7 Things: Reopening Alabama’s economy, Alabama doing well preventing coronavirus spread, Biden gets Obama’s endorsement and more …

7. Illegal immigrants being released to lower coronavirus risk

• As the media moans about illegal immigrants not getting government checks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be releasing 693 illegal immigrants to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Those approved for release are of higher risk if they contract the virus because they have underlying conditions, are pregnant or are over 60 years old. 
• While ICE has experience dealing with infectious diseases, Acting Deputy Homeland Security Director Ken Cuccinelli said this is an “unprecedented” situation. 

6. Hyundai providing test kits to Montgomery

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing of Alabama has announced that they’ll be providing 10,000 coronavirus test kits to the Montgomery area. 
• The company has also provided face masks and food in the area. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said this shows “Hyundai’s unyielding commitment to Montgomery and the greater central Alabama community.”

5. Stimulus funding approved for small businesses

• U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) has announced that small businesses in Alabama have been approved for about $4 billion in economic stimulus funds from the federal government, in the form of government-backed bank loans. 
• Aderholt added, “We need to approve more money for this fund ASAP.” President and CEO of the Alabama Bankers Association Scott Latham said that banks in the state “remain hard at work assisting small business owners in keeping Alabamians employed with Paycheck Protection Program loans.”

4. Trump slams and defunds the World Health Organization

• After parroting Chinese government talking points and misleading the world on the coronavirus pandemic early in the outbreak, the World Health Organization faces a credibility crisis, and now they face a funding crisis after President Donald Trump announced he is halting their funding for now.
• As Trump announced the United States would not be contributing the $400 million to $500 million it sends the WHO, he noted, “Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death.”

3. Obama has endorsed the last Democrat standing

• Finally, when there is no one else left in the race on the Democrat side, President Barack Obama has endorsed his own former Vice President Joe Biden in his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. 
• While he endorsed Biden, Obama said that we need “to go further” with the Affordable Care Act and “make plans affordable for everyone, provide everyone with a public option, expand Medicare, and finish the job so that health care isn’t just a right, but a reality for everybody.”

2. Alabama handling the coronavirus well

• During a press conference, State Health Officer Scott Harris discussed the current status of the coronavirus in Alabama, saying that there are 400 people hospitalized, which means hospitals aren’t over capacity and there are plenty of ventilators to go around. 
• Harris said that their “projections look a lot better than we thought when we were talking about this a month ago,” which he credited to people following the stay-at-home order. Recently, the projected number of deaths Alabama would see went from 5,516 by May 16 to 351 by August 4. 

1. We could see parts of Alabama reopening soon

• Governor Kay Ivey has announced that through the advice of the coronavirus task force, the Lt. governor’s subcommittee and Alabama’s U.S. House members that they’ll be examining the possibility of reopening parts of the state’s economy soon. 
• Ivey said it’s “possible” some businesses could open before the end of April, but she hasn’t given any specific dates yet, adding it’s “imperative that we keep doing what we’re doing” on social distancing since we’ve seen positive results. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said, “[W]hatever surge we may see in the next week or so can be handled in the four walls of our hospitals.”