Viewpoints: Lessons On Flawed Government Responses To Viruses; Plan Now For A Possible Second Wave

The Wall Street Journal: The Obama-Biden Virus Response
Is it reasonable to blame a single politician for the spread of a highly infectious virus, especially in a free country with 50 states and 330 million people? Joe Biden is lucky that wasn’t the standard a decade ago. If the Democratic convention produced one theme it’s that Donald Trump is personally at fault for every coronavirus death. (Kimberley A. Strassel, 8/20)

The New York Times: With The Speech Of His Life, Joe Biden Becomes The Man For This Moment
Look at America right now. My God. We’re hurting like we seldom hurt. We’re quarreling like we seldom quarrel. We’re exceptional in our death count, in our divisions. It’s easy to feel hopeless. It’s hard to press forward. Biden’s life is a parable of pressing forward. He did that after his young wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He did it after two brain aneurysms. He did it after two previous, humiliatingly unsuccessful campaigns for the Democratic nomination. He did it some six months ago, after a fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and a fifth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary cast his latest and surely last presidential campaign as yet another moribund one. (Frank Bruni, 8/21)

The Washington Post: Why Biden’s Nomination Is Actually A Bold Choice
His proposals give weight to his pledge to “build back better,” starting with taming covid-19 “on day one.” “No miracle is coming,” he said, but the United States can test more, not less, and ensure that protective gear is available while a vaccine is developed. Yet Mr. Biden noted that the pandemic is only one of “four historic crises,” along with the economic downturn, the need to address racial injustice and “the existential threat posed by climate change.” By merely identifying these as critical priorities, he distinguishes himself from a Republican Party in the grips of wide-ranging reality-denial. (8/20)

USA Today: Dynamic Joe Biden Takes Command At The Democratic National Convention
The second challenge was to convince viewers that he could do a better job than President Donald Trump in battling the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 175,000 Americans, shattered the economy and upended everyday life, producing this year's "unconventional" conventions, shorn of balloon drops and delegates in funny costumes. Without referring to Trump by name, the Democratic nominee called out the president for failing to plan or take the virus seriously. "No miracle is coming," Biden said, building a case for how he intends to correct the administration's mismanagement with adequate testing, medical supplies, school resources, a national mask-wearing mandate, a reliance on science and an unmuzzling of experts. (8/21)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus: No One Can Rule Out A Second Wave Of Full Lockdowns 
The resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe has reignited fears that governments will have to lock down their economies again in the autumn. Some political leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, have rushed to dismiss this possibility, saying the collateral damage from a new bout of confinement would just be too high. Europe’s second wave of Covid-19 is certainly different — and, so far, less alarming — than the first. There is plenty that politicians and the general public can do to avoid a return to the most draconian measures of March, April and May. Localized lockdowns have been effective in particular towns or regions that suffer sudden infection spikes. (Ferdinando Giugliano, 8/21)

Stat: The Trump Administration's 'Public Charge' Rule And Covid-19: Bad Policy At The Worst Time 
As Covid-19 sweeps across the country, many immigrant communities are being hit hard by the pandemic. Latino individuals are four times more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, than non-Latino white individuals. Asian immigrant communities across the U.S. have also been hit hard by the pandemic. (Jose F. Figeroa, Fabiola Molina and Benjamin D. Sommers, 8/21)

Bloomberg: Mask Mandates, Not Nudges, Are The Only Solution 
What if nudges fail? Because of the coronavirus, that question has suddenly become urgent. Efforts to nudge people to wear masks, to engage in social distancing, and to use other protective measures have done some good. But with more than 170,000 deaths, they cannot be counted a smashing success. A nudge is an intervention that steers people in particular directions, but that fully preserves freedom of choice. A GPS device nudges. So does a calorie label or a warning (“this product contains peanuts”). Whenever a nudge fails, there are three major options. The first is to give up — declare victory and insist that freedom worked, because a major point of nudging is to allow people to go their own way. The second is to nudge better. The third is to turn to some other tool, such as a mandate or a ban. (Cass R. Sunstein, 8/20)

Stat: National Reporting Can Help Tame Health Facility Acquired Infections 
Contagious diseases are as old as time and routinely appear in health care settings. New ones emerge from time to time. Yet the U.S. health care system, the most expensive in the world, was tragically unprepared for the emergence of Covid-19. (Leah Binder, 8/21)

The New York Times: What’s Behind The Recent Rise In Shootings?
Murder rates typically increase in the summer, but experts told The Times that the coronavirus has compounded the socioeconomic stressors that often give rise to gun violence, including poverty, unemployment, housing instability and hunger.In Kansas City, for example, my colleagues have reported that many recent shootings have seemingly had no clear rationale, often arising from petty arguments that devolve into violence. In many cases, economic hardship appeared to play a role. “The pandemic has exacerbated the root causes of gun violence,” Michael Sean Spence, policy and implementation director at the nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety, told The Times. “What we’re seeing is almost a perfect storm.” (Spencer Bokat-Lindell, 8/20)

Houston Chronicle: Pandemic Causes Surge Of Human Trafficking Of Children
As the world’s attention is laser-focused on the continuing economic, social and health impacts of COVID-19, another health threat for children is lurking in the shadows of the pandemic. Although statistics on the criminal enterprise of child trafficking are notoriously difficult to measure, experts estimate global impact of about 10 million children and youths annually, 5.5 million for labor and another 1 million a year for sex. (Jessica Peck, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: Why Trump’s Attack On Fetal Tissue In Science Doesn't Hold Up 
The use of fetal tissue has long been invaluable in scientific research on numerous fronts. Significant work on Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, kidney failure and Parkinson’s disease has all been aided by the use of fetal tissue. Cells from fetuses have been used to develop vaccines for rubella, rabies and other serious diseases.Yet it has been controversial because the primary source of the tissue has been elective abortions. That’s why abortion opponents have fought to stop its use in research, and anti-abortion members of Congress have investigated (harassed, really) the biomedical companies that supply it.Pandering to the abortion opponents who support the president, the Trump administration has gone out of its way to cripple research that utilizes fetal tissue. (8/21)

Sacramento Bee: Legislature Must Address Internet Access Inequities In State 
Even as millions of Californians use cutting-edge technology to manage the challenges brought on by COVID-19, more than 20% of us live in impoverished or remote areas that are unconnected or under-connected to the Internet.For many of our neighbors, this means education, jobs, banking and health care are not accessible. To this, we say: shame on us. (Betty Yee and Sunne Wright McPeak, 8/20)