The New York Times: U.S. Cases Reach New Record 
More than 48,000 coronavirus cases were announced across the United States on Tuesday, the most of any day of the pandemic. Officials in eight states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas — also announced single-day highs. The record comes as Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, testified before Congress on Tuesday that the rate of new coronavirus infections could more than double to 100,000 a day if current outbreaks were not contained. He warned that the virus’s march across the South and the West “puts the entire country at risk.” (6/30)

Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Rise By 47,000, Biggest One-Day Spike Of Pandemic 
COVID-19 cases more than doubled in June in at least 10 states, including Texas and Florida, a Reuters tally showed. In parts of Texas and Arizona, hospital intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients are in short supply. More than 126,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and millions have lost their jobs as states and major cities ordered residents to stay home and businesses closed. The economy contracted sharply in the first quarter and is expected to crater in the second. (Simao and O'Donnell, 7/1)

The Hill: Fauci Predicts 100,000 New COVID-19 Cases Per Day If US Can't Control Outbreaks 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned members of Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. could reach 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day if the country does not get a handle on the pandemic. Speaking before the Senate health committee, Fauci said the country is heading in the “wrong direction" as the average number of daily cases continues to go up. (Hellmann, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Fauci Worries U.S. Covid-19 Cases Could Climb To 100,000 Daily 
Fauci said that recent images of Americans gathering in bars or other crowds foreshadow a greater spike in infections that “is going to be very disturbing … We’re going to continue to be in a lot of trouble, and there’s going to be a lot of hurt if that does not go away.” (Goldstein, 6/30)

ABC News: Fauci Predicts COVID-19 Cases Could Top 100K Cases A Day: 'It Puts The Entire Country At Risk' 
"We can’t just focus on the areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk," Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on a hearing focused on whether schools could reopen. "We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100K a day if this does not turn around so I’m very concerned … I think it’s important to tell you and the American public that I’m very concerned because it could get very bad." (Flaherty, 6/30)

Politico: U.S. Risks 100,000 New Covid-19 Cases A Day, Fauci Warns 
He suggested that people who ignored social distancing and didn't wear face coverings have contributed to community spread, even in states that have closely followed reopening guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control. “I think we need to emphasize the responsibility we have as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic and that we all have to play a part in that,” Fauci said. (Ehley, 6/30)

Fox News: Fauci Warns US Could See 100,000 Coronavirus Cases A Day If Surge Continues
Earlier, Fauci told the "Fox News Rundown" that it was "too early to say" what has caused the spike. "A lot of people came out [on] Memorial Day, which is about four weeks ago, three-and-a-half to four weeks ago, and were out on the beaches and in the bars," Fauci told host Jessica Rosenthal. "Right now, we're seeing the result of that in Florida and in Texas and in certain other locations." (Shaw, 6/30)

NBC News: Fauci: COVID-19 Cases Could Swell To 100,000 A Day If U.S. Doesn't Control Virus
"It is critical that we all take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of COVID-19, and embrace the universal use of face coverings," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during his testimony Tuesday. "Specifically, I'm addressing the younger members of our society, the millennials and Generation Zs," Redfield said. (Edwards, 6/30)

CNN: Americans Must Act Against Covid-19 Surge To Avoid Up To 100,000 Cases Daily, Expert Says
Most of the US has the pandemic in their backyard, with only two states -- New Jersey and Rhode Island -- showing a downward trend in cases from last week. The surge comes as restriction-fatigued Americans increasingly gather in large groups for summer recreation. (7/1)

In related news —

The Hill: Rand Paul Urges Fauci To Provide 'More Optimism' On Coronavirus 
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday criticized Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, over his cautious assessments on the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that he should be providing "more optimism" to the American public. "We just need more optimism. There is good news out there, and we’re not getting it," Paul said as Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (Wise, 6/30)

The Washington Post: FDA Will Require Covid-19 Vaccine To Be At Least 50 Percent More Effective Than Placebo, Agency Says 
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that to win regulatory approval, any covid-19 vaccine will have to prevent disease, or decrease its severity, in at least 50 percent of the people who receive it. The agency also said it would require drug companies to monitor the vaccine’s performance after approval for any emerging safety problems. (McGinley, 6/30)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Comes Out With Guidance For COVID-19 Vaccine Approval 
“While the FDA is committed to expediting this work, we will not cut corners in our decisions,” the FDA said on Tuesday. ... “The guidelines are pretty standard, they look pretty much like influenza vaccine guidelines,” Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Vaccine Research Group said. “I don’t think that’s a high bar. I think that’s a low to maybe an appropriate bar for a first-generation COVID-19 vaccine.” (Maddipatla and Nadeem, 6/30)

The Hill: Trump Officials Seek To Reassure Public About Safety Of A Potential Coronavirus Vaccine 
Top Trump administration health officials are seeking to reassure the public that any potential coronavirus vaccine will only be approved if it is safe and that the fast-track process won't be influenced by political pressure. Democratic lawmakers and public health experts have expressed concern that President Trump's focus on developing a vaccine will pressure the Food and Drug Administration into approving one before it's safe. (Weixel, 6/30)

AP: Dems: Nursing Home Virus Effort 'Chronicle Of Deadly Delay'
The Trump administration was slow to comprehend the scale of COVID-19′s impact on nursing homes and a disjointed federal response has only compounded the devastating toll, according to a report from Senate Democrats. The report due out Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press, finds a lack of coordination among government agencies hindered access to coronavirus testing and protective equipment, among other problems. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/1)

WBUR: In Trove Of Emails To State Officials, Feds Downplayed Coronavirus Risks
A steady drumbeat of emails and updates about the coronavirus from federal health agencies to state officials repeatedly downplayed the looming threat in the first three months of 2020, causing confusion and delaying action in Massachusetts and across the country. More than 115 emails sent between January and mid-March, and reviewed by WBUR, reveal how the federal government portrayed the virus to those making decisions in Massachusetts. (Healy, 7/1)

Politico: Shout Or Stay Silent? Trump Team Splits Over Coronavirus Surge
The Trump White House has a new internal battle: how much to talk publicly about a pandemic that’s crippling huge swaths of America. President Donald Trump’s top aides are divided over the merits of resuming national news briefings to keep the public informed about the latest coronavirus statistics as infection rates spike in large states including California, Texas, Florida, Arizona and Georgia. (Cook and Orr, 7/1)

CNN: Donald Trump Refuses To Lead As Pandemic Worsens And Allies Desert Him On Masks 
Most Presidents would try to stop the United States from barreling toward disaster. But Donald Trump has nothing to say and no answers to mitigate a calamity unfolding on his watch that he seems resolved to ignore. On the day when the government's top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said he would not be surprised to see the US record 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day, Trump refused to break his deafening silence. (Collinson, 7/1)

In other administration news —

ABC News: FBI Warns Of Fraudulent COVID-19 Antibody Tests 
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning of fraudulent COVID-19 antibody tests. While real tests indicate whether or not an individual was previously infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, the FBI warns the false tests are not only a method for scammers to give out fraudulent results but also to steal personal information from people who take the fake tests. (Barr, 6/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: HHS Plans To Renew Public Health Emergency
The COVID-19 public health emergency that was set to expire July 25 will be extended, Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Caputo tweeted Monday night. The extension would prolong the emergency designation by 90 days. (Barak, 6/30)

Politico: Oklahoma Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion As Coronavirus Cases Climb 
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a ballot measure to extend Medicaid to tens of thousands of poor adults, making their state the first to expand government-backed health insurance during the pandemic. The vote, which passed with 50.5 percent support, also throws a wrench in the Trump administration's plan to make Oklahoma the first state to receive its permission to cap Medicaid spending, a longtime goal of conservatives hoping to constrain the safety-net entitlement program. (Roubein, 7/1)

AP: Oklahoma Voters Narrowly Approve Medicaid Expansion
Oklahoma voters narrowly decided on Tuesday to expand Medicaid health insurance to tens of thousands low-income residents, becoming the first state to amend its Constitution to do so. ... Amending the Oklahoma Constitution will prevent the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has resisted Medicaid expansion for a decade, from tinkering with the program or rolling back coverage. (Murphy, 7/1)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion At The Ballot Box
The Yes on 802 campaign turned in a record number of signatures to qualify the question for the ballot. But the majority of Oklahoma's counties opposed the expansion Tuesday. A mere seven of the state's 77 counties, including Oklahoma and Tulsa, approved the question. (Forman, 6/30)

The Hill: Oklahoma Voters Narrowly Approve Medicaid Expansion 
Still, it makes Oklahoma the fifth state controlled by Republicans to approve Medicaid expansion through a ballot measure, joining the ranks of Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah. The ballot initiative has taken on an increased urgency amid the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting economic fallout. (Greenwood, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: Oklahoma Becomes The First State To Expand Medicaid During Pandemic
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a ballot initiative that will expand Medicaid to cover more low-income residents. Oklahoma was the first state to vote on expanding Medicaid since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Missouri is scheduled to vote on the issue in August. The vote disrupts Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt's plan to make the state a test case for the Trump administration's Medicaid block grant demonstration. (Cohrs, 6/30)

Kaiser Health News and AP: Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. Marshaled against a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million in the U.S., killed more than 126,000 people and cost tens of millions of jobs and $3 trillion in federal rescue money, state and local government health workers on the ground are sometimes paid so little that they qualify for public aid. (Weber, Ungar, Smith, Recht, Barry-Jester, 7/1)

Politico: California Bill Would Shield Health Officer Addresses As Death Threats Rise
California would shield public health officers' home addresses under new legislation that emerged Tuesday after the long-unknown officials faced death threats this year for imposing coronavirus requirements. Health officials struggling to contain the coronavirus have at times faced an intense backlash in California, including death threats and protests outside their homes for imposing or keeping restrictions. Most recently, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer went public last week with a series of physical threats she has received for maintaining a stay-at-home order for 10 million residents. (White, 6/30)

State House News Service: Providers Urge State To Stock Up On PPE For Second Wave 
Physician groups, hospitals and nurses told senators Monday that as policy leaders prepare for a possible second wave of the coronavirus in the fall the state should be thinking about how it can play a role in ensuring personal protective equipment isn't in short supply. The health care leaders told legislators that in addition to the state developing a stockpile that could be bought into by providers if supplies run low, the state should also be thinking about securing a supply chain now to avoid the bidding wars that providers and states fought early in the pandemic. (Murphy, 6/30)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Will Take $320B Hit This Year, AHA Says
Hospitals and health systems will lose over $320 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an American Hospital Association report Tuesday. More than $200 billion in financial losses occurred from March to June. But the AHA expects hospitals to lose another $120 billion—about $20 billion per month—through year-end, mostly driven by lower patient volumes. (Brady, 6/30)

Stat: Hospitals Tap AI To Nudge Clinicians Toward End-Of-Life Conversations
The daily email that arrived in physician Samantha Wang’s inbox at 8 a.m., just before morning rounds, contained a list of names and a warning: These patients are at high risk of dying within the next year. One name that turned up again and again belonged to a man in his 40s, who had been admitted to Stanford University’s hospital the previous month with a serious viral respiratory infection. He was still much too ill to go home, but Wang was a bit surprised that the email had flagged him among her patients least likely to be alive in a year’s time. (Robbins, 7/1)

Kaiser Health News: Among Those Disrupted By COVID-19: The Nation’s Newest Doctors
July 1 is a big day in medical education. It’s traditionally the day newly minted doctors start their first year of residency. But this year is different. Getting from here to there — from medical school to residency training sites — has been complicated by the coronavirus. “We were all really freaking out,” said Dr. Christine Petrin, who just graduated from medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans and is starting a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Students “matched” — the term for finding out where they will spend their next several years training — in March, just as everything was shutting down because of the pandemic. (Rovner, 7/1)

Boston Globe: Boston Neighborhood Health Centers Complete Merger 
After a year spent clearing one regulatory hurdle after another, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center has completed its takeover of South End Community Health Center. The coronavirus pandemic has changed much in the health care world since the deal was announced in June 2019, but not the rationale for the combination: to maintain the much-smaller South End center’s ability to deliver primary care, mental health care, and other services, mostly to poor and uninsured patients. (Edelman, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: Actuaries Launch COVID-19 Healthcare Cost Predictor For Insurers
The Society of Actuaries launched a tool on Tuesday to help health insurers and state regulators predict how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect healthcare costs, as they determine premiums for 2021. The publicly available tool, funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, allows users to come up with a range of forecasts for how healthcare costs could increase amid the COVID-19 outbreak compared to a scenario in which the pandemic never happened. ... Insurers are busy filing preliminary rates for Affordable Care Act plans to be sold next year, but the companies are struggling to figure out how to incorporate the potential costs for coronavirus tests and treatment into the rates, as well as how to address deferred care that doctors and patients have put off amid the crisis. (Livingston, 6/30)

Modern Healthcare: Humana Works With LabCorp, Quest, Walmart On COVID-19 Tests
National health insurer Humana said it is making it easier for its members to get tested for COVID-19 at home or via drive-thru pharmacies. The company said it will pay for certain plan members to access LabCorp. at-home COVID-19 tests. It is also partnering with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics to offer testing at Walmart drive-thru pharmacies across the country. (Livingston, 6/30)

Detroit Free Press: Trinity Health Michigan Lays Off, Furloughs Another 1,000 Employees
A second wave of job cuts and layoffs have hit a Michigan health care system as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the economy. Layoffs and schedule reductions for 1,000 full-time workers or their equivalents will begin this week and continue through the end of July at Trinity Health Michigan, which includes the St. Joseph Mercy Health System and Mercy Health, according to a memo sent to staff Monday by President and CEO Mike Slubowski. (Shamus, 6/30)

And in news on expanding broadband services to rural health care providers --

Modern Healthcare: FCC Adds $197 Million To Rural Health Care Program Funding
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday made an additional $197.98 million in funding available for its Rural Health Care Program, which helps rural healthcare providers purchase broadband and telecommunications services. FCC officials in recent weeks have stressed the agency's commitment to supporting telemedicine access amid the coronavirus pandemic, which many have credited with spurring rapid telemedicine growth as hospitals ramped up their use of the practice to let patients receive care at home without needing to visit a facility. (Cohen, 6/30)

Stat: Inovio Claims Positive Results On Covid-19 Vaccine But Key Data Are Missing
Inovio Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said that its investigational Covid-19 vaccine had “positive” results in a small trial. But the company, which has gained more than $4 billion in value since the coronavirus pandemic began, provided none of the details necessary to determine whether the vaccine is working. (Garde and Feuerstein, 6/30)

Politico: Pharmaceutical Giant Charged With Price-Fixing In Generic Drug Probe
The Justice Department on Tuesday charged generic drug giant Glenmark Pharmaceuticals with manipulating the prices of drugs sold in the U.S., as part of a broad federal probe of price-fixing in the generics industry. The company was charged with one count of conspiracy in restraint of trade in a filing in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The complaint alleges that Glenmark and other companies raked in $200 million from the illegal scheme. (Woodruff Swan, 6/30)

NBC News: COVID-19 Helped This Small Syringe Business Boom. Then Came The Taxpayer-Backed Windfall.
The federal coronavirus response created a reversal of fortune for Retractable Technologies Inc., a small syringe manufacturing company overlooking Lewisville Lake on the northern edge of suburban Dallas. In late March, the Department of Health and Human Services began drafting an $83.8 million order for RTI to produce the lion's share of roughly 330 million needles and syringes for a future COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign. That coincided with private business brisk enough for the company to report a 41.8 percent increase in first-quarter sales compared with the same period in 2019, according to one of its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Ruhle and Allen, 6/30)

Stat: Ex-Indivior CEO Pleads Guilty In Connection To Suboxone Promotion Scheme
The former chief executive of Indivior pleaded guilty to misbranding Suboxone Film, a medicine used to treat addiction to opioids and narcotics, one year after the company was charged with engaging in a multibillion-dollar fraudulent scheme to increase prescriptions. Shaun Thaxter, who had led the company since 2009 before stepping down Monday, was charged with misrepresentations made to a state Medicaid program about the safety of the dissolvable film strip, according to court documents. (Silverman, 6/30)

Politico: Senate Agrees To Extend Small Business Rescue In Surprise Move 
The Senate in a surprising move Tuesday evening passed legislation that would keep the government's massive small business rescue program alive just as it was set to close down within hours with $130 billion left unspent. The bill approved by unanimous consent would give the Small Business Administration authority to continue approving Paycheck Protection Program loans, which can be turned into grants, until Aug. 8. To keep the loans flowing, the House would need to pass the legislation and send it to President Donald Trump for his signature. (Warmbrodt, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Senate Reaches Deal To Extend Paycheck Protection Program Hours Before It Was Set To Expire
Prospects for the legislation in the House, however, were uncertain. Both chambers are set to adjourn for a two-week recess by week’s end. The short-term agreement came together in behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) and others. (O'Connell, Werner and Gregg, 6/30)

NBC News: Generations Of Americans Are Unemployed In The COVID-19 Economy. Hear Their Stories.
When Daniel Martinez drives by the car dealership in Houston where he worked as a field service technician, his 3-year-old daughter will point to it and say, “Look, Daddy’s work.” Martinez, 28, had been earning enough money to support his wife and their daughter and was beginning to look at upgrading the family’s small apartment to a house. But he was laid off in April as coronavirus cases began to soar, and he lost his employer-provided health insurance. The dream of a new home vanished. (McCausland, 6/30)

The Washington Post: How The Coronavirus’ Spike Is Complicating Hopes Of A Full Economic Recovery 
Millions of American workers are suffering from economic whiplash, thinking they were finally returning to work only to be sent home again because of the coronavirus’s latest surge. Stores, restaurants, gyms and other businesses that reopened weeks ago are shuttering once more, and this time Congress appears less inclined to provide additional aid. Other companies that had banked on customers returning and restrictions lifting — such as hotel chains, construction firms and movie theaters — are seeing hours cut and reopening dates pushed back indefinitely as consumer demand stalls. (Rosenberg and Bhattarai, 6/30)

AP: Republicans, With Exception Of Trump, Now Push Mask-Wearing
In Republican circles — with the notable exception of the man who leads the party — the debate about masks is over: It’s time to put one on. As a surge of infections hammers the South and West, GOP officials are pushing back against the notion that masks are about politics, as President Donald Trump suggests, and telling Americans they can help save lives. (Madhani and Kellman, 7/1)

NBC News: Senate Republicans Distance Themselves From Trump On Coronavirus Masks
Senate Republicans have stood by President Donald Trump through controversy after controversy, but the rampant spread of COVID-19 is emerging as a breaking point. With rates of infection skyrocketing in states like Florida, Arizona, Texas and California, lawmakers are hurtling toward the fall elections with the ramifications of the pandemic bearing down just as voters are deciding whom to vote for in November. (Hunt, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Republican Leaders Now Say Everyone Should Wear A Mask? Even As Trump Refuses And Mocks Those Who Do 
The last Republican vice president, Richard B. Cheney, and his Wyoming congresswoman daughter, Liz, say wearing masks is manly. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says there should be no stigma associated with covering one’s face as public health experts advise, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says doing so is essential to fully reopening the economy. (Rucker and Min Kim, 6/30)

Politico: ‘It Would Just Set A Good Example’: Trump’s Allies Push Him To Embrace Masks 
Republican leaders and right-leaning media on Tuesday promoted the use of protective masks to a degree yet unseen during the coronavirus pandemic — casting them as crucial to facilitating an economic reopening while contending with President Donald Trump’s continued reluctance to cover his face in public. The new line of messaging breaks with a president who has called into question the efficacy of face coverings and contributed to their politicization across American culture. (Forgey, 6/30)

The Hill: Surgeon General Urges Widespread Mask Use: 'It Is Not A Suppression Of Your Freedom' 
Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday implored Americans, and young Americans in particular, to wear masks as lawmakers and public health officials increasingly seek to break down partisan barriers about the use of face coverings. Adams specifically sought to address arguments among some conservatives that requiring masks is an infringement on personal freedoms and civil liberties, arguing that wearing a mask will actually restore freedoms more quickly amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Samuels, 6/30)

The Hill: Donald Trump Jr: It's Not 'Too Complicated To Wear A Mask' 
Donald Trump Jr. said Tuesday that masks should be worn during the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Fla., with the president's eldest son stating the precaution is "not too complicated" to help ensure the event is carried out safely and appropriately." We're still two months out from the convention, so we have a little bit of time to get everything in order," Trump Jr. told Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday morning. "We're going to make sure that everything is done in a safe and appropriate manner." (Concha, 6/30)

In related news —

WBUR: The Other Face Mask Fight: Are They Our Very Best Defense Against Coronavirus? 
Around the country, some people are resisting the advice from public health experts to wear masks. But among researchers in Massachusetts and beyond, there's a different debate underway, about whether masks might in fact be the most effective of all the current defenses against the virus. (Goldberg, 6/30)

ABC News: Requiring Face Masks Nationwide Could Save US Economy From 5% Hit, Goldman Sachs Predicts 
A team of analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs argued that mandatory face masks nationwide could not only improve health outcomes amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, but could also save the U.S. gross domestic product from a potential 5% hit. A nationwide face coverings mandate coupled with stringent bans on large gatherings "could partially substitute for renewed lockdowns," Goldman Sachs analysts Jan Hatzius, Daan Struyven and Isabella Rosenberg wrote in their report, noting this could salvage large amounts of economic activity that would otherwise be shut down due to pandemic precautions. (Thorbecke, 6/30)

NBC News: National Mask Mandate Could Work Better Than Lockdowns, New Report Suggests
A national mask mandate could be more effective than lockdowns, and it could save the U.S. from a 5 percent hit to economic growth, according to a new report from the investment giant Goldman Sachs. "Our baseline estimate is that a national mandate could raise the percentage of people who wear masks by 15 percentage points and cut the daily growth rate of confirmed cases by 1 percentage point," Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief economist, wrote in the note to clients. (Popken, 6/30)

NBC News: 8 Common Coronavirus Mask Styles That Don't Actually Protect Against Coronavirus
Right now, scientists are racing to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of COVID-19, medical teams are working around the clock to save people's lives, and businesses are installing things like thermal scanners at entrances and plexiglass at restaurants to protect customers and employees. But even as some Americans move heaven and earth to keep us safe, many others have let their guard — and their masks — down. (Krieger, 6/30)

CNN: The Best DIY Face Mask Material And Fit? Quilting Cotton Beats Bandana, New Study Says 
Wearing face masks and coverings is recommended, or in some places mandatory, in public spaces to help stop the spread of Covid-19. But what kind of DIY face covering offers the best protection? Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have experimented with different materials and styles of non-medical masks and found that a well-fitted stitched mask made from two layers of quilting fabric was the most effective in stopping the spread of droplets from emulated coughs and sneezes. (Hunt, 7/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Under 25 And Working? Social Distancing Might Not Be Possible
In early April, Erin Payne drove to the group home in southwest Ohio where she cares for two men with serious disabilities. Normally, the 21-year-old would blare country music to keep her awake on her 40-minute commute. That day, she drove in silence. “I was absolutely terrified,” she said. She was returning to her position as a home health aide after six weeks of maternity leave, during which the coronavirus outbreak turned into a pandemic. Soon, she would be waking up her clients, dressing them, brushing their teeth, shaving them, and making their breakfast. Maintaining six feet, or even six inches, of distance would be impossible. (Chang, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Four Women On Being Pregnant In A Time Of Pandemic And Racial Turmoil 
For women who are pregnant amid a pandemic, a recession and racial turmoil, the future is an anxiety-stirring unknown. They began their pregnancies in the “other world” that promised baby showers, gender-reveal parties, visits with grandparents and browsing stores for onesies. Now, they contemplate how they would handle a novel coronavirus diagnosis, prepare to give birth while wearing a mask and fight through old traumas that the virus has triggered. (Lam, 6/30)

CIDRAP: Study Finds Lung Impairment In Recovering COVID-19 Patients 
A retrospective study of 57 adult COVID-19 patients published yesterday in Respiratory Research found significant lung impairment in the recovery phase, particularly in patients with severe disease. Researchers conducted serial assessments of patients 30 days after they were released from the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China. They found that, of the 40 non-severe and 17 severe cases, 31 patients (54.4%) still had abnormal findings on chest computed tomography (CT). The rate of abnormalities was much higher in severe (16 or 17, or 94.1%) than in mild illness (15/ 31, 37.5%). (Beusekom, 6/30)

CIDRAP: Survey Explores Trust, Self-Interest, And Teen Pandemic Practices 
A study of 770 teens' attitudes conducted in the 7 days after the United States declared a national emergency amid the COVID-19 pandemic found that 69% weren't practicing physical distancing but 89% were following the news, and 88% were disinfecting daily.  In the study, published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from Montana State University in Bozeman used social media to recruit adolescents 13 to 18 years old from Mar 20 to 22 to participate in the anonymous 31-question survey. (6/30)

CNN: After 53 Years Of Marriage, A Texas Couple Died Holding Hands From Covid-19 
Betty and Curtis Tarpley were together for most of their lives -- they went to the same high school in Illinois, met and fell in love in California as adults, got married, and raised two kids. On June 18, after 53 years as a married couple, the two died from coronavirus within an hour of each other in a Texas hospital, spending their last moments together holding hands, their son told CNN. (Williams and Ebrahimji, 6/30)

CNN: US Army Quarantines Members Of Survival Training Course After One Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
The US Army said Tuesday that it has quarantined 90 students and personnel with its Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape course at Fort Bragg in North Carolina after an individual in the course tested positive for coronavirus. The course trains military personnel in survival skills that include evading capture as well as other methods and techniques in order to escape from captivity if captured behind enemy lines. (Starr and Kelly, 6/30)

NPR: A Doctor Confronts Medical Errors — And Systemic Flaws That Create Mistakes
For more than two decades as an internist at New York City's Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Danielle Ofri has seen her share of medical errors. She warns that they are far more common than many people realize — especially as hospitals treat a rapid influx of COVID-19 patients. "I don't think we'll ever know what number, in terms of cause of death, is [due to] medical error — but it's not small," she says. (Davies, 6/30)

CNN: He Was An Athlete In The Best Shape Of His Life. Then Covid-19 Nearly Killed Him 
When Ahmad Ayyad woke up, he was delirious. He didn't realize where he was, why there was a tube down his throat, or how long it had been since he last fed his dog. And when he looked down, he couldn't recognize himself. Once a 215-pound athlete with chiseled muscles and astounding strength, the 40-year-old looked like a completely different person. (Elassar, 6/30)

Reuters: NBA To Stop Season If Virus Spreads 
Spread of the coronavirus would prompt the NBA to stop the 2019-20 season, commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday. Speaking on the TIME 100 Talks, Silver said the league is “reasonably confident” about its plan to restart the season in Orlando on the Disney World campus in July. But if the virus spreads among players and personnel in Florida, Silver said the league will have no choice but to pull the plug. (6/30)

The New York Times: Most People With Coronavirus Won’t Spread It. Why Do A Few Infect Many? 
Following a birthday party in Texas on May 30, one man reportedly infected 17 members of his family with the coronavirus. Reading reports like these, you might think of the virus as a wildfire, instantly setting off epidemics wherever it goes. But other reports tell another story altogether. (Zimmer, 6/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Apple’s Virtual Event Gives Hope For Online-Only Conferences In Covid-19 Era
The reviews are in for Apple Inc.’s first-ever online-only software conference: Virtual tech conferences can work.Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference last week became a bellwether for the potential of corporate gatherings that take place exclusively online as the coronavirus pandemic makes physical conferences impossible. Developers said they missed the serendipitous social interactions of in-person conferences, but many praised the sharp production and easier access of this year’s event, which was streamed free for eligible participants. (Choi, 6/30)

CNN: Declining Eyesight Can Be Improved By Looking At Red Light, Pilot Study Says 
It will be as easy as brushing your teeth or shaving, and as long as future studies support it, it just might save your eyesight. A few minutes of looking into a deep red light could have a dramatic effect on preventing eyesight decline as we age, according to a new study published this week in The Journals of Gerontology. (Prior, 6/30)

In airline industry news —

AP: Fauci, CDC Chief Raise Concerns About Full Airline Flights
The government’s top experts in infectious diseases on Tuesday criticized American Airlines’ decision to pack flights full while the coronavirus outbreak continues to grow across much of the United States. “Obviously that is something that is of concern. I’m not sure what went into that decision making,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate panel. “I think in the confines of an airplane that becomes even more problematic.” (Koenig and Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/1)

Politico: Airline Industry Flails Without Federal Requirements For Masks, Social Distancing 
The Trump administration’s refusal to mandate masks, social distancing or temperature checks for air travel has led to a patchwork of industry efforts and mixed messages, the latest of which was on display Tuesday as a CDC official upbraided one U.S. airline for moving toward packed planes again. Last week, American Airlines announced that it would no longer hold off on filling its planes, garnering significant criticism even though social distancing isn't mandated for airlines and would be difficult to maintain under current conditions on any plane. (Mintz and Gurciullo, 6/30)

Stateline: How COVID-19 In Jails And Prisons Threatens Nearby Communities
COVID-19 has raged throughout U.S. jails and prisons, where people live together in close quarters and there is little opportunity for social distancing, a lack of basic sanitary supplies and high rates of chronic disease. While inmates mostly stay behind concrete walls and barbed wire, those barriers can’t contain an infectious disease like COVID-19. Not only can the virus be brought into jails and prisons, but it also can leave those facilities and spread widely into surrounding communities and beyond. (Ollove,7/1)

WBUR: Exchanging COs For Clinicians, Mass. Makes Changes To Involuntary Addiction Treatment In Prison
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the prison, said that as of last month, correction officers will maintain the perimeter of the facility and clinical staff work inside. EOPSS said clinically trained, non-uniformed staff will provide supervision and deliver more hours of programming each day. (Becker, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Protests Probably Didn’t Lead To Coronavirus Spikes, But It’s Hard To Know For Sure 
When the killing of George Floyd drew tens of thousands of protesters into the streets of America’s largest cities, many of those streets had been empty for weeks. Restrictions had left family members unable to attend the funerals of relatives for fear of spreading the novel coronavirus. Shutdowns sent businesses into bankruptcy. (Janes, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Americans Are Living In A Big ‘Anger Incubator.’ Experts Have Tips For Regulating Our Rage. 
Americans are angry. The country erupted into the worst civil unrest in decades after the death of George Floyd, and anger about police violence and the country’s legacy of racism is still running high. At the same time, we’re dealing with anger provoked by the coronavirus pandemic: anger at public officials because they’ve shut down parts of society, or anger because they aren’t doing enough to curb the virus. Anger about being required to wear a mask, or anger toward people who refuse to wear a mask. Anger at anyone who doesn’t see things the “right” way. “We’re living, in effect, in a big anger incubator,” said Raymond Novaco, a psychology professor at the University of California at Irvine who has expertise in anger assessment and treatment. (Chang, 6/30)

In news on violence and police reforms from Minnesota, Massachusetts, California, New York and Mississippi —

The Washington Post: Minneapolis Undercuts The Idea That Economic Prosperity Leads To Racial Equality 
The Twin Cities once drew black families fleeing racism in the Jim Crow South, and with their combination of progressive policies and prosperity, regularly rank among the best places to live in America. Taxes, for decades, have been redistributed from wealthy suburbs to poorer communities to combat inequality — an effort bolstered in recent years by raising state income taxes on the rich. The result: more money for schools, affordable housing and social services in lower-income neighborhoods. (Jan, 6/30)

Boston Globe: House Approves Commission To Reduce Racial Inequities In Maternal Childbirth Deaths 
The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday to create a commission led by people of color to reduce or eliminate racial inequities in maternal deaths. ...The United States has the highest rate of death related to pregnancy and childbirth in the developed world, noted cosponsor Representative Kay Khan, a Newton Democrat. (Ebbert, 6/30)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Calls Restraining Order On LAPD Use Of Batons And Projectiles 'Unwarranted' 
Attorneys for Los Angeles on Tuesday argued against a temporary restraining order to block city police officers from using batons and tactical bullets to control crowds, saying the request was “unwarranted and overbroad” and that police “must be able to respond” to unlawful crowds. The Los Angeles Police Department used such weapons on protesters at the end of May and in early June, injuring many, and are now being sued for it in federal court by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Los Angeles Community Action Network. (Rector and Winton, 6/30)

ABC News: Protester Martin Gugino, Who Was Injured By Police, Released From Hospital 
The 75-year-old protester who was pushed to the ground by police officers in Buffalo, New York, has been released from the hospital almost four weeks after being injured. Martin Gugino was attending a protest outside City Hall on June 4 when he was pushed to the ground by a line of police officers clearing out the relatively empty area. He fell and hit the back of his head, fracturing his skull and putting him in the hospital for 26 days. (Osborne, 6/30)

The New York Times: Mississippi Governor Signs Law To Remove Flag With Confederate Emblem
Just a few weeks ago, as Mississippi lawmakers mobilized to take down the only state flag in the nation with the Confederate battle emblem embedded into it, Gov. Tate Reeves said the choice was not theirs to make. “It should be the people who make that decision,” Mr. Reeves told reporters then, “not some backroom deal by a bunch of politicians in Jackson.” But on Tuesday, Mr. Reeves signed into law a measure that removes the flag that has flown over the state for 126 years and been at the heart of a conflict Mississippi has grappled with for generations: how to view a legacy that traces to the Civil War. (Rojas, 6/30)

Politico: DeSantis Kills Online Learning Program Amid Virus Resurgence
With a stroke of his veto pen, Gov. Ron DeSantis wiped out the entire $29.4 million budget for a suite of online education services that have become critical to students and faculty during the Covid-19 outbreak. The move, barring action before midnight Tuesday, will kill the Complete Florida Plus Program, an array of technology systems that faculty, staff and students throughout Florida rely on, never more so than now, in the midst of a pandemic that has amplified reliance on distance learning. The cuts include a database of online courses and an online library service that provides 17 million books to 1.3 million students, faculty and staff. (Atterbury, 6/30)

Reuters: Eight States Added To New York Governor's Quarantine Order 
People arriving in New York from an additional eight states must quarantine themselves for 14 days amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered on Tuesday. The eight additional states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee, all of which are contending with growing caseloads, Cuomo said in a statement. (Allen, 6/30)

AP: Sunbelt States Rush To Line Up Hospital Beds, Not Barstools
Florida and other states across the Sunbelt are thinning out the deck chairs, turning over the barstools and rushing to line up more hospital beds as they head into the height of the summer season amid a startling surge in confirmed cases of the coronavirus. With newly reported infections running about 40,000 a day in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, warned on Tuesday that the number could rocket to 100,000 if Americans don’t start following public health recommendations. (Lush and Seewer, 6/30)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Was Moving Through NY In Early February 
A new study offers the first physical evidence that the coronavirus was circulating at low levels in New York City as early as the first week of February. The city confirmed its first infection on March 1. Mathematical models have predicted that the virus was making its way through the city weeks before then, but the new report is the first to back the conjecture with testing data. (Mandavilli, 6/30)

Boston Globe: Baker Relaxes Self-Quarantine Guidance For People Arriving From Nearby States As Mass. Reports Zero New COVID-19 Deaths 
Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday that he is relaxing the state’s self-quarantine guidance for potentially millions of out-of-state visitors, exempting people arriving from seven Northeast states that are making progress in the battle against the coronavirus. (Stout, 6/30)

WBUR: For The First Time In Months, Mass. Recorded A Day Free Of COVID-19 Deaths
For the first time in more than three months, Massachusetts health officials reported no new deaths related to COVID-19. On Tuesday, there were no new confirmed or probable coronavirus-related deaths tallied in the Department of Public Health's daily release of pandemic figures. (Scalese, 6/30)

Detroit Free Press: Gretchen Whitmer Puts The Brakes On Moving To Phase 5 Of Recovery
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, concerned by the recent uptick in coronavirus cases in Michigan, did not announce new restrictions on the economy Tuesday, but said it is possible the state may have to take that route. "I'm not announcing any change today, but we are constantly looking at the data," Whitmer said at a news conference, after announcing her plans for the resumption of in-person schooling in the fall. (Egan, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Virginia Orders Bars To Remain Closed As It Prepares To Enter Phase 3 Of Reopening 
Bar areas inside Virginia restaurants and taverns will not join the state’s next phase of reopening Wednesday, Gov. Ralph Northam said, a reversal in policy that followed Delaware’s decision to shut down recently reopened bars in beach communities. After federal officials said Tuesday that bars were the source of coronavirus outbreaks in other states across the country, Northam said people in Virginia will continue to be prohibited from congregating inside bar areas unless they are eating at high-top tables that are set at least six feet apart. (Olivo, Sullivan and Tan, 6/30)

The Hill: Colorado Governor Closes Bars Amid Rise In Virus Cases 
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced Tuesday that bars across the state will close as Colorado experiences a rise in COVID-19 cases. The governor said at a press conference that he was amending his previous executive order to give bars 48 hours to close their doors to in-person service as the state deals with a rise of cases among the younger population. (Coleman, 6/30)

Houston Chronicle: How Houston Med Students Are Helping Doctors Through The Pandemic
When 7-year old Owen McKay says, “I swim in hot weather,” his mother Dr. Sandra McKay hears so much more — like progress and perseverance in the face of a coronavirus challenge.McKay, a Missouri City resident, can tell that her son has perfected the “s” in swim and is almost as accomplished with the “th” in weather. These are milestones McKay assumed would be postponed during the pandemic, when Owen was away from his speech therapist provided through Fort Bend ISD. That is until a group of students at McGovern Medical School created the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team to find ways to help faculty during the pandemic. Their effort has made a world of difference for Owen. (Peyton, 6/30)

WBUR: 'Each Day It's More And More': Houston Hospital Makes Room For COVID-19 Surge Cases 
Hospitals in Texas are inundated by coronavirus patients. On Monday, the state reported almost 6,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19. That's a record, as cases spike following the state's reopening of bars, restaurants and stores in early May. Because of this latest surge, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently reversed the reopening, closing bars and cutting restaurant capacity. Houston Methodist Hospital — the flagship hospital of the Houston Methodist system — has enough beds, says Roberta Schwartz, who holds multiple executive positions at the hospital, including chief innovation officer. But that's because she's making room at the expense of other services. (King and Glenn, 6/30)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas County Reports Record 20 Deaths From Coronavirus, 601 New Cases; Tarrant County Adds 605 Cases
As Texas’ new coronavirus cases surged to a single-day record of 6,975 Tuesday — surpassing the previous high by nearly 1,000 cases — the trend in cities and counties across the state was echoed in North Texas.Dallas and Tarrant counties recorded daily records, with 601 and 605 cases, respectively, and the disease’s death toll in Dallas County grew by 20, the most officials here have announced on one day. (Jones and Steele, 6/30)

Dallas Morning News: Coronavirus Cases Take Big Jump In Texas Day Care Centers
Texas’ day care centers have reported a total of 950 coronavirus cases, marking an increase of 540 cases in less than two weeks. The latest count includes 643 staff members and 307 children at 668 licensed child care centers, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission reported Tuesday. (Hoyt, 6/30)

CNN: Allegheny County Covid-19 Rates Spiked After Bars And Restaurants Reopened, County Health Department Says 
Covid-19 cases have spiked in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the aftermath of the county's decision to reopen bars and restaurants, officials said. Amie Downs, the county's executive communications director, told CNN Tuesday the numbers have increased dramatically since mid-June, when bars and restaurants were permitted to reopen. The county has since closed them again to on-site consumption, but cases continue to climb. (Snyder, 6/30)

AP: Arizona Faces New Closures As Hospitals Prep For Virus Surge
Arizona hospitals are hiring out-of-state nurses, squeezing in more beds and preparing for the possibility of making life-and-death decisions about how to ration care as they get ready for an expected surge of coronavirus patients in one of the nation’s worst hot spots. Parents, teachers, businesses and their customers also are hunkering down for at least a month of new closures imposed by the state in a belated effort to slow the spread of the virus and limit overcrowding at hospitals. (Cooper and Billeaud, 7/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Emory University Experts To Call For Mandatory Masks In Georgia 
Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert, and other Emory University experts are set to hold an online press conference Wednesday morning urging government officials and business leaders to make masks mandatory. With a sense of urgency, the call for immediately requiring masks be mandatory comes as the number of coronavirus cases soars in Georgia, and days before the July 4th holiday when people often crowd together to celebrate. (Oliviero and Bluestein, 6/30)

The New York Times: ‘Who Are We For?’ How The Virus Is Testing The Identity Of Chinatown 
Hop Kee is a basement Cantonese eatery offering $9.50 shrimp lo mein. Hwa Yuan Szechuan is a three-story, white-tablecloth restaurant where the whole fish with hot bean sauce is $45. Both have long histories in Manhattan’s Chinatown, and a deep aversion to delivery apps. Hop Kee’s owner could not afford the services’ high fees. Hwa Yuan’s owner, Chen Lieh Tang, 67, said his cuisine was meant to be eaten in one place: Hwa Yuan. “I don’t want people to eat the food cold,” he said. “It’s not my style.” (Hong and Chen, 6/30)

Stat: Is There A Measured Way To Contain Covid-19, Without Full Lockdowns?
First came the freezes. Governors last month started to “press pause” on the next phases of their reopenings as Covid-19 cases picked back up. Now, in certain hot spots, they are starting to roll back some of the allowances they’d granted: no more elective medical procedures in some Texas counties. Bars, only reopened for a short time, are shuttered again in parts of California. And on Monday, Arizona’s governor ordered a new wave of gym, bar, and movie theater closures for at least the next month. (Joseph, 7/1)

NPR: Where Are Coronavirus Cases Getting Worse? Explore Risk Levels County By County 
How severe is the spread of COVID-19 in your community? If you're confused, you're not alone. Though state and local dashboards provide lots of numbers, from case counts to deaths, it's often unclear how to interpret them — and hard to compare them to other places. "There hasn't been a unified, national approach to communicating risk, says Danielle Allen, a professor and director of Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. "That's made it harder for people," she says. (Aubrey and Wroth, 7/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: In California’s Hardest-Hit County, Fear And Death Mix With Anger 
But Imperial’s situation was alarming long before its leaders came under Newsom’s scrutiny. Since the outset of the pandemic, the county’s infection rate has been about six times higher than California’s as a whole, with at least 2,835 cases per 100,000 people. Statewide, the average is 491 cases per 100,000 people. The percentage of people tested in the county who are confirmed to have the virus has soared to nearly 23%, about four times the state total. (Gardiner, 7/1)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: California Hospital Workers Mad As Cases Spike 
For a brief moment, California returned to bars, beaches and Botox. But after a few days, much of the state is reversing course as hospitals see an alarming spike in people sick with COVID-19, raising the specter of an overwhelmed medical system. “It’s scary,” said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco. “We still haven’t recovered from the first phase, and now we have to get ready for the next one.” (Chabria, Baumgaertner, Lai and Luna, 6/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF's 49% Surge In Hospitalizations Puts City On High Alert 
Among other major developments Tuesday, the state recorded 7,820 new cases — its second highest tally in a 24-hour period — and surpassed 6,000 deaths from the coronavirus; New York, New Jersey and Connecticut imposed a 14-day quarantine on anyone arriving from California; and the nation’s top infectious disease official warned the U.S. could see 100,000 new cases per day if the current upward trajectory does not change. (Ho and Koseff, 6/30)

Kaiser Health News: As Cases Spike, California Pauses Multimillion-Dollar Testing Expansion 
In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a multimillion-dollar state initiative to bring COVID-19 testing to the people and places with the least access: rural towns and disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods. California is now halting its expansion, citing costs, even as the state is getting walloped by record-setting spikes in new infections and double-digit increases in hospitalizations. (Hart and Bluth, 7/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Will ‘Tighten Things Up’ On Coronavirus Heading Into Fourth, Newsom Says
California health officials are worried about the spread of the coronavirus at family gatherings heading into the Fourth of July weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday at a news conference where he revealed plans to reinstitute more restrictions on public life this week. (Koseff, 6/30)

Los Angeles Times: California Surpasses 6,000 Coronavirus-Related Deaths 
Three months after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an unprecedented statewide stay-at-home order designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, California recorded a new grim milestone: passing the threshold of 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Tuesday’s news came one day after the state recorded its highest single-day count of COVID-19 cases. Monday’s tally of more than 8,000 infections broke the state’s daily record for the third time in eight days. (Shalby, 6/30)

Stat: Canadian Court Upholds Bulk Of Controversial Drug Pricing Rule
In a setback to the pharmaceutical industry, a federal court judge in Canada has dismissed a challenge by drug makers that contended controversial new government rules designed to regulate excessive pricing would inhibit innovation and hurt the Canadian economy. Last August, the government passed regulations for patented drugs that would base Canadian prices on those from a group of countries with lower prices than a benchmark group now used to set ceilings. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board would also review new drugs based on cost effectiveness assessments. (Silverman, 6/30)

WIRED: The CEO Of Novartis On Developing Drugs During A Pandemic 
AS CEO OF Novartis, the world’s second-largest drug company, Vas Narasimhan knows that Big Pharma is an object of love and hate. Pharmaceutical products save lives and help people manage difficult medical conditions. But the industry’s drug prices are often indefensible, and companies’ practices are sometimes questionable or worse. In the pandemic year of 2020, the stakes are even higher, as people look to Narasimhan’s industry to produce preventions or cures for the SARS-CoV-2 virus devastating the world’s health and economy. (Levy, 6/30)

The New York Times: Remdesivir, The First Coronavirus Drug, Gets A Price Tag
Remdesivir, the first drug shown to be effective against the coronavirus, will be distributed under an unusual agreement with the federal government that establishes nonnegotiable prices and prioritizes American patients, health officials announced on Monday. Remdesivir will be sold for $520 per vial, or $3,120 per treatment course, to hospitals for treatment of patients with private insurance, according to the Department of Health and Human Services and Gilead Sciences, the drug’s manufacturer. (Kolata, 6/29)

Politico: Another Drug Pricing Effort Breaks Down 
Momentum for Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley’s drug pricing measure stalled long ago amid GOP concerns — and got even more stuck as attention turned fully to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it may have fallen apart entirely amid partisan finger-pointing, leaving few options for meaningful reform before the November elections. Grassley in a Wall Street Journal op-ed claimed Democrats “left the negotiating table” on the bill, S. 2543, because their party leadership wanted to use drug prices as an election year talking point. “Perhaps they hope to pass more left-leaning legislation next year, if they win more power," Grassley wrote. (Owermohle, 6/30)

See Sen. Chuck Grassley's op-ed here:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-needs-leadership-on-prescription-prices-11593445314

The Wall Street Journal: America Needs Leadership On Prescription Prices 
Many issues that were top of mind only a few months ago have been sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic, its economic fallout, and social unrest related to police brutality and racial inequality. As a co-author of bipartisan legislation to reduce prescription drug prices, I can tell you that receding media attention is doing the American people a disservice. Congress must not let events serve as an excuse for doing nothing about drug prices. This is the time to address the crisis of health-care affordability. (Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, 6/29)

Stat: Covid-19 Vaccine Trials Must Include Black And Latinx Participants 
The development of a Covid-19 vaccine is progressing at an incredible pace, breaking down barriers to the invention, manufacture, and testing of potential vaccine candidates. The Department of Health and Human Services says it aims to have “substantial quantities of a safe and effective vaccine available for Americans by January 2021.” To achieve this goal, each of the five leading Covid-19 vaccine candidates will need to be tested in approximately 30,000 people — a total of 150,000 research participants in the next six months. This will be a massive and unprecedented undertaking. (Kathryn Stephenson and Bisola Ojikutu, 6/26)

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

The New York Times: Focus On Opening Schools, Not Bars
The way states lifted social distancing restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus sadly demonstrates our priorities. Officials let bars, restaurants and gyms open, despite warnings from public health experts that these environments pose the greatest risk for spreading the disease. Yet political leaders seem to have paid scant attention to safely reopening schools. The consequences of those backward priorities — Covid-19 rampaging through states that reopened quickly — makes it even more vital that we extensively prepare to reopen classrooms as safely as possible this fall. (Jennifer B. Nuzzo and Joshua M. Sharfstein, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: Prioritize Medical Research In Wake Of COVID-19
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that medical progress isn't important; it's profoundly important. Lives are at stake. Quality of life is at stake. Productivity is at stake. Economic and fiscal security is at stake. The impact of medical progress on achieving these imperatives does not apply only to this pandemic. (Mary Woolley and Eleanor Dehoney, 6/30)

The Wall Street Journal: An Old Vaccine May Help Against Coronavirus
The Global Virus Network is a collaboration among virology researchers and social scientists to improve pandemic preparedness and response. We know that life must go on while work on a Covid-19 vaccine continues. We believe that as people return to work, their risk of infection can be minimized by applying an old vaccine known to be a potent stimulus of the innate immune system. Whether there will be a Covid-specific vaccine is still unclear. The sequence of the Covid-19 viral genome, published in January by Chinese scientists, can identify proteins to be targeted by a vaccine. But verifying its safety and measuring the duration of its effectiveness, if any, will take at least another year. And what if the virus develops and mutates, as it is already doing? Vaccines against the common flu have been less than 50% reliable against new mutations in recent years. An innate-immunity vaccine can provide nonspecific protection against a range of viruses and become effective in hours, not weeks. (Robert C. Gallo and Daniel J. Arbes, 6/30)

WBUR: What We Can Learn From The AIDS Crisis In The Race For A COVID-19 Vaccine 
The U.S. has a multi-billion dollar initiative underway to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and its accompanying  300 million doses, before the end of 2020. The initiative is called “Operation Warp Speed” and it’s placing big bets in the form of investments. Thus far it has identified, as finalists, five companies that are developing vaccines, including four U.S.-based companies and an alliance between Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a UK-based pharma company. (Michael Caron McGuill, 6/30)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Congress Must Take Action To Keep Medicaid Healthy As States Reopen
COVID-19 has devastated communities across Pennsylvania, either through illness or loss of livelihood. These economic conditions created by the pandemic have brought on a tremendous budget shortfall in the commonwealth; in May, revenues were nearly $440 million below estimates, pushing Pennsylvania’s current revenue shortfall to $2.6 billion. These shortfalls have the potential to further harm families and communities if the federal government does not take action to shore up the programs that keep Pennsylvanians healthy.Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have formed the backbone of our public health response to the pandemic. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, using mid-range estimates, more than 1.64 million Pennsylvanians are expected to lose employer-sponsored health insurance because of COVID-19. The same study estimated that 864,000 people will become eligible for Medicaid as a result. (Antoinette Kraus, 6/30)

Stat: Hospitals Must Treat Infection Control As A Priority, Not A Profit Center 
For years, hospitals penny-pinching on infection control has been an open secret. Whether Covid-19 will puncture that pre-pandemic complacency is open question. But it’s long past time for every hospital to treat infection control as a priority, not as a profit center. (Michael L. Millenson, 7/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tragedy Of COVID-19 In Prisons Shows Need For Decarceration 
As countless Americans take to the streets in defense of Black lives and call for the transformation of policing, we must not neglect the threat that COVID-19 continues to present and the urgent need for immediate decarceration. Nine of the nation’s 10 largest outbreak hotspots are jails and prisons. Because of deep-seated racial inequities in the justice system, failure to curb the virus’ spread through corrections facilities will lead to countless and needless deaths, disproportionately of people of color — once again demonstrating the lack of value placed on their lives. (Scott Colom and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, 7/1)

Stat: Regeneron Wasn't Paying 'Kickbacks.' It Was Paying Medicare 
Last Wednesday, the Department of Justice filed suit against Regeneron for paying ” tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks” through a foundation that helps patients cover copays associated with Eylea, its macular degeneration drug. Whether or not Regeneron broke the law, the suit illuminates the stupidity, cruelty, and counterproductivity of Medicare’s insistence that patients feel financial pain in order to receive medically necessary therapies. (Peter Kolchinsky, 6/30)

Stat: Structural Racism Is Why I'm Leaving Organized Psychiatry 
The killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others are leading many Americans to reflect on structural racism in society and resolve to do things differently. They have led me to make the difficult decision to end my membership with organized psychiatry, specifically the American Psychiatric Association. (Ruth S. Shim, 7/1)

The Hill: The Courts Will Not Save Abortion Access 
A Supreme Court decision in June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo requiring Louisiana abortion providers to have admitting privileges would have been devastating. Upholding the Louisiana law would have put an enormous undue burden on abortion providers, it would have emboldened other states to follow suit with laws meant to shut down abortion clinics, and it would have made life even more difficult for people of color who already face countless hurdles to getting any reproductive care, including abortion. But make no mistake: although the court struck down the Louisiana law, it is not going to save abortion access, especially for people of color. (Ann Marie Benitez, 6/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Angela Merkel’s Viral Moment
Contrary to just-so stories in the press, the German government was behind the German public in reacting to the coronavirus. Masks and hand sanitizer disappeared from store shelves even as Berlin was still downplaying the threat and warning about anti-foreigner bigotry. Then, under pressure to break her silence, Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 10 announced that 60% to 70% of Germans should expect to be infected. Her comments traveled around the world and were a one-day story in most places, but the idea seems to have permeated her own people’s consciousness that the virus was a fact that must be accepted. This was undoubtedly helpful. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., 6/30)

The Washington Post: Americans Sacrificed To Flatten The Curve. Their Leaders Have Let Them Down.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, the goal was to “flatten the curve,” to avoid overwhelming the hospital system. With enormous effort, the nation came close. But now the curve has come undone. The chart of daily new cases in the United States looks like a ski lift, rising ever steeper. “There’s still a lot of virus,” warns Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A vaccine may still be a long way off. How do we ever get back to a semblance of normal? The road back will be even harder now than it was in March. The United States is experiencing multiple outbreaks from California to Florida that will seed more infections in the weeks and months ahead. The hope that summer’s warm weather would help, that the sacrifices made in March and April would be sufficient, that a miracle cure would arrive — all have been dashed. (6/30)

The Hill: With COVID-19, Rural Testing Deserts Should Be Our Immediate Priority 
Whether you call what’s happening across America right now the second wave of COVID-19, or an unfinished first, one thing is certain: not all communities are impacted by the virus in the same way. A community in Monroe County, Ala., for example, which has large swaths of poverty and people with pre-existing illnesses, may suffer more lasting economic damage from a COVID-19 outbreak than a similar-sized community in San Juan County, Wash., where residents’ economic security and employment is more stable. (Sema Sgaier, 6/30)

The Washington Post: This Is What Happens When We Put A Real Estate Developer In Charge Of A Pandemic
Real estate developers begin as storytellers. They drive a few stakes into an empty expanse and begin spinning a tale of winding streets and welcoming houses, of shops and schools and playgrounds, a community center, a swimming pool, a golf course. Or maybe instead of a subdivision, they tell the story of a skyscraper, an apartment complex, a retirement village. They need people to believe them. Bankers to loan the money. Governments to grant the permits and abate the taxes. Tenants to sign the leases. Buyers to take out the mortgages. As if by alchemy, the story comes true because people think it will come true. Enough belief makes the whole thing fly. Looking through the lens of President Trump’s real estate background is the only way I can begin to understand his response to the novel coronavirus, which has otherwise been as baffling as it has been feckless. (David Von Drehle, 6/30)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Should Wear A Mask For Some End-Of-Term Redemption
Donald Trump is responsible for a fair amount of badness in the 3½ years he’s served as president of the United States: Dismantling and denigrating American institutions, encouraging white supremacy, locking up immigrant children, asking a foreign government to interfere with an American election, lying five million times. And those are just a few things off the top of my head.And while it’s far too late for Trump to be absolved of those sins, he could earn himself a tiny bit of redemption at the end of his first (and, very possibly, final) term by doing just one easy thing right now that could potentially save thousands of lives.He could put on a face mask in public, and ask all Americans to do the same. (Mariel Garza, 6/30)

Dallas Morning News: Community Before Convenience: Colleyville Should Put Its Residents’ Health First
As cities start to once again implement stay-at-home orders with coronavirus cases rising worryingly, Colleyville has made a public show of refusing to enforce Tarrant County’s order requiring individuals to wear masks inside businesses and at large outdoor gatherings. In a statement, the city said it did not want to put its Police Department in “an awkward position” after learning from the district attorney’s office that violations would be difficult to prosecute. The city added, unhelpfully, that it would not actively impede Tarrant County’s enforcement efforts.This is a bad move. It feeds the false narrative that the coronavirus pandemic is no longer a serious threat and boosts the wrongheaded stubbornness of people who have been up in arms about wearing masks. It also serves as a bad model for nearby cities in a time when masking has become a pointlessly controversial issue. (7/1)

The Oklahoman: Words Worth Heeding From Fauci
Oklahoma and several other states are trying to manage an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases, a surge driven in many locales by infections among younger people who may never even know they have the disease.A new policy at the University of Oklahoma requires masks indoors; that could extend to football games this fall. On its website, the state Health Department says Oklahomans need to get tested, regardless of whether they display symptoms. “The need to follow social distancing guidelines, wear a mask, wash hands often, and adhere to instructions to quarantine and isolate remain critically important,” the department says. (7/1)

The State: You Have A Mask, Gov. McMaster — Now Make Everyone Have One
“A journey of a thousand miles,” states the Chinese proverb, “begins with one step.” South Carolinians can only hope that Gov. Henry McMaster made that one small step on the path toward overdue enlightenment with his decision to wear a face mask during a recent briefing on South Carolina’s ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We can only hope it represents the first halting forward step in McMaster’s painfully slow journey toward realizing the need to issue a statewide order requiring South Carolinians to wear face masks. We can only hope that it’s the first small step toward McMaster finally embracing the reality that he must decisively change course to bring down our state’s alarming COVID-19 rates. (6/29)