particular places are riskier. So far, we’ve just been speculating about where. But answering these kinds of questions is what epidemiology can do well. Uncertainty about risks will get in the way of America reopening. A recent Associated Press/University of Chicago poll tells us that over half of Americans fear getting a haircut, going shopping or visiting a friend. Better facts about the location of the bigger risks might help people feel more confident about lower-risk activities. This information also tells public health officials where to target prevention efforts. States and counties collect detailed data on every covid-19 case, but so far, they haven’t been using that information to say where risks are higher. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is now reporting covid-19 cases and deaths from licensed nursing homes. Otherwise, neither states nor counties nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been telling us how much different living and working conditions contribute to the spread of the disease. One study We have the same opportunities in the United States now. The case report forms completed by doctors contain a wealth of information, like the type of place a person lives, their work, whether they had contact with someone known to be infected or whether they traveled recently and where, if so. These case reports eventually get funneled up from counties to states and to the CDC. The work of contact tracers provides additional clues. The tracer’s main job is to get an infected person’s contacts in quarantine. We can learn from the tracer’s work how many contacts are being reached and how quickly, giving us a sense of how many infectious people are circulating among us. Tracers can also learn about how and where people made contact. Was it in a household, at a bar, a church, a school, a grocery store or a public swimming pool? Were people sharing a meal, working together or walking in a park? This rich data is an opportunity to more precisely understand our risks and to more precisely target our resources. What’s needed is collecting this data well, organizing it and making it useful to people. Countries like Singapore are reporting the exact location of every cluster of covid-19 infections. Privacy advocates in the United States might object to this. But gleaning epidemiological insights doesn’t require revealing any private information. One challenge is that today each county collects


Under court order, Brazilian government puts coronavirus data back online

RIO DE JANEIRO — Bowing to public outrage and an order from the supreme court, the Brazilian government has resumed publishing coronavirus case and death counts that show the cumulative toll of the country's devastating outbreak . The data, which offered a robust and detailed look at the spread and reach of the virus, was removed from a government website late last week and replaced with a chart that showed only cases and deaths reported in the previous 24 hours. The abrupt reduction in publicly available data at a time when the virus is exploding in the country outraged many Brazilians, who saw it as attempt by President Jair Bolsonaro to obscure the severity of an outbreak he has repeatedly sought to minimize. Brazil has reported more than 742,000 cases, second only to the United States, and 38,000 dead. But Bolsonaro has called the data unreliable. The country’s supreme court ruled Monday that the government must resume posting its consolidated data. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that the “abrupt interruption in the collection and release of important epidemiological data” constituted a “grave risk” and that the government must carry out the “principle of transparency.” In recent days, Bolsonaro and his allies have sought to undermine the registry, alleging without evidence that state governors had inflated their counts to secure larger budgets. But Eduardo Pazuello, Bolsonaro’s interim health minister, has rejected those allegations. “I don’t think states and cities are sending wrong numbers, according to some hypothesis,” he said at a congressional hearing Tuesday. “This is the data that they have.” Pazuello, Bolsonaro’s third health minister since the start of the country’s outbreak, called the numbers “impossible to hide” and said he agreed with the court order. “There will be no need to force me into carrying this out,” the former army general said. “It will be carried out immediately.” The data reappeared Tuesday. The collision between the executive and judicial branches was only the latest in a sharply escalating conflict that has roiled the country’s political landscape and led to fears the military could again intervene in domestic affairs. Bolsonaro, facing numerous investigations and the worst health and economic crises in decades, has grown increasingly aggressive against what he views as attempts to constrain his powers. His supporters have called on him to lead a military takeover. He has attended their rallies, asserted the military was on their side and


abrupt reduction in publicly available data at a time when the virus is exploding in the country outraged many Brazilians, who saw it as attempt by President Jair Bolsonaro to obscure the severity of an outbreak he has repeatedly sought to minimize. Brazil has reported more than 742,000 cases, second only to the United States, and 38,000 dead. But Bolsonaro has called the data unreliable. The country’s supreme court ruled Monday that the government must resume posting its consolidated data. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that the “abrupt interruption in the collection and release of important epidemiological data” constituted a “grave risk” and that the government must carry out the “principle of transparency.” In recent days, Bolsonaro and his allies have sought to undermine the registry, alleging without evidence that state governors had inflated their counts to secure larger budgets. But Eduardo Pazuello, Bolsonaro’s interim health minister, has rejected those allegations. “I don’t think states and cities are sending wrong numbers, according to some hypothesis,” he said at a congressional hearing Tuesday. “This is the data that they have.” Pazuello, Bolsonaro’s third health minister since the start of the country’s outbreak, called the numbers “impossible to hide” and said he agreed with the court order. “There will be no need to force me into carrying this out,” the former army general said. “It will be carried out immediately.” The data reappeared Tuesday. The collision between the executive and judicial branches was only the latest in a sharply escalating conflict that has roiled the country’s political landscape and led to fears the military could again intervene in domestic affairs. Bolsonaro, facing numerous investigations and the worst health and economic crises in decades, has grown increasingly aggressive against what he views as attempts to constrain his powers. His supporters have called on him to lead a military takeover. He has attended their rallies, asserted the military was on their side and declared he has the “weapons of democracy in my hands.” José Antonio Dias Toffoli, Brazil’s chief justice, rejected calls for a military takeover. He said Tuesday the armed forces “are not government institutions” but “serve the Brazilian people.” Rather than fighting among themselves, he said, Brazilians “have to be united in the fight against the pandemic, with transparency, with the help of the press, with liberty of expression. We can’t accept anything that is against the democratic right of the state.”


Clues to the impact of climate change may seep from a volcano in Costa Rica

the type of spot, infused with extra carbon dioxide from the volcano’s fractured rock, they were looking for. The trees here are stewing in it. The team — traveling only with small backpacks stuffed with lunch, gear for measuring trees and bug repellent — heads to another targeted destination a few minutes uphill. Fisher dons a pair of snake-resistant chaps after a close call with a rattlesnake. Fina Soper, an ecologist and professor at McGill University, wears a custom neckerchief to protect against mosquitoes and ticks. “Badass Biogeochemists,” it reads. At each stop, they record the diameter of all trees bigger than a sapling inside a plot the shape and size of a soccer pitch’s center circle. Soper struggles one afternoon with an uncooperative tape measure, a special forester’s rule purchased just for this trip. She loops the metal ribbon around a trunk as broad and true as a Greek temple’s column. But the band won’t retract. “It figures that I’d break the most low-tech device I’ve used in my life,” she mutters, tugging on loops of the snarled steel. By gathering detailed observations from many sites — each exposed to a unique combination of influences — she and the others are trying to account or control for the factors that influence tree heft. They’ll then tease out the effect of each factor, especially the one that concerns them most: greater carbon dioxide. Fisher hopes to vastly ramp up their observations, if this initial expedition pans out, with return trips using one of the most advanced drones flown by NASA. Meanwhile, they painstakingly probe Rincón de la Vieja’s secrets. Ten days of slashing and slogging will yield the diameters of 952 trees between the two groups of scientists. Back home, they’ll calculate the mass of carbon stored in the wood of each plot using standard formulas. “It’s good,” Fisher says halfway through the expedition. “Everyone’s healthy. Everyone’s happy. Equipment is working.” But as he well knows, a technical problem could upend the good fortune at any time. And then, he adds with a laugh, “We’ll all be fighting with each other. And everything will go to hell.” health-science@washpost.com The reporting for this article was made possible by grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Frank B. Mazer Foundation. Photography by Dado Galdieri/Hilaea Media. Story editing by Susan Levine. Photo editing by Annaliese Nurnberg. Designed by Alla Dreyvitser.


The Health 202: The pandemic is far from over, but Trump is restarting campaign rallies

with symptoms. “The wide range of approaches across the country comes as the federal government has offered little guidance on the best way to test a broad swath of the population, leaving state public health officials to wrestle on their own with difficult questions about how to measure the spread of the virus and make decisions about reopening their economies,” Rachel Weiner and Rosalind S. Helderman reports. States are also using different tests with varying levels of reliability. The patchwork system in the states has let Americans confused about if and how to get tested and has complicated reopening strategies. “So far, about 460,000 Americans are being tested a day — 0.15 percent of the population, and still shy of the 900,000 to 30 million that experts say need to be tested daily to capture the extent of the virus’s spread,” they add. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded the contract to Emergent Biosolutions, a company where Robert Kadlec, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, served as a consultant until 2015, Roll Call’s Emily Kopp reports. “Since Kadlec’s 2017 confirmation, the biodefense company has received more than $1.2 billion from the division Kadlec oversees, including a part of HHS known as the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, federal records and company news releases show,” Emily writes. She adds: “The contract raises questions because a whistleblower complaint filed in May by former BARDA Director Rick Bright alleges Kadlec and other officials may have broken the law by awarding lucrative contracts to former business acquaintances and friends.” HHS’s internal watchdog is now considering a review of BARDA contracts starting in fiscal year 2017 until May 2019. A report from Faegre Drinker Consulting finds loosened regulations, the infusion of funds into the economy from coronavirus relief packages and general consumer fear amid the high demand for medical services created an environment ripe for fraud. “From fake vaccines and cures to subpar personal protective equipment to hoarding and price gouging, indictments and arrests are occurring at an alarming rate,” the firm writes. The report found a total of 315 pandemic-related enforcement actions, such as warning letters, were taken by federal agencies as of June 5. The most actions – 183 – were taken by the Federal Trade Commission. Of the 46 charges law enforcement has brought in alleged coronavirus-related fraud schemes since March, 23 have been for false claims. For


Surgeons perform first known U.S. lung transplant for covid-19 patient

A former covid-19 patient has received a double-lung transplant, a surgery believed to be the first of its kind in the United States since the pandemic began, medical officials announced Thursday. Northwestern Medicine in Chicago said the recipient, a woman in her 20s who would not have survived without the transplant, is in intensive care recovering from the operation and from two previous months on lung and heart assistance devices. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of Northwestern’s lung transplant program, said organ transplantation may become more frequent for victims of the most severe forms of covid-19. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus most commonly attacks the respiratory system but also can inflict damage on kidneys, hearts, blood vessels and the neurological system. “I certainly expect some of these patients will have such severe lung injury that they will not be able to carry on without transplant,” said Bharat, who performed the operation Friday. “This could serve as a lifesaving intervention.” Surgeons in Austria on May 26 performed what may have been Europe’s first known lung transplant to save the life of a covid-19 survivor, a 45-year-old woman stricken with a severe form of the disease. China reported a double lung transplant Feb. 29. Bharat said he and others in his field are not aware of another organ transplant of any kind in the United States involving a recipient who had contracted the coronavirus. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit organization that coordinates transplantation in the United States, has no record of an organ transplant into a covid-19 patient as of May 29, spokeswoman Anne Paschke said. However, hospitals have two months from the date of surgery to report details of a transplant to the Richmond organization, including whether a patient had covid-19, she said. The United States has suffered a severe shortage of transplant organs for many years, with more than 100,000 people on waiting lists for kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts and other organs. During the worst weeks of the pandemic in March, the number of transplants dipped even more, UNOS statistics show. But the picture has improved in recent weeks, and because the number of transplants performed in 2020 was ahead of 2019’s pace before the pandemic began, the totals for the two years are comparable, the statistics show. Bharat’s patient, who has not been publicly identified, was on immunosuppressant medication


Trump faces clash with Congress over Confederate names on military bases

the right message.” Asked about Trump’s opposition, Rounds replied, “Well, look, we’ll work that through.” The committee passed the overall $740 billion bill Thursday morning by a vote of 25 to 2, sending it to the Senate for consideration. News of the amendment’s approval was first reported by Roll Call. On Thursday afternoon, Trump singled out Warren in a tweet in which he called for Republicans to oppose the Massachusetts Democrat’s amendment — even though it had already been approved. “Seriously failed presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, just introduced an Amendment on the renaming of many of our legendary Military Bases from which we trained to WIN two World Wars,” Trump tweeted, using a slur alluding to Warren’s claim of Native American heritage. “Hopefully our great Republican Senators won’t fall for this!” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) signaled that he is open to the idea as well. “I do not think we ought to try to rewrite history,” he told reporters. “I think it’s always appropriate to review the people and places that we honor to see if they fit the context of the times in which we live.” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he hasn’t taken a position on the issue but added, “I think we should actually study it.” “I don’t think we should ignore that,” he said. “I think we should actually look long-term and what that really means. I’ve been pretty outspoken on things like schools. I don’t think schools should be named after Confederate leaders and generals. You’ve got a role model issue there.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), meanwhile, said he opposes the provision on renaming bases and may try to weaken it once the measure gets to the Senate floor, Roll Call reported. In another challenge to Trump, the bill includes a provision by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would prohibit the use of military funds or personnel against protesters. The move comes after Trump recently threatened to dispatch active-duty forces against protesters demonstrating against police brutality in the wake of Floyd’s death. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation before the end of June. On Wednesday, Trump rejected the idea of removing the names honoring Confederate military figures who fought on behalf of preserving the institution of slavery, saying in a tweet that he would “not even consider” changing the names of bases. Trump’s own defense


Ohio GOP lawmaker fired from ER job over remarks about ‘colored population’ and covid-19

who acknowledges the ‘coloreds’ is going to give the love and care that people need when they come through those doors?” In a phone interview with The Washington Post late Wednesday, Huffman defended himself, insisting that his language was not intended to be derogatory. Huffman added that he thought the phrases “people of color” and “colored population” were similar. “People of color would have been better, but they seem to be interchangeable,” he said, before stressing repeatedly that the question had been rhetorical. “I was trying to focus on why covid-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons,” he said. An April Post analysis of early data from jurisdictions nationwide found that majority-black counties have three times the rate of coronavirus infections and almost six times the rate of deaths in comparison to counties made up of mostly white residents. Earlier this month, The Post reported that African Americans, who are already negatively impacted by health disparities, were largely not prioritized as local governments nationwide scrambled to respond to the virus. Despite pleas from black leaders, a number of the first coronavirus testing sites appeared in whiter, more affluent areas, and educational campaigns about coronavirus prevention and social distancing targeting African American communities were rare, according to The Post. On Tuesday, as Dawson advocated for racism to be declared a public health crisis in Ohio, she credited the pandemic for revealing underlying social inequities in the state. According to most recent figures, Ohio has more than 39,500 reported cases of coronavirus and at least 2,400 deaths. “The covid-19 pandemic and the brutal death of George Floyd unfortunately provided a pivotal point in time to not only focus on our safety and physical health, but on our emotional, mental and spiritual health,” Dawson told members of the Ohio Senate Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee. “We must prioritize the marginalized and those who are suffering, bearing the burden of disease, illness and death.” When Huffman raised the question over whether personal hygiene could be a factor driving black infection rates, people attending the hearing visibly reacted, cringing while the lawmaker spoke, state Sen. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati), a committee member, told the Daily News. “He’s an example of why we have to have this discussion about racism and how it impacts people,” Thomas said. Huffman’s words were met with similar responses on


Can old vaccines from science’s medicine cabinet ward off coronavirus?

vaccine in the 1960s and 1970s — gave him the oral polio vaccine every fall before the influenza season because of evidence it provided broad protection. Chumakov is working to raise money to test the polio vaccine against covid-19 with Robert Gallo, a famed HIV researcher and director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Outside researchers and proponents of the theory that such vaccines could afford protection agree it is crucial to conduct trials to see if the vaccines afford extra protection against other infections before using them. The World Health Organization has warned there is no evidence yet that BCG protects against covid-19. Michael J. Buchmeier, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of California at Irvine, said there was a risk that such vaccines could have the opposite of the intended effect, making the immune response too strong. “In its extreme,” Buchmeier said, “this results in the cytokine storm” that can have catastrophic effects on the body. “You’re really kind of gambling with probabilities that you have no control over,” Buchmeier said. Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, said in an email that a trial could help answer if the oral polio vaccine works. But he expressed concerns because people given the polio vaccine will shed virus capable of infecting people. When that virus enters sewage and circulates in water systems, it could pose a risk especially in countries with lower immunization rates — at a time the world is working to eradicate polio. “It is a safe and readily available vaccine that is easily administered — taken by mouth,” Racaniello said. “If it confers three to four months’ protection, it would be useful for health-care workers, especially for the fall when infections with SARS-CoV-2 increase again.” The answer to the question, like everything in the pandemic, can’t come soon enough. The trial led by Cirillo in Texas has enrolled 450 of its intended 1,800 participants and has vaccinated about a third so far. The effort to test the oral polio vaccine is still awaiting funding. If a trial can show either vaccine has a protective effect, it could have repercussions far into the future, as a first-line of defense as scientists chase new outbreaks. “If it works, it really has great potential against future pandemics, not just this one,” said


An adrenaline-starved adventure traveler looks back at five close calls

also has numerous pitches where falls can — and occasionally do — prove fatal. I am sweating up one such section, suspended hundreds of feet above the forest by a three-finger grip and half a foothold, Jeremy 15 feet above me, when a hornet divebombs my face. It’s worth noting that I grew up unnaturally terrified of bees, and throughout my childhood even the most harmless flyby from a honeybee would send me in to a wind-milling disco move. So that hornet triggers a spike in fear and allows me to realize for the first time that day how easily I could plummet to my death. As I’m processing this more hornets appear, and the party is on. Stings light up my neck, arms and face. With only one hand to defend myself I slap ineffectually, trying to kill them against the rock or my body. I am also calling out to Jeremy for help, as if he could just hopscotch down and cast the hornets off. Instead, in what he later claims is his natural reaction to crises, he starts laughing manically. I eventually kill enough that the survivors head back to base. Ten minutes later, after I’ve stopped hyperventilating and Jeremy has ceased laughing at me, we finish the climb, our mountain education officially underway. In January 2016, on a ski trip with friends in the Japanese Alps, we road-trip from our base in Myoko Kogen to Charmant Hiuchi, a tiny resort high above the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. Charmant had been closed for days because of a windy storm, which left two feet of powder for the taking. After a morning of fresh tracks beneath the main chairlift, my friend Ted Purcell and I start seeking new lines near the resort’s boundary line. Ted carves his snowboard over a rise and drops out of sight while I blow through billows of untracked snow to his right. I’m certain I’m paralleling his route but, alas, I’ve veered straight out of bounds. Small trees beget bigger ones, and soon I’m bounding through a forest, and snow so good that all I can do is ski — and, apparently, fly: I unexpectedly vault off a 20-foot drop and straight toward one of the great hazards of backcountry skiing in Japan, a volcanically heated creek. These waterways spider throughout the country’s geothermally active mountains and, unlike


Trump, economic team launch quick counternarrative amid market dive, grim Fed outlook

shut down in March and April as federal, state and local officials tried to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Many began allowing businesses to reopen in May, though many still have strict restrictions. President Trump said in late May that “we are not closing our country” if there is a second wave of coronavirus cases. “I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage,” Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday. Asked about those comments later Thursday, Mnuchin seemed to leave open the possibility that the economy could be shut down again in an extreme scenario, while stressing that the odds of that happening were remote. More than a dozen U.S. states are seeing new highs in positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, according to Washington Post data, as public health restrictions nationwide are loosened. “This is the president’s decision and not my decision. My comment was based on a set of facts that people gave me. It’s my expectation we will make medical progress between now and the end of the year,” Mnuchin said. “I don’t expect we will need to shut down the economy again. Could there be some rare extreme scenario that occurs that based upon medical advice the president does [shut down the economy]? I think that’s extremely unlikely." Federal lawmakers have for months grappled with competing pressures between safeguarding public health and the impact of restrictions on the national economy. Deaths due to covid-19 in the United States have surpassed 100,000, and more than 2 million Americans have been infected. Economic shutdowns have led to record unemployment numbers and a severe economic contraction. Trump and Mnuchin celebrated a better-than-expected May jobs report at a White House news conference last week, but substantial uncertainty remains about the economic recovery. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has warned of a devastating second wave that would coincide with the flu season and strain the nation’s health-care system. On Thursday, Kudlow maintained a consistently optimistic view of the economy, touting business reopenings as well as rebounding demand for automobiles and housing. “I do think Mr. Powell could lighten up a little when he has these press offerings. You know, a smile now and then, a little bit of optimism, okay,” Kudlow told Fox News. “I’ll talk with him and we’ll have some media training at some point.”


Federal Reserve predicts slow recovery with unemployment at 9.3 percent by end of 2020

able to invest in the financial markets or purchase homes. The Fed’s own data shows only about half of Americans have any money invested in the stock market, and nearly 40 percent of households do not have enough cash on hand or in a bank account to cover an emergency $400 expense, leaving them especially vulnerable if they lose their jobs or their work hours are cut. Numerous lawmakers in both parties have also expressed disappointment that the Fed still has not been able to get what is called its Main Street Lending program, aimed at small and midsize companies, up and running after two months. Powell defended the Fed’s actions, arguing that the central bank’s swift intervention helped prevent the health and economic crisis from turning into a financial panic that would have cost more jobs and caused far more bankruptcies. But he said that the Fed’s tools are blunt and that Congress may have to play the bigger role in helping specific people and companies hardest hit by the crisis. “Many borrowers will benefit from these [Fed] programs, as will the overall economy,” Powell said, but he noted there are limits to what the central bank can do. “Direct fiscal support may be needed. Elected officials have the power to tax and spend and to make decisions about where we, as a society, should direct our collective resources.” Powell stopped short of recommending any specific actions by Congress. Economists across the political spectrum have called for federal aid to cash-strapped state and local governments that have already cut over half a million jobs as they try to balance their budgets as they deal with the coronavirus and widespread protests over police use of force. But many economists are also concerned that enhanced aid for the unemployed, including an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits, expires at the end of July, when jobs are still likely to be scarce. How to help the people left out of the rebound remains contentious in Congress. The same is true of what to do for restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses that still cannot fully reopen. Low-wage black and Hispanic women have been hit especially hard by job losses during the pandemic. This population had some of the lowest savings heading into the crisis. These women were also among the last to benefit from the recovery after the Great Recession. “The


Lawmakers push for boosting U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research

TECHNOLOGY Concerned that too much semiconductor manufacturing and know-how has shifted overseas, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing allocating tens of billions of dollars to boost production and development in the United States. The legislation comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, which are prompting all levels of government and industry to consider new measures to protect U.S. economic competitiveness and national security in high-tech fields. A bill introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) would create a tax credit investors could use to deduct from their taxes 40 percent of the cost of building a semiconductor factory or buying semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Chip manufacturing plants are among the most expensive kinds of manufacturing facilities to build, costing $10 billion or more. The legislation would also create a $10 billion federal fund to match incentives offered by state and local governments for construction of semiconductor plants. And it would dedicate $12 billion to semiconductor research at various federal agencies. Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) plan to introduce the legislation in the House on Thursday, they said in a statement. The legislation follows news last month that a large Taiwanese chip manufacturer plans to build a $12 billion factory in Arizona that would create 1,600 jobs. — Jeanne Whalen AUTO INDUSTRY Ford Motor Co. expects its U.S. plants will come all the way back from coronavirus-related shutdowns within the next month, a top executive said. The factories will be producing at levels they were before the coronavirus outbreak by July 6, chief operating officer Jim Farley said Wednesday at the Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference. The manufacturing restart has been smooth, with Ford building about 96 percent of the volume it was planning for the first three weeks since its facilities came back online. Ford has forecast a $5 billion loss for this quarter, tied to a two-month shutdown of its North American factories, and significant volume declines in every region. The automaker expects introductions of models such as the redesigned F-150 pickup and new electric Mustang Mach-E to be delayed by roughly the span of time its plants were down. — Bloomberg News AIRLINE INDUSTRY U.S. airlines carried 3 million passengers in April, a staggering 96 percent decline from April 2019 amid the coronavirus pandemic and flight restrictions, the Transportation Department said on Wednesday. The department said U.S.


Lawmakers propose billions to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research

use to deduct from their taxes 40 percent of the cost of building a U.S. semiconductor factory or buying semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Chip manufacturing plants are among the most expensive kinds of manufacturing facilities to build, costing $10 billion or more. The legislation would also create a $10 billion federal fund to match incentives offered by state and local governments for construction of semiconductor plants. And it would dedicate $12 billion to semiconductor research at various federal agencies. “Semiconductors underpin nearly all innovation today and are critical to U.S. communications and defense computing capabilities. While Texas has been a leader in manufacturing this technology and the U.S. leads the world in chip design, most of those chips are manufactured outside the United States,” Cornyn said. “America’s innovation in semiconductors undergirds our entire innovation economy, driving the advances we see in autonomous vehicles, supercomputing, augmented reality, IoT (Internet of Things) devices and more. Unfortunately, our complacency has allowed our competitors — including adversaries — to catch up. This bill reinvests in this national priority,” Sen. Warner said. Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) plan to introduce the legislation in the House on Thursday, they said in a statement. U.S. semiconductor companies account for 47 percent of global chip sales but only 12 percent of manufacturing, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which welcomed the new legislation. China is investing heavily in chip production and is rapidly gaining ground, the association said. “As global competitors invest big to attract advanced semiconductor manufacturing to their shores, the U.S. must get in the game and make our country a more competitive place to produce this strategically important technology,” SIA President John Neuffer said. Eric Sayers, a consultant at Beacon Global Strategies, called the legislation significant. “This group includes prominent conservatives who have traditionally been reluctant to see the federal government play a role in the free market,” he said. “These senators are saying this industry is critical to national security and we need a robust approach to compete with an authoritarian capitalist China that is funneling billions into their own industry.” The legislation follows news last month that a large Taiwanese chip manufacturer plans to build a $12 billion factory in Arizona that would create 1,600 jobs. Both the company, TSMC, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross described the investment as critical to reinforcing U.S. high-tech manufacturing. Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report


Hogan announces wave of reopenings, including day cares and gyms, as region lifts more restrictions

“personal choice” and that as a cancer survivor who is particularly vulnerable to the virus, he would not take the risk. “I would not feel comfortable dining inside, and if I were going to a restaurant, I would sit outside,” he said. The announcement follows a key milestone in the hospitalization data watched by Hogan and his advisers, who are monitoring the scope of infections and the state’s ability to treat those who become sick. The number of patients this week hospitalized with covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, dropped below 1,000 in Maryland for the first time since April 10. The rolling seven-day average of covid-19 cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia dropped to 1,468 on Wednesday, down from 2,217 cases to start the month, according to figures compiled from state and city health departments. Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Wednesday that key metrics — including case counts, hospitalizations and positivity test rates — have been “trending down” in the region. “Taken together,” she said, “I see good signs and reasons to be hopeful.” She added, “All the measures we put in place to slow the transmission definitely had a positive impact.” Still, she cautioned that as cities, counties and states reopen, some have been successful at keeping numbers low, while others “are having a tougher time.” “If we all continue to prioritize social distancing and spending time in safer settings like outdoors, that will go a long way toward making reopening safer,” she said. The District, Maryland and Virginia reported 1,063 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 121,179. There were 55 new deaths, bringing the toll to 4,857. In the District, there were 63 new cases and four new deaths. Maryland had 561 new cases and 33 new deaths. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, which have been hit particularly hard with outbreaks, had 117 and 156 new cases, respectively. There were five new deaths in Montgomery and six in Prince George’s. Virginia reported 439 new cases and 18 new deaths. Fairfax County, the state’s largest jurisdiction, reported 51 new cases and six new deaths. Experts said that while many key metrics are trending in the right direction, they cautioned that outbreaks and increases are possible as restrictions continue to lift. “There’s definitely evidence of improvement in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, but there’s also evidence of community


James Cooley, 82, a retired NASA engineer from Maryland, dies of covid-19

For more than three decades, James Cooley devoted his mathematics talent to the nation’s space program, tackling challenges such as the orbital mechanics of satellites and puzzling out various aspects of mission design for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. By the time he retired from the center in Greenbelt, Md., in 1997, Cooley had risen to become an aerospace engineer with supervisory duties, according to NASA. Cooley and his wife, Brenda, spent the next 20 years living in retirement in Greenbelt, relishing visits from their children and grandchildren and rooting for the Terrapins sports teams at the nearby University of Maryland. A few years ago, according to their son, the Cooleys moved to the Riderwood retirement community in Silver Spring, where they could get more help with daily life. But when Andrew Cooley called his father on his 82nd birthday on April 17, something was different. “He didn’t sound right,” Andrew Cooley recalled. “He sounded off.” Eleven days later, James Cooley died of covid-19 at Prince George’s Hospital Center. He had been taken to the hospital on April 26 after a nursing aide noticed he was suffering from shortness of breath, with a fever and a cough. Until then, Andrew Cooley said, his father had dealt with some health issues related to a stroke he suffered in 1996, but he was still in decent shape, able to walk and eat and take his medicine. The novel coronavirus caused a sudden and rapid decline. “I was quite shocked,” his son said. Andrew Cooley said the family was unable to say goodbye in person to his father because of pandemic restrictions. The family plans to bury his remains in his native Massachusetts at some point soon. Meanwhile, Brenda Cooley, who has Alzheimer’s disease, had to move to a new memory-care facility after her husband died. The logistics of these transitions have been challenging. “Because of covid, everything was 10 times more complicated and difficult,” Andrew Cooley said. James Lawrence Cooley was born in Northampton, Mass., and raised in a rural area in nearby Pelham. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in math in 1960, and married fellow student Brenda Brizzolari a year later, after she graduated with a degree in education. Cooley earned a master’s degree in math from Pennsylvania State University in 1962, and the couple settled in Maryland the following year, when


Rats are getting aggressive hunting for food amid restaurant closures, CDC warns

Humans aren’t the only ones hankering for the days they could dine out at their cities’ restaurants: Some rats that miss feasting on the scraps are becoming increasingly brazen to find new food sources, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday. Amid stay-home restrictions set across the country to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus, many restaurants and cafes are closed or limited to takeout and delivery, and with the reduced sales, the restaurants’ trash bins are no longer overflowing with scrumptious leftovers hordes of rodents subsisted on. Finding slimmer pickings, critters have become more aggressive, prompting the CDC to issue guidance on how to deter them. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been increased reports of rat cannibalism and infanticide in New York, as well as more rat complaints in residential areas — including in Chicago — as humans produce more food waste at home. Roving rat armies, including one caught on camera scavenging New Orleans’ empty streets, are concerning to the CDC, which says rodents can carry disease. The CDC advises home and business owners to cover garbage cans, put bird and pet food out of reach and seal small holes rodents could access in buildings. If people follow established cleaning guidelines, they can avoid exposure to rodent-borne diseases, according to the agency. “Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food,” the CDC said. “Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behavior.” In cities trying to combat rodent issues, such as Washington, pest control workers are classified as essential. The District of Columbia has had more than 800 calls regarding rodents in the past month, according to city 311 data. Rats can transmit food-borne illnesses such as salmonella, and their urine can also worsen allergies and asthma, especially in children, Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist at the National Pest Management Association, previously told The Post. Rats pose an additional threat to those working from home: they can devour cars. Rats gnawing at car engines and tires have caused fires, cost car owners fortunes and goaded officials to seek do-it-yourself solutions. Urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan foresaw increased reports of aggressive rodents when the pandemic began. He said with restaurants closing, rats would need to adapt to find new food sources.


Trump authorizes sanctions targeting International Criminal Court

President Trump has signed an executive order authorizing new sanctions against prosecutors and officials of the International Criminal Court after the body approved investigations of alleged war crimes by U.S. service members and intelligence officers in Afghanistan. In an unprecedented display of administration firepower, the secretaries of state and defense, along with the attorney general and the national security adviser, jointly announced sanctions against officials of what they called a “corrupt” and “politically motivated” court manipulated by Russia and other U.S. adversaries. The announcement escalates a long-standing dispute with the Netherlands-based court, established 18 years ago under the Treaty of Rome. The United States has never ratified the treaty or recognized the court’s jurisdiction. The Trump administration has taken a particularly tough stand against what it calls the court’s attempts to violate U.S. sovereignty and pose a national security threat. In 2018, when he was national security adviser, John Bolton vowed that the United States would not cooperate with the court and declared, “For all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.” The measures announced Thursday include economic sanctions against any ICC officials involved in efforts to investigate “allied personnel without that ally’s consent” and an extension to family members of visa restrictions already in effect against those officials. “Imagine an American soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or an intelligence officer is on leave with his or her family, maybe on a beach in Europe,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a brief appearance with the others at the State Department. “And over the course of two decades or more, this soldier honorably defended America in Anbar province, in Kandahar, taking down terrorists. Then, suddenly, that vacation turns into a nightmare.” “We cannot, we will not stand by as our people are threatened by a kangaroo court,” he added. Standing at his side, Defense Secretary Mike T. Esper said, “We will not allow American citizens who have served our country to be subjected to illegitimate investigations.” The U.S. military and civilian justice systems are fully capable of taking “appropriate action” against alleged misconduct, including “alleged abuse of detainees or any other misconduct,” Esper said. Pompeo also called a proposed ICC investigation of Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip a “mockery of justice.” The ICC is designed as a court of last resort, used only after countries are unable or unwilling to take action


to family members of visa restrictions already in effect against those officials. “Imagine an American soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or an intelligence officer is on leave with his or her family, maybe on a beach in Europe,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a brief appearance with the others at the State Department. “And over the course of two decades or more, this soldier honorably defended America in Anbar province, in Kandahar, taking down terrorists. Then, suddenly, that vacation turns into a nightmare.” “We cannot, we will not stand by as our people are threatened by a kangaroo court,” he added. Standing at his side, Defense Secretary Mike T. Esper said, “We will not allow American citizens who have served our country to be subjected to illegitimate investigations.” The U.S. military and civilian justice systems are fully capable of taking “appropriate action” against alleged misconduct, including “alleged abuse of detainees or any other misconduct,” Esper said. Pompeo also called a proposed ICC investigation of Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip a “mockery of justice.” The ICC is designed as a court of last resort, used only after countries are unable or unwilling to take action against their own citizens accused of war crimes. The United States has prosecuted troops for criminal conduct committed during the war in Afghanistan. Human rights groups have complained the numbers are relatively small and have not included high-level officers and U.S. officials who may have issued orders. Trump has intervened in several cases involving war-crimes accusations despite opposition from military justice experts and some senior Pentagon officials. The ICC investigation will not focus solely on allegations against U.S. troops. Lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants to investigate possible crimes committed by the Taliban and other groups between 2003 and 2014, including alleged mass killings of civilians, as well as the alleged torture of prisoners by Afghan authorities and, to a lesser degree, by U.S. forces and the CIA. Attorney General William P. Barr said a March decision by the court to authorize the investigation of U.S. operations in Afghanistan “validates long-standing concerns” that the ICC is “little more than a political tool employed by unaccountable international elites . . . to manipulate and undercut the foreign policy” of the United States and its allies. Barr said the Justice Department has launched its own investigation of “a long history of financial corruption


Walmart will stop locking ‘multicultural’ hair and beauty products

Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, said it will stop locking up “multicultural” hair and beauty products in display cases in a move that civil rights activists and academics say is long overdue. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer on Wednesday reversed its years-long policy — which was in place at about a dozen of its 4,700 U.S. stores — after mounting criticism that the practice is discriminatory black shoppers. The decision was first reported by CBS Denver. “Walmart does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” the company said in a statement on Twitter. “We serve millions of customers every day from diverse backgrounds.” The retail giant is the latest corporation to change its policies amid a national reckoning over systemic racism after George Floyd, a black man, was killed in police custody last month. Major retailers have taken steps to publicly support the Black Lives Matter movement and fund anti-racism initiatives. Others are making incremental changes to address racial disparities. Cosmetics giant Sephora, for example, has pledged to devote at least 15 percent of its shelf space to black-owned businesses. Activists and academics called the efforts a step in the right direction, though they said companies should also try to effect change from within by hiring and promoting more black and minority employees to leadership positions. “This is a long time coming,” said Rashad Robinson, a civil rights activist and president of the racial justice organization Color of Change. “We and others have demanded that Walmart stop treating black folks in our communities — and the products and services that we need — differently.” “This is another symbol that the floor is being raised on what’s acceptable,” he said. “Now the question is how high can the ceiling go?” Cassi Pittman Claytor, a professor at Case Western Reserve University whose work focuses on how black consumers manage racism, said Walmart’s policy was a “classic example” of how corporate decisions can encourage racial biases. “The practice of locking up products more likely to be used by black customers unfairly burdens them, adding costs in terms of time and an emotional toll,” she said in an email. “It makes spending money on the products that meet their needs more burdensome.” Walmart has long faced controversy over its practice of locking up products that cater to black customers, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. A 2018 lawsuit filed in California alleged that the practice was a form


2020 has been rough. But most of the year’s misfortunes were self-inflicted.

A popular meme shows Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly from “Back to the Future” sitting in their time machine, with Doc Brown warning, “Whatever you do, don’t set it to 2020!” Indeed, 2020 may be only at its midpoint, but for many it is already “the worst year ever.” When the dust finally settles, history should record how most of the misfortunes were self-inflicted. As a reminder, it started late last year with the impeachment of a president, a political hit job masquerading as a constitutional crisis. It is telling that President Trump’s impeachment was the top story of 2019, according to the Associated Press, but his 2020 trial and acquittal will likely rank no higher than fourth this year, behind covid-19, racial justice protests and the presidential election. The investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Trump-Russia collusion was a dud, but Democrats quickly pivoted to a phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine. “Quid pro quo” became a phrase repeated ad nauseam and the basis for an abuse-of-power charge. For good measure, Trump was also charged with obstruction, but it soon ended with Senate Republicans voting for acquittal as hurriedly as House Democrats had rushed to impeach him. Then came the novel coronavirus, its only upside being that it mercifully quelled endless post-impeachment analysis. The virus was real enough, of course, but government-ordered lockdowns and economy-killing business closures were major overreactions outside a handful of obviously deadly hot spots. Studies are predictably emerging now to convince everyone how many lives were saved by following the extreme measures recommended by health professionals. But then, 1,200 so-called health experts joined forces to sign a letter advising everyone not to use covid-19 as a reason to shut down racial justice protests. To underscore the point, the letter stated, “This should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings, particularly protests against stay-home orders.” In other words, the need to protest for racial justice outweighs the risk of spreading the virus, but gatherings protesting lockdowns are too risky. Got it. The letter is a gift to conservatives, another illustration why multitudes of scientists trotted out in support of draconian action on everything from social distancing to climate change are often viewed as politically driven. Contrary to some assertions, Americans are not pretending the virus has disappeared. They know it’s here, it’s serious and it’s sometimes


U.S. passport processing resumes as centers first tackle a coronavirus backlog

workers have returned to their offices. Passport applications will be processed on a “first in, first out” basis. Risch estimated it will take six to eight weeks to clear the backlog dating from late February. The 1.7 million pending applications represent a little more than the average workload every month. Only then will they start moving new applications, which Risch said will take at least eight weeks to begin processing. Before operations were reduced, most passports were processed in four to six weeks. The State Department sharply curtailed passport services around the world starting in March, when most employees started teleworking amid the coronavirus crisis. Security considerations made it difficult to conduct passport processing from home offices, and many workers were reassigned to help arrange repatriation flights for Americans stuck overseas when countries began closing their borders in response to the pandemic. For the most part, the only passports processed in the interim have been for the U.S. armed forces and medical workers seeking to assist covid-19 patients in other countries. Passport services in most embassies and consulates abroad are still accepting only emergency applications. The phased reopening means older workers and those with underlying health conditions have still not returned to their offices. Risch said an additional 150 employees have been temporarily assigned to work on passport applications, and he expects the pace to quicken. “Each facility is gradually ramping up operations based on local conditions and CDC guidelines,” he said. “As more agencies have additional staff returning across the country, we are aggressively increasing our processing capability and doing everything we can to return to normal as quickly as possible.” Returning employees will be provided personal protective equipment and will be asked to maintain social distancing, he said. One reason it will take time to catch up is that passports are considered official identification documents that must be handled and printed in secure facilities. The State Department is starting to develop a backup plan to avoid more interruptions if the pandemic continues and possibly worsens in coming months as some experts expect, Risch said. “We are looking at ways to be more resilient if faced with these challenges in the future,” he said. About 18 million new U.S. passports are issued every year, but the uncertainty around playing catch-up and the severity of the pandemic make it difficult to predict whether that figure will be reached this year.


West Point and its cadets are not campaign props

one cadet noted before they arrived, “It wasn’t possible to have a black identity. There just weren’t enough of us.” Nixon’s cynical Confederate monument idea combined with more than 100 black cadets created what Knowlton called “nuclear fission.” After every black cadet signed the manifesto, Squire persuaded 22 of the 23 black officers at the U.S. Military Academy to sign it. When the superintendent received the document, he gave the cadets everything they asked for. One demand was for social programs designed for black cadets. The cadets’ social life at the isolated, all-male school was problematic. One young black woman described her visit to the academy with horror: “We spent the whole evening square dancing!” The cadets forced the academy to sponsor soul-themed dances. The cadets felt that the U.S. Military Academy had forced them “to abandon black culture.” Immediately, the academy allowed cadets to grow Afros. Deploying their newfound power, the cadets persuaded the superintendent to invite controversial figures to speak that the academy had previously denied. Rep. Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.) had visited a dozen bases addressing systemic racism in the military. Now he came to the U.S. Military Academy with the blessing of its leadership. The cadets even brought Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam to speak. With victories on all fronts, the cadets’ most important demand was to stop the Confederate monument. More significant was how they framed the argument. The cadets did not mention the issue of slavery. They knew that white Army officers would understand the argument of treason more readily. As a journalist at Ebony magazine described the cadets, “Those were some savvy brothers.” The African American cadets argued that West Pointers who fought for the Confederacy “abrogated their oath” to the Constitution. What if, as officers, the president called on them to quash a violent protest by black citizens? If African American officers deserted their Army units to accept positions of leadership among “rebelling Blacks” in a hypothetical rebellion, would the U.S. Military Academy put up a monument to them? Or would they be punished as traitors? The Confederates, argued the cadets, committed treason, violating the Constitution by “levying war against the United States.” They deserved censure, not recognition. Thanking Squire, Knowlton called the White House to inform the administration that a Confederate monument would hurt minority recruiting efforts and cause a publicity nightmare. The White House dropped the issue immediately. Squire


Airlines are suing the U.K. to lift self-isolation rules for travelers

A group of airlines in the United Kingdom is challenging the British government to lift what they say are onerous travel restrictions that will destroy jobs and devastate the tourism industry. British Airways, Ryanair and EasyJet are suing to force judges to review a new rule from the British Home Office that requires all incoming travelers to self-isolate for 14 days. Instituted for the first time on Monday, the Home Office says the new policy was designed to prevent a resurgent outbreak of the coronavirus from outside the country. The spread of the virus has slowed in the U.K., and government officials say public health measures have proved successful in dropping what’s known as the reproduction number — the average number of new people infected by a sick person — below one. But as with other nations that have suffered serious outbreaks, the goal of health officials has shifted to prevent a deadly second wave. “As the number of infections within the U.K. drops, we must now manage the risk of transmissions being reintroduced from elsewhere,” said John Aston, the Home Office chief scientific adviser, in a statement announcing the new travel measures for arriving passengers. The alliance of airlines argues that the rule unfairly punishes travelers from countries that have low infection rates. By mandating self-quarantining, they claim travelers will be discouraged from coming to the U.K., even as the country has eased lockdown measures and begins to reopen segments of the economy for the summer. A previous self-isolation rule was in effect in the U.K but only applied to a subset or travelers from countries with a high risk of infection. The new policy applies to all countries with few exceptions. The British government has said it will continue to review travel restrictions as new scientific evidence emerges. The U.K. will also consider special agreements between countries that have low infection rates, removing the need for self-quarantines. Read more: Air travel is up 400 percent from its record-low point in the pandemic, according to the TSA Thinking about a remote-work trip? Consider these tips first. Disney’s Splash Mountain ride is based on ‘Song of the South.’ Petitioners want to change that.


William & Mary to bring students back for fall term amid pandemic

The College of William & Mary, second-oldest in the country, plans to bring students back to its Williamsburg, Va., campus in August despite the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic — an announcement that signals an acceleration of the movement to reopen campuses. Katherine A. Rowe, the public university’s president, said Friday the fall term will start for the law school on Aug. 17 and for undergraduates and other students on Aug. 19. There will be no fall break, and some classes will be held on Saturday, in an effort to squeeze as much in-person instruction as possible into the semester by the time it ends before Thanksgiving. “Ultimately, our mission calls us back," Rowe said in a statement. "The uncertainty of pandemic persists and no single path or solution will meet the needs of all. Yet a return to campus speeds access to student learning and community, under pandemic, in numerous ways. Students are asking to return and we have heard them. I have confidence in the creativity of our staff and faculty to partner with students and families and find the best solution for each.” William & Mary, founded under a royal charter issued in 1693, has about 8,800 students, including 6,400 undergraduates. Among U.S. institutions of higher learning, only Harvard University is older: Its college in Cambridge, Mass., was founded in 1636. Like other colleges and universities nationwide, William & Mary shifted abruptly in March to remote instruction as the novel coronavirus spread and its dangers became apparent. More than 100,000 Americans have died of covid-19, the disease the virus causes. Now many schools are laying plans to reopen campuses. Some are limiting the number of students who can return. Almost all are warning that public health measures will be enforced to protect faculty, students and staff who may be vulnerable. Officials are seeking to establish a culture of wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance in public spaces. William & Mary said it will not place limits on the number of students who can return, although officials believe there will be fewer students in Williamsburg than normal. Some classes will be taught online, some in person and some in a hybrid fashion, a common feature of reopening plans. Other universities in Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland have begun to announce reopening timetables, or will soon do so. George Mason University in Northern Virginia said last


A new schedule

Hello, and happy weekend. The covid-19 pandemic has upended everyone’s lives and schedules. Three months after the nation started to shut down, many of us are working odd hours, walking the dog at different times, sleeping less than usual or more. And starting next week, this newsletter will also have a different schedule. Instead of landing in your inbox every Saturday, you’ll find it every other Saturday. It’s not because we’re tired and need a break, like the sleepy jaguar above. It’s because I and everyone at The Washington Post are covering not just our normal topics — in my case, animal issues — but also coronavirus-related issues. We expect that changing to a biweekly schedule will result in a newsletter that’s more brimming with the animal stories subscribers want and deserve. We also expect this change to be temporary. When things get back to some semblance of normal, you’ll once again find Animalia coming at you every week. In the meantime, thank you for being understanding! In animal news this week: Thanks, as always, for reading. See you in two weeks!


The Daily 202: D.C. surpasses 500 coronavirus deaths; nearly 3 in 4 have been African American

of U-Haul trailers to reach the fields. They work side by side hand-harvesting mostly round green tomatoes that are later gassed with ethylene to ripen them. At the end of the day, workers hop back in those buses and trucks to head home to retrofitted trailer parks often owned by the growers, with between six and 16 workers bedding down in bunk beds and mattresses on the floor in single-wide trailers meant to be one-bedroom homes. … “The Florida Department of Health in Collier County, assisted by an 11-member Doctors Without Borders team, this month stepped up testing among migrant worker communities ahead of an annual migration of Immokalee farmworkers northward to work the fields in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia or Michigan. But Kristine Hollingsworth, spokeswoman for the county’s health department, acknowledged officials have had problems in ramping up testing and contacting workers with their test results — in part because many workers don’t have primary health-care providers. Others are undocumented and fearful of giving out contact details, despite assurances from county officials they won’t be deported.” “Juana Diaz, 62, from Washington, D.C., has had symptoms since April 3,” Ariana Eunjung Cha and Lenny Bernstein report. ”Cara Schiavo, a 31-year-old social worker from Cedar Grove, N.J., came down with something that looked like pinkeye on March 15, and then wound up in the emergency room when she developed a fever and other symptoms. Since then, ‘I haven’t had a day when I’ve been back to normal.’ Matthew Long-Middleton, 35, a radio journalist in Kansas City, Mo., was struck with fever, chills and typical flu-like symptoms on March 11, and has never fully recovered. ‘I sometimes try to work from bed, but sometimes just sitting up is too much,’ he said. “Post-viral syndromes have been associated with numerous viruses in the past, but until the pandemic, they were considered relatively rare. In the case of covid-19, researchers are unsure whether people with extended symptoms are simply facing a long recovery — or whether their illness will come to resemble something like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex illness characterized by profound exhaustion and sleep problems, or other conditions that can last for years, or a lifetime. … The virus also involves so many parts of the body — from the brain to the toes — that some symptoms may be due to damage to different organs that have not repaired themselves.”


social worker from Cedar Grove, N.J., came down with something that looked like pinkeye on March 15, and then wound up in the emergency room when she developed a fever and other symptoms. Since then, ‘I haven’t had a day when I’ve been back to normal.’ Matthew Long-Middleton, 35, a radio journalist in Kansas City, Mo., was struck with fever, chills and typical flu-like symptoms on March 11, and has never fully recovered. ‘I sometimes try to work from bed, but sometimes just sitting up is too much,’ he said. “Post-viral syndromes have been associated with numerous viruses in the past, but until the pandemic, they were considered relatively rare. In the case of covid-19, researchers are unsure whether people with extended symptoms are simply facing a long recovery — or whether their illness will come to resemble something like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex illness characterized by profound exhaustion and sleep problems, or other conditions that can last for years, or a lifetime. … The virus also involves so many parts of the body — from the brain to the toes — that some symptoms may be due to damage to different organs that have not repaired themselves.” “Tests are already underway to see if the TB vaccine can slow the novel coronavirus, while other researchers writing in a scientific journal Thursday propose using the polio vaccine, which once was melted on children’s tongues,” Carolyn Johnson and Steven Mufson report. “New vaccines aim to teach the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy the coronavirus, but scientists are only now beginning to test them in people. Vaccines developed against TB and polio have already been used in millions of people and could offer a low-risk way to rev up the body’s first line of defense — the innate immune system — against a broad array of pathogens, including the coronavirus.” “The sign-up page for tickets to President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa next week includes something that hasn’t appeared ahead of previous rallies: a disclaimer noting that attendees ‘voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19’ and agree not to hold the campaign or venue liable should they get sick,” Felicia Sonmez reports. “More than a dozen states are now tallying record-high new infections; Oklahoma is not among them, although Tulsa County has reported a gradual uptick of new cases since the beginning of June … The


The Health 202: Medicaid providers had to wait weeks for coronavirus relief dollars

was on immunosuppressant medication for a previous condition when she contracted the coronavirus, he said,” Lenny and Martine write. “Perhaps for that reason, the virus devastated her lungs, leaving physicians few options. She developed secondary bacterial infections that could not be controlled by antibiotics because her lungs were so badly damaged, he said.” The tuberculosis vaccine is being tested to see if it can slow down the novel coronavirus, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Steven Mufson report. And researchers suggested in a scientific journal that the polio vaccine may help. “The old vaccines are oddities among the cutting-edge and targeted technologies being developed to combat the novel coronavirus,” they report. “New vaccines aim to teach the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy the coronavirus, but scientists are only now beginning to test them in people. Vaccines developed against TB and polio have already been used in millions of people and could offer a low-risk way to rev up the body’s first line of defense — the innate immune system — against a broad array of pathogens, including the coronavirus.” The state reported 1,698 new cases yesterday, following the previous high of 1,419 new cases June 4, Kareem Copeland reports for The Post’s live blog. “The kindergarten through 12th grade recommendation comes in three steps,” Kareem writes. “Campuses open in June for youth activities and summer camps in Step 1. Step 2 includes expanding campus capacities for summer recovery instruction in July. The final step features fully open campuses in August for a normal start of the school year.” People 65 and older no longer have to stay home unless they have health issues or live in a nursing home or long-term care facility; gatherings of 50 people are allowed beginning on Tuesday with social distancing in place; restaurants no longer have to limit the number of people who can sit together. “Georgia reported 993 cases Thursday, the most since May 1 and a 37 percent increase over the previous seven-day average. In the past three days, 167 deaths have been attributed to covid-19,” Steven Goff reports for the live blog. “The Idaho Statesman reported the state’s daily caseload has increased by 50 percent during the second and third phases of reopening, according to the 14-day moving average health officials told the paper they would use on May 1,” Ruby Mellen writes for the live blog. “But officials have since switched


Winston Churchill statue is put in a protective box, as British culture wars sideline Nigel Farage and a John Cleese sitcom

past.” He added that while he understood “legitimate feelings of outrage” over Floyd’s death, the “only responsible course of action” was to “stay away from these protests” because of the government insists that the people must still avoid crowds. The demonstrations, Johnson also asserted, had been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence.” Along with Churchill, the Cenotaph war memorial and a statue of President George Washington, a slave owner, were boarded up for protection here on Friday. Black Lives Matter organizers said they were calling off a protest scheduled for Saturday in London to avoid a clash with far-right groups planning a “defend our memorials” event. One of the loudest voices on the right has been Nigel Farage. An arch-Brexiteer, political provocateur and President Trump ally, Farage lost his popular radio show on Thursday — with “immediate effect,” his employer stated. Farage quit his LBC radio slot — or was unceremoniously shoved — following a string of incendiary comments and tweets, including his assertion that Black Lives Matter protesters were acting like the Taliban in their attacks on police and statues. He warned, “Full-on race riots are now possible.” Farage has served as gadfly and lightening rod for decades. In a remarkable arc, he keeps losing jobs as he keeps advancing his causes. “It’s no exaggeration to say Farage has completely altered the course of British political, economic and diplomatic history. You can’t take that away from him,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. Farage never won election to the British Parliament, but was a relentless campaigner for Britain to leave the European Union, which won passage in a June 2016 Brexit referendum. Farage served 20 years in the European Parliament, an institution he disparaged and mocked. He lost his seat there — and another major media platform — when Britain formally left the European Union earlier this year and all its legislators came home from Brussels. A Farage ally, who campaigned alongside him for Brexit, Andy Wigmore, said, “I don’t think Nigel was that bothered” to lose his radio show. “He says these outrageous things, these incendiary things, but he has a knack of knowing what people think. He taps into their feelings,” Wigmore said. With no political post, no political party and no radio show, what next for Farage? “I think Nigel’s thinking more about America these days,” Wigmore said. “He certainly


We shouldn’t care who wins the vaccine ‘race’

Regarding the June 4 front-page article “Cold War echoes in race for vaccine,” about the “race” among nations, notably the United States, China, and Russia and other European nations for development of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus: When communicating about vaccines and dates, leaders should be careful to note that this means candidate vaccines. We actually have a vaccine only after it is proved effective and safe over a long period, requiring time (years, not months), durability (e.g., the measles vaccine lasts a lifetime whereas some others are much shorter), a formula that covers all or most strains (especially those recurring seasonally) and feasibility (cost, global availability, etc.). However, if the race means only getting a candidate into final testing (Phase 3 trials) to prove efficacy, as opposed to safety (Phase 1) and ability to promote an impressive immune response (Phase 2), then the race is long over. China reached that point in March, published in May and now has three ready for Phase 3, and two more closely following. Thus, the race is over, but this was expected as China had several months’ head start. But who cares who is first? This is a global epidemic that requires global medical-scientific cooperation, not nationalistic competition, but currently this cooperation is seemingly not the case. Robert C. Gallo The writer is co-founder and director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co-founder and international scientific adviser of the Global Virus Network. Read more letters to the editor.


Overdose deaths in Maryland climb amid pandemic, prompting new approach

After a year of declines, overdose deaths in Maryland climbed by 2.6 percent during the first three months of 2020 compared with the same period last year, preliminary data released this week shows. The reversal troubles public health officials, who suspect the coronavirus pandemic has made people with drug addictions more vulnerable to deadly overdoses. Typically, a rise in deaths is accompanied by an increase in interventions to help save lives — emergency room visits and paramedics delivering anti-overdose drugs. Both of those declined during the first three months of the year while deaths rose, state officials said. It was not immediately clear what caused the increase, but Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he is on alert that the pandemic might be to blame. “While it is simply too early to understand the precise effect that the coronavirus pandemic has had on [the] state’s war against substance use, I can assure you that we recognize the threat,” Hogan said in a statement. Overdose deaths in Maryland declined in 2019 for the first time in a decade, dropping by double digits but still continuing at a historic pace that kills more than 2,000 people each year. State officials said the isolation, unemployment and economic stress wrought by the pandemic are three key risk factors for substance abuse. And because the pandemic has disproportionately killed and sickened people of color, state officials overseeing the opioid response say they are “deeply concerned” that an acceleration of the drug epidemic could occur in minority communities too. The largest increase in overdose deaths was in Prince George’s County, a majority African American jurisdiction with the biggest tally of coronavirus cases in the state. Overdose deaths there more than doubled compared with the same period in 2019. Steve Schuh, executive director of the state’s Opioid Operational Command Center, said Maryland now faces “a substance use crisis that has taken a new form.” Schuh released a 10-page “action plan” in response. Among other changes, the state will begin publishing demographic data about overdose deaths. It also plans to fund a public service announcement about mental health risks and substance abuse problems during the pandemic. “We hope to begin simultaneously stanching the immediate fallout from the pandemic and laying the groundwork for the months and years ahead,” he said. Preliminary data released Wednesday shows 561 people died of opioid-related overdoses in January, February and March of 2020, 14


Can exercising too hard and too long cause heart problems?

another study, this time looking at 208,654 Swedish skiers who had finished one or more cross-country skiing races of 30 kilometers or more between 1989 and 2011. Again, they found that atrial fibrillation risk was higher in skiers with the most completed races and fastest finishing times, but this finding held for only men. Women in the study had a lower incidence of atrial fibrillation, compared with non-skiers, regardless of how many races they had completed or their finishing times. Previous studies have also found that female athletes do not have the increased risk of atrial fibrillation observed in male athletes, but there is no sure answer yet as to why. But perhaps the study’s most important finding was that the ski racers in the study who did develop AFib had a 27 percent lower risk of stroke and a 43 percent lower risk of dying compared with individuals from the general population who had the same diagnosis. The study implies that even when they do get AFib, athletes do better than nonathletes. How much exercise does it take to increase someone’s risk of atrial fibrillation? “There’s no answer to that,” Mandrola says. “What’s going overboard for one person is not going overboard for another.” What matters is probably not just the amount of exercise, but a combination of other things, such as genetics and environmental factors, he says. La Gerche’s group is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to look at data from sports watches and other trackers to see whether they can spot different training patterns in athletes who develop AFib. “There are probably little secrets in the data that people keep,” La Gerche says. His group has begun a longitudinal study of endurance athletes to keep tabs on how their heart health changes over time and in relation to training. To date, the only reliable risk factor researchers have identified for atrial fibrillation in athletes is being male. “Virtually all heart arrhythmias are more common in males,” La Gerche says, and this is also true for the ones associated with chronic high level exercise. It’s not clear yet whether this difference is because historically fewer women have done extreme endurance exercise or whether there’s some biological reason that women might be protected. La Gerche’s group is looking at training data from electronic tracking devices such as smartwatches to try to figure it out. Levine’s group has studied


The massive scope of change following George Floyd’s death

Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gets it. In a remarkable address for the National Defense University graduation ceremonies, he apologized Thursday for his participation in the assault on peaceful protesters near the White House on June 1 designed to provide the floundering president with a photo op. “As many of you saw the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week, that sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society,” Milley said bluntly. “I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” He continued: “We who wear the cloth of our nation come from the people of our nation. And we must hold dear the principle of an apolitical military that is so deeply rooted in the very essence of our republic.” His mea culpa went beyond his recent behavior. “The foundational value that underpins American rights embedded in the Constitution is that all people, no matter who you are, are born free and equal. And I want to address this value in the context of our military,” he said. "Our military has a mixed record on equality.” He added: “We cannot afford to marginalize large portions of our potential talent pool or alienate certain demographic groups. No, we need all the talent that American society can muster. Our responsibility as military leaders is to ensure that each and every one of our service members is treated fairly with dignity and respect. And each of them is given equal opportunity to excel. We must, we can, and we will do better.” It is hard to recall a military official at this level publicly prostrating himself so thoroughly. It would not have happened in ordinary times, but these times are anything but ordinary. Milley correctly realized that the culture and legitimacy of the U.S. military are at stake. The times call for people to act in new and extraordinary ways and for those who never considered themselves “political” to understand that the issue of race goes to the heart of who we are as a country and how we want to live. When someone like LeBron James joins forces with a list of marquee athletes and entertainers to form a group to promote voting and combat voter suppression, you understand that


‘Covid’ is a word most of us dread. But some think it could make a good branding opportunity.

renamed itself Ionis in the wake of a human plague of terrorism. But are Covid and Corona really at risk? Richard Hanna, a marketing lecturer at Babson College, says the name association might be off-putting to customers unfamiliar with the brand but unlikely to sway current fans. Covid’s Carson affirms the same. “No one has been confused or has associated our company with this horrible pandemic,” he says. “We have not considered making any changes to our name, or that this will have any negative effect on our brand.” Which companies become the big winners and losers, marketing experts say, will be based on how they act, not what they’re called. “How brands handle the crisis will affect their reputation for better and for worse,” says Carol Phillips, president of the Michigan-based marketing firm Brand Amplitude. “How companies are treating their employees will also factor in to who wins and who loses,” she adds, noting the controversy surrounding Amazon’s anti-viral precautions for workers. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) “Purpose-driven branding” — promoting a social-responsibility mission above immediate profit — is a hot trend that will be driven home by the pandemic, Bowman says. Still, the terms for the disease itself have their power and allure. “Marketeers, entrepreneurs, propagandists, you name it, want their brands and brand stories to go viral (no pun). This pandemic is an opportunity for some and a tragedy for others,” Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York, emailed me. Heller is the author of “The Swastika,” a book detailing how that symbol, long used in marketing as an ancient sign of good fortune, was ruined by the Nazis, only to return on thriller-novel covers and punk albums. He said the covid-19 name is similarly “bound to be appropriated.” “We’re in the midst of this cataclysmic event, so we’re supersensitive to the word and what it means now,” Heller says. “Give it 10 or 20 years and it might be the name of a beer or sports team.” In the trademark files, they’re not waiting. “Coronavirus: Made In China,” “Class of COVID-19” and “We Beat COVID-19” are awaiting T-shirts, yoga pants and children’s clothing. “Coronavirus” was filed as the name for a heavy metal band by Cleveland college student Harley Ganiere. “As soon as I heard the term spreading like wildfire


Research underscores how our punitive criminal justice system is a coronavirus risk factor

the situation has improved. “As a result of our interventions, cases at the jail have dropped precipitously over the past month,” Peters said in a written statement. “As of yesterday, there were 26 detainees positive for COVID-19 at the jail, and 33 jail staff members currently positive. “More important,” she added, “virtually all of the new cases in recent weeks have come from newly arrested individuals who tested positive at intake, not from those who were already in custody.” The authors of the study stress that their main finding is simply a correlation between infection rates and inmate releases at the Zip code level. They did not contact-trace individual infections. Moreover, the relationship between inmate releases and coronavirus spread may be explained by other factors for which they were unable to control. “Although currently available data are inadequate to establish a clear causal relation,” the authors write, “these provisional findings are consistent with the hypothesis that arrest and jailing practices are augmenting infection rates in highly policed neighborhoods.” Most strikingly, inmate releases were a much better predictor of Zip code-level infections than other factors studied, such as race, poverty and population density. The findings may also explain some of the disparities in coronavirus cases and mortality by race. “In light of the well-documented, disproportionate intensity of policing and incarceration in black neighborhoods in the United States,” they write, “the carceral-community spread of disease may bear partial responsibility for the striking racial disparities noted in COVID-19 cases.” These findings sit precisely at the nexus of the two major crises roiling the country: the coronavirus outbreak and the abuse and mistreatment of black Americans by law enforcement. Many commentators have criticized protesters and public health experts for supporting mass protests against police brutality during a pandemic. But these findings suggest the two issues are interlinked: black Americans’ higher rates of exposure to the cramped jails and prisons of the criminal justice system may be making them more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus. In the end, that disproportionality affects all of us. “It is possible,” the authors conclude, “that, as arrested individuals are exposed to high-risk spaces for infection in jails and then later released to their communities, the criminal justice system is turning them into potential disease vectors for their families, neighbors, and, ultimately, the general public.” This story has been updated with comment from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.


Two local teens grocery shopped for their grandparents. Soon it became a national volunteer effort.

the client will email over a grocery list. When the volunteer is about to go to the store, they call the client to confirm the delivery time. The clients can leave their payment outside or pay using Venmo. Teens Helping Seniors also delivers prescriptions and other necessities, Dhruv said. Volunteers who do deliveries wear gloves and masks, which Matt said they’ve received free from local mask-making organizations. “Seniors and volunteers have to be extremely careful about this,” Matt said, adding that volunteers are instructed to use disinfectant wipes to clean the bags of groceries before dropping them off. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states on its website that older adults and people with underlying medical conditions “might be at higher risk for severe illness from covid-19.″ Matt said it makes sense for teens to volunteer to deliver groceries if older adults are more vulnerable. Plus, they certainly have time on their hands. The co-founders have been featured in CNN and People Magazine. To spread the word, the group has been posting to Facebook and Nextdoor, a social network for neighborhoods. Regula Guess, a retired speech pathologist who lives in Potomac, heard about Teens Helping Seniors on Nextdoor, when the region started to shut down in mid-March. Guess, 65, said her husband is at risk due to his age, and she was “scared to death” about going to the store. Teens Helping Seniors connected Guess with Jacob Kaplan-Davis, a junior at Wootton High School, who volunteered after learning about the group on Instagram. Guess said Jacob would call her from the store if he had questions, such as, “What flavor of Greek yogurt would you like?” Or, “Do you prefer the cinnamon-flavored cereal over the light brown sugar variety?” “I was just so impressed by these young people doing this,” she said. “He always called and was very polite. It’s just amazing how this brings out the good in people.” Guess said she goes to the grocery store early in the morning, when there are fewer people around, but she added she’ll absolutely email Jacob again if the number of coronavirus cases increases in the county. Jacob, 16, said he spends six to eight hours a week buying groceries, coordinating deliveries around Rockville and organizing the group’s national efforts. On average he makes two regular deliveries a week, and in a busy week three or four. “The first time


Tomisaku Kawasaki, doctor who identified inflammatory disease in children, dies at 95

Tomisaku Kawasaki, a Japanese pediatrician who first identified an inflammatory children’s disease that now bears his name and is sometimes linked to long-term heart problems, died June 5 at a Tokyo hospital. He was 95. The Japan Kawasaki Disease Research Center announced his death but did not cite a cause. The disease was all but unknown before Dr. Kawasaki identified 50 cases, which he observed at his pediatric practice in Tokyo in the 1960s. The disease has reentered public consciousness during the coronavirus pandemic, because some young covid-19 patients have displayed symptoms similar to those seen in Kawasaki disease. Two studies published in recent days by the Journal of the American Medical Association have discounted any connection and suggest that the conditions related to covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, are a distinct syndrome. Nonetheless, Kawasaki disease remains a serious disorder and is marked by sometimes frightening symptoms, including high fevers, body rashes, bloodshot eyes and bright red lips. The tongue will turn the color of a strawberry, and the skin will often peel, starting from the fingertips and toes. The symptoms often come without warning, primarily attacking children under the age of 5. Dr. Kawasaki first observed the disease in a young patient in 1961. Because it did not respond to penicillin or other standard treatments, he ruled out other illnesses, such as scarlet fever and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. “I could make no diagnosis of this unusual sickness for which I could find no reference in any medical literature,” he told the Japan Times in 2007. “Then I saw the second case, and over the next six years saw 50 more similar cases.” He wrote a report, including his own drawings of various patients’ rashes and other symptoms, and published his research paper in a Japanese medical journal in 1967. He published an English-language version in 1974. At first, Dr. Kawasaki called the illness “acute febrile mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome,” but his name was soon attached to the condition now universally known as Kawasaki disease. In its most serious manifestations, it can cause death because of coronary artery aneurysms, and it is a leading cause of acquired heart disease in children. Kawasaki disease is most prevalent in children of Asian descent, perhaps because of certain genetic markers. The greatest risk is among young children, but it can occur as late as the teen years. “Since the first


CDC issues new covid-19 guidelines at a time of protests and rallies

Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I am really concerned about some of the things that I hear about this virus being behind us or ‘we aren’t planning on issuing any more directives or communicating about this,’ ” he said. “I think it’s going to be really important from the top of government . . . to be communicating about risks.” On large gatherings, the new guidance says event planners should consider several strategies, including broadcasting regular announcements about steps attendees could take to reduce the virus’s spread; limiting attendance or seating capacity to allow for social distancing; and reconfiguring parking lots to limit congregation points. It also suggests limiting attendance to people who live in the area and working with local officials to identify how to separate people with covid-19-like symptoms or those who have tested positive for the virus but do not have symptoms. Separately, officials laid out recommendations to help individuals reduce their own risk for infection as they resume daily activities, including using drive-through services and taking the stairs rather than a crowded elevator. Officials also released a report showing Americans strongly supported stay-at-home orders in early to mid-May, with most adults reporting they would not feel safe if those orders were lifted. Most also said they often or always wore face coverings. Several new studies published this month support wearing masks to curb the transmission of the virus. The broadest, a review funded by the World Health Organization and published in the journal Lancet, concluded that data from 172 studies indicate wearing face masks reduces the risk of coronavirus infection. “Our findings suggest, in multiple ways, that the use of masks is highly protective in health-care and community settings,” said the author of the review, Holger Schünemann, an epidemiologist and physician at McMaster University in Ontario. He cautioned that the studies collected in the Lancet article were observational, not randomized trials, limiting the conclusiveness of the results. Werner Ernst Bischoff, a professor of infectious diseases at Wake Forest University known for his studies on respiratory transmission of viruses, said masks are critical because the simple act of breathing releases potentially infected particles. Loud talking, yelling and singing release even more, he said. “You want to create a seal,” said Bischoff, who said he sees masks as the “critical element” in preventing transmission — even more than hand-washing or disinfecting surfaces.