THE BIG STORY

A deadly bridge tournament in Colorado

In late February, about 150 people gathered at the Colorado Springs Bridge Center for a weekend cards tournament. Less than a month later, four people have died and 20 have been hospitalized due to coronavirus infections linked to the event. In total, officials estimate 300 people in the area have been infected due to the tournament, Joe Bernstein reports.

“It’s frightening,” said Jeffrey Rapp, who helped run the tournament. “So many people I’ve been playing bridge with for so many years, in some cases people I’ve known for 40 or 50 years, have wound up in the hospital.”

While big cities are still being hit hardest by the outbreak, it is beginning to hit in a growing number of small cities and towns. And in many cases it’s being helped along by wealthy city residents heading to their vacation homes, reports Anne Helen Petersen. Blaine County, Idaho — home to the Sun Valley resort city — already has 187 confirmed cases among a population of just 22,000. The area’s hospital has two ICU beds, and one ventilator.

Idaho Highway 75 outside of Sun Valley, Idaho. (Alamy)

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Trader Joe’s is extremely busy right now

And its workers are scared that they’re risking their health, and their lives, by showing up to stock the shelves and run the registers. Julia Reinstein spoke to staff at multiple locations where workers have tested positive, and they’re all worried that the company is not being open enough with its employees or its customers about what it’s doing to prevent the spread in its stores.

“I feel nervous going in because of my asthma and the fact that my girlfriend is immunocompromised,” said one worker at a location in New York state. “I can’t afford to not work unless I’d be getting paid time off, but that only will happen if I get COVID-19.”

Shoppers wait in line to enter a Trader Joe's in Washington, DC last week. (Leigh Vogel / Sipa USA via AP)

TELL YOUR STORY

BuzzFeed News reporters are talking to people across the country and around the world about how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting them, and we’re always happy to hear from people with stories to share. Are you a trans or nonbinary person? Pier Dominguez wants to hear about your experience. Have you or someone you know been stuck abroad because of the travel shutdowns? Get in touch with Scaachi Koul. Are you dealing with FOMO, or the lack of it? Michael Blackmon wants to know about it.

And if you or anyone you know is going through something you think the media should be covering, you can always contact us through our tip line — it’s where so many of our best stories come from. You can email tips@buzzfeed.com or check out our tips page for all the ways you can contact us anonymously.

SNAPSHOTS

The US should expect at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, and up to 240,000, the White House said yesterday. President Trump warned that a surge in cases is coming, and the next two weeks will be “very, very painful.”

California will release 3,500 prisoners early to ease overcrowding. Prison systems across the country are being pushed to do the same as the virus spreads fast among their inmates.

The UK is running far fewer coronavirus tests than most other wealthy countries. The reasons have a lot to do with the government’s initial plan for managing the outbreak, which has since been abandoned.

Texas can continue with its temporary ban on abortions. A federal judge ruled against the ban on Monday afternoon; on Tuesday morning an appeals court reversed the ruling.

via @ShaneGoldmacher

WE STAN A GOOD LANDLORD

Rent’s due today

Mario Salerno, a lifelong resident of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, still runs the gas station that his father opened in the neighborhood in 1959. But over the years, he bought up a bunch of buildings in the area, and is now the landlord to about 200 tenants in 80 apartments, reports Greenpointers.

Like millions of people across the country, many of them will struggle to pay rent this month. This week, he told all of them that he won’t be charging rent this month. “I am waiving rent for the month of April 2020,” read a notice put in the entry of his buildings. “Stay safe, help your neighbors & wash your hands!!!”

“I’m really not concerned about the rent right now, I’m concerned about peoples’ health,” he told Greenpointers. “Not only are we up against an epidemic, these poor people have no jobs and they’re worried about getting sick. I didn’t think it was much on a person like me, who God was good to, to help them all out.”

THEY WAITED YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT

A flock of wild goats has seized control of a town in Wales

Timing is everything, and for the wild Kashmiri goats roaming the outskirts of Llandudno, a coastal town in northwestern Wales, the UK’s national lockdown was their moment to make a power grab.

Troops patrol the occupied town. (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

“With the town now deserted as residents shelter inside, packs of goats have descended on the picturesque resort town, blocking traffic, grazing on people’s hedges, lazing about on the church’s green, and strutting by shuttered shops like Ewe Felty Thing, a local boutique that sells all things wool,” reports Emmanuel Felton.

He's the mayor now (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

"It's kind of a two-pronged thing. So we love them. Everybody loves the goats, but they make an awful mess,” said Tim Garbutt, who owns a holiday home in the town. “They eat all of your nice plants and they shit everywhere, quite frankly.”

That’s no way to speak of your rulers, Tim. I hope they show you mercy.

Learn from the goats and seize power today,

Tom