First Edition: Aug. 3, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Fauci Unfazed As Scientists Rely On Unproven Methods To Create COVID Vaccines 
With millions of lives on the line, researchers have been working at an unprecedented pace to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. But that speed — and some widely touted breakthroughs — belie the enormous complexity and potential risks involved. Researchers have an incomplete understanding of the coronavirus and are using technology that’s largely unproven. (Szabo, 8/3)

Kaiser Health News: What Seniors Can Expect As Their New Normal In A Post-Vaccine World 
Imagine this scenario, perhaps a year or two in the future: An effective COVID-19 vaccine is routinely available and the world is moving forward. Life, however, will likely never be the same — particularly for people over 60. That is the conclusion of geriatric medical doctors, aging experts, futurists and industry specialists. Experts say that in the aftermath of the pandemic, everything will change, from the way older folks receive health care to how they travel and shop. Also overturned: their work life and relationships with one another. (Horovitz, 8/3)

Kaiser Health News: Forced Sports Timeout Puts Squeeze On College Coffers, Scholarships And Towns
On college football Saturdays, tiny Clemson, South Carolina (pop. 17,000), turns into a city of 150,000 when fanatics pour into downtown and swarm Memorial Stadium, home of the Tigers. Some don’t even have a ticket to the game, but they come with money to burn. “It’s well north of $2 million in economic impact per game,” said Susan Cohen, president of the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce. Hotels sell out rooms at $400 a night; some shops bring in 50% of their year’s revenue during the seven home-game weekends. Add in massive broadcasting contracts and apparel deals that enrich schools directly, and there are hundreds of millions of reasons that universities with large athletic departments and the towns they occupy don’t want to lose even one season to COVID-19. (Kreidler, 8/3)

Reuters: U.S. Records Over 25,000 Coronavirus Deaths In July
U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by over 25,000 in July and cases doubled in 19 states during the month, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy. The United States recorded 1.87 million new cases in July, bringing total infections to 4.5 million, for an increase of 69%. Deaths in July rose 20% to nearly 154,000 total. (Chan and Shumaker, 8/1)

The New York Times: After Plummeting, The Virus Soars Back In The Midwest 
First, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast were hit hardest as the coronavirus tore through the nation. Then it surged across the South. Now the virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest — and in states from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it. As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe. (Bosman, Fernandez and Fuller, 8/1)

Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus 'Extraordinarily Widespread,' White House Experts Say 
The United States is in a new phase of the novel coronavirus outbreak with infections “extraordinarily widespread” in rural areas as well as cities, White House coronavirus experts said on Sunday. Coronavirus cases continue to surge in some parts of the country and the public health officials are trying to work with governors to tailor responses for each state. “We are in a new phase,” said Dr. Deborah Birx. “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread” in rural as well as urban areas. (Chiacu, 8/2)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Counts Smallest Daily Rise In Coronavirus Cases In Weeks 
The U.S. reported more than 47,000 new coronavirus cases, the smallest daily increase in almost four weeks, after posting a record number of new infections in the month of July. Total coronavirus cases world-wide surpassed 18 million Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, with the U.S. accounting for more than a quarter of the tally. The U.S. death toll was approaching 155,000. (Hall, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Some Experts Calling For Total Shutdown, As Coronavirus Threat Rises Across U.S. 
The coronavirus is spreading at dangerous levels across much of the United States, and public health experts are demanding a dramatic reset in the national response, one that recognizes that the crisis is intensifying and that current piecemeal strategies aren’t working. This is a new phase of the pandemic, one no longer built around local or regional clusters and hot spots. It comes at an unnerving moment in which the economy suffered its worst collapse since the Great Depression, schools are rapidly canceling plans for in-person instruction and Congress has failed to pass a new emergency relief package. President Trump continues to promote fringe science, the daily death toll keeps climbing and the human cost of the virus in America has just passed 150,000 lives. (Achenbach, Weiner and Janes, 8/1)

The Hill: CDC Predicting 180,000 US Deaths From Coronavirus By August 22: Report 
An internal document by the federal government reportedly predicts the novel coronavirus death toll in the U.S. could hit 182,000 by the end of August. The number — found in an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report obtained by Yahoo News — marks a huge surge from an estimate by the University of Washington at the end of last month, which didn't place the U.S. at more than 180,000 deaths until October. (Seipel, 7/31)

Politico: Fauci: Virus Rampant In U.S. Because Of Inadequate, Patchwork Shutdowns
The Trump administration's decision to leave coronavirus shutdown decisions to the states created a patchwork of policies that effectively only imposed restrictions on about half of the country, NIH infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci told a House hearing on Friday. “There were some states that did it very well, and there were some states did not," Fauci told the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Friday morning without elaborating. (Miranda Ollstein, 7/31)

The Hill: Five Takeaways From Fauci's Testimony 
When Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor, testified before Congress a month ago, the U.S. had just set a record with 48,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day. Now, the country is averaging nearly 65,000 new cases a day. Outbreaks in the South appear to be leveling off, but worrying trends are emerging in the Midwest. And the nationwide death toll recently topped 150,000, a once-unthinkable number that is only going to increase as the pandemic rages on. (Hellmann and Sullivan, 7/31)

Politico: 'Wrong!': Trump Slams Fauci Over Testimony On Covid-19 Surge 
President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday, forcefully rejecting the nation’s top infectious disease expert's testimony on why the U.S. has experienced a renewed surge in coronavirus cases. “Wrong!” Trump wrote in a retweet of a video where Fauci explained to a House subcommittee that the U.S. has seen more cases than European countries because it only shut down a fraction of its economy amid the pandemic. “We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases,” the president added. (Semones, 8/1)

The Hill: Trump: 'Fake News' Not Reporting 'Big China Virus Breakouts All Over The World' 
President Trump in an early morning tweet on Sunday accused the press of failing to report coronavirus outbreaks in other nations as cases surge in the U.S. “Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job,” the president tweeted. “The Fake News doesn’t report this,” he added. “USA will be stronger than ever before, and soon!” (Budryk, 8/2)

The Hill: Birx Says COVID-19 Outbreak Not Under Control Because 'People Are On The Move' 
Deborah Birx said Sunday that the COVID-19 outbreak is not under control in the U.S. because Americans "are on the move."  ... The White House coronavirus task force coordinator said she’s seen through recent travel to 14 states that Americans “are on the move.” (Coleman, 8/2)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus News: Nancy Pelosi Says Deborah Birx Spreads Disinformation 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she doesn’t trust information from the coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, the latest political skirmish over the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump has been spreading disinformation about the virus and Deborah Birx “is his appointee, so I don’t have confidence there, no,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.” (Czuczka, 8/2)

CNN: Birx Defends Herself As Pelosi Accuses Trump Administration Of Spreading Disinformation On Covid-19
Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday strongly defended her record amid criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she doesn't have confidence in the White House coronavirus task force coordinator's handling of the pandemic. On "State of the Union," Birx told CNN's Dana Bash that she has "tremendous respect" for Pelosi, but criticized a New York Times article last month that reported she had painted an optimistic view of the pandemic to the White House during a critical period in getting control of the virus. (Stracqualursi and Main, 8/2)

Reuters: Arizona Congressman Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
Representative Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, has tested positive for coronavirus but feels fine and has gone into isolation, he said in a statement on Saturday. Grijalva, 72, was told of the positive test by the attending physician of the capitol, he said. “I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick and speedy recovery,” he said. Grijalva chaired a hearing this week attended by Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican who has also tested positive and who has been photographed without a mask. (8/1)

NPR: Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva Tests Positive For The Coronavirus 
Rep. Raúl Grijalva tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, becoming at least the 12th member of Congress to contract the virus. The Arizona Democrat chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, which held a hearing on Tuesday that was attended by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who has repeatedly refused to wear a mask in public. The next day, Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus during a routine screening at the White House. (Silva, 8/1)

Reuters: Factbox: Coronavirus In Congress - 14 Members Have Tested Or Been Presumed Positive
At least 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - have tested positive or are presumed to have had COVID-19 since the novel coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year, with Representative Raul Grijalva becoming the latest on Saturday. (8/1)

Politico: Trump Health Official: Time To ‘Move On’ From Hydroxychloroquine
A top official in the Trump administration's Covid-19 response effort said Sunday there is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for the virus, despite President Donald Trump's continued promotion of the anti-malaria drug. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," administration testing czar Brett Giroir said he could not recommend hydroxychloroquine because trials "do not show any benefit." (Warmbrodt, 8/2)

The Hill: White House Testing Czar: 'I Can't Recommend' Hydroxychloroquine 
White House coronavirus testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir said Sunday that he “can't recommend” hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 in an apparent contradiction of President Trump’s support of the drug. Giroir, a Health and Human Services (HHS) assistant secretary, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that hydroxychloroquine “looked very promising” at first, but five studies have now found that the anti-malarial drug does not help COVID-19 patients. (Coleman, 8/2)

Reuters: Relief, NeuroRx Say Emergency Treatment With RLF-100 Helps Critically Ill Covid Patients 
Critically ill COVID-19 patients recovered rapidly from respiratory failure after three days of treatment with RLF-100, a therapy granted fast-track designation in the United States, two drug companies said on Sunday. Geneva-based Relief Therapeutics Holdings AG RFLB.S has a patent for RLF-100, or aviptadil, a synthetic form of a natural peptide that protects the lung. U.S.-Israeli NeuroRx Inc partnered with Relief to develop the drug in the United States. (8/2)

AP: US Sinks Another $2.1 Billion Into A Potential Vaccine
Pharma giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur have announced they will supply 100 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to the United States as governments buy up supplies in hopes of securing a candidate that works. The United States will pay up to $2.1 billion “for development including clinical trials, manufacturing, scale-up and delivery” of the vaccine, the two companies based in Europe said in a statement. Sanofi will get the bulk of the funds. (Krka, 7/31)

Stat: U.S. To Pay Sanofi And GSK $2.1 Billion For Covid-19 Vaccine 
The Sanofi-GSK vaccine is starting trials behind vaccines of other companies with whom Operation Warp Speed is working, including Moderna — which began a pivotal Phase 3 study aimed at proving its vaccine’s efficacy on Monday — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax. However, it is the only vaccine of the group based on technologies used in approved vaccines: the platform behind Sanofi’s Flublok flu shot, and a compound made by GSK, called an adjuvant, that is used to make vaccines more potent. (Herper, 7/31)

Politico: Vaccine Project Contract Raises Transparency Questions 
The Trump administration is hiring consultants with drug industry ties to steer its effort to find a coronavirus vaccine under a contract that allows them to avoid disclosing potential conflicts of interest. The arrangement, which is covered through a $611,500 contract for "Operation Warp Speed," raises more questions about the transparency of the pandemic response and the roles of outside contractors, including top coronavirus vaccine adviser Moncef Slaoui, who are helping steer the government's $10 billion development program. (Diamond, 7/31)

The New York Times: Scientists Worry About Political Influence Over Coronavirus Vaccine Project 
In April, with hospitals overwhelmed and much of the United States in lockdown, the Department of Health and Human Services produced a presentation for the White House arguing that rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine was the best hope to control the pandemic. “DEADLINE: Enable broad access to the public by October 2020,” the first slide read, with the date in bold. (LaFraniere, Thomas, Weiland, Baker and Karni, 8/2)

The Washington Post: A Coronavirus Vaccine Won’t Change The World Right Away 
In the public imagination, the arrival of a coronavirus vaccine looms large: It’s the neat Hollywood ending to the grim and agonizing uncertainty of everyday life in a pandemic. But public health experts are discussing among themselves a new worry: that hopes for a vaccine may be soaring too high. The confident depiction by politicians and companies that a vaccine is imminent and inevitable may give people unrealistic beliefs about how soon the world can return to normal — and even spark resistance to simple strategies that can tamp down transmission and save lives in the short term. (Johnson, 8/2)

AP: Debate Begins For Who's First In Line For COVID-19 Vaccine
Who gets to be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine? U.S. health authorities hope by late next month to have some draft guidance on how to ration initial doses, but it’s a vexing decision. “Not everybody’s going to like the answer,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently told one of the advisory groups the government asked to help decide. “There will be many people who feel that they should have been at the top of the list.”Traditionally, first in line for a scarce vaccine are health workers and the people most vulnerable to the targeted infection. (Neergaard, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Trump Keeps Promising An Overhaul Of Obamacare That Never Arrives 
It was a bold claim when President Trump said that he was about to produce an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system, at last doing away with the Affordable Care Act, which he has long promised to abolish. “We’re signing a health-care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health-care plan,” Trump pledged in a July 19 interview with “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace.Now, with the two weeks expiring Sunday, there is no evidence that the administration has designed a replacement for the 2010 health-care law. Instead, there is a sense of familiarity. (Gearan, Goldstein and Min Kim, 8/2)

The New York Times: Connie Culp, First Face Transplant Recipient In U.S., Dies At 57 
Connie Culp, the first patient in the United States to receive a face transplant, died on Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic, which had performed her procedure in 2008. She was 57. The cause was an infection unrelated to her transplant, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. Ms. Culp was the longest-living face transplant patient in the world, the spokeswoman said. (Pietsch, 8/1)

AP: Ginsburg Waited 4 Months To Say Her Cancer Had Returned
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is perhaps the most forthcoming member of the Supreme Court when it comes to telling the public about her many health issues. But she waited more than four months to reveal that her cancer had returned and that she was undergoing chemotherapy. One big difference from her past battles with cancer is that Ginsburg and the rest of the court have been out of the public eye since early March because of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s when they decided to close the building except for official business, then later postponed arguments and agreed to meet by telephone. (Sherman, 8/2 )

The Hill: White House Not Optimistic On Near-Term Stimulus Deal 
Trump administration officials sounded a pessimistic note Sunday on the chances of a coronavirus relief deal with congressional Democrats in the near future. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows expressed doubt there would be “a solution in the very near term” on any package. "Yesterday was a step in the right direction," Meadows said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I'm not optimistic there will be a solution in the very near term." (Budryk, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Pelosi, Mnuchin Point To Disagreements On Bailout Deal To Restore Unemployment Benefits To 30 Million Americans
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made clear in separate interviews Sunday that they remain far apart on a coronavirus relief deal that would restore expired unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. The three spoke a day after a rare weekend meeting at the Capitol yielded some signs of progress. They plan to meet again on Monday, but pointed to multiple areas of disagreement that suggest consensus remains elusive, even while saying they would continue to work toward a deal. (Werner and Rosenberg, 8/2)

The Hill: Mnuchin On $600 Unemployment Benefit: We Can't Be 'Paying People More To Stay Home' 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday threw cold water on the prospect of extending $600-per-week unemployment benefits for Americans for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with ABC's "This Week," Mnuchin suggested that the payments, which expired last week, led to some out-of-work Americans being "overpaid" and indicated that he believed they were slowing the return of workers to the labor market. (Bowden, 8/2)

Politico: Leaders Duel Over Coronavirus Relief Bill
Top negotiators for a coronavirus relief bill couldn’t even agree on what they agree on Sunday, indicating that Democrats and Republicans are still a ways away from clinching a deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said both parties have yet to come to agreement on the fact that the U.S. must defeat Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, an issue a bemused Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was adamant that there is agreement on. (McCaskill, 8/2)

Reuters: Fed's Kashkari Suggests 4-6 Week Shutdown; Says U.S. Congress Can Spend Big On Coronavirus Relief 
The U.S. economy could benefit if the nation were to “lock down really hard” for four to six weeks, a top Federal Reserve official said on Sunday, adding that Congress can well afford large sums for coronavirus relief efforts. The economy, which in the second quarter suffered its biggest blow since the Great Depression, would be able to mount a robust recovery, but only if the virus were brought under control, Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” (8/2)

The Hill: Trump Economist Calls For 'No More Lockdowns,' 'No More Shutting Down Businesses' Amid Coronavirus Surge 
Economist Stephen Moore on Sunday called for “no more lockdowns” and “no more shutting down businesses” as many states across the country experience a surge in coronavirus cases. “We are seeing a recovery,” Moore, a staunch ally of President Trump, told radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM. Moore added that said economic recovery is happening but “not quite as rapidly as I would like.” (Moreno, 8/2)

Politico: Pelosi Says Mail-In Voting Is Essential For Americans’ Health 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that mail-in voting in the upcoming election will be an essential option for Americans‘ safety and well-being, despite President Donald Trump’s claims that mail-in voting will lead to fraud and delays. On ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi went on the offensive about Trump’s claims — noting that the president’s family members, including Donald Trump Jr., advocated mail-in voting for a special election earlier this year in California. (Bice, 8/2)

Politico: Coronavirus Creates Election Worker Shortage Ahead Of November 
First it was toilet paper. Then it was cleaning supplies. Now, a new coronavirus-era shortage is threatening the November election: Poll workers. Recruiting volunteers to check in voters, supply ballots and deal with issues has never been easy for election administrators. But in interviews and public statements, more than a dozen election administrators and voting advocates warned that slow poll worker recruitment could be a major vulnerability for the 2020 election. (Montellaro, 7/31)

AP: Barron Trump's Private School To Stay Closed For Now
President Donald Trump insists that schools reopen so students can go back to their classrooms, but the Maryland private school where his son Barron is enrolled is among those under county orders to stay closed. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said his order to stay closed for in-person instruction through Oct. 1 and to conduct online classes only will be reevaluated before Oct. 1 to determine whether it should be extended, terminated or amended. (Superville, 8/2)

Reuters: At Least 40 Infected With COVID-19 On Norway Cruises Amid Scramble To Trace Passengers
At least 40 passengers and crew from a luxury cruise liner have tested positive for COVID-19 and the authorities are still trying to trace a number of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages, public health officials in Norway said on Sunday. Four crew members on the MS Roald Amundsen were hospitalised on Friday when the ship arrived at the port of Tromsoe, and later diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Tests showed another 32 of the 158 staff were also infected. (Solsvik, 8/2)

USA Today: Hurtigruten Cruise Line: 36 Crew Infected With COVID-19 In Norway
But the virus might not have been contained onboard. Potentially impacted passengers from two separate voyages had already disembarked a cruise on July 24 and the last cruise on Friday, leaving ample time for passengers to begin their voyages home and potentially spread the virus. The cruise line has contacted passengers who had been on the MS Roald Amundsen for its July 17 and July 24 departures. There were 209 guests on the first voyage and 178 guests on the second voyage, though the ship holds between 530 and 600 passengers, according to CruiseMapper. All have been asked to self-quarantine in accordance with Norwegian regulations, according to the cruise line. (Hines, 8/1)

AP: Health Officials Link US Salmonella Outbreak To Red Onions
Federal health officials say an outbreak of salmonella infecting nearly 400 people in more than 30 states has been linked to red onions, and identified a California company as the likely source. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Friday that Thomson International Inc. of Bakersfield, California, has notified the food agency that it will be recalling all varieties of onions that could have come in contact with potentially contaminated red onions because of the risk of cross-contamination. (D'Innocenzio, 8/1)

CIDRAP: CDC: 473 More Salmonella Illnesses Linked To Backyard Poultry
In the last month, 473 more people have been sickened in the United States by Salmonella linked to contact with backyard poultry. A total of 938 people in 48 states are part of at least 15 multistate outbreaks tied to backyard birds, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also, four more serotypes have been added to the investigation: Braenderup, Muenchen, Thompson, and Typhimurium. (7/31)

The Telegraph: Antibody Tests Do Not Pick Up People Who Had Mild Coronavirus, Oxford Study Suggests
Antibody tests may be missing large numbers of people who contracted Covid-19 because they don't work for people who had a mild infection, new research from Oxford University suggests. A study of more than 9,000 healthcare workers suggested significant numbers of people were getting 'negative' test results, despite probably having had the virus. The work has major implications for government health policy, and scientists said it might also mean reviewing where the threshold between negative and positive results lies. (Rigby, 8/1)

NPR: NIH Funds New Coronavirus Test Technologies To Make Testing Cheaper, Faster 
Americans continue to wait in long lines to get tested for the coronavirus. Many then face frustration and anxiety waiting days — sometimes even weeks — to get their results. Could technology finally solve the testing woes that have hobbled the nation's ability to fight the pandemic? The National Institutes of Health hopes so. On Friday, the NIH announced the first seven winners of a competition to produce next-generation coronavirus tests to help battle the spread of COVID-19. Together, they will receive $248.7 million to further develop their tests and hopefully make them available by the fall. (Stein, 7/31)

Stat: Ginkgo, Mammoth Among Winners Of NIH’s ‘Shark Tank’ For Covid-19 Tests
The National Institutes of Health selected Ginkgo Bioworks, Mammoth Biosciences, Quidel, and four other companies to receive nearly $250 million to develop new Covid-19 diagnostic tests through its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics program, the agency announced Friday. Three of the tests are intended to be processed at pharmacies or doctor’s offices; four are tests meant to be run in clinical labs. The money is coming from a $1.5 billion pot allocated to the NIH in April through the same law that created the Paycheck Protection Program. (Sheridan, 7/31)

Stat: A Tiny Texas Company Is Running Most U.S. Drive-Thru Covid-19 Testing
On March 13, President Trump stood next to the CEOs of LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, Walgreens, and Walmart in the Rose Garden, declared a national emergency, and promised the government would work with pharmacies and retailers to create drive-thru testing sites to help get the coronavirus pandemic under control. Four months later, more than 700 federally backed drive-thru sites are collecting thousands of tests per day. The government has spent nearly $230 million to pay for the tests run at those sites, which it calls Community-Based Testing Sites. But it’s not LabCorp or Quest running the majority of those sites — instead, it’s a tiny Texas company whose CEO was not in the Rose Garden that day. (Sheridan, 8/3)

AP: Latino Leaders Urge Better Promotion Of Free Virus Tests
When some 45,000 coronavirus test kits went unused during a 12-day testing blitz in Phoenix’s hardest-hit Latino neighborhoods, it was clear Arizona health officials failed to adequately spread the word to a community that’s often distrustful of government. On the last day of testing in a state that’s a national COVID-19 hot spot, just four vehicles lined up on a sweltering morning while a half-dozen uniformed members of the Arizona National Guard milled outside large white tents at a huge desert park in Phoenix. (Snow, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Fear Of Covid-19 Exposes Lack Of Health Literacy 
A Michigan library had to ask patrons to stop microwaving books to kill the coronavirus after noticing returned books with scorched pages. The Cleveland Clinic issued a public warning about the danger of using vodka concoctions as a hand sanitizer when recipes started to circulate. Then came the surge of calls to poison control centers about bleach. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to double-down on warnings not to drink it or rinse food in it. (Glicksman, 8/2)

NPR: Cancer's Stress Deepens With Pandemic's Tough Choices 
Alexea Gaffney battles health issues every day on multiple fronts. As an infectious disease doctor in Stony Brook, N.Y., she treats patients who have COVID-19. And two years ago, at age 37, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. As a result, the physician and single mom, who is also home-schooling her 8-year-old daughter these days, is still under medical treatment for the cancer. And that makes her more vulnerable to the virus.Gaffney says navigating life from minute to minute feels like a minefield of risks — ones she mitigates with face masks, protective gowns and lots of hand-washing. (Noguchi, 8/3)

Reuters: Siemens Healthineers Expands Into Cancer Care With $16.4 Billion Deal For Varian
German health group Siemens Healthineers (SHLG.DE) said on Sunday it was buying Varian Medical Systems Inc (VAR.N) of the United States for $16.4 billion in a deal that seeks to create the global leader in cancer care solutions. The deal is the first major growth move by Healthineers since it was spun off and floated in 2018 by Siemens (SIEGn.DE), which is undertaking a broader shakeup of its conglomerate structure to create room for its business units to do their own deals. (Poltz and Busvine, 8/2)

Reuters: Exclusive: Prescription Drug Marketplace GoodRx Files For IPO - Sources 
U.S. online prescription drug price marketplace GoodRx Inc has submitted paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. GoodRx, which was valued at $2.8 billion in 2018 when private equity firm Silver Lake invested in the company, is in the process of hiring advisers for the IPO, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the preparations are confidential. (Franklin and Sen, 8/2)

Reuters: Former Pope Benedict Is Seriously Ill: Newspaper 
Former Pope Benedict XVI is seriously ill after returning to the Vatican from a visit to Germany, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse reported on Monday, citing his biographer. Benedict, aged 93, has become very frail and his voice is barely audible, author Peter Seewald told the daily. (8/3)

AP: Marlins End Isolation In Philly And Leave For Baltimore
The nightmarish first stop of the season for the Miami Marlins finally ended Sunday. The Marlins left Philadelphia, where they were stranded in isolation for a week after their season-opening series because of a coronavirus outbreak that sidelined half of the team. (8/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Changes Coming To Baseball’s Health Protocols After Coronavirus Outbreaks
At least one of the changes ... is designed to bolster MLB’s contact tracing efforts to determine whether someone has potentially been exposed to the virus. To this point, baseball has used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of “close contact”: being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes. Anyone discovered to have met that standard must take an expedited diagnostic test and self-quarantine while awaiting the results, among other preventive measures. Baseball now considers that to be insufficient after seeing it in action and will be stricter in figuring out who else should be quarantined and monitored if someone tests positive. (Diamond, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Pac-12 Football Players Threaten To Boycott Season If Their Demands Are Not Met 
A large group of Pac-12 football players threatened to boycott fall practices and games if a list of demands related to safety, racial justice and compensation are not guaranteed by the conference. The players announced the unprecedented push for college athlete rights with a unified statement Sunday morning, and numerous players tweeted their support of the group’s mission. The Pac-12 players asked for the conference to enforce safety standards as teams return to play amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. After the death of George Floyd and a summer of unrest, the players want the Pac-12 to commit to addressing social issues such as racial injustice and grant players more economic freedom through revenue sharing and the ability to profit off their names, images and likenesses. (Giambalvo, Klemko and Strauss, 8/2)

AP: The Latest: Duke Says 25 Returning Athletes Test Positive
Duke says that 25 athletes have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past three weeks as they began returning to campus for voluntary practice, with nine in mandatory isolation. The school announced the results Friday night following a total of 700 tests being administered to 309 athletes, coaches and staff. Sixteen athletes tested positive, but have gone through a required isolation period and have been cleared by physicians to return to regular activities. (7/31)

The Washington Post: Drew Brees Says He Has Licked His Annoying Habit Of Licking His Fingers
One of the most noticeable things about Drew Brees, aside from all the passing yardage and the touchdowns and the wins, is his nagging practice of licking his fingers again and again and again while he’s on the field. Now, with the world in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, the New Orleans Saints quarterback has decided it is time to kick the habit. “Believe it or not, I am telling you, I haven’t licked my fingers in four months,” Brees told reporters Saturday. (Boren, 8/2)

AP: Analysis: Early Returns Say So Far, So Good For NBA Bubble
So far, so good.The NBA’s bubble remains intact. The extraordinary health protocols put into place to try and save this season seem to be working. The mission shared by coaches and players to use their platform and continue the conversation about racial injustice is off to a strong start. (Reynolds, 8/3)