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)

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)

Politico: Trump Team Under Fire For Confusion About President’s Condition 
The White House took flak throughout the weekend over its mixed messaging on President Donald Trump’s health. That blowback continued into Sunday evening because of a lack of any messaging or information before the president briefly departed Walter Reed Medical Center in a motorcade. Trump, a 74-year-old, overweight patient who has been hospitalized with Covid-19 since Friday, surprised supporters — and the reporters who track his movement — by waving to a crowd of cheering well-wishers as his motorcade drove past the hospital. (McCaskill, 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: 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)

The Hill: What We Know And Don't Know About The President's Health 
President Trump remains hospitalized with the coronavirus but, despite daily medical briefings, much about the president's health continues to be unclear. Officials have given at times conflicting answers, and the president’s doctor, Sean Conley, has not answered a number of questions at his press conferences, acknowledging Sunday that he left the impression the day before he was “trying to hide something.” Thus far, it's not apparent just how severe the president's case of COVID-19 is. (Sullivan, 10/4)

Also —

The Hill: Trump Says He 'Learned A Lot' About Coronavirus During Treatment: 'This Is The Real School' 
President Trump on Sunday said he has "learned a lot" about COVID-19 since his diagnosis, calling his time undergoing treatment the "real school" for the highly contagious virus that has infected more than 7.4 million people in the U.S. "It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the 'let's read the books' school," Trump said in a video posted to Twitter. "And I get it, and I understand it, and it's a very interesting thing, and I’m going to be letting you know about it." (Klar, 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)

USA Today: 'Imagine Having A Literal COVID Parade': Critics React After Trump Leaves Walter Reed To See Supporters
Doctors, critics, and other Twitter users reacted after President Donald Trump ventured outside Walter Reed Hospital Sunday night to wave at supporters, calling the move "reckless" and saying he endangered the Secret Service members riding in the vehicle with him. Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted that everybody in the vehicle with Trump should be quarantined for 14 days. "They might get sick. They may die," he tweeted. "For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity." (Behrmann, 10/4)

The Hill: White House Says 'Appropriate Precautions' Were Taken For Trump's Outing To See Supporters 
The White House on Sunday night insisted that proper precautions were taken ahead of President Trump's motorcade visit outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he is being treated for COVID-19. “Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it, including PPE. The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do," White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters. (Seipel, 10/4)

The Secret Service weighs in —

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 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)

USA Today: Was Trump Ever On Oxygen? Health, Security Experts Say America Needs 'Total Honesty' On President'S Condition
In the first public briefing since President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, White House physician Sean Conley would not answer several questions about whether the president had been on oxygen, whether he had lung damage or when he last received a negative coronavirus test. Conley, who has served as physician to the president since 2018, appeared with a team of nine clinicians outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for less than 20 minutes Saturday morning and fielded dozens of questions. Doctors said the president had been fever-free for more than 24 hours, received an experimental antibody therapy and was undergoing a five-day course of the drug remdesivir.  (Hauck and Vanden Brook, 10/3)

Stat: Trump Getting A Steroid Usually For Patients With Severe Covid-19
To treat his Covid-19, President Trump has started receiving dexamethasone, a common steroid that has been shown to be helpful in people with severe cases of the disease but that doctors warn should not be used early in the course of the illness. The announcement from Trump’s medical team Sunday morning that the president is on dexamethasone is sure to increase speculation about the president’s illness and was at odds with the generally upbeat description of his condition provided by his physicians. (Joseph, 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)

The Washington Post: An Army Of Doctors. Access To An Experimental Drug. A Special Patient Gets Special Care.
Trump’s caregivers are sparing nothing in their attempt to treat his coronavirus infection. From his team of providers to his helicopter flight to the hospital to the experimental drug that fewer than 10 others have received outside a clinical trial, Trump has access to care available to few of the other 7.3 million people in the United States infected so far by the coronavirus. Even with symptoms that Conley appeared to describe as moderate at worst, the 74-year-old president is the VIP of VIPs in his battle against covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. (Bernstein and McGinley, 10/3)

Also —

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)

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)

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)

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)

Stat: A One-Page Memo Could Defuse The Panic About Trump’s Covid-19 
The information that could ease American minds, quash conspiracy theories, and slow a rapacious 24/7 news cycle around President Trump’s case of Covid-19 could fit in a few paragraphs that would not fill a single page, several doctors tell STAT. So why, they wonder, has none of that information been included in a 15-minute press briefing and three short memos released by the president’s physicians? (Herper, 10/3)

ABC News: Trump’s Doctors Grapple With Competing Demands – From The Public And An Image-Conscious Patient, Experts Said 
The chief White House physician was facing heavy scrutiny over the weekend for obscuring aspects of President Donald Trump's health after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, focusing attention on the vexing challenge he faces navigating the demands of an anxious nation and a commander-in-chief who favors rosy assessments. "When you're in a complicated situation like this, you can only go so far," said Dr. Benjamin Aaron, the chest surgeon who in 1981 removed the bullet from President Ronald Reagan, and said he and his colleagues "felt a sense of duty to level with the American people." (Bruggeman and Pezenik, 10/4)

The Washington Post: White House Physician Sean Conley Draws Scrutiny For Rosy Assessments Of Trump’s Health 
This spring, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley confided to co-workers that he was laboring under intense personal stress in his job as White House physician. The 40-year-old doctor is responsible for the world’s most high-profile patient: a president who has insisted on holding public events amid a global pandemic and rarely donned a mask, overriding the advice of his own health officials. Without sharing details, the White House’s top medical officer said the pressures of the job were weighing on him, according to two people familiar with his remarks. (Leonnig and O'Harrow Jr., 10/4)

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)

Fox News: Spotlight On Walter Reed Medical Center Brings Back Powerful Memories For US Wounded Warriors
In the critical days since President Trump announced that he and the first lady had been infected with the novel coronavirus, the eyes of the world have been fixed on one place: a sprawling parcel of manicured green lawns and matchbox-like ivory dwellings known as the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (McKay, 10/5)

Also —

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)

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)

The Hill: Trump Sought To Keep COVID-19 Diagnosis Secret Thursday As He Awaited Second Test Result: WSJ 
President Trump hid the results of his first positive COVID-19 test on Thursday while awaiting the results of a second test that would later also come back positive, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. People familiar with the president's health told the newspaper that a rapid COVID-19 test returned a positive result before President Trump called in to Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday evening. During the interview, Trump addressed the diagnosis of his aide Hope Hicks with coronavirus but did not reveal that he had apparently already tested positive. (Bowden, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Use Of Coronavirus Rapid Tests May Have Fueled White House Covid-19 Cluster, Experts Say 
At least eight people who attended the White House’s recent Supreme Court nomination ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett have tested positive for the coronavirus, and public health experts say they expect more attendees to be diagnosed in coming days. The White House says it has relied on rapid testing to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 among officials and guests. Officials don’t wear masks or socially distance because they are tested daily. The president is also tested for the coronavirus every day, as is anyone who comes in close contact with him. (Toy and Hernandez, 10/4)

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)  

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)

Stat: A Supreme Court Announcement Packed With Covid-19 Red Flags
The flags are so red they might as well be wailing like sirens. As more people in and around the White House test positive for the virus that causes Covid-19, no event is being more scrutinized than the Rose Garden event last Saturday, where President Trump announced the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. That gathering, as videos and photos of it make clear, violated so many of the recommendations that everyone else has been told to adopt this year. (Joseph, 10/3)

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)

Contract tracing continues for his fundraising event in Bedminster, New Jersey —

AP: NJ Officials Contact 206 People At Trump Event At Bedminster
State health officials in New Jersey have contacted more than 200 people who attended a campaign fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster on Thursday, hours before the president announced he had COVID-19, as they try to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Somerset County officials were meanwhile contacting employees who worked the event, most of whom live in the county. In a joint statement issued Sunday, the officials asked guests and employees to monitor their symptoms and, if they were close to President Trump or his staff, to quarantine for 14 days. (Dale, 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)

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)

CNBC: Trump Covid Update: GOP Donors Panic After Coming Close To Trump At Fundraiser Before His Positive Test
Republican donors who attended President Donald Trump's fundraiser at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club are panicking after being around the commander in chief hours before he announced that he was infected with the coronavirus. GOP donors have been reaching out to Trump campaign and GOP officials for any guidance following the event, according to a person briefed on the matter. "The donors have been texting and calling. Freaking out," the person with direct knowledge said. This person declined to be named as the conversations were deemed private. (Schwartz, 10/2)

Concerns arise about his last rally in Duluth, Minnesota —

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)

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)

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)

USA Today: First Lady Melania Trump's Face Masks: Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No
First lady Melania Trump, now exhibiting "mild" symptoms of coronavirus, has a mixed record on wearing face masks in public, but she's been more pro-mask than her husband. Her official Twitter account, which is less dramatic and prolific than President Donald Trump's, has been her main way of communicating publicly about COVID-19 and safety precautions, including wearing a mask. (Puente, 10/2)

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: 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)

In other news from the Trump administration —

Politico: Azar Says HHS Reviewing $300M Pandemic Ad Campaign Amid Scrutiny 
HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Friday said he’s ordering a review of a $300 million-plus ad campaign aimed at boosting confidence in the Trump administration's coronavirus response, one day after Democratic lawmakers expanded their probe into the taxpayer-funded effort. “I have ordered a strategic review of this public health education campaign that will be led by top public health and communications experts to determine whether the campaign serves important public health purposes,” Azar testified before the House panel investigating the federal government’s coronavirus response. (Ehley and Roubein, 10/2)

FierceHealthcare: Azar Pushes Back On Congressional Concerns Of Political Interference In COVID-19 Vaccine Approval  
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar tried to allay concerns from lawmakers this week that political influence might taint the approval process for a COVID-19 vaccine. “The vaccine approval process will be determined by career officials over at [Food and Drug Administration],” Azar said. Azar was speaking Friday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis after multiple media reports of HHS political appointees seeking to interfere with the response to the pandemic. (King, 10/2)

AP: Pence Ordered Borders Closed After CDC Experts Refused
Vice President Mike Pence in March directed the nation’s top disease control agency to use its emergency powers to effectively seal the U.S. borders, overruling the agency’s scientists who said there was no evidence the action would slow the coronavirus, according to two former health officials. The action has so far caused nearly 150,000 children and adults to be expelled from the country. The top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doctor who oversees these types of orders had refused to comply with a Trump administration directive saying there was no valid public health reason to issue it, according to three people with direct knowledge of the doctor’s refusal. (Dearen and Burke, 10/3)

Reuters: As Cold Weather Arrives, U.S. States See Record Increases In COVID-19 Cases
Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in COVID-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors. On Saturday alone, four states - Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin - saw record increases in new cases and nationally nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week. (Shumaker, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: New U.S. Coronavirus Cases Fall Below 40,000 For First Time In A Week
The U.S. reported fewer than 40,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in a week, as President Trump remained hospitalized with Covid-19. The 38,630 cases reported Sunday constitute the lowest daily increase since last Monday, when the U.S. reported 33,312 new cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Martin, 10/5)

The New York Times: Covid-19 Continues Its Ever-Changing Onslaught On The U.S.
Covid-19 has proved itself an unpredictable and ever-changing threat. As President Trump and some of his allies and associates test positive for the coronavirus, the number of new cases reported each day across the United States has been slowly rising. The nation’s response has been uneven and inconsistent. Here is where the country is now. (Smith and Davey, 10/3)

CNN: A Covid-19 Surge In Fall And Winter Could Kill 2,900 Americans A Day. Here's Why, And How You Can Turn The Tide Around 
By the end of December, Covid-19 could kill more than 2,900 people a day in the US, according to projections Monday from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. But it doesn't have to be that way. With a smart approach to these cold-weather months, researchers say you can defy their grim projections. (Yan, 10/5)

In related news on the COVID crisis —

WTOP: Empty Chairs Sit On Ellipse Near White House In Remembrance Of Those Who Died Of COVID-19
Thousands gathered both in person and virtually on Sunday afternoon to mourn the more than 200,000 lives lost in the U.S. from COVID-19. Twenty thousand empty chairs were set up on the Ellipse south of the White House in D.C. this weekend, with each one representing roughly 10 people who have died from the coronavirus. Musical tributes and a call to action from Grammy award-winning singer and former U.S. Ambassador for Health Dionne Warwick were part of a national remembrance ceremony put together by the group COVID Survivors for change. (Bonk, 10/5)

The Washington Post: Memorial Held Outside White House In Solemn Reminder Of More Than 200,000 Americans Killed By Covid-19
On Sunday, Brian Walter was one of nearly two dozen people directly affected by the coronavirus to mourn the more than 200,000 American who have been killed by covid-19 and push for a national plan for recovery.They gathered on the grassy Ellipse just south of the White House and in proximity to the Rose Garden, where those attending President Trump’s announcement of his Supreme Court nominee flouted recommendations on wearing masks and social distancing. Trump and at least eight other people who attended the Sept. 26 ceremony have since tested positive for the coronavirus. (Brice-Saddler, 10/4)

CNN: A Vaccine Can Provide Better Immunity Than Infection, Expert Says 
Two recent studies have confirmed that two people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can be reinfected with the virus. Interestingly, the two people had different outcomes. The person in Hong Kong showed no symptoms on the second infection, while the person from Reno, Nevada, had a more severe version of the disease the second time around. It is therefore unclear if an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 will protect against subsequent reinfection. (Shivkumar, 10/2)

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)

Stat: For Many Of D.C.'s Most Powerful, Covid-19 Guidance Still Does Not Apply
If President Trump’s Covid-19 infection was a wake-up call in Washington, not everyone appears to have heard it. Vice President Mike Pence is continuing public activities, even though he was at the Sept. 26 White House ceremony where Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court was announced and where multiple members of the president’s inner circle — and perhaps even the president himself — appear to have been infected. Pence sat directly in front of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and within a few feet of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), both of whom announced on Friday that they had tested positive for the virus. (Branswell, 10/5)

Indianapolis Star: Mike Pence And Trump's COVID: Why Isn't Vice President In Quarantine?
Vice President Mike Pence was among dozens of politicians and high-profile dignitaries at a White House Rose Garden event when President Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the nation's high court. ... Experts wonder why someone in Pence's situation is not under isolation to reduce both his risk of exposure and the vulnerability of the Trump White House. “We have the president and first lady ill and the country is in a vulnerable situation,” former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told USA TODAY on Friday. “We have to be very prepared to deal with the possibility that an adversary will seek to take advantage.” (Rough, 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)

In other news about the Trump campaign —

ABC News: Nearly 3 In 4 Think Trump Did Not Take Appropriate Virus Precautions: POLL 
As President Donald Trump remains hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after contracting COVID-19 this week, nearly 3 out of every 4 Americans doubt that he took seriously the threat posed to his well-being nor the steps necessary to avoid contracting the virus, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. In two separate questions, an identical 72% said that Trump did not take the "risk of contracting the virus seriously enough," nor "the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health." (Kelsey, 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)

USA Today: Now That Trump Tested Positive For COVID-19, Will Shoppers Be More Compliant With Mask Mandates At Stores?
Mask compliance has sparked debates throughout the pandemic as Americans received mixed messages from authorities over whether they should wear face coverings in public places. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said for months that wearing masks slows the spread of COVID-19, but meanwhile, politicians have been called out not doing so. As the nation edged further into the stay-at-home era, viral videos of conflicts over mask requirements at businesses have become common to see.  (Tyko, 10/2)

Also —

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. The former vice president initially tested negative on Friday, hours after Trump tweeted that he and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Biden did not make a public appearance on Sunday. (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)

The New York Times: After Biden’s Exposure To Trump, His Team Is Cagey On Health Questions 
For months, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has gone to great lengths to model responsible behavior in the coronavirus era. He wears masks in public. He does not hold crowded rallies. When he gives speeches, reporters sit at a distance from one another, with white circles on the ground to mark their turf. These actions have so far helped keep Mr. Biden healthy and able to continue campaigning while President Trump, who mocked masks and held large events, is now hospitalized with Covid-19. But beyond the public examples of safety precautions, Mr. Biden’s health protocols have remained largely under wraps, with his campaign saying little about what steps it is taking to protect the 77-year-old Democratic nominee. (Kaplan, Mandavilli and Glueck, 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)

Also —

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)

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 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)

The Hill: Tom Cotton: 'No Doubt' Coronavirus Won't Stop Confirmation Of SCOTUS Nominee
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton (R) said Sunday that he has "no doubt" the Senate GOP's efforts to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court will go on as planned despite the positive diagnosis for coronavirus reported by several senators who attended her nomination event last week. In an interview with "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News, Cotton assured viewers that the Senate's business would remain on track despite several GOP senators testing positive for COVID-19 following last weekend's event. (Bowden, 10/4)

In related Supreme Court news —

NBC News: Supreme Court Begins New Term, Will Decide Fate Of Obamacare — And Maybe The Election
The future the Affordable Care Act and the sweep of religious freedom are among the high-profile issues coming before the U.S. Supreme Court in its new term that begins Monday. The court could also be dragged into disputes over the presidential election before the year is over. (Williams, 10/5)

WBUR: The Election And A Fresh Obamacare Challenge Loom Over New Supreme Court Term 
The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new court term Monday, while across the street at the Capitol, Republicans are seeking to jam through, before the Nov. 3 election, President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court. Trump offered Barrett the nomination just two days after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. And since then, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been leading the GOP charge to get Barrett confirmed before Election Day. (Totenberg, 10/5)

CNN: Pelosi Says She's Not Being Briefed On Trump's Health 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she has not been briefed on President Donald Trump's health since his Covid-19 diagnosis despite her position as second in the presidential line of succession behind Vice President Mike Pence. "We're getting our information the way everyone else is -- in the media," Pelosi said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." "But in terms of the succession, that's an ongoing process. Sadly at this time, it comes to the forefront." (LeBlanc, 10/4)

Fox News: Pelosi Says She Hopes Trump's 'Heart Will Be Opened' And He'll Change Course On Coronavirus
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that she hopes the fact President Trump has fallen sick to the coronavirus will cause the White House and congressional Republicans to change their stance on how to handle the pandemic and "listen to the science" after Democrats have criticized the GOP for months for not taking the virus seriously enough. "Prayers are with the president and the first lady," Pelosi, D-Calif., said. "I hope it really will be a signal that we have to do better in preventing the spread of this virus." (Olson, 10/4)

Roll Call: Calls Grow For More COVID-19 Testing Of Lawmakers, Staff
A deluge of positive COVID-19 tests that included Sen. Mike Lee, President Donald Trump and his aide Hope Hicks prompted more calls for a testing program in the Capitol and its surrounding office buildings. “This episode demonstrates that the Senate needs a testing and contact tracing program for Senators, staff, and all who work in the Capitol complex,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a statement Friday. “We simply cannot allow the administration's cavalier attitude to adversely affect this branch of government.” (Cioffi, 10/2)

The Hill: GOP Anxiety Grows Over Trump Political Roller Coaster
Senate Republicans are growing weary of the political roller coaster that is President Trump and say their prospects of keeping the Senate in November are as unpredictable as Trump himself. (Bolton, 10/5)

In other developments —

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)

Politico: Graham, Harrison Spar Over SCOTUS And Covid-19 In Fiery Senate Debate 
Jaime Harrison and Lindsey Graham have been battling it out over the airwaves for months. On Saturday night, as the surprisingly competitive South Carolina Senate race has reached a fever pitch, they finally met face-to-face on the debate stage. Harrison accused Graham of flip flopping on his word and breaking the trust of his voters. Graham, the three-term GOP incumbent, warned South Carolinians they wouldn’t recognize their country if Democrats took control in Washington. (Arkin, 10/3)

KEYE: Pastor For Texas Megachurch Has Tested Positive For COVID-19, Family Confirms 
John Hagee, Founder and Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church has reportedly been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Hagee's son, Matt made the announcement Sunday morning during a livestreamed service on Facebook, saying doctors informed them Friday of the diagnosis. “Pastor Hagee has been diligent throughout this entire COVID pandemic to monitor his health. And this past Friday, he was informed by his doctors that he did test positive for COVID,” Matt Hagee said. "It was one, discovered very early and two, his medical team has him under watchful care and three, he's feeling well enough to be frustrated by anyone in a white coat with a stethoscope." (Sharma, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Patriots’ Star Cam Newton Tests Positive For Covid-19 As NFL’s Virus Crisis Widens
The National Football League’s coronavirus problems widened on Saturday, as one of the game’s biggest stars—New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton—tested positive for Covid-19, an outbreak on the Tennessee Titans grew and a member of the Kansas City Chiefs received a positive test. The Patriots’ game scheduled for Sunday against the Chiefs, a marquee matchup featuring the reigning Super Bowl champions, will be postponed until Monday or Tuesday, the NFL said. It wasn’t immediately clear who tested positive with the Chiefs. (Beaton, 10/3)

Fox News: Coronavirus Test Caused Brain Fluid Leak In Woman With Rare Health Condition: Report
A COVID-19 test reportedly led to a life-threatening infection for a woman with a rare, undiagnosed health condition. The woman, in her 40s, received a nasal swab test that was said to have punctured her brain lining, causing fluid to leak from her nose and putting her in danger of an infection that could have been deadly, Jarret Walsh, an otolaryngologist, reported in the medical journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, according to AFP.  (Settembre, 10/2)

CNN: This Survivor May Have Had Covid-19 Twice 
Covid-19 first struck Jordan Josey around St. Patrick's Day, right as social distancing guidelines were rolling out across the country. The 29-year-old lawyer from Macon, Georgia, was sick through Easter, before eventually clearing the coronavirus, developing antibodies and gradually building up his stamina again by early May. He donated convalescent plasma on May 18 and received a letter two weeks later confirming that he was positive for coronavirus antibodies. A swab test around that time came back negative for the virus itself. (Prior, 10/5)

NBC News: A Texas Family Lost Four Members To Covid-19. Now They Want To Save Others From Heartbreak.
The coronavirus had already killed Nieves Salas Solis' mother and brother when he called his daughter from a hospital bed with a chilling message: "I'm next." Nieves, 62, who grew up in Dallas and in recent years lived in a Mexican border town doing community outreach, had a high fever and shortness of breath. It was mid-August, and he had managed to drive himself to a hospital in Harlingen, Texas, where doctors confirmed that he had Covid-19. But their efforts to clear his lungs were not working, said his daughter, Ana Alonso. (Chuck, 10/4)

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)

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)

In news about the flu —

The New York Times: How To Identify The Different Symptoms Of The Flu And Covid-19 
As influenza season approaches, some Americans, and especially parents, are worried that, if they or their children should become ill, it may not be easy to know which disease they have — the flu or Covid-19. They are correct. Most symptoms of the two diseases are so similar that, short of a test — or two or three tests — it won’t be possible to know for sure. But there are some clues. (And it is possible to have both infections at the same time; some patients in China this year were found to have both.) (McNeil Jr., 10/3)

NPR: Is It COVID-19, Allergies, The Flu Or A Cold? How To Stay Healthy This Fall 
You might have hoped the coronavirus pandemic would cancel what we doctors usually think of as "sick season," but as cool weather signals the annual arrival of autumn allergies, colds and flu in the U.S., sick season is still right on schedule. In my clinic, that means a flurry of visits and calls from patients worried about their runny noses, coughs and sore throats. Before the emergence of COVID-19, it was already tough for patients to know how seriously to take those common symptoms. Allergies and colds are mostly just a nuisance, but a severe case of the flu can kill. (Kendrick, 10/4)

Scientific American: Why Some People Are Still Getting Sick--But Not With COVID 
On September 18 Orianna Carvalho woke up at 3 A.M. with a sore throat and the sniffles. At first, she thought her symptoms were caused by allergies. But as the minutes ticked by, she began to worry they were caused by COVID-19. The following morning, Carvalho got tested at the University of Rhode Island, where she is a first-year doctoral student. Over the next few hours she developed a fever, and the catastrophizing began in earnest. When Carvalho finally learned that the cause of her misery was not COVID but the common cold, she was relieved but also surprised. “I have been so careful—wearing a mask every time I go somewhere, keeping at least six feet away from other people, using hand sanitizer and washing my hands,” she says. “I don’t know how I got sick.” (Broadfoot, 10/2)

The Washington Post: Catastrophic Effect Of 1918 Flu May Have Been Aided By Peculiar Influx Of Cold Air Into Europe During WWI
In 1918, as World War I crawled to its finish, the world faced down another sinister enemy with the spread of H1N1 influenza. During the influenza pandemic, about one-third of the world was infected and at least 50 million died. But why was the pandemic so deadly? Research finds clues in climate. In a paper published last month in the journal GeoHealth, scientists analyzed the effects of an extreme weather anomaly they said set the stage for increased casualties during World War I and the spread and intensity of the flu afterward. (Blakemore, 10/3)

The Washington Post: U.S. May See Fewest Lightning Fatalities On Record In 2020 
You know things are bad when you try to buck yourself up by thinking, “Well, at least few people have died by lightning this year.” But if trends continue, 2020 will go down as the year the United States had its lowest number of lightning fatalities in recorded history. By the end of September, the country typically sees 25 lightning-related deaths, based on 10-year average statistics. Right now we’re only at a dozen. That’s not to diminish these tragedies. Many of the people struck down were doing everyday things like walking or yard work, and two of the incidents involved groups of people (four men working on a deer blind this July in Pa., two of whom died, and two men killed while clearing tree debris in North Carolina in August after Hurricane Isaias). One man in South Carolina was killed in May after simply stepping out of his car. (Metcalfe, 10/3)

The Washington Post: U.S. Faces Shortage Of Up To 8 Billion Meals In Next 12 Months, Leading Food Bank Says
Bill Blackmer lost his job in telecommunications on April 18. Blackmer lives with his wife, Mary, and two young daughters in Weymouth, Mass. “I waited until after dinner, once everything had settled down, to tell her,” he remembers. “Mary didn’t say anything, just grabbed her stomach and took three steps back and sat down.” He is among tens of millions of Americans who have turned to a local food bank for help after becoming newly food insecure because of the pandemic and its fallout. About 10 percent of American adults, 22.3 million, reported they sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat within the past week, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey fielded between Aug. 19 and 31. That is up from 18 million before March 13. (Reiley, 10/2)

USA Today: Increased Screen Time Amid Pandemic Is Causing More Eye Problems
Optometrists report a rising number of patients seeking help with eye problems during the pandemic. Many are tired of their glasses fogging up while wearing masks and wary of possibly spreading viruses while installing contact lenses. Meanwhile, others are grappling with the fallout of increased screen time, which can exacerbate a medical condition known as dry eye, doctors say. (Brown, 10/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Stressed At Work? Here’s When To File For Disability Benefits 
Employees may be able to file for short-term disability if a medical professional diagnoses them with an anxiety disorder, depression or other mental illness due to that stress. But there are other options to consider under the Americans With Disabilities Act, depending on the person’s condition and workplace environment. (Steele, 10/4)

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: 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)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Fraud Probes Grow In Number, Intensity
The possibility of scoring a lucrative healthcare fraud settlement may be spurring broad information requests by the government that look more like “fishing expeditions” than targeted investigations, and as a result are driving up providers’ costs, legal experts said. Healthcare fraud investigations have consistently netted the government more than $2 billion in settlements a year since 2010, with whistleblowers recouping hundreds of millions of that share annually, according to U.S. Justice Department data. A “historic” $6 billion healthcare fraud investigation unveiled last week will likely fuel more federal and state probes. (Kacik, 10/3)

FierceHealthcare: Advocate Aurora Health, Beaumont Health End Merger Plans
Advocate Aurora Health and Beaumont Health have put an end to their discussions around a potential partnership, officials announced Friday. The announcement comes months after the two organizations signed a letter of intent to open discussions. (Reed, 10/2)

Journalnow.com: Blue Cross NC, Wake Forest Baptist Form Another Health-Care Partnership
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C. and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have formed their second health insurance network to serve the Triad. Blue Cross said it will offer, starting in January, what it is marketing as Blue High Performance network. The network provides members with access to a comprehensive set of doctors, hospitals and specialists, while lowering costs for employers. (Craver, 10/4)

Modern Healthcare: New Jersey Hospitals Report 'Historic' Financial Impact From COVID-19
COVID-19's financial impact on New Jersey hospitals has reached "historic levels," with nearly 60% of providers reporting negative net margins throughout the first half of the year as a result of the pandemic. A mid-year snapshot of financial data released Friday by the New Jersey Hospital Association found providers statewide experienced significant declines in both patient volume and revenue compared to the same time last year. (Johnson, 10/2)

Boston Globe: Hospitals Digging In For A Long Winter As Coronavirus Patients Increase 
The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients is steadily increasing across Massachusetts as health care leaders dig in for what they suspect will be a long winter of illness and unease. Since late August, when the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients across Massachusetts hit a low, the caseloads are up 41 percent, according to Sunday’s data from the state’s Department of Public Health. The steepest increases have come in the past two weeks. (Lazar, 10/4)

Stat: With An Anthropologist’s Eye, Duke Pioneers A New Approach To Medical AI
If not for an anthropologist and sociologist, the leaders of a prominent health innovation hub at Duke University would never have known that the clinical AI tool they had been using on hospital patients for two years was making life far more difficult for its nurses. The tool, which uses deep learning to determine the chances a hospital patient will develop sepsis, has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on patients. But the tool required that nurses present its results — in the form of a color-coded risk scorecard — to clinicians, including physicians they’d never worked with before. It disrupted the hospital’s traditional power hierarchy and workflow, rendering nurses uncomfortable and doctors defensive. (Brodwin, 10/5)

Hartford Courant: Coronavirus Outbreak At Colchester Nursing Home Has Infected More Than 50 Residents And Staff 
A total of 57 people, including 46 residents, at the Harrington Court Nursing Home in Colchester have tested positive for the coronavirus as state officials deal with yet another outbreak in a long-term care facility. Russell Melmed, director of the Chatham Health District, said Thursday morning there had been no deaths so far, but that the outbreak, which is believed to have started early last week, is still not contained. However, the weekly count of COVID cases in nursing homes released following Gov. Ned Lamont’s press conference lists two deaths in the past week at Harrington. (Altimari, 10/1)

In news from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts —

CNN: US Coronavirus: New York City Plans To Reverse Reopenings In Some Neighborhoods As Coronavirus Cases Climb
Schools, daycares and restaurants may again be forced to close in some New York City neighborhoods as the city tries to get ahead of a worrisome spread of Covid-19. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday proposed temporarily closing all schools and non-essential businesses in nine ZIP codes with high test positivity rates beginning Wednesday, pending state approval. (Holcombe, 10/5)

The New York Times: N.Y.P.D. Warns Officers: Wear Your Masks
New York City police officials instructed all officers to wear masks in public or risk discipline, as the department faces mounting criticism over officers’ failure to comply with a state mandate that people wear face coverings in public when social distancing is not possible. The Police Department’s directive, issued on Friday in memos and a video, came after elected officials repeatedly called out the police for flouting the mask mandate they are supposed to enforce. About 400 officers have been assigned to nine neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens where there has been an uptick in coronavirus cases and where the city plans to close nonessential businesses and schools this week. (Southall and Gold, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: New Jersey Voters Set To Decide On Legalizing Marijuana
New Jersey voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana next month, after the Democratic-led state legislature fell short of enough votes to get it done. The ballot measure, if passed, would amend the state constitution to allow people ages 21 and older to use marijuana. It would also allow the state to establish a regulated market to grow, distribute and sell the drug. (De Avila, 10/4)

WBUR: COVID-19 Outbreak At Massachusetts Alcohol And Substance Abuse Center Halts Admissions
The state has temporarily stopped sending men to an involuntary addiction treatment center because of a coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Correction (DOC) says it has stopped admissions to the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center (MASAC) in Plymouth after 28 men at the center tested positive for the virus. Eleven staff members of the facility's medical provider, Wellpath, also tested positive. (Becker, 10/3)

In news from Ohio and Michigan —

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio's COVID-19 Deaths Drop To Zero On Sunday
After a week of posting above-average numbers of new coronavirus cases, the Ohio Department of Health reported zero deaths for the first time since March and 941 new cases on Sunday. The number of new cases is an 8% decrease from the recent three-week average and a drop from Saturday's 1,157 recorded cases. However, even though the state hadn't recorded zero deaths since March 15, death reporting can lag over the weekend. A total of 4,925 Ohioans have died of the virus. (Doyle, 10/4)

Politico: Ohio Governor Says Trump’s Diagnosis Serves As ‘Cautionary Tale’ 
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday he hoped President Donald Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis served as "a cautionary tale" that inspired people to wear masks to help slow down the spread of the virus. "What I hope is that what we have seen with the president is a cautionary tale for people, and people will understand that, look, it can happen to the president, it can happen to your family, and you wear a mask to help other people," the Republican governor said on CNN's "State of the Union." (Tamborrino, 10/4)

Detroit Free Press: DDOT Bus Driver Stop Bus Service, Amid New Pandemic Concerns
Detroit's bus drivers don't feel the city has done enough to protect them during the pandemic and have pledged not to go back to work until it does, their union president Glenn Tolbert said Friday, adding they hope it won't be a long shutdown. Tolbert said the city broke off talks with the union earlier today, and the work stoppage will continue through the weekend. The talks between the union and city officials will resume Monday. (Witsil, 10/2)

In news from Alabama and Texas —

WPMI: Hurricane Season Taking Toll On Mental Health Of Alabama Storm Victims
AltaPointe Health says after Hurricane Sally struck, there was an uptick in calls for help. Japonica Bryant works with people experiencing psychiatric emergencies there. "People are calling about anxiety and depression, dealing with storm anxiety," said Bryant. With Alabama's coast about to possibly receive a one-two punch just weeks apart this hurricane season, Bryant says she's concerned about people who've already reached their breaking point. (Ramey, 10/4)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Taps Federal Funds To Help Nursing Homes Buy Equipment To Expand COVID-Era Visits
State officials announced Friday that they will help nursing homes tap $3.5 million in federal funds to buy equipment that would allow more visitors during the coronavirus pandemic. Starting Monday, certified nursing homes in Texas can apply for up to $3,000 each toward purchasing plexiglass barriers for expanded indoor visits and tents to accommodate more safe gatherings outdoors, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Health and Human Services Commission announced. (Garrett, 10/2)

AP: 3 Win Nobel Medicine Prize For Discovering Hepatitis C Virus
Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice and British-born scientist Michael Houghton won the Nobel Prize for medicine on Monday for their discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a major source of liver disease that affects millions worldwide. Announcing the prize in Stockholm, the Nobel Committee noted that the trio’s work identified a major source of blood-borne hepatitis that couldn’t be explained by the previously discovered hepatitis A and B viruses. Their work, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, has helped saved millions of lives, the committee said. (Keyton and Jordans, 10/5)

CNN: Nobel Prize In Medicine Awarded For Discovery Of Hepatitis C To Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton And Charles M. Rice
Globally, an estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection, according to the World Health Organization. A significant number of those who are chronically infected will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer. Gilbert Thompson, professor emeritus of clinical lipidology at Imperial College London, told CNN: "It's (the award) long overdue. Hep C arguably has caused just as much, if not more deaths, than the current coronavirus pandemic. It was a major problem and this (work) was an enormous step forward." (Reynolds and Hunt, 10/5)

In other global news —

Axios: New Zealand "Beat The Virus Again," PM Jacinda Ardern Says 
Auckland will join the rest of New Zealand this week in enjoying no domestic coronavirus restrictions after the city's outbreak was deemed "under control," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday. Driving the news: The second COVID-19 outbreak that began in August in New Zealand's most populous city grew to 179 cases, Ardern said at a briefing. "Only five people from the cluster are yet to recover," she said. (Falconer, 10/4)

CNN: Kenzo Takada, Founder Of Kenzo, Dies Of Covid-19 Aged 81
Paris-based Japanese designer Kenzo Takada, famous for creating the international luxury fashion house Kenzo, died in Paris on Sunday due to Covid-19 related complications, a spokesperson for Takada's luxury K-3 brand said in a statement sent to CNN. His death came in the midst of Paris Fashion Week, which, through a hybrid of physical and digital shows, has forged ahead despite rising Covid-19 cases in France. (Goillandeau, 10/5)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Medical Confusion
President Trump’s doctors said Sunday he could be released from Walter Reed medical center as early as Monday if his symptoms keep improving. This is good to hear, but it also underscores the need for the White House to be transparent about Mr. Trump’s condition on a daily basis. Sunday’s briefing was more forthcoming than Saturday’s fiasco when the President’s physician, Scott Conley, was evasive on whether Mr. Trump had at any time been administered oxygen. That refusal served no purpose, as the media naturally took it as an invitation to find the answer. The press was soon reporting that Mr. Trump had received oxygen at the White House when his breathing was labored before he was taken to Walter Reed on Friday. (10/4)

The New York Times: The American People Need The Truth About Trump's Condition
The American people deserve better than to be misled about the health of the president. Several days into President Trump’s battle with Covid-19, even basic facts about his illness — when he was diagnosed, how high his fever climbed, what triggered his hospitalization — remain hard to come by. The White House is being evasive and secretive. That’s nothing new, nor is it unreasonable to withhold some sensitive information from the public. But too often in the past few days, the administration has appeared to be actively misleading the American people. (10/4)

The Washington Post: Doctors Say Trump May Go Home Monday. Based On What They’ve Told Us, That’s A Bad Idea.
Based on the limited information we have about President Trump’s health, it’s too risky to send him back to the White House on Monday. Admittedly, there is a lot that we don’t know. On Sunday morning, the president’s physician, Sean Conley, gave a second briefing to the public about Trump’s condition. Like the first one Saturday, this briefing omitted critical pieces of information. The American people are forced to play detective work. What little information we have raises alarms. Let’s begin with what we know about the president’s vital signs, which are called “vital” for a reason. (Leana S. Wen, 10/4)

The Washington Post: Only The Trump Team Could Spin This Into Even Riskier Messaging About The Virus 
There is never a silver lining to somebody else’s illness, but you might have thought that President Trump’s infection at least could have offered a learning moment for his supporters. If so, you would have underestimated the cynicism and amorality of the Trump campaign. So far, although it wouldn’t have seemed possible, the Trump team is using this occasion to peddle even more dangerous misinformation and advice than before. (Fred Hiatt, 10/4)

Bloomberg: Donald Trump Coronavirus: He Failed To Protect America And Himself 
The consequences of Donald Trump’s hubris and apathy, for him and about 7.3 million other Americans who’ve been infected, have been dire. Lives have been upended and 208,000 of them were lost. A nation sitting atop what appeared to be a sophisticated public health apparatus and economic juggernaut has been unspooled. Social and political divisions have come to a boil. Racism’s stranglehold on the American experiment has become more overt. And the man who most embodies the conflicts and otherworldliness of 2020 now watches his political future, his personal well-being and his monarchical sense of entitlement circumscribed by a virus wearing a crown. (Timothy O'Brien, 10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Can Champion Coronavirus Awareness
Now that President Trump has tested positive for Covid-19, he has a unique opportunity to become a poster boy for awareness of the disease. He can transform himself into a strong advocate for individual responsibility to combat the pandemic: urging Americans to follow all the standard recommended protocols, from frequent hand-washing to wearing a mask and social distancing. Doing so would not only be a smart political move but also a monumental service to the nation, clinically and economically. This proposal is based more in fact than opinion. (Bob Brody, 10/2)

Fox News: Trump COVID-19 Hospitalization Doesn’t Mean He’s Seriously Ill — I Expect His Full Recovery
The decision to hospitalize President Trump on Friday night for several days after he tested positive for COVID-19 appears to be a wise one, taken out of an abundance of caution. It shouldn’t lead anyone to conclude he is seriously ill at this time. As a pulmonologist and intensive care physician who has treated COVID-19 patients at NYU Langone Health, where I practice, I know full well that the disease caused by the coronavirus can be quite serious — and fatal in some cases. But importantly, I also know that the vast majority of COVID-19 patients recover from the disease. (Qanta Ahmed, 10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: The Trump Coronavirus Spread
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows started Friday by briefing reporters with his face uncovered. He ended it wearing an N95 mask while escorting President Trump to the hospital. It was a jarring image to finish a startling day, as it became apparent that the White House was at the center of a Covid-19 outbreak that could run through America’s political class. All should hope and pray for a quick recovery for the president, his wife and the staffers, elected officials, journalists and others who seem to have been victims of a spreader event. But it didn’t have to happen. Mr. Trump and his team aren’t passive victims of bad luck and an aggressive virus. For months, some of them condoned nonchalance about the virus, mocking precautions such as wearing masks as marks of weakness and dismissing public-health concerns as overwrought. (Scott Gottlieb and Yuval Levin, 10/4)

The New York Times: What Donald Trump Can Learn From Boris Johnson
America, we’ve been here before you. We know what it is like to have a country’s leader downplay the virus, ignore safety measures inside their work space, assume health restrictions are for the little people, and then become ill. We know what it’s like to be pitched into fearful political uncertainties; who’s making the decisions in a crisis, and what are the consequences for us if a leader is incapacitated? President Trump could have drawn some lessons in caution from Boris Johnson’s hospitalization this spring. Instead we have history repeating itself, on a short-circuiting loop, but in both these cases, far too grimly to be described as farce. (Jenni Russell, 10/4)

The Washington Post: Trump Claims That He Had No Choice But To Risk His Own Health. Americans Disagree. 
The choice Trump presents here is as bizarre as his conclusion. It is not the case that one must either remain in a windowless room or necessarily contract the novel coronavirus — as he has. One can use social distancing and mask-wearing — as he hasn’t — in an effort to drastically limit the risk posed by the virus. The idea that the proper way to confront the pandemic is for the president to expose himself to it is like saying that Franklin D. Roosevelt should have taken on Adolf Hitler by airdropping into Dresden. FDR managed to fight World War II while not drastically increasing his chances of being shot by a Nazi. More than 7 in 10 Americans hold a similar position. Asked by pollsters from Ipsos working with ABC News, the vast majority said both that Trump hadn’t taken the risk of contracting the virus seriously enough and that he hadn’t taken the appropriate personal protections necessary to avoid becoming sick. (Philip Bump, 10/4)

The New York Times: Reality Bursts The Trumpworld Bubble
Fate leads the willing, Seneca said, while the unwilling get dragged. For his entire life, Donald Trump has stayed one step ahead of disaster, plying his gift for holding reality at bay. He conjured his own threadbare reality, about success, about virility, about imbroglios with women, even about the height of Trump Tower. As president, he has created a bubble within his bubble, keeping out science and anything that made him look bad. He has played a dangerous game of alchemizing wishes to facts, pretending that he was a strong leader, pretending that the virus will magically disappear and that it “affects virtually nobody,’’ pretending that we don’t have to wear masks, pretending that dicey remedies could work, pretending that the vaccine is right around the corner. Now, in a moment that feels biblical, the implacable virus has come to his door. (Maureen Dowd, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Positive Covid Test
America, or at least the non-Twitter part of it, is wishing President Trump and his wife Melania a speedy recovery after their positive tests for Covid-19. The good news is that, even in the worst medical case, the United States has the constitutional measures in place to assure continuity of governance. This may even be an instructive moment for the American people. The media are professing shock that Mr. Trump is infected, but it really isn’t all that surprising. He’s running a government and running for re-election. This requires by necessity contact with numerous people, and it’s simply not realistic to think he can do his job and not come into contact with infected individuals who might be asymptomatic. This underscores the pernicious nature of the virus, and it shows how the supposed fail-safe of more testing is far from foolproof. (10/2)

The Washington Post: Reality Smacks Trumpworld, But The Bubble Remains
To the annals of footage taken just before disaster — the Hindenburg approaching its docking mast, John F. Kennedy’s motorcade winding through Dealey Plaza — we can now add video of the Rose Garden introduction for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Dignitaries including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kellyanne Conway and first lady Melania Trump glad-hand and hug, with smiles all too visible in the absence of masks. A week later, we know that those three, plus several other key White House and campaign officials, reporters and, of course, the president himself have all tested positive for the novel coronavirus. (James Downie, 10/4)

Boston Globe: A COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be Safe And Effective
To build trust and confidence in a COVID-19 vaccination strategy, there needs to be a framework. Creating one is critical because widespread acceptance and distribution of safe and effective vaccines is the best approach to ending the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary results of several candidate vaccines have been promising, with each inducing the type of immunity that might protect against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Proof that one or more of these vaccines does, in fact, protect against COVID-19 and is safe to administer to the general population can only come from large-scale placebo-controlled clinical trials. Such trials, involving tens of thousands of volunteers, are underway. While we can’t predict the results of these trials, we’re confident that when concluded, they will provide definitive evidence about whether a particular vaccine candidate is safe and can prevent or lessen the severity of COVID-19. (10/5)

New England Journal of Medicine: The FDA And The Importance Of Trust
As SARS-CoV-2 emerged, the global scientific community first studied the virus at the bench, then took what was learned to the bedside in the hope of helping patients, and later returned to the bench with observations from the bedside. Such a process has led to progress in the treatment and prevention of every important disease we have faced, including AIDS, cancer, and diabetes. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the information we have gathered has increased our understanding of the biology of the virus, the diagnosis of the infection, the nature of the injury it causes, and potential therapies to treat it, but much is still unknown. In Covid-19, clinicians at the bedside continue to face an imperfectly understood disease that leads to tragic consequences for too many patients. Under enormous pressure to help patients while doing no harm, clinicians rely on the transparency of the scientific process and on the careful judgment of regulators who base their decisions on the best available scientific understanding of the disease. (Lindsey R. Baden, et al., 9/30)

Stat: Trump Likes To Vilify Drug Makers, But Now He Needs Them
The man who once said drug makers are “getting away with murder” may now have to rely on them to save his life. Despite his trademark cockiness, President Trump is now infected with the same novel coronavirus that has killed more than 1 million people around the world, including some 208,000 Americans. (Ed Silverman, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: What Trump Got Wrong About Coronavirus Testing
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to Earth. Even so, the starlight visible from here is more than 4 years old because of the distance it must travel. So what does that have to do with the president’s coronavirus infection?Coronavirus testing has to navigate a similar kind of delay. The tests aren’t that good at detecting whether we are infected if we’re tested within a couple of days of being exposed to the virus. That’s because it often takes more than a day or two for the virus to propagate in our bodies enough to be discovered. The tests are better at determining whether we were infected four or five days earlier — which is why health experts generally advise people to be tested five days after a possible exposure. (Karin Klein, 10/3)

Boston Globe: Not So Fast On Indoor Gatherings
By now, the governor should know that when it comes to COVID-19 amid a failed federal response, the Commonwealth can’t have it both ways. Letting indoor businesses gather more people — known to increase risk of community spread — undermines schools’ ability to safely return to in-person instruction, because schools are not isolated bubbles. If their surrounding communities are engaging in risky behavior, that makes students and teachers more vulnerable to contracting the virus as well. (10/2)

Stat: With The Coronavirus, There Are No Magic Bullets 
What lessons should we learn from the fact that the president of the United States has caught Covid-19? There is one simple one, which the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, keeps teaching but which seems extremely difficult to learn: There are no magic bullets against Covid-19. (Matthew Herper, 10/5)

WBUR: Kids Will Get COVID-19. We Need To Make Sure They're Not Bullied For It 
In February and March, health care workers and public health professionals like me began the tireless work of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. While we were hailed as heroes, my lived experience was different. When I told people I cared for patients ill with COVID-19, many people took a step back. As I explained that I was an infectious diseases physician working with people experiencing homelessness, they took another step back. This happened with strangers and friends alike. (Joshua Barocas, 10/5)

Modern Healthcare: Are We Prepared For The Next Public Health Crisis?
The coronavirus pandemic has humbled U.S. healthcare organizations like few events in history. It is imperative for industry leaders to honestly assess whether we’re ready for the next wave or any future public health emergency. Will we apply lessons learned if—and more likely when—the virus spikes this fall and winter? In the years to come, are we prepared for another virus that could be far more lethal? (Michael J. Dowling and Charles Kenney, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Has Blasted Healthcare Into The Future
Today, we see how the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the adoption of these types of technologies that once seemed so far-fetched. For example, the use of telehealth has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drones disinfect streets in China, deliver medical supplies in Rwanda, and transport healthcare supplies to U.S. homes. Hotels and hospitals even employ germ-zapping robots to disinfect rooms. (Richard Isaacs, 10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: An End To Michigan’s Endless Emergency
Michigan’s one-woman rule is no more. When the coronavirus hit the state this spring, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew complaints for the seemingly arbitrary nature of her lockdown orders. Stores were told to cordon off nonessential sections. You could buy lottery tickets, but not paint or gardening supplies. (10/4)

NBC News: U.S. Teens Are Having Less Sex — But Stigmatizing Their Sexuality Does More Harm Than Good
In late August, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention released the results of its biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, showing that in 2019, 38.4 percent of high school students in the United States had experienced sexual intercourse. The number is 15.7 points lower than the 54.1 percent of high school students who reported having had sexual intercourse in 1991 (the year the survey started tracking sexual experiences). (Amy Schalet, 10/5)