All the US Retail Chains Requiring Masks: Full List – The New York Times – (Economic health depends on healthy people!)

Large retail chains have started requiring customers to wear masks inside all of their stores, as coronavirus cases surge across the country and politicians and public health experts clamor for widespread use of face coverings to stem the spread of the disease.

After Walmart, America’s largest retailer, announced on July 15 that it would mandate in-store mask-wearing, a flurry of other companies, including Kroger, Target and Walgreens, followed suit. This means that customers will be required to wear face masks in stores even in places without local mask ordinances. The National Retail Federation has encouraged companies to set nationwide mask policies to protect employees and shoppers.

Philadelphia school reopening plan put on hold after outcry amid coronavirus fears

If the Philadelphia School District reopens classrooms to most children two days a week in September, it will do so over the objections of many of its principals, teachers, parents, and students.

In no uncertain terms Thursday night, more than 100 members of the public blasted the plan developed by Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., saying it would neither keep children and staff safe nor offer a robust educational experience.

 

Source: Philadelphia school reopening plan put on hold after outcry amid coronavirus fears

Texas hospital turns away coronavirus patients likely to die | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“For all of those patients that most certainly do not have any hope of improving, they are going to be better taken care of within their own family in the love of their own home rather than thousands of miles away dying alone in a hospital room,” he said.

As the situation has gone from promising at beginning of the pandemic to desperate, the county judge will soon issue a stay-at-home order.

“Unfortunately, Starr County Memorial Hospital has limited resources and our doctors are going to have to decide who receives treatment, and who is sent home to die by their loved ones,” Vera said in a Wednesday news release. “This is what we did not want our community to experience.”

 

Source: Texas hospital turns away coronavirus patients likely to die | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

School re-opening is a top issue in 2020 election – Los Angeles Times

“It’s one of the most fundamental issues right now. Particularly for parents, this is the issue,” said Christine Matthews, a Republican pollster. “Trump can talk about defunding the police or Confederate statues, but I can tell you the No. 1 concern on the minds of parents is whether or not their kids can safely go back to school, and if not how are they going to get through the school year.”

While Trump has staked a mostly hard-line stance, many parents, school administrators and health officials see a more complicated calculus. Research shows children, especially younger ones, largely do not get seriously ill from COVID-19, but their role in spreading the virus to adults such as teachers and other school employees, or family members back home, appears to vary by age. Other countries that have successfully opened schools did so when outbreaks of the virus were largely controlled, while the United States continues to see surging spread.

Trump’s threat to withhold money rankled Tiffany Jones, a hospice nurse from Indianapolis. Juggling her administrative work from home and helping her son with his kindergarten classes was nearly impossible in the spring, but Jones, a 44-year-old cancer survivor, said she feared she could contract the virus from him if he went to school. She worried the school’s meal program, which continued to provide food for her son, could be at risk under Trump’s plan.

“I don’t agree with him cutting funding if schools don’t open,” said Jones, a member of ParentsTogether, a national advocacy group. “I don’t agree with that at all.”

Trump’s blunt position has fallen flat with voters, according to multiple polls. An Associated Press survey on Monday found the public disapproved of Trump’s handling of education issues by a 2-to-1 margin. Another poll by Quinnipiac University found that among Republicans, where the president usually commands near unanimous backing, just two-thirds of respondents approved his actions. His numbers cratered outside his party, especially among women: only 20% of independents and 3% of Democratic women backed the president.

 

Source: School re-opening is a top issue in 2020 election – Los Angeles Times

Opinion | There Is a ‘Great Silent Majority.’ But It Stands Against Trump. – The New York Times

There is a silent majority in this country, and it is arrayed against a radical, extremist minority. But it stands against Trump, not the other away around. He and his allies are and always have been in the minority, acting in ways that frighten and disturb the broad middle of the electorate. And as long as Trump cannot see this — as long as he holds to his belief in a secret, silent pro-Trump majority — he and his campaign will continue to act in ways that diminish his chance of any legitimate victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Russia accused of ‘rewriting history’ to justify occupation of Baltic states | Euronews

Estonia summoned Russia’s ambassador on Thursday to denounce “a series of fake posts” published on official social media accounts.

“Russia is trying to give the impression that legitimacy can be born at the threat of a weapon, repression by mutual agreement – this is extremely cynical,” said Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu.

 

Source: Russia accused of ‘rewriting history’ to justify occupation of Baltic states | Euronews

Vietnam Suspends Wildlife Trade As Pandemic Prods Action

It is a major victory for conservation groups who have in the past accused Vietnamese authorities of turning a blind eye to the rampant trade in endangered species inside and across its borders. “The prime minister orders the suspension of imports of wildlife — dead or alive — their eggs… parts or derivatives,” said the order released Thursday on the government website.

Source: Vietnam Suspends Wildlife Trade As Pandemic Prods Action