Extreme weather threatens coronavirus pandemic response in hard-hit states

Here are some significant developments:

• As the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma, Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged caution. “A 100-year old treatment may work, a bit, for some patients,” he wrote on Twitter. “May or may not be safe. Science moves slowly — there is still so much we don’t know.”
• Health officials in Maine have linked a wedding reception in Millinocket to 53 coronavirus cases and one death, highlighting yet another example of the health risks posed by large gatherings. Investigators from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention say people who did not attend the wedding have been infected after coming into contact with guests, as the Bangor Daily News reported.
• Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that the Republican Party plans to test all Republican National Convention attendees before their arrival in Charlotte. Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager on Sunday asserted that the former vice president has not contracted the novel coronavirus. But Kate Bedingfield also said that he has not taken a test.
• The seven-day case average has risen by more than 25 percent in the past week in five states and territories, according to The Washington Post’s tracking: Guam, South Dakota, Maine, North Dakota and Wyoming. The average number of deaths has increased the most — more than 50 percent — in Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia and Iowa.

Louisiana officials urged residents to include masks, sanitizers and other protective gear in their emergency kits and to shelter only with immediate household members if possible. ...

As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a state disaster declaration, he told reporters on Sunday that the Texas military division was preparing to operate mobile coronavirus testing squads, sheltering teams and disinfection teams. ...