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Out of control, the coronavirus pandemic has already earned a place in the history books as one of the most devastating and deadly events in U.S. history. With more than 237,000 deaths, it has taken four times the number of U.S. military lives that were lost in the Vietnam War. It has taken twice the death toll of Americans in World War I. It has killed 79 times the number of people who died in the 9/11 terrorism attacks. And, judging by the past week, it will go on doing so. The virus is spreading uncontrolled in every region of the United States and in almost every state. (11/8)

The U.S. is poised to get a new president amid a worsening crisis: The country is logging more than 100,000 new Covid cases a day, and this probably only represents one-fifth of total infections. Hospitalizations and deaths are rising, including in nursing homes and long-term-care facilities, which recorded at least 19,000 infections this week and about 1,800 deaths. But President-elect Joe Biden can look to some states as a model for handling the pandemic. It will be essential during the transition to take steps to preserve life and liberty. Covid-19 is highly contagious, and spread was inevitable. But it didn’t need to be this bad in America. (Scott Gottlieb, 11/8)

President-elect Joe Biden faces many grave challenges. The one we believe to be paramount is that the lack of coherent, national leadership to date in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic has left Americans to respond to it in their own ways instead of responding together in a logical, coordinated fashion. By letting individuals’ decisions revert to America’s “red versus blue” mold, we imperil our strongest national strategic asset in this fight: safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19. (David Bluestone, John Garrett and David Beier, 11/8)

The October jobs report released Friday shows that 2.2 million more people were employed last month compared with September.That might help to explain the other increase reported this week — the one in new coronavirus infections, which hit a record high in the United States on Thursday and show no sign of abating. (Jon Healey, 11/6)

We have foolishly pretended that it was government overreach that has shut down businesses and schools, when all along it has been the virus, not the state, that is causing people to avoid restaurants and classrooms. The state and the business community have been encouraging responsible behavior through websites and ad campaigns, but just encouraging clearly isn’t enough. If we are not willing to shut down all businesses and all schools, and there are very strong reasons not to, then a much more aggressive testing and tracing regimen must be put into place a soon as possible. (11/8)

Rural businesses and communities have been waiting for Congress to pass a second stimulus package for months. With Election Day behind us, Congress should not delay in passing another stimulus bill. Two bipartisan proposed bills should be included, because they offer common-sense solutions to help rural economies weather the pandemic. One bill is the Rural Equal Aid Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill led by Rep. Cindy Axne, Democrat of Iowa, that would offer support to rural entrepreneurs. The second is the Strengthening Local Processing Act from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska), which would strengthen rural economic opportunity by supporting small meat processors. (Anna Johnson, 11/9)

While everyone is suffering at some level, the suffering isn’t equal. This new normal of our economy, with its dramatic challenges, isn’t new to many working families in Massachusetts, especially those living below the poverty line. Families everywhere see the deck stacked against them, and our historically marginalized neighbors and friends feel this most acutely. We know that struggling to afford food, housing, and other necessities puts children and families’ health at risk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the stakes couldn’t be higher. (Lynn Margherio, Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, and Kate Barrand, 11/7)

“We’re starting to see our resources being depleted, whether it’s nursing labor, physician labor, the bed capacity in our hospitals,” said Dr. Aamina Akhtar, infectious disease specialist at Mercy Hospital South. “We’re scared of what’s coming.” Already, some hospitals are limiting elective procedures. “I think we’re all concerned about the potential to have enough [coronavirus] cases that reducing elective care is not enough,” said Dr. Clay Dunagan, chief clinical officer at Barnes Jewish Hospital. The point wasn’t to dismay or scare people but to implore the public to start consistently doing the two simple things that could have already saved untold thousands of lives had they been taken seriously sooner: practice social distancing and wear masks in public. (11/8)

One side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and response is a reported increase in opioid mortality from states across the country. An Oct. 5​ issue briefing from the American Medical Association validated what many of us have seen in our Kentucky practices: Substance abuse trends are heading in the wrong direction following promising, pre-COVID-19 declines. Whether due to isolation, stress, job loss, barriers to health care or some combination of them all, a half-year of COVID clearly is associated with increases in substance abuse. (Marvin Bishop, 11/9)