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The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized across the United States shattered records on Monday, topping 85,700. Although some of the hardest-hit states are beginning to report fewer new infections, Thanksgiving travel and gatherings could reverse that positive trend. Even after cases peak, deaths will continue rising for several weeks. (Noori Farzan, 11/24)

When infections began rising sharply in the U.S. in September, the growth was driven largely by outbreaks in the Upper Midwest. States like North Dakota and Wisconsin soon became the hardest hit in the nation, relative to their size, and the region continues to struggle. Now, though, with the whole country’s daily average of new cases is as high as it has ever been — over 171,000 — the most rapid growth is happening elsewhere. Nine states are reporting more than twice as many new cases a day as they did two weeks ago, and none of them are in the Midwest. (11/24)

After pounding big U.S. cities in the spring, COVID-19 now has engulfed rural and small-town America, seeming to seep into the country’s every nook and cranny. According to Reuters’ interviews with more than a dozen medical care providers and public health officials in the nation’s heartland, many hospitals are severely lacking in beds, equipment and - most critically - clinical staff, including specialists and nurses. (Brown, 11/24)

The skyrocketing number of new coronavirus infections in the United States is likely to climb further over the next several weeks, even in the hardest-hit areas where soaring case loads are starting to overwhelm hospitals and medical facilities. New cases appear to be reaching a peak in the Dakotas and Iowa, where infections are at their highest levels since the pandemic began. But most states experiencing a COVID-19 surge are weeks behind those epicenters as tens of thousands of people test positive every week. (Wilson, 11/23)

The United States is heading into the holiday season as coronavirus cases rise at their fastest rate ever. More than 150,000 new cases were reported each day last week, and experts worry that indoor gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday will cause case counts to surge even higher. But even once numbers in this “third wave” finally peak, deaths will continue to rise for several weeks. A third wave of coronavirus cases in the county took off in September, and cases have been rising faster ever since. The second wave, which peaked in July, was significantly smaller, but followed the same pattern: Cases rose first, then hospitalizations, then deaths. (Fox, 11/23)

Covid-19 is running unabated across almost every American community, and one model projects it will take the country just under two months to reach a staggering 20 million cases. The US could nearly double its current numbers -- about 12.4 million reported infections -- by January 20, according to the Washington University in St. Louis forecasting model. (Maxouris, 11/24)

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, warned Monday that COVID-19 deaths could easily top 300,000 if the trajectory of the pandemic does not change. The number of coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been rising for weeks with no signs of slowing as the U.S. deals with another wave of the pandemic. (Hellmann, 11/23)

About 1 million Americans a day packed airports and planes over the weekend even as coronavirus deaths surged across the U.S. and public health experts begged people to stay home and avoid big Thanksgiving gatherings. And the crowds are only expected to grow. Next Sunday is likely to be the busiest day of the holiday period. (11/24)

More than 3 million airline passengers passed through U.S. airports over the weekend, disregarding calls to avoid Thanksgiving trips and making it the busiest air-travel weekend since coronavirus lockdowns hit in mid-March. The Transportation Security Administration reported the traffic based on traveler numbers at airport security checkpoints. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday urged Americans not to travel during this week’s Thanksgiving holiday to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus as cases of COVID-19 spike around the United States. (Shepardson and Rucinski, 11/23)

Millions of Americans have begun to scatter across the country for the Thanksgiving holiday, despite warnings from public health officials and elected leaders to refrain from traveling as coronavirus infections surge to alarming levels. While passenger volumes at Logan International Airport and other airports across the country remain far lower than last year, Sunday marked the country’s busiest air travel day since mid-March, with nearly 1.05 million passengers crossing security checkpoints. It was only the third time since the earliest weeks of the pandemic that more than 1 million passengers flew in a day — and the second since Friday, according to Transportation Security Administration data. (Vaccaro, Gardizy and Kaufman, 11/23)

Millions of Americans appeared to be disregarding public health warnings and traveling ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, likely fueling an alarming surge in coronavirus infections before a series of promising new vaccines are expected to become widely available. ... “I’m really scared, but seeing family is very important to me,” Hannah Osnan, 18, a California State University Long Beach student waiting in line for a COVID-19 diagnostic test at Los Angeles International Airport, where she hoped to board a 22-hour flight to see family in Egypt for the first time in a year. (Trotta and Layne, 11/23)

In Pennsylvania, if you’re having friends over to socialize, you’re supposed to wear a mask — and so are your friends. That’s the rule, but Barb Chestnut has no intention of following it. “No one is going to tell me what I can or not do in my own home” said Chestnut, 60, of Shippensburg. “They do not pay my bills and they are not going to tell me what to do.” (Rubinkam, 11/24)

Doctors and health officials on Monday pleaded with people to take precautions during Thanksgiving — such as skipping large indoor gatherings — as the state and nation experiences an unchecked spread in COVID-19. “Please do everything you can possibly do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. We don’t want this to be the last ever Thanksgiving for someone in your family like your parents or grandparents,” Harris said. (Chandler, 11/24)

Utah dropped its coronavirus restrictions on resident gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving this week, though officials still recommend against them. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) announced Monday that the state was removing the two-week-old mandate against casual social gatherings of those from different households, instead making it a recommendation. The restrictions on gatherings were set to expire Monday. (Coleman, 11/23)

In an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, Pennsylvania state officials announced Monday that residents will not be able to purchase alcohol at bars or restaurants the night before Thanksgiving. Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced that the temporary suspension will go into effect on 5 p.m. Wednesday and remain in place until 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. (Sturla and Asmelash, 11/23)

For days, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has been preaching a message of sacrifice during the holidays, warning New Yorkers that Thanksgiving gatherings could be dangerous as virus cases spike across the nation, and beseeching them to reconsider their plans to help stem the rising tide. So it was surprising when Mr. Cuomo announced on Monday afternoon that he had invited his 89-year-old mother, Matilda, and two of his daughters to celebrate a very Cuomo Thanksgiving with him this week in Albany. (McKinley and Ferre-Sadurni, 11/23)

On Thanksgiving Day, more than 800 empty chairs will be set up at the South Dakota Capitol, a makeshift memorial to the lives lost to the coronavirus. But the somber display is not the only event happening at the Capitol this week, with Gov. Kristi Noem two days before kicking off a Christmas celebration, complete with an appearance from Santa Claus and live music. The two displays illustrate the contrast between those weary of the virus and ready to celebrate, and those marking the season with loss and a willingness to pull back from familiar traditions to try to slow the virus spread. (Groves, 11/23)

As states struggle to contain the resurgent coronavirus, many officials are laying the blame on an unexpected source: people gathering with family and friends. Household get-togethers undoubtedly do contribute to community transmission of the virus. Canada’s recent Thanksgiving certainly added to its rising cases; such an increase may happen here, too, as the United States embarks on a holiday season like no other. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned so strongly against gathering with others outside the household during Thanksgiving. (Mandavilli, 11/23)

As the coronavirus pandemic soars to new heights across California just days before Thanksgiving, testing in the Bay Area is similarly surging — a trend that is raising some alarms for public health officials who fear that negative results will give people a false sense of security.“ The value of testing is that if you’re positive, you won’t gather, and that will avoid an infection,” said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California-San Francisco. “But the challenge is that a negative test also should not convince you that you’re risk-free or not infectious.” (Angst and Toledo, 11/23)

Although the Aragonez family is still healing after a Covid-19 outbreak, they took the time to make a public service announcement warning against large family gatherings. It's tradition for many families to gather during Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season. But with the coronavirus global pandemic, those gatherings could turn Thanksgiving dinner into a superspreader event. (Murphy, 11/23)

Nevada governor Steve Sisolak (D) on Monday announced a three-week “pause” beginning on Nov. 24, during which further restrictions will be placed on businesses and mask mandates will be intensified. Sisolak tweeted, “Today, I’m announcing new restrictions, in an effort to get this wildfire under control. I’m not issuing a shutdown order. My goal is to aggressively try to attack this spread, while maintaining some portion of our economy and our daily life.” (Choi, 11/23)

D.C. tightened restrictions Monday to confront rising coronavirus cases, a move that follows similar actions in neighboring jurisdictions and puts the entire Washington region under more strict pandemic protocols. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 10 people — including Thanksgiving dinners, since the order takes effect Wednesday — and outdoor groups of more than 25 people. The restrictions come as caseloads have spiked across the greater Washington region, where the seven-day average number of cases Monday hit a record for the 20th consecutive day. (Zauzmer and Cox, 11/23)

Los Angeles County is suspending outdoor dining for the foreseeable future as coronavirus cases surge in the region and across the country. The order from the public health department will force restaurants, wineries and breweries into a takeout and delivery-only model for the first time since May. It will remain in effect for at least three weeks, though it could last longer. (Weixel, 11/23)

Delaware Governor John Carney issued a third revision to the state's COVID-19 emergency order, which went into effect Monday morning. Under the new order, indoor gatherings at home must be capped at 10 people. "These are difficult decisions, but we face a difficult and challenging winter," said Governor Carney. "COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising in Delaware and across the country. More than 250,000 Americans have already lost their lives to this virus. We're focused on protecting lives and targeting restrictions where we're seeing spread of COVID-19. Let's all do our part. Wear a mask. Avoid gatherings with anyone outside your household. Consider celebrating holidays a little differently this year. Stay vigilant and we'll get through this." (Kent, 11/23)

While several of the nation’s governors have taken steps before Thanksgiving to blunt a holiday surge in coronavirus cases, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained quiet and out of the public view. Florida is bearing down on 1 million coronavirus cases – adding more than 131,000 cases this month alone. But DeSantis has rarely been seen since Election Day on Nov. 3. (Kennedy, 11/23)

An eastern Missouri county health director has left her job because of threats she says she received over coronavirus restrictions, including a mask mandate, KTVI reported. “I have received emails, you know, with someone claiming that a group of people in the community are watching me and following me, and if I make decisions that they don’t like that there will be retaliation,” said Amber Elliott, who had been the St. Francois County health director since January. (11/23)

Making masks mandatory doesn’t just have public health benefits — it also boosts consumer spending, according to a new study from the University of Utah. Reviewing data from all 3,142 counties nationwide, the researchers found that credit card spending increased more dramatically in counties where a mask mandate was introduced, compared to those where masks remained optional during the same time period. Cellphone data also showed that people were more mobile after mask mandates went into place, suggesting that they were leaving their homes more and potentially spending more time at local businesses. (Farzan, 11/24)

A majority of Americans say they want their states to stay open amid the recent surge in coronavirus cases as opposed to locking down, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they wanted their states to "try to manage while staying open." Forty-six percent said they believed their states should return to lockdown. (Manchester, 11/23)

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed an executive order allowing at-capacity hospitals to transfer patients, and stop admitting new ones, to help them respond to a surge in COVID-19 patients across the state. Hospitals will not have to receive a patient's consent for a transfer, if directed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, according to Polis' order. The order also applies to freestanding emergency room facilities. (Osborne, 11/23)

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that New York would reopen an emergency hospital on Staten Island to address a new surge in coronavirus cases that is straining the capacity of the borough’s hospitals. The announcement is another sign that New York City is in the grip of a second coronavirus wave that has already led to the closing of public schools, the reversal of some reopenings and warnings to families to scale back their Thanksgiving plans. It also raises the specter of a return to the pandemic’s darkest days in March and April. “Staten Island is a problem,” Mr. Cuomo said at a daily news briefing. (Shanahan, 11/23)

Hundreds of bodies of people who died from COVID-19 in the spring remain in storage in freezer trucks in New York, The Wall Street Journal reported. City officials told the Journal that there are about 650 bodies in storage on the 39th Street Pier in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the bodies are largely those of people who could not afford a burial or whose next of kin could not be located. (Budryk, 11/23)

Gov. Gavin Newsom and his family will spend Thanksgiving in quarantine after his children were exposed in two separate incidents to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, cases that the governor said Monday prompted an informal lockdown of his Fair Oaks estate over the weekend. During a midday news conference from his home office, Newsom said everyone in his family, including the children’s au pair, has tested negative for the virus. (Luna, 11/23)

California on Monday recorded more than 20,000 new cases of the coronavirus — smashing previous daily records and setting a grim milestone as the state and the rest of the country continues to see explosive spread of the virus. The state recorded 20,654 cases of the virus Monday, according to The Chronicle’s coronavirus tracker. The previous daily record, set one week ago, was 13,412. Monday’s tally could potentially be attributed to a lag in weekend reporting; only 5,842 new cases were reported Sunday. (Williams, 11/23)

More than 100 doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who work at urgent-care facilities within the MultiCare health system went on strike Monday, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, to protest working conditions. ... The health providers contend they sometimes work excessive hours, care for too many patients, aren’t provided the protective equipment they want and are concerned about the clinics’ infection-control practices. (Bush, 11/23)

As Kentucky posts record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases and rising deaths, the state's nursing homes and senior living sites are bracing for grim weeks ahead in facilities where residents and staff already have been hit hard by the virus. Last week, the state enlisted the Kentucky National Guard to help at nursing homes suffering acute staff shortages because of workers who have been infected with the virus or forced to quarantine because they have been exposed on the job or in the community to COVID-19. (Yetter, 11/23)

A thick cloud of dust kicks up behind cars as they meander down a rugged dirt road into town. The bone-shaking journey to Pinon, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation is a long one filled with sharp bumps and deep potholes. Much like the drive into Pinon, the Navajo Nation's struggles with the coronavirus have been far from easy. The community surpassed New York state for the highest Covid-19 infection rate in the United States in May. (Marples, 11/24)

After weeks of delay, the head of the General Services Administration informed President-elect Joe Biden on Monday that the official governmental transition process has been approved. GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said in a letter that Biden, whom she referred to as "the apparent president-elect," is now able to get access to millions of dollars in federal funds and other resources to begin his transition to power. ... NBC News and other news organizations projected Biden as the winner on Nov. 7, but Trump has refused to concede for weeks. The refusal stopped Biden's team from gaining critical access to government resources as the nation grapples with surging Covid-19 case numbers and economic uncertainty. (Clark, Bennett, Vitali and Welker, 11/23)

In a statement, Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of Mr. Biden’s transition, said ... aides to Mr. Biden would soon begin meeting with Trump administration officials “to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.” (Shear, Haberman, Corasaniti and Rutenberg, 11/23)

The Biden transition team welcomed the formal ascertainment, calling it a “needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track.” (Chalfant, Samuels and Miller, 11/23)

President Donald Trump agreed to let the transition to a Biden administration proceed only after being told by advisors that he wouldn't have to say he conceded defeat, reported The New York Times Monday. In tweets on Monday, two weeks after losing to President-elect Joe Biden, Trump announced that he was letting the General Services Administration (GSA) "do what needs to be done" for Biden to take office in January.  (Porter, 11/24)

President-elect Joe Biden plans to speak with mayors on Monday amid the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet virtually with the United States Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization that includes more than 1,400 leaders of cities in the U.S. whose populations exceed 30,000 people. Biden and Harris will take part in the meeting from Wilmington, Del. (Chalfant, 11/23)

Forty percent of voters say President-elect Joe Biden should make distributing a coronavirus vaccine his top priority when he is sworn into office next year, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris survey released exclusively to The Hill. Thirty-three percent of voters polled said Biden should make it a priority to pass a new coronavirus stimulus package through Congress. (Manchester, 11/23)

The federal government will begin distributing doses of Regeneron's antibody drug treatment for COVID-19 on Tuesday, top health officials said. During a call with reporters, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said the administration will distribute 30,000 doses of the drug, with more coming in the weeks ahead. The company expects to produce 300,000 doses by early January. (Weixel, 11/23)

Health experts do not know the long term effects of COVID-19, and former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he is concerned they could be serious. "I'm worried about it. I don't think we fully understand what these syndromes are," Gottlieb said during a discussion at the American Enterprise Institute. (Weixel, 11/23)

Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Monday warned Americans to avoid indoor holiday celebrations with people they don't live with, including parties being planned by the White House. During an appearance on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Adams said events like the planned White House holiday parties are a cause for concern. (Weixel, 11/23)

The White House is going ahead with plans to hold holiday parties and receptions at the presidential mansion despite a surge in coronavirus cases and warnings from public health officials to avoid large in-person gatherings. Invitations for the indoor holiday events, which are scheduled to start next week, already have been sent out. An invitation to a Dec. 1 reception – a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY – makes no mention of mandatory face masks or social distancing requirements. (Collins and Puente, 11/23)

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Texas and Louisiana can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics — a move supported by opponents of legal abortion, but opposed by advocates who said it affects a variety of non-abortion health services for low-income women. The ruling was handed down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. While it expressly reversed decisions in Texas and Louisiana, it also affects Mississippi, which is under 5th Circuit jurisdiction. The issue is likely to go next to the U.S. Supreme Court. (McGill, 11/24)

The ruling was handed down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. While it expressly reversed decisions in Texas and Louisiana, it also affects Mississippi, which is under 5th Circuit jurisdiction. The issue is likely to go next to the U.S. Supreme Court. (11/23)

In a statement, Planned Parenthood officials said the state’s move was political. They also noted the order has yet to take effect and that they will continue to serve patients for now. “These terminations are a blatantly political attack that will jeopardize critical health care access for Texans with low incomes during a global pandemic,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Texas officials said in a statement. (Lopez, 11/23)

President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage. Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare. (Ollove, 11/24)

Instead of offering one or more options, some companies are turning health insurance shopping over to employees. A federal rule change last year stoked this new approach. It allows employers to reimburse workers for coverage they bought without paying a tax penalty. The concept sends employees to individual insurance markets where they can find more choices for coverage. It also protects employers from huge annual cost spikes. But it’s a big change for workers who are used to having their employer give them benefit choices every year. (Murphy, 11/23)

Amazon and American health care look, at first glance, like a mismatch. Yet the 21st century’s most ruthlessly efficient retailer has been trying for several years now to gain a bigger foothold in the bloated, borderline nonsensical health system of the world’s richest nation. (Scott, 11/23)

KHN: Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How To Get Good Advice. 

If you’ve been watching TV lately, you may have seen actor Danny Glover or Joe Namath, the 77-year-old NFL legend, urging you to call an 800 number to get fabulous extra benefits from Medicare. There are plenty of other Medicare ads, too, many set against a red-white-and-blue background meant to suggest officialdom — though if you stand about a foot from the television screen, you might see the fine print saying they are not endorsed by any government agency. (Wolfson, 11/24)

A repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would wreak havoc for millions of Americans across the U.S., particularly in communities of color. ... “If the ACA is overturned, it will be devastating for communities of color and other marginalized groups in the U.S.,” Melissa Creary, assistant professor in health management and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, told Yahoo Finance. “While not fully the reform needed in this country, the ACA does provide low cost or free health care coverage for millions of Americans, including POC, and has been shown to improve health at the population level. Taking it away would just exacerbate the health inequities that have been laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Belmonte, 11/23)

Medicaid expansion has likely improved care of colon cancer, researchers said in a study published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The researchers compared states that expanded Medicaid health insurance in 2014 to non-expansion states and found that expansion led to earlier diagnosis, better access to care and improved surgical care. (Brokaw, 11/23)

There may be more awaiting long-term care providers this week than meals of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may release its final rule regarding cuts to Medicare Part B therapy services, according to Cynthia Morton, executive director of the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL).“It could be any day now,” said Morton, who addressed stakeholders during a regulatory update to members on Friday, the last day of NASL’s annual conference. (Berger, 11/24)

KHN: Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How To Get Good Advice. 

If you’ve been watching TV lately, you may have seen actor Danny Glover or Joe Namath, the 77-year-old NFL legend, urging you to call an 800 number to get fabulous extra benefits from Medicare. There are plenty of other Medicare ads, too, many set against a red-white-and-blue background meant to suggest officialdom — though if you stand about a foot from the television screen, you might see the fine print saying they are not endorsed by any government agency. (Wolfson, 11/24)

Despite efforts to return to normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida continues to see increasing Medicaid enrollment, with an estimate now that as many as 4.6 million people will rely on the health-care program in the upcoming fiscal year, according to the state’s Medicaid office. A revised projection of enrollment for the 2021-2022 state fiscal year, which will start July 1, includes about 220,000 more people than economists previously projected. (Sexton, 11/23)

Auditor of State Keith Faber’s office has released a report that examines the Ohio Department of Medicaid eligibility determination process. Auditors looked at compliance with select requirements, barriers in the enrollment process, risk for inaccurate eligibility determinations, and payments in correlation with eligibility. The audit found significant errors including ineligible payments across the Medicaid system. Correcting these deficiencies and avoiding erroneous payments in the 27 participating counties could result in nearly $500 million in savings and potentially more statewide. (11/23)

Shortly after the federal government stepped in to help those who lost their jobs during the pandemic, a young man with Autism was told he would no longer be eligible for his Medicaid plan. The 23 year old man, who prefers only to be referred to as John, was diagnosed with Autism at age 5. ... Shortly after John's monthly unemployment payments increased, he got a letter from Supplemental Security Income letting him know his SSI payments would decrease from 783 dollars per month to zero beginning in October. More concerning according to his mom was the second page of the letter, which read, since he "is not receiving SSI, he cannot get Medicaid based on SSI." (Molina, 11/22)

Essential workers are likely to move ahead of adults 65 and older and people with high-risk medical conditions when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off on Covid-19 vaccine priority lists, coming after health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities, a meeting of an expert advisory panel made clear Monday. (Branswell, 11/23)

Health care workers will be the first people in Texas to receive a COVID-19 vaccine once one receives emergency approval from the U.S. government, and on Monday a state panel of vaccine experts and politicians revealed which workers in the health field will receive top priority. (Walters, 11/23)

Riverside Health System in Virginia has ordered a specialized freezer for each of its five hospitals to keep precious vials of coronavirus vaccine as cold as a deep Antarctic freeze. Public health officials in Nashville and Baltimore are revamping routine flu clinics to test delivery methods for coronavirus vaccinations. (Sun and Stead Sellers, 11/23)

The first shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine could be arriving in Alaska in just a few weeks, state health officials say. The early batches of vaccine will be prioritized for essential workers in health care, assisted living and emergency medical settings, officials said Monday. Vaccines will be in limited quantity initially, and probably won’t be available to the general public until around March. The state is still working on plans to prioritize vaccine supplies once they’re more broadly available. (Berman, 11/23)

If offered a coronavirus vaccine free of charge, fewer than half of Black people and 66 percent of Latino people said they would definitely or probably take it, according to a survey-based study that underscores the challenge of getting vaccines to communities hit hard by the pandemic. The survey released Monday is one of the largest and most rigorous to date. Other recent studies have also pointed to vaccine hesitancy in communities of color, but Monday’s survey delved deeper into the reasons, polling respondents on a spectrum of questions to get at the roots of their distrust. (Wan, 11/23)

The news reached Sarah Gilbert Saturday evening that the Covid-19 vaccine she’s developed with AstraZeneca Plc appeared to work. But the University of Oxford professor had expected a key number: Was it more than 90% effective, as others have been -- or less? Instead, when her colleague Andrew Pollard called with the results, he wanted to show her slides rather than simple figures. “I didn’t really understand why we would have to go through slides,” she recalled. “But then it became clear -- because it’s rather more complicated in our trial.” (Baker, 11/23)

It took Oxford University’s brightest minds decades of work to give them the expertise to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. In the end, it was a momentary error - and a dose of good fortune - that carried them over the line. ... While skill and hard work drove development, AstraZeneca said it was a minor mistake that made the team realise how they could significantly boost the shot’s success rate, to as much as 90% from around 60%: by administering a half dose, followed by a full dose a month later. (Smout, Kelland and Burger, 11/23)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising overwhelmed local health officials to triage their coronavirus contact tracing efforts, writing that the latest infection surge is making it difficult to reach every close contact of Covid-positive patients in time to help contain the disease’s spread. “As the burden of COVID-19 worsens in an area, and the capacity to investigate new cases in a timely manner becomes more difficult or is not feasible, health departments should prioritize which cases to investigate and which contacts to trace,” reads new guidance from the CDC. (Ollstein, 11/23)

Gov. Tim Walz and other Minnesota officials urged residents Monday to download a free app for their smartphones that will notify them if someone who’s been near them later tests positive for the coronavirus and will allow them to warn others anonymously if they test positive themselves. Walz also said he plans to call a special legislative session to pass a relief package to help small businesses cope with the impacts of his moves last week to tighten restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, which included a four-week closure of restaurants and bars, except for takeout and delivery, and a similar shutdown of gyms and amateur sporting events. (Karnowski, 11/23)

The Strategic National Stockpile, which the U.S. has traditionally depended on for emergencies, still lacks critical supplies, nine months into one of the worst public health care crises this country has ever seen, an NPR investigation has learned. A combination of long-standing budget shortfalls, lack of domestic manufacturing, snags in the global supply chain, and overwhelming demand has meant that the stockpile is short of the gloves, masks, and other supplies needed to weather this winter's surge in COVID-19 cases. (Evstatieva, 11/23)

Clorox Co. is shipping out its disinfecting wipes as fast as the company can make them. It’s not fast enough. While the bleach maker planned to have inventories replenished at major retailers by this summer, unprecedented demand throughout the pandemic dashed any hope of that. To cope, Clorox has added 10 additional third-party manufacturers and is running its own facilities 24 hours a day. (Porter Jr., 11/23)

Malaysia's Top Glove will close down 28 plants in phases as it seeks to control the outbreak, authorities said. The company has seen a huge surge in demand for its personal protective gear since the start of the pandemic. However, there have been concerns about the working conditions of the low-paid migrant workers it relies upon. (11/24)

A Maine medical supplies manufacturer has been awarded more than $11 million from the federal government to produce millions more testing swabs. Puritan Medical Products of Guilford received the money through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, said Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Monday. The company will increase its production of swabs by three million per month, Collins said. (11/24)

A small study by San Francisco researchers could bring the U.S. a step closer to having reliable and fast coronavirus diagnostic tests that generate results in minutes, instead of hours or days. The study found that a new, rapid antigen test performed almost as well as state-of-the-art tests, commonly referred to as PCR tests, at detecting positives among people who had high levels of the virus and were thus likely infectious. And the results come back to users much quicker, which could improve the coronavirus testing landscape. (Ho, 11/23)

Members of the state’s high-tech business community on Monday urged the state and the rest of the nation to step up the amount of COVID-19 testing, saying the number of tests is still falling far short of what is needed to win the fight against the coronavirus. A virtual panel discussion hosted by the Massachusetts High Technology Council made the case for a broader and more methodical approach to testing the population than what’s being done now. (Chesto, 11/23)

As the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care settings continue to climb, post-acute care leaders are calling for more funding, testing, staffing and PPE. "Older adults are living at Ground Zero in the worst pandemic in a century," Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, a national association of aging services providers, said Monday during a press conference. "How many of the most vulnerable Americans must die before we see meaningful relief?" (Christ, 11/23)

A huge study of pediatric patients across the country found only 4% of those tested were infected with the new coronavirus, and the vast majority of those cases were mild or asymptomatic. The study, led by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, quantifies and confirms — but doesn’t attempt to explain — one of the biggest mysteries of the pandemic: Why an infection that has so far killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide is uncommon and mostly harmless in children. (McCullough, 11/23)

While the proportion of COVID-19 cases in children has tripled or quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, it remains below their proportion of the US population, and hospitalizations and deaths are uncommon—although racial minorities and those with public insurance and underlying conditions appear to be at higher risk for serious outcomes, according to two new studies. (Van Beusekom, 11/23)

Scientists are uncovering clues to explain how the coronavirus attacks the nervous system by studying a bizarre side effect of the infection that distorts sufferers’ sense of smell for months on end. Since the pandemic began, doctors have puzzled over why the coronavirus causes as many as 80% of patients to experience anosmia, a temporary loss of smell. (Whelan, 11/23)

A Dutch study late last week found reduced lung capacity in 42% of COVID-19 patients 3 months after recovery, with many patients reporting severe problems with fatigue, functional impairment, and quality of life (QoL). Researchers reporting in Clinical Infectious Disease administered a comprehensive health assessment to 124 recovering COVID-19 patients who had either been admitted to a Netherlands hospital or were referred by physicians for symptoms lasting more than 6 weeks from Apr 23 to Jul 15. Assessments included lung function, walking, and body composition tests, chest computed tomography (CT)/x-ray, and questionnaires on mental, cognitive, health status, and QoL. The median age of patients was 59 years and 60% of patients were male. (11/23)

A second study in Clinical Infectious Disease late last week detailed poor outcomes for hospitalized COVID-19 patients with secondary bloodstream infections (sBSI). COVID-19 patients with sBSI had greater initial disease severity, longer hospital stays, and a 53.1% in-hospital mortality rate. Limited data suggest higher rates of sBSI—common in patients with flu and other viral respiratory illnesses—in severe COVID-19 patients, perhaps linked to immune dysregulation. (11/23)

Middle-aged adults face a greater risk of catching sexually transmitted infections than ever before -- because society is unwilling to talk about older people having sex, a new study has found. Negative attitudes toward sexual health and limited knowledge of the needs of over-45s mean some older people are unaware of the dangers of unprotected sex, researchers from the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands have warned. (Woodyatt, 11/23)

A recent study determined that people over 45 years old are at greater risk “than ever before” of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to stigma surrounding middle-aged and older individuals having sex. The University of Chichester, along with researchers from the U.K., Belgium and the Netherlands, found that negative views toward discussing sexual health and a general lack of knowledge contribute to some older people being unaware of the risks of unprotected sex. (Coleman, 11/23)

On a blustery day last December, five biotech entrepreneurs and scientists walked past the snow-draped Boston Common and entered Yvonne’s, the cozy supper club and bar, to discuss a new potential biotechnology company to fight cancer. (Saltzman, 11/23)

Hookworm is an intestinal parasite often associated with poor sewage treatment and the developing world. It was long thought to have been eradicated from the United States — until a 2017 study revealed otherwise. According to the study, more than one in three people in Alabama's Lowndes County tested positive for hookworm infection. (Davies, 11/23)

As Covid-19 positivity rates rise in the city and surrounding areas, hospital leaders are on high alert, with the spring’s surge still fresh on their minds. For months they’ve been preparing for this moment. Most have stockpiles of supplies and new safety measures and treatments, and a vaccine or two are on the horizon. But an uptick in cases and hospitalizations is still alarming. It’s already producing higher volumes in emergency departments and intensive-care units, and it could mean another drop in the preventive care and elective procedures hospitals have worked so hard to bring back. (Henderson, 11/23)

AdventHealth on Monday announced a project with biotechnology company Berg to try to better tailor treatments for COVID-19 patients. AdventHealth and Berg are kicking off the project as a research effort, initially building a biobank with data pulled from health records of AdventHealth patients who received COVID-19 testing. From there, the groups plan to apply Berg's artificial-intelligence tools to flag interventions linked with better outcomes in specific patient populations, based on such characteristics as ethnicity or comorbidities. (Kim Cohen, 11/23)

The parent organization of Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor lost more than $100 million in patient revenue as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to cancel or delay many surgeries and other services last spring. However, in a pair of reports released last week, two prominent credit rating agencies have mostly stood by their assessments that the organization is generally on track to pay back its existing bond debt but could struggle with unanticipated operating challenges. (Eichacker, 11/24)

KHN: Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To Cities, Straining Hospitals

Registered nurse Pascaline Muhindura has spent the past eight months treating COVID patients at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. But when she returns home to her small town of Spring Hill, Kansas, she’s often stunned by what she sees, like on a recent stop for carryout food. (Smith, 11/24)

KHN: For Nurses Feeling The Strain Of The Pandemic, Virus Resurgence Is ‘Paralyzing’

For Christina Nester, the pandemic lull in Massachusetts lasted about three months through summer into early fall. In late June, St. Vincent Hospital had resumed elective surgeries, and the unit the 48-year-old nurse works on switched back from taking care of only COVID-19 patients to its pre-pandemic roster of patients recovering from gallbladder operations, mastectomies and other surgeries. That is, until October, when patients with coronavirus infections began to reappear on the unit and, with them, the fear of many more to come. “It’s paralyzing, I’m not going to lie,” said Nester, who’s worked at the Worcester hospital for nearly two decades. “My little clan of nurses that I work with, we panicked when it started to uptick here.” (Huff, 11/24)

KHN: Need A COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 A Week

In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, and loved it, despite the mediocre pay typical for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed. She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it. (Hawryluk and Bichell, 11/24)

A Mississippi doctor has been acquitted on seven of eight counts against him in what prosecutors said was about $18 million in health care fraud involving expensive prescription pain cream. His secretary was acquitted on all five counts against her. Jurors were unable to agree on the eighth count — making false statements relating to health care — against Dr. Gregory Auzenne, The Clarion Ledger reported. The newspaper said the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately comment Monday on whether it planned to retry that charge. (11/23)

No one knows when, exactly, Mutlay Sayan was born. His mother told him it was sometime in the summer, before the harvest. The delivery took place on their porch, with the help of the neighbors, who used a heated kitchen knife to cut the umbilical cord, in a year that may or may not have been 1987. (Boodman, 11/24)

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug that extends the lives of children with an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes them to grow old before they grow up. The disorder, progeria, ages cells rapidly and prematurely. As a result, affected children remain small and begin to look frail and old by the time they reach school age. Most die of heart disease in their early teens. But the drug, Zokinvy, slows down the decline. (Hamilton, 11/23)

The drug giant Merck said Monday it would purchase Rockville, Md.-based OncoImmune for $425 million in cash to obtain the company’s treatment for patients hospitalized with severe and critical Covid-19. In an interview with STAT, Merck’s head of research and development, Roger Perlmutter, said that clinical trials for the treatment, CD24Fc, were encouraging but that manufacturing could prove a challenge. Still, he said, he hopes that, if proven safe and effective, it will be possible to make the medicine in useful quantities in the first half of 2021. (Herper, 11/23)

CVS Health Corp. named former Crate & Barrel Chief Executive Officer Neela Montgomery as president of its CVS Pharmacy unit, tapping new leadership for its drugstore business as online shopping and Covid-19 reshape the industry. Montgomery will oversee CVS’s roughly 10,000 drugstores in the U.S. at a time when people are buying more convenience items online and the coronavirus pandemic is introducing more patients to ordering prescription medicines the same way. (LaVito, 11/23)

In March, as waves of Covid-19 cases began surging across the U.S., biotech venture capitalist Robert Nelsen was “pissed off” about his prescient fear that new biotech treatments, even if they emerged, would not be able to be manufactured in sufficient amounts. As usual, Nelsen’s rage resulted in a new company: Resilience, backed by $800 million from Nelsen’s ARCH Venture Partners, 8VC, and other sources, and aimed at transforming manufacturing. The company’s board includes a who’s who of former industry and government officials. (Herper and Garde, 11/23)

America’s system for monitoring suicides is so broken and slow that experts won’t know until roughly two years after the pandemic whether suicides have risen nationally. But coroners and medical examiners are already seeing troubling signs. In Arizona’s Pima County, officials have sent two health bulletins alerting doctors and hospitals to spikes in suicides. In Oregon’s Columbia County, the number of suicides by summer had already surpassed last year’s total. In the sprawling Chicago suburbs, DuPage County has reported a 23 percent rise compared with last year. And in the city itself, the number of suicides among African Americans has far surpassed the total for 2019, even as officials struggle to understand whether the deaths are being driven by the pandemic, racial unrest or both. What has shocked medical examiners in Chicago is the age range — from a 57-year-old deputy police chief to a 9-year-old child. (Wan, 11/23)

The state legislature's Joint Education Committee has moved forward with a bill that would require school districts to provide suicide prevention training to students. The Jason Flatt Act already requires Wyoming teachers and administrators to undergo training of suicide prevention every four years, but has no training requirements for students. (Kudelska, 11/23)

Chloe Bellerby had her first panic attack the day before her 16th birthday. Disappointed with how she played in a soccer match, Bellerby recalled how "all those years of bottled up emotions came exploding out of me." Since she was 11, Bellerby had been cutting her skin, binging and purging, and even thinking about suicide. She'd been wearing long sleeves and long pants, even in the summer, but not even her parents raised questions. On Aug. 21, 2016, a Sunday night, Bellerby left her house and took "100 pills I had in my pocket" with a bottle of water. It was the first time she had disclosed the mental illness which had plagued her almost half her young life. (Havsy, 11/24)

Churchill senior Carson Lydon committed to play baseball at Oregon next year. It's been a dream of his since he was a little leaguer. “Since I was a little kid all I’ve wanted to do was be a professional baseball player," Lydon said. But for Lydon, the game of baseball comes secondary to the game of life. “On February 14th, 2017, I lost my friend Will Manstrom-Greening to suicide," Lydon said. "Shortly after that I fell into a deep state of depression and suicidal actions as well. “ ... It prompted Lydon to start A World Free of Suicide, a non-profit organization to help spread suicide prevention awareness. (Mininsohn, 11/23)

At a recent visit to the Veterans Affairs clinic in the Bronx, Barry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, learned that he belonged to a very exclusive club. According to a new A.I.-assisted algorithm, he was one of several hundred V.A. patients nationwide, of six million total, deemed at imminent risk of suicide. The news did not take him entirely off guard. Barry, 69, who was badly wounded in the 1968 Tet offensive, had already made two previous attempts on his life. “I don’t like this idea of a list, to tell you the truth — a computer telling me something like this,” Barry, a retired postal worker, said in a phone interview. He asked that his surname be omitted for privacy. (Carey, 11/23)

Workers at Walmart, Amazon, Kroger and other major retailers are calling on their employers to reinstate hazard pay and strengthen safety protocols ahead of the busy holiday shopping season as coronavirus infection rates skyrocket. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which represents 900,000 grocery employees at chains such as Kroger, Safeway and Giant, on Monday urged retailers to do more to protect workers from the virus that has sickened more than 12.3 million Americans. (Bhattarai and Ingraham, 11/23)

The family of a Publix employee who died from coronavirus complications has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that claims the grocery store chain refused to allow employees to wear masks at the time he became sick. Gerardo Gutierrez, 70, contracted the virus from a fellow deli employee, Monday's lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County alleges. It contends the chain in the early months of the pandemic was worried face coverings would frighten customers. (Toropin, 11/23)

Don’t count on finding toilet paper on your next run to Target or Walmart. Paper products and other household staples are in high demand in stores and online again as the virus surges and lockdowns loobut none more so than those essential rolls of soft cotton squares. Photos of bare shelves and public pleas to leave behind a few rolls for other shoppers are overflowing social media.  (Guynn, 11/23)

A college basketball tournament scheduled to be played in South Dakota this week said Monday that it canceled plans to allow hundreds of people to congregate indoors to watch games in a state where the coronavirus is rampant. The men’s and women’s tournaments called the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic start in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday. The tournament, sponsored by Sanford Health, a large health-care operator in the state, had planned to allow 850 fans into the arena for each game. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 11/23)

In the roughly eight years since she left treatment for alcohol-use disorder, Amy Durham has been to countless recovery group meetings. At first, she went every day, before gradually scaling back to two or three times a week — a routine she stuck with until this past March, when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered many in-person meetings nationwide. “I was really on solid ground in my recovery at that point, so I would say I wasn’t fearful for my own recovery, but it was quite jarring to me,” said Durham, 48, who is the corporate director of alumni relations at Pennsylvania-based Caron Treatment Centers, where she herself received treatment. (Chiu, 11/23)

Kelly Morse entered her 4-year-old son’s pretend doctor’s office one day last April and asked him how she was doing. She was taken aback when he examined her with his toy stethoscope and responded, solemnly, “Not well, you’ve got coronavirus.” A few months later, he started to brainstorm how a covid-19 vaccine might work, theorizing “that what we needed is a vaccine made of tiny alligators that could be injected into the blood to eat up all the coronavirus,” says Morse, a mother of two in Norfolk. Not all parents who engage in imaginary play with their children are getting diagnosed with covid-19, or brainstorming outside-the-box vaccine ideas. But coronavirus-themed play is increasingly common as living with the virus is becoming a long-term reality for children in the United States. (Pelly, 11/23)

A limited number of cases of organic romaine lettuce hearts have been recalled because of a possible risk of E. coli. The US Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. voluntarily recalled the produce. (Thomas and Kim, 11/23)

KHN: New Legal Push Aims To Speed Magic Mushrooms To Dying Patients 

Back in March, just as anxiety over COVID-19 began spreading across the U.S., Erinn Baldeschwiler of La Conner, Washington, found herself facing her own private dread. Just 48 and the mother of two teenagers, Baldeschwiler was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer after discovering a small lump on her chest, no bigger than a pea. Within weeks, it was the size of a golf ball, angry and red. Doctors gave her two years to live. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Frankly, I was terrified.” (Aleccia, 11/24)

Australian air carrier Qantas anticipates asking all international travelers to prove they’ve been immunized against the coronavirus once a vaccine is widely available — a requirement that is likely to be adopted throughout the industry, CEO Alan Joyce said Monday. “I think it will be a common theme, talking to my colleagues in other airlines across the world,” Joyce told Australia’s Nine News. (Farzan, 11/24)

American Airlines has reversed a policy that meant some people who use heavy wheelchairs could no longer fly on certain small regional jets. The recent policy banned wheelchairs weighing more than 300 pounds from some of its smaller jets. Many power wheelchairs, with batteries and motors, weigh more than that. (Shapiro, 11/23)

President Vladimir Putin told fellow world leaders last week that both of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccines, including one he championed as the world’s first inoculation against the disease, are safe and effective. That doesn’t mean he’s taken a jab. “We have not yet begun widespread vaccination and the head of state can’t take part in vaccination as a volunteer. It’s impossible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, in response to a question on whether Putin had been inoculated. “The president can’t use an uncertified vaccine.” (Arkhipov and Biryukov, 11/24)

International travelers heading to England could cut their mandatory quarantine time by more than half under new rules announced by the British government Tuesday. Starting Dec. 15, certain travelers could cut their 14-day mandatory quarantine down to five days if they take a COVID-19 test and the results are negative. (Diaz, 11/24)

Mexico’s Roman Catholic Church announced the cancellation Monday of what’s considered the world’s largest Catholic pilgrimage, for the Virgin of Guadalupe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mexico’s Episcopal Conference said in a statement that the basilica will be closed from December 10-13. The Virgin is celebrated on Dec. 12 and for weeks in advance, pilgrims travel from across Mexico to gather by the millions in Mexico City. (11/23)

Pope Francis, never one to shy from controversy, wades boldly into the coronavirus debate with a new book in which he criticizes those who blame the virus on foreigners and people who protest church closings and mask mandates. In his book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, based on conversations he had with papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, Francis also speaks out on the protests against racial injustice, poverty, and the arms trade. ... While dispensing homespun counsel, Francis does not hold back from provocative statements, especially concerning the way people and governments have reacted to the pandemic. "What matters more: to take care of people or keep the financial system going?" he asks. He has harsh words for governments that prioritized the protection of the economy, saying they "mortgaged their people." (Gjelten, 11/23)

After the two most senior Serbian Orthodox Church leaders died within a month after testing positive with the coronavirus, health experts and even hardcore believers are starting to worry. The spread of the virus within the largest religious group in the Balkans is getting more alarming by the day. A senior Orthodox Church priest, who took part in the prayers at the funeral of Serbian Patriarch Irinej on Sunday when most of the preventive measures against the coronavirus were ignored, has tested positive for COVID-19, Serbia’s state TV said Monday. (Stojanovic and Becatoros, 11/23)

When Marina Gómez and her fellow mortuary worker enter a room at a nursing home to remove the body of a COVID-19 victim, they work methodically and in silence. They disinfect the mouth, nose and eyes to reduce the risk of contamination. They wrap the body in the bed sheets. Two white body bags are used, one inside the other, and the zippers are closed in the opposite direction: the first bag is sealed head to foot; the second, foot to head. The only sound in the room is from the whisper of the zippers, sealing the dead from view for the last time. (Morenatti, 11/24)

Workplace exposures continue to be a major driver of the coronavirus pandemic, something that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should be on top of. But a reinterpretation of a reporting rule is making that all but impossible. (David Michaels, 11/24)

The vaccines are coming, and the prospect of several effective inoculations to combat the coronavirus pandemic is a remarkable scientific achievement. But even in the best of conditions, it will take time to overcome manufacturing and logistics hurdles, and to distribute hundreds of millions of shots equitably. Fasten your seat belts, and be patient. (11/23)

As an increasing body of evidence suggests America’s new anti-Covid vaccines are both efficacious and safe, the question of how to distribute those vaccines assumes greater importance. One poll suggests that Americans think health-care workers, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems should receive vaccines very early. But what to do after that? There is an uncomfortable truth here: Most of the best distribution methods are blatantly unfair. In this context, however, fairness is overrated. Priority should be given to methods that will save more lives and bring back the economy more rapidly. (Tyler Cowen, 11/23)

With the first results of multiple Covid-19 vaccine candidates giving hope to billions of people around the world, the power of biomedical research has captured the public’s attention. The speed with which it moved to develop vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests has been impressive — although equitable access to these innovations is still unsure. (Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, 11/24)

The world is unequal enough and the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to make things more unequal still. Poorer countries have had to take on debt they will struggle to pay back. Their more fragile healthcare systems and crowded cities forced them into stricter and more economically harmful lockdowns, and poverty rates have risen dramatically. Now, they rightly fear a staggered recovery from the pandemic will further disadvantage them, given how expensive vaccine rollouts look to be. It should not be surprising then that several developing countries, led by India and South Africa, argued last week at the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property rights council that IPR-related payments should be suspended for the duration of the pandemic for Covid-19 related vaccines, therapeutics and equipment. They worry about “intellectual property rights hindering or potentially hindering timely provisioning of affordable medical products” to their citizens. (Mark Sharma, 11/23)

The numbers across the U.S. are staggering: more than 167,000 new Covid-19 cases and 1,400 deaths a day, with more than 83,000 Americans currently hospitalized. A fall Covid surge is under way, reminiscent of the fall of 1918, which saw the second wave of the much deadlier Spanish flu. Without an intervening factor, biology, like history, repeats itself. New York is battling a rising disease prevalence but has so far escaped a second significant spike. No doubt a tough fall and winter lie ahead, with the virus spreading, pandemic fatigue growing, and cold weather sending people indoors to socialize. (Mark Jarrett and Bruce Farber, 11/23)

At Joe Biden takes his oath to become the 46th president of the United States, the U.S. should learn three important lessons. Infectious diseases can ambush advanced and developing economies alike; preventing them may create even more wealth than we had thought. What looks like a pocket or a local outbreak can turn into a threat to global wellbeing in as little time as it takes a 787 to fly from one side of the world to the other. Sharing the responsibility for preventing this spread of infections serves American and global interests. (Amanda Glassman, 11/23)

President Trump has largely been a corrosive force on healthcare issues, working to undermine the Affordable Care Act and advancing policies that favored younger, healthier people at the expense of Americans with preexisting conditions. But on prescription drugs — an area largely overlooked by the ACA — he’s aligned himself with the millions of consumers deeply concerned about the cost of new or specialty drugs. The Trump administration responded to that concern in its most concrete way yet on Friday, announcing a pair of controversial steps that could ultimately save money for taxpayers and many consumers. (11/24)

It is crystal clear that job number one for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is helping tackle the coronavirus pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean that the FDA, particularly its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, should ignore other major causes of rampant illness and death. We’re thinking of salt. Yes, salt, innocent crystals of which are in half of all packaged foods and practically every factory, restaurant and kitchen in America. (Michael F. Jacobson and Marsha N. Cohen, 11/23)