USA Today: Is 6 Feet Enough? CDC Walks Back Its Walkback On Airborne Transmission Of COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which quietly changed its guidance on coronavirus transmission through the air Friday, reversed field again Monday. Sort of. On Friday, the CDC posted an update on its website saying 6 feet may not be sufficient to keep people safe and that ventilation was key to easing transmission indoors. That determination could be crucial for schools where desks are now set up 6 feet apart. Offices, restaurants and even church services also could be affected by the change. (Bacon, 9/21)

Politico: CDC Backtracks On Warning That Coronavirus Is Airborne 
"This was an error on the part of our agency and I apologize on behalf of the CDC," John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC's COVID-19 Emergency Response, during a call Monday with providers and state and local health officials. "We weren't ready to put it up." The agency's website now emphasizes the risk of close person-to-person contact, as it before the change Friday. That is "the main mode" of transmission, Brooks said. (Ehley, 9/21)

The New York Times: Advice On Virus Transmission Vanishes From C.D.C. Website 
Experts with knowledge of the incident said on Monday that the latest reversal appeared to be a genuine mistake in the agency’s scientific review process, rather than the result of political meddling. Officials said the agency would soon publish revised guidance. ... Still, the reversal prompted rebukes from even the C.D.C.’s staunchest supporters. “It’s not something that instills a lot of confidence, right?” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University. “It doesn’t help at all.” (Mandavilli, 9/21)

NPR: CDC Publishes — Then Withdraws — Guidance On Aerosol Spread Of Coronavirus
For a few days, researchers who have suspected aerosol transmission for months cheered the update as a long-overdue acknowledgment of accumulating evidence for how the virus transmits, particularly in indoor spaces. Now the page has reverted to what it said before — that the virus spreads between people in close contact through respiratory droplets. The page makes no mention of aerosol transmission. (Wamsley, 9/21)

Scientists weigh in —

The Washington Post: No Matter What The CDC Says, Here’s Why Many Scientists Think The Coronavirus Is Airborne. 
It was the latest disorienting turn in a scientific debate with enormous public consequences for how we return to schools and offices. The debate is over whether the extreme infectiousness and tenacity of the coronavirus is due to its ability to spread well over six feet, especially indoors, in small particles that result from talking, shouting, singing or just breathing. Many experts outside the agency say the pathogen can waft over considerably longer distances to be inhaled into our respiratory systems, especially if we are indoors and air flow conditions are stagnant. (Guarino, Mooney and Elfrink, 9/21)

ABC News: After CDC Whiplash, Here's What Science Says About Airborne Transmission Of The Coronavirus 
On Friday, the CDC updated its website to acknowledge that airborne transmission of the coronavirus beyond six feet may play a role in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly indoors. The update was hailed by infectious disease experts interviewed by ABC as an overdue step. But on Monday morning, the agency took down that language, saying it was posted in "error." Despite the CDC guidance whiplash, experts say it's time to recognize that airborne transmission beyond six feet is possible -- while continuing to emphasize that close contact within six feet is still the main way the virus is transmitted. (Harrison and Salzman, 9/21)

The Daily Beast: A Notorious COVID Troll Actually Works for Dr. Fauci’s Agency
The managing editor of the prominent conservative website RedState has spent months trashing U.S. officials tasked with combating COVID-19, dubbing White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci a “mask nazi,” and intimating that government officials responsible for the pandemic response should be executed. But that writer, who goes by the pseudonym “streiff,” isn’t just another political blogger. The Daily Beast has discovered that he actually works in the public affairs shop of the very agency that Fauci leads. (Markay, 9/21)

NBC News: Fauci Staffer To Retire After Report He Trashed 'Mask Nazi' Fauci And Coronavirus 'Fraud' Online
A public relations staffer for the agency run by Dr. Anthony Fauci announced his "intention to retire" Monday, the department said, after the Daily Beast reported that he was the author of numerous articles trashing Fauci and dismissing the coronavirus pandemic as a "massive fraud." The man, William B. Crews, a public affairs specialist for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, was identified by the Daily Beast as moonlighting as managing editor of the conservative website RedState, where he wrote articles under the pseudonym "streiff." (Gregorian, 9/21)

USA Today: NIH Staffer Who Called COVID-19 'Massive Fraud' Outed, Will Retire
Many of his posts alluded to coordinated schemes by public health officials to damage Trump politically. "Streiff" wrote that the "Trump administration were failed at every turn by" Fauci. The Daily Beast reported the posts became increasingly conspiratorial as the pandemic continued. One posted to RedState in March was entitled: “When Covid-19 Kills 18,000 People Call Me, But Until Then Stop the Scaremongering.” (Behrmann, 9/21)

The Washington Post: NIH Staffer To Retire After He Was Exposed As The Blogger Behind Anti-Fauci, Anti-Mask Stories
Other articles by “streiff” include one calling the Democratic governor of Nevada a “mask-fetishist” after President Trump announced he would hold an indoor rally in defiance of state covid-19 restrictions; another asking of Fauci “Is he a partisan hack or is he actually an idiot?"; and another accusing Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert R. Redfield of “trying to shut down the US economy for partisan political gain and institutional aggrandizement of power and resources.” (Bernstein, Izadi and Barr, 9/21)

Also —

CNN: The Country's 'Divisive State' Is Hurting Covid-19 Response, Fauci Says
One of the things that's getting in the way of clear and consistent messaging when it comes to Covid-19 in the US is the country's current divided state, Dr. Anthony Fauci said. "We are in such a divisive state in society that it tends to get politicized," the country's leading infectious disease expert said Monday night on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." "It's almost the one side versus the other," Fauci said. (Maxouris, 9/22)

Politico: Trump Administration Shakes Up HHS Personnel Office After Tumultuous Hires 
The Trump administration on Monday removed the top two liaisons between the White House and the health department, leaving HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s chief of staff as the de facto personnel chief, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. White House Liaison Emily Newman and her deputy Catherine Granito will be shifting full-time to the Voice of America's parent organization, the United States Agency for Global Media, HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison told senior staff on Monday. (Diamond, 9/21)

In other Trump administration news —

The Washington Post: Threats And Invective Hurled At Health Director Who Sought To Postpone Trump’s Tulsa Rally, Emails Show 
Three days before President Trump’s first indoor campaign rally during the coronavirus pandemic — at an arena in Tulsa in June — the director of the Tulsa Health Department marveled at the wave of abuse that was cresting in his direction. “It’s been crazy since the announcement of the presidential rally,” Bruce Dart wrote to Lori Freeman, a colleague who led an association of local public health officials. “It’s amazing how people strike out against anyone who they assume is not supportive of the president instead of listening to our messaging around staying safe in this pandemic.” (Partlow, 9/21)

Politico: RCMP Probe Underway Into Contaminated Letter Addressed To White House 
Canadian police are conducting an operation near Montreal related to an investigation into an envelope addressed to the White House that reportedly contained the poison ricin. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Monday on Twitter that its “Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives team” is leading the operation in the suburb of Saint-Hubert. Local police and firefighters are also on site. (Blatchford, 9/21)

The New York Times: If The Supreme Court Ends Obamacare, Here’s What It Would Mean
What would happen if the Supreme Court struck down the Affordable Care Act? The fate of the sprawling, decade-old health law known as Obamacare was already in question, with the high court expected to hear arguments a week after the presidential election in the latest case seeking to overturn it. But now, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg increases the possibility that the court could abolish it, even as millions of people are losing job-based health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. (Abelson and Goodnough, 9/21)

The New York Times: Without Ginsburg, Supreme Court Could Rule Three Ways On Obamacare 
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg means the Supreme Court will have a smaller liberal wing when it hears the latest Obamacare challenge in November. That case, California v. Texas, could unwind Obamacare completely if the Supreme Court rules in favor of 20 Republican-led states and the Trump administration’s Justice Department. The Democratic nominee for president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., has already begun linking the court vacancy to Obamacare’s future, telling a crowd in Philadelphia this weekend that “health care hangs in the balance” with this year’s election. A more conservative court may invite further litigation against the health law, which has faced multiple Supreme Court challenges in its decade-long existence. (Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 9/21)

Time: What Justice Ginsburg's Death Means For Obamacare
Health care was already a major focus in this fall’s election, but the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday adds a new layer of urgency to the issue: the Supreme Court is set to hear a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Nov. 10, exactly one week after Election Day. Ginsburg voted to uphold the law in the past, along with the Court’s other liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts. With all of those justices still in place before Friday, most in Washington had assumed that this latest case would end the same way, with a split vote preserving Obamacare. But now that Ginsburg’s seat is vacant, the future of the ACA—and the health coverage it provides millions of Americans—is suddenly in question. (Abrama, 9/21)

MarketWatch: The Supreme Court’s Obamacare Case Was High Stakes Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death. Here’s Why It’s Even More Important Now 
President Donald Trump’s chance to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat could shape the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence for years to come, but a newly-appointed judge could affect 20 million Americans’ health care — and how much they pay for it — a lot sooner. One week after Election Day, the high court is scheduled to hear arguments Nov. 10 on whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” is null and void. (Keshner and Passy, 9/22)

Tampa Bay Times: How The Supreme Court Vacancy Could Turn Florida Presidential Race Into A Fight Over Health Care
The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the ensuing fight to replace her has thrust the future of health care in Florida into the spotlight during the closing weeks of a narrowing race for the White House in the Sunshine State. With his third appointment to the high court, Republicans hope President Donald Trump can deliver the final blow to the Affordable Care Act after a decade of GOP efforts to dismantle the federal health care law. The Supreme Court is scheduled to revisit the law a week after Election Day in November. (Contorno, 9/22)

AP: Ginsburg's Death Exposes Fragility Of Health Law Protection
With COVID-19 the newest preexisting condition, the Obama-era health law that protects Americans from insurance discrimination is more fragile following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A week after the presidential election, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on an effort backed by President Donald Trump to strike down the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, in its entirety. Former President Barack Obama’s landmark law bars insurers from turning away people with health problems, or charging them more. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/21)

Also —

CNBC: Health-Care Stocks Fall On Uncertainty Over Supreme Court And Obamacare
Shares of health insurers and hospitals sold off sharply Monday, following the death of supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the looming battle to confirm her replacement. Analysts say it creates a new level of uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. “It sounds like the Republicans are really gonna push for a supreme court nominee approval before the new administration ( and) the fear is that the ACA will be probably repealed,” said Jefferies health care analyst Brian Tanquilut, adding “I’m not sure that’s necessarily the case, but obviously that’s the fear that’s been baked into the stocks right now.” (Coombs, 9/22)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Stock Prices Dip Amid ACA Supreme Court Uncertainty
Stock prices for hospitals were down in early trading on Monday amid uncertainty about the fate of the Affordable Care Act, which faces a hearing in November before the now 8-member Supreme Court. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday night and President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said they intend to try to fill her vacancy on the bench quickly. That introduces more uncertainty into the final decision on the latest ACA appeal on Nov. 10. (Cohrs, 9/21)

The Washington Post: Are More Women Getting IUDs After RBG’s Death? 
When news broke that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died at age 87, Pooja Patel, a 27-year-old living in D.C., called her sister and cousin. “I was like, okay, RBG died, it means the Supreme Court is going to be controlled by conservatives, that changes everything,” she said. By the end of the call, she’d convinced both to do what she had been begging them to since the 2016 election: get an IUD. (Cirruzzo, 9/21)

Time: How Cancer Shaped Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Life
The name Ruth Bader Ginsburg became almost synonymous with strength and stamina as she rose to prominence in judicial and feminist circles throughout her long career. Famously nicknamed the Notorious RBG and known for her grueling fitness regimen, the late Supreme Court justice also struggled with cancer and other health issues for the better part of her time on the bench — culminating with her death on Sept. 18 at the age of 87 of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. (Ducharme, 9/18)

Voice of America: Ginsburg Fought Long Battle With Cancer 
The pancreatic cancer that claimed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday at the age of 87 was the final chapter in a long battle with the disease. Her final year on the bench was punctuated with medical issues, but she publicly remained upbeat and optimistic through a series of infections, a fall that broke several ribs and the recurrence of cancer. As recently as July she said she was "encouraged by the success of my current treatment." (Baragona, 9/18)

Healthline: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Shows How People Can Live With Cancer For Years
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, only the second woman ever appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sept. 18.Over the last 2 decades, Ginsburg also became a high-profile example of a person able to live and work while receiving cancer treatment. She received diagnoses with three types of cancer over the last 20 years but was able to stay and work on the Supreme Court. (Citroner, 9/21)

USA Today: Ginsburg V. Cancer Was A 'Remarkable Fight': RBG Battled Five Bouts Of Cancer Over Two Decades
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday evening, had overcome four bouts with pancreatic, lung and colon cancer dating back two decades. ... "It's fairly uncommon to have so many cancers successfully treated and then to be able to live through them, certainly as long as she did – and to tolerate the treatment of these in her 80s, it's a testament to her," said Dr. Kiran Turaga, director of the Surgical Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at the University of Chicago Medicine. (Hauck, 9/19)

Prevention: A Timeline Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Decades-Long Cancer Battle
Ginsburg passed due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Court confirmed. But this wasn’t her only bout with the disease. Ginsburg’s first cancer diagnosis actually happened by accident 21 years ago, six years after she was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton. Here’s everything you need to know about her cancer journey. (Hruetic, 9/19)

The New York Times: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg Refused To Step Down 
The timing of Ginsburg’s death on Friday at 87, from complications of a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, and President Trump’s determination to quickly confirm a successor, have prompted a gnawing question among many liberals: Why didn’t Ginsburg resign years earlier, when President Barack Obama could have named a nominee for her seat? Ginsburg’s love for what she called her “good job” — serving as a Supreme Court justice — and her focus on the representation of women help explain her decision to stay. The epic political battle over confirmation could affect the results of the November election and change the trajectory of American law for decades. (Bazelon, 9/21)

Also —

CNN: How Pancreatic Cancer Has Been A Deadly Disease For American Icons In 2020 
The deadly disease has now taken two of America's political icons, including the late US Democratic Representative John Lewis, in the last three months, and thousands more Americans as one of the deadlier cancers in the country. There are two types of pancreatic cancer: exocrine tumors and endocrine tumors. There are currently no general screening tools for pancreatic cancer, and there are often no symptoms in the early stages, when the tumor would be most treatable. The cancer is often discovered at more advanced stages, sometimes when it has spread to other organs, known as metastasis. (Mena and Mascarenhas, 9/19)

NBC News: Biden Tries To Keep Wisconsin Voters' Attention On Trump's Pandemic Response
Joe Biden on Monday visited the key battleground state of Wisconsin, where Covid-19 cases have surged recently, to bear down hard on his criticism of President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, even as the president has turned his attention to the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Biden’s trip to an aluminum foundry in Manitowoc, about 70 miles north of Milwaukee, was his second to Wisconsin in recent weeks, underscoring the attention his campaign has begun devoting to the state. (Edelman, 9/21)

Stat: Biden Toes The Line On Covid-19 Vaccine Messaging 
To Joe Biden and his campaign allies, it’s a straightforward distinction: They trust vaccines. They just don’t trust President Trump, who has undercut the expertise of U.S. scientific agencies since Covid-19 first arrived. But at least for the remainder of Trump’s first term, it can be difficult to pick apart the two, leaving Democrats in a precarious spot: Either they endorse any vaccine’s use regardless of Trump’s track record, in hopes of fostering crucial public buy-in, or they suggest any vaccine approval could be politically motivated — and risk doing further damage to Americans’ trust in immunizations, regardless of when they’re approved. (Facher, 9/22)

Politico: Wisconsin Campaign Memo: Biden Ignores SCOTUS, Slams Trump On Covid 
As the Supreme Court debate raged in Washington, Joe Biden went to Wisconsin Monday and gave it nary a mention. Instead, the former vice president focused on Covid-19 and the economy. He highlighted the 200,000 deaths and counting on Trump's watch. "I worry we risk becoming numb to the toll it’s taken on us and our country and communities like this,” Biden said in a speech in Manitowoc, Wis., a small city in the Green Bay media market about 45 minutes from Packers HQ. Biden criticized Trump for downplaying the virus, which the president admitted he did to Bob Woodward, before later arguing that he didn't want the country to panic. (Korecki, 9/21)

In news from the Trump campaign —

NBC News: For Nursing Home Residents And Their Families, The Pandemic Has Made The 2020 Election Personal
The fallout from the virus is only one of the headline issues that voters are weighing. But the pandemic’s devastating effect on older Americans could make it harder for President Donald Trump to win re-election, according to new polling in swing states, which found that older voters are broadly worried about contracting the virus and more likely to trust Biden to manage the pandemic. In more than a dozen interviews conducted by NBC News, mostly with residents of swing states, voters across the political spectrum expressed concern about the effect of the virus on their personal health and their families, especially relatives in long-term care facilities. While many of these voters blamed Trump for mismanaging the pandemic, others said they thought state leaders were at fault for the deadly toll of the coronavirus on nursing homes and on the country at large. (Khimm, 9/22)

ABC News: Trump Calls His Handling Of Pandemic 'Phenomenal' As US Death Toll Nears 200K 
President Donald Trump on Monday gave himself an "A+" grade on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he and his administration had done a "phenomenal job" even as the death toll neared 200,000 Americans. At the same time, he gave himself a "D" on what he called "public relations." (Gittleson, 9/21)

In other election news —

AP: Supreme Court Vacancy Rattles Susan Collins' Senate Race
It’s so on brand for Sen. Susan Collins to be in a pressure cooker over how she’ll vote in a showdown riveting the nation. This time, it’s the battle over President Donald Trump’s effort to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. It comes six weeks from an Election Day when Trump might lose and Democrats could win Senate control, and it’s further complicating what could be the Maine Republican’s toughest reelection bid as she fights for a fifth term. Collins said Saturday — a day after Ginsburg, 87, succumbed to cancer — that Ginsburg’s replacement should be nominated “by the President who is elected on November 3rd.” She said the Senate shouldn’t vote until after the election. (Fram and Sharp, 9/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Medicare Wouldn’t Cover Costs Of Administering Coronavirus Vaccine Approved Under Emergency-Use Authorization 
Medicare wouldn’t cover the cost of administering any coronavirus vaccine approved for emergency use, leaving Trump administration officials exploring options to quickly fix the government’s plan to make the vaccine free for all Americans. Lawmakers in March passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or Cares Act, which ensures free coronavirus vaccine coverage, including no out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare. But Medicare doesn’t cover costs for drugs approved under emergency-use designations. (Armour, 9/21)

In other Medicare and industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Federal Funding Bill Relaxes Medicare Loan Repayment Terms, Delays DSH Cuts
House Democrats' bill to extend funding for the federal government through mid-December included a provision that would relax repayment terms for COVID-19 Medicare loans. CMS Administrator Seema Verma confirmed on Friday that the agency is delaying recoupment on the Medicare loans as lawmakers haggled over legislation to avoid a government shutdown weeks before an election. The bill would also extend funding for several Medicare and Medicaid policies including delaying cuts to disproportionate-share hospital payments until Dec. 11. (Cohrs, 9/22)

FierceHealthcare: Verma: CMS Will Mull Which COVID-19 Flexibilities May Stick Around Post-Pandemic 
The Trump administration has rolled out a slew of policies aimed at offering greater flexibility to payers and providers amid COVID-19. But what changes are likely to stick around long-term? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma said the agency will comb back through its policymaking under the pandemic and consider which, if any, of the changes will stick around once the country emerges from that situation. The administration has heard plenty of positive feedback from payers and providers around the adjustments, particularly around easing access to telehealth, Verma said Monday during a fireside chat at Fierce Healthcare’s Virtual Series on Medicare Advantage. (Minemyer, 9/22)

Kaiser Health News: Rural Hospitals Teeter On Financial Cliff As COVID Medicare Loans Come Due 
David Usher is sitting on $1.7 million he’s scared to spend.The money lent from the federal government is meant to help hospitals and other health care providers weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet some hospital administrators have called it a payday loan program that is now, brutally, due for repayment at a time when they still need help. Coronavirus cases have “picked up recently and it’s quite worrying,” said Usher, chief financial officer at the 12-bed Edwards County Medical Center in rural western Kansas. Usher said he would like to use the money to build a negative-pressure room, a common strategy to keep contagious patients apart from those in the rest of the hospital. (Tribble, 9/22)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccine: WHO's Covax Plan Lays Out How Vaccine Will Be Distributed 
The World Health Organization on Monday urged more wealthy countries to join its vaccine agreement — and provided details about how a vaccine, when it is developed, will be doled out. More than 150 countries, representing 64 percent of the world’s population, have agreed to participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or Covax, which aims to develop and distribute $2 billion in doses of a vaccine by the end of next year. (Rauhala, 9/21)

Stat: 64 Wealthy Nations, Minus The U.S., China, Back Covid-19 Vaccine Initiative
Countries representing about 64% of the world population have signed up to expand global access to Covid-19 vaccines by funding a purchasing pool organized by the World Health Organization and other nonprofit groups, leaders of the effort announced Monday. Not among the countries: the United States, which had previously said it is not taking part in the so-called COVAX Facility, or Russia nor China, both of which have already issued emergency use licenses for Covid-19 vaccines. (Branswell, 9/21)

In other vaccine news —

Kaiser Health News: Signs Of An 'October Vaccine Surprise' Alarm Scientists
President Donald Trump, who seems intent on announcing a Covid-19 vaccine before Election Day, could legally authorize a vaccine over the objections of experts, officials at the Food and Drug Administration and even vaccine manufacturers, who have pledged not to release any vaccine unless it’s proved safe and effective. In podcasts, public forums, social media and medical journals, a growing number of prominent health leaders say they fear that Trump — who has repeatedly signaled his desire for the swift approval of a vaccine and his displeasure with perceived delays at the FDA — will take matters into his own hands, running roughshod over the usual regulatory process. (Szabo and Aleccia, 9/21)

Reuters: Exclusive: 'We're Confident' - Russia To Share Legal Risks Of COVID-19 Vaccine 
Russia is so confident in its COVID-19 vaccine that it will shoulder some of the legal liability should anything go wrong, rather than requiring buyers to take on the full risk, the head of the state fund bankrolling the project told Reuters. The decision leaves the vaccine’s state-backed developers open to potentially costly compensation claims should there be any unexpected side-effects. It is something many vaccine-makers have sought to avoid, by asking for full indemnity - complete protection from liability claims - from nations they sell to. (Ivanova and Boadle, 9/22)

Reuters: Chinese State-Backed Firm Expects Coronavirus Vaccine Approval For Public Use Within Months 
State-backed vaccine maker China National Biotec Group (CNBG) is hopeful of two of its novel coronavirus vaccine candidates receiving conditional regulatory approval for general public use within the year, its vice president said on Tuesday. China has inoculated hundreds of thousands of people under an emergency programme authorised in July for essential workers and other limited groups of people considered at high risk of infection, to stave off a resurgence of the coronavirus, even as clinical trials of vaccines are still underway to prove their efficacy and safety. (9/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Medical Experts Push For Children In COVID-19 Vaccine Trials
As efforts increase to enroll more older adults and people from all racial and ethnic groups in vaccine trial studies, medical experts are becoming more vocal in their desire to see a key group in such research: children. Dr. Evan Anderson, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, was the lead author of a paper co-written by seven others published Monday titled “Warp Speed for COVID-19 Vaccines: Why are Children Stuck in Neutral?” (Stirgus, 9/21)

Also —

Stat: In Normal Times, It Takes Six Years To Get New Antivirals Out The Door
Researchers may be racing to develop new Covid-19 treatments, but normally it has taken slightly more than six years, on average, to test new anti-viral medicines and then win U.S. regulatory approval, according to a new analysis of medicines approved over the past two decades. In fact, between clinical trials and regulatory reviews, the combined time to win Food and Drug Administration approval for all anti-infective medicines between 2000 and 2019 was longer — slightly more than seven years. (Silverman, 9/21)

The New York Times: Drinking Coffee Tied To Better Outcomes In Colon Cancer Patients 
Drinking coffee may extend survival time in people with colorectal cancer, a new study suggests. Researchers studied 1,171 patients diagnosed with advanced or metastatic colon or rectal cancer who could not be treated with surgery. The patients completed diet and lifestyle questionnaires, including information about their coffee consumption, at the start the study. (Bakalar, 9/22)

In other science and research news —

The Atlantic: What COVID-19 Does To The Heart 
Autopsies have found traces of the coronavirus’s genetic material in the heart, and actual viral particles within the heart’s muscle cells. Experiments have found that SARS-CoV-2 can destroy lab-grown versions of those cells. Several studies have now shown that roughly 10 to 30 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had high levels of troponin—a protein released into the blood when the heart’s muscle cells are damaged. Such patients are more likely to die than others with no signs of heart injury. (Yong, 9/21)

USA Today: COVID-19 Survivors May Need To Get Screened For Heart Damage: Doctors
While COVID-19 is known as a respiratory infection, there's emerging evidence linking it to heart damage, too. Cardiologists are seeing patients with signs of inflammation and scar formation in their hearts even after recovery from COVID-19, experts say. For that reason, anyone who plans on participating in vigorous exercise and was sick with COVID-19 for three or more days should get a cardiac screening before working out or participating in their sport, said Dr. Steven Erickson, medical director for Banner University Sports Medicine and Concussion Specialists in Phoenix. (Innes, 9/21)

The Hill: Dengue Exposure May Provide Some COVID-19 Immunity, Researchers Say
Exposure to the mosquito-borne illness dengue fever may provide some immunity against COVID-19, Reuters reported Monday, citing a new study. The not-yet-published study analyzed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil and found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever, according to the newswire. (Klar, 9/21)

The New York Times: For Older People, Reassuring News In The Statin Debate 
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, already one of the most popular medications worldwide, may become even more widely used as evidence grows of their safety and value to the elderly and their potential benefits beyond the heart and blood vessels. Among the latest are reports of the ability of several leading statins to reduce deaths from common cancers and blunt the decline of memory with age. Perhaps such reports will persuade a reluctant 65-year-old friend who has diabetes, and others like him, that taking the statin his doctor strongly advised is a smart choice. (Brody, 9/21)

Kaiser Health News: It’s Not Just Insulin: Lawmakers Focus On Price Of One Drug, While Others Rise Too 
Michael Costanzo, a Colorado farmer diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2016, has a well-honed ritual: Every six months, he takes an IV infusion of a medicine, Rituxan, to manage his disease, which has no cure. Then he figures out how to manage the bill, which costs thousands of dollars. For a time, the routine held steady: The price billed to his health insurance for one infusion would cost $6,201 to $6,841. Costanzo’s health insurance covered most of it, and he paid the rest out-of-pocket. (Pradhan, 9/22)

In other pharmaceutical updates —

Stat: Legend Biotech CEO Detained In China As Part Of Investigation 
Legend Biotech’s man in charge will be working from home for the time being. The Chinese company announced Monday that its CEO and chairman, Frank Zhang, has been detained by Chinese customs as part of an investigation involving Genscript Biotech, Legend’s majority shareholder and former parent company. Current CFO Ying Huang has been named interim CEO, effective immediately. (Chan, 9/21)

Stat: Keytruda Rules The Immunotherapy Market, But Challengers Are Lining Up
Keytruda is the immunotherapy king. In the U.S., the Merck anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor is approved to treat 16 cancers and has 26 indications overall. Sales were $11 billion in 2019 and $6.7 billion through the first half of this year. Keytruda is not only the most successful cancer drug ever developed, but it ranks among the best medicines ever. (Feuerstein, 9/22)

Stat: Senators Urge Judge To Prevent Purdue From Paying CEO Bonus
A group of U.S. senators is urging a bankruptcy judge to prevent Purdue Pharma from paying its chief executive officer, Craig Landau, a bonus worth up to $3.5 million, because he may have overseen “criminal activity” during his tenure at the infamous opioid maker. Earlier this year, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain decided that Purdue was justified in giving Landau a bonus because it would help to keep him at the company, where he has been chief executive since June 2017. (Silverman, 9/21)

Crain's Detroit Business: Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Michigan Makes Voluntary Separation Offers Amid 'Financial Headwinds'
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan plans to make voluntary separation offers to its more than 10,500 employees as the Detroit-based health insurer works to cut administrative costs. The state's largest insurer extended the offer to 8,650 nonunion employees, according to a company statement sent to Modern Healthcare's sister publication Crain's Detroit Business on Monday. It is working to potentially make the same offer to another 2,060 workers represented by the UAW. (Nagl, 9/21)

Houston Chronicle: Young Houston Doctor Dies After Fighting For Her Life In ICU With COVID
A Houston doctor died early Saturday after fighting for her life in an intensive care unit since becoming infected with COVID-19 in July, according to a statement from her family. Adeline Fagan, a 28-year-old New York native who was completing her second year of residency as an OB-GYN in Houston, tested positive for the infection in early July before her condition worsened and she became hospitalized. (Serrano, 9/19)

Modern Healthcare: New Billing And Collections Guidelines Encourage Focus On Racial Equity
Healthcare providers are being pushed to consider whether they're suing people of color at disproportionately high rates, thanks to newly updated guidance on billing and collection practices. The report, published jointly by the Healthcare Financial Management Association and ACA International, a trade group for collection agencies, updates guidelines from 2014. It recommends hospital administrators to report to their boards the rate at which they use extraordinary collection activities like lawsuits or credit reporting, and to incorporate data on patients' race and ethnicity. (Bannow, 9/21)

Modern Healthcare: Georgia Provider Pays HHS $1.5 Million For Data Breach
Athens Orthopedic Clinic will pay $1.5 million to HHS' Office for Civil Rights for potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations, the agency said Monday. According to HHS, patient records for more than 200,000 people may have been posted for sale online in June after a hacker used a vendor's credentials to access the Athens Orthopedic electronic healthcare record system. The hacker told Athens Orthopedic it would exchange a complete copy of the stolen database for a ransom payment. (Brady, 9/21)

Modern Healthcare: Setting A Strategy To Maximize Telehealth's Potential
In the blink of an eye, telehealth has gone from nice-to-have to table stakes. Its explosive growth represents the most rapid and unexpected change in medicine in recent memory. How policymakers and payers respond to it will affect the course of our healthcare system for years to come. This revolution was driven, of course, by the response to COVID-19. As front-line workers risked their lives to treat the pandemic's early victims, ambulatory-care providers turned to telehealth to bridge the gaps. State and federal governments cleared away long-standing restrictions on telehealth under the federal public health emergency declaration. Many employers and health plans followed suit. (Margaret O'Kane, 9/21)

In other health care industry news —

Tampa Bay Times: How Can Doctors Better Serve LGBTQ Patients? More Training, Moffitt Says.
Tampa’s Moffitt Cancer Center is set to launch a national study aimed at training more oncologists to better understand the unique needs of their LGBTQ patients and prevent the disparities that often affect their care. The study will expand a Florida-based trial of an online training program developed at Moffitt to include physicians across the country.The program, developed in 2018, is known as COLORS, which stands for Curriculum for Oncologists on LGBTQ populations to Optimize Relevance and Skills. (Snipe, 9/21)

KQED: Lots Of Drugs, Lax Oversight: Former SF Medical Examiner Staffers Say Lab Analyst's Meth Arrest 'Just The Tip Of The Iceberg' 
A lab analyst for the San Francisco medical examiner's office had driven more than 700 miles east toting a sealed bag of drug evidence before he was pulled over for speeding in Washington County, Utah. During the Aug. 31 traffic stop, sheriff’s deputies discovered a bag containing “a large crystal looking item,” along with other baggies with suspected crystal meth and white powder. (Small, 9/21)

The Washington Post: Experts Warn Coronavirus Gym Safety Study Promoted By Industry Trade Group Is Flawed 
A top fitness industry trade association and some of its member gyms are promoting the message that health clubs nationwide are “safe and are not contributing to the spread of covid-19” based on the conclusions of a study that experts in public health and research methods say was methodologically flawed and open to conflicts of interest. (Chiu, 9/21)

In other public health news —

Tampa Bay Times: Florida’s Nursing Home Visitation Rules Leave Families Confused
By [last] Wednesday afternoon, Becky Terrell was tired of calling her dad’s nursing home. Her 93-year-old father lives in a facility in Hudson that wouldn’t allow her and her sister to visit him in his room. Terrell simply wanted to hug her dad for the first time in months. On Sept. 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed long-term care facilities to reopen to controlled visitation after a months-long closure to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The state created two categories of visitors — general and caregivers. The former must stay 6 feet from residents and visit alongside others in a community room. The latter can have private visits and touch their loved ones, but their status must be approved by facilities. (LeFever, 9/20)

NBC News: For Nursing Home Residents And Their Families, The Pandemic Has Made The 2020 Election Personal
Rose Konecky has been able to see her 80-year-old father only once since March, when his assisted living facility near Fort Worth, Texas, stopped regular visits because of the coronavirus pandemic. Her father, who has Alzheimer’s disease, can’t understand why his family has stopped coming to see him. “He doesn’t remember — all he knows is that we really don’t come and visit. It’s really sad,” she said. (Khimm, 9/21)

AP: 'I Miss Mommy': Families Shattered By COVID Forge New Paths
Just four months had passed since Ramon Ramirez buried his wife and now, here he was, hospitalized himself with COVID-19. The prognosis was dire, and the fate of his younger children consumed him. Before ending his final video call with his oldest, a 29-year-old single mother of two, he had one final request: “Take care of your brothers.” Before long, he was added to the rolls of the pandemic’s dead, and his daughter, Marlene Torres, was handed the crushing task of making good on her promise. Overnight, her home ballooned, with her four siblings, ages 11 to 19, joining her own two children, 2 and 8. (Sedensky, Kennedy and Crary, 9/21)

USA Today: 'You Are Not Your Disease': COVID-19 Long Haulers Find Hope In Recovery Program
Jenny Berz was infected with the coronavirus in March after returning from a trip to Hawaii.The 50-year-old wife and mother from Boston never received a positive test for COVID-19, but she had all the standard symptoms: fever, chills, body aches and shortness of breath. ... Throughout her illness she experienced gastrointestinal, cognitive and pulmonary symptoms. She had asthma attacks, lost her sense of smell and had a burning sensation in her arms, also known as neuropathy. “Somewhere along the way, I had everything,” she said. Jenny Berz, 50, had to go to the emergency room while sick with COVID-19. Berz is one of the many so-called COVID-19 long haulers, who suffer through symptoms months after their initial diagnosis. Many fear they will never recover. A new treatment program originally intended for geriatric patients has showed promising results for these long-suffering COVID-19 patients. (Rodriguez, 9/21)

Tampa Bay Times: Stories Of Recovery From Hillsborough Latinos Sickened By Coronavirus
More than six months into the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no consensus on how to track the number of people who survive the disease. Florida is one state where health officials don’t even try. But there’s little argument over another trend in the spread of the virus: Latinos are hospitalized from the virus at nearly five times the rate of white Americans.Stories from Hillsborough County, where Latinos account for some 30 percent of the population, show how hospitalization and recovery can vary from victim to victim. (Chavez, 9/21)

The Washington Post: Sidewalks, Streets And Parks Provided A Respite From Coronavirus Closures. But Winter Is Coming. 
Peer into a backyard in Columbia Heights and a quartet plays. Walk down the waterfront on the Wharf and a masked instructor stretches into downward-facing dog. Dine on 17th Street NW and massage chairs sprawl across turf grass. This was summer in the District — disease and desolation punctured by pockets of joyful commerce, spread across sidewalks, street corners and public parks. (Davies, 9/21)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Ventilate Your Home To Fight Coronavirus, Wildfire Smoke
Healthy air in homes is a bigger concern than ever. Evidence that Covid-19 spreads through the air means that those spending time indoors—even at home—might be at risk of exposure. The virus, along with added threats from wildfire emissions in the Western U.S., are prompting calls for new ventilation measures in dwellings. Using filters, fans, air purifiers and open windows can help. Here, experts weigh in on ways to improve your home’s ventilation to combat viruses as well as outdoor and indoor pollutants. (Dizik, 9/21)

ABC News: Cruise Companies To Require COVID Testing For All Passengers And Crew Prior To U.S. Departures 
Planning to cruise in the future? Companies say they will mandate COVID tests for all passengers and crew prior to boarding once U.S. departures resume. The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), a lobbying group that represents major cruise companies, said its members will adopt other health protocols such as mandatory mask wearing onboard and during certain excursions as well as increased social-distancing in terminals and aboard the ships. (Maile, 9/21)

The Hill: Cruise Lines To Give Coronavirus Tests To All Passengers And Crew To Restart Sailing In U.S. 
Cruise lines said they plan to test all passengers and crews for the coronavirus before boarding ships as they prepare to resume sailing in the U.S. The Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group that represents 95 percent of global ocean-going cruise capacity, shared the plan Monday as cruise lines prepare to start sailing again after pausing trips amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press reported. (Klar, 9/21)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: NFL Fines Pete Carroll, Kyle Shanahan, Vic Fangio For Mask Violations 
The NFL fined three coaches — Seattle’s Pete Carroll, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and Denver’s Vic Fangio — $100,000 apiece for violating the league’s directive to wear masks on the sideline during games, according to a person familiar with the penalties. The Seahawks, 49ers and Broncos also were fined $250,000 each, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity Monday night because the NFL had made no formal announcement of the fines. (Maske, 9/22)

AP: Hollywood Unions Announce Pandemic Agreement
Hollywood’s unions have announced that they have reached an agreement on pandemic protocols with major studios that will allow the broad resumption of production of films and television after six months of stagnant sets and widespread unemployment. The Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Basic Crafts unions and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on Monday jointly announced the deal reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after months of planning and negotiating. (9/22)

USA Today: Dee Snider Scolds Anti-Mask Parade Of People In MAGA Gear Playing Twisted Sister Song At Florida Target
A group of people who oppose wearing masks took them off at a Florida Target store, blasting and singing the 1984 hit Twisted Sister song "We're Not Gonna Take It." The small but vocal group approached customers inside the Fort Lauderdale store [last] week." Take your masks off. We're not doing it. Take off your masks. We're not going to take it anymore," the group shouted, pumping their fists in the air, some wearing "Make America Great Again" gear. “We’re Americans, breathe,” a woman yelled. “It’s all a lie!” Dee Snider, the frontman of the 1980s metal band, tweeted in response to the viral video, scolding the group: "No ... these selfish (expletive) do not have my permission or blessing to use my song for their moronic cause." The stunt drew quick action from Broward County officials. Target was fined for not enforcing the county’s mask law, and citations were mailed to the protesters, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. (Tyko, 9/17)

Stateline: Cybercriminals Strike Schools Amid Pandemic
Athens is one of at least 16 school districts, from California to New Jersey, that have been victimized in a rash of ransomware attacks since the end of July. Some have been forced to push back school reopening dates. Others that already started school have had to cancel classes for a day or more. (Bergal, 9/22)

The New York Times: What We Know About Coronavirus Cases In K-12 Schools So Far
There is no federal effort to monitor coronavirus cases in schools, and reporting by school districts is uneven. One independent effort has counted more than 21,000 cases this school year. While some districts regularly disclose their active cases, others have cited privacy concerns to withhold information, a move that has frustrated parents, educators and public health experts trying to assess the risk of exposure in schools and the potential impact on the larger community. Eleven states do not publish information on school cases, leaving many of the nation’s students and parents in the dark. (Avila, Cai, Harvey, Love, Lutz, Matthews and Taylor, 9/21)

WBUR: With Audit Threat, State Escalates Push For In-Person Schooling In Low-Risk Communities 
State officials are stepping up pressure on school districts to resume in-person schooling as soon as possible this fall, even as they have signaled deference to local control. Local authorities say the latest escalation poses a threat to months of detailed planning, and could force risky changes even after the school year has begun. (Larkin, 9/21)

Politico: Schools Reopen For Fraction Of New York City Students
New York City public schools reopened on Monday for up to 90,000 children — a small fraction of the city's 1.1 million public school students but the first time any in-person classes have been held since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March. Pre-kindergarten students and those with advanced special needs were the only students to return to school buildings. ... The city’s online learning platforms also experienced glitches on the first day of classes, with the Department of Education’s log-in page crashing at around 9 a.m., said Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. He said it was fixed in about 10 minutes. (Durkin, Toure and Mahoney, 9/21)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Upends College Admissions Tests, Creating Chaos For Students 
After a spring and summer when most opportunities to take college admissions tests were lost to the pandemic, many students were counting on taking the ACT on Saturday, one of the first big standardized testing dates of the fall. But once again, disaster intervened. More than 500 ACT testing centers across the country were closed because of the coronavirus, the wildfires on the West Coast, or both. Students hoping to take the test at one center in Reno, Nev., learned it was closed only after arriving to find a sign taped to a nearby car: “Canceled due to poor air quality.” (9/21)

Stat: Many Children With Mental Health Conditions Don't Get Follow-Up Care
A large new study finds that mental health care for many children in the U.S. falls far short, particularly when it comes to the follow-up treatment they receive. The study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined insurance claims from children between the ages of 10 and 17 covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Of the more than 2 million children included in the study, nearly one in 10 had a claim related to mental illness between 2012 and 2018. (Gopalakrishna, 9/22)

Princeton University: Mental Illness Treatment Varies Widely Among American Adolescents Within And Across ZIP Codes
Children are struggling with mental health issues more now than perhaps ever before, though the treatment available — therapy, drugs, or both — differs widely from state to state. Using a national database of insurance claims, Princeton University researchers investigated the type of treatment adolescents — most of whom were around the average age of 12 and suffering from anxiety or depression — receive after a first episode of mental illness. Less than half of children received any therapy within three months, and 22.5% of children received only drug therapy, the researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (Huber, 9/21)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: New PTSD Treatments Emerge As Cases Rise Among Some Groups 
As the pandemic grinds on, psychologists and psychiatrists are bracing for rising rates of post traumatic stress disorder. The concern comes as a wave of potential treatments for PTSD are on the horizon. Psychologists and psychiatrists say new treatments for PTSD, some of which involve combining psychotherapy and drugs, are sorely needed, as some Covid-19 survivors and front-line workers grapple with the disorder. (Peterson, 9/21)

CBS Pittsburgh: Mental Health Experts Warn About Dangers Of ‘Doomscrolling’  
Experts say spending too much time on social media can be damaging to your mental health, especially when consuming too much negative news. Are you finding yourself wasting too many hours online? We have all been there. You hop in bed, grab your phone, open social media and the next thing you know, hours have passed and you are left feeling down in the dumps. This has been dubbed “doomscrolling.” (Jones, 9/21)

Time: The Evictions Crisis Is A Mental Health Crisis, Too
Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Marlenis Zambrano is out of money. A 48-year-old single mother in Virginia, she tried her best to get by after being furloughed from her Defense Department daycare job in March by selling homemade face masks and empanadas to help support her two dependent children, both in college. She twice applied for housing relief from Arlington County, but was denied because, at the time, she had $5,000 in savings intended for her daughter’s tuition. (De la Garza, 9/21)

The Hill: Government Watchdog Finds Supply Shortages Are Harming US Coronavirus Response 
Shortages of supplies and equipment are harming the U.S.'s COVID-19 response almost six months into the pandemic, a government watchdog said in a report issued Monday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that states are still facing shortages of protective equipment and testing supplies because of high global demand and the limited production of those items within the U.S, despite “numerous, significant efforts” taken by the federal government. (Hellmann, 9/21)

In news from Michigan —

Detroit Free Press: Veterans With Just VA Benefits Can't Opt Out Of No-Fault Coverage
Michigan's top insurance regulator said Monday that military veterans who use the U.S. Department of Veterans as their primary health care provider are not eligible for the cheapest coverage option in the state's revamped no-fault auto insurance system that has saved some drivers hundreds of dollars a year. During a virtual auto insurance town hall, Anita Fox, director of Michigan's Department of Insurance and Financial Services, said that drivers whose only health care is through the VA cannot choose to "opt out" of no-fault coverage to save money. (Reindl, 9/21)

Detroit Free Press: In One Michigan County, Almost Half Of COVID-19 Cases Tied To Farm Outbreaks
Seasonal workers who packed asparagus at a west Michigan farm initially chalked up their exhaustion, dizziness and headaches to the demands of working 13 hour-shifts seven days a week. But then some workers lost their sense of taste and smell and had a hard time breathing. By mid-June, it was clear that Todd Greiner Farms in Hart was dealing with a major COVID-19 outbreak among its workforce. At least 94 people tied to the farm tested positive, the largest farm outbreak in Oceana County, according to county health department emails obtained by the Documenting COVID-19 project at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University and provided to the Free Press. (Jackson, Warikoo and Gee, 9/22)

CBS News: Michigan Tourism Businesses Worry About Cold Weather And COVID Spikes 
In early July, Heidi Gesiakowski, a restaurant owner in the popular tourist destination of South Haven, Michigan, said keeping her business operating was like "walking into the middle of the war every single day." The critical summer season, when her business usually earns much of its revenue was just beginning. (Brewster, 9/22)

In news from Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas —

NBC News: Ex-Nashville Council Member, A Coronavirus Skeptic, Dies From Covid-19
A former Nashville, Tennessee, council member, who believed the threat of the coronavirus was being radically overblown, died from complications from Covid-19, officials said Monday. The man, Tony Tenpenny, died over the weekend after more than five weeks in the hospital fighting the virus that has sickened more than 6.8 million people in the U.S. and killed at least 200,000 others, Nashville Vice Mayor Jim Shulman said. (Li and Gostanian, 9/21)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Ranks In The Top 10 For Obesity, Making Residents More Susceptible To Coronavirus Complications
A new report has found that about one in three Louisiana residents is obese, making it one of 12 states with an obesity rate over 35%. The report, compiled by the non-profit Trust For America’s Health using new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments, found that Louisiana ranks 9th in the nation for obese adults at 35.9%. The rates ranged from a low of 23.8 percent in Colorado and the District of Columbia, to a high of 40.8 percent in Mississippi. (Woodruff, 9/21)

NPR: Tropical Storm Beta Brings New Flood Risk To Texas Coast And Louisiana 
Tropical Storm Beta's heavy rainfall and slow movement is raising the risk of flooding "from the middle Texas coast to southeast Louisiana," the National Weather Service said. Beta is heading for a part of Louisiana where electricity service for thousands of people hasn't recovered from being knocked out by Hurricane Laura last month. Some isolated areas could see 15 inches of rain. ... The storm could bring a life-threatening storm surge. Areas from Port Aransas to Sabine Pass, Texas, are under a surge warning. The worst-hit spots are projected to see water rise 2 to 4 feet above normal levels, the hurricane center said. The warning zone centers on Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay, but it extends south near Corpus Christi and north to the Louisiana border. (Chappell, 9/21)

AP: Texas Begins Relaxing Some COVID-19 Restrictions
Texas on Monday began relaxing some coronavirus restrictions, including allowing restaurants to let more people inside. Gov. Greg Abbott announced the changes last week. Bars though still remain closed indefinitely and a mask mandate is still in place following a massive summer spread that became one of the deadliest outbreaks in the U.S. (9/21)

In news from Nevada, California and Hawaii —

USA Today: Wynn Las Vegas Says 548 Employees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
Wynn Las Vegas has logged almost 500 positive COVID-19 cases among employees since the resort reopened in June. Wynn Resorts on Thursday revealed the data tied to the company’s testing and contact tracing program, which tests groups of up to 700 employees every two weeks, reports the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. With the help of University Medical Center, the company has conducted 15,051 tests, aiming to catch any employees who are positive for the virus but asymptomatic. (Komenda, 9/17)

Fox News: Coronavirus Surge Possibly Linked To Labor Day Gatherings In This Area: Officials 
Gatherings over Labor Day are possibly behind a recent surge in cases of the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County, officials there recently said. On Saturday, officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced 13 new deaths and 1,343 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the county’s total number of positive cases to 259,817 and the total number of virus-linked deaths to 6,330. (Farber, 9/21)

The Washington Post: Hawaii Will Reopen To Tourists Oct. 15 
Travelers can finally return to Hawaii starting next month. Beginning Oct. 15, travelers can visit the islands if they take a coronavirus test, and test negative, within 72 hours before arriving in the state to avoid a 14-day quarantine once there, Gov. David Ige (D) said during a news conference last week.

The New York Times: U.K.’s Boris Johnson To Order Pubs And Restaurants To Close Early 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain plans to impose new restrictions on nightlife, including the forced early closure of pubs and restaurants in England, as he ramps up the country’s efforts to curb a rising tide of coronavirus infections. Pubs and restaurants will be restricted by law to offering table service only and must close at 10 p.m., beginning on Thursday, Downing Street said late on Monday; ordinarily, there is no mandatory closing time, though many close at 11 p.m. The new rules are the most stringent since restaurants, pubs and many other businesses were allowed to emerge from full lockdown in July. (Castle, 9/21)

The Washington Post: UK To Face 50,000 New Cases A Day By October If Trend Continues, Say Scientists 
Britain could face 50,000 coronavirus cases a day by mid-October if it stays on its current trajectory, top government scientists warned Monday. In a rare televised address from 10 Downing Street, Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said the number of coronavirus cases is doubling roughly every seven days. (Adam, 9/21)

AP: As Europe Faces 2nd Wave Of Virus, Tracing Apps Lack Impact
Mobile apps tracing new COVID-19 cases were touted as a key part of Europe’s plan to beat the coronavirus outbreak. Seven months into the pandemic, virus cases are surging again and the apps have not been widely adopted due to privacy concerns, technical problems and lack of interest from the public. Britain, Portugal, and Finland this month became the latest to unveil smartphone apps that alert people if they’ve been near someone who turned out to be infected so they can seek treatment or isolate - a key step in breaking the chain of contagion. (Chan, 9/22)

In other global news —

The Washington Post: Critic Of China's Coronavirus Response Is Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison 
China on Tuesday sentenced an outspoken critic of President Xi Jinping to 18 years in prison on graft charges, signaling Beijing's determination to crush dissent. Ren Zhiqiang, 69, a former real estate tycoon turned prominent political critic, has been a marked man since February, when he wrote an essay criticizing Beijing’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and called Xi a “clown with no clothes.” He was placed under investigation by the Chinese Communist Party in April. (Dou, 9/22)

USA Today: Indonesia Punishes Non-Mask-Wearers With Grave Digging
Eight people in Indonesia who refused to wear masks in public were ordered by a local official to dig graves for COVID-19 victims. As Indonesia faces an uptick of COVID-19 cases, leaders in Cerme, a district located in East Java, established stricter enforcement of social distancing and mask-wearing policies. For the eight people who violated the local mask mandate, that meant digging graves. (Bote, 9/15)

AP: As Rich Nations Struggle, Africa's Virus Response Is Praised
At a lecture to peers this month, John Nkengasong showed images that once dogged Africa, with a magazine cover declaring it “The Hopeless Continent.” Then he quoted Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah: “It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity.” The coronavirus pandemic has fractured global relationships. But as director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nkengasong has helped to steer Africa’s 54 countries into an alliance praised as responding better than some richer countries, including the United States. (Anna, 9/22)

The Washington Post: New Zealand, An Early Success Story, Set To Ease Most Restrictions Once Again As Second Outbreak Slows 
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced plans Monday to lift coronavirus-related restrictions for most of the country, saying the nation’s mystery outbreak that began in August appears to be largely under control. The cluster of cases detected in Auckland, the country’s largest city, disrupted what had been a relatively normal few months for New Zealanders, even as other countries that had enacted stringent measures to control the spread of the virus earlier in the pandemic recorded surges in new case numbers. (O'Grady and Noori Farzan, 9/21)

Boston Globe: Can In-Person Voting Be Made Safe Enough During The Coronavirus Pandemic? Yes
Ironically, the coronavirus pandemic is one of the major issues of the 2020 election, and yet it is the very same issue that may keep millions of Americans from being able to vote in what may be the most important election in over 50 years. As Democratic nominee Joe Biden said, “This election is about the soul of the nation.” Joe Biden told us the election was a ‘battle for the soul of the nation.’ He was right. While some states are making voting by mail easier during the pandemic, politics and the not-so-hidden desire for voter suppression means that many other states will not adopt policies that permit easy voting by mail. Consequently, two questions become important: How safe is in-person voting? Can it be made safe enough? (Ezekiel Emanuel, James Phillips, and Saskia Popescu, 9/21)

The Washington Post: Five Myths About Long-Term Care
The pandemic has exposed a disorganized, inefficient and dangerous system of long-term care for older adults in the United States: Those 65 and older account for 80 percent of the deaths caused by covid-19. ... The persistence of several myths has hampered efforts to reform the troubled long-term-care system. (Howard Gleckman, 9/17)

Modern Healthcare: Congress Needs An Aggressive Approach To Fix Prescription Drug Market
I believe Congress must take an aggressive approach to fixing the nation’s broken prescription drug market. It is opaque and complex. There’s nothing free market about it, except that drugmakers are free to set whatever prices they want. The market is dependent on things like government-sanctioned rebates and monopolies created by Food and Drug Administration exclusivities and patent abuse. For example, pharmacy benefit managers have perverse incentives to increase their own profits at the expense of patients by paying rebates to drugmakers in exchange for preferred status on insurer’s health plan formularies. (Mike Braun, 9/19)

Stat: Ethical Equivalents: Donating A Kidney, Taking Part In A Covid-19 Trial 
A few months ago, one of us (S.B.) found himself staring up into the bright lights of an operating room. He wasn’t sick or injured — far from it. Instead, he was about to undergo surgery to donate a kidney to a stranger. Why? He knew it could save the life of someone who would otherwise die. He recognized his choice carried the risks and costs, including a 3 in 10,000 risk of dying and slightly increased long-term odds of developing kidney disease. In the last decade, nearly 2,000 other Americans have made the same choice, believing these risks are worth the benefits. (Sam Beyda and Abigail Marsh, 9/22)

The Hill: A BRAC-Style Commission On Tariffs Is Needed To Bolster Economy, COVID Response 
High U.S. tariffs on consumer goods, industrial supplies and medical products threaten to stifle the economic recovery and hinder the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the election season is behind us, the next administration and Congress must work together for the national interest to unilaterally eliminate self-damaging tariffs, independent of the path other nations choose to follow. (Daniel Griswold, 9/21)

Los Angeles Times: To Help California Survive Wildfires, Focus On Homes, Not Trees 
Firestorms in the West have grown bigger and more destructive in recent years — and harder to escape. Massive and frenzied, they have overtaken people trying to outrun or outdrive them. Gridlocked mountain roads prevented many Paradise residents from fleeing the Camp fire, which killed 85 people in 2018. This year, more than 30 people have died in the fires in California and Oregon, and again, in many cases, people were trying to escape fast-moving blazes. (9/22)

Stat: The Coronavirus Task Force Needs To Make Its Reports Public
Since June, the White House Coronavirus Task Force has been compiling detailed reports on how Covid-19 is spreading. It has put together a massive, granular, timely data set for tracking and containing the pandemic. These reports would be of enormous benefit to local public health officials, educators, employers, and the public. Yet the task force refuses to share them. (Ryan Panchadsaram, 9/21)

CNN: Mismanagement Of Trump's Covid Response Exposed By New CDC Flap 
New chaos at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over revised guidance on the spread of Covid-19 is a fresh sign of mixed messaging that long plagued the White House's failed pandemic response. The latest drama shows how President Donald Trump's erratic handling of the disaster has left Americans in the dark over which missteps are down to incompetence and which are the result of extreme politicization. (Stephen Collinson, 9/22)

Louisville Courier Journal: Mitch McConnell Should Get Donald Trump To Stop Contradicting Science
Public health has been called the intersection of science and politics. In a normal world, that means scientists deliver factual information to government officials, who enact policies in the public interest — sometimes tempering the hard facts of science with their own political consideration for the soft and malleable opinions of the public. Ideally, they help shape those opinions to fit the science.Today, the president of the United States confronts science and contradicts it, almost on a daily basis, and doesn’t seem to suffer politically for it. How did that happen? (Al Cross, 9/18)

The Washington Post: Even Republicans Don’t Buy Trump’s Spin On The Pandemic
If not by the time you read this then shortly after, we will have crossed a grim marker: 200,000 Americans dead from covid-19.Large numbers representing human beings are difficult if not impossible to wrap your head around; if I said that it was as if the entire population of Salt Lake City had died, would that make it any easier to understand? Probably not. As Joseph Stalin may or may not have said, one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.We are surrounded by these statistics — 200,000 dead, 6.8 million people infected, 30 million out of work. But chances are you don’t need the numbers to tell you; you’ve seen the closed businesses, and you probably know someone who has gotten sick or even died. With so many families mourning and suffering, it has become inescapable. (Paul Waldman, 9/21)

Modern Healthcare: Trump, GOP Still Suing To Overturn The ACA Amid COVID-19
America is in the midst of unprecedented public health and economic crises that have shaken the foundations of our nation. Nearly 200,000 Americans are dead because of COVID-19, millions have contracted the virus, and unemployment levels rival the Great Recession. And our national emergency isn’t likely to be over anytime soon. Yet, even amid a pandemic that has made access to healthcare more important than ever, President Donald Trump and Republican state attorneys general are moving forward with their lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. This assault on the healthcare of millions, at this moment of crisis, is as inexplicable as it is unforgivable. (Chris Murphy. 9/19)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Trump Is Again Running On A Secret Health Care Plan. Don't Believe It.
Four years ago, Donald Trump campaigned in part on a promise to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something better. Then all he did in his first term was talk big about his plans while undermining Obamacare at every opportunity, threatening the health care of millions. Now in his fourth year, Trump still has no plan to replace it. Yet last week, he was once again promising he’ll “be doing a health care plan very strongly, and protect people with preexisting conditions” — as soon as he’s reelected. He fooled Americans once with false promises. He must not get away with it again. (9/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Your Company Health Plan Isn’t Safe In A Biden Presidency
In the summer of 2008, the Obama-Biden presidential campaign ran the most-aired ad of the decade, “Unravel,” alleging that Sen. John McCain’s policy proposals would dismantle employer-based health coverage. Twelve years later, that ad takes on an ironic tone for President Obama’s vice president. As I outline in a new report, Joe Biden’s health plan could pull apart the system by which most Americans receive insurance. The collapse would come as a result of two interlinked provisions in the Democrat’s plan. Mr. Biden proposes to increase subsidies for ObamaCare exchange plans—decreasing the percentage of income households must pay in out-of-pocket premiums, and increasing the cost-sharing assistance provided for deductibles and copayments. He would also repeal an ObamaCare provision that prohibits households that are offered “affordable” health coverage by their employer from receiving exchange subsidies. (Chris Jacobs, 9/21)

Fox News: Conservative Supreme Court Majority? What It Could Mean On These Issues
A third Trump appointment to the court could spell the death knell for ObamaCare and a resurrection on the limits on the federal power to regulate everyday life. It could trigger a restoration of the rights of states to regulate social and moral issues. It could produce a long-awaited expansion of the Second Amendment right to bear arms and an advance of individual economic rights to own property and make a living. Justice Ginsburg took the leading part in a constitutional revolution on gender. Her passing may create the opportunity for the court to shift toward greater equal treatment of religious, color-blind and economic rights as well. (John Yoo, 9/21)

Des Moines Register: 'Pro-Life' To 'Pro-Choice': What Changed How I Viewed Abortion
I was raised Catholic. As a teenager, I was 100% in the “Abortion is murder, ought to be completely illegal” camp. I attended a rally at the State Capitol and carried a gruesome sign, totally convinced we were in the right. I met some other pro-life teens and we picketed a Planned Parenthood the next weekend. ...I’m a pediatric emergency room doctor now, and I’m worried. I’m worried that I’m going to see teenage girls with sepsis, bleeding, and death from complications of illegal abortions. The best way to reduce the abortion rate is to improve access to birth control, health care for women, and child care.Please, when you think about this issue, think about the women you know. Trust them, and don’t judge. (Lydia Holm, 9/19)

The New York Times: Trump’s Supreme Court Pick May Need To Denounce Roe. Good.
In a floor speech in July, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, issued an ultimatum on future Supreme Court fights. “I will vote only for those Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided,” Hawley said. He would require on-the-record evidence that the next Republican nominee “understands Roe to be the travesty that it is.” Absent that, he said, “I will not support the nomination.” The day after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Hawley reiterated this commitment, and called on his fellow Republican senators to do the same. (Michelle Goldberg, 9/21)