Past crises spurred international cooperation. Now each country is going it alone.

The coronavirus pandemic is a global crisis tailor-made for a global response. The virus knows no borders and kills without discrimination. It has halted daily life and devastated economies. The threat it poses is immediate and lethal. Traditionally, a catastrophe like this — something that touches everyone — triggers an ordering moment in international politics. Nations should be aligning their efforts to develop a vaccine, contain the disease, produce and allocate medical equipment, and stabilize the global economy. They should be strengthening the World Health Organization (WHO). But nothing of the sort is happening. Countries are competing for, and hoarding, medical equipment as they engage in a biotech arms race to find a vaccine. They are closing their borders and scapegoating foreigners. The United States is treating the WHO like a punching bag. To raise money for vaccine development, the European Union recently hosted a video gathering of leaders at which German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others pleaded for a coordinated global response. But the United States, Russia and India all passed on the meeting, and China’s low-level representative pledged no funds. Why is a global health emergency that should result in global solidarity producing such disarray? A look back at previous instances of cooperative ordering provides the answer. In modern times, there have been four such moments: the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the end of World War I in 1919 (which followed the previous year’s flu pandemic and encompassed efforts to advance public health), the end of World War II in 1945 and the end of the Cold War in 1989. These were eras of geopolitical upheaval, not health emergencies. But in their comparably ruinous effects, they offer the best insight into what should be happening now — and why it isn’t. All told, the prospective deaths and economic damage caused by the coronavirus may equal the costs of the world wars. The first one took the lives of some 115,000 Americans, a number likely to be surpassed by the pandemic’s toll. Armed conflicts disrupt trade and destroy assets, but they also ramp up economic activity to support the war effort. This pandemic shuts everything down. Even amid the Nazi Blitz, Londoners went about their daily routines, scurrying to bomb shelters only when the sirens sounded. Today, Londoners are sheltering around the clock. And the pandemic, like war, dominates public discourse and concentrates the mind. Around


Honor how those felled by the virus lived, not just how they died

A moment’s silence, please, for Krist Angielen Guzman, 35, a nurse in Chicago who vowed to “kick covid’s butt.” Her maternity leave — third child — ended about the same time that the enemy reached her city. When the president declared a national emergency, she armored up in goggles, gown and face mask. During a pause in the fighting, she posted a message from the front, #PrayingForMyPatients. The pandemic virus killed her on May 2. A few flowers for the grave of Celia Yap-Banago, please. At 69, approaching her retirement date at a hospital in Kansas City, she feared that her workplace had become unsafe in the nation’s scramble to meet the foe. She plunged in anyway, eager to help, because that is what nurses do. The pandemic virus killed her on April 21. A mournful bugle, please, for Lorna Breen, 49, an emergency room doctor in New York City — “truly in the trenches of the front line,” as her father put it. Breen continued her 12-hour days of combat until the virus was teeming through her own body. Then she took her own life, another casualty of the war, on April 26. [Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic] “She said it was like Armageddon,” Breen’s sister recalled. “She said, ‘There are so many sick people everywhere.’ ” Her father said, “Make sure she’s praised as a hero, because she was.” One of many. On the Christian calendar, the day of the dead, All Saints’ Day, comes in the darkening of the year, when the harvest is in, the fields lie broken and dreary winter starts up the lane. We hear the rustling of ghosts in the fallen leaves skittering behind the last children of Halloween. We feel the chill breath of shortening days. On America’s official calendar, the day of the dead, Memorial Day, comes with the full flood of springtime, when the seed of the world so thickens the air that eyes sting and noses run, Nature’s lust for life bursts out in every bud and flower; the grass is greener, the sky is bluer. What a marvelous notion. A commemoration of lives lost — at the moment when every fiber and filament is saturated with new beginnings. Some people are scandalized by the way we mark Memorial Day. Appalled by the lack of solemnity, by the barbecues and baseball games, the beer drinking and suntanning, the


An American pilot was devoted to serving people in remote Indonesian villages. She died trying to bring them covid-19 tests.

that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and I would be a blessing somehow, to somebody, that day.” After nearly a decade of training, Lin arrived in Indonesia for language school in 2018 before beginning the humanitarian flights in Papua last year. She was part of an elite group of pilots selected by Mission Aviation Fellowship to deliver essential life-sustaining goods to some of the most far-flung and impoverished villages in the world, which are often inaccessible by car. Lately, for MAF, that has meant delivering covid-19 test kits, fever- and cough-relief medicines, and personal protective equipment to villages where an outbreak would be insurmountable. In some cases, they deliver basic public health information, as some indigenous groups in Papua, without Internet or even electricity, were not even aware of the covid-19 threat, her colleagues told The Post. In the weeks before she died, Lin had also spearheaded an effort to purchase hundreds of boxes of hand soap for delivery — another luxury not often found in some Papuan villages, her colleagues said. “You look at the folks there and your heart moves with compassion,” Joel Geaslen, an MAF pilot with Lin, told The Post. “You see how much they don’t have, or the ways they live, and you think, how can I be a blessing to these folks? That’s part of what moved Joyce. She saw the needs of others and she wanted to help them.” Lin made a point to get to know the people in the villages she visited, said Brock Larson, an MAF colleague. They would typically line the runway, awaiting the airplane’s arrival like it was the event of the month, and Lin would shake hands with all of them. She had a way with Indonesian neighbors too, befriending them quickly while silently fulfilling their distinct needs, whether it was finding a doctor or helping to fix a roof. “But she would never tell anyone about it,” Christy Geaslen recalled. “The only time I would hear about what she did was from the neighbors. She was so good about just loving people,” she said. Lin had just been certified to fly solo in Papua in March, a major achievement after so many years of preparation, including attaining a commercial pilot’s license and instrument rating. In a moment recalled by Reynolds during his tribute, Lin shared the milestone with her friends in an email,


What do bikes and toilet paper have in common? Both are flying out of stores amid the coronavirus pandemic.

the bikes and I felt free,” she said of her early days in quarantine. “It was like some sense of normalcy had returned to our lives.” Hewitt and her two children, ages 7 and 10, have quickly grown addicted to the new bicycles the family purchased from a local store in late March. Four times a week, the three of them strap on their helmets, mount their bicycles and meet with cousins down the block. The “bike gang of six,” as they now call themselves, then rides a mile to wave to their grandparents. “My parents get a kick out of it when all of us pull up in our bikes,” Hewitt said. “It has allowed us to make extended family time a part of our weekly routine.” Hewitt snagged the bicycles early in the pandemic, but many are now struggling to find an affordable bicycle available for purchase. Bicycle sales nationwide surged by 50 percent in March, according to the NPD Group, a market research company. It reported a 121 percent increase in adult leisure-bike sales and a 59 percent uptick in children’s bike sales compared with the same time last year. Industry names such as Trek Bikes are sold out of some lower-priced models, and businesses with inventory left are seeing it quickly dry up. Jamis Bicycles, a midsize brand that sells equipment to 600 independent bicycle dealers nationwide, shipped as many bicycles in April as it did in the three months prior. The company says it is on track to eclipse that total in May. “We do still have inventory, but it is dwindling quickly,” said Dave Rosen, marketing and creative director at Jamis. Spring typically marks the busiest time of year for the bicycle industry, and many sellers were behind schedule before orders started pouring in mid-March. Countries across Asia, where most bicycle parts are produced and assembled, were part of the earlier wave of coronavirus shutdowns. The shutdowns, combined with the Lunar New Year, stalled deliveries for about a month in February, according to Rosen and other manufacturers. Industry experts warn that low-priced and children’s bicycles will become more difficult to find until the next production cycle wraps up in late July. Meanwhile, longtime cyclists are hoping the unexpected bike boom results in lasting changes to city infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes and regional networks of trails that allow for safe commutes. Last month,


A teacher barely knew her student’s parents. But she took in their newborn while they had covid-19.

Elementary school teacher Luciana Lira would often get calls from her students and their parents when they had questions about assignments in her class, English as a second language, especially since her Stamford, Conn., school moved online. But the call on March 31 was different. It was from a student’s mother, whom she had met only a few times at parent-teacher conferences. “Miss Lira, my name is Zully — I’m Junior’s mom,” the woman told her in Spanish, gasping between breaths, Lira recalled. “I need your help. Please call my husband and help him and my son. I’m at the hospital, and I’m going to have an emergency C-section.” Zully said that she was about to give birth to her second child but that she had covid-19 and was in respiratory distress. She and her family had recently moved to the United States from Guatemala. Lira called Zully’s husband, Marvin, and he gave permission for her to communicate with medical staff and act as the go-between for the family. Zully and Marvin asked that their last names not be published for privacy reasons. Doctors monitored Zully for two days, then delivered her baby, Neysel, five weeks early. The infant, who weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces, was sent to the newborn intensive care unit for observation, while Zully was put on a ventilator and remained in a coma for more than three weeks. “They didn’t think she was going to make it,” said Lira, 42. And the news worsened from there. Junior, 7, and his stepfather needed to be tested for the coronavirus. If positive, they could quarantine at home, but there was not a plan for what would happen to Neysel. Lira had been in contact with the hospital monitoring the situation. She decided there was only one option, and called Marvin. “I know that you don't know me, and I don't know you,” she recalled telling him. “But if you want, I can take the baby with me until after you are tested. Then you can come and get your son from me." Marvin sobbed and agreed to her proposal. “I'm going to trust you,” he told her. So on April 7, with Zully intubated in intensive care, and Marvin and Junior isolated at home, Lira bought a car seat, bassinet, diapers and formula at a local Target store, then drove to Stamford Hospital to bring home a newborn


An ER nurse survived covid-19 at her own hospital. Now she wants to get back to treating coronavirus patients.

Mass., Buonopane vowed to not only return to work soon but to treat coronavirus patients once she was cleared for duty. “When I get better, I am going back to my job,” she told the Boston Globe. Speaking to reporters Thursday, she added, “When I get back to work, I’m going to make sure I take care of everyone the same way.” The scene was the latest public display of gratitude from health-care workers to patients who have survived the virus, which has killed nearly 50,000 people in the United States. It was also a reminder of the real danger that staffers face every day while on the front lines against the pandemic. Since the start of the outbreak, the number of American health-care workers with covid-19 has shot upward. An analysis released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 9,000 health-care workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, The Washington Post’s Ariana Eunjung Cha reported. The analysis found that most of those infected were workers who are white, female and in their 40s. Boston has become a hot spot for infections; Vice President Pence recently said the White House was closely watching the Boston area. On Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the state was “right in the middle of the surge.” As of early Friday, the state had more than 46,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,360 deaths. It remains unclear where or how Buonopane came down with the virus. She said she initially did not wear a mask while treating patients but eventually wore a mask and personal protective equipment, according to the Globe. As more Brigham and Women’s employees have been infected in recent weeks, the hospital has adjusted its safety measures to help curb the rate of infection. As WBUR reported, new infections among Brigham and Women’s health-care staffers have dropped since it was mandated on March 25 that they wear masks, going from around 12 or 14 a day to about eight. Michael Klompas, the hospital’s epidemiologist, told the outlet that the rate of new infections among employees dipped to about six a day once patients were also directed to wear masks on April 6. Buonopane’s covid-19 story started with chills and a runny nose in the first week of April, according to NBC Boston. The symptoms soon intensified in the form of a 102-degree fever


Nonprofit, university help D.C. fire department manufacture critical medical part to help covid-19 patients

The D.C. fire department has partnered with a university and a regional nonprofit organization to manufacture parts needed for breathing machines that paramedics use for patients in respiratory distress, including those showing signs of covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Nova Labs, a nonprofit organization based in Reston, Va., that provides space and resources to inventors and tinkerers, and George Washington University have teamed up to build adapters needed to attach filters to the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines used in ambulances. Filters are needed on the machines to protect first responders as they care for patients who have contracted the novel coronavirus and spread it as they exhale. The D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said a worldwide demand has made the adapters difficult to find. Nova Labs is building the adapters with the help of George Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine Training Center. About 1,700 have been delivered. Karen Shumway, a board member of Nova Labs, said the partnership came about when Deputy Fire Chief Sean Brooks mentioned the problem to a neighbor, who had a connection with the nonprofit group. “We’re a community-based organization whose mission is to discover the joy of making things,” Shumway said at a news conference at a fire station in Foggy Bottom. “Now, we’re making things to help the fire department.” Paramedics and emergency medical technicians typically use a variant of a CPAP machine used by many people diagnosed with sleep apnea. The machines use a mask to send an increased concentration of oxygen into the lungs while people sleep, opening up airways and preventing air sacs in the lungs from collapsing. “CPAP has been shown to be lifesaving when used by EMS and in the hospital,” the fire department said in a statement. Many covid-19 patients have trouble breathing as the infection attacks the air sacs in the lungs, causing pneumonia that the fire department said “can rapidly progress to life-threatening respiratory failure and even death if not treated quickly.” The problem with using CPAP machines on covid-19 patients is that the machines emit air as people exhale, which the fire department said “aerosolizes the coronavirus into the atmosphere,” exposing first responders to the virus. The fire department needed adapters to attach viral filters to use the CPAP machines under these new conditions. A spokesman for the fire department said the new adapters have been used


The Path Forward: Travel

Air travel is down 95 percent from a year ago, and major airlines are busy blocking middle seats and adopting new measures to make travelers feel at ease. JetBlue was the first airline to require passengers to wear face masks. CEO Robin Hayes joined Washington Post senior writer Frances Stead Sellers to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the airline industry and the precautions airlines are taking to keep passengers safe.


Airborne or Not? The Evidence on Virus Transmission

who deal with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients are directed to wear face masks, specifically the more protective type known as respirators, and dispose of them carefully. Numerous health authorities across the world recommend members of the public cover their faces when out in public. Where medical masks are in short supply, many suggest that ordinary people use home-made versions. Fecal-to-Oral Another possible route of transmission arises when infected people improperly wash their hands after using the toilet, and then touch surfaces that others come in contact with. Some patients have been found to have live virus particles in their stool. The WHO has said that the fecal-to-oral route does not appear to be a significant pathway for the novel coronavirus. To the extent it is a means of transmission, sanitizing bathrooms, food-preparation and serving areas could help slow the virus, in addition to regular hand-washing. Food and Water They may be a source of infection if contaminated by a carrier’s respiratory secretions or feces. The virus was found to have spread readily among food service workers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where about one in five people became infected while it was quarantined off Yokohama, Japan. Chinese health officials recommended strengthened sanitation and hygiene measures in epidemic areas. These include drinking boiled water, avoiding eating raw food, washing hands frequently, disinfecting toilets and preventing water and food from being contaminated by patients. According to U.S. officials, the coronavirus has not been detected in municipal drinking water supplies. Conventional treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection should remove or inactivate the virus. Mother-to-Child After the infection appeared in babies born to mothers with the disease in China, the possibility was raised that the virus could be passed in utero. Subsequent studies reached different conclusions. One looked at nine infected women who gave birth to uninfected babies. No virus was detected in amniotic fluid, cord blood, the babies’ throats or in breast milk, suggesting that transmission from mother to child occurs through respiratory droplets. However, doctors in China reported on the case of a mother with Covid-19 whose baby had elevated antibody levels two hours after birth. That suggests the baby was infected in utero, since the antibodies aren’t transferred to the fetus via the placenta and usually don’t appear until three to seven days after infection. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2020 Bloomberg L.P.


Nursing homes turn to temporary aides to fight virus

for an extreme situation. Covid-19 has sickened and killed thousands of residents and some staff, leaving some nursing homes with skeleton crews. And more staffers are needed for the coronavirus’s new precautions. Workers deliver meals to residents in their rooms to avoid spreading the virus in dining halls. They check vital signs several times a day, and they help increasingly isolated residents chat with their loved ones online. Many homes say they hope to beef up their staff in case another outbreak sidelines them. “The fact of the matter is, this is not a normal virus,” said Robyn Stone, senior vice president at LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit nursing homes and other providers, and unveiled its own free nine-hour online training class in mid-May. “This is not a normal infection control effort. This is a much more intensive effort that requires a lot more staff.” The American Health Care Association offers a “compacted” version of a typical training that “prioritizes those care areas that are most critical right now,” Harmon said. Using videos and written materials, the online class covers a nurse’s aide’s typical duties, such as feeding and bathing residents, cleaning dentures, shaving and clipping nails, dressing and undressing, infection control and prevention, moving residents from the bed to a chair or other locations, taking them to the bathroom and caring for the dying. The course also teaches aides to properly wash their hands to prevent infections and address emergencies such as choking. Applicants must answer 40 of 50 questions correctly to pass the final assessment, a score of 80 percent. “You’re getting basically a crash course in all the classroom training, and then the burden falls on the RN to really follow up with the competencies,” said Jan Siegal, the director of quality, clinical and regulatory services at the Health Care Association of New Jersey. AHCA says on its website that the course is “permitted under special waivers, exceptions, or flexibilities” in Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia. The course is also being used in Washington D.C., Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, but the association said additional training may be required. Oklahoma offers a 16-hour course for temporary aides. In New Jersey, where approximately half of the covid-19 deaths are associated with long-term care facilities, a state health-care association estimated that a third of


Montgomery, Prince George’s will take steps to reopen June 1; more than 96,000 jobless claims filed last week in region

The number of known coronavirus cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia was 99,602 on Thursday, with 49,709 cases in Maryland, 41,401 in Virginia and 8,492 in the District. The number of virus-related deaths reached 2,428 in Maryland, 1,338 in Virginia and 453 in the District, for a total of 4,219 fatalities. Here are some of the most significant recent developments as the region responds to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19: • Montgomery County will begin to loosen restrictions at 6 a.m. Monday, county leaders announced Thursday. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) moved much of the state into the first phase of reopening on May 15, but Montgomery had opted out because of the heavy concentration of infections in the region. • Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) said key metrics tied to the coronavirus are trending down, allowing the county to move forward with a gradual reopening on June 1. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties kept restrictions after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) moved the state into the first phase of recovery two weeks ago. • The District, Maryland and Virginia on Thursday reported more than 2,500 new cases of the coronavirus, as well as 101 additional deaths. The number of deaths is the highest recorded in Virginia in a single day — the second-consecutive day of a record death toll, topping the 45 deaths announced Wednesday. • More than 96,000 unemployment claims were filed last week in the District, Maryland and Virginia, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department. About 1.4 million claims have been filed in the three jurisdictions since the coronavirus pandemic hit the region in March. When will D.C. reopen? | What is open in Virginia? | What is open in Maryland? | Known coronavirus cases in the region | How to get tested


The Daily 202: America grows more divided amid coronavirus crisis, as a distracted Trump sows discord

to begin a phased reopening next week, the agency has not committed to resuming a full slate of ceremonies nor has it publicly released a plan for rescheduling the approximately 150,000 naturalizations that have been postponed because of the closures.” Americans escaping Mexico’s strained health-care system are flooding small California community hospitals. “When Manuel Ochoa started feeling sick — his body sore, his breathing restricted — he drove from his mother’s home in Mexicali, Mexico, to the U.S. border,” Kevin Sieff reports. “That’s when U.S. immigration officials made a call that has become increasingly common during the coronavirus outbreak: for an ambulance to transport a U.S. citizen or resident from the Mexican border to the nearest American hospital. As Mexico’s health-care system has strained under the coronavirus, small community hospitals in Southern California, some of the poorest in the state, have been flooded with Americans who have fallen ill and crossed the border. They are retirees and dual citizens, Americans working in Mexico or visiting family there. It is an example of how easily the virus moves between countries, even as governments — and particularly the Trump administration — have attempted to shut their borders. … As a result of that surge, Imperial County, home to El Centro, has a much higher concentration of coronavirus cases — 760 per 100,000 residents — than any other county in California. ‘It’s amazing how this disease has taught us that borders don’t exist,’ said Adolphe Edward, the chief executive of El Centro Regional. The hospital’s staff includes 60 people who cross the border from Mexicali each day to work.” ICE acknowledged that it is transferring detainees between facilities without testing them, contributing to asymptomatic spread. (Katie Shepherd) The FDA temporarily loosened food labeling rules for the fifth time during the pandemic. “The changes are intended to ease manufacturers’ supply-chain snags, but advocacy groups say they are concerned that the changes will become permanent and that they will present problems for consumers concerned about tracking the provenance of their food,” Laura Reiley reports. “The new guidance allows manufacturers to substitute hard-to-source ingredients in their products without changing the label. And it allows vending machine operators latitude to omit calorie information for foods sold.” Marc Short, Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, owns between $506,043 and $1.64 million worth of stock in companies doing work related to the coronavirus response. These holdings could run afoul


of conflict-of-interest laws, NPR reports. Disney plans to reopen its Florida parks in mid-July, but don’t plan on giving Mickey a hug anytime soon. “Executives said Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will reopen July 11, while Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, also in Florida, will resume business July 15,” Steven Zeitchik reports. “A number of social-distancing measures will be imposed at the parks … Customers will be required to wear masks and undergo temperature checks. … Parades and fireworks displays will remain temporarily suspended." Illinois and New York are the only states that appear to meet all of the Trump administration’s criteria for reopening, according to a ProPublica analysis. Parts of New York have begun Phase 1 of reopening, but New York City has only met five of seven metrics for reopening, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). Still, some businesses are defying orders and opening. (CBS News) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) pitched Trump to spend big on infrastructure to “supercharge” the economic recovery during a private meeting in the White House. (Griff Witte) Sara Cody, health officer for California’s Santa Clara County and a key architect of the nation’s first shelter-in-place order, warned that the state is reopening too quickly. (Los Angeles Times) Houses of worship will be allowed to hold services again in Washington State under new guidance from the state. Up to 100 people, excluding religious staff, will be allowed to congregate outdoors at the property of a faith organization anywhere in the state. (Seattle Times) A bar in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks defended its decision to hold a jam-packed Memorial Day “Zero Ducks Given” pool party where revelers openly flouted social distancing guidelines. “Unfortunately, our business is seasonal and nearly a third of our season has already been lost,” wrote owner Gary Prewitt. (Antonia Farzan) The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a lack of immunity to the virus alone does not qualify a voter to apply for a mail-in ballot. (Texas Tribune) Democratic legislators in Pennsylvania accused their Republican counterparts of keeping secret a GOP lawmaker’s positive coronavirus test result for days, arguing that the lack of transparency put them and their staffs at higher risk of contracting the virus. They accuse Republicans of hiding the news because it undercuts their push to reopen businesses. (Allyson Chiu) D.C. and Northern Virginia will start reopening on Friday. “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) also


Boston Marathon Canceled; Chicago Offices Reopen: Virus Update

airport for Covid-19 has hit a snag, after it emerged that the island doesn’t have enough testing facilities. Opening up the country to foreign travelers is a crucial step to lift the economy, which is forecast to contract 9% this year. U.S. Jobless Rolls Shrink for First Time in Pandemic (9:01 a.m. NY) U.S. states’ jobless rolls shrank for the first time during the pandemic in a sign people are starting to return to work, even as millions more Americans filed for unemployment benefits. Continuing claims, which tally Americans’ ongoing benefits in state programs, fell to 21.1 million for the week ended May 16, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. Initial jobless claims for regular state programs totaled 2.12 million in the week ended May 23, to bring the 2 1/2-month total above 40 million. Separate data showed that U.S. orders for durable goods sank sharply for a second month in April as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the manufacturing industry. Johnson to Set Out Results of U.K. Virus Response Review (8:51 a.m. NY) “The Prime Minister will be able to set out later what we have concluded as a result of that review and to talk in some more detail about the recovery plan and what the next steps are likely to be,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesman, James Slack, said on a call with reporters Thursday. Johnson will speak at a 5 p.m. press conference with Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance. The prime minister’s office also dismissed a police finding that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, may have broken lockdown rules, insisting the matter is now closed. Separately, the U.K.’s coronavirus tracing program was hit by technical problems on the day of its launch, with some health-care workers unable to log on to the system. The so-called Test and Trace service is a key part of Johnson’s plan to help the British economy return to normality. AstraZeneca Joins With Oxford Biomedica to Produce Shot (8:33 a.m. NY) AstraZeneca Plc joined forces with Oxford Biomedica Plc to help produce one of the world’s fastest-moving potential vaccines against Covid-19. Oxford Biomedica will produce multiple batches of the vaccine this year and give AstraZeneca access to its Oxbox manufacturing center, according to a statement Thursday. AstraZeneca has been working with the University of Oxford on the inoculation. Third of Russians Believe Threat Is Overblown: Poll (8:26 a.m.


about the recovery plan and what the next steps are likely to be,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesman, James Slack, said on a call with reporters Thursday. Johnson will speak at a 5 p.m. press conference with Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance. The prime minister’s office also dismissed a police finding that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, may have broken lockdown rules, insisting the matter is now closed. Separately, the U.K.’s coronavirus tracing program was hit by technical problems on the day of its launch, with some health-care workers unable to log on to the system. The so-called Test and Trace service is a key part of Johnson’s plan to help the British economy return to normality. AstraZeneca Joins With Oxford Biomedica to Produce Shot (8:33 a.m. NY) AstraZeneca Plc joined forces with Oxford Biomedica Plc to help produce one of the world’s fastest-moving potential vaccines against Covid-19. Oxford Biomedica will produce multiple batches of the vaccine this year and give AstraZeneca access to its Oxbox manufacturing center, according to a statement Thursday. AstraZeneca has been working with the University of Oxford on the inoculation. Third of Russians Believe Threat Is Overblown: Poll (8:26 a.m. NY) Nearly a third of Russians believe that the threat from the coronavirus crisis has been massively overblown, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday. The survey of 7,600 people from across Russia was conducted on May 21-26 by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Harrods Set to Reopen (7 a.m. NY) Luxury British retailer Harrods is set to reopen its flagship London store in June, with “significant” social distancing measures in place, and unveiled plans to open an outlet shop to sell stock left over from the season. The company plans to use footfall monitoring technology to limit capacity at its main Knightsbridge store and ensure social distancing can be maintained. Specific doors will be designated for entering and exiting the store, which was closed in March as the coronavirus outbreak started to spread in Britain. The new concept store, based in West London’s Westfield mall, has been designed to allow more space for customers, the company said. “In the new world in which we find ourselves, the economy needs businesses willing to look at its business model and current operations and think differently to enable growth, while protecting its customers and employees,” Managing Director Michael Ward


Justice Dept. charges 33 for illegal payments to N. Korea’s nuclear affairs

The U.S. government has charged 28 North Korean and five Chinese individuals with facilitating more than $2.5 billion in illegal payments for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile program in what court papers describe as a clandestine global network operating from countries including China, Russia, Libya and Thailand. In a 50-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department accused the individuals of acting as agents of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank in what officials say is the largest North Korean sanctions violations case charged by the U.S. Working for the FTB — which is North Korea’s primary foreign currency bank and under sanctions for facilitating nuclear proliferation — the agents allegedly set up more than 250 front companies and covert bank branches around the world to mask payments transiting the U.S. financial system, including through several Chinese banks and for equipment from Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., charging documents said. Those charged include two former FTB presidents, Ko Chol Man and Kim Song Ui; two former co-vice presidents, Han Ung and Ri Jong Nam; and Han Ki Song, who allegedly operated FTB’s covert branch in Thailand and served in North Korea’s primary intelligence agency. “Through this indictment, the United States has signified its commitment to hampering North Korea’s ability to illegally access the U.S. financial system, and to limiting its ability to use proceeds from these illicit actions to enhance its illegal weapons of mass destruction program,” Michael R. Sherwin, acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., said in a statement. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects military exercise at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 21. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) The massive enforcement action comes as United Nations experts have detailed North Korea’s widespread evasion of sanctions by using agents of state-owned and other banks overseas to facilitate a global web of illicit oil, arms and coal deals to bring in foreign currency. The efforts have been augmented through offshore, ship-to-ship transfers, large-scale cryptocurrency hacks and ransomware attacks. The Justice Department moves highlight Washington’s stalled diplomatic effort to eliminate Pyongyang’s nuclear missile and weapons capabilities, analysts said. The actions also reflect an internal U.S. election-year debate over whether President Trump’s withholding of tougher sanctions and emphasis on personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un can succeed if existing American pressure tactics are not effectively enforced, analysts said. The Trump administration had


Arts groups in distress call on a former Kennedy Center president for help

The Nashville Ballet performs “Swan Lake.” (Karyn Photography/Nashville Ballet) It was another of the hundreds of emergency telephone therapy sessions that Michael M. Kaiser and his team of arts survival experts have been conducting. On the line were leaders of the 34-year-old Nashville Ballet, Tennessee’s premier professional ballet company. The modulated tones of the conversation belied the rampant anxiety across the arts in America over a pandemic that continues to threaten their existence. “You are in the exact same position as every cultural institution in this country and, in fact, the world,” Kaiser advised during the hour-long consultation, which covered issues such as messaging and fundraising. “It is time to go for larger programming gifts, and just be very honest: ‘We don’t know when we’re coming back, but this is what we have planned — and it’s going to be amazing!’ ” The ballet’s leadership sought the guidance of Kaiser, former president of the Kennedy Center and now chairman of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland, for a way forward. In March, the institute sent an invitation to arts groups for pro bono assessments. More than 400 organizations signed up. “They’re all doing the best they can,” Kaiser said after the call, adding that there has been no spate of nonprofit groups closing their doors for good. (The next six months, he says, may be more volatile.) In large measure, though, arts groups have no substantial public support mechanism, financial or otherwise. “The pandemic is a global problem; the difference is, in other countries the government plays an avuncular role,” he added. “Our government has never played that role. There is no sense that the [National Endowment for the Arts] feels responsible. I’m trying to jump into the breach.” While attention is often focused nationally on behemoth enterprises such as Broadway, whose 600- to 2,000-seat theaters are likely to remain shuttered for months, it is the vast national constellation of small, medium and large nonprofits that Kaiser is keying on. The NEA has access to a relatively modest $75 million fund under the Cares Act for emergency grants to nonprofits. But if museums, theaters and symphonies end up in free fall, it is basically up to them to cushion the impact. The economic losses will continue to mount, according to a paper published this month by SMU DataArts — an arts research group at Southern


Bringing the world home

(Washington Post illustration; iStock) With the summer travel season officially underway, the desire to hopscotch around the world is being tempered by the danger and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. Many would-be travelers have “such a sense of learned helplessness right now,” said psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, “Like, ‘I’m stuck.’ ” rachel@ByRachelChang.com Still, Lombardo and other experts say, adventurous souls who are waiting for travel restrictions to lift or their comfort levels to rise can experience some of the rewards of a fulfilling trip — minus the jet lag — by shifting their perspectives at home. “When we’re able to think outside the box and plan something positive,” she said, “that’s going to really help our mood.” While she noted that substitute experiences won’t fully achieve the emotional impact of travel, there are benefits to experiencing some of the same cognitive effects. Here are six ways travel lovers can change their perspective while cooling their heels at home. Invigorate your senses Being immersed in another place isn’t just about the landmarks. “Our memory systems are activated by not just sights and sounds, but also by smells,” Columbia Business School social psychologist Adam Galinsky said. [Six spirits that evoke far-off destinations] Try re-creating a dish with spices from Poland, brewing a cup of cardamom-infused Turkish coffee or mixing a coconut-enhanced Caribbean cocktail. You can also replicate smells with candles or flowers. However you generate a scent, the effect can be pervasive. “Smells go right into our brain versus other senses,” Lombardo said. Changing your surroundings can also invigorate visual stimulation, she said, whether it’s buying home accessories reminiscent of a favorite hotel, or hanging images of beloved vacation spots. And don’t forget audio tracks — such as jungle sounds for a safari or French jazz for a Parisian cafe — which also can whisk you away to another place and time. Take a ‘tour’ Communicating with faraway friends through FaceTime as they take a walk in their hometown or share a favorite site (if it’s safe, of course) can provide both connection and the thrill of exploration. The experience melds two essentials of travel. “Live experiences are more impactful and shared experiences are more impactful,” Galinksy said. If walks aren’t possible, try connecting with an old travel buddy to reminisce. “Maybe hop on a Zoom call, have a cup of coffee and talk about it and pull out pictures — that can


U.S. brings largest ever N. Korean sanctions case, targeting state-owned bank and senior government officials

The U.S. government has brought its largest ever North Korea sanctions violations case, charging 28 North Korean and 5 Chinese individuals in deals that have allegedly illegally reaped more than $2.5 billion for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile program while operating overseas in countries including China and Russia, officials said. In a 50-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department accused the individuals of operating an illicit global financing network while affiliated with a branch of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank. The FTB, North Korea’s primary foreign currency bank, opened covert branches in Thailand, Libya, Austria, Russia, Kuwait and China in a scheme that allegedly processed at least $2.5 billion in illegal payments through 250 front companies, according to charging documents. Those charged include two former FTB presidents, Ko Chol Man and Kim Song Ui; and Han Ki Song, who allegedly who operated FTB’s covert branch in Thailand and served as a member of North Korea’s primary intelligence agency, its Reconnaissance General Bureau. The indictment is accompanied by court forfeiture claims and some defendants are in custody, officials said. In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects military exercise at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (AP/AP) “Through this indictment, the United States has signified its commitment to hampering North Korea’s ability to illegally access the U.S. financial system, and to limiting its ability to use proceeds from these illicit actions to enhance its illegal weapons of mass destruction program,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin of Washington, D.C., said in a statement. The massive enforcement action comes as United Nations experts have detailed North Korea’s widespread evasion of sanctions by using agents of state-owned and other banks overseas to facilitate a global web of illicit oil, arms and coal deals to bring in foreign currency. The efforts have been augmented through offshore, ship-to-ship transfers, large-scale cryptocurrency hacks and ransomware attacks. The Justice departments moves highlight Washington’s stalled diplomatic effort to eliminate


exercise at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (AP/AP) “Through this indictment, the United States has signified its commitment to hampering North Korea’s ability to illegally access the U.S. financial system, and to limiting its ability to use proceeds from these illicit actions to enhance its illegal weapons of mass destruction program,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin of Washington, D.C., said in a statement. The massive enforcement action comes as United Nations experts have detailed North Korea’s widespread evasion of sanctions by using agents of state-owned and other banks overseas to facilitate a global web of illicit oil, arms and coal deals to bring in foreign currency. The efforts have been augmented through offshore, ship-to-ship transfers, large-scale cryptocurrency hacks and ransomware attacks. The Justice departments moves highlight Washington’s stalled diplomatic effort to eliminate Pyongyang’s nuclear missile and weapons capabilities, analysts said. The actions also reflect an internal U.S. election-year debate over whether President Trump’s withholding of tougher sanctions and emphasis on personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un can succeed if existing American pressure tactics are not effectively enforced, analysts said. The Trump administration had outpaced its predecessors at building a global coalition to pressure Pyongyang before talks started. But the biggest hole in sanctions enforcement remains U.S. reluctance to penalize major Chinese banks through which North Korea’s illicit funds flow, for fear of triggering Chinese retaliation and a wider financial war that could undermine global stability. “The charges alleged in this Indictment arise from a multi-year scheme to covertly access the U.S. financial system in spite of sanctions which are intended to deal with unusual and extraordinary threats to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” the indictment states. [Read the indictment] The arrest and extradition of so many individuals marks a dramatic escalation of U.S. enforcement efforts, analysts said. It reflects greater U.S. willingness to engage diplomatically with third countries — where North Korean bank agents base their activities — to gather intelligence to shut down Pyongyang’s secret


Local Digest

30-year-old man was shot and killed Wednesday night in Anacostia in Southeast Washington, according to police. The shooting occurred a few minutes before midnight in the 1300 block of U Street SE. Police said someone drove the victim to a fire station about two blocks away. A police report says the victim ran to the front door of the station “and began banging on it.” The victim, identified as Stephan Deon Nicholson of Southeast, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police did not say whether the person who drove him to the fire station remained at the scene. Police said at least one stray bullet struck a window of a nearby residence. No arrest has been made. Two men were fatally shot “These cases remain under investigation,” said the spokeswoman, Karimah Bilal. Nicholson’s father, Kevin Nicholson, said his son had worked at a variety of jobs at grocery stores, a car rental agency and for the Maryland parks department. He studied heating and air conditioning repairs at a community college, and later learned plumbing skills. Nicholson lived in the Marshall Heights community of Southeast Washington. His father said he has cousins and friends who live in Anacostia, but he did not know what his son was doing there Wednesday. — Peter Hermann Energy company to pay D.C. $2.5 million D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine said Thursday that an energy company will pay $2.5 million to the District after allegedly discharging oil into the Potomac River. GenOn’s coal-fired Potomac River Generating Station in Alexandria, next to the river, closed in 2012 after more than six decades during which it became the region’s largest polluter. In 2013, operators discovered two 25,000-gallon tanks buried at the site that had slowly leaked 17,000 gallons of heating oil into the ground and the river’s sediment. On Thursday, Racine said GenOn, headquartered in Texas, must pay $2.4 million in civil penalties to the District as well as $50,000 to improve drinking water quality and $50,000 to support environmental enforcement training for D.C. employees. From 2010 to 2012, Racine said, the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment documented unauthorized discharges of oil and other pollutants from the site into the Potomac, but GenOn ignored the agency’s calls to stop polluting. GenOn did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The settlement agreement said the company denied the allegations. — Justin Wm. Moyer


Of Note

Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Michel Margosis, FDA research chemist Michel Margosis, 91, who spent 25 years as a research chemist at the Food and Drug Administration before retiring in 1990, died March 27 at his home in Springfield, Va. The cause was a stroke, said a son, Aaron Margosis. Mr. Margosis was born in Brussels. Early in World War II, his family fled to France and then crossed the Pyrenees into Spain in 1942. Mr. Margosis immigrated to the United States by ship the next year. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Sheila Rogovin, psychologist Sheila Rogovin, 89, a psychologist who had a private practice in Washington and Montgomery County from 1977 to 2020, died March 27 at her home in the District. The cause was lung cancer, said a son, John Rogovin. Dr. Rogovin was born Sheila Ender in Brooklyn and had lived in the Washington area since 1958. Josephine Lovejoy, administrative assistant Josephine Lovejoy, 90, an administrative assistant at the Defense Intelligence Agency and predecessor agencies who retired in 1993, died March 9 at a hospice center in Arlington, Va. The cause was kidney failure, said a friend and spokesperson, MaryAnn Butterfield. Ms. Lovejoy, an Arlington resident, was born in Washington. She began her federal career in 1951. Carole McIndoe, teacher and psychologist Carole McIndoe, 89, a teacher, auditory specialist and psychologist in the Montgomery County Public Schools Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program from 1975 to 1998, died March 1 at her home in Woodbine, Md. The cause was pneumonia and dementia, said a daughter, Holly Beaulac. Mrs. McIndoe was born Carole McClain in Youngstown, Ohio, and had been a teacher of the deaf in England before moving to the Washington area in 1975. Fritz Andersen, cardiologist Fritz Andersen, 77, a cardiologist who retired in 2008 after 18 years with Virginia Heart, a Northern Virginia cardiovascular practice he co-founded in 1990, died April 8 at his home in Bethesda, Md. The cause was cancer, said his wife, Carmen Alicia Morales. Dr. Andersen received his medical training in his native Buenos Aires. He came to the Washington area in 1975 and served as chief of cardiology and president of the medical staff at Northern Virginia Doctors Medical Center in Arlington, Va. Ellen Maxwell, budget officer Ellen Maxwell, 64, who worked in the 1990s as a senior budget officer


Live updates: Death toll surpasses 100,000 as experts warn coronavirus may never fully go away

Less than four months after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the United States, the pandemic has claimed more than 100,000 lives. The grim milestone comes as experts are warning that the virus may never go away, even after a vaccine is developed. “Eventually, everyone is going to know someone who got infected or died from this virus,” Michael T. Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told The Washington Post. Here are some significant developments: When the damage caused by the coronavirus crisis is factored in, millennials will have experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any previous generation in U.S. history, according to a Post analysis. The House of Representatives made history Wednesday by casting Congress’s first-ever remote floor votes — a change decried by Republican lawmakers who have challenged the constitutionality of the arrangement. For the first time since mid-March, Vermont’s hospitals have no covid-19 patients, health officials said Wednesday. Small community hospitals in California are coping with an influx of American retirees, dual citizens and expatriates who typically live in Mexico but are crossing the border for medical care. Las Vegas casinos will begin reopening June 4, while Disney announced plans to reopen its Florida theme parks in July. Sign up for our coronavirus newsletter | Mapping the spread of the coronavirus: Across the U.S. | Worldwide | How states are reopening | Have you been hospitalized for covid-19? Tell us whether you’ve gotten a bill.


The Health 202: Americans are not expecting a quick return to normal. Or a vaccine next year.

expect to get the care within the next three months,” John writes. “Most of those who have put off care due to coronavirus expect to get it soon,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement. “If they do, health care utilization may bounce back more quickly than the rest of the economy.” Americans are likelier to see a health-care provider than they are to resume other activities. The KFF poll That's striking considering most Americans appear to expect the virus will upend their summer plans. Just 19 percent say they will go to a concert or sporting event in the next three months. Only 23 percent said they would go on an airplane and 32 percent would stay in a hotel. Americans were split — 53 percent — on whether they expected to dine in-person at a restaurant. Their level of comfort with daily activities also seemed to be split along party lines: “[M]ajorities including most Republicans and independents … expect to be getting back to some usual activities in the coming months such as going to the doctor, going to a barber or salon, attending larger gatherings, or eating in a restaurant. Most Democrats say it is unlikely they will be doing any of these activities except for going to a doctor or health care provider.” Medical workers walk outside a special coronavirus area at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Stress related to the coronavirus crisis is affecting people's mental health. “About four in ten U.S. adults (39%) say worry or stress related to coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health, including 12% who say it has had a ‘major’ impact,” the KFF poll finds. “This is down slightly from early April when 45% reported a negative mental health impact.” This generally lines up with stark findings gleaned from Census Bureau data. “When asked questions normally used to screen patients for mental health problems, 24 percent showed clinically significant symptoms of major depressive disorder and 30 percent showed symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder,” they write. “The findings suggest a huge jump from before the pandemic. For example, on one question about depressed mood, the percentage reporting such symptoms was double that found in a 2014 national survey.” The KFF poll found a gender and demographic split on this: And people's individual economic situations are, not surprisingly, playing a


the common cold. And many experts think this virus will become the fifth — its effects growing milder as immunity spreads and our bodies adapt to it over time,” William and Carolyn write. “Eventually, everyone is going to know someone who got infected or died from this virus,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. “That’s what it may take.” OUCH: Small hospitals in Southern California have been flooded with Americans who have fallen ill and crossed the border from Mexico. “They are retirees and dual citizens, Americans working in Mexico or visiting family there,” Kevin Sieff reports. “It is an example of how easily the virus moves between countries, even as governments — and particularly the Trump administration — have attempted to shut their borders. And it’s a window into how many American lives span the U.S.-Mexico border, including families who have moved freely across the region since before that line was drawn and whose movement has continued during the pandemic.” Nurses and respiratory specialists treat coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit of the El Centro Regional Medical Center in El Centro, Calif. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) About half of the coronavirus patients in numerous hospitals on the California border are recent arrivals from Mexico. That flood of patients has created an unprecedented hurdle for small community hospitals. “El Centro Regional normally serves a county with a population of about 180,000 residents, many of whom live below the poverty line,” Kevin writes. “Suddenly, the hospital was responding to an additional community of Americans in Mexicali, thought to number 100,000 people.” “It’s amazing how this disease has taught us that borders don’t exist,” said Adolphe Edward, the chief executive of El Centro Regional. Congress on coronavirus House lawmakers yesterday conducted their first remote vote in the body's 231-year history. It’s a temporary measure that was pushed forward by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and fellow Democratic leaders to allow lawmakers to participate amid the pandemic. House Republican members gather before a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) But the vote occurred as Republican leaders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the move’s constitutionality. “Several Democrats have fretted about the House’s effectiveness as the outbreak has sidelined lawmakers — while other parts of the federal government have adapted to the new reality and the Senate, with fewer members,


Researchers ponder why U.S. and Europe are harder hit than Asia

Scientists at Japan’s Chiba University plotted the trajectory of the virus across the world and said they noticed stark regional disparities. “That means we need to take into consideration regional differences first, before analyzing what policies and other factors are affecting the spread of infection in any given country,” said Akihiro Hisaka of the university’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The conventional wisdom A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident for a coronavirus test during a home visit in Wuhan. (Li Ke/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) The baseline assumption, at the moment, is that the virus — officially SARS-CoV-2 — mutates the way all viruses do and is just as innately contagious and lethal in one part of the world as in another. “We are all facing the same bug with the same general arsenal of immune responses,” said Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University. “There are differences in testing, reporting, control from country to country. And there are differences in rates of hypertension, chronic lung disease, et cetera, on a country-by-country basis.” Part of the reason for the high number of deaths in the United States and Western Europe may lie in an initial reluctance to react to an epidemic that seemed distant and unthreatening. In Asia, meanwhile, previous experience with the SARS and MERS epidemics enabled much faster responses to the new threat. Taiwan, for example, has been widely praised for its speedy response to the epidemic, including early screening of air passengers from Wuhan. South Korea built a massive program of testing, tracing and isolating patients. But in Japan and India, two very different countries, the relatively low death toll has baffled many scientists. Similar mysteries have emerged from Pakistan to the Philippines. Weather and culture a reason? Public seating is sealed off with barrier tape at a park in the central business district during a lockdown in Singapore. (Lauryn Ishak/Bloomberg News) Hot and humid weather could be a factor in places such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. Several studies have suggested that heat and humidity can slow, although not stop, the spread of the virus, just as is seen with influenza and with coronaviruses that cause common colds. But some equatorial countries, including Ecuador and Brazil, have seen many cases and deaths linked to covid-19. Demographics also play a role in regional disparities. Africa’s generally younger population may have been more resistant than northern Italy’s older


epidemic that seemed distant and unthreatening. In Asia, meanwhile, previous experience with the SARS and MERS epidemics enabled much faster responses to the new threat. Taiwan, for example, has been widely praised for its speedy response to the epidemic, including early screening of air passengers from Wuhan. South Korea built a massive program of testing, tracing and isolating patients. But in Japan and India, two very different countries, the relatively low death toll has baffled many scientists. Similar mysteries have emerged from Pakistan to the Philippines. Weather and culture a reason? Public seating is sealed off with barrier tape at a park in the central business district during a lockdown in Singapore. (Lauryn Ishak/Bloomberg News) Hot and humid weather could be a factor in places such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. Several studies have suggested that heat and humidity can slow, although not stop, the spread of the virus, just as is seen with influenza and with coronaviruses that cause common colds. But some equatorial countries, including Ecuador and Brazil, have seen many cases and deaths linked to covid-19. Demographics also play a role in regional disparities. Africa’s generally younger population may have been more resistant than northern Italy’s older communities, for example. In Japan, which has the world’s oldest population, different reasons are being explored. There is a widespread belief in Japan that good hygiene and habits, like wearing masks and avoiding handshakes, helped slow the spread of the virus, while universal health care and the country’s emphasis on protecting the elderly may have lowered the death toll. What about different strains? Research Peter Forster, the geneticist who led that study, said there is “very limited clinical data” on how the various virus strains interacted with different populations. He noted, however, that the question “should be followed up” on whether different strains explained contrasting mortality rates. A team of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory also argued that a more highly contagious strain of the virus has taken hold in Europe and spread in the United States — but other experts have said the significance of emergent strains remains unclear. “It could just be an accident that whoever had that mutant went to the most rock festivals and nightclubs and transmitted to the most people,” said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “But the other possibility is that that strain is more transmissible.” Genes


India Death Toll Tops China; Brazil Cases Surge: Virus Update

The death toll in India surpassed the number of lives lost in China, while Brazil’s cases hit another daily record as hot spots shift to developing countries ill-equipped to contain its spread. Latin America now accounts for 40% of daily virus deaths as cases surge in countries from Mexico to Peru. Asia is also wrestling with emerging clusters in South Korea and Japan. Texas sports leagues can resume games with some fans, even as new infections climbed at almost twice the weekly average. American Airlines will cut management and staff 30% amid a collapse of travel demand. Key Developments: • Virus Tracker: Cases top 5.7 million; deaths over 359,000 • Japan bankruptcies may rise to seven-year high on virus • Vaccine makers may need to infect subjects to get results • YouTube misinformation fight trips on drug touted by Trump Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus. For a look back at this week’s top stories from QuickTake, click here. Sao Paulo Begins Opening Phase Despite Soaring Cases (7:38 a.m. HK) Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America and home to Brazil’s financial hub, will allow shops and malls to resume activities as it begins to reopen businesses after about two months of loosely enforced quarantine orders, despite a record number of new Covid-19 cases reported Thursday in Brazil. Sao Paulo has been the epicenter of Brazil’s coronavirus pandemic. Brazil reported 26,417 new cases, bringing its total to 438,238, the most in the world behind the U.S. India’s Deaths Top China as Hot Spots Shift (7:21 a.m. HK) India is the latest country whose coronavirus death toll has topped the number of lives lost in China, where the pandemic started, as hot spots shift to developing countries ill-equipped to contain its spread. The South Asian nation’s death toll hit 4,695 on Thursday, climbing past the 4,638 fatalities from Covid-19 in China. The nation of 1.3 billion people now has the highest number of fatalities in Asia, excluding Iran, despite the largest lockdown in the world. The country’s death toll quadrupled in less than a month, accelerating by more than 1,000 over the past week, while infections have been soaring at a similar pace. Government experts have begun to acknowledge the outbreak won’t peak until June or July. Jaguar to Begin Reopening


In the age of SpaceX, Carell gives us Space Zzz

Steve Carell plays decorated Air Force Gen. Mark Naird, who is chosen to lead the new United States Space Force, in “Space Force.” (Aaron Epstein/Netflix) I was as disappointed as anyone when NASA scrubbed Wednesday afternoon’s exciting launch of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket, upon which a hipster-era capsule named the Dragon, sitting atop a booster named after Han Solo’s hot-rod, would have carried two American astronauts, whom we all simply refer to as Bob and Doug, up to the International Space Station, after a decade in which our trips to orbit have meant hitching rides with Russia. Even our national bad-luck charm, President Trump, flew to Cape Canaveral to witness this historic moment in the history of the public-private sphere. There is so much to satirize in all this, right? Elon, the Donald, Bob-’n’-Doug, the Dragon on the Falcon, the logos, the lightning strikes, the weird melding of corporate uptalk and official NASA-speak — why, one could almost write the jokes in one’s sleep. Unfortunately, that seems to be precisely what co-creators Greg Daniels and Steve Carell have done with their disappointingly clunky new Netflix comedy series, “Space Force,” which spends a lot of effort just trying to get off the ground. How could this show have failed? A commission will have to be appointed to conduct a more formal inquiry, but, as NASA might remind us, don’t overlook the most likely cause: When an obvious joke has already been made in real life, it’s probably not a great idea to try to make the same joke over and over again, two years later, for 10 whole episodes. “Space Force” is of course ripe with satirical potential — both as a TV show, which premieres Friday, and as the newest branch of the U.S. military, as put forward by the Trump administration in 2018 and established late last year with the dubious goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2024. Carell and Daniels’s wicked little hearts are absolutely in the right place, as the show attempts to lampoon such stalwart disgraces as unchecked military spending, anti-science nincompoops elected to high office, outmoded organizational structures, Silicon Valley-style overconfidence and the way 21st-century PR management (via Twitter) has contaminated trustworthy information. Carell Naird’s peers in the other military branches openly mock his appointment (they are played by Noah Emmerich, Jane Lynch and Patrick Warburton — “Space Force” is strewn with impressive


Trump says U.S. to withdraw from World Health Organization and announces new broadsides against Beijing

President Trump on Friday leveled an extraordinary broadside at the Chinese government, accusing it of a comprehensive “pattern of misconduct” and ordering U.S. officials to begin the process of revoking Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law. The president did not outline a deadline for the historic action. But if carried out, it would mean that the United States would no longer treat Hong Kong and China as separate entities for the purposes of extradition, customs, trade and visa issues, he said. And the announcement could include sanctions on Hong Kong or Chinese officials. In Rose Garden remarks, Trump alleged that the Chinese government covered up the coronavirus outbreak and instigated "a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over 1 million lives worldwide.” The president also attacked the World Health Organization as effectively controlled by Beijing. “We will today be terminating our relationship” with the WHO, the president said, adding that the organization’s more than $400 million annual U.S. contribution will be diverted to other health groups. The president later issued a proclamation to protect sensitive American university research from Chinese spying and to bar an unspecified number of Chinese nationals from entering the United States for graduate study. He also directed an administration working group headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to evaluate Chinese corporations listed on U.S. financial markets as potential targets of future restrictions. The moves seemed certain to intensify growing U.S.-China tensions, though investors on Friday took them in stride. The president’s comments were as notable for what he did not say. There was no mention of his irritation with China’s failure to quickly increase purchases of American goods as required by the trade deal he signed in January. He also made no direct reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as he said “the world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government.” In one sign of Trump’s increased fury with the world’s second-largest economy, on Friday morning he tweeted simply: “CHINA!” His formal Friday announcement — while long on harsh rhetoric — was short on details. The president reiterated some familiar grievances, blaming the Chinese for stealing American trade secrets and jobs and assailing his predecessors for allegedly letting them get away with it. He expanded his indictment of the Chinese government to include its program of island construction in the South China Sea,


Forecast calls for 50-50 chance weather will permit historic SpaceX launch on Saturday

weekend … with rain chances well above normal,” it wrote in its forecast discussion. During Wednesday’s scrubbed launch, three weather rules were violated, including the presence of natural lightning and an attached anvil, which is the top of a towering thunderstorm that can generate an electric field and trigger lightning when in contact with a rocket’s plume. The weekend launch could be aborted if any of a dozen weather rules are violated for various cloud, wind and precipitation scenarios. The majority of the rules relate to the presence of thunderstorms or thunderstorm clouds within 10 nautical miles to the launch site and flight path. These rules were designed to protect against lightning strikes to the in-flight rocket, triggered by the rocket’s interaction with storm clouds or unleashed by the storm itself. Past instances of rockets launching into stormy conditions have led to close calls and disaster. During the Apollo 12 launch, the Saturn V rocket was struck by lightning twice, causing damage to some nonessential components. Nevertheless, the crew was able to complete the mission to the moon. In 1987, the unmanned Atlas/Centaur-67 rocket was launched into rainy, overcast skies when lightning struck, sending it “tumbling out of control,” according to Reuters. Safety officers were forced to divert and destroy the rocket so its debris would not land in civilian areas. Atmospheric scientists have learned that rockets generate an electrically conductive exhaust plume that can trigger lightning when passing through a preexisting electric field — usually from clouds containing both water and ice. These are typically tall cumulus clouds or the anvils (or tops) of thunderstorm clouds. Capt. Jason Fontenot, a meteorologist with the Weather Squadron and spacelift weather operations flight commander, said his forecasting team has access to “one of the densest suites of weather sensors anywhere in the world” for monitoring conditions. They include wind sensors, lightning detection systems, a surface electric field system and radar. In addition to the weather on Cape Canaveral, sea states along the East Coast and across the Atlantic Ocean toward Ireland are being monitored in the unlikely event the capsule with the two astronauts aboard is forced to abort its launch because of an emergency and ends up in the ocean. Ocean conditions along the flight path, however, are not predicted to be out of the ordinary, with waves mostly in the range of three to six feet. Andrew Freedman contributed reporting.


Children with perplexing syndrome linked to covid-19 may be experiencing deadly ‘cytokine storm’

The four children showed up at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in late April and early May, almost exactly one month after the peak of New York City’s coronavirus surge. All had fevers, rashes and strange blood readings that did not look like any illness doctors had seen before. And yet, the cases looked remarkably similar to one another. A study about the children, ages 13, 12, 10, and 5, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, provides the first detailed look at the rapid progression of a mysterious syndrome linked to covid-19 that has alarmed public health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month issued an alert warning doctors to be on the lookout for what they are calling multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, which is now believed to have impacted approximately 300 U.S. children. It appears to have some characteristics in common with Kawasaki disease, a rare illness that typically impacts children under the age of 5 and whose cause is unknown. There have been at least five children in the United States who have died from the coronavirus-related condition: three in New York State, a 15-year-old girl in Maryland, and a child in Louisiana. At Mount Sinai, the children, who came through the emergency department, all appeared well initially despite having multi-day fevers. Each complained of different symptoms, but blood tests, imaging and heart monitoring showed they all appeared to be having an exaggerated inflammatory reaction in what doctors suspect is post-viral complication of covid-19. Christopher Strother, the director of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai, described it as the pediatric version of the “cytokine storm” occurring in some adults with severe illness from the novel coronavirus. “When adults get covid they might get that terrible lung disease from the inflammatory response,” he said. “This seems a version of how that looks in kids.” All four children were treated with a drug called tocilizumab to inhibit the inflammatory reaction. The paper’s authors wrote that the “mechanism of injury during cytokine storm is poorly understood, but an exaggerated initial response that persists over time is associated with poor outcomes.” The first child to arrive at Mount Sinai on Apr. 25 was Malcolm Edgar, a previously healthy 13-year-old from Brooklyn. Edgar, an athlete who is the third baseman and pitcher on a competitive baseball team, had had six days of fever that


and a child in Louisiana. At Mount Sinai, the children, who came through the emergency department, all appeared well initially despite having multi-day fevers. Each complained of different symptoms, but blood tests, imaging and heart monitoring showed they all appeared to be having an exaggerated inflammatory reaction in what doctors suspect is post-viral complication of covid-19. Christopher Strother, the director of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai, described it as the pediatric version of the “cytokine storm” occurring in some adults with severe illness from the novel coronavirus. “When adults get covid they might get that terrible lung disease from the inflammatory response,” he said. “This seems a version of how that looks in kids.” All four children were treated with a drug called tocilizumab to inhibit the inflammatory reaction. The paper’s authors wrote that the “mechanism of injury during cytokine storm is poorly understood, but an exaggerated initial response that persists over time is associated with poor outcomes.” The first child to arrive at Mount Sinai on Apr. 25 was Malcolm Edgar, a previously healthy 13-year-old from Brooklyn. Edgar, an athlete who is the third baseman and pitcher on a competitive baseball team, had had six days of fever that shot up to 104 degrees. When he woke up on the 25th, he had bloodshot eyes and a rash on the trunk of his body. His tongue had what they described as an odd “strawberry texture.” At the hospital, doctors ran a battery of tests and his initial vitals seemed fine, except for a slightly elevated heart rate. So they gave him fluids and asked him to wait for the results. Strother recalls that the report he got from the doctor overseeing Malcolm’s care was that “he was walking around the ER eating cheese,” and that “he actually looked quite well.” But as the night wore on and the nurses kept checking his blood pressure, his readings plummeted. Malcolm himself remembers he was very tired, but not in any pain and that he had been begging to go home. “I was kind of confused about what was going on,” he said in an interview Thursday. “Everything seemed fine in my checkup, and then they said my blood pressure was low and that’s when everything got crazy.” Over the next few days, his situation became dire. Imaging showed that he appeared to have pneumonia in both lower lungs, and as he


CDC chief defends failure to spot early coronavirus spread in U.S.

infected patients. Only two of those people tested positive, he said. Still, that doesn’t mean officials should simply wait for the needles “to replicate themselves until they are the haystack,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “There’s a succession of missed opportunities here,” he said. “Surveillance at the time was wholly inadequate to the task of catching a pandemic virus of this sort, whenever it was introduced." Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist who is lead author of a new paper analyzing the early spread of the virus in the United States, said his research indicates community spread on the West Coast probably did not begin before the first week in February. That is just a few weeks after the first Washington state patient arrived on a flight from Wuhan, China, but, to Worobey, that was potentially enough time to take action to limit the outbreak. “It would be absurd to not recognize that there were some failings in the way testing was rolled out,” Worobey said. He said details of the introduction and spread of the virus are crucial to understanding exactly what happened and what could be done to prevent future outbreaks. “When a plane crashes, it’s very impressive the way these thing are investigated right down to every single fragment of debris so that we figure out what went wrong without trying to brush anything under the carpet,” he said. The genetic data that was part of the evidence in the report underscores the ease with which the virus entered the country and began spreading before the rollout of widespread testing or contact tracing, and also before the Trump administration banned most travel from China, starting Feb. 2, and Europe, on March 13. A paper published Friday in the journal Science found that New York City was seeded with the virus at least eight times in separate events, the first perhaps as early as late January. The earliest introductions came from people with known travel histories and were not linked to later community clusters, the report said. But outbreaks still happened, and the virus samples can be traced to Europe, “likely reflecting local transmissions from undetected introductions,” the paper states. Only one of the virus sequences, introduced in mid-February, became highly successful in spreading in New York City, said the paper’s lead author, Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, a


The case for reopening schools this fall

Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, children are less likely to become infected with this coronavirus. From Feb. 12 to April 2, just 1.7 percent of U.S. cases for which age is known occurred among people younger than 18. Some researchers theorize that some resistance has been conferred by previous exposure to other coronaviruses, such as those that produce the common colds that children frequently acquire. Additionally, a study published in JAMA found that youths are less prone to infection because they produce smaller quantities of a protein, ACE2, which both SARS and the novel coronavirus use to enter cells. A German study that warns against reopening schools found viral loads in infected children at levels comparable to adults. There is evidence, however, that as with the earlier SARS outbreak, children who have covid-19 are less contagious than adults. Many children with covid-19 are asymptomatic; in the absence of coughing and sneezing, they emit fewer infectious droplets. Remarkably, contact tracing studies in China, Iceland, Britain and the Netherlands failed to locate a single case of child-to-adult infection out of thousands of transmission events analyzed. A review of studies from several Asian countries identified few cases of children bringing the virus home, and a recent analysis of covid-19 interventions found no evidence that school closures had helped contain the epidemic. Some of this data likely underestimates children’s potential to infect others because information was collected after lockdowns and other mitigation measures were implemented. Still, the findings from contact tracing and the significant biological differences between covid-19 and more common respiratory ailments suggest that children are not major sources of infection. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently warned against reopening schools too early, and noted complications in some children that resemble Kawasaki disease. The emerging condition, known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, is troubling and must be monitored. But it also appears rare; so far, only several hundred U.S. cases have been reported. The low numbers of children affected by covid-19 and the new syndrome should be considered in additional context: More than 200 U.S. children were killed last year by flu; some 10,000 others died from various childhood diseases. A rare condition that is not commonly fatal does not justify keeping 55 million American students home into the next academic year. In March, Imperial College of London modeling estimated that 2


Restaurants are barely surviving. Delivery apps will kill them.

the Wall Street Journal. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) “Amazon is in hot water for this now, but DoorDash is doing the same thing with DoorDash Kitchens,” Wallace says, citing the ghost kitchen the company opened in Redwood City, Calif., last fall. The company used data from orders to recruit restaurants that didn’t have a presence in the area to move in and start operating out of a DoorDash-owned-and-operated shared space, selling menu items they believed customers wanted. Wallace supports, in theory, emergency laws recently passed in Washington and other cities to temporarily cap delivery commissions at 15 percent, but he worries that the laws will trigger a “land grab,” wherein the apps — or their venture-capitalist backers — plow cash into shuttered restaurant spaces to open virtual kitchens and cut small operators out of the picture. “DoorDash lost nearly half a billion dollars last year, and [investors] are still throwing money at them,” he says. “No restaurant can compete with that.” Some restaurant owners with a sudden surfeit of time are working on it. As eateries shuttered en masse in March, the owners of Chicago’s legendary three-Michelin-star Alinea pulled all-nighters to add basic online ordering capabilities to their reservation system, Tock, which counts Rose’s Luxury and the Dabney in Washington among its clients and charges only 3 percent to process transactions. The owners of Shaw’s Ivy and Coney are launching a nonprofit platform called DC To-GoGo with a lineup of 15 to 20 local restaurants, which will limit fees to 5 percent for processing and 15 percent for delivery. Co-owner Josh Saltzman says there are a number of ways restaurants can improve upon the delivery apps, namely hiring their own drivers or pooling one with a neighbor, and encouraging customers to order hours or even days ahead. “We went into it thinking, we want to make sure drivers are making at least $18 an hour and that food is hot,” he says, and when those are the goals, “you realize the system as it’s set up doesn’t work.” It hasn’t been an easy pitch, though: Business has been too slow for too long, employees are still scared to return to work, “Amazon has tricked everyone into thinking delivery should be free,” and the impossibility of it all has many of his fellow restaurant owners wondering if it makes more sense to just close up shop


These destinations will basically pay you to come visit during the pandemic

have pledged to cover all costs for any traveler who tests positive for the coronavirus while on vacation, according to the Associated Press. In a letter sent out to governments, airlines and tour operators, Cypriot officials said they would cover “lodging, food, drink and medication for covid-19 patients and their families” while on the island. Tourism accounts for 13 percent of Cyprus’s economy, according to the AP, and with one of the lowest coronavirus ratios per capita in Europe, tourism ministers plan to restart international air travel on June 9. As restrictions lift among many European countries, Cyprus will require visitors to complete a “COVID-19 Traveler Declaration” detailing their travel up to 14 days before. Visitors will also have to present a testing certificate before boarding an aircraft, wear masks while on the flight and be subject to random temperature checks throughout the stay. Other economies that have been affected by the loss of tourism are taking measures to boost the depleted industry worldwide. In Japan, the country saw a 99.9 percent drop in visitors during April compared to last year, according to government data. Officials have developed a program to subsidize travel expenses that would inject $12.5 billion into the Japanese economy beginning in July. The program, according to tourism leaders, would cover travel expenses while in the country in the form of discounts and vouchers to be used at local shops and restaurants in an effort to encourage tourist exploration. Travelers who make bookings through Japanese travel agencies or directly with hotels and traditional ryokan inns would be eligible for the subsidies. Elsewhere in Europe, Sicily is eyeing a post-coronavirus economic revival though vouchers that will cover half of flight costs and every third night of a hotel for tourists. It will also be shelling out free tickets to museums and archaeological sites. Sicily has reportedly lost $1.09 billion since travel shut down in early March, according to The Times, and the Italian region hopes that by the fall it will start to regain some visitors. The proposed plan will cost about 50 million euros, but with restaurants and other sectors reopening, Italy is counting on tourists returning when its borders reopen. Read more: People are wearing hazmat suits on planes. But should they? An expert’s essential tips for first-time campers A man missed his flight at Logan Airport. Then authorities discovered $138,980 in cash in his bag.


Coronavirus has infected 100,000 people in D.C., Maryland and Virginia

On Friday, 85 days after the novel coronavirus appeared in the Washington region, the number of known infections in D.C., Maryland and Virginia surpassed 100,000. That means six in every 1,000 residents have tested positive for the virus. At least 13,000 patients have been hospitalized, according to state data, and 4,284 have died. This milestone comes as several of the region’s hardest-hit localities lift months-old restrictions, taking tentative steps toward resuming social and commercial life. The vigorous debate over reopening is a reminder that the virus has affected virtually everyone in the region. But these 102,059 patients have been touched by covid-19 in the most direct way. “It’s surreal,” said Titou Phommachanh, 44, one of Northern Virginia’s first critically ill covid-19 patients. The father of two was admitted to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where his condition rapidly declined, in early March. After spending nearly three weeks in a coma, Phommachanh woke up to a different world, he said — “a covid world,” where what happened to him was no longer a freak incident but a familiar story unfolding across the region to hundreds of people. “The shocking part of it all,” said Phommachanh, now recovered and at home with his family, “is how quickly it’s been able to spread.” As case numbers mounted over the past 11 weeks, so did pressure on government agencies to release more data on infections and deaths. Health departments started publishing demographic information, then added Zip codes and localities, providing a partial portrait of who these patients are, where they live, and how they contracted the disease. Slightly more women have tested positive than men, but  — as is the case nationally — more men have died. In Maryland and Virginia, residents above the age of 40 make up about 60 percent of cases. In the District, 72 percent of infections were found in residents 35 and older. But that does not mean children have been spared from the disease: Across the three jurisdictions, at least 7,000 patients have been younger than 19. Communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus, mirroring national trends. Of 931 Zip codes in Maryland and Virginia analyzed by The Washington Post, the highest infection rates per capita were found in communities that are predominantly African American and Latino. In the District, about 58 percent of known infections were in communities where African Americans are the majority. The


three neighborhoods with the highest rates per capita — Stadium-Armory, Brightwood Park and Saint Elizabeths — are predominantly African American. In the Stadium-Armory neighborhood east of Capitol Hill, which is 83 percent African American, 356 of every 5,000 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the highest rate in the District. This is partially because the neighborhood is home to the D.C. jail, where more than 200 people have tested positive. Patients cluster around densely populated areas. Of the known infections, 79 percent were diagnosed in urban and populous suburban areas, including the District, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, Virginia Beach and Richmond. The Washington metro area makes up 60 percent of infections in the District, Maryland and Virginia. The virus first appeared in the region on March 5, with three Montgomery County residents who were infected while traveling overseas. Within days, cases emerged in Virginia and in the District, including the city’s patient zero, the Rev. Timothy Cole of Christ Church Georgetown. Health officials urged calm, pointing out that all the early cases were linked to travel or known contact with an existing patient. But by the second week of March, the evidence of community spread was clear. Schools were shuttered and large gatherings banned. The number of known infections spiked most sharply in April, increasing from 4,000 to 40,000 in 30 days. The region went from adding roughly 500 new patients a day to 2,000 before the figure started to plateau. The pandemic’s spread was fueled in large part by outbreaks in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and jails — what government officials call congregate settings. Despite early lockdowns at these facilities, the virus was passed along by asymptomatic carriers, infecting more than 17,500 staff and residents and accounting for nearly a fifth of the total caseload in the three jurisdictions. In Montgomery County, 6 of 10 covid-19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. In neighboring Prince George’s County, such fatalities represent 40 percent of deaths. Prince George’s officials say a bigger driver of infections and deaths in the suburb of 900,000 is rampant community spread, particularly among residents who are working in essential services. In Maryland and Virginia, the most prominent jobs in communities with the highest cases per resident are tied to educational services, health care, waste management and social assistance, census data shows. That was followed by communities with high percentages of residents in construction and


As we try to envision a return to youth sports, we know only this: It won’t be the same

With a wistfulness adults generally reserve for a lost lover or deceased parent, 13-year-old Abigail Cajuelan said, “I just really miss it,” of her Santa Clara, Calif., volleyball team. About 150 miles to her north, Sarah Pinkerton coaches and serves on the board of the River Park Soccer Club. They’ve suspended registration and are “just sitting here waiting and seeing,” she said. A decision on when and how youth sports will return to the United States is as eagerly anticipated as it is complex. “A lot of people think we are just going to flip the switch and go back,” said William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, “but we are not going back to the old way. We are going to a new normal.” What that will look like for athletes depends on evolving knowledge about the virus that causes covid-19. Doctors now believe it is primarily spread via direct contact with infected respiratory secretions. For athletes, then, “the more intense the contact — in terms of spacing between individuals, duration of interaction, type of interaction and degree of ventilation — the higher the likelihood of infection,” said Sohil R. Sud, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco. Different sports present different levels of risk, with “shared” sports such as gymnastics (shared beam, vault, etc.) tougher to make safe than “singular” sports such as golf (own clubs, own ball). Collision sports such as lacrosse present higher risk than softball and other limited-contact sports. Sports involving covered skin and faces such as fencing will need to be treated differently than those like wrestling. To begin sorting it out, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the NCAA have issued initial guidance. Phase 3 of the USOPC’s five phases, for example, includes: “If a ball is being used (e.g., basketball), make sure only one player is using a specific region of the court and/or basket at a time, and the court in that region needs to be cleaned before another player uses the ball in that space to prevent indirect transmission from ball 1 to ground and from ground to ball 2.” The National Athletic Trainers’ Association will also post best practices in the coming weeks. Many sport-specific organizations, such as USA Basketball, as well as professional ones such as the NBA, are expected to issue guidelines