First Edition: July 10, 2020
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Lost On The Frontline
America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical personnel account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides. “Lost on the Frontline,” a collaboration between KHN and The Guardian, has identified 782 such workers who likely died of COVID-19 after helping patients during the pandemic. (7/10)
Kaiser Health News:
Colorado, Like Other States, Trims Health Programs Amid Health Crisis
As a teenager, Paulina Castle struggled for years with suicidal thoughts. When her mental health was at its most fragile, she would isolate herself, spending days in her room alone. “That’s the exact thing that makes you feel significantly worse,” the 26-year-old Denver woman said. “It creates a cycle where you’re constantly getting dug into a deeper hole.” (Hawryluk, 7/10)
Kaiser Health News:
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ‘Open The Schools, Close The Bars’
How to safely open the nation’s schools this fall has become the latest spat in attempting to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have decried the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as too complicated and expensive and ordered a new set. Meanwhile, tests for the virus remain difficult to get, particularly in states experiencing spikes, and getting results to patients is taking increasingly longer, making contact tracing effectively impossible. (7/9)
Kaiser Health News:
As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times For Results Jump To A Week — Or More
While hospital patients can get the findings back within a day, people getting tested at urgent care centers, community health centers, pharmacies and government-run drive-thru or walk-up sites are often waiting a week or more. In the spring, it was generally three or four days. The problems mean patients and their physicians don’t have information necessary to know whether to change their behavior. Health experts advise people to act as if they have COVID-19 while waiting — meaning to self-quarantine and limit exposure to others. But they acknowledge that’s not realistic if people have to wait a week or more. (Galewitz, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times:
WHO Acknowledges That Coronavirus Can Linger In The Air
Under growing pressure from researchers, the World Health Organization acknowledged Thursday that the coronavirus can linger in the air indoors and potentially infect people even when they practice social distancing. The United Nations agency had maintained that such airborne transmission occurred only during certain medical procedures and that nearly all infections occur when people inhale respiratory droplets expelled in their immediate vicinity or when they touch contaminated surfaces. (Read, 7/9)
The New York Times:
The Coronavirus Can Be Airborne Indoors, W.H.O. Says
An aerosol is a respiratory droplet so small it may linger in the air. In its latest description of how the virus is spread, the agency said transmission of the virus by aerosols may have been responsible for “outbreaks of Covid-19 reported in some closed settings, such as restaurants, nightclubs, places of worship or places of work where people may be shouting, talking or singing.” (Mandavilli, 7/9)
The Associated Press:
WHO: Indoor Airborne Spread Of Coronavirus Possible
In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.” The researchers, along with more than 200 others, appealed for national and international authorities, including WHO, to adopt more stringent protective measures. (7/9)
NPR:
WHO Chief Says Lack Of Unity Is A Bigger Threat Than Coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the world – and humanity is failing because of a lack of leadership and unity, the head of the World Health Organization declared in a passionate speech Thursday. "How is it difficult for humans to unite and fight a common enemy that is killing people indiscriminately?" WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked at a briefing in Geneva, his voice rising with emotion. (Chappell, 7/9)
CNN:
WHO Director Tedros Blasts 'Lack Of Leadership' And Calls For Global Unity As Coronavirus Cases Mount Worldwide
The director-general of the World Health Organization has condemned a "lack of leadership" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and made an emotional plea for global unity, as cases soar in multiple countries and the world struggles to contain the devastating virus more than six months after it was first identified. "My friends, make no mistake: The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a passionate speech in Geneva on Thursday. "Rather, it's the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels." (Picheta, 7/10)
The New York Times:
U.S. Hits Another Record For New Coronavirus Cases
Officials across the United States reported more than 59,880 cases on Thursday, setting a single-day record for the sixth time in 10 days, according to a New York Times database. The surge has been driven largely by states in the South and the West that were among the first to ease restrictions established during the virus’s initial wave in the spring. At least six states set single-day case records on Thursday: Alabama, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Oregon and Texas. (7/9)
Reuters:
U.S. Sets One-Day Record With More Than 60,500 COVID Cases; Americans Divided
More than 60,500 new COVID-19 infections were reported across the United States on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, setting a one-day record as weary Americans were told to take new precautions and the pandemic becomes increasingly politicized. (Shumaker and Younis, 7/9)
AP:
Wisconsin Officials Confirm 754 More COVID-19 Cases
Wisconsin health officials confirmed about 750 more cases of COVID-19 in the state Thursday.The state has now seen 33,908 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March. That’s an increase of 754 cases from Wednesday. Health officials recorded two more COVID-19-related deaths on Thursday, bringing the overall death toll to 809. (7/9)
AP:
Oregon Smashes Daily Virus Record With Nearly 400 New Cases
Oregon smashed its previous daily record for COVID-19 cases on Thursday with a 389 new diagnoses and six deaths. The number of cases was the highest seen in the state since the start of the pandemic, the Oregon Health Authority said, and brings total cases statewide to 11,188. There have been at least 220 deaths. (7/9)
AP:
Illinois Logs 1,000-Plus Virus Cases; First Time In Weeks
Illinois had more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in five weeks, the health department said Thursday.COVID-19 deaths, meanwhile, rose by 20 to 7,119. The state said the rate of positive cases over the past seven days was 2.6%. (7/9)
AP:
New Mexico Halts School Sports, Indoor Dining, Filmaking
New Mexico will halt indoor restaurant service, close state parks to nonresidents and suspend autumn contact sports at schools in response to surging coronavirus infections within its boundaries and neighboring Texas and Arizona, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday. (Lee, 7/10)
AP:
Navajo Nation Reports 61 More COVID-19 Cases, 4 More Deaths
Navajo Nation health officials have reported 61 more coronavirus cases and four additional known deaths. Tribal Department of Health officials said 8,042 people on the vast reservation that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah have tested positive for COVID-19 with 386 known deaths as of Wednesday night. (7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Behind New Covid-19 Outbreaks: America’s Patchwork Of Policies
The rising tide of coronavirus cases in the U.S. South and West, coming four months into the outbreak, emerged amid a patchwork of often confusing or conflicting rules across government that have proved inconsistent and often difficult to enforce, making the pandemic harder to halt. (Campo-Flores, Ballhaus and Bauerlein, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Time To Shut Down Again? As Coronavirus Cases Surge, A Growing Chorus Makes The Case
They raced to shut down their economies in March, and many opened them just as quickly in May. Now, governors across the country are facing growing pressure from public health experts and local leaders to reimpose stay-at-home orders as the only way to regain control of coronavirus outbreaks that threaten to overwhelm hospitals and send the death count rocketing. (Witte, 7/9)
The Hill:
Fauci Says Hard-Hit States Should Be 'Pausing' The Reopening Process
Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Thursday that hard-hit states should not be moving forward with reopening, but stopped short of calling for full shutdowns. "I would think we need to get the states pausing in their opening process, looking at what did not work well and try to mitigate that," Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told The Hill's Steve Clemons. "I don't think we need to go back to an extreme of shutting down." (Sullivan, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Study: Pregnant Women Can Transmit Coronavirus To Their Babies, Results Suggest
Researchers found the coronavirus and antibodies against it in the umbilical cord blood, breast milk, placentas and vaginas of some pregnant infected women, another suggestion that the virus can be passed to fetuses and newborns, according to results of a small study released Thursday. (Bernstein, 7/9)
AP:
Study Suggests Fetal Coronavirus Infection Is Possible
A small study strengthens evidence that a pregnant woman infected with the coronavirus might be able to spread it to her fetus. Researchers from Italy said Thursday that they studied 31 women with COVID-19 who delivered babies in March and April. They found signs of the virus in several samples of umbilical cord blood, the placenta and, in one case, breast milk. (Marchione, 7/9)
The Hill:
CDC Director: Keeping Schools Closed Poses Greater Health Threat To Children Than Reopening
Redfield demurred when asked about the need for more funding on Thursday. "I think we've got to see the plans that the different schools and jurisdictions come up with," he said. (Sullivan, 7/9)
Reuters:
Closing Schools 'Greater Public Health Risk' Than Reopening, Says Top U.S. Health Official
Keeping schools closed in the coming academic year is a greater risk to children’s health than reopening them, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Redfield said the guidelines the CDC has given on operating schools during the pandemic are designed to facilitate their reopening, and he would be “disappointed” if they were used as a rationale to keep them closed. (O'Donnell, 7/9)
AP:
CDC Head Sticking To School-Opening Guides Trump Criticized
Federal health officials won’t revise their coronavirus guidelines for reopening schools despite criticism from President Donald Trump, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. What they will do, he said, is provide additional information to help states, communities and parents decide what to do and when. “Our guidelines are our guidelines,” Dr. Robert Redfield declared. (Amy and Feldman, 7/9)
The New York Times:
‘Big Mess’ Looms If Schools Don’t Get Billions To Reopen Safely
As the White House, the nation’s pediatricians and many worn-down, economically strapped parents push for school doors to swing open this fall, local education officials say they are being crushed by the costs of getting students and teachers back in classrooms safely. (Goldstein, 7/9)
Politico:
If Walmart Is Open, Schools Should Be, Too, DeSantis Says
Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his push to reopen classrooms this fall, said Thursday that if retailers are allowed to operate, schools should be, too. The risk of children getting sick is “extremely, extremely low,” DeSantis said, and if fast food eateries and hardware stores could operate as “essential” businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, then schools should reopen as well. (Fineout, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Delay Fall School Reopening, L.A. Teachers Union Says
Leaders of the Los Angeles teachers union on Friday will call for campuses to remain closed and for distance learning to continue when the school year begins on Aug. 18, The Times has learned. Union leaders have concluded it is not safe to bring children back on campus as COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County surge to new highs. (Agrawal and Blume, 7/9)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento CA District Releases Plans To Reopen Schools
Sacramento City Unified School District released a draft of the precautions and recommendations for the fall as they plan to reopen schools. The 44-page draft laid out precautions students and staff must take, which include daily student monitoring for symptoms and temperature screenings on campus. (Morrar, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
With Coronavirus Science Still Iffy, U.S. Schools Hope To Reopen For 56.6 Million K-12 Students
In just a matter of weeks, tens of millions of children will start a new school year, and what that will look like has become the nation’s thorniest political and epidemiological issue. School officials have to figure out how to resume schooling while limiting the risks to children, their teachers, school staffers and their communities. This pivotal moment in the coronavirus pandemic comes as scientists are still trying to understand precisely how the virus affects children and how children affect the spread of the virus. (Achenbach, Meckler and Janes, 7/9)
Politico:
Congress' Next Fight: Reopening Schools
Congress’ push to deliver its next coronavirus relief package is facing a massive new hurdle: the national fight over reopening America’s schools. President Donald Trump’s demands for in-person education this fall — despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in dozens of states — has emerged as another partisan flashpoint in Washington, with both parties split over the path to restoring normal life in the U.S. with the coronavirus still largely unrestrained. (Ferris and Levine, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times:
California Sues Over Trump Policy On International Students
California sued the Trump administration Thursday to challenge new visa rules that bar international students from staying in the U.S. if they take all of their classes online, arguing it could worsen the spread of COVID-19 to require attendance in person. (McGreevy, 7/9)
Stat:
International MD, PhD Students Wrestle With Uncertainty From New ICE Rules
International students completing their medical and doctoral degrees in the United States are wrestling with frustration and uncertainty following the release of federal rules this week that could bar them from staying in the country. In an emergency ruling Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that students who are on an F-1 visa — usually reserved for international students enrolled in degree programs in the U.S. — will have to leave the country if their schools have opted for online-only classes in the fall. The rules also apply to students who are here on an M-1 visa, which is for completing vocational training and other technical courses. (Chakradhar, 7/10)
Politico:
Harvard, MIT File Suit Over Trump Administration Visa Rule For International Students
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed suit Wednesday against DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an attempt to halt a proposed federal policy that could deport international students taking online-only courses at U.S. colleges. (Perez Jr., 7/8)
AP:
Foreign Students Weigh Studying In Person Vs. Losing Visas
International students worried about a new immigration policy that could potentially cost them their visas say they feel stuck between being unnecessarily exposed during the coronavirus pandemic and being able to finish their studies in America. The students from countries as diverse as India, China and Brazil say they are scrambling to devise plans after federal immigration authorities notified colleges this week that international students must leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools operate entirely online this fall. Some say they are thinking about returning home or moving to nearby Canada. (Naishadham, Mumphrey and Powell, 7/10)
Reuters:
Trump Says He Expects To Wear A Mask When He Visits Military Hospital
Trump, who had become increasingly isolated within the Republican Party for not promoting wearing a mask, has in recent weeks spoken more favorably about their use as COVID-19 cases have surged in the United States. More than 60,500 new COVID-19 infections were reported across the United States on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, setting a one-day record as weary Americans were told to take new precautions and the pandemic becomes increasingly politicized. (Beech and Mohammed, 7/9)
Politico:
Trump: 'I Expect' To Wear A Mask During Upcoming Walter Reed Hospital Visit
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would likely wear a mask while visiting Walter Reed medical center this weekend, taking another step back from his previous reticence toward facial coverings as coronavirus cases continue to soar nationwide. Speaking with Fox News' Sean Hannity in a live phone interview, Trump said "it's fine to wear a mask if it makes you feel comfortable." (Choi, 7/9)
The Hill:
Trump Says He'll Wear Mask During Upcoming Trip To Walter Reed
The president was spotted behind the scenes during a tour of a Ford factory last month wearing a mask, but he did not wear one on camera, saying he did not want to give reporters there the satisfaction of seeing him with a face covering. "I have no problem with a mask. I don’t think you need one when you’re tested all the time, everybody around you is tested, you’re quite a distance," Trump said Thursday. (Samuels, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
CDC Feels Pressure From Trump As Rift Grows Over Coronavirus Response
As the country enters a frightening phase of the pandemic with new daily cases surpassing 57,000 on Thursday, the CDC, the nation’s top public health agency, is coming under intense pressure from President Trump and his allies, who are downplaying the dangers in a bid to revive the economy ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. In a White House guided by the president’s instincts, rather than by evidence-based policy, the CDC finds itself forced constantly to backtrack or sidelined from pivotal decisions. (Sun and Dawsey, 7/9)
Politico:
Trump’s Health Officials Find Ways To Contradict His Message Downplaying Virus Risks
President Donald Trump’s top health officials can no longer use the White House briefing room as a daily bullhorn for public safety messaging during the pandemic, so they’ve settled on a different strategy: contradict Trump on other platforms. Anthony Fauci on Thursday used a panel discussion on the future of health care to warn that “we’re still in a significant problem,” an assessment at odds with the president’s assertion that things are getting better. (Cancryn and Ehley, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration’s Approach To Testing Is Chaotic And Unhelpful, States Say
The Trump administration’s erratic approach to testing for the novel coronavirus has left state leaders and commercial laboratories confused, frustrated and unprepared for the fall, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions found in a report released Thursday. (Weiner, 7/9)
AP:
House Staffers To Work From Home After Aide Tests Positive
The Ohio House of Representatives reinstated work-from-home status Thursday after a legislative aide tested positive this week for COVID-19.House Speaker Larry Householder told his colleagues to not report to the Riffe Center for work until further notice. (Amiri, 7/9)
NPR:
'STOP GETTING TESTED' For Coronavirus, Ohio Politician Tells Constituents
Ohio state Rep. Nino Vitale (R) is urging his constituents not to get tested for the coronavirus, flouting advice from health officials — and from another Republican lawmaker, Gov. Mike DeWine. "This is what happens when people go crazy and get tested," Vitale wrote on Facebook this week. "STOP GETTING TESTED!" (Chappell, 7/9)
CIDRAP:
New Pharma-Led Fund Aims To Boost Antibiotic Development
A coalition of more than 20 leading pharmaceutical companies today announced the launch of a new fund to provide financial incentives to boost antibiotic development efforts and help the smaller companies engaged in much of the research on new, innovative drugs to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). (Dall, 7/9)
The New York Times:
Drug Giants Create Fund To Bolster Struggling Antibiotic Start-Ups
Twenty of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies on Thursday announced the creation of a $1 billion fund to buoy financially strapped biotech start-ups that are developing new antibiotics to treat the mounting number of drug-resistant infections responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. (Jacobs, 7/9)
Stat:
Two Dozen Big Drug Makers Launch A $1 Billion Fund To Develop Antibiotics
In response to heightened concerns over antibiotic resistance, two dozen of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies have formally launched a $1 billion for-profit venture fund to replenish the global medicine chest with novel treatments. The new Antimicrobial Action Fund will look to buy or invest in small antibiotic companies and their products, and will work with the World Health Organization and the European Investment Bank to identify promising prospects. (Silverman, 7/9)
Stat:
Despite The Pandemic, Prices For Many Drugs Keep Rising
Despite the economic hardships the Covid-19 pandemic has created for many Americans, drug makers raised list prices on 42 brand-name medicines by an average of 3.5% this month, surpassing the number of price hikes taken by the pharmaceutical industry at this time a year ago. The price increases added to the average 6.8% price hikes that companies took on 857 brand-name and generic drugs between January and June, according to data compiled by GoodRx, which tracks prescription drug pricing and provides free coupons for discounts on medications. (Silverman, 7/9)
CIDRAP:
Study: Baloxavir Prevents Spread Of Flu To Household Members
The antiviral drug baloxavir (Xofluza) prevented influenza in household contacts of infected patients, according to a study yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, but a US expert outlined several caveats about the findings. The multicenter randomized controlled trial assessed the prophylactic effectiveness of baloxavir over 10 days in 749 household members of index patients with flu during the 2018-19 season in Japan. Participants were given a single dose of either baloxavir or a placebo. (Beusekom, 7/9)
NPR:
An Enzyme Linked To Exercise Shows Potential For Enhancing Memory
Scientists say they've identified an enzyme that could help explain how exercise can slow or even reverse some signs of aging in the brain. "Exercise in a bottle" isn't around the corner, but it's not out of the question either. The idea builds on an observation a few years ago that certain parts of the brain can actually grow, even in older people. (Harris, 7/9)
Stat:
A New Tool Aims To Help Patients Sort Through 200 Mental Health Apps
There are nearly 20,000 mental health apps that will do everything from tracking a person’s suicidal thoughts to soothing someone experiencing a panic attack. A new online tool from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center aims to help patients sort through the noise for almost 200 of them — and counting. (Ortolano, 7/10)
Stat:
How Does Exercise Benefit The Aging Brain?
Exercise has been shown to slow cognitive decline in aging, but scientists haven’t known why. Now, by transfusing blood from exercising mice into sedentary ones, researchers have found a single protein, produced in the liver, that seems to underlie restorative effects in the brain. (Gaffney, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID-19 And Blood Type: What's The Link?
If there’s one thing we want to know about COVID-19, it’s probably this: What’s my risk of getting it? Researchers have identified certain things that make some people more vulnerable than others. ... Now there’s evidence that blood type could be a risk factor too. (Kaplan, 7/9)
CNN:
Coronavirus Autopsies: Small Vessel Blood Clotting Found In Patients, Pathologist Says
Autopsies on people who died of the coronavirus are helping doctors understand how the disease affects the body — and one of the most remarkable findings concerned blood clotting, a pathologist says. Dr. Amy Rapkiewicz, the chairman of the department of pathology at NYU Langone Medical Center, spoke to Erin Burnett on OutFront Thursday night. Some Covid-19 patients are known to develop blood clotting issues, but the degree and the extent to which that occurs was described as "dramatic" by Rapkiewicz. (Ellis and Kane, 7/10)
The New York Times:
How Scientists Got Coronavirus While Trying To Find A Drug For The Disease
In January, as a frightening new virus filled hospital wards in Wuhan, China, Stephanie Giordano, a 25-year-old researcher at the drugmaker Regeneron, in a suburb of New York City, began working on a treatment for the disease. By March, the deadly coronavirus had hit home. Fearing she would get infected on the train that took her to the lab every day, she moved from her apartment in East Harlem to an Airbnb five minutes from the company’s headquarters in Tarrytown, in Westchester County. (Thomas, 7/9)
AP:
4 In 10 Kansans Don't Have To Wear Masks Despite Mandate
Four in 10 Kansans live in counties that have overruled Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide mask order even as coronavirus cases in the state soar.More than 90 of the state’s 105 counties have opted out of the mandate issued last week under a new state law that allows local leaders to follow or discard Kelly’s pandemic-related executive orders. (7/9)
AP:
Face Masks Made Mandatory On All UW Campuses This Fall
Face masks will be mandatory inside all University of Wisconsin campus buildings statewide under a policy adopted unanimously Thursday by the Board of Regents after interim President Tommy Thompson said there was no way to open safely amid the coronavirus pandemic without the mandate. (Bauer, 7/9)
NPR:
Starbucks Says Customers Must Wear Masks At Its Cafes
Starbucks announced on Thursday that it would require all patrons to wear face masks at its locations across the United States.The order will take effect on July 15, according to a statement from Starbucks. (Horn, 7/9)
The Wall Street Journal:
College Football Season In Jeopardy As Big Ten Begins Canceling Games
“We are focused on how to play this season in a safe and responsible way based on the best advice of our medical experts,” said Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren on Thursday. He also allowed for the possibility of not playing at all this fall, saying: “It’s important to get across that we’re also prepared not to play should the circumstances dictate. We’re taking this one step at a time.” (Higgins and Bachman, 7/9)
The New York Times:
Big Ten Will Play Fall Sports Only Within Conference, If At All
The Big Ten Conference’s fall sports teams will play only within the league, a decision that will affect football, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball — assuming public health officials advise playing at all amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Brassil and Blinder, 7/9)
AP:
The Latest: California CCAA Moving All Sports To The Spring
The California Community College Athletic Association is moving all sports, even football, to the spring. The decision announced Thursday was one of three potential scenarios approved by the CCCAA Board of Directors last month. (7/10)
AP:
Big Ten Scraps Nonconference Football Games Due To Pandemic
The conference cited medical advice in making its decision and added ominously that the plan would be applied only “if the conference is able to participate in fall sports.” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said it was “much easier if we’re just working with our Big Ten institutions” in terms of things like scheduling and traveling. (Zenor, 7/10)