COVID-19 Update, July 13, 2020: The War on Science

Given the events of the weekend, it would seem that the Trump Administration has declared war on science, with results detailed below.

On Friday, the number of new coronavirus cases in the US hits 70,000 for the first time: nbcnews.to/3esMoI0.

Citing the opinion of Chuck Woolery, former host of Love Connection, the president endorses his opinion that the pandemic is a fiction perpetrated by the CDC, Democratic Party, and all doctors: tinyurl.com/ybs4zx3g.

For the president and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the bromance is over: wapo.st/2CrrMT6. In fact, the White House is now providing opposition research against the US' leading authority on the pandemic: tinyurl.com/yawqmejl.

Citing a much-criticized study, the White House again presses the case for hydroxychloroquine: tinyurl.com/ycdzsk7u.

The Secretary of Education wants to see all US children in schools this fall: tinyurl.com/ybtd4ojc. But she won't say how it should happen: tinyurl.com/ybz7ftn9.

Why is the US using an untested company to deliver the coronavirus vaccine? tinyurl.com/y7q8eytb.

Meanwhile:

With bankruptcies, layoffs, and store closings, the pandemic economy sputters: wapo.st/3gSDqW0.

Fourth months later, tens of thousands of Americans are still waiting for their unemployment benefits: tinyurl.com/ycy2hwfy.

Pfizer and BioNTech get FDA fast-track designation for their vaccine candidates: tinyurl.com/yaxzwpxr.

Food for thought:

If you think the coronavirus is little more than a flu, consider how it effects nearly every organ in the body: tinyurl.com/ybopmm9v.

The Guardian notes that the government's bailout for the arts doesn't help freelancers: https://tinyurl.com/yb262nv5.

Around the country:

In Arizona:

Three teachers who shared a classroom contracted the coronavirus; one of them died: tinyurl.com/y88h75s7.

More than 60 Phoenix firefighters test positive for COVID-19: tinyurl.com/yawjt4f3.

In California:

How problems with testing left the state far behind in the fight against COVID-19: bit.ly/2CtZ1F6.

Los Angeles' masks factories get shut down as hundreds of workers fall ill: bit.ly/2CpDVYA.

In Florida:

The state finally releases data on COVID-19 hospitalizations; the number, as of Friday, is 7,000: tinyurl.com/ybtdvzce.

On Saturday, the state posts its third-highest daily total of cases: bit.ly/2C4ggwT.

On Sunday, the state shatters its record for new infections, with 15,000: tinyurl.com/ybf6qphc.

On Monday, the number of new cases is 12,624: tinyurl.com/y9lezmsw.

The governor deploys additional personnel and drugs to fight the pandemic: bit.ly/301bNT.

Disney World reopens, tentatively: bit.ly/3fosSgL.

With new infections out of control, can schools open? tinyurl.com/yctqgksd.

The head of AdventHealth says the pandemic will peak in the state in July, if people follow the rules of masks and social distancing. Of course, that's a big if: tinyurl.com/y8tp9p.

Carnival Corporation to shed 13 ships, plans German cruises: tinyurl.com/y8a2hhmk.

Despite the surge in new cases, South Florida's party scene rages on: tinyurl.com/y8cjkade.

Fifteen staffers and three children are infected with the coronavirus at Miami-Dade summer camps: tinyurl.com/y73zogcg.

In Illinois:

New COVID-19 cases top 1,000 for the third day in a row: bit.ly/2DrVxU6.

In Indiana:

New COVID-19 cases are rising, with Friday's numbers the highest for a month: tinyurl.com/y9azea7s.

In Louisiana:

The governor mandates the wearing of masks: tinyurl.com/yb8r8nq9.

In New York:

The state reaches its lowest levels of new infections and deaths since mid-March: bit.ly/2BTEFWc.

The state reaches a milestone, with no new deaths: tinyurl.com/y9rvknzg.

The Broadway League approves a 15-second coronavirus test for actors and crew: tinyurl.com/y8gpxrqq.

Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman tests positive for COVID-19: bit.ly/2WcITPt.

In Tennessee:

Live music returns to Nashville with a socially distanced concert at Nissan Stadium: bit.ly/2DwM2Db.

In Texas:

"I think I made a mistake;" a 30-year-old patient dies after attending a COVID party, "a gathering held by somebody diagnosed with coronavirus to see if the virus is real and to see if anyone gets infected:" tinyurl.com/y83awarm.

The state's Supreme Court rejects the GOP's plan for an in-person state convention: tinyurl.com/ya3gqpbl.

Around the world:

In Bolivia:

The president tests positive for COVID-19: tinyurl.com/yddooxtp.

In Germany:

Bolstered by government funding, the country's arts sector starts to come back: bbc.in/2CvD5K4.

In the UK:

Shooting of Jurassic Park: Dominion resumes, with the studio denying reports of coronavirus infection among the crew: tinyurl.com/y9u3w3mt.

The government will cut value-added tax from concert, festival, and theatre tickets for the next six months: tinyurl.com/yazm7ave.

Despite new government guidelines that allow for outdoor theatres to reopen, Shakespeare's Globe in London reports that to do so is not "economically viable:" tinyurl.com/y9nfekvx.

London's Old Vic, reeling from the pandemic, fends off an attempted acquisition by Ambassador Theatre Group: tinyurl.com/ybgax8dm.

The government resolves to save theatres made vulnerable to razing by the pandemic: bit.ly/3fn3vw1.

How scenic and costume designers have drawn attention to the arts' plight with a series of pink tape installations: bit.ly/2Ohr7pN.

The prime minister is now a believer in masks: tinyurl.com/y8u4xyx5.

Entertainment:

Here's this week's lineups of streamed performances from the Metropolitan Opera: tinyurl.com/ydac4dws. The Met will also livestream ticketed concerts featuring the likes of Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann: tinyurl.com/yawb35ro.

New York Philharmonic's presentation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, featuring Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Shuler Hensley, Jason Danieley, Jessie Mueller, Kate Burton, John Cullum and New York City Ballet dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck, streams through tomorrow night at 9:00pm: tinyurl.com/y9oek2fc.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival is streaming its productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Copper Children, the latter a drama about orphan trains in the Old West. For information about ticketing: bit.ly/2CvDxIg.

For your pleasure:

Birthday boy Cheyenne Jackson in "Don't Wanna Know:" tinyurl.com/y7s6x42y.

That's all for today. Stay safe. Write to Congress. - DB

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