BY MYAH WARD AND RENUKA RAYASAM
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HIT REFRESH — Here’s an exclusive preview of the latest website that you will now bookmark and obsessively check: a new Johns Hopkins University tracker that analyzes school reopening plans across the country.
JHU’s Covid map was a must-refresh during the early weeks of the pandemic, and it has continued to track the spread of the virus. The JHU eSchool+ Initiative’s new education tracker, launching Thursday, examines state plans in 12 categories from academics to protecting kids from Covid infections.
Closing schools was a lot easier than reopening them — Forty-three states and territories have issued plans for reopening schools, according to the JHU tracker.
The idea is for parents, policymakers, and employees ranging from district leaders to cafeteria workers to have access to the information so they can refine those plans, said Annette Anderson, deputy director of JHU’s Center for Safe and Healthy Schools. In some parts of the country, the first day of school is only about a month away.
The tracker is meant to add equity to the conversation by looking at whether states are actively addressing disparities between students, given how many kids were left behind this spring, Anderson said. “At the end of the day, it's about trying to make sure that when we reopen, that the reopening benefits all.”
Welcome to POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition. I’ll be off for the next few days for my brother’s wedding, which the pandemic transformed from a 300-person, multi-day Indian celebration to a small, outdoor ceremony. But I still have to give a toast and am taking any advice! Reach out: rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam.
A message from PhRMA:
America’s biopharmaceutical companies are sharing their knowledge and resources more than ever before to speed up the development of new medicines to fight COVID-19. They’re working with doctors and hospitals on over 1,100 clinical trials. Because science is how we get back to normal. More.
| FROM THE EDUCATION DESK |
WHY TRUMP WANTS TO REOPEN SCHOOLS — President Donald Trump’s push to reopen America’s schools is about more than children’s education. It’s about the economy. And it’s about his reelection, Anita Kumar and Nicole Gaudiano write.
For Trump and his advisers, the issues are interlinked. With children out of the house, they argue, parents can more easily return to work and juice the economy — something even the president’s allies consider a necessity to win reelection. And with Trump’s sagging poll numbers against presumptive 2020 rival Joe Biden, aides also hope the campaign for in-person schooling will play well with the female and suburban voters the president needs to remain in office.
But the push is also driving a furious response from teachers unions, parents and others in the education world who say they need more funding to reopen safely and that Trump’s political priorities will put children and educators in harm’s way.“You know that somebody is looking for a better jobs report,” said National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García, who called Trump an “idiot” today in a call with reporters.
| FIRST IN NIGHTLY |
THE LITTLE STATE THAT COULD — Rhode Island is once again open for business, magazine senior staff writer Michael Grunwald reports. You can go to the movies, to restaurants, to the beach, even to indoor concerts, although crowd sizes are capped at 125 spectators, and masks remain mandatory throughout the state. Day care centers, museums and bars are open, too; you can’t actually belly up to the bar, but you can get served at your seat.
Coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations and infections in America’s smallest state have been plummeting since April. Rhode Island is leading the nation in testing, with nearly a quarter of its population tested so far, and its rate of positive tests has dropped from over 18 percent to under 2 percent. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has already announced that classrooms will reopen this fall — not because parents have no other child care options, or because Trump is insisting there's nothing to worry about, but because she's confident Rhode Island can do it safely.
Raimondo copied the playbook of nations like South Korea and New Zealand that have fared much better than the U.S. in battling the virus — intensive testing, tracing and isolation plus wear-your-mask policy and messaging — while adding innovative twists through uniquely American public-private partnerships. Grunwald spoke to Raimondo shortly after she announced a mandatory two-week quarantine for visitors from high-risk states. Their conversation starts like this:
MICHAEL GRUNWALD: I had hoped to do this interview in person, but you won’t let me come up from Florida.
GINA RAIMONDO: You can come, but we’ll lock you up in a room.
From blue to red but still black and brown — As the virus has shifted from coastal big cities to conservative states, political pundits and analysts have declared that “Trump country” is under siege. But the politicization of the pandemic hides an enduring reality: Black, Latino and Native American populations are bearing the brunt of the disease, Laura Barrón-López, Elena Schneider and Alice Miranda Ollstein write.
“The one constant for this whole Covid-19 crisis is that communities of color remain at highest risk,” said Greg Millett, an epidemiologist and director of public policy at amFar, an AIDS research group that is monitoring the pandemic’s impact on minorities.
From New York and California to Texas and Arizona — in urban and rural areas alike — people of color are suffering at greater rates, according to county data, state analyses provided to POLITICO by public health researchers, and interviews with more than a dozen experts. And ongoing gaps in data collection and lagging access in “testing deserts” make it hard to know truly how deep the problem runs.
Minority populations have long been underserved by health care and overburdened by the chronic diseases that heighten risk for coronavirus — a result of generations of racial inequities, high uninsurance rates and crowded housing and other social factors that contribute to poor health. The fact that minorities make up a disproportionate share of essential workers — who can’t work safely at home during the pandemic — adds even more risk.
THE CRITICAL NEWS AND CONTEXT YOU NEED, IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: Covid-19 cases are on the rise, protests to address racial injustice and police reform are ongoing, and a pivotal election is just a few short months away. Struggling to keep up with this never-ending news cycle? Keep up to speed with the day's essential news with POLITICO Dispatch, a short, daily podcast that cuts through the news clutter. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.
| FROM THE HEALTH DESK |
200,000 DEAD BY ELECTION DAY? Forecasters are updating their models to account for the recent resurgence and reaching a troubling consensus: The next few months are going to be bad. The national death toll is now expected to eclipse 200,000 by Election Day, according to the latest models.
Six months into the worst public health crisis in a century, the coronavirus pandemic has tested American leaders’ patience and political will, and outlasted efforts to contain it — swamping any hopes of a summer lull and leaving the nation’s top public health experts resigned to several more months of crushing outbreaks, health reporters Dan Goldberg and Adam Cancryn write.
“I am despairing for the future,” said David Eisenman, the director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters. “I don’t see anything happening to indicate that [the future] will be much better.”
It took just four weeks for the U.S. to jump from 2 million coronavirus infections to the 3 million mark. Most forecasters now say that, as case counts accelerate at a record pace, it will likely take even less time to surpass 4 million.
| AROUND THE NATION |
MASK UP, MIAMI — During an interview with Renu today, Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican, wouldn’t commit to voting for Trump, who is set to visit the city on Friday. Suarez, who has been chastised for failing to wear a mask in public, said the president should implement a national masking policy. But he also refused to call for a citywide stay at home order even as case counts surge in Miami.
You can see the whole interview here, but below are some his thoughts:
On contracting Covid: “I think I was the second or third case in all of Dade County. I was quarantined for 18 days. My symptoms I would classify as mild throughout. It very early on showed or demonstrated to me how efficient the virus is at being transmitted.”
On working with county and state officials: “I felt we needed to stay closed longer. When other segments of government start opening, then you get pressure to open.”
On a federal Covid policy: “One area where I think national and state policy should unite with local policy is on wearing a mask in public. I hear a lot of people say, ‘It’s an infringement on our liberty.’ My response to that is, ‘Wait a second, this is a country of laws.’ You are not free to run a red light. You are not free to run a stop sign. You are not free to not put on a seat belt. Those are things we require people, by social contract, to do for the safety and protection of ourselves and others.”
On whether he will cite Trump for not wearing a mask: “The county mayor said that the president is expected to follow the rules just like everybody else. That’s the expectation. Obviously, that’s what we would hope that he would do. He’s the president of the United States. I’m not sure that he’s subject to a fine. Actually, he would get a warning for the first instance in Miami and then he would get a fine for the second instance. I don’t know who would pay the fine!”
On schools reopening: “There is no doubt it poses some level of risk. Expecting a 6-year-old to wear a mask, I don't know how realistic that is sometimes because 6-year-olds are 6-year-olds.”
On voting for Trump: “I want to see what both candidates have to offer for the urban communities before making up my mind.”
A child eats an ice cream near a picture of former President Barack Obama at Ice Cream Heaven store in Miami Gardens, Fla. | Getty Images
BETTER LATE — Time has given Houston hospitals and health care workers a crucial advantage in caring for Covid patients, said Diana Fite, an emergency room physician in Houston and president of the Texas Medical Association. “This is such a new virus,” she said. “We did learn a lot going through things in March and April. We learned so much from problems in Washington State and New York.”
Houston prepared early for a Covid surge, transforming NRG stadium, the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, into a never-used makeshift hospital. Now with the patient surge, city and county officials are looking at reopening the stadium hospital. The city stockpiled ventilators that are coming in handy as hospitalizations rise.
Doctors also informally shared information on how to better treat Covid patients (by delaying intubation and keeping patients on their stomachs) through online seminars and social media accounts. But like in New York City, Fite said, many frontline health care workers are at risk for burnout from long hours treating highly contagious patients, some of whom are staying at hotels to keep from infecting their family members.
| PALACE INTRIGUE |
SCOTUS’ BIG FINALE — On its final opinion day of the 2019-20 term, the Supreme Court is set to unveil its decision Thursday about whether Congress gets to see President Donald Trump’s tax returns and financial records, a ruling that could reshape the balance of power between lawmakers and the White House in the most dramatic way since Watergate.
A decision to reject Trump’s legal challenges could result in voters getting to see the tax returns he has resisted disclosing since launching his presidential campaign in 2015, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney write. The justices are also set to rule on grand jury subpoenas that a Manhattan prosecutor is using to demand many of the same tax and financial records in a criminal investigation that appears to be focused on the tax practices of Trump’s business empire.
The president sent personal lawyers to argue against both sets of subpoenas, and he seems unlikely to hold back if the rulings go against him, especially if Republican-appointed justices or his own appointees vote against him.
| TALKING TO THE EXPERTS |
Can governors or mayors force the president to obey a mask mandate?
“My sense is that the president is not immune from complying with the laws of the states through which he passes. Suppose one state allows open carry of a firearm, while another bans it. My sense is that the president, like everyone else, is obliged to follow such a valid law. The real issue is whether a governor has power to impose sanctions for violating the law. There, I think presidential immunity might well exist — especially if the president argues that masks impair his ability to function. So, no exemption from a duty to follow the law, but probable immunity from any consequences for violating it — at least as long as s/he remains president. Under existing immunity law, I don’t think a governor could bar the president from a state for the performance of official duties merely because he won't wear a mask. It might be different if the presence in the state was personal, or just a campaign speech." — Burt Neuborne, professor of law at New York University School of Law
“No, the governor of the state cannot order the president of the United States and tell him what to do. The institution that can order the president of the United States in this particular is the Congress of the United States. We have a federal system, which has a vertical and a horizontal dimension to it. The horizontal dimension is the separation of powers between the Congress, the president and the courts. At the present time, the Congress of the United States has not imposed a national requirement for masks. Each state has, therefore, the power to regulate the public health through its own political process, responsive to its own citizens. Moreover, the Roberts Court is emphatic about that. But on the other hand, if the Congress were to pass a statute ordering the president of the United States to wear a mask at all times in public, this would be an entirely appropriate action for it to take.” — Bruce Ackerman, professor of law and political science at Yale Law School
| THE BACKSTORY |
THE PATRIOTISM OF VACCINES — In the latest episode of The Backstory, deputy magazine editor Elizabeth Ralph explores how national pride plays into the race to find a coronavirus vaccine.
| ASK THE AUDIENCE |
Nightly asks you: How do you think schools and day cares should reopen this fall, if at all? Let us know in our form, and we’ll include select answers in Friday’s edition.
| COVID-2020 |
SWING STATE SLUMP — Laid-off workers in key 2020 battleground states — some of the country’s most sought-after voters — may be hurt the most when the $600-a-week boost in unemployment benefits expires at the end of this month, employment and immigration reporter Rebecca Rainey writes. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida — all of which Donald Trump barely won in the 2016 presidential race — have some of the highest numbers of unemployed workers in the country, and they’ll see a reduction of more than $3 billion per week in income once the enhanced aid runs out, according to one estimate.
Jobless workers in every state will see their weekly benefit checks drop by at least 50 percent, depending on the recipients' incomes and different rules in each state. But those in many swing states like North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia, as well as Michigan and Florida, will see even greater losses — from 64 percent to as high as 72 percent, Century Foundation fellow Andrew Stettner found. California, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arizona, Ohio and Illinois have the highest number of workers on unemployment rolls, he said.
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| FROM THE AGRICULTURE DESK |
HUNGER’S PANDEMIC GROWTH — The coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in families considered food insecure — and that’s true across demographic groups. But for Black and Hispanic families, the numbers are unprecedented. Senior food and agriculture reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich breaks down how the pandemic has intensified pre-existing disparities, in the latest POLITICO Dispatch.
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| NIGHTLY NUMBER |
1.1 million
The number of public school students in New York City. The nation’s largest school system will offer a mix of in-person classes and online learning when it reopens in the fall, with most children going to school two to three days a week, city leaders announced today.
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| PARTING WORDS |
HER NAME WAS BONNIE — Joanne Kenen, who runs our health coverage, knows Covid-19 has collateral victims. She wasn’t ready to share this story immediately. She is now. She emails us:
“One of my college roommates developed a serious mental illness when we were in our 20s. She was in and out of hospitals many times; there was a stretch when we lost touch. In recent years, we’ve been in touch almost daily.
“Like many people with ongoing mental illness and lots of medications, she also had several chronic conditions. But in pre-pandemic times they were manageable.
“She was in one of her bad patches even before the pandemic, and the pandemic put her over the edge. She saw danger everywhere: a flashing light in her car, a sinister delivery man, an imaginary taint that made her terrified of the water flowing from her faucet. She apologetically threw out box after box of food that I shipped her. Her fears got bigger and bigger; her world got smaller and smaller. Finally there was no room in it for her. With nothing safe, she pretty much stopped eating and drinking. She died on May 31, probably from kidney failure — but indirectly, though she did not have Covid, she died of Covid. Her name was Bonnie.”
A message from PhRMA:
America’s biopharmaceutical companies are sharing their knowledge and resources more than ever before to speed up the development of new medicines to fight COVID-19. They’re working with doctors and hospitals on over 1,100 clinical trials.
And there’s no slowing down. America’s biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. Because science is how we get back to normal.
See how biopharmaceutical companies are working together to get people what they need during this pandemic.
And there’s no slowing down. America’s biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. Because science is how we get back to normal.
See how biopharmaceutical companies are working together to get people what they need during this pandemic.
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