Viewpoints: New Strain Tests Leadership; Lessons On Blaming Victims

The New York Times: The U.K.'s New Coronavirus Strain And How To Stop It 
A new and potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Britain and elsewhere. With the Trump administration continuing to do little to address the pandemic, state and local leaders have, again, been left to deal with this problem on their own. To that end, on Monday Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York persuaded major airlines to require people traveling from Britain to New York to first clear a coronavirus test. Mr. Cuomo’s willingness to act quickly and decisively here is commendable — refreshing in a year rife with failures to do exactly that — and the move seems reasonable in the face of federal inaction and many unknowns. (12/22)

The Washington Post: Half-Measures Won’t Protect Us From The New Covid-19 Variant
As bad as covid-19 has been, you can imagine it being worse. What if each sick person had infected an average of 15 others, as measles does, rather than two or three? What if it had killed more young people than old people, like the 1918 influenza? Or simply killed a much higher percentage of its victims — 10 percent, like SARS, or 34 percent, like MERS? If we ever run into such a bug, covid-19 may prove to have been our training exercise, preparing us for the next round just as SARS prepared the Pacific Rim to weather covid-19 with relative aplomb. Maybe next time, the rest of us will also be ready to take decisive action before the new pathogen can get a foothold. (Megan McArdle, 12/22)

Stat: Let's Put The Straw Man Of Pandemic Denial Out Of His Misery 
Listen to the chorus and you’d come to think that our biggest problem in responding to the pandemic comes from Americans who think Covid-19 is a hoax — the so-called Covid denialists. But the claim is a straw man: there is no epidemic of pandemic denial. Polls since March have shown that Americans overwhelmingly aren’t in denial: They believe the threat of Covid-19 is real, they are reasonably good at identifying medical misinformation, and they are largely complying with public health recommendations. (Jacob Hale Russell and Dennis Patterson, 12/23)

The Wall Street Journal: A Sincere Government Apology
'‘I failed, nobody else failed.” You don’t hear that often, or ever, from a government official. But that’s what Operation Warp Speed logistics chief Gen. Gustave Perna said Saturday by way of apologizing to states for shipping fewer Pfizer Covid vaccine doses than expected. Kudos to Gen. Perna—and all the more so since overall the vaccine rollout is a historic success. Close collaboration between government and private industry has made a vaccine available in record time and now is proving essential to distribution logistics. The military has been charged with coordinating distribution with states and private companies across a long supply chain including drug makers, airlines, freight companies, pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes. (12/22)

The Hill: Capitalism Will Take Over COVID-19 Testing If The Government Allows 
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the authorization of the first at-home COVID-19 test. While the test guarantees a result in 30 minutes, it is likely not available until the spring. This test will be available to those who can afford it — the latest example of disease-driven dividends. (Dallas Ducar, 12/22)

Boston Globe: Privacy, Equity, And Efficiency In Vaccine Distribution
COVID-19 has killed more than 319,000 Americans and hurt millions more economically. Now we are embarking on the single largest public health initiative ever undertaken in this country: the vaccination of more than 328 million people. The speed of the development of effective vaccines has been remarkable. The next challenge is to make sure that the vaccines get out safely and broadly. Large-scale adoption of vaccines will depend on everyone’s confidence and participation. However, the nation is at risk of losing many people’s trust by asking them to give up too much of their personal information to get a vaccination. Every American has the right to get vaccinated without any cost and without giving up their privacy. (Ramesh Raskar, 12/23)

The Hill: Congress's 5,593-Page Porky 'Relief' Bill Is Essence Of The Swamp 
The $900 billion stimulus package COVID-19 "relief" bill is exactly what one would expect from a dysfunctional, tone-deaf Congress: a pork-filled cluster filled with anything and everything that has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic or relief.  And in the swampiest thing ever, the bill, which is combined with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill, is 5,593 pages long, or 5,583 pages too many, was given to lawmakers six hours before a vote to review what exactly is in it (hint: more pork than a Tyson Foods plant). (Joe Concha, 12/22)

The New York Times: Shopping For A Nursing Home In A Pandemic
I never imagined my sister, who has long had trouble with her mobility, would move to a nursing home in a global pandemic. At 37, she is relatively young. But this fall, she developed a serious infection that worsened her health problems. So I found myself shopping for a facility that can provide her with the care she needs to recover. Like many Americans, I had long been under the optimistic delusion that I was years away from needing to consider nursing home care. I always thought, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.Well, I’m here. In a pandemic. (Stacy Torres, 12/23)

Los Angeles Times: Dreams Of Rescuing My Father, Who Has COVID And Is Captive
For much of the fall, I’ve had nightly dreams about rescuing my father. Here’s why: COVID-19 had spread like wildfire through his nursing home in Wisconsin. A dozen patients died from it; he contracted it too. He was locked in his tiny room, alone except when nurses delivered meals and fed him. A television kept him company, tuned to CNN until his blood pressure spiked during the election and the nurses switched it to the Hallmark Channel. His room’s only window looks out on a courtyard set in the middle of the large care facility. “Why did we go with a courtyard view?” I asked my mother over the phone.“ Because we thought it was better for your dad than looking out on a parking lot,” she said. She couldn’t have known it would come to this, that her only chance of seeing him would be through windows from the parking lot. (Carrie Friedman, 12/23)

The New York Times: Have Yourself A Lonely Little Christmas
Because of Covid-19, many people around the world are planning imperfect, turkey-less Christmases. According to one British survey, one in four adults in the United Kingdom worry that they may be spending the holidays alone this year. For many, this will be their first year celebrating without family. I don’t envy anyone’s first time — it can be excruciating. But with the right mind-set and a little creativity, a lonely Christmas can be about more than survival. It can be an opportunity to learn to thrive in your aloneness. Of course, this is a challenge many encountered this year — learning to nurture and entertain ourselves, to break the boredom and monotony. But Christmas is an extravagant holiday, full of dramatic acts of celebration — so why not take the chance to lavish them on ourselves? (Stephanie Foo, 12/23)