Instead of Fighting COVID-19, Trump Fights Bad News
When the public is facing a public health crisis, whether from a hurricane or a pandemic, the prevailing wisdom is that a successful outcome relies on the people getting information that is clear, transparent, and consistent—from the media, public health experts, and government officials. And policy decisions should be guided not by politics, but by the people who know the most about the crisis: meteorologists, during a hurricane, or epidemiologists, in a pandemic.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public information about the virus in the U.S. has been muddied by attempts by the White House to control the messaging. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed back on the recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal agency responsible for protecting public health and safety. The CDC has said wearing masks while in public spaces is essential in controlling the spread of the virus; Trump has emphasized that wearing masks is voluntary. The CDC has laid out guidelines for how to reopen schools safely; Trump tweeted that he disagreed because the agency’s recommendations were "very tough" and "expensive.” Trump has also seeded doubts about the disease’s impact, falsely blaming increased testing for the rise in daily cases in the U.S. in recent weeks.
In its latest move to undermine the CDC, the White House yesterday directed hospitals to start sending data to the organization’s parent department, Health and Human Services. The CDC gives medical researchers access to the raw data, and releases assessments of the data on its website; some fear that the move could give the Trump administration more control over how the data is understood, TIME’s Brian Bennett writes in a recent article.
“Taking the database away from CDC means that less public health data will be available to the public and it gives political appointees in the Trump administration more control over when data about COVID-19 is released and what it includes,” says Bennett.
The move already appears to have limited the information that is readily available to the public. The CDC dashboard showing hospital capacity across the country went dark this morning; the page now says that it will not show new data after July 14.
Experts say the move could politicize crucial data, undermine public trust and complicate the CDC’s efforts to counter the virus; in some ways, it is the equivalent of redirecting meteorological data from the National Hurricane Center in the middle of a storm.
More than 13.5 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1:30 AM eastern time last night, and more than 584,000 people had died.
Here is every country with over 250,000 confirmed cases:
China is where the COVID-19 pandemic started, but it may also be the nation that has recovered the fastest economically. Its economy grew 3.2% during the last quarter, making it the first major national economy to show quarterly growth since the pandemic began, according to the AP . China also took another step toward reopening today, announcing that movie theaters will be allowed to welcome guests starting July 20, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Russian hackers are allegedly stealing vaccine research from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Intelligence agencies from the three countries told the AP that they believe the hacker group APT29, aka “Cozy Bear,” is attacking institutions developing vaccines.
Other countries are taking more above-the-board strategies in the race to get a vaccine. 75 countries signed onto an initiative aiming to ensure any eventual vaccine is equitably distributed around the world, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, announced yesterday. However, reporting by the AP suggests the program has flaws: Poorer countries that sign up to the initiative would get enough vaccine doses for 20% of their populations—but the wealthier donor countries are only “encouraged (but not required) to donate vaccines if they have more than they need.”
Critics say this could leave poor countries in the lurch. “[Rich countries] may end up buying up all the supply in advance, which then limits what Gavi can distribute to the rest of the world,” Anna Marriott of Oxfam International told the AP.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded nearly 3.5 million coronavirus cases as of 1:30 AM eastern time last night. More than 137,400 people have died.
On July 15, there were 66,273 new cases and 941 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Registered voters aren’t happy with President Trump’s pandemic response, according to a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday. 62% of voters said they disapprove of his response to the coronavirus, his lowest mark since the question was first asked in March. For the first time, a majority of voters—53%—said that they’ve either had COVID-19 or know someone who has.
The scientist heading the Trump Administration’s coronavirus vaccine program can stay a government contractor—meaning he won’t need to make the ethical disclosures required of federal employees (and can keep his pharmaceutical company investments), the Washington Post reported. Two watchdog groups and Democratic lawmakers have called for the scientist, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, to be held to the ethics requirements.
Jostling has continued over whether local officials should require residents to wear face masks in public, which is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp banned cities, towns and counties from implementing their own face mask rules yesterday, invalidating the ordinances of at least 15 local governments, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, CVS Health announced today that face coverings will be required at all its stores starting Monday; Target will also require face masks starting Aug. 1.
College sports conferences are also grappling with how to contain the virus. The American Athletic Conference announced earlier today that all football players must be tested 72 hours before games, and the Big East announced that its collegiate teams will only play against other conference members this fall. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, which regulates the majority of college sports, is expected to announce recommendations for testing of student athletes and team staff soon, according to the AP.
The pandemic has also reshaped another institution: prisons. The number of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons has shrunk by 8% since the start of the pandemic, the Associated Press and the Marshall Project reported today. According to the report, that can mostly be chalked up to a few factors: court closures; fewer people sent to prison by parole officers for low-level violations; and the reluctance of prisons to add more incarcerated individuals—and, potentially, new vectors for the virus—from county jails.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of July 16, 1 AM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Chinese Pharma Executives Were Given Test Vaccines
SinoPharm, a state-owned Chinese drug company found a convenient group of test-subjects for its new coronavirus vaccine: a group of its own employees. The Chinese government hasn’t yet approved SinoPharm’s vaccine for human trials yet, but the company has claimed that 30 executives and other employees—called “special volunteers,” according to the AP, were injected with the “pre-test” in March. Read more here.
A New Method to Test for COVID-19 Faster
Scientists in a number of countries are trying a new strategy for making COVID-19 tests more efficient: “pooled testing.” Technicians combine a portion of multiple tests into one sample; if that tests positive, each individual sample is then tested separately. The method could help to save resources and speed up testing to find new outbreaks. Read more here.
Will Universities Turn Into Viral Tinderboxes?
Once school is in session for the 60% of U.S. universities planning to have all their students return to campus this fall, the schools could inadvertently become part of the “largest-scale uncontrolled public health experiment America has ever undertaken,” professors Katie Mack and Gavin Yamey write for TIME. Read more here.
Sunbelt Hospitals Are Struggling As Cases Rise
Hospitals in areas with surging COVID-19 cases are once again being forced to stretch their most precious resources: equipment, facilities like intensive care units, and healthcare workers. Doctors and public health experts in states like Arizona, Texas, and California told Vox that they’re increasingly worried that hospitals in those places will be overwhelmed if outbreaks remain uncontrolled. Read more here.
Personal Data Could Help You in a Post-COVID World
As we travel, work out, and text friends, our devices are there along with us, silently gathering data about our habits and preferences. Tech companies often use this information for their own purposes, but, as a society, we’re barely scratching the surface of how these data could be deployed to actually help us, Sir Tim Berners-Lee writes for TIME. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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