The latest on COVID-19 as schools open their doors and Zooms

[View this email in your browser]( [Open Ars Technica in your browser]( [Image] [Catalina, an island off the coast of California and the new MacOS release name.]( We still have a third of the year left and 2020 shows no signs of letting up. [Hurricane Laura]( is currently prompting Gulf Coast residents to evacuate in the face of potentially unprecedented storm surges and damage. And despite all the very public conversations and protests happening this year to raise awareness and call for change regarding police violence towards Black Americans, this week saw another Black American killed by cops, when authorities in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times. Of course, as the difficulties and tragedies of 2020 continue to pile up, we continue to have an underlying one that threatens the health of the entire globe: COVID-19. This week saw a number of happenings on that front, from leading US government agencies bungling messaging for the public to new studies that might offer a glimmer of hope as we head towards the fall (and the complicated and varying reopening of schools). So for this week's Orbital Transmission, we're catching everyone up on what's new in the ongoing US response to our very much in-progress pandemic. And as everything continues to escalate, it's important to keep some basic advice in mind: take the breaks you need for your mental well-being, find things that can bring you even small amounts of joy, and continue to wear a mask and stay safe whenever possible (both of which in turn helps society at large progress in this viral battle). It may still be months away, but at some point science and society will come out ahead (perhaps freeing us to better deal with the simultaneous challenges of modern life, from racism to climate change). Editor's Note: As part of a company effort to support Black business and community in 2020, know that Condé Nast is pledging $1,000,000 in advertising support across the company's platforms to help give voice to non-profit organizations combating racial injustice. If you or someone you know works with an organization that could benefit from such resources, reach out to communications [at] condenast [dot] com. —[@NathanMattise]( Orbital Transmission 08.27.2020 [(image) ]( [CDC abandons logic, now says people exposed to COVID-19 do not need testing]( Pandemic-response experts have a few definite actions in their playbook, and perhaps the most important of those is simply knowing what they're up against. In order to stop the spread of a disease, communities need to know how widespread it is (which is why there's consistently been an emphasis on things like testing and contact tracing with COVID-19). But this week, the CDC reversed course and came out against this general guidance, saying those exposed but symptomless people do not need to be tested despite the known existence of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. The CDC insists the change did not come from political influence at the White House, but... um, what else causes this bout of insanity? The non-politically affiliated scientific community, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, has [quickly and loudly gone public to wonder the same thing](. [(image) ]( [The conundrum of reopening schools (for now it's not so conundrum-y)]( As if the last almost six months of pandemic life in the US hasn't been tough enough, this time of year is about to make everything more complex. Many schools have started to open or will be open soon, and without any strong national leadership, these decisions are being left to individual communities with varying degrees of resources and differing plans. Scientific organizations have put time and effort into thinking through this situation, though. We recently reviewed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, National Academies of Science, the World Health Organization, and other expert groups, and these documents offer local decision makers plenty of insight and advice. In a vacuum, there are strong cases to be made both for opening and for opting instead for extended remote learning—but of course, the US' pandemic response doesn't leave us in a vacuum at this point. At the very least, everyone, please heed this advice: Under no circumstances should anyone looking for evidence-based advice consult President Trump's statement that schools should safely reopen, as it's motivated by the president's personal fantasy that children will not be affected by the virus. [(image) ]( [Hello, FDA: The CDC isn't the only government org. having a bad week]( First it was hydroxychloroquine, but now President Trump has a new pet COVID-19 solution: antibody-containing plasma treatments. This week, the FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization status to antibody plasma treatments. It's a move scientific leaders (like National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci) opposed to begin with, and then FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn made matters worse during the press conference. Hahn committed a rookie mistake that made a treatment sound much better than it actually was by selectively using data, and now is very much not the time to practice poor science and damage anyone's trust in the field. [(image) ]( [The latest studies: A reinfection and strong evidence pointing to immunity]( Let's start with the less than ideal recent finding: A healthy 33-year-old man in Hong Kong is now the first person in the world confirmed to have been [reinfected by the pandemic coronavirus](, SARS-CoV-2. That's not entirely surprising or cause for alarm, though, as studies so far have suggested that immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 can be variable, meaning some people may develop stronger, more protective immune responses than others. But this is the first official study identifying such a reinfection. At the same time, a fishing vessel recently gave humanity a sign of immunological hope: The coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, infected 104 of the 122 people on board, about 85 percent, during a short voyage. But trawling through data collected before and after the ship set sail, researchers noted in a new study that the 18 spared from infection just happened to include the only three people on board that had potent, pre-existing immune responses against SARS-CoV-2. [(image) Condé Nast Spotlight | The breaking news and top stories everyone is talking about. All in one place. The most popular stories from Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest and more. STAY INFORMED]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2020 Condé Nast, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Condé Nast One World Trade Center New York, NY 10007 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences](newsletter=ars) or [unsubscribe from this list](newsletter=ars).