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It’s entirely possible that the secret to understanding — perhaps even vanquishing — the coronavirus rests in this quiet town of 5,000 nestled at the edge of the wilderness. Hamilton is home to Rocky Mountain Laboratories, run by the National Institutes of Health. Outside, the campus looks west toward the meandering tributaries of the Bitterroot River and panoramic views of the snow-capped Bitterroot Mountains. Inside, in a windowless, air-locked room, elite virologists in positive-pressure suits, hooked up to oxygen hoses, handle the world’s deadliest pathogens, from avian flu to Ebola to plague. (Charlie Warzel, 5/7)

The spirit of the administration’s fast-track vaccine quest, dubbed Operation Warp Speed, is laudable. The coronavirus pandemic is draining the global economy, making it necessary to put every ounce of innovation — and massive resources — into finding a safe and effective vaccine. But any accelerated effort must remain grounded in real-world realities and avoid hasty mistakes. Vaccines are the world’s greatest hope to stave off the pandemic. President Trump has raised expectations for one “by the end of the year,” as he put it Sunday. (5/5)

War breeds conspiracy, and in the biopharmaceutical world, far from public view, a broad conspiracy has formed. Tired of waiting for the vacuum of national scientific leadership to be filled and impatient with the glacial pace of federal research labs, nearly all the major players in drug discovery and development have taken matters into their own hands. The goal of their insider-only collaboration—called “Covid R&D”—is to accelerate creation of a vaccine or cure. Over the past four weeks I have spoken with or participated in closed group calls with the chief scientists, chief operating officers or CEOs of more than three dozen of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical research firms. In these unprecedented discussions, sworn competitors have shared proprietary data from promising drug candidates that they ordinarily would guard like prized jewels. Deals have been made and work begun without the participation of lawyers. Representatives of the Food and Drug Administration have even joined the calls to offer assistance. (Safi Bahcall, 5/6)

At a time when social distancing is the norm, have we forgotten entirely about precision medicine and public health? Not so fast. Social distancing can flatten the curve, we now see, but as a one-size-fits-all approach, it's not a sustainable solution. Universal self-isolation has led to record-level unemployment claims, a drop in gross domestic product and food shortages in the wealthiest nation in the world. (Jay Bhatt, 5/7)

“JOGGERS,” blares the sign on Washington’s 16th Street NW. “Protect your fellow humans. WEAR A F***IN’ MASK.” The asterisks, of course, don’t appear in the original; the nasty exhortation manages to signal vice and virtue at the same time. And it captures not only today’s rift between the runners and the walkers but also a bigger truth mid-pandemic: Everyone needs to be kinder to each other. The exercise-induced enmity brought on by the coronavirus exists throughout the country. Twitter and Facebook overflow with animus against the fleet of foot. Tales of in-person scoldings and even screamings abound among a populace split between reproach for irresponsible joggers and sympathy for cooped-up amateur athletes trying to escape the apartment without self-suffocating. (Molly Roberts, 5/6)

President Donald Trump traveled to Arizona on Tuesday to visit a Honeywell mask-making plant, his first trip outside of Washington, DC, since the coronavirus paralyzed the country. In the photos of the event, Trump did not wear a mask. During the visit to a mask-making plant. And against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that all people wear "cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission." (Chris Cillizza, 5/6)

Go for a walk, visit any open establishment or public space, and you will note a disconcerting phenomenon: People without masks. There is a pandemic. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead because of Covid-19, a disease that spreads in droplets that are expelled by infected humans, including as they talk or cough, and whether they show symptoms or not. (Catherine Pearlman, 5/6)

Masks can help save lives. That’s why Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is right to call on Sacramento County residents to embrace the wearing of simple cloth masks in public places to help stop the spread of COVID-19. On Monday, Steinberg called for the county to embrace a mandatory mask rule. “I believe that a mandatory mask requirement ought to accompany that opening up because it will allow us to open up faster – and maybe more importantly – it will allow us to continue to be open and to not have that spike, which we are also fearful of, which we have thus far successfully avoided,” Steinberg said. (5/6)

I had a disturbing conversation with my younger sister about the public perception of doctors and Americans’ trust in them. We were home in Delaware for Thanksgiving. While telling me about her life as a college student in New York City and her new social circles, she mentioned being irritated by their hostility towards physicians. In casual conversations, and even in classroom discussions, these young people agreed that physicians are greedy and care only about money. (Gregory Jasani, 5/7)

Although President Trump has tempered efforts to brand COVID-19 the “Chinese virus,” he continues to allege that China caused the global pandemic. Recent claims suggest the original source of the human pathogen was a virology lab in Wuhan, though there is considerable debate whether such reports are based in fact. Such divisive rhetoric serves only to inflame racist sentiments, likely causing the recent spike in bias incidents against Asian Americans, and to stir up nativist hostilities toward “foreigners.” Unfortunately, this is all too common in our hyper-polarized world. (Linda C. McClain, 5/6)

In elementary school, my friend Krystal (not her real name) kept a perpetual clock running in her head. When she was at home, she would count down the minutes until she could come back to school. School was a safe haven for her, a place of comfort where she was shielded from the abuse she witnessed and experienced daily. One day she showed me her bruises. By doing that she included me in the countdown. (Paula Magee, 5/7)

Last weekend, I was on CNN discussing the importance of supporting the mental and emotional health of medical professionals. I likened this pandemic to an invisible bomb going off in our emergency departments. Twenty-four hours later, I learned about the death of my colleague, Dr. Lorna Breen. A day later, I learned from media reports that she had died by suicide. It was a one-two punch, like she died twice. (Tsion Firew, 5/6)

It is beyond alarming to be a woman in need of reproductive help in a country that not only does not value it, but frequently attacks reproductive rights. The stigmas and division around reproductive care, whether it is miscarriage, abortion or contraception, are magnified by this pandemic. We must break the silence in order to support each other and become more unified during a time of crisis instead of more divided. (Jenny Rollins, 5/7)

The pandemic ravaging some Native American communities has echoes that go back centuries -- to the measles and smallpox epidemics that first decimated the original Americans. This time, however, rapid action can avert a catastrophe. (Van Jones, 5/6)

In early April, the attorney general of Massachusetts partnered with healthcare professionals to release a health advisory warning to residents. It said that smoking and vaping could put them in the high-risk category for needing “hospitalization and advanced life support to survive” COVID-19.Californians deserve the same warning from their public health officials. (Lindsey Freitas, 5/5)

Protesters plan to gather in Sacramento Thursday for a second time in less than a week to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom lift pandemic-related restrictions so that people can exercise their God-given right to spread the coronavirus.If that sounds familiar, that because it’s essentially the same message pushed by protesters last year during the legislative battle over SB 276, a bill to make it harder to exempt students from mandatory vaccinations. Protesters framed their position as a defense of personal choice, even though the bill didn’t deny parents the choice to leave their children uninoculated against measles and other easily preventable diseases. It prevented them only from enrolling their uninoculated children in schools, where they might risk the health of other people’s kids. (5/7)