As we begin our third week of confinement to keep our families safe from coronavirus, your “5 Essential Updates” include: How the stimulus package leaves many of us out, our respects to farmworkers, reminders of guidelines to remain healthy, how we can help, and a timely corrido to keep our spirits high.
1. Government support falls short — Trump signed a $2 trillion stimulus package (the largest in history) that should have focused on our families, but will primarily help corporate bail-outs 😡 Our government gave billions to big businesses with few parameters, meanwhile vulnerable workers across the country feel collective anxiety, and 3 million of them will lose their jobs by the summer. AOC called the initiatives thus far, “shameful.”
2. Farmworkers working through it all — Millions of undocumented workers are left out and won’t benefit from the stimulus package 😟 These workers make up the majority of our agricultural labor force, and continue to toil so the rest of us can still eat, despite coronavirus threats, generational poverty, and other dangerous conditions.
3. Staying safe from home — Some doctors are reporting that loss of taste or smell could be coronavirus symptoms. Experts continue researching the virus, and guiding us to remain safe: The CDC and Harvard Health shared guidelines to keep our spaces hygienic by cleaning keyboards, keys, and phones daily, and continuing to wash our hands regularly for at least 20 seconds.
4. How you can help — Organizations and initiatives are supporting those suffering from food insecurity, xenophobia, and homelessness. Here’s a list where you can help those in need, which includes an initiative to support small businesses by encouraging us to purchase gift cards.
5. Uplifting corrido – Despite the challenges, our collective creativity rises, and Los Tres Tristes Tigres are keeping us laughing with their timely coronavirus song full of silly references 😂 but they’re not joking when when they remind us to take our health seriously, “con la salúd, no se juega” 🎶
