STUDY. Coronavirus lingers in air of crowded spaces: “At two hospitals in Wuhan, China, researchers found bits of the virus's genetic material floating in the air of hospital toilets, an indoor space housing large crowds, and rooms where medical staff take off protective gear. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Research, didn't seek to establish whether the airborne particles could cause infections.”
FLORIDA. Governor Ron DeSantis refers to state as “God's waiting room” during COVID-19 briefing: “The term is a decades-old joke about the amount of retirees that move to Florida; it isn't complimentary.”
VIEW SPAT. Elisabeth Hasselbeck tells Meghan McCain to stop being mean.
JOE MANGANIELLO. Going beardless.
ARIANA GRANDE. Did Ryan Murphy just drop a big clue that she's going to star in American Horror Story?
MICHAEL AVENATTI. Released from jail due to coronavirus fears: “Avenatti was released from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan around 11 a.m. ET, according to Dean Steward, one of his attorneys. Avenatti is required to surrender to authorities and return to the jail at the end of 90 days, Judge James Selna ruled earlier this month when he granted the attorney's request for release.”
FOLSOM STREET FAIR. SF fetish event to go virtual.
NORTH KOREA. Kim Jong Un not working as normal: “South Korean officials are emphasising that they have detected no unusual movements in North Korea and are cautioning against reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be ill or is being isolated because of coronavirus concerns. … Still, Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the foreign and unification committee in South Korea's National Assembly, told a gathering of experts on Monday that Kim Jong Un's absence from the public eye suggests ‘he has not been working as normally'. What will happen if he's dead?
NEXT WEEK. Senators to return to Washington D.C. after coronavirus-prompted break: “Yeah, we're coming back,” Scott said. “That's what McConnell said on the call. … He didn't say how long we're coming back, but he said we're coming back.”
ADAM SCHIFF. Reacting to the president's coronavirus briefings.
HOPE HICKS. Designing Trump's coronavirus strategy: “For Hope Hicks, it marked a challenge unlike any other — trying to develop a communications strategy for the president to carry with a wartime footing in an election year. As one of the few aides Trump implicitly trusts, the former White House communications director urged the president to act as a frontman for the coronavirus crisis — a leader who could offer calming messages, critical health information and important updates on the progress of the White House's response efforts, instead of delegating those responsibilities to health officials or the vice president.”
MALE MODEL MONDAY. Tyler Des Lauriers, Elliott Reeder, Wyatt Cushman, Joe Weir and MORE.
INTERIOR CLEANING TIP OF THE DAY. Varla Jean Merman.
DECEPTION. Why is it such a big theme in gay literature? “For the most part, the closet now is not the potentially terminal fate it once was, but rather a layover in the long journey to the self, an enclosure from which truth emerges. And yet it has hardly been jettisoned as a metaphor for all kinds of concealment. In much recent queer fiction are modern, mostly openly gay characters for whom self-denial and even outright deception have become a way of life.”
FACETIME CHAT OF THE DAY. Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, and J Lo.
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Alanis Morissette “Diagnosis”.
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY 2 Jessie Ware “Ooh La La”.
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY 3 Malia Civetz “Heart Broke”.
SNL PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY. Miley Cyrus “Wish You Were Here”.
MONDAY MUSCLE. Luke Evans and his freshly shaved dome.