American Morning
Quarantined in a hotel for seven days
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/11/intv.moore.art.jpg caption= "Mark Moore was quarantined in a Hong Kong hotel for seven days."]
The number of deaths across the world linked to the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” has passed 50. China is now reporting its first infection. The Chinese have taken extraordinary measures to prevent the spread of the flu strain.
In Hong Kong last week, nearly 300 people were quarantined inside a hotel after a guest got sick. Mark Moore was one of those quarantined guests. He spoke to Carol Costello on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday.
Carol Costello: You were in Hong Kong, in a very posh hotel, having a great time. And all of a sudden… what happens?
Mark Moore: To be honest, I didn't know what was happening. I was in my room doing e-mail and my brother called me and he said you realize your hotel is under quarantine the last two hours, which nobody had notified me. The whole hotel was locked down. Everyone in the hotel had to stay there.
Costello: What did you do when you got the word from your brother? I mean eventually the hotel management came and took you to a certain area. Tell us about that.
Moore: We were all tested. We had our temperatures tested. We were all taken to a common area, which I think some of us questioned because if there were sick people in the hotel, surely it would have been better to keep us in our rooms and test us individually in isolation. We were brought down to the mezzanine floor and we were tested en masse.
Charging rent to homeless
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/11/carroll.homeless.art.jpg caption= "Princess Seyborn and her daughter live in a New York City public shelter where they are now being asked to pay rent."]
Imagine you're a single mother. You're living in a homeless shelter making barely enough at your job as a day care worker to feed your daughter and pay the bills. Now what would you do if that shelter suddenly told you in order to stay you had to pay rent? This is the reality for Princess Seyborn and hundreds of other working homeless families in New York City.
The city is starting to charge working homeless families like Seyborn to stay in the city's publicly run shelters. Seyborn now has to pay $345 dollars a month in rent. "I tried to explain it on my best behalf," Seyborn said. "I don't have it and all I'm getting is pens and paper in my face saying sign here and sign here, and I refuse to sign."
The policy is based on a 1997 state law, which requires shelter residents with jobs to use a portion of their earnings to pay rent. The amount varies according to family size and which shelter is being used.
So why is the city implementing the law now? One reason could have to do with the results of a 2007 state audit. The city was required to pay back $2.4 million in housing aid that should have been supplemented by working homeless families.
What’s on Tap – Monday May 11, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
In just a few hours President Obama takes on the crushing cost of health care. He's secured a deal with several healthcare providers – which could save the nation trillions over the next decade. We're live at the White House with new details.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney is hitting the talk show circuit and he's taking no prisoners. Cheney is criticizing fellow Republicans for shifting too far to the left. He said he didn’t even know former Secretary of State Colin Powell – was still in the party.
A trolley operator says he was texting while driving and not paying attention during a crash that sent 49 people to the hospital in Boston. This morning – new fallout. The head of the Boston-area transit announcing plans to fire all train drivers if they even carry cell phones on board.
His Holiness in the Holy Land. Pope Benedict has arrived in Israel for a five-day visit, and he’s already making headlines, calling for a separate Palestinian state.
Homeless, and hit up for rent. Some of New York City’s homeless will soon be forced to pay to stay in shelters. The city, in a cash crunch of its own is now enforcing a ten-year-old law, but is it killing peoples’ hopes of ever getting out?
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