THE BIG STORY

The mask shortage continues

It’s not getting as much attention as it was in the early days of the pandemic, but there’s still a serious shortage of personal protective equipment in US hospitals, according to workers on the frontlines of the crisis.

Almost 90% of the 23,000 nurses who responded to a survey by the National Nurses United union said they are still reusing masks and respirators when treating COVID-19 patients due to a shortage of the equipment. And 27% said they’d been exposed to patients who’d tested positive while lacking the right protective gear.

"This new survey shows that nurses are still fighting today for optimal personal protective equipment (PPE), fighting to get tested, and fighting for their own lives, and their patients’ lives,” NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement.

The union is aware of at least 100 nurses who have died of the virus, but suspects the true number is far higher — and may never be known, because many states simply aren’t keeping track of it. “Our nonprotection is ultimately hurting and killing us,” NNU co-president Jean Ross said.

Karen Ducey / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

A cash crunch in the immigration system

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency at the center of the US immigration system, is on track to run out of money this summer due to restrictions put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic. If that happens, “we risk not being able to make payroll and will have to take drastic actions,” its acting head told staff in a recent email seen by BuzzFeed News.

USCIS closed its offices to the public in mid-April. Much of its budget comes from the fees paid by applicants for visas and other immigration-related documents, and those fees have evaporated alongside the shutdown. It’s now asking for $1.2 billion from Congress to continue operating; so far the White House has not made clear whether it supports the request.

The agency performs key work in the immigration system that the Trump administration has been working to reshape for years. It issues work visas, conducts screenings of asylum-seekers, and issues green cards and naturalizations, among other things. That work coming to a halt could suit the Trump administration just fine, said one USCIS official. “If we can't process green cards and naturalize people, even for a short period of time, the effects will be felt for years,” they said. “It’s really broad.”

Candidates celebrate becoming US citizens after taking the oath of allegiance, Jan. 13, 2017. (via Anthony Behar / Sipa USA via AP)

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SNAPSHOTS

A murder at a Toronto massage parlour is being treated as a terror attack motivated by a radical online misogynist movement. It’s the first time Canadian police have charged an “incel” attacker with terrorism.

Utah’s coronavirus contact tracing app has only been installed by about 40,000 of its 3.2 million people. Lawmakers are now asking whether the cost of developing the app was worth it.

A Chicago man who has spent decades in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit will finally get his day in court. Roosevelt Myles has been waiting to argue his innocence for almost 20 years.

A man shared a vivid before-and-after photo showing the toll his six-week coronavirus struggle took on his body. “I wanted to show it can happen to anyone,” Mike Schultz said.

Courtesy of Mike Schultz

IT'S NEWS O'CLOCK

Making crime fun

Should everyone get to vote by mail? Is Ryan Seacrest....OK? We get into that and a whole lot more on the latest edition of News O’Clock, our new daily podcast hosted by Hayes Brown and Casey Rackham. They also spoke to Patrick Hinds, cohost of the podcast True Crime Obsessed, about how to make crime funny. Check it out here!

INFLUENCERS ARE AT IT AGAIN, VOL. II

Surely there’s no such thing as a free car???

Yesterday’s newsletter covered Stephanie McNeal’s story about how Instagrammers are boosting their follower numbers with group giveaway promotions — if you just follow these 12 people, you can win something, often one of those very expensive Peloton bikes.

Today she has a follow up, and things have...escalated. On Monday night a group of 16 influencers announced they’d be giving away a 2020 Hyundai Accent SE to one lucky user who follows all of them.

Instagram: @darylanndenner

This may have been a bridge too far for Instagram, which told BuzzFeed News it’s not happy with the situation. "This is against our policies and we’re currently assessing the content with a view to taking action," said spokesperson Stephanie Otway. Instagram's spam policies forbid users from buying or selling followers, she said, and artificially inflating your follower count is considered spam.

Maybe there really is no such thing as a free Hyundai Sonata,

Tom