COVID-19 News from Around the Web

Americans debated mask mandates and the reopening of schools during the coronavirus pandemic on Friday as state and local officials imposed conflicting orders and cases rose by more than 70,000 across the nation for the second day in a row. Americans have become divided along political lines over mask orders, with conservatives more likely than liberals to call the rules a violation of their Constitutional rights. “Everybody saying that (wearing a mask) is a violation of their freedom - no, it’s not. Because a seatbelt is mandated and that’s to save your life,” said Sharon Taylor, 48, a cardiothoracic nurse in Atlanta. With school set to resume in a few weeks, local officials across the country have announced a variety of plans to resume teaching. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who until now has allowed school districts in the nation’s most populous state to set their own policies, said on Friday schools could reopen only in counties that for 14 days have stayed off a worsening trends watch list. The United States has been averaging about 60,000 cases a day in July with cases rising in 41 states on Friday, based on a Reuters analysis. Texas and Arkansas reported a record number of deaths on Friday, while Kansas, Ohio, North Dakota and Puerto Rico reported record numbers of infections. President Donald Trump has urged a return to normal, stressing the importance of reigniting the economy. The Trump administration and some health experts argue children are better off in classrooms for their development, and also to allow parents to return to work. Trump told Fox News on Friday he did not believe in implementing a national mask mandate. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, urged political leaders to “be as forceful as possible in getting your citizenry to wear masks.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not consider a national mandate requiring people to wear masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Asked in an interview on Fox News to be broadcast on Sunday if he would consider a mandate, Trump said: “No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that.”

Several U.S. states reported new record-breaking coronavirus case counts over the weekend, as nationwide the death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 140,000 and President Trump insisted again that the virus would "disappear." States such as Florida, California and Kentucky were reporting record, or near-record numbers of new cases and in Texas, a hospital official told NPR that funeral homes and morgues were overflowing from the bodies of COVID-19 victims. Meanwhile, in a Fox News interview aired on Sunday, the president repeated an assertion he first made in late February that COVID-19 would "disappear" on its own, saying that his initial prediction would be proven correct. "I'll be right eventually," the president said in the interview with Fox's Chris Wallace. "I said it's going to disappear. I'll say it again: It's going to disappear — and I'll be right," he said. Asked by Wallace if such statements "discredit" him, Trump replied: "You know why it doesn't discredit? Because I've probably been right more than anybody else." However there was no indication that the disease would disappear anytime soon based on a snapshot of some of the nation's hot spots.

Florida now has the worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the country. Since the beginning of July, Covid-19 cases in the state have gone up nearly 60 percent, with hospitalizations and deaths rapidly rising as well. Florida now has 20 percent more daily new Covid-19 cases than Arizona, 70 percent more than Texas, and more than double California. Florida drew headlines on Sunday for surpassing the record for the highest number of new cases reported in one day, previously held by New York (though that was driven largely by Florida having much more testing than New York did at the peak of its outbreak). The percentage of positive tests over the previous week hit nearly 19 percent, which is almost four times the recommended maximum of 5 percent. The high rate — an indicator of how widespread infection is, as well as whether an area is conducting enough testing — suggests Florida still doesn’t have enough testing to match its Covid-19 outbreak. As bad as things are in Florida, the state is likely undercounting the number of cases. It wasn’t always going this way. Just weeks ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis made media rounds boasting about Florida’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, rebuking those who had criticized the state’s actions, and bragging that his state had managed to keep Covid-19 cases low despite a slower, less-aggressive lockdown and a quicker reopening than other places. DeSantis bragged about how quickly the state was able to reopen due to his great response to the pandemic, saying that “what we did in March and April is the equivalent of what New York will be or California, when they go to phase three” — in reference to California’s slower-moving phased plan for reopening. Now, though, experts say it’s that rapid reopening — mixed with public complacency that the virus had been defeated and lackluster action in the previous months — that led Florida to its current crisis. Florida “defiantly reopened in the name of rejuvenating their economy relatively early,” C. Brandon Ogbunu, a computational biologist at Yale, told me. “The prediction was quite clear that they would have a bad wave at some point.”

As school districts weigh whether to reopen classrooms for in-person instruction in the coming weeks, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, warned there could be a surge in reports of post-viral syndromes that may be tied to the coronavirus, just as children prepare to return. In an interview with "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Gottlieb said illnesses such as pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, clusters of which have been reported in the United States, are currently being investigated. Gottlieb said one study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the illness occurred roughly 25 days after children displayed symptoms for the coronavirus. "Given the fact that we've seen a spike in infections among kids, we would expect in about two or three weeks we might see a surge in these kinds of cases getting reported," he said. "That will be right about the time that we're looking at sending kids back to school. So that could cause a lot of districts to become wary." The Trump administration has been pressuring school districts to fully reopen for classroom learning for the fall semester, and President Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for schools that opt not to, though he lacks the authority to withhold federal dollars that have already been approved by Congress. Local and state officials, however, are weighing hybrid models of learning for students, which would include a mix of virtual and in-person learning, and have raised concerns about how best to protect students and staff from the coronavirus. Gottlieb said that while children are less likely to get infected with the coronavirus and less likely to be symptomatic, "what we aren't sure about is what their propensity is to spread the virus once they do get infected, and particularly when they're symptomatic." "They do appear as likely to spread the virus when they develop symptomatic illness," he said, "and that might be because they shed as much or because of their behaviors, that a child's more likely introducing it into the home because you're going to hug your child even when they're sick."

A health official on the Texas Gulf Coast said 85 infants have tested positive for the coronavirus. Corpus Christi Nueces County Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez said Friday that the 85 infants are each younger than 1, but offered no other details, including how the children are suspected to have become infected. “These babies have not even had their first birthday yet. Please help us to stop the spread of this disease” by staying home except for necessary trips, socially distancing and wearing masks in public, Rodriguez said during a public health update in Corpus Christi.

Thirty baseball teams from 28 cities, trying to play 60 games each amid a coronavirus pandemic that seemingly hasn’t peaked in the United States. Plausible? Worthwhile? Unconscionable? Even among experts, it depends on who’s talking: “Baseball games can work,” said Dr. David Hamer, professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “I think it’s feasible.” “There are certain sports that are higher risk versus lower risk,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Baseball is sort of an intermediate risk.” “I’m very nervous about MLB’s plan,” said Dr. Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University. “It could be a disaster.” Public health experts have mixed feelings about baseball’s hopes to open its season July 23. There is optimism because of the nature of the sport itself, which produces less on-field risk than basketball, football or hockey. Then again, players and their families face a daunting task staying safe away from the ballpark, especially with teams traveling to and from hard-hit regions, including Florida and Texas. Unlike the NBA and NHL, Major League Baseball teams won’t be sequestered into bubbles — they’ll be traveling all around the country. MLB has provided teams with a 113-page operations manual detailing protocols for its pandemic-shortened 60-game regular season. Players will be tested every 48 hours. Masks and social distancing are a must at all times, except on the field. Backups can watch games from the stands instead of the dugout. No sunflower seeds. No spitting. No licking fingers. Even the mascots won’t be allowed to get close. There are protocols for air travel, bus travel, private cars and hotels, along with general guidance to avoid contact with people outside of the baseball world.

NFL players are publicly pleading with the league to address several health and safety concerns on the eve of training camp. The league informed teams on Saturday that training camps will open on time even though discussions with the players’ union regarding testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols are ongoing. Rookies for Houston and Kansas City are set to report Monday and rookies for other teams are due on Tuesday. Players for all teams are scheduled to report by July 28. Many prominent players expressed their thoughts in a social media blitz Sunday. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and President JC Tretter addressed the union’s concerns in a 90-minute videoconference call with reporters on Friday. They want players tested daily for the virus. A joint committee of doctors, trainers and strength coaches formed by the NFL and NFLPA recommended testing every other day. Other outstanding issues include number of preseason games. The league has planned to cut the exhibition schedule from four games to two while the union wants none. Players also wanted a 45-day acclimation period to help avoid injuries. The league asked them to report early but the union declined. Questions remain on protections for players who want to opt out of playing.