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» » We’re Fighting Over Masks Now? - The New York Times

We’re Fighting Over Masks Now? - The New York Times

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As the United States continues to reopen — New York City, the former epicenter of the pandemic, will enter a new phase on Monday — a clash has arisen over the use of face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Businesses and local governments are taking stands in different ways:

• American Airlines barred a conservative activist from one of its flights after he refused to wear a mask. It’s the latest sign of how seriously airlines are taking the matter: Delta suggested earlier this week that passengers who won’t wear a mask may be barred from future flights.

• AMC said that it won’t mandate that masks be worn at its movie theaters when they reopen, in what its C.E.O., Adam Aron, said was an effort not to be “drawn into a political controversy.” Of course, a political controversy ensued.

• California will require face coverings in most public situations, including in indoor venues and outdoors when social distancing is impossible. But in Nebraska, the Republican governor, Pete Ricketts, threatened to withhold $100 million in federal relief funds to municipalities that mandate mask-wearing in government offices.

Some context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization say that wearing masks can help contain the coronavirus. But President Trump is no fan of masks, and told The Wall Street Journal yesterday that he thought face coverings might be a way to signal disapproval of him.

Credit...Evan Agostini/Invision, via Associated Press

The uproar over the killing of George Floyd has put a renewed focus on racial inequality. Policymakers and executives have been speaking out on the injustice and its stark economic impact.

“There are big chunks of our population whose innate human capital is basically being squandered because they are not getting an education that enables them to take advantage of their natural talents and gifts. That not only hurts them, that hurts all of us. It hurts our society and our economy.” — Neel Kashkari, the Minneapolis Fed president, in an interview with The Times

“By limiting economic and educational opportunities for a large number of Americans, institutionalized racism constrains this country’s economic potential. The economic contributions of these Americans, in the form of work product and innovation, will be less than they otherwise could have been. Systemic racism is a yoke that drags on the American economy.” — Raphael Bostic, the Atlanta Fed president, in a memo published by the bank

“Some people were surprised to hear me say that I would not have had the success I’ve enjoyed if I were Black — but it’s true. And it bothers me a great deal, because it runs counter to everything I was taught about America — and everything I want America to be. But we cannot wish true equality into existence. We cannot pretend that time will heal old wounds. Healing begins with justice.” — Mike Bloomberg, in an op-ed for Bloomberg

Credit...Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday to preserve DACA, the Obama-era program shielding young immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation. It was the second major decision by the court that gave Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, something to celebrate, in a week that has brought highs and lows for the world’s most valuable company.

Mr. Cook is one of DACA’s biggest corporate defenders, writing op-eds (with the conservative billionaire Charles Koch, no less) and having Apple write a legal brief to the Supreme Court opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to end the program.

• Citing the 478 Dreamers who work at Apple, Mr. Cook said yesterday, “We’re glad for today’s decision and will keep fighting until DACA’s protections are permanent.”

He also praised the high court’s ruling on Monday banning L.G.B.T. discrimination in the workplace, tweeting, “LGBTQ people deserve equal treatment in the workplace and throughout society, and today’s decision further underlines that federal law protects their right to fairness.” Mr. Cook is the corporate world’s most prominent openly gay executive.

Mr. Cook has confronted setbacks as well, with Apple getting pulled into the Big Tech antitrust battles brewing around the world.

• The E.U. opened an investigation into whether the conditions Apple’s App Store imposes on developers — including sharing data on customers and handing over a cut of in-app payments — violate competition laws.

• The controversy over Hey, an email app that Apple has rejected because its developer wasn’t giving up 30 percent of the service’s subscription fees, won’t go away. (Apple has doubled down on its rejection of the app, despite growing criticism.)

Hertz gave up on selling new shares. The bankrupt car-rental company abandoned a plan to raise up to $500 million after regulators raised concerns about, you know, a bankrupt company selling new shares.

Social media platforms flagged problematic Trump content. Facebook removed ads from the Trump campaign that featured a symbol that Nazis had used to classify political prisoners during World War II (the campaign said the symbol represented antifa, which experts disputed). Twitter flagged a tweet by Mr. Trump with a warning about “manipulated media,” saying that the video of a “racist baby” was doctored to appear like a real CNN clip. (It’s not).

A stunning collapse at Wirecard. Auditors for the German payments processor couldn’t confirm the existence of more than $2 billion in cash, leading to a crash in the once high-flying company’s shares and (just now) the C.E.O.’s resignation. The Financial Times’s dogged reporting on rumors of trouble at the company — which prompted fierce blowback from Wirecard — stretches back more than a year.

A flood of financial restructurings and Chapter 11 filings is coming, and it could have severe economic consequences, The Times’s Mary Walsh writes.

Bankruptcy advisers expect a huge number of Chapter 11s later this year, Michael has reported, as companies struggle with high debt loads and a lack of revenue caused by pandemic lockdowns.

• According to Ed Altman, a leading bankruptcy academic, at least 66 Chapter 11 filings, with a total of more than $1 billion in debt, are expected this year, eclipsing 2009’s mark of 49.

That could cause real harm. It isn’t just well-known companies like J. Crew that have filed or will file for bankruptcy. A group of academics wrote to Congress last month that they expect “a significant fraction of viable small businesses will be forced to liquidate, causing high and irreversible economic losses.”

Credit...Penguin Random House

Lab-grown meat avoids many of the fraught ethical issues around animal welfare, climate change and other aspects of the modern food supply chain. Chase Purdy, a New York-based journalist, traveled the world to profile the companies trying to produce viable, affordable and — most important — flavorful meat from stem cells. His book, “Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food,” came out this week. (Read The Times’s review, which called it a “fast-paced global narrative.”)

Mr. Purdy spoke with DealBook about the “edible space race” for the future of food.

What’s in the book for DealBook readers?

People who pick up the book aren’t in for a hagiographic story about players in Silicon Valley. Instead, readers will get an honest look at a burgeoning industry backed by big investors who see cultured meat’s many upsides but also recognize its many hurdles.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated June 16, 2020

    • I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?

      The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

      Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

You call it “cell-cultured meat” and not “lab-grown meat” or “fake meat” or other names that sometimes come up.

The weirdest name I heard someone use was “motherless meat.” Gross. The name game can be a bizarre rabbit hole. Because of that, I stuck to a term that’s scientifically accurate and not aphoristic.

Were there any misconceptions you had about the industry going into it?

It turned out to be a more dramatic story than I anticipated. At one point, through pure happenstance, I watched firsthand the dramatic collapse of one startup’s attempt to serve up cell-cultured meat in the Netherlands. That was the moment I really understood that there’s an edible space race going on among cultured meat companies, and the winner will get the first shot at capturing public imagination — and tons of investment.

Who are the key players?

In the short term, in the U.S. folks in business are going to gravitate toward Memphis Meats, which has a regulatory edge; JUST, an already-functioning food company; and Finless Foods, which is ahead of the curve in seafood. Mosa Meat in the Netherlands has a great shot at getting E.U. approval first. In the long term, though, I’m most drawn to what’s happening in Israel, at Aleph Farms and Future Meat Technologies.

What’s the strangest thing you ate during your reporting?

The first thing I was served was foie gras. On its surface that seemed pretty ho-hum, but then I realized it was basically just cultured meat paste that’d been scraped out of a bioreactor. It was fine, but mentally took a minute to process.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?

There’s enough money and influence behind cell-cultured meat that, even if it inspires squeamishness, it simply can’t be ignored. There are a ton of upsides, especially in light of how the coronavirus has pummeled the U.S. meat industry. It may be the most optimistic and realistic shot we’ve got at addressing animal agriculture’s massive environmental footprint.

Deals

• The coming I.P.O. of Albertsons, the grocery-market giant, could raise as much as $1.5 billion for existing investors like Cerberus. (FT)

• CureVac, a drug maker seeking to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, is said to be working on an I.P.O. in the U.S. (Bloomberg)

Politics and policy

• The Fed’s $600 billion Main Street lending program opened for business this week, but potential borrowers fear that not enough banks are participating. (WaPo)

• Joe Biden has raised far more money from private equity and hedge fund moguls than President Trump has. (Bloomberg)

Tech

• Amazon’s Twitch livestreaming platform has become an online hub for the Black Lives Matter movement. (NYT)

• Britain backtracked on efforts to create its own contact-tracing smartphone app and said it would work with Apple and Google on developing one. (NYT)

Best of the rest

• Repo agents don’t have much work to do, as borrowers get coronavirus aid from the federal government. (WSJ)

• When will Carnival cruise again? Executives aren’t sure. (Skift)

Today is Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The Times’s Styles team assembled a package of stories about what Juneteenth means now and how Americans celebrate it.

We’d love your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.

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We’re Fighting Over Masks Now? - The New York Times
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