 Welcome to Tuesday's Overnight Health Care More Americans have now died from coronavirus infections than during all of World War I. Cases are climbing, especially in the Sun Belt. Vice President Pence said the concerns of a second wave of the virus are "overblown," and administration officials pledged that any potential vaccine would be free for some people. We'll start with Pence: Pence: Panic over second coronavirus wave 'overblown' Vice President Pence on Tuesday blamed the media for stoking concerns of a "second wave" of coronavirus in the United States, insisting in an op-ed that the Trump administration's response has been successful even as infections are climbing in several states. The vice president, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that panic over a rebound in coronavirus cases is "overblown" while touting the administration's handling of the pandemic. "The truth is, whatever the media says, our whole-of-America approach has been a success," he wrote. "We’ve slowed the spread, we’ve cared for the most vulnerable, we’ve saved lives, and we’ve created a solid foundation for whatever challenges we may face in the future. That’s a cause for celebration, not the media’s fear mongering." In reality: Experts dispute that the country is facing a second wave, and instead have expressed concern that the country never fully got past the first wave of infections. The virus is now hitting areas that were initially spared while New York, California, Washington and New Jersey were devastated. Pence and President Trump have repeatedly attempted to downplay the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, and the administration has largely shifted its focus from addressing the health impacts of the virus to reopening states as quickly as possible. Read more here. Things not looking great in Texas: State hits new high for coronavirus cases, hospitalizations Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday urged people to stay home as the state registered the highest number of new hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, marking the fifth consecutive day of rising hospitalizations. Abbott reported that 2,622 people tested positive on Tuesday for the coronavirus, a new daily record for the Lone Star State. The prior record had been set on June 10, when 2,504 tested positive. The state’s Health and Human Services Department also reported that 2,518 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients are currently in Texas hospitals, up from 2,326 on Monday. Hospitalizations have been on a steady upward trend since May 25, when about 1,500 were hospitalized. “If you do not need to go out, the best advice is still to stay at home,” Abbott said at a press conference in Austin. Still, Abbott said hospitals have plenty of capacity to deal with a surge in hospitalizations, and the state is moving along with reopening, allowing restaurants to use 75 percent of their capacity and allowing most businesses to operate at 50 percent capacity or more. Read more here. Trump health officials pledge COVID-19 vaccine will be free to the 'vulnerable' Any potential vaccine for COVID-19 will be free for any "vulnerable" American who can't afford it, Trump administration officials pledged Tuesday. As the administration's "Operation Warp Speed" closes in on potential candidates and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding continues to flow to private companies, advocacy groups and lawmakers have raised questions about the cost of a potential vaccine. Administration officials didn't have all the answers, but said some people would get it for free. "For any American who is vulnerable, who cannot afford the vaccine and desires the vaccine, we will provide it for free," a senior administration official said during a call with reporters. But: It's unknown exactly what "vulnerable" means, or how the administration is defining affordability. The officials noted that insurers "have expressed interest" in covering vaccines with no cost-sharing. But they did not mention the CARES Act passed in March requires that. Read more here. Some good news: Trial shows drug reduces coronavirus deaths by one-third among severely ill patients A clinical trial in Great Britain has found that a cheap, widely available drug reduces deaths from coronavirus in severely ill patients on ventilators by one-third, which researchers hailed as a significant breakthrough. The drug, a steroid called dexamethasone, was found to reduce deaths among coronavirus patients on ventilators by one-third and by one-fifth among patients receiving oxygen only. There was no benefit among patients not on ventilators or receiving oxygen. "Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19," said Peter Horby, a professor at the University of Oxford and one of the chief investigators of the trial. "This is an extremely welcome result." Caveat: There’s no actual study yet, just a press release with top line figures. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, wrote on Twitter that the results appear to be "very good news," though he cautioned that the researchers did not release their full data. Read more here. House coronavirus task force launches probe into largest nursing home operators The House subcommittee tasked with overseeing the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic has written to the country's largest nursing home companies, as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, demanding thorough reports on their preparedness for and handling of COVID-19. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the chair of the subcommittee, penned the letters on Tuesday. “The Subcommittee is concerned that lax oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the federal government’s failure to provide testing supplies and personal protective equipment to nursing homes and long-term care facilities may have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus and the deaths of more than 40,000 Americans in these facilities,” Clyburn wrote to the agency. Nursing homes have been devastated by coronavirus outbreaks. Federal data shows about a third of all virus deaths in the country have been in nursing homes. Infection control lapses, lack of testing and major shortages of personal protective equipment have all played a role in the crisis. Read more here. In other nursing home news... IRS says stimulus checks belong to residents, not nursing homes The IRS on Tuesday alerted nursing homes that coronavirus stimulus checks generally belong to residents and cannot be seized by these facilities. The alert comes after state attorneys general have reported receiving complaints about nursing homes and assisted-living facilities telling residents that they need to sign over their payments. Members of Congress have been urging federal agencies to ensure that facilities don't improperly confiscate residents' checks. The direct payments are a key part of coronavirus relief legislation enacted in March. Most U.S. households are entitled to one-time payments of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. Read more here. New testing bill introduced Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is out with a new bill to encourage businesses to test their employees for coronavirus, which he says could help safely reopen the economy. The bill provides a tax credit for businesses that test their employees in states where infection rates are above the national average. “As businesses re-open and states navigate the next steps in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress should do its part to help employers cover the cost of testing to promote a safe workplace,” Cruz said in a statement. Link to the bill. 22 percent at increased risk for serious COVID illness, study finds About 1.7 billion people have at least one underlying health condition that puts them at increased risk for serious COVID-19 illness if infected, according to a study published this week in The Lancet medical journal. That translates to 22 percent of the global population having at least one of 11 health conditions, including cardiovascular disease or diabetes, that puts them at increased risk for negative health outcomes if they contract COVID-19. The study, published Monday, is intended to help countries protect people at highest risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19 through increased social distancing measures, medical care and other resources for those populations, the researchers wrote. Read more here. What we’re reading Coronavirus model once used by White House now predicts 200,000 U.S. deaths by October (CBS News) African countries are still waiting for a surge in Covid-19 cases. Some public health experts question whether it will happen (CNN.com) Trump pushes ahead with Tulsa rally, while Pence misleads and coronavirus cases rise (ABC News) State by state Chicago sues Trump administration over ObamaCare enrollment in coronavirus pandemic (NBC Chicago) Hospitals in several Alabama cities now seeing all-time highs in coronavirus patients (AL.com) Texas mayors to Gov. Abbott: Let us mandate face masks to slow spread of novel coronavirus (San Antonio Express-News) Florida sets new single-day record for coronavirus cases, adding 2,783 (Tampa Bay Times) Miami pauses reopening as Florida's new coronavirus cases rise (ABC News) Op-eds in The Hill Vaccine supply chain: Federal government must pivot from venture capital seeder to overseer COVID-19 inequalities are striking and uncompromising | 
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