Reuters: U.S. Records Over 25,000 Coronavirus Deaths In July
U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by over 25,000 in July and cases doubled in 19 states during the month, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy. The United States recorded 1.87 million new cases in July, bringing total infections to 4.5 million, for an increase of 69%. Deaths in July rose 20% to nearly 154,000 total. (Chan and Shumaker, 8/1)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Counts Smallest Daily Rise In Coronavirus Cases In Weeks 
The U.S. reported more than 47,000 new coronavirus cases, the smallest daily increase in almost four weeks, after posting a record number of new infections in the month of July. Total coronavirus cases world-wide surpassed 18 million Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, with the U.S. accounting for more than a quarter of the tally. The U.S. death toll was approaching 155,000. (Hall, 8/3)

CNN: In Much Of The US, Progress Made On Covid-19 Has Turned Into Progress Lost
Remember the progress made in suppressing Covid-19 during the painful economic shutdowns? In some states, much of those gains have been erased after an abysmal July that shattered records for new cases, hospitalizations or deaths. (Yan, 8/3)

The New York Times: After Plummeting, The Virus Soars Back In The Midwest 
First, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast were hit hardest as the coronavirus tore through the nation. Then it surged across the South. Now the virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest — and in states from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it. As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe. (Bosman, Fernandez and Fuller, 8/1)

Also —

The Hill: CDC Predicting 180,000 US Deaths From Coronavirus By August 22: Report 
An internal document by the federal government reportedly predicts the novel coronavirus death toll in the U.S. could hit 182,000 by the end of August. The number — found in an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report obtained by Yahoo News — marks a huge surge from an estimate by the University of Washington at the end of last month, which didn't place the U.S. at more than 180,000 deaths until October. (Seipel, 7/31)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Update: Deborah Birx Says U.S. Enters ‘New Phase’ Of Pandemic Amid Rising Death Toll 
Deborah Birx, the physician overseeing the White House coronavirus response, warned Sunday that the United States had entered a “new phase” of the pandemic and urged people to take extreme health precautions as infections and deaths rise sharply throughout the country. “I want to be very clear: What we’re seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN’s “State of the Union,” noting that cases were increasing in rural and urban areas. “It is extraordinarily widespread.” (Hawkins and Iati, 8/2)

CNN: Dr. Deborah Birx: 'We Are In A New Phase' Of Coronavirus Pandemic With More Widespread Cases
Birx stressed that Americans need to follow health recommendations, including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. "To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus," Birx said. "If you're in multi-generational households, and there's an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you're positive, if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities." (Stracqualursi, 8/2)

The Hill: Birx Says COVID-19 Outbreak Not Under Control Because 'People Are On The Move' 
Deborah Birx said Sunday that the COVID-19 outbreak is not under control in the U.S. because Americans "are on the move."  ... The White House coronavirus task force coordinator said she’s seen through recent travel to 14 states that Americans “are on the move.” (Coleman, 8/2)

In related news —

Bloomberg: Coronavirus News: Nancy Pelosi Says Deborah Birx Spreads Disinformation 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she doesn’t trust information from the coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, the latest political skirmish over the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump has been spreading disinformation about the virus and Deborah Birx “is his appointee, so I don’t have confidence there, no,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.” (Czuczka, 8/2)

Fox News: Pelosi Announces She Has 'No Confidence' In Top White House Coronavirus Adviser Deborah Birx
At the same time, Pelosi has praised Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH), as a "hero." Democrats have largely turned on Birx after a thinly sourced article in The New York Times criticized her for defending President Trump -- but Fauci, who has repeatedly changed his view on key aspects of the pandemic, is now seen as more willing to challenge the president. (Re, 8/2)

And Dr. Birx responds —

CNN: Birx Defends Herself As Pelosi Accuses Trump Administration Of Spreading Disinformation On Covid-19
Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday strongly defended her record amid criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she doesn't have confidence in the White House coronavirus task force coordinator's handling of the pandemic. On "State of the Union," Birx told CNN's Dana Bash that she has "tremendous respect" for Pelosi, but criticized a New York Times article last month that reported she had painted an optimistic view of the pandemic to the White House during a critical period in getting control of the virus. (Stracqualursi and Main, 8/2)

Politico: Fauci: Virus Rampant In U.S. Because Of Inadequate, Patchwork Shutdowns
The Trump administration's decision to leave coronavirus shutdown decisions to the states created a patchwork of policies that effectively only imposed restrictions on about half of the country, NIH infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci told a House hearing on Friday. “There were some states that did it very well, and there were some states did not," Fauci told the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Friday morning without elaborating. (Miranda Ollstein, 7/31)

ABC News: Fauci Testifies 'Highly Contagious' Virus Won't Disappear, As Trump Jeers At Dems
With the president tweeting bitterly at Democrats holding a hearing on COVID-19, the nation’s top health officials on Friday told lawmakers the novel coronavirus was not a hoax and that masks and social distancing remained the nation’s primary weapons in fighting the virus. The panel, which included Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, as well as two Trump appointees, testified in a joint statement that it’s unclear how long the pandemic will last although “COVID-19 activity will likely continue for some time.” (Parkinson, Flaherty and Ebbs, 7/31)

PBS NewsHour: Fauci Tells Congress He’s ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About Vaccine This Year
The coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, bringing with it immense economic damage. So far, Congress has been unable to deliver another pandemic relief measure, prompting House Democrats to cancel a planned August recess. But there were signs of hope on Capitol Hill, as top U.S. scientists spoke of encouraging progress toward developing a COVID-19 vaccine. (Sy, 7/31)

The Hill: Five Takeaways From Fauci's Testimony 
When Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor, testified before Congress a month ago, the U.S. had just set a record with 48,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day. Now, the country is averaging nearly 65,000 new cases a day. Outbreaks in the South appear to be leveling off, but worrying trends are emerging in the Midwest. And the nationwide death toll recently topped 150,000, a once-unthinkable number that is only going to increase as the pandemic rages on. (Hellmann and Sullivan, 7/31)

Kaiser Health News: Fauci Unfazed As Scientists Rely On Unproven Methods To Create COVID Vaccines 
With millions of lives on the line, researchers have been working at an unprecedented pace to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. But that speed — and some widely touted breakthroughs — belie the enormous complexity and potential risks involved. Researchers have an incomplete understanding of the coronavirus and are using technology that’s largely unproven. (Szabo, 8/3)

President Trump took issue with some of Fauci's testimony —

Politico: 'Wrong!': Trump Slams Fauci Over Testimony On Covid-19 Surge 
President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday, forcefully rejecting the nation’s top infectious disease expert's testimony on why the U.S. has experienced a renewed surge in coronavirus cases. “Wrong!” Trump wrote in a retweet of a video where Fauci explained to a House subcommittee that the U.S. has seen more cases than European countries because it only shut down a fraction of its economy amid the pandemic. “We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases,” the president added. (Semones, 8/1)

The Hill: Trump Challenges Fauci Over Comments On Coronavirus Surges: 'Wrong!' 
President Trump on Saturday publicly rejected Anthony Fauci's analysis of why the United States has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases, claiming that the nation's top infectious disease expert wasn't accounting for the country's testing capacity. "Wrong!" Trump said in a tweet that linked to a video of Fauci's Friday testimony before Congress. (Wise, 8/2)

AP: US Sinks Another $2.1 Billion Into A Potential Vaccine
Pharma giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur have announced they will supply 100 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to the United States as governments buy up supplies in hopes of securing a candidate that works. The United States will pay up to $2.1 billion “for development including clinical trials, manufacturing, scale-up and delivery” of the vaccine, the two companies based in Europe said in a statement. Sanofi will get the bulk of the funds. (Krka, 7/31)

Stat: U.S. To Pay Sanofi And GSK $2.1 Billion For Covid-19 Vaccine 
The Sanofi-GSK vaccine is starting trials behind vaccines of other companies with whom Operation Warp Speed is working, including Moderna — which began a pivotal Phase 3 study aimed at proving its vaccine’s efficacy on Monday — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax. However, it is the only vaccine of the group based on technologies used in approved vaccines: the platform behind Sanofi’s Flublok flu shot, and a compound made by GSK, called an adjuvant, that is used to make vaccines more potent. (Herper, 7/31)

In related vaccine news —

The New York Times: Scientists Worry About Political Influence Over Coronavirus Vaccine Project 
In April, with hospitals overwhelmed and much of the United States in lockdown, the Department of Health and Human Services produced a presentation for the White House arguing that rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine was the best hope to control the pandemic. “DEADLINE: Enable broad access to the public by October 2020,” the first slide read, with the date in bold. (LaFraniere, Thomas, Weiland, Baker and Karni, 8/2)

Politico: Vaccine Project Contract Raises Transparency Questions 
The Trump administration is hiring consultants with drug industry ties to steer its effort to find a coronavirus vaccine under a contract that allows them to avoid disclosing potential conflicts of interest. The arrangement, which is covered through a $611,500 contract for "Operation Warp Speed," raises more questions about the transparency of the pandemic response and the roles of outside contractors, including top coronavirus vaccine adviser Moncef Slaoui, who are helping steer the government's $10 billion development program. (Diamond, 7/31)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Examining Options For Unilateral Action If No Coronavirus Deal Is Reached With Congress
The Trump administration is looking at options for unilateral actions it can take to try to address some of the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic if no relief deal is reached with Congress, according to two people with knowledge of the deliberations. ... It’s not clear what steps the administration could take without the help of Congress on issues such as lapsed enhanced unemployment benefits or the expired moratorium on evictions — the two matters President Trump has recently identified as his highest priorities in the ongoing talks. Both of those programs were authorized by Congress earlier this year but were designed to be temporary. (Werner and Stein, 8/3)

The Hill: Mnuchin On $600 Unemployment Benefit: We Can't Be 'Paying People More To Stay Home' 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday threw cold water on the prospect of extending $600-per-week unemployment benefits for Americans for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with ABC's "This Week," Mnuchin suggested that the payments, which expired last week, led to some out-of-work Americans being "overpaid" and indicated that he believed they were slowing the return of workers to the labor market. (Bowden, 8/2)

The Hill: White House Not Optimistic On Near-Term Stimulus Deal 
Trump administration officials sounded a pessimistic note Sunday on the chances of a coronavirus relief deal with congressional Democrats in the near future. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows expressed doubt there would be “a solution in the very near term” on any package. "Yesterday was a step in the right direction," Meadows said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I'm not optimistic there will be a solution in the very near term." (Budryk, 8/2)

The Hill: Stimulus Impasse Threatens Both Economy And Trump 
Bungled negotiations over the next stimulus package and a resurgence of coronavirus infections are threatening the U.S. economic recovery, creating problems for President Trump as he charts the path forward for his reelection campaign. The White House and Congress remain far from a deal negotiations over the next stimulus package, even as expanded unemployment benefits and a federal moratorium on evictions expire, though the two sides touted progress following an unusual weekend meeting. (Chalfant and Elis, 8/2)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) weighs in —

The Hill: McConnell: Dropping Liability Protections From Coronavirus Deal 'Not Going To Happen' 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that liability protections will be in any coronavirus relief deal amid mixed signals from the White House, which has increasingly focused on a smaller or short-term deal. Asked if the White House was trying to drop liability protections from the talks, McConnell told WHAS, a Kentucky radio station, that both he and President Trump support the proposal. (Carney, 7/31)

The Hill: McConnell: 15-20 GOP Senators Will Not Vote For Any Coronavirus Deal 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that more than a third of Republican senators will not vote for any coronavirus relief package, underscoring division with his caucus. "I think there are 15-20 of my guys that are not going to vote for anything. ... It's a statement of the obvious that we will not have everybody on our side," McConnell told WHAS, a Kentucky radio station. (Carney, 7/31)

NPR: Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva Tests Positive For The Coronavirus 
Rep. Raúl Grijalva tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, becoming at least the 12th member of Congress to contract the virus. The Arizona Democrat chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, which held a hearing on Tuesday that was attended by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who has repeatedly refused to wear a mask in public. The next day, Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus during a routine screening at the White House. (Silva, 8/1)

The Guardian: Democratic Congressman Issues Blistering Attack On Republicans After Covid-19 Diagnosis 
“While I cannot blame anyone directly for this, this week has shown that there are some members of Congress who fail to take this crisis seriously,” he said. “Numerous Republican members routinely strut around the Capitol without a mask to selfishly make a political statement at the expense of their colleagues, staff, and their families.” The attack comes after Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican who has frequently refused to wear a mask, tested positive for coronavirus last week. In shunning a mask, Gohmert is following the lead of Donald Trump, who is rarely seen wearing one either in the White House or on presidential visits. (8/1)

Roll Call: Should The Capitol Start COVID-19 Testing For Staff And Members?
“The Capitol physician has not said yet that he thinks that we should be tested,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday. Pelosi said if testing were to take place on Capitol Hill, it wouldn’t be just for members of Congress, as “there are about 20,000 people who make the Capitol run.” One of the reasons people have continued to question whether lawmakers should be tested is their frequent travel from their districts and home states, something that distinguishes them from the vast majority of legislative branch employees. (Cioffi, 7/31)

Reuters: Factbox: Coronavirus In Congress - 14 Members Have Tested Or Been Presumed Positive
At least 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - have tested positive or are presumed to have had COVID-19 since the novel coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year, with Representative Raul Grijalva becoming the latest on Saturday. (8/1)

Politico: Pelosi Says Mail-In Voting Is Essential For Americans’ Health 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that mail-in voting in the upcoming election will be an essential option for Americans‘ safety and well-being, despite President Donald Trump’s claims that mail-in voting will lead to fraud and delays. On ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi went on the offensive about Trump’s claims — noting that the president’s family members, including Donald Trump Jr., advocated mail-in voting for a special election earlier this year in California. (Bice, 8/2)

Politico: Coronavirus Creates Election Worker Shortage Ahead Of November 
First it was toilet paper. Then it was cleaning supplies. Now, a new coronavirus-era shortage is threatening the November election: Poll workers. Recruiting volunteers to check in voters, supply ballots and deal with issues has never been easy for election administrators. But in interviews and public statements, more than a dozen election administrators and voting advocates warned that slow poll worker recruitment could be a major vulnerability for the 2020 election. (Montellaro, 7/31)

NPR: Mail-In Voting Is 'Not Rampant Voter Fraud,' Says Washington's Top Election Official 
This past week, President Trump renewed his unsubstantiated claim that mail-in voting begets inaccurate or fraudulent results when he raised the prospect of delaying November's election. "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history," Trump tweeted Thursday.Trump's rhetoric alarms Kim Wyman, the secretary of state of Washington, one of a handful of states that vote almost entirely by mail. (Bowman, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Some Experts Calling For Total Shutdown, As Coronavirus Threat Rises Across U.S. 
The coronavirus is spreading at dangerous levels across much of the United States, and public health experts are demanding a dramatic reset in the national response, one that recognizes that the crisis is intensifying and that current piecemeal strategies aren’t working. This is a new phase of the pandemic, one no longer built around local or regional clusters and hot spots. It comes at an unnerving moment in which the economy suffered its worst collapse since the Great Depression, schools are rapidly canceling plans for in-person instruction and Congress has failed to pass a new emergency relief package. President Trump continues to promote fringe science, the daily death toll keeps climbing and the human cost of the virus in America has just passed 150,000 lives. (Achenbach, Weiner and Janes, 8/1)

The Hill: Trump Economist Calls For 'No More Lockdowns,' 'No More Shutting Down Businesses' Amid Coronavirus Surge 
Economist Stephen Moore on Sunday called for “no more lockdowns” and “no more shutting down businesses” as many states across the country experience a surge in coronavirus cases. “We are seeing a recovery,” Moore, a staunch ally of President Trump, told radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM. Moore added that said economic recovery is happening but “not quite as rapidly as I would like.” (Moreno, 8/2)

Reuters: Fed's Kashkari Suggests 4-6 Week Shutdown; Says U.S. Congress Can Spend Big On Coronavirus Relief 
The U.S. economy could benefit if the nation were to “lock down really hard” for four to six weeks, a top Federal Reserve official said on Sunday, adding that Congress can well afford large sums for coronavirus relief efforts. The economy, which in the second quarter suffered its biggest blow since the Great Depression, would be able to mount a robust recovery, but only if the virus were brought under control, Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” (8/2)

In other news —

Detroit Free Press: Stimulus Helps Formerly Incarcerated Detroiters During COVID-19
Nonprofits that help individuals re-enter society after incarceration are providing up to $2,250 to hundreds of Detroiters who need assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. The Center for Employment Opportunities, a national nonprofit with an office in Detroit, is spearheading the Returning Citizens Stimulus for formerly incarcerated people and others involved with the criminal justice system who are either unemployed or underemployed. (Jackson, 7/31)

The Washington Post: D.C. Department Of Employment Services Delays Put Coronavirus Unemployed Close To Financial Ruin 
He had five days to move out of the house in Brightwood Park, and now Daniel Vought stood looking at the plastic crates stacked in the living room holding his things. T-shirts. Power cords. Pokémon cards and stuffed animals. His beloved guitar — a Gibson Explorer electric — still hung on the wall. He figured it would be safer staying behind. A new housemate was coming, one who could actually pay $800 a month for the room Vought, 30, had lived in rent-free since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the Georgetown bar where he worked. (Swenson, 8/1)

Politico: The Pandemic Is Eating Away At The Illicit Marijuana Market 
The legal marijuana industry has spent years battling illegal sellers who have eaten away at its market share and undercut its prices. But the coronavirus has proven to be a boon for legal pot shops, as customers fear the risks associated with inhaling questionable products and are nervous about letting sellers into their homes. (Demko and Nieves, 8/2)

Politico: Coronavirus’ Lost Generation 
After a months-long search, Alessandro Margiotta had finally landed a job as a warehouse worker. The contract was only for six months, but it was better than nothing, he reasoned. Like many other young Italians, he hoped the temporary gig would turn into something more long term. Then the coronavirus pandemic came along and wiped out those hopes. (Privitera, 7/31)

Politico: Trump Health Official: Time To ‘Move On’ From Hydroxychloroquine
A top official in the Trump administration's Covid-19 response effort said Sunday there is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for the virus, despite President Donald Trump's continued promotion of the anti-malaria drug. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," administration testing czar Brett Giroir said he could not recommend hydroxychloroquine because trials "do not show any benefit." (Warmbrodt, 8/2)

The Hill: White House Testing Czar: 'I Can't Recommend' Hydroxychloroquine 
White House coronavirus testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir said Sunday that he “can't recommend” hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 in an apparent contradiction of President Trump’s support of the drug. Giroir, a Health and Human Services (HHS) assistant secretary, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that hydroxychloroquine “looked very promising” at first, but five studies have now found that the anti-malarial drug does not help COVID-19 patients. (Coleman, 8/2)

In news on other COVID treatments —

Reuters: Relief, NeuroRx Say Emergency Treatment With RLF-100 Helps Critically Ill Covid Patients 
Critically ill COVID-19 patients recovered rapidly from respiratory failure after three days of treatment with RLF-100, a therapy granted fast-track designation in the United States, two drug companies said on Sunday. Geneva-based Relief Therapeutics Holdings AG RFLB.S has a patent for RLF-100, or aviptadil, a synthetic form of a natural peptide that protects the lung. U.S.-Israeli NeuroRx Inc partnered with Relief to develop the drug in the United States. (8/2)

Stat: CytoDyn CEO Claims Covid-19 Drug Success, But Details Suggest It Failed
CytoDyn CEO Nader Pourhassan used a conference call on Thursday evening to claim success with the company’s experimental Covid-19 drug — but his description of the clinical data, if true, suggests the drug didn’t meet the study’s primary goal. In disjointed comments to investors, Pourhassan insisted that leronlimab delivered “positive efficacy results” in the Covid-19 study. CytoDyn intended to quickly submit the “strong results” to the Food and Drug Administration and expected to win approval for leronlimab as a new treatment for Covid-19, he added. (Feuerstein, 7/31)

And other pharmaceutical news —

Reuters: Exclusive: Prescription Drug Marketplace GoodRx Files For IPO - Sources 
U.S. online prescription drug price marketplace GoodRx Inc has submitted paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. GoodRx, which was valued at $2.8 billion in 2018 when private equity firm Silver Lake invested in the company, is in the process of hiring advisers for the IPO, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the preparations are confidential. (Franklin and Sen, 8/2)

Stat: In A Blow To Catalyst, Judge Recommends Tossing Its Lawsuit Against FDA
A federal court judge recommended tossing a lawsuit filed by Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) that accused the Food and Drug Administration of violating the law when it approved a similar medicine by a small, family-run rival company. The move is a blow to Catalyst in its unusual battle with the agency, which has raised thorny questions about regulatory standards and the vagaries of orphan drug designations, while also playing into the heated national debate over the rising cost of prescription medicines. (Silverman, 7/31)

NPR: NIH Funds New Coronavirus Test Technologies To Make Testing Cheaper, Faster 
Americans continue to wait in long lines to get tested for the coronavirus. Many then face frustration and anxiety waiting days — sometimes even weeks — to get their results. Could technology finally solve the testing woes that have hobbled the nation's ability to fight the pandemic? The National Institutes of Health hopes so. On Friday, the NIH announced the first seven winners of a competition to produce next-generation coronavirus tests to help battle the spread of COVID-19. Together, they will receive $248.7 million to further develop their tests and hopefully make them available by the fall. (Stein, 7/31)

Stat: Ginkgo, Mammoth Among Winners Of NIH’s ‘Shark Tank’ For Covid-19 Tests
The National Institutes of Health selected Ginkgo Bioworks, Mammoth Biosciences, Quidel, and four other companies to receive nearly $250 million to develop new Covid-19 diagnostic tests through its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics program, the agency announced Friday. Three of the tests are intended to be processed at pharmacies or doctor’s offices; four are tests meant to be run in clinical labs. The money is coming from a $1.5 billion pot allocated to the NIH in April through the same law that created the Paycheck Protection Program. (Sheridan, 7/31)

Also —

The Telegraph: Antibody Tests Do Not Pick Up People Who Had Mild Coronavirus, Oxford Study Suggests
Antibody tests may be missing large numbers of people who contracted Covid-19 because they don't work for people who had a mild infection, new research from Oxford University suggests. A study of more than 9,000 healthcare workers suggested significant numbers of people were getting 'negative' test results, despite probably having had the virus. The work has major implications for government health policy, and scientists said it might also mean reviewing where the threshold between negative and positive results lies. (Rigby, 8/1)

Stat: A Tiny Texas Company Is Running Most U.S. Drive-Thru Covid-19 Testing
On March 13, President Trump stood next to the CEOs of LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, Walgreens, and Walmart in the Rose Garden, declared a national emergency, and promised the government would work with pharmacies and retailers to create drive-thru testing sites to help get the coronavirus pandemic under control. Four months later, more than 700 federally backed drive-thru sites are collecting thousands of tests per day. The government has spent nearly $230 million to pay for the tests run at those sites, which it calls Community-Based Testing Sites. But it’s not LabCorp or Quest running the majority of those sites — instead, it’s a tiny Texas company whose CEO was not in the Rose Garden that day. (Sheridan, 8/3)

AP: Latino Leaders Urge Better Promotion Of Free Virus Tests
When some 45,000 coronavirus test kits went unused during a 12-day testing blitz in Phoenix’s hardest-hit Latino neighborhoods, it was clear Arizona health officials failed to adequately spread the word to a community that’s often distrustful of government. On the last day of testing in a state that’s a national COVID-19 hot spot, just four vehicles lined up on a sweltering morning while a half-dozen uniformed members of the Arizona National Guard milled outside large white tents at a huge desert park in Phoenix. (Snow, 8/1)

Boston Globe: Massachusetts Disease-Tracking System Is Deficient, Experts Say 
One worrisome cluster of COVID-19 cases was traced to an employee at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield who traveled outside Massachusetts to a hot spot area and to hospital staff who were lax wearing masks in a break room. Another was discovered among lifeguards in Falmouth. These recent clusters have fueled concerns among public health specialists about the ability of the state government to quickly spot and contain outbreaks of the virus before they get out of control. (Lazar, 8/2)

The Washington Post: A Coronavirus Vaccine Won’t Change The World Right Away 
In the public imagination, the arrival of a coronavirus vaccine looms large: It’s the neat Hollywood ending to the grim and agonizing uncertainty of everyday life in a pandemic. But public health experts are discussing among themselves a new worry: that hopes for a vaccine may be soaring too high. The confident depiction by politicians and companies that a vaccine is imminent and inevitable may give people unrealistic beliefs about how soon the world can return to normal — and even spark resistance to simple strategies that can tamp down transmission and save lives in the short term. (Johnson, 8/2)

AP: Debate Begins For Who's First In Line For COVID-19 Vaccine
Who gets to be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine? U.S. health authorities hope by late next month to have some draft guidance on how to ration initial doses, but it’s a vexing decision. “Not everybody’s going to like the answer,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently told one of the advisory groups the government asked to help decide. “There will be many people who feel that they should have been at the top of the list.”Traditionally, first in line for a scarce vaccine are health workers and the people most vulnerable to the targeted infection. (Neergaard, 8/2)

Politico: On The Hunt For Its Own Supply Of Covid-19 Vaccines, Canada Champions Access For Poorer Countries 
Canada is championing the need for poorer countries to have access to a future Covid-19 vaccine at the same time it's trying to figure out how to secure its own supply. Karina Gould, Canada’s international development minister, told POLITICO on Wednesday that providing a vaccine for Canadians is a top priority and that a lot of internal discussions are underway. (Blatchford, 7/31)

Modern Healthcare: Researchers: COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Must Weigh Effects On Both Men, Women
When the National Institutes of Health and biotechnology company Moderna released initial promising results of a vaccine for COVID-19, biochemist Nicole Woitowich read the study with disappointment. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in mid-July, had a glaring oversight, she said. While both men and women participated in the trial, the data related to adverse drug effects were not analyzed by sex. This means the clinical community right now has no way of knowing if men or women responded differently to various vaccine dosages. The adverse effects from the experimental vaccine were mild or moderate and included chills, nausea and fever. (Castellucci, 8/1)

Dallas Morning News: COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Are Underway In Dallas-Fort Worth
For life to return to normal, the world needs a COVID-19 vaccine — possibly a few of them. Over the past month, several companies have announced promising early results for COVID-19 vaccines. But before a vaccine can be approved by the Food & Drug Administration, mass produced and distributed, it needs to be tested on tens of thousands of volunteers — some of whom will be from North Texas. (Jimenez and Kuchment, 7/31)

PBS NewsHour: How A Painless Patch Could One Day Deliver Vaccines 
Multiple research teams have designed patches that use microneedle arrays made out of materials like stainless steel or sugar to deliver quick and pain-free vaccination by taking advantage of the key role that skin plays in training our immune system. One group is even developing a completely needle-free method to confer immunity. (Isaacs-Thomas, 7/31)

Billings-Gazette: A Home To Heal In: Billings Clinic Cancer Center Provides Housing For Long-Term Patients
Those who leave home for cancer treatment at the Billings Clinic will be able to have a more comfortable stay, now that the clinic has acquired two residences for patients. A duplex, provided by the Billings Clinic Foundation and serviced by the Billings Inn by Riversage, will allow two patients of the Billings Clinic Cancer Center to receive lifesaving care while being within walking distance of a fully-furnished home. (Hamby, 8/1)

Kaiser Health News: Hospital Merger In Washington State Stokes Fears About Catholic Limits On Care
The proposed merger of a well-regarded secular hospital system and a larger Roman Catholic system in Washington state has triggered new alarms about religious restrictions on patients’ access to care. Virginia Mason Health System and CHI Franciscan announced plans in mid-July to form a joint operating company including 12 hospitals and more than 250 other treatment sites in the Puget Sound region and the Yakima area in central Washington. They touted the deal as a way to improve care. (Meyer, 8/3)

Crain's New York Business: NYC Health + Hospitals Spending $142M To Build COVID Recovery Clinics
NYC Health + Hospitals' plan to build Centers of Excellence in areas that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens will cost about $142 million, according to state filings. The health system is developing clinics in the Tremont section of the Bronx, Bushwick in Brooklyn and Jackson Heights in Queens. (Lamantia, 8/1)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Executive Incentive Payouts Look Bad Amid COVID-19
While most hospital and health systems are reworking their executive incentive plans, only 16% eliminated bonus payouts entirely this year as COVID-19 roils the healthcare industry and the broader economy. Annual and long-term performance-based incentives have driven pay hikes of 4% to 7% each of the last five years, according to Modern Healthcare’s annual Executive Compensation Survey. Prior to the pandemic, weighted average total cash compensation, which encompasses base salaries and bonuses, for executives across 376 health systems surveyed increased 6.5%. Weighted average total cash compensation rose 3.2% for executives across more than 1,000 hospitals. (Kacik, 8/1)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Grants Won't Factor Into Some Providers' 2020 Debt Ratios
Lawmakers have appropriated $175 billion in Provider Relief Fund grants to providers who suffered losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the money comes with complicated and ever-changing accounting rules that are preventing some providers with June 30 year ends to include all of the aid in their fiscal 2020 reports. Since the end of the fiscal year is also when borrowers have to prove their financial standing meet requirements in their agreements with lenders, called debt covenants, that could be a problem. (Bannow, 7/31)

Reuters: Siemens Healthineers Expands Into Cancer Care With $16.4 Billion Deal For Varian
German health group Siemens Healthineers (SHLG.DE) said on Sunday it was buying Varian Medical Systems Inc (VAR.N) of the United States for $16.4 billion in a deal that seeks to create the global leader in cancer care solutions. The deal is the first major growth move by Healthineers since it was spun off and floated in 2018 by Siemens (SIEGn.DE), which is undertaking a broader shakeup of its conglomerate structure to create room for its business units to do their own deals. (Poltz and Busvine, 8/2)

Modern Healthcare: System-Owned Health Plans Provide Financial Buffer Against COVID-19
Health insurers have so far sailed through the COVID-19 crisis relatively unscathed. The twin effects of stable premium income and lower claims are strong enough that health systems that own insurance companies got an income cushion too. Systems like Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Geisinger Health and ProMedica have noticed their insurance operations are providing a welcome buffer from the effects of COVID-19. Even as patient revenue shrinks, health plan premium revenue has held steady. (Bannow, 8/1)

Modern Healthcare: HHS 340B Hospital Pay Cuts Are Legal, Appeals Court Rules
An appeals court panel on Friday ruled that an HHS policy that cut some Medicare outpatient drug payments by 28.5% at 340B hospitals is legal, overturning a lower court decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 to uphold the HHS payment policy, which the agency first proposed in 2017. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote in the court's opinion that HHS acted within its statutory authority to cut pay for 340B hospitals "so as to avoid reimbursing those hospitals at much higher levels than their actual costs to acquire the drugs." (Cohrs, 7/31)

CNN: 260 Employees In Georgia School District Have Tested Positive For Covid-19 Or Been Exposed 
Georgia's largest school district has confirmed that around 260 employees have either tested positive for Covid-19 or have been exposed. The Gwinnett County School District (GCPS) employees won't be returning to school just yet as districts across the country continue to adjust their back-to-school plans to prevent the spread of the virus. The situation in Gwinnett is fluid, GCPS spokeswoman Sloan Roach told CNN in an email Sunday evening. (Paget and Silverman, 8/3)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Infected Hundreds At A Georgia Summer Camp 
As schools and universities plan for the new academic year, and administrators grapple with complex questions about how to keep young people safe, a new report about a coronavirus outbreak at a sleepaway camp in Georgia provides fresh reasons for concern. The camp implemented several precautionary measures against the virus, but stopped short of requiring campers to wear masks. The virus blazed through the community of about 600 campers and counselors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday. (Rabin, 7/31)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Schools Reopening: How Will We Know Districts Are Safe?
The debate about how, when and if schools should reopen for in-person learning isn’t going anywhere. State guidance on reopening made only suggestions for safe reopening, but mandated nothing. No plans are required to be reviewed or approved. (Herron, 8/2)

AP: As School Begins Amid Virus, Parents See Few Good Options
John Barrett plans to keep his daughter home from elementary school this year in suburban Atlanta, but he wishes she were going. Molly Ball is sending her teenage sons to school in the same district on Monday, but not without feelings of regret. As the academic year begins in many places across the country this week, parents are faced with the difficult choice of whether to send their children to school or keep them home for remote learning because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many are unhappy with either option. (Amy, 8/2)

The Wall Street Journal: As Schools Plan To Reopen, Single Parents Have Few Child-Care Options 
As U.S. workers look ahead to fall, the realities of remote education and precarious child care are hitting single parents harder than most segments of the workforce. Lacking a co-parent with whom to share the additional workload at home and unable to rely on support systems such as grandparents and babysitters, many single parents are struggling to care for kids while earning a living. They are often the sole breadwinner in their homes, so cutting back hours or taking a leave of absence isn’t feasible. Some say they are simply out of options. (Weber, 8/2)

KQED: Overwhelmed, Stressed, Scared: School Nurses Brace For The Fall Semester 
Many nurses have been working with their school districts over the summer to prepare plans for every scenario imaginable. But they say that's not the case for everyone."I know a lot of nurses have asked to be at the table and they're not being invited or disregarded," said one. "And honestly, would you want your child to return to a school where a school nurse was not part of the plan?" (Lombardo, 8/1)

WBUR: Safer Air: To Cut Virus Risk In Fall, Schools Scramble To Improve Ventilation 
There’s growing evidence that the coronavirus can linger in the air, including several documented cases that linked poor ventilation to spread of the virus. The state is advising schools that while masks are the best defense against that, better ventilation can help too. (Goldberg, 7/31)

PBS NewsHour: A California Collective Makes The Case For Outdoor Schooling
As school districts across the country are trying to determine how or if they can open their doors in the fall, a California coalition has come together - offering districts everything from curriculum to architecture advice to take their classrooms outside. (Booker, 8/2)

Also —

AP: Barron Trump's Private School To Stay Closed For Now
President Donald Trump insists that schools reopen so students can go back to their classrooms, but the Maryland private school where his son Barron is enrolled is among those under county orders to stay closed. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said his order to stay closed for in-person instruction through Oct. 1 and to conduct online classes only will be reevaluated before Oct. 1 to determine whether it should be extended, terminated or amended. (Superville, 8/2)

The New York Times: More Than 6,600 Coronavirus Cases Have Been Linked To U.S. Colleges 
A New York Times survey of every public four-year college in the country, as well as every private institution that competes in Division I sports or is a member of an elite group of research universities, revealed at least 6,600 cases of COVID. And the new academic year has not even begun at most schools. (Cai, Ivory, Smith, Lemonides and Higgins, 7/29)

The New York Times: Covid Tests And Quarantines: Colleges Brace For An Uncertain Fall 
This month, many colleges around the country plan to welcome back thousands of students into something they hope will resemble normal campus life. But they face challenges unlike any other American institution — containing the coronavirus among a young, impulsive population that not only studies together, but lives together, parties together, and, if decades of history are any guide, sleeps together. It will be a hugely complex and costly endeavor requiring far more than just the reconfiguring of dorm rooms and cafeterias and the construction of annexes and tent classrooms to increase social distancing. (Hartocollis and Hubler, 8/2)

CIDRAP: Researchers Offer Ways To Promote Safety When Reopening Colleges 
Researchers who conducted a decision and cost-effectiveness study published today in JAMA Network Open have concluded that the safe reopening of US college campuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic this fall relies on every-other-day screening of asymptomatic students and strict compliance with physical distancing and infection-control protocols. The study involved modeling a hypothetical cohort of 4,990 healthy college students and 10 with undetected, asymptomatic COVID-19 infections at the start of the semester. (Van Beusekom, 7/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Colleges Try To Reunite Students With The Stuff They Left Behind 
For months, nearly 3,000 miles has separated Benjamin Beckman, a Yale University music major in California, from his French horn back in Connecticut. The instrument was left behind in the hasty shutdown of colleges across the U.S. this spring as coronavirus hit—along with piles of laundry, snacks and personal belongings gathering dust for months in shuttered dorms at campuses across the country. Mr. Beckman, who lives in Los Angeles, was on spring break when Yale decided to close its campus. Finally, a friend was able to fetch the horn—worth thousands of dollars and crucial to his studies—from his dorm and recently shipped it back to him. (Brody and Korn, 8/2)

In other higher-ed news —

Stat: International Med Students Ease The Path For Others With New Mentor Group
Long before Azan Virji entered medical school, a college counselor back home in Tanzania tried to dissuade him from coming to the U.S. to pursue a medical degree. The odds, he was told, would not be in his favor. Fewer than 3% of medical school applicants in the U.S. are international students, and only 0.5% of all medical school enrollees are from abroad. (Chakradhar, 8/3)

Reuters: At Least 40 Infected With COVID-19 On Norway Cruises Amid Scramble To Trace Passengers
At least 40 passengers and crew from a luxury cruise liner have tested positive for COVID-19 and the authorities are still trying to trace a number of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages, public health officials in Norway said on Sunday. Four crew members on the MS Roald Amundsen were hospitalised on Friday when the ship arrived at the port of Tromsoe, and later diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Tests showed another 32 of the 158 staff were also infected. (Solsvik, 8/2)

USA Today: Hurtigruten Cruise Line: 36 Crew Infected With COVID-19 In Norway
But the virus might not have been contained onboard. Potentially impacted passengers from two separate voyages had already disembarked a cruise on July 24 and the last cruise on Friday, leaving ample time for passengers to begin their voyages home and potentially spread the virus. The cruise line has contacted passengers who had been on the MS Roald Amundsen for its July 17 and July 24 departures. There were 209 guests on the first voyage and 178 guests on the second voyage, though the ship holds between 530 and 600 passengers, according to CruiseMapper. All have been asked to self-quarantine in accordance with Norwegian regulations, according to the cruise line. (Hines, 8/1)

The Washington Post: D.C. Catholic Pastor Charles Pope Who Preached Against Fear Of Virus Tests Positive For Covid-19 
The pastor of a Catholic church on Capitol Hill who urged people not to “cower in fear” of the novel coronavirus has contracted covid-19, the disease the virus causes, prompting D.C. health officials to tell about 250 staff and parishioners to self-quarantine for two weeks. Monsignor Charles Pope of Holy Comforter St. Cyprian Catholic Church on East Capitol Street was admitted to the hospital on July 27 after experiencing a high fever. He tested positive for the coronavirus after a rapid diagnostic test that afternoon. (Tan, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Fear Of Covid-19 Exposes Lack Of Health Literacy 
A Michigan library had to ask patrons to stop microwaving books to kill the coronavirus after noticing returned books with scorched pages. The Cleveland Clinic issued a public warning about the danger of using vodka concoctions as a hand sanitizer when recipes started to circulate. Then came the surge of calls to poison control centers about bleach. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to double-down on warnings not to drink it or rinse food in it. (Glicksman, 8/2)

Kaiser Health News: What Seniors Can Expect As Their New Normal In A Post-Vaccine World 
Imagine this scenario, perhaps a year or two in the future: An effective COVID-19 vaccine is routinely available and the world is moving forward. Life, however, will likely never be the same — particularly for people over 60. That is the conclusion of geriatric medical doctors, aging experts, futurists and industry specialists. Experts say that in the aftermath of the pandemic, everything will change, from the way older folks receive health care to how they travel and shop. Also overturned: their work life and relationships with one another. (Horovitz, 8/3)

CNN: Do Some People Have Protection Against The Coronavirus? 
We're now more than seven months into the coronavirus pandemic that has upended the lives of most of Earth's inhabitants. And while it is true that the scientific community has learned many things about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, Covid-19, there are also many gaps in our understanding. One big mystery: Why do some people get very sick and even die from their illness, while other similar people show no symptoms and may not realize they've been infected at all? (Gupta and Kane, 8/2)

WBUR: One Man's COVID-19 Death Raises The Worst Fears Of Many People With Disabilities 
Michael Hickson's death has become a cause among many with disabilities, an emblem of a medical system that they believe views their lives as having less value, even before a pandemic put doctors and hospitals under stress. And now Hickson's death may get the scrutiny of a federal civil rights office. (Shapiro, 7/31)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Another Health Concern ? Closed Public Restrooms 
When courier Brent Williams makes his daily deliveries around the city here, he runs into one persistent problem: There's almost nowhere to use the restroom. Most public buildings are closed under the pandemic, and restaurants and coffee shops that have shifted to carryout service won't let him use their facilities. “It’s hard to find any place where I can use the restroom,” said Williams, speaking outside a ­library in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood that has reopened its ­restrooms to the public. (Brown, 8/1)

Los Angeles Times: One Day In The Life Of The COVID-19 Pandemic In L.A. 
The pandemic may have slowed the city, but it hasn’t stopped it.Starting well before dawn, essential workers toil at factories and markets and restaurants. Some remain deep into the night; the lucky ones work from home. Parks and beaches and hiking trails beckon those desperate for a break. But COVID-19 has not been an equal-opportunity scourge. Those who see no choice but to work outside their homes are far more exposed than those who have the luxury of sheltering in place. Those in crowded households are far more likely to fall ill than those who live alone or in small families. (8/2)

NPR: Latinx Communities Hit Hard By Coronavirus Outbreak In Rural MO 
Francisco Bonilla is a pastor in Carthage, Mo., catering to the spiritual needs of the town's growing Latinx community. But he's also a media personality, casting his voice far beyond the white-painted walls of Casa de Sanidad. Inside the church, Bonilla runs a low-power, Spanish-language radio station. Bonilla mainly uses the station to broadcast sermons and religious music. But these days he is also focused on COVID-19: explaining the illness and its symptoms, updating his listeners with the newest case counts, and bringing on guests. He has broadcast interviews with a local nurse and with investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Martinez Valdivia, 8/1)

Dallas Morning News: ‘It’s Hell Living There’: Texas Inmates Say They Are Battling COVID-19 In Prisons With No A/C
There are more than 100 state-run jails and prisons in Texas. Only about 1 in 4 has air conditioning in inmate housing areas. As Texas enters what could be the hottest month of the year, prisoners said the pain and fear of battling COVID-19 is being exacerbated by inescapable heat. The continued spread of the virus behind bars has advocates and lawmakers talking once again about how to address the air-conditioning issue. They said a real solution would take years. (McGaughy, 7/31)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro Atlanta Stores Apply Soft Touch On Mask Mandates, With Success
Many of metro Atlanta’s biggest retailers now say they require shoppers to wear masks, and more start such mandates today. Enforcement appears minimal — and yet the gentle approach is mostly working. An average of 93% of shoppers at stores with mandates wore face coverings during spot checks this week by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Kempner, 8/1)

And people are still gathering in large groups —

Boston Globe: Baker Cites A Number Of Large Social Gatherings As A Recipe For Coronavirus Disaster 
Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that recent large gatherings in communities throughout the state were a “recipe for disaster” in potentially spreading the coronavirus, and warned residents that “we’re going to have to make some changes” if the positive test rate continues to move up. Baker made the comments during his regular State House briefing. (Andersen. 7/31)

CNN: Los Angeles Bar: Dozens Attend Party Without Covid-19 Precautions 
Dozens of people attended a party at a bar in Los Angeles on Friday night -- without wearing masks or adhering to social distancing. The party, according to a spokeswoman for the Hollywood bar, was meant to be a mix of first responders as a way to celebrate their profession. CNN was tipped off to the event by a source with direct knowledge of the party, who was told it would involve 100 to 150 law enforcement personnel at Sassafras Saloon. (Lah, Berryman and Andone, 8/2)

The New York Times: Arrests Over Illicit Party Boat With 170 Guests Cruising Around N.Y.C. 
The Liberty Belle, a riverboat with four bars, three outdoor decks and space for 600 guests, has been touted by its operators as a “favorite venue” of New Yorkers who hold parties, fund-raisers and other trendy events on the water. But now it has become yet another symbol of reckless socializing during the pandemic: The boat was used on Saturday to host a party with more than 170 guests, violating state and local social-distancing rules, according to the New York Sheriff’s Office. (Zaveri, 8/2)

CNN: Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson Tests Positive For Covid-19 
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has tested positive for Covid-19, the team announced in a statement Sunday. Pederson is "asymptomatic and doing well," the Eagles' statement read. He is in self-quarantine and in communication with the team's medical staff. (Vera and Dotson, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Pac-12 Football Players Threaten To Boycott Season If Their Demands Are Not Met 
A large group of Pac-12 football players threatened to boycott fall practices and games if a list of demands related to safety, racial justice and compensation are not guaranteed by the conference. The players announced the unprecedented push for college athlete rights with a unified statement Sunday morning, and numerous players tweeted their support of the group’s mission. The Pac-12 players asked for the conference to enforce safety standards as teams return to play amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. After the death of George Floyd and a summer of unrest, the players want the Pac-12 to commit to addressing social issues such as racial injustice and grant players more economic freedom through revenue sharing and the ability to profit off their names, images and likenesses. (Giambalvo, Klemko and Strauss, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Drew Brees Says He Has Licked His Annoying Habit Of Licking His Fingers
One of the most noticeable things about Drew Brees, aside from all the passing yardage and the touchdowns and the wins, is his nagging practice of licking his fingers again and again and again while he’s on the field. Now, with the world in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, the New Orleans Saints quarterback has decided it is time to kick the habit. “Believe it or not, I am telling you, I haven’t licked my fingers in four months,” Brees told reporters Saturday. (Boren, 8/2)

Kaiser Health News: Forced Sports Timeout Puts Squeeze On College Coffers, Scholarships And Towns
On college football Saturdays, tiny Clemson, South Carolina (pop. 17,000), turns into a city of 150,000 when fanatics pour into downtown and swarm Memorial Stadium, home of the Tigers. Some don’t even have a ticket to the game, but they come with money to burn. “It’s well north of $2 million in economic impact per game,” said Susan Cohen, president of the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce. Hotels sell out rooms at $400 a night; some shops bring in 50% of their year’s revenue during the seven home-game weekends. Add in massive broadcasting contracts and apparel deals that enrich schools directly, and there are hundreds of millions of reasons that universities with large athletic departments and the towns they occupy don’t want to lose even one season to COVID-19. (Kreidler, 8/3)

In baseball and basketball news —

The Wall Street Journal: Changes Coming To Baseball’s Health Protocols After Coronavirus Outbreaks
At least one of the changes ... is designed to bolster MLB’s contact tracing efforts to determine whether someone has potentially been exposed to the virus. To this point, baseball has used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of “close contact”: being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes. Anyone discovered to have met that standard must take an expedited diagnostic test and self-quarantine while awaiting the results, among other preventive measures. Baseball now considers that to be insufficient after seeing it in action and will be stricter in figuring out who else should be quarantined and monitored if someone tests positive. (Diamond, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Eduardo Rodriguez Won’t Pitch Because Of Heart Ailment Linked To Covid-19 
Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez described his experience with covid-19 as feeling “like I was 100 years old.” Now, the 27-year-old left-hander will miss the 2020 season while recovering from a heart issue related to the illness. Rodriguez, who tested positive for the coronavirus July 7, was ready to return July 18, but, five days later, an MRI revealed what turned out to be myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart that has been shown to be a complication of a virus that can affect the kidneys and heart as well as the lungs. (Boren, 8/2)

AP: Marlins End Isolation In Philly And Leave For Baltimore
The nightmarish first stop of the season for the Miami Marlins finally ended Sunday. The Marlins left Philadelphia, where they were stranded in isolation for a week after their season-opening series because of a coronavirus outbreak that sidelined half of the team. (8/2)

AP: The Latest: Duke Says 25 Returning Athletes Test Positive
Duke says that 25 athletes have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past three weeks as they began returning to campus for voluntary practice, with nine in mandatory isolation. The school announced the results Friday night following a total of 700 tests being administered to 309 athletes, coaches and staff. Sixteen athletes tested positive, but have gone through a required isolation period and have been cleared by physicians to return to regular activities. (7/31)

AP: Health Officials Link US Salmonella Outbreak To Red Onions
Federal health officials say an outbreak of salmonella infecting nearly 400 people in more than 30 states has been linked to red onions, and identified a California company as the likely source. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Friday that Thomson International Inc. of Bakersfield, California, has notified the food agency that it will be recalling all varieties of onions that could have come in contact with potentially contaminated red onions because of the risk of cross-contamination. (D'Innocenzio, 8/1)

CIDRAP: CDC: 473 More Salmonella Illnesses Linked To Backyard Poultry
In the last month, 473 more people have been sickened in the United States by Salmonella linked to contact with backyard poultry. A total of 938 people in 48 states are part of at least 15 multistate outbreaks tied to backyard birds, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also, four more serotypes have been added to the investigation: Braenderup, Muenchen, Thompson, and Typhimurium. (7/31)

The Hill: Colorado To Declare Racism A Public Health Crisis 
Colorado is declaring racism a public health crisis after employees inside the state's Department of Public Health and Environment put pressure on its top health official to address the issue. Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director of the department, told The Denver Post that the stance would become formal policy within the department. The declaration aligns Colorado with the American Public Health Association (APHA), which first declared systemic racism in the U.S. a public health crisis back at the beginning of June — shortly after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, a Black man. (Johnson, 7/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Homicide Spike Hits Most Large U.S. Cities 
A sharp rise in homicides this year is hitting large U.S. cities across the country, signaling a new public-safety risk unleashed during the coronavirus pandemic, and amid recession and a national backlash against police tactics. The murder rate is still low compared with previous decades, and other types of serious crime have dropped in the past few months. But researchers, police and some residents fear the homicide spike, if not tamed, could threaten an urban renaissance spurred in part by more than two decades of declining crime. (Hilsenrath, 8/2)

AP: Vaccine Bait To Be Dropped To Try To Curb Rabies In Maine
Authorities in Maine are distributing oral rabies vaccines in bait form in the northeastern part of the state early this month. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the vaccines will be distributed starting around Aug. 3 and the effort will last for several days. The baits will be distributed by the air and ground and target raccoons over a 2,650-square-mile area. (8/3)

In mental health news —

Dallas Morning News: ‘Every Day Is A Struggle‘: El Paso, One Year Later 
Dina Lizarde sits in her house with its lights turned low and the TV a constant companion. She stares at the candles she lights in memory of her 15-year-old son Javier Amir Rodríguez. A father. A son. A mother. They are but three of the survivors of the 23 people who died at the hands of a gunman at a busy Walmart in the worst mass shooting of Hispanics in recent U.S. history. In the year following the Aug. 3 tragedy, The Dallas Morning News interviewed family members of those slain, about a dozen of the injured, other witnesses and multiple sources close to the investigation. We reviewed hundreds of pages of documents related to the massacre. (Corchado, Jaramillo and Barragan, 7/31)

NPR: Cancer's Stress Deepens With Pandemic's Tough Choices 
Alexea Gaffney battles health issues every day on multiple fronts. As an infectious disease doctor in Stony Brook, N.Y., she treats patients who have COVID-19. And two years ago, at age 37, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. As a result, the physician and single mom, who is also home-schooling her 8-year-old daughter these days, is still under medical treatment for the cancer. And that makes her more vulnerable to the virus.Gaffney says navigating life from minute to minute feels like a minefield of risks — ones she mitigates with face masks, protective gowns and lots of hand-washing. (Noguchi, 8/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Californians With Mental Illness Are Dropping Private Insurance To Get Taxpayer-Funded Treatment 
In many cases, commercial insurers aren’t legally required to offer the intensive mental health services available through Medi-Cal. This open secret exposes troubling questions: What should private insurance cover? What should the state — and thereby taxpayers — pay for? Who’s responsible for ensuring people with serious mental illnesses get the treatment they need? (Wiener, 7/31)

In West Nile news —

AP: Mosquitoes At Lake Havasu Test Positive For West Nile Virus
Health officials are asking visitors to avoid a beach on the east side of Lake Havasu after mosquitoes gathered there tested positive for the West Nile virus. Mohave County routinely collects and tests mosquitoes that have the potential for carrying the virus. Officials said mosquitoes around Body Beach, a half-mile stretch of shoreline, recently tested positive. (8/1)

AP: Ginsburg Waited 4 Months To Say Her Cancer Had Returned
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is perhaps the most forthcoming member of the Supreme Court when it comes to telling the public about her many health issues. But she waited more than four months to reveal that her cancer had returned and that she was undergoing chemotherapy. One big difference from her past battles with cancer is that Ginsburg and the rest of the court have been out of the public eye since early March because of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s when they decided to close the building except for official business, then later postponed arguments and agreed to meet by telephone. (Sherman, 8/2 )

Reuters: Former Pope Benedict Is Seriously Ill: Newspaper 
Former Pope Benedict XVI is seriously ill after returning to the Vatican from a visit to Germany, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse reported on Monday, citing his biographer. Benedict, aged 93, has become very frail and his voice is barely audible, author Peter Seewald told the daily. (8/3)

The New York Times: Connie Culp, First Face Transplant Recipient In U.S., Dies At 57 
Connie Culp, the first patient in the United States to receive a face transplant, died on Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic, which had performed her procedure in 2008. She was 57. The cause was an infection unrelated to her transplant, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. Ms. Culp was the longest-living face transplant patient in the world, the spokeswoman said. (Pietsch, 8/1)

Boston Globe: Study: Fewer Than 1 Percent Of Rhode Island Blood Donors Had COVID-19 Antibodies 
Fewer than 1 percent of Rhode Island blood donors had COVID-19 antibodies in April and May, a sign that residents adhered to state’s stay-at-home order and other restrictions, but a reminder that they are likely still susceptible to the contagious virus. The seroprevalence rate in 2,008 blood donors from Rhode Island between April 28 and May 11 was .6 percent, according to a just-released study from researchers at the New York Blood Center. A separate study of about 500 residents released in June showed that 2.2 percent had antibodies. (McGowan, 8/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia To Reopen Makeshift Hospital At World Congress Center
As the soaring number of coronavirus cases strains the state’s hospital network, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday health officials would reopen a makeshift medical facility at the Georgia World Congress Center in the coming week. The temporary hospital at the sprawling convention center will initially house 60 beds, but can double its capacity if necessary. The state also announced it will expand a $1.2 million arrangement with Grady Memorial Hospital to coordinate care for the state’s COVID-19 patients. (Bluestein, 7/31)

The Washington Post: How San Francisco’s Bay Area Went From Early Covid Success To Just Another Surge 
The Bay Area was supposed to be exceptional. It was one of the first metro areas in the United States to fully shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nearly everyone wears masks, in stores and on streets. Its progressive residents generally have been inclined to follow the rules, and there’s a high level of trust in public health officials, local governments and the fast-changing science. But now, more than four months after the region put some of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders in effect, the Bay Area is experiencing a surge in cases and counties are rolling back reopening plans. (Kelly and Lerman, 8/2)

ProPublica and NBC News: “It Cost Me Everything”: In Texas, COVID-19 Takes A Devastating Toll On Hispanic Residents 
As the coronavirus tears disproportionately through Latino communities in Texas, data released this week by state health officials reveals that an outsized share of these residents are also suffering the worst outcomes. Hispanic Texans make up about 40% of the state’s population but 48% of the state’s 5,952 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, according to Department of State Health Services data. (Trevizo and Hixenbaugh, 7/30)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: As A Possible Plateau In Louisiana Coronavirus Cases Brings Hope, Fear Of Rising Deaths Looms 
First, the good news: The surge in coronavirus cases that caused Louisiana to become a national hotspot for the second time since the pandemic began appears to have leveled off, at least for now. But with COVID-19, there’s always a caveat. Even if the number of cases is no longer accelerating from one day to the next, the latest data suggests the state may be plateauing at a level too high to fully contain the virus. And the second wave of deaths caused by the new cases tallied over the past month may just be getting started. (Adelson and Karlin, 8/1)

The Hill: Florida Surpasses Record For Most COVID-19 Deaths In Single Week 
Florida on Sunday surpassed its record for the most COVID-19 deaths in a single week, with 1,230 reported in the past seven days. The Sunshine State broke the previous record, set one week earlier, after recording 257 deaths on Friday, the most in a single day, according to the COVID Tracking Project. (Coleman, 8/2)

AP: 1,467 New Confirmed Illinois Cases Of Coronavirus, 14 Deaths
There were 1,467 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois and 14 additional confirmed deaths, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Sunday. The latest confirmed cases brings to 181,943 the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Illinois since the start of the pandemic. The number of deaths now total 7,517. The ages of coronavirus cases reported in Illinois range from younger than one-year to older than 100 years. (8/2)

AP: Arkansas Reports 637 More Coronavirus Cases
Arkansas reported 637 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 Sunday. The new tally bring the state’s total to 43,810 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, up from 43,173 Saturday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. The department had not reported any additional deaths Sunday evening. (8/2)

AP: Michigan Reports No New COVID-19 Deaths, 426 Confirmed Cases
Michigan reported no new COVID-19 deaths and 426 new confirmed cases, health officials said Sunday. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Service on Sunday said there have been 82,782 cases and 6,206 deaths since the start of the pandemic. With probable cases, the number of deaths is 6,457 and cases total 91,332. (8/2)

And updates from states in the West —

AP: Nevada Reports 1,131 More Coronavirus Cases, Passes 50K Mark
Nevada has now passed the 50,000 mark in positive COVID-19 cases. State health officials on Sunday reported 1,131 new coronavirus cases, pushing the total to 50,205 since the pandemic began. (8/2)

AP: New Mexico Reports 226 More Coronavirus Cases, 3 More Deaths
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New Mexico has increased by 226 with three additional deaths also reported Sunday. That raises the state’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 21,016 with 654 known deaths. (8/2)

AP: North Dakota COVID-19 Positive Cases Drop From Record High
The number of positive COVID-19 cases reported Saturday dropped by 20% from a record set the day before, state health officials said.Officials confirmed 134 new cases, down from a daily high of 168 cases on Friday. (8/1)

AP: South Dakota Reports 103 New Coronavirus Cases, 4 New Deaths
South Dakota health officials report 103 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state and four new deaths.The state has now had a total of 8,867 cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday, with 913 cases still active. (8/1)

AP: Oklahoma Reports 494 More Coronavirus Cases, 1 More Death
Oklahoma reported another 494 cases of COVID-19 Sunday, and one more death linked to the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The state has seen 38,225 confirmed cases of the virus and 550 deaths, an increase from from the 37,731 confirmed cases on Saturday, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. More than 30,800 people are reported to have recovered from the disease. (8/2)

AP: Texas Doesn't Report COVID-19 Case Count Amid System Upgrade
Texas did not report daily counts of COVID-19 cases nor fatalities Sunday as health officials worked to upgrade the electronic system they use to process lab reports. The Texas Department of State Health Services said the Sunday counts will be published Monday after the “scheduled upgrade” is completed. On Saturday, the department reported 9,539 news cases of COVID-19 and another 268 deaths linked to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. That brought the state to 430,485 confirmed cases and 6,837 fatalities. (8/2)

AP: Navajo Nation Reports 13 More COVID-19 Cases, 4 More Deaths
Navajo Nation health officials have reported 13 more cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths. That brings the total number of people infected to 9,068 and the known death toll to 450 as of Saturday night. (8/2)

Reuters: Singapore To Make Travellers Wear Electronic Tags To Enforce Quarantine 
Singapore will make some incoming travellers wear an electronic monitoring device to ensure that they comply with coronavirus quarantines as the city-state gradually reopens its borders, authorities said on Monday. From August 11, the devices will be given to incoming travellers, including citizens and residents, from a select group of countries who will be allowed to isolate at home rather than at a state-appointed facility. (8/3)

The Washington Post: Thousands In Berlin Protest Coronavirus Restrictions In ‘Freedom Day’ March As Cases Continue To Rise
Thousands of largely mask-less demonstrators marched through central Berlin on Saturday chanting “We are free people” to the beat of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” in a coronavirus restrictions protest that was also riddled with virus-related conspiracy theories. The demonstration took place despite recent warnings from German health officials about a new rise in infections. (Morris and Berger, 8/1)

AP: Scientists Study Coronavirus Outbreaks Among Minks In Europe
Coronavirus outbreaks at mink farms in Spain and the Netherlands have scientists digging into how the animals got infected and if they can spread it to people. In the meantime, authorities have killed more than 1 million minks at breeding farms in both countries as a precaution. The outbreaks among the minks on farms in the Netherlands and Spain likely started with infected workers, although officials aren’t certain. (Parra and Corder, 8/2)

Reuters: Kosovo Prime Minister Says He Has COVID-19 
Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Sunday he has contracted COVID-19 and will self-isolate at home for two weeks. “I don’t have symptoms expect a very mild cough,” Hoti said on his Facebook page. Hoti’s government has faced criticism for not doing enough to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, with the small Balkan country reporting a sharp increase in cases in the past few days — including 13 deaths on Sunday. (8/2)

AP: Italian Island Runs Out Of Room To Quarantine New Migrants
About 250 Tunisian migrants in several small boats have reached a tiny Italian island that has run out of room to quarantine them as required by Italy’s anti-coronavirus measures, local officials said Saturday. The Sicilian newspaper Giornale di Sicilia quoted Lampedusa Mayor Toto’ Martello as saying the island can’t wait until the government sends a chartered ferry where the migrants can be held for 14 days to fulfill the country’s quarantine requirement. (D'Emilio, 8/1)

Reuters: Runners Told To Observe Social Distancing In Moscow Half-Marathon 
More than 9,500 runners competing in Moscow’s annual half-marathon on Sunday wore masks and gloves in the starting area, had their temperature checked and were told to observe social distancing rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 21.1-km race had been postponed from May, when the Russian capital was in lockdown because of the new coronavirus. (8/2)

And more nations tighten lockdowns —

Reuters: Ireland Considering Additional Measures To Limit Non-Essential Travel, Minister Says 
Ireland is considering additional measures to limit non-essential travel in the wake of an uptick in COVID-19 infections in recent days both in Ireland and other European countries, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on Sunday. Ireland already advises against all non-essential international travel and requires people arriving from all but 15 countries to self-isolate for 14 days, but it does not require COVID-19 tests from visitors and has not banned flights from any country. (8/2)

AP: Britain Delays Easing Of Lockdown As Virus Spread Speeds Up
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put some of the country’s next steps out of lockdown on hold Friday with just a few hours’ notice, saying the number of new coronavirus cases was on the rise for the first time since May. The government’s top medical adviser warned that it was impossible to fully reopen society without the virus running out of control. (Kirka and Lawless, 7/31)

Reuters: Switzerland Should Tighten Coronavirus Restrictions Again, Government Advisor Says 
Switzerland should tighten restrictions to curb the coronavirus again following a recent spike in cases, in order to prevent the need for much harsher lockdown measures in future, the new head of the country’s coronavirus taskforce said. Switzerland has seen the number of new cases of COVID-19 surge to more than 200 a day recently after an average of 35 per day in June. Martin Ackermann, who heads the body that provides scientific advice to the Swiss government, said the country was on the brink of a big increase in infections and had little room to maneuver. (8/2)

AP: France Starts Testing Travelers From 16 Nations For Virus
Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely now must undergo virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last month that the tests would be required starting Aug. 1 for passengers France is allowing in from a list of approved countries unless they present proof of a negative test done within 72 hours of their departure. (8/1)

Reuters: Australia's Victoria Declares Disaster, Sets Curfew To Curb COVID-19 
Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria declared a state of disaster on Sunday and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain a resurgent COVID-19. Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order, has struggled to rein in the disease, with record numbers of infections of the new coronavirus reported last week. (Kelly, 8/1)

Stat: Excess Mortality Reveals The Pandemic's True Burden 
How best to represent the true toll of the Covid-19 pandemic on human lives is an urgent matter. Though loss of life represents the clearest indicator, limited testing, inconsistencies in assigning the cause of death, and even political influence are creating uncertainty over how deaths are being counted and attributed (or not) to Covid-19. (Philip Setel, 8/3)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Will Have Lasting Effects On Providers, Including How They Operate And How They’re Paid
From the delay of preventive care and non-emergency procedures and surgeries to the rapid adoption of telehealth to volatile patient volumes, we know that how we engage and compensate healthcare providers will continue to shift, but leading with a strategy of hoping we will return to the healthcare industry that we once knew will fail. The near future remains vague. However, we know that we need more healthcare providers—and not just because of COVID-19. (Halee Fischer-Wright. 8/1)

The New York Times: A Coronavirus Vaccine Is Coming. Just Don’t Call It ‘Warp Speed.’
Coronavirus vaccines are rapidly advancing through the development pipeline. The University of Oxford’s vaccine is in large trials in Britain, Brazil and South Africa. In the United States, researchers just began enrolling around 30,000 volunteers to test Moderna’s vaccine, and more trials are starting every day. Operation Warp Speed has set an ambitious goal of delivering 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine by January.But the concept of developing a vaccine at “warp speed” makes many people uncomfortable. (Natalie Dean, 8/3)

CNN: What Good Is A Vaccine If Americans Won't Roll Up Their Sleeves?
A doctor in Texas once told me that a woman walked into a pediatrician's office in the fall of 2014 and said: "Give my daughter the Ebola vaccine." The biggest Ebola epidemic in history was spreading across West Africa and a man infected with the virus had recently traveled to Dallas. "There is no vaccine for Ebola," the pediatrician said (the first US Food and Drug Administration-approved Ebola vaccine was announced in December 2019). "But it is flu season and I can give your daughter the flu vaccine." The mother scoffed and said, "Flu vaccine? I don't believe in those things!" before storming out of the doctor's office. (Seema Yasmin, 8/1)

Dallas Morning News: Gov. Greg Abbott Is Right To Extend The Early Voting Period Before Election Day
There is a lot that Texas needs to do to be prepared for an Election Day that will take place in the midst of a pandemic. Failing to provide ample time for voters to get to the polls is no longer on that list.Citing coronavirus concerns, Gov. Greg Abbott recently approved an early start to early voting. The governor extended the early voting period to Oct. 13. The change adds six days at the start of early voting and gives voters roughly three weeks to cast ballots in advance of Election Day on Nov. 3. Abbott also is allowing voters to turn in mail ballots in person on Election Day. These are good decisions to mitigate concerns posed by the coronavirus pandemic, which health authorities say will remain a threat during early voting and on Election Day, when a massive voter turnout is expected. (8/3)

The Hill: What The Pandemic Taught Us About Homelessness — And What We Shouldn't Forget 
The streets of our cities have been too empty and too full. Emptied of cars and pedestrians, the streets of the pandemic became eerie still frames of an economy on pause. And yet, as we venture back to our sidewalks and storefronts, we are reminded that our streets also are a home, an imperfect and unsustainable haven for the transient masses we call “the homeless.” Never has it been starker than in the vacuum of social distancing that they are there, the only people who remained when all others retreated to the safety of their homes. (Thomas Hugh Byrne, Benjamin F. Henwood and Anthony W. Orlando, 8/2)

CNN: The US Food System Is Killing Americans
This global pandemic has given a new meaning to the idea of American exceptionalism. The United States is faring far worse than other countries and shoulders a disproportionate share of global disease burden -- with 4% of the global population, yet, at the time of writing, nearly a quarter of global Covid-19 fatalities. While much of the rationale has focused on our government's flat-footed response and poor public health infrastructure, this ignores a significant and underrecognized risk factor -- the exceedingly poor baseline health of our country's population. (Akash Goel, Michel Nischan, Bill Frist and Tom Colicchio, 8/2)

Stat: Black Lives Depend On The U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Don't Dilute Them 
Most Americans know about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans primarily through their colorful representations: the original food pyramid, which a few years ago morphed into MyPlate. The guidelines represent the government mothering us to choose the healthiest vegetables, grains, sources of protein, and desserts, and to eat them in the healthiest portions. As innocuous as the food pyramid and MyPlate seem, they are actually a matter of life and death. (Michelle D. Holmes, 8/3)

Los Angeles Times: Ban On Menthols Could Help Improve Black Americans' Health
Big Tobacco has successfully conducted a decades-long campaign to lure and hook Black smokers by marketing menthol-infused products specifically to Black consumers. They have helped destroy Black health in the process — a whopping 85% of Black Americans who smoke use mentholated cigarettes, or menthols. Senate Bill 793 would make it illegal for stores to sell flavored tobacco products, including menthol-flavored vaping cartridges and cigarettes. Introduced early this year, the bill is scheduled to be taken up soon by the state Assembly Health Committee. (John E. Cager III and Peter Laarman, 8/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Want Schools To Open? Get Serious About Outbreaks
You can go to a tattoo parlor in Georgia, but in much of the state you can’t send your children to school at the start of the fall semester. Nine Georgia school districts have announced that they will begin the school year with remote learning. Some 584,000 youngsters, or one-third of Georgia’s public-school students, have to stay home. So will their peers in many states. Some states prioritized the opening of bars and tattoo parlors over the need to control Covid-19 in time for the start of the school year. In many places, local officials aren’t opening up schools because transmission is so intense. The country’s political leadership at all levels failed to carry out plans to manage the epidemic that would allow society to preserve what is most important. In many states, the spread is limited enough that schools should open, even though some may not because parents and teachers don’t want to return until a vaccine removes the threat of an outbreak. (Scott Gottlieb and Michael R. Strain, 8/2)

The Washington Post: A Covid-19 Outbreak Among Children At A Georgia Summer Camp Is A Warning
Children are not free of the novel coronavirus. Consider the outbreak at a Georgia overnight summer camp in June. Some 260 campers and staff tested positive out of 344 test results available. Among those ages 6-10, 51 percent got the virus; from 11-17 years old, 44 percent, and 18-21 years old, 33 percent. The campers did a lot of singing and shouting; did not wear face masks; windows were not opened for ventilation, although other precautions were taken. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the virus “spread efficiently in a youth-centric overnight setting, resulting in high attack rates among persons in all age groups,” many showing no symptoms. The Georgia camp outbreak is the latest sign that children cannot escape the pandemic. (8/2)

Fox News: COVID-19 — From Goggles To Testing, This Is What We Need To Do Next To Beat Coronavirus
The entire testing mindset needs to change from diagnosing someone with the virus (for little other than to add to the daily case count) to determining whether someone is actually infectious because, as we have learned, there is a window of infectivity. That window is what needs to be targeted to lessen community spread.A positive test result (or negative for that matter) does very little in terms of management 16 days after the fact. My son had already cleared himself with the quarantine recommendations by the time his test results were posted, so resources and funding used for his test were wasted.In a time of economical strain like we are in now, the last thing we need is wastefulness. Testing results must be available within hours, even minutes. Not days. And certainly not weeks. (Nicole Saphier, 8/1)

Sacramento Bee: Trump Must Act On National COVID-19 Plan For Testing, Tracing 
It’s no exaggeration to say that COVID-19 is the most challenging public health crisis of the last 100 years. No outbreak has spread so quickly and affected such a wide range of people — not SARS, not H1N1, not even HIV/AIDS. Yet after seven months of rising cases and at least 147,000 dead Americans, we still have no comprehensive national strategy. This must be immediately rectified. (Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 7/31)

CNN: No Signs Trump Has Pandemic Plan Despite Chilling Warnings From Administration's Top Doctors
Donald Trump's top government experts now say that the pandemic is entering a new phase as it invades the rural heartland -- and they can't say how long it will last. With millions of kids nowhere near going back to school and the economy reeling from a 32.9% annualized contraction in the second quarter, the months ahead are stretching into what looks like an endless crisis as Trump tweets "Make America Great Again" and spends his weekends on the golf course. (Stephen Collinson, 8/3)

Boston Globe: I Love Baseball — But Not During A Pandemic 
Like every baseball fan, I waited nearly nine months for the first meaningful pitch in the first meaningful game of the 2020 Major League Baseball season. And when it finally happened on July 23, when the Washington Nationals’ All-Star pitcher Max Scherzer threw a first-pitch ball to Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees, I felt giddy joy — and more than a twinge of trepidation.It took only a few days to amplify the unspoken, but obvious: Baseball is great, but not in the middle of a deadly pandemic. (Renée Graham, 7/31)

Dallas Morning News: We Love Texas High School Sports, But The UIL Should Be Prepared To Delay Them Further
Like many Americans, we had hoped that, with proper precautions, sports could resume as the pleasant distraction they have long been in our lives. Whether pro, college or high school, the games our athletes play are important to many of us. They bring us joy and (too often in Dallas lately) sadness. They give us something to share with one another that matters.But with the worrisome restart of Major League Baseball, and the obvious problem that case counts and communal spread are nowhere near under control, it is time, especially for high school sports, to be prepared to continue to delay seasons. (8/2)