More evidence supports face covering
School opening guidelines and more disunity; USA passes grim milestone of 150,000 deaths; Convalescent plasma studied as possible preventive treatment.
Welcome to my new subscribers - and thank you to everyone who has shared this newsletter with others. I still need 10 more subscribers by the end of the month, so if you could encourage a few people to sign up, I’d be most grateful.
Later today, paid subscribers will get their first exclusive newsletter, with some top-level observations and trends to watch as we pass the six-month mark since the first COVID-19 case in the United States. These will be occasional and useful, at least I hope.
Thank you.
Today’s top stories:
More than 150,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
More evidence that face coverings reduce COVID-19 infection risk: A study in China found that a mask mandate increased mask use and significantly reduced face-touching, which is likely to reduce actual infections.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine published a report to guide school and other officials on safely reopening during the pandemic. South Dakota’s governor wants schools to reopen without requiring students to wear masks.
Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, who has refused to wear face coverings in Capitol Hill hearings, tested positive for COVID-19 during screening before he was scheduled to fly on Air Force One with the president. He claims he may have gotten infected because he was wearing a face covering in the past two weeks (which is unlikely.) Here’s a CDC page with guidance on how to handle face coverings so that you keep your infection risk low.
HHS, CDC and the Ad Council have created more PSAs and social media graphics to promote social distancing, hand hygiene and face coverings.
Plasma from people who recover from COVID-19 is already is wide experimental use as a treatment for COVID-19, and now, studies are underway to see if it can stimulate an immune response that protects against infection in the first place.
