Return To Magic?: Disney World Set To Reopen With New Policies, New Safety Protocols
A recent surge of cases in Florida has led a group of employees at the Orlando park to request delaying the opening, but Disney says it's committed to keeping everyone safe and is eager to open after being closed for more than 100 days. Public health news is on best safety ideas, challenges for Hollywood and more.
CNN:
Disney World Reopens As Coronavirus Cases Spike In Florida
Cinderella Castle has sat silent for 116 days. That's how long Walt Disney World has closed its doors because of the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, Disney will welcome guests back to its flagship theme park in Orlando, Florida, and reopen a cornerstone of its business. (Pallotta, 7/9)
NPR:
Some People Agree To Disagree Over What's Safe During The Pandemic
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Donna Joe says her adult daughters had all kinds of advice to keep her safe. They signed up the 64-year-old retired civil engineer for online grocery delivery, shipped sanitizer to her home in Marietta, Ga., and checked in regularly to make sure she was following the latest protocols. (Brady, 7/9)
AP:
Soap Opera's Kisses Outwit Virus With Tests, Spouses, Dolls
Hollywood’s technical expertise can awe us with monsters and imaginary worlds. But is it capable of delivering a simple screen kiss during a pandemic marked by masks and social distancing? Yes, according to the soap opera producer who is making that happen with a strategic approach to romance. “The Bold and the Beautiful,” in the vanguard of TV series that have resumed taping after an industry-wide shutdown in March, is relying on health advisers and coronavirus safeguards to bring cast and crew together. (Elber, 7/9)
NBC News:
'What Happens If I Get Sick Again?': Essential Workers Seek Expanded Protections
Hope Gilmore, a call center worker on Staten Island, New York, hasn't forgotten those bewildering early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic when colleagues were getting sick, her employer didn't provide any masks or gloves and people used the elevator one at a time to socially distance. "We're on the frontlines like sacrificial lambs," Gilmore said Thursday. (Ortiz, 7/9)
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 782 such workers who likely died of COVID-19 after helping patients during the pandemic. (7/10)
In other public health news —
ABC News:
What The Latest Supreme Court Decision Means For Your Contraceptive Care
The Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday to allow an employer or university with a religious or moral objection to opt out of covering contraceptives could cost women hundreds of dollars each year in out-of-pocket expenses, experts say. The court ruled 7-2 to uphold President Donald Trump's move to let more employers opt out of the Affordable Care Act mandate guaranteeing no-cost contraceptive services for women. (Kindelan, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times:
New Charges Filed Against Ex-USC Gynecologist George Tyndall
Los Angeles County prosecutors have filed six more counts of sexual assault and battery against disgraced USC gynecologist George Tyndall, who was arrested last year after he was accused of sexual misconduct by hundreds of former students. (Queally, 7/9)
AP:
In-Person Bar Exams Canceled; Remote Exam Set For October
The Kentucky Supreme Court has canceled in-person bar exams this year as a precaution due to the coronavirus pandemic. The change is meant to protect the health and safety of bar applicants, employees and volunteers, officials said. (7/10)
Boston Globe:
LGBTQ Groups Sue To Block Rollback Of Federal Transgender Health Care Protections
A coalition of local and national health care providers and LGBTQ rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit in Boston Thursday seeking to block a rule rescinding sex discrimination protections for transgender people in medical care. Fenway Health; the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth; and other groups are suing the US Department of Health and Human Services, and have asked the US District Court to set aside the regulation and declare it unconstitutional, according to court documents. (Fox, 7/9)
The New York Times:
Lawsuits Aim To Block DeVos’s New Sexual Misconduct Rules
Students, women’s rights and education groups are suing to block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s campus sexual assault rules from taking effect next month, with plaintiffs as young as 10 joining arguments that the rules will harm students and burden institutions. (Green, 7/9)
