The United States’ top infectious disease expert says the best way to manage the surging coronavirus - and prevent future outbreaks - is by sticking to what he calls the “fundamentals.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci tells the nation’s governors that those include the universal wearing of face masks, shutting bars, limiting indoor dining, avoiding crowds and frequent hand-washing.

Fauci addressed governors Monday via videoconference with members of the White House coronavirus task focus. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the audio.

Task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx urged governors to watch for even the tiniest increase in the percentage of positive cases, saying it means an uptick is coming.

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LONDON - Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the experimental vaccine. Such early trials are designed to evaluate safety and see what kind of immune response was provoked, but can’t tell if the vaccine truly protects.

In research published Monday in the journal Lancet, scientists said that they found their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55 that lasted at least two months after they were immunized.

“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University. “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system,” he said.

Hill said that neutralizing antibodies are produced - molecules which are key to blocking infection. In addition, the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body’s T-cells which help to fight off the coronavirus.

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The National Zoo will reopen to the public later this week with restrictions to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Smithsonian, which runs the zoo, announced Monday that it will reopen with limited hours starting Friday, July 24.

The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, will also reopen, but the rest of the museums in the Smithsonian network will remain closed.

All visitors will be required to obtain free, timed-entry passes in advance, and those over age 6 will be required to wear a face mask at all times, including outdoors.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is issuing guidance on preventing discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The guidelines announced Monday instruct health departments to ensure that racial and ethnic minority populations “are not subjected to excessive wait times, rejected for hospital admissions, or denied access to intensive care units compared to similarly situated non-minority individuals.”

They also seek to ensure that the locations chosen for virus-testing sites are accessible to minority communities.

From the start, the novel Coronavirus has ravaged minority populations in the United States, with Black communities recording infection and death numbers that far outstrip their percentage of the population.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams says the pandemic “has magnified many of the racial and health disparities that quite frankly have been with us for generations.”

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The White House is reviving its public coronavirus task force briefings, and President Donald Trump will again take on a starring role.

Trump says he’ll lead a briefing at 5 p.m. Tuesday, his first since April 27.

The coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, briefed the public daily in March and April with Trump participating and dominating many of the televised sessions.

But the briefings disappeared in late April after ratings began to slide and Trump mused about the possibility of using disinfectants inside the body to kill the virus.

Some of Trump’s closest advisers had publicly advocated for the return of briefings led by the president, who has slid against Democratic rival Joe Biden in recent polls.

TOPEKA, Kansas - Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has issued an order requiring masks and daily temperature checks in the state’s K-12 schools.

Kelly on Monday set some coronavirus-inspired rules that are stricter than guidelines adopted by the Republican-controlled State Board of Education.

Kelly also released the text of a proposed order to delay the reopening of public and private elementary, middle and high schools for three weeks from mid-August until Sept. 9. Kansas law requires the state school board’s approval for a delay and it is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning.

The Democratic governor’s plans for schools are inspiring criticism from Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature and conservatives outside state government already critical of her handling of the pandemic. The small-government, free-market Kansas Policy Institute, influential with GOP conservatives, called Kelly’s actions “simply unwarranted.”

Kansas has seen the number of reported novel coronavirus cases more than double since June 10, when its rolling seven-day average of new cases per day bottomed out after peaking in early May. The state now has reported more than 23,000 cases and more than 300 COVID-19-related deaths.

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MINNEAPOLIS - Travelers will be required to wear face coverings at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission approved the resolution Monday. The new requirement takes effect next Monday and applies to all public spaces at the airport, including outdoor locations where people cannot reliably maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance from others.

The regulation also applies in terminals, parking ramps, shuttle buses, trams, rental car operations and other similar facilities.

Commission CEO Brian Ryks says as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, “it is clear that face coverings along with social distancing and frequent hand washing or sanitizing are key to keep ourselves and those around us safer.”

Ryks notes that a growing number of airports already require face coverings.

There are exceptions for people who cannot wear a mask for reasons of health, safety or disability, and for eating and drinking.

Children 2 years and younger or unaccompanied minors 12 or younger are also excluded.

Free face coverings are available at information booths at the airport’s terminals.

DENVER, Colorado -- Colorado health and education officials have released guidance as public school districts across the state prepare for the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That includes staggered schedules, face coverings, the option of remote learning and limited contact among students. But a busy school environment poses unique challenges, including isolating students in groups, or “cohorts,” to limit the spread of the disease.

An epidemiologist for the state health department says keeping students in such groups “is an essential component.”

Much of the guidance issued Monday will be left to local health and education officials to implement.

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PHOENIX, Arizona -- Officials say Arizona is seeing a slight downward trend in the number of people on ventilators and in intensive care because of the coronavirus.

The state reported 1,559 new COVID-19 cases Monday and 23 deaths. The deaths typically are lower at the start of the week because not all hospitals submit data over the weekend.

Arizona had been experiencing some of the highest rates of coronavirus cases in the country since the governor lifted a stay-at-home order in mid-May.

Hospitalizations reported Monday were at the lowest level in more than two weeks. The number of people on ventilators and in intensive care also has gone down.

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ATLANTA, Georgia - New York’s Democratic governor flew to Georgia, pledging to help the city of Savannah fight COVID-19, in a barely concealed rebuke to Georgia’s Republican leadership as virus cases continued to rise in the southern state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declined to directly criticize Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, but warmly praised Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, a native New Yorker who has been a scorching critic of Kemp in recent days.

Cuomo said New York has to be interested in what’s happening in other parts of the country because infected people from other states are likely to spread virus cases in New York.

Johnson was the pacesetter in a revolt by local Georgia officials against Kemp’s refusal to allow local governments to order people to wear masks. Kemp eventually sued Atlanta’s mayor and city council, asking a judge to order local officials to stop taking actions at variance with his own executive orders on coronavirus.

Cuomo delivered masks, test kits, gowns, face shields and hand sanitizer. He said he would help Savannah set up two new public testing sites aimed at lower income people, and said he would share contact tracing expertise.

Kemp spokesperson Candace Broce declined to comment on Cuomo’s visit.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The upcoming plan to have the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville to renominate President Donald Trump continues to be on shaky ground.

Even after the GOP announced plans to scale back the convention and hold more events outside, the local sheriff said people’s safety cannot be guaranteed.

“Where we are today is we can’t support this plan,” Sheriff Mike Williams told local news outlets Monday. “Where do we go from here is a good question. But where we are today, we can’t support it.”

Williams added: “There’s got to be some major re-working of what’s happening.”

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