The pandemic alone is a call to our elected officials for the type of leadership and vision we expect at a moment of crisis, says the report, which grew out of interviews conducted by Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communication at American University, and Mark Sobol, an author and expert on organizational development and executive leadership. But we are also facing another reckoning, one over our nations original sin and the racial inequities that have beset our country since its founding.

The study ticks through familiar themes when it comes to assessing the sorry state of Congress: the lack of any real across-the-aisle relationships, a schedule that limits opportunities for interaction, too much power concentrated in leadership, constant fund-raising demands, discouragement of bipartisanship, the negative influence of round-the-clock media, the fact that the most important election for lawmakers is often their primary, and the shutting out of minority-party voices.

It also warns that the shifts toward a more virtual Congress as a result of the pandemic, such as a new system of proxy voting in the House that allows lawmakers to cast their votes without traveling to Washington, could exacerbate the existing problems. If the idea of a remote Congress takes hold, the report suggests, it would be a serious setback to efforts to enhance bipartisan interaction.

Because of the pandemic, Congress was forced to conduct much of its business virtually, and we certainly understand why, the report said. But as much as that may have been a necessity, it should not be interpreted as a virtue.

The document says Congress needs more and not less in-person interaction among members of Congress. They need to learn more about each others districts, hold civil conversations aimed at finding common ground, build relationships of trust that can lead understanding and solutions.

In a week when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, was verbally assaulted without provocation by Representative Ted Yoho, Republican of Florida, and fellow Republicans ganged up on Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, in a hostile confrontation, the call for civility rang especially true.

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Congress Was Already Broken. The Coronavirus Could Make It Worse. - The New York Times

Mar-a-Lago was the place to see and be seen for guests who paid thousands of dollars for the privilege on New Years Eve. Diamonds and furs abounded on the red carpet. When Donald Trump arrived at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in high spirits and a tuxedo, he declared: Were going to have a great year, I predict.

But earlier that day, a Chinese government website had identified a pneumonia of unknown cause in the area surrounding a seafood market in Wuhan. When midnight struck and 2020 dawned, no one could have guessed how this microscopic pathogen would turn the world upside down, infecting 15 million people, killing 625,000, crippling economies and wiping out landmark events such as the Olympic Games.

America is no exception. The coronavirus pandemic has upended the presidential election, which, on Sunday, will be just one hundred days away. It has changed the issues, the way the fight is fought and quite possibly the outcome. The nations biggest economic crisis for 75 years, and worst public health crisis for a century, is an asteroid strike that has rewritten the rules of politics and left historians grasping for election year comparisons.

There is probably nothing the same as coronavirus, said Thomas Schwartz, a history professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Obviously, you have issues that stir the public up: 1968 would have been Vietnam and the disturbances that had taken place in the cities. But nothing quite as universal and affecting such a wide band of Americans as the coronavirus. That is really new.

Soon after that New Years Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago, Trump would be acquitted by Republicans at his Senate impeachment trial and triumphantly brandish the next days Washington Post front page at the White House. In his own mind, at least, he was riding a strong economy on his way to re-election, while Democrats struggled to tally results in their Iowa caucuses or settle on a unifying presidential nominee.

But the virus was on the move. On 22 January, Trump claimed that it is totally under control and is going to be just fine. On 2 February, he insisted he had stopped its spread by restricting travel from China. On 27 February, he said at the White House: One day its like a miracle it will disappear. And so it went on in what critics now say was a historic feat of denial and failure in leadership.

Covid-19 swept through New York, killing thousands of people. Trump declared himself a wartime president and held daily briefings in April but then reportedly got bored and switched emphasis to reviving the economy seen as crucial to his re-election chances. Yet while the infection and death tolls ticked up, his approval ratings ticked down.

Now it seems the old maxim of Its the economy, stupid will be replaced by Its the virus, stupid as the defining issue for voters, not least because the suffering and death have a direct impact on the economy itself: Americans have filed 52.7m unemployment claims over the past four months.

Another famous campaign question, Are you better off than you were four years ago?, now seems purely rhetorical. The Trump campaign has been forced to abandon the slogan Keep America great in favour of Make America great again, again.

Schwartz added: When Trump had the economy going gangbusters he had a stronger argument on his behalf that, despite his disruptiveness and unpleasantness, people were doing OK and things seemed to be moving ahead. But look at the polling on whether the countrys going in a good direction or a bad direction and, boy, did that spike with the bad direction since March.

Trump was arguably an unusually lucky president for his first three years, not having to face the type of major crisis that confronted many of his predecessors, enabling him to persist as a gadfly reality TV star tweeting about celebrities instead of reading national security briefs. With the eruption of the virus, that luck ran out spectacularly.

America now has 4m infections and more than 140,000 deaths, the highest tallies in the world. Cases have doubled in the past six weeks even as curves flatten in Europe.

The president continues to defend his response, pointing to travel restrictions he imposed, 50m tests conducted more than any other country and mass distribution of ventilators. Were all in this together, he said on Wednesday. And as Americans, were going to get this complete. Were going to do it properly. Weve been doing it properly. Sections of the country come up that we didnt anticipate for instance, Florida, Texas, et cetera but were working with very talented people, very brilliant people, and its all going to work out, and it is working out.

But his niece Mary Trump, author of a new family memoir, said his handling of the pandemic has been criminal. She added: It was avoidable, it was preventable and even if we hadnt gotten a hold of it right away, the statistics are pretty clear. Two weeks earlier, what, 90% of deaths could have been avoided? And they havent been, simply because he refused to wear a mask because doing so would have admitted that he was wrong about something, and that is something he cannot do.

The pandemic was a moment when Trump could have surprised the world and proved his doubters wrong. He did not rise to the challenge in the eyes of those critics. He failed to devise a national strategy on testing, rarely spoke of the victims, refused to wear a mask until recently and undermined top public health experts such as Dr Anthony Fauci.

Leon Panetta, a former defence secretary and CIA director, said: If you operate on the basic premise that crisis defines leadership, then youd have to say that this crisis has also defined the failure of leadership. That has without question impacted on politics in this country.

Its pretty clear that there are a hell of a lot of constituencies out there that feel that hes failed to lead with this issue. Theres a sense that in many ways hes basically said, Youre on your own in terms of dealing with this. He at one point said he doesnt take responsibility for whats happening with this virus and I think that sent a real message to the country that the presidents gone awol on the country at a time of crisis.

Such is the backlash that multiple opinion polls show the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leading Trump by double digits, and ahead in the battleground states that will decide the electoral college. The presidents best hope now might be an October surprise in the form of a coronavirus vaccine. There is no clearer example of how everything has changed than Texas, which no Democrat has won since 1976. On Wednesday, a record 197 deaths from Covid-19 were reported while a Quinnipiac poll showed Biden leading Trump 45% to 44%.

Filemon Vela, a Democratic congressman from southern Texas, said: Since the beginning of the pandemic, President Trump and our own governor, Greg Abbott, have made tactical decisions that are now resulting in the killing of Texans en masse. Any rational thinking Texan would be crazy if they voted for Donald Trump, given the way that the state is being ravaged by the virus.

Across the state, ICUs are full. Back in my home town, patients that should be in the ICU are having to wait in emergency rooms. Patients who cant get into emergency rooms are having to wait in ambulances for hours outside the hospital. It is a catastrophic situation and I believe that, when November comes around, the people of Texas are going to remember it.

Against the implacable foe of the virus, Trump has repeatedly sought to divert and distract. He seized on the Black Lives Matter protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis not with healing and compassion but by attempting to stoke culture war divisions over crime and Confederate statues. Still, the pandemic persisted.

Bill Galston, a former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, said: If the election becomes a referendum on the presidents handling of the pandemic, he cannot win. Its as simple as that and so, barring some miraculously favourable developments in the next hundred days, he has no choice but to change the subject as best as he can.

The pandemic has not only transmogrified the substance of the election but also the style. Democrats were fortunate to get most their primaries out of the way and mostly unite behind a nominee before the storm hit. Other rituals of the election year calendar campaign rallies, convention speeches, presidential debates will be unrecognisable.

So far, the altered landscape appears to be hurting Trump and helping Biden. In 2016, the Republican thrived on rambunctious rallies where crowds chanted Build the wall! and, referring to his opponent Hillary Clinton, Lock her up! The theatre seemingly gave him a blood transfusion of political energy while building a cult of personality for crowds, often in long-neglected small towns, who then fanned out to spread the word.

Last month, however, a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, drew a disappointingly small crowd amid virus fears, and another in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was cancelled. No more have been announced. The president has also been forced to call off Republican national convention events next month in Jacksonville, Florida, where he had been planning to make a splashy acceptance speech before a cheering crowd.

Democrats will also hold a delayed and pared-down convention in Milwaukee in August, with much of it migrating online. Biden, who at 77 would be the oldest president ever elected, has been able to lie low in his basement in Wilmington, Delaware, spared from the punishment of constant campaigning and awkward encounters that could invite his notorious gaffes. Instead the pandemic plays to his perceived strengths of empathy, experience and stability.

Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, added: Nobodys ever seen anything like this and nobody knows what the net effect is going to be. I dont know to what extent the raucous Trump rallies of 2016 were instrumental to his success but what we do know is thats not a strategy that can be repeated in 2020.

But there may be no greater demonstration of the pandemics reach than polling day itself, due to take place on 3 November amid health fears, a surge of mail-in voting and a prolonged count that Trump might seek to discredit and exploit.

This week more than 30 advocacy groups and grassroots organisations joined Protect the Results, a project to mobilise millions of people should Trump contest the election results, refuse to concede after losing, or claim victory before all the votes are counted.

Panetta, a former White House chief of staff, has heard similar talk from friends. On conferences and Zoom calls and emails Im getting concern that this is not a president who has ever shown a tendency to operate with a degree of class in accepting defeat and so theres a sense that he will resist the results of the election if its close, he said.

I guess the hope for a lot of people Ive talked to is that the election results are so clear that it makes it very difficult for the president to even pretend that somehow the vote was wrong.

More here:

'Nobodys ever seen anything like this': how coronavirus turned the US election upside down - The Guardian

This unlikely support group began as a way for 32-year-old Andrey Khudyakov, from Paris, to keep in touch with his family members during the pandemic, some of whom live in New York, others in Sweden and some in Italy. They began inviting friends to the Facebook group, who added their own friends and soon the online community grew to more than 28,000 members.

"It's very hard when you're all alone by yourself at home locked down. And maybe sometimes you don't have family support," he says. "And you just need to share with someone what's going on and have feedback."

"It gives people who have a common purpose a forum to speak openly and to feel a little bit less alone," she says. "The ability to share your story and talk about details that might make us feel humiliated or might make us feel ashamed when in reality what we need to do is really share our story ... and get the support of others."

"They're all supportive, it's just amazing to see all this exchange," Khudyakov says.

'I was searching for hope'

Marialaura Osorio, 23, found Khydakev's group after battling panic attacks following a Covid-19 diagnosis.

When health officials first raised alarm months ago, Osorio and her roommates took the threat of the virus very seriously, she says. They drafted a set of rules: they'd only invite up to two people in their home, their guests all had to be working from home and they wouldn't participate in other gatherings. She stayed locked down at their Austin home since mid-March.

"I was literally the crazy one with this whole thing," she says. "And I'm the only one that got it."

By June, with loosened measures in the state, Osorio says she let her guard down and decided to visit family and friends and go for a round of drinks.

"I thought it was an outdoor bar, we're going to be fine, we're not in danger, they checked our temperatures," she says. "I felt pretty safe, but obviously it wasn't safe."

Two days later, she had her first cold-like symptoms. And about ten days after that, she tested positive for coronavirus.

"The first four days from getting my result it was just like, I was in bed having panic attacks," she says. "It was just horrible."

She told one roommate, who stayed with family as Osorio went into isolation. The second roommate, she says, got so upset with the news they moved out. Osorio decided she wouldn't tell any other friends or anyone outside her immediate family about her positive result. Cooped up at home with no one around, her mind fled to the worst-case scenarios she read in the news: that she'd end up deeply-ill in the hospital or that she wouldn't be able to survive the infection. Desperate to find messages of recovery and survival, she turned to Facebook.

"I was searching for hope" she says. "So being able to post questions on there or read and support each other was just, honestly, I could totally 100% say that that is one of the huge things that got me through Covid."

She found members who encouraged her to stay positive, to believe in her recovery. Others offered her guidance on how to build up her immune system, how to check her oxygen levels and recommended natural remedies they found helpful. She says more than a month since her positive result, there are still people she's never met who check in on how she's recovering.

"I would have ended up either in the hospital or my panic attack would have caused like heart problems or something," she says. "I'm just so thankful to that group."

An army of survivors

Diana Berrent also remembers the isolation she felt recovering from the virus.

When the 46-year-old tested positive for coronavirus on March 18, she says she was one of the first residents in her New York community to be diagnosed and didn't have an experienced group to turn to. She locked herself in a room, away from her husband and two children, and recorded her journey in a video diary as she paced through stomach issues, severe headaches and high fevers.

"It's really extreme isolation and a lack of information," she says. "And that is a very, very scary place to be."

The early days of her recovery process felt like she was taking two steps forward and then a step back, with symptoms coming and going. It was worst at night, Berrent says, when fears of going to the hospital or ending up on a ventilator would crowd her mind. But when she began feeling better, she had a realization that changed her life.

"I realized that if I was going to be one of the first people diagnosed, if all went well, I'd be one of the first survivors," she says. "And with that came both the tremendous responsibility, but also an opportunity."

She donated her plasma -- not once, but eight times. The more time she spent reading about how important those contributions were during this pandemic, the more she felt eager to mobilize crowds to donate their own antibodies once they had recovered.

So Berrent created a Facebook group and pieced together a website that helps Covid survivors connect with not only each other, but also with plasma and blood banks near them, as well as medical studies they qualify for that could help find treatment for the illness. The group, Survivor Corps, now has more than 80,000 members.

"I can't talk about it without getting this ear to ear grin on my face," she says in an appeal to other survivors to donate plasma. "Because, in a lifetime, how many opportunities do we have to save a single life?"

The group has become a massive forum with members sharing information on just about anything regarding the virus. Put a keyword in the group's search bar, Berrent says, and you'll find hundreds of posts made by members on anything from symptoms, their experience through isolation to pictures of recovery.

"It's providing a community for ... a lot of people who are living in a world where people don't believe them, who are afraid of them, (where) they feel like a pariah, they're afraid to tell anybody," she says. "And so this is an outlet, a community, a source of inspiration."

A nurse tackling stigmas online

In Dallas, Bryan Bailey's work keeps him thinking about the coronavirus all day. When he goes home, he logs on to the online support groups he's joined to help dozens of strangers he's never met who are going through symptoms.

"The only time I'm not talking about Covid since February has been when I'm asleep," Bailey said.

Bailey, the director of nursing at a behavioral health facility that also treats coronavirus patients, says after helping a friend deal with the anxiety that came with her coronavirus diagnosis, he decided to join online groups to guide others through their experience with the virus. Support groups, he says, allow their communities to compare and contrast their symptoms, track patterns and help each other understand what could be a virus symptom and what could be something different, like allergies. They are needed safe spaces where no question is a bad one, Bailey says.

"From my role and my nursing background and my personal passion for mental health, (I know) a lot of people don't ask questions," Bailey said. "We know as healthcare providers, when they come to us, there's a lot of things that they feel embarrassed to talk about and that they struggle with."

Those taboo subjects for coronavirus patients can range anywhere from asking about diarrhea to brain fog to hallucinations, he says.

"So, (the group) was a great channel and vehicle for me to help other people," he added.

When he tested positive himself, he says he was initially hesitant to share his positive result -- worried about the stigma he had been helping combat.

"I struggled with whether to ... tell my own story." he says. "And I realized that, 'My gosh, I'm one of these people. Here I am telling them not to be afraid to talk about it, and I myself am afraid.'"

The virus has been stigmatized by many as something almost permanent, Bailey says. With health officials now recognizing the long-term health effects that survivors have been reporting for months, Bailey says fears of infecting loved ones can mean those who once tested positive are afraid of leaving their house again.

With a heightened sense of anxiety the virus has created, Bailey says, "I think every American ... thinks that if they cough or hiccup or sneeze, now (they)'ve got Covid."

And some people who have stayed healthy are now avoiding contact with anyone who tested positive -- even if that test was months ago.

The groups have been a vehicle to tackle those stigmas. And for people who have been fortunate enough to recover, he says the groups that served to better the patients' mental health played a major role in that process.

"Your mental health is very important when you're dealing with this," Bailey says. "And you've still got to do a lot of self-care, not just physical care, but a lot of self-care and you need support."

Read more:

Across the globe, online survivor groups are a source of hope and support for those diagnosed with Covid-19 - CNN

Because of that, we spent time this spring -- toward the start of the crisis in the US -- speaking to mayors about the vast challenges at the local level they were navigating. Their medical workers didn't have personal protective equipment, they didn't have tests and they were worried about hospital capacity.

These local leaders were also concerned about the physical, mental and economic health of the constituents who are also their friends and neighbors.

Now, almost five months in, we checked back with several of those mayors to see how the pandemic fight is going now. From the South, to the Midwest to the Northeast, there are still deep and common concerns. PPE is available but testing is still inadequate. Schools they never imagined would not resume in the fall are all struggling with how to do so safely in communities where case numbers are still high.

And, for some their biggest fear came true: Reopening parts of their cities too soon proved to be a mistake.

Tampa, Florida: 'Opening of the bars, that was a mistake'

Now she says a flaw in the statewide reopening plan fueled a resurgence in Covid-19 cases: opening Florida's bars.

"No one followed the rules from go," she said, noting people crowded bars, which she called "the veritable Petri dish for Covid-19."

Castor says they are scrambling to correct what she calls a "huge mistake" by sending law enforcement to crack down on "bad actors."

"We sent out a letter from our city attorney to over 100 bars and restaurants just reminding them of what the orders are now in the state of Florida and then any violations could result in a loss of a liquor license. So, that usually gets the bars' attention," Castor said.

Castor said she does not generally think the state, or her city, reopened too soon, despite the city enduring about 400 new coronavirus cases a day.

"We took the steps I think that we were thoughtful, and we were slow and deliberate," she said.

Still, things were so bad earlier this month, she put a mask mandate in place, which she said is starting to show positive results.

Last week the new case numbers had spiked to 900 a day in Tampa, which has a population of nearly 393,000 people. She says her mask ordinance combined with a "continued drumbeat" for people to socially distance, helped cut that number more than in half this week.

"I'm not making any excuses or trying to tie a bow around any of that. We're still in a very precarious spot. But one of the things proportionally that the number of deaths that we have is very, very low for the number of cases," Castor says.

But testing remains a problem in Tampa just as it does around the country. It is more available than before but results often take up to 10 days to process.

When we spoke in early April, Castor, who was Tampa's police chief for three decades, told us that in all of her years of law enforcement and emergency management, she had never seen this kind of unpreparedness from the federal government.

"That statement still holds true," Castor told us this week. "There's just a complete lack of leadership or direction on the federal level in this particular incident."

One of the big ripple effects on Tampa, as it is nationwide, is uncertainty about reopening schools. DeSantis wants them to open, but she says Tampa's superintendent is giving parents a choice.

"Kids can stay home and go through the e-learning that they've been using all summer. They can respond to the classroom. My instinct tells me that the schools aren't going to open on time, that there'd be an actual delay," she said.

Waterloo, Iowa: 'We're not out of the woods yet'

Tysons had indefinitely suspended production at the plant where more than 1,000 workers became infected. Now, the plant is open with increased safety measures including on-site testing and social distancing.

Hart, a Democrat, said it's "doing pretty well."

"We're happy and we're pleased about that. And that's also reflected in our numbers too. ... We were seeing hundreds of people per day, well into 50, 60 people per day. Now it may be seven, it may be six, it may be less," he said.

But Hart is not convinced his city is out of the woods yet, as state and county numbers continue to rise.

"We are very cautious because we don't want to move too fast and refer to where we're like some of the other states that are now open too fast, did things too soon but now have to scale back things," Hart says.

He is strongly encouraging his citizens to wear masks, but he is not considering implementing a mandatory mask mandate like the one just put in place in Iowa City.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, has said cities do not have the authority to do so.

"I think it's incredible where mayors are able to make the best decisions for their individual communities. The way we deal with it is not a cookie cutter situation in how we enforce things," he said.

"Mayors need to have the discretion to be able to have nonpolitical, non-biased opportunities to lead their communities, and not have that disrupted by governors and federal officials. We need to be able to have home rule," he added.

Not listening to local leaders, Hart believes, is where the state and federal governments went wrong during the peak of Waterloo's outbreak in April.

"I feel that if they would have listened to us locally, sooner, than us having to go on television and write a myriad of different letters ... then we wouldn't have had near the amount of cases we had," the mayor said.

All things considered, Hart says he is proud of the way his city locally managed the outbreak, and he attributes some of their success to being proactive on the public health side.

"Pro-business means pro-worker means pro-public health. That's the way we approach this. We don't have it all solved, but we're talking a lot more and communicating upfront," the mayor said.

As the debate about reopening schools continues nationwide, Reynolds issued a proclamation saying 50% of schooling needs to be in person, which Hart calls a "huge concern."

"You may have districts that have teachers and administrators that are susceptible and vulnerable populations. And so, you're basically forcing these people to go back into a situation where they may lose their life from if they contracted Covid. So, that's a challenge," Hart said.

Hart is no stranger to the concerns of educators and students returning to school. His wife is a vice principal at a local elementary school, and he has young children at home. Waterloo's school system will begin with a phased opening.

"There is going to be the option of parents to be able to do some online learning. But as we know, there may be a lot of parents out there that can't stay home and work from home while they do education," he explained.

He thinks it will be hard for schools to follow US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines of staying six feet apart, but says the schools are trying to erect dividers between desks, provide masks and put a contact tracing system in place.

Hart, the first black mayor of his city, says the list of what keeps him up at night keeps growing.

"It was Tyson, then it was Covid, but then it was also with the Black Lives Matter movement," he said.

"I would probably say trying to figure out what we can do better keeps me up, and that is still Covid, that is still police-community relations, that is still trying to get economic development to areas that need it," he added.

He said the past six months have completely changed his life and created a new normal within his community and he is trying to adapt.

"Still show good, humble leadership in these times," he said.

Topeka, Kansas: 'Our community is starting to see how serious it is'

"We actually recently had a few public figures in our community having the virus, and just yesterday, one of our council members, our deputy mayor, was talking about the challenges that he has. And I'm hopeful that these are the conversations that are helping us understand that the virus is serious," De La Isla, a Democrat, told CNN in a phone interview.

Topeka's cases are climbing, but because she believes her residents are finally practicing social distancing and wearing masks, she is hoping the trend will reverse. There are signs that could happen -- the city saw its first drop in the number of cases on Wednesday.

Topeka has not seen case numbers anywhere near as high as hotspots nationwide. They average between 15 and 20 new cases each day, according to De La Isla. She thinks the executive order that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a fellow Democrat, put in place in early July requiring masks statewide has made all the difference.

"Overall, we are very fortunate that the governor was wise enough to request the use of masks by everybody in the state because the numbers in the state started to go up, and I can tell you that I think it's starting to work. It's been a week, and we are finally seeing our first drop in our chart," she explained.

De La Isla also praised the governor's push for more testing statewide, which has allowed her to have more free testing for individuals in her community. Her state still falls on the lower end of testing per capita, and De La Isla is concerned test results are taking too long.

"I think that we are starting to overwhelm the system, and sometimes the testing is coming back four to five days after testing," she said.

Her city is now in Phase 3 of reopening, and she worries her constituents are exhausted by all of the precautions to protect themselves against Covid-19.

"Our joke here has been that we are in phase 3.4 of people feeling that we're OK. ... There is absolutely fatigue," she said.

The mental health of her constituents has been a top priority for De La Isla since the pandemic began. When we spoke in April, she had found creative ways to connect with her residents and provide emotional support, like starting a "warm line" (instead of hot line) for people in distress, and reading to children on Facebook every Sunday, which she still does.

As a single mom, De La Isla is having to make the same tough decision that parents across the nation are facing whether her two teen daughters will return to school in the fall.

"Does it worry me? Of course. I don't want my daughters to get sick. I don't want to get sick, but I'm hopeful that the school districts will come up with a plan that will include social distancing entry and exit strategies, as well as mass protection, and the proper protocol so that if somebody ends up sick, that we all understand how to do this," she said.

Kelly issued an executive order that would delay the start of the school year for a few weeks until September 8, but the Kansas State Board of Education rejected the order this week.

But some school districts, like Topeka, already plan to open in September with a phased approach beginning with all virtual learning.

De La Isla says her daughters want to go back to school.

"I can tell you that for my oldest daughter, she likes the online classes. She did very well in them. My youngest daughter had a really hard time with online learning. She's a social creature. She enjoys the camaraderie of her teachers and her classmates, and she was very demoralized. Both of them are dying for school to start back up," De La Isla said.

When we asked De La Isla back in April what keeps her up at night, she said it was whether doctors will have enough equipment if the virus hits her city hard, and whether the city's hospitals will have enough beds.

For now, her city is managing on both fronts, but her worries have shifted

"I firmly believe that we are at the intersection of 1918, with the pandemic, and 1968, with the civil arrest demonstrations that we had across the nation," she said.

De La Isla wants to make sure everyone in her community feels safe, "regardless of the color of their skin or who they worship and who they love." And as mayor, she needs to balance that with the demands of Covid and maintaining their city's ability to "test everybody that needs testing, so that we can continue moving our economy forward."

The emotions of her job are sometimes too much for her to contain.

"A few weeks ago, after the George Floyd incidents, I was pretty transparent. I was crying in the TV when I was telling everybody that I was not OK. That the weight of what's happening nationally combined with Covid, it's a lot for anybody to handle," the mayor said.

"It's just a very challenging time to be a mayor and know that you are responsible for the wellbeing of a whole community, and understanding and working every single day, face-to-face with these challenges. Just check on your mayors. Seriously, just check in on your mayors because we're carrying a lot of burden," she added.

Philadelphia: "We want federal help, but not that kind of federal help"

Nearly half of all Philadelphia coronavirus cases are African Americans. No other group even comes close.

"That represents the disparity in all of our society. Medical care, medical access, access to medical care has been poor for people of color. Systemic racism has put them in situations where, not only are they more likely to get Covid or die from Covid, but also diabetes and heart disease," Kenney, a Democrat, told us in a phone conversation this week.

When pressed, Kenney conceded -- as he did when we spoke three months ago - that they must do better.

"We have a poor population. Our poverty rate is higher than we certainly want it to be," he admitted.

That adds to the challenge every local leader is dealing with about what school will look like in the fall. Philadelphia is planning for two days a week in school and virtual learning for the other three days. The continuing issue is how to serve students who live in poverty.

"Having Internet access is really critical for them. And we're working hard with some of our companies like Comcast and others to get those key kids plugged in so that if they can't go back to school, they're at least up to speed with Internet connection," he said.

But the fundamental issue is the health care crisis in the Black community.

"The access to primary care physicians, to having your primary care physician be in an emergency room, it's been an ongoing problem, both for the residents and citizens and for the hospital emergency system itself," he said.

Kenney, a supporter of universal health care, ripped the Trump administration for making matters worse by dismantling Obamacare, never mind shirking its responsibility to, in his view, develop a national strategy to administer and pay for widespread testing.

"This is a perfect example of what federal government that's competent can do to protect the citizens of this country by having a national mask rule, by having a national testing program, by having national PPE distribution, by having all the things that we floundered on and tripped up on in March and April and May would have been resolved by a military style effort to keep all of our citizens safe," he said.

But when it comes to another flashpoint issue big city mayors like Kenney are grappling with now -- the potential for federal intervention for alleged violence -- he draws the line.

"We want federal help, but not that kind of federal help. When the administration had the opportunity to help us months ago, they refused to do so. Now he's floundering in the polls, he's playing to his base, he's playing to what he perceived to be the suburban fear of cities. And he's dividing people again, and he's making a dangerous situation, even worse, and we're prepared to fight in court in every way possible to keep that from happening in Philadelphia," Kenney said.

More:

Four mayors reflect on their evolving response to the coronavirus pandemic - CNN

Before he became Prime Minister, Boris Johnson used to be a regular cycle commuter. (Photo by Dan ... [+] Kitwood/Getty Images)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to tell overweight Britons they need to increase their activity levels to better fight against infection from the novel coronavirus. Being obese or overweight puts people at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, experts have said this week. Cycling to work is a key way of losing weight and changing sedentary lifestyles, Johnson will advise on Monday.

Family doctorsknown in the U.K. as general practitioners, or GPswill be encouraged to prescribe cycling as a way for patients to lose weight. GP surgeries could also participate in bicycling incentive programs, with the possibility that some people could be paid to pedal.

Johnson is also expected to announce other bicycling promotions in the week beginning July 27, with further encouragement for local authorities to instal protective cycleways.

Johnsons recommendation to cycle is part of a new nannying government strategy to reduce the impact of the virus on the NHSprevention being cheaper than a cureand will include bans on advertising junk food to children as well as forcing restaurants to display calorie counts on menus.

Active travel, such as walking and cycling, can play an important role in reducing obesity levels, with a recent comprehensive study showing that, compared to driving, cycling was shown to cause a weight loss of 0.75kg for the average person.

Daily bicycle travel leads to the lowest body mass index, according to the study which was conducted in seven European cities.

The analysis of data from seven European citiespart of the European Commission funded Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) projectsuggested that daily cyclists weigh less than their non-active counterparts. The research was led by Hasselt University and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, and included researchers from Imperial College London.

Speaking during a recent visit to a GP surgery in East London, Johnson said:

Obesity is one of the real co-morbidity factors. Losing weight, frankly, is one of the ways you can reduce your own risk from coronavirus.

Perhaps more importantly, cycling is also a key way of moving moreinactivity is a killer.

The Guardians political correspondent Peter Walker describes cycling as a miracle pill (and hes got a book out in January 2021 with that title.)

Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced peoples chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%, he wrote in 2017.

That drug is already here, albeit administered in a slightly different way: its called cycling to work.

Walker added: One of the more puzzling political questions is why it is so rarely prescribed on a population-wide level. Most people recognise riding a bike makes you more healthy. But studies have shown the impact of even a relatively modest regular cycle can have near-miraculous health dividends.

In May, Johnson told the U.K. parliament that the near future should be a new golden age for cycling.

He made his comments during Prime Ministers question time and was answering a question from former transport secretary Therese Villiers who asked whether the Prime Minister would be seeking assurances from London Mayor Sadiq Khan that the London Underground tube service would soon be open to use for all who wanted to use it and not just key workers.

A cyclist makes a hand gesture to the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson as he cycles over Vauxhall ... [+] Bridge, London, to launch London's first cycle superhighway in 2015. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

A crucial part of our success now in getting transport to run safely will be running a bigger and more expansive tube service so that people can observe social distancing, replied Johnson.

Unbidden, Johnson added that there will be a huge amount of planning going to helping people to get to work other than by mass transit and this should be a new golden age for cycling.

The government later rolled out a 2-billion program to boost bicycling and walking.

Before becoming prime minister, Johnson regularly cycled in London while he was Mayor and when he was a backbench MP.

Public Health England (PHE) said on July 25 that excess weight puts people at greater risk of needing hospital admission or intensive care.

PHE chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone said that being overweight or obese puts people at greater risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, as well as from many other life-threatening diseases.

"Losing weight can bring huge benefits for health, she said, and may also help protect against the health risks of COVID-19.

She added: The case for action on obesity has never been stronger.

The U.K. has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe, with two-thirds of adults reported as being obese or overweight.

Here is the original post:

Fight Coronavirus With Miracle Pill Of Bicycling To Work, Boris Johnson To Tell Brits - Forbes

During his briefing on COVID-19 response, USA TODAY

It's time to hit the reset button: Shut it down and restart. That's whatmore than 150 health professionals are urging government leaders in an open letter published earlier this week.

"Tell the American people the truth about the virus, even when its hard. Take bold action to save lives even when it means shutting down again," the letter, spearheaded by the nonprofitU.S. Public Interest Research Group, says.

Public health leaders argue in the letter that the U.S. reopened too quickly, nonessential businesses should close again, Americans should mostly stay home, and government officials need to invest more in testing, contact tracing, and personal protective equipment capacities.

"If you dont take these actions, the consequences will be measured in widespread suffering and death," according to the letter addressed to President Donald Trump, federal officials and governors.

Here are some significant developments today:

Today's stats:The U.S. has surpassed 4 million confirmed cases and has more than 144,000 deaths,according to John Hopkins University data. Worldwide cases have surpassed 15 million with more than 633,000 deaths.

What we're reading: When will a vaccine be available to the general public?To understand when pre-COVID-19 life in the U.S. can resume, USA TODAY created a panel of experts who estimate we're almost halfway to an available vaccine.

Our live blog is being updated throughout the day. Refresh for the latest news, and get updates in your inbox withThe Daily Briefing.

COVID-19 patientsface a significantlikelihood of lingeringsymptoms, even if they weren't sick enough to go to the hospital, according to aU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report releasedFriday.

The report found about a third of 274respondentswho were symptomatic when tested "had not returned to their usual state of health when interviewed 23 weeks after testing."

The report follows widespread reports from "long-haulers" who report life-altering symptoms for weeks or months after first getting sick.

Common lingering symptoms includefatigue,cough, and headache, the report says. It found that young adults and people with no underlying conditions were among those who reported long-term illness.

A staff member for Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., died of COVID-19 in a Florida hospital, the congressman announced in a statement released Friday.

Buchanan expressed his condolences and hailed Gary Tibbetts, who had worked for the congressman since 2011, as a "consummate professional and true public servant in every sense of the word."Tibbetts is the first congressional aide known to have died from COVID-19.

Nicholas Wu

Despite President Donald Trump's pleas for schools to reopen, his son's private school in the Maryland suburbs will not be welcoming students back fully onto its campus in the fall.

St. Andrews Episcopal School said it was considering whether to take a hybrid model approach, allowing some students back to campus some days, or be fully remote to startthe school year.

"As we prepare to make a decision the week of August 10 about how to best begin the school year, we will continue to follow guidance of appropriate health officials and refine both our hybrid and distance learning plans," the school said in a letter to parents.

Under its hybrid model, students in grades 7 to 12 would rotate weekly between on-campus and remote learning. According to the New York Times,Barron, 14, Trump's youngest child, has attended the school for three years.

McDonald's will require customers to wear masks or face coverings when entering its 14,000restaurants nationwide starting Aug. 1. The fast food giant is the latest business to announce it will mandate masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as cases spike.

"While nearly 82% of our restaurants are in states or localities that require facial coverings for both crew and customers today, its important we protect the safety of all employees and customers," McDonald's said in its statement Friday.

Kelly Tyko

Authorities faced with limited space to store bodies awaiting autopsies are now bringing in a refrigerated cooler to help as the coronavirus pandemic surges in a Mississippi county.

Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said Thursday that without a morgue space is running out to store victims of homicides, car crashes and other fatalities that require autopsies.

The surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in the county is also having an impact as bodies can no longer be sent to hospital morgues for temporary storage. Private facilities are also at capacity, the coroner said.

Justin Vicory, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Washington, D.C., will require travelers coming to the city to self-quarantine for14 days if they are arriving from a high-risk area on nonessential travel.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday that the self-quarantine requirement would take effect next week.Maryland and Virginia, which border D.C., are exempt from the order, but other states that see a seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases at 10 or more per 100,000 people will be affected.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut jointly announced self-quarantine requirements last month for travelers arriving from states with high numbers of positive cases. Their hot-spot list has grown to31 states. Many other states have quarantine requirement. Read the full list here if you're planning travel.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, recently talked about heightened threats to him and his family and his security detail.Fauci made the comments on CNN's"The Axe Files" podcastand said that many of the threats come from people who are angry and believe, "I'm interfering with their life because I'm pushing a public health agenda."

In April, media outlets reported that the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Marshals Service had stationed agents at HHS to protect Fauci.

The longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasessaid he has been a target since the early days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic as the first government official speaking out about the virus. He said he received hate mailthen but could largely ignore it. The backlash he's received during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, is ofa different magnitude, he said.

"The kind of not only hate mail but actual, serious threats against me are not good," Fauci said. "It's tough. Serious threats against me, against my family, my daughters, my wife. I mean, really? Is this the United States of America? But it's real. It really is real."

Fauci added: "Weare all trying to open up American again in away thatis safe, that we can do it in a measured fashion. But the hostility against public health issues is difficult to not only understand but difficult to even process."

In a recent interview with thebusiness news outletMarketWatch, Fauci also saidhe would not eat inside a restaurant or get on a flight given the current state of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.

Read this: Straight-talking Anthony Fauci has been the nation's voice on the coronavirus. Who is he?

Days from the end of enhanced unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium, 24 million Americans say they have little to no chance of being able to pay next months rent, a U.S. Census Bureau survey shows.

A disproportionate share of those in danger come from Black and Hispanic households, two groups who have borne the brunt of negative health and economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Congress works to negotiate a new stimulus, experts warn the time to ward off an eviction and foreclosure crisis has almost run out.

We're about to fall off a massive cliff and see a major spike in evictions, said Alanna McCargo, vice president of housing finance policy at the Urban Institute.

A look atAmericans' confidence in being able to pay August rent:

Kevin Crowe, Theresa Diffendaland Carlie Procell

An overwhelming 3 out of 4 Americans support requiring people to wear masks in public, a new poll found.

Almost 90% of Democrats as well as nearly 60% of Republicans support requiring masks outside of people's homes. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll was conducted before President Donald Trump, who had been dismissive of wearing masks despite public health officials' support, tweeted earlier this week that wearing a face covering is patriotic.

Although partisan rhetoric around masks has undermined what public health officials say is a simple step thatcan save lives,95% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans say theyre wearing face coverings when leaving the house.

The poll also foundabout two-thirds of Americans disapprove of howTrump is handling the pandemic.

The coronavirus continued rampage through the southern and western United States is almost certain to leave an especially deadly trail among Latinos, who not only represent a significant percentage of the population in those regions but often face structural conditions that make them more vulnerable.

A new study published Thursday, the first nationwide analysis of COVID-19 cases and deaths among Latinos, concludes that crowded housing arrangements and high-risk jobs in industries like meatpacking, poultry and hospitality are among the major reasons Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

As the virus extracts a heavy toll on California, Texas and Florida the three states with the largest Latino populations the death count among the countrys biggest minority group could be staggering.

My prediction is that its very likely because the policies and practices that are needed to prevent infections and deaths are not in place, said Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, the study's lead author.

Jorge L. Ortiz

R-0 may be the most important scientific term youve never heard of when it comes to stopping the coronavirus pandemic. USA TODAY

Parent check-list for back-to-school: Label your child's face mask with permanent marker. Have them practice putting on and taking off their mask without touching the cloth. Make a labeled, resealable plastic bag to store their mask during lunch time.Those are among thesuggestions the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has for school administrators and parentsas families prepare for school to resume in the fall.

Students should wear masks, wash their hands frequently and socially distance to protect against COVID-19 as schools reopen this fall, CDCurged in new guidance documents for administrators published Thursday. It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall, said CDC Director Dr. RobertRedfield in a release.

CDC, the nation's top public health agency, has faced considerable political pressure from President Donald Trump and others to get schools reopened.

A key consideration for school administrators, CDC said, was COVID-19 transmission rates in their communities. But the CDC guidance offered no specific metrics for what transmission rates would require specific actions.

Elizabeth Weise

Senate Republicans were scrambling Thursday to finalizea $1 trillioncoronavirusreliefpackage that will include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and additional funding to help schools recover from the pandemic.

GOP leaders and the White House said lateWednesday that they had agreed on key parts of the legislation, which will serve as a starting point for negotiations withDemocrats, who have already passed their own bill in the House.

But Republicans are still strugglingto put the finishing touches on the package.Congress and the White House are under pressure to clinch a deal on a freshpandemic aid package;a federal program of expanded unemployment benefits is set to run out within days.

One item that will be missing from the GOP plan isTrumps demand for a payroll tax cut. Republicans abandoned that proposal even though Trump had suggested he might not sign any bill that doesnt include it.

People who have had mild to moderate COVID-19 can come out of isolation after 10 days and don't need to be retested before going back to work, new CDC guidelines say. Symptoms, not testing, are the guide.If patients had a fever, it needs to have been gone for at least 24 hours.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document, published Wednesday,says symptoms are a bettergauge of how infectious someone is so they are"not kept unnecessarily isolated and excluded from work or other responsibilities."

The document acknowledges that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is so new that doctors are still gathering evidence for how it works.As more data becomes available, the medical community is gaining a better understanding of how people who are infected can avoiding passing on the disease. Thenew guidelinesreflect the latest thinking.

Elizabeth Weise

PresidentDonald Trump announced Thursday he is cancelingthe Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Conventionbecause of the coronavirus pandemic, a major setback in his effortto energize his struggling bid for reelection. "The timing for this event is not right," Trump told reporters at the White House. "There's nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe."

Trump said that he would deliver remarks to formally accept his party's nomination for president but offered no detailon where or when that will happen.The abrupt decision was not only a significant blow to his campaign but also raised questions about the president's narrative that the country is ready to reopen for business.

Trump said convention delegates will still gather in North Carolina, where the official business of the convention was set to take place, and formally nominate him for reelection.

Late Thursday,Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez reaffirmedthat his party will holdits national convention next month in Milwaukee, with a mostly virtual event. Delegates will vote remotely.Joe Biden has said he intends to accept the nomination in Milwaukee

John Fritze, Courtney Subramanian, Michael Collins andBill Glauber

A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday shows 12 states set records for new cases over a seven-day period whilesix states had a record number of deathsover the period. New case records were set in Alaska, California, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Record numbers of deaths were reported in Florida, Idaho, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

In Florida, the week's death toll was 824, more than twice the number of any week during the spring COVID-19 surge. Still, Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to press for in-classroom learning when schools open, some in less than three weeks. DeSantis stressed that young people face the least risk from the virus.

"It is our kids who have borne the harshest burden of the controlled measures instituted to protect against the virus, DeSantis said Wednesday.

Michael Stucka

On Facebook:There's still a lot unknown about the coronavirus. But what we do know, we're sharing with you.Join our Facebook group, "Coronavirus Watch,"to receive daily updates in your feed and chat with others in the community about COVID-19.

In your inbox:Stay up-to-date with the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic from the USA TODAY Network.Sign up for the daily Coronavirus Watch newsletter here.

Tips for coping:Every Saturday and Tuesday we'll be in your inbox, offering you a virtual hugand a little bit of solace in these difficult times.Sign up forStaying Apart, Togetherhere.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Coronavirus updates: CDC finds 'prolonged illness' is common; experts call for shut down; daily global cases break another record - USA TODAY

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 25,2020, there have been 255,089 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,772 total cases and 103 deaths.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (28/0), Berkeley (589/19), Boone (69/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke(45/1), Cabell (258/9), Calhoun (5/0), Clay (17/0), Fayette (112/0), Gilmer(14/0), Grant (38/1), Greenbrier (81/0), Hampshire (55/0), Hancock (81/4),Hardy (49/1), Harrison (154/1), Jackson (153/0), Jefferson (274/5), Kanawha (648/12),Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (44/2), Logan (72/0), Marion (149/4), Marshall (94/1),Mason (40/0), McDowell (13/1), Mercer (81/0), Mineral (89/2), Mingo (81/2),Monongalia (799/15), Monroe (18/1), Morgan (24/1), Nicholas (22/1), Ohio(227/0), Pendleton (27/1), Pleasants (6/1), Pocahontas (39/1), Preston (95/22),Putnam (135/1), Raleigh (121/4), Randolph (201/4), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0),Summers (4/0), Taylor (39/1), Tucker (8/0), Tyler (11/0), Upshur (33/2), Wayne(173/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (211/10), Wyoming(15/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is thecase of Braxton County in this report.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

Continued here:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-25-20 - 10 AM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Thousands of Texas prisoners are stuck in limbo during the public health disaster, approved for parole yet still sitting inside disease-prone lockups as the coronavirus rages across the state.

Many have been waiting six months or longer for release. During that time, Texas has seen more state prisoners die with the virus than any other state prison system in America.

Theyve been told theyre still behind bars because theres nowhere to send them, they need to finish a life skills program or they cant leave until the new coronavirus is done and over with, according to prisoners responses to questionnaires sent by advocacy groups. Sometimes the prisoners arent told anything at all, the elation of winning parole morphing into dread as they watch prison coronavirus infections and deaths rise.

Some of these people were eligible [for release] months and months and months ago, and theyre still there, said Jorge Renaud, southwest regional director of policy and advocacy for LatinoJustice, one of the advocacy groups. They are putting these people at risk unnecessarily.

In May, more than 15,000 Texas prisoners had been approved for parole but were not yet released, according to records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Thats about 12% of the state prison population. About 4,300 prisoners had been granted parole at least six months earlier.

Parole releases are never immediate, and its a common requirement for prisoners to first undergo in-prison education or rehabilitation programming before their release. But the coronavirus has delayed some of those classes and also pushed back release for an unknown number of people who have already completed such programming or never needed to take it.

Jon Reynolds, an inmate at the geriatric Pack Unit, where state attorneys say at least 19 men have died with the virus, testified in federal court last week that he finished his board-required programming in May but has remained in the highly infected prison. He said thats because the units parole officer, who approves housing plans, hasnt been there. State attorneys questioned if his delay was instead because his housing plan was not adequate, but Reynolds denied that.

People are still getting sick over and over, the 51-year-old said at a videoconference trial in a case over TDCJs handling of the pandemic. Im not understanding what it is that is keeping TDCJ from letting people go that have already completed their program.

Other inmates whose required programming was unavailable at their prisons had to wait months while transfers between units were stopped to limit the virus spread. And units confirmed to have active infections nearly 3,000 inmates had recently tested positive at dozens of prisons Wednesday are locked down, restricting activity within and halting movement in and out of them, including releases into the free world.

A TDCJ spokesperson said that although the agency cant release inmates during lockdowns, it has started directly releasing inmates at prisons without known infections to family instead of first moving them to a transfer facility. He added that he did not think any prison had been consistently restricted since the virus first hit the prison system in March, saying most cycled on and off lockdown, which allows for some releases. Several units have been on lockdown because of the virus for more than a month at a time, according to agency reports.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, there became more and more issues with the way that we would normally transport folks, spokesperson Jeremy Desel said. We move to process them as quickly as we can, but theyre still going to need to uphold whatever conditions are set.

More than 13,500 of about 130,000 TDCJ inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday, according to agency reports. At least 94 have died with it, the highest death toll in the country among state prison systems. The virus has also infected nearly 2,900 prison employees and killed 14 people who worked in state lockups.

But despite continued pleas from inmates, their loved ones and advocates for immediate release of those who are granted parole during the public health disaster, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has repeatedly said it has not changed how it makes parole decisions. A board spokesperson said Wednesday that parole approval rates rose in the last year to an average of about 39%, but state data indicates a slight decrease in the average rate since March. The board still sets release dates far in the future or requires monthslong, in-prison programming before an inmate can be released.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who oversees the board, said in March that releasing dangerous criminals wasnt the answer to controlling the virus in prison hot spots and has since remained silent on the issue. A spokesperson has not responded to repeated questions, including on Wednesday, on whether his stance changed as cases and deaths have risen behind prison walls.

Renaud said he and other advocates plan to push in the 2021 legislative session for required parole programming, like drug rehabilitation, to be permitted in the community instead of in prison. For Donald Mickens, that would mean his wife would be home with their children.

Mickens wife, serving a three-year stint out of Galveston County on a probation violation, was approved for parole in October. But the 41-year-old first had to complete a six-month drug rehabilitation program, Mickens said. That meant sending her to another unit, according to Mickens, a move that was delayed for months until June because of a halt in unit transfers as the virus swept through the system.

Now she's there and they're not even doing the classes, they're just giving them paperwork underneath the door, he said, because of a lack of counselors at the unit. ... Shes struggling real bad in there because shes so scared shes going to get [the coronavirus].

For Kambri Crews, programming on the outside may have allowed her to say goodbye to her dying father in person instead of on a hard-fought FaceTime call.

Theodore "Cigo" Crews, 73, died in a prison hospital earlier this month after a late cancer diagnosis, 30 days after hed been granted parole after serving 18 years. His daughter believes the harsh conditions and poor food inmates get in coronavirus lockdowns quickened his death. She said he lost 15 pounds from May to June.

He would have died anyway, but it would have been nice for him to die in the free world, Crews said.

Her father was required to take a drug and alcohol program first, she said, but she didnt understand why he couldnt have taken classes any other time in his nearly two decades behind bars, or outside with her.

Inmates who are set to leave on parole and arent required to take programming have been stuck as well during the pandemic. Long-awaited release dates are taken off the calendar when units go on or extend the medical lockdowns, and the parole board has set release dates far in the future, to the dismay of prisoners loved ones.

Debra Boyds son won parole in May, with the caveat that he first had to undergo the prisons life-skills program. The three-month class which Renaud and other prison reform advocates criticize on its effectiveness focuses on managing stress, time and money, and personal assessments. To try to hasten his homecoming, Boyd informed the parole board that her 41-year-old son had already completed the program months earlier.

His parole condition was changed after her phone call so that her son could be released without completing a program but not until January.

It was real exciting, she said, when she first learned her son was approved for parole, even if he had to redo the program. Then when everything switched around to January, its like, Oh my god, what has happened?

The boards chief of staff, Timothy McDonnell, said Boyds sons release was never intended to be before 2021. His release was first set to be after he completed the three-month program, which the board directed to begin in November at the earliest, McDonnell said. A future release date for parole approvals is often issued when the parole panel wants the inmate to serve more time, but not necessarily as long as it would take for the next parole review, he said.

With the second week of trial nearing an end, TDCJ continues defending itself in a case that questions whether the agency adequately protected inmates at the Pack Unit. State attorneys argued that the question of parole, which inmate Reynolds raised in his testimony, was irrelevant to the case since the lawsuit focuses on how TDCJ protects inmates. But advocates and epidemiologists have said for months that releasing inmates and reducing the prison population is the most effective strategy to promote social distancing and keep infections from spreading like wildfire among prisoners and into the community.

There was two ways to go, said Renaud. Either kick everybody out who is on parole or not let anybody go and not take anybody in and hope that little by little that the disease would just wear itself out, that it would just burn out.

Continue reading here:

Coronavirus is keeping Texas inmates approved for parole in prison - The Texas Tribune

While it took 45 days to climb from 1 million and 2 million coronavirus cases in the United States, it took just only 16 days for infections to jump from 3 million to, as of Thursday, 4 million.

How did that happen?

What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks, said White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx on Today Friday, referring to the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in the nation if not the world.

On Thursday, the hot spots of California, Texas and Florida accounted for one-third of the new cases reported nationwide. Earlier in the week, California passed New York as the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, topping 400,000 infections.

Florida found its own sad distinction with respect to New York, topping the Big Apple as the state with the largest single-day increase in new cases, with 15,299 last week.

And in Texas, one overwhelmed county near the border announced this week that it was creating committees to review patients cases and send the worst off home to die by their loved ones.

Unfortunately, Starr County Memorial Hospital has limited resources and our doctors are going to have to decide who receives treatment, and who is sent home to die by their loved ones, County Judge Eloy Vera wrote on Facebook post Thursday. This is what we did not want our community to experience.

On Wednesday, Birx warned about rising crises in 11 cities, hoping to spur effective action before the pandemic overran efforts there. She said Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St. Louis need to take aggressive steps immediately to avoid becoming the next hot spots.

Until you can see that explosion, its hard for people to understand how deeply you have to clamp down, Birx said. Thats why we called out the next set of cities where we see early-warning signs, because if you make changes now, you wont become a Phoenix.

Original post:

U.S. Coronavirus Update: What We Have Right Now Are Essentially 3 New Yorks, Says Dr. Birx - Deadline

Breden said Denver Public Schools has done a lot of planning at the high school level for core subjects like math, English and science but she hasnt seen as much coordination around art and music, which typically involves the sharing of supplies or instruments.

The state has advised cohorts as just one precautionary step districts should take for students to return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Alexis Burakoff, a medical epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

What we're hoping is that schools can limit the number of people that each student and staff member interacts with ideally to kind of one closed group so that if there is an illness among a member of that group, it's very clear who has been exposed, she said.

Summer child care is an example Burakoff used to compare the potential spread of COVID-19. If a positive case was found in places where staff and children mixed freely throughout a daycare, the entire location had to stop operations and every individual had to quarantine. In cases where children and staff were around the same 10 people in a single classroom, then only those 10 people had to quarantine for 14 days and the rest of the daycare could run as normal.

Our hope is that by using this strategy, we are both minimizing the spread of disease because we're limiting the number of contacts that each person has, but also really minimizing disruptions to schools, Burakoff said.

As an added layer of defense, the state also asks districts to have people wear face masks and practice social distancing, too.

Burakoff gets how cohorts are a challenge logistically, especially for older students, but she said its important for schools to be creative in how they strategize with things like block schedules.

We understand that this cohorting does not extend to what people do at home and on the weekends, et cetera, and so the best thing we can do is just continue to educate our communities about being safe outside of school hours, she said. What it can really do is help the response in the event that there are illnesses in school, which we know that there will be.

Sarah Christensen Fu of Centennial, a parent of three kids who attend STEM School Highlands Ranch, is fortunate to work from home and have the flexibility to choose how her kids get their education this year. Although the school has an option to do in-person learning or a hybrid of virtual and in-person, Christensen Fu said her kids would be doing online only.

With this pandemic spiking, schools being reopened just seems really rushed, she said. I do feel like most of the people I know are really excited to get their kids back to routine and so I feel like a little stodgier, like a nervous Nellie Going all into a big building seems like a bad choice.

Her 11-year-old son isnt happy about the decision. Christensen Fu said it feels like a choice between her kids seeing their friends or their grandparents.

Nicole Gates, the mother of two boys in Littleton Public Schools, also works from home and wants to get back to the normal routine. She realizes, however, that may not be an option this year.

There's part of me that thinks if we just have to put the school year on hold and it starts in January after a vaccine is available or if they say, Hey, your kid's going to graduate a year later than you thought because this school year, we can't figure it out and we don't know how to keep everyone safe, I'm fine with it, she said. This is a pandemic. We haven't seen anything like it in a hundred years.

So far, her family hasnt come in contact with the virus even with her sons participation in summer activities like baseball and hockey. While it would be nice to send her kids to school a couple of times a week in small groups, Gates understands why teachers would be concerned about their safety and possible exposure.

How do you feel about Colorado schools reopening? Tell us.

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What Is Cohorting? And Is It The Cure For Colorado's Coronavirus School Worries? - Colorado Public Radio

The BDN is making the most crucial coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact in Maine free for all readers. Click here for all coronavirus stories. You can join others committed to safeguarding this vital public service by purchasing a subscription or donating directly to the newsroom.

Another 26 cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Maine, health officials said Friday.

Fridays report brings the total coronavirus cases reported in Maine to 3,757. Of those, 3,357 have been confirmed positive, while 400 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency revised Thursdays cumulative total to 3,731, down from 3,737, meaning there was a net increase of 20 over the previous days report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the states cumulative total.

No new deaths were reported Friday, leaving the statewide death toll at 118. Nearly all deaths have been Mainers over age 60.

So far, 378 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 12 people are currently hospitalized, with nine in critical care and three on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 20 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,259. That means there are 380 active and probable cases in the state, which is unchanged from Thursday.

Heres the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine.

In January, we surveyed readers on the political issues they cared about most going into the election year of 2020. Now, were asking again after the coronavirus upended the Maine economy and most of our lives. Michael Shepherd, BDN

State and local coronavirus aid is left out of a new pandemic relief package floated by Republicans in the U.S. Senate, but Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said on Friday she is hopeful it will be included in a final measure. David Marino Jr. and Michael Shepherd, BDN

A water district in Maine is collecting sewage samples for testing to determine the prevalence of the coronavirus based on whats being flushed down the toilet. The Associated Press

A bedroom community outside Portland is now the town with the highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state, more than a month after the state began releasing town-by-town coronavirus case data. Falmouth, with about 12,500 residents, had recorded 152 cases of the coronavirus as of July 12, translating into about 12 cases for every 1,000 residents. Caitlin Andrews, BDN

As of Friday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 4,097,270 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 145,063 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Read more here:

July 24 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

Their mother Noehmi Esquivel, 39, and their father Carlos Garcia, 44, both died after fighting the coronavirus, the family confirmed to CNN.

Esquivel was taken to the hospital on July 2, and ended up dying the same day, her brother, Jacob Mendoza, told CNN.

"My mom spoke to her and told her that it was okay for her to go home ... and not to worry about Carlos and the boys," Mendoza said.

"[She] prayed over her in Jesus name and she passed away over the phone with my mom talking to her."

Then, just 11 days later, her husband, Carlos, landed in the hospital because of kidney problems. His family said he was recovering from coronavirus and it aggravated medical problems he was already having.

"He was barely recuperating ... [but] when he went into the hospital, he was doing well," Mendoza said.

On July 17, his fourth day in the hospital, Mendoza said Garcia's condition unexpectedly worsened.

"We had just gotten off the phone with him, and he sounded perfectly fine. He sounded like there was nothing wrong with him. And it surprised us when we got the call around one o'clock in the morning that he had passed away," he said.

Both Esquivel and Garcia had diabetes and other underlying conditions.

"It has just been very rough on us, because both of them, you know, they both had to die in the hospital by themselves because of this whole coronavirus pandemic," Mendoza said.

His father's funeral is on Tuesday at The Promise Church of Houston.

See the original post here:

They lost their mom and dad to coronavirus -- 15 days apart - CNN

Birthday spoiler alert: If you want your mask to be a barrier to coronavirus transmission, you should not be able to blow out candles while wearing it. Florin Cristian Ailenei/EyeEm via Getty Images hide caption

Birthday spoiler alert: If you want your mask to be a barrier to coronavirus transmission, you should not be able to blow out candles while wearing it.

Each week, we answer "frequently asked questions" about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions."

Can you blow out a candle with your mask on?

That question became ... a thing ... this month when Bill Nye (aka "The Science Guy") made a TikTok.

In it, he dons various types of masks that people are using during the pandemic, as he puts it, to "prevent particles from my respiratory system from getting into the air and then into your respiratory system" in other words, a way of limiting transmission of viral particles. Nye attempts to blow out a candle about a foot away a simulation for everyday respiratory exchanges and interactions such as coughs and conversations.

Most of his masks do the job (except for a knitted scarf), though in other versions of this experiment and in tests conducted by NPR mask wearers, a bandanna over the mouth usually allowed the wearer to extinguish the flame.

Basically, you want the flame to stay alive, says Amy Price, a senior research scientist at Stanford University's Anesthesia Informatics and Media Laboratory. Otherwise, it can be a sign that the mask isn't acting as a strong enough barrier. If you can blow out the flame easily while wearing a mask, she says, there's too much air exchange between you and the outside world.

Still, she cautions that the test isn't foolproof. Outside variables, such as the type of candle and your personal lung strength can affect the outcome. So take your results with a big, big grain of salt, Price says.

Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School, notes: "Being able to blow a candle out may be some measure of how well particles can exit your mask, [but it's] unclear to me how reliable that is as a proxy for small aerosols exiting with normal speaking or coughing."

Nonetheless, Price says she believes the candle test can be a good way to suss out the masks that are clearly not doing their job the dead giveaway cases.

"It's an OK rule of thumb," she says. "It isn't scientific, but it's a pretty good estimate, especially when you combine it with other [tactics] and recommendations" regarding mask quality.

So what's in an effective mask?

A group of researchers at Stanford Medicine is working with the World Health Organization to figure just that out the team has helped roll out new guidelines for mask efficacy and safety along with WHO. And even these researchers agree that for most people, identifying a good, protective mask from a bad one can be confusing.

"People have no standards when they go to buy masks," says Price, who is a member of the team.

And it's not as if you can test the mask yourself. Renting mask-testing equipment costs more than $1,000, and it's not as if such devices are on the shelf in your neighborhood medical equipment store.

To make sure you're not flying mask-blind, it's important to keep abreast of WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask guidelines, which are regularly updated. Right now, Price says masks with three layers are the recommendation.

And there are some mask facts and hacks that can be helpful.

Karan says one of the most fundamental things to get right about your mask is fit.

You want your mask to fit snugly over your mouth and nostrils, up to the nose bridge, with little excess air escaping from the sides when you exhale. But you also want to be able to breathe, he explains. A good rule is as snug as you can go without finding it hard to breathe.

Make sure you get this right, he urges. One study found that "gaps due to improper fit resulted in over a 60% decrease in the filtration efficiency."

Then there's the question of mask material.

Price suggests two ways to test if your mask is crafted with a good weave: You can pick up a Foldscope microscope (they're made of paper and cost about $30 for a do-it-yourself kit) to zoom into the texture of the mask the weave should look thick and relatively opaque.

Or you can also just hold your mask up to a bright light source or use your phone flashlight. "Stretch it," Price recommends. "Can you see right through it?" If you can, that's a bad sign.

You can also check labels for preferable fabrics and materials; recent studies have shown that 100% cotton with high to moderate yarn count (that is, a heavier, coarser yarn) performed best in mask tests conducted, Karan says. While the process for figuring out yarn count can be a little tricky, the general rule is the thicker the fabric, the higher the yarn count.

"In short, you want a mask that fits you well, and that has cotton with high yarn counts and possibly with multiple layers, which many masks today do offer," Karan says.

Once you've found a great-fitting mask fashioned with a breathable and protective material, Price says her lab has identified some simple DIY steps to fortify your mask.

"You can make a small slit (between mask layers) and add paper towels," Price offers. "Or buy yourself some OLY fun (a craft product) and place a layer in the mask this can bring it up to a surgical mask's level of protectiveness."

Adding a static charge to the outer layer of a polyester mask by rubbing it with a latex glove for 30 seconds can also be effective, Price adds. The reason: COVID-19 particles have a charge, so adding static can help create an extra layer of repelling protection.

With the surge in mask demand, there are also new market conditions to navigate.

"If you're going to buy a mask, look at it carefully, Price says. "Don't buy things that claim to be 'specially treated' with copper or other irons that kill bacteria." The virus isn't bacterial, and those treatments haven't been proven to be effective with the novel coronavirus as of yet, she says.

Finally, if you want to make a homemade mask, Price emphasizes the power of improvisation and creativity.

Indeed, research shows that even the most surprising materials such as a pair of pantyhose can boost the power of your mask.

Pranav Baskar is a freelance journalist and U.S. national born in Mumbai.

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Does The Candle Test Tell You If Your Mask Is Doing A Good Job? : Goats and Soda - NPR

The drag is felt acutely in tourist destinations dependent on air travel, like the Canary Islands, hundreds of miles from mainland Spain. Airlines carried 15 million visitors to the archipelago last year, but the flight capacity this month is just 30 percent of what it was a year ago.

Italy has tried to promote national tourism by issuing a so-called holiday bonus, a 150-euro voucher per Italian for lodging, up to 500 per family. Dario Franceschini, the minister of culture and tourism, told Parliament this month that about 400,000 vouchers had been issued, worth 183 million in total. According to Italian news reports, however, only a small fraction of hotels accept them.

Greece, though suffering less from the pandemic than either Italy or Spain, has still seen scant evidence of a rebound in tourism. In the first 12 days of July, passenger traffic at the Athens airport was down 75 percent from a year ago.

Though all of the countries of southern Europe have emerged from lockdown, new outbreaks there and quarantine orders elsewhere have added hurdles. This month, Britain said that people coming from Portugal, among other countries, would be forced to quarantine on arrival, a move that essentially choked off British tourism there.

Outbreaks have also occurred around major tourism hubs like Barcelona, where about three million residents were told on Friday to stay indoors to help contain the coronavirus.

Carlos Garca Pastor, the marketing director of Logitravel Group, a Spanish travel operator that had revenue of about 800 million last year, said that his company expected earnings to drop at least 50 percent this year.

The final result, he said, will really depend on how many new outbreaks there are.

See more here:

Trump Administration Aims to Block New Funding for Coronavirus Testing and Tracing - The New York Times

Since late March, travelers to Massachusetts have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. Soon, failure to comply, or failure to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to arriving in the state, could result in fines.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced the new travel requirements, including a Massachusetts Travel Form for anyone coming to the state, unless theyre coming from a lower risk state or meet certain limited exemptions, during a Friday press conference. This includes Massachusetts residents who are returning to the state after traveling elsewhere and international travelers.

Every traveler coming to Massachusetts no matter where theyre from has a responsibility to help keep COVID-19 out of the commonwealth, Baker said.

The new travel order goes into effect on Aug. 1. Anyone who doesnt follow the new rules is subject to a fine of $500 per day.

At this time of year, many people are traveling to and from Massachusetts for vacation or in some cases getting ready to come back to school, the governor said. Weve already seen an uptick in activity at Logan Airport.

There are a few exceptions to the order. These include people (including returning Massachusetts residents) coming from nearby states, including the rest of New England Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont plus New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii, as theyre considered lower risk.

Other exceptions include people who commute outside the state regularly for work or school, people who are provided medical care from a Massachusetts-based doctor, military, and those who provide critical infrastructure cyber security, first responders, and emergency communications, among others.

People who are just passing through Massachusetts on their way to somewhere else are also exempt, the rules say.

All others, age 18 and above, plus unaccompanied minors, must complete the travel form before they enter Massachusetts, or when they do. This does include students when they return for the fall semester, according to a press release.

Travelers are exempt from the 14-day quarantine if they can show proof that they received a negative result from a COVID-19 test and the sample was taken no longer than 72 hours prior to their arrival in Massachusetts. If they took a test and are awaiting the results upon their arrival in Massachusetts, they have to quarantine until they receive their negative result, the regulations say.

The form mandates that the traveler must agree to the regulations, and must agree with one of four quarantine options:

The form also mandates that the traveler must agree that they have not had any COVID-19 symptoms, have not been in close contact within the last two weeks with someone who has it or is suspected of having it, and that they will wear a mask in public and maintain standard social distancing of six feet, according to the guidance.

While in quarantine, travelers must not have contact with anyone other than those theyve traveled with for two weeks, must not be out in public, must not let anyone else into their quarantine area, must have food delivered, and should have the correct amount of face coverings for everyone, the guidelines say. They can only leave to seek urgent medical care.

Prior to arrival, travelers will be notified of the order by airlines, bus companies, and train travel companies, as well as Airbnb, hotel, lodging operators, and major travel agencies, Baker said. He said employers are discouraged from sending workers outside of the lower risk states. Roadways will have signage informing drivers, too.

Lodging operators like hotels and Airbnb will be required to inform guests about this order at the time of booking and arrival, and [are] encouraged to communicate this information on their websites and on site, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said.

Compliance is based on an honor system, Baker said, saying that it has worked pretty well.

State Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack said theres been a gradual but steady increase since March, both on our roads and at Logan Airport.

In July, traffic measurements at key areas were just 10 to 15 percent lower this year compared to last year. Passenger counts at Logan have also increased, though theyre still much lower than last year, according to Pollack.

Massachusetts residents are increasingly headed out to other states, and travelers from other states are increasingly coming to Massachusetts, she said. All such travelers have a responsibility to help the commonwealth keep transmission rates as low as possible.

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Mass. has changed its coronavirus travel rules. Heres what to know. - Boston.com

By Spencer Custodio | July 23, 2020

While it seems that the number of people hospitalized for Coronavirus in Orange County stabilized this week, there is concern that daily death counts seem to be creeping up, now well into the double digits with 22 people reported as killed by Covid on Thursday.

Orange Health Care Agency officials on Thursday also confirmed that they are increasingly transferring Covid patients from hospitals into skilled nursing facilities.

Editors Note: As Orange Countys only nonprofit & nonpartisan newsroom, Voice of OC brings you the best, most comprehensive local Coronavirus news absolutely free. No ads, no paywalls. We need your help. Please, make a tax-deductible donation today to support your local news.

An unknown number of Orange Countys coronavirus hospital patients have been moved to long term care facilities and skilled nursing facilities as hospitalization numbers ticked up the past couple weeks.

Yes, hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients are being discharged to long term care facilities. The OC Health Care Agency (HCA) does not track individual transfers. However, when a hospitalized COVID-19 positive patient is transferred to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), that patient would be subtracted from the hospitalized count (by the sending hospital) and added to the SNF count via the state daily reporting, HCA staff said in a Thursday email.

A daily situation report from the county Office of Emergency Medical Services on Thursday shows theres been an increase of over 500 virus-positive patients in skilled nursing facility cases since the beginning of the month to 1,837 cases. The report doesnt note which cases are transfers and which ones are virus cases originating from the facilities.

At a Thursday news conference, OC interim health officer Dr. Clayton Chau said he hasnt heard of any surges at the skilled nursing facilities.

In normal times, Chau said, a patient gets into an acute hospital and the next level of care that they need is a skilled nursing facility, then the hospital, as well as the family and their insurance company, will try and find a skilled nursing facility that is appropriate to place people.

As far as I know, I have not heard any surge in skilled nursing facilities, Chau said. Ive not heard staff reporting that weve had an issue yet.

UC Irvine epidemiologist Andrew Noymer said the transfers to nursing facilities could explain why hospitalizations are remaining relatively steady.

So that could explain why all the hospital numbers looked like they plateaued, Noymer said in a Thursday phone interview.

But, Noymer said, the deaths continue to increase.

Theres no shirking the deaths, I mean 22 deaths today, Noymer said. I know the death reporting is clunky but the seven-day average is 2.1 percent per day.

When deaths are reported, they can span a window of up to eight days, the Health Care Agency notes on its website.

So thats the number that Ive been watching and Ive been doing seven-day averages precisely so we dont go crazy over single day jumps because those are just reporting issues, Noymer said.

Meanwhile, the virus has now killed 543 people out of 32,648 confirmed cases, according to the county Health Care Agency.

There are 690 people hospitalized, including 233 in intensive care units.

Over 380,000 tests have been conducted throughout OC, which is home to roughly 3.2 million people.

Dr. Paul Yost, whos an anesthesiologist at St. Josephs Hospital in Orange, said it would be helpful to know how many hospital cases are transferred to skilled nursing facilities so the overall picture of the countys healthcare system can be better understood.

Yost, the CalOptima board chairman, also noted the current system wasnt designed for a pandemic.

Our whole healthcare system is not designed something like this a pandemic that strikes a large percentage of the population, he said. Its designed around providing high quality care around things like heart surgeries but a global pandemic, its not designed for.

Noymer said he cant predict which direction OC heads from here, based on the recent patterns.

So heres the thing, were basically treading water. When I look at the OC numbers the past few days, I see a county thats not changing very much. And compared to three weeks ago, were worse. But compared to last week, were holding steady. So you can say were about to turn the corner and do better or take the plunge into a precipice. And I cant tell you exactly which of the two it is.

Heres the latest on the virus numbers across Orange County from county data:

Spencer Custodio is a Voice of OC staff reporter. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio

Read the original here:

Is Orange County Turning The Corner On Coronavirus or Headed Off a Cliff? A Closer Look at the Numbers - Voice of OC

It could be a rough few days for those planning to be outdoors in Oregon.

Between extreme heat, wildfires, crowds and coronavirus, some officials are concerned about the next few days around Oregon as we approach the midpoint of summer.

On Friday, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories around the state, as Portland Fire & Rescue issued a burn ban for Multnomah County, and several national forests warned of increased fire danger.

All of that comes on top of public health officials continual warnings about the spread of COVID-19 as cases remain high including Gov. Kate Browns recent mandate on wearing face masks in crowded outdoor places.

READ MORE: How to stay cool and coronavirus safe this weekend

Some of the most dangerous weather conditions will be in southwest Oregon, where the National Weather Service is predicting temperatures as high as 105 in Medford on Sunday, with dry air and lightning expected over the region Monday.

Brett Lutz, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Medford, said that statistically speaking, the last week of July and first week of August are the most dangerous for wildfires in the region, and that conditions are now lining up to continue that trend.

Lightning ignited fires is the bottom line, and possibly a lot of them, Lutz said. Id be concerned if I had outdoor plans Monday.

The forecast is still evolving, he said, and things could change for southwest Oregon including the possibility of sporadic rainfall in some areas but as it stands, the latter part of Monday is a big concern, Lutz said.

Aside from heat, lightning, and crowds, late July is also peak mosquito season for some of the states most popular lakes and backpacking destinations. Theres also still a high risk of drownings, officials warned, especially in deep lakes and fast-moving rivers, though recreation areas around bodies of water also happen to be some of the most popular this summer.

At Oregon state parks, crowds have swelled this year on the Oregon coast and at parks situated along lakes and rivers. At those places, rangers have consistently seen holiday level crowding, parks department spokesman Chris Havel said, up from the normal weekend crowds they see this time of year.

Thats caused more concern when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. While risk of transmission outdoors remains low, researchers say the virus can still be passed between people at close proximity, especially in crowded places like public restrooms, viewpoints or narrow trails.

Though Oregon now requires face coverings when social distancing isnt possible outdoors, Oregon state parks officials have opted against strict enforcement in favor of education a strategy that has sometimes led to angry conflicts between visitors and rangers. Parks could shut down later this summer, Havel said, if people remain lax about simple precautions like face coverings and social distance.

Thats probably the easiest thing thats under your control right now, just do it, he said about wearing face masks. I cant do anything about mosquitoes, or heat or lightning strikes causing fires. Heres one thing we can do.

While state parks have been busy, another hot summer destination in Oregon, the Columbia River Gorge, has been a little quieter than usual. Thats because a lot of it remains closed.

Popular destinations like Multnomah Falls, Crown Point and the Historic Columbia River Highway have been closed since late March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and theres no immediate plan to reopen them to the public. Thats in addition to places still closed due to damage by the 2017 Eagle Creek fire, like the popular Eagle Creek Trail and Oneonta Gorge.

While places like Rooster Rock State Park and Wachlella Falls remain busy, officials said, the Columbia River Gorge as a whole is quieter than ever.

Stan Hinatsu, recreation staff officer for the U.S. Forest Service in the Columbia Gorge, said agencies hope to begin reopening the scenic highway later this summer, along with some of the waterfall day-use areas. It could happen piecemeal or all at once he said, depending on public health concerns and crowding, and could come with additional precautions put in place for visitors.

We just want to make sure that when we do open, were able to do so in a way that maintains public health and safety, Hinatsu said. Its likely things will look different when we do.

After months spent trying to navigate the pandemic, these heat advisories and wildfire warnings are much more familiar territory for Oregons outdoor recreation agencies, who have long-standing practices in place to warn people about campfires and water safety.

Those who want to avoid the dangers posed by nature and crowds this weekend should be prepared or simply stay at home, they said, and wait for more favorable conditions to go outside. Outdoor recreation can still be safe, as long as people show up with a bit of caution.

I think the most important thing is to try to stay in tune with what the forecast is and plan accordingly, Lutz said. While it seems like a concerning situation, and it definitely is, I think if people are smart and pay attention to the forecast and keep an eye to the sky, they can remain pretty safe.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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Heat, crowds, fire, coronavirus all causes for concern in Oregon outdoors this weekend - OregonLive

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The trip from the Rio Grande Valley to the Panhandle is too far to make in a helicopter. So earlier this week, when an intubated COVID-19 patient left Harlingen, near the states southernmost tip, for Amarillo, its northernmost metro area, hospital officials sent a fixed-wing airplane.

The South Texas hospital, inundated with a surge of sick and dying coronavirus patients, had tried sending the severely ill patient to closer facilities but Northwest Texas Healthcare System was the first hospital between them and us that had the capacity to take the patient, said Dr. Brian Weis, the Amarillo hospitals chief medical officer.

The journey of some 700 miles highlights the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic in South Texas hospitals and the huge variations across this sprawling state, where the scale of COVID-19 outbreaks varies as much from city to city as the climate.

Over the four months of Texas course of the coronavirus, early hot spots Amarillo among them have been eclipsed by new regions in crisis now, South Texas. But now that so much of Texas is battling major coronavirus outbreaks, some severely ill patients have to travel long distances to receive the care they need. And perhaps most alarmingly, even some relatively better-off areas are inching further toward crisis.

Experts say instead of large clusters tied to specific, enclosed locations, like meatpacking plants or nursing homes, they are increasingly seeing smaller outbreaks out in the community. Small gatherings of families and friends and summer visitors to tourist destinations are spreading disease. That behavior, particularly among young people, may be responsible for dozens of new hot spots that will be more difficult to eradicate.

Stretches of South Texas, especially the Rio Grande Valley and the Coastal Bend, have seen coronavirus infections spread so quickly in recent weeks as to push local hospitals to their limit. The four-county region that includes Harlingen has just 21 ICU beds still available for a population of about 1.4 million people, according to the latest state data, and ambulance operators have described wait times of up to 10 hours to deliver patients to packed emergency rooms.

Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, has become emblematic of the recent, rapid surge. In the pandemics early days, while the Amarillo region battled some of the states largest early outbreaks, Nueces County stayed relatively healthy, reporting fewer than 100 cases and three deaths before Texas stay-at-home order expired on April 30. But now the popular beachfront location has one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in the state, adding well over 2,000 new cases for each of the past two weeks.

With 2% of the population infected, or one in every 50 people, Corpus Christis county has more cases per capita than Harris or Dallas counties. Visitors and tourists were the main drivers of the initial outbreak, local officials say, though researchers say it remains unknown why its case counts are higher than those of other busy beachfront destinations.

Im born and raised here, and Ive never seen so many people coming here, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said about May and June. She has restricted vehicle access to beaches and is asking visitors: Let us heal and stabilize, we are at a critical breaking point. There are still people gathering in restaurants and on beaches, which worries Annette Rodriguez, director of the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health Department.

Rodriguez said she thinks it hasnt hit some beachgoers that this is a pandemic that could affect any one of them at any time.

Last Friday, Nueces County Medical Examiner Adel Shaker was shocked to learn that a baby boy, less than 6 months old, had tested positive for COVID-19 and died shortly after.

Its not anything that anyone can be prepared to face, even with the best plan, he said.

The same day, Shaker had requested an additional refrigerated truck to store bodies, while the countys existing morgue was full. The mobile morgue is scheduled to arrive on Saturday, and will also house bodies from neighboring counties. Canales also wrote to the Texas Division of Emergency Management asking for additional staffing and personal protective equipment, as well as military resources, such as field hospitals.

I'm more frustrated that I can't figure out how to make a difference, how to actually get individuals to pay attention, Rodriguez said with a sigh. The county is 64% Hispanic, a higher proportion than the state average of 40%.

National data has shown that Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately affected by the virus. State data remains incomplete, but local snapshots indicate the trend is playing out in Texas, too. South Texas currently the hardest-hit region of the state has a larger share of Hispanic residents than many other regions.

In nearby Rockport, nearly one-quarter of the city staff including the police chief had tested positive for the virus on Thursday or was quarantining while awaiting test results, Mayor Pat Rios said. Local leaders have gone so far as to discourage tourists from visiting and close beaches to vehicles.

Its real painful, said Aransas County Judge Burt Mills. Its a terrible thing to have to do but I can only say that Im trying to keep the people of Aransas County safe.

Local hospital administrators say theyre optimistic that the rate of new hospitalizations is slowing, after taking extraordinary measures in recent weeks to expand ICU capacity, such as bringing in nurses from other parts of the state.

We are hopeful that we are starting to experience that flattening, said Dr. Sam Bagchi, chief clinical officer for CHRISTUS Health, the largest hospital system in the Coastal Bend.

But under projections from Chris Bird, a Texas A&M Corpus Christi life sciences professor who has modeled the regions outbreak, local hospitals may need to make space for 140 more critically ill COVID-19 patients by Aug. 14.

As of Friday, there were only three ICU beds available in the 12-county region that includes Corpus Christi and serves more than 630,000 people. Canales said all the Coastal Bend hospitals are already in surge capacity.

The good news, according to Bird, is that cellphone tracking data indicates that residents and visitors are now venturing out less, likely slowing the rate of infection.

As of last week, the White House Coronavirus Task Force designated almost half of Texas 254 counties as red zones an area that reports more than 100 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in a single week, with at least 10% of tests coming back positive according to a report obtained by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity. Those 123 "red zone" counties are home to some 23 million Texans the vast majority of the state's population.

That was a marked increase from the first week in July, when fewer than 90 Texas counties could be defined as red zones. The document, dated July 14, recommends that those areas mandate strict protective measures such as closing bars, gyms and limiting gatherings to 10 people or less.

Across Texas, only five counties all of them rural and with fewer than 1,600 residents each are still reporting no cases of COVID-19, a drop from 23 counties at the beginning of June.

Typically, rural and community hospitals transfer patients to urban hospitals for acute care. Now, those transfer patterns have completely flipped, said John Henderson, president of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, with smaller hospitals taking patients from urban centers.

In the Panhandle, the fear is that an early victory at reducing new daily infections may now give way to another outbreak. Amarillo once a source of pride for state leaders, who said their surge efforts helped the area turn the corner is bracing for a long outbreak as case counts begin to tick back up.

The Panhandle was one of the states early hot spots in the outbreak, with clusters of cases largely tied to prisons and cramped meatpacking factories, where a workforce of Hispanics and immigrants had little power to avoid the virus. The areas peak came in mid-April, Weis said, when most of the people in his ICU had been infected at a correctional facility.

In early May, state officials sent a surge team of health officials and emergency response workers to the Panhandle, rapidly increasing testing and revealing hundreds of undiagnosed cases. Weeks later Gov. Greg Abbott hailed the operation as a success, boasting that Amarillo would be a model for the states COVID-19 response.

Case counts stayed low in June, but theyre now on the rise again in the perfectly rectangular counties that make up the Amarillo area. And instead of a few facilities, the sources of those infections are more widespread.

Amarillo Public Health Director Casie Stoughton said this week that instead of one or two large outbreaks, were currently seeing many smaller clusters, indicating that were moving around quite a bit. There are lots and lots of gatherings, she said, and young people are a major source of the spread.

What were now seeing is true community-acquired COVID-19 which is almost more concerning, said Weis, chief medical officer for the Northwest Texas Health System.

Two weeks ago, there were just seven positive COVID-19 patients in the Amarillo hospital; by this week, that had more than tripled to 24. Earlier this week, a patient in their 30s died; now, the family of a patient in their 40s is considering withdrawing care.

The hospital has not yet initiated a surge plan, an emergency step that would allow them to staff more beds than usual. Weis said the ICU is tight.

The finish line is not close in sight, Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson said this week at a city meeting.

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Texas coronavirus hot spots are moving targets - The Texas Tribune

At almost 27 weeks since the first coronavirus case appeared in the United States, we have reached 4 million cumulative cases only 15 days after crossing 3 million. While cases are climbing at increasing rates and the economy continues to suffer, the debate around the safety and feasibility of reopening schools for in-person instruction continued this week, as state and local officials released their decisions around in-person or online learning and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its own guidance on reopening schools.

Amidst these developments, we released our latest poll, which found that parents overwhelmingly prefer that schools wait to restart in-person classes to reduce infection risk (60%) rather than open sooner so parents can work and students can return to the classroom (34%). Parents of color (76%) are even more likely than white parents (51%) to prefer that schools wait to return to in-person classes.

Increasing federal funding to state and local governments to help schools reopen safely was among the publics top priorities for Congress, with 55% saying it should be a top priority.

But as Congress finalizes negotiations around the next coronavirus stimulus package, 72% of the public say increasing federal funding to limit the spread of coronavirus including testing, contract tracing and personal protective equipment (PPE) should be a top priority for Congress. Its the highest-ranked priority in the poll, and the only one seen as a top priority by a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

The media and President Trump in his latest coronavirus briefings largely focused on the share of cases attributed to a younger population in the most recent resurgences in hotspot states, but our analysis highlights how continued community transmission has implications beyond increased cases. As of July 23, we identified 36 states that are now coronavirus hotspots based on cases and positivity rates increasing, or meeting specific thresholds. That means approximately 73.5% of the U.S. population is now living in a hotspot.

Long-term care (LTC) facility deaths in these hotspot states as of July 23 have risen at six times the rate as LTC deaths in non-hotspot states. Long-term care cases in Texas and Florida have increased by approximately 50% in two weeks. Adults 65 and older account for 16% of the US population but 80% of COVID-19 deaths in the US. Nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths have been in long-term care facilities.

Global Cases and Deaths: Total cases worldwide reached 15.5 million between July 16 and July 23 with an increase of approximately 1.7 million new confirmed cases. There were also approximately 43,600 new confirmed deaths worldwide between July 16 and July 23, bringing the total to 633,394 confirmed deaths.

U.S. Cases and Deaths: Total confirmed cases in the U.S. passed 4 million this week. There was an approximate increase of 463,000 confirmed cases between July 16 and July 23. Approximately 5,900 confirmed deaths in the past week brought the total to over 144,000 confirmed deaths in the U.S.

U.S. Tests: There have been over 48 million total COVID-19 tests with results in the U.S. In the past 7 days, 1.7% of the total U.S. population was tested.

Race/Ethnicity Data: As of this week, Black individuals made up a higher share of cases/deaths compared to their share of the population in 30 of 49 states reporting cases and 34 of 44 states reporting deaths. In 7 states (MI, TN, MO, IL, WI, KS, and NH), the share of COVID-19 related deaths among Black people was at least two times higher than their share of the total population.

Hispanic individuals made up a higher share of cases compared to their share of the total population in 35 of 45 states reporting cases and 10 of 44 states reporting deaths. In 8 states (NE, VA, WI, AR, IA, MN, TN, and SD), Hispanic peoples share of cases was more than 3 times their share of the population. COVID-19 continues to have a sharp, disproportionate impact on American Indian/Alaska Native as well as Asian people in some states.

State Reports of Long-Term Care Facility Cases and Deaths Related to COVID-19 (Includes Washington D.C.)

State COVID-19 Health Policy Actions (Includes Washington D.C.)

State Actions on Telehealth (Includes Washington D.C.)38 states overall have taken mandatory action expanding access to telehealth services through private insurers, including:

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This Week in Coronavirus: July 17 to July 23 | KFF - Kaiser Family Foundation

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

The total number of confirmed cases around the world has surpassed another grim milestone, breaching the 15 million mark in the past 24 hours. Data from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine show the death toll has now passed 623,000.

Switzerland has added more countries to its coronavirus hot-spot list, bringing the number to 42. Visitors from listed countries must go into quarantine for 10-days or face a fine of over $10,000.

Hong Kong has made face masks compulsory in all indoor spaces and on public transport. It reported 113 new coronavirus cases on 22 July, a single-day record.

COVID-19 has caused the UK to shrink its international aid budget by $3.7 billion. The countrys foreign minister said the UK would still meet its international development commitments.

The South Korean economy is in recession. GDP fell by 2.9% year-on-year, while exports sank to a 57-year low, the BBC reports.

In India, the annual Shri Amarnathji Yatra pilgrimage has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. The Hindustan Times describes the Amarnath cave temple as one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism.

From 1 August, travel restrictions are being eased in Qatar. Visitors, citizens and permanent residents will be able to travel in and out of the country, Al Jazeera says.

2. Report: True COVID-19 death toll in South Africa could be greater

South Africa has been hit harder by the pandemic than any other African country. It has recorded 394,948 confirmed cases and 5,940 deaths.

But a new report suggests the death toll from COVID-19 could be even higher.

The South African Medical Research Council found by the second week of July, there were 59% more deaths from natural causes than would have been expected based on historical data.

South Africa has had the most cases of COVID-19 in Africa.

Image: Statista

3. WHO: Don't expect first COVID-19 vaccinations until early 2021

Early indications from coronavirus vaccine trials are broadly positive. But Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, has urged caution.

Dont expect a vaccine to become widely available until 2021, he warned during an event broadcast on social media. Realistically it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated, he said.

Hes not alone in warning that the world may have to be patient. Thomas Lingelbach, chief executive of the biotech company Valneva, told Sky News: "We are trying to bring a 10-year development cycle into 10 months. I hope that some will be faster but I don't expect personally that we're going to see major supplies before the middle of next year.

The US government has pledged to spend $1.95 billion buying 100 million doses of a potential vaccine being jointly developed by the US and Germany. The doses will be given to US citizens free-of-charge, the Financial Times reports.

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What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 July - World Economic Forum