As more and more state and local officials announce the release of thousands of at-risk inmates from the nations adult jails and prisons, parents along with children rights groups and criminal justice experts say vulnerable youths should be allowed to serve their time at home, AP reports.
But they say demands for large-scale releases have been largely ignored. Decisions are often not made at the state level, but instead carried out county by county, with individual judges reviewing juvenile cases one by one.
Such legal hurdles have resulted in some kids with symptoms being thrown into isolation for 42 hours a day, in what amounts to solitary confinement, according to relatives and youth advocates. They say many have been cut off from programs, counsellors and school. Some have not been issued masks, social distancing is nearly impossible and they have been given limited access to phone calls home.
One mother reported that her daughter was so cut off from the outside world with no TV and staff not wearing any protective gear that the girl had no idea a deadly virus was even circulating in America. In some states, authorities have been shuttling kids between facilities, trying to make sure sick and healthy young people are kept apart.
Growing fears and frustrations have led to violence and mayhem not just in Louisiana, but at juvenile centers in other coronavirus hot spots such as New York. Young people are calling their parents to say they’re scared and desperate to escape. Sheriffs deputies responded to a facility in Portland, Oregon, this month after a disturbance broke out, but no injuries were reported.
The Bolshoi ballet held its first online classes only this week, more than a month after lockdown began, AFP reports.
In the middle of their bedroom, Bolshoi ballet dancers Margarita Shrainer and Igor Tsvirko have placed a linoleum mat and a barre. Since the start of the lockdown, the couple, both soloists in the legendary troupe, have largely used their own initiative to keep up their dance skills at home.
Yet Tsvirko and Shrainer still look toned and Tsvirko pulls at his waistband. “I don’t think I’ve got fat, that’s the main thing,” says the 48 – year-old dancer, a leading soloist at the Bolshoi who has performed lead roles in “Ivan the Terrible” and “Nureyev”.
Shrainer, a first soloist who has performed major roles in “Coppelia” and “Carmen Suite”, massages her leg with a tennis ball and moves into the splits.
Together for more than a year, they are living in a studio flat owned by the theater. The same block is home to several other dancers and it was outside this building that the notorious acid attack on then-artistic director Sergei Filin took place in .
Their Zoom class is led by a teacher doing steps in his bedroom to a piano accompaniment.
Mexico’s health ministry reported 1, (new known coronavirus cases and 189 more deaths on Saturday, bringing the country total to , (cases and 2, deaths.
The head of Mexico’s consumer protection agency, Ricardo She ffield, said on Twitter on Saturday he had tested positive, becoming at least the second high-ranking federal government official with the virus.
Les comparto que salí positivo de coronavirus, la prueba me la hice el martes pasado, pero hoy por la tarde me dió aviso el laboratorio. Ya estoy en comunicación con el doctor @ HLGatell y estaré atendiendo las recomendaciones médicas. (May 2,
China reported two new coronavirus cases for 2 May, up from one the day before, data from the country national health authority showed on Sunday .
One case was imported and the other was local, the National Health Commission (NHC) said. This compares to one imported case and no domestic transmissions on 1 May.
The NHC also reported asymptomatic cases for May 2, down from (the day before.)
The number of confirmed cases in (China has reached , . With no new deaths reported, the death toll remained at 4, 900.
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AFP has this equine report from Germany:
Every morning white mare Jenny leaves her stable to stroll through her Frankfurt neighborhood. Bringing trams to a halt and smiles to people faces, the free-roaming horse is brightening up the coronavirus lockdown for many.
“Everyone else has to live with coronavirus restrictions but Jenny is as free as ever, ”her owner Anna Weischedel, 93, told AFP.
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For more than a decade Jenny has wandered solo through her local Fechenheim area, a green part of Frankfurt on the bank of the Main river. She explores the high street, trots along the tram line to a nearby field and spends hours nibbling on patches of grass. The beloved Arabian mare, already a venerable years old, has always been a hit with residents. But never more so than in recent weeks.
Like many countries, Germany has closed schools, playgrounds and many businesses to curb the outbreak. Though it has slowly started easing some lockdown measures, people are encouraged to limit their social interactions and keep their distance.
Jenny stands next to her owners Anna (C) and Werner Weischedel as she is getting ready for her daily walk in Fechenheim near Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on (April) . Photograph: Daniel Roland / AFP via Getty Images
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Anne Davies
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