against President Donald Trump’s “inaccurate” claim that it scored coronavirus stimulus cash intended for struggling small businesses.
“Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate,” the university wrote on its official Twitter feed.
The elite Ivy League college says it only received money under a separate plan designed to help universities support disadvantaged students left stranded by the closure of the campus.
“It would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses,” it said on Twitter.
Trump lashed out at Harvard, which has a $40 billion endowment, after reports surfaced that it scored stimulus cash.
—New York Daily News
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Spanish coronavirus cases steady as nation prepares to extend lockdown
Spain reported a small increase in the number of new coronavirus cases, though the numbers remain steady as the country readies for at least two more weeks of lockdown.
There were 4,211 new infections in the 24 hours through Wednesday, up from 3,968 on Tuesday and taking the total to 208,389, according to Health Ministry data. The number of fatalities rose by 435, compared to Monday’s increase of 430, to 21,717. More than 85,000 have recovered from the disease in the world’s most extensive outbreak after the U.S.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government has said that Spain is past the peak of the pandemic, while cautioning that the process of easing lockdown restrictions will be gradual. The number of new infections and deaths has leveled off in recent days.
Sanchez is asking parliament Wednesday to extend the country’s state of emergency — due to end April 25 — by two more weeks through May 9. He told lawmakers that the next stage will be different as the government will look to start phasing out certain restrictions in May, based on how the outbreak develops. He didn’t provide further details.
In a first step announced Tuesday, children under 14 will be allowed out of their homes from April 26 for walks, but only in the company of an adult and following social-distancing and health rules.
“We are not in the de-escalation stage, we are still in the confinement stage,” Health Minister Salvador Illa said. “We can relax some confinement measures but we’re going to do it with a lot of prudence.”
Illa, a philosopher by training and a career politician with no previous experience in health, has been given full oversight of the country’s health services, normally the remit of the country’s 17 regions.
—Bloomberg News
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards report successful satellite launch
TEHRAN, Iran — After three failed attempts, Iran has launched a military satellite into space on the fourth attempt.
According to the state-run news agency Irna, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) launched the “Nur-1” (Light-1) satellite on Wednesday in an undisclosed desert area and successfully placed it in an orbit at a height of 264 miles in two stages.
The successful satellite launch was a major achievement for the Islamic Republic, the IRGC said in a statement.
In February the launch of the 287-pound “Zafar” (Victory) satellite from the Semnan space center in central Iran was successful. However, the satellite could not reach the desired orbit due to its low speed. Before that, two other attempts had failed.
According to Tehran, the Iranian satellites are supposed to only provide data on weather, natural disasters and agriculture and not pursue any military objectives, meaning their use is in accordance with international regulations.
According to the IRGC, the Nur-1 satellite is a military satellite.
The United States and Israel are generally critical of the Iranian satellite program because they fear that Iran may use space technology to build long-range military missiles.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Iran “needs to be held accountable” for the launch.
“The IRGC — a designated terrorist organization — launched a missile today,” Pompeo told reporters.
“Every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent” with a Security Council resolution, he said, adding: “I don’t think it remotely is.”
“The Iranians have consistently said that these missile programs were disconnected from their military, that these were purely commercial enterprises,” Pompeo said. “I think today’s launch proves what we’ve been saying all along here in the United States.”
—dpa
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