First Edition: Oct. 5, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Not Pandemic-Proof: Insulin Copay Caps Fall Short, Fueling Underground Exchanges
D.j. Mattern had her Type 1 diabetes under control until COVID’s economic upheaval cost her husband his hotel maintenance job and their health coverage. The 42-year-old Denver woman suddenly faced insulin’s exorbitant list price — anywhere from $125 to $450 per vial — just as their household income shrank. She scrounged extra insulin from friends, and her doctor gave her a couple of samples. But as she rationed her supplies, her blood sugar rose so high her glucose monitor couldn’t even register a number. In June, she was hospitalized. (Hawryluk, 10/5)

Kaiser Health News: 5 Things To Know About A COVID Vaccine: It Won’t Be A ‘Magic Wand’ 
President Donald Trump makes no secret he would like a COVID-19 vaccine to be available before the election. But it’s doubtful that will happen and, even after a vaccine wins FDA approval, there would be a long wait before it’s time to declare victory over the virus. Dozens of vaccine candidates are in various testing stages around the world, with 11 in the last stage of preapproval clinical trials — including four in the U.S. One or more may prove safe and effective and enter the market in the coming months. What then? (Appleby, 10/5)

Kaiser Health News: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: TikTok Mom Takes On Medical Bills 
Shaunna Burns went viral on TikTok, partly because of a series of videos dishing out real-talk advice on fighting outrageous medical bills. She said the way to deal with medical debt is to be vigilant about what debt you incur in the first place. “What you can say is I don’t want you to run any tests or do any procedures or anything without running it by me,” she said. (Weissmann, 10/5)

Kaiser Health News: The Mysterious White House Testing Scheme That Did Not Protect Trump
President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis is raising fresh questions about the White House’s strategy for testing and containing the virus for a president whose cavalier attitude about the coronavirus has persisted since it landed on American shores. The president has said others are tested before getting close to him, appearing to hold it as an iron shield of safety. He has largely eschewed mask-wearing and social distancing in meetings, travel and public events, while holding rallies for thousands of often maskless supporters. (Pradhan, Weber and Szabo, 10/2)  

Kaiser Health News: Wear A Mask. If Only It Were That Simple. 
Nils Hase, a retiree who lives in Tarpon Springs, Florida, is wearing a mask and loading his Home Depot haul into his car on a recent weekday afternoon. In the store, because Home Depot insists customers and staff across the country wear masks, most faces were covered. But out here in the parking lot, in a state with a serious infection rate but no mask mandate, plenty of those masks hang down around people’s chins. “It bothers me. They are being defiant,” Hase said. “And most of the people I see that walk in without a mask are just looking for a fight. They are asking you to ‘Just ask me. Just give me a reason to yell at you.’ I just stay away from them and keep on with my own life.” (McAuliff, Ochoa, Fortier and Farmer, 10/2)

The New York Times: Trump’s Treatment Suggests Severe Covid-19, Medical Experts Say 
President Trump’s doctors offered rosy assessments of his condition on Sunday, but the few medical details they disclosed — including his fluctuating oxygen levels and a decision to begin treatment with a steroid drug — suggested to many infectious disease experts that he is suffering a more severe case of Covid-19 than the physicians acknowledged. In photos and videos released by the White House, there is hardly any sign that Mr. Trump is sick. But at a news conference at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Mr. Trump’s doctors said his oxygen levels had dropped to a level that can indicate that a patient's lungs are compromised. The symptom is seen in many patients with severe Covid-19. (Thomas and Caryn Rabin, 10/4)

The New York Times: As Trump Seeks To Project Strength, Doctors Disclose Alarming Episodes 
President Trump sought to dispel any perception of weakness on Sunday with a surprise and seemingly risky outing from his hospital bed to greet supporters even as his doctors once again rewrote the official narrative of his illness by acknowledging two alarming episodes they had previously not disclosed. The doctors said that Mr. Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped twice in the two days after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus, requiring medical intervention, and that he had been put on steroids, suggesting his condition might be more serious than initially described. But they insisted that his situation had improved enough since then that he could be released from the hospital as early as Monday. (Baker and Haberman, 10/4)

Politico: Trump's Medical Team Briefing Reveals Things Are Worse Than We Knew
President Donald Trump’s doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed Sunday that the president’s condition is more serious than the White House has so far acknowledged. “I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction,” Sean Conley, the president’s physician, told reporters during a hospital briefing. “In doing so, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.” (Morello, Lim and Kenen, 10/4)

The Washington Post: Prospect Of Trump’s Early Hospital Discharge Mystifies Doctors 
The assertion by President Trump’s doctors that he could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday astonished outside infectious-disease experts, who said he remains in a dangerous period of vulnerability when some covid-19 patients decline precipitously and require urgent intervention. During a midday briefing Sunday on the president’s medical condition and treatment, White House physician Sean Conley and his team twice referred to planning to release Trump as early as the next day “if he continues to look and feel as well as he does today.” (Eunjung Cha and Goldstein, 10/4)

Politico: Trump Required Oxygen Treatments But Could Be Discharged As Early As Monday 
President Donald Trump’s medical team acknowledged on Sunday that he had experienced concerning drops in his oxygen saturation levels in his battle with the coronavirus, while also saying that the president could be discharged from the hospital “as early as tomorrow.” ... The timing on a potential release from Walter Reed, where Trump has been since Friday, was a change from the more cautious assessment the president’s physician, Sean Conley, gave on Saturday, when he declined to “put a hard date” on a possible discharge. (Bennett and McCaskill, 10/4)

The New York Times: Instead Of Reassurance, Trump’s Doctor Delivers Confusion, Experts Say 
Caring for any president presents a unique set of challenges. Like all doctors, Dr. Conley is bound by the Hippocratic oath to respect his patient’s wishes for privacy and to keep secret that which “ought not to be spoken of outside.” He is also a Navy officer caring for the commander in chief, whose orders he is obliged to follow. But all of that must be balanced against the public’s right to have information about the health of the leader of the free world. And this particular leader, Mr. Trump, is well known for not wanting to look weak.“I wouldn’t want to be in that position,” said Dr. Stephen Thomas, a retired Army doctor who is now the chief of infectious diseases at SUNY Upstate Medical University and a columnist for Forbes Magazine. “I have sympathy for the guy. Think of it. He may have to tell one of the most powerful people in the world, ‘No, you’re not doing that,’ or ‘That’s not a good idea.’” (Gay Stolberg, 10/4)

USA Today: 'Trying To Reflect The Upbeat Attitude': How Transparent Does The President's Doctor Need To Be?
A day after evading direct questions about President Donald Trump's medical treatment, Dr. Sean Conley said Sunday outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center he was "not necessarily" intending to mislead the public. Conley a Navy commander and the president's physician, said he was "trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, the course of his illness has had. (I) didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of the illness in another direction.” (Rivera and Weise, 10/4)

AP: What We Know, And What We Don't, About Trump's Diagnosis
Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said Trump was given a steroid dexamethasone after his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days, but he “has continued to improve” since then. Conley said Trump could be discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as early as Monday. Conley said Trump had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and during “another episode” on Saturday. Conley was evasive when asked whether Trump’s blood oxygen level had dropped below 90%: “We don’t have any recordings here on that.” The level currently stands at 98%, Trump’s medical team said. Blood oxygen saturation is a key health marker for COVID-19 patients. A normal reading is between 95 and 100. A drop below 90 is concerning. Trump’s team said Sunday that Trump received oxygen at the White House on Friday. They were not clear on whether he received any Saturday. (10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Took Steroid As Oxygen Levels Dropped, Doctors Say 
Doctors said President Trump’s condition was improving on Sunday, two days after he checked into the hospital, though they also noted that his blood oxygen level had dropped on Saturday and that he was taking a steroid that has typically been given to Covid-19 patients who are seriously ill. Doctors said on Sunday the president could be sent back to the White House as soon as Monday, as they sought to clarify his condition after several days of contradictory information from doctors and advisers. Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said at a news conference on Sunday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that Mr. Trump’s condition “continues to improve.” But he also said Mr. Trump’s symptoms had been serious, adding that he tried to provide an “upbeat” assessment in a Saturday briefing. (Restuccia and Lucey, 10/4)

The Washington Post: President’s Blood Oxygen Levels Dropped Twice In Recent Days, Doctors Say
President Trump’s condition has “improved,” according to White House physician Sean Conley, but the president experienced significant oxygen drops on Friday and Saturday and was given dexamethasone — a steroid that is typically reserved only for severely ill coronavirus patients. Trump’s doctors said he has had no fever since Friday morning, however, and could be discharged as early as Monday. Conley declined to answer questions about the president’s lungs, including whether there is scarring or whether Trump has pneumonia. (Hawkins, Sonmez, Kim and Knowles, 10/4)

The Washington Post: Infectious Trump Briefly Leaves Walter Reed To Greet Fans As Confusion Continues Over His Health 
The White House continued to provide limited and contradictory information about President Trump’s health on Sunday, saying that he had begun a steroid treatment after twice suffering bouts of low oxygen but also contending that he was doing well and could soon be discharged from the hospital where he is being treated for the novel coronavirus. Adding to the confusion about his status, Trump briefly left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda to wave to supporters from a motorcade, after releasing a video on Twitter thanking people who had gathered outside the facility. (Olorunnipa, Dawsey and Goldstein, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Exits Quarantine In SUV To Greet Supporters 
President Trump briefly left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is being treated for Covid-19, and waved to supporters from a presidential SUV, departing from government health guidelines designed to reduce the risk of spreading infection. On Sunday evening, the president, traveling in a large black SUV with closed windows and wearing what appeared to be a black cloth mask, waved and gave thumbs-up signs to dozens of supporters who gathered on a sidewalk outside the hospital grounds in Bethesda, Md. There appeared to be at least two other individuals in the SUV with Mr. Trump. One of them could be seen wearing a medical gown and a medical-grade mask. (Restuccia, 10/4)

CNN: 'That Should Never Have Happened': Inside Trump's Walter Reed Parade
It was an image concocted by the President himself and the very tight group of aides who have accompanied him to Walter Reed, including chief of staff Mark Meadows and social media adviser Dan Scavino, a person familiar with the matter said. They hoped it might reassure Americans that Trump remains both hale and in command after what he deemed exaggerated news coverage of his condition and -- in particular -- outsized prognostications he planned to transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence. (Liptak, 10/5)

AP: Trump Takes A Brief Car Ride, Ignoring Own COVID Infection
Infected and contagious, President Donald Trump briefly ventured out in a motorcade on Sunday to salute cheering supporters, a move that disregarded precautions meant to contain the deadly virus that has forced his hospitalization and killed more than 209,000 Americans. ... With one month until Election Day, Trump was eager to project strength despite his illness. The still-infectious president surprised supporters who had gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, driving by in a black SUV with the windows rolled up. Secret Service agents inside the vehicle could be seen in masks and other protective gear. (Colvin, Peoples and Miller, 10/5)

Fox News: Trump Thanks Supporters Gathered Outside Hospital: 'I'm About To Make A Little Surprise Visit'
President Trump tweeted out a video of himself at Walter Reed Medical Center on Sunday where he said he's learned a lot about the novel coronavirus and promised his supporters gathered out side the hospital "a little surprise." "We're going to pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have," Trump said. "They've been out there for a long time and they've got Trump flags and they love our country so I'm not telling anybody but you but I'm about to make a little surprise visit." (O'Reilly, 10/4)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Drive Outside Walter Reed Hospital Criticized By Secret Service Members, Doctors
Current and former Secret Service agents and medical professionals were aghast Sunday night at President Trump’s trip outside the hospital where he is being treated for the coronavirus, saying the president endangered those inside his SUV for a publicity stunt. As the backlash grew, multiple aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations also called Trump’s evening outing an unnecessary risk — but said it was not surprising. Trump had said he was bored in the hospital, advisers said. He wanted to show strength after his chief of staff offered a grimmer assessment of his health than doctors, according to campaign and White House officials. (Dawsey, Leonnig and Knowles, 10/4)

USA Today: Can Secret Service Stop President's Risky Behavior?
Patricia Beckford Acheson can empathize with the Secret Service detail protecting President Donald Trump. Acheson was among the first women assigned to the agency's permanent protection detail, spending more than three years protecting then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in the early 1980s."Our biggest fear was the lone assassin, but things have changed so much," the retired agent told USA TODAY. "Now they are dealing with organized terrorism and with COVID. The threats against a president nowadays are mind-boggling." (Bacon and Johnson, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Didn’t Disclose First Positive Covid-19 Test While Awaiting A Second Test On Thursday
President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night for which he was awaiting results. (Bender and Ballhaus, 10/4)

CNN: President Trump Furious At Chief Of Staff For Contradicting White House Physician, Sources Say 
President Donald Trump is furious with chief of staff Mark Meadows after the top West Wing official contradicted the White House physician's assessment Saturday of the President's health, two sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN on Sunday. Meadows is now widely known inside the White House to be the unnamed source who spoke to reporters following the medical briefing Saturday and offered a more dire assessment than Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley had given shortly before. That reporting was initially given to a pool of reporters attributed to an official familiar with the President's condition. Later, the Associated Press and the New York Times identified that official as Meadows. (Acosta, 10/4)

USA Today: Trump Is Getting Medication, Experimental COVID Treatments: Too Much?
One potential downside to being president of the United States: too much care. Presidents have always received VIP medicine, but “excessive care isn’t necessarily good quality care,” said Dr. J. Randall Curtis, a professor of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The concern is that having too much focus and too many people involved could result in overtreatment as President Donald Trump is treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. (Weise and Weintraub, 10/4)

USA Today: Donald Trump COVID-19: What We Know About Steroid Dexamethasone
President Donald Trump's condition has continued to improve since being taken to the hospital Friday due to symptoms from a COVID-19 infection, White House physician Sean Conley told reporters on Sunday. Conley had previously said he was using a "multi-prong" approach to treat Trump. He said Sunday that included the steroid dexamethasone in response to Trump's blood oxygen level dropping twice. (Bote, 10/4)

CNBC: What We Know About Regeneron Antibody Drug Trump Took To Combat Coronavirus
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday he believes the White House carefully considered all of its treatment options before it opted to give President Donald Trump the experimental coronavirus antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. "This was a wholly appropriate decision to give him active therapy, and then it just became a choice of which therapy," Gottlieb said on "Fast Money," prior to Trump being taken to Walter Reed Medical Center "out of an abundance of caution" following his coronavirus diagnosis. (10/3)

USA Today: President Had Regeneron And Gilead Stock
President Donald Trump previously reported he earned capital gains from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences Inc., the manufacturers of two of the medicines he's taken as part of his COVID-19 treatment plan. According to a 2017 financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2017, Trump had a capital gain of $50,001 to $100,000 for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and $100,001 to $1 million for Gilead Sciences Inc. The form notes the information was of April 15, 2017.Trump’s subsequent disclosure forms, including his 2020 form signed July 31, did not list Regeneron or Gilead. (Tyko, 10/3)

CNN: Senior Administration Official: Coronavirus Outbreak Likely Began At Supreme Court Announcement 
A senior administration official told CNN's Jake Tapper on Saturday that the cluster of coronavirus cases among top Republican officials likely began at President Donald Trump's Rose Garden event announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The official said it "seems highly likely this (outbreak) originated at the SCOTUS announcement last week. It may have come from the Hill. The next major concern will be securing Capitol Hill and protecting lawmakers." (Krieg, 10/3)

Axios: White House Identifies 206 People Possibly Exposed To COVID At Trump Fundraiser 
The White House has given New Jersey health officials a list of at least 206 people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a fundraiser event attended by President Trump in Bedminster last week, the state's department of health tweeted Sunday. (10/4)

CNN: Inside Amy Coney Barrett's White House Reception
Since President Donald Trump announced his positive Covid-19 test, public attention has centered on the Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court announcement and how a number of its attendees have since tested positive. But there was also a smaller, private reception inside the White House — one that did not include wearing masks and did not include social distancing. After the public event, dozens of attendees gathered inside the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room and the adjoining hallway. The reception lasted between 30 and 45 minutes, one source with knowledge of the event told CNN.CNN is told the attendees did not wear masks, and pictures of the event show no social distancing. (Bash and Bohn, 10/4)

ABC News: For Some High-Dollar Trump Donors, Bedminster Hobnobbing Now Means COVID Tests 
About 100 guests attended the event with some donating $50,000 to snap photos with the president on Thursday and roughly 20 sat with him at an hour-long roundtable discussion. Several said the president's diagnosis and hospitalization have been both bewildering and frightening. Four people at the club that day told ABC News they are quarantining or getting tests. "I stayed 6 feet away from the president at all times as well, but out of an abundance of caution have quarantined myself until I can be tested," said Daniel Hux, who attended the fundraiser, said in a statement to ABC News. (Rubin, Mosk, Faulders and Cohen, 10/4)

CNN: President Trump Took Photos, Had Roundtable With Donors At Fundraiser Hours Before Testing Positive For Coronavirus 
President Donald Trump's big-dollar fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club went on as planned Thursday night despite the President and staff knowing he had been exposed to coronavirus. Trump attended three events at the fundraiser: an indoor roundtable, an indoor VIP reception -- donors had a socially distant photo opportunity with him -- and an outdoor reception, according to an event invitation obtained by CNN. Donors that gave $250,000 were able to participate in a roundtable, photo opportunity and reception with the President, according to the event invite. The roundtable included 18 donors, according to a source, and was held indoors at socially-distanced tables. (Murphy, 10/4)

Politico: Trump’s Last Rally: A Catalog Of Worst Pandemic Practices 
In retrospect, it was an ominous scene — the vapor in Donald Trump’s breath visibly condensing as he spoke at the rally in Duluth, Minn., a wisp of exhalant hanging in the frigid air. In a region where coronavirus cases are surging, a mask-less Trump stood before several thousand supporters on Wednesday, most of them mask-free themselves, pumping his fists and tossing hats to the tightly packed crowd. Two days later, Trump would be hospitalized. And Duluth — the site of his last rally before checking into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — would become mired in a recovery of its own. (Siders, 10/4)

CNN: Covid-19 Cases Within Trump's Circle: Here's Who Has Tested Positive And Negative 
At least 10 people in President Donald Trump's family, the US government and circle of advisers and recent contacts have recently tested positive for Covid-19. (10/4)

The Hill: Barr Reverses, Will Quarantine For Several Days After Potential Coronavirus Exposure 
Attorney General William Barr reversed his decision to not quarantine following possible exposure to the coronavirus and said instead that he would isolate himself for several days, according to the Associated Press. Barr was exposed to COVID-19 last week at the White House's event announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed Barr's decision to the news outlet, though the exact length of Barr's self-imposed quarantine was not immediately clear. (Bowden, 10/4)

CNN: Ron Johnson: Senate GOP's Third Positive Covid-19 Case Threatens Quick Barrett Confirmation 
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed to someone with the virus earlier this week, according to his spokesman, making him the third GOP senator to test positive in 24 hours and threatening the quick confirmation prospects of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. In a sign of just how little margin for error there is to get Barrett confirmed by Election Day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in an email to GOP senators obtained by CNN that he needs all Republican senators back in Washington by October 19. (Raju, 10/3)

NJ.com: Ex-N.J. Gov. Chris Christie Hospitalized After COVID-19 Positive Test. Medical History Includes Asthma Since He Was A Teen
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie revealed Saturday he tested positive for the coronavirus and checked into a hospital near his home citing concerns about his history with asthma, which previously led to him being briefly hospitalized during his term as governor. ... Christie’s asthma and weight, which he’s struggled with over the years, could put him at an elevated risk of developing complications from the coronavirus. (Panico, 10/5)

Newsweek: Chris Christie Called Out For Seeking COVID Treatment After Cavalier Remarks, Behavior
Chris Christie was called out for checking himself into hospital after experiencing mild COVID-19 symptoms after months of downplaying the virus' dangers, failing to take recommended precautions and sounding cavalier and uncaring by remarking that Americans were "gonna have to" accept high coronavirus death tolls. ... On Saturday, a viral tweet by Michael David Smith compared Christie's recent tweets with comments from that CNN interview. "When other people got COVID-19, Chris Christie said some Americans are just gonna have to die," Smith wrote. "Now that he has COVID-19, he's checking himself into the hospital as soon as he feels even mild symptoms. When he said we have to accept people dying he didn't mean him. He meant us." (Rahman, 10/4)

New York Post: Claudia Conway Announces She Has Coronavirus On TikTok
Claudia Conway announced on social media Sunday that she has coronavirus. “Hey guys currently dying of covid!” Conway, the daughter of President Trump’s former aide Kellyanne Conway, wrote on a TikTok post. Kellyanne Conway announced her own coronavirus diagnosis on Friday minutes after her daughter broke the news on the social media platform. The elder Conway was at the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. There were roughly 150 high-profile guests in attendance at the event, many without masks. (Garger, 10/4)

The Hill: White House Staffers Get Email Saying To Stay Home If They Experience Coronavirus Symptoms 
White House staffers were urged in an email Sunday to "please stay home" and "do not come to work" if they have exhibited any symptoms of the coronavirus. An all-staff email obtained by New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi directed members of the White House staff to "immediately contact your primary care provider" and "inform their supervisors" in the event of symptoms being presented. (Bowden, 10/4)

The New York Times: At The White House, An Eerie Quiet And Frustration With The Chief Of Staff 
In a memo to his senior staff on Friday morning, Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, encouraged everyone to stay away from their offices in the Old Executive Office Building while contact tracing was going on. On Saturday, he held an all-staff conference call to discuss what the coming weeks would look like while President Trump remained under treatment for the coronavirus, and later reiterated the message that staff members were to work from home. At the Trump campaign headquarters in Virginia, Bill Stepien, the campaign manager who tested positive for the virus himself, instructed staff members to “wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance, check in via the LiveSafe app on a daily basis and work from home if you’re not feeling well.” (Karni, 10/4)

The New York Times: What To Know About Sean Conley, The White House Physician 
Dr. Conley graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2006, according to records from the Virginia Board of Medicine. ... Dr. Conley, who received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, has served as an emergency doctor for the U.S. Navy. A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Conley completed his residency at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., in 2013. After his residency, Dr. Conley served as chief of trauma for the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Afghanistan. He served as director of the medical center’s combat trauma research group for a little over two years. (Waller and Morales, 10/3)

NPR: Who Is Sean Conley? White House Physician To President Trump 
Since President Trump's announcement of a positive coronavirus test early Friday, a previously little-known White House physician is now an integral source of information on the president's condition. Sean Conley, a Navy commander, has been Trump's physician since 2018. It was a memo from Conley that confirmed Trump's tweet that he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus. (Slotkin, 10/3)

AP: Of Presidents And Health, History Replete With Secrecy, Lies
Pandemics have cursed the presidencies of both Trump and Woodrow Wilson. Each played down the viruses that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Both presidents got sick — and each had to decide how much to tell the public. Like many administrations before, Wilson’s White House tried to keep his sickness secret. (Reichmann, 10/3)

The Atlantic: Trump Is A Super-Spreader Of Disinformation
A super-spreader—a term we didn’t much use nine months ago—is a person with a contagious disease who gives it to a lot of other people. In the coronavirus pandemic, super-spreaders have played an outsize role. Scientists have identified super-spreaders who have infected dozens of people with the virus, while others with the illness haven’t infected anyone at all. Super-spreaders may explain why the coronavirus seems to take over so quickly in some places, but not in others. We don’t know yet whether President Donald Trump was a super-spreader of the coronavirus or the victim of one, perhaps at the Rose Garden event for the Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, where few wore masks and many shook hands; perhaps while he was preparing to debate. But Trump has been a super-spreader in a different sense for many, many years—a super-spreader of disinformation. (Applebaum, 10/3)

The New York Times: Getting The Virus Can Change A Politician’s Mind, Say Some Who Had It
Three American governors. Four United States senators. At least a dozen members of the House of Representatives. The mayor of Miami. The mayor of Atlanta. A judge in Luzerne County, Pa., population 300,000. The mayor of Oliver Springs, Tenn., population 3,000.And now, the president of the United States. Across the country, scores of elected officials at all levels of government have experienced the alarming moment of finding out that they have tested positive for the coronavirus. (Mervosh, Healy and Mazzei, 10/2)

The Hill: Biden Again Tests Negative For COVID-19 
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday, his campaign said. Biden was administered a PCR test, his campaign said, and COVID-19 was not detected. It marked the second time Biden has tested negative since President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he had contracted the coronavirus. (Samuels, 10/4)

Politico: Biden Still At Risk After Debating Trump At ‘Peak Of Contagion’ 
For more than six months, Joe Biden’s team went to extraordinary lengths to keep their candidate safe, fastidiously following medical guidelines that enabled him to campaign while guarding him from a potentially deadly virus. Now, the Democratic nominee is facing the prospect that the president of the United States himself might have posed the biggest Covid-19 risk to his health since the pandemic began. It could be days before the 77-year-old Biden will be in the clear, despite recent negative tests. The virus can incubate for up to 14 days. (Korecki and Lim, 10/4)

Politico: ‘There’s No Joy In Being Right’: Biden Makes Cautious Return To The Campaign Trail 
In the hours after Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19, word spread quickly within Joe Biden’s campaign: There would be no public gloating. Stay off of social media, staffers were told. Avoid conversations with reporters. Don’t make any mistakes. Friday was a day of “hibernation,” as one Biden adviser put it, an approach designed to allow the news cycle to burn on its own fuel. (Korecki, Caputo and Oprysko, 10/2)

The Washington Post: Debate Organizers Push Ahead Despite Public Health Concerns 
Public health experts expressed concern Sunday at the decisions by both presidential campaigns and the debate commission to move ahead with in-person events less than a week after President Trump tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The vice-presidential candidates are still scheduled to convene in Salt Lake City on Wednesday despite last week’s presidential debate resulting in at least 11 positive cases by people involved in preparations and one of the candidates onstage testing positive just two days later. (Scherer, 10/4)

NPR: Pence Working At Home Now, Plans To Travel Monday, Source Says
Vice President Pence — who has tested negative for the coronavirus — has been working from home rather than going into the White House complex since President Trump was diagnosed with the virus late on Thursday, a senior administration official told NPR. "Out of an abundance of caution, he worked at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory to avoid any potential exposure to the virus," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Pence led a conference call of the White House coronavirus task force on Saturday from his residence. (Silva and Ordonez, 10/3)

Politico: President Pelosi? Pence Prepares To Risk It All For Trump
He’s the GOP’s one line of defense between a hospitalized commander-in-chief and a President Nancy Pelosi, and he’s about to depart Washington on a four-day campaign swing in the middle of his boss’s health crisis. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Utah on Monday as he plays the Trump campaign’s lead act for the foreseeable future — the highest-profile surrogate for the president’s reelection at a time when both men can least afford another setback following Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis. (Orr and Kumar, 10/4)

CNN: Trump Campaign Adviser Says Rally Protocols Won't Change After President's Coronavirus Diagnosis 
A senior adviser to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign said Sunday there won't be any additional safety protocols for upcoming rallies following the President's hospitalization after contracting Covid-19. Senior campaign adviser Jason Miller, when pressed by CNN's Ana Cabrera on the safety of the Trump's campaign rallies which have largely flaunted best public health practices, said the campaign would take the temperature of attendees while providing face masks and hand sanitizer -- the same steps that were in place before Trump's diagnosis. (LeBlanc, 10/4)

Politico: Pelosi Said She’s Not In The Loop On President’s Health
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is getting information on the president's diagnosis the same way as most people — through the media. "We're getting our information the way everyone else is, in the media," Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation," when asked Sunday whether she was satisfied with the level of communication from the White House on the president's status. (Tamborrino, 10/4)

Politico: Coronavirus Infects 3 Senators, Derailing Senate Schedule
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Saturday that the full Senate will not return until Oct. 19 — two weeks later than planned — after three GOP senators tested positive for the coronavirus. But McConnell also vowed that the Senate would still move ahead with Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination, with the Senate Judiciary Committee set to begin confirmation hearings on Oct. 12. (Everett, Levine and Ferris, 10/3)

The Washington Post: Positive Tests For Senators Raise Doubts About Fast-Track Confirmation Of Trump's Supreme Court Choice 
From the start, Senate Republican leaders have known their ambitious timeline to get Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before Election Day offered little room for error. But that tightly crafted schedule has now been thrown into uncertainty with the coronavirus diagnoses of at least two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the fear that other senators could test positive in the coming days. A handful of other GOP senators, on and off the committee, are also isolating as a precaution after being exposed to infected colleagues. (Kim, 10/4)

The Washington Post: House Speaker Pelosi Says No Deal Yet On Coronavirus Relief 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday there’s no deal yet on a new coronavirus relief package as Democrats wait to see whether the Trump administration will agree to terms. Pelosi spoke a day after President Trump, hospitalized with covid-19, tweeted his support for more stimulus legislation, writing, “WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE.” (Werner, 10/4)

The Atlantic: Amy Coney Barrett's Confirmation Is In Jeopardy
September 26 was a festive day for Republicans in Washington. Under overcast skies, President Donald Trump strode to a podium in the White House Rose Garden to introduce Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A military band played “Hail to the Chief,” and about 150 guests, including senior members of the Republican Party, the president’s Cabinet, and the Senate, sat shoulder to shoulder and mostly without masks as they cheered the nomination of a 48-year-old conservative to a lifetime seat. (Berman, 10/3)

USA Today: Supreme Court: Amy Coney Barrett Hearings Push Forward Amid COVID-19
Although the Senate will not return to session until Oct. 19, the Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing forward on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as scheduled next week. The timeline of Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing was thrown into question Friday after two Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee tested positive for COVID-19: Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Both attended a Rose Garden ceremony announcing President Donald Trump's choice of Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the high court. Several people in attendance, including the president, have since tested positive for COVID-19.  (Morin, 10/4)