Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas about the coronavirus for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Thursday that people in his state who are doing a number of public activities taking taxis, rideshare vehicles or public transit; standing in line to enter a building; or walking through common areas like hallways, stairways, elevators or parking garages must wear a mask. And it goes further.

You must wear a mask if you are working in a building open to the public. You must wear a mask anywhere food is prepared or packaged for sale. If you are outdoors and you cannot be six feet apart from others, you must wear a mask.

Starting noon Friday, Raleigh, North Carolina, will have a similar rule.

The Florida Keys will require masks through June 2021, a date that rocked me back. In Key West, if there is a roof over your head, there should be a mask on your face.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is about to impose a mask law for seven counties, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Here is a state-by-state list of mask laws around America.

My son was banned from wearing a mask with a little valve on it at the dentists office the other day. Forbes said:

You should know that face masks with valves are being banned in a growing number of places, from much of California to the Colorado cities of Denver and Boulder.

The non-compliant masks have a one-way valve that allows your exhaled air to pass through a small round or square filter disk attached to the front of the mask.

At first blush, valve masks may seem technologically superior to plain old cloth or disposable surgical masks, but in fact they fall short. Designed to ease exhalation and decrease humidity for the wearer, they do not block transmission of COVID-19 because they allow exhaled air and droplets to escape.

By the way, I think its funny that on that very page right next to the Forbes article about why masks with valves are problematic and why you should check local guidelines before you wear one is an ad for a mask with a valve.

(Screenshot)

My single biggest complaint about wearing a mask is not that somebody is taking away my Constitutional rights or turning the country into a police state. Its that my mask steams up my glasses.

Why do they fog?Whenever warm air hits a cool surface, you get fog. It is true over a lake and it is true on your glasses. Your warm, exhaled breath hits the cool surface of your glasses while you walk through your air-conditioned grocery store and there you have it fogged lenses.

What can you do about it?Make sure your glasses have a nose bridge, which is a bendable material that makes the mask fit snugly around the bridge of your nose. That way, when you exhale, the warm air does not hit your glasses.

For homemade masks, sew a little twist tie, like the ones that keep bread fresh, into the nose of the mask. Or, for those of us from Kentucky, try duct tape. OK, maybe not. Maybe try bandage strips or even a cloth adhesive.

You can also use your glasses to make the seal. Put the mask on first, then put the glasses on top of the edge of the mask.

Or you can use the soapy water and soft cloth hack. Ask any glasses-wearing doctor or nurse and they will tell you they dip their glasses into soapy water, let them air dry then wipe them lightly with a soft cloth. The soap will leave a thin film on the lens and the fog wont stick to it.

Be careful with lens wipes. Make sure they wont damage the protective coatings on your lenses.

You may have noticed it, too the many people walking around the neighborhood. Maybe this will force us to think about the dire conditions of our sidewalks. But with local budgets about to be gutted by the COVID-19-caused tax crunch, sidewalks may get pushed even further down the priority lists.

This week, President Donald Trump pushed for a major infrastructure bill to stimulate Americas economy. When we think of infrastructure, we usually think of bridges and highways. But what is more local than sidewalks?

Bloomberg CityLab reported:

Current sidewalk deficiencies have accumulated over decades of neglect. In the pre-automotive era, many cities had far more space for pedestrians, says Arlie Adkins, a professor of urban planning at the University of Arizona. Since the 1920s weve seen this explosion of driving, and theres been a competition for fairly scarce real estate, he says. Theres only so much space between buildings, and weve made some clear choices about how that should be distributed.

The Bloomberg story said when push came to shove, cities opted to spend more money on streets and widening roads than sidewalks. And newer cities shorted sidewalk budgets even more than older cities that were built on pedestrian traffic. In Los Angeles, one group estimated half of the citys 11,000 miles of sidewalks were in disrepair.

In a place like New York that were built out before cars were dominant, youll see a more robust sidewalk network, Adkins says. But if you come to newer cities in the West, youll see a different picture. In Austin, for example, barely half of the citys nearly 5,000 miles of streets had sidewalks in 2017.

Where they do exist, sidewalks are treated as public spaces like streets but theres no consistency around who pays for sidewalks. Theyre the most bizarrely funded thing ever, says Emiko Atherton, Vice President for Thriving Communities at Smart Growth America. Depending on your jurisdiction, the homeowner or the city has to pay for it.

If a street is built without sidewalks, adding them is expensive. The Federal Transportation Department said the cost runs about $125,000 to $150,000 per mile to build a sidewalk that is up to code.

Sidewalks add to street safety. In my neighborhood, walkers mostly have to stroll with their dogs on the street.

Walking promotes health and sidewalks promote walking. The U.S. Transportation Department said:

14% of adult Americans state they never take walks.

The presence of sidewalks has a slight positive effect on the tendency for adults to take walks, but has no effect on the frequency of those walks. If people in communities without sidewalks (about one-third of the population), were to walk at the same rate as they do in communities with sidewalks, an additional 2.8 million adults would join the ranks of the walking.

Nonwalkers are more likely than walkers to assert that their communities need more sidewalks and to voice dissatisfaction with their community designs in making walking safe (overall 17%). In communities without sidewalks, adults are three times as likely as other adults to state their dissatisfaction.

Curbed, a blog that looks at urban planning issues, took a deep dive look at the politics and conflicts that come with sidewalks. Think of, for example, how restaurants right now are using public sidewalks for dining areas, and shops and vendors are moving items outside to keep traffic down inside the stores.

This weeks surprisingly good retail sales figures give us a few clues about what the public is planning this summer. MarketWatch reported:

Sales at auto dealers soared 44%; excluding cars, overall retail sales increased by 12.4%; the auto sector generally accounts for one-fifth of all retail spending.

The explanation is that people may be getting their cars ready for summer vacation road trips, rather than flying. People were buying auto parts similar to how they purchased home improvement materials in April and May.

40% of the retail sales increase came from the auto sector last month.

(Graphic from Reuters)

But be careful not to paint too rosy a picture. A big increase in sales follows an even bigger decrease in March and April car sales. The auto industry is not back to normal, not by a stretch.

Comparing May 2020 to May 2019, sales were down 29%. In April, year-to-year sales were down 48%.

An interesting chunk of this story is in the unsexy category of fleet sales. Normally, fleet sales account for one in five vehicles sold in the U.S. But as car rental companies saw the bottom drop out of their business, fleet sales tanked. The National Automobile Dealers Association said:

As a result, fleet sales were down year-over-year by a whopping 72% in May, while retail sales only fell by 17%.

The association said even while vehicle sales gain strength over the summer and fall, there is no reason to believe fleet sales will bounce back this year.

Everybody is trying to get Congress ear right now, including the businesses that build and sell big trucks, which said they want Congress to suspend the federal excise tax on 18-wheelers. The trucking industry pays a 12% federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks and trailers.

The truck companies said about half of the big trucks on the road now are 10 years old or older and if the government cut the federal excise tax, companies that need to refresh their fleets might do so.

The tax adds about $12,000 to $22,000 to the price of a new big truck. The National Auto Dealers Association said, Due to the pandemic, heavy-duty truck sales in the U.S. fell 62.5% in May 2020 compared to the same time last year the lowest point since 2011.

Steve Bassett, chair of American Truck Dealers, wrote:

There is broad support across the entire trucking industry for suspension of the FET, including original equipment manufacturers, such as Daimler Trucks North America, Mack Trucks, Navistar Inc., PACCAR Inc and Volvo Trucks North America, suppliers, and purchasers. And in a recent survey of trucking fleets, American Trucking Associations (ATA) found that nearly 60% of respondents would be somewhat or very likely to buy additional trucks and/or trailers beyond their scheduled buy if the FET was eliminated.

I ran across this flipping through Overdrive Magazine:

A survey of more than 1,600 truck drivers found that they have felt safe overall during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are concerned for their own health, as well as bringing the virus home to their friends and families.

The survey conducted by Professional Driver Agency found that 72% of respondents said the biggest concern for truckers is bringing the virus home to family and friends. Of these drivers, 42% said they are staying out on the road longer instead of going home during the pandemic.

I am seeing this happening around the country. Drownings are way up this spring. WJHG TV in Panama City Beach, Florida, reported that childhood drownings are up 70% from a year ago. One reason why is that kids are home more.

In Houston, KHOU said drownings ticked up there, too, partly because people were locked up at home and when they went out to play, they looked for places that were away from other people.

In the Tampa Bay area, Johns Hopkins All Childrens hospital said drownings reported at its locations are up 100% this spring. In part, it is because kids are around home pools and their parents are busy working.

In the Dallas area, last weekend was particularly deadly, with three drowning deaths in two days. WFAA reported:

The American Academy of Pediatrics warned drownings could be on the rise this summer nationwide. The AAP says parents need to be more attentive as children spend more time at home because of COVID-19, with caregivers who may be distracted by work and other responsibilities.

With a number of public pools and popular attractions still closed because of the global pandemic, more parents are turning to small plastic or inflatable pools for the back yard. The small size can give parents a false sense of security as small children can drown in even a few inches of water, according to the AAP.

Childhood drownings have increased in the U.S. in recent years, even before the pandemic. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new data this month saying childhood drownings have been slightly rising in recent years.

Almost 400 children under age 15 die by drowning in the U.S. each year. The commission said, In addition to fatal drownings, CPSCs new data shows that there were an estimated 6,700 pool-or-spa-related, hospital emergency department-treated, nonfatal child drowning injuries each year for 2017 through 2019. This is the equivalent of about 18 children every day, 365 days a year.

Six Olympic swimmers, two water polo players, 27 coaches and 5,000 aquatic industry-related businesses sent a letter to President Trump and state leaders pleading with them to open public pools as quickly as possible. The co-signers include Olympians Rowdy Gaines, Amanda Beard, Nathan Adrian and Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen.

Here is a constantly updated state-by-state list of state regulations on public pools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most states opened pools at a greatly reduced capacity in the last couple of weeks.

The CPSC study I mentioned above also said home pools, not public pools where there are lifeguards, pose the biggest risks. The report said, Residential locations, such as a childs home, a family or friends house or a neighbors residence, made up 71% of the reported fatal drowning incidents.

The letter to public officials said, in part:

During these unprecedented times we truly believe we can safely return to the pools without jeopardizing the new normal that all Americans want and deserve. The CDC and NIH has confirmed that the disease cannot spread in properly chlorinated water. For physical and mental health, the water is one of the safer places to be at this time, and swimming is a lifelong activity. Opening swim centers would allow children to learn much needed water safety and drowning prevention skills. It would allow the 500,000 youth athletes on Americas swim teams to get back to their training. It would allow MILLIONS of American adults to exercise safely and build their immune systems which is needed now more than ever! We can do this safely. Swim training programs are carefully structured and can follow all recommendations that the CDC has recently released to reopen swimming pools.

Well be back Monday with a new edition of Covering COVID-19. Sign up hereto get it delivered right to your inbox.

Al Tompkins is senior faculty at Poynter. He can be reached at atompkins@poynter.org or on Twitter, @atompkins.

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Face mask rules are being enacted across the country. In one city, they're required through June 2021. - Poynter