August 25, 2020

The CDC revises its testing guidelines to recommend that asymptomatic people no longer need a test even after known exposure to the virus, a change that draws sharp criticism in the days that follow. Nature publishes a separate assessment calling the U.S. coronavirus data apparatus a crisis of its own, citing political meddling and years of neglect that leave the country “flying blind.”

University reopenings produce immediate consequences. Ohio State University suspends more than 200 students for attending off-campus parties in groups of ten or more, while Purdue University proceeds with in-person classes under a heavily modified plan that administrators acknowledge is untested. New research into neck gaiters highlights the difficulty of measuring mask effectiveness, with conflicting results that receive far less scrutiny than the confident public-health messaging around face coverings.