| Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: NYC virus deaths top 9/11, Boris Johnson doesn't have pneumonia, and how ninja robots are defending Thailand's front lines.  Wuhan emerges from lockdown In a crucial milestone, authorities in Wuhan lifted an 11-week ban on outbound travel from the metropolis where coronavirus first emerged, providing a window for the world into the uncertain, post-virus future. But the shock of the epidemic was still there. Just after midnight Wednesday, the city's 11 million residents were permitted to leave without special authorization as long as their health records showed via an app they wouldn't spread the virus. Some 55,000 people purchased train tickets departing Wuhan, while others were still too scared to go out with officials on high alert for signs of a second wave of infection. Even as mass transit resumed, gloom hung over the local economy as businesses reopened but workers were slow to return, and experts anticipated the social and psychological impacts on investment and tourism would linger. "Our goal for 2020 is first to survive physically," one resident said. "Second is for our businesses to survive." $ignificant figures 3,202. New York City's virus death toll eclipsed the total killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11, and New York state recorded its biggest one-day jump yet with 731 new deaths, amounting to nearly 5,500 dead statewide. 81%. A majority of the global workforce's 3.3 billion people have been affected by full or partial workplace closures, the UN's labor organization said, predicting 195 million full-time workers would end up out of a job. $1 billion. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledged to give that much of his stake in Square, about 28% of his wealth, to global Covid-19 relief efforts—by far the biggest donation announced yet. Highly quotable "He's a fighter." Boris Johnson doesn't have pneumonia and isn't on a ventilator, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed, saying he's "confident" the PM will be "back in short order." Meanwhile, the U.K. recorded the highest daily rise in deaths so far. "Too naive or too stupid." Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly abruptly quit after an uproar over his decision to remove—and then ridicule USS Roosevelt Commander Capt. Brett Crozier in a speech to the ship's crew. "A big wave of addiction." Video game and internet use has exploded with much of the U.S. and Europe in lockdown, but health officials warned binging may trigger gaming addiction in some users. This is not normal Skyrocketing fallout. A brush fire near Chernobyl pushed radiation levels to 16 times above normal levels after an unusually warm winter turned the forested exclusion zone into acres of dry grass.  The future is now On the front lines. Thai hospitals are deploying "ninja robots" to deliver food, measure patients' fevers and clean their rooms, reducing the risk of exposure for medical workers grappling with protective gear shortages.  What's good Privacy, please. After trying for 10 years to get two giant pandas to mate, officials at Hong Kong's Ocean Park Zoo said that longtime residents Ying Ying and Le Le finally succeeded when the zoo went into lockdown.  Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive our newsletter five days a week. Follow QuickTake on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. BTW: If you can't get a protective mask in stores or online, here's how you can make your own at home. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
Post a Comment