The Deseret News will provide additional breaking coronavirus coverage throughout the day at this story. Check back often for more updates.
Amazon workers walk out of Staten Island facility
4:50 p.m.
An assembly of Amazon employees walked away from their jobs Monday in New York, insisting the warehouse be disinfected from the coronavirus, ABC News reported. Around 50 to 100 workers were part of the strike, according to Chris Small, a management assistant at the fulfillment center.
“People are afraid to work. People are there working and they’re putting their lives at risk because there are a number of (coronavirus) cases that they are not aware of,” Small said. The management assistant said he was aware of seven cases of the coronavirus — among more than 4,000 employees — and that one employee who had symptoms of the virus was allowed to return to work while they waited for test results.
Smalls said the employees wanted the facility closed and sanitized.
Amazon told ABC News in a statement that Small’s claims were “simply unfounded.” The statement says the company has taken “extreme measures to keep people safe,” like additional cleanings, acquiring safety supplies and ensuring workers maintain a safe distance.
The company’s grocery and delivery services employees are considered essential as Americans are forced to stay in their homes and out of public spaces during the coronavirus outbreak.
Florida pastor arrested for defying “safer-at-home” order
4 p.m.
The pastor of a Florida megachurch that held worship services despite a local “safer-at-home” order was arrested Monday, The Associated Press reported.
Tampa Pastor Rodney Howard-Brown was arrested and charged with violating a public health emergency and unlawful assembly after he hosted two services on Sunday that were attended by hundreds of people. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office — Tampa is the county seat — obtained a warrant for Howard-Brown’s arrest Monday and the pastor turned himself in to Hernando County officials, north of Tampa where he lives, later in the day.
The sheriff’s department had met with church leaders earlier— and placed a “practice social distancing” digital sign near the church — to discuss the dangers of the coronavirus and the importance of social distancing. The pastor decided to host services anyway.
“Shame on this pastor, their legal staff and the leaders of this staff for forcing us to do our job. That’s not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency,” said Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister.
Howard-Brown posted bond on a $500 bail and was released.
Churches can legally be forced not to host large gatherings in order to save lives. However, some religious leaders have argued that they churches provide essential services and shouldn’t be required to close completely.
Senator investigated for dumping stocks before coronavirus crash
2:10 p.m.
Senate Intelligence Chairman Sen. Richard Burr is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for insider trading, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The investigation seeks to determine if the Republican senator from North Carolina committed insider trading when he sold around $1.7 million in stocks in February after receiving briefings about the coronavirus epidemic. Burr — also a member of the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee — would have been privy to closed-door information about the virus as early as January.
The Wall Street Journal estimated that a trade made on Feb. 13, about a month before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, saved Burr and his wife $250,000 in losses.
The FBI has reached out to the senator, who welcomed a Senate Ethics Committee hearing earlier this month.
Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both R-Ga., James Inhofe, R-Okla., and the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also dumped stocks before the market began its downward slide in mid-February.
Burr and two other senators voted against a 2012 bill to ban members lawmakers from participating in insider trading. The senator said insider trading was already outlawed, although experts were unsure if the law specifically applied to members of Congress, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon workers want coronavirus protection, plan strike
12:30 p.m.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York have threatened to strike, calling for increased coronavirus protection and pay, National Public Radio reports.
The Staten Island employees planned to walk off the job Monday as demand for delivered goods has increased amid statewide lockdowns in much of the country. Employees in at least 11 of Amazon’s warehouses have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Workers for Instacart — a grocery delivery service — also planned a nationwide walkout.
Employees at Amazon and Instacart demand additional access to paid sick time, the reports say. The benefit currently applies only for workers who test positive for coronavirus or are ordered to quarantine. Employees at both companies have requested additional cleaning precautions.
Amazon has temporary increased its wages by $2 an hour and Instacart said it would provide supplies — like hand sanitizer — to more of its contract employees. Instacart said it would change the tip settings for users, presumably creating a higher default tip.
Amazon and Instacart each plan to hire tens of thousands of new employees to meet the increasing demand for their services as millions of Americans lose their jobs in layoffs related to the pandemic, according to the reports.
Navy’s Comfort arrives in New York, Mercy aids Los Angeles
9:15 a.m.
The USNS (United States Naval Ship) Mercy is seeing patients in Los Angeles and the USNS Comfort has docked in New York City.
The USNS Mercy — a 1,000-bed hospital ship with 80 intensive care beds and a blood bank — began to treat its first patients on Sunday. Mercy will host non-coronavirus patients, which frees up additional capacity for Los Angeles medical professionals to treat the city’s COVID-19 patients. The ship also has the capacity to host more than 1,300 personnel on board, The Washington Post reported.
On Monday morning, the USNS Comfort arrived in New York City, according to a post from the U.S. Navy on Twitter. The hospital ship had been in Norfolk, Virginia, for maintenance.
According to a Johns Hopkins coronavirus tally Monday morning, 776 people in New York City and 37 people in Los Angeles have died because of the coronavirus. The U.S. death toll has climbed past 2,500.