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Contrary to just-so stories in the press, the German government was behind the German public in reacting to the coronavirus. Masks and hand sanitizer disappeared from store shelves even as Berlin was still downplaying the threat and warning about anti-foreigner bigotry. Then, under pressure to break her silence, Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 10 announced that 60% to 70% of Germans should expect to be infected. Her comments traveled around the world and were a one-day story in most places, but the idea seems to have permeated her own people’s consciousness that the virus was a fact that must be accepted. This was undoubtedly helpful. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., 6/30)

When the coronavirus pandemic began, the goal was to “flatten the curve,” to avoid overwhelming the hospital system. With enormous effort, the nation came close. But now the curve has come undone. The chart of daily new cases in the United States looks like a ski lift, rising ever steeper. “There’s still a lot of virus,” warns Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A vaccine may still be a long way off. How do we ever get back to a semblance of normal? The road back will be even harder now than it was in March. The United States is experiencing multiple outbreaks from California to Florida that will seed more infections in the weeks and months ahead. The hope that summer’s warm weather would help, that the sacrifices made in March and April would be sufficient, that a miracle cure would arrive — all have been dashed. (6/30)

Whether you call what’s happening across America right now the second wave of COVID-19, or an unfinished first, one thing is certain: not all communities are impacted by the virus in the same way. A community in Monroe County, Ala., for example, which has large swaths of poverty and people with pre-existing illnesses, may suffer more lasting economic damage from a COVID-19 outbreak than a similar-sized community in San Juan County, Wash., where residents’ economic security and employment is more stable. (Sema Sgaier, 6/30)

Real estate developers begin as storytellers. They drive a few stakes into an empty expanse and begin spinning a tale of winding streets and welcoming houses, of shops and schools and playgrounds, a community center, a swimming pool, a golf course. Or maybe instead of a subdivision, they tell the story of a skyscraper, an apartment complex, a retirement village. They need people to believe them. Bankers to loan the money. Governments to grant the permits and abate the taxes. Tenants to sign the leases. Buyers to take out the mortgages. As if by alchemy, the story comes true because people think it will come true. Enough belief makes the whole thing fly. Looking through the lens of President Trump’s real estate background is the only way I can begin to understand his response to the novel coronavirus, which has otherwise been as baffling as it has been feckless. (David Von Drehle, 6/30)

Donald Trump is responsible for a fair amount of badness in the 3½ years he’s served as president of the United States: Dismantling and denigrating American institutions, encouraging white supremacy, locking up immigrant children, asking a foreign government to interfere with an American election, lying five million times. And those are just a few things off the top of my head.And while it’s far too late for Trump to be absolved of those sins, he could earn himself a tiny bit of redemption at the end of his first (and, very possibly, final) term by doing just one easy thing right now that could potentially save thousands of lives.He could put on a face mask in public, and ask all Americans to do the same. (Mariel Garza, 6/30)

As cities start to once again implement stay-at-home orders with coronavirus cases rising worryingly, Colleyville has made a public show of refusing to enforce Tarrant County’s order requiring individuals to wear masks inside businesses and at large outdoor gatherings. In a statement, the city said it did not want to put its Police Department in “an awkward position” after learning from the district attorney’s office that violations would be difficult to prosecute. The city added, unhelpfully, that it would not actively impede Tarrant County’s enforcement efforts.This is a bad move. It feeds the false narrative that the coronavirus pandemic is no longer a serious threat and boosts the wrongheaded stubbornness of people who have been up in arms about wearing masks. It also serves as a bad model for nearby cities in a time when masking has become a pointlessly controversial issue. (7/1)

Oklahoma and several other states are trying to manage an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases, a surge driven in many locales by infections among younger people who may never even know they have the disease.A new policy at the University of Oklahoma requires masks indoors; that could extend to football games this fall. On its website, the state Health Department says Oklahomans need to get tested, regardless of whether they display symptoms. “The need to follow social distancing guidelines, wear a mask, wash hands often, and adhere to instructions to quarantine and isolate remain critically important,” the department says. (7/1)

“A journey of a thousand miles,” states the Chinese proverb, “begins with one step.” South Carolinians can only hope that Gov. Henry McMaster made that one small step on the path toward overdue enlightenment with his decision to wear a face mask during a recent briefing on South Carolina’s ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We can only hope it represents the first halting forward step in McMaster’s painfully slow journey toward realizing the need to issue a statewide order requiring South Carolinians to wear face masks. We can only hope that it’s the first small step toward McMaster finally embracing the reality that he must decisively change course to bring down our state’s alarming COVID-19 rates. (6/29)