Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surpass Seven Million As Midwest Outbreak Flares Up 
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States topped 7 million on Thursday - more than 20% of the world’s total - as Midwest states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections in September, according to a Reuters tally. The latest milestone comes just days after the nation surpassed over 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s highest death toll from the virus. Each day, over 700 people die in the United States from COVID-19. (Maan and Abraham, 9/24)

ABC News: CDC Forecasts Up To 226,000 US Deaths By Mid-October 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts that the U.S. will lose another 3,400 to 7,400 lives to COVID-19 by Oct. 17, bringing the nationwide death toll to between 214,000 and 226,000. The national death toll currently stands at 202,404, according to Johns Hopkins University. (9/24)

CNBC: Coronavirus Cases Grow In More Than Half Of U.S. States
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are beginning to rebound following weeks of reported declines and warnings from top U.S. health officials that the country could be vulnerable to fresh outbreaks coinciding with the forthcoming flu season. New cases were growing by 5% or more, based on a weekly average to smooth out the reporting, in 29 states and Washington, D.C., as of Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Wisconsin, Utah, Montana, Minnesota and Wyoming reported record high averages in daily new cases, according to the data.  (Higgins-Dunn, 9/24)

New York Daily News: Coronavirus Cases On The Upswing In 22 States - New York Daily News
In Kentucky, new cases have increased by 21% since Sept. 13 while its seven-day fatality rate has doubled from 13.4 to 26.4 per 1 million population in the same time frame. According to the memo, the number of tests being conducted statewide dropped by 45.2% during the week of Sept. 17 when compared to the week prior. Meanwhile, the seven-day case rate in Michigan spiked by 154.4% from Sept. 13 to Sept. 20. Local officials have attributed the uptick to the reopening of schools and colleges, citing the fact that 20-year-olds make up a bulk of the cases there. (Schladebeck, 9/24)

CNN: US Still In First Covid-19 Wave And Should Be Prepared For 'Challenge' Of Fall And Winter, Fauci Says 
The US remains in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic since cases never declined significantly to a good baseline, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert. The idea of a second wave is based on the pattern seen during the 1918 pandemic, when cases were seen in the spring and then cases "literally disappeared" before there was an "explosion" of cases in the fall, Fauci said. "Rather than say, 'A second wave,' why don't we say, 'Are we prepared for the challenge of the fall and the winter?'" Fauci said. (Maxouris, 9/25)

In related news from Dr. Fauci —

CNN: Dr. Fauci Cautions That A Vaccine Won't Eliminate The Need For Masks And Public Health Measures 
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that even an effective Covid-19 vaccine won't replace the need for other public health measures, such as wearing a mask, social distancing and washing hands. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the vaccine will not be 100% effective and taken by 100% of the population -- which means there still will be room for Covid-19 to spread.Fauci said he's being "practical" when he says, "I think if we can get 75 to 80% of the population vaccinated, I think that would be a really good accomplishment." (Maxouris, Levenson and Waldrop, 9/24)

Modern Healthcare: FDA Will Allow States To Import Drugs From Canada
The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled its final rule allowing states to import some prescription drugs from Canada. The rule allows states and, under some circumstances, pharmacists or wholesale distributors to import drugs from Canada if their plan wouldn't pose additional safety risks to the public and would save consumers a significant amount of money. The Food and Drug Administration would have to approve each plan. The rule goes into effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. (Brady, 9/24)

Kaiser Health News: Trump Approves Final Plan To Import Drugs From Canada ‘For A Fraction Of The Price’ 
The final plan clears the way for Florida and other states to implement a program bringing medications across the border despite the strong objections of drugmakers and the Canadian government. Florida, the biggest swing state in the presidential election, is one of six states to pass laws seeking federal approval to import drugs. Trump’s announcement came the same day counties in Florida began sending out vote-by-mail ballots. (Galewitz, 9/25)

In other health news from the CDC and HHS —

Stateline: Local Health Officials Worry CDC Has 'Lost Its Soul' 
Since the pandemic began, a string of messages from the Trump administration, many lacking scientific evidence, have confounded the work of state and local public health authorities who have the already challenging job of convincing people to abide by restrictions that many find not only onerous but also economically punishing. By early June, more than two dozen public health officials had resigned or been fired — some burned out, others vehemently attacked by elected officials, the public or both. Since then, the list of casualties has expanded to more than 50. (Vestal and Ollove, 9/25)

Politico: Member Of Health Secretary's Security Detail Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
A member of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar's security detail this week tested positive for coronavirus, according to two people with knowledge of the diagnosis. Azar, who is typically flanked by a security detail in his role as a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, had to undergo testing for Covid-19 as a result of the security agent's positive diagnosis, one person said. HHS has taken other steps to prevent the spread of the virus, such as additional cleaning in the headquarters. (Diamond, 9/24)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Slows Community Health Center 340B Discounts Rule
The Trump administration is slowing down its plan to hold back money from community health centers unless they change their patient billing practices under the 340B drug discount program. The administration was going to finalize the rule without going through a standard notice and comment period. But HHS on Thursday published it as a proposed rule, signaling the rule will go through the usual rulemaking process. Community health centers and other stakeholders will be able to comment on the proposed rule, and HHS will review the comments before it issues a final rule. (Brady, 9/24)

Also —

CNN: 'Benadryl Challenge': FDA Issues Warning As It Investigates Reports Of Teen Injuries And Deaths Linked To TikTok 
The US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Thursday over "serious problems with high doses" of the common over-the-counter allergy medication Benadryl. Too much diphenhydramine (Benadryl), can lead to severe health problems, including serious heart problems, seizures, coma and even death. The FDA cited reports of teenagers ending up in hospital emergency rooms or dying after participating in the so-called "Benadryl Challenge," on the social media platform TikTok. (Erdman, 9/25)

USA Today: Rapid, Cheap COVID Tests Are Ready But Regulatory Barriers Remain
Nearly two months after federal regulators unveiled rules for at-home coronavirus tests, no company has federal approval to sell these fast and cheap tests even though the technology is ready. Molecular PCR tests processed at medical labs remain the standard of accurate testing, but they are more expensive and results can take days to process. Antigen tests are less expensive, plentiful and deliver results in minutes. Three companies gained Food and Drug Administration authorization to sell antigen testing instruments to labs or clinics. A fourth company, Abbott Laboratories, won approval to market a $5 rapid, credit card-sized test administered by a health care professional. (Alltucker and Padilla, 9/24)

The Hill: Trump Signs Largely Symbolic Pre-Existing Conditions Order Amid Lawsuit 
President Trump on Thursday signed a largely symbolic executive order aimed at protecting people with pre-existing conditions as he takes fire for a lawsuit seeking to overturn ObamaCare, which enacted those protections. “The historic action I am taking today includes the first-ever executive order to affirm it is the official policy of the United States government to protect patients with pre-existing conditions,” Trump said during a speech in North Carolina, a key swing state. “So we're making that official.” (Sullivan, 9/24)

The Washington Post: After Years Of Promising His Own Health Care Plan, Trump Settles For Rebranding Rather Than Repealing Obamacare 
President Trump capped his fruitless four-year journey to abolish and replace the Affordable Care Act by signing an executive order Thursday that aims to enshrine the law’s most popular feature while pivoting away from a broader effort to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system. The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation. (Olorunnipa, 9/24)

AP: Trump Promotes Health Care 'Vision' But Gaps Remain
Trump spoke at an airport hangar in swing-state North Carolina to a crowd that included white-coated, mask-wearing health care workers. He stood on a podium in front of a blue background emblazoned with “America First Healthcare Plan.” His latest health care pitch won accolades from administration officials and political supporters but failed to impress others. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Colvin, 9/25)

NBC News: Trump Signs EOs On Health Care, But Does Little To Change Existing Legislation
"My plan expands affordable insurance options, reduces the cost of prescription drugs, ends surprise medical billing, increases fairness through price transparency, streamlines bureaucracy, accelerates innovation, strongly protects Medicare, and always protects patients with pre-existing conditions," Trump claimed, speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday afternoon. (Egan and Vakil, 9/24)

Modern Healthcare: Trump Issues Preexisting Condition, Surprise Billing Order With Little Enforcement
Trump has faced criticism from Democrats for advocating that the entire Affordable Care Act be struck down in court, including the law's protections for people with preexisting conditions. Trump timed the orders with a speech to outline his healthcare vision, which highlighted existing policy priorities and did not offer a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. A Supreme Court vacancy created by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has cast new urgency on the possibility that the ACA will be struck down, as the Supreme Court will hear a case on the issue a week after Election Day. (Cohrs, 9/24)

The Democrats respond —

The Hill: Pelosi Slams Trump Executive Order On Pre-Existing Conditions: It 'Isn't Worth The Paper It's Signed On' 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday took aim at an executive order from President Trump which he has claimed will ensure coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.“ President Trump’s bogus executive order on pre-existing conditions isn’t worth the paper it’s signed on. It is an insult to every family with someone with a pre-existing condition that President Trump thinks he can get away with this farce while he races a justice onto the Supreme Court to strike down the lifesaving protections enshrined into law by the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said in a statement. (Budryk, 9/24)

Buffalo News: Michael Caputo Receives 'Metastatic Head And Neck Cancer' Diagnosis 
Michael R. Caputo, the East Aurora political consultant at the center of controversy over the Trump administration's Covid-19 messaging, has been diagnosed with cancer. Assemblyman David J. DiPietro, R-East Aurora, acting as Caputo's spokesman, said Thursday that the Health and Human Services spokesman on leave from his assistant secretary post has "squamous cell carcinoma, a metastatic head and neck cancer which originated in his throat." (McCarthy, 9/24)

USA Today: Top HHS Spokesperson Michael Caputo Diagnosed With Cancer
HHS officials announced last week that Caputo, who had been in charge of the administration's coronavirus communications strategy, would be taking time off "to focus on his health and the well-being of his family." Caputo said last Wednesday that he planned to undergo "necessary screenings for a lymphatic issue discovered last week." He said he initially attributed his weight loss to a new exercise and diet regiment, before realizing something was wrong. (Behrmann, 9/24)

Politico: HHS Spokesperson Caputo Announces Cancer Diagnosis 
Caputo began a 60-day medical leave last week, following reports that he and his team sought to meddle in reports produced by the Centers for Disease Control and further pressure government scientists on their response to Covid-19. Caputo also recorded a Facebook video where he accused CDC scientists of seeking to undermine President Donald Trump and warned of armed insurrection. Caputo, a longtime Trump loyalist, was installed at HHS in April at the president's direction. (Diamond, 9/24)

CNN: HHS Spokesman Michael Caputo Diagnosed With Cancer
Caputo said in a statement last Wednesday that he planned to undergo "necessary screenings for a lymphatic issue discovered last week. "He said he initially thought he was losing weight for months from a new exercise and diet regimen. "Instead of taking the time to see my doctor, I failed to do so," Caputo said, adding that he neglected during the pandemic to get the health care he long needed. His temporary departure began a day after he apologized for a conspiracy theory-laden rant he made against career government scientists in which he accused them of "sedition" and working to undermine President Donald Trump. (Stracqualursi, 9/24)

The New York Times: Trump Again Sows Doubt About Election As G.O.P. Scrambles To Assure Voters 
President Trump declined for a second straight day to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election, repeating baseless assertions that the voting would be a “big scam,” even as leading Republicans scrambled to assure the public that their party would respect the Constitution. “We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday before leaving the White House for North Carolina. (Epstein, Cochrane and Thrush, 9/24)

The Washington Post: GOP Senators Reject Trump’s Assertion About Transfer Of Power — With No Direct Criticism Of The President 
Senate Republicans opposed President Trump’s assertion that he might reject a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election, trying to deflect his challenge to a foundation of American democracy as bravado that will not actually occur. Republicans, with almost no direct criticism of Trump’s statements, uniformly asserted that if Joe Biden wins the election, they will support a peaceful transition to the Democrat’s inauguration in January. (Kane and Bade, 9/24)

AP: Despite Trump Attacks, Both Parties Vow Orderly Election
Congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rejected Trump’s assertion that he’ll “see what happens” before agreeing to any election outcome. Many other lawmakers -- including from Trump’s own Republican Party -- vowed to make sure voters’ wishes are followed ahead of Inauguration Day in January. And some Democrats were taking action, including formally asking Trump’s defense secretary, homeland security adviser and attorney general to declare they’ll support the Nov. 3 results, whoever wins. (Mascaro, Madhani and Freking, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Trump Pledges To Send $200 Drug Discount Cards To Medicare Recipients Weeks Before Election; Funding Source Unclear 
President Trump unexpectedly announced Thursday that his administration will send $200 discount cards to 33 million older Americans to help them defray the cost of prescription drugs — appealing to a significant voting constituency weeks before the November elections. The president tucked the announcement into a speech that he portrayed as his health-care vision, without including specifics about how the government would pay for it or which of the nation’s Medicare recipients would receive it. White House officials said the price tag, about $7 billion, could be paid for through an experimental program to lower Medicare drug prices that remains merely a proposal. (Goldstein, Abutaleb and Dawsey, 9/24)

Business Insider: Trump Says Seniors Will Receive $200 Medicare Cards Without Going Into Details 
President Donald Trump said on Thursday many Americans enrolled in Medicare will receive a $200 card in the mail in several "weeks" so they can better afford prescription drugs — a brazenly political effort to gain stronger support among seniors before Election Day. "Nobody's seen this before. These cards are incredible," Trump said at an event aimed at touting the administration's health record. "The cards will be mailed out in coming weeks. I will always take care of our wonderful senior citizens." (Zeballos-Roig, 9/24)

Fox Business: Trump To Give Medicare Beneficiaries Checks To Pay For Medicines 
Trump said the cards will be mailed out in the coming weeks and indicated the money is available because of savings that will be reaped from other policies in his broader plan. It has recently been reported that Medicare beneficiaries may not be able to receive a potential coronavirus vaccine cost-free if it is approved for emergency use. The program does not cover drugs approved via emergency authorizations. The White House is said to be looking at ways to ensure coverage for a vaccine, which is intended to be free for all Americans. (De Lea, 9/24)

Stat: Trump Promises Seniors $200 Prescription Drug Gift Certificates
Trump’s promise comes less than six weeks before Election Day, and represents the latest step in his administration’s (and his campaign’s) efforts to amass health care talking points, even if their actions do little to save Americans money. The administration is getting its authority to ship the coupons from a Medicare demonstration program, a White House spokesman told STAT in a statement. The nearly $7 billion required to send the coupons, he said, would come from savings from Trump’s “most favored nations” drug pricing proposal. That regulation has also not yet been implemented — meaning the Trump administration is effectively pledging to spend $6.6 billion in savings that do not currently exist. The cards, he said, would be “actual discount cards for prescription drug copays.” (Facher and Florko, 9/24)

In other Medicare news —

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Premiums To Fall As Enrollment Grows
Monthly premiums for Medicare Advantage plans are expected to decrease again in 2021, as enrollment in the privatized version of traditional Medicare climbs.CMS said Thursday evening that average Advantage premiums will fall about 11% to an estimated $21 from $23.63 this year. Only about two-thirds of Advantage enrollees pay a premium for the coverage, however, and most members still pay a Medicare Part B premium, which was $144.60 this year. (Livingston, 9/24)

Tampa Bay Times: Are Medicare Advantage Plans Worth The Risk?
About 1 in 3 people 65 and older in the United States enroll in Medicare Advantage, the private insurance alternative to traditional Medicare. It’s not hard to see why: Medicare Advantage plans often cover stuff that Medicare doesn’t, and most people don’t pay extra for it. But Medicare Advantage can be more expensive if you get sick because copays and other costs can be higher, says Katy Votava, president of Goodcare.com, a health care consultant for financial advisors and consumers. (Weston, 9/22)

Roll Call: Why Obamacare Might Survive The Supreme Court 
The Supreme Court might not be as ready to wipe out the full 2010 health care law as its ideological balance would suggest, even if a new conservative justice fills the seat of the reliably liberal late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Trump administration and a coalition of Republican-led states have asked the Supreme Court to strike down President Barack Obama’s signature law that expanded insurance coverage to more than 20 million people, including popular provisions such as required coverage of preexisting medical conditions. (Ruger, 9/24)

NBC News: Senate Democrats Promise 'Major Focus' On Obamacare In Supreme Court Fight
With President Donald Trump on the verge of announcing a Supreme Court nominee, Democrats are coalescing around a focus on health care — and the prospect that millions could lose it during a pandemic — ahead of an ugly confirmation battle, key senators and aides said. The strategy aims for the sweet spot: It's a political winner for Joe Biden and Democratic candidates among liberals and swing voters across the country. And it has urgency, with the law headed back to the Supreme Court one week after Election Day as the country's coronavirus death toll has topped 200,000. (Kapur and Przybyla, 9/24)

Politico: Trump Walks Abortion Tightrope On SCOTUS Pick
In 2016, Trump vowed to appoint Supreme Court justices who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade. Now the White House is insisting there is no such abortion litmus test for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement. The change in tone reflects the tightrope Trump is currently walking on abortion with conservatives — and especially religious conservatives — ahead of the November election. Trump needs to both nod to concerns of powerful religious groups that have spent years trying to overturn Roe, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that cemented legal abortion, while not turning off the sizable faction of more moderate religious voters and Republicans who support legal abortion. (McGraw and Cook, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Pelosi Abruptly Shifts Course, Restarts Relief Push Amid Signs Economy Is Straining
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abruptly shifted course Thursday and moved to assemble a new coronavirus relief bill to form the basis for renewed talks with the White House, amid mounting pressure from moderates in her caucus and increasingly alarming economic news. The new legislation would be significantly narrower in scope than the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act the House passed in May. Pelosi (D-Calif.) has more recently focused on an additional $2.2 trillion in aid — a figure Republicans say is still too high. But in a meeting with House Democratic leaders Thursday she said the new bill would be around $2.4 trillion, because of urgent needs arising from restaurants and airlines. Details were provided by a person familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was private. (Werner and Bade, 9/24)

Roll Call: House Democrats Drafting $2.4 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill 
The House could vote on that as-yet-unreleased $2.4 trillion bill as soon as next week if GOP cooperation doesn't materialize, according to Democratic lawmakers. But Democrats say they're hoping for renewed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and a compromise agreement that can actually become law. Democrats will need to trim about $1 trillion from the legislation the House passed in May that previously served as their starting point in the talks. That's a hefty task for party leaders seeking to appease the rank-and-file, given the ongoing economic downturn, record unemployment and the likely upcoming surge in hospitalizations during cold and flu season. (McPherson and Shutt, 9/24)

Politico: Pelosi Preps New Coronavirus Relief Plan Amid Stalled Talks
"We are still striving for an agreement," Pelosi told her leadership team, according to a source familiar with the meeting. “If necessary, we can formalize the request by voting on it on the House floor.” The move comes after Pelosi refused, for weeks, to consider passing another relief bill amid a lengthy standoff with Republicans and rising demands from centrist Democrats that the House take more action before the election. Putting the bill on the floor would also be a win for Pelosi’s deputy, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has been pushing the idea for weeks. (Caygle, Bresnahan and Ferris, 9/24)

The New York Times: Stalled Talks Over Covid-19 Stimulus In The U.S. Show Signs Of Life 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had agreed to resume talks on a new economic relief package. “I’ve probably spoken to Speaker Pelosi 15 or 20 times in the last few days on the C.R.,” said Mr. Mnuchin, referring to a continuing resolution to extend government funding. “And we’ve agreed to continue to have discussions about the CARES Act.” (9/24)

The Hill: Vulnerable Democrats Tell Pelosi COVID-19 Compromise 'Essential' 
A group of vulnerable House Democrats on Thursday began circulating a new letter calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to hold a vote on a bipartisan coronavirus relief package before Election Day. The moderates, led Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chairman Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and freshman Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), said they did not support a GOP resolution to force a vote on emergency aid for small businesses — a tactic that had gained some momentum in recent days from centrist Democrats anxious about heading home without money for constituents struggling with the pandemic. (Wong, 9/24)

In related economic news —

AP: Fraud, Backlogs Disrupt US Unemployment Benefit Payments
Many American workers applying for unemployment benefits after being thrown out of a job by the coronavirus face a new complication: States’ efforts to prevent fraud have delayed or disrupted their payments. California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and stop phony claims. Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates improperly applied for aid. (Rugaber and Dale, 9/24)

The Washington Post: More PPP Loan Questions After Companies Paid Dividends, Bought Their Own Stock 
Some publicly traded companies that received taxpayer-backed small business loans to pay their employees during the early weeks of the pandemic paid out millions to Wall Street investors in dividends and share buybacks, publicly available financial disclosures reviewed by The Washington Post show. The findings reinforce long-standing concerns that the Paycheck Protection Program, an emergency stimulus fund offering low-interest, forgivable loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, was accessed by financially healthy companies that could have gone without a bailout. (Gregg, 9/24)

Roll Call: House Report: Medical Neglect, Falsified Records Harmed Detained Immigrants
Medical mismanagement and falsified records may have contributed to the deaths of immigrants held at for-profit detention centers that are run under contract with the federal government, according to a report released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The report, based on a year-long investigation by Democratic committee staffers, recounts numerous examples of medical misdiagnoses, incomplete or incorrect treatment for chronic illnesses and “grossly negligent” responses to infectious diseases including hepatitis, tuberculosis, meningitis and HIV. It also notes severe delays in emergency response to strokes and heart attacks, negligent suicide watches and deficiencies in psychiatric care that led one detainee to self-mutilate. (Misra, 9/24)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Tillis Appears To Reinforce Question About COVID-19 Death Toll 
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Thursday appeared to reinforce doubts about the total number of Americans who have died from COVID-19 after a woman called into a virtual town hall saying many of the fatalities include deaths "from things like heart attacks and slip and falls." His comments come as others in the GOP, including President Trump, Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Rep. Roger Marshall (Kan.), have downplayed the extent of the coronavirus pandemic by pointing to a conspiracy theory that the number of deaths is much lower. (Weixel, 9/24)

The Hill: Roy Moore Sues Alabama Over COVID-19 Restrictions 
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and a conservative legal advocacy group he founded have sued Gov. Kay Ivey (R) over restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law accused Ivey and State Health Officer Scott Harris of infringing on citizens’ rights with requirements that masks be worn in public. (Budryk, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Internal USPS Documents Link Changes Behind Mail Slowdowns To Top Executives 
A senior executive at the U.S. Postal Service delivered a PowerPoint presentation in July that pressed officials across the organization to make the operational changes that led to mail backups across the country, seemingly counter to months of official statements about the origin of the plans, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post. David E. Williams, the agency’s chief of logistics and processing operations, listed the elimination of late and extra mail trips by postal workers as a primary agency goal during the July 10 teleconference. He also told the group that he wanted daily counts on such trips, which had become common practice to ensure the timely delivery of mail. Several top-tier executives — including Robert Cintron, vice president of logistics; Angela Curtis, vice president of retail and post office operations; and vice presidents from the agency’s seven geographic areas — sat in. (Bogage, 9/24)

In related news about voting during the pandemic —

The Washington Post: Justice Dept. Statement On Mail-In Ballot Investigation Appalls Election Law Experts 
The Justice Department alarmed voting-law experts Thursday by announcing an investigation into nine discarded ballots found in northeastern Pennsylvania, a case immediately seized upon by the Trump campaign as evidence of a dark Democratic conspiracy to tamper with the presidential election. President Trump also appeared to cite the case, telling reporters at the White House that ballots had been found “in a wastepaper basket in some location. . . . We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be.” (Barrett, 9/24)

The Washington Post: FBI Director Christopher Wray: Widespread Mail Ballot Interference Would Be A 'Major Challenge' For Foreign Agents 
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told senators Thursday that the United States has not experienced large-scale voter fraud by mail or other means, and said it would be a “major challenge” for a foreign country to attempt such a thing, despite repeated claims made by President Trump in the run-up to November’s election. “Americans must have confidence in our voting system and our election infrastructure,” Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections.” (Barrett, 9/24)

ProPublica: Foreign Hackers Cripple Texas County’s Email System, Raising Election Security Concerns 
Last week, voters and election administrators who emailed Leanne Jackson, the clerk of rural Hamilton County in central Texas, received bureaucratic-looking replies. “Re: official precinct results,” one subject line read. The text supplied passwords for an attached file. But Jackson didn’t send the messages. Instead, they came from Sri Lankan and Congolese email addresses, and they cleverly hid malicious software inside a Microsoft Word attachment. By the time Jackson learned about the forgery, it was too late. Hackers continued to fire off look-alike replies. Jackson’s three-person office, already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, ground to a near standstill. (Gillum, Huseman, Kao and Willis, 9/24)

Stateline: First Came The Floods. Then Came The Polling Place Changes.
That has new relevance this year amid flooding, wildfires and a pandemic that disproportionately affects communities of color, while also forcing voters to contend with vast changes to the ways and places they vote. Just as Baton Rouge voters struggled to stay informed of polling place changes during the 2016 election, many now worry about their access to the ballot during the COVID-19 pandemic because of concern over the safety of in-person voting and the threat of slowed mail for absentee voting. (Vasilogambros, Levine and Rebala, 9/24)

AP: Colorado Secretary Of State Defends Mail-In Voting
Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold criticized President Donald Trump for misleading voters about one of the safest voting systems in the United States on Thursday. “There is a lot of misinformation about this election. Unfortunately a lot of it comes form the President of United States,” Griswold said at a a virtual town hall Thursday, held to combat the malicious spread of false information and discuss the state’s mail-in voting and ballot tracking system. (Nieberg, 9/24)

The New York Times: Battles Over Voting Rules Fuel Concern About Postelection Fights 
With less than six weeks until Election Day, laws governing how Americans vote remain in flux in many battleground states, with the two parties locked in an intensive fight over the rules as President Trump continues to suggest he will challenge any outcome unfavorable to him. The combination of the pandemic, doubts about the capacity of the Postal Service to handle a flood of mail ballots and an aggressive push by Democrats to expand access to voting rights and counter Republican efforts to limit them has fueled litigation and legislative battles across the country that have not been resolved even as early voting has gotten underway. (Corasaniti and Vogel, 9/24)

Also —

Medical News Today: How To Stay Safe While Voting During A Pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have drawn up an extensive guide informing polling stations and voters how to adhere to the best health and safety practices during this year’s presidential elections. While many of the prevention strategies — such as frequently cleaning polling station surfaces — are in the hands of election officials and poll workers, there is a lot that voters themselves can do to stay safe. (Cohut, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Virginia Health Officials Warn Planned Trump Rally Poses Health Risk, Violates Coronavirus Crowd Limits 
State and local health officials are raising alarms about President Trump's plans for a "gargantuan" rally at a Virginia airport Friday night, saying it could pose a "severe public health threat" if it violates the state's 250-person limit on public gatherings. In a letter to the company that operates the hangar at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport where the rally is planned, the director of the local health district asked that the crowd be limited to 250. (Vozzella, 9/24)

AP: Health Officials Seek To Block Trump Rally In Virginia
A Virginia health official is warning of a “severe public health threat” if a planned campaign rally for President Donald Trump goes forward Friday evening. Dr. Natasha Dwamena, a Department of Public Health district director, said in a letter Thursday that the 4,000 people expected to attend Trump’s rally at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport would be breaking Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order generally banning gatherings of more than 250 people. She said the rally should be canceled, rescheduled or scaled down to comply with the governor’s order. (Suderman, 9/24)

In other election news —

CNBC: Biden's Child Tax-Credit Plan Points To Progressive Agenda
Joe Biden’s anti-poverty plan to expand the child tax credit suggests that his potential presidency would likely mean a White House more focused on progressive economic policies than those seen during the Obama and Clinton years. Aimed at reducing childhood poverty rates, Biden’s proposed expansion would be dramatic and open the allowance to families who would otherwise fail to qualify. It would increase a family’s annual, per-child credit to $3,000 from $2,000 and would be awarded in installments each month instead of the current springtime lump sum. Children under age 6 would be credited $3,600. (Franck, 9/24)

Chicago Sun-Times: Nurses, University Of Illinois Hospital Reach Contract Agreement After Strike 
Union nurses and the University of Illinois Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract that includes smaller patient loads. The agreement comes after a weeklong strike by 800 nurses that ended Saturday morning when they went back to work without a new contract. Nurses will vote on the agreement Monday. The contract includes a promise to hire 160 more nurses to cut down on patient loads, promises of more protective gear, hazard pay for working during the coronavirus pandemic and other guarantees, the Illinois Nurses Association said in a statement. (Chase, 9/24)

Becker's Hospital Review: California Adds Rules To 'No Pharmacist Left Alone' Law
California's board of pharmacy approved the addition of new regulations to its "No Pharmacist Left Alone Law," which requires pharmacies to ensure pharmacists aren't the only person working in a pharmacy, according to JD Supra, a company that provides legal information. The state originally passed the law in 2018 to address concerns of inadequate staffing in community pharmacies. Inadequate staffing impairs pharmacists' judgment and ability to do their jobs, and endangers public health because it leaves pharmacists unable to do their job safely, according to JD Supra. (Anderson, 9/24)

Stat: Pharmacies Are Bracing For A Surge In Flu Shot Demand Amid Pandemic
With flu season fast approaching, and the Covid-19 pandemic raging on, hospitals and pharmacies across the country are stockpiling far more flu vaccines than normal, anticipating a surge in demand. The drug store chain Rite Aid has purchased 40% more influenza vaccines than other years to meet an expected uptick in demand. Walgreens has also increased its flu vaccine stockpile this year, anticipating a 30% to 50% jump in customers who will want flu shots, the company’s chief medical officer told STAT. (Runwal, 9/25)

Sacramento Bee: Shasta County CA Rescinds Flu Vaccine Rule On Health Workers
A new policy requiring health care workers in a Northern California county to receive a flu vaccine has been canceled after an outcry. A 2013 Shasta County policy requiring health workers to either be vaccinated or wear a face mask at work remains in effect, health officials say in a news release. (Sweeney, 9/24)

In other news —

Becker's Hospital Review: Mayo Clinic Health System President To Retire
Mayo Clinic Health System President Bobbie Gostout, MD, is retiring. Dr. Gostout will retire at the end of the year after five years as president, according to the system, which consists of clinics, hospitals and other facilities in  Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Dr. Gostout joined Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's department of obstetrics and gynecology 24 years ago. She was the first woman to participate in Mayo's gynecology oncology fellowship and join the division of gynecology surgery in Rochester, hospital officials said. (Gooch, 9/24)

Becker's Hospital Review: Albertsons Names Former Amazon Exec As New Head Of Pharmacy
Former Amazon executive Omer Gajil was named senior vice president of pharmacy and health at Albertsons, which operates 1,726 pharmacies in the U.S., Supermarket News reported. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, is one of the nation's largest retail pharmacy operations and the second-largest U.S. supermarket operator.  (Anderson, 9/24)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Power Play Behind Removal Of Georgia Nursing Board Director
When Jim Cleghorn was fired as executive director of the state Board of Nursing this month, the Secretary of State’s office first said the 10-year veteran director left while an ethics investigation was underway. ...Now, an AJC examination points to another possible reason for Cleghorn’s removal: the Secretary of State’s desire to maintain control of the state’s nurses and the fees the Board of Nursing can generate. (Teegardin, 9/24)

Stat: Former Aceto Controller Is Charged With Insider Trading
File this under ‘What was he thinking?’ After spending nearly 17 years as controller at Aceto, a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, Ed Kelly retired in March 2018 and, one month later, was hired as a consultant to help the company close its books for the recently ended fiscal quarter. But then he came across information that he apparently could not ignore — and committed insider trading by acting on it, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Silverman, 9/24)

Boston Globe: Brigham And Women’s Hospital Scrambles To Contain Cluster Of COVID-19 Cases 
Brigham and Women’s Hospital revealed Thursday that it is working to contain a cluster of COVID-19 cases in two of its medical-surgical units, an unusual outbreak that apparently occurred as “battle-weary” staffers let their guard down. Hospital officials believe the outbreak was triggered by either a patient or an employee who interacted last week. The employee came to work while “presymptomatic” — infected but not yet showing symptoms. The employee tested positive on Sunday and the patient on Monday. (Freyer, 9/24)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Springfield Hospitals Nearing Capacity Due To COVID-19 Surge
Hospitals in Missouri’s third-largest city are approaching capacity due to a surge in coronavirus cases. Officials at Springfield’s two major hospital systems, CoxHealth and Mercy, told the city council on Tuesday that they were running out of staff and capacity, the Springfield News-Leader reported. Cox Medical Center South was housing a record 82 patients Monday, including around 35 in the hospital’s special unit for COVID-19, CEO Steve Edwards said Wednesday, noting that more patients are dying from the virus.“We’ve had more deaths in the past month than we’ve had the whole year,” Edwards said. (9/24)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ‘Push Comes To Shove Moment’ For Rural Hospitals In Georgia
The pandemic is pushing many over the edge, and industry leaders are predicting widespread closures that will be devastating to their communities. ...Georgia in recent years has been among states with the largest number of hospital closures, with seven shutting down from 2010 to 2019. Two more, at opposite ends of the state, have announced they will cease operations in October, with pressures from the pandemic just the last straw in their financial burdens. (Berard, 9/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Contra Costa Orders Health Facilities To Expand COVID-19 Testing
In an effort to expand available COVID-19 testing, Contra Costa County health officials are ordering private healthcare facilities to quickly provide tests to essential workers and others at risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Under the health order, which goes into effect Oct. 8, healthcare providers will have to test people in a “timely” fashion if they are essential workers, report having been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or are part of a contact tracing investigation designated by the county health department. (Sciacca, 9/24)

Reuters: Exclusive: AstraZeneca Gets Partial Immunity In Low-Cost EU Vaccine Deal 
European governments will pay claims above an agreed limit against AstraZeneca over side-effects from its potential COVID-19 vaccine, under different terms to a deal struck with Sanofi, an EU official told Reuters. The deals reflect different strategies by two of the world’s top drugmakers for protecting themselves as a debate rages about liabilities for vaccines aimed at ending the pandemic. AstraZeneca has secured the European Union’s backing in a confidential agreement which reflects the lower price sought by the British drugmaker, the official said. (Guarascio, 9/25)

CNBC: AstraZeneca Gets Partial Immunity In Low-Cost EU Vaccine Deal
European governments will pay claims above an agreed limit against AstraZeneca over side-effects from its potential COVID-19 vaccine, under different terms to a deal struck with Sanofi, an EU official toldReuters. The deals reflect different strategies by two of the world’s top drugmakers for protecting themselves as a debate rages about liabilities for vaccines aimed at ending the pandemic. AstraZeneca has secured the European Union’s backing in a confidential agreement which reflects the lower price sought by the British drugmaker, the official said. “If a company asks for a higher price we don’t give the same conditions,” said the official, who was involved in the talks but declined to be identified as the contracts are confidential. (9/25)

In other vaccine news —

The New York Times: Novavax Enters Final Stage Of Coronavirus Vaccine Trials 
The vaccine maker Novavax said Thursday that it would begin the final stages of testing its coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom and that another large trial was scheduled to begin next month in the United States. It is the fifth late-stage trial from a company supported by Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to speed a coronavirus vaccine to market, and one of 11 worldwide to reach this pivotal stage. Novavax, a Maryland company that has never brought a vaccine to market, reached a $1.6 billion deal with the federal government in July to develop and manufacture its experimental vaccine, which has shown robust results in early clinical trials. (Thomas and Zimmer, 9/24)

CNBC: Sanofi Isn’t Cutting Corners In Coronavirus Vaccine Development Despite Acceleration, CEO Says
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson told CNBC on Thursday that the pharmaceutical company is not cutting any corners in its pursuit of developing a coronavirus vaccine. “We have been making vaccines for over 100 years. We haven’t changed anything in the way we do things, we’ve just accelerated,” Hudson said in an interview with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money.” “We need to be there. We need to be safe and effective.” (Stankiewicz, 9/24)

Stat: In Groups Asked To Join Covid-19 Vaccine Trials, Concerns About Inequities Run Deep
While presenting the Covid-19 vaccine study she’s running, Susan Little was asked for a promise she didn’t have the power to make. A respected local politician refused to support the trials unless Little could ensure that the people of color being prioritized as volunteers would also be prioritized once an effective vaccine was approved. “They wanted some sort of guarantee that the communities we are asking to participate now are not left behind,” said Little, the infectious disease doctor leading the AstraZeneca vaccine trial at University of California, San Diego. (Boodman, 9/25)

The Hill: NY Health Officials To Review Any Vaccine Approved By Trump 
New York health officials will review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Trump administration, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday, citing his distrust of the federal government. “Frankly, I’m not going to trust the federal government’s opinion, and I wouldn’t recommend to New Yorkers based on the federal government’s opinion,” Cuomo said at a press conference. (Hellmann, 9/24)

The Hill: Leaders Of Science Academies Sound Alarm Over Political Interference 
Two of the most prominent science advisory groups on Thursday issued a warning about the consequences of political interference in science. The leaders of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in a joint statement said the reports about political meddling in science and public health are "alarming." (Weixel, 9/24)

Politico: How Trump Is Undermining His Own Vaccine Race 
Almost since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Trump has promised a vaccine is just around the corner, repeatedly contradicting his own experts on the timeline and the standards necessary for approval. The goal, he’s made clear, is a viable vaccine just before Election Day – the centerpiece of his own claims that the administration deserves an “A-plus” for its response to Covid-19.But that single-minded pursuit has left a string of damaging episodes in its wake and hopelessly intertwined the delicate drug development process with Trump’s political aims, according to interviews with a dozen public health experts both inside and outside the administration. (Cancryn, 9/24)

In global vaccine news —

AP: Chinese Company Says Coronavirus Vaccine Ready By Early 2021
A Chinese pharmaceutical company said Thursday the coronavirus vaccine it is developing should be ready by early 2021 for distribution worldwide, including the United States. Yin Weidong, the CEO of SinoVac, vowed to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell CoronaVac in the United States if it passes its third and final round of testing in humans. Yin said he personally has been given the experimental vaccine. (McNeil, 9/25)

The Hill: FBI Director Warns That Chinese Hackers Are Still Targeting US COVID-19 Research
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday said Chinese hackers are continuing to target U.S. companies involved in COVID-19 research and described China as the nation’s “greatest counterintelligence threat.” “We are seeing very aggressive activity by the Chinese, and in some cases by others, to target our COVID-related research, whether it’s vaccines, treatments, testing technology, etc.,” Wray testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a hearing on threats to the U.S. (Miller, 9/24)

: UK May Take Part In COVID-19 Vaccine 'Challenge Studies'
The British government says it may take part in a study that tries to deliberately infect volunteers who have been given an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus in an effort to more quickly determine if the vaccine works. The approach, called a challenge study, is risky but proponents think it may produce results faster than typical studies, which wait to see if volunteers who have been given an experimental treatment or a dummy version get sick. (Kirka, 9/24)

Politico: Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Warns Of Pressure On Health Regulators 
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is warning of the “very dangerous consequences” of political pressure on health regulators around the world.Freeland made the remarks Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump suggested the White House might reject an FDA proposal for stronger standards on the emergency use of any eventual Covid-19 vaccines. “We are seeing interference and pressure on regulators around the world, and I think we can all see the very dangerous consequences of that kind of an approach,” Freeland told reporters in Ottawa, without naming any other countries. “That will not be the approach our government takes.” (Blatchford, 9/24)

Reuters: Brazil To Join COVAX Vaccine Facility, As Chile, Israel, UAE Also Sign Up
Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death toll, has decided to join the global COVID-19 vaccine partnership known as COVAX and will earmark 2.5 billion reais ($454 million) for securing vaccines through it, President Jair Bolsonaro’s office said. Brazil plans to use the COVAX facility, which gives access to several vaccine candidates in development globally, to buy enough supplies to immunize 10% of its population by the end of 2021, the office said in a statement on Thursday. That should cover Brazil’s “priority populations,” it said. (9/25)

The New York Times: Losing Your Hair Can Be Another Consequence Of The Pandemic
Annrene Rowe was getting ready to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary this summer when she noticed a bald spot on her scalp. In the following days, her thick shoulder-length hair started falling out in clumps, bunching up in the shower drain. “I was crying hysterically,” said Mrs. Rowe, 67, of Anna Maria, Fla. (Belluck, 9/24)

CIDRAP: Inflammation Linked To Higher Death Risk, Could Shed Light On COVID In Men
A large study of German patients presented online at this week's European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Conference on Coronavirus Disease found that men have a 62% higher risk of death from COVID-19, possibly due to higher levels of inflammation. The retrospective study followed 3,129 hospitalized adults from March through July in the LEOSS registry, an open-access database of clinical COVID-19 information established by the German Society of Infectious Diseases (DGI). Patient demographics and comorbidities were evaluated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, which reflects the number of pre-existing conditions. (9/24)

Houston Chronicle: How Analyzing Sewage Helped Houston Catch A COVID-19 Hot Spot 
Researchers with the city, Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine were able to sniff out a potential second outbreak of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter in downtown Houston earlier this year by looking down its drains instead of in people's noses, health officials said Thursday. (McGuinness, 9/24)

ABC News: COVID-19 Canines: How Dogs May Help Sniff Out The Coronavirus In Humans 
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but trainers in Finland claim 8-year-old greyhound mix Kössi learned to identify a scent associated with COVID-19 in just seven minutes. Helsinki Airport welcomed Kössi and nine other "coronavirus-sniffing dogs" as part of a pilot program this week meant to "speed up the process of identifying those infected with COVID-19." (Kaji and Maile, 9/24)

Politico: Here’s How The Pandemic Finally Ends
The microscopic bundles of RNA, wrapped in spiky proteins, latch on to human cells, hijack them, use them as factories to replicate, and then leave them for dead. It’s a biological blitzkrieg—an invasion so swift and unexpected that the germs are free to jump from host to host with little interference. Fast forward to the future. Now, when the prickly enemies invade the lungs, they slip past the human cells, unable to take hold. They’re marked for destruction, soon to be surrounded and eliminated. Though some escape through the airways, they confront the same defenses in their next target—if, that is, they can get anywhere near the human cells. There are so few people left to infect that the germs have nowhere to replicate, nowhere to survive. (Ralph, 9/25)

In other science and research news —

NPR: Inside A Push To Include More African Americans In Brain Research 
Mental illness can run in families. And Dr. Kafui Dzirasa grew up in one of these families. His close relatives include people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. As a medical student, he learned about the ones who'd been committed to psychiatric hospitals or who "went missing" and were discovered in alleyways. Dzirasa decided to dedicate his career to "figuring out how to make science relevant to ultimately help my own family. "He became a psychiatrist and researcher at Duke University and began to study the links between genes and brain disorders. Then Dzirasa realized something: "I was studying genes that were specifically related to illness in folks of European ancestry." (Hamilton, 9/24)

WBUR: Neuroscience Has A Whiteness Problem. This Research Project Aims To Fix It
The group is the African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative. It's a partnership between community leaders and the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, an independent, nonprofit research organization on the medical campus of Johns Hopkins University. The Lieber Institute's goals include reducing health care disparities and ensuring that brain research includes individuals from all populations. (Hamilton, 9/24)

Stat: Medical AI Systems Are Often Built With Data From Just Three States
Late last year, Stanford University researcher Amit Kaushal and a collaborator noticed something striking while sifting through the scientific literature on artificial intelligence systems designed to make a diagnosis by analyzing medical images. “It became apparent that all the datasets [being used to train those algorithms] just seemed to be coming from the same sorts of places: the Stanfords and UCSFs and Mass Generals,” Kaushal said. (Robbins, 9/25)

Stat: A Sadly Familiar Disappointment In Alzheimer’s Research 
After years of failed attempts to treat Alzheimer’s disease by targeting a toxic brain plaque called amlyoid, a critical mass of scientists turned their attention to a seemingly more promising target: a tangled cranial protein called tau. But the failure of a closely watched tau treatment suggests history may repeat itself for neurology’s next-best idea. (Garde, 9/24)

The New York Times: Nothing Eats Viruses, Right? Meet Some Hungry Protists 
On the dinner plate that is planet Earth, there exists a veritable buffet of viruses — an amount of biomass that is the equivalent of about 25 billion human beings. So perhaps it’s a bit baffling that scientists have yet to pinpoint a species that deliberately eats viruses for energy. (Wu, 9/24)

The Washington Post: United To Be First U.S. Airline To Offer Covid-19 Tests For Passengers 
In what the aviation industry hopes will be a new strategy for getting people flying again, United Airlines will become the first U.S. carrier to offer customers covid-19 tests. Starting Oct. 15, United customers traveling between San Francisco and Hawaii will have the option of taking a covid-19 test before they board their flight. A negative result would allow them to skip the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers headed to the state. (Aratani, 9/24)

The Hill: Google Searches Related To Anxiety, Panic Attacks Spike During Pandemic 
A new study found that people are increasingly turning to Google for knowledge about ways to relieve anxiety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The study from researchers at Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans and Central Michigan University found a spike in Google search trends related to anxiety and techniques used to manage its symptoms, such as yoga. Researchers say the increased anxiousness is due to the pandemic. (Bowden, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Diners Angry About Masks And Other Coronavirus Rules Prompt Training For Restaurant Workers 
Six-plus months into the pandemic that has upended the way many businesses operate, videos of irate customers refusing to wear masks or maintain social distance are by now no novelty. Restaurant workers have frequently borne the brunt of people objecting to policies put in place by their establishments or by local and state orders, with conflicts big and small — caught on viral video or mostly unnoticed — playing out in dining rooms around the country. (Heil, 9/22)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Infections Spike As Seasonal Farmworkers Are Blocked From Testing 
In Yakima County, Wash., some fruit orchard owners declined on-site testing of workers by health departments at the height of harvest season even as coronavirus infections spiked. In Monterey, Calif., workers at some farms claimed foremen asked them to hide positive diagnoses from other crew members. And in Collier County, Fla., health officials did not begin widespread testing of farmworkers until the end of harvest, at which point the workers had already migrated northward. At the height of harvest season, growers supplying some of America’s biggest agricultural companies and grocery store chains flouted public health guidelines to limit testing and obscure coronavirus outbreaks, according to thousands of pages of state and local records reviewed by The Washington Post. (Reiley and Reinhard, 9/24)

In other public health news —

Boston Globe: State Regulators Issue New Restrictions On ‘Forever Chemicals’ 
After years of research showing the dangers of so-called forever chemicals, state regulators Thursday joined a growing number of their counterparts in other states in issuing significant new limits on the human-made compounds in drinking water, a move hailed by environmental advocates. The long-awaited rules come as per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, known as PFAS, have been found in an increasing number of communities across the state. The chemicals have been linked to cancer, low infant birth weights, and a range of diseases. (Abel, 9/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Hidden Cost’ Of Wildfire Smoke: Stanford Researchers Estimate Up To 3,000 Indirect Deaths
More than two dozen people have died as a direct result of California’s devastating wildfires so far this year. But the actual number of lives lost because of them may have been much higher. Researchers at Stanford University estimate that the pollution from an unprecedented stretch of heavy wildfire smoke is likely to have led to at least 1,200, and up to 3,000, deaths in California between Aug 1. and Sept. 10 that otherwise would not have occurred. (Vainshtein, 9/24)

Sacramento Bee: Black Mental Health Strained By Racism, COVID-19 In 2020 
Ongoing police violence against Black men and women has inflamed racial tensions. A global pandemic has killed Black people in disproportionately high numbers. And these extraordinary traumas come to a community whose mental and physical health already suffer because of anti-Black sentiment. The suffocation of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis ignited a summer of national reckoning on race. Sacramento activist Jamilia Land summed up the anguish: “How do you heal a wound that never closes?” (Smith and Anderson, 9/24)

GMA: My Eating Disorder Thrived During The Pandemic: COVID-19 Quarantine Sparks Concern Of Eating Disorder Crisis 
After struggling for years with disordered eating and more recently a severe eating disorder, Kwolanne Dina Felix, a college junior in New York City, realized early this year that the eating disorder had taken over her life and she was ready to seek recovery. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States and, like so many others with eating disorders, Felix saw her condition spiral out of control. (Kindelan, 9/25)

Kaiser Health News: Heartbreaking Bills, Lawsuit And Bankruptcy — Even With Insurance  
Matthew Fentress was just 25 when he passed out while stuffing cannolis as a cook for a senior living community six years ago. Doctors diagnosed him with viral cardiomyopathy, heart disease that developed after a bout of the flu. Three years later, the Kentucky man’s condition had worsened, and doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and inserted a pacemaker and defibrillator. Despite having insurance, he couldn’t pay what he owed the hospital. So Baptist Health Louisville sued him and he wound up declaring bankruptcy in his 20s. (Ungar, 9/25)

In obituaries —

The New York Times: Henry Van Ameringen, Friend Of L.G.B.T.Q. Causes, Dies At 89 
Henry van Ameringen, a low-key philanthropist who was an early and major donor to L.G.B.T.Q. and AIDS causes, died on Sept. 9 at his home in Manhattan. He was 89. Chris Cormier Maggiano, a friend and adviser, confirmed his death. Mr. van Ameringen (pronounced am-ehr-ING-en), whose father made a fortune in the fragrances business, gave away some $200 million, Mr. Maggiano estimated, and was among the first openly gay major donors to fund L.G.B.T.Q. and AIDS-related organizations, both large and small, at a time before they enjoyed more mainstream support. (Genzlinger, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Pandemic Hammers College Enrollment This Fall, Report Says 
A snapshot of fall enrollment shows fewer students are pursuing undergraduate degrees this semester as the coronavirus continues to sow fears of infection and devastate the economy. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on Thursday released its first look at fall enrollment through Sept. 10, confirming what many in higher education already suspected: that the public health crisis would lower head counts at the nation’s colleges and universities. (Douglas-Gabriel, 9/24)

USA Today: Some College Students Didn't Show Up Amid COVID-19, Recession – Especially At Community College
When Hannah Hyatt imagined her freshman year at Clemson University, she had a clear picture in mind: crisp fall mornings hustling by Bowman Field on her way to class, hanging with new friends at her dorm and Saturdays spent at a packed Memorial Stadium, cheering on one of the best college football teams in the country. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic collapse, Hyatt, 18, is instead 250 miles away in Charleston, South Carolina, nannying for a 5-month-old baby girl, after deferring her enrollment.  (Schnell, 9/24)

Also —

AP: Indiana To Track COVID-19 In Schools With New Data Dashboard
A new online tool designed to help track COVID-19 cases in Indiana schools is expected to be released by the end of the month. The data dashboard will reflect the new and cumulative numbers of positive COVID-19 cases among students, teachers, and in a given school. It will be updated on a weekly basis, said Dr. Kristina Box, commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health. (Smith, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Colleges Target Student Parties, Other Gatherings To Limit Coronavirus Spread 
University officials planned for months for the resumption of fall classes amid the pandemic, with experts advising them on the rapidly evolving understanding of the novel coronavirus. They spent tens of billions of dollars creating massive testing programs, clearing out dorm space for quarantines, sticking reminder dots six feet apart on sidewalks, overhauling ventilation systems and crafting public health campaigns centered around feisty mask-wearing mascots. But as cases of the coronavirus have popped up on campuses, forcing some schools to empty their dorms or switch to virtual classes, one factor cannot be ignored: Students like to party. And good luck reining that in. (Svrluga, 9/24)

Politico: ‘That’s What College Kids Do.’ DeSantis Wants Protections For Partying Students
Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested on Thursday that Florida could create a “bill of rights” to protect college students who face expulsion for attending parties under the strict Covid-19 guidelines schools are attempting to enforce. Calling the policies “incredibly draconian” at a public health event, the Republican governor said the state is exploring its options for students without going into much detail. The idea comes as school leaders in Florida and beyond threaten stiff penalties for breaking social distancing rules in an effort to keep coronavirus transmission low and campuses open throughout the full semester. (Atterbury, 9/24)

The New York Times: Pac-12 Will Play Football In 2020, Joining Other Top Leagues During The Pandemic 
The Pac-12 Conference is joining the other four most powerful leagues in college sports in deciding to play football this fall, defying the risks of the coronavirus pandemic to salvage a season for fans and shore up the financial health of its schools. The Pac-12, which said last month that its teams would not compete until at least 2021, said Thursday that it would attempt to play as soon as Nov. 6. The decision came eight days after the Big Ten, which had also elected not to compete this semester, reversed its approach and announced that games would begin in October. (Blinder, 9/24)

ABC News: As COVID-19 Cancels Most Youth Sports Seasons, Some Parents Pursue Legal Action 
Every morning, before making breakfast, Chris Tyndorf looks at a sign on the kitchen wall that has become his family's motto: "God, Family, Football." For more than 10 years, Tyndorf’s 14-year-old son has been playing football and during that time family vacations and work schedules have revolved around daily practice, weight and agility training, and games on the weekend. But as businesses and facilities began to close down as coronavirus ravaged his home state of New York in late March, football practice, a sacred family routine for Tyndorf’s son, came to a screeching halt. (Romero, 9/25)

AP: Iditarod Preps For Any Scenario As 2021 Race Plans Proceed
The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021, and amid the ongoing pandemic, officials now are preparing for every possible contingency for what the race and the world might look like in March when the Iditarod starts. It’s not the mushers who worry Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach; they’re used to social distancing along the 1,000-mile trail. The headaches start with what to do with the 1,800 volunteers and staff needed to stage the race, some scattered in 21 villages that serve as checkpoints along the trail between Anchorage and Nome, and how to protect them and the village residents from the coronavirus. The goal is zero community transmission. (Thiessen, 9/25)

In recreational news —

USA Today: Walmart Promises 'All-New Black Friday Experience' With Earlier Savings And More Online Deals, Seeks 20K Seasonal Workers
Walmart is getting ready for a different holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The retail giant announced plans Wednesday to meet the demands of increased online shopping, gift availability and how it is preparing stores for "safe shopping. "Walmart is "promising an all-new Black Friday experience" and says it "will spread traditional Black Friday savings throughout the season" with more deals available online. (Tyko, 9/23)

The New York Times: Lorne Michaels Isn’t Sure ‘S.N.L.’ Can Pull This Off
Lorne Michaels doesn’t usually spend six months away from his office, but this year he had no choice. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, he and his colleagues at “Saturday Night Live” had to leave behind the show’s home at Studio 8H in NBC’s Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in March, and its live broadcasts came to an abrupt halt. Though “S.N.L.” was able to close out its previous season with three remotely produced episodes, the show only recently announced that its live episodes would resume when its new season begins on Oct. 3. (Itzkoff, 9/24)

Houston Chronicle: Person Of Interest In Group Home Probe Oversaw Seven Other Boarding Homes In Houston, Authorities Say 
A man at the center of a probe into an overcrowded, unlicensed group home in Harris County has been tied to seven other similar Houston properties, for which he has been cited more than 200 times over a roughly three-year period, police said Thursday. Carroll Shelton Richardson was identified this week as a person of interest by the Harris County Pct. 7 Constable’s Office, which on Monday removed at least 35 abused or neglected residents found living in “deplorable” conditions in the Caring Hands Group Home in the 14000 block of Long Meadow Drive. (Gill and Dellinger, 9/24)

Nursing homes reopen in Massachusetts and Louisiana —

WBUR: Starting Friday, Indoor Visits Are Allowed At Nursing Homes 
Nursing homes and rest homes in Massachusetts can resume in-person visits on Friday, as long as infection control and safety measures announced by the Baker administration Thursday are in place. Assisted living residences will also be allowed to expand their indoor visitation options. The Department of Public Health and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs said their new guidelines balance "the important role visitation plays in supporting resident emotional health and quality of life, while ensuring necessary infection control measures are in place." (Young, 9/24)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: As Louisiana Nursing Homes Reopen To Visitors: 'We Very Much Hope This Is The First Of Many Visits' 
Louisiana’s 270-plus nursing homes have banned visitors since the virus took hold in many of nursing homes across the United States in the early days of the pandemic. But the shutdown did not stop the spread: More than 40% of Louisiana's 5,241 confirmed coronavirus deaths were nursing home residents. But the visitor ban had its own consequences. (Woodruff, 9/24)

In news from Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri —

CNN: A Sign In Illinois Reminding People Of The 200,000 US Covid Deaths Vandalized Five Times In 6 Days 
A sign memorializing the hundreds of thousands of people who have died in the United States from Covid-19 has become a target for vandalism in a suburban Chicago town. The "Covid death scoreboard," as its been dubbed, has been vandalized five times since it was installed Friday in Northbrook, Illinois, organizers said. "We've had vandalism before when we've put up displays, but I was shocked because we're all in this virus situation together," Lee Goodman told CNN. "Frankly when we put it up, I didn't think anyone would pay any attention at all." (Zdanowicz, 9/24)

AP: Iowa Fines Beef Plant $957 After Huge Coronavirus Outbreak
Iowa regulators have issued their first citation to a meatpacking plant with a large coronavirus outbreak that sickened its workforce — a $957 fine for a minor record-keeping violation. The outbreak at the Iowa Premium Beef Plant in Tama in April resulted in 338 of the plant’s 850 workers testing positive for the virus, 80 more than the state previously acknowledged, according to inspection records released Thursday. (Foley, 9/24)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Infections Decline In Jefferson Parish Jail After Outbreak In August 
The number of coronavirus-infected inmates at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center has dropped significantly since an outbreak took hold there six weeks ago. But the Gretna jail was still on lockdown Thursday as a precaution. (Hunter, 9/24)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Missouri Governor ‘Feels Healthy’ As COVID-19 Quarantine Begins
A second, more accurate test has confirmed that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has COVID-19, the governor’s office said Thursday. The 65-year-old Republican is not showing any symptoms, but he is isolating in the Governor’s Mansion for at least the next 10 days while his wife, Teresa, 67, is quarantining at their home in Bolivar. “At this time, Governor Parson feels healthy, and the First Lady’s symptoms remain mild,” a statement from the office said. (Kurt Erickson, 9/25)

In news from Oklahoma, Texas, California and Oregon —

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Health Officials Preparing COVID-19 Vaccination Plan
Oklahoma health officials are preparing a three-phased approach to distribute COVID-19 vaccines once a viable candidate is distributed to states. At the outset, state officials anticipate Oklahoma will receive enough vaccinations for 20,000-30,000 people, or roughly 1% of the population. (Forman, 9/24)

Dallas Morning News: To Exempt Or Not To Exempt: COVID-19 Exemptions Continue To Spark Debate Over Religious Liberty, Public Health
The lack of social distancing or any significant capacity limits didn’t violate state restrictions because the event was in a place of worship — in this case a megachurch — one of the few places in the state afforded exemptions from the coronavirus executive orders by Gov. Greg Abbott, who was roughly six feet across from Pence in the first pew. Texas' stance on religious liberty during this COVID-19 era was clear then, and it hasn’t wavered. (Briseno, 9/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Californians Urged To Get Flu Shot To Avoid Coronavirus And Flu ‘Twindemic’
It is more important than ever for Californians to get vaccinated for the flu this year to help preserve hospital capacity ahead of a potential “twindemic” as influenza and COVID-19 overlap in the fall and winter, the state’s top health official and hospital leaders said Thursday. The number of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions in California has fallen steadily over the last two months. But hospitals could become overcrowded if the virus surges again in the colder winter months as more people gather indoors, where the virus is more likely to spread than in outdoor settings. (Ho, 9/24)

Kaiser Health News: In Los Angeles, Latinos Hit Hard By Pandemic’s Economic Storm  
Working as a fast-food cashier in Los Angeles, Juan Quezada spends a lot of his time these days telling customers how to wear a mask. “They cover their mouth but not their nose,” he said. “And we’re like, ‘You gotta put your mask on right.'” Quezada didn’t expect to be enforcing mask-wearing. Six months ago, he was a restaurant manager, making $30 an hour, working full time and saving for retirement. But when Los Angeles County health officials shut down most restaurants in March because of the spreading pandemic, Quezada lost his job. The only work he could find pays a lot less and is part time. (Fortier, 9/25)

AP: 77 Workers At Oregon Seafood Plant Test Positive For Virus
Dozens of employees at seafood processing plant on the Oregon coast have tested positive for the coronavirus, Clatsop County officials said Thursday. Pacific Seafood used a private lab earlier this week to test the Warrenton, Oregon, plant’s 159 night-shift workers, and 77 tested positive, The Astorian reported. (9/25)

AP: As Virus Surges, Critics Say UK Hasn't Learned From Mistakes
Britain bungled its response to the coronavirus the first time around. Now many scientists fear it’s about to do it again. The virus is on the rise once more in the U.K., which has recorded almost 42,000 COVID-19 deaths, with confirmed daily infections hitting a record-high 6,634 on Thursday, though deaths remain far below their April peak. The surge has brought new restrictions on daily life, the prospect of a grim winter of mounting deaths — and a feeling of deja vu. (Lawless, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Second Wave: Britain's Boris Johnson, Canada's Trudeau, Europe, France Issue Warnings 
Brace yourselves. That’s the message coming from leaders in Europe, Britain and Canada as autumn arrives, bringing with it crisp air and predictions of a dark pandemic winter. Europe faces a “decisive moment.” Britain is at a “perilous turning point.” Canadians probably shouldn’t gather for Thanksgiving next month. Leaders are emphasizing the risks ahead for countries heading into cooler months with case counts now growing again, not shrinking, and populations already fed up with pandemic restrictions. (Rauhala, 9/24)

Reuters: Over 80% Of Britons Not Heeding COVID-19 Self-Isolation Rules, Study Finds
Over 80% of people in Britain are not adhering to self-isolation guidelines when they have COVID-19 symptoms or had contact with someone who has tested positive, a study has found. A majority were also unable to identify the symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. (Smout, 9/25)

The New York Times: As Coronavirus Cases Surge In Europe, Hospitalizations Lag 
In Munich, normally brimming with boisterous crowds for Oktoberfest this month, the authorities just banned gatherings of more than five people. In Marseille, France, all bars and restaurants will be closed next Monday. And in London, where the government spent weeks urging workers to return to the city’s empty skyscrapers, it is now asking them to work from home. Summer ended in Europe this week with a heavy thud amid ominous signs that a spike in coronavirus cases may send another wave of patients into hospitals. Officials across the continent fear a repeat of the harrowing scenes from last spring, when the virus swamped intensive care units in countries like Italy and Spain. Already in Spain, some hospitals are struggling with an influx of virus patients. (Landler, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Syria Coronavirus: Doctors Cite Spiking Outbreak Despite Assad Government Assurances
BEIRUT — In an act of defiance, Syria's union of doctors announced last month that 61 physicians had died of the coronavirus in the span of just a few days. The disclosure contradicted the Syrian government, which had said a day earlier it had registered exactly 60 deaths in the entire country since March, and represented an uncharacteristic challenge to a state known for its tight control of information and severe intolerance for alternative views. The tally released by the Syrian Medical Association signaled that the outbreak was already widespread, because reported cases among medical personnel often indicate a far larger number of unreported cases in the general public. One Syrian medical student called the number of doctors who have died “terrifying.” (Dadouch, 9/25)

AP: Choir Practice In Spain Infects 30 Of 41 Members With Virus
At least 30 of 41 members of a gospel choir in northeastern Spain have contracted coronavirus following a rehearsal indoors with little air circulation, local authorities and the chorus say. The River Troupe Gospel, a volunteer gospel group, rehearsed on Sept. 11 ahead of an open-air performance two days later for a local festival in Sallent, a town in the province of Barcelona. It was their first public show since the beginning of the pandemic. (9/24)

AP: The Latest: China Lifts Pandemic Bar On Entry By Foreigners
Chinese officials say foreigners holding certain types of visas and residence permits will be permitted to return to China as the threat of the new coronavirus continues to recede. The decision lifts a months-long blanket suspension covering most foreigners apart from diplomats and those in special circumstances. (9/24)

Reuters: North Korea Regrets Killing S.Korean To Control Coronavirus Amid Public Backlash
North Korea expressed regret on Friday that it shot dead a missing South Korean to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the South’s national security adviser said, amid growing political and public backlash. North Korea’s United Front Department, in charge of cross-border ties, sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office a day after Seoul officials said North Korean soldiers killed a South Korean before dousing his body in oil and setting it on fire. (Shin and Cha, 9/25)

Reuters: Moscow Mayor Urges More Home-Working As Russia's New COVID Cases Hit Three-Month High
The mayor of Moscow urged businesses on Friday to get more people to work from home as Russia’s daily tally of new coronavirus cases hit its highest since June 23. Officials reported 7,212 new infections, bringing the national case total to 1,136,048. In Moscow, the tally of new cases rose almost 50% overnight to 1,560 from 1,050 the previous day. (9/25)

AP: Quarantine Ordered For 2,500 Students At Elite Swiss School
Swiss authorities ordered 2,500 students at an elite hospitality management school to quarantine themselves due to a coronavirus outbreak allegedly linked to off-campus partying, the latest back-to-school sign of higher education’s place in the pandemic. Authorities in Switzerland’s Vaud canton, or region, said all undergraduates at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, or the Lausanne Hospitality Management University in English, were told to quarantine at home both on and off campus because the virus already had spread too widely for a more limited order. (Achoui-Lesage and Keaten, 9/24)

AP: Canceled Flights Strand 25 Easter Islanders For 6 Months
For people around the world, the coronavirus has caused distressing separations and delayed homecomings. But the situation for a group of 25 residents from remote Easter Island stands out. For six months now the group has been stranded far across a vast stretch of ocean on Tahiti in French Polynesia. Children remain separated from their parents, husbands from their wives. Mihinoa Terakauhau Pont, a 21-year-old mom who is among those stranded, is due to give birth to her second son any day now, but can’t have her husband by her side because he’s back home. Her grief has left her exhausted. (Perry and Vergara, 9/25)

AP: Virus Disrupting Rio's Carnival For First Time In A Century
A cloud of uncertainty that has hung over Rio de Janeiro throughout the coronavirus pandemic has been lifted, but gloom remains — the annual Carnival parade of flamboyant samba schools won’t be held in February. And while the decision is being characterized as a postponement of the event, no new date has been set. (Sousa, 9/25)

And a little bit of happy news —

The Washington Post: Italian Couple ‘Romeo And Juliet’ Met From Their Balconies During Lockdown. Now They’re Engaged. 
An Italian couple has become known as the “Romeo and Juliet” of the coronavirus lockdown. In true Shakespearean style, their romantic story began on their respective balconies this year while Italians were forced to sequester in their homes because of the pandemic. It was in Verona — the same city where “Romeo and Juliet” took place. But the love story of this pandemic couple does not have the tragic ending of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. In fact, six months after they met from afar, the covid-19 sweethearts are engaged to be married. (Page, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: What It Would Take For Herd Immunity To Stop The Coronavirus Pandemic 
The concept of herd immunity is at the heart of global vaccination efforts and discussions about next steps in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and bringing back economies. For the pandemic to stop, the coronavirus has to run out of susceptible hosts to infect. Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a population develop an immune response, either through previous infection or vaccination, so that the virus can’t spread easily and even those who aren’t immune have protection. (Abbott and Douglas, 9/20)

AP: Some See Irony In COVID's Impact On Mayflower Commemoration
The year 2020 was supposed to be a big one for Pilgrims. Dozens of events — from art exhibits and festivals to lectures and a maritime regatta featuring the Mayflower II, a full-scale replica refitted over the past three years at a cost of more than $11 million — were planned to mark the 400th anniversary of the religious separatists’ arrival at what we now know as Plymouth, Massachusetts. But many of those activities have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. And historian Elizabeth Fenn finds a certain perverse poetry in that. “The irony obviously runs quite deep,” says Fenn, a history professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who has studied disease in Colonial America. “Novel infections did MOST of the dirty work of colonization.” (Breed, 9/22)

The Washington Post: Psychedelic Medicine Is Going Mainstream. Who Will Benefit? 
On a sweaty Sunday morning in August of last year, Jamilah George was on the 16th floor of the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, leading a spiritual service of sorts. George, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Connecticut who also holds a master’s degree in divinity from Yale University, asked the audience to shout out the names of ancestors or people they admired. With each name, George performed a libation ritual, pouring water into a leafy green plant, stationed at the front of the podium, as a gesture of thanks. “Maya Angelou,” called out one audience member. “Mama Lola,” called another. The names kept coming: Toni Morrison. Audre Lorde. Mahatma Gandhi. Harriet Tubman. George, who had been part of a team at U-Conn. running the only clinical trial to study the effects of the psychotropic drug MDMA on post-traumatic stress disorder with participants of color, wanted the audience to connect with its cultural lineages before she started her presentation — a bracing call for inclusion and social justice within the burgeoning world of psychedelic healing. It’s a world that holds great promise but is overwhelmingly White and economically privileged. Part of the problem, as George sees it, is that academia has lost its connection to the histories of these consciousness-altering substances (also known as entheogens), many of which have been used by Indigenous cultures for physical and psychological healing for thousands of years. (Joiner, 9/21)

The New York Times: Defying The Family Cycle Of Addiction 
I am the mother of four, but addiction is my ever-present extra child. My grandparents died of alcoholism. My father-in-law did, too. My 43-year-old brother died of a heroin overdose in May. He became addicted after taking prescribed OxyContin following an appendectomy. When my 13-year-old daughter needed hernia surgery as my brother was hitting rock bottom, it wasn’t the operation I feared. It was the opiates that would be part of her recovery. A 2018 study in the journal Pediatrics reported “persistent” opiate use by nearly 5 percent of patients age 13 to 21 following surgery, as compared to 0.1 percent in the nonsurgical group. I wanted to figure out a way to help my daughter through the pain without resorting to using opiates. (Burke, 9/18)

NPR: Inmate Autopsies Reveal Troubling Effects Of Lethal Injection
Dr. Joel Zivot stared at the autopsy reports. The language was dry and clinical, in stark contrast to the weight of what they contained — detailed, graphic accounts of the bodies of inmates executed by lethal injection in Georgia. It was 2016, and the autopsy reports had been given to him by lawyers representing inmates on death row. He had received simple instructions: Interpret the levels of an anesthetic in the blood to determine whether the inmates were conscious during their execution. As an anesthesiologist at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Zivot specialized in reading these levels. But as he looked beyond the toxicology reports, something else caught his eye. The lungs were way too heavy. (Caldwell, Chang and Myers, 9/21)

CNN: Empty Malls Are Getting Some Surprising New Tenants 
Consumers will still be heading to malls in the future. But their trips might have little or nothing to do with shopping. With mall vacancies accelerating at a rapid clip amid a surge in online shopping, landlords are quickly looking for other ways to reuse the glut of empty stores that will help boost traffic to shopping centers. ... "Pre-Covid there was an oversupply of retail space across the US," said Ami Ziff, director of national retail for Time Equities, which owns and manages hundreds of retail properties across the United States, including enclosed malls, free-standing stores and open air malls. "Now, supply of available space is up and retailer demand is softer. So you have to be nimble and creative with who to lease it to and go out there and pull in a different type of tenant," he said. At one of its properties -- The Landings in Columbus, Georgia -- Ziff said the company is signing leases with local retailers and restaurateurs but noted that there's been an increase of doctors and dentist offices signing leases across Time Equities' portfolio. (Kavilanz, 9/18)

And stories about relationships —

The Atlantic: How To Build A Three-Parent Family 
David Jay is the oldest of 12 cousins on one side of his family and the third-oldest of 24 cousins on the other. As a kid, family to Jay meant having a lot of people around, a feeling of community, and crucially, a sense of permanence, that these people would always be in his life. Later, as an adult living in collective housing, he could access the feeling of family with those around him, but the permanence was gone. His roommates started finding romantic partners, having children, and dispersing. Jay had always wanted his own family with kids—and had known, for almost as long, that he wouldn’t be able to build one the usual way. Jay is the founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network and one of the most prominent people in the asexual movement. (Asexual people, or aces, don’t experience sexual attraction, though many do have sex and form romantic relationships.) After starting AVEN as a freshman at Wesleyan University in 2001, Jay spent years explaining asexuality to the public, speaking at events and talking to the press. As he grew older, the questions on his mind moved beyond identity and attraction to issues of parenting and family life. (Chen, 9/22)

The New York Times: How To Help Parents Who Are Struggling To Provide For Their Kids 
More than half a year into the coronavirus pandemic, millions of U.S. families are struggling to pay for basic necessities. Right now, nearly one in eight households doesn’t have enough to eat. Parents in search of their children’s next meal have queued up in lines outside of food banks that have stretched for miles. (Caron, 9/17)

NPR: How To Say No: 5 Steps To Stop Being A People Pleaser 
It can be tempting to say yes to things you just don't want to do. Might as well just get it done so nothing bad happens, right? But there's a high price for constantly aiming to make other people happy. "We suppress and repress who we are to please others," says Natalie Lue. She coaches people to curb their people-pleasing tendencies. (Keane and Nguyen, 9/22)

The Atlantic: How To Keep Friends During The Pandemic 
My friend Adam Nemett and I became close friends in college, when I basically lived in the house he shared with my then-boyfriend. We saw each other constantly—at home, on campus, over dinner. We got drunk together; took the train to New York City to go clubbing together; emailed during our summer vacations. The last night of college, the three of us wrapped our arms around one another, feeling the weight of this intimacy’s end. This proximity, we knew, would be lost to time and adulthood. But almost 20 years later, after children (for him) and a divorce (for me), Adam and I have rediscovered a new intimacy. The pandemic has deepened our bond, even though we have abandoned proximity entirely. We keep an almost weekly FaceTime appointment to watch TV together. During those video calls, I see his house and his wife, and he sees my apartment—or, more recently, my friend’s apartment, where I’m crashing because of the divorce. It’s the most time we’ve spent in conversation since we lived together all those years ago. In fact, we’ve never been closer. (Hagberg, 9/22)

The Wall Street Journal: How Covid-19 Lockdowns Have Boosted Mother-Daughter Bonds 
Instead of going to summer camp this year, Ava Littman hiked on trails with her mother, Tara Cook-Littman, listening to stories about her mom’s childhood and opening up about how much she missed her friends. “We got so much closer.” says Ms. Cook-Littman. With her days free of driving to school and sporting events and doing advocacy work, she had time to teach 15-year-old Ava how to make smoothies and watch movies like “Pretty in Pink” with her. (Ansberry, 9/22)

Stat: A Trial Is Needed To Determine Which Covid-19 Vaccines Work Best
We may have a vaccine for Covid-19 by late this fall. By winter, we could have several. And if all goes as planned, each vaccine will be accompanied by data demonstrating that it reduces the risk of developing Covid-19, the clinical syndrome caused by infection with the novel coronavirus. But we won’t know which of these vaccines is more effective at preventing Covid-19, or have much idea if one or more of them reduce the risk of a person becoming an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. We also won’t know if the duration of immunity is similar between the vaccines, or if the side effects are equally tolerable. (Peter B. Bach, 9/24)

The Washington Post: How To Fix Public Health Weaknesses Before The Next Pandemic Hits 
Eight months into the pandemic, states and counties around the country are struggling to track the spread of the virus through routine, reliable testing of representative members of their communities. Efforts to help hospitals and public health systems by modeling the covid-19-related demand for intensive care have been stymied by this fact: There is insufficient information available about the duration of stays in intensive care units in the United States. And few jurisdictions provide specific data on where their epidemiologists determine transmission is occurring, making it difficult to identify areas that can reopen safely or health-care facilities that need to bolster their prevention measures. (Marc Lipsitch and Yonatan Grad, 9/24)

The New York Times: Trump’s Stalinist Approach To Science
Lately I’ve found myself thinking about Trofim Lysenko. Who? Lysenko was a Soviet agronomist who decided that modern genetics was all wrong, indeed contrary to Marxist-Leninist principles. He even denied that genes existed, while insisting that long-discredited views about evolution were actually right. Real scientists marveled at his ignorance. But Joseph Stalin liked him, so Lysenko’s views became official doctrine, and scientists who refused to endorse them were sent to labor camps or executed. Lysenkoism became the basis for much of the Soviet Union’s agricultural policy, eventually contributing to the disastrous famines of the 1930s. Does all of this sound a bit familiar given recent events in America? (Paul Krugman, 9/24)

Stat: Kids' Heart Rates Are Rising As The Pandemic Drags On 
In mid-March, schools across the country shut down. My 7-year-old son took it well; life went on. We spent some time early in the pandemic hiking, playing soccer, and even skiing a bit in Vermont, where we live. As weeks of isolating ourselves turned into months, new behaviors emerged in him. (Jason Kahn, 9/25)

ABC News: Let’s Not Lose Our 3rd Chance To Contain COVID-19
The fight against COVID-19 is far from over, but we are starting to see signs of significant progress. Across the country, we are seeing 11 new cases per 100,000 people per day, down from our peak of 20 per 100,000 in August. While this is a sign of improvement, we need to remember that we've been in this position -- twice before. (Dr. Bechara Choucair and Dr. Jay Bhatt, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: The College Covid Scare
After a late summer lull, virus cases are increasing again as colleges and schools reopen, and the media are declaring a “third wave.” While another surge is possible, most new cases are among younger people and seem to be relatively mild.The lockdown-loving media luxuriate in studies based on virus models that report bad news. They got another dopamine rush Tuesday when researchers from the University of North Carolina, University of Washington, Indiana University and Davidson College published a study linking the reopening of college campuses to 3,200 more cases a day in the U.S. (9/24)

The Washington Post: How RBG’s Death Could Trigger A Devastating Blow To The U.S. Health-Care System
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death last week was undoubtedly a loss for those who loved and admired her. It also may have dealt a devastating blow to the entire U.S. health-care system and nearly every American who interacts with it — young and old, Republican and Democrat, healthy and sick alike. The week after Election Day, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a case seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act. The case, filed by 20 red states and supported by the Trump administration, rests on a convoluted legal argument: When Congress reduced the penalty for not having health insurance to zero dollars, the individual mandate ceased to be an exercise of Congress’s taxing power and became unconstitutional. (Catherine Rampell, 9/24)

NBC News: Trump And Republicans' Health Care 'Plan' Would Endanger People Like Me Amid Covid-19
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has dramatically affected the future of our nation's health care. The fate of Obamacare could very well be decided mere days after the election, when the Supreme Court hears arguments about its validity on Nov. 10. And without Ginsburg on the court, the conservative wing may finally have the votes to declare the landmark law unconstitutional. (Laura Packard, 9/24)

Stat: Trump Administration Proposals Could Stymie Personalized Medicine 
“It is more important to know what kind of patient the disease has than to know what kind of disease the patient has.” Although Hippocrates made this keen observation more than 2,400 years ago, physicians did not have the tools to decipher the biological and environmental factors influencing an individual’s health and well-being until recently. (Edward Abrahams, 9/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Hold Abortion Rights Hostage
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has amplified a classic Democratic election argument: that a Republican victory could lead to the end of legal abortion. The rhetoric obscures a question that Democratic voters might want to ask themselves: Why didn’t Democrats enact a federal law legalizing the termination of a pregnancy nationwide when they controlled Congress and the White House after the 1992 or 2008 election? A partial answer is that the parties were less polarized on the issue in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton, trying to appeal to the center, said abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Democrats have since evolved closer to the absolutist position that Kimberly Inez McGuire of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity calls “abortion positive.” As she told Vox in 2019: “For us that means, not only do we think abortion should be legal, but we think it’s a really good thing when people can get abortion care who need it.” (Ted Rall, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Woke Science Is An Experiment Certain To Fail 
Mr. Trump should order that federal science initiatives return to a color- and sex-blind basis. All NIH, NSF and CDC projects targeted at alleged systemic inequities in STEM should be eliminated. Advancing knowledge, not the pursuit of diversity, should be the goal of federal science funding. America’s scientific competitiveness depends on supporting our most talented scientists, regardless of their race and sex. (Heather Mac Donald, 9/24)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: When The Leader Of Missouri's Pandemic Policy Falls Victim, The Policy Is A Failure.
Gov. Mike Parson’s campaign manager reacted with outrage on Twitter at journalists who reported that Parson and his wife had tested positive for the coronavirus while also noting Parson’s record of waffling about wearing what he calls those “dang masks.” Campaign manager Steele Shippy posted photos of Parson wearing masks to contend that the governor was “leading by example.” But there’s no escaping the simple facts of the other way Parson has led by example: He has embraced the politicization of mask-wearing and encouraged the attitude of conservative defiance that has helped the pandemic flourish across Missouri. This was his policy, and policies — like elections — have consequences. Missourians should take full measure of Parson’s efforts to beat back this pandemic. If this is his idea of a successful policy, we shudder to think what failure looks like. The coronavirus daily new infection numbers keep climbing and climbing to the point that Missouri holds pariah status as a national coronavirus hotspot. In no one’s book can this be termed a success. (9/24)

Arizona Republic: For Shame, Scottsdale. Now Is Not The Time To Ease Up On Masks
What the heck, Scottsdale? We are inching ever closer to getting COVID-19 under control, to getting the kids back in school and getting our lives back on track. Health experts have asked us, they've told us, they've outright begged us to wear masks while in enclosed spaces where keeping your distance isn’t possible. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield has said that research clearly shows that wearing a mask is the single best thing we can do right now to block the spread of infection. (Laurie Roberts, 9/24)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois COVID-19 Response Is Failing People With Disabilities
This summer’s tragedies overshadowed the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July, but Illinois did recognize the event virtually with speeches from state dignitaries and performances from artists with disabilities. Despite the brief celebratory spirit, though, a failure of state and local government to protect people with disabilities in the response to the coronavirus pandemic has dampened any sense of progress. The U.S. declared COVID-19 a public health emergency in January, and, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, “People with disabilities should not be put at the end of the line for health care during emergencies.” Nonetheless, Illinois' state agency responses to COVID-19 are not living up to their promise to protect the lives of people with disabilities. Months after the pandemic started, there remains no clear plan for how people with disabilities or their attendants might effectively access personal protective equipment. (Laura Vanpuymbrouck and Kira Meskin, 9/24)

Des Moines Register: Vote To Return Decency And Fair Play To The President's Office
This piece isn't about Trump's policies. Leadership, has many aspects, both of form and substance. America is staggering under the weight of the 200,000 lives lost to COVID-19; our rate of infection is among the world's highest. How can this be, with our vast resources, scientific sophistication and ability to rapidly mobilize? In a word, denial. Specifically, the president’s. (Rekha Basu, 9/24)

The Oklahoman: Flu Shot More Important Than Ever This Year
The shutdowns that were part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to fewer U.S. school children getting their vaccinations. Let’s hope a similar pattern doesn’t accompany the arrival of flu season. Although much of the country has reopened, the novel coronavirus could complicate things regarding the flu shot. USA Today wrote this week about people on social media incorrectly conflating the shot with a potential vaccine for COVID-19. (9/25)

Los Angeles Times: Fire-Prone Brush Is No Place For Homeless People To Camp 
Homeless encampments are grim fixtures in Los Angeles. There isn’t enough housing and shelter for a homeless population that has increased by 16% in the city over the last year. And with a pandemic still raging, city officials have let encampments stay put (for the most part) lest homeless people contract or spread COVID-19 by being shooed from one location to another. But another grim reality in Los Angeles is fire. And that is the one reason — notwithstanding the above concerns — to move homeless people out of encampments in brush areas and wooded parks. There has been an astonishing 80% uptick in fires involving homeless people so far this year, over the same time period in 2019. (9/25)

Los Angeles Times: Goodbye And Good Riddance To Gas-Powered Cars 
California has made it official: This is the beginning of the end of the gasoline-powered car. For the health of the state and the planet, the demise of the tailpipe can’t come soon enough. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday requiring that all new cars and light pickup trucks sold in California in 2035 be zero-emission vehicles. That will be a huge market shift. Only about 8% of vehicles sold in California last year were electric or plug-in hybrid models. Zero-emission vehicles still only make up a small fraction of the cars on the road. (9/23)