The Washington Post: Trump Touts FDA’s Emergency Authorization Of Convalescent Plasma As Historic Breakthrough, But Scientists Are Doubtful 
President Trump announced Sunday that he had helped break through a regulatory “logjam” to grant emergency authorization of convalescent plasma to treat covid-19, a “powerful therapy” that he claimed “had an incredible rate of success,” despite the fact that his own scientists are calling for more studies to definitively show it works. The announcement, at a news conference where Trump was flanked by Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, drew criticism from physicians and scientists, who said their statements misled the public by overstating the evidence behind a therapy that shows promise but still needs to be rigorously tested. (Johnson, McGinley, Dawsey and Min Kim, 8/23)

AP: Trump Announces Plasma Treatment Authorized For COVID-19
In a letter describing the emergency authorization, the chief scientist for the FDA, Denise Hinton, said: “COVID-19 convalescent plasma should not be considered a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additional data will be forthcoming from other analyses and ongoing, well-controlled clinical trials in the coming months.” But Trump had made clear to aides that he was eager to showcase good news in the battle against the virus, and the timing allowed him to head into his convention with momentum. He and aides billed it as a “major” development and used the White House briefing room to make the announcement. (Lemire and Stobbe, 8/24)

Politico: FDA Authorizes Plasma Treatment Despite Scientists' Objections
Trump in a brief Sunday evening news conference appeared to oversell the FDA's assessment, claiming the agency found plasma "safe and very effective." The agency itself said more rigorous study is needed to prove whether the treatment effective. Janet Woodcock, the head of FDA's drug division who is now working on Operation Warp Speed, an interagency effort to accelerate coronavirus treatments and vaccines, on Friday told POLITICO that plasma has not been "proven as an effective treatment." Trump also returned to his recent accusations that government scientists were holding up potential coronavirus treatments for political reasons. "We broke the logjam over the last week," he said. "I think there are people in the FDA and actually in [the larger health] department that can see things being held up." (Brennan and Owermohle, 8/23)

NPR: FDA Authorizes Convalescent Plasma As Emergency Treatment For COVID-19 
Joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn for what he called a "truly historic" announcement, President Trump described the treatment as safe and effective. Convalescent plasma, Hahn explained, is the liquid portion of the blood that contains the antibodies an individual develops in response to an infection and can be given to patients currently fighting that virus. He said this treatment has long been a part of the infectious disease arsenal. (Treisman, 8/23)

CNN: US FDA Announces Emergency Authorization For Convalescent Plasma To Treat Covid-19
Last week, Trump accused some health officials of playing politics regarding an EUA for convalescent plasma. When asked about the FDA not having granted an EUA, Trump said the reason was political. (Gupta, Gumbrecht and Fox, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Authorizes Convalescent Plasma For Covid-19 Use 
The FDA said more clinical studies are necessary for definitive proof of the therapy’s effectiveness. (Burton and Dockser Marcus, 8/23)

Stat: Is Convalescent Plasma Safe And Effective? 
The Mayo Clinic study showed that patients who received transfusions within three days of their Covid-19 diagnosis had a seven-day death rate of 8.7%, while patients who received plasma treatment after four or more days had a mortality rate of 11.9% (Facher, 8/23)

CNN: Trump, Without Evidence, Accuses FDA Of Delaying Coronavirus Vaccine Trials And Pressures Agency Chief 
President Donald Trump on Saturday accused, without providing any evidence, the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials, pressuring the man he had picked to head the agency... He accused the agency of delaying a vaccine for the virus until after the fall election, tweeting, "Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!" Trump ended his tweet by tagging the Twitter account of FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who he nominated last year to take up the role. (Stracqualursi, 8/23)

Fox News: Trump Accuses 'Deep State' FDA Of Thwarting Efforts For Coronavirus Treatments Until After Election
President Trump on Saturday accused the “deep state” at the Food and Drug Administration of making it hard for drug companies to test coronavirus treatments -- and suggested the agency is trying to delay them until after Election Day. “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” he tweeted. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” (Shaw, 8/23)

Axios: Trump Echoes Peter Navarro's "Deep State" Rhetoric About The FDA
Senior health officials in the Trump administration were taken aback last Monday when the president's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, accused them of being part of the "Deep State" during a meeting that was supposed to be about COVID-19 and the Strategic National Stockpile. Why it matters: Five days after Navarro's private comments toward the FDA, the president echoed Navarro's sentiments with a pair of Saturday morning tweets and tagged Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration. (Swan, 8/23)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Baseless Claim Of 'Deep State' At FDA
President Donald Trump is leveling unfounded attacks on his Food and Drug Administration and distorting the science on effective treatments for COVID-19. Heading this week into the Republican National Convention, he asserted that the agency is slow-walking vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus in a bid to undermine his November reelection effort. There’s no evidence of that, and one of his former FDA commissioners on Sunday rejected the accusation as groundless. (Yen and Woodward, 8/23)

The Hill: Pelosi Hammers Trump For 'Very Dangerous' Attack On FDA 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) bashed President Trump on Saturday after he urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the approval of coronavirus treatments, warning that the president was undermining public safety to help his reelection."The FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs, judging on their safety and their efficacy, not by a declaration from the White House about speed and politicizing the FDA," Pelosi said during a rare Saturday press briefing in the Capitol. (Lillis, 8/22)

The Hill: Democrats Tear Into Trump's 'Deep State' Tweet: His 'Lies And Recklessness' Have 'Killed People'
Democrats came after President Trump on Saturday after he called the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the "deep state," with one critic saying the president's "lies and recklessness" have "killed people." "Since the start of the pandemic I have repeatedly called on the FDA to follow science and data alone in approving covid treatments and ... reject trump's dangerous 'miracle' cures," Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) tweeted on Saturday in response to Trump. (Deese, 8/22)

Politico: Trump Wants FDA To ‘Feel The Heat,’ Chief Of Staff Says 
The president’s claim that the FDA is delaying clinical trials for the coronavirus vaccine for political reasons is his way of making some at the agency “feel the heat” and push forward, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday. President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the “deep state” at the Food and Drug Administration “is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics.” (Bice, 8/23)

Stat: Drug Firms Rebut Trump Tweet That FDA Delaying Covid-19 Vaccines 
In a tweet Saturday morning, President Donald Trump accused the Food and Drug Administration of delaying the development of coronavirus vaccines and drugs. “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” the president wrote.  “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” (Herper and Florko, 8/22)

The Washington Post: The Tweet Represents A New Target In The President’s Ongoing Attacks On Administration Scientists 
President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration of impeding enrollment in clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics for political reasons, as he broadened and escalated his attacks on administration scientists. “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” he said on Twitter. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” He tagged FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in the tweet. (McGinley, Johnson and Dawsey, 8/22)

The Hill: Trump Administration Bars FDA Review Of Some Coronavirus Tests 
The Trump administration will allow coronavirus tests developed by individual laboratories to be used without Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, the administration announced Wednesday. Officials told Politico and The Washington Post that the decision came after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined the FDA does not have the authority to regulate lab-developed tests for any condition, including COVID-19. (Moreno, 8/21)

The New York Times: Billions In Hospital Virus Aid Rested On Compliance With Private Vendor 
The Trump administration tied billions of dollars in badly needed coronavirus medical funding this spring to hospitals’ cooperation with a private vendor collecting data for a new Covid-19 database that bypassed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highly unusual demand, aimed at hospitals in coronavirus hot spots using funds passed by Congress with no preconditions, alarmed some hospital administrators and even some federal health officials. (Gay Stolberg, 8/23)

In other Trump administration news —

The Washington Post: Federal Judge Halts Betsy DeVos’s Controversial Rule Sending Federal Coronavirus Aid To Private Schools 
A federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from enforcing a controversial rule that directs states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress had intended. In a lawsuit filed by the state, U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein on Friday issued a preliminary injunction and castigated the Education Department over the July 1 regulation about the distribution of federal funds. The money, about $13.5 billion, was included for K-12 schools in Congress’s March $2 trillion-aid package — known as the Cares Act — to mitigate economic damage from the pandemic. (Strauss, 8/23)

USA Today: Fact Check: 'Plandemic II' Alleges False Conspiracy Theory Involving CDC, NIH; Pandemic Not Planned
A new video — entitled "Plandemic II: Indoctornation" — has spread online and on Facebook since Aug. 18, proliferating a baseless conspiracy theory about the nature of the coronavirus pandemic. The 75-minute documentary is a follow-up to a similar video that went viral in May — and was removed by social media platforms for spreading misinformation. Its description claims it "tracks a three decade-long money trail that leads directly to the key players behind the COVID-19 pandemic." ( Caldera and Fauzia, 8/23)

USA Today: COVID-19 Quarantine: CDC Drops 14-Day Recommendation For Travelers
Travelers returning from a trip outside the country or their state no longer face recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return. The CDC updated its travel requirements online Friday, advising travelers to "follow state, territorial, tribal and local recommendations or requirements after travel." Previous guidelines recommended a 14-day quarantine for those returning from international destinations or areas with a high concentration of coronavirus cases. (Yasharoff, 8/23)

ABC News: Longer Wait Times Expected At US Border Under New COVID-19 Protocols 
The U.S. will slow down the flow of traffic at select ports of entry on the Southwest border to further limit the spread of novel coronavirus by travelers coming from Mexico, a Customs and Border Protection official confirmed on Saturday. Non-essential travel has been limited since March, but the new measures may increase wait times at ports of entry in San Diego, California; Tucson, Arizona; and El Paso and Laredo, Texas. Reuters first reported on the additional lane closures and customs inspections that will likely delay anyone traveling for non-essential reasons. (Owen, 8/22)

Reuters: EPA To OK American Airlines Use Of Surface Coating To Fight COVID-19 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to announce on Monday it will issue an emergency exemption to the state of Texas permitting it to allow American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) to use a new surface coating that kills coronaviruses for up to seven days, sources briefed on the matter said. EPA officials said the agency would approve the emergency exemption requests under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to allow the use of SurfaceWise2 — a product manufactured by Allied BioScience Inc - by both American Airlines and Texas-based Total Orthopedics Sports & Spine’s two clinics for up to a year. (Shepardson and Rucinski, 8/23)

CNN: Twitter Hits Trump For 'Misleading Health Claims' That Could Dissuade People From Voting 
Twitter on Sunday slapped a label on a tweet from President Donald Trump for "making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting." Trump claimed in posts on Twitter and Facebook early Sunday morning that mail drop boxes for voting "are not Covid sanitized," as well as a "voter security disaster." (O'Sulllivan, Thomas and Zaslav, 8/23)

Politico: Trump Just Wants Safer Polling Places, Meadows Says 
President Donald Trump is pushing for law enforcement at polling places for safety reasons, not voter suppression, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday. There won't be "thousands of sheriffs" at the polls on Nov. 3, Meadows said on "Fox News Sunday," but "if the judges at those polling places need any kind of security, we're going to make sure we have the resources to do that." (Parthasarathy, 8/23)

NPR: House Approves Bill That Blocks Changes At Postal Service Until After The Election
The House passed legislation on Saturday to infuse $25 billion into the Postal Service and block operational changes that Democrats fear could hobble mail-in voting in this November's election. In a rare Saturday session, the House passed the measure by a vote of 257 to 150, with 26 Republicans siding with Democrats to approve the bill. (Slotkin, 8/22)

Politico: House Passes USPS Rescue In Bid To Thwart Trump Attacks On Mail-In Voting 
The legislation also would block operational changes deployed by Trump’s postmaster general that have caused widespread mail delays and fueled an uproar across the country. The bill passed 257-150, with 26 Republicans breaking with Trump and GOP leaders to join every Democrat in backing the bill. "We will pass the bill and it will be in a bipartisan way, and then we will send it to the Senate," Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Saturday before the vote. "They’ll be hearing from their constituents because this hits home." (Caygle and Ferris, 8/22)

Reuters: U.S. Postal Service Says House Bill Would Hamper Improvements
The U.S. Postal Service said on Sunday that a bill passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives would hamper its ability to “improve service to the American people” and assured it could handle mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 presidential election. The House voted on Saturday to provide the cash-strapped Postal Service with $25 billion and block policy changes that have stirred concerns that it would botch the handling of an unprecedented surge in pandemic-driven mail-in balloting. (8/23)

Modern Healthcare: Biden Targets Trump ACA Lawsuit, Promises National COVID-19 Plan
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday warned that President Donald Trump could take down the Affordable Care Act and promised a more coordinated national response to COVID-19. Biden's speech was the culmination of a convention focused more on his personality and character traits than his policy plans. One of his most aggressive healthcare policy ideas, creating a government-sponsored public health insurance option, was hardly mentioned during the four-day event. (Cohrs, 8/21)

AP: Biden Says He'd Shut Down Economy If Scientists Recommended
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would follow public health advisers’ advice if they called for a national shutdown should he take office and the coronavirus had not abated. “I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives. We cannot get the country moving until we control the virus,” Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday night on ABC News. (Barrow, 8/24)

Politico: ‘Watch Me’: Biden Hits Back At Trump Over Attacks On Age
Joe Biden has two words for President Donald Trump on his fitness for office: “Watch me.” The Democratic presidential nominee issued the direct call to Trump when asked by ABC’s David Muir to respond to Trump’s recent blistering attacks on Biden's mental acuity during a joint interview with his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, that aired Sunday night. (Semones, 8/23)

ABC News: Biden Has Not Been Tested For COVID-19, But 'Incredibly Strict Protocols' In Place: Biden Communications Director 
Kate Bedingfield, former Vice President Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager and communications director, said Sunday that the Democratic presidential nominee has not been tested for COVID-19, but that "incredibly strict protocols," have been put in place to ensure that he does not contract it. (Verhovek, 8/23)

Reuters: In Interview, Biden Says He Will Stick To His Stay-At-Home Strategy 
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said in an interview that aired on Sunday that he had no plans to begin a more aggressive campaign schedule with little more than two months to go before the Nov. 3 election. Asked if he could win a presidential election from his Delaware home, Biden answered: “We will.” Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, gave their first interview together to ABC News. “We’re going to follow the science, what the scientists tell us,” Biden said. (Oliphant, 8/23)

NPR: Hundreds Of GOP Delegates Journey To Charlotte Semi-Bubble For Scaled-Down Convention
Delegates arriving in Charlotte for the scaled down, in-person portion of the Republican National Convention aren't being greeted by the Charlotte mayor or even business leaders. Instead, they are ushered into a purple tent outside the downtown Westin hotel. That's where they are given a coronavirus test — even though they already had to take a self-swab COVID test at home before getting on a plane. (Harrison, 8/23)

NPR: Convention Gives Trump A Chance To Explain How He'll Make America Great Again, Again
The last three American presidents all won reelection, and they all knew voters would reward them, not for their accomplishments, but for their future plans. ... At this week's Republican National Convention, President Trump will get a chance to not only remind voters why he thinks Joe Biden would be a disaster in the White House, but also lay out his own vision for the future. So far, he hasn't been very specific about what it is. (Liasson, 8/23)

Politico: Trump Cites School Choice, China As Second-Term Priorities 
President Donald Trump said school choice and being tougher with China would be top priorities in his second term if he were reelected. In an interview with Steve Hilton that aired Sunday night on Fox News’ “The Next Revolution,” Trump immediately volunteered “I‘d love to see school choice” when Hilton broached the subject of what he’d like to do in his second term. “Education is going to be a big factor for me,” Trump told Hilton. (Cohen, 8/23)

The Hill: Trump Seeks Health Care Victory On Prescription Drugs 
President Trump is searching for a health care victory ahead of the 2020 election, and has turned to executive action to try to achieve it. The administration is looking to fend off attacks from Democrats, who see the president as particularly vulnerable on health care. Trump's coronavirus response has put him on the defensive. (Weixel, 8/22)

Stat: PhRMA Scrambles To Respond To Trump’s Drug Pricing Ultimatum
Drug makers and their lobbyists are struggling to agree on a strategy that would convince President Trump to back off a highly controversial drug pricing policy that he vowed to enact on Monday. This week, the group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America convened three calls with member companies to discuss how to respond to an ultimatum that Trump laid out in July. (Florko and Facher, 8/21)

Reuters: Republicans, Democrats Trade Blame For Stalled U.S. Coronavirus Aid Legislation 
Top Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for stalled talks on coronavirus aid legislation on Sunday, a day after the House of Representatives approved $25 billion in new funds for the U.S. Postal Service, a bill that Republicans declared dead. The Democratic-led House passed the bill on Saturday in a special session called by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to prevent dwindling Postal Service funding and planned service cuts from interfering with delivery of mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election. (Lawder and Hesson, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Debt, Eviction And Hunger: Millions Fall Back Into Crisis As Stimulus And Safety Nets Vanish
One of the most successful elements of the government’s response to the coronavirus recession — protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty — is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire. Major recessions are especially fraught for low-income earners, whose finances can veer from tenuous to dire with one missed paycheck. But as the economy cratered this spring, economists and poverty experts were mildly surprised to discover that the torrent of government support that followed — particularly the $600 a week in expanded unemployment benefits and one-time $1,200 stimulus checks — likely lowered the overall poverty rate. (Denham and Telford, 8/23)

The New York Times: Trump Aides, Meeting With Lawmakers, Reportedly Said A Vaccine Would Be Approved Before The Election
Trump administration officials met with congressional leaders last month and told them they would probably give emergency approval to a coronavirus vaccine before the end of Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States, perhaps as early as late September, according to two people briefed on the discussion. The move would be highly unusual and would most likely prompt concerns about whether the administration is cutting corners on approvals for political purposes. (8/23)

The Hill: Economist Moore Predicts 'Exuberance' In Financial Markets If Coronavirus Cases Decline, Schools Reopen 
Economist Stephen Moore said a potential decline in coronavirus cases and the reopening of schools could lead to an “exuberance” in financial markets. “If that happens, you're going to see a lot of exuberance, not just in the financial markets, but in the real economy as we can start to get schools re-open,” Moore told radio host John Catsimatidis on his show broadcast on WABC 770 AM Sunday. (Moreno, 8/23)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital-Acquired Infections May Be Rising As COVID-19 Strains Workforce
Once relegated to the background, infection control specialists are now at the center of hospitals’ biggest challenge: responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are concerns among physicians and nurses in the field that the workforce is being stretched thin and hospital-acquired infections may be rising as a result. (Castellucci, 8/22)

WBUR: As Pandemic Persists, Health Care Heroes Beginning To Crack Under The Strain 
After five months working shifts at an emergency department in Oakland, Douglas Frey says he's mentally and physically spent. Most days the tall, athletic-looking 47-year-old nurse ends his shift depleted by what he calls an undercurrent of tension. Every day, Frey worries he'll make a mistake — picking up a contaminated mask, perhaps — and bring the virus home to his two boys and wife, who is immunocompromised. He's worried about his hospital's ability to source enough masks and protective gear for him to do his job safely. (McClurg, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Find Ways To Care For Patients And Staff During COVID-19
At least 600 healthcare providers have died from the coronavirus. Another 128,000 have been infected with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While many American workers stayed home to limit the virus’ community spread, healthcare workers headed to the front lines. For months, they have put their own safety—and that of their families—at risk to care for those in need. (Christ, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: Empathy, Transparency Are Musts During A Crisis, Executives Say
As COVID-19 spread through New York City in the early months of the pandemic, Columbia University’s nine hospitals had filled up with 2,500 coronavirus-infected patients by April 14. Clinicians on the front lines worked long hours and took on new roles. Meanwhile, leaders at the health system took action to support their workforce. They provided housing to many workers, extended financial support for child care, expanded mental health benefits and offered bonuses to help employees deal with expenses they hadn’t anticipated, said Donna Lynne, chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors. (Castellucci and Livingston, 8/22)

AP: Miami ICU Nurse: I Have Never In My Life Seen So Many Deaths
Their final breaths are tormented. Rublas Ruiz has seen too many of them -- the last gasps of 17 men and women who died of the coronavirus. A 41-year-old ICU nurse in Miami’s Kendall Regional Medical Center, Ruiz has witnessed the desperate, pleading, wide-eyed, barely there gasps. “The fear in their eyes when they can’t get enough air. They are so scared,” he says, quietly. “Their eyes are big, desperate to get the oxygen and that makes me so sad.” (Kennedy, 8/22)

Kaiser Health News and AP: Florida’s Cautionary Tale: How Gutting And Muzzling Public Health Fueled COVID Fire
On a sweltering July morning, Rose Wilson struggled to breathe as she sat in her bed, the light from her computer illuminating her face and the oxygen tubes in her nose. Wilson, a retiree who worked as a public health department nurse supervisor in Duval County for 35 years, had just been diagnosed with COVID-19-induced pneumonia. She had a telemedicine appointment with her doctor. (Ungar, Dearen and Recht, 8/24)

WBUR: New Care Cube Reduces COVID-19 Infection For Health Care Workers 
A low-cost portable isolation unit that reduces the need for personal protective equipment goes into production in late August. The Care Cube has a glove window that allows medical personnel to touch patients without wearing personal protective equipment. As Jon Kalish reports, the Care Cube also has a hug suit for loved ones to see and hug patients with COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. (Kalish, 8/21)

The New York Times: How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting The Big Things Right 
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans in January that they didn’t need to wear masks, Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, a professor at the Mayo Clinic and the editor of the Blood Cancer Journal, couldn’t believe his ears. But he kept silent until Zeynep Tufekci (pronounced ZAY-nep too-FEK-chee), a sociologist he had met on Twitter, wrote that the C.D.C. had blundered by saying protective face coverings should be worn by health workers but not ordinary people. “Here I am, the editor of a journal in a high profile institution, yet I didn’t have the guts to speak out that it just doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Rajkumar told me. “Everybody should be wearing masks.” (Smith, 8/23)

USA Today: Coronavirus Death Toll 'Acceptable,' 57% Of Republicans Say In Poll
Americans view the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and the effectiveness of the government's response through a very partisan lens, a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found. More than 176,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19. According to the poll, a 57% majority of registered Republican voters consider that number "acceptable" when "evaluating the U.S. efforts against the coronavirus pandemic," compared with 31% of voters overall. Ninety percent of Democrats and 67% of independents said the death toll was "unacceptable." Republicans were also more likely to believe the official death toll is inflated. (Cummings, 8/23)

The Hill: About 70,000 Lives Could Be Saved In Near Future If People Wear Masks: Researchers 
The U.S. could save nearly 70,000 lives by December if the country implements universal mask mandates, according to a projection by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Researchers from the institute also found that an estimated 134,000 people could die in the U.S. from COVID-19 by December if the country takes no further safety measures. That number, they said, could worsen if mandates are relaxed. (Moreno, 8/22)

The Hill: Coronavirus Deaths Top 800,000 Globally 
More than 800,000 people globally have died from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, a grim milestone underscoring the physical toll the pandemic has taken on nations around the world. The U.S. has reported the most deaths tied to COVID-19 of any country at more than 175,000, with more than 32,000 of those in New York, nearly 16,000 in New Jersey and almost 12,000 in California. Other states with high death tolls include Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois and Pennsylvania. (Byrnes, 8/22)

Boston Globe: Do-It-Yourself Coronavirus Testing Sparks Kudos, And Caution 
Leading public health experts, frustrated with chronic delays in coronavirus testing, are on a mission to persuade federal regulators to authorize cheap, at-home tests that would deliver results in minutes and could help the country turn the corner on the pandemic. The campaign comes as the US Food and Drug Administration recently adopted guidelines aimed at ensuring accurate results for do-it-yourself COVID-19 tests. While several companies have developed home test kits and are pushing to get them on the market, these scientists say the new thresholds are so strict that few home test kits will be able to meet them. (Lazar, 8/22)

Detroit Free Press: State Signs $42M Contract With COVID-19 Testing Company Under Scrutiny
The state of Michigan signed a $42 million contract in July with a COVID-19 testing company that is under scrutiny in Texas for returning test results too slowly, and is accused of providing unreliable test results to a South Dakota native American tribe. Washington state-based Honu Management Group also may have overstated the scope of its work when it negotiated its Dallas coronavirus testing contract, and claimed to have White House approval it did not have, according to a Dallas Morning News investigation. (Shamus, 8/23)

Kaiser Health News: Trump Is Sending Fast, Cheap COVID Tests To Nursing Homes — But There’s A Hitch
The Trump administration’s latest effort to use COVID-19 rapid tests — touted by one senior official as a “turning point” in arresting the coronavirus’s spread within nursing homes — is running into roadblocks likely to limit how widely they’ll be used. Federal officials are distributing point-of-care antigen tests — which are cheaper and faster than tests that must be run by a lab — to 14,000 nursing homes to increase routine screening of residents and staff. The initial distribution targets nursing homes in hot spots and those with at least three COVID-19 cases, senior Trump administration officials said in July, hailing it as a tool that could root out asymptomatic carriers who might still infect others. (Pradhan, 8/24)

AP: NFL Has 77 Apparently False Positive COVID-19 Tests From Lab
The NFL had 77 positive COVID-19 tests from 11 teams re-examined by a New Jersey lab after false positives, and all those tests came back negative. The league asked the New Jersey lab BioReference to investigate the results, and those 77 tests are being re-tested once more to make sure they were false positives. Among teams reporting false positives, the Minnesota Vikings said they had 12, the New York Jets 10 and the Chicago Bears nine. (Wilner, 8/24)

AP: Experts Flag Risks In India's Use Of Rapid Tests For Virus
In June, India began using cheaper, faster but less accurate tests to scale up testing for the coronavirus — a strategy that the United States is now considering. These rapid tests boosted India’s testing levels nearly five-fold within two months. But government numbers suggest some parts of the country might have become over reliant on the faster tests, which can miss infections. Experts warn that safely using them requires frequent retesting, something that isn’t always happening. (Ghosal and Perrone, 8/23)

Stat: For Its Covid-19 Vaccine, Pfizer Turns To A Scientist Who Has Gotten Results
Pfizer and that upstart rival, Moderna, were the first companies to launch large clinical trials to prove their vaccines’ efficacy, and on the same day: July 27. They have been in a neck-and-neck competition ever since. But Pfizer is counting on one scientist to give it an edge: Kathrin Jansen. (Herper, 8/24)

CNN: CNN's Dr. Elmer Huerta Volunteered For A Coronavirus Vaccine Trial. Here's Why
Not enough Blacks and Latinos are participating in US vaccine trials to fight Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. CNN en Español Medical Correspondent Dr. Elmer Huerta hopes to change their minds. More than 50% of cases of Covid-19 in the United States are African Americans or Latinos, yet they make up only 15% of participants in the first Phase III vaccine trial in the United States, co-developed by biotech company Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. (Hetter, 8/22)

The New York Times: Russia, Expecting Plaudits For Vaccine, Is Miffed By Its Cool Reception
It was with great fanfare that President Vladimir V. Putin and other officials announced this month that a billion doses of a Russian vaccine for the new coronavirus would soon be rolled out, supposedly putting an end to the worst pandemic in a century. But rather than taking a bow for saving the world with their vaccine, which they call Sputnik V, Russian health officials have found themselves on the defensive. (Kramer, 8/23)

Dallas Morning News: Profiteering? Health Insurers Bank Big Profits During COVID-19 And Still Raise Rates For Next Year
Health insurance companies are racking up big profits during the pandemic, sometimes two to three times higher than a year ago. That’s largely because so many customers are putting off their usual care. Elective surgeries, office visits and even trips to the emergency room have dropped sharply, which means fewer claims on insurance plans.Four insurers — UnitedHealthcare, Anthem, CVS Health and Humana — together reported almost $10 billion in profit growth for the second quarter. Collectively, their operating income rose 152%. (Schnurman, 8/21)

Crain's New York Business: Health Insurer Oscar Partners With Holy Cross Health, Memorial Healthcare To Launch Medicare Plan In Florida
Health insurance company Oscar on Wednesday announced its partnership with Holy Cross Health hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Fla., to launch a co-branded Medicare Advantage plan in South Florida.Pending approval, Oscar will be able to start marketing the plan Oct. 1 and selling it Oct. 15, said Ananth Lalithakumar, vice president and general manager of Medicare Advantage at Oscar. He declined to disclose the projected reach of the new plan but noted that some of its competitors in the Medicare space have about 60,000 to 70,000 members. (Sim, 8/21)

Modern Healthcare: Appeals Court Slashes Epic's $420 Million Damages In Trade Secrets Case
A federal appeals court on Thursday trimmed down Epic Systems Corp.'s win in a trade secrets lawsuit against Indian information-technology services and consulting firm Tata Consultancy Services. While Epic initially scored $940 million in compensatory and punitive damages in 2016, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tata shouldn't have to pay $280 million in punitive damages, calling it "constitutionally excessive." (Cohen, 8/21)

Boston Globe: It’s Not Just Nabel: Why Boston’s Hospital CEOs Don’t Belong On Corporate Boards
It’s time for the executives who run some of Boston’s elite hospitals to be weaned off the cushy money they make moonlighting as board directors for corporate America. You can understand the appeal of sitting on an outside board. Public companies paid directors a median of $208,000 in cash and stock in 2018, according to the most recent compensation survey by the National Association of Corporate Directors and consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners. Some companies dole out more than $400,000 a year. That’s for 25 days or so of work a year. (Edelman, 8/21)

Kaiser Health News: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: How To Fight Bogus Medical Bills Like A Bulldog 
After Izzy Benasso had knee surgery, she and her dad received a letter from a surgical assistant giving notice that he “had been present” at the procedure. The surgical assistant was out-of-network and seemed to be laying the groundwork to get the Benassos to pay his fee. Steve Benasso wrote a letter right back, basically telling the guy to buzz off: He had no intention of paying the surgical assistant. Because the bill was a surprise, Benasso suggested that the surgical assistant try to get the money from the insurance company, or negotiate for some part of the knee surgeon’s payment. (Weissmann, 8/24)

Stateline: Pandemic Precautions Are Protecting Wildfire Fighters — So Far 
District Chief Paul Duarte’s team, the first to reach the Pine Gulch fire as it began spreading across western Colorado about three weeks ago, put months of planning to the test as they prepared to battle their first major wildfire under pandemic conditions. First, they were screened for COVID-19 symptoms as the blaze, now the second-largest in state history, ripped through the rough terrain near Grand Junction. Instead of assembling in a “circus tent,” crews checked in online and received briefings over the radio. Each unit camped together in the field, rather than hundreds of responders establishing a shared base camp. Meals were delivered to each “spike camp,” replacing large communal gatherings. (Brown,, 8/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Wildfires Force Evacuations At Bay Area Hospitals And Nursing Homes Already Strained By COVID-19 
California wildfires are forcing several Bay Area hospitals and nursing homes to evacuate patients, transfer residents and brace for an influx of new patients with smoke-related respiratory problems. This latest crisis is putting additional strain on a regional health care system already stretched thin due to the coronavirus pandemic.Adventist Health St. Helena hospital evacuated 51 patients Wednesday night, sending them to 10 nearby hospitals, including Queen of the Valley in Napa, Marin General and CPMC in San Francisco, said the hospital’s public information officer, Linda Williams. (Ho, 8/21)

AP: Massive Northern California Wildfires Rage On; 1 Man Dead
Three massive wildfires chewed through parched Northern California landscape Sunday as firefighters raced to dig breaks and make other preparations ahead of a frightening weather system packing high winds and more of the lightning that sparked the huge blazes and scores of other fires around the state, putting nearly a quarter-million people under evacuation orders and warnings. At the CZU Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, authorities announced the discovery of the body of a 70-year-old man in a remote area called Last Chance. The man had been reported missing and police had to use a helicopter to reach the area, which is a string of about 40 off-the-grid homes at the end of a windy, steep dirt road north of the city of Santa Cruz. (Mendoza and Baker, 8/23)

Redding Record Searchlight: 'A Culture Shift': How California Evacuation Centers Are Dealing With Fires And COVID-19
The thousands of people evacuating from the wildfires burning across California are seeing something new this summer, and as with nearly every other aspect of their lives, the coronavirus drives it. Pushed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing, shelter managers can no longer rely on large assembly halls at schools, fairgrounds and community centers to house wildfire evacuees. (Arthur and Rocha, 8/21)

The Washington Post: Extreme Weather Threatens Coronavirus Pandemic Response In Hard-Hit States
Two tropical storms are expected to strike the Gulf Coast in rapid succession this week, compounding public health concerns in states fighting to keep new coronavirus cases down after a surge of infections earlier in the summer. (Hawkins and Iati, 8/24)

AP: 3 Years After Harvey, Some In Houston Still Waiting For Help
Some Houston residents say they endured difficult, often hazardous living conditions while waiting months, even years for help from the city to fix flood-damaged homes after Hurricane Harvey. Sleeping in a closet because it was the only space that didn’t reek of mold. Dealing with rodents and roaches that would come in through warped or rotted flooring. Couch surfing at 67 years old until patchwork repairs made a home temporarily habitable. Those were just some of the things people dealt with as they waited for help they say never came, despite submitting — and resubmitting — paperwork. (Lozano, 8/24)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Curtails Hurricane Katrina 15th Anniversary Commemorations, But Not Memories
But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic – and the potential threat of two other hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico this week – commemorations of the 15th anniversary of Katrina’s landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, will be far more understated than originally envisioned. (Spera, 8/23)

The Hill: CDC Director Says Teachers Don't Need 'Critical' Label 
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that teachers don't need to be formally recognized as "critical workers," a designation that would potentially exempt them from COVID-19 quarantine requirements. "I think they didn’t need to be formally recognized as critical infrastructure workers, because in fact, I think we all know they are," Robert Redfield said during a call with reporters. (Weixel, 8/21)

The Hill: CDC Report Says Some Child Care Centers May Be Safely Reopened 
It may be relatively safe to reopen child care centers in states where COVID-19 is contained and precautions are taken, according to a new report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report identified 52 cases of COVID-19 over a two-month period in 29 out of 666 child care programs in Rhode Island that were allowed to open. The programs had a capacity for nearly 19,000 children, but it’s not clear how many were enrolled between June 1 and July 31, when the analysis took place. (Hellmann, 8/21)

CIDRAP: CDC's Redfield Addresses School Reopening, Citing Promising Study
After reopening 666 childcare centers this summer, Rhode Island reported limited transmission of COVID-19 among children and staff, offering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more evidence on how to safely reopen schools for in-person learning this fall. A report on the measures Rhode Island childcare centers took to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus is published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, gave a telebriefing today on the findings. (Soucheray, 8/21)

AP: Iowa Confirms First Child Death From COVID As Schools Reopen
A young child died due to complications from coronavirus in June, the first confirmed death of a minor in Iowa during the pandemic, the state health department belatedly announced Sunday evening. The Iowa Department of Public Health said the state medical examiner’s office concluded its case investigation Aug. 6 into the death of the child, who was under the age of 5. But the death wasn’t reported in the state’s statistics until Saturday, more than two weeks later. (Foley, 8/23)

In other higher-education news —

CNN: Colleges And Universities Across US Halt In-Person Classes And Begin Campus Monitoring After Rising Coronavirus Cases
As colleges and universities try to settle into the fall semester, coronavirus cases continue to rise leading some institutions to cancel in-person instruction and implement strict rules to control the virus. Universities in at least 19 states have reported outbreaks, despite health protocols on campus. Many outbreaks are tied to large group gatherings like parties, leading some schools to suspend students and organizations for breaking social distancing rules on and off campus. (Vera, 8/24)

The Hill: As COVID-19 Surges On Campuses, In-Person Learning Becomes Less Of A Reality 
Colleges and universities are already shifting from in-person instruction to online classes after hundreds of students on campuses across the country tested positive for COVID-19, throwing cold water on hopes for the fall semester. In the past week, big-name schools such as Notre Dame, Michigan State and University of North Carolina have moved classes online after briefly resuming in-person instruction, and other universities are likely to do the same in the coming weeks as the explosion of cases continues. (Hellmann, 8/23)

Kaiser Health News: One College’s Pop-Up COVID Test: Stop And ‘Smell The Roses’ (Or The Coffee)
If all goes according to plan, Penn State University students who opt for an on-campus experience this fall will start in-person classes on Aug. 24 under the banner of a “Mask Up or Pack Up” campaign. By returning to campus, students are agreeing to wear masks, adhere to social distancing practices and submit to random testing for COVID-19. But “Mask Up or Pack Up” also offers a less traditional, more proactive approach to virus containment: the smell test. (Bauer, 8/24)

CNN: Notre Dame Responds To Student Newspaper's Plea Regarding Covid-19 
After an editorial in a student newspaper last week pleaded with leaders at Notre Dame to not "make us write obituaries," the university said it agreed with the students' concern about the spread of Covid-19 in the community. "Students, faculty and staff are all in this together, and it's only by working together that we can stay safe and continue to stay on campus for the remainder of the semester," said university spokesman Dennis K. Brown in a statement to CNN. (Waldrop and Asmelash, 8/23)

AP: Virginia Commonwealth University Reports 58 COVID-19 Cases
Virginia Commonwealth University is reporting 58 active cases of coronavirus among students and 12 employee cases .The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that’s an increase from earlier this week when VCU reported 25 cases and 11 employees cases. (8/23)

AP: Some Arkansas Universities To Report Their COVID-19 Cases
Some of Arkansas’ public universities have said they will make public information about coronavirus cases on their campuses. While the Arkansas Department of Health has daily reports on COVID-19 virus cases at long-term-care facilities and correctional institutions, no such report exists for Arkansas’ residential colleges, though all colleges are required to report cases to the department. (8/23)

AP: ECU And UNC Charlotte Move Classes Online
East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Charlotte are moving courses online in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the universities announced Sunday. Separately, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Sunday it has identified a cluster of COVID-19 cases at Avery residence hall. A cluster is defined by the state health department as five or more cases in a single residential hall or dwelling. (8/23)

CNN: Young People With Immune Conditions Fear Coronavirus 
As 19-year-old Alyannah Buhman begins her junior year of pre-law studies at Iowa State University, she has ambitions of a career in civil rights law. She is inspired by her grandfather, a police officer, and by growing up biracial in a small town in which there were only a few Black people. But living with diabetes during a pandemic presents major challenges to those dreams, most of which aren't immediately obvious. "If you look at me you'd think I was perfectly normal, until you saw a little device sticking out," she said. (Prior, 8/21)

ABC News: 5 Unanswered Medical Questions About Coronavirus 
Seven months into the pandemic, we continue to unravel the mystery that is COVID-19. There continue to be critical questions that remain unanswered. Experts interviewed by ABC News shared five scientific mysteries that persist amid the race to end the pandemic. (Alexander and Bhatt, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Gives Incentive To Lose Weight
Stephen O’Rahilly, a prominent expert on obesity and other metabolic disorders — who struggles with his own weight — lost about 20 pounds in the six months before becoming ill with covid-19. He believes this probably protected him from serious disease, and maybe even saved his life.“My experience with the virus wasn’t so terrible,” says O’Rahilly, co-director of the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge in Britain, who said modest diet changes and exercise helped him shed the weight and probably enabled him to escape the worst effects of covid-19. (Cimons, 8/23)

The Hill: Infectious Disease Society Says Hydroxychloroquine Should Not Be Used To Treat Coronavirus Patients 
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) on Friday revised its coronavirus treatment guidelines, recommending that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine not be used for COVID-19 patients. The IDSA initially only recommended against the use of the drug in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin. The updated guideline marking a tougher stance on the drug praised by President Trump. (Seipel, 8/21)

Kaiser Health News: Inside The Race To Build A Better $500 Emergency Ventilator 
As the coronavirus crisis lit up this spring, headlines about how the U.S. could innovate its way out of a pending ventilator shortage landed almost as hard and fast as the pandemic itself. The New Yorker featured “The MacGyvers Taking on the Ventilator Shortage,” an effort initiated not by a doctor or engineer but a blockchain activist. The University of Minnesota created a cheap ventilator called the Coventor; MIT had the MIT Emergency Ventilator; Rice University, the ApolloBVM. NASA created the VITAL, and a fitness monitor company got in the game with Fitbit Flow. The price tags varied from $150 for the Coventor to $10,000 for the Fitbit Flow — all significantly less than premium commercially available hospital ventilators, which can run $50,000 apiece. (Schulte, 8/24)

Dallas Morning News: Botox Boom: COVID’s Stay-At-Home Lifestyle And Masks Create ‘Ideal’ Time For Secret Plastic Surgery
The pandemic is ruining summer travel plans and spoiling weekend socializing, but it’s giving cover to another COVID-19 phenomenon: pent-up demand for plastic surgery. Felicia Cloke, 24, of Dallas knew she wanted breast augmentation before turning 25. When the pandemic canceled typical summer activities, it gave her the perfect opportunity. And because she works in a hospital, it was no riskier than going to work. (Walters, 8/23)

AP: Ketamine That's Injected During Arrests Draws New Scrutiny
Police stopped Elijah McClain on the street in suburban Denver last year after deeming the young Black man suspicious. He was thrown into a chokehold, threatened with a dog and stun gun, then subjected to another law enforcement tool before he died: a drug called ketamine. Paramedics inject it into people like McClain as a sedative, often at the behest of police who believe suspects are out of control. Officially, ketamine is used in emergencies when there’s a safety concern for medical staff or the patient. But it’s increasingly found in arrests and has become another flashpoint in the debate over law enforcement policies and brutality against people of color. (Nieberg, 8/22)

The Washington Post: Scientists Often Use Their Own Blood To Study Mosquitoes And The Diseases They Spread 
Turn off the lights. Put your arms or legs on top of a cage holding hundreds of mosquitoes. Listen to news or call your mom while the critters chow down on your blood. This was researcher Sam Rund’s routine when he used a colony of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, a species known for infecting humans with malaria, for research on disease transmission. A staff scientist at the University of Notre Dame, Rund studies how factors such as circadian rhythms and light affect the feeding habits of different mosquito species, which is important for understanding how they spread pathogens to humans. (Landau, 8/23)

CNN: Stuttering 101: A Biological Condition No One Should Make Fun Of
Stuttering, or stammering, occurs when a person repeats or stumbles over a sound, syllable or word. Certain syllables may be repeated or prolonged, words escape in fits and starts, and can at times be accompanied by involuntary facial tics, fist clenching and rapid blinking. Many saw an example of that on the final night of the Democratic National Convention when a 13-year-old boy shared with the world the support he has gotten from the party's 2020 presidential nominee, Joe Biden. (LaMotte, 8/21)

The New York Times: What To Know About Stuttering
The basic numbers are known: About one in 10 children will exhibit some evidence of a stutter — it usually starts between ages 2 and 7 — and 90 percent of them will grow out of it before adulthood. Around 1 percent of the population carries the speech problem for much of their lives. For reasons not understood, boys are twice as likely to stutter, and nearly four times as likely to continue doing so into adulthood. And it is often anxiety that triggers bursts of verbal stumbling — which, in turn, create a flood of self-conscious stress. (Carey, 8/21)

Houston Chronicle: Clinic Hopes To Thwart Declining Breast Cancer Screenings Due To High Unemployment, Coronavirus 
While the country is grappling with record levels of unemployment causing people to lose their healthcare insurance, thousands of Houston women are delaying their regularly scheduled mammograms. (Nickerson, 8/23)

AP: Paralympic Documentary: 'None Of The Bodies Look The Same'
Matt Stutzman was born without arms — just stumps at the shoulders. Ellie Cole’s right leg was amputated when she was 3, lost to cancer. Bebe Vio had parts of all four limbs amputated after she contacted meningitis as an adolescent. Doctors were able to save her life but not her arms and legs.If your mood is being dragged down by the pandemic, you’ll be uplifted by these three Paralympic athletes — and many others like them — who are profiled in the Nexflix documentary “Rising Phoenix,” which will be released in 190 countries on Wednesday. “In the Paralympic sport, everybody has a story,” Xavi Gonzalez, the former CEO of the International Paralympic Committee, says in the film. “It comes from them breaking barriers to be able to achieve what they want to achieve; move on and live life even if all of us may think that you cannot.” (Wade, 8/24)

AP: Report: Data Shows Oklahoma Face Mask Mandates Are Working
Face mask mandates adopted in some Oklahoma communities to reduce the spread of COVID-19 seem to be working, according to a newspaper report. Data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows cities with mask mandates nearly cut in half their average number of new COVID-19 infections after three weeks, The Oklahoman reported Sunday. (8/23)

AP: Protest Erupts After Wisconsin Police Shoot Man From Behind
Officers deployed tear gas early Monday in an effort to disperse hundreds of people who took to the streets following a police shooting in Kenosha that also drew a harsh rebuke from the governor after a video posted on social media appeared to show officers shoot at a Black man’s back seven times as he leaned into a vehicle. A person was hospitalized in serious condition following a shooting by officers about 5 p.m. Sunday as officers were responding to a “domestic incident,” the Kenosha Police Department said in a news release. Police did not provide details about what led to the shooting, but said the person was transported to a hospital in Milwaukee for treatment. (8/24)

Billings Gazette: Public Health Workers Will Conduct COVID-19 Contact Tracing In Yellowstone County Schools 
Yellowstone County's public health department plans to provide public health officials to help temporarily with COVID-19 contact tracing in schools this year.The county's public health department, RiverStone Health, will handle contact tracing for School District 2, and Yellowstone County Public Health Officer John Felton wants to assign temporary public health officials trained in handling the use and disclosure of health information and the limitations associated with it. (Hall, 8/22)

The Hill: Officials Connect 26 Coronavirus Cases To Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 
At least 26 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally held last week, CNN reported. The cases, spread over three states, are linked to those who attended the annual 10-day gathering, which began Aug. 7 and ran until Sunday. It drew more than 365,000 vehicles, according to South Dakota’s Department of Transportation.According to CNN, there are 15 linked COVID-19 cases in Minnesota and at least seven cases in Nebraska. Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease director announced on Friday that one of the cases in her state has resulted in a hospitalization. (Seipel, 8/21)

Dallas Morning News: This Small Church Serves As Clinic, Pantry And Laundry For Dallas Neighborhoods Hard Hit By COVID
I’ve discovered a contemporary rendition of the New Testament’s “five loaves and two fishes” story taking place at Cornerstone Baptist Church as it works daily miracles in one of Dallas’ poorest communities.This church, long a beacon of light to South Dallas, knows how to multiply modest resources into colossal gains. As COVID-19 has challenged it in ways as unprecedented as the pandemic itself, Cornerstone has doubled down on its work. (Grigsby, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: They Always Stuck Together Through Tough Times. Then Came The Pandemic
The Segundo family’s story reflects the concerns public health officials have raised about how the pandemic is devastating Latinos. While Latinos account for 38.9% of the state population, they account for 59.4% of the state’s coronavirus cases and 47.9% of deaths, according to California Department of Public Health data.In Contra Costa County, where the Segundos have made their home, Latinos make up 26% of the population but 41% of all COVID-19 cases. (Hernandez and Moench, 8/23)

ABC News: Police Hunt For 'COVID Hug' Man Who Grabbed Strangers At Walmart 
Police are searching for a man who they say approached multiple strangers at a Walmart and embraced them before telling them he had just given them coronavirus. The incident occurred on Saturday, Aug. 15 at approximately 7:10 p.m. at a Walmart branch in Springfield, Massachusetts, when the man allegedly began randomly approaching customers and hugging them. (Haworth, 8/23)

The Hill: New Hampshire To Allow Restaurants To Fully Open For Indoor Dining 
All restaurants in New Hampshire will be allowed to open at 100 percent capacity for indoor dining effective immediately, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said Friday. Restaurants will need to maintain the state's coronavirus reopening guidelines, including keeping six feet between tables and a mask requirement for all staff who interact with customers. Patrons are also prohibited from standing at bars. Sununu said the state's infection numbers have been trending in the right direction, especially in the southern counties that had been hit harder. (Weixel, 8/21)

The Washington Post: Sidewalk Dining May Block People With Disabilities 
When New York began allowing outdoor activities in June, Emily Ladau, 29, ventured out in her Long Island town of West Babylon after long months of staying inside because of the novel coronavirus. But her moment in the sun was marred — as a wheelchair user, she found that restaurants spilling over onto the sidewalk blocked her path. “Throughout the whole main street,” of nearby Bay Shore, she says, “I couldn’t be on the sidewalk at all.” (Mailman, 8/23)

Boston Globe: How Will The State’s New Flu Shot Mandate Work? Here Are Some Answers 
The state’s new flu shot mandate has sparked a lot of questions about how it will work, who will enforce it, and whether the state even has enough doses to cover everyone who will be required to get vaccinated.On Wednesday, Massachusetts mandated that nearly all students under age 30 get a flu vaccine by the end of this year amid fears that concurrent outbreaks of influenza and COVID-19 in the fall could overwhelm the state’s health care system. (Lazar, 8/21)

In nursing home news —

Dallas Morning News: Only 12 Texas Nursing Homes Approved To Restart Family Visits
More than five months after Texas long-term care facilities closed their doors amid the spread of COVID-19, only a dozen nursing homes have met the state’s criteria to slowly begin letting visitors back in to see their loved ones. According to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News, fewer than 30 nursing homes — out of over 1,200 statewide — applied to allow visitors as of Aug. 20. Half were denied or are still awaiting an answer from the state on that date. (McGaughy, Morris and Hacker, 8/21)

Sacramento Bee: Coronavirus: Sacramento Co. Nursing Facility Reports Outbreak 
Coronavirus activity has exploded in recent weeks at two different Sacramento-area nursing homes, one of them with more than 10 deaths among nearly 100 resident cases. Whitney Oaks Care Center in Carmichael, a licensed skilled nursing facility, says on its website that 94 residents and 75 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic started. Nine of the staff cases and 13 of the resident cases were considered active as of the Thursday update, the facility wrote. (McGough, 8/21)

In prison news —

AP: More Than 500 Infected With COVID-19 In Kansas Jail Outbreak
The number of inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 at a jail in Wichita has grown to more than 500. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has conducted mass testing of its inmates at the urging of state health officials. As of Friday, 523 inmates have tested positive and 747 negative, KAKE-TV reports. (8/22)

AP: Analysis: Mississippi Prison Virus Protocols Under Scrutiny
Attorneys are feuding in federal court filings over coronavirus testing and safety protocols at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Entertainment mogul Jay-Z and rapper Yo Gotti are funding a lawsuit filed early this year to challenge health and safety conditions in Parchman. Separately, the U.S. Justice Department said in February that it’s investigating Mississippi’s prison system — an announcement that came weeks after violence in late December and early January left some inmates dead and more injured. (Wagster Pettus, 8/23)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: New Fulton County Sheriff Plans To Hire Deputies, Fix Up Notorious Jail
In the past few decades, the biggest challenge for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has been running — and perpetually trying to fix — the county jail.An inmate complaint in 2004 set in motion 11 years of federal oversight at the jail on Rice Street. Inmates were sleeping on the floor because of overcrowding, raw sewage was flooding cells, and inmates were able to wander because of faulty locks. The county has spent $1 billion to fix up the 2,500-bed jail, but overcrowding persisted even after the feds gave the county full control of the facility back in 2015.Since 2011, the county has maintained a 200-bed lockup for women in Union City. In a 2019 lawsuit, the Southern Center for Human Rights said mentally ill inmates were held in unsanitary and unsafe conditions at the South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail. A judge called the issues repulsive and ordered Jackson to fix them. The lawsuit is still pending as attorneys for the inmates and for the Sheriff’s Office attempt to reach an agreement. (Sharpe and Brasch, 8/21)

Latest state tallies —

AP: Virus Spread Puts 20 Illinois Counties On 'Warning' Status
Rising indicators of the potentially deadly coronovirus have forced Illinois public health officials to place nearly one-fifth of the state’s counties on “warning level” status for the disease. Two or more measurements for the spread of the highly contagious virus have exceeded allowable limits in each of the counties put on warning Friday. The process serves as notice that local officials should take action to mitigate the spread. (8/23)

AP: Arizona Reports 207 New Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, 15 Deaths
Arizona health officials report 207 new confirmed COVID-19 cases with 15 additional deaths as of Sunday. The Arizona Department of Health Services says that raises the state’s totals to 198,103 cases and 4,771 deaths as reports of infections and deaths continued to slow. (8/23)

AP: Illinois Officials Report 1,893 New COVID-19 Cases, 6 Deaths
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Sunday reported 1,893 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. Health department officials say they have confirmed six additional deaths due to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 7,880. (8/23)

AP: Maine Reports 1 New COVID-19 Death
Public health officials in Maine have reported more than a dozen new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death. Officials at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the figures on Sunday as part of their regular daily update on the coronavirus outbreak. (8/23)

AP: Minnesota Nears 70K Positive COVID-19 Tests; Deaths At 1,767
Minnesota is nearing 70,000 positive COVID-19 tests, health officials said Sunday. Health officials reported 728 positive tests on Sunday, bringing the state statewide total to 69,584. Health officials said 7.715 health care workers have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. (8/23)

AP: Navajo Nation Reports 14 New COVID-19 Cases, 4 More Deaths
Navajo Nation health officials have reported 14 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths. That brings the total number of people infected to 9,545 with the known death toll at 493 as of Saturday night as the reservation began another 32-hour lockdown that ends at 5 a.m. Monday. (8/23)

AP: Nevada Reports 532 New Coronavirus Cases, But No More Deaths
Nevada health officials reported 532 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths as of Sunday. The latest numbers increase the state’s totals in the coronavirus outbreak to 65,601 cases while the death toll remains at 1,197. (8/23)

AP: New Mexico Reports 98 New Coronavirus Cases, 2 More Deaths
Health officials in New Mexico report 98 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths as of Sunday. The latest numbers from the New Mexico Department of Health increase the state’s totals to 24,396 cases and 745 deaths. (8/23)

AP: North Dakota COVID-19 Deaths At 136; Active Cases Set Record
The state Department of Health on Sunday reported the death of one additional person with COVID-19, bringing the statewide death toll to 136. The department reported 140 new COVID-19 cases in 16 counties, raising the statewide total since the start of the pandemic to 9,876. Active cases rose by 43 cases to 1,676, a new daily high for the state. (8/23)

AP: South Dakota Reports 141 New COVID-19 Cases, 1 Death
South Dakota health officials are reporting 141 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state and one new death. The state has now had a total of 11,276 cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday. There were a record 1,551 cases still active. (8/23)

AP: How Does Coronavirus Spread At A Concert? Germans Do A Test
Germany held a pop concert Saturday to see how those attending could spread coronavirus if they had it. German researchers studying COVID-19 packed part of a Leipzig arena with volunteers, collecting data in a “real life” simulation of a pop concert but one with strict health and safety controls. (8/22)

AP: New Austrian Coronavirus Measures Snarl Traffic At Border
Traffic was backed up for as much as 12 hours on Austria’s southern border after new coronavirus safety measures were imposed on all travelers entering the country, authorities said Sunday. Police told the Austria Press Agency that cars were backed up for up to 12 hours at the Karawanks Tunnel and seven hours at the Loibl Pass into Austria as vacationers returning from Croatia and Slovenia tried to enter the country. (8/23)

AP: UK Leader Urges Parents To Let Kids To Return To School
Britain’s prime minister is asking parents to set aside their fears and send their children back to school next month when schools in Britain fully reopen for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut then down more than five months ago. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was the government’s “moral duty” to reopen the schools as he stressed that authorities now know more about COVID-19 than they did when the country went into lockdown on March 23. (Kirka, 8/23)

AP: Iran Says 164 Health Care Professionals Among Pandemic Dead
Iran’s health minister said Saturday that at least 164 health care professionals have died while battling the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported.The official IRNA news agency quoted Saeed Namaki as saying new cases have been reported that will be added to that number. (8/22)

Reuters: France To Reciprocate Britain's Quarantine Rule In Coming Days: Minister 
French authorities will in coming days reciprocate Britain’s decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals from France, the junior minister for European affairs said on Monday. Britain said on Friday travellers from the United Kingdom to France are required to self-certify that they are not suffering coronavirus symptoms or have been in contact with a confirmed case within 14 days preceding travel. (8/24)

COVID cases are spiking across the globe —

Reuters: Brazil Coronavirus Cases Pass 3.6 Million, Death Toll At 114,744
Brazil reported 23,421 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 494 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday. Brazil has registered 3,605,783 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 114,744, according to ministry data, in the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak outside the United States. (8/23)

AP: How India's Fast-Growing Cases Topped 3 Million
India’s coronavirus caseload topped 3 million on Sunday, with the country leading the world in new infections as the disease marched through impoverished rural areas in the north and the wealthier but older populations of the south. [Here's] how the virus is spreading in the world’s second most-populous country. (Schmall, 8/23)

The Washington Post: In Battered Lebanon, A Spike In Coronavirus Cases Adds To The Misery 
An alarming spike in novel coronavirus cases since the devastating explosion at Beirut's port is compounding Lebanon's misery at a time when the country was already laid low by overlapping financial, economic and political crises. Since around 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate were ignited Aug. 4 by a still-unexplained blaze in a warehouse at the port, the total number of coronavirus infections has more than doubled — to 12,191 as of Saturday — prompting the government to order a partial lockdown that went into effect Friday. (Sly, 8/22)

AP: Returning Vacationers Drive Italy's Surge In COVID Cases
With thousands of travelers being tested at Italy’s airports and some ports, the nation where Europe’s COVID-19 outbreak began registered a seventh straight day of increasing new infections Sunday, mostly driven by returning vacationers. Sicily’s governor, meanwhile, ordered all migrant residences on the Italian island to be shut down by Monday, part of a push-back by Italian regions alarmed by a steady climb in COVID-19 cases a few weeks before schools are to reopen. (D'Emilio, 8/23)

CNN: New Zealand Imposes 12-Day Lockdown In Its Biggest City As It Battles Fresh Outbreak
New Zealand has extended a lockdown in its most populous city as the country battles a fresh community coronavirus outbreak that comes after months without any locally transmitted cases. (Hollingsworth, 8/24)

Reuters: South Korean Capital Orders Masks On In Coronavirus Battle
South Korea’s capital on Monday ordered masks to be worn in both indoor and outdoor public places for the first time, as it battles a surge in coronavirus cases centred in the densely populated metropolitan area. In May, the city government ordered that masks be worn on public transport and in taxis, but a recent spike in cases has health officials worried that the country may need to impose its highest level of social distancing, known as phase 3. (Smith and Cha, 8/23)

In other global news —

The Hill: New Ebola Outbreak In Congo Raises Alarm 
A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has infected 100 people in a western province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a rapid spread that has health officials concerned about the chances of an uncontrolled epidemic. The outbreak in Equateur Province began in early June, when a cluster of cases were discovered in the provincial capital Mbandaka. The number of cases has doubled in just the last five weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) said 43 people have died. (Wilson, 8/21)

USA Today: Soft Drink Or 'Bottled Poison'? Mexico Finds COVID-19 Villain In Soda
While touring southern Chiapas state last month, Mexico’s coronavirus czar took aim at a vice he considers culpable for the country’s pandemic problems: rampant soda consumption. Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell tried to connect soda consumption with COVID-19 deaths, blaming sugar for causing comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension – maladies common in Mexico, where almost three-quarters of the population is overweight, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Agren, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Japan's Shinzo Abe Visits The Hospital Again As Health Concerns Intensify 
Shinzo Abe became Japan's longest serving prime minister on Monday, but there was no celebration of his record 2,799-day tenure. Instead, Abe spent the morning at the hospital, as concerns mount that his health may be faltering. Abe’s motorcade was filmed bringing him to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, partly to get the results of a seven-hour checkup last week. “Today, I listened to the results of the exams in detail, and took some additional exams,” Abe told reporters. “I will pay utmost attention to my health and will do my best going forward.” (Denyer, 8/24)

Los Angeles Times: My Parents Were Essential Workers — Treated Like It 
In this time of pandemic, I find myself thinking often about my immigrant parents, the essential work they did, and our urgent need to rethink how society supports the millions of essential workers who keep the country and economy afloat. As an investment advisor to wealthy families, I lead a life that is vastly different from that of my parents. Ted and Josie Lumarda came to the United States from the Philippines, my father in 1929 and my mother in 1955. They spent decades in the service of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, my father as a head gardener, driver and all-around “guy,” and my mother as a housekeeper. (Joe Lumarda, 8/23)

Stat: Medicine Needs To Look Beyond Skin Color And Race 
My parents fell in love at a time when their union was illegal in 16 states. My father, who is white and who was a priest at the time, married my mother, who later became one of the first black women college presidents. As a mixed-race kid growing up in Ohio, I often felt like a chameleon who could move in and out of different cultural worlds. (Megan R. Mahoney, 8/19)

Modern Healthcare: Post-COVID Era Will Require A New Community Health Playbook
It has long been clear that COVID-19 is not the "great equalizer"—a disease that doesn't discriminate—as some initially thought. It is quite the opposite, a magnifying glass that brings to the fore the detrimental, unignorable impact of long-standing, systemic inequities. As the nation cautiously reimagines the new "normal," we need to bring deeper understanding to the systemic issues that predate the pandemic, rather than prioritizing the symptoms. (J. Robin Moon and Shqipe Gjevukaj, 8/21)

Modern Healthcare: Better Doctor Training Means Focusing On Equity, Advancing Anti-Racism
As millions have taken to the streets to protest social injustice and racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, leaders are taking a long-overdue look at their institutions to identify past failures—and finally make changes. Medical schools must do the same. The students who study in our classrooms and clinics come to us to learn how to heal. But for too long, medical schools—like so much of our society—have not prepared our students to heal everyone. (Mark A. Schuster, 8/22)

The Washington Post: I’m A New York Public-School Teacher. A Safe Return To School Simply Isn’t Possible Right Now. 
The start date has not been confirmed, just as schools don’t have a calendar for the year. I’m dubious that the city has an effective plan to supply personal protective equipment, provide covid-19 tests, conduct contact tracing or undertake the many other measures that would be essential for a safe reopening. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said that the schools will reopen with a mix of in-class and remote learning only if the city’s infection rate remains below 3 percent. But that is misleading: The overall rate in the city has remained below 1 percent for several recent days, but the rates will vary by borough and by neighborhood, as they have throughout the pandemic. Some areas — such as the Bronx, where my school is located — were hit much harder than others, including much of Manhattan. This disparity isn’t taken into account in the city’s reopening plan. (Amanda Geduld, 8/21)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus Comes For The Farmers’ Market
Shepherd’s Way Farms are located on 44 acres an hour south of the Twin Cities. It’s a small plot in a region where corn and soybean farms can sprawl for thousands of acres. But Shepherd’s Way doesn’t require much space to raise the few dozen sheep that help produce the farm’s award-winning cheeses. What it needs, co-owner Steven Read told me beneath a shade tree recently, are consumers, farmers’ markets and — above all — restaurants that buy locally grown food. (Adam Minter, 8/22)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Grandmother Wants Daughter’s Opioid OD Last Month To Be A Warning
The experience of losing her oldest child has given her a new purpose — one that goes even beyond raising her grandchildren.“I just want to bring awareness to our community because my daughter struggled so long with this disease,” Davis told me last week. “We need to stop these people that are selling these bad Percocets that’s killing our kids.” (Jenice Armstrong, 8/21)

Boston Globe: Hospitals Need A Stronger Prescription For Keeping The Public’s Trust 
Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women’s hospital, broke no hospital rules when she took a seat on the board of Moderna, a Cambridge biotech firm. Still, the fact that she held the position — from which she recently resigned — has bred mistrust and outrage from patients and her own employees. That’s why the rules that allowed it need to be changed. (8/24)

Modern Healthcare: Reforming Medical Education Requires Redefining The Physician’s Role
Much like the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on long-time cracks in the
 U.S. healthcare system, it also highlights gaps in medical education. What needs to change for the future of medical education? Enhancing physician training to bolster improvements to Americans’ health first requires an institutional shift in defining 
the physician’s role. Though U.S. healthcare and medical education have advanced in the last century, both still fall short of the goal to protect and promote the health of every American. Even before a global pandemic, Americans have long been plagued by public health crises including socio-economic challenges, structural racism, widespread inequity, and a recent decline in life expectancy. (Ali Bokhari, 8/22)

Richmond Times Dispatch: The Pandemic's 'Ostrich Syndrome' And The Fallacy Of 'If' 
Like other physicians across the country, I’m exhausted screaming at the TV and no longer have any hair to pull out. How much longer will President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and others continue to put their heads in the sand? How much longer will many members of the Coronavirus Task Force refuse to publicly speak out when the president puts out false information such as testing causes more cases and the virus will “magically disappear”? How much longer will the administration and some members of the task force continue to say the United States is doing great with testing when there are lines of cars waiting to get tested and days to weeks to receive results? How much longer will Trump continue to politicize mask-wearing? How much longer will Congress continue sitting silent while there is inaction by the White House? We need fewer ostriches and more leaders. (Kenneth Olshansky, 8/23)

Fox News: Trump Delivered – Why I'm Voting To Reelect The President
When it comes to the coronavirus, I’m convinced that President Trump's early decision to limit travel from China saved hundreds of thousands of American lives. I believe the combination of potential vaccines and therapeutics we hope will be ready later this year will deliver a crushing blow to the virus. The president’s focus on developing a vaccine through ‘Operation Warp Speed’ will pay dividends to the United States and the world at large.President Trump, in my view, has earned the right to four more years. With his reelection, America's standing in the world will be solidified for generations to come, and our economy will be rebuilt better than ever before. (Sen. Lindsey Graham, 8/24)

Stat: FDA Head Needs To Tell Trump The Agency Is Not Part Of 'Deep State' 
The next 73 days are going to be very difficult for Stephen Hahn. As the Nov. 3 election nears, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner can expect intensifying pressure from President Trump to approve a vaccine or a drug to combat Covid-19. Desperate to win and angry at criticism of his handling of the pandemic, Trump twice this week complained that the “deep state” may cause a delay. (Ed Silverman, 8/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Betting On Better Drug Trials To Beat Covid-19
The development of drugs to treat Covid-19 is moving at a remarkable pace. The use of steroids is a major advance that is reducing the risk of death in hospitalized patients. Novel drugs, including manufactured antibodies that mimic the body’s immune response to the virus, are in late-stage development and could be available by the fall. There are about 750 drugs in screening studies (Phase II) or in large, definitive clinical trials (Phase III).The challenge is to develop evidence as quickly as possible without compromising standards. Anytime there’s an unmet medical need, the tendency is to blame the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory process. But if we don’t know what works, and what doesn’t, we’ll waste time and money on treatments that won’t help and may harm. Even if a vaccine is discovered and approved, the pandemic won’t end unless most Americans get vaccinated, which will require confidence in the product’s safety and efficacy. (Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan, 8/23)

Stat: Is Covid-19 Growing Less Lethal? The Infection Fatality Rate Says 'No' 
Recent reports have suggested that Covid-19 has become markedly less lethal in the United States. Our analysis of death rates and infection fatality rates from Arizona, the U.S. as a whole, and New York City shows it isn’t, indicating that public health measures to reduce infections should not be relaxed. (Douglas L. Rothman, Jessica E. Rothman and Gerard Bossard, 8/24)

The New York Times: Are We Looking For The Wrong Coronavirus Vaccines?
Not long after the new coronavirus first surfaced last December, an ambitious prediction was made: A vaccine would be available within 12 to 18 months, and it would stop the pandemic. Despite serious challenges — how to mass manufacture, supply and deliver a vaccine worldwide — the first prong of that wish could well be fulfilled. Eight vaccine candidates are undergoing large-scale efficacy tests, so-called Phase 3 trials, and results are expected by the end of this year or early 2021. But even if one, or more, of those efforts succeeds, a vaccine might not end the pandemic. This is partly because we seem to be focused at the moment on developing the kind of vaccine that may well prevent Covid-19, the disease, but that wouldn’t do enough to stop the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Adam Finn and Richard Malley, 8/24)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Pandemic Information Blackout Is The Latest Example Of Trump's Mismanagement
After the Trump administration ordered hospitals last month to start reporting their coronavirus statistics to the federal Department of Health and Human Services instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, publicly available statistics immediately fell into disarray. Perhaps the greatest indicator of that disarray is the fact that when visitors go to the Health and Human Services website for coronavirus statistics, they’re prompted to go to the CDC’s website for coronavirus statistical updates.In other words, the CDC remains the authority for reliable coronavirus information. Why the administration ordered the switch remains anyone’s guess, but there’s little question President Donald Trump’s fragile ego and business conflicts of interest are at the root of it. (8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden’s Lockdown Mistake
Now we know why his advisers have kept Joe Biden under wraps. Asked in an ABC interview airing Sunday night whether he’d be willing to shut down the economy again to head off a new wave of coronavirus infection, he replied: “I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists.”Ah, the resort to scientists. But which scientists? The truth is that the experts have been wrong numerous times in this pandemic, and they often disagree. They first said masks don’t help but now say they do. They said ventilators were vital but soon learned other clinical methods worked better. Most of all, they counseled strict lockdowns, but we’ve learned the hard way that shutting down the country can be more costly than the virus. (8/23)

The Washington Post: I Saw Myself In Brayden Harrington’s Story Of Stuttering. He Showed Us The Power Of Sharing It Openly.
My favorite part of this year’s Democratic National Convention was 13-year-old Brayden Harrington speaking about how former vice president Joe Biden helped him with his stuttering. For me, it was deeply personal. I cried as I watched Brayden tell his story. Growing up as a person who stutters (PWS), I never imagined that I’d ever see someone stuttering openly and comfortably in front of millions of people.Stuttering affects approximately 3 million Americans. It’s most common in kids, with 5 percent of children struggling with this speech impediment at some point in their childhoods. Many continue to stutter as adults. The cause of stuttering is thought to be a combination of neurological, psychological and genetic factors. (Leana S. Wen, 8/22)

The Hill: Responding To COVID-19 Failures 
By now, most people have their list of the failures associated with COVID-19; political, financial, social, equity, and public health failures appear on most lists. In a new report, I joined 50 top experts from a wide variety of policy areas to diagnose and treat another facet of the COVID-19 crisis: legal failure. In Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19, our contributors surveyed numerous federal, state, and local laws, assessing their performance during COVID-19 and made hundreds of actionable recommendations for reform across the domains we assessed. (Nicolas P. Terry, 8/23)

CNN: Why Our Brains Are Having So Much Trouble With Covid-19 
Covid-19 has been devastating for many reasons. There are the distinctive features of how the virus spreads and sickens us. There is the insufficient preparation, infrastructure, and leadership. Naturally, there's the social inequality that guaranteed that the virus would run its wildest among people with the least resources. The list goes on and on. But it's worth examining how the wreckage has also been made worse by a feature of our psyches -- namely, how poorly we handle ambiguity. (Robert M. Sapolsky, 8/22)

The Hill: Will The Pandemic Exacerbate Or Reduce Economic Inequality In The US? 
Thomas Piketty’s controversial bestseller “Capital in the Twenty First Century” reenergized the debate among mainstream economists and the wider public surrounding the causes and consequences of heightened levels of income and wealth inequality. The emergence and later dominance in the last quarter of the 20th century of neo-classical macroeconomics had led to the downplaying of distributional issues and to an emphasis on reducing supply-side constraints. (Vivekanand Jayakumar, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: US Postal Service Is Critical To Californians’ Health
On Monday, House Democrats proposed $25 billion in emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has lowered revenues, the USPS has run a multibillion-dollar funding deficit with Republicans unprepared to budge. Reports now indicate that mail sorting machines and post boxes have been removed in cities and towns across America.Politics of the Postal Service aside, I can tell you, as a doctor, how vital the post office is for the health of our most vulnerable Californians. (Shoshana Ungerlediger, 8/21)