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As the number of Americans who have died of the coronavirus approached 150,000 on Tuesday, President Trump questioned why he isn’t as popular as Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert. “He’s got this high approval rating,” Trump told reporters at a White House coronavirus task force briefing, claiming that he had implemented many of Fauci’s recommendations. “So why don’t I have a high approval rating?”
Fauci, meanwhile, warned that even while outbreak in the Sun Belt might be finally leveling off, the numbers of positive tests were rising in the Midwest. “We just can’t afford, yet again, another surge,” he said Tuesday, as the United States reported more than 1,000 coronavirus fatalities for the second day in a row. Florida, Arkansas, Oregon and Montana, in particular, witnessed their highest single-day death tolls to date. More than 59,500 new cases were tallied nationwide, bringing the total count of infections reported since February to at least 4,331,000.
Here are some significant developments:
- A video filled with false information about the coronavirus — featuring a doctor who blames illnesses on demon sperm — has been making the rounds on social media with help from Trump and his son. Twitter on Tuesday deleted many of the tweets and penalized Donald Trump Jr. for spreading misinformation.
- Teachers may go on strike “as a last resort” if forced to return to unsafe classrooms in the fall, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said on Tuesday.
- Trump dismissed a new $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill as “sort of semi-irrelevant” on Tuesday as advocates criticized the legislation for failing to expand access to food stamps.
- Just days after the start of the Major League Baseball season, more than a dozen Miami Marlins players have tested positive for covid-19, throwing the league’s schedule into disarray and casting doubt on other plans to return to normal life.
- Fears of a second wave of infections are rising in several European countries, including Germany, Spain and Belgium.
July 29, 2020 at 1:02 AM EDT
NFL looking into how to handle potential team shutdowns, game postponements
The NFL’s competition committee and football operations department are studying potential criteria for what scenarios could lead to the shutdown of a team, the postponement of games or a suspension of play during the regular season, according to multiple people familiar with the deliberations.
It’s not clear yet whether those conversations will lead to concrete parameters detailing what would require a team being shut down, how many games not being played would lead to a postponement of an entire week during the season, or how many teams being unable to play for an extended period would lead to a suspension of play for the entire NFL.
Commissioner Roger Goodell could be given latitude to make judgments about how to proceed if a crisis arises as the NFL attempts to operate during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
By Mark Maske
July 29, 2020 at 12:31 AM EDT
With drastically smaller hajj, Somalia’s livestock industry goes from ‘boom to doom’
MOGADISHU, Somalia — If this were a normal year, nearly 2 million people would have descended on Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday evening for the hajj, the annual pilgrimage meant to be carried out at least once in the life of any Muslim who is physically and financially able.
The coronavirus pandemic forced Saudi authorities to limit the hajj to just 1,000 people already in the kingdom, crushing the dreams of millions of pilgrims — and those of the livestock breeders, traders and exporters who supply millions of cows, camels, sheep and goats to feed the foreigners who arrive in the desert city each year.
That sudden drop in demand has been devastating for Somalia, where livestock makes up three-quarters of total exports, around 70 percent of which are sent to Saudi Arabia in the months leading up to the hajj.
By Omar Faruk and Max Bearak
July 29, 2020 at 12:29 AM EDT
At the heart of dismal U.S. coronavirus response, a fraught relationship with masks
The mask is the simplest and among the most effective weapons against the coronavirus in the public health arsenal. Yet from the start, America’s relationship with face coverings has been deeply fraught.
Faulty guidance from health authorities, a cultural aversion to masks and a deeply polarized politics have all contributed. So has a president who resisted role modeling the benefits of face coverings, and who belittled those who did.
The result, experts say, is a country that squandered one of its best opportunities to beat back the coronavirus pandemic this spring and summer. In the process, the United States fell far behind other nations that skipped the fuss over masks, costing lives and jeopardizing the recovery heading into the fall.
By Griff Witte, Ariana Eunjung Cha and Josh Dawsey
July 29, 2020 at 12:28 AM EDT
Coronavirus cases on the rise in the Midwest as they ebb in the Sun Belt
As new coronavirus infections appeared to plateau in the Sun Belt but creep up in the Midwest, governors and local authorities imposed additional restrictions Tuesday, and a powerful teachers union warned their members would strike if ordered to return to unsafe schools this fall.
Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert, warned that positive coronavirus tests were rising in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky as the number of new cases is showing signs of leveling off in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California.
“We just can’t afford, yet again, another surge,” Fauci said on “Good Morning America.” A few hours later, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Fauci’s appraisal was correct as he announced limits on county fairs, barring grandstand events, rides and games. He noted that emergency visits are decreasing and new cases have plateaued, but hospitalizations are on the upswing.
By Carol Morello
