Viewpoints: What Should We Expect From Covid This Winter?; Minnesota Is Shining Example Of Paxlovid Access

Bloomberg: Covid Cases Rising: The Next Pandemic Winter Will Look Different
The question used to be: “Have you had Covid?” Now it’s: “How many times have you had it?” Both of us have had a Covid (re)infection in recent months. Many of us know people currently sick with Covid or recently recovered. In the week ending June 18, an estimated 1 in 35 people in the UK (some 1.7 million people) were infected with Covid, up 23% from the previous week. (Therese Raphael, 7/1)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota's Smart Step To Ease Access To COVID Drug 
A pioneering move to ease access to a powerful COVID-19 treatment will help protect Minnesotans against the severe illness this virus remains capable of causing. It should also serve as an example to other states of the ongoing need to innovate at this stage of the pandemic. (6/30)

Bloomberg: End Of Covid-Era Medicaid, ACA Subsidies Could Create A Health-Insurance Crisis 
Since early 2020, the US has been under an official public-health emergency. In July, after 30 months, it is scheduled to end. One unanticipated consequence is that millions of Americans could lose their health insurance. (6/30)

The Washington Post: Americans Need To Take Sick Days, Especially During Covid 
Americans have never been good at taking time off, but covid seems to have stolen our ability to do so. Two-plus years of a pandemic have made it so that we are all highly aware of the possibility of illness, but we have stopped respecting its demands. (Christine Emba, 6/30)

Bloomberg: There Is No ‘Back To Normal’ After Covid. A Q&A With Hitoshi Oshitani 
Japanese virologist Hitoshi Oshitani has an impressive record fighting pandemics. As one of the leading experts advising the government during Covid, he helped formulate a strategy that has kept deaths in the country with the world’s oldest population lower than any other developed nation, without resorting to lockdowns. Now, as the world clamors for Japan to reopen its borders, he’s urging caution. Perhaps it’s time to listen. (Gearoid Reidy, 6/30)

Also —

Stat: Improve CDC's Quarantine Stations To Prevent The Next Pandemic
In today’s interconnected world, people, packages, and animals can circumnavigate the globe in less than a day. This speed of connection makes it easier to visit far-flung family members, conduct overseas business, and seek a better or safer life — but it also allows for the rapid spread of diseases that threaten the health of every community. (Michele Barry and Lawrence O. Gostin, 7/1)

USA Today: I Grew Up Near A Coal Power Plant. This EPA Decision Will Worsen Public Health Injustices. 
Congress and the White House should accept that invitation and finally bring forward a comprehensive climate bill that will put teeth back in the EPA and its ability to protect all communities from the effects of power plant and industrial emissions – including both the immediate public health effects of emissions like mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and carbon dioxide and the long-term, systemic threats caused and fueled by these emissions, such as heat waves, fires, floods, storms and hurricanes. (Mustafa Santiago Ali, 6/30)

Miami Herald: Until Now, Crime Victims Found Little Help To Deal With Trauma
The need to provide healing to people harmed by violence has never been more urgent. Miami got a head start recently, when state Attorney General Ashley Moody and Thriving Mind South Florida — a Miami-based network of mental-health and substance-use healthcare providers — established the Miami-Dade Trauma Recovery Network. (Megan Hobson, 6/30)