How to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic
05 December 2020
We all know, it’s getting worse.
Reality check: Here are a few things every one of us can do to stay safe and sane in coming months:
- Wear masks. Hopefully this dumb debate is ending and we can all agree masks help slow the spread.
- Avoid crowds. This, too, is a no-brainer, even if hard practically and emotionally. Listen to scientists: They're not infallible, but are motivated to help us make fact-based calculations.
- Take a not-sharing-is-caring pledge on social media and in conversation. Don't share stories, memes, random B.S. about the virus unless you can authenticate it. We can all agree misinformation is bad.
- Order food. Restaurants are getting crushed, and it's going to get so much worse when outdoor seating ends. Help keep these small businesses alive.
- Virtually visit family, friends and strangers — especially those in nursing homes, where the virus is making a tough situation intolerable for too many older Americans.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.