The Hill: US Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses Number Of American Service Members Who Died In World War I 
The U.S. coronavirus death toll on Tuesday surpassed the number of U.S. service members who died in World War I. As of Tuesday, the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus surpassed 116,700, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The COVID-19 fatalities is roughly 200 more than the 116,516 U.S. service members who died in World War I, according to Department of Veterans Affairs data. (Klar, 6/16)

Fortune: The Coronavirus Death Toll In The U.S. Has Officially Surpassed That Of WWI
Deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. had already topped all U.S. deaths from every war since the 1950 start of the Korean War. And deaths from COVID-19 already surpassed those from the 1968 pandemic, which claimed 100,000 lives. However the number killed by COVID-19 is still far below the 675,000 deaths from the 1918 Spanish flu. ... But a consideration of both does help convey the sheer magnitude of the virus and its devastating effect on U.S. lives. (Lambert, 6/16)

Texas Tribune: Texas Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 2,000
By the state's official count, the coronavirus pandemic has now killed 2,029 people in Texas, a toll experts agree is an undercount. It is now routine to add two or three dozen deaths to the tally every afternoon. And each day, more Texans are catching the virus that might kill them. (Platoff, 6/16)

Stat: Major Study Finds Steroid Reduces Deaths In Patients With Severe Covid-19
A cheap, readily available steroid drug reduced deaths by a third in patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in a large study, the first time a therapy has been shown to possibly improve the odds of survival with the condition in the sickest patients. Full data from the study have not been published or subjected to scientific scrutiny. But outside experts on Tuesday immediately embraced the top-line results. The drug, dexamethasone, is widely available and is used to treat conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and some cancers. (Herper, 6/16)

The New York Times: Dexamethasone Reduces Coronavirus Deaths, Scientists Say 
If the finding is borne out, the drug, a steroid called dexamethasone, would be the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients. Had doctors been using the drug to treat the sickest Covid-19 patients in Britain from the beginning of the pandemic, up to 5,000 deaths could have been prevented, the researchers estimated. In severe cases, the virus directly attacks cells lining the patient’s airways and lungs. But the infection also can prompt an overwhelming immune reaction that is just as harmful. Three-quarters of hospitalized Covid-19 patients receive some form of oxygen. (Mueller and Rabin, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Inexpensive Steroid Dexamethasone Is The First Drug To Reduce Deaths From Covid-19
British regulators speedily approved the drug for use in hospitalized patients requiring oxygen, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson trumpeted the results, declaring there was “genuine cause to celebrate a remarkable British scientific achievement and the benefits it will bring not just in this country but around the world.” (Adam, Beachum and Johnson, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Cheap Drug Is First Shown To Improve COVID-19 Survival
“Bottom line is, good news,” said the United States’ top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “This is a significant improvement in the available therapeutic options that we have.” (Marchione, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Dexamethasone Improves Survival In Severe Covid-19 Patients, Study Finds
U.S. doctors said they wanted to see more detailed data, such as patients’ ages and pre-existing medical conditions, that may have factored into the survival advantage found by the study, and to learn about any side effects experienced by subjects. Yet doctors described the findings as remarkable given the failure of other treatments to reduce deaths from the disease. The Oxford researchers said that one life was saved for every eight ventilated patients treated with the drug. Such a ratio is “unheard of,” said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California San Francisco. (Walker, 6/16)

Reuters: WHO Moves To Update COVID-19 Guidance After 'Great News' In Drug Study
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was moving to update its guidelines on treating people stricken with COVID-19 to reflect results of a clinical trial that showed a cheap, common steroid can help save critically ill patients. ... The WHO’s clinical guidance for treating patients infected with the new coronavirus is aimed at doctors and other medical professionals and seeks to use the latest data to inform clinicians on how best to tackle all phases of the disease, from screening to discharge. (6/17)

Politico: Cheap Steroid Reduces Covid-19 Deaths In Large Study
U.K. officials heralded the results, which have not yet been peer reviewed, as a breakthrough in the pandemic that has killed more than 430,000 people worldwide as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. “This is a ground-breaking development in our fight against the disease,” said the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, in a statement, adding that it is “particularly exciting as this is an inexpensive widely available medicine.” (Owermohle, 6/16)

Reuters: Show Me The Data: U.S. Doctors Skeptical Of Reported COVID Breakthrough
Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, used to fight inflammation in other diseases, reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital. British scientists announced the results and said they would work to publish full details as soon as possible. “We have been burned before, not just during the coronavirus pandemic but even pre-COVID, with exciting results that when we have access to the data are not as convincing,” said Dr. Kathryn Hibbert, director of the medical intensive care unit at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital. (Erman and Steenhuysen, 6/16)

The New York Times: Trump Hydroxychloroquine Push Secured Millions Of Likely Useless Coronavirus Pills
The Food and Drug Administration’s abrupt decision this week to revoke an emergency waiver for two malaria drugs promoted by President Trump as potential “game changers” against the coronavirus has left 66 million doses stranded in the federal stockpile — and officials do not yet know what they will do with them. The F.D.A.’s withdrawal on Monday of its “emergency use authorization” for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine did not go over well at the White House, where top aides to Mr. Trump had rushed in March to fill the federal stockpile. That included accepting a donation from the pharmaceutical giant Bayer of three million tablets from a factory in Pakistan that had not been certified by the F.D.A. as safe. (Stolberg, 6/16)

Bloomberg: Dexamethasone Anti-Inflammatory Improves Covid Survival: Study 
A low-cost, widely used anti-inflammatory drug improved survival in patients with Covid-19, the first treatment to show life-saving promise months into the pandemic. Deaths among patients who needed breathing assistance were lower over a period of four weeks when they received the 60-year-old medicine dexamethasone, University of Oxford researchers said Tuesday. The study was stopped early because of its crucial findings. (Lauerman and Gale, 6/16)

Boston Globe: Boston Experts Cautiously Welcome New Research On COVID-19 Treatment 
Experts in Boston’s medical and academic community on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the announcement by researchers in England that a cheap, widely available steroid called dexamethasone can help people survive the deadly coronavirus. The drug reduced COVID-19 deaths by up to one-third in severely ill hospitalized patients, the researchers said, promising to publish their findings soon. (Finucane, 6/16)

Stat: Trump Officials Pledge Free Covid-19 Vaccines For 'Vulnerable' Americans
The Trump administration on Tuesday pledged to provide a future Covid-19 vaccine for free to “vulnerable” Americans unable to afford it. The remarks constitute the federal government’s most concrete pledge to date about vaccine affordability, which has emerged as a sticking point in recent congressional hearings and in legislation to address the pandemic. (Facher, 6/16)

The Associated Press: US Expects Insurers To Cover COVID Vaccine Without Copays
Candidate vaccines are in early trials, and the goal — considered ambitious — is to have 300 million doses by early next year. At the White House signing of an executive order on policing, President Donald Trump predicted it could even be met before the end of this year. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health has said a vaccine by year’s end is conceivable only if everything goes right in final testing this summer. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/16)

ABC News: Gov't To Sink Billions Into A Vaccine, Prioritize Vulnerable Populations 
HHS has already promised up to $1.2 billion in support for a vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. That agreement promises at least 300 million doses of the vaccine for the United States, with clinical studies beginning this summer with approximately 30,000 U.S. volunteers. HHS also has given $456 million to Johnson & Johnson for its candidate, set to begin its first phase of clinical trials this summer, and $483 million for Moderna’s candidate vaccine, which began its first phase trail in mid March. (Flaherty, 6/16)

Meanwhile, in other news on costs related to the coronavirus —

Reuters: U.S. Health Insurers May Balk At Paying For Coronavirus Antibody Testing
U.S. health insurers may balk at covering tests that look for coronavirus antibodies in some cases, arguing that employers or the government should foot a bill expected to run into billions of dollars. Health insurers have largely escaped the economic pain wrought by the pandemic. Their profits increased as many Americans delayed more routine and expensive medical care during the recent lockdown period, while the total cost of covering COVID-19 patients has been less than expected in many regions with low case numbers. (Humer, 6/16)

ProPublica: 'Fast-Tracking' A Coronavirus Vaccine Sounds Great. It’s Not That Simple.
Pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with the most ambitious timelines ever attempted in history. When announcing Operation Warp Speed, the government’s effort to develop a vaccine, President Donald Trump said in May, “We’re looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before. ”Vaccine development under normal circumstances typically takes about 10 to 15 years. Now, developers are compressing the traditional timeline with both technological innovation and by putting vast amounts of money at risk. (Chen, 6/17)

ProPublica: How — And When — Can The Coronavirus Vaccine Become A Reality?
It’s been six months since researchers in China said they had identified a novel coronavirus spreading in the city of Wuhan. Hope and desire for a vaccine to end the global devastation is growing with each passing week. Almost every day, I hear people making plans around the eventual arrival of a coronavirus vaccine — office reopenings, rescheduled weddings, family reunions and international travel. In recent weeks, colleagues and friends have asked me with growing urgency: “When will we have a vaccine? Will it be any good?” (Chen, 6/17)

Reuters: U.S. Narrowing Support To Seven COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates, Expects Them To Be Free For Many
The Trump administration aims to narrow its financial support to about seven experimental coronavirus vaccines from the 14 it has been working with so far, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Tuesday. U.S. government officials also said that they expect many Americans to get an approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19 at no charge once it begins distribution, potentially in January. (6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Are Hunting For Vital Equipment: Glass Vials
Frantic efforts to bring coronavirus vaccines to the world are facing a maddening bottleneck: the small glass vials that hold the shots. Drugmakers in the U.S., Europe, China, and elsewhere are pushing ahead to test and manufacture vaccines against the new coronavirus, hoping to distribute billions of shots once they have proven to work safely. Yet hampering the ramp-up, industry officials said, is a shortage of vials and the special glass they are made from. (Hopkins and Hinshaw, 6/16)

Reuters: China's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Human Trials, CNBG Says
China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said on Tuesday its experimental coronavirus vaccine has triggered antibodies in clinical trials and the company plans late-stage human trials in foreign countries. No vaccines have been solidly proven to be able to effectively protect people from the virus that has killed more than 400,000 people, while multiple candidates are in various stages of development globally. (6/16)

The Associated Press: Trump Signs Order On Police Reform, Doesn't Mention Racism
Following weeks of national protests since the death of George Floyd, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he said would encourage better police practices. But he made no mention of the roiling national debate over racism spawned by police killings of black men and women. Trump met privately with the families of several black Americans killed in interactions with police before his Rose Garden signing ceremony and said he grieved for the lives lost and families devastated. (Colvin, Mascaro and Miller, 6/17)

The Associated Press: A Look At Trump's Executive Order On Police Procedures
The executive order would give police departments a financial incentive to adopt best practices and encourage programs in which social workers join police when they respond to nonviolent calls involving mental health, addiction and homeless issues. The president’s executive order also requires the attorney general to create a database tracking terminations, criminal convictions and civil judgments against law enforcement officers for excessive use-of-force. It encourages participation by providing certain grants only to those agencies that submit the required information. (6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Prods Police With Executive Order
Though not a mandate, officials said the credentialing process and other steps would push police departments to innovate in order to obtain discretionary federal grant money. Democrats said that was insufficient. “Unfortunately, this executive order will not deliver the comprehensive meaningful change and accountability in our nation’s police departments that Americans are demanding,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). He said that Mr. Trump needs to commit to backing legislation that makes it easier to hold police officers accountable for abuses. (Leary and Peterson, 6/16)

NPR: Trump, Hailing Law Enforcement, Signs Executive Order Calling For Police Reform
The order also calls for police departments to ban the use of chokeholds except when an officer feels his or her life is endangered. It wasn't immediately clear what practical effect that might have given questions about Trump's powers over what is mostly state and local authority for law enforcement and the shortcomings in the history of attempts to ban neck restraints. (Kelly and Naylor, 6/16)

Reuters: Trump Signs Order On Police Reform After Weeks Of Protests About Racial Injustice
In his public comments and on Twitter, Trump has called for crackdowns on protesters and emphasized a forceful and militarized response to the social unrest sparked by the death of Floyd and others. Despite issuing a call for unity, he used his Rose Garden address on Tuesday to criticize former President Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, for his record on police reforms. Opinion polls show widespread concerns among Americans about police brutality. (Mason, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Trump Signs Order On Policing, But Democrats And Activists Say It Falls Far Short Of What Is Needed
Trump said he had met ahead of the ceremony with the families of black people killed by police — including Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, Jemel Roberson and others — but they did not join him for his remarks. “I can never imagine your pain or the depth of your anguish, but I can promise to fight for justice for all of our people,” Trump said, before pivoting to a defense of law enforcement organizations whose tactics have prompted calls from Black Lives Matter and other activists to “defund the police” by reallocating public money to social programs. (Nakamura, Sonmez and DeBonis, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: Trump, Senate Wrestle With Tragic Killings Of Botham Jean And Other Texans Shot By White Police
A litany of Texas police shootings fueled the national conversation on race and law enforcement on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump cited several Dallas-area tragedies and senators heard details on even more such incidents. (Gillman, 6/16)

The Washington Post Fact Check: Trump’s False Claim That Obama ‘Never Even Tried To Fix’ Police Brutality
Okay, we know that President Trump detests his predecessor, Barack Obama. Just in recent months, while battling the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has falsely accused Obama of mishandling the swine flu epidemic; leaving “empty” the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository of emergency medicines and supplies; and providing “old tests” for a disease that had not even emerged yet. (Kessler, 6/17)

The Associated Press: Senate GOP To Propose Policing Changes In 'Justice Act'
Senate Republicans are proposing changes to police procedures and accountability with an enhanced use-of-force database, restrictions on chokeholds and new commissions to study law enforcement and race, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press. The JUSTICE Act — Just and Unifying Solutions To Invigorate Communities Everywhere Act of 2020 — is the most ambitious GOP policing proposal in years, a direct response to the massive public protests over the death of George Floyd and other black Americans. (Mascaro and Mustian, 6/17)

Politico: GOP Reform Bill To Require Disclosure On Use Of Force, Encourage Chokehold Bans
The Senate GOP police reform bill will require more disclosure about the use of force, require reporting on no-knock warrants and provide incentives for chokehold bans, according to two sources and a copy of the bill text obtained by POLITICO. The bill, set to be introduced Wednesday by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), comes as the country faces a reckoning over police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he plans to hold an initial procedural vote on the measure, but timing remains uncertain. (Levine, 6/16)

Politico: House And Senate Set For Clash On Police Reform
And with protests over racial injustice and police brutality still gripping dozens of cities, both parties have moved aggressively to present some kind of legislative framework to address long-ignored problems in policing. But there’s also been little incentive for the two parties to broker a compromise as they each look to lay down their respective markers on reform. “Truth be told, if these conversations had started in the very beginning, I think my answer would be much more affirmative,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who has privately discussed the legislation with several Republicans, said in an interview. “My unfortunate belief is that absent collaboration from the very beginning, it makes it incredibly difficult.” (Caygle, Ferris and Desiderio, 6/16)

NPR: Police Use Of Force Hearing In Senate Judiciary
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held its first hearing on policing since the May 25 death of George Floyd — a black man who was killed in custody by Minneapolis police — triggered a wave of protests and international outcry for reform of the U.S. police system. (Grisales and Wise, 6/16)

Politico: How ‘Defund The Police’ Went From Moonshot To Mainstream
To many watching the historic protests against racism and police brutality unfold across the country, it was a call that came out of nowhere: Defund the Police. Yet hours after the first videos of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer went viral online, those three words became the rallying cry of a movement that had suddenly won America’s undivided attention. (King, 6/17)

Politico: Poll: Voters Oppose 'Defund The Police' But Back Major Reforms
Most voters believe police departments need to be seriously overhauled but don’t back the “Defund the Police” movement, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted after weeks of protests against racial injustice and police brutality. In the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, a combined 59 percent say police departments across the country need either a complete overhaul (22 percent) or major reforms (37 percent). Just over 1-in-4, 27 percent, say police departments need a minor overhaul, and only 5 percent think they don’t need any reforms at all. (6/17)

The Associated Press: Calls For De-Escalation Training Grow After Atlanta Shooting
The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta in the span of less than three weeks have led to a push in the U.S. for more training of police officers in how to de-escalate tense situations before they explode in violence. “You’ve got to get cops to understand that it’s not a cowardly act, that backing off could save this person’s life,” said Tom Manger, a retired police chief in Virginia and Maryland and former president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. (Brumback and Rico, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Proposal Would Use Social Workers, Not LAPD, For Some Calls
Unarmed social workers instead of police would respond to nonviolent calls for service under a proposal Tuesday from several City Council members following nationwide calls for law enforcement reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. A motion signed by six of the council’s 15 members would use teams of trained city, county and community-based professionals, such as homeless outreach workers, to handle certain emergency situations, such as mental health crises and substance abuse calls. (6/16)

Los Angeles Times: LA Council Want Specialists, Not LAPD, For Some Calls
A motion submitted by City Council members Nury Martinez, Herb Wesson, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Bob Blumenfield asks city departments to work with the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to develop a model that diverts nonviolent calls for service away from the LAPD and to “appropriate non-law enforcement agencies.” The LAPD now has a “greater role in dealing with homelessness, mental health and even COVID-19-related responses” the motion states, blaming budget cuts to social service programs for the city’s increased reliance on police officers. (Smith, 6/16)

Politico: Garcetti Embraces More Limited Role For LAPD, Backs Away From DA Lacey
As advocates clamor for more police accountability, [LA Mayor Eric] Garcetti endorsed a proposal from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to decertify police officers who have committed serious misconduct and advocated having independent prosecutors investigate police shootings rather than having district attorneys do the investigations. Growing attention to police reform has put a spotlight on the role of elected prosecutors, and Los Angeles is hosting the most important district attorney race in the country. (White and Marinucci, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: Activists, Students Rally, Call For End To L.A. School Police
Hundreds of students, parents and community members gathered in front of a downtown L.A. high school Tuesday, calling for the elimination of the Los Angeles School Police Department, a force of about 470 officers and civilians. The rally and march began at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, just west of downtown, and ended at the nearby school district headquarters during an L.A. Board of Education meeting. The future of school policing,however, was not on the posted agenda of the closed-door session. (Kohli and Blume, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Richmond Police Chief William Smith Ousted After Days Of Protests
Mayor Levar Stoney said he had requested and accepted the resignation of Police Chief William Smith after two nights of tense demonstrations that involved chemical gas and rubber bullets outside the city's police headquarters. Those standoffs marked a violent deterioration in relations between police and the community, which had already been strained by more than two weeks of protests sparked by national outrage over police brutality against African Americans. (Schneider and Vozzela, 6/16)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Session Reboot Opens With New Call For Hate-Crimes Law
With protesters outside and inside the Capitol demanding change, the Georgia General Assembly reopened for business Monday amid bipartisan calls to pass hate-crimes legislation. The rebooting of the 2020 session, which was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, came during protests over the recent killing of African Americans, including unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, shot by a white man who chased him down, and the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks on Friday night in the parking lot of an Atlanta fast-food restaurant. (Salzer and Niesse, 6/15)

Stateline: Police Ties To Ring Home Surveillance Comes Under Scrutiny 
Amid nationwide protests against police abuses against black people, some civil liberties advocates are calling for Amazon to stop its partnerships with law enforcement agencies through its Ring home surveillance cameras. “These camera registries will only serve to exacerbate existing forms of discrimination that are rampant within policing and the criminal justice system,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, a civil rights advocacy nonprofit focused on technology. (Van Ness, 6/17)

The New York Times: Trump And De Blasio, Political Opposites, Have Similar Flaws And Challenges
During the social unrest and racial awakening of the 1960s and ’70s, the mayor of New York, John V. Lindsay, coined a memorable phrase about his chosen occupation: “the second toughest job in America.” This wasn’t self-indulgence on Lindsay’s part; the complexities of leading New York have sometimes rivaled the challenges of the presidency. It would follow, then, that during this moment when New York is so central to the crises afflicting the country — as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and convulsing with protests related to its long, troubled history of racism in policing — that the president, a New Yorker himself, and the mayor would rise as their predecessors did to lead the country in times of shared despair. (Peters, 6/17)

Bloomberg: Cisco Spending $500 Million On Covid-19 Relief, Anti-Racism 
Cisco Systems Inc. said it’s put more money into efforts to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and now is directing some of its contributions to help tackle systemic racism. The biggest maker of computer networking gear and one of the most cash-rich companies in technology is using part of its Cisco Live technology conference to address the role of companies in tackling social issues. It had previously announced spending $50 million on helping homeless people in Silicon Valley and a further $225 on fighting the effects of the virus. The commitment has now been increased to half a billion dollars, the San Jose, California-based company said Tuesday. (King, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Fixing The Disparity In How Black And White Troops Are Punished Will Take Training, Military Leaders Say
Disparities in how white U.S. troops and service members of color are treated in the military justice system have persisted for years and new efforts are needed to understand racial bias and its consequences, senior officers told a congressional panel Tuesday. The officers, all military lawyers, acknowledged years of data showing that black service members have faced investigations, courts-martial and other forms of discipline more frequently than white service members in a system in which commanders have the power to decide how to prosecute. (Lamothe, 6/16)

WBUR: 'Stay Focused': Rep. James Clyburn Warns Against Undercutting The Movement For Racial Justice
Rep. James Clyburn says he agrees with calls to defund law enforcement but warns against allowing “sloganeering” to undercut the movement for racial justice. On CNN this week, Clyburn said “nobody is going to defund the police,” while advocates are calling for municipalities to reinvest money from large police budgets into schools, housing, mental health and other areas. (Hobson, 6/16)

Bangor Daily News: State Investigating Portland Jail’s Use Of Pepper Spray Against 2 Inmates With Mental Illness 
The state is reviewing whether Cumberland County Jail guards used excessive force last year when they pepper sprayed two inmates in the throes of psychosis and then allegedly failed to provide them with enough medical care before bringing them to a psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment. In one case, staff at the Portland jail filled a man’s cell with pepper spray to handcuff him. He had grown violent and wasn’t following officers’ commands as they tried to restrain him to drive him to the hospital. (Ferguson, 6/16)

WBUR: 'It’s A Risk We Have To Take': Protesters Make Efforts To Reduce The Threat Of Coronavirus 
Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a wave of demonstrations against racism and police brutality has brought crowds together across the country in some of the largest gatherings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. At events in Boston, Worcester and other cities, protesters packed the streets, sometimes numbering in the thousands, and law enforcement officers stood shoulder to shoulder in tight formations. (Chen, 6/16)

The New York Times: Trump's Rally In Tulsa Could Spread Virus
Officials in Tulsa, Okla., are warning that President Trump’s planned campaign rally on Saturday — his first in over three months — is likely to worsen an already troubling spike in coronavirus infections and could become a disastrous “super spreader.” They are pleading with the Trump campaign to cancel the event, slated for a 20,000-person indoor arena — or at least move it outdoors. “It’s the perfect storm of potential over-the-top disease transmission,” said Bruce Dart, the executive director of the Tulsa health department. “It’s a perfect storm that we can’t afford to have.” (Weiland, 6/16)

NPR: Trump Rally In Oklahoma On Saturday: What To Know
Acknowledging the concern, the campaign is taking precautions. "We are doing temperature checks. You have not seen those at protests, where there are mass gatherings of individuals," said Perrine, comparing rally plans to the protests for racial justice in cities and towns across the country in recent weeks. "We are providing masks — again not something you have seen at protests. But we are providing those to make sure individuals feel comfortable at a rally. And we are providing hand sanitizer. We are taking necessary steps." (Keith, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Judge Denies Oklahoma Residents’ Bid To Block Trump’s Rally Because Of Coronavirus Fears
A Tulsa judge on Tuesday denied an effort by city residents and business owners to block President Trump from holding an indoor campaign rally this weekend that some fear could further the spread of the coronavirus. The lawsuit in the district court of Tulsa County sought a temporary injunction against the company that manages the 19,000-seat venue, the BOK Center, “to protect against a substantial, imminent, and deadly risk to the community,” according to a copy of the complaint. Judge Rebecca Nightingale denied the request. (Brown, Gowen and Partlow, 6/16)

Politico: Judge Denies Injunction On Tulsa Trump Rally Over Social-Distancing Guidelines
The plaintiffs asked an Oklahoma court to impose social-distancing requirements for the rally, including the mandatory use of face masks, or else bar the rally until organizers agreed to implement them. But the plaintiffs were notified by phone later in the day that the judge denied their request for an injunction, according to court records. Oklahoma currently leaves social-distancing guidelines at the discretion of business owners. Sporting venues have been permitted to reopen since May 1. Coronavirus cases have been rising in Tulsa since the beginning of the month, when some lockdown restrictions were lifted. (Choi, 6/16)

The Hill: Judge Denies Request To Stop Trump Rally Due To Coronavirus Concerns 
The plaintiffs had specifically sought to block the event based on Oklahoma’s public nuisance laws and had sought assurances that the event would implement “mandatory use of face masks and social distancing rules for all guests and employees, as recommended by the state, local and federal authorities, and by every credible and qualified medical expert who has studied the issue.” (Axelrod, 6/16)

CNN: Judge Denies Emergency Request To Stop Trump's Tulsa Campaign Rally Due To Coronavirus Fears 
A judge on Tuesday denied an emergency motion to stop President Donald Trump's campaign rally in The rally would be Trump's first major campaign event since the coronavirus pandemic shut down most of American life, and officials are expecting hundreds of thousands of supporters to attempt to attend. The Bank of Oklahoma Center holds about 20,000 people but the Trump campaign has claimed that more than 1 million individuals have made an online RSVP to attend, though it's dubious how many actually plan on doing so. (Holmes and Nobles, 6/17)

The Associated Press: White House Steps Up Effort To Downplay Coronavirus Concerns
President Donald Trump has long been fond of crafting his own version of the facts. But when he said “if we stop testing right now we’d have very few cases” of coronavirus, he may have written a new line of attack for critics who question his commitment to following the science. His statement overlooks other important measures of the ongoing coronavirus threat, including hospitalizations and deaths. (Madhani and Stobbe, 6/16)

Meanwhile, The Washington Post fact checks Trump's statements on an HIV vaccine —

The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump On An AIDS Vaccine That Doesn't Exist
Seizing on a medical milestone that doesn’t exist, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he thinks the same scientific expertise that produced a vaccine for AIDS can deliver one soon for COVID-19, too. There is no vaccine for AIDS. Trump also accused the previous administration of making no effort to stop abusive policing, ignoring a conspicuous drive by President Barack Obama to do just that. (Woodward and Yen, 6/17)

The Associated Press: Federal Judge Says Alabama Can't Forbid Curbside Voting
A federal judge said Alabama cannot prohibit local officials from offering curbside voting during the COVID-19 pandemic and loosened restrictions on absentee ballots in three Alabama counties because of the health risk to voters. U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon entered the preliminary injunction Monday evening. Kallon ruled that the potential health risks to older and medically vulnerable voters in going to the polls, or getting absentee ballots witnessed or notarized, merited the changes. (Chandler, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Candidates Sue To Change Ballot Signature Rule Amid Pandemic
Several candidates for legislative office in Rhode Island filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the rule requiring the in-person collection of signatures to get on the ballot, saying its putting them at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit filed in federal court by the ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorney Armando Batastini seeks to suspend the ballot qualification process for the 2020 election cycle and put in place other methods, like electronic signatures. (6/16)

The Associated Press: Facebook Aims To Help Voters, But Won't Block Trump Misinfo
Facebook is launching a widespread effort to boost U.S. voter turnout and provide authoritative information about voting — just as it doubles down on its policy allowing politicians like President Donald Trump to post false information on the same subject. The social media giant is launching a “Voting Information Center” on Facebook and Instagram that will include details on registering to vote, polling places and voting by mail. It will draw the information from state election officials and local election authorities. (Ortutay, 6/17)

ABC News: Social Media Platforms Are Profiting From COVID-19 Misinformation: Nancy Pelosi 
Social media platforms have exploited the health of their users by profiting from insidious COVID-19 misinformation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. Pelosi said there was strong bipartisan support to “get tough on platforms” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Sanz, 6/16)

CNN: Pence Tries To Declare Coronavirus Over As Trump Pushes Reopening And Campaigning 
Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the administration's coronavirus task force, is publicly painting a rosy picture of the pandemic through his words and actions amid President Donald Trump's push to reopen the country and resume campaigning. But despite the administration's efforts to declare the pandemic over, 18 states are currently experiencing an increase in cases. And health officials have implored Americans to heed task force guidelines -- including wearing a mask and social distancing -- to slow the spread, and a key model used by the White House is now projecting more than 200,000 deaths by October. (Klein, 6/16)

The Hill: Pence: Panic Over Second Coronavirus Wave 'Overblown' 
Vice President Pence on Tuesday blamed the media for stoking concerns of a "second wave" of coronavirus in the United States, insisting in an op-ed that the Trump administration's response has been successful even as infections are climbing in several states. The vice president, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that panic over a rebound in coronavirus cases is "overblown" while touting the administration's handling of the pandemic. (Samuels, 6/16)

The Hill: New Battle Emerges Over COVID-19 Tests 
President Trump and Vice President Pence, aided by GOP governors, argue the surge is due to increased testing. “If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” Trump, who has been eager to open up the country given the calamitous effects that coronavirus-fueled lockdowns have had on the economy, said on Monday. (Weixel, 6/16)

The Hill: Warren Slams Pence's Coronavirus Remarks: As 'Pathetic' As They Are 'Reckless' 
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted Vice President Pence on Tuesday evening after he played down fears of a "second wave" of the novel coronavirus, calling his remarks “pathetic” and “reckless.” “So that’s it, @VP Pence? You’re just going to close your eyes, plug your ears, & pat yourself on the back for the public health catastrophe under your watch? This is as pathetic as it is reckless,” Warren tweeted. (Budryk, 6/16)

To read Pence's editorial: There Isn’t A Coronavirus ‘Second Wave’

The Wall Street Journal: HHS Resumes Central Role In Pandemic Response Oversight
The Department of Health and Human Services is taking on more oversight of the nation’s coronavirus response as cases in some states climb, an abrupt shift from April when the agency was under fire for its handling of the initial stages of the crisis. The shift is happening in part because the president and his aides are prioritizing reopening and other economic issues they believe will play to the president’s conservative base ahead of the election, according to people familiar with the planning. The move predated the nationwide protests following the killing of a black man in Minneapolis police custody. (Armour, 6/16)

The Hill: Fauci On Coronavirus Infections: 'We're Still In A First Wave' 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning that the United States has to yet get through the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. “People keep talking about a second wave,” Fauci said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “We’re still in a first wave.” (Wise, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Fauci Warns Of Coronavirus Resurgence If States Don’t Adhere To Safety Guidelines
Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert, warned the nation risks a resurgence of coronavirus infections should states fail to remain vigilant as they reopen their economies. “When I look at the TV and I see pictures of people congregating at bars when the location they are indicates they shouldn’t be doing that, that’s very risky,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview Tuesday. “People keep talking about a second wave,” he added. “We’re still in a first wave.” (Armour, 6/16)

Boston Globe: Trump Downplays Rising Coronavirus Cases As Fauci Warns ‘We’re Still In The First Wave’ 
The nation’s top infectious disease expert is warning that that the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic is not over as new cases spike in parts of the country — a sobering message that comes despite President Trump’s efforts to downplay the ongoing threat. The sunny predictions and, in some cases, misleading claims emanating from the White House attempt to paint a picture of a nation in recovery ahead of a Trump campaign rally planned for Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday, his first since early March as he seeks a symbolic return to normalcy and a reset for his presidential campaign as his poll numbers falter. (Bidgood, 6/16)

And in other news, a look at how the country should better prepare for the next crisis —

The Washington Post: To Prepare For The Next Pandemic, The U.S. Needs To Change Its National Security Priorities
On Oct. 8, 2001 — 27 days after terrorists crashed airliners into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania — President George W. Bush signed an order establishing a new Office of Homeland Security, paving the way to the biggest reorganization of the federal government since the years immediately after World War II, when Congress established the Defense Department, the CIA and the National Security Council. (Harris and Ryan, 6/16)

Politico: What Colorado Is Getting Right About Reopening
Colorado was the first Democratic-run state to reopen from a coronavirus lockdown, and so far it has avoided the fresh spikes in infection rippling across the West. Its measured approach could be a lesson for the country on how to reopen effectively. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis stood out because he embarked on a slow and methodical economic recovery in late April — even before the White House’s stay-at-home guidelines expired. Polis limited when restaurants and other businesses could reopen, at first only allowing curbside pickups at stores, imposing strict social distancing on salons and other personal services and prohibiting gatherings over 10 people. (Goldberg, 6/16)

Reuters: Record Spike In New Coronavirus Cases Reported In Six U.S. States As Reopening Accelerates
New coronavirus infections hit record highs in six U.S. states on Tuesday, marking a rising tide of cases for a second consecutive week as most states moved forward with reopening their economies. Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas all reported record increases in new cases on Tuesday after recording all-time highs last week. Nevada also reported its highest single-day tally of new cases on Tuesday, up from a previous high on May 23. Hospitalizations are also rising or at record highs. (Shumaker and O'Brien, 6/16)

Stat: Rising Covid-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Underscore The Long Road Ahead
The U.S. is now confronting what public health experts have been warning about but many in the public had not absorbed: the coronavirus pandemic will be with us for many months, and lapses in vigilance will lead to more sickness and death. The country as a whole is tacking on about 20,000 new Covid-19 cases to its 2.1 million infection tally each day, a clip that’s been steady for weeks, according to STAT’s Covid-19 Tracker. But cases are surging in about half of states, some of which dodged major outbreaks in the spring as the Northeast and other pockets like New Orleans became inundated. (Joseph, 6/17)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Florida, Arizona And Texas Report Record Number Of Daily Covid-19 Cases This Week
Loosening restrictions and increasing public gatherings may make it seem as though the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but just this week Florida, Texas and Arizona set daily records for new cases. The states are among 18 across the nation seeing increasing trends in new cases from one week to the next. More than 2 million people in the US have been infected with coronavirus and 116,962 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health experts are warning that more infections and deaths are in store as states continue their reopening plans. (Holcombe, 6/17)

NPR: Florida Officials Spar Over Rising COVID-19 Cases
In Florida, where there's a surge of new COVID-19 cases, officials are divided over what to do about it. The state saw 2,783 new cases Tuesday. It was the third time in a week that Florida set a new daily record. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican officials, including President Trump, say the rising number of new cases was expected and is mostly the result of increased testing. Florida is now testing more than 200,000 people a week, more than double the number tested weekly in mid-May. (Allen, 6/16)

CNN: 16 Friends Test Positive For Coronavirus After An Outing At A Florida Bar 
A group of 16 friends all tested positive for coronavirus after a night out at a recently reopened Florida bar. Three members of the group, who spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo Tuesday, said they want to remind the public that the pandemic is not over yet. "We want to raise awareness and get ahead of it," Kat Layton told Cuomo. "We want to tell people it's really not ready for what we thought it was ready for, it's too soon." (Holcombe, 6/17)

The Associated Press: As Florida Test Numbers Rise, The NBA Prepares For Disney
The rate of positive coronavirus tests in the Orlando, Florida, area has been soaring in recent days. The NBA hopes that doesn’t matter. After spending weeks on putting together an incredibly elaborate series of health and safety protocols — the word “testing” appears 282 times in the document — the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association believe they have done what is necessary to keep the 22 teams and others who will be part of the season restart at the Disney campus near Orlando next month safe and healthy. (Reynolds, 6/17)

The Associated Press: Arizona Sees Nearly 2,400 New Virus Cases, A Daily High
The number of new coronavirus cases in Arizona has hit an alarming new daily high of nearly 2,400 — almost double the previous record, health officials said Tuesday. The state Department of Health Services reported 2,392 new cases and 25 additional deaths. Hospital intensive care units were hovering around 80% capacity with 1,307 people with the virus as of Monday. (6/16)

The New York Times: Arizona Wildfires Force Hundreds To Evacuate As Coronavirus Cases Surge
Wildfires across Arizona have forced hundreds to evacuate their homes, fleeing blazes — including one that has already consumed over 100 square miles — as the state grapples with a spike in confirmed coronavirus infections. The Bush Fire, around 30 miles northeast of Phoenix, has burned over 64,000 acres since Saturday, according to fire officials. Firefighters will have to battle winds that are expected to reach 20 to 30 miles per hour as well as dry summer heat, with temperatures above 100 in places, said Dee Hines, a fire agency spokesman. (Pietsch, 6/16)

NPR: Texas Governor Says 'No Reason Today To Be Alarmed' As Coronavirus Cases Set Record
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday the state's highest-ever number of new COVID-19 cases: 2,622. He also reported a second record high: 2,518 people hospitalized with the virus in Texas, up from 2,326 a day earlier. Despite the concerning uptick in people sick with the virus, Abbott said that the reason for his news conference was to let Texans know about the "abundant" hospital capacity for treating people with COVID-19. (Wamsley, 6/16)

ABC News: 'No Reason To Be Alarmed' Says Governor As Texas Sets Records For New COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations 
Tuesday also marked the sixth straight day of hospitalization increases, and the fifth day of record-setting ones, starting with 2,166 on June 12. At a news briefing on Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said the rising number of hospitalizations "does raise concerns," but that "there is no reason right now to be alarmed." (Deliso, 6/16)

Bloomberg: Texas Confronts Surge In Hospitalizations After Reopening 
Abbott reassured residents that hospitals in the second-most-populous state have ample capacity, but he said some bar patrons are putting themselves at risk by failing to observe social distancing. And he rebuffed local officials seeking permission to reimpose lockdowns or other restrictions amid the resurgent pandemic. County leaders and mayors in the biggest metropolitan areas have warned that Abbott’s phased reopening of the Texas economy that began seven weeks ago has been too swift and sweeping, and bristled at his executive orders superseding local crackdowns. (Carroll and Levin, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas County Reports 306 New Coronavirus Cases And 8 Deaths As Hospitalizations, ER Visits Rise
Dallas County reported 306 new coronavirus cases and eight deaths Tuesday, as hospitalizations and emergency-room visits for COVID-19 symptoms increased. Seven of the victims were Dallas residents: a man in his 30s, a woman in her 40s, two men in their 60s, a woman in her 70s and two women in their 90s who were residents of long-term care facilities. The other victim was a Hutchins man in his 40s. All eight had underlying high-risk health conditions. (Jones, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Church Tied To Oregon's Largest Coronavirus Outbreak
A church in rural northeastern Oregon is now the epicenter of the state’s largest coronavirus outbreak, as 236 people tested positive for the disease, authorities said Tuesday. The outbreak also led to Oregon’s second consecutive record-setting daily case count. “I think generally we are seeing increasing numbers, which is what we expected with reopening,” said Thomas Jeanne, the deputy state health officer and deputy state epidemiologist. (Cline, 6/16)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Coronavirus Cases On The Rise Again In Georgia
Georgia’s reported coronavirus cases rose in each of the past two weeks, and clusters of counties across the state have experienced spikes in new cases, state data shows. The jump in confirmed infections comes amid broader testing for the virus and as the state loosens restrictions on movement and businesses. (Trubey, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Some Long-Term Care Centers Will Allow Outdoor Visits Soon
Some long-term care centers in New Hampshire that meet state and federal criteria should be able to allow outdoor visits as soon as this weekend, the state’s health and human services commissioner said Tuesday. Centers need to submit a plan to health officials that would include designated sites for visits, such as a courtyard or porch, Commissioner Lori Shibinette said at a news conference. Appointments would be limited to two visitors per resident, and both must be over age 12. (McCormack, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: As U.S. Nursing-Home Deaths Reach 50,000, States Ease Lockdowns
Nursing homes and other senior-care facilities have started to allow more visits after a monthslong lockdown to protect vulnerable residents from coronavirus infections, even as the pandemic’s death toll tied to such places surpasses 50,000. A Wall Street Journal tally of state data compiling fatalities from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, underscores the virus’s heavy cost to those living in long-term-care facilities. Deaths among senior-care center staff and residents appear to represent at least 40% of the overall count of more than 116,000 U.S. fatalities related to Covid-19 as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Kamp and Wilde Mathews, 6/16)

CIDRAP: Nursing Homes Might Account For 40% Of US COVID-19 Deaths
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities continue to be a major source of US COVID-19 cases, with a new analysis from the Wall Street Journal showing that the fatality count in nursing homes has topped 50,000, about 43% of the 116,700 deaths tracked in the country. The Wall Street Journal's analysis found that cases in nursing homes stand at 250,000, a likely undercount as not all states have reported nursing home cases uniformly. In total, the officials have reported 2,123,124 US cases. Nursing home residents constitute less than 1% of the US population, according to the Associated Press. (Soucheray, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Ex-Official Says He Was Asked To Give COVID-19 Test As Favor
New Jersey’s state police chief asked a former health official to get a relative of a top Murphy administration aide tested for COVID-19 as a favor while the tests were in short supply, a lawsuit claims. Chris Neuwirth said he was fired from his job as assistant health commissioner last month in retaliation for refusing to do the test. He is asking for the court to reinstate him to his old job and award back pay and damages. (Catalini, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Fired N.J. Health Official Sues Murphy Administration, Alleges Unethical Request For Coronavirus Tests
Col. Callahan asked him or a member of his staff to collect specimens from family members of George Helmy, Gov. Phil Murphy’s chief of staff, for the purpose of conducting coronavirus tests. Mr. Neuwirth, who didn’t collect the specimens, believed the request was unethical and attempted to file an ethics complaint against Col. Callahan and Mr. Helmy, according to the lawsuit. But an ethics liaison officer implied that Mr. Neuwirth could face criminal repercussions if he proceeded, and advised him to speak to a criminal-defense lawyer before he filed the complaint, the lawsuit said. (De Avila, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Testing Offered At Mississippi Capitol Amid COVID-19 Concern
Free coronavirus testing was being conducted Tuesday at the Mississippi Capitol, a day after lawmakers were told that an employee in the building had tested positive for COVID-19. The Legislature remained in session. Some lawmakers, lobbyists and others in the Capitol have been wearing masks, but some have not. The Health Department said Tuesday that Mississippi has had at least 20,152 cases and 915 deaths from the coronavirus as of Monday evening. (6/16)

The Associated Press: Illinois Attorney General Tests Positive For COVID-19
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, has mild symptoms and was self-isolating on the advice of his doctor. Raoul, a first-term Democrat, said he was tested a day earlier after experiencing symptoms. “I am fortunate to be otherwise healthy and am following recommendations to protect those around me,” he said in a statement.Raoul’s disclosure comes as the number of cases in Illinois has been falling and state has been taking gradual steps to reopen amid stay-at-home orders. (6/16)

Kaiser Health News: Citing COVID, Sutter Pushes To Revisit Landmark Antitrust Settlement
Six months after agreeing to a $575 million settlement in a closely watched antitrust case filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Sutter Health has yet to pay a single dollar, and no operational changes have gone into effect. The nonprofit health care giant was accused of using its market dominance in Northern California to illegally drive up prices. Late last week, lawyers for Sutter filed a motion requesting that San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo delay approval of the settlement for an additional 90 days, due to “catastrophic” losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gold, 6/17)

Los Angeles Times: As Vegas Reawakens From COVID Closure, Baker Struggles Back
Lazarus Dabour used to arrive at the Mad Greek Cafe before the sun rose above the desert sky. He’d scan the 24-hour restaurant’s parking lot, clean the bathrooms, monitor the cash register, and prep fan-favorite breakfast items such as strawberry shakes or La Bomba breakfast burritos. On a busy day, the restaurant’s 29-year-old general manager could serve as many as 1,200 customers before straggling off after a 16-hour shift. (Lai, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Arkansas AG Sues TV Pastor Over Virus Treatment Claims
Arkansas’ attorney general on Tuesday sued Missouri-based TV pastor Jim Bakker over his promotion of a product falsely touted as a cure for the illness caused by the coronavirus. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed the lawsuit in Arkansas against Bakker and Morningside Church Productions, less than three months after the state of Missouri filed a similar lawsuit. Rutledge’s lawsuit says 385 Arkansans made purchases from Bakker’s company totaling approximately $60,524 for colloidal silver, a product often sold on the internet as a dietary supplement. (DeMillo, 6/17)

Los Angeles Times: Renegade Restaurants And Maskless Partying At Bars Set Off New Coronavirus Alarm
California has been aggressively reopening businesses in recent weeks, with health officials saying social distancing and other safety rules are essential in preventing the further spread of the coronavirus. New cases continue to increase in California, but health officials say that’s because of more testing and not community spread from reopened businesses. But they fear new outbreaks, especially if people take part in risky behavior. (Shalby, Wigglesworth, Sisson and Szabo, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: Groups Clash In Orange County Over Mask Requirements
A small group opposed to Orange County’s relaxed rules on face coverings amid the COVID-19 pandemic was met Tuesday by a much louder crowd intent on drowning out their message. About 25 Orange County union leaders gathered on the steps of the county administration building to call on health officials to reinstate an order requiring that residents wear masks when conducting essential business. (Fry, 6/16)

The Associated Press: 18 People Arrested Over Quarantine Remain Jailed In Hawaii
Most of the 21 people who call themselves a misunderstood, nature-loving family remained jailed Tuesday over allegedly violating Hawaii’s traveler quarantine, even after they agreed to return to Los Angeles. Eligio Bishop, leader of the group known as Carbon Nation, was released with two others Monday after he pleaded no contest to violating Hawaii’s quarantine, which is meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the islands. (6/16)

Kaiser Health News: California Taps Libraries And Tax Offices To Recruit 20,000 New Disease Detectives
After more than two months at home, librarian Lisa Fagundes misses managing her sci-fi book collection so much, she feels she’s in withdrawal, longing to see new books, touch them, smell them. “It’s like a disease,” she said, laughing. Instead, she’s been learning to combat a different disease: COVID-19. While libraries are closed, Fagundes is one of dozens of librarians training to become a contact tracer, calling people who have been exposed to the coronavirus and asking them to self-quarantine at home so they don’t spread it further. (Dembosky, 6/17)

KQED: San Francisco Mayor, Supervisors Introduce Tax Measures To Fill Budget Holes 
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and a group of supervisors advanced dueling plans on Tuesday to place business tax hikes in front of voters in November. With the city facing a $1.7 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, the mayor and members of the board are also working on additional ideas that could help fund city services, including changes to the city’s business tax structure and maneuvers to tap existing tax revenue held up in litigation. (Marzorati, 6/16)

KQED: San Francisco Considers Making Public Health Emergency Leave Permanent 
Under a newly proposed ballot measure, many San Francisco workers would be able to receive additional paid sick leave benefits during future public health crises or unhealthy air days. The measure, introduced Tuesday by Supervisor Gordon Mar, seeks to make permanent the city's current emergency benefit, which requires large San Francisco employers to grant two weeks of paid leave per year to some 200,000 workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Green, 6/16)

KQED: Things Are Getting Really Ugly For California Public Health Officers 
Local public health officers haven’t been this important in a century. They’re also being second-guessed, harassed and threatened by residents, and sometimes local leaders, angry about pandemic shutdowns. Some have simply quit. (Feder Ostrov, 6/16)

San Jose Mercury News: California's COVID-19 Cases Are Getting Younger
As California’s economy opens up, coronavirus cases are getting younger and younger. An analysis released this week reveals that more than 44% of new diagnoses are in people age 34 or younger, up from 29% a month ago. (Krieger, 6/16)

Houston Chronicle: Pandemic Challenges Part Of San Jac Nursing Students’ Virtual Lessons 
For students enrolled in the nursing program at San Jacinto College, the coronavirus pandemic is providing a virtual lesson in what it means to participate in the community as a healthcare worker. During the initial phase of COVID-19 response when the classes were shut down, the college began developing virtual course study for online learning through new software. (Orozco. 6/16)

Sacramento Bee: Butte County CA Church Thwarted COVID-19 Contact Tracing
Last month, a Butte County church defied Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order and opened its doors for services, despite warnings that people without symptoms could unwittingly spread the disease to others in crowded spaces. When health officials discovered that one of the parishioners had indeed tested positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing more than 160 people at the church, they dispatched a team to track and contain the disease. They didn’t get far. The county’s efforts were stymied almost immediately because the church and most of its members refused to share information with health officials, a Sacramento Bee review of county emails and interviews with officials show. (Sabalow and Bizjak, 6/16)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Filing Evictions In Metro New Orleans: Some Places 'Hectic,' But A Different Story At Other Spots
One court in the New Orleans area had a flood of eviction filings and others a trickle as a statewide moratorium came to a close in recent days, providing landlords their first opportunity since March to kick out renters. On the east bank of New Orleans, Clerk of 1st City Court Austin Badon said landlords lined up by the dozens to file for evictions on Tuesday, the first day he accepted filings after Gov. John Bel Edwards lifted the moratorium. (Sledge, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Amtrak Is Ending Daily Service To Hundreds Of Stations. Blame The Coronavirus Pandemic, The Railroad Says.
Amtrak is ending daily service to hundreds of stations outside the Northeast, and you can blame the coronavirus pandemic, the railroad said this week. Starting Oct. 1, most Amtrak long-distance trains will operate three times a week instead of daily, the company said in a memo to employees Monday. The carrier is also planning to enter fiscal year 2021 with reduced train frequencies in the Northeast Corridor, the busiest in its network, and on its state-funded routes, the company said. (Lazo, 6/16)

The Washington Post: D.C., Maryland, Virginia Report 58 New Coronavirus Deaths
More than 400 samples collected at coronavirus testing sites in the District cannot be processed because they were exposed to heat, city officials said Tuesday. The D.C. health department confirmed the problems with samples collected at Judiciary Square and Anacostia testing sites after residents reported delays in receiving test results. Officials say they will hold “special testing sessions” for the affected residents on Wednesday and Thursday. (Hedgpeth and Nirappil, 6/16)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DeKalb County Health Opens Coronavirus Testing Site In Doraville
The DeKalb County Health Department has recently opened a testing location for COVID-19 in Doraville. The site opened Monday, June 15, in the parking lot of the former Kmart store at 5597 Buford Highway, near Interstate 285 in Doraville. Hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The site doesn’t operate on weekends. Anyone above the age of eighteen can be screened for testing, including those who are asymptomatic but suspect they have come in contact with the virus. Those under eighteen must be accompanied by a parent. (Love, 6/16)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Veterans Get New Community Healthcare Providers
A new agency will begin this month handling community healthcare for veterans in Georgia and other parts of the Southeast. Community healthcare is when veterans go to doctors or businesses outside of the Veterans Affairs system, and was set up to speed veterans’ access to medical care. (Quinn, 6/16)

Boston Globe: Congresswoman Katherine Clark Seeks Billions For Child Care Infrastructure 
Representative Katherine Clark on Tuesday unveiled a new bill aimed at helping child care facilities safely reopen after coronavirus lockdowns and supporting early educators who work for them. Called the Child Care is Infrastructure Act, the bill would invest $10 billion in child care over five years through competitive grants that help centers renovate their facilities and adapt to the pandemic. It would also reauthorize $200 million in grants to campus-based child care programs to better support students who are parents. (Ebbert, 6/16)

The Arkansas Democrat: ACLU Of Arkansas Sues Over Law Allowing Courts To Jail Tenants With Unpaid Rent
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed suit in federal court Monday to overturn the state law that allows courts to jail tenants who don’t pay their rent. The civil rights group, joined by the Bowen Law School Legal Clinic, the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas, contend that Arkansas Code 18-16-101 denies renters their right to due process in violation of state and federal constitutions. (Lynch, 6/15)

The Associated Press: Maine To Get Boost Addressing Substance Use, Mental Health
The federal government has awarded the state of Maine nearly $1.5 million to support mental health and substance abuse treatment plans. The money is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Mental Health Services. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, said the money will help the state treat “heartbreaking disorders that have taken a toll on far too many of our peers, friends, and neighbors.” (6/16)

The New York Times: Cuomo Announces Support Of U.S. Open In New York
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that the United States Open would be held as originally scheduled but without spectators at the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, approving a plan by the United States Tennis Association to salvage the Grand Slam tournament, one of the biggest sporting events in New York. “It will be held without fans, but we can watch it on TV, and I’ll take that,” the governor said. (Clarey, 6/16)

San Jose Mercury News: Hundreds Of Southern California Schools Vulnerable To Outbreaks Because Of Vaccine Reluctance, Data Suggests
Officials are concerned that vaccine resistance might pose a problem if and when a COVID-19 vaccination finally becomes available. The magic number public health officials want to see is 95 percent fully vaccinated — a level where “herd immunity” is reached, which prevents disease from spreading. But there were 661 schools in the four counties with vaccination rates lower than that — and some were a great deal lower, according to a Southern California News Group analysis. (Sforza, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Foster Care Ignores Harm To Kids, Remains ‘Dangerous,’ Report To Federal Judge Says
Texas callously subjects children who’ve already suffered abuse and neglect to “unreasonable risk of serious harm” in a long-term foster care system that’s fragmented and poorly run, two court-appointed monitors said in their first comprehensive report to a federal judge Tuesday. While Texas claims it’s come close to complying with the judge’s remedial orders, and state GOP leaders say they’ve increased funding in recent years, monitors Deborah Fowler and Kevin Ryan debunked suggestions that there have been massive improvements. (Garrett, 6/16)

The New York Times: Why People Are Still Avoiding The Doctor (It’s Not The Virus)
While hospitals and doctors across the country say many patients are still shunning their services out of fear of contagion — especially with new cases spiking — Americans who lost their jobs or have a significant drop in income during the pandemic are now citing costs as the overriding reason they do not seek the health care they need. “We are seeing the financial pressure hit,” said Dr. Bijoy Telivala, a cancer specialist in Jacksonville, Fla. “This is a real worry,” he added, explaining that people are weighing putting food on the table against their need for care. “You don’t want a 5-year-old going hungry.” Among those delaying care, he said, was a patient with metastatic cancer who was laid off while undergoing chemotherapy. (Abelson, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: Patients Cancel Care Over High-Deductible Concerns
Most doctors say their patients refuse or delay medical care due to concerns about cost, supporting research that's revealed the unintended consequences of shifting more costs to consumers. Around 4 out of 5 independent physicians say that high-deductible health plans are the primary reason that patients cancel or delay care, according to a survey of more than 700 doctors in late 2019 administered by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Physicians Advocacy Institute. (Kacik, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: State, Federal Governments Create Provider Safety Net To Pay For COVID-19 Charity Care
Faced with the greatest public health crisis in a century, state and federal governments have cobbled together new funding streams so healthcare providers can be paid for testing and treating uninsured COVID-19 patients. But there are still billions of dollars left on the table. "There's a patchwork of different things working together that is very confusing," said MaryBeth Musumeci, associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation's program on Medicaid and the uninsured. (Cohrs, 6/17)

Dallas Morning News: How To Survive The COVID Economy? Tenet Healthcare Cut Jobs, Stockpiled Cash And PPE, And Tapped Uncle Sam Big Time
Companies everywhere are struggling to survive the coronavirus economy, but hospitals have a unique challenge.In addition to dealing with a sharp drop in demand from fearful customers, providers had to gear up for a potential swell in COVID-19 business. As the economy reopens, the threat of a surge remains, and that could overwhelm hospital workers and public health. (Schnurman, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: Blues Insurers Highmark And HealthNow Propose Affiliation
Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies Highmark and HealthNow New York have agreed to form an affiliation that they say will lead to better services and lower costs for health plan members. Under the agreement, Pittsburgh-based Highmark, which serves members in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia, would acquire the Blue Cross and Blue Shield license that HealthNow maintains. Together, the companies would provide insurance to nearly 6 million members. (Livingston, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: Physicians, Non-Physicians At Odds Over Inpatient Rehab Rule
Hospitals and physicians urged CMS to withdraw its proposal to allow non-physician practitioners to fulfill inpatient rehabilitation coverage requirements that are currently completed by rehabilitation physicians, citing quality concerns. The traditional providers warned that patients, especially people with complex conditions, could receive lower-quality care if non-physician practitioners like physician assistants can independently perform preadmission screenings, develop a plan of care or carry out other duties currently limited to physicians. (Brady, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is A Growing Consensus 
Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there’s a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected? It’s not common to contract Covid-19 from a contaminated surface, scientists say. And fleeting encounters with people outdoors are unlikely to spread the coronavirus. Instead, the major culprit is close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods. Crowded events, poorly ventilated areas and places where people are talking loudly—or singing, in one famous case—maximize the risk. (Hernandez, Toy and McKay, 6/16)

Reuters: Explainer: The Coronavirus Risks Of Everyday Activities As Economies Reopen
Reuters asked five epidemiologists and public health experts to rate eleven everyday activities on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being a low-risk activity and 5 being a high risk activity. The scientists agreed that precautions can be taken to make all of these activities safer. “Higher-risk activities are those that are indoors, with poor ventilation and lots of people for long periods of time,” said Ryan Malosh, a researcher at the University of Michigan. “Lower-risk activities are outdoors, with ample space to socially distance, few people outside your household, and for shorter periods of time.” (6/16)

Modern Healthcare: Researchers Develop Model To Predict COVID-19 Risk
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have developed a risk-prediction model healthcare providers can use to forecast a patient's likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19, as well as their outcomes from the disease, according to a news release. Nomogram, the risk-prediction model, shows the relevance of age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, vaccination history and current medications in COVID-19 risk, according to a new study published in the medical journal CHEST. The risk calculator is freely available online. (Coutre, 6/16)

Reuters: Lighting Maker Signify: UV Light 'degrades' Coronavirus Quickly
Signify, the world’s largest lighting manufacturer, said on Tuesday researchers at Boston University had confirmed an ultraviolet light made by the company works to degrade most coronavirus in a laboratory setting in a matter of seconds. The sun’s rays are already known to degrade viruses outdoors, and the lighting maker hopes UV lights can be used to help reduce the amount of virus in indoor areas. (6/16)

Reuters: Self-Cleaning Mask Can Kill Viruses With Heat From Phone Charger, Researchers Say
Israeli researchers say they have invented a reusable face mask that can kill the coronavirus with heat by drawing power from a mobile phone charger. The disinfecting process takes about 30 minutes - and users should not wear the mask while it is plugged in, said Professor Yair Ein-Eli, who led the research team at Technion University in Haifa. (6/17)

Reuters: Under 20s Around Half As Susceptible To COVID-19, Study Finds
People under 20 are around half as susceptible to COVID-19 as people aged 20 or above, according to research published on Tuesday, and clinical symptoms of the pandemic disease appear in only about a fifth of infections in children and teens. (Kelland, 6/16)

 San Francisco Chronicle: Why Some People Get Coronavirus Symptoms, But Still Test Negative 
A Redwood City resident among the passengers of the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship took seven coronavirus tests over a two-week period with results fluctuating between positive, negative and inconclusive. Dr. Joseph Fair, a virologist and epidemiologist, tested negative for COVID-19 four different times despite being hospitalized in New Orleans. One of the most challenging aspects of the world’s response to the pandemic has been the reliance on testing, said Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious diseases at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. (Vainshtein, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Children Are Only Half As Likely To Get Infected With The Coronavirus, Study Finds
The findings could influence policymakers who are facing tough decisions about when and how to reopen schools and day-care centers. Distance learning has been challenging for teachers, students and parents, and there is pressure on officials to restart in-person schooling and day care to free up parents who have been juggling work and child care. (Achenbach and Meckler, 6/16)

NPR: Researchers Look To Cattle For Treatment For COVID-19
It turns out, cows may play an important role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. SAB Biotherapeutics is in the business of making what are known as polyclonal antibodies. These are a collection of different antibodies that a body makes to ward off a specific invading organism. The company has made polyclonal antibodies to treat influenza and MERS. Now it's making them with the aim of treating or even preventing COVID-19. To make them, SAB uses cows. (Palca, 6/17)

NPR: Asymptomatic Vs Presymptomatic: How The Virus Spreads
It's called asymptomatic spread. Recently a scientist with the World Health Organization created confusion when she seemed to suggest it was "very rare." It's not, as the WHO attempted to clarify. NPR science reporter Pien Huang explains what scientists know about asymptomatic spread, and what might have caused the WHO's mixed messages. (6/17)

The New York Times: Flushing The Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over
Here’s one more behavior to be hyper-aware of in order to prevent coronavirus transmission: what you do after you use the toilet. Scientists have found that in addition to clearing out whatever business you’ve left behind, flushing a toilet can generate a cloud of aerosol droplets that rises nearly three feet. Those droplets may linger in the air long enough to be inhaled by a shared toilet’s next user, or land on surfaces in the bathroom. (Sheikh, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Flushing May Release Coronavirus-Containing ‘Toilet Plumes’
“Flushing will lift the virus up from the toilet bowl,” co-author Ji-Xiang Wang, who researches fluids at Yangzhou University in Yangzhou, China, said in an email. Bathroom users “need to close the lid first and then trigger the flushing process,” Wang said, and wash their hands thoroughly if closure isn’t possible. (Brulliard and Wan, 6/16)

CNN: Flush Carefully. Study Suggests Coronavirus Could Spread In Spray From Toilet
"One can foresee that the velocity will be even higher when a toilet is used frequently, such as in the case of a family toilet during a busy time or a public toilet serving a densely populated area," Ji-Xiang Wang of Yangzhou University, who worked on the study, said in a statement. Other studies have strongly suggested that norovirus, a common cause of vomiting and diarrhea, can be spread via flushing toilets. (Fox, 6/16)

The Hill: New Study Finds Coronavirus Particles Could Be Carried By 'Toilet Plume' When Flushing 
Given that other coronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome are known to have spread through fecal-oral transmission, toilets could potentially be a source of “large-scale” novel coronavirus spread, the study’s authors wrote. “Toilets are a daily necessity but also become dangerous if used improperly, especially against the current scenario of a global pandemic,” the researchers wrote. (Bikales, 6/16)

Reuters: Amazon To Use AI Tech In Its Warehouses To Enforce Social Distancing
Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence-based tracking system to enforce social distancing at its offices and warehouses to help reduce any risk of contracting the new coronavirus among its workers. The unveiling comes as the world’s largest online retailer faces intensifying scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and unions over whether it is doing enough to protect staff from the pandemic. (Dastin and Vengattil, 6/16)

In other technology news —

Stat: Teaming Tech And Pharma, Effort Seeks To Speed Covid-19 Clinical Trials
When Sam Altman, the CEO of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI and a well-known tech investor, saw the pandemic coming, he started investing in biotech companies that could combat it, and fast. Eventually, he had funded roughly 20 different efforts, a mix of investments and philanthropy... But as he talked to these companies, the tech veteran, who ran the legendary accelerator YCombinator until 2019, was in for a shock. One executive told him a trial would cost about “two.” Two million dollars, Altman asked? That didn’t sound bad. No, the exec said. He meant $200 million. (Herper, 6/16)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Tech Chief Says City Continues To Recover After Cyberattack, Though Coronavirus Has Brought New Challenges 
Six months after a cyberattack shut down New Orleans' government and exposed flaws in its computer systems, the city has mostly recovered even as the coronavirus pandemic delivers a new set of challenges, city officials said Tuesday. City Hall officials have spent $4.2 million thus far to recover from a December ransomware attack, spending money on hundreds of new computers as well as upgraded software. All told, the city is about 80% recovered, according to Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Kim LaGrue, the city’s Chief Information Technology & Innovation Officer. (Williams, 6/16)

The New York Times: Fed Chair Powell Warns Coronavirus Pandemic Could Widen Inequalities
Jerome H. Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the economy’s nascent rebound was likely to take a long time to reach all corners of the job market — and that already-disadvantaged groups were likely to suffer the most if the downturn drags on. While some parts of the economy are seeing a modest rebound, “levels of output and employment remain far below their pre-pandemic levels, and significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery,” Mr. Powell told the Senate Banking Committee. (Smialek, 6/16)

The Hill: Powell Presses Congress For More Coronavirus Support 
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned senators Tuesday that the U.S. economy still needs support from Congress and the central bank in the coronavirus recession fight despite a recent uptick in hiring and retail sales. In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the Fed chairman urged lawmakers not to let a string of surprisingly optimistic economic data dissuade them from taking further action to support struggling Americans and industries. (Lane, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Pressure Builds On Trump Administration To Name PPP Borrowers
Pressure is building on the Trump administration to disclose the names of borrowers that received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, and a key senator signaled that the names of larger loan recipients could be released. The Small Business Administration has so far not made public the list of roughly 4.6 million businesses that have received more than $512 billion from the pandemic emergency lending program since early April. (Tracy, 6/17)

The New York Times: Unemployment Tracker: Job Losses For Black Workers Are Deepening
For long stretches of the pandemic, black and white employment losses largely mirrored each other. But in the last month, layoffs among African-Americans have grown while white employment has risen slightly. Now, among all the black workers who were employed before the pandemic, one in six are no longer working. It’s not clear what is specifically causing these job losses. One possibility is that the pandemic is disproportionately hitting industries and regions that are more heavily African-American. (Tedeschi and Bui, 6/16)

The New York Times: The Rich Cut Their Spending. That Has Hurt All The Workers Who Count On It.
In the Manhattan restaurants around Lincoln Center, the tips often rose and fell with the changing playbill. A popular classic musical could mean more preshow diners, and more income. A more famous actress as Eliza Doolittle could do the same. The end of a big run, like “My Fair Lady,” meant the opposite: Tips would be down for a while. “We were dependent on how well shows were doing at Lincoln Center, and we really did pay attention,” said Emma Craig, who was a server at the Atlantic Grill a block away before the coronavirus crisis. She has not returned to that job yet, or to another singing at a private supper club downtown. In both jobs, she said, “I am dependent on the trickle down.” (Badger and Parlapiano, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Businesses Bend Coronavirus Rules To Survive
Some New York City business owners, desperate for revenue months into the coronavirus pandemic, are bending or breaking the rules limiting restaurants and retail stores to takeout or curbside pickup. New York City took its first, limited steps toward reopening its economy last week with industries like construction and manufacturing restarting, and retail stores allowed to offer curbside and in-store pickup. Other business activity is still sharply restricted, however, and officials warn that violations risk undoing the state’s progress on lowering coronavirus infections. (King and Yang, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Donations To Fight Virus, Injustice Could Sustain Charities
A recession is expected to curtail Americans’ generosity following a record year for charitable donations, but the recent wave of money dedicated to fighting the coronavirus and racial inequality in the U.S. is offering a beacon of hope for nonprofits in 2020. The Giving USA report, released Tuesday, estimates nearly $450 billion was donated to charities in 2019, a 2.4% uptick from the previous year when adjusted for inflation. It marked a record year for giving that reflected a booming economy. (Ho, 6/17)

And elsewhere on Capitol Hill —

The Washington Post: Senate Ethics Panel Dismisses Insider-Trading Inquiry Into Sen. Loeffler
The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed its investigation into Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) for alleged insider trading ahead of the coronavirus pandemic, notifying her in a letter Tuesday that it found “no evidence” the senator violated the law or Senate rules. The panel’s decision follows the Justice Department, which last month closed its probe of Loeffler’s stock sales before the pandemic crashed the markets. (Itkowitz, 6/16)

The Hill: Pelosi Asks House Chairs To Enforce Mandatory Mask-Wearing During Hearings 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking chairs of House committees to require members on their panels to wear masks during proceedings amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pelosi is asking the chairs to “enforce rules of decorum and exclude Members who fail to comply," a senior Democratic aide familiar with the matter told The Hill late Tuesday. (Axelrod, 6/16)

The New York Times: How Humanity Has Unleashed A Flood Of Zoonotic Diseases
It might have started like this: One afternoon last year, somewhere in China’s mountainous Yunnan province, a hunter entered a limestone cave. As he stepped carefully along the slick and uneven surface, his headlamp illuminated ruffled curtains of stone and walls popcorned with kernels of calcite. He coninued through a series of smaller chambers until he reached a narrow passageway that reeked of ammonia — exactly what he was hoping to find. He stretched a fine-meshed net across the passage, sat down in a relatively dry area and waited. (Jabr, 6/17)

The New York Times: ‘When Am I Coming Home?’: A Tough Month Inside A Virus Recovery Unit
Charlie Blueweiss, 33, woke up believing he was in a secret infirmary in an airport somewhere, maybe in China. He was certain someone was stalking him; threatening messages seemed to keep appearing on screens around him. As his confusion — which is common among Covid-19 patients who have spent a long stint on a mechanical ventilator — dissipated in the coming days, Mr. Blueweiss began to take stock of his situation. He realized that he was in the intensive care unit at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, and that those screens were displaying his vital signs and medical updates. (Goldstein, 6/17)

CNN: Airlines Ban Alcohol On Planes In Response To Covid-19 
Alcohol sales may have boomed during lockdown, but our return to air travel will be an altogether more sobering experience. Airlines including Easyjet and KLM in Europe, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines in the United States, and Asia's Virgin Australia, are suspending all or part of their alcoholic drinks service in response to Covid-19. It's part of a widespread revision of the industry's food and drink service to minimize interaction between crew and passengers and to ensure a safer journey for all. (O'Hare, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: What We Know About Face Shields And Coronavirus
The new coronavirus spreads mostly through droplets expelled from an infected person coughing, sneezing or talking. Face shields cover the eyes, mouth and nose—the areas of potential infection. “If someone coughs and it catches your eyes, you are going to get the infection,” says Daniel McQuillen, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and an infectious disease physician at Beth Israel Lahey Health in Boston. (Dizik, 6/16)

Kaiser Health News: Pandemic Upends The Lives Of People With Disabilities — And Of Their Caregivers
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Stacy Ellingen, 34, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, lost two of the three caregivers she depends on to dress, shower, eat and use the bathroom. The caregivers — both University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh students — returned to their parents’ homes when the university canceled in-person classes. Ellingen, who lives with complications from cerebral palsy, had little choice but to do the same — moving back to her parents’ home in Fond du Lac. (Sable-Smith, 6/17)

The Associated Press: Poll: Americans Are The Unhappiest They've Been In 50 Years
It’s been a rough year for the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years. This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they’d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that. (Lush, 6/16)

ABC News: How Food Producers Are Preparing For The 2nd Wave Of COVID-19 
Americans were quick to stock up on packaged foods during the first wave of the coronavirus, and some major producers felt a ripple effect in the supply chain due to the heightened demand. Now that companies have learned from the supply chain impacts of COVID-19, they have started to think about a shift in strategies to ensure that their businesses are prepared if a second wave hits, especially come the colder fall months after peak flu season. (McCarthy, 6/16)

The New York Times: Exercising While Wearing A Mask 
Wearing a mask during exercise reduces the risk that we will infect someone else with the novel coronavirus if we unwittingly carry the disease. But wearing a mask also affects how the exercise affects us, according to exercise scientists who have begun to look into the effects of covering your face while working out. Their research and insights, some of them based on self-experimentation, raise practical questions about whether some types of masks might be better than others for exercise, how often masks should be swapped out during prolonged exertions and just how much we should expect our heart rates to soar if we attempt to interval train with a mask on. (Reynolds, 6/17)

KQED: Getting Off Drugs Takes A Community. But How Do You Do That In A Pandemic? 
Some patients would go to meet with counselors and get prescription medications like buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction. Others needed harm-reduction supplies like clean needles and naloxon, the drug that reverses opioid overdoses. There was also a weekly support group, for both “social interaction” and “accountability to other group members," Brown said. A hot lunch was yet another draw, with leftovers usually available to take home. (Klivans, 6/16)

The New York Times: Has Pandemic Snacking Lured Us Back To Big Food And Bad Habits?
During a spring conference call, the maker of Oreos and other iconic snacks shared some exciting news with Wall Street analysts. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, cookie and cracker sales had shot up by nearly 30 percent, a gargantuan leap in the world of groceries. “We executed well in the first quarter, even as the virus was spreading,” said Dirk Van de Put, the chief executive of Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods). This wasn’t just a result of hoarding by nervous shoppers, he said. (Moss, 6/16)

Stat: Facing A Broken Mental Health System, Many Teens Fall Off A 'Cliff' In Care
An 18th birthday can mean many things. It’s a formal step into adulthood. It’s the newfound right to vote, get a tattoo, join the armed forces, be called for jury duty. It’s also what some mental health providers know, anecdotally, as “the cliff,” the cutoff at which teens with mental health conditions are flung into adulthood, often without any preparation for the challenges to care ahead. (Thielking, 6/17)

Stat: University Of California Strikes Research Access Deal With Nature Publisher
The University of California has reached a landmark deal with the world’s second largest academic publisher, Springer Nature, that could get more journal articles out in front of paywalls — and set a precedent for how scientific research is paid for, published, and shared. The four-year agreement, announced on Tuesday, ramps up pressure on the world’s largest scholarly publisher, Elsevier, to concede to the demands of a growing number of academic institutions over payments for so-called open access research, which is freely available to the public. (Robbins, 6/16)

Stat: In A Landmark Decision, FDA Greenlights A Video Game For Kids With ADHD
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday for the first time gave a green light to a game-based therapeutic: a video game meant to be prescribed to kids with ADHD. The game, known as EndeavorRx and developed by Boston-based Akili Interactive Labs, can now be marketed as a way to improve attention function in kids with ADHD as measured by computerized testing. Physicians can prescribe it to children between the ages of 8 and 12 who have an ADHD diagnosis and have demonstrated an issue with attention. (Robbins, 6/15)

Boston Globe: Startup Raises Almost $44M For Less-Invasive Treatment For Fluid In The Brain
A Massachusetts medical device startup said Tuesday it has raised $43.9 million in venture capital to advance its lead product, a minimally invasive shunt to relieve fluid that can build up in the brain as a result of a neurological condition. Newton-based CereVasc raised the money to fund a clinical trial of its experimental device, the eShunt System. The firm, which was founded in 2014 and has seven employees, plans to begin enrolling volunteers for the trial in the second half of the year. (Saltzman, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Flights Canceled As Beijing's New Outbreak Raises Concerns
More than 60% of commercial flights in and out of Beijing have been canceled as the Chinese capital raised its alert level Wednesday against a new coronavirus outbreak and other nations confront rising numbers of illnesses and deaths. The virus prevention and control situation in Beijing was described as “extremely grave” at a meeting of Beijing’s Communist Party Standing Committee led by the city’s top official, Party Secretary Cai Qi. (Moritsugu and McGuirk, 6/17)

The New York Times: Schools Shut In Beijing As Coronavirus Flares
Beijing raised its level of health alert to the second highest on Tuesday, ordering schools to close and urging people to work from home as China’s government pressed to extinguish a spike in coronavirus infections menacing the capital. The city announced the intensified health emergency footing late in the day, after having revealed that medical authorities confirmed another 27 infections from the virus, creating a total of 106 cases since last week, all traced to the sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market in the city’s south. Early Wednesday, 31 more cases were reported, bringing the total to 137. (Buckley, 6/16)

NPR: Brazil Reports Big Surge In Coronavirus Infections
Brazil on Tuesday reported a national record of nearly 35,000 new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, even as the government has insisted that the outbreak is under control. The health ministry added 34,918 new cases, but Brazilian media, in collaboration with state health departments, said the figure was probably undercounted by a few thousand. The ministry also announced 1,282 additional COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to more than 45,000 since the pandemic began. (Neuman, 6/17)

NPR: After Weeks Of No New Cases Of COVID-19 In New Zealand, 2 Arrivals Test Positive
After 24 days with no new cases of the coronavirus, New Zealand now has two. Both are women in the same family and traveled from the U.K. via Australia. "I can say now both women are self-isolating in the Wellington region, and we're very confident the arrangements that are in place is the best place for them to be right now," Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's director-general of health, said in a news conference Tuesday. (Wamsley, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Egypt Outbreak: Coronavirus Overwhelms Hospitals As Scores Of Doctors And Nurses Die
Abdo Fathi was desperate. His 57-year-old mother, already suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, had tested positive for the coronavirus and spent two weeks in isolation at her home when her body broke down. She began having trouble breathing. But finding a hospital bed in an intensive care unit proved difficult. So last week, Fathi posted a plea on Facebook, like countless others have done recently. “We need an ICU spot,” he wrote. “Someone help us.” (Raghavan, 6/17)

The Associated Press: Months Into Virus, Biggest One-Day Case Spike Worries Iran
Months into Iran’s fight against the coronavirus, doctors and nurses at Tehran’s Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital still don a mask, a disposable hazmat suit and a double layer of latex gloves every day to attempt to contain a pandemic that shows no signs of slowing. The hiss of high-flow oxygen to wheezing patients, the beeps of equipment monitoring vital signs and the crinkling rustle of passing medics have become a daily symphony here and in other hospitals across the Islamic Republic. (Karimi, 6/17)

The New York Times: President Of Honduras Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
The president of Honduras has announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a small group of world leaders infected in the pandemic that has swept the globe and reached into the halls of power of several governments. In a televised statement late Tuesday, President Juan Orlando Hernández said his wife and two of his two aides had also become infected. He said that he began feeling unwell over the weekend, and that the diagnosis was confirmed later Tuesday. (Robles, 6/17)

Reuters: Japanese Researchers Confirm Coronavirus Testing In Sewers As Possible Outbreak Warning System
Japanese researchers confirmed the presence of the coronavirus in wastewater plants, a finding that could serve as a signal for future outbreaks. The study tested water from four treatment plants in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures in western Japan. Out of 27 samples, 7 were positive for the SARS-CoV2 virus, according to a preprint of a study by Toyama Prefectural University, Kanazawa University and Kyoto University. (Swift, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Canada, US And Mexico Extend Border Restrictions To July 21.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to extend their agreements to keep their shared borders closed to non-essential travel to July 21 during the coronavirus pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday’s agreement extends the closure by another 30 days. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April and May. “This is a decision that will protect people on both sides of the border as we continue to fight COVID-19,” Trudeau said. (Gillies, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Can't Require Drug Prices In TV Ads, Appeals Judges Rule
A panel of federal appellate judges on Tuesday ruled that HHS does not have authority to require drugmakers to disclose list prices in television advertisements. The decision is another blow to President Donald Trump's drug-pricing policy agenda in an election year. Other banner administration drug-pricing policies have been withdrawn or delayed indefinitely. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with drugmakers and upheld a lower court ruling that struck down HHS' regulation. (Cohrs, 6/16)

Stat: Supreme Court Deals A Series Of Blows To Generic Drug Companies 
It’s a bad run for generic drug companies at the Supreme Court. The court on Monday denied three separate requests from generic drug makers hoping the justices would revisit lower-court decisions the industry doesn’t like. Two cases, Hospira v. Eli Lilly and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories v. Eli Lilly, deal with a seemingly arcane decision from the Federal Circuit. Generic manufacturers say the decisions let brand companies sue them over patents they’ve previously abandoned — and that broadly, the rulings will make it harder to get more generic medicine into the world. (Florko, 6/16)

FiercePharma: Vaccine Heroes? COVID-19 Pitfalls, Pricing Put Pharma On The Spot
harma is looking to reset its image with COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, but landmines loom—with pricing likely the biggest. The halo from pharma’s rapid response in research and discovery—and the hope that a vaccine or effective treatments will allow the world to return to some sort of normal—has propelled the industry’s reputation at an all-time high. Forty percent of Americans say their opinion of the pharma industry has turned positive during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Harris Poll. (Bulik, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Can These Drug Stocks Fly? It Depends On The Lawyers
Generic-drug stocks were relatively quiet during the worst of the coronavirus crisis so far. That may be about to change. Years of falling generic-drug prices as large buyers consolidated meant serious pain for shares of companies across the industry. Major manufacturers such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries TEVA 4.96% and Mylan MYL 1.45% fell as much as 80% from records in 2015 while those of drug distributors such as McKesson MCK 3.03% and Cardinal Health, CAH 1.95% which benefit when prices paid by pharmacies and hospitals rise, lost over half of their value. (Grant, 6/15)

Stat: Antimicrobials Benefited From Expedited FDA Programs More Than Other Drugs 
Amid concerns over the need for more antimicrobials, a new analysis finds these medicines benefited more often from expedited regulatory programs than other types of drugs over the last 35 years, suggesting the Food and Drug Administration is not a roadblock to development. To wit, 61% of 178 antimicrobials approved between 1984 and 2018 were assessed by the FDA under one or more expedited review programs, while 54% of 887 other medicines were evaluated as part of the same programs during that time. These included priority review, accelerated review, fast track review, breakthrough designation (for unmet medical needs), and orphan designation for rare diseases. (Silverman, 6/12)

CNBC: Walmart Buys Tech From Carezone To Help People Manage Prescriptions
Walmart is acquiring technology and intellectual property from CareZone, a start-up that makes it easier for people to manage multiple medications, Walmart confirmed to CNBC on Monday. CareZone, which got its start in 2010, develops apps to help people manage their medicines. It also built technology for users to scan insurance cards and prescription drug labels, making it easier to figure out what’s covered by their health plan or to organize a home delivery. The apps have about 3.5 million members, according to CareZone CEO Jonathan Schwartz. (Farr, 6/15)

Stat: Proteus Files For Bankruptcy, Says It Has Held Acquisition Talks With Otsuka
Smart pill maker Proteus Digital Health on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the latest sign of trouble at the Silicon Valley company that was once seen as a showcase for how technology can revolutionize how patients take their medicine. The filing, first reported by CNBC, marks a dramatic turning point for Proteus, which was once valued at $1.5 billion. The move will allow Proteus to reorganize its business structure and pay down its debt without closing down. (Robbins, 6/16)

Stat: PhRMA’s Top Communicator Heads To ExxonMobil 
The top spokesperson for the drug industry’s main lobbying group in Washington is taking a job at the oil giant ExxonMobil, STAT has confirmed. Robert Zirkelbach, who most recently served as executive vice president of public affairs at PhRMA, has been the organization’s top communicator since 2016. Zirkelbach has developed a reputation as a fierce defender of industry, oftentimes publicly sparring with drug pricing activists and rival industry groups in person and on Twitter, but he has also played a central role in the organization’s efforts to rebrand itself as a voice for scientists toiling in labs. (Florko, 6/12)

Markets Insider: Eli Lilly Soars 15% After Its Breast Cancer Drug Shows Efficacy Where A Treatment From Pfizer Failed
Eli Lilly soared as much as 14% on Tuesday after it announced that its breast cancer drug Verzenio in combination with endocrine therapy was successful in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer for patients in an open-label Phase 3 trial. Verzenio was originally approved in 2017 for treating certain forms of advanced breast cancer, and its revenue more than doubled to $579 million in 2019. Verzenio achieved its primary endpoint of invasive disease-free survival, and also demonstrated a significant decrease in the risk of breast cancer recurrence or death compared to the standard therapy alone. (Fox, 6/16)

Stat: California Supports Unusual Whistleblower Lawsuit Over 'Fraudulent' Patents
The California insurance commissioner is supporting an unusual gambit by a patent attorney who filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Allergan fraudulently obtained patents in order to stifle generic rivals and maintain high prices for two of its medicines. In a May 2018 lawsuit, Zachery Silbersher accused Allergan, which was recently bought by AbbVie (ABBV), of providing false information to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office concerning a pair of drugs used to combat Alzheimer’s symptoms. By doing so, the company won patents that, for a time, delayed generic competition and, as a result, allowed it to charge government health care programs monopoly prices. (Silverman, 6/10)

Stat: Royalty Pharma, Drug Firm That Doesn’t Develop Drugs, Shatters IPO Record
Royalty Pharma, a business built on investing in other people’s medicines, raised $2.2 billion in a record IPO on Tuesday, and the early hours of trading boosted its valuation to more than $25 billion. The company, founded in 1996, priced about 78 million shares at $28 each. Royalty Pharma opened trading at $44, an instant 57% increase, suggesting the company’s bankers left a fair amount of money on the table. (Garde, 6/16)

Stat: Momenta Pharma Drug Improves Symptoms Of Myasthenia Gravis 
Momenta Pharmaceuticals reported Monday that in a mid-stage clinical trial, an experimental medicine significantly improved the symptoms of patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, a rare neuromuscular disease. Called nipocalimab, the Momenta drug works by blocking a molecule in the body called neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), which can trigger certain types of autoimmune diseases. Generalized myasthenia gravis is a chronic and debilitating condition in which the body’s own antibodies disrupt the communication between nerve endings and muscles. (Feuerstein, 6/15)

Bloomberg: Biotechs Get Wall Street Nod On New Blood Disorder Drugs Data
Biotechnology stocks initially moved higher as Wall Street cheered updates for a range of therapies to treat blood disorders like sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. While the gains evaporated as the broader market struggled to rebound from a rocky session on Thursday, biotechnology companies like Crispr Therapeutics AG and partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Bluebird Bio Inc. saw shares rally to start the morning on the back of promising updates. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose as much as 2.4% on Friday before giving up the advance. (Lipschultz, 6/12)

Stat: As Quality Concerns Rise, FDA Report Shows Indian Plants Had More Issues
As concerns mount over the quality of the pharmaceutical supply chain, the Food and Drug Administration has released new data showing the agency inspected more manufacturing plants located in India during the past two fiscal years and found these facilities generally had more quality problems than sites located in the U.S. or the European Union. Specifically, the FDA inspected 6% more plants in India while examining 4% fewer sites in the U.S. and 6% fewer in the European Union from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2019. (Silverman, 6/16)

Stat: YouTube 'Hit Job' About Catalyst Pharma Rival Is Posted Amid FDA Fight
In a move that resembles a scare tactic, a newly posted YouTube video shows a former 87-foot nuclear reactor dome jutting out from an isolated stretch of preserved woodlands in New Jersey. The clip then invokes Chernobyl before noting the dome, which was shuttered decades ago, has stood alongside a manufacturing plant run by a small drug maker since 1977. (Silverman, 6/15)

Bloomberg: Royalty Pharma Soars 59% After Year’s Biggest U.S. IPO
Royalty Pharma Plc, a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties, rose 59% in its trading debut after its upsized initial public offering raised $2.18 billion with shares priced at the top the range. Shares of Royalty Pharma opened trading Tuesday in New York at $44 after the company and existing shareholders sold 77.68 million shares Monday for $28 each, after marketing 70 million of them for $25 to $28. The shares jumped as much as 65% in their debut and closed at $44.50. (Tse, 6/16)

Stat: Eli Lilly Gets An Edge Against Pfizer In Adjuvant Breast Cancer
Eli Lilly announced Tuesday that adding its drug Verzenio to hormone blockers decreased the risk of a relapse of breast cancer in women who had had their tumors removed. The result makes Verzenio the first drug in its class, a group of breast cancer medicines known as CDK 4/6 inhibitors, to work in this early stage of treatment, called the adjuvant setting. The drugs are currently used in women whose breast cancer is metastatic, meaning that tumors have spread to other parts of their bodies. (Herper, 6/16)

Stat: Covid-19 And Remdesivir: Rethinking How We Measure Drug 'Value'
As pharmaceutical and biotech companies scramble to identify treatments for Covid-19, a new disease that initially had none, we must begin to figure out what is an appropriate pricing approach — and price — for emerging therapies. Remdesivir, Gilead Sciences’ repurposed antiviral drug, offers the first opportunity to do this. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has conducted the first value assessment of remdesivir, a drug with early evidence of treatment effectiveness. Its analysis, however, is premature and highlights many of the flaws inherent in today’s value assessment models. (Patricia Deverka, Louis Garrison and Samuel Nussbaum, 6/15)

Bloomberg: Covid-19: Oxford Steroid Drug News Is A Step Toward Virus Relief
As Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in the U.S. and other parts of the world, Oxford University scientists provided a much-needed piece of good news Tuesday: A large, randomized trial in the U.K. that compared dexamethasone — a generic steroid — to standard treatment found that the drug cut the risk of death in severely ill patients. The result comes with caveats. Researchers have only disclosed a limited press release's worth of data at this point and should make haste to publish more details. Until then, some caution is warranted. But the fact that dexamethasone appears to show promise is encouraging and its sheer affordability could help it save lives. In fact, it’s already gained approval for use in treating Covid-19 by Britain’s National Health Service. As I wrote earlier this month, with the virus still raging and no assurance of a safe and effective vaccine arriving any time soon, effective treatments are going to be essential in managing the pandemic. (Max Nisen, 6/16)

The Hill: COVID-19 Vaccine In Warp Speed
As COVID-19 rages to its highest level in more than a dozen states, it is still killing as many as 1,000 Americans every single day. This isn’t going to stop until we have a vaccine. A COVID-19 vaccine would save tens of thousands of American lives and help rescue the economy, but the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed plan is underfunded and inadequate. Yes, we need to move at warp speed for a vaccine that gets people healthy and back to work. But Trump’s plan leaves out the key steps the nation must take to pave the way for a COVID-19 vaccine without risking the outbreak of other diseases. (Kaitlin Hunter and David Kendall, 6/14)

Washington Times: Want A COVID-19 Vaccine? Don't Put The Government In Charge
Under the guise of coronavirus relief, a pair of Democratic lawmakers are trying to put the federal government in control of private drug companies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Democrat, recently introduced the COVID-19 Emergency Manufacturing Act, which would authorize the government to invalidate the patents of those who have developed critical medicines and other medical supplies needed to fight the coronavirus outbreak — and allow the government to manufacture them. (Sally C. Pipes, 6/12)

Nj.Com: Insulin Just Became Much More Accessible - Even In New Jersey
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing people with diabetes need to worry about is how they’ll pay for their insulin, but that’s a growing reality for millions of people. Sixty years ago, just one in 100 Americans had diabetes. Today, more than 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes — with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that a third of Americans will be diabetic by 2050. And, with almost 1 million diabetic patients, New Jersey’s rate is even higher than the national average. (Elise Amez-Droz, 6/13)

Modern Healthcare: A Wake-Up Call For Healthcare: Emerging Ethical Lessons From COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, it is offering some hard lessons about how American healthcare fails patients. The pandemic brings into focus inequities that pervade the system—in strategies intended to guide how limited resources are distributed among patients and in its impact on communities made vulnerable by decades of neglect, disinvestment and marginalization. (Jacqueline W. Fincher and Patrice A. Harris, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: As The Coronavirus Highlights Health Disparities, New Study Is A Good Step But Must Not Be The Last
Last week the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced it would conduct a study to evaluate the coronavirus’s impact on vulnerable populations based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and location. This is an important step forward in addressing health disparities at their core, but, of course, that all depends on how the information is used. We need to ensure that this data is acted on, not merely collected. (6/17)

Houston Chronicle: U.S. Health System Needs New Focus After COVID Failure 
If you needed proof that the United States no longer has the best health care system in the world, the new coronavirus has delivered the evidence. The brave doctors, nurses and other health professionals may be well trained. The clinics, hospitals and research centers may be well equipped. But they are not enough. The failure comes from our poorly financed public health system, the amazingly fractured billing process, and the fundamental injustice of for-profit enterprises that exclude the most vulnerable. (Chris Tomlinson, 6/17)

The Washington Post: The Author Of ‘White Rage’ On The Persistent Pattern Of Punishing Blacks For Their Resilience 
"We actually punish black people for being resilient," says Carol Anderson, the author of “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide.” She lays out a persistent pattern of injustice for African Americans in U.S. history. (Jonathan Capehart, 6/16)

Boston Globe: A Silver Lining For The Golden Arches In Black America 
Closing with the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” the McDonald’s statement may have given customers the impression that this was the first time the drive-through leader had to delicately acknowledge the roots of civil unrest while still selling Big Macs. But McDonald’s and the Black equality struggle have a long, complicated history. In fact, it was a moment similar to this one, in the spring of 1968, that brought Black consumers and dollars into McDonald’s consciousness. Since then, McDonald’s has profited handily from its Black customers, while its presence in Black communities has led to a vexing set of circumstances for Black wealth and health. (Marcia Chatelain, 6/16)

Stat: To Fight Covid-19, Open Access To Scientific Publishing 
To tackle the ongoing catastrophe of the Covid-19 pandemic, the biomedical research community must deploy all the tools at its disposal, especially the extensive networks of international communication and collaboration that fuel scientific discovery. Unfortunately, we are hamstrung in our use of one of our most essential tools: open access to the vast repositories of accumulated knowledge contained in the published scientific literature. Restricting access to this resource, which can help scientists find tests, treatments, and even cures for Covid-19, is shortsighted and unethical, with tangible impacts on human life. (Peter Walter and R. Dyche Mullins, 6/16)

The New York Times: The Rape Kit’s Secret History
Marty Goddard's first flash of insight came in 1972. It all started when she marched into a shabby townhouse on Halsted Street in Chicago to volunteer at a crisis hotline for teenagers. Most of the other volunteers were hippies with scraggly manes and love beads. But not Marty Goddard. She tended to wear business clothes: a jacket with a modest skirt, pantyhose, low heels. She hid her eyes behind owlish glasses and kept her blond hair short. Not much makeup; maybe a plum lip. She was 31, divorced, with a mordant sense of humor. Her name was Martha, but everyone called her Marty. She liked hiding behind a man’s name. It was useful. (Pagan Kennedy, 6/17)

The Hill: Nurses: Protesters Are Our Patients. Stop Attacking Them 
Registered nurse Asantewaa Boykin was volunteering as a medic in Sacramento, Calif. Cesar Chavez plaza during a recent protest, when people who had begun to march out of the plaza — came running right back. They were fleeing from tear gas that had been fired at them by the Sacramento police. Boykin, who has been a social justice advocate longer than she has worked in the emergency department at Sacramento’s UC Davis Medical Center, soon found herself overcome by tear gas, as well. (Bonnie Castillo, 6/15)

Stat: An 'America First' Pharma Supply Chain Sounds Good But Won't Work 
With a stroke of the president’s Executive Order pen, the Trump administration awarded a $354 million, four-year contract to a new company called Phlow located inside the Beltway in late May. Its charge is to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients and generic medicines used in treating patients hospitalized for Covid-19, ingredients that for years have been produced overseas supply chains, mainly in China and India. (Michael Rea, 6/17)

The Hill: Why Should Congress Improve Paid Leave Policies? 
As the dual impacts of a pandemic and structural inequalities ravage our country, now is the time to act on the need for paid sick leave across the nation. This Father’s Day, we urge the government to stand up for family values and protect Americans with overdue leave laws that can protect us from going forward. We must learn from our mistakes as a nation and ensure the safety of future generations. (Esteban Garces, 6/16)

Bangor Daily News: In Historic Ruling, Supreme Court Affirms LGBTQ Civil Rights As Trump Administration Takes Them Away
“We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice,” Martin Luther King Jr. said during a 1968 speech. It may be an overused phrase, but it is an apt description of events on Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic ruling guaranteeing the rights of LGBTQ Americans in the workplace. The ruling came just days after the Trump administration issued a misguided rule that takes health care protections away from transgender Americans. (6/15)

The Washington Post: Contact Tracing Is The Key Weapon Against Covid-19
Years ago, while spending a summer in Los Angeles, I fell cripplingly ill. I could not get out of bed. My spine was racked with pain. Being an idiot, I did not call a doctor. But after a week or so, I got better. I started walking my dog again and went straight to our usual park. There, nailed to a tree, was a sign that read, “Be aware, people have been catching West Nile virus from mosquitoes in this park." I would have liked to have gotten notification while I was sick: I might have called a doctor. Even better, I wish the poster had been up earlier: I might have switched parks. The poster was a form of contact tracing — alerting unwitting people to the danger of infection so they can take appropriate action. (Danielle Allen, 6/16)

Bloomberg: Germany’s Corona App Is Much Worse Than Singapore's 
Life isn’t about finding perfect solutions but making difficult trade-offs. So it is with the contact-tracing apps that are proliferating faster than I can keep up with. More out of curiosity than optimism, I’ll be downloading my first one on Tuesday: Germany’s newly launched “Corona App.” I hope time proves me wrong, but my hunch is that Germany got several trade-offs wrong, and should have learned from the experience of nimbler countries like Singapore. The goal, of course, is the same for all these apps: not to replace, but to augment and assist human contact tracers in pinging people who’ve been near an infected person. Human beings can only name contacts they know; software can point out strangers who’ve been within aerosol range. (Andreas Kluth, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: There Isn’t A Coronavirus ‘Second Wave’ 
In recent days, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a “second wave” of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the courage and compassion of the American people, our public health system is far stronger than it was four months ago, and we are winning the fight against the invisible enemy. While talk of an increase in cases dominates cable news coverage, more than half of states are actually seeing cases decline or remain stable. Every state, territory and major metropolitan area, with the exception of three, have positive test rates under 10%. And in the six states that have reached more than 1,000 new cases a day, increased testing has allowed public health officials to identify most of the outbreaks in particular settings—prisons, nursing homes and meatpacking facilities—and contain them. (Vice President Mike Pence, 6/16)

The Hill: Our Lockdowns Are Not Deadlier Than The Disease 
Four scholars argued in a recent op-ed for The Hill that the deaths and “accumulated years of life lost” caused by the “near complete economic shutdown” in response to the COVID-19 outbreak are greater than the lives saved. The lead author, Dr. Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a retired neuroradiologist, has made similar arguments in other media outlets for two months... The authors said that the shutdown was costing more than $1 trillion a month, and would kill 7,200 of us each month from the economic effects alone. But as we examined their assumptions, the model collapsed like a house of cards. (Tracy Mayne and Jeremy Mayer, 6/16)

The New York Times: Is Trump Trying To Spread Covid-19? 
When the full record of the coronavirus in America is written, historians may argue that President Trump’s biggest mistake was not what he failed to do in early 2020, when the right strategy for combating the virus was widely debated, unproven and hard. No, they will point to what Trump failed to do in June 2020, when the right strategy was clear, proven and relatively easy. No doubt, this virus is inscrutable. It pops up, it disappears, it reappears, some people are symptomatic, some asymptomatic, some seem to have natural immunities to it that we don’t understand, and once it infects people it hits in radically different ways: It comes in the equivalents of decaf, regular and double macchiato — and you never know if you’re going to get the mild or the extra-strength version. But there is so much that we do know now that could make this post-lockdown phase so much less dangerous and so much more economically viable than it is. (Thomas L. Friedman, 6/16)

CNN: What The Pandemic Means For Our Summers 
Every day we are bombarded with new numbers -- 20,000 new infections and 800-1,000 new deaths every day; projections such as the total US death toll reaching 130,000 by July 4. Our responses to hearing these numbers seem to vary widely -- some of us lock ourselves away in our homes, while others tell ourselves the threat of infection is over. Rather than running to one of these extremes, it would be better for people to understand the risk and to make choices based on information. (Erin Bromage, 6/16)

Stat: Cough And Pneumonia In The Time Of Coronavirus 
Standing in line outside a grocery store in Seattle, almost at the front, the requisite six feet away from the person in front of me, I am beginning to panic a bit. From behind my mask, I try to hold back a cough. Pollen is thick in the air and I am convinced I can actually see the tiny dodge balls of pollen coming toward me. (Amy Sarah Ginsburg, 6/17)

The Hill: COVID Has Changed Our Lives — Buildings Should Change, Too 
COVID-19 has changed many aspects of our daily lives. If history is any guide, it will change our buildings, too. The challenge will be ensuring those necessary changes are beneficial not just to human health and safety, but also to our environment and energy system. If we’re smart, efficiency improvements will ensure the spaces where we work, play and live aid in the nation’s economic recovery as well. (Russ Carnahan, 6/16)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Legislature Should Put Mental Health Funding First During Pandemic 
When the Texas Legislature convenes in January, there will be no shortage of coronavirus-related issues demanding action, from the many hours of lost instructional time for our students to a surge in Texans who have lost their businesses or their paychecks. Also at the top of the list for urgent legislative action should be meeting our increasingly dire behavioral health needs. (Joe Straus, 6/17)