The New York Times - USA (2020-08-01)

(Antfer) #1

A4 SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020


Tracking an Outbreak


Y K

Like “stay safe,” “testing and tracing” has become a mantra during
the pandemic. But testing has been plagued by delays and other
problems, and tracing has foundered and failed.
The Trump administration’s testing czar told a House subcom-
mittee on Friday that it was impossible to get all tests back in 48 to
72 hours, a time frame many epidemiologists consider critical. The
testing czar, Adm. Brett P. Giroir, said that about half of the tests
were being processed in 24 hours or less. He said the average wait
time for the rest was around 72 hours. That puzzled public health
experts, who said the reality has been disturbingly different as the
pandemic has surged across the South. The experts say that testing
shortages persist and that in some places labs are overwhelmed by
more tests than they have the capacity to process or are hobbled by
a shortage of reagents, the chemicals needed to detect whether the
virus is present.
Lags in testing also figure in the problems with contact tracing,
a cornerstone of the public health arsenal against the coronavirus
that has largely failed in the United States. The idea was to reach
people who had been in contact with an infected person and ask
them to quarantine at home for two weeks. Lags in testing slowed
the process, and even when tracers were able to find the people they
were looking for, many refused to self-isolate, making the tracing
effort almost pointless.
Estimates from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin
showed how pervasive the virus is, and how complicated reopening
schools is likely to be. In 19 states, including California, Texas and
Illinois, a vast majority of people live in counties where at least one
infected person is likely to show up during the first week of school if
in-person classes are held. In the highest-risk areas — including
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville and Las Vegas — at least five
infected people, students or staff members could be expected to
show up for school. The findings applied to schools with at least 500
students and staff members.
It has been six months since the first confirmed case was re-
ported in the United States. As of Friday, more than 4.5 million
people had been infected. At the House hearing, Democrats pointed
out that the caseload in the United States had rocketed past coun-
tries in Europe and Asia that were hit earlier in the pandemic. Dr.
Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said
that countries in those parts of the world had been more aggressive
about shutting down.
“When they shut down, they shut down to the tune of about 95
percent, getting their baseline down to tens or hundreds of cases a
day,” Dr. Fauci said. By contrast, he said, only about 50 percent of
the United States had shut down, and the baseline of daily cases had
been much higher — as many as 20,000 new cases a day. More
recently, the United States has recorded as many as 70,000 new
cases a day.
But he reassured the subcommittee that the United States was
likely to have a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of
2020 or early in 2021.
Hours before he appeared on Capitol Hill with Admiral Giroir
and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline became the latest companies to take
funds from Operation Warp Speed in exchange for millions of doses
of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. Under the $2.1 billion deal,
the two pharmaceutical companies will provide the United States
government with 100 million doses of their experimental vaccine.
The deal was the largest announced so far and brought the Trump
administration’s investment in coronavirus vaccine projects to more
than $8 billion.


‘We Simply Cannot Take the Risk’


In Britain — which has endured Europe’s worst coronavirus
outbreak, with more than 46,000 deaths — Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said he had promised to hit the brakes if coronavirus cases
increased again. They did, and he did. He postponed a round of
reopenings that had been set to begin on Saturday. He also moved to
make face masks, already required in shops and supermarkets,
mandatory in more places.


Britain had been easing restrictions gradually. Pubs, restau-
rants, museums and hair salons were allowed to reopen in early
July. The government had planned to allow places where it could be
difficult for people to stay apart — casinos, bowling alleys and skat-
ing rinks — to reopen on Saturday and to permit small wedding
receptions and some indoor performances. All that will now be
pushed back until at least Aug. 15.
“We simply cannot take the risk,” Mr. Johnson said on Friday, a
day after Britain reported nearly 900 new infections, the most in a
month, and 38 coronavirus deaths.


Britain also barred millions of people in northern England from
having gatherings at home. That restriction affects Manchester and
its surrounding towns and suburbs, plus areas in East Lancashire
and West Yorkshire — all of which have large Muslim populations.
The announcement came just before Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest
holidays on the Islamic calendar. Places of worship will remain open
with social distancing requirements, but the authorities recom-
mended praying outdoors.


By JAMES BARRON

Coronavirus Update


Coronavirus Update wraps up the day’s developments with infor-
mation from across the virus report.

Contact Tracing Falters in Test Shortage


Drugmakers in $2.1 Billion Vaccine Deal


As Cases Rise, Britain Delays Reopening


New Coronavirus Cases Announced Daily in U.S.


THE NEW YORK TIMES

March 1 July 31
Note: Friday’s total is incomplete because some states report cases after
press time. Data is as of July 31, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Sources: State and local health agencies; hospitals; C.D.C.


As of Friday evening, more than 4,554,500 people across every state,
plus Washington, D.C., and four U.S. territories, have tested positive
for the virus, according to a New York Times database.


New cases

7-day
average

60,

30,

Hot Spots in the United States


Sources: State and local health agencies. Themap shows the shareof population with a newreported case over the last week. Parts of a county with a
population density lower than 10 people per square mile are not shaded. Data for Rhode Island is shown at the state level because county level data is
infrequently reported. Data is as of July 31, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern. THE NEW YORK TIMES

As of Friday evening, more than 4 ,554, 500 people across every state, plus Washington, D.C., and four U.S. territories, have tested positive for the
coronavirus, according to a New York Times database. More than 153,40 0 people with the virus have died in the United States.

Average daily cases per 100,000 people
in the past week

16 Few or
no cases

32 48

Nev.

Ga.

Miss.

Conn.

N.C.

Iowa

N.D.

Kan.

Texas

R.I.

Mass.

Ark.

Utah

Mont.

S.C.

Mich.

Calif.

Wis.

N.M.

Ill.

Fla.

Wyo.

N.Y.

Ind.

Minn.
Ore.

Maine

Alaska

Tenn.

Pa.

Md.

Ariz.

Wash.

N.H.

Hawaii

Mo.

Del.
W. Va.

N.J.

Idaho

D.C.

Ohio

Ky.

Okla.

La.

Ala.

Vt.

Neb.

S.D.

Minn.

Colo.
Va.

Puerto Rico

First, Indonesia’s agriculture
minister promoted wearing a
necklace containing a eucalyptus
potion to cure the coronavirus.
Not to be outdone, the governor of
Bali, a popular resort island,
pushed his own remedy: inhaling
the steam from boiled arak, a tra-
ditional alcohol made from coco-
nuts.
So-called influencers and self-
styled experts have also pushed
their own quack cures and misin-
formation on Indonesian social
media, including a widely spread
rumor that popular infrared ther-
mometer guns cause brain dam-
age.
As Indonesia steadily loses
ground to the pandemic, the gov-
ernment has had difficulty deliv-
ering a consistent, science-based
message about the coronavirus
and the disease it causes,
Covid-19.
As of Friday, Indonesia had re-
ported more than 108,000 cases
and more than 5,130 deaths, sur-
passing China in both categories.
Yet even in hard-hit provinces,
as many as 70 percent of people go
without masks and ignore social
distancing requirements, accord-
ing to the government, often
crowding into shops and markets
and hanging out at busy cafes and
restaurants.
Indonesia is not the only coun-
try battling misinformation or
whose leaders have promoted
quack remedies. The World
Health Organization has called
the ubiquity of hazardous false in-
formation an “infodemic.”
In Kenya, the governor of
Nairobi has pushed cognac as a
miracle cure. President Trump
has continued to promote hydrox-
ychloroquine, a drug used for
treating malaria, as a coronavirus
remedy despite medical evidence
to the contrary. He has even sug-
gested that an “injection inside”
the human body with a disinfec-
tant like bleach could help combat
the virus.
But Indonesia is unique be-
cause of its large population, ex-
pansive geography across thou-
sands of islands and mix of cultur-
al identities. It would be difficult
enough for the government to im-
plement a clear and unified plan
for combating the virus, but mat-
ters have been made worse by the
promotion of muddled and often
dangerous information.
The country’s president, Joko
Widodo, had initially downplayed
the pandemic and has delivered
mixed messages. He admitted in
March that he had misled the pub-
lic about the virus to prevent a
panic. After that, he was slow to
close businesses and schools and
to limit travel, but was quick to lift
restrictions even as cases contin-
ued to rise.
In May, he said Indonesia
should learn to live with the virus.
A month later, however, he threat-
ened to fire cabinet ministers for
not doing more to bring the pan-

demic under control.
This month, he called for a na-
tional campaign to promote better
discipline in social distancing,
mask wearing and hand washing.
In the absence of a unified mes-
sage from the national govern-
ment, local officials and opportun-
ists have filled the gap.
One official who has promoted a
questionable remedy is the agri-
culture minister, Syahrul Yasin
Limpo. He told reporters this
month that a ministry laboratory
had developed a potion made from
eucalyptus that when worn on a
necklace could kill 80 percent of
virus particles in half an hour.

“From 700 species of eucalyp-
tus, our lab test results showed
that one kind could kill the coro-
na,” he said. “We are certain. We
will produce it next month.”
His claim was quickly contra-
dicted by health experts, includ-
ing the head of the laboratory that
developed the aromatic potion,
who said it was not effective
against the coronavirus. But that
didn’t stop others from promoting
it.
A popular singer, Iis Dahlia, met
with Mr. Joko as he sought to re-
cruit celebrities to help in his
health campaign. Soon after, she
informed her 12 million Instagram
followers that she was proud to be
wearing the amulet.
“This eucalyptus necklace,” she
said, “makes me feel safe and pro-
tected from the virus.”
In Bali, the governor, I Wayan
Koster, has promoted a local treat-
ment: inhaling the steam of boiled
arak, a traditional alcoholic bever-
age. As if to stay on trend, he too

recommends adding a dash of eu-
calyptus oil.
The governor, who has a Ph.D.
in education and described him-
self as a former “researcher,” told
a news conference last week that
nearly 80 percent of those who in-
haled the concoction tested nega-
tive sooner than would have been
expected.
The treatment has not been
subjected to scientific testing, but
he said he hoped that Bali could
patent and produce it.
The government’s top coro-
navirus spokesman, Wiku Adisas-
mito, urged the public to follow
health guidelines and not to rely
on superstition and half-baked
treatments, even when they ema-
nate from public officials and ce-
lebrities.
“At times of emergency, we all
need honest, scientifically based,
real facts to bring us hope, calm
and clarity,” said Mr. Adisasmito, a
University of Indonesia health
policy professor.
Jusuf Kalla, a former vice presi-
dent who now heads the Indone-
sian Red Cross, said the country
got off to a slow start in fighting
the pandemic in part because the
health minister, Terawan Agus
Putranto, minimized its severity.
“Until March, Minister Ter-
awan was like Trump, saying, ‘Oh,
this is only a simple flu,’ ” Mr. Kalla
said. “But now, Minister Terawan
is very realistic. Ministers and
governors are trying to come up
with solutions in an uncertain sit-
uation. It is trial and error.”
Indonesia is the world’s largest
Muslim-majority country, and
some citizens and officials have
leaned on their faith to promote
cures and guide their understand-
ing of the disease.
On Lombok Island, a top official
suggested that niqabs, loose Is-
lamic veils worn by women, were
as effective in preventing the
spread of the virus as snug-fitting
medical face masks.
“The advantage of the niqab is
more ease in breathing,” Suhaili
Fadhil Thohir, the regent of Cen-

tral Lombok, explained in an in-
terview.
Nevertheless, the Covid task
force for the province, West Nusa
Tenggara, continues to call for
face masks, said Artanto, a police
spokesman and task force mem-
ber.
“The regent still wears a mask,
not a niqab,” said Mr. Artanto, who
like many Indonesians uses one
name. “We keep educating people
to wear a mask.”
For many Muslims, the
Covid-19 burial protocol of wrap-
ping the body tightly in plastic and
burying it in a designated ceme-
tery has been difficult to accept.
By tradition, Muslim family mem-
bers wash the body of the de-
ceased and wrap it in cloth for
burial.
The authorities say there have
been many cases around the coun-
try of families rejecting doctors’
warnings and taking Covid-pos-
itive bodies home for burial.
In Mataram, Lombok’s main
city, relatives of a woman who
died in a motorcycle accident this
month refused to believe doctors
who said she had tested positive.
About 100 men stormed into
Mataram’s government hospital
to claim the body. Officers tried to
explain the importance of the
burial protocols. But they were
badly outnumbered, and the men
took the body, put it in a taxi and
drove away.
“It happens all over Indonesia,”
Mr. Artanto said. “Their under-
standing as people who live in the
village is different from those of us
who live in the city.”
Mr. Adisasmito said that Is-
lamic burial traditions were
deeply ingrained, and that it was
hard for people to accept that they
must change. He likened it to
Americans who refuse to wear a
mask because it obstructs their
“pre-pandemic liberty, habits and
way of life.”
“We live in a diverse globe,” he
said, “and different communities
have distinctive values that they
hold on to.”

FILLING A GAP

Indonesia Battles Misinformation and False Cures


By RICHARD C. PADDOCK

Muktita Suhartono and Dera
Menra Sijabat contributed report-
ing.

Socially distanced prayers in Bandung, Indonesia. Some citizens have leaned on their faith to pro-
mote remedies, and some have rejected doctors’ warnings against traditional Islamic burial rituals.

TIMUR MATAHARI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

A leader attempted


to prevent a panic by


misleading the public.

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