The COVID-19 pandemic has created multiple policy challenges for countries across the globe, but first and foremost, it has created a multidimensional public health policy challenge that has evolved on a continuing basis since the virus first surfaced in late 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created multiple policy challenges for countries across the globe, but first and foremost, it has created a multidimensional public health policy challenge that has evolved on a continuing basis since the virus first surfaced in late 2019. The fact that states within the US have responded differently in their policy regimen has not only complicated the public health challenge but also created opportunities to take a comparative perspective on the relative efficacy of the different responses across the states.

This site includes articles and news describing these public health policy responses and commentaries from the Claude Pepper staff on the impact of these responses on COVID-19 infection and mortality rates across the states.

Reports

• IZA DP No. 13670: The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19 (IZA Institute of Labor Economics)

Important Links

• ‘You are not listening’: Fauci scolds Sen. Rand Paul for misconstruing New York’s coronavirus battle (New York Daily News)
• Colleges Are Making the Coronavirus Crisis Worse (Bloomberg)
• COVID-19 death toll: 200,000 souls are asking their fellow Americans why (USA Today)
• The Health 202: Getting a coronavirus vaccine approved before Election Day will be impossible (The Washington Post)
• With Limited COVID-19 Vaccine Doses, Who Would Get Them First? (npr)
• The fall opening of colleges: Upheaval, pandemic weirdness and a fragile stability (The Washington Post)
• US sets record with 1M coronavirus tests conducted, well short of what experts say is needed (The Hill)
• CDC reverses course on testing for asymptomatic people who had Covid-19 contact (Politico)
• C.D.C. Testing Guidance Was Published Against Scientists’ Objections (The New York Times)
• Students’ Mass Migration Back to College Gets a Failing Grade (KHN)
• Best bet to beat COVID-19 this fall? Flu shots (ABC News)
• Study: Kids infected at day care spread coronavirus at home (AP News)
• Is your State Doing Enough Coronavirus Testing? (The New York Times)
• CDC report: Dining out increases risk of contracting coronavirus more than other activities (The Hill)
• Fauci warns US needs to ‘hunker down’ for fall, winter: ‘It’s not going to be easy’ (The Hill)
• Severity of coronavirus infection may be determined by face mask use, study suggests (Fox News)
• Pandemic requires partnerships like never before (The Hill)
• Parents and other caregivers are more stressed and in poorer health due to pandemic, report finds (CNN)
• How the Aging Immune System Makes Older People Vulnerable to Covid-19 (The New York Times)
• The Summer of COVID-19 ends with health officials worried (AP News)
• Top Adviser To Operation Warp Speed Calls An October Vaccine ‘Extremely Unlikely’ (NPR)
• Colleges ask students to leave campus amid COVID-19 outbreaks, but experts advise the opposite (ABC News)
• As COVID-19 continues, experts warn of next pandemic likely to come from animals (ABC News)
• Fauci: Daily COVID-19 cases need to drop by at least 30K for safe flu season (NBC News)
• It Has Come to This: Ignore the C.D.C. (The New York Times)
• CDC official affirms coronavirus deaths really are coronavirus deaths (CNN)
• U.S. advisory group lays out detailed recommendations on how to prioritize Covid-19 vaccine (STAT)
• Health Officials Worry Nation’s Not Ready for COVID-19 Vaccine (KHN)
• It’s time to talk about how toilets may be spreading covid-19 (The Washington Post)
• Yet more data support COVID-19 aerosol transmission (CIDRAP)
• Past vaccine disasters show why rushing a coronavirus vaccine now would be ‘colossally stupid’ (CNN)
• Paradise lost: How Hawaii went from Covid-19 star to cautionary tale (Politico)
• Health agencies’ credibility at risk after week of blunders (AP News)
• Poll: Most Americans believe the Covid-19 vaccine approval process is driven by politics, not science (STAT)
• New Trump pandemic adviser pushes controversial ‘herd immunity’ strategy, worrying public health officials (The Washington Post)
• Six feet may not be enough to protect against coronavirus, experts warn (The Washington Post)
• COVID-19 Is Transmitted Through Aerosols. We Have Enough Evidence, Now It Is Time to Act (Time)
• Household transmission of COVID-19-a systematic review and meta-analysis (Journal of Infection)
• ‘This change in policy will kill’: Experts troubled by CDC changes to COVID-19 testing guidelines (USA Today)
• Trump officials pressured CDC to change virus testing guidelines (Politico)
• Americans aren’t listening to coronavirus warnings because the messaging is wrong (STAT)
• C.D.C. Changes Testing Guidance to Exclude People Without Covid-19 Symptoms, Worrying Experts (The New York Times)
• Why Are Coronavirus Cases Decreasing? Experts Say Restrictions Are Working (The New York Times)
• Revved by Sturgis Rally, COVID-19 infections move fast, far (AP News)
• They Pledged to Donate Rights to Their COVID Vaccine, Then Sold Them to Pharma (KHN)
• Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness Among Teachers and Adults Living With School-Aged Children (ACP Journals)
• About 70,000 lives could be saved in near future if people wear masks: researchers (The Hill)
• Why Pooled Testing for the Coronavirus Isn’t Working in America (The New York Times)
• Why Antibody Tests Won’t Help You Much (The New York Times)
• Infections acquired in health facilities are a big problem. National reporting can help fix it (STAT)
• School reopenings with COVID-19 offer preview of chaotic fall (The Hill)
• Masks in public restrooms? Urinals may shoot ‘plumes’ of inhalable coronavirus particles into the air (USA Today)
• Birx Stokes Hopes That Key Hospital Data Tracking Will Soon Return To CDC (npr)
• Over 67 Million Americans Lack Access to COVID-19 Testing: Where Are These ‘Testing Deserts’? (Good Rx)
• Science shows coronavirus can survive on plastic, metal surfaces, but does it matter? (ABC News)
• Teachers could stay in classroom if exposed to COVID-19 (AP News)
• In the shadow of Covid-19, silent killers re-emerge (CNN)
• COVID Testing Choke Points (KHN)
• Is Your State Doing Enough Coronavirus Testing? (The New York Times)
• We can make air travel safer with a TSA Public Health Corps staff (The Hill)
• Health providers’ scramble for staff and supplies reveals sharp disparities (Politico)
• New saliva-based Covid-19 test could be a fast and cheap ‘game changer’ (CNN)
• Birx says she wishes US lockdown had resembled the one in Italy (CNN)
• What if ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Closer Than Scientists Thought? (The New York Times)
• The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back (The Atlantic)
• COVID Data Failures Create Pressure for Public Health System Overhaul (KHN)
• Rushing reopening could have devastating consequences, Dr. Fauci says (CNN)
• More than 2,000 students, teachers and staff quarantined in several schools (CNN)
• U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Reflects Sun Belt Outbreaks (The New York Times)
• Children and the virus: As schools reopen, much remains unknown about the risk to kids and the peril they pose to others (The Washington Post)
• Coronavirus may spread much farther than 6 feet in indoor spaces with poor ventilation (CBS News)
• The Costs of Trump’s Debacle on COVID Testing (The American Prospect)
• Winter is coming: Why America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing (STAT)
• Researchers created a test to determine which masks are the least effective (CNN)
• US tops 5 million confirmed virus cases, to Europe’s alarm (AP News)
• Forty percent of people with coronavirus infections have no symptoms. Might they be the key to ending the pandemic? (The Washington Post)
• Coronavirus Cases Are Surging. The Contact Tracing Workforce Is Not (npr)
• Pressure mounts on FDA chief to stick with science for Covid-19 vaccine approvals (STAT)
• Kansas counties with mask mandate show steep COVID-19 drop (AP News)
• Model projects nearly 300,000 Americans could die from Covid-19 by December (CNN)
• America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine (KHN)
• Virus testing in the US is dropping, even as deaths mount (AP News)
• Ventilation should be part of the conversation on school reopening. Why isn’t it? (STAT)
• When Covid Subsided, Israel Reopened Its Schools. It Didn’t Go Well. (The New York Times)
• We Need to Talk About Ventilation (The Atlantic)
• Why it’s vital to get your flu shot this year (CNN)
• Ventilation systems can change spread of potential viral particles indoors: Study (ABC News)
• Young people are infecting older family members in shared homes (The Washington Post)
• School closures in spring linked to drastic decrease in Covid-19 cases and deaths (STAT)
• As pandemic rages, PPE supply remains a problem (CIDRAP)
• Get the Data: Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus (KHN)
• Here’s what it could look like if schools reopened today (The Washington Post)
• Pandemic Is Overwhelming U.S. Public Health Capacity In Many States. What Now? (npr)
• A Vaccine Reality Check (The Atlantic)
• ‘It’s Like Groundhog Day’: Coronavirus Testing Labs Again Lack Key Supplies (The New York Times)
• The Health 202: Americans from both parties favor government mask mandates, poll shows (The Washington Post)
• Time to get serious about COVID-19 testing (USA Today)
• Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus (KHN)
• Testing Is on the Brink of Paralysis. That’s Very Bad News. (The New York Times)
• Missouri study finds masks likely prevented stylists from passing on coronavirus to 139 clients (The Hill)
• How planning and early action helped San Francisco’s Chinatown control coronavirus (PBS)
• U.S. must spend $75 billion to fix flawed Covid-19 testing, report says (STAT)
• Why We’re Losing the Battle With Covid-19 (The New York Times)
• Masks offer much more protection against coronavirus than many think (LA Times)
• What is airborne transmission? WHO adds guidance on ‘aerosols’ in coronavirus spread (NBC News)
• Grave Shortages of Protective Gear Flare Again as Covid Cases Surge (The New York Times)
• Airborne Coronavirus: What You Should Do Now (The New York Times)
• Fauci warns against ‘false complacency’ as Trump touts falling coronavirus death rate (CNN)
• Older people as unwilling as youth to isolate during pandemic (CIDRAP)
• As Florida sets records for Covid-19 cases, health authorities often fail to do contact tracing (CNN)
• 239 Experts With One Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne (The New York Times)
• After Asking Americans to Sacrifice in Shutdown, Leaders Failed to Control Virus (The New York Times)
• 89% of Americans wear masks in public as the coronavirus pandemic persists: POLL (ABC News)
• How the Virus Won (The New York Times)
• Cities Brace For ‘Collision Course’ Of Heat Waves And COVID-19 (KHN)
• Social Isolation And Health (health affairs)
• COVID-19 antibodies may fade in as little as 2 months, study says (ABC News)
• With the Federal Health Megaphone Silent, States Struggle With a Shifting Pandemic (The New York Times)
• As States Reopen, Do They Have The Workforce They Need To Stop Coronavirus Outbreaks? (npr)
• Explainer: The coronavirus risks of everyday activities as economies reopen (Reuters)
• Contact tracing is ‘best’ tool we have until there’s a vaccine, health experts say (The Washington Post)
• Masks now seen as vital tool in coronavirus fight (The Hill)
• Spate of new research supports wearing masks to control coronavirus spread (The Washington Post)
• At A Time Of Great Need, Public Health Lacks ‘Lobbying Muscle’ (KHN)
• The Masks Masquerade (Medium)
• The Health 202: U.S. isn’t ready for the contact tracing it needs to stem the coronavirus (The Washington Post)

Image courtesy of Getty Images / Win McNamee