The New York Times - 15 07 2020

2020·18.01 MB·English

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VOL.CLXIX... No. 58,755 ©2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JULY15, 2020 $3.00
CHANGING COURSE,
Defying China,
Britain Rejects U.S. ALLOWS VISAS
Telecom Giant
FOR ONLINE STUDY
A Reversal on Huawei
Over Risks to 5G WAIVING IN-PERSON RULE
This article is by Adam Satariano, Tumult Over Foreign
Stephen Castleand David E. Sang-
er. Students Is Eased by
LONDON — Britain announced Court Agreement
on Tuesday that it would ban
equipment from the Chinese tech-
nology giant Huawei from the
country’s high-speed wireless net- By MIRIAM JORDAN
work, a victory for the Trump ad- and ANEMONA HARTOCO
ministration that escalates the In a rare and swift immigration
battle between Western powers policy reversal, the Trump admin-
and China over critical technol- istration on Tuesday bowed to
ogy. snowballing opposition from uni-
The move reverses a decision in versities, Silicon Valley and 20
January, when Britain said states and abandoned a plan to
Huawei equipment could be used strip international college stu-
in its new 5G network on a limited dents of their visas if they did not
basis. Since then, Prime Minister attend at least some classes in
Boris Johnson has faced growing person.
political pressure domestically to The policy, which would have
take a harder line against Beijing, subjected foreign students to de-
and in May, the United States im- portation if they did not show up
posed new restrictions to disrupt for class on campus, had thrown
Huawei’s access to important the higher education world into
components. turmoil at a time when universi-
PATRICK SEMANSKY/ASSOCIATED PRESS Britain’s about-face signals a ties are grappling with whether to
Marines with the remains of Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, one of three Americans killed in a 2019 car bombing in Afghanistan. new willingness among Western reopen campuses during the coro-
countries to confront China, a de- navirus pandemic.
termination that has grown firmer The loss of international stu-
WEINSTEIN JUDGE A Blast. A Bounty Claim. A Battle With No End. since Beijing last month adopted a dents could have cost universities
sweeping law to tighten its grip on millions of dollars in tuition and
Hong Kong, the semiautonomous jeopardized the ability of U.S.
BLOCKS A PAYOUT the center of the latest iteration of city that was a British colony until companies to hire the highly
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Fees ‘Obnoxious’ Base in Afghanistan when a vehi- of a Russian military agency pay- Huawei’s critics say its close Technology filed the first of a lit-
cle, laden with explosives, ca- ing bounties to Afghan militia ties to the Chinese government any of lawsuits seeking to block it.
reened into it and detonated. ity that had gone into armoring groups for killing American mean Beijing could use the equip- On Tuesday, minutes before a
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Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the “As facts have changed, so has than the rule that had been in ef-
Southern District of New York our approach,” Oliver Dowden, fect for close to 20 years that re-
picked apart the class-action law- the government minister in quired foreign students to take
suit at the heart of the deal, sug- charge of telecommunications, most of their classes in person.
gesting it was misconceived. He told the House of Commons on But that rule was temporarily
asked why the women were not Tuesday afternoon. “This has not suspended on March 13, when Mr.
pursuing individual cases, given been an easy decision, but it is the Trump declared a national emer-
how much their allegations varied right one for the U.K.’s telecoms gency and campuses across the
in severity, and whether the group networks, for our national securi- country began shutting down,
me“tW thhea td iesf itnhietiroen toof ma alekgea ml cela bses.- Continued on PageA11 wJuitlyh 6c,l athssee gs omveorvnimnge not nmlinaed.e Oitns
lieve that a person who just met announcement that foreign stu-
Hclaairmve ays Wtheei npsetresino nh wash ot hise rsaapmede IN THE WEEDSA Rose Garden dUennittesd cSotualtde s nifo tth erier mstauidni eisn w ethree
by Harvey Weinstein?” the judge address by the president turned
asked. into a ramble. PAGE A17 Continued on Page A6
He went on to question how the
women’s allegations would be
evaluated and the money allocat-
ed among them, and called an ad- Sessions Loses Race for Senate,
ditional $12 million that would
have gone toward legal fees for Paying Price for Trump’s Wrath
Mr. Weinstein and his former com-
pany directors “obnoxious.” He
criticized Beth Fegan, the lead
counsel for the plaintiffs in the
class-action case, saying she By ELAINA PLOTT and JONATHAN MARTIN
wasted time “with settlements MOBILE, Ala. — As a longtime this race,” Mr. Sessions said, ad-
and attempts to create a class that senator from Alabama, Jeff Ses- dressing supporters at a small
doesn’t exist.” sions did nothing less than legiti- conference room at a Hampton
By the end of the call, the judge mize Donald J. Trump as a credi- Inn in Mobile.
had denied a motion for prelimi- ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES ble Republican candidate for pres- “I want to congratulate Tommy
nary approval of the agreement — A masked mannequin in a dress shop in McAllen, Texas. The Rio Grande Valley has been hit hard. ident, endorsing him when no Tuberville,” Mr. Sessions said,
in essence, scuttling the deal, law- other big names did and champi- fighting back tears. “We must
yers said. His decision renewed a oning him to conservative voters. stand behind him in November.
lingering question: Will the Chasing Virus News, Even When It Hits Home As Mr. Trump’s star rose, Mr. Ses- Doug Jones does not need to be
nearly 100 women who have come sions’s rose, too. our voice in Washington. He
forward with allegations of sexual But on Tuesday night, as he wishes to see the policies of Nancy
abuse by Mr. Weinstein, now a well — have had cases of the sought once again to become a Pelosi prevail over conservative
ctioonnv?icted rapist, see any restitu- By EDGAR SANDO Reporter’s Texas Family vTihruurss cdoanyf isrumrepda.s sTehde ictso upnretyv ioonus sloevneadt,o Mr rf.r Soems sAiolnasb acammae, car ajosbh inhge AlaMbra. mSeas psiroinncsi psaleids. ”he had no re-
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“Today felt like a huge setback,” MEMO Grande Valley. out paved roads or sewer con- sisters and their offspring all live ported, losing to a political neo- said, adding “and I saved the pres-
said Caitlin Dulany, one of the lead The small cities nections — places where the on the same block outside of phyte, the former Auburn football Continued on PageA16
plaintiffs. “The whole point of me along the border with Mexico are virus, once it arrives, can thrive. McAllen. As soon as the outbreak coach Tommy Tuberville, whom
doing this was to represent a among the poorest in the state. The worries, it turned out, reached the border, I volunteered Mr. Trump had enthusiastically
class, of a hundred-plus women, The Valley, as local residents call were justified. More than 8,000 to report on the story because I supported while denigrating Mr. RUNNING ON CONSPIRACYThe
and many more who haven’t spo- it, is a place of hard labor and people in Hidalgo County — was uniquely equipped to tell it. Sessions. president has cheered on candi-
Continued on PageA19 low pay where “working from some of whom I know only too Continued on PageA7 “We’ve fought a good fight in dates linked to QAnon. PAGE A16
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-8 SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-8
Trump Circumvents C.D.C. A League of His Own
Health experts are alarmed at the Marc Stein reports from inside the
administration’s edict that hospitals N.B.A. bubble at Disney World as the
should send patient records directly to league prepares to resume play after
a database in Washington. PAGE A5 shutting down in March. So far, he
hasn’t left his hotel room. PAGE B7
Not Ready to Reopen Schools
INTERNATIONAL A9-12 NATIONAL A13-19 FOOD D1-8
A Colorblind Ideal Wavers All but two of the nation’s 10 largest Visit Vermont Aboard a Drone ARTS C1-7 A Sidewalk Getaway
districts exceed a key threshold, a New Is It Abstract, or Albany?
Children of immigrants from Africa and York Times analysis shows. PAGE A6 Lakes, trees, fields and tranquil rivers New York City’s streets are offering
the Caribbean are bringing race into for the pandemic-restricted traveler. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has designed a outdoor dining experiences that evoke
France’s public discourse. PAGE A9 The World Through a Lens. PAGE A14 poster depicting the war New York has destinations all over the globe. Above,
BUSINESS B1-6 waged against the coronavirus. But you Mulberry Street in Little Italy. PAGE D4
Divisive Election in Poland ‘Hero’ Raises Disappearing A $2 Trillion Climate Proposal may wonder if it’s art or kitsch. PAGE C1
President Andrzej Duda won a narrow Several retailers have ended the raises Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s plan connects EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23 U(D54G1D)y+$!}!@!$!"
victory — likely to be contested — after a they gave employees for working dur- clean energy with the economic recov-
race that was sometimes ugly. PAGE A10 ing the pandemic. PAGE B1 ery and also addresses racism. PAGE A17 Joy Harjo PAGE A23
A2 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020
A.G. SULZBERGER
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Inside The Times The Newspaper
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VIDEO
Get your fashion fix this week.
You can watch livestreams of the
Milan Digital Fashion Week, with
presentations on men’s collections
and men’s-women’s pre-col-
lections for Spring/Summer 2021
from brands like Ferragamo,
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Strong Voices on Identity and Change
In a Times event, recording artists discussed the role of activism in their work.
A recent discussion in The Times’s “Live at Home” event series focused on music, activ-
ism and queer identity. The recording artists Meshell Ndegeocello, Brandi Carlile and
Hayley Kiyoko were joined in conversation by Nellie Bowles, a culture and technology
reporter for The Times. The panel fielded questions from readers and shared stories of
their lives and work. Here are edited excerpts from the event. AUDIO
The white-throated sparrow is
When did activism start for each of you? I think the battle is getting through to
changing its tune. A 20-year study
When did you become politically awakened? older generations that are having to un-
of the species, which is common in
Good friends HAYLEY KIYOKO:For me, it’s been out of learn this judgment. many North American forests,
necessity. I think that for most people who NDEGEOCELLO:I’m curious about the seed concluded that a new version of its
have lived their lives being activists, it is of what makes a person want to react to song is spreading. Listen to the
deserve extraordinary through necessity. When I released my their bigotry, disdain, discomfort, lack of changes in a Science Times arti-
music video for “Girls Like Girls,” that was familiarity, lack of education, that makes cle: nytimes.com/trilobites.
journalism. out of necessity for myself. them want to engage in violence. I’m more
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO:In my youth, I interested in the seed that’s in someone
wasn’t very aware of it. I was very singu- that wants to annihilate the other. It says
larly focused on making music. Music is much more about that person than it does
something where I feel genderless and about me.
raceless. But being a person of color, I
Refer someone to The Times. think every day of my existence is pretty How do you integrate queerness into your
Visit nytimes.com/refer. much making a statement, and I’ve only music?
come to understand that as I now am 52. KIYOKO:At first I had to actively imple-
But I think it happened naïvely. It was only ment my queerness into my music, be-
once I started to take in a lot more media, cause if I didn’t actively implement it, I LEARNING NETWORK
a lot more of an understanding of what it just don’t think I ever would have. I would Read the winning submissionof
meant to be in an industry that was mar- write music in my bedroom, and I would Week 3 in The Times’s summer
keting you in a specific way. I think that’s write in fear that someone was going to reading contest. In the chosen
when things started to click for me. find the lyrics. I was hanging out with my essay, a teenager interested in
BRANDI CARLILE:It happened when I was songwriter, and she said, “What are you STEM wrote about the recent
11. I fell in love with Elton John over of a most afraid of that you’ve never sung article “NASA Names Headquar-
fifth grade book report on Ryan White, about?” And that was girls. So we wrote ters After First Black Female
who died in the early ’90s from AIDS. He that song and it was very cathartic. I had Engineer, Mary Jackson.”
died and Elton John sang a song at his to actively force myself to do so, to break nytimes.com/learning
funeral. I picked up an Elton John CD and that boundary that I put down for myself.
it blew my mind. Then I read biographies, CARLILE:Music is such an expression that
then I started to get curious about Elton your sexuality comes out. It just does.
John’s AIDS foundation. At that point, I Whether you’re writing about it or not.
realized that the intersection between The people that need to know, know.
being an artist and an activist isn’t even an
intersection at all. It’s hard to know where So how do you balance activism and being
one begins and the other ends, and I knew out with the very real threats of violence that
that if I ever had a platform, my music
still exist?
would be a means to an end.
NDEGEOCELLO:Ihave to say your safety EVENT
What is the next battle? is much more important, your life. I’m a There is no playbookfor parenting
KIYOKO:We all are working hard to make very passive, nonviolent person, and I during a pandemic. In a Live at
the next generation able to thrive. I think hope you can find the peace within your- Home audio event, join parents
it’s easier, but I don’t think it’s easy. When self, so perhaps do your activism through from The Times and special
I was touring before the pandemic, and other channels that don’t jeopardize your guests for a night of conversation
seeing all these kids, ages 11 to 23, most of safety. That’s the most important thing. and self care, beginning with a
them, 80 percent of them, were not out to meditation practice. Tonight at
their family, were kicked out of their Listen to the conversation at 8 p.m. E.D.T. To RSVP, visit
homes, were living a double life. timesevents.nytimes.com timesevents.nytimes.com.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020 N A3
Of Interest
NOTEWORTHY FACTS FROM TODAY’S PAPER
George Mason University in Fairfax, During the second quarter of this
Va., has 43 robots — essentially year, Wells Fargo had its first
high-tech coolers on wheels — ready quarterly loss since 2008.
to deliver meals and snacks from Big Banks, Fearing Toll Yet to Come,
Starbucks, Dunkin’ and other brands Stow Billions B1
this fall. •
Album sales have dropped by more
A Re-education in Campus Dining D1
• than 10 percent over each of the last
The auto industry accounts for about four years.
4 percent of American economic Billboard Tweaks Rules on Ticket Bundles C3
output. •
The frequency of high-tide flooding
Automakers Are Back at Full Throttle,
But Perhaps Not for Long B4 in the U.S. has increased
• dramatically along the Atlantic and
ADAM HIGTON
Retail sales in the eurozone, which Gulf Coasts since 2000 because of
plunged to record lows while millions Black sage, a spiky shrublike plant rising sea levels, which were roughly
were confined, surged 17.8 percent in native to Southern California and 13 inches higher nationally last year
May from the month before, Europe’s Northern Mexico, flowers every three than in 1920.
statistics agency reported this week. years and yields honey three or four Data Show an ‘Extraordinary’ Rise in Coastal
Lockdowns Eased, Europe Finds Plenty times a decade. Flooding A18
Of Reasons to Shop Again B1
A Rare Honey for Your Table D3
The Conversation Spotlight
FOUR OF THE MOST READ, SHARED AND DISCUSSED POSTS ADDITIONAL REPORTAGE AND REPARTEE
FROM ACROSS NYTIMES.COM FROM OUR JOURNALISTS
America Drank Away Its Children’s Future In today’s Business section, Peter Eavis reported on the small
Paul Krugman, an Opinion columnist for The Times, argued number of large companies that tie executives’ compensation
that, besides endangering citizens’ health, the rush to reopen to goals on hiring and promoting more women and people of
bars and allow large gatherings in many states will inflict color. He provided additional information on Twitter. An
long-term damage on American students. “For many, perhaps edited selection follows.
most students there is no substitute for actually being in a
classroom,” he wrote.
Corporate boards, shareholders and business schools
Tucker Carlson to Take ‘Long-Planned’ Vacation have spent decades preaching that it’s important to tie
After Writer’s Resignation executive pay to clear cut, publicly disclosed goals if
you want CEOs to get important things done.
The Fox News host’s announcement came Monday night,
after a writer on his program resigned over racist and sexist
messages he posted online. Mr. Carlson told viewers he would
return to his show next week.
So how about linking some of a CEO’s pay to achieving
diversity goals within their companies? It’s not that hard
for a CEO to produce diversity reports, issue statements
of support to causes like Black Lives Matter, or even set
up special investment funds.
And it’s not just about the money. Having clear diversity
goals for the CEO creates an important scorecard for
employees and others wanting to assess progress. It
provides some valuable measurability.
FOX NEWS
Seem unlikely to you that our coddled CEO class would EBONYCUFF
Coronavirus Live Updates ever put their pay on the line like this? It’s true that only 18KDIAMONDAND
The Times’s live briefing included the news that a record a tiny number of companies do something like this, SLEEPINGBEAUTY
5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance between though some do, including Satya Nadella at Microsoft TURQUOISE
February and May, according to a study by the nonpartisan and Dara Khosrowshahi at Uber.
consumer group Families U.S.A. The study found that nearly
half of the coverage losses came in five states: California,
Texas, Florida, New York and North Carolina.
The CEO of another company that does this, Charles
Government Carries Out First Federal Execution Jones of FirstEnergy, told me: “I’ve got experience that
In 17 Years suggests that if you tie compensation to the things
Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal you want to have accomplished, you are much more
challenge on a 5-4 vote, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, was put to successful at getting them accomplished.” True Blue
death by lethal injection in Terre Haute, Ind., for his role in
the 1996 murder of a family of three. The execution concluded Peter Eavis @uwsgeezer
an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment.
To read Mr. Eavis’s article, go to Page B1.
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6
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8
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A4 WEDNESDAY, JULY15, 2020
N Tracking an Outbreak
Coronavirus Update Hot Spots in the United States
As of Tuesday evening, more than 3,426,700 people across every state,plus Washington, D.C., and four U.S. territories, have tested positive for the
coronavirus, according to a New York Times database. More than 136,000people with the virus have died in the United States.
Florida Reports New Daily High for Deaths
How the number of new cases
Mask Orders Issued in France and England has changed overthe last two weeks
Wash.
New York Adds 4 States to Quarantine List
Falling Rising (cid:314) Few or same
Mont. N.D. number of cases Maine
By JAMES BARRON Ore. Idaho Minn. Minn. Wis. N.Y. Vt.N.H.
Did they reopen too soon or too fast? States that have been S.D. Mass.
swamped by the coronavirus have had to think about reinstating Mich.
restrictions they relaxed to get their economies going again. And Wyo. Conn. R.I.
the failure to control the pandemic in the summer will probably
memeapnty m fooorteb eacllo sntoamdiiucm tusr abnudle cnocnec ienr tt hhea fllasl le, mweitrhg cinlogs aesd bsuchmopoyls s apnodts Nev. Neb. Iowa Ohio Pa. N.J.
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cases on Monday, 18 percent of the world’s total. Their total since the Kan. Mo. Va.
start of the pandemic is roughly 27 percent of the nation’s total. On Calif. Ky.
Tuesday, Florida set a record for its most deaths in a day, with 132. Tenn. N.C.
Alabama also set a record, with 40 deaths. Okla.
The figures on new cases also pointed in the wrong direction, Ariz. Ark. S.C.
though the 9,194 in Florida on Tuesday were fewer than the record N.M. Miss. Ga.
reported on Sunday. Oklahoma added 993 cases on Tuesday for a Ala.
single-day record. Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged the
surge during a visit to Louisiana, which has averaged more new La.
cases each day for most of July. “This is a serious time with rising Texas
cases across Louisiana and all across the Sun Belt,” he said at a
state emergency command center in Baton Rouge. But, he added, Alaska Fla.
“We have more resources to deal with the pandemic than ever be-
fore.”
‘Greater Sense of Urgency’ Hawaii Puerto Rico
More and more, it’s a masked, masked, masked world. England
mandated face coverings in shops and supermarkets. President
Emmanuel Macron of France said in a televised interview that he
wanted them worn in all public indoor spaces. Melania Trump, the Sources: State and local health agencies. The map shows where the average number of reported cases over the past two weeks is increasing, decreasing or
first lady, tweeted a photo of herself wearing one. And in hard-hit about the same. Counties with fewer than 20 cases over the past two weeks and parts of a county with a population density lower than 10 people per square mile
are not shaded. Data for Rhode Island is shown at the state level because county data is infrequently reported. Data is as of July 14, 2020, at 5:00 p.m., Eastern. THE NEW YORK TIMES
Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, wore a mask while speak-
ing at an indoor news conference in Miami on Tuesday, a memorable
moment because he has been criticized for not mandating face
coverings in his state. RESEARCH
He met with a group of Florida mayors, including Dan Gelber,
the Democratic mayor of Miami Beach, who said it was “impera- A Vaccine Through the Nose Is Probably Best
tive” for people to hear Mr. DeSantis endorse masks. Mayor Francis
X. Suarez of the city of Miami, a Republican, who has said that
wearing a mask in public should be no different from wearing a
seatbelt in a car, urged Mr. DeSantis to issue a mask mandate. By KATHERINE J. WU circulating cells and molecules,
“We have to create a greater sense of urgency,” Mr. Suarez said. Of the 150-plus coronavirus vac- they’ll eventually find the infec-
tion. But you’d rather have a more
England’s mask mandate came after months of equivocating by cines in development around the immediate response.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government. Many scientists had world, the lion’s share will rely on a
Without a strong mucosal re-
found the laissez-faire approach not only mystifying but uneasily needle prick to make their way sponse, injected vaccines may be
reminiscent of the delays in imposing a lockdown in March, a deci- into the body. less likely to produce so-called
sion that cost thousands of lives and left Britain with the third- Most vaccines throughout his- sterilizing immunity, a phenom-
highest death toll in the world, after the United States and Brazil. tory have been jabbed into the up- enon in which a pathogen is
Just under 90 percent of the British deaths have been in England. per arm, often to great success. purged from the body before it’s
England’s mandate put it on the path of other European coun- But when protecting people able to infect cells, Dr. Durbin said.
tries, like Germany and Italy, and other parts of Britain, like Scot- against pathogens that invade the Vaccinated people might be pro-
land, which had already made face coverings compulsory. (Each airway — like the coronavirus — tected from severe disease, but
country in the United Kingdom is responsible for its own public an intramuscular shot isn’t always could still be infected, experience
health measures, and each has set its own course on face coverings best, some experts say. mild symptoms and occasionally
and reopenings.) pre“Wsehnet np atwheo getnask ein aap waraty tahnadt ponatsos ostmhearlls .quantities of the germ
Masks have been mandatory on public transportation in Eng- the immune system doesn’t natu- Reliably rousing mucosal im-
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prominent minister, Michael Gove, resisting the notion of requiring right immune response.” spray vaccine containing weak-
masks in stores. He called masks a matter of “basic good manners, Many microbes, including the moment it tries to breach the enormous improvement over its ened flu viruses, has been shown
courtesy and consideration.” On Tuesday, a London newspaper coronavirus, enter the body body’s barriers, said Deepta Bhat- injected predecessor because it to be more effective than flu shots
published photographs of Mr. Gove, maskless as he stopped to pick through the mucosa — wet, tacharya, an immunologist at the targeted the body’s immune re- in young children, its performance
up breakfast at a takeout outlet. squishy tissues that line the nose, University of Arizona. sponse in the gut, where the virus is more lackluster in adults. And
Mr. Johnson’s government sounds serious about seeing that mouth, lungs and digestive tract Under ideal circumstances, thrives. Many people who took the the oral polio vaccine has been
masks are worn when the mandate takes effect next week. Enforce- —triggering a unique immune re- both types of vaccines would mar- oral vaccine seemed to quash in- linked to a very small number of
ment will be up to the police, not shop owners. Anyone who refuses sponse from cells and molecules shal a response in the blood. B fections even before they felt cases of polio after the weakened
there. Intramuscular vaccines cells, for example, would churn symptoms — or passed the germ virus in the product mutated.
to slip on a mask faces a fine of up to 100 pounds, or $125. generally do a poor job of eliciting out antibodies — including a par- on to others. Designing a mucosal vaccine
In France, where masks have been recommended but not re- this mucosal response, and must ticularly potent disease-fighter “It was a fabulous vaccine to with less risky ingredients, such
quired, Mr. Macron said in a televised interview that he wanted to instead rely on immune cells mo- called IgG — to roam the body in stop the transmission of polio,” as inactivated viruses or genetic
“make masks mandatory in all enclosed public spaces” by Aug. 1. bilized from elsewhere in the body. search of invaders to dispatch. said Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine material, could circumvent that is-
He said his motivation was an increase in the virus reproduction Given the potency and rapid Other cells, called T cells, would ei- expert at Johns Hopkins Univer- sue. But these more innocuous for-
rate. He said it was edging past 1 again, meaning that each infected spread of the coronavirus, some ther help B cells produce antibod- sity. “It helped induce herd immu- mulations could be too weak to
person was transmitting the virus to someone else. say it makes sense to develop vac- ies or seek out and destroy in- nity,” she said, referring to the stimulate a long-lasting immune
As in Britain, masks are already required on public transporta- cines for the airway as well as the fected cells. threshold of the population that response.
tion in France, “but it’s a little spotty in enclosed public spaces,” he more standard jabs. “Knowing But vaccines spritzed through needs to be immune to a pathogen “You want the vaccine to be
said. how potent mucosal responses the nose or mouth would also tap to keep it from spreading. strong enough to get in and do
can be against a viral pathogen, it into another set of immune cells Vaccines given through muscle what it needs to do, but it can’t
Also making masks mandatory: Andalusia, the region on Spain’s would be ideal to be thinking about that hang around mucosal tissues. are great for prompting the body cause a lot of symptoms,” Dr.
southern coast whose capital is Seville. Adults there can take off mucosal vaccines,” said Akiko The B cells that reside here can to churn out antibodies in the Durbin said. “It’s a really difficult
their masks only to swim or to eat. Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale make another type of antibody, bloodstream, like IgG. If a patho- balance.”
University. called IgA, that plays a large role gen shows up, hordes of these on- Much of mucosal immunity also
Several research groups, in- in bringing gut and airway patho- call molecules will rush to meet it. remains mysterious to re-
New Coronavirus Cases Announced Daily in U.S. cluding teams in the United States, gens to heel. And T cells in this For many respiratory infec- searchers. . There are also fewer
As of Tuesday evening, more than 3,426,700 people across every Canada and the Netherlands, are neighborhood can memorize the tions, that’s good enough. tried-and-true technologies for de-
state, plus Washington, D.C., and four U.S. territories, have tested working on nasal vaccines. And a features of specific pathogens, Still, relying on that strategy veloping nasal and oral vaccines,
positive for the virus, according to a New York Times database. few companies, including the then spend the rest of their lives alone can be risky — a bit like compared with injectables.
American biotech Vaxart, are patrolling the places they first en- shoring up a bank’s security at ev- All these factors can introduce
starting to cook up oral formula- countered them. ery entrance except for the one a speed bumps in the vaccine-devel-
60,000 tions, which deliver their contents These mucosal immune re- thief would most likely hit. Sen- opment timeline, as researchers
to another mucus-rich surface: sponses seem to underlie the suc- tinels roving throughout the build- work to ensure both safety and ef-
the spongy lining of the gut. cess of the oral polio vaccine, ing could subdue the interloper af- fectiveness, Dr. August said. That
New cases The hope is that mucosal vac- which contains a weakened form ter they trip the alarm. But by that means mucosal recipes might not
cines will do all that their intra- of polio virus and has helped most point, some damage has probably be among the first generation of
muscular competitors can and of the world eradicate polio. When already been done. coronavirus vaccines. But per-
30,000
more, mounting a multipronged it debuted in the 1960s, the vaccine “It’s mainly a timing issue,” Dr. haps that’s all the more reason to
attack on the coronavirus from the was considered, in many ways, an Bhattacharya said. “If you have invest in them earlier, he said.
7-day
average
WASHINGTON
March 1 July 14
A Trusted Trump Adviser Posts a Cartoon Mocking Fauci
Note: Tuesday’s total is incomplete because some states report cases
after press time. Data is as of July 14, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Sources: State and local health agencies; hospitals; C.D.C. THE NEW YORK TIMES
By KATIE ROGERS case, representing the economy — such as yourself, it’s done publicly disinvited from a White House
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New York State added four other states to its quarantine list. nied trying to undermine Dr. An- sidered antithetical to White row!” tains anti-Semitic messaging.
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York. A statement from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office said the four of Mr. Trump’s most trusted advis-
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the South and West. Mr. Cuomo said on Monday that he was “wor- whose work has been criticized ponent, though Mr. Scavino refers sive one earlier this year. declined to comment on Mr. Scavi-
ried about our infection rate going up because of people coming for its anti-Semitic imagery. to him as a colleague. The cartoon posted by Mr. Scav- no’s post, or whether it was a re-
from other states where the infection rate is higher.” Mr. Scavino on Sunday posted “Sorry, Dr. Faucet!” Mr. Scavino ino was drawn by the artist Ben flection of Mr. Trump’s views on
on Facebook a rendering of Dr. wrote in a caption accompanying Garrison, whose work is often pro- Dr. Fauci, but one senior official
Coronavirus Update wraps up the day’s developments with infor- Fauci that likened him to a faucet the post. “At least you know if I’m moted by alt-right figures and praised him for putting his name
mation from across the virus report. drowning Uncle Sam — in this going to disagree with a colleague, trolls. Last year, Mr. Garrison was to the post.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020 N A5
Tracking an Outbreak U.S. Fallout
SHUFFLING THE SYSTEM
Trump Administration to Collect Hospitals’ Virus Data From Now On
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG ministration can’t find the where-
WASHINGTON — The Trump withal to bring 21st-century
administration has ordered hospi- technologies in data management
tals to bypass the Centers for Dis- to the fight.”
ease Control and Prevention and Dr. Hanfling and others agree
send all Covid-19 patient informa- that information does need to be
tion to a central database in Wash- centralized, but they disagree on
ington beginning on Wednesday. how that should happen. Dr. Han-
The move has alarmed health ex- fling called for a new “national
perts who fear the data will be po- data coordination center” that
liticized or withheld from the pub- would be used for “forecasting,
lic. identifying, detecting, tracking
and reporting on emerging dis-
The new instructions were
eases.”
posted recently in a little-noticed
document on the Department of Representative Donna E. Sha-
Health and Human Services web- lala of Florida, who served as
health secretary under former
site. From now on, the department
President Bill Clinton, said the
— not the C.D.C. — will collect
C.D.C. was the proper agency to
daily reports about the patients
gather health data. If there were
that each hospital is treating, the
flaws in the C.D.C.’s systems, she
number of available beds and ven-
said, they should be fixed.
tilators, and other information vi-
“Only the C.D.C. has the exper-
tal to tracking the pandemic.
tise to collect data,” Ms. Shalala
Officials say the change will
said. “I think any move to take re-
streamline data gathering and as-
sponsibility away from the people
sist the White House coronavirus
who have the expertise is politiciz-
task force in allocating scarce sup-
ing.”
plies like personal protective gear
Hospitals say the previous re-
and remdesivir, the first drug
porting requirements were cum-
shown to be effective against the
bersome, partly because they fre-
virus. But the Health and Human
quently changed.
Services database that will re-
“It has been an administrative
ceive new information is not open
hassle and confusing to con-
to the public, which could affect
stantly be shifting gears on re-
the work of scores of researchers,
porting while hospitals are on the
modelers and health officials who
front lines during a pandemic,”
rely on C.D.C. data to make projec-
Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman
tions and crucial decisions.
for the Texas Hospital Associa-
the“ Hpliasctoer wichaellrye, pCu.bDl.iCc .h ehaalsth b deaetna There are vast gaps in the government’s ability to collect and manage health data; experts call it an antiquated sEyRsINt eSCmHA FaFt/T bHEe NsEtW. YORK TIMES tion, wrote in an email.
At Rush University Medical
has been sent, and this raises
Center in Chicago as the pan-
questions about not just access for The new, faster and complete data ently political apparatus is dan- as long as we’re able to continue to TeleTracking, a health data firm demic raged, the hospital had four
researchers but access for report- system is what our nation needs gerous and breeds distrust,” said advise them and look at the data,” with headquarters in Pittsburgh. full-time employees reporting vi-
ers, access for the public to try to to defeat the coronavirus, and the Dr. Nicole Lurie, who served as as- she said, calling the switch “a sin- However, if hospitals were al- rus data to four different agencies,
better understand what is hap- C.D.C., an operating division of sistant secretary for prepared- cere effort to streamline and im- ready reporting such information said Dr. Bala N. Hota, the hospi-
pening with the outbreak," said H.H.S., will certainly participate ness and response under former prove data collection.’’ to their states, they could continue tal’s chief analytics officer.
Jen Kates, the director of global in this streamlined all-of-govern- President Barack Obama. “It ap- The change exposes the vast to do so if they received a written But while Dr. Hota said he sup-
health and H.I.V. policy with the ment response. They will simply pears to cut off the ability of agen- gaps in the government’s ability to release saying the state would ported streamlining the process
nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foun- no longer control it.” cies like C.D.C. to do its basic job.” handle reporting. and the involvement of state and
dation. But the instructions to hospitals The shift grew out of a tense Senator Patty Murray of Wash- local agencies in reporting, he was
“How will the data be pro- in the department guidance is ex- conference call several weeks ago ington, the top Democrat on the also concerned that months into
tected?” she asked. “Will there be plicit and underscored: “As of July between hospital executives and Raising questions Senate health committee, has the pandemic, the United States
transparency, will there be access, 15, 2020, hospitals should no long- Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White raised questions about the Tele- still did not have an established
and what is the role of the C.D.C. in er report the Covid-19 information House coronavirus response co- about public access Tracking contract, calling it a system of collecting the kind of in-
understanding the data?” in this document to the National ordinator. After Dr. Birx said hos- to vital information. “noncompetitive, multimillion- formation it needed to seamlessly
News of the change came as a Healthcare Safety Network site,” pitals were not adequately report- dollar contract” for a “duplicative move patients from a full hospital
shock at the C.D.C., according to the C.D.C.’s system for gathering ing their data, she convened a health data system.” to one with available beds.
two officials who spoke on the con- data from more than 25,000 medi- working group of government and Both the C.D.C. network and the “The C.D.C. is the right agency
dition of anonymity because they cal centers around the country. hospital officials who devised the TeleTracking system set up by to be at the forefront of collecting
were not authorized to discuss the Public health experts have long new plan, according to Dr. Janis collect and manage health data — Health and Human Services rely the data,” Dr. Hota said.
matter. Michael R. Caputo, a expressed concerns that the Orlowski, the chief health care of- an antiquated system at best, ex- on so-called push data, meaning The C.D.C. has been criticized
Health and Human Services Trump administration is politiciz- ficer of the Association of Ameri- perts say. The C.D.C. has been col- hospital employees must manu- for its data collection, however. In
spokesman, called the C.D.C.’s ing science and undermining its can Medical Colleges, who partici- lecting coronavirus data through ally enter data, rather than the May, the agency acknowledged
system inadequate and said the health experts, in particular the pated in the group’s meetings. its National Healthcare Safety government tapping into an elec- that in tracking the spread of the
two systems would be linked. The C.D.C.; four of the agency’s for- While she said she understood Network, which was expanded at tronic system to obtain the infor- virus, it had been combining tests
C.D.C. would continue to make mer directors, spanning both Re- Dr. Lurie’s concern, Dr. Orlowski the outset of the pandemic to track mation. that detect active infection with
data public, he said. publican and Democratic admin- said the administration had hospital capacity and patient in- “The whole thing needs to be those that detect recovery from
“Today, the C.D.C. still has at istrations, said as much in an opin- pledged in “a verbal discussion” to formation specific to Covid-19. scrapped and started anew,” said Covid-19. That system muddied
least a week lag in reporting hos- ion piece published Tuesday in make the data public — or at least In its new guidance, Health and Dr. Dan Hanfling, an expert in the picture of the pandemic but
pital data,” Mr. Caputo said. The Washington Post. The data give hospitals access to it. Human Services said that going medical and disaster prepared- raised the percentage of Ameri-
“America requires it in real time. collection shift reinforced those “We are comfortable with that forward, hospitals should report ness and a vice president at In-Q- cans tested as President Trump
fears. as long as they continue to work detailed information on a daily ba- Tel, a nonprofit strategic invest- was boasting about the number of
Reed Abelson contributed report- “Centralizing control of all data with us, as long as they continue to sis directly to the new centralized ment firm focused on national se- tests the United States was con-
ing from New York. under the umbrella of an inher- make the information public, and system, which is managed by curity. “It is laughable that this ad- ducting.
NEW YORK Travelers from certain states
with high incidence of
Officials Brace for a Surge, Covid-19 must quarantine if
they enter New Jersey, as well
as New York and Connecticut.
Despite Travel Restrictions
Quarantining also didn’t seem
like much of a burden for the many
By LUIS FERRÉ-SADURNÍ bly hard to keep the virus out of people still working from home,
and NATE SCHWEBER New York State,” said Isaac Weis- like Jeff Rudolph, a psychologist
New York, once the center of fuse, a former New York City dep- who was returning from a five-day
the coronavirus pandemic, has so uty health commissioner. “I think vacation in his second home in
successfully stemmed the out- that these types of travel restric- Longboat Key, Fla.
break that its death and hospital- tions may be somewhat helpful, “For me, it’s not a particular
ization rates have plummeted and but we should assume that they’re hardship,” said Mr. Rudolph, 72,
it has among the lowest infection not going to be airtight.” who lives in New Jersey. “I do my
rates in the country. But Dr. Weisfuse, an adjunct patient therapy sessions online. I
But the state and its neighbors professor at Cornell University’s think safety first.”
are facing a disquieting new master of public health program, Still, some others said they had
threat: Can they keep the virus and other epidemiologists said no intention of quarantining,
suppressed when it is raging New York was better positioned to whether because they were in
across the South and West? deal with a surge in cases this time town for business or because they
Officials and public health ex- around. didn’t believe the coronavirus was
perts are especially concerned They said that government offi- a real threat. Or both.
that infected travelers from any of cials had a better understanding Daurys Payano, 24, who lives in
the nearly 40 states where the out- of the virus and that doctors in Phoenix and came to New York
break is spiking could set off new New York had learned invaluable City for a week to deal with a busi-
clusters in New York. Gov. An- lessons from treating the disease. ness matter related to his work as
drew M. Cuomo on Monday im- People in New York, where more TED SHAFFREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS a truck driver, said he would not
posed more restrictions on trav- than 400,000 people were infected impose sweeping rollbacks of the states on the quarantine list, text message or in person to en- quarantine.
elers from states with high infec- and more than 30,000 died, are their reopening plans, forcing which is updated regularly ac- sure they are quarantining, offi- “I don’t mean to sound igno-
tion rates, but it is not all clear that keenly aware of the risks and, for many businesses to close again. cording to certain virus health cials said. More than 20,000 forms rant,” he said, expressing skepti-
they will be followed — or are the most part, of the importance of Officials in New York — unlike metrics. The quarantine currently had been submitted as of last cism over the threat of the virus
even enforceable. wearing masks. The state has also in Connecticut and New Jersey, applies to travelers from a broad week, state officials said. and the need for masks. “I’m not
Tens of thousands of people en- dramatically ramped up its test- which also implemented a quar- swath of mostly the West and Ensuring that people filled out stopping my life for a virus. If I
ter New York daily through its air- ing capacity, processing about antine requirement — have South where cases have skyrock- the forms became a problem for catch it, God forgive me.”
ports, highways and train sta- 60,000 tests per day. sought to proactively enforce the eted, including California, Florida officials early on. A recent out- The quarantine doesn’t apply to
tions, and compliance largely de- “I don’t anticipate that in New quarantine order. The state insti- and Texas. On Tuesday, Minne- break of cases in Rensselaer everyone: Essential workers
pends on the whims of visitors and York, we’re going to have a second tuted fines of up to $10,000 and sota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wis- County originated with three resi- traveling to New York, like health
of residents returning home. wave that is going to look like made it legal to order people to consin were added to the list and dents — two of whom worked in care workers and emergency
Mr. Cuomo has warned it is al- what we have in Texas and Flor- self-isolate, if necessary. Delaware was removed. nursing homes. They traveled to medical workers, are not required
most inevitable that the virus will ida,” said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, direc- But no fines or mandatory isola- The quarantine order has ap- Georgia and did not report their to self-isolate. But those workers
seep back into the state, much the tor of the Center for Infection and tion orders have been issued in plied to more than 900 flights that arrival back in New York. are supposed to get tested within
way it came to New York through Immunity at the Mailman School New York City since the order have landed in New York, New Collecting the questionnaires the first 24 hours of entering the
flights from Europe in February. of a Public Health at Columbia took effect on June 25, according Jersey and Connecticut since the also appeared to be a problem. On state, according to state guide-
He has also raised concerns that University. “We can’t become to a city spokeswoman. Instead, order went into effect, according a recent evening last week, many lines.
some New Yorkers might let their complacent, and I don’t think we both state and city officials have to a New York Times analysis of travelers at La Guardia Airport People visiting New York for a
guard down and blamed local gov- will. I am cautiously optimistic.” urged travelers to take the order flight data provided by MyRadar. walked out of baggage claim with medical appointment that cannot
ernments for not enforcing mask- Mr. Cuomo’s quarantine order seriously and are hoping visitors About one-third came from Flor- the form in hand, unsure of where be postponed are allowed to go to
wearing and social-distancing comes as the state continues to will comply voluntarily, as with ida, and most flights landed in to hand it in. their appointment, but should oth-
measures. gradually reopen and stabilize its similar executive orders mandat- New York City, Newark, N.J. and Whether they planned to quar- erwise quarantine. State police in
But his focus lately has been on health metrics. ing masks and social distancing. Teterboro, N.J. antine or not, most travelers ar- the tristate region are not pulling
trying to keep the virus from re- In July, New York averaged Mr. Cuomo himself has ac- Domestic flights are averaging riving on a recent afternoon from over drivers with out-of-state li-
entering New York: Travelers about 10 virus-related deaths a knowledged the difficulty of en- about 68 passengers per flight, ac- designated states like North Car- cense plates. And the quarantine
from 22 states where cases have day, a huge drop from the 799 forcing the mandate and the gov- cording to Airlines for America, olina and Kansas seemed to be doesn’t apply to individuals driv-
increased must now quarantine deaths over a 24-hour period at ernment’s limited reach, likening an industry group, so more than aware of the 14-day requirement. ing through the state; they are al-
for two weeks upon arrival in New the peak of the outbreak in April. enforcement to “trying to catch 61,000 people could have been on Dani Sheinbaum, 33, who lives lowed to pull over at rest stops, for
York. And beginning Tuesday, About 790 people are hospitalized, water in a screen.” those flights. in Connecticut and was returning example.
travelers arriving at New York down from nearly 19,000 people a “New York’s problem is we have Before Mr. Cuomo made the air- from visiting her best friend in In Connecticut, travelers can
airports will be required to fill out few months ago when hospitals the infection coming from other port forms mandatory, arriving Dallas, went so far as to inform avoid the quarantine if they prove
a form with their personal infor- were nearly overrun. states back to New York,” Mr. passengers were expected to vol- her gym she wouldn’t be going they tested negative for the virus
mation and planned whereabouts, But New York officials are Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, untarily fill them out and leave back for a while because of the up to 72 hours before their arrival
or face a $2,000 fine. readying for a spike, however big said on Monday, noting the state is them in drop boxes. quarantine. to the state. There is no such ex-
Epidemiologists said they were or small, as states like Florida con- not “a hermetically sealed bub- The information from the forms “It’s a moral compass,” said Ms. ception in New York; Officials say
skeptical that the measures would tinue to report record numbers of ble.” is shared with local health depart- Sheinbaum, an account executive a negative test is not reliable since
work. cases — more than 12,000 on Mon- Officials estimate about 12,000 ments, which are supposed to fol- at a job recruitment company. “I Covid-19 symptoms can emerge
“I think it’s going to be incredi- day — and others, like California, people visit New York daily from low up with visitors over phone, don’t want to fail my brethren.” as late as 14 days after exposure.
A6 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020
Tracking an Outbreak U.S. Fallout
OBSTACLES TO REOPENING
In Most Big School Districts, Infection Rates Are Too High to Curb Spread
By DANA GOLDSTEIN Some American health experts where the city had a 5 percent pos-
and ELIZA SHAPIRO believe that operating schools itivity rate — in having the virus
As education leaders decide may be safer than generally ac- sufficiently under control to sat-
whether to reopen classrooms in knowledged, given research sug- isfy the public health threshold.
the fall amid a raging pandemic, gesting that young children are Still, New York City will likely of-
many are looking to a standard less likely than adults to either fer in-person instruction only one
generally agreed upon among epi- contract the coronavirus or to to three days a week when the
demiologists: To control commu- spread it. school year begins in September.
nity spread of the coronavirus, the But the fact remains that the In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, a
average daily infection rate United States has failed to control Republican, has made the return
among those who are tested the spread of the coronavirus, to classrooms a priority, but he
should not exceed 5 percent. making it difficult to apply the re- signaled greater flexibility on
But of the nation’s 10 largest assuring news from abroad. Local Tuesday amid a steep uptick in vi-
school districts, only New York and state leaders must now decide rus cases. The state’s guidelines
City and Chicago appear to have on the best course of action be- require districts to offer in-person
achieved that public health goal, tween two bad choices: either education five days a week, al-
according to a New York Times open school buildings and take the though parents could choose to
analysis of city and county-level risk that educators, students and have children learn online only.
data. parents become ill, or keep them The Houston Federation of
Some of the biggest districts, shuttered and hinder the develop- Teachers, a union that represents
like Miami-Dade County in Flor- ment of tens of millions of chil- 6,500 educators, had blasted the
ida and Clark County, Nev., which dren. state’s plan for reopening cam-
includes Las Vegas, are in coun- “These are like wartime deci- puses as “unacceptably vague
ties that have recently reported sions,” Mr. Runcie said. “This is lit- and hardly adequate.” In a letter
positive test rates more than four erally like sending people into bat- sent to the school district on Sun-
times greater than the 5 percent tle, and without appropriate day, teachers asked to delay class-
threshold, the data shows. tools.” room instruction until the area
The alarming spread of the vi- In the United States, districts had seen a decline in new cases for
rus has prompted a growing num- are increasingly splitting into at least 14 days and achieved the
ber of districts to announce they three groups: those that plan to CARL COURT/GETTY IMAGES positive test rate of less than 5 per-
would rely on online instruction in teach online only, those that will Above, a classroom last month cent. That is far from the current
the fall. The superintendent of the allow families to choose between in Japan, where schools were landscape in greater Houston,
nation’s sixth-largest district, in in-person and at-home instruc- able to reopen. Left, teachers in which in recent days had a pos-
Broward County, Fla., on Tuesday tion, and those offering a hybrid Texas checking students’ tem- itive test rate of 13 percent.
recommended full-time remote approach, with students spending peratures before a summer “No one wants to be inside the
learning despite pressure from some days in classrooms and camp. Many large school dis- school building more than teach-
tdheen ts Ttarutem’sp .g Tohvaert nfoolrl owanedd aPnr easni-- somMea nleya lranrigneg d riestmriocttesl fya.ll into the tricts in the U.S. will move to emras,t”h s ateida cMhearx iae tH ao lHlinogusswtoonr thel, ea-
nouncement on Monday that Cali- third category, although more are online only teaching in the fall. mentary school. But Ms. Hol-
fornia’s two largest districts, Los moving into the first as the virus lingsworth said she was not com-
Angeles and San Diego, will teach continues to rage in their regions. Even in Orange County, Calif., fortable returning to her class-
100 percent online. The 5 percent positive test rate where a cluster of conservative of- room and risking infection.
“I’m just super frustrated and was not developed specifically for ficials has aggressively pushed “The plain truth to me,” she
really disappointed that our na- schools, but it has emerged as a for reopening, larger districts said, “is it is immoral to reopen
tion, our states and our communi- metric that many districts are have been hearing from teachers’ schools without the things we
ties have not exercised the disci- considering when making plans. unions and nervously eyeing the need in place.”
pline that they need in order to get The number comes from a gen- local test positivity rate, which av- Texas officials are closely
the coronavirus under control,” eral threshold established by pub- eraged 14.6 percent over the last watching the national landscape,
said Robert W. Runcie, the Brow- lic health experts, who say that a seven days. and it is possible they will modify
ard superintendent. “Now the fu- positive test rate of less than 10 LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS On Monday, the county’s Board the five-day-a-week requirement.
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HIGHER EDUCATION
In Reversal, Trump Administration Will Allow Visas for Online-Only Study
which is all they ever wanted to ternational students beyond our
From PageA1 do.” wallets.”
entirely online. L. Rafael Reif, president of Alexander Auster, 22, a second-
“If they’re not going to be a stu- M.I.T., said the swift opposition year student at George Washing-
dent or they’re going to be 100 per- was evidence of “the important ton University Law School from
cent online, then they don’t have a role international students play in Berlin, had already signed a lease
basis to be here,” Kenneth T. Cuc- our education, research and inno-
cinelli II, the acting deputy secre- vation enterprises here in the
tary of the Department of Home- United States. These students
land Security, said in an interview make us stronger, and we hurt After a blizzard of
on CNN after the policy was an- ourselves when we alienate criticism, a rare
nounced. “They should go home, them.”
and then they can return when the The University of Southern Cal- retreat on policy.
school opens.” ifornia, among the universities
Each year, about 1 million inter- with the largest population of in-
national students enroll in Ameri- ternational students, said in a
can universities. They contribute statement that it was “thrilled on an apartment for the next aca-
$41 billion to the economy annu- that the government backed down demic year when the policy was
ally and support more than and rescinded its rule that would announced. He had arrived in the
458,000 jobs. have revoked visas for interna- United States when he was 17 to
In addition to Harvard and tional students.” join the university’s varsity swim
M.I.T., the attorneys general of 20 U.S.C., which led a coalition of team.
states, including Massachusetts 20 universities and colleges on the “It feels really good now,” he
and California, also sued, charg- West Coast that sued the govern- said after hearing that the govern-
ing that the policy was reckless, ment, said its international stu- ment had walked back its plan.
cruel and senseless. Scores of uni- dents “deserve the right to contin- “Now I am hopeful and optimistic.
versities threw their support be- ue their education without risk of I thought I had to go home.”
hind the litigation, along with or- deportation.” An analysis of the govern-
gtiaonniazla sttioundse nretsp.resenting interna- Harvard University last week, after the policy announcement that would have reMqAuDDiIrEe MdEY fEoR/rGeEiTgTYn I MsAtGuE-S noAwf-treers cthined aendn pooulniccye mtheisn tm oof ntthhe, mAneanlty’st icesa rfoliuenr do trhdaetr itb cyo uMldo ohdayv’es
The pressure grew on Monday, dents to leave the United States if they did not take at least one in-person class. international students had begun had a serious economic impact.
when more than a dozen technol- scrambling to figure out next According to NAFSA: Association
ogy companies, including Google, immigration, using the coro- They said forcing students to tering the country by immigration steps. Some said they booked of International Educators, three
Facebook and Twitter, also came navirus pandemic and the need to return to their home countries officials at airports who told them flights home. Others held out hope jobs are created for every seven
out in support of the lawsuit, argu- protect the country from health would in many cases separate that their institutions were going that their colleges might add international students. In the
ing that the policy would harm threats as justification. them from families in the United online. classes with an in-person compo- 2019-20 school year there were
their businesses. Then on Tues- The administration has also States, returning them to places After the announcement on nent to enable them to remain in over 1 million international stu-
day, 15 Republican members of stopped processing green cards where they no longer had a home. Tuesday that the policy had been the United States. dents enrolled in the United
Congress signed a letter urging for applicants abroad; closed the In some cases, they would be liv- rescinded, university officials Willow Cai, a rising junior at States, which would translate to
the Trump administration to re- southwestern border to nonessen- ing under the thumb of repressive praised the decision and warned U.S.C. who is from China, said she almost half a million jobs. “ICE’s
store its previous policy on inter- tial travel, allowing only Ameri- regimes, which policed or re- that they would be prepared to go had rushed last week to register policy would put many of those
national students. cans and legal permanent resi- stricted internet access. back to court should the adminis- for a golf class to ensure she had positions at risk,” Moody’s Analyt-
Representative Rodney Davis, dents to enter while barring asy- Many international students tration make any further moves to an in-person class. After hearing ics said.
an Illinois Republican who had or- lum seekers; and banned the en- from Asian countries would have restrict the ability of international the administration had rescinded A third of all international stu-
ganized the letter, applauded the try of thousands of foreigners on to contend with a time difference students to attend school. the new policy, she expressed re- dents are from China, where trav-
Trump administration’s “right de- work visas. that would mean taking classes “This is a significant victory,” lief and outrage at the govern- el restrictions could make it hard
cision” to cancel its plan. “These The universities said in their between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m., if they Harvard’s president, Lawrence S. ment’s initiative. for them to return, Moody’s said.
hardworking students are the court challenge to the latest policy had internet access. Bacow, said in a statement. “The “I’m like really emotional right College towns are heavily de-
best and brightest from their that “by all appearances,” the gov- Foreign students attending ele- directive had disrupted all of now. The July 6 directive should pendent on international students
countries, and they help our com- ernment’s attempt to force inter- mentary, middle and high schools American higher education. I never have happened,” said Ms. for their economic well-being, and
munities grow both culturally and national students to study on cam- on visas would have also had to have heard from countless inter- Cai, 20, a cinema major. the Partnership for a New Ameri-
economically,” he said. pus had also been a political move, depart the country if their classes national students who said that “All we want is to continue our can Economy and the American
The policy about foreign stu- calculated to advance the Trump went 100 percent online. the July 6 directive had put them education in peace during a global Enterprise Institute estimate that
dents was one of a number of administration’s agenda to force In court filings, universities at serious risk. These students — pandemic,” she said on Tuesday in every H-1B visa, a foreign worker
measures President Trump has universities to reopen their gates said that some arriving students our students — can now rest easi- Los Angeles. “It seems this ad- visa, leads to two jobs being creat-
taken to advance his agenda on with in-person classes. already had been barred from en- er and focus on their education, ministration has no concern for in- ed.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020 N A7
Tracking an Outbreak On the Front Lines
361667513
ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
More than 8,000 people have had confirmed Covid-19 cases in Hidalgo County, Texas, which includes McAllen, left, and San Juan, right. There has been a high rate of infection within family clusters.
MCALLEN MEMO
Chasing a Virus Story, Even as It Hits Home
resembled pale spider webs.
From PageA1 “I’m surprised your mother was able to
After having reported on the virus dur- breathe on her own, given the poor state
ing its calamitous sweep through New of her lungs,” another nurse said.
York City, I knew that the warm, close-knit I nodded my head quietly. This was the
family culture I had grown up with in the ‘I want to come woman who had prided herself on working
Valley would make social distancing a home soon.’ as a cleaning lady well into her eighth
challenge — and as I called ahead to pre- month of pregnancy. Whenever one of my
pare for my return home, I quickly ARCELIA three sisters complained about the slight-
learned that my worst fears were coming SANDOVAL, texting est ache, she was quick to remind them
true. her family from the that she had juggled mops, brooms and
Seemingly overnight, people’s aunts, hospital. The cleaning carts, all while carrying a belly
uncles, grandmas and cousins were falling the size of a watermelon.
victim, one by one, to the highly conta- Sandoval family, from On this night, she said little. Instead she
gious virus. left: Filiberto; Arcelia; focused on slowly inhaling and exhaling
“Three months ago, very few knew Edgar, the reporter; the dwindling air moving through her
anyone who had contracted the virus,” Jim and Mirna. lungs. Less than an hour after a nurse
Darling, the mayor of McAllen, Hidalgo administered a coronavirus test, he an-
County’s largest city, told me. “Now, you nounced that she was positive.
can’t find people who don’t know anyone “No surprise there,” Ama said.
who isn’t infected. It completely flipped.” Two attendants arrived with a stretcher
But I never expected that I would be to transport her into a Covid wing at an-
part of this story. other location, where she would not be
The day before I boarded a plane from allowed to have visitors, I knew. My throat
New York, my youngest sister sent me a tightened. The beeping sound of the moni-
text message that froze me in place. tors echoed around the small room.
“Brother, it looks like all of the Sandovales The two attendants asked her to place
have Covid,” it read in Spanish. her arms on her stomach and they
Five in my family, including my mother, wrapped her in a white blanket.
Arcelia; my father, Filiberto; two sisters; “We’re going to make a señora burrito,”
and a nephew all had symptoms, she said. one of them said, and we laughed.
By the time my plane landed the next Suddenly I panicked. Our family, while
day, that number had doubled. close, has never been overly emotional.
Growing up, Ama used to remind us that
A Culture of Close-Knit Families she might not say “I love you” often, but
that she and Apa worked hard to provide
In recent weeks, public health officials us with food and a roof over our heads.
have been imploring Texans to wear And that’s what matters, she would say.
masks and obey social-distancing guide- Actions, not words.
lines. Some restaurants have begun taking I fought the urge to reach for her and
patrons’ temperatures, and bars have say something profound. Should I say I
remained largely closed since the pan- love you? Was it time for a heartfelt
demic made a resurgence. farewell? What if this was the last time I
But one thing that has continued to would see her alive?
stymie efforts at keeping people at a dis- I decided that if I said something poign-
tance in the Valley is its longstanding ant, she might interpret it as a final good-
culture of pachangas, a colloquial expres- bye and give up. Instead, I decided to act
sion for the festive family gatherings as casual as possible.
where social distancing is almost non- “Echele ganas,” I murmured as the
existent. attendants began pushing her away. “Do
There has recently been a troublingly your best.” I waved goodbye.
high rate of infection within family clus- Ama nodded yes and disappeared down
ters, said Eduardo Olivarez, chief adminis- the hallway.
trative officer of the Hidalgo County
Health Department. The Virus Rolls On
“When you have one or two people in
the household who may be infected, the After Mr. Contreras’s burial, Ms. Flores
probability of spreading it to others in the developed a dry cough. She later tested
household is high,” said Mr. Olivarez, who positive for the virus.
is known as Eddie. Two weeks after she had started feeling
Pachangas have been a way of life in the sick, all four of her children were also
Valley for as long as I can remember. The showing signs.
one I attended this past February held a Looking back, she wished her family
special meaning for my family and me. had heeded the warnings. Some days she
My mother had recently overcome an ‘I am forever wonders if she should have pushed back
aggressive form of breast cancer, and we grateful to have more forcefully. First there was the pa-
had turned the garage into an impromptu changa, then the funeral. They had known
party hall for her 66th birthday. Relatives been given that such gatherings could be risky, she said,
sat close to one another on plastic chairs but somehow no one really believed there
and savored smoky carne asada. A ma- opportunity not to would be serious consequences.
riachi band played “Las Mañanitas” as my let my grandpa die “There is a whole mentality of ‘no pasa
mother clapped to the sounds of the trum- nada,’ you know?” she said. “Nothing will
pets and the guitars. alone.’ happen.”
“The day you were born, all the flowers As the second week of July rolled
were born, too,” the mariachi sang. My CRIS FLORES, on her last around, most of my dozen or so family
mother took turns dancing with almost visit with her grandfather members who had fallen ill began peeling
every guest until her body gave out. “I Ramon Contreras. out of bed. My mother and aunt remained
haven’t danced like that since I was a hospitalized but were showing signs of
teenager,” she said that night. recovery.
As I reported the story, I ran into other Apa limped out of his bedroom, the
families who had gathered in recent lights from a window stabbing his eyes.
weeks, only to see the coronavirus strike He said he felt as if he had wrestled a
those who were there, one by one. monster made out of burning lava all
Cris Flores told me about her grandfa- ther’s Day, about a dozen relatives who his last breath. night. My oldest sister said that every
ther, Ramon Contreras, who had followed had met one another during the trip began “I am forever grateful to have been morning after waking up, she felt as if an
all the rules set out by the state for dealing describing debilitating headaches, body given that opportunity not to let my invisible hammer was smashing her head.
with the virus. When he turned 84 at the chills, fever and trouble breathing, all grandpa die alone,” she said in tears. Some days, Ama managed to text us a
height of the pandemic in late April, the selfie, outfitted in her oxygen mask. Other
classic Covid-19 symptoms.
family settled for an impersonal Zoom days she told us that she had slept poorly
session. The Contreras family was in a similar A Pandemic Hits Close to Home and that her breathing became labored
Weeks later, after Texas eased its stay- situation. They gathered for their festive when she tried to walk.
aert-ehdo wmieth r easbtoruictt i1o0n fsa, mMilry. C moenmtrebrearss gfoart ha- pmaucshiac,n sghaa ornin Jgu fnaem 1i,l yd asntocriniegs taon md asraivaocrhiing leaArsn eI da rthriavte md oins tt hoef mVayl lseiyck o fna mJuinlye m27e, mI- Five family phAonlle fsiv aes o iff uous rc hliivldesre dne spteanrdeedd a ot no uitr,
paBchya mngida-.June, the family patriarch was cla“sBseicc aMuesxei tchaeny b kaerpbte citu sem.all, they btieorns. wOneree o wf meayt haeurnintsg hCaodv cido-m19p ilna iinseodla o-f members had wa“iTtihnegy f oarr en egwivsin.g me plasma,” she would
tchoero fnirasvt itrou sd iasnpdla lya tseerv derieed s, yMmsp. tFolmorse osf the tshaoidu gMhst. tFhleoyr ewse, rweh doo sintagy tehde hroigmhet tbheicnagu,”se tlaronucbe lteo b ar ehaotshpiintga la nneda rw Gasa ltvaeksetno nb.y I admidbu- symptoms. wr“iIte w, aanndt ttoh econm goe hsiolemnet. soon,” she would
snaeirda.l ,B nye tahrely t i2m0 er eolfa Mtivr.e Cs ohnatdr ebreaesn’s ifnu-- shIet wonorlyr iteodo akb ao fuetw th dea vyisr ufosr. Mr. Contreras ndoowt wn owrrityh mthuec vhi frours meayrsleielfr —in IN heawd Ycoormke, The next day, texNt edaarylys ala wteer.ek after I had dropped her
fected. to develop a severe respiratory illness. and had antibodies that might fend it off. it doubled. at the emergency room, her mood and
“He loved to get his family together,” Two of his sons soon joined him in the On July 1, I hurried to my parents’ home breathing had significantly improved. She
Ms. Flores said. “And that’s what took hospital with difficulty breathing. Soon and found my mother — I usually call her was able to sit upright and hold a phone
him.” uncles, aunts and cousins also fell ill. “Ama” — gasping for air. conversation for five minutes. We began
My family’s encounter with the virus Ms. Flores told me that when she heard I knew she had to go, and quickly, to one talking about preparations for her eventu-
started in the last week of June, when my her grandfather’s brain was bleeding, she of the hospitals, but where? The few hos- al return home.
17-year-old nephew, who mistook his virus rushed to the hospital and found him pitals in the Valley were filling up quickly. I wanted to say I loved her. But again I
symptoms for strep, joined my 66-year-old unconscious and connected to tubes. By the time my sister and I got her into choked. Don’t make it sound like you’re
mother, 69-year-old father, two sisters and “Your güera is here,” she whispered, the emergency room at Doctors Hospital saying goodbye, I told myself.
a brother-in-law on a medical trip to Hous- using the nickname he had given her as a at Renaissance in McAllen, her blood After we hung up, I sent her a gif of a
ton, where my mother had scheduled a child, alluding to her light complexion. oxygen level had reached a paltry 80 white bunny that shoots hearts every time
mammogram. She recalled praying next to his bed and percent, and a nurse quickly connected it hugs.
On their way back to the Valley, they then dialing several family members who her to an oxygen supply. X-ray images “I love you,” the message flashed, over
visited relatives in Galveston. After Fa- bid him emotional farewells before he took showed her lungs nearly covered in what and over.
A8 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY,JULY15, 2020
Tracking an Outbreak Global Fallout
TRAVEL
Ireland Fears Spread of Virus by American Tourists Who Flout Rules
By MEGAN SPECIA At the height of the coronavirus
Janet Cavanagh, whose electric crisis in Europe, Ireland, a Euro-
bike tour company offers a guided pean Union member, did not adopt
glimpse of western Ireland’s the bloc’s blanket ban on non-
windswept landscape, saw her essential travelers from outside it,
business come to a swift halt — or the kind of border controls
along with nearly everything else erected by many European coun-
— as the coronavirus pandemic tries. Though most of the Euro-
forced the country into lockdown. pean Union has resumed allowing
She recently reopened her in some foreign visitors, it has
continued to bar most people from
doors, eager to restart business
the United States.
and make up for lost time as re-
strictions eased. The Irish government merely
advises against nonessential trav-
But she and a number of other
el to the country, but does not pro-
business owners say that Ireland
hibit it, a policy set to be reviewed
faces a new and unexpected
on July 20.
threat: Tourists, particularly
Everyone arriving from abroad
American ones, who flout Ire-
— visitors, residents and citizens
land’s quarantine rule.
alike — is told to quarantine for 14
With the pandemic still raging
days, and must complete a form
unabated in much of the United
stating where they will be staying
States, unlike in Europe, Ameri-
during that time.
cans are among those most likely
There are currently no fines for
to be infected. They aren’t the only
breaking quarantine, but a trav-
tourists ignoring the requirement
eler could face a fine of up to 2,500
that people arriving in Ireland iso-
euros or imprisonment for up to 6
late themselves for 14 days, but
months for not completing the
most of the public complaints in-
form upon arrival or providing
volve Americans.
false or misleading information on
Last weekend, Ms. Cavanagh it.
canceled a guided tour for two
Sam McConkey, an associate
people who had just arrived from
professor and head of the depart-
the United States and didn’t think
ment of international health and
Ireland’s travel quarantine ap- tropical medicine at the Royal Col-
plied to them. She said she felt the lege of Surgeons in Ireland
responsibility to turn them away (RCSI), called for a mandatory
for the safety of her staff and com- enforced quarantine to be put in
munity. place. Speaking to the national
“You don’t want to be responsi- AG NEWS, VIA ALAMY broadcaster RTE, he said it was
ble for endangering anybody Above, outdoor dining in Cork, Ireland, last week. Left, an airport the only viable option.
here, because you have to live in Dublin. Ireland discourages but does not prohibit nonessential Some opposition politicians
here,” she said, adding that it was travel, and many businesses are fending off American tourists have also called for more extreme
simply not worth the risk. who are disobeying rules to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival. measures, including Duncan
Simon Haden, the owner of Gre- Smith, the transport spokesman
gicnea nnthtsle yC waresectsleeti voHefo dIt reael lciananl Cld fo,r usonamitdy A Chmela errreei--, dofo mfo r—ei gancc ospuenntidnign gfo rin 2 82 0p1e8r,c eanct- gatr oounpe oof fp heoisp lree sfrtoamur aTnetxsa sin d iGnaeld- fdfolairgy ht htssea fLirdao bmhoe ut hrwe p aUanrntteiytd,e w dth oSo t asoutnes sMp aeonnndd-
cans who wanted to book a reser- cording to Tourism Ireland. way, and while he was unclear if other areas considered “Covid-19
vation in his restaurant soon after “The first thing I want to see is they had undertaken a two-week hot spots” until mandatory testing
arriving, and who had no plans to American guests return,” Mr. quarantine, staff were “very un- could be put in place at Irish air-
quarantine. He explained the situ- Haden said. “But not if it’s going to comfortable.” ports.
ation to them, and turned them put the health and safety of our “This is not just an American Leo Varadkar, the former prime
away. guests, our staff, the community problem,” he said in an interview. minister who guided the country
In recent days, dozens of Irish under threat after the sacrifices through the first wave of the pan-
businesses — tour operators, we’ve made.” demic and now serves as the dep-
restaurateurs and pub owners — Those sacrifices included a Seeing a risk factor uty head of government, said a
have posted on social media simi- stringent, monthslong lockdown mandatory quarantine “is not pos-
lar stories about fending off that drove down the rate of new in- that could undo sible in Ireland.” Speaking to RTE
customers who had just landed in BRIAN LAWLESS/PA IMAGES, VIA GETTY IMAGES fections from almost 1,000 a day in on Tuesday, he cited legal con-
the country but were ignoring di- mid-April to just 20 per day. Over- months of sacrifice. cerns and pointed to outbreaks at
rections to self-isolate. A national to tamp down that concern. Prime home.” all, Ireland has had more than Australia’s quarantine hotels as
radio station interviewed Ameri- Minister Micheal Martin told the “We need to put this in perspec- 25,000 confirmed cases and 1,746 evidence against such measures.
cans arriving at Dublin airport, Parliament on Tuesday that while tive,” he said, but he added that deaths. Ms. Cavanagh, who owns E-
some of whom said they had no there has been much conversation “people should not be coming to Ireland’s pubs, restaurants and “We had Germans in today in our Whizz bikes in Clare, said in a typi-
plans to quarantine. about American tourists, “the Ireland if they can’t restrict their hotels were finally allowed to re- cafe who arrived yesterday, who cal year, around 90 percent of her
That has ignited a national con- numbers are quite low coming in movement.” open on June 29, but under tight felt that because their country had business would come from the
versation about whether the gov- from the U.S.” The issue has created a painful regulations that require social dis- a low rate of infection it was OK.” United States. But for now, she
ernment, which does not monitor Simon Coveney, the foreign af- paradox for suffering business tancing and limit the number of He also worries that Irish people has put the thought of profit aside
compliance with the isolation or- fairs minister, acknowledged on owners who rely heavily on Amer- patrons at a given time. So just as returning from abroad will ne- for the sake of safety, urging inter-
der or penalize violators, should Monday that there was evidence ican customers but feel compelled people in Ireland have begun to glect quarantine. national travelers to self-isolate
start enforcing it. of visitors who had ignored quar- to turn them away. Visitors from move more freely, many of them Mr. McMahon has taken mat- for the full two weeks.
Many people in Ireland say the antine laws in the country. But he the United States are usually the fear losing the gains they have ters into his own hands, saying on “So unless you have that kind of
government should be tougher said just 200 to 250 people a day largest source of tourism revenue made. Sunday, that all international vis- time to play with, we’d rather you
about preventing travelers from had arrived in Ireland from the on the island of Ireland — both the JP McMahon, a well-known, itors booking into his restaurants didn’t come because we don’t
bringing the virus into the coun- United States, most of whom he Republic of Ireland and Northern Michelin-starred chef, wrote on would be required to prove their want you to be mixing around in
try, but the government has tried described as “Irish people coming Ireland, part of the United King- Twitter on Saturday night that a entry date into the country. the community,” she said.
STOPPING THE SPREAD
After Months of Resistance, Britain Will Require Masks Inside Shops and Markets
By BENJAMIN MUELLER closed spaces on Aug. 1 — and isn’t quite rigorous enough.”
LONDON — Britons, a people with Scotland, which is part of Britain was far from alone in
famously averse to seeming ruf- Britain but sets its own health pol- distrusting masks. Not knowing
fled in times of distress, have tak- icy. About half of U.S. states re- the extent of symptomless trans-
en slowly, if at all, to face masks quire masks in some public mission, scientists in the United
during the coronavirus pandemic. spaces, but the rules vary widely. States and with the World Health
Jim Williams says people in his Britain has largely avoided the Organization were also slow to en-
home city, Newcastle, have even partisan debate over masks that courage their use, noted Venki Ra-
yelled at him and shot him angry has engulfed the United States. In- makrishnan, the president of the
looks when he wore one. stead, the government’s hesita- Royal Society, a scientific body in
“Brits would rather be sick than tion to mandate them has Britain.
embarrassed,” said Mr. Williams, stemmed from internal debates But Britons proved especially
31, adding that his own family had among scientific advisers about slow to voluntarily adopt masks,
turned down masks he bought for the masks’ usefulness, and an ap- with only 21 percent of people say-
them. “We’re all very concerned parent concern about ensuring ing they wore one in public, ac-
with doing what other people are that a resource in short supply cording to an analysis by YouGov
doing, and not wanting to be seen was used where it was needed published in June.
as being hysterical or ridiculous.” most. That put Britain far behind al-
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, But there were hints on Tues- most all of Europe, Asia and the
rushing to reopen the hardest-hit day of an American-style divide Americas. Even in France, which
country in Europe, weighed in on on the matter. has not yet required masks in
Tuesday on the side of embarrass- In an almost empty House of shops, 79 percent of people wore
ment rather than sickness: He Commons, the Conservative law- them, YouGov said. So did 69 per-
mandated that people wear maker Desmond Swayne railed on cent of Americans.
Tuesday against what he called
masks inside shops and super- Beyond the discomfort, Britons
“this monstrous imposition
markets in England, putting an complained in polls that they felt
against myself and a number of
end to months of equivocation on self-conscious, silly and embar-
outraged and reluctant constitu-
the matter. ents.” rassed in masks. That reflected in
Many scientists have found the “Nothing,” he said, “would ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES part what Peter York, a prominent
dithering over face coverings make me less likely to go shopping Britain, which has the third-highest death toll in the world from Covid-19, was criticized for its in- social commentator, described as
mystifying and uneasily reminis- than the thought of having to action on face masks, even after Prime Minister Boris Johnson became seriously ill with the virus. a longstanding aversion — partic-
cent of Britain’s delay in imposing mask up.” ularly among the upper classes —
a lockdown in March, part of a lais- The police also bristled at being to seeming rattled in the face of
sez-faire approach to the pan- asked to enforce the new rules by pened, we closed the shop be- ence. The advisers emphasized a their meetings show that the gov- disease or distress.
demic that has drawn intense crit- levying fines of up to 100 pounds, cause it seemed like the only sen- lack of evidence from randomized ernment’s scientific advisers fret- “There’s a class-based idea that
icism. In March, Mr. Johnson pro- or $125, with an officers’ union sible thing to do.” controlled trials, a bar that outside ted about the possibility of masks anything too valetudinarian, too
claimed Britain “a land of liberty” calling it “unrealistic and unfair” Some scientists had pleaded for scientists said was impossibly making people more willing to conspicuously hygienic, is middle-
as he resisted following countries to expect them to patrol shop months with Mr. Johnson’s gov- high to meet, especially given the leave home with symptoms, or to class,” he said, using a long word
across Europe into lockdown. He, aisles. ernment to heed the growing evi- difficulties of measuring how one violate social distancing meas- for being unduly anxious about
himself, later became seriously ill For shops that had already told dence that masks could help stop person’s mask might protect un- ures. one’s health. “It’s one of the sort of
with the virus. customers to wear masks, the re- the spread of the virus. But the told others. Trisha Greenhalgh, a professor bravado things of the English up-
Britain now has the third-high- quirement came as a relief. Just as government resisted, with Eng- “Some scientists feel that a very of primary care at the University per class, that being madly hy-
est death toll in the world from the government’s slowness in im- land’s deputy chief medical officer high level of certainty is required of Oxford, published an analysis gienic is silly.”
Covid-19 — more than 50,000 by posing a lockdown in March had saying on April 3 that “there is no before advice is given for the pub- on April 9 asking the government For Ayla Hogg, 22, who has
one official tally, and about 45,000 forced decisions about closures evidence that general wearing of lic to undertake wearing a mask or to consider how little there was to been long been wearing a mask
by another — behind only the onto individual citizens and shop- face masks by the public who are other behaviors that would reduce lose, and how much to gain, from around her village in Scotland, the
United States and Brazil. Scien- keepers, so too had its reluctance well affects the spread of the dis- disease transmission,” said Paul encouraging the widespread use introduction of a countrywide
tists say the Conservative govern- to make a rule about face masks ease in our society.” Edelstein, an emeritus professor of masks. She said in an interview mandate in recent days was a
ment’s slow reactions have cost left people and businesses strug- As recently as April 28, the gov- at the University of Pennsylvania, that the issue required consider- comfort after months of discon-
thousands of lives. gling to chart their own paths. ernment’s powerful Scientific Ad- who helped write an influential re- ing a wider range of evidence than certing reactions to her mask.
The reversal over face masks, “Obviously, the pandemic isn’t visory Group for Emergencies port to British scientific advisers some scientists were trained to “You have people purposely
set to take effect on July 24, pulls over, and we only really wanted to retroactively edited the minutes encouraging face coverings this trust, like studies of super- avoiding you, and you feel very
England into line with other Euro- open if we could keep everyone as of a previous meeting to empha- month. spreader events on cruise ships. self-conscious, like maybe I’m
pean countries, like Germany, Ita- safe as possible,” said Gayle size that “it would be unreason- Masks have been mandatory on “They’re creatures of their own overreacting to this,” she said.
ly and Spain — France plans to Lazda, a bookseller at the London able to claim a large benefit from public transportation in England upbringing,” she said of some of “British people are incredibly
make them mandatory in en- Review Bookshop in central Lon- wearing a mask.” since mid-June, and the govern- the government’s scientific advis- awkward at the best of times. Go-
don, which has required masks The advisers’ misgivings re- ment had previously encouraged ers. “They have a lot of ingrained ing against the norm is very, very
Aurelien Breeden and Emma since it reopened this month. “Just flected what critics called an — but not required — masks in en- assumptions about what counts odd, and it does make you feel a bit
Bubola contributed reporting. like before the lockdown hap- overly rigid approach to the sci- closed spaces. But the minutes of as rigor, and so then the science like an outsider.”
WEDNESDAY, JULY15, 2020 A9
N
A Racial Awakening in France, Where a Colorblind Ideal Shows Cracks
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
PARIS — Growing up in France,
Maboula Soumahoro never
thought of herself as Black.
At home, her immigrant par-
ents stressed the culture of the
Dioula, a Muslim ethnic group
from Ivory Coast in West Africa.
In her neighborhood, she identi-
fied herself as Ivorian to other
children of African immigrants.
It was only as a teenager —
years after the discovery of Whit-
ney Houston, Michael Jackson,
“The Cosby Show” and hip-hop
made her “dream of being cool like
African-Americans” — that she
began feeling a racial affinity with
her friends, she said.
“We were all children of immi-
grants from Guadeloupe, Mar-
tinique, Africa, and we are all a lit-
tle bit unlike our parents,” recalled
Ms. Soumahoro, 44, an expert on
race who lived in the United
States for a decade. “We were
French in our new way and we
weren’t white French. It was dif-
ferent in our homes, but we found
one another regardless, and that’s
when you become Black.”
Besides fueling heated debates
over racism, the killing of George
Floyd by the police in Minneapolis
has underscored the emergence
of a new way of thinking about
race in the public discourse in
France, a nation where discussion
of race and religion has tradition-
ally been muted in favor of elevat-
ing a colorblind ideal that all peo-
ple share the same universal
rights.
That ideal has often fallen short
in reality, especially as French so-
ciety has become more diverse
and discrimination remains en-
trenched, leading some to wonder
whether the universalist model PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREA MANTOVANI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
has run its course.
Clockwise from above,
Today it is being challenged
Maboula Soumahoro says
perhaps most vociferously by the
many Black French who have France and the United States
gone through a racial awakening manage racism differently;
in recent decades — helped by the Rokhaya Diallo is an antirac-
pop culture of the United States, ism activist; Binetou Sylla, left,
its thinkers, and even its Paris- and Rhoda Tchokokam wrote a
based diplomats who spotted and book about race in France.
encouraged young Black French
leaders a decade ago.
To its opponents, Black and French audiences for the first
white, the challenge to the univer- time, said Randianina Peccoud,
salist tradition is perceived as who oversaw the outreach pro-
part of the broader “Americaniza- grams and retired from the em-
tion” of French society. This chal- bassy last year.
lenge risks fragmenting France, Ms. Peccoud, who is from Mad-
they say, and poses a threat far agascar, a former French colony,
more central to the modern re- also identified grass-roots leaders
public’s founding principles than like Ms. Diallo in the banlieues —
familiar complaints about the en- often eliciting angry reactions
croachment of McDonald’s or Hol- from French officials and fueling
lywood blockbusters. enduring suspicions.
Even those Black French who “They were afraid that people
have been inspired by the United in the banlieues would start to be a
States also consider America to be little aware of their own situation
a deeply flawed and violently rac- in French society,” Ms. Peccoud
ist society. In France, people of dif- said.
ferent backgrounds mix far more The visits to the United States,
freely, and while Black people oc- organized around themes like
cupy fewer high-profile positions community organizing in Chicago
than in the United States, like all and diversity, also gave partici-
French citizens they enjoy univer- pants an introduction to an alter-
sal access to education, health native vision of society.
care and other services. Almamy Kanouté, an actor, ac-
“When I consider both coun- tivist and leader in the continuing
tries, I’m not saying that one protests against police violence in
country is better than the other,” France, visited the United States
said Ms. Soumahoro, who has in 2011 to learn about policies to-
taught African-American studies ward new immigrants. In Minne-
at Columbia and now teaches at apolis, he met a French-speaking
the Université de Tours. “For me, man from Laos whose roots were
they’re two racist societies that acknowledged despite his becom-
manage racism in their own way.” ing an American citizen — in con-
Most of France’s new thinkers trast to France’s assimilationist
on race are the children of immi- policies.
grants from the former colonial
“Here, they want us to melt into
empire. Growing up in households
a single body and put aside our
with a strong sense of their sepa-
cultural diversity,” said Mr.
rate ethnic identities, they gradu-
Kanouté, 40, whose parents are
ally began to develop a shared
from Mali and who appeared in
sense of racial consciousness in
“Les Misérables,” the Oscar-
their neighborhoods and schools.
nominated film. “With us, that’s
Pap Ndiaye — a historian who
not possible. We’re French, but we
led efforts to establish Black stud-
don’t forget what makes us
ies as an academic discipline in
whole.”
France with the 2008 publication
For younger Black people in
of his book “La Condition Noire,”
France, their awareness of race
or “The Black Condition” — said
he grew aware of his race only af- partly grew out of the work of the
ter studying in the United States Almamy Kanouté, a leader in protests against police violence in France, in Fresnes in the Paris suburbs, where he grew up and lives. older generation. Binetou Sylla,
in the 1990s. 31, a co-author of “Le Dérangeur,”
“It’s an experience that all all other official purposes. ism. She grew up in La Courneuve, a “comfortable in their skin,” Ms. a book about race in France, said
Black French go through when But the unequal treatment of “They say that there’s some- suburb of Paris known as a ban- Diallo said, adding, “The only pos- she vividly remembers buying the
they go to the United States,” said women in France and of nonwhite thing, wherever you are in the lieue, in a building with mostly im- itive images of Black people that I first edition of Mr. Ndiaye’s “The
Mr. Ndiaye, 54, who teaches at Sci- people throughout its colonies be- world, whatever language you migrants from France’s former saw came from the United States.” Black Condition,” which helped
ecfhcaiofslioonrniee da Tuucdcsod enr thf “hee sastmmeidenr m PFy. ési ”xuo rotsbeie.pwense d“nlo ”hhfIo c n ritieafhnan’ srswaacd e t ten a h ohS, dae smBeet kh Fnlweaciaoenrxnochueg pl,kegn oaceM rhrclomreebh lihr soeal. iic eernntnNo ic.dfidnidaess etti edoahnnrxfyietoes tiaert---, lemwGa“atihBnmneéeai“dodusrrnbUu aettamyB g nrhfs adhliaosiavc m tdawcee Awuedkrmdhlnors h iawAahiritegveu lafnitire rtdtosa hryi , cnts et hCIachatvFsonesaleilri urdsa tsaUeoh lemtndo r onnic nw dlwtoiiwetl eceny’eotsashrh dr ,olre”eek. enf nnS oaee’o ttrcaa tt ssmhhhsttaieiedeeoeilsddyyroer,. sBditCyawnmhp oeeolaeaec uvmnyM ciae gtsmkikirog ozb D,a.bnr en wekaeenta “astehm ,Btie oi anuigdboumttcrn ceetielfem eurcvr ta,taodee hpht4mureniioa4 cnsddys t, eg Mu ’osis wn iuri btanRe hrheslrs eeomeoxht,” pisrcaitn eseeouicseit qtbtoabpthlwulyyrieaiad.yce”i crlt, oel h atM wnmhonaoitwisldlessf-l. SBpccLtsDiiahlooiuooekRmountnr er toao, ef dhntclsm e heiehf nerFaéa eot ssewMrn imelten.y”o arsnAg v si.pcSB e se Diheseminduai one attnaap eevl g llsglcecoeeehaocrh, vs e ollawio i l tflsoadanhl ciefhnrolio okdeeBednsues nr el l.dGa ’sd spgtc areatakn“muenrb Celpeceoebvklneruvuie aotatibasr---.. eft2tdpoior0irouv noTM0nlenfme7h irsd,ala se.ecevr nDi nandtiiksyltni l aisa peadti lbendrntliovoodo t gi uaihdaLstrnteh uae oUt e“asmUnirm nl eA.sa,Si I atMcom.wne”nifsd dsesahm. ierg oSvDiv i ctintoeisaaaogirrt blogaei lnlkoelase h,t ns 2ghpwii 0gonazh1hviarin0oct--- eFToaaewysvowtcerh tAhanoataaenlhro nrbbvrskceeeolee,eo i n tdfsaw,shkoe h ghaearsaeeneermistdn cd iow e ,mh f2“mee th9mcB1hdne,a7o e ltig.rda-ag gartWc lredoeulUka w detho tsnhv iif tnuili oounetsSgpreu d t,p hdFuritynioee drk d arCfieFSoeR ”n arrtrs Lchimaaa teetontc.wee,edic iars’inaoest-l,
His views of the world and him- its limits. And so the debate is that In the United States, many im- forget an episode — a colonial in the program, a fact that has con- movies and discovered the works
self were a radical challenge to the on one side is this universalism, migrants from Africa, the Carib- trope — in which the host, a white tributed to fears, especially of Toni Morrison and Black femi-
French state. Rooted in the En- which is a beautiful ideal, but on bean or Asia develop a shared woman, is boiled alive in a caldron among French conservatives, of nists like Angela Davis and Audre
lightenment and the Revolution, the other is how to say at the same sense of race and grow acutely by three Black men. an “Americanization” of French Lorde.
France’s universalism has long time that, yes, it’s not working.” aware of the role of race in Amer- “I’d talk about it with my society. “When I started meeting Black
held that each human being en- Tania de Montaigne, a French ica, a country where it is part of brother,” Ms. Diallo said. “We The American Embassy in people in France, I started broad-
joys fundamental rights like author who has written about the daily conversation. weren’t able to put it in words, but Paris began reaching out to ethnic ening my outlook a little,” Ms.
equality and liberty. In keeping race, said that Black French will Rokhaya Diallo, 42, a journalist I remember how it annoyed us — and racial minorities in France af- Tchokokam said. “I still didn’t
with the belief that no group fully integrate only through the who is also one of France’s most cannibals, stupid Blacks, things ter the Sept. 11 attacks as part of a think of myself as Black because
should be given preference, it re- rule of law and citizenship. Em- prominent antiracism activists, like that.” global push to “win hearts and that’s a long process, where today
mains illegal to collect data on phasizing a racial identity, she said she became aware of a shared By contrast, American shows minds.” I define myself as Black politically.
race for the census and for almost said, would make Black French sense of race only after she be- that were broadcast later in The embassy organized educa- Back then, I started becoming
perpetual outsiders in a society came an adult and often found France, like “The Fresh Prince of tional programs on subjects like aware and when I arrived in the
Aurélien Breeden and Constant where the overwhelming majority herself the only Black person in an Bel-Air” or “The Cosby Show,” affirmative action, a taboo con- United States, it’s in fact there that
Méheut contributed research. aspires to a colorblind universal- academic or professional setting. showed Black people who were cept in France, drawing nonwhite I was able to put it in words.”
A10 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALWEDNESDAY, JULY15, 2020
Poland’s President Ekes Out Re-election Using Divisive Anti-Gay Language
By MARC SANTORA Mr. Trzaskowski’s campaign
WARSAW — President Andrzej team, said they planned to file a
Duda narrowly won re-election formal protest with the Supreme
this week, using the same play- Court disputing the election re-
book that brought his Law and sults. But few expect the chal-
Justice party to power five years lenge to lead to any action or
ago: stoking fear and blaming an change the outcome, given the
enemy. party’s control over the courts.
In 2015, it was an enemy at the Jan Grabiec, a spokesman for
gates: migrants, who party lead- the opposition Civic Coalition
ers said carried “all sorts of para- party, said they were also review-
ing complaints, especially with re-
sites,” threatened the nation.
gard to ballots cast outside the
This time, it was an enemy
country, which were handled by
within: gay men and lesbians liv-
the government.
ing in Poland, who Mr. Duda said
“What happened abroad is an
promoted an ideology “more dan-
enormous scandal,” said Mr. Gra-
gerous than communism.”
biec. “Wherever the election was
Mr. Duda won by a thin margin
organized by the National Elector-
in the closest election in the coun-
al Commission, it went more or
try since the end of communist
less OK. But wherever it was orga-
rule in 1989. But the bitter cam-
nized by people subject to the gov-
paign against his opponent, Rafal
ernment, it was a disaster,” he
Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of
said.
Warsaw, exposed old rifts and cre-
Marcin Matczak, a constitu-
ated new divisions in Poland that
tional scholar who has opposed
the changes to the judiciary made
by Law and Justice, said there is
A campaign that now a systemic problem with the
courts.
exposed old fault lines “The key function of the courts
is to settle social conflicts in a civ-
and created new ones.
ilized manner,” he said. “After
what Law and Justice did to the ju-
diciary, the Supreme Court that is
to issue the decision on the valid-
are unlikely to go away any time ity of the election cannot fulfill this
soon. function anymore.”
“This election was focused on CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI/ASSOCIATED PRESS Many in the country will not re-
inner conflicts and inner division,” President Andrzej Duda ad- spect the court’s decision, no mat-
said Andrzej Leder, a sociology dressing supporters in Pultusk, ter how it rules.
pofr oSfceisesnocre as.t “tAhne dP tohlies hle vAecla odfe mpoy- Poland, on Sunday. Left, mem- of Tthhee pcroensfidliectn t“ioavl eerle tchtieo nfa wirinlle gsos
larization was stunning.” bers of the L.G.B.T. communi- on instead of being settled by the
The optimism that greeted Mr. ty protesting against Mr. Du- Supreme Court,” said Mr.
Trzaskowski’s campaign has been da’s anti-gay sentiments. Matczak. “The bad emotions will
replaced by despair among his escalate, the divisions will grow.
supporters, and those who feel dia in Poland should be Polish.” This is what happens to a society
they were targeted by Mr. Duda’s Mr. Kaczynski also told the Polish deprived of an independent judi-
homophobic language fear what Press Agency that the govern- ciary.”
may be ahead. ment planned to “take actions” to Since declaring victory, Mr.
“I am terrified by Duda’s ensure that media outlets covered Duda has struck a conciliatory
words,” said Kamil Tkaczyk, a 27- the news “more realistically.” tone. “It was a tough campaign, at
year-old hairdresser in Warsaw, Mr. Leder, who opposes the Law times probably too tough,” he said
who is gay. “Together with my and Justice party, said that people on Monday. “If anyone felt of-
partner we are considering mi- under the age of 50 sent a clear fended by my words, I ask them to
grating to a country, which would message to the ruling party by forgive me. And to give me an-
not only be free of prejudice, but thoroughly rejecting Mr. Duda other five years to improve.”
most of all, where we could feel and his campaign.
safMe,r”. Thek ascazidy.k and others who op- whYeolumnignegrl,y usurbpapno rtveodt eMrsr . Tovrzear-- saHtisisfy a Zsbsuigrnainecwe sM aarrea usznelikk,e aly 5 t3o-
pose the government say the re- skowski, whose campaign nearly year-old high school teacher from
cent election was not only about dislodged an incumbent president Plonsk, a city of 20,000 in central
trying to safeguard democracy in with a host of advantages, includ- Poland. Mr. Maraszek said the
Poland, where the Law and Jus- ing the use of state media and the government had created an at-
tice Party has overhauled the help of prominent supporters mosphere that had become “un-
country’s courts in a way that crit- within the Catholic clergy as well bearable.” His wife, Katarzyna, a
ics say undermines the rule of law. as President Trump. 47-year old university teacher,
It was also about defending the AGENCJA GAZETA, VIA REUTERS Mr. Trzaskowski won Warsaw blamed the government for
country’s place in Europe and the with 68 percent of the vote. He “weaponizing” the Catholic
world. country. with proposals that would silence Some of the most influential and also won voters aged 40 to 59 by 10 Church in the party’s fight against
While supporters of the govern- “Politics is becoming really bru- critics, apply pressure on academ- nonpartisan media outlets in the points, those 30 to 39 by 11 points, homosexuality.
ment point to the generous social tal again,” said Mr. Leder, the pro- ic institutions and exert even country are owned by foreign and those 18 to 29 by nearly 30 “I consider myself a Catholic,
welfare programs that have fessor. “While the ruling party more control of the courts. In companies, such as Ringier Axel points. Mr. Duda handily beat the but I find it unacceptable,” she
helped bridge economic inequal- won politically, they have not won April, the Court of Justice of the Springer, a German publisher. Warsaw mayor with voters over said.
ity in Poland, many who voted for culturally,” he added. “The gov- European Union ordered the sus- During the campaign, Mr. Duda 50 by nearly 20 points and those Still, despite her strong support
Mr. Trzaskowski blame Mr. Duda ernment knows these are the last pension of a new disciplinary warned of a “German attack” in over 60 by 25 points. Mr. Duda for Mr. Trzaskowski, Ms. Ma-
for the growing political polariza- years they can really try and chamber of the Polish Supreme the election and criticized the supporters were also mostly in raszek was not able to convince
tion that has taken hold across the change the mentality of the coun- Court, which has a politically se- Warsaw correspondent for the eastern and southern regions of her mother to change her mind at
try.” lected membership and extraordi- German newspaper Die Welt. the country, where the economy is the polls.
Monika Pronczuk and Anatol Party leaders have already sig- nary powers to prosecute judges Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the party still lagging. Her mother, she said, voted for
Magdziarz contributed reporting. naled they plan to move forward who oppose the government. leader, said on Tuesday that “me- Cezary Tomczyk, the head of Mr. Duda.
He Did a Lot for His Nation,
Partly by Altering Its Name.
Will Voters Punish Him?
By PATRICK KINGSLEY Macedonia, a landlocked and
SKOPJE, North Macedonia — mountainous country of 2 million,
Zoran Zaev, the front-runner in a but for the wider region of south-
general election on Wednesday in eastern Europe, where several of
North Macedonia, got more done the issues underpinning the
during his 30 months as prime Balkan Wars of the 1990s remain
minister than most Macedonian unresolved two decades later.
politicians did in the nearly 30 Mr. Zaev’s biggest rival, Hristi-
years since the country won inde- jan Mickoski, a right-wing nation-
pendence from Yugoslavia. alist, opposed the name change.
When Mr. Zaev resigned from Mr. Mickoski also wants to revisit
the premiership in January, to al- parts of not only the agreement
low a caretaker government to with Greece but also a similar pact
oversee the election campaign, he with Bulgaria and a recent law
had brought North Macedonia to that increased rights for ethnic Al-
the brink of NATO membership. banians, who form around a quar-
He had cleared the way for the ter of North Macedonia’s popula-
country to apply to join the Euro- tion.
pean Union. And he had resolved “If we are not stable,” Mr. Zaev
a three-decade-old dispute with said in an interview last week, “if
the country’s largest neighbor, we are fighting with our neigh-
Greece. bors, if we are fighting with the Al-
And yet Mr. Zaev could still lose banians inside North Macedonia,
Wednesday’s election, partly it puts the country completely in jixiansheng
thanks to anger at the measure he danger.”
ttoioonk otfo t haec hqiueavlei faiellr t“hNiso:r tthh”e taod tdhie- MiIcnk oas kis espaaidra thee isnutpeprvoiretwed, Mthre. As prime minister, Zoran Zaev changed his country’s name to North Macedonia. It opened doors, but enraged somOeG NMENa TcEOeFdILoOVnSiKaI/nREsU.TERS
country’s old name of Macedonia. country’s NATO membership and
That move persuaded Greece to application to join the European cleansing. nic Albanian party — a rare part- Mr. Zaev entered office in 2017 law when it suits his agenda.
stop blocking the country’s appli- Union. But he also promised to “I do think it will be a problem nership in a country where parties after Mr. Mickoski’s party, which To secure the support of eight
cations to join NATO and the Eu- work within constitutional limits for the region,” said Petar Ar- tend to divide along ethnic lines. had been in power for 11 years, opposition lawmakers needed to
ropean Union, now confident that to alter the pact with Greece. sovski, a Skopje-based political Mr. Zaev has also attempted to was toppled by a series of scan- ratify the name deal through Par-
Skopje had no territorial ambi- “He can’t ignore the reality,” Mr. analyst. “We’re not over the hill bridge the divide between the two dals related to graft and govern- liament, Mr. Zaev controversially
tions over an area of northern Mickoski said, talking about him- yet. We can still roll back down.” communities by introducing a law ment surveillance. agreed to support an amnesty for
Greece also known as Macedonia. self in the third person. “But at the Like the rest of the Balkans, that gave ethnic Albanians the Under Mr. Zaev, North Macedo- lawmakers or their relatives who
But it enraged Macedonians same time, he will use all demo- North Macedonia is a field of com- right to speak their language nia began tentative legal reforms were under investigation over
who felt that Mr. Zaev had eroded cratic tools to change that reality.” petition for the West, Russia and within state institutions and in- and became slightly more demo- cases including a 2017 attack on
their identity, and who resented If Mr. Mickoski does win power, China. Any deviation from a pro- stalled Albanian signage in settle- cratic, according to an assessment the Parliament building.
how he ratified the amendment in few expect him to formally re- European path could give Mos- ments with significant Albanian by Freedom House, an independ- “Is that democratic?” asked Mr.
Parliament despite most voters verse the agreement with Greece. cow a chance to reimpose itself, populations. ent Washington-based rights Mileski, the blogger who once
boycotting a referendum on the But some analysts fear he particularly with European pow- Mr. Mickoski wants to revisit watchdog. supported Mr. Zaev. “Either you
subject. would create enough turbulence ers divided about how much they that law, a move many Albanians Coupled with a stronger inter- are a democrat or you are not.”
“I come from Macedonia, not with Greece and Bulgaria that one want to engage with North Mace- say would be a provocation, par- national profile, this has made This kind of frustration, along
North Macedonia,” said Robert or both might renew their opposi- donia. ticularly if it came in tandem with North Macedonia a more appeal- with outrage at the name deal, will
Mileski, a blogger and software tion to North Macedonia’s E.U. ap- Even after Mr. Zaev staked his any challenges to European inte- ing place to do business. Since the be Mr. Zaev’s greatest obstacle to
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“He doesn’t have the right to tract from efforts to broker a final called for new elections. banian political analyst and rights Some fear a change of govern- Zaev would lose so that the coun-
put his own will before the will of settlement between Serbia and A loss for Mr. Zaev might also activist. “Every stepping back ment would slow this investment. try’s name could be changed back
the people,” Mr. Mileski added. Kosovo, the former Serbian prov- exacerbate internal tensions be- from E.U. integration creates a “Everyone is looking for the to Macedonia.
A loss on Wednesday for Mr. Za- ince that broke away in 1999 fol- tween ethnic Macedonians and tension between the two commu- rule of law and the stabilization of “It’s not important for us to en-
ev’s center-left party would spell lowing a guerrilla campaign by ethnic Albanians, some of whom nities.” Macedonia,” said Goran Mau- ter the E.U. — we can survive by
uncertainty not only for North ethnic Albanian separatists and a led a failed separatist uprising in Rights activists and business rovski, the head of Beton, a major ourselves on our own land,” Ms.
NATO bombing campaign that 2001. leaders alike are also concerned construction firm. Milosevska said.
Alisa Dogramadzieva contributed aimed to protect its largely Alba- In this election, Mr. Zaev’s party about what a loss for Mr. Zaev But Mr. Zaev’s critics say he is “If the Russians give us a better
reporting from Skopje.
nian population from ethnic is running on a slate with an eth- would mean for the rule of law. himself willing to bend the rule of offer,” she added, “why not?”