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America was in a health care crisis before Covid, and the stresses of the pandemic have made it worse. Since the pandemic began, the health care work force — the country’s largest industry by employment — has shrunk by nearly 2 percent. That may seem like a small amount, but historically, the health care work force doesn’t shrink; it only grows. Now, with astronomical turnover and rising demand as patients seek care that they may have put off during the height of the pandemic, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and home care agencies across the country lack sufficient staff members to adequately care for patients. (Gabriel Winant and Theresa Brown, 5/9)

Jacob Hopkins, 24, tried hard not to get Covid-19 in the months leading up to March 2021, when, if he succeeded, he could be part of a unique experiment in which he was deliberately infected with the virus. Almost a year earlier, he had put his name on a list of volunteers. Months went by until, on Dec. 23, he finally heard back from someone associated with the experiment.  He ended up being the very first volunteer given the infection — patient 1. (Faye Flam, 5/6)

Every coronavirus particle carries a kind of Mother Nature bar code inside: the genome, or genetic blueprint. With advances in bioinformatics, scientists can use genetic sequencing to read the bar code, identify the variant, spot mutations and chart possible spread among people. There’s a growing consensus that tracking this with viral genomic surveillance can provide critical early warning of public health emergencies — but only if resources and commitment are marshaled. (5/8)

As parents, we inherently want to protect our children. We tell them stories with happy endings and reassure them that there aren’t monsters hiding under the bed. But there’s an enemy living among us that poses a fatal threat to kids and adults alike — and we’re simply not doing enough to stop it. These enemies are “superbugs” — bacteria and fungi that are resistant to antibiotics and other medications. All microbes, from everyday bacteria to killer superbugs, are constantly evolving. And paradoxically, exposing microbes to antimicrobials — whether a common antibiotic for strep throat or a potent antifungal treatment given in the hospital — can make them stronger in the long run. (Annabelle De St. Maurice, 5/8)

A year ago, a Black man named Gary Fowler died from COVID-19 after seeking care at three Detroit hospitals. All three turned Gary away. Days later, he died at home sitting in a recliner in his bedroom after leaving a handwritten note that read, “Heart beat irregular ... oxygen level low. ”I first read about Gary and his family shortly after his death, and their experience haunted me. It personalized the senseless tragedy that communities of color across America have continued to face throughout this pandemic. (David Satcher, 5/9)

On a recent Sunday, I brought my 86-year-old mother, Bunny, a tremendously gaudy fake pearl ring with an elastic band. She loved it. Rings are of great value to her now, as they can dazzle and are never out of reach. My mother has dementia, in its final stage. Each time I put the ring on her finger, it will be the first time. Dementia is a land where my mother lives. It is not who she is. I think of it as an actual place, like the Acropolis or Yonkers. A place where beloved and ancient queens and kings retire, where linear time doesn’t exist and the rules of society are laid aside. Whenever I go to my parents’ double-wide in Hayward, Calif., I am really traveling to Dementia. (Suzanne Finnamore, 5/8)

There’s a clamor around the world to return to the pre-pandemic “normal.” In reality, though, a reset to the fall of 2019 is out of the question. Leaders at all levels, all around the globe, must apply the painful lessons learned these past three years. And that means fundamentally shifting the world’s approach to many aspects of health security. One good place to start: Rethinking the paradigm for global scientific cooperation. (Muhammad Ali Pate and Michelle A. Williams, 5/8)

The Biden administration’s upcoming Covid-19 summit will shine a spotlight on the global failure to achieve vaccine equity. Although nearly 12 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered globally and 80% of people in high-income countries vaccinated, as I write this, in low-income countries, only 16% of people have received a vaccine. Poor countries have been left behind for multiple reasons: Rich and vaccine-producing countries jumped the queue, the costs and challenges of vaccine delivery were vastly underestimated, international coordination failed, and more. This is not the first time that a global effort to reach people equitably with vaccines has required a new way of doing business. A transformation that occurred more than 20 years ago gives hope that it can happen again. (Nina Schwalbe, 5/9)