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Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today - The New York Times

This is the Coronavirus Briefing, an informed guide to the global outbreak. Sign up here to get the briefing by email.

As the pace of the pandemic speeds up, the U.S. continues to play an outsize role, now contributing 20 percent of all new coronavirus cases worldwide — even with just 4 percent of the global population. The surges in states that reopened early show no signs of stopping, despite President Trump’s continued assertions that the virus would “fade away.”

“I think this is more like a forest fire,” one infectious disease expert said. “I think that wherever there’s wood to burn, this fire is going to burn it.”

By that measure, states like Texas, Florida and South Carolina are dealing with infernos, setting caseload records in recent days. Though the U.S. death count has been trending downward, cases are on the rise in nearly half of all states, particularly in the South, West and Midwest.

Those cases are emerging in places that previously received little attention — fraternity houses, a strip club, churches — and experts say that is likely to continue as people socialize more.

At his campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday, Mr. Trump said he wanted to “slow the testing down” because higher case counts stem from more tests. But experts have countered that claim, pointing to increasing rates of positive tests and hospitalizations as evidence that the virus is spreading.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, who has coordinated the U.S. medical supply chain, said the White House had started preparing for a possible second wave of the virus in the fall. But the pattern in the U.S. so far indicates that the first wave has not yet passed: After the number of new cases peaked in April and began to decline slowly, it plateaued in May and has begun to climb steadily again this month.

A global view: Other nations’ gradual reopenings have also been accompanied by upticks in new cases, sometimes prompting a return to tighter restrictions. But Brazil, which has done little to tamp down the virus, continues to stand apart: Over the weekend, it became the second country after the U.S. to record more than 50,000 deaths.

India is now reporting more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in the world except the United States and Brazil — and its fragile health care system is starting to fracture.

Hospitals in New Delhi are overloaded, and some health care workers are afraid to treat those with the virus. Scores of people have died in the streets, in hospital lobbies or in the back of ambulances.

One pregnant woman’s journey through eight hospitals in 15 hours serves as a devastating window into the reality of health care during the pandemic. At one hospital, after going into labor, she was told by a doctor that she would be slapped if she took off her mask. At another, her husband called the police, but even they couldn’t convince the doctors to give her care.

For her husband, Bijendra Singh, it wasn’t simply that the doctors couldn’t help her — it was as if they didn’t want to help her. “They didn’t care if she was dead or alive,” he said.

New York City entered its largest reopening phase yet on Monday — one that allows office employees to return to work, outdoor dining at restaurants, some in-person shopping, and the return of hair salons, barber shops and real estate work.

Offices are still required to limit their capacity and maintain social distancing measures, so only a fraction of the city’s work force — about 300,000 people — are expected to return to workplaces this week.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated June 22, 2020

    • Is it harder to exercise while wearing a mask?

      A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.

    • I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?

      The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Still, for struggling businesses and workers, Phase 2 was a major step toward something resembling a pre-pandemic life. “It feels like it’s the light at the end of a very long tunnel,” said Nancy Bass Wyden, the owner of the well-known Strand bookstore in Manhattan. “Almost like we’re Rip Van Winkle.”

A potential setback. New York City’s contact tracing program, which is crucial to its ability to safely move into the new phase of reopening, is off to a rough start. The program has been hamstrung by a low response rate, scant use of technology and privacy concerns.

After weeks cooped up together, our family of five can get testy and critical. To change the negative climate, we labeled five cups with each person’s name and lined them up on the windowsill. When someone is being kind, we drop a poker chip in their Kindness Cup. A full cup allows that person to choose a dessert for the family — that way, everyone benefits from each other’s acts of kindness.

— Abigail Nields Hillman, Radnor, Pa.

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