A version of this story appeared in the August 17 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.

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“Look, this is America. Be a patriot,” Biden said in a message directed at those resistant to wearing masks. “Protect your fellow citizens. Step up. Do the right thing.”

The election delay, announced today, has the backing of the country’s opposition. Auckland is currently under lockdown, meaning any candidates based there would be unable to campaign as usual, Julia Hollingsworth writes.

Ardern said that New Zealand’s electoral commission had assured her that a safe and accessible election would be possible on the new date.

More than 7,000 miles away, questions are growing about the integrity of America’s own election on November 3.

President Donald Trump has been falsely claiming for months that postal voting – widely considered the safest way for Americans to vote in a pandemic – will result in widespread electoral fraud. Now, Democrats are warning that the White House is trying to sabotage the US Postal Service in order to suppress the vote.

Trump admitted as much last week during a Fox News interview, saying he opposed much-needed funding for USPS because he believes an uptick in mail-in ballots during the pandemic will favor Democrats. USPS, which is mired in a financial crisis, warned nearly all 50 states that mail-in ballots may not be received by election offices in time to be counted, Maeve Reston writes.

Several states say they’re considering legal action against the Trump administration over the matter, and on Sunday Democrats launched an emergency effort to block changes at the post office.

The pandemic has created large logistical and political challenges for elections around the world, and dozens of countries have postponed electoral events due to outbreaks.

But that does not mean it can’t be done. South Korea’s parliamentary election in April attracted the highest voter turnout in nearly 30 years.

YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED

Q: Is it safe to send my children to daycare or school?

A: Health experts say there’s no evidence the coronavirus can be transmitted through food.

The denial manifests itself in many ways, whether that be refusing to wear a mask or attending large gatherings. Using denial as a coping mechanism is not always a bad choice. Short-term, it gives someone the time to adjust to a situation. When it becomes a long-term crutch and puts others in harm’s way, it can be dangerous.

“When they’re in periods where there’s a lot of anxiety and it’s perceived as a threat, then people develop strategies to protect themselves, their sense of security and safety. And one of these is simply to deny whatever the threatening source is exists. In this case, you would simply say, “Well the epidemic is a hoax. It doesn’t really exist,” said Mark Whitmore, an associate professor in the College of Business.

Send your questions here. Are you a health care worker fighting Covid-19? Message us on WhatsApp about the challenges you’re facing: +1 347-322-0415.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY

The race for a Covid-19 vaccine

“There is a general sense of mistrust of Russia on the American side and we believe that technologies – including vaccine, testing and treatments – are not being adopted in US because of that mistrust,” one senior Russian official told CNN.

Of the 350,000 people who’ve registered online for a coronavirus clinical trial, 10% are Black or Latino, according to Dr. Jim Kublin, executive director of operations for the Covid-19 Prevention Network.

That’s not nearly enough, as study subjects in trials are supposed to reflect the population that’s affected. Research shows that more than half of US coronavirus cases have been among Black and Latino people.

Concerns mount about Trump trying to undermine election

Meanwhile, the US Postal Service plans to remove hundreds of high-volume mail-processing machines from facilities across the country, leading some postal workers to fear they may have less capacity to process mail during election season.

Unlike some other tests that require specialized supplies, the SalivaDirect test doesn’t require a specific swab or collection device. It can also be used with reagents from multiple vendors, CNN’s Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris writes.

Young people linked to second surge in Europe

Japan just reported its worst GDP on record as the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak dented consumption.

The world’s third-largest economy shrank 7.8% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, the country’s cabinet office said on Monday. That translated to an annual rate of decline of 27.8%, the worst since modern records started in 1980 and the third consecutive quarter of contraction, CNN’s Kaori Enjoji writes.

But Japan performed better than other major economies in the April-June period, when the United States and Germany both recorded 10% falls over the previous quarter and British output crashed 20.4%.

South Korea warns of another outbreak tied to a religious group

Faust said by comparing the first two months of the pandemic in New York to the worst two months of the epidemic in New York 100 years ago, the Covid-19 period had over 70% as many deaths per capita.

A criminal complaint filed against the church’s leader, Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, accuses him of holding gatherings in violation of the city’s infectious disease prevention law. The church’s legal team denied the allegations on Monday, claiming that they had fully cooperated with the authorities and threatening to sue the government for defamation.

The tiff revives memories of an outbreak at another religious group in February, primarily in the city of Daegu. Authorities barred all 7,560 churches in the South Korean capital from holding any gatherings due to the pandemic except for the usual weekly services, during which worshippers must abide by social distancing regulations.

Deadliest day for Australian state at center of outbreak

The Australian state of Victoria recorded 25 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, the highest single-day increase in fatalities since the outbreak of the pandemic.

In May, Australia was held up as a global model for its handling of the outbreak. But Covid-19 cases in Victoria have risen suddenly in recent weeks, with many new infections in aged care homes and among healthcare workers. At the beginning of August, Victoria and its capital Melbourne were put under strict new restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

ON OUR RADAR

  • At least 15 US states are now reporting positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities.
  • California wildfires have killed four people, and many are being forced to weigh up the risk of whether to evacuate to shelters and risk catching Covid-19.
  • When it comes to educating the world about coronavirus, public health organizations around the world uniformly exceed recommended reading levels, researchers have found.
  • Another 1.1 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, dashing economists’ hopes for a second-straight week with fewer than 1 million claims.
  • Costa Rica has joined a small list of countries reopening to US tourists. But there’s a caveat – only Americans from six US states will be allowed to enter.

TOP TIPS

This year, it’s “more important than ever to get a flu shot because we will almost certainly face the double whammy of flu season coinciding the same time as surging cases of COVID-19,” emergency room physician Dr. Leana Wen said.

  1. Read it carefully. “It should be in the kind of lay language you understand.”
  2. Inspect the business, see if they’re enforcing public health guidelines, and don’t sign if they’re not.
  3. “If they’re not meeting the new normal you have to say to yourself, ‘Am I really comfortable with this? If you’re not … walk out and go somewhere else.”

TODAY’S PODCAST

“The virus really affects the lungs and people get very, very hypoxic – or their oxygen levels can get really low – and the brain is the one organ that really can’t tolerate that and can get injured very easily.” – Dr. Sherry Chou from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

In today’s episode, Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks to the coach about life inside a NBA bubble facility in Orlando, where players are isolated and tested regularly. Listen Now.