News by the Numbers: May 4–10

An additional 3.2 million Americans filed for unemployment the week ending May 2, bringing the total since mid-March to 33.5 million, according to the Department of Labor.

Roughly one-fifth of the U.S.’s 26,000 COVID-19 nursing home deaths are in New York, according to a count completed by The Associated Press. Nursing home death tolls in the state have increased for several weeks at an average rate of 20 to 25 per day.

Anti-government protests resumed in Hong Kong on Sunday—a continuation of last year’s sustained protests—resulting in the arrests of roughly 230 people between the ages of 12 and 65. The protests violated Hong Kong’s Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation, which prohibits gathers of more than eight people in a public space, implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A Colombian advertising company created a hospital bed that can double as a casket in an effort to combat the country’s growing shortages of both. The cardboard bed will cost about $85 and was created as an alternative for families who can not afford a traditional, wooden coffin.

Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were arrested Thursday and charged with murder and aggravated assault in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. Their arrest came more than 100 after Arbery’s murder, and two days after video footage of the shooting publicly surfaced.

On May 6, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended overnight service of the NYC subway for the first time since it opened in 1904. Suspending the trains between 1 and 5 a.m. will allow for deep cleanings every 24 hours. Alternative transportation has been arranged for essential workers.