Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Opposition To Masks Muddles Public Health Messages And His Re-Election Campaign
CNN: The Mask Decision That Will Haunt Trump's Reelection Bid
As coronavirus cases surge and governors begin agitating for a national mandate on wearing masks, President Donald Trump is showing few signs he'll budge on an issue that has come to epitomize a national pandemic response rooted in denial and which now threatens his political future. Even most elected Republicans now openly advocate for wearing masks and have been pictured with their noses and mouths covered, in part to set an example for the country. But Trump still refuses to wear a mask in public, and most guests at his two July 4 celebrations -- at Mt. Rushmore and on the White House South Lawn -- were bare-faced. (Liptak, Brown and Westwood, 7/7)
USA Today: What States Require Face Masks In Public? Kansas, Texas Join Growing List Of States Where It's Mandatory
As coronavirus cases rise in at least 40 states, many governors institute or renew orders requiring people to wear face coverings in public. Most of the orders require people to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor public spaces where social distancing isn't possible, but some apply to only specific places or age groups. None of the orders applies to children younger than 2 or people with a medical condition or disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering. These states require you to wear a face mask in public. (Hauck, 7/6)
Billings Gazette: Billings Mayor Implores Residents To Wear Masks, Follow Public Health Directives
COVID-19 infections in 40 states have risen dramatically in recent weeks, including in Montana. Yellowstone County leads the state in active cases, currently at 140, and has seen a sharp spike in new cases during the past few weeks. Three assisted living facilities in Billings have reported individual cases in the last two weeks, and health officials said there have been about a dozen cases in seven care homes in the county. (Rogers, 7/6)
Kaiser Health News: ‘Please Tell Me My Life Is Worth A LITTLE Of Your Discomfort,’ Nurse Pleads
When an employee told a group of 20-somethings they needed face masks to enter his fast-food restaurant, one woman fired off a stream of expletives. “Isn’t this Orange County?” snapped a man in the group. “We don’t have to wear masks!” The curses came as a shock, but not really a surprise, to Nilu Patel, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at nearby University of California-Irvine Medical Center, who observed the conflict while waiting for takeout. Health care workers suffer these angry encounters daily as they move between treacherous hospital settings and their communities, where mixed messaging from politicians has muddied common-sense public health precautions. (Almendrala, 7/7)
The Washington Post: The Inventor Of N95 Masks Had Retired. But He Now Works 20 Hours A Day, Mostly For Free, To Fight Covid-19.
Peter Tsai retired two years ago, but the materials scientist says he’s never been busier. When the novel coronavirus began gripping the globe in March, Tsai was summoned from his short-lived retirement. He was in urgent demand because he is the inventor who, in 1995, patented the filtration material used in disposable N95 respirators. (Page, 7/7)
