Good morning. We’re covering the first documented case of reinfection, what TikTok’s lawsuit against the U.S. means and how you can avoid feeling bored right now. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | People lining up for free Covid-19 tests in Hong Kong last week. Miguel Candela/EPA, via Shutterstock | | | A 33-year-old man was infected a second time more than four months after he initially contracted the coronavirus, a team at the University of Hong Kong said on Monday. After getting sick in Hong Kong in March, he tested positive on Aug. 15 after a trip to Spain via the United Kingdom, picking up a strain that was circulating in Europe in July and August. | | | Doctors have reported several cases of presumed reinfection in the United States and elsewhere, but none of those cases were confirmed with rigorous testing. The Hong Kong researchers sequenced the virus from both infections. | | | It reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive vaccine: “We can’t just get to herd immunity the natural way because only vaccines may be able to produce the kind of immune response that can prevent reinfection,” Apoorva Mandavilli, a Times science reporter, told us. | | | But some good news: The patient did have an immune response, and did not show symptoms the second time. “His immune response prevented the disease from getting worse,” an immunologist at Yale University said. Though concerning, one case like this out of tens of millions “should not cause undue alarm as of yet,” a Columbia University epidemiologist said. | | ■ Bali abandoned a plan to allow tourists back in starting on Sept. 11, saying it would wait until at least the end of the year. ■ Europe limited mass job losses for months, but the layoffs are coming as companies start downsizing to offset financial losses. ■ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand on Monday extended a lockdown in Auckland until Sunday night, saying it was necessary to make sure a cluster had been extinguished. ■ Health authorities in France said a virus outbreak at a nudist camp in the southern resort town of Le Cap d’Agde was “very worrying.” | | | A TikTok ad in Beijing on Monday. Tingshu Wang/Reuters | | | The popular video app sued the U.S. on Monday, accusing the Trump administration of depriving it of due process when the president issued an executive order banning the parent company ByteDance from doing transactions in the country. | | | In a blog post, the company argued that the administration neither provided “evidence that TikTok was an actual threat, nor justification for its punitive actions.” | | | President Trump has said the Chinese-owned company posed a threat because of ties to Beijing. An executive order on Aug. 6 banned U.S. transactions with the app. A week later, another order gave ByteDance 90 days to divest from its American assets and data. | | | Perspective: In our latest DealBook newsletter, a U.C. Berkeley law professor argues that “TikTok’s lawsuit is a delaying tactic, at best” and is not likely to succeed in court. But putting off a fire sale could help it negotiate better sales terms. | | | Sale prospects: ByteDance is in talks with multiple American companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, for a sale of at least part of the business. | | | Police officers and soldiers secured an area after two explosions struck the town of Jolo in the Philippine province of Sulu on Monday. Nickee Butlangan/Associated Press | | | Two powerful explosions ripped through heavily populated areas of the southern island of Jolo on Monday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 75 others, in a stronghold of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf. | | | Soldiers and civilians were killed instantly in the first blast, according to police and military reports, and it happened as army personnel were helping with Covid-19 humanitarian efforts. Then, not long after, a second explosion — set off by a suicide bomber, an official said — hit near the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. | | | Details: No one immediately took responsibility for the explosions. But Jolo has long been considered occupied territory. One faction of Abu Sayyaf, led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the same cathedral last year. A military spokesman said Mr. Sawadjaan was “most probably” behind this attack too. | | | Natalie Grono for The New York Times | | | Travel bans are keeping thousands of travelers away from the Great Barrier Reef. Tour operators in Cairns, Australia, were already grappling with the looming threat of climate change, which is destroying the reefs, and now the coronavirus has delivered a hammer blow to their lifeblood. | | | Our reporter looked at the uncertainty in the region, as people realize they can no longer depend on outsiders. “We’d never stopped running before — the global financial crisis, terrorism attacks, airline strikes; you name it, the world has thrown it at us,” one reef guide said. “We don’t know if we’ll ever get back to normal.” | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM CAMPAIGN MONITOR | | TEST: Email Marketing 101: Never Sacrifice Beauty for Simplicity | | A drag-and-drop email builder, a gallery of templates and turnkey designs, personalized customer journeys, and engagement segments. It's everything you need to create stunning, results-driven email campaigns in minutes. And with Campaign Monitor, you have access to it all, along with award-winning support around the clock. It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | New Zealand massacre trial: The final phase of the murder and terrorism case after last year’s attack at two mosques is underway, and is scheduled to last four days. It presents complex legal and logistical challenges, and, for victims, the emotional turmoil of confronting their assailant. | | | Police violence: The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the police shooting on Sunday of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., as he opened the door of a parked vehicle on a residential street, officials said. The man, Jacob Blake, was in serious condition as of Monday morning. | | | India: Prashant Bhushan, a top lawyer in India, tweeted about how the country’s Supreme Court was helping erode freedoms. Now, he could go to prison. His case has sent shock waves through India’s legal community. | | | Aleksei Navalny: Physicians treating the Russian opposition leader said that he was in all likelihood poisoned. While his life was not in danger, it was too early to rule out serious long-term complications. | | | Gordon Welters for The New York Times | | | Snapshot: Above, a concert that was also a scientific experiment to help create safety measures for live events around the world. In Leipzig, Germany, volunteers gathered in an arena with distanced seating. They were instructed to go to concession stands and restrooms during breaks, and everyone was tested beforehand. | | | What we’re reading: This Los Angeles Times story about the long history of militant activism in Portland, Ore. It’s helpful context for what’s been happening there for the past couple of months. | | | Christopher Simpson for The New York Times | | | Cook: Cajun-style succotash makes for a delicious entree, thanks to the addition of spicy Andouille sausage and seasoned shrimp. | | | So how can you fight it (without electric shocks)? | | | Try new things. Boredom can result from feeling unchallenged, explains Erin Westgate of the University of Florida, for the website The Conversation. So use the downtime of the pandemic to take on a new activity, like cooking, gardening, home improvement, genealogy or exercise. There are online classes for almost anything these days. | | | Socialize safely. Boredom has led some Americans to behave unsafely, at parties, bars and elsewhere, write Luke Fernandez and Susan Matt in Salon. But it’s possible to see other people safely — on a walk or a bike ride, during a masked or outdoor grocery run or, if all else fails, over a video chat. | | | Embrace boredom, to a point. Letting your mind wander can free up time for creative thinking. “The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed,” the great psychologist Amos Tversky said. “You waste years by not being able to waste hours.” | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Melina | | Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. Jonathan Wolfe and Lara Takenaga contributed reporting. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
