The House Homeland Security Committee will investigate a whistleblower complaint that claims immigrants at a detention facility in Georgia underwent questionable hysterectomies, didn’t receive COVID-19 tests, and were kept in unsanitary conditions. The complaint was filed on behalf of several detained immigrants and Dawn Wooten, a nurse who worked for three years at the Irwin County Detention Center.

In the COVID-19 debates, one topic manages simultaneously to be the most and least controversial: “herd immunity.” The concept of herd immunity is uncontroversial, and simply states that when enough members of a population develop immunity to a virus, the bug will fizzle out for lack of people to infect. The controversy, though, echoes every child’s favorite road-trip question: Are we almost there yet?

49.7

The number of Americans per 100,000 persons who have died due to COVID-19 and in which the race of the deceased was documented, as of Aug. 18, according to data from APM Research Lab. The pandemic has hit some racial and ethnic groups harder than others, and experts say the reasons could range from higher rates of underlying conditions that make COVID-19 more serious to less access to healthcare services.

88.4 

The number of black Americans who have died per 100,000 due to COVID-19, as of Aug. 18.

On an August afternoon in Harlingen, Dr. Stephen Robinson had sweated through the armpits of his blue scrubs by the time he said goodbye to his last patient of the day. 

Robinson, with dark-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and a stethoscope draped around his neck, volunteers about 16 hours a week at Culture of Life Ministries. The 8-year-old pro-life medical clinic offers free care for low-income patients, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, it has had to adjust how it sees patients. 

More than half of all Florida nursing homes have not had a new case of COVID-19 for three weeks. As long as they wear protective gear, family members can visit their relatives in the homes for the first time in six months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday. “Many of the folks understand that they have loved ones who are in the last stage of their life,” the Republican governor said. “They just would like to be able to say goodbye or to hug somebody.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously recommended testing any American known to have spent at least 15 minutes within 6 feet of a person who had the coronavirus. The agency changed its guidelines Monday to say asymptomatic people “do not necessarily need a test” unless other officials recommend it or you are a vulnerable individual. Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health for the U.S.

Since the beginning of the month, the number of new coronavirus cases cropping up each day in the United States has fallen by more than 20 percent. Health officials reported about 33,000 newly confirmed COVID-19 infections on Monday, the lowest number of new daily cases since late June, according to Johns Hopkins University. Some experts credited increased mask-wearing and social distancing, while others blamed a lack of testing in certain areas.