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COVID-19 ORIGINS AND POLITICIZED SCIENCE

Download the report here. Questions about COVID-19’s origins have existed since the beginning of the pandemic. From the outset, Chinese officials intentionally misled the world about the coronavirus outbreak and the dangers it posed. In late 2019 and early 2020, government authorities sought to conceal infections from their own population as well as from global […]

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LOCKDOWN STATES FACING HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT

Key Points: Unemployment rates fell in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and remained stable in 30 states in March. The U.S. unemployment rate fell by 0.2% over the month to 6.0%, but is still 1.6% higher than March 2020. 19 states and the District of Columbia have unemployment rates above the U.S. average. […]

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LOCKDOWN STATES FUELING SURGE IN COVID CASES

Key Points: COVID restrictions in some parts of the country continue to be lifted as the daily average cases per day have increased by 11% in the last 2 weeks. However, the states where cases are increasing are not the states that lifted restrictions. The top 10 states by cases per capita over the last […]

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15.6% OF U.S. HAS RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE COVID-19 VACCINE DOSE

Key Points: Operation Warp Speed delivered COVID-19 vaccines in record time. Now, the vaccine distribution is underway. In the U.S., 78.6 Million doses have been administered of the 102.4 Million doses distributed. 15.6% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose and 7.9% has been fully vaccinated. The U.S. 7-day average daily rate […]

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PPP SAVED 55 MILLION JOBS

KEY POINTS: Last year, congress delivered more than $1 billion in small business relief, including more than $800 billion for PPP during COVID-19. According to the Census Bureau, nearly 75 percent of all small businesses in the entire country received a PPP loan. Businesses receiving PPP loans report retaining over 55 million jobs. The first […]

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PPP INJECTED $525 BILLION INTO THE U.S. ECONOMY

KEY POINTS: The Biden Administration is considering numerous changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). It is important to highlight the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently explained the success of the PPP program he co-authored as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business […]

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BIGGER STIMULUS CHECKS GO TOWARDS HIGHER INCOME HOUSEHOLDS

Key Points: Congress and the White House are debating “check amounts” for a new round of stimulus. Bigger checks inevitably reach higher-income households. The chart above shows how a 5% phase-out rate for a hypothetical family of four with two kids, with a $150,000 income threshold. For the family of four, giving households $1400 rather […]

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NEW YORK STATE LOST 1 MILLION JOBS IN 2020

Key Points: New York has imposed some of the strictest lockdowns to combat the spread of COVID-19. However, data shows New York is still facing more dramatic health and economic crises than the rest of the country. State level unemployment shows that New York has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at […]

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OPERATION WARP SPEED DELIVERS COVID-19 VACCINE IN RECORD TIME

Key Points: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, following its record-setting swift development. The vaccine was approved after a 44,000-person study showed the vaccine was 95% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. This was the fastest development of a vaccine ever recorded, due to Operation Warp Speed. Operation Warp Speed […]

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EUROPE COVID-19 CASES PER CAPITA MUCH HIGHER THAN U.S.

Key Points: Europe has been seeing a much more dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases than the U.S.. Europe’s overall 7 day rolling average of cases per capita is 33.3, led by Belgium with 145.9 cases per capita. Meanwhile, the U.S. is seeing a 7 day rolling average of cases per capita at 22.7. Belgium’s positive […]

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MENTAL HEALTH DURING COVID-19

Key Points: 40.9% of Americans are suffering with at least one mental health condition, substance abuse, or suicidal thoughts during the COVID-19 Pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the CDC. 10.7% of respondents said they have seriously considered suicide in the last 30 days. 13.3% of respondents said they have started or increased substance […]

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A FEW STATES HAVE RUN PERSISTENT DEFICITS PRIOR TO COVID-19

Key Points: Lawmakers are contemplating providing financial assistance to state and local governments in the next stimulus bill. Most states balanced budgets or ran surpluses. Some, however, did not. The map shows how many annual budget deficits each state ran between 2009 and 2018. The data predate anything related to COVID-19. Persistent deficits as well […]

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STRICTER STATE LOCKDOWNS MAY NOT IMPROVE CASE FATALITY RATES

Key Points: Stricter state lockdowns may not improve COVID-19 case fatality rates. States that never shutdown or re-opened in June have the highest case fatality rates. States that re-opened in April have the lowest case fatality rate, followed by states that re-opened in May. Key Points: Connecticut, New Jersey, and Michigan have the highest case […]

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U.S. OVERDOSES UP 42% IN MAY

Key Points: Overdoses continue to increase during COVID-19. Compared to the previous year, overdoses increased 16% in February, 18% in March, 29% in April, and 42% in May. For every 10 overdoses reported in May 2019, 14 overdoses were reported in May 2020.

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EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FACING THE HIGHEST COVID-19 DEATH RATE

Key Points: As global COVID-19 cases approach 12M, some European countries’ deaths per capita remains high. San Marino, Belgium, Andorra, U.K., Spain, Italy, Sweden, and France have the top 8 highest deaths per capita globally. Each of these European Countries has at least 45 deaths per capita. Key Points: United States holds the 9th spot […]

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44.6% OF CALIFORNIA COVID-19 CASES ARE IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Key Points: While positive cases have increased in California, the positive test rate has remained below its peak. Of the 4.17M tests conducted in California, more than 3.94M have been negative. Overall, California’s positive test rate is 5.65% and has remained under 6% since May 22nd. Key Points: 44.60% of California’s COVID-19 cases and 55.38% […]

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43% OF U.S. COVID-19 DEATHS OCCURRED IN NURSING HOMES

Key Points: Nursing Homes have seen at least 282,000 COVID-19 cases and 54,000 deaths. 24 states have had more than 50% of COVID-19 deaths occur in nursing homes. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have the highest number of deaths. Overall, 43% of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes.

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A FEW TEXAS COUNTIES COMPRISE MOST COVID-19 CASES

Key Points: While positive cases have increased in Texas, the positive test rate remains low. Of the 1.66M tests conducted in Texas, 1.53M have been negative. Overall, Texas’ positive test rate is 7.95% and has remained under 8% since May 3rd. Key Points: 10 Counties account for 64.3% of Texas’ COVID-19 cases. Only Harris, Dallas, […]

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COVID-19 POSITIVE TEST RATES REMAIN LOW IN MOST OF THE U.S.

Key Points: Despite an increase in positive tests, positive test rates remain low in the majority of U.S. states. The U.S. average positive test rate is 8.56%, with 20 states above the average. Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, D.C., Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York have the highest positive test rates. The Right Facts will continue to […]

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UPDATE: PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM PER CAPITA, STATE-BY-STATE

KEY POINTS: The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) offers loans for businesses so that they can avoid layoffs, protecting worker paychecks. The map shows the total amount of PPP lending approved for businesses in each state, per capita after both rounds of payouts. These values, in effect, represent the average amount of PPP credit approved per […]

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UPDATE: STATE-BY-STATE EIP PAYMENTS PER CAPITA THROUGH MAY 8

KEY POINTS: Amid fallout from COVID-19, the IRS has disbursed payments to American households throught the Economic Impact Payments (EIP) program. The map shows state-by-state EIP payments per person through May 8. These per capita averages have likely increased, as EIP payments continued past May 8. ECONOMIST CORNER: The federal government has a number of […]

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UPDATE: NEW UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS, STATE-BY-STATE

KEY POINTS: New unemployment claims have surged in recent weeks. For each state, the chart shows the ratio of initial unemployment claims filed in the most recent week for which the data offer full coverage (ending in April 25th) to the number filed in the first week of full coverage in 2020 (ending January 11th). […]

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U.S. ALCOHOL NOW BREAKING AWAY IN SALES GROWTH

Key Points: Sales of consumer staples grew heavily due to uncertainty over Covid-19. Alcohol followed a similar pattern in March. However, alcohol has seen more growth in sales through April. ECONOMIST CORNER: The lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have raised concerns of increases in substance abuse. This data on sales of alcohol relative to consumer […]

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THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM: PER CAPITA, STATE-BY-STATE

KEY POINTS: The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) offers loans for businesses so that they can avoid layoffs, protecting worker paychecks. The map shows the total amount of PPP lending approved for businesses in each state, per capita. These values, in effect, represent the average amount of PPP credit approved per person in the state. The […]

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$2 TRILLION STIMULUS INCLUDES RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

KEY POINTS: Early this morning, the Senate leaders announced an agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus package as the country grappled with COVID-19. The package will include $367 billion for loans to small businesses. This will provide relief to approximately 17 million small businesses employing 142 million Americans, according to the most recent data from […]

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COVID-19: CASES SINCE FIRST 100 DAYS GLOBAL COMPARISON

KEY POINTS: This figure shows the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, both in levels and in logarithms. In logs, the data show the rate of change of the number of cases, with a higher value indicating an increasing number of cases. There are 335,957 cases worldwide, according to the most recent data from Johns Hopkins. […]

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CHINESE CONSUMPTION, INVESTMENT, FALLS AMID COVID-19 RESPONSE

KEY POINTS: Chinese measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within the country had a dramatic impact on the economy, according to preliminary data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China. Data from January to February are released together to eliminate seasonal factors from the Chinese New Year and allow comparison to the previous […]

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U.S. AND GLOBAL GROWTH EXPECTATIONS LOWERED AMID COVID-19

KEY TAKEAWAYS: Economists in the private sector and non-governmental institutions have lowered forecasts for economic growth amid concerns over COVID-19. The OECD has revised down its forecast for global growth in 2020 from 2.9 percent to 2.4 percent, with G20 growth revised down from 3.2 percent to 2.7 percent. While the OECD has revised U.S. […]

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UPDATE: THE FACTS ON COVID-19

Right Facts endeavors to provide the most up-to-date information that is relevant to ongoing policy discussions. To that end, we have provided several posts on the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Continuing our previous work, we have updated our figure comparing the performance of the S&P 500 during SARS and COVID-19. KEY POINTS: There […]

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