ABC News: Coronavirus Surging In Every Key Swing State As Voters Head To Polls 
With Election Day just hours away, coronavirus cases are rising in every key political battleground state around the country, according to an ABC News analysis, a striking reality that highlights the inextricable link between the pandemic and the 2020 race for president, despite Donald Trump's best efforts to refocus the conversation elsewhere. Deaths and hospitalizations are rising as well. (Rubin, Kim and Nichols, 11/2)

AP: Huge Voter Turnout Expected Despite Virus, Political Rancor
The scourge of a global pandemic produced an election season like no other in the U.S., persuading record numbers of Americans to cast their ballots early, forcing states to make changes to long-established election procedures and leading to hundreds of lawsuits over how votes will be cast and which ballots will be counted. Polls were to open Tuesday as election officials warned that millions of absentee ballots could slow the tallies, perhaps for days, in some key battleground states and as President Donald Trump threatened legal action to prevent ballots from being counted after Election Day. (Cassidy and Izaguirre, 11/3)

CNN: Americans Head To Polls Amid Harrowing Covid-19 Surge That Has Nearly Doubled The US 7-Day Case Average In A Month
As Americans head to the voting booths Tuesday, the devastating Covid-19 pandemic looms: surging across the US yet again, setting grim records and forecast to take tens of thousands more lives across the country in the coming months. Experts have warned this bout with the virus will be the worst one yet -- and alarming trends are already pointing in that direction. In just one month, the country's 7-day case average jumped by more than 97%. (Maxouris, 11/3)

Also —

AP: 'Raw Exposed Nerves': Anxious Nation Awaits Election Day
As the traditional Election Day closes in, Americans are exhausted from constant crises, on edge because of volatile political divisions and anxious about what will happen next. Their agony is not in deciding between President Donald Trump or his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. Most made that choice long ago. Instead, voters arriving in record numbers to cast early ballots say basic democratic foundations feel suddenly brittle: Will their vote count? Will the loser accept the result? Will the winner find a way to repair a fractured, sick and unsettled nation? (Galofaro, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Unlike Previous Lethal Viruses, This One Will Define A Major Election 
For at least the fourth time in a century, voters will go to the polls amid a lethal viral outbreak, but unlike previous elections held in the shadow of flu, polio and HIV, the novel coronavirus — and the destruction it has unleashed — will almost certainly define the 2020 contest. ... Two-thirds of the public now personally know one of the 9.25 million people who have tested positive for the virus — a new high — polls show. And even more think the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. (Bernstein and Achenbach, 11/2)

The New York Times: America Picks Its President As It Faces Joblessness, Coronavirus And Anxiety
A nation with nearly 8 percent unemployment and mourning more than 231,000 Covid deaths, where four out of five Americans say they feel nervous about the country’s future, gets a final chance Tuesday to decide which candidate is best equipped to lead it past those daunting numbers. The division and anxiety are evident in conversations among voters in long lines outside early voting places and across browning autumn lawns where warring yard signs pit neighbor against neighbor. Here in the middle of the country, where case counts are surging and college football games were postponed after much angst this past weekend, the worry is all connected, from people on either side of the political chasm. (Searcey, Badger, Cohen and Smith, 11/2)

The New York Times: Caregivers Have Witnessed The Coronavirus’s Pain. How Will They Vote? 
Few groups have witnessed more of the virus’s horrors than caregivers — frontline workers who have grappled with the public health crisis while trying to help older people at risk of isolation, distress and, in some cases, death. The deaths of almost 40 percent of all Americans killed by the coronavirus have been linked to nursing homes and similar facilities — indoor spaces crowded with vulnerable adults. ... In interviews ahead of the election with more than a dozen caregivers in Pennsylvania, one of the country’s most important battleground states, they described how their experiences are shaping their political outlooks. (Stevens, 11/1)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Updates: CDC Says People Who Test Positive For Covid-19 Can Still Vote In Person 
As the United States faces what one top health official called “the most concerning and most deadly phase” of a pandemic that has already claimed at least 230,000 American lives, record numbers of coronavirus-related hospitalizations are forcing doctors in rural states to get creative. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that people who are in isolation after testing positive can still cast ballots in person. In newly-updated guidance published Sunday, the agency says that voters who have tested positive or may have been exposed to the coronavirus should follow the standard advice to wear a mask, stay at least six feet away from others and sanitize their hands before and after voting. “You should also let poll workers know that you are sick or in quarantine when you arrive at the polling location,” the CDC’s website states. (Noori Farzan, 11/3)

ABC News: How To Vote If You've Been Exposed To COVID: CDC 
Tens of thousands of Americans with newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus face a dilemma if they haven't already voted in the presidential election: Are they allowed to vote in person on Tuesday? Yes, but they need to take precautions to protect poll workers and other voters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Schumaker, 11/2)

In related news —

The Washington Post: Michigan Residents Brave Long Lines To Cast Early Ballots 
On the eve of Election Day, Michigan voters swarmed to polling sites to cast their ballots, in many cases braving long lines and unforgiving weather to ensure their voices were heard in what some described as the most consequential election of their lifetimes. The secretary of state’s office reported some 2.9 million absentee ballots had been cast — about 60 percent of the ballots cast in Michigan in 2016. Nationwide, at least 98 million people already have voted, about 70 percent of the total vote from four years ago. (Ruble, Sofradzija and Balingit, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: Inpatient Emergency Voting Assisted By Health Systems, Volunteers
The day before Election Day patients at some hospitals in the University of Pennsylvania Health System get more than just food delivered on their meal trays — they will also get information on how to cast emergency absentee ballots. At least 38 states offer opportunities for patients to cast ballots if they are in the hospital, and many health systems across the country have helped patients and caregivers get reliable information on how to vote. Voting for inpatients has become even more complicated as many hospitals have restricted visitor policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Cohrs, 11/2)

GMA: Why This Women's Health Group Is Mobilizing Black Women To Walk To The Polls
The stakes for the 2020 election are high for everyone, but particularly for Black women. The election on Nov. 3 comes as Black women have been hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic, both in cases of COVID-19 and in jobs lost and financial hardship. (Kindelan, 11/2)

Cincinnati Enquirer: What Will Election Day Look Like At Polls? Lots Of Sanitizing And Be Prepared To Wait
On Nov. 3, the typical sights and rituals of Election Day will be changed by the coronavirus pandemic. The changes will start with some elections officials greeting voters from tables behind plexiglass shields, but they won’t stop there. The typical lines may form at peak hours in the morning and late evening, but they could look longer than in the past as people maintain social distance before doing their civic duty. (Headley, 11/3)

NPR: Voters Are Motivated To Keep Protections For Preexisting Conditions 
In swing states from Georgia to Arizona, the Affordable Care Act — and concerns over protecting preexisting conditions — loom over key races for Congress and the presidency. "I can't even believe it's in jeopardy," says Noshin Rafieei, a 36-year-old from Phoenix. "The people that are trying to eliminate the protection for individuals such as myself with preexisting conditions, they must not understand what it's like." (Stone, 11/2)

Politico: ‘Something Must Be Done’: Trump Lashes Supreme Court For Ruling On Pennsylvania Ballots
President Donald Trump railed against the Supreme Court on Monday for its decision to allow an extended count of Pennsylvania mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day, tweeting that doing so would lead to violent unrest in the country. “The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one,” Trump tweeted on Monday evening, only hours before Election Day. “It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” (Choi, 11/2)

USA Today: Twitter Posts Warning On President Trump’s Election Eve Supreme Court Tweet
Twitter posted a warning label on an election-eve tweet from President Donald Trump on Monday, noting that his assertion that a recent Supreme Court decision could lead to problems in the election is misleading. Trump has repeatedly slammed a Supreme Court decision last week that will allow some absentee ballots to be received after Election Day in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. In a tweet Monday, Trump took the complaint a step farther, arguing it would prompt “rampant” cheating and “violence in the streets.” There is no evidence that either outcome is likely and the court's decision was far more limited than Trump’s portrayal. (Fritze and Subramanian, 11/2)

The New York Times: ‘It’s Just Crazy’ In Pennsylvania: Mail Voting And The Anxiety That Followed 
“Hello, Elections.” “Hello, Elections.” “Hello, Elections.” The rapid-fire calls were pouring in to Marybeth Kuznik, the one-woman Elections Department of Armstrong County, a few days before Election Day. “This is crazy,” she told an anxious caller. “Crazy, crazy, crazy. It’s a good thing because everybody should vote,” she added, “but it’s just crazy.” Armstrong County, northeast of Pittsburgh, is one of Pennsylvania’s smaller counties with 44,829 registered voters. But it is a microcosm of the high tension, confusion and deep uncertainty that have accompanied the broad expansion of mail-in voting this year, during an election of passionate intensity. (Gabriel, 11/2)

Squabbling continues over mail-in or drive-in ballots —

NPR: Texas Drive-Through Ballots To Be Counted After Federal Court's Ruling 
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen on Monday threw out a suit challenging the legality of some 127,000 votes cast at drive-through voting sites in the Houston area. He ruled the plaintiffs don't have legal standing to sue. Harris County, Texas' most populous county and majority-Democratic, erected 10 drive-through sites, mostly tents, to expedite the early voting process as a way of allowing people to cast ballots safely during the coronavirus pandemic. They were also in place this summer before the state's primary. Noting that point, Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee, asked plaintiffs, "Why am I just getting this case?" He later said that the suit was not timely and that "this has been going on all summer." (Naylor, 11/2)

NPR: Nevada Judge Blocks Republican Lawsuit Over Mail-In Ballot Count
A Nevada judge has rejected a lawsuit by President Trump's reelection campaign and state Republican officials seeking to halt mail-in ballot counting in Clark County. The county, home to Las Vegas, is by far the state's most populous. About 70% of Nevada's voters live in the county, which is "heavily Democratic," CNN reports. (Wamsley, 11/2)

The Washington Post: As Election Day Arrives, A Fight About Military Ballots Takes Center Stage 
Voting by U.S. troops has been thrust into the spotlight as a bitter election campaign comes to a close, with opponents of President Trump alleging that his efforts to limit mail-in voting could disenfranchise military families. Democrats have raised the issue repeatedly after the president said last week that it would be “very proper and very nice” if a winner was declared on Election Day. Trump added that it was “totally inappropriate” for ballots that arrive later to be included, even though the votes of hundreds of thousands of service members that are sent by mail have been counted afterward for years. (Lamothe and Sonne, 11/2)

The New York Times: As Voting Nears End, Battle Intensifies Over Which Ballots Will Count
With the election coming to a close, the Trump and Biden campaigns, voting rights organizations and conservative groups are raising money and dispatching armies of lawyers for what could become a state-by-state, county-by-county legal battle over which ballots will ultimately be counted. The deployments — involving hundreds of lawyers on both sides — go well beyond what has become normal since the disputed outcome in 2000, and are the result of the open efforts of President Trump and the Republicans to disqualify votes on technicalities and baseless charges of fraud at the end of a campaign in which the voting system has been severely tested by the coronavirus pandemic. (Rutenberg, Schmidt, Corasaniti and Baker, 11/2)

The New York Times: Fewer Ballots Rejected By Election Officials This Election 
With absentee ballots flooding election offices nationwide, the officials processing them are tentatively reporting some surprising news: The share of ballots being rejected because of flawed signatures and other errors appears lower — sometimes much lower — than in the past. Should that trend hold, it could prove significant in an election in which the bulk of absentee voters has been Democratic, and Republicans have fought furiously, in court and on the stump, to discard mail ballots as fraudulent. (Wines, 11/2)

The New York Times: National Guard Readies For Election Day Deployment
Communities are bracing for protest regardless of the election’s outcome. If demonstrations turn violent and overwhelm the local police, governors will almost certainly call out their states’ National Guard. Under federal law, it is the Guard, not active-duty military, that can enforce order on domestic soil. It has already happened dozens of times this year in cities across the country. States are already on alert for violence. On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts ordered 1,000 members of the National Guard to be on standby in case of turmoil following Tuesday’s election. (Phillipps, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Officials Prepare For The Unpredictable As A Tense Election Day Arrives 
With tensions flaring across the country leading up to Election Day, officials, experts and activists have been gearing up for an array of possibilities about what they might face, including potential voter intimidation, clashes around the polls or spiraling unrest. “It’s the unknown that creates all the anxiety for us,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said in an interview Monday. “How do you know what’s going to happen?” (Berman, Hauslohner and Hamburger, 11/2)

NPR: Cities And Businesses Prepare For Post-Election Unrest, Violence
Phil Brach spent the weekend putting huge sheets of plywood up over the massive glass windows of the store where he works, Rodman's Food and Drug in Washington, D.C., in preparation for Election Day. "We'll probably go up two or three boards high," Brach says. Across the country, there are growing concerns that the bitterness and animosity over the presidential election will not end when the polls close Tuesday night. From coast to coast, cities are preparing for possible protests, civil unrest and violence, regardless of the election's outcome. (Schaper, Penaloza and Baker, 10/2)

Boston Globe: With Record Turnout Expected, Officials Assure Voters The Polls Will Be Safe
Governor Charlie Baker activated the National Guard Monday ahead of the election, as business owners and law enforcement authorities in Massachusetts and around the country made preparations for potential fallout after a tense, bitterly contested presidential campaign. With tensions high across the country, Massachusetts officials reassured voters that the polls will be safe and that authorities are prepared for possible unrest. Officials said there was no indication of a public safety threat. Baker said he made the National Guard decision in response to requests from local officials. (McDonald and Ellement and Finucane, 11/2)

The New York Times: Battleground States See The Most Voting Misinformation 
Which states have seen the highest volume of viral misinformation about voting by mail this election season? Those that are most in play between President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to new data. People in several battleground states, which are likely to decide the presidential race, saw the most distortions and falsehoods about voting by mail between Sept. 1 and Oct. 29, according to Zignal Labs, a media insights company that tallied the likely misinformation mentions across online news outlets, cable television, print and social media. (Alba, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Robocalls Spook Voters With Warning To ‘Stay Home’ 
An unidentified robocaller has placed an estimated 10 million calls in the past several weeks warning people to “stay safe and stay home,” spooking some Americans who said they saw it as an attempt to scare them away from the polls on Election Day. (Romm and Stanley-Becker, 11/3)

AP: Widely Shared Photo Of Biden Without Mask Was Taken In 2019
President Donald Trump’s supporters have seized on a photo circulating on Twitter since late Sunday that shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden not wearing a mask while he talks to a campaign staffer on a plane. Why wasn’t Biden, who has made a point to put on a facial covering throughout the campaign, wearing a mask? Because the photo was taken in November 2019. ... The image was shared on Twitter by Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, where it was liked and shared from his account more than 50,000 times. (Seitz, 11/2)

ProPublica: Misinformation Image On WeChat Attempts To Frighten Chinese Americans Out Of Voting 
At least two dozen groups on the Chinese-owned social media app WeChat have been circulating misinformation that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is “preparing to mobilize” the National Guard and “dispatch” the military to quell impending riots, apparently in an attempt to frighten Chinese Americans into staying home on Election Day. The misinformation, which takes the form of a photo of a flyer and is in both English and Chinese, also warns that the government plans to impose a national two-week quarantine and close all businesses. (Rodriguez, Lin and Huseman, 11/2)

The New York Times: What To Expect From Facebook, Twitter And YouTube On Election Day 
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were misused by Russians to inflame American voters with divisive messages before the 2016 presidential election. The companies have spent the past four years trying to ensure that this November isn’t a repeat. They have spent billions of dollars improving their sites’ security, policies and processes. In recent months, with fears rising that violence may break out after the election, the companies have taken numerous steps to clamp down on falsehoods and highlight accurate and verified information. We asked Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to walk us through what they were, are and will be doing before, on and after Tuesday. Here’s a guide. (Isaac, Conger and Wakabayashi, 11/2)

KHN and The Guardian: ‘His Lies Are Killing My Neighbors’: Swing-State Doctors Target Trump
Dr. Chris Kapsner intubated his first COVID-19 patient — a 47-year-old man who arrived short of breath at an emergency room in Minnesota’s Twin Cities — back in April. Now, seven months later, Kapsner, who lives across the border in Wisconsin, is weary and exhausted from the steady stream of patients arriving with a virus that is spreading across this part of the Midwest. Hospital beds and personal protective equipment are in short supply, and his colleagues are getting sick. “Even if we put up all the field tents in the world, we don’t have the staff for this,” he said. (Renwick, 11/2)

KHN and Politifact: How COVID Death Counts Become The Stuff Of Conspiracy Theories 
In the waning days of the campaign, President Donald Trump complained repeatedly about how the United States tracks the number of people who have died from COVID-19, claiming, “This country and its reporting systems are just not doing it right.” He went on to blame those reporting systems for inflating the number of deaths, pointing a finger at medical professionals, who he said benefit financially. All that feeds into the swirling political doubts that surround the pandemic, and raises questions about how deaths are reported and tallied. (Knight and Appleby, 11/2)

Stat: 10 Health And Science-Focused Races To Watch On Election Night
Many voters will also decide on substantial reforms via statewide initiative or ballot proposal. Numerous states are weighing plans to decriminalize or legalize marijuana and other drugs. Other states are looking to tighten restrictions or raise taxes for e-cigarette and tobacco purchases. Further down the ballot, Democrats are also hoping to capture control of several state legislatures, which have served as local laboratories for health care policymaking on issues including drug pricing, Medicaid expansion, surprise billing, price transparency, and more. (Facher, Florko, Joseph and Sheridan, 11/3)

Newsweek: What States Are Voting To Legalize Marijuana In The 2020 Election?
This year, Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and Mississippi voters will have the chance to become part of an ever growing list of states that have legalized the drug. (Schonfeld, 11/2)

CNN: Marijuana On The Ballot: Four More States Could Legalize Marijuana This November 
Four more states could choose to legalize recreational marijuana through ballot measures this Election Day. Voters in Republican-led Arizona and South Dakota and Democrat-led Montana and New Jersey will consider proposals to legalize recreational marijuana. Another red state, Mississippi, is weighing a pair of ballot questions to legalize medical marijuana. Currently, 11 states have legalized full, adult marijuana use. All but two did so by ballot initiative, which poses the question directly to voters. (Dezenski, 10/31)

New York Post: Magic Mushrooms, Marijuana And Sex Ed: What To Look For On 2020 Ballots
Tuesday’s election isn’t all about Trump vs. Biden. Voters in 32 states and the District of Columbia will also have their say on 120 local ballot measures — including legalizing the use of “magic mushrooms” as a therapeutic drug and giving consent to recreational use of marijuana. Oregon, where weed is already sold legally, is considering whether to allow the regulated medical use of psilocybin, a hallucinogen more commonly known as magic mushrooms. (Campanile, 11/1)

CNN: US Ballot Questions Results: Marijuana, Abortion, Puerto Rico Statehood, Other Issues
In addition to who will win the presidency, seats in the US Congress and other political offices, voters across the country will consider a wide range of ballot questions this Election Day. (Stracqualursi, 11/3)

NBC News: Abortion Restrictions Are On The Ballot In Colorado And Louisiana
Voters in Colorado and Louisiana will weigh in on state ballot measures Tuesday that have the potential to chip away at abortion access. Coloradans are considering Proposition 115, which would ban abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy, while Louisiana residents will decide whether the state constitution allows a right to abortions. (Atkins, 11/3)

KPBS: What's On The Ballot? Here's A Look At California's 2020 Propositions 
While much of the attention on the November election is focused on the race for President, Californians are going to have a lot of other decisions to make. One (or 12) of the biggest: the statewide ballot measures. Yes, there will be a dozen different propositions for California voters this year — Prop. 14 through Prop. 25 — on everything from expanding rent control to ending the ban on affirmative action. While we at CapRadio will be reporting on these more up until Nov. 3, we wanted to give you a quick overview now on what each measure covers and what a "yes" or "no" vote will mean. (Nichols and Nixon, 11/2)

The Hill: Internal Memo Shows Birx Contradicting Trump On Pandemic: This Is 'Most Deadly Phase' Yet 
An internal memo from Deborah Birx that circulated among top officials in President Trump's administration pokes holes in the his claim that the country is "rounding the corner" in the fight against the coronavirus and soon will have defeated it. "We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic ... leading to increasing mortality," Birx said Monday in a memo reported by The Washington Post. (Mastrangelo, 11/2)

The New York Times: Birx Suggests The White House Has Spent Too Much Time On Preventing Lockdowns And Not Enough On Controlling The Virus.
Dr. Deborah L. Birx, who has carefully straddled the line between science and politics as she helps lead the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, delivered a stark private warning on Monday, telling White House officials that the pandemic is entering a new and “deadly phase” that demands a more aggressive approach. The warning, contained in a private memo to White House officials as the nation’s daily coronavirus caseload has broken records and approached 100,000, amounted to a direct contradiction of President Trump’s repeated — and inaccurate — assertions that the pandemic is “rounding the corner.” (11/3)

Also —

The Hill: Trump Ramps Up Fauci Attacks On Eve Of Election Dominated By COVID-19 
President Trump is ramping up his attacks on Anthony Fauci in the closing hours of the 2020 campaign, increasing tensions with the nation's top infectious disease doctor as the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the country. During a rally that lasted well past midnight into Monday morning, Trump suggested he might fire Fauci after Tuesday’s election. (Weixel, 11/2)

The Hill: Obama Rips Trump Over Suggestion That He May Fire Fauci 
Former President Obama hammered President Trump on Monday for suggesting that he may fire Anthony Fauci after Election Day, saying that Trump’s “second-term plan” is to oust “the one person who can actually help them contain” the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at a rally in Atlanta on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia, Obama expressed incredulity at Trump’s suggestion on Sunday that he may try to have Fauci removed from his post at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases following the 2020 general election. (11/2)

ABC News: Can Trump 'Fire Fauci?' Not Easily, But He Could Make It Messy 
At a rally Sunday in Opa-locka, Florida, that stretched late into the night, President Donald Trump entertained the raucous crowd with the idea that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, after the election. Trump made the suggestion after his supporters began chanting "Fire Fauci." It's a favorite among Trump’s most ardent supporters, who believe the severity of the virus is being overplayed by Fauci and the news media in a bid to undermine the president’s popularity. (Flaherty and Ebbs, 11/2)

NBC News: More Than 61,000 Children Got Covid-19 Last Week, A Record
More than 61,000 children in the U.S. were diagnosed with Covid-19 last week — more than in any other week during the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association reported Monday. In all, 853,635 children have been diagnosed with the virus this year, representing 11.1 percent of all U.S. cases. The percentage of pediatric cases has risen steadily since mid-April, when children accounted for just 2 percent of Covid-19 cases in the country. (Edwards, 11/2)

Several states weigh their next steps to curb the rise in cases —

NPR: Mass. Governor Implements New Coronavirus Restrictions 
Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker announced a series of new coronavirus restrictions Monday--including requiring face coverings for all residents over the age of five, in an attempt to curb the rising cases of Covid-19 in the state. Baker announced Massachusetts would revise current public health emergency rules to require everyone to wear face coverings in all public places, indoors or outdoors, even where they are able to maintain six feet of distance from others, according to the executive order released today. This still allows for an exception for residents who can't wear masks due to a medical or disabling condition. (Diaz, 11/2)

ABC News: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Tries To Rally State To Fight 'Common Enemy' As COVID Cases Surge 
Facing an alarming increase in new COVID-19 cases in his state, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine pleaded in an open letter for residents to come together, regardless of political affiliation, to fight a "common enemy" that has claimed nearly 230,000 lives in America. DeWine released a video Sunday reading a letter he penned to Ohioans stressing the urgency of joining forces to keep the virus at bay until there is a vaccine. (Hutchinson, 11/2)

The Hill: North Dakota COVID-19 Infections Have Increased 167 Percent In One Month 
As one of the states leading the fall surge in COVID-19 infections, North Dakota has experienced record-breaking daily new cases, reportedly leading the spread of deaths per capita in the U.S. Data comparison indicates that over the course of one month, the North Dakota Department of Health saw a 167 percent increase in active COVID-19 cases from the prior month. (Kelley, 11/2)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Rising Percentages Of People Testing Positive In Philly, Pa., And N.J., But Amid COVID-19 Surge, ‘It Is Safe To Vote’ In Person
As Pennsylvania continues to see climbing coronavirus case numbers, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said voters should feel safe going to the polls for Tuesday’s presidential election. “If you are voting in person, it is safe to vote,” Levine said Monday. She urged voters to wear masks, bring their own pens, bring hand sanitizer, and download the state’s contact tracing app, COVID Alert PA, before heading to the polls. (McDaniel and McCarthy and Silverman, 11/3)

Also —

The Hill: Pelosi At Ceremony Marking Number Of US Coronavirus Deaths: 'It's Almost Incomprehensible' 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday called the U.S. coronavirus death toll “almost incomprehensible” while speaking at an art installation paying tribute to the dead. “It’s almost incomprehensible that here in America this would happen,” Pelosi said Monday at the ceremony, where celebrity chef José Andrés and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) also made remarks at the DC Armory Parade Ground in front of RFK Stadium in the nation's capital. (Budryk, 11/2)

CNN: A 13-Year-Old Missouri Boy's Last Day Of School Was In Late October. He Died From Covid-19 Days Later 
An eighth grade student from Missouri passed away from complications related to Covid-19, officials in his school district said. Peyton Baumgarth, 13, died over the weekend, Dr. Lori VanLeer, the superintendent of his school system in Washington, said in a statement sent to families in the district. Peyton is the youngest person to pass away from Covid-19 in the state of Missouri according to state records. (Johnson, 11/2)

The Washington Post: In Arizona, The Coronavirus Raged. With Masks And Other Measures, It Subsided. What Can It Teach America? 
As temperatures in Arizona shot toward their summer peaks, so did the state’s coronavirus crisis. Lines for drive-up testing snaked for blocks in June. Hospitals were running out of beds, bodies were being stored in coolers, and the state’s per capita caseload topped global charts. But by mid-August, the Southwest hot spot made a remarkable reversal. Cases plummeted 75 percent. (Brulliard and Duda, 11/2)

The Hill: Pelosi Says Democrats Would Fast-Track ObamaCare, COVID-19 Aid Next Year 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that, given control of both chambers of Congress next year, Democrats intend to fast-track legislation to strengthen ObamaCare and provide coronavirus relief. To do so, they would lean on a special budget procedure, known as reconciliation, that empowers the majority party in the Senate to move legislation with just a simple majority — a move that would erase the minority party's filibuster powers. (Lillis, 11/2)

Politico: Pelosi Eyes Reconciliation To Boost Obamacare, Pandemic Aid
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday said Democrats will deploy budget reconciliation procedures next year to enhance the Affordable Care Act and provide additional pandemic relief if the party secures a narrow majority in the Senate, wins the White House and maintains control of the House. “We’ll almost certainly be passing a reconciliation bill, not only for the Affordable Care Act, but for what we may want to do further on the pandemic and some other issues that relate to the well-being of the American people,” Pelosi said on a call sponsored by the liberal group Protect Our Care. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments next week in the Trump administration’s push to overturn the health care law. (Emma, 11/2)

In related news about the Affordable Care Act —

The Hill: ObamaCare Enrollment Faces New Challenges From Courts, COVID-19 
The Affordable Care Act’s annual open enrollment period kicked off Sunday amidst uncertainty caused by legal challenges to the law as well as the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people have lost their health coverage this year after losing their jobs in the economic downturn caused by the health pandemic. Open enrollment risks being overshadowed by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, elections, and the Supreme Court’s pending oral arguments and eventual decision in a case challenging the ACA’s constitutionality. (Hellmann, 11/2)

The Washington Post: The Health 202: Obamacare Marketplaces Survived Trump's Term Better Than Expected 
“The overall impact of the Trump administration’s policies towards the marketplaces have probably been more muted than most expected — at least so far,” said Adam Gaffney, a professor at Harvard Medical School and president of Physicians for a National Health Program. To the concern of health-care advocates, enrollment has ticked down over the past four years, contributing to the nation’s worsening uninsured rate amid the coronavirus pandemic and fueling a growing sense among Democrats that further health restructuring is needed. Yet by some measures, the marketplaces look healthier than ever. (Cunningham, 11/2)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Health Insurance Plans Available Under Affordable Care Act In Nevada 
Beginning this week, uninsured Nevadans can enroll for health coverage on the state-operated exchange, which this year features more carriers and plans. The enrollment period began Sunday and extends through Jan. 15. Insurance plans are available through online marketplace Nevada Health Link to those who don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare or don’t have insurance through an employer. (Hynes, 11/2)

KHN: Feds Approve Fractious Georgia Plan To Change ACA Marketplace 
With the Trump administration announcing two days before Election Day that Georgia’s healthcare.gov website will no longer provide options for residents shopping for plans starting in 2022, consumers will need to rely on private brokers, insurance companies, agents and commercial websites. Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who pushed the plan, argued that this would give private entities an opening to aggressively advertise and compete for consumers and increase the number of plans sold for 2023. (Rau, 11/3)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: U.S. Supreme Court Delays A Decision On Mississippi's Abortion Law
The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed a decision on whether to review a lower court's ruling preventing the 2018 Mississippi law from going into effect that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case had been set for conference by the nine-member court last Friday, but was rescheduled. Late Monday, the Center for Reproductive Rights said the court has rescheduled the case for conference this Friday. (Gates, 11/2)

In other Supreme Court developments —

USA Today: Black Lives Matter: Supreme Court Throws Out Case Against Activist
The Black Lives Matter movement got a favorable ruling Monday from the Supreme Court. The justices tossed out a federal appeals court decision that allowed a Black Lives Matter protest organizer to be sued by a police officer injured by an unknown assailant. The 2016 incident in Baton Rouge, La., followed the shooting death of Alton Sterling by a white police officer, which triggered weeks of protests across the U.S. The officer, identified as John Doe, was struck in the face by a rock. He sued DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter activist, on the theory that he “knew or should have known … that violence would result.” The officer, who suffered injuries to his brain, jaw and teeth, also sued Black Lives Matter. That was tossed out on the theory that BLM is a social movement and cannot be sued. (Wolf, 11/2)

NPR: Justice Barrett Joins Supreme Court Arguments For The First Time 
The telephone format allows each justice only a few minutes to ask questions so there was no way to compare Barrett's questioning with other newbies in recent years. During his first argument in 2017, Justice Neil Gorsuch asked 22 questions, a half-dozen in a row, about 10 minutes into his first argument. In 2018, Justice Brett Kavanaugh was more reticent, waiting 20 minutes into his first argument before speaking. But the current pandemic format is in order of seniority, and the time for each justice is short. (Totenberg, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Signs Off On New Payments To Encourage Home Dialysis
CMS on Monday signed off on its proposal to pay providers extra money if they use home dialysis machines to treat end-stage renal disease patients. The final rule expands a transitional add-on payment to cover home dialysis machines that CMS Administrator Seema Verma touted in July when the agency proposed it, saying the COVID-19 highlighted the need to increase home dialysis access. (Brady, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: Safety-Net Hospitals Still Hit With Penalty In Readmissions Program
Hospitals with the highest proportion of patients insured by both Medicare and Medicaid were more vulnerable this fiscal year to receive a penalty in CMS' readmissions program compared to hospitals with the smallest percentage of such patients, new data shows. For the third year in a row, CMS peer grouped hospitals by proportion of dual eligible patients to determine penalties in its Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. The change, which passed Congress in 2016, is an attempt to address long-standing complaints from safety-net hospitals that they are unfairly penalized when compared to hospitals that see patients with less socioeconomic challenges and risks such as specialty facilities. (Castellucci, 11/2)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Releases Long-Term Care Rebalancing Tool Kit For State Medicaid Agencies
CMS, the largest payer of long-term care services, said it wants to "ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries receive high quality, cost-effective, person-centered services in the setting of their choice." While all states cover institutional care such as nursing homes, not all states cover home- and community-based services, CMS said. (Christ, 11/2)

How will Trump administration regulations fare in court? —

Modern Healthcare: Courts Will Decide Fate Of Trump's Regulatory Agenda If He Wins
If he wins a second term, President Donald Trump will have to do some heavy lifting to get a regulatory agenda that's been derailed by the coronavirus back on track. But he'd also have a new backstop—a court system, including the U.S. Supreme Court, loaded with his nominees. First, Trump will have to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, including vaccines and therapeutics, testing, and financial help for states and providers. He would also have to focus more on coverage than he did during his first term as people lose their employer-based insurance and Medicaid enrollment grows, said Avalere Health founder Dan Mendelson, a former Clinton administration official. (Brady, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Pregnant Women Are More Likely To Die From The Coronavirus, Though Risk Remains Small
Pregnant women who catch the coronavirus are at greater risk of death and severe illness than women who are not pregnant, even as the risk overall remains small, according to federal statistics released Monday. The data — the most comprehensive U.S. accounting to date of how the virus affects pregnant women — shows that pregnant women are almost three times more likely to be admitted to intensive care units, and more than three times more likely to be put on a ventilator. The findings echo previous studies linking pregnancy to increased risk for severe illness. (Wan, 11/2)

CNN: Pregnant Women With Covid-19 Face Higher Risk Of Severe Illness And Death, Study Says
Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus are more likely to become severely ill and die from Covid-19, and they're at increased risk for premature delivery, according to a pair of reports released Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the overall risk of severe illness or death remains low, CDC researchers found that pregnant women with coronavirus are more likely to need intensive care, ventilation and heart and lung support than non-pregnant women with the virus. (Mascarenhas, 11/3)

In other COVID developments —

NBC News: The FDA's Cutoff For Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Is 50 Percent. What Does That Mean?
Over the summer, the Food and Drug Administration announced that in order for an experimental Covid-19 vaccine to get the green light, it would need to be safe and “prevent disease or decrease its severity in at least 50 percent of people who are vaccinated.” In fact, no vaccine is 100 percent effective, but some work better than others. One of the most successful is the measles vaccine — two doses are 97 percent effective in preventing the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stenson, 11/3)

Stateline: More Rapid Tests Are Here. There's No National Strategy To Use Them.
In theory, the growing supply of rapid-result antigen tests should allow millions of asymptomatic people — who make up at least 40% of those infected with the coronavirus — to be regularly screened for the virus, and for those who test positive to be isolated to curtail spread in classrooms, workplaces and other environments. But so far, that’s not the plan. (Vestal, 11/2)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Rapid Testing Falters In People Without Symptoms: Study
A new study casts doubt on whether rapid tests perform as promised under real-world conditions, especially when used in people without symptoms. In a head-to-head comparison, researchers at the University of Arizona found that, in symptomatic people, a rapid test made by Quidel could detect more than 80 percent of coronavirus infections found by a slower, lab-based P.C.R. test. But when the rapid test was used instead to randomly screen students and staff members who did not feel sick, it detected only 32 percent of the positive cases identified by the P.C.R. test. (Wu, 11/2)

Bloomberg: Covid Patients Show Immunity Gauge Lasting Six Months In Study
A crucial type of defensive blood cell persists for at least six months in people after Covid-19, even in those who had no symptoms, in a new study that may ease concern about waning immunity and its implications for a vaccine. The research on 100 people shows that all had T-cell responses against a range of the coronavirus’s proteins, including the spike protein used as a marker in many vaccine studies, after half a year. Those who experienced symptoms had levels that were at least 50% higher than those who didn’t. (Fourcade, 11/3)

CIDRAP: Confronting The Notion That Face Masks Reduce COVID 'Dose'
When two physicians at the University of California at San Francisco published a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Sep 8 proposing to resurrect the 18th century practice of variolation using face coverings to prevent severe COVID-19 and confer immunity, the Internet lit up with headlines such as "Coronavirus: Another reason for that mask: You'll get less sick." The paper, written by Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, and George Rutherford, MD, suggested that face coverings, in the absence of a vaccine, could reduce the inhaled dose of coronavirus by filtering some virus-containing droplets, leading to asymptomatic or mild disease and stimulating T- and B-cell immunity. (Van Beusekom, 11/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Doctors Begin To Crack Covid’s Mysterious Long-Term Effects
A leading explanation for long-Covid symptoms is that immune-system activity and ensuing inflammation continue to affect organs or the nervous system even after the virus is gone, researchers said. Some of the most compelling evidence for the inflammation theory comes from Covid-19 patients with signs of heart inflammation and injury months after illness. One study looking at 100 Covid-19 patients two months after getting sick found that 78 had abnormal findings on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, while 60 had cardiac MRIs indicating heart-muscle inflammation. The study included hospitalized, nonhospitalized and asymptomatic patients. (Toy, Reddy and Hernandez, 11/1)

AP: Does Weather Affect The Spread Of The Coronavirus Outside?
The World Health Organization says the virus can be transmitted in any kind of weather and that there is no reason to believe that cold weather can kill it. The U.N. health agency says the virus is mainly spread between people. Rain and snow might dilute any traces of the virus on benches or other outside objects, but transmission from surfaces is not believed to be a major contributor to the pandemic. (11/3)

AP: Hospitals Competing For Nurses As US Coronavirus Cases Surge
As the coronavirus pandemic surges across the nation and infections and hospitalizations rise, medical administrators are scrambling to find enough nursing help — especially in rural areas and at small hospitals. Nurses are being trained to provide care in fields where they have limited experience. Hospitals are scaling back services to ensure enough staff to handle critically ill patients. And health systems are turning to short-term travel nurses to help fill the gaps. (Webber, 11/2)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Hospitals 'Entering The Danger Zone' As COVID-19 Pandemic Worsens
Iowa hospitalizations for the disease, caused by the coronavirus, have nearly doubled in a month, according to state statistics. On Monday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting 718 people being treated in Iowa hospitals for the disease, including 156 in intensive-care units. The number of Iowans testing positive for the coronavirus also continues to soar, topping 2,800 on Saturday. Nearly half of the counties in Iowa were reporting 14-day coronavirus positivity rates at 15% or higher on Monday morning. (Leys, 11/2)

Billings Gazette: Billings Clinic To Open Permanent Viral Triage Unit On Downtown Campus
Billings Clinic announced Monday that it has received state funding to build a permanent viral triage testing unit on its downtown campus, and has garnered resources like ventilators and additional staff members. The hospital received 15 ventilators used to treat critical COVID-19 patients, a seven-person care team and a $150,000 grant to build a permanent viral triage unit. (Hall, 11/2)

Crain's Detroit Business: Amid New COVID Surge, Hospitals Rethink Testing, Visitation Policies, Elective Procedures
Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health, along with some other health systems in Michigan, is ramping up COVID-19 testing of patients coming into the system and discussing delaying some elective procedures to conserve personal protective equipment and staff. As the new surge of COVID-19 strikes Michigan with double-digit increases in cases and deaths the past several weeks, hospitals in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Tennessee and Texas have already triggered changes in how they handle elective surgeries, testing and visitations. (Greene, 11/2)

KHN: ‘No Mercy’ Chapter 6: Trickle-Down Heartache Reaches The Next Generation In A Rural Town With No Hospital
Josh is 17. He said he smokes marijuana. He struggles with anger. He’s also juggling some extraordinary responsibilities for a teenager. Josh’s mother died of a drug overdose when he was 3 years old and he has lived with his grandparents ever since. When his grandfather’s heart started failing, Josh and his grandmother followed as his grandfather was shuttled from one regional hospital to another. The family couldn’t pay their light bill and struggled to find the money to pay for gas for the car. They wanted to stay nearby as Josh’s grandfather recovered in the hospital, but paying for a hotel was another financial burden. (Tribble, 11/3)

Also —

AP: California Health Group To Pay $31.5M Over Drug Billing
A non-profit California health care chain will pay more than $31.5 million to settle allegations that it overbilled Medi-Cal for drugs bought through a federal program, authorities said Monday. Memorial Health Services, based in Fountain Valley southeast of Los Angeles, didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing in agreeing to the payment, according to statements from the state attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office. (11/2)

Crain's Detroit Business: More Than 500 Blue Cross Employees Take Voluntary Separation Offers; More Coming
More than 500 non-union employees at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan have accepted voluntary separation offers and will leave the state's largest health insurer by the end of the year. The Michigan Blues made the offer to about 8,650 nonbargaining unit employees in September. The offer to retire or leave employment was made for several reasons, including helping to lower the Detroit-based company's administrative costs. (Greene, 11/2)

Stat: The Biggest Hurdles To Widespread Use Of Remote Monitoring Tools
The pandemic has driven unprecedented demand for remote patient monitoring tools. But for all their tech-savvy convenience, they have yet to overcome major barriers that prevent their adoption among larger swaths of the U.S. population. (Brodwin, 11/3)

Stat: Gilead Pressured To Relinquish Voucher Awarded With Remdesivir Approval
A prominent advocacy group is asking Gilead Sciences (GILD) to relinquish a valuable voucher that came with Food and Drug Administration approval of its remdesivir treatment for Covid-19, arguing the voucher is “an entirely unnecessary and an inappropriate incentive” for a drug that has “limited” effectiveness and is already generating huge profits. (Silverman, 11/2)

AP: South African Firm And Johnson & Johnson Strike Vaccine Deal
South African pharmaceutical firm Aspen Pharmacare has announced a deal with U.S. firm Johnson & Johnson to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, if it is approved in South Africa and internationally. In a statement issued on Monday, Aspen said that if ongoing trials bring international health authorities to endorse the J&J vaccine as effective and safe, it would be produced at Aspen’s manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. (Magome, 11/2)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech developments —

CNN: Metformin Recall: Type 2 Diabetes Drug Recalled Over Contamination With Possible Carcinogen 
Two lots of a widely used type 2 diabetes medication, metformin, are being recalled due to possible contamination with a potentially cancer-causing compound. Metformin is designed to lower glucose levels. Nostrum Laboratories Inc., based in Kansas City, Missouri, announced Monday that it is voluntarily recalling its metformin HCl extended release tablets, USP 750 mg, according to a recall posted by the US Drug & Food Administration. (Erdman, 11/3)

Stat: Takeda Hikes Price Of Common Gastrointestinal Drug Again
Two weeks ago, Takeda Pharmaceuticals raised the list price of its Entyvio treatment for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease by 4%, to nearly $7,000 for a vial. This followed an earlier 4% price hike last January, which means the company boosted the list price for its medicine by 8% this year. (Silverman, 11/2)

Stat: Your Guide On How To Prepare For A Historic FDA Meeting On Alzheimer’s
If you follow Alzheimer’s research or have been paying particular attention to the saga over aducanumab, the controversial treatment developed by Biogen, you know that this is a very important week. A panel of experts is convening to decide whether to recommend the Food and Drug Administration approve the drug, which would make it the first new Alzheimer’s treatment in nearly two decades. (Feuerstein and Garde, 11/3)

Stat: 'Stealth' VC Firm Aditum Bio Launches New Biotech Startup 
Joe Jimenez, a former Novartis CEO, and Mark Fishman, the former head of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, announced a new biotech startup on Monday: Tempero Bio. The two are backing Tempero through their venture capital firm, Aditum Bio, which has raised $133 million to spend on four to six other new startups. (Sheridan, 11/2)

Stat: Is Philadelphia’s Biotech Cluster Faltering? Experts Say No
Philadelphia is supposed to be a biotech hub. Two years ago, the city’s life sciences startups brought in more than $450 million; last year, they raised even more. A 2019 Philadelphia Magazine article proclaimed that “even when compared to Silicon Valley, Philadelphia has the most to offer,” and pointed out that more than 80% of leading life sciences companies have offices in the city. But Philly’s growth appears to be slowing. (Sheridan, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Colleges To Ramp Up Coronavirus Testing Before Thanksgiving
The State University of New York announced recently that students who use on-campus facilities in the public system must test negative before heading home. That will require testing 140,000 students statewide during a 10-day period before the break. SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras called it “a smart, sensible policy that protects students’ families and hometown communities and drastically reduces the chances of covid-19 community spread.” Not all schools go as far as SUNY’s mandate. But experts say that even giving students a chance to get a pre-Thanksgiving test is an important step. (Anderson, 11/2)

ABC News: Employers Are Rethinking Sick Leave, Work From Home Policies To Protect COVID-19 Long Haulers 
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate the United States, many employers are reevaluating their sick leave, work from home and disability policies to accommodate their employees, especially those now known as COVID-19 "long haulers." Working from home has become the de facto policy of many white-collar job employers, but employees in blue-collar or essential jobs may still be required to show up in person. This has brought up complex and thorny questions about how employers should best protect their workers while on the job. (Carrington and Bhatt, 11/3)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Sex Worker Sues Over Pandemic Shutdown Of Brothels 
A Nevada sex worker sued Gov. Steve Sisolak on Monday over continued shutdown of the state’s legal brothels. Alice Little, who bills herself as “the highest-earning courtesan at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel” in Lyon County, alleged that sex workers have been unfairly singled out amid the pandemic. (Ferrara, 11/2)

KHN: The Best COVID Warning System? Poop And Pooled Spit, Says One Colorado School 
Carol Wilusz’s mornings now often start at 4 a.m., scanning the contents of undergraduates’ feces. Specifically, scanning the data on how much coronavirus they flushed into the shadows, destined to be extracted from 17 manholes connected to dorm buildings on Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus. “There are quite extensive numbers of poop jokes,” said Wilusz, a CSU molecular biologist. (Bichell, 11/3)

KHN: Seniors Form COVID Pods To Ward Off Isolation This Winter 
Over the past month, Dr. Richard Besdine and his wife have been discussing whether to see family and friends indoors this fall and winter. He thinks they should, so long as people have been taking strict precautions during the coronavirus pandemic. She’s not convinced it’s safe, given the heightened risk of viral transmission in indoor spaces. (Graham, 11/3)

In news about dementia —

The New York Times: Dementia ‘Took Its Toll’ On Sean Connery, Wife Says 
Sean Connery, the actor who originated the role of James Bond, had dementia in the last few months of his life, his wife, Micheline Roquebrune, told The Daily Mail. Mr. Connery died this weekend at age 90 in the Bahamas. Ms. Roquebrune, who was married to Mr. Connery for 45 years, said the actor “was not able to express himself” in the months leading up to his death. “It was no life for him,” she said. “At least he died in his sleep and it was just so peaceful.” (Bahr, 11/2)

The Wall Street Journal: AI May Help Identify Patients With Early-Stage Dementia 
Researchers are studying whether artificial-intelligence tools that analyze things like typing speed, sleep patterns and speech can be used to help clinicians better identify patients with early-stage dementia. Huge quantities of data reflecting our ability to think and process information are now widely available, thanks to watches and phones that track movement and heart rate, as well as tablets, computers and virtual assistants such as Amazon Echo that can record the way we type, search the internet and pay bills. (Wang, 11/2)

Also —

The Washington Post: Lafayette Square Protester Accused Of Assault ID'd With Facial Recognition 
A line of U.S. Park Police officers pushed protesters back from Lafayette Square on June 1, firing pepper balls and rolling canisters spewing irritant gas into the retreating crowds on H Street NW, video shows. Amid screams and smoke, a man in a tie-dye T-shirt pulled an officer to the ground and punched him in the face, before disappearing into the chaos, according to charging documents. The man grabbed another officer, before police caught up with him and attempted to make an arrest, authorities said. But the man wrestled free and vanished once again. The protester might never have been identified, but an officer found an image of the man on Twitter and investigators fed it into a facial recognition system, court documents state. They found a match and made an arrest. (Jouvenal and Hsu, 11/2)

The Salt Lake Tribune: West Valley City Releases Bodycam Showing Police Dogs Biting Dozens Of People 
West Valley City police released body camera and police reports Monday for 25 times when police dogs bit suspects over a nearly three-year period — the latest Salt Lake County police agency to do so after video surfaced of a Salt Lake City police officer ordering his dog to bite a Black man who was on his knees with his hands in the air. While Salt Lake City police identified many of their cases as problematic and flagged them for review for criminal charges against the officers involved, officials in West Valley City said they saw no issues within their own department. (Miller, 11/2)

AP: Wichita Police Say Suicides Increase More Than 70% This Year
The city of Wichita has seen a 70% increase in suicides this year and police officials said Monday stress caused by the coronavirus outbreak is likely a major factor. As of Friday, the city has recorded 76 suicides this year, up from 44 at the same time last year and 59 in all of 2019, police spokesman Officer Paul Cruz said. The suicides include 44 using a gun, compared with 30 total suicides using a gun last year. There have been 367 total suicide attempts so far this year, Cruz said. (11/2)

In news from Wyoming, Oklahoma and California —

Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming Governor May Have Been Exposed To COVID-19 At Event Attended By White House Official
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon may have been exposed to COVID-19 at a meeting last week that was also attended by a White House coronavirus official. Northern Arapaho Business Council Chairman Lee Spoonhunter, who was also at the event, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Gordon's office announced his "potential exposure" to someone who had tested positive for the virus Monday afternoon, and spokesman Michael Pearlman confirmed that meeting in question was a Wednesday event at the Wind River Hotel and Casino at which Dr. Deborah Birx, the pandemic response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, stressed the need for individuals to change their behavior to stem the virus's spread. (Foster and Reynolds, 11/2)

The Oklahoman: Lankford Seeks Answers Regarding Insurance Coverage For COVID-19 Tests
U.S. Sen. James Lankford joined an effort Monday to make sure health insurance companies cover the costs of COVID-19 tests, whether or not a person had symptoms when getting tested. The Oklahoma Republican and some of his GOP colleagues sent a letter to the Health and Human Services Department saying two different pieces of pandemic legislation “made sure that individuals can receive COVID-19 tests without out-of-pocket costs.” (Casteel, 11/3)

The Hill: Judge Rules To Limit California Governor Powers Amid Pandemic 
A judge ruled on Monday to limit California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) executive powers during a pandemic. Sutter County Superior Court Judge Sarah Heckman issued a preliminary order for Newsom to stop making executive orders that could contradict state laws, after determining one of his orders was “an unconstitutional exercise of legislative power.” (Coleman, 11/2)

In news from Wisconsin, Michigan and Maryland —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nearly 1 In 5 Jobs In The US Is Considered Vulnerable
Almost 27,000 people who worked at hotels and restaurants in the Milwaukee area made less than the median wage of $40,700 a year and did not get health insurance through their employer in 2018. That's an estimated 41% of the total jobs in the hospitality sector. In the retail sector, 21,540 people, or 27% of the workforce, are in the same category. (Boulton, 11/2)

AP: Due To Virus, Restaurants Now Taking Names And Phone Numbers
Meals at Michigan restaurants came with a new side dish Monday: What’s your name and phone number? The latest order kicked in from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s health department. Restaurants must be able to contact customers if there’s a virus case linked to the business. (White, 11/3)

Carroll County Times: Carroll County To Offer HUD-Funded Long-Term Housing Assistance To Those With HIV/AIDS
As a rainy morning melted into a dreary afternoon Thursday, Carroll County’s commissioners gave a unanimous thumbs-up for the county’s housing bureau to partner with the county’s health department in running a federally funded long-term housing assistance program for those living with HIV and AIDS. (Roberts, 11/2)

The Washington Post: As The U.S. Votes, The World Watches With Anxiety And Hope
As Americans get ready to cast their votes to choose the president for the next four years, the whole world is watching closely, especially allies in Europe and rivals like Russia, China and Iran which could all expect a very different U.S. foreign policy depending on who wins on Tuesday. “This has the feel of an epoch-making moment,” said David O’Sullivan, a former European Union ambassador to the United States. “America is facing a choice between two very different visions of its sense of self and its place in the world.” (Slater, Shih and Dixon, 11/3)

In other global news —

The New York Times: Pope Backed Gay Civil Unions But Didn't Change Doctrine, Vatican Says
The Vatican has confirmed the pope’s remarks on gay couples deserving civil protections as it sent an explanatory note to bishops underlining that Francis’s comments did not mark a change in church doctrine. The pope’s remarks made headlines last month after they appeared in the documentary “Francesco,” at its Oct. 21 premiere at the Rome Film Festival. In the documentary, he reiterated his view that gay people are “children of God,” and said: “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.” (Povoledo, 11/2)

AP: Germany Eyes Antigen Tests To Keep Elderly Safe In 2nd Wave
As Europe tries to break the surging second wave of coronavirus infections, Germany is counting on a new type of test to avoid closing nursing homes to visitors, a move that caused considerable anguish among residents and relatives in the spring. So-called antigen tests, which look for a specific protein on the virus, were first launched months ago. They are cheap and fast, but experts said at the time they are also less accurate than the standard PCR test, which detects even the tiniest genetic trace of the virus. (Jordans and Achoui-Lesage, 11/3)

The New York Times: How The Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During The Pandemic 
Like much of the developing world, Pakistan was alarmingly short of doctors and medical facilities long before anyone had heard of Covid-19. Then the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals, forcing some to turn away patients. As fear upended daily life, families lost livelihoods and struggled to feed themselves. On the other side of the world in Washington, two deep-pocketed organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, vowed to spare poor countries from desperation. Their economists warned that immense relief was required to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and profound damage to global prosperity. Emerging markets make up 60 percent of the world economy, by one I.M.F. measure. A blow to their fortunes inflicts pain around the planet. (Goodman, 11/1)

Bloomberg: Covid-19: South Korea And China Show Europe And U.S. How To Handle A Pandemic
It’s easy to feel that there’s no light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel. Europe’s intensive care wards are filling up again, pushing France and Germany into a fresh round of stay-at-home restrictions and lockdowns — albeit ones designed to be softer than the first. Even countries hit hard by the first wave, such as Italy and Sweden, are seeing rising cases, suggesting herd immunity is a long way off. The U.S. looks to have given up on controlling the pandemic until a vaccine arrives. Yet we shouldn’t ignore the better news from Asia. The strategies pursued by South Korea, Vietnam, China and others do still seem to be paying off. (Lionel Laurent, 11/2)

Stat: Is It Time For The FDA To Become An Independent Body? 
Public health experts and lay observers alike have expressed concerns that, under political pressure, the Food and Drug Administration will prematurely approve an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a Covid-19 vaccine even if the data do not support it. The FDA has pushed back against this possibility. But the reality is that if the Trump administration has the political will, it can overturn the FDA’s preferences. (Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, 11/3)

USA Today: Failed Trump COVID Response Kills Health Workers. Where's The Outrage?
In the United States, we value the lives of those who protect us. According to the FBI, 89 law enforcement officers died in line-of-duty incidents last year. Each of those deaths is a tragedy, often marked by funeral processions of hundreds of squad cars from around the country. We mourn those deaths because we know the officers died protecting us. Perhaps that’s one reason we see so many “Defend the Police” yard signs. What would the country do if more than 1,000 police officers — more than a tenfold increase — died in a single year? ...Yet during COVID-19, we’re seeing a group of public servants dying in the line of duty with comparatively little fanfare. (Scott Deitchman, Bryan Hardin, Mitchell Cohen and Richard Lemen, 11/2)

CNN: Trump Is Wrong: Doctors Are Not Profiting From Covid. We Are Being Consumed By It
In the thoughtlessness that has become the hallmark of his presidency, Donald Trump stated at a rally this week that doctors are falsely inflating the numbers of coronavirus deaths for financial gain. These are fabricated musings, seemingly designed to shift blame from his own lack of competence by creating a false narrative for the American public. (Janice Blanchard, 11/2)

Stat: Heed The Will Of The People For Covid-19 Vaccines 
In an extended crisis, the “middle hour” is when we become weary of the challenge and grow impatient with the sacrifice required to meet it. It is often the most precarious time. That’s where we are now with Covid-19. (Dirk Kempthorne and Deval Patrick, 11/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Europe’s Covid Hospital Lesson 
Europeans are back under lockdown as another virus surge threatens to overwhelm their hospitals, which even before the pandemic were sick and malnourished. This is a side effect of government-run health care and a warning to the U.S. More than half of the ICU beds in France and two-thirds in Paris are occupied by Covid patients. “At this stage, we know that whatever we do, nearly 9,000 patients will be in intensive care by mid-November, which is almost the entirety of French capacities,” President Emmanuel Macron explained last week as he ordered a second national lockdown. (11/2)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: On Suburban Atlanta, COVID-19, And – At Long Last – An End To The Civil War
Nineteen years ago, a Georgia governor succeeded in bringing down a state flag that dripped with Confederate symbolism. The act helped send Democrats into an exile that is only now coming to an end. If not Tuesday, then soon.We do not know who will carry this state – Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Yet the not knowing is significant. In Georgia, presidential uncertainty hasn’t made it to November since 1992.And regardless of the outcome, we do know who will lose on this Election Day – Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and those who think a future can still be built on what remains of their legacy. (Jim Galloway, 11/2)

Bloomberg: Election Day Stress Disorder Grips The Nation 
Do you currently suffer from: chronic insomnia; relentless feelings of panic or dread; rapid heart rate, breathing or perspiration; difficulty focusing or thinking clearly; and/or an obsession with tweets by people named Nate? Then you may be experiencing Election Day stress disorder (EDSD). Not to be confused with politicophobia, a general fear of politics, EDSD is a syndrome unique to the American electorate. It’s relatively new but has gotten far worse since roughly Election Day 2016. The president’s supporters naturally fear the steady polling lead of rival Joe Biden. But everyone else in the country has much more to fear, writes Jonathan Bernstein, from the still-real possibility of Donald Trump’s re-election to his and his followers’ threats to subvert democracy to make it happen, up to and including violence. (Mark Gongloff, 11/2)

Dallas Morning News: Is Your Brain Fit To Defend Itself Against Fake News?
Whenever you hear something repeated, it feels more true when you hear it repeated. In other words, repetition makes any statement seem more true. So anything you hear will feel more true each time you hear it again. Each of the three sentences above conveyed the same message. Yet each time you read the next sentence, it felt more and more true. Cognitive neuroscientists like myself call this the illusory truth effect. Illusory truth is one consequence of a phenomenon called “cognitive fluency,” meaning how easily we process information. Much of our vulnerability to deception in all areas of life revolves around cognitive fluency. Unfortunately, such misinformation can swing major elections, such as the 2016 presidential election. Fortunately, we can take a number of steps to address misinformation and make our public discourse and political system more truthful in the 2020 election and beyond. (Gleb Tsipursky, 10/30)