Current Events in July 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 3,366,845 (3,323,432)

Total U.S. deaths: 135,802 (135,272)

Total global cases: 13,135,616 (12,970,605)

Total global deaths: 573,869 (570,220)

California shuts down again

California Gov. Gavin Newson has rolled back the state’s reopening plans amid a month-long spike in new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19). In essence, it’s a return to April, with houses of worship, gyms, and barbershops closing their doors again.

The shutdown order has also closed bars in the state and limited restaurants to take-out and outdoor seating. In announcing the move, Newsom said it’s necessary to contain the virus.

"We were able to suppress the spread of this virus, we were able to knock down the growth of this in the beginning," Newsom said as he announced the order. "We're going to do that again, there's no doubt in my mind."

Miami is the new epicenter

As coronavirus cases have spiked in Florida, Miami and Dade County are taking the brunt of it. Infectious disease expert Lilian Abbo, at a press conference with the mayor of Miami, compared the city to the Chinese city where the virus is believed to have originated.

"What we were seeing in Wuhan -- six months ago, five months ago -- now we are there," she said.

Miami now has more than 2,000 people hospitalized with the virus, with hundreds in intensive care units (ICU). The area has seen the largest surge in cases over the past two weeks.

Antibodies may not provide lasting protection

Scientists racing to find a vaccine for the coronavirus have assumed that antibodies from people who have recovered could provide protection against getting sick. They may, but researchers at Kings College in London now believe that protection may be limited.

In a study of 90 subjects, the researchers found that the potency of antibodies in the blood, and the protection they provide, subsided over time. 

Sixty percent of the subjects had what is considered a “potent” level of antibodies an average of 23 days after first developing symptoms. However, that dropped to 16.7 percent of those tested 65 days after the first signs of symptoms.

Making a case for masks

Wearing face masks in public places, mandated by an increasing number of states, has proved to be a contentious issue as the nation grapples with the coronavirus. But Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, says if everyone in the nation would simply wear a mask for three weeks, the virus would no longer be a problem.

“Masks are so important,” Benioff told CNBC. “If everyone in the United States wore a mask for 3 weeks — just 3 weeks — we would not have anymore coronavirus, because there would be no more spread, but people do not want to wear masks.”

Wearing masks has increased in importance since scientists have determined that cases of the virus spread the most from absorbing aerosol droplets from an infected person and not from touching a contaminated surface.

3M partners with MIT on new antigen test

Scientists at 3M are partnering with researchers at MIT to develop a new antigen test for COVID-19. The test would be easy to produce at scale and would yield results quickly.

Tests are especially needed in the southern and western states that have seen huge increases in the number of cases. Getting results quickly would also aid in preventing the spread of the disease.

The test would detect viral antigens and deliver highly accurate results within minutes via a paper-based device. The test could be administered at the point-of-care and would not need to be sent to labs for testing.

Around the nation

• Massachusetts: As some states struggle with huge spikes in cases of the virus, Massachusetts appears to have things under control. On Monday, the moving three-day average of deaths and hospitalizations dropped to the lowest level in months.

• Nevada: Nevada, one of the early states to reopen, is also one of the states tightening up again. The state has ordered bars in several jurisdictions, including Las Vegas, to close again as cases continue to mount.

• Missouri: Getting a test to see if you have the coronavirus will cost nothing in Missouri. Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill to pay the cost of being tested for COVID-19 if the test is ordered by a doctor.

Tech companies have joined a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over new guidelines that would affect thousands of international students seeking degrees in the United States. 

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and several other tech companies have joined a lawsuit filed last week by officials from Harvard and MIT. 

Under guidelines issued last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the government would not allow foreign students whose universities transition to online-only courses to remain in the United States this fall semester. Students who don’t comply with the rule change risk deportation. 

“These students contribute substantially to the U.S. economy when they are resident in the United States,” the companies said in a brief Monday.

Harvard President Larry Bacow told CNN that the guidelines appear to have been “designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others.” 

Crucial to widening the talent pool

Other tech companies that have joined the suit include Spotify, Salesforce, Adobe, Dropbox, Github, Linkedin, Paypal, and Twitter. The companies argue that the policy will "inflict significant harm" on their businesses.

"America's future competitiveness depends on attracting and retaining talented international students," the companies said, adding that people who come to the U.S. as international students are “also essential to educating the next generation of inventors.” 

Attorneys-general from 17 states and the District of Columbia have filed a separate lawsuit seeking to put the rule on hold.

“The Trump Administration didn’t even attempt to explain the basis for this senseless rule, which forces schools to choose between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, whose office is leading the coalition of states suing the federal government.

With the European Commission gearing up to launch a probe into Google’s proposed $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, the tech giant has promised regulators that it will not use Fitbit health data to aid its ad targeting. 

“This deal is about devices, not data. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the European Commission on an approach that safeguards consumers’ expectations that Fitbit device data won’t be used for advertising,” Google said in a statement to various media outlets.

Google announced its intent to buy Fitbit last year. The company said at the time that buying Fitbit would help bolster its service offerings in the wearables department.  

“By working closely with Fitbit’s team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world,” Google’s hardware chief Rick Osterloh said in a blog post.

“Google also remains committed to Wear OS and our ecosystem partners, and we plan to work closely with Fitbit to combine the best of our respective smartwatch and fitness tracker platforms.”

Earlier this month, a group of 20 consumer organizations expressed concern about the deal. The group said in letters to antitrust regulators that the acquisition could lead to Google using data from the wearables maker. 

"Google could exploit Fitbit's exceptionally valuable health and location datasets, and data collection capabilities, to strengthen its already dominant position in digital markets such as online advertising," the letter reads. "Google could also use Fitbit's data to establish a commanding position in digital and related health markets, depriving competitors of the ability to compete effectively.” 

“This would reduce consumer welfare (including degrading data privacy options), limit innovation and raise prices,” the group said. 

Now that Google has agreed not to use Fitbit data, EU regulators have until August 4 to decide whether to allow the deal to move ahead. 

First, Microsoft announced it was shuttering its retail stores thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Apple is closing more of its stores and asking retail staffers to work from home rather than put them -- and customers -- at risk.

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple believes its previous intention to return staffers back to physical locations is no longer practical and that those working remotely should plan on continuing in that fashion until 2021. The company had already closed 100 of its 271 U.S. outlets.

“If your store is closed, please sign up for Retail at Home,” Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people told staffers in a video, according to Bloomberg. “Please talk to your manager, because we really need to make sure that we shift our teams to greet our customers remotely in this time. We may need to be working remotely for some period of time.”

Switching roles

Consumers have had to incorporate more tech into their lives because of the coronavirus, both in working remotely and keeping their school-aged children virtually connected to school. That shift has created what O’Brien termed “significant wait times” -- an immense problem for Apple because “people are really dependent upon their devices, especially right now.” 

Apple is confident it can meet that demand. Given that its retail workers are already good at helping customers out in-store, the company feels that changing over to an online role won’t be a stumbling block for either them or the consumer.

Apple reportedly told company employees in a memo that a full return to company offices isn’t likely to happen before the end of the year. However, it’s possible some workers who can’t work remotely -- like hardware developers and repair techs -- may be given the all-clear to return under rules that “significantly limit total occupancy.”

Just when things were starting to look positive for the airline industry, the pandemic took a turn for the worst. On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines became the first major domestic carrier to respond to the downturn by cutting its schedule back...again.

Despite reducing its daily cash burn by more than 70 percent from when COVID-19 kicked into high gear, the airline still had a $3.9 billion adjusted pre-tax loss for the June quarter on a more than $11 billion decline in revenue over 2019. That alone left Delta with no option but to pull back on its plans to add flights. In reporting the loss, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian said it “illustrates the truly staggering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.”

Bastian had been guarded all along, predicting that it could take up to three years for the airline to financially recover from COVID-19. However, the executive pulled back a tad on that three-year mark, saying it would be at least two years before the airline sees a “sustainable recovery.”

“In this difficult environment, the strengths that are core to Delta’s business -- our people, our brand, our network, and our operational reliability -- guide every decision we make, differentiating Delta with our customers and positioning us to succeed when demand returns,” he said.

Consumers are pressing pause

Airlines can take out all the seats and implement all the checklists they want, but with the number of COVID-positive cases spiking again and states rolling back their reopening, consumers are starting to rethink their travel plans. 

Particularly troublesome for Delta is the explosion of cases in Southern U.S. markets, which it has a firm grip on out of its Atlanta hub. Originally, Delta had planned to add 1,000 flights a day starting in August, but Bastian says that number has been cut in half.

"Those factors are causing consumers to pause," Bastian said in comments given CNBC. "At the start of the pandemic, we said this recovery was going to be choppy. Indeed, it's been choppy. Demand has stalled as the virus has grown."

Taking advantage of consumers’ seemingly never-ending desire to drive an SUV, Ford has reintroduced its original SUV, the Ford Bronco.

In an unveiling Monday evening on network television and the internet, Ford took the wraps off its new model that will debut in the 2021 model year and complete Ford’s portfolio of SUVs.

Ford began producing the Bronco in 1965, a year after introducing the Mustang. Both vehicles proved to be highly popular from the start. The Bronco was a rugged four-wheel-drive vehicle that borrowed from the F-150 pickup’s chassis and was assembled at Ford’s truck plant in Michigan. The automaker produced the Bronco through several generations until 1996.

Taking aim at the Wrangler

Brian Moody, executive editor at Autotrader, says the new Bronco will be a direct competitor to the Jeep Wrangler, aiming to be successful where other recent entrants have failed.

“Introducing a four-door Bronco is the smart move,” Moody said. “But in many ways, Jeep has likely already won the first round of the battle: Everyone is talking about the Wrangler as king of the segment, and most Bronco conversations are firmly parked in a Wrangler context.”

In fact, just hours before Ford unveiled the new Bronco, Jeep introduced the latest Wrangler model, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 Concept, featuring a 6.4-liter V-8 engine with 450 horsepower.

Harnessing technology

Despite the intense competition from Jeep, Allison Harwood, features editor at Kelley Blue Book, says the new Bronco is a big deal and could give the Wrangler a run for its money.

“Ford has already shown it can use modern technology to make its trucks more capable, more efficient, and easier to use,” Harwood said. “If Ford gives the Bronco that same treatment, this SUV will be appealing to a broad spectrum of buyers, beyond hard-core off-roaders.”

Ford is introducing three models of the 2021 Bronco -- a 2-door, a 4-door, and a sport model, with a starting list price at just under $30,000. Harwood says it’s a smart way to expand the model to play in more parts of the highly popular SUV category.

Consumers will see many similarities between the Bronco and the Wrangler. Ford’s new model has a removable roof, as well as the option of removing the doors for off-road driving.

RTW Retailwinds, Inc., an omnichannel specialty apparel retail platform for New York & Company and several other brands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company represents yet another retail victim of the coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic that has thrown the economy into a recession.

Besides New York & Company, the company’s brands include Fashion to Figure and Kate Hudson’s fashion line Happy x Nature.

In announcing its bankruptcy filing, the company said it will likely “close most, if not all” of its 400 retail stores in 32 states and has already begun that process. It said it has sought permission from the bankruptcy court to maintain operations in the ordinary course of business.

Like some other retailers that have been forced into bankruptcy over the last four months, RTW Retailwinds was already struggling before the virus forced a shutdown of the U.S. economy in March.  Last year, the company’s revenue declined by more than 7 percent. It went from earning a profit of $4.2 million in 2018 to losing $61.6 million in 2019.

Other pandemic victims

It joins J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, and JCPenney in the bankruptcy club. Not coincidentally, all of those retailers specialize in apparel, which had been in a slow decline for several years before the pandemic caused a huge drop in clothing sales.

“The combined effects of a challenging retail environment coupled with the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic have caused significant financial distress on our business, and we expect it to continue to do so in the future,” said company CEO Sheamus Toal. “As a result, we believe that a restructuring of our liabilities and a potential sale of the business or portions of the business is the best path forward to unlock value.”

New York & Company may have been especially hard-hit by the coronavirus because it specializes in women’s work apparel. With most of the nation’s workforce working from home, clothing sales have suffered.

New York & Company was founded in 1918 as Lerner Shops by Samuel A. Lerner and Harold M. Lane in New York City.

Recent studies have highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened stress for mothers at home with their job and little ones. Now, researchers from Washington University are exploring how mothers’ job performance has been affected. 

According to the study, mothers’ work performance has taken a hit since the start of the pandemic -- more so than fathers’. The researchers found this to be true even in situations where both mothers and fathers worked from home. 

“Our findings indicate mothers are bearing the brunt of the pandemic and may face long-term employment penalties as a consequence,” said researcher Caitlyn Collins. “Even among households in which both parents are able to work from home and are directly exposed to childcare and housework demands, mothers are scaling back to meet these responsibilities to a greater extent than fathers. 

“Ultimately, our analyses reveal that gender inequality in parents’ work has worsened during the pandemic,” she said. 

Mothers are making more sacrifices

To understand how job and household responsibilities have been divided between couples during the pandemic, the researchers analyzed data from a U.S. labor survey and the U.S. Current Population Survey. The study included information from February through April. 

Statistics from the beginning of the study revealed that fathers had increased their workload around the house in the early part of the pandemic. However, this didn’t hold up over the long term. 

By the last month of the study, fathers were working a regular 40-hour workweek on average while mothers had lost about two hours off their weekly working total. The biggest concern here is that women will face the consequences of this loss of work, whether it’s by missing out on a raise or promotion, or by losing their job entirely. 

“Scaling back work is part of a downward spiral that often leads to labor force exits -- especially in cases where employers are inflexible with schedules or penalize employees unable to meet work expectations in the face of growing care demands,” said Collins. 

The researchers identified mothers with young children -- those in elementary school or even younger -- to be most affected by this, but the researchers are unclear why this trend has emerged. As many states are now considering a potential return to school come the fall, it’s more important than ever for couples to prioritize balance when it comes to household responsibilities. 

“Flexibility is key right now,” Collins said. “By easing work demands and allowing flexibility where possible in the coming months, employers can prevent long-term losses in women’s labor force participation. And fathers should be encouraged to provide more hours of care for their children, even if it means sacrificing paid work hours to do so.” 

Many consumers have adopted a “think positive” mantra, and perhaps for good reason. Being more optimistic has been linked to everything from a longer lifespan to better sleep and a lower risk of disease. 

However, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Bath has presented new evidence on the “think positive” front. Their work found that being realistic trumps optimism when it comes to consumers’ long-term well-being. 

“Plans based on inaccurate beliefs make for poor decisions and are bound to deliver worse outcomes than would rational, realistic beliefs, leading to lower well-being for both optimists and pessimists,” said researcher Dr. Chris Dawson. “Particularly prone to this are decisions are employment, savings, and any choice involving risk and uncertainty.” 

Debunking optimism

To better understand how optimism, pessimism, and realism can correlate to well-being, the researchers analyzed responses to the British Panel Household Survey, which gathered information from nearly 2,000 people on a yearly basis for just about two decades. 

Participants reported on their tendency to have a positive, negative, or realistic outlook when it came to their finances. The researchers had access to the participants’ financial information so they could determine how the participants’ attitudes stacked up against the reality of their situations. They also evaluated the participants’ mental health and overall satisfaction with their current life status. 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that staying in the middle lane -- avoiding either extreme optimism or pessimism and focusing on the facts -- is a consumer’s best bet. The study revealed that participants’ well-being suffered when they leaned too far in either direction. 

Being overly optimistic or overly pessimistic about money had a negative effect on the participants, though negativity wore more heavily on their spirits. Over the course of the study, optimists' well-being dropped by just under 14 percent, whereas pessimists’ well-being dipped by nearly 22 percent. 

Setting expectations

The researchers believe it’s the anticipation of poor or good outcomes that gets to people and affects their mood. Whether you’re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop or have the highest hopes that your fear will never come true, it’s hard to maintain good spirits for too long. It’s because of this reason that the researchers recommend trying out a balanced, realistic approach. 

“I think for many people, research that shows you don’t have to spend your days striving to think positively might come as a relief,” said Dr. Dawson. “We see that being realistic about your future and making sound decisions based on evidence can bring a sense of well-being, without having to immerse yourself in relentless positivity.”  

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 3,323,432 (3,131,953)

Total U.S. deaths: 135,272 (133,420)

Total global cases: 12,970,605 (12,323,502)

Total global deaths: 570,220 (555,977)

Scientists miscalculated how summer would affect the virus

During the lockdown days of March and April, scientists all agreed that the coronavirus (COVID-19) would be less of a threat once summer rolled around. Instead, the pandemic has only gotten worse.

In Florida on Sunday, there were more than 15,000 new cases reported, the most in any one day in any state. Scientists now say several factors could be responsible for the miscalculation.

They say early models were based on a higher level of immunity in the population, which hasn’t materialized. They also say they expected warm weather to kill the virus on surfaces, but it turns out very few cases are caused by contaminated surfaces.

No agreement on reopening schools

This is normally the time for back-to-school planning and shopping, but as of now, the school year is one big question mark in many jurisdictions. At the national level, political and public health leaders can’t seem to get on the same page.

The New York Times has published what it says is an internal memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that makes a case against sending children back to the classroom in the fall.

The 69-page document warns that a full reopening of schools this fall -- including colleges and universities -- would carry the “highest risk” for the spread of the virus. The internal memo was reportedly produced to guide policymakers as they make decisions about how to handle the school year.

Governments step up enforcement penalties

They tried asking nicely, but that doesn’t seem to be working. So now some state and local jurisdictions are stepping up penalties for citizens who defy pandemic mitigation measures.

A Calfornia county upped its fine for businesses that violate COVID-19 virus prevention orders to $10,000. Arizona suspended one gym’s liquor license for not closing as the governor ordered.

Even individuals may face stiffer penalties. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says people who don’t wear masks in public in accordance with an order taking effect today will face a $500 fine.

Two experimental vaccines get ‘fast track’ status

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly granted “fast track” status to two COVID-19 vaccines being jointly developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. The companies announced the new designation in a joint statement.

The vaccines, identified as BNT162b1 and BNT162b2, are said to have shown the most promise in tests so far as the companies have worked with various experimental medicines. 

The companies say they hope to make up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 if the trials produce the desired results and the vaccines receive FDA approval.

Tensions grow between White House and Dr. Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has been a key White House health adviser since the beginning of the pandemic. Lately, he’s been getting the cold shoulder from the White House.

Fauci in recent weeks has expressed alarm at the spiking number of coronavirus cases and has called for increased mitigation measures, a stance at odds with President Trump’s push to reopen the economy.

Over the weekend, the tension became public as a White House official issued a statement to CNN saying that "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." 

Around the nation

• Florida: Despite a record-setting outbreak of the coronavirus in the state, bar owners are pushing back against restrictions. Some Orlando bar owners have joined a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s prohibition on alcohol sales during the pandemic.

• California: While some “hot spot” states continue to see increases in new COVID-19 cases, California has seen cases level off and even decline. However, the state health department reports that the number of hospitalizations from the virus is still climbing.

• Utah: Utah suffered its deadliest week of the pandemic last week. The Utah Health Department reported 629 new cases of the virus Sunday, along with three more deaths.

Experts at Scripps Research have made progress in the work towards a vaccine for COVID-19. Their new study found that a specific type of antibody, which was found in patients recovering from the coronavirus, could be crucial in keeping the virus at bay. 

According to their work, these antibodies are powered by the gene IGHV3-53. In recent trials, the gene has been found to be effective in repelling COVID-19. These findings are encouraging, as they could be instrumental in making advances towards an effective vaccine. 

“This type of antibody has been isolated frequently in studies of COVID-19 patients, and we can now understand the structural basis for its interaction with SARS-CoV-2,” said researcher Ian Wilson. 

Fighting the virus

The researchers analyzed blood samples from recovering COVID-19 patients for this study, which ultimately yielded nearly 300 different antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that our bodies create in an effort to fight off various infections and viruses. 

The researchers explained that antibodies are powered by combinations of genes. In analyzing the genes of each different antibody, the researchers discovered that the IGHV3-53 gene was the most commonly replicated among all of the samples they analyzed. They learned that antibodies that contained this gene were the most effective at fighting the coronavirus infection. 

Further analysis on this specific gene suggests that it is a great place to start in vaccine development. For starters, the IGHV3-53 gene is found in smaller quantities in people who haven’t been infected with the coronavirus. 

“Coronaviruses have been around for hundreds to thousands of years, and one can imagine that our immune system has evolved in such a way that we carry antibodies like these that can make a powerful response right off the bat, so to speak,” said Wilson. 

The researchers analyzed the gene in both healthy people and those infected with the virus and found minimal changes. This was particularly promising when thinking about a vaccine, as the gene could easily be targeted without fear of constant mutations. 

With the timetable for a vaccine unclear, the findings from this study are a huge step forward in vaccine research. According to researcher Dennis Burton, these findings “provide important inspiration for effective COVID-19 vaccine design.” 

It’s not every day that some of the world’s richest people ask governments to increase their taxes, but that day has come.

An assortment of 83 of the world’s wealthiest people -- banded together as “Millionaires for Humanity” -- have called on governments around the world to increase taxes not only on them but their uber-wealthy peers to help pay for the economic recovery brought on by COVID-19.

This isn’t your typical Bill Gates/Warren Buffett/Jeff Bezos/Mark Cuban/Alice Walton lineup. The group is made up of well-heeled global citizens that include scientists, economists, and a smattering of trustafarians with names that Joe Q. Public would recognize. They include Jerry Greenfield, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and Disney siblings Abigail and Tim Disney.

“As COVID-19 strikes the world, millionaires like us have a critical role to play in healing our world,” the group wrote in a letter to their peers. 

“No, we are not the ones caring for the sick in intensive care wards. We are not driving the ambulances that will bring the ill to hospitals. We are not restocking grocery store shelves or delivering food door to door. But we do have money, lots of it. Money that is desperately needed now and will continue to be needed in the years ahead, as our world recovers from this crisis.”

COVID-19’s impact could last decades

The group believes the pandemic’s economic impact is very consequential.  In their words, the impact of the outbreak will “last for decades” as well as “push half a billion more people into poverty”.

“The problems caused by, and revealed by, COVID-19 can’t be solved with charity, no matter how generous. Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly,” the group wrote. “We owe a huge debt to the people working on the frontlines of this global battle. Most essential workers are grossly underpaid for the burden they carry.”

The group doesn’t feel that any amount of philanthropy or handouts will do much at all to cover the damage of the coronavirus. And rather than wait for governmental gridlock to untangle itself, it thinks the most direct line to appropriately fund health care, education, and security is through a permanent tax increase on the wealthy.

“[This situation] requires us to establish a new, real commitment to each other and to what really matters. Our interconnectedness has never been more clear. We must rebalance our world before it is too late. There will not be another chance to get this right,” the group stated.

School is scheduled to start in some jurisdictions in less than a month, but few districts have formulated a plan for reopening during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Part of the delay could be due to a strong disconnect between political and public health policymakers.

The New York Times has published what it says is an internal memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which makes a case against sending children back to the classroom in the fall.

The 69-page document warns that a full reopening of schools this fall -- including colleges and universities -- would carry the “highest risk” for the spread of the virus. The internal memo was reportedly produced to guide policymakers as they make decisions about how to handle the school year.

The debate went public last week as President Trump took to social media to criticize the CDC’s guidelines to school districts as too tough. Trump demanded a softened version, but CDC officials last week gave no indication that they were prepared to do that.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss made the talkshow rounds Sunday to push for districts to reopen schools next month. On Fox News Sunday, Devoss contended that “nothing in the data” suggests children being in school is “in any way dangerous” -- a suggestion at odds with the leaked CDC memo.

“Parents are expecting that this fall their kids are going to have a full-time experience with their learning, and we need to follow through on that promise,” DeVos said.

States set their own course

Different states have taken different approaches in the absence of a coordinated national plan. In Florida, which last week reported a one-day record of more than 15,000 new cases of the virus, school districts plan to reopen classrooms for the new school year.

On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Miami-Dade superintendent Alberto Carvalho said science, not politics, will guide the district’s plans and that schools will follow the existing CDC guidelines as they reopen.

“They may be difficult to achieve but there are mitigation strategies you can take in lieu of the six feet of distancing, like the wearing of masks, which will be a mandatory element when we do reopen,” Carvalho said.

Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city’s public schools would not fully reopen for the fall term. According to de Blasio, students will spend one to three days in the classroom each week. The rest of the time, students will participate in online instruction.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “fast track” status to two promising coronavirus candidates from Pfizer and BioNTech. The agency’s decision was based on encouraging data from early trials in the United States and Germany, which are still being carried out.   

The two vaccine candidates are called BNT162b1 and BNT162b2, and both are messenger ribonucleic acid (or mRNA) vaccines.

“The FDA’s decision to grant these two COVID-19 vaccine candidates Fast Track designation signifies an important milestone in the efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,” said Peter Honig, senior vice president of global regulatory affairs at Pfizer.

Honig added that Pfizer will “continue working closely with the FDA throughout the clinical development of this program, Project Lightspeed, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these vaccine candidates.” 

Promising trial data

Earlier this month, the companies released phase 1/2 trial data. The trials showed that all participants who received 10 micrograms (mcg) or 30 mcg of an mRNA vaccine candidate generated a higher number of antibodies compared to the average of a group of patients who had confirmed prior COVID-19 infections.

“These preliminary data are encouraging in that they provide an initial signal that BNT162b1 targeting the RBD SARS-CoV-2 is able to produce neutralizing antibody responses in humans at or above the levels observed in convalescent sera – and that it does so at relatively low dose levels. We look forward to providing further data updates on BNT162b1,” Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech said in a statement. 

If further trials are successful, the companies said they expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses by the end of the year and potentially more than 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2021. 

The FDA issues fast track designation to accelerate the review of new drugs and vaccines that show the potential to address unmet medical needs.

Shipt workers are planning to walk out on July 15 in protest of a controversial new pay model at the company. 

Workers for the grocery delivery service say the new algorithm-based pay structure, internally dubbed “V2,” would shave at least 30 percent off their total pay. The new model replaces Shipt’s previous flat-fee model.

“The company replaced our transparent, fairer pay with a shady algorithm. Workers saw their pay plummet,” a group of Shipt shoppers wrote in a Medium post. 

“This seismic company shift is occurring at the same time that its shoppers — essential workers taking unprecedented risks during this pandemic — are already suffering significantly.” 

Business is booming for Shipt

The workers pointed out that Shipt, a service where customers pay a monthly fee in exchange for the ability to receive deliveries from grocery stores and retailers, is concurrently “experiencing obscene increases in its sales” amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“This isn’t a company that has to cut pay because its core business crashed. The company has intentionally over-hired, preying off the millions of displaced workers who were furloughed or laid off during a pandemic,” the Medium post continued. 

“Shipt’s intention all along was to introduce the pay cut when it had more workers than it needed. That way it is still able to roll profitably forward even if a sizable percentage of Shipt’s existing workforce is forced to quit due to drastic cuts to our pay.” 

Workers plan to walk out Wednesday, the day the new pay model launches in a dozen new markets. Shipt maintains that it's “committed to helping shoppers succeed” and is open to feedback on the new pay model. 

“Our commitment to shoppers is stronger than ever, and any operational changes we make balance the interests of shoppers with the longer-term needs of the business,” Shipt said.