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We stand with Hugo’s Tacos. On Sunday, the Los Angeles business took the extreme measure of temporarily closing its two locations, in Studio City and Atwater Village, to give employees “a break” from verbal and physical abuse by customers outraged that employees were enforcing the law requiring face coverings. During the closure, the staff will strategize ways to reopen in a way that complies with rules to limit spread of COVID-19 as well as insulates employees from having to endure the misplaced hostility of defiant patrons. It was the responsible, if economically difficult, choice but it’s a situation that no business should be forced into. (6/30)

Democratic governors and lawmakers on Sunday pushed for a better-coordinated federal response to the coronavirus pandemic as cases spike in several states, particularly in the southern and eastern U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on ABC’s “This Week” that a national mask mandate was “long overdue,” and “it’s time for this administration to take this seriously.” (Zack Budryk, 6/28)

Like someone skipping along the edge of a cliff, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry has committed the city to playing host to thousands of people in an enclosed place during a pandemic. As an earlier Times-Union editorial stated, there were more cons than pros to bringing the Republican National Convention to Jacksonville. In the past few weeks the dangers have only increased. Let’s start with the fact that Florida and Jacksonville are seeing a record surge of coronavirus cases. The proportion of positive coronavirus tests increased from less than 2 percent to over 14 percent in the last month. And the fact that some people with the coronavirus have no symptoms or mild symptoms produced a false sense of security for the anti-mask crowd. (6/29)

The coronavirus is increasing or flat in nearly every state. Only four states are seeing a decline in cases. It used to be the reverse. So when you're frustrated about the social distance and the masks and all the rest of it and you develop an unstoppable urge to go unprotected into a large group of people and live the way you did back in January, you should first watch this video a CNN team shot inside United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. (Zachary B. Wolf, 6/30)

The past three months have been a stark reminder that the United States is an aging society. Americans older than 60 outnumber those younger than 15. And this rapidly expanding older population is being devastated by the novel coronavirus. But we have also learned a great deal since March about why seniors are so susceptible to this virus — and which symptoms to look for when they present themselves at clinics and hospitals looking for help. (John W. Rowe, 6/29)

Perhaps no single action better epitomizes President Trump’s narcissism than his decision to relocate the Republican National Convention from North Carolina to Florida, a state that would allow him to flout anti-coronavirus protection measures such as social distancing and mask-wearing, and expose his own followers to a deadly pandemic in the pursuit of TV optics. Now, he might not even get that. The Post reports: “Jacksonville, the largest city in Florida and host of the Republican National Convention in August, announced Monday that masks will be mandatory in public and indoor locations, as well as in ‘other situations where individuals cannot socially distance.’ ” It seems Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican, finally saw the necessity of following expert advice. (Jennifer Rubin, 6/29)

By sheer necessity, the Covid-19 pandemic has united health care systems around the common purpose of accelerating advances to help patients that might otherwise have taken years to develop. This has taken cutting through layers of bureaucracy stemming from misguided policies, ingrained industry practices, and outdated conventions that too often tied the hands of patients and clinicians. (Peter Pronovost, 6/30)

From coast to coast, outrage over the murder of George Floyd has brought to bear what BIPOC have always known: That “normal” has never been good enough. For months now, COVID-19 has been redoubling the gaps in white privilege that have always existed. If higher death rates among Black and Brown people laid bare the structural weakness of “normal,” then protests over Floyd’s death are the wrecking ball that will finally bring it to the ground. And it’s about time. (Joseph Kunkel, 6/29)

Covid-19 is not an evenly distributed pandemic. The United States is an outlier — and not in a good way — with more than 2.5 million cases and 125,000 deaths, or about 36 deaths per 100,000 people. One of the strongest performers is Taiwan, with 446 confirmed cases and just seven deaths for nearly 24 million citizens, or 0.03 deaths per 100,000. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has 1,200 times as many Covid-19 deaths as Taiwan. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Cathy Zhang and Aaron Glickman, 6/30)

To be truly effective, Gov. Abbott needs to find the political courage to buck irresponsible elements within his own party, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who went on Fox News Thursday to minimize and obfuscate the state’s alarming numbers. The outbreak has worsened to the point where suggestions and recommendations will not be enough to keep the situation from deteriorating. We’ll say it again: Abbott must order statewide mask use for all Texans when they are outside their homes and near others or free up local leaders to determine what restrictions make sense in their communities. He must lead or get out of the way. Successfully navigating the pandemic demands more from our leaders than politics as usual. When dealing with COVID-19, the gap between words and actions is not only hypocritical, it is deadly. (6/29)

How are you doing today? That is what schools should be asking every student regularly when classes restart in the fall, however school looks. It’s also probably the question they should be asking themselves. Due to the lasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ll have to address issues like anxiety, depression, abuse, trauma, grief, safety and food security, among not just students but staff. (Vicki Vila. 6/28)

The critically ill patients in Parkland’s COVID-19 Tactical Care Unit couldn’t wear masks even if they wanted to. They each have a plastic tube jammed down their throats, straight to their lungs. The other end of each tube coils like a translucent snake, tethering the inert form in the bed to a gleaming machine — and, with luck, to life. (Sharon Grigsby, 6/28)