Overnight Health Care: CDC to issue more guidance on school openings amid Trump criticism | Supreme Court upholds birth control coverage exemptions | US surpasses 3 million coronavirus infections
Welcome to Wednesday’s Overnight Health Care.
There are more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., including 132,000 deaths. President Trump threatened to cut funding to schools that don’t reopen this fall, and the Supreme Court upheld the administration’s broad exemptions to ObamaCare’s contraception mandate.
The latest in the saga of Trump pushing to reopen schools: CDC to issue more guidance on school openings amid Trump criticism
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue additional guidance next week on reopening schools, Vice President Pence said Wednesday, hours after President Trump criticized the agency’s current guidelines as “very tough and expensive.”
Pence appeared to frame the upcoming guidance as a response to Trump’s criticisms, saying they would offer “more clarity.” But just a day earlier he had said the CDC would be releasing additional guidelines on school openings that would address face coverings, symptom screening, school settings and “decision-A making tools” for parents and caregivers.
“Well, the president said today, we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough,” Pence said at a coronavirus task force press briefing on Wednesday. “That’s the reason why next week, the CDC is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.”
Asked whether the agency would adjust its recommendations in response to Trump’s critical tweet earlier Wednesday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said officials will continue to “develop and evolve” guidance for schools.
In big non-COVID-19 news: Supreme Court upholds Trump’s expansion of ObamaCare birth control exemptions
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Trump administration’s expansion of ObamaCare birth control exemptions for employers.
The 7-2 decision stemmed from a highly litigated question that first arose in the early days of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA): Do employers who oppose birth control have to pay for workers’ contraception?
In the Obama era, religious nonprofits could claim an exemption from contraceptive coverage. Under the Trump administration, eligibility was extended to companies that voiced religious or moral objections, sparking legal challenges.
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority on Wednesday, said the move by federal agencies under President Trump to expand the exemptions was lawful.
“We hold that the departments had the authority to provide exemptions from the regulatory contraceptive requirements for employers with religious and conscientious objections,” Thomas wrote.
Interesting breakdown: The majority comprised of the court’s conservative wing, as well as two of its more liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer. Writing in dissent were liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
Not a great milestone: US surpasses 3 million coronavirus infections
The United States surpassed 3 million coronavirus infections on Wednesday, a grim milestone as the virus surges in more than half of all states, and a predicted waning of infections this summer never occurred.
Data from the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center showed the U.S. had 3,009,611 cases at midday on Wednesday.
Another record, in daily cases: On Tuesday, the U.S. set a record with 60,000 new cases. California and Texas both had more than 10,000 new cases in a single day, shattering previous records.
Arizona, Florida, and South Carolina led the world in new cases over the last seven days, according to New York Times data.
Hospitals in Florida have run out of beds in their intensive care units, even as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continues to downplay the situation and refuses to release critical information about hospitalizations.
Iowa governor says cities can’t require masks
While some governors reverse course and more openly embrace masks, Iowa’s GOP governor is saying cities cannot mandate them.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) on Tuesday said city and county officials do not have the authority to require residents to wear masks in public.
“We don’t believe that they can and that is in conjunction with the attorney general,” Reynolds said during a press conference, when asked about county and city ordinances mandating mask-wearing.
“We believe that when my — the public health disaster proclamation is in effect, unless the local government’s declaration or proclamation is consistent with the state proclamation, unless it’s consistent, then it’s not appropriate or it doesn’t go into effect,” she added.
Reynolds has not ordered a statewide mandatory mask requirement as several other governors have in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a statewide face covering requirement on Wednesday, and Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine (R) said Tuesday he is issuing an order mandating people in counties with high levels of coronavirus spread wear masks.
US investing $42M to help company ramp up syringe, needle production ahead of vaccination push
The U.S. government is investing $42 million to help Becton, Dickinson and Company, known as BD, ramp up its production of syringes and needles ahead of the future coronavirus vaccination push.
The U.S.’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) committed to providing $42 million for a $70 million project to expand BD’s manufacturing operations in Nebraska, according to a press release.
The increased capacity for manufacturing is expected to be functioning within 12 months and will “provide priority access to the U.S. government for hundreds of millions of syringes and needles” for COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Big picture: In addition to developing and manufacturing the vaccines themselves, supplies like syringes are also key to a coronavirus vaccine push and need to be ramped up ahead of time.
What we’re reading
Coronavirus deaths are rising in hotspots (Axios)
A Spike in People Dying at Home Suggests Coronavirus Deaths in Houston May Be Higher Than Reported (Pro Publica)
A flawed COVID study gets Trump’s attention — and FDA may pay the price (STAT)
State by state
California sets record for most coronavirus cases in a single day (LA Times)
Illinois Gov. Pritzker says states were forced to compete in ‘sick Hunger Games’ for PPE without national coronavirus plan (CNBC)
Outbreak at Mississippi Capitol: Number of infected lawmakers grows to 26 (Clarion Ledger)
The Hill op-eds
Congress must stop Trump from withdrawing from the WHO
Mandatory quarantine into New York, New Jersey and Connecticut? Good luck
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