USA Today: About 9% Of Americans Exposed To COVID-19 By Midsummer. That's A Long Way From Herd Immunity.
By the end of July, about 9% of American adults had been exposed to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study of dialysis patients, the largest yet looking for evidence of the disease in people's blood. The infection rates varied from essentially zero in some states that avoided infection by midsummer, to more than one-third of residents in parts of New York hard-hit in the spring. The upshot is the American public is a long way from achieving "herd immunity" – having enough infections to prevent further spread of the virus.  (Weintraub, 9/25)

CNBC: Less Than 10% Of U.S. Show Signs Of Past Coronavirus Infection, Study Finds
The researchers arrived at their findings by studying the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies, which the immune system typically generates in response to an infection, in a group of randomly selected dialysis patients across the country. Even people with coronavirus antibodies are not necessarily immune to the virus, as scientists are still trying to understand how much protection antibodies create and how long that protection might last. The finding that more than 90% of the country does not have antibodies is in line with conclusions of another study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has not yet been published, according to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield. (Feuer, 9/26)

New York Post: New Study Says US Is Nowhere Near COVID-19 Herd Immunity
In some states, the infection rate was essentially zero, according to the study, which tested plasma samples from more than 28,000 randomly selected dialysis patients from across the US. In New York, the rate was 33.6%, by far the highest in the nation, with the rate largely skewed toward downstate counties. The next highest was Louisiana, at 17.6%. New Jersey’s rate was just 11.9%. Nationwide, the infection rate was just 9%. Herd immunity means that enough people are infected to prevent further spread of the virus. Experts say for the coronavirus, that would about 50 to 65% of the population. (Connelly, 9/26)

In related news about herd immunity —

Reuters: In Brazil's Amazon A COVID-19 Resurgence Dashes Herd Immunity Hopes
The largest city in Brazil’s Amazon has closed bars and river beaches to contain a fresh surge of coronavirus cases, a trend that may dash theories that Manaus was one of the world’s first places to reach collective, or herd, immunity. When a large portion of a community becomes immune to a disease, its spread becomes unlikely. University of Sao Paulo researchers suggested that a drastic fall in COVID-19 deaths in Manaus pointed to collective immunity at work, but they also believe that antibodies to the disease after infection may not last more than a few months. (Boadle, 9/27)

Healthline: The Toll Of Reaching Herd Immunity Without A COVID-19 Vaccine
There has been a lot of talk lately about the United States using herd immunity to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent town hall with ABC News, President Donald Trump repeated claims that the coronavirus would “go away [during] a period of time” because people would develop a “herd mentality.” He obviously meant herd immunity, or when a high enough number of people are immune to a disease so it can’t spread through the population. However, the president’s assertion isn’t true. (Krans, 9/27)

Reuters: Positive COVID-19 Test Rates Top 25% In Some U.S. Midwest States
The number of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 is topping 25% in several states in the U.S. Midwest as cases and hospitalizations also surge in the region, according to a Reuters analysis. North Dakota’s positive test rate has averaged 30% over the past seven days compared with 6% the prior week. The positivity rate has risen to 26% in South Dakota, up from 17% the previous week, according to the analysis using testing data from The COVID Tracking Project. Minnesota and Montana are averaging 7% of tests coming back positive, but Montana’s positivity rate rose on Sunday to 20%, according to the analysis. The World Health Organization considers rates above 5% concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered. (Shumaker, 9/27)

NPR: COVID-19 Daily Cases On The Rise In Nearly Half Of U.S. States
Daily cases were largely on a downward trend through August and early September from highs in July, but are now going up again.According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Tracker, the U.S. reported more than 55,000 new cases on Friday. In total, the U.S. has more than 7,074,000 infections with 204,000 dead as a result of COVID-19.Overall, about two-dozen states and territories reported an upward trend in new infections, with some states setting and breaking records in days. (Slotkin, 9/26)

Reuters: Four U.S. States Including Wisconsin Report Record One-Day Increases In COVID-19 Cases
Four U.S. states reported record one-day increases in new COVID-19 cases on Friday as the nation surpassed the grim milestone of over 7 million total infections, according to a Reuters tally. Wisconsin, one of the states where cases are rising the fastest, reported 2,629 new infections, surpassing its previous record set last Friday, according to the tally. Minnesota, Oregon and Utah also reported record increases in cases on Friday. (Maan Shumaker, 9/25)

The Atlantic: Wisconsin Is On The Brink Of A Major Outbreak
In New York, the decisive moment came in March. In Arizona and other Sun Belt states, it struck as the spring turned to summer. In every state that has so far seen a large spike of COVID-19 cases, there has been a moment when the early signs of an uptick are detectable—but a monstrous outbreak is not yet assured. Can a state realize what’s happening, and stop a surge in time? Wisconsin is about to find out. In the past week, Wisconsin has crashed through its own coronavirus records, reporting more cases and more COVID-19 hospitalizations than it has at any time since the pandemic began, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. It now ranks among the top states in new cases per capita, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it is reporting more new cases, in absolute terms, than all states but California, Texas, and Florida. (Meyer, 9/26)

Salt Lake Tribune: Coronavirus In Utah: State Above 1,000 New Cases For Fourth Straight Day; Five New Deaths Reported
COVID-19 continues to tick off myriad dubious milestones. And the state of Utah continues to contribute to the problem. As the world approaches 1 million coronavirus deaths, and the United States surpasses 7 million cases and 204,000 deaths, the Beehive State on Sunday reported its fourth consecutive day of more than 1,000 new cases. (Walden, 9/27)

The Salt Lake Tribune: As Utah’s COVID-19 Cases Spike, Gov. Gary Herbert Praises The State’s Economic Response 
As Utah’s coronavirus cases continue to spike — reaching an all-time high Thursday — Gov. Gary Herbert praised the state’s “balanced” approach to addressing the health effects of the pandemic while also protecting the economy. “On balance, we’ve done a pretty good job,” he said at his televised monthly news conference with PBS Utah.Nearly 450 people in the state have lost their lives to the coronavirus, and the case rate spiked to 1,198 on Thursday. But the governor noted that Utah has one of the lowest mortality rates in the nation at 0.7% and an overall death rate of 14 people per 100,000. (Stevens, 9/25)

CNN: New York City's Spike In Cases Shows The Virus Is Still 'A Force To Be Reckoned With,' Governor Says
As cases spike in parts of New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that Covid-19 "remains a force to be reckoned with throughout the country." "I urge New Yorkers to keep wearing masks, socially distancing and washing their hands, and local governments must continue to enforce state public health guidance," Cuomo said in a statement. "By staying vigilant and smart, we can beat COVID together." (Holcombe, 9/28)

Idaho Statesman: Cases Of COVID-19 Continue To Spike In Madison County, Idaho 
Madison County in eastern Idaho has become a hotbed of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Madison added 29 new cases on Sunday, according to the Eastern Idaho Public Health District, and now has 620 total. The county added 73 new cases Friday, and 235 in the past seven days. Only lightly populated Camas County has a higher rate of cases per capita over the past 14 days, though it has only reported 23 cases in that time. (Counts, 9/27)

And worldwide, total coronavirus deaths close in on 1 million —

The Wall Street Journal: Global Coronavirus Death Toll On Cusp Of One Million
The U.S. reported 36,919 new coronavirus cases Sunday as the world-wide death toll approached one million. India, meanwhile, became the second country after the U.S. to have reported more than six million cases nationally. (Martin, 9/28)

AP: India’s Confirmed Coronavirus Tally Reaches 6 Million Cases
India’s confirmed coronavirus tally reached 6 million cases on Monday, keeping the country second to the United States in number of reported cases since the pandemic began. The Health Ministry reported 82,170 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, driving the overall tally to 6,074,703. At least 1,039 deaths were also recorded in the same period, taking total fatalities up to 95,542. (9/28)

AP: Joe Biden: Vacancy About Health Law, Not Court Expansion
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden wants voters to see Republicans’ push for a speedy Supreme Court confirmation as an end-run of Congress and the 2010 health care law. In remarks on Sunday, the former vice president sidestepped any talk of expanding the court to counter conservative gains should he defeat President Donald Trump in November and Democrats regain a Senate majority. Biden called that scenario a distraction from the practical effects that Trump’s nominee, conservative federal judge Amy Coney Barrett, could have if she succeeds the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Barrow and Weissert, 9/27)

The Washington Post: Democrats Focus Supreme Court Battle On Fate Of Health-Care Law Under Trump 
President Trump attacked the Affordable Care Act as “terrible” on Sunday, as Democrats tried to make the fate of the law under a probable new Trump-driven conservative Supreme Court majority a reason to vote against him. As a Senate fight over Trump’s third and most consequential Supreme Court pick looms, Democrats on Sunday focused on the role Trump’s nominee could play in overturning President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law amid a pandemic. (Gearan and Sonmez, 9/27)

Bloomberg: Democrats Focus On Health Care In Opposing Trump Court Pick 
“It’s no mystery what is happening here. President Donald Trump is trying to throw out the Affordable Care Act,” Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, said Sunday in Wilmington, Delaware. “This is about whether or not pre-existing conditions will continue to be covered. This is about whether or not a woman can be charged more for the procedures as a man,” Biden added in his first public remarks since Trump announced Barrett’s selection on Saturday. (Riley, Czuczka and Pager, 9/27)

Reuters: Biden, Fellow Democrats Focus On Healthcare In Supreme Court Fight 
Barrett could be on the court’s bench for oral arguments on Nov. 10 in a case in which Trump and his Republican allies are seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - the 2010 law popularly known Obamacare. That could cost millions of Americans their healthcare coverage as well as protections for pre-existing health conditions. (Hurley and Ax, 9/27)

Politico: Schumer To Democrats: Focus On Health Care To Beat Barrett 
Chuck Schumer has some simple advice for how to take down Amy Coney Barrett: Talk about “health care, health care, health care.” In a letter to his colleagues late Saturday, the Senate minority leader laid out how Senate Democrats will try to build opposition to Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The New Yorker said that if Barrett is confirmed, it spells the end of Obamacare, which is slated to come before the Supreme Court after Election Day. (Everett, 9/27)

The Hill: Democrats Turn Focus To Health Care For Supreme Court Fight 
Democrats are increasingly focusing on health care in pushing back on President Trump's expected Supreme Court nominee, with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez warning Saturday that a bolstered conservative majority on the court could vote to overturn ObamaCare. Perez, speaking on NBC's "Today" show, warned that the issue of health care is at stake both in the presidential election on Nov. 3 and one week later when the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a Trump administration-backed lawsuit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Axelrod, 9/26)

Also —

The Hill: GOP, Democrats Look To Galvanize Women With SCOTUS Fight 
Democrats and Republicans are looking to use the fight over President Trump's Supreme Court nominee to galvanize women ahead of November’s election, citing the influence his pick could have on decisions related to issues like abortion and health care. Suburban women, a once-loyal Republican voting bloc, have increasingly moved toward Democrats as the GOP under Trump has focused its energy on appealing to its conservative base. Trump’s pledge to nominate a woman to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen partly as an appeal to female voters in the weeks before the election. (Hellmann and Manchester, 9/25)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett's Healthcare Stances
President Donald Trump on Saturday nominated to the Supreme Court Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who in past writings criticized a decision that upheld tenets of the Affordable Care Act. Trump nominated Barrett to fill a vacancy created by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a move that could shift the ideological balance of the court for years. Barrett's views on the ACA could be important if the Senate confirms her before the Supreme Court hears California v. Texas a week after Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wants to hold a vote on Barrett's confirmation before the end of 2020. (Cohrs, 9/26)

The New York Times: What To Know About Amy Coney Barrett's Views 
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, has compiled an almost uniformly conservative voting record in cases touching on abortion, gun rights, discrimination and immigration. If she is confirmed, she would move the court slightly but firmly to the right, making compromise less likely and putting at risk the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Judge Barrett’s judicial opinions, based on a substantial sample of the hundreds of cases that she has considered in her three years on the federal appeals court in Chicago, are marked by care, clarity and a commitment to the interpretive methods used by Justice Antonin Scalia, the giant of conservative jurisprudence for whom she worked as a law clerk from 1998 to 1999. (Liptak, 9/26)

The Washington Post: Amy Coney Barrett, Supreme Court Nominee, Spoke At Program Founded To Inspire A ‘Distinctly Christian Worldview In Every Area Of Law’ 
[Amy Coney Barrett's] role as a speaker at a training program for Christian law school students drew scrutiny three years ago when Trump nominated her to be a federal appellate judge. It may do so again now — as part of broader questioning about how she would balance faith and law — as she seeks confirmation to the nation’s high court. Barrett was a paid speaker five times, starting in 2011, at the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a summer program established to inspire a “distinctly Christian worldview in every area of law,” tax filings show. It was founded to show students “how God can use them as judges, law professors and practicing attorneys to help keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel in America.” (Brown and Swaine, 9/27)

NBC News: What Trump Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Means For Roe V. Wade
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was officially announced as President Donald Trump's next Supreme Court nominee on Saturday, has long topped the president's Supreme Court shortlist. That’s no coincidence. Conservatives fully expect Barrett to cast a vote to reverse Roe v. Wade, the court’s landmark decision recognizing a right to choose abortion. At the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Barrett joined a dissent suggesting that states could pass so-called reasons bans, outlawing abortion for reasons of race, sex or disability selection. Before she was on the bench, Barrett, then a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, belonged to the university’s Faculty for Life group and signed a letter affirming the “value of human life from conception to natural death.” (Ziegler, 9/27)

CBS News: What We Know About Amy Coney Barrett's Judicial Abortion Record
Four years ago on the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump pledged that if he were elected, only "pro-life" justices would get his nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court. As president, it's a promise he's delivered on twice already, and on Saturday, did so once more. Amy Coney Barrett, Mr. Trump's Supreme Court nomination, meets the president's unprecedented anti-abortion rights litmus test. The federal judge has referred to abortion as "always immoral" and offers something a former top candidate, Barbara Lagoa, doesn't: A clear anti-abortion rights judicial record. During her three years on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, she has already ruled on two abortion-related cases, both times favoring restrictions on access to abortion. (Smith, 9/26)

Vox: Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett On Abortion, Roe V. Wade, And Setting The Precedent For Reproductive Rights 
President Trump has repeatedly promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established the right to an abortion in America. Now that he has chosen Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he has moved one step closer to that goal. Barrett, a judge on the Seventh US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, has attracted praise from social conservatives for her religious faith as well as her strict interpretation of the Constitution. On the federal bench, she’s issued conservative decisions in cases involving the Second Amendment and immigration, among others. But her views on abortion are likely to get particular attention during her confirmation process, given the president’s promise on Roe and the political importance of the issue in an election year. (North, 9/26)

AP: On Guns, Abortion, High Court Could Become More Conservative
If Congress confirms President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court would become more conservative, and also perhaps more ready to tackle certain hot-button issues like abortion and guns. Chief Justice John Roberts would also likely become less able to steer the outcome in divisive cases. Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 at 87, was the leader of the liberal wing of the court, which had been split 5-4 between conservatives and liberals. Roberts had, on occasion, sided with the liberals. But if Trump fills Ginsburg’s seat, there will be six conservative justices, three of them appointed by him. (Gresko, 9/27)

Politico: How Amy Coney Barrett Would Reshape The Court — And The Country 
If confirmed, Judge Amy Coney Barrett will consolidate the conservative majority and shift the balance of power on the court decidedly to the right. She has called abortion “immoral” and written that judges are not always bound by precedent. And, consistent with the anti-abortion movement’s current strategy, she has expressed openness to hollowing out Roe v. Wade through state regulations. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a mark as a strong supporter of reproductive freedom; she consistently voted against state encroachments on Roe v. Wade. A critic of Chief Justice John Roberts’ role in the blockbuster case that upheld the Affordable Care Act in 2012, Judge Barrett is likely to give the law’s opponents a sympathetic hearing in the case pending before the court. By contrast, Justice Ginsburg, a strong voice and critical vote in support of the ACA, would almost certainly have again sustained the federal law. On the question of gun rights, Ginsburg sustained regulations, whereas Barrett has questioned the constitutionality of a categorical ban on gun ownership by felons. (9/26)

NPR: What To Know About Those $200 Drug Cards President Trump Promised
President Trump promised this week to send cards worth $200 to seniors to help them pay for their prescription drugs, but it's unclear how he will be able to pull it off — or how legal it is. If he can, that's $6.6 billion to a key voting bloc weeks before Election Day. "Under my plan, 33 million Medicare beneficiaries will soon receive a card in the mail containing $200 that they can use to help pay for prescription drugs," Trump told a crowd in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday. "Nobody has seen this before. These cards are incredible. The cards will be mailed out in coming weeks." (Lupkin, 9/25)

Stat: Trump’s Drug Coupon Pledge Highlights GOP Inconsistencies
The last time a president used an obscure law to spend billions of Medicare dollars without congressional approval, Republican lawmakers called it a political ploy, a technicality, a way to write a “blank check” to help win an election. They launched investigations and issued subpoenas. But that was when President Obama was in charge. Now, it’s President Trump who’s using the same little-known Medicare law for a maneuver that even some Republicans admit is more brazen than Obama’s attempt. And so far, Republicans are silent. (Florko and Facher, 9/25)

The Hill: Trump Seeks Boost From Seniors With $200 Drug Discount Coupons
The White House did not provide a clear explanation for where the money for the program would come from. A White House official said Thursday evening that the spending would be offset by a program to lower drug prices by tying them to lower prices in other countries, a plan called “most-favored nation.” But that plan, while it has been proposed, has not gone into effect yet, meaning that there currently are no savings from it. The Wall Street Journal then reported on Friday that the money would be coming from the Medicare Trust Fund, which appears to be a more realistic source of funds. (Sullivan, 9/27)

In other news from the Trump administration —

AP: Trump Ex-Campaign Boss Hospitalized Amid Threat To Harm Self
President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has been hospitalized after he threatened to harm himself, according to Florida police and campaign officials. Police officers talked Parscale out of his Fort Lauderdale home after his wife called police to say that he had multiple firearms and was threatening to hurt himself when he was hospitalized Sunday under the state’s Baker Act. That act allows anyone deemed to be a threat to themselves or others to be detained for 72 hours for psychiatric evaluation. (Lemire and Spencer, 9/28)

The New York Times: E.P.A. To Promote Lead Testing Rule As Trump Tries To Burnish His Record 
The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to overhaul the way communities test their water for lead, a policy change that will be pitched ahead of Election Day as a major environmental achievement for a president not noted for his conservation record. But a draft of the final rule obtained by The New York Times shows the E.P.A. rejected top medical and scientific experts who urged the agency to require the replacement of the country’s six million to 10 million lead service lines, an expensive but effective way to avoid crises like the one still afflicting Flint, Mich. (Friedman, 9/27)

Kaiser Health News and PolitiFact: Trump’s Executive Order On Preexisting Conditions Lacks Teeth, Experts Say 
Protecting people with preexisting medical conditions is an issue that has followed President Donald Trump his entire first term. Now, Trump has signed an executive order that he says locks in coverage regardless of anyone’s health history. “Any health care reform legislation that comes to my desk from Congress must protect the preexisting conditions or I won’t sign it,” Trump said at a Sept. 24 signing event. With the executive order, Trump said, “This is affirmed, signed and done, so we can put that to rest.” Health law and health policy experts say Trump has put nothing to rest. (Greenberg, 9/28)

Politico: ‘It’s Like Every Red Flag’: Trump-Ordered HHS Ad Blitz Raises Alarms
The health department is moving quickly on a highly unusual advertising campaign to "defeat despair" about the coronavirus, a $300 million-plus effort that was shaped by a political appointee close to President Donald Trump and executed in part by close allies of the official, using taxpayer funds. The ad blitz, described in some budget documents as the "Covid-19 immediate surge public advertising and awareness campaign," is expected to lean heavily on video interviews between administration officials and celebrities, who will discuss aspects of the coronavirus outbreak and address the Trump administration's response to the crisis, according to six individuals with knowledge of the campaign who described its workings to POLITICO. (Diamond, 9/25)

Deadline: Dennis Quaid Responds With “Outrage” & “Disappointment” To COVID Campaign Report: “No Good Deed Goes Unpoliticized”
In an Instagram video post titled, in caps, “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPOLITICIZED,” actor Dennis Quaid says he’s “feeling some outrage and a lot of disappointment” about reports in “the cancel culture media” regarding his involvement in a public service campaign about COVID-19.“It was in no way political,” Quaid says in the video, adding that he was not paid for his involvement – he taped an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci –  and that the purpose of the PSA and interview with Fauci was “about raising awareness of COVID-19 and what we can still do to prevent lives being lost to this terrible, terrible virus. It was about the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing.” (Evans, 9/26)

Hollywood Reporter: Dennis Quaid, CeCe Winans Clarify Intent Of Involvement In COVID-19 Campaign Interviews
Dennis Quaid and gospel singer CeCe Winans have each taken to social media to clarify the non-political intent of participating in interviews related to COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic. ... Following Politico's story, Winans posted a message to her Instagram account on Friday, clarifying that that the intent of her involvement was "not political at all." The singer said in a video message, "I was asked a couple of weeks ago to do an interview with the surgeon general, Jerome Adams, about the coronavirus. And this interview stresses how important it is for everyone to wear a mask, and it also gives us other instructions on how to get on the other side of this pandemic." (Beresford, 9/26)

AP: Military Suicides Up As Much As 20% In COVID Era
Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest. While the data is incomplete and causes of suicide are complex, Army and Air Force officials say they believe the pandemic is adding stress to an already strained force. (Baldor and Burns, 9/27)

New York Post: Military Suicides Up As Much As 20% During COVID-19 Pandemic
Suicides among military members have spiked by as much as 20 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period last year, data shows. Senior military officials say they believe that it’s difficult to pinpoint what’s driving the rise, though note that the timing coincides with the stateside outbreak of coronavirus. (Salo, 9/27)

In case you missed it —

Tacoma News Tribune: Defense Department Reports Shows Mental Health Care Lacking 
Thousands of service members and their dependents are in need of mental health care and aren’t getting it, according to a report by the Department of Defense Inspector General. “The DoD did not consistently meet outpatient mental health access to care standards for active duty service members and their families, in accordance with law and applicable DoD policies,” according to the report, released publicly on August 14. More than half of the 8,000 service members and families surveyed for the report said they needed mental health care but were not receiving it. (Shull, 9/24)

Grand Forks Herald: Grand Forks Rep. Eidson Resigns, Citing Post-Military Mental Health Struggle 
State Rep. Matt Eidson, D-Grand Forks, has submitted a letter of resignation effective Sept. 30 to leave the Legislature, citing mental health issues — post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression — following eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps. In a video posted to social media Thursday evening, Eidson described mental health struggles after he left the Marine Corps in 2015. He had previously served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan and South Korea before he was discharged at the rank of sergeant. (Easter, 9/18)

Military Times: ‘I Sought Help When I Needed It’: Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Speaks Out On Mental Health
Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared a glimpse into his personal struggles with mental health in a video Tuesday encouraging service members to seek help. “I sought help when I needed it. When I was commander of U.S. Strategic Command, I felt like I needed to get some help. I felt like I needed to talk to somebody. So, I got an appointment with a psychiatrist,” Hyten said in the video tweeted by the Joint Staff. (Venhuizen, 9/8)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Drug-Testing Demand For Debate Mocked By Biden Campaign, Saying ‘His Best Case Is Made In Urine’
President Trump on Sunday demanded Joe Biden be subjected to a drug test for the first presidential debate this week, once more suggesting without evidence that his Democratic opponent takes performance-enhancing drugs. After Biden laughed off the request at a news conference, his campaign slammed Trump’s demand, suggesting it shows the president’s best case for the coming debates is “made in urine.” “Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said in a Sunday statement to Politico. “We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn’t make a plan to stop COVID-19.” (Bella, 9/28)

Politico: Biden Camp Clapback: Trump’s Best Debate Case ‘Made In Urine’
This latest in the race began Sunday morning when President Donald Trump used his Twitter feed to amplify unfounded statements that Joe Biden takes performance-enhancing drugs before their first face-off Tuesday night. “I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night. Naturally, I will agree to take one also,” Trump wrote. “His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???” (Caputo, 9/27)

Politico: No Handshakes, Limited Audience: Covid Shapes Final Trump-Biden Debate Talks 
Representatives for President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have hammered out the final details for Tuesday’s debate, a showdown that will be heavily shaped by the coronavirus pandemic. The two sides have decided to forego the traditional pre-debate handshake in light of the virus, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. They also won’t do an elbow-bump, a coronavirus-era handshake substitute which both campaigns saw as awkward. (Isenstadt, 9/26)

ProPublica: What Trump And Biden Should Debate At The Cleveland Clinic: Why The Hospital’s Private Police Mostly Arrest Black People 
Cleveland Clinic’s private force ... is granted policing powers by the city. These hospital cops don’t just handle disturbances in hospital corridors or emergency rooms. In look and practice almost indistinguishable from Cleveland police, the clinic’s 153 officers are armed, make arrests and stop motorists on city streets, including major commuter routes. Along with smaller private police departments operated by University Hospitals and the nonprofit University Circle economic development group, they patrol the city’s medical zone, an island of prosperity and promise that cuts through one of the poorest sections of Cleveland. (Armstrong, 9/28)

Kaiser Health News: Promises Kept? On Health Care, Trump’s Claims Of ‘Monumental Steps’ Don’t Add Up  
When it comes to health care, President Donald Trump has promised far more than he has delivered. But that doesn’t mean his administration has had no impact on health issues — including the operation of the Affordable Care Act, prescription drug prices and women’s access to reproductive health services. In a last-ditch effort to raise his approval rating on an issue on which he trails Democrat Joe Biden in most polls, Trump on Thursday unveiled his “America First Healthcare Plan,” which includes a number of promises with no details and pumps some minor achievements into what the administration calls “monumental steps to improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare in the United States.” (Rovner and Galewitz, 9/28)

In other election news related to COVID and voting —

AP: Appellate Court Halts Wisconsin Ballot-Counting Extension
A federal appeals court on Sunday temporarily halted a six-day extension for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin’s presidential election, a momentary victory for Republicans and President Donald Trump in the key presidential battleground state. As it stands, ballots will now be due by 8 p.m. on Election Day. A lower court judge had sided with Democrats and their allies to extend the deadline until Nov. 9. Democrats sought more time as a way to help deal with an expected historic high number of absentee ballots. (Richmond, 9/27)

The Washington Post: Third U.S. Judge Bars Postal Service Delivery Cuts Before November Presidential Election 
A third federal judge on Sunday ordered the U.S. Postal Service to halt changes that have delayed mail delivery nationwide, handing the latest judicial rebuke to unilateral service cuts that critics allege would suppress mail-in voting in November’s elections. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Washington, D.C., sided with the states of New York, Hawaii and New Jersey and the cities of New York and San Francisco. They alleged that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy disrupted operations without first submitting changes to the Postal Regulatory Commission, and told Congress he had no intention of returning removed collection boxes or high-speed sorting equipment. (Hsu, 9/27)

The New York Times: Ransomware Attacks Take On New Urgency Ahead Of Vote 
A Texas company that sells software that cities and states use to display results on election night was hit by ransomware last week, the latest of nearly a thousand such attacks over the past year against small towns, big cities and the contractors who run their voting systems. Many of the attacks are conducted by Russian criminal groups, some with shady ties to President Vladimir V. Putin’s intelligence services. But the attack on Tyler Technologies, which continued on Friday night with efforts by outsiders to log into its clients’ systems around the country, was particularly rattling less than 40 days before the election. (Perlroth and Sanger, 9/27)

The New York Times: For 38 Million Americans With Disabilities, Voting Is Even Harder Than Usual This Year.
According to new projections from researchers at Rutgers University, nearly one in six American voters is disabled. For those 38 million people, the coronavirus pandemic has enormously complicated what was already a frustratingly difficult process: casting a vote. (Astor, 9/25)

Stat: New Document Reveals Scope And Structure Of Operation Warp Speed And Underscores Vast Military Involvement
When President Trump unveiled Operation Warp Speed in May, he declared that it was “unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project.” The initiative — to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics — lacks the scale, and the degree of secrecy, of the effort to build the atomic bomb. But Operation Warp Speed is largely an abstraction in Washington, with little known about who works there other than its top leaders, or how it operates. (Florko, 9/28)

Stat: The 8 Most Important Leaders Of Operation Warp Speed 
Below are the eight most important people leading Operation Warp Speed. It is based on an organizational chart obtained and published by STAT, as well as interviews with more than a dozen officials close to leaders of the initiative. Their mission: to help develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine in record time or risk contributing to the coronavirus response as a dark moment in the nation’s history. (Florko, 9/28)

Also —

The New York Times: A Top Trump Official Dismisses A Report That He Pushed The F.D.A. To Soften New Vaccine Guidelines.
The White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, dismissed reports that he had pressured the Food and Drug Administration to soften new, stricter guidelines that the agency was preparing for the emergency authorization of coronavirus vaccines.“Why would we do that?” he asked Margaret Brennan on the CBS program “Face the Nation”on Sunday. (9/27)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: How Long, Really, Before There’s A COVID-19 Vaccine? Experts Weigh In
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told governors that, by Election Day, they need to have plans in place for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine. Not that he thinks that most Americans would have access to such a vaccine by then, even if one becomes available. (Oliviero and Stirgus, 9/26)

Stat: A Guide To How — And When — A Covid-19 Vaccine Could Be Cleared
In a U.S. pandemic response dominated by missteps, the effort to develop vaccines to prevent Covid-19 has so far been a triumph. Vaccines against the coronavirus that causes the disease are now racing through giant clinical trials as a result. (Herper, 9/28)

Modern Healthcare: Tracking Patients’ COVID-19 Vaccinations Likely To Challenge Providers
COVID-19 and the hope for a solution—a vaccine—have shined a light on yet another long-standing problem in healthcare that is likely to get worse: patient identification. The coronavirus crisis, responsible for more than 200,000 deaths in the U.S., has brought renewed focus on patient matching, a subtle but still crucial patient safety and operational challenge hospitals have been grappling with for decades. (Cohen, 9/26)

In other vaccine news —

FiercePharma: As Phase 3 Kicks Off, Novavax And Endo Ink Manufacturing Pact For COVID-19 Vaccine
Maryland biotech Novavax has kicked off late-stage testing for its COVID-19 shot in the U.K. as the hunt for a vaccine hits critical mass—and its U.S. and India trials aren't far behind. To help supply those pivotal trials and a potential commercial rollout, Novavax is partnering with a major generics player. Endo's Par generics unit will handle phase 3 clinical supply and commercial fill-finish responsibilities for Novavax's recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, at its Rochester, Michigan, plant, the partners said Friday. (Blankenship, 9/25)

AP: Drugmaker Novavax Begins Late-Stage Vaccine Trial In UK
U.S.-based Novavax has begun a late stage trial of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom because the high-level of the coronavirus circulating in the country is likely to produce quick results, the pharmaceutical company said. Novavax plans to test the effectiveness of its vaccine in a trial involving 10,000 people between the ages of 18 and 84, according to a statement issued late Thursday. At least 25% of the subjects will be over the age of 65, and 400 participants will also receive a licensed flu vaccine. (Kirka, 9/25)

Reuters: Australian Firm Says Its Nasal Spray Reduced Coronavirus Growth In Animal Study
Australian biotech company Ena Respiratory said on Monday that a nasal spray it is developing to improve the human immune system to fight common cold and flu significantly reduced the growth of the coronavirus in a recent study on animals. A study on ferrets showed the product dubbed INNA-051, which could be used complementary to vaccines, lowered the levels of the virus that causes COVID-19 by up to 96%, the company said. The study was led by British government agency Public Health England. (9/27)

AP: China Pushes Emergency Use Of COVID Vaccine Despite Concerns
After the first shot, he had no reaction. But Kan Chai felt woozy following the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in China. “When I was driving on the road, I suddenly felt a bit dizzy, as if I was driving drunk,” the popular writer and columnist recounted in a webinar earlier this month. “So I specially found a place to stop the car, rest a bit and then I felt better.” His is a rare account from the hundreds of thousands of people who have been given Chinese vaccines, before final regulatory approval for general use. It’s an unusual move that raises ethical and safety questions, as companies and governments worldwide race to develop a vaccine that will stop the spread of the coronavirus. (Wu and McNeil, 9/26)

Politico: Ranking Countries’ Likelihood To Secure A Future Coronavirus Vaccine
As soon as drugmakers began testing their coronavirus vaccine candidates, rich countries moved aggressively to lock in deals guaranteeing millions doses for their populations. A global coalition of international organizations is trying to ensure that doesn’t leave poor countries out in the cold. We’ve mapped where 15 countries, plus the European Union, stand when it comes to their likelihood of having access to a vaccine once it proves safe and effective against the virus. (Paun and Heath, 9/24)

FiercePharma: Gilead's Rheumatoid Arthritis Med Filgotinib, After Cold Shoulder From FDA, Wins Global-First Nod In Japan 
The FDA handed Gilead Sciences and its partner Galapagos a surprising no-go for blockbuster hopeful filgotinib last month. But that didn’t stop regulators in Japan from making a different decision on the rheumatoid arthritis drug. The country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved filgotinib, to be sold under the brand name Jyseleca, to treat rheumatoid arthritis in patients who haven’t responded well to conventional therapies, Gilead and its local distribution partner Eisai said Friday. (Liu, 9/25)

In other pharmaceutical news —

FiercePharma: Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo Cuts Relapse Risk In Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer 
Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo has plenty of competition in its current bladder cancer indication—so it’s hoping to strike out on its own in a new area of the disease. The company revealed Thursday that its PD-1 fighter, against placebo, had lengthened the time muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma patients could remain disease-free after surgery. All patients saw benefit, regardless of whether their tumors expressed levels of biomarker PD-L1. (Helfand, 9/25)

Stat: Illumina And Grail CEOs Defend Their Deal To Investors
Shares of Illumina, the leader in DNA sequencing, have dropped 13% since news leaked last week that the company would be buying Grail, a startup developing a blood test to detect cancer. Obviously, not every investor loves the $8 billion deal. (Herper, 9/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Chinese Retailer JD.Com’s Health-Care Business Plans Hong Kong IPO 
JD Health International Inc., an online health-care business controlled by Chinese online retailing giant JD.com Inc., JD 2.68% filed an application to go public in Hong Kong, in a deal that people familiar with the situation said could raise at least $3 billion. The Beijing-based company said it operates China’s largest online retail pharmacy by revenue, and provides health-related services including online consultations with doctors and medical-appointment scheduling. It is also looking to expand into prescription-drug wholesaling in China. (Chiu, 9/28)

AP: Nearly 1M Who Died Of COVID-19 Also Illuminated Treatment
The nearly 1 million people around the world who have lost their lives to COVID-19 have left us a gift: Through desperate efforts to save their lives, scientists now better understand how to treat and prevent the disease — and millions of others may survive. Ming Wang, 71, and his wife were on a cruise from Australia, taking a break after decades of running the family’s Chinese restaurant in Papillion, Nebraska, when he was infected. In the 74 days he was hospitalized before his death in June, doctors frantically tried various experimental approaches, including enrolling him in a study of an antiviral drug that ultimately showed promise. (Marchione, 9/27)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 During Pregnancy Not Associated With Complications In Infants
A Swedish study of pregnant COVID-19 patients giving birth at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm from Mar 25 to Jul 24 found a higher likelihood of labor complications, but no significant differences in outcomes in newborns compared with COVID-19–negative women. Published in JAMA this week, the study tested women in labor using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on nasopharyngeal swabs to identify COVID-19–positive patients. Among 2,682 women, 156 (5.8%) were SARS-CoV-2 positive and 65% of those who tested positive were asymptomatic—meaning they had no symptoms compatible with COVID-19. (9/25)

AP: Tiny Airborne Particles May Pose A Big Coronavirus Problem
At a University of Maryland lab, people infected with the new coronavirus take turns sitting in a chair and putting their faces into the big end of a large cone. They recite the alphabet and sing or just sit quietly for a half hour. Sometimes they cough. The cone sucks up everything that comes out of their mouths and noses. It’s part of a device called “Gesundheit II” that is helping scientists study a big question: Just how does the virus that causes COVID-19 spread from one person to another? (Ritter, 9/26)

CIDRAP: Children, Adolescents Less Susceptible To COVID-19, Meta-Analysis Finds
A systemic review and meta-analysis in JAMA Pediatrics today found that children and adolescents have a significantly lower susceptibility to COVID-19 than adults do. Previous studies have reached similar conclusions, but this study pools data from 32 studies to get a clearer overall picture. Children and adolescents younger than 20 years were nearly half as likely to be infected than adults (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.37 to 0.85) in the review of studies that involved contact tracing or population screening through Jul 28 and included a total of 41,640 children and adolescents and 268,945 adults. The decreased risk of infection was most pronounced in children younger than 10 to 14 years, "with adolescents appearing to have similar susceptibility to adults," the study authors write. (9/25)

CIDRAP: Demographics, Underlying Conditions Tied To Worse COVID In Health Workers
Today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) provides updated information from voluntary reports on 100,570 healthcare personnel (HCP) with COVID-19 from February to July that shows variations in risk, including higher death rates in minority workers. The authors analyzed data from standardized case report forms containing HCP demographic characteristics, including newly reported occupation type and job setting, underlying medical conditions, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths. (9/25)

In other science and research news —

NPR: How Often Do You Need To Shower? A Doctor Argues, Less Often Than You Think
James Hamblin is tired of being asked if he's smelly. Hamblin, a physician and health reporter, has been fielding the question since 2016, when the article he wrote about his decision to stop showering went viral. The piece outlines compelling reasons why one might want to spend less time sudsing up: Cosmetic products are expensive, showering uses a lot of water, and the whole process takes up valuable time. Perhaps most importantly, bathing disrupts our skin's microbiome: the delicate ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, mites and viruses that live on (and in) our body's largest organ. Most of these microbes are thought to be benign freeloaders; they feast on our sweat and oils without impacting our health. A small number cause harmful effects, ranging in severity from an irksome itch to a life-threatening infection. And some help us out by, for example, preventing more dangerous species from taking up residence. (Vaughn, 9/26)

Modern Healthcare: Premera Blue Cross To Pay Second-Largest HIPAA Fine To OCR
Premera Blue Cross has agreed to pay HHS' Office for Civil Rights $6.85 million, the second-largest fine resolving alleged HIPAA violations in OCR's history, the agency said Friday. OCR imposed the fine on the Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based health insurer to settle alleged HIPAA violations linked to a 2014 data breach that compromised data on 10.4 million people. (Cohen, 9/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: Children's Minnesota Considering 'Significant' Layoffs, Consolidation Of Services
Citing mounting financial pressure from the pandemic, demographic shifts and policy changes, Minneapolis-based Children's Minnesota is eyeing "significant" layoffs and service consolidations, according to the Star Tribune. Children's Minnesota said it is considering moving some pediatric services from its inpatient hospital in St. Paul, Minn., to its Minneapolis campus. Some of the services that may be consolidated into one location include pediatric intensive care services, neurology services and diabetes care. (Paavola, 9/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: Mercy Iowa City To Close Inpatient Mental Health Unit
Mercy Iowa City said it will close its mental and behavioral health unit by the end of the year, according to The Gazette. The hospital said it plans to shutter the unit due to financial pressures exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mercy Hospital Iowa told the Gazette it plans to expand outpatient behavioral health services because "there is greater community need." (Paavola, 9/25)

Modern Healthcare: Two Years After Leaping Into Senior Living, ProMedica Says Bet Is Paying Off
ProMedica's leaders say they knew buying HCR ManorCare meant sacrificing—at least in the short run—their debt ratio and perhaps even their credit ratings. Indeed, all three rating agencies have since downgraded the health system, citing its debt ratio. The tradeoff, they say, was made in service of a larger, multipronged strategy that's just starting to bear fruit. (Bannow, 9/25)

In other health industry news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Nurses And Other Union Workers Authorize Oct. 7 Strike Against East Bay Hospitals
Employees in the Alameda Health System — which largely serves minority communities — plan to begin a five-day strike on Oct. 7, the California Nurses Association announced Saturday. In a release, the union said the strike authorization was spurred by concerns over patient safety during the pandemic, along with what it called punitive actions from management at the Alameda Health System that have hindered recruitment and the retention of registered nurses. The strike affects Alameda Hospital, San Leandro Hospital and Highland Hospital. (Johnson, 9/27)

Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross NC To Spend Legal Winnings On Members
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Friday that it is using its legal recoveries from a successful lawsuit over unpaid Affordable Care Act risk-corridor funds to help members with health, wellness and household expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The N.C. Blue affiliate said it will mail $200 million in retail cards to more than 600,000 members in October and November to help them pay for over-the-counter medications, groceries, first-aid supplies, vitamins, exercise equipment and other items at a variety of retailers. (Livingston, 9/25)

Modern Healthcare: Pharmacists In Ohio Managing Care As Providers—And Getting Paid For It Too
Until a few months ago, pharmacists at Franklin Pharmacy in Warren, Ohio, would rattle off a familiar script when a customer arrived at the counter to pick up a prescription: here’s how to take your medicine; these are the side effects; do you have any questions? Most times, the answer was no. Since June they have begun sitting down with patients who have chronic illnesses or have just been discharged from the hospital. They go over medications and make sure the patient is taking them as prescribed. They ask about stress, exercise routines, smoking and other health concerns—topics usually reserved for the primary-care doctor. (Livingston, 9/26)

Modern Healthcare: What IPO And Walmart Deal Mean For Fast-Growing Oak Street Health
Fortified by an initial public offering, Oak Street Health is moving into new markets and testing a less familiar business model as it navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chicago-based network of primary care clinics for people 65 and older, many of whom have complex medical and social needs, raised $352 million when it went public last month. (Goldberg, 9/27)

The Washington Post: A Medical School Class Thought The Hippocratic Oath Fell Flat. So They Wrote Their Own Script. 
At the suggestion of one of the assistant deans at the medical school, the incoming students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine decided to update their oath for the first time in the 137-year history of the school. As they rewrote it, it became more explicitly inclusive of all people, including those historically overlooked by the medical community. It was embraced full-heartedly by the administration. The oath, which was taken by the entire 149-member class last month, acknowledges the lives lost to covid-19, the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, and the history of the “fundamental failings of our health care and political systems in serving vulnerable communities.” (Onyekweli, 9/26)

Detroit Free Press: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Mandates Masks For K-5 Students While In Class
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a new order Friday that requires the state's youngest students to wear a mask while attending face-to-face class. Previously, the governor required older students to wear a mask, but the new order mandates students in kindergarten through fifth grade don a facial covering as well. (Boucher, 9/25)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Withholds School COVID-19 Counts From Public
Georgia health officials have decided to withhold information about coronavirus infections at each school, saying the public has no legal right to information about outbreaks that the state is investigating. The Georgia Department of Public Health started requiring weekly reports from the schools last month and initially said it might share the information with the public. The decision not to reveal the number of COVID-19 case counts and related quarantines and “clusters” means the only recourse for parents and teachers trying to gauge the risk is the willingness of their local school system to publicize its own data. (Tagami, 9/25)

Tampa Bay Times: A Pinellas Art Teacher Savors Her Classroom, Putting Cancer And Fear Aside
Rhonda Rayman can go on and on about the safety features in her art classroom at Lakewood Elementary School. How she retrofitted pizza boxes so children can keep track of their own supplies. How she set up display racks and shower curtains to separate the kids’ tables... It’s not enough to satisfy Rayman’s daughters, who are in their thirties and wonder why their mother — 58 and a recent cancer survivor — would set foot in a public school this year. (Sokol, 9/28)

In higher-education news —

AP: Quinnipiac Sends Home, Suspends 23 Students Over COVID Rules
Quinnipiac University has sent home or suspended more than 20 student in recent days for violating visitor and other policies, both on- and off-campus, that are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, according to a top school official. Tom Ellett, the school’s chief experience officer, said in an email sent Thursday to students that 11 undergraduates have been sent home for four weeks and a dozen off-campus students were suspended. He said they’ve been accused of violating the school’s no visitor policy for residence halls, having non-Quinnipiac University guests on campus and/or exceeding capacity limits on indoor gatherings. (9/27)

The Washington Post: For D.C.-Area Colleges, Mass Testing, Slow Return To In-Person Classes Brings Stability In Pandemic 
After a chaotic spring, uncertain summer and a rocky start to the fall semester, universities in the D.C. area have found varying levels of stability. American, George Washington, Georgetown and Howard universities — which abandoned plans to conduct the semester in-person and opted instead to host most ­classes online — have reported a handful of novel coronavirus ­cases on and around their campuses. (Lumpkin, 9/27)

Albuquerque Journal: Universities To Treat Water In Navajo Nation Communities 
Environmental science students at Navajo Technical University are often asked by their professors about how they want to give back to their Navajo Nation communities. The top answer: by improving access to clean water. Navajo Technical University and New Mexico Tech have teamed up to address such water issues in rural Navajo areas, starting a pilot project to build and operate filtration units for well sites across the vast reservation. (Davis, 9/27)

AP: Mushrooms Linked To Salmonella Outbreaks In 10 States
Federal officials are warning of salmonella cases in at least 10 states linked to dried mushrooms from a Southern California company. More than 40 people have gotten sick and four have been hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. (9/26)

How COVID has affected households —

WBUR: Nearly Two-Thirds Of U.S. Households Struck By COVID-19 Face Financial Trouble
COVID-19 has caused widespread damage to the economy — so wide that it can be easy to overlook how unevenly households are suffering. But new polling data out this month reveal households that either have had someone with COVID-19 or include someone who has a disability or special needs are much more likely to also be hurting financially. (Farmer, 9/28)

Stateline: Mothers Are 3 Times More Likely Than Fathers To Have Lost Jobs In Pandemic
Mothers of small children have lost work at three times the rate of fathers in the pandemic, a situation that threatens not only progress toward gender equity but middle-class income gains that have become increasingly dependent on working women. Mothers of children 12 years old and younger lost nearly 2.2 million jobs between February and August, a 12% drop, a Stateline analysis found. Fathers of small children saw a 4% drop of about 870,000 jobs. (Henderson, 9/28)

Bloomberg: Best And Worst Jobs America: Home Care Pay Comparison With Fast Food Industry
A job in home-based health care, America’s quickest-growing industry, felt like a step up the ladder for Shawanna Ferguson when she left her fast-food job a decade ago. But in terms of pay and security, it didn’t turn out to be much of an advance. It’s taken a public-health emergency to shine a spotlight on the precarious conditions and low pay in this key corner of America’s direct-care economy -- a key employer for Black women, in particular -- and turn it into an issue for presidential politics. Democratic candidate Joe Biden is promising a $775 billion investment in the industry, which he says will help give carers a pay raise. (Dmitrieva, 9/26)

Detroit Free Press: Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Most Vulnerable On Multiple Fronts
COVID-19 has not only exposed health disparities in the U.S., it has also brought to light economic inequalities, according to numerous economists and studies examining the pandemic's impact. On a local level, those disparities become apparent in Detroit when compared with the suburbs and the rest of Michigan. At its peak in the pandemic, the unemployment rate in Detroit nearly hit 50%, more than four times the unemployment rate in the city prior to the pandemic, according to a representative survey of Detroiters from the University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study. (Roberts, 9/26)

In other public health news —

AP: First Man Cured Of HIV Infection Now Has Terminal Cancer
Timothy Ray Brown, the first person known to have been cured of HIV infection, says he is now terminally ill from a recurrence of the cancer that prompted his historic treatment 12 years ago. Brown, dubbed “the Berlin patient” because of where he lived at the time, had a transplant from a donor with a rare, natural resistance to the AIDS virus. For years, that was thought to have cured his leukemia and his HIV infection, and he still shows no signs of HIV. But in an interview with The Associated Press, Brown said his cancer returned last year and has spread widely. He’s receiving hospice care where he now lives in Palm Springs, California. (Marchione, 9/25)

Los Angeles Times: Hawaiian Airlines Will Offer COVID Tests To Passengers From L.A. 
As Hawaii prepares to ease its pandemic quarantine rules on Oct. 15, Hawaiian Airlines says it will offer pre-flight COVID-19 testing to passengers flying from LAX and San Francisco International Airport. The tests, which will cost $90-$150, are intended to give passengers an easier way to show island authorities a fresh negative result. Starting Oct. 15, Hawaii will waive its 14-day quarantine requirement for passengers who can show negative results from an approved COVID test within 72 hours of departure. (Reynolds, 9/25)

Arizona Republic: Unmask Arizona Rally Against Mask Mandates, COVID-19 Orders Draws 50
Around 50 people gathered in front of the Arizona Capitol building Friday to protest Gov. Doug Ducey's executive order on COVID-19 and to call for an end to mask mandates. Dawn Garcia, one of the organizers of the event, said she and her friend decided to plan the event after joining a Facebook group called Great 48, which has organized similar events earlier this year. She said she saw how people were feeling suppressed and wanted to reach out to do something that could make a change. (Jones, 9/25)

Boston Globe Spotlight Team: Last Words: A Globe Spotlight Report. Is Death The Great Equalizer? 
Here, in a progressive state that boasts some of the world’s greatest hospitals, poor people live shorter lives, much shorter, than those with money. Black and Latino patients get less hospice care, die with more pain, and suffer more early deaths than do white and Asian people. People who are Black, Latino, or poor die more often inside sterile hospitals, while the wealthier have long had better access to residential-like alternatives. (9/27)

The New York Times: We’ll Have To Learn To Live With Smoke. Here’s Why. 
For a full week this month, my family did not leave our house here in this famously outdoorsy city. At times, smoke from the state’s huge wildfires made it hard to see to the end of the block. Sometimes, we could barely see across the street. The smoke was extreme, yes. But it was also a glimpse of the future. “We’re not going to get off of this wildfire train anytime soon,” said Jennifer Balch, a fire scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “The big question is, how do we want our smoke?” (Rosen, 9/23)

Chicago Tribune: Here's How Getting The Flu Shot Is Different This Year 
Getting the flu shot this year is going to look different in Illinois as patients and medical facilities adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Chicago-area doctors and pharmacies are offering drive-thru flu shots for kids and adults to help with social distancing. And some companies that normally offer vaccines in the office are giving vouchers to employees working from home that they can redeem at pharmacies. (Schencker, 9/25)

Kaiser Health News: Health On Wheels: Tricked-Out RVs Deliver Addiction Treatment To Rural Communities 
Tonja Jimenez is far from the only person driving an RV down Colorado’s rural highways. But unlike the other rigs, her 34-foot-long motor home is equipped as an addiction treatment clinic on wheels, bringing lifesaving treatment to the northeastern corner of the state, where patients with substance use disorders are often left to fend for themselves. As in many states, access to addiction treatment remains a challenge in Colorado, so a new state program has transformed six RVs into mobile clinics to reach isolated farming communities and remote mountain hamlets. And, in recent months, they’ve become more crucial: During the coronavirus pandemic, even as brick-and-mortar addiction clinics have closed or stopped taking new patients, these six-wheeled clinics have kept going, except for a pit stop this summer for air conditioning repair. (Hawryluk, 9/28)

NPR: Food Insecurity In The U.S. By The Numbers 
With COVID-19 continuing to spread, and millions of Americans still out of work, one of the nation's most urgent problems has only grown worse: hunger. In communities across the country, the lines at food pantries are stretching longer and longer, and there's no clear end in sight. Before the pandemic, the number of families experiencing food insecurity — defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life — had been steadily falling. But now, as economic instability and a health crisis takes over, new estimates point to some of the worst rates of food insecurity in the United States in years. (Silva, 9/27)

NPR: A Crisis Within A Crisis: Food Insecurity And COVID-19
Over the summer, like many parents, I was looking to keep my kids productive after their summer jobs and summer sports camps were canceled. Together we came up with a project we've undertaken before — collecting books that our well-read and generous neighbors were ready to hand over — and delivering them to students and families who could use something new to read. But with schools closed, shelters and nursing homes off limits because of COVID-19, where to bring them? A neighbor connected us with a local school board representative, who was already delivering books to schools where food that would have been served for free or at reduced cost was instead packed up for families to pick up and eat at home. He invited us to add our contributions. After a couple of weeks of collecting, we packed up several cars with boxes and set out for our first drop. (Martin, 9/27)

NPR: In Affluent Maryland County, Pandemic Exacerbates Food Insecurity 
An hour before the food distribution event began in Bethesda, Md., on a recent Friday, a long line of cars was already winding through the parking lot. Volunteers from St. John's Episcopal Church worked to unpack boxes of bread, prepared meals and coffee — enough for the first 200 people to arrive. Nourish Now, a Maryland-based nonprofit food bank, provides food for the weekly events.Waiting in his car, Peter Warner was sure to arrive early this time. Last week, the group ran out of meals within a half hour. (Martin, 9/27)

WUSA9: Some Virginia Food Banks See Demand Spike After Summer
Following the end of special federal benefits, this summer provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has risen even more in the DMV during a year already bringing significant demand for help. According to Capital Area Food Bank, which partners with over 450 nonprofit organizations in DC and the surrounding region, hunger is expected to increase by up to 60% in 2020 because of the pandemic. The spike equates to around 200,000 more people needing food. (Dempsey, 9/26)

In related news about food insecurity and the COVID crisis —

The Wall Street Journal: Grocers Stockpile, Build ‘Pandemic Pallets’ Ahead Of Winter 
Grocery stores and food companies are preparing for a possible surge in sales amid a new rise in Covid-19 cases and the impending holiday rush. Supermarkets are stockpiling groceries and storing them early to prepare for the fall and winter months, when some health experts warn the country could see another widespread outbreak of virus cases and new restrictions. Food companies are accelerating production of their most popular items, and leaders across the industry are saying they won’t be caught unprepared in the face of another pandemic surge. (Kang and Gasparro, 9/27)

The Washington Post: Caregivers Of Elderly Loved Ones Face Heavy Emotional, Physical, Financial Toll 
Nearly four years after her longtime partner’s death, Michelle Murphy still wakes in a panic, imagining that she forgot to help him breathe. At 61, Jeffrey Senne was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Murphy had become his main financial support and caregiver in their woodsy Northern California home. She ended up devoting 11 years to looking after him. As the disease progressed, Senne, who Murphy says once looked like Harrison Ford, grew bald and frail, lost control of his bowels and could no longer speak or swallow. To prevent him from suffocating, she would have to wake up at least every two hours to suction the saliva pooling in his mouth. “I was terrified that he’d die on my watch,” she says. (Ellison, 9/27)

Reuters: The Missing Grandparents: Families Mourn Elder Generation Lost To COVID-19
The global death toll from COVID-19 is approaching 1 million people, and in the last week the number of dead in the United States alone passed 200,000. Out of every 100 people who have been killed here by the disease in the United States, around 70 are aged 65 or over. These staggering statistics mean that families are now missing tens of thousands of grandparents who were alive six months ago. More than 80% of Americans 65 and older have one or more grandchild, Pew Research shows here, and two-thirds of those have more than four. (Brice, Young, Caspani and Hay, 9/27)

The Atlantic: The Relentlessness Of Black Grief 
The only constant now is loss. More than 200,000 people are dead from COVID-19. We’ve all lost time, routines, jobs, connections to others. But the grief has not been evenly distributed. Grief in this country has always had an equity problem, and 2020 has only amplified the issue, as Black deaths have come in back-to-back blows, from the coronavirus, police brutality, and the natural deaths of those we look up to most. Each new death, each new example of an old injustice, renews our grief, sending little shock waves of sorrow. We are in the middle of a Black bereavement crisis, and we do not have the privilege or time to grieve. (Evans, 9/27)

Fortune: The Biggest Risk In Business Right Now Is Grief
By the time the pandemic fully swept over New York City this spring, Electric's employees were already in mourning. On March 18, days after the tech startup closed its downtown Manhattan offices and asked its 145 workers to start doing their jobs from home, one of their number died suddenly and tragically—not from the coronavirus that was swiftly becoming real to New Yorkers, but from an unexpected heart problem. James Stepney, a 32-year-old senior customer-support technician from the Bronx, with a kind smile and an easygoing warmth around the office, had wanted to get in one last workout before New York’s gyms closed. He collapsed at the gym and was rushed to the ICU, where he died a little over a day later. “He was an incredible person. It was a huge hit,” Jamie Coakley, Electric’s vice president of people, says months after his death. Then her voice catches: “I’m going to get emotional here.” (Aspan, 9/27)

Fortune: 5 Better Ways To Help Your Employees Mourn At The Office
As the United States crosses 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, grief has become the biggest risk facing U.S. employers. Most have absolutely no idea how to handle it—or how to avoid the billions of dollars it costs in lost productivity. “We always think grief is all about time off—and of course it’s about time off, and we don’t give enough time off,” says grief expert David Kessler of Grief.com. “But it’s also about how you handle it.” (Aspan, 9/27)

 Billings Gazette: Montana Sees Rise In Crisis Calls Amid Pandemic 
A nationwide increase in depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and attempts followed the spread in the virus in the United States. The dilemma of securing and promoting resources for mental health had already been a priority for officials in Montana, which led the nation for years in suicide rates. While the number of suicides in the state has not increased substantially during the past nine months, outreach to its crisis services has spiked. (Hamby, 9/27)

In related news about mental health insurance coverage —

Sacramento Bee: Gavin Newsom Signs California Mental Health Coverage Bill
Some Californians may have an easier time accessing treatment for mental health conditions like anxiety, PTSD and addiction under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Friday. The measure, Senate Bill 855, requires insurance companies to cover all mental health and addiction treatment deemed “medically necessary” by a doctor. (Bollag, 9/25)

Dallas Morning News: Another Pandemic Effect: More Virtual Care, More Mental Health Help And Higher Costs For 2021 Health Plans
The pandemic, which has disrupted so much of our lives, has shaken up health benefits, too — and sometimes for the better. Over 150 million Americans, including nearly half the population of Texas, get health coverage through an employer. And next month, many workers will select their health benefits during open enrollment. They’re likely to see a big increase in coverage for virtual care, most commonly used for smartphone visits with doctors and other providers. While virtual care has been available for years, the approach took off after the pandemic forced many practices to lock down in the spring. (Schnurman, 9/27)

Politico: DeSantis Flings Open Florida In Trump’s Campaign For Normalcy 
President Donald Trump found a new applause line at his Florida rally this week: “Normal life. O! I love normal life. We want to get back to normal life.” The next day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to deliver on that promise — or the appearance of it. The Republican governor of the president’s must-win battleground responded 24 hours later by canceling all state coronavirus restrictions Friday without warning, catching local governments and epidemiologists off-guard amid their own strategies to keep the coronavirus contained. (Caputo, 9/25)

CBS News: Florida Lifts All Coronavirus Restaurant Restrictions Despite Persistent Cases
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday lifted all restrictions on businesses statewide, pushing the state, which has long been a coronavirus hotspot, into its "phase three" of reopening. Florida has more than 695,000 COVID-19 cases and a 13.38% testing positivity rate, according to Johns Hopkins University. The governor announced an executive order allowing all restaurants and bars to operate at 100% capacity. In addition to lifting health restrictions on businesses, DeSantis said he is banning cities and counties from fining people who do not social distance or wear face masks — essentially eliminating all local mask mandates. (Lewis, 9/25)

New York Post: Florida Bars Packed After State Lifts COVID-19 Restrictions
Crowds packed into some Florida bars over the weekend after Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted coronavirus restrictions on them and other businesses, according to a report. Footage showed patrons overflowing out of the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday after the governor’s surprise order, news station WPLG reported. “I’m healthy, I’m strong and I feel comfortable with all my friends,” said Dan Gibby, who was at the watering hole. (Salo, 9/27)

Tampa Bay Times: Florida Surpasses 700,000 Coronavirus Cases As State Enters Phase 3 Reopening
The Florida Department of Health linked 12 more deaths to the novel coronavirus on Sunday and reported an additional 1,882 infections, sending the Sunshine State past yet another grim milestone in the public health pandemic — more than 700,000 coronavirus cases. Since March 1, the day Florida’s first coronavirus cases were announced to the public, state health officials have tracked 700,564 cases. Sunday’s update brings the total number of fatalities in Florida to 14,202, records show. (Dawson, 9/27)

Also —

The Washington Post: Florida Education Commissioner Orders Miami To Open Schools 
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has ordered Miami-Dade County Public Schools to fully open its buildings five days a week by Oct. 5. That’s more than two weeks earlier than the system, the fourth largest in the country, had decided to do after a marathon 29-hour meeting last week. In a letter sent to Perla Tabares Hantman, the school board president, and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Corcoran said he had “grave concerns” about the system’s decision to postpone the planned Oct. 5 opening of school buildings. The board voted Sept. 22 to open schools for some students on Oct. 14, with all students who opted to return to classrooms to be there by Oct. 21, giving the district time to put in place sufficient safety measures to prevent coronavirus outbreaks. (Strauss, 9/27)

Modern Healthcare: Miami’s Diverse Community Challenges Effort To Fight COVID-19
Miami’s identity as an international city with a diverse population has steered its response to the pandemic, health officials say. Miami is not only home to immigrants and those from various cultures, but it’s also where many migrant workers and those who are homeless live. Add to that the area’s ranks of retirees and tourists, and it has created an environment in which hospitals need to reflect the community in order to provide good care. (Christ, 9/26)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan To Repeal Ban On Food Stamps For People With Drug Convictions
Michiganders with two or more felony drug convictions will no longer be banned for life from receiving food stamps under a change in the state budget. The move comes after a coalition of organizations across the state advocated for repealing the ban, arguing that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services policy arbitrarily punished people with histories of drug crimes. (Jackson, 9/25)

In news from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maine —

Boston Globe: 2 Former Leaders Charged In COVID-19 Outbreak At Holyoke Soldiers' Home That Left 76 Dead 
Two former leaders of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home were indicted on criminal neglect charges in what is believed to be the first US prosecution of nursing home caregivers over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The indictments against former superintendent Bennett Walsh and ex-medical director Dr. David Clinton stemmed from the “horrific circumstances” that claimed the lives of at least 76 veterans who contracted COVID-19 at the state-run facility, said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey Friday in announcing the charges. (Crimaldi and Krueger, 9/25)

Boston Globe: Governor Baker And His Staff Continue To Withhold Key Pandemic Data 
Governor Charlie Baker’s administration continues to withhold key details about COVID-19 cases and deaths at many nursing homes and other senior-care facilities, despite Baker signing a law three months ago that requires greater disclosure about infections at the institutions. The law specifically orders the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to issue a daily report with the number of cases and deaths for staff and residents at nursing homes, assisted living centers, and other health care and housing facilities catering to the elderly. (Wallack, 9/27)

AP: Firefighters' Union Sues State, City Over Virus Handling
The Atlantic City firefighters’ union filed a lawsuit against the city and state over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying scores of firefighters have been exposed to the virus. The Press of Atlantic City reports that lawyers for Local 198 allege in a complaint in Atlantic County Superior Court that the “ineffective approach” of government officials to containing the virus spread has jeopardized the health and safety of firefighters, their families and the public. (9/27)

Philadelphia Inquirer: How Well Are Pa. And N.J. Controlling The Coronavirus? We Did The Math. Here’s What We Found.
Since May, COVID-19 diagnostic testing in Pennsylvania has steadily increased, while the percentage of tests that come back positive has steadily fallen. These reassuring trends are even more striking in New Jersey, which was a national hot spot for coronavirus in the spring. Both states now report that their proportion of positive tests, called the positivity rate, has been below 5% for at least 14 days. That’s the World Health Organization’s benchmark for having infection transmission under control. (McCullough, 9/25)

AP: Maine CDC Among First To Participate In Dementia Help Act
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention will be among the first public health organizations in the country to receive federal money to expand services for people with dementia under a new nationwide program. The program is called the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, or the BOLD Act. Maine CDC said it’s set to get $200,000, which can be renewed every year through 2023. (9/27)

In news from Georgia, Iowa, Texas, North Dakota and California —

PBS NewsHour: Inside Georgia’s Latest Attempt To Change How People Access Obamacare 
In Georgia, a new health insurance proposal could upend the Affordable Care Act exchange. While proponents see the changes as a way to increase health insurance enrollment, critics warn that tens of thousands of Georgians could lose healthcare coverage. (Booker, Weber and Kargbo, 9/27)

Des Moines Register: Coronavirus: Iowa Adding 27,000 Antigen Tests To State Website
The Iowa Department of Public Health will add the results of nearly 27,000 antigen tests to its coronavirus website over the weekend. The new batch of test results come from long-term care facilities that have been conducting surveillance testing on staff members during the month of September, according to an IDPH news release. (Richardson, 9/25)

Houston Chronicle: In Texas, Cornyn V. Hegar Is Epicenter Of Battle Over Coverage For Preexisting Conditions  
If health care wasn’t already at the front of voters’ minds after six months of a pandemic, the vacancy on the Supreme Court may well put it there heading into November — with the high court slated, a week after the election, to take up a Texas-led lawsuit that aims to end the Affordable Care Act. (Wermund, 9/25)

Fox News: North Dakota Rescinds Coronavirus Quarantine Order For Close Contacts Of Known COVID-19 Cases
Breaking from federally recommended guidelines, North Dakota will no longer require close contacts of known coronavirus cases to self-quarantine for 14 days. Interim State Health Officer Paul Mariani announced the order was rescinded in a news release on Thursday. “This pandemic remains a threat. Nationally, 2.9% of reported COVID-19 cases have resulted in death. While that percentage is just over 1% in North Dakota thanks to strong coronavirus response efforts at the state and local levels, cases continue to rise and our state is on track for a record number of deaths of individuals with COVID-19 in September,” Mariani said in a statement. “While this order is being rescinded, we continue to stress the importance of quarantining and isolation to bend the curve back in the right direction in North Dakota. Whenever possible, all close contacts of individuals infected with COVID-19 should avoid contact with others for 14 days past the last day they were in contact with the person who tested positive.” (Farber, 9/26)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County Free Flu Shot Clinics Offered
Sacramento County public health officials kicked off the first in a series of free flu shot clinics Saturday as they urge residents to get flu vaccinations, which are even more important this year as COVID-19 continues to spread. The Sacramento County Immunization Assistance Program is hosting flu shot clinics for adults and children throughout Sacramento County from late September through late November. (Ahumada, 9/25)

CNN: Beijing Orders Importers To Avoid Frozen Food From Countries With Major Coronavirus Outbreaks
Authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing have ordered importers to avoid frozen food from countries suffering severe coronavirus outbreaks after several incidents of imported seafood testing positive for the virus. According to a statement from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, "customs and local governments have repeatedly detected the coronavirus in imported cold chain food, proving it risks contamination." (Griffiths, 9/28)

AP: Mexico Virus Data May Not Be Available For Years
Mexico’s top coronavirus official said Sunday that definitive data on the country’s death toll from COVID-19 won’t be available for “a couple of years.” The statement by Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell is likely to revive debate about Mexico’s death toll, currently at 76,430, the fourth-highest in the world. (9/28)

AP: Italy's 'Patient No. 1' Joins Relay Race As Sign Of Hope
Italy’s coronavirus “Patient No. 1,” whose case confirmed one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks was underway, is taking part in a 180-kilometer (112-mile) relay race as a sign of hope after he himself recovered from weeks in intensive care. Mattia Maestri, a 38-year-old Unilever manager, was suited up Saturday for the start of the two-day race between Italy’s first two virus hot spots. It began in Codogno, south of Milan, where Maestri tested positive Feb. 21, and was ending Sunday in Vo’Euganeo, where Italy’s first official COVID-19 death was recorded the same day. (Grazia Murru and Winfield, 9/26)

AP: Rabbis Ponder COVID-19 Queries Of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Life
Must an observant Jew who has lost his sense of taste and smell because of COVID-19 recite blessings for food and drink? Can one bend the metal nosepiece of a surgical face mask on the Sabbath? May one participate in communal prayers held in a courtyard from a nearby balcony? Months into the coronavirus pandemic, ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel are addressing questions like these as their legions of followers seek advice on how to maintain proper Jewish observance under the restrictions of the outbreak. (Ben Zion, 9/28)

The New York Times: As Covid-19 Closes Schools, The World’s Children Go To Work 
Every morning in front of the Devaraj Urs public housing apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city of Tumakuru, a swarm of children pours into the street. They are not going to school. Instead of backpacks or books, each child carries a filthy plastic sack. These children, from 6 to 14 years old, have been sent by their parents to rummage through garbage dumps littered with broken glass and concrete shards in search of recyclable plastic. They earn a few cents per hour and most wear no gloves or masks. Many cannot afford shoes and make their rounds barefoot, with bleeding feet. (Gettleman and Raj, 9/27)

The New York Times: The Rise Of Child Labor In The Coronavirus Pandemic 
The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of the world’s poorest children to halt their educations and go to work to help support their families, as schools have closed and parents’ incomes have fallen or vanished. The children do work that is arduous, dirty and often dangerous: hauling bricks or gravel, scavenging for recyclables, begging or chopping weeds on plantations. Much of their employment is illegal. (Perez-Pena, 9/27)

AP: Leaders To UN: If Virus Doesn't Kill Us, Climate Change Will
In a year of cataclysm, some world leaders at this week’s annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn’t kill us, climate change will. With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in Greenland and Canada sliding into the sea, countries are acutely aware there’s no vaccine for global warming. (Anna, 9/27)

In updates from the United Kingdom —

Reuters: British Ministers Prepare For Social Lockdown In Northern Britain, London: The Times 
The British government is planning to enforce a total social lockdown across a majority of northern Britain and potentially London, to combat a second wave of COVID-19, The Times reported late on Sunday. Under the new lockdown measures being considered, all pubs, restaurants and bars would be ordered to shut for two weeks initially, the report said. (9/27)

AP: UK University Students Furious Over Virus Restrictions
As authorities sought to contain COVID-19 outbreaks at British universities Sunday, some students complained they were being “imprisoned” in their dormitories and politicians debated whether young people should be allowed to go home for Christmas. Students at universities in Glasgow, Manchester and Edinburgh — who have returned to campus in the past few weeks — are being asked to self-isolate in their residence halls, with security guards at some schools preventing young people from leaving their buildings. (Kirka, 9/27)

Also —

The Washington Post: Europe Stays Committed To In-Person Classes As School Outbreaks Remain Rare
The first sign that something was wrong at the lone school in the tiny Belgian hamlet of Sibret was when a teacher began to feel sick not long after classes resumed this month. She tested positive for the coronavirus. Within days, 27 students and five other teachers also tested positive. Now the village of 800 in Belgium’s rural southeast corner has become one of the latest data points in a complicated, angst-ridden experiment for communities around the world: How much does in-person schooling contribute to the spread of the virus? (Birnbaum, Morris and Aries, 9/27)

The New York Times: Switzerland Votes To Approve Paternity Leave 
Swiss voters on Sunday agreed to adopt a law mandating paternity leave, making it the last nation in Western Europe to do so and beating back strong conservative opposition to the proposal. Fathers in the country had been allowed one day off for the birth of a child — the same time given for moving homes — but the new ruling will increase that to 10 days of paid leave. (Illien, 9/27)

The Wall Street Journal: The GOP’s ObamaCare Self-Sabotage
A week after Election Day, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in another challenge to ObamaCare. The political timing couldn’t be better for Democrats who are using it to claim that Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated to overturn that law. President Trump is at the Supreme Court trying to “strip away the peace of mind from more than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions,” Joe Biden said last Sunday. If Republicans confirm a nominee, he warned on Wednesday “women’s rights as it relates to everything for medical health care, is going to be gone. Nancy Pelosi claimed that the President is rushing a confirmation vote “because Nov. 10 is when the arguments begin on the Affordable Care Act.” (9/27)

The Hill: The Real Danger Amy Coney Barrett Poses To ObamaCare 
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has chosen to focus on health care as the principal concern raised by the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. The press has zeroed in on one of her writings, which is remarkably sympathetic to earlier challenges to ObamaCare. But the issues in those cases are unlikely to come before her. The real danger lies in her more general willingness to entertain lousy legal arguments for anti-ObamaCare results. (Andrew Koppelman, 9/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Can Take Credit For Vaccine Progress But Shouldn’t Rush It
One of the most effective aspects of the Trump administration’s response to Covid-19 has been Operation Warp Speed, the effort to move a vaccine to market. It’s all the more puzzling, then, that the administration would interrupt this good work with a statement that it may try to weaken the long-established criteria for judging the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine. (Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan, 9/27)

Des Moines Register: Physicians Are Not Inflating COVID-19 Numbers For Money
As the president of the Iowa Medical Society — the largest statewide association for Iowa physicians — and a physician myself, I want you to know that you can trust your doctor. During this uncertain time, when we are surrounded by competing information and unreliable sources for medical advice, it can be harder than ever to know who to trust. I am here to tell you that your doctor, the one who knows you and is committed to your well-being, is that person. (Brian Privett, 9/25)

Los Angeles Times: The Danger In Postponing Cancer Screenings During The Pandemic 
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a distressing downturn has occurred — cancer screenings dramatically decreased across the country. Early detection of cancer can improve the chances of survival. By delaying screening, patients are also delaying treatment and putting their health at risk. Not surprisingly, with the disruption in routine cancer screenings, new cancer diagnoses have also decreased. Research published in an American Medical Assn. online journal showed that the average weekly number of new diagnoses of six common cancers — breast, colorectal, lung, gastric, pancreatic and esophageal —fell by more than 45% from March to mid-April compared with the previous two months. (Caryn Lerman, 9/28)

Stat: Pregnancy Should Not Exclude Women From Covid-19 Trials 
Citizens of the world are holding their collective breath while awaiting vaccines and therapies to effectively battle the Covid-19 pandemic. Among them are pregnant or lactating women who, in the United States and elsewhere, are being excluded from trials testing new vaccines or treatments. (Laura E. Riley and Brenna L. Hughes, 9/28)

The Washington Post: Europe Is Facing Its Second Covid-19 Wave. Countries Must Act Together To Contain It.
In the spring, when the pandemic was just beginning, a modeling study from the Imperial College London pointed out that different outcomes would depend on the restrictiveness of control measures, either strict limits and virus “suppression,” or less restrictive measures and “mitigation.” The study, which recommended suppression efforts at the outset, was an important factor in the campaign to flatten the curve. But it also foresaw that societies would struggle to sustain restrictions for long periods of time and that, if restrictions were relaxed, the virus would “quickly rebound.” Six months later, here we are. Several European nations are facing a surge of infections following a loosening of restrictions; the United States suffered it in the summer and is still struggling. The pandemic is turning out to be a roller-coaster ride, oscillating between painful upward climbs and terrifying cliff-dives. After some notable successes early on, Britain, Spain and France are rushing to put in place new measures to combat rising rates of infection, which are the result not only of more testing but also of more contagion. (9/27)

Deseret News: The Frightening Data Behind Utah’s Fight With COVID-19
Recently, Gov. Gary Herbert said that the Utah Leads Together plan is the best in the nation and that Utah’s mortality is the lowest. We believe Utah is attempting to control COVID-19 and we strongly support the state epidemiologist, Dr. Angela Dunn, who has performed exceptionally well. However, there are some realities about the Utah performance that need to be put into perspective. (Michael Stapley, 9/27)

Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer Protected Communities Of Color From COVID
We are at a place in time when everything is politicized, and the key issues that are central to protecting Michigan families remain ignored and unresolved as a result. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed to some  — and reminded others — of the staggering social and health disparities faced by Black and brown people in our community. Thankfully, we have a leader in the governor’s office who has made it her mission from the start to address these disparities and protect communities of color from COVID-19. (Mike Rafferty, 9/27)

The Detroit News: Combat Michigan's Suicide Epidemic During COVID-19 Pandemic
A heartbreaking epidemic occurring in our state has taken thousands of lives. While not caused by a virus, it has been worsened by it. And considering how difficult this year has been for so many, it is more important than ever that we do something about this tragedy. I am referring to our suicide epidemic. A mental health center in Michigan published a report that predicts a real crisis as a result of the aftershocks of the coronavirus. The report by Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services predicts a potential 15% to 32% increase in statewide suicide rates. (Jim Runestad, 9/27)

Dallas Morning News: COVID-19 Is Putting More Children At Risk Of Abuse. Here’s What We Can Do
The ongoing lawsuit against the state of Texas on behalf of youth in state care has brought needed attention to the continued challenges and often unacceptable conditions for children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect. These children deserve better. They deserve protection and healing, and they need it now. To truly learn from our failings by these children, we would go beyond “fixing it” now. A fire would be lit from underneath, and we would have urgency and fervor to create a system of care to support families and children so that removals become the rare exception, and Texas spends its money preventing abuse rather than recovering from it. (Sophie Phillips, 9/28)