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Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today
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This is the Coronavirus Briefing, an informed guide to the global outbreak. Sign up here to get the briefing by email.This is the Coronavirus Briefing, an informed guide to the global outbreak. Sign up here to get the briefing by email.
The virus death toll in the United States topped 150,000.
Vietnam is struggling to contain a mysterious outbreak of the coronavirus.
Representative Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican known for his anti-mask stance, tested positive for the virus.
Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and trackers for U.S. metro areas and vaccines in development.
The school year is on the verge of starting in much of the United States, and the country is still deep in a debate over whether, how and when to bring students back. The White House is pushing for a full return to classrooms, school officials are struggling with safety precautions, and concerned parents are becoming increasingly desperate as their children have fallen behind.The school year is on the verge of starting in much of the United States, and the country is still deep in a debate over whether, how and when to bring students back. The White House is pushing for a full return to classrooms, school officials are struggling with safety precautions, and concerned parents are becoming increasingly desperate as their children have fallen behind.
Adding to that volatile mix, teachers’ unions are emerging as a powerful force in determining the shape of public education during the pandemic. Teachers across the country are fighting for stronger safety measures, limits to their online teaching responsibilities, and delayed returns to in-person teaching.Adding to that volatile mix, teachers’ unions are emerging as a powerful force in determining the shape of public education during the pandemic. Teachers across the country are fighting for stronger safety measures, limits to their online teaching responsibilities, and delayed returns to in-person teaching.
This week, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union authorized its members to strike if adequate safety precautions like masks and new ventilation systems are not put in place. Teachers’ unions in Florida have already sued the governor over his push to require in-person instruction.This week, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union authorized its members to strike if adequate safety precautions like masks and new ventilation systems are not put in place. Teachers’ unions in Florida have already sued the governor over his push to require in-person instruction.
Critics say that teachers’ unions are inflexible and want to have it both ways: reluctant to return to classrooms, but also resistant to teaching online. Union leaders point out that many teachers went above and beyond their normal duties when schools were closed in the spring.Critics say that teachers’ unions are inflexible and want to have it both ways: reluctant to return to classrooms, but also resistant to teaching online. Union leaders point out that many teachers went above and beyond their normal duties when schools were closed in the spring.
Even as unions exert their influence, they face tremendous public and political pressure: Getting parents back to work requires functioning school systems, and remote learning failed many children this spring, deepening achievement gaps by race and income.Even as unions exert their influence, they face tremendous public and political pressure: Getting parents back to work requires functioning school systems, and remote learning failed many children this spring, deepening achievement gaps by race and income.
Outbreaks on campus. The new academic year hasn’t even begun, and already at least 6,300 cases have been tied to about 270 colleges over the course of the pandemic, based on a New York Times survey of every public four-year college in the country as well as many private institutions.Outbreaks on campus. The new academic year hasn’t even begun, and already at least 6,300 cases have been tied to about 270 colleges over the course of the pandemic, based on a New York Times survey of every public four-year college in the country as well as many private institutions.
Can school closures save lives? In a new study, researchers estimated that school closures last spring likely saved tens of thousands of lives. But experts caution that the findings are from a period when few coronavirus precautions were in place.Can school closures save lives? In a new study, researchers estimated that school closures last spring likely saved tens of thousands of lives. But experts caution that the findings are from a period when few coronavirus precautions were in place.
Our colleague Donald McNeil Jr., a science reporter who covers infectious diseases, recently spoke to 20 public health experts — clinicians, epidemiologists, historians and sociologists — to assess where the U.S. crisis is heading.Our colleague Donald McNeil Jr., a science reporter who covers infectious diseases, recently spoke to 20 public health experts — clinicians, epidemiologists, historians and sociologists — to assess where the U.S. crisis is heading.
“Over all, the scientists conveyed a pervasive sense of sadness and exhaustion,” Donald writes. Here are four takeaways from his interviews.“Over all, the scientists conveyed a pervasive sense of sadness and exhaustion,” Donald writes. Here are four takeaways from his interviews.
The pandemic has splintered, with multiple epicenters driven by different factors. Each state, each city has its own crisis: vacation crowds in one, bars reopened too soon in another, a revolt against masks in a third.
Some experts argue that only a nationwide lockdown can contain the virus now. Others say that’s politically impossible. Danielle Allen, whose ethics center at Harvard University has issued pandemic response plans, said that recording more than 25 cases per 100,000 people means a community should issue stay-at-home orders.
Some experts think the states in the South and Southwest that are currently fighting big outbreaks might become safer in the winter. Their summers are so hot that people are more likely to spend time indoors with air-conditioning, which has been shown to spread viral particles, but their winters are more temperate.
It’s unclear whether flu season will make the crisis worse, possibly sending more respiratory patients to the hospital. But there’s a chance that it could be mild or even nonexistent, some experts said, after an abrupt decline in international air travel appears to have halted transmission in the spring.
Updated September 1, 2020
Florida on Wednesday reported 216 deaths, another single-day record for the state, bringing its total to 6,332.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, not only has the virus killed more than 180,000 people, but it has also undermined the region’s already strained democratic norms.
A union representing FedEx pilots called on the delivery company to suspend operations in Hong Kong after its members were subjected to “extremely difficult conditions” in quarantine facilities.
The federal government in Australia said that it would send a specialist medical team usually deployed to disaster zones to help manage an outbreak in the state of Victoria.
Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.
President Trump falsely claimed that large portions of the U.S. were “corona-free.”
A number of large retailers say they require all customers to wear masks, but some employees have been told they cannot enforce that mandate.
Patterns of hospitalization and death in the U.S. indicate that some young people are taking the virus into their homes, infecting older family members, The Washington Post reports.
With coins in short supply because of the pandemic, some people have renewed calls to eliminate the penny.
What is it like to visit Disney World these days? A writer from The Atlantic described the theme park’s “unsettling solitude.”
I’ve started an Apocalypse Book Club with my friends. We all pick a book with an apocalypse as a main plot point (some highlights include pandemics, asteroids, dictatorships and global warming) and meet every Friday. It’s great to focus on a fictional world falling apart instead of the stress of our current world, and a really good way to stay in touch.
— Ezra Silkes, San Diego
Let us know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.Let us know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.
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