First Edition: Nov. 24, 2020

KHN: Need A COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 A Week
In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, and loved it, despite the mediocre pay typical for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed. She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it. (Hawryluk and Bichell, 11/24)

KHN: For Nurses Feeling The Strain Of The Pandemic, Virus Resurgence Is ‘Paralyzing’
For Christina Nester, the pandemic lull in Massachusetts lasted about three months through summer into early fall. In late June, St. Vincent Hospital had resumed elective surgeries, and the unit the 48-year-old nurse works on switched back from taking care of only COVID-19 patients to its pre-pandemic roster of patients recovering from gallbladder operations, mastectomies and other surgeries. That is, until October, when patients with coronavirus infections began to reappear on the unit and, with them, the fear of many more to come. “It’s paralyzing, I’m not going to lie,” said Nester, who’s worked at the Worcester hospital for nearly two decades. “My little clan of nurses that I work with, we panicked when it started to uptick here.” (Huff, 11/24)

KHN: Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How To Get Good Advice. 
If you’ve been watching TV lately, you may have seen actor Danny Glover or Joe Namath, the 77-year-old NFL legend, urging you to call an 800 number to get fabulous extra benefits from Medicare. There are plenty of other Medicare ads, too, many set against a red-white-and-blue background meant to suggest officialdom — though if you stand about a foot from the television screen, you might see the fine print saying they are not endorsed by any government agency. (Wolfson, 11/24)

KHN: New Legal Push Aims To Speed Magic Mushrooms To Dying Patients 
Back in March, just as anxiety over COVID-19 began spreading across the U.S., Erinn Baldeschwiler of La Conner, Washington, found herself facing her own private dread. Just 48 and the mother of two teenagers, Baldeschwiler was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer after discovering a small lump on her chest, no bigger than a pea. Within weeks, it was the size of a golf ball, angry and red. Doctors gave her two years to live. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Frankly, I was terrified.” (Aleccia, 11/24)

KHN: Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To Cities, Straining Hospitals
Registered nurse Pascaline Muhindura has spent the past eight months treating COVID patients at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. But when she returns home to her small town of Spring Hill, Kansas, she’s often stunned by what she sees, like on a recent stop for carryout food. (Smith, 11/24)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Live Updates: More Than 85,700 Covid-19 Patients Hospitalized Nationwide, Shattering Records
The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized across the United States shattered records on Monday, topping 85,700. Although some of the hardest-hit states are beginning to report fewer new infections, Thanksgiving travel and gatherings could reverse that positive trend. Even after cases peak, deaths will continue rising for several weeks. (Noori Farzan, 11/24)

The Hill: Fauci: US Could See 'Well Over 300,000' COVID-19 Deaths 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, warned Monday that COVID-19 deaths could easily top 300,000 if the trajectory of the pandemic does not change. The number of coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been rising for weeks with no signs of slowing as the U.S. deals with another wave of the pandemic. (Hellmann, 11/23)

The Hill: Peak Of Third COVID-19 Wave Still Weeks Away 
The skyrocketing number of new coronavirus infections in the United States is likely to climb further over the next several weeks, even in the hardest-hit areas where soaring case loads are starting to overwhelm hospitals and medical facilities. New cases appear to be reaching a peak in the Dakotas and Iowa, where infections are at their highest levels since the pandemic began. But most states experiencing a COVID-19 surge are weeks behind those epicenters as tens of thousands of people test positive every week. (Wilson, 11/23)

The New York Times: The Virus Surge, Once Centered In The Midwest, Is Accelerating In 45 U.S. States
When infections began rising sharply in the U.S. in September, the growth was driven largely by outbreaks in the Upper Midwest. States like North Dakota and Wisconsin soon became the hardest hit in the nation, relative to their size, and the region continues to struggle. Now, though, with the whole country’s daily average of new cases is as high as it has ever been — over 171,000 — the most rapid growth is happening elsewhere. Nine states are reporting more than twice as many new cases a day as they did two weeks ago, and none of them are in the Midwest. (11/24)

The Washington Post: The True Toll Of The Third Coronavirus Wave Won’t Be Clear Until Weeks After It’s Over
The United States is heading into the holiday season as coronavirus cases rise at their fastest rate ever. More than 150,000 new cases were reported each day last week, and experts worry that indoor gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday will cause case counts to surge even higher. But even once numbers in this “third wave” finally peak, deaths will continue to rise for several weeks. A third wave of coronavirus cases in the county took off in September, and cases have been rising faster ever since. The second wave, which peaked in July, was significantly smaller, but followed the same pattern: Cases rose first, then hospitalizations, then deaths. (Fox, 11/23)

The Hill: Hundreds Of Bodies From New York Virus Surge Still Stored In Freezer Trucks 
Hundreds of bodies of people who died from COVID-19 in the spring remain in storage in freezer trucks in New York, The Wall Street Journal reported. City officials told the Journal that there are about 650 bodies in storage on the 39th Street Pier in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the bodies are largely those of people who could not afford a burial or whose next of kin could not be located. (Budryk, 11/23)

The New York Times: Emergency Hospital Reopening On Staten Island To Handle 2nd Wave 
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that New York would reopen an emergency hospital on Staten Island to address a new surge in coronavirus cases that is straining the capacity of the borough’s hospitals. The announcement is another sign that New York City is in the grip of a second coronavirus wave that has already led to the closing of public schools, the reversal of some reopenings and warnings to families to scale back their Thanksgiving plans. It also raises the specter of a return to the pandemic’s darkest days in March and April. “Staten Island is a problem,” Mr. Cuomo said at a daily news briefing. (Shanahan, 11/23)

The Hill: Utah Drops Restrictions On Gatherings Ahead Of Thanksgiving 
Utah dropped its coronavirus restrictions on resident gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving this week, though officials still recommend against them. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) announced Monday that the state was removing the two-week-old mandate against casual social gatherings of those from different households, instead making it a recommendation. The restrictions on gatherings were set to expire Monday. (Coleman, 11/23)

The Hill: Nevada Governor Orders 3-Week Statewide 'Pause,' Issues Stronger Requirements For Businesses 
Nevada governor Steve Sisolak (D) on Monday announced a three-week “pause” beginning on Nov. 24, during which further restrictions will be placed on businesses and mask mandates will be intensified. Sisolak tweeted, “Today, I’m announcing new restrictions, in an effort to get this wildfire under control. I’m not issuing a shutdown order. My goal is to aggressively try to attack this spread, while maintaining some portion of our economy and our daily life.” (Choi, 11/23)

AP: Colorado Gov Allows Hospitals To Transfer, Deny Patients
As Colorado experiences its highest hospitalization rate of COVID-19 patients, Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order authorizing the state health department to order hospitals and emergency departments to transfer and cease admitting new patients in order to deal with the influx of coronavirus cases. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, as of Sunday the state had over 1,500 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations. On Friday, Polis said full hospital capacity was reached in Mesa County on the state’s western slope and nearing the same fate in Weld County in northeast Colorado with only three intensive care beds available. (11/23)

The Hill: Majority Want Their States To Stay Open Amid Coronavirus Surge: Poll 
A majority of Americans say they want their states to stay open amid the recent surge in coronavirus cases as opposed to locking down, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they wanted their states to "try to manage while staying open." Forty-six percent said they believed their states should return to lockdown. (Manchester, 11/23)

AP: Millions Stick To Thanksgiving Travel Plans Despite Warnings
About 1 million Americans a day packed airports and planes over the weekend even as coronavirus deaths surged across the U.S. and public health experts begged people to stay home and avoid big Thanksgiving gatherings. And the crowds are only expected to grow. Next Sunday is likely to be the busiest day of the holiday period. (11/24)

Reuters: U.S. Holiday Travelers Voice Dread, Determination As They Defy COVID-19 Warnings
Millions of Americans appeared to be disregarding public health warnings and traveling ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, likely fueling an alarming surge in coronavirus infections before a series of promising new vaccines are expected to become widely available. ... “I’m really scared, but seeing family is very important to me,” Hannah Osnan, 18, a California State University Long Beach student waiting in line for a COVID-19 diagnostic test at Los Angeles International Airport, where she hoped to board a 22-hour flight to see family in Egypt for the first time in a year. (Trotta and Layne, 11/23)

AP: Health Officials Beg People To Be Cautious At Thanksgiving
Doctors and health officials on Monday pleaded with people to take precautions during Thanksgiving — such as skipping large indoor gatherings — as the state and nation experiences an unchecked spread in COVID-19. “Please do everything you can possibly do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. We don’t want this to be the last ever Thanksgiving for someone in your family like your parents or grandparents,” Harris said. (Chandler, 11/24)

AP: Thanksgiving Could Be Make-Or-Break In US Virus Response
In Pennsylvania, if you’re having friends over to socialize, you’re supposed to wear a mask — and so are your friends. That’s the rule, but Barb Chestnut has no intention of following it. “No one is going to tell me what I can or not do in my own home” said Chestnut, 60, of Shippensburg. “They do not pay my bills and they are not going to tell me what to do.” (Rubinkam, 11/24)

The Hill: Surgeon General Warns Against Indoor Holiday Celebrations, Even At White House 
Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Monday warned Americans to avoid indoor holiday celebrations with people they don't live with, including parties being planned by the White House. During an appearance on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Adams said events like the planned White House holiday parties are a cause for concern. (Weixel, 11/23)

USA Today: White House Holiday Parties To Go On Indoors Despite COVID-19 Surge
The White House is going ahead with plans to hold holiday parties and receptions at the presidential mansion despite a surge in coronavirus cases and warnings from public health officials to avoid large in-person gatherings. Invitations for the indoor holiday events, which are scheduled to start next week, already have been sent out. An invitation to a Dec. 1 reception – a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY – makes no mention of mandatory face masks or social distancing requirements. (Collins and Puente, 11/23)

The New York Times: Small Gatherings Spread The Virus, But Are They Causing The Surge? 
As states struggle to contain the resurgent coronavirus, many officials are laying the blame on an unexpected source: people gathering with family and friends. Household get-togethers undoubtedly do contribute to community transmission of the virus. Canada’s recent Thanksgiving certainly added to its rising cases; such an increase may happen here, too, as the United States embarks on a holiday season like no other. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned so strongly against gathering with others outside the household during Thanksgiving. (Mandavilli, 11/23)

Bay Area News Group: Why A Negative COVID Test Doesn't OK You For Thanksgiving
As the coronavirus pandemic soars to new heights across California just days before Thanksgiving, testing in the Bay Area is similarly surging — a trend that is raising some alarms for public health officials who fear that negative results will give people a false sense of security.“ The value of testing is that if you’re positive, you won’t gather, and that will avoid an infection,” said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California-San Francisco. “But the challenge is that a negative test also should not convince you that you’re risk-free or not infectious.” (Angst and Toledo, 11/23)

The Hill: Trump Administration To Begin Delivering Regeneron COVID-19 Treatment On Tuesday 
The federal government will begin distributing doses of Regeneron's antibody drug treatment for COVID-19 on Tuesday, top health officials said. During a call with reporters, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said the administration will distribute 30,000 doses of the drug, with more coming in the weeks ahead. The company expects to produce 300,000 doses by early January. (Weixel, 11/23)

The Hill: Gottlieb Warns That Long Term Effects Of COVID Still Unknown 
Health experts do not know the long term effects of COVID-19, and former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he is concerned they could be serious. "I'm worried about it. I don't think we fully understand what these syndromes are," Gottlieb said during a discussion at the American Enterprise Institute. (Weixel, 11/23)

Politico: CDC Urges Overwhelmed Contact Tracers To Prioritize Efforts As Cases Soar
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising overwhelmed local health officials to triage their coronavirus contact tracing efforts, writing that the latest infection surge is making it difficult to reach every close contact of Covid-positive patients in time to help contain the disease’s spread. “As the burden of COVID-19 worsens in an area, and the capacity to investigate new cases in a timely manner becomes more difficult or is not feasible, health departments should prioritize which cases to investigate and which contacts to trace,” reads new guidance from the CDC. (Ollstein, 11/23)

Houston Chronicle: Federal Appellate Court Allows Texas To Deny Medicaid Funding To Planned Parenthood
Texas can bring back its ban on Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. Opponents of legal abortion have long sought to deny funding from the federal-state health insurance program to Planned Parenthood because some of its affiliated clinics perform abortions. Abortion rights supporters and advocates for women’s health have argued that the move also would deny needy women the right to choose their providers for a variety of vital non-abortion health services. (Goldenstein, 11/23)

AP: Court: Texas, Louisiana Can End Planned Parenthood Funding
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Texas and Louisiana can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics — a move supported by opponents of legal abortion, but opposed by advocates who said it affects a variety of non-abortion health services for low-income women. The ruling was handed down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. While it expressly reversed decisions in Texas and Louisiana, it also affects Mississippi, which is under 5th Circuit jurisdiction. The issue is likely to go next to the U.S. Supreme Court. (McGill, 11/24)

AP: Employers Start Sending Workers Shopping For Health Coverage
Instead of offering one or more options, some companies are turning health insurance shopping over to employees. A federal rule change last year stoked this new approach. It allows employers to reimburse workers for coverage they bought without paying a tax penalty. The concept sends employees to individual insurance markets where they can find more choices for coverage. It also protects employers from huge annual cost spikes. But it’s a big change for workers who are used to having their employer give them benefit choices every year. (Murphy, 11/23)

The Hill: Biden, Harris To Meet Virtually With US Mayors Amid Coronavirus Surge 
President-elect Joe Biden plans to speak with mayors on Monday amid the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet virtually with the United States Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization that includes more than 1,400 leaders of cities in the U.S. whose populations exceed 30,000 people. Biden and Harris will take part in the meeting from Wilmington, Del. (Chalfant, 11/23)

Stateline: Biden Likely To Help States Increase Health Care Access
President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage. Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare. (Ollove, 11/24)

The Hill: Voters Say Biden Should Make Coronavirus Vaccine A Priority: Poll 
Forty percent of voters say President-elect Joe Biden should make distributing a coronavirus vaccine his top priority when he is sworn into office next year, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris survey released exclusively to The Hill. Thirty-three percent of voters polled said Biden should make it a priority to pass a new coronavirus stimulus package through Congress. (Manchester, 11/23)

Bloomberg: Astra Shot That Works Better in Small Doses Raises Questions
The news reached Sarah Gilbert Saturday evening that the Covid-19 vaccine she’s developed with AstraZeneca Plc appeared to work. But the University of Oxford professor had expected a key number: Was it more than 90% effective, as others have been -- or less? Instead, when her colleague Andrew Pollard called with the results, he wanted to show her slides rather than simple figures. “I didn’t really understand why we would have to go through slides,” she recalled. “But then it became clear -- because it’s rather more complicated in our trial.” (Baker, 11/23)

Stat: 'Essential Workers' Likely To Get Earlier Access To Covid-19 Vaccine 
Essential workers are likely to move ahead of adults 65 and older and people with high-risk medical conditions when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off on Covid-19 vaccine priority lists, coming after health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities, a meeting of an expert advisory panel made clear Monday. (Branswell, 11/23)

The Washington Post: Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution And Shipping: How Will It Work?
Riverside Health System in Virginia has ordered a specialized freezer for each of its five hospitals to keep precious vials of coronavirus vaccine as cold as a deep Antarctic freeze. Public health officials in Nashville and Baltimore are revamping routine flu clinics to test delivery methods for coronavirus vaccinations. (Sun and Stead Sellers, 11/23)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccines Face Trust Gap In Black And Latino Communities, Study Finds 
If offered a coronavirus vaccine free of charge, fewer than half of Black people and 66 percent of Latino people said they would definitely or probably take it, according to a survey-based study that underscores the challenge of getting vaccines to communities hit hard by the pandemic. The survey released Monday is one of the largest and most rigorous to date. Other recent studies have also pointed to vaccine hesitancy in communities of color, but Monday’s survey delved deeper into the reasons, polling respondents on a spectrum of questions to get at the roots of their distrust. (Wan, 11/23)

NPR: PPE Production Issues Means U.S. Can't Meet Goals Of Filling Strategic Stockpile 
The Strategic National Stockpile, which the U.S. has traditionally depended on for emergencies, still lacks critical supplies, nine months into one of the worst public health care crises this country has ever seen, an NPR investigation has learned. A combination of long-standing budget shortfalls, lack of domestic manufacturing, snags in the global supply chain, and overwhelming demand has meant that the stockpile is short of the gloves, masks, and other supplies needed to weather this winter's surge in COVID-19 cases. (Evstatieva, 11/23)

CIDRAP: Kids' COVID Cases On The Rise, But Most Are Mild, New Data Show 
While the proportion of COVID-19 cases in children has tripled or quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, it remains below their proportion of the US population, and hospitalizations and deaths are uncommon—although racial minorities and those with public insurance and underlying conditions appear to be at higher risk for serious outcomes, according to two new studies. (Van Beusekom, 11/23)

Philadelphia Inquirer: CHOP-Led Study Confirms COVID-19 Is Rare In Kids, But More Severe Among Children Of Color
A huge study of pediatric patients across the country found only 4% of those tested were infected with the new coronavirus, and the vast majority of those cases were mild or asymptomatic. The study, led by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, quantifies and confirms — but doesn’t attempt to explain — one of the biggest mysteries of the pandemic: Why an infection that has so far killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide is uncommon and mostly harmless in children. (McCullough, 11/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Damaged Sense Of Smell In Covid Patients Holds Clues To How Recovery Might Work 
Scientists are uncovering clues to explain how the coronavirus attacks the nervous system by studying a bizarre side effect of the infection that distorts sufferers’ sense of smell for months on end. Since the pandemic began, doctors have puzzled over why the coronavirus causes as many as 80% of patients to experience anosmia, a temporary loss of smell. (Whelan, 11/23)

CIDRAP: Poor Outcomes For COVID-19 Patients With Bloodstream Infections
A second study in Clinical Infectious Disease late last week detailed poor outcomes for hospitalized COVID-19 patients with secondary bloodstream infections (sBSI). COVID-19 patients with sBSI had greater initial disease severity, longer hospital stays, and a 53.1% in-hospital mortality rate. Limited data suggest higher rates of sBSI—common in patients with flu and other viral respiratory illnesses—in severe COVID-19 patients, perhaps linked to immune dysregulation. (11/23)

CIDRAP: Lung Capacity Issues, Severe Health Problems In COVID-19 Survivors
A Dutch study late last week found reduced lung capacity in 42% of COVID-19 patients 3 months after recovery, with many patients reporting severe problems with fatigue, functional impairment, and quality of life (QoL). Researchers reporting in Clinical Infectious Disease administered a comprehensive health assessment to 124 recovering COVID-19 patients who had either been admitted to a Netherlands hospital or were referred by physicians for symptoms lasting more than 6 weeks from Apr 23 to Jul 15. Assessments included lung function, walking, and body composition tests, chest computed tomography (CT)/x-ray, and questionnaires on mental, cognitive, health status, and QoL. The median age of patients was 59 years and 60% of patients were male. (11/23)

Stat: Merck To Pay $425M For Biotech To Get Covid-19 Drug
The drug giant Merck said Monday it would purchase Rockville, Md.-based OncoImmune for $425 million in cash to obtain the company’s treatment for patients hospitalized with severe and critical Covid-19. In an interview with STAT, Merck’s head of research and development, Roger Perlmutter, said that clinical trials for the treatment, CD24Fc, were encouraging but that manufacturing could prove a challenge. Still, he said, he hopes that, if proven safe and effective, it will be possible to make the medicine in useful quantities in the first half of 2021. (Herper, 11/23)

NPR: FDA Approves A Drug For A Rare Disease That Causes Children To Age Quickly
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug that extends the lives of children with an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes them to grow old before they grow up. The disorder, progeria, ages cells rapidly and prematurely. As a result, affected children remain small and begin to look frail and old by the time they reach school age. Most die of heart disease in their early teens. But the drug, Zokinvy, slows down the decline. (Hamilton, 11/23)

The Hill: Study: People Over 45 At Higher Risk Of Contracting STIs 'Than Ever Before' 
A recent study determined that people over 45 years old are at greater risk “than ever before” of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to stigma surrounding middle-aged and older individuals having sex. The University of Chichester, along with researchers from the U.K., Belgium and the Netherlands, found that negative views toward discussing sexual health and a general lack of knowledge contribute to some older people being unaware of the risks of unprotected sex. (Coleman, 11/23)

AP: Health Care Fraud Trial: Doctor Acquitted On 7 Of 8 Counts
A Mississippi doctor has been acquitted on seven of eight counts against him in what prosecutors said was about $18 million in health care fraud involving expensive prescription pain cream. His secretary was acquitted on all five counts against her. Jurors were unable to agree on the eighth count — making false statements relating to health care — against Dr. Gregory Auzenne, The Clarion Ledger reported. The newspaper said the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately comment Monday on whether it planned to retry that charge. (11/23)

The Washington Post: Rise In Suicides Prompted By Pandemic Is Met With Lack Of U.S. Action 
America’s system for monitoring suicides is so broken and slow that experts won’t know until roughly two years after the pandemic whether suicides have risen nationally. But coroners and medical examiners are already seeing troubling signs. In Arizona’s Pima County, officials have sent two health bulletins alerting doctors and hospitals to spikes in suicides. In Oregon’s Columbia County, the number of suicides by summer had already surpassed last year’s total. In the sprawling Chicago suburbs, DuPage County has reported a 23 percent rise compared with last year. And in the city itself, the number of suicides among African Americans has far surpassed the total for 2019, even as officials struggle to understand whether the deaths are being driven by the pandemic, racial unrest or both. What has shocked medical examiners in Chicago is the age range — from a 57-year-old deputy police chief to a 9-year-old child. (Wan, 11/23)

The New York Times: Can An Algorithm Prevent Suicide? 
At a recent visit to the Veterans Affairs clinic in the Bronx, Barry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, learned that he belonged to a very exclusive club. According to a new A.I.-assisted algorithm, he was one of several hundred V.A. patients nationwide, of six million total, deemed at imminent risk of suicide. The news did not take him entirely off guard. Barry, 69, who was badly wounded in the 1968 Tet offensive, had already made two previous attempts on his life. “I don’t like this idea of a list, to tell you the truth — a computer telling me something like this,” Barry, a retired postal worker, said in a phone interview. He asked that his surname be omitted for privacy. (Carey, 11/23)

The Washington Post: Addiction Support Groups: When Covid Forces Recovery Online 
In the roughly eight years since she left treatment for alcohol-use disorder, Amy Durham has been to countless recovery group meetings. At first, she went every day, before gradually scaling back to two or three times a week — a routine she stuck with until this past March, when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered many in-person meetings nationwide. “I was really on solid ground in my recovery at that point, so I would say I wasn’t fearful for my own recovery, but it was quite jarring to me,” said Durham, 48, who is the corporate director of alumni relations at Pennsylvania-based Caron Treatment Centers, where she herself received treatment. (Chiu, 11/23)

USA Today: Toilet Paper Panic Buying Is On A Roll Again, Stores Report Shortages
Don’t count on finding toilet paper on your next run to Target or Walmart. Paper products and other household staples are in high demand in stores and online again as the virus surges and lockdowns loobut none more so than those essential rolls of soft cotton squares. Photos of bare shelves and public pleas to leave behind a few rolls for other shoppers are overflowing social media.  (Guynn, 11/23)

The Washington Post: Covid Has Invaded Our Kids’ Pretend Play. Experts Say It’s A Good Thing.
Kelly Morse entered her 4-year-old son’s pretend doctor’s office one day last April and asked him how she was doing. She was taken aback when he examined her with his toy stethoscope and responded, solemnly, “Not well, you’ve got coronavirus.” A few months later, he started to brainstorm how a covid-19 vaccine might work, theorizing “that what we needed is a vaccine made of tiny alligators that could be injected into the blood to eat up all the coronavirus,” says Morse, a mother of two in Norfolk. Not all parents who engage in imaginary play with their children are getting diagnosed with covid-19, or brainstorming outside-the-box vaccine ideas. But coronavirus-themed play is increasingly common as living with the virus is becoming a long-term reality for children in the United States. (Pelly, 11/23)

The Hill: Grocery, Retail Workers Urge Reinstatement Of Hazard Pay Ahead Of Holiday Rush 
Organizations representing the interests of grocery and retail workers are calling on companies to reinstate hazard pay ahead of the expected holiday rush as coronavirus cases surge across the country. The workers rights group United for Respect requested companies such as Walmart, Amazon and Petco pay its employees an extra $5 per hour throughout the rest of the pandemic in a Monday announcement. (Coleman, 11/23)

The Wall Street Journal: South Dakota College Basketball Tournament Cancels Plans For Fans 
A college basketball tournament scheduled to be played in South Dakota this week said Monday that it canceled plans to allow hundreds of people to congregate indoors to watch games in a state where the coronavirus is rampant. The men’s and women’s tournaments called the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic start in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday. The tournament, sponsored by Sanford Health, a large health-care operator in the state, had planned to allow 850 fans into the arena for each game. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 11/23)

The Washington Post: Want To Fly? Get A Vaccine, Says Qantas CEO
Australian air carrier Qantas anticipates asking all international travelers to prove they’ve been immunized against the coronavirus once a vaccine is widely available — a requirement that is likely to be adopted throughout the industry, CEO Alan Joyce said Monday. “I think it will be a common theme, talking to my colleagues in other airlines across the world,” Joyce told Australia’s Nine News. (Farzan, 11/24)

NPR: American Airlines Ends Weight Limit Policy Affecting People In Power Wheelchairs
American Airlines has reversed a policy that meant some people who use heavy wheelchairs could no longer fly on certain small regional jets. The recent policy banned wheelchairs weighing more than 300 pounds from some of its smaller jets. Many power wheelchairs, with batteries and motors, weigh more than that. (Shapiro, 11/23)

NPR: 'Waste' Activist Digs Into The Sanitation Crisis Affecting The Rural Poor 
Hookworm is an intestinal parasite often associated with poor sewage treatment and the developing world. It was long thought to have been eradicated from the United States — until a 2017 study revealed otherwise. According to the study, more than one in three people in Alabama's Lowndes County tested positive for hookworm infection. (Davies, 11/23)

Los Angeles Times: After COVID-19 Exposures, Newsom Family Will Quarantine
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his family will spend Thanksgiving in quarantine after his children were exposed in two separate incidents to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, cases that the governor said Monday prompted an informal lockdown of his Fair Oaks estate over the weekend. During a midday news conference from his home office, Newsom said everyone in his family, including the children’s au pair, has tested negative for the virus. (Luna, 11/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Records More Than 20,000 New Cases Monday In Grim Milestone
California on Monday recorded more than 20,000 new cases of the coronavirus — smashing previous daily records and setting a grim milestone as the state and the rest of the country continues to see explosive spread of the virus. The state recorded 20,654 cases of the virus Monday, according to The Chronicle’s coronavirus tracker. The previous daily record, set one week ago, was 13,412. Monday’s tally could potentially be attributed to a lag in weekend reporting; only 5,842 new cases were reported Sunday. (Williams, 11/23)

The Hill: Los Angeles County Suspends Outdoor Dining Amid Coronavirus Surge 
Los Angeles County is suspending outdoor dining for the foreseeable future as coronavirus cases surge in the region and across the country. The order from the public health department will force restaurants, wineries and breweries into a takeout and delivery-only model for the first time since May. It will remain in effect for at least three weeks, though it could last longer. (Weixel, 11/23)