Linda Greenhouse Thinks COVID-19 Rules That Favor Casinos Over Churches Raise No Constitutional Issues Worth Considering
The former New York Times SCOTUS reporter does not seem to understand the arguments she is criticizing.
Public Health
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Tells Retailers To Call the Cops on Customers Who Don't Wear Masks
Armed agents of the state shouldn't be enforcing mask mandates.
Miami Police Setting Up 'Mask Traps,' Issuing $100 Fines to People Wearing Masks Improperly
The theoretical case for government mask mandates has to be weighed against the reality of their enforcement.
There Is More Than One COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate
The wide range of estimates reflects real variations as well as methodological differences.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wants President Donald Trump To Impose a Nationwide Face Mask Mandate
Whitmer's argument is short on facts and legal reasoning.
Kentucky Couple Reportedly Placed Under House Arrest After Failing To Sign COVID-19 Quarantine Notice
Elizabeth Linscott, who tested positive for COVID-19, says she objected to the wording of the health department's isolation orders.
COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Is About To Really Rev Up
Cheap, rapid antigen tests may be on the way—and the FDA has finally approved test pooling.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Continue to Rise
Meanwhile, the case fatality rate is still falling.
The Pandemic Is a Lucrative Revenue Opportunity for Incompetent Politicians
If there's one thing at which governments have excelled during this crisis, it's been collecting fines from anybody who steps out of line.
A Pandemic of Surveillance
Americans are increasingly monitored, and COVID-19 health concerns aren’t improving the situation.
COVID-19 Deaths Are Now Rising in the U.S., but Case Fatality Rate Continues To Fall
We are starting to see the fatal consequences of the recent infection surge.
Churches, Which Account for 0.02% of COVID-19 Cases, Are a 'Major Source' of Infection, The New York Times Says
The paper's claim reflects the same arbitrary distinction between religious and secular activities that churches are challenging in court.
As COVID-19 Cases Surge, Daily Deaths and the Case Fatality Rate Continue To Fall
Expanded testing, a younger mix of patients, and improved treatment help explain the seemingly contradictory trends.
Post-Pandemic Americans May Be Done With Taking Orders
Governments overplayed their hands with mandates that they are losing the ability to enforce.
Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Self-Flattening, or Will It Grind Relentlessly on?
Stanford epidemiological model predicts self-flattening while MIT forecasts continued epidemic growth.
Don't Let the Pandemic Kill Religious Freedom
COVID-19 control measures violate the First Amendment when they arbitrarily favor secular conduct.
Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Reach Back in Time to Affect Behavior Before They Were Imposed?
Trends in Massachusetts highlight the importance of voluntary changes in behavior.
Were COVID-19 Lockdowns Worth the Cost?
The evidence suggests Americans are right to wonder.
COVID-19 Pool Testing Is a Stopgap Measure To Track and Curb the Pandemic
It could quickly amplify coronavirus testing by tenfold.
Interstate Travel Restrictions Are Just Political Posturing
We should feel free to ignore travel restrictions imposed by political clowns using the public as pawns in their feuds.
As New Lockdowns Loom, How Did We Get Here Again So Quickly?
Plus: E.U. considers travel restrictions for Americans, more...
Reopen the Schools!
These big disruptions to the education system are not necessary to fight COVID-19.
CDC Antibody Studies Confirm Huge Gap Between COVID-19 Infections and Known Cases
The difference implies that the virus is much less deadly than it looks, but it also makes contact tracing a daunting challenge.
New York's Pandemic-Inspired Restrictions on Church and Synagogue Services Are Unconstitutional, a Federal Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe finds that the state's COVID-19 control measures arbitrarily discriminate against religious conduct.
Florida and Texas Close Their Bars In Response to Surge in New COVID-19 Cases
Rising rates of new cases and hospitalizations have seen both states' governors reverse course on reopening businesses.
As New York City Reopens, Businesses Balance Public Health and Staying Afloat
Phase 2 of Bill de Blasio's plan lets 300,000 New Yorkers start working again. But not all of them will rush back to the office.
The Pandemic's Economic Carnage Looks Worse Than Expected
Get ready for more pain caused by COVID-19 as well as by the policies intended to hold it in check.
As COVID-19 Infections Rise, Patients Are Getting Younger
The trend, which may reflect growing defiance of social distancing in some age groups, implies a lower death rate.
Trump Worries That More Coronavirus Testing Makes America Look Bad
Testing provides clarity and critically useful evidence about the spread of the disease that the president doesn’t seem to want.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Have Fallen Dramatically Since April
The downward trend continued after states began lifting their lockdowns.
What Do Recent COVID-19 Trends Tell Us About the Merits of Lockdowns?
New infections are down nationwide but rising in some places as people rebel against government-recommended precautions.
Treating Mental Illness With Care, Not Punishment, Goes Beyond Defunding Police
We need to remove all the ways that government deters people from seeking treatment.
Another Judge Rules That Ohio's COVID-19 Lockdown Is Illegal
The decision says the "unbridled and unfettered consolidation of authority in one unelected official" violates due process and the separation of powers.
Mask Wearing Correlates Strongly with Declining COVID-19 Transmission, Says New Study
Airborne transmission is the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19.
The Government Was Wrong About Masks
Plus: "fictional pleas," COVID-19 in migrant detention centers, and more...
Will a Rise in Coronavirus Numbers in 14 States Refocus Attention on the Pandemic?
Plus: Protest updates, a small blow against qualified immunity, a lesson in not feeding the trolls, and more...
Is Asymptomatic Spread of COVID-19 Very Rare? Depends How You Define 'Asymptomatic'
Plus: Netflix out-trademarks the U.S. government, contraception shortages, and more...
Did the Lockdowns Save Thousands of Lives? A Soho Forum Debate
Physician Marty Makary vs. epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski on whether "the lockdown saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives."
California County Will Allow Outdoor Social Gatherings of 12 People—and Outdoor Protests of 100 People
The phased reopenings happening around the country are becoming increasingly arbitrary.
What 9/11 and the Financial Crisis Teach Us About COVID-19
Sometime in 2021, the American people will be presented with a reorganized and newly empowered federal public health bureaucracy. As time passes, it will grow in size and scope.
When Should Force Be Used To Protect Public Health?
Since meager testing resources left officials ignorant of crucial facts about the epidemic, they made policy decisions without the evidence necessary to assess their proportionality.
Were the Lockdowns a Mistake? A Soho Forum Debate
Physician Marty Makary vs. epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski on whether "the lockdown saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives."
Lockdown Supporters Embraced Wildly Wrong COVID-19 Projections That Fit Their Preconceptions
The episode illustrates the perils of confirmation bias on both sides of the debate about disease control measures.
Virus Transmission Estimates Provide More Evidence That COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Overrated
Two models suggest that broad restrictions had less impact on the epidemic than commonly thought.
John Roberts Does Not Think California's Special Restrictions on Religious Services Discriminate Against Churches
As SCOTUS declines to issue an injunction, the chief justice says the state's COVID-19 control measures seem consistent with the First Amendment.
In Future Crises, Let People Make Their Own Decisions
Top-down, one-size-fits-few mandates are recipes for conflict.
As Lockdowns Are Lifted, Is the COVID-19 Reproductive Number Rising or Falling?
Two models generate strikingly different estimates.
Do Pandemic-Inspired Bans on Religious Services Violate the First Amendment? Circuit Courts Are Split.
Supreme Court precedent suggests COVID-19 restrictions that discriminate against churches are presumptively unconstitutional.