NPR: Global COVID-19 Deaths Top 500,000
The coronavirus pandemic reached a new milestone on Sunday, with confirmed deaths surpassing half a million around the world and the number of confirmed cases topping 10 million. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, there were 10,063,319 confirmed cases and 500,108 deaths globally by late Sunday afternoon. The number of cases is likely much higher, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcing this week that for every reported case, there were 10 other estimated infections in the United States. (Treisman, 6/28)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Live Updates: Global Deaths Pass 500,000 
In April, roughly a month after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic, deaths topped 100,000. In early May, the figure climbed to 250,000. Now it has doubled in less than two months. More than a quarter of all known deaths have been in the United States. (6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Pass 10 Million Globally 
The U.S. recorded more than 42,000 cases Saturday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, lower than the record 45,255 recorded Friday, but the second straight daily total over 40,000. Florida, Texas, California and Arizona have accounted for much of the recent rise in cases, prompting authorities to impose new restrictions in those states and retreat on reopening plans. (Campo-Flores and Gold, 6/28)

Reuters: Global Coronavirus Deaths Top Half A Million 
While the overall rate of death has flattened in recent weeks, health experts have expressed concerns about record numbers of new cases in countries like the United States, India and Brazil, as well as new outbreaks in parts of Asia. (Wardell and Cadell, 6/29)

The Washington Post: As U.S. Soars Past 2.5 Million Coronavirus Cases, Pence Urges Americans To Wear Masks, Social Distance 
Vice President Pence on Sunday implored Americans to wear face masks, practice social distancing and stay away from senior citizens to protect them amid a new spike in coronavirus infections as the United States surpassed 2.5 million confirmed cases. At an event in Dallas, Pence commended Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his “decisive action” in reopening the state’s economy in early May. But with the state’s hospitals experiencing a surge in patients amid skyrocketing infection rates, Pence praised Abbott for scaling back some reopening measures, including ordering bars to close and restaurants to reduce occupancy. (Sonmez, O'Grady and Hawkins, 6/28)

Politico: Pence Attributes Coronavirus Spike To Young Americans ‘Disregarding’ Covid Guidance 
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said new outbreaks of the coronavirus may be arising because younger Americans aren’t abiding by federal guidance on how to prevent spread. “One of the things that we’ve heard in Texas and Florida in particular is that nearly half of those who are testing positive are Americans under the age of 35,” Pence said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” (Guida, 6/28)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Cases Among US Young Adults Spike 
Half of the new COVID-19 cases detected in recent weeks have been in adults under 35, Vice President Mike Pence said today during a press conference held by the White House coronavirus task force—the first press conference by the group in nearly 2 months. While Pence said that was good news—because young, otherwise healthy adults are less likely to suffer severe outcomes from the virus—he implored young adults to take responsibility for their role in the transmission of the virus. (Soucheray, 6/26)

Politico: Coronavirus Task Force Returns, But Downplays New Flareups As Local 'Hot Spots' 
The White House Coronavirus Task Force is back on camera — but it wants Americans to know that everything is under control. The panel held a public briefing on Friday for the first time since late April, and though both coronavirus cases and deaths have more than doubled in the U.S. since then and new outbreaks are so severe that some states have paused reopening, Trump administration officials touted a message of improvement and recovery. (Miranda Ollstein and Lim, 6/26)

Stat: As Covid-19 Cases Surge, Pence Touts Progress Made From Earlier Peaks
As criticism mounts that the White House has turned a blind eye to the worsening coronavirus epidemic in the South and West, Vice President Mike Pence is arguing that the administration remains on top of the response. On Friday, at the White House coronavirus task force’s first public briefing in nearly two months, Pence said that “our focus today” was on the rising Covid-19 infections in certain states. But he also used the event to tout what he said have been successful administration initiatives to minimize the damage of the virus, even as the country has not suppressed the virus as other countries in Europe and Asia have successfully done. (Joseph, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Pence Tries To Put Positive Spin On Coronavirus Pandemic Despite Surging Cases In South And West
Pence offered no new strategies to combat the rapidly spreading virus and minimized record daily case counts in several states as “outbreaks in specific counties.” “As we stand here today, all 50 states and territories across the country are opening up, and safely and responsibly,” Pence said, a point that was undermined as Florida and Texas on Friday began to scale back or reverse their reopening plans because of growing outbreaks. (Gearan and Abutaleb, 6/26)

In related news —

The Hill: Gottlieb: Concentration Of New Cases In Younger Patients 'Not Likely To Stay That Way' 
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said a decline in coronavirus deaths even as cases spike is likely temporary. The concentration of new cases among younger patients, and thus the decline in mortality, is “not likely to stay that way,” Gottlieb said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “We’re likely to see total daily deaths start to go back up again.” (Budryk, 6/28)

Politico: A New Dilemma For Trump’s Team: Preventing Super-Spreader Churches 
One month after President Donald Trump ordered the nation’s governors to immediately reopen churches, his administration is facing a difficult dilemma. Clusters of Covid-19 cases are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed, triggering questions about whether his administration should reassess its campaign to treat houses of worship the same as other essential businesses, or leave them alone and risk additional transmission of the deadly coronavirus — including in communities that are largely supportive of the president. (Orr, 6/28)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Trump Hypes Bid To Stem Monument Vandalism
President Donald Trump’s persistent see-no-evil posture on coronavirus testing — if you don’t look for the virus, the cases go away — defies both science and street sense. Yet he took it a step further with a comment suggesting that testing be restrained so the pandemic doesn’t look so bad. His aides passed that off as a joke. Trump contradicted them, saying he wasn’t kidding. Then he contradicted himself, saying he was. (Woodward and Yen, 6/29)

CNN: Trump Indulges His Obsessions As The Pandemic Rages 
With the pandemic exploding and setting record infection rates, President Donald Trump spent the weekend on his own often divisive obsessions, piling up new evidence for detractors who say he's not fit for office. The President largely ignored the implications of the disastrous US government response to the worst public health crisis in 100 years, even though it emerged late on Friday in CNN reporting that the White House is taking vigorous efforts to protect him from infection at rallies that contravene social distancing and masking guidelines, and that put even his own supporters at risk of getting sick. (Collinson, 6/29)

CNN: The Lincoln Project: Anti-Trump Republican Group's New Ad Slams President Over Coronavirus Deaths Hitting 'Greatest Generation' 
A group formed by anti-Trump Republicans will air a new ad Sunday that slams President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and for the deaths of World War II veterans and other senior citizens who belonged to the 'Greatest Generation.' "They did nothing less than save the world ... and it didn't come without great sacrifice," the narrator intones over images from the World War II era, a reminder of how previous generations have given up their comfortable lives for noble causes. (Acosta, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Gilead's $2,340 Price For Coronavirus Drug Draws Criticism
The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said the price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors. (Marchione, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir To Cost $3,120 For Typical Patient On Private Insurance
Gilead Sciences Inc. detailed its pricing plans for Covid-19 drug remdesivir, saying it will charge U.S. hospitals $3,120 for a typical patient with commercial insurance. The drugmaker on Monday disclosed its pricing plans as it prepares to begin charging for the drug in July. The U.S. has been distributing remdesivir donated by Gilead since the drug was authorized for emergency use in May. (Walker, 6/29)

Reuters: Gilead Prices COVID-19 Drug Candidate Remdesivir At $2,340 Per Patient
This is below the $5,080 per course recommendation by U.S. drug pricing research group, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, last week. Gilead has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the agency and states set to manage allocation to hospitals until the end of September. (6/29)

Politico: Azar Warns 'Window Is Closing' On Combating Covid Spread 
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warned the country Sunday that coronavirus outbreaks in Texas, Florida, Arizona and other southern and southwestern states threaten to spiral out of control without immediate intervention including widespread use of masks or face coverings. "The window is closing," Azar said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social-distance. We need to wear our face-coverings if we're in settings where we can't social-distance, particularly in these hot zones." (Miranda Ollstein, 6/28)

The Hill: HHS Secretary: 'The Window Is Closing' To Stop Coronavirus Spread 
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday the “window is closing” to stop the spread of coronavirus, as cases across the South and West surge. Azar said the country is in a different situation than at the last peak of the epidemic a few months ago, noting new therapeutics and advancements of COVID-19 vaccine research, but he added that “the window is closing.” (Klar, 6/28)

The Hill: Pence: 'We Want To Defer To Local Officials' On Requiring Masks 
Vice President Pence defended the lack of encouragement from President Trump for all Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, saying the White House wants "to defer to governors." “One of the elements of the genius of America is the principle of federalism, of state and local control,” Pence said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We've made it clear that we want to defer to governors. We want to defer to local officials, and people should listen to them.” (Budryk, 6/28)

Dallas Morning News: Mike Pence In Dallas As Gov. Abbott Says COVID-19 Has Taken ‘Very Dangerous Turn In Texas'
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday pledged to commit the resources Texas needs to win the fight against COVID-19, and he urged Americans to be diligent about wearing masks and washing hands to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus. (Jeffers Jr., 6/28)

Stateline: Virus Spikes While Local And State Officials Bicker Over Face Mask Mandates
Every day, Texas continues to break records in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, rivaling hotspots such as Florida and Arizona as the new center of the U.S. pandemic.As the situation escalates — spiking to a record 6,584 new cases Wednesday and adding more than 5,000 new infections almost every day last week — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has consistently touted the ways in which Texans can stay safe: Wear a mask, sanitize often, social distance. ...Yet even as Abbott has warned that Texas will take further measures if the situation doesn’t improve, he has refused to allow local officials to penalize people who decline to wear masks in public. However, earlier this month he began allowing local officials to penalize businesses that don’t require employees and customers wear masks. (Simpson, 6/29)

ABC News: Which US States Require Masks And Which 4 Don't At All? 
While the majority of Americans say they are wearing masks when they go out in public, some states have taken more stringent measures to ensure that's the case during the coronavirus pandemic. Of the 50 states, 46 either require masks to be worn statewide or have some sort of requirement in certain locales, according to Masks4All, a volunteer organization that advocates for more mask-wearing. (Torres, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Masks Could Help Stop Coronavirus. So Why Are They Still Controversial? 
As countries begin to reopen their economies, face masks, an essential tool for slowing the spread of coronavirus, are struggling to gain acceptance in the West. One culprit: Governments and their scientific advisers. Researchers and politicians who advocate simple cloth or paper masks as cheap and effective protection against the spread of Covid-19, say the early cacophony in official advice over their use—as well as deeper cultural factors—has hampered masks’ general adoption. (Pancevski and Douglas, 6/28)

NPR: Q&A: Are Face Mask Requirements Legal?
According to Lindsay Wiley, the director of the Health Law and Policy Program at American University, there is a legal basis for mandatory masks. In an interview with NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, Wiley said, "State and local governments have really quite broad authority" to require the public to wear masks during a pandemic. (Garcia-Navarro, 6/28)

The Hill: Choir Of More Than 100 People Sings Without Masks At Pence Event In Texas 
More than 100 choir members at a church where Vice President Pence attended a rally in Texas could be seen singing without masks on Sunday, just days after the state’s governor announced he would be reimplementing certain restrictions in the state following a surge in coronavirus cases. In footage of the event, which CNN reported was held at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Pence could be seen wearing a mask, clapping along with other members of the audience to the choir’s performance. According to the news network, the choir performed multiple times during the event without the masks, which they would reportedly put on when they took their seats. (Folley, 6/28)

The Hill: GOP Committee Chair: 'It Would Help' If Trump Would Wear A Mask Occasionally 
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Sunday that “it would help” if President Trump would wear a mask occasionally during the coronavirus pandemic. "If wearing masks is important and all the health experts tell us that it is in containing the disease in 2020, it would help if from time to time the president would wear one to help us get rid of this political debate that says if you're for Trump, you don't wear a mask, if you're against Trump, you do," Alexander, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, told CNN’s “Inside Politics.” (Coleman, 6/28)

Politico: Pelosi: Requirement To Wear Masks ‘Long Overdue’ 
As a majority of states contend with rising coronavirus cases, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a nationwide mandate to wear a mask is “long overdue.” ...The speaker called on President Trump to “be an example” to the U.S. and wear a face covering, saying “real men wear masks.” (Dugyala, 6/28)

The Hill: Pelosi: Nationwide Mask Mandate 'Definitely Long Overdue' 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday a nationwide mandate to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of coronavirus is “definitely long overdue.” “Definitely long overdue for that,” Pelosi told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's “This Week.” “And my understanding that the Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] has recommended the use of masks but not required it because they don’t want to offend the president.” (Coleman, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Why Simple Cloth Masks Without Valves Are Better At Fighting The Spread Of Covid-19 
Those face masks you see with coin-sized valves on the front may look intriguing but they are not as good at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus as the seemingly lower-tech, non-valved masks. Some masks designed for hot, dusty construction work — where the intent is to filter out dust before it hits the wearer’s lungs — have “exhaust” valves that allow the exhaled air to flow out more easily, to keep the mask-wearer cooler. (Fritz, 6/28)

In related news —

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Medical-Supply Deliveries Tap Into Growing Relief Logistics Operation 
While the world scrambled for personal protection gear in May to shield from the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian government managed to secure an order for tens of millions of face masks from Chinese suppliers. But getting the masks to Canada was more difficult than procuring them. With no flights coming out of China, Canadian authorities had to improvise. They turned to Maersk Special Project Logistics, a unit of Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S that handles complex supply chain operations, often in hazardous conditions. (Paris, 6/26)

NPR: Federal Agency Tells Employees 'No Reference To Anything COVID Related' 
A federal fisheries management agency has barred some of its employees from making formal references to the COVID-19 pandemic without preapproval from leadership, according to an internal agency document. The National Marine Fisheries Service's guidance document, dated June 22, says it applies to the agency's formal rules and management announcements. The four-page memo says the agency's "preferred approach" is making "no reference to anything COVID related," and it offers preapproved replacement phrases such as "in these extraordinary times." (Herz, 6/26)

Stat: How A Review Of The U.S. Response To Covid-19 Could Get Started
By the most basic of measurements — rates of illness and death — the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been catastrophic. Nearly 130,000 Americans have died of the respiratory disease since February. Over 2.5 million have become sick. And perhaps most jarringly, in states like Arizona, Texas, California, and Florida, the situation appears to be getting worse, not better: New coronavirus cases and deaths are skyrocketing amid substantial resistance to basic public health measures like social distancing and wearing masks. (6/29)

NPR: Judge Orders ICE To Free Detained Immigrant Children Because Of COVID-19
Citing the unrelenting spread of the coronavirus, a federal judge has ordered that all children currently held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for more than 20 days must be released by July 17. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of California issued the scathing order Friday afternoon, saying the Trump administration had failed to provide even the most basic health protections for children and their families amid the pandemic. (Romo, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Policy And Coronavirus Leave Agency Bankrupt, Tens Of Thousands Of Potential Voters In Limbo
Azra Nazir had a dress picked out, gray and blue. She had the subway directions. And in a rarity over two decades as an emergency room nurse, the 59-year-old had a few days off — her first in months of battling the coronavirus at its epicenter in Brooklyn.After 20 years in the United States, where she secured asylum after leaving her native Pakistan, she would attend the ceremony at the end of March, raise her right hand, and become an American citizen at last. (O'Toole, 6/28)

NPR: The VA Resists Call To Make Its Motto Gender Neutral 
From Richmond to Seattle, cities are taking a fresh look at – and sometimes taking a sledgehammer to – statues of slave owners. U.S. military bases named for Confederate generals are under scrutiny, and the Marine Corps has banned Confederate flags. Some veterans would like to see this momentum help change the gender-exclusive motto of the Department of Veterans Affairs. But the VA is doubling down, and planning to put additional plaques at 140 national cemeteries, bearing the line from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address that is its motto: "...To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." (Lawrence, 6/28)

The New York Times: Obamacare Faces Unprecedented Test As Economy Sinks 
The Affordable Care Act, the landmark health law that has been a subject of caustic debate for more than a decade, is being tested as never before, as millions of Americans lose their jobs and medical coverage in the midst of the nation’s gravest health crisis in a century. The law is offering a vast majority of newly unemployed people a path to stopgap health coverage, providing a cushion that did not exist during the last crushing recession — or ever before. But the crisis has also highlighted fundamental weaknesses with its patchwork system — ones magnified by Republican efforts to undermine and dismantle it, but also seized on by some Democrats pushing for a sweeping overhaul. (Goodnough and Abelson, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Bottomless Pinocchio: Trump’s Claim That He Will ‘Always’ Protect Those With Preexisting Conditions
Just as the number of weekly coronavirus cases reached a new high in the United States, the Trump administration filed a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act. About 20 million people covered through the act could lose their health insurance if Trump succeeds, among many other consequences bearing directly on the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Key provisions of the health-care law prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people who are already sick, those with “preexisting conditions.” (Rizzo, 6/29)

The Hill: Overturning The ACA Will Make COVID-19 Much Worse 
Donald Trump won’t wear a mask in public or suspend his in-person rallies and pushes to re-open the economy. As infuriating as Trump’s COVID-19 response has been for its incongruence with public health recommendations, the real outrage is his persistent attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Rosemarie Day and Deborah Gordon, 6/28)

The New York Times: What Texas Would Look Like Without Obamacare 
Texas had the highest uninsured rate in the country before the Affordable Care Act, and still does today. This is largely because Texas does not participate in the health law’s expansion of Medicaid. Yet even without the expansion, Obamacare brought about substantial increases in coverage for Texans. A Texas without Obamacare is one where about a million more people are uninsured. (Kliff, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Short-Term Plans Enrolled 3 Million People, House Committee Finds
Roughly three million people were enrolled in short-term health plans in 2019, the year after the Trump administration expanded access to the controversial plans that don't have to comply with the Affordable Care Act, an investigation found. The number of people enrolled in the plans grew by 600,000 in 2019 compared with the year before, showing that the administration's decision to extend the maximum duration of the plans from three months to up to a year has caused an increase in their availability, according to the yearlong investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (Livingston, 6/26)

In other news -

Modern Healthcare: Health Groups Want More Time Before Facing Info-Blocking Fines
Healthcare groups are pushing HHS' Office of Inspector General to build a period of enforcement discretion into its proposal to impose financial penalties on information blockers. Organizations will need time to ask questions and get clarification into regulations after a final rule is released, which will take longer than the standard 60-day period between when a rule is published and when it takes effect, they say. That's compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has required many healthcare groups to pivot attention and resources toward the outbreak and away from other priorities. (Cohen, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Workers Removed Thousands Of Social Distancing Stickers Before Trump’s Tulsa Rally, According To Video And A Person Familiar With The Set-Up 
In the hours before President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, his campaign directed the removal of thousands of “Do Not Sit Here, Please!” stickers from seats in the arena that were intended to establish social distance between rallygoers, according to video and photos obtained by The Washington Post and a person familiar with the event. The removal contradicted instructions from the management of the BOK Center, the 19,000-seat arena in downtown Tulsa where Trump held his rally on June 20. (Partlow and Dawsey, 6/27)

NPR: Trump Campaign Postpones Pence Events In Arizona And Florida After Coronavirus Spikes
The states are two of the hardest hit in recent days, and health officials have encouraged people to avoid large in-person gatherings. The events have been postponed "out of an abundance of caution," two campaign officials told NPR. It's a remarkable reversal for Pence, who on Friday forcefully defended his plan to move forward with the campaign events. (Keith, 6/27)

Politico: Pence Postpones Florida, Arizona Campaign Events As Coronavirus Cases Spike 
Vice President Mike Pence has postponed campaign events in Florida and Arizona “out of an abundance of caution” as both states experience a spike in coronavirus cases, a Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed Saturday. Pence was set to make stops in each state this coming week as a part of his “Faith in America” tour, and will also not appear at an additional Florida event Thursday organized by pro-Trump group America First Policies. (Semones, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Biden Campaign Staff Is 35% People Of Color And 53% Female, New Diversity Data Shows 
Thirty-five percent of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign operation are people of color, and just over half are women, according to figures released Saturday under public prodding, after months in which his campaign declined to make that information public. At least 60 percent of the staff is white, a number in line with the percentage of the United States population identifying as such, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Five percent of the staff opted not to specify a race. (Sullivan, 6/27)

Politico: Biden Campaign Says 35 Percent Of Staff Are People Of Color 
The Biden campaign refused to disclose the diversity of its staff for months even after the former vice president claimed in December that he had “the most diverse staff of anybody running” in the Democratic primary. When POLITICO asked in December and again in May for diversity statistics the campaign refused to disclose them. Those who are senior staff include senior advisers, deputy campaign managers, senior consultants and department heads.The campaign said it is still hiring and will add additional leaders across the campaign. (Barron-Lopez, 6/27)

Reuters: Republican Senator Sees Effort This Week To Revive Police Reform Debate In U.S. Congress 
U.S. lawmakers will try this week to revive efforts to enact police reform legislation in Congress, a Republican senator said on Sunday, after moves to address police misconduct following the death of George Floyd deteriorated into partisan bickering. Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and author of a Republican reform bill that Democrats blocked last week, said he will meet in coming days with lawmakers who crafted sweeping Democratic legislation that passed the House of Representatives last Thursday. (6/28)

The Washington Post: Congressional Black Caucus Seizes On Push For Racial Justice To Wield Greater Influence 
The Congressional Black Caucus is seizing the national moment of reckoning over systemic inequality and racial injustice to wield its greatest level of influence inside the Capitol and in national politics. The caucus took the lead in crafting policing legislation that the House passed this past week, an expansive measure to stop police brutality after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody. (Bade, Demirjian and Kane, 6/27)

The New York Times: These Top Democrats Go Further Than Biden On Diverting Police Funds 
A month after the killing of George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis ignited a wave of nationwide protests, Democratic Party officials are expressing broad support for significantly reallocating funds away from police departments, with positions that go well beyond that of the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr. Interviews with 54 Democratic National Committee members, convention superdelegates and members of a criminal justice task force convened by Mr. Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders found a near-unanimous sentiment that local governments should redirect more money toward social services, education and mental health agencies. (Epstein, 6/26)

CNN: Planned Parenthood Acting President Takes Role Permanently 
Planned Parenthood Acting President Alexis McGill Johnson has been named the permanent president of the organization, extending a tenure featuring multiple successful court challenges against abortion restrictions into a pivotal Supreme Court term and election season in the group's ongoing fight for abortion access. (Kelly, 6/26)

NPR: Planned Parenthood Elevates Interim CEO Alexis McGill Johnson To Permanent Status
Planned Parenthood has named interim President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson as its new permanent leader in a bid to bring stability to the health care provider that has come under repeated attacks by conservative groups. McGill Johnson will continue to lead both Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the organization's advocacy arm, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. McGill Johnson has been Planned Parenthood's interim leader for almost a year. (Chappell, 6/26)

The New York Times: Many Latinos Couldn’t Stay Home. Now Covid Cases Are Soaring In Their Communities. 
When the coronavirus first spread to the fields and food processing factories of California’s Central Valley, Graciela Ramirez’s boss announced that line workers afraid of infection could stay home without pay.A machine operator at Ruiz Foods, the nation’s largest manufacturer of frozen burritos, Ms. Ramirez stayed on the job to make sure she did not lose her $750-a-week wages. “I have necessities,” Ms. Ramirez, a 40-year-old mother of four, said in Spanish. “My food, my rent, my bills.” (Hubler, Fuller, Singhvi and Love, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: California Latinos, Black People Hit Harder By Coronavirus 
With coronavirus cases surging, the toll on Latino and Black Californians keeps getting worse. The two groups now have double the mortality rate from the virus in Los Angeles County than white residents, the latest troubling sign of the deep health inequity that has come with COVID-19. (Lin II, 6/27)

NPR: Black Doctors Say Pandemic Reveals Enduring Racial Inequity Medicine Alone Cannot Fix
Dr. William Strudwick was finishing a shift at Washington, D.C.'s Howard University Hospital when his wife, Maria, texted. Their 19-year old son, Cole, wanted to join a protest five days after the killing of George Floyd. It was 9 p.m. After dark, Strudwick weighed, he couldn't predict how protesters would act — or how police would treat his son. He wrote back one word to his wife: "No." (Cheslow, 6/27)

The New York Times: A Debate Over Identity And Race Asks, Are African-Americans ‘Black’ Or ‘black’? 
It’s the difference between black and Black. A longtime push by African-American scholars and writers to capitalize the word black in the context of race has gained widespread acceptance in recent weeks and unleashed a deep debate over identity, race and power. Hundreds of news organizations over the past month have changed their style to Black in reference to the race of people, including The Associated Press, long considered an influential arbiter of journalism style. Far more than a typographical change, the move is part of a generations-old struggle over how best to refer to those who trace their ancestry to Africa. (Eligon, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Celebrations Of Black Family, Culture Break Out Across D.C. 
Downtown Washington blossomed into a rich celebration of black family and culture on Saturday, marking the sixth week of near-constant public expression in the District for racial justice. Attendees danced, sang and practiced yoga from the Washington Monument to Black Lives Matter Plaza in planned demonstrations that stretched from midmorning through late afternoon. The jubilant and controlled environment mirrored the street-fair vibe of many of the daytime demonstrations, which have stood in contrast to some more heated nighttime activities, including one where protesters trying to topple a statue near the White House clashed with police. (Davies and Boorstein, 6/27)

The New York Times: These Teen Girls Are Fighting For A More Just Future
Two days after George Floyd was killed by the police, Zee Thomas, 15, posted a tweet: “If my mom says yes I’m leading a Nashville protest.” Ms. Thomas had never been to a protest, let alone organized one. And yet five days later, with the help of five other teenagers, she was leading a march through her city, some 10,000 strong. (Bennett, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: George Floyd Protests Cause White Americans To Look Within 
Mike Sexton is white and a Republican who lives in an affluent suburb of Fort Worth, where many neighbors back President Trump and some work in law enforcement. Rage wells up in his voice as he says that George Floyd, a Black man, was “basically lynched.” Shawn Ashmore is an independent who lives nearby in east Dallas. He’s using Floyd’s killing to teach his young sons uncomfortable lessons about the privileges their family enjoys because they’re white — how, for instance, they’ll never fear for their lives during an encounter with the police the way some Black men do. (Beason, 6/28)

AP: Black Candidates Push Race Debate Into GOP-Held Districts
It was a scene Jeannine Lee Lake never would have imagined when she first ran against Greg Pence, Vice President Mike Pence’s brother, for a rural Indiana congressional seat two years ago: an almost entirely white crowd of more than 100 people marching silently in the Pences’ hometown this month, offering prayers for Black people killed by police and an end to systemic racism. Leading them was Lake, who is in a rematch against Pence. She is the only Black woman running for federal office in Indiana this fall. (Burnett and Smith, 6/28)

NPR: Joaquin Castro Calls Police Violence A Major, If Underreported, Problem For Latinos 
The deaths of 27-year-old Carlos Ingram-Lopez in Tucson and 18-year old Andres Guardado in Los Angeles have reignited calls to not only end incidents of police brutality against Black people, but also those against Latinx people. Ingram-Lopez died in April calling out for his grandmother while he was handcuffed and kept face-down by officers for some 12 minutes. Guardado ran from two police officers who shot him six times near the auto repair shop where he worked earlier this month. (Silva, 6/28)

AP: Images Of Brutality Against Black People Spur Racial Trauma
Since Wanda Johnson’s son was shot and killed by a police officer in Oakland, California, 11 years ago, she has watched video after video of similar encounters between Black people and police. Each time, she finds herself reliving the trauma of losing her son, Oscar Grant, who was shot to death by a transit police officer. Most recently, Johnson couldn’t escape the video of George Floyd, pinned to the ground under a Minneapolis officer’s knee as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe. (Nasir, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: New York’s Top Black Policeman Addresses ‘Passionate Outrage’ 
When Benjamin Tucker joined the New York Police Department in 1969, he was one of only a few black officers. Racism was part of life on and off the job, Mr. Tucker said. Once, while working as a plainclothes officer in 1974, he said, he was beaten by a white officer in a case of mistaken identity amid a police response to a street fight in Brooklyn. He never received an apology, he said. Today, the majority of NYPD officers are people of color, and as first deputy commissioner, Mr. Tucker is the second-highest-ranking officer in the department. (Chapman, 6/28)

AP: Mississippi Surrenders Confederate Symbol From State Flag
Mississippi will retire the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem, more than a century after white supremacist legislators adopted the design a generation after the South lost the Civil War. A broad coalition of lawmakers — Black and white, Democrat and Republican — voted Sunday for change as the state faced increasing pressure amid nationwide protests against racial injustice. Wagster Pettus, 6/29)

The New York Times: Mississippi Lawmakers Vote To Retire State Flag Rooted In The Confederacy 
The flag, the only state banner left in the country with the overt Confederate symbol, served for many as an inescapable sign of Mississippi’s racial scars and of the consequences of that history in defining perceptions of the state. Still embraced by many white Mississippians as a proud display of Old South heritage, the flag increasingly has come to evoke segregation, racial violence and a war that had a central aim of preserving slavery. (Rojas, 6/28)

NPR: Mississippi Lawmakers Vote To Remove Confederate Emblem From State Flag 
The bill now goes to the governor, who has said he would sign the legislation but has not immediately set a date for the signing. He made the pledge on Saturday in a Facebook post. (Silva, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Princeton Says It Will Remove Woodrow Wilson’s Name From Its Public Policy School 
Princeton University’s board of trustees has voted to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its school of public and international affairs, saying the late president’s segregationist policies make him an “especially inappropriate namesake” for a public policy school. “When a university names a school of public policy for a political leader, it inevitably suggests that the honoree is a model for students who study at the school,” university president Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote in a letter to the Princeton community regarding Friday’s vote by the board of trustees. “This searing moment in American history has made clear that Wilson’s racism disqualifies him from that role. In a nation that continues to struggle with racism, this University and its school of public and international affairs must stand clearly and firmly for equality and justice.” (Aratani, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: AIDS Activists Feel Deja-Vu Amid Coronavirus Policy Battle 
The federal government’s response to the novel coronavirus feels all too familiar to Tom Sheridan. Thirty years ago, as the national director of public policy for the powerful AIDS Action Council, he helped to force the Reagan Administration to acknowledge the existence of that disease. The first case of AIDS emerged in the U.S. in 1980, but it wasn’t until 1985 — nearly 13,000 deaths later — that President Reagan uttered its name publicly. Before, he dismissed it as the “gay plague.” (Botel, 6/28)

The New York Times: Black Trans Women Seek More Space In The Movement They Helped Start 
Transgender women of color were leaders in L.G.B.T.Q. activism before, during and after the uprising at the Stonewall Inn 51 years ago on Sunday, but they were never put at the center of the movement they helped start: one whose very shorthand, “the gay rights movement,” erases them. Though active in the Black Lives Matter movement from the beginning, they have not been prioritized there either. At no point have black trans people shared fully in the gains of racial justice or L.G.B.T.Q. activism, despite suffering disproportionately from the racism, homophobia and transphobia these movements exist to combat. (Grullon Paz and Astor, 6/27)

The New York Times: ‘A True Disappointment’: When Your First Pride March Is Canceled 
Colin Beresford was looking forward to the summer of 2020, and for the first time celebrating Pride among the crowds of people in Ann Arbor, Mich. Mr. Beresford, 23, grew up in a conservative Michigan town and described a slow process of coming to understand that he was bisexual, to acknowledge that within himself, and finally to take pride in it. (Louis, 6/27)

NPR: New York City Celebrates 50 Years Of Pride Parades
This weekend, the world is observing the 50th anniversary of the first New York City Pride Parade, that celebration of LGBTQ identity known for its floats, feathers and corporate sponsors. Because of COVID-19, there won't actually be a parade on Sunday. Instead, there's Global Pride, a 24-hour line up of performances and inspiring messages involving 500 organizations from all over the world. "It's about helping individuals in the LGBTQ community know and understand that they're not alone," said Cathy Renna, a co-organizer. (Vanasco, 6/27)

In related news —

The New York Times: Kenneth Lewes, Who Challenged Views Of Homosexuality, Dies At 76 
Kenneth Lewes grew up after World War II in a working-class neighborhood of the northeast Bronx, the son of an immigrant couple who never got beyond grade school. He guessed even before he entered junior high school that he was gay. But it wasn’t until he was nearly 50 — and publishing what would become a critically acclaimed takedown of post-Freudian psychoanalytic theories of homosexuality — that he confided his sexual orientation to his parents. (Roberts, 6/26)

AP: Trump Tweets Video With 'white Power' Chant, Then Deletes It
President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting “white power,” a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. He later deleted the tweet and the White House said the president had not heard “the one statement” on the video. The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed dueling demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents. (Miller, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Trump Promotes Video Of A Supporter Saying ‘White Power’
President Trump promoted a video Sunday that includes a Trump supporter saying “white power” while facing off with counterprotesters, calling his supporters at the Florida retirement community where the demonstration occurred “great people.” The tweet of the video has since been removed. (Gearan, 6/28)

Politico: Trump Shares Video Where Supporter Yells 'white Power' 
In the video the president retweeted on Sunday, the pro-Trump parader twice exclaimed “white power” while holding his fist up; he was sitting next to another supporter chanting “Trump.” Another person, who appeared to be an anti-Trump protester, pointed toward him and responded: “There you go, white power.” (Seddiq, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Removes Tweet With ‘White Power’ Reference 
Mr. Trump posted the tweet Sunday before a visit to his Sterling, Va., golf club. Mr. Trump thanked the “great people” shown in the video, which was uploaded Saturday from The Villages, a retirement community in Florida, where supporters and opponents of the president held dueling demonstrations. One supporter in the video can be heard saying “white power” several times to the counterprotesters. (Timiraos, 6/28)

The Washington Post: 1 Dead After Man Shoots Into Crowd At Breonna Taylor Protest In Louisville 
Violence interrupted a peaceful protest at a park [in Louisville, Ky.] Saturday when a man allegedly opened fire into a crowd of protesters, killing a 27-year-old photographer. The suspected shooter is in police custody and has been identified as 23-year-old Steven Lopez, authorities said. In an arrest citation, police said video showed Lopez shooting into a large crowd of people who had gathered Saturday night to protest police brutality and the death of Breonna Taylor. Several bystanders shot in Lopez’s direction, according to an arrest warrant, wounding him in the leg. Lopez is in custody at a hospital, authorities said, and no others were wounded. (Wood, Klemko, Stubbs and Wallace, 6/28)

AP: Suspect In Killing At Louisville Protest In Custody
Tyler Charles Gerth, 27, of Louisville, died after being shot at Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville, authorities said. The Courier Journal reported that Gerth was an avid photographer and a vocal supporter of the ongoing protests whose godfather is a columnist at the newspaper. (Lovan and Raby, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Shooting Kills One At Louisville Park Central To Breonna Taylor Protests 
“I am deeply saddened by the violence that erupted in Jefferson Square Park tonight, where those who have been voicing their concerns have been gathered,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a Facebook post. “It is a tragedy that this area of peaceful protest is now a crime scene.” (Mendell, 6/28)

Stat: Pfizer Sues Trump Administration Over Anti-Kickback Rules, Saying They Prevent It From Helping Lower Seniors’ Drug Costs
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is suing the Trump administration over two long-standing Medicare rules that Pfizer says are blocking it from helping seniors pay for an expensive heart condition drug. The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in New York Friday, concerns two planned copay assistance programs for Pfizer’s drug tafamidis, which treats a rare fatal heart disease, transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. The company is hoping to overturn two long-standing federal policies: one that prevents drug makers from directly paying part of seniors’ drug bills, and another that keeps drug makers from coordinating directly with outside charities that offer similar programs. (Florko, 6/26)

Stat: Pharma Giants To Unveil Major $1 Billion Venture To Push Novel Antibiotics
Amid escalating concerns over antibiotic resistance, several big drug makers are creating a new $1 billion for-profit venture to acquire or invest in small antibiotic companies and their nascent products, according to two people familiar with the plans. The effort will be announced on July 9 by the chief executive officers at Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and Merck KGaA, among others. (Silverman, 6/29)

CIDRAP: Report Slams Beef Industry For Overuse Of Antibiotics 
A new report is taking the US beef industry to task for overuse of medically important antibiotics.The report, released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), reveals that US cattle producers use more than 40% of all medically important antibiotics—those that are also used in human medicine—sold for use in US livestock, and use them three to six times more intensively than many of their European counterparts. (Dall, 6/26)

Stat: Two Patients Die In Audentes Gene Therapy Study 
Two patients in a study of a high-dose gene therapy for a rare muscle disorder have died, heightening worries about the safety of potent treatments under development for other diseases. Audentes Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based unit of the Japanese drug firm Astellas, told patient groups in a June 23 letter, a copy of which was obtained by STAT, that the two patients died after having serious liver problems that appeared related to the company’s experimental treatment for X-linked myotubular myopathy, a condition that causes severe muscle weakness. (Herper, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Anemia Diagnosis And Searing Foot Pain Led To Medical Mystery 
Jeff Sipos wasn’t used to feeling wiped out. At 31, the California elementary school principal was an endurance athlete in exceptional condition. Even though he had asthma, Sipos had climbed Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, completed a rim-to-rim hike in the Grand Canyon in a mere 10 hours — at least two hours less than average — and thought nothing of clocking 100-mile bike rides on weekends. But in May 2001, his energy was flagging. Sipos, who lived in Riverside, consulted his longtime general practitioner, who ordered blood tests that revealed an abnormally low iron level. (Boodman, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Small Fiber Neuropathy: It Began With Terribly Cold Feet, But Soon Morphed Into Shooting Pain, Fatigue, Dizziness And Worse
More than three years ago, I came down with a mysterious illness I thought might be a flu, but turned out to be something entirely different.My blizzard of symptoms began innocuously in November 2016 with terribly cold feet. So cold that even when I got under the covers with a hot water bottle between them, and they were warm to the touch, they still felt like painful ice-blocks. At other times, I had the equally unpleasant sensation that my feet and shins were burning or already burnt. (Schwalbe, 6/28)

Stat: CRISPR Base Editing Slashes Cholesterol Levels In Monkeys 
A form of CRISPR widely expected to be safer and possibly more effective that the original has aced its first substantive test. When CRISPR “base editing” was used to knock out two cholesterol-associated genes in monkeys, the animals’ blood levels of heart-disease-causing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides plunged as much as 60% and 65%, respectively, Sekar Kathiresan, co-founder and CEO of Verve Therapeutics, announced on Saturday at the (virtual) meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. (Begley, 6/27)

Stat: New Journal Will Vet Covid-19 Preprints 
The wild, wild west of Covid-19 preprints is about to get a new sheriff. On Monday, the MIT Press is announcing the launch of an open access journal that will publish reviews of preprints related to Covid-19, in an effort to quickly and authoritatively call out misinformation as well as highlight important, credible research. (Begley, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: How Do Doctors Treating Coronavirus Relax? By Playing The Game ‘Pandemic’ 
As associate medical director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network in North Carolina, Sonali Advani assists more than 50 hospitals in the Southeast on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. She relaxes on weekends by playing her favorite board game. It’s called Pandemic. (Woo and Roland, 6/28)

Reuters: What Doctors Have Learned About Fighting COVID-19 
In the six months since an entirely new coronavirus began spreading around the world, doctors and hospitals have learned a lot about how to treat patients with COVID-19, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus. (Beasley and Brown, 6/29)

The New York Times: On Coronavirus, Americans Still Trust The Experts 
For months, President Trump has been contradicting his public health advisers over the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Over that same time, public health messages about the virus have been shifting. ... But a New York Times/Siena College survey shows a large majority of American registered voters quietly trust the advice of medical experts. (Sanger-Katz, 6/27)

Boston Globe: Study: 911 Calls For EMS Dropped By Over 25 Percent Nationwide Amid Coronavirus 
Emergency 911 calls for medical help plummeted by more than 25 percent nationwide during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recently published University of Buffalo study. The study covered a six-week period beginning in early March and included an analysis of patient care records submitted by more than 10,000 EMS agencies across 47 states and territories, the university said Thursday in a statement. The findings were published online June 17 in Academic Emergency Medicine. (Andersen, 6/26)

ABC News: Lessons Learned: Why Hospitals Are Better Prepared For Latest Coronavirus Resurgence 
Across the country, daily coronavirus cases are again eclipsing previous records, prolonging a crisis that's engulfed the national psyche. But over the past several months, as researchers' understanding of the virus has evolved, so, too, has the standard of care. Medical professionals have said American health care infrastructure is on firmer ground today than in March, when COVID-19 began overwhelming hospitals in major American cities. (Bruggeman, 6/29)

WBUR: Black Doctors Say Pandemic Reveals Enduring Racial Inequity Medicine Alone Cannot Fix 
About one in six doctors in D.C. is African American, like Dr. Strudwick, according to the city's Department of Health. That's three times the national average, although still a small portion compared to the population that's 46% Black. These doctors see in their wards some of the African American patients who make up the vast majority of the city's COVID-19 fatalities. (Cheslow, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Should I Go To The Dentist During Coronavirus? 
As if Americans need yet another reason to avoid the dentist.Social distancing is the best way to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus until there’s a vaccine. When that’s not possible, we wear face masks. But what happens when we need to go to the dentist? Dental practices are adapting how they work in and around a patient’s mouth to account for this complicated reality. (Amenabar, 6/28)

In other news —

The New York Times: Dr. William Dement, Leader In Sleep Disorder Research, Dies At 91 
Dr. William Dement, whose introduction to the mysteries of slumber as a postgraduate student in the 1950s led him to become an eminent researcher of sleep disorders and to preach the benefits of a good night’s sleep, died on June 17 in Stanford, Calif. He was 91. His son, Nick, a physician, said the cause was complications of a heart procedure. (Sandomir, 6/27)

The New York Times: ‘They Want To Kill Me’: Many Covid Patients Have Terrifying Delirium
Kim Victory was paralyzed on a bed and being burned alive.Just in time, someone rescued her, but suddenly, she was turned into an ice sculpture on a fancy cruise ship buffet. Next, she was a subject of an experiment in a lab in Japan. Then she was being attacked by cats. Nightmarish visions like these plagued Ms. Victory during her hospitalization this spring for severe respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus. They made her so agitated that one night, she pulled out her ventilator breathing tube; another time, she fell off a chair and landed on the floor of the intensive care unit. (Belluck, 6/28)

CIDRAP: Some COVID-19 Patients Have Brain Complications, Study Suggests
Some COVID-19 patients, including those younger than 60 years old, appear to develop neurologic and neuropsychiatric complications such as stroke, brain inflammation, psychosis, and dementia-like symptoms, according to a study published yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry. The early-stage study of 153 hospitalized patients with confirmed, probable, or possible COVID-19 in the United Kingdom (UK) from Apr 2 to 26 identified 125 patients with complete data, of whom 77 (62%) had a stroke. (Van Beusekom, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Drives Up Demand For Mental Healthcare
Weeks of social distancing and economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 coupled with the recent civil unrest over racial injustice is threatening to turn concerns over meeting demand for behavioral healthcare into a full-blown crisis. Nearly half of U.S. adults reported their mental health was negatively affected due to worry and stress over the virus, according to a poll the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted in March. (Johnson, 6/27)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Isolation Can Have 'Profound' Impact On Mental Health, Chronic Disease, Doctors Say 
After months of isolation, job loss and life changes, general physicians are starting to see the physical effects of the coronavirus pandemic in their patients. Doctors in south Louisiana have said there’s been an increase in weight gain, anxiety and depression, alcohol use, and in some cases changes in sex drive as the prolonged stresses of the virus impact even those who have not been diagnosed with coronavirus. (Kennedy and Woodruff, 6/28)

Kaiser Health News: Conflicting COVID Messages Create Cloud Of Confusion Around Public Health And Prevention
Regina Fargis didn’t know what to do. Fargis runs Summit Hills — a health and retirement community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that offers skilled nursing, activities and communal meals for its residents, most of whom are over 60, the highest-risk category for coronavirus complications. In South Carolina, more than a hundred new cases were emerging daily. So she took precautions: no visitors, hand sanitizer everywhere and regular reminders for residents about the importance of social distancing. (Luthra, 6/29)

CIDRAP: Huge Global Effort To Fast-Track COVID-19 Tools Advances 
A massive effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to fast-track the development of COVID-19 vaccine, treatments, and diagnostics—and make them available to countries that need them most—released its production targets today and the price tag needed to produce and deliver the items, which totals $31.3 billion. The pandemic total rose to 9,682,414 cases, and 491,113 people have died from their infections, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. (Schnirring, 6/26)

NPR: Key Vocab For COVID-19: From Asymptomatic To Zoonotic 
The world is being flooded with new terms in coverage of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Here's a glossary in case you're not up on the latest medical and testing jargon. (Huang, Gharib and Jacewicz, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Public Transit Use Is Associated With Higher Coronavirus Death Rates, Researchers Find 
African-Americans may be dying at higher rates than white people from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in part because of black people’s heavier reliance on public transportation for commuting, two new studies by economists suggest. One of the studies, by University of Virginia economist John McLaren, found that the racial discrepancy remained even after controlling for income or insurance rates. Instead, Mr. McLaren found the gap was due in part to the fact that black workers are more likely to get to work via public transit, including subways and buses. (Harrison, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Wary Of Subways? 6 Electric Options For A Solo Work Commute 
Fears of being exposed to germs in cramped underground spaces have reportedly caused mass transit ridership to plummet by 80% in urban centers such as Milan and San Francisco—and by up to 96% in hot spots including New York, Washington, D.C., and Paris. When they head back to their corner offices, car-shunning members of the C-suite set might be more likely to commute in prudent solitude on electric bikes than to trudge up subway steps. (Kitchen, 6/27)

The Washington Post: With Few Rules In Place, Airlines, Airports Adopt Their Own Strategies For Combating The Coronavirus 
Travelers landing at Honolulu International Airport have their temperatures checked upon arrival, must provide contact information and are required to wear masks. There are no such rules for those on domestics flights at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Several U.S. carriers now require travelers to fill out health questionnaires when they check-in, but only one — Frontier Airlines — mandates a temperature scan before boarding. (Aratani, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Bringing Your Own Food On An Airplane During The Coronavirus Pandemic May Be Your Best Option.
In-flight dining never has really been desirable. But in the age of coronavirus, it’s downright dangerous. In response, the major airline carriers have drastically altered their food and drink programs. Throughout economy cabins, they have largely ceased altogether. The beverage cart has been replaced by a bottle of water plopped atop your lap; a single-serve package of Purell is the new “tapas” box. (Japhe, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Home Pulse Oximeters Can Help Diagnose Covid-19 Symptoms, But It's Easy To Use It The Wrong Way 
This spring, our daughter insisted that my husband and I, both in our 60s, get the latest weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus: the pulse oximeter, a device that can measure the level of oxygen in the blood. Recent reports have shown that a lower-than-healthy level of oxygen saturation in the blood can be an early predictor of covid-related pneumonia, even in those with mild symptoms .Joanna, in her third trimester of pregnancy at the time, lives in New York and had bought the device — about the size of a Matchbox car — for her and her husband so they could be fortified with information before they checked into the hospital for the arrival in early June of their daughter. (Bruno, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Medication And High Temperatures Can Be Risky 
Summer is here and, along with it, the threat of heat waves and heat-related illness. Heat waves kill more people than any other single weather event, making them dangerous by themselves. But if you are among the millions of Americans taking certain medications, you may be facing an additional risk. Some drugs, taken when it’s hot, can provoke serious, sometimes life-threatening reactions. These include drugs widely used for many common conditions, including blood pressure, asthma, depression and allergies, among others. When the temperature rises, they can impair the body’s ability to cope with heat. (Cimons, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Disinfecting The Mail From Yellow Fever To Coronavirus 
Reporting from Jacksonville, Fla., during an 1888 outbreak of yellow fever, a correspondent for the Macon Telegraph wrote, “Well, another day has dawned and is half gone (I write at noon), and still we live.” Not all Jacksonville residents were quite so upbeat. Yellow flags marked homes that hosted infection. Thick plumes of smoke from coal fires hung in the air and the local artillery battery fired off rounds throughout the evening — both efforts to obliterate the microbes believed to be hanging in the night sky. Between late July and early December of that year, Jacksonville faced approximately 430 deaths and more than 4,600 cases of yellow fever. (Waters, 6/28)

AP: Summer May Decide Fate Of Leading Shots In Vaccine Race
People on six continents already are getting jabs in the arm as the race for a COVID-19 vaccine enters a defining summer, with even bigger studies poised to prove if any shot really works -- and maybe offer a reality check. Already British and Chinese researchers are chasing the coronavirus beyond their borders, testing potential vaccines in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates because there are too few new infections at home to get clear answers. (Neergaard, 6/28)

CNN: Covid-19 Vaccine Might Not Get Us The Herd Immunity If Too Many People Refuse To Get It, Fauci Says
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would "settle" for a Covid-19 vaccine that's 70% to 75% effective, but that this incomplete protection, coupled with the fact that many Americans say they won't get a coronavirus vaccine, makes it "unlikely" that the US will achieve sufficient levels of immunity to quell the outbreak. With government support, three coronavirus vaccines are expected to be studied in large-scale clinical trials in the next three months. (Cohen, 6/28)

Stat: WHO, Partners Unveil Ambitious Plan To Deliver 2 Billion Doses Of Covid-19 Vaccine To High-Risk Populations 
The World Health Organization and key partners unveiled a plan Friday to purchase 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the highest risk populations of the world. The plan anticipates that by the end of 2021, the doses could be delivered to countries to vaccinate high risk individuals, likely including health care workers, people over the age of 65, and other adults who suffer from conditions like diabetes. (Branswell, 6/26)

Stat: U.S. Withdrawal From WHO Threatens To Leave It 'Flying Blind' On Flu Vaccines
Twice a year, influenza experts from 10 institutions around the world meet at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters to pore over mounds of data. At the end of the weeklong meetings, they make decisions that affect people around the world: namely, which variants of the flu virus should be used for vaccinations the following season. (Branswell, 6/29)

Reuters: CanSino's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Approved For Military Use In China 
China’s military has received the greenlight to use a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by its research unit and CanSino Biologics (6185.HK) after clinical trials proved it was safe and showed some efficacy, the company said on Monday. The Ad5-nCoV is one of China’s eight vaccine candidates approved for human trials at home and abroad for the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The shot also won approval for human testing in Canada. (6/29)

The Washington Post: In Some States, Families Can Start Visiting Nursing Homes Again
Now, after tens of thousands of residents died as the coronavirus swept through one nursing home after another, more than a dozen states are cautiously setting rules for the return of a limited number of family visitors. They range from New Jersey, where officials believe the peak of the pandemic has passed, to New Hampshire, which has seen very few cases all spring, to Oklahoma, where even as cases are spiking, criteria have been drawn up to allow family access. But the distancing rules in effect will prevent visitors from carrying out much of their earlier hygiene care. (Englund, 6/27)

NPR: Why Did COVID-19 Hit Some Nursing Homes Harder Than Others? Depends Who You Ask.
Residents and staff of long-term care facilities account for at least 40% of U.S. deaths from the coronavirus. In reaction, nursing homes have banned family visitors, scrambled for scarce personal safety equipment, and attracted scrutiny from state and federal lawmakers. What's received less attention is that many nursing homes have remained virtually COVID-19-free. If researchers could figure out what made the difference, that could help protect nursing home residents now and in the future. But so far, their studies have drawn wildly different conclusions. (Jaffe, 6/26)

Boston Globe: Group Calls For Urgent Nursing Home Reforms Amid COVID-19 
As the coronavirus pandemic moved through the state’s nursing homes leaving thousands dead, longstanding practices in those facilities and in state government contributed to the number of deaths, a watchdog group calling for reforms said Sunday in a report to state leaders. The Pioneer Institute called for a series of measures in its report, including tighter oversight and transparency in the care of some of the state’s most vulnerable residents, as well as regular testing and the appointment of a top official to oversee nursing homes’ responses to COVID-19. (Hilliard, 6/28)

ABC News: For 2 Types Of Senior Living Homes Facing Coronavirus, A Striking Disparity In Federal Support 
While nursing homes and assisted living facilities perform many of the same functions in service of the nation’s aging population -- and both have felt the ravages of the coronavirus -- they are receiving very different treatment from the federal government, according to elder care advocates. Only nursing homes have been thrown a lifeline, to the tune of nearly $5 billion in economic aid and federal disaster shipments of much-needed protective equipment. Assisted living facilities have received no direct federal help. (Pecorin, 6/29)

AP: After Waves Of Virus Deaths, Care Homes Face Legal Reckoning
The muffled, gagging sounds in the background of the phone call filled Monette Hayoun with dread.Was her severely disabled 85-year-old brother, Meyer, choking on his food? Was he slowly suffocating like the Holocaust survivor who died a few months earlier in another of the care home’s bedrooms, a chunk of breakfast baguette lodged in his throat? Meyer Haiun died the next day, one of the more than 14,000 deaths that tore through care homes for France’s most vulnerable older adults when they were sealed off to visitors during the coronavirus’ peak. (Leicester, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: CMS To End Nursing Home Staffing Data Collection Hiatus
Nursing homes will need to start submitting staffing data again starting Aug. 14 after a temporary CMS waiver expires. CMS plans to end the emergency blanket waiver issued in response to COVID-19 that paused the submission of staffing data through the Payroll-Based Journal system, according to a news release Thursday. (Christ, 6/26)

More news is reported out of Virginia, Maryland, Michigan and California —

The Washington Post: As Virginia Reopens, Nursing Homes Grapple With The Risk Of Covid-19 Resurgence 
Families are pleading with nursing homes to allow in-person visits. Some facilities are tentatively lifting restrictions, while others are still grappling with coronavirus outbreaks. As Virginia approaches the third phase of its recovery plan on Wednesday, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities say they are fearful of a resurgence of cases. The scale of the crisis became public only recently, when Gov. Ralph Northam (D) acquiesced to demands from families, advocates and lawmakers to identify facilities with known infections after months of refusing to do so. (Chason and Tan, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Families Of Those Lost In One Of Maryland’s Deadliest Nursing Home Outbreaks Grieve And Celebrate Their Lives 
The families of those who died in one of Maryland’s deadliest nursing home coronavirus outbreaks gathered Sunday to cry, to laugh and to hug one another in a memorial service they said they hoped would ensure their loved ones are not forgotten. They sat in front of 46 crosses at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Plata and took turns remembering the residents of Sagepoint Senior Living, less than two miles away. Sometimes speaking through masks, they told stories of grief — of not being able to see their loved ones in their final moments and not being ready to say goodbye — but also of better times, including of the women in the dementia wing whose eyes lit up when they sang hymns, the tomatoes that one longtime resident grew and the 80-year-old who was reprimanded for driving his motorized wheelchair too fast. (Chason, 6/28)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer Extends Restrictions On Michigan Nursing Home Visits Into July
An executive order set to expire at midnight Saturday restricting visits to nursing homes in Michigan was replaced Friday by one that extends those restrictions through July 24, though officials may gradually allow some visits "as circumstances permit."The new order covers health care facilities, residential care homes and juvenile justice centers, the state said. (Spangler and Hall, 6/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Mateo County Nursing Home Where 16 Died Has History Of Health Violations
A 140-bed nursing home in Millbrae, the site of one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the county, has a history of health violations that includes a failure of infection controls, an unsanitary environment and inadequate care of its residents, records show. More than 100 residents and 32 staff members at Millbrae Skilled Care have been infected by the coronavirus since March and 16 people have died, in one of the worst flareups among Bay Area nursing homes. The virus has been so widespread in the building that county officials removed some residents. (Ravani, 6/26)

In related news —

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Pandemic Led To Surge In Alzheimer’s Deaths 
At least 15,000 more Americans have died in recent months from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia than otherwise would have, health officials believe, pointing to how the coronavirus pandemic has exacted a higher fatality toll than official numbers have shown. As Covid-19 devastated older Americans this spring, often by racing through nursing homes, the deadly outbreaks compounded the devastation of Alzheimer’s and other forms of degenerative brain disorders that are common among elderly residents in long-term care facilities. (Kamp and Overberg, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Limbo: College Students Are Angry And Anxious As They Await News About The Fall 
One after another, colleges and universities in recent weeks have announced plans for operating a fall term in the shadow of a disease that has killed more than 120,000 Americans. Social distancing, masks, housing limits, virus screening and combinations of in-person and online teaching will be the new normal on these campuses. But some schools are holding out, struggling to piece together a plan to bring students back safely. Princeton and Yale universities have warned they won’t set plans until early July. Georgetown President John DeGioia sent students a 28-paragraph advisory on June 9. It assured them that the university was immersed in the details of how to reopen during the extraordinary public health crisis. Skeptics, however, found it lacking in hard information. (Anderson and Lumpkin, 6/27)

The New York Times: ‘We Could Be Feeling This For The Next Decade’: Virus Hits College Towns 
The community around the University of California, Davis, used to have a population of 70,000 and a thriving economy. Rentals were tight. Downtown was jammed. Hotels were booked months in advance for commencement. Students swarmed to the town’s bar crawl, sampling the trio of signature cocktails known on campus as “the Davis Trinity.” Then came the coronavirus. When the campus closed in March, an estimated 20,000 students and faculty left town. ... Efforts to stem the pandemic have squeezed local economies across the nation, but the threat is starting to look existential in college towns. (Hubler, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Sweet Briar College Is Tiny And Isolated, A Good Fit For A Pandemic 
At the entrance to the sweeping Sweet Briar College campus, where meadows full of wildflowers bloom, trails wind through old-growth forests, and the Blue Ridge Mountains shape the horizon line, the sign said: “Welcome home.” Sweet Briar, the private college in rural Virginia, will reopen to students in August. It’s marketing itself as a safe haven in the midst of a pandemic — and officials even hope that pitch might help shore up its future. (Svrluga, 6/28)

The New York Times: Pandemic Parenting Was Already Relentless. Then Came Summer. 
American parents spend more time and money on their children than ever — and that was before the pandemic. Now, with remote school ending for the summer and a far-from-normal fall expected, parenting is becoming only more demanding. ... Three-quarters of parents of children under 12, and 64 percent of parents of teenagers, said it was more important to do parent-led educational activities with their children this summer than in previous summers, found a new survey by Morning Consult for The New York Times. (Cain Miller, 6/26)

Boston Globe: Newton South Student Creates Virtual Tutoring Program To Help Families During Pandemic 
To help parents and their school-age kids deal with education during the pandemic, Arshia Verma, a rising sophomore at Newton South High School, founded Project Community Giving, made up of high school students who provide virtual, one-on-one tutoring services and free classes to children up to eighth grade. When schools closed in March to fight the spread of COVID-19, students, teachers and families in Newton had to quickly adjust to online learning. Many parents, especially of young children, grew overwhelmed and frustrated having to assist their children’s learning on top of their daily responsibilities. (Pivatelli, 6/26)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas School Trustees Clash Over Giving Coronavirus ‘Heroes’ Raises
Support staff hailed as “heroes” for working the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in Dallas schools will receive a 2% raise and a one-time stipend next academic year, after a last-ditch effort to boost their pay even more failed. Trustees argued over racial equity vs. fiscal responsibility well into Thursday night as they debated how much of a raise to give DISD’s hourly workers. They approved the district’s $1.7 billion operating budget for 2020-21. (Ayala, 6/26)

In other news —

AP: Experts See No Proof Of Child-Abuse Surge Amid Pandemic
When the coronavirus pandemic took hold across the United States in mid-March, forcing schools to close and many children to be locked down in households buffeted by job losses and other forms of stress, many child-welfare experts warned of a likely surge of child abuse. Fifteen weeks later, the worries persist. Yet some experts on the front lines, including pediatricians who helped sound the alarm, say they have seen no evidence of a marked increase. (Crary, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: The New Virus Hot Spots Are The Centers Of The Sports World 
It feels like March again. The first week of March is when it dawned on American sports that life was about to be very different. As they watched leagues around the world abruptly shut down, they began to prepare for a novel strain of coronavirus that was quietly spreading at disturbing rates. But sports kept playing—until they couldn’t. Now, with close to 40,000 reported cases per day across the U.S., many of the states on the wrong side of the epidemic curve have one more thing in common: sports. (Cohen and Beaton, 6/27)

NPR: Indy 500 Will Run In August With Its Massive Grandstands At 50% Capacity 
Spectators are welcome to attend the Indianapolis 500 in August, track officials said Friday, but the enormous venue will be limited to 50% of its normal capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indianapolis Motor Speedway usually accommodates hundreds of thousands of people for the landmark race. "We're committed to running the Indy 500 on Sunday, Aug. 23, and will welcome fans to the world's greatest racing venue," said President J. Douglas Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Chappell, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Elite Runners Deal With A Pandemic ‘Wall’ As Races Are Canceled, Postponed Due To Covid-19 
Ann Marie Kirkpatrick had been on track to run a solid Boston Marathon in April. The same for Lou Serafini, who was not only training for Boston but also leading a high-performing group of runners with the same intent. Keira D’Amato was excited to line up at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Poland at the end of March. All three high-level runners, like people across the country, are now facing a much different scenario. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, races across the country and world have been canceled or postponed. For elite athletes who often spend nearly a year with their eyes on one big prize, this is a serious blow. (Loudin, 6/27)

AP: Starbucks Latest To Say It Will Pause Social Media Ads
Starbucks is the latest company to say it will pause social media ads after a campaign led by civil rights organizations called for an ad boycott of Facebook, saying it doesn’t do enough to stop racist and violent content. Starbucks said Sunday that its actions were not part of the “#StopHateforProfit” campaign, but that it is pausing its social ads while talking with civil rights organizations and its media partners about how to stop hate speech online. (6/28)

Reuters: Pepsi Joining Facebook Ad Boycott, FOX Business Network Reports 
PepsiCo Inc will stop advertising on Facebook Inc., FOX Business Network reported here on Sunday, citing sources. The halt on advertising will run through July and August, the report said. Sources described the move as a “global boycott” on placing Facebook ads, the report said. (6/28)

The Washington Post: How Facebook Wrote Its Rules To Accommodate Trump 
Hours after President Trump’s incendiary post last month about sending the military to the Minnesota protests, Trump called Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.The post put the company in a difficult position, Zuckerberg told Trump, according to people familiar with the discussions. The same message was hidden by Twitter, the strongest action ever taken against a presidential post. (Dwoskin, Timberg and Romm, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: Claiming Confusion, Texas Medical Center Changes How It Reports ICU Capacity Amid COVID-19 
Texas Medical Center hospitals stopped updating key metrics showing the stress rising numbers of COVID-19 patients were placing on their facilities for more than three days, rattling policymakers and residents who have relied on the information to gauge the spread of the coronavirus. The institutions — which together constitute the world’s largest medical complex — reported Thursday that their base intensive care capacity had hit 100 percent for the first time during the pandemic and was on pace to exceed an “unsustainable surge capacity” of intensive care beds by July 6. (Morris and Despart, 6/28)

The Hill: Houston Hospitals Stop Reporting COVID-19-Related Data After Reaching Base ICU Capacity: Report 
Data released by a major Houston hospital system no longer includes information about the hospital system's ICU capacity, a change reportedly made just a day after it previously was updated to show the hospitals reaching 100 percent base capacity due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Charts updated daily by the Texas Medical Center, a hospital system with locations in downtown Houston, contained a warning as of Sunday that an "upward trajectory of new daily cases" was continuing, and indicated that the surge in patients to the ICU "supports future ICU resource planning." However, no indications of when the hospital system would reach capacity were available. (Bowden, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: 'This Is A Wake-Up Call': Houston ICU Doctor Applauds Abbott, Hidalgo For New COVID-19 Orders  
As Texas grapples with 5,994 new COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday, Houston Methodist's ICU doctors have been preparing for the influx of patients.  Houston Methodist's ICU capacity has now reached 82 percent, and the hospital has added 19 ICU beds, according to hospital officials. "These are not good numbers," Houston Methodist ICU Director Dr. Faisal Masud said. "The action that the governor took about closing the bars and restaurants is a good move. People in the last month have become complacent." (Medley, 6/26)

NPR: Houston Hospitals Seeing Surge In Coronavirus Admissions 
As COVID-19 cases in Texas continue to surge, young people appear to be the driving force. ... Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist Hospital, which is part of the Texas Medical Center, told NPR's All Things Considered that there's been a shift in the patients at his hospital. In the beginning of the pandemic, about 60% of people with COVID-19 in the hospital were over 50 years old, and 40% were younger, Boom said. Now that has "completely flipped," he said. (Silva, 6/26)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Closed Bars And Curbed Restaurants. Will That Be Enough To Stop The Coronavirus Surge?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who oversaw one of the country’s most aggressive reopenings, is now backtracking amid a record surge of coronavirus cases. Bars are closed again. Restaurants can be only half full. And no one can rent an inner tube to float down the state’s rivers. Yet scores of other venues that can hasten the spread of the virus remain open, including gyms, camps, amusement parks and churches. Abbott is pleading for people to wear face masks, but not requiring it. (Hacker, Morris and Ambrose, 6/28)

Dallas Morning News: Jenkins Asks Governor To Require Masks In Texas As Dallas County Reports Record 570 Coronavirus Cases
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to implement a mandatory mask requirement for the state as the county reported a record high 570 coronavirus cases Sunday. ... In the letter, dated June 27, Jenkins also asked Abbott to reinstitute the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order for 30 days in addition to requiring masks for the state or specific regions. The letter detailed recommendations from the Public Health Committee, a group composed of local epidemiologists, infectious-disease doctors, hospital executives and other health experts. (Keomoungkhoun, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Abbott Gambled Texas' Reopening On Contact Tracing. Here’s How It Went Bust. 
Gov. Greg Abbott was certain that contact tracing would help dig Texas out from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.As he prepared to reopen the state in late April, the governor boasted that more than 1,000 tracers were in place to track down infections and advise anyone exposed to stay home. A website was up and running. Within weeks, thousands more tracers would be deployed and the technology to manage their progress available statewide. (Blackman, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Texas Tried Reopening Offices Early. It Was Hard Even Before The Coronavirus Surge. 
Texas got back to work faster than most states. It now serves as a warning to the nation: reopening offices and other businesses may be messier and more prone to disruption than many imagined. (Eaton and Cutter, 6/28)

The New York Times: Florida’s Covid Cases Up Fivefold In 2 Weeks: ‘The Numbers Are Scary’ 
On Saturday, for the second straight day, Florida crushed its previous record for new coronavirus cases, reporting 9,585 infections. Another 8,530 were reported on Sunday. ...Much of Florida’s new surge in cases appears to follow from the reopening of beaches, bars, restaurants and other social activities. The state’s beaches are full and throngs of revelers pack its waterways on boats. (Robles, 6/28)

The New York Times: Florida Smirked At New York's Coronavirus Crisis. Now It Has Its Own. 
In late April, as new coronavirus cases in Florida were steadily decreasing, Gov. Ron DeSantis began crowing about how his state had tamed the pandemic. He credited his decision to impose a state-specific quarantine on New York, then the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak. The move earned him praise in the White House and the ire of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. Months later, Mr. Cuomo has clearly not forgotten. “You played politics with this virus and you lost,” Mr. Cuomo said on Thursday when asked in an interview about Mr. DeSantis’s earlier boasts. (Goodman and Mazzei, 6/26)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In Florida: What Pandemic Is Like For Theme Park Workers 
Recent weeks have brought a new kind of purgatory for tourism workers in the region. Will spiking coronavirus cases in Florida halt the reopening that was beginning to happen? Disney, for instance, has been calling back employees ahead of a limited return to operations on July 11. (Edelheit and Barnes, 6/27)

Politico: Newsom Orders Bars Closed In Los Angeles And 6 Other Counties
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday ordered bars closed in seven California counties — including Los Angeles — as the state grapples with a surge in coronavirus infections and increasing hospitalizations after reopening most sectors over the past month. The move comes two days after Republican governors in Texas and Florida closed bars after seeing concerning levels of coronavirus spread in their states. (Yamamura and Marinucci, 6/28)

Reuters: Closing Time For Some California Bars As U.S. Posts Record Coronavirus Cases 
Public health officials in California and throughout the United States have identified bars as the riskiest non-essential businesses currently open. Consuming alcohol reduces inhibitions, which leads to less mask-wearing and social distancing, health officials warn. Patrons in noisy bars often shout, which spreads droplets more widely. (Bernstein and Shumaker, 6/28)

The Hill: California Governor Orders Bars In L.A., Six Other Counties To Close 
“We are actively monitoring COVID-19 across the state and working closely with counties where there are increased rates and concerning patterns of transmission,” state public health director, Sonia Angell said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Closing bars in these counties is one of a number of targeted actions counties are implementing across our state to slow the virus’ spread and reduce risk.” (Budryk, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Faces 'Critical Moment' As Coronavirus Cases Keep Surging
Another day of big increases in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations prompted health officials Saturday to warn that Los Angeles County is entering a “critical moment” and that some of the easing of stay-at-home orders is in jeopardy unless the trend changes. Los Angeles and many other parts of California have seen big COVID-19 surges in recent weeks, as the economy has reopened. Officials say it’s essential to follow social distancing rules and other safety regulations. (Wigglesworth, 6/27)

CNN: A California Family Lost A Father To Coronavirus And 28 Family Members Got Infected, Son Says 
Southern California resident Richard Garay tested positive for coronavirus in early June, around the same time his father also got sick, he said. About two weeks later, his father, Vidal Garay, died of Covid-19. At least 28 family members have since tested positive, Garay said. The family is grappling with grief at the same time they fight a virus that has killed more than 125,000 people nationwide. (Jones, 6/28)

AP: Courts Straining To Balance Public Health With Public Access
After her son was arrested for allegedly throwing rocks at police during a protest over racial injustice, Tanisha Brown headed to the courthouse in her California hometown to watch her son’s arraignment. She was turned away, told the courthouse was closed to the public because of coronavirus precautions. A day later, the Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield posted a notice on its website explaining how the public could request special permission from judicial officers to attend court proceedings. (Lieb, 6/28)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawmakers Approve Coronavirus-Era Budget That Mostly Avoids Deep Cuts 
The California Legislature approved a $202 billion state budget deal that largely avoids widespread cuts to public services to close a multibillion-dollar deficit caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement, which went to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature after the Assembly gave final approval Friday, relies on reserve accounts and internal borrowing — as well as the hope of a federal bailout — to maintain education, health care and social services spending. (Koseff, 6/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF To Lift Ban On Reusable Shopping Bags Amid Complaints About Waste 
San Franciscans frustrated by plastic bags piling up in their cupboards and trash bins can rest easier: The city says its ban on reusable bags in grocery stores will be rescinded within days. The city, along with most Bay Area counties, banned reusable shopping bags at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic because of concerns they could carry the virus into stores. Now, public health officials say, there’s little risk of such transmission. (Gardiner, 6/26)

Kaiser Health News: California Prisons Are COVID Hotbeds Despite Billions Spent On Inmate Health 
From Corcoran and Avenal state prisons in the arid Central Valley to historical San Quentin on the San Francisco Bay, California prisons have emerged as raging COVID-19 hot spots, even as the state annually spends more on inmate health care than other big states spend on their entire prison systems. The new state budget taking effect July 1 authorizes $13.1 billion for California’s 34 prisons, housing 114,000 inmates, more than three times what any other state spends. That sum includes $3.6 billion for medical and dental services and mental health care — roughly what Texas spends to run its entire 140,000-inmate prison system. (Morain, 6/29)

KQED: 'Shocking, Heartbreaking' San Quentin Coronavirus Outbreak Alarms Health Officials 
An explosion of coronavirus infections at California's San Quentin State Prison, the state's oldest, has public health officials worried about its impact on prisoners, staff and the wider hospital system in San Francisco Bay Area. (Westervelt. 6/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Prison Officials Plan To Transfer 150 Inmates Out Of Coronavirus-Ridden San Quentin 
Prison officials are planning to bus as many as 150 incarcerated people out of coronavirus-ridden San Quentin State Prison to a Bakersfield-area institution as early as Monday, sources said, in a move critics and a lawmaker said is reminiscent of the botched transfer that triggered San Quentin’s outbreak in the first place. A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed the planned transfer, but did not specify how many people would be included. (Cassidy and Fagone, 6/26)

WBUR: 'Shocking, Heartbreaking' Coronavirus Outbreak In Calif. Prison Alarms Health Experts 
An explosion of coronavirus infections at California's San Quentin State Prison, the state's oldest, has public health officials there worried about its impact on prisoners, staff and the wider hospital system in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Westervelt, 6/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Filipinos Work Dangerous Front Lines Of Coronavirus Fight 
Across the Bay Area, 17% of nurses are Filipino, according to the most recent California Board of Registered Nursing survey, compared with 5% of the total population. In San Francisco, nearly a quarter of workers at city-owned hospitals, clinics and nursing homes are Filipino, although only 4% of city residents are Filipinos. The Bay Area is home to one of the largest Filipino communities in the U.S. (Moench, 6/27)

In other news —

The Wall Street Journal: The Word Of God In The Age Of Legal Marijuana 
Sue Taylor never would have let one of her students slide 20 years ago if she had caught one with marijuana. But the former Catholic school principal has found a new mission with senior citizens: providing them with information and access to cannabis through her California dispensary, Farmacy Berkeley. It opened in the Bay Area in February. (Jordan, 6/28)

Politico: California Cities Begin Embracing Cannabis In Desperate Search For Cash
California local governments scrambling to find tax revenues during the coronavirus pandemic are turning toward an industry they had considered taboo until now: cannabis. It has been almost four years since voters legalized recreational marijuana in California, and nearly 70 percent of cities and counties have yet to embrace pot businesses because they see regulatory problems or have concerns about public safety and negative publicity. (Nieves, 6/26)

AP: Democrats Want John Wayne's Name, Statue Taken Off Airport
In the latest move to change place names in light of U.S. racial history, leaders of Orange County’s Democratic Party are pushing to drop film legend John Wayne’s name, statue and other likenesses from the county’s airport because of his racist and bigoted comments. The Los Angeles Times reported that earlier this week, officials passed an emergency resolution condemning Wayne’s “racist and bigoted statements” made in a 1971 interview and are calling on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to drop his name, statue and other likenesses from the international airport. (6/29)

NPR: After Ahmaud Arbery's Killing, Georgia Governor Signs Hate Crimes Legislation
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed a hate crimes bill into law. The killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man shot dead while jogging in February, drew nationwide attention and energized efforts to pass this law. Ahead of the signing on Friday, Kemp called House Bill 426 a "silver lining" amid difficult and stormy times. (Slotkin, 6/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hate-Crimes Law Highlights Less Partisan Session
The end of the legislative session triggers a new phase of the election season, as lawmakers are now free from restrictions on campaign fundraising and can focus on their re-election bids. But some optimistic lawmakers saw the hate-crimes measure, which imposes additional criminal penalties on crimes motivated by bias, as a template for more cooperation in the months ahead. (Bluestein, 6/28)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Some States Return To Previous Restrictions Hoping To Slow Surges Of Coronavirus Cases 
Weeks after most US states began lifting their lockdowns, parts of the country are clamping down on renewed restrictions hoping to slow staggering surges in new case numbers. With July 4 approaching, officials are trying not to repeat scenes of Memorial Day, when thousands across the country flocked to beaches, bars and parties while experts cautioned the crowds could lead to spikes in cases down the road. At least 12 states have hit a pause on their reopening plans hoping to contain the spread. (Maxouris, 6/29)

ABC News: Cities Push Back Against Governors' Lax COVID-19 Safeguards 
The recent jump in coronavirus cases in locations such as Texas and Florida has pitted state and local leaders against each other over safety measures. Despite surging daily numbers of cases in those states, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both Republicans, have long refused to mandate proven health actions such as face coverings and reduction of crowds. Their actions have prompted city leaders, such as the Democratic mayors of Austin and Tampa, Florida, to take matters into their own hands. (Pereira, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Ohio's Coronavirus Cases Increase While Median Age Decreases
With nearly 900 new positive COVID-19 cases, Ohio has marked one of its biggest 24-hour spikes since mid-April, when the outbreak in the state was at its peak, Gov. Mike DeWine reported at his Thursday, June 25, press conference. The rise in cases comes as more than 17,000 Ohioans were tested in one day earlier in the week, but DeWine warned that the two were not necessarily correlated. (Palmer, 6/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Coronavirus Crisis Keeps Nonprofits Guessing About Funding
Since early March, metro area nonprofits have navigated uncharted territory as the pandemic fueled increased demand for certain social services. Guidelines for social distancing made it difficult to use on-site volunteers, and the fundraisers that generate revenue for operating expenses had to be canceled or turned into virtual events. A survey conducted by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits found that 90% of Georgia nonprofits said their revenues have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. (Rhone, 6/27)

The Hill: Arkansas Governor: States 'Can't Be Putting Restrictions On Each Other Across The Country' 
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Sunday that states “can’t be putting restrictions on each other” after New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a 14-day quarantine for travelers from states hit hard by coronavirus. The Arkansas governor, whose residents would have to comply with the quarantine, said on ABC News’ “This Week” that it is “understandable” that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) instituted this policy, along with the two other states. 

Politico: States Scramble To Contain Covid Spikes Without Enough Workers To Track Outbreaks 
Severe shortages of public health workers to track disease spread helped fuel coronavirus spikes in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona and could make it harder to stamp out new hot spots. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has about 10 percent of the 15,000 workers needed to contain the outbreak in his state, according to one widely cited simulator and plans to hire just 600 more. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has 3,000 of the 4,000 tracers he said he wanted to hire in late April. And Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey called up 300 National Guard members to fill the surveillance gap, more than a month after he lifted his stay-at-home order. (Goldberg and Miranda Ollstein, 6/28)

PBS NewsHour: In Arizona, A Tale Of 2 Pandemic Realities 
The epicenter of the coronavirus in the U.S. appears to be shifting south and west, with some states that were among the first to reopen, like Arizona, experiencing a surge of cases. As officials renew efforts to slow the virus’ spread, however, they are encountering some resistance. (Sy, Jackson and Kuhn, 6/26)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: In Arizona Race, McSally Makes Health Care Pledge At Odds With Track Record
Trailing Democratic challenger Mark Kelly in one of the country’s most hotly contested Senate races, Arizona Sen. Martha McSally is seeking to tie herself to an issue with across-the-aisle appeal: insurance protections for people with preexisting health conditions. “Of course I will always protect those with preexisting conditions. Always,” the Republican said in a TV ad released June 22. (Luthra, 6/29)

AP: Forest To Discuss Suit Challenging Cooper's COVID-19 Orders
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is already challenging Roy Cooper in this fall’s gubernatorial election. Now he’s preparing to challenge Cooper in court over the governor’s executive orders responding to COVID-19. Forest scheduled a Monday news conference to discuss a lawsuit he told Cooper last week he wanted to file. The Republican says Cooper is failing to follow state law by issuing orders closing businesses and limiting movement without receiving formal support from members of the Council of State. Cooper’s most recent order included a statewide face-mask mandate. (6/29)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: With Louisiana Nowhere Near Herd Immunity, Second Coronavirus Wave Could Be Devastating 
Louisiana, and New Orleans in particular, have been struck hard by the virus’s first wave. Deaths have surpassed 3,000 statewide, and parts of the state are seeing a resurgence in cases as the nation muddles through the first wave of a pandemic with no end in sight. (Gallo, 6/27)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Tenant Advocates Overwhelmed From Influx Of Calls For Help As Evictions Resume In Louisiana 
With landlords moving to kick people out of more than 230 households in New Orleans since the state lifted an eviction moratorium on June 15, advocates say they’re scrambling to help desperate tenants who lost jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. One of them is Sada Jones. After months of non-payment, the 23-year-old renter at Cypress Park Apartments in Algiers will square off against her landlord in 2nd City Court on Tuesday. (Sledge, 6/28)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Health Officials Urge Caution As Coronavirus Cases Begin To Rise, Again
It's no time to get complacent. That's the message public health leaders want Michiganders to understand as businesses open up, restrictions are lifted and coronavirus case numbers begin to inch upward. For the fourth consecutive day Saturday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced more than 300 newly confirmed coronavirus cases. The seven-day average of daily new cases rose to 275 after bottoming out June 15 at 152. (Shamus, 6/28)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Restaurants Struggle With Face Mask, Social Distancing Rules
Welcome to the new world of running a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic. It's been more than two weeks since metro Detroit restaurants were allowed to reopen their dining rooms after a three-month, state-mandated closure aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Although restaurants could continue to offer carryout and delivery under the governor's order, many shut down completely during those first months. Now as they slowly reopen, they're faced with the new reality of keeping their customers and employees safe, while trying to be profitable. (Selasky,, 6/26)

CNN: Patrons Are Asked To Self-Quarantine After About 85 People Who Visited A Michigan Bar Get Covid-19 
People who visited a bar in East Lansing, Michigan, are being asked to self-quarantine because roughly 85 people contracted Covid-19 after visiting the establishment this month, a health official says. That number is up from the 34 reported Wednesday and is expected to rise, Ingham County Health officer Linda S. Vail told CNN. (Jones, 6/27)

Burlington Free Perss: Vermont Commission On Women Report Highlights Gender Disparities During COVID-19 Pandemic
Women across Vermont may be disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent report compiled by the Vermont Commission on Women. The report, released Thursday, collects data around the demographics of frontline workers, the number of women who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Vermont, and economic and social challenges tied to the shutdown of businesses. (Bakuli, 6/26)

Burlington Free Press: VT Dentists: We're A Low Priority For Personal Protective Equipment
Vermont dentists fear the coronavirus pandemic is an existential threat, and say the state's response to help them survive has been inadequate.In a recent conference call with Rep. Peter Welch, dentists said in a state already struggling to meet the needs of a rural and impoverished population, the pandemic may push some dental practices into bankruptcy. (D'Ambrosio, 6/26)

Boston Globe: For The Homeless In Boston And Beyond, Laws Can Criminalize Life Itself 
One in eight people arrested in Boston last year was homeless, the result of laws — common in cities where the cost of living is high — that advocates say criminalize the most basic necessities of life for people without housing.In Boston, homeless people accounted for almost 13 percent of arrests last year, up from 10 percent in 2016 and mirroring law enforcement patterns across the country, according to an investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. (McCool, Arellano-Summer and Mulvihill, 6/28)

WBUR: Report: Mass. Child Care System Needs $690M To Survive The Next 5 Months 
An analysis by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center said child care providers would need $690 million to keep them afloat during the next five months. The funding would help recover tuition lost during state-mandated closures and pay for the increased cost of new health regulations once they reopen. It would also nearly double the amount of funding the state currently spends on early education and care. (McNerney, 6/26)

Boston Globe: A ‘Tsunami Of Evictions’ Threatens To Strike Boston 
As coronavirus cases continue to fall and the economy brightens for the moment, some communities in Massachusetts are bracing for a new threat: a surge of evictions that could push thousands of people from their homes. A disproportionate number will be Black or Latino. Even with rampant unemployment in the state, most residents have been able to stay put, thanks to enhanced unemployment benefits and a state law banning evictions during the pandemic. But those protections are slated to end this summer — putting roughly 120,000 households at risk of being unable to make their housing payments, according to a study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. (Greenberg and Logan, 6/28)

Boston Globe: Campbell Says Boston Must Do More On Racial Justice, Response To COVID-19 
Amid a global health crisis and local calls for racial justice, Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell said Sunday in a televised interview that city leaders must do more to address systemic racism and invest more resources into Boston’s poorer neighborhoods. Campbell has criticized Mayor Martin J. Walsh for not doing enough to address racial issues, including his move to create an equity and inclusion Cabinet-level office. And while she supports efforts like the creation of a new city racial equity fund, officials must go further. (Hilliard, 6/28)

Boston Globe: ‘What Can I Do?’: 19 Black And Brown Business Leaders Want To Drive A Movement To End Racial Inequities 
For 19 Black and brown business leaders in Boston, it was the question, too. They felt compelled to respond, and they’ve come up with a big idea: the creation of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund. If this sounds familiar, think again. Sure, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh launched the city’s version of a racial equity fund last week as his staff scrambled to find people of color to serve on the steering committee. But if members of our white power establishment were really woke, they probably would have had the sense to stand off to the side and let Black and brown leaders, you know, lead. (Leung, 6/27)

AP: South Africa's Surge Of Virus Cases Expected To Rise Rapidly
South Africa’s current surge of COVID-19 cases is expected to dramatically increase in the coming weeks and press the country’s hospitals to the limit, the health minister said Sunday night. South Africa, a country of 57 million people, already has more than a third of the reported cases for all 54 countries in Africa, a continent of 1.3 billion people. (Meldrum, 6/28)

AP: Testing Stepped Up As Number Of New Coronavirus Cases Surges
Governments were stepping up testing and warily considering their next moves Monday as the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases surges in many countries. India reported 20,000 new cases Monday, while the U.S. confirmed more than 40,000 new infections for the the third straight day. As infections rise along with summer temperatures in the northern hemisphere, many governments are stepping up testing and mulling more aggressive moves such as renewed lockdowns to stem fresh outbreaks. (Schmall and Kurtenbach, 6/29)

Reuters: Australia Sees Biggest Daily Rise In COVID-19 Cases In Two Months
Australia’s second most populous state said on Monday it is considering reimposing social distancing restrictions after the country reported its biggest one-day rise in new coronavirus infections in more than two months. Propelled by Victoria state reporting 75 cases, Australia recorded 85 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, its biggest daily outbreak since April 11. (Packham, 6/29)

NPR: Pandemic Causes China To Rethink Breeding Wild Animals For Food 
This year was supposed to be a good year for selling bamboo rats to eat. Prices had been rising steadily as had their popularity as a delicacy when grilled. Then the coronavirus hit. "People nowadays are always talking about poverty alleviation. But now, I'm close to being in extreme poverty," said Liu Ping, a breeder of bamboo rats — plump rodents known for their sharp, bamboo-gnawing incisors and ample flesh. (Feng and Cheng, 6/28)

Boston Globe: From Hard-Hit Boston To Beleaguered Haiti, A Lifeline For COVID Patients 
Dr. David Walton and Jim Ansara are no strangers to Haiti and its challenges. The pair — a Boston physician and the founder of Shawmut Design and Construction — helped plan and build a 300-bed hospital north of the capital of Port-au-Prince after the 2010 earthquake. They also helped transform and expand a small hospital in southern Haiti into the only round-the-clock medical facility for the area’s 2.3 million people. Now, Walton and Ansara have turned their attention to the coronavirus and its potentially devastating impact on an impoverished nation where many people, already hobbled by a fragile health care system, have suspicions that the disease is a myth. (MacQuarrie, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Crisis Strains Russia’s Soviet-Era Regional Health System 
In mid-April, when the hospital in this hardscrabble rural town saw its first confirmed coronavirus infections, the district’s chief doctor ordered 16 nurses and doctors to quarantine at the facility, together with 40 patients, many suspected of having the virus. The health workers cared for the sick without any protection such as masks, said Nina Rogova, 46 years old, a nurse at Karabanovo hospital, in the Vladimir region some 130 miles northeast of Moscow. The hospital’s management threatened them with criminal charges if they left. Medical personnel slept in their offices or in wards next to the sick. “There we were, all together in this broth,” Ms. Rogova said. (Simmons, 6/28)

AP: The Latest: Greece Eases More Coronavirus Restrictions
Movie theaters, casinos and children’s summer camps reopened in Greece on Monday, while concerts, conferences, commercial fairs and artistic events can once again be held, in the latest phase of the country’s easing of lockdown measures. (6/29)

The Washington Post: How The World’s Beaches Are Readying For A Summer Of Social Distancing 
As tourists and travelers start to return to many of the world’s seasides, government health officials and scientists are turning their attention to every inch of sand to assess the risk of the coronavirus’s spread. But while the novel coronavirus may dislike direct sun and open air, it loves a crowd and shared spaces. That’s why officials in southern England were so shocked last week by what they classed as a “major incident” amid a heat wave: thousands of people packing beaches, all in violation of social distancing measures. In Brazil, beachgoers have similarly flocked to sandy shores while flouting face mask recommendations. (Berger, 6/27)

AP: Worst Virus Fears Are Realized In Poor Or War-Torn Countries
For months, experts have warned of a potential nightmare scenario: After overwhelming health systems in some of the world’s wealthiest regions, the coronavirus gains a foothold in poor or war-torn countries ill-equipped to contain it and sweeps through the population. Now some of those fears are being realized. (Imray and Krauss, 6/29)

The New York Times: 3 Die In New Mexico After Drinking Hand Sanitizer, Officials Say 
Three people have died, three are in critical condition, and one is permanently blind after ingesting hand sanitizer that contained methanol, the New Mexico Department of Health announced Friday. (Fazio, 6/26)

Reuters: Indonesia Reports 1,082 New Coronavirus Cases, 51 Deaths - Reuters
Indonesia reported 1,082 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 55,092, said health ministry official Achmad Yurianto. The Southeast Asian nation also recorded 51 more deaths on Monday, taking the total number of COVID-19 fatalities to 2,805, the highest in East Asia outside China. (6/29)

The New York Times: How The World Missed Covid-19’s Silent Spread 
Dr. Camilla Rothe was about to leave for dinner when the government laboratory called with the surprising test result. Positive. It was Jan. 27. She had just discovered Germany’s first case of the new coronavirus. But the diagnosis made no sense. Her patient, a businessman from a nearby auto parts company, could have been infected by only one person: a colleague visiting from China. And that colleague should not have been contagious. The visitor had seemed perfectly healthy during her stay in Germany. (Apuzzo, Gebrekidan and Kirkpatrick, 6/27)

NPR: In Colombia, Tax-Free Holidays Lead Critics To Decry 'COVID Friday' 
After imposing one of the tightest coronavirus lockdowns in Latin America, Colombia is now searching for ways to jump-start its economy. One experiment is a series of tax-free shopping days, but critics fear they could turn out to be super-spreader events. At a time when the country is facing a spike in COVID-19 cases, urging Colombians to flock to stores and malls "sends an erroneous message," said Bogotá Mayor Claudia López. (Otis, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Brazilian Black Lives Matter Anti-Racism Protests For Miguel Otavio Santana 
In the early days of Brazil's coronavirus outbreak, when businesses and churches went dark, anyone who could stay home did. But not Mirtes Souza. She worked as a maid, and her duties cooking and cleaning for a wealthy family were to continue. One day this month, she left the luxury building to walk the family’s dog, leaving her 5-year-old son, Miguel, in the care of her boss. But security footage broadcast widely in Brazil showed the woman leaving him unattended inside an elevator and the door closing. (McCoy, 6/28)

Reuters: Thailand To Re-Open Bars And Allow In Some Foreigners
Thailand will allow pubs and bars to re-open on Wednesday and plans to let in some foreign travellers after recording five weeks without any community transmission of the coronavirus, a government official said. Foreigners with work permits, residency and families in Thailand will also be able to enter the country, but will be subject to a 14-day quarantine. (6/29)

The New York Times: African Migrants In Yemen Scapegoated For Coronavirus Outbreak 
The Yemeni militiamen rumbled up to the settlement of Al Ghar in the morning, firing their machine guns at the Ethiopian migrants caught in the middle of somebody else’s war. They shouted at the migrants: Take your coronavirus and leave the country, or face death. Fatima Mohammed’s baby, Naa’if, was screaming. She grabbed him and ran behind her husband as bullets streaked overhead. (Yee and Negeri, 6/28)

The Washington Post: A Covid-Free Town In Italy Reopens To Travelers And Coronavirus Risk 
The mountaintop town is four hours south of Rome, reachable by switchback roads — appropriately remote for an alternate reality. Here, far away from the coronavirus pandemic, in a place where nobody has tested positive or gotten sick, it was lunchtime, and a restaurant in town was filling up: tables of four, tables of six, a table of eight, and then the biggest table of all, reserved for teachers and middle schoolers celebrating graduation. (Harlan and Pitrelli, 6/27)

In other news —

AP: China Forces Birth Control On Uighurs To Suppress Population
The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country’s Han majority to have more children. While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of “demographic genocide.” (6/29)

The New York Times: India Debates Skin-Tone Bias As Beauty Companies Alter Ads 
Throughout the years she was growing up in southern India, Christy Jennifer, a producer with a media house in the city of Chennai, was traumatized by episodes of prejudice. As she walked through school corridors, classmates pointed at her darker skin and teased her, she said. Even friends and family members told her never to wear black. She said she was constantly advised on which skin lightening cream to use, as if the remedy to this deep-seated social bias lay in a plastic bottle. (Yasir and Gettleman, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Comparisons, Europe And U.S. 
Scientists are studying why the coronavirus hasn’t had more of a resurgence in Europe after countries lifted their lockdowns while some U.S. states battle explosive outbreaks. But the epidemiologists in the media already know why: GOP Governors and President Trump ignored public-health guidelines and reopened too fast and too soon. “With Trump leading the way, record surge in new infections exposes failures in U.S. response,” the Washington Post wrote Sunday. Liberals are juxtaposing the U.S. with Europe, which ostensibly has the virus under control. The Trump Administration has sometimes been too sanguine, but much of this is partisan opportunism in an election year. (6/28)

The Washington Post: The White House Is Right About One Thing On Covid-19: We Need Young People’s Help 
In Friday’s coronavirus briefing, the White House once again woefully played down the urgency of containing covid-19 in the United States. The one thing on which I agree with Vice President Pence is the need for enlisting young people as part of the solution. The current surge of coronavirus infections has shifted, strikingly, to younger adults. In Florida, the median age of those infected has dropped from 65 to 35. People between 20 and 44 make up almost half of new covid-19 cases in Arizona. In parts of Texas, the majority of new infections are in people under the age of 30. (Leana S. Wen, 6/27)

USA Today: Coronavirus: From My View In Hong Kong, American Reluctance To Wear A Mask Is Suicidal
To mask or not to mask ... That’s still the question? Seriously? It shouldn’t be, not when a lethal virus might be a sneeze, a cough or simply a breath away. Not when the pandemic has killed nearly a half-million people worldwide, including more than 125,000 in the United States — and several states are spiking. People here in Hong Kong understand this and wonder: Why, after so much misery, are millions of Americans so clueless? (Duke Harris, 6/28)

Stat: Anti-Vaxxers Bullying Slows Public Health Efforts Against Covid-19 
False claims. Racist and violent memes. Threats. Physical attacks. Public health advocates across the country face these and more from anti-vaccine extremists when they try to enact policies to halt outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles and whooping cough. These extremists have now turned their focus on efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus — which has killed more than 125,000 Americans — and are using the same playbook of harassment and intimidation tactics against public health leaders charged with protecting our states and localities from Covid-19. (Richard Pan, 6/26)

CNN: Pro-Trump Outlets Are In Denial As States Report New Surge In Coronavirus Cases 
Coronavirus denialism can take many shapes. The main shape I'm seeing right now, across pro-Trump talk shows and blogs and webcasts, is invisible to the naked eye. They're just not covering the virus much at all. (Brian Stelter, 6/28)

Stat: Ambulance Crews Shouldn't Take A Financial Hit For Providing In-Home Care
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping across the U.S., ambulance crews have been treating some patients at home rather than risking a hospital surge — and aren’t getting paid for it. At a time when ambulance services are on the frontlines of care, not just transport, Medicare is treating ambulances like expensive taxicabs. (Hanan Cohen, 6/29)

The New York Times: Can Covid Damage The Brain?
For three months, Chelsea Alionar has struggled with fevers, headaches, dizziness and a brain fog so intense it feels like early dementia. She came down with the worst headache of her life on March 9, then lost her sense of taste and smell. She eventually tested positive for the coronavirus. But her symptoms have been stranger, and lasted longer, than most.“I tell the same stories repeatedly; I forget words I know,” she told me. Her fingers and toes have been numb, her vision blurry and her fatigue severe. The 37-year-old is a one of the more than 4,000 members of a Facebook support group for Covid survivors who have been ill for more than 80 days. (Melinda Wenner Moyer, 6/26)

CNN: Excessive Hand-Washing. Tech Addiction. Behaviors Once Considered Extreme Are Now Crucial To Protect Us Amid A Dangerous Pandemic 
One of the hallmarks of obsessive-compulsive disorder is contamination fears and excessive hand-washing. Years ago, a patient with severe OCD came to my office wearing gloves and a mask and refused to sit on any of the "contaminated" chairs. Now, these same behaviors are accepted and even encouraged to keep everyone healthy. This new normal in the face of a deadly pandemic has permeated our culture and will continue to influence it. (David Rosenberg, 6/29)

The New York Times: How Texas Swaggered Into A Coronavirus Disaster
For one brief, delusional moment in early April, I felt a smidgen of support for my governor, Greg Abbott. Sure, part of me thought his plan to reopen the state after just a few weeks of lockdown was cuckoo. Medical experts warned of a surge in coronavirus cases if Texas did just that. But Texas is a big state, I told myself, and why should people out in Mentone or Daisetta have to close up shop when the hot spots were many miles down the highway? And yes, I knew the governor’s fevered, ferocious fealty to President Trump made his push suspect. But really, what kind of person would put politics over the safety of his constituents? (Mimi Swartz, 6/28)

Boston Globe: Baker Administration Failed Holyoke Veterans Long Before The Pandemic
The Baker administration also knew of long-term staffing deficiencies at the facility, including a 2019 report Sudders ordered that showed nurses struggled to find help moving disabled patients. But nothing was done about staffing. The administration also allowed a key leadership position — a deputy with real health care experience — to stay vacant in the months before the outbreak. And the Baker administration’s decision to let the leadership problem fester, rather than find a new superintendent, set the table for the tragedy that unfolded in March. (6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Attacks Obamacare Amid Coronavirus 
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge spike in layoffs, leaving tens of millions of Americans without the employer-sponsored health insurance that had protected their families. But the 2010 Affordable Care Act offered a safety net for them — laid-off workers can sign up for replacement coverage for themselves and their families through their state insurance exchanges. And according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s estimates, nearly 80% of those who’d lost their coverage at work in the pandemic’s first two months were eligible for federal subsidies that lowered the cost of those new policies. Yet on Thursday, the Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to throw out the ACA because two self-employed Texans assert that the law injures them. (Jon Healey, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Preserve Access To Care, Don't Tear Down ACA In Court
The department's legal brief in California v. Texas restated the administration's position that the law's coverage provisions cannot stand without the defunct individual mandate. So, it was not surprising the Justice Department made this argument. But it was deeply disappointing the department made it as the nation reels from converging forces that make healthcare coverage more important than ever. The timing of the department's legal brief is especially unsettling for the nation's safety net and for the essential hospitals at its center. These hospitals regularly and disproportionately care for racial and ethnic minorities, and they have stood on the front lines of COVID-19 as the pandemic falls hardest on those same populations. (Bruce Siegel, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Move To Kill Obamacare Shows That He’s The Radical On Health Care 
The Trump Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to kill Obamacare. This has long been a foolish, foolhardy obsession for President Trump. Even in the middle of a widening pandemic, he seeks to eliminate health-care coverage for some 23 million Americans. In so doing, the president betrays his responsibility to defend in court a statute that Congress passed, resorting to bizarre legal arguments that liberal and conservative legal experts have denounced. (6/28)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: The Virus And Unemployment Make Obamacare Crucial. The GOP Still Wants It Dead. 
As millions of Americans struggle with both a public health and an economic crisis, the Trump administration late Thursday formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety — a move that would cost more than 20 million Americans their health care coverage. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s description of the move as “unfathomable cruelty” is an understatement. Combined with the administration’s crashing failure to address the pandemic, this action at this time qualifies as political psychosis.President Barack Obama’s signature program, the ACA (Obamacare) has provided health care coverage to millions of Americans who either couldn’t afford it or were rendered uninsurable by preexisting medical conditions. (6/27)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Perverse Pandemic Response Has Thrown Health Officials Into A Vortex Of Fury
Government public health officials in normal times are entrusted with thankless duties — tracking down the source of food poisoning, monitoring the spread of influenza, keeping tabs on water quality. Now, the coronavirus pandemic, and President Trump’s perverse response to it, have thrown these public servants into a vortex of fury, exposing them to threats from an angry population and pressure from political leaders. They deserve better. Opponents of a mask order recently came to the house of Chris Farnitano, a public health officer in Contra Costa County, across the bay from San Francisco. On the sidewalk, they drew an arrow pointing to his residence, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Tyranny is not the answer,” someone wrote in chalk. In Orange County, in Southern California, late last month, an angry group spoke out at a county supervisors meeting against an order requiring face coverings. “One person suggested that the order might make it necessary to invoke Second Amendment rights to bear arms, while another read aloud the home address of the order’s author — the county’s chief health officer, Dr. Nichole Quick,” according to a report by Kaiser Health News. (6/27)

Stat: PDF That Blocks Study Volunteers From Getting Their Data Must Go 
In the 1960s, Sherry Arnstein helped transform health care in the United States by leading the development of a federal strategy to desegregate all of the country’s hospitals. She aimed to do the same for housing by designing guidelines to involve community residents in their local planning and policy-making activities. Arnstein may be best known for her ladder of citizen participation, which outlines the types of contributions that citizens can make in shaping matters that directly affect them. At the very top of the ladder are the types of engagement that meaningfully share power with citizens — ones that are unfortunately rarely seen in practice. (Jason Bobe and George Church, 6/29)

The Washington Post: The Obstacle Course On The Road To Recovery
The road to a successful reopening of the U.S. economy is strewn with hopeful intentions — and formidable obstacles. The biggest and most important obstacle is a surge in new coronavirus cases, which presumably will lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths as well as more firms shutting down. The closings will reflect lost customers who are either sick or have been frightened into staying at home. This is the mega-worry hanging over the economy. But to this fear must be added at least three others that may frustrate economic recovery. The first is the crucial role of small firms in creating jobs. A new report from the forecasting firm IHS Markit illustrates the problem. In 2019, the U.S. economy had 10 million establishments with fewer than 50 employees, accounting for 44 percent of private-sector employment, according to the IHS study. (Robert J. Samuelson, 6/28)

The Houston Chronicle: New Federal Rule Will Harm Transgender Health
Riah Milton and Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, both black trans women, were murdered earlier this month. Their deaths appear to be part of an epidemic of hate crimes against transgender people, particularly trans women of color. Yet that same week, against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter protests, a global pandemic and Pride month, the Trump administration issued a rule to further imperil transgender people by stripping them of their right to seek health care without discrimination. The rule, finalized on June 12 by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights, rewrites part of the Affordable Care Act by interpreting “sex” discrimination to apply only to biological sex, thus allowing health care providers and insurance companies to refuse care or coverage to patients merely because they are transgender. (6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: The Roundup Settlement
Here’s a shakedown for the history books. On Wednesday Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle with plaintiffs attorneys who claim its weedkiller Roundup caused cancer. Even this massive payout doesn’t guarantee an end to the company’s trial-lawyer tribulations. Bayer agreed to pay as much as $9.6 billion to settle some 125,000 cases and unfiled claims. In exchange, 25 law firms say they don’t intend to take on more litigation. Bayer will set aside another $1.25 billion for a future class-action settlement brought by a different set of trial lawyers. (6/26)

Tampa Bay Times: It Doesn’t Feel Like We’re All In This Together
The coronavirus pandemic gave us the slogan “We’re all in this together.” It sounds warm and fuzzy, but it should have come with a disclaimer: “We” does not necessarily include “you.” Following in President Donald Trump’s footstep to blame immigrants, Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a new scapegoat for Florida’s rising COVID-19 infection numbers: essential immigrant workers. Look for this good old anti-immigrant narrative to get more play as other politicians join in, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts research on the spread of the disease in immigrant communities. (Norma Henning, 6/25)