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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

In this July 13, 2020, file photo, a chain-link fence lock is seen on a gate at a closed Ranchito Elementary School in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. States are furloughing workers, borrowing billions, delaying construction projects and reducing aid to local governments and schools as ways to cope in response to revenue drops that are expected to top 20% in some states, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Trump officials focused on how, and not whether, schools reopen

The Trump administration on Friday said reopening schools is not a matter of "if" it happens but "how it must be done" this fall, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rolled out new guidelines that support President Trump's push to resume classroom learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

July 24, 2020
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor speaks as he holds a "COVID-19 Pandemic Operational Guidance for the 2020 Hurricane Season" manual during a House Committee on Homeland Security meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 22, 2020, on the national response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

FEMA: States must protect supplies, evacuate smartly in hurricane season

Tropical Storm Gonzalo may weaken before it becomes a full-blown hurricane, but it is the seventh named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, underscoring a federal scramble to make sure states are ready to handle an "apocalyptic" scenario in which the COVID-19 nightmare clashes with a disaster response.

July 24, 2020
President Donald Trump holds a mask as he speaks during a news conference at the White House, Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

RNC convention in Jacksonville canceled over coronavirus spat

President Trump on Thursday abruptly canceled the portion of the Republican National Convention he moved from North Carolina to Florida because of a spat over coronavirus restrictions, saying the surge that blanketed the Sun Belt with infections made it impossible.

July 23, 2020
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House, Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Pfizer coronavirus vaccine deal touted by Trump

Pfizer will provide 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine if and when it is approved later this year under a "historic" deal with the government, President Trump said Wednesday, as three states and D.C. scrambled in the meantime to stanch the virus by mandating masks outside the home.

July 22, 2020
In this May 14, 2020, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses his revised 2020-2021 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday, July 17, 2020, that most counties will start the school year online due to soaring coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, but counties that have seen little of the virus, mostly towns and rural communities in California's north and east, can bring students and teachers back to campus. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File)

California to delay school sports for months

California announced Monday it is delaying the start of school athletics until December or January, pushing traditional fall sports like football into the spring as the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend American life.

July 20, 2020
In this handout photo released by the University of Oxford, a doctor takes blood samples for use in a coronavirus vaccine trial in Oxford, England on Thursday, June 25, 2020. (John Cairns, University of Oxford via AP) ** FILE **

AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine shows ‘robust’ immune response to the coronavirus

A front-runner in the pursuit of a coronavirus vaccine said doses sparked a "robust" immune response in human trials, but the pandemic continued to exact a toll from coast to coast, with California pushing football and other sports from the fall to spring and President Trump announcing he will resume daily briefings about the worsening crisis.

July 20, 2020
Citizens are tested by healthcare workers at the COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens as the coronavirus pandemic continues on Sunday, July 19, 2020. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)

NIH ‘Shark Tank’-style helps develop RADx easier coronavirus test

Americans pining for better COVID-19 tests should see relief by the fall thanks to a $500 million federal effort to deliver rapid and portable tests, including a lunchbox-sized machine that reads pop-in cartridges and sample tubes that plug into computer tablets and spit out results.

July 19, 2020
Registered Nurse Jill McFall talks to a patient before taking a swab for a COVID-19 test on Thursday, July 16, 2020, at Gritman Medical Center's drive-through testing site in Moscow, Idaho. Gritman has been testing an average of 50-60 patients a day since the sight opened on July 2, 2020. (Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)

Coronavirus test result delays makes it near useless as public health tool

From coast to coast, demands are straining capacity as Americans looking to travel or return to normal life try to get checked for infection from the coronavirus. Even as President Trump boasts about the volume of testing, getting a result can take a week or so, making it almost useless as a public health tool.

July 16, 2020
A young woman gets tested for COVID-19 at a health center in Salesiano park, in the Miguel Hidalgo district of Mexico City, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Coronavirus wreaks havoc on Mexico, Brazil, Chile

The Sun Belt is grappling with flare-ups of COVID-19, but the disease is causing havoc across the southern border, too, with Mexico surging to fourth on the death list and eclipsing former hot zones Italy and Spain.

July 15, 2020
A chain-link fence lock is seen on a gate at a closed Ranchito Elementary School in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles on Monday, July 13, 2020. Amid spiking coronavirus cases, Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will remain closed when classes resume in August, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Pfizer coronavirus vaccine fast-tracked by FDA

The Trump administration fast-tracked trial vaccines for the coronavirus Monday as states across the South and West buckled from the rapid spread of COVID-19, forcing California to close indoor dining, museums and theaters while Miami considers another lockdown.

July 13, 2020