WEBVTT - States Roll Back on Stay-at-Home Orders

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, Janu I'm Oscar Emrrors from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America. California

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<v Speaker 1>and other states have begun rolling back some of their

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<v Speaker 1>strict coronavirus restrictions as new COVID strains are beginning to circulate,

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<v Speaker 1>new cases and hospitalizations are declining, causing governors like Gavin

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<v Speaker 1>Newsom to let some businesses open at limited capacity again.

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<v Speaker 1>Some say politics maybe at place since he is facing

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<v Speaker 1>a recall effort, but Newsom says that has no merit.

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<v Speaker 1>Businesses and restaurants are happy at the chance to reopen,

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<v Speaker 1>but some urge caution that it could be too soon.

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<v Speaker 1>And McCourt, health reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for more.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Emma, thanks so much for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk about what's going on right now

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<v Speaker 1>as states are trying to ease their COVID restrictions. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of big states like California specifically, that are

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<v Speaker 1>rolling back some of their stay at home orders, allowing

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<v Speaker 1>some businesses to start operating again, although a limited capacity.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's coming at a very precarious time right now.

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<v Speaker 1>These variants that we keep hearing about from the UK, Brazil,

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<v Speaker 1>South Africa. There's some that have been spotted in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States itself. So I emma tell us a little bit,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, kind of the balance that the states are

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<v Speaker 1>having to work through right now. As you rightly point out,

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<v Speaker 1>we are seeing states starting to loosten some of those

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<v Speaker 1>COVID percautions at this time. You know, we've been in

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<v Speaker 1>the biggest surge of COVID nineteen for a long time now,

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<v Speaker 1>and as those national numbers are starting to come down,

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing case counts declining, hospitalizations coming down. The trajectory

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<v Speaker 1>of the pandemic appears to be easing. We're seeing states

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<v Speaker 1>rightly take action and say we think we can allow

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<v Speaker 1>some kinds of economic activity to restart, for instance, in Illinois,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, saying after months of not allowing indoor dining

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, indoor dining can resume in Chicago and suburbs.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, it is the difficult balance to strike

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<v Speaker 1>because on the one hand, you do see these encouraging

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<v Speaker 1>signs when it comes to the data. On the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>we do know that there are worries and indicators in

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<v Speaker 1>the horizon, including the emergence of these new variants which

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<v Speaker 1>bring with them, you know, we know that at least

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<v Speaker 1>one of these variance is more transmissible than the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of currents dominant strain of the coronavirus. But the other

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<v Speaker 1>concerning aspects of this status quo is the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>we know the vaccine rollout has been lagging behind expectations,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course the vaccine is kind of that key

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<v Speaker 1>critical tool in terms of being able to promote immunity

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<v Speaker 1>in the population and word off further spread of disease

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<v Speaker 1>on that front. Real quick of the CDC release of numbers,

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<v Speaker 1>they said that about forty five million or so vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>doses have been sent out, but really maybe twenty three.

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<v Speaker 1>It's about million vaccines have been administered. So we're still

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<v Speaker 1>playing from behind there, and the United States has a

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<v Speaker 1>population of one and so a long long way to

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<v Speaker 1>go on that front. We also noticed as a vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>where you know, it remains to be seen, but we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen we've heard a lot about hesitancy among Americans, people

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<v Speaker 1>being concerned maybe they were developed too quickly and and

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<v Speaker 1>and being worried about things like anaphylaxis. You know, these

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<v Speaker 1>severe allergic reactions which have been reported in the context

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<v Speaker 1>of these vaccines, but are as far as we know

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<v Speaker 1>so far, extremely rare. So there are factors around the

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine rollout that still remain to be seen in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of how successful it'll be. And we know there have

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<v Speaker 1>been a number of logistical issues in terms of just

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<v Speaker 1>getting those doses to the sites and getting them in

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<v Speaker 1>people's arms that are still kind of being worked out

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<v Speaker 1>at the moment. Let's talk a little bit about California,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously a huge state. The governor there, Gavin Newsom, had

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<v Speaker 1>these stay at home orders restaurants and he closed outdoor

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<v Speaker 1>dining at restaurants was a huge thing for local restaurants

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<v Speaker 1>and businesses. So now we're seeing caseloads go down, hospitalization

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<v Speaker 1>and go down, and these restrictions are being loosened up.

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<v Speaker 1>There's still a lot of people that say, hey, wait

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<v Speaker 1>a minute, we could be moving too fast. Going back

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<v Speaker 1>to that balance again that we've been talking about, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of other people saying, well, politics was playing

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<v Speaker 1>a role in this. Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a

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<v Speaker 1>recall effort, and that effort has almost the amount of

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<v Speaker 1>signatures they need to put it onto the ballot. So

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<v Speaker 1>some people were saying politics was playing a part in

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<v Speaker 1>this as well, and of course Newsom has denied that

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<v Speaker 1>politics are playing a role in this. The state has

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<v Speaker 1>been pretty firm and saying this is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>numbers we have right the case numbers, the factors like

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<v Speaker 1>declining hospitalization and test positivity rates, and this expectation that

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<v Speaker 1>the availability of intensive care beds is going to improve.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's what we're definitely getting out of the state.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's really interesting about California and has been

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a consistent factor throughout this pandemic has been

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<v Speaker 1>that California is almost sort of stupefied experts in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of why has the situation in California been consistently so

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<v Speaker 1>concerning even though California famously early to impose restrictions, quick

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<v Speaker 1>to take the kinds of measures we've heard experts advocate for,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's led some people to think maybe the issue

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<v Speaker 1>isn't the measures that the state has taken, but more

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<v Speaker 1>this question of adherence to those measures, and specifically, are

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<v Speaker 1>these measures so strict that people have decided, you know what,

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<v Speaker 1>you say, I can't eat outdoors at a restaurant while

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to go gather in my friend's apartment and

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<v Speaker 1>without a mask, and we'll all get sick there. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously that wasn't the intent. I live in California, and

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<v Speaker 1>anecdotally I can say that's kind of true. People have

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<v Speaker 1>been driven in and they are still gathering with their

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<v Speaker 1>family members, and we know that these are these points

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<v Speaker 1>of transmission. So yeah, I I would say that, like

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<v Speaker 1>I said, anecdotally from what I hear, that has happened,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's been the problem. That COVID fatigue that we've

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<v Speaker 1>talked about before is so huge right now, and people

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<v Speaker 1>are just wanting to get back out there, and even

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<v Speaker 1>for the restaurant themselves, that's such a huge point. For

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<v Speaker 1>local businesses, they're just hemorrhaging money right now, staying closed

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<v Speaker 1>and even being at limited capacity doing outdoor dining. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>they're not making profits, but at least they're not losing

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<v Speaker 1>those vast amount of money. So that's where this kind

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<v Speaker 1>of thing has been lying at. It's been tough for

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people. And the point you raised, I

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<v Speaker 1>think as a really that sort of anecdotal those stories

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<v Speaker 1>is an interesting one. I spoke with a public health

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<v Speaker 1>expert who said, you know, we know from other kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of diseases like HIV for instance, or other diseases where

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<v Speaker 1>you can impose different kinds of approaches to trying to

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<v Speaker 1>prevent it or scate it off. That you know, encouraging

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<v Speaker 1>this idea of like abstinence only like almost like insects,

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<v Speaker 1>like that you should just not do anything at all,

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't work as well as trying to mitigate risk, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>different levels. And so he said, you know, California took

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<v Speaker 1>this approach, they definitely needed to recalibrate what they were doing.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether this new approach is going to work, so it

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<v Speaker 1>depends a lot on whether the state has good contact

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<v Speaker 1>tracing data to say we know people, for instance, are

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<v Speaker 1>gathering in private household and getting sick. And he says,

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<v Speaker 1>we haven't actually seen that data. It hasn't been made

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<v Speaker 1>very transparent by California, So it'll kind of remain to

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<v Speaker 1>be seen whether this new approach work. And as adherence

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<v Speaker 1>to the guidelines, the social distancing, the mask wearing, that's

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<v Speaker 1>what we're getting conversations of, like should people be double masking,

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<v Speaker 1>should we be triple masking? You know, that was kind

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<v Speaker 1>of hitting the storylines this week, just as these restrictions

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<v Speaker 1>are starting to loosten and people want to get out there.

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<v Speaker 1>Should we protect ourselves more with masks? Now? So this

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<v Speaker 1>is all kind of rolled up into it, and those

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<v Speaker 1>are key things that we need to do as we

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<v Speaker 1>start going back to business right And I think another

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<v Speaker 1>really important aspect of seam states relaxed these measures is

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<v Speaker 1>also listening at what they're doing in terms of relaxing

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<v Speaker 1>these measures. So this week we also got a report

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<v Speaker 1>from the CDC which said that school reopening would be

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<v Speaker 1>done safely if you took all the right precautions and

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<v Speaker 1>also if you took steps to make sure transmission in

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<v Speaker 1>the community at large was minimized and was as controlled

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<v Speaker 1>as possible. And so when you're talking about, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>in Illinois, reopening indoor dining and restaurants, it is an

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<v Speaker 1>interesting question of well, what about the schools. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>are we taking all of the same kinds of are

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<v Speaker 1>we relaxing all the same kinds of measures we relaxed before.

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<v Speaker 1>Are we trying to do this smarter? Do this in

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<v Speaker 1>a in a way that could have more impacts, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of social and educational programs. Lots of stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to go through as We mentioned that balance is so

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<v Speaker 1>difficult and we want to keep it under control. So

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see how these states do as they do ease

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<v Speaker 1>these restrictions and the court health reporter at Bloomberg News,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Asco Ramires and this has been reopening America. Don't forget that.

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<v Speaker 1>For today's big news stories, you can check me out

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<v Speaker 1>on the Daily Dive podcast every mondy through Friday, So

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