ABC News: Supreme Court Set To Hear Critical Louisiana Abortion Case 
Four years after striking down a Texas law it said created an "undue burden" on abortion access, the Supreme Court is poised to take up a similar challenge. June Medical Services v. Russo (previously v. Gee) is a challenge from Louisiana abortion providers to a 2014 state law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges with a nearby hospital. Hospital admitting privileges are an agreement between a doctor and a hospital that allows a patient to go that hospital if they need urgent care. It may not sound like an arduous requirement, but the plaintiff argues that the stipulation, if enforced, would effectively eliminate abortion access throughout the state. (Svokos, 3/1)

Reuters: Abortion Rights Face Stern New Test At Conservative U.S. Supreme Court
The court, with a 5-4 conservative majority, is scheduled on Wednesday to hear arguments in an appeal by Shreveport-based abortion provider Hope Medical Group for Women seeking to invalidate the law. Chief Justice John Roberts may be pivotal in deciding the outcome, with Trump’s appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch also in the spotlight. The clinic sued to block the 2014 law, which requires that doctors who perform abortions have a difficult-to-obtain arrangement called “admitting privileges” at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of the abortion clinic. A federal appeals court ruled against the clinic and upheld the law. (Hurley, 3/1)

USA Today: Abortion: Supreme Court May Reverse Abortion Rights In Louisiana Case
It was just 2016 when the high court struck down restrictions on Texas clinics and doctors as an undue burden on women. The ruling helped abortion rights advocates beat back similar laws in other states. Now a nearly identical law in neighboring Louisiana is before the court, and the prognosis for abortion opponents has improved dramatically. State officials contend the facts on the ground, as well as the legal issues, call for a different result. But there is another reason as well. (Wolf, 3/2)

Axios: Supreme Court To Hear First Big Abortion Case Since Kavanaugh's Confirmation
The Supreme Court this week will wade into its first big abortion case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the bench. Why it matters: It will give us the clearest indication yet of just how quickly and aggressively the newly expanded conservative majority is likely to move in curtailing abortion rights. (Baker, 3/1)

The Associated Press: A Clinic Prepares For Supreme Court Abortion Fight
The Hope Medical Group for Women in northern Louisiana fields phone calls every day from anxious pregnant women who ask if abortion is still legal and if the clinic, one of only three that provides abortions in the state, is still open. Despite the protesters who sometimes gather outside, the threats that forced the clinic to board up all the windows and the repeated restrictions put upon abortion providers in this staunchly anti-abortion state, the clinic stands. (3/2)

In other news on abortion —

Vox: What Anti-Abortion 'Crisis Pregnancy Centers' Really Do
When Aya got a positive pregnancy test, she wanted to confirm the results at a clinic. But the first six places she called either required her to pay out of pocket, or had no appointments for a week. So Aya went to a pregnancy resource center. Sometimes called crisis pregnancy centers, the facilities’ “primary mission is to dissuade women from choosing abortion,” Katrina Kimport, an associate professor at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), a group at the University of California San Francisco, writes in a new study of patients at the centers, published on Friday in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. (North, 3/2)

The Associated Press: Used To Giving Orders, Kansas Abortion Foes Can’t Cut A Deal
Abortion opponents who’ve become used to giving orders to Kansas lawmakers on the exact wording of new restrictions are stymied now that they face compromising to get a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. After falling short in a House vote three weeks ago, abortion opponents have pressured a dozen members who voted no, moderate Republicans and Democrats who are Catholic or who represent relatively conservative or heavily Catholic districts. (Hanna, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Authorities Announce 2nd Coronavirus Death In US
Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus — a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus. Researchers said earlier the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state. (Johnson and Flaccus, 3/1)

The New York Times: 2nd Death Near Seattle Adds To Signs Coronavirus Is Spreading In U.S.
With testing now ramping up, the Seattle suburb of Kirkland has become an epicenter of both illness and fear, much of it focused on a nursing facility where six coronavirus cases have been confirmed and many more residents and employees have complained of illness. Health authorities in King County, Wash., announced on Sunday evening that one of the six, a resident of the nursing home, had died of the virus at the EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland, and that three more were in critical condition. The death was the second on U.S. soil from the virus; the first also occurred at that hospital. One-quarter of Kirkland’s firefighters were in quarantine on Sunday because they had been to the nursing facility. A nearby college spent the day cleansing its campus because students had visited the nursing home. The hospital has asked visitors to stay away. (Baker, Fink, Bogel-Burroughs and Healy, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Kirkland, Wash., Becomes Epicenter Of Coronavirus Response As Cases Spread
One church canceled Communion on Sunday and banned handshakes and hugs. More than two dozen firefighters, and some police officers, are under quarantine. The hospital urged visitors to stay home. And Lake Washington Institute of Technology said it is shutting down for two days to disinfect the campus. This outdoorsy city of 90,000 just northeast of Seattle, known for its piney woods, water sports and a Google campus with a meandering bike path running through it, has become the epicenter of the U.S. response to the deadly coronavirus as it begins to spread along the West Coast. (Sacchetti and Nguyen, 3/1)

Stat: First Covid-19 Outbreak In A U.S. Nursing Home Raises Concerns
“We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,” said Jeff Duchin, health officer for public health for Seattle and King County. He added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick. (Boodman and Branswell, 2/29)

Kaiser Health News: Nursing Home Outbreak Spotlights Coronavirus Risk In Elder Care Facilities
An outbreak of coronavirus disease in a nursing home near Seattle is prompting urgent calls for precautionary tactics at America’s elder care facilities, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the illness because of the dual threat of age and close living conditions. The emergence of the novel contagious illness at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, has left one resident dead and four others hospitalized, with three in critical condition, local health officials said late Sunday. (Aleccia, 3/1)

Boston Globe: At Senior Living Homes, A Heightened Readiness As Coronavirus Looms
Senior living communities across Massachusetts are girding themselves for the arrival of an unwanted visitor: Covid-19. Many are ordering protective gear, updating emergency procedures, and poring over public health guidance on everything from alcohol-based hand rubs to special respirators for staffers who may be caring for infected residents. (Weisman, 3/1)

CNN: Woman Whose Husband Is Being Cared For At Washington Nursing Facility Demands Answers After State Says Its Investigating A Possible Outbreak At The Site 
Bonnie Holstad stood outside a long-term nursing facility in Washington state Sunday holding a sign in hopes of getting information on her husband's condition. Holstad's husband, Ken, has been staying at the Life Care Center -- where more than 50 residents and staff are experiencing coronavirus symptoms -- after a fall that broke his hip. He has Parkinson's disease and dementia and also has a cough, she said. "No one at Life Care is answering the phones," the sign read. "He needs to be attended to ... what is his temperature?" (Holcombe and Karimi, 3/2)

The New York Times: Coronavirus May Have Spread In U.S. For Weeks, Gene Sequencing Suggests
Researchers who have examined the genomes of two coronavirus infections in Washington State say the similarities between the cases suggest that the virus may have been spreading in the state for weeks. Washington had the United States’ first confirmed case of coronavirus, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 20. Based on an analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence, another case that surfaced in the state and was announced on Friday probably was descended from that first case. The two people live in the same county, but are not known to have had contact with one another, and the second case occurred well after the first would no longer be expected to be contagious. (Fink and Baker, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus May Have Spread Undetected For Weeks In Washington State, Which Reported First Two Deaths In U.S.
The researchers conducted genetic sequencing of two virus samples. One is from a patient who traveled from China to Snohomish County in mid-January and was the first person diagnosed with the disease in the United States. The other came from a recently diagnosed patient in the same county, a high school student with no travel-related or other known exposure to the coronavirus. The two samples look almost identical genetically, said Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who announced the results of the research on Twitter late Saturday night. “This strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks,” Bedford wrote. “I believe we’re facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China.” (Achenbach, Mettler, Sun and Guarino, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Wash. State Sees 1st Virus Death In US, Declares Emergency
Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. “We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor vowed. (Selsky, 2/29)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Two Dozen New Cases Reported Over The Weekend 
The total number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States jumped by two dozen over the weekend, as the first two deaths from the outbreak were confirmed. New cases of the virus were announced in Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state, and Florida on Sunday, bringing the US total to 89 as of Monday morning, up from 65 on Friday night. The new cases prompted emergency declarations in at least two states and sparked new warnings. (Silverman, 3/2)

Stat: 4 New Coronavirus Cases In Pacific Northwest Suggest Community Spread
Later on Friday health officials in Oregon reported diagnosing a case of Covid-19 — the disease the virus causes — in a person from Washington County who had neither a history of travel to a country where the virus was circulating nor close contact with a confirmed case. (Branswell, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Three New Coronavirus Cases With No Known Exposure Reported On West Coast
Late Friday, Washington health officials said a high-school student in Snohomish County came down with a fever, body aches and a headache on Monday and sought treatment at local clinics. He returned to school Friday morning after feeling better but was notified of a positive test for the coronavirus and returned home immediately before going to class. The student, who is at home in isolation and doing well, hadn’t traveled to Asia and it wasn’t clear how the illness was contracted, health officials said. A small number of classmates who came into contact with the sick student have been told to stay home for 14 days. (Carlton, Frosch and Armour, 2/29)

Los Angeles Times: West Coast Scrambles As Cases Emerge Nationwide
Meanwhile, three more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Santa Clara County on Sunday, health officials said. One is an adult woman with chronic health conditions. An investigation into how she acquired the infection was just launched, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said Sunday evening. The other two patients are a husband and wife who had recently traveled to Egypt. All three are hospitalized, officials said. Additional information about their condition was not available. (Wigglesworth, Karlamangla, Vives, King and Read, 3/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: 5 New Coronavirus Cases In Solano, Alameda, Santa Clara Counties
Bay Area health officials announced five new coronavirus cases Sunday, reinforcing warnings from the Centers for Disease Control that the outbreak may become a pandemic. The diagnoses include two East Bay health care workers who probably have the virus, public health officials in Alameda and Solano counties said. The workers, employees at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville, are considered “presumptive positives,” meaning local tests administered by the California Department of Public Health found they have the virus, officials said. (Sanchez, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Mount As Second Person Dies In U.S.
Public health experts said that a shortage of tests had limited the ability to identify and contain cases and likely contributed to the virus’ spread. There had been relatively few diagnostic tests conducted in the U.S., with most state and local health departments sending patient samples to the CDC and waiting days for results. (Abbott and Mullins, 3/1)

Reuters: U.S. Still Unsure How First American Fatality Contracted Virus: Azar
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday it remained unclear how the first American to die of coronavirus contracted the disease, and that there was no evidence he had a connection to someone who had traveled to an outbreak area. (3/2)

Reuters: Additional U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are 'Likely,' Trump Says
President Donald Trump said additional coronavirus cases in the United States were "likely" but that the country was prepared for any circumstance, at a news conference on Saturday after reports of the first U.S. patient death from the virus. The first U.S. death from the flu-like illness was a medically high-risk patient in her late fifties in the state of Washington, Trump told reporters at the White House conference. (2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Considering New Steps To Take On Coronavirus
Mr. Trump said that he was considering restricting travel from additional countries that are experiencing major coronavirus outbreaks, without specifying which countries he had in mind. “We’re looking at that right now and we’re looking at a couple of countries—a few countries—that have a little bit disproportionately high number,” he told reporters, adding that he would make a decision “very soon.” Mr. Trump had previously signaled he was considering restrictions on travelers from Italy and South Korea, on top of existing restrictions rolled out last month regarding China, the epicenter of the outbreak. (Restuccia and Buehren, 2/28)

The New York Times: In Trump’s Words: Praise For The Taliban And Optimism About The Coronavirus
The president said the administration was thinking about closing the Mexican border to fight the spread of the coronavirus only to say a few minutes later that the border was not a problem. He said the first American victim was a woman, based on information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only to have Washington State health officials correct the record after a period of confusion over the patient’s identity. (2/29)

Stat: Trump Expands Coronavirus Travel Ban To Include Iran 
The Trump administration on Saturday announced it would expand an existing ban on travel from Iran in response to the accelerating novel coronavirus outbreak, barring any foreigner who has visited Iran within the last 14 days from entering the United States. Later in the day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upped its travel alerts for Italy and Iran yesterday to the highest level, Level 3, which means avoid all non-essential travel. The State Department also increased its warning advising Americans not to travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea affected by the virus. (Facher, 2/29)

WBUR: MAP: Which Countries Have CDC Travel Advisories Because Of Coronavirus
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly issues "Travel Health Notices" that address disease outbreaks and other health-related matters in international destinations. The newly discovered coronavirus is now a topic of concern. The point of the warnings is to indicate countries where the CDC believes there is a risk of infection with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. (Adeline and Wood, 2/29)

Politico: Alex Azar: War Powers On The Table To Increase Medical Supplies
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the administration could use the War Powers Act to increase the production of protective medical gear in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,“ Azar said the administration is already using authority under the Defense Production Act to make its orders the top priority for private contractors, specifically for personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks. (Choi, 3/1)

Bloomberg: White House Weighs Use Of Defense Law For Coronavirus Supplies
That could include manufacturing face masks needed by medical workers, for which the administration has said there could be a shortage in the event of an outbreak. No decision has been made on invoking the act, Azar told reporters on Friday. (Wingrove, 2/28)

And in other news —

The New York Times: For American Military, Coronavirus Is An Enemy To Be Fought
The commander of an American military post near the center of a coronavirus outbreak in South Korea delivered the sobering news to his troops in warriors’ terms: “We had a breach in our perimeter.” A soldier at the post, Army Garrison Daegu, had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday — the military’s first active-duty case — and the commander, Col. Edward Ballanco, told the troops in a video address, “Let’s regroup and attack the virus.” (Philipps, 2/29)

The New York Times: U.S. Plans ‘Radical Expansion’ Of Coronavirus Testing
After weeks of stalled testing for the coronavirus, the United States now has enough diagnostic kits to test 75,000 people, with more on the way, Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, said on Sunday. The Trump administration has faced widespread criticism for a slow and scattered delivery of testing materials to states, where only 12 labs are capable of diagnosing the virus. (Sheikh, 2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA To Allow Labs To Begin Use Of High-Complexity Tests For Coronavirus
The FDA said the new policy is for certain laboratories that develop and begin to use validated Covid-19 diagnostics before the FDA has completed review of their Emergency Use Authorization requests. The FDA estimated that between 300 and 400 academic medical centers and a few large community hospitals can immediately begin testing. Until Saturday’s announcement, the U.S. had been limited to a relatively few diagnostic tests done so far by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Burton, 2/29)

Stat: ‘Speed Is Critical': As Coronavirus Spreads In U.S., Officials Trace Contacts
This weekend, as it became clearer and clearer that Covid-19 has been spreading stealthily through the Pacific Northwest, the task facing health officials has become more and more monumental. To try to stop the virus’ transmission and restrain the outbreak, they need to identify every single person with whom patients have come into contact, isolate those at risk of harboring the illness, and monitor the entire network of people for symptoms. (Boodman, 3/1)

WBUR: To Speed Coronavirus Treatment, Some Mass. Scientists Are Designing Faster Tests
On Friday, federal officials announced changes to the test kits that will allow more state laboratories, including those in Massachusetts, to conduct their own testing. State officials estimate they will get results from the tests in 24 hours. Any positive results will still have to be confirmed by the CDC, which may take longer. If the new coronavirus begins spreading in the U.S., testing delays could hamstring hospitals’ ability to accept and treat patients with coronavirus and other serious illnesses, researchers warn. (Chen, 2/28)

ABC News: Secretary Alex Azar Says HHS Is 'Ramping Up' Testing For Coronavirus 
"How big that gets, we do not know," [Azar] added. "But we have the most advanced public health system and surveillance system in the world. We are actively working on a vaccine. We are actively working on therapeutics, the diagnostic is out in the field." (Robinson, 3/1)

WBUR: Mass. Public Health Lab Can Now Test For New Coronavirus, Speeding Results
The State Public Health Laboratory says it now has federal approval to test patients suspected of having COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Local testing will mean faster answers for doctors who think a patient may have the virus. The turnaround time for test results is expected to be 24 hours, instead of up to a week with the CDC. (Goldberg, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Manufacturing Defect In Some Early CDC Test Kits Being Probed
The Health and Human Services Department has launched an investigation into a manufacturing defect in an early testing kit for the coronavirus, according to an administration official. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement Sunday that the FDA was alerted to possible issues with the test by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Restuccia, 3/1)

Politico: U.S. Health Officials Probe Coronavirus Test Problems At CDC
The situation with the CDC lab in Atlanta — apparently a manufacturing defect — has already spurred finger pointing between various federal health agencies and officials, who are all under intense scrutiny amid a major public health crisis. President Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to reassure the public — and the sinking stock market — that it’s under control. (Lim, Karlin-Smith and Diamond, 3/1)

Stat: Health Experts Warn Congress: Don’t Let Politics Delay Coronavirus Money
Public health experts have a warning for Congress: don’t treat emergency coronavirus aid like business as usual.Partisan bickering has often frustrated lawmakers’ attempts to speedily approve emergency spending packages. Congress, for example, dawdled for seven months because of an acrimonious fight over funding for Zika in 2016. That left health departments around the country cash-strapped and forced to cut back on existing public health programs, like responding to STD outbreaks. (Florko, 3/2)

Roll Call: Coronavirus Response Efforts Ramp Up As First US Death Confirmed 
House and Senate negotiators working through the weekend on a COVID-19 aid package are now trying to agree on a figure between $7 billion and $8 billion, people familiar with the talks said, in advance of likely floor action the week of March 1. Lawmakers and aides were hashing out the final details as public health officials confirmed more cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that originated in China last year — including the first reported U.S. death. At a press conference Saturday, President Donald Trump warned "additional cases in the United States are likely," but healthy individuals "should be able to recover should they contract the virus." (Lesniewki and Krawzak, 2/29)

Roll Call: States Counting On Reimbursements For Coronavirus Response 
State governments are digging deep into their own pockets to prevent an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease and prepare to address any health crisis that does occur — and they expect to be reimbursed by Uncle Sam. As Congress debates how to fund a federal response, the seven states with confirmed cases have taken extra measures to limit the virus’s spread and states across the country are preparing testing equipment and taking other actions to prepare for a possible emergency. (Fischler, 2/28)

Politico: Schumer Calls For Medicare To Cover Coronavirus Vaccine That Is Still In Development
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called for Medicare to cover the coronavirus vaccine, which is still being developed and is at least months away from being widely available. Schumer’s plan is to add a provision into the spending package being negotiated in Congress, which would ensure seniors can be immunized at no cost. (Goldberg, 3/1)

The New York Times: A Virus Spreads, Stocks Fall, And Democrats See An Opening To Hit Trump
Democratic presidential candidates have seized on President Trump’s response to the spreading global coronavirus outbreak, and the growing threat it poses to America’s record-long economic expansion, to attack the president on what has been his greatest strength with voters: the economy. Until last week, the candidates had largely attacked Mr. Trump’s economic management on inequality grounds, at a time when growth has been steady and unemployment has sunk to a half-century low. (Jim Tankersley and Thomas Kaplan, 3/1)

The New York Times: How Coronavirus Is Already Being Viewed Through A Partisan Lens
Rob Maness, a Republican commentator, recently wrote a column, outlining his concerns about how the coronavirus outbreak could disrupt supplies of medicine. He was not ready for the backlash — from his fellow conservatives. “I got accused of being alarmist and trying to hurt the president,” said Mr. Maness, a staunch President Trump supporter, describing the response on social media. “I actually said the government’s doing a pretty good job.” (Healy, Robertson and Tavernise, 3/1)

NBC News: Democrats, Trump Officials Clash Over Coronavirus Response
Top White House officials and Democrats offered conflicting comments Sunday about the administration's response to coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence defended the administration's handling of the outbreak and accused Democrats of politicizing it. He in particular defended the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who said Democrats were hoping for "millions" of Americans to be killed by the new coronavirus. (Smith, 3/1)

The Washington Post: The Coronavirus Crisis Shows A Common Thread Between Warren And Bloomberg: Both Campaign On Data, Science And Competence
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg have long treated each other as foils. But the looming coronavirus health crisis has revealed a core similarity between the senator and the billionaire: Both are using this moment to paint themselves as highly competent technocrats who would use data to guide policy. Over the weekend, both candidates seized on the virus to draw a sharp contrast with President Trump, excoriating the administration’s response to the epidemic and highlighting what they would do differently. (Linskey, 3/1)

Politico: The Glaring Loophole In U.S. Virus Response: Human Error
Even as the Trump administration and Congress prepare to direct billions of dollars to coronavirus prevention, human error remains a formidable threat to preventing the spread of the virus. Mistakes already abound as federal, state and local public health departments scramble to prepare for outbreaks in the United States — or detect those that may already have begun. Flaws in a test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coupled with initial federal rules limiting who should be tested, delayed the ability to diagnose patients. (Ehley, 3/2)

NPR: CDC Defends Its Handling Of Coronavirus Case In California
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there's been "confusion" about the handling of a coronavirus patient in California who is thought to represent the first case of the virus being transmitted in the general population, rather than through a known contact with someone who has been in China. The case involves a woman who appears to have contracted the virus in California, apparently without having contact with anyone who had traveled abroad or was previously known to have the coronavirus. (Chappell and Simmons-Duffin, 2/28)

The New York Times: How Prepared Is The U.S. For A Coronavirus Outbreak?
In 2005, the federal government sought to assess how a respiratory-related pandemic might play out in the United States. Its report estimated that a severe influenza pandemic would require mechanical ventilators for 740,000 critically ill people. Today, as the country faces the possibility of a widespread outbreak of a new respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, there are nowhere near that many ventilators, and most are already in use. Only about 62,000 full-featured ventilators were in hospitals across the country, a 2010 study found. More than 10,000 others are stored in the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal cache of supplies and medicines held in case of emergencies, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jacobs and Fink, 2/29)

The New York Times: Who’s On The U.S. Coronavirus Task Force
President Trump formed a coronavirus task force in late January, and members have been meeting regularly. But as the virus began to spread around the globe and infections were confirmed in the United States, Mr. Trump named Vice President Mike Pence as his point person at the end of February, and more administration officials were added to the panel. Among them are internationally known AIDS experts; a former drug executive; infectious disease doctors; and the former attorney general of Virginia. (2/29)

Politico: Alex Azar: Need To Treat Americans As ‘Adults’ On Coronavirus
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that, when it comes to coronavirus, it’s important to “treat the American people like adults.” “It’s very important that we treat the American people like adults and explain to them that we don't know where this will go, that we will see more cases, that we will see continued community spreading in the United States, as we're seeing around the world,” Azar said on ABC’s “This Week.” (Dugyala, 3/1)

Politico: Pence: It’s OK For Local Schools To Shut Down Over The Coronavirus
Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration will defer to local officials on their decisions on the coronavirus. “I think the president would respect any decisions that are made at the state and local level,” he said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” (Cohen, 3/1)

CNN: How US Schools Are Preparing For The Coronavirus 
As communities across the United States prepare for the novel coronavirus, many are wondering how schools plan to respond. Millions of students in China, Japan, Vietnam, Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Italy and elsewhere have been impacted by school closures in recent weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. And fears of an outbreak in the United States have already prompted a handful of school closures in the Northwest, including at Jackson High School in Snohomish County, Washington, where a boy tested positive for the coronavirus. (Andone, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Schools Plan For Possible Fallout From Coronavirus Outbreak
Schools across the United States are canceling trips abroad, preparing online lessons and even rethinking “perfect attendance” awards as they brace for the possibility that the new coronavirus could begin spreading in their communities.Districts have been rushing to update emergency plans since federal officials warned that the virus, which started in China, is almost certain to begin spreading in the U.S. Many are preparing for possible school closures that could stretch weeks or longer, even as they work to tamp down panic among students, parents and teachers. (Binkley, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Media Faces Challenges In Covering Coronavirus Outbreak
Covering the coronavirus story requires careful navigation and constant attention. News organizations trying to responsibly report on the growing health crisis are confronted with the task of conveying its seriousness without provoking panic, keeping up with a torrent of information while much remains a mystery and continually advising readers and viewers how to stay safe. (3/2)

The Washington Post: Alabama Residents Rejected Plan To Relocate Quarantined Coronavirus Patients After Rumors, Poor Planning
Not long before local leaders decided, in the words of one of them, that federal health officials “didn’t know what they were doing" with their plan to quarantine novel coronavirus patients in town, a doctor here set out in a biohazard suit to stage a one-man protest along the highway with a sign. “The virus has arrived. Are you ready?” it asked. The town didn’t think it was. Residents already were unnerved by strange stories posted on Facebook and shared via text messages about helicopters secretly flying in sick patients, that the virus was grown in a Chinese lab, that someone — either the media or the government — was lying to them about what was really going on. (Frankel, 3/1)

North Carolina Health News: NC Hospitals Prepare For Coronavirus 
As the World Health Organization warns the new coronavirus has “pandemic potential,” state and national experts worry that in the case of a widespread and sustained outbreak, an influx of patients could lay bare the glaring resource inequities between urban and rural hospitals... North Carolina has seen no confirmed cases thus far, but state officials said last week that while the risk for coronavirus in the state remains low, they are preparing for potential respiratory infections. (Hoban and Engel-Smith, 3/2)

North Carolina Health News: Is NC Ready For Coronavirus? 
North Carolina handled one of the eight confirmed cases of SARS, the last new coronavirus that emerged in 2003. Like the coronavirus, COVID-19, that’s recently emerged in China, SARS swept the globe, causing widespread concern, and in some places, panic. Over the course of 10 months, SARS caused more than 8,400 confirmed cases, mostly in China. About 11 percent of patients died, a total of 916 people. (Hoban, 2/28)

Capitol Beat News Service: Gov. Kemp Appoints Georgia Coronavirus Task Force
Gov. Brian Kemp named an 18-member task force Friday to handle Georgia’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. The governor acted following a morning phone conversation with Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the Trump administration’s federal response effort to the virus, which also goes by the name COVID-19. (Williams, 2/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Coronavirus: Here’s What You Need To Know To Prepare For A Possible Outbreak In The United States 
As countries around the world continue to monitor the spread of the coronavirus, Maryland health officials are beginning to put together response plans should the virus become a pandemic. Here’s what you need to know to prepare for a possible outbreak in the United States. (Reed, 3/2)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Preparing For Possible Extended Shutdowns Of Schools, Businesses, Events As Coronavirus Spreads 
People in Maryland and across the country know the drill when a big snowstorm is coming: Stock up on toilet paper, nonperishable human and pet food and needed medications. As a new coronavirus wallops the rest of the world and makes inroads in the United States, officials are pointing to that kind of preparation. Canceled events, school and day-care closures and direction to work from home “are the kinds of things people should plan for,” Gov. Larry Hogan said at a news conference this week. (Cohn, Bowie and Knezevich, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Coronavirus Concerns, Churches Are Taking New Precautions
With more cases of coronavirus announced Sunday, some churches are making changes designed to better protect parishioners. The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, which serves San Bernardino and Riverside counties, announced that parishes have the option “to implement liturgical restrictions that are allowed during the annual flu season,” according to a letter from the Office of the Vicar General. (Wigglesworth and Karlamangla, 3/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: To Prep For Coronavirus, This Is How Louisiana Hospitals, Officials Are Cranking Up Plans
Empty shelves in local stores that sell respiratory face masks are one sign of coronavirus concerns among Louisiana residents. But in a warehouse nearby, a stockpile of masks, gowns, gloves and emergency ventilators is ready for area hospitals in the event that the virus spreading around the globe makes its way to Louisiana. (Woodruff, 2/28)

Boston Globe: Second Coronavirus Case Confirmed In R.I.; Both Patients Were On A School Trip To Europe
A teenager has become the second Rhode Island victim of the coronavirus, and state health officials said she was on the same school trip to Europe last month as the first victim, a man in his 40s who was hospitalized. The trip was sponsored by Saint Raphael Academy, a Catholic high school in Pawtucket; those on the trip visited Italy, France, and Spain. (Fitzpatrick, 3/2)

KQED: What Californians Need To Know About The Coronavirus
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced three new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total count in the county to seven. The fifth case is an adult woman who suffers from chronic health conditions. The sixth and seventh cases are a husband and wife who have recently traveled to Egypt. All three patients are currently hospitalized. (McClurg, 3/1)

KQED: Union Says 124 Hospital Workers Sent Home Because Of UC Davis Coronavirus Patient
The nation's largest union of registered nurses says hospitals are not prepared for an outbreak of the new coronavirus.Since a COVID-19 patient was admitted to UC Davis Medical Center on Feb. 19, National Nurses United says, 124 nurses and health care workers who were at high risk of having been exposed to the coronavirus were told by the hospital to quarantine themselves at home, which they have complied with. The workers are being paid during this period. (Remmel, 2/28)

WBUR: Airport Workers Fear They're Unprotected From The Coronavirus
In this modern age of jet travel, it was a matter of time that the coronavirus would appear in the United States. As of Sunday, one person has died and dozens have been infected in the U.S., but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of contracting the virus remains low. Appeals for calm by the Trump administration and the CDC haven't done much to ease the worries of airport workers, who say they're on the front lines. (Overland, 3/1)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In N.Y.: Manhattan Woman Is First Confirmed Case In State
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday confirmed New York State’s first case of the coronavirus, saying that a woman contracted the virus while traveling in Iran and is now in New York City isolated in her home. “The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. The woman, who is in her late 30s, is in Manhattan, according to state officials. She returned from Iran last week, and was tested after going to a hospital in the city; she has since been staying at home, officials said. (Goldstein and McKinley, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: First Case Of Coronavirus Confirmed In New York State
“There is no cause for surprise—this was expected,” [Cuomo] said in a statement. “I said from the beginning it was a matter of when, not if, there would be a positive case of novel coronavirus in New York.” (West, 3/1)

CNN: First Case Of Novel Coronavirus Confirmed In New York, Governor Says 
Disease detectives in New York have already identified close contacts of the patient, according to New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot. "As we confront this emerging outbreak, we need to separate facts from fear, and guard against stigma and panic," Barbot said. (Andne, Croft, Gumbrecht and Vera, 3/2)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In N.Y.: Panic Shopping For Masks, But Brunch Is Packed 
Some pharmacies are seeing huge queues of customers buying hand sanitizers and face masks. One newsstand owner is cleaning his hands obsessively with a bowl of warm water that he keeps inside his stall. A bar owner has written to the mayor to see whether the city can offer licenses for takeout cocktails. The coronavirus has yet to arrive in New York City, but it looms in the back of the minds of many residents. A first positive test result would quite likely increase tensions even more. But for now, restaurants are still full, and tourists are still headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are lining up for Broadway shows. (De Freytas-Tamura, 3/1)

The New York Times: How To Prepare For Coronavirus: Masks, Washing Hands, Masks And More
The coronavirus continues to spread in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with more than 70 cases and one death confirmed in the United States. While the Food and Drug Administration announced this weekend that testing in the United States would be greatly expanded, health experts have been warning that the virus’s spread in the country is inevitable. That means it’s time to prepare your home and family in case your community is affected. (3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Prepare For The Coronavirus
Face masks? Zinc? Gloves? Americans are grasping for ways to brace for what public health experts say is inevitable: an outbreak of the new coronavirus. Public health experts advise staying calm and following the same precautions recommended for preventing flu or any other respiratory virus. Stick with the basics: Wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, and stay at home from work or school when you’re sick. (Reddy, 3/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: How To Prepare If You're Worried About The Coronavirus
After the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged Americans to prepare for the coronavirus, San Francisco has been put under a state of emergency. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the current risk is low, per a statement issued by Mayor London Breed. However, the state of emergency has been issued to get Bay Area residents (and funds + supplies) prepared in the event a case is reported. (Suarez, 2/28)

The New York Times: Surgeon General Urges The Public To Stop Buying Face Masks
The surgeon general on Saturday urged the public to stop buying masks, warning that it won’t help against the spread of the coronavirus but will take away important resources from health care professionals. “Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS!” the surgeon general, Jerome M. Adams, said in a tweet on Saturday morning. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if health care providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” (Cramer and Sheikh, 2/29)

The Hill: Surgeon General: Stop Buying Masks 
“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” Adams tweeted Saturday. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” he added. (Balluck, 3/1)

Dallas Morning News: Should You Wear A Mask To Protect Yourself From Coronavirus?
With more than 87,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus in 60 different countries, the illness has been responsible for nearly 3,000 deaths. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told Americans to prepare for community outbreaks. But authorities say healthy people generally don’t need to wear masks. Thinking about getting face masks? Here’s what you need to know about when they can help. (Marfin, 3/1)

Boston Globe: Coronavirus Drives Local Sales Of Surgical Masks And Hand Sanitizer
Local concerns over the coronavirus haven’t boiled over into full-blown panic. But Boston area residents and visitors are still being cautious. Stores across Cambridge have emptied their shelves of hand sanitizer bottles and surgical masks as concerned customers buy up their entire supplies. Some have been out for days. (Jungreis, Phillips and Khan, 3/1)

The New York Times: Stop Touching Your Face!
Want to improve your chance of staying healthy? Stop touching your face! One of the more difficult challenges in public health has been to teach people to wash their hands frequently and to stop touching the facial mucous membranes — the eyes, nose and mouth, all entry portals for the new coronavirus and many other germs. (Parker-Pope, 3/2)

The New York Times: Talking To Teens And Tweens About Coronavirus
The psychologist Lisa Damour, author of “Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls,” said parents can help lessen their anxiety, and that of their kids, by learning all they can about the novel coronavirus and how to protect themselves. “Reinforce basic stuff kids know and understand: Wash your hands, get a good night’s sleep, protect your immune system,” Dr. Damour said. “Tell your kids you know what to do to reduce the chances of getting sick.” (De La Cruz, 3/2)

The New York Times: They Recovered From The Coronavirus. Were They Infected Again?
Can people who recover from a bout with the new coronavirus become infected again — and again? The Japanese government reported this week that a woman in Osaka had tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, weeks after recovering from the infection and being discharged from a hospital. Combined with reports from China of similar cases, the case in Japan has raised some uncomfortable questions. Reinfections are common among people who have recovered from coronaviruses that cause the common cold. (Mandavilli, 2/29)

CIDRAP: Some COVID-19 Patients Test Positive Days After Recovery
Four medical professionals with COVID-19 who met the criteria for hospital release or lifting of quarantine in China had positive real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results 5 to 13 days later, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA. The researchers said the results suggest that current criteria for hospital release or lifting of quarantine and continued treatment should be reevaluated. "These findings suggest that at least a proportion of recovered patients may still be virus carriers," they wrote. (Beusekom, 2/28)

The Washington Post: What Is Coronavirus: Symptoms, How It Spreads, How To Avoid It
What began with a handful of mysterious illnesses in a vast central China city has traveled the world, jumping from animals to humans and from obscurity to international headlines. First detected on the last day of 2019, the novel coronavirus has infected tens of thousands of people — within China’s borders and beyond them — and has killed more than 2,500. It has triggered unprecedented quarantines, stock market upheaval and dangerous conspiracy theories. Most cases are mild, but health officials say the virus’s spread through the United States appears inevitable. As the country and its health-care system prepares, much is still unknown about the virus that causes the disease now named covid-19. (2/29)

Los Angeles Times: How This Coronavirus Kills Its Victims
As the virus starts to destroy the lungs, “people become unable to breathe properly,” Yang said. Even worse, the body’s efforts to fight the virus can cause inflammation in the lungs — making breathing even more difficult. Blood vessels damaged in the war between the virus and immune system may begin leaking fluid into lung tissues, which can be visible as white spots on chest X-rays. The fluid may drown some of the lung’s tiny air sacs, preventing them from delivering oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide. It is this kind of inflammation and destruction that is called pneumonia. (Lin, 2/29)

Los Angeles Times: Q&A: I Have A Cough And Fever. Should I Get Checked For Coronavirus?
That means that unless you’ve had close contact with someone who’s infected with COVID-19, have recently traveled in Asia, Iran or Italy, or been in close contact with someone who has, the likelihood you’re infected with coronavirus is still pretty slim. (Healy, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Deadly 1918 Flu Pandemic’s Lessons Ignored In Trump’s Coronavirus Response, Historian Says 
The first wave wasn’t that bad. In the spring of 1918, a new strain of influenza hit military camps in Europe on both sides of World War I. Soldiers were affected, but not nearly as severely as they would be later. Even so, Britain, France, Germany and other European governments kept it secret. They didn’t want to hand the other side a potential advantage. Spain, on the other hand, was a neutral country in the war. When the disease hit there, the government and newspapers reported it accurately. Even the king got sick. (Brockell, 2/29)

ABC News: Self-Quarantine May Provide Option To Slow Spread Of Coronavirus 
Some people show up to work no matter what -- snow, hail, sleet or illness. But muscling through is not always the best choice when sick. People are commonly told to stay home when they're sick to avoid spreading their germs. The thought process with self-isolation or self-quarantine with the new coronavirus is similar. (Baldwin and Salzman, 2/29)

The New York Times: ‘Where Do I Find Your Hand Sanitizer?’ Sorry, We Have None. 
Many shoppers at the local Walmart had the same question on Friday morning: “Where do I find your hand sanitizer?” The answer: Nowhere. Employees at the Cedar Knolls store showed shopper after shopper shelves devoid of any hand sanitizer. When an employee found a lone small box of travel packs of Clorox disinfecting wipes high on a shelf, hands reached in, grabbing the packs, three or more at a time. (Creswell, 2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Where’s The Hand Sanitizer? Coronavirus Fears Empty Store Shelves, Disrupt Plans
Store shelves stripped bare of hand sanitizer. Hard-to-find face masks selling at a premium online. Grocery store customers filling their shopping carts to the brim. Unease over the possibility of a serious outbreak of the new coronavirus in the U.S. mounted palpably over the weekend, prompting many consumers to rush for supplies in much the same way they would if preparing for a major hurricane. (Ailworth and Francis, 3/1)

Kaiser Health News: In An Exchange About Coronavirus, Homeland Security Chief Gets Flu Mortality Rate Wrong
During a Senate appropriations Feb. 25 subcommittee hearing, Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said the U.S. flu mortality rate was about the same as the current estimated global mortality rate of the coronavirus outbreak. He made this statement during an exchange with Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) regarding what the acting secretary knew about the coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19. This C-SPAN video shows the full discussion between the two. (Knight, 3/2)

The New York Times: Kept At The Hospital On Coronavirus Fears, Now Facing Large Medical Bills
Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter, Annabel, are among the dozens of Americans the government has flown back to the country from Wuhan, China, and put under quarantine to check for signs of coronavirus. Now they are among what could become a growing number of families hit with surprise medical bills related to government-mandated actions. Mr. Wucinski, a Pennsylvania native who has lived in China for years, accepted the U.S. government’s offer to evacuate from Wuhan with Annabel in early February as the new coronavirus spread. His wife, who is not an American citizen and remains in China, developed pneumonia that doctors think resulted from Covid-19, the disease caused by the respiratory virus. Her father, whom she helped care for, was infected and recently died. (Kliff, 2/29)

The New York Times: Avoiding Coronavirus May Be A Luxury Some Workers Can’t Afford
Stay home from work if you get sick. See a doctor. Use a separate bathroom from the people you live with. Prepare for schools to close, and to work from home. These are measures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended to slow a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Yet these are much easier to do for certain people — in particular, high-earning professionals. Service industry workers, like those in restaurants, retail, child care and the gig economy, are much less likely to have paid sick days, the ability to work remotely or employer-provided health insurance. (Miller, Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Uber, Lyft Drivers Face The Spread Of Coronavirus With No Safety Net
Some workers here who provide on-demand rides and delivery services, but are independent contractors without many protections, are bracing for the spread of the novel coronavirus. Drivers have been scrubbing down their cars “inch by inch” between rides at local airport parking lots, according to Edan Alva, who drives full-time for Lyft in the Bay Area. Alva said the company has not communicated with drivers yet about the novel coronavirus, despite the risk of infection. (Tiku, 2/29)

The New York Times: Wall Street Has Lost Its Nerve. What Will It Take To Get It Back?
Wall Street has often adopted a simple playbook when facing a stock market plunge: “Buy the dip.” Not lately. In recent years, investors who jumped on downturns as chances to buy shares at bargain prices have profited from the move. Their buying, in turn, helped stabilize prices, snuffing out slumps before they morphed into panics. (Phillips, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Is Different. It’s Rapidly Hitting Supply And Demand.
Companies have endured financial meltdowns, civil wars and natural disasters. Now they are confronting a different kind of menace: a fast-spreading virus that has abruptly dented demand and supply across industries and continents. The novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 85,000 people, has swept through Asia and Europe, disrupted global travel and hobbled supply chains that churn out everything from smartphones to pharmaceuticals. In days, it went from pockets of woe to the top concern of chief executives world-wide. (Gryta and Adams, 3/1)

Bloomberg: Pandemic Panic Fattens Fortunes In Health Care And Tech
Not everyone lost money in last week’s epic stock market wipeout. Even as a tide of anxiety over the fast-spreading coronavirus vaporized more than $6 trillion from global equity markets, a select few grew richer. They all lead businesses that could profit in some way from the virus and proliferating numbers of hygiene-obsessed, housebound consumers. (Pendleton, Maloney and Stupples, 3/1)

Stat: Telehealth Can Help Fight Coronavirus, But There Are Obstacles In The U.S.
As the world braces for the spread of disease caused by the new coronavirus, public health officials are calling on clinicians and health systems to embrace a set of tools that are technically already within reach: smartphones. This week, officials from both the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization urged hospitals and clinics to expand their use of telehealth services — also known as remote or virtual care — to help triage the sick and keep the worried well out of already-crowded medical facilities.In the eyes of many clinicians and public health experts, telehealth’s moment has arrived. (Brodwin, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Reveals Limits Of AI Health Tools
Technology and health-care companies are racing to roll out new tools to test for and eventually treat the coronavirus epidemic spreading around the world. One sector that is holding back: Makers of artificial-intelligence-enabled diagnostic tools, increasingly championed by companies, health-care systems and governments as a substitute for routine doctor-office visits. (Olson, 2/29)

Reuters: Wuhan Closes Makeshift Hospital As New Coronavirus Cases In China Drop Sharply
The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last recovered patients, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. ... China’s central Hubei province, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported less than 200 cases of new infections for the first time since January. Hubei had 196 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, sharply down from 570 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 24. (3/1)

The New York Times: In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens A Color Code, With Red Flags
As China encourages people to return to work despite the coronavirus outbreak, it has begun a bold mass experiment in using data to regulate citizens’ lives — by requiring them to use software on their smartphones that dictates whether they should be quarantined or allowed into subways, malls and other public spaces. But a New York Times analysis of the software’s code found that the system does more than decide in real time whether someone poses a contagion risk. It also appears to share information with the police, setting a template for new forms of automated social control that could persist long after the epidemic subsides. (Mozur, Zhong and Krolik, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘This Will Be A Long Battle’: More Countries Report First Coronavirus Deaths
More countries reported their first coronavirus fatalities and the toll grew in places such as China, as the number of deaths from the epidemic globally nears 3,000. Hours after the U.S. reported its first fatality, Australia on Sunday announced its first death from the disease known as Covid-19. So did Thailand, more than a month after it became the first country outside of China to report an infection. Italy added five more deaths, with 528 new confirmed cases since Saturday. (Fan, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreading Faster Outside China Than Within
The number of confirmed cases has grown more quickly outside China than in China over the past week, raising the total in other countries past 9,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In the past day, South Korea, Italy and Iran each reported more new cases than China, which added 202 to bring its tally of confirmed coronavirus infections to 80,026. (Craymer, 3/2)

The Associated Press: As Virus Spreads, Other Countries Can Learn From China
As the new coronavirus spread rapidly in central China, the country’s authoritarian government took a very authoritarian step: It ordered the unprecedented lockdown of 60 million people in the hardest-hit province. The shutdown of public transport in some cities, the closing of entertainment venues nationwide and a heavy dose of fear emptied the streets of the world’s most populous nation. (Ghosal and Wang, 2/29)

CIDRAP: WHO Raises Global COVID-19 Risk To Highest Level
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the global COVID-19 risk to its highest level today, as cases surged in three hot spots outside China, which are quickly spreading the virus to other countries, with many more—such as Nigeria and Mexico—reporting their first cases. At a media briefing today, WHO officials said the rapid spread of the virus doesn't meet the definition of a pandemic, which would imply every human will likely be exposed. (Schnirring, 2/28)

The Associated Press: North Korean Leader Calls For Stronger Anti-Virus Efforts
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for stronger anti-virus efforts to guard against COVID-19, saying there will be “serious consequences” if the illness spreads to the country. During a ruling party meeting, Kim called for the country’s anti-epidemic headquarters to strengthen screening and tests to seal off all “channels and space through which the infectious disease may find its way,” Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, said Saturday. (Tong-Hyung, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Iran Battles Coronavirus—And The Black Market For Medical Supplies
Iranian authorities have seized millions of medical supplies being hoarded by black-market traders, an effort to alleviate their own shortfall as they battle to contain the world’s second-deadliest national coronavirus outbreak. The death toll from the epidemic in Iran rose to 54 people Sunday, the health ministry said, up from 43 the previous day. The number of confirmed cases rose 65% from the day before to 978. (Eqbali and Rasmussen, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Virus Kills Member Of Council Advising Iran’s Supreme Leader
A member of a council that advises Iran’s supreme leader died Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness striking both citizens and leaders of the Islamic Republic. The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, came as Iran announced the virus had killed 66 people among 1,501 confirmed cases in the country. In two days, the number of confirmed cases has more than doubled, showing the spiraling crisis of the outbreak as Iran says it is preparing to mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus. (3/1)

The New York Times: In Graying Japan, Many Are Vulnerable But Few Are Being Tested
My Home Harumi, a nursing home in central Tokyo, is on lockdown. Volunteers, service providers and even family members are turned away in hopes of keeping the center sealed against the spreading coronavirus. A sense of crisis pervades the home as employees wear masks, constantly wash their hands and disinfect every surface, said its deputy director, Kumi Iwasaki. (Dooley, Rich and Inoue, 2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Japan Sees Silver Lining To Coronavirus As Flu Cases Drop
If there is a positive impact of the coronavirus epidemic, look for it in Japan, where people are observing better hygiene and the number of influenza cases is far below a typical year. The trend hasn’t been clearly seen in Europe or the U.S., where the threat of the epidemic has begun to hit home only in recent weeks, but if people elsewhere begin to take flu-prevention measures, thousands of lives could be saved. (Inada and Landers, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Inside One Coronavirus Case In South Korea: Fever, Fear And Then Slow Recovery
At first, the 47-year-old restaurant owner thought he was just tired from work. Doctors prescribed some cold medicine. But his headache worsened. He started to run a fever. “I still didn’t think I had contracted the coronavirus,” Kim Seung-hwan recalled. “I only saw that on the news about China, and I have not traveled outside South Korea recently.” It was in mid-February, before clusters of coronavirus infection were reported around his hometown, Yeongcheon, about 180 miles southeast of Seoul. But the region would quickly become the center of the country’s outbreak. (Kim, 3/2)

The New York Times: Fear Of Coronavirus Leaves The Faithful Without Mass In Italy’s North
The camera focused on a woman reading a prayer for people infected with the coronavirus, and for the doctors and nurses helping Italy deal with the largest outbreak in Europe. “Lord, hear our prayer,” Julia Kranzelmayer, her husband and three children responded Sunday from the couch of their Milan living room as they followed the Mass on television. “It’s strange to watch it on TV,” she said. (Horowitz, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Q&A: What's Next For The Tokyo Olympics As Virus Spreads?
The spreading virus from China has been reported in more than 60 countries and puts the Tokyo Olympics at risk. The Olympics are to open on July 24 — less than five months away. The Paralympics follow on Aug. 25. IOC President Thomas Bach, in an interview last week limited to Japanese media, said the “IOC is fully committed to have the opening ceremony there on July 24th in Tokyo.” He declined to speculate about a postponement, cancellation, or any combination of those possibilities. (Wade, 3/2)

Stat: Sanofi To Pay Nearly $12m For Illegally Using A Charity To Pay Patients
Sanofi (SNY) has agreed to pay nearly $11.9 million to resolve allegations that donations paid to a charity were actually kickbacks to Medicare patients used to cover out-of-pockets costs for the Lemtrada multiple sclerosis treatment. This is only the latest instance in which the feds have cracked down on such arrangements between drug makers and patient assistance charities. Over the past two years, some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry — including Pfizer (PFE), a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) unit, Biogen (BIIB), Amgen (AMGN), and Novartis (NVS) — have reached similar agreements, as have several charities. (Silverman, 2/28)

Reuters: Sanofi To Pay $11.9 Million To Resolve U.S. Drug Charity Kickback Probe
Sanofi did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The drugmaker in a statement defended the practice of providing financial support to such charitable organizations, saying it "believes these programs help patients lead healthier lives." Drug companies are prohibited from subsidizing co-payments for patients enrolled in the government’s Medicare healthcare program for those aged 65 and older. Companies may donate to non-profits providing co-pay assistance as long as they are independent. (2/28)

Stat: Cardinal Health To Pay $8 Million For Failing To Prevent Bribes Paid In China 
Cardinal Health (CAH), one of the largest pharmaceutical wholesalers, agreed to pay more than $8 million to resolve charges that a former Chinese subsidiary failed to detect bribes that were paid to government hospital officials and employees of state-owned companies to purchase skincare products. Between 2010 and 2016, Cardinal China acted as the exclusive distributor in the Chinese market for a large European company and, and as part of the agreement, oversaw a marketing agreement that involved retaining about 2,400 of its employees to call on state-owned hospitals and retailers. Some of these employees directed payments to key purchasing officials while the subsidiary received a share of the profits from the sale of over-the-counter “dermocosmetic” products. (Silverman, 2/28)

Reuters: Extended-Release Drugs Could Be Costing U.S. Healthcare System Billions
If doctors prescribed short-acting medications that must be taken twice a day instead of once-a-day extended-release versions, billions in healthcare costs could be saved, a new study suggests. Based on Medicare and Medicaid spending between 2012 and 2017, prescriptions for extended-release drugs cost the healthcare system almost $14 billion more than would have been spent on equivalent twice-a-day medications, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. (2/29)

Stat: Novartis Employee Claims She Was Fired For Flagging Incorrect Data 
As Novartis (NVS) geared up to win approval for a new eye medication that was pegged to become a blockbuster, an employee tried to push the company to disclose incorrect safety data and claims she was fired for her trouble. And at the heart of the dispute is the same drug about which a leading association of eye physicians raised serious safety concerns to its members earlier this week. (Silverman, 2/28)

Stat: When Hoofbeats Really Are A Zebra’s, A Rare-Disease Community Helps Me
While hospitalized for pneumonia a few months ago, my daughter’s doctors detected some unusually low blood sugar that needed to be investigated. “Common things being common,” I asked her endocrinologists during a follow-up visit, “what do you think is the most likely diagnosis?” As a new parent I was trying to understand what was wrong with my baby, and how much I needed to worry. As a doctor I was relying on probability to guide how I conceptualized her care. (Adaeze Okwerekwu, 3/2)

The New York Times: Before Prostate Surgery, Consider ‘Active Surveillance’
Howard Wolinsky is a medical journalist in Flossmoor, Ill., who knows better than to go forward with potentially life-changing surgery without first seeking a second opinion. Nine years ago, at age 63, when a PSA blood test followed by a biopsy revealed cancer in his prostate gland, the diagnosing urologist said he could operate to remove the offending organ the following week. Not so fast, Mr. Wolinsky thought, knowing this was not a minor operation that often left men temporarily or permanently impotent, incontinent or both. (Brody, 3/2)

The New York Times: Fatal Car Crashes Rise With Spring Clock Reset
Losing an hour’s sleep at the spring change to daylight saving time is at best inconvenient. Now new research suggests that it may be dangerous. A study in Current Biology reports that the risk of having a fatal traffic accident increases significantly in the week following the spring clock reset. (Bakalar, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Rat Control Starts By Changing Behavior Of People
For centuries, rats have thrived in cities because of human behavior. In response, humans have blamed the rats and developed techniques for poisoning them. We research urban rat populations and recognize that rats spread disease. But they are fascinating creatures that think, feel and show a high level of intelligence. Public concerns about rat poison harming wildlife are growing — a trend that we believe could eventually lead to rodenticide bans in many parts of the world. Without poison as an option, humans will need other rat control methods. (Parsons and Munshi-South, 3/1)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Flu Vaccine A Better Match This Year Against Prevailing Viruses: CDC
This year’s flu shot delivers a bigger punch against the illness than last year’s vaccine, which likely was an ingredient in keeping a bad flu season from turning into a really bad season, the federal government says. The vaccine for this year’s strain of influenza prevented about 55% of flu in children and 45% in adults, a major improvement over the effectiveness of the 2018-2019 injection, which was 29%, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this month. (Saker, 2/28)

NBC News: 30 Years After Americans With Disability Act, College Students With Disabilities Say Law Is Not Enough
Kyle Cox was on his way to class during an ice storm in January 2019 when an outdoor wheelchair elevator at Texas A&M University malfunctioned. For 30 minutes, Cox, a graduate student, was trapped outside with sleet pelting him on an unseasonably frigid day in College Station. Building staff draped him in blankets and coats while they worked to free him from the handicap accessible lift designed to help disabled students access the building with ease. By the time he had cleaned up and composed himself, class was over. (Samee Ali, 3/1)

ABC News: Teens 'Especially Vulnerable' To Junk Food Advertising, Experts Say 
The inundation of junk food advertising is contributing to the rising rate of teen obesity -- a public health crisis among a population that is "especially vulnerable" to the messaging, experts say. In 2016 alone, the food industry spent almost $14 billion on overall advertising to influence Americans' food choices. The U.S. food system is the second-largest advertiser in the American economy, and views adolescents as a major market force, aggressively targeting them to build brand awareness, preference and loyalty. (David, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Exercise Can Help Young Cancer Patients Endure Chemotherapy
The day before Matthew Simon was to begin crew practice in 2015 as a sophomore at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Simon was a rower who worked out daily. His initial stay for treatment at Children’s Hospital was three weeks long, and the sedentary routine of chemotherapy was tough. “I got stir crazy,” Simon said. “Patients in a pediatric oncology unit are immunocompromised, so we couldn’t leave the floor. There’s not much to do but walk around.” (Opipari, 3/1)

Kaiser Health News: HHS Removed Images Of Condoms From HIV/AIDS Awareness Fliers
The Department of Health and Human Services stripped from a government website HIV/AIDS educational material that featured condoms, calling the images “unapproved,” according to official correspondence obtained by Kaiser Health News. The images had been included in a 2017 fact sheet posted by HHS’ Office on Women’s Health to mark National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. A directive to remove it from HHS servers was contained in an Aug. 1, 2017, email from a junior department employee to Palladian Partners, a federal contractor that specializes in communications about health and science education. (Pradhan, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Hand Tremor Treated With Ultrasound Surgery
“I use a spoon instead of a fork, so I spill less,” the patient said. “I eat sandwiches and hamburgers so I can use both hands to hold my food.” He was 73 and had suffered from essential tremor for the past decade. His hands would shake uncontrollably, more on the right than on the left, which would worsen if he tried using them. “I could still do crowns, but giving injections became impossible,” he said. His disease, gradual and grasping, had forced the Baltimore-area dentist into early retirement. (Ahmed, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Maine Referendum Targets Vaccine-Exemption Limits
Maine residents heading to the polls on Super Tuesday will decide whether to override a new law that eliminates nonmedical vaccine exemptions for school children. Supporters of the law say limiting the ways in which people can opt out of vaccines will help keep preventable diseases like measles at bay by curbing a growing rate of unvaccinated children. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is urging voters to keep the new law, citing outbreaks of whooping cough in some Maine schools. (Kamp, 2/29)

The CT Mirror: 'I'm Relying On Prayer.' Complaints Pile Up Against Health Care Sharing Ministries As State Mounts A Defense
The pain in Timothy Corridon’s left shoulder began not long after he signed up for a new, nontraditional type of health coverage. It spread down his arm and turned into numbness. He noticed weakness in both of his hands. After seeing several doctors, the 57-year-old Norwalk resident was referred to a neurosurgeon and underwent an urgent operation to address a Chiari malformation, a condition in which brain tissue extends into the spinal canal. Untreated, the disorder can cause dizziness, problems with balance and hearing, an unsteady gait, difficulty swallowing and speech issues. (Carlesso, 3/2)

Coastal Review Online: School Boards Eye Filtration To Remove PFAS 
Schools in New Hanover and Brunswick counties are installing new water filling stations and special filters in reaction to continuing concerns about levels of industrial contaminants found in drinking water systems. The move to reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, comes after a nationwide report again highlighted high levels of the compounds in water supplies, with Brunswick County registering the highest levels in the country and the Wilmington region listed as the fifth highest. (Ross, 2/28)

NBC News: How DuPont May Avoid Paying To Clean Up A Toxic 'Forever Chemical'
Robin Andrews of Pedricktown, New Jersey, has been fighting an autoimmune disease and thyroid condition for the past three years, suffering severe dental problems, hair loss and other symptoms. All, she believes, are the result of exposure to drinking water tainted by a group of chemicals called PFAS, used widely for decades in products like Teflon pans, stain-resistant carpets, even cosmetics. (Morgenson, 3/1)

Stateline: Stop Milking It, Dairy Farmers Tell Plant-Based Competitors
The dairy industry wants the federal government to restrict use of the “milk” label to fluid “obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” Legislation is pending on Capitol Hill, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating the issue. In the meantime, dairy advocates are pressing their cause in state legislatures. (Mercer, 3/2)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: The Follow Up: Tighter Oversight Of Georgia Senior Homes Advances
Legislation moved through the House this past week to improve safety and strengthen the oversight of Georgia’s assisted living facilities and personal care homes. House Health and Human Services Chairwoman Sharon Cooper, a Republican from Marietta and the sponsor of House Bill 987, said she was unaware of many of the problems involving senior care in the state until an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation uncovered them in a series called “Unprotected.” (Denery, 2/28)

California Healthline: Corralling Hard-To-Reach Voters With Traveling Voting Machines
Instrumental string music filtered into the sprawling multipurpose room, where a dozen people rolled their hips, stretched their arms and twisted from side to side. Nearby, small groups of women huddled over elaborate needlepoint embroidery while men and women shuffled dominoes and mahjong tiles at game tables. A crowd formed outside an adjoining room of the AltaMed Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) center in Chinatown, where several seniors, some using canes, walkers and wheelchairs, lined up in chairs. (Almendrala, 2/28)

The New York Times: How To Confront The Coronavirus At Every Level
Covid-19 cases in Washington State and California appear to show that the disease has begun to spread in those communities, at least. Its spread elsewhere in the country has yet to be determined. But developments with this disease, of which there have been more than 70 cases in the United States, change quickly. So the federal government, state and local governments, public health agencies, health care systems and industry should be preparing more actively to respond to a widespread outbreak of the virus. (Tom Inglesby and Anita Cicero, 3/2)

Stat: We Rated Websites Spreading Coronavirus Misinformation
The coronavirus has spawned an infodemic. That’s the World Health Organization’s term for the conspiracies, unsubstantiated claims, and phony cures surrounding the outbreak of Covid-19 that emerged in China at the tail end of 2019. The challenges to accurate information on the disease outbreak took center stage at this week’s White House press briefing when President Trump said that “the risk to the American people remains very low” despite the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention’s warning that the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is bound to spread more widely in the U.S. (John Gregory, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Trump Is Pushing A Dangerous, False Spin On Coronavirus — And The Media Is Helping Him Spread It
Among the many outlandish statements President Trump has made since taking office, one in particular stands out for me. Speaking in Kansas City, Mo., in the summer of 2018, he urged the attendees of the VFW annual convention to ignore the journalism of the mainstream media. “Just stick with us, don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news,” he said. “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” (Margaret Sullivan, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Private Health Care To The Rescue
Americans naturally turn to the government when their health or physical security is at risk, but a core U.S. strength is the breadth of its private medical resources. That’s on display now as the government is calling on private actors to buttress the federal response. ...The Bernie Sanders campaign is saying the virus shows how Medicare for All would better serve the country. The opposite is true. By putting government in charge of every health care decision, Medicare for All would eliminate the adaptability of private innovation, which is an American advantage. The Trump Administration is right to exploit it. (3/1)

CNN: Donald Trump Meets A New Enemy: Coronavirus 
How bad will it get? That was the question this week, but it applied to several things: the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus around the world, the resulting stock market plunge and the concern about whether America's political leaders are up to the challenge. An outbreak of the disease is inevitable in the US, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters Tuesday: "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but ... a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness." (Richard Galant, 3/1)

The New England Journal of Medicine: Covid-19 — Navigating The Uncharted
China, the United States, and several other countries have instituted temporary restrictions on travel with an eye toward slowing the spread of this new disease within China and throughout the rest of the world. ... However, given the efficiency of transmission as indicated in the current report, we should be prepared for Covid-19 to gain a foothold throughout the world, including in the United States. Community spread in the United States could require a shift from containment to mitigation strategies such as social distancing in order to reduce transmission. Such strategies could include isolating ill persons (including voluntary isolation at home), school closures, and telecommuting where possible. (Drs. Anthony S. Fauci, H. Clifford Lane and Robert R. Redfield, 2/28)

The New York Times: Here Comes The Coronavirus Pandemic
Back in 2002, when the SARS virus made its fateful leap from bats to civet cats to humans, global health experts warned that the ensuing outbreak was a harbinger of things to come: Climate change and globalization were conspiring with an array of other forces to make it much easier for old animal diseases to morph into new human ones. It was only a matter of time before one of those diseases proved truly catastrophic. The world could avert the worst consequences if it started planning. But SARS was quickly contained (in part because the virus itself was so deadly that it was easy to detect). The disease faded from public consciousness and, with it, any sense of urgency over future outbreaks. (2/29)

CNN: Trump Is Failing The Leadership Test On Coronavirus 
Ranking high among the President's powers and responsibilities is the job of communicator in chief. In times of triumph and clear and present dangers, the public looks to the President for cues on how to act, what they should feel and what they should do. (Joe Lockhart, 2/29)

The New York Times: How To Be A Smart Coronavirus Prepper
The first case of “community transmitted” Covid-19 in the United States popped up just a few miles north of my home in San Francisco. That means the person who is sick with the new coronavirus has no known connection to China or travelers from there — she got it from someone in her local Northern California community. My community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the arrival of Covid-19 is “inevitable.” Because the disease has an incubation period of at least two weeks, I could be surrounded by the infected and not know. Hell, I could be infected. (Newitz, 2/29)

Bloomberg: Not Even Face Masks Can Shield Manufacturers
Industrial companies have to be feeling like they’re stuck in a Charlie Brown cartoon these days. Every time things start to look up, some nasty surprise swoops in and takes away their football. First, the trade war kneecapped a recovery off the oil-price downturn in 2015 and 2016 that was just starting to pick up steam. Now, the coronavirus threatens to derail a hoped-for rebound from the trade doldrums. (Brooke Sutherland, 2/28)

The New York Times: We Don’t Really Know How Many People Have Coronavirus
It has been nearly three months since the first cases of a new coronavirus pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China, and it is now a global outbreak. And yet, despite over 80,000 infections worldwide (most of them in China), the world still doesn’t have a clear picture of some of the most basic information about this outbreak. In recent weeks, a smattering of scientific papers and government statements have begun to sketch the outlines of the epidemic. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 2/28)

The New York Times: Who Will Care For Society’s Forgotten?
Homeless people, when most of us think of them at all, seem to have no past and no future. It is hard to picture them as children who went to school, played games and, I hope, were loved. It is equally hard to imagine that they age, the way all of us do, and get sick, possibly very sick, just like the rest of us. We even rarely think about how they receive medical care — and yet how and whether we treat these patients, especially at the end of their lives, is a moral measuring stick that is all too often missing in our discussions about health care in America. (Theresa Brown, 2/28)

The Hill: All Mental Health Needs Budget Support 
The White House’s recent 2021 budget released from the Office of Management and Budget includes easing the decades-long Institutions for Mental Disease Exclusion for Medicaid payments. On the surface, this seems a good step. But when it comes to health care, the partisan discourse and absolute convictions by politicians of what is right and what is wrong about providing equitable and just care are simply not an either-or. (Laura Vanpuymbrouck, 3/1)

Fox News: No, Bernie, 'Medicare-For-All' Won't Save Money
On Feb. 24, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., released a document outlining how he plans to pay for his agenda, including "Medicare-for-all." He claims his signature health plan will save the country billions of dollars each year. That estimate rests on faulty math and flawed assumptions. Medicare-for-all would cost far more than Sanders admits and force Americans to pay dearly for subpar care. (Sally Pipes, 3/1)

Axios: Even Supporters May Not Understand Medicare For All
Even many supporters of Medicare for All don’t necessarily know how it would work. The big picture: That doesn’t necessarily mean more information will turn supporters into opponents, but it shows that we’re still at an early stage in this debate, in which opinions about Medicare for All are often reflections of broader political alliances, not the details of a plan. By the numbers: In our January tracking poll. more than half (59%) of Medicare for All supporters didn’t think Medicare for All would require people to give up their employer-based insurance; 34% knew it would. (Drew Altman, 3/2)

The Hill: Liberal Flip-Flop: To Keep Or Dump ObamaCare?
Many media outlets and political leaders continue to promote the belief that more than 20 million people will lose health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is struck down. That’s most likely false. At the very least, the loss would not be immediate, as the case would likely be sent back to the district court to establish a reasonable timeframe for the law to come to an end. In the meantime, the exchanges would still be in place, American’s private and employer-provided insurance wouldn’t change, and Congress will have ample time and renewed motivation to look at various plans designed to protect vulnerable communities and promote affordability. The lawsuit puts Democrats in a tough spot. (David Balat, 2/29)

The Washington Post: The Supreme Court Faces A Critical Abortion Case — And A Test Of Its Integrity
The Supreme Court hears one of its most important oral arguments of the current term on Wednesday, and much more is at stake than policy on the perennially divisive issue — abortion rights — at the heart of the litigation. The court’s integrity itself will be on trial. All Americans, and certainly all nine justices, should favor a ruling consistent with precedent — and the vital principle that constitutional rights do not vary according to which party gets to nominate members of the court. In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that required doctors who perform abortions at outpatient clinics to have “active admitting privileges” at a hospital no more than 30 miles away. (3/1)