First Edition: Nov. 10, 2020

KHN: Orange County Struggles With Health Equity — And Battles State Restrictions 
California’s most popular amusement park has become the focal point of a struggle over how best to contain COVID-19 while keeping the economy afloat. California’s Democratic leaders have tied the fate of Disneyland — “the Happiest Place on Earth” — to the health of the people who live around it, who have been hit hard by the virus. But conservative Orange County officials want to ease restrictions to allow for the reopening of the lucrative tourist attraction, saying the economic health of all residents depends on it. (Almendrala, 11/10)

KHN: ‘No Mercy’ Chapter 7: After A Rural Town Loses Hospital, Is A Health Clinic Enough?
Family physician Maxwell Self is doing his same old job for a new employer. For two decades he was a doctor with Mercy Hospital. But when Mercy packed up and left, a federally qualified health center moved to town — into the hospital building itself — and hired Dr. Self. The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas does things differently. (Tribble, 11/10)

KHN: Trump’s Anti-Abortion Zeal Shook Fragile Health Systems Around The World 
In Ethiopia, health clinics for teenagers once supported by U.S. foreign aid closed down. In Kenya, a decades-long effort to integrate HIV testing and family planning unraveled. And in Nepal, intrepid government workers who once traversed the Himalayas to spread information about reproductive health were halted. Around the world, countries that depend on U.S. foreign aid have scrapped or scaled back ambitious public health projects, refashioning their health systems over the past four years to comport with President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-abortion restrictions that went further than any Republican president before him. (Varney, 11/10)

KHN: Justices Bound To See ACA As ‘Indispensable,’ Says Californian Leading Defense 
When the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case Tuesday that could decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act, California will be leading the defense to uphold the federal law that touches nearly every aspect of the country’s health care system. It’s usually the federal government’s job to defend a federal law, but President Donald Trump’s administration wants this law, also known as Obamacare, to be overturned. (Young, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Cases Above 100,000 For Seventh Day In A Row 
The U.S. reported more than 100,000 coronavirus cases for the seventh day in a row as the virus spread rapidly in many areas of the country and several states hit daily infection records. Nearly 120,000 new cases were reported nationwide for Monday, as the total number of confirmed cases topped 10.1 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Hall, 11/10)

Reuters: U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalizations Surge To Record Of Just Over 59,000 Patients: Reuters Tally
There were just over 59,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the United States on Monday, the country’s highest number ever of in-patients being treated for the disease, as new infections at record levels for the sixth consecutive day. (Maan, 11/9)

The New York Times: Pandemic Reaches Grim Milestone As Biden Moves To Take Charge 
Coronavirus cases surged to a new record on Monday, with the United States now averaging 111,000 cases each day for the past week, a grim milestone amid rising hospitalizations and deaths that cast a shadow on positive news about the effectiveness of a potential vaccine. As the number of infected Americans passed 10 million and governors struggled to manage the pandemic, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. tried on Monday to use his bully pulpit — the only tool at his disposal until he replaces President Trump in 72 days — to plead for Americans to set aside the bitterness of the 2020 election and wear a mask. (Shear, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Joe Biden Kicks Off Transition Focused On Coronavirus 
Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received their first briefing Monday on the pandemic from the transition team’s newly announced Covid-19 advisory board, after a study showed the Pfizer vaccine to be more than 90% effective in the first 94 subjects who were infected by the new coronavirus and developed at least one symptom. Mr. Biden congratulated the scientists who had been working on the vaccine but said that mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing would be the best defense against the coronavirus until next year at the earliest. (Jamerson and Peterson, 11/9)

Politico: Biden And His Shadow Health Panel Start Plotting Pandemic Response 
President-elect Joe Biden gave clear signals on Monday that his administration will take a completely different approach to the coronavirus pandemic — warning that the United States would face a "very dark winter," unveiling a new Covid advisory group stacked with veteran public health experts, lowering expectations for a rapidly available vaccine and making an urgent plea for Americans to cover their faces and slow the soaring rate of infection. Flanked by a masked Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Wilmington, Del., Biden made early reference to the "positive news" that drugmaker Pfizer had found its vaccine candidate to be more than 90 percent effective. But he said the shot, if approved, "will not be widely available for many months yet to come." (Miranda Ollstein and Forgey, 11/9)

AP: Biden Targets Virus As His White House Transition Begins
Biden began with a direct appeal to all Americans to wear masks, a departure from Trump, who has mocked Biden and others who make a point of always wearing protective face coverings when around others. In an official move, the president-elect formed a coronavirus advisory board dominated by scientists and doctors, while Trump has had a falling out with the medical experts on his own virus task force. (Weissert, Marcelo and Madhani, 11/19)

NPR: President-Elect Biden's Plans To Fix U.S. Health Care And Public Health 
As of Jan. 20, 2021 — Inauguration Day — the federal government is about to get much more involved in health care and the COVID-19 pandemic response. Exactly how much more involved, now that Joe Biden is president-elect, depends on whether Republicans keep control of the Senate. And that likely won't be determined until early January, when Georgia's two Senate run-off races are held. Trump's nearly four years as president have been marked by a scaled-back federal investment and involvement in health care in a range of ways — giving states more authority to run their own health insurance markets, for example, and leaving them to come up with their own strategies for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and more. (Simmons-Duffin, 11/9)

The Hill: Biden Implores Americans To Set Aside Differences And Wear Masks 
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday implored every American to put aside political differences and wear masks. "A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together,"  Biden said during a somber address that acknowledged the COVID-19 crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better. (Weixel, 11/9)

Reuters: Biden Says Vaccine Approval Process Must Be Guided By Science
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday said a coronavirus vaccine approval process must be guided by science so the public can have confidence it is safe and effective, warning that the United States is still facing a very dark winter and that a vaccine likely won’t be available for months. “I implore you, wear a mask. Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbor. A mask is not a political statement,” Biden said, adding that he would spare no effort to turn the pandemic around once he is sworn in. (11/9)

Stat: How Might A Mask Mandate Play Out? Look To The Battle Over Seat Belt Laws
If public health officials want to get people to wear masks to curb the spread of Covid-19, they might take a lesson what is now a widely accepted aspect of American life: buckling up. Beginning in the 1950s, the effort to get people to adopt seat belts took legislation, enforcement, and public health campaigns. And, especially in its early days, it was met with misinformation and pushback, especially around personal freedom. (Silberner, 11/10)

The Washington Post: McConnell And Biden Could Bring Bipartisan Cooperation To Congress 
Joe Biden wanted to raise taxes on wealthy estates. Mitch McConnell wanted to keep them low. The two longtime Washington politicians quickly discovered one point of agreement: the vote count. With former president George W. Bush’s tax cuts headed toward expiration in December 2010, McConnell phoned Biden and told him that Senate Republicans had enough votes to keep the lower estate tax. Biden respected McConnell’s math. They eventually struck an agreement that marked the first of several times McConnell and Biden would reach a bipartisan deal to avert a looming financial cliff during the Obama administration, forming what multiple lawmakers and aides described as a sincere, if professional, bond that may soon be the most important in national politics. (Stein and Sullivan, 11/9)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Trade Groups Ready To Work With Biden On COVID, Affordability And Access
Trade groups representing insurers and hospitals Saturday pledged to work President-elect Joe Biden and a new administration on combating the coronavirus pandemic and continuing to reshape the nation's healthcare system." There are many healthcare challenges that our nation must face together—from continuing to battle the COVID-19 crisis, to making healthcare and prescription drugs more affordable, to protecting patients from surprise medical bills, to ensuring stable coverage markets for those who need it most," Matt Eyles president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement. (Weinstock, 11/7)

Fox News: Fauci Says He's Not Leaving Job After 2020 Election, Expects COVID Vaccines By End Of The Year
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday that he has no intention of leaving his current role." This is an important job. I've been doing it now for a very long time. I've been doing it under six presidents," Fauci told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It's an important job and my goal is to serve the American public no matter what the administration is." (Manfredi, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court To Hear Affordable Care Act Challenge Brought By Trump, Republican-Led States 
The latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act comes Tuesday before a reconstituted Supreme Court, during a pandemic, in a rapidly changing political environment. All of those factors are likely to play a role when Republican-led states and the Trump administration ask the justices to find a key provision unconstitutional. And if that’s the case, Republicans say, the entire law must fall, even if it endangers the health-care coverage of more than 20 million Americans during the country’s gravest health crisis in a century. (Barnes, 11/9)

AP: Much At Stake As Supreme Court Weighs Future Of 'Obamacare'
When the Supreme Court weighs the fate of “Obamacare,” arguments will revolve around arcane points of law like severability — whether the justices can surgically snip out part of the law and leave the rest. But what’s at stake has real-world consequences for just about every American, as well as the health care industry, a major source of jobs and tax revenues. Whether the Affordable Care Act stays, goes, or is significantly changed, will affect the way life is lived in the U.S. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/10)

AP: Biden Defends Health Care Law As High Court Mulls Its Fate
President-elect Joe Biden is championing the Obama administration’s signature health law as it goes before the Supreme Court in a case that could overturn it. He will deliver a speech on the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, the same day the high court will hear arguments on its merits. It ruled eight years ago to leave the essential components of the law known as Obamacare intact, but is now controlled 6-3 by a conservative majority after President Donald Trump’s appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Weissert, 11/10)

The Hill: ObamaCare Faces Supreme Court Test With New Conservative Majority 
Court watchers say a number of outcomes are possible when a decision is handed down, likely in June. The most extreme scenario would involve conservative justices striking down the entire 2010 law, a result that doctors’ groups say would threaten to throw the nation’s health care system into chaos at a time when the country could still be in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic. (Kruzel, 11/9)

AP: GOP Tries Again To Get High Court To Ax Health Care Law
A week after the 2020 election, Republican elected officials and the Trump administration are advancing their latest arguments to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, a long-held GOP goal that has repeatedly failed in Congress and the courts. In arguments scheduled for Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear its third major fight over the 10-year-old law, popularly known as “Obamacare.” Republican attorneys general in 18 states and the administration want the whole law to be struck down, which would threaten coverage for more than 23 million people. (Sherman, 11/10)

Modern Healthcare: 4 Issues To Listen For In The Supreme Court's ACA Oral Arguments
Oral arguments in California v. Texas will provide valuable insight into which issues the justices are interrogating most seriously, including the perspective of newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett. It's impossible to extrapolate how the court will decide based solely on the questioning, but legal experts say the intensity with which justices scrutinize each of the following issues will offer clues. All ears during the remotely held arguments will be on Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with liberal justices to uphold the individual mandate as a tax in the 2012 case National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, and the three new Trump appointees to the court since the last major ACA case was heard, especially Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Cohrs, 11/9)

The Washington Post: HUD Secretary Ben Carson Tests Positive For The Coronavirus 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson told The Washington Post that he’s “feeling terrific” after testing positive for the coronavirus. “I really came down with symptoms yesterday. Fever of 101. Chills. Muscle cramps. Respiratory issues and fatigue,” Carson said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. (Terris, Jan and Min Kim, 11/9)

AP: Trump Election Party Draws Scrutiny As Guests Test Positive
At least three top Trump administration or campaign officials have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an election night watch party in the White House East Room. ... Ben Carson, the secretary for housing and urban development, tested positive, a department spokesperson confirmed Monday, as did David Bossie, who was recently tasked with overseeing the campaign’s legal challenges contesting the election’s outcome. The event had been under scrutiny since another attendee, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, contracted the virus, which has now killed more than 238,000 people in the U.S. alone. (Colvin, 11/10)

Modern Healthcare: 6 Healthcare Moves Trump Could Make Before He Leaves Office
The Trump administration on Monday signed off Medicaid managed-care changes, but it could wrap up a few more loose ends before President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. Here's a look at six of the top prospects. (Brady, 11/9)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Signs Off On Medicaid Managed-Care Changes
CMS on Monday wrapped up its long-awaited changes to how states can run their Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program plans. The final rule gives states more flexibility to set rates for their managed-care plans and ensure plans have adequate provider networks. The Trump administration hopes the changes will encourage private health plans within Medicaid and CHIP, slash regulations and cut federal exposure to healthcare costs. (Brady, 11/9)

USA Today: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization To COVID-19 Drug
In more good news for the fight against COVID-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Monday authorized use of a drug that appears to protect infected people at high risk from getting very sick. The FDA issued an emergency use authorization to drug-maker Lilly for bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody that mimics the immune system’s response to infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. (Weise and Weintraub, (11/9)

The New York Times: Covid-19: Eli Lilly’s Antibody Treatment Gets Emergency F.D.A. Approval 
The authorization, announced on Monday, applies only to people newly infected with the virus, and the agency said it should not be used in hospitalized patients. The treatment is approved for people 12 and older who have tested positive and are at risk for developing a severe form of Covid-19 or being hospitalized for the condition. That includes people who are over 65 and obese, the agency said — a key group that early studies have shown can benefit the most from the treatment. (11/10)

AP: US Allows 1st Emergency Use Of A COVID-19 Antibody Drug
Early results suggest the drug, called bamlanivimab, may help clear the coronavirus sooner and possibly cut hospitalizations in people with mild to moderate COVID-19. A study of it in hospitalized patients was stopped when independent monitors saw the drug did not seem to be helping in that situation. The government previously reached an agreement to buy and supply much of the early production of Lilly’s drug. Only one drug -- Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir -- has full FDA approval for treating COVID-19. Government treatment guidelines also back using dexamethasone and other steroids for certain severely ill, hospitalized patients. (Perrone, 11/10)

The Washington Post: Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Cleared By Mid-December Following Release Of Data Showing It Is More Than 90 Percent Effective 
The news Monday that Pfizer’s experimental coronavirus vaccine is more than 90 percent effective sharply increased prospects that federal regulators will authorize the vaccine on an emergency basis as early as mid-December, and that the first shots will be administered before the end of the year or early next year. The findings, announced by drug giant Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech, provided much-needed hope for a nation battered by surging virus cases, a stumbling economy and a bitterly fought presidential campaign. It augers well for other vaccines and could accelerate the timetable for reining in the pandemic, said scientists, who cautioned that any successful vaccine will still face obstacles, notably distribution to hundreds of millions of people. (McGinley, Sun and Johnson, 11/9)

NPR: A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Begin Deployment In U.S. In December, If FDA-Approved 
A top U.S. Army general who is co-leading the federal COVID-19 vaccine initiative anticipates that the first of millions of Americans could start receiving COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next month. "I think a safe and effective vaccine will be available initially in December," Gen. Gustave Perna told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in an interview Monday. If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes a vaccine by then, "10 to 30 million doses of vaccine will be available that we can start distributing." (Huang, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine’s Next Big Challenge: Giving It To Enough People 
With Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine on track to be authorized as early as next month, Western governments are facing an enormous logistical challenge: getting enough people shots of new vaccines. While previous vaccination programs have spread over years and focused on specific demographics such as children or the elderly, governments are hoping to do something they never have done before and inoculate a majority of the population in a matter of months. (Colchester and Hinshaw, 11/10)

Reuters: Why Pfizer’s Ultra-Cold COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Be At The Local Pharmacy Any Time Soon 
The vaccine’s complex and super-cold storage requirements are an obstacle for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States and may impact when and where it is available in rural areas or poor countries where resources are tight. The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below. (O'Donnell, 11/9)

Boston Globe: Is Pfizer’s Vaccine A ‘Magic Bullet?’ Scientists Warn Masks, Distancing May Last Well Into 2021
A nation in the grip of a raging pandemic got a glimmer of hope Monday with the drug maker Pfizer’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine showed early success among a small number of people in its drug trial. But with so many unknowns about the first batch of coronavirus vaccines still in development, vaccine and infectious disease experts warn that the public should be prepared to stay the course with 2020-style precautions for months to come, and perhaps longer. Masks and social distancing deep into 2021 are still likely, they say. (Lazar, 11/9)

The New York Times: 11 Things You Need To Know About Pfizer's Covid Vaccine 
As coronavirus cases surge in the United States and elsewhere, with little relief in sight, the world got good news on Monday. Pfizer and its partner, the German company, BioNTech, announced preliminary results that suggested their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. The news — the first results from any late-stage vaccine trial — buoyed stock markets and spirits as the public saw a glimmer of hope. But it’s worth noting that the news is still preliminary, and there is much that is still not known about how well the vaccine works. (Zimmer and Thomas, 11/9)

Stat: Why The Pharma Industry Got Lucky With Pfizer — For Now 
The news read like Heritage Foundation fan fiction. Pfizer, a 171-year-old paragon of American industry, was the first to generate truly promising data on a Covid-19 vaccine. And like a pharmaceutical John Henry — or John Galt — the company did it without accepting a single dollar from the federal government and its Operation Warp Speed. (Garde, 11/9)

Stat: STAT-Harris Poll: Most Won't Get A Covid-19 Vaccine Unless It Halves Risk
Six in 10 Americans said they are somewhat or very likely to get a Covid-19 vaccine if doing so would lower the risk of becoming infected by about half, according to a new survey from STAT and The Harris Poll. The poll also found that more Americans say they are likely to get a vaccine, practice social distancing, and wear a mask if they or someone they know has contracted Covid-19. (Silverman, 11/10)

AP: Testing Timeline: What’s Ahead For COVID-19 Vaccines
Pfizer’s surprising news that its COVID-19 vaccine might offer more protection than anticipated — an announcement right after a fraught U.S. presidential election campaign — is raising questions about exactly how the different shots will make it to market. Pfizer Inc. and the maker of the other leading U.S. vaccine candidate, Moderna Inc., have been cautioning for weeks that the earliest they could seek regulatory approval for wider use of their shots would be late November. In Britain, AstraZeneca recently said it hoped to prove its own vaccine was effective by year’s end. (Neergaard, 11/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Brazil Suspends Trials Of China’s Sinovac Coronavirus Vaccine 
Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said Monday it has suspended clinical trials of China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, long expected to be one of the first to be approved in the country, following a “severe adverse event.” Anvisa said late Monday that the event occurred on Oct. 29, without giving further information or an explanation of why it took more than a week to communicate the problem. (Pearson, 11/10)

CIDRAP: Prepandemic Coronavirus Antibodies May React To COVID-19 
Two preliminary retrospective studies in the United Kingdom, sub-Sahara Africa, and the United States suggest that some people who were never infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 have cross-reactive antibodies against it—perhaps from previous exposure to similar human coronaviruses. (Van Beusekom, 11/9)

The Hill: NIH Study: Hydroxychloroquine Had No Benefit For Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients 
Hydroxychloroquine provides no benefit for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has officially concluded. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday, though the NIH stopped the study in June on the recommendation of an independent data monitoring board. The study found that while hydroxychloroquine did not cause any additional harm, it didn't help patients either. (Weixel, 11/9)

AP: Study Finds Long-Acting Shot Helps Women Avoid HIV Infection
Researchers are stopping a study early after finding that a shot of an experimental medicine every two months worked better than daily pills to help keep women from catching HIV from an infected sex partner. The news is a boon for AIDS prevention efforts especially in Africa, where the study took place, and where women have few discreet ways of protecting themselves from infection. Results so far suggest that the drug, cabotegravir, was 89% more effective at preventing HIV infection than Truvada pills, although both reduce that risk. (Marchione, 11/9)

Stat: ViiV's HIV Prevention Shot Beats Truvada Pill In A Study Of Women
In a notable development for preventing HIV, an interim analysis found that an every-other-month injectable treatment was 89% more effective in preventing infection among women than the Truvada pill, which must be taken daily and is the current standard of care. (Silverman, 11/9)

Stat: Drug Companies Deliver A Vote Of Confidence In Adaptive Trial For Covid-19
A novel clinical trial that uses artificial intelligence to rapidly compare Covid-19 treatments has attracted participation from two major drug companies, a key milestone in the effort to shake up the way trials are conducted. Amgen and the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai will become the first pharma companies to test their experimental therapies in REMAP-CAP, an adaptive clinical trial that seeks to rapidly evaluate potential Covid-19 treatments in patients around the world. (Ross, 11/10)

AP: Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo Tests Positive For COVID-19
Tom Izzo has been an advocate for wearing masks and social distancing, hoping to use his platform at Michigan State as a Basketball Hall of Fame coach to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Despite practicing what he preached, Izzo tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. It was just the latest example of the challenges facing college basketball to have a season during the pandemic. (Lage, 11/9)

The New York Times: Thanksgiving Will Soon Empty Campuses. Will Students Bring Coronavirus Home? 
As Thanksgiving approaches, millions of Americans are weighing the risk of pandemic travel against the yearning to visit friends and family. But one group seems all but certain to be heading home in large numbers just in time for turkey and holiday gatherings: college students. Since the start of the fall semester, most universities have planned to end in-person classes before Thanksgiving and require students to finish the term remotely, partly to avoid an expected wave of cold-weather infections. That means that in a couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of students will be streaming back to hometowns until the spring semester begins. (Hubler, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Should You Get A Covid Test To Travel? Here’s What You Need To Know. 
There’s a variety of places offering coronavirus testing, including urgent care centers, travel clinics, fire stations, pop-up sites, most hospitals, pharmacies and a few airports. Lin Chen, a doctor and director of the Travel Medicine Center at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., says potential travelers should check in with their primary care provider, who may know the best options for testing in their area. Other options include looking at city and state health department websites for testing resources. (Compton, 11/9)

The Washington Post: How To Detox From Election Anxiety, According To Experts 
At this point in 2020 — with a global pandemic, social unrest, natural disasters and a divisive election — we’ve heard plenty of advice about self-care. The need for such guidance probably peaked last week amid a crescendo of election anxiety, as much of the country agonized over the hotly contested presidential race between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden. (Chiu, 11/9)

The New York Times: After A Broken Bone, The Risk Of A Second Fracture 
Older adults who break a bone face a serious yet potentially preventable risk of breaking another, often within the next two years. This is especially true for the more than 340,000 people 65 and older who break a hip and the nearly 700,000 who develop a spinal fracture each year. Unlike lightning, which almost never strikes the same place twice, “the person at highest risk of a fracture is the one who’s just had a fracture,” Dr. Ethel S. Siris, endocrinologist and director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center at the Columbia University Medical Center, told me. (Brody, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: McDonald’s To Add ‘McPlant’ Products, After Test With Beyond Meat 
McDonald’s Corp. is making changes to its menu and restaurant operations as the coronavirus pandemic persists, including an emphasis on to-go orders and new “McPlant” vegetarian items. The burger company said Monday that it would test a slate of new plant-based products in some markets next year. McDonald’s ran a pilot program earlier this year in Canada to sell patties made by Beyond Meat Inc., a leader in the market to sell new plant-based products that closely mimic meat. (Haddon, 11/9)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: COVID Deaths In Nevada Get New Official Definition
Who gets counted as a COVID-19 death has been questioned for months, with no formal definition in place nationwide as officials adapt to a new disease’s destructive impact. Conspiracy theories have swirled around the idea that coronavirus mortality totals are being inflated. Now, Nevada has released an official definition of what it considers a confirmed COVID-19 death. (Scott Davidson, 11/9)

USA Today: Coronavirus Updates: Colorado Extends Mask Mandate For 30 More Days; Minnesota Set To Tighten Restrictions; 'Virus Is Winning' In Illinois
The Midwestern states are facing an onslaught of coronavirus cases. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz plans to announce new COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday amid a surge in statewide infections, possibly including stricter rules for bars and restaurants. The governor will also convene a special legislative session Thursday to extend his COVID-19 peacetime emergency powers by another 30 days to help fight the spread of the coronavirus. (Flores, 11/10)

Politico: Murphy Announces New Restrictions On Indoor Dining In New Jersey As Covid Cases Surge
New Jersey will require restaurants to stop indoor dining by 10 p.m. and will prohibit all indoor, interstate organized sports up to the high school level in an effort to slow the resurgence of Covid-19, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. The new rules take effect Thursday morning, the governor said during his regular coronavirus briefing in Trenton. (Landergan and Sitrin, 11/9)

Philadelphia Inquirer: With Thousands Of New Infections A Day, Pa. Says The Surge Hasn’t Peaked And N.J. Sets New Restrictions
As the most severe surge in coronavirus cases yet rages across the country and region, New Jersey on Monday imposed new restrictions on indoor dining and sports, Philadelphia urged people who were in postelection crowds to quarantine, and Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the new wave’s peak has not been reached. At the pandemic’s eight-month mark, Pennsylvania is in the midst of a streak of about 3,000 cases a day, and New Jersey more than 2,000 a day. (McDaniel, Steele and McCarthy, 11/10)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Health Officials Balk At Mandating Masks
State Health Commissioner Lance Frye said health officials and Gov. Kevin Stitt are looking at many options to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and “nothing is off the table” in regard to actions that could be taken to slow transmission. But when asked if he had recommended a mask mandate to Stitt as an option, Frye said he didn’t believe a mandate would be a viable option. (Kemp, 11/10)

Bangor Daily News: 7 Maine Hospitals Were Cited This Summer For Not Following COVID-19 Rules
A handful of Maine hospitals didn’t follow all federal rules meant to limit the coronavirus’ spread over the summer, with employees at some not wearing face coverings and eye protection, according to regulators who visited the hospitals between June and September. In other cases, inspectors found, hospitals weren’t fully screening workers and visitors for COVID-19 symptoms. (Eichacker, 11/7)

Bangor Daily News: 4 Belfast Hospital Staffers Test Positive For COVID-19, Marking 2nd Hospital Outbreak In A Week
Four employees at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast have tested positive for the coronavirus, making it the second Maine hospital in a week to record a COVID-19 outbreak among staff members. The outbreak there was one of a number of new outbreaks the Maine Center for Disease Control announced Friday, as cases have continued to surge in Maine with the state continuing to set records for new daily cases. The percentage of coronavirus tests in Maine coming back positive — a key indicator of how actively the virus is spreading — has also more than tripled in the past two weeks. News of the Belfast hospital’s outbreak comes a few weeks after Waldo County began grappling with an outbreak connected to the Brooks Pentecostal Church that’s grown to 60 cases. (Stone, 11/6)

AP: North Dakota Trying To Ease Stress On Hospitals, Workers
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said Monday that health care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms should be allowed to stay on the job, part of an effort to ease the stress both on hospitals and medical personnel trying to keep up with skyrocketing cases. The governor said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been allowing infected workers without symptoms to keep working as long as they take precautionary measures. The state is also looking to increase rapid testing of healthcare workers to “keep them in the game,” the governor said. (Kolpack, 11/10)

AP: Convicted Murderer Dies Of COVID-19
A man convicted of participating in a 1981 murder in Davenport has died from COVID-19 and other health conditions, Iowa prison officials said. David Streets, 70, died Sunday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the Iowa Department of Corrections reported. He was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and kidnapping in the Feb. 8, 1981, death of Mark Webb at Webb’s apartment in Davenport, The Quad City Times reported. He had recently been serving his sentence at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. (11/19)