“It still hurts to inhale”

The pandemic is still raging in the US; a major hurricane barrels toward Texas and Louisiana. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS The coronavirus pandemic is still happening Christina Animashaun/Vox - As of this Wednesday, more than 175,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US. On Tuesday alone, more than 1,100 died. [[Washington Post](] - Even worse, those numbers could be an undercount. Earlier this month, a New York Times analysis of “excess death” figures in the US calculated that as many as 200,000 Americans had already died of Covid-19 or other pandemic-linked causes. [[NYT / Denise Lu](] - The ongoing US death toll stands in sharp contrast to the narrative coming out of the Republican National Convention this week: On Tuesday, multiple speakers framed the coronavirus as a past crisis, not an ongoing reality that has at last count afflicted some 5.8 million Americans since it began. [[Vox / Aaron Rupar](] - Daily new cases have been trending down since last month, when they peaked at more than 77,000 new infections in a single day. But as recently as this week, the US was still reporting nearly 47,000 daily cases. [[COVID Tracking Project](] - Testing capacity remains a problem point too: According to the Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer, tests in some parts of the US, like Arizona, take anywhere from one to two weeks to come back — so long that they’re effectively useless. [[Slate / Ray Suarez](] - On Wednesday, CNN reported that new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testing guidelines, which narrow recommendations for who should get tested, were implemented after pressure "from the top down," according to a federal health official. Trump has long suggested lowering US testing levels to make reported case numbers look better. [[CNN / Nick Valencia, Sara Murray, and Kristen Holmes](] - While pandemic responses are obviously vastly complex, the US remains a substantial outlier in its mismanagement of the coronavirus. Experts say there’s a reason for that: Trump has downplayed the threat and undercut the US response at virtually every turn. [[Vox / German Lopez](] - This week, researchers in Hong Kong also confirmed for the first time a case of Covid-19 reinfection in a patient who had the virus in March. It’s a sign that immunity after a first infection may only last so long. [[NBC News / Denise Chow](] - Others, many months after they were first infected, are still experiencing the virus’s effects. Covid “long-haulers,” whose plight is often little understood by medical professionals, continue to grapple with symptoms like severe fatigue and difficulty breathing. [[Atlantic / Ed Yong](] - Because US cases — and thus the burden on the US health care system — remain high, experts are worried about what could happen when flu season this fall converges with the pandemic. One thing you can do: Get a flu shot. It might be “your most important flu shot ever.” [[Vox / Katherine Harmon Courage](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( An "unsurvivable" storm surge heads for the Gulf Coast - As Hurricane Laura bears down on the Gulf Coast, the US National Hurricane Center is now warning that “little time remains to protect life and property before water levels begin to rise and winds increase in the warning areas.” [[Twitter / National Hurricane Center](] - Laura was elevated to a Category 4 hurricane early Wednesday afternoon and is expected to make landfall along the Texas and Louisiana coasts on Wednesday night with sustained winds of up to 140 miles per hour. [[NPR / Samantha Raphelson](] - When it does, the result will be what the National Hurricane Center is calling an “unsurvivable” storm surge reaching as far as 30 miles inland. At least 1.5 million people in Texas and Louisiana are currently under evacuation orders. [[CNBC / Emma Newburger](] - Evacuating has been made more difficult by the coronavirus, however. Large-scale shelters like gyms present obvious difficulties in the midst of a pandemic, though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state is taking steps to provide PPE and maintain social distancing. [[New York Times](] - In addition to a storm surge, Hurricane Laura is expected to bring tornadoes and as much as 10 inches of rain when it hits. Forecasts suggest it could even intensify further before making landfall. [[Vox / Umair Irfan](] MISCELLANEOUS [The Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in Game 5 of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.]( [[BuzzFeed / Stephanie K. Baer and Matt Berman](] - Vice President Mike Pence will accept the Republican renomination for his office on the third night of the RNC Wednesday. Follow Vox's coverage [here](. [[Vox](] - A 17-year-old has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Tuesday night. [[Vice / Tess Owen](] - The Washington Post chronicles a culture of deep misogyny and harassment in the Washington NFL team workplace. [[Washington Post / Will Hobson, Beth Reinhard, Liz Clarke, and Dalton Bennett](] - "Pure exploitation for a mendacious political production": Why Trump's RNC theatrics felt so wrong. [[Vox / Zack Beauchamp](] - The Biden campaign is running the table on swing-state ad spending. [[Politico / Alex Isenstadt](] - It's International Dog Day, so here's a delightful thread of very good dogs. [[Twitter / WeRateDogs](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( VERBATIM "I’m not sad. I’m not sorry. I’m angry. And I’m tired. I haven’t cried one time. I stopped crying years ago. I am numb. I have been watching police murder people that look like me for years. ... I don't want pity, I want change." [[Letetra Widman, Jacob Blake's sister, on Blake's shooting by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin / Guardian](] LISTEN TO THIS [Optimism in 2020]( Being an optimist can seem ridiculous right now, but in the inaugural episode of The Cut podcast, host Avery Trufelman is searching for some well-grounded positivity. [[Spotify / Avery Trufelman](] [Read more from Vox](#) [The contradictory Republican case to Black voters — and why it matters]( [The Hatch Act, the law Trump flouted at the RNC, explained]( [1 in 3 Black Americans knows someone who died of Covid-19. These stories capture the toll taken by the disease.]( [What makes California’s current major wildfires so unusual]( [Apple wants to stop advertisers from following you around the web. Facebook has other ideas.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.