Reuters: Trump Slashes Foreign Aid, Cuts Safety Net Programs In New Budget Proposal
U.S. President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety-net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials. The budget would spend money to fund infrastructure projects and defense, but would also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States. It assumes revenues around $3.7 trillion. (2/9)

The New York Times: Trump To Propose $4.8 Trillion Budget With More Border Wall Funding
Those reductions encompass new work requirements for Medicaid, federal housing assistance and food stamp recipients, which are estimated to cut nearly $300 billion in spending from the programs. The budget will also cut spending on federal disability insurance benefits by $70 billion and on student loan forgiveness by $170 billion. The budget will propose cutting foreign aid spending by 21 percent and, as in previous budgets, eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It would cut the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget by 9 percent but increase funding levels for the center’s infectious disease activities. It targets specific programs, including some at the National Institutes of Health, for cuts. (Tankersley, Rappeport, Kanno-Youngs and Sanger-Katz, 2/9)

Politico: Trump Hits Medicaid, Food Stamps In Push To Slash Domestic Spending
About half of the savings would stem from the Trump administration’s push to overhaul mandatory spending, including changes that would curb food stamp benefits, implement Medicaid work requirements and tackle improper health payments, among other reforms. An administration official stressed that the president isn’t proposing to cut Medicare or Medicaid in order to achieve savings, and that mandatory spending for both health programs increases each year in Trump’s budget plan. (Emma and Scholtes, 2/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump To Propose $4.8 Trillion Budget With Big Safety-Net Cuts
The White House proposes to cut spending by $4.4 trillion over a decade. Of that, it targets $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs, including $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from safety-net cuts—such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps—and $70 billion from tightening eligibility access to disability benefits. The budget would lower future spending from where it would be under current policy. A senior administration official said government spending will continue to rise, but not as much as it would under current policy. (Davidson and Restuccia, 2/9)

The Associated Press: Trump Budget To Face Skepticism, Overwhelming Politics
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that “once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families.” “Year after year, President Trump’s budgets have sought to inflict devastating cuts to critical lifelines that millions of Americans rely on," she said in a statement. “Americans’ quality, affordable health care will never be safe with President Trump.” (Taylor, 2/9)

The Washington Post: White House Budget Proposal Keeps Deficit For 15 Years 
The White House is preparing to propose a $4.8 trillion budget that would fail to eliminate the federal deficit over the next 10 years, according to an internal summary of the plan obtained by The Washington Post, missing a longtime GOP fiscal target. (Stein and Werner, 2/9)

USA Today: Trump Budget: Spending Plan To Call For Cuts To Domestic Programs
Last month, Trump opened the door to overhauling entitlement programs such as Medicare, saying during a television appearance while in Davos, Switzerland, that “tremendous growth” in the economy would make it easier to restructure such programs. Democrats interpreted those remarks to mean that more cuts could be coming to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and accused Trump of breaking a campaign pledge not to slash those safety net programs. (Jackson and Collins, 2/9)

ProPublica: A Group Of Agents Rose Through The Ranks To Lead The Border Patrol. They’re Leaving It In Crisis.
On a Saturday evening in late September, Deputy Chief Scott Luck gathered with family and friends in the crystal-chandeliered ballroom of the Trump National Golf Club, nestled along the shores of the Potomac River in Virginia, to celebrate his retirement after 33 years in the U.S. Border Patrol. The party was adorned with a who’s who in Border Patrol leadership, past and present. There was the unmistakable figure of Luck’s boss, Chief Carla Provost, tall and broad with her trademark fringe of brown bangs, and her longtime friend Andrea Zortman, who helps oversee foreign operations for the agency. (Del Bosque, 2/10)

The Washington Post: Trump Delays Kidney Dialysis Rule Amid Industry Complaints
The Trump administration has delayed a signature health-care initiative to boost the number of U.S. kidney patients who undergo dialysis at home and get transplants, amid resistance from kidney doctors and large dialysis companies whose payments from the Medicare system could be reduced under the plan. Trump listed his plan to improve kidney care as a key initiative in his State of the Union speech this week. (Rowland, 2/7)

The New York Times: Victors In Iowa, Sanders And Buttigieg Are Targets In Democratic Debate
The two victors in the Iowa caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., came under sharp and sustained criticism in a Democratic presidential debate on Friday, as their rivals tried to stop their momentum by assailing Mr. Sanders for his left-wing ideas and past opposition to gun control while targeting Mr. Buttigieg over his thin résumé and ties to big donors. ... The gun issue was a major point of vulnerability for Mr. Sanders in his 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination, but until now had not been a significant part of the 2020 campaign. (Burns and Martin, 2/7)

Kaiser Health News: In Fierce Debate, Democratic Candidates Expand Health Agenda Arguments
Democratic presidential candidates faced off on the debate stage for the eighth time this campaign season. Meeting in Manchester, N.H., they returned to now familiar health care themes — “Medicare for All” versus a public option, the cost of prescription drugs and other key areas they say are ripe for change. Once again, candidates sparred over the cost of the single-payer health reform bill promoted by Vermont  Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Luthra and Knight, 2/9)

The New York Times: Sanders And Buttigieg Clash, Aiming For A Two-Person Race
In Dover, Mr. Buttigieg offered his own broadside, alleging that Mr. Sanders had not leveled with voters about the cost of his policy ambitions, especially single-payer health care. Rebuking Mr. Sanders again for what he has called an uncompromising view of leadership, Mr. Buttigieg suggested that voters “deserve somebody who can actually deliver math that adds up.” “What we could do without is a plan so expensive that Senator Sanders himself freely admits he has no idea how it’s supposed to be paid for,” Mr. Buttigieg said. (Burns and Corasaniti, 2/9)

The Washington Post: Biden, Warren Battle For Third Place In New Hampshire
Biden also on Sunday took a swipe at Sanders’s health-care plan, saying it was too expensive and would take too long to enact. The Vermont senator’s biggest problem, Biden argued, was that he wasn’t being fully truthful with the American people. “Look, the one thing I think the public is looking for as much as anything is authenticity,” Biden said. “Just tell me the truth. And if you don’t know, don’t ask me to buy a pig in a poke.” (Wootson, Viser and Sonmez, 2/9)

The Hill: Biden Slams Sanders Over Cost Of 'Medicare For All'
Sanders countered that total costs would go down for middle class people because they would no longer have to pay premiums and deductibles, which would more than offset the higher taxes to pay for the plan. Sanders said his plan would “save the average American substantial sums of money,” so that it would be “much less expensive than [Biden's] plan” for the average person. (Sullivan, 2/7)

The Hill: Sanders: We Released 'Substantive' Part Of All Medical Records
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading Democratic presidential candidate who suffered a heart attack last year, said Sunday his campaign has released the "substantive" part of his medical records. "We have released as much documentation as any other candidate," Sanders said on NBC's "Meet the Press," when questioned on the release of his records. "No other candidates had a heart attack," NBC's Chuck Todd followed up, noting Sanders pledged in September to release his records before a vote was cast. He made the pledge about a month before his heart attack. "No other candidate is doing four of five events a day, running all over this country," Sanders responded. "You can start releasing medical records and it never ends," Sanders added. "We have released the substantive part of all our medical records, we have doctors who are, cardiologists who are, confirming I am in good health. I am in good health." (Klar, 2/9)

The Associated Press Fact Check: Dems Skew Health Care, Iraq Facts In Debate
Democratic presidential contenders stretched beyond the facts on policy and sometimes on their own records Friday in their New Hampshire debate.Amy Klobuchar called out Pete Buttigieg for an evolution on health care that he didn’t acknowledge. KLOBUCHAR, on Buttigieg’s evolution on health care: “And Pete, while you have a different plan now, you sent out a tweet just a few years ago that said henceforth, forthwith, indubitably, affirmatively, you are for ‘Medicare for All’ for the ages." BUTTIGIEG: “Just to be clear, the truth is that I have been consistent throughout in my position on delivering health care for every American.” (Woodward, Alonso-Zaldivar and Boak, 2/8)

Politico: Buttigieg Takes A Beating, Biden Concedes N.H., And Klobuchar Goes Big: Key Debate Moments
One of Buttigieg’s biggest weaknesses is among black voters, specifically when it comes to his record as mayor of South Bend, Ind. And it’s a record that he didn’t want to talk about when it came to an increase of marijuana arrests among African-Americans when he led the city. “The reality is, on my watch, drug arrests in South Bend were lower than the national average, and specifically lower than in Indiana,” Buttigieg said, avoiding the question about the increase of arrests over marijuana during his term. He then spoke about opiate arrests and the crack epidemic of the 1990s. ABC debate moderator Linsey Davis then steered the issue back to the question, noting that arrests of black people for marijuana possession went up. Buttigieg said the arrests only increased in drug cases connected to serious crimes like “gun violence and gang violence, which was slaughtering so many in our community — burying teenagers, disproportionately black teenagers.” Davis then asked Warren if Buttigieg answered the question. “No,” Warren said. (Caputo and McCaskill, 2/7)

The Hill: Warren, Biden Call For Law To Protect Abortion Rights
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for a law to protect abortion rights when asked at the Democratic primary debate on Friday if they believed there should be a litmus test on the issue for Supreme Court nominees. "I've lived in an America in which abortion was illegal, and rich women still got abortions," Warren said. "That's what we have to remember about this. States are heading toward trying to ban abortion outright, and the Supreme Court seems headed in that direction, as well." (Manchester, 2/7)

Stat: A Closer Look At Bernie Sanders’ Plans To Upend Pharma, Lower Drug Prices
Sen. Bernie Sanders is making high drug prices a signature issue on the campaign trail. The Vermont senator, who identifies as an independent, “Democratic socialist”-style progressive, reshaped Democratic politics with his insurgent bid for the party’s nomination in 2016, and now appears to be a frontrunner for the party’s nomination in 2020. Since before his presidential bid, Sanders has also become even more involved on the issue of prescription drug pricing in his role as a senator. In a meeting during the fall of 2018, Sanders told an aide he hoped to introduce legislation that would reduce U.S. prescription drug prices by half. In late 2018, and again in 2019, he introduced a bill to cap U.S. drug payments at the mean level paid by five peer nations: Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and France. The measure is even more aggressive than a similar Trump administration proposal, which would enact a pilot program capping payments for physician-administered drugs under Medicare’s Part B at 126% the price of a similar but wider “basket” of developed nations. (Facher, 2/7)

In other election news —

The Associated Press: Nevada Union Warns Members Of Sanders, Warren Health Plans
Nevada's most influential union is sending a subtle message to its members discouraging support for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their health care stances even though the union has not yet decided if it will endorse a candidate in the Democratic presidential race. The casino workers’ Culinary Union, a 60,000-member group made up of housekeepers, porters, bartenders and more who work in Las Vegas' famed casinos, began distributing leaflets in employee dining rooms this week that push back against “Medicare For All,” the plan from Sanders and Warren to move to a government-run health insurance system. (Price, 2/7)

Politico: Why Employers Are Flirting With The Public Option
Big businesses are beginning to warm up to what was once unthinkable: a public option for health care. Democrats have bitterly split over whether to build on Obamacare by adding a government-run insurance choice to compete with commercial insurers, or whether to scrap the current system and move to "Medicare for All." The public option was dropped from the original Obamacare bill a decade ago. (Luthi, 2/8)

Roll Call: Health Politics: 2020 Hopefuls Differ On More Than Insurance Coverage
While the “Medicare for All” debate over whether to shift the nation toward government-run health care has been the mainstay of the presidential debate so far — and an issue Trump is expected to stoke throughout his own campaign — other issues, especially drug prices, are also dominant themes on the campaign trail this year. On some health care issues, such as drug pricing, the Democratic candidates’ proposals are so similar that it’s difficult to distinguish real differences among them, so that’s not an issue they stress as they compete for voters in party primaries, Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said. (McIntire, 2/10)

USA Today: Medicare For All? Obamacare? No Buzzwords And US Agrees On Health Care
Health care is one of the most divisive issues of the 2020 presidential campaign, with candidates disparaging insurers and polarizing labels creating deep divisions even among Democrats. But remove the buzzwords from the policies, and voters who will decide the election aren't so far apart in their own positions, new research shows. Regardless of party affiliation, nearly everyone wants to see the nation's health care system improved, and a majority want big changes. That includes people for whom the system is working well, and those who may be political opposites. (O'Donnell, 2/7)

Dallas Morning News: Will Voters Revolt Over Health Care Prices? Texans Have Plenty Of Reason To Push For Change
In a recent scorecard, Texas ranked low on affordability, in part because it’s “among the most expensive states, with private payer prices well above the national median,” Altarum reported. Almost half of Texans had problems with out-of-pocket expenses and one-third had trouble paying medical bills, the report said. In a 2019 state scorecard by Commonwealth, Texas ranked dead last on access and affordability. More adults in the state went without care because of the cost and a greater share didn’t have a usual provider, the group said. The cost of health insurance also consumed a greater portion of Texans’ income. “Texas has a very bad spending and pricing problem, and they don’t seem to be doing anything about it,” Quincy said. In December, the Texas House named a select committee to study health care costs. It aims to examine the primary drivers of rising expenses and identify ways to improve the system and reduce costs. (Schnurman, 2/9)

The Washington Post: VA Chief Wilkie Sought To Dig Up Dirt On Woman Who Complained Of Sexual Assault, Agency Insiders Say
The Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general is reviewing a request from a top House leader to investigate allegations that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sought to dig up dirt on one of the congressman’s aides after she said she was sexually assaulted at VA’s Washington hospital. The appeal late Friday from House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) came after he received information from a senior VA official, confirmed by The Washington Post, that Wilkie worked to discredit the credibility of the aide, senior policy adviser Andrea Goldstein. (Rein, 2/8)

ProPublica: VA Secretary Looked For Dirt On A House Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault In A VA Hospital, Complaint Says
The written complaint was obtained by ProPublica. In addition, a former senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said Wilkie discussed damaging information he collected about the aide and suggested using it to discredit her. Another person said he spoke with other officials who were in those discussions, and they corroborated the former senior official’s and the written complaint’s account. The people interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared retaliation.Wilkie denied inquiring into the aide’s past. “I never would do that to a fellow officer,” he said in a statement. “It is a breach of honor.” (Arnsdorf, 2/7)

In other military and veteran health news —

The Washington Post: Navy SEAL’s Family Pushes For Recognition Of Traumatic Brain Injuries After Son’s Suicide
Throughout his 10 years of service as a decorated Navy SEAL operator and explosives breacher, Ryan Larkin was regularly exposed to high-impact blast waves. Struggling with the psychological effects of serving in four combat tours and an undiagnosed brain injury, Larkin died by suicide on a Sunday morning in 2017, dressed in a SEAL Team shirt with the medals he earned in service next to him. (Price, 2/9)

The Associated Press: Air Force Suicides Surged Last Year To Highest In 3 Decades
Suicides in the active-duty Air Force surged last year to the highest total in at least three decades, even as the other military services saw their numbers stabilize or decline, according to officials and unpublished preliminary data. The reasons for the Air Force increase are not fully understood, coming after years of effort by all of the military services to counter a problem that seems to defy solution and that parallels increases in suicide in the U.S. civilian population. (Burns, 2/8)

ABC News: HIV-Positive Airmen Fighting To Stay In The Air Force In First-Of-Its Kind Case
LGBTQ advocates are preparing to go to trial against the U.S. government over its policies on HIV-positive service members. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two young Air Force members who said they were discharged after being diagnosed with HIV in contravention with military rules that do not call for automatic dismissal due to the medical condition. This is especially true, they say, in light of treatments with commonly available medications that allow the virus to be rendered undetectable and therefore not transmittable. The service members notched a victory in January when a federal appeals court upheld an injunction that allowed the case to move forward, but Lambda Legal, one of two advocacy groups representing the men, said the battle is just beginning. (Allen, 2/10)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Epidemic Reaches Bleak Milestone, Exceeding SARS Toll
The coronavirus epidemic in China surpassed a grim milestone on Sunday with a death toll that exceeds that of the SARS outbreak 17 years ago, a development that coincided with news that World Health Organization experts might soon be in the country to help stanch the crisis. The outbreak has killed at least 908 people in China in the month since the first death was reported in January in Wuhan, the city where the novel coronavirus emerged in December, apparently in a wholesale food market. Two people have died outside China. (Myers and Zraick, 2/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Outbreak Has Killed More People Than SARS
The outbreak of SARS killed 774 people after its emergence in southern China in 2002 and 2003, mostly in mainland China and Hong Kong. The coronavirus now surpasses SARS in both the number of confirmed cases and fatalities. China’s cabinet-level National Health Commission on Sunday confirmed 3,062 new cases of infection, up from 2,656 on Saturday, bringing the total to 40,171. SARS infected 8,098 people during its outbreak. (Woo, 2/9)

The Associated Press: Mainland China Virus Cases Rise Again After Earlier Decline
Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grow by 97 to 908, with at least two more outside the country. On Monday, China's health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland's total to 40,171. (McDonald, 2/8)

The New York Times: As Deaths Mount, China Tries To Speed Up Coronavirus Testing
Dr. Zhang Xiaochun, who works in a hospital in Wuhan, was in dismay. Her patient had been running a fever for nine days, and a CT scan showed signs of pneumonia — symptoms of the new coronavirus sweeping across the central Chinese city. But a test to confirm the diagnosis would take at least two days. To Dr. Zhang, that meant a delay in isolating her patient — and getting potentially lifesaving treatment. This past week, Dr. Zhang started a social media campaign with an urgent call to simplify screening for the new coronavirus. (Wee, 2/9)

The New York Times: C.D.C. And W.H.O. Offers To Help China Have Been Ignored For Weeks
For more than a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been offering to send a team of experts to China to observe its coronavirus outbreak and help if it can. Normally, teams from the agency’s Epidemic Intelligence Service can be in the air within 24 hours. But no invitation has come — and no one can publicly explain why. (McNeil and Kanno-Youngs, 2/7)

The Washington Post: WHO Has Praised China's Coronavirus Response. That Baffles Some Health Crisis Experts.
As a mysterious virus spread through Wuhan last month, the World Health Organization had a message: China has got this. And as the coronavirus swept across the Chinese heartland and jumped to other nations, the WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, applauded the “transparency” of the Chinese response. Even as evidence mounted that Chinese officials had silenced whistleblowers and undercounted cases, Tedros took a moment to extol the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Rauhala, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: China’s Leader Wages A War On Two Fronts—Viral And Political
Faced with a coronavirus outbreak that so far has killed 630 people and infected more than 31,000 world-wide, China’s President Xi Jinping has mobilized the vast state machinery. China has quarantined entire cities, thrown up hospitals in days, and deployed military doctors and Communist Party members to the front lines, a massive effort Mr. Xi likens to a military campaign. That effort is intended to beat the coronavirus outbreak, and also win a battle on a second front—against the most intense volleys of public rage since he took power in 2012. (Page and Wei, 2/7)

Bloomberg: China’s Xi Appears in Public; Death Toll Hits 910: Virus Update
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Chaoyang district in Beijing Monday, according to state-run media Xinhua, which published photos of Xi wearing a mask and having his temperature taken. Meanwhile, the number of infections among those aboard a cruise liner quarantined off Japan has almost doubled to more than 130, the biggest outbreak outside China. (2/9)

WBUR: Critics Say China Has Suppressed And Censored Information In Coronavirus Outbreak
China's state censors have clamped down this week on digital items related to the outbreak of a new coronavirus, removing local news reports that expose the dire circumstances in the city of Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak, and scrubbing social media platforms of posts from Wuhan residents who say they are ill and desperate for medical care and supplies. Those restrictions were put to the test on Friday after the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, one of the eight whistleblowers reprimanded by police for warning others about a mysterious pneumonialike disease in December. (Feng and Cheng, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Pushed To The Brink In Wuhan: ‘I Just Want To Save His Life’
Patients packed the waiting room at Wuhan’s Tongji Hospital on Friday, intravenous drips in their arms. Medical staff wheeled patients slowly through the crowd. In the hallways, the sick lay curled up on cots, hooked to oxygen tanks. Doctors and nurses in full-body protective suits, gloves, goggles and masks waded through, changing IVs and trying to determine who was in most urgent need of medical attention. (Deng and Woo, 2/7)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘I’m So Sorry’: Coronavirus Survivor’s Cross-China Travel Left Dozens Quarantined
Looking back, Shen Wufu thinks he must have caught the virus during a few hours in Wuhan. The 32-year-old architect briefly stopped off in the city on Jan. 18 to hold a business meeting as he headed from northern China to the south for a family visit during China’s weeklong Lunar New Year holiday. It had been more than two weeks since China announced a mysterious pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan and 11 days since it confirmed the cause: a new type of coronavirus that has now claimed more lives—over 900 in mainland China as of Saturday—than severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, did nearly two decades ago. (Page, 2/10)

Reuters: In China's Locked-Down Coronavirus City, Grocery Delivery Is A Lifeline
Reluctant to go outside for fear of catching the new coronavirus sweeping the Chinese city of Wuhan, Edward Wang found a lifeline: grocery delivery services provided by local retailers. But with hundreds of thousands of other people in Wuhan also stuck inside their homes doing the same thing, and retailers struggling to get hold of their staff, the service became overloaded. (Pailliez, 2/8)

The New York Times: Her Grandmother Got The Coronavirus. Then So Did The Whole Family.
Bella Zhang hung an intravenous drip on a spindly tree branch and slumped down on a large stone planter outside the crowded hospital. Her mother and brother sat wearily beside her, their shoulders sagging, both also hooked up to their own drips. In recent days, Ms. Zhang, 25, a perfume saleswoman with tinted blue hair, had watched helplessly as one by one, her relatives were sickened by the coronavirus that was tearing through her hometown, Wuhan. First, her grandmother got it, then it spread to her grandfather and mother. She and her younger brother were next. (Qin, 2/9)

The Hill: Chinese Health Officials Label New Coronavirus NCP
Chinese health officials have temporarily designated the recent strain of coronavirus the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, or NCP. The country’s National Health Commission announced the name at a news conference on Saturday in an attempt to give people an alternative to referring to the illness as Wuhan coronavirus, after the city where it is believed to have originated in an open-air market. Locals have expressed frustration with the city’s name being associated with the deadly virus and the resultant stigma, prompting officials to announce the temporary name, which will be replaced by a permanent designation at a later date, CNN reported. (Budryk, 2/9)

Bloomberg: WHO Is Watching 10 Chinese Provinces As Possible Virus Hot Spots 
The World Health Organization is closely watching other Chinese regions for signs that new infection hot spots are emerging as the deadly coronavirus outbreak spreads beyond the epicenter of Hubei. The 10 provinces, which include Zhejiang, Guangdong and Henan, have seen numbers of cases slowly rise, said WHO’s China Representative Gauden Galea, in an interview on Bloomberg TV Monday. “Those are the numbers to watch,” he said, adding that while the situation seemed under control it is too early to say the spread of the novel coronavirus has peaked. The global health agency’s focus on more Chinese provinces highlights the escalating battle against a pathogen that has claimed more lives than SARS in 2003. It has so far killed more than 900 people and infected over 40,000, mostly in China. As China ostensibly returns to work this week after a Lunar New Year holiday that was extended due to the outbreak, infections are still growing by the thousands everyday. (Du and Amin, 2/10)

The New York Times: First American Dies Of Coronavirus, Raising Questions About U.S. Response
A United States citizen died from the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, American officials said on Saturday. It was the first known American death from the illness, and was likely to add to diplomatic friction over Beijing’s response to the epidemic. The death is also certain to raise questions over whether the Trump administration and the State Department in particular have taken sufficient action to ensure the safety of Americans in China and to aid in the evacuation of those who want to leave. (Zhong and Wong, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: American Citizen Diagnosed With Coronavirus Dies In China
The person was 60 years old and died Thursday at Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Saturday. He provided no further details. “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” he said. “Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.” A spokesperson at Jinyintan Hospital referred questions to the Wuhan foreign affairs office, which didn’t answer phone calls. (Woo, 2/8)

CNN: American Dies Of Coronavirus In China As The Last Scheduled Chartered Flights Evacuate Hundreds Of US Citizens
In a statement to CNN, the Chinese Foreign Ministry extended its condolences and described the patient as a "Chinese-American." The Chinese government had kept in contact with the patient's family in China, the statement said, and was working to assist the US and the family in "dealing with the aftermath." While most of the deaths have been limited to China, the coronavirus has raced across the continents, infecting more than 30,000 people, paralyzing the world's second-biggest economy and trapping residents at home and in quarantine. (Karimi, Andone and Lee, 2/8)

The Hill: First American Death Due To Coronavirus Reported In China
The U.S. in recent days has moved to evacuate hundreds of Americans from Wuhan amid the outbreak. On Friday, two flights from the city carrying about 300 U.S. citizens, family members and other passengers arrived in the U.S. (Byrnes, 2/8)

The New York Times: Inundated With Flu Patients, U.S. Hospitals Brace For Coronavirus
With an intense flu season in full swing, hundreds of thousands of coughing and feverish patients have already overwhelmed emergency rooms around the United States. Now, hospitals are bracing for the potential spread of coronavirus that could bring another surge of patients. So far, only a dozen people in the United States have become infected with the novel coronavirus, but an outbreak could severely strain the nation’s hospitals. (Abelson and Thomas, 2/7)

Stat: U.S. Hospitals Call All Hands On Deck To Brace For More Coronavirus Cases
Hospitals across the country are convening near-daily meetings to check in on their emergency preparedness plans. And they’ve called all hands on deck. Nearly everyone — from physicians and nurses to public affairs representatives and the employees responsible for ordering supplies and keeping the hospital clean — is involved in making sure a hospital’s existing emergency plans are up to date. U.S. health officials have stressed that the risk to the American public remains low. About 99% of the more than 28,000 cases have occurred in China, where the outbreak began. There have been 12 people in the U.S. infected with the virus, 10 of whom had recently traveled to China and two of whom had been in close contact with two of the initial U.S. patients. “But as we project outward with the potential for this to be a much longer situation, one of the things that we’re actively working on is projecting the long-term needs for our health care system,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Wednesday. (Thielking, 2/7)

CNN: President Trump Tweeted The Coronavirus Could Weaken As Weather Warms. Scientists Say It's Too Early To Know
On Friday morning, President Trump tweeted about his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the response to the coronavirus outbreak. Trump praised Xi as "strong, sharp and powerfully focused" on containing the virus, and added that he thinks Xi will be successful, "especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone." But are changing seasons and warmer weather the break the world is waiting for? Infectious disease experts tell CNN that it's too early to say, and nobody knows enough about the novel coronavirus to make assessments about its behavior. "It would be reckless to assume that things will quiet down in spring and summer," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. "We don't really understand the basis of seasonality, and of course we know we absolutely nothing about this particular virus," Hotez said. (Kounang, 2/7)

The Hill: Trump Health Officials Defend Coronavirus Quarantine, Travel Restrictions
U.S. health officials on Friday defended the Trump administration’s quarantine and travel restrictions that were implemented in response to the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. “The travel restrictions that we put in place in consultation with the president were very measured and incremental,” Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told reporters. “These were the uniform recommendations of the career public health officials here at HHS.” Last week, the administration declared a public health emergency because of the virus, and imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine for any U.S. citizen who recently traveled to China’s Hubei province — the epicenter of the outbreak. Trump also imposed a ban on foreign nationals entering the U.S. who traveled to China in the past 14 days. (Weixel, 2/7)

Politico: Chinese Diplomat Pushes Back Against Coronavirus 'Rumors' From GOP Senator
Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai on Sunday pushed back on what he called “suspicion” and “rumors” about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus. In an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation,“ Cui acknowledged that “a lot is still unknown, and our scientists, Chinese scientist, American scientists, scientists of other countries are doing their best to learn more about the virus.” (Beavers, 2/9)

The Hill: Chinese Ambassador On Cotton Coronavirus Comments: 'It's Very Harmful To Stir Up' Unsubstantiated Rumors
“For one thing, this will create panic,” Cui said, adding that it could also foment xenophobia and racist discrimination. “There are all kinds of speculation and rumors,” he added, noting that there were also conspiracy theories about the virus originating in the United States. “How can we believe all these crazy things?” (Budryk, 2/9)

The Hill: US To Spend Up To $66M In Efforts To Counter Coronavirus: Health Officials
The federal government expects to spend up to $66 million in its initial response to the coronavirus that has sickened 37,000 worldwide, including 12 individuals in the U.S., according to a notice sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to Congress Sunday. The Trump administration declared a public health emergency last month over the virus, which was first detected in Wuhan, China, but has since spread to other countries. HHS expects its initial response will cost up to $66 million — more than half of the funds in the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund — a special fund created by Congress to help the agency immediately respond to outbreaks. (Hellmann, 2/9)

The Washington Post: Americans Quarantined For Coronavirus On Military Bases Share Experiences
Jarred Evans has explored every inch of the Air Force barracks where he has lived under federal quarantine for the past eight days. He has measured out its exact length: 0.45 miles. He has run through every stairwell, hallway and parking lot row hundreds of times, trying to keep in shape and stay sane. “It’s all in the mind. You have to stay mentally strong,” said Evans, 27, who was playing American football professionally in Wuhan, China, before he became one of 195 evacuees now living at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif. (Wan, Sun and Satija, 2/6)

The Washington Post: On America’s College Campuses, The Coronavirus Delivers A Chill
Some students of Asian descent at Arizona State University felt a chill in the campus atmosphere soon after the disclosure last month that a person connected to the school tested positive for the novel coronavirus. It struck them that a routine cough or sneeze might draw sidelong looks from classmates worried about getting infected from a virus believed to have originated in China. (Anderson and Moriah, Balingit, 2/8)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: How Summit County Public Health Agencies Would Isolate, Quarantine Any Confirmed Cases Of Coronavirus
Summit County Public Health has made public its plan of action in the event that a confirmed case of the Wuhan coronavirus is discovered in the county. The one-page, risk-assessment guide covers isolation and quarantine procedures the agency would follow to protect the public from even one confirmed case or the discovery of someone with a high risk of exposure, said Epidemiology Coordinator Joan Hall. (Goist, 2/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Novel Coronavirus Less Deadly Than Past Epidemics, Local Experts Say
As the death toll of the novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, surpasses 640 in China, local infectious disease specialists say the mortality rate of the virus remains far below that of past outbreaks. “Although the number of infections, particularly in mainland China, is increasing day over day, the proportion of deaths related to infection is staying about the same,” said Dr. Amy Ray, medical director of infection prevention and employee health at MetroHealth Medical Center. (Christ and Washington, 2/7)

CNN: The Flu Is Widespread Across The US
While much of the world's attention has been focused on the Wuhan coronavirus, there's another virus that has been keeping doctors offices around the country incredibly busy this time of year. Flu activity continued to increase and remained high in the United States in the week ending February 1, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is after dramatic drops in flu activity during the first two weeks of 2020. Flu virus activity was widespread in nearly every US region, with high levels of activity in 45 states and Puerto Rico. Influenza A and influenza B strains are approximately equal for the season overall, the CDC said, but in recent weeks there has been an increase in influenza A. Influenza B viruses are the most commonly reported flu viruses among children, including babies, and young adults up to age 24, while influenza A is most commonly reported among people 25 to 64 and 65 and older. (Christensen, 2/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Flu More Of A Threat In Georgia Than New Coronavirus
Thousands of miles from Atlanta, a new and mysterious coronavirus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December and continues to grab headlines here and around the globe. As the number of people sick and dying from the virus soars in China, worried U.S. residents are buying up surgical masks — in bulk. But there’s a much bigger threat closer to home, public health experts say. The flu season came early, raged hard, died down a bit and is rearing up again. (Oliviero, 2/7)

The New York Times: A New Martyr Puts A Face On China’s Deepening Coronavirus Crisis
More than 700 people have died. Tens of thousands are infected. Millions are living under lockdown, and the government has sought to silence complaints. But what provoked an online revolt in China on Friday, the fiercest assault on the censors in almost a decade, began with the death of one man: the doctor who tried to warn others about the coronavirus. The deluge of mourning and anger at the death of the doctor, Li Wenliang — from the same virus he was reprimanded for mentioning — at times overwhelmed China’s sophisticated censorship and propaganda systems. (Buckley and Mozur, 2/7)

The Washington Post: As Anger Explodes Over Doctor’s Death, Beijing Firm Gives Chinese Government Advice
When sorrow and rage erupted on China's Internet early Friday after the Wuhan "whistleblower doctor" Li Wenliang succumbed to the coronavirus, many political observers saw one of the biggest challenges to the Communist Party in years. In Beijing, Qi Zhongxiang saw an opportunity. Within 24 hours, Qi and his 150-person company, Womin Technology, quickly compiled a “public sentiment” report drawing on posts from more than 100 social media sources and submitted it, along with their recommendations, to the Communist Party’s central leadership. (Shih, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: In China, Anger Simmers Over Coronavirus Doctor’s Death
Chinese online commenters have been calling on the Wuhan government to apologize to Dr. Li for having reprimanded him for sending warnings about the virus. Dr. Li himself contracted the virus, and as news of his declining health spread online Thursday evening, a hashtag calling on the Wuhan government to apologize to him spread quickly on China’s Twitter-like Weibo service. Public anger grew further after the hashtag appeared to be censored. (Cheng, 2/7)

The New York Times: He Warned Of Coronavirus. Here’s What He Told Us Before He Died.
The doctor who was among the first to warn about the coronavirus outbreak in late December — only to be silenced by the police — died Friday after becoming infected with the virus, the hospital treating him reported. The death of the 34-year-old doctor, Li Wenliang, set off an outpouring of grief and anger on social media, with commenters on social media demanding an apology from the authorities to Dr. Li and his family. (2/7)

The Associated Press: Doctor’s Death Highlights Dangers On Front Lines Of Outbreak
The death of a doctor who issued an early warning about the new virus in China represents a grim reminder that the first health care workers to recognize new outbreaks are sometimes among their earliest victims. Dr. Li Wenliang's death underlined the dangers health workers have faced in similar epidemics, including SARS and Ebola. (Cheng, 2/7)

The New York Times: As Virus Cases Rise On Quarantined Cruise Ship, Passengers Are On Edge
As the Diamond Princess cruise ship steamed back into port in Yokohama, Japan, on Sunday morning after a night of quarantine at sea, passengers lucky enough to have windows and balconies could see fire trucks and 15 ambulances waiting for the ship. It was an unnerving sign for the nearly 3,700 people who had been confined for six days on the ship, which has become host to the highest concentration of coronavirus cases outside China. (Rich and Yamamitsu, 2/9)

The Wall Street Journal: On A Coronavirus Cruise, A Knock On The Door: ‘You Tested Positive’
Rebecca and Kent Frasure were sitting down to breakfast Friday morning when a stream of ambulances pulled up beside the cruise ship docked at the Yokohama port where they were quarantined for two weeks because of the novel coronavirus. “Oh, there must be more people,” Mr. Frasure remembers telling his wife. The couple from Forest Grove, Ore., had watched twice previously that week from the balcony of their room on the Diamond Princess as ambulances spirited away people who had tested positive for the virus. (Bhattacharya, 2/9)

ABC News: 23 Americans Aboard Cruise Ship In Japan Contract Novel Coronavirus, As Global Death Toll Rises To 910
U.S. citizen Rebecca Frasure has been in the isolation ward of a Tokyo hospital since Friday. Frasure and her husband were supposed to be enjoying themselves on a cruise around Asia, but she's now among the 135 people aboard the Diamond Princess who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "I haven't seen the outside of my room since I got here," Frasure told ABC News in a telephone interview from her hospital room on Monday. "Just never think that something like this is going to happen when you're just on vacation, living life. So, yeah, it was pretty shocking." (Winsor, 2/10)

Stat: WHO: Coronavirus Transmission Outside Of China Could Increase
The World Health Organization’s director-general cautioned Saturday that transmission of the new coronavirus outside of China may increase and countries should prepare for that possibility.“It’s slow now, but it may accelerate,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference in Geneva. “So while it’s still slow there is a window of opportunity that we should use to the maximum in order to have a better outcome, and further decrease the progress and stop it.” Tedros’s warning came after health authorities in Singapore announced they had diagnosed the infection in a man with no travel history to China and no known link to other cases in Singapore. (Branswell, 2/8)

The Associated Press: ‘We’re Definitely Not Prepared’: Africa Braces For New Virus
At a Chinese-run hospital in Zambia, some employees watched as people who recently returned from China showed up with coughs but were not placed in isolation. A doctor tending to those patients has stopped coming to work, and health workers have been ordered not to speak publicly about the new virus that has killed hundreds around the world. The virus that has spread through much of China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live, as some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak. (Kang, Sichalwe and Anna, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: North Korea Deepens Isolation Amid Virus Threat
The challenge to contain the coronavirus looks particularly daunting in North Korea, one of the world’s poorest and most isolated countries. North Korea was among the first countries last month to block the entry of foreign tourists, which come mostly from neighboring China, the source of the outbreak. It has since cut off trade with China, its main economic benefactor and ally and limited diplomatic travel, according to North Korean state media and diplomats. The country hasn’t reported any cases of the deadly coronavirus. (Martin, 2/10)

CNN: The Coronavirus Is Already Hurting The World Economy. Here's Why It Could Get Really Scary
China has become an indispensable part of global business since the 2003 SARS outbreak. It's grown into the world's factory, churning out products such as the iPhone and driving demand for commodities like oil and copper. The country also boasts hundreds of millions of wealthy consumers who spend big on luxury products, tourism and cars. China's economy accounted for roughly 4% of world GDP in 2003; it now makes up 16% of global output.SARS sickened 8,098 people and killed 774 before it was contained. The new coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has already killed more than 900 people and infected over 40,000 across at least 25 countries and territories. Chinese officials have locked down Wuhan and several other cities, but the virus continues to spread. SARS didn't sink markets, but coronavirus might. (Riley and Horowitz, 2/10)

Bloomberg: ‘Nightmare’ for Global Tech: Virus Fallout Is Just Beginning
As Chinese-based manufacturers begin to restart factories Monday, no one knows for sure when they’ll be back at full-speed -- or what sort of chaos may ensue. Tech producers led by Foxconn, which makes the majority of the world’s iPhones from Zhengzhou a few hundred miles from the coronavirus outbreak’s epicenter, had begun preparing investors for the potential bedlam when hundreds of thousands make their way back to factories. Apple Inc.’s most important partner warned investors of the daunting task of securing enough workers despite widespread transport blockades, quarantining thousands, and the “nightmare” scenario of an on-campus epidemic that could shut down production altogether. Last week, it took the unprecedented step of warning workers to stay away from its Shenzhen headquarters till further notice as government inspectors vet its containment procedures, Bloomberg News reported. (Wu and Gao, 2/9)

Bloomberg: Singapore Braces As Coronavirus Cases Emerge In Finance Hub
Singapore’s coronavirus outbreak has spread to its financial center, with some staff at major companies being told to work from home for at least the next few days and temperature screening checkpoints set up at the front doors of several towers. A worker at an unnamed firm in Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1 has been confirmed as being infected with the virus over the weekend, according to a circular to tenants by the building’s manager Raffles Quay Asset Management Pte. Another case at nearby Clifford Centre, in the heart of the central business district, is an employee of United Industrial Corp, according to an advisory to tenants in the building where UIC is located. (Chanjaroen, Mokhtar and Chia, 2/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Map: Tracking The Wuhan Coronavirus
The coronavirus in two months has sickened thousands in China and reached more than two dozen countries. (Wu, Wang and Moriarty, 2/9)

Stat: Fluctuating Funding And Flagging Interest Hurt Coronavirus Research
The waxing and waning interest in coronaviruses has perpetuated gaps in the scientific understanding of the pathogens. Scientists don’t know how long people remain immune to a coronavirus after being infected. There are still looming questions about transmission. There aren’t any drugs approved specifically to treat coronaviruses. Work begun to test existing drugs to see if they were effective against SARS was abandoned when that threat faded; having that information now would have given doctors in China help they badly need. “When this [new] epidemic began, I think there were three or four of us who answered the majority of the calls. Because there are very few of us who are really doing this,” said Dr. Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa. “I’ve trained a lot of people. Most of them don’t go into coronavirology,” he added. (Branswell and Thielking, 2/10)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Came From Bats Or Possibly Pangolins Amid ‘Acceleration’ Of New Zoonotic Infections
The outbreak of a new kind of coronavirus in central China is loaded with mysteries, and among the biggest is how the virus made the jump from an animal host into humans. This global health crisis is a reminder of the danger of zoonosis — the ability of pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, to enter the human population from an animal host. The coronavirus is similar to two viruses that circulate in bats, but it might have skipped through another species before infecting humans. (Achenbach, 2/7)

Los Angeles Times: Misinformation About Coronavirus Abounds. Correcting It Can Backfire
Stamping out falsehoods about the coronavirus will require much more than blocking a Twitter account. Indeed, thanks to the way we are wired to process information about new and mysterious threats, it may be all but impossible, experts say. “Misinformation is a worrisome consequence of any emerging epidemic,” said Dartmouth College political scientist Brendan Nyhan, who studies conspiracy theories and those who believe them. “But the assumption that facts and science alone are going to be decisive in countering misinformation is wrong, because they often aren’t.” (Healy, 2/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Concerns Spread Faster And Further Than Pathogen
A deadly new coronavirus has spread to two dozen countries from China. So far, Iceland isn’t one of them. That hasn’t stopped the country of 363,000 people from preparing a building called “Place X” to quarantine hundreds of people, should the need arise. Iceland has also established a coordination center, where emergency and government officials meet for daily briefings. Local officials in many remote corners—from Iceland to Antarctica—are rushing to prepare for the possible arrival of the virus, a reflection of China’s global reach and how quickly fear is spreading. (MacDonald, 2/9)

Stat: Coronavirus Fears Trigger Run On Supplies, Shortages For Health Workers
Concern about the new coronavirus spreading in China has triggered a run on global supplies of equipment used to protect health workers from infection, the World Health Organization said Friday, with stockpiles depleted and producers reporting four- to six-month waits for new supplies. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said demand for personal protective equipment, or PPE as it is called, is 100 times higher than normal and prices have skyrocketed to 20 times usual rates. Tedros said “widespread, inappropriate use of PPE outside of patient care” is the cause, and he urged the public as well as all parties in the supply chain to adjust their practices to ensure fair and rational use of supplies. (Branswell, 2/7)

NPR: Will Coronavirus Quarantines Help Or Hurt? A Look Back At Leprosy
Hundreds of people returning to the U.S. from Wuhan, China face mandatory two-week quarantines. And in China, the government is rounding up those who show signs of the deadly coronavirus, to be confined in massive quarantine centers. Protecting public health is a delicate balance between the rights and freedom of individuals and the safety of society. But past efforts to isolate disease show that such moves — as well-intentioned as they might be — don't always go as planned. And perhaps offer a cautionary lesson. (Fessler, 2/7)

The New York Times: Lessons That Go Beyond The Coronavirus Outbreak
News of coronavirus infections is causing many people to panic. It’s unclear how widespread or deadly this illness is going to be, but for once, instead of telling you not to worry, I’m going to suggest riding that wave. Channel that fear into useful action — and find the lessons that go beyond this outbreak. There are absolutely things we can do to protect people from infection by this novel respiratory virus, which has caused hundreds of deaths in Wuhan, China, and has spread to other countries. Some involve a societal response, but others are very simple. (Carroll, 2/10)

Modern Healthcare: Coronavirus Should Taper Off By April, S&P Predicts
The novel coronavirus that threatens to hobble the global economy, causing travel restrictions and the closure of some U.S. retail stores in China, is expected to stabilize in April, according to a projection from S&P Global Ratings. S&P's analysts said a worst-case scenario would involve the virus spreading into late May, with an optimistic prediction calling for an end to transmissions in March. The firm said the impact on economic activity in Asia could peak around the middle of the year before an economic rebound in 2021. (Lamantia, 2/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Vaping-Related Deaths Fall, But Families Still Look For Answers
Kimberly Boyd keeps a stack of her son’s medical files on her dining-room table, in neatly organized folders. In a Ziploc bag, there are some of the nicotine vaping cartridges he used at their Orlando, Fla., home before the 28-year-old died in November. Across the country, in Seattle, Robin Hurt is waiting for a response to a public-record request she filed with the state’s medical examiner in Oregon, asking for the autopsy report on her 23-year-old grandson, who unexpectedly died in October after having recently taken up vaping. (Ansari, 2/9)

Stat: Lottery Like No Other Offers A Cutting-Edge Medicine — With Lives On The Line
The treatment, a gene therapy called Zolgensma, is designed for children like Wynter who have a neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA. Without it or other treatments, those with the most serious type are likely to die as babies. It was first approved by U.S. regulators only last year, and is not yet available in other countries. The lottery was devised by the drug’s manufacturer, Novartis, to give families in those places a chance to get it through a novel form of compassionate use — a way to get medications that have not been approved — while they wait. Fifty doses are slotted to be given away for free in the first half of the year, with up to 100 total. The first drawing occurred Monday. (Joseph and Silverman, 2/7)

The Washington Post: WHO’s Aggressive, Three-Part Strategy Aims To Make Cervical Cancer A Thing Of The Past
In just 35 years, the United States managed to reduce cervical cancer rates by 54 percent with the help of Pap smears. Now, human papillomavirus vaccination, double screening and more effective treatment might be able do away with the cancer. In two new studies in the Lancet, the World Health Organization lays out how. The studies model what might happen if the United Nations’ health agency commits to a three-part strategy to wipe out cervical cancer. (Blakemore, 2/8)

The New York Times: Half Of Us Face Obesity, Dire Projections Show
Climate change is not the only source of dire projections for the coming decade. Perhaps just as terrifying from both a health and an economic perspective is a predicted continued rise in obesity, including severe obesity, among American adults. A prestigious team of medical scientists has projected that by 2030, nearly one in two adults will be obese, and nearly one in four will be severely obese. (Brody, 2/10)

WBUR: Preparing For The End Of The World, On A Budget
A Harvard Ph.D. and former military intelligence officer with 30 years of experience, Miller would know a good defensible spot when he sees it. Miller is a self-described "prepper," someone who makes active preparations to survive the fall of human civilization. The nationwide prepper community is often painted as composed of conspiracy-crazed eccentrics, he said, thanks in large part to television shows such as the National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers. (Boyce, 2/10)

The Washington Post: For Aging, Strength Training Is Vital In Avoiding Injuries And Staying Independent
When an intruder broke into the Rochester, N.Y., home of 82-year-old Willie Murphy a few months ago, he was met with a big surprise. Murphy, a diminutive but powerlifting woman, quickly jumped into action, using her strength to pummel the intruder with a broom and send him running for the door. Not surprisingly, the story went viral as people embraced the images of the elderly Murphy flexing her muscles for the cameras. (Loudin, 2/9)

Stat: The Vodka Trial: In Search Of A Treatment For Vocal Disorders, A Researcher Puts Patient Anecdotes To The Test
Pharmacists had prepared the therapy specifically for her, in little reddish bottles that reminded her of liquid penicillin. A research assistant gave her careful instructions. But Feeley already knew exactly what do to do. “What do you do with a shot of vodka? Basically, you pour it down your neck. So I drank it and then banged the bottle on the table,” Feeley said. Usually, she’s more of a wine or daiquiri sort of person, but she’d put aside her taste — and a few days of her time — to help answer a question that had been rattling around Simonyan’s mind. It had first appeared about 15 years ago, when Simonyan was doing neuroscience research in New York City, trying to understand exactly how the brain choreographs the intricate dance of muscle and air that gives rise to speech. (Boodman, 2/10)

CNN: Women Who Have General Anesthesia During C-Sections Are More Likely To Experience Postpartum Depression, Study Finds
Women who have general anesthesia during C-sections are significantly more likely to experience severe post-partum depression resulting in hospitalization, suicidal thoughts or self-harm, according to a study published last week. That might be because general anesthesia can delay breastfeeding and skin-to-skin interaction between the mother and infant, and often results in more acute and persistent pain after childbirth, researchers from Columbia University explained. "These situations are often coupled with a new mother's dissatisfaction with anesthesia in general, and can lead to negative mental health outcomes," said Jean Guglielminotti, lead author and an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Columbia, in a news release. (Kaur, 2/8)

Kaiser Health News: How Lifesaving Organs For Transplant Go Missing In Transit
When a human heart was left behind by mistake on a Southwest Airlines plane in 2018, transplant officials downplayed the incident. They emphasized that the organ was used for valves and tissues, not to save the life of a waiting patient, so the delay was inconsequential. “It got to us on time, so that was the most important thing,” said Doug Wilson, an executive vice president for LifeNet Health, which runs the Seattle-area operation that processed the tissue. (Aleccia, 2/10)

NPR: A Cough Cure For Kids? Try Honey
If you don't have little kids, or it's been a while, let me just break down for you why kids' coughs can be a truly miserable problem that can drive you to madness. Imagine this: Your kid's coughing — it's almost always worse at night — then they start crying because they're tired and can't sleep with all the coughing. The coughing and crying means that not only do they not sleep, but you also don't sleep — no one in the house sleeps — and this can go on for weeks. (Simmons-Duffin, 2/8)

Kaiser Health News: Finding Connections And Comfort At The Local Cafe
Doug and Connie Moore met at seminary. He was a student and pastor of an inner-city congregation, and she was a student and a public health nurse. “She’s the one who drew me to the needs of the poor,” Doug says. The pair wed in 1974, and Doug became a pastor at the First Evangelical Free Church of Los Angeles in 1983. They became deeply involved in their community and dedicated much of their free time to teaching English as a second language, creating tutoring programs and mentoring students in poor communities here and abroad. (De Marco, 2/10)

The Washington Post: How Anxiety And Midlife Crisis Are Playing Out Among Gen-X Women
Three years ago, Ada Calhoun couldn’t sleep. The 41-year-old writer stared at her ceiling wondering why her hard-won accomplishments had left her feeling exhausted, anxious and wanting. She had written two well-regarded books and a long list of magazine articles. She was married and her son had just been accepted to a great public middle school. From the outside, she knew, her life looked good. (Schaaff, 2/8)

USA Today: Mom Of HBO's Bleed Out Filmmaker Steve Burrows Dies 11 Years After Hip Surgery, Brain Damage
The producer and director of an HBO documentary about his mother's medical errors at a Milwaukee hospital went to Capitol Hill last week to show clips of the film. Three nights later, Steve Burrows' mother, Judie, died at 79 after an 11-year struggle to survive. Friday, the Milwaukee medical examiner's office said her death was due to complications of repeat hip surgeries. (O'Donnell, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: House Ways & Means Committee Releases Surprise Billing Proposal
Leaders of the House Ways & Means Committee on Friday released bipartisan legislation to ban balance billing that excludes benchmark payment and mediation threshold policies that have drawn ire from hospitals and specialty physician groups. The Federation of American Hospitals announced its support of the Ways & Means legislation on Friday. "The plan authored by Chairman (Richard) Neal and Ranking Member (Kevin) Brady provides certainty for patients while enabling the healthcare community to settle payments without unnecessary rate setting," said FAH CEO Chip Kahn. (Cohrs, 2/7)

The Hill: Ex-HHS Chief Threatens To Vote 'No' On Surprise Medical Billing Measure
Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), a former secretary of Health and Human Services, said Friday she plans to vote against a bipartisan measure to protect patients from surprise medical bills unless it is changed. The comments from Shalala are a sign of the divisions within both parties over the legislation. Shalala said she is worried the bill from House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and ranking member Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) would harm hospitals in her district. The bill is slated for a vote in committee next week, and Shalala indicated other lawmakers have concerns as well. (Sullivan, 2/7)

In other health care industry and costs news —

The New York Times: What They Paid To Make A Baby (Or 2)
Not everyone who uses I.V.F. winds up with a baby. Five families who did reveal their out-of-pocket costs. (Rothman and Feinberg, 2/7)

Bloomberg: Family Builds $3.8 Billion Fortune, One Pint Of Blood At A Time
Wedged between a dental office and a liquor store in a Pennsylvania strip mall, the place hardly looks like a cogwheel of international commerce. But that’s precisely what it is: part of a far-flung corporation that’s raking in hundreds of millions a year thanks in large part to hard-pressed people like Armstrong. In fact, the blood plasma business is so good these days that the family behind this company, Barcelona-based Grifols SA, has amassed a $3.8 billion fortune, according to calculations by Bloomberg. The Grifols family declined to comment. Over the past decade, as international demand for plasma has soared and many Americans have struggled to make ends meet, plasma collection in the U.S. has more than doubled, according to the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association, which represents the industry. Grifols is riding the wave. The company’s shares have climbed 37% in the past year, almost four times more than Spain’s IBEX 35 Index. (Vickers, 2/10)

Bloomberg: Google-Fitbit Deal Poses Test For Merger Cops Eyeing Data Giants
Google’s plan to buy Fitbit Inc. is running into a wall of antitrust and privacy worries in the U.S., Europe and Australia, where competition officials are increasingly wary of how internet giants can exert control over data to cement their dominance. Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of the maker of smartwatches and fitness trackers, announced in November, would add wearable devices to the internet giant’s hardware business. It also advances the ambitions of Google parent Alphabet Inc. to expand in the health-care sector by adding data from Fitbit’s more than 28 million users. Google has struck cloud-service partnerships with hospital groups and signed a deal with Mayo Clinic to build new artificial intelligence tools. (McLaughlin and White, 2/10)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Feds Push Georgia Plan To Subsidize Health Insurance To Next Step
The federal government says Georgia is on track with its proposal to lower health insurance premiums by paying government subsidies. It is inviting the public to comment on the idea over the next month. The “waiver” proposal would cost the state more than $100 million annually, state officials estimated. (Hart, 2/7)

The Associated Press: Kansas Anti-Abortion Measure Fails; Medicaid Plan Targeted
Republican lawmakers in Kansas failed to get a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot Friday, and abortion opponents responded by moving aggressively to block a Medicaid expansion plan backed by Democrats and GOP moderates. Neither side expected Friday's vote in the Kansas House to be the last word on whether the abortion measure ultimately is put to a vote in a statewide election, when a simple majority would change the state constitution. (2/7)

The Hill: Kansas State House Narrowly Rejects Anti-Abortion Measure
Supporters of the amendment left the roll call open for more than five hours to try to convince skeptics to flip their votes, but to no avail. The amendment would have overturned a Kansas Supreme Court decision from last year that declared access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state’s Bill of Rights. (Axelrod, 2/8)

San Francciso Chronicle: The Castro’s Shame: Addiction And Mental Illness Devastate Iconic SF Neighborhood
That’s the question so many San Franciscans have as they pass people in obvious distress — high out of their minds or coping with mental illness — who desperately need help. But where does one get that help? Is there any real plan for them other than, possibly, a police order to move along, a quick stay in a jail cell or a brief visit to the overstuffed psychiatric emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital? These questions prompted Mandelman and his staff in August to create an unusual list: the 17 most distressed and distressing people in his district, which includes the Castro. (Knight, 2/7)

The Wall Street Journal: St. Luke’s Hospital Rebrands As Mount Sinai Morningside After $250 Million Overhaul
Mount Sinai St. Luke’s hospital is taking a new name in an effort to shake off a dated image of itself. Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest hospital networks in the New York metro area, will announce Friday that its St. Luke’s hospital will take the name of its neighborhood and become Mount Sinai Morningside. (West, 2/7)

The Associated Press: 200 Sick After Norovirus Outbreak At Louisiana Casino
An outbreak of norovirus at a southwestern Louisiana casino has left at least 200 people sick and has prompted an investigation by state health officials. The Department of Health confirmed Thursday that the illnesses reported at L’Auberge Casino in Lake Charles last weekend were norovirus-related, news outlets reported. The highly contagious gastrointestinal illness that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. (2/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: In Dignity Health, Cigna Spat, Patients Caught In Crossfire
Disagreements between insurers and health systems that leave patients stranded are a perennial problem in U.S. health care. Glenn Melnick, a professor of health economics at the University of Southern California, said such disputes, which are disruptive to consumers, are often settled. Melnick believes Dignity is using an “all or nothing” strategy in contract negotiations, meaning either all its facilities are in the insurer’s network or none are. (Krans, 2/7)

Wyoming Public Radio: Bill Seeks To Raise Statute Of Limitations For Child Sex Abuse Civil Action
A bill before the Wyoming Legislature this session would extend the amount of time survivors of child sexual abuse could bring a civil suit against their perpetrator. The statute of limitations for civil actions of this kind currently sits at 8 years beyond a survivor's 18th birthday. The proposed bill would significantly raise that statute of limitations to 35 years after a survivor's 18th birthday. (Victor, 2/7)

The New York Times: ‘Get Well Or Die’: A State Senator Reveals His Addiction Battle
The startling disclosure came two minutes into a State Capitol news conference. State Senator Peter Harckham, a first-term Democratic lawmaker, announced his support for legalizing recreational marijuana, but he first acknowledged his own struggles with addiction. “As someone in recovery myself for many years, I look at it from that lens,” Mr. Harckham said last month. (Ferre-Sadurni, 2/10)

St. Louis Public Radio: New Wash U Research Finds ‘Alarming’ Stats About Mental Health Of Paramedics And EMTs
Researchers at Washington University have found that paramedics and emergency medical technicians are seven times as likely as the general public to have thought about suicide in the past year. Five emergency medicine doctors surveyed more than 900 paramedics in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Iowa over three months in 2017. The results were published in an industry journal this month. (Lippmann, 2/10)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton County Ohio Jail Addiction Treatment Pod Fills Gap In Services
The Hamilton County jail is embarking on another attempt to give inmates with addiction a chance to get help behind bars that extends into the community after they're released. Sheriff Jim Neil on Thursday unveiled a recovery pod for men, modeled after a pod for women that opened in 2016. Since then, 195 women have gone through the pod. (DeMio, 2/7)

WBUR: Neurologist Takes Stand To Defend Care Given To Justina Pelletier At Boston Children's
From the witness stand Thursday, Dr. Jurriaan Peters recounted his version of Justina Pelletier's treatment at Boston Children's Hospital. The patient, who was 14 at the time, was committed to a psychiatric ward and given limited access to her parents. Her family is now suing the hospital alleging their civil rights were violated. (Chen, 2/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Plan Could Stop Disputes Over Ambulance Response Times
Amid public uproars over long waits for emergency transport, debates over the accuracy of reported response times for ambulances are common across the state. While the measure falls short of defining the quality of emergency care, the time it takes an ambulance to arrive on the scene at times can mean the difference between life and death. Now, a statewide committee of top EMS officials that advises state leaders wants to put an end to the data disputes and establish an objective process that could better ensure the public is getting the best service. (Berard, 2/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Two More Flu-Related Deaths Raise Total To 8 In Cuyahoga County This Season
Cuyahoga County is trending slightly below the five-year median in flu-related deaths, and flu activity has risen to very high, health officials said.Over the past five weeks, more than 675 flu-related hospital admissions have been reported in Cuyahoga County, and more than two-thirds of these cases had Influenza A, health officials said. (Washington, 2/7)

WBUR: To Fight Chronic Homelessness, Worcester Is Building Connections — And Modular Housing
CoCs are regional planning bodies required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to work to get people out of homelessness. They're made up of nonprofits and government agencies. Terpollari will tell the CoC that Kelly and his partner are ready for housing and have the proper documentation. (Joliocoeur, 2/7)

Health News Florida: State Reexamines ‘Vertical Integration System’ In Medical Marijuana Case
In a case that could create a major upheaval in the state’s pot industry, health officials on Thursday asked the Florida Supreme Court to uphold a 2017 law that carried out a constitutional amendment broadly legalizing medical marijuana. Lawyers for the Department of Health argued that, in creating and passing the law, the Florida Legislature carried out its “constitutional prerogative to serve as the state policymaker and to protect the welfare of the citizenry.” (Kam, 2/7)

Boston Globe: Invest More In Outbreak Prevention
It’s not clear yet whether the coronavirus that has killed more than 800 people and shut down much of China will create an emergency here. But it’s already troubling to see that the United States isn’t well prepared to confront it — or the next outbreak. Many US hospitals and urgent-care centers would be swamped by a coronavirus outbreak. Two years ago, hospitals were so overwhelmed by a more familiar threat, flu season, that they set up “surge tents” to treat patients. (2/10)

The Hill: Are Airlines Botching Their Response To Coronavirus Emergency?
Make no mistake, airlines stink when it comes to customer service. More often than not, if we receive high levels of customer service when we travel it is by mistake, because the days of feeling appreciated, spoiled and thanked are long gone. Customer service left us in the 1990s, when airlines fell in love with technology and placed that above their desire for true customer service. Yet, when it comes to how airlines are handling the coronavirus outbreak, airlines deserve high marks. It seems they have learned from history. (Jay Ratliff, 2/9)

The Washington Post: A Smithsonian Team Discovered A New Coronavirus. The Story Behind That Effort Shows What It Takes To Get Ahead Of Potential Pandemics.
Before Marc Valitutto could begin hunting for a deadly virus, he had to find a snake hook for a monk. As a wildlife veterinarian, Valitutto hadn’t received training on how to build trust with people. But shortly after he arrived in Myanmar to look for viruses capable of jumping from animals to humans — such as Zika, Ebola and the coronavirus that is responsible for the current outbreak — he realized he was going to have to learn on the job. (Theresa Vargas, 2/8)

USA Today: Public Health Crisis: After Coronavirus, Another Virus More Serious
“Desperate times require desperate measures.” Hippocrates. Nearly 60 years ago, the late Nobel laureate Sir Peter Medawar defined a virus as “a piece of bad news wrapped in protein.” News of the outbreak of a mysterious viral disease, the coronavirus 2019-n-CoV, in Wuhan, China, has sent shockwaves of fear cascading around the world. The virus is most certainly bad news. (Gordon Patterson, 2/9)

The Detroit News: Michigan Must Prepare For Coronavirus
The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of 11 U.S. airports where passengers who have been to China in the last 14 days are being diverted for enhanced screening for coronavirus. With as easily as the virus spreads, that could put Michigan at a higher risk, and state officials have to be ready to address the health threat.The federal government chose Detroit's airport for screening because it is one of 20 in the U.S. with a federal quarantine station. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is assessing passengers arriving at DTW to determine their risk levels. If passengers are at risk, it’s up to the Wayne County health officials to transport them to area hospitals for isolation. Six states now have confirmed cases of coronavirus. While Michigan is not yet among them, our neighbors Wisconsin and Illinois are not so lucky. (2/8)

Bloomberg: Broken U.S. Health Care System Causes High Maternal Death Rate 
The U.S. has a weirdly high maternal death rate. It’s a symptom of a sick health care system. The number of women dying of complications of pregnancy and childbirth is going down in all developed countries except the United States. New statistics released last week show that the U.S. maternal death rate has continued to climb, and is now four to six times higher than in many European countries. (Faye Flam, 2/9)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Improve Health Outcomes For Older Americans
I recently cared for a 70-year-old man in the resuscitation bay of my hospital’s emergency department. His blood pressure was low, his skin mottled, his stench foul. Ambulance personnel told us he was “found down” by a neighbor. His home was in disarray. Evidently, no one had cleaned it in weeks. His shins were partially covered with dressings that desperately needed changing. His toes were infected—red, swollen and draining. (Elizabeth Goldberg, 2/9)

The Washington Post: The Vaping Ban Is Here, And It’s Already Out Of Date
The Food and Drug Administration's ban on some of the most popular types of flavored e-cigarettes came into force on Thursday. Except FDA officials want to be clear that it is not technically a ban — it is a “guidance” on how federal regulators will wield their wide-ranging enforcement powers — which means that the potentially deadly gaps in the policy are not really “loopholes,” they argue. The FDA, they stress, can use its powers anytime it wants to crack down on any e-cigarette product that seems to be marketed to or hooking children, whether or not it was specifically mentioned in the enforcement policy. (2/8)

Miami Herald: 1 In 5 Kids Say They Were Victims Of Cyberbullying: UM Study
A team of University of Miami Health System researchers recently completed a study of 50 adolescents who were admitted for inpatient psychiatric care. We asked them all if they had been cyberbullied, with what online platforms, and examined the consequences. We learned a few important things about cyberbullying. Despite previous estimates of cyberbullying that ranged up to 35% of children and adolescents with an online presence, we found that 20% of people in the study had been cyberbullied. (Philip Harvey, 2/7)

The Hill: The Dangers Of Criminalizing Medical Care For Trans Youth
In the past month, at least six states have introduced bills to charge doctors with a felony for providing medical and surgical treatment to transgender youth. The bills’ titles appear to suggest they will protect vulnerable children, when in fact, they may accomplish the opposite. I am a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where I co-founded a clinic that provides medical care and psychosocial support to more than 1,400 transgender youth. I know firsthand what legislation like this could mean for my patients and the more than 1  percent of U.S. youth who identify as transgender or gender-diverse. (Nadia Dowshen, 2/8)

The Washington Post: Embryo Freezing Was A Way To Preserve Our Fertility Until We Were Ready For Parenthood. A Decade Later, We Have A Baby Boy.
We welcomed our new baby boy 18 months ago. He is here because 10 years ago, when I was 30 and my husband was 32, we underwent IVF to create and then freeze embryos. Back then, we were not ready to be parents. But we knew of the looming risks of infertility, miscarriage and genetic disorders if we waited too long. So we turned to what I called “Preservation IVF” in a Washington Post story. Our baby is proof that this can work and help so many future couples wanting to delay parenthood. (Gillian St. Lawrence, 2/8)

Stat: Armchair Philosophizing Doesn't Help Conscious Patients In Vegetative States
“Imagine.” This word let a severely brain injured patient tell neuroscientists she was still conscious using only her thoughts. ...By using their imaginations, a portion of patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome can show that they are still conscious. But we must do more than just imagine what their lives are like. (Mackenzie Graham, Adrian M. Owen and Charles Weijer, 2/10)

The New York Times: Why Are You Still Packing Lunch For Your Kids?
Parents today face a steady stream of advice about how best to care for their children. Mothers, in particular, are pressured to be the perfect parent: Most of the advice on social media and parenting blogs is directed at them. How to feed the kids gets a lot of the attention. Sending children off to school carrying a healthy, made-from-scratch lunch is one of the ways that (mostly) mothers are encouraged to protect their children from the harmful effects of the industrialized food system. (Jennifer Gaddis, 2/10)

Kansas City Star: KS Abortion Amendment Fails Due To House’s August Obsession
Passing legislation on abortion will never, ever be easy. It’s just too personal, too far-reaching, too politically radioactive. But Kansas legislators could have made their vote on a constitutional amendment to allow legal restrictions on the procedure a little easier — and more successful — if they hadn’t tried to shoehorn the public vote on it into the August primary. Instead the amendment failed in the House Friday 80-43, four votes short of the 84, or two-thirds, required for a constitutional amendment — with several representatives saying they voted against it because they were opposed to holding the public vote in the sparsely populated August election. (2/7)

The Star Tribune: Get To 'Yes' Swiftly On Minnesota Insulin Bill
State lawmakers will return to the Capitol Tuesday. If they care about having a healthy, productive session, they ought to heed an early diagnosis from one of their physician colleagues, Sen. Scott Jensen, R-Chaska. An emergency insulin assistance bill needs to pass early in the session, Jensen said. This legislation, which would provide this lifesaving medication to diabetics who can’t afford a new supply, got lost in last year’s end-of-session chaos. Despite vows to pass it in a special session, and despite a flurry of offers exchanged in January between House DFLers and Senate Republicans, there was no special session and nothing has been enacted. That’s left insulin advocates rightly angry and energized. (2/7)