Boeing admits it failed to test the Starliner spacecraft adequately before its maiden flight

the timing problem, they immediately began to hunt for other potential problems. It found a big one: another issue that would have fired the wrong thrusters during the separation of the service module and the crew module. Boeing was able to quickly diagnose that problem and send a software patch to the spacecraft. The spacecraft then landed safely in the New Mexico desert several days ahead of schedule. NASA is investigating the mishap and expects to release more results of its probe next week. The space agency is still mulling whether to require Boeing to fly another test mission without astronauts or to proceed to a flight with three people on board Doug Loverro, NASA’s head of human spaceflight, said earlier this month that Boeing’s problems were a “fundamental” and widespread “breakdown of the software process.” “We don’t know how many software errors we have — if we have just two or many hundreds,” he said. He said the company needed to make its testing procedures more robust. And in a blog post, NASA said “there were numerous instances where the Boeing software quality processes either should have or could have uncovered the defects.” It added that the problems could have had serious consequences and “led to spacecraft loss.” Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mulholland said that the company has been looking “to see if we have any other coding anomalies we need to fix. We haven’t found any yet.” While many things went right during the mission, from its heatshield to environmental controls to the landing, he said the company knew “we need to do our part to rebuild trust with our customer.” On the timing issue, he said the clock on the spacecraft was pulling its time from the rocket. During tests of the software in the laboratory, the crews were primarily concerned with making sure the two vehicles were communicating correctly. The testing team proved there were no communication issues, but it cut the test short so it never uncovered that the spacecraft was reading the wrong time. “Unfortunately, the run was stopped after we separated from the launch vehicle,” he said. If the test had continued, “we would have caught it.” Boeing also had a breakdown in the testing of another key milestone in the flight — the moment when the service module was to separate from the crew module just prior to re-entry into the


U.S. women’s cycling team, rocked by a teammate’s suicide, just won a world title in her honor

rivalry. Britain’s Olympic gold came six months after Team USA won its first of three consecutive world championships. Dygert and cyclist Jennifer Valente, Catlin’s teammates for each of those world championships and the Rio Games, both raced on Thursday. Valente did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, and a spokesman for Dygert said she was preparing for other races in Germany and unavailable. Following the 2016 Olympics, Catlin enrolled in the computational mathematics graduate program at Stanford University, where she attempted to balance an increasingly heavy workload. She joined a professional road cycling team, Rally UCH, and participated in an intense race and practice schedule that often took her around the globe. Near the end of her first semester at Stanford, Catlin spent 40 days over two months at a track camp. She broke her arm in a cycling accident in October 2019 and suffered a concussion in a subsequent crash, and in her journal, Catlin wrote that she feared permanent brain damage as a result of the concussion. After her death, her family donated her brain to Boston University’s CTE Center, which has not yet issued a final report. But in an email to The Post on Thursday, her brother, Colin, said the center told the family that Catlin’s brain “looked normal,” and that their exam revealed no conclusive evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain disease associated with head trauma in football players and other athletes. There was microscopic evidence of brain damage, Colin Catlin said, but researchers told the family it could’ve been caused by her suicide attempts. Though she had never been evaluated for anxiety or depression, according to her family, Catlin attempted suicide in her Stanford apartment in late January 2019. Olympic athletes are not required to take mental health evaluations, and last summer a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee told The Washington Post that athletes are given intake surveys that ask individuals to self-identify symptoms of mental health. Catlin spent seven days on an involuntary hold at Stanford Hospital and was required to step away from cycling and schoolwork, but she nonetheless sneaked to the hospital’s exercise room for a few hours of training. She reduced her academic load to one class for the spring 2019 term. Catlin attended mandatory group therapy sessions and attempted to schedule counseling through a service contracted by the USOC. Frustrated with the counseling


The Health 202: The Trump administration is providing a lot of mixed messages on coronavirus outbreak

viewed as overly alarmist, according to the officials,” my colleagues write. Former Obama administration official Ron Klain: Jason Ukman, managing editor of Stat News: The whole episode has prompted endless mocking by the administration’s critics: — California officials won't say how many people may have crossed paths with a Solano County woman, who is the first person in the U.S. to develop the new covid-19 disease without traveling to a virus hotspot or having close contact with someone who did, Officials “acknowledged the woman was living and working in the community and showing symptoms of the disease before she was admitted to a local hospital,” my colleagues write. “That is a worrisome prospect because the virus is highly transmissible, especially when someone with the disease has symptoms. They did not share any details about the woman’s family, work and social contacts, citing patient privacy.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state is monitoring 8,400 people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus after traveling to Asia. They’re among thousands of people in the U.S. who have been requested to self-isolate or check themselves for coronavirus symptoms. Cases in the U.S., not including several dozen people evacuated from the Diamond cruise ship in Japan: — HHS officials sent more than a dozen workers to The whistleblower – who is a senior HHS official who oversees workers at the Administration for Children and Families – is seeking federal protection because she alleges she was unfairly and improperly reassigned after raising concerns about the safety of these workers to agency officials. She was told Feb. 19 that if she does not accept the new position she would be terminated. The whistleblower’s 24-page complaint, which her lawyers provided to the Post, alleges that HHS staff were “improperly deployed” and were “not properly trained or equipped to operate in a public health emergency situation.” “The complaint also alleges that the workers were potentially exposed to coronavirus because appropriate steps were not taken to protect them, and staff were not trained in wearing personal protective equipment, even though they had face-to-face contact with returning passengers,” Lena and Yasmeen write. “The workers were in contact with passengers in an airplane hangar where evacuees were received and on two other occasions: when they helped distribute keys for room assignments and hand out colored ribbons for identification purposes.” Governments are ramping up their emergency responses and international


The first American cases of coronavirus shouldn’t spark a panic

Vague fears about coronavirus over the past few weeks have exploded into panic this week after the CDC issued a warning and the market plummeted, reflecting anxiety about supply chain and potential work disruptions. President Trump accused the media of stoking that panic and has tried to centralize all information coming from the government in the hands of Vice President Pence. Yet Trump’s attention to individual victims seems likely to heighten anxiety among the public. Whether one agrees with Trump or not, we should recognize that panic may be the worst possible response. It can undermine trust in public health officials and compromise appropriate responses to the outbreak. That’s why we should look to history for guidance on how to interpret news reports about the disease’s spread. Our goal should be to deliver accurate information, convey appropriate levels of concern and encourage effective preventive measures. The case of the “Russian influenza” more than a century ago is instructive. In the second week of December 1889, several members of the Klamroth family in New York City fell victim to a disease spreading across Europe and predicted to reach the United States at any moment. Dubbed the “Russian influenza” after being observed in the capital city, St. Petersburg, this disease was widely anticipated by newspapers, which quickly identified the Klamroth family as America’s “first case.” Across the country, newspapers republished detailed lists of symptoms, speculated on paths of infections and disseminated glib predictions that the disease was not dangerous. Detailed descriptions of illness in the Klamroth family appeared in New York City newspapers on Dec. 17, 1889, with further reports over subsequent days in the New York Times, Evening World, New York Tribune and the Sun. The first victim, Clara, 25, became sick on a Thursday after she visited the home of a family that had recently arrived from Europe. The next day, her mother, Josephine, and little brother fell ill. By the end of the weekend, at least three more family members and a cook had become ill, bringing the total number to seven cases in the household. Local newspapers provided a detailed account of symptoms such as headaches, vertigo, chills, nausea, fever and coughing. Similar reports about sick Klamroths appeared in newspapers across the United States over the next few days, with the “first victims” capturing national attention. Headlines illustrated how readers were primed to look for cases of this


Coronavirus epidemic reveals a world in political crisis

if there is one case in the factory? Can you imagine it not shutting down? I doubt it.” Exploiting the political opportunity, a slate of far-right European politicians urged the enforcement of border controls even within the Schengen zone. The open-border area that encompasses much of the continent has long been the target of nativist grievances. In the past, nationalists have inveighed against rules that permit some asylum seekers to land in Greece or Italy and make their way inland over numerous national frontiers. Travel bans are an Panic over the coronavirus outbreak has highlighted the failings of a global political class. “In a way, this virus underscores the imbalance in globalization. Private-sector supply chains have become very effective. Air travel is comprehensive and never ending. So the private sector is constantly moving around the world,” wrote Steven Erlanger of the New York Times. “But any sort of coordinated governmental response is often weak and disorganized — whether on climate change, health or trade. And efforts to strengthen globalized public efforts are attacked by nationalists and populists as infringements on sovereignty.” Some countries are handling the crisis worse than others. In Iran, at least 26 people have died and 245 are ill, including the deputy health minister and a senior official in President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet. Tehran has come under criticism for its inept and secretive approach to the outbreak, which probably enabled its spread. Autocratic governments are often capable of sweeping, decisive action in times of emergency, but Iran’s government, already under pronounced political and economic strain, further undermined its legitimacy. The regime “can’t avail itself of the benefits of public trust, including transparent and honest accounts of the disease and its toll,” wrote the Atlantic’s Graeme Wood. “In Iran, it appears that the government has all the disadvantages of an unfree society, and none of the compensating advantages.” In China, some of the capabilities of the country’s unflinchingly authoritarian system were on display as it quarantined entire cities and began monitoring hundreds of millions of people, leading some experts to suggest the outbreak could be fully under control there by April. But, even then, there are still cracks Beijing can’t paper over. “The coronavirus outbreak has made it clearer than ever before that going forward, a society as large, complex and dynamic as China will not be amenable to good governance over the long haul without much more


Chinese swimmer Sun Yang banned for eight years after court finds he violated doping protocols

directed, FINA will implement CAS’s decision with regard to disciplinary action against the swimmer,” FINA said in a statement issued Friday. “FINA has also noted CAS’s provisions with regard to the modification of competition results.” Sun has 30 days to file an appeal to Switzerland’s supreme court, but only on narrow procedural grounds, the AP reports. He posted a lengthy response to Friday’s ruling on China’s Sina Weibo social media platform, saying he plans to appeal. “I have just finished training and I have always believed in my innocence,” he wrote. "I was shocked, angry and could not understand the result of the ruling of the International Sports Arbitration Court! "I clearly cooperated actively in accordance with the various regulations on doping control, only because the inspectors were not qualified, and they acknowledged this at the time, so it was my fault to agree not to take the blood sample. "Considering the problems existing in the trial of the International Sports Arbitration Court, I have entrusted a lawyer to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in accordance with the law. Let more people know the truth. “I firmly believe in my innocence! Believe that facts must overcome lies!” A three-time Olympic gold medalist and 11-time world champion, the 28-year-old Sun is one of swimming’s most polarizing figures. At last July’s world championships in South Korea, Britain’s Duncan Scott refused to share the podium with him after the 200-meter freestyle, with Sun publicly calling him “a loser.” And, after Sun won gold in the 400 freestyle, Australia’s Mack Horton refused to take photos with him and accused him of being a “drug cheat.” FINA sent warning letters to Sun, Scott and Horton after the incidents. “FINA has currently done more to reprimand Mack Horton than they’ve done to reprimand Sun Yang,” American swimmer Lilly King said at the time. “So think about that. Pretty crazy.” CAS ruled that Sun’s results since the incident will not be overturned because he had not actually tested positive for any banned substances. But if his appeal is unsuccessful, Sun’s competitive swimming career would appear to be finished. Read more on For most runners at the 2020 Olympic marathon trials, reaching the starting line is a victory Double amputee Blake Leeper files appeal to be eligible for the 2020 Olympics Could 2020 Olympics be affected by the coronavirus? The IOC has three months to decide.


United, other airlines cut more flights to Asia as concerns about coronavirus grow

end of April. It is reducing flights between South Korea and Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle through April 30 and is delaying the launch of service between Seoul’s Incheon International Airport and Manila. Those flights, set to launch March 29, will now begin on May 1, the airline said. Earlier this week, Hawaiian Airlines suspended nonstop service between Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International and Seoul’s Incheon airports starting March 2 and through the end of April. The airline is also offering to waive change fees for travels between Honolulu and South Korea through May 1. United, American and Delta also have extended travel waivers for flights to and from northern Italy, which has seen a significant uptick in the number of infections. The moves come amid concerns about the virus, which has continued to spread worldwide. The covid-19 disease, once centered in China, has spread worldwide, with the number of new infections in other countries outpacing the number in China. South Korea, which said the number of people infected is now more than 2,300, has been among the hardest hit, but Italy is also is working to contain an outbreak in the northern region of the country. On Friday, France and Germany reported increases in the number of infections. The travel industry — from airlines to hotels to cruise ships — has been hit hard. A survey released this week by the Global Business Travel Association estimated the virus could potentially cost the industry $46.6 billion per month. That number equates to $559.7 billion annually. A snap poll of association members this week found the virus has had a major impact on business travel to Asia, with 95 percent of companies reporting cancellations or suspensions of most or all business travel to China. In January, all three major U.S. carriers announced they were halting all flights to China and Hong Kong. About one-fourth of those surveyed said they’ve also canceled or suspended travel to Europe. “It is clear that the coronavirus is having a significant — and potentially very costly — effect on our members, their companies and on the overall business travel industry,” said Scott Solombrino. GBTA’s chief operating officer. “It is fundamentally affecting the way many companies are now doing business. If this turns into a global pandemic, the industry may well lose billions of dollars — an impact that will have negative ramifications for the entire global economy.”


Fact-checking President Trump’s coronavirus news conference

Trump spoke, the CDC announced that it had “confirmed an infection with the virus that causes covid-19 in California in a person who reportedly did not have relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient with covid-19.” (Covid-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus.) This is known as community transmission, meaning it is the first known case that was not imported from abroad. Trump would have been more accurate if he had forthrightly said it is unclear how many cases are in the United States. “The flu in our country kills from 25,000 people to 69,000 people a year. That was shocking to me. And so far, if you look at what we have with the 15 people and their recovery. One is Trump appeared nonplussed at learning some basic public health information — the number of deaths annually from the seasonal flu. The precise number is not known, but the CDC offers estimates that in the past decade range from a low of 12,000 in the 2011-2012 season to a high of 61,000 in the 2017-2018 season (though that is a preliminary estimate). But Trump misleadingly compares those numbers with the known cases of covid-19 in the United States. Tens of millions of people each year come down with the flu — possibly as many as 58 million in 2017-2018. The fatality rate in the United States from the seasonal flu is 0.1 percent. The new coronavirus appears to have a much higher fatality rate, possibly 20 times higher, but no one really knows for sure. (The fatality rate has been highest in Hubei province, where the outbreak started, but lower elsewhere.) “Over the last 10 years we’ve lost 360,000 This number is roughly correct. But again, the fatality rate for the flu is more important than raw numbers. “We’re rapidly developing a vaccine and they can speak to you. … The vaccine is coming along well. And in speaking to the doctors, we think this is something that we can develop fairly rapidly, a vaccine for the future and coordinate with the support of our partners.” Why wouldn’t Trump be enthusiastic about the prospect of a vaccine? It represents a clear solution. The problem is — according to Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health — any vaccine would not be “applicable


National Symphony Orchestra cancels tour to Japan due to coronavirus

The National Symphony Orchestra has canceled next week’s tour to Japan — after already nixing three concerts in China — as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Set for March 3-12, it was to be the first international tour for the orchestra under Music Director Gianandrea Noseda. The orchestra hopes to schedule some events in Washington and the surrounding region to make up for the cancellations, orchestra officials said. The decision was made after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recommended that cultural events be canceled for the next two weeks as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. The Japanese government has also told schools to begin their scheduled spring break several weeks early and not reopen until April. There have been more than 200 cases reported in Japan and at least four deaths. “We are deeply disappointed,” NSO Executive Director Gary Ginstling said in a statement. “After multiple consultations with officials at U.S. government agencies and recommendations from the Japanese government, it became clear that these evolving circumstances are beyond our control.” The tour was scheduled to include five concerts with Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai in Fukui, Sakai, Hiroshima and Tokyo. On Feb. 4, the orchestra canceled three concerts in China that were to take place March 13-17. peggy.mcglone@washpost.com


Cranes is a little Japanese, a lot Spanish and something to look at

Pepe Moncayo is a Barcelona native whose debut restaurant, BAM!, pulses in Singapore. Investors in Northern Virginia didn’t have to convince the Spanish chef that Washington should be his next step. Several trips to the District, each more exciting than the last, convinced Moncayo that now was “the moment” to continue documenting his “life trip” on a menu in the nation’s capital, says the chef, who introduced Cranes in February. The 12,000-square-foot restaurant follows Ruth’s Chris Steak House at its Penn Quarter address and erases any sign of the corporate chain. Four times the size of BAM!, Cranes uses polished metals, stone colors, angular fixtures and wooden trellises to alter the look of the place from section to section. The chef describes his style as a marriage between Japanese and Spanish cuisines — “soulful simplicity,” says Moncayo, who can be seen front-and-center in the broad open kitchen, handsomely framed in rippled plaster. There are two ways to eat. A patron can leave dinner in the hands of the chef by ordering a six-course seasonal omakase for $88. On a recent drop-by, I opted to create a meal of my own design and graze on a selection of tapas. Expectations ran high. Moncayo has worked for such Spanish talents as Santi Santamaría, the first Catalan chef to have his restaurant be awarded three stars from the Michelin Guide, and twin brothers Sergio and Javier Torres, masters of the Spanish culinary avant-garde. The first dish out of the gate was a beauty: a rope of cold capellini bound in a hazelnut dressing and garnished with crisp sea asparagus, bits of preserved lemon, a whisper of nori and downy edible flowers. Chilled rather than warm noodles? The chef says he’s simply channeling his beloved soba. Even more of a vision is a beet salad that turns pickled, salt-baked or dried beets, pretty as stained glass, into a scarlet landscape that rises high in the sky, or at least from the surface of its plate, dusted with beet powder. Moncayo takes classics like patatas bravas and makes them his own. His version of the Spanish staple showcases pressed, fried potatoes sliced into thin rectangles and finished with precise dots of aioli and a ketchup that gets its funk from yuzu kosho. The crisp finger food eats like hash browns. Of course, we Hoovered the plate. Companions and I had fun waiting to find out


Double amputee Blake Leeper files appeal to be eligible for Tokyo Olympics

Blake Leeper, a U.S. Paralympic sprinter born without legs below his knees, wants to run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics against the fastest men in the world, but the next step in that quest will take place in a courtroom. Leeper, a double amputee who competes with blade-like prosthetics, filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday to reverse a ruling by track and field’s international governing body that banned him from competing in major worldwide events. If his appeal is successful, Leeper would become the second track athlete using prosthetic legs to compete at an Olympics. On Feb. 18, World Athletics, formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), declared Leeper ineligible, ruling that his blade-like prosthetics, similar to what South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius used at the 2012 London Olympics, give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied competitors. Leeper, 30, has broken Pistorius’s Paralympian record in the 400 meters and cracked 44.3 seconds in the 400, a time fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials, which will be held in June, if CAS rules in his favor. Leeper has been fighting since July to gain approval from World Athletics to compete in the world’s biggest events, and the body’s ruling this month provided another hurdle. “The takeaway is that they’re showing evidence of they don’t want me there,” Leeper said Wednesday evening in a phone interview. “For me as an athlete, I train each and every day for a fair chance to compete at the highest level. That’s something I feel like I’m not receiving right now.” Lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and David Feher, who also represented Pistorius during his legal fight to compete in London, have taken Leeper’s case pro bono. Based on the precedent set by Pistorius’s case, Kessler said he is confident CAS will rule in Leeper’s favor and in sufficient time to allow him to compete at the trials in Eugene, Ore. “It is completely disheartening that after unanimously losing Pistorius, including by a decision in which their own selected arbitrator agreed, that you’d have the international governing body of track once again just brazenly trying to keep a disabled athlete from competing,” Kessler said. “It is maddening. It is not really understandable except for how deep-seated this adversity in that body is against the disabled competing on the world stage at the highest level against able-bodied runners


a semifinal 400 heat, crossing the line at Drake University in Des Moines to raucous cheers. He failed to make the U.S. team for the world championships as an individual in the next day’s final, but his fifth-place finish was good enough to qualify him as a possible choice for the 4x400 relay team. But Leeper was competing in an unofficial capacity. His results were held in abeyance as World Athletics ruled on his eligibility; his times were all officially listed as “DQ.” Some rivals believe the blades provide a competitive advantage, particularly along straightaways. American Michael Norman, one of the top 400 runners in the world, said this summer at the U.S. championships that blades give Leeper a disadvantage coming out of the blocks but give him a “killer kick” at the end of races. Those attributes, if he is ruled eligible and qualifies at the U.S. trials in June, could make him an appealing candidate as a relay member. Leeper has faced personal challenges beyond competition. He tested positive for cocaine at the 2015 Paralympic U.S. championships and was banned from the sport for two years. He since has detailed his battle with and recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. At the 2012 Paralympics, Leeper won silver in the 400, finishing behind only Pistorius, and bronze in the 200. Those 2012 Paralympics fueled Leeper’s desire to compete in the Olympics. He remembers lining up next to Pistorius in the 200-meter final and listening to how the stadium roared when Pistorius, who had just competed in the Olympics, was introduced. “All disabled people had somebody to look up to, to give them hope, including myself,” Leeper said. “Being a part of that moment, even though it wasn’t really about me, really motivated me to show what you could possibly do as a disabled man. … “The fact is, a lot of people might not even know my name or know my story. They’ll just see a disabled man born without legs running at the Olympic Games — for me, I see myself winning the Olympic Games. My message to the world, every child out there is, they told me I would never walk, and here I am running. If I’m being discriminated against at the highest level, imagine what the rest of the world is going through." What do you want in an Olympics newsletter? Take our 30-second survey.


Why Tom Steyer is connecting with black voters in South Carolina

in the race. His money has surely made a difference. He’s spent millions on ads, and he has hired a small army of local consultants and vendors to help him. Depending on how you look at it, he’s built — or bought — loyalty. He has done well here by not just telling voters that he will put the interests of black, brown or disenfranchised people at the heart of his administration’s agenda but rather showing them what he has already done with his nonprofit bank on the West Coast. When he talks about providing loans at competitive rates to business owners unable to get financing in traditional banks — it strikes a chord among voters who pay the equivalent of a “black tax” or “poverty penalty” when they try to buy homes, cars or finance their entrepreneurial dreams. Steyer can talk powerfully and credibly about the higher interest rates and more burdensome repayment terms that black, brown and low-income Americans face even when they are credit worthy. While some candidates run briskly through their broad plans and policies, Steyer name-checks the affordable housing developments and the individuals who are thriving in California because of funding and support from the Beneficial State Bank that Steyer founded with his wife, Kat Taylor. (The bank is not a perfect narrative; Steyer has been criticized for a high rate of auto loan defaults and lawsuits. The Steyers say this resulted from aggressive tactics used by another California bank they acquired in 2016 and are working to reduce auto loan interest rates that were as high as nearly 28 percent.) But Steyer also talks about the need for reparations to African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved and about returning religion to Democratic politics instead of ceding that ground to Republicans and evangelical Christians. You can imagine the “amens” those conversations generate in the Bible Belt. The rest of the country may think of Steyer as the slightly goofy dude in all those ads calling for impeachment before that word became fact. But many voters in South Carolina have come to see something different: A candidate who walks into a room and comfortably riffs about watching his parents campaign for Shirley Chisholm; a candidate who quotes his wife’s work and scholarship when he talks about income disparity and economic injustice. Steyer’s traction in the state helped to explain why former vice president Joe Biden blasted


China barred my dystopian novel about how its system enables epidemics

chapters about China because of their "politically sensitive material." They told me that my criticism of the government would make the authorities "jumpy." Putting out the book, complete and unaltered, could "destroy a publishing company." Someone suggested either changing China's name to that of a fictional country or else publishing the offensive chapters separately online. I'm not sure how that would have worked, exactly — maybe they'd be hosted on a server outside China, or maybe it was just a fantasy to placate me — but either way, I was told that this was the best we could do. I refused. Having an open society, where the government operates transparently and information circulates freely, is the bedrock of public health. Censoring those chapters would play into the very dynamics that endanger citizens. Even with the best of intentions, a government that operates secretively and without accountability is ill-equipped to contain an epidemic. Lacking trust in the authorities, or dependable sources of knowledge about how to protect themselves — whether from infection or from abuses of power — citizens are left more vulnerable to both. As much as I'd like to take creative credit for coming up with this scenario in my book, the one that inadvertently foreshadowed today's crisis, I didn't: I based the spread of my virus on the real-life spread of SARS. Cases emerged in China in late 2002, but for months, the Chinese government did not warn the public about the new and deadly pathogen. Authorities forbade newspapers from reporting on it, undercounted cases and were slow to share information with the World Health Organization. By the end of the outbreak in July 2003, the pathogen had shown up halfway around the world, infecting 8,000 people and killing 774. As of this writing, a new strain of coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people, and 2,770 have died — and it looks like we're just getting started. Some have praised what China learned from SARS: It established a nationwide system for hospitals and clinics to report outbreaks, for example, and officials in China have issued public statements emphasizing the need for greater transparency, as well as its rapid response to this new epidemic. But that centralized power also helped enable the outbreak. There might not have been a need for rapid hospital construction and mobilization if the authorities hadn't played down the severity of the coronavirus and


Coronavirus fears led ports to turn away a cruise ship. It was just the flu, company says.

disembark, citing an “abundance of caution.” But the cruise company says that the ship’s medical records showed just one case of “common seasonal flu” and that the illness struck a crew member whose travel history did not include territories hit by coronavirus or subjected to “international health restrictions.” No case of coronavirus has been reported on any ship in the company’s fleet, it added, criticizing Grand Cayman authorities for blocking the ship “without even reviewing” the medical records. The “disappointing decisions” from officials in Jamaica and Grand Cayman were “born out of fear, not best medical practice,” MSC Cruises said in a statement Friday. “This led to unnecessary and unjustifiable anxiety, not only for our passengers and crew on board, but right across the Caribbean’s tourism sector, and possibly even further beyond.” All 4,580 guests on board have been promised a full refund of their cruise fares “due to the disruptive nature of their vacation,” the company said. Guests will have Friday to spend on shore on Cozumel before the ship returns to Miami on Sunday. The ship departed Feb. 23 from Miami for a 15-day trip, according to MSC Cruises’ website. Late Wednesday, the governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo said the Meraviglia ship was not authorized to dock in Cozumel and should be reviewed by health officials. However, López Obrador reversed course Thursday and said that the cruise ship would be able to stop. López Obrador also suggested that passengers would be able to disembark, but the Quintana Roo governor, Carlos Joaquín, quickly tweeted Thursday that “no authorization has been given” for people to leave the ship. MSC Cruises said its ship arrived at Cozumel’s west coast about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday but waited for winds to die down before entering the port, as local authorities had cleared it to do. Mexican health authorities boarded the vessel Thursday and did further testing on the sickened crew member “out of an excess of precaution,” spokeswoman Alyssa Goldfarb told The Post in an email. They also tested a “young female guest who has since developed mild symptoms” for flu, Goldfarb said. The crew member with common seasonal flu was isolated from others aboard as soon as he showed symptoms, according to MSC Cruises. Goldfarb said the crew member is now symptom-free. Concerns about coronavirus on cruise ships escalated as more than 700 people — among the roughly 3,700 passengers


of Quintana Roo said the Meraviglia ship was not authorized to dock in Cozumel and should be reviewed by health officials. However, López Obrador reversed course Thursday and said that the cruise ship would be able to stop. López Obrador also suggested that passengers would be able to disembark, but the Quintana Roo governor, Carlos Joaquín, quickly tweeted Thursday that “no authorization has been given” for people to leave the ship. MSC Cruises said its ship arrived at Cozumel’s west coast about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday but waited for winds to die down before entering the port, as local authorities had cleared it to do. Mexican health authorities boarded the vessel Thursday and did further testing on the sickened crew member “out of an excess of precaution,” spokeswoman Alyssa Goldfarb told The Post in an email. They also tested a “young female guest who has since developed mild symptoms” for flu, Goldfarb said. The crew member with common seasonal flu was isolated from others aboard as soon as he showed symptoms, according to MSC Cruises. Goldfarb said the crew member is now symptom-free. Concerns about coronavirus on cruise ships escalated as more than 700 people — among the roughly 3,700 passengers and crew members aboard — were infected on the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined for two weeks in a Japanese harbor. That meant the ship had the most cases of any place outside China, where the outbreak began in the city of Wuhan and sent millions into an unprecedented lockdown, the Associated Press reported. The MSC Meraviglia was not the first ship to be rebuffed by port after port leery of coronavirus spreading in their communities. One passenger spent her extra time on Holland America’s waylaid MS Westerdam live-tweeting. “Here’s a science-fiction plot line for ya,” Christina Kerby wrote. “Amidst a global epidemic that wipes out the earth’s population, it’s up to the people aboard one cruise ship — the only safe place on earth — to repopulate the planet. **Passengers onboard the #Westerdam begin eyeing each other nervously**” The ship’s 1,455 passengers eventually disembarked in Cambodia, as Holland America thanked the country for its “willingness to welcome us with an open mind and make decisions based on facts.” One of the Westerdam guests subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus, although officials in Malaysia said the passenger later tested negative, according to the New York Times. Kim Bellware contributed to


A D.C. Dream Day with Smithsonian beer historian Theresa McCulla

salad of dry bean curd, peanut and cilantro. My toddler has a favorite dish that’s braised pork on rice with a braised egg, and it’s just this wonderful comfort dish. If I were to go back in my neighborhood, I would take a walk or run in Rock Creek Park. If I decided not to go to my neighborhood, I would head to the Hirshhorn Museum. On Sundays, they have a bilingual story time which is really great. They read books and we look at art on the walls, but then the facilitators have the little kids make art, too. I’d definitely pick up a coffee at Dolcezza in the lobby. One of my favorite Smithsonian spaces is probably also one of the smallest, and that’s right on the west side of the Hirshhorn called Mary Livingston Ripley Garden. It’s this beautiful little garden that’s basically this like long winding pathway that goes from the mall down to Independence Avenue. It’s peaceful and beautiful in every season. I’d walk further down to the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial to admire the cherry blossoms in full bloom. At this point, it would be happy hour. If we’re not at one of the region’s craft beer taprooms, we might be at Anxo on Kennedy Street NW. They have wonderful ciders there, and a lot of them are very dry with funky flavor profiles that I love. If I were to go out for dinner in the evening, it would be hard to decide between two favorites. One of those is Beteseb Restaurant in downtown Silver Spring, and I would go for the veggie combo plate or doro wot. And then another longtime favorite of ours is 2 Amys on Macomb Street NW. They have a special menu of what they call “Little Things,” with our regular favorites deviled eggs with green sauce and suppli a telefono. There’s also ripieno extra stuffed pizza, which is awesome, or Marsala custard for dessert. If the weather is nice, I would totally look for an evening concert at Wolf Trap with a picnic on the lawn. We’d probably go there with dinner from Shemali’s, which is this great Mediterranean restaurant, and get a bottle of wine or some beers from Calvert Woodley in our neighborhood. If the weather is not nice, I’d see if Jason Moran has anything interesting going on at the Kennedy Center. goingoutguide@washpost.com


Vaccines are like giving your body’s defenses a cheat sheet

While the sting of a needle in the arm or leg is nobody’s favorite thing, the vaccines within those shots are some of the most important medical inventions in the history of science. But there can be a lot of misunderstanding about what vaccines are and how they work. So this month, we reached out to Susan Nasif, a virology expert and artist who specializes in creating comics that tackle difficult scientific subjects. “When I was 8 years old, I remember watching a cartoon that explained the immune system to children,” writes Nasif in an email. “I loved it, and I decided then to draw and create my own comics.” The immune system is the body’s natural defense against viruses, bacteria and other nasty stuff, Nasif says. But viruses are especially good at developing disguises that help them hide from the immune system. Which is why we need vaccines to help our bodies see through the act. Most vaccines contain a weakened or dead version of the virus they are meant to protect against, though some vaccines carry only the proteins found on the virus’s surface. In either case, once these substances are injected into the body, your immune system grabs them up and learns how to identify them, kind of like a cheat sheet that helps you prepare for a big test. Then, when the body comes into contact with the real thing — a healthy virus — it knows how to protect against it and can set to work gobbling up the viruses before they can do too much damage. You may be wondering why you still have to get shots for something such as polio, even though no one you know has gotten it. This is where a term called “herd immunity” comes into the discussion. “Vaccines act as a firewall that prevents the spread of diseases to others,” Nasif says. When enough people develop resistances to a disease by getting a vaccine, the chance that a virus can infect someone and then keep spreading drops to near zero. This is how polio went from a disease that was infecting 350,000 people a year in 1988 to one that caused just 33 cases reported worldwide in 2018. Of course, the protection only continues if people continue to give their bodies a cheat code to beat polio — vaccines. Many people are concerned that a new virus coming


Past epidemics prove fighting coronavirus with travel bans is a mistake

Despite China’s aggressive measures to try to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, which first emerged in Wuhan (located in Hubei Province), the epidemic has continued to grow. Reported cases have surpassed those of the 2003 SARS epidemic, which was also caused by a coronavirus. Nearly 20 countries have reported cases, some of which resulted from local transmission. U.S. health officials recently announced a ban on U.S. entry of foreign nationals who visited China in the last 14 days and implemented a 14-day quarantine of Americans returning from Hubei Province. The move came one month after Chinese health authorities first announced an outbreak of viral pneumonia now recognized to be caused by the new coronavirus. Russia and several European countries have taken similar steps. Tempting as it may be to ban or otherwise restrict travel to keep the virus out, these measures aren’t always in our best interest. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed the importance of responding to the novel coronavirus with “facts, not fear.” The WHO has repeatedly said that it does not recommend that countries restrict travel or trade to prevent importation of the virus. When countries do not follow the WHO’s advice, and instead implement non-evidence-based travel bans to prevent the spread of disease, they do so in violation of the International Health Regulations — a legal framework that governs how countries should respond to international infectious disease outbreaks. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergency program, said in a recent news conference that if member states impose unilateral trade and travel restrictions, it is a “recipe for disaster.” Nonetheless, countries are doing just that. These concerns are well-supported by recent history. In 2014, following two imported cases of Ebola, U.S. politicians called for a restriction of travel between the United States and West Africa. Several states announced plans to place returning Ebola health workers into mandatory quarantines. In some instances, these efforts were done at the direction of governors who, to appear engaged and decisive in responding to the situation, overruled more nuanced guidelines issued by state health officials. Medical and public health experts involved in the efforts to contain the spread of Ebola at the source strongly cautioned against such measures, stressing that it was likely to interrupt the transport of clinical volunteers and supplies that were essential to the Ebola response. Organizations involved in the Ebola response noted that threats


implement non-evidence-based travel bans to prevent the spread of disease, they do so in violation of the International Health Regulations — a legal framework that governs how countries should respond to international infectious disease outbreaks. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergency program, said in a recent news conference that if member states impose unilateral trade and travel restrictions, it is a “recipe for disaster.” Nonetheless, countries are doing just that. These concerns are well-supported by recent history. In 2014, following two imported cases of Ebola, U.S. politicians called for a restriction of travel between the United States and West Africa. Several states announced plans to place returning Ebola health workers into mandatory quarantines. In some instances, these efforts were done at the direction of governors who, to appear engaged and decisive in responding to the situation, overruled more nuanced guidelines issued by state health officials. Medical and public health experts involved in the efforts to contain the spread of Ebola at the source strongly cautioned against such measures, stressing that it was likely to interrupt the transport of clinical volunteers and supplies that were essential to the Ebola response. Organizations involved in the Ebola response noted that threats of quarantines caused a decrease in the number of doctors and nurses who volunteered to treat Ebola patients in West Africa. Ultimately, political pressures to implement travel bans were stemmed by the hasty deployment of a program to track and monitor the health of returning travelers from West Africa. State and local public health departments were asked, with minimal notice, to figure out how to screen and monitor thousands of returning travelers daily. Though this effort was largely seen by the medical and public health community as preferable to mandatory quarantines, health officials reported that it was costly and diverted resources from other public health priorities. In the end, health officials monitored close to 30,000 individuals but identified no Ebola cases. Restrictive travel and trade measures have worsened the social and economic tolls of past events. During the 2009 influenza pandemic, U.S. politicians called to close the southern border and suspend travel from Mexico. Were such measures implemented, they probably would not have helped: The virus was already well-established in the United States and spreading quickly. But politicians’ fixation on the geographic origins of the pandemic did not ultimately serve the United States well, when countries began quarantining planes from


The plug-in electric car is having its moment. But despite false starts, Toyota is still trying to make the fuel cell happen.

did for electric cars nearly a decade ago. Honda and Hyundai are offering their own fuel-cell models to lure buyers in California, where Toyota first introduced its Mirai in 2015. Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, resource-starved Japan began shifting to a cleaner hydrogen economy, and the country’s automakers followed suit by introducing consumer hydrogen cars. The automakers say the fuel-cell bet represents an investment in democratizing electric vehicles. “To put it bluntly, it’s too early to [favor] any single technology because people continue to want choice,” said Stephen Ellis, manager of fuel-cell vehicle marketing at Honda’s American division. “One of the things we’re learning is, for example, multiunit dwellings don’t lend themselves to having lots of charging opportunities for all the tenants in the building. That’s one example where fuel cell can work extremely well.” But with minimal adoption of hydrogen vehicles so far, retailers have struggled to reach economies of scale to lower their prices — despite significant state funding. The vehicles are expensive to produce and dealers must rely on tax incentives and offers of free fuel to persuade buyers to gamble on hydrogen. A report by California says the most common price of hydrogen is $13.99 per kilogram, which translates to about $5.60 per gallon of gasoline, but that National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated hydrogen prices could fall to $10 to $8 per kilogram between 2020 and 2025. (According to AAA data as of Tuesday, a gallon of regular gas in California cost about $3.49.) “I think I would say that fuel cell is probably 10 years behind the battery,“ said Tyson Eckerle, a fuel-cell booster who serves as deputy director of zero emission vehicle market development in Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “I mean, you’ve seen a proliferation of battery cars and it’s super exciting, right? The challenge will be now bridging [fuel-cell vehicles] from that early adopter into the mass market.” The biggest challenge to California adoption stems from a lack of fuel, and a related lack of convenience. For owners, the trouble began with sparse availability of fuel pumps, which are dotted around two major urban centers, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. In June, an explosion rocked the facilities at Air Products and Chemicals Inc., which supplies hydrogen to many of the Bay Area’s hydrogen pumps. Because there was no backup plan, the


She was asked to speak about her two ‘ultrarare’ diseases. She did, while also telling of a rare place.

with her parents, she ordered a beer. The children and the young adults who come to stay at the Inn — which is located on the campus of the National Institutes of Health — all have stories of “here” versus “out there.” Most have spent years going to doctors and specialists and more specialists. And some, like Noah, have spent their entire lives doing so. The Inn provides housing for the families of young people who are participating in clinical trials and groundbreaking studies, which means many of them are desperate for help that other doctors haven’t yet been able to provide and answers that science hasn’t yet been able to reveal. Most of those young people have rare conditions. Noah has two “ultrarare” conditions. That makes her a rarity among rarities. That also makes her the perfect person to stand on a stage and speak about what it feels like to occupy that lonely space. This year, Noah was asked to share her story for a live-streamed event that NIH held Friday, on the eve of Rare Disease Day, which falls on the rarest date on the calendar, February 29. When I meet her a few days before that speech, she is sitting with her parents, Gisela and Carlos Victoria, at a dining room table at the Inn. She confesses she is nervous. She is not yet certain what she will say in front of all the people who will be watching her from seats in that auditorium and computers across the country. She will have just a few minutes to sum up her life — the childhood bullying, the constant pain, the medical unknowns — and convey how her experiences are unique to her but not rare. One out of 10 people is estimated to have a rare disease, making them common in their collectiveness. At the Inn, Noah just has to turn her head to see that even if her medical chart is unusual, some of her struggles aren’t. “She gets the same questions!” Noah turns to her mom at one point to say. Dinner at the Inn is communal, and Noah happens to be sitting next to a 22-year-old who had a blood disorder and appears to be about her same height. They bond over what strangers ask them. They also discover they share some interests. “I have a lot in common with her,” Noah tells


Safeway workers prepare for strike vote as contract negotiations remain stalled

The union representing more than 10,000 Safeway grocery store workers is moving closer to a strike that could disrupt operations at 116 D.C.-area locations, union representatives said Friday, as a disagreement with the company’s private equity-owned management over pensions remains unresolved. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, which represents workers at Safeway and Giant stores in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, has been negotiating with Albertsons, a management company owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, since September 2019. A temporary extension has been in place since the contract expired in October. A meeting between union and company representatives Friday did not resolve the dispute, and negotiations were expected to resume Monday, the union said. To trigger a strike, a majority of Local 400 members would have to reject the company’s offer, and then two-thirds would have to vote to strike. The vote is scheduled for March 5, and a strike could begin the next day. The pension dispute at Safeway is in many ways a microcosm of the broader retail industry, where automation, outsourcing and thinning profit margins have weakened the hand of organized labor. Pensions have been phased out across the business world as financial managers favor employee-managed 401(k) plans that entail fewer long-term liabilities for managers. Grocery stores also face new competition as gas stations, drug stores and delivery services enter the market. Amazon opened its first cashier-less Amazon Go grocery store this week, marking the latest major foray into the industry by the online giant, which bought Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in 2017. (Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.) European discounters Aldi and Lidl also have expanded rapidly throughout the country, adding further pressure to traditional chains. Private equity firms and hedge funds have been aggressively buying up supermarket chains since the mid-2000s, when a strong economy and low interest rates made leveraged buyouts attractive. They often used large chunks of debt to finance the deals, putting pressure on grocers as increased competition was cutting into sales. Local 400 officials say Cerberus, which bought Safeway in 2015, is offloading its financial responsibilities to take the company public. “Since Cerberus has taken over Safeway, thousands of jobs have been lost at these stores," said Jonathan Williams, communications director for the Local 400. “We think that has everything to do with the company’s brutal efforts to reduce its costs


Skywatch: What’s happening in the heavens in March

March goes out like a lamb, Venus has become an even brighter, mesmerizing -4.5 magnitude. The sliver of a waxing young moon glides by Venus on March 27-28. All of our clocks move forward March 8 at 2 a.m. — the start of daylight saving time. Astronomically speaking, winter becomes spring as the vernal equinox arrives March 19 at 11:50 p.m. Eastern time, according to the observatory. You will soon hear about the March 9 full moon, informally nicknamed “supermoon” because of its closer proximity to Earth. The moon has an elliptical orbit around Earth, so when the moon is closer on its cycle to our blue planet, it is at perigee. When the moon is far, it is at apogee. Astronomers call this coming event a perigee full moon. The apogee — distant — new moon occurs March 24, according to the observatory. ●March 3 — The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia returns to its display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Free admission. Parking $15. airandspace.si.edu. ●March 5 — “New Exoplanets from the TESS Mission,” a talk by Drake Deming, astronomy professor at the University of Maryland, at the school’s observatory, College Park. Afterward, weather permitting, enjoy heavenly objects through telescopes. 8 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ●March 8 — “Highlights of the Sky Using Gamma-ray Eyes,” a talk by NASA research astrophysicist Elizabeth Hays, at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University. 7 p.m. novac.com. ●March 14 — “Spontaneous Outbursts: New Studies of Cometary Activity,” a talk by research scientist Tony Farnham, University of Maryland, at the regular meeting of the National Capital Astronomers, held at the University of Maryland observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. ●March 15 — “Looking Up at the Stars,” public sky gazing at Fairland Regional Park, near the ballfields, 13950 Old Gunpowder Rd., Laurel. Hosted by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission park rangers in partnership with the National Capital Astronomers. 7:15 p.m. www.mncppc.org. ●March 18 — “More Things in the Heavens: Infrared Exploration with the Spitzer Space Telescope,” a lecture by astronomer Michael Werner, the Spitzer Project scientist for three decades. At the Lockheed Martin Imax Theater, National Air and Space Museum, Washington. 8 p.m. Tickets required. Free tickets available at airandspace.si.edu, on the events page. ●March 20 — “The Galaxy Strikes Back: What We Have Learned After Visits by


hear about the March 9 full moon, informally nicknamed “supermoon” because of its closer proximity to Earth. The moon has an elliptical orbit around Earth, so when the moon is closer on its cycle to our blue planet, it is at perigee. When the moon is far, it is at apogee. Astronomers call this coming event a perigee full moon. The apogee — distant — new moon occurs March 24, according to the observatory. ●March 3 — The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia returns to its display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Free admission. Parking $15. airandspace.si.edu. ●March 5 — “New Exoplanets from the TESS Mission,” a talk by Drake Deming, astronomy professor at the University of Maryland, at the school’s observatory, College Park. Afterward, weather permitting, enjoy heavenly objects through telescopes. 8 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ●March 8 — “Highlights of the Sky Using Gamma-ray Eyes,” a talk by NASA research astrophysicist Elizabeth Hays, at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University. 7 p.m. novac.com. ●March 14 — “Spontaneous Outbursts: New Studies of Cometary Activity,” a talk by research scientist Tony Farnham, University of Maryland, at the regular meeting of the National Capital Astronomers, held at the University of Maryland observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. ●March 15 — “Looking Up at the Stars,” public sky gazing at Fairland Regional Park, near the ballfields, 13950 Old Gunpowder Rd., Laurel. Hosted by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission park rangers in partnership with the National Capital Astronomers. 7:15 p.m. www.mncppc.org. ●March 18 — “More Things in the Heavens: Infrared Exploration with the Spitzer Space Telescope,” a lecture by astronomer Michael Werner, the Spitzer Project scientist for three decades. At the Lockheed Martin Imax Theater, National Air and Space Museum, Washington. 8 p.m. Tickets required. Free tickets available at airandspace.si.edu, on the events page. ●March 20 — “The Galaxy Strikes Back: What We Have Learned After Visits by Two Interstellar Objects,” a talk by research scientist Matthew Knight, at the University of Maryland observatory open house. Take in stars and planets through telescopes after the talk. 8 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ●March 31 — “Climate Change: A Threat Multiplier,” a lecture on the health of our own blue planet, by Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University’s Climate Science Center, at Carnegie Science, 1530 P St. NW, Washington. 6:30 p.m. CarnegieScience.edu.


Coronavirus shuts down two public schools as districts race to contain the spread

it is unclear what position the person holds. Both schools were shut down and are expected to reopen this week after crews disinfect the buildings. Experts aren’t certain how long the coronavirus can live outside the body, Ko said, though its cousins — SARS and MERs — can survive on surfaces up to nine days. Coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, not in aerosol form, so a focus on wiping down bathrooms, door handles and other places commonly touched with alcohol-based solutions will go far, he said. Children are transmission engines for respiratory viruses such as influenza, given their close contact with one another, and they don’t have a long history of exposure to disease, said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. But she stressed initial studies of the coronavirus show older people and adults in poor health are the most at risk. “There’s not a lot of evidence children are particularly prone to infection,” Rivers told The Post on Saturday. “We just don’t know.” The virus has infected 83,000 people globally and caused more than 2,800 deaths, most of them in China, where much of the understanding on the impact it has on children was learned, Ko said. “A big question is can children be infected but not show symptoms and transmit it to other people,” Ko said. “I think that’s unknown.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have provided guidelines to schools both unexposed and exposed to coronavirus, including reviewing emergency preparations, monitoring absenteeism and preparing for students or staff who may contract the virus. One particular focus, Rivers said, is what happens to students when schools begin to shutter. “If schools are closed and you have children just recongregating in other places, that’s not going to help with the social distancing needed to control transmission,” she said. Rivers, who has children of her own, said school closure decisions are always a balance of benefit and risk. One thing to keep in mind, she said, is that they have a disproportionate effect on low-income parents who depend on schools for child care and on children who receive free and reduced school meals. “If closures are going to happen, communities need to be planning now how to help with those kinds of situations,” she said. The two school transmissions come amid exposure in two other communities about 90 miles apart in California.


Coronavirus testing widened as California case makes containment more urgent

The four-day delay in testing a California woman for coronavirus highlights how a faulty test and, until Thursday, a narrow definition of who should be tested have hindered the United States’ ability to track how widely the disease has spread. Infectious-disease experts worry the disease may be spreading undetected in other places. Those concerns were stoked by the emergence of the nation’s first case of community transmission in Northern California, where hospital administrators contend the patient, a woman, was not tested when clinicians requested it because she did not meet strict Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria that recommended testing only those with symptoms who recently returned from China, or who had close contact with a person confirmed to be infected with covid-19. “We have just a few hundred testing kits in the state of California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday at a news conference. “That’s simply inadequate to do justice to the kind of testing that is required to address this issue head on. . . . Testing protocols have been a point of frustration for many of us.” “You don’t know what you don’t know unless you’re testing,” he added. The CDC put out a statement Thursday night disputing that it had denied doctors’ request to test the California woman. “A preliminary review of CDC records indicates that CDC was first informed about this case on Sunday, Feb. 23, said the statement from spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. “That same day, CDC requested specimens from the patient to test for covid19 exposure. Test results were confirmed and communicated on Wednesday.” The problems underscored by the California case include the limited availability of tests — which were shipped out to labs nationwide with a problematic component that is only now being corrected — and the federal testing criteria, which had become outdated as the outbreak evolved from being centered in China to spreading in more than three dozen countries. On Thursday, the CDC also expanded federal guidelines to include testing for people who have unexplained severe respiratory symptoms that require hospitalization and people with symptoms who have recently traveled to Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea. Newsom said the state was working with the CDC to get more testing kits and the ability to do tests without shipping samples across the country. “There’s a desperate need to do more testing,” said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H.


Better rat control in cities starts by changing human behavior

For centuries, rats have thrived in cities because of human behavior. In response, humans have blamed the rats and developed techniques for poisoning them. We research urban rat populations and recognize that rats spread disease. But they are fascinating creatures that think, feel and show a high level of intelligence. Public concerns about rat poison harming wildlife are growing — a trend that we believe could eventually lead to rodenticide bans in many parts of the world. Without poison as an option, humans will need other rat control methods. Rats’ many negative traits are well known. They are among the most detrimental invasive animals in cities. Urban rats are like disease sponges, congregating in the foulest reaches, where they pick up harmful pathogens. They carry the antibiotic-resistant MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus pseudintermedius). Inside the rat gut, MRSA can interact with other diseases like ingredients in a mixing bowl, creating newer bugs that can be transported from septic systems into homes. But common approaches to managing rats often fail to address the most important factor contributing to infestations: humans and the prolific quantities of food that they waste. The more research we do on rats in New York and worldwide, the more we realize that rat behaviors contribute less to infestations than do humans. On Jan. 4, Malibu, Calif., banned rodenticides because of their harmful effects on nontarget wildlife, such as mountain lions. This came after the California Assembly passed a bill to ban rodenticides statewide; the measure died in the state Senate, but could reappear this year. If curbs on use of rat poison start to spread, communities will need other ways to manage infestations. Rats cost the world’s economy billions of dollars yearly, mostly from contaminating food in warehouses, restaurants and home kitchens. The costs of illnesses vectored by rats are unknown because medical providers treat many sicknesses without knowing what caused them. As human populations become increasingly clustered in cities, these effects could increase. Meanwhile, climate change is shortening winter seasons that limit rat reproduction. Globalization, climate change and inability to use rodenticides could result in a “perfect storm” of vulnerability to rodents on a scale humans have not experienced since the Middle Ages. Research shows that to address this problem effectively, people must start by understanding the ecology of wild rodents. Rats adapt to human food sources and reproduce at remarkable rates. If enough food is present, a


Coronavirus is spreading through communities on the West Coast

local case. In a news release, Cody described the newly diagnosed Santa Clara County patient as “an older adult woman with chronic health conditions who was hospitalized for a respiratory illness.” The virus is known to cause more severe illness in older people and those with underlying illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But the symptoms are milder in more than 80 percent of current patients. Cody said at a news conference that the woman came to a hospital complaining of difficulty breathing. A physician treating her notified the county health department Wednesday evening because the patient’s symptoms seemed compatible with covid-19. The doctor asked for a coronavirus test, which came back from the county’s lab Thursday evening, Cody said. Little else is known about the woman’s case, including her condition or how long she was in the community while infectious. In Oregon, officials were trying to determine the number of close contacts the patient had, to help determine the potential spread of the disease. “Contact tracing is our top priority right now,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen. The Oregon patient, whose age and gender were not disclosed, is at Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, health officials said. In Washington, health officials said the student who tested positive was a minor and had visited Seattle Children’s North Clinic on Feb. 24. Officials said they were tracing people who may have been exposed to the patient. “Given the extent of global spread, we expect to identify more individuals with covid-19 in Washington,” State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a statement. To date, the virus — which originated in Wuhan, China — has sickened more than 84,000 people and has killed more than 2,800, mostly in China. Outbreaks in some places, such as South Korea, Iran and Italy, have been particularly severe. Santa Clara health officials warned residents in a news release that “now is the time to prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission.” The county will be conducting surveillance to determine how widely the disease has spread, she said. “I understand this may be concerning to hear, but this is what we have been preparing for,” Cody said. “Now we need to start taking additional actions to slow down the spread of the disease.” Public health measures, such as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, have helped slow the spread, she said, but


health officials said. In Washington, health officials said the student who tested positive was a minor and had visited Seattle Children’s North Clinic on Feb. 24. Officials said they were tracing people who may have been exposed to the patient. “Given the extent of global spread, we expect to identify more individuals with covid-19 in Washington,” State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a statement. To date, the virus — which originated in Wuhan, China — has sickened more than 84,000 people and has killed more than 2,800, mostly in China. Outbreaks in some places, such as South Korea, Iran and Italy, have been particularly severe. Santa Clara health officials warned residents in a news release that “now is the time to prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission.” The county will be conducting surveillance to determine how widely the disease has spread, she said. “I understand this may be concerning to hear, but this is what we have been preparing for,” Cody said. “Now we need to start taking additional actions to slow down the spread of the disease.” Public health measures, such as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, have helped slow the spread, she said, but other public health measures are now needed. “What we know now is the virus is here and present in some level,” she said. “But we still don’t know to what degree.” On Tuesday, the CDC warned Americans to prepare for the inevitable spread of the virus in their communities. If transmission becomes more widespread, that could mean school closings, companies mandating telework and limits on or postponements of mass gatherings, said Nancy Messonnier, a top CDC official. The CDC has also been under intense pressure to step up testing for the virus to determine how far the disease has spread. The agency promised Friday that it would be providing more test kits to states in coming days to allow for more rapid identification of infected people. The discovery of two more cases “supports what we are trying to do with basic infection control and case identification,” said Saskia Popescu, senior infection prevention epidemiologist for Honor Health, a hospital system in Phoenix. “We need to focus on pragmatic and scientifically based measures and not hit the panic button. We know how to protect ourselves.” Cody advised people to wash their hands and try not to touch their faces. Families should discuss


Towson student collapses, dies after playing basketball, university says

A student at Towson University in Baltimore County died Friday after collapsing while playing recreational basketball, the university said. The student was identifed as Oluwadamilare “Michael” Oyinloye, a sophomore. No age or hometown was given. He collapsed at Burdick Hall, a recreation center, and was taken to a hospital emergency room, where he died, the university said. No cause was given. martin.weil@washpost.com


The Daily 202: Joe Biden’s firewall holds. What his South Carolina comeback means for Super Tuesday.

They don’t say anything about who pays when the isolation happens in a nongovernmental medical facility — or when they’re brought there by a private ambulance company.” “A 78-year-old man who contracted the coronavirus after spending time on the Diamond Princess cruise ship died Saturday in a Perth hospital, becoming Australia’s first death from the disease. The man and his 79-year-old wife were among 164 Australians who were evacuated from the cruise ship, which was docked in Japan while people on board were quarantined, and flown to Australia for treatment last week,” Derek Hawkins reports. “His wife was also placed in isolation, where she tested positive Friday. Robertson said she was in stable condition. ‘She had the opportunity to talk to him prior to his death, but she’s understandably quite upset. And I obviously ask that people respect their privacy,’ Robertson told Australia’s national broadcaster.” “Chinese health officials early Sunday, local time, reported an additional 573 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 35 deaths on the country’s mainland. In keeping with the pattern throughout the outbreak, the vast majority of those cases and deaths were in Hubei province, where the virus first emerged. The total number of cases on the mainland reached 79,824, and the total number of deaths hit 2,870,” Marisa Iati reports. “In nearby South Korea, health officials reported 376 additional cases of the coronavirus, 333 of which were in the southern city of Daegu. … The total number of cases in South Korea stands at 3,526, and the death count is 17.” “The latest data, according to the Italian government, shows that 1,049 people nationwide are positive for the virus, and another 29 have died. More than half of the cases are in the wealthy northern region of Lombardy, which includes Milan. But a handful of cases have popped up as far south as Sicily and Puglia,” Chico Harlan reports. With polite astonishment, Mexico noted “that ‘there are four cases of covid-19 registered in our country and 22 in the U.S.’ The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. and Mexican governments were in close contact on the issue, and Mexico was willing to cooperate with Washington to protect public health,” Mary Beth Sheridan reports. “Few cases of coronavirus have been reported in Latin America. Ecuador reported its first confirmed case Saturday, and two cases have been confirmed in Brazil.” “The agreement to end the brutal U.S.-Taliban conflict in


mainland reached 79,824, and the total number of deaths hit 2,870,” Marisa Iati reports. “In nearby South Korea, health officials reported 376 additional cases of the coronavirus, 333 of which were in the southern city of Daegu. … The total number of cases in South Korea stands at 3,526, and the death count is 17.” “The latest data, according to the Italian government, shows that 1,049 people nationwide are positive for the virus, and another 29 have died. More than half of the cases are in the wealthy northern region of Lombardy, which includes Milan. But a handful of cases have popped up as far south as Sicily and Puglia,” Chico Harlan reports. With polite astonishment, Mexico noted “that ‘there are four cases of covid-19 registered in our country and 22 in the U.S.’ The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. and Mexican governments were in close contact on the issue, and Mexico was willing to cooperate with Washington to protect public health,” Mary Beth Sheridan reports. “Few cases of coronavirus have been reported in Latin America. Ecuador reported its first confirmed case Saturday, and two cases have been confirmed in Brazil.” “The agreement to end the brutal U.S.-Taliban conflict in Afghanistan … was signed on Saturday under the gaze of tough men in turbans, who clapped and shouted ‘Allahu akbar!’” Karen DeYoung reports. “Trump hailed the accord, formalized with signatures and a handshake between U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and his Taliban counterpart, Abdul Ghani Baradar, as historic. … Trump said he would be ‘meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not too distant future.’ Asked whether such a meeting would be overseas, or if he would invite them to Camp David, an idea he broached last year, he said, ‘We’re looking at that.’ Senior administration officials, while claiming success, offered slightly more tempered expressions of optimism. … “Many veterans of the years-long efforts to end the war and leave a stable Afghanistan, as well as Trump supporters, questioned whether the new agreement laid a sturdy groundwork for permanent peace. Some described it as a capitulation to the Taliban, whose primary demand has always been the full departure of foreign troops. … Some senior military and intelligence officials ‘are concerned that the administration is putting too much stock in the promises of the Taliban,’ who will ‘simply sign anything to get us to leave,’ [said a former senior defense official]. …


‘It’s happening by design’: Two engineers tapped to lead major D.C. region universities

for jobs at the new Amazon headquarters in Arlington and at other local tech companies, Collins said. And in January, Howard University announced it would use a $10 million gift, the largest in its roughly 150-year history, to expand a science and technology scholars program that was started to increase the presence of minorities in those fields. As the number of tech jobs in the Washington region continues to grow, government leaders and university officials have announced plans to train a high-tech workforce. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) recently disclosed plans to help public universities produce 31,000 more degrees in computer science and related fields during the next two decades to help meet growing demand as the state prepares for Amazon. “I do think this is an indication of the importance of engineering in the region,” Collins said about the recent appointments at George Mason and U-Md. “All these schools are recognizing a national trend.” U-Va.’s Benson pointed to Fortune 100 companies — including Apple, General Motors and Microsoft — that are led by people with engineering degrees. “They tend to be trained as engineers, so they’re very much problem-oriented,” Benson said. Pines, the newly chosen U-Md. president, said that philosophy is reflected in his work and that of Mason’s Washington. “We have both spent decades training a generation of engineers,” Pines said in a statement. “We challenge them to be passionate about problem-solving and ready to work as a team — important traits we must bring to our new roles.” Pines will ascend to the top job at U-Md. after controversy beset the campus during the past two years. After the deaths of two students in 2018 — football player Jordan McNair, who suffered heat stroke during a team workout, and freshman Olivia Shea Paregol, who died amid an adenovirus outbreak — school leaders have struggled to earn back the community’s trust, students said. More recently, faculty in the Anthropology Department complained of a mold infestation that some professors said sparked health problems. But Paul Shackel, who chairs the department, said he is generally optimistic about Pines’s selection. “He’s been on campus for a long time, and he knows a lot of the issues on campus. He’s also very aware of what we’ve been going through here in anthropology with the mold situation,” Shackel said. “Even though he’s from engineering, I think, on the whole, we feel like we


In 1969, a white principal barred protesting black students from graduation. They are finally being honored.

who kept detailed, handwritten notes on the controversy (since archived by the College of Southern Maryland). The administration tried persuading the students to leave, or at least move to the gym, but they refused, even after someone triggered the fire alarm. “Mr. Braithwaite made a speech to the demonstrators in which he told them that all the colored people wanted was a handout,” Ruth Mayola wrote. “The whole speech was very insulting.” With support from the local chapter of the NAACP, students continued to hold marches and rallies for three days, at one point gathering outside the principal’s home, until at last they addressed the county’s board of education on the night of June 2. After the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, one student recalled, a pep band organized by Braithwaite played a song: “I Wish I Was in Dixie,” the Confederate anthem. Undeterred, students circled the building — chanting, singing, holding signs — as teenagers and parents argued their case to the board members. After hours of discussion, they relented, ordering new tryouts and appointing a diverse committee to make the selections. For Gee, though, it wasn’t over. On the night of graduation, the girls dressed in white caps and gowns and the boys in navy blue. As their families watched, every senior’s name was read, and all of them walked across the stage. But when the ceremony ended, 22 didn’t get their diplomas, including one white student, Ruth’s son Jimmy. Their parents were furious. About 50 of them, by Ruth’s estimation, went to the principal’s office, where they met with Gee and the deputy superintendent, Jesse Starkey. The administrators told them the teens wouldn’t receive their diplomas as punishment for the protests. The documents would instead be mailed out later. That explanation so angered the parents and students that, Ruth Mayola wrote, some “were near a point of committing violent acts.” Four deputies soon arrived, giving Ruth’s husband, Larry, an idea. In his view, Gee had stolen his son’s diploma, and he wanted the principal charged with a crime. As the rest of the parents remained at the school, Larry went to the courthouse and swore out a warrant. “Two sheriffs deputies then came to the school,” Ruth wrote, “and took Mr. Gee away.” The dispute continued until midnight, and at one point grew so tense that Starkey locked the diplomas in a drawer and parents started


As five Eagle Scouts are celebrated, a sixth gets special recognition. He’s 90.

On Saturday afternoon, five teenage Boy Scouts from Troop 29 in Mitchellville, Md., waited to become that most all-American of figures: Eagle Scouts. People couldn’t stop buzzing about a sixth Scout, one much older than the rest — and one about to get a big surprise. “He still doesn’t know,” said Juan Flora as family and friends began taking their seats at Largo Community Church. Juan is the son of 90-year-old Herman Flora. Herman was there to watch his grandson, Juan’s son Justice Flora, become an Eagle Scout. As parents fussed with their sons’ neckerchiefs and straightened badge-heavy sashes, Scoutmaster Ben Taylor went over the time-honored choreography for the soon-to-be-Eagles: Enrique Evans, 18; Johnathan Batts, 16; brothers Jalen Mack, 17, and Nicholas Mack, 16; and Justice, 17. Herman took a seat near the front. Guest speaker Gregory Robinson, program director for NASA’s James Webb space telescope, talked about how when he was growing up in segregated Danville, Va., the public high school had three curricular tracks: academic, vocational and general. Black students like him were shunted into the vocational and general tracks. Rather than accepting that, Robinson just started taking a seat in advanced math classes. Don’t let anyone turn you around from your dreams, Robinson counseled. “America has many good things to offer you,” he said. It was the last day of Black History Month, and Robinson’s speech resonated with Troop 29, all of whose members are African American. Taylor walked to the microphone for the part of the ceremony that was inscrutably labeled in the program “Special Presentations.” Taylor sketched a quick history of Scouting and about the obstacles black Boy Scouts once faced. In parts of the country, especially the Deep South, Scout troops were segregated, the result of local custom. There was a particular impediment to boys who wanted to reach the pinnacle of Scouting, as these five young men had done. Eagle Scout status required the swimming merit badge, and that badge could be earned only in a regulation-sized swimming pool. In many Southern cities, those pools were off-limits to African Americans. Herman turned to his family. “That sounds like my story,” he said. It was. Taylor introduced Herman, and as the crowd rose to its feet and applauded, Justice led his grandfather to the podium. Herman joined the Boy Scouts in Norfolk in 1943. At the time, there was no pool in the area


Local food mogul’s PLNT Burger builds on success of Beyond Meat

owned by Amazon, whose founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.) The start-up, known as PLNT Burger, “is a bit of a blend of Honest Tea and Beyond Meat,” Goldman said. “We are incorporating organic ingredients, such as our mushrooms and drinks, along with Beyond Meat, into our recipes.” The menu includes the Crispy Chik N’ Funguy sandwich, “made from the fruiting body of an organic oyster mushroom.” The sandwich was inspired by a visit to a mushroom farm, where Goldman noticed that parts of the mushroom were being thrown away. “Instead of waste, we are turning it into food that people can consume,” he said. Goldman is the lead investor in PLNT Burger along with his wife, Julie Farkas, and son Jonah Goldman. They have created a holding company called Eat the Change that will produce a broad line of similar, plant-based food that they hope to sell across the country. PLNT Burger opened its first location at the Whole Foods in downtown Silver Spring in August. Goldman said the restaurant has been successful enough that he and his partners are planning to open more locations. On a good day, “we are making as much as the previous concept was making in a week,” said Goldman, who kept the menu items below $10 to reach a wide audience. “We have our sights set on at least four more locations around Washington this year.” Sales of plant-based foods have surged as more Americans move to reduce their meat intake on health and environmental grounds. Piper Sandler reported plant-based meat could be a $6 billion to $8 billion market by 2025, while Goldman Sachs estimates that the plant-based category will grow to $15 billion in the United States and $47 billion globally by 2029. Driving Goldman’s business plan, in part, is an American Psychological Association study that cited a condition known as “ecoanxiety.” “People are scared and unsure whether their choices are contributing to climate change,” he said. Beyond Meat and PLNT Burger are businesses designed to assuage that guilt by having minimal impact on the environment while also serving popular products. “The climate crisis has broken through to people’s consciousness,” he said. “It is no longer a problem we will have to worry about 10 years from now, or when our kids grow up. This is more than ‘good business.’ It is urgently needed business.” thomas.heath@washpost.com


The Olympics are the perfect way to spread a virus, but a decision on the Tokyo Games can wait

Every four years, the Summer Olympics attract more than 11,000 athletes, about 25,000 journalists and hundreds of thousands of spectators from more than 200 countries to one spot on the globe. Once the Games end, they all scatter home, back to every corner of the planet. It is a logistical miracle, the athletic pinnacle and, as framed by the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, something else entirely. “You bring a lot of people together, and then you ship them back all over the world: That’s the perfect way to transmit,” said Yvonne Maldonado, a Stanford University professor and infectious disease researcher. “If you really want to disseminate a disease, that would be the way to do it.” Olympic organizers this past week faced questions about how the coronavirus could alter the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin in late July. Health experts cautioned that any forecast about the fate of the Olympics would be hugely speculative because of how much remains unknown about the coronavirus, how much it will spread and how effectively those infected will be able to be treated. But they also expressed confidence that the International Olympic Committee and organizers in Japan will face scrutiny for whatever direction they take. The Olympics last were canceled in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II. “Regardless of where we are in this epidemic, my expectation is if it’s not resolved by then, people will be having to make the hard decision of whether or not we have the Olympics,” said University of Nebraska professor Ali Khan, formerly the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “If we are still in the midst of this epidemic in five months, definitely people will be asking whether or not we need to cancel the Olympics.” The Olympics defy the practice of social distancing, which many world leaders have enacted to contain the coronavirus. Saudi Arabia suspended the Umrah pilgrimage. Switzerland has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people. Japan, the host country, canceled school for about a month. “The question really is, how fast is this going to burn out,” Maldonado said. “Will it burn by out by July or August? I don’t know. … I think April is a little bit optimistic.” In an interview with the Associated Press, Canadian IOC member Dick Pound said a decision about


Simone Biles blasts USA Gymnastics’ settlement proposal; Aly Raisman assails ‘massive cover up’

prevent abuse in the future. At the same time, we must respect the confidentiality and integrity of the mediation and SafeSport processes. We would welcome the opportunity to continue mediation and discussing how to best resolve the survivors’ claims.” Former Olympic champion swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a lawyer and advocate for athlete safety, told The Washington Post in an email exchange: “Simon Biles’ exasperation is justified. As an Olympian and a fellow survivor, I urge Simone Biles not to compartmentalize her anxiety, but to use it for extraordinary performances on behalf of all athletes. I hope her righteous anger moves her to speak out even more boldly. Sexual abuse is just one symptom of athletes having no power, and the Olympic Movement executives still treat athletes like marketing opportunities for their own pocket.” Perhaps no Olympic athlete has a more powerful voice than Biles, a five-world all-around champion, five-time Olympic medalist and six-time U.S. all-around champion who is expected to dominate the Tokyo Games. The 22-year-old has used her voice judiciously and to great effect regarding USAG and Nassar’s abuse, acknowledging in January 2018 that she, too, was a victim and expressing dread of having to return to the national team camp at Karolyi Ranch, where she had been abused, to prepare for the 2020 Olympics. Three days later, USAG severed ties with the Texas complex. On the eve of the 2019 U.S. gymnastics championships in August, Biles wept while explaining the challenge of competing on behalf of an organization, USAG, that had failed its athletes so grievously, saying through tears: “You had one job. You literally had one job, and you couldn’t protect us!” USAG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2018, stating it would expedite the settlement of athletes’ claims. The filing also halted discovery in the lawsuits and USOPC’s efforts to revoke its status as the sport’s national governing body. On Jan. 30, USAG released its initial settlement offer of $215 million, to be divided among all claimants, explaining that it was the maximum its insurers could fund. The plan was swiftly rejected by John C. Manly, the attorney who represents roughly 200 of the more than 500 litigants, who said it showed “complete disregard for the athletes.” He estimated each victim would receive $250,000 to $300,000, which he called insufficient to compensate for emotional harm and therapy. He also faulted the plan’s failure to disclose documents


At U.S. marathon trials, Galen Rupp wins to qualify for fourth Olympics; Aliphine Tuliamuk takes women’s race

mile and led the front-running pack until the finish line. It was his first big victory since he had surgery in October 2018 to address a bony growth on his heel that was hampering his Achilles’ tendon. In his only other marathon attempt since surgery — the Chicago Marathon in October 2019 — Rupp walked off the course at the 23-mile mark to receive medical attention. “I was hurting for a long time,” he said. “The little things you take for granted — just being able to get out of bed, walk without pain, chase my kids around, do little things like that — I wasn’t able to do it for a long time. To be back, to be running, to be able to run well, there’s always a little bit of an unknown.” He said Saturday that he has not yet fully bounced back, estimating his recovery at 90 to 95 percent. “It’s just the nature of what I had done. … I had a lot of things wrong with my ankle,” he said. “It’s such a load-bearing thing in running. You start running differently, trying to compensate. You’re not doing things right, and you get in this bad cycle where things aren’t functioning properly. So the last several months have been about getting healthy, getting my mechanics good and getting everything working again.” Rupp’s push to Tokyo was not without controversy. Last year his longtime coach, Alberto Salazar, was hit with a four-year ban for providing some of his runners with banned substances and tampering with the doping control process. Rupp has never tested positive for a banned substance and has since been working with Michael Smith, the head track coach at Northern Arizona University. “A sign of a great teacher is how he passes all the information on to his people when he’s gone,” Rupp told reporters Saturday in response to a question about his former coach. “… I certainly learned a lot from him.” The women’s race marked a changing of the guard of sorts. Des Linden, the two-time Olympian who won the 2018 Boston Marathon, finished in fourth place, 11 seconds behind Kipyego, which means all three female qualifiers will be making their Olympic debuts for the United States. Kipyego was competing for her native Kenya when she took silver in the 10,000-meter race at the 2012 Games. “I have lived here for 15 years.


First coronavirus death in U.S. and new cases detected as testing expands

A man in his 50s with an underlying health condition became the first person in the United States to die of coronavirus infection. President Trump announced new travel restrictions Saturday, and health officials scrambled to increase testing nationwide even as they tried to tamp down public fears. Along with the fatality in Washington state, health officials in the Seattle area confirmed two additional cases of the covid-19 disease and a possible outbreak at a long-term nursing facility — raising alarm because the elderly and sick are among those most vulnerable to the virus. Officials in California’s Santa Clara County announced another case Saturday, and Illinois announced another case Saturday evening. The new cases bring the number of people apparently infected by community spread of the disease to nine. They have no travel history to regions hit by the virus or encounters with people known to have the disease. One of the three new cases of infection is a health-care worker at the Life Care nursing home in Kirkland, Wash. Another is a woman in her 70s from the nursing home, now in serious condition, said Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County. The man who died was not associated with the nursing home. The nursing home housed 108 residents and 180 workers, and 27 residents and 25 staffers are showing symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus. “We would not be surprised to find additional cases,” Duchin said. Life Care Center is tucked away in a residential area. On Saturday afternoon, there were signs at the door that said, “We are having a respiratory outbreak. Notice: no visitors allowed.” Saturday afternoon, an American Medical Response vehicle arrived at the Life Care Center and two people who appeared to be paramedics put on gowns and masks before entering the facility with a gurney and then brought out a patient from the facility. As news of the first fatality broke, President Trump announced he would extend an existing travel ban on Iran to apply to any foreign nationals who had been in that country over the past 14 days. He also raised the warning level for travel to Italy and South Korea, recommending Americans not travel to certain regions of those countries with outbreaks of the virus. Trump said he is also considering restrictions across the southern U.S. border. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry later pointed out the country has fewer cases of