These Syrian militiamen were foes in their civil war. Now they are battling each other in Libya.

Mamdouh did not respond to messages sent to his social media accounts and to a number he has used to contact his family from Libya. Many of the recruits had served in the National Defense Forces, a pro-Assad militia, and were told they were going to guard oil installations in Libya, according to relatives of the recruits. But commanders in western Libya said Syrian fighters allied with Russia are serving in front-line positions. Col. Mahmoud Mustafa, a Libyan commander from the city of Misurata who is allied with the GNA, said that Russian and Syrian mercenaries were stationed together in Sirte, a flash-point city on the Mediterranean coast. Syrian snipers in the city had taken up positions in high-rise buildings, he said. Hassan al-Handal, a Syrian opposition member who belongs to the Harb tribe, said several of his relatives had gone to Libya. He and others said that recruiting was spearheaded by Russian military officers stationed in Syria along with employees of the Wagner Group. Intermediaries from Arab tribes collected names of possible candidates and approached the recruits, according to Handal, who signed an open letter criticizing the tribal involvement in the Russian recruiting. The letter, by the “free men and women of the Harb tribe,” accused the recruiters of “exploiting” the collapsing currency and using other pressure tactics, and called on young people to ignore “Russian calls to send them to inevitable death.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov recently denied reports of Syrian fighters being transported to Libya to fight for Hifter. Bogdanov, speaking to the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram this month, also rejected reports that members of the Wagner private military company were operating in Libya, saying such reports were “based mostly on fabricated data and aimed at discrediting Russia’s policy on the Libyan track.” Megerisi said Russia appeared to be trying to carve out a sphere of influence in Libya to counter Turkey’s reach. “With the collapse of Hifter, the Syrians who were fighting on his side may become a Russian expeditionary force inside Libya,” Megerisi said. He added, “The next few weeks will be very telling about whether Russia is in a position to draw lines or not.” Also unclear was what would become of the Syrians fighters if intensive international efforts to tamp down Libya’s fighting were successful. “What happens when the game is over and they don’t want to go home?” Megerisi asked.


CDC chief says coronavirus cases may be 10 times higher than reported

than many, [and] shorter periods are better than longer,” he said. Above all, he said, people should maintain social distancing, wash hands frequently and properly wear a face covering when they are unable to socially distance. The death toll nationally from covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has dropped since it peaked in April, during the catastrophic outbreak in New York City and nearby areas. Many experts have warned that the effects of the reopening of the economy in May and the increased mobility and decline in social distancing could reverse that recent trend. Covid-19 can lead to a protracted illness, and in those cases there is typically a lag of several weeks between an infection and death. On Thursday, the CDC also made significant changes in how it categorizes people at elevated risk of a severe outcome from covid-19. The agency had previously said that people over 65 face higher risk. But it removed that age marker, saying that risk increases steadily with age. Conditions that pose a higher risk for serious illness include chronic kidney disease, serious heart disease, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a weakened immune system from a solid organ transplant, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and newly added: sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that affects 90,000 to 100,000 people in the United States, mainly African Americans. Officials clarified that obesity means a body mass index of 30 or higher. Roughly 40 percent of the adult population is obese under that definition. A person who is 5-foot-5 and weighs 180 pounds has a BMI of 30. That same person who weighs 240 pounds would have a BMI of 40. For the first time, agency officials said pregnant women with covid-19 may face a higher risk of hospitalization and treatment in intensive care units and respiratory help with a mechanical ventilator. The same data, however, shows that pregnant women are not at higher risk of dying. Officials said they are still researching the effects on newborns. Although pregnant women are at risk for severe disease associated with other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, there has been limited data related to covid-19 on pregnancy until now, health experts said. In the CDC report on pregnancy and covid19 released Thursday, researchers compared the impact of the disease on more than 8,000 pregnant women and 83,000 nonpregnant women from Jan. 22 to June 7. Pregnant women were


a solid organ transplant, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and newly added: sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that affects 90,000 to 100,000 people in the United States, mainly African Americans. Officials clarified that obesity means a body mass index of 30 or higher. Roughly 40 percent of the adult population is obese under that definition. A person who is 5-foot-5 and weighs 180 pounds has a BMI of 30. That same person who weighs 240 pounds would have a BMI of 40. For the first time, agency officials said pregnant women with covid-19 may face a higher risk of hospitalization and treatment in intensive care units and respiratory help with a mechanical ventilator. The same data, however, shows that pregnant women are not at higher risk of dying. Officials said they are still researching the effects on newborns. Although pregnant women are at risk for severe disease associated with other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, there has been limited data related to covid-19 on pregnancy until now, health experts said. In the CDC report on pregnancy and covid19 released Thursday, researchers compared the impact of the disease on more than 8,000 pregnant women and 83,000 nonpregnant women from Jan. 22 to June 7. Pregnant women were over five times as likely to be hospitalized as nonpregnant women, 1.5 times as likely to be admitted to intensive care units, and 1.7 times as likely to require mechanical ventilation, the report said. There was no higher risk for death among the pregnant women. The CDC report also found that black and Hispanic pregnant women appear to be disproportionately hit by covid-19. “This is the most convincing evidence that pregnant women with covid-19 are more likely to have severe disease, although the absolute risk is still low,” said Denise Jamieson, chair of the gynecology and obstetrics department at Emory University School of Medicine and chief of gynecology and obstetrics for Emory Healthcare, who was not involved in the report. Among pregnant women with confirmed infections who reported race or ethnicity, 46 percent were Hispanic, 22 percent were black and 23 percent were white. That suggests the disproportionate impact of the disease on blacks and Latinos: In 2019, white women accounted for 51 percent of those who gave birth, compared with 24 percent who were Hispanic, and 15 percent who were black. Steven Goff, Teo Armus and Hamza Shaban contributed to this report.


After covid-19 scare, Ezekiel Elliott expresses concern about NFL’s plan to protect players, families

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said his case of covid-19 has been a mild one. But in a Twitch chat Wednesday with YouTube host Scooter Magruder, he said the NFL needs to do everything it can to protect its players and their family members if it wants to have a season amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. “I just feel like there’s a lot of moving parts that have to be figured out,” Elliott said. “I just don’t know how they can keep the players healthy. You’ve got to put the health of the players first. And it’s not even so much I would say the players’ health because I got corona and it didn’t really affect me much. But a lot of people have kids, they may have kids with asthma, their parents or grandparents may live with them. “We have to find a way to make sure the players and their families, and the coaches also and their families, aren’t put at risk.” The NFL Network reported last week that Elliott had tested positive for covid-19. On Wednesday, he said he is mostly back on his feet, though not enough to begin working out in preparation for the season. “I would say I had maybe one or two days where I felt symptoms, and even then it wasn’t too bad,” Elliott said. “I had a cough and a little bit of shortness of breath but now honestly I feel good, I feel normal. Still can’t work out.” The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that the NFL and the players’ union agreed that players will report to training camp starting July 28. However, the two sides still are negotiating how teams will operate amid a pandemic that is worsening in a number of states that host NFL teams. The preseason schedule probably will be shortened to two games per team, however, and on Thursday ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Hall of Fame Game, the annual preseason opener in Canton, Ohio, was canceled. Plus, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremonies, which take place that same weekend in August, has been postponed. The Cowboys and Steelers were scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 6 and, because of that, were expected to report to training camp before other teams. They will now square off in the 2021 game, Schefter said, and report at


The Marine Corps Marathon is still on (for now). But there will be less time to finish.

Wednesday’s announcement that the Oct. 25 Marine Corps Marathon would go on as scheduled was a surprise to many, especially as it came amid a wave of cancellations of major fall marathons. New York City had thrown in the towel just minutes earlier. The announcement also contained an unwelcome surprise for some runners: They will have less time to finish. Longtime race director Rick Nealis said the change is one of many his team is agonizing over in trying to reinvent the race in a way that will mitigate the chance of spreading covid-19. From the little things, such as orange slices on the course (none), to the big things, such as self-serve water stops, this fall’s marathon — if it takes place — won’t look like any previous version. The most controversial change, however, has been the amount of time runners are allowed on the course. This week’s announcement noted that runners would need to average 12 minutes per mile rather than the 14 minutes they have been allowed previously — and it leaves open the possibility of further tightening. Over 26.2 miles, that is a huge difference — runners who signed up believing they would have a little over six hours to finish have just 5 hours 15 minutes. The limit hit doubly hard because the race, called “The People’s Marathon,” doesn’t have prize money to attract a truly elite field and has long been considered a haven for first-time marathoners and for back-of-the-pack folks who can’t meet the tighter time restrictions at other races. Nealis got enough blowback that he sent a letter to runners Thursday explaining the decision and posted it on the marathon’s Facebook page. Within two hours, the post had hundreds of comments. “Many other large events have canceled but our Marine instinct is to lean in and fight for the possibility of hosting a live marathon,” the letter said. “This means a major overhaul of how the MCM looks and operates so social distancing considerations may be incorporated.” Put simply, the start has to be much more spread out, Nealis wrote, so runners will have less time to get to the finish. “The critical things are space, size and time,” Nealis said minutes before the letter went out. “Those three things are driving all my decisions right now.” Because of social distancing guidelines, Nealis needs to create a rolling start that avoids more


Trump’s China hawks are loose and not wasting any time

appeared earlier the same day and used the racist term “kung flu.” But underneath the politics, there’s much more going on. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William P. Barr and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray each will deliver their own anti-CCP speeches in the coming weeks, also likely outside Washington. Each of their agencies is working on new initiatives to push back on various Chinese bad actions throughout the summer. Several counter-CCP operations that had been held back are now being put into effect. The State Department announced new restrictions on Chinese state-controlled media outlets, labeling them foreign missions. The State Department is finalizing steps to respond to Beijing’s assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy as other agencies review their relationships with Hong Kong. The FBI is stepping up its investigations into Chinese economic espionage and cybertheft. The Justice Department is expanding its prosecutions of researchers who secretly take CCP money through the Thousand Talents recruitment program. Trump is planning to invite India, Australia, South Korea and maybe Brazil to join the Group of Seven countries for an expanded group meeting alongside the upcoming summit, officials said. They won’t call it a “counter-China coalition,” but that’s the idea. The previous stark divide between the more hawkish and dovish officials on China in the administration’s senior ranks is becoming more porous. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow joined with O’Brien when the White House directly intervened last month to stop billions in federal employees’ pensions being invested in Chinese companies. Trump announced a new financial review committee to determine whether to ban all Chinese firms that don’t follow U.S. regulations from raising capital in our markets. The fact that it’s led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and includes Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton (a former legal adviser to Alibaba) is breeding skepticism. But if these officials try to protect China’s and Wall Street’s interests by not taking action, Trump might step in and overrule them. Trump often mixes his personal interest and the national interest, so it’s hard for the rest of us to separate them when his administration acts. But these moves to call out the Chinese Community Party for what it is and protect ourselves from what it does — regardless of Trump’s motivations — are important and overdue. Read more from Josh Rogin’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.


Saharan dust plume, the largest in decades, spills over Gulf Coast

a tendency to reflect significant amounts of sunlight back to space. In some areas along the U.S. Gulf Coast and ahead of a cold front set to approach the Tennessee Valley, isolated instances of sandy rain are possible where storm clouds ingest a dusty layer of air. Parts of the United Kingdom experienced such oddities in April when a tendril of Saharan dust snaked its way northward. Residents of the southern and southeastern United States may even notice a bit of dust collect on the hood of their car. Because the dust has made such an extensive journey, only the finest, most lightweight particulates have remained airborne as the mass nears North America. But some of the dust may make it close to the ground, presenting health risks if it is inhaled. Agencies in the United States are anticipating degraded air quality associated with the dust. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is informing residents of the concern. “[H]eavy amounts of African dust will continue surging rapidly into and through the state from south to north, impacting most parts of the state with the exception of Far West Texas and the Panhandle,” the agency stated in an online forecast discussion. It predicted air quality levels to range from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups through the weekend, with the worst conditions Saturday. The most sensitive groups to particle pollution include those with respiratory problems and older people, including those with asthma and covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. As the core of the dust plume swept over the Caribbean, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico experienced concentrations of small particulate matter, known as PM10, that soared higher than 400 ug/m3, according to Olga Mayol-Bracero, a researcher at the University of Puerto Rico who is leading a research campaign on dust sampling. Puerto Rico’s air quality had a “hazardous” rating Tuesday, with a PM10 measurement of greater than 425 ug/m3. The EPA has a 24-hour standard for PM10 of 150 ug/m3, beyond which air quality would be considered unhealthy. Visibility in Puerto Rico and other islands was reduced to three miles because of the dust, which is unusual for these plumes since the highest dust concentrations typically reside higher in the atmosphere. Aerosol scattering values, showing how dust is scattering the sunlight, reached the highest levels since observations began in Puerto Rico more than two decades ago, Mayol-Bracero said via


Coronavirus deaths lag behind surging infections but may catch up soon

With novel coronavirus infections setting a single-day national record Wednesday, health experts are taking little solace from one of the few bright spots in the current resurgence: Deaths are not rising in lockstep with caseloads. But that may be just a matter of time. “Deaths always lag considerably behind cases,” Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, told Congress at a hearing Tuesday. In the weeks to come, he and others said, the death toll is likely to rise commensurately. Which means Arizona, Texas and Florida, states that reopened early and now are experiencing runaway infection rates, are likely to be burying more dead in July. “As long as there is a fair amount of testing going on, if there is an uptick in covid-19 infections, then we are likely to see that in the confirmed case data before we see it in the death data,” said Nicholas G. Reich, associate professor of biostatistics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in an email. He predicted “rises in covid-19 deaths over the next month in many of the states that are seeing upticks in cases, like Texas, California, Florida and others, even though the deaths have been either steady or declining in recent weeks.” The virus has come surging back in recent days, with 38,173 U.S. infections Wednesday, more than any previous day in the pandemic, including the catastrophic days of April. This time, the increases are mainly in the South and West, while New York and New Jersey, which were nearly overwhelmed in the spring and have been slow to reopen, are seeing declining cases. California, which shut down early and has taken a slow approach toward reopening, nevertheless reported more than 7,000 new cases Wednesday, easily surpassing its record of 5,019 set Tuesday. Oklahoma — where President Trump on Saturday held an indoor campaign rally — and Florida also hit new single-day highs Wednesday. Those three states, along with Nevada and North Carolina, reached new peaks in their seven-day rolling averages, considered a more reliable indicator of the virus’s impact. Arizona set a record with 2,270 hospitalizations. Coronavirus hospitalizations have tripled in Houston since Memorial Day, Houston Methodist Hospital chief executive Marc Boom said Wednesday. Texas reported 5,551 new cases, the most in a single day, along with 4,389 hospitalizations, up almost 300 from Tuesday’s record high. The state’s seven-day rolling average of new cases has increased


be critical in the outcome of the presidential race and control of the Senate. Senators said Pence pointed to positive indicators, including the lagging mortality rate. That is partly because there is more testing, and younger and healthier people now account for larger shares of those getting tested, Pence contended. Stocks, meanwhile, fell on news of the increase in cases, as the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that the global economy will shrink by 4.9 percent this year and a sluggish recovery would follow. Officials tracking the startling comeback of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, are somewhat buoyed by lessons learned and progress in the health-care system since the virus stormed ashore outside Seattle in late February and later inundated New York City. Some said the greater availability of tests is responsible for turning up more cases. The results of those tests are revealing a larger number of younger people with the virus than there were in the early days of the outbreak. When the pandemic first gripped the United States, it was nearly impossible for anyone without severe symptoms to secure a test. Younger people, who generally suffer milder cases and are more likely to be asymptomatic, may have been underrepresented as a result, said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. Now they are accounting for some of the rise in the overall caseload and a greater proportion of hospitalizations in places like Arizona. There may be fewer deaths among the younger group, but those individuals are likely to infect more older people, she said. With states reopening, “you have the young folks out and about. They’re spreading it,” she said. “It may take time to find its way to older, vulnerable people, who are more likely to die.” Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said older people now have a better understanding of how vulnerable they are. The medical system also has taken steps to better protect people older than 65, including those living in nursing homes and other care facilities. The virus is no longer racing through those places and killing people by the dozens, as it did early in the pandemic. CDC statistics show how thoroughly covid-19 attacks the elderly. From Feb. 1 to June 13, covid-19 was involved in just 2,630 deaths among people 44 or


Send the SpaceX Dragon to the moon

Gateway, to provide Orion with a destination that it can reach. But to travel down to the moon and back up to the high Gateway orbit requires a lander with double the propellant needed from low orbit. This Rube Goldbergian plan will cost billions and add years to the schedule of what has become known as the Artemis program. But is Crew Dragon capable of replacing Orion? We think so. Weighing only 20 percent more than the Apollo capsule, it has 50 percent more internal space, making it more than large enough. Not only that, we wouldn’t need to wait or pay for an SLS to get it there. SpaceX’s already operational Falcon Heavy launcher could send it to low lunar orbit with a fully fueled return stage, eliminating the necessity for the Gateway station. To land would still be a two-rocket situation — one to deliver the Dragon to lunar orbit and another to send the lander — but vastly cheaper and faster, requiring two Falcon Heavy rockets instead of two SLS boosters, which each cost 10 times as much. NASA has tapped Blue Origin (whose founder, Jeff Bezos, also owns The Post), Dynetics and SpaceX in a moon-lander competition. We anticipate the same entrepreneurial spirit that produced Crew Dragon to prevail in its development. It’s time to get on board with the new reality SpaceX and other commercial companies, working closely with NASA, have provided. We propose that a Crew Dragon first be sent in an Apollo 8-type flight around the moon as a demonstration, followed closely by a landing with a commercial lander. The SLS being assembled can be reserved for a future heavy uncrewed payload; Orion can be readied for use in Mars or other crewed interplanetary missions. The question for the administration and Congress is this: Do you really want to reach the moon by 2024? Watch the latest Opinions video: Read more: Read a letter in response to this op-ed: Don’t shoot for the moon Marc A. Thiessen: SpaceX’s success is one small step for man, one giant leap for capitalism Homer Hickam: Let the moon rush begin Diane McWhorter: As astronauts rocket into space, protesters are beaten in the street — just like before Phil Plait: 50 years ago, we were on the moon. Where are we going next? Lori Garver: Forget new crewed missions in space. NASA should focus on saving Earth.


Foul play suspected in case of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillén

days, the Army drops the missing soldier from its roster or classifies them as a deserter, and the vacant position is quickly filled. “They don’t look for them like they should,” Haswell said. Patrice Wise-Franklin hired a private investigator and felt dismissed by Army commanders when she pressured them to keep searching for her son, Dakota Stump, after he went missing from Fort Hood in October 2016. Investigators followed false leads before finding his body three weeks later beneath his car in a wooded area on the base. He died in a single-vehicle car accident. “It felt like it was a joke to them,” Wise-Franklin said. “Until Fort Hood makes the hard decision on changing the protocol on how they handle missing soldiers, they are going to keep having this happen with the same outcome.” Haug, the Fort Hood spokesman, said the Army searches for missing soldiers the moment they disappear. Haug said there is a process by which supervisors are tasked with searching the soldier’s belongings, residence and work to find the missing soldier as the case goes up the chain of command. Grey said the CID routinely opens missing soldier cases. In Guillén’s case, her older sister, Mayra, was the first to notice something was wrong. Her sister was scheduled to go hiking with friends on April 22 but was unexpectedly called into work on her day off at the armory, family said, where she works with small arms and artillery. The CID said most soldiers have been in their barracks during the pandemic and are routinely called in “if something had to be accomplished.” The sisters are close and communicate often. When Vanessa Guillén stopped replying between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., her sister was alarmed. Others tried to text the soldier but the messages were not delivered and calls went straight to voice mail. Mayra Guillén said she reported her sister missing to command and drove three hours from Houston to Killeen to start searching, but she could not get on the base until the next morning. The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Latino civil rights organization in the country, has backed the family and denounced what it calls the “total and reckless mishandling” of the investigation by the Army CID. It is urging Latino families across the country to stop their children from enlisting in the military until Guillén is found. arelis.hernandez@washpost.com


Co-founder of ReOpen Maryland says he has tested positive for coronavirus

A Maryland man who organized rallies to pressure Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to lift the state’s stay-home order says he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and does not plan to provide names of people with whom he had contact to public health officials for contact tracing. Tim Walters, a co-founder of ReOpen Maryland, said on social media this week that he has had a dry cough for months but it recently worsened. He then began to experience an excruciating headache, a fever and the inability to focus with one of his eyes, which led to vertigo. Walters, 53, a diabetic who has had mini-strokes, said he went to a hospital emergency room Monday and was diagnosed with the virus. “Here I am months after not wearing a mask at rallies, churches and so on, and so it’s funny how capricious this thing is,” he said in a Facebook video. He did not respond to an interview request. A Republican and Navy veteran who twice lost races for the Maryland House of Delegates, Walters led rallies in Annapolis, on the Eastern Shore and across the state demanding that Hogan lift restrictions he imposed to slow the spread of the virus. The demonstrations were part of a national movement to reopen states where shutdowns were in effect. In his first bid for elected office in 2014, Walters focused on ending the Democratic monopoly in Annapolis, which he said created a “stagnant economy, 80 new taxes, poor job opportunity and unaccountable spending.” Walters said he planned to post videos on Facebook during his quarantine to provide people with information about dealing with covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. His diagnosis was first reported in the Capital Gazette on Thursday night. By late Friday morning, Walters had deleted the first two of those videos. In them, he had urged people who came in contact with him over the past two weeks to seek medical attention if they have symptoms. He said he expected to receive a call from county health officials for information about his contacts but added: “I will not share anybody’s information with the government. I will not do it.” According to public health officials, contact tracing is a key part of fighting the spread of the virus. In a Facebook Live video Friday, Walters said he was “on the mend” but having trouble eating. “My throat is


Elite runners deal with a pandemic ‘wall’ as races are canceled, postponed due to covid-19

Ann Marie Kirkpatrick had been on track to run a solid Boston Marathon in April. The same for Lou Serafini, who was not only training for Boston but also leading a high-performing group of runners with the same intent. Keira D’Amato was excited to line up at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Poland at the end of March. All three high-level runners, like people across the country, are now facing a much different scenario. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, races across the country and world have been canceled or postponed. For elite athletes who often spend nearly a year with their eyes on one big prize, this is a serious blow. In this new reality, Kirkpatrick, Serafini, D’Amato and other elite runners must figure out a new path forward — with the mental-emotional part as significant as anything. Step one, says Denver-based sports psychologist Justin Ross, is allowing themselves to process the emotions that surround the loss of their “A” races. “You have to give yourself permission to be sad,” he says. “Any major loss connected to a personal goal will have a big emotional impact.” Justin Bosley, a board-certified sports medicine physician in the San Francisco Bay area, concurs. “Whenever I work with high-level athletes, I remind them that when an unforeseen circumstance arises that forces a change in plans, it’s okay to mourn,” he says. “You can’t move on until you process your emotions first.” D’Amato, 35, a real estate agent from Midlothian, Va., is hoping she will have a chance to compete at her race at its new rescheduled date in October. Still, she says that her knee-jerk reaction was to find another race near the original for which she could use her hard-earned fitness. “I was excited for the opportunity and I was bummed when the situation changed,” she admits. “As I tried to find a replacement race, all those were canceling as well.” In 38-year-old Kirkpatrick’s case, the vaunted Boston race had become a big goal after she ran a disappointing Olympic marathon trials race in February. “The trials were my ‘A’ race for a long time, but then I headed into them rundown and anemic,” she says. “I missed key workouts and took awhile to bounce back. I handled myself surprisingly well during the trials and felt strong, so I had confidence heading into Boston.” Bosley recommends that once runners have a


His anemia was followed by searing foot pain. Seventeen years later, in precarious shape, a stellar athlete learned what was wrong.

January 2017 pathology report mentioned it as a possible cause of his symptoms. About 1,500 cases are diagnosed annually in the United States, compared to about 32,000 cases of multiple myeloma. Waldenstrom’s occurs mostly in men over 60 when lymphoma cells in bone marrow proliferate, crowding out normal red and white blood cells. Anemia is common and symptoms include fatigue, neuropathy and night sweats. There is no cure. Treatment typically consists of chemotherapy and targeted treatments that kill only cancer cells. The disease is diagnosed through blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy and can be confirmed by a test for a genetic mutation. Kamal said he cannot fathom why Sipos went undiagnosed for so long. “He was seeing the right doctor,” Kamal noted, referring to the proper specialty. When he received Sipos’s complete records, Kamal said, “lab after lab after lab” showed results that warranted treatment. “There are not many diseases [other than Waldenstrom’s] where you see high IgM and neuropathy. Most patients are diagnosed within a year or two.” Sipos said that when he told the first hematologist what Kamal had recommended, she balked and insisted that her diagnosis was correct. Switching doctors was problematic; Kamal was outside his insurance network. So another month elapsed while Sipos, unsure about what to do, obtained another opinion. The third cancer specialist strongly sided with Kamal. “If you don’t have chemo, you’re going to expire,” Sipos remembers her saying. Sipos called his insurance company and requested a transfer to Kamal; it was quickly approved. He then underwent another bone marrow biopsy and testing to rule out amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by the accumulation of a protein that can result in organ failure. A positive test for the MYD88 L265P mutation linked to Waldenstrom’s clinched the diagnosis. (The mutation is not passed on to offspring.) In mid-August 2018, Sipos began a grueling chemotherapy regimen to treat Waldenstrom’s. He wore a Superman T-shirt that one of his kindergarten students had given him to every session as a sort of talisman. By January 2019, his cancer was in remission. But the agonizing nerve damage to his hands and feet continues to plague him. Kamal said the damage is probably irreversible and may have occurred because his cancer went untreated for so long. Sipos, who sees a pain specialist, said he has been prescribed methadone, which “takes the zing out of it.” He said


Complaints about airline service have skyrocketed during the covid-19 pandemic

the airline. Throughout the pandemic, U.S. airlines have updated travel policies to offer increased flexibility for customers, and the Department of Transportation’s website offers clarity for consumers with questions.” The carriers’ reluctance to provide refunds has drawn particular outrage because airlines received more than $50 billion in bailout funds as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package known as the Cares Act. Southwest, United and Spirit airlines have all been sued by consumers outraged that carriers offered them vouchers or credits for future trips rather than cash. The dramatic increase in complaints has also prompted warnings from the Transportation Department. In May, the department issued a second enforcement notice reminding carriers of their obligations under consumer protection laws. Although the notice does not guarantee that travelers will receive refunds, it offers them additional information about their rights — and reminds airlines that they could face consequences if they refuse to comply. In a statement that accompanied the notice, officials said the department will be monitoring airlines’ refund practices and would issue letters or fines “as necessary.” Until then, it would give airlines “an opportunity to come into compliance.” In March, as the issue was heating up, a group of nine senators, including Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), wrote to airlines saying that the pandemic was putting an “enormous financial strain on millions of Americans,” and that carriers had “a moral responsibility to provide real refunds, not travel vouchers” to consumers. Based on information received from airlines, the lawmakers estimated that carriers were potentially holding on to as much as $10 billion in consumer cash. Airlines have shifted some policies in response to consumer complaints, but some travelers still report running into problems when they have asked for their money back. Airline executives said they are trying to accommodate consumers, but are struggling to stay afloat in the midst of the worst downturn in industry history. Friday’s report also showed how dramatically airlines have cut their operations. Airlines scheduled fewer than half the number of flights they did in March and ultimately ended up canceling 41 percent of the ones that were scheduled within a week of their scheduled departure. It was the highest number of cancellations on record, exceeding the number canceled in September 2001, the month of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the end, carriers flew 194,390 flights in April, the lowest since February 1994, when they operated 370,027 flights.


Europe prepares to reopen to foreign travelers, but Americans don’t even figure into the discussion

BRUSSELS — European diplomats are poised to approve an agreement on which foreign travelers they want to welcome starting July 1 as the European Union reopens its external borders for the first time since March. But with the coronavirus still raging in the United States, the possibility of allowing American tourists hasn't even figured into the discussion, according to six diplomats familiar with the talks. Europe’s draft in-and-out list reflects its assessment of how well other countries have managed to control their outbreaks. E.U. countries were among the world’s hardest-hit by the pandemic this spring, but most now have the virus under control and have been willing to consider opening their borders to other countries where the novel coronavirus is similarly in check. China is among the 15 countries set to make the cut, despite E.U. skepticism about how transparent it has been about its outbreak. Visitors from China would be allowed to enter Europe only if Beijing drops measures against E.U. travelers. Also expected to be approved: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The list is subject to final approval Saturday, but diplomats said it was unlikely to change. The rest of the world would continue to be kept out for nonessential travel. The decision underscores the perception here that the United States has failed in its coronavirus response. European leaders and health experts have watched with unease as many American states insist on reopening, even as infections spike in many parts of the country. E.U. members have seen clusters of infections since they began relaxing their own restrictions. Germany, Spain and Portugal are among those that have reimposed localized lockdowns. But for the bloc as a whole, diagnoses have slowed to 16 cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, the main measure Europe is using to determine whether countries make the cut. The United States, by contrast, stands at 122 cases per 100,000 people, and numbers are getting worse. Florida has set records for the past 19 days in a row. Wary of being pulled into a diplomatic brawl with each country they continue to exclude, European leaders have strained to keep their internal discussions focused narrowly on issues of science and epidemiology. “The European Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travelers,” Eric Mamer, a


The state of the pandemic, in nine charts

cases. But that’s skewed by a relatively high rate of deaths early in the pandemic. Since early May, the daily ratio of deaths to cases has consistently fallen, dropping below 2 percent in recent days. That’s a bit misleading, since deaths necessarily trail infections. If we compare the daily average number of deaths to the number of new cases one week prior, we see an even steadier decline in the number of cases leading to death. That the ratio has dropped is itself attributable to some extent to the increase in testing. Daily data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project show how, after a lull in mid-April, the number of tests being conducted each day has steadily risen. That’s why more young people are being detected; we now have the capacity to conduct tests even on asymptomatic people. That we detected so few cases in April (relatively speaking) means that a lot of cases went undetected — and that the people most likely to be tested were the sickest. That skewed the ratio of cases to deaths, since healthier people who had contracted the virus weren’t included in the confirmed case totals. It also meant that the rate of positive tests was higher, since sicker people were more likely to get tests. As we’ve deployed more testing, the rate of positive tests has dropped. Or, had dropped, until earlier this month, when it started climbing again. That’s why Trump’s “it’s because of more testing” line is obviously misleading. More tests are coming back positive even as testing expands, meaning that more people are being infected. If we look at the change in testing and new cases by state since June 1, we see how those things correlate. States with more testing and more cases relative to the beginning of the month (at upper right) generally have also seen increases in the rate of positive tests being returned. In the case of Florida and Arizona, they are seeing a lot more new cases each day than they did June 1, while the rate at which testing has expanded has grown more slowly. (That dashed diagonal line shows a rate of growth in testing and in new cases that’s equivalent. Circles over that line are seeing cases grow faster than testing.) States where new cases have fallen are also seeing dropping positivity rates. It is a good indicator of how things are


Almost one-third of black Americans know someone who died of covid-19, survey shows

Nearly 1 in 3 black Americans know someone personally who has died of covid-19, far exceeding their white counterparts, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll that underscores the coronavirus pandemic’s profoundly disparate impact. The nationwide survey finds that 31 percent of black adults say they know someone firsthand who has been killed by the virus, compared with 17 percent of adults who are Hispanic and 9 percent who are white. Adding in those who know someone with symptoms consistent with covid-19, slightly more than half of black Americans say they know at least one person who has gotten sick or died of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Fewer than 4 in 10 white or Hispanic Americans say they do. Taken together, the poll’s findings attest to sharp racial differences in the sense that the virus is close at hand, after nearly a half-year in which it has sparked the nation’s worst public health calamity in more than a century. According to authorities on health disparities, those differences arise from the nation’s deep-seated socioeconomic inequality and help explain the recent spasm of unrest across much of the country in a drive for racial justice. “This pandemic has really unearthed — shone a real bright light on — the ways these disparities should not be accepted and are not tolerable,” said Joseph Betancourt, vice president and chief equity and inclusion officer at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The differing close-up exposure to the virus’s ravaging effects is accompanied by divergent attitudes about the best way for the country to recover. Asked whether it is more important to try to control the spread of the coronavirus or to try to restart the economy, even if one hurts the other, 83 percent of black Americans say trying to control the virus is a higher priority. By contrast, when the same question was asked in a Washington Post-ABC News poll last month, just about half of white Americans said trying to control the virus is more important. The differences in proximity to coronavirus sickness and death align, too, with political attitudes, the survey shows. More than 8 in 10 black Americans say that, in deciding which presidential candidate to vote for in the November election, the coronavirus outbreak will be one of the most important factors or very important. Nearly as many Americans who are Hispanic say they hold that view — but


Local Digest: Suspects arrested in unrelated D.C. homicides

THE DISTRICT D.C. police on Thursday arrested two men in separate fatal shootings that occurred this year in Southeast Washington. In the latest shooting, police said they arrested Jonathan Jenkins, 28, and charged him with second-degree murder while armed. Jenkins is charged in the killing of Richard Mitchell, 25, of Oxon Hill about 1 p.m. May 31 in the 2500 block of Elvans Road SE. Mitchell died at a hospital. Police said Jenkins has no fixed address. Authorities did not comment on a possible motive. Authorities said police also arrested a suspect in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred in February. Glenn Dolford, 26, of Southeast was charged with first-degree murder while armed. Police said he was arrested by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. Dolford is charged in the shooting of Raheem Murray, also 26, who police said had no fixed address. The shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Feb. 2 in the 4300 block of 3rd Street SE, on the border of Washington Highlands and Bellevue. Police said Murray was one of three people shot at that location. — Peter Hermann A 33-year-old man was fatally shot early Friday in Northwest. D.C. police said the incident unfolded around 12:30 a.m. in the unit block of New York Avenue NW near North Capitol Street NW. When officers arrived, they found a man, who was later identified as Robert Judd of Northwest, with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest of a suspect or suspects and conviction of those involved. The city has had 80 homicides so far this year, according to D.C. police. — Dana Hedgpeth MARYLAND Montgomery County can continue to provide direct financial assistance to undocumented residents, a Maryland district judge ruled Thursday. In May, two county residents sued County Executive Marc Elrich (D) and the director of the Department of Health and Human Services for funding a one-time emergency assistance check during the novel coronavirus pandemic to low-income families that do not qualify for the federal stimulus check or state benefits. The plaintiffs, Sharon Bauer and Richard Jurgena, alleged that the county officials violated federal law by directing taxpayer dollars to undocumented immigrants. Maryland District Judge Peter J. Messitte said the residents’ allegations were “unquestionably serious” but ruled that they


Nearly 30 years after the ADA, the nation’s transit agencies report successes and shortfalls

to satisfy the court’s requirements. Finally, though, progress is evident. Not only in Jackson — which now has an ADA coordinator and a fully accessible bus system — but across the country. “Things are, overall, getting slowly better,” Crawford said. President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. As the legislation’s 30th birthday nears, advocates say the increased mobility of Americans with disabilities is evidence that it was the right thing to do. That gaps persist, however, is a reminder that work remains. Title II of the ADA protects people with disabilities from discrimination in public transportation and guarantees them equal access to public transit systems. For accessibility advocates, however, it’s not enough to know what the law says. They want policymakers, transit agencies and riders to appreciate why it exists in the first place. “Mobility is freedom itself, period,” Crawford said. “Accessible transit gives people with disabilities the opportunity to work, engage and contribute to their communities. The alternative is tantamount to house arrest.” Nearly 25 million people have a travel-limiting disability, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which says 1 percent of all Americans — about 3.6 million people — are homebound because of a disability. “We’re not talking about an insignificant number of people,” said Jordana Maisel, director of research at the University of Buffalo’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access. “Millions of people experience transportation barriers, and those barriers are worse for people with disabilities because they rely on the transit system more than anyone.” Although some have fulfilled their ADA obligations better than others, public transit systems are aware of the need. “We look at mobility as a basic human right,” said Scott Bogren, executive director of the Community Transportation Association of America, whose members include approximately 1,400 providers of community-based and public transportation. “Whether it’s accessing health care, work or any other destination, it’s hard to achieve a good quality of life if you don’t have mobility.” Public transportation “has come a long way” since the ADA’s passage 30 years ago, Bogren said. “We’re doing above average, but we could do better.” Accomplishments and deficiencies alike are most apparent in the nation’s oldest transit systems. Because facilities built before the ADA are exempt from its requirements, the New York subway — which dates to 1904 — remains largely inaccessible. Only a quarter of New York’s subway stations


Skywatch: What’s happening in the heavens in July

For sky gazers, this warm July provides plenty of planets. As July opens its evening sky, cosmic companions Jupiter and Saturn rise in the southeast around 9:30 p.m. By midnight, the planetary chums hang out high in the south. Jupiter is magnificent at -2.7 magnitude, while the ringed planet Saturn is substantially more dim at 0.2 magnitude, brightening only slightly, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. The gibbous moon begins to approach the two gaseous giant planets July 3 near the star-spangled Sagittarius constellation, which you can spot above the southeastern horizon. On July 5, the moon officially becomes full at 12:44 a.m. Eastern time. (For the Central and western time zones, the moon becomes officially full July 4.) The bright moon scoots by the teapot handle asterism in Sagittarius on the evening of July 5 to form a trio with Jupiter and Saturn. By the next night, the gibbous lunar companion moves along. Don’t worry, there’s more. Jupiter and Saturn soon reach opposition — which is, more or less, a “full planet” — in mid-July. Jupiter (July 14) is opposite the sun, from our blue planet perspective. Saturn reaches opposition July 20, according to the Naval Observatory. Effervescent Venus ascends the eastern sky before 4 a.m. early in July. Our brilliant neighboring planet starts the month at -4.7 magnitude, which is dazzling and easily seen. It’s perfectly placed for beach lovers walking the sand before dawn or for “staycationers” walking the dog. The observatory notes that Venus’s magnitude diminishes slightly toward the end of July. Our other neighboring planet, Mars, rises before 1 a.m. in the eastern sky early in the month. Find the rusty, ruddy Red Planet before dawn in the southeast. It really does have a red tint, especially because it is bright at -0.5 magnitude when the month starts and reaches -1.07 magnitude (bright) at July’s end. Mars is expecting more research traffic, as NASA’s sturdy rover Perseverance and its small companion helicopter Ingenuity are scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on July 22 at 9:35 a.m. (nasa.gov). The mission will research Martian geology and scoop up soil samples for a return to Earth in a future mission. Before sunrise, an Atlantic Ocean beach in mid- to late July would be perfect to catch all five visible planets and an elderly moon. Find the fleet Mercury in the east-northeast loitering low on the horizon near


Saturn reaches opposition July 20, according to the Naval Observatory. Effervescent Venus ascends the eastern sky before 4 a.m. early in July. Our brilliant neighboring planet starts the month at -4.7 magnitude, which is dazzling and easily seen. It’s perfectly placed for beach lovers walking the sand before dawn or for “staycationers” walking the dog. The observatory notes that Venus’s magnitude diminishes slightly toward the end of July. Our other neighboring planet, Mars, rises before 1 a.m. in the eastern sky early in the month. Find the rusty, ruddy Red Planet before dawn in the southeast. It really does have a red tint, especially because it is bright at -0.5 magnitude when the month starts and reaches -1.07 magnitude (bright) at July’s end. Mars is expecting more research traffic, as NASA’s sturdy rover Perseverance and its small companion helicopter Ingenuity are scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on July 22 at 9:35 a.m. (nasa.gov). The mission will research Martian geology and scoop up soil samples for a return to Earth in a future mission. Before sunrise, an Atlantic Ocean beach in mid- to late July would be perfect to catch all five visible planets and an elderly moon. Find the fleet Mercury in the east-northeast loitering low on the horizon near the Gemini and Orion constellations. Moving south, you can see Venus is the heart of the constellation Taurus. On July 15, see the crescent moon approaching Venus. While Mars is almost due south, turn and find Saturn and Jupiter getting ready to set in the west. On July 5, near the time the moon is officially full, there will be a very slight penumbral lunar eclipse, according to retired NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak (eclipsewise.com). In reality, it is so faint that you won’t notice it. This will be the third eclipse in a series of 71 events, so for the first total lunar eclipse in this series, saros 149, you’ll need patience — because it will occur April 16, 2489. Tune in for a down-to-Earth event July 7: “More Things in the Heavens: Infrared Exploration with the Spitzer Space Telescope,” an online lecture by Michael Werner, the Spitzer project scientist, who will describe how the telescope explored the heavens in the infrared. The Exploring Space Lecture Series event is hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (airandspace.si.edu) at 8 p.m. Link to the lecture: https://rb.gy/ud5bdg.


PM Update: More strong thunderstorms possible this evening. Hot and muggy with more storms on Sunday.

now racing out over the Chesapeake Bay. These storms resulted in tree damage in southeastern Montgomery County in particular, with multiple reports of downed trees and power lines from Chevy Chase to Bethesda. The region near Silver Spring picked up about 1.5 inches of rain in under two hours, based on radar estimates. There is the chance for additional storms to form through the evening hours, though these should be scattered in coverage. 5:25 p.m.: Storms stretch from Arlington to Annapolis A line of thunderstorms with a history of producing wind damage, torrential rains and small hail stretches from Arlington to Annapolis. Wind gusts to 60 mph are possible with these storms along with heavy rains capable of causing flash flooding. 5:15 p.m.: *Severe thunderstorm warning for D.C., Anne Arundel, southeastern Montgomery, Northern Prince George's County until 5:45 p.m.* The thunderstorms forming just north of Washington continue to expand and intensify as they move south and east, prompting warnings to expand as well. The biggest threats with these storms are torrential rain, lightning and strong winds to 60 miles per hour. 5:05 p.m.: *Flash flood warning for southeastern Montgomery County until 7:45 p.m.* Slow-moving thunderstorms erupted along I-495 in SE Montgomery County on Saturday afternoon, dumping more than an inch of rain in under an hour from Bethesda to Chevy Chase and Silver Spring. Flooding of small creeks, rivers and in urban areas is expected to occur shortly or already occurring, per the National Weather Service. Yuck — that’s the proper word for how things felt today. The classic D.C. heat and humidity will be with us for the next few days and, unfortunately, next few nights, as well. With these unsettled air masses comes the increased chance of showers and storms, and one look at this afternoon’s radar confirms this. While isolated in coverage, some of these storms may feed off the heat and humidity and become rather strong, so do keep an eye on the radar and on our Twitter updates if you are venturing out this evening. Listen to our daily D.C. forecasts: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Echo | More options Through tonight: View the Tomorrow (Sunday): See Ian Livingston’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Gridlock. Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email inbox?


U.S. Olympians call for abolition of rule prohibiting protest

U.S. athletes have called on the International Olympic Committee to abolish Rule 50, the provision in the Olympic charter that bars protest and other political statements at the Games. In a letter sent Saturday to the IOC and International Paralympic Committee and co-signed by iconic former athlete and activist John Carlos, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Athletes Advisory Committee denounced Rule 50 as “the oppression of athletes” and called for a new policy granting greater rights of expression. “Athletes will no longer be silenced,” the letter read. The committee’s letter comes in the wake of worldwide protests after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody sparked a reckoning over racial injustice in the United States. The debate over the merits of Rule 50 was reignited at the Pan American Games last year when hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised her fist during the national anthem and fencer Race Imboden knelt on the medal stand. The USOPC placed both on one year of probation while citing Rule 50, which prohibits “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda.” Sarah Hirshland, the USOPC’s chief executive, signaled a shift this month in how the governing body will support athletes’ protests. On June 8, she sent a letter to U.S. athletes announcing the formation of “an athlete-led group to challenge the rules and systems in our own organization that create barriers to progress, including your right to protest.” That letter came after many athletes expressed frustration after finding the USOPC’s initial response to Floyd’s death lacking. Berry then called Hirshland’s letter “encouraging,” but U.S. athletes took their concerns directly to the IOC on Saturday. Their letter came after a call with IOC officials in which they expressed their position that Rule 50 should be abolished. “We are now at a crossroads,” the committee wrote. “The IOC and IPC cannot continue on the path of punishing or removing athletes who speak up for what they believe in, especially when those beliefs exemplify the goals of Olympism. Instead, sports administrators must begin the responsible task of transparent collaboration with athletes and athlete groups (including independent athlete groups) to reshape the future of athlete expression at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Let us work together to create a new structure that celebrates athletes who speak about issues in alignment with human rights and the 7 principles of Olympism.” In the letter, the athletes noted the hypocrisy of


The National Zoo puts down a second elderly elephant

getting worse. She had been at the zoo since she arrived from Sri Lanka in 1976. She was euthanized in the elephant barn with a combination of drugs similar to those used to put down a pet, the zoo said. Afterward, her herd mates — Bozie, Maharani, Spike and Swarna — were allowed to spend time with her body. Bozie and Maharani walked around Shanthi for about an hour, and Bozie “assumed a protective stance,” the zoo said in a statement. Spike and Swarna sniffed and touched Shanthi with their trunks. Shanthi’s body, which weighed about 8,500 pounds, was removed Saturday and taken off site for a necropsy and incineration. The zoo has been closed to visitors because of the pandemic. Shanthi was the mother of Kumari, a female who was born in 1993 but died in 1995 of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus. She also gave birth in 2001 to Kandula, a male who is a resident of the Oklahoma City Zoo. Shanthi developed arthritis in her teens, and the zoo said it has been treating the ailment aggressively for the past four years. In December, the zoo said the treatments seemed to be losing their effect and the elephant seemed to be in more pain. “Over the past several weeks, the level of pain and discomfort Shanthi experienced appeared to significantly increase,” the zoo said. “She frequently interrupted her walks to rest . . . could not get comfortable to sleep at night and sometimes winced when taking a step.” “Given Shanthi’s declining quality of life and poor long-term prognosis, animal care staff made the decision to humanely euthanize her,” the zoo said. In March, when Ambika was euthanized, Shanthi and Bozie were allowed to spend time with her body. Ambika had also been treated for arthritis, but the staff was able to ease her pain and slow the progression of the disease, the zoo said. She also began to develop lesions on her footpads and nails. For those, she got foot baths, pedicures and antibiotics. The lesions could not be controlled and got worse, the zoo said. Then one of her legs developed a curve, and zoo veterinarians knew her health and quality of life had deteriorated so much that she had to be euthanized, the zoo said. “We gave her a gift of peace,” Marie Galloway, who had been Ambika’s keeper for 33 years, said at the time.


Pains, chills, fatigue, vomiting and vertigo plague me. Small fiber neuropathy causes it all.

More than three years ago, I came down with a mysterious illness I thought might be a flu, but turned out to be something entirely different. My blizzard of symptoms began innocuously in November 2016 with terribly cold feet. So cold that even when I got under the covers with a hot water bottle between them, and they were warm to the touch, they still felt like painful ice-blocks. At other times, I had the equally unpleasant sensation that my feet and shins were burning or already burnt. A few weeks later, I started to experience intense throbbing pain in all my toes, as if someone had seconds before stomped on them with heavy boots, which made walking or standing difficult. Often my legs were so heavy that I could barely move them. Occasionally, my feet turned bright red. And every few hours came shooting pains, electric shocks that traveled up my legs. In my 55 years on earth, I’d never felt pain like that — except when a dentist drilled without Novocain. All the symptoms increased at night, so sleep became elusive. I wound up sticking my feet outside the covers because even a sheet brushing against them proved too painful to bear. Before long, the same panoply of pains had moved to my hands and then arms — and occasionally my face and stomach. Heat made the symptoms worse; cold and damp made them much worse. But often these pains flared for no discernible reason. Totally unrelated, or so I thought, were other things that began to go wrong with me over the next few months: I often found myself pouring with sweat from my forehead, but became unable to sweat on my legs and arms; I lost all the hair on my lower legs; I was increasingly faint and dizzy, with my heart racing whenever I changed position or had a shower; and I was experiencing a fatigue and bone-pain so profound that every few hours I needed to stop whatever I was doing and lie down on the floor. The exhaustion, which feels like the start of the flu, was particularly severe a day or two after I exercised. Then, in early spring, I started getting vertigo after eating a full meal and hours later would vomit up undigested food. For someone who lives to eat, and frequently edits cookbooks for my job as an editor


Flood of hikers, protective gear requirements could pose challenges for search-and-rescue teams

resources are facing two new challenges created by the novel coronavirus. First, after months of sheltering in place, Americans looking for social distancing activities are flooding trails and parks. Any increase in hikers means an increase in rescues, and SAR providers were already having trouble keeping up with a rise in visitors to public lands that had occurred before the pandemic hit, according to a January report from Outside magazine. Second, rescues are tougher when they involve dealing with a super-contagious virus. Social distancing during a SAR operation is near-impossible; it’s not uncommon to complete a SAR operation coated with the injured hiker’s exhalations or spattered with some of their blood. That means rescuers will have to wear personal protective equipment. As Drew Hildner, a volunteer medic with Boulder, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Rescue Group puts it, “Imagine hiking strenuously, off-trail, wearing a pack that weighs up to 70 pounds, and a surgical mask.” Rocky Mountain Rescue Group is one of the country’s largest all-volunteer SAR providers. Its protocols for dealing with the coronavirus during every SAR dispatch include wearing “surgical masks, long-sleeved shirts, eye protection, and gloves,” Hildner said, adding that if a patient is having respiratory issues or mentions possible exposure to the coronavirus, the SAR team will put on N95 respirators. In addition, the team has been capping the number of participants on SAR missions to the lowest head count required. This minimizes the number of volunteers who could potentially be exposed to the coronavirus on a SAR operation, which mitigates the risk of Rocky Mountain Rescue losing a significant portion of its volunteer base to self-quarantine. Hilder is concerned that the discomfort posed by the masks could be the final straw for some SAR volunteers. “We’ve run into points in seasons past where our volunteers experience rescue fatigue,” Hildner said. “By late summer, everyone kind of groans when the pager goes off. We haven’t reached that point yet, but I anticipate that we will this year.” Given the new stresses SAR operators are facing, hikers should consider how to minimize the risks both to themselves and to potential rescuers, according to Lt. James Kneeland of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, which leads SAR operations in tandem with volunteer SAR groups throughout the White Mountain National Forest. Hikers heading into the backcountry should be sure to pack the “Ten Essentials” listed by the National Park Service


The future of travel, according to ‘Amazing Race’ host Phil Keoghan

8. And in his downtime, he’s been watching global plane traffic on flight tracking apps, pondering the future of travel and looking forward to seeing his family in New Zealand again. (Editor’s note: This Q&A is the second in a weekly series from By The Way, in which we interview prominent voices in the industry on the Have you been thinking about how you expect your own job and the production of the show to change? I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I’ve talked about it a lot with people, because we come into contact with so many people when we travel. Say in Europe, how do we go to a country there and we’re working with drivers and security people and production people and we get in a confined space with them in a car and drive five hours to a location — how does all that work? Are we wearing masks and are they vetted? Are we vetted? Are we constantly having our temperatures taken? I don’t know. I’m really interested. Will people ever shake hands again? Like will we arrive in a foreign country and shake a hand? Are we going to be more like the Japanese and is it going to be a nod or a bow or an elbow? So much is going to change. Do you have a target date in mind for when — not the show, necessarily — but when you think travel might be back? But isn’t travel back? I mean, it’s not like it went anywhere here in the United States. That’s a good point. I guess I mean [for] travel to resume some sense of normalcy. I’m not sure that we will ever fly at the capacity that we flew before. Because I think what’s going to happen is travel is going to become more expensive because — just like the expense of adding in the extra security after 9/11 — we’re going to now have to add in a layer of expense to deal with the cost of medical checks. That overhead has got to be covered by somebody; there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? Somebody’s got to pay for it, and ultimately it’s going to be the consumer. Now, we’ll be safer as a result, but there’s going to be a cost to that, so I just don’t think we’re going to


Lawyers urge Trump to rescind sanctions and travel bans for International Criminal Court

A group of 175 legal scholars and lawyers specializing in international law have urged President Trump to rescind his authorization of sanctions and visa denials for International Criminal Court staff members investigating war crimes in Afghanistan, including those allegedly committed by U.S. forces. In a statement sent to the White House on Friday and released Monday, the lawyers said that placing sanctions on prosecutors and investigators of alleged war crimes, rather than perpetrators, is “wrong in principle, contrary to American values, and prejudicial to U.S. national security.” “Seeking to intimidate investigators and punish prosecutors perverts the purpose and undermines the legitimacy of sanctions,” they wrote. The statement, which comes amid news that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill coalition troops in Afghanistan, was signed by former ambassadors, assistant secretaries of state for human rights, prosecutors and judges at war crimes tribunals held in other countries. Among the signatories is Ben Ferencz, the last surviving U.S. prosecutor of Nazis at Nuremberg. Now 100, Ferencz was the lead prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen case, which involved roving killing squads during World War II. Although successive U.S. administrations have considered the ICC an attack on U.S. sovereignty, the dispute over the court has come to a head in the two years since it announced an inquiry into allegations of crimes against humanity by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2003 an 2004 and at secret CIA “black sites,” interrogation facilities in Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The ICC investigation encompasses alleged crimes by all sides, including Afghan security forces and the Taliban, as well as a small number of U.S. personnel. Last year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revoked the visa of the court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, when she announced plans to pursue investigations of what happened, and threatened to revoke visas for other court officials investigating the actions of U.S. citizens. An ICC appeals panel approved the investigation on June 5. Less than a week later, Trump signed an executive order authorizing the sanctions, and Pompeo signaled that a sustained U.S. campaign against the court would begin in coming weeks. “We cannot, we will not stand by as our people are threatened by a kangaroo court,” Pompeo said, standing at a State Department podium alongside Attorney General William P. Barr, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and national security adviser Robert O’Brien. The ICC in the Netherlands has been controversial since it was created


Covid-19 sickens seniors differently. Here’s why.

infections when we get them. Other components of our immune systems weaken with age because the cells that fight off invading organisms directly, or through release of antibodies, become less effective in old age. That’s why older people need stronger doses of the flu vaccine to elicit a protective response. Another reason that aging complicates matters is that many diseases, and pneumonia in particular, have very different symptoms in the elderly than they do in the middle-aged. Many older covid-19 patients did not present the “classic” symptoms so common in younger patients — fever, cough and shortness of breath. Seniors who came to hospitals or called their physicians were typically asked whether they had those symptoms and often replied that they did not. But many did complain of delirium, fainting or gastrointestinal symptoms. Because they did not have the symptoms that were required to be eligible for coronavirus testing, their infections often went undetected and were left to worsen without appropriate attention. These age-related differences are aggravated by the increased risk associated with severe underlying illnesses, such as diabetes; heart failure; lung, kidney or liver diseases; or cancer, especially those on treatments that might impair immune function. While it is likely a healthy 75-year-old is at less risk than a 60-year-old with a chronic disease, a 75-year-old with a chronic disease is at special risk. In addition, many elderly people share the same disadvantageous social determinants of health that contribute to the special risks of populations, including the poor, who might have substandard housing, nutrition and access to health care. Beyond these factors, several additional risk factors for severe covid-19 have been identified, and more are sure to come: · Men are more susceptible than women. · Obesity increases risk, at least in young and middle-aged adults (though not so much in seniors). · Having Type-A blood carries a 50 percent greater risk of requiring respiratory support (such as a ventilator) when infected, while Type-O blood lessens that risk. (If you don’t know your blood type — and many do not — it is time to find out.) · And a genetic marker, called ApoE4, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s, also increases the risk of severe covid-19. This makes individuals with dementia an ultra-high-risk group, especially given their difficulty in following guidelines such as social distancing and frequent hand-washing. Understanding an individual’s risk profile might become useful in allocating


Putin tells Russia coronavirus is in retreat. Critics face crackdowns for saying it’s far from over.

2013 to 2019, according to the Federal State Statistics Service. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said in November that health-care reforms had failed in many regions. Anton Siluanov, now finance minister, said at that time that district hospitals and clinics were in “poor, if not terrible, condition.” Activists, opposition figures and an independent health union have filled the information vacuum on the coronavirus. Alexei Minyaylo, who spent seven weeks in custody for participating in anti-government protests last summer, set up a civil society think tank, Razoom, and organized Zoom meetings with 67 experts from 16 Russian regions. Razoom also analyzed Russian and foreign scientific evidence to produce a report on what went wrong in Russia, and what could go wrong in the future. “In European countries, we see a plateau, but in Russia we don’t see any plateau. So we started to think of what the society can do to cope with the situation because we really can’t rely on the government,” Minyaylo said. “They say that there is really not a lot of deaths, but when we dig into the statistics, we find that a lot of deaths from coronavirus are hidden as deaths from pneumonia,” he said. The report identified more than 200 cases of official pressure on journalists and activists exposing information about the pandemic. Dmitry Kolezev, editor of independent online news site Znak based in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, said the region had one of the highest rates of covid-19, but that many pneumonia patients had told him they were unable to get tested for the coronavirus. This suggested that statistics on covid-19 cases and deaths were unreliable, he said. “They wanted to be tested, but either they had to wait for a long time, or tests are just not done,” he said. “Unofficially, according to our sources in the administration and also from patients, we know that there are not enough vacant beds in hospitals.” Some patients were being discharged before they recovered, he added. The mortality figures, he said, have led many people to let down their guard. At the same time, Putin’s government is appealing for a high turnout in the constitutional vote. “People are very relaxed. They get together in the streets; they’re outside today, or in gyms that started working. They meet in groups, and it seems to me this is because the statistics they are given about infections are low.”


Head of Pr. George’s lab shuttered by state said it launched virus testing without her approval

A Prince George’s County lab that was closed by the state for processing coronavirus tests without proper certification began the testing without the knowledge of its own director, according to Maryland health officials who said the situation posed a threat that justified emergency action. The lab, Advanced Pain Medicine Institute (APMI) in Greenbelt, was testing samples gathered at three pop-up clinics held at churches in Baltimore City, Howard and Anne Arundel counties in June. In a letter to APMI president and medical director Reza Ghorbani, the state said it had investigated the clinic after receiving a complaint and found the testing was being “performed without the approval or supervision” of the lab’s director. The lab director, Sarwat Siddiqui, told state investigators last week that she didn’t approve of the institute’s testing validation and that the testing was started “without her knowledge or approval.” Siddiqui also said she considered the lab space at the Greenbelt office to be “inappropriate” for the kind of novel coronavirus test Ghorbani was using. Siddiqui’s lack of involvement in the project made “the testing invalid and the results questionable,” according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “The Office of Health Care Quality has determined that the lack of inclusion of the laboratory director in charge of testing, poses a threat to public health and safety which imperatively requires emergency action,” the Maryland health officials wrote in the letter dated June 27. Siddiqui did not respond to an email or phone calls seeking comment. State rules say that a lab director “shall participate in and actively oversee the planning, organization, direction, and review of all laboratory operations to the extent necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter.” In addition: “The absence of laboratory director participation to perform these crucial functions places the health and safety of the public at an unacceptable risk of harm that could result from inaccurate laboratory results and communications of test results to health care providers and patients,” according to the letter. Maryland Health Secretary Robert R. Neall issued an order Saturday directing the lab to immediately stop coronavirus testing. The state also suspended APMI’s license to operate a medical lab and perform any lab testing. The lab is on the sixth floor of an office building in Greenbelt. On Monday afternoon, the door to the lab was unlocked but no one appeared to be inside.


‘My dad died alone and afraid from something that, by all rights, shouldn’t have killed him’

It’s the end of June, and here we are, still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. By now, many of us have been touched by the novel coronavirus in personal ways. So far, I’ve had a family member test positive, and a couple I’ve been friends with for a long time found out their baby had covid-19 and Kawasaki disease. I am beyond thankful that they are all doing fine now, but not everyone is so lucky. Photographer Lila Barth recently shared a project she had been working on with a friend. Together, they’ve created an extraordinarily personal and heart-rending account of how covid-19 has affected their lives. Barth’s friend Chloe Weber lost her father, Richard, to the virus just as cases in New York City began to spike. Richard’s death shocked his family and friends. According to Chloe, he was only 57 and was healthy. Months into this pandemic, and there are still so many things a that we do not know. Our understanding is constantly changing. At first, we thought it posed the greatest risk to older people and people with underlying health problems, but we’ve seen so many cases that contradict that. Indeed, we are now seeing evidence that cases among young people are skyrocketing. Covid-19 continues to be a perilous disease, and Lila and Chloe’s project underscores that in an extremely emotional, fragile and intimate way. While Lila’s photos explore the themes of the virus’s outbreak in New York City and the place where Lila and Chloe grew up, Metuchen, N.J., Chloe’s words about the loss of her father provide a harrowing and sorrowful portrayal of what it is like losing a loved one during this time. Chloe’s words are a moving tribute to the love of a father and a cautionary tale for all of us as we move forward. Here are Chloe’s words: Looking back is something I do often now. I remember when my grandmother died in 2015, my cousin said, “My memories of her have become so much clearer.” My mom replied, “It’s because they’re the only things we have left.” Now, that’s all I have left of my dad — photos, furniture, old clothes, a box of ashes, memories. He died just after midnight on March 19, joining 230 others in New York City who died of covid-19. He made 231. His death was an improbability, such a slim chance that I


As opioids flooded tribal lands across the U.S., overdose deaths skyrocketed

pain pills to Jefferson County — an average of 94 pills per person each year. That is 2.5 times the national rate and more than twice the rate of the state. The majority of pills were distributed by AmerisourceBergen and McKesson, two of the nation’s largest opioid distributors and defendants in the consolidated lawsuit in Cleveland. A spokesman for AmerisourceBergen said the company is committed to mitigating the diversion of drugs “without interfering with clinical decisions made by doctors, who interact directly with patients and decide what treatments are most appropriate for their care. … We are committed to collaborating with all stakeholders on ways to combat opioid abuse.” A spokesperson for McKesson said in a statement that the company distributes prescription opioids and other medications in response to orders placed by pharmacies and did not influence “the volume of opioids prescribed or consumed in this country.” “We are deeply concerned by the impact the opioid epidemic is having on families and communities across our nation,” the statement said. “We are committed to engaging with all who share our dedication to acting with urgency and working together to end this national crisis.” Dana “Biff” Eck, a second-generation pharmacist who has owned Eck Drug & Gift since 1985, said he was surprised by the number of pills shipped to Jefferson County. “That would amaze me that that many went through here,” Eck said. “We did a lot, but I don’t remember that much.” “We’re just a small-town pharmacy trying to take care of our people,” he added. He said that he does not recall doctors prescribing anything out of the ordinary and that he filled valid prescriptions for as many as 120 pills at a time. He said the culture and attitude toward treating pain has shifted over the past 20 years, from when doctors were told to treat pain as “the fifth vital sign.” “Back in the day, if you were not treating pain, you were not a good doctor,” said Eck, who added that he is now dispensing about a third fewer pain pills than he once did. In Ringling, Okla., population 1,000 and about a half-hour drive from Waurika, Moore Drug has been in Tom Hildebrant’s family since 1934. Hildebrant, a pharmacist who has run the store since 2012, said he was unaware of federal data showing millions of pain pills shipped to his store at the height


Maryland Zoo reopens to public with precautions for people and animals

BALTIMORE — Visitors to the Maryland Zoo welcomed a sense of normalcy Saturday as the zoo reopened to the public with precautions in place not only for visitors, but for lions, tigers, chimps and otters. After months of being cooped up during the coronavirus pandemic, mask-wearing guests were back gazing at the animals on a warm day at Druid Hill Park. The animals stared right back. Nearly 2,100 people booked slots online to visit Saturday after three days of previews reserved for Maryland Zoo members. “On the first day, the penguins were all lined up against the glass,” zoo spokeswoman Claire Aubel said. “The chimps were lined up, too. I think visitors provide them a little entertainment.” The pandemic has necessitated some procedural changes since the zoo closed down in mid-March after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) prohibited large gatherings to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Guests were required to register for timed entries online so the zoo could keep capacity at 50 percent as part of Phase 2 of Baltimore’s reopening plan. Masks were encouraged, but not required except for at select “pinch points” where crowds tended to cluster. The carousel was closed, as was a playground, a shuttle service on the property for visitors and a program in which guests interact with chimpanzee trainers. Signs cautioned children not to climb on statues depicting animals. “Please stay 6 feet apart,” said blue lettering on the sidewalk near the penguins’ display. A drawing of four webbed penguin feet illustrated the point. The public, relieved at the availability of an outdoor attraction, didn’t seem to mind the restrictions. “They’re very excited,” said Jamie Scates of Annapolis, who came with her family, including daughters ages 6 and 9. “Their goal is to see every animal.” Dean Gedansky, 14, of Baltimore said he was aiming to see the baby cheetahs and penguins. “I never really left the house,” Gedansky said. “I’m glad to go out somewhere so I can stop slowly going insane.” His mother, Christine Gedansky, said a zoo trip was perfect for the times. “We’re outdoors, we can keep separate from people. The air is clear, and we’re not getting near the animals,” she said. “We were actually wondering if the tigers were okay.” More than a half-dozen “big cats” — tigers and lions — have tested positive at the Bronx Zoo in New York for the virus that causes


In-flight dining was already losing its luster. The pandemic could be its demise.

a challenge while stuffing stroopwafels down your throat. The greater risk, though, isn’t so much from mealtime as it is from shared surfaces. “Say you have an infected passenger in Row 1A who talks loudly or coughs and spreads droplets onto the beverage cart — it would become a vector,” explains Shmuel Shoham, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “Even with the gloved hands of flight attendants, the surface presents the threat of secondary transmission.” That particular risk swayed airlines to temporarily suspend alcohol purchases. It wasn’t the act of drinking itself that posed the hazard so much as how it was dispensed. “We removed all buy-on-board products to remove touchpoints of flight attendants having to take credit cards,” explained Maddie King, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, which implemented the policy on March 29. “We still have prepackaged wines and beer available in premium cabins.” The legacy carrier also continues to offer full meals to its first-class passengers, but only on transcontinental routes between San Francisco and Newark, San Francisco and Boston, and Los Angeles and Newark. Foil-wrapped food is delivered individually by the attendant, forgoing the cart. And even then, Shoham advises sanitizing your hands after unwrapping it. “Alcohol gels have proven largely effective in combating covid,” he said. Safety considerations aside, the new airline practices are also an extension of a decades-long trend wherein commercial flying has evolved from esteemed luxury to practical utility. The pandemic has merely accelerated that action. In 2001, American and United each outlaid an average of $8 per person for food, according to Department of Transportation statistics. Less than two decades later, that number has slipped by more than 25 percent. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where extreme minimalism becomes the working model moving forward — yet another inconvenient thread in the daunting new normal that continues to weave itself. Given the trend, now is as good a time as any to consider a personalized approach to provisions. Kat Odell has supplied her own for years. The food writer and author recently had to relocate for work from Tulum, Mexico, to Savannah, Ga. She hardly noticed the new protocols during her flights. “I feel like it just doesn’t impact me at all since I don’t ever eat the food, anyway,” she notes. “I’ve always brought my own meals onboard. But if I have to eat something served


Russian operation targeted coalition troops in Afghanistan, intelligence finds

undertakings are harmful for the sovereign decision-making of any country and movement.” The reports of Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans sparked anger on Capitol Hill and questions about why the administration has not responded to them. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a combat veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Trump for supporting Russia’s return to the G-7 group of nations at a time when Moscow was, according to U.S. intelligence, seeking to harm American troops. “Donald ‘America First’ Trump is literally placing Russian interests ahead of American lives, and Republicans do nothing,” she tweeted. “Putting party before country doesn’t just empower Trump to continue serving his own interests, it can cost American lives too.” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement posted to Twitter that he had requested additional information from the administration, and that such an operation would deepen his concerns about Moscow’s actions beyond Russian borders. “If accurate, the administration must take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable,” he said. It was not immediately clear whether any militants had succeeded in killing Americans or allied forces after being approached by Russia. News of the murky initiative comes as U.S. diplomats attempt to kindle political talks that could put an end to the country’s longest war, now in its 19th year. Earlier this year, the administration struck an initial peace deal with the Taliban. The agreement, which outlined the full withdrawal of the U.S. military within 14 months, was supposed to lead to a prompt start to talks between militant representatives and the Afghan government. But the Afghan parties have failed to complete interim steps, and with the coronavirus crisis taking hold in Afghanistan, those talks have yet to materialize. Hanging over the process is Trump’s oft-stated desire to remove U.S. forces from the country, where local forces have been unable to secure an edge over the Taliban despite two decades of foreign funding and advising. The attempt to stoke violence against Americans, if confirmed, would also represent a significant departure from Moscow’s earlier position toward Islamist militants in Afghanistan. Previously, U.S. officials had cited what they characterized as sporadic, low-level Russian support for the Taliban, including the supply of small arms via Afghanistan’s northern neighbors. After the Soviet Union’s own punishing insurgent war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Moscow remained


With Trump leading the way, America’s coronavirus failures exposed by record surge in new infections

University of Arizona, said she found it “disgusting” to watch politics penetrate considerations about public health precautions. She pointed in particular to issues of testing following the president’s erroneous suggestion that increased testing is to blame for the scope of the outbreak. “The fact that we don’t have a federal testing program is pretty embarrassing, frankly,” she said, noting that her university is developing its own in-house testing system, because “we don’t have faith people can go out and get tested in the community.” More than five months after the first test for the coronavirus was conducted in the United States, testing equipment is still being doled out based on which states manage to get federal officials on the phone to press their case. After a recent weekend that saw demand for testing outstrip capacity, the governor’s office in Arizona placed a call to the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Daniel Ruiz, Ducey’s chief operating officer. Within 24 hours, they had secured expedited access to a rapid Roche testing machine, he said. Some states are banding together to issue quarantine orders against visitors from regions with rising cases, further highlighting the lack of a federal standard. Conspiracy theories about masks, vaccines and social distancing have abounded, threatening to stymie local leaders’ attempts to enforce public health guidelines. Trump’s willingness to ignore ordinances on masks and large crowds has added to the sense of confusion, public health experts said. “Any time there is politicization of an infectious-disease response, it makes it much harder to intervene,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. People are “less likely to actually listen to public health authorities on what are the best actions to take and how to take them because they think that everything has been politicized in that there is no truth — it’s truth from Democrats or Republicans, rather than the truth,” Adalja said. The White House has played a central role in undermining the kind of clear and consistent messaging experts say is necessary to mount a successful public health response to a viral outbreak, current and former administration officials said. Top aides to Pence, including his chief of staff, Marc Short, have grown increasingly skeptical of public health officials within the administration, believing they have been wrong too many times about mitigation techniques and transmission of the


What’s open in Maryland? How did officials decide?

and golf courses are open across Maryland, and fishing, boating, hunting and camping are allowed. Elective surgeries and dental appointments are also permitted, based on the discretion of medical providers. Community beaches and those run by county officials are open only in areas where local officials deem it safe. Like many governors across the country, Hogan has a panel of epidemiologists and other experts advising him. His plan is based on advice from Johns Hopkins University and the National Governors Association, which he chairs, as well as guidance from the White House that trends should hold for 14 days before major changes are made. The governor is considering a range of pandemic data, but the key things he’s watching are the number of occupied beds in intensive care units and the number of people hospitalized with covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. These measurements give the most accurate picture of how the virus is moving through Maryland and whether the state has the resources to treat people who get sick. As of Thursday, 511 people were hospitalized. Of those, 209were in intensive care, the lowest number since April 3. Maryland’s caseload count keeps rising as expanded testing detects more coronavirus cases. As of Thursday, 65,777 people had been confirmed positive, an increase of 30,965 cases since May 13, when Hogan announced that the state was ready to start reopening. Maryland reported a total of 3,129 confirmed and probable covid-19 fatalities as of Thursday. Hogan said people and employers with the ability to telework should continue doing so as long as possible. But as of June 5, many professional services will be able to reopen for employees. It depends on where you live. Houses of worship were able to resume services when Stage 1 took effect. But they must restrict attendance to half their legal capacity, and Hogan urged churches and other religious institutions to hold worship outdoors if possible. Restaurants statewide can resume indoor and outdoor dining now, with social distancing and other restrictions. Bars have not yet been permitted to reopen, though they are among the medium-risk activities that could be allowed later in Stage 2. That stage is expected to unfold in several phases and endure much, much longer than the initial reopening phase. It will last until a vaccine is widely available. Baseball games, concerts, big church gatherings and pre-pandemic restaurant service have been deemed high-risk