British coronavirus ‘superspreader’ may have infected at least 11 people in three countries

LONDON — The story of a traveling British businessman who appears to have passed the coronavirus to Britons in at least three countries has prompted concerns over a "superspreader" who could play an outsize role in transmitting the infection. A British national may have unwittingly spread the pneumonia-like virus to at least 11 people in the course of his travels from Singapore to France to Switzerland to England, according to public health authorities and accounts in the British media. Infected Britons in England, France and Spain probably caught the virus from him. On Tuesday, the businessman was identified as Steve Walsh, a project management lead for Servomex, a gas analytics company. He attended a sales conference from Jan. 18 to 22 at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore, which is where he is thought to have contracted the virus. In a statement to The Washington Post sent via his employer, Walsh spoke of the other infected people. “I would like to thank the NHS for their help and care — whilst I have fully recovered, my thoughts are with others who have contracted coronavirus,” Walsh said, referring to Britain’s National Health Service. He said that as soon as he discovered he had been exposed to a confirmed case, he contacted health authorities. “I was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self-isolated at home as instructed. When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves,” he said. In a separate statement, Servomex said: “We are very pleased that Steve Walsh has made a full recovery. We continue to provide support to him and his family. The company added: “We are working with Public Health authorities to ensure the welfare of our staff and communities and wish anyone with the virus a quick and full recovery.” As of Tuesday, China reported more than 1,000 deaths and 41,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, as the epidemic continued to worsen. Eight cases have been confirmed in Britain. The coronavirus can spread quickly among humans, usually through close person-to-person contact and respiratory droplets. Authorities in Britain and beyond are scrambling to trace the businessman’s tracks from the time he caught the virus to when he tested positive in Britain several days later. From Singapore, he reportedly stopped


at a French ski resort, boarded a flight, dropped by a pub in his hometown and may have gone to a medical clinic. Authorities are getting in touch with those who may have come into close contact with him. Researchers say that the incubation period for the virus can last up to 14 days. After leaving Singapore, Walsh visited a chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, a ski resort in the French Alps. According to the French Health Ministry, five British citizens, including a 9-year-old, also stayed at the chalet and tested positive for the virus. The Guardian reported that French authorities shut two schools that the 9-year-old visited. Six other British nationals have been hospitalized for observation. On Sunday, French health officials announced two new cases linked to the ski resort. “We learned that there were two other cases linked to this cluster, two adults — one who was diagnosed in the United Kingdom and the other who was diagnosed in Mallorca — linked to a stay in the apartment in Les Contamines-Montjoie,” Jerome Salomon, a senior health official, said in a televised statement, Reuters reported. On Monday, British officials announced that four more people in Britain tested positive for the coronavirus. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said that the “new cases are all known contacts of a previously confirmed U.K. case, and the virus was passed on in France.” After spending time at the chalet in the Alps, Walsh traveled to Geneva, where he caught a flight to London’s Gatwick Airport on Jan. 28. Nearly 200 people were on board the plane. EasyJet, a discount airline, said that 183 passengers and six crew members were on the flight and that health authorities have contacted the passengers who were seated near the businessman. “Although the risk to others on board the flight is very low, crew who operated the flight have been advised to monitor their health for a 14 day period since the flight in line with Public Health England advice,” the airline said in a statement. “The original flight was 13 days ago and none are displaying any symptoms.” Walsh is from Hove, a town that neighbors Brighton. Together, the two places are known as Brighton and Hove. On Monday, the BBC reported that a doctor’s clinic in Brighton has been temporarily closed after one of its staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. As of Monday


Coronavirus updates: Global death toll passes 1,000 as China records most deaths in a single day

Rosoboronexport chief Alexander Mikheyev said, according to Interfax. He said the agency had contracts with China for delivery and for training its personnel. Russian health authorities are monitoring more than 20,000 people in Russia for signs of the virus, including 6,000 Chinese citizens. Two cases of the virus have been found so far. Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service warned Monday of “economic looting” by retailers seeking to take advantage of the crisis, with a sharp increase in the cost of medical masks across Russia. “The vast increase in retail prices for medical masks in 68 regions of the Russian Federation has all the indications of ‘economic looting’ during a period of increased demand,” the FAS said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that pharmacies that price-gouged on medicines and medical masks should have their licenses canceled. By: Robyn Dixon 11:53 AM: Scientists hope an antiviral drug being tested in China could help patients U.S. officials confirmed last week that physicians in Wuhan, China, have begun testing an experimental drug called remdesivir on coronavirus patients. The drug, made by Gilead Sciences, was successfully used on the first U.S. patient, a 35-year-old man in Snohomish County, Wash. He recovered, but a single case can’t determine the extent to which the drug may have contributed. Scientists are hopeful that the drug will work. Although remdesivir failed an ebola clinical trial, it has shown promise in laboratory tests against other coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Timothy Sheahan, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that instead of developing a new drug for each emerging virus, the hope is that remdesivir could be broadly useful and work against multiple coronaviruses — one drug that could work against multiple bugs. “I think starting a clinical trial is essential for determining if this drug will work” against the coronavirus, Sheahan said. One of the clinical studies will test remdesivir on infected patients who are in the hospital but do not have severe symptoms. The other will test it on people with severe infections, who are on supplemental oxygen or have other complications. Gilead is providing the drug to Chinese researchers at no charge, according to spokeswoman Sonia Choi. By: Carolyn Y. Johnson 11:41 AM: Manufacturing in China remains slow China’s


Foundation. Alibaba’s payment and health subsidiaries are also offering loans and free services to affected people. By: Adam Taylor and Miriam Berger 9:58 AM: Quarantines and travel bans pose test to personal relationships There’s nothing like a quarantine or an international travel ban to test a relationship. As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, mixed-nationality couples and families looking to leave China have found themselves divided by citizenship status. Frustration and anxiety is running high as people struggle to navigate emergency measures meant to contain the virus, but which critics say have stoked xenophobia and public panic. Getting out of China, no matter one’s nationality, is becoming harder and harder. Airlines are canceling flights. Countries are imposing bans on people traveling from China. Within the country, movement between and within cities is highly restricted. Chinese regulations and diplomatic relations have further complicated some efforts by governments to evacuate their citizens. Countless couples and families have faced a maddening array of international barriers. Read more here: “Love in the time of coronavirus, quarantines and travel bans” By: Miriam Berger 9:40 AM: New model suggests coronavirus outbreak began in November, University of Toronto researchers say A new disease-transmission model created by University of Toronto researchers suggests that the coronavirus epidemic started one month earlier than commonly believed. The model uses open-access data to replicate epidemiological scenarios, allowing the researchers to test some narratives about the outbreak. Although it is only a model, it may provide a plausible explanation for how the virus was able to spread so quickly — useful in the absence of hard evidence. “You can’t get up to that level of cases if the epidemic started in December even if you pushed the reproduction really high,” David Fisman, a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and one of the model’s creators, said in a statement. “If you have a reproduction number of three, the epidemic could not have stated in mid-December because, according to the graph, it is undershooting the cases that were found in December,” Fisman said. The findings of Fisman and his colleagues were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last week. The research suggested not only that the outbreak may have started earlier than widely thought, but also that it has not yet been controlled. By: Adam Taylor 8:30 AM: Russia quarantines top Chinese diplomat A top Chinese diplomat has


by University of Toronto researchers suggests that the coronavirus epidemic started one month earlier than commonly believed. The model uses open-access data to replicate epidemiological scenarios, allowing the researchers to test some narratives about the outbreak. Although it is only a model, it may provide a plausible explanation for how the virus was able to spread so quickly — useful in the absence of hard evidence. “You can’t get up to that level of cases if the epidemic started in December even if you pushed the reproduction really high,” David Fisman, a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and one of the model’s creators, said in a statement. “If you have a reproduction number of three, the epidemic could not have stated in mid-December because, according to the graph, it is undershooting the cases that were found in December,” Fisman said. The findings of Fisman and his colleagues were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last week. The research suggested not only that the outbreak may have started earlier than widely thought, but also that it has not yet been controlled. By: Adam Taylor 8:30 AM: Russia quarantines top Chinese diplomat A top Chinese diplomat has been quarantined by Russian authorities as a safety precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, Interfax news agency reported Monday. The diplomat, Consul General Cui Shaochun, had arrived in Yekaterinburg on Thursday to take up his new post but had not yet met with any Russian diplomats, according to Interfax. Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexander Kharlov told Interfax that Cui would be quarantined at home for two weeks and would not hold previously scheduled meetings. By: Adam Taylor 7:25 AM: Japan corrects new cruise ship infected cases to 65 TOKYO — Japan’s Health Ministry says 65 additional people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for the new coronavirus, correcting an earlier statement from the vessel’s parent company. The Health Ministry said the 65 cases came from 103 samples taken from people on board. The Diamond Princess’s operator had earlier said 66 more people were infected. The latest data means that 135 people on board the ship have tested positive out of 439 tests carried out, or nearly one person in three. Despite growing calls to test everyone on board the ship, Japan’s chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Monday that under current circumstances, that would be “difficult.” Officials


patients. On a flight, Xinhua reported, all passengers in the same row as the infected person, as well as those three rows in front and three rows in back, would be defined as having come into close contact. This also applies to flight attendants who provide cabin services in the area. Other passengers would be referred to as having general contact. In a fully enclosed air-conditioned train, all the passengers and crew members who are in the same compartment are regarded as being in close contact, Xinhua reported. By: Simon Denyer 3:40 AM: Coronavirus is a ‘serious and imminent’ threat to Britain, says health secretary The spread of the new coronavirus is a “serious and imminent” threat to public health requiring stricter quarantine measures, Britain’s Health Department announced Monday. The statement in the name of Health Secretary Matt Hancock also designated Arrow Park Hospital as an isolation facility and declared that all of China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, was an “infected area.” The statement added that new measures have been adopted, giving the government greater powers to quarantine and isolate people to stop the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 40,000 people worldwide, nearly all of them in China. The announcement followed the revelation that one British man who caught the virus in Singapore went on to possibly infect seven other people around Europe before returning to Britain. The British government advises against all travel to Hubei province and all but the most essential travel to the rest of mainland China. “If you’re in China and able to leave, you should do so,” the travel advisory warned. On Sunday, 200 British and foreign nationals were evacuated from the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began. By: Paul Schemm 3:25 AM: Taiwan tightens restrictions on Hong Kong and Macao travelers Taiwan announced new restrictions Monday on travelers from Hong Kong and Macao in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Only those traveling for business purposes or with residency in Taiwan will be allowed on the island, said Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council. The new restrictions will take effect Tuesday. Even those allowed in must submit to a 14-day quarantine, either at home or in a hotel. According to the South China Morning Post, 10,840 students from Hong Kong and Macao are studying in Taiwan, 7,900 of them having left the island ahead


Nike’s Vaporfly shoes changed running, and the track and field world is still sifting through the fallout

becomes, is the deck stacked?” said Mark Conrad, the director of the sports business program at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business. “Does this make the deck stacked in terms of runners using this product achieving at an unfair level? If it does, it clearly would be unethical unless everybody has access to it.” What makes the Vaporfly series unique, some say, is that the technology could be troubling even if everyone does have access to it. In an exhaustive blog post published Thursday, Tucker argued, with studies to back him up, that even if every runner has access to the Vaporfly technology, or something similar in another brand, it would still create an unbalanced playing field. Some runners, according to studies Tucker cited, respond to the shoes’ technology more effectively in terms of running efficiency, and those who respond well have a massive advantage over those who do not. The advantage is so stark, Tucker wrote, that runners who do not respond to the shoe well would be winnowed from competitive running at an early age. “When the difference made by technology is larger than the normal difference between athletes, then the integrity of the result is changed,” Tucker wrote. Danny Orr, New Balance’s general manager for performance, said Nike could have been more transparent with the IAAF as it developed the Vaporfly. But he joined other experts in putting the onus on the sport’s governing body to create parameters for companies to innovate within. “Very early on, we saw results that were unprecedented with that product, and we felt like at that time the world governing body probably had the opportunity to act,” Orr said. “The fact that they didn’t since 2016 is what’s put us in the position today.” In October, in a non-sanctioned exhibition in Vienna, Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours. He wore the Next%, an evolutionary, extra-chunky version of the Vaporfly. (The next day, Brigid Kosgei shattered a 16-year-old women’s record by 1 minute 21 seconds in the Next%.) The Guardian reported that the Next% could boost a runner’s efficiency by 7 to 8 percent. Kipchoge broke the mark on a closed course with the help of pacers, runners there solely to push him along. Still, much of the resulting discourse focused on his shoes. “I don’t know if we’re having this conversation if not for the


that one company is Nike. Last week, Nike offered a limited release of the Air Zoom Alphafly Next% to the public. It was legal by World Athletics’ new regulations and had a 39.5-millimeter sole. “There were a lot of whispers” World Athletics consulted Nike before it released its regulations, Orr said. (In a statement last week to the Guardian, World Athletics denied doing so.) “What we haven’t got from World Athletics is any indication that those decisions were based on science,” Orr said. “They seemed to be based on a competitive product that meets those numbers exactly, and that’s how decisions were made versus something that was truly science-based.” Nike’s central role in the saga has amplified the issues surrounding new technology. “To be honest, had we done it and [Saucony runner] Jared Ward run a sub-2-hour marathon, I don’t know — I don’t think we’re having this conversation,” said Hoy, who used to work for Nike. “There is part of this which is, Nike is big. They’ve got an enormous stable of runners. And therefore it feels unfair. I don’t subscribe to that. I don’t think you get to compete and then, if you don’t like the outcome, you say, ‘That just wasn’t fair.’ That’s not how competition works.” It will probably be a matter of time before the next leap forward, before the next controversial shoe stirs a similar conversation. How innovation affects competition is what matters to fans, but what keeps the competition afloat is a running shoe industry that needs to sell the next great idea. Innovation, in some eyes, may muddle competition. It is also what keeps the industry alive, and therefore it is both necessary and inevitable. “I don’t believe the gap between what Nike has created in this space vs. what we are capable of creating is significant,” Hoy said. “My hope is the Olympics, four years from now, maybe it’s us that are in the middle of a conversation about what an incredible product we made and how it made runners better. That’s what keeps you moving forward.” Read more: Former top Olympics doctor sues, claims he was fired for standing up for athletes Nike unveils Team USA uniforms for basketball and other Olympic athletes The Simone Biles vault that might be too risky for the Olympics U.S. anti-doping chief urges Congress to tackle Russian doping: ‘We want it real, not rigged’


Here’s what you can expect if your China travel plans have been disrupted

This story has been updated. The coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt travel to China. The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory — “do not travel” — for the country and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged visitors to avoid nonessential travel to the country. “The situation is changing by the hour,” said Lauren Sauer, director of research at the Johns Hopkins Biocontainment Unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The virus is spreading, and we are getting more information on case counts, patient types and the health impact.” Travelers can stay abreast of developments by checking the CDC website and monitoring alerts issued by the State Department and U.S. embassies. Here’s what consider if you need to change your travel plans:: If you cancel an upcoming trip to China, will travel insurance refund your expenses? Are airlines, hotels, travel operators and cruise lines waiving change or cancellation fees for travel to China? Many domestic and international airlines have announced that they are decreasing or suspending flights to China. In the U.S., American, Delta and United airlines have halted flights to China. If your airline cancels your flight, you can receive a full refund. Hotels are also making it easier to reschedule, with chains including Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott easing restrictions. Hyatt and Hilton have extended waivers through Feb. 29, covering reservations in China as well as bookings to other properties made by guests who have traveled to, from or through China. (To qualify, you must have booked directly through the hotel; otherwise, contact your third-party agent.) Marriott will waive cancellation fees for hotel stays through Feb. 29 for guests with reservations at hotels in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and for guests from those locations traveling to Marriott destinations globally. Intercontinental Hotels is allowing guests travelling to or from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan through Feb. 29 to change or cancel reservations made through its official channels without penalty. Accor properties will allow guests tarveling to its properties in greater China to rebook or cancel without penalty through Feb. 29 regardless of the booking channel. Airbnb has activated its extenuating circumstances policy and is giving hosts and guests the option of penalty-free cancellation. Among tour operators, policies vary. David Clapworthy, a Southeast Asia specialist at Audley Travel, said


If your airline cancels your flight, you can receive a full refund. Hotels are also making it easier to reschedule, with chains including Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott easing restrictions. Hyatt and Hilton have extended waivers through Feb. 29, covering reservations in China as well as bookings to other properties made by guests who have traveled to, from or through China. (To qualify, you must have booked directly through the hotel; otherwise, contact your third-party agent.) Marriott will waive cancellation fees for hotel stays through Feb. 29 for guests with reservations at hotels in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and for guests from those locations traveling to Marriott destinations globally. Intercontinental Hotels is allowing guests travelling to or from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan through Feb. 29 to change or cancel reservations made through its official channels without penalty. Accor properties will allow guests tarveling to its properties in greater China to rebook or cancel without penalty through Feb. 29 regardless of the booking channel. Airbnb has activated its extenuating circumstances policy and is giving hosts and guests the option of penalty-free cancellation. Among tour operators, policies vary. David Clapworthy, a Southeast Asia specialist at Audley Travel, said the company is no longer running trips to China and is canceling travel there scheduled for the next few months. “We’re assessing the situation for clients traveling later in the year,” he said. Abercrombie and Kent does not start its small group journeys in China until mid-March. “Although we are hopeful that the situation will be resolved by then, we are offering guests the opportunity to postpone their travel plans or change to an alternate destination,” said Jean Fawcett, a company spokesperson. Intrepid Travel and G Adventures have cancelled all February departures to China. Travelers will have the option of postponing their trips, transferring to another tour, or cancelling for a full refund. Cruise lines have also rerouted itineraries and canceled sailings in Asia. For example, Princess has swapped out its Shanghai port for Tokyo on three Sapphire Princess voyages in May and June. It also canceled two June trips that sailed round trip from Shanghai. NCL has pulled the plug on all Norwegian Spirit sailings from April 15 through Dec. 7. The cruise lines have different cancellation and rebooking policies, but most will offer passengers a full refund on canceled cruises and a partial refund or option to cancel


Money for quantum

The Trump administration released its budget proposal this week, and science funding would take a hit. (Here’s where we point out that Congress has, for the past three years, rejected these trims and generally increased funding at research agencies.) When asked to explain the proposed cuts to basic research, Kelvin Droegemeier, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director, told reporters Monday: “The key priority in this administration is prioritizing of research and then, you know, placing our money on things that are extremely important. And then, for those things that are less important or lower priority, not focusing on them as much” while “relying on the private sector to innovate from the research outcomes that our universities and our federal labs produce.” About those priorities: Quantum information and artificial intelligence remain the lodestars that guide the administration’s research budget. The proposal “commits to double quantum R&D and nondefense AI R&D by 2022,” said Michael Kratsios, the White House’s chief technology officer. Kratsios said American leadership of artificial intelligence was an “imperative,” as “our adversaries and others around the world” use AI “to track their people, to imprison ethnic minorities, to monitor political dissidents.” The National Science Foundation requested $868 million to be allocated to artificial intelligence research and $226 million to quantum information science, NSF Director France Cordova said. At USDA, its competitive grant program would receive an additional $100 million for AI and other technology applied to agriculture — though the agency that distributes those grants, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, has been hobbled by its recent relocation out of the District. The request would provide $25 million to develop an “entangled quantum Internet” that connects Energy Department labs, said Paul Dabbar, the Department of Energy’s science undersecretary. If successful, nodes at the 17 labs, from Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, would form the backbone of the first national quantum network. As science-fictional as a quantum Internet might sound, the reality is that its immediate importance is security — exploiting quantum mechanics to prevent information from being intercepted — rather than new online experiences.


How the coronavirus threatens Xi’s ‘Chinese dream’

top CIA China analyst who is now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Given Xi’s track record of success, Johnson predicts that he’s likely to stay on top through deft maneuvering, but he cites several factors that could complicate this recovery. The virus itself is still a mystery. Experts expect the number of new cases to begin to recede soon, but what if it doesn’t? What if the government’s effort to protect the economy by forcing a return to work causes a fresh contagion or the epidemic persists into the summer? Xi would have to turn to People’s Liberation Army generals and other security chiefs for help, but Johnson detects some hints that the military is already grumbling about cleaning up a mess created in part by the bad political decision to suppress information about the outbreak back in December. Another eerie possibility is that the epidemic could spread within the Chinese leadership cadres. Senior officials tend to live and work in protected enclaves for security reasons. But that clustering and centralization could turn leadership compounds into petri dishes if China is unlucky. The final, overriding issue is political and social stability — always the abiding concern of the Politburo and top cadres. For now, the Politburo will surely support Xi, following the precept of authoritarian states that leaders must hang together or they will each hang separately. But past practice suggests that after the crisis has passed, the Politburo will enter an evaluative phase to assess how the system performed. Xi’s ruthless consolidation of power has made him the strongest leader since Mao Zedong but also uniquely vulnerable to criticism that he has overreached. Xi purged party and military leaders after taking power. He is creating an elaborately woven network of control, with citizens receiving social-credit scores, to help suppress dissent. He shattered the collective leadership model that had prevailed since Mao’s death in favor of a ruthless executive and a new cult of personality around him. This super-dominant role is Xi’s brand. As Chinese citizens ask what went wrong with the coronavirus, they will inevitably wonder about the role of the man who briefly ventured out in Beijing Monday, supposedly at the “front lines” of the epidemic, wearing a face mask and joking with residents, “This is a special period so we will not shake hands.” Xi has faced other reversals lately. He


More testing won’t fix students’ literacy problems

The Feb. 9 editorial “Lowering the standards” said the drop in reading test scores in Virginia was a result of eliminating some Standards of Learning tests. But tests don’t make people learn. Schools and teachers do. The blame should be on technology and schools’ emphasis on math and science education. Competitive school systems such as Loudoun, where I teach, and Fairfax have magnet schools for these subjects. But the emphasis on math and science has come at the expense of the humanities. English and history have taken a back seat, and it shows in lower reading scores. The rise in the use of technology also has contributed to our students’ lack of literacy. Technology was supposed to aid in our children’s growth. Sophisticated online reading programs should have helped to make learning fun and engaging, but that has not been the case. Technology in the classroom has only limited students’ literacy. Children grow up with autocorrect. Their smartphone use also makes them impatient with longer texts. If you can’t tweet it, don’t read it. And the fashionable use of “book clubs” in schools gives them too much choice and less exposure to classic literature, which may be boring for them but is necessary for a literate public. Tests serve politicians who look for data to create policy. How else should they do it? But the messy truth is that human learning cannot be quantified in that way. It takes time to develop into a good reader and efficient writer. More testing won’t fix this. Better schools and teaching will. Sarah Jedrzejczak


Few people know of her daughter’s genetic disorder. A mom is skiing 125 miles across Norway to change that.

hiring trainers and ski experts. She will leave the District on Friday and plans to return early next month. Reynolds expects to have plenty of quiet time — in short supply in a house with four children — while skiing with a guide in a single-file formation. It will allow her to reflect on her family’s journey with PKU, she said. “I expect it will be a combination of trying to live in the moment and watching the conditions and terrain to be safe,” she said. “It will also likely be a sensory overload.” Staci Kasprzyk, a Buffalo mother whose 5-year-old daughter has PKU, met Reynolds nearly four years ago at an event in the District. She said Reynolds is “showing everyone that she’s going to do everything she can to try to find a cure.” “She’s not only doing it for her own daughter, she’s doing it for everybody else,” Kasprzyk said. “She’s showing us that she’s willing to do anything to help out and do her part.” PKU patients have to stick to a strict, very low-protein diet and consume medically modified — and expensive — formula and foods. An eight-ounce box of pasta for someone with PKU costs about $15, and a loaf of bread can cost more than $10. Families can spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on foods that are rarely covered by insurance. There are no outward signs of PKU at birth. In the United States — where about 16,500 people have the condition — it is diagnosed shortly after birth through screening that began in the 1960s. Newborns are tested with a blood sample from the heel of the foot. PKU patients can suffer from migraines, learning disabilities, seizures, trouble concentrating or behavioral issues. A person with high levels of Phe in their blood can suffer irreversible neurological issues. The disorder is typically passed to a child when two parents are carriers but often don’t know they have it. ‘We had never heard of it’ A few days after Tia was born, Reynolds got a call from a lab in California indicating that her daughter tested positive for PKU. “We had never heard of it,” she said. Reynolds, a former marketing executive in Silicon Valley, threw herself into learning all she could about the condition while caring for Tia and her three other children. For Tia, there were frequent struggles. When


Why you should visit St. Petersburg, Fla.

cult-like local following. Same goes for their other popular dishes, including the lechon platter, slow-roasted mojo pork with grilled onions, grilled tempeh with sweet and spicy slaw, and maduros (fried sweet plantains). To me, an old-school Florida joint should have at least three essential qualities. It must serve good, unfussy food. It must have been around for at least several decades, preferably longer. And it must have outdoor seating. Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish has all these, and then some. Founded in 1951, this family-owned roadside restaurant also happens to excel in some of my favorite Sunshine State treats: House-smoked mullet and other local fish, including smoked fish spread. Fine non-finned dishes are available (they have a dandy cheeseburger), but my ideal meal here is the smoked mullet dinner, served with coleslaw, German potato salad and a pickle, plus a cold beer. Shop It’s been said that more than a quarter of Americans admit to shopping online while tipsy. Brutique refreshingly combines the two activities in a convivial, real-world boutique. In addition to casual women’s and men’s clothing — with an emphasis on the former — the store carries local skin-care products from Bohemian Reves and miscellany such as funky candles fashioned from beer bottles. Don’t care to shop? Hang at the bar (they don’t call themselves a bar-infused boutique for nothing) for a glass of prosecco or local beer on tap, and listen to one of the frequent live music acts. As if all this weren’t reason enough to stop by, dogs are welcome. Haslam’s Book Store is more than just Florida’s biggest bookstore, it’s a spiritual center for bibliophiles from near and far. A favorite stop for authors on tour, it started in 1933, when Mary Haslam began loaning books from a small shop for 2 cents a day. “She was Blockbuster before there was Blockbuster,” her great grandson, Raymond Hinst, recently told me. His grandfather, Charles, moved the business to its current 30,000-square-foot home. Though you’ll probably find a new or used book about most any topic, I’m always amazed by how many books on niche subjects there are here. We’re talking an entire section dedicated to woodworking. Ditto for railroads, shells, birds and nautical adventure. Children’s books and books about Florida subjects are especially well represented. Lovers of rare books will find plenty here, too, including one of the first novels published by an African American,


The Health 202: The opioid crisis is still a big problem in New Hampshire. But the Democratic candidates are saying little about it, even in the state’s primary

on Medicare-for-all, casting them as extreme on the issue and positioning herself as the reasonable, incrementalist reformer. Klobuchar has said she wants to expand health coverage by offering a nonprofit government plan similar to Medicare or Medicaid that people could choose to buy, while still keeping the employer-sponsored system of coverage in place. — Here's another issue on which Klobuchar is sounding moderate: Abortion. Chris Crawford, of Democracy Fund: You are reading The Health 202, our must-read newsletter on health policy. AHH: The number of confirmed coronavirus infections continues to rise, but the rate of growth is slowing, — Also, some good news: The virus is sparing kids, CNBC — Health officials say an evacuee from China who was briefly released from a San Diego hospital before further testing is in fact infected, our colleagues Hannah Knowles and Derek Hawkins report. The error was made because of mislabeling. The individual was among four cleared Sunday to return to a nearby air station after testing negative for the virus, but returned to the hospital for “observation and isolation” after Monday morning came back positive for coronavirus. — A Chinese epidemiologist, who is most known for his work combating the SARS epidemic in 2003, predicts cases will plateau and decrease by April, Reuters — The new coronavirus will be designated “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,” or more simply “SARS-CoV-2” while the disease it causes was named “covid-19,” Yesterday the World Health Organization announced the names, which came from a committee of experts who published a paper. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell told Congress on Tuesday that he expects continued economic growth, although the coronavirus is a major unknown, our colleague Heather Long “Some of the uncertainties around trade have diminished recently, but risks to the outlook remain. In particular, we are closely monitoring the emergence of the coronavirus, which could lead to disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global economy,” Powell said. — As the virus spreads, as are hoaxes, half-truths and flat-out lies, our colleague Kim Bellware — More than 170 people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been confirmed to have coronavirus, including 10 crew members. There is no effort to keep them apart from one another, while passengers are largely confined to their cabins with limited opportunities to exercise. Crew members eat in the same mess, use the same plates


in 2003, predicts cases will plateau and decrease by April, Reuters — The new coronavirus will be designated “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,” or more simply “SARS-CoV-2” while the disease it causes was named “covid-19,” Yesterday the World Health Organization announced the names, which came from a committee of experts who published a paper. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell told Congress on Tuesday that he expects continued economic growth, although the coronavirus is a major unknown, our colleague Heather Long “Some of the uncertainties around trade have diminished recently, but risks to the outlook remain. In particular, we are closely monitoring the emergence of the coronavirus, which could lead to disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global economy,” Powell said. — As the virus spreads, as are hoaxes, half-truths and flat-out lies, our colleague Kim Bellware — More than 170 people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been confirmed to have coronavirus, including 10 crew members. There is no effort to keep them apart from one another, while passengers are largely confined to their cabins with limited opportunities to exercise. Crew members eat in the same mess, use the same plates and share the same toilets. “Five dining waiters have already tested positive,” one cook said. “How will we not get affected?” — North Korea is launching a national effort to disinfect against coronavirus using an herbal remedy made from burdock roots, Min Joo Kim OOF: Researchers found that more than 20 percent of patients get hit with surprise medical bills after elective surgeries, with the average bill being more than $2,000, according to a Legislation to protect patients from surprise bills is moving in Congress, but lawmakers and the industry are taking sides over how to calculate those payments. And, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has its own bill. Differences between all the competing proposals would have to be worked out before a vote in the full House. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), former Health and Human Services secretary under President Clinton, said the Education and Labor approach would narrow networks and hurt doctors. Instead, Shalala prefers the Ways and Means proposal, which doctors have lobbied for. OUCH: The number of b “The March of Dimes estimates that the average societal cost of each preterm birth, which includes medical care, early intervention services and lost productivity, is $65,000. But there


Local Digest: Man sought by police in killing in D.C. is in custody

THE DISTRICT A man who had been sought by police for 14 months in a fatal shooting near a convenience store in the Shaw neighborhood of Northwest Washington was arrested Monday, according to authorities. Juvon Julian Searles, 38, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed in the July 2018 shooting. A warrant was issued for his arrest in December 2018. He was ordered detained until a court hearing Feb. 28. A D.C. police spokeswoman said Searles was arrested in Maryland by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force after someone tipped off authorities. The FBI and D.C. police had issued wanted posters and posted rewards. Searles is charged with killing Paul Williams Jr., 46, of Southeast Washington in the 800 block of R Street NW, a block north of Rhode Island Avenue. Williams was found about 8:15 p.m. July 24, 2018, lying in the street in front of a 7-Eleven on Seventh Street NW. He died later at a hospital. An arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court says witnesses and a police officer recognized Searles from surveillance video that captured part of the shooting. The affidavit does not describe a possible motive, and D.C. police would not comment on the investigation. — Peter Hermann A 65-year-old woman is dead after a fire swept through a house in Southeast Washington early Tuesday. Police identified the victim as Lily Hearn-Coates, who lived at the house. Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said approximately 50 firefighters responded about 5:18 a.m. to the blaze in the 600 block of Darrington Street SE. When rescuers arrived, there was a report of one person trapped, Maggiolo said. As firefighters battled the blaze and searched the home, they found the woman “in the room where the fire originated,” he said. Investigators are trying to determine the cause, according to officials. On Twitter, D.C. fire officials said a “working smoke alarm alerted another sleeping resident of the home on Darrington St to the danger, allowing him to safely escape the flames.” — Dana Hedgpeth VIRGINIA A student at a high school in Loudoun County died last week after contracting the flu, her mother said. Katie Giovanniello, 16, a sophomore at Heritage High School in the Leesburg area, died at a hospital Friday, said her mother, Colette Giovanniello. On Tuesday, the Virginia Department of Health reported what it said was


Coronavirus infections on Diamond Princess cruise ship swell to 174

on the air base. The Canadian government has advised all Canadians in China whose presence is “not essential” to leave when possible by commercial means. Canada has seven confirmed coronavirus cases. Mixed-nationality families have faced the specter of separation as Chinese and Canadian authorities negotiated over who could leave the quarantined region. Edward Yuan, 28, a Canadian citizen, told Reuters that Canadian authorities initially said his wife, Eve Xiao, 27, a Canadian permanent resident, would not be able to board the plane. But before liftoff, she was allowed on. “I was at first depressed, and my wife was crying when we were told she can’t leave,” Yuan said. “But a few hours later, the tears turned into surprise, happiness and doubt.” Patty Hajdu, Canada’s health minister, told reporters Tuesday that a plateauing in the number of coronavirus cases is a “positive indicator,” but added that there is still a lot that is not known about the virus. Canada donated $2 million to the WHO to help “vulnerable communities” prepare and respond to the coronavirus, the foreign ministry said in a statement. By: Amanda Coletta and Miriam Berger 11:25 AM: Coronavirus hits the conference circuit, prompting cancellations, special precautions Coronavirus has already closed countless factories in China and grounded flights to and from the country. Now it’s hitting the global conference circuit, too. Several big tech companies are pulling out of the telecom industry’s largest annual meeting in Barcelona later this month, citing worries about a virus that has killed more than 1,000 people worldwide. Many Chinese researchers are unable to attend a major artificial-intelligence gathering in New York this week, and a number of conferences in Asia have been canceled or postponed. Conferences and industry events are big business, generating more than $1 trillion in spending each year on meeting venues, catering, hotels and travel, according to the Events Industry Council. The vast majority of coronavirus cases so far have been inside China, where there have been more than 41,000 infections compared with 319 across the rest of the world. But uncertainty about how the virus will spread has business travelers on high alert. The story of a British businessman who appears to have passed the virus to people in at least three countries has fueled concerns. “It is absolutely a situation that is making the meetings and conference industry stand up, react and prepare,” said Mark Cooper, chief executive


heavily driven by consumer spending, which remains healthy. Other economies are more dependent on trade, which is starting to be impacted by the shutdown of many factories in China. By: Heather Long 10:30 AM: World Health Organization officially names disease ‘covid-19’ The coronavirus has been circulating for about two months. But now, the disease has an official name: covid-19. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the name Tuesday during a daily news briefing in Geneva. “Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” Tedros said. “It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks.” Tedros explained some of the process behind the naming. “We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” he said, citing WHO guidelines adopted in 2015. The new name is a combination of coronavirus, disease and the year the pathogen was first identified, the WHO explained. The name also allows for future coronavirus diseases to be named following this formula, with the year of any new outbreak replacing 19. The virus that causes the disease, however, could still be given a different name. Some scientists have hoped that the virus will be named as a variant of the virus that caused SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which killed 774 people in 37 countries before it was contained in 2003, as the two are genetically very similar. Tedros warned Tuesday that viruses “can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action.” “It’s public enemy number one,” he said. “It’s the worst enemy you can imagine.” Tedros said his worst fear is that when the coronavirus epidemic “reaches a weaker health system, it will create havoc.” He emphasized that the international response needs to be coordinated to help countries with less developed health-care networks protect against the outbreak. By: Miriam Berger 10:05 AM: State Department authorizes optional departure for U.S. personnel and families in Hong Kong The State Department triggered authorized departure of non-emergency U.S. personnel and their families from Hong Kong, as concerns grow over the coronavirus outbreak. The policy provides employees and their families “the option to depart if they wish,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “Departure is not required.” The spokesperson said


outbreak replacing 19. The virus that causes the disease, however, could still be given a different name. Some scientists have hoped that the virus will be named as a variant of the virus that caused SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which killed 774 people in 37 countries before it was contained in 2003, as the two are genetically very similar. Tedros warned Tuesday that viruses “can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action.” “It’s public enemy number one,” he said. “It’s the worst enemy you can imagine.” Tedros said his worst fear is that when the coronavirus epidemic “reaches a weaker health system, it will create havoc.” He emphasized that the international response needs to be coordinated to help countries with less developed health-care networks protect against the outbreak. By: Miriam Berger 10:05 AM: State Department authorizes optional departure for U.S. personnel and families in Hong Kong The State Department triggered authorized departure of non-emergency U.S. personnel and their families from Hong Kong, as concerns grow over the coronavirus outbreak. The policy provides employees and their families “the option to depart if they wish,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “Departure is not required.” The spokesperson said that the change in the departure authorization was made out of “an abundance of caution related to uncertainties associated with the [coronavirus] outbreak and to ensure the safety and security of U.S. Government personnel and family members.” The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong will remain open and operational, the statement said. By: Siobhán O’Grady 9:40 AM: Couple aboard Diamond Princess fears major financial losses as quarantine drags on Karey and Roger Maniscalco rarely splurge on long vacations. So when they booked a cruise through Asia that would take them away from their home in St. George, Utah, for 17 days, the couple planned the dates carefully to make sure Karey Maniscalco, a real estate agent, would be back in time for her busy season. Then the coronavirus epidemic got in the way. The length of their trip has nearly doubled as they find themselves trapped in quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess, docked off the coast of Japan. Neither has shown any symptoms of the virus, but they are growing increasingly concerned over the toll the mandatory lockdown will have on their bank accounts. “I’m losing tens of thousands of dollars being quarantined,” Karey Maniscalco said in a text message to


Northern Virginia student dies after contracting flu, mother says

A student at a high school in Loudoun County, Va., died last week after contracting the flu, her mother said. Katie Giovanniello, 16, a sophomore at Heritage High School in the Leesburg area, died at a hospital Friday morning, said her mother, Colette Giovanniello. The county health director and a spokesman for the county school system both confirmed the death but gave no cause. On Tuesday, the Virginia Department of Health reported what it said was the “state’s first influenza-associated pediatric death” for this flu season. It said a Northern Virginia teenager, who was between 13 and 17, “has died from complications associated with influenza.” The department did not name the teenager and said that for privacy reasons, it would provide no additional information about the death. On average, three flu-related pediatric deaths are reported each year in Virginia, the health department said. Colette Giovanniello said her daughter saw a doctor on Feb. 2 and received a flu diagnosis. She was taken to a hospital on Thursday as her condition deteriorated, Giovanniello said. Her daughter had no known underlying health problems or conditions, Giovanniello said. “She was such a very, very popular” student who was “well loved by everybody,” her mother said. She was just a “really, really nice girl. People loved her.” Virginia health officials said so far this season, 773 flu- and pneumonia-related deaths had been reported in the state through Feb. 1. martin.weil@washpost.com


For China’s leaders, pop-up hospitals are about politics as much as health

after I get this kind of information, I still have to wait for authorization before I can release it,” Zhou told the state broadcaster late last month, stressing that his hands were tied by the system. The big question now is whether the lessons of the coronavirus outbreak serve to change China’s system, which has become increasingly authoritarian and centralized under Xi, who took power at the end of 2012. Much will depend on who shoulders the blame for the epidemic. Many commentators have asked, in the days since the doctor’s death in Wuhan, whether the unprecedented public anger could become a tipping point. The sense that the state is not acting for the people, which has flourished after Li’s death from coronavirus — despite intensive efforts to censor such sentiments — is a dangerous one for an authoritarian regime. But if the Chinese government manages to bring the outbreak under control relatively quickly, many experts think it could encourage Xi to become even more iron-fisted. The central government may also claim vindication for some of its more draconian initiatives of recent years, said Dali Yang, a political scientist at the University of Chicago. “In the name of ‘stability preservation,’ they’ve been gathering information on residents and increasing monitoring, and actually those kinds of equipment and technologies and practices have come in really handy during this outbreak,” Yang said, referring to the constant surveillance of modern Chinese life, whether through facial-recognition cameras or people’s cellphones. Chinese authorities have used such surveillance to keep tabs on people and find out who has been into infection hot spots, sometimes forcibly quarantining them. Yang said he thought the party authorities would see a need to continue investing in Internet controls, propaganda systems to “guide public opinion” and the training armed police. “In fact, the messages from the top leadership now are all about the elevated risks, so they are broadening the concept of national security to include everything, including health,” he said. Yale’s Zhang looks to the Black Death plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. Worried about the threat to its existence, the English aristocracy banded together to tighten controls. “You could see that happening in China, particularly if the elites begin to see a fundamental threat to their legitimacy and their political survival,” he said. “They could coalesce rather than splintering. That, to me, is the most dangerous scenario.” anna.fifield@washpost.com


Greta Beer, who led efforts to restore funds to Holocaust families, dies at 98

and he died in September 1940 without revealing the account number or even the name of the Swiss bank where he said the money was deposited. Mrs. Beer, her mother and brother returned to Romania and eventually made their way to the small city of Brasov in the Carpathian Mountains, where they were sheltered by Christian friends. As Soviet forces began to overrun Romania near the end of the war, Mrs. Beer fled to Hungary, then to Austria, leaping from a train before being smuggled through the countryside in a truck carrying contraband, she told friends. While living in a facility for displaced people in Vienna, she married Simon Beer, a doctor. They later lived in Italy before entering the United States in 1951, classified as stateless refugees. Mrs. Beer became a U.S. citizen in 1956. (In a U.S. passport application, she explained that she had “lost my nationality of origin” because she was “fleeing from Roumania.”) Her mother later settled in Switzerland, and together they began to search for the family fortune. They went to dozens of banks in Zurich and Geneva, but in every case they were told that no records could be found. Beginning in the 1960s, some Swiss banks made efforts to return money to families whose lives were disrupted by the Holocaust, but thousands of claims, including Mrs. Beer’s, were denied. In the 1990s, an independent commission under the direction of Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, launched an investigation of Swiss banking practices. Although many documents had been destroyed, the commission identified more than 50,000 accounts held by Holocaust victims. Swiss banks had claimed there were fewer than 1,000 such accounts. “The banks had no incentive to find out the truth about the assets because they felt they should protect the honor of Switzerland,” Volcker told The Washington Post in 1999. “They could have solved this problem a long time ago if they really wanted to.” At the same time, the Swiss government asked a group of historians to examine the country’s actions during and after World War II. The historians concluded that major Swiss banks had blocked efforts by families to retrieve their missing funds and had charged exorbitant fees to anyone seeking information about closed or inactive accounts. In a 1995 Wall Street Journal article, Mrs. Beer became the public face of Jewish families seeking restitution. Her


New Horizons images of Arrokoth show building blocks for planets

by how remarkably well-preserved everything is. The objects do not get disturbed gravitationally by nearby planets. They never make a dash toward the sun and turn into a comet, as do many Kuiper belt objects with orbits that wander outside the Cold Classical region. They do nothing, for eons, bathed in a dim light of the distant sun, a bright point of light with just enough candlepower to read a book if such a thing could be located. Only two interesting things appear to have happened to Arrokoth in four and a half billion years. The first was the merger of the larger lobe with the smaller lobe. The second was the visit by a spaceship from Earth. Arrokoth happened to be roughly in the path of New Horizons after it made its historic flyby of Pluto in 2015. It was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in a search for something New Horizons could visit as it exited the more familiar realms of the solar system. The spacecraft burned some fuel to adjust its trajectory, and on Jan. 1, 2019, passed by the planetesimal at a distance of 2,198 miles. During the flyby the spacecraft had to be oriented precisely, via remote-control instructions sent far in advance, lest the cameras miss the shot. They did not miss. “It’s kind of amazing that we can target this tiny thing, 43 times farther from the sun than Earth is, and actually go there and see what it’s like,” Singer said. “Pluto was obviously hard to top, but this was pretty darn cool too.” Arrokoth was briefly dubbed “Ultima Thule” before the New Horizons team learned the term was used by white supremacists to refer to a mythological Ayran homeland. Instead, with the endorsement of Powhatan elders, scientists gave it a name meaning “sky” in the Powhatan/Algonquian language. The trio of papers published Thursday represent a massive download of data from the distant spacecraft, combined with computer modeling in the months since the flyby. New Horizons is not dead yet. The spacecraft is continuing on its journey into what is clearly not quite a void. Later this year, Stern said, telescopes on Earth will examine that part of the sky to see if there is another target for observation somewhere in the path of the spacecraft. The spacecraft has enough power to operate for another 15 to 20 years, he said. joel.achenbach@washpost.com


We all hate puppy mills. States are finally taking action.

While political junkies obsessed over the results of the New Hampshire primaries, dog lovers obsessed Tuesday night over an even more urgent question: Who would win Best in Show at the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show? It was clear the crowd favored Daniel, a comely purebred golden retriever. Still, dog lovers everywhere went on to embrace the ultimate winner, Siba, a stately and gorgeous black standard poodle. But if you want to buy a similar dog, it’s getting increasingly hard to purchase one from a pet store. A growing number of cities and states have either banned, or are in the process of banning, the sale of commercially bred dogs and cats at retail establishments. At the beginning of 2016, about 100 U.S. cities had forbidden them, but the number has approximately tripled since then. States are also getting in on it: California, Maryland and Maine no longer allow such sales. The movement goes back more than a decade — Albuquerque was the first major city to pass such a law, in 2006 — but it’s picked up steam since President Trump’s election. There’s a reason for that. Lackadaisical in the best of circumstances, federal oversight of the notoriously abusive puppy mill and animal breeding industries deteriorated dramatically since Trump (a man who routinely insults opponents by comparing them to dogs) took office. Shortly after his swearing-in, the Agriculture Department’s animal welfare database went offline. (The site previously tracked inspection reports and violations at commercial pet-breeding facilities, and after an uproar, some online access was restored. The USDA claimed access was restricted because of a lawsuit.) Disciplinary actions are down, too: The Post reported late last year that the number of citations issued by the department to breeders — along with zoos, circuses and research labs — declined by two-thirds between 2016 and 2018. This matters, because large-scale commercial breeding of dogs and other animals is often accompanied by extreme abuse. But Trump’s radical regulatory actions collide with the ongoing upgrade to the status of animals — especially dogs — in our personal lives. Emotional support animals on airlines are the tip of the iceberg: States are passing laws permitting everything from dogs on restaurant patios to their burial next to their owners in graveyards. The shift is so incredible, it’s overriding traditional political divides. Republicans’ traditional concern for small business? Not always here. Signing Maryland’s ban on puppy-mill


The Daily 202: New Hampshire primary results offer fresh evidence that Twitter is not real life

half an hour,’ Adam DiSabato said, according to video of his testimony. … Jordan’s spokesman said DiSabato’s account was untrue. ‘Another lie,’ said Ian Fury, Jordan’s communications director. ‘Congressman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it.’” This request came after David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell revealed that the agency had been charged as much as $650 per night for a room at Trump’s clubs, where agents go to protect the president. The official death toll of the virus – now known as covid-19 – has risen to roughly 1,360, nearly all in China. The total confirmed cases worldwide surpassed 60,000. “China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported an uptick of 14,840 confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday as health officials expanded the type of cases that it includes in its count,” Marisa Iati and Gerry Shih report. “China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency announced Thursday that national health authorities issued revised guidelines to consider ‘clinically diagnosed’ coronavirus cases in the confirmed total. Chinese officials previously only counted cases confirmed by nucleic acid tests, which critics said were faulty and greatly underestimated the true magnitude of the epidemic. … The dramatic jump in cases in Hubei essentially confirms longtime suspicions that China was for weeks vastly undercounting cases of the virus.”A death announced in Japan this morning became the second fatality from the disease reported outside China. “So far, about 82 percent of the cases — including all 14 in the United States — have been mild, with symptoms that require little or no medical intervention. And that proportion may be an undercount. Health authorities managing the outbreak are trying to understand what that critical fact portends,"Lenny Bernstein and Carolyn Johnson report. “‘The fact that there are so many mild cases is a real hallmark of this disease and makes it so different from SARS,’ said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. ‘It’s also really challenging. Most of our surveillance is oriented around finding people who require medical intervention.’” More than 30,000 travelers from China have been screened, and no confirmed cases have been identified, per Lena Sun. As a precaution, though, United Airlines extended it suspension of flights to China until April 24. “Overall, international flights to China have fallen by 67 percent since Jan. 30,” per Miriam Berger.


Coronavirus: An epidemic of misinformation

Post Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post. For your ears. Martine Powers is your host, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Listen online. As the coronavirus spreads, so does disinformation about the outbreak, stoking fears and racism. The tire company Firestone has a long, complicated history with Liberia. The drawdown of its factories is devastating workers there and causing a seismic chasm in the country’s economy. Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympics, but Japan’s iconic sport will be absent from the lineup. Only men are allowed to compete professionally, but some women are pushing their way in.


Kraft Heinz forecasts lower earnings, continues to struggle with sales

fever and trade uncertainties. Four of the company’s eight factories in China are closed, Kraft Heinz said in an interview with Reuters. Kraft Heinz’s sales have been muted for 14 straight quarters as consumers turn to cheaper private-label brands, online shopping and fashionable, non-processed and organic food. Thursday’s results mark the first anniversary of Kraft Heinz reporting a surprise loss and taking a $15.4 billion write-down of key brands — a move that rocked the consumer goods industry and led to the ouster of former chief executive Bernardo Hees and other executives. At the time, the company also slashed its dividend by 36 percent and disclosed an investigation into its accounting practices by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In the year since, Kraft Heinz has announced further write-downs, scrapped its full-year adjusted earnings outlook and is still under SEC investigation. The company, which also makes Oscar Mayer cold cuts and Kraft cheese slices, said fourth-quarter sales declined 5.1 percent due to lower U.S. demand for cheese, coffee, bacon and other products. The company said this was prompted by higher costs for key raw materials — including dairy and meat — that forced Kraft Heinz to raise U.S. prices by 3.1 percentage points. — Reuters AIRLINE INDUSTRY American Airlines Group wants to establish Seattle as an international gateway for westward flights to India and other locations, with help from a reinvigorated partnership with Alaska Air Group. Nonstop service will begin in October between Seattle and Bangalore, India, the most requested route by big corporate customers, the airlines said in a statement Thursday. American expects to add more flights to India and Asia from Seattle, complementing service to the South Pacific and Europe from the company’s hub in Los Angeles. The plans will extend American’s expansion of international service, including its first flights to Morocco and Krakow, Poland, and new flights to New Zealand later this year. The initiative with Alaska Air fuels a rivalry with Delta Air Lines, which built Seattle into a hub by more than doubling departures between 2014 and 2019. American will add flights to London’s Heathrow Airport from Seattle in March 2021. As many as 15 percent of American’s passengers between Heathrow and Dallas-Fort Worth International travel to India via connecting flights, he said. — Bloomberg News Also in Business Walmart's Jetblack U.S. underlying consumer prices Coming today 8:30 a.m.: 9:15 a.m.: — From news services


Darryll Pines, a veteran engineering dean, to become next U-Md. president

The veteran engineering dean of the University of Maryland has been chosen to become the next president of the state’s flagship public university in College Park, leaders of the state university system announced Wednesday. Darryll J. Pines, who has led the Clark School of Engineering at College Park since January 2009, will succeed retiring U-Md. President Wallace D. Loh, the state system’s Board of Regents said in a statement. Pines is expected to take office July 1. In choosing Pines, 55, the regents are elevating an insider at the helm of one of the university’s most prominent academic operations. Every year, federal data shows, U-Md. awards more than 1,100 bachelor’s degrees in engineering and hundreds more master’s and doctoral degrees in that field. The Clark School enrolls about 6,200 undergraduate and graduate students, accounting for roughly 1 in 7 students at College Park. In all, the university has about 41,200 students, including more than 30,700 undergraduates. “The Board is delighted to welcome as president of our flagship institution a leader of the caliber of Dr. Pines,” Board of Regents Chair Linda R. Gooden said in a statement. “The University of Maryland, College Park is a world-class institution, and Dr. Pines brings to the position a wealth of experience.” Pines, a professor of aerospace engineering, has been on the College Park faculty since 1995 and has held the position of engineering dean for Loh’s entire tenure. He took a leave of absence from College Park from 2003 to 2006 to work as a program manager for tactical technology and defense sciences at the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Loh, who has led U-Md. since 2010, has weathered controversies in recent years, including a scandal that rocked the football program in 2018 when player Jordan McNair suffered heat stroke during a team workout and later died. Loh announced in late 2018, during a showdown with the regents, that he would retire at the end of that school year. He also fired the football coach, DJ Durkin, against the wishes of the board leadership. As that crisis subsided, Loh and the board agreed to postpone his departure until summer 2020. Last year, Loh also faced questions about the university’s actions during an adenovirus outbreak on campus that killed 18-year-old freshman Olivia Shea Paregol in November 2018. An outside review concluded last fall that the university followed protocols in its response to the


Number of new coronavirus cases jumps dramatically as China expands its diagnosis criteria

said Tuesday that another person at the quarantine site was mistakenly discharged from a San Diego hospital and later discovered to have the coronavirus. The two patients arrived in California on different planes and were staying in separate facilities, according to the CDC, which said there were no links between the cases. “At this time there is no indication of person-to-person spread of this virus at the quarantine facility, but CDC will carry out a thorough contact investigation as part of its current response strategy to detect and contain any cases of infection with this virus,” Chris Braden, the CDC’s on-site lead at Miramar, said in a statement. Nearly 200 people were released from quarantine at U.S. military bases on Tuesday, but 600 remain under surveillance. By: Marisa Iati 6:30 PM: Most coronavirus cases are mild, complicating the response The coronavirus has killed more than 1,100 people, brought a huge swath of central China to a standstill and rattled millions around the globe with hints of a pandemic seen in Hollywood fantasies. But the virus’s destructive potential has overshadowed one encouraging aspect of this outbreak: So far, about 82 percent of the cases — including all 13 in the United States — have been mild, with symptoms that require little or no medical intervention. And that proportion may be an undercount. Health authorities managing the outbreak are trying to understand what that portends. Are the nearly 45,000 sick people tallied so far just a portion of a vast reservoir of uncounted victims, some of whom may be spreading the disease? And do the mild illnesses reveal characteristics of the virus itself — something that could be useful in crafting a more effective response? “The fact that there are so many mild cases is a real hallmark of this disease and makes it so different from SARS,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. “It’s also really challenging. Most of our surveillance is oriented around finding people who require medical intervention.” For those who study viruses, the large number of mild cases is reason for optimism. “This looks to be a bad, heightened cold — I think that’s a rational way of thinking about it,” said Matthew Frieman, a virologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Not to diminish its importance — it’s in the middle between SARS


States — have been mild, with symptoms that require little or no medical intervention. And that proportion may be an undercount. Health authorities managing the outbreak are trying to understand what that portends. Are the nearly 45,000 sick people tallied so far just a portion of a vast reservoir of uncounted victims, some of whom may be spreading the disease? And do the mild illnesses reveal characteristics of the virus itself — something that could be useful in crafting a more effective response? “The fact that there are so many mild cases is a real hallmark of this disease and makes it so different from SARS,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. “It’s also really challenging. Most of our surveillance is oriented around finding people who require medical intervention.” For those who study viruses, the large number of mild cases is reason for optimism. “This looks to be a bad, heightened cold — I think that’s a rational way of thinking about it,” said Matthew Frieman, a virologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Not to diminish its importance — it’s in the middle between SARS and the common cold.” Still, for the elderly and those with underlying heart disease, diabetes or other conditions, the disease can be quite severe. They are the ones dominating the ranks of the dead, often after pneumonia or other respiratory problems that lead to organ failure. Read more here. By: Lenny Bernstein and Carolyn Y. Johnson 6:00 PM: Who should be afraid of catching the coronavirus? According to public health experts, anybody who has come in close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus is at risk of contracting it and should be on the lookout for symptoms. But how close is too close for comfort? That depends on the makeup of the newly named covid-19 — many details of which remain unknown. “How a virus is spread, and the severity of the illness it causes, determines how public health departments decide how many people are at risk of contagion and how many resources go into notifying them,” Kaiser Health News reported. In the case of the current coronavirus epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as spending a prolonged period within six feet of someone who has it. “Close contact can occur while caring


and the common cold.” Still, for the elderly and those with underlying heart disease, diabetes or other conditions, the disease can be quite severe. They are the ones dominating the ranks of the dead, often after pneumonia or other respiratory problems that lead to organ failure. Read more here. By: Lenny Bernstein and Carolyn Y. Johnson 6:00 PM: Who should be afraid of catching the coronavirus? According to public health experts, anybody who has come in close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus is at risk of contracting it and should be on the lookout for symptoms. But how close is too close for comfort? That depends on the makeup of the newly named covid-19 — many details of which remain unknown. “How a virus is spread, and the severity of the illness it causes, determines how public health departments decide how many people are at risk of contagion and how many resources go into notifying them,” Kaiser Health News reported. In the case of the current coronavirus epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as spending a prolonged period within six feet of someone who has it. “Close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area or room with a 2019-nCoV case or having direct contact with infectious secretions of a 2019-nCoV case (e.g., being coughed on),” according to the CDC’s guidelines. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has somewhat different criteria. It says close contact means living with someone who is infected, having face-to-face interactions or being in a closed space with them, providing direct care to an ill person either as health-care or laboratory work, or sitting within two seats of a confirmed case during travel. Scientists do know that the virus that causes covid-19 has much in common with SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed about 774 people around the world in 2002 and 2003. “There are concerns that this coronavirus, like SARS, could also linger on surfaces,” said David Hamer, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine. Hamer said disinfectants are effective against the coronavirus. China has set in motion massive disinfecting campaigns in public spaces. In the United States, risk of contracting the virus remains very low. “Even casual contact with an infected person, such as crossing paths on


quarantine themselves for 14 days. By: Ruth Eglash, with Miriam Berger in Washington 10:15 AM: International flights to China have fallen by 67 percent International flight routes to China have fallen by 67 percent since Jan. 30, when the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to an analysis by Nikkei, a leading financial newspaper based in Japan. Nikkei found that flights with links to the United States have declined by 76 percent and connections through Japan have fallen by 55 percent. The United States imposed stringent travel restrictions on Jan. 31 barring non-U.S. citizens who had recently traveled in China. The disease new coronavirus, named Wednesday by the World Health Organization as covid-19, could be on track to have an even bigger impact on the aviation industry than the SARS epidemic in 2003, Nikkei estimated. Cuts in flights have also affected the hospitality industry. Hilton Hotels and Resorts has shut 150 hotels in China due to fallout from the virus, chief executive Christopher Nassetta said during the latest earnings call, Nikkei reported. By: Miriam Berger 9:55 AM: Suspected British ‘superspreader’ is released from hospital LONDON — The British business executive suspected of playing an outsize role in transmitting the coronavirus was released from a hospital and is no longer contagious, health authorities said Wednesday. Steve Walsh, a project management lead for Servomex, a gas analytics company, is believed to have passed the virus to at least 11 people in three countries. He was attending a work conference from Jan. 18 to 22 in Singapore, which is where he is thought to have caught the virus. Unaware that he was infected, he visited a ski resort in the French Alps before returning to England on Jan. 28. It was at the ski resort where he is thought to have unknowingly passed along the virus. Five of those infected at the resort are still in France, one is in Mallorca, and five others — including two British doctors — are back in Britain. Keith Willett, strategic incident director for the National Health Service (NHS), said in a statement: “I’m pleased to say that — following two negative tests for coronavirus, twenty-four hours apart — Mr Walsh has been discharged from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, having made a full recovery following his treatment.” “Mr Walsh’s symptoms were mild and he


is no longer contagious, and poses no risk to the public,” he said. Walsh is “keen to return to his normal life and spend time with his family out of the media spotlight,” Willett added. “I’m happy to be home and feeling well,” Walsh said in a statement. “I want to give a big thank you to the NHS who have been great throughout and my thoughts are with everyone around the world who continues to be affected by the virus.” By: Karla Adam 9:30 AM: Chinese Grand Prix postponed due to coronavirus outbreak Formula One announced Wednesday that April’s 2020 Chinese Grand Prix would be postponed due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Organizers confirmed they are seeking “alternative dates” for the Shanghai event to take place in the future. “F1 and the FIA [International Automobile Federation] have accepted a request from the promoter to postpone the event,” Formula One announced in a tweet, adding that officials would be monitoring the situation closely. In a statement, Formula One offered its well wishes to the people of China amid the crisis and said: “The Chinese Grand Prix has always been a very important part of the F1 calendar and the fans are always incredible. We all look forward to racing in China as soon as possible.” Other sporting events have also been canceled due to the outbreak, including two women’s golf tournaments. The Ladies Professional Golf Association and its partners announced earlier this month that the 2020 Honda LPGA Thailand and the 2020 HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore have been canceled, citing “continued health concerns and recent advisories” surrounding the disease. This year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships, expected to take place from March 13 to 15, were also postponed, with the organization saying it would not seek to reschedule the event until 2021. “The advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organization, is that the spread of the Coronavirus both within China and outside the country is still at a concerning level and no one should be going ahead with any major gathering that can be postponed,” World Athletics said in a statement last month. By: Jennifer Hassan 8:45 AM: Indonesia’s virus-free status may be threatened by case confirmed in recent Chinese visitor A Chinese man who recently visited the Indonesian resort island of Bali has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Chinese


all flights to mainland China until the end of March. By: Rick Noack 6:00 AM: British research center compares covid-19 fatality ratio to ‘major influenza pandemics’ of 20th century Researchers with Imperial College London estimate in a new report that about 1 percent of all people with the covid-19 disease will die, even though they cautioned that their latest figures rely on limited data and are still subject to change in the coming weeks. The estimates, co-author Neil Ferguson was quoted as saying in a release on Tuesday night, “suggest that the impact of the unfolding epidemic may be comparable to the major influenza pandemics of the twentieth century.” Between 1918 and 1919, an influenza pandemic killed up to 40 million people worldwide. Medical equipment and treatments have significantly improved since, but the novel coronavirus still poses a serious risk, the researchers suggested. While the case fatality ratio for covid-19 is “lower than diseases such as Ebola or SARS, it is considerably higher than seasonal influenza,” Imperial College professor Steven Riley said in the release. Data on case fatality ratios have varied widely in recent weeks. Hence, for their latest figures, which were first released on Monday, the Imperial College researchers also had to estimate the number of cases that have gone unreported. In the outbreak’s epicenter, Wuhan, only the most severely ill patients have so far been tested for the virus — which likely skewed the reported case fatality ratio there, the researchers said. Because the confirmed case fatality ratio in Wuhan is far higher than among patients elsewhere, the Imperial College research team estimates that “only about 1 in 19 people infected with covid-19 in Wuhan are being tested for infection and therefore being reported as confirmed cases.” By: Rick Noack 5:30 AM: Supply chain disruptions due to China outbreak shuttering Cambodia textile factories Supply chain disruptions are now affecting Cambodia’s garment and textile factories, among the country’s biggest employers, as raw materials from China dry up due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Local news reports, quoting the Garment Manufacturers’ Association, said some factories may be forced to close, as they rely on Chinese suppliers for more than 60 percent of raw materials. Chinese suppliers, the association said in the Khmer Times newspaper, “will not be able to provide raw materials to factories in Cambodia by the end of February or March.” The Ministry of Labor and


Hundreds of billions of locusts — fueled by conflict and climate change — are swarming East Africa

that if they stay longer than the rain, then they will eat everything and we will starve.” Elema’s family relies on the surrounding shrub land for food for their cattle and goats. With continued rain, the leaves and grass regenerate quickly, but every day is still a fight against the appetite of the swarms. “First we used my gun to scare them with the sound," he said. "Then we made big fires. Now we spend all morning chasing them off the plants, but they are too many.” The Ethiopian government has encouraged what it calls “cultural methods” of fending off the swarms, like the ones Elema described. They also have positioned scouts on the top of prominent hills to keep a lookout for swarms and send text messages to regional officials about their movements. But spraying malathion, an insecticide, is the only way to kill entire swarms. The pilots can effectively spray swarms only when the insects are on the ground. Because locusts are coldblooded, they have little energy before the day warms up, and the best spraying time is early in the morning. Unfortunately, frequent early-morning rain often prevents spraying missions, and pilots reach the swarms when they are already in the air, spread out over miles and miles. “They ride up on thermals [or updrafts] as high as 3,000 feet,” said Andrew Van Zyl, a South African who flies a spraying plane called an Air Tractor for a private company contracted by the Ethiopian government. “The swarms are thick enough that they block the plane’s air intake. The conditions are actually quite dangerous.” On a recent day, Van Zyl returned from a spraying mission and his plane was covered with greasy locust guts, so much so that he could barely see through his windshield. The Ethiopian government and the United Nations are agitating for more money to stave off the nightmare scenario: a plague that sweeps across the heartland, leaving decimated fields in its wake. With the aid of wind, locusts can travel 100 miles in a day. That means they are already well within striking distance of vast amounts of farmland that feed Africa’s second most-populous country. “We cannot sit idle. If we did, the whole region would be infested. It would become a huge, huge crisis,” said Bayeh, the FAO expert. “The conditions are perfect for them; 2020 — it is the year of the locust.”


The coronavirus is spreading rapidly. So is misinformation about it.

Meghan May, a university professor who researches emerging diseases, seemed an unlikely person to contribute to misinformation about the novel coronavirus. Yet last week, May, of the University of New England, shared a mea culpa on Twitter, owning up to unwittingly retweeting information that had origins in a Russian misinformation campaign. The story that managed to evade her typically discerning sensors: a claim that a Chinese Internet company had accidentally released death and infection totals — ones that exceeded official estimates — before quickly scrubbing evidence of them online. If true, May said at the time, the numbers indicated that the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan was far more severe than the public was warned about. Since the first cases of a then-unidentified pneumonia were reported in late December, hoaxes, half-truths and flat-out lies have proliferated, mostly through social media. BuzzFeed News for several days kept a running list of misinformation, including wildly inaccurate reports that the death toll in China was 112,000 as of late January (reality: around 80 at the time); claims that Chinese people eating bats were the source of the outbreak (a viral photo of a woman biting a bat was not taken in China); and false suggestions that the virus was lab-engineered as a kind of bioweapon. “I gave it some degree of credence because the artificial numbers would make the scale of the lockdown in Wuhan and the additional cities much more rational,” May told The Washington Post on Monday. “And I saw it shared by a person who is typically very credible.” Parts of the false story seemed rooted in fact: There are signs that Beijing has silenced whistleblowers and underreported cases of infections. But the situation the story described never happened. “It’s really insidious when you have this cloud of confusion around details,” May said. “Insidious confusion” is a useful shorthand for how experts say disinformation about coronavirus is mutating and spreading faster than the outbreak itself. University of Washington researchers Jevin West and Carl T. Bergstrom, co-authors of the forthcoming book “Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World,” track the spread of stories like these and teach a course on how to identify misinformation. Many of the inaccurate reports spreading around bear a resemblance to a disinformation model used by hostile governments of any nation, but known as the “Russian fire hose” strategy. The goal isn’t


Macao gambled on a costly casino shutdown. It may emerge a winner from coronavirus.

MACAO — Visitors arriving in this gaudy Chinese gambling hub are hit with text messages promoting its draw cards: celebrity-chef-branded restaurants and dazzling entertainment shows in one of the dozens of lavish casino resorts. "Grand Lisboa is looking forward to your visits to our Michelin 3 Stars restaurants!," read a grammatically imperfect message from the casino complex, whose gold-hued tower was designed to resemble a Brazilian dancer's feathered headdress. "Exclusive accommodation and transportation offers for your choice!" But no Michelin-starred restaurants were open on a recent visit. Nor were the pastry shops known for Portuguese egg tarts. Luxury stores at several casino resorts The Washington Post visited were shut, too. At the few open shops, bored staff members watched movies on their phones, slept or paced aimlessly. A saleswoman at a Cartier outlet in the Las Vegas Sands-owned Venetian resort said the store had sold nothing in a week. Elsewhere in the complex, empty gondolas were fastened to railings (opera music, however, was still playing). Macao — the world's largest gambling market, with seven times the revenue of the Las Vegas Strip — was brought to a standstill when its government shuttered the casinos Feb. 5 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus emanating from China's Hubei province. As residents heeded warnings to stay indoors, Macao's streets — usually thronged with tourists, especially from mainland China — turned into a post-apocalyptic tableau. The two-week shutdown, which seems likely to be extended, is unprecedented. Since its handover from Portugal to China in 1999, Macao has been the only Chinese territory where gambling is allowed. The casinos transformed the fortunes of the city of 670,000, whose tourism sector now accounts for 80 percent of economic output and whose 41 casinos employ about one-fifth of the workforce. "My parents told me this is what Macao looked like before China opened up, when it was quiet and no one was here," said 30-year-old Teng Fong Mei, who was operating an egg waffle cart that has been the family's business for four decades. Sales have dropped more than 80 percent, she said, as she flipped iron griddles filled with dough. At an ice cream store specializing in durian flavors, Leung Yun Tsz, who has been serving the treats for 20 years, said turnover was less than 1 percent of usual for this time of year. Yet the Macao government's order to shut the casinos


Emilio Lozoya y Peña Nieto. El crucero con coronavirus. Pedro Sánchez y Juan Guaidó.

Hablamos con el periodista mexicano Carlos Loret de Mola. Entrevistamos a una pasajera en cuarentena en Yokohama. Y consultamos a la periodista española Pilar Velasco.


Astronomers spy near-Earth asteroid that has its own moon

Asteroid 2020 BX12 is hurtling through the cold emptiness of space, but it’s not going alone. The rock, recently spotted during a NASA survey of nearby and potentially hazardous asteroids, has a moon. Neither of them are a threat to Earth. “It was really exciting to find out it was a binary,” meaning an asteroid-moon pair, said Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin, a doctoral student from Spain’s University of Granada. In early February, Zambrano-Marin and her colleagues took radar images of the space rocks from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The radio telescope had only recently reopened after a wave of earthquakes shook Puerto Rico at the beginning of 2020. The large asteroid is 540 feet in diameter, making it nearly as wide as the Washington Monument is tall. It spins on an axis, as does Earth, though it completes its swift twist in under three hours. Its moon is less than half its size, just 230 feet wide. The moon spins much slower, completing a rotation every 50 hours or so. The orbiting moon is “tidally locked” to the large asteroid, Zambrano-Marin said — if you were to stand on the surface of asteroid 2020 BX12, you would always see the same face of its moon. Astronomers detected 2020 BX12 from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory as part of the NASA-funded asteroid warning system called ATLAS. In January, the Hawaii telescope sensed sunlight reflecting off the asteroid, but that instrument was unable to distinguish more than a single fast-moving blot against a background of stars. Further inspection from the Puerto Rico telescope revealed that what appeared to be one space rock was two. Because radio telescopes can produce their own signals, Zambrano-Marin said, they “have the power to illuminate both targets.” These binary asteroids traveled as close as 188,000 miles to Earth’s trajectory. “While this means it could conceivably come closer to the Earth than the Moon, 2020 BX12 poses no danger at this time and is currently receding from Earth,” per the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which operates the Arecibo station. “The Arecibo radar is the most prolific discovery instrument for binary asteroids,” said Jean-Luc Margot, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles. “About 60 binary and triple asteroids have been detected with radar to date.” Moons orbit roughly 1 in 6 large asteroids, according to an estimate Margot and his co-authors published in the


U-Md.’s next president, Darryll Pines: An insider with ambitious goals

and fired the school’s football coach despite the wishes of university board leaders. Loh and the board agreed to delay his departure until this summer. Later in 2018, an 18-year-old freshman, Olivia Shea Paregol, died during an adenovirus outbreak on campus. The university’s handling of that outbreak and the earlier appearance of mold in campus buildings sparked criticism. An external review concluded university officials had followed protocols in addressing the adenovirus outbreak but made recommendations to improve emergency response in the future. In a crisis, Dalglish said, Pines drills down to what’s important. After the recent controversies, she said, Pines’s presence will set some minds at ease. Bringing in a leader from outside can be a good thing, Hicks said, but there’s also the risk you lose momentum because the outsider has to adapt to the school’s culture. “When Wallace came, it took him a while to get his feet under him,” Hicks said. “I’m glad we have someone coming from within. I think that’ll be a big help.” Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, said Pines is the right person to lead U-Md., calling him an exceptional teacher and mentor, a scholar of great repute, a man dedicated to opening college access to all and one with a deep commitment to propelling a flagship toward all it can achieve. Pines has made attracting and retaining a diverse pool of students a priority, with recruiting efforts and targeted partnerships resulting in double the number of applicants and improved academic credentials, he said. He is also a leader in a national nonprofit working to increase the presence of minority graduate students in science, technology, engineering and math. Demand for engineering degrees exploded in the past decade at U-Md. and elsewhere. In 2010, federal data show, U-Md. awarded 595 bachelor’s degrees in engineering. By 2018, the total had nearly doubled, to 1,101. A similar trend held for public universities nationally. But the growth has intensified a long-standing challenge: shortages of women, Latinos and African Americans in engineering. A few private universities have made major strides in reducing the gender gap. Cornell University announced in 2018 that half of its engineering undergraduates for the first time were women. But progress has been much slower in the public sector. Among public universities that awarded at least 500 bachelor’s degrees in engineering in 2018, federal data show, the share earned by