COVID-19 Update: The Battle Over Masks

Happy Juneteenth.

Ya think? Anthony Fauci says the US is afflicted with anti-science bias: tinyurl.com/yarz492q. (He also notes that pro football might have to skip a season: tinyurl.com/y78tyhoa).

He has a point: As the pandemic spreads around the country, the wearing of masks -- which, according to solid scientific data, is the surest way to deter the coronavirus -- has become a political hot potato. The evidence is laid out in detail below.

Meanwhile:

The vice-president says that COVID-19 has stabilized; a leaked CDC document notes that infections are up 18%: tinyurl.com/yc5ngbxt.

"It really does feel like the US has given up." Health experts elsewhere in the world are horrified at the country's laissez-faire approach to the coronavirus: tinyurl.com/ybuf2nql.

Surprisingly, two-thirds of performing arts venues around the country plan to return in the fall. Interestingly, optimism is highest in areas that are currently the hardest hit by the coronavirus: tinyurl.com/yattxwws.

Food for thought:

The destruction of the environment, especially deforestation, leads to pandemics, say the UN and WHO: tinyurl.com/y8z8lpgx.

Around the country:

In Alabama:

The Montgomery city council votes down mandatory use of masks, leaving doctors outraged and disgusted: tinyurl.com/y8blrker.

In California:

The governor orders citizens to wear masks in public: tinyurl.com/y84bbuu2.

Faced with billions in losses, Live Nation looks to reshape its business model: tinyurl.com/yb5u5wyc.

In Florida:

The state sees another record-breaking day of new coronavirus cases: tinyurl.com/yavha8p.

The mayor of Orange county mandates the wearing of masks in public: tinyurl.com/yd6vdvt5.

Hospital ICUs are filling up with new cases of the coronavirus: tinyurl.com/yaaeqa3n.

More than two dozen Orlando firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, and 87 more are in quarantine: tinyurl.com/yb3w66kz.

The governor, playing the xenophobia card, blames migrant workers for the state's surge of COVID-19 infections: tinyurl.com/y9gu43jf.

Not that anyone is enforcing the city's mask mandate on Miami beaches: tinyurl.com/yav2t9ql.

Dozens of workers at the Miami VA have tested positive for COVID-19: tinyurl.com/y83bqqtp.

Want to buy a cruise ship? Carnival has six for sales, as the pandemic kills off the cruise industry: tinyurl.com/ybqm33o7.

In Georgia:

The town of Valdosta, on the Florida border, sees a surge of infections, causing businesses to shut down: tinyurl.com/y7y586t8.

In Illinois:

Chicago's Mercury Theatre is the latest victim of the pandemic: tinyurl.com/y8sjubam.

Another casualty: The city's I/O Theatre: tinyurl.com/ybwol7r6.

The University of Illinois develops a saliva-based COVID-19 test to use on returning students: tinyurl.com/ycwybtrg.

In Kansas:

When AMC Theatres reopen in July, attendees won't be required to wear masks, because, the CEO says, "we did not want to be drawn into a political controversy:" tinyurl.com/ychvhrvp. Actually, never mind: tinyurl.com/y6w3vqwu.

In Nebraska:

The governor threatens to withhold COVID-19 relief funds from counties that require the wearing of masks in government buildings: tinyurl.com/y8sdzkkl.

In New York:

Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center cancel their fall performances: tinyurl.com/yc7sw6rg. (The latest roundup of classic arts organizations and their scheduling plans: tinyurl.com/y9jcwzy5)

The governor mulls quarantine for visitors from coronavirus hot spots, like Florida: tinyurl.com/yc6hv7e9.

In North Carolina:

This is why they don't have a convention: State officials are strongly considering mandating the use of masks: tinyurl.com/y945wx68.

In Oklahoma:

As residents sue to prevent the president's rally from happening in Tulsa, the convention center asks the Trump campaign for a detailed health and safety plan: tinyurl.com/ybvcybty.

In South Carolina:

The state sees a record-breaking one-day surge in COVID-19 cases: tinyurl.com/y9aqywg2.

In Texas:

Dallas County mandates the wearing of masks by everyone on the premises at businesses: tinyurl.com/y79ddk9p.

Around the world:

In Peru:

Faced with an overwhelmed hospital system, patients turn to the black market, purchasing oxygen tanks at a 1,000% markup: tinyurl.com/yb3sp4fa.

In the UK:

Andrew Lloyd Webber moves ahead with plan to demonstrate to the government how theatres can reopen without social distancing in the pandemic: tinyurl.com/ycrclx5j.

Entertainment:

Starting tonight, Lincoln Center Theater streams its 2014 production of Act One, based on Moss Hart's classic Broadway memoir, starring Santino Fontana, Tony Shaloub, and Andrea Martin: tinyurl.com/ydgakf3j.

The little OPERA theatre of ny (LOTNY) streams highlights of its productions of Owen Wingrave, Piramo e Tisbe, L'Amant Anonyme, Slow Dusk & Markheim, available to view for free at tinyurl.com/y8rx2g74.

For your pleasure:

Broadway and Pose star Billy Porter gives us some sound advice: tinyurl.com/y7e9yff3.

That's all for today. Have a good weekend. Stay safe. -- DB.

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