A version of this story appeared in the June 18 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.
As coronavirus cases continue to surge across America’s South and West — 10 states saw a record number of new infections this week — officials are beginning to reverse course on mask advice in the hopes of halting spiraling outbreaks.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) will now allow mayors to require local residents to wear face coverings and called on everyone to wear one, though he stopped short of issuing a state-wide order.
In Texas, where hospitalizations have spiked since Memorial Day, the mayors of nine major cities have urged Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to grant them permission to set their own rules. But while the governor agreed that “wearing a mask is very important,” he expressed reservations about enforcement.
Several Southern cities — Memphis, Tennessee; Montgomery, Alabama; and Fayetteville, Arkansas — have also made masks mandatory in recent days.
The U-turns have come after a study estimated that between 230,000 and 450,000 cases may have been averted in states that mandated face coverings between April and May.
But not all hard-hit states are following suit. And while many Americans may be exhausted from the pandemic, Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute says it’s no time to let your guard down.
“We may be done with the pandemic,” he said, “but the pandemic is not done with us.”
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED
Q: Why are some US states seeing a spike in cases?
A: Florida has “all the markings of the next large epicenter of coronavirus transmission,” and risks being the “worst it has ever been,” according to Wednesday’s projections from a model put together by a team of scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.
What’s behind the rise? As restrictions loosen, more people are gathering in larger groups, which has — in some cases — resulted in positive coronavirus tests. Earlier this week, a group of 16 friends in Florida said they became infected with Covid-19 after a night out at a recently reopened bar. Their advice: Stay home. “We want to raise awareness,” Kat Layton told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “It’s really not ready for what we thought it was ready for, it’s too soon.”
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WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
The US is stuck with 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine
The US government started stockpiling hydroxychloroquine in late March, after President Donald Trump touted it as a game-changing drug. But on Monday, the FDA revoked its emergency use authorization of the drug to treat Covid-19, saying there was “no reason to believe” it was effective against the virus, and that it increased the risk of side effects, including heart problems.
That leaves the Strategic National Stockpile with 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, plus another 2 million doses of chloroquine, a related drug donated by Bayer, according to Carol Danko, a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Genes, blood type linked with risk of severe coronavirus infection
A team of European scientists say they have found two genetic variations that may show who is more likely to get very sick and die from coronavirus, and they say they have also found a link to blood type.
Their findings, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, point to a possible explanation for why some people get so seriously ill with the virus, while most barely show any symptoms at all. Chief among them, according to the study: People with Type A blood have a higher risk of catching the virus and of developing severe symptoms, while people with Type O blood have a lower risk.
Much-praised Germany now grappling with new outbreaks
Germany, which has been praised for its success in controlling the coronavirus, has renewed lockdown measures in some areas following the emergence of new clusters of cases.
An abattoir in the north of the country has halted slaughtering, and nearby schools were closed, after 650 meat processing workers tested positive. And more than 300 households in the busy Berlin district of Neukölln have been placed into quarantine, after 57 new infections were registered.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last night that social distancing rules and a ban on large events will remain in place until at least the end of October to curb a potential second wave of infections.
Refuse to wear a face mask and these airlines may ban you
Major US airlines have announced they intend to more strictly enforce wearing masks aboard their planes, including potentially banning passengers who refuse to wear them. The announcement comes in lieu of a federal regulation requiring all passengers to wear masks — like they’re required to wear seatbelts and not smoke.
And we’re already seeing the rule being enforced. A passenger was asked to get off an American Airlines flight from New York to Dallas after he refused to wear a face covering.
Virus hits Latin American leaders
The outbreak in Latin America shows no signs of abating, as it ravages all sectors of society, reaching into the halls of power.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was hospitalized Wednesday for Covid-19 and is being treated for pneumonia, after having “slight leaks in the lungs.” Meanwhile, Argentine President Alberto Fernández has gone into voluntary isolation, following several positive cases among the country’s political elite.
And Brazil’s indigenous people lost one of their most outspoken leaders to Covid-19 yesterday. Paulinho Paiakan, a Kayapó chief, who spearheaded protests against a hydro-electric dam on the Xingu river in the Amazon rainforest, died in southern Pará state, where the virus is devastating indigenous communities and killing tribal elders.
ON OUR RADAR
- President Donald Trump’s reelection rally, scheduled for Saturday, is a “recipe for disaster,” the Tulsa county commissioner said. The rally is being held amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the city.
- A new threat to global trade: 200,000 seafarers stranded for months by port closures and the collapse in long-haul aviation could refuse to keep working on cargo ships.
- More travel restrictions have been imposed in Beijing as officials try to contain a new cluster of cases linked to the Xinfadi wholesale market. Two new cases from Hebei province were traders at the market.
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the two new coronavirus cases from two people who traveled to the country from the UK was an “unacceptable failure of the system,” and measures have been taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again. A third imported case was reported today.
- Australia’s flag carrier Qantas has canceled most of its international flights until late October – but that could change if countries begin to open back up and demand returns.
- Women’s voices are being heard less in the scientific response to the pandemic. And that’s a problem.
TOP TIPS
What’s just as important as wearing a mask? Washing it. Brian Sansoni, a senior vice president for communications at the American Cleaning Institute, says that “reusable cloth face masks and coverings should routinely be washed depending on how often they’re worn” The best way to wash a fabric mask is also the easiest: Masks can be laundered in the washing machine in warm or, preferably, hot water (the hotter temperature helps sanitize) and experts suggest using a heavy-duty stain-removing detergent. (Note: fabric face coverings are the only types that can be laundered — not N95 respirators or surgical masks).
TODAY’S PODCAST
“We can’t really determine who might be a super-spreader … but we do know the environments where they [super-spreader events] can happen.” — Elizabeth McGraw, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics Director
Some people are responsible for spreading the virus more than others. These people have been called “super-spreaders,” but are they really different from the rest of us? CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains. Listen Now.