U.S. still falling short on basic tools to fight the virus

U.S. still falling short on basic tools to fight the virus-politico:  President Joe Biden took office with a clear plan to attack the coronavirus. But the United States is still falling short on the public health steps needed to fight a highly contagious disease, a problem that’s taking on mounting urgency as new variants of Covid-19 begin to spread around the country.

Newsom to lift stay-at-home orders across California

Newsom to lift stay-at-home orders across California-politico:  Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to lift stay-at-home orders statewide Monday, allowing restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining and salons to resume appointments indoors, according to two sources close to the governor and a restaurant industry email.

Biden to sign 10 executive orders aimed at turning around the pandemic

Biden to sign 10 executive orders aimed at turning around the pandemic-politico:  President Joe Biden will sign 10 more executive orders on Thursday aimed at ramping up Covid testing and vaccinations, tightening enforcement of workplace safety rules and funneling more federal dollars to states struggling through the pandemic and economic crisis.

Biden rejects Trump’s move to lift coronavirus travel bans for Europe, Brazil

Biden rejects Trump’s move to lift coronavirus travel bans for Europe, Brazil-politico:  U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's team rejected a move Monday by outgoing President Donald Trump to lift coronavirus restrictions for European and Brazilian travelers.

Newsom considers new California stay-at-home orders, warns hospitals could be overwhelmed by Christmas

Newsom considers new California stay-at-home orders-thehill:  Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that California is considering new stay-at-home orders to prevent hospital intensive care units from being overwhelmed by Christmas.  The governor suggested during a briefing that if hospitalizations and intensive care unit statistics continue to jump, the state is “going to have to take much more dramatic, arguably drastic action.”

How Biden plans to fix the coronavirus testing problem

How Biden plans to fix the coronavirus testing problem-politico:  President-elect Joe Biden’s advisers are planning a massive expansion of the United States’ coronavirus testing capacity to help bring the country’s spiraling outbreak under control.

Biden forms special Covid transition team

Biden forms special Covid transition team-politico:  President-elect Joe Biden has formed a special transition team dedicated to coordinating the coronavirus response across the government, according to documents obtained by POLITICO and people familiar with the decision.

Pandemic on course to overwhelm U.S. health system before Biden takes office

Pandemic on course to overwhelm U.S. health system before Biden takes office-politico:  The United States’ surging coronavirus outbreak is on pace to hit nearly 1 million new cases a week by the end of the year — a scenario that could overwhelm health systems across much of the country and further complicate President-elect Joe Biden’s attempts to coordinate a response.

McConnell avoids visiting White House over its handling of coronavirus

McConnell avoids visiting White House over its handling of coronavirus-politico:  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell drew a stark contrast Thursday between his handling of the coronavirus in the Senate and the approach taken by the White House, which has experienced an outbreak among senior officials and Trump.

Trump team under fire for confusion about Trump’s condition

Trump team under fire for confusion about Trump’s condition-politico:  The White House took flak throughout the weekend over its mixed messaging on Trump’s health. That blowback continued into Sunday evening because of a lack of any messaging or information before Trump briefly departed Walter Reed Medical Center in a motorcade.

Trump tests positive for coronavirus

Trump tests positive for coronavirus-politico:  Trump announced early Friday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, upending his presidency and the 2020 race just 32 days before Election Day.

Top health officials warn America won’t return to normal soon

Top health officials warn America won’t return to normal soon-politico:  The country's recent progress against Covid-19 could be short-lived if Americans do not continue to take precautions like mask wearing and social distancing, HHS testing czar Brett Giroir said Wednesday.

HHS chief overrode FDA officials to ease testing rules

HHS chief overrode FDA officials to ease testing rules-politico:  Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar led an escalating pressure campaign against his own Food and Drug Administration this spring and summer, urging the agency to abandon its responsibility for ensuring the safety and accuracy of a range of coronavirus tests as the pandemic raged.

Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19

Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19-politico: The health department’s politically appointed communications aides have demanded the right to review and seek changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, in what officials characterized as an attempt to intimidate the reports’ authors and water down their communications to health professionals.

Trump acknowledged downplaying COVID-19 threat, says Woodward book

Trump acknowledged downplaying COVID-19 threat, says Woodward book-thehill: Recordings of Trump privately acknowledging he downplayed the coronavirus’s threat to the nation put the White House on defense Wednesday, reinserting the pandemic as the central issue in the presidential race eight weeks before Election Day.

Hahn, HHS in ‘tit for tat’ feud over Covid-19 messaging

Hahn, HHS in ‘tit for tat’ feud over Covid-19 messaging-politico:  The dispute over whether to allow the use of blood plasma treatments for coronavirus on an emergency basis has set off what one senior official described as a “tit for tat” battle between Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services, with each side engineering the replacement of communications aides installed by the other.

Newsom searches for messaging rhythm as coronavirus fatigue sets in

Newsom searches for messaging rhythm as coronavirus fatigue sets in-politico:  California Gov. Gavin Newsom's press conferences were must-see TV at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, crisis fatigue among residents and a summer surge have prevented Newsom from getting into a messaging rhythm.

New data shows lawmakers secured millions in small business aid

New data shows lawmakers secured millions in small businessaid-politico: At least nine lawmakers and three congressional caucuses have ties to organizations that took millions of dollars in aid from a small business loans program that was designed to help companies avert layoffs during the pandemic, according to newly released data from the Small Business Administration.

How California went from model student to pandemic problem child

How California went from model student to pandemic problemchild-politico:  California was long the nation's shining star on the coronavirus, heralded by national media and White House advisers as an example of how other states could beat the disease. The state was so confident in April that it sent hundreds of ventilators to the East Coast.

Contact tracing, essential to fight against coronavirus, hits roadblocks

Contact tracing, essential to fight against coronavirus, hits roadblocks-thehill: One of the most crucial parts of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 relies on significant cooperation from the public, and so far, the results are mixed.