[Summit] Boston Globe newsletters & stories -- Brown Pres. Paxson + current State of Testing + Start of Pandemic in Boston [Covid News no. 173]

Wed Apr 29 01:00:21 UTC 2020

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Rhode Map - The Boston Globe <newsletters at bostonglobe.com>To: Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 07:54:09 AM EDTSubject: Brown's Paxson has people buzzing after call for colleges to reopen
   Dan McGowan's daily guide to everything happening in the Ocean State.  
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|  April 28, 2020   |   Follow @DanMcGowan on Twitter  |

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|  If you have friends or relatives who would like their own free copy of this daily briefing about Rhode Island, tell them they can sign up here.   |

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|  LEADING OFF  |

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|  Happy Tuesday and welcome to Rhode Map, your daily guide to everything happening in the Ocean State. I'm Dan McGowan and I can definitely use a haircut. Follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan or send tips to Dan.McGowan at globe.com.

ICYMI: Rhode Island was up to 7,708 confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, and 233 residents had died. There were 266 people in the hospital, 81 in intensive care, and 56 were on ventilators. We also know that 452 people have been discharged from the hospital.

ONE MORE THING: Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation project that today is the peak for hospital resources needed in Rhode Island, although their estimates are based on significantly higher needs than the state has shown so far.   

By now, you have probably read Brown University President Christina Paxson’s provocative op-ed in The New York Times calling the reopening of colleges and universities this fall to be a “national priority.” Judging by my e-mail inbox and social media, there’s a good chance you have an opinion on her opinion.

That’s exactly what she was hoping for.

In a brief telephone interview on Monday, Paxson said her goal was to start a conversation about what the fall semester should look like for higher education institutions around the country, not to lay out a plan for how every school should reopen.

In fact, while Paxson is hopeful that Brown students will return to campus, she acknowledged that a final decision has not been made. She said the university is developing a timeline that includes several triggers that will help determine if it will reopen, and the ability to secure rapid, affordable testing remains one of the key factors.

“The later we can make decisions, the better we can do,” Paxson said.

Of course, that level of uncertainty brings additional challenges. Students and their parents are asking her every day whether the university will reopen. Harvard said yesterday that classes will resume in the fall, but it said its planning includes a scenario where all learning will be conducted remotely.

In the op-ed, Paxson suggested that some colleges that don’t open in the fall will be forced to close permanently because they won’t be able to withstand a loss of revenue that comes with fall tuition payments. She said Brown is not at risk of going belly up, but layoffs are not out of the question.

But what if she’s wrong? Some of the backlash that she has faced from the op-ed has centered around the question of what happens if the coronavirus returns with force in the fall the way the Spanish flu did a century ago.

Paxson acknowledged that it’s a legitimate concern, but she said that’s another reason why it’s important to begin having the conversation now.

“We’re not making one plan, we're making many plans,” she said.
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NEED TO KNOW  |

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|  Rhode Map wants to hear from you. If you've got a scoop or a link to an interesting news story in Rhode Island, e-mail us at RInews at globe.com.

⚓ The Globe’s Peter Abraham talked to Larry Lucchino from the PawSox about how the team’s final season at McCoy Stadium has been disrupted by the coronavirus. Although questions have been raised about Worcester’s ability to build a new ballpark by next season, Lucchino said the team is “committed to Worcester and Central Mass.”

⚓ Governor Gina Raimondo has laid out her initial plans for reopening Rhode Island’s economy. Ed Fitzpatrick has the details here.

⚓ The veterans’ home in Bristol has at least 12 residents who have been infected with the coronavirus.

⚓ Good news from CVS: The company will offer coronavirus testing at up to 1,000 locations across the country by the end of May, with the goal of process 1.5 million tests per month.

⚓ Check out the Globe’s creative piece on the best ways to improve sports.

⚓This former URI kicker was drafted by the Patriots, but now he's facing questions about a controversial tattoo on his arm.
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|  WHAT'S ON TAP TODAY  |

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|  Each day, Rhode Map offers a cheat sheet breaking down what's happening in Rhode Island. Have an idea? E-mail us at RInews at globe.com.

⚓The state Ethics Commission may rule today on whether Governor Raimondo violated the code of ethics for her role in IGT’s lottery contract negotiation with the state.

⚓ Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza will unveil his budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

⚓ Enjoying Rhode Map? Do us a favor and encourage your friends to sign up here.

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|  Thanks for reading. Send comments and suggestions to dan.mcgowan at globe.com, or follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan. See you tomorrow.

Please tell your friends about Rhode Map! They can sign up here. The Globe has other e-mail newsletters on topics ranging from breaking news alerts to sports, politics, business, and entertainment -- check them out.
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| Tuesday, April 28   |  Follow Teresa Hanafin on Twitter |

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1 million confirmed cases.

By Teresa Hanafin, Globe Staff
Good day. It's Tuesday, April 28, the 119th day of the year. Mother's Day is in just 12 days, and don't you dare give her a roll of toilet paper. Sunrise in Boston was at 5:42 a.m. and sunset will be at 7:41 p.m., for 13 hours and 59 minutes of sunlight. The waxing moon is 29 percent full.

The Old Farmer's Almanac says Venus is at its brightest this time of year. Actually, it was at its highest point and most brilliant in the Eastern time zone last night, but there was no Fast Forward yesterday, so oh, well. The planet is still really easy to spot: Just look in the western sky after sundown. But she'll sink pretty fast in May and let's hope we all don't. |

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What's it like outside? Rainy early, then cloudy, followed by clear skies, high 40s to low 50s.

Hey, sport: Sports channels are scheduling lots of vintage content to keep fans amused, so every day the Globe's Chad Finn is picking out the best old games to catch for New England fans. Tonight's lineup includes a Bruins-Maple Leafs game from 2008, the Bruins and Flyers playing for the Stanley Cup in 1974 (with Bobby Orr), and Red Sox-Angels in the 2004 ALDS.
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We've hit yet another shocking and tragic milestone: More than 1 million Americans are confirmed through testing to have been infected with the coronavirus, and the real number is far higher than that because of all the testing that's not being done. That's one-third of all the cases in the world. Here in the richest, most technologically advanced, medical mecca. Right.

Today's US coronavirus numbers:
Total cases: 1,002,498 (it was 883,826 at this time Friday)
Total deaths: 57,533 (it was 50,373 on Friday)

Testing, testing, testing. It's the most critical thing that public health officials, epidemiologists, respiratory disease specialists, scientists, and researchers say the country can do now to slow down the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Widespread testing is essential so that those who are infected but not showing any symptoms can be identified and isolated so they don't spread the virus. As one expert put it, find the hot spots before they become raging wildfires of infection.

How do you know if you are doing enough testing? The World Health Organization says that if fewer than 10 percent of the people tested are infected, then a country is doing an adequate amount of testing.

Epidemiologists say that's too high; the standard they use for influenza and tuberculosis is that if more than 3 percent of those tested are positive, then you're not casting your net wide enough and you have to do more widespread testing.

Given that the US positive results rate is close to 20 percent, it's going to be difficult to get down to 10 percent, let alone 3 percent.

Early on, Trump pooh-poohed the virus, claiming it would just blow away or wash away one day like a miracle. His administration botched the manufacture and delivery of critical supplies to health care workers, sent out a test that didn't work, and was excruciatingly slow to get test kits to states clamoring for them.

Now experts say he's fumbling the next critical task: Making sure enough people are tested and then isolated to be able to figure out when states really should start easing restrictions.

(Given the way some people are acting in states that have already started easing restrictions -- flocking to beaches without maintaining physical distancing, for example -- what we really need to ramp up is IQ testing.)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, says testing for the novel coronavirus must be doubled before the US should even consider easing restrictions. There currently are about 1.6 million tests being performed every week; Fauci says that should be at least 3 million per week.

Harvard researchers calculated that the US should be doing 5 million tests a day, distributed unevenly across the states depending the size of each state's outbreak.

To figure out how many tests each state should be doing, the Harvard Global Health Institute took the WHO's 10 percent benchmark and applied it to each US state, calculating how many tests each would have to be performing by May 1 in order to reach that below-10-percent-positive goal.

The result wasn't pretty: More than half will have to significantly ramp up their Covid-19 testing to even consider starting to relax stay-at-home orders after May 1, according to STAT.

What's disturbing is that some states that have already started easing restrictions on businesses and gatherings aren't doing anywhere near enough testing: Georgia should be administering 9,600 to 10,000 tests per day; it has been averaging around 4,000. Florida has to do 16,000 a day; it's doing just over 10,000.

And you can ignore what Trump said yesterday about his new testing plan, claiming that the US is on track to double the amount of testing being done but providing no details and continuing to insist it's up to the states because, you know, he might actually be held responsible for something.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, agrees with the need for far more testing in the US than is being done now, but recently has been touting antigen testing, which is a simpler test that delivers fast results -- as little as 15 minutes. But the tests aren't easy to make, and it takes a lot of time and money to validate their accuracy. Here's an explainer from CNN.

Last word from Fauci about the states that are loosening restrictions: "If we are unsuccessful, or prematurely try to open up, and we have additional outbreaks that are out of control, it could be a rebound to get us right back in the same boat that we were in a few weeks ago."

Okay, folks, that's all I've got today -- too many breaking news stories out of tiny Rhode Island that keep distracting me.

But I will note that today is Harper Lee's birthday; she was born on this day in 1926 and authored "To Kill a Mockingbird" as well as the shocking "Go Set a Watchman."

Oh, and a shoutout to those of you who sent me margarita recipes, including Laura Noya of Puerto Rico, who sent me an interesting way to sip (or gulp, I suppose) tequila. She wrote:

Greetings from Puerto Rico, where we've been on forced quarantine for 41 days with a 7 p.m. curfew. Mental health still solid (some friends might differ). Just wanted to suggest that for your tequila, you might want to try it my favorite way. Take pineapple juice (Lotus is best IMO) and make some ice cubes with it. Then, in a tall glass add two pineapple ice cubes, 2 ounces of tequila, and four ounces of your favorite carbonated water. You’ll thank me later.
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| Thanks for reading. I haven't been able to bring myself to read Harper Lee's second novel. Did any of you? Send comments and suggestions to teresa.hanafin at globe.com, or follow me on Twitter @BostonTeresa. See you tomorrow.
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| Please tell your friends about Fast Forward! They can sign up here. The Globe has lots of other e-mail newsletters that are almost as good as this one, from breaking news alerts to sports, politics, business, and entertainment -- check them out.
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TripAdvisor cuts 900 jobs as it reduces workforce by 25% |

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| Needham-based TripAdvisor Inc. will cut 900 jobs worldwide and close its offices in Boston and San Francisco as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc with the travel industry.

The company said Tuesday that it is eliminating 600 jobs in the United States and Canada and 300 more in other countries as part of a 25 percent reduction in its global workforce.

The company will also put an undisclosed number of employees on furlough in the hope that they can return to work later this year.

Read the full story. 
A list of layoffs and furloughs in Massachusetts (so far) due to coronavirus. |

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| Northeastern model shows Boston’s coronavirus outbreak began much earlier than previously thought
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| When the Boston Public Health Commission broke news of the city’s second, third, and fourth coronavirus infections on March 6, the department took a cautiously reassuring tone: “There is currently no evidence of community transmission in Boston.”

But unbeknownst to public health officials and the public at large, thousands in Boston may already have been infected, according to a new model of the early days of the pandemic. 

Read the full story. |

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| MGH simulator shows Mass. deaths would spike if restrictions lift suddenly |

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| Two South Shore communities stand out with the state’s highest number of cases  |

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| Watch live at 12 p.m.: Governor Baker gives coronavirus update |

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| We have lots of e-mail newsletters on a variety of topics, including news, politics, business, sports, lifestyle, and more. They're free, and it's easy to subscribe. Here's a complete list. |

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