The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 170,000
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic passed 170,000, while the number of new cases declined, reaching the lowest daily level since June 29. The U.S. reported just over 42,000 new cases for Sunday, a sharp drop from Friday’s total of more than 64,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation’s total number of cases surpassed 5.4 million, about a quarter of the world-wide figure. (Hall, 8/17)

CNN: Few Signs Of Collective Mourning As The US Tops 170,000 Coronavirus Deaths
Days after thousands of lives perished on 9/11, the United States marked a national day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history... Nearly two decades later, in the midst of another national tragedy that has the US surpassing 170,000 deaths from Covid-19, there have been few signs of collective mourning among Americans. (Sanchez, 8/16)

CNN: More Than 1,000 People In The US Have Died Of Coronavirus Nearly Every Day This Month 
The Covid-19 death toll in the United States has soared to more than 170,000, just 18 days after the nation marked 150,000 lives lost. As cases have increased in the US, the lull between grim milestones has grown shorter. It took 54 days for the number of people killed by the virus to go from one to 50,000, and then 34 days to cross 100,000 mark on May 27. Now, more than 5.4 million people have been infected and 170,052 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Holcombe, 8/17)

Stat: FDA Clears Saliva Test For Covid-19, Opening Door To Wider Testing 
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday authorized emergency use of a new and inexpensive saliva test for Covid-19 that could greatly expand testing capacity. The new test, which is called SalivaDirect and was developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health, allows saliva samples to be collected in any sterile container. It is a much less invasive process than the nasal swabs currently used to test for the virus that causes Covid-19, but one that has so far yielded highly sensitive and similar results. (Silverman and Joseph, 8/15)

The Wall Street Journal: The FDA Authorizes A Cheap, Fast Saliva Test—And The NBA Is Involved
Chantal Vogels studies bugs. A medical entomologist at the Yale School of Public Health, her expertise is mosquitoes, ticks and the nasty viruses they spread. “Human research is new to me,” she said. But she went from studying the very small to the very tall as part of a Yale team trying to solve the biggest problem in the United States through an improbable population of research subjects: NBA players. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 8/15)

Yale News: Yale’s Rapid COVID-19 Saliva Test Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization 
A saliva-based laboratory diagnostic test developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health to determine whether someone is infected with the novel coronavirus has been granted an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The method, called SalivaDirect, is being further validated as a test for asymptomatic individuals through a program that tests players and staff from the National Basketball Association (NBA). SalivaDirect is simpler, less expensive, and less invasive than the traditional method for such testing, known as nasopharyngeal (NP) swabbing. Results so far have found that SalivaDirect is highly sensitive and yields similar outcomes as NP swabbing. (Greenwood, 8/15)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Saliva-Based Covid-19 Test Could Be A 'Game Changer' 
"We simplified the test so that it only costs a couple of dollars for reagents, and we expect that labs will only charge about $10 per sample," said Nathan Grubaugh, a Yale assistant professor of epidemiology. "If cheap alternatives like SalivaDirect can be implemented across the country, we may finally get a handle on this pandemic, even before a vaccine." (Yan and Maxouris, 8/16)

Politico: Two Senior CDC Officials Leave Agency 
A pair of senior Trump appointees departed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, a change at an agency that’s been heavily scrutinized for its response to the coronavirus. Kyle McGowan, the CDC’s chief of staff, and Amanda Campbell, the deputy chief of staff, both announced their departures in emails to colleagues on Friday morning. In an interview, McGowan said that the pair were starting a new consulting venture and that he wasn't aware of other pending departures from CDC. (Daimond, 8/15)

CNN: CDC's Chief Of Staff, Deputy Chief Of Staff Depart Agency 
The pair had been criticized by Trump administration officials for not being loyal enough. McGowan started working in Health and Human Services under then-Secretary Tom Price. He first served as director of external affairs for HHS before moving to the CDC. CNN has reached out to HHS for comment about the departures. McGowan was the first ever CDC chief of staff who was a political appointee, the official said. (Valencia, 8/15)

In other CDC news —

The Hill: CDC Backtracks Guidance On Three-Month Window Of Immunity 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) backtracked guidance it issued earlier this month, maintaining that people are not immune to reinfection to the coronavirus after recovering from the disease. “On August 3, 2020, CDC updated its isolation guidance based on the latest science about COVID-19 showing that people can continue to test positive for up to 3 months after diagnosis and not be infectious to others. Contrary to media reporting today, this science does not imply a person is immune to reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the 3 months following infection,” the CDC said in a press release. (Axelrod, 8/14)

Politico: HHS Chief Information Officer Abruptly Resigns 
HHS' chief information officer, José Arrieta, resigned unexpectedly Friday. Arrieta told senior leaders that he would stay on for up to a month to help with the transition, said two individuals with knowledge of his plans. He departs just four months after the department stood up the public data sharing hub HHS Protect, and a little over a year since he took over as chief information officer. (Ravindranath and Diamond, 8/14)

Federal News Network: HHS CIO Arrieta Unexpectedly Resigns
Arrieta becomes the second senior technology official to leave HHS in the last month. Todd Simpson, the chief product officer for HHS, left in July to be a deputy assistant secretary for DevSecOps at the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Miller, 8/14)

In other HHS news  —

The New York Times: TeleTracking Technologies, Firm Running Coronavirus Database, Refuses To Answer Senators' Questions 
The health care technology firm that is helping to manage the Trump administration’s new coronavirus database has refused to answer questions from Senate Democrats about its $10.2 million contract, citing a nondisclosure agreement it signed with the Department of Health and Human Services. In a letter dated Aug. 3 and obtained Friday by The New York Times, a lawyer for the Pittsburgh-based TeleTracking Technologies cited the nondisclosure agreement in declining to say how it collects and shares data. The lawyer refused to share the company’s proposal to the government, its communications with administration officials and other information related to the awarding of the contract. (Gay Stolberg, 8/14)

Modern Healthcare: HHS To Send $1.4 Billion To Children's Hospitals
HHS on Friday announced plans to distribute $1.4 billion in grant funds to free-standing children's hospitals. The tranche is HHS' latest distribution from the $175 billion Provider Relief Fund that lawmakers created to help healthcare providers offset coronavirus-related expenses and lost revenue. Hospitals have asked for Congress to add $100 billion to the fund, but negotiations on another relief package have stalled. (Cohrs, 8/14)

Politico: Esper Eyes $2.2 Billion Cut To Military Health Care 
Pentagon officials working on Defense Secretary Mark Esper's cost-cutting review of the department have proposed slashing military health care by $2.2 billion, a reduction that some defense officials say could effectively gut the Pentagon’s health care system during a nationwide pandemic. The proposed cut to the military health system over the next five years is part of a sweeping effort Esper initiated last year to eliminate inefficiencies within the Pentagon’s coffers. But two senior defense officials say the effort has been rushed and driven by an arbitrary cost-savings goal, and argue that the cuts to the system will imperil the health care of millions of military personnel and their families as the nation grapples with Covid-19. (Seligman and Diamond, 8/16)

Stars and Stripes: Pentagon Watchdog Finds Military Mental Health System Is Not Meeting The Needs Of Troops And Families
Thousands of troops and family members may not have access to the mental health care they need through their military or approved civilian health providers, a new Pentagon report says. (Svan, 8/14)

AP: US Reps Eye Mental Health Telemedicine For Rural Veterans
A Maine congressman is working across the aisle with a Republican from Indiana on a proposal that would create mental health telemedicine services for veterans in rural parts of the country. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is working on the proposal with Rep. Jim Banks. Their bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to create programs at three VA facilities that use computerized cognitive behavioral therapy to treat veterans who suffer from conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. (8/16)

In other news from the Trump administration —

AP: Trump Makes Call For New White House Doctor's Virus Advice
President Donald Trump has found a new doctor for his coronavirus task force — and this time there’s no daylight between them. Trump last week announced that Dr. Scott Atlas, a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, has joined the White House as a pandemic adviser. Atlas, the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, has no expertise in public health or infectious diseases. (Colvin, 8/16)

AP: Trump's Top Coronavirus Adviser: Wear Masks, Social Distance
Trump’s top coronavirus adviser used a visit to Kansas to urge people to wear masks regardless of where they live. “What’s really important for every Kansan to understand is that this epidemic that we have been seeing this summer is both urban and rural,” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force said Saturday. “So we are really asking all communities, whether you are urban or rural communities, to really wear a mask inside, outside, every day.” (8/15)

The Hill: Fauci Dismisses Tucker Carlson's Criticism But Says It May Inspire Threats From 'Crazies' 
Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci in a new interview Friday dismissed recent criticism from Fox News's Tucker Carlson, but said it could inspire more death threats against him. “I flip around the channels at night, which I probably shouldn’t. And I found this guy — you know this guy, Tucker Carlson? You heard of him?” The Washington Post's Geoff Edgers asked Fauci in an online interview that streamed live. “He’s the guy that really loves me, right?” Fauci replied sarcastically. (Seipel, 8/14)

Politico: Pelosi Calls Back House Over Postal Service Upheaval 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders will summon the House back in session this coming week to confront President Donald Trump’s attempts to undermine the U.S. Postal Service, she announced Sunday night. The House is expected to vote as early as Saturday, Aug. 22, on a proposal to block the Trump administration’s plan for overhauling the Postal Service. This is weeks earlier than Pelosi and the House Democratic leaders had originally planned to return to Washington. But the revised House schedule comes amid a national uproar over a crisis within the Postal Service ahead of a national election that will see an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots. (Bresnahan, Ferris and Caygle, 8/16)

AP: Pelosi To Call House Back Into Session To Vote On USPS Bill
“In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central,” [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi wrote Sunday in a letter to colleagues, who had been expected to be out of session until September. “Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy are under threat from the president.”The decision to recall the House, made after a weekend of high-level leadership discussions, carries a political punch. Voting in the House will highlight the issue after the weeklong convention nominating Joe Biden as the party’s presidential pick and pressure the Republican-held Senate to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent senators home for a summer recess. (Mascaro and Daly, 8/17)

The New York Times: Pelosi To Recall House For Postal Service Vote As Democrats Press For DeJoy To Testify
The announcement came after the White House chief of staff on Sunday signaled openness to providing emergency funding to help the agency handle a surge in mail-in ballots, and as Democratic state attorneys general said that they were exploring legal action against cutbacks and changes at the Postal Service. The moves underscored rising concern across the country over the integrity of the November election and how the Postal Service will handle as many as 80 million ballots cast by Americans worried about venturing to polling stations because of the coronavirus. President Trump has repeatedly derided mail voting as vulnerable to fraud, without evidence, and the issue had become a prominent sticking point in negotiations over the next round of coronavirus relief. (Cochrane and Edmondson, 8/16)

In related news —

AP: Lawmakers: Postal Changes Delay Mail-Order Medicine For Vets
Policy changes that slow delivery at the U.S. Postal Service are taking a toll on military veterans, who are reporting much longer wait times to receive mail-order prescription drugs, according to Democratic senators. (Yen, 8/14)

The Hill: Clyburn: Trump 'Signing A Death Warrant For A Lot Of People' With Mail-In Voting Opposition 
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) in an interview on Saturday criticized President Trump’s opposition to mail-in voting, saying the president is “signing a death warrant for a lot of people.” "We ought not be crippling the Post Office and for the president to admit that he is doing this in order to gum up the works when it comes to the elections, he is actually signing a death warrant for a lot of people that he ought not be doing this," Clyburn said on CNN. (Balluck, 8/16)

The Washington Post: State Officials Rush To Shore Up Confidence In Nov. 3 Election As Voters Express New Fears About Mail Voting 
President Trump’s unprecedented attacks on the U.S. Postal Service amid widespread mail delays across the country are shaking voters’ faith that their ballots will be counted, prompting a rush among federal, state and local officials to protect the integrity of the Nov. 3 election. Thousands of voters have called government offices in recent days to ask whether it is still safe to mail their ballots, according to officials across the country. Attorneys general from at least six states are huddling to discuss possible lawsuits against the administration to block it from reducing mail service between now and the election, several told The Washington Post. State leaders are scrambling to see whether they can change rules to give voters more options, and Democrats are planning a massive public education campaign to shore up trust in the vote and the Postal Service. (Gardner and Min Kim, 8/16)

The Washington Post: Vote By Mail: Which States Allow Absentee Voting 
The coronavirus pandemic is set to change the way millions of Americans can vote in November, as states expand access to mail-in voting as a safer alternative to in-person voting. As of now, over 180 million Americans who are eligible to vote would be able to cast a ballot by mail. Of those, 25 million live in states that will accept fear of the coronavirus as an excuse to vote absentee, or have switched to become “no excuse” states. (Rabinowitz and Renee Mayes, 8/14)

The Washington Post: Democrats Plan An Unconventional Convention, Starting Monday 
With the balloon drop scrapped and the cheering crowds banished, Democratic convention planners faced the grim prospect this summer of throwing Joe Biden a party in a pandemic without any apparent celebration. “At a regular convention, audience reaction is a huge part of the speeches,” Andrew Binns, the event’s chief operating officer, explained. “We needed a way to do that technologically and virtually.” (Scherer, 8/16)

The New York Times: Milwaukee’s Lost Mega-Event: ‘It’s The Ghost Convention Now’ 
In a year of canceled plans, with vacations, graduations and sports seasons upended by the coronavirus crisis, the stretch of downtown Milwaukee where Democrats were supposed to hold their nominating convention this week was quiet and sparsely populated — another reminder of a summer lost. Instead of thousands of Democrats preparing to gather at the newly built Fiserv Forum, there was just one street blocked off this weekend near the smaller Wisconsin Center, which will host the last few parts of the Democratic National Convention — including speeches by Wisconsin politicians — that will still take place in this city. There was no signage near the venue marking the occasion. Hotels were closed, restaurants were empty and the bars of America’s most beer-loving city were eerily barren. (Herndon and Epstein, 8/16)

In other election news —

The Hill: Democrats For Life Urge DNC To Change Party Platform On Abortion 
More than 100 Democrats affiliated with the anti-abortion group Democrats for Life have signed a letter urging the party to change its abortion stance in this year's platform. Signatories include Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (Ill.), who lost his March primary to a progressive. Fifty-six state legislators also signed the letter addressed to the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee. (Birenbaum, 8/14)

The Hill: Battle Looms Over Biden Health Care Plan If Democrats Win Big 
A battle within the Democratic Party is looming on health care if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins and the Senate flips. In the primary earlier this year, Biden’s plan for a government-run public option for health insurance was seen as the moderate choice, compared with Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) “Medicare for All.” But once the arena shifts away from the campaign trail to Congress, where the proposal would have to pass via a narrow margin in the Senate and despite fierce opposition from well-funded industry groups, Biden’s plan would become a daunting challenge to enact. (Sullivan, 8/15)

The Hill: Trump 'Failure' On COVID-19 Will Be Central Message Of Biden Convention 
The coronavirus pandemic will loom large over this week’s Democratic convention — and will be the key part of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s messaging. Biden’s path to the White House is tied to the pandemic in that he argues President Trump’s complete mishandling of the crisis is the final reason voters should end his presidency at one term. (Parnes, 8/16)

The Hill: Health Care Industry Launches New Ads Against Public Option For Convention 
A coalition of major health care industry groups unveiled new ads on Friday against a public option for health insurance, an idea backed by presumptive nominee Joe Biden, that will run during the coming party conventions and into the fall. The ads do not mention Biden by name, but they take aim at his signature health policy proposal, a government-run option for health insurance, as the health care industry looks to build opposition ahead of a possible Democratic takeover of Washington next year. (Sullivan, 8/14)

Also —

The Hill: Obama Blasts Trump Decisionmaking On Coronavirus 
Former President Obama said in a podcast released Friday that President Trump made “terrible decisions” that have worsened the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking of the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as the vice presidential nominee, Obama said: “She is somebody who I think will be able to share the stage with Mike Pence, or whoever else, and dissect some of the terrible decisions that have been made over the last four years that have helped create worse problems than were necessary in the midst of this pandemic.” (Sullivan, 8/14)

Modern Healthcare: Insurers Should Get Unpaid ACA Subsidies, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration violated the law when it abruptly stopped paying for subsidies intended to reduce healthcare costs for low-income individuals who buy coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. In a separate decision also issued Friday, the same court said health insurers should not collect a windfall from the decision. While the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said insurers are entitled to the full amount of unpaid cost-sharing reduction subsidies for 2017, the amount owed for 2018 should be reduced because insurers were able to raise premiums to make up for the loss of subsidies. (Livingston, 8/14)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Pennie’-Pinching States Take Over Obamacare Exchanges From Feds 
Pennsylvania is rolling out its new “Pennie” this fall: a state-run insurance exchange that officials say will save residents collectively millions of dollars on next year’s health plan premiums. Since the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces opened for enrollment in fall 2013, Pennsylvania, like most states, has used the federal www.healthcare.gov website for people buying coverage on their own. (Galewitz, 8/17)

The Hill: FDA Creates First-Ever Medical Supply Shortage List Including Masks, Swabs And Ventilators 
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Friday that it has created its first list of medical supplies that are facing a shortage just hours after President Trump touted the administration's production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other devices. In an effort to prevent stockpiling or hoarding of supplies, the list does not reveal the product manufacturers, but lists that ventilators, respirators, masks, surgical gowns, gloves and sterile swabs are on short supply. (Seipel, 8/14)

Kaiser Health News: PPE Shortage Could Last Years Without Strategic Plan, Experts Warn 
Shortages of personal protective equipment and medical supplies could persist for years without strategic government intervention, officials from health care and manufacturing industries have predicted. Officials said logistical challenges continue seven months after the coronavirus reached the United States, as the flu season approaches and as some state emergency management agencies prepare for a fall surge in COVID-19 cases. (Glenza, 8/17)

Kaiser Health News and The Guardian: Lost On The Frontline: Explore The Interactive Database
Hundreds of U.S. health care workers have died fighting COVID-19. We count them and investigate why.

Politico: Health Providers' Scramble For Staff And Supplies Reveals Sharp Disparities 
Doctors, nurses and caregivers at smaller and poorer hospitals and medical facilities across the country are still struggling to obtain the protective gear, personnel and resources they need to fight the coronavirus despite President Donald Trump's repeated assertions that the problems are solved. Health care workers at all types of facilities scrambled for scarce masks, gloves and other life-protecting gear at the beginning of the pandemic. The White House was letting states wage bidding wars against one another, rather than establish a central national manufacturing, supply and distribution chain. (Doherty, 8/14)

The Hill: Las Vegas Hospital Workers Call For Probe Into Conditions During Pandemic 
Hospital workers in Las Vegas are calling on Nevada health officials to investigate claims of unsafe working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic. The workers, who are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), say that HCA Healthcare hospitals they work in are understaffed to serve the volume of patients and that they lack sufficient personal protective equipment such as gloves, masks and face shields. (Johnson, 8/15)

In related news —

GMA: Antiviral Clothing Is On The Rise: Can It Protect You From COVID-19? 
The coronavirus pandemic has affected every aspect of life -- including fashion. To cater to new economic realities and the COVID-19 concerns of their clientele, several apparel companies have developed antivirus protection in their clothing. But if antiviral clothing doesn't make a difference in actual viral transmission -- shoppers should question, "is it even worth it?" (Yates, 8/17)

Bangor Daily News: Guilford Textile Mill Shifts From Furniture Production To Clothing For Health Care Workers
The spread of COVID-19 this spring prodded a Guilford textile mill to act quickly for its own fiscal health. Duvaltex shifted production priorities from furniture textiles to a range of advanced technical fabrics designed to meet the clothing needs of front-line health care workers as they battle the pandemic. Serving the health care industry isn’t new for Duvaltex, which for the last 20 years has created fabric for cubicle curtains that, among other uses, serve as privacy dividers between hospital beds. (Clark, 8/16)

Boston Globe: This East Boston Factory Supplied Navy Peacoats. Now It’s Making PPE
The Greater Boston Labor Council has been seeking to support both a locally owned business and workers through the crisis. The Sterlingwear factory now has a contract with the City of Boston to make medical-grade gowns for first responders and health care workers. The city has already paid $39,000 for 6,000 gowns, according to a copy of a contract provided to the Globe, and a city spokesperson said an additional contract will cover the cost of making 150,000 gowns through June 2021. (Nanos, 8/16)

Stateline: To Speed Up Results, States Limit COVID-19 Testing 
Limits on testing are anathema to epidemiologists. If enough tests were available and results weren’t delayed as they are now, Landers and other health officials would insist on testing at least twice as many people as they’re testing now. But that’s not realistic in Alabama or most of the rest of the country. Most results are taking much longer than the two-day turnaround epidemiologists say is needed to be effective in stopping the spread. (Vestal, 8/14)

The New York Times: ‘We’re Clearly Not Doing Enough’: Drop In Testing Hampers Coronavirus Response 
For months, public health experts and federal officials have said that significantly expanding the number of coronavirus tests administered in the United States is essential to reining in the pandemic. By some estimates, several million people might need to be tested each day, including many people who don’t feel sick. But the country remains far short of that benchmark and, for the first time, the number of known tests conducted each day has fallen. (Mervosh, Bogel-Burroughs and Gay Stolberg, 8/15)

NPR: What Contact Tracing Data Is Telling Us About How COVID-19 Spreads
When everyone who tests positive for coronavirus in your community gets a call from a public health worker asking them about their contacts and those contacts are then asked to quarantine, the process creates a powerful way to keep the virus from spreading. But contact tracing can do more than that: At scale, the data gathered in those calls also offers vital information about where transmission is happening in a community. That data can drive policy and even guide individuals in assessing what's more or less safe to go out and do. (Simmons-Duffin, 8/14)

AP: 'Are You Doing OK?': On The Ground With NYC Contact Tracers
Joseph Ortiz headed for the home of a stranger who tested positive for COVID-19, unsure how his unexpected visit would go. The person hadn’t answered phone calls from New York City’s contact tracing program, a massive effort to keep the coronavirus from spreading by getting newly diagnosed people to identify others they might have infected before those people spread it further. (Peltz, 8/17)

GMA: Former Security Guard Now A Medical Student At The Hospital Where He Worked 
One Black doctor is working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic as a medical student at the same facility where he once worked as a security guard. Dr. Russell Ledet, who worked security at Baton Rouge General Medical Center for about five years, said that he would study medicine on note cards and ask doctors that passed by if he could shadow them. (Moseley, 8/17)

Boston Globe: A Rhode Island Doctor Is Helping Patients Vote From Their Hospital Beds 
[Kelly] Wong’s initiative is just one of a growing number of efforts by medical professionals and institutions to deliver essential health care and timely access to the ballot box. ...Wong founded Patient Voting in 2018, but she expects it will serve even more people during this year’s presidential election, including those hospitalized with the coronavirus. (Fitzpatrick, 8/14)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Greendale Grad, Northwestern Physician Helping With COVID-19 Vaccine
A Greendale High School alumna is helping to launch a COVID-19 registry for people interested in partaking in COVID019 clinical trials for potential vaccines. Karen Krueger, who works as a physician for Northwestern Medicine and an instructor in infectious diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, has been leading efforts to find participants in the Chicago area most at risk for COVID-19 exposure and who are interested in participating in different studies for preventing infection. It's part of the COVID Prevention Trials Network established by the National Institutes of Health, and the research is being sponsored by the Feinberg School of Medicine. (Johnson, 8/14)

Also —

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s What Made A Bay Area Medical Examiner Move Her Family From SF To New Zealand 
Dr. Judy Melinek was fed up. As the acting chief forensic pathologist for Alameda County and a vocal critic of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, the San Francisco resident had reached her breaking point in June. She left the Oakland morgue for a meeting with a county lab official to find out why it took 48 hours to get coronavirus test results instead of the eight hours she was promised, Melinek recalled. The machine had capacity for 96 samples, she said she was told, but before running a test they had to wait to fill up all the wells with samples from all over the county, and by the time the cycle was completed all the workers were already home for the day. (Gafni, 8/15)

The New York Times: We Didn’t See Our Kids For 109 Days
In March, when it became clear that New York City would become a Covid-19 hot spot, Elaine Yang and David Weir panicked over how to take care of their daughters: Ainsley, 3, and Adeline, 1. Yang, 39, is an anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery with a specialty in critical care medicine, and Weir, 49, is a critical care medicine pulmonologist at New York–Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center. They did not want their nanny, who is over 50, to risk her health traveling across New York City each day, so they paid her to stay home. (Jenkins, 8/14)

In obituaries —

The New York Times: Charles Wetli, Coroner For T.W.A. Flight 800 Crash, Dies At 76 
Charles V. Wetli, the Long Island medical examiner who was thrust into the national spotlight when the Trans World Airlines Flight 800 exploded in 1996 and killed all 230 people on board, died on July 28 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 76. His daughter, Kavita Dolan, said the cause was complications of lung cancer. (Seelye, 8/16)

The Hill: One In Three Americans Say They Won't Get Coronavirus Vaccine: Poll 
More than 1 in 3 Americans surveyed in a NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll released Friday say they will not get a coronavirus vaccine once it is available. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they would not take the vaccine, 60 percent said they would and 5 percent said they were unsure. Those with college degrees are 19 points more likely to take a vaccine than those without, 72 percent to 53 percent. Democrats were also more likely to be willing to take the vaccine than Republicans, 71 percent to 48 percent. (Moreno, 8/14)

Kaiser Health News: Trust, Fear And Solidarity Will Determine The Success Of A COVID Vaccine 
Thousands of letters stuffed with money flooded Jonas Salk’s mailbox the week after his polio vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955. Everybody wanted his vaccine. Desperate parents clogged doctors’ phone lines in search of the precious elixir; drug companies and doctors diverted doses to the rich and famous.Some of the first batches of the vaccine were disastrously botched, causing 200 cases of permanent paralysis. That barely dented public desire for the preventive. Marlon Brando even asked to play Salk in a movie. (Allen, 8/17)

Also —

Reuters: Report: US Exploring Possibility Of Controversial 'Challenge Trial' For COVID-19 Vaccine 
U.S. government scientists have begun efforts to manufacture a strain of the novel coronavirus that could be used in human challenge trials of vaccines, a controversial type of study in which healthy volunteers would be vaccinated and then intentionally infected with the virus, Reuters has learned. The work is preliminary and such trials would not replace large-scale, Phase 3 trials such as those now under way in the United States testing experimental COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, according to a statement emailed to Reuters by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. (Steenhuysen, 8/14)

Kaiser Health News: With COVID Vaccine Trial, Rural Oregon Clinic Steps Onto World Stage
From the outside, it appears to be just another suburban allergy clinic, a tidy, tan brick-and-cinder-block building set back from a busy highway and across the road from an auto parts store. But inside the offices of the Clinical Research Institute of Southern Oregon, Dr. Edward Kerwin and his staff are part of the race to save the world. (Aleccia, 8/17)

Barron's: When Will A Covid-19 Vaccine Be Available For Everyone In The World? Analyst Says By The End Of 2021
The U.S. now has a half-dozen purchasing agreements with vaccine makers. And there are enough committed doses to immunize 75% of the population in 2021—even assuming 40% of the them fall through, according to Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal. “Even if (say) two vaccines fail/underperform in trials or manufacturing issues cause only 60% of the promised dose to be delivered, HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] would have enough to vaccinate [about] 85% of the U.S. population on the existing commitment alone,” Gal wrote in a note on Friday. (Smith, 8/16)

The Hill: The Hill Interview: NIH Chief Addresses Concerns About Speed Of COVID-19 Vaccine Development 
The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said despite the images conjured up by Operation Warp Speed — the Trump administration’s effort to get a COVID-19 vaccine to market as quickly as possible — the federal government is taking all the necessary safety precautions. In a wide-ranging interview with The Hill on Wednesday, NIH chief Francis Collins said he’s optimistic about the potential for one or more vaccine candidates to make it through phase three trials by the end of the year, and that the Trump administration is making the ancillary plans to deliver that vaccine widely. (Wilson, 8/14)

In related vaccine news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Flu Vaccines Could Be A Dry Run For Upcoming Coronavirus Immunizations
Influenza season is just around the corner, and with the possibility of the coronavirus circulating at the same time, the annual pleas have already begun: Get the flu shot, everyone. This fall likely will see the most aggressive flu vaccination campaign since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, public health officials said. And it may serve a dual purpose as practice for the global immunization drive against the coronavirus that could begin next year. (Allday, 8/16)

The New York Times: Fearing A ‘Twindemic,’ Health Experts Push Urgently For Flu Shots 
As public health officials look to fall and winter, the specter of a new surge of Covid-19 gives them chills. But there is a scenario they dread even more: a severe flu season, resulting in a “twindemic.” Even a mild flu season could stagger hospitals already coping with Covid-19 cases. And though officials don’t know yet what degree of severity to anticipate this year, they are worried large numbers of people could forgo flu shots, increasing the risk of widespread outbreaks. (Hoffman, 8/16)

Stat: Sanofi, Aiming To Speed MS Treatment, To Acquire Principia Biopharma
Sanofi said Monday that it is acquiring Principia Biopharma for $3.68 billion, giving the French drug giant full control over the multiple sclerosis treatment the companies share. The deal values Principia at $100 per share, a 10% premium over the company’s closing price Friday, but represents a 35% premium to the price of Principia stock on July 15. (Herper, 8/17)

Stat: J&J Invests In Thirty Madison, Renewing Pharma’s Interest In Health Tech
Late last year, several high-profile partnerships between big pharma companies and health tech startups fell apart — raising questions about whether culture clash and financial pressures would doom such alliances. But in the months since, pharma’s interest in businesses trying to rethink how people get their medications has proved resilient. The latest sign of that came on Friday: Johnson & Johnson’s innovation arm will make an investment in Thirty Madison, the company offering telemedicine visits and online prescriptions for drugs for hair loss, migraines, and acid reflux. (Robbins, 8/14)

Stat: CureVac Becomes Latest Vaccine Manufacturer To See Its Value Soar
The developer of a vaccine for Covid-19 saw its share price nearly triple within hours of an initial public offering Friday, the latest example of how the coronavirus crisis has dramatically increased investor demand for biotech stocks. CureVac, headquartered in Germany, raised about $213 million by pricing shares at $16 each. The company’s share price immediately rose to $44, boosting its valuation to roughly $8 billion. CureVac now trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol “CVAC.” (Garde, 8/14)

The Washington Post: Infections Are Rising In Children, CDC Says 
The number and rate of coronavirus cases in children have risen since the pandemic took hold in the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in recently updated guidance, underscoring the risk for young people and their families as the school year begins. According to the CDC, the infection rate in children 17 and under increased “steadily” from March to July. While the virus is far more prevalent and severe among adults, the true incidence of infection in American children remains unknown because of a lack of widespread testing, the agency said. (Hawkins and Iati, 8/16)

The New York Times: Older Children And The Coronavirus: A New Wrinkle In The Debate 
A study by researchers in South Korea last month suggested that children between the ages of 10 and 19 spread the coronavirus more frequently than adults — a widely reported finding that influenced the debate about the risks of reopening schools. But additional data from the research team now calls that conclusion into question; it’s not clear who was infecting whom. The incident underscores the need to consider the preponderance of evidence, rather than any single study, when making decisions about children’s health or education, scientists said. (Mandavilli, 8/14)

In other pediatric developments —

The Hill: CDC: Children And Teens Are Eating More Fast Food 
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that children and teenagers are eating more fast food than in previous years. The report showed that young people received 13.8 percent of their daily calories from fast food between 2015 and 2018, up from 12.4 percent from 2011 to 2012. The data noted adolescents between the ages of 12 to 19 consumed a higher percentage of fast food calories compared to children ages 2 to 11. (Deese, 8/14)

The Washington Post: Child's Migraine Can Be Hard To Figure Out 
Of all the memories that linger from my childhood, the most vivid are those that correlate with a migraine headache. Vomiting in the school bathroom. Lectured by a well-intentioned but ignorant principal to suck it up and play through the pain. Resting my aching head on the cold tile floor of my second-grade classroom as I wait for my mother to pick me up from school. Leaving a friend’s slumber party early, in tears. You’d think that after 40 years of migraines I’d be an expert in diagnosing the illness in others. But when my own son began complaining of headaches a couple of years ago at age 5, I didn’t know how to address it. All he could tell me was that his head hurt. He wasn’t sobbing or vomiting, as I did as a child, so I wasn’t sure of the best plan of action. Was he in the throes of a migraine attack? (Ebejer, 8/16)

In pregnancy news —

CIDRAP: Review Of 11,000 COVID-19 Pregnancies Shows Generally Good Outcomes
A study reviewing 11,308 published cases of COVID-19 in pregnancy showed that outcomes were generally favorable, though 21% of cases that included such information showed severe or critical outcomes. The study was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.Overall, mortality rates were reassuring, and neonatal disease was rare: Only 41 possible cases of neonatal infection were reported in the literature, the authors said. Ninety-eight percent of women (10,437 of 10,597) survived to delivery or hospital discharge, and 33 maternal deaths were noted. (8/14)

The Washington Post: Pregnant Latina Women With Covid-19: Staggering Numbers Show Virus’s Spread 
Each time she holds her newborn twins, the mother sees the inch-wide wound on her right arm marking the place where doctors lodged tubes into her body to keep her alive. More than two months have passed since Ana returned from the D.C. hospital to meet her new daughters for the first time, since she woke up from a deep sedation to learn that she had been intubated for the first three weeks of the infants’ lives, battling complications from covid-19. (Schmidt and Tan, 8/16)

NBC News: Pregnant In A Pandemic: How COVID-19 Stress May Affect Growing Babies
Alisha Bradshaw doesn't know what it's like to be pregnant without the added worry of a global health crisis. She had her first child, a healthy baby girl, during the summer of 2016, when a single mosquito bite could mean transmission of Zika — a virus known to cause devastating birth defects. Four years later, Bradshaw, 44, of Brandywine, Maryland, was pregnant with her second child. This time, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. While a can of insect repellent gave her a measure of control to protect against Zika, the coronavirus left her feeling particularly vulnerable. (Edwards, 8/16)

The New York Times: Scientists See Signs Of Lasting Immunity To Covid-19, Even After Mild Infections
Scientists who have been monitoring immune responses to the coronavirus for months are now starting to see encouraging signs of strong, lasting immunity, even in people that developed only mild symptoms of Covid-19, a flurry of new studies has found. Disease-fighting antibodies, as well as immune cells called B cells and T cells capable of recognizing the virus, appear to persist months after infections have resolved — an encouraging echo of the body’s robust immune response to other viruses. (Wu, 8/16)

The New York Times: Clinical Trials Of Coronavirus Drugs Are Taking Longer Than Expected
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the United States and treatments are needed more than ever, clinical trials for some of the most promising experimental drugs are taking longer than expected. Researchers at a dozen clinical trial sites said that testing delays, staffing shortages, space constraints and reluctant patients were complicating their efforts to test monoclonal antibodies, man-made drugs that mimic the molecular soldiers made by the human immune system. (Thomas, 8/14)

The mysteries of COVID persist —

Crain's Detroit Business: COVID-19 'Long Haulers' Have Lingering Health Problems
Physicians say some patients discharged from hospitals after COVID-19 have developed heart and kidney problems, suffered lung damage and neurological issues such as blood clots and joint pain. Dr. Heather Abraham, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine, opened a COVID-19 continuing care clinic in late July at the University Health Center at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital. (Greene, 8/16)

Modern Healthcare: Docs Question Why Some COVID-19 Patients Develop Post-Recovery Complications
Surviving COVID-19 — and leaving the hospital — isn't always the end of the journey. Crain's interviewed several leading clinical specialists and researchers in Michigan who focus their care on patients most likely to have post-hospitalization complications from coronavirus. (Greene, 8/16)

Stat: Seven Months Later, What We Know — And Don't Know — About Covid-19
The “before times” seem like a decade ago, don’t they? ... In reality, though, it’s only been about seven months since the world learned a new and dangerous coronavirus was in our midst. In the time since Chinese scientists confirmed the rapidly spreading disease in Wuhan was caused by a new coronavirus and posted its genetic sequence on line, an extraordinary amount has been learned about the virus, SARS-CoV-2, the disease it causes, Covid-19, and how they affect us. (Joseph, Branswell and Cooney, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Wartime Doctors Battling Covid-19 Rush To Treat The Ill — But Without Knowing What Really Works 
For most of April, Marylu Seidel felt like she was starring in a science fiction movie. Her husband of 34 years, Jeff, was sedated in an intensive care unit more than an hour’s drive away in Madison, Wis., and her only window into his world was a daily phone call with his nurses. His doctors, first at a local community hospital and then at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, tried everything to help Jeff defeat the coronavirus — a ventilator, an antibiotic, an antimalarial drug, blood thinners, a blood plasma transfusion. Today, Jeff is alive, one of millions of people who have recovered after being diagnosed with covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. But if you ask his grateful family or even his doctors what kept him alive, the answer is unsettling. (Johnson, 8/16)

CIDRAP: ICD-10 Codes For Common COVID-19 Symptoms Inaccurate, Study Finds
Standard, symptom-specific international disease codes lack sensitivity and have poor negative predictive value (NPV) for characteristic COVID-19 symptoms, which could skew conclusions derived from them, a cohort study published today in JAMA Network Open shows. Researchers compared the performance of International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes for fever, cough, and shortness of breath with the electronic medical records (EMRs) of 2,201 patients tested for COVID-19 infection at University of Utah Health from Mar 10 to Apr 6. ICD-10 codes are often used for data aggregation and analysis. (8/14)

Crain's Cleveland Business: As Hospitals' Volumes Climb, Leaders Urge Patients To Seek Needed Care
After significant drops in patient volumes in mid-March and April under a state mandate to postpone nonessential surgeries and procedures, Ohio health systems are working to help patients understand that it is safe and important that they return for care. The Cleveland Clinic's patient volumes have climbed to about 85% of previous levels in January and February. University Hospitals reports that it's pretty much back to its budgeted patient levels. And Summa Health is between 90% and 100% of its pre-COVID-19 volumes across services. (Coutre, 8/16)

Albuquerque Journal: Medical Malpractice Settlements Revealed 
Details of six such settlements were published on a state Sunshine Portal in the past six weeks. Last year, the Governor’s Office started publishing state settlements online, and in July and the first two weeks of August, 11 settlements were posted. They include a $10,000 settlement against New Mexico Workforce Solutions, a $24,000 settlement against Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court and a $45,000 settlement UNM made with independent journalist Daniel Libit for not complying with state open records law. (Boetel, 8/15)

Boston Globe: Health Care Institutions, Nonprofits Team Up To Battle Hunger And The Pandemic
During the pandemic surge in the spring, Dr. Amy Smith, a family medicine physician at Cambridge Health Alliance, received a desperate phone call from one of her colleagues. The respiratory clinician on the line was about to release a COVID-19 patient to recover at home, but the individual didn’t have enough money to buy food for their family. The clinician was crying on the phone, worried that the patient would expose themselves or others to the virus if they waited in line at a food pantry. (Nanos, 8/14)

In financial news —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Jefferson Parish Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Selling East Jefferson General Hospital
By a huge margin, voters on the east bank of Jefferson Parish approved the long-sought sale of East Jefferson General Hospital, a venerable Metairie medical institution that in recent years has seen its financial health sink into bond defaults and looming insolvency. Of the nearly 31,000 votes cast in the election, 29,198 -- a whopping 95% -- were in favor of the sale. (Roberts III, 8/15)

Modern Healthcare: Prime Completes Sale Of Bankrupt Verity Hospital
Prime Healthcare has completed the purchase of a Los Angeles-area hospital from bankrupt Verity Health after successfully dodging some of the conditions sought by the state's top watchdog. Parties wrangled over fate of St. Francis Medical Center, a 384-bed hospital in Lynwood, Calif., for months before Judge Ernest Robles gave final approval this week. California's attorney general tried to impose higher charity-care obligations and other requirements, but Robles ultimately approved the sale "free and clear" of those conditions, noting in his order that "time is of the essence." (Bannow, 8/14)

Boston Globe: Mass. Health Insurers Fared Better Last Quarter Because Fewer People Went To The Doctor 
The finances of major health insurers in Massachusetts improved during the most recent financial quarter, as many patients deferred treatments and preventive care in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan, and Fallon Health all said Friday that their operating income had risen during the three-month period that ran through June, compared with the second quarter of 2019. A primary reason, the insurers said, was that fewer people went to the doctor. (Rosen, 8/14)

Modern Healthcare: Federal Aid And Health Plan Spur ProMedica's 10.8% Q2 Margin
Not-for-profit ProMedica boosted its operating income by more than $200 million in the second quarter year-over-year, posting a margin similar to some for-profit hospitals that performed better at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica generated $189.4 million in operating income in the quarter ended June 30 on nearly $1.8 billion in revenue—a 10.8% margin. That's compared with an $18 million operating loss on $1.7 billion in revenue in the 2019 period, a negative 1% margin. The dramatic swing was driven by federal stimulus grants and a particularly strong performance by its health plan, Paramount. (Bannow, 8/14)

AP: Coronavirus Hasn't Devastated The Homeless As Many Feared
When the coronavirus emerged in the U.S. this year, public health officials and advocates for the homeless feared the virus would rip through shelters and tent encampments, ravaging vulnerable people who often have chronic health issues. They scrambled to move people into hotel rooms, thinned out crowded shelters and moved tents into designated spots at sanctioned outdoor camps. (Har, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: More Americans Go Hungry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Census Shows 
The number of Americans who say they can’t afford enough food for themselves or their children is growing, according to Census data, and it is likely to get larger now that some government benefits have expired. As of late last month, about 12.1% of adults lived in households that didn’t have enough to eat at some point in the previous week, up from 9.8% in early May, Census figures show. And almost 20% of Americans with kids at home couldn’t afford to give their children enough food, up from almost 17% in early June. (Harrison, 8/16)

In news about nursing homes —

The New York Times: Nursing Homes With Safety Problems Deploy Trump-Connected Lobbyists 
Some want direct government aid. Others want tax breaks. Many want protection against lawsuits. Nursing homes have been the center of America’s coronavirus pandemic, with more than 62,000 residents and staff dying from Covid-19 at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, about 40 percent of the country’s virus fatalities. Now the lightly regulated industry is campaigning in Washington for federal help that could increase its profits. (Silver-Greenberg and Drucker, 8/16)

The New York Times: Coronavirus: When Will Long-Term Care Facilities Reopen To Visitors? 
Three years ago, Cathy Baum helped both her mother and her mother-in-law move into memory care in an assisted living facility in Reston, Va. Because Ms. Baum lived nearby, she could visit four to five days a week and keep a watchful eye on them. “I’d check the bathrooms to be sure they’d had a shower when they were supposed to,” said Ms. Baum, 69. She stuck around at lunchtime to help cut their food or see that a staff member did. She made sure that her mother-in-law got the right clothing back from the laundry. (Span, 8/14)

In news about health and race —

The Hill: CDC Analysis Of Coronavirus Hot Spots Shows People Of Color Are Hit Hard 
A high percentage of COVID-19 cases in hot spots are among people of color, particularly Hispanic and Black residents, according to a new analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among 79 counties identified as COVID-19 hot spots, 76 had a disproportionate number of cases among communities of color between February and June, according to the data released Friday.The CDC said that another 126 counties were also considered hot spots, but those did not have enough racial data of COVID-19 cases to include in the analysis. (Hellmann, 8/14)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: How Housing Patterns May Partly Explain Coronavirus's Outsized Impact On Black Louisianans 
Such proximity is thought to be a key reason behind the coronavirus’ disproportionate toll on Black people in Louisiana and across the U.S. Here, nearly half of those killed by the virus to date have been African American, though Black people make up just under a third of Louisiana’s population. Though the reasons may be many-layered, it’s become clear that in Louisiana and in other Gulf Coast states, the wide gap in death rates can be largely attributed to the fact that Black people have gotten sick with COVID-19 at far higher rates than White people. (Reckdahl, 8/15)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Distrust Of Health Care System Adds To Toll In Rural Black Communities Gutted By COVID
Race has played a prominent role in the history of Sumter County, which is currently just over half African American. The county serves international visitors to President Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains, the Andersonville Civil War prison site and the historic racially integrated Koinonia Farm. But it’s also just another Southern community that was divided during the civil rights movement and lives with racial divisions now. (Hart and Redmon, 8/14)

Also —

Billings Gazette: Yellowstone County Health Plan Discriminates Against Trans Employees, Bureau Rules
The exclusion of gender-affirming healthcare in Yellowstone County's insurance plan was ruled as discrimination by the Montana Human Rights Bureau Friday. The decision, in which the Department of Labor and Industry's Office of Administrative Hearings cited the Montana Human Rights Act, marks first time that a Montana office has affirmed transgender and non-binary individuals as a protected class. (Hamby, 8/14)

NPR: To Keep Campuses Safe, Some Colleges To Test Students For Coronavirus Twice A Week
As students return to the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this month, they will be tested for COVID-19. And, then they'll be tested, again. "We are requiring testing two times per week for access to campus facilities. This is for students, faculty, and staff," explains Rebecca Lee Smith, an associate professor of epidemiology. (Aubrey, 8/15)

CNN: 23 OSU Sorority Members Test Positive For Covid-19 
An Oklahoma State University sorority house is under quarantine after 23 members tested positive for Covid-19, according to the university. "Last night OSU officials learned of 23 positive COVID cases in an off-campus sorority house. The rapid antigen testing was performed at an off-campus health care facility," a statement from the university read. The entire sorority house is in isolation or quarantine after the confirmed cases, and residents "will be prohibited from leaving the facility," the university said. (Thorton, 8/16)

NPR: Less Than A Week After Starting Classes, UNC-Chapel Hill Reports 4 COVID-19 Clusters 
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced on Sunday that it identified another cluster of coronavirus cases on campus, the fourth reported in three days. State health officials define "clusters" as five or more cases in a single residential hall or dwelling. The latest cluster is located at Hinton James Residence Hall, the university said in an alert. According to the university's website, the living space typically houses over 900 students, many of whom are in their first year. (Treisman, 8/16)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Several Students Test Positive For COVID After Ga. University Reopens
Several students from Milledgeville’s Georgia College tested positive for COVID-19 during the first days of classes, according to the university. The school was among the first of Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities to resume in-person instruction, which began Wednesday. (Hallerman, 8/16)

Boston Globe: Colleges Are Asking Students To Sign Waivers And Consent Agreements If They Want To Return To Campus 
College students who want to step foot on campus this fall will have to first sign a form acknowledging they understand the dangers of COVID-19 and in some cases relinquish their right to take legal action if they get sick. Along with the code of conduct manuals and reminders to wear masks, colleges across the country are also including unprecedented agreements, waivers, and risk acknowledgement forms in their back-to-school packets this year. (Fernandes, 8/16)

CNN: Georgia College Party: Videos Show A Mostly Maskless Crowd Gathered At Off-Campus Housing 
As coronavirus cases among young people continue to spread throughout the country, videos posted to social media show a large gathering near one Georgia college with partiers crowded together and not appearing to wear masks. The large group of people congregated at an off-campus housing apartment complex near the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega on Saturday night, the university's executive director of communications, Sylvia Carson, told CNN in an emailed statement on Sunday. (Silverman, 8/17)

Also —

The Washington Post: U-Md. Students Stage Protest, Continue To Fight Lease Agreements At Campus Apartments 
Gavin Kohn, 21, signed his lease to live in the Courtyards, an apartment on the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, in February. The novel coronavirus, at that point, had arrived in the United States, but the then-junior didn’t know it would upend the school year. But as the virus raged on, it became clear his senior year was also in jeopardy. The university scaled back on-campus housing, announced plans to conduct 80 percent of undergraduate courses online and imposed coronavirus testing requirements. Kohn, and about 500 other students who had planned to live in the Courtyards and its sister property, South Campus Commons, started to feel wary about living in groups. But, bound by their leases, they may be forced to do it, anyway. (Lumpkin, 8/16)

AP: Quarantine Requirements May Delay Return To In-Person School
Shannon Silver had planned to take her family on a trip from her home in Connecticut to visit relatives in Ohio just before the start of the school year for her two children. But she and her husband reversed course when people traveling from Ohio were added to a list of those who must quarantine for 14 days upon entering Connecticut. That requirement might have meant her 10-year-old son would miss the first day of sixth grade at St. Matthew School in Bristol. (Eaton-Robb and Catlalini, 8/17)

CIDRAP: Survey: Many Parents Won't Send Kids To School This Fall
Nearly a third of 730 parents surveyed in early June about their back-to-school plans for their school-aged children amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they probably or definitely will choose distance learning over in-person instruction, according to a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. While 31% of participants in the national convenience sample indicated they would keep their child home, 49% said they probably or definitely will opt for in-person school. Parents choosing remote learning tended to have lower incomes (38% with annual incomes less than $50,000 vs 21% with incomes of $100,000 to $150,000), be unemployed (40%, vs 26% employed), and had a flexible job schedule (33%, vs 19% with inflexible jobs). (Van Beusekom, 8/14)

Boston Globe: Your Child’s A No-Show At Virtual School? You May Get A Call From The State’s Foster Care Agency 
Massachusetts school officials have reported dozens of families to state social workers for possible neglect charges because of issues related to their children’s participation in remote learning classes during the pandemic shutdown in the spring, according to interviews with parents, advocates, and reviews of documents. In most cases, lawyers and family advocates said, the referrals were made solely because students failed to log into class repeatedly. Most of the parents reported were mothers, and several did not have any previous involvement with social services. (Vazques Toness, 8/15)

AP: Homes With Grandparents Weigh Virus Risk As School Starts
Zita Robinson, who’s 77 and diabetic, has been careful around her granddaughter since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. A door connects Robinson’s apartment in Phoenix to the main house where 8-year-old Traris “Trary” Robinson-Newman and her mother live, but it mostly stays shut. Their only physical contact is if Trary walks in with her back toward Grandma. Then Robinson will kiss her own hand and lightly touch Trary’s back — “like I’m sending her a kiss with my hand.” (Tang, 8/15)

The New York Times: Why Parents, With ‘No Good Choice’ This School Year, Are Blaming One Another
It’s the newest front in America’s parenting wars. Parents, forced to figure out how to care for and educate their children in a pandemic, are being judged and criticized on message boards and in backyard meet-ups and virtual P.T.A. meetings. If parents send their children to schools that reopen, are they endangering them and their teachers? If they keep them home, are they pulling support from schools and depriving their children? If they keep working while schools are closed, are they neglecting their children in a time of need? If they hire someone to help with remote school, are they widening achievement gaps and contributing to inequality? (Cain Miller, 8/13)

AP: States Wrestle With Playing High School Football Amid COVID
As heat waves rose from the crackling grass next to a cotton field that stretched far into the distance, Rick Porter watched his young football players struggle through a preseason practice. Under every helmet was a masked player, breathing deep amid the dust and stifling heat topping 100 degrees fahrenheit (38 degrees celsius). August in Texas can be cruel and the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a new set of obstacles in the way. (Vertuno, 8/16)

In other school news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Teachers Tentatively Agree To A Six-Hour Workday 
Oakland teachers would be required to work just over six hours each day — including at least 2½ hours of live instruction for the oldest students, according to a tentative agreement reached Wednesday morning between district administrators and labor officials. The tentative agreement comes five days into the new school year and, if approved by teachers and the school board, would dictate working conditions and other requirements during distance learning. (Tucker, 8/14)

The New York Times: Can Los Angeles Schools Test 700,000 Students And 75,000 Employees? That’s The Plan
Amid public alarm over the inadequacy of coronavirus testing across the nation, Los Angeles schools on Monday will begin a sweeping program to test hundreds of thousands of students and teachers as the nation’s second-largest school district goes back to school — online. The program, which will be rolled out over the next few months by the Los Angeles Unified School District, will administer tests to nearly 700,000 students and 75,000 employees as the district awaits permission from public health authorities to resume in-person instruction, said Austin Beutner, the district’s superintendent. (Hubler, 8/16)

The Hill: Kushner 'Absolutely' Sending His Own Children Back To School
White House adviser Jared Kushner said Sunday that he is not concerned about his young children returning to school during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Asked by CBS’s Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" whether he was sending his own children back to in-person classes, Kushner, who is President Trump's son-in-law, responded, "Absolutely." (Budryk, 8/16)

The Washington Post: Why A Little Bit Of Exercise Can Help Academically For Kids With ADHD 
Because your child’s classroom this fall probably will be the dining room, it would be a good idea to send them outside before they start their school day. They’ll be primed to learn. In 2009, researchers found that as little as 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise at 60 percent of maximum heart rate improves academic performance in children — immediately. (Opipari, 8/15)

The New York Times: A Summer Of No-Contact Rescues: How Lifeguards Have Changed Their Ways 
The Avalon Beach Patrol, on the New Jersey shore, is an elite lifeguard corps that holds tryouts each year, dominates in lifesaving competitions and prides itself on protecting swimmers from treacherous ocean conditions. But this summer, it, like so many other groups, has faced a daunting challenge: the coronavirus crisis. (Kilgannon, 8/15)

PBS NewsHour: The Pandemic Has Created Unexpected Summer Jobs For These Young People 
The summer job is a rite of passage for many teens and younger adults. Because of the pandemic, however, traditional roles such as camp counselor, lifeguard and waiter, are scarce. But as John Yang reports, some local governments are providing these young people with other unemployment options, from computer coding to coronavirus test coordination. (Yang and Frazee, 8/14)

AP: Taller Cubicles, One-Way Aisles: Office Workers Must Adjust
Bergmeyer, a design firm in Boston, has erected higher cubicles, told employees to wear masks when not at their desks and set up one-way aisles in the office that force people to walk the long way around to get to the kitchen or the bathroom. “The one-way paths take me a little out of the way, but it was easy to get used to,” said Stephanie Jones, an interior designer with the company. “It actually gives me the opportunity to see more people and say a quick hello when I might have just walked directly to my desk before.” (Anderson, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Work-Life Balance Is Changing. These Apps Can Help. 
Nonessential offices in San Francisco closed 22 weeks ago, and my husband, Will, and I have been co-working from home ever since. Early on, sharing our 400-square-foot apartment was a delicate dance. Wearing noise-canceling headphones for calls made our voices too loud. Two simultaneous Zoom meetings? “Ha!” our feeble home internet cackled, as we watched our video feeds become pixel art. The at-home situation is continuing on much longer than most originally thought. Google is keeping employees home until at least July 2021, and so is Facebook. This fall, more students will be distance learning and parents will be charged with supervising—and sometimes even teaching—their kids in lieu of in-person instruction. (Nguyen, 8/16)

AP: 5 Recent Alaska Ferry Passengers Test Positive For COVID-19
Five people who traveled together on a state ferry in southeast Alaska have tested positive for COVID-19, a system spokesperson said Friday. The individuals boarded the ferry Matanuska in Kake Monday morning, with the vessel arriving in Juneau late that night after passing through Sitka, according to a release from the state transportation department. The state health department believes the individuals were “likely infectious” while on the ship, the release states, and the ferry system is notifying the public “out of an abundance of caution.” (8/15)

AP: 1st Mediterranean Cruise Sets Sail After Virus Tests
Cruise ship passengers had their temperatures checked and took COVID-19 tests Sunday so they could set sail on what is being billed as the first Mediterranean cruise after Italy’s pandemic lockdown. The cruise ship company MSC has made the procedures, for crew as well as passengers, part of its new health and safety protocols. The MSC Grandiosa, which was christened last year, set sail from the northern Italian port of Genoa on Sunday evening for a seven-night cruise in the western Mediterranean. (D'Emilio, 8/16)

AP: Virus Pandemic Reshaping Air Travel As Carriers Struggle
In a bid to survive, airlines are desperately trying to convince a wary public that measures like mandatory face masks and hospital-grade air filters make sitting in a plane safer than many other indoor settings during the coronavirus pandemic. It isn’t working. Surveys indicate that instead of growing comfortable with air travel, more people are becoming skeptical about it. In the United States, airline bookings have stalled in the past month after slowly rising — a reaction to a new surge of reported virus infections. (Koenig and McHugh, 8/17)

In other public health news —

AP: NASCAR Driver Austin Dillon Tests Positive
NASCAR driver Austin Dillon has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not compete in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway’s road course. Richard Childress Racing says Dillon tested positive Saturday morning. He is now self-quarantining away from the team. His wife and son remain healthy and symptom-free, the team added. (8/15)

AP: Guard Shoots Man After He Was Beaten In A Mask Confrontation
A St. Louis security guard who was beaten in a confrontation over face masks opened fire early Saturday and wounded one of his attackers. St. Louis Police said the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. after the guard told three men they couldn’t be inside a Shell gas station because they weren’t wearing masks. The city is requiring masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (8/15)

AP: Popular Tourist Sites On The Navajo Nation Can Reopen Soon
Popular tourist destinations on the Navajo Nation, including Canyon de Chelly, can welcome back tourists Monday under the tribe’s reopening plan. Much of the Navajo Nation has been closed since March as the coronavirus swept through the reservation that extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The tribe released a plan this week that allows hair salons and barber shops to open by appointment only, businesses to operate at 25% of maximum capacity, and the reopening of marinas and parks with safeguards. (Fonseca, 8/15)

In news about gatherings —

The Washington Post: D.C. Restaurant Reopening: On Patrol With Inspectors Enforcing Social Distancing 
Patrons sipped cocktails on the patio of the Dupont Circle restaurant from tables just a few feet apart. None appeared to have masks nearby. Servers and busboys wove through tight spaces, some with their mouths covered, but not their noses. D.C. city inspector Jason Peru furrowed his brow as he approached. Little had changed since he visited Residents Cafe and Bar in June, bringing with him guidance on reopening safely and a warning that the tables were too close together. Now it was time to turn up the heat. (Nirappil, 8/15)

ABC News: Owner Of Jersey Shore's Popular Flip Flopz Bar Charged With Violating Social Distancing Laws 
The owner of a popular Jersey Shore bar has been charged with violating Gov. Phil Murphy's coronavirus social distancing laws after police officers allegedly found patrons crowded into the business' rooftop patio, officials said. Joseph Mahoney Jr., 34, owner of the Flip Flopz Bar & Grill in North Wildwood, New Jersey, was charged by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office with a disorderly persons offense for allegedly being in violation of Murphy's executive order, "specifically related to failure to adhere to social distancing regulations," according to a statement released by the North Wildwood Police Department. (Hutchinson, 8/16)

NBC News: Coronavirus Lockdowns Could Make A Comeback As U.S. Struggles
It can seem to public health officials that giving an inch means people will take a mile. In the months since most U.S. states emerged from coronavirus lockdowns, wearing a mask has become a matter of politics more than safety, “pandemic parties” have been broken up in California, New York and Florida, and many states that forged ahead with reopening plans in May have been forced to pause or reverse the orders. (Chow, 8/14)

CNN: Pandemic Denial: Why Some People Can't Accept Covid-19's Realities 
With so much information available about the severity of the coronavirus and the need to follow guidelines, some people still refuse to accept reality. The denial manifests itself in many ways, whether that be refusing to wear a mask or attending large gatherings. Using denial as a coping mechanism is not always a bad choice. Short-term, it gives someone the time to adjust to a situation. When it becomes a long-term crutch and puts others in harm's way, it can be dangerous. (Marples, 8/16)

AP: CDC: New Mexico Has Highest Rate For Alcohol-Related Deaths
According to a recently published report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Mexico continues to have the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the country. New Mexico’s alcohol-related death rate of 52.3 per 100,000 population was almost twice the U.S. rate for the years 2011 through 2015. (8/16)

Also —

AP: UNH Gets Grant To Design Programs To Help Avoid Opioids
The University of New Hampshire has received a grant for nearly $1 million to provide free online resources and in-person workshops to help people manage chronic pain and avoid the pitfalls of addictive opioids. UNH Cooperative Extension will partner with the New Hampshire State Opioid Respnse Team to increase opportunities in rural communities to engage in prevention activities such as the Chronic Pain Self-Management Program and online education and skill building. They also want to increase training for health care professionals on alternative pain management strategies and preventing opioid misuse in patient populations. (8/16)

The Washington Post: Canada Drug Overdoses Surge During Coronavirus Pandemic; Advocates Want Decriminalization 
The novel coronavirus was on the march across Canada, but it was a different public health crisis that turned Shannon Krell's world upside down. Her brother hadn’t shown up for work, which was unusual. She called the police to have someone check on the 46-year-old, but a friend arrived first and made the sad discovery. (Coletta, 8/16)

Boston Globe: Marijuana Company Will Destroy $2.6 Million Inventory Of Year-Old Vapes
A Massachusetts marijuana company plans to destroy $2.6 million of aging cannabis vapes, saying consumers have no confidence in the state’s system for certifying that the devices are free of lead and other toxic heavy metals. Temescal Wellness, which operates dispensaries in Framingham, Hudson, and Pittsfield, said Friday that it will dispose of more than 40,000 vape cartridges that have been sitting in storage since last year’s temporary ban on their sale. (Adams, 8/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kemp’s Latest Order Allows Local Mask Mandates For The First Time
After months of opposing local mask mandates, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order on Saturday that empowers many Georgia cities and counties to impose face covering requirements to combat the coronavirus. More than a dozen governments have already adopted those requirements over Kemp’s objections, and the governor had gone to court to block them. (Bluestein, 8/15)

The New York Times: New York Has A 14-Day Quarantine. Many New Yorkers Are Ignoring It. 
Earlier this summer, Sasha Pagan burst into tears during her nursing shift at a hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It had been a normal day in the pediatric unit, apart from the masks and the Covid-19 protocols, when a patient arrived for some testing. She was screened at the front door, answering “no” when asked whether she had traveled outside of New York state within the past two weeks, currently a prerequisite for nonemergency medical treatment. But at the end of the appointment, the patient admitted to having been in Florida six days earlier. (Krueger, 8/16)

Politico: Chicago Mayor: 'We're Never Going To Get Everything That We Need From The Federal Government' 
Cities and states across the country "are never going to get everything that we need from the federal government" when it comes to combating Covid-19, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday. "If we waited for them, we'd be in dire straits," Lightfoot told Margaret Brennan on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It would be great if there was not the chaos that we've seen at the federal government — the White House fighting the CDC, the HHS hijacking the reporting process. And still, we don't have a consistent testing regime. We still don't have a federal mask policy." (Mueller, 8/16)

AP: Cuomo: Health Workers To Supervise Annual 9/11 Light Tribute
The annual light display honoring victims of 9/11 is back on, officials announced Saturday, saying New York health officials will supervise this year’s tribute to ensure workers’ safety amid concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. “This year it is especially important that we all appreciate and commemorate 9/11, the lives lost and the heroism displayed ‎as New Yorkers are once again called upon to face a common enemy,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. (8/15)

CNN: Florida Sheriff's Lieutenant Dies After Being Hospitalized For Weeks With Coronavirus 
A 20-year veteran of a sheriff's department in South Florida has died of Covid-19 after weeks in the hospital. Lt. Aldemar "Al" Rengifo Jr., 47, of the Broward County Sheriff's office (BSO) died Sunday, according to a BSO press release. Rengifo had been hospitalized since July 27. (Holcombe, 8/17)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Jefferson Parish Correctional Center Placed On Lockdown After Coronavirus Outbreak 
The Jefferson Parish Correctional Center was placed on lockdown Friday morning because of an outbreak of coronavirus infections in the Gretna jail. Forty-four inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, and six were awaiting test results as of Friday, according Jean Llovet, health services director for CorrectHealth Jefferson, the company contracted by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office to handle medical care. (Hunter, 8/14)

In news from California —

The Wall Street Journal: California Braces For More Blackouts As Heat Wave Scorches West 
California was struggling to deliver enough power to keep the lights on for the first time in nearly two decades as a severe heat wave broiled the region, and officials warned of potentially more rolling blackouts if high temperatures persist. Residents across the state were blasting their air-conditioning units while sheltering at home as coronavirus cases continue to climb. That has put enormous strain on California’s electric grid, which is in the middle of an unprecedented transition as policy makers continue to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate power. (Blunt and Calfas, 8/16)

The New York Times: Rolling Blackouts In California Have Power Experts Stumped
As temperatures began to rise in California on Friday and again on Saturday, the manager of much of the state’s electric grid called on utilities to cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers. But the rolling blackouts on those days left some of the state’s energy experts bewildered. They said that the utilities had plenty of power available and that the blackouts weren’t necessary. The grid’s capacity may be tested in coming days as temperatures are forecast to reach into the triple digits again in some places. (Penn, 8/16)

In news from Iowa, Massachusetts and Oklahoma —

NPR: 'The Devastation Is Widespread.' Iowans Continue To Struggle Following Deadly Derecho 
Thousands of Iowans are still coping with the aftermath of a storm that pummeled the state last Monday with 100-mile-per-hour winds — a storm that flattened corn and soybean crops, damaged grain elevators and leveled banks, churches and homes. More than 158,000 Iowans were still without power as of Friday evening, according to Iowa Public Radio. By Sunday morning, more than 98,000 continued to lack power, according to the monitoring site PowerOutage.US. (Silva, 8/16)

AP: Second Massachusetts Resident Infected With EEE
A second Massachusetts resident has been infected with Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Public health officials say the woman in her 60s was exposed to the potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease in Hampden County. As a result, the state is raising the EEE risk level in Wilbraham to critical. (8/15)

The Oklahoman: As Questions Mount, Prospects Dim For Federal Bill On Oklahoma Reservations
Prospects have dimmed for federal legislation this year to clarify Oklahoma’s criminal and civil jurisdiction in the wake of a momentous U.S. Supreme Court decision that could soon mean nearly half the state is Indian reservation land. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the most senior member of the state’s congressional delegation, said last week that it would be “very difficult” to get a bill passed this year addressing the myriad issues — including taxation and regulation — raised by the court’s ruling that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation was never terminated. (Casteel, 8/16)

AP: Illinois Imposes New Metro East COVID-19 Rules After Spike
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced fresh restrictions Sunday for southwestern Illinois after a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The rules, effective Tuesday, include limiting meetings and social events to the lesser of 25 people or 25% of overall room capacity and closing bars and casinos at 11 p.m. (8/16)

AP: Wisconsin Reports 685 Newly Confirmed COVID Cases, 1 Death
Wisconsin health officials on Sunday reported 685 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus and one additional death. The new cases raise Wisconsin total infections since the pandemic hit to 65,741. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said the state’s death toll now stands at 1,039. (8/16)

Lexington Herald Leader: Kentucky Reports 390 Cases Of COVID-19, Three New Deaths Sunday 
Kentucky reported 390 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, along with three new deaths attributed to the illness, according to the office of Gov. Andy Beshear. The new cases, which were reported as of 3 p.m. Sunday, bring the state up to a total of 39,315 cases of the illness and 813 deaths attributed to coronavirus, according to Beshear’s office. There is limited reporting on Sundays, so some statistics, like positivity rate, were not released. (Eads, 8/16)

AP: Number Of COVID Deaths In North Dakota Hits 125
North Dakota health officials said Sunday the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state has hit 125. The North Dakota Department of Health reports four new deaths, including a woman in her 70s from Burleigh County with no underlying health conditions. The other deaths are a man in his 80s from Burleigh County, a man in his 40s from Sioux County and a man in his 60s from Stark County, all with underlying health conditions. (8/16)

AP: Oklahoma Coronavirus Cases Rise By 544, 4 Additional Deaths
The reported number of coronavirus cases in Oklahoma increased by 544 Sunday with four more deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. There are 48,342 confirmed cases and 661 deaths, up from 47,798 cases and 657 deaths Saturday, the department said. The true number of cases in Oklahoma is likely higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick. (8/16)

AP: Nevada Reports 697 New Coronavirus Cases And 3 More Deaths
Nevada health officials report 697 more confirmed coronavirus cases with three additional deaths. The numbers released Sunday increase the state’s totals to 61,305 cases and 1,072 known deaths. (8/16)

AP: Arizona Reports 883 More Coronavirus Cases, 14 More Deaths
Arizona health officials report 883 more confirmed COVID-19 cases with 14 additional deaths. The latest numbers released Sunday push the state’s totals to 193,537 cases and 4,506 known deaths. (8/16)

Reuters: Lebanon Needs Two-Week Lockdown After 'Shocking' COVID-19 Rise, Minister Says
Lebanon must shut down for two weeks after a surge in coronavirus infections, the caretaker health minister said on Monday, as the country reels from the massive Beirut port blast. “We declare today a state of general alert and we need a brave decision to close (the country) for two weeks,” Hamad Hassan told Voice of Lebanon radio. Lebanon on Sunday registered a record 439 new infections and six more deaths from the virus in 24 hours. (8/17)

The Washington Post: New Zealand Leader Jacinda Ardern Delays Election Over Coronavirus Outbreak 
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday postponed New Zealand's general election, scheduled for Sept. 19, for four weeks as authorities grapple with a new wave of coronavirus cases that has set back the country's pandemic recovery. The decision follows confirmation last Tuesday that several members of a family in Auckland had tested positive for the virus, ending the Ardern government’s record of more than 100 days without a known case of community transmission. (Stoakes, 8/16)

The New York Times: South Korea Warns Of Another Covid-19 Outbreak Tied To A Church 
Health officials in South Korea reported 279 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, warning of a resurgence of infections, many linked to a church that has vocally opposed President Moon Jae-in. South Korea had battled the epidemic down to two-digit daily caseloads since April. But the number of new cases has soared recently, with 103 on Friday and 166 on Saturday, most of them worshipers at the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, the capital, and another church in the surrounding province of Gyeonggi. (Sang-Hun, 8/16)

AP: Canada U.S Border Restrictions Extended To At Least Sept.
The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another month, Canada’s public safety minister said Friday. The statement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came a day after Mexico announced a similar measure for its border with the United States. (Gillies, 8/14)

Reuters: Mexico President Says COVID-19 Vaccine Expected To Be Ready Early Next Year
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expects to be able to put a COVID-19 vaccine into use in the country during the first quarter next year, he said in a video on Twitter on Sunday. His government has struck a partnership with Argentina and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc to produce a vaccine for distribution throughout Latin America. (8/16)

AP: Health Official Thinks The Coronavirus Has Peaked In Mexico
Mexico’s point man for the coronavirus pandemic said Friday that he thinks the country reached its peak of infections over the last three weeks. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell had previously wrongly predicted that infections would peak in May and June, but on Friday he said, “We have now had a maximum point in the curve.” (8/15)

Reuters: Jordan To Isolate City Near Syria After Coronavirus Spike 
Jordan will seal off a city near the Syrian border from Monday following the largest daily rise in four months in coronavirus infections, which officials say have come mainly from its northern neighbour. The health ministry said half of the 39 cases recorded in the last 24 hours were from Ramtha city, near the Syrian border. (Al-Khalidi, 8/16)

Reuters: French New Coronavirus Cases Above 3,000 For Second Day 
France’s health ministry on Sunday reported 3,015 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, the second day in a row in which new cases have surpassed the 3,000 mark. However, the daily count was below the 3,310 cases reported on Saturday that marked a post-lockdown high, the ministry’s data showed. (8/16)

Reuters: Italy Closes Nightclubs As Coronavirus Cases Rise Among Young 
Italy is to shut discos and clubs and make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas during the night-time in the first reimposition of restrictions as cases of coronavirus pick up across the country, especially among younger people. New cases in the past week in Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus, were more than double those registered three weeks ago and the median age of people contracting the virus has dropped below 40, data showed. (8/16)

Reuters: Irish Health Chiefs To Consider If More COVID-19 Restrictions Needed 
Ireland’s health chiefs will meet on Monday to decide if further restrictions are needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of the coronavirus that the government and officials have described as deeply concerning. Ireland has reopened its economy at a slower pace than most European Union countries but that has not stopped a jump in cases over the last two weeks that led to the first localised reimposition of some restrictions last week. (8/16)

Reuters: Wife Of Brazil's President Says She Has Tested Negative For Coronavirus
Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, said on Sunday she had tested negative for the novel coronavirus, roughly two weeks after first contracting the disease. Several members of the Bolsonaro family have gotten sick with COVID-19 as Brazil has the second highest number of cases in the world after the United States. (8/16)

Also —

Reuters: German-Brazilian Couple Hug Again After Coronavirus Separation 
A German-Brazilian couple kept apart by coronavirus restrictions have been reunited after Germany eased border controls for unmarried couples who can prove their relationships preceded the pandemic. Florian Mehler, 41, from Wiesloch near Frankfurt, had not seen his girlfriend Renata Alves, 40, since she returned to her native Brazil in January after visiting him in Germany. (8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Chased Off Tourists—Lots Of Locals Don’t Want Them Ever Flocking Back 
The bustle of tourists has disappeared from this ancient capital—only to be replaced by dissension over whether they should ever be welcomed back. Mimiko Takayasu, 80 years old, is proprietress of a century-old tea house where geisha entertain wealthy Japanese with traditional music and dance. Until the coronavirus pandemic, the streets of Gion, Kyoto’s high-end entertainment district, were packed with amateur paparazzi trying to get snapshots of apprentice geisha called maiko. (Inada, 8/16)

AP: Pakistan Launches Anti-Polio Drive As COVID-19 Cases Decline
Pakistani health officials on Saturday launched a seven-day vaccination campaign against polio as part of efforts aimed at eliminating the crippling disease amid a steady decline in fatalities and infections from the coronavirus, which had recently overwhelmed the country’s fragile health system. The anti-polio campaign, which began amid tight security, aims to vaccinate as many as 34 million children across Pakistan, including former Taliban strongholds bordering Afghanistan, a government statement said. (Ahmed, 8/15)

Boston Globe: It’s Time For A Safe Return To Campus 
New England colleges and universities are admired for their ability to marshal smart minds to tackle complex problems. This capacity has been evident throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as their research, teaching, and commitment to public service have demonstrated what they do best — chart new paths in the face of uncertainty. Analysis by the New England Board of Higher Education, an organization supporting students and institutions in the region, indicates that 65 of New England’s colleges and universities plan to provide on-campus and in-person instruction this fall. Ninety-eight will provide a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning, while 35 will support students all virtually. Each institution’s decision was made in response to the risk factors it faces as leaders do their best to respond to this unprecedented health emergency. We recognize the importance of colleges and universities, both public and private, in the region that will reopen campuses in the coming weeks. These institutions have thoughtfully crafted plans for reopening that, while subject to some risks, will allow them to provide significant benefits to students, institutions, communities, and economies. (Members of The New England Board of Higher Education, 8/14)

Los Angeles Times: How We Can Get Kids Back To School Safely During The Pandemic 
Tuesday is the first day of school for nearly 700,000 students in Los Angeles Unified. Not one of them will be in a classroom. They need to be, for both educational and social reasons. But the question is how to get students back to school safely. Health practices — spreading desks apart, wearing masks, washing hands, using electrostatic cleaning and upgrading HVAC systems — are crucial, but they won’t be enough. That’s why Los Angeles Unified is launching a new effort that, with the support of three universities, a technology giant, innovative testing providers and health insurers, will provide a robust system of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing to serve all in the school community. (Austin Beutner, 8/16)

USA Today: COVID-19 Impact On Sports Causes Identity Crisis For Athletes
As the Big Ten and Pac-12 postpone their fall season, football players are speaking out, saying they want to stick to their normal routines and keep playing, in spite of the serious health risks. Take a closer look at the psychology of these players, and you’ll understand why. From the time most of these Division I football players were young, they have dedicated themselves fully to their sport. (Sian Beilock, 8/16)

Detroit Free Press: COVID Cases At College: Why Reopen Fall Semester? Money From Tuition
Colleges that are reopening campuses this fall know they’re bringing a higher risk of coronavirus to their community. The questions aren’t really about if or when, but about how bad outbreaks could be — and whether having an in-person experience for students is worth the cost. With so much at stake, some students, parents and faculty are asking: Why take the risk at all? In many cases, it comes back to money. (Chris Quintana, 8/17)

Detroit Free Press: Masks Or Computers Losing Battle For Michigan Schools
I work with kids. A lot. Many of them don’t speak English. The best tool I have, when we need to communicate, is the three or four inches between my nose and chin, and the two or three inches between theirs.If they don’t understand something, I push up a smile and their smile usually follows. If I see them sitting alone, a frown on their face lets me know if they are upset or just daydreaming. Teeth, lips, observing the formation of words with the tongue and jaw, are all integral to the learning process for young children. Which is what concerns me (among many things) about a return to school during COVID-19. (Mitch Albom, 8/16)

Tampa Bay Times: On The Pandemic, Don’t Cherry-Pick Your Numbers
Florida set a record last week for the most coronavirus deaths on a single day — 277. That’s bad. Yet, the weekly death average has dropped, as have the number of hospitalizations. That’s good. All of those statistics are true and yet each one, taken in isolation, plots a very different map of the pandemic’s course in Florida. So, consider this a cautionary tale: Do not harden your opinion — whatever it is — on dealing with COVID-19, particularly on what schools should be doing. Be open to numbers and facts that contradict your views, and don’t cherry-pick the ones that comport with your own ideas. We have known about COVID-19 for mere months, and our knowledge increases — and changes — by the day. Keep an open mind to new developments and about the best course forward. (8/16)

Austin Statesman: Texas Needs To Set COVID Metrics For School Reopenings 
Texas officials got things backwards. They started with the mandate: In-person classes must resume this fall alongside online offerings. Then came the concession to reality: The Texas Education Agency said in-person classes can be delayed if local health departments insist. Now the task rightly falls to local health officials to decide if the coronavirus is sufficiently contained in their community to allow public schools to reopen. Their efforts would benefit immensely if the state established widely accepted, science-driven benchmarks that communities should hit before in-person classes resume. (8/17)

WBUR: The Mass. Legislature's Climate Bills Are Important. But They Wouldn't Do Enough For My Most Vulnerable Patients 
COVID-19 is deeply intertwined with the climate crisis. These dual public health threats have forced a new reckoning with our history of racial injustice. My patients, many of whom have been infected with coronavirus over the last five months, are the faces of those who suffer from these converging crises. (Gaurab Basu, 8/17)

The New York Times: Covid-19 Is Creating A Wave Of Heart Disease
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, was initially thought to primarily impact the lungs — SARS stands for “severe acute respiratory syndrome.” Now we know there is barely a part of the body this infection spares. And emerging data show that some of the virus’s most potent damage is inflicted on the heart. Eduardo Rodriguez was poised to start as the No. 1 pitcher for the Boston Red Sox this season. But in July the 27-year-old tested positive for Covid-19. Feeling “100 years old,” he told reporters: “I’ve never been that sick in my life, and I don’t want to get that sick again.” His symptoms abated, but a few weeks later he felt so tired after throwing about 20 pitches during practice that his team told him to stop and rest. Further investigation revealed that he had a condition many are still struggling to understand: Covid-19-associated myocarditis. Mr. Rodriguez won’t be playing baseball this season. (Haider Warraich, 8/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Prepare For Tendentious Covid ‘Lessons’
Ignore the Atlantic magazine headline that proclaims “How the Pandemic Defeated America.” You won’t be learning much except a paean to progressive policy prescriptions for social “inequities” that the author insists are the real root of our pandemic failings. Unfortunately, a society without inequities will never exist, so this is no help. Ignore even claims that seem to go directly at real pandemic-management failures, such as: “The federal government could have mitigated [shortages] by buying supplies at economies of scale and distributing them according to need.” (Holman W. Jenkins, 8/14)

NBC News: COVID-19 Spikes In South Africa, Melbourne Offer America Clues Ahead Of Winter 2020
Earlier this month, Africa passed the 1 million mark for the number of recorded cases of COVID-19. Australia has imposed its second lockdown in Melbourne as cases spiked in key urban areas. Besides the obvious humanitarian concerns, why should the U.S. be troubled by these events? Because the Southern Hemisphere is deep into its winter season, and the virus's progress in colder continents could be a precursor of horrors to come as America and the Northern Hemisphere head toward their first full fall and winter since this coronavirus was discovered. (David A. Andelman, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Don’t Just Look At Covid-19 Fatality Rates. Look At People Who Survive — But Don’t Entirely Recover. 
During the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States became a nation of novice hermits and amateur epidemiologists. The former battened down the hatches; the latter frantically tried to assess just how much danger we were hiding from. Between sourdough seminars and Zoom meetings, Twitter PhD theses were composed and defended seeking to pin down the “infection fatality rate”: the percentage of infected people, including the undiagnosed, who died from covid-19. In those early innings, good-faith estimates ranged as high as 3 percent and as low as 0.1 percent. As we got more information, however, the plausible estimates narrowed, and is probably in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 percent. But with more data, something else has become clear: We’re focusing too much on fatality rates and not enough on the people who don’t die, but don’t entirely recover, either. (Megan McArdle, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Lifting Lockdowns Won’t Fully Restore The Economy 
America is largely open for business, but consumers are still staying home. As long as Covid-19 is an epidemic, many will be cautious, and the economy will be weak. There is a direct link between the choices we make on issues such as wearing masks and the risk of a double-dip recession. Take Florida, where nonessential businesses have been allowed to open with reduced capacity. Bans on large gatherings have been lifted and restaurants can allow patrons inside with limits. Bans on large gatherings have been lifted or relaxed in 36 states. Every state has restarted at least some nonessential businesses. By our count, bars are open in 33 states. Consumers are limiting their activities anyway, and they may be right to do so. (Scott Gottlieb and Michael R. Strain, 8/16)

The New York Times: A Hospital Without Loved Ones Is The New Normal
One morning in early March, during what would be our last week of normalcy, my team gathered outside our patient’s room on morning rounds. The beleaguered overnight intern began to present the details of the case. Then stopped. We needed to wait. The patient’s wife was on the way — and we couldn’t start without her.It was a tenet of my critical care training. Family members were an integral part of the care that we delivered. They keep us accountable and remind us that our patients had rich lives outside the hospital. But more than that, it was often the relative who would clock a subtle change, alert us to a medication allergy, bring in the blanket from home or the food that would spark our patient to start eating again. When they were not present at the bedside, we felt their absence. All of that has changed. (Daniela J. Lamas, 8/17)

The Hill: We Can Make Air Travel Safer With A TSA Public Health Corps Staff 
The coronavirus pandemic has emptied passengers from airplanes, shuttered several airlines and threatens many tourist and travel-dependent businesses. Increasing air travel undercuts public health efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. To reduce disease transmission as air travel increases, the U.S. federal government should establish a Public Health Corps within the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to test all airline passengers and crew for the novel coronavirus, beginning with airports serving coronavirus hotspots. (Rey Koslowski, 8/16)

Stat: Telehealth And The New Choreography Of 'Anywhere Care' 
Covid-19 has transformed the traditional doctor’s office visit as we know it, moving it away from physical offices by adding online connections. That doesn’t mean virtual care is the sole future of health care. Instead, I hope it will become part of a new balance that embraces the potential of anywhere care. (Roy Schoenberg, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Virginians Need Care — Not Cops — In A Mental-Health Crisis 
Bryan Barks is director of strategic communications at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. I still remember the flashing blue lights, the deep voices outside the door, the fear shooting through my body. I regretted ever asking for help. I needed care, not cops. I am one of hundreds of thousands of Virginians who live with mental illness. Like many people with mental illness, I understand the need to reform our approach to mental health and policing. I understand because I’ve experienced the flaws of our current system firsthand.As the Virginia General Assembly convenes Tuesday for a special session on criminal justice and police reform, I will be watching to see if legislators act in the best interests of constituents like me. (Bryan Barks, 8/14)