Stat: ‘The Direct Result Of Racism’: Covid-19 Lays Bare How Discrimination Drives Health Disparities Among Black People
The disparities have long been documented. Black people are more likely than white people to die from cancer. They are more likely to suffer from chronic pain, diabetes, and depression. Black children report higher levels of stress. Black mothers are more likely to die in childbirth. (Keshavan, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Behind Virus And Protests: A Chronic US Economic Racial Gap
The United States has been here before, staring into the deep chasm that divides white and black Americans. It happened after cities burned in 1967, after Los Angeles erupted with the 1992 acquittal of police officers who beat Rodney King, after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. After those upheavals came talk of change — of reforming policing, yes, but also of expanding economic opportunity to black Americans who have been disproportionately left behind in one of the world’s richest countries. (Wiseman, 6/8)

NBC News: A Tale Of Two ZIP Codes: COVID-19 Exposes Deep Disparities In U.S. Schools
Kenedi Cain and Xavier Prater, who live 4 1/2 miles apart, are both dedicated high school students with high hopes for college — she wants to be a film director, he hopes to be an architect. When COVID-19 hit and schools across the country closed their doors and transitioned to online learning, they both found themselves in the same predicament: neither had a computer. But Xavier, 17, who lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, received a laptop from his school a few days after it closed. Kenedi, 16, who lives in Detroit, did not. (Abou-Sabe, Romo, McFadden and Abdel-Baqui, 6/8)

NPR: Chicago Tackles COVID-19 Disparities In Hard Hit Black And Latino Neighborhoods
When COVID-19 first hit the United States, it spread through communities of color at alarmingly disproportionate rates. This was especially true in Chicago. More than 70% of the city's first coronavirus deaths were African-American. Those numbers have declined, but black residents continue to die at a rate two- to three-times higher than the city's white residents. Researchers believe underlying health conditions that are prevalent in Latinx and black communities, such as hypertension and diabetes, make residents there more vulnerable to the disease. (Corley, 6/9)

NPR: Even In Coronavirus Crisis, WHO Believes That Public Protests Are Important
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization took time at its daily press conference to address another pressing issue: the wave of protests against police violence and racial injustice. The demonstrations began in the U.S. when George Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer had pressed a knee into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while detaining him in Minneapolis. The protests are now spreading around the world to Europe, Africa and other regions. (Huang and Aubrey, 6/8)

Politico: Protests 'Not A Good Idea' When It Comes To Spread Of Virus, Experts Say
Scientists worry that the mass gatherings could result in a new surge in coronavirus cases. "You don't have to be a virologist or an epidemiologist or a physician to understand why this is a risk in the current day and age when" the novel coronavirus is still circulating," said virologist Menno D. de Jong at the University of Amsterdam. De Jong said people should be able to protest — but even demonstrators need to maintain social distancing. (Deutsch, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Can Tear Gas And Pepper Spray Increase Virus Spread?
Police departments have used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters in recent weeks, raising concern that the chemical agents could increase the spread of the coronavirus. The chemicals are designed to irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and throat. They make people cough, sneeze and pull off their masks as they try to breathe. Medical experts say those rushing to help people sprayed by tear gas could come into close contact with someone already infected with the virus who is coughing infectious particles. (Johnson, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: For EMTs, There’s No ‘Rule Book’ For Facing A Pandemic And Protests At Once
Emergency medical services across the country, already burdened by the high demands of COVID-19, have faced added pressure in the past week as they responded to protests ignited by the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police. The need to protect themselves against the coronavirus adds another complication to emergency crews’ efforts in these dangerous conditions. Their personal protective equipment (PPE) can be difficult to wear in a crowd, said emergency medical services officials. (Heredia Rodriguez, 6/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Seek Policing Overhaul Amid Widespread Protests
Congressional Democrats unveiled a sweeping overhaul of policing laws Monday aimed at making it easier to prosecute officers for misconduct, collect national data and establish new training programs to counter racial bias, in response to the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd while in police custody. The legislation assembled by the Congressional Black Caucus and backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and others wraps together a flurry of bills endorsed by various lawmakers with a new focus on holding police officers accountable for misconduct. (Peterson, 6/8)

The Associated Press: A Look At Democrats' Sweeping Proposals To Overhaul Policing
The Justice in Policing Act is among the most ambitious law enforcement reforms from Congress in years and confronts several aspects of policing that have come under strong criticism, especially as more and more police violence is captured on cellphone video and shared across the nation and the world. The package limits legal protections for police, creates a national database of excessive-force incidents and bans police choke holds, among other changes that, The changes, if enacted, would have massive implications on policing in the U.S. (Long and Balsamo, 6/9)

Politico: Hill Democrats Quash Liberal Push To ‘Defund The Police’
“Defund the police” has become the latest battle cry of liberals protesting George Floyd's death in demonstrations across the country. But it won’t be echoed by lawmakers in the halls of Congress. Top Democrats are carefully — but forcefully — speaking out against growing calls from activists to defund police departments, an idea backed by prominent progressives to dismantle the system that has perpetuated the type of brutality seen in Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. (Ferris, Levine and Caygle, 6/8)

The Hill: Schumer Wants Votes On Police Reform, Fifth Coronavirus Bill By July 4 
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to give police reform and coronavirus legislation votes before a two-week July 4 recess. The Senate has more than three weeks before it leaves for the break, though McConnell has not indicated that either item is on his agenda. (Carney, 6/8)

The New York Times: After Protests, Politicians Reconsider Police Budgets And Discipline
In an abrupt change of course, the mayor of New York vowed to cut the budget of the nation’s largest police force. In Los Angeles, the mayor called for redirecting millions of dollars from policing after protesters gathered outside his home. And in Minneapolis, City Council members pledged to dismantle their police force and completely reinvent how public safety is handled. As tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against police violence over the past two weeks, calls have emerged in cities across the country for fundamental changes to American policing. (Searcey, Eligon and Stockman, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Police In The U.S. Have Shot And Killed More Than 5,000 People Since 2015
Protests against the use of deadly force by police swept across the country in 2015. Demonstrators marched in Chicago, turned chaotic in Baltimore, and occupied the area outside a Minneapolis police station for weeks. Protesters repeatedly took to the streets of Ferguson, Mo., where a white police officer had killed a black teenager the previous year and fueled anew a national debate about the use of force and how police treat minorities. (Berman, Sullivan, Tate and Jenkins, 6/8)

The New York Times: Defying Police Unions, New York Lawmakers Ban Chokeholds
Inspired by the protests sweeping the state and nation, New York legislative leaders on Monday began to approve an expansive package of bills targeting police misconduct, defying longstanding opposition from law enforcement groups, including police unions. The measures range from a ban on the use of chokeholds to the repeal of an obscure decades-old statute that has effectively hidden the disciplinary records of police officers from public view, making it virtually impossible for victims to know whether a particular officer has a history of abuse. (Ferre-Sadurni, Mays and Southall, 6/8)

NPR: New York State Moves Swiftly On Police Reform Bills
New York state, where marches drew thousands of people into the streets, has a troubled history of violence by police officers against unarmed black and Hispanic men. State Sen. Luis Sepulveda told lawmakers police tactics have led to the death and "utter humiliation" of many people of color. "I can speak from personal experience. When I was 18 years old, I was arrested because a police officer didn't like the way I looked at him," Sepulveda said. (Mann, 6/8)

The Associated Press: New York Poised To Lift Veil On Police Disciplinary Files
A decades-old law that kept law enforcement officers’ disciplinary records secret in New York appeared to be headed for an overhaul this week as state lawmakers moved to act on a number of police accountability measures prompted by street demonstrations over the death of George Floyd. The state law, known by its section title, 50-a, was passed in the 1970s to prevent criminal defense attorneys from subjecting officers to cross-examinations about irrelevant information in their personnel file. The law applies to jail guards and firefighters, as well. (Villeneuve, 6/9)

Los Angeles Times: LAPD To Halt Use Of Carotid Restraints; L.A. County Sheriff's Department Pledges To Restrict Use
The Los Angeles Police Department on Monday instructed officers not to use carotid restraints, chokeholds that restrict or block blood flow to the brain, pending a review by the city’s Police Commission. The restraint can render people unconscious or, as in the case of George Floyd, who was pinned to the ground by his neck for nearly nine minutes, it can prove fatal. (Ormseth and Tchekmedyian, 6/8)

NPR: Federal Dollars Fund Local Law Enforcement
Activists protesting police brutality are calling on cities and states to defund their police. Funding for local law enforcement now increasingly comes from the federal government. Federal departments ranging from the Department of Justice to the Department of Agriculture have grant programs aimed at hiring more police, equipping them, and constructing new police facilities. (Naylor, 6/9)

NPR: Trump Says He Won't 'Defund' Police, Prefers 'Gentle' Approach
President Trump on Monday rejected calls to disband or defund police departments as a response to massive protests against police brutality, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police. "Sometimes you'll see some horrible things, like we witnessed recently," Trump said. "Ninety-nine percent of them are great, great people." (Rampton, 6/8)

NPR: Biden Opposes Defunding Police, Campaign Says
As protests against police brutality have unfolded across the country, calls to defund or abolish police departments are picking up traction among activists and even sparked a pledge by the Minneapolis City Council to "dismantle" the police force there. But Joe Biden's campaign said on Monday that the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee does not support that approach. "Vice President Biden does not believe that police should be defunded," Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates told NPR in a statement. (Gringlas, 6/8)

The New York Times: What Would Efforts To Defund Or Disband Police Departments Really Mean?
Across the country, calls are mounting from some activists and elected officials to defund, downsize or abolish police departments. A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged on Sunday to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department, promising to create a new system of public safety in a city where law enforcement has long been accused of racism. The calls for change have left people uncertain of what those changes would really mean and how cities would contend with crime. Much remains uncertain and the proposals vary between cities, but here are answers to some questions about the issue. (Searcey, 6/8)

Boston Globe: ‘Not Good Enough’: City Councilors, Activists Increase Pressure On Walsh For Police Change 
City councilors and activists ratcheted up pressure Monday on Mayor Martin J. Walsh to put forth specific police reform proposals, as the movement to reexamine police spending gained momentum across the United States and in Boston. Walsh said on Sunday that Boston will reallocate some of its police budget, but he has yet to specify where the money would go. City Councilor Andrea Campbell said Monday that Walsh’s words were insufficient. (Valencia and McDonald, 6/8)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas ISD Should Disband Its Police Force, Advocacy Groups Urge
Five advocacy groups are urging the Dallas school district to disband its police force because black students and those with disabilities are often more likely to face harsher run-ins with officers than their peers. On Monday, they sent Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa a letter saying that many students of color feel less safe when police are at their schools because of traumatic experiences. (Smith and Ayala, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Spike: Fourteen States And Puerto Rico Hit Their Highest-Ever Seven-Day Average For New Cases
As rates of coronavirus infections ease in places such as New York and Illinois and onetime hot spots move into new phases of reopening, parts of the country that had previously avoided being hit hard by the outbreak are now tallying record-high new infections. Since the start of June, 14 states and Puerto Rico have recorded their highest-ever seven-day average of new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, according to data tracked by The Washington Post: : Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. (Bellware and Dupree, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: New Coronavirus Cases Accelerating In More Than A Dozen U.S. States
The U.S. coronavirus death toll passed 111,000 while reported cases topped 1.9 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Cases world-wide exceeded 7 million, and deaths stood at more than 406,000. Experts say official totals likely understate the extent of the pandemic, in part because of differing testing and reporting standards. (6/9)

CIDRAP: East Coast Sees Drop In COVID-19 Cases As Other Areas Surge
The overall decrease in COVID-19 cases in the United States is being driven by declines in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, but cases are surging in a handful of other states in the wake of reopening local economies, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In Arizona yesterday, officials reported 30 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and last week tallied more than 1,000 hospitalizations per day. California reported record daily highs in the last week and through the weekend, averaging about 2,666 daily new cases, according to CNN. Last Friday, California tracked 3,593 new cases, its record case count. (Soucheray, 6/8)

CNN: US Coronavirus: As More Americans Head Out, 22 States Are Seeing Jumps In New Covid-19 Cases 
While states lift more restrictions and more Americans go out to socialize or protest, almost half of US states are seeing higher rates of new coronavirus cases. But the situation would have been much worse had states not shut down, a new study says. (Maxouris and Yan, 6/8)

Reuters: University Of Washington Forecasts 145,000 U.S. COVID-19 Deaths By August
University of Washington researchers estimated on Monday that 145,728 people could die of COVID-19 in the United States by August, raising their grim forecast by more than 5,000 fatalities in a matter of days. On Friday, the widely cited Institute for Health Metrics and evaluation at the university projected 140,496 deaths by August from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. Researchers did not give a reason for the abrupt revision. (6/8)

The Washington Post: CDC Wants States To Count 'Probable' Covid-19 Cases And Deaths, But Most Are Not Doing It
Fewer than half the states are following federal recommendations to report probable novel coronavirus cases and deaths, marking what experts say is an unusual break with public health practices that leads to inconsistent data collection and undercounts of the disease’s impact. A Washington Post review found that the states not disclosing probable cases and deaths include some of the largest: California, Florida, North Carolina and New York. That is one reason government officials and public health experts say the virus’s true toll is above the U.S. tally as of Sunday of about 1.9 million coronavirus cases and 109,000 deaths — benchmarks that shape policymaking and public opinion on the pandemic. (Reinhard, Brown, Thebault and Sun, 6/8)

NPR: Florida's Rising COVID-19 Numbers: What Do They Mean?
Over the last week, Florida has seen rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases. Since last Tuesday, the number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus totaled more than 1,000 each day. Saturday's total of 1,426 positive tests was the most since early April. A similar rise in new cases is happening in other states, including North Carolina, Texas and California. It's leading to worries that as businesses reopen and stay-at-home orders are lifted, relaxed guidelines could lead to new outbreaks and even a second wave of infections. (Allen, 6/8)

CNN: Florida's Seeing A Surge In Coronavirus Cases. But There's Good News, Too 
First, the bad news: The number of new coronavirus cases reported in Florida each day has increased an average of roughly 46% over the past week, according to a national tracking website. But the percentage of coronavirus test results that turn out to be positive is only 4%, according to Covid19-projections.com, a modeling and tracking website cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Yan, 6/8)

NPR: Texas Reports Record-Breaking COVID-19 Hospitalizations, As State Reopens
Texas reported a record-breaking number of COVID-19 hospitalizations Monday, as the governor plans to reopen more businesses and double capacity. Texas Department of State Health Services figures show 1,935 people were admitted as hospital patients for coronavirus-related treatment. That is up from a previous record of 1,888 more than a month ago on May 5. The department's new figures were released as Gov. Greg Abbott moves forward with a plan to open bars, restaurants, amusement parks and other businesses to 50% capacity. (Romo, 6/8)

ABC News: No New COVID-19 Cases Tied To Missouri Hair Salon Exposure: Health Department 
No new COVID-19 cases were found after two hairstylists potentially exposed 140 customers and six coworkers to the virus at a Great Clips in Missouri, the local health department said Monday. Last month, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department alerted the public that two hairstylists had tested positive for the coronavirus, potentially exposing people in the Springfield salon between May 12 and May 20. They both were symptomatic and were wearing face coverings while working, health officials said. (Deliso, 6/8)

ABC News: 12 COVID Cases Traced To Jersey Shore Memorial Day Weekend Gatherings: Officials 
A dozen COVID-19 cases in a Pennsylvania suburb have been traced to Jersey Shore "beach house gatherings" over Memorial Day weekend, health officials said. The Bucks County Department of Health said Saturday that 12 recent cases were traced to a New Jersey resident who attended "multiple" house gatherings at the shore. The exposures occurred at a gathering of college-age students over the holiday weekend in Cape May County, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The department has not identified any additional cases at this time. (Deliso, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Coronavirus Deaths Spike Over The Weekend
In the last two days, Los Angeles County officials announced 81 new coronavirus-related deaths, the highest total reported over a weekend in more than a month. The highest weekend total of deaths was previously reported April 18-19, when 105 deaths were announced. Officials also reported 3,000 new cases on Saturday and Sunday. When officials announced that the county would more fully reopen businesses and outdoor venues, such as beaches and parks — even as the case count and death rate continued to climb — they reiterated a message repeated countless times in weeks prior: The virus has not changed; the only change has been in people’s behavior and the commitment to practice social distancing. (Shalby, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Society Is Reopening. Prepare To Hunker Down At Home Again.
Even before the May 25 killing of George Floyd in police custody drew large crowds of protesters into the streets of U.S. cities, people were beginning to throng beaches, bars and restaurants. Whether for economic, social or political reasons, our home confinement seems to be ending. Or is it?Public health officials warn that a hasty reopening will generate a second wave of COVID-19 infections. That could delay a return to economic and social normalcy ― or even force us back under house arrest ― as long as there’s no reliable therapy or vaccine. (Wolfson, 6/9)

ABC News: States Reopened For Business In May As Coronavirus Death Toll Climbed Past 100,000 
As the coronavirus pandemic continued into May, Americans, health officials and elected officials reached a breaking point on their stay at home orders. The virus, however, continued to spread, and the pandemic reached a grim milestone by the end of the month. (Pereira, 6/9)

The New York Times: New York City Begins Phase 1 Of Reopening
Michael Gilsenan celebrated the first day of New York City’s reopening by treating himself to coffee and cheesecake at his neighborhood bakery in Greenwich Village. He doesn’t even like cheesecake, but it was a chance to get back to the little things he never realized he would miss until the coronavirus took them away. “These are markers of your life in the city,” Mr. Gilsenan, a university professor, said. “It’s a sense that against all the odds — and I think it is against all of the odds — that they’re still around today.” (Hu, 6/8)

The Associated Press: 'A Big Test': Hard-Hit New York City Begins Reopening
After three gloomy months and 21,000 deaths that made it the nation’s most lethal hot spot, New York City slowly began reopening Monday in the biggest test yet of Americans’ ability to keep the coronavirus in check. Stores previously deemed nonessential were cleared to reopen for delivery and curbside pickup, though customers cannot yet browse inside. Construction, manufacturing and wholesalers also received the go-ahead to resume work. (Peltz, 6/8)

ABC News: NYC Sees 1st Signs Of Post-COVID-19 Metropolis As It Enters Phase 1 Reopening 
The city that never sleeps was finally able to unpause. New York City began phase one of its reopening plan on Monday, allowing nonessential businesses, manufacturing, construction and select other industries to continue their work, with special precautions issued to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Pereira, 6/8)

The Washington Post: New York City, Once The U.S. Epicenter Of The Coronavirus, Begins To Reopen
“All New Yorkers should be proud you got us to this day,” de Blasio said at a news conference Monday morning at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a manufacturing hub. Monday marked the first, limited phase of a four-part reopening plan. Wholesale sellers and manufacturers were allowed to resume business, and the construction industry made its noisy return. Workers in hard hats swarmed a site in south Queens, installing walls and machinery within the skeleton of a tower that had been mostly hollow since March. (Guarino and Jacobs, 6/8)

NBC News: New York City Emerges From Coronavirus Lockdown And Begins Phase One Of Reopening
The number of hospitalizations was down to 702 statewide in recent days from a record-high of 18,825 during the peak of the pandemic, the governor said. But Cuomo warned that "if New Yorkers get sloppy" and the number of coronavirus cases start going back up, the state will clamp down again. "We're going to keep a special eye on New York City to see what happens," he said. (Siemaszko, 6/8)

CBS News: New York City Begins Phase One Of Reopening After 80-Day Lockdown, But New Concerns Loom 
One store owner told CBS News lead national correspondent David Begnaud that "it feels like New York finally got invited to the party." "It's so personal when it's a small store and I really feel connected to my customers. And I just feel like I haven't seen them in so long," said Stephanie Goldstein, who owns the kids clothing store Stoopher & Boots. She says while they were closed, her online business really took off. (6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: A Look Inside New York’s Grand Reopening
Monday was also the first day back for William Lorenzo, a New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker. “I think everybody’s a little concerned,” he said. “The city is taking, I think, adequate recourse. And so everyone’s going to have a little bit of trepidation there. Everyone’s going to be nervous.” (6/8)

The New York Times: Boxed Lunches And Plexiglass Will Welcome Back Wall Street’s Workers
Grab-and-go packaged meals may replace midday generous buffets and three-figure lunches. Plexiglass could divvy up trading floors the size of football fields. Heat maps, accessible on a mobile app, will help identify the restrooms with the smallest crowds. But when Wall Street reopens its doors to employees, the talent will only trickle in. New York is starting to ease restrictions on businesses, and the world’s biggest financial firms are preparing to bring thousands of employees back to their offices starting this month. (Kelly, 6/8)

Reuters: Lockdowns Saved Many Lives And Easing Them Is Risky, Say Scientists
Lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have saved millions of lives and easing them now carries high risks, according to two international studies published on Monday. “The risk of a second wave happening if all interventions and all precautions are abandoned is very real,” Samir Bhatt, who co-led one of the studies by researchers at Imperial College London, told reporters in a briefing. Most European nations, worried about the economic impact of their lockdowns, have started to ease restrictions as the number of new COVID-19 cases falls. (Kelland, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Shutdowns Prevented 60 Million Coronavirus Infections In The U.S., Study Finds
A separate study from epidemiologists at Imperial College London estimated the shutdowns saved about 3.1 million lives in 11 European countries, including 500,000 in the United Kingdom, and dropped infection rates by an average of 82 percent, sufficient to drive the contagion well below epidemic levels. The two reports, published simultaneously Monday in the journal Nature, used completely different methods to reach similar conclusions. They suggest that the aggressive and unprecedented shutdowns, which caused massive economic disruptions and job losses, were effective at halting the exponential spread of the novel coronavirus. (Achenbach and Meckler, 6/8)

CNN: Shutdown Measures Prevented About 60 Million US Covid-19 Infections, Study Says
"The last several months have been extraordinarily difficult, but through our individual sacrifices, people everywhere have each contributed to one of humanity's greatest collective achievements," Hsiang said in the press release. "I don't think any human endeavor has ever saved so many lives in such a short period of time. There have been huge personal costs to staying home and canceling events, but the data show that each day made a profound difference," Hsiang said. "By using science and cooperating, we changed the course of history." (Howard, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Immunity Laws In Many States Shield Nursing Homes From Covid-19 Liability, Leaving Families Without Answers
One afternoon in early April, Brenda Anagnos crouched in the bushes outside a nursing home in Windsor, Conn., and pressed her face to the window. “Mommy,” she yelled. “I’m here.” From outside the locked-down facility, Anagnos said she watched her mother, wearing a red tank top, shiver beneath a hospital sheet. Diagnosed with covid-19, she could barely raise a hand. Anagnos said she called the front desk for a nurse, a blanket, some help with an electrolyte drink. (Cenziper, Whoriskey, Mulcahy and Jacobs, 6/8)

The Hill: Dem Chairmen Urge CMS To Prevent Nursing Homes From Seizing Stimulus Payments 
Two House Democratic committee chairmen are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue guidance aimed at preventing nursing homes and assisted living facilities from seizing their residents' coronavirus relief payments. "It is crucial that this vulnerable population group continues to have the certainty that comes with these [economic impact payments] and are not coerced into wrongly handing over their checks for fear of being kicked out of their homes," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) wrote in a letter Monday to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. (Jagoda, 6/8)

The New York Times: Testing Nursing Home Workers Can Help Stop Coronavirus. But Who Should Pay?
Like all nursing home workers in New York State, Shikilia Davis is required to get a test for coronavirus twice a week, part of a state order aimed at containing the startling death toll of residents in nursing homes. But late last month, Ms. Davis said her employer, Apex Rehabilitation & Healthcare on Long Island, sent her home after she refused to provide her insurance card before getting tested. She said the nursing home wanted to bill her health insurer rather than paying for the test itself, even though Ms. Davis’s insurer has declined to cover the tests. (Thomas, 6/9)

Politico/South China Morning Post: Governments Worldwide Navigate Privacy Versus Urgency In Fight Against Covid-19
Using an app on your smartphone to track whether you’ve been in close contact with people who have contracted Covid-19 seems — at first glance — like a perfectly plausible way to use new technology to help tackle a global health crisis that has sickened millions and brought the world economy to its knees. There’s just one problem — data privacy. Tracing the whereabouts of infected patients has become a central plank in government efforts around the world to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Traditionally, contact tracing was done through in-person interviews with medical professionals. Now smartphones have the power to streamline and automate that process. (Ye, Feng and Yu, 6/8)

Philadelphia Inquirer: As Jersey Shore Coronavirus Cases Prove Value Of Contact Tracing, Post-Protest Testing In Philly Could Be Scarce
One New Jersey resident at a Cape May house party on Memorial Day weekend may have been the source of at least a dozen new coronavirus cases in Bucks County. “This is exactly why we can’t let our guard down now, even if it feels ‘safe’ to be at the beach,” David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department, said in a statement. But there’s an upside. Because Bucks County health officials have been “contact tracing” — interviewing people with the infection to find out where they’ve been — it was possible to figure out this epidemiological puzzle. The episode illustrates the crucial role contact tracing will play in limiting the potential for a resurgence of the virus. (McCarthy, Gantz and McCullough, 6/8)

The Texas Observer: In Rural Texas, COVID-19 Contact Tracing Is Largely Up To Local Officials, If It Happens At All
For the last few weeks, L.D. Williamson has fielded calls from worried neighbors. COVID-19 has spread quickly through Red River County in far Northeast Texas, and residents want to know who has it. Williamson, the county judge tasked with managing the coronavirus response, tells them the same thing: he doesn’t know any more than they do. When the first positive case showed up in Red River in mid-April, Williamson only found out who had tested positive thanks to a Facebook post from the patient’s wife. That was lucky, because the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) wouldn’t tell him. Now Williamson says state officials still won’t reveal who has the virus out of privacy concerns, even as cases balloon in the rural community. As far as he knows, no one is making sure those infected are staying home, or contacting others they’ve been around. (Novack, 6/8)

WCNC: NC Health Officials Hoping To Increase Contact Tracing
With the number of coronavirus cases continuing to rise, health officials are stepping up the effort to notify people who have been exposed to the virus in North Carolina. On Monday, state officials gave updates on their efforts on contact tracing, which they say is an effective way to stop the spread. However, the WCNC Charlotte Defenders team previously found contact tracing isn't always happening in Mecklenburg County. State officials say they’re helping with resources, but ultimately it’s up to counties to let people know if they’ve been exposed, and that’s where some of the big events have happened. North Carolina currently has 250 contact tracers and hired 152 new ones, according to the state’s website. (Shabad, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Volunteers Reopening Some Federal Offices Closed In Pandemic
New regional surges in coronavirus cases forced the Environmental Protection Agency to put on hold some of the earliest planned returns of federal employees to their offices, while the first volunteers at a few other federal agencies are quietly going back to their desks. The Trump administration’s guidance, called “Opening up America Again,” lays out specific conditions for calling workers back, like 14 straight days of downward-trending cases in an area. But there have been complaints that the administration is moving too quickly. (Knickmeyer, 6/9)

The Associated Press: As Business Trickles Back, Hotels Compete On Cleanliness
Marriott, Hilton and other big hotel companies are used to competing on price or perks. Now they are competing on cleanliness. From masked clerks at the front desk to shuttered buffets, hotels are making visible changes in the wake of the pandemic. Signage will tout new cleaning regimens: Red Roof Inns promise “RediClean,” while Hilton boasts of “CleanStay with Lysol.” (Durbin, 6/8)

The Associated Press: South Dakota Governor Uses Video To Vaunt COVID-19 Response
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday took to social media to vaunt her response to the coronavirus pandemic and pitch herself as a leading conservative governor. Throughout the pandemic, Noem, a Republican, has held regular press briefings, taking questions from reporters. On Monday, she instead posted a nearly-nine minute video in which Noem said she has prioritized “freedom,” but claimed the “mainstream media” has attacked her for doing so. (Groves, 6/8)

Boston Globe: Maine Lifts Some Tourism Restrictions, Announces Plan To Quadruple Testing Capacity In July
Out-of-state residents will soon be able to visit Maine without quarantining if they recently received a negative coronavirus test result, state officials announced at a press conference Monday afternoon. Visitors will have to sign a compliance form at their lodging area stating that they’ve received a negative coronavirus test result within the past 72 hours, Governor Janet Mills said. Those who haven’t recently received a negative test result will have to quarantine for two weeks. (Berg, 6/8)

Boston Globe: R.I. Man Serving Terror Sentence Wants Early Prison Release, Cites Coronavirus Concerns 
A Rhode Island man serving a 15-year prison term for conspiring to support ISIS is asking a federal judge to release him to his mother’s home in Warwick, citing health concerns that place him at “unique risk” if he contracts COVID-19 behind bars. In a motion for compassionate release filed Sunday in US District Court in Boston, lawyers for Nicholas Alexander Rovinski, 29, said he’s currently incarcerated at FCI Danbury in Connecticut, “where one of the first major COVID-19 outbreaks in the federal Bureau of Prisons is ongoing.” (Andersen, 6/8)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas County Reports 254 More Coronavirus Cases, No New Deaths
Dallas County reported 254 new coronavirus cases Monday, its 12th consecutive day of at least 200 cases after a brief decline in late May. No new deaths were reported. Noting in a written statement that the latest number of cases was slightly lower than the previous few days', County Judge Clay Jenkins said doctors are working to determine what accounted for the recent rise. (Jones and Steele, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: At Lake Of The Ozarks, It’s (Almost) Business As Usual, Despite The Coronavirus
On a sun-kissed summer Saturday in this tourist town, one could almost imagine the pandemic didn’t happen. Dozens of people mingled, unmasked, outside the frozen custard stand. The putt-putt golf course and the go-kart track had plenty of customers, and the Grand Glaize Beach at Lake of the Ozarks State Park was crowded with visitors tossing footballs and digging their toes in the sand. “Hardly anyone wears masks here,” observed Bob Harrison, visiting with his wife, Etta Harrison, from Olathe, Kansas, outside Kansas City. “People are sort of like, here, it’s a vacation resort, and they don’t have to worry about it.” (Hiles, 6/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Rethinking The Hospital For The Next Pandemic
Hospitals are rethinking how they operate in light of the Covid-19 pandemic—and preparing for a future where such crises may become a grim fact of life. With the potential for resurgences of the coronavirus, and some scientists warning about outbreaks of other infectious diseases, hospitals don’t want to be caught flat-footed again. So, more of them are turning to new protocols and new technology to overhaul standard operating procedure, from the time patients show up at an emergency room through admission, treatment and discharge. (Landro, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Aid Distribution Methods Still Disfavor Hospitals Most In Need
The Trump administration’s distribution of about $175 billion in federal aid to health-care providers has channeled more of that money to profitable hospitals and less to struggling facilities that most need the support amid the coronavirus pandemic, drawing renewed scrutiny and criticism by lawmakers and industry groups. For hospitals, the Department of Health and Human Services allocated the initial $50 billion round of the aid based on their Medicare reimbursements and patient revenue. That puts hospitals heavily reliant on Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income and disabled people, at a disadvantage. (Armour, 6/8)

Reuters: Special Report: COVID Deepens The Other Opioid Crisis - A Shortage Of Hospital Painkillers
As opioid pills and patches fueled a two-decade epidemic of overdoses in the United States, hospitals faced chronic shortages of the same painkillers in injectable form - narcotics vital to patients on breathing machines. For years, hospitals chased supplies, sometimes resorting to inferior substitutes. The shortfall grew so dire in 2018 that a drugmaker sent letters advising hospitals they could use batches of opioid syringes potentially containing hazardous contaminants - so long as they filtered each dose. (Girion, Levine and Respaut, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Poll: Pandemic Does Little To Alter US Views On Health Care
The coronavirus pushed hospitals to the edge, and millions of workers lost job-based coverage in the economic shutdown to slow the spread, but a new poll suggests Americans have remarkably little interest in big changes to health care as a result of the pandemic. People are still more likely to prefer the private sector than the government on driving innovation in health care, improving quality and, by a narrower margin, providing coverage, according to the survey by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (Swanson and Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/8)

The Hill: Amid Pandemic, Majority Of US Prefers Private Sector Lead The Way In Health Care: Poll 
A majority of Americans still trust the private sector to take the lead on innovation in the health care field over government efforts, according to a poll released Monday. The poll conducted by The Associated Press alongside the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 70 percent of Americans said they trusted the private sector to do a better job "driving innovation," compared to 28 percent who said the same for the public sector. (Bowden, 6/8)

NPR: Enrolling In A New Health Plan In A Recession Presents Challenges
Liz McLemore was laid off from her digital marketing job in early March and her health insurance coverage disappeared along with it. "I've always been a saver, so I wasn't as concerned about the monthly money coming in," says McLemore, who's 42 and lives in Inglewood, Calif. "But I really was concerned about the [health] insurance." (Simmons-Duffin, 6/9)

State House News Service: MassHealth Implements 90-Day Retroactivity 
Residents who have applied for MassHealth coverage during the pandemic can now seek to have that coverage applied retroactively for up to 90 days to cover health services received as early as March 1. The change at MassHealth was made this month at part of a number of new flexibilities built into the state's Medicaid program to help those impact by COVID-19. Prior to this new retroactive policy, MassHealth only allowed for 10 days coverage prior to the date of applications. (Murphy, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: N.Y. Insurers Request Nearly 12% Increase In Premiums
New York insurers selling plans to individuals asked the state to raise rates by a weighted average of 11.7% with some citing COVID-19 as necessitating higher premiums in 2021. Oscar sought the largest premium increase on average in the individual market at 19.1%, the state Department of Financial Services said Friday. The plans are available through the state's Affordable Care Act marketplace for people who don't have insurance through their employers. (LaMantia, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Medicaid Rolls Swell In New Mexico Amid Economic Turmoil
Enrollment is rising in Medicaid health care as the coronavirus pandemic reverberates through the economy. The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance says enrollment in the federally subsidized health care program increased by nearly 10,000 people during the month of May to 853,251 as of June 1. Agency Program Manager Colin Bailllio says enrollment in February stood at 830,165. (6/9)

Modern Healthcare: CMS To Use 'Glide Path' When Removing COVID-19 Waivers
CMS will likely implement a "glide path" when removing temporary waivers put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than a hard stop, according to a principal deputy administrator at the agency. "Exactly how that glide path plays out is still to be determined … in conjunction with the White House and the administration," said Kim Brandt, principal deputy administrator for policy and operations at CMS, during a webinar hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society on Monday. (Cohen, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: As Physician Offices Reopen With Changes, Patient Visits Ramp Up
Physicians in metro Detroit are recalling hundreds of furloughed staff, reopening shuttered offices, ordering deep cleaning, scheduling delayed appointments and hoping the expected fall surge of COVID-19 cases is mild and doesn't lead to another partial shutdown. Dr. David Mayo, an orthopedic surgeon with Michigan Orthopaedic Surgeons PLLC in Southfield, said the 30-surgeon practice is moving to fully reopen its six offices. He said the practice, which is down about 16% of normal volume — including telemedicine — will increase in-office visits as patients feel more comfortable scheduling appointments. (Greene, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: When A Doctor No Longer Accepts Medicare, Patients Left Holding The Bag
Pneumonia. Heart problems. High cholesterol. Betsy Carrier, 71, and her husband, Don Resnikoff, 79, relied on their primary care doctor in Montgomery County, Maryland, for help managing their ailments. But after seven years, the couple was surprised when the doctor informed them she was opting out of Medicare, the couple’s insurer.“It’s a serious loss,” Resnikoff said of their doctor. (Heredia Rodriguez, 6/9)

Modern Healthcare: Tiny Fraction Of $2 Billion Federal Uninsured COVID-19 Testing Funds Have Gone Out
Only $10.8 million, or 0.5%, of the $2 billion Congress set aside to help providers pay for COVID-19 testing for uninsured patients has been approved to be paid during the first two weeks of the program's operation, according to the most recent government data. While other HHS grant funds are essentially prospective payments, the uninsured reimbursement program is dependent on providers submitting claims. Several sources that work with providers said the Health Resources and Services Administration has been processing claims promptly, but slow distribution could be caused by coding issues, a lack of awareness about the program, and early technical issues with the HRSA portal. (Cohrs, 6/8)

Reuters: FDA Authorizes COVID-19 Saliva Test By Phosphorus Diagnostics
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday allowed emergency use of a COVID-19 saliva test made by privately held Phosphorus Diagnostics LLC that allows people to send in their saliva samples to the company’s laboratory for testing. The company’s sample collection kit, priced at around $140, would be delivered to customers if they are found eligible after completing an online questionnaire. (6/8)

Reuters: Japan To Adopt Selective, Rather Than Blanket, Approach In Coronavirus Tests
Japan will stop short of offering blanket coronavirus tests, and instead target the vulnerable and those most at risk in seeking to prevent a second wave of infections, the minister in charge of policies to combat the health crisis said. Japan is currently well behind other major economies in the number of completed coronavirus tests, drawing criticism from some experts that it is not doing enough to trace the virus and prevent clusters. (Kaneko and Kihara, 6/8)

Boston Globe: Rhode Island Will Test People Without Symptoms To Try To Head Off Outbreaks
The state will begin testing Rhode Islanders with no COVID-19 symptoms to try to head off outbreaks and give residents confidence as the economy reopens, Governor Gina M. Raimondo announced Monday. The expanded testing of people who don’t feel sick will begin with childcare workers, barbers and hairdressers, and others working in “close contact” professions, she said. The aim is to test 900 people without symptoms beginning right away, she said. (Fitzpatrick, 6/8)

NPR: Aid Money Sent To States To Manage Economic Crisis Isn't Going Where It's Needed
On the edge of the Mississippi River, the small historic city of Kimmswick, Mo. has an archaeological site with mastodon bones, Levee High Apple Pie at its famous Blue Owl Restaurant, and a volunteer mayor, Phil Stang. What it doesn't have right now is money. "They think I'm kidding but I'm not," Stang says. "I [will] have to go and do crazy electronic stuff like GoFundMe pages, or start a lemonade stand ... something." (Sullivan, 6/8)

WBUR: Feds Spend Billions On COVID-19 Contracts, Often Without Fully Competitive Bidding
The U.S. government has granted contracts worth as much as $25 billion as it races to address the COVID-19 public health crisis. NPR reviewed a database of thousands of contracting actions and found more than 250 companies that got contracts worth more than $1 million without going through a fully competitive bidding process.Some of the companies, such as Baul's, had little or no experience with personal protective equipment. Others had never worked in the medical field at all. Contractors also included a company that imported vodka and a school security consultant. (Thompson, Rose and Benincasa, 6/9)

The Hill: Senate GOP Leaders Don't Expect Next Coronavirus Bill Before Mid-July 
Members of Senate GOP leadership said on Monday that they do not expect to be able to pass another coronavirus relief bill until mid-to-late July. The Senate is in session for more than three weeks before they leave Washington for a two-week July 4 recess. But several members of GOP leadership said on Monday that they do not expect to pass a bill before the break, delaying a fifth round of coronavirus relief until after they return on July 20. (Carney, 6/8)

In other economic news —

The Washington Post: States Scramble To Deal With Potential Spikes In Unemployment Fraud, Prompting Democrats To Demand Answers
Senate Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to release more details about an alleged criminal operation designed to defraud state unemployment programs across the country, fearing these systems remain vulnerable to attack amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The lawmakers’ concerns stem from a memo the U.S. government circulated in May indicating scammers may have harnessed stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information to obtain weekly jobless benefits. (Romm, 6/8)

Stateline: COVID-19 Forces Tough Decisions In Housing Assistance
After distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in the past three months, states and cities don’t have much money left to help struggling renters, leaving officials with an uncomfortable question: Who gets prioritized for help? COVID-19 is forcing local governments to make tough decisions about rental assistance: Some programs are relying on lotteries to ensure all applicants have a fair shot, while others are focusing on specific populations, such as workers ineligible for federal relief. (Wiltz, 6/9)

Stat: How A Family’s Frantic Search For Remdesivir — And A 330-Mile Road Trip — Reshaped Tennessee’s Covid-19 Response
The pharmacists were looking for a gray-haired man in a brown shirt. That’s how he’d described himself a few minutes before, as he was pulling off the interstate. He’d just driven 165 miles west, through much of Tennessee — crisscrossing the crooks in the Caney Fork River, passing through the Cumberland Plateau’s mountain laurels and sandstone bluffs, whizzing past cows in lush springtime pastures — straight into the heart of Nashville. His plan was to pick up the drug, turn around, and drive right back to Oak Ridge, so he could get treatment to a patient that same night, before things got any worse. (Boodman, 6/9)

Stat: Analysts Raise Questions About AstraZeneca's Interest In Gilead
Amid intense interest in Gilead Sciences (GILD) thanks to its experimental Covid-19 drug, an out-of-left-field report emerged over the weekend that AstraZeneca (AZN) may want to buy or merge with the company. Although AstraZeneca quickly downplayed the likelihood of any deal, Gilead stock gained, while AstraZeneca shares fell slightly. Naturally, this also triggered speculation among Wall Street analysts about the merits of such a transaction, which would be the largest in pharmaceutical industry history. (Silverman, 6/8)

Stat: The Coronavirus Is Reignting A Fierce Debate Over Compounded Drugs
In hopes of alleviating potential drug shortages and other issues wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration drastically rolled back its oversight of compounding pharmacies — a swift and sweeping relaxing of the rules that were put in place after a fungal meningitis outbreak traced to one such center killed more than 60 and sickened over 700. Public health experts say there’s merit to relaxing the rules amid the pandemic, but they’re already cautioning that there’s no reason to make the changes permanent. Compounders, meanwhile, are gearing up for a fight to do just that. (Florko, 6/9)

Politico: Coronavirus Drugmakers' Latest Tactics: Science By Press Release
Vaccine maker Moderna attracted glowing headlines and bullish investors when it revealed that eight participants in a preliminary clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine had developed antibodies to the virus. The company’s share price jumped nearly 20 percent that day as it released a massive stock offering. But the full results of the 45-person safety study haven’t been published, even though Moderna began a second, larger trial in late May aimed at determining whether the vaccine works. Several vaccine researchers say the scant public information on the earlier safety study is hard to evaluate because it addresses less than 20 percent of participants. (Brennan and Goldberg, 6/5)

Reuters: Explainer: What Are Antibody Therapies And Who Is Developing Them For COVID-19?
While some potential vaccines have emerged in the global race to find a way to stop the spread of COVID-19, many scientists and researchers believe antibody based therapies hold great promise for treating people already infected with the disease. These therapies use antibodies generated by infected humans or animals to fight off the disease in patients. They date back to the late 19th century, when researchers used a serum derived from the blood of infected animals to treat diphtheria. For COVID-19 treatment, researchers are studying the use of convalescent plasma and other treatments made with blood from recently recovered patients. (Erman, 6/9)

Reuters: Exclusive: In Navy Study, 60 Percent Of Carrier Volunteers Have Coronavirus Antibodies
A U.S. Navy investigation into the spread of the coronavirus aboard the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier has found that about 60 percent of the roughly 400 sailors tested had antibodies for the virus, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. All 4,800 sailors on the Roosevelt aircraft carrier were tested for the coronavirus previously, and about a quarter tested positive. But in April the Navy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started conducting a serology test to look for the presence of specific antibodies. (Ali and Stewart, 6/8)

ABC News: More Than 60% Of The 400 Sailors Tested On Carrier Had COVID-19 Antibodies 
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak aboard the carrier and the guided missile destroyer USS Kidd, the Navy has instituted new health and safety procedures aboard ships at sea or ships preparing to head out to sea to prevent future outbreaks. The sailors aboard the Roosevelt will all wear masks and carry out social distancing for the rest of their deployment in the Pacific -- a practice that all Navy ships at sea are also employing. (Martinez, 6/8)

The Hill: Officials Say 60 Percent Of Roosevelt Carrier Crew Have Coronavirus Antibodies: Report 
The Theodore Roosevelt became the center of attention after an outbreak infected hundreds aboard, leading the ship's captain Brett Crozier to pen a letter to Navy officials warning about the spread. When the letter was leaked to the media, Crozier was fired. (Coleman, 6/8)

CNN: Asymptomatic Spread Of Coronavirus 'Appears To Be Rare,' WHO Official Says
The spread of Covid-19 by someone who is not showing symptoms appears to be rare, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for coronavirus response and head of the emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, said during a media briefing in Geneva on Monday. "From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual," Van Kerkhove said on Monday. (Howard, 6/9)

The Hill: WHO Official: Asymptomatic Spread Of Coronavirus 'Very Rare' 
However, Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, expressed some skepticism of the WHO’s claim and said he thinks asymptomatic transmission is, in fact, an important source of spread and that some modeling shows as much as 40 to 60 percent of transmission is from people without symptoms. Jha said it’s possible the WHO is making a distinction between asymptomatic spread and presymptomatic spread, when someone eventually develops symptoms but spreads the virus before they do. (Sullivan, 6/8)

Reuters: Over Half Of People Tested In Italy's Bergamo Have COVID-19 Antibodies
More than half the residents tested in Italy’s northern province of Bergamo have COVID-19 antibodies, health authorities said on Monday, citing a sample survey. Of 9,965 residents who had blood tests between April 23 and June 3, 57% had antibodies indicating they had come into contact with the coronavirus, the survey showed. Health authorities in Bergamo said the results were based on a “random” sample which was “sufficiently broad” to be a reliable indicator of how many people had been infected in the province, which became the epicentre of Italy’s outbreak. (Amante, 6/8)

And in other scientific news on the virus —

Reuters: Symptoms Can Last For Weeks Even In Mild Cases, Lockdowns Likely Saved Millions Of Lives
The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Symptoms can linger for weeks after mild coronavirus infection COVID-19 patients not sick enough to be hospitalized are advised to isolate themselves for 14 days, but their symptoms often last much longer, doctors in Atlanta have found. They kept track of 272 non-hospitalized coronavirus patients with follow-up phone calls every 12 to 48 hours for up to 50 days. (Lapid, 6/8)

Reuters: Coronavirus May Have Spread In Wuhan In August, Harvard Research Shows, But China Dismissive
The coronavirus might have been spreading in China as early as August last year, according to Harvard Medical School research based on satellite images of hospital travel patterns and search engine data, but China dismissed the report as “ridiculous.” The research used satellite imagery of hospital parking lots in Wuhan - where the disease was first identified in late 2019 - and data for symptom-related queries on search engines for things such as “cough” and “diarrhoea.” “Increased hospital traffic and symptom search data in Wuhan preceded the documented start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in December 2019,” according to the research. (6/9)

The New York Times: Child Abuse Cases Drop 51 Percent. The Authorities Are Very Worried.
Reports of child abuse in New York City have dropped sharply since the coronavirus crisis began. And that is worrying the authorities. The steep decline could be a sign that an unseen epidemic of abuse is spreading behind locked doors, according to the police, prosecutors and child protection officials. As the virus has shuttered the city, the fragile system of safeguards designed to protect children has fallen apart. Teachers are normally the leading reporters of suspected abuse, calling for help when they notice bruises or signs of hunger or mistreatment at home. (Stewart, 6/9)

The New York Times: Older Adults Remain Isolated Despite Reopening. These Programs Help.
Sally Love Saunders, 80, was stuck in a retirement home in San Francisco, desperate for someone to teach her to use Zoom so she could connect with people outside the building. Nearby, Sarah Hinkfuss, 32, had grown weary of video calls with friends and family. She craved the spontaneity of new relationships and unplanned conversations — hard to come by in a world that is only now beginning to reopen after being shuttered by a pandemic. Both women, strangers at the time, joined the volunteer phone bank of Mon Ami, which has connected thousands of older adults with younger volunteers across the country in recent months. Ms. Saunders and Ms. Hinkfuss had their first phone conversation on April 12. (Padilla, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Older Workers Grapple With Risk Of Getting Covid-19 On The Job
At 78 years old, Saul Sanchez took pride in his routine: showing up before 5 a.m. at a Greeley, Colo., beef processing plant to snag a good parking space and read the Bible before his shift. After work he would shower, eat dinner and go to sleep. On March 19, Mr. Sanchez came home, showered and went straight to bed, his daughter said. He told family members he was tired but went to work the next day at the plant owned by JBS USA Holdings Inc. It turned out to be his last day on the processing line where he had cut meat for three decades. (Bunge, Berzon and Maher, 6/9)

The Wall Street Journal: The Coronavirus Pandemic Is A Call To Serve For 3-D-Printing Hobbyists
Practically overnight, 3-D-printing enthusiasts have remolded their home-based hobby into an emergency production line for scarce personal protective equipment for front-line workers. Thousands of volunteers have banded together on several continents to help in the face of the pandemic crisis. Since March, some 8,000 members of a British design group called 3D Crowd UK have printed parts for more than 170,000 face shields using 3-D printers in their homes. The group also arranges for the face shields’ assembly and distribution to hospitals and other health organizations in Britain. (McConnon, 6/8)

The New York Times: Growing A Family In The Shadow Of A Pandemic
The threat of coronavirus has tormented us in many ways, but perhaps this is one of the most profound: Deciding whether to start or expand a family has suddenly become even harder. While there’s never a perfect time to have a baby, getting pregnant during the pandemic isn’t the scenario most people would choose. But waiting to conceive carries its own risks, especially for older parents. Thousands of families across the United States are facing this dilemma, and experts are wary of offering definitive advice. (Caron, 6/8)

CIDRAP: Experts Offer Advice For Pregnancy, Birth In Pandemic
Women with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should either stay in different hospital rooms than their newborns or use other infection-control measures to minimize the risk of transmission, according to expert recommendations for pregnant or postpartum women and those planning a pregnancy published late last week in JAMA. The authors, from the University of Florida at Gainesville and Emory University in Atlanta, synthesize guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and professional organizations for women hospitalized for childbirth. (Van Beusekom, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: She’s Confronting Cancer In The Middle Of The Coronavirus Pandemic
While the rest of the country watched news of the new coronavirus spreading across the country sheltered in place at home, Shahonna Anderson watched in her hospital room at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the pandemic’s epicenter. Doctors removed an orange-size tumor from Ms. Anderson’s chest on March 18 at Mount Sinai. She recovered in the hospital alone for a week as Covid-19 protocols barred most visitors. She heard the constant scream of the ambulances outside. Doctors treated the Covid-19 patients one floor below her. (Reddy, 6/8)

WBUR: COVID-19 Infections And Deaths Are Higher Among Those With Intellectual Disabilities 
People with intellectual disabilities and autism who contract COVID-19 then die at higher rates than the rest of the population, according to an analysis by NPR of numbers obtained from two states that collect data. They also contract the virus at a higher rate, according to research looking in group homes across the country. (Shapiro, 6/9)

Kaiser Health News: The Elevator Arises As The Latest Logjam In Getting Back To Work
When the American Medical Association moved its headquarters to a famous Chicago skyscraper in 2013, the floor-to-ceiling views from the 47th-floor conference space were a spectacular selling point. But now, those glimpses of the Chicago River at the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed landmark, now known as AMA Plaza, come with a trade-off: navigating the elevator in the time of COVID-19. Once the epitome of efficiency for moving masses of people quickly to where they needed to go, the elevator is the antithesis of social distancing and a risk-multiplying bottleneck. (Weber, 6/9)

PBS NewsHour: Pandemic Increases Workload, Health Risks For Postal And Delivery Employees
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are relying on mail carriers and delivery workers for essential supplies. The workload for many of these employees has increased significantly with so many consumers ordering from home. Stress and fatigue are at high levels, as workers worry about virus exposure -- and take extra precautions not to bring it home. (Nawaz, Natour and Frazee, 6/8)

Stat: Females Still Routinely Left Out Of Biomedical Research — And In Analyses
If you think biomedical scientists are doing a better job studying both biological sexes in their experiments than they used to, you’d be half right, a new study says. Researchers decided to revisit a study conducted 10 years ago that found females were excluded from most biomedical research based on fears of female hormonal variation complicating the findings. To see if that practice persisted after the government issued new research guidelines, the team from Northwestern University and Smith College — including a co-author of the original study — examined more than 700 scientific journal articles from nine fields published in 2019. (Cooney, 6/9)

Stat: Startup Developing An Inhaler For Seizures Is Acquired By UCB 
A startup conceived to improve emergency treatment for epileptic seizures based on a father’s fears for his son’s safety has been sold to a large biopharma company also making a rescue therapy for the dangerous attacks. UCB (UCBJF), based in Brussels, has acquired Engage Therapeutics of Summit, N.J., for $125 million upfront, with potential milestone payments of up to $145 million. Engage is developing Staccato Alprazolam, a combination of an inhaler and the drug alprazolam, that has been tested in a Phase 2 clinical trial to see if it can quickly halt an epileptic seizure. (Cooney, 6/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Exclusive: How SF Sidestepped State Law On Developing Toxic Sites
Contaminated gas stations, vehicle repair shops and parking garages have become prized development commodities in San Francisco in recent years as the city struggles with a crushing housing shortage. But city officials have repeatedly stymied public oversight when assessing whether these chemical-tainted properties are safe for hundreds of new homes by allowing developers to bypass environmental reviews required under state law, a Chronicle investigation has found. (Dizikes, 6/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Trial Underway In SF Could Remove Fluoride From Drinking Water 
About 200 million Americans, nearly two-thirds of the population, drink water containing fluoride to fight tooth decay. That could be changed by a case now on trial in a San Francisco federal court.Consumer groups including Food and Water Watch, the Fluoride Action Network and Moms Against Fluoridation contend recent studies show that when pregnant women drink fluoridated water, their children are significantly more likely than others to suffer neurological damage, including reduced IQs and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Fluoridated toothpaste, the groups maintain, provides all of the benefits and none of the risks. (Egelko, 6/8)

Politico: Why America Isn’t Ready For Online Voting
Some West Virginians voting in Tuesday’s primary will be allowed to tap on their phones or laptops instead of heading to the polls. Some in Delaware will get to do the same next month. And the trend may spread into November, as the coronavirus pandemic inspires a search for voting methods that don’t expose people to the deadly disease. But moving elections to the internet poses huge risks that the United States is unprepared to handle — endangering voters’ privacy, the secrecy of the ballot and even the trustworthiness of the results. (Geller, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Analysis Of Mail-In Ballots Finds Just 0.0025% Rate Of Possible Voter Fraud In Five 2016, 2018 Elections
A Washington Post analysis of data collected by three vote-by-mail states with help from the nonprofit Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) found that officials identified just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of deceased people out of about 14.6 million votes cast by mail in the 2016 and 2018 general elections, or 0.0025 percent. The figure reflects cases referred to law enforcement agencies in five elections held in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where all voters proactively receive ballots in the mail for every election. (Viebeck, 6/8)

ABC News: Coronavirus Continues To Test Elections In Latest Round Of Primaries 
In Georgia, the state's top election official mailed all active registered voters ballot applications -- one of the first Republicans to push for such a significant shift to vote-by-mail. In Nevada, another Republican secretary of state, along with the state's county election officials, moved to a nearly all-mail election for the first time. In North Dakota, no polling sites will be open. (Karson, 6/9)

The Hill: Here's Where Your State Stands On Mail-In Voting
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the country, more states have embraced mail-in voting as a way to prevent large crowds from gathering at polling places. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended states to encourage voters to cast ballots through the mail and a number of governors and elections officials have begun taking steps to make doing so easier while litigation over the issue continues.  (Moreno, 6/9)

Newsweek: These States Still Haven't Expanded Mail-In Voting Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the 2020 election, all but four states now offer expanded mail-in voting options. Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas are the only areas that have not taken any definitive action to amend their approach to absentee balloting amid the global health crisis, according to the grassroots anti-corruption group RepresentUs. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia now allow some form of mail-in voting to all registered residents as a way to maintain public health. (Hutzler, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Meat Industry Trying To Get Back To Normal, But Coronavirus Persists
Tyson Foods, the largest meat processor in the United States, has transformed its facilities across the country since legions of its workers started getting sick from the novel coronavirus. It has set up on-site medical clinics, screened employees for fevers at the beginning of their shifts, required the use of face coverings, installed plastic dividers between stations and taken a host of other steps to slow the spread. Despite those efforts, the number of Tyson employees with the coronavirus has exploded from less than 1,600 a month ago to more than 7,000 today, according to a Washington Post analysis of news reports and public records. (Telford, 6/8)

The New York Times: Why It’s Hard To Keep Workers Safe As Meatpacking Plants Reopen
See how workers stand shoulder to shoulder to provide Americans with affordable meat. As plants reopen, the coronavirus remains a threat. (Parshina-Kottas, Buchanan, Aufrichtig and Corkery, 6/8)

CBS News: COVID-19 Exacts A High Cost From Minnesota Hog Farmers 
Dave Mensink, a hog farmer in southeastern Minnesota, estimates that the COVID-19 crisis is costing him between $22 to $26 per pig over the next 12 months, at current Chicago Mercantile Exchange prices. That adds up to about $160,000 to $187,000 in projected revenue loss, since he has about 7,200 pigs on his 3,800-acre lot, along with a small herd of cattle. (Turman, 6/9)

NBC News: Two-Thirds Of Asian American Health, Food Workers Fighting COVID-19 Are Immigrants, Report Says
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who are immigrants are critical in supporting essential industries during the COVID-19 crisis, particularly in the health care and food supply industries, where more than two-thirds of AAPIs helping fight the virus are immigrants, according to data released late last month. New American Economy, a research organization that advocates for immigration policies that bolster the economy, launched an Immigrants and COVID-19 Portal this year to show the vital role immigrants play in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its response and recovery. (Constante, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: 3M Files Lawsuit Against Merchant Selling Masks On Amazon For 18 Times List Price
3M filed a lawsuit against a merchant selling masks on Amazon. com Inc. for more than 18 times their list price, the manufacturer’s latest attempt to help bring some order to the chaotic market for protective equipment. In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in California, 3M said Mao Yu and his affiliated companies sold what he described as 3M masks for an average price of $23.21 each on Amazon. 3M’s N95 masks, which can block 95% of very small particles including droplets containing the new coronavirus, have a list price of around $1.25. Mr. Yu charged customers over $350,000 in total, 3M and Amazon said. Mr. Yu, who 3M says lives in California, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. (Hufford, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: 150 Million BYD Masks Heading To California
California will begin receiving shipments of much-needed N95 masks from Chinese automaker BYD in the coming days after federal regulators approved the company’s respirators, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday. The masks are part of a $1-billion deal Newsom struck with BYD in April, which had been delayed after the carmaker had difficulty certifying the effectiveness of their masks. After BYD missed a second deadline to obtain the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health certification, state officials granted the company an extension on Friday. (Gutierrez, 6/8)

Boston Globe: Manufacturers Provide Lifelines During The Pandemic, For Their Employees As Well As Front-Line Workers 
New Balance’s factories have cranked out running shoes in New England for decades, while nearly all of the industry’s manufacturing work left these shores. Now, the Boston company is reaching critical mass here with another product that long ago became the province of overseas factories: face masks. (Chesto, 6/9)

MPR News: As Economy Continues To Reopen, Duluth Moves To 'Normalize' Masks
For Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, wearing a mask is not something that comes easily. “It's really uncomfortable to wear a mask. I don't like it,” she admitted. “Everything about my job is a really human interaction. Seeing people's faces, understanding where people are at, that's a huge part of what I do. And I don't like the barrier it sets up." Still, the second-term mayor believes it's really important to wear one. Duluth still hasn't felt the full impact of the coronavirus, she said.  (Kraker, 6/9)

Reuters: WHO Says Pandemic 'Far From Over' As Daily Cases Hit Record High
New coronavirus cases had their biggest daily increase ever as the pandemic worsens globally and has yet to peak in central America, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, urging countries to press on with efforts to contains the virus. “More than six months into the pandemic, this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online briefing. More than 136,000 new cases were reported worldwide on Sunday, the most in a single day so far, he said. Nearly 75% of them were reported from 10 countries, mostly in the Americas and South Asia. (Nebehay and Farge, 6/8)

The New York Times: Furious Backlash In Brazil After Coronavirus Data Withheld By Ministry
As the coronavirus tore through Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro came under blistering criticism for sabotaging the isolation measures imposed by states, encouraging mass rallies by his supporters and lashing out on the soaring death toll, saying, “What do you want me to do?” Now that the outbreak in Brazil has gotten even worse — with more infections than any country but the United States — Mr. Bolsonaro’s government has come up with a unique response to the growing alarm: It decided to stop reporting the cumulative toll of the virus altogether. (Londono, 6/8)

The Associated Press: In Poor Regions, Easing Virus Lockdowns Brings New Risks
As many countries gingerly start lifting their lockdown measures, experts worry that a further surge of the coronavirus in under-developed regions with shaky health systems could undermine efforts to halt the pandemic, and they say more realistic options are needed. Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India and Pakistan are among countries easing tight restrictions, not only before their outbreaks have peaked but also before any detailed surveillance and testing system is in place to keep the virus under control. That could ultimately have devastating consequences, health experts warn. (Cheng and Savarese, 6/9)

The Associated Press: President 'Worried' As South Africa's Virus Cases Rise Fast
South Africa’s numbers of COVID-19 are “rising fast,” according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who says that he’s worried. More than half of South Africa’s more than 50,000 confirmed cases have been recorded in the last two weeks, prompting concerns that Africa’s most developed economy is about to see a steep rise in infections. South Africa has the most cases in Africa, whose 54 countries have reported more than 190,000 cases including more than 5,000 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Imray, 6/8)

Reuters: England Launches Study Of Coronavirus Spread In Schools
Health minister Matt Hancock launched a study to find out the prevalence and spread of the coronavirus among school children and teachers in England on Tuesday to help inform the phased reintroduction of education after a lengthy national lockdown. The decision to gradually re-open schools has divided opinion, with Britain suffering the second-worst international death toll from COVID-19 and ministers warning of the need for caution to prevent a second wave of the virus. (6/8)

The New York Times: Its Defenses Undone By A Virus, France Seeks Lessons From A Lost War
It became the indispensable book of the pandemic, its French author revealing how society’s weaknesses and human frailties gave way to disaster. As the coronavirus tore through France, intellectuals, historians and journalists cracked open their old copies in search of eternal truths in an unsettling time. No, it was not Albert Camus’s “The Plague.’’ It was “Strange Defeat’’ by Marc Bloch. (Onishi, 6/9)

Reuters: Closing In On All Sides: Cuba Nears Declaring Coronavirus Victory
[Reina] Paula’s story illustrates the rigorous approach Cuba has taken to curb the coronavirus outbreak - helped by the Caribbean island nation’s preventive, universal and well-staffed healthcare system, centralization and use of coercion. Doing so was politically vital for Cuba’s ruling Communist Party, which claims the country’s strong healthcare system as a key achievements, even as it has failed to deliver on the economy, partly due to a U.S. trade embargo. (Acosta and Marsh, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: As Countries Reopen, Many Avoid A Second Wave Of Covid-19 Cases—So Far
Europe and Asia have so far avoided a significant resurgence of Covid-19 cases even though most countries have emerged from lockdown and restarted chunks of their economies, a possible sign the coronavirus pandemic can be held in check by less stringent means. The preliminary evidence offers some hope to areas of the U.S. like New York City that are emerging from the lockdown, even as disease experts caution that the virus is far from defeated and the risk of a major new wave of infection remains. (Douglas and Yoon, 6/8)

Stat: Communities With Health Disparities Should Get Remdesivir First 
As the federal government haphazardly distributed remdesivir, Gilead Sciences’ repurposed antiviral drug, to some of the states hit hardest by Covid-19, policymakers scrambled to develop criteria to allocate the drug to their hospitals. Our state, Michigan, was among these states. The disparities in the burden of suffering from Covid-19 in the state are striking. Detroit’s death rate from the infection are more than four times the state average. So you might think that Detroit would have been high on the list for getting remdesivir. (Parker Crutchfield, Tyler S. Gibb and Michael Redinger, 6/9)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Public Health Leaders Should Address African Americans’ Coronavirus Vaccine Concerns Now 
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought racial health disparities to the forefront of public discourse. Data has consistently revealed across the country that African Americans are at an increased risk of contracting the illness and dying from it, including in Philadelphia, where African Americans account for 46.5% of all cases and 51.2% of deaths. These disparities, which result from centuries of institutional racism, have now also been exemplified through attitudes towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Recent data from Pew has uncovered that African Americans are significantly less likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. While 74% of both white and Hispanic adults reported intentions to get vaccinated, only 54% of African Americans stated the same. (Chioma Woko, 6/8)

The New York Times: For Older People, Despair, As Well As Covid-19, Is Costing Lives
Earlier this month, a colleague who heads the geriatrics service at a prominent San Francisco hospital told me they had begun seeing startling numbers of suicide attempts by older adults. These were not cry-for-help gestures, but true efforts to die by people using guns, knives and repurposed household items. Such so-called “failed suicides” turn out to be the most extreme cases of a rapidly growing phenomenon among older Americans as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic: lives stripped of human contact, meaningful activity, purpose and hope that things will get better in a time frame that is relevant to people in the last decades or years of life. (Louise Aronson, 6/8)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Needless Deaths
More than 100,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. Beyond those deaths are other casualties of the pandemic — Americans seriously ill with other ailments who avoided care because they feared contracting the coronavirus at hospitals and clinics. The toll from their deaths may be close to the toll from Covid-19. The trends are clear and concerning. Government orders to shelter in place and health care leaders’ decisions to defer nonessential care successfully prevented the spread of the virus. But these policies — complicated by the loss of employer-provided health insurance as people lost their jobs — have had the unintended effect of delaying care for some of our sickest patients. (Tomislav Mihaljevic and Gianrico Farrugia, 6/9)

NBC News: Coronavirus Cases Have Not Gone Away. And Neither Has Doctors' Emotional Trauma.
Although epicenters like New York have started to see a decline in cases, the coronavirus pandemic has not gone away; cases are continuing to increase in states across the country. Meanwhile, much of what has been seen or experienced during this first wave of COVID-19 cannot be readily unseen or forgotten. And given what we know about disaster-related post-traumatic stress disorder, the mental health aftermath of this pandemic may devolve into its own version of a crisis. (Jalal Baig, 6/8)

The Hill: A Straightforward Solution To The Newly Uninsured 
In early April, my patient Lucas was four years into a job at a car dealership when the company laid off nearly all of its employees, including him. Forty-seven, divorced, with asthma and hypertension, he was unable to afford the continuing health insurance coverage of COBRA and is without insurance coverage for the first time in his life. Before the novel coronavirus outbreak, approximately 28 million Americans were uninsured. Now another 27 million are estimated to lose insurance coverage as jobs are lost and employment-based insurance evaporates, more than 20 percent of which are projected to have no other source of coverage. (Michael Stein and Nicole Huberfeld, 6/8)

Stat: A National Registry Could Help Defeat Sepsis, A Covid-19-Linked Killer 
As doctors and paramedics who treat the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen firsthand the devastating impact of this disease on our patients, their families, and our communities. The cause of the disease, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is often called a novel coronavirus, but there is nothing new or novel about what actually kills most Covid-19 patients: sepsis. (Steven Q. Simpson, Karin H. Molander and Rommie Duckworth, 6/9)

The Hill: COVID-19 Has Highlighted The Risks Home Health Workers Face - Here's What Can Be Done To Help
There are more than 2 million home health and personal care aides working in the United States. They provide support and heath care assistance in people’s homes across America. Before COVID-19, and certainly now, they face unique risks. These individuals are critical in providing comfort, aid, and maintenance of dignity for patients and family members alike. Yet, they are poorly compensated and often work more than one job while supporting their own families. (Nathan Boucher, 6/8)

Des Moines Register: An Abortion Ban? Now, Of All Times? Iowa Republican Lawmakers Are Showing They Don't Value Life
As COVID deaths continue to climb and the economy lies in ruins, as black people are slain in the streets and communities rise up to confront racial injustice, Republican lawmakers in Iowa have decided to invest precious time and resources in revising the Iowa state constitution to ban abortion. Banning abortion will never end abortion, but it does threaten the lives of those who carry children. Passing laws forcing doctors to lie to patients is unethical; indeed, it demonstrates deep disregard for and hostility toward women’s lives. Attempting to pass restrictive abortion laws during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly affecting communities of color that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus, is equally unethical.  Restrictions like these will hurt all Iowans, but will disproportionately affect low-income Iowans, Iowans of color, young people, immigrants, and obviously, women. (Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz and Lina-Maria Murillo, 6/8)

The Hill: Websites Need To Become 'Places Of Public Accommodation' Under The Americans With Disabilities Act 
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was groundbreaking. Congress passed it to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. Though the ADA never fully achieved that goal, it was a significant step in the right direction. However, 30 years later, in the information age, the ADA is obsolete and urgently needs an update. (Mason Marks, 6/8)