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Glimmers of hope are emerging that the coronavirus pandemic is slowing. Washington state and California have flattened the curve with social distancing to such an extent that they are offering spare ventilators to stricken New York, where Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) says hospital admissions are plateauing, and other signs show the pandemic will be more manageable than the worst-case projections. An earlier estimate of 100,000 or more deaths nationwide has been scaled back considerably, assuming social distancing continues through May. No one should draw the conclusion that it is time to let up. On the contrary, the changing dynamics of infection and hospitalization show that social distancing to break the virus transmission is working where attempted and ought to be redoubled. (4/8)

We’re all in this together, aren’t we? At least in the Upper Midwest, that pandemic rallying cry doesn’t quite hold true. North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa have not yet joined the 42 other states — including Minnesota — that have mandated stay-at-home policies. (On Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz extended Minnesota’s order to May 4.)To their credit, these neighboring states have undertaken many mitigation measures, and their leaders are no doubt just as concerned for their residents as Walz is about Minnesotans. But despite hundreds of coronavirus cases — and, tragically, some deaths — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, all Republicans, have rejected the kind of stay-at-home order that Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci urges for the entire country. (4/8)

This week, I have witnessed coronavirus afflicting Hispanic people in East Boston too many times. This scenario repeats itself in my daily clinical practice: A middle-aged, Spanish-speaking patient arrives in the Emergency Department. They have multiple sick contacts in apartments that are multi-generational and shared with many other people. They work in industries with high community exposure and must continue to do so or they will lose their jobs. I see them when coronavirus has ravaged their lungs and they need intensive care. (Anita Chary, 4/9)

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing the nation to reckon with the reality of racial disparities in our health care system. This much is clear from reports of how major urban centers like Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans are COVID-19 killing fields. And people are dying largely because of chronic illnesses that are the result of longstanding health inequities. Even though there are no publicly available numbers currently on the racial makeup of people dying in Detroit from the virus, the statistics from the state show that while blacks make up 14% of the population, they account for 40% of COVID-19 deaths so far. (Bankhole Thompson, 4/8)

Two high-school age kids from Natomas have died and their cases are officially being investigated as suicides, causing officials to react with the deep sadness we all feel for the loss of life and the despair that led to it. They’re also worried about something else. They’re worried about students isolated, removed from each other in school, alone. They’re worried about collateral damage to a pandemic. They don’t know the why, but they didn’t have to take a great leap to land on this troubling thought: Could these teens one day be viewed as the first young people in Sacramento County to be victims of COVID-19, even if indirectly? (Marcos Breton, 4/8)

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus that emerged in late 2019, and the resulting Covid-19 disease has been labeled a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization. In this audio interview conducted on April 8, 2020, the editors discuss preventive and therapeutic tools we can hope to see in the weeks ahead, as well as the current situation in U.S. hospitals. (Drs. Eric Ruben and Lindsey Baden, 4/9)

From some of its darkest hours, the United States has emerged stronger and more resilient. Between May and July 1862, even as Confederate victories in Virginia raised doubts about the future of the Union, Congress and President Abraham Lincoln kept their eyes on the horizon, enacting three landmark laws that shaped the nation’s next chapter: The Homestead Act allowed western settlers to claim 160 acres of public land apiece; the Morrill Act provided land grants for states to fund universities; and the Pacific Railway Act underwrote the transcontinental railroad. (4/9)

With the stunning, whirlwind pace of COVID-19’s destruction ripping through America, congressional leaders and the Trump administration have already begun pledging a follow-on relief package to the historic $2 trillion CARES Act. A critical focus of the economic provisions in a follow-on package must be placed on fulfilling the relief pledges to small businesses and the millions of unemployed and furloughed workers. But the next package should also begin to prepare the American workforce for the post COVID-19 economy. (Lori Esposito Murray, 4/8)

I inspect my patient from head to toe and then left to right across her body, noting ridges of scar tissue. “His machete,” she says. Dime-sized wounds are scattered across her thighs. “His cigarettes,” she explains. (Jennifer Breads, 4/9)