Covering COVID-19 is Poynter’s daily report on journalism and coronavirus, written by Senior Lecturer Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox each and every morning of the week.
Funeral homes say they will have to restrict the number of other people who can attend the facility. Some churches have stopped holding funerals for now, but pastors can still hold funerals with some other people present.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
“Catholics in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will still be able to hold funerals, but attendance will be limited. Rabbis will probably do shiva in someone’s home on the occasion of death. The Islamic Society of Milwaukee said in a letter that its mosque closed and funeral prayers may simply not be held there. Funeral prayers can only be held at a funeral home with only a circle of relatives, the Islamic Society said, or preferably at the cemetery.
Imagine a funeral, a legal hug, or physical comfort.
The National Association of Funeral Directors told its members that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has express orders on how funeral homes deal with the preparation of the bodies of those who have died from COVID-19. The NFDA suggests that virtual funeral facilities may only be an option. The organization has produced a series of educational and consultation videos to help its members and has made those videos freely available.
You know that the symptoms that experts say are the most common with COVID-19: persistent cough and high fever, among others. We are now informed that one of the first symptoms of the virus may come with loss of smell and taste.
The American Academy of Otolaryngology, which focuses on the head and neck, said the wisdom of this new symptom is especially valuable because many patients who have the virus have no other symptoms and would not otherwise know they deserve to be tested and isolated.
In South Korea, where many tests have been done for the virus, about a third of those who tested positive also said they noticed a loss of taste and smell, the New York Times reported.
There are stories to cover the charities surrounding and COVID-19.
The churches are at a serious economic impasse. Although churches need parishioners to donate online, donation by the user (such as throwing cash into the basket) is still the primary way most people can make their offerings and tithes, especially in small congregations.
But even in tough times, Americans can be generous. During the Great Depression, the faithful donated about 3. 3% of their source of income to the church. Before the coronavirus outbreak, this percentage had dropped to around 2. 5%.
The virus moves at a vital time in some devout calendars, when attendance and therefore donations increase. Easter, one of the two busiest weeks on the Christian calendar, is April 12. Ramadan, the main Muslim holiday, begins on April 23 and lasts every month. Passover, celebrated through the Jewish faith, begins on April 8 and ends on April 16.
In addition to churches, charitable occasions critical to the financial health of organizations have been postponed or canceled. Public radio stations, for example, delay their spring fundraisers.
National emergencies at all times create opportunities for tons of fake and fraudulent charities. GivingCompass is a position to locate charities aimed at helping COVID-19 patients that have been approved as legitimate. CharityNavigator is also creating a page for its top-rated COVID-19 related charities. Be especially careful before giving or asking others to donate to GoFundMe or Facebook calling at this time.
Over the decades, charities have been able to cope with economic downturns when they have kept in touch with their most committed donors. , it will be time to recover. A similar drop at the end of the year would be more catastrophic.
That, of course, doesn’t mean we may not have a return of the virus later this year.
I know journalists cover all sorts of heavy stories about coronavirus, and this one probably won’t sound serious, but I bet it will resonate with your audience.
Within days, the words “pandemic explosions” have skyrocketed on social media.
A few weeks after living in isolation, some of you grab your scissors and start cutting your hair. My brain went back to my childhood, when my dad had razors and my brothers and I sat for what was necessarily a military haircut, popular in rural Kentucky at the time.
Then came an invention called Flowbee, a household haircut device that, who knows, may become a “thing” if we quarantine long enough. It is made in Texas and is available. YouTube reviews have been friendly.
The New York Post warned bored readers that now is the time to cut your bangs at home:
Justine Marjan, a Los Angeles-based hairdresser who works with stars like Ashley Graham and the Kardashians, has a transparent message for those in her kitchen scissors.
“I don’t know who wants to hear this, but now is not the time to cut your bangs at home,” she posted on Instagram along with a video of herself mimicking a viral bangs trick at home, called the twist method.
All this is no joke to the other people who cut and try America’s hair. USA Today reported:
“My consumers call me and panic,” says Rick Wellman, a busy colorist in his living room on Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, which, like most businesses in the city, has closed. “A lot of my clients come in every 4 weeks when their roots arrive, it’s like clockwork. “
It’s unclear precisely how many salons are closed or permanent among the roughly 1. 3 million attractive U. S. establishments. In the U. S. , they range from a few chairs and freelance stylists to massive chain operations with many employees.
A friend of mine commented that “we’ll soon know people’s true hair color. “
If you’re thinking about dyeing your own hair, colorist Janelle Kemp of Guy Thomas’ salon in Midtown Manhattan said you might think again. He told the New York Post that a bad dye can be a very costly mistake to correct.
“Corrective colour can charge 3 to 4 times what a general can charge,” says Kemp, whose high-profile clients range from CEOs and sports icons to Sir Paul McCartney. “It can range from $500 to $600. And even then, it might not be general again and possibly take a few sessions. In the meantime, prescribe powders to touch up the roots and patience.
“It’s lousy and we sympathize,” she says, “but it’s not worth it” to ruin your hair.
Or, if you just want to get a haircut, the most common advice I’ve noticed is this:
It was fun to watch friends post photos and videos of themselves as they cooked new things at home. Some are impressive. I think it would be a lot of fun if other people would send their most impressive dishes and maybe even dish contributions in case of disaster.
Since many other people are making takeout and takeout lately, it turns out that now is a great time for food critics to make takeout. Sure, Yelp does some of that work, but I think you can do better.
Since we don’t have a March Madness tournament, maybe you can create a fork and have other people vote every day for “best takeout restaurant,” “best self-service,” or “best restaurant. “home” for your city.
I think parentheses are something like “ethnic,” “comfort,” “fast,” “high end. “be very other from Fargo (which, by the way, gives smart food).
That would be controversial. It would arouse feelings and loyalties. These are precisely the kinds of distractions we want right now.
You can also trap other people into reviewing selling options they didn’t have and you can give some businesses a little flavor whenever they want.
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Al Tompkins is a boss in Poynter. Se can contact atompkins@poynter. org or on Twitter @atompkins.