Viewpoints: Still Traveling For Thanksgiving? Have The Best Mask; Schools Need To Know About Safety

The Wall Street Journal: Some Masks Will Protect You Better Than Others 
A rush of travel for Thanksgiving will lead to new Covid-19 outbreaks. Infection rates are accelerating, and a growing percentage of those hospitalized are over 65. Past waves prompted people to reduce their activity, but recent Google mobility data don’t show a big change in behavior. Yet many Americans could take one simple step to protect themselves: Buy a better mask. (Scott Gottlieb, 11/22)

Fox News: Cancel Thanksgiving? No, But We Must Make These Hard Choices To Stay Safe
For many people, this will be very different Thanksgiving. Still others don’t plan to change their holiday routine. But there’s a real risk of an uninvited guest barging in -- COVID, which continues to surge exponentially in much of the country. Although many people become infected without getting seriously ill, some do get seriously ill – and one American dies from COVID every minute. (Tom Frieden, 11/21)

Los Angeles Times: Schools Still Don't Have Reliable Federal Reopening Guidance
One of the most frustrating aspects of the pandemic has been watching school districts try to navigate the complexities of remote learning with so little guidance from Washington. The silence is equally deafening when it comes to figuring out when and how districts should reopen their campuses. Yes, the federal government provided much-needed funding, which helped buy computers and broadband access for students and cover other pandemic-related costs. Far more money is needed. But just as essential, if not more so, were information and directives about how to proceed in the current, unprecedented situation. And this is where the federal government has been sorely lacking. (11/23)

Boston Globe: We Can’t Address Coronavirus Loneliness Alone 
Whereas the first phase of the pandemic focused our attention on state shutdowns, economic collapse, inadequate numbers of ventilators in hospitals, and front-line workers scrambling to secure enough personal protective equipment, we will likely have additional concerns during this second peak. This time, our lives will not only be marked by the rising death toll and economic uncertainty, but will also be coupled with the pervasive mental health toll that the coronavirus pandemic has taken. While there have been multiple studies on rising rates of depression and anxiety, there is another deeply pervasive and less highlighted public health menace on the rise: loneliness. (Katherine Gergen Barnett, 11/23)

JAMA: Older Adults And The Mental Health Effects Of COVID-19
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread in the US in early 2020, older adults experienced disproportionately greater adverse effects from the pandemic including more severe complications, higher mortality, concerns about disruptions to their daily routines and access to care, difficulty in adapting to technologies like telemedicine, and concerns that isolation would exacerbate existing mental health conditions. Older adults tend to have lower stress reactivity, and in general, better emotional regulation and well-being than younger adults, but given the scale and magnitude of the pandemic, there was concern about a mental health crisis among older adults. The concern pertained to older adults both at home and in residential care facilities, where contact with friends, family, and caregivers became limited. The early data suggest a much more nuanced picture. This Viewpoint summarizes evidence suggesting that, counter to expectation, older adults as a group may be more resilient to the anxiety, depression, and stress-related mental health disorders characteristic of younger populations during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ipsit V. Vahia, Dilip V. Jeste, and Charles F. Reynolds III, 11/20)

The Washington Post: A Tool To Stem The Spread Of The Coronavirus Sits In Your Pocket 
Coronavirus cases are surging, temperatures are dropping, and Thanksgiving is approaching. This is a recipe for mass infection. Many Americans are taking pains to weather the winter season as responsibly as possible, but there is something more we can do to help ourselves and each other — and it only takes a few taps on a smartphone screen. (11/122)

Stat: Make A Drug's List Price The Touchstone Across The Supply Chain 
In October, the House Oversight Committee turned a magnifying glass on the rising cost of prescription drugs. With health care costs critical to voters on both sides of the aisle, lawmakers grilled drug company executives on practices from copay assistance to evergreening. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Cal.) and her whiteboard garnered viral attention after she interrogated Celgene CEO Mark Alles about price hikes to the cancer drug Revlimid. (Robin Feldman, 11/23)

Stat: NCI Should Be Upfront About Chemical Exposure And Cancer Risk 
Our government should take the steps it can to protect Americans from a public health crisis that is claiming thousands of lives. We aren’t just talking about Covid-19 here. We are talking about breast cancer. (Linda S. Birnbaum and Margaret L. Kripke, 11/21)