Politico: Hospitals Search For Enough Beds And Nurses As Virus Rebounds
The coronavirus is engulfing big city hospitals in states including Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana that are running low on nurses and beds and are being forced to set up overflow facilities. With new daily U.S. cases surpassing 62,000 on Thursday, the prospect of swamped intensive care units is prompting some governors who previously resisted public health orders to weigh new restrictions to ease pressure on their health care systems. From the early days of the pandemic, the availability of ICU beds — and hospitals' ability to treat people who need life-support equipment like ventilators to breathe — has been an important benchmark for whether local health systems can handle outbreaks. (Diamond, 10/16)

The New York Times: U.S. ‘Headed In The Wrong Direction’ As A 3rd Peak Nears 
As coronavirus cases across the United States climb toward a third peak, the country surpassed a total of eight million total known cases on Thursday afternoon, according to a New York Times database. Epidemiologists warned of a new, worrisome phase as 17 states are seeing surges unlike anything they experienced earlier in the pandemic. States including Alaska, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin reported more new cases during the seven-day stretch that ended on Wednesday than in any other week since the virus arrived in the country. (10/16)

The Atlantic: Coronavirus Cases And Hospitalizations Are Surging Yet Again
After a month of warning signs, this week’s data make it clear: The third surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is underway. Outbreaks have been worsening in many states for more than a month, and new COVID-19 cases jumped 18 percent this week, bringing the seven-day average to more than 51,000 cases a day. Though testing rose by 8 percent nationally, that’s not enough of an increase to explain the steep rise in cases. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations, which had previously been creeping upward slowly, jumped more than 14 percent from a week earlier. (10/15)

CNN: The US Is Approaching 8 Million Covid-19 Cases And The Pace Of New Infections Signals A Tough Winter
The US is nearing 8 million Covid-19 cases and averaging more than 50,000 daily new infections -- a sign the country is in for a tough winter, experts say. Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of tropical medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, called the rising average "an ominous sign." "This is the time when we could be entering one of the worst periods of our epidemic and one of our worst periods in modern American public health," he said Thursday. "I'm very worried for the nation." (Maxouris, 10/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Why Covid-19 Is Spreading Again: Fatigue, Colder Weather, Eased Restrictions
A number of factors are likely contributing to the rise, some epidemiologists and public-health researchers said. The virus has spread to more rural counties and other communities, exposing vulnerable populations that hadn’t yet experienced it significantly and who are now reacting instead of taking steps to prevent the virus, public-health researchers said. Some people have grown tired of restrictions on their movements and might be taking more risks than they did in the spring, they said. (Calfas, 10/15)

Also —

ABC News: The Last COVID-Free Counties In America 
The four counties in the United States that haven't reported a single COVID-19 case have some commonalities. They're sparsely populated and geographically isolated. They're solidly middle-class. In two counties, tourism has ground to a sudden halt because of the pandemic. But testing in areas without strong health infrastructure can complicate the picture, experts warn. You can't report COVID-19 cases if you don't test for them, and rural America has historically lacked access to health resources available in more populated areas. (Schumaker and Nichols, 10/16)

CNN: Global Handwashing Day 2020: More Important Than Ever 
Observing Global Handwashing Day has never been more important than during a pandemic that could be stemmed, in part, by everyone taking hand hygiene seriously. Keeping our hands clean is one of the most important habits we can adopt to prevent contracting Covid-19 and spreading the coronavirus that causes the disease to others. Without washing properly and killing off the coronavirus — and other viruses, bacteria and germs we pick up from raw meats, fecal matter and respiratory droplets — it can spread between people and cause disease. (Rogers, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: 1.9 Million Years Of Life Have Been Lost During The Pandemic
COVID-19 has contributed to a significant increase in premature deaths across demographics, which will have a substantial societal impact for years to come, according to new data that attempts to quantify the pandemic's community and economic impact. About 1.9 million years of life have been lost from April to August, which is a 13% increase over the historical average, according to a Health Care Cost Institute analysis that compared obituary and life expectancy data over the past five years to recent data. (Kacik, 10/15)

Politico: Trump Gets Grilled As Biden Coasts: Takeaways From The Dueling Town Halls
It came off less like a split screen than a breach in the political universe – “Die Hard” versus “It’s a Wonderful Life.” At the edge of his seat at his town hall in Miami, Donald Trump refused to disavow QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory, and sidestepped questions about his coronavirus tests. On a more sober, distant stage in Philadelphia, Biden criticized Trump’s response to the pandemic and discussed the intricacies of racial injustice. (Siders and Kumar, 10/15)

AP: Trump, Biden Go At It — From A Distance — In Town Halls
The presidential rivals took questions in different cities on different networks: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump backed out of plans for the presidential faceoff originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers said it would be held virtually following his COVID-19 diagnosis. The town halls offered a different format for the two candidates to present themselves to voters, after the pair held a chaotic and combative first debate late last month. The difference in the men’s tone was immediate and striking. (Weissert and Superville, 10/16)

More on Trump's responses at last night's town hall meeting —

USA Today: Trump, Biden Town Halls: What You Missed On COVID, Court Packing
In Miami, NBC moderator Savannah Guthrie grilled Trump for 18 minutes before opening the forum to audience members' questions. The president squirmed, chafed, and sarcastically called her "cute." When Guthrie asked Trump if he had taken a COVID-19 test on the day of his debate with Biden, he dodged: "Possibly I did. Possibly I didn’t.” When she asked if he had pneumonia during his COVID-19 illness, he said, "No, but they said the lungs are little bit different, a little bit – perhaps infected." (Shesgreen, Morin, Santucci and King, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Trump And Biden Spar From Afar In Dueling Town Halls Centering On Coronavirus And Presidential Plans. 
In one of the most notable exchanges, [Trump] said he did not know about QAnon, a loose-knit online community that was recently banned from Facebook after sharing false stories, including ones about Democrats abusing children. Supporters of the group regularly appear with signs and apparel at Trump’s rallies. “They are very strongly against pedophilia, and I agree with that,” he said about the group before attempting to pivot the conversation to talk about left-wing radicals like self-described anti-fascist protesters. (Sherer, Johnson and Dawsey, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Takeaways From Trump And Biden’s Town Halls 
In the approximately 20 minutes before the town hall was turned over to audience questions, [NBC's Savannah] Guthrie thoroughly grilled him. As Trump repeated false claims about the coronavirus outbreak and equivocated on things like QAnon and accepting the election results, Guthrie peppered him with sharp questions, follow-ups and fact checks. When Trump claimed that a study showed 85 percent of people who wear masks still get the coronavirus, Guthrie noted he falsely characterized the study. When Trump defended his pandemic response by citing another study that showed 2 million people could have died of the coronavirus, Guthrie rightly noted that model predicted that only if the government did precisely zero mitigation. (Blake and Scott, 10/15)

The New York Times: NBC’s Savannah Guthrie Grills Trump Opposite ABC’s Sober Biden Talk 
After 20 minutes of Ms. Guthrie’s grilling, Mr. Trump’s advisers appeared concerned. His communications director, Alyssa Farah, approached Ms. Guthrie during the first commercial break, and then joined three other aides gathered with the president onstage. Even as Ms. Guthrie solicited questions from voters, she kept up the pressure, cajoling Mr. Trump into a sidelong acknowledgment of a New York Times report about his $400 million debt load, which he previously had refused to confirm. And she confronted him with a concern that even some of his allies share: “You’re the president,” Ms. Guthrie said. “You’re not someone’s crazy uncle who can retweet whatever.” (Grynbaum and Koblin, 10/15)

More on Biden's responses at last night's town hall meeting —

Reuters: In Split-Screen Town Halls, Trump And Biden Squabble Over Coronavirus Response
Biden, speaking to voters in Philadelphia on ABC, blamed the Republican president for concealing the deadliness of the virus.“ He said he didn’t tell anybody because he was afraid Americans would panic,” Biden said. “Americans don’t panic. He panicked.” Trump defended both his response to the pandemic as well as his own personal conduct, including staging a Rose Garden event at the White House where few wore masks or practiced social distancing, which resulted in numerous attendees contracting the disease. (Holland and Martina, 10/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Pressed On Coronavirus Response In Town Hall, Biden Asked To Outline Alternative Plan
Mr. Biden meanwhile criticized Mr. Trump for sending mixed messages about public health guidelines and for rarely wearing a mask. “The words of a president matter,” Mr. Biden said. “When a president doesn’t wear a mask…people say, ‘Well it mustn’t be that important.’” (Siddiqui and Ballhaus, 10/15)

The New York Times: Trump And Biden Spar From Afar At Town Halls 
In his appearance, Mr. Biden also confronted a number of issues that have been challenging for him to address throughout the campaign, including his views on expanding the Supreme Court and his record on the 1994 crime bill. Mr. Biden has recently dodged questions on the issue of court packing, insisting that his focus is instead on potential judicial threats to the Affordable Care Act and at times responding brusquely when pressed on the issue. But on Thursday, under questioning from George Stephanopoulos of ABC, he appeared to say that he would clarify his position on expanding the Supreme Court before Election Day. “They do have a right to know where I stand,” he said, “and they’ll have a right to know where I stand before they vote.” (Burns and Glueck,10/15)

AP: Biden Campaign Flips COVID-19 Threat Into New Trump Contrast
With the election quickly approaching, the episode was another example of how Biden and Trump are responding in vastly different ways to the pandemic. While Trump’s aides offered shifting and sometimes contradictory explanations following a White House coronavirus outbreak, Biden’s team offered more specifics. And as Trump returns to aggressive campaign travel before massive, often unmasked crowds, the Biden campaign reinforced its commitment to following public health guidelines. (Barrow, 10/15)

ABC News: Aviation Staffer Who Has Flown With Biden In Recent Days Tests Positive For COVID-19 
The Biden campaign has announced that someone who flew with former Vice President Joe Biden to Ohio on Monday and Florida on Tuesday has tested positive for COVID-19. The positive result was discovered through contact tracing that the campaign undertook following the positive diagnosis of Sen. Kamala Harris’ communications director and a non-staff flight crew member. (Nagle, 10/15)

Politico: Harris Cancels Travel After Biden Campaign Announces Positive Covid Tests
Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled all campaign travel through this weekend “out of an abundance of caution” after a flight crew member and her communications director tested positive for coronavirus, the Biden campaign announced Thursday. Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has tested negative for coronavirus three times over the past week — including on Thursday — the campaign added. (Oprysko, 10/15)

Also —

KHN: Majority Of Voters Tilt Toward Biden As Health Issues Weigh Heavily
At least half of voters prefer former Vice President Joe Biden’s approach to health care over President Donald Trump’s, suggesting voter concern about lowering costs and managing the pandemic could sway the outcome of this election, a new poll shows. The findings, from KFF’s monthly tracking poll, signal that voters do not trust assurances from the president that he will protect people with preexisting conditions from being penalized by insurance companies if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Huetteman, 10/16)

The Washington Post: How The Mask Became A Symbol Of Biden's Campaign 
It was a jarring image: a presidential candidate appearing on-camera with a mask covering his nose and mouth, muffling his words as he strained to speak through a black face covering that looked like something from a dystopian movie. America was just two months into the coronavirus pandemic — a time when masks were not routine, Zoom gatherings felt novel, stay-at-home orders had begun lifting and Americans were grappling with a new kind of life amid contagion. But Joe Biden had been wearing a mask for weeks when he interacted with others in private, and he now decided it was time to go public. (Linskey, 10/15)

AP: Trump's Election-Eve Drug Discounts For Seniors Get Snagged
President Donald Trump’s plan to mail millions of seniors a $200 prescription savings card has hit legal and budget roadblocks, making it unlikely the government can carry it out before Election Day. Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about whether the administration has the authority to order on its own billions of dollars in Medicare spending for what the Democrats say are political reasons. Administration and congressional officials say such questions have bogged down review of the plan by agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the White House Office of Management and Budget. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/16)

The Washington Post: President Trump’s Medicare Drug Discount Cards Face Uncertain Path
Three weeks after President Trump announced the government would send tens of millions of older Americans $200 to help pay for medicine, the election-season idea is mired in uncertainty over whether such drug discount cards are legal, proper or will ever exist. Since the last-minute inclusion of the cards in a presidential speech, Trump’s aides and Medicare officials have been hastily drafting and revising a proposal to build scaffolding under the president’s promise. This account of those efforts draws on interviews and information from five individuals familiar with the work, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal matters. (Goldstein, 10/15)

Miami Herald: Here’s Where Trump And Biden Stand On Fixing Medicare
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, his Democratic challenger, have widely divergent views on healthcare, including their takes on Medicare — the federal program that insures more than 62.3 million Americans. With the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund on a path toward insolvency by 2024, the financial health of the Medicare program is a challenge that whoever occupies the White House in January will face. But a president can’t fix it alone. (Whitefield, 10/15)

In other news on the Trump campaign and 2020 elections —

Politico: Schwarzenegger: California Republicans 'Off The Rails' With 'Fake' Ballot Boxes
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday night that the state Republican Party is "off the rails" and doing a "stupid thing" by placing unauthorized ballot boxes in counties with battleground congressional districts. Schwarzenegger, the state's last Republican governor, was asked during a CNN interview to respond to the California Republican Party placing unauthorized ballot boxes in at least three counties. Republicans have defended the move as no different than Democrats going door-to-door to collect ballots from sympathetic voters, but state officials have ordered the party to remove the boxes because, they said, only counties are allowed to establish them. (10/15)

NBC News: Will Trump Win Again? Watch Florida's Sumter County For First Election Night Clue.
The Villages is one of the most staunchly Republican enclaves in the Sunshine State.But The Villages isn't just worth watching for its warring buggies and flags. From a data standpoint, it could be the best early indicator on Election Night of a "gray revolt" against President Donald Trump — and who's on track to win Florida. ... But amid COVID-19, Trump has struggled to replicate his 2016 success with older voters, and there's mounting evidence even more seniors are bailing on him. (Wasserman, 10/15)

NPR: Feminists Weigh Their Wins And Losses After Nearly Four Years Of Trump
Women who were part of the recent feminist resurgence have felt that shift from hopeful defiance to anxiety. After four years of protest against Trump, the stakes of the election for this movement are enormous. The next round of marches is set for Saturday, focused on protesting the filling of Ginsburg's seat, but many participants will also hope it's their last mass protest against Trump. (Kurtzleben, 10/16)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Blocks California Wildfire Relief 
The Trump administration has rejected California’s request for disaster relief funds aimed at cleaning up the damage from six recent fires across the state, including Los Angeles County’s Bobcat fire, San Bernardino County’s El Dorado fire, and the Creek fire, one of the largest that continues to burn in Fresno and Madera counties. The decision came late Wednesday or early Thursday when the administration denied a request from Gov. Gavin Newsom for a major presidential disaster declaration, said Brian Ferguson, deputy director of crisis communication and media relations for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services. (Campa, 10/15)

CNN: Treasury Department Withheld Nearly $4 Million From FDNY 9/11 Health Program, Says NYC Is Responsible For Federal Debts 
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin acknowledged that his department withheld $3.92 million since 2004 from Fire Department of New York first responders suffering from illnesses related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because of other debts New York City owes the federal government, according to a letter addressed to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The letter states the city was provided with a detailed accounting of all debts since 2004, but the letter does not detail them. "New York City firefighters are waiting on Secretary Mnuchin to act," a spokesperson for the mayor told CNN. "If the Trump administration supports first responders and the fearless men and women who keep Americans safe, then it's time for them to prove it." (del Valle, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Administration Wants To Exclude ‘Anarchist Jurisdictions’ From Coronavirus Safety Grant 
The Transportation Department said it will use a presidential memo calling for punishing “anarchist jurisdictions” when deciding which cities should get money under a coronavirus grant program. The American Public Transportation Association said the declaration could undermine applicants for the pandemic safety grants from Seattle, Portland, Ore., or New York City, the first three jurisdictions the Trump administration has deemed to be “permitting anarchy.” (Laris, 10/15)

The Washington Post: In A Stunning Rebuke, A Federal Judge Hammers The Trump Administration For Snatching Back Stimulus Payments From Incarcerated Individuals
While millions of Americans wait anxiously to see if another stimulus package will ever see the light of day, a federal judge in California has rapped the knuckles of Treasury and the IRS for withholding and requiring the return of relief money from incarcerated people. A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of incarcerated individuals argued that the decision to deny the payments was arbitrary and against the law. Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California agreed and ordered the Treasury Department and the IRS to reverse their decision to disallow stimulus funds to prisoners solely based on their incarcerated status. The government has filed an appeal. (Singletary, 10/12)

The Hill: Town Of Great Barrington, Mass., Comes Out Against Great Barrington Declaration 
A small town in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts has come out against a declaration made in its name by economists and scientists who advocate for a so-called “herd immunity” strategy to get through the coronavirus pandemic. The Great Barrington Declaration, released last week, urges against lockdowns and economic restrictions governments have used to wrestle the virus under control. (Wilson, 10/15)

The Wall Street Journal: A Demoralized CDC Grapples With White House Meddling And Its Own Mistakes 
President Trump and his advisers have taken a more hands-on role than previously known in shaping Covid-19 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helping create a crisis of confidence in the nation’s top public-health agency. The changes the White House has sought—in many cases successfully—go beyond the agency’s public messaging. White House advisers have made line-by-line edits to official health guidance, altering language written by CDC scientists on church choirs, social distancing in bars and restaurants as well as internal summaries of public-health reports, according to interviews with current and former agency and administration officials and their emails. (Ballhaus, Armour and McKay, 10/15)

KHN and Politifact: No, The WHO Didn’t Change Its Lockdown Stance Or ‘Admit’ Trump Was Right 
On Monday, President Donald Trump claimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) “admitted” he was correct that using lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19 was more damaging than the illness. In a post on Twitter, Trump wrote: “The World Health Organization just admitted that I was right. Lockdowns are killing countries all over the world. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. Open up your states, Democrat governors. Open up New York. A long battle, but they finally did the right thing!” (Knight, 10/15)

In related news —

CNN: Chris Christie Says He Spent 7 Days In ICU Before Recovering From Covid 
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday he spent seven days in an intensive care unit before recovering from Covid-19 in a new statement that details the severity of his case and urges people to take the pandemic seriously. "Having had this virus, I can also assure those who have not had it of a few things. It is something to take very seriously," Christie said. (LeBlanc, 10/15)

The Hill: Trump Says He Is Tested 'A Lot,' But Not Daily, For Coronavirus 
President Trump said Thursday that he is not tested every day for COVID-19 despite assurances from aides that he is regularly tested for the disease as questions persist about when he first contracted the coronavirus. "I’m tested, not every day, but I’m tested a lot," said Trump, who administration doctors have confirmed is no longer contagious after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. (Samuels, 10/15)

The Hill: McConnell Shoots Down $1.8 Trillion Coronavirus Deal, Breaking With Trump 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday shot down the prospect of a coronavirus deal totaling between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion — the goalposts of the current talks between Democrats and the White House. McConnell's comments, made to reporters in Kentucky, underscore the divisions between President Trump and Senate Republicans on a fifth coronavirus package, with the GOP leader preparing to force a vote on a $500 billion bill next week. (Carney, 10/15)

The Hill: Pelosi: Mnuchin Says Trump Will Lobby McConnell On Big COVID-19 Deal 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested Thursday that President Trump will press Senate Republicans to accept a massive coronavirus relief package if a deal with Democrats emerges, according to the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Trump in recent days has urged Congress to "go big" as lawmakers weigh another round of emergency stimulus, indicating Thursday that he's told Mnuchin to seek more funding than the $1.8 trillion proposal offered by the White House last week. (Lillis, 10/15)

The New York Times: Republicans Clash On Stimulus Package As Trump Says ‘Go Big’ 
President Trump clashed with his own party on Thursday over a stimulus package to stabilize the economy, calling for a big-spending plan of the kind envisioned by Democrats even as the top Republican leader declared that such a measure had little support within the party. Mr. Trump declared he “would go higher” than the latest $1.8 trillion framework the White House has put forward in negotiations with Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, faulting his own Treasury secretary for failing to offer enough money in the talks. A short time later, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, all but ruled out such a deal, saying senators in his party would never support a package of that magnitude. (Cochrane and Rappeport, 10/15)

Also —

Reuters: Spending Dropped, Savings Dwindled For U.S. Unemployed After Enhanced Benefits Expired: Study 
Jobless Americans who received enhanced unemployment benefits during the pandemic were able to boost spending and pad up their savings for a time. But the majority of those savings were spent quickly after emergency benefits expired, a study released on Friday found, suggesting many of the unemployed may need more financial help soon. People receiving unemployment benefits and direct cash payments as part of the CARES Act were able to approximately double their liquid savings between March and July of this year, according to an analysis by the JPMorgan Chase Institute. (Marte, 10/16)

AP: Collins, Gideon Clash On Records, Health Care In Debate
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic opponent Sara Gideon sparred on health care and the nation’s coronavirus response during a Thursday debate that saw the two candidates heavily criticize each other’s records in office. Collins, a 24-year senator, and Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, are in a heated, expensive race that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate. (Whittle, 10/16)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Approves Georgia's Partial Medicaid Expansion With Work Requirement
The federal government approved Georgia's plan to partially expand Medicaid to an additional 65,000 adults on the condition that they work, job-train, volunteer or pursue education for at least 80 hours a month. CMS on Thursday green-lighted Georgia's five-year 1115 demonstration waiver, titled Georgia Pathways to Coverage, to extend Medicaid coverage to uninsured Georgians who are between ages 19 and 64 with incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level, which is about $12,760 for a single-person household. (Livingston, 10/15)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Obamacare: Kemp’s Health Care Waivers Win Federal Approval
Within three years, hundreds of thousands of Georgians with individual health insurance plans may see noticeable drops in their premiums: 25% or more for higher-income rural residents, perhaps 4% for Atlantans. At the same time, the 400,000 Georgians who bought individual health insurance plans on the federal healthcare.gov Affordable Care Act shopping website will find they can’t do that anymore. Instead they will be directed to contact information for private brokers or insurance companies. (Hart, 8/15)

Georgia Public Broadcasting: Breaking Down Georgia’s Waiver Plans After Capitol Ceremony
Because of those restrictions, Georgia officials have estimated that about 50,000 people will get coverage through Pathways. Critics, including many Democrats, note that this number is just a fraction of the 500,000 who would get coverage through a standard Medicaid expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid expansion has been adopted by 38 states but has consistently been rejected by Georgia’s Republican-led government, whose leaders say it would be too costly. (Miller, 10/15)

In Medicaid news from other states —

St. Louis Post Dispatch: In Missouri, Cost Of Medicaid Expansion Remains A Mystery 
When Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced he was moving a statewide vote on Medicaid expansion to the August primary, he said he wanted the vote to happen as fast as possible to help officials deal with potential cost increases. The governor, who opposed the ballot initiative, denied his use of his executive power was an attempt to defeat the proposal by moving it to the lower turnout primary election. “This was about policy, not politics,” Parson said at the time. But now, more than two months after voters approved the expansion by a 53-47 margin, state budget writers appear to be no closer to determining how much the expansion will cost. (Erickson, 10/15)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Takes First Step To Outsource Care For Most Medicaid Recipients
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority on Thursday took initial steps toward privatizing health care for many of the state’s poorest residents. The agency that oversees the state’s Medicaid program published two requests for proposals seeking for-profit companies to oversee medical and dental spending for 773,794 of the state's nearly 1 million Medicaid recipients. (Forman, 10/15)

And more on CMS and Medicare —

Modern Healthcare: Federal Judges Seem To Support CMS Hospital Transparency Rule
Three federal appellate judges on Thursday appeared likely to uphold the Trump administration's hospital price transparency rule, which is scheduled to go into effect in January. The panel aggressively, and at times incredulously, questioned hospitals' arguments as to why the rule should be deemed unconstitutional. The criticism indicated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit may follow in the footsteps of a district court judge who upheld the rule. (Cohrs, 10/16)

Fox Business: Walmart Now Offering Medicare Plans As Election Season Heats Up
America’s largest retailer, Walmart, is adding Medicare health insurance plans to its plethora of in-store offerings -- just in time for the start of this year’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) for the federal program. Although this is not Walmart’s first foray into the business of healthcare, the launch of “Walmart Insurance Services,” a licensed insurance brokerage, aims to build on its endeavors to “simplify what’s historically been a cumbersome, confusing process,” according to a press release. Through the new program, Walmart will offer health services at low, transparent prices to those 65 and older, as well as younger people with certain disabilities who qualify now until the enrollment period ends Dec. 7. (Park, 10/15)

Politico: Not Just Obamacare: How Supreme Court's Conservative Majority Could Remake American Health Care 
Across four days of hearings, senators reviewing Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court sparred extensively over Obamacare’s future. Left largely unmentioned, though, is the many ways the court’s buttressed 6-3 conservative majority could quickly steer America’s health care system to the right even if Obamacare survives its looming legal showdown. On tap for the justices to consider are rules to require people on Medicaid to work or lose their benefits, skimpier insurance alternatives for Obamacare that the Trump administration has championed, and cuts to federal funding for Planned Parenthood clinics. (Luthi, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: 4 Non-ACA Cases The Supreme Court Could Consider This Term
While Senate Democrats have focused most of their energy in Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings warning that the Supreme Court could strike down the Affordable Care Act, the court may also consider several other cases this term with big implications for the healthcare industry. When Barrett joins the court she will also have a choice in which cases are chosen for consideration. (Cohrs, 10/16)

Politico: Senate Republicans Wave Away SCOTUS Threat To Obamacare 
Republicans have a surprising new message: Obamacare is safe under them. After spending a decade trying to repeal the 2010 health care law, Republicans are now insisting it is not in peril and that there’s no proof Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will attempt to strike it down when the high court hears a challenge to Obamacare on Nov. 10. Their assertion that there’s nothing to fear comes as Senate Democrats are making the Supreme Court’s threat to the Affordable Care Act their central argument against Barrett’s confirmation. (Levine and Miranda Ollstein, 10/15 )

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Democrats May Lose On SCOTUS, But Hope To Win On ACA 
Republicans appear to be on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court before Election Day, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court regardless of what happens Nov. 3. Democrats, meanwhile, lacking the votes to block the nomination, used the high-profile hearings to batter Republicans for trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, a number of scientific journals that typically eschew politics, including the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, threw their support to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, citing what they call the Trump administration’s bungling of the coronavirus pandemic. (10/15)

USA Today: Amy Coney Barrett: What Happens Next In Her Confirmation Process
Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings are over. The proceedings in the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t appear to derail her nomination, keeping her on a fast track to be confirmed to the Supreme Court before Election Day. Throughout the four days of hearings, senators peppered President Donald Trump's nominee with questions about her views on controversial issues that could come before the court, such as abortion, guns and the Affordable Care Act. (Hayes and Wu, 10/15)

The Hill: WHO Study Finds No Benefit From Remdesivir On COVID-19 Deaths, Hospital Stays 
The antiviral drug remdesivir had no substantial impact on the survival of COVID-19 patients or the length of their hospital stays, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) clinical trial. The results, announced late Thursday, could potentially be a major blow to the efforts of finding a suitable treatment to the disease that has killed more than 217,000 Americans. (Weixel, 10/15)

The New York Times: Remdesivir Fails To Prevent Covid-19 Deaths In Huge Trial 
Remdesivir, the only antiviral drug authorized for treatment of Covid-19 in the United States, fails to prevent deaths among patients, according to a study of more than 11,000 people in 30 countries sponsored by the World Health Organization. The data, which were posted online on Thursday, have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal. (Wu and Kolata, 10/15)

Also —

Stat: Thank This Ebola-Fighting African Doctor For Monoclonal Antibody Treatments
As President Trump recovers from Covid-19, he has been singing the praises of an experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail made by Regeneron, which he credits for his fast recovery. He’s not alone in his optimism. Some infectious disease experts anticipate that monoclonal antibody treatments will become a significant tool in controlling the pandemic, potentially as valuable as a vaccine. But the credit for this promising breakthrough should not go to Western biomedical research alone. In fact, we have Ebola — and Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, the intrepid African scientist known as the “Ebola hunter” — to thank for revealing the promise of these therapies. (Jenson, 10/15)

BBC News: Coronavirus Testing Lab 'Chaotic And Dangerous', Scientist Claims 
A scientist who processed coronavirus swab samples at one of the UK's largest labs has alleged working practices were "chaotic and dangerous". He highlighted overcrowded biosecure workspaces, poor safety protocols and a lack of suitable PPE. The Health and Safety Executive has uncovered safety breaches at the lighthouse lab in Milton Keynes. (Bloch-Budzier, 10/15)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Attorneys General Urge The Justice Department To Revise A Settlement Deal With Purdue 
More than two dozen state attorneys general are objecting to part of a possible deal between the federal government and Purdue Pharma that would resolve alleged criminal and civil charges over the company’s role in fueling the opioid crisis. Specifically, the state officials are upset that the drug maker would be transformed into a public benefit company and run on behalf of the numerous communities around the U.S. that have been pursuing Purdue for compensation. (Silverman, 10/15)

AP: FDA Extends Pregnancy Warning For Common Pain Relievers
Pregnant women should avoid a group of common pain relievers including Advil and Aleve for the last four months of pregnancy, federal health officials said Thursday, expanding the warning from three months. The Food and Drug Administration said the fever-and-pain-reducing drugs can cause a rare but serious complication that can harm the fetus. They can lead to kidney problems in the fetus that can result in low levels of amniotic fluid that fills the womb. (Perrone, 10/15)

Stat: Many Air Cargo Companies Are Unprepared To Transport Covid-19 Vaccines
As much of the world focuses on vaccine development to alleviate the pandemic, a new survey finds that just 28% of the air cargo companies that will play the highly crucial, behind-the-scenes role of transporting Covid-19 vaccines far and wide feel prepared for the job. At the same time, 19% of these companies report that they feel “very unprepared.” (Silverman, 10/15)

NPR: COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Will Be Challenging. States Rush To Plan Ahead
Even the most effective, safest coronavirus vaccine won't work to curb the spread of the virus unless a large number of people get immunized. And getting a vaccine from the manufacturers all the way into people's arms requires complex logistics — and will take many months. Now, public health officers across the country are rushing to finish up the first draft of plans for how to distribute a coronavirus vaccine if and when it is authorized, and they're grappling with a host of unknowns as they try to design a system for getting the vaccine out to everyone who wants it. (Simmons-Duffin, 10/16)

The Hill: Bipartisan Governors Ask Trump For Help With COVID Vaccine Distribution Plan 
The bipartisan leaders of the National Governors Association on Thursday requested a meeting with President Trump to discuss "the roles and expectations of states" for the successful distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. States are pleading with the Trump administration for more guidance on the logistics of a mass vaccination campaign, just one day before the deadline to submit draft distribution plans for a potential coronavirus vaccine. (Weixel, 10/15)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Faces Enormous Challenges To Distribute A COVID-19 Vaccine
While the fast-track development of a COVID-19 vaccine may seem like an enormous task, an even more daunting challenge may be getting approved vaccines into the arms of millions of people in Georgia and around the globe. (Oliviero and Yamanouchi, 10/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer, BioNTech Race To Meet Global Covid-19 Vaccine Needs 
The chief executive of the German company partnering with Pfizer Inc. in its coronavirus vaccine effort said the two are racing to increase production to meet the world’s needs, assuming the shot wins a regulatory green light. The two companies are now scrambling to scale up their manufacturing capacities, said Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech SE. Both companies said they are confident they will be able to deliver all the doses they have already agreed to provide to governments, including the U.S. and the European Union. (Pancevski and Hopkins, 10/15)

In related vaccine news —

NPR: Drug Companies Use Tobacco Plant Protein As Ingredient In COVID-19 Vaccine
Historically, tobacco plants are responsible for their share of illness and death. Now they may help control the COVID-19 pandemic. Two biotech companies are using the tobacco plant, Nicotiana benthamiana, as bio-factories to produce a key protein from the coronavirus that can be used in a vaccine. (Palca, 10/15)

AP: Chinese Company Offers Coronavirus Vaccine To Students
A Chinese drug developer is offering an experimental coronavirus vaccine to students going abroad in a strategy health experts say raises safety and ethical concerns. China National Biotech Group has two vaccine candidates out of five from Chinese developers that are in the final stages of clinical trials. They are part of a global race to develop a vaccine that, if they are successful, offers the fledgling Chinese industry the potential for prestige and worldwide sales. (Wu, 10/15)

Science Alert: We Just Got More Evidence Your Blood Type May Change COVID-19 Risk And Severity
Research is coalescing around the idea that people with Type O blood may have a slight advantage during this pandemic. Two studies published this week suggest that people with Type O have a lower risk of getting the coronavirus, as well as a reduced likelihood of getting severely sick if they do get infected. One of the new studies specifically found that COVID-19 patients with Type O or B blood spent less time in an intensive-care unit than their counterparts with Type A or AB. They were also less likely to require ventilation and less likely to experience kidney failure. (Woodward, 10/16)

CIDRAP: More Evidence Of COVID-19 Protection For People With Type O Blood
A second study of 95 critically ill COVID-19 patients in a Vancouver, Canada, hospital found that—after adjusting for sex, age, and comorbidities—patients with blood types A or AB were more likely to require mechanical ventilation than patients with types O or B (84% vs 61%, P = 0.02), indicating higher rates of lung damage. Patients with blood types A and AB also had higher rates of dialysis for kidney failure, suggesting increased organ dysfunction or failure due to COVID-19 (32% vs 95%, P = 0.004). Patients with blood types A and AB did not have longer hospital stays than those with types O or B, but they did experience longer intensive care unit stays, which may signal greater COVID-19 severity.

In other scientific developments —

The New York Times: Scientists Synthesize Jawbones From Pig Fat 
In patients with congenital defects or who have suffered accidental injuries, the jawbone is nearly impossible to replace. Curved and complex, the bone ends with a joint covered with a layer of cartilage. Both parts must withstand enormous pressures as people chew. “It is one of the most loaded bones in the human body,” said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, a professor of biomedical engineering, medicine and dental medicine at Columbia University in New York. In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday, she and her colleagues reported a surprising success: They managed to grow replacement bones, along with their joints, from the stem cells of pigs. A clinical trial will soon begin in patients with severe birth defects. (Kolata, 10/14)

NPR: Brain Cells That Regulate Thirst Also Influence What Type Of Drink We Crave 
Researchers appear to have shown how the brain creates two different kinds of thirst. The process involves two types of brain cells, one that responds to a decline in fluid in our bodies, while the other monitors levels of salt and other minerals, a team reports in the journal Nature. Together, these specialized thirst cells seem to determine whether animals and people crave pure water or something like a sports drink, which contains salt and other minerals. (Hamilton, 10/14)

Stat: New Research Maps Out The Nutrients That Fuel A Beating Heart
The heart needs a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients to keep beating — but the type of nutrients it relies on most depends on how healthy the heart is, according to new research. In a study published Thursday in Science, researchers mapped the uptake and release of 277 metabolites by comparing blood circulating through the hearts and legs of 110 participants with and without heart failure. That revealed that relatively healthy hearts leaned heavily on fat, proteins, and ketones as a food source, while failing hearts relied far more on proteins and ketones to continue pumping. (Runwal, 10/15)

CNN: FIGS Ad: Popular Scrubs Company Generates Backlash From Women In Medicine And DOs After Insensitive Video 
A popular scrubs company offended DOs and women in medicine alike with a video that appeared to mock doctors of osteopathic medicine, or DOs, and women health care professionals. FIGS, a scrubs start-up, apologized for the video and pledged to donate $100,000 to the American Osteopathic Association, an organization for DOs, after the video generated backlash among Twitter's vibrant medical community. (Andrew and Ebrahimji, 10/15)

WBUR: Doctors' Unconscious Bias Affects Quality Of Health Care Services, Research Shows 
Research shows that doctors' unconscious bias can hurt patients of color. Some hospitals are trying to train doctors and stop disparate treatment. (Dembosky, 10/15)

Stat: As Telehealth Takes Off, Early Critics Embrace Change — And Harbor Doubts
If you’d talked to Joe Heyman around the 2000s, you might have taken him as a telemedicine naysayer. Back then, the Massachusetts OB-GYN was highly skeptical of the rash of new services sprouting up to remotely connect patients and physicians. He was wary, he told STAT, of patients “calling a total stranger and asking for clinical care,” and worried about building trust when a new doctor picked up the phone every time. He never once conducted a visit via video by the time he retired from seeing patients in 2014. He only wishes he’d had the chance. (Robbins, 10/16)

The Wall Street Journal: What CIOs Can Learn From The Race To Understand Covid-19 Data
Chief information officers can learn many lessons from the coronavirus pandemic when it comes to managing data, according to DJ Patil, a former U.S. chief data scientist, including the need to prepare for constant change and broadening who counts as data stakeholders. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CIO Network virtual event Wednesday, Mr. Patil said he took a leave from his job as head of technology at Devoted Health Inc. to help the state of California manage its Covid-19 response this spring. The resulting experience should not be unfamiliar to CIOs, some of whom are developing their own pandemic-related analytics tools for functions such as office reopenings. (Council, 10/14)

Billings Gazette: Montana Health Care Workers Stretched Thin, Governor Says 
Gov. Steve Bullock outlined more funds for local and tribal public health departments and detailed an increasing shortage for available health care workers in the state as COVID-19 hospitalizations surge. During a Thursday press conference, Bullock said the state was beginning to see a shortage of health care workers. Some requests to the state to help fill personnel in areas across Montana are being filled, but sourcing those workers was becoming increasingly difficult, he said. (Sukut, 10/16)

On home health aides —

KHN: Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not To Work’ — Even When Lacking PPE
In March, Sue Williams-Ward took a new job, with a $1-an-hour raise. The employer, a home health care agency called Together We Can, was paying a premium — $13 an hour — after it started losing aides when COVID-19 safety concerns mounted. Williams-Ward, a 68-year-old Indianapolis native, was a devoted caregiver who bathed, dressed and fed clients as if they were family. She was known to entertain clients with some of her own 26 grandchildren, even inviting her clients along on charitable deliveries of Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. (Cahan, 10/16)

DCist: Some Home Health Workers In Virginia Can Get $1,500 In Hazard Pay, Northam Says
More than 43,000 home health care workers in Virginia are eligible to receive one-time, $1,500 hazard payments for working during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. Those who took care of Medicaid beneficiaries between March 12 and June 30 can receive the payments, which will be overseen in the coming weeks by the commonwealth’s Department of Medical Assistance Services. The federal CARES Act authorized $73 million in funding for the payments, according to Northam’s office. (Giambrone, 10/15)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare To Help Launch Medical School In Nashville
HCA Healthcare announced Thursday it plans to help a Christian university also headquartered in Nashville launch a medical school. The for-profit hospital chain's Nashville subsidiary, TriStar Health, will provide the clinical elements supporting Belmont University's application for Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation for its proposed College of Medicine. It would be the country's 156th LCME-accredited medical school. (Bannow, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: Premier Scores $8 Million HHS Contract For Maternal Health Data Initiative
Premier has entered into a two-year, $8 million contract with HHS focused on using its hospital database to address maternal morbidity and mortality. The federal government currently relies on states to voluntarily send copies of death certificates in order to track and understand maternal mortality, but the integrity of the data has been scrutinized over the years. Premier's database represents 45% of U.S. hospital discharges and involves maternal and infant health outcome measures. The contract with Premier will allow HHS to leverage that data and analyze risk factors contributing to maternal morbidity and mortality such as racial disparities and socioeconomic factors. (Castellucci, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Pushes Back Against Oregon Provider's 30% Price Hike
Kaiser Permanente is arguing an Oregon provider's proposed 30% price increase is unfair and runs contrary to the state's collective goal of lowering healthcare costs. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser, a not-for-profit healthcare giant that's both an insurer and a provider, is locked in a contract dispute with Salem Health, based in Oregon's capital. A seven-year contract between the two organizations expired Sept. 30, and Salem Health has proposed a new, two-year commercial contract with a 30% increase across all services. (Bannow, 10/15)

ABC News: Risk Of COVID-19 Exposure On Planes 'Virtually Nonexistent' When Masked, Study Shows 
United Airlines says the risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard its aircraft is "virtually non-existent" after a new study finds that when masks are worn there is only a 0.003% chance particles from a passenger can enter the passenger's breathing space who is sitting beside them. The study, conducted by the Department of Defense in partnership with United Airlines, was published Thursday. They ran 300 tests in a little over six months with a mannequin on a United plane. (Benitez and Sweeney, 10/15)

The New York Times: A Rapid Test Offers Hope For Community Screening 
A $5 rapid test for the coronavirus may be nearly as effective as the slower, more complex polymerase chain reaction test for identifying people who may spread the coronavirus, a novel experiment has found. The study, conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, is among the first head-to-head comparisons of a rapid test and the P.C.R. diagnostic tool under real-world conditions. (Mandavilli, 10/15)

The Washington Post: What To Know About Public Restrooms, The Novel Coronavirus And 'Toilet Plumes' 
As the holiday season approaches, Americans preparing to travel hundreds of miles to see family or friends may notice a green mile marker off in the distance: Public restrooms are ahead. Using shared bathrooms at gas stations, train stations, rest stops and restaurants during long road trips is inevitable. But restrooms are typically small, poorly ventilated spaces — the exact type of environment public health experts say Americans should avoid to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus. (Amenabar, 10/15)

The New York Times: Did Lockdowns Lower Premature Births? A New Study Adds Evidence 
Some public health researchers are seeing hints that the coronavirus pandemic might help solve a longstanding puzzle: What causes premature birth? Studies in Ireland and Denmark this summer showed that preterm births decreased in the spring during lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus in those countries. Anecdotally, doctors around the world reported similar drops. They speculated that reduced stress on mothers, cleaner air or better hygiene might have contributed. A large study from the Netherlands, published on Tuesday in The Lancet Public Health, has yielded even stronger evidence of an association between the lockdowns and a smaller number of early births. (Preston, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Teen On Family Trip Spread The Coronavirus To 11 Relatives Across 4 States After A Negative Test, CDC Says 
A 13-year-old girl spread the coronavirus to 11 relatives across four states this summer, despite testing negative two days before a three-week family vacation, a recent journal article released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed. The trip occurred at an undisclosed location in June and July, and it infected family members from ages 9 to 72 who traveled to a home that was shared between five households. No masks or distancing measures were in place. The teen was exposed to an unspecified covid-19 outbreak in June before testing negative, the report says. Nasal congestion was her only symptom. (McMahon, 10/15)

In nursing home and elder-care news —

CNN: 12 People Died In A California Nursing Home Covid-19 Outbreak. Other Facilities Across The US Are Reporting Infections
Twelve residents at a northern California nursing home have died from Covid-19, the facility announced this week. The Gilroy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center said in a news release Thursday 75 residents and 54 employees have tested positive for the virus throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sixty-three residents and 53 employees have since recovered, it said. (Maxouris, 10/16)

The Washington Post: Elder-Care Facilities Devastated By The Coronavirus Pandemic Have Little Hope Of A Winter Reprieve, New Research Suggests 
The novel coronavirus tore through long-term-care facilities for the elderly in spring. It continued into summer months, leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead around the world. Now, as autumn heads toward winter and the Northern Hemisphere prepares for a cold-weather surge in coronavirus cases, experts who focus on long-term care are desperate to avert the next chapter in the disaster. (Taylor, 10/15)

USA Today: Michigan Woman Beats Coronavirus After 196 Days In Hospital
Deanna Hair finally left [Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor on] Thursday, after 196 days of hospitalization for COVID-19. “My life is forever changed because of this experience," Hair said in a statement to USA TODAY, "physically, mentally and emotionally.” The 67-year-old Ann Arbor resident and her husband began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms after a trip to Palm Springs, California. Both tested positive on March 31. While her husband's symptoms were mild, Hair developed a fever and cough, and four days later began vomiting. (Rodriguez, 10/15)

KHN: Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not To Work’ — Even When Lacking PPE
In March, Sue Williams-Ward took a new job, with a $1-an-hour raise. The employer, a home health care agency called Together We Can, was paying a premium — $13 an hour — after it started losing aides when COVID-19 safety concerns mounted. Williams-Ward, a 68-year-old Indianapolis native, was a devoted caregiver who bathed, dressed and fed clients as if they were family. She was known to entertain clients with some of her own 26 grandchildren, even inviting her clients along on charitable deliveries of Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. (Cahan, 10/16)

AP: Virus Cases At Arizona School Send Hundreds Into Quarantine
Schools should maintain options for parents whether they prefer in-person or online instruction for their children, Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday as the state sees an uptick in newly confirmed virus cases. “We want to provide those options to our kids and families,” Ducey said after touring a Phoenix charter school with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “We think options are very important.” (10/15)

The New York Times: After 700 Students Test Positive, a College President Resigns
The State University of New York at Oneonta on Thursday announced the abrupt resignation of its president only weeks after it experienced the most severe coronavirus outbreak of any public university in the state. The departure of the president, Barbara Jean Morris, is one of the most high-profile over the coronavirus crisis, which has thrown many colleges and universities across the country into turmoil as they try to maintain some semblance of campus life during the outbreak. (Rosa, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Negotiations Stall Between D.C. Teachers Union And The City Over School Reopening Plans. 
The District’s public school system was close to an agreement with the Washington Teachers’ Union on the safety precautions the city would need to take to reopen classrooms during the pandemic, but negotiations stalled over details in the plan to ensure that the buildings were safe. After hours of virtual negotiations Wednesday, both union and city officials said they expected an agreement to be signed Thursday. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) was optimistic, saying at her news conference Wednesday that the city and the union have a “large agreement on how to reopen.” (Stein, 10/15)

Boston Globe: A Growing Crisis In Special Education 
In the meantime, the teachers union leadership has continued to press a narrative that they have been advocating for the safety of all Boston Public School children. This does not acknowledge the voice of special needs parents who have been pressing desperately for months to gain in-person education and services. This false narrative creates continual chaos for families like ours, and for those without the benefit of time and resources to press for our rights. Every day there is a new message, a new battle, a new lawsuit, and a new sense of confusion and despair felt by families across the city. By the time you read this, it will all probably have changed again. ( Michael A. Colanti and Cristina Colanti, 10/14)

KHN: Musicians Improvise Masks For Wind Instruments To Keep The Band Together
Trombonist Jerrell Charleston loves the give-and-take of jazz, the creativity of riffing off other musicians. But as he looked toward his sophomore year at Indiana University, he feared that steps to avoid sharing the coronavirus would also keep students from sharing songs. “Me and a lot of other cats were seriously considering taking a year off and practicing at home,” lamented the 19-year-old jazz studies major from Gary, Indiana. His worries evaporated when he arrived on campus and discovered that music professor Tom Walsh had invented a special mask with a hole and a protective flap to allow musicians to play while masked. (Ungar, 10/16)

In other school news —

The Washington Post: Sexual Assault Is Not Often Talked About In The Context Of Elementary, Middle And High Schools. 
The Education Department found that reports of sexual assaults at elementary, middle and high schools increased sharply between 2015 and 2018, a finding advocates say underscores the need for more schools to be prepared to handle reports of sexual violence. The finding was drawn from the Civil Rights Data Collection, a compilation of data drawn from surveys of every public school, charter school and juvenile justice facility in the nation. It was published by the department Thursday. (Balingit, 10/15)

KHOU: Houston Early Voting Location Temporarily Closed Due To COVID-19
An early voting location was closed temporarily Thursday after a clerk there reported a positive coronavirus test, Elizabeth Lewis, with Harris County Votes, confirmed. A clerk at the Iglesia Una Luz En Tu Camino, at 9045 Howard Drive in southeast Houston near Hobby Airport, had not been feeling well and decided to get a COVID-19 test, which came back positive, Lewis said. The clerk told the polling site's election judge. (10/15)

Boston Globe: R.I. Governor Closes Company Break Rooms, Bans Trick-Or-Treating After Dark As COVID-19 Cases Rise
No Halloween parties, no employee break rooms for 90 days, no trick-or-treating after dark, forget about traveling for Thanksgiving. And get used to wearing a mask around anyone you don’t live with. As another 228 people tested positive for COVID-19 and two people in their 90s died, Governor Gina M. Raimondo on Thursday announced new restrictions designed to tamp down the coronavirus in Rhode Island — and pleaded with residents to cooperate. (Milkovits, 10/15)

In other state news —

AP: Officials Fired: Problems With 2nd Birth At Florida Jail
Two officials at a county jail in South Florida have been fired following problems surrounding a second birth at the facility in just over a year, authorities said Thursday. The more recent Broward County jail birth took place Sept. 27, nearly three months after the state enacted the Tammy Jackson Healthy Pregnancies for Incarcerated Women law, the Sun Sentinel reported. The law puts safeguards in place preventing pregnant women being in restrictive or isolated cells during their detention. (10/16)

AP: Possible Abuse Investigated At Iowa Facility For Disabled
Iowa officials are investigating possible abuse at a troubled state-run institution for people with intellectual disabilities. Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, said in an interview Thursday that there is a “visible marking” on a resident at the Glenwood Resource Center, which has been rocked by scandals twice in the past four years, the Des Moines Register reports. (10/15)

Politico: California Propositions 2020 Guide: Track CA’s Props And Ballot Measures
Existential battles over the cash bail industry and gig work titans like Uber and Lyft. Historic opportunities for voters to reconsider affirmative action and long-inviolable property tax limits. New rounds in recurring fights over rent control and kidney dialysis. A criminal justice redo that overlaps with a national reckoning over policing. There’s no shortage of consequential measures on California’s 2020 ballot, with campaigns poised to collectively shatter past spending limits during a high-turnout presidential election — although the pandemic has scrambled that equation. (Nieves, White and Jin, (10/13)

KHN: KHN On The Air This Week
California Healthline correspondent Angela Hart discussed how the coronavirus pandemic has derailed California’s efforts to deal with homelessness on KPBS “Midday Edition” on Oct. 8. (10/16)

USA Today: Justin Trudeau: No Canada Border Reopening Until US Controls COVID-19
Don't bet on the U.S.-Canadian border reopening after the closure agreement expires Oct. 21. In an interview Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country is committed to keeping the border closed until the United States gets control of COVID-19. (Deerwester, 10/15)

The Washington Post: American Travel In Flux With Rise Of Covid-19 Cases In Europe 
The record-setting coronavirus infection numbers in Europe this week may not bode well for U.S. travelers hoping to return to the continent anytime soon. In just the past 10 days, Europe has recorded an exponential increase in infections, with a million new cases, The Washington Post reported. The continent has been nearly free of U.S. tourists since March 17, when the European Union restricted nonessential travel and closed its external borders. (Compton, 10/15)

In other global news —

The Washington Post: Nearly 700 Coronavirus-Positive Women Gave Birth At A Single Hospital. Here’s What It Learned.
After four miscarriages and years of heartbreak, Nahid Khan was just weeks from giving birth in April when she received shattering news: She had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Khan and her husband scrambled to find a place for the 29-year-old to deliver. The pandemic was surging through Mumbai in a devastating wave, overwhelming hospitals and closing smaller maternity clinics as their staffs became infected. (Shelar and Slater, 10/15)

Reuters: First 'No-Quarantine' Flights Arrive Into Australia As Virus Cases Fall 
Hundreds of New Zealand plane passengers started arriving in Sydney on Friday as part of a new trans-Tasman travel bubble amid a rapidly falling growth rate in cases at the epicentre of Australia’s coronavirus outbreak. In a tentative re-opening to international tourism, travellers on the approved flights won’t be required to quarantine in Sydney, authorities said. (Barrett, 10/15)

AP: New Zealand To Vote On Legalizing Marijuana And Euthanasia
New Zealanders are poised to decide on two landmark social issues during an election Saturday: whether to legalize recreational marijuana and whether to legalize euthanasia. A “yes” vote on both referendums would arguably make the nation of 5 million one of the more liberal countries in the world. Polls indicate the euthanasia referendum is likely to pass while the result of the marijuana measure remains uncertain. (Perry, 10/16)

The New York Times: The Race For A Super-Antibody Against The Coronavirus 
Even as vaccines are hailed as our best hope against the coronavirus, dozens of scientific groups are working on an alternate defense: monoclonal antibodies. These therapies shot to prominence just this month after President Trump got an infusion of an antibody cocktail made by Regeneron and credited it for his apparent recovery, even calling it a “cure.” Monoclonal antibodies are distilled from the blood of patients who have recovered from the virus. Ideally, antibodies infused early in the course of infection — or even before exposure, as a preventive — may provide swift immunity. (Mandavilli, 10/12)

The New York Times: The First Covid Vaccine Will Not Make Life Normal Again 
The United States may be within months of a profound turning point in the country’s fight against the coronavirus: the first working vaccine. Demonstrating that a new vaccine was safe and effective in less than a year would shatter the record for speed, the result of seven-day work weeks for scientists and billions of dollars of investment by the government. Provided enough people can get one, the vaccine may slow a pandemic that has already killed a million people worldwide. (Zimmer, 10/12)

The Atlantic: What Strength Really Means When You’re Sick
In the Western world, bouts of illness are regularly described as “battles.” Viruses and other pathogens are “enemies” to be “beaten.” Patients are encouraged to “be strong” and praised for being “fighters.” “It’s so embedded in our nature to give encouragement in that way,” says Esther Choo, an emergency physician at Oregon Health and Science University, “but it’s language that we try not to use in health care.” ... Equating disease with warfare, and recovery with strength, means that death and disability are linked to failure and weakness. That “does such a disservice to all of the families who have lost loved ones, or who are facing long-term consequences,” says Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University. Like so much else about the pandemic, the strength-centered rhetoric confuses more than it clarifies, and reveals more about America’s values than the disease currently plaguing it. (Yong, 10/9)

The Atlantic: How To Avoid A Winter COVID Catastrophe 
What month is this again? Hundreds of thousands of deaths since the pandemic began in March, we seem to be right back where we started, like passengers trapped on a demonic carousel. Everything could still get worse. This week, Anthony Fauci warned of a new surge in cases, as Americans move from the virus-dispersing outdoors into more crowded and less-ventilated public spaces in colder months. Or everything could get better. Thanks largely to new treatments and more knowledge about this virus, hospitalization-fatality rates have declined across Europe and the United States. As a result, new surges are less likely to re-create the springtime spike in deaths. Individuals are also far more conscientious and alert to the risks. (Thompson, 10/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Lessons For The Next Pandemic—Act Very, Very Quickly 
One of the biggest lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic is that speed matters. The window of opportunity to find and stop a rapidly spreading virus is vanishingly small and intolerant of mistakes. “Once you get behind the curve on these epidemics, it is really difficult to turn it around,” said Jeremy Farrar , director of the Wellcome Trust, which funds health-related research. “Acting late is a disaster.” (McKay, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Medieval Europeans Didn’t Understand How The Plague Spread. Their Response Wasn’t So Different From Ours Now. 
When the new disease first arrived, little was clear beyond the fact that it killed with terrifying speed. Near-certain death trailed the first symptoms by four days or less. The doctors were helpless. This city was soon overwhelmed with corpses. Workers in church yards dug pits down to the water table, layering bodies and dirt, more bodies and dirt. One writer of the time compared the mass graves to “lasagna.” Seven centuries later, the plague in Europe stands as an example of a pandemic at its worst — what happens when so many people die so quickly that some foresee the end of the human race. Few places were hit harder than Florence, whose population in 1348 was cut by at least a third and possibly far more. (Harlan and Pitrelli, 10/15)

The Atlantic: Schools Aren't Super-Spreaders 
Fear and bad press slowed down or canceled school reopenings elsewhere. Many large urban school districts chose not to open for in-person instruction, even in places with relatively low positivity rates. Chicago, L.A., Houston—all remote, at least so far. It’s now October. We are starting to get an evidence-based picture of how school reopenings and remote learning are going (those photos of hallways don’t count), and the evidence is pointing in one direction. Schools do not, in fact, appear to be major spreaders of COVID-19. (Oster, 10/9)

The Washington Post: Tips For Safely Visiting Playgrounds During The Coronavirus
Running, jumping and climbing are a big part of being a kid — and for parents, it’s probably better for all that activity to happen on a playground, rather than the living room furniture. But it hasn’t been easy to do that during this very housebound year. Public playgrounds were shut down, along with everything else, under the stay-at-home orders issued at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. When they reopened in the D.C. region during the summer, parents and caregivers were left to decide whether it was safe to return to the monkey bars and slides. (Chapin, 10/8)

The New York Times: She Hunts Viral Rumors About Real Viruses 
In late September, Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and the founder of the Vaccine Confidence Project in London, sat on a Zoom call with the project team for Verified, a United Nations-led group that is working to combat a rising tide of misinformation about potential vaccines for Covid-19.Dr. Larson, 63, is arguably the world’s foremost rumor manager. She has spent two decades in war torn, poor and unstable countries around the globe, as well as in rich and developed ones, striving to understand what makes people hesitant to take vaccines. She is obsessed with the origin and evolution of rumors, which she calls “collective problem solving,” and has come to see most anti-vaxxers — a term she considers too oppositional — not as uneducated, science-denying individualists but as people with genuine questions and doubts in search of guidance. “This is a public cry to say, ‘Is anyone listening?’ she writes in her recently released book “Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start and Why they Don’t Go Away.” (Anderson, 10/13)

The Washington Post: Suffering From Smallpox After Gettysburg, Lincoln May Have Infected His Valet
On his way home from delivering the Gettysburg Address in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln was overcome by a splitting headache. A fever was coming on. He grew quiet. Not knowing what else to do, the president who had just given one of the most famous speeches in American history went to his drawing room and bathed his head in cold water. Then he lay down. At his side on Nov. 19, 1863, helping take care of him was one of the most important yet historically overlooked people in Lincoln’s life — William H. Johnson, a 30-year-old Black man the president had brought with him from Illinois to be his personal valet. (Rosenwald, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Irish Court's Subway Bread Ruling Highlights Hidden Sugar In Common Foods 
When Ireland’s Supreme Court recently announced its ruling in a years-long legal battle involving a local Subway franchisee, news coverage of the decision produced variations of the same eyebrow-raising headline: “Subway bread is not bread,” the Guardian reported. The ruling stated that Subway rolls have too much sugar to meet the country’s legal definition of bread, according to the Irish Independent. ... But while the arcane Irish tax dispute over bread ingredients may just seem like fodder for late-night talk shows, experts in nutrition say the court case should serve as a timely reminder about the extra sugar lurking in common foods, especially in light of a potential upcoming change to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (Chiu, 10/8)

The Washington Post: ‘Botanicum Medicinale’ Uncovers Ancient Roots Of Herbal Treatments, Plants’ Importance In Modern Medicine
Since forever, people have looked to plants for healing. And plant-based medicine isn’t just the territory of herbalists; from your cup of tea to the prescription medicines you may rely on, medicines derived from or inspired by plants are all around us. “Botanicum Medicinale” tells the story of herbal medicine with the help of gorgeous botanical illustrations and a wealth of knowledge about the history and future of healing plants. Written by British science writer Catherine Whitlock and designed by Lindsey Johns, it’s a veritable garden of information about plants and their medicinal properties. (Blakemore, 10/10)

USA Today: Racism Turned Their Neighborhood Into 'Cancer Alley.’ Now They’re Dying From COVID-19.
The doctor called on Mother’s Day with the news Karen Wilson had dreaded for weeks. Your brother won’t survive the night, he told her. Expect another call soon. Don’t be alone. Wilson’s younger brother, Jules Duhe, had been on a ventilator fighting COVID-19 since April. She hung up the phone and called her other brother, cried, showered and cried some more before finally falling asleep. (Jervis and Gomez, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Suicide Accounts For Most Gun Deaths. A Libertarian Approach Could Help. 
On June 26, 2018, Donna Nathan killed herself in New Orleans with a gun that she had purchased earlier that morning, ending a 30-year battle with bipolar disorder and depression. Nathan fought right up until the end. In her last six months, she admitted herself three times for inpatient psychiatric treatment because she wanted to address her suicidal thoughts and prior impulsive suicide attempts. Each time, she willingly accepted the limitations on liberty that come with a psychiatric hospitalization in exchange for safety and the prospect of improvement. What she could not limit, under Louisiana law, was her ability to quickly purchase a gun. (Vars and Ayres, 10/14)

The Atlantic: NASA Finally Built A Space Toilet For Women 
The newest lavatory was designed specifically with female anatomy in mind. In this way, the Universal Waste Management System is more than a toilet. It is a symbol of a changing American space program that for its first two decades took only men to space. Although men still make up the majority of NASA’s astronaut workforce, there are more women astronauts than ever before, and the agency has recognized that it must adapt its technology to meet their needs. “It’s about time,” Nicole Stott, a retired NASA astronaut who flew two missions to the space station, told me. (Koren, 10/12)

Also —

The Marshall Project: The City Where Someone Was Bitten By A Police Dog Every 5 Days 
Some people describe a police dog’s bite as a deep tear through their flesh. Others are haunted by the feeling of a Vise-Grip, the dog's jaws slowly but painfully tightening around their arms or legs until the muscles go numb. These are not the nips or snaps of a pet dog in a backyard. A police dog, trained for weeks on how to bite harder and faster and with little reservation, can inflict debilitating injuries and lasting scars. The physical damage lingers as long as the memories of a dog’s snarling teeth, its guttural growls, its head ripping back and forth upon crashing into a fleeing target, all while a police officer stands nearby shouting commands and praise in German, Dutch or Czech. (Martin, Fan, Brozost-Kelleher and Glover, 10/11)

The Marshall Project: 5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Of Indianapolis Police Dogs 
In Indianapolis, police dogs are biting people at a rate unseen in the other largest 19 U.S. cities. And it’s not even close. Whereas some major cities such as Chicago and San Francisco saw one bite over the last three years, Indianapolis saw one every five days. From 2017 to 2019, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department had more bites than New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Antonio; Dallas; Austin; San Francisco; Fort Worth; Columbus; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. combined. (Martin, Fan, Brozost-Kelleher and Glover, 10/11)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's Unwavering Supporters May Have A Death Wish
In the late fall and early winter of 2016, before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the country was a fugue state. Those closest to Trump were in shock that he’d won. Trump himself, ranting that he’d been cheated out of the popular vote, seemed disoriented. The majority of Americans were at a loss: How could this floridly corrupt racist have won at all? Especially considering his campaign platform. In the U.K., if a politician mentions tinkering with the National Health Service, which provides free healthcare to everyone, there’s public outcry across the political spectrum. And yet Trump was hot to crush Obamacare, the closest the U.S. had come to squaring the circle of its healthcare conundrum. Modify it or reform it, maybe. But crush it? (Virginia Heffernan, 10/16)

Los Angeles Times: Sky Isn't Falling On The ACA, At Least Not Yet
You may be shocked, shocked, to learn that both parties have been playing politics in the context of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. The Republicans have tried to offer feeble rationales for why their rushing the confirmation through can be squared with hanging Merrick Garland out to dry in 2016 for some 400 days. It can’t — the move is unprincipled, bare-knuckled politics. The Democrats have opted for a political strategy of connecting Barrett’s ascent with the court’s opportunity to invalidate Obamacare when it hears a case called Texas vs. California on Nov. 10, a week after the election. The questioning from Democrats has continually leaned on that message, with the help of a series of dramatic stories of citizens whose lives will be devastated if the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is struck down. (Harry Litman, 10/15)

Detroit Free Press: Stabenow: Trump Wants To End Obamacare And Wants SCOTUS To Do It
Exactly one week after Election Day, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case that could overturn the Affordable Care Act. And if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gets his way, Judge Amy Coney Barrett will get one of the deciding votes. Republicans in Congress have been trying for years to repeal the health care law – and they’ve failed over and over again. So now President Trump has turned that job over to the courts – and he's made clear that he expects the high court – including his latest appointment to “terminate” the health care law. He wouldn’t have chosen her if he didn’t trust that she would. (Debbie Stabenow, 10/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Assured ACA Would Come Before ACB
Protections for people with pre-existing conditions would have continued while the judicial process played out. Instead, congressional Democrats and their allies in state governments sought immediate Supreme Court review, perhaps anticipating review while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was still on the court. If there is a coming health-insurance crisis, as Democrats claim, it is one of their own invention. (Joel M. Zinberg, 10/14)

The New York Times: Republican Judges Are Quietly Upending Public Health Laws 
Alongside growing controversy over judicial nominations, court reform and Covid-19 policies, American law is in the midst of a little-noticed paradigm shift in courts’ treatment of public health measures. The Republican Party’s campaign to take over the federal and state courts is quietly upending a long and deeply embedded tradition of upholding vital public health regulations. The result has been a radically novel and potentially catastrophic sequence of decisions blocking state responses to the coronavirus pandemic. (John Fabian Witt, 10/15)

Stat: We Cannot Rely On Magical Thinking: Herd Immunity Is Not A Plan 
Ten months into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there is mounting frustration that life is not back to “normal.” Many U.S. schools and businesses remain closed, people are hesitant to fly and enjoy vacations, and in many places, restaurants and indoor activities are sharply limited, with severe economic consequences. With patience wearing thin, it may be tempting to consider policies that give us a return to normalcy, whatever the consequences. (Gigi Kwik Gronvall and Rachel West, 10/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Andrew Cuomo Takes A ‘Hatchet’ 
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo likes to say that his virus policies, including a strict, prolonged lockdown of New York City, are based on science. Well, he finally revealed the truth when he told Jewish leaders last week that he is locking down their communities again due to public fear.Cases in Brooklyn, Queens and some New York City suburbs have been rising, and Mr. Cuomo blames orthodox Jewish communities not adhering to his rules. Last week he shut down nonessential businesses and schools in these communities and limited gatherings at houses of worship to 10 people. (10/15)

Stat: Community Outbreaks Of Covid-19 Often Emerge After Trump's Campaign Rallies 
In mid-May I sat in the backyard of my family’s home in Newport News, Va., garbed in graduation regalia and, via Zoom, joined my medical school classmates to read these words of the Hippocratic oath: “that into whatsoever house I shall enter, it shall be for the good of the sick.” When President Trump held a mass campaign rally in Newport News at the end of September, he did so against the explicit warning of local public health officials. He was entering this community — our house — not for the good of the sick but to promote himself. (Zach Nayer, 10/16)

The Washington Post: I Thought Trump Couldn’t Handle The Virus Any Worse Than He Already Had. I Was Wrong.
Of all the many ways President Trump mishandled his covid-19 diagnosis and recovery, the worst is what he’s doing now: facilitating superspreader events while the United States is undergoing a surge in coronavirus cases. It’s not just the supremely reckless — and unnecessary — assembling of thousands of people, in close quarters and many of them maskless; it’s his overall unmistakable message of contempt for public health and disregard of others’ welfare. (Leana S. Wen, 10/15)

USA Today: COVID Isn't Disappearing. There Seems To Be A Fall Surge In Cases.
"We're rounding the turn on the pandemic." Donald Trump said that three times Tuesday to a packed rally of supporters (many without face masks) in Johnstown, Pa. But if America is turning a corner on the coronavirus, it's in the wrong direction. When Trump began floating his rounding-the-turn mantra weeks ago, the number of coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths had, indeed, been declining since early summer. But that has changed. There were more than 50,000 new infections in the U.S. during a recent 24-hour period (with a seven-day average of nearly 47,000). That's at least double the daily infections of any other country in the world with the exception of India, which has four times the population of the United States. America already has more COVID-19 deaths — more than 217,000 — than any other country.  (10/15)

Stat: Hospitals Must Do More To Protect Their Workers From Covid-19 
We are three physicians who share an apartment in Boston, and after months of wondering where we might catch Covid-19 — the crowded grocery store checkout line? the gas station? — we found out: at work. (Kathryn Holroyd, Neha Limaye and Hallie Rozansky, 10/16)

The Hill: When It Comes To Healthy Aging: Location, Location, Location 
Where we age shapes how we age. What neighborhood we live in can predict everything from life expectancy to likelihood of having a limb amputated to whether we spend our last years in a nursing home. The swath of devastation COVID-19 is cutting through communities is the latest evidence. (Nina A. Kohn and Jennifer Goldberg, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Canada Is Trying To Secure Millions Of Covid-19 Vaccine Doses. It Should Share. 
Around the world, researchers are working tirelessly to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. At the same time, governments, businesses and civil society organizations are preparing massive production and distribution efforts so that when a vaccine candidate — or candidates — is cleared for use, it can be administered around the world as soon as possible. Whether we will eventually get a vaccine isn’t in question. What is in question is who will have access to it, and when? (David Moscrop, 10/15)