Coronavirus shuts down Pennsylvania | Morning Newsletter
Plus, how to have fun while social distancing.
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The Morning Newsletter
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Pennsylvania is officially in shutdown mode, with Gov. Tom Wolf telling nonessential businesses to close their doors for the next two weeks because of the coronavirus. Even so, we’re mobilizing in every way to make sure we cover this ever-expanding crisis with fact-based and useful information. Here’s a note from our executive editor, Stan Wischnowski, that explains how we’re doing that. All of us at The Inquirer also want to thank you for your continued support of our journalism.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
As the number of coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania grew yesterday, Gov. Tom Wolf extended his shutdown order to the entire state. It applies to nonessential businesses in all 67 counties and began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. It will be in place for two weeks. Wolf urged residents to “stay calm, stay safe, stay home.”
Essential government and medical services will continue, Wolf said, and pharmacies, grocery stores, health-care facilities, and gas stations should stay open. He expects businesses like gyms, salons, theaters, and concert venues to close for 14 days by following “self-enforcement.”
Philly made a similar call earlier yesterday, with Mayor Jim Kenney ordering all nonessential businesses to shut down by 5 p.m. The steps are the city’s most aggressive measures yet to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
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Before the shutdowns were put in place in Philly and across the state, young people in the city went against experts’ advice to dance and drink under strobe lights with friends. Why did they disobey the pleas of public officials and their parents to practice social distancing? They just wanted to have fun.
With nonessential businesses being asked to close down, that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. My colleague put together some ways you can have fun even while everything’s closed. You can get crafty or creative in the kitchen. Maybe you want to get some more fresh air or get into a good book. (More on that later in the newsletter👇.)
That’s interesting
📸OK, we’ve heard about the toilet paper and hand sanitizer hoarders. But what about the items panic buyers left behind at grocery stores? From a single pineapple to chicken gizzards and hearts, here are pictures of what got left behind. And, here’s what the shutdown looked like in Philly.
❤️The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando was one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. It took the life of Alex Murray’s sister Akyra, and left Patience Carter with gunshot wounds to her legs. In Carter’s recovery, she found healing from an unlikely source — Alex Murray. What began as a friendship to work through grief turned into love, and they were married last summer at Lincoln Financial Field.
🛏️🐜An Ambler-based entrepreneur says he “never thought [he]’d be Mr. Bedbug.” But, after putting in over $12 million for research, state and federal approvals, and marketing, he’s still waiting for his pesticide-treated, bedbug-killing liners for mattresses, sofa beds, and futons to catch on.
No games, no problem. We’re going to continue to give you the sports coverage you deserve. So, let’s check on what’s going on in the world of sports:
🏈The Eagles will regret losing one of their veteran stars, writes columnist Marcus Hayes.
🤠NFL free agency is going on as scheduled and the Eagles are making moves. The Birds could be front-runners for one of the Cowboys’ stars.
🎂Yesterday was Joel Embiid’s birthday. How good has the all-star center been before turning 26?
🏀Could the NBA playoffs still go on this summer?
⚾Opening day before June seems unlikely, but Phillies manager Joe Girardi is telling his players to stay in shape.
🏟️The Penn Relays are canceled this year.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Keep on scrolling for more on pets in the era of social distancing. Thanks for sharing, @smallfishbigsee!
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!
What you need to know today
Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment is coming off the sidelines for Joe Biden, endorsing the Scranton native for president. For more on how Pennsylvania is changing the 2020 election, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain said in a statement Monday that Friday’s fatal shooting of Cpl. James O’Connor IV in Frankford “was the direct result of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s pro-violent-defendant policies.”
A newly unsealed document shows how much Einstein Healthcare Network is valued at by Thomas Jefferson University.
An argument between two men escalated into a fatal roving gun battle on a suburban street, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Opinions
“What gave me hope everyday was the spirit, resilience and commitment of my fellow Philadelphians that we were all in this together – what we called a ‘shared sacrifice.’ ... Even if they complained about our proposals and ideas, they knew we cared about their safety and welfare — even if it was painful, inconvenient or aggravating. That’s called leadership.” — writes ex-Philly Mayor Michael Nutter about how the city needs bold leadership to face the coronavirus.
Columnist Jenice Armstrong writes that the coronavirus has changed life as we know it. And we’d better accept that quickly.
Robert I. Field, a law and health management and policy professor at Drexel, writes about what he sees as the number-one lesson from the coronavirus outbreak.
What we’re reading: Books 📚
At the end of last year, we put together a list of the best books of the 2010s. And now might be a good time to find something to read.
In terms of fiction, I loved Sing, Unburied Sing, Jesmyn Ward’s novel that combines mystical elements with haunting threads involving racial injustice, addiction, incarceration, and more.
Other fiction titles we recommend: A Visit From the Goon Squad, My Brilliant Friend, Tenth of December, Americanah, The Goldfinch, The Fifth Season, The Underground Railroad, 10:04, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
While I can’t personally vouch for any of our recommended nonfiction titles, a former editor of mine gifted me So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. And that might be my next read. In short, it’s about the line between the wisdom of social media masses and mob rule.
Other nonfiction titles we recommend: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; H Is for Hawk; Between the World and Me; Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America; Educated: A Memoir; Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup; How Democracies Die; In the Dream House.
Though the Free Library of Philadelphia and other regional libraries are closed, those with a Free Library card have online access to ebooks, audiobooks, movies, magazines, and music. If you have a Montgomery County Library card, you can access ebooks and magazines online.
Your Daily Dose of | 🐶
No sports. No live music. No theater. But what do we have? We’ve got dogs. And, in the case of my colleague Brian Leighton, his 9-month-old puppy named Roxie. She doesn’t know about the coronavirus and wakes up wagging her tail and licking faces. “Our morning walks take my mind off the latest headlines and the news alerts that raise my blood pressure,” Leighton writes.