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The COVID-19 pandemic has entered a frightening new phase, picking up speed in every state and breaking new records almost daily. California and Texas have passed 1 million COVID-19 cases, and infections show no signs of slowing. This new wave of coronavirus infections has hospital resources stretched close to the breaking point in several states, as seriously ill COVID-19 patients crowd critical care units. And as bad as it is, the worst is yet to come, experts predict, as people ignore public-health warnings and gather to celebrate the holidays. (11/16)

COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future, possibly for several years. It’s time we started building plans within our public education system to deliver in-person instruction safely during the pandemic. (Maya Martin Cadogan and Nathaniel Beers, 11/15)

“So when our Sickness, and our Poverty Had greater wants than we could well supply; Strict Orders did but more enrage our grief, And hinder in accomplishing relief.”That’s how the British poet George Wither explained a spreading rebellion against social-distancing rules. Seeing quarantines and lockdowns as unfair and tyrannical punishments, people were taking to the streets. The year was 1625, the place was London, the disease was plague. (Andreas Kluth, 11/14)

President-elect Joe Biden is wisely putting together a task force on COVID-19. One dimension of that could be to see what we can learn from China’s recent virus control successes and its scientific and research developments. (Robert Hormats, 11/15)

President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious plan for a dramatic and costly overhaul of America’s health care sector that would start us down the road to socialized medicine and worse health care has no chance of approval if Republicans capture majority control of the U.S. Senate.And even if Democrats manage to control the Senate by the slimmest of margins, odds are high that Biden couldn’t go as far as he wants in restructuring health care. Last week’s elections will leave the 100-member Senate with 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats in January — with two more seats to be filled by runoff elections Jan. 5 in Georgia. (Sally Pipes, 11/15)

When the first wave of coronavirus hit the United States, many providers implemented social distancing and prioritizing patient needs in their offices. This included an increase in the number of doctors who are relying on telehealth for treating patients. However, this increase may prevent them from seeing the signs of opioid addiction in their patients. (Ember Conley, 11/12)

Imagine this scenario, one that’s not uncommon for people diagnosed with incurable cancer: You and your cancer doctor decide that you should try chemotherapy to prolong your life. Six months later, that chemotherapy and several other treatments not only haven’t slowed the cancer but have caused burdensome side effects — some so bad you needed to be hospitalized. Finally, at this point, the doctor asks, “What matters most if you were at the end of your life?” (Ravi Parikh, Christopher Manz and Mitesh Patel, 11/16)

As Americans fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the epidemic caused by the hepatitis C virus also continues to rage, especially among marginalized communities. And while some barriers to accessing health care have been eliminated during Covid-19, barriers persist for treating hepatitis C. (Nick Voyles, 11/14)