[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"eJwry0wtL9YvA5F6iVmJFTplSAK5-SmlOakA-D8NyQ","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__340537__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"340537","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/340537","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__340537__en","pager_element":0}}},"csp":{"nonce":"rO1lkBBtntNuLQbFU9fNjw"},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"bc8921424f39d39c64af84232b603fadae46f840a8176c1b2436a5ee00791ac5"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_AJtnZDRKiPcDwZRF9CRxhLi7MMNATzBRLvIhNfcurrs.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJxLzi9K1U8pKi1IzNFLzEqs0CnLTC0v1geTern5KaU5qQDy8w2e"}]},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_VAWKYxPX4vFoyXs0iEPUrnc99CjyNLIu_pZawjEz9i8.js?scope=footer\u0026delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJwry0wtL9YvA5F6iVmJFQA22wZe"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__340537__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__340537__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy Gerry Johnson\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWisconsin residents awoke to some \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/04\/07\/politics\/wisconsin-primary-coronavirus\/index.html\u0022\u003Econfusing news\u003C\/a\u003E on Tuesday morning: It was Election Day after all.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOn Monday, the state\u2019s supreme court blocked Governor Tony Evers\u2019 attempt earlier that day to postpone Wisconsin\u2019s primary elections, despite public health concerns amid the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, open polling locations in Milwaukee have dwindled from 180 to just 5 after \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/02\/us\/politics\/wisconsin-election-coronavirus.html\u0022\u003Ethousands of poll workers\u003C\/a\u003E quit over fears of contracting the virus. Today, social media exploded with images of voters braving incredibly long lines to cast their ballots.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022twitter-tweet\u0022\u003E\n\t\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022 lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003EIn the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, THIS is the line for in person voting as the polls open for Election Day in Wisconsin. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COVID19?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#COVID19\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ElectionDay?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#ElectionDay\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/t.co\/WplsSHy9RF\u0022\u003Epic.twitter.com\/WplsSHy9RF\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\u2014 Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/OmarJimenez\/status\/1247500202921078785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003EApril 7, 2020\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cscript async src=\u0022https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\u0022 charset=\u0022utf-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe last-minute turmoil comes as uncertainty continues to grip America \u2013 from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate\u0022\u003EWisconsin\u003C\/a\u003E, where Black people are reportedly dying from COVID-19 at an \u201calarming rate,\u201d to New York City, where I have fearfully watched friend after friend fight to survive the pandemic while quietly immersed in a battle of my own.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was less than a month after I co-led the February launch of this very site \u2013 a compendium of commentary and insight on the 2020 US elections \u2013 that I began to feel exhausted. It wasn\u2019t the reasonable fatigue that one might expect to coincide with covering a fast-paced, high-stakes political cycle for a trusted media source. This exhaustion was peculiar; a five-minute walk left my 30-something lungs gasping for air.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter a few days, muscle and joint soreness began compounding the unshakable fatigue. Why, I wondered as I pounded away at my laptop, was it suddenly so hard to turn my neck?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThen came the chills, which no creative arrangement of hoodies and jackets would relieve. Brain fog, heart palpitations, and lightheadedness soon followed suit.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter two weeks of worsening symptoms, I began to panic -- just as the World Health Organization \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2020\/03\/11\/814474930\/coronavirus-covid-19-is-now-officially-a-pandemic-who-says\u0022\u003Eofficially declared\u003C\/a\u003E COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe novel coronavirus that was first identified in Wuhan, China in 2019 went on to sweep many countries in Asia and batter Western Europe. And now, despite President Donald Trump downplaying the crisis for weeks, it was upending US life and the economy as we knew it. A cascade of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/us\/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html\u0022\u003Estatewide and local stay-at-home orders\u003C\/a\u003E kept millions of voters from leaving their homes \u2013 leading at least 16 states to postpone their primaries, raising \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/mar\/30\/us-election-coronavirus-primaries-voting-by-mail\u0022\u003Econcerns about voting rights\u003C\/a\u003E, and posing new questions about the kind of government the country will need in 2020.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022twitter-tweet\u0022\u003E\n\t\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022 lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003ETwo-thirds of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Wisconsin?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#Wisconsin\u003C\/a\u003E\u2019s black voters live in Milwaukee. That city has shut down 97% of its polling locations. Meanwhile, 81% of the people who have died from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COVID19?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#COVID19\u003C\/a\u003E in the city are black, though black people are 26% of its pop.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\t\tThis is a racial justice crisis.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\u2014 Chiraag Bains (@chiraagbains) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/chiraagbains\/status\/1247533638448631809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003EApril 7, 2020\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cscript async src=\u0022https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\u0022 charset=\u0022utf-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a Black American, I had particular anxieties about the prospect of falling ill in a nation so woefully unprepared for this outbreak. What I knew \u2013 from lived experience and from Human Rights Watch\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2020\/04\/06\/a-preventable-cancer-is-on-the-rise-in-alabama\u0022\u003E research\u003C\/a\u003E -- about the deeply entrenched racial biases in America\u2019s healthcare system terrified me to my bones. [\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor\u0027s Note:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/em\u003ECOVID-19\u2019s devastating impact on Black communities in areas ranging from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/thecity.nyc\/2020\/04\/bronx-residents-twice-as-likely-to-die-from-covid-19-in-nyc.html\u0022\u003Ethe Bronx\u003C\/a\u003E to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/CharleneCac\/status\/1247355903407525888?s=20\u0022\u003EChicago\u003C\/a\u003E is beginning to come into view.]\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EI couldn\u2019t shake the fear that my skin color would render me vulnerable to receiving \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physiciansweekly.com\/nonwhite-patients-get-less\/\u0022\u003Elesser quality care\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cu\u003E.\u003C\/u\u003E As breathing became harder, a morbid question haunted me: If I were to go to the inundated emergency room serving my lower-income neighborhood rather than ask the ambulance to make the longer trip to a wealthy facility, would I be more likely to die? After all, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/time.com\/5815820\/data-new-york-low-income-neighborhoods-coronavirus\/\u0022\u003Edata\u003C\/a\u003E indicates that low-income areas in New York City are the ones most besieged by COVID-19.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThese are just some of the worries facing people across the United States, where the number of COVID-19 cases has \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/26\/health\/usa-coronavirus-cases.html\u0022\u003Esoared past\u003C\/a\u003E the totals in China and Italy; the coronavirus-related death toll has \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coronavirus.jhu.edu\/map.html\u0022\u003Esurpassed 10,000\u003C\/a\u003E; and millions have lost their jobs. People are also grappling with job losses and challenges putting food on the table, the prospect of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/cybersecurity\/491134-enlisting-tech-to-fight-coronavirus-sparks-surveillance-fears\u0022\u003Eincreased surveillance\u003C\/a\u003E, and other human rights concerns. The situation is especially precarious for people in US \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/04\/03\/covid-19-shouldnt-be-death-sentence-people-us-prisons\u0022\u003Ejails and prisons\u003C\/a\u003E, known incubators for infection, and undocumented migrants, who have been \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/11809657\/new-covid-19-relief-benefits-leaves-out-some-undocumented-immigrants\u0022\u003Eleft out\u003C\/a\u003E of the federal coronavirus relief bill despite the labor and taxes they provide to keep America running.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe crisis has heightened unique anxieties about healthcare disparities that existed prior to the pandemic. Black women, for example, had been ringing the alarm about their \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2018\/04\/13\/valuing-black-womens-and-infants-lives-us\u0022\u003Edisproportionately high maternal death rate\u003C\/a\u003E even before the outbreak began.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMany people across the US are afraid \u2013 and not just of the virus. The pandemic has further exposed, and exacerbated, disturbing levels of entrenched poverty and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/03\/19\/us-address-impact-covid-19-poor\u0022\u003Esystemic inequality\u003C\/a\u003E, and laid bare the country\u2019s failure to protect the health of hard-working, everyday Americans. Tragically, it didn\u2019t have to be this way: Many of the human rights issues that policymakers ignored last month\u2014the healthcare disparities, the plight of unauthorized immigrants, the overcrowding and unhygienic conditions in detention facilities, and more\u2014are the issues that make their constituents sitting prey for a contagion today.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs for me, I\u2019m on the mend. And despite the United States\u2019 long road ahead, I have hope for the future. An unprecedented opportunity stands before us to discard the myth that the richest nation in the history of the world can\u2019t afford to treat people with human dignity. This myth is one of the oldest and deadliest in America, and I\u2019m encouraged to see it steadily debunked by bold, previously \u201cunimaginable\u201d \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/03\/24\/us\/new-jersey-low-level-offenders-release-coronavirus\/index.html\u0022\u003Einterventions to curb the outbreak\u003C\/a\u003E. But much more action, and more imagination, will be needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Human Rights Watch, our experts and partners will use this space to engage voters, elected leaders, and 2020 candidates on the grave concerns that the COVID-19 crisis poses for Americans \u2013 while also informing them on the promising new possibilities at their disposal. We are invested in making sure that whoever wins the 2020 elections will help lead a nation that is more fair, more just, and more humane.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGerry Johnson is an editor and senior strategist at Human Rights Watch.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null},{"command":"insert","method":"prepend","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__340537__en","data":"","settings":null}]