Ripped from the Headlines: April 2020: This Week In Words: April 19–25, 2020

Covid-19 was in the U.S. earlier than previously thought. Two people who died in Santa Clara County, California in January both had the disease. With slow, insufficient, and sometimes inaccurate testing, it's proving difficult for scientists to determine how many people may have already been sick and therefore what percentage of the population might already have immunity. Autopsy comes from Greek, via Latin; autopsia means "to see with one's own eyes" in Greek.

U.S. intelligence agencies say that there is evidence that Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean dictator, is seriously ill following heart surgery. He hasn't been seen in public in some time, and missed the celebration of his grandfather's April 15th birthday, a national holiday. Despot is a Greek word, meaning a "lord" or "master."

Experts are urging caution when it comes to relaxing restrictions on businesses, saying that letting people go back to work too soon will cause a major increase in illnesses and deaths. Even in cities past the peak of the pandemic outbreak, some form of social distancing and limits on groups will need to remain in effect. An epidemiologist studies epidemics.

Because so many people are at home, and therefore not driving or working, oil prices fell dramatically. Demand is so low that there's now a huge excess of oil just sitting around, and with very few places left to store more, oil companies are slowing down the production of new supply. A glut is just that: too much of something. It comes from glutton, a person who eats too much of everything whenever possible.

Rick Bright, who was fired from his position as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, says it was because he contradicted the President about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. The President repeatedly pushed the drug, without evidence, and recent tests have actually shown a slightly higher death rate among patients who received it.

As China continues to aggressively move military forces and facilities into the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy has deployed ships to the area to deny China control of the area. China claims ownership over a huge piece of ocean between Vietnam and the Philippines, and has been building bases on manmade islands. The U.S. rejects this claim. ply originates in the French verb plier, meaning "to bend," and has a number of interesting uses.

Harvard University, which has an endowment of over $40 billion, received $8.6 million as part of the economic stimulus bill. President Trump said the school should return the money, but Harvard said that it would put all of the funds toward financial assistance for students.

Despite being blocked from receiving any money from the recent stimulus bill, the Trump Organization is still asking for help with rent on several of its hotels.

The Senate Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan report stating that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election, and did so specifically to help President Trump win. All of the central claims were found to be sound, backed by multiple sources, and free from bias. The version of the report that was made public had much of the text blacked out, leading many to speculate about what additional information it contains.

The President's recent move to temporarily stop immigration was met with harsh criticism, especially from the diverse tech sector that employs a lot of immigrants. In response, the administration allowed temporary visas to remain valid while blocking new green cards from being issued. Another Greek word, xenophobia literally means "fear of foreigners."