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You can get vitamin D in three ways:

1. Your skin produces it when exposed to sunlight.

2. You get it when eating a diet of foods that naturally contain it, like fish or egg yolks, or that have been fortified with it, like milk.

3. You take a supplement, like a multivitamin.

Given this, weve naturally been looking at it in regard to COVID-19; in general, theres been a lot of studies from an associative point of view. For example, countries with higher rates of vitamin D have had lower rates of coronavirus infection. One Italian study found that people who reported taking vitamin D supplements were less likely to be infected; another Italian study found lower levels of vitamin D in COVID-19 patients than theyd expect to find in the population. A U.S. study found that lower vitamin D levels were associated with increased COVID-19 risk. There also have been a couple of studies that have failed to find a link.

What we dont have is a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) in which we give some people vitamin D, and some people a placebo, and see if theres any difference in COVID-19 infections. When weve run huge RCTs on vitamin D supplements with cancer and cardiovascular diseases, weve found nothing. And honestly, its not hard to think of reasons why people with low vitamin D would be more likely to have COVID-19: People who are low on vitamin D might spend more time indoors, where theyre more likely to be infected. Sick people stay inside. And sunlight itself may have therapeutic qualities in general.

Ive typically avoided writing about treatments without RCTs to back them up, but Im making an exception because vitamin D is super safe. Unless you take huge quantities of it, youre going to be just fine. In general, getting out in the sun for just a few minutes a day is really helpful, and a vitamin supplement may help too. This is a very-low-risk, potentially-medium-reward thing you can do.

Smoking isnt a big risk factor

Smoking is terrible for you. You shouldnt do it. I just want to make that clear.

And yet, smoking doesnt appear to make the virus worse.

Heres the research. One study found that countries with higher rates of smoking actually had fewer coronavirus deaths. One comprehensive look at 18 peer-reviewed studies and 12 pre-print studies found that, when you adjusted for age and gender, smoking prevalence among hospitalized patients was about one-third of what youd expect if smoking had no impact.

What about nonhospitalized patients, people who just test positive? Looks like we get similar results. In Israel, they looked at their 114,000 tests and found that 9.8% of those with the disease were smokers, compared to 19.4% of the negative tests.

Heck, we can even do this analysis in Utah. In 2018, 9.2% of Utahs population smoked. But only 5.1% of Utah coronavirus cases have been current smokers, and only 4.7% of our hospitalized cases. Some of that discrepancy is due to lower smoking rates in the aging population, but that doesnt explain all of it.

Whats going on here? There are a whole bunch of hypotheses. One that would explain it most easily is that people who smoke are used to having respiratory symptoms like coughing and trouble breathing, so they dont go in to get tested for the virus. (There are arguments against this, such as that serological surveys also seem to show the same smoking split.) Another is that people with preexisting conditions that make COVID-19 worse may be more likely to quit smoking. Yet another is that smokers choose to socialize outside more due to their smoking.

But there are some explanations that might explain it from a biological perspective. One is that nicotine inhibits the production of inflammatory cytokines, the bodys proteins that we see elevated levels of during the cytokine storm late stages of the disease, where essentially your immune system is attacking the body.

Its also possible that having your lungs coated with a thin layer of tar and toxins is normally awful but in this case has the side effect of preventing coronaviruses from being able to infect lung cells. (Generally, smokers have a higher risk of flu, but there is at least one team of scientists who think the shape of the coronavirus and how it attaches to cells might make this different.)

Look, smoking is more likely to kill you than the coronavirus is, so dont start smoking on the back of this research. Im sure that theres some sort of bad-journalism Razzie award for those who advocate that their readers smoke, and I dont want to win it. But if you are a smoker, hopefully this reduces your stress somewhat.

Were clearly getting more and more tools to treat the coronavirus effectively.

Remember what a big deal it was when we gave a Utahn blood plasma transfusions from someone who had already recovered from the disease back in April? In that case, loss of life looked so likely that they were willing to experiment. The patient got better.

Weve now done over 20,000 of these plasma treatments in the United States, and we know theyre quite safe. Serious adverse effects were found in fewer than 1% of patients. Mortality for patients declined from 12% to 8.6%. The Mayo Clinic also notes that now there is sufficient donation to meet most of the demand.

You may also remember the dexamethasone finding, that this steroid given orally in late-stage COVID-19 patients really had an impact on mortality. One recent study of another steroid, methylprednisolone, found that prolonged, low-dose treatment was associated with a significantly lower hazard of death 71% lower, in fact. Thats really good!

Again, these arent drugs you should be taking at home, because the steroids will hurt your immune system. But for those who are in COVID-19-induced cytokine storm, it seems like a good bet. Its also good news for the cost of treatment: Methylprednisolone costs about $10, and is widely available.

As a result of these treatments, its becoming more clear that fewer sick people are dying.

The best data comes from England, where were seeing death rates go down significantly among people who are hospitalized with the disease.

In all, the rate in England has gone from about 6% of hospitalized cases dying at the beginning of April to about 1.5% at the end of June. Thats a big difference!

Improvements in treatment is just one reason for the four-fold difference, and probably doesnt explain all of it. Other possible explanations: that the most vulnerable were more likely to die first; people may be more likely to enter the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms than they were in the past; and people who caught the coronavirus earlier when no precautions were being taken may have gotten a larger dose and therefore a more potent case of the disease.

In Utah, the data needed for this calculation isnt public: We dont know exactly when deaths occurred or when they were first hospitalized. Over the entirety of the pandemic, there have been 2,109 hospitalizations due to COVID-19, and 251 have died. Thats 12%, though that also counts the deaths of people who never made it to the hospital for one reason or another. The difference between Utahs and Englands numbers may reflect fewer people going to the hospital in Utah than in England, a lower standard of care, or a difference in measurement. We just dont know.

The U.S. picture shows that deaths are certainly up as a result of our recent coronavirus spike, but perhaps less than anticipated so far. I expect that death trend to follow the case trend overall, but a more muted wave of deaths wouldnt be just good news, it would be great news.

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Good coronavirus news: A vitamin that may help, improved treatments and a relief for smokers - Salt Lake Tribune

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.

More than two dozen new coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday as the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention determined a number of previously reported cases to be false positives.

Twenty-eight new cases of the coronavirus were reported Wednesday, according to Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long. He said 25 of those cases were confirmed and three probable. That brings the total cases reported since the outbreak began in March to 3,723.

Of those, 3,321 had been confirmed positive, while 402 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

New cases were tallied in Androscoggin (2), Cumberland (13), Franklin (1), Hancock (2), Kennebec (3), Sagadahoc (3) and York (3) counties. Daily changes in county-level data may vary from new case reports as the Maine CDC continues to investigate cases and revise past data.

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

Wednesdays cumulative total remains steady because the Maine CDC determined 24 probable cases, including 19 associated with a summer camp, were false positives, Long said Wednesday. Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah on Tuesday attributed those false positives from the summer camp, which he did not identify, to less reliable technology it used for testing.

Another four previously reported confirmed cases were determined to involve people from out of state and are no longer being counted as Maine cases, bringing the net increase in cumulative cases to 21.

So far, 377 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 10 people are currently hospitalized, with eight in critical care and four on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 25 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,216. That means there are 389 active and likely cases in the state, down from 414 on Tuesday.

A majority of the cases 2,072 have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Wednesday, there have been 147,923 negative test results out of 153,125 overall. Just under 3 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 1,974 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths 68 have been concentrated. It is one of four counties the others are Androscoggin, Penobscot and York, with 513, 136 and 602 cases, respectively where community transmission has been confirmed, according to the Maine CDC.

There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel. That second condition has not yet been satisfied in other counties.

Other cases have been reported in Aroostook (30), Franklin (45), Hancock (21), Kennebec (153), Knox (25), Lincoln (31), Oxford (48), Piscataquis (4), Sagadahoc (39), Somerset (32), Waldo (60) and Washington (6) counties. Information about where another four cases were reported wasnt immediately available Wednesday morning.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the coronavirus has sickened 3,925,025 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 142,401 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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28 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine - Bangor Daily News

This spring, as countries around the world told people to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, doctors in neonatal intensive care units were noticing something strange: Premature births were falling, in some cases drastically.

It started with doctors in Ireland and Denmark. Each team, unaware of the others work, crunched the numbers from its own region or country and found that during the lockdowns, premature births especially the earliest, most dangerous cases had plummeted. When they shared their findings, they heard similar anecdotal reports from other countries.

They dont know what caused the drop in premature births, and can only speculate as to the factors in lockdown that might have contributed. But further research might help doctors, scientists and parents-to-be understand the causes of premature birth and ways to prevent it, which have been elusive until now. Their studies are not yet peer reviewed, and have been posted only on preprint servers. In some cases the changes amounted to only a few missing babies per hospital. But they represented significant reductions from the norm, and some experts in premature birth think the research is worthy of additional investigation.

These results are compelling, said Dr. Denise Jamieson, an obstetrician at Emory Universitys School of Medicine in Atlanta.

About one in 10 U.S. babies is born early. Pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks, and any delivery before 37 weeks is considered preterm. The costs to children and their families financially, emotionally and in long-term health effects can be great. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, babies born premature, especially before 32 weeks, are at higher risk of vision and hearing problems, cerebral palsy and death.

The best way to avoid these costs would be to prevent early births in the first place, said Dr. Roy Philip, a neonatologist at University Maternity Hospital Limerick in Ireland.

Dr. Philip had been vacationing abroad when his country entered lockdown on March 12, and he noticed something unusual when he returned to work in late March. He asked why there had been no orders while he was gone for the breast milk-based fortifier that doctors feed to the hospitals tiniest preemies. The hospitals staff said that there had been no need, because none of these babies had been born all month.

Intrigued, Dr. Philip and his colleagues compared the hospitals births so far in 2020 with births between January and April in every year since 2001 more than 30,000 in all. They looked at birth weights, a useful proxy for very premature birth.

Initially I thought, There is some mistake in the numbers, Dr. Philip said.

Over the past two decades, babies under 3.3 pounds, classified as very low birth weight, accounted for about eight out of every thousand live births in the hospital, which serves a region of 473,000 people. In 2020, the rate was about a quarter of that. The very tiniest infants, those under 2.2 pounds and considered extremely low birth weight, usually make up three per thousand births. There should have been at least a few born that spring but there had been none.

The study period went through the end of April. By the end of June, with the national lockdown easing, Dr. Philip said there had still been very few early preemies born in his hospital. In two decades, he said, he had never seen anything like these numbers.

While the Irish team was digging into its data, researchers in Denmark were doing the same thing, driven by curiosity over a nearly empty NICU. Dr. Michael Christiansen of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen and his colleagues used newborn screening data to compare births nationwide during the strictest lockdown period, March 12 to April 14, with births during the same period in the previous five years. The data set included more than 31,000 infants.

The researchers found that during the lockdown, the rate of babies born before 28 weeks had dropped by a startling 90 percent.

Anecdotes from doctors at other hospitals around the world suggest the phenomenon may have been widespread, though not universal.

Dr. Belal Alshaikh, a neonatologist at the University of Calgary in Alberta, said premature births across Calgary dropped by nearly half during the lockdown. The change was across the board, though it seemed more pronounced in the earliest babies, he said.

At Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Dr. Irwin Reiss, a neonatologist, saw a smaller drop-off in premature births.

At Mercy Hospital for Women outside Melbourne, Australia, there were so few premature babies that administrators asked Dr. Dan Casalaz, the hospitals director of pediatrics, to figure out what was going on.

In the United States, Dr. Stephen Patrick, a neonatologist at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, estimated there were about 20 percent fewer NICU babies at his hospital than usual in March. Although some sick full-term babies would stay in the NICU, Dr. Patrick said preterm babies usually made up most of the patients, and the drop-off seemed to have been driven by missing preemies.

When Dr. Patrick shared his observation on Twitter, some U.S. doctors shared similar stories. Others said their NICUs were as busy as ever. Some groups in other countries have said they didnt see a change, either.

If lockdowns prevented early births in certain places but not others, that information could help reveal causes of premature birth. The researchers speculated about potential factors.

Updated July 22, 2020

One could be rest. By staying home, some pregnant women may have experienced less stress from work and commuting, gotten more sleep and received more support from their families, the researchers said.

Women staying at home also could have avoided infections in general, not just the new coronavirus. Some viruses, such as influenza, can raise the odds of premature birth.

Air pollution, which has been linked to some early births, has also dropped during lockdowns as cars stayed off the roads.

Dr. Jamieson said the observations were surprising because she would have expected to see more preterm births during the stress of the pandemic, not less.

It seems like we have experienced tremendous stress in the U.S. due to Covid, she said.

But all pregnant women may not have experienced the lockdowns in the same way, she said, as different countries have different social safety nets in general, and the stress of unemployment and financial insecurity may have affected communities unevenly.

Some later premature births also might have been avoided during lockdowns simply because doctors werent inducing mothers for reasons like high blood pressure, Dr. Jamieson said. But that wouldnt explain a change in very early preterm births, as the Danish and Irish authors found.

The causes of preterm birth have been elusive for decades, and ways to prevent preterm births have been largely unsuccessful, Dr. Jamieson said. According to the C.D.C., premature births in the United States rose in 2018 for the fourth straight year. White women had about a 9 percent risk of premature birth in 2018, while African-American womens risk was 14 percent.

If the trends in the data are confirmed, the pandemic and lockdowns could be something like a natural experiment that might help researchers understand why premature birth happens and how to avoid it. Maybe some maternity leave should start before a mothers due date, for example.

The Danish and Irish researchers have now teamed up and are building an international group of collaborators to study how Covid lockdowns affected early births.

For years, nothing has advanced in this very important area, Dr. Christiansen said, and it seems it took a virus attack to help us get on track.

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Excerpt from:

During Coronavirus Lockdowns, Some Doctors Wondered: Where Are the Preemies? - The New York Times

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.

More than two dozen new coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday as the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention determined a number of previously reported cases to be false positives.

Twenty-eight new cases of the coronavirus were reported Wednesday, according to Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long. He said 25 of those cases were confirmed and three probable. That brings the total cases reported since the outbreak began in March to 3,723.

Of those, 3,321 had been confirmed positive, while 402 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Wednesdays cumulative total remains steady because the Maine CDC determined 24 probable cases, including 19 associated with a summer camp, were false positives, Long said Wednesday. Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah on Tuesday attributed those false positives from the summer camp, which he did not identify, to less reliable technology it used for testing.

Another four previously reported confirmed cases were determined to involve people from out of state and are no longer being counted as Maine cases, bringing the net increase in cumulative cases to 21.

So far, 377 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 10 people are currently hospitalized, with eight in critical care and four on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 25 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,216. That means there are 389 active and likely cases in the state, down from 414 on Tuesday.

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

Congress returned to work this week still far apart on components of a fifth coronavirus stimulus package, including whether to extend the $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefit set to expire at the end of this month. Heres whats at stake for Maine.

Visits to Maines state parks by residents are up by 35 percent so far this year compared to 2019, according to Jim Britt, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. And while much of that increase is attributable to sites in the more popular southern part of the state, the trend toward staycations has not escaped inland parks farther north, including two in Piscataquis County. Ernie Clark, BDN

While Maine is generally outperforming much of the country in its testing for the coronavirus, some health care providers are still struggling to reliably obtain the nasal swabs, transport vials and other supplies necessary to conduct those tests. Charles Eichacker, BDN

If students in Bangor return to school buildings this fall, theyll go through daily temperature scans, have meals served in classrooms where desks are at least 6 feet apart, and walk through one-way stairwells and hallways marked to keep students at a safe distance from others. Eesha Pendharkar, BDN

As of Wednesday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 3,940,592 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 142,756 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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July 22 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

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Nearly two dozen coronavirus cases have popped up in the past 10 days at Fort Yukon after community leaders took extreme measures months ago to avoid the disease.

Like other rural villages scattered around Alaska, leaders in March imposed travel bans and other restrictions far beyond those imposed by the state to protect residents in a place without an emergency room.

Fort Yukon, an Interior community of about 600 on the Yukon River 145 miles northeast of Fairbanks, reported 21 new cases as of Tuesday morning.

The first person with symptoms appeared this week someone sick enough to get medevaced on Monday, according to City Manager Andrew Firmin. The individual had to be airlifted to a hospital because the local clinic doesnt have any ventilators.

Were not set up to intubate anybody, Firmin said. We have excellent medical staff but were almost on Its Motrin or medevac.' Theres no extended-care specialists or anything like that.

But the news isnt necessarily as alarming as it sounds, local residents said. The community performed roughly 150 tests. Thats about a quarter of the population. The positive numbers account for between 3% and 4% of all residents.

Fort Yukon, the states largest Athabascan village, is made up of many extended, multigenerational families under one roof, said Dacho Alexander, a council member of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwichin Tribal Government.

This is kind of what we had suspected from the beginning, because of the way village life is so intertwined with friends and family: once it did arrive, it would spread like wildfire. Which it has indeed, Alexander said. It was something that we were trying to avoid but we knew that it was just a matter of time before it did arrive and these types of numbers would appear.

The community had access to two rapid testing machines, one donated by the community of Venetie, he said. The high testing level reflected several factors: tests on people considered close contacts of a positive case from another community; screening for essential workers; and the expansion of testing to the citys various workforces, from tribal and city governments to the local fuel supplier.

The Fort Yukon cases arent specifically listed on Alaskas COVID-19 dashboard where health officials post daily updates on COVID-19 cases. Instead, the citys statistics are included in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, where the state identified 29 cases as of Tuesday. Other communities, like Circle, have some cases as well.

Fort Yukon in March adopted aggressive measures in hopes of keeping out coronavirus: no travel except for cargo, essential workers, medical and law enforcement. Other measures still in place include a 14-day quarantine for travelers, masks required for anyone leaving their yard, a shelter-in-place order, and a curfew between midnight and 6 a.m. Patrols previously on snowmachine and now boat watch for incoming visitors. People at the airport watch for private planes.

Fort Yukon reopened for travel in mid-June and shut it back down again two weeks later, Firmin said. Thats when COVID-19 cases were reported in Circle. Then Fort Yukons cases began rising.

Now its hard enforcing quarantine due to state confidentiality policies that keep authorities from knowing just who is sick, Firmin said. The liquor store is closed, the gas station is curbside service only, and the Alaska Commercial Co. store is open but the city is discussing asking them to close temporarily too, he said.

The post office in Fort Yukon. (Stephen Nowers / ADN archive)

On Tuesday, the Fort Yukon post office was only letting in one person at a time, said Hans James, a city council member who manages the local radio station, where he started daily COVID-19 updates a week and a half ago.

You might say were on lockdown, James said

The sources of the local infections arent certain. People are congregating more, Firmin said. There have been several funerals in the area.

I wouldnt blame that only on funerals, Firmin said, adding that there are still essential workers coming into town. Then you have people that just dont care about the rules and are coming and going just as they please.

Statewide COVID-19 case counts are spiking, with most of the new cases in Anchorage and in younger people, though so far hospitalizations arent rising as quickly. The state hit a new daily high Monday with 141 confirmed infections in Alaskans and nonresidents. Another 109 new cases were reported Tuesday.

Most of the big numbers are in urban areas. But Fort Yukon isnt the only rural area seeing a sudden rise in confirmed cases.

More than two dozen people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the Copper River region, including 15 new cases in the past week, according to the Copper River Native Association, which expects those numbers to rise.

The state counts Copper River resident cases in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, local officials say. As of Tuesday, a category designated other in that section showed one new case and a total of 12. The state generally uses that category for any communities smaller than 1,000 people to protect patient confidentiality.

The state numbers wont match the ones reported by the Native association.

Local tribal and health officials are tracking the virus based on positive tests administered in the region, and not the hometowns of the people who test positive like the state does, according to Melanie McGinnis, public information officer for the Copper River Native Association. The data comes from the association, Glennallen-based Cross Road Medical Center, and Gakona-based Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.

The Copper River region includes a combination of smaller villages such as Gulkana and Gakona; larger communities like Glennallen, a Glenn Highway hub; the dipnet fishing destination Chitina; and the Wrangell Mountains hamlet of McCarthy, which along with a small year-round population attracts summer visitors and urban Alaskans with seasonal cabins.

The intent of posting testing data is to let community members know positive cases spent time there regardless of what address their drivers license shows, McGinnis said.

Maybe theyre not a resident or plan on staying but that positive case has still spent time in our region, she said. Whether its one or one hundred positive cases, were hoping the community understands our response doesnt change: we should still be wearing masks, washing hands, and social distancing.

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Fort Yukon and Copper River communities avoided coronavirus for months. Now cases are rising in both. - Anchorage Daily News

WASHINGTON Russian hackers are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research, the American, British and Canadian governments said Thursday, accusing the Kremlin of opening a new front in its spy battles with the West amid the worldwide competition to contain the pandemic.

The National Security Agency said that a hacking group implicated in the 2016 break-ins into Democratic Party servers has been trying to steal intelligence on vaccines from universities, companies and other health care organizations. The group, associated with Russian intelligence and known as both APT29 and Cozy Bear, has sought to exploit the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

American intelligence officials said the Russians were aiming to steal research to develop their own vaccine more quickly, not to sabotage other countries efforts. There was likely little immediate damage to global public health, cybersecurity experts said.

The Russian espionage nevertheless signals a new kind of competition between Moscow and Washington akin to Cold War spies stealing technological secrets during the space race generations ago.

The Russian hackers have targeted British, Canadian and American organizations using malware and sending fraudulent emails to try to trick their employees into turning over passwords and other security credentials, all in an effort to gain access to the vaccine research as well as information about medical supply chains.

The accusations against Russia were also the latest example of an increasing willingness in recent months by the United States and its closest intelligence allies to publicly accuse foreign adversaries of breaches and cyberattacks. The American government has previously warned about efforts by China and Iran to steal vaccine research.

Attributing such attacks, however, is imprecise, an ambiguity that Moscow takes advantage of in denying responsibility, as it did Thursday.

Still, government officials, as well as outside experts, expressed strong confidence that Cozy Bear, controlled by Russias elite S.V.R. intelligence agency, was responsible for the attempted intrusions into the virus vaccine research.

We condemn these despicable attacks against those doing vital work to combat the coronavirus pandemic, said Paul Chichester, the director of operations for Britains National Cyber Security Center.

The head of the center, Ciaran Martin, told NBC News that the cyberattacks were first detected in February and that no evidence had emerged that data was stolen.

Government officials would not identify victims of the hackings. But the primary target of the attacks appeared to be Oxford University in Britain and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which have been jointly working on a vaccine, said Robert Hannigan, the former head of G.C.H.Q., the British intelligence agency.

Oxford scientists said on Thursday that they had noticed a surprising resemblance between their vaccine approach and the work that Russian scientists had reported.

Though Russia could be seeking to steal the vaccine data to bolster its own research, it could also be trying to avoid relying on Western countries for any eventual coronavirus vaccine.

While AstraZeneca has announced it will make the Oxford vaccine available at cost, governments and philanthropies have paid huge sums to the company to secure their place in line, even without any guarantee it will work. The United States has said it will pay up to $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca to fund a clinical trial and secure 300 million doses. Russia could find itself near the back of the line if the vaccine proves successful.

Russia clearly doesnt want to disrupt vaccine production, but they dont want to be dependent on the U.S. or the U.K. for production and discovery of the vaccine, said Mr. Hannigan, now an executive at the BlueVoyant cybersecurity firm. It not impossible to think Kremlin pride is such that they dont want that to happen.

An intense international race is underway to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus that has already killed 580,000 people and upended daily life around the world. More than 155 vaccines are under development, including 23 being tested on humans.

Some vaccines work by altering another common virus to mimic the coronavirus to prompt an immune response without making people sick. The research by Oxford and AstraZeneca is based on one such pathogen, a chimpanzee adenovirus. Russias Ministry of Health is trying to use two other adenoviruses but is not as far along in its testing as the Oxford researchers are.

Some officials suggested the Russian attacks have not been hugely successful but were widespread enough to warrant a coordinated international warning.

Across the globe, intelligence services have stepped up their focus on information surrounding the virus. The F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, accused China last week of working to compromise American health care organizations conducting Covid-19 research.

Russia is not alone, said John Hultquist, the senior director of intelligence analysis at FireEye, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity firm. A lot of people are in this game even if they havent been called out yet. The whole pandemic is absolutely riddled with spies.

Chinese government hackers have long focused on stealing intellectual property and technology. Russia has aimed much of its recent cyberespionage, like election interference, at weakening geopolitical rivals and strengthening its hand.

China is more well known for theft through hacking than Russia, which is of course better now for using hacks for disruption and chaos, said Laura Rosenberger, a former Obama administration official who now leads the Alliance for Securing Democracy. But theres no question that whoever gets to a vaccine first thinks they will have geopolitical advantage, and thats something Id expect Russia to want.

Still, a Russian intrusion could inadvertently damage some vaccine data and additional security protocols to protect from future cyberattacks could impose a burden on researchers. Private firms are more at risk than the public, said Mike Chapple, a former National Security Agency computer scientist who teaches cybersecurity at the University of Notre Dame.

The potential harm here is limited to commercial harm, to companies that are devoting a lot of their own resources into developing a vaccine in hopes it will be financially rewarding down the road, he said.

The Kremlin mocked the announcements Thursday, and Russian officials said they did not know who could have hacked the companies or research centers in Britain. One Russian official said the accusation was an attempt to discredit Moscows own work on a vaccine.

Updated July 22, 2020

Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, told reporters that the accusations were unacceptable. Russia has nothing to do with these attempts, he said.

Cozy Bear is one of the highest-profile, and most successful, hacking groups associated with the Russian government. It was implicated alongside the group Fancy Bear in the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee. Though Cozy Bear is believed to have breached the committees computers, it played no known role in releasing stolen Democratic emails.

Cozy Bear has a long history of targeting governmental, diplomatic, think tank, health care and energy organizations for intelligence gain, so we encourage everyone to take this threat seriously, said Anne Neuberger, the National Security Agencys cybersecurity director.

The malware used by Cozy Bear to steal the vaccine research included code known as WellMess and WellMail. The Russian group has not previously used that malware, according to British officials.

But American experts say the tactics used in trying to obtain access to the vaccine data bear all the hallmarks of Russian intelligence officials. And American officials said they were confident in attributing the attacks to the Russian hacking group.

The American, British and Canadian governments said Cozy Bear used recently publicized weak spots in computer networks to get a foothold. If organizations do not immediately patch a vulnerability that a software company has identified, their networks can be exposed to hacks.

Once Cozy Bear hackers exploit those gaps to gain entry to a computer system, they create legitimate credentials to maintain access even after the hole is patched.

While the various Russian hacking groups often share similar targets, they are run by different intelligence agencies for different purposes.

Hackers with Cozy Bear are after information but do not generally release it publicly, according to government and outside experts. Fancy Bear, which works for Russian military intelligence and is also known as APT28, will often publicize the information it steals.

Cozy Bears ties are to the S.V.R., the Russian equivalent of the C.I.A., according to current and former officials. Unlike other Russian hackers, Cozy Bears operations are sophisticated, stealthy and hard to detect.

Their job is quiet, old-fashioned intelligence collection, said Mr. Hultquist, the cybersecurity analyst.

Reporting was contributed by Nicole Perlroth from San Francisco, David D. Kirkpatrick and Stephen Castle from London, Andrew Higgins from Moscow, and Charlie Savage from Washington.

Continued here:

Russian Hackers Trying to Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Research - The New York Times

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 Mainer has died as health officials on Tuesday reported 12 more cases of the coronavirus in the state.

But state health officials also cautioned that some of those case numbers would change on Wednesday because of apparently false positive test results from a summer camp that found seemingly positive cases using a less reliable testing technology.

In the morning, the Maine Center for Disease Control reported that there have now been 3,723 cases across all of Maines counties since the outbreak began here in March. That was up from 3,711 on Monday.

Of those, 3,300 had been confirmed positive, while 423 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine CDC.

But on Tuesday afternoon, Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah announced that an unspecified number of cases were going to be removed from the probable count on Wednesday because they were the result of inaccurate results from a summer camp that he didnt identify.

So far, 377 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 12 people are currently hospitalized, with eight in critical care and four on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 32 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,191. That means there are 414 active and likely cases in the state, down from 435 on Monday.

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

The state will add four new swab and send coronavirus testing facilities to the 18 sites already in place around Maine as part of its plans to contain the spread of COVID-19, it announced on Tuesday. Nick Sambides Jr., BDN

There is still hope for a fall high school sports season in Maine. It just wont be happening until at least mid-September. The Maine Principals Association Interscholastic Management Committee voted on Tuesday to delay the start of the fall season until Sept. 18. Pete Warner, BDN

The Aroostook Agency on Aging received an $88,895 federal grant that will fund new services to combat social isolation in a population that is among the oldest in Maine. David Marino Jr., BDN

The Walmart in Presque Isle has a confirmed COVID-19 outbreak with three employees testing positive for the virus, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah said Tuesday. They are the first COVID-19 cases confirmed in Presque Isle, though not in the Presque Isle area. David Marino Jr., BDN

Housing advocates and public officials expect a sharp increase in evictions when court hearings resume Aug. 3. They worry a proposed $50 million housing assistance plan may not provide the necessary aid to avoid thousands of evictions, according to the Portland Press Herald. Eviction proceedings have been on hold for the past three months as the state navigated the economic cost of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Willis Ryder Arnold, Maine Public

The University of Maine at Augusta will allow its sports teams to practice but has postponed its fall sports schedule to spring 2021 due to the need to limit the spread of coronavirus, the school announced on Tuesday. Nick Sambides Jr.

As of Tuesday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 3,858,686 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 141,426 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Read more from the original source:

July 21 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

From 1980 to 2018, the income per person in New Yorks metropolitan area rose from 118 percent of the national average to 141 percent, according to government data. Bostons rose from 109 to 144 percent, San Franciscos from 137 to 183 percent, and Seattles from 120 to 137 percent.

But if big-city businesses find that work from home doesnt hit their productivity too hard, they might reassess the need to pay top dollar to keep employees in, say, Seattle or the Bay Area. Workers cooped up in a two-bedroom in Long Island City, Queens, might prefer moving to the suburbs or even farther away, and save on rent.

Mr. Glaeser and colleagues from Harvard and the University of Illinois studied surveys tracking companies that allowed their employees to work from home at least part of the time since March. Over one-half of large businesses and over one-third of small ones didnt detect any productivity loss. More than one in four reported a productivity increase.

Moreover, the researchers found that about four in 10 companies expect that 40 percent of their employees who switched to remote work during the pandemic will keep doing so after the crisis, at least in part. Thats 16 percent of the work force. Most of these workers are among the more highly educated and well paid.

Will they stay in the city if they dont need to go to the office more than a couple of times a week? Erik Hurst, an economist at the University of Chicago, argues that people will always seek the kind of social contact that cities provide. But what if their employers stop paying enough to support the urban lifestyle? Young families might flee to the suburbs sooner, especially if a more austere new urban economy can no longer support the ecosystem of restaurants and theaters that made city life attractive.

The overall economy might be less productive, having lost some of the benefits of social connection. But as long as the hit is not too severe, employers might be better off, paying lower wages and saving on office space. And workers might prefer a state of the world with somewhat lower wages and no commute.

Municipal governments in superstar cities might have a tough time doing their job as their tax base shrinks. The survival of brick-and-mortar retailers will be threatened as social distancing accelerates the shift to online shopping.

Excerpt from:

Coronavirus Threatens the Luster of Superstar Cities - The New York Times

Eighty-five infants who are under the age of 1 have tested positive for the coronavirus in Nueces County since testing began there in March, county officials confirmed this weekend.

The county, which includes Corpus Christi, has become emblematic of the recent surge of coronavirus cases in the state. When the pandemic first started ravaging the state, Nueces County stayed relatively healthy while the Amarillo region suffered.

Now, however, the 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.

In all, 8,407 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since mid-March. Children under the age of 1 represent about 1% of those positive cases. But the Nueces County number underscores that young people can be affected by the disease, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health experts report that the risk of severe illness increases with age.

One child under 1 has died in Nueces County after contracting the virus, but county officials say the child was "brought to the hospital with unrelated symptoms and tested for COVID-19 while at the hospital." The child later died at home, and an autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death.

"Nueces County has been aggressive in testing the family members of those infected, especially those who work or live in high-risk situations: senior care centers, jails, group homes and halfway houses, and meatpacking plants," Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said in a statement on Saturday. "By contact tracing and testing the immediate family members for those with known exposure who work in high-risk critical infrastructure jobs, this may account for our higher degree of testing and positive test results among infants."

The 85 number was first reported Saturday by CNN, which quoted Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces County, on Friday: We currently have 85 babies under the age of one year in Nueces County that have all tested positive for COVID-19.

These babies have not even had their first birthday yet, she said. "Please help us stop the spread of this disease.

That quote was later reported by The Texas Tribune and other outlets. As concern over the number spread, Canales, the top elected official in Nueces County, clarified that it was a cumulative number since the pandemic began.

"Stating this number during our press conference led many to believe that we had a sudden surge in infants under the age of one testing positive," she said. "We have NOT had a sudden surge of 85 infants testing positive."

Still, Canales suggested the number raises an important issue.

"For context, the spokesperson was using that statistic to illustrate that no one is naturally immune to this virus," she said. "While the elderly and those with existing medical conditions are at greater risk of illness and death, anyone can get the virus, from the elderly to infants, and without regard to race, gender, or economic status. The number was used to illustrate this point.

In the last seven days, Nueces County has seen the fastest growth in new cases than any other metropolitan in the state, Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni told CNN.

You can see the trend line is relatively flat until July, and this is where we have had that huge spike in cases, and this is why its turned into a major problem for Nueces County, he said.

As of late, Texas has become a new hotspot for coronavirus cases, reporting a record high 174 deaths on Friday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

See the article here:

85 Texas babies have coronavirus in Nueces County since mid-March - The Texas Tribune

Here's how an unapproved drug like remdesivir, used in COVID-19 treatments, is legal, even if it's unapproved by the FDA with unknown results. USA TODAY

Dexamethasone isnt the only steroidthat has shown promise in the battle against the COVID-19.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System led a study where most of their patients took prednisone, another steroid in the same family as dexamethasone, and found patients with high inflammation levels were associated with a 75% reduction in risk of going on mechanical ventilation or dying.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Hospital Medicine, also sought to pinpoint a window in which these steroids would be the most beneficial to patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Authors of the Einstein-Montefiore study found a simple blood test could dictate when a doctor should treat their patient with steroids. The blood test measures levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which the liver produces in response to inflammation.

Steroid use in patients with a CRP level greater than 20 were associated with a reduced risk of mechanical ventilation or death. However, if CRP levels were less than 10, steroid use was associated with a 200% increased risk.

Our findings suggest that steroid therapy should be reserved for people with high inflammation, said senior author Dr. William Southern, professor of medicine and chief of the division of hospital medicine at Einstein and Montefiore. Its a different story for people who do not have significant inflammation: for them, any benefit is outweighed by the risks from using steroids.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said that using steroids too early in the infection process could inhibit the bodys immune system from doing its job of clearing the virus.

Remdesivir and COVID-19: New data suggests the experimental drug can shorten how long people are sick

Dexamethasone: Demand for drug rises after study finds COVID-19 benefits, FDA data shows

You dont want to give the steroid too early on," he said. "We need to be really clear in defined windows when these drugs have their most beneficial effect.

However, the choice between using dexamethasone or prednisoneis less consequential.

According to Glatter, dexamethasone is stronger and longer lasting. While some clinicians may prefer to give dexamethasone, other doctors may prefer to prescribe prednisone because a shorter window of activity gives them more opportunity to scale the drug back if needed.

Although these steroids have small differences, Glatter says they all act similarly.

Southern said the observational study didnt compare the two drugs, but researchers didnt see a difference between prednisone and dexamethasone. However, some doctors may prefer dexamethasone because it induces the body to hold onto salt and water the least.

In general when people have difficulty breathing and require ventilation, one of the things you dont want them to have is excess salt and water in their body, he said.

Vitamin C has had a surge in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic, even though the effectiveness of the antioxidant is unknown. USA TODAY

Both Glatter and Southern say these drugs could become a game-changer for treating critically ill COVID-19 patients because steroids are cheap and widely available worldwide.

But Southern stresses steroids are not for everyone and it may be too soon to begin prescribing steroids in an outpatient setting. While some people may have taken steroids in the past and have leftover amounts in their medicine cabinet, he urges people not to take them if they've tested positive for COVID-19 unless directed by their doctor.

People should never self-medicate with steroids, as the risks for harm are real, he said.

One of the key things weve learned is that the answer of the question are steroids helpful? is not straightforward, he said. Theres a considerable amount of work to do yet to better define who those patients are.

Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

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It's not just dexamethasone: Other steroids may be used to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients, study says - USA TODAY

On Tuesday, Tulip published her mother's obituary. In it, she wrote of her love of the flute, her two dogs, Shadow and Gauner, and how "the carelessness of politicians" led to her mother's "undeserving death."

"Isabelle was a giant, and powerful in her kindness. She made a difference each and every day in many people's lives. And like hundreds and thousands of others, she should still be alive today," Tulip wrote.

"Her undeserving death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to hedge their bets on the lives of healthcare workers through a lack of leadership, through a refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and through an inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize the risks of the coronavirus," she said.

She also invited Abbott to her burial "to witness first-hand the tragedy of my brother and I mourning our incredible mother who gave her life to save others."

This "honest obituary" is not the first of its kind.

Indeed, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spike across the United States, family members who have lost loved ones are calling out leaders in an unusual way: publishing memorials tinged by grievances in their local newspapers.

Its website allows anyone to request funding through a form, asking them, "Obituaries are basically advertisements for the dead. You pay for them and you get to have the last word. Why not tell the truth?"

Next month, on August 13, Marked By Covid will hit the streets for a national day of action. Volunteers will "support actions in current and burgeoning covid-19 hotspots; local constituents will create vigils and ofrendas outside of their elected officials' offices to honor the lives lost to coronavirus, raise awareness of the severity of the pandemic, and challenge their leaders to only reopen when it's safe."

Abbott hasn't responded publicly to the letter and didn't respond to CNN's request for comment.

But his stance on masks has certainly changed.

While there is no statewide mandate requiring masks in Arizona, Gov. Ducey announced on June 17 that he would allow mayors to create their own restriction.

Scottsdale was the first to make it mandatory starting June 19, with other major municipalities including Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff issuing their own later.

In an emailed statement to CNN last week, Patrick Ptak, a spokesman for Gov. Ducey said, "Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Mark Anthony Urquiza. We know nothing can fully alleviate the pain associated with his loss, and every loss from this virus is tragic."

He did not say whether the governor would attend the funeral.

CNN's Hollie Silverman contributed to this story.

See the rest here:

People are using honest obituaries to blame governors for coronavirus deaths and invite them to their loved ones' funerals - CNN

As Congress resumes work on a new coronavirus financial relief package, nearly 100 Texas mayors are pressing the states congressional delegation for more funding to address revenue losses incurred due to the economic downturn brought by COVID-19.

Texas received $11 billion in funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which were distributed among the state, counties and cities. Some Texas mayors said these have to be spent before the end of the year and for expenditures related to the pandemic response and dont address government entities losses in anticipated revenues related to decreased economic activity. Others said theres been conflicting information about how the money can be spent.

Since March, the economic slowdown has directly hit cities revenues. According to the state comptroller, local sales tax allocations for cities in June dropped by 11.1% compared with the same month last year.

The budget calamity looming over local governments is real and it requires extraordinary measures, said a letter signed by 97 Texas mayors and directed to members of Congress. We therefore fear that state and local revenue is going to take time to rebound. We also fear that if we do not stabilize our economy, we could see a drop in property tax revenue next year.

In the letter, which included signatures of leaders from urban, suburban and rural areas, the mayors asked for direct and flexible fiscal assistance to all cities.

What were asking [is] for direct assistance for state and local governments. Not for things like pension measures, none of that, but as a result of lost revenue as a result of coronavirus itself, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a press conference Monday. We are the infrastructure that supports the public and private sector, and at this point in time, we are needing direct assistance."

Before the summer recess that ended Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a Democratic plan to provide $3 trillion in aid on top of what was in the CARES Act. That bill includes nearly $1 trillion for local governments. But unlike the CARES Act, the proposal hasnt received bipartisan support and has stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate, according to The Washington Post.

Were going to work with our mayors and county judges and the governor to see what the need is, and where theres a real need we will respond, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on a call with the media earlier this month.

According to NPR, one of the main disagreements between Republicans and Democrats is how much aid should go to local governments and whether this money should be limited to helping only in pandemic-related costs, like the CARES Act, or could be used for filling the budgetary gaps that cities have experienced since the economic downturn. Texas mayors said that although they know they can use the funding from the CARES Act in areas directly related to the health crisis, they do not have clarity on whether they can use it on other areas that are financially strained.

Weve had conflicting directions, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said. "If you look at the words themselves [in the CARES act], it suggests that you cant use this money for things that were already in your budget, but then the Treasury suggested in the guidance that you can. The flexibility we are seeking is to use funding to fill budgetary shortfalls that cities are experiencing because of the virus.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price explained that flexibility could help her city promote employment, which she cant directly do under the current CARES Act regulations.

What we want is the ability to use it in infrastructure projects to create jobs, Price said. Cities need to be able to apply that money in the best way they see to provide help to their communities.

Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams said his city which spearheaded the letter is facing a projected $20 million shortfall due to revenue losses from shutdowns and decreased economic activity. Although the funding was helpful for costs related to COVID-19, such as testing, it did not address the losses in revenue due to shutdowns and decreased economic activity. Overall, COVID-19 expenditures are vastly outpaced by the citys revenue losses, Williams said.

This virus is a natural disaster, just like a hurricane, tornado or flooding. And so consequently, were requesting aid for emergency services and medical relief, but then also help rebuilding our city as a result of the virus, just as you would if we had had a major flood or tornado, he said.

Another issue that mayors have pointed out is how the funds have been distributed so far. While the CARES Act provided direct funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to cities with populations larger than 500,000 people, smaller cities are receiving these funds through the state and the counties.

Arlington is one of those cases. The citys population is just under 400,000 not reaching the 500,000 threshold required to receive direct funding from the CARES Act and instead receiving funds funneled from the state. Mayors like Williams, in these smaller cities, said the process of getting the funds needed to be sped up to avoid going through several layers of government.

Cities are one of the most important economic engines in the country. And so, if we dont help cities now, were not going to be able to help our citizens and our businesses, Williams said. It actually is going to cost the country more later if were not helped now.

The call from mayors to the congressional delegation comes as cities are starting to debate their budgets and considering possible cuts for next fiscal year. Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz said his city, which has a population of about 262,000, is projecting $26 million in revenue losses through December, which could mean drastic layoffs for city employees. The ripple effects of these losses could also have long-term effects on the city budget, he said.

We foresee, easily, a two-year impact or more, depending on how quickly the vaccine comes out and how quickly we can open up our businesses, Saenz said.

Saenz said hes concerned that because many residents may be furloughed or unemployed, the city may see a surge in delinquent property tax payments, further impacting revenue. This, coupled with the decline of sales tax revenue and other revenues, will further impact the local economy as well, he said.

Many mayors worry that without these federal funds, the economic crisis residents are facing will deepen.

We are struggling really hard now not to have to cut our workforce or reduce our services, Adler said. And it is important that local governments are able to keep providing services to local communities, or else it will exacerbate the challenges.

Meena Venkataramanan contributed to this story.

Disclosure: The Texas Tribune, as a nonprofit local newsroom and a small business, applied for and received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program in the amount of $1,116,626.

Steve Adler, a former Texas Tribune board chairman, and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts have been financial supporters of the Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Texas mayors plead with Congress for coronavirus relief funding - The Texas Tribune

After months of resistance to masks, President Donald Trumpon Tuesday urged Americans to wear them to help contain the coronavirus outbreak that's rapidly spreading throughout the U.S.

"We're asking everybody that, when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask," he said at White House news briefing."Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they have an effect, and we need everything we can get."

Trump's comments come after the president has sent mixed messages for months on whether he supports the use of masks as a strategy to prevent the spread of the virus. Members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, have repeatedly urged the public to wear masks while Trump boldly disregarded their advice at public rallies and elsewhere.

Masks and face coverings, especially in indoor and crowded environments, have been touted by health officials across the world as a low-cost and effective tool in lessening public transmission

"I have no problem with the masks. I view it this way, anything that potentially can help ... is a good thing," he said Tuesday. "I have no problem. I carry it. I wear it. You saw me wearing it a number of times and I'll continue."

But Trump remained skeptical about the use of masks in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday.

"I don't agree with the statement that if everybody wear a mask, everything disappears," he said in the interview, responding to remarks made earlier in the week by Redfield, who said that if everyone wore masks, the U.S. could bring the outbreak under control in as little as one to two months.

Trump has repeatedly noted that health agencies, including the CDC and the World Health Organization, originally did not recommend the use of masks to prevent the risk of infection. Such agencies have now said they failed to do because they were concerned that the public would pressure the supply chain, preventing health workers from getting the equipment they needed to safely care for Covid-19 patients.

"We've had experts in the recent past that masks aren't necessarily good to wear ... but now they've changed their mind," Trump said Tuesday. "If they've changed their mind, that's good enough for me."

Trump has previously criticized his own health advisors, including Fauci, Director of theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, because they "changed their mind on masks. It's one point of contention between the president and his advisors, none of whom were present at the briefing. Faucisaid earlier Tuesday that he wasn't invited to the briefing.

"I was not invited up to this point and I'm assuming I'm not going to be there," Fauci said in a CNN interview less than an hour before the 5 p.m. briefing was scheduled to start.

In recent weeks, top Trump administration officials have stepped up their calls for Americans to wear masks.Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said last week that closing indoor bars and getting about 90% of Americans to wear masks in public would "shut down the outbreak."

Despite Trump's endorsement of masks, he has still declined to issue a national mask mandate, as some other countries have. Many governors have issued requirements to wear masks, but some have declined to do so, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp even suing Atlanta MayorKeisha Lance Bottoms over her issuance of such a mandate.

The continuation of Trump's involvement in coronavirus press briefings, which he has not participated in for months, comes as the virus continues to infected tens of thousands of Americans daily.

The virus has infected more than 66,550 people in the U.S., on average, over the past seven days, up more than 8% compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Cases are rising by at least 5% on average in 34 states and the District of Columbia, according to CNBC's analysis. And deaths, which lag behind diagnosis and hospitalization, have been steadily rising nationally in recent days, driven by a handful of hot-spot states.

"We're instead asking Americans to use masks, socially distance and employ vigorous hygiene. Wash your hands every chance you get, while sheltering high-risk populations," Trump said Tuesday. "We are imploring young Americans to avoid packed bars and other crowded indoor gatherings. Be safe and be smart."

Read more:

President Trump urges Americans to wear masks to contain the coronavirus outbreak - CNBC

To speed turnaround times, Dr. Collins said, health officials are pushing for more point-of-care testing on the spot tests designed to be done rapidly and easily, without the need for specialized laboratory equipment or personnel.

Some of these tests could be completed in a doctors office, or perhaps even at home, in under an hour. Simple, speedy tests could prove to be a boon for institutions and communities that care for large numbers of vulnerable people, such as nursing homes. They could also help health workers bring testing supplies to populations that have often been denied access to testing and reliable health care, including those marginalized by race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

A handful of point-of-care tests have been greenlighted for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration.

We need to invest a lot of money, and the government is willing to do so, in scaling those up, Dr. Collins said on Sunday. Thats the kind of thing that I personally, along with many others in other parts of the government, are working on night and day to try to do a better job of.

But Dr. Prosper pointed out that speed often comes at the price of accuracy an issue that has plagued some point-of-care tests in the past. Though rapid testing can still play a substantial role in mitigating the spread of the coronavirus, researchers will need to remain wary of these trade-offs, she said.

As testing efforts continue to ramp up, Dr. Martinez cautioned that the nation will need to maintain its vigilance for some time yet. The effects of social distancing are reversible, she said. If people give up on those strategies too soon, Its likely that we will observe a third or a fourth peak. And that could have big implications.

In an interview on Sunday with CBSs Face the Nation, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, reiterated the potentially devastating consequences of failing to rein in the virus, noting spikes in cases in states like California, Texas, Arizona and Florida. He warned that other states, like Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, could follow similar patterns.

Original post:

Testing Backlogs May Cloud the True Spread of the Coronavirus - The New York Times

Find developments on the coronavirus pandemic and the plan for recovery in the U.S. and Washington state.

Where cases stand in Washington:

Several high school sports, including football, will not take place this fall in Washington state.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association moved football, volleyball, girls soccer, and boys 1B/2B soccer to the spring.

The director of the association called it a "tough and unprecedented decision."

It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better," President Trump said about the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday.

He encouraged Americans to wear masks when social distancing is not possible, Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact."

The NFL Players Association says 95 players are known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.

That number is up from 72 in the unions last report on July 10.

On Monday, the NFLPA and the NFL reached agreement on COVID-19 testing as rookies begin reporting to training camps.

UW Medicine said a coronavirus vaccine its developing has shown promising results in mice and monkeys during pre-clinical studies.

The experimental vaccine induced a strong immune response after a single dose and immunity increased over time, Dr. Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology, said Monday.

Reported coronavirus cases vastly underestimate the true number of infections, U.S. government data published Tuesday suggest, echoing results from a smaller study last month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study says true COVID-19 rates were more than 10 times higher than reported cases in most U.S. regions from late March to early May.

The Kent School District has announced that schools will begin the 2020-21 school year with remote learning.

The district looked at data from a staff and family survey, as well as guidance from health officials and the districts Back to School Task Force in making the decision to start remotely for the upcoming school year.

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What you need to know about coronavirus Tuesday, July 21 - KING5.com

THE VILLAGES, Fla. For months, many of the residents at one of Americas biggest retirement communities went about their lives as if the coronavirus barely existed. They played bridge. They held dances. They went to house parties in souped-up golf carts that looked like miniature Jaguars and Rolls-Royces.

And for months they appeared to have avoided the worst of the pandemic. From March through mid-June, there were fewer than 100 cases in The Villages, a sprawling community in Central Florida where about 120,000 people mostly 55 and older live.

But now as cases spike across Florida, the virus appears to have caught up with the residents of The Villages.

Since the beginning of July, hospital admissions of residents from The Villages have quadrupled at University of Florida Health The Villages, the hospitals critical care doctors said. As of last week, the hospital admitted 29 Villages residents, all of them with the virus, said Dr. Anil Gogineni, a pulmonologist and critical care doctor there. That was up from the single digits three weeks before.

In Sumter County, the biggest of three counties where most of The Villages is concentrated, the number of cases ballooned from 68 in the first week of June to more than 270 last week, according to the countys Health Department.

The Villages is a sprawling palm-tree-lined complex so big it has three ZIP codes, 55 golf courses and multiple libraries and movie theaters, drawing affluent retirees from all over the country.

Now many residents are confronting their new reality. Its seeping in, no matter what, Rob Hannon, 64, said as he sipped a beer, adding that friends that would come down for years are saying, Were not going to go.

The golf course is still crowded, he said, as well as the hair salon where his wife, Michelle, 53, works. The women are still coming in but theyre a little more anxious, Rob Hannon said. You cant stop living. But you can stop being cavalier.

In an email to residents last week, Jeffrey Lowenkron, the chief medical officer of The Villages, said cases were increasing and urged them to take proactive steps to reduce the risk of disease transmission.

They should consider postponing participation in social events with more than 10 people, particularly those events held indoors, he wrote. The upward trend is accelerating.

That The Villages had initially seemed to escape the worst of the virus had been a point of pride for Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor, a Republican who has strong support from the community, brushed off concerns about the risks during a visit in April. There were articles written saying, Oh, The Villages is going to crash and burn, he said. They have like a 2% or 2.5% infection rate.

But when he returned early in July, the infection rate had jumped to 9%.

More than a third of the cases in the state, one of the worst hit in the nation, have been among people ages 15-34, particularly in big cities, according to the Florida Department of Health. There have been serious outbreaks since the beginning in jails, nursing homes and farms.

Now there are signs that the age of Floridians getting the virus is shifting. Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade Countys public hospital, said last week that 18% of its coronavirus patients were 80 or older. Two weeks before, that figure was 9%.

About 20% of Floridas population is 65 or older, the highest percentage in the nation alongside Maine, and that age group has made up half of its coronavirus hospitalizations and over 80% of deaths. As of Saturday, more than 45,000 of the states 350,000-plus cases are among that age group.

The rise in cases among older residents most likely stems from the spread of the virus by young people who are not taking preventive measures like wearing masks, said Dr. Madiha Syed, an infectious-disease specialist who works at University of Florida Health.

You see, they dont wear their masks, Syed sighed. What do you do?

But even as cases climb, doctors in The Villages say they are prepared for an increase in patients. The hospital has enough capacity and antiviral drugs, Gogineni said.

One area of concern, however, is the four nursing homes in the community, and a number of others on the outskirts that also cater to residents.

Early in the pandemic, DeSantis took an aggressive approach to nursing homes, and the states outbreaks were not as deadly as they were in places like New York. DeSantis banned visits to nursing homes, ordered them to not readmit residents unless they tested negative twice, and opened at least 14 coronavirus-only facilities.

That helped slow the spread, but now health officials are concerned that nursing homes will not be able to avoid a coming onslaught of cases.

Lady Lake Specialty Care, which sits just outside The Villages boundaries and cares for some of its residents, reported 47 cases last week, according to Greystone Healthcare Management.

In the latest effort by the Florida government, the Agency for Health Care Administration last week issued a pair of emergency rules mandating that every nursing home and assisted living facility in the state test staff members every two weeks. (The rules do not apply to long-term care facilities.)

DeSantis on Wednesday said that more than 120,000 staff members of nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been tested during the past week, about 2.8% of whom were positive. We are actually happy with that, he said. Still, he played down a recent outbreak at an unnamed long-term care facility in north-central Florida where 50 staff members had tested positive.

Even with the spike, many residents at The Villages say they are conflicted about the virus and what to do now.

Some steps have been taken to help slow infections. Crowds around the faux Spanish colonial buildings and fountains are smaller, theaters are closed and the bands have stopped playing.

Yet, residents still congregate every day without wearing masks. They turn up the volume on a radio and dance in the squares. They crowd bars where songs by Elvis Presley and Bobby Sherman play. There are picnics and water aerobics classes.

Jim Lomonaco, 67, a former law enforcement official, shrugged off the latest headlines.

Im not pushing my luck but Im not overly concerned. If its here, its here by now we dont have walls, he said on a recent day. Bursts of loud laughing were heard from other retirees clustered around tables at a nearby restaurant. A few feet away, dozens of others were practicing a dance.

Don Phillippi and his partner, Flo Collins, both 79, sat watching in their golf cart, which many in The Villages call a golf car.

Collins, a retired nurse, said the couple wore masks when grocery shopping, and mostly stayed indoors playing card games. Im a nurse, so I know, she said.

The only time they socialize is when they celebrate a birthday with friends at a restaurant. But well have a private room, Phillippi insisted. And we take the temperature and all that kind of stuff. To make sure everybody is OK.

Even if they have had the virus, most Villages residents are reluctant to talk about it.

One resident declined to be interviewed because he was embarrassed after getting infected at a party.

People are being very secretive, said Neil Craver, 66, who said he got the virus two weeks ago. Its like the plague and they dont want to let anybody else know that theyre sick.

Residents say they have not received any directions about informing the management if they get sick.

About two-thirds of the residents are Republicans, according to local party chairs, and like elsewhere, some precautions are drawn politically.

You can tell who is a Democrat, who is a Republican by their masks, said Chris Stanley, the leader of The Villages Democratic Club.

It makes no sense to me that there is some sort of a magical umbrella keeping the virus at bay, particularly because people are having parties around, with houses that have six, five golf cars parked out front, she said.

Amy Rose, a Villages resident, lost her husband, Chad, a lab technician at one of The Villages hospitals, to what she believes was the coronavirus. His death, however, was recorded as a heart attack.

She and her husband both had coronaviruslike symptoms in January after visiting Disney World when the virus raised little concern in the United States. In April, Rose, 47, who had a heart condition, suddenly collapsed after exercising.

Roses cardiologist told her the coronavirus had likely contributed to his heart attack by narrowing the arteries. They said that because he had that history of a heart attack they didnt do the autopsy. They just declared it.

His death was very violent, she said, breaking down in tears. It was awful.

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The Villages in Florida and the coronavirus - Boston.com

Seventy-four Long Island residents testedfor COVID-19 over a five-day period earlier this month received false positive results, according to Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Sunrise Medical Laboratories in Hicksville said in a statement that the isolated incident does not impact any patients who received a negative result during that time or testing performed at any other time or by any other facility.

The impacted patients were tested between July 9 and July 14, according to the lab, which added that about 1.5% of patients tested in that period were affected. Sunrise did not saywhich doctors or urgent care centers usetheir labs. It added that there was a "possible COVID-19 specimen contamination issue."

Corrected reports were issued to providers caring for all affected patients on July 16 and 17, 2020, the lab said in a statement. After extensive consultation with the New York State Department of Health [NYSDOH], and out of an abundance of caution, we are offering retesting to all patients receiving the corrected report at no charge. We are currently working with providers to reach out to the affected patients and complete the retesting as soon as feasible.

Suffolk County said about 68 residents were affected. Suffolk, for now, is still treating the cases as positive.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the [Department of Health] will still treat them as positive cases until the 14-day window to become symptomatic concludes or they test negative," Derek Poppe, a spokesman for County Executive Steve Bellone, wrote in an email. "Our contact tracers will still follow up with them daily to check in."

Nassau County spokesman Michael Fricchione said the county's department of health is aware of the six residents notified of receiving false positive test results from the private laboratory, and is in contact with these residents."

There have been other reports nationwide of testing errors. For example, the Connecticut Department of Public Health said Monday that the state laboratory found mistakes in the testing system that led to 90 false positives. Connecticut said many of the false positives were for nursing home residents.

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Over the weekend, Vermont officials said at least 30 patients also received false positive results.

Dr. Dwayne Breining, executive director of Northwell Health Labs, said false positives become a risk asmore asymptomatic people are tested for COVID-19.

"Molecular testing is so sensitive," Breining said. "We've had a very small number of false positives as well. I can probably count them on one hand, but when it happens, we retest, and ask the person to isolate while we retest them and investigate."

Breining added that a vast majority of the test resultsare accurate.

But COVID-19 tests are not perfect, in part, because the virus itself is new, said Alvin Tran, professor of public health at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut.

"There is no gold standard diagnostic test yet," Tran said. "But news like this shouldn't deter anyone from being tested, especially if they have symptoms."

Howard Austin, 56, of Smithtownsaid he was among those who received false positives from Sunrise,and was then asked by state contact tracers to quarantine until he got a follow-up message that was confounding.

I received a call from Sunrise saying that I was actually negative, Austin said. I was stunned. I went a full week thinking I was positive.

Austin said his daughter was also tested, but her test came back negative. Austin added that his patient portal has been updated to reflect he tested negative for COVID-19.

David Reich-Hale reports on the business of health care, banking and other topics. He joined Newsday in 2014. He has also worked at American Banker and the New Haven Register. He is from Trumbull, Connecticut.

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Dozens tested on Long Island for COVID-19 got false positives - Newsday

Since officials announced Georgia's first confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 2, the state has drawn national attention over the coronavirus pandemic. It was one of the first states in the country to begin reopening its economy, and has since joined others in pausing its phased approach amid rising numbers of new cases and hospitalizations.

Most recently, its Republican governor, Brian Kemp, has become engaged in a legal dispute with the mayor of Atlanta over mask mandates, which more states and cities have been issuing as coronavirus cases rise.

As of Monday, Georgia had 145,575 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,176 deaths, according to state data. Hospitalizations have also steadily increased since mid-June. The state reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with 4,689.

Here's a look at some of the key moments in Kemp's handling of the coronavirus pandemic so far.

With COVID-19 spreading around the globe, including in the United States, Kemp announces the creation of a coronavirus task force to assess the state's preparedness in addressing the virus.

In a late-night press conference, Kemp announces Georgia's first cases of COVID-19, involving two residents of Fulton County in the same household, one of whom had recently returned from Italy. The state health department later determines that Georgia had cases as early as Feb. 1.

Governor Brian Kemp holds a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, July 17, 2020.

The governor directs state agencies to implement teleworking policies and suspend nonessential travel for most state employees. The same day, the state reports its first death from COVID-19 -- a 63-year-old man who had underlying medical conditions. Later, the health department updates its data to report that the first death was on March 5.

With 64 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, Kemp declares a public health state of emergency. He also authorizes up to 2,000 National Guard troops to assist in the emergency response.

Kemp signs an executive order closing all elementary, secondary and post-secondary public schools from March 18 to March 31.

Per federal and state health officials, Kemp urges that the state start prioritizing COVID-19 tests "for our most vulnerable populations," first responders and healthcare workers, in an effort to conserve hard-to-find medical supplies.

People stand in line to get tested for COVID-19 at a free walk-up testing site on July 11, 2020, in Atlanta.

An executive order goes into effect closing all bars and nightclubs, banning gatherings of 10 or more people unless social distancing is in place, and requiring at-risk populations to shelter in place for two weeks.

Schools are closed through the end of the school year. At a coronavirus press briefing, Kemp draws ridicule after saying that he only recently became aware that asymptomatic people could spread the virus.

A statewide shelter-in-place order goes into effect, issued as the state reports more than 4,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Kemp signs executive orders extending Georgia's public health state of emergency through May 13 and activating 1,000 more National Guard troops. He also extends the statewide shelter-in-place order through the end of the month.

The state expands testing criteria to include symptomatic critical infrastructure workers and asymptomatic people who have had direct contact with positive COVID-19 patients. In a statement, Kemp says, "Our testing numbers in Georgia continue to lag."

The governor also signs an order suspending enforcement of Georgia's anti-mask statute "so people can follow the guidance of public health officials without fear of prosecution," Kemp says, adding, "I want to thank Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for raising awareness about this issue."

Kemp announces the completion of a 200-bed alternate care facility at the Georgia World Congress Center to provide treatment to non-critical COVID-19 patients.

In the wake of new reopening guidelines released by the White House, Kemp announces that he will let his shelter-in-place order expire on April 30 and allow some nonessential businesses to reopen, starting with gyms, bowling alleys, hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other similar businesses on April 24 and restaurant dine-in service on April 27. The move draws criticism, including from President Donald Trump, who says, "I think it's too soon."

In this April 24, 2020, file photo, barber Tommy Thomas gives his long-time customer Fred Bentley a haircut after the Georgia governor allowed a select number of businesses to open during the COVID-19 restrictions in Atlanta.

On the day the statewide shelter-in-place order expires, Kemp extends the public health state of emergency through June 12 "to continue enhanced testing across Georgia, ramp up contact tracing, and maintain effective emergency response operations in every region." Vulnerable populations are also ordered to continue to shelter in place through June 12.

The governor renews the state of emergency for a third time, through July 12. On the same day, he loosens public gathering restrictions up to 25 people and announces more reopenings, including bars and nightclubs starting June 1 and amusement parks and water parks starting June 12.

Kemp rolls out more reopenings, including live performance venues starting July 1, and increases limitations on gatherings to up to 50 people with social distancing in place.

Kemp extends the public health emergency through Aug. 11 as the state "has seen an increase in new cases reported and current hospitalizations." An ABC News analysis finds that Georgia has recently seen record numbers of new cases.

The governor announces he is reactivating the Georgia World Congress Center, which had discharged its last patient in late May. That day, the state reports a record number of new coronavirus cases, with 4,484.

Three days after Bottoms announces that Atlanta is reverting to "Phase One" due to rising cases in the city, Kemp releases a statement that the action is "non-binding and legally unenforceable" and asks residents to follow his orders.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms appears on "Good Morning America," July 7, 2020.

Kemp voids at least 15 local mask mandates, including those in in Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah and Rome, instead encouraging voluntary mask wearing in the state.

Kemp sues the city of Atlanta over its requirement to wear masks in public. "Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief executive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public," the lawsuit states.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

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From reopenings to masks, how Georgia Gov. Kemp has handled the coronavirus pandemic - ABC News

michael barbaro

Hey, there. Its Michael.

This week, were revisiting people we met in the early weeks of the pandemic, listening back and hearing whats happened to them since our original conversations.

Today: Tilly Breimhorst.

Its Friday, July 17.

(SINGING) I am recording and it is working. Hey, Tilly?

Hi.

Hey, how are you?

Im doing OK.

Tilly, what is that in your hand? It looks like a blanket or a stuffed animal.

Its a blanket.

Oh, what does it say on it?

It says powered by pizza.

And does it look like it has an image of pepperoni pizza on it? Is that Im glimpsing?

Yeah, pepperoni.

Thats pretty great. Well, Tilly, I really want to thank you for getting on the phone with us, or I guess this Google Hangout with us. And I wonder if you could tell me your full name and how old you are?

Matilda Rose Breimhorst, and then I am 12.

Mm-hm. And I just want to start with a very simple question: How have you been feeling this past week?

Um, Im kind of in and out of moods usually. The two moods that Im mostly in are sad and angry.

And why do you think that youre sad and angry? What about?

I dont know were I feel like were sad and angry because I think angry more that its not fair that hes gone. And I feel like sad is really were sad that hes gone and sad that were being sad.

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.

More than 50,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus. One of them was Craig Breimhorst.

Today, his granddaughter remembers him.

Its Friday, May 1.

I wonder if you could tell me a little bit about your grandfather. How would you describe your grandfather physically? What did he look like? What would he wear, those kind of things?

Um, well, hed wear pastor clothes and stuff.

Was he a pastor?

Yes, he was a pastor. He used to be a mail man, and then he didnt like that job.

Mm.

And he had white hair, and then the mustache that goes right into the beard.

Mm-hm.

And when I was little, I played with his beard because it just felt so interesting touching it with my hands.

What do you mean?

It felt all rough and scrapey, but like not too scrapey.

Hed wear glasses, and sometimes I stole his glasses. And he was like, Tilly, bring them back! And, like, whenever I walked into the house, hed just be like, Hoddy ho! I dont know where that came from, but it was just its always something he said.

Hoddy ho?

Hoddy ho.

Its more interesting than hello.

Yeah.

Did he have any kind of nickname for you?

Tilly B was my one.

Tilly B?

Yeah, cause for Breimhorst. They just called me Tilly B and and it kind of just rhymes.

Wait, what part? Which part rhymes?

Tilly, and then B. Its just kind of, like, it just goes together.

Hm.

Tilly B.

Tilly B.

Yeah.

And then hed always make me happy. Id never, like, really get upset around him, unless I was hurt.

Unless you were hurt, you said.

Yeah, because we did all sorts of crazy things.

Wait, now, I need to understand some of the crazy things you did with him.

Um, well, hed take me out on the roof. Once we brought sleeping bags on the roof.

The roof of your house?

No, my grandpas house, but we didnt tell my dad about it until afterwards.

Wow. It sounds like he has a slightly mischievous quality to him.

Yeah.

Can you tell me about that? What was that like?

Well, it would usually be like the middle of summer. And we would grab the stepladder, and open the window, pull up the screen, climb up onto the edge of the roof up to our special spot.

Just laid there on the roof. And we just looked at the stars and talked for a while.

What kinds of things would your grandfather say?

Um, Here, Tilly, lets look for the Big Dipper, maybe the Milky Way if were lucky, and Mars. I might be like, Wait, but isnt Mars a planet, not a star? He would just be like, But we can see it as a red star kind of.

Mm-hm.

The stars were really bright and it was really warm outside, and it was beautiful.

How often would you see your grandfather?

We wouldnt see him, like, every single weekend, but, like, wed see him a lot. Hed, like, come to my school and hed sit in the lunchroom with me.

Wow. He would just show up? Did he announce himself? Was it unexpected?

He would never tell me that he was coming. And hed just be waiting for me right next to the lunchroom door, just waiting for me. And then Id just look around for him every time.

Mm-hm.

Hed sit right next to me. And Id have my lunchbox and hed kind of just pick out things from it. Sometimes, hed take my chips, and Id be like, Papa! Hed talk to my friends. Hed talk about, like, all these fun things, like all his stories about, like, going to Tanzania and all sorts of things.

And what would you think when you saw him?

Um, I think Id be proud. Id be proud that my grandpa comes to my school a lot to just eat lunch with me and tell my friends all these stories.

Mm-hm.

He was just there right when I needed it, which made me feel really nice.

Yeah, I dont know a lot of grandpas or grandmas whod do that. Thats really special.

Yeah.

So I want you to tell me, if youre willing, the story of the last few weeks and what happened with your grandfather.

Yeah.

And I wonder I dont know where you think we should start.

Uh, I think we should, like, start from the beginning.

Um, so papa and my grandma went to the holy lands. He wanted to take his church group there.

So they went to the Middle East?

Yeah, where baby Jesus was born and like thats sort of the place. And then they got this warning there, an outbreak has started here of the coronavirus. And so when they came back, they were straight into quarantine. But right when they came back, papa started getting really ill. He had high fever, a really high fever. And in my mind, the first week he was home, I was like, Oh, hes fine. Hell get through this. Hes strong. But then he got worse and worse. And I was like, Oh, no, its going to happen. I was just kind of in a worried state, but like not like a oh, my gosh, Im really, really sad, that sort of thing, until a couple weeks later. He just couldnt do it and he got lifted to the hospital here.

And Tilly, were you talking to him during this time?

No, I didnt get to talk to him at all. I mean, we sent him, like, letters, but I dont know if he even got to read those.

I remember so when I heard about that he was put in the hospital cause it got worse, mom was like, do you want to sleep with one of his shirts? I was like, yeah. So she brought me this shirt. It was just like a greenish-brown T-shirt.

Were you wearing it or was it just beside you?

I was wearing it. It felt really, really big on me. Um, it was kind of like cold, but it felt really soothing to wear it though.

I wanted to feel like I was close to him, I was giving him a hug. And I thought about him the whole night. I prayed that he would make it through, that he wouldnt have to go.

But my prayer really didnt come true because he had a stroke during the night from a heart disease that he had.

Mm.

And that made it super worse. Even if we did get him back, he wouldnt actually, like, his body would be there, but he wouldnt be there. He couldnt do anything, like he couldnt talk he couldnt do the things that made him him.

Mm-hm. And how did you learn the news?

Mom got a call, and then I looked at her and I saw worry. So I kind of just did stuff. And then mommy told me what happened.

And what did she tell you?

She told me about the living will that my grandma, my dad, and my uncles read it well, the doctor read it to them that it said that if something happened, he wanted to go. He didnt want to, like, have to suffer in this state.

So your grandfather had written a will that made clear that if he got very sick and hed reached a condition where things werent working out, that he wanted to be allowed to die?

Yeah. And he just wanted to go to heaven and be with God. Like he says, he wanted to fall in the arms of God.

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U.S. Reports More Than 70,000 New Coronavirus Cases for the Second Time - The New York Times

Europe already stands accused of letting Italy down at its moment of greatest needwhen hospitals were overwhelmed and Rome asked for supplies and aid, European nations initially looked the other way, before eventually offering support. That may have already been too late, coloring Italians views of their neighbors. With the bailout package, the EU was again divided. The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland had been wary of endorsing the plan out of a historic reluctance to send money to what they see as the profligate countries of the South. (Never mind that Italy didnt bring the virus upon itself, and that the countries in the euro zone are deeply interconnected.)

Within Italy, too, there is intense political debate about the funds. The countrys coalition government is supportive of the plan, but the right-wing opposition League party has been critical, saying the support would come with too many strings attached.

Yet beyond the political squabbles, whether in Rome or other European capitals, lies a greater challenge: To make effective use of the EU funds, Italy needs political vision, something it has singularly lacked for decades. Following the introduction of the euro in 2002, Silvio Berlusconi dominated the political landscape. The former prime ministers cult of personality and sex scandals took center stage, rivals were united only in opposition to him, and Italy lost years to mismanagement of its economy. Berlusconi left power at the height of the European debt crisis, in 2011, but the countrys economy never fully recovered.

Read: Berlusconi was Trump before Trump

The EU plan recommends that countries spend the funding on long-term investments like green technology and digital infrastructure, areas in which Italy lags. This poses difficult questions. When does the present become the future? When youve rallied to put out a fire like the coronavirus, how do you begin to rebuild? If the future isnt the same as the past, how can we live if we only exist in the present, without planning, hope, or imagination? the columnist Ezio Mauro recently wrote in La Repubblica, a center-left daily. A shrinking middle class and networks of local interest groups, Mauro continued, can easily trap weak political leadership into placating them, rather than articulating a plan to transform the country.

Italys largest political parties are more and more disconnected from the European mainstream, with none presenting a far-reaching vision of what a modern Italy could look like. The governing Five Star Movement, a contradictory collection of environmentalism and right- and left-wing policies, is the largest party in Parliament, but it trails in the polls. Its coalition partner, the center-left Democratic Party, has been treading water for years and, unlike other aging movements, such as those in France, lacks a Macron-like figure who can reinvent it. Neither is as popular as the League, led by Matteo Salvini, who has ridden a nationalist, anti-immigrant message and savvy use of social media to the top of the polls.

I used to say that Italy was a great laboratory for political ideas, the Silicon Valley of populism, and that there were lessons to learn from Italy that could spread, Giuliano da Empoli, an erstwhile adviser to former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, told me. Now its no longer a laboratory; its a loose cannon.

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The Coronavirus Exposed the Wests Weakest Link - The Atlantic