The Hill: US Records 97,000 New COVID-19 Cases, Shattering Daily Record 
The U.S. recorded roughly 97,000 new coronavirus cases Friday, shattering the previous record for the highest number of new cases in a single day. Data from the COVID Tracking Project showed there were 97,080 new cases Friday, ushering in an alarming new milestone that comes as dozens of states across the country see spikes in infections. The figure broke the previous record of 88,521 new coronavirus cases, which had been set on Thursday. (Axelrod, 10/30)

CNN: US Coronavirus: At Least 31 Ones States Set Their One-Day Covid-19 Case Records In October
October was a month of grim records in the Covid-19 pandemic, and as November begins, experts say the United States hasn't seen the worst of it. From Alaska to Maine, at least 31 states across the US reported at least one record-high day of new coronavirus cases in the past month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Fifteen reported their highest one-day tallies of Covid-19 deaths. (Holcombe, 11/1)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Nearly 50,000 Hospitalized With Covid-19 As Experts Warn Of Growing Healthcare Pressure 
The fall surge has left nearly 50,000 people hospitalized across the US due to Covid-19, and experts say the strain healthcare systems are under could soon get worse. Hospitalizations were on the rise in 47 states last month, according to the Covid Tracking Project, and a total of 47,502 people were hospitalized as of Sunday. The rates come alongside a surge of cases that made October a record setting month for coronavirus infections in the US. (Holcombe, 11/2)

Other grim milestones —

Houston Chronicle: Texas Passes California For Most Coronavirus Cases Despite Smaller Population
Texas has passed California as the state with the most coronavirus cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. As of 6 p.m. Saturday, California had reported 931,740 total cases since the pandemic began, while Texas hit 931,750 cases. California had held the top spot in the U.S. since mid July, when it passed New York. But as the most populous state in the country, California has a relatively low number of cases per capita. It currently has 2,366 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to Texas’ 3,282 cases per 100,000. (Mejia, 10/31)

The New York Times: As The Virus Rages, Some Are Convinced It’s Too Late To Stop It
Coronavirus case counts are at record highs, yet many in states like Idaho are embracing a let-it-ride approach. One county with a hospital nearing capacity repealed its mask mandate. (Baker, 11/2)

The New York Times: After Trump Accuses Doctors Of Profiteering, Medical Professionals Push Back. 
At a rally in Michigan on Friday, President Trump repeated an extraordinary and unfounded claim that American doctors were profiteering from coronavirus deaths. “You know our doctors get more money if somebody dies from Covid,” Mr. Trump said, adding that in Germany and other countries, deaths were characterized differently if there appeared to be multiple causes. “With us, when in doubt, choose Covid,” he said. Medical professionals and organizations quickly denounced those comments and lauded the work of nurses, doctors and other health care workers, many of whom have risked their lives and worried about the health of their families as they cared for people who were infected with the coronavirus. (Fortin, 10/31)

USA Today: Trump Ripped For 'Baseless' Claim Doctors Inflate COVID-19 Deaths
Medical groups, including the American Medical Association, denounced Trump's assertion that doctors inflate the number of deaths. AMA President Susan Bailey called Trump's claim "malicious, outrageous and completely misguided." ... "Rather than attacking us and lobbing baseless charges at physicians, our leaders should be following the science and urging adherence to the public health steps we know work: Wearing a mask, washing hands and practicing physical distancing," she said in a statement that did not mention Trump by name. (Fritze, 10/31)

Politico: Trump Adviser Doubles Down On Baseless Trump Claim Doctors Are Profiting Off Coronavirus Deaths 
A senior adviser to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign doubled down Sunday on baseless allegations leveled by the president that U.S. doctors are inflating coronavirus deaths for profit as the country sees record levels of new infections. “I don't think he was attacking anybody. He was talking about how most Americans want to safely and securely reopen the country,” Jason Miller said on ABC’s “This Week” when shown video of Trump’s claims from a campaign rally Friday. (Oprysko, 11/1)

PolitiFact: Donald Trump’s False Claim That Doctors Inflate COVID-19 Deaths To Make More Money
In order for Trump’s claim to have an appreciable impact on reported deaths, thousands of doctors would need to lie on death certificates without any financial benefit. We recently rated False a similar claim from Trump that focused on hospitals. Trump’s words imply that death certificates are subject to the whim of physicians. That’s wrong, and here’s why. (Greenberg, 11/1)

AP: Trump Threatens To Fire Fauci In Rift With Disease Expert
President Donald Trump is suggesting that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring. Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus that has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States this year remains prominent in the news, sparking chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters. (Miller, 11/1)

Fox News: Trump’s Comment At Rally Raises Speculation About Fauci’s Future At NIAID
“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump told the crowd. "I appreciate the advice." Forbes reported that Trump signed an executive order on Oct. 21 that creates a federal employee called “Schedule F,” which opens up these workers to the possibility of being easily fired by the administration. The report imagined that Fauci’s position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases could eventually be deemed a Schedule F position. (Aaro, 11/1)

Bloomberg: ‘Fire Fauci’ Chant Erupts At Trump Rally As Tensions Simmer
A “Fire Fauci” chant erupted at one of President Donald Trump’s campaign rallies, with the president quipping that he’d wait until after the election if he were to do anything. The chant, which started shortly after midnight Monday morning, was the latest development in Trump’s ongoing critique of Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who was once a prominent figure in Trump’s coronavirus response but who has since been marginalized. (Parker and Wingrove, 11/2)

And more from Fauci's interview and the White House's reaction —

The Washington Post: Fauci Warns Of Covid-19 Surge, Offers Blunt Assessment Of Trump's Response 
President Trump’s repeated assertions the United States is “rounding the turn” on the novel coronavirus have increasingly alarmed the government's top health experts, who say the country is heading into a long and potentially deadly winter with an unprepared government unwilling to make tough choices. “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.” (Dawsey and Abutaleb, 10/31)

The Hill: Fauci Rips White House Coronavirus Approach 
In a broad interview with the paper, Fauci warned of the country reaching a point where it could see more than 100,000 coronavirus cases recorded daily if it does not reverse course quickly when it comes to public health practices. His comments come shortly after the country recorded a surge in COVID-19 infections last week and as multiple states have reported record numbers of cases in recent weeks. Fauci said in the interview that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,” while President Trump is “looking at it from a different perspective” by focusing on “the economy and reopening the country.” (Folley, 11/1)

CNN: White House Rips Fauci After Criticism Of Atlas And Trump's Pandemic Response
The White House on Saturday unleashed on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, following his comments to the Washington Post that criticized the Trump administration's response to the pandemic, including Dr. Scott Atlas, who the President has relied on for advice on handling the coronavirus. "It's unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President's Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President (Donald) Trump's actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement to CNN on Saturday evening. (Mena, 11/1)

The New York Times: Texas Court Denies G.O.P. Push To Throw Out Votes 
The Texas Supreme Court denied an effort by Republicans to throw out more than 120,000 votes that had already been cast at drive-through locations in Harris County, leaving Republicans’ only remaining option at the federal level. The ruling from the court came without comment. The effort to get rid of the votes from largely Democratic Harris County now hinges on a nearly identical effort at the federal level, where a judge has called an election-eve hearing for Monday. (11/1)

Reuters: U.S. Judge Orders USPS To Reinforce 'Extraordinary Measures' Ballot Delivery Policy 
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) must remind senior managers they must follow its “extraordinary measures” policy and use its Express Mail Network to expedite ballots ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, under an order signed by a U.S. judge. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan’s order on Sunday, to which the USPS agreed, said the postal service must reinforce its “special procedures” to ensure it “delivers every ballot possible by the cutoff time on Election Day.” USPS will also reinforce to managers that “all ballots with a local destination must be cleared and processed on the same day or no later than the next morning for delivery to local offices, from now through at least November 7.” (Shepardson, 11/1)

In news about voter safety at the polls —

The Washington Post: Peaceful March To The Polls In North Carolina Is Met With Police Pepper Spray And Arrests, Causing Outcry On Eve Of Election
The voters came in black sweatshirts emblazoned with the mantra of the late Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, who celebrated "good trouble." Fists and iPhones raised, they chanted “Black lives matter” and promised “power to the people,” as they made their way from a Black church to the base of a monument to a Confederate soldier. In its shadow, they paused for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, honoring George Floyd, the Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for what was later determined to be 7 minutes and 46 seconds. The participants in Saturday’s “I Am Change” march had intended to conclude at an early-voting site to emphasize turnout in the final days of the presidential campaign. Those plans were thrown into disarray when law-enforcement officers in riot gear and gas masks insisted demonstrators move off the street and clear county property, despite a permit authorizing their presence. (Yeoman and Stanley-Becker, 11/1)

AP: Pre-Election Virus Spike Creates Concerns For Polling Places
A surge in coronavirus cases across the country, including in key presidential battleground states, is creating mounting health and logistical concerns for voters, poll workers and political parties ahead of Election Day. In Iowa, where both presidential campaigns are competing feverishly, county officials said they were preparing for scores of confirmed or potentially infected people to vote curbside. It’s an option typically used by disabled people that must be available outside every polling place. (Foley, 11/1)

The Washington Post: Polling Places Are Unable To Avoid The Politics Of Mask-Wearing
When Elizabeth Cooper walked into her neighborhood community center in central Houston to cast her ballot, she was impressed. Each poll worker sat at an individual table, spaced far apart and shielded by plexiglass. One handed Cooper a wipe and a finger covering. Most important, she said of her experience, “everyone had a mask on.” Not so in the West Texas town of Big Spring on the day Rebecca Paige Evers voted at the county courthouse. She said she and her husband were the only ones masked. “Honestly, it just did not feel like a safe environment to vote,” Evers said. (Satija, Brown, Kranish and Reinhard, 11/1)

The New York Times: In Texas, The Polls Open For A Graveyard Shift 
Felix Sylvester drove straight to the polling site after work and cast his ballot in a matter of minutes. There was no line, perhaps because it was a few minutes past 3 a.m. The parking lot was lit up in the predawn darkness by towering light poles. Most of Houston was asleep — most, but not all. Mr. Sylvester, 65, voted early Friday at one of eight polling places across Harris County that, five days before the election, stayed open all night. For him, it was about more than convenience; it was probably the difference between voting and not voting. (Fernandez and Kalifa, 11/1)

Also —

KHN: Hospitalized? You Can Still Vote In Most Parts Of The Country
Johnathon Talamantes, of South-Central Los Angeles, broke his hip in a car accident on Oct. 22 and underwent surgery five days later at a public hospital near downtown. His post-op recovery will keep him in the hospital, L.A. County+USC Medical Center, beyond Election Day, and as he prepared himself for the surgery, he wondered what that would mean. (Wolfson, 11/2)

The Hill: 18 Trump Rallies Have Led To 30,000 COVID-19 Cases: Stanford University Study
A new study from Stanford University found that 18 of President Trump’s campaign rallies have led to more than 30,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and likely led to more than 700 deaths. Researchers examined rallies held between June 20 and Sept. 22, 2020, only three of which were held indoors. The researchers then compared spread of the virus in the counties that held the rallies to counties that were on similar case trajectories before the rallies occurred. (Williams, 10/31)

CNBC: Trump Campaign Rallies Led To 30,000 Cases, Stanford Researchers Say
The researchers said the findings support the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of Covid-19 transmission at large group gatherings, “particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low.” “The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death,” said B. Douglas Bernheim, chairman of Stanford’s economics department and a lead author of the paper, wrote. (Lovelace Jr., 10/31)

The New York Times: Tests Show Genetic Signature Of Coronavirus That Likely Infected Trump
President Trump’s illness from a coronavirus infection last month was the most significant health crisis for a sitting president in nearly 40 years. Yet little remains known about how the virus arrived at the White House and how it spread. The administration did not take basic steps to track the outbreak, limiting contact tracing, keeping cases a secret and cutting out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The origin of the infections, a spokesman said, was “unknowable.” But one standard public health technique may still shed some light: tracking the cluster’s genetic fingerprints. (Glanz, 11/1)

Also —

Politico: 'The Virus Is Kind Of Tough To Talk Down': Trump Can't Shake Covid In Final Sprint 
Trump’s claim Friday that “doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid” drove headlines throughout the weekend, with a senior adviser, Jason Miller, amplifying the baseless accusation Sunday. The White House picked a fight over the weekend with Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert whose public approval rating on the virus is far better than the president’s. And on a frigid day in Michigan on Sunday — one day after the state recorded a record number of new coronavirus cases — Trump said again that the country is “rounding the turn.” (Siders and Shepard, 11/1)

Politico: White House Plots Possible Second-Term Cabinet Purge 
President Donald Trump and his top aides are planning a huge overhaul of his Cabinet if he wins a second term, scuttling officials in key health-related and intelligence jobs who Trump views as disloyal, slow-acting or naysayers. The shift would amount to a purge of any Cabinet member who has crossed the president, refused to mount investigations he has demanded, or urged him to take a different, more strict tack on the coronavirus response. (Cook, 11/1)

The Hill: Chris Wallace 'Pissed Off' First Family Didn't Wear Masks During Debate, Suggests Trump Has 'Daddy Issue' 
Fox News's Chris Wallace said he was “pissed off” when he learned the first family had disregarded the rules and not worn masks during the first presidential debate. In an Instagram Live interview with Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers posted Sunday, Wallace, who moderated the debate, said he was “not fully conscious of the fact they weren’t wearing masks” because he was focused on his preparation. (Choi, 11/1)

Politico: ‘A Political Thing’: How Mask Mandates Became A Defining Issue In Iowa 
People in this heartland community say they never wanted, or even expected, to wrestle with the proposed mask mandate that's dividing their county, which is now reeling from one of the nation's worst Covid-19 outbreaks. But that was before Vice President Mike Pence in June punted questions about mask mandates to state leaders, touting "the genius of America is the principle of federalism." Then Iowa's Gov. Kim Reynolds vowed in August and September that she would never order universal masking despite doctors' pleas, with the GOP governor claiming a mask mandate was a "feel-good" measure that wouldn't actually save lives. (Diamond, 11/1)

Stat: 8 Of The Scientific Institutions And Traditions On The Line On Tuesday
It’s impossible to overstate the impact of Tuesday’s presidential election on the health and science landscape. It’s a contest between a candidate who says he’ll give federal scientists a major say in national policy and a president whose top aides have boasted that he wrested control of the U.S. “back from the doctors” in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Facher, 11/2)

NPR: Medicaid's Future As Safety-Net Health Care Hinges On Election
The Trump administration has given states ways to restrict spending on the government insurance program for low-income Americans. A Biden administration would expand Medicaid coverage. (Farmer, 11/1)

California Healthline: California’s Progressive — And Expensive — Health Care Ambitions Rely On Biden Win
For deep blue California, where first-in-the-nation health care proposals regularly flood the Democratic agenda, there could not be more at stake in the presidential race. If Republican President Donald Trump prevails, Democratic state lawmakers worry, they’ll be forced to scale back their ambitious plans and play defense the next four years, battling Republican attempts to curtail federal Medicaid spending and further unravel the Affordable Care Act. (Hart, 11/2)

From the campaign trail —

The Hill: Biden And Trump Closing Arguments Diverge Sharply On COVID-19 
President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are digging in on their vastly different coronavirus messages in the waning days of a bruising campaign. Even as COVID-19 cases rise to record levels across the nation, Trump repeatedly insists the country is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic. He is pressing ahead with large-scale campaign rallies, showing no signs of backing off his plans to hold 14 major campaign gatherings in the three days leading up to the election. (Chalfant and Weixel, 10/31)

Politifact: Trump’s Misleading Attack On Biden’s Health Care Plan
A TV ad by President Donald Trump’s campaign portrays Joe Biden’s health care plan as a disaster for seniors’ access to health care. "Let’s turn off the noise and look at the facts about Joe Biden and Kamala Harrs’ government-run health care plan," states the narrator, a senior citizen, in the ad. "Their plan could lead to hospitals being closed, put Medicare coverage at risk, and give benefits to illegal immigrants. Their plan is just too dangerous for seniors like us." Point by point, the ad misleads about Biden’s health care plan. (Sherman, 11/1)

The Hill: Senate Candidates Focus Closing Arguments On Health Care, Experience 
Senate candidates are rolling out their closing ads of the 2020 campaign, with Democrats honing in on health care and Republicans promoting their own political profiles. With highly competitive races in nearly a dozen states, senators and their challengers from both parties are touting their achievements, incorporating a positive message as Americans grapple with a pandemic — and largely avoiding mentions of President Trump. (Manchester, 11/1)

The Hill: Democrats Call Trump's COVID-19 Response 'Among The Worst Failures Of Leadership In American History' 
House Democrats on the committee overseeing the coronavirus crisis released a report Friday calling the Trump administration’s response “among the worst failures of leadership in American history.” The report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis comes four days before Election Day, in a campaign where Democrats have hammered President Trump over his response to a virus that has killed more than 228,000 people in the U.S. (Sullivan, 10/30)

In related news —

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Gov. Kemp Isolates After COVID Exposure At Crowded Political Event
Gov. Brian Kemp will self-quarantine, his office said Friday, after U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson disclosed he tested positive for the coronavirus. The two Republican politicians attended a crowded indoor political event together on Thursday. (Trubey, Bluestein and Mitchell, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Care In Spotlight As ACA Enrollment Begins Days Before Election
The start of the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment Sunday comes as millions of Americans have lost or are losing job-based coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, casting a spotlight on health care in the final sprint of the presidential and congressional elections. Open enrollment runs Nov. 1 through Dec. 15 in the 36 states that rely on the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov. The sign-up period ends later in California, Minnesota and a number of other states running their own exchanges. (Armour, 11/1)

Politico: Obamacare Enrollment Opening With Millions More Uninsured, Law’s Future In Doubt
For the first time since Obamacare coverage began in 2014, the sign-up window is occurring in a battered economy. And the Trump administration, which years ago slashed funding for HealthCare.gov outreach, isn’t ramping up enrollment efforts as the worst public health crisis in a century intensifies across the country. “We’re still not reaching people we should be reaching,” said Jodi Ray, who leads a federally funded program in Florida that helps people get coverage. “Ethically, it’s such a challenge for me — I know we have to reach these people, but I know I don’t have the resources.” (Luthi, 10/31)

CNN: Obamacare: Supreme Court Threat Looms As Enrollment Starts Health Care Law
Americans can start signing up on Sunday for Affordable Care Act plans for 2021 -- even as the Supreme Court is poised to potentially invalidate the law at some point during the year. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 10 in a case that could overturn part or even all of the landmark health reform law. The justices, including newly sworn-in Amy Coney Barrett, are expected to release their opinion in the first half of 2021. (Luhby, 11/1)

KHN: Even With ACA’s Fate In Flux, Open Enrollment Starts Soon. Here’s What’s New.
Facing a pandemic, record unemployment and unknown future costs for COVID-19 treatments, health insurers selling Affordable Care Act plans to individuals reacted by lowering rates in some areas and, overall, issuing only modest premium increases for 2021. “What’s been fascinating is that carriers in general are not projecting much impact from the pandemic for their 2021 premium rates,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. (Appleby, 10/22)

And more from Georgia —

The Hill: Trump Officials Approve Georgia Plan To Remove Healthcare.Gov As Enrollment Option
The Trump administration on Sunday evening approved Georgia’s proposal to eliminate the federal healthcare.gov website as a path to enroll in health insurance, instead directing people to private brokers and insurers. The Trump administration and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) argue the move will increase innovation from the private sector, but Democrats denounced the move as creating confusion for consumers that will result in some people losing coverage.  (Sullivan, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Approves Georgia's Reinsurance Program Eliminating Healthcare.Gov On The First Day Of Enrollment
CMS on Sunday announced it had approved Georgia's request to lower individual market insurance premiums by establishing a reinsurance program and enabling people to buy coverage directly through web brokers or insurance companies instead of HealthCare.gov. Beginning in 2023, premiums in the state could drop by 13% on average, CMS said in a press release. That would occur through a reinsurance program that would start in 2022 and would reimburse insurers a percentage of claims paid between $20,000 and an estimated $500,000 cap. (11/1)

The New York Times: Dr. Scott Atlas, Trump’s Covid Adviser, Apologizes For Appearing On A Russian News Show
Dr. Scott W. Atlas, the White House coronavirus adviser, apologized on Sunday for appearing on a Russian state-sponsored news show that has been instrumental in an effort by the Russian government to spread false health information during the pandemic. Dr. Atlas did not, however, apologize for the content of the interview, where he continued a pattern as Mr. Trump’s adviser of downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as asserting without evidence that lockdown measures used to contain the virus are “killing people.” (11/1)

NPR: WH Adviser Dr. Scott Atlas Apologizes For Interview With RT 
RT is one of more than a dozen media outlets that Facebook began labeling in June as under state control. RT's Twitter page is also labeled as "Russian state-affiliated media." "I regret doing the interview and apologize for allowing myself to be taken advantage of," Atlas said in a tweet. "I especially apologize to the national security community who is working hard to defend us."(Treisman, 11/1)

Politico: Scott Atlas Apologizes For Interview With Kremlin-Backed RT 
In the interview on Saturday, Atlas said there was no understating the pandemic, noting the U.S. death toll. “It’s tragic. There’s no question about that,” he said. “But if you wanna know what’s happening right now, I think there’s a gross distortion that has sort of been typical of the reporting on this. And that is that there’s this frenzy of focusing on the number of cases when we see a lot of reasons to be sort of, you know, cautiously optimistic here rather than fearful.” (McCaskill, 11/1)

ProPublica: Millions Still Haven’t Gotten Stimulus Checks, Including Many Who Need Them Most
It’s been 217 days since Congress instructed the IRS to send $1,200 stimulus checks to every citizen below a certain income threshold. And yet, it’s likely as many as 12 million people — including those who most need a financial boost — never got the cash. The reasons include confusion about how the complex program works, IRS missteps, technical snafus and Treasury Department policy decisions that cut out large groups of people altogether. Those who fell through the cracks have until Nov. 21 to claim the money or risk losing out on any second round of stimulus payments, which Congress has been negotiating for months. (DePillis, 10/30)

USA Today: 'It's Certainly Going To Get Worse': Businesses Plan More Layoffs, Hiring Freezes In 2020 As COVID-19 Escalates
The economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. Nearly one in 10 U.S. businesses planned to lay off workers during the final three months of the year as a result of the outbreak, according to a survey of human resource executives at 330 companies conducted by The Conference Board last month. The 9% of companies cutting employees in the fourth quarter avoided layoffs earlier in the health crisis, when 29% of firms eliminated staff, according to the survey, whose results were provided exclusively to USA Today. Another 13% of firms plan major restructurings this quarter that could include some layoffs not already counted in the 9%, says Robin Erickson, principal researcher in human capital for The Conference Board. (Davidson, 11/2)

The Washington Post: When Election Day Is A Stark Choice Between Voting And An Unemployment Check
The Saturday before the election, Anthony Rolls, 46, was among the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus and found themselves caught in a social safety net that is failing under a new burden. Rolls’s unemployment benefits stopped nearly seven weeks ago because of bureaucratic confusion. He is two months behind on rent. His phone only works now on WiFi, which means he’s been chained to his townhouse’s 1,344 square feet, firing off emails to elected officials for help and waiting for the phone call from the Maryland department that might fix the situation, while constantly watching election coverage on television. He has voted in every presidential election — until now. Because he moved since the last cycle, he has to go in person on Election Day to register to vote. He is weighing whether he should go to the polls and risk missing that call. "How’s that not voter suppression?" he said. “There are probably hundreds, maybe thousands, of us in this situation and there’s nothing we can do but take it.” (Swenson, 11/1)

Modern Healthcare: Caring For Medicare Advantage Patients Now A Growth Business
Medical clinics that cater to chronically ill seniors are expanding rapidly across the country as they vie for patients in the lucrative, fast-growing Medicare Advantage market. Clinic operators ChenMed, Oak Street Health and Partners in Primary Care are among companies that have recently unveiled plans to bring senior-focused medical centers to new communities. Meanwhile, some hospital systems are attempting to get in on the action with their own senior clinics. (Livingston, 10/31)

KHN: Medicare Fines Half Of Hospitals For Readmitting Too Many Patients 
Nearly half the nation’s hospitals, many of which are still wrestling with the financial fallout of the unexpected coronavirus, will get lower payments for all Medicare patients because of their history of readmitting patients, federal records show. The penalties are the ninth annual round of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program created as part of the Affordable Care Act’s broader effort to improve quality and lower costs. The latest penalties are calculated using each hospital case history between July 2016 and June 2019, so the flood of coronavirus patients that have swamped hospitals this year were not included. (Rau, 11/2)

KHN Tool: Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?

Modern Healthcare: MACPAC: Expanded Postpartum Coverage Needed, But Resources Lacking
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission will likely recommend Congress extend Medicaid's postpartum coverage, but its members are split on whether to make the expansion mandatory or optional for states, according to comments made during MACPAC's October meeting on Friday. The congressional advisory panel agreed that Congress should expand Medicaid's postpartum coverage to 12 months with full benefits for new mothers and that Medicaid's coverage should align with the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Experts said extending coverage would help address a wide range of pregnancy-related health issues by ensuring women could access care after birth. (Brady, 10/30)

In obituaries —

Modern Healthcare: Dr. Philip Lee, An Architect Of Medicare, Nation's First Assistant Secretary Of Health, Dies At 96
Dr. Philip Lee, who was a leading force in the implementation of the Medicare program as the nation's first assistant secretary of health, died earlier this week, according to a notice from the University of California San Francisco, where he served as chancellor. Lee, who formed the Health Policy Program at UCSF—what would come to be the Philip R. Lee Institute of Health Policy Studies—served as assistant secretary of health under Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton. (10/31)

ABC News: Nursing Homes, After Seeing Improvements, Now Face A Fresh COVID-19 Threat 
Nursing homes across the country are bracing for a dark winter as rising coronavirus infections appear to be reversing trends that had showed an improved outlook for the nation's most vulnerable, an ABC News review of state-by-state numbers reveals. "As case counts rise in communities around the country, nursing homes and providers in other congregate care settings are under siege," said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services. "Despite the improvements in testing, older adults in nursing homes -- and in all care settings -- continue to be under threat from this pandemic." (Mosk, Kim, Romero and Freger, 11/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Staffing At Some Nursing Homes Plummeted During Early Covid-19 Outbreaks 
The ranks of caregivers at dozens of nursing homes plunged to dangerously low levels on some of the deadliest days of the pandemic, undercutting care for vulnerable residents at these facilities, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of new federal data. The Journal found that as the novel coronavirus tore through states like New Jersey and New York in April, as many as 127 hard-hit nursing homes on a single day had nurse-staffing levels that fell at least 25% below their levels for the comparable days in 2019, a sign that experts say points to a significant shortage. On many days in April the number of facilities with Covid-19 outbreaks that had such shortfalls was more than twice what was typical at those same facilities in the months before the pandemic, the data show. (Weaver and Mathews, 11/1)

KHN and KPCC: They Work In Several Nursing Homes To Eke Out A Living, Possibly Spreading The Virus
To make ends meet, Martha Tapia works 64 hours a week at two Orange County, California, nursing homes. She is one of thousands of certified nursing assistants who perform the intimate and physical work of bathing, dressing and feeding the nation’s fragile elderly. “We do everything for them. Everything you do for yourself, you have to do for the residents,” Tapia said. (Fortier, 11/2)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Nursing Homes Weren’t Following COVID-19 Rules This Summer. Now They’re At Risk Again.
Some Maine nursing homes still weren’t following rules meant to limit the coronavirus’ spread this summer, even after more than a dozen such facilities saw COVID-19 outbreaks in April and May — including some of the state’s largest and deadliest. Now, the continuing spike in COVID-19 cases across Maine highlights a distinct risk — that the virus could again slip into nursing homes and assisted living facilities and cause a new round of outbreaks, in which the virus spreads quickly among residents who are especially vulnerable because of old age and poor health. (Eichacker, 10/31)

Modern Healthcare: Testing Turnaround Times At Nursing Homes Lag As U.S. COVID-19 Cases Climb
As COVID-19 cases surge again across the country, nursing homes are trying to fend off spread in their facilities. Yet, despite the federal government sending rapid point-of-care diagnostic testing devices to nursing homes and requiring surveillance testing based on community spread levels, tests aren't being turned around fast enough to prevent COVID-19 in these congregate care settings, a new study finds. (Christ, 10/30)

The New York Times: States Undercount Positive Rapid Tests, Masking The Spread Of Disease
As rapid coronavirus tests are becoming more widely available, delivering results in minutes for patients in doctor's offices, nursing homes, schools and even the White House, officials warn of a significant undercount, blurring the virus's spread nationally and in communities where such tests are more commonly used. Public health officials say that antigen tests, which are faster than polymerase chain reaction (P.C.R.) tests but less able to detect low levels of the virus, are an important tool for limiting the spread of the coronavirus. But they caution that with inconsistent public reporting, the case undercount may worsen as more “point-of-care” antigen tests, as well as D.I.Y. and home test kits, come on the market. (Schoenfeld Walker, Waananen Jones and Patel, 11/1)

In related nursing news —

USA Today: Amid COVID Surge, Hospitals Seek Temporary Nurses To Bridge Care Gap
As the United States adds a new coronavirus case every second, hospitals from West Texas to Wisconsin are overwhelmed with the soaring number of critically ill Americans. In many cases, it’s not a lack of hospital beds, therapies or equipment that worry managers amid the surge, with more than 229,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. It’s the depleted and exhausted hospitals staffs needed to care for those who need life-sustaining treatment. (Alltucker, 10/31)

Anchorage Daily News: Why Officials Are Concerned Health Care Capacity Could Be The Next Pinch Point In Handling Alaska’s Virus Surge 
Even before the pandemic, health care was stretched thin in Alaska. It’s a big state, and distance adds a layer of challenge in treating people, the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, said during a Saturday interview. In winter, some communities can get weathered in. The state also lacks medical specialists, particularly in rural areas, according to Zink. As cases have climbed in recent weeks, Alaska hospitals have not been overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Throughout the pandemic, Alaska has had one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the nation. But health officials are still bracing for a rise in hospitalizations and deaths, which are both considered “lagging indicators” that follow the trend in new cases. (Krakow, 11/1)

North Carolina Health News: Coronavirus Impacting Patient Behavior 
Coronavirus has invariably changed life as we know it in some big ways. With thousands of cases, deaths and hospitalizations from the novel virus in North Carolina, some of these changes are obvious. Others are now a given in our socially distanced world: medical appointments take place via computer or phone, in-car testing, and even flu vaccinations have also become more commonplace. (Engel-Smith, 11/2)

In other health industry news —

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: David Vs. Goliath: How To Beat A Big Hospital In Small Claims Court
When Jeffrey Fox and his wife got an outrageous medical bill for a simple test, he said to his wife, “No way am I paying this.” In a classic — and hilarious — David vs. Goliath story, Fox takes on a huge hospital, and wins. He’s a bit of an expert in using small claims court to get satisfaction and shared detailed instructions with the rest of us. (Weissmann, 11/2)

AP: Former Employees Describe Toxic Culture At NAMI Maine
A major mental health nonprofit is hiring a consultant to assess its workplace culture following complaints by former employees of toxic and demeaning treatment by the organization’s CEO. The assessment comes in response to high staff turnover at NAMI Maine, a chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, former employees told the Bangor Daily News. Fifteen former employees told the newspaper that Jenna Mehnert, NAMI Maine’s chief executive officer, demeaned employees in front of their colleagues and escalated interactions she perceived as challenging her authority. At least two employees reported concerns about Mehnert to the organization’s board, the newspaper reported. (10/31)

Maine Public Radio: Retirees Consider Legal Action Over Maine University System’s Health Benefits Changes
Union retirees from the University of Maine System said they’re “exploring various legal avenues” against the University of Maine System as it plans changes to how the health insurance of more than 3,000 retirees is managed. Under union contracts, retirees have been provided with health care within the university’s group health plan, and most pay a portion of the premium. Under the new plan, they will instead be given a stipend to buy a health plan in a private exchange. (Flaherty, 10/30)

CIDRAP: Telemedicine Linked To More Appropriate Antibiotic Prescribing For UTIs
Telemedicine visits for urinary tract infections (UTIs) were associated with more appropriate antibiotic prescribing and decreased use of diagnostic and follow-up resources than virtual visits, according to the results of a primary care network study published yesterday in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. The retrospective cohort study, conducted at Mercy Health Physician Partners, a primary care network in western Michigan with 44 outpatient sites and one virtual visit platform, compared guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing among adult women diagnosed as having an uncomplicated UTI during an office visit or a virtual visit in 2018. (10/30)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals, Clinics May Be Ready To Adopt Wearable Tech
Advances in wearable technology are opening the door for a new generation of disease treatments that leverage remote monitoring and therapeutics delivered via devices worn on the body. Wearable devices and sensors, also known as wearables, are a growing area of focus for healthcare organizations and technology companies alike. (Cohen, 10/31)

AP: More US Patients To Have Easy, Free Access To Doctor's Notes
More U.S. patients will soon have free, electronic access to the notes their doctors write about them under a new federal requirement for transparency. Many health systems are opening up records Monday, the original deadline. At the last minute, federal health officials week gave an extension until April because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Johnson, 10/31)

AP: 2nd Study Testing A COVID-19 Antibody Drug Has A Setback
For the second time, a study testing an experimental antibody drug for COVID-19 has been paused to investigate a possible safety issue in hospitalized patients. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that independent monitors had recommended placing on hold enrollment of the most severely ill patients -- those who need intense oxygen treatment or breathing machines -- because of a potential safety problem and unfavorable balance of risks and benefits. (Marchione, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Trial Of Regeneron’s Covid-19 Antibody Drug Is Halted In Sickest Hospital Patients
The moves don’t affect other testing of the antibody drug, which proved in a separate trial to reduce virus levels and doctor visits. The drug is now up for authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, along with a similar drug from Eli Lilly & Co. The Regeneron study will continue enrolling hospitalized patients receiving low amounts of oxygen or no oxygen support, who tend to be less sick than those who require heavy oxygen or mechanical breathing assistance. The company said the risk-benefit for the less serious hospitalized patients remains acceptable. (Walker, 10/30)

And in other news about COVID treatments —

AP: Trump Admin Funds Plasma Company Based In Owner's Condo
When the Trump administration gave a well-connected Republican donor seed money to test a possible COVID-19-fighting blood plasma technology, it noted the company’s “manufacturing facilities” in Charleston, South Carolina. Plasma Technologies LLC is indeed based in the stately waterfront city. But there are no manufacturing facilities. Instead, the company exists within the luxury condo of its majority owner, Eugene Zurlo. (Lardner and Dearen, 11/1)

Reuters: Russian Firm Seeks To Produce COVID-19 Drug Without Patent, Vedomosti Reports
Russian drugmaker Pharmasyntez has asked the Kremlin for permission to produce a generic version of U.S. firm Gilead Sciences's COVID-19 treatment remdesivir without а patent, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Monday. Siberia-based Pharmasyntez previously approached Gilead requesting a voluntary licence to produce and distribute the drug in Russia, the company’s director, Vikram Punia, had told Reuters this year. (11/2)

More on the vaccine race —

Bloomberg: CureVac Covid Vaccine Shows Immune Response In Early Trial
A coronavirus vaccine under development from CureVac NV showed a good immune response in early trials, validating the biotech company’s 20 years of research into messenger RNA’s ability to train the body’s defenses. (Ring, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Says Providers Can Use COVID-19 Relief Grants For Vaccine Distribution
Healthcare providers that received COVID-19 relief grants can use the funds to pay for supplies needed for vaccine distribution, HHS said. The agency in recent weeks has issued guidance on what expenses and lost revenues healthcare providers can legally count toward the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund grants they received beginning in April. Congress set aside $175 billion for provider grants, and HHS as continually updated guidance since the funds were issued. (Cohrs, 10/30)

NPR: Who Should Get The COVID-19 Vaccine First? CDC Advisory Group Mulls Strategy
States should be working toward being ready to give out COVID-19 vaccines by Nov. 15, according to a target date made public by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. That's an aspirational date so far — there is still no vaccine approved for use, and there may not be one until later this year or beyond. But, in preparation for that day, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group composed mainly of doctors and public health experts outside of CDC, met virtually Friday and debated how best to distribute such a vaccine when it becomes available, weighing who would be in line to get it first. (Neel and Huang, 10/30)

Modern Healthcare: Trump Admin To Provide Vaccine Supply Kits For Providers
The Trump administration will provide ancillary supply kits for healthcare workers to administer COVID-19 vaccines, HHS said Friday. McKesson Corporation will produce, store and distribute kits containing enough supplies to administer up to 100 vaccine doses. The kits will include needles, syringes, alcohol prep pads, surgical masks and face shields, vaccine record cards and a needle information card. McKesson will also make mixing kits available for vaccines that require reconstitution.

Stat: Purdue Law Firm Hires Government Lawyer Who Investigated The Firm 
A prominent law firm that represents Purdue Pharma has hired a former Department of Justice lawyer who, as recently as seven months ago, was investigating the drug maker for its opioid marketing. In a court filing, King & Spalding disclosed that its new partner is Ethan Davis, a former acting assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Civil Division, whose work probing Purdue ended last March, before he began negotiating for a position with the law firm. Davis wrote us that he left the department last month. (Silverman, 10/30)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

Modern Healthcare: Ascension Expands Pharmacy Services
Ascension is expanding its pharmacy services as it aims to improve medication adherence, the Catholic health system announced Thursday. Ascension Rx—the newly launched brand for its national pharmacy—offers specialty medication packaging and delivery, infusion therapy and medication management, including financial aid coordination. A new specialty pharmacy in Austin, Texas is slated to open next spring, which will provide prior authorization, medication management assistance for providers and patient consults with clinical pharmacists, among other wraparound services. (Kacik, 10/29)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Sells Right To Heart Failure, Blood Pressure Drugs For $400 Million
British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L said on Friday it would sell commercial rights for two of its heart failure and blood pressure medicines to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH for $400 million. Cheplapharm, which already holds the European rights for Atacand and Atacand Plus since 2018, can sell now them in around 70 countries under the deal. (10/30)

The Washington Post: Artificial Intelligence And Covid-19: Can The Machines Save Us? 
Early this spring as the pandemic began accelerating, AJ Venkatakrishnan took genetic data from 10,967 samples of the novel coronavirus and fed it into a machine. The Stanford-trained data scientist did not have a particular hypothesis, but he was hoping the artificial intelligence would pinpoint possible weaknesses that could be exploited to develop therapies. He was awed when the program reported back that the new virus appeared to have a snippet of DNA code — “RRARSVAS” — distinct from its predecessor coronaviruses. This sequence, he learned, mimics a protein that helps the human body regulate salt and fluid balance. (Eunjung Cha, 11/1)

The New York Times: Cruise Ships Can Get Ready To Set Sail Again, C.D.C. Says 
Cruise ships can prepare to set sail again beginning Sunday under a conditional order issued by U.S. health officials that aims to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 transmission at sea by requiring a host of measures, including testing and quarantine, all designed to keep crews and passengers safe. No ship will set sail with passengers immediately, and the cruise tourism industry may not rebound anytime soon. Under new guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, companies must be certified to sail by proving they can operate safely with crews onboard. To do so, they must carry out a simulated journey, or a number of simulated journeys, with unpaid guest volunteers or crew members playing the role of passengers. (Rabin, 10/30)

In other public health news —

The New York Times: 2 Warehouse Halloween Parties Attended By Nearly 1,000 Are Shut Down 
Two Halloween parties with hundreds of guests dancing and drinking inside warehouses were broken up by New York City authorities this weekend, as officials strive to curb behavior that they worry could fuel a second wave of the pandemic. A party in Brooklyn with nearly 400 people was broken up by city sheriffs early Saturday morning. About 24 hours later, the sheriff’s office shut down another party with more than 550 people in the Bronx. (Zaveri, 11/1)

The Washington Post: A Woman Died Of Coronavirus On A Plane. Her Fellow Passengers Were Never Notified.
When Spirit Airlines learned that a Texas woman had died of covid-19 on one of its flights in July, the airline said it alerted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and received an acknowledgment from the agency. But Spirit spokesman Erik Hofmeyer said it was never asked by health authorities to share passenger manifests to aid in tracking down people who might have been exposed. State health officials in New Mexico, where the woman was declared dead after the Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Albuquerque, acknowledged they failed to investigate, as did the CDC. (Duncan, 10/31)

NBC News: Covid-19 Mourners Are Turning To Facebook For Grief Support
Brian Walter was wracked with guilt after his father died from Covid-19 in May. Walter was a New York City Transit employee who had kept working as the coronavirus surged across the city in the spring and he worried he was responsible. “One of my personal struggles is worrying about the fact that I may have brought it into the house,” said Walter, 46, who lived with his parents in Queens and tested positive for the virus around the same time as his father. (Vago, 11/1)

The Washington Post: Poor And Minority Children With Food Allergies Are Overlooked And In Danger
As Emily Brown stood in a food pantry looking at her options, she felt alone. Up to that point, she had never struggled financially. But there she was, desperate to find safe food for her young daughter with food allergies. What she found was a jar of salsa and some potatoes. “That was all that was available,” said Brown, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas. “It was just a desperate place.” When she became a parent, Brown left her job for lack of child care that would accommodate her daughter’s allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and soy. When she and her husband then turned to a federal food assistance program, they found few allowable allergy substitutions. The closest allergy support group she could find was an hour away. She was almost always the only Black parent, and the only poor parent, there. (West, 11/1)

Georgia Health News: After Power Outage, Pay Attention To Food Safety 
With COVID-19 flaring and politicians fuming, these last few weeks have raised anxiety to a new level. Then along came Zeta. As the former hurricane raced from the Gulf Coast up into the mid-Atlantic states and then back out to sea, it hit the Peach State with a vengeance. It knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Georgians on Thursday and Friday. (Miller, 10/30)

In obituaries —

USA Today: 'American Idol' Alum Nikki McKibbin, Who Competed Against Kelly Clarkson, Dies At 42
Nikki McKibbin, who finished in third place behind Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini on the first season of "American Idol," has died, according to a Facebook post from her husband. She was 42. Craig Sadler shared Saturday on social media that McKibbin "suffered an aneurysm on Wednesday" and had been kept on life support before an operation early Sunday morning to give "her final gift" as an organ donor. 

USA Today: School COVID Cases: Kids In Class At Most Big Districts As US Surges
The U.S. has entered a second round of back-to-school, just as the coronavirus surges around the nation. In smaller school districts, careful in-person reopenings in August and September didn’t lead to an explosion of COVID-19 cases. And now, the country's largest school systems, which had largely eschewed in-person instruction, are venturing partially back into the classroom. (Aspegren and Richards, 11/1)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Schools Need Help To Keep Classrooms Open As Cases Rise
Nearly all of Indiana’s schools have finally reopened for in-person instruction, but it may not last long. School leaders across the state are warning families that the recent surge of coronavirus cases could push school back online. “We can't put our schools in bubbles,” said Aleesia Johnson, superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. IPS, the state’s largest district, just reopened for in-person instruction earlier this month. “While we are being very rigorous and diligent about practices like social distancing and masking for all of our students, there's no denying that if, in the community around us, the virus rate is increasing, that's going to have some level of impact on our schools.” (Herron, 10/30)

The New York Times: In San Francisco, Virus Is Contained But Schools Are Still Closed 
As a third wave of coronavirus infections has begun to take off across much of the country, San Francisco has been a bright spot. After experiencing a surge of cases over the summer, the city has tamped down infections to near their lowest levels since the pandemic began. Restaurants, movie theaters, and museums are open at 25 percent of capacity. One crucial part of the city, however, remains firmly closed: The public schools. (Taylor, 11/1)

In related news —

CIDRAP: Review Suggests Higher Transmission In Older Schoolchildren
A literature review today in The Journal of Infectious Diseases found that SARS-CoV-2 appeared to have a more limited spread in primary schools compared with secondary/high schools, although mitigation measures and community case levels were also factors. The researchers also found that children under 10 years old appeared to be relatively less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and that serologic prevalence may be higher in younger adults under 35. The authors, from Harvard University and the University of St. Andrews in Britain, included in their review 14 studies that looked at how susceptibility, infectivity, and seroprevalence differed across age-groups. (10/30)

AP: Families, Day Cares Feel Strain Of New COVID-19 Health Rules
Joelle Wheatley hit her pandemic-parenting rock bottom after her son was sent home from day care for a second time, with the sniffles, due to stricter health guidelines in a symptom-sensitive COVID-19 world. It was supposed to be Jacob’s first day back after a stressful 10-day home quarantine for another mild symptom that turned out to be harmless. Frustrated, desperate — there were no other care options, and she needed to focus on work — and certain that the 2-year-old’s runny nose and cough were also benign, the Seattle mom defied the day care’s orders and brought him back the next day anyway. (Ho, 11/2)

ABC News: All Travelers To New York Must Test Negative For COVID-19, Cuomo Announces 
New York state is moving away from a travel advisory that required a two-week quarantine for people coming from COVID-19 hotspots and instead will mandate that all travelers test negative for the virus before and after coming to the state, the governor announced Saturday. "There will be no quarantine list, there will be no metrics," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters. "There will be one rule that applies across the country." (Katersky and Deliso, 10/31)

In news from the South —

Fox 5 Atlanta: Kemp Extends Georgia COVID-19 Emergency Order Into December
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday he was extending the public health state of emergency and renewing current COVID-19 restrictions. The public health state of emergency is now in effect through December 9. (10/31)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How To Vote On Mississippi's Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative
When voters go to the polls or vote absentee, they will decide if Mississippi will have a medical marijuana program. However, this will be no ordinary vote. There's a two-step process for voting on Initiative 65 or the alternative Initiative 65A. (Gates, 10/30)

In news from the Midwest, West and Alaska —

Modern Healthcare: Illinois Will Have To Vaccinate 10 Million People Against COVID. What Could Go Wrong?
Illinois is gearing up for an unprecedented logistical challenge in the midst of a public health crisis. The goal is simple: vaccinate 80 percent of the population against COVID-19. But getting the shots from manufacturers to people's arms will require precise coordination among numerous public and private entities, as well as an airtight supply chain—not to mention a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. (Goldberg, 10/31)

AP: Ohio Mask Mandate: No Real Punishment For Breaking COVID-19 Rules
Ohio’s statewide mandatory mask order went into effect on July 23, requiring people to wear masks at public indoor locations outside their homes. But many Ohioans simply aren’t. And – despite COVID-19 cases climbing to record-setting highs and Hamilton County teetering on the brink of purple, the worst level, on the state’s coronavirus alert map – it doesn’t seem like the maskless are facing any real consequences. (Sparling and Wartman, 11/1)

Kansas City Star: Kansas City Metro Again Breaks 7-Day COVID-19 Case Average 
An additional 650 residents in the Kansas City metro have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the region’s seven-day rolling average to its highest since the pandemic began. In total, the virus has now infected 53,359 residents and killed 784 people across the metro, which encompasses Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. (Nozicka, 11/1)

Albuquerque Journal: State Plans ‘Full-Court Press’ To Get More People Tested For COVID-19 
New advances in technology could soon boost coronavirus testing options. Rapid tests are now available, as are those that offer the convenience of spitting into a tube in the privacy of your own home. At-home saliva testing kits are available commercially online nationwide. But it isn’t clear how effective any of the new options will be at producing solid, fast results. (Heild, 11/1)

Anchorage Daily News: For Months, The Mat-Su Avoided The COVID-19 Spikes Hitting Other Regions Of Alaska. Now It’s A Hotspot. 
For much of the coronavirus pandemic, the Mat-Su region largely escaped the rising case counts and testing shortfalls despite a lack of mask mandates or any other restrictions. Not anymore. As of this week, cases in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough were doubling every seven to eight days — the state’s fastest growth rate, along with the Kenai Peninsula, according to Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer. State data shows that Mat-Su residents have Alaska’s highest test positivity rate for a region on the road system. (Hollander, 11/1)

The Washington Post: Prince William Caught The Novel Coronavirus In The Spring, According To Media Reports 
Prince William caught the novel coronavirus in the spring around the same time that his father, Prince Charles, also tested positive, according to various British media reports. The Duke of Cambridge, 38, was left “struggling to breathe,” according to the Sun newspaper, which first published the story. The British tabloid said that William, the second in line to the throne, kept the diagnosis secret because “he didn’t want to alarm the nation.” His diagnosis came a few days after the palace revealed in late March that Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, had the virus. (Adam, 11/1)

The New York Times: Europe’s Case Count Tops 10 Million as Lockdowns Multiply
Europe surpassed 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 268,000 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, staggering tolls for a region that seemed to have a semblance of control over the pandemic after the lockdowns of spring and early summer. In July, when the devastating first wave subsided, Europe was averaging fewer than 15,000 new infections a day, but that figure reached about 253,000 in the past week, according to figures compiled by The New York Times, and many nations have returned to lockdowns as the virus has spiraled out of control. (11/1)

Bloomberg: U.K. Increased Covid’s Spread By Subsidizing Diners, Study Finds
The U.K.’s Eat-Out-to-Help-Out program, hailed as an economic cure for its ailing restaurant industry, may have substantially worsened the pandemic, research showed. The government spent 500 million pounds ($647 million) subsidizing the cost of restaurant meals and non-alcoholic drinks by as much as 50% in August, even after evidence had emerged that Covid-19 could easily spread in hospitality settings, a study from the University of Warwick found. (Gale, 11/1)

AP: Germany Launches 4-Week Partial Shutdown To Curb Virus
A four-week partial shutdown has started in Germany, with restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas and other leisure facilities closing down until the end of the month in a drive to flatten a rapid rise in coronavirus infections. The restrictions that took effect Monday are milder than the ones Germany imposed in the first phase of the pandemic in March and April. This time around, schools, kindergartens, non-essential shops and hairdressers are to remain open. (11/2)

In other global developments —

AP: WHO Chief Tedros To Quarantine After Contact Gets COVID-19
The head of the World Health Organization says he will self-quarantine after being identified as a contact of a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter late Sunday that he is “well and without symptoms” but will self-quarantine in “coming days, in line with WHO protocols, and work from home.” (11/2)

Reuters: Japan Opens Airport Coronavirus Test Lab For Departing Travellers 
Japan’s largest airport opened a novel coronavirus testing facility on Monday as it takes steps to reopen international travel that has been largely grounded for months by the pandemic. The Narita International Airport PCR Center is aimed at outbound travellers who need proof that they are virus-free when they arrive at their destinations. (11/2)

AP: For Mexico's Doctors, An Especially Mournful Day Of The Dead
The diminutive figure of a skeleton in a face mask and medical cap has a hand on a bedridden patient. At its side is the sort of skull made of sugar common on Day of the Dead altars. And behind is the photo of a white-haired 64-year-old man in glasses smiling at the camera: the late Dr. Jose Luis Linares. He is one of more than 1,700 Mexican health workers officially known to have died of COVID-19 who are being honored with three days of national mourning on these Days of the Dead. (Romeo, 11/1)

Bloomberg: A Covid-19 Vaccine Faces Major Policy Hurdles
Amid the tragedy of the pandemic, one marvel is hiding in plain sight. The development of a working vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is happening at breakneck speed, a triumph of ingenuity and efficiency that has few precedents. However, even if researchers and pharmaceutical companies succeed on the scientific front, policy makers will then have to pick up the baton. Unfortunately, if the poor management of the pandemic in Europe and the U.S. is any guidance, the potential for policy failure is enormous. (Ferdinando Giugliano, 11/2)

Stat: Potentially Worrisome Spike In Off-Label Dexamethasone Prescribing 
Dexamethasone, a potent steroid medication, is in the news as a possible treatment for people with Covid-19. A June 2020 press release for the UK-based RECOVERY clinical trial announced that dexamethasone reduced the risk of death in hospitalized Covid-19 patients who needed mechanical ventilation or additional oxygen. The following month, results of the trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Kao-Ping Chua, Adam Cifu and Rena M. Conti, 11/2)

The Wall Street Journal: How Congress Can Get Kids Back To Class
The U.K., France and other European countries are closing businesses in another wave of lock downs, as Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations rise. But unlike in the spring, schools are open. Infections are also surging across the U.S., where in many places in-person classrooms are closed and distance learning has become the norm. But there’s growing evidence schools can open safely, with reasonable precautions and, perhaps soon, regular testing. (Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan, 11/1)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus Pandemic Can Be Controlled With Mask Wearing
“We are not going to control the pandemic,” the White House chief of staff said last weekend, admitting the Donald Trump administration’s failure to perform its most urgent job. This is timely, relevant information for Americans now going to the polls. But it’s also terribly dangerous thinking. Even as the country waits to find out if there will be a change in leadership, the U.S. government can’t simply give up trying to control Covid-19; far too many lives and livelihoods are at stake. Without strenuous efforts to monitor outbreaks by testing and tracing, and leadership to persuade people to take basic protective measures — covering their faces, keeping their distance from others, washing their hands — all countries may soon face a “tsunami of cases,” as a World Health Organization official put it, that will overwhelm health-care systems. (10/30)

Modern Healthcare: Employers And Providers Need A New Dialogue To Help Fix Healthcare
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the healthcare system as we know it, laying bare the troublesome consequences of our ongoing struggle to deliver equitable, patient-centered, value-based care to all Americans. Fortunately, there are a few bright spots—the rapid expansion of telehealth technology, for example, has dramatically increased access to care in convenient, patient-friendly ways. And a new, unconventional alliance between employers and healthcare systems could help to accelerate more solutions for our long-standing challenges with care coordination and value-based care. (Laura Fegraus, 10/30)

Modern Healthcare: Modernizing The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute Is Long Overdue And Will Improve Patient Care
In the face of the worst pandemic in memory, we’ve seen heroes emerge in hospitals, doctors’ offices and across the healthcare industry. It has become clear that patients rely on more than just their primary physician to receive the care they need, with many others, including the medical technology industry, playing a pivotal role in patient health. Unfortunately, a law written back in the 1970s—the federal Anti-Kickback Statute—today deters coordination among healthcare providers, and between providers and medtech companies, that would achieve better and lower-cost outcomes for patients. (Scott Whitaker, 10/31)

The New York Times: Our Most Dangerous Weeks Are Ahead
The weeks following the election could very well be the most dangerous weeks in this country since the Civil War. If Donald Trump should lose, he may well not concede. And he will still be president, with all the power that bestows. His supporters will likely be seething, thinking that the election has been stolen. These are seeds he has been sowing for months. Trump will have command of the military, the Justice Department and part of the intelligence apparatus. (Charles M. Blow, 11/1)

Des Moines Register: Women's Rights In Iowa: Court Shift Puts Onus On Elected Officials
We can no longer count on the courts in Iowa and federally to protect our fundamental rights. The future of our ability to make decisions about our bodies and access critical reproductive health care is at the ballot box. We must vote to elect leaders at all levels of government who will start rebuilding our state’s reproductive health care system and protect Iowans’ fundamental rights for generations to come. (Erin Davison-Rippey, 10/31)

Des Moines Register: Trump's Big, Beautiful Health Insurance Plan Does Not Exist
No plan has been unveiled, which is a recurring theme from the GOP. Republicans in Congress had majorities for over half of the Bush administration to offer a proposal to provide health insurance to Americans. They had a decade after Obamacare was enacted to roll out a different proposal. What Americans heard: crickets. (10/30)

The Oklahoman: Openness Important With Oklahoma Vaccine Plan
Oklahoma’s plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine, once one becomes available, includes many facets. Foremost among them may be the Health Department’s focus, especially early in the process, on explaining who is getting the vaccine and why. The plan, recently submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calls for distributing the vaccine in four phases tied to availability. First in line will be employees of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, followed by front-line public health workers and those caring directly for sick COVID-19 patients. (11/1)

Stat: The Quiet Pandemic Caused By Consuming Too Much Salt 
The deadly coronavirus pandemic has, appropriately, captured much of the public’s attention. But we should not forget other long-standing pandemics, such as those caused by opioids, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and salt. Salt? Diets heavy in salt can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of non-fatal and fatal heart attacks and strokes. And the magnitude of that harm puts salt among the major killers in the United States and many other countries. (Michael F. Jacobson, 11/2)