Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Words On Masks, Risks Carried Weight During The Pandemic
The New York Times: What President Trump Has Said About Wearing Masks
During the course of the outbreak, the president has expressed confidence that the virus would quickly go away and skepticism about the value of wearing masks. (Serviss and Paybarah, 10/2)
Kaiser Health News: The Mask Hypocrisy: How COVID Memos Contradict The White House’s Public Face
While the president and vice president continued to forgo masks at rallies, the White House was quietly encouraging governors to implement mask mandates and, for some, enforce them with fines. In reports issued to governors on Sept. 20, the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended statewide mask mandates in Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma. The weekly memos, some of which were made public by the Center for Public Integrity, advocate mask usage for other states and have even encouraged doling out fines in Alaska, Idaho and, recently, Montana. (Weber and Houghton, 10/2)
Reuters: In His Own Words: Trump And The Coronavirus
While facing sharp criticism for his response to an outbreak that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States alone, the president has touted his management of the crisis. Here is a timeline of some of his comments: (10/2)
In related news —
The New York Times: Outbreak At Secret Service Training Center Underlines Proximity Of Virus To White House
The Secret Service sustained a coronavirus outbreak in August at its training facility in Maryland, evidence of how close the pandemic has been to President Trump’s White House in the weeks before he was infected. At least 11 employees at the center in rural Maryland tested positive for the virus even though the agency had closed it for several months this year to enforce procedures to mitigate transmission, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. (Kanno-Youngs and Schmidt, 10/2)
