First Edition: June 15, 2020

Kaiser Health News: White House Left States On Their Own To Buy Ventilators. Inside Their Mad Scramble.
Fearful that New Orleans would run out of ventilators by early April as the number of COVID-19 patients rose by the hundreds, even thousands, per day, Louisiana officials set out to get every device they could find. At the time, that meant securing an additional 14,000. Within days of President Donald Trump’s urging states to get their own supplies because it would “be faster if they can get them directly,” Louisiana sought only a fraction of them from the federal government and turned to private companies for the rest, having little confidence one supplier would give the state all it needed. (Pradhan, 6/15)

Kaiser Health News: At A Time Of Great Need, Public Health Lacks ‘Lobbying Muscle’
If there were ever a time for more public health funding, health experts say, it’s now. Yet California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature are expected to reject a plea from local public health officials for an additional $150 million a year to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and protect against future public health threats. (Hart, 6/15)

Kaiser Health News: A Teen’s Death From COVID
It started as a normal day. Dawn Guest, 54, got up and headed out to her job as a nurse around 5 a.m. She heard her 16-year-old son, Andre, stirring in his room, but he had always been an earlier riser, even when his school was shut for COVID-19. Later that day she would get a call from her husband, telling her there was something wrong with their son. That call would be the beginning of a 12-day journey that would end in tragedy. (Lofton, 6/15)

The New York Times: Trump Rally Is The ‘Perfect Storm Setup,’ For Viral Spread, Disease Expert Says
The coronavirus won’t be loosening its grip on the United States any time soon, leading infectious disease experts said on Sunday. They are also uncertain how the viral spread will be affected by the patchwork of states reopening businesses and by large events like protests and President Trump’s upcoming campaign rallies. “This virus is not going to rest” until it infects about 60 percent to 70 percent of the population, Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said on “Fox News Sunday.” (Belluck, 6/14)

The Associated Press: Trump Rally Called ‘Dangerous Move’ In Age Of Coronavirus
“I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well,” Dr. Bruce Dart told the newspaper. Other health experts also cite the danger of infection spreading among the crowd and sparking outbreaks when people return to their homes. The Trump campaign itself acknowledges the risk in a waiver attendees must agree to absolving them of any responsibility should people get sick. (Johnson and Colvin, 6/14)

Reuters: Trump Economic Adviser Urges Wearing Of Masks At Tulsa Rally
People attending U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Oklahoma this week should wear masks, a White House adviser said on Sunday, as health experts cautioned against large gatherings such as political rallies during the coronavirus pandemic. (Chiacu, 6/14)

The New York Times: Trump's Walk Down Ramp At West Point Raises Health Questions
President Trump faced new questions about his health on Sunday, after videos emerged of him gingerly walking down a ramp at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and having trouble bringing a glass of water to his mouth during a speech there. Mr. Trump — who turned 74 on Sunday, the oldest a U.S. president has been in his first term — was recorded hesitantly descending the ramp one step at a time after he delivered an address to graduating cadets at the New York-based academy on Saturday. The academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, walked alongside him. Mr. Trump sped up slightly for the final three steps, as he got to the bottom. (Haberman, 6/14)

The New York Times: Health Care Advocates Push Back Against Trump’s Erasure Of Transgender Rights
Health advocates representing American hospitals, medical groups, insurers and civil rights associations condemned the Trump administration on Saturday for rolling back protections for transgender patients, and for doing so amid a global pandemic. The new rule, long sought by conservatives and the religious right, narrows the legal definition of sex discrimination in the Affordable Care Act so that it omits protection for transgender people. It also opens the door for health care providers to refuse to treat patients who have had abortions. (Kaplan, 6/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Issues Rule To Roll Back Transgender Protections In The Affordable Care Act
The rule would affect protections for the 1.4 million transgender adults and 150,000 transgender teenagers ages 13 to 17 in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute, a research group at the University of California School of Law in Los Angeles that studies sexual-orientation and gender-identity policy. Trump administration officials have said that the policy is being changed to more closely hew to the ACA text, which doesn’t explicitly mention gender identity as a protected category in health care. The provision has spurred a host of lawsuits from states and religious plaintiffs that claimed the expanded protections are unlawful. (Armour, 6/12)

Reuters: U.S. Health Agency Reverses Obamacare Transgender Protections
LGBTQ rights groups, Democratic lawmakers and Democratic-controlled states have decried efforts under the administration of Republican President Donald Trump to erode protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer citizens. One group said it planned to sue the administration over the new rule. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the decision a “shocking attack on the health and well-being of countless vulnerable communities, including women, LGBTQ individuals, and people of color.” (6/12)

The Associated Press: Trump Administration Revokes Transgender Health Protection
The Department of Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections “according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.” This rewrites an Obama-era regulation that sought a broader understanding shaped by a person’s internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need care for common illnesses such as diabetes or heart problems. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus, Economic Toll Threaten To Worsen Black Mortality Rates
The new coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout threaten to exacerbate mortality rates for African-Americans, which have risen in recent years for blacks in middle age. Blacks are dying at disproportionately high rates from the coronavirus, and their unemployment rate has tripled as a result of the pandemic. The financial stress, along with long-simmering racial tensions highlighted by the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police, may compound factors that have been shown to worsen the health of African-Americans, according to health experts and researchers. (Adamy, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Floyd's Death Spurs Question: What Is A Black Life Worth?
For 12-year-old Tamir Rice, it was simply carrying a toy handgun. For Eric Garner, it was allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. For Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and Ahmaud Arbery, it was the minor offenses of jaywalking, failing to signal a lane change and trespassing on a residential construction site. And for George Floyd, it was an accusation he used a fake $20 bill at a grocery store. While in police custody on May 25, Floyd repeatedly pleaded “I can’t breathe,” as a white officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee into the black man’s neck for what prosecutors say was nearly nine minutes. (Morrison, 6/12)

The New York Times: Police Killings Prompt Reassessment Of Laws Allowing Deadly Force
The swift decision on Sunday to fire the white Atlanta police officer who shot and killed a black motorist intensified the growing re-examination of the use of deadly force by the police, challenging longstanding principles that have given law enforcement officers wide latitude in cases in which an encounter ends with a death. Although laws vary by state, police officers in America are generally allowed to use deadly force when they reasonably believe their lives or the lives of others are in danger, a legal standard designed to give the authorities enormous leeway to make split-second life-or-death decisions without hesitation or fear of prosecution. (Rojas and Fausset, 6/14)

The New York Times: Police Reform Is Necessary. But How Do We Do It?
On Memorial Day, the police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man. Three officers stood by or assisted as a fourth, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd said he could not breathe and then became unresponsive. His death has touched off the largest and most sustained round of protests the country has seen since the 1960s, as well as demonstrations around the world. The killing has also prompted renewed calls to address brutality, racial disparities and impunity in American policing — and beyond that, to change the conditions that burden black and Latino communities. (Bazelon and Sidibe, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Senate GOP To Restrict Police Choke Holds In Emerging Bill
Driven by a rare urgency, Senate Republicans are poised to unveil an extensive package of policing changes that includes new restrictions on police choke holds and other practices as President Donald Trump signals his support following the mass demonstrations over the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans. (Mascaro, 6/15)

The Associated Press: Perils Of Police At High Speeds Spur Calls For More Reform
A tragic chain of events that led to the death of a retired elementary teacher in Chicago started when a police officer confronted a man in a West Side alley. After issuing a call for help, the officer could be heard over the police radio screaming, “Drop the gun!” Three minutes later and just two blocks away, two police vehicles speeding to the officer’s aid collided at an intersection, one catapulting the other onto a sedan taking 84-year-old Verona Gunn home after a family cookout. She died hours later on an operating table. (Tarm, 6/15)

Reuters: Record Spikes In New Coronavirus Cases, Hospitalizations Sweep Parts Of U.S.
New coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in record numbers swept through more U.S. states, including Florida and Texas, as most push ahead with reopening and President Donald Trump plans an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Alabama reported a record number of new cases for the fourth day in a row on Sunday. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina all had record numbers of new cases in the past three days, according to a Reuters tally. (Shumaker, 6/14)

Reuters: U.S. CDC Warns That Restrictions May Be Needed Again If COVID-19 Cases Spike
U.S. health officials on Friday urged Americans to continue adhering to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures, and warned that states may need to reimpose strict restrictions if COVID-19 cases spike. In recent weeks, experts have raised concerns that the reopening of the U.S. economy could lead to a fresh wave of infections. About half a dozen states, including Texas and Arizona, are grappling with a rising number of coronavirus patients filling hospital beds. (Joseph and O'Donnell, 6/12)

CNN: Why A Second Covid-19 Shutdown Might Be Worse Than The First -- And How To Prevent It
It's an outcome no one wants, but could become a "harsh reality": a second wave of shutdowns. Weeks after lifting stay-at-home orders, some states are seeing record numbers of hospitalizations from Covid-19 as thousands more Americans get infected every day. "We're going to have to face the harsh reality in some states that we may need to shut down again," said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. (Yan, 6/15)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Cases Spike Across Sun Belt As Economy Lurches Into Motion
The warning has echoed ominously for weeks from epidemiologists, small-town mayors and county health officials: Once states begin to reopen, a surge in coronavirus cases will follow. That scenario is now playing out in states across the country, particularly in the Sun Belt and the West, as thousands of Americans have been sickened by the virus in new and alarming outbreaks. Hospitals in Arizona have been urged to activate emergency plans to cope with a flood of coronavirus patients. On Saturday, Florida saw its largest single-day count of cases since the pandemic began. (Bosman and Smith, 6/14)

NPR: Coronavirus 2nd Wave? Nope, The U.S. Is Still Stuck In The 1st One
Just weeks after parts of the U.S. began reopening, coronavirus infections are on the upswing in several states, including Arizona, Utah, Texas and Florida. Dramatic increases in daily case counts have given rise to some unsettling questions: Is the U.S. at the start of a second wave? Have states reopened too soon? And have the recent widespread demonstrations against racial injustice inadvertently added fuel to the fire? The short, unpleasant answer to the first question is that the U.S. has not even gotten through the current first wave of infections. (Aizenman, 6/12)

Politico: Summer Setback: Cities Put Brakes On Reopening As Virus Spikes Again
Sharp spikes in coronavirus cases are prompting governors and mayors in Oregon, Utah and Tennessee to pause reopening plans, while officials in Houston and elsewhere are warning of the potential need for new restrictions. The moves could be a harbinger of more slowdowns to come, with coronavirus infections and hospitalizations rising in more than a dozen states since Memorial Day weekend. But most state and local leaders have so far been reluctant to halt reopenings or reimpose restrictions, worried about further damaging economies or aggravating shutdown-fatigued residents. President Donald Trump and administration officials have meanwhile urged states to keep moving forward. (Goldberg, Ollstein and Roubein, 6/12)

Reuters: U.S. CDC Reports 2,063,812 Coronavirus Cases
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 2,063,812 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 25,468 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 646 to 115,271. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on June 13 versus its previous report on Saturday. (6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: What It Will Take To Make The Indoors Feel Safe Again
Cupcake fans walking into New York City locations of the iconic Magnolia Bakery will soon encounter something a little less Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City,” a little more Dustin Hoffman in “Outbreak.” Anyone wishing to enter will be encouraged to pass through a cleansing chamber, analogous to the disinfecting airlocks outside biohazard labs. Patrons’ entire bodies will be bathed in ultraviolet light for 20 seconds. Based on years of research, scientists say they are confident this particular type of UV light is lethal for viruses and bacteria, but safe for humans. (Mims, 6/12)

The Associated Press: As NYC Awakens, Navigating A Strange New Normal
The New-York City that was lingers everywhere in the New York City that is, like flashes of movement out of the corner of your eye. The subways run, but not all hours, and definitely not with anywhere near as many riders. Your favorite corner deli has your bagel and coffee — as long as you take it to go and wear a mask to get it. Go enjoy the sunshine in a park, but too many other people better not have the same idea. It begs the question: Who do we become when we can’t be who we were? (Hajela, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Lured By Sunny Weather, D.C. Residents Spill Outside, Masks And Social Distancing At Times Forgotten 
Almost every day since the weather began to warm, Tony Ponte had driven his taxi past the volleyball courts near the Lincoln Memorial, hoping to see the players he befriended across years of watching games. No dice, for several long and boring weeks, until Sunday morning — when Ponte, 67, spotted five men in their late 40s and mid 50s shouting, panting and scrambling in the sand. None of the players paid any attention to the sign, tied to one of the metal net posts, that declared “Volleyball Courts Closed” to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. None of them wore masks. (Natanson, 6/14)

NPR: Health Experts Link Rise In Arizona Coronavirus Cases To End Of Stay-At-Home Order
With new daily coronavirus cases rising in at least two dozen states, an explosion of new infections in Arizona is stretching some hospitals and alarming public health experts who link the surge in cases to the state's lifting of a stay-at-home order close to a month ago. Arizona has emerged as one of the country's newest coronavirus hot spots, with the weekly average of daily cases nearly tripling from two weeks ago. The total number of people hospitalized is climbing, too. (Stone, 6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Hotels Are Reopening. Will Guests Have Any Reservations?
On a sun-soaked afternoon with the temperature approaching 100 degrees, guests of the Gaylord Texan got their first look at what it means to visit a resort in the age of Covid-19. Cleaning attendants were outfitted in gloves and masks and more than 200 signs stationed throughout the 125-acre complex advised guests to remain 6 feet apart. In the fitness center, plaques on every other treadmill apologized for being off limits “to support social distancing.” Employees prepared the Gaylord’s 1,815 hotel rooms according to a 28-page playbook based on safety guidelines developed by Marriott International Inc. Every room required the attention of three employees, blasts from hospital-grade disinfectant sprayers and roughly 45 minutes of work. (Karmin and Russolillo, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Some Tribes Reopen Their Casinos Despite State Opposition
Drivers heading down state roads leading to Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut are greeted by flashing warnings: “Avoid Large Crowds” and “Don’t Gamble With COVID.” Despite having authority to shutter thousands of businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has been constrained when dealing with the sovereign tribal nations that own two of the world’s largest casinos. (Haigh, 6/15)

The New York Times: She Survived The Coronavirus. Then She Got A $400,000 Medical Bill.
Janet Mendez started receiving bills soon after returning in April to her mother’s home from Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, where she nearly died of Covid-19. First, there was one for $31,165. Unable to work and finding it difficult to walk, Ms. Mendez decided to put the bill out of her mind and focus on her recovery. The next one was impossible to ignore: an invoice for $401,885.57, although it noted that the hospital would reduce the bill by $326,851.63 as a “financial assistance benefit.” But that still left a tab of more than $75,000. “Oh my God, how am I going to pay all this money?” Ms. Mendez, 33, recalled thinking. The answer came to her in about a second: “I’m not going to be able to pay all this.” (Goldstein, 6/14)

ProPublica: How America’s Hospitals Survived The First Wave Of The Coronavirus
The prediction from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was grim. In late March, as the number of COVID-19 cases was growing exponentially in the state, Cuomo said New York hospitals might need twice as many beds as they normally have. Otherwise there could be no space to treat patients seriously ill with the new coronavirus. “We have 53,000 hospital beds available,” Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a briefing on March 22. “Right now, the curve suggests we could need 110,000 hospital beds, and that is an obvious problem and that’s what we’re dealing with.” (Ornstein, 6/15)

The New York Times: C.D.C. Calls For Face Masks At Large Gatherings, Warning Of Crowd Risks
Three months after the country’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, abruptly stopped holding regular briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, its director, Dr. Robert Redfield, restarted them on Friday amid growing calls for the agency to claim a more prominent role in the virus response. The C.D.C. also released a new guidance document, “Considerations for Events and Gatherings,” that defines as “highest risk” large gatherings where it is difficult for people to stay at least six feet apart, and where attendees travel from outside the local area. (Goodnough, 6/12)

The Washington Post: Spate Of New Research Supports Wearing Masks To Control Coronavirus Spread
As partisan interests sew symbolism and controversy into masks, scientists are trying to provide answers about how effectively those masks prevent transmission of the coronavirus, and what role they should play in efforts to limit the pathogen’s spread.(Guarino, Janes and Cha, 6/13)

The Wall Street Journal: CDC Encourages Wearing Masks, Other Coronavirus Precautions At Gatherings
The CDC also listed questions that people should ask themselves when deciding to go somewhere, such as whether they are high-risk or live with someone at high risk, and if the virus is spreading within their community. The new recommendations are meant to supplement, rather than replace, guidance from state and local health officials, the CDC says. “I know people are eager to return to normal activities and ways of life,” CDC Director Robert Redfield told reporters on a conference call. “However, it’s important that we remember that the situation is unprecedented and that the pandemic has not ended.” (Abbott and McKay, 6/12)

Reuters: Masks Significantly Reduce Infection Risk, Likely Preventing Thousands Of COVID-19 Cases -Study
Requiring the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in areas at the epicenter of the global pandemic may have prevented tens of thousands of infections, a new study suggests. Mask-wearing is even more important for preventing the virus’ spread and the sometimes deadly COVID-19 illness it causes than social distancing and stay-at-home orders, researchers said, in the study published in PNAS: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. (Lapid, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Over 1,300 Chinese Medical Suppliers To U.S.—Including Mask Providers—Use Bogus Registration Data
More than 1,300 Chinese medical-device companies that registered to sell protective gear and other equipment in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic listed as their American representative a purported Delaware entity that uses a false address and nonworking phone number, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. All foreign manufacturers of medical devices are required to have a representative with a real address in the U.S. and somebody available during business hours. Such U.S. agents serve as a point of contact between the Food and Drug Administration and these overseas companies, to coordinate inspections, recalls or other urgent needs. (Hufford, Maremont and Lin, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Medical-Supply Firm Sues Bank Over Broken Coronavirus Deal
A politically connected medical supply company alleged that the improper actions of its bank caused it to lose a $600 million order for coronavirus supplies, ruined its business, triggered death threats to its founders and ruined their reputation. In a suit filed Friday in a Virginia federal court, Blue Flame Medical LLC contends that as it was waiting for a down payment from the state of California, an official at Chain Bridge Bank told California’s treasurer that the company might be “fraudulent.” (Mullins, 6/12)

Politico: White House Pressure For A Vaccine Raises Risk The U.S. Will Approve One That Doesn’t Work
President Donald Trump has promised that there will be a coronavirus vaccine before the year is out. But public health experts are growing increasingly worried that the White House will pressure regulators to approve the first vaccine candidate to show promise — without proof that it provides effective, reliable protection against the virus. Drugmakers and health agencies have already begun rewriting the rules of vaccine research, launching candidates into clinical trials at record speed in search of a pandemic-ending shot. Data on the vaccines’ safety is already trickling in. But no candidate is yet ready for the final step of the development process: a months-long trial in tens of thousands of volunteers to prove once and for all whether the shot works. (Owermohle, 6/15)

The New York Times: Guaranteed Ingredient In Any Coronavirus Vaccine? Thousands Of Volunteers 
Not long after researchers completed their work with mice, guinea pigs, ferrets and monkeys, Human Subject 8, an art director for a software company in Missouri, received an injection. Four days later, her sister, a schoolteacher, became Subject 14. Together, the sisters make up about 5 percent of the first ever clinical trial of a DNA vaccine for the novel coronavirus. How they respond to it will help determine the future of the vaccine. If it proves safe in this trial and effective in future trials, it could become not only one of the first coronavirus vaccines, but also the first DNA vaccine ever approved for commercial use against a human disease. (Murphy, 6/13)

Reuters: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Appears To Clear Safety Hurdle In Mouse Study
A series of studies in mice of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 lent some assurance that it may not increase the risk of more severe disease, and that one dose may provide protection against the novel coronavirus, according to preliminary data released on Friday. Prior studies on a vaccine for SARS - a close cousin to the new virus that causes COVID-19 - suggests vaccines against this type of virus might have the unintended effect of causing more severe disease when the vaccinated person is later exposed to the pathogen, especially in individuals who do not produce an adequately strong immune response. (Steenhuysen, 6/12)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Agrees To Supply Europe With 400 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine
AstraZeneca Plc has signed a contract with European governments to supply the region with its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British drugmaker’s latest deal to pledge its drug to help combat the pandemic. The contract is for up to 400 million doses of the vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, the company said on Saturday, adding that it was looking to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, which it said it would provide for no profit during the pandemic. The vaccine is still in clinical trials. If the trial results convince regulators the vaccine is safe and effective, deliveries would be expected to start by the end of 2020. (6/13)

The Associated Press: Grim Blame Game Over COVID Deaths In Besieged Nursing Homes
A grim blame game with partisan overtones is breaking out over COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, a tiny slice of the population that represents a shockingly high proportion of Americans who have perished in the pandemic. The Trump administration has been pointing to a segment of the industry — facilities with low federal ratings for infection control — and to some Democratic governors who required nursing homes to take recovering coronavirus patients. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/15)

The Associated Press: Accuracy Still Unknown For Many Coronavirus Tests Rushed Out
How accurate are the coronavirus tests used in the U.S.? Months into the outbreak, no one really knows how well many of the screening tests work, and experts at top medical centers say it is time to do the studies to find out. When the new virus began spreading, the Food and Drug Administration used its emergency powers to OK scores of quickly devised tests, based mainly on a small number of lab studies showing they could successfully detect the virus. (Perrone, 6/14)

NPR: PCR Tests For The Coronavirus Can Be Compromised By Lab Errors
During the coronavirus pandemic, many scientists who usually have nothing to do with viruses or infectious disease are turning their attention to COVID-19. For example, one wildlife biologist is raising questions about the accuracy of tests that detect the coronavirus. In normal times, Andrew Cohen focuses his attention on issues of ecology and conservation, as director of the Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions. (Harris, 6/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Before Catching Coronavirus, Some People’s Immune Systems Are Already Primed To Fight It
Researchers piecing together how the body’s immune system responds to the virus that causes Covid-19 are exploring a tantalizing effect: Some people who have never encountered the pathogen before appear to be able to mobilize parts of their immune system to ward it off. That response suggests that infection with other coronaviruses, such as those responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and even the common cold, may aid the body’s fight against the new invader. Harnessing the biological processes at play could aid the search for a new vaccine, researchers say. (Douglas, 6/12)

The New York Times: The Pandemic Claims New Victims: Prestigious Medical Journals
One study promised that popular blood-pressure drugs were safe for people infected with the coronavirus. Another paper warned that anti-malaria drugs endorsed by President Trump actually were dangerous to these patients. The studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, were retracted shortly after publication, following an outcry from researchers who saw obvious flaws. (Caryn Rabin, 6/14)

Stat: To Grasp Who's Dying Of Covid-19, Look To Social Factors Like Race 
While early studies of who was dying of Covid-19 identified risks such as obesity and having diabetes, there is a growing realization that those initial conclusions might have been misleading, obscuring a more significant explanation. As researchers pull back their lens from individuals to population-level risk factors, they’re finding that, in the U.S., race may be as important as age in gauging a person’s likelihood of dying from the disease. (Begley, 6/15)

The New York Times: The Scientist, The Air And The Virus
When Linsey Marr’s son started attending day care 12 years ago, she noticed that he kept getting sick with the sniffles and other minor illnesses. But unlike most parents, Dr. Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech, tried to figure out why. “When I’d pick him up, I’d find out that more than half the kids in the room were sick too,” said Dr. Marr. “I was really curious, and wondered, if it was spreading this fast, maybe it was going through the air.” (Parker-Pope, 6/12)

Reuters: Popular Blood Pressure Medicines Do Not Put Patients At Greater COVID-19 Risk, New Study Finds
New research offers reassuring evidence to hundreds of millions of people with high blood pressure that popular anti-hypertension drugs do not put them at greater risk from COVID-19 as some experts had feared. (Nelson and Respaut, 6/12)

Reuters: WHO Recommends Breastfeeding, Says No Live Coronavirus Found In Mothers' Milk
Breastfeeding mothers do not seem to be passing on the new coronavirus to their infants, and based on current evidence the benefits outweigh any potential risks of transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it had carefully investigated the risks of women transmitting COVID-19 to their babies during breastfeeding. (6/12)

Reuters: Virus Has Multiple Pathways Into Cells, Moderna Vaccine Clears Safety Hurdle In Mouse Study
Two teams of European researchers, working independently, have identified a new entryway through which the coronavirus gets into cells and infects them, suggesting another approach to stopping it. One key route - via a protein on cell surfaces called ACE2 - is well known. The newly identified gateway is a cell-surface protein called neuropilin-1, or NRP1. A "spike" on the surface of the coronavirus binds to NRP1, allowing the virus to break into the cell, similar to how a virus spike attaches itself to ACE2. (Lapid, 6/12)

The Washington Post: Contact Tracing Is ‘Best’ Tool We Have Until There’s A Vaccine, Health Experts Say
It has quelled outbreaks of Ebola, allowed smallpox to be corralled before being vanquished by a vaccine, and helped turn HIV into a survivable illness. And whenever a new infectious disease emerges, contact tracing is public health’s most powerful weapon for tracking transmission and figuring out how best to protect the population. But now, as coronavirus cases are surging in hot spots across the country, the proven strategy’s effectiveness is in doubt: Contact tracing failed to stanch the first wave of coronavirus infections, and today’s far more extensive undertaking will require 100,000 or more trained tracers to delve into strangers’ personal lives and persuade even some without symptoms to stay home. (Sellers and Guarino, 6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Privacy Bills Hit Roadblocks In Congress
As authorities and companies explore surveillance tools to fight the coronavirus and reopen the U.S. economy, many federal lawmakers agree that privacy protections are key. But proposals for safeguards unveiled in recent weeks have crashed into two familiar roadblocks in the U.S. Senate. Many Republicans want federal law to override state-level rules for privacy, while Democrats have argued stronger state statutes should hold sway and want individuals to be able to sue companies for privacy violations. (Uberti, 6/15)

The New York Times: Covid-19 Changed How We Vote. It Could Also Change Who Votes.
In a normal election year, volunteers from the Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the League of Women Voters would have spent last weekend at the Columbus Arts Fair, pens and clipboards in hand, looking to sign up new voters among the festival’s 400,000 or so attendees. This is not a normal election year. “There are absolutely no festivals this summer,” said Jen Miller, the executive director of the league’s state chapter. “We don’t have volunteers at tables. We don’t have volunteers roving with clipboards. Obviously, we’re just not doing that.” (Wines, 6/14)

The Associated Press: Blind Voters Fear Loss Of Privacy With Shift To Mail Voting
Not that long ago, Ann Byington had to squeeze into a voting booth with a Republican poll watcher on one side and a Democrat on the other reading her voting choices out loud so her ballot could be marked for her and the selections verified. Blind since birth, Byington welcomed the rise in recent years of electronic voting machines equipped with technology that empowered her and others with disabilities to cast their ballots privately and independently. (Cassidy, 6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: It’s Not Too Late To Save The 2020 Election
On Tuesday, citizens in Georgia stood in lines for hours to vote—and some just gave up. The state struggled to handle its primary election, hobbled amid the coronavirus pandemic by a shortage of poll workers and polling places. The Atlanta Journal Constitution called it “an ordeal for voters.” And with Georgia potentially in play between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, more than twice as many voters are expected in November, the paper noted. (Persily, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Some Lawmakers Argue Unrest Heightens Need For Aid To States And Cities
Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers pushing to secure more state and local aid in the next stimulus package said the unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd has magnified the need to fill holes in local public-safety budgets. “The case is being built for our bill by the events that we’re currently witnessing,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), who has sponsored legislation that would provide $500 billion in emergency funding to state and local governments to cover revenues lost by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting partial economic shutdown. (Peterson and Andrews, 6/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Kudlow Urges Replacing Unemployment-Benefit Boost With Return-To-Work ‘Bonus’
A senior economic adviser to President Trump said Sunday the U.S. needs to stop providing a $600-a-week boost in unemployment benefits instituted in response to the coronavirus pandemic and replace it with a smaller bonus for workers who return to their jobs. Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the additional benefits might be dissuading some Americans from going back to work as businesses reopen across the country. (Tracy, 6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Differences Between New Coronavirus And SARS Show Why Quick Economic Recovery Is Unlikely
To see what economic recovery from Covid-19 could look like, some people are examining the closest modern equivalent: Hong Kong in 2003. That is when the territory’s economy was ravaged by severe acute respiratory syndrome—another epidemic caused by a coronavirus—and then staged a remarkable comeback in less than a year. The outbreak started early in the year; by May, Hong Kong’s economy was reopening—like today. So speedy was the recovery that eight months after patients first hit hospitals, Hong Kong was hosting a $100 million concert series featuring the Rolling Stones, Prince and Neil Young. (Dvorak, 6/12)