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Meet health care workers from around the world who are risking their lives tofight the coronavirus pandemic, even as some countries ease restrictions onpublic life. The Times has started a collection of their stories and reflections
from the front lines, which will appear every Monday. PAGE A13
IN HARM’S WAY
C M Y K Nxxx,2020-05-11,A,001,Bs-4C,E2
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On April 10, Tony Thompson,the sheriff for Black Hawk Countyin Iowa, visited the giant TysonFoods pork plant in Waterloo.What he saw, he said, “shook meto the core.”
Workers, many of them immi-grants, were crowded elbow to el-bow as they broke down hog car-casses zipping by on a conveyorbelt. The few who had face cover-ings wore a motley assortment ofbandannas, painters’ masks oreven sleep masks stretchedaround their mouths. Some hadmasks hanging around theirnecks.
Sheriff Thompson and other lo-cal officials lobbied Tyson to closethe plant, worried about a coro-navirus outbreak. In an April 14phone call, county health officialsasked Tyson to shut down tempo-rarily, Tyson said. But Tyson was“less than cooperative,” said thesheriff, who supervises the coun-ty’s coronavirus response, and Io-wa’s governor declined to shut thefacility.
“Waterloo Tyson is running,”the company said in a text mes-sage to employees on April 17.“Thank you team members! WEARE PROUD OF YOU!”
Five days later, the plant wasclosed. Tyson said the reason was“worker absenteeism” as well as aspike in cases and communityconcerns. As of Thursday, thecounty health department had re-corded 1,031 coronavirus infec-tions among Tyson employees —more than a third of the workforce. Some are on ventilators.Three have died, according toTyson.
The plant didn’t stay closed forlong. As meat shortages hit gro-cery stores and fast-food restau-rants, political pressure built toget the dozens of plants across thecountry that had shut down be-cause of virus outbreaks up andrunning again. After an executiveorder by President Trump de-clared the meat supply “critical in-frastructure” and shielded thecompanies from certain liability,Tyson reopened its Waterloo facil-ity on Thursday.
New safety precautions havebeen added, like plexiglass barri-ers along the production line,infrared temperature scanners to
At Iowa Meat Plant,It’s Worker Safetyvs. Food Supply
This article is by Ana Swanson,David Yaffe-Bellany and MichaelCorkery.
Continued on Page A8
Delta Air Lines started 2020 cel-ebrating what it said was the mostsuccessful year in company his-tory. Not long after, it shared arecord $1.6 billion in profits withits 90,000 employees. But with airtravel nearly shut down by the co-ronavirus, the airline is nowbleeding money and will drop 10more airports from its alreadyskeletal network on Wednesday.
Even as Delta and the other ma-jor airlines in the United Statesdramatically slash schedules,they are averaging an anemic 23passengers on each domesticflight and losing $350 million to$400 million a day as expenseslike payroll, rent and aircraftmaintenance far exceed the
money they are bringing in. Pas-senger traffic is down about 94percent and half of the industry’s6,215 planes are parked at majorairports and desert airstrips, ac-cording to Airlines for America, atrade group.
Yet, devastating as the down-turn has been, the future is evenmore bleak. With much of theworld closed for business, and nowidely available vaccine in sight,it may be months, if not years, be-fore airlines operate as manyflights as they did before the cri-sis. Even when people start flyingagain, the industry could be trans-formed, much as it was after theSept. 11 terrorist attacks. And air-line executives need only look inthe not-distant past to see howlesser crises sank carriers thatwere household names like PanAm and Trans World Airlines.
The current crisis could pushsome airlines, especially smallerones, into bankruptcy or makethem takeover targets. Consumer
ESCALATING CRISISPUTS DEEP STRAINS ON KEY INDUSTRIES
Losing Millions EachDay, Airlines Face
a Bleak Future
By NIRAJ CHOKSHI
Continued on Page A17
Airlines have made major cutsto every imaginable expense.
RICK BOWMER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWARK — The calls for pa-tients in cardiac arrest came inone after another.
A 39-year-old man, followed bya 65-year-old, whose neighborcalled 911 after getting no re-sponse when he rang the doorbell.Then a 52-year-old woman’s heartstopped, as did that of a 90-year-old, who had collapsed on her bed-room floor.
The ambulances turned on theirsirens and screamed through redlights. But what the paramedicsdid after rushing to the victims —or more precisely, what they didnot do — is a window into how adeadly virus has reshaped emer-gency medicine. After confirmingthat the patients’ hearts had flat-lined, they declared each of themdead at the scene, without at-tempting CPR.
Before coronavirus cases hithard a few weeks ago, John
McAleer, a paramedic who re-sponded to the call for the 90-year-old woman, would have begunchest compressions. His partnerwould have started an IV to ad-minister epinephrine, which actsas a stimulant. They might haveused the defibrillator to try toshock her heart back to life.
He would have done this eventhough studies have found thatonly about 1 to 3 percent of peoplefound in her condition can be re-suscitated. For that is what emer-gency workers have been trainedto do: make every possible effortto save every life.
“It’s unsettling because it doesgo against everything we’ve beentaught,” said Mr. McAleer, 51.
Around the country, in citiesand counties in the grip of the pan-demic, emergency medical tech-
Wary Paramedics in Hot SpotsAvoid CPR for Covid Patients
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
Continued on Page A11
Joe Biden was getting the hangof being overshadowed. It was nota bad life.
Less than a week had passedsince Barack Obama, the Demo-cratic supernova of 2008, had an-nounced Mr. Biden, a recent presi-dential also-ran, as his runningmate. And after a well-turnednominating convention in Denverin late August — “This is his time,”Mr. Biden told the crowd, pump-ing his fist on the key word, “this isour time” — the two were jettingoff on a joint campaign swing
when the patter of breaking newsconsumed their plane.
John McCain, their Republicanopponent, had made his selectionfor vice president. Mr. Obama’schief strategist, David Axelrod,briefed the front of the cabin. Mr.Biden scrunched his face a bit,searching his mental database:
“Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin,” herepeated, thinking aloud.
He had nothing to add. “Hecouldn’t even place the name,” Mr.Axelrod recalled.
Neither of these things wouldhappen again.
Twelve years later, with Mr. Bi-den the presumptive 2020 Demo-cratic nominee, the frenetic final
Biden’s LessonsFrom the TimeHe Faced Palin
By MATT FLEGENHEIMER
THE LONG RUN
Making the Right Choice
Continued on Page A22
NEUSTRELITZ, Germany — Itwas Lea Hammermeister’s firstday back at school after almosttwo months at home and she wasalready preparing for a test.
Not a math or physics test. A co-ronavirus test — one she wouldadminister herself.
Ms. Hammermeister, a 17-year-old high school junior, entered thetent erected in the schoolyardalong with some classmates — allstanding six feet apart — andpicked up a test kit. She insertedthe swab deep into her throat,gagging slightly as instructed,then closed and labeled the sam-ple before returning to class.
It took less than three minutes.
The results landed in her inboxovernight. A positive test wouldrequire staying home for twoweeks. Ms. Hammermeistertested negative. She now wears agreen sticker that allows her tomove around the school without amask — until the next test fourdays later.
“I was very relieved,” she saidhappily. In addition to feeling safearound her classmates and teach-ers, who all tested negative, shefeels like less of a risk to hergrandmother, who eats with thefamily every day.
The self-administered test atthe high school in Neustrelitz, a
Germany Reopens Its Schools,Inviting Both Relief and Risk
By KATRIN BENNHOLD
A high school in northern Germany. Students are told to dress warmly because windows and doors are kept open for air circulation.EMILE DUCKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Continued on Page A6
Long dissatisfied with the doc-tor treating his diabetes, ReginaldRelf decided to fight throughwhatever was causing his nag-ging cough. But then his tempera-ture spiked and his breathing be-came so labored that he reluc-tantly took his sister’s advice tovisit a doctor.
The staff at an urgent care clinicin suburban Chicago sent himhome, without testing him forCovid-19 but after advising him toquarantine.
So Mr. Relf, a 50-year-old Afri-can-American engineer, settledinto his mother’s basement. Aweek later, after he was founddead, his sister, Ami Relf, was left
shaken.“When I finally get him to go to
seek help, he’s turned away,” shesaid. “If he was a middle-agedwhite woman, would they haveturned her away? Those are ques-tions that haunt me.”
The coronavirus has left tens ofthousands of grief-stricken Amer-ican families struggling to makesense of the seemingly randomterror it inflicts, sickening manybut taking only some lives.
But for many black families,mourning coronavirus deathsbrings an added burden as theywonder whether racial bias mayhave played a role.
Questions of Bias in Virus CareHaunt Mourning Black Families
By JOHN ELIGON and AUDRA D. S. BURCH
Continued on Page A9
With no competitions, sports centershave been enlisted in the battle to savelives. A photo essay. PAGES D4-8
A Mission Amid Empty SeatsDaniel Dae Kim discusses a documenta-ry on Asian-American history. Below, ascrapbook seen in the film. PAGE C1
A Story of Determination
Allyson Felix, a six-time gold medalsprinter, talks about having to train inher Los Angeles neighborhood. PAGE D2
SPORTSMONDAY D1-12
The Olympian Down the StreetJon Pareles looks back at the career ofthe star who died this past Saturday, andlists some of his best songs. PAGE C1
ARTS C1-8
The Pure Joy of Little RichardThe U.S. will accuse China of seekingvaccine and treatment data, part of anuptick in state-run attacks. PAGE A7
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-17
Hackers Target ResearchPoor planning, corruption and theshock of a pandemic have caused itscurrency to crash and consumer pricesto jump. Hunger looms. PAGE A18
INTERNATIONAL A18-19
Lebanon in Turmoil
A court rules that nondisparagementorders that prevent estranged spousesfrom discussing their cases on socialmedia are unconstitutional. PAGE A23
NATIONAL A20-23
Sharing Details of Divorce
Melitta, the German maker of the origi-nal paper coffee filter, has retooled itsproduction line to make masks. PAGE B1
BUSINESS B1-8
Coffee Filter, Reimagined
If you’re stuck with dependent-caremoney you can’t use, you’ll lose it — soyou may have to get creative. PAGE B1
Unlocking Pretax Care FundsAhmaud Arbery and Akeem Baker saweach other as brothers. Mr. Baker nowstruggles to cope with his loss. PAGE A21
Georgia Jogger’s Best FriendCharles M. Blow PAGE A27
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27
Ben Benson helped invent singles barsand drew a tony crowd to his New Yorksteakhouse. He was 89. PAGE A25
Fun-Loving Restaurateur
Andre Harrell founded Uptown Recordsand gave Sean Combs, a.k.a. Diddy, hisfirst break. He was 59. PAGE A24
OBITUARIES A24-25
Rapper Turned Music Mogul
Late Edition
VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,690 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020
Today, cloudy, evening thunder-storms, cool, high 60. Tonight, clear-ing, record-breaking cold, low 39.Tomorrow, sunny, breezy, cool, high57. Weather map is on Page A28.
$3.00
