Media

US elected officials and civil rights leaders are encouraging the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities to speak out against acts of racism happening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, an online site that tracks coronavirus-related racist acts, more than 1,600 incidents have been reported across the country in the last two and a half months. Among the cases, two-thirds were verbal attacks, and more than 10 percent were physical attacks.

A 58-year-old man became the sixth Terminal Island inmate to test positive for COVID-19 and then die as the prison continues to get pummled by the virus.

Eduardo Robles-Holguin originally had been convicted of illegally reentering the United States and died in a hospital on Monday, May 4.

He reported symptoms to the medical staff, tested positive for the disease and, on April 25, was placed on a ventilator at a hospital, officials said.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) on April 30 sent a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons calling for the release or home confinement of all inmates at Terminal Island, a federal prison facility in San Pedro.

The letter to Michael Carvajal, which was copied to Attorney General William Barr, comes following reports that more than half of all inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. It reads as follows:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEXSTAR) – Lawmakers in the US House and Senate are trying to protect consumers from scammers and price gouging in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

They say it's time to stop those playing on the public's fear for profit.

Thirty dollar toilet paper, seventy dollar hand sanitizer.

"We see amazing mark-ups of common items that many people need," Representative Ted Lieu, D-California, said.

Some online sellers have been price gouging trying to profit off Americans' coronavirus fears.