SPEECH FREEDOM: "Second Wave" of Coronavirus Could Be Coming Later

Monday, April 27, 2020

"Second Wave" of Coronavirus Could Be Coming Later

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Apr 27, 2020

Good morning. We hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and keeping your spirits high. At The Heritage Foundation, we are leading the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, which is providing officials at all levels of government and the private sector with recommendations on how to defeat the coronavirus and reopen America. You can read the commission’s most recently released recommendations below. At the state level, quarantine measures are helping to flatten the curve, but they also impose significant costs on society. We are helping policymakers consider the full impact of lockdown policies so that they can make the wisest decisions possible. Here at Heritage, we are proud to announce the launch of our new Defensive Gun Use Database, a one-stop resource for defensive gun-use instances by law-abiding citizens. We hope you will visit this new resource and view the interactive map. Lastly, Heritage headquarters is still closed, but social distancing isn’t stopping us from hosting great events that you can “attend” online! Check out our list of upcoming webinars to find an event that interests you.

Recommendations for How and When to Reopen America
The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission held its second meeting last Monday, releasing 47 specific recommendations to reopen America. The recommendations expound on the first two phases of the commission’s five-phase recovery plan. Reopening America and combating the novel coronavirus requires an “all of society” approach, according to Heritage President Kay C. James. “These initial recommendations for recovery provide governments at every level and the American people with a framework to slow the spread of the virus and to prudently begin getting back to work and to some sense of normal,” James says. “The commission is moving quickly to make sure our five-phase plan will save both lives and livelihoods. I look forward to bringing these ideas to President Trump’s Great American Economic Revival effort and to the American people.” Read more about the commission’s recommendations and how they could help America reopen safely and swiftly.

Coronavirus Shutdown Orders Have Been Necessary but Costly
In an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, approximately 42 governors have issued “lockdown,” “shutdown,” “stay-at-home,” or “shelter-in-place” orders over the past four weeks. These orders have important public health benefits, but they also impose substantial costs on millions of ordinary Americans and businesses. Under lockdown orders lasting eight weeks, employment could decline by around 9.5%, according to a new report from the director of Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis, Norbert Michel, and Heritage’s senior fellow in economic policy, David Burton. “An eight-week shutdown could raise the unemployment rate to as much as 23% and decrease economic output by as much as $2 trillion (about 9%),” Michel and Burton write. Read the full report on the cost of the shutdown.

Heritage Releases Defensive Gun Uses Map, Proving Importance of Lawful Gun Users
For well over a year, The Daily Signal has published a monthly series highlighting lawful gun owners who have used their firearms to protect their liberties, lives, and livelihoods. Although these articles recount just a dozen or so stories each month, the incidents are selected from hundreds of similar examples. Those defensive gun uses are worth highlighting, too. That’s why The Heritage Foundation is introducing its Defensive Gun Use Database, an interactive map featuring all of the news accounts from police reports that we couldn’t fit into installments of the monthly series. “Despite the limitations on data, the Defensive Gun Use Database is an incredibly important tool because these confirmed cases help prove that the ‘good guy with a gun’ is not a myth,” writes Heritage legal fellow Amy Swearer. “Rather, lawful gun owners clearly play an integral role in promoting public safety and protecting individual rights.” Read more about the database and view the map here.