The New York Times: What To Know About Hydroxychloroquine
President Trump revealed on Monday that he had been taking an anti-malaria drug as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, the same medicine that he has been promoting for two months with scant evidence of its efficacy and despite several warnings of dangerous side effects. The drug, hydroxychloroquine, has been invoked by Mr. Trump repeatedly since March during White House briefings on the coronavirus pandemic despite the reservations of doctors and scientists, including some advising the president. He even called the drug, which has been promoted by some conservative pundits, a “game changer.” (Grady, Thomas, Lyons and Vigdor, 5/19)

ABC News: Trump Says He's Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Unproven Drug He's Touted For COVID-19 
When surprised reporters asked if he were taking it because he's exhibited symptoms, the president replied, "Zero symptoms." Trump told them that he was "just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this," adding, "and I'm still here. I'm still here to explain to you." "I take a pill every day. At some point, I'll stop. What I'd like to do is I'd like to have the cure and/or the vaccine. And that will happen, I think, very soon," he added. (Cathey, Gittleson and Phelps, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Despite Risks, Trump Says He's Taking Hydroxychloroquine
Trump has spent weeks pushing hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus. (Miller, Marchione and Superville, 5/19)

Reuters: Trump Says He Is Taking Hydroxychloroquine Despite FDA Warning
Trump, 73, who is tested daily for the virus, said he had asked the White House physician if it was OK to take the drug, and the doctor told him: “Well, if you’d like it.” The president, a well-known germaphobe, has nonetheless refused to wear a protective mask in the West Wing. White House physician Sean Conley said in a memo that Trump was in “very good health” and had been receiving regular COVID-19 testing, which has all been negative since one of his support staff tested positive for the disease two weeks ago. (Mason and Holland, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Trump Says He Is Taking Hydroxychloroquine To Protect Against Coronavirus, Dismissing Safety Concerns
In announcing his decision to take the controversial drug, Trump offered only anecdotal testimonials as evidence that it works in any form as a treatment or preventive for the virus that has killed nearly 90,000 Americans and devastated the economy. “I think it’s good. I’ve heard a lot of good stories. And if it’s not good, I’ll tell you right. I’m not going to get hurt by it,” he told reporters at the White House, noting it has long been approved to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. “It’s been around for 40 years.” (Gearan, McGinley, Bernstein and Cha, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: President Trump Says He Is Taking Hydroxychloroquine As Preventive
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she didn’t think it was a good idea for Mr. Trump, 73 years old, to take hydroxychloroquine. “He’s our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group,’’ she said in an interview with CNN Monday night. (Lucey and Hopkins, 5/18)

The Hill: Schumer: Trump's Statements On Hydroxychloroquine 'Is Reckless, Reckless, Reckless' 
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday accused President Trump of “giving people false hope” after the president revealed earlier that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine despite a lack of evidence proving the drug to be effective in treating and preventing the novel coronavirus. “What the president did with hydroxychloroquine was reckless, simply reckless,” Schumer during an appearance on MSNBC. The New York Democrat also said that Trump was “giving people false hope” with his comments and said “people may take it instead of going to the doctor.” (Folley, 5/18)

The Hill: Pelosi Says 'Morbidly Obese' Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine 'Not A Good Idea'
An analysis of patients at Veterans Affairs hospitals across the country found that the death rates of people treated with hydroxychloroquine were higher than those who did not receive the treatment. (Marcos, 5/18)

Politico: 'Crazy Thing To Do': Health Experts Alarmed By Trump's Use Of Unproven Drug
Experts worried that Trump’s latest comments would spark another dash to scoop up hydroxychloroquine, which has been on FDA’s shortage list since late March after the president began hyping the drug as a potential treatment. State pharmacy boards last month cracked down on dispensing the drug after Trump's boosterism prompted a surge in demand. Even before Trump's comments, the head of the FDA’s drug office earlier Monday expressed concern for vulnerable patients who depend on the drug. “It's a necessary drug for them and not having access would have terrible consequences," tweeted Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (Lim and Brennan, 5/18)

NPR: Despite FDA Caution, Trump Says He Is Taking Hydroxychloroquine As A Preventive
Although researchers have been skeptical of hydroxychloroquine's role in treating COVID-19, there is more enthusiasm about its potential to prevent infection. That's because multiple studies have shown that the drug can prevent coronavirus replication. (Palca, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Fox's Cavuto Urges Viewers Not To Take Drug Like Trump
Fox News Channel anchor Neil Cavuto strongly urged viewers on Monday not to follow the example of President Donald Trump, who revealed that he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the coronavirus. Trump said he has been taking the drug hydroxychloroquine for about a week and a half. The president, and some Fox News personalities, had earlier promoted the drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19, but the government has warned of potentially fatal side effects. (5/19)

The Hill: Trump Slams Fox After Hydroxychloroquine Warning: 'Looking For A New Outlet'
President Trump slammed Fox News Monday night after host Neil Cavuto issued a warning for people to be careful about the potentially deadly effects of hydroxychloroquine for those with specific underlying health conditions. Cavuto's comments followed Trump’s announcement that he was taking the drug to prevent COVID-19. “We miss the great Roger Ailes,” Trump posted. “You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet!” (Coleman, 5/18)

The New York Times: Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Shows Promising Early Results
The first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in people appears to be safe and able to stimulate an immune response against the infection, the manufacturer, Moderna, announced on Monday, offering a glint of hope to a world desperate for ways to stop the pandemic. The preliminary findings, in the first eight people who each received two doses of the experimental vaccine, must now be repeated in far larger tests in hundreds and then thousands of people, to find out if the vaccine can work in the real world. Moderna’s technology, involving genetic material from the virus called mRNA, is relatively new and has yet to produce any approved vaccine. (Grady, 5/18)

Stat: Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Generates Immune Response, Early Data Show
In a Phase 1 trial, eight patients who received two doses of the vaccine at the lowest and middle doses tested — 25 and 100 micrograms — developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus at levels similar to people who had recovered from infection, the company said in a statement. The data were limited and from only a small number of participants in the trial, led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But they are still likely to be seen as encouraging. (Branswell, 5/18)

Reuters: Coronavirus Vaccine From Moderna Appears Safe, Shows Promise In Data From Eight People 
Overall, the study showed the vaccine was safe and all study participants produced antibodies against the virus. An analysis of the response in the eight individuals showed that those who received a 100 microgram dose and people who received a 25 microgram dose had levels of protective antibodies to fend of the virus that exceeded those found in the blood of people who recovered from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. (Steenhuysen and Joseph, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Moderna: Early Coronavirus Vaccine Results Are Encouraging
In the next phase of the study, led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, researchers will try to determine which dose is best for a definitive experiment that they aim to start in July. In all, 45 people have received one or two shots of the vaccine, which was being tested at three different doses. The kind of detailed antibody results needed to assess responses are only available on eight volunteers so far. (Marchione, 5/18)

NPR: New Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Early, Limited Trial
The Food and Drug Administration has given Moderna the green light to begin a Phase II study expected to enroll an additional 600 volunteers — half older than 55 — to provide additional immunogenicity data. The company hopes by July to begin a Phase III study, aimed at showing that the vaccine can actually prevent disease. The Moderna vaccine is made using messenger RNA, or mRNA, a molecule containing the genetic instructions to make a protein on the coronavirus surface that is recognized by our immune systems. Although mRNA vaccines have been studied for several years, so far none has been licensed by the FDA. (Palca, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Encouraging Early Results
Moderna’s announcement comes days after one of its directors, Moncef Slaoui, stepped down from the board to become chief scientist for Operation Warp Speed, a White House initiative to speed up vaccine development. Watchdogs called out Slaoui’s apparent conflict of interest. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Slaoui’s stock options in Moderna are worth more than $10 million with the company’s share price at $66.69. In regular trading Monday, Moderna’s stock soared almost 20 percent to $80. (Johnson, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna Says Initial Covid-19 Vaccine Results Are Positive
Moderna’s vaccine is among several front-runners that have emerged from the more than 100 coronavirus vaccines in development world-wide. At least seven other vaccines have started human testing, and several companies including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC are bulking up manufacturing capacity to make doses to meet global demand if vaccines they or their partners are developing prove successful. The early data suggest Moderna’s vaccine, code-named mRNA-1273, “has a very good chance to provide protection” from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in an interview. (Lotfus, 5/18)

The Hill: Dow Gains More Than 900 Points On Hopes For Vaccine, Quick Rebound From COVID-19 
Stock closed with major gains Monday as Wall Street rallied on potential progress toward a COVID-19 vaccine and hopes of a quick economic rebound. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a gain of roughly 912 points Monday, rising more than 3.8 percent, after biotechnology company Moderna announced it had seen “positive” results in early trials of a coronavirus vaccine. The company’s stock rose more than 20 percent on the news. The Nasdaq composite closed with a gain of 2.4 percent, and the S&P 500 rose 3.1 percent. (Lane, 5/18)

In other vaccine news —

Politico: Politics Could Dictate Who Gets A Coronavirus Vaccine
The promise of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year creates a difficult political and public health question: Who gets the vaccine first? Health care workers would be among the first to receive any vaccine so they can continue to work the pandemic’s front lines. But deciding which groups come next — the elderly, medically vulnerable people, grocery store and meat plant workers, children — is fraught with ethical dilemmas and ripe for political power plays. (Owermohle, 5/18)

Politico: Vaccine Skeptics Threaten Europe’s Bid To Beat Coronavirus
From Bill Gates to Angela Merkel, experts and political leaders think the only way to return to normal after the pandemic is to develop a vaccine and immunize billions of people against coronavirus. But as the world races to develop a coronavirus vaccine, policymakers may struggle to convince people to get immunized. (Paun, Deutsch and Tamma, 5/18)

Stat: Gilead Ups Its Donation Of The Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir 
Gilead Sciences, the drug company behind the experimental Covid-19 therapy remdesivir, has upped the number of doses it’s donating to the federal government from 607,000 to around 940,000, STAT has learned. The new number appeared, with no acknowledgement of the shift, in a letter that a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official sent to governors on Saturday. “The numbers keep changing,” said Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who provided a copy of the letter to STAT. “There was no explanation of the change.” (Boodman, 5/18)

Stat: Gilead's Remdesivir Could Become A 'Multi-Year Commercial Opportunity'
As speculation mounts over pricing for remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences (GILD) executive suggested the experimental medicine will likely sell for much less than the nearly $30,000 it was recently valued at in a cost-effectiveness model, according to a Wall Street analyst. At the same time, the drug maker believes remdesivir has the potential to become a “multi-year commercial opportunity,” rather than provide just a surge in sales for a year or two, Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges wrote in an investor note sent on Monday that summarized a conversation he had with Gilead chief financial officer Andrew Dickinson. (Silverman, 5/18)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: EMA Urged To Release Full Trial Data Upon Authorizing Covid-19 Treatments
Amid worldwide clamor for Covid-19 medicines and vaccines, the European Medicines Agency is being urged by several international clinical evidence experts – including a key German government agency – to publish all trial data on the same day any product is authorized for use against the novel coronavirus. In a letter to the European regulator, four country directors from the independent watchdog Cochrane and leaders from Germany’s Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care argued that it is critical to promptly release clinical study reports to support further research and proper medical care. The reports are go-to documents that contain myriad details about the methods and results of a clinical trial. (Silverman, 5/18)

The New York Times: U.S.-China Feud Over Coronavirus Erupts At World Health Assembly
A meeting of the World Health Organization that was supposed to chart a path for the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic instead on Monday turned into a showcase for the escalating tensions between China and the United States over the virus. President Xi Jinping of China announced at the start of the forum that Beijing would donate $2 billion toward fighting the coronavirus and dispatch doctors and medical supplies to Africa and other countries in the developing world. (Jacobs, Shear and Wong, 5/18)

Reuters: U.S. Savages WHO As It Promises Pandemic Review, But China Pledges $2 Billion
The World Health Organization said on Monday an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. But the WHO’s chief critic, the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, decried an “apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak by at least one member state." (Nebehay and Farge, 5/18)

The Washington Post: China's Xi Backs International Investigation Into Covid Origins, Woos Africa
For weeks China had been anticipating, and bitterly opposing, a proposal from Western countries to conduct an international probe into the pandemic’s origins. But China’s opposition has melted in recent days as international support for an inquiry grew to include Russia, Turkey and European and African countries, and as drafts of the proposed resolution showed a focus on international collaboration to manage the pandemic, with relatively limited emphasis on questioning its source. (Shih, Rauhala and Dawsey, 5/18)

The Hill: Trump Threatens Permanent Freeze On WHO Funding Without 'Major' Reforms Within 30 Days 
China first alerted the WHO to the presence of a cluster of atypical pneumonia in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31, after WHO picked up reports through its Epidemic Intelligence System. But there is evidence to indicate the virus was circulating in Wuhan as early as mid-November. (Samuels, 5/18)

Reuters: Trump Threatens Permanent Freeze Of WHO Funding, Review Of U.S. Membership
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the body. (5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Threatens To Permanently Cut Funding To World Health Organization
“It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world,” Mr. Trump wrote. “The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.” Mr. Trump touted the letter on his Twitter account on Monday night. “It is self-explanatory!” he wrote. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment seeking information on the changes Mr. Trump would like to see the WHO make. (Restuccia, Lubold and Hinshaw, 5/19)

Politico: Trump: U.S. Funding Freeze To WHO Could Be Permanent 
The Trump administration had also made its displeasure with the WHO known during the organization's annual meeting Monday. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the World Health Organization “failed at its core mission,” adding that “at least one member country made a mockery of its transparency obligations," an apparent reference to China. Xi, on the other hand, expressed support for a WHO inquiry into the global pandemic response during Monday's meeting. He also supported offering global access to a Chinese-developed vaccine if the country were to successfully create one. (Choi, 5/19)

The New York Times: Trump To Tap New Company To Make Covid-19 Drugs In The U.S.
The Trump administration will announce on Tuesday that it has signed a $354 million four-year contract with a new company in Richmond, Va., to manufacture generic medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients that are needed to treat Covid-19 but are now made overseas, mostly in India and China. The contract, awarded to Phlow Corp. by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, meshes President Trump’s “America First” economic promises with concerns that coronavirus treatments be manufactured in the United States. It may be extended for a total of $812 million over 10 years, making it one of the largest awards in the authority’s history. (Stolberg and Thomas, 5/18)

Stat: Azar Tells WHO That Its Covid-19 Response 'Cost Many Lives' 
Health secretary Alex Azar on Monday publicly blasted the World Health Organization, telling its director-general that the agency’s “failure” to adequately warn the broader world about the forthcoming Covid-19 pandemic “cost many lives.” In a prepared video delivered to the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s governing body, Azar said the U.S. government would support a full review of the organization’s Covid-19 response, calling the status quo “intolerable.” (Facher, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Feds Urge 'Extreme Caution' For Reopening Nursing Homes
Federal authorities are urging governors to use “extreme caution” in deciding when to resume visits at nursing homes, saying it shouldn’t come before all residents and staff have tested negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ criteria for relaxing restrictions at nursing homes come more than two months after the agency ordered homes to ban visitors. Instead of firm dates, it lists a variety of factors state and local officials should consider, such as adequate staffing levels at homes and the ability to regularly test all residents and workers. (Choi, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Charts A Slow Path For Reopening Nursing Homes
The guidelines urge state and local officials to refrain from allowing virtually all visitors into nursing homes or other senior care facilities until several conditions are met. They include making sure a nursing home has no new cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, for four weeks. In addition, such facilities must ensure that they have enough protective gear and access to coronavirus tests, and that nearby hospitals have sufficient space in intensive care units and other wards in the event cases spike again. The guidance also says the amount of virus is circulating in the community should be taking into account. (Goldstein, Cenziper and Sacchetti, 5/18)

Modern Healthcare: CMS: Nursing Homes 'Should Be Among The Last To Reopen'
CMS' recommendations are part of the Trump administration's broader framework for reopening the country. Under the so-called "Opening Up America Again" plan, state and local officials are primarily responsible for deciding when and how to lift stay-at-home orders. The administration and its supporters have defended the plan, arguing that governors and local officials are better equipped to decide when to reopen because they're closer to the situation on the ground. But critics say the Trump administration is trying to abdicate its responsibilities, pushing the burden onto state and local governments that are under tremendous financial pressure and short on resources. According to the administration's critics, the federal government should coordinate reopening among the states because the pandemic cuts across borders. (Brady, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Offers Guide For Reopening Nursing Homes 
The recommendations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, like a previous draft version reported by The Wall Street Journal, call for a multiphase regimen, mirroring the three-phase “Opening Up America Again” guidelines for states that were issued by the Trump administration in April. The earlier draft drew concern from industry officials who felt it was too vague and included no specific requirements for coronavirus testing. The final version says a facility should have a testing plan in place before beginning reopening phases. The document suggests that the plan involve initial testing of all residents and staff, and it offers other testing recommendations as a facility moves through various stages of reopening. (Wilde Mathews, 5/18)

The Hill: Trump Administration Advises 'Extreme Caution' In Reopening Nursing Homes 
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of publicly reported data, nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities account for 41 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the country. The figures vary by state, with some as high as 80 percent of deaths, but not every state is reporting. A new administration rule that took effect on Sunday requires nursing homes to report to CMS their numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths, as well as staff shortages and access to personal protective equipment (PPE). The information will be made available to the public at the end of May. (Weixel, 5/18)

Stat: As Covid-19 Lockdowns Lift, Uncertainty At Nursing Homes Only Deepens
It was late April when a Covid-19 outbreak was reported at the Seven Hills Health and Rehab Center, a nursing home just south of Cleveland. And when Mehdi Saghafi, an 89-year-old resident, was tested for the disease, the result came back positive. He was immediately transferred to a separate unit and is being kept in isolation there for 21 days, even longer than the two-week isolation period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But his family worries Saghafi feels abandoned — and fears for his psychological health on top of any physical conditions he could develop. (Zia, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Canada's Nursing Home Crisis: Coronavirus Killing In Long-Term Care
It was not how Mary Witkowski pictured celebrating her birthday. But with visits to her nursing home suspended to keep the novel coronavirus out, she turned 90 on April 13 without family, in the room at the Camilla Care Community that she shared with three others. That week, Witkowski tested positive for covid-19. On April 27, doctors told her family her body was “starting” to shut down. The next day, she died — the latest victim of one of the hundreds of outbreaks that have blazed through Canada’s long-term care facilities. (Coletta, 5/18)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Released For 1st Time: See Full List Of Nursing Homes In Louisiana With Coronavirus
The state of Louisiana on Monday released the name of all adult nursing homes that have reported at least one case of the new coronavirus. See the list here. The release is the first time in more than six weeks that the state has confirmed which facilities have cases. Since April 1, the state has released only aggregate numbers of infections and deaths in senior complexes, and the total number of facilities with known cases. (Roberts III, 5/18)

KQED: Health Officials Expect More COVID-19 Outbreaks In Nursing Homes 
Health officials are concerned that as California and the Bay Area begin to loosen shelter-at-home rules, there could be a rising number of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These long-term care homes have become ground zero in the coronavirus crisis: state data show more than 1,400 people have died of COVID-19 in facilities licensed by the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Social Services. And state public health officials acknowledge that those totals are likely an undercount. (Peterson, 5/18)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nursing Homes In Nevada Report New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths 
Nevada’s nursing homes, prisons and other state-licensed facilities reported 64 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the weekend, according to data published Monday by the Department of Health and Human services. Three more residents of the facilities also died, and an additional 83 recoveries were reported. (Davidson, 5/18)

Reuters: Exclusive: CDC Plans Sweeping COVID-19 Antibody Study In 25 Metropolitan Areas
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans a nationwide study of up to 325,000 people to track how the new coronavirus is spreading across the country into next year and beyond, a CDC spokeswoman and researchers conducting the effort told Reuters. (Brown, 5/18)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Contact Tracing Jobs Are On The Rise
When Jessica Jaramillo calls someone to talk about the coronavirus, she usually starts with something like this: “Hi, my name is Jessica. I’m calling on behalf of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. I’m part of a contact-tracing team, and our job is to reach people who have come into close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid-19.” Ms. Jaramillo, 41, a San Francisco Public Library district manager in ordinary times, has made dozens of such calls so far, all in Spanish. She began contact tracing, or “seguimiento de contactos,” this month. (Fortin, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Tech-Assisted COVID-19 Tracking Is Having Some Issues
Harnessing today’s technology to the task of fighting the coronavirus pandemic is turning out to be more complicated than it first appeared. The first U.S. states that rolled out smartphone apps for tracing the contacts of COVID-19 patients are dealing with technical glitches and a general lack of interest by their residents. A second wave of tech-assisted pandemic surveillance tools is on its way, this time with the imprimatur of tech giants Apple and Google. (O'Brien, 5/19)

The Associated Press: COVID-19 Data Sharing With Law Enforcement Sparks Concern
Public health officials in at least two-thirds of U.S. states are sharing the addresses of people who have the coronavirus with first responders. Supporters say the measure is designed to protect those on the front line, but it’s sparked concerns of profiling in minority communities already mistrustful of law enforcement. An Associated Press review of those states found that at least 10 states also share the names of everyone who tests positive. (Kruesi, 5/19)

ABC News: You Might Want To Enroll In Contact Tracer Training, Even If You're Already Employed
I have a full-time job and no plans to leave it, but when Johns Hopkins launched an online course for contact tracers last week, I itched to enroll. I'm a health reporter, which these days means lots of interviews with scientists and doctors about COVID-19 and the virus that causes it. I'm well-informed and curious, but I don't have any formal science or health training beyond what I've learned on the job over the past decade... Did I have what it takes to be a contact tracer? I felt compelled to find out. (Schumaker, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Trump Points To Good News As Restaurant Owners Tell Of Fears
Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on vaccines and treatment efforts could “negate” the bad news. The president was in good spirits as he met Monday with the restaurant executives at the White House, noting that financial markets were up as states continued to loosen economic restrictions on businesses and following Moderna Inc.’s announcement of encouraging news in early work on vaccine development. (Superville and Freking, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Independent And Chain Restaurants Press Trump On Relief Efforts At White House Meeting
Ten chefs and executives, representing chains as large as Burger King and restaurants as rarefied as Per Se in New York City, brought their economic concerns to the meeting as the president and many governors continue to push for reopening businesses, including the nation’s estimated 650,000 restaurants. All the hospitality industry representatives were male, and mostly white, though the Independent Restaurant Coalition initially requested that North Carolina chef-restaurateur Katie Button represent the group. IRC co-founder Tom Colicchio, the man behind Crafted Hospitality, says someone at the White House rejected her. He didn’t know who. (Carman, 5/18)

The Washington Post: As White House Pushes Firms To Reopen, New Report Says Much Of Bailout Stimulus Money Remains Unspent
In tweets and during a meeting with restaurant executives at the White House, Trump tried to create a new sense of urgency about jump-starting the economy, which has suffered huge losses the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic. He told restaurant executives at a White House meeting that he was open to giving businesses more flexibility in how they use taxpayer funds so they could delay rehiring workers as quickly as originally required. (Werner, 5/18)

In other news on Trump —

Los Angeles Times: Trump Lashes Out With Distractions And Disinformation
President Trump has accelerated his attacks on government watchdogs, judges, reporters and other independent voices as he runs for reelection, escalating his spread of disinformation about perceived enemies and his administration’s record during the COVID-19 crisis. Trump fired yet another inspector general, raged against a government whistleblower and repeatedly retweeted video of a local TV reporter being harassed in New York — all since Friday. (Megerian, Bierman and Stokols, 5/18)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump’s Flimsy Attack On Vaccine Official Warning About Hydroxychloroquine
Trump sniped at “60 Minutes” for airing an extended interview with Rick Bright, a U.S. vaccine official who alleges that the president’s political appointees pressured him to make an untested drug widely available and shuffled him to a new job when he resisted. But the president left out the crux of Bright’s allegation. In a detailed whistleblower complaint, Bright says that he was sounding the alarm about hydroxychloroquine early, that he was “directed” to sign an emergency application for the drug’s use in hospitals despite his reservations, and that he did it as a compromise with Trump appointees who were pushing to release the drug even more widely. (Rizzo, 5/19)

CNN: All US States Will Be Partially Reopened By Memorial Day Weekend But Only 16 States Recorded Downward Trends 
By Memorial Day weekend, every US state will have begun lifting measures enacted weeks ago to curb the spread of coronavirus. Many governors have already pushed into a second phase of reopening their economies, with some states now allowing restaurants, retailers and personal service shops to reopen their doors. By now, all states but Connecticut have in some way moved toward returning to a semblance of normalcy. On Monday, Massachusetts entered the first phase of their reopening plan, giving the green light to manufacturing facilities, construction sites and places of worship as long as they abide by certain restrictions. (Maxouris, 5/19)

Reuters: New Cases? Deaths? U.S. States' Reopening Plans Are All Over The Map
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has set some distinct goals the federal district needs to meet in order for her to feel comfortable ending a stay-at-home order, she told reporters last week. If the U.S. capital, which reported more than 7,200 cases and around 400 deaths by Monday, hits certain metrics, including a declining number of cases over 14 days and sustained low transmission rate, she could lift the order before it expires on June 8. (Brice, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 1.5 Million As States Ease Restrictions
More than 1.5 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus as restrictions that helped slow the contagion’s spread were eased in more states and countries, and drugmakers raced to develop a vaccine. Some of the worst-hit U.S. states took slow steps toward normalcy, with governors in Massachusetts, Michigan, California and New York detailing more reopening plans. (Calfas and Stancati, 5/19)

CNN: Why GOP Can't Reopen Economy Without Democratic Buy-In 
From President Donald Trump through Republican governors and state legislatures, the GOP is coalescing around a position of reopening the economy as quickly as possible despite concerns about seeding a wider spread of the coronavirus. But the party's efforts face a paradoxical hurdle: The economy can't regain much momentum without the participation of big Democratic-leaning metropolitan areas, where both local officials and average residents remain more skeptical about quickly unwinding social distancing measures. (Brownstein, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Oregon Supreme Court Halts Order Nixing Virus Restrictions
The Oregon Supreme Court late Monday halted a rural judge’s order earlier in the day that had tossed out statewide coronavirus restrictions imposed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff had ruled that Brown erred by not seeking the Legislature’s approval to extend the stay-at-home orders beyond a 28-day limit. The Supreme Court’s ruling stays Shirtcliff’s decision pending review by all the high court justices. (Flaccus and Selsky, 5/19)

Politico: Florida Throws Open Its Doors — And Holds Its Breath
Over the past week, Florida reported nearly 5,460 new coronavirus cases — and 262 deaths. On Monday, the state threw open its doors to residents and tourists itching to get back to a semblance of normal. The urban centers of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which have remained largely closed, joined the rest of the state in slowly reopening businesses as Florida became one of the largest states in the nation to test how to reopen commerce amid a pandemic. (Caputo and Ritchie, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Restrictions To Ease In Western New York; Data Show Impact By Neighborhood
Parts of western New York state are set to begin reopening, officials said Monday, as new data showed the contrast between how the new coronavirus has affected lower-income and wealthier neighborhoods in New York City. Data from New York City’s health department, which recorded the number of deaths in each zip code, showed the highest death rate in the city is in an area that borders East New York and Canarsie, Brooklyn. (Chapman and Honan, 5/18)

The New York Times: New York, California And Texas Governors Show Support For Return Of Pro Sports
The governors of New York, California and Texas on Monday expressed support for a return of major professional sports from their coronavirus-related shutdowns in the coming weeks, telling leagues that they should come up with plans if they want to host in those states. A key caveat for all three states would be having no fans present. “Hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whoever can reopen. We’re a ready, willing and able partner,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said, adding that he had been encouraging the leaders of major sports leagues to tailor their plans to television audiences. (Garcia, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Michigan Governor Issues Executive Order Allowing Some Businesses To Reopen At Reduced Capacity
Businesses and restaurants in northern Michigan will be allowed to reopen at reduced capacity by week's end under an executive order that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) issued Monday, a milestone for a state that has seen some of the most contentious protests over coronavirus restrictions. The order, which takes effect Friday, applies to the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula and 17 counties in the tourism-heavy northern tip of the Lower Peninsula. (Balingit and Bellware, 5/18)

Politico: De Blasio Considering Options If Schools Are Unsafe In September
New York City is considering options including alternating days for kids to attend school and even sticking with entirely online learning if it is not safe to reopen the school system as normal in September, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. The city’s “plan A” is to have all school buildings fully open when the new school year starts, de Blasio said, but officials are weighing contingency plans — including a possible scenario where schools cannot physically reopen at all because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Durkin, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus: The Need To Go Is A Big Barrier To Going Out. Why Public Bathrooms Are A Stumbling Block For Reopening.
Whether it’s the mall, restaurants, concerts, ballparks or even drive-in movie theaters, Americans are making it clear: They won’t be ready to go out to their favorite destinations until they feel confident about being able to go. To the bathroom, that is. (Fisher, 5/18)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Eases Reopening Rules With New Coronavirus Benchmarks
Acknowledging that more California communities are in a position to slowly reopen businesses, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday loosened rules linking coronavirus infection rates to allowed activities — a change that could release most parts of the state from the tightest restrictions of his stay-at-home order. “We recognize the conditions across the state are unique and distinctive depending where you are,” Newsom said. “The bottom line is people can go at their own pace and we are empowering our local health directors and county officials that understand their local communities and conditions better than any of us.” (Myers, Luna and Willon, 5/18)

NPR: Apple Store Shoppers To Have Temperatures Taken, Must Wear Face Coverings
Apple Stores are beginning to reopen after the company in mid-March closed hundreds of its locations in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 100 Apple Stores, or about a fifth of the tech giant's worldwide storefronts, are now open, including locations in Alabama, Florida, California and Washington state. About 25 additional stores in the U.S. in seven states are set to open their doors this week, according to Apple. (Allyn, 5/19)

The Washington Post: For Louisiana, Pandemic A ‘2-Black-Swan Event’ Battering Economy
The air smelled tangy and sweet as Tommy Cvitanovich oversaw employees grilling his famous delicacy — charbroiled oysters on the half-shell — to serve customers in their cars in a church parking lot. The pop-up eatery generated some rare profits for Cvitanovich on a recent Thursday evening, nearly two months after social distancing rules closed his Drago's Seafood restaurants for full-service dining. Beneath his trademark bravado, Cvitanovich knows the 51-year-old business founded by his parents — and its 700 jobs — might not make it through the novel coronavirus pandemic intact. (Mongomery and Webster, 5/18)

ABC News: Fitness Industry Must ‘Fight’ To Regain Trust As Gyms Reopen
As 49 states and D.C. take the first steps in releasing their economies from coronavirus restrictions - with Connecticut set to follow suit on Wednesday - the fitness industry is adjusting to life post-lockdown. It’s certainly not business as usual in a world of social distancing and strict sanitation protocol. In some cases, it’s not even business at all: gyms are still closed across much of the U.S. But as the economy slowly emerges after weeks of shutdown, there are “serious challenges ahead” for the fitness market, according to Beth McGroarty of The Global Wellness Institute. (Smith, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Virginia Beach To Reopen Friday; D.C. Sees Reopening On Horizon
With the daily coronavirus death counts relatively flat or declining in D.C., Virginia and Maryland, local leaders announced further efforts to inch back toward normalcy on Monday. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said that if current trends hold, she could announce a date for reopening sectors of the city’s economy as soon as Thursday. She intends to describe her plan in greater detail later this week and said the city is six days away from meeting the goals she set to safely reopen. (Cox, Nirappil and Vozzella, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: As Coronavirus Lockdowns Lift, How Ready Are Gyms To Reopen?
Gravity Fitness in downtown Atlanta reopened May 11. Following new state protocols, a staffer at the gym’s entrance takes everyone’s temperature, and 6-foot spacing marks the gym floor, among other measures aimed at reducing the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus. It didn’t take long, however, for gym owner Aaron Pols to realize Georgia’s regulations were insufficient. For starters, they seemed to require face masks for gym employees, but left them optional for customers. (Potkewitz, 5/18)

KQED: As Shelter In Place Loosens, What Do New Bay Area Guidelines Mean For You?
Five Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley announced they are loosening some shelter-in-place restrictions starting Monday, May 18. The city of Berkeley, San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties will now allow retail businesses to operate curbside pickup, and manufacturing and warehouses to resume if they meet detailed guidelines for safe operation. (Schwartz, 5/18)

Boston Globe: Child Care Centers In Limbo 
The phased-in reopening of Massachusetts businesses that Governor Charlie Baker announced Monday left child-care centers in limbo, officially unable to reopen until June 29. However, the emergency child-care programs that opened in March for the children of essential workers will now be open to the children of all those returning to work in the first phase of reopening, said Colleen Quinn, a spokeswoman for the Department of Early Education and Care. Those emergency child-care programs are operating free of charge to families, she said. (Ebbert, 5/19)

Boston Globe: Scientists Say Baker’s Reopening Plan Is Sensible, But Still Concerning
Even as some businesses called for a more immediate reopening of the economy, public health experts’ first reaction Monday to Governor Baker’s conservative plan was worry — that more interaction would make a second wave of infections possible, perhaps likely. (Martin and Moore, 5/18)

WBUR: Mass. Is Monitoring These 6 Health Metrics As It Navigates Reopening 
Gov. Charlie Baker gave a much-anticipated press conference Monday to roll out his administration's plan for reopening Massachusetts in four phases. In his remarks, Baker reiterated what he has been saying for weeks: reopening will be a delicate, data-driven process. So what data, exactly, is driving the state's decision-making? (Mitchell, 5/18)

WBUR: Health Experts Are Hopeful But Nervous About Mass. Reopening 
Health experts reported mixed emotions as they listened to Governor Charlie Baker announce his plan to gradually reopen the state’s economy. On the one hand, they said, it’s a good plan. But they expressed anxiety that easing stay-at-home restrictions and opening businesses might bring a new wave of coronavirus infections to an already hard-hit state. (Chen, 5/19)

Boston Globe: Office Work Gets Green Light, But Many White-Collar Employers Will Still Stay Home 
Governor Charlie Baker is allowing most offices across Massachusetts to start reopening on May 25, while those in Boston will remain shuttered until June 1. But the real opening date for many white-collar employers, the day when companies call workers back? It’s much later than that. (Chesto, 5/18)

Politico: Clash Over Government Role In Worker Safety Intensifies As Businesses Reopen
Democrats and unions are trying to compel the Trump administration to aggressively police workplace safety as businesses from auto plants to retail stores begin reopening across the country. The AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers, on Monday asked a federal court to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue mandatory workplace safety rules, which the agency so far has refused to do. And House Democrats on Friday passed a coronavirus aid package that would require the agency to issue emergency safety requirements for employers. (Rainey, 5/18)

The New York Times: ‘Way Too Late’: Inside Amazon’s Biggest Outbreak
Therese Kelly arrived for her shift at an Amazon warehouse on March 27 to find her co-workers standing clustered in the cavernous space. They were awaiting a buildingwide announcement, a rarity at the complex known as AVP1. Over a loudspeaker, a manager told them what they had feared: For the first time, an employee had tested positive for the coronavirus. Some of the workers cut short their shifts and went home. Ms. Kelly, 63, got to work, one of the hundreds of thousands of Amazon employees dealing with the spike in online orders from millions of Americans quarantined at home. (Weise, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Outbreak On Edge Of Navajo Nation Overwhelms Rural Hospital
On the eve of New Mexico’s shutdown of bars and restaurants to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the city of Gallup came alive for one last night of revelry. Before the night was out in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98 people were detained for public intoxication and sent to sober up at a detox center. Several homeless people also sought refuge in the same cinder block building, which doubles as a shelter. Somewhere in the mix, lurked the virus. (Lee, 5/19)

The New York Times: N.Y.P.D. Shuts Down Brooklyn Yeshiva For Violating Virus Ban
The buses arrived early Monday to drop off dozens of children at a Hasidic school in Brooklyn. Neighbors watched with alarm as the children, few of them wearing masks, filed into the building, crowded into classrooms and played on the roof at recess in violation of public health orders that have kept schools across the state closed since March. “It was definitely a regular day for them, like business as usual,” said Joe Livingston, who lives across from the school building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. “That’s dangerous.” (Stack and Schweber, 5/18)

ABC News: Texas Church Cancels Masses Following Death Of Priest Possibly From Coronavirus 
A Texas church has canceled public masses following the death of a priest who was suspected of having the coronavirus. Holy Ghost Parish in Houston had resumed masses on May 2, just as Texas started to loosen its stay-at-home restrictions. But the parish canceled services indefinitely as of May 14, a day after one of its priests, Father Donnell Kirchner, passed away, church officials said. Five other members of the church's religious order also tested positive for COVID-19. (Deliso, 5/18)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Expands Testing To Anyone Suspected Of Having COVID-19 
In March, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention prioritized tests at its laboratory for the most at-risk patients with symptoms. First priority went to people who were hospitalized, health care workers, first responders and people living in congregate settings such as nursing homes. Second priority went to people older than 60 and those with underlying medical conditions. (Rhoda, 5/18)

WBUR: Mass. Expands Who Can Access Emergency Day Care As Businesses Reopen
When more businesses begin to reopen over the next several weeks, some workers will be able to place their children in emergency child care set up by the state. However, those emergency providers will be for people who have "no alternative for care," Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said Monday during the Baker administration's press conference to announce details of the state's reopening plans (McNerney and Jung, 5/18)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Drains Rainy Day Fund To Deal With Coronavirus 
After sitting empty for the better part of a decade after the Great Recession, Nevada’s rainy day fund had finally begun to reach healthy levels in recent years. But because of the economic fallout created by the coronavirus pandemic, all of that progress in bolstering the state’s savings account has been wiped out. (Lochhead, 5/18)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Clark County Health Agency Speeds Alerts Of Positive COVID-19 Tests 
The Southern Nevada Health District has implemented an automated system aimed at more quickly and efficiently communicating with people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their close contacts. The automated email and texting system provides people who have tested positive with information on isolating themselves from others to avoid the spread of the disease. The system also is designed to help the district more quickly identify close contacts of people who have tested positive. It is then used to notify these close contacts so that they can self-quarantine and be on the lookout for symptoms. (Hynes, 5/18)

Detroit Free Press: Macomb Doc Accused Of Medicare Fraud Got $2.6M In COVID Relief Money
A Macomb County osteopath accused of bilking the government out of millions of dollars through fraudulent Medicare billings collected more than $2.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for his clinics in Michigan and elsewhere, according to court documents. That detail came out Monday in a federal judge’s ruling denying a motion by Dr. Charles Mok II that he be allowed to continue to bill Medicare for patient services at the 26 clinics he operates in Michigan, Florida and six other states through Macomb County-based Allure Medical. (Hall, 5/18)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Man Avoided The ER Because Of COVID-19 And He Nearly Died
Michael Devine had chest pain.He thought it was heartburn. He thought it would go away. He tried to will it away.Because in the middle of a pandemic, Devine, 51, of Redford didn't want to have to go to the hospital. He wanted to avoid the one place where he knew there would be people with COVID-19. So Devine chose to wait it out — like nearly one-third of Americans who said they also put off getting medical care to avoid the risk of exposure to novel coronavirus, according to a new poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians and Morning Consult. (Shamus, 5/18)

Modern Healthcare: Atlantic Health Focusing On Patient Safety As It Resumes Elective Procedures
Health systems across the nation, reeling financially from the coronavirus pandemic, are assessing how and when to resume elective and other non-COVID procedures. Having seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases, Atlantic Health System in Morristown, N.J., developed a five-tier ranking for how it will bring cases back to its hospitals. Amy Perry, senior vice president of integrated care delivery and CEO of the hospital division, discussed Atlantic Health’s strategy with Modern Healthcare Managing Editor Matthew Weinstock. (Weinstock, 5/18)

Stat: 9 Ways Covid-19 May Forever Upend The U.S. Health Care Industry 
In the U.S. alone, Covid-19 has claimed nearly 100,000 lives and 30 million jobs. Beyond grinding day-to-day life to a halt, the pandemic has prompted a reckoning throughout the country’s health care infrastructure, shattering decades-old assumptions about how Americans conceive of medicine, and the doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers they pay to provide it. (Facher, 5/19)

NPR: Community Health Centers Struggling As Fewer People Seek Care During Pandemic
Community health centers had been at the front lines of health care in the nation's poorest neighborhoods even before the spread of the coronavirus. But in the midst of the pandemic, patients who fear deportation or infection are forcing many centers to close. Public health officials worry that the populations that these centers serve — mostly people with low incomes and immigrants — aren't getting proper health care and testing, may be unable to quarantine themselves and could contribute to spreading the coronavirus to the wider population. (Penaloza, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Some Hospitals Prepared For Coronavirus Cases That Never Came
As the coronavirus pandemic swept from China into Europe last winter, the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center began preparing for the worst. A triage tent was brought in. An entire floor was cleared for Covid-19 cases. A satellite campus was converted to take the overflow. Health screenings started for everyone from doctors to cafeteria workers. But the onslaught that UCSF prepared for ended up arriving as a modest number of cases. The facility was one of dozens of health centers around the country that prepared for a surge in patients but have so far seen far fewer than expected. (Carlton, 5/19)

WBUR: Most Of The Space In Massachusetts Field Hospitals Went Unused. Now, Some Are Looking To Shut Down 
Massachusetts put up five field hospitals as quickly as possible last month. Since then, they’ve treated hundreds of patients – but most of their roughly 1,500 total acute care beds sat empty through the pandemic’s peak in the state. Now, with new infections slowing, they're looking to wind down operations. (Chen, 5/18)

In other news —

Politico: ‘Hard Stop’: States Could Lose National Guard Virus Workers
More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states test residents for the coronavirus and trace the spread of infections will face a “hard stop” on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits, according to a senior FEMA official. The official outlined the Trump administration’s plans on an interagency call on May 12, an audio version of which was obtained by POLITICO. (Ollstein, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Opportunists Benefit From The Chaotic Market For Coronavirus Protective Gear
Alexis Wong, a Hong Kong-based trader who’s been exporting medical masks since the early days of the covid-19 crisis, says the business brings out every species of crook. But she likes to joke that the market for the iconic N95 mask is in perfect balance. “You have buyers with no money and sellers with no product,” she says. The international market for desperately needed medical masks is riddled with fraud. Up and down the supply chain, from factories to hospitals, opportunists are benefiting from the chaotic market as prices have quintupled. (Butler, Eilperin and Hamburger, 5/18)

In other news on protective gear —

The Washington Post: How Far Would A Million N95 Masks Go? It’s Complicated, And This Is Why.
On April 2, the New England Patriots’ team plane left China with mundane but suddenly precious cargo: 1.2 million N95 respirators, a critical type of mask that protects health-care workers treating patients who have infectious diseases. Was that a big stash? In normal, pre-covid-19 times, the answer would be yes. Most hospitals buy just a few thousand N95s per year, according to a company that negotiates purchasing contracts. (Berkowitz, 5/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: More Than 200 Georgia Companies Have Helped On COVID-19 Supplies
LGG Corp. is one of 220 Georgia-based companies praised Monday by Gov. Brian Kemp for diverting part of their business operations to making or distributing personal protective equipment or health care supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. The state Department of Economic Development, which asked companies to explain how they could help, then assisted with converting their businesses, did not have existing relationships with many of the companies, said Commissioner Pat Wilson. Business owners volunteered their services and did so without the state’s financial help. (Peters, 5/18)

Reuters: Wisconsin Lawsuit Seeks Absentee Ballot Forms, Other Poll Changes Amid Coronavirus Concerns
Advocacy groups sued Wisconsin election officials on Monday, seeking to force the state to send every voter an absentee ballot request form, hire more poll workers and launch a public education effort to ensure voters understand their options ahead of November’s presidential election. The complaint is the latest salvo from voting rights activists, who have filed dozens of lawsuits around the country to increase ballot access, such as universal vote-by-mail, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. (Ax, 5/18)

In other news on the election —

Reuters: As Biden Crafts U.S. Coronavirus Response Proposals, Warren Has His Ear
Presumptive Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden has been speaking regularly with former rival Elizabeth Warren on public health and economic relief ideas as he crafts more ambitious proposals aimed at helping Americans through the coronavirus crisis. (Hunnicutt, Ax and Oliphant, 5/18)

CNN: Right Ventricle Enlargement A Major Predictor For Mortality Among COVID Patients, A New Study Finds
Enlargement of one of the heart's four chambers -- the right ventricle -- was the best predictor of which patients with severe Covid-19 infections were most likely to die, doctors reported Monday. A team of doctors from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai looked at the health records of 105 Covid patients hospitalized at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City between March 26th and April 22nd. Of the 105 patients in the study, 32 of them -- or 31% -- had dilation of the right ventricle based on an echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart. Of these, 41% died by the end of the study period, compared to 11% of those without right ventricular enlargement. (Nedelman and Lieber, 5/18)

ABC News: Does COVID-19 Cause Delirium? Doctors Race To Understand Its Impact On The Brain 
As we continue to learn about the novel coronavirus, it's become clear that its effects on the body extend well beyond the lungs. Now, doctors are racing to understand one of its most disturbing targets: the brain. Doctors across the globe are reporting that their patients with severe cases of COVID-19 are left confused, sometimes delirious or exhibiting signs of an altered mental state. (Dastmalchi and Ali, 5/19)

CNN: Delirium And PTSD Symptoms May Follow Covid-19 Infection, Study Says
Delirium, confusion and agitation may be common in severe coronavirus infections while patients are hospitalized, according to a new review of studies published Monday. Long-term psychiatric problems after battling Covid-19 may not occur in the majority of patients, although much more research is still needed, the study said. (Azad and LaMotte, 5/18)

CNN: Erin Bromage: The Biologist Whose Advice Went Viral Tells Us What To Do Next 
Stop worrying about those runners and cyclists without a mask, whom you scoff at as you walk outside. Worry instead about the loud talkers in crowded indoor spaces. That's according to Erin Bromage, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth associate professor of biology, who started a blog about the ways in which coronavirus spreads to keep his family and friends informed. (Sangal, 5/19)

CNN: Coronavirus Infection Isn't Just About Hygiene And Distance. It's About Time, Too. 
Growing evidence suggests that Covid-19 infection, like with other illnesses, is related to prolonged time exposed to the virus. The longer you stay in an environment that may contain the virus, the higher the risk of getting sick. Dr. Erin Bromage, a comparative immunologist and professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, summed it up with a short and sweet equation: "Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time." (Levenson, 5/18)

CIDRAP: Prolonged COVID-19 Virus Shedding Noted In China
Patients with COVID-19 outside of Wuhan, China, shed the virus for a median of 17 days, according to a retrospective cohort study published yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Also, a study in the same journal found that third-generation transmission of the COVID-19 epidemic likely began on Jan 17 to 20 in Wuhan, then spread to the rest of Hubei province from Jan 23 to 24, while the mixed first- and second-generation transmissions interacted to worsen the outbreak. (Van Beusekom, 5/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: On The Trail Of The Coronavirus: How Scientists Track The Pathogen 
Like detectives searching for cold case matches, microbiologists are tracking the COVID-19 outbreak back in time to the parasitic ancestors that spawned the highly infectious and often deadly disease. Laboratory sleuths at universities and laboratories around the Bay Area are using the virus’ genome to construct a microbial family tree — and they are using that information to plot the contagion’s wide-ranging path of destruction from person to person and place to place. (Fimrite, 5/18)

The New York Times: These N.Y.C. Neighborhoods Have The Highest Rates Of Virus Deaths
New data released Monday sheds light on one of the biggest questions about the toll the coronavirus has taken on New York: Where are people dying? The data, which shows death rates in each of the city’s ZIP codes, underscores the deep disparities already unearthed by the outbreak. While the majority of the deaths across the city have been older residents, race and income have proven to be the largest factors in determining who lives and who dies. (Schwirtz and Cook, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Stark Disparities In New York City's Virus Toll
The coronavirus has cut an unequal path of grief through New York City, hitting hardest in a ring of predominantly poorer, nonwhite neighborhoods a long subway and bus ride from Manhattan, according to data released by the city Monday. The new accounting of fatalities by neighborhood revealed that the ZIP code with more deaths per capita than any other place in New York is the one that contains Starrett City, a huge complex of apartment towers in Brooklyn that is the largest federally subsidized housing development in the country. (Hajela, Villeneuve and Matthews, 5/19)

Politico: NYC's Poorest Neighborhoods Have Highest Death Rates From Coronavirus
“This public health emergency has affected all of our communities,” Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot said in a statement. "This virus is not hitting New Yorkers equitably and that reality is guiding the COVID-19 response.” The neighborhood with the highest death rate in the city is a section of East New York, Brooklyn that is home to the massive Starrett City housing complex. There have been 76 deaths in the area, out of about 13,000 residents. (Durkin, 5/18)

The Hill: New Figures Show Stark Disparities In Coronavirus Deaths Across NYC Neighborhoods 
The primarily white and wealthy neighborhood Gramercy Park in Manhattan 31 deaths per 100,000 people were recorded. In Far Rockaway in Queens, which has a 40 percent black and a 25 percent Latino population, there were 445 deaths per 100,000 people. New York City had previously released daily updates in cases broken down by ZIP code but the death count was released by borough. (Coleman, 5/18)

The New York Times: Vaccinations Fall To Alarming Rates, C.D.C. Study Shows
As states across the country relax stay-at-home orders and people return to more normal routines, some researchers worry about a spike in vaccine-preventable diseases in addition to the coronavirus’s spread. During the pandemic, the rates of childhood vaccinations have dropped significantly as many parents have been reluctant to schedule well-child visits at their doctors’ offices, for fear of contracting the coronavirus. As a result, children have fallen behind on vaccinations for diseases like measles and pertussis, better known as whooping cough. (Waldstein, 5/18)

Reuters: Pandemic-Related Vaccination Drop Raises Concern About U.S. Measles Outbreak
Data from Michigan’s state immunization information system showed that just under half of 5-month-old infants were up to date for all recommended vaccines this month, compared to approximately two thirds of infants in May of the previous four years, the CDC researchers said in their report. (Chander, 5/18)

CNBC: Coronavirus: CDC Warns Of Possible Measles Outbreak As Vaccinations For Children Fall During Pandemic
“The observed declines in vaccination coverage might leave young children and communities vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles,” the CDC wrote in its findings. “If measles vaccination coverage of 90%–95% (the level needed to establish herd immunity) is not achieved, measles outbreaks can occur.” (Lovelace, 5/18)

Boston Globe: Child Vaccines For Conditions Such As Measles Dipped In Michigan Amid Coronavirus 
Child vaccinations for conditions including measles have decreased in Michigan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The information was contained in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which noted that Michigan, like many other states, issued a stay-at-home order in March to facilitate social distancing amid the pandemic. (Andersen, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Pandemic Threatens To Deepen Crisis In Mental Health Care
More than three weeks after Brandon Bell stopped showing up at a New York office that serves people with schizophrenia, employees finally located him at a nearby homeless shelter. The office remains open, but patients aren’t stopping by as much during the pandemic. Group activities such as the weekly Caribbean lunch that were also an important source of food have ended because of the coronavirus. Visits from caregivers are less frequent and shorter — usually five or 10 minutes — to reduce the risk of infection. (Minchillo and Choi, 5/19)

The New York Times: Is The Pandemic Sparking Suicide?
The mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic is only beginning to show itself, and it is too early to predict the scale of the impact. The coronavirus pandemic is an altogether different kind of cataclysm — an ongoing, wavelike, poorly understood threat that seems to be both everywhere and nowhere, a contagion nearly as psychological as it is physical. Death feels closer, even well away from the front lines of emergency rooms, and social isolation — which in pre-Covid times was often a sign of a mind turning in on itself — is the new normal for tens of millions of people around the world. (Carey, 5/19)

The New York Times: A.C.L.U. Warns Against Fever-Screening Tools For Coronavirus 
Airports, office buildings, warehouses and restaurant chains are rushing to install new safety measures like fever-scanning cameras and infrared temperature-sensing guns. But the American Civil Liberties Union warned on Tuesday against using the tools to screen people for possible coronavirus symptoms, saying the devices were often inaccurate, ineffective and intrusive. In a new report, “Temperature Screening and Civil Liberties During an Epidemic,” the A.C.L.U. said that such technologies could give people a false sense of security, potentially leading them to be less vigilant about health measures like wearing masks or social distancing. (Singer, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: The New Airline Travel: Fewer Flights, More Layovers, Rules For Bathrooms
A new age of air travel is taking shape. Airports and airlines are rolling out temperature checks for crew and, increasingly, passengers, as well as thermal scans to spot people with elevated body temperatures. Face masks are now de rigueur for travelers across the U.S. Passengers on Europe’s biggest budget carrier must raise their hands to use the toilet. (Sider, Katz and Cherney, 5/18)

Reuters: Empty Middle Seat? Depends On Which Country You Are Flying In
In Thailand, you cannot have food or water in flight and must wear a mask. In Malaysia and Indonesia, the plane needs to be half-empty. In the United States and Europe, it’s not mandatory for airlines to leave the middle seat open. (Freed, Qiu and Kauranen, 5/18)

NBC News: Experts: COVID-19 Has Shown U.S., U.K. Are Vulnerable To Biological Terrorism
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a structural vulnerability to biological attacks in the U.S. and Europe that requires urgent government action, multiple current and former national security and public health officials told NBC News. Former officials in the U.S. and the U.K. warn that the devastating impact of the coronavirus on health care infrastructures and economies may act as a "neon light" for terrorist groups looking to unleash pathogens on Western nations. (Marx, 5/18)

NPR: Why Air Pollution Hasn't Fallen More With Everyone Driving Less
With traffic dramatically down in recent months, the United States is in the middle of an accidental experiment showing what happens to air pollution when millions of people stop driving. The air is clearer. But the pollution declines aren't nearly as large as early indications suggested, according to an NPR analysis of six years of Environmental Protection Agency data. (Sommer, Hersher, Jingnan and Benincasa, 5/19)

The Oklahoman: Is Day Care Safe During The Coronavirus Pandemic? It Depends. Here Are Some Guidelines
As parts of the country tiptoe back toward more normal routines, working parents are desperate for child care. Still, they must weigh the risks of sending their children outside the safety of their homes to be cared for by someone else. The big question: Is it safe? (Alexander, 5/18)

NPR: No More Watercooler Talk And Other Ways Offices Will Adapt To The Pandemic
As stay-at-home orders across the U.S. begin to loosen, companies are planning for their employees' return to the office. For months, millions worked from home, raising the question of whether physical offices are even necessary. Nabil Sabet thinks so. The group director at M Moser Associates, a firm that specializes in workplace design, says there is more to the office than just cubicles and conference rooms. (Pao, 5/18)

Kaiser Health News: Fewer Traffic Collisions During Shutdown Means Longer Waits For Organ Donations
On Day Two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s stay-at-home orders in March, Nohemi Jimenez got into her car in San Pablo, California, waved goodbye to her 3-year-old son and drove to her regular Wednesday dialysis appointment. The roads were deserted. No traffic. Jimenez, 30, said it is hard to admit what she thought next: No traffic meant no car accidents. And that meant she’d be on the waiting list for a kidney transplant even longer. (Dembosky, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Powell, Mnuchin Set To Face Lawmakers Over Crisis Lending Programs
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will appear by videoconference before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday to testify on how they are handling $500 billion in emergency lending programs. Congress made those funds available to the Treasury through the $2 trillion economic-relief package that President Trump signed into law in March. (Timiraos and Davidson, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Mnuchin To Face Grilling About Small-Business Lending Effort
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will likely come under tough questioning from senators Tuesday about a small business lending program included in the government’s $2 trillion relief package. Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the Payroll Protection Program, which initially provided $349 billion in forgivable loans to small companies but has been plagued by a host of problems. (Rugaber and Crutsinger, 5/19)

ABC News: Treasury Has Disbursed Only A Fraction Of $500 Billion Coronavirus Relief Fund, Commission Reports
The Treasury Department has so far disbursed only $37.5 billion of the $500 billion carved out in the CARES Act to be used for emergency lending to businesses and state and local governments, according to the report from the Congressional Oversight Commission. The $37.5 billion was put toward purchasing corporate debt, which will largely benefit big companies. Of the $500 billion total, $29 billion is available for airlines and $17 billion is available for businesses "critical to maintaining national security," according to the report. No loans have been doled out from that reserved pot of money, nor has any public documentation been released on who the money is going to, the report said. (Haslett, 5/18)

The Hill: Treasury To Deliver Millions Of Coronavirus Relief Payments By Prepaid Debit Card 
The Treasury Department said Monday that it is starting to deliver nearly 4 million coronavirus relief payments to taxpayers via prepaid debit card, rather than paper check. The announcement comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had indicated that the department planned to get some people their payments by sending them debit cards, in an effort to help get people their payments faster. "Prepaid debit cards are secure, easy to use, and allow us to deliver Americans their money quickly,” Mnuchin said in a news release Monday. “Recipients can immediately activate and use the cards safely.” (Jagoda, 5/18)

The Associated Press: Who Got What? Details Scant On Small-Business Relief Effort
A small, overlooked federal agency is shouldering a massive relief effort for the nation’s small businesses and their workers left reeling by the pandemic. The Small Business Administration has committed to auditing every sizable emergency loan it approves. But six weeks after the $600 billion-plus program was launched, the agency has yet to make public the recipients of taxpayer aid. (Gordon, 5/19)

CNN: WEF Covid-19 Report: 7 Biggest Worries For Business Leaders
A prolonged recession is the biggest worry for company executives as they contemplate the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. But there's plenty more keeping them awake at night. Executives whose job it is to identify risks are also concerned about a related surge in bankruptcies, high levels of youth unemployment and increased cyber attacks arising from a shift to remote working, according to a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group. (Ziady, 5/19)

Bangor Daily News: Most Maine Small Businesses Got Federal Aid But Are Low On Cash, Survey Shows 
Maine small businesses are running short on cash as problems including supply chain disruptions remain an issue as the economy starts to reopen, according to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. (Piper, 5/19)

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Recipients Of PPP Loans Face Big Decision On Monday
Businesses that received emergency loans from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) face a Monday deadline of whether to keep the money, and all the restrictions that come with it. The main concern among companies is that the Treasury Department's shifting terms for forgiving the loans might leave them high and dry. Others are worried they will face blowback, from workers or the general public, for having taken the loans in the first place. (Elis, 5/18)

Politico: Dems Shift Coronavirus Attacks On Republicans To 'Real Graveyard'
Democrats are ratcheting up their coronavirus attacks on Mitch McConnell. One year into their campaign that portrays McConnell as the steward of a “legislative graveyard,” Senate Democrats are edging closer to suggesting the Republican majority is presiding over an actual one during the pandemic. Frustrated over McConnell’s remarks that he’s not yet feeling the “urgency” to immediately tackle a fifth congressional response to the coronavirus, Democrats are resorting to the time-honored minority tactic of trying to shame the Senate majority leader into moving forward. (Everett, 5/18)

The New York Times: Immigration Agency That Issues Visas, Green Cards Struggles To Stay Afloat 
A precipitous drop in applications for green cards, citizenship and other programs has threatened the solvency of the federal agency that administers the country’s lawful immigration system, prompting it to seek a $1.2 billion cash infusion from Congress as well as fee hikes to stay afloat. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which relies on the fees that it charges applicants to fund its operations, said that it could run out of money by the summer because the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in far fewer people applying for visas and other benefits. (Jordan, 5/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Immigration Courts In ‘Chaos,’ With Coronavirus Effects To Last Years
Raquel and her sons fled gang threats in El Salvador, survived the weeks-long journey to the U.S., and then endured the Trump administration’s 2018 separations at the southern border. This month, she was finally going to get her chance to convince an immigration judge in San Francisco that she should be granted permanent asylum in the U.S., ending the agony of having to prepare for her court date by reliving the danger in her native country and her weeks of detention at the border. Thanks to the coronavirus, she will have to endure the wait for three more years. (Kopan, 5/18)

ProPublica: The Trump Administration Is Rushing Deportations Of Migrant Children During Coronavirus
The girls, 8 and 11, were alone in a rented room in a dangerous Mexican city bordering Texas. Their father had been attacked and abandoned on the side of a road and they didn’t know where he was. For seven months the children had waited with their dad in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, to ask U.S. authorities for asylum. They had fled their home after death threats from local gang members and no help from police. They had also been victims of sexual assault. (Kriel, 5/18)

Los Angeles Times: Undocumented Immigrants Can Begin Applying For State Coronavirus Relief
Undocumented Californians may begin applying for disaster assistance payments of $500 per person and up to $1,000 per household. The state government has made available $75 million to help a projected 150,000 undocumented immigrants weather the coronavirus crisis. To qualify, applicants must show that they are ineligible for federal assistance programs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, such as the CARES Act or federal unemployment benefits, and that they have endured a hardship from the pandemic. (Ormseth, 5/18)

NPR: Doctors In Training Learn Hard Lessons During The Pandemic 
The coronavirus is leaving a lasting impression on a generation of young doctors. In the U.S., there are some 130,000 medical residents — doctors in their final years of training after medical school — who make up a vital part of the workforce. Now a global pandemic has become the centerpiece of their training. (Stone, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Nurse Judy Wilson-Griffin Was The First Person In St. Louis County To Die From Covid-19
Long before Judy Wilson-Griffin became a perinatal clinical nurse specialist, her grandmother worked as a midwife caring for pregnant and postnatal women in Alabama. That ancestral legacy followed Wilson-Griffin’s grandmother to St. Louis, where Wilson-Griffin would further her family’s tradition of tenderly nursing black women giving life to future generations. Wilson-Griffin advocated for patients who had higher rates of infant and maternal mortality and championed her children and grandchildren through life’s vicissitudes and celebratory moments. (Beachum, 5/18)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Last Responders’ Seek To Expand Postmortem COVID Testing In Unexplained Deaths
Examining dead bodies and probing for a cause of death is rarely seen as a heroic or glamorous job. Rather, as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, all eyes have been on the medical workers and public health disease detectives fighting on the front lines ― and sometimes giving their lives — to bring the novel coronavirus under control. But as the crusade to test for the coronavirus and trace cases continues, medical examiners and coroners play a vital — if often unsung ― role. (Andrews, 5/19)

The Associated Press: As US, Europe Reopen More, Big Nations See Rising Virus Toll
American car makers are getting back to work and Europe is continuing to reopen. But while new coronavirus cases have been declining in many countries that were initially hit hard by the pandemic, cases are rapidly rising in other populous nations. Russia and Brazil now sit behind only the U.S. in the number of reported cases. And cases are spiking from Mexico to India. Some places have seen encouraging signs reverse: Iran reported a steady drop in new cases through April only to see them rise again in May. (Perry, 5/19)

The New York Times: Germany’s Coronavirus Protests: Anti-Vaxxers, Anticapitalists, Neo-Nazis
Outside Germany’s Parliament building, a vegan celebrity cook grabbed the mic and shouted that he was “ready to die” to stop self-serving elites from using the pandemic to topple the world order. Some distance away, a group of women discussed how Bill Gates was plotting to force immunization on the population. Youngsters sporting cardboard cutouts of the German constitution chanted: “End the corona dictatorship!” Few wore masks, and those that did came with slogans like “Merkel’s muzzle.” Even as Germany is celebrated as Europe’s foremost example of pandemic management, an eclectic protest movement that began last month with a few dozen people marching against coronavirus restrictions has ballooned into more than 10,000 demonstrators in cities across the country. (Bennhold, 5/18)

Reuters: France Reports Fewer New Coronavirus Deaths, Uptick In Cases
France reported a small dip in the daily tally of new coronavirus deaths on Monday, though it also saw a slight uptick in confirmed cases, a week after authorities started easing lockdown restrictions. France’s death toll is the fourth highest worldwide, after the United States, Britain and Italy, and its health ministry, announcing the latest figures, urged people to remain cautious and to respect social distancing rules. (5/18)

The Associated Press: Civic Group: Mexico City Virus Deaths 3 Times Those Reported
A registry of death certificates in Mexico City suggests there were 4,577 cases where doctors mentioned coronavirus or COVID-19 as a possible or probable cause of death, more than three times the official death toll in the city. The federal government acknowledges only 1,332 confirmed deaths in Mexico City since the pandemic began, less than a third as many as the investigation revealed. (Stevenson, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘This Is A Science-Fiction Screenplay’: Europeans Re-Emerge To A New Normal
Europeans, living through the most unsettling months in memory, are breathing with relief as they leave the strains of lockdown behind. But the strange new world that awaits the continent in the pandemic’s next phase is inspiring more fear than hope. Children are playing again in town squares that fell silent for most of spring. Commuter traffic is gingerly returning to streets where, not long ago, curious ducks, foxes and wild boars wandered while the humans were hiding. (Walker, 5/19)

The New York Times: Life In China's Wuhan After The Coronavirus Lockdown Ends
They have delighted in the small things, like getting bubble tea and takeout noodles. They have rediscovered places like the neighborhood playground. They have searched for new vocabularies to describe their losses. For more than two months, the people of Wuhan, China, lived under lockdown as their city buckled beneath the weight of the coronavirus that emerged there. Then, gradually, cases ebbed. On April 8, the lockdown was lifted. (Wang, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Brazil’s Nurses Are Dying As Covid-19 Overwhelms Hospitals
As the new coronavirus ripped through a government-run hospital here, Dilva Barbosa de Oliveira did all she could to save her patients. Then one day, the nurse’s body started to ache. Ms. Barbosa de Oliveira, 56, grew fatigued, as a fever spiked. She had trouble urinating, started coughing and lost her sense of taste and smell. Gasping for breath, she was rushed to the Employees of São Paulo State Hospital where she worked, this time as a patient in intensive care. She tested positive for Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, and died 21 days later, on May 7. (Magalhaes, Dube and Lewis, 5/19)

Reuters: New Zealand Reports No New Coronavirus Cases For Second Straight Day
New Zealand recorded no new coronavirus cases for the second straight day on Tuesday, but authorities said it was premature to discuss moving the country to “level one” in its scale of alert. The Pacific nation, home to more than 5 million, moved to “level 2” last week, allowing cafes, shops and restaurants to reopen under strict social distancing rules. (5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Why Does Reopening Polarize Us?
The debate over reopening the economy has a peculiar characteristic: It breaks down almost entirely along political lines. Liberals emphasize the dangers of an open society, shaming those who want to go back to work. Conservatives argue the opposite. Red states are steadily reopening, while most blue states lag. House Democrats believe it isn’t safe for lawmakers to go back to work, while the Republican-controlled Senate is back in session. It isn’t obvious that such a debate should be partisan, yet it is. Why? One popular explanation is that all roads lead to President Trump. Whatever he says, the left will say the opposite. (Dan Crenshaw, 5/18)

The New York Times:  The Phony Coronavirus Class War 
A Washington Post article on Sunday described people in a posh suburb of Atlanta celebrating liberation from coronavirus lockdown. “I went to the antique mall yesterday on Highway 9 and it was just like — it was like freedom,” said a woman getting a pedicure. “Yeah, I’m going to do the laser and the filler,” said a woman at a wine bar, looking forward to cosmetic dermatology. “When you start seeing where the cases are coming from and the demographics — I’m not worried,” said a man lounging in a plaza. (Michelle Goldberg, 5/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Chinese Lockdown Redux
Remember those graphs showing that Beijing’s draconian lockdown of Wuhan and other parts of China had beaten the coronavirus more effectively than any other public-health measures anywhere? Well, the virus didn’t stay beaten, to judge by new cases emerging in Jilin province that have prompted another lockdown. Jilin, in the country’s northeast, had reported around 120 new Covid-19 cases by this weekend. It’s not clear how this cluster started—officials initially suggested the disease re-entered China from nearby Russia—but local transmission also has occurred. Cue another general shutdown, as the government rushed to halt transport in and out of the region and imposed new limits on daily life. This is the latest example of China’s experience confirming warnings that even draconian lockdowns don’t eliminate the coronavirus. (5/18)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus: Why Britain Doesn't Want To Come Out Of Lockdown 
Rival soccer teams in Germany’s Bundesliga clash in an empty stadium, Italians meet for socially distant restaurant dining and tourists are visiting the Acropolis again. Things are reopening in Europe. Not so much in Britain. Here, the lifting of restrictions has been a source of bitter controversy, confusion and nervousness. Britons may be pouring into parks and hitting the roads again, but 46% say the recent limited changes to lockdown rules go too far. Just one in 10 says the lifting of restrictions doesn’t go far enough. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have refused to follow England’s reopening plans. (Therese Raphael, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Did Sweden Make The Right Call On Limiting Its Lockdown? 
Sweden offers an appealing model to many people who are fatigued by the hardships of pandemic lockdown or who were never convinced it was entirely necessary. The Nordic country took some measures to control the spread of the coronavirus: It banned groups larger than 50 people, called for social distancing and put older students on video learning. But it did not take a draconian approach. Schools for those under 16 remained open, as did many bars, restaurants and gyms, with social distancing. That raises the question of whether the example is worth emulating.In terms of illness and death, it appears Sweden has paid a higher price for its approach. (5/18)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus Exposes How Putin Failed Russia's Health Care System
It’s been an uncomfortably swift rise to the top of the coronavirus tables for President Vladimir Putin. From only a handful of Covid-19 cases in early March, Russia now has more than 290,000 of them and a rate of new infections that puts it second only to the U.S. — a country with more than twice as many people. Few governments have made a success of managing the epidemic. Yet the rapid spread of the illness has exposed a Russian health system that’s suffering from poor funding, incomplete reforms that neglected much of the country and a misguided attempt to replace imports of drugs and medical equipment with local production — at least until two ventilators caught fire and killed patients. An authoritarian regime that dislikes bad news and fuels disinformation hasn’t helped. (Clara Ferreira Marques, 5/19)

The Washington Post: China Agreed To A Global WHO Review. Where Was Trump? 
President Xi Jinping of China maneuvered adroitly Monday in a video appearance before the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting (being held virtually) of the 194-member World Health Organization. Under pressure for an international probe into the Chinese origin of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Xi agreed to a more global review led by the WHO, one that is less likely to cast blame on China alone. Mr. Xi sweetened the pot with a pledge of $2 billion to combat the virus around the world.We have been critical of China’s early coverup of the outbreak in Wuhan, which hampered the response. Nor was it smart of the WHO to lavish praise on China when the concealment was evident. But Mr. Xi’s announcement Monday shows a desire by Beijing to remain engaged in fighting the pandemic, wield influence at the WHO and be at the table when the lessons of the disaster are weighed. (5/18)

The Hill: To Prioritize Both Student Learning And Student Health, Schools Must Work Differently This Fall 
As states and communities across the nation address the significant public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and begin the intentional reopening of our communities, it is important to also look ahead to an important benchmark: the return to school for the nation’s 51 million Pre-K — 12 students. COVID-19 has created not only a devastating public health crisis but a real crisis in learning, requiring its own intensive recovery planning. (Former Sen. Bill Frist and David Mansouri, 5/18)

The New York Times: New York Doesn't Need More Policing During The Coronavirus
Of the 125 people arrested over offenses that law enforcement officials described as related to the coronavirus pandemic, 113 were black or Hispanic. Of the 374 summonses from March 16 to May 5, a vast majority — 300 — were given to black and Hispanic New Yorkers. Videos of some of the arrests are hard to watch. In one posted to Facebook last week, a group of some six police officers are seen tackling a black woman in a subway station as her young child looks on. “She’s got a baby with her!” a bystander shouts. Police officials told The Daily News the woman had refused to comply when officers directed her to put the mask she was wearing over her nose and mouth. (5/18)

Los Angeles Times: Georgia Coronavirus Data Made Reopening Look Safe. It Wasn't 
Nothing about the spread of the coronavirus or the nature of the disease suggests that it’s safe to get back to business as usual. And yet “reopen” is the word on almost every American’s lips, despite apocalyptic warnings from public heath experts suggesting that, without an aggressive national public health strategy, the country could face its “darkest winter.” In the absence of a coherent federal public health response, millions of Americans are trying to will the coronavirus away through the sheer force of their God-given exceptionalism. Mass delusion seems a dubious strategy for ending the coronavirus crisis. And yet if you look at the data coming out of Georgia over the past month — which had one of the earliest and most aggressive efforts to reopen its economy — you might be convinced that there is little danger in a broad economic reopening. (Matthew Fleischer, 5/18)

Boston Globe: Baker Moves Slowly To Reopen The State — And Swiftly To Remove Nursing Homes’ Coronavirus Liability 
Baker is moving cautiously to reopen the state. But when it comes to protecting the nursing home industry, he moved swiftly and boldly. Baker filed legislation on April 8, saying it was necessary to protect health care workers and facilities from an unprecedented health care challenge. The bill flew through the House and Senate and was signed into law on April 17. As other such state laws passed around the country, the Massachusetts law protects the nursing home industry and hospitals from civil liability for injuries to patients during the coronavirus crisis. (Joan Vennochi, 5/18)

Boston Globe: Senior Independent Living Population Needs Coronavirus Care Too 
As Massachusetts residents wait in anticipation for an escalated reopening of the state in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a group of us lives in fear we will continue being the demographic with the highest casualties of the virus. We were not visible before COVID-19, and we are not being included in important policies to protect our lives now. We are the neglected group called the senior independent-living population. (Patricia J. Burns, Herman Chernoff, Jerome I. Friedman, and Wilfred E. Holton, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna’s Vaccine Hope
Stock and oil prices climbed on Monday on news that a coronavirus vaccine candidate by biotech startup Moderna has shown promise in early clinical trials. Governments are starting to lift their lockdowns, but Americans and the rest of the world will need an effective vaccine—and maybe several—for a return to pre-virus normality. It took 20 months for scientists to prepare a SARS vaccine for test on humans, but private innovation is compressing the time-frame against Covid-19. Using rapid genetic sequencing and its nimble mRNA manufacturing platform, Moderna was able to develop and deliver a vaccine to the National Institutes of Health for clinical trials in late February. (5/18)

Bloomberg: Covid Vaccine Developers Need To Take Their Time 
The fast pace at which various laboratories are working on vaccines against Covid-19 carries both promise and peril. On Monday, Moderna Therapeutics Inc. announced the first reported data from human trials, and they are positive. That’s good news, and it arrived sooner than expected. But the parts of the project that lie ahead will be harder to accomplish with speed. Eight patients who received low and medium doses of the Moderna’s candidate vaccine appear to have developed antibodies capable of neutralizing the new coronavirus. The company didn’t have detailed data on the rest of the 45 trial participants, but all generated at least some antibodies. It was early data from a small study, though, and the limited results don’t prove that the vaccine provides broad and durable protection. Also, while there were no serious safety issues, three patients who received the highest dose of the vaccine briefly suffered modest “flu-like symptoms” after their second injection. (Max Nisen, 5/18)

Los Angeles Times: Speedy Coronavirus Vaccine Is Important. But So Is Safety
As health experts keep reminding us, life will not return to anything resembling pre-pandemic normal until there is an effective and widely available coronavirus vaccine. And, as they also keep reminding us, it will take at least a year to do the testing and clinical trials necessary to ensure that a vaccine candidate is safe for mass production. So it’s more than a little unsettling that President Trump’s effort to expedite a vaccine for COVID-19 has a significantly shortened timeline, one that seems suspiciously connected to the political calendar rather than sound science. (5/19)

Stat: Covid-19 Has Exposed The Limits Of Today's Drug Development Model
That so much hope is being pinned on remdesivir, the drug Gilead is testing for Covid-19, reflects the failure of our system for new drug development rather than the unqualified success some commentators are making it out to be. If anything, remdesivir is the poster child for why we need a new model of drug development for pandemics and neglected diseases that isn’t restricted by the current market-based model. (Tahir Amin and Rohit Malpani, 5/19)

The Washington Post: The Results Are In. Hydroxychloroquine Is Useless. 
The hype over the drug hydroxychloroquine was fueled by President Trump and Fox News, whose hosts touted it repeatedly on air. The president’s claims were not backed by scientific evidence, but he was enthusiastic. “What do you have to lose?” he has asked. In desperation, the public snapped up pills and the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization on March 28 for the drug to be given to hospitalized patients. On Thursday, Mr. Trump declared, “So we have had some great response, in terms of doctors writing letters and people calling on the hydroxychloroquine.” Now comes the evidence. Two large studies of hospitalized patients in New York City have found the drug was essentially useless against the virus. (5/17)

The Hill: How The Pandemic Is Changing Medicine 
“There have been many plagues in the world as there have been wars,” Albert Camus wrote, “yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared.” Both plagues and wars, horrific and tragic, strike the soul of a society, its core beliefs and practices. The battle against the novel coronavirus is already changing the way medicine is practiced. (Jonathan D. Moreno and Stephen N. Xenakis, 5/18)

Stat: Ventilators Are Important For Covid-19 Care. So Is Proper Staffing
In mid-March, the day before I flew back to New York City to return to work as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse, my brother, an emergency physician, urged me to quit. Stay in Chicago near family, he argued, and find a job in a local hospital. That way, if I were to contract Covid-19, my brother could manage my ventilator. And if the city ran out of ventilators, he promised he would manually ventilate me. (Emily Williams, 5/19)