August 15, 2020

The WHO’s pandemic response comes under review as a timeline of the organization’s actions and the ensuing controversy is published by ABC, with the independent evaluation still underway. A Connecticut inmate kills himself using a mask meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a grim irony that underscores the gap between the mandate to cover faces and the conditions inside correctional facilities. More than 50 countries now require face coverings in public, yet CNN reports that huge numbers of people worldwide say they would not take a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.

Privileged parents form pandemic learning pods that widen existing education gaps, USA Today reports, as The Hill runs its own warning that the country is not ready to return to in-class learning. The twin messages highlight a bind that no official guidance resolves: if in-person school is unsafe, the alternative of remote learning only works for families with the resources to make it so.