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There’s a joke about immunology, which Jessica Metcalf of Princeton recently told me. An immunologist and a cardiologist are kidnapped. The kidnappers threaten to shoot one of them, but promise to spare whoever has made the greater contribution to humanity. The cardiologist says, “Well, I’ve identified drugs that have saved the lives of millions of people.” Impressed, the kidnappers turn to the immunologist. “What have you done?” they ask. The immunologist says, “The thing is, the immune system is very complicated …” And the cardiologist says, “Just shoot me now.” (Ed Yong, 8/5)

Journalistic fortunes sometimes rise on the misfortune of others. Certainly the COVID-19 pandemic has led to some great journalism. Whether it’s chronicling a day in the life of a state in the grip of the virus, a jaw-dropping interview with President Donald Trump or stories that put you on the front lines of people fighting to save lives, great work is showing up all over the place. Ed Yong, a reporter for the Atlantic, has written a lot of it, and he’s topped his previous best with his latest, “How the Pandemic Defeated America.” It is thorough, exhaustively researched and well-written. (Bill Goodykoontz, 8/5)

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, developing a safe and effective vaccine has been an urgent worldwide priority: to save lives, and to bolster the public’s confidence in returning to a semblance of normal life. At the Food and Drug Administration and our parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, we recognize the vital importance of vaccine development. The framework in the United States to support a covid-19 vaccine is now in place. Testing is underway and manufacturing capacity is rapidly expanding. But let’s be clear: The development effort must adhere to standards that will ensure any covid-19 vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. (FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, 8/5)

If you decide to fly, the odds that you will pick up Covid-19 are low, according to one expert analysis. Despite the known dangers of crowded, enclosed spaces, planes have not been the sites of so-called superspreading events, at least so far. That’s not to say flying is perfectly safe — safety is relative and subjective. But as restrictions continue to change, the only way to move forward through this long pandemic is to start thinking in terms of risk-benefit ratios. Very little is without risk, but perhaps some risks — such as flying — are small enough to warrant taking. (Faye Flam, 8/5)

Think back to your first day at a new job. It was probably difficult to remember who was who or the steps for logging into the network, let alone keep track of where the coffee or the printers or the bathrooms were. Now imagine you are a clinician and the new job is taking care of Covid-19 patients using new or refreshed skills in an unfamiliar ward or intensive care unit. (Susan Haas and Rachel Smith, 8/6)

COVID-19 has had many impacts on the generation and management of solid waste. The shift to mostly working at home translates to increased generation of waste in the residential sector, while commercial waste that is generated at offices, stores, restaurants, stadiums and the like, has decreased... Perhaps most important is worker safety. Is the garbage belonging to people infected with SARS-CoV-2 a potential source of community spread and a threat to sanitation workers? (Morton A. Barlaz and Francis L. De Los Reyes III, 8/5)

President Trump was right.On July 21, in the first televised briefing on the coronavirus pandemic held by the White House since April, he projected that America “will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.” Unlike some of his prior assessments of the situation, this one is right on the mark. As bad as the situation is right now, it will probably get worse. But whether it will get better is by no means for certain. ( Jennifer Nuzzo, 8/6)

Employers are using the pandemic to get rid of mothers, and our attempts to protect them are failing. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was enacted this spring for the express purpose of providing workers with expanded family and sick leaves for reasons related to Covid-19 and its accompanying school and child care closings. But between April and June, caregiver-related calls to our hotline at the Center for WorkLife Law, which provides legal resources to help workers claim workplace accommodations and family leaves, increased 250 percent compared to the same time last year. We’ve heard from lots and lots of workers, many of them mothers. And the stories they’re sharing make it clear that Families First is falling short. (Joan C. Williams, 8/6)

A disturbing 71% of those working from home due to Covid-19 have experienced a new or exacerbated ailment caused by the equipment they now must use. According to an online survey of 20,262 people in 10 markets by the technology company Lenovo Group Ltd., the most common symptoms are back pain, poor posture (e.g., hunched shoulders), neck pain, eye irritation, and headaches. Adding fiscal insult to physical injury, their employers aren’t necessarily footing the bill for new equipment: Of the 70% of employees who purchased new technology in order to work remotely, 39% were not fully compensated. The average sum spent in the surveyed countries was $273; the highest country averages were $339 in Great Britain, $340 in Italy, $348 in the U.S. and $381 in Germany. (Ben Schott, 7/27)