June 5, 2020 — A roundup of the latest news about COVID-19

Two studies about COVID-19 were retracted. The disease can last for several months. And the CDC says protesters should get tested. Here’s what’s happening:

• The director of the CDC told a House panel Thursday that demonstrators protesting racial injustice need to get tested for the coronavirus and that crowds at a Missouri tourist hot spot and the SpaceX launch showed that public health messages on masks and social distancing are not resonating with the public.

• New federal data released Thursday reflect the rising death toll at the nation’s nursing homes. More than three months after the coronavirus began sweeping through them, thousands of homes are still underequipped for the continuing onslaught.

• India and Pakistan have experienced their largest single-day increase in coronavirus infections, confirming more than 14,700 cases between them today, as the virus shows no sign of peaking in South Asia. Each country now exceeds the number of reported cases from China, where the pandemic originated.

• Mexico is starting to bustle again as the country gradually reopens after a quarantine that hammered its economy. But many Mexicans, including medical experts, are worried the move has come too early.

• Before the coronavirus outbreak abruptly disrupted the livelihoods of millions of people, the sight of masks worn in public spaces in the Western world conjured up images of malevolent clowns and terrifying fictional villains. But in the space of just a few weeks this spring, this narrative has been turned upside down.