First Edition: July 29, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Where Mask-Wearing Isn’t Gospel: Colorado Churches Grapple With Reopening 
The lights dimmed. Guitars thrummed. And a nine-piece band kicked off what amounted to a rock concert inside an amphitheater of a church. “Shout for joy to the Lord,” one musician called out, quoting Scripture. Any such shout could release the coronavirus to congregants. With some 500 people singing along, though, any concern about a deadly virus circulating was hard to find other than the spaced-out chairs in the 6,000-person hall. Although Colorado’s governor had issued a statewide order days earlier mandating masks, hardly anyone at this service at New Life Church obeyed. (Rodgers, 7/29)

Kaiser Health News: Public Health Experts Fear A Hasty FDA Signoff On Vaccine
The vaccine trial that Vice President Mike Pence kicked off in Miami on Monday gives the United States the tiniest chance of being ready to vaccinate millions of Americans just before Election Day. It’s a possibility that fills many public health experts with dread. Among their concerns: Early evidence that any vaccine works would lead to political pressure from the administration for emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration. That conflict between science and politics might cause some people to not trust the vaccine and refuse to take it, which would undermine the global campaign to stop the pandemic. Or it could lead to a product that is not fully protective. Confidence in routine childhood vaccinations, already shaken, could decline further. (Allen, 7/29)

Kaiser Health News: Analysis: When Is A Coronavirus Test Not A Coronavirus Test? 
Desperate to continue the tradition of a family beach week, I hatched a plan that would allow some mask- and sanitizer-enhanced semblance of normality. We hadn’t seen my two 20-something children in months. They’d spent the lockdown in Brooklyn; one of them most likely had the disease in late March, before testing was widely available. My mother had died of COVID-19 in May. So a few weeks ago, I rented a cute house on the Delaware shore. It had a screened-in front porch and a little cottage out back, in case someone needed to quarantine. (Rosenthal, 7/29)

Kaiser Health News: In Texas, More People Are Losing Their Health Insurance As COVID Cases Climb 
Steve Alvarez started feeling sick around Father’s Day weekend this year. His symptoms started as mild, but developed into a fever, chills and shortness of breath he couldn’t shake. “Just when I started to get to feeling better and I would have a couple of good days,” Alvarez said. “I felt like I’d backtrack and I was just really run down. This thing lingered and lingered.” (Lopez, 7/28)

Kaiser Health News: Lost On The Frontline
America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical personnel account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides.“Lost on the Frontline,” a collaboration between KHN and The Guardian, has identified 878 such workers who likely died of COVID-19 after helping patients during the pandemic. We have published profiles for 164 workers whose deaths have been confirmed by our reporters. (7/29)

Reuters: Six U.S. States See Record COVID-19 Deaths, Latinos Hit Hard In California 
A half-dozen U.S. states in the South and West reported one-day records for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark as California health officials said Latinos made up more than half its cases. Arkansas, California, Florida, Montana, Oregon and Texas each reported record spikes in fatalities. In the United States more than 1,300 lives were lost nation wide on Tuesday, the biggest one-day increase since May, according to a Reuters tally. (Bernstein and Shumaker, 7/28)

The Hill: 21 States Now In Federal 'Red Zone' For Serious Coronavirus Outbreaks: Study 
Twenty-one U.S. states are currently in the “red zone” for coronavirus outbreaks under federal criteria, reporting more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in the last week, according to a new federal report. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, according to The New York Times. (Budryk, 7/28)

CIDRAP: US Hot Spots See COVID-19 Level Off, But Case Counts Stay High
New COVID-19 cases in Texas, Arizona, and Florida—the main drivers of a summer surge of coronavirus infections in the United States—appear to be leveling off. In all three states, the 7-day average of newly reported cases has dropped, according to an analysis by CNBC. Arizona has seen a 13% decrease in its 7-day average, Florida an 8% decrease, and Texas a 19% decrease. Hospitalizations are also starting to drop or level off, but daily fatalities remain in the triple digits in both Texas and Florida. (Soucheray, 7/28)

The Hill: Trump Doubles Down On Hydroxychloroquine, Praises Doctor In Viral Video 
Trump has long been enamored with hydroxychloroquine, a drug that's been used to prevent malaria for more than 60 years. He's pushed it as a "game changer" for months, leading to accusations that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) caved to pressure in approving an emergency authorization early in the pandemic. The agency withdrew that authorization last month amid mounting evidence from multiple clinical trials showing hydroxychloroquine is not effective at treating COVID-19 and can cause serious adverse events, including heart rhythm irregularities. (Weixel and Chalfant, 7/28)

Politico: ‘I Happen To Think It Works’: Trump Doubles Down On Hydroxychloroquine 
President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 despite no evidence of the malaria drug’s efficacy in doing so. “Many doctors think it is extremely successful, the hydroxychloroquine coupled with the zinc and perhaps the azithromycin,” Trump asserted at a White House briefing, though there is no evidence from at least five rigorous clinical trials that hydroxychloroquine has any impact in preventing the virus or treating mildly to severely ill cases. (Forgey and Oprysko, 7/28)

AP: Trump Defends Disproved COVID-19 Treatment
The president, in a marked shift from the more measured approach he’s taken toward the virus in recent days, took to Twitter to promote hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and to amplify criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. In a White House briefing, Trump defended his decision to promote a viral video of a group of doctors promoting the use of the drug Monday, even though his own administration withdrew emergency authorization for its use against the coronavirus. (Superville and Seitz, 7/28)

The Hill: Trump Questions How Fauci Has A High Approval Rating 'But Nobody Likes Me'
President Trump on Tuesday questioned why Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, has a higher approval rating with the public than he does on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. "It’s interesting. He’s got a very good approval rating, and I like that. It’s good," Trump said during a press briefing at the White House. (Samuels, 7/28)

Reuters: Trump On Fauci's High Approval Ratings: 'Nobody Likes Me' 
President Donald Trump groused on Tuesday about medical expert Anthony Fauci’s high approval ratings and joked that “nobody likes me” as he struggles to improve his standing with voters for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. (Holland, 7/28)

The Hill: Poll: 77 Percent Of Voters Trust CDC Over White House On Reporting Coronavirus Data 
A majority of voters trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than the White House when it comes to accurately reporting coronavirus data, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds. Seventy-seven percent of registered voters in the July 17-20 survey said they trust the CDC more to accurately report data on COVID-19. By contrast, 23 percent said they trust the White House more. (7/28)

Politico: Twitter Restricts Donald Trump Jr.’s Account After He Shares Viral Video On Coronavirus
Twitter has restricted Donald Trump Jr.’s account on the social media platform after determining the president’s eldest son violated its policies against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. Republican political strategist Andrew Surabian, Trump’s spokesman, first shared the news of the partial suspension in a tweet Tuesday morning that mentioned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. (Forgey, 7/28)

AP: Twitter Gives Trump Jr. A Tweet Timeout For Pandemic Misinfo
Twitter has temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s son from tweeting on its site after he shared a video riddled with unsupported claims about the coronavirus Monday. Many Republicans reacted with outrage, filling social media with cries of “censorship,” after Donald Trump Jr.’s account was put on a timeout for sharing the video, which was viewed millions of times online in a matter of hours, reaching the president himself, before Facebook, Twitter and YouTube banned it. These social media platforms have zero-tolerance policies on posts that peddle potentially harmful untruths about the coronavirus. (Seitz, 7/28)

The New York Times: Misleading Coronavirus Video, Pushed By The Trumps, Spreads Online 
In a video posted Monday online, a group of people calling themselves “America’s Frontline Doctors” and wearing white medical coats spoke against the backdrop of the Supreme Court in Washington, sharing misleading claims about the virus, including that hydroxychloroquine was an effective coronavirus treatment and that masks did not slow the spread of the virus. The video did not appear to be anything special. But within six hours, President Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. had tweeted versions of it, and the right-wing news site Breitbart had shared it. It went viral, shared largely through Facebook groups dedicated to anti-vaccination movements and conspiracy theories such as QAnon, racking up tens of millions of views. Multiple versions of the video were uploaded to YouTube, and links were shared through Twitter. (Frenkel and Alba, 7/28)

The Hill: Schumer: Trump Should Want COVID-19 Deal To Help GOP Election Chances 
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that President Trump should try to cut a deal on more coronavirus relief to help Republicans' electoral prospects in November. "The person who should really want something to happen actually is Trump because if the economy goes to hell in a handbasket, which it will do if we don't pass anything, he's finished. He may be finished anyway, but he's certainly finished if that happened," Schumer said during an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes. (Carney, 7/28)

The Hill: Republican Senators Revolt Over Coronavirus Proposal 
Senate Republicans are deeply divided over their own coronavirus package, underscoring the uphill challenge for the party as they hunt for leverage in talks on the fifth stimulus bill. GOP leadership and the White House unveiled their own approximately $1 trillion bill this week, in what was supposed to represent a unified negotiating stance by the administration and Senate Republicans as they start talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) But just a day later, several GOP senators are trashing their own party’s proposal, which they expect will only get worse during talks with Democrats, and predicting mass defections on the final coronavirus bill. (Carney, 7/28)

The Washington Post: Senate GOP Won’t Extend Pandemic Food Stamps But Doubles ‘Three-Martini Lunch’ Deduction
Republicans’ Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools Act (the Heals Act) does not expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, nor does it extend the Pandemic EBT program, a debit-card benefit for households with children who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals. The Pandemic EBT program expired at the end of June. ... Although the Senate GOP proposal offers no new funds for SNAP and Pandemic EBT, it does double the tax deduction for business meals, known as the “three-martini-lunch deduction,” increasing the reimbursement from 50 percent to 100 percent of meals. (Reiley, 7/28)

Stat: Lawmakers Urge Watchdog To Probe Federal Role In Remdesivir Research
Amid concerns over access to medicines that were hatched with U.S. taxpayer funds, Democratic lawmakers have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the discovery and development of remdesivir, which is the first drug authorized to treat Covid-19. In a letter to the congressional watchdog, the lawmakers argue that the medicine, which is sold by Gilead Sciences (GILD), eventually reached patients thanks, in part, to an estimated $70 million in federal funding and ”key scientific contributions” from U.S. government scientists. (Silverman, 7/28)

Reuters: Lawmakers Probe White House Pressure Over Schools Reopening Amid Coronavirus
Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. education secretary and head of a top government health agency for their correspondence with the White House to determine if political pressure influenced new federal recommendations on whether schools should reopen in the fall. Public comments from Republican President Donald Trump and members of his administration made clear that reopening schools was a priority and interfered in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) messages to the public, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Andy Levin said in a letter. (7/28)

AP: US Officials: Russia Behind Spread Of Virus Disinformation
Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow’s military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort meant to reach American and Western audiences, U.S. government officials said. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. (Tucker, 7/29)

The New York Times: Russian Intelligence Agencies Push Disinformation On Coronavirus Pandemic 
Russian intelligence services have been spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, according to newly declassified intelligence, material that demonstrates how Moscow is continuing to try to influence Americans as the election draws closer. Russian military intelligence, known as the G.R.U., has used its ties with a Russian government information center, InfoRos, and other websites to push out English-language disinformation and propaganda about the pandemic, such as amplifying false Chinese arguments that the virus was created by the United States military and articles that said Russia’s medical assistance could bring a new détente with Washington. (Barnes and Sanger, 7/28)

Politico: Biden Says He Hasn’t Been Tested For Coronavirus
Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he hadn’t yet been tested for coronavirus. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, made the acknowledgment when a reporter asked whether he could meet potential running mates in person to vet them. He was speaking at an in-person campaign event in Wilmington, Del., where he also urged more testing and contact tracing to combat the spread of Covid-19. (Choi, 7/28)

Politico: ‘This Is Health Care Moonshot Time’: Pandemic Pulls Biden, Dems Further Left
The coronavirus pandemic and the economic devastation it’s unleashed are pushing Joe Biden and the Democratic Party further to the left on health care. But it may not be far enough for some progressives. Biden keeps inching closer to the Bernie Sanders wing of the party without embracing “Medicare for All,” by proposing to lower the eligibility age of the entitlement program from 65 to 60 and potentially extend government coverage to an additional 23 million people. He’s also backing a robust government-run public health insurance option that would auto-enroll low-income people who lose their jobs and provide another choice for Americans covered under Obamacare or at their job. (Miranda Ollstein, 7/28)

The Hill: Biden Presses Science And Caution On Pandemic 
Former Vice President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of approaching the coronavirus pandemic with caution and touched on his running mate selection process during a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with reporters on Tuesday. The remarks, which were made in Wilmington, Del., followed Biden's address unveiling his plan to combat racial inequality in the economy. When asked whether professional sports should be allowed amid the pandemic, Biden said, "They should just follow the science." (Manchester, 7/28)

People: Herman Cain Still Hospitalized With COVID-19
Herman Cain is still hospitalized with the novel coronavirus disease, more than three weeks after his initial diagnosis. The 74-year-old former Republican presidential hopeful remains in an Atlanta-area hospital after he was initially diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month, according to his team. Cain’s staff shared in a series of tweets on Monday that he was undergoing oxygen treatment for his lungs but his organs and other systems were "strong." (7/28)

AP: Scientists Get Closer To Blood Test For Alzheimer's Disease
An experimental blood test was highly accurate at distinguishing people with Alzheimer’s disease from those without it in several studies, boosting hopes that there soon may be a simple way to help diagnose this most common form of dementia. Developing such a test has been a long-sought goal, and scientists warn that the new approach still needs more validation and is not yet ready for wide use. But Tuesday’s results suggest they’re on the right track. (Marchione, 7/28)

The New York Times: ‘Amazing, Isn’t It?’ Long-Sought Blood Test For Alzheimer’s In Reach 
A newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s has diagnosed the disease as accurately as methods that are far more expensive or invasive, scientists reported on Tuesday, a significant step toward a longtime goal for patients, doctors and dementia researchers. The test has the potential to make diagnosis simpler, more affordable and widely available. The test determined whether people with dementia had Alzheimer’s instead of another condition. (Belluck, 7/28)

The New York Times: Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine Test In Monkeys Shows Promise 
Monkeys given the Moderna coronavirus vaccine and then deliberately infected were able to fight off the virus, quickly clearing it from their lungs, researchers reported on Tuesday. The findings do not guarantee that the vaccine will perform the same way in people, but the results are considered encouraging and a milestone in the struggle against the pandemic. If an experimental vaccine fails in monkeys, that is generally seen as a bad sign for its ability to work in humans. This type of study is considered valuable because infecting people on purpose, though sometimes done, is not standard practice. (Grady, 7/28)

Stat: How Will Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Shape The Company's Future?
Among the pharmaceutical companies closest to developing a Covid-19 vaccine, none has more riding on the outcome than Moderna, a decade-old firm with no approved products and a vast valuation to live up to. Every incremental headline on Moderna’s vaccine, now in Phase 3, has shifted billions of dollars of the company’s market value, and Wall Street analysts have been one-upping one another for months trying to game out just how lucrative the product might be. (Garde and Feuerstein, 7/29)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Could Dodge Some Treatments, Study Suggests 
In a laboratory in New York City, researchers coaxed a key piece of the coronavirus — its infamous outer “spike” — to mutate so that it became invisible to disease-fighting antibodies, according to a new study that has not yet been published in a scientific journal. The provocative finding should not set off alarm bells, experts said. The altered spikes were not attached to the real coronavirus, which mutates at a much slower pace than most laboratory viruses. But the study does underscore the need for treatments and vaccines that attack the virus in different ways, so that if the pathogen manages to evade one approach, another will be waiting in the wings. (Wu, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Could You Have Covid-19? Soon Your Smartwatch Or Smart Ring Might Tell You 
A drip of snot… Could be Covid? A slight chill… Probably Covid. A single cough… Yep, Covid! I’m no hypochondriac, but I spend a lot of time wondering if once-typical bodily ailments are signs of the coronavirus sweeping the planet. Or at least I did, before I turned my body into a symptom-tracking Covid-19 computer. For the past three weeks I’ve worn an Oura ring, Fitbit, Garmin fitness band and Apple Watch, along with two high-tech skin patches, all packed with sensors. They’ve sent hundreds of temperature readings, blood oxygen levels, heart beats—even cough counts—to my phone. All to find out if I have Covid-19. (I don’t. Confirmed with a real fun nasal-swab test.) (Stern, 7/28)

NPR: Antibodies From Recovered COVID-19 Patients Being Tested As Way To Prevent Infection 
If you're bitten or scratched by an animal with rabies, your doctor can give you a shot to prevent the virus from taking hold in you and causing an infection. The same concept is now being put to the test for the coronavirus. Most people who get sick with COVID-19 produce antibodies in their blood that seem protect them from re-infection. A study is now underway to see whether an infusion of those antibodies can protect someone who has been exposed to the virus and is at high risk of infection. (Harris, 7/29)

The Hill: Coronavirus Relatives May Pose Threat To Humans: Study 
The coronavirus circulating across the globe may have close relatives that have not yet been discovered, a hint that the current pandemic will not be the last one to threaten humans. New research published Tuesday in the journal Nature Microbiology finds the current strain, known in the scientific literature as SARS-CoV-2, diverged genetically from other known viruses that circulated in bats between 40 and 70 years ago. (Wilson, 7/28)

AP: Early In Pandemic, Frantic Doctors Traded Tips Across Oceans
Amid the chaos of the pandemic’s early days, doctors who faced the first coronavirus onslaught reached across oceans and language barriers in an unprecedented effort to advise colleagues trying to save lives in the dark. With no playbook to follow and no time to wait for research, YouTube videos describing autopsy findings and X-rays swapped on Twitter and WhatsApp spontaneously filled the gap. When Stephen Donelson arrived at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in mid-March, Dr. Kristina Goff was among those who turned to what she called “the stories out of other places that were hit before.” (Neergaard and Winfield, 7/29)

CIDRAP: Survey: More US Workers Out Sick Amid Pandemic Than Any Other Time On Record
More than 2 million American workers called in sick in a single week in mid-April, causing the highest absence rate on record and leading to suspicions that COVID-19 cases were substantially undercounted, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Hunter College who analyzed the US Census Bureau's monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) found that 2,017,105 workers called in sick, more than double the number from the same time the year before. Absenteeism due to illness began rising in March, when the US epidemic began, and surged to 1.5% in April, nearly triple the percentage during that period in 2019. (7/28)

The Washington Post: Kodak To Produce Pharmaceutical Ingredients With U.S. Government Loan
In a deal aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on China, the federal government announced Tuesday that it plans to give Eastman Kodak a $765 million loan to start producing the chemical ingredients needed to make pharmaceuticals. The company plans to establish a new division, Kodak Pharmaceuticals, that will focus on the building blocks used to produce generic drugs, according to a joint statement from Kodak and the lending agency, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC. (Whalen, 7/28)

Reuters: Roche Bid To Retool Arthritis Drug For COVID-19 Fails 
Roche’s attempt to retool its rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra/RoActemra drug to treat patients hospitalised with severe COVID-19-related pneumonia has failed in a late-stage trial, the Swiss company said on Wednesday. Roche had launched the 330-patient trial in March as it joined other pharmaceutical companies seeking to re-purpose existing medicines to fight the pandemic. (Revill, 7/29)

Stat: Cepheid Is Accused Of Overcharging And Undersupplying Its Covid-19 Test To Poor Countries 
As controversy rises over equal access to Covid-19 medical products, a manufacturer of rapid, point-of care tests is being urged to lower the price of its diagnostic and also increase sales to a World Health Organization diagnostics consortium designed to serve low-income countries. At issue is a test developed by Cepheid, which charges $19.80 for the test for 145 developing countries represented by the consortium. Doctors Without Borders argues the company could still make a profit if the price was lowered to $5. (Silverman, 7/28)

CIDRAP: Global Use Of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics Rising, Data Show
Global consumption of antibiotics that have a greater potential for driving antibiotic resistance nearly doubled from 2000 to 2015, according to a new analysis in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study, led by researchers from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), looked at global antibiotic consumption patterns using antibiotic sales data and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) antibiotic classification framework, introduced in 2017 to provide an indirect indication of the appropriateness of antibiotic use at national and global levels. (Dall, 7/28)

Stat: Celebs Tried Soon-Shiong's Cancer Therapy. Can It Work In A Clinical Trial?
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s pancreatic cancer went into remission. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, diagnosed last year with the same disease, has said his “numbers are going in the right direction.” Both celebrities attribute their improvement to the same experimental immunotherapy treatment being developed by the physician and billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. (Robbins and Feuerstein, 7/29)

AP: Wyoming Governor: There Will Be No Mask Order
Wyoming will not issue a statewide mask order despite record-high reported cases of the coronavirus, Gov. Mark Gordon said Tuesday. Gordon made the remarks soon after he extended by two more weeks public health orders that prohibit most gatherings of over 250 people. The orders are now set to expire Aug. 16. (Gruver, 7/28)

AP: States Resist Mask Rules As Midwest Virus Uptick Stirs Alarm
The baseball season descended deeper into crisis Tuesday, states like Mississippi and South Carolina cast about for more hospital beds, and governors in some of the hardest-hit places staunchly resisted calls to require masks, despite confirmed cases of the coronavirus soaring. ... States like Florida, Arizona and Texas are in dire condition, and the virus also has been spreading farther north in recent days, causing alarm among public health officials who fear states are not doing enough to avoid catastrophic outbreaks like those in the Sun Belt. (Forliti, Willingham and HOllingsworth, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Labor Unions Petition Transportation Department For A Mandatory Mask Rule
Labor unions representing transportation workers formally asked the U.S. Department of Transportation this week to issue an emergency rule ordering passengers to wear masks on planes, buses and trains or be denied a ride. Larry Willis, the president of the Transportation Trades Department, a coalition of 33 unions, wrote in the petition that the government needed to go beyond issuing guidance and set clear rules for the use of masks to protect workers and passengers from the novel coronavirus. (Duncan, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: How Face Masks Work And Which Types Offer The Best Covid-19 Protection 
Face masks are a simple way to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus through talking, coughing or sneezing, scientists and public-health specialists say. But they need to be worn properly. While some types of masks are more effective than others, public-health officials say any face covering—even a bandanna—is better than nothing. Here’s how different types of masks stack up, and how they are meant to be used. (Hufford and Williams, 7/28)

The Atlantic: Hygiene Theater Is a Huge Waste of Time
As a covid-19 summer surge sweeps the country, deep cleans are all the rage. National restaurants such as Applebee’s are deputizing sanitation czars to oversee the constant scrubbing of window ledges, menus, and high chairs. The gym chain Planet Fitness is boasting in ads that “there’s no surface we won’t sanitize, no machine we won’t scrub.” New York City is shutting down its subway system every night, for the first time in its 116-year history, to blast the seats, walls, and poles with a variety of antiseptic weaponry, including electrostatic disinfectant sprays. And in Wauchula, Florida, the local government gave one resident permission to spray the town with hydrogen peroxide as he saw fit. “I think every city in the damn United States needs to be doing it," he said. (Thompson, 7/27)

Politico: Teachers Union Threatens 'Safety Strikes' Before Biden Speech 
The American Federation of Teachers called Tuesday for “safety strikes” as a last resort if school reopening plans don't meet demands for keeping educators healthy and safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. Union President Randi Weingarten delivered that battle cry during an address to union members, adding fresh tension to fraught schoolhouse debates as President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden take sides on opposite ends of the fight. (Perez Jr., 7/28)

The Hill: Teachers Union Authorizes Strikes If Schools Reopen Without Certain Safety Measures 
The safeguards, according to the union, should include comprehensive contact tracing in areas where classes resume, mandatory masking and updated ventilation systems in facilities, The New York Times reported. “We will fight on all fronts for the safety of our students and their educators,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said at the union’s annual convention, held online this year due to the pandemic. (Budryk, 7/28)

AP: Mike Pence To Visit Raleigh In Push For Schools To Reopen
Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Raleigh on Wednesday morning in a push to encourage more K-12 schools to reopen with entirely in-person instruction. According to an announcement from his office, Pence will join a roundtable discussion highlighting how a private school has worked to safely resume classes. Thales Academy allowed 300 students to return to campus on July 20. (Anderson, 7/29)

AP: Utah Teachers Want Online Only Classes At Start Of School
Utah’s largest teachers union called Tuesday for schools to delay reopening and start the school year with online classes, citing safety concerns for students and teachers. The Utah Education Association called for state leaders to temporarily resume distance learning until COVID-19 cases further decline. The union said school districts should seek input from educators and local health authorities before moving forward with any reopening plans. (Eppolito, 7/28)

AP: Texas AG Says Schools Trump Health Officials On Class Start
Local health officials in Texas do not have the authority to close schools to prevent spread of the coronavirus, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday, pushing that decision solely into the hands of school officials. Paxton issued a “legal guidance” letter on schools amid fierce debate among local governments, health officials, parents and teachers on when schools should open in a state that has become one of the nation’s hot spots in the pandemic. (Vertuno, 7/28)

The Atlantic: Outdoor Classes Might Be The Best Way To Reopen Schools 
This month, Berkeley public schools, like many school districts across the country, announced they will not start the year with full-time, in-person school. Soon after, J Li, a business-innovation strategist who lives in the area, noticed moms in the local Facebook groups turn, like starlings at dusk, to one topic in particular: homeschool pods. Reluctant to face more months supervising Zoom classes, wealthy parents are grouping together in families of three or four and hiring someone to privately teach their children, at a cost of thousands of dollars a month. (Khazan, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Back-To-College Plans Devolve Into A Jumble Of Fast-Changing Rules 
With fall semester just a few weeks away, the Covid-19 pandemic has stumped the brightest minds at universities across the U.S. There is no consensus about how college campuses are going to open, and what they will look like if they do. There are as many plans as there are institutions, and their guidebooks are being written in pencil, leaving families and students in limbo. At stake are the health and well-being of more than 20 million students, faculty and staff—as well as billions of dollars in revenue from tuition, dormitories, dining halls and sports competitions. (Belkin and Korn, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Lonely Girls: How The Pandemic Has Deepened The Isolation Of Adolescents
A recent nationwide study found that 78% of fifth- through eighth-grade girls feel more lonely and isolated since the pandemic began. The same is true of older teens. The study, conducted in May by the Rox Institute for Research & Training, the research arm of Ruling Our eXperiences, a nonprofit focused on girls, also found that of the younger girls in that study—ages 10 to 14—a third are spending four or more hours a day on social media, primarily on TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. (Jargon, 7/28)

The New York Times: How To Ask If Everything Is OK When It’s Clearly Not 
When you chat with a friend, Thomas Joiner, a psychology professor at Florida State University, said you should be on the lookout for noticeable changes in their demeanor, such as an irritable mood or a disheveled appearance. If your friend has recently experienced relationship issues, health problems or workplace stress, or has faced financial difficulties, they may be especially vulnerable to anguish right now. (Goldfarb, 7/28)

Stat: Mobile Mental Health Teams Warn Their Models Rely On Police Partnerships
In the wake of nationwide demonstrations against police brutality, there has also been a surge in interest in making sure mental health providers, not law enforcement, are the ones to respond to a psychiatric crisis. It’s a strategy that mental health organizations have been sharpening for decades. Dozens of cities across the country have what are known as mobile crisis units, which deploy trained professionals to respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis with compassion and clinical expertise. (Isselbacher, 7/29)

The Hill: Marlins Outbreak Casts Harsh Light On US Coronavirus Response 
Major League Baseball's 2020 season has been upended just days after it began as nearly 20 members of the Miami Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the suspension of the team’s play and casting a harsh spotlight on the U.S. struggle to contain the pandemic. The league announced Tuesday that Miami will not play again until next Tuesday at the earliest, putting the team's season on pause after it played just three games. (Samuels, 7/28)

AP: Yankees-Phillies Series Postponed Amid Virus Worries
The remainder of the Phillies’ home-and-home series against the New York Yankees was postponed amid coronavirus concerns Tuesday in the wake of an outbreak involving another team. The Phillies were supposed to host the Yankees on Monday and Tuesday and play them in New York on Wednesday and Thursday. Instead, the Yankees are planning to head to Baltimore to start a series against the Orioles on Wednesday. (Maaddi, 7/28)