Morning Reads for April Fools’ Day (April 1)

Good morning, and happy April Fools’ Day! Peachy has clips of pranks you can play at home while in quarantine, which will keep you occupied for at least half an hour in some cases, should you choose to replicate any of them. On the other hand, Buzzfeed found some folks who want April Fools’ Day canceled this year.

I’m not actually a huge fan of April Fools’ Day, though it’s been around for a long, long time, according to the History Channel. If you’re like me, maybe the fact that it’s also National Walking Day will be more of interest to you!

And now, the news!

Pat Conroy

• Analysis suggests Georgia is going to fare better from the current economic disruption than most other states.
• Georgia will soon have better access to COVID-19 testing, thanks to the state’s colleges and universities, which are sending a bunch of equipment to the state’s accredited labs.
• Here is a link to the day’s updated COVID-19 cases in the state.
  • However, the state isn’t tracking how many people recover.
• Because a pandemic isn’t enough drama, Benevolence had a tornado go through the town yesterday.
• Some good news: Georgia Gas Light is planning to hire 200 people.
• The New York Times has gone to Albany (ours, not theirs) to tell the story of how it became an unlikely COVID-19 hot spot.
• 17 year-old Blake Rand from Atlanta has created a website to help you find goods that are scarce, updated daily.

Alice Walker

• The U.S. task force on pandemic response projects a death toll from COVID-19 of up to 240,000, even with mitigation efforts.
• Experts explain the extreme measures China took to control COVID-19 and say Americans couldn’t handle similar measures. (I agree!)
• The IRS has offered additional guidance on how to get your stimulus check quickly.
• We may have had tornadoes and storms yesterday, but Idaho outdid us with a 6.5-magnitude earthquake.
• A look at why some countries have citizens wearing face masks while others don’t.

Flannery O’Connor

• Earlier this week, a horse in Nottinghamshire in England had to be hoisted upside down from a dry cesspit after he fell in.
• Here’s video of some Kashmiri goats wandering around the Welsh town of Llandudno after they escaped their park.