POLITICO: How the U.S. and Italy traded places on coronavirus
“Three months ago, public health officials feared that America would be swamped by COVID-19 like Italy. Today, the U.S. would be lucky to swap its coronavirus crisis for theirs. … Global health officials seized on Italy — as the first country outside of China to be battered by the virus — as a disturbing case study for the rest of the world. In private meetings, White House officials worried that Italy was a preview of the storm about to hit the U.S. health system. But Italy announced just 264 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday — the same day that the United States reported nearly 32,000. The European nation opened its restaurants and stores a month ago, albeit under new, national safety measures, even as U.S. states wrestled with inconsistent, hasty reopening efforts that have been blamed for new virus spikes. And Italy’s outbreak has dramatically ebbed from its mid-March peak, while America’s new per capita cases remain on par with Italy’s worst day — and show signs of rising further, with record hospitalizations in states like Arizona, Florida, and Texas last week…” (Diamond/Wheaton, 6/22).

Washington Post: In countries keeping the coronavirus at bay, experts watch U.S. case numbers with alarm
“As coronavirus cases surge in the U.S. South and West, health experts in countries with falling case numbers are watching with a growing sense of alarm and disbelief, with many wondering why virus-stricken U.S. states continue to reopen and why the advice of scientists is often ignored. … Some European health experts fear that the rising U.S. caseloads are rooted in a White House response that has at times deviated from the conclusions of leading scientists. … Whereas the U.S. response to the crisis has at times appeared disconnected from American scientists’ publicly available findings, U.S. researchers’ conclusions informed the actions of foreign governments…” (Noack, 6/19).