USA
25% of racial minorities report COVID-19 discrimination, survey finds
Asian, black and Latin Americans are more likely to face discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey has found. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

July 7 (UPI) -- One in four minority Americans in the United States face racial discrimination over fears they have been infected with the new coronavirus, according to the findings of a survey released Tuesday by the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.

Roughly 33 percent of black, Asian and Latin Americans say they have experienced at least one incident of discrimination related to COVID-19, the researchers found.

"The early spike in the percentage of people who experienced COVID-related discrimination was attributable -- in part -- to discriminatory reactions to the growing number of people wearing masks or face coverings at the early stage of the pandemic," Ying Liu, a research scientist with the center, said in a press release.

"Asian Americans were the first group to experience substantial discrimination, followed by African Americans and Latinos," she said. We also found that in some earlier weeks of the pandemic, people who were heavy users of social media were more likely to report an experience of discrimination."

The Understanding Coronavirus in America Study regularly surveys nearly 7,500 people throughout the country to learn how COVID-19 impacts their attitudes, lives and behaviors, according to the USC researchers.

To measure incidents of discrimination, respondents were asked if people feared, threatened or harassed them, or treated them poorly, because of concerns that they had COVID-19, the researchers said.

The percentage of people who experienced a recent incident of COVID-related discrimination peaked in April at 11 percent and steadily declined to 7 percent at the beginning of June, they said.

RELATED U.S. school safety report addresses mental health, discrimination

In early June, Asian Americans were more than 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to experience a recent incident of COVID-related discrimination, while black and Latin Americans were nearly twice as likely, according to the researchers.

As of early April, about 70 percent of the country thought people who had COVID-19 were dangerous and nearly 30 percent thought formerly infected people were dangerous, the researchers said.

By early June, the percentage of Americans who considered infected people to be dangerous had dropped to under 30 percent, while only 5 percent thought people who had recovered from the virus were dangerous, they said.

"As growing numbers of people knew family members, friends and coworkers who were infected with COVID-19, we saw a decrease in the stigma associated with the virus," dsif Kyla Thomas, a sociologist at the center.

"We also saw a steep decline in the percentage of people who perceived coronavirus infection as a sign of personal weakness or failure," she said.

Adults aged 18 to 34 were three times as likely as seniors 65 or older to report a recent incident of coronavirus-related discrimination, the USC researchers found.

Data from the study, which is supported in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is updated daily and available to researchers and the public at covid19pulse.usc.edu.

A separate survey, conducted by the American Heart Association and also released Tuesday, found that approximately 90 percent of older adults -- age 60 and older -- with a history of type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke are more worried that, because of the pandemic, health will limit their experiences. That compared to less than 60 percent of people without those conditions.

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THE OBAMA LEGACY
Healthier school meal programs helped poorer kids avoid obesity
Changes to school lunches in the 2012-2013 school year translated to an estimated 500,000 fewer obese poor American children, researchers report. Photo by Tim Lauer/USDA/Wikimedia
Just how healthy has the introduction of healthier new meals at America's schools been for kids? A new study ties the policy move to about a half-million fewer obese U.S. children.

The study covered kids aged 10 to 17. It found that after the introduction in 2012-2013 of school meals with less fat and sugar, and more whole grains, the risk of obesity fell by 47 percent among kids from low-income families.

All of that has translated to an estimated 500,000 fewer obese poor American children, according to the research team.

"Students growing up in families with low incomes participate the most in school meals, so it stands to reason that they would benefit the most," researcher Erica Kenney, an assistant professor of public health nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, said in a news release from the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, or RWJF.

RELATED Federal court strikes down Trump's school nutrition rollbacks

"These students are also at highest risk for obesity, food insecurity and poor health. Our study shows that the healthier nutrition standards are working as intended for these students," she said.

In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to upgrade nutrition standards for schools, and those standards went into effect in 2012-2013.

Poorer kids were especially impacted, because the new health-oriented policies "included the National School Lunch Program, which affects 30 million students nationwide, and the School Breakfast Program, which affects 14 million students nationwide," Kenney's team noted.

RELATED Children prefer fruit juice over more nutritious whole fruit, milk at school

Some of the changes included providing "nutritionally adequate meals during the school day" boost the amount of fruits and vegetables in meals while lowering starchy vegetables -- such as French fries -- serve only fat-free or low-fat milk and increase the amount of whole grains in meals.

Even vending machines were affected: the Smart Snacks program "eliminated most sugary beverages and reduced the sugar and calorie content of food products for sale," Kenney's team reported.

But did any of this actually boost kids' health?

RELATED Kids make better food choices online than in school lunch lines

To find out, the Boston team looked at obesity data for kids aged 10 to 17 from the ongoing National Survey of Children's Health.

Family income seemed key, the study found. Although the healthier food program didn't affect obesity overall, among children living in poverty, the predicted percentage of children with obesity in 2018 was 21 percent, but without the introduction of healthier school meals and snacks, it would have been 31 percent -- a 47 percent reduction, the researchers said.

The authors pointed out that -- even among kids -- obesity can raise the risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Katrina Hartog is clinical nutrition manager at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Reviewing the new data, she agreed that changes to school meals have been a success and "no other legislation was passed that could explain the positive decline in obesity prevalence during this period."

Kenney's team warned, however, that Trump administration efforts to roll back Obama-era changes in school nutrition could threaten these advances.

For example, the study authors pointed out that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has sought to rescind parts of the program with moves such as the reintroduction of flavored milk, a weakening of the whole grains requirements and delays on limits on salt in school meals.

The agency has also tried to cut one million kids from free meals programs and allow schools to serve less fruit, fewer whole grains, fewer varieties of vegetables, and more starchy vegetables, such as French fries, Kenney's group said.

That's the wrong direction for kids, Hartog believes.

"We ought to be maintaining or strengthening these standards versus weakening them. Healthy children are more likely to develop into healthy adults and continue to pass these habits to future generations," Hartog said.

According to Jamie Bussel, a senior program officer at the RWJF, "Healthier school meals have been an unqualified success." She also believes the coronavirus crisis has made it tougher on low-income families to ensure their kids get good nutrition.

"To provide some certainty during the ongoing pandemic, USDA should allow schools to serve free meals to every student during the coming school year -- universal free school meals -- and Congress should appropriate any necessary additional funding to cover the full cost of all meals served," Bussel said in the news release.

The report was published July 7 in the journal Health Affairs.

Lawmakers urge Pentagon to stop buying F-35 parts from Turkey

The active-duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings conducted an F-35A Combat Power Exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in January. A group of bipartisan lawmakers has urged the Pentagon to more quickly stop buying parts for the jet from Turkey. Photo by R. Nial Bradshaw/U.S. Air Force/UPI | License Photo


July 7 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper this week asking the Pentagon to more quickly end its F-35 partnership with Turkey.

Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Thom Tillis-R-N.C., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., wrote that the Pentagon's plans to continue buying F-35 parts into 2022 hampers the United States' ability to put pressure on the country over its ties to Russia.

"As you know, we have worked together in the Senate on issues of US-Turkey relations for several years and remain concerned about the direction Turkey is taking under the leadership of President Erdogan. From human rights violations in Syria to arbitrary arrests of Americans in Ankara to defense cooperation with Russia, Turkey is not behaving like a responsible actor or working collaboratively with the West at the level we expect from a NATO ally," the letter said.

The U.S. formally removed Turkey from the international F-35 partnership in 2019 after it received delivery of a Su-35 Russian missile defense system, which the U.S. has warned could compromise the F-35.

But in January Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord said the Pentagon would allow prime F-35 contractor Lockheed Martin to honor existing contractual obligations with Turkish manufacturers for F-35 components.

Turkish manufacturers have been involved in building more than 900 parts for the F-35, and while Pentagon officials have found replacement suppliers for most, the shift could cost more than $500 million.

More than 1,000 faith leaders call for halt to federal executions



The federal government is scheduled to execute Daniel Lewis Lee on Monday. File Photo courtesy of Doug Smith/Florida Department of Corrections/Wikimedia Commons

July 7 (UPI) -- A group of more than 1,000 faith leaders on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr to halt four federal executions scheduled over the next two months.

The leaders from a variety of faiths said that with the coronavirus pandemic, economic crisis and systemic racism in the justice system, the country should be focused on "protecting and preserving life, not carrying out executions."

"As an evangelical, I am heartbroken to see our country return to killing its citizens. We have seen so much death in recent months and people are hurting. Restarting executions during a pandemic should be the farthest thing from our minds," said Carlos Malavé, executive director of Christian Churches Together.

Among the leaders to sign the statement were Bishop Joe Wilson of the United Methodist Church in Georgetown, Texas; the Rev. Lisa Enders Tunstall of McCarty Memorial Christian Church in Los Angeles; Bishop Richard Pates, the apostolic administrator of the Joliet Catholic Diocese in Illinois; and Shane Claiborne, founder of Red Letter Christians.

RELATED Buddhist adviser sues to stop execution citing COVID-19 risk

The federal Bureau of Prisons scheduled the executions of four death row inmates in June as part of Barr's yearlong effort to resume federal executions. Among those scheduled were Daniel Lewis Lee (Monday), Wesley Purkey (July 15), Dustin Lee Honken (July 17) and Keith Dwayne Nelson (Aug. 28).

Barr ordered the federal government to resume capital punishment in July 2019, 16 years after the last federal execution. He told the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions for five death row inmates starting in December 2019, but a number of injunctions delayed the dates until this month.

The four inmates who were originally scheduled to be executed in December -- Lee, Purkey, Honken and Alfred Bourgeois -- mounted a legal challenge against Barr's efforts.

RELATED Texas death row inmate asks Supreme Court for stay citing his age at time of murder

At issue was the Justice Department's plan to institute a uniform lethal injection protocol rather than follow the individual protocols used by each state, which the law requires. Barr proposed using a single drug, pentobarbital, rather than the common three-drug cocktail used in many state executions.

Under a 1994 statute, all federal executions must be carried out in a "manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed." Government attorneys had argued the drugs used in the protocol are irrelevant, since the method of execution -- lethal injection -- is the same.

The District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction in April, giving Barr the green light to reschedule the executions.

RELATED Federal death row inmate with Alzheimer's seeks stay

In 2014, former President Barack Obama ordered then-Attorney General Eric Holder to review the use of the death penalty in the United States, effectively implementing a moratorium on executions.

The last federal execution was that of Gulf War veteran Louis Jones Jr. in March 2003 for the rape and murder of a fellow soldier, Pvt. Tracie McBride in 1995.

Jones admitted kidnapping the young female recruit at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, but his lawyer sought clemency by arguing Jones suffered behavior-altering brain damage from exposure to nerve gas during the Gulf War that gave him uncontrollable, violent urges.

RELATED Poll: Record share of Americans say death penalty 'unacceptable'Lee, the first federal death row inmate scheduled to be executed next week, was sentenced to death for his role as an accomplice in the murders of William Mueller, his wife Nancy Mueller, and his stepdaughter Sarah Powell in 1996.

Family members of the murder victims on Tuesday filed a motion asking for Lee's execution to be postponed due to the coronavirus. They said the pandemic "ravaging the federal prison population" would put them at risk if they attended the execution, especially those family members considered to be medically vulnerable.

"There is no legitimate reason for [the government] to go forward with Mr. Lee's execution on July 13, 2020 as opposed to a later date," the complaint reads

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'Blackout Day' calls for black Americans to wield economic power
 composite image of a "Black Lives Matter" mural is pictured in Pittsburgh, Pa., last Friday. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo




July 7 (UPI) -- Tuesday is designated as Blackout Day, a solidarity movement that calls for black Americans to demonstrate their economic influence as a measure to spur equality and justice nationwide.

Blackout Day asks black Americans to refrain from spending money on anything for one day -- and if necessary, to spend it at black-owned businesses, according to the Blackout website.

The movement to dedicate one day to support black-owned businesses has been around for decades, but ongoing outcry over police brutality and inequality has added significance to this year's observance.

"This is only the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of economic empowerment as a reality for all black people. United, we are an unstoppable force," organizers state on their website.

RELATED Disney announces deal with Colin Kaepernick for ESPN documentary

Reshauna Striggles, an activist in Arizona, said buyers can make a statement against systemic racism by spending money only at businesses owned by blacks and Latinos.

"That's where you're going to spend money," Striggles said. "And don't spend money anywhere else."

Texas activist Calvin Martyr compares the movement to the 1950s public bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., after Rosa Parks was jailed for sitting in a seat reserved for whites. The boycott gave rise to the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. and an end to segregated buses in the city.

"If we get enough black people, all black people, we can unite like they did in Montgomery, Ala., where not one single black person rode a bus," Martyr said in a video posted to YouTube. "That right there is what caused the civil-rights legislation to come."

Black-owned OneUnited Bank in Los Angeles said Tuesday's movement is a way to bring attention to the economic challenges of black Americans.

"We need to use our power, both our spending power, our vote and our voice, to demand criminal justice reform and to address income inequality," OneUnited Chairman Kevin Cohee said in a statement.

Protesters march for social justice


The Surrogate's Court building exterior remains vandalized while Occupy City Hall protests continue outside City Hall in New York City on June 30. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

US Supreme Court upholds block on Keystone XL Pipeline construction



The Supreme Court on Monday dealt a blow to the Trump administration by maintaining a block on construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo
July 6 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Monday denied the Trump administration's request to allow for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline to continue, upholding a lower court's decision to cancel a key permit on environmental grounds.

The order does allow for similar pipeline projects that were authorized under the same water crossing permit, known as Nationwide Permit 12, but were blocked by the Montana judge's decision to continue

No reason for its decision was given nor were dissenters named, as is the custom for such orders but it states the hold on the Keystone pipeline will be in place while the case proceeds through the appeals process.

"Today's ruling makes clear that the builders of Keystone Xl can't rely on a flawed, rubber-stamped permit to force the project's construction through our wetlands, streams and rivers," Cecilia Segal, an attorney at the National Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "It's a resounding victory for the communities and imperiled species living along this pipeline's proposed route."

In April, U.S. Chief District Judge Brian Morris ruled in favor of a coalition of conservation and landowner groups, stating the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had unlawfully approved Nationwide Permit 12 to TC Energy's Keystone XL project by failing to properly analyze its effects on endangered species as necessitated by the Endangered Species Act. His ruling also blocked the construction of other pipeline projects.

In May, Morris upheld most of his original decision but narrowed it to allow some projects to proceed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit then ruled late May to leave the hold in place pending the appeal is granted.

Upon completion, Keystone XL would to deliver 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Canadian city of Hardisty, Alberta, to Steel City, Neb., where it would connect with TC Energy's existing infrastructure to carry it to Gulf Coast refiners.

The Sierra Club, which is a U.S. environmental organization that has been battling against the pipeline project, said Keystone XL is also facing a series of roadblocks, including other legal challenges, a low oil market and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's promise to scrap the project if elected.

"More than 10 years after it was proposed, Keystone XL is as far as it's ever been from being completed," said Sierra Club senior attorney Doug Hayes. "We're glad to see the court acknowledge that the Trump administration is not above the law and cannot just ignore critical environmental protections in pursuit of building this dangerous tar sands pipeline."

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Federal judge shuts down Dakota Access pipeline

Little Bear, with the Lakota tribe, joined by people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline on March 10, 2017, in Washington, D.C. A federal judge Monday ordered a new environmental review of the pipeline along with it to be shut down. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

July 6 (UPI) -- A federal judge ordered the shutdown of the Dakota Access pipeline until an environmental review can be completed, handing a blow to the Trump administration and victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier in the year allowing for the completion of the Dakota Access pipeline after the Obama administration blocked it over environmental concerns

The pipeline has long been contentious in North Dakota because of its closeness to tribal lands. Supporters touted its safety and that it would create jobs for the local community.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the pipeline must be closed within the next 30 days. He ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-examine the risks of the pipeline and prepare a full environmental impact statement.

RELATED Great Plains Indian reservations report 17% spike in COVID-19 cases

"Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline," Mike Faith, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said in a statement. "This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning."

Jan Hasselman, an attorney with Earthjustice, which is representing the tribe, said the ruling is providing some justice for the group after four years of fighting.

"If the events of 2020 have taught us anything, it's that health and justice must be prioritized early on in any decision-making process if we want to avoid a crisis later on," Hasselman said.

The pipeline's owners, Texas-based Energy Transfer, has not immediately commented on the decision.

"The decision is likely to be enormously disruptive," Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy LLC, noting it could take the Army Corps of Engineers 18 months to address problems in its environmental review.

Prescriptions for two malaria drugs more than doubled early in COVID-19 outbreak

 Photo by UPI | License Photo

July 6 (UPI) -- Prescriptions for chloroquine rose 159 percent across the United States in February and March, the early days on the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Prescriptions for the companion drug hydroxycholoroquine increased by 86 percent over the same period, the researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The increases coincide roughly with endorsements of the drugs by President Donald Trump and other public figures.

To date, little scientific evidence exists to support hydroxychloroquine's use to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

RELATED COVID-19: WHO discontinues trial on hydroxychloroquine

"In one month, approximately 300,000 additional patients received hydroxychloroquine from retail pharmacies," the study's authors wrote.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. National Institutes of Health have discontinued studies of the drug in COVID-19 patients over concerns regarding serious, life-threatening side effects.

The estimated number of Americans who received prescriptions for both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin -- the antiviral that has been paired with the malaria drug in COVID-19 studies -- increased 1,044 percent in February and March, the researchers said.

RELATED NIH halts hydroxychloroquine trial, study showed no harm or benefit

Overall, the estimated number of patients who received dispensed hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine increased for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with the highest percentage increases in New Jersey at more than 190 percent; Florida, at 157 percent; Hawaii, at 130 percent; and New York, at 123 percent, they said.

The smallest percentage increases were reported in South Dakota, at 37 percent, and Iowa, at 44, they said.

"Evidence of efficacy in preventing or treating COVID-19 is limited," the CDC authors wrote. "Treatment guidelines found insufficient clinical data to recommend for or against hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine use and recommend against combining either with azithromycin, except in clinical trials."

RELATED Case study shows heart ailment risk of malaria drug used for COVID-19

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria may lurk in U.S. water, soil

Colonies of the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei, which causes melioidosis, are pictured after four days' incubation on Ashdown's agar. Photo by Gavin Koh/Wikimedia

A potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be hiding in the dirt and water of the southernmost U.S. states, warns a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bacterial infection, called melioidosis, caused the lungs of a 63-year-old Texan to shut down in late 2018, forcing doctors to put him on a ventilator to save his life, the researchers said.

U.S. citizens who've caught melioidosis in the past typically picked it up in a foreign country, but this man had not recently traveled abroad, said Johanna Salzer, a veterinary medical officer with the CDC's Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch.

What's more, the bacteria that caused the man's melioidosis was genetically similar to two prior U.S. cases, one in Texas in 2004 and one in Arizona in 1999.

"We feel like this is evidence that it could be in the environment" in the United States, Salzer said. "We just need to find it."

Melioidosis is caused by the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei. Humans pick up the bacteria by inhaling dust or tiny droplets of water, or by dirt or water getting into an open wound, Salzer said.

There are an estimated 160,000 cases of melioidosis every year around the world, and 89,000 deaths, "which is really high for a disease a lot of people don't know about," Salzer said. It most commonly kills through blood poisoning or respiratory failure.

RELATED Heartburn meds linked to drug-resistant bacteria

The fatality rate is estimated to exceed 70 percent if a person sick with melioidosis is left untreated, Salzer said.

There's no vaccine for the bacteria, and it is naturally resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. These include penicillin, ampicillin, cephalosporins, gentamicin, tobramycin and streptomycin, the researchers said.

Patients often require at least two weeks of IV drugs followed by several months of oral antibiotics to wipe out the infection.

The man, from Atascosa County, Texas, went to the hospital in November 2018. He'd had fever, chest pain and shortness of breath for three days, according to the report in the June issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia, and a blood test revealed a B. pseudomallei infection. He subsequently developed a large ulcer on his chest.

Four days after admission to the hospital, the man stopped breathing and was put on a ventilator. He was transferred to another hospital, which switched him to an antibiotic that was more effective against the bacteria.

The patient left the hospital after three weeks, but remained on daily antibiotics for another three months, according to the report. The disease also injured his kidney, which required dialysis three times a week.

These bacteria are most commonly found in the tropical climates of Southeast Asia, South and Central America, and northern Australia. It also has been detected in two U.S. territories, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Salzer said.

Previously, B. pseudomallei "has never been found in the environment in the continental United States," Salzer said.

Unfortunately, the handful of cases cited by the researchers seem to indicate that the bacteria might have made a home for itself in the southern United States.


"There is global modeling that the bacteria could survive, and survive well, in Texas and areas of Florida," Salzer said.

The CDC plans to partner with academic institutions to search for the bacteria in the continental United States, in much the same way that it was uncovered in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Salzer said.

Melioidosis can be tough to diagnose, Salzer said.

"It's been called the Great Mimicker or the Imitator Disease," Salzer said. "If you're not looking for it, it doesn't have really clear and reliable symptoms in all people."

Symptoms also can take months or years to develop, making it even more difficult for doctors to puzzle out their patient's illness, the report added.

The CDC experts urge doctors to test for the presence of the bacteria in patients in the southwestern United States who:
Have symptoms that seem to indicate pneumonia, blood infection, skin lesions or internal organ abscesses.
Have chronic diseases that put them at increased risk for dangerous infections, especially diabetes or kidney disease.

Don't improve after treatment with commonly used antibiotics.

More than 60 percent of melioidosis patients have diabetes, including the man in Texas, Salzer said.

Dr. Robert Glatter is an emergency medicine physician with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Lack of an international travel history should not rule out a diagnosis of melioidosis. People who also travel to the southwest U.S. are consequently at increased risk," he said.

"Increased health care provider awareness and education regarding the geographical distribution of this disease along with risk factors and pitfalls for managing melioidosis can help reduce mortality," Glatter added.


More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about melioidosis.

The retired inventor of N95 masks is back at work, mostly for free, to fight covid-19


Peter Tsai, the inventor of the filter material used in N95 masks, at his home in Knoxville, Tenn. During the pandemic, the materials scientist came out of retirement to help with respiratory mask shortages. (Kathy Tsai)

By Sydney Page

July 7, 2020 at Peter Tsai retired two years ago, but the materials scientist says he’s never been busier.

When the novel coronavirus began gripping the globe in March, Tsai was summoned from his short-lived retirement. He was in urgent demand because he is the inventor who, in 1995, patented the filtration material used in disposable N95 respirators.

The coveted masks are in short supply and are desperately needed by health-care workers and others who require protection from the highly contagious coronavirus.

Tsai started receiving a ceaseless torrent of calls and queries from national labs, companies and health-care workers in need of help.

“Everyone was asking me about the respirators,” said Tsai, 68, who is originally from Taiwan and now lives in Knoxville, Tenn.

Mainly, people wanted to know how to scale up production in the wake of a mass shortage and how to sterilize the masks for reuse.
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N95 masks have become a critical commodity as the pandemic has fueled a global scarcity of the virus-blocking equipment. Unlike other forms of personal protective equipment, including homemade masks and cloth covers, N95 masks actually filter out contaminants, making them the most protective masks on the market.

Tsai immediately hit the drawing board. He set up a makeshift laboratory in his home, where he lives with his wife and daughter, and began experimenting with different methods to decontaminate the masks.

“I started working almost 20 hours a day,” he said, adding he’s doing it mostly on a volunteer basis. “But I didn’t mind.”



Although Tsai retired in 2018, he is determined to enhance and scale his patented filtration system used in N95 masks. (Kathy Tsai)

He tried everything he could think of to cheaply sterilize the masks without losing filtration efficacy: He boiled them, steamed them, baked them in the oven and even left them out in the sunlight for extended periods of time. Then he ran tests.
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After trying multiple approaches in his home, he published an emergency medical report, which proposed a variety of methods for cleaning and reusing N95 masks without compromising the electrostatic charge required for the filtration system to function.

His central finding was that N95 masks can be heated at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes using a dry heat method without diminishing the filtration technology, and his hypothesis was validated by the National Institutes of Health.

After the first report was published in April, he continued to experiment, eagerly sharing his findings with the scientific community and anyone who asked.

He’s spread the word about the optimal material to use for homemade masks. His suggestion: nonwoven fabrics, such as car shop towels.

On Facebook, she denounced a Starbucks worker who asked her to wear a mask. It backfired.

Among the many companies and research groups that reached out to Tsai was N95DECON — a collaborative group of volunteer scientists, engineers and clinicians from around the country focused on N95 decontamination and reuse. They sought Tsai’s unique expertise.
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Oak Ridge National Lab, a Tennessee-based laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department, got in touch, too. The team at Oak Ridge was searching for ways to scale production of N95 masks.

“Dr. Tsai was immediately willing to collaborate with us on our lab-wide covid-19 effort,” said Merlin Theodore, the director of the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at the lab. Soon after the team reached out to Tsai, “he showed up at the lab ready to get to work,” she said.

The goal was to convert the lab’s carbon-fiber-processing facility into a filtration-cloth facility to produce the filter technology needed for N95 masks. The conversion process proved complicated, but with Tsai’s help, “we quickly got the system up and running,” said Lonnie Love, a lead scientist at Oak Ridge.

“He came in and described exactly what was needed to build his charging system and scale it,” he said. “Tsai has been really critical for us to solve this problem fast.”
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Theodore agreed. “Dr. Tsai shaved off several months to a year of time for us,” she said, confirming that Oak Ridge Lab reached its target in only a few weeks.

Tensions around wearing masks have been mounting since early April, when the CDC began recommending face coverings to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Video: Monica Akhtar/Photo: Sarah Hashemi/The Washington Post)

The facility is now able to produce material for 9,000 masks an hour, and Oak Ridge is working closely with industry partners to teach them how to make Tsai’s filtration material for widespread distribution.

“What we’re doing is creating the recipe to make the product, then sharing the recipe but not the product,” Love said.

While Oak Ridge does provide the filter material to other labs to study, it does not sell the product directly for widespread distribution. Rather, the team teaches industry partners how to scale production.

For instance, Cummins, a corporation that manufactures engines and filtration products, started exploring how to use its fuel-filtration technology to support health-care facilities. The company wanted to pivot from manufacturing air, fuel and lube filtration products mostly for car parts to supply the filter media used in respirators instead.
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Using Tsai’s method, Oak Ridge Lab provided Cummins with guidance on how to execute the filter production. Now, Cummins is producing enough filtration media to make roughly 1 million respirator masks a day.

“Dr. Peter Tsai is indeed a very esteemed researcher in the field of nonwovens,” said Chis Holm, the director of filter media technology & IP at Cummins Filtration. Tsai’s guidance, he said, has been essential to the corporation’s coronavirus efforts.

“If I can have this opportunity to help the community, then it will be a good memory for the rest of my life,” Tsai said. “I’m happy to do it.”

Tsai came to the United States in 1981 to pursue his doctoral degree in a variety of subjects at Kansas State University, where he completed more than 500 credits, despite needing only 90 to graduate. His thirsty intellect drove him to take courses in subjects ranging from chemical engineering to physics and math.
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His breakthrough on the mask came when he was leading a research team at the University of Tennessee in 1992. The team’s goal was to develop an electrostatic charging technology — coincidentally called corona charging — to filter out unwanted particles. His invention eventually became the foundation of the N95 respiratory mask.

Over the course of his career in textile manufacturing, engineering and teaching at the University of Tennessee, Tsai has earned 12 U.S. patents in filtration technology, including his latest hydrostatic charging method, which makes respiratory masks twice as efficient as his initial invention.

Beyond lending his expertise to others, Tsai’s colleagues say he’s a pleasure to work with.

“I’m taking this opportunity to soak up all the knowledge I can get,” Oak Ridge’s Theodore said. “And he’s not hesitant to share it, which is what I adore most about him.”
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According to Theodore, Tsai never fails to answer her calls, no matter the hour. “We have conversations late at night and practically any time, she said. “He always makes himself available.”

Theodore said Tsai repeatedly rejected payment for his work, but Oak Ridge policy requires compensation.

“That’s what struck me the most about him,” Theodore said. “He didn’t care about the money. He just wanted to help as many people as he could.”


“He’s very humble and unassuming despite being a pioneer in this area of filtration,” Love said. “Just when he’s ready to relax, all hell breaks loose, and he’s become critical.”

Tsai, however, said that it’s the health-care workers who are “the real heroes” and that he’s just doing his job.

Although Tsai technically retired in 2018, “he never stopped working and thinking of ways to improve his technology,” said Maha Krishnamurthy, the vice president of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation.
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“He couldn’t actually quit,” she said. “It’s a quality of all great researchers — you can never shut your brain off.”