The Washington Post: Coronavirus Cases Exceed 100,000 In One Day For The First Time, Even As The Nation Is Split On The Pandemic Vs. The Economy
The coronavirus pandemic reached a dire milestone Wednesday when the number of new U.S. infections topped 100,000 in one day for the first time, continuing a resurgence that showed no sign of slowing. The pandemic is roaring across the Midwest and Plains states. Seven states set records for hospitalizations for covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. And Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota saw jumps of more than 45 percent in their seven-day rolling average of new infections, considered the best measure of the spread of the virus. (Bernstein, Achenbach, Stead Sellers and Wan, 11/4)

The New York Times: U.S. Records 100,000 Cases In A Day For The First Time
Five states — Maine, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska and Colorado — set single-day case records. Cases were also mounting in the Mountain West and even in the Northeast, which over the summer seemed to be getting the virus under control. North and South Dakota and Wisconsin have led the country for weeks in the number of new cases relative to their population. But other states have seen steep recent increases in the last 14 days. (11/5)

CNN: The US Just Reported More Than 100,000 New Covid-19 Infections, The Most Cases In A Single Day Since Pandemic's Start
Now more than 9.4 million Americans have been infected with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic and more than 233,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.(Maxouris, 11/5)

In related news —

Fox News: Coronavirus Kills 9th US Service Member As Military Infections Near 59,000
A ninth U.S. service member has died from the coronavirus, as total confirmed cases in the military approached 59,000, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The fatality was reported on the Pentagon's coronavirus case chart, which now lists nine military deaths due to COVID-19. That number includes Guard and Reserve service members. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said last month that only one active-duty service member (out of 1.3 million) had died from the virus. (Aaro, 11/4)

CNN: The Time Is Now To Develop A Testing Strategy For Asymptomatic Covid-19 Cases, CDC Director Says
As the US recorded its five highest days of coronavirus cases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said this is the perfect time to develop a strategy to better detect asymptomatic cases. (Vera and Maxouris, 11/4)

AP: Biden Pushes Closer To Victory In Race For The White House
Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path. With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his case in court in some key swing states. It was unclear if any of his campaign’s legal maneuvering over balloting would succeed in shifting the race in his favor. (LeMire, Colvin, Miller and Jaffe, 11/5)

The New York Times: Tensions Rise As States Release More Results 
As the Biden camp secured victories in Michigan and Wisconsin critical to its path to victory, attention shifted on Thursday to a handful of states where the result remained too close to call and to the courts, where the Trump campaign filed a barrage of lawsuits challenging the validity of the count. In Arizona, where ballots continued to be tallied even as roughly 150 Trump supporters, some armed, surrounded a facility in Maricopa County to voice support for President Trump as he continued to chip away at former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s lead in the state. After 62,000 votes in Maricopa County were added to the tally early Thursday, Mr. Biden led Mr. Trump in Arizona by 68,400 votes, or less than three percentage points. But Mr. Trump faced a steep uphill battle to close the gap. (11/5)

NPR: When Will We Know The Winner? Time Frames For Key States
The United States woke up the morning after Election Day not knowing who will be president for the next four years. It's not unprecedented, and with a slew of mail-in ballots to process, several key states are working to finish counting. ... The Nevada secretary of state's elections division says it will give its next update on results Thursday morning. As of Wednesday evening, the state had completed 75% of its tally, with Biden having a slight edge. (Gringlas and Chappell, 11/4)

USA Today: All Eyes On Nevada: Election Officials Are 'Working Feverishly' But Won't Rush Vote Count In Presidential Race
Nevada’s potentially pivotal six Electoral College votes remained in limbo on Wednesday night, when elections officials in the state’s two largest counties said they would not add to preliminary presidential voting results until Thursday. Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria told reporters his office was “working feverishly” to process late-arriving mail ballots that could turn the presidential race decisively toward Democrat Joe Biden, who maintained a lead of fewer than 8,000 votes Wednesday. Several media outlets on Wednesday projected Biden was just six electoral votes shy of ending President Donald Trump’s time in the White House. (DeHaven, 11/5)

AP: Trump Backers Converge On Vote Centers In Michigan, Arizona
Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities across the U.S. (Householder and Sullivan, 11/4)

Misinformation continues to spread on social media —

AP: Trump And Allies Spread Falsehoods To Cast Doubt On Election
While much of America was sleeping Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump’s leads in crucial battleground states began slipping — and that’s when online falsehoods about the election started surging. More than 100,000 votes that Democratic nominee Joe Biden picked up in Wisconsin were evidence of “outright corruption,” one Twitter user surmised. The ballots were “MAGICALLY” found, claimed another. In fact, Biden’s early morning comeback in the closely watched Midwestern state was simply the result of absentee and early votes being counted. (Seitz, Klepper and Swenson, 11/5)

Politico: Pressure Rises On Facebook, Twitter To Rein In Trump As False Claims Spread 
Facebook and Twitter struggled Wednesday to contain a deluge of false claims from President Donald Trump and his supporters that Democrats were trying to steal the election — sparking criticism from the left that their labels and fact checks weren't going nearly far enough. Trump has continued to incorrectly insist that he is the winner of Tuesday's vote, even though ballots are still being counted in four critical states and it is still unclear who will emerge the victor. (Overly, 11/4)

Politico: Twitter Slaps Warning On Prominent Democrats' Tweets Prematurely Claiming Biden Wins 
Twitter slapped warning labels Wednesday on a pair of tweets by prominent Democrats that prematurely claimed Joe Biden had won a key battleground state and the general election, the first enforcement actions of its policy against such declarations leveled against high profile liberal leaders. Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, claimed in a tweet Wednesday morning that “there's no realistic path for Trump to pull ahead” in the state, citing freshly reported absentee ballots. “Folks: Joe Biden just won Wisconsin,” he added. (Lima, 11/4)

Also —

The New York Times: A Vote That Flew In The Face Of Fear Itself 
Struggling through one of the most devastating years in the history of the United States, a year of strife and suffering and loss, the nation’s people responded with resolve on the first Tuesday of November. Together but apart, they voted. ... Beyond those who, fearing infection, chose to vote by mail, many who cast a ballot on Election Day experienced firsthand the completeness with which the virus has altered everyday American life. Face masks were, if not mandatory, at least expected, and poll workers sometimes attended to the underpinnings of a democratic government behind transparent protective shields. But the pandemic did not suppress the vote. (Barry, 11/4)

The Washington Post: USPS Ballot Problems Unlikely To Change Election Outcomes In Contested States 
The 300,000 ballots the U.S. Postal Service reported as untraceable are unlikely to affect the outcome of the presidential race in key swing states — even in a worst-case scenario where all are lost — according to a Washington Post analysis. On Tuesday, the U.S. Postal Service notified a federal judge in the District of Columbia that the affected ballots had been scanned in at processing plants across the country but had never received exit scans signifying they’d been delivered to vote counters. (Bogage and INgraham, 11/4)

Politico: Biden Breaks Obama Record For Most Votes
Former Vice President Joe Biden broke the record for the most number of votes cast for any presidential candidate in history by early Wednesday afternoon. The Democratic presidential nominee surpassed 70,330,000 votes as of 2:38 p.m., according to The Associated Press. Biden's total shatters a previous record for the most votes cast for a president set by Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, with nearly 69,500,000 votes, according to the Federal Election Commission. (Mejdrich, 11/4)

Stat: ‘Science Was On The Ballot’: How Can Public Health Recover From A Rebuke At The Polls?
Results from Tuesday and early Wednesday underscore just how many Americans agree with a president who has called the nation’s top scientists “idiots,” openly mocked mask-wearing, and has insisted states must be “liberated” from lockdowns. No matter who wins the presidency, more than 67 million Americans already seem to have sided with Trump on public health. In preliminary exit polls, just 14% of Republican voters surveyed said the coronavirus pandemic was the deciding factor in who they voted for, despite the fact that the virus has killed more than 233,000 Americans and is spreading unabated across the nation. (Florko, 11/4)

The Guardian: Fears About Economy Under Covid Lockdown Helped Trump Outperform Polls
Voters’ fears about the economic impact of coronavirus lockdowns appear to have helped Donald Trump outperform pollsters’ expectations and brought the US election down to a nail-biting finish. While ballots are still being counted, that performance probably shows the continued resonance of anti-lockdown rhetoric in an election where, especially for Trump voters, economic health came first. (Glenza, 11/4)

PBS NewsHour: Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Wisconsin Voters Choose Biden Over Trump
Wisconsin voters who said they had lost a family member or friend to the coronavirus pandemic were twice as likely to support former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Sixty-eight percent said they backed Biden compared to 32 percent who were for Trump, according to preliminary data from the Associated Press’ VoteCast survey Wednesday. Nationwide, 62 percent of Americans who had lost a loved one to the pandemic said they voted for Biden, according to VoteCast data. In recent months, Wisconsin has become a national hotspot for the virus. More than 250,000 Wisconsinites have gotten sick with COVID-19, and another 2,100 have died after becoming infected with the virus, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.(Santhanam, 11/4)

The New York Times: In Midwest Battlegrounds, The Virus Met Another Concern: The Economy 
When Americans voted in this presidential election, they made it clear that of all the crucial issues facing the country, the coronavirus pandemic towered over the rest. They remained diametrically opposed, however, on how the pandemic reflected on President Trump. In the Midwest — states that were battlegrounds in the presidential race and where the virus has soared — supporters of Mr. Trump defended his handling of the crisis, praised his efforts to revive the economy and echoed his suggestions that the virus’s dangers were overblown. (Bosman, Mervosh and McDonnell Nieto del Rio, 11/4)

In related news —

KHN: Longtime Health Advocate Donna Shalala Loses House Reelection Race 
Rep. Donna E. Shalala of Florida, the first-term Democratic member of Congress and former Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration, lost her campaign for reelection Tuesday. Shalala’s loss to Maria Elvira Salazar — a Republican and former television journalist who compared Democratic policy proposals to leftist oppression in countries like Cuba while campaigning in the Miami district — was a notable upset for House Democrats. While Democrats held onto control of the House, so far they have fallen short of expectations that they would secure an even stronger majority there. (Huetteman, 11/5)

Politico: Biden Plans For Covid Task Force During Transition 
With President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force sidelined, Joe Biden is planning to create his own task force to help grapple with the country's surge in cases should he win tonight's election, according to plans obtained by POLITICO. The task force would include former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, New York University’s Dr. Celine Gounder, Yale’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, former Obama White House aide Dr. Zeke Emanuel and former Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita, who is now an executive vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In line with Biden’s repeated campaign pledges to “listen to the scientists” if elected, the team features well-respected, veteran public health experts, some of whom ran agencies under the Obama and Clinton administrations. (Miranda Ollstein, Meyer and Thompson, 11/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Team Forging Ahead With Presidential Transition Planning 
Joe Biden’s transition team is moving forward with efforts to plan for his possible presidency as the election results remain in limbo, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Biden’s transition team, a group of policy experts charged with implementing the former vice president’s policy agenda and filling thousands of jobs across the government, is forging ahead with plans to send staff into federal agencies once a winner is declared, the people said. The team has been planning for months for the possibility that the Trump administration won’t cooperate with Mr. Biden’s aides as they prepare for him to potentially take over the White House. (Restuccia, 11/4)

New York Post: Joe Biden Launches Presidential Transition Website
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday launched a transition website as he neared the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat President Trump. The site, buildbackbetter.com, features only a homepage topped with an image of the former vice president. It says “Biden-Harris Transition” against a solid blue background. (Nelson, 11/4)

Axios: GOP Senate Wins Wreak Havoc On Biden Transition Plans 
Republicans' likely hold on the Senate is forcing Joe Biden's transition team to consider limiting its prospective Cabinet nominees to those who Mitch McConnell can live with, according to people familiar with the matter. ... Traditionally, an incoming president is given wide berth to pick his desired team. This political reality could result in Biden having a more centrist Cabinet. (Nichols and Allen, 11/5)

Politico: How A Drawn-Out Election Fight Could Hamper A Biden Transition 
Presidential transitions typically move at a breakneck speed even in smoother election cycles, given that teams have just over two months to stand up a federal bureaucracy staffed with more than 4,000 political appointees. Any delay in the election result this year will narrow that window, giving the Biden team an even shorter runway to begin formally vetting Cabinet nominees, laying out policy priorities and crafting an agenda. Some of their work can continue unfettered, even as ballots are counted and legal fights play out. The transition team has the ability, for instance, to conduct FBI background checks on potential Cabinet nominees. But officials do not have the ability to work with the Office of Government Ethics — a secondary step in the vetting process — until the election results are final. Past transitions have typically begun providing the OGE with names to review by early or mid-December. (Cassella and Miranda Ollstein, 11/4)

FierceHealthcare: 3 Ways A Biden White House Could Impact Healthcare 
No matter who wins, the next president will need to confront mounting job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic that have had a direct impact on health coverage, experts say. An analysis from the Commonwealth Fund estimates as many as 14 million Americans could lose their health insurance due to job losses or because they are dependents of someone who holds an employer-sponsored plan.  (King, 11/3)

The Washington Post: Louisiana Passed Amendment One: Abortion Is No Longer A Right 
Louisiana’s amendment will add new language to the state constitution, specifying that abortion is not a right. For now, it will change little about abortion access in the state: Women will be able to get abortions as they did before, with no additional restrictions. But the purpose of the new amendment is to lay groundwork for the future. If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the measure will provide additional protections to ensure abortion would be illegal in Louisiana. Some of those details were missed on Tuesday night, as a portion of voters across the state were left thinking their state had just outlawed abortion.(Kitchener and Wax, 11/4)

CNN: Abortion Ballot Measures: Louisiana Amendment Passes, While Colorado 22-Week Ban Fails 
Voters in two states weighed in on abortion rights on Election Day. Louisiana voters decided to amend the state's constitution by adding language that expressly states the document offers no protections for a right to abortion or the funding of abortion, and Colorado voters rejected a ban on abortion beginning at 22 weeks of pregnancy, according to CNN projections. (Kelly, 11/4)

KHN: Coming Abortion Fight Could Threaten Birth Control, Too
Abortion opponents were among those most excited by the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. And they had good reason to be. As a law professor and circuit court judge, Barrett made it clear she is no fan of abortion rights. She is considered likely to vote not only to uphold restrictions on the procedure, but also, possibly, even to overturn the existing national right to abortion under the Supreme Court’s landmark rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. (Rovner, 11/5)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Voters Back Legalized Drugs, Higher Wages, Voting Restrictions 
Voters on Tuesday approved measures favoring legalizing drugs, raising the minimum wage and keeping noncitizens from casting ballots, among dozens of other ballot initiatives before the electorate. With the approval of Measure 110, Oregon became the first state to eliminate criminal penalties for possession of hard drugs. Possessing small quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, MDMA (ecstasy) or psilocybin (the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms) will be a civil violation carrying a small fine that can be waived upon completion of a health assessment with an addiction-treatment professional. The measure, which also reduces criminal penalties for possession of larger amounts of illicit drugs, won close to 60% of the vote. Selling and manufacturing drugs is still a crime. (Gershman, 11/4)

NPR: Psilocybin Effective For Major Depression, Study Finds
The substance that makes some mushrooms "magic" also appears to help people with major depressive disorder. A study of 27 people found that a treatment featuring the hallucinogen psilocybin worked better than the usual antidepressant medications, a team reported Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. "The effect was more than four times greater," says Alan Davis, an author of the study and a faculty member at both Johns Hopkins University and Ohio State University. (Hamilton, 11/4)

FierceHealthcare: California Dialysis Measure Fails, Mixed Results For Tobacco Taxes In State-Level Ballot Measures 
California voters resoundingly rejected a measure to require dialysis clinics to have an on-site physician as patients are treated. The ballot measure lost with 64% voting against it with nearly 70% of the votes being tallied. The rejection was a major win for provider groups that have been fighting the measure, which would have required clinics in the state to report data on any dialysis-related infections and get consent from the state health department before closing. (King, 11/3)

Louisville Courier Journal: Mitch McConnell Wants Congress To Pass COVID-19 Relief Package In 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he wants Congress to pass a new coronavirus relief package by the end of this year, regardless of which party wins control of the White House and the Senate in the 2020 election. Hot off his own reelection victory Tuesday night, McConnell expressed hope that Democrats and Republicans who are currently in office will come together to finally approve a fresh round of long-awaited aid, even though negotiations in recent months have failed. (Watkins, 11/4)

The Washington Post: McConnell Wants A New Stimulus Bill When Senate Returns
McConnell’s comments could open the door to a new phase in economic relief talks that have sputtered off and on for months. Most recently the key players have been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who spent many hours negotiating around an approximately $2 trillion package that McConnell and Senate Republicans viewed as too costly. (Werner, 11/4)

In related news about COVID's economic toll —

CNBC: U.S. Economy Needs 'Really Big' Covid Relief Package, Says Paul Krugman
The U.S. may need several hundred billion dollars a month in “disaster relief” to keep the economy afloat as a raging coronavirus outbreak continues to suppress prospects for workers and businesses, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Thursday. “We really are still very much in the disaster relief stage,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” “A lot of people are going to be out of work, a lot of businesses are going to be stressed. We need to just make life tolerable for them,” he added. (Nee Lee, 11/5)

The Washington Post: Apartment Company Owned By Jared Kushner Moves To Evict Hundreds Of Families As Moratoriums Expire 
Westminster Management, an apartment company owned in part by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, has submitted hundreds of eviction filings in court against tenants with past due rent during the pandemic, according to interviews with more than a dozen tenants and a review of hundreds of the company’s filings. (O'Connell, Gregg and Narayanswamy, 11/5)

The Washington Post: How A Contested Election Impacts Your Finances And The Economy
Americans woke up Wednesday morning to an undecided presidential election, which could be the case for some time, depending on legal challenges and recounts. For the economy, that means uncertainty is here to stay in 2020. Business leaders and investors tend to hate uncertainty, and this political situation adds more of it as the nation is already dealing with a second big wave of coronavirus cases and a contentious battle in Congress over another stimulus package. The early read among economists and Wall Street analysts is to buckle up for a wild few weeks. (Long, 11/4)

Anchorage Daily News: Does Wearing A Mask Help The Economy? An Alaska Economist Weighs In On Incentives To Slow Virus Spread And Avoid A Lockdown 
Kevin Berry is an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he researches how people respond to risks like wildfires, climate change and pandemics — he even wrote his dissertation on pandemic prevention. These days, he also teaches a course on pandemic economics at UAA, and he recently participated in a briefing where Anchorage leaders, hospital officials and business representatives urged the public to dial up efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and help keep businesses open .Berry agreed to speak with the Daily News about the pandemic’s impact on the economy. (Krakow, 11/4)

The Washington Post: Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug Gets Big Boost From FDA Staff 
A drug that would be the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly two decades received a vote of confidence Wednesday from Food and Drug Administration clinical reviewers, who said “exceptionally persuasive” data showed the drug slowed cognitive decline caused by the devastating ailment. The FDA assessment also concluded the drug, called aducanumab, was safe. The document was released before an advisory committee meeting Friday during which outside experts will decide whether to recommend the agency approve the drug. (McGinley, 11/4)

Stat: FDA Scientists Appear To Endorse Biogen's Alzheimer's Treatment
The commentary, which provides the first glimpse at how FDA scientists view the oft-debated treatment, comes ahead of a Friday meeting of outside advisers, who will issue a nonbinding vote on whether to recommend aducanumab’s approval. ... Biogen’s data from one large clinical trial were “robust and exceptionally persuasive,” FDA reviewers wrote, endorsing the drug’s effects on the cognition of Alzheimer’s patients. A second, nearly identical study did not show a significant benefit, but “upon closer review,” the FDA agreed with Biogen’s argument that the sum of all the data suggests aducanumab is helpful to patients. (Garde and Feuerstein, 11/4)

Boston Globe: FDA Praise For Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug Sends It Stock Soaring By Nearly 44 Percent
If aducanumab is approved, it would be the first new Alzheimer’s medicine in nearly two decades and could become a blockbuster, meaning sales of at least $1 billion a year. An estimated 5.8 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s, making it the sixth leading cause of death in the country, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. (Saltzmann, 11/4)

The Wall Street Journal: AstraZeneca Expects Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Results This Year 
AstraZeneca PLC said late-stage trials for the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with the University of Oxford are on track to produce results “later this year,” with a potential rollout soon after, subject to regulatory approval. Timing of the much-anticipated results depends on community infection rates around the world, with around 23,000 volunteers now enrolled in the clinical trials in the U.S., the U.K., Brazil and South Africa, the British drugmaker said Thursday as it reported third-quarter earnings. (Strasburg, 11/5)

The Hill: Oxford Scientist 'Optimistic' COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Ready In UK By End Of Year 
A researcher who's part of Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine trials said on Wednesday there is a small possibility that the results of the vaccine could be ready in the U.K. by the end of the year. “The first step is to reach the point where we can do an analysis and figure out whether or not the vaccine works. ... I'm optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year," vaccinologist Andrew Pollard told U.K. lawmakers, according to CNN. (Choi, 11/4)

Also —

FiercePharma: Pfizer Goes Solo On US Shot Distribution, Opting Out Of Government Channels
Pfizer had already made it quite clear that it doesn’t need the U.S. government to help distribute its COVID-19 vaccine, should it be authorized by the FDA. Now it’s putting an exclamation point on that declaration. The company will not use the government’s chosen distribution partner, McKesson, but rather its own system to deliver the COVID vaccine directly to healthcare providers, said Tanya Alcorn, Pfizer's vice president for biopharma global supply chain, during a recent webinar from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A Pfizer spokesperson confirmed that plan in an email to FiercePharma. (Weintraub, 11/4)

Stat: Abbott Sues A Former Executive For Allegedly Planning To Take Covid-19 Diagnostics Secrets To A Rival 
Amid its various efforts to provide Covid-19 tests, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) claims to have encountered a new problem: a key employee in its diagnostics business unexpectedly resigned last month to take a job with a rival company and planned to take trade secrets with him, according to a lawsuit. (Silverman, 11/4)

CIDRAP: Postmortem Lungs Of COVID-19 Patients Show Massive Damage 
A study of the lungs of 41 people who died from COVID-19 in Italy has revealed extensive damage, persistent distortion of the normal organ structure, scarring of respiratory tissue, and massive blood clotting of the arteries and veins, which may help explain why it takes some people—so-called "long haulers"—months to recover from fatigue and shortness of breath. The results were published yesterday in The Lancet's EBioMedicine journal. While the researchers also examined brain, heart, and kidney tissues, those organs showed no signs of damage or viral replication. (Van Beusekom, 11/4)

Stat: Research Points To Potential Link Between Pollution And Covid-19 Death Risk
New research points to another potential factor that might play into a person’s risk of death due to Covid-19: prolonged exposure to high levels of air pollution. In a study published Wednesday in Science Advances, researchers estimated long-term air pollution levels for more than 3,000 U.S. counties, which also had Covid-19 mortality data available through June 2020. While the study wasn’t designed to show whether pollution exposure directly affected a person’s risk of death due to Covid-19, it did demonstrate an association between increased pollution levels and higher Covid-19 death tolls. (Runwal, 11/4)

In other news —

Fox News: Anti-Inflammatory Diets Including Leafy Greens, Red Wine Linked To Better Heart Health: Study
Red meat or green, leafy vegetables? Sugary drinks or red wine? Researchers say opting for a diet with anti-inflammatory potential can lower the long-term risk of heart disease. Findings were published in the Nov. 10 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, among other institutions, followed over 210,000 people across various studies dating back to 1984. Participants answered a survey every four years about their diet. (Rivas, 11/4)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Proposes Rule To Review And Eliminate Old Regulations
The Trump administration wants HHS to check its regulations every 10 years to see if they're still needed, according to a proposed rule on Wednesday. Rules would expire 10 years after HHS issues them if the agency doesn't assess and, if necessary, review a rule "in a timely manner," HHS said in a statement. The agency would carry out more detailed reviews of regulations that have significant economic effects on many small entities. (Brady, 11/4)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth Group Subsidiary Must Revamp Behavioral Healthcare Coverage, Judge Rules
A federal judge ordered a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary to revamp its behavioral health claims processing after the insurer wrongfully denied mental health and substance use disorder treatment coverage to tens of thousands of its members. Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero wrote that United Behavioral Health manipulated internal guidelines to deny mental health coverage so it could "protect its bottom line." The company then lied to state regulators and UBH executives overseeing the guidelines, and deliberately attempted to mislead the court, Spero wrote in the Nov. 3 court filing. (Kacik, 11/4)

Charlotte Observer: Mecklenburg, NC Will Break Ties With Cardinal Innovations
Mecklenburg County is preparing to sever ties with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, the managed care organization that oversees behavioral-health treatment in 20 counties across North Carolina. Local officials leveled accusations against Cardinal in February just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit — detailing a pattern of inadequate access to service and substantial wait times for some of Mecklenburg’s neediest residents. The county, for example, blasted Cardinal’s faulty handling of emergency placements for children who are abandoned or neglected. (Kuznitz, 11/4)

FierceHealthcare: New York ER Docs Sue UnitedHealth For Alleged Underpayments 
New York emergency room docs are suing UnitedHealth Group and provider network management firm Multiplan, alleging the two conspired to underpay them for out-of-network claims. In the lawsuit, the group of staffing firms, all of which are out of network for UnitedHealthcare, claim that the insurer and Multiplan worked together using Multiplan's Data iSight platform to set their own "reasonable" rates for out-of-network claims, which undercut payments to the docs. (Minemyer, 11/3)

Also —

St. Louis Post Dispatch: ‘COVID Storm’ Prompts Local Hospitals To Begin Rescheduling Elective Surgeries 
St. Louis-area hospitals on Tuesday tallied a record number of COVID-19 daily hospital admissions, a continued rise that has prompted one health system to begin postponing some elective procedures. The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported 74 new admissions for COVID-19, the highest number since the group began tracking the data in April. Task force data lags two days and includes Mercy, SSM Health, St. Luke’s Hospital and BJC HealthCare facilities in the region. (Merrilees, 11/4)

FierceHealthcare: Industry Voices—Will The Country Choose Virtual Care Post-COVID? Yes – But Only If It’s Better 
The numbers are astonishing: The use of telehealth services in the U.S. has grown from 11% of consumers in 2019 to 46% in 2020. But telemedicine was not Plan A for many of these patients. They adopted it because of the difficulty of face-to-face physician visits during the spread of SARS-CoV-2.Telemedicine can do far more than suffice during an emergency. When virtual care becomes the catalyst for integrated care—and solves problems that have long plagued our current healthcare system—consumers will want a “virtual-first” model of healthcare delivery. (Ferguson, 11/4)

NPR: A New Hippocratic Oath Asks Doctors To Fight Racial Injustice And Misinformation
First-year medical student Sean Sweat "didn't want to tiptoe around" issues of race when she sat down with 11 of her classmates to write a new version of the medical profession's venerable Hippocratic oath. "We start our medical journey amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and a national civil rights movement reinvigorated by the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery," begins the alternate version of the oath, rewritten for the class of 2024 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. (Boden, 11/4)

The Oklahoman: Marijuana Recall: Check Your Stash For These Supplies That Failed Testing
State officials have issued a recall notice for medical marijuana products after a failed lab test. The recall includes marijuana from Empire Strains and KushCandy 420, which are processors in the Oklahoma County Area, according to an announcement Wednesday from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. (Denwalt, 11/5)

In other public health news —

Charlotte Observer: Charlotte, NC Church COVID-19 Outbreak: 8 Deaths, 187 Cases 
Two more people have died of coronavirus-related complications tied to October convocation events at a Charlotte church, bringing the death toll to at least eight. That includes seven Mecklenburg County residents and one Gaston County resident, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris told county commissioners during their Wednesday night board meeting. (Kuznitz, 11/4)

Axios: The Coronavirus Raises New Challenges For The Homeless 
The challenge of helping homeless people during the pandemic has spurred some cities to action and prompted bitter divisions in others, as shelters struggle with the new challenges of adhering to the CDC's social distancing, PPE and sanitary guidelines. Some cities have tried new ways to help, such as buying up vacant hotels, apartments and other buildings to use as housing. Some feel grief as outdoor homeless encampments grow. (Kingson, 11/5)

AP: In Virus Era, Bubbles Provide Game-Changing Lessons Learned
The NBA wants to be back in December. The NHL is aiming at games resuming in January. Baseball’s spring training may begin in February, like normal. They almost certainly won’t be in bubbles if and when any or all of that happens. But many of the lessons learned from being in some form of a bubble environment — where the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball each crowned a champion after finding a way to finish their seasons in most unusual circumstances — could apply to whatever the new definition of normal is for those and other sports. (Reynolds and Whyno, 11/5)

AP: Mob Figure Granted Compassionate Release From Prison
A former high-ranking member of the Patriarca organized crime family was granted compassionate release from prison Wednesday by a federal judge in Boston who ruled his poor health puts him at greater risk from the coronavirus if he remains behind bars. Robert DeLuca, 75, is also not a threat to the community and was serving time for nonviolent crimes, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper said in her decision. (11/4)

Stat: After A Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Many Black Women Face Delays In Care
Tamiko Byrd was only 43 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in October 2015. The diagnosis shook Byrd, who had spent years as a fitness instructor and health educator in underserved Black communities, to her core. So did the prospect of navigating cancer treatment. Byrd had just moved to Houston for graduate school, had kids to take care of, and also needed to keep her job as a Xerox technician, which gave her health insurance. (Runwal, 11/5)

KHN: Poor And Minority Children With Food Allergies 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.” (West, 11/5)

KHN: Behind The Byline: How Do You Say …? 
When KHN correspondent Victoria Knight began reporting on the coronavirus risk migrant workers brave to harvest crops, she struggled to find farmworkers willing to speak on record. Many of the workers who are undocumented worry about possible detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or fear the Trump administration’s “public charge rule.” The rule allows immigration officers to deny someone admission to the country based on the entry seeker’s lack of economic resources. (Knight, 11/5)

ABC News: Election Stress? Here Are 8 Apps To Support Your Mental Health 
"One thing that we as humans do not like is uncertainty and unpredictability," said Dr. Mark Seery, a researcher on stress and coping at the University of Buffalo, during a 2018 interview with "Good Morning America."Dr. Tania Israel, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, agreed. "Uncertainty is stressful," Israel told ABC News. "The election, the global pandemic and social unrest are all adding to a sense of uncertainty in our lives." While many are experiencing intense emotions right now, stress is normal and there are steps and strategies we can take to cope. (Kindelan and Bernabe, 11/4)

The New York Times: Stress Relief Tips To Relieve Election Anxiety
While there’s nothing you can do to speed election results or a coronavirus vaccine, you do have the power to take care of yourself. Neuroscientists, psychologists and meditation experts offered advice about the big and small things you can do to calm down. Here are 10 things you can try to release anxiety, gain perspective and gird yourself for whatever comes next. (Parker-Pope, 11/2)

HealthLine: 5 Ways To Stay Calm This Election Day
Many Americans are worried about the consequences for their own lives and others if their preferred candidate loses. The stakes for some community members are particularly high. While some stressors fall outside the average individual’s ability to control, there are steps that people can take to manage election-related stress. Here are five strategies that may help calm your nerves on Election Day. (Grey, 11/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Election Anxiety? TV Shows About Nothing Aim To Help America Chill 
The entertainment industry is trying to meet our stressed-out national moment by making television that works like a sedative. Several new shows released during the pandemic and some old ones are pitched as background music for anxious times. In an era of binge-and-burn TV, these shows are the opposite, designed to be watched on repeat without a cliffhanger in sight. (Gamerman, 11/4)

The New York Times: Weight Training May Help Ease Anxiety 
Roiled by concerns about the pandemic and politics? Lifting weights might help, according to a timely new study of anxiety and resistance training. The study, which involved healthy young adults, barbells and lunges, indicates that regular weight training substantially reduces anxiety, a finding with particular relevance during these unsettling, bumpy days. We already have plenty of evidence that exercise helps stave off depression and other mental ills, and that exercise can elevate feelings of happiness and contentment. But most past studies of exercise and moods have looked at the effects of aerobic exercise, like running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike. (Reynolds, 11/4)

Houston Chronicle: As Texas Colleges Plan In-Person Graduations, Faculty Push Back
A growing number of Texas colleges will have commencements this fall, with many offering multiple in-person ceremonies following enforced safety protocols and social distancing guidelines. The Texas Faculty Association, a group of more than 500 faculty from around the state, urged Gov. Greg Abbott in a release Wednesday to instruct state colleges and their boards to cancel or postpone fall in-person graduation ceremonies. The letter has also asked private colleges and universities to refrain from in-person commencements. (Britto, 11/4)

In news from Maine —

Bangor Daily News: Maine CDC Closes Its Augusta Office After Employee Tests Positive For COVID-19
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has closed its Augusta office to the public after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency said Wednesday. The state Department of Health and Human Services, the Maine CDC’s umbrella agency, learned of the positive test result on Tuesday afternoon and notified other workers at the office on 286 Water St. in downtown Augusta. The employee is now self-isolating, and workers from four of the building’s floors are now working remotely. (Eichacker, 11/4)

Bangor Daily News: ‘Staggering’ Criminal Case Backlog Means Maine Courts Won’t Take Up Civil Matters Until 2021
Maine courts have pushed many non-criminal matters into next year or later so they can start clearing a backlog of 8,800 felony criminal cases that the state’s acting chief justice called “staggering.” The delay in holding civil trials could help the court system chip away at the criminal case backlog that has grown 240 percent in less than a year. But some lawyers say delaying civil cases because they’re not considered emergency matters risks depriving Maine people of a legal forum for settling disputes. (Harrison, 11/4)

In news from Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa —

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Extends Mask Mandate, Reports 1,635 New Cases, 11 Deaths
Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,635 new cases of the coronavirus and 11 more related deaths in Kentucky on Wednesday. The state has now seen 113,009 COVID-19 cases and 1,514 deaths caused by the disease. The rate for positive tests is at 6.3%.In the wake of Election Day, with votes still being counted across the country, Beshear reminded Kentuckians "the virus is still here." (Austin, 11/4)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: October Deadliest Month In Missouri For Virus; Hospitalizations Hit Record 
October became the deadliest month for Missouri in the coronavirus pandemic as fatalities statewide rose to 618 for the month, surpassing September, with the toll still likely to climb. At the same time Wednesday, Missouri reported another grim record: The state’s seven-day total hospitalization average rose to 1,604, marking the first time that number has surpassed 1,600. Missouri hospitalization data lags three days, and not every hospital reports every day. (Merrilees, 11/4)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Nursing Homes With Dozens Of Infections Were Cleared By Inspectors Weeks Before
Of the 20 Iowa nursing homes with the biggest, active COVID-19 outbreaks, 14 were cleared by state inspectors of any infection-control violations earlier this year. In some cases, facilities with as many as seven dozen confirmed COVID-19 infections have undergone two, three or even four infection-control inspections since the pandemic began and been cleared by state inspectors each time. (Kauffman, 11/5)

The Washington Post: An Iowa Airport Has A Plan To Screen Passengers For The Coronavirus. It’s Being Held Up By The FAA. 
The Federal Aviation Administration has for months been weighing whether to allow the nation’s more than 500 federally subsidized airports to spend their money on screening passengers for the coronavirus, an issue teed up by a plan developed by a fairly small airport in Iowa. Marty Lenss, director of Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, began working on the plan in the spring, when the spread of the virus and lockdown orders brought air travel to a near standstill. Lenss worked with a local hospital to craft a plan to quickly screen travelers before they passed through security. He figured he could cover the $800,000 cost by using some of the $23 million the airport received under the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package known as the Cares Act. (Duncan, 11/4)

Bloomberg: Denmark Finds Covid Strain That Might Hamper Vaccine Effort
Denmark says it’s found a new strain of Covid-19 that might hamper efforts to develop a vaccine, after an outbreak in the country’s mink population triggered a mutation of the virus. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters that, because of developments in Denmark, there is now “a risk that the effect of a future vaccine will be weakened or, in a worst case scenario, be undermined,” during a virtual press briefing on Wednesday. (Buttler, 11/4)

The New York Times: Denmark Will Kill All Farmed Mink, Citing Covid Infections 
The Danish government will slaughter millions of mink at more than 1,000 farms, citing concerns that a mutation in the novel coronavirus that has infected the mink could possibly interfere with the effectiveness of a vaccine for humans. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made the announcement at a news conference on Wednesday. There are 15 million or more mink in Denmark, which is one of the world’s major exporters of mink furs. She said the armed forces would be involved in the culling of mink. (Gorman, 11/4)

In other global developments —

The Washington Post: Australia Almost Eliminated The Coronavirus By Putting Faith In Science 
The Sydney Opera House has reopened. Almost 40,000 spectators attended the city's rugby league grand final. Workers are being urged to return to their offices. Welcome to Australia, a pandemic success story. The nation of 26 million is close to eliminating community transmission of the coronavirus, having defeated a second wave just as infections surge again in Europe and the United States. (Patrick, 11/5)

Reuters: South Korea Tells People Who Attended Samsung Memorial To Get Tested After Coronavirus Case Emerges 
South Korea said on Thursday it had alerted about 1,000 people who attended the memorial of the late Samsung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee last week to get tested for the coronavirus after one person at the event tested positive. A local journalist who had covered the memorial developed symptoms two days later and tested positive on Monday, health authorities said. At least six new coronavirus cases, including two colleagues and two family members had been linked to the journalist, the authorities said. (Cha, 11/5)

Becker's Hospital Review: Hospital Floors 'Underappreciated' Source Of Bacteria Spread, Study Finds
Hospital floors may be a larger source of bacteria infection spread than previously thought, according to a study published Nov. 2 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The observational study took place in an acute care hospital and analyzed how quickly and where pathogens transferred after admitting 17 new patients. Before testing for pathogens, all rooms were thoroughly sanitized and enrolled patients screened negative for MRSA. Culture samples were collected from the floor, frequently touched areas, and patient socks and beds one to three times per day.  (Carbajal, 11/3)

CIDRAP: Less Distancing, Higher COVID-19 Burden In Low-Income Neighborhoods
A study in Nature Human Behavior today finds a strong association between neighborhood income and physical distancing, with financial constraints and inability to work from home contributing to a higher COVID-19 burden in low-income neighborhoods. Physical distancing—reducing close contacts between non-household members—is one of the primary strategies to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and was the impetus for state-level stay-at-home orders in the early months of the US pandemic. Data suggest that stay-at-home orders helped to reduce cases but reveal unequal declines and higher mortality rates among racial and ethnic minorities, who disproportionately live in low-income neighborhoods. (11/3)

CIDRAP: Higher COVID-19 Rates And Mortality Tied To Substandard Housing
Poor housing conditions are associated with higher US COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates, a PLOS One study yesterday showed, highlighting the need for health policies supporting individuals living in substandard housing. Veterans Administration researchers conducted a cross-sectional nationwide analysis of 3,135 US counties used data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Census Bureau, and John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, identifying an average of 14.2% of US households living in substandard housing. (11/3)

In pediatric research —

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Infant Mortality In Rural And Nonrural Counties In The United States
Rural counties have the highest infant mortality rates across the United States when compared with rates in more urban counties. We use a social-ecological framework to explain infant mortality disparities across the rural-urban continuum. (Ehrenthal et al, 11/1)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Parental Awareness Of Youth Tobacco Use And The Role Of Household Tobacco Rules In Use Prevention 
Noncigarette tobacco use is increasing. In this study, we reexamined (1) parental knowledge or suspicion of their children’s tobacco use and (2) associations of household tobacco-free rules with youth initiation. (Wu et al, 11/1)

Stat: Transparency Is Needed For Covid-19 Vaccine Trials 
With vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, on the near-term horizon, U.S. policymakers are focusing on how to ensure that Americans get vaccinated. This challenge has been compounded by reports that White House officials are exerting undue influence over the agencies that would ordinarily lead such efforts, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jennifer E. Miller, Joseph S. Ross and Michelle M. Mello, 11/5)

The Wall Street Journal: The Covid-19 Election
We are in this mess for one reason: the Covid-19 pandemic. If it hadn’t been for Covid, this would have been a normal election, with Donald Trump’s policy record producing a second term and rioting in the streets. Some may say political rioting isn’t normal, but it has become routine for progressive Democrats since Mr. Trump won four years ago. The coronavirus produced the two things that are the cause of the mess we’re in this week: a Trump vulnerability for Joe Biden to run on, and the mail-in voting fiasco. (Daniel Henninger, 11/4)

The Hill: Was It Faulty Science Or Ethnocentrism That Worsened The Pandemic? 
As the number of COVID-19 patients alarmingly rises once again, Americans push into a new season of the pandemic that has claimed 228,000 lives. In tragic form, health professionals and scientists are estimating that perhaps as many as 210,000 lives could have been spared had the country implemented better testing protocols and appropriate risk reduction strategies early on. (John A. Gronbeck-Tedesco, 11/4)

Stat: The Hidden Public Health Hazard Of Rapid Covid-19 Tests 
Rapid Covid-19 tests are being deployed by the millions across the nation. The federal government is sending these tests, which can provide results in minutes, to states for educators, students, nursing home patients, first responders, and other sites. That’s a good thing. But in a rush to get individual test results, we’re making a dangerous public health mistake: We’re losing critical data about Covid-19. (Joia Crear-Perry, 11/5)

The Washington Post: Revealing Prince William’s Coronavirus Illness Would Have Been A Public Service 
Keeping calm and carrying on was the wrong move. Despite his illness, William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, connected virtually to several royal duties in April. But when William went to a pub in July to promote reopening from Britain’s first pandemic lockdown, he did not wear a mask. He has gone maskless at other events, including when he joined his 94-year-old grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, last month for her first appearance in public since March. (During their visit to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in southern England, the royals met with scientists participating in the U.K. coronavirus response.) A palace spokesman said that social distancing guidelines were followed and that everyone expected to encounter the queen had been tested for covid. That’s the same strategy the White House has employed for those encountering the president — and that didn’t prevent him from catching the virus. (Autumn Brewington, 11/3)

The Detroit News: Will Overseas Developments Cause COVID-19 Vaccine Tourism?
COVID-19 has brought so many new and difficult choices into people’s lives, and now there is another one, particularly for well-to-do Americans: If a vaccine were not yet available in the U.S., would you fly to another country to get it?It is now possible to have a decent sense of which nation is winning the vaccine race, and it is not the U.S. A Chinese vaccine is being distributed now, and so far it seems to be safe and modestly effective. The data are not sufficiently clear that you ought to get one now, but it is easy to imagine that in another month or two the Chinese vaccine will be a plausible option. (Tyler Cowen, 11/4)

The New York Times: Americans, Stop Being Ashamed Of Weakness 
Unfortunately, studies show that stroke patients’ networks tend to contract in the wake of a stroke. Why? The causes are not perfectly clear, but we can say this: Too often in America, we are ashamed of being weak, vulnerable, dependent. We tend to hide our shame. We stay away. We isolate ourselves, rather than show our weakness. (Ian Marcus Corbin, 11/5)

The Salt Lake Tribune: Health Care Workers Deserve Our Respect  
To slander people risking everything to protect and care for us is unconscionable. Doctors and nurses here in Utah are about to be stuck in a hell most of us can’t imagine as COVID-19 cases overwhelm hospitals. This was an indefensible moment that should leave the entire country outraged and supporters who brush off these presidential mendacities deeply ashamed. (Paul Gibbs, 11/4)

Tallahassee Democrat: COVID-19 Alternate History: Pandemic Could Have Turned Out Different
The next few weeks will be marked by the grim reality of the rapidly worsening COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. It's been almost a year that we live in a COVID reality, seeing our parents grow older and our friends' kids get taller through a black screen. We have been robbed of a year's worth of life and experiences, but could it have been different? For the next few minutes, forget you are in November 2020. (Leo Nissola, 11/4)