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From Kaiser Health News:

Kaiser Health News Original Stories

1. Maine Voters Consider U-Turn On Vaccine Exemptions

States tried to tighten vaccine requirements last year in the midst of measles outbreaks, but a backlash against a tougher law in Maine put a referendum on the ballot there. Voters weigh in on Super Tuesday. (Patty Wight, Maine Public Radio, 3/3)

4. Political Cartoon: 'Viruses Without Borders'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Viruses Without Borders'" by Joel Pett.

Here's today's health policy haiku:

CAN PAST OUTBREAKS PROVIDE HINTS FOR CORONAVIRUS' FUTURE?

What's the endgame for
Coronavirus? A look
Back helps tell future.

- Anonymous

If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if you want us to include your name. Keep in mind that we give extra points if you link back to a KHN original story.

Summaries Of The News:

Supreme Court

5. Supreme Court To Take Up Health Law Case To Dems Delight, But Don't Expect Decision Before The Election

The Trump administration said it was premature for the Supreme Court to get involved in the case, but the justices agreed to add it to their docket. While the decision itself isn't likely to come before the November elections, Democrats are excited that the issue -- something these see as a winning topic for themselves -- will be kept front of mind voters.

The Associated Press: Supreme Court Will Decide The Fate Of Obama Health Care Law
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, a case that will keep health care squarely in front of voters even though a decision won't come until after the 2020 election. The court said it would hear an appeal by 20 mainly Democratic states of a lower-court ruling that declared part of the statute unconstitutional and cast a cloud over the rest. (Sherman, 3/2)

The New York Times: Supreme Court To Hear Obamacare Appeal
The court granted requests from Democratic state officials and House members who wanted to thrust the fate of the Affordable Care Act into the public eye just as Americans prepare to vote this November. The Supreme Court did not say when it would hear the case, but under its ordinary practices, arguments would be held in the fall and a decision would land in the spring or summer of 2021. Democrats, who consider health care a winning issue and worry about possible changes in the composition of the Supreme Court, had urged the justices to act quickly even though lower courts had not issued definitive rulings. They wanted to focus political attention on the health law's most popular provisions — like guaranteed coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, emergency care, prescription drugs and maternity care — and to ensure that the case was decided while justices who had rejected earlier challenges to the law remain on the court. (Liptak and Goodnough, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court's Obamacare Review Cheers Democrats With Election Year Health Care Focus
The justices will review a federal appeals court decision that found part of the law, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional and raised questions about whether the law in its entirety must fall. The Trump administration agreed with the lower court's decision but said it was premature for the court to join the legal fight now. Trump administration tells Supreme Court no need to rush Obamacare ruling. Democrats seemed delighted that the court had decided to ignore that advice. They said the focus on health care will help their candidates, as polls show it did in 2018 when Democrats won back the House majority, and increase the importance of the Supreme Court with their voters. (Barnes, 3/2)

Roll Call: Court's Decision To Hear Case Sets Up Health Care As Key Campaign Issue
The Supreme Court will consider whether the "individual mandate," which requires most Americans to have health insurance, is severable from the rest of the law. If the justices agree with lower courts that the mandate is unconstitutional and cannot be severed from the rest of the law, approximately 20 million people who have gained health insurance coverage since its adoption could be at risk of losing coverage. (McIntire, 3/2)

Bloomberg: Supreme Court To Hear Democrats' Obamacare Appeal
Democratic-run states had sought fast-track review of their appeal to ensure a decision by June, but the court instead will hear arguments in its next term, which begins in October, with a ruling likely in the first half of 2021. Under the court's normal scheduling practices, that would put the arguments just weeks before the Nov. 3 election. (Stohr, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court To Review Affordable Care Act Next Term
The timing means the decision is unlikely to come before Election Day, leaving the ACA in legal limbo. The slower timeline also means the Trump administration won't necessarily be forced to grapple with U.S. health-care policy before voters go to the polls. In weighing the case, the justices could rule on the viability of every provision of the sweeping law. In addition to the mandate that most people carry health insurance, the ACA barred insurers from denying coverage—or charging more—to people with existing health conditions. It also allowed young adults to stay on their parents' plans until they turned 26 and expanded the availability of Medicaid coverage for limited-income Americans. (Kendall and Armour, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Will Hear A Third Obamacare Appeal
"Make no mistake: A big reason that the fate of these vital healthcare protections is in the hands of the Supreme Court is because congressional Republicans and President Trump support the lawsuit to take healthcare away and haven't lifted a finger to stop it," said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement. The court granted the appeal by California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. "As Texas and the Trump administration fight to disrupt our healthcare system and the coverage that millions rely upon, we look forward to making our case in defense of the Affordable Care Act. American lives depend upon it," he said in a statement. (Savage, 3/2)

The CT Mirror: CT, State's Insurers, Hail Supreme Court Decision To Hear Obamacare Appeal
"The stakes in this case could not be higher. Our entire healthcare system hangs in the balance," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. "The Trump Administration is going to have to explain to the Court and the American people why it thinks cancer survivors and others with so-called pre-existing conditions should be denied coverage. Our side has the stronger argument, as a matter of law and principle." Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, who like the rest of Connecticut's Democratic congressional delegation strongly supports the ACA, said " I hope the Supreme Court does what is right and upholds the ACA as it has in the past. Otherwise they will tear away the health care of tens of millions of Americans." (Radelat, 3/2)

6. 'There's A Lot On The Line In This Case': Justices To Hear Oral Arguments Tomorrow Over Louisiana's Abortion Law

The case is being closely watched as the first major abortion arguments to take place in front of a Supreme Court since conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were added to the bench.

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Will Hear First Major Abortion Case Since Two Trump Appointees Joined
The Supreme Court hears its first major abortion case Wednesday since two Trump nominees joined the bench, potentially signalling whether—and how much——reproductive rights may change under a bolstered conservative majority. "There's a lot on the line in this case, and more than most people realize," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University and author of the forthcoming book "Abortion and the Law in America." Most prominently, the case involves the Supreme Court's approach to precedent, since it largely is a replay of an issue the court decided in 2016, when by a 5-3 vote it struck down a Texas law requiring that abortion providers obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. (Bravin, 3/2)

The New York Times: An Abortion Clinic's Fate Before A Transformed Supreme Court
Kathaleen Pittman, the director of the Hope Medical Group for Women, remembers when there were 11 abortion clinics in Louisiana. Now there are only three, hers among them. Soon, depending on how the Supreme Court rules in a case to be argued on Wednesday, there may be just one, in New Orleans, more than 300 miles away. Since 1973, when the court established a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, Louisiana has enacted 89 abortion restrictions, the most of any state. The restriction at issue now requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. (Liptak, 3/3)

Meanwhile, in West Virginia —

The Associated Press: W.Va. Governor Signs 'Born Alive' Abortion Bill
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Monday signed a proposal to penalize physicians who don't provide medical care to a child born after an abortion, a largely symbolic measure due to existing laws that protect newborns. The measure easily passed both the GOP-held Senate and House of Delegates with supporters admitting that it's more about sending a political message than solving an ongoing problem. State law forbids abortions after 20 weeks and many Democrats have pointed out that murder is already a crime in West Virginia. (Izaguirre, 3/2)

Global Health Watch

7. Death Toll Climbs In U.S. As Wash. Nursing Facility Patients, Staff And Responders Continue To Be Monitored

Eight of Washington state's 18 cases, as well as four of the deaths, are linked to the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash. After declaring a state of emergency, King County officials announced highly unusual plans to purchase a motel that could be converted into an isolation center for people who get sick.

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Claimed Six U.S. Lives; Patients Being Treated In At Least 15 States
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus rose to six on Monday, and patients were being treated in at least 15 states, deepening fears about the outbreak's rapid spread and the medical, psychological and economic toll it will exact on the United States. Four deaths announced Monday and two others this weekend all occurred in Washington state, the center of the nation's most serious outbreak. Eight of the state's 18 cases, as well as four of the deaths, are linked to the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., and at least 50 other residents and staff members have reported coronavirus-like symptoms. (Sacchetti, Hernandez, O'Grady and Wan, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs To Six As Virus Spreads World-Wide
The nursing home was the site of four of the nation's deaths and has four other confirmed cases, including one woman in her 80s who is in critical condition, according to King County's public health department. New cases were also reported in California, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire and Illinois on Monday as state officials attempted to quell fears. At least 50 people have been diagnosed with the novel infection within the U.S., not including repatriated Americans. (Calfas, Carlton and Craymer, 3/2)

The New York Times: 'When Is It Going To End?': Where Coronavirus Has Turned Deadly In The U.S.
Movie nights have been canceled. Residents are restricted to their rooms, their meals delivered by workers in protective gear. Ambulances come and go, taking elderly patients who have fallen ill to the hospital two miles away. Life Care Center, which advertises a "homelike and welcoming atmosphere" in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, has become the focal point of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Four of the six people who have died of the virus in this country were residents of the 190-bed nursing care facility. Several other residents and at least one employee have tested positive. One-quarter of the city's firefighters are in quarantine as a result of recent visits, and officials said on Monday that some have developed flu-like symptoms. (Baker and Weise, 3/2)

CNN: 6 People Have Died From Novel Coronavirus In The US As Cases Nationwide Surge
"Current residents and associates continue to be monitored closely, specifically for an elevated temperature, cough and/or shortness of breath," officials said in a statement on the Life Care website. "Any resident displaying these symptoms is placed in isolation. Associates are screened prior to beginning work and upon leaving." (Silverman, Yan and Almasy, 3/3)

Bloomberg: Six Dead Of Virus In Washington; State Readies For Outbreak
The outbreak in the counties near Seattle is the most concentrated of the coronavirus clusters detected so far in the U.S. While other areas have reported single cases or small groups, many in travelers returning from abroad, the Washington state illnesses appear to represent an outbreak with transmission going on in the community. "As we test more, we will see more," Duchin said. "It is impossible for me to predict what the peak of this outbreak may be." Many new confirmed cases will be mild as testing expands." (Langreth and Cortez, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Firefighters In Isolation After Responding To Nursing Home With Virus Outbreak
Firefighter Jessica Brassfield donned gloves as she entered the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., not long after midnight Wednesday. But she didn't wear a mask. The Life Care Center, health authorities later discovered, was harboring the new coronavirus. Now, Ms. Brassfield and 18 other Kirkland firefighters who responded to health-related calls at the facility in recent weeks are under isolation by public-health officials. Eight more are quarantined, according to a union official. (Evans and Carlton, 3/2)

NBC News: Coronavirus Prompts A Dozen Schools In Washington State To Close, Others Weigh Options
A growing number of schools in western Washington state and Oregon are scrambling this week to temporarily close and sanitize classrooms following the confirmation of additional cases of coronavirus and at least six deaths linked to the disease in Washington. The decision to cancel classes Monday in at least a dozen schools in the greater Seattle area indicates how essential it is for school districts to have contingency plans and could be a preview for communities across the country weighing what preventative steps to take, health experts say. (Ortiz, 3/2)

8. Nearly 1 Million Americans Could Be Tested By End Of Week, A Sharp Course-Correction From CDC's Earlier Stumbles

The Trump administration and the CDC face criticism that its testing strategy and other decisions in the early days of the outbreak exacerbated the spread of the virus within the states. Now, the government is calling on private companies and academic labs to develop their own tests.

The New York Times: Close To A Million Could Be Tested For The Coronavirus This Week, Health Official Says
The Trump administration said on Monday that nearly a million tests could be administered for the coronavirus in the United States by the end of this week, a significant escalation of screening as the American death toll reached six and U.S. infections topped 100. Private companies and academic laboratories have been pulled in to develop and validate their own coronavirus tests, a move to get around a government bottleneck after a halting start, and to widen the range and number of Americans screened for the virus, Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Monday at a White House briefing. (Weiland and Cochrane, 3/2)

The New York Times: As Coronavirus Numbers Rise, C.D.C. Testing Comes Under Fire
The coronavirus has found a crack in the nation's public health armor, and it is not one that scientists foresaw: diagnostic testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention botched its first attempt to mass produce a diagnostic test kit, a discovery made only after officials had shipped hundreds of kits to state laboratories. A promised replacement took several weeks, and still did not permit state and local laboratories to make final diagnoses. And the C.D.C. essentially ensured that Americans would be tested in very few numbers by imposing stringent and narrow criteria, critics say. (Rabin, Sheikh and Thomas, 3/2)

Politico: Azar In The Crosshairs For Delays In Virus Tests
Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes blame for testing delays that may have led to hundreds of Americans being infected with the coronavirus, officials inside the health agency and the White House are increasingly pointing the finger at one leader: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who they say failed to coordinate the response, as agency chiefs waited for instructions that came too late and other deputies were largely cut out of the process. (Diamond and Cancryn, 3/2)

NPR: Coronavirus Testing: What To Know As It Becomes Available Across The U.S.
The most common initial symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, a dry cough and shortness of breath. Call your doctor or your local health department if you believe you might have the virus, and you'll be advised of the best course of action. It's important to remember that not everyone who gets infected gets sick and symptomatic. Also, it's flu season, so lots of people with flu-like symptoms have just that: the flu. (Wamsley, 3/2)

CBS News: Co-Diagnostics Now Selling Coronavirus Test In U.S.
Medical testing company Co-Diagnostics said Monday that its coronavirus test kits are now available for sale to laboratories in the U.S., an announcement that sent its stock soaring nearly 35%. The tests from Co-Diagnostics, which has also developed screening technology for Zika and tuberculosis, said the tests are available for purchase by labs in the U.S. that are certified under Food and Drug Administration guidelines called the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). (Cerullo, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Efforts To Control Coronavirus May Be Hurt By Worries About Medical Bills, Lost Pay
The race to curb the spread of the new coronavirus could be thwarted by Americans fearful of big medical bills if they get tested, low-income workers who lose pay if they take time off when sick, and similar dilemmas that leave the United States more vulnerable to the epidemic than countries with universal health coverage and sturdier safety nets. As the test for the virus becomes more widely available, health-care experts predict that some people with flu-like illnesses — or those who may have been exposed — will avoid finding out whether they have been infected because they are uninsured or have health plans that saddle them with much of the cost of their care. (Goldstein, 3/2)

9. With Fate Of Coronavirus Vaccine Hanging In Balance, Trump Adopts Friendly Tone Toward Pharma

President Donald Trump met with pharma executives in a meeting that had once been billed as a scolding over high prices. But now that the industry is needed to help develop a vaccine for the emerging pandemic, Trump has taken a more congenial tone with the executives. Meanwhile, Stat takes a closer look at where everyone stands on developing coronavirus-related drugs and vaccines.

Reuters: Trump Administration Says Drug Makers Will Work Together To Combat Coronavirus
The Trump administration said on Monday it had secured commitments from top pharmaceutical companies to work together to develop a vaccine and treatments to fight the coronavirus. At a meeting with industry executives at the White House, President Donald Trump exhorted the companies to collaborate to speed the process of getting a vaccine and therapeutics to victims of the virus. (Mason, 3/2)

Stat: Seeking Help With Coronavirus, Trump Shifts His Tone Toward Pharma
President Trump had billed the meeting with pharmaceutical executives as a scolding waiting to happen. The gathering was intended to pressure the industry to bring drug prices "way down," he said on Friday, suggesting it had only later morphed into a "convenient" opportunity to discuss the development of a coronavirus vaccine. But seated across from 10 pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room on Monday, Trump's long-simmering contempt for the drug industry melted away. (Facher, 3/2)

CNN: Trump Contradicted By Task Force Health Expert About Coronavirus Vaccine Timing
Trump was asked about a timeline for a vaccine during the Cabinet Room meeting with pharmaceutical executives and members of his task force. "I don't know what the time will be. I've heard very quick numbers, that of months. And I've heard pretty much a year would be an outside number. So I think that's not a bad range. But if you're talking about three to four months in a couple of cases, a year in other cases," Trump said. But Dr. Antony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, immediately corrected the President: "Let me make sure you get the ... information. A vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine that's deployable." (Vazquez, 3/3)

Stat: A Detailed Guide To The Coronavirus Drugs And Vaccines In Development
In the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic. Some are repurposing old antivirals. Some are mobilizing tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine. (Garde, 3/2)

Reuters: Pfizer Identified Some Antiviral Compounds With Potential As Coronavirus Treatments
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Monday that it identified certain antiviral compounds it had in development that have the potential to inhibit coronaviruses and is engaging with a third party to screen the compounds. The company said it hopes to have the results from that screening by the end of March and if any of the compounds are successful, it would hope start testing them by the end of the year. (3/2)

Stat: The Coronavirus Could Help Pharma Reset Its Reputation In Washington
The coronavirus outbreak could be the pharmaceutical industry's ticket to saving its reputation in Washington. Already, the fervid crusade to contain the epidemic refocused a White House meeting centered on high drug prices onto the industry's ostensibly more commendable work to develop vaccines and therapies that target the virus. And there are early indications the industry is leveraging the shift in the conversation: new ads from the industry trade group PhRMA, featured recently in several D.C. health policy newsletters, implore readers to "See how the industry is helping." (Florko, 3/3)

And in other news on President Donald Trump and the coronavirus outbreak —

The Washington Post: Trump Calls For Fed Rate Cut As U.S. Deaths Rise; Finance Chiefs Plot Economic Rescue
With the coronavirus spreading unpredictably and Americans bracing for an increasing impact at home, pressure mounted for global policymakers to respond with financial crisis-style stimulus measures to ward off the threat to the world economy. As the U.S. death toll rose to six, President Trump in a tweet early Tuesday called for a "big" interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve "to make up for China's coronavirus situation and slowdown," while Group of Seven finance chiefs prepared to discuss how to counter the gathering storm. (Taylor, 3/3)

The Hill: Trump Defends Coronavirus Response, Warns Democrats Against 'Political Attacks'
President Trump defended his administration's response to the coronavirus during a campaign rally on Monday and accused Democrats of trying to politicize the issue. "Washington Democrats are trying to politicize the coronavirus, denigrating the noble work of our public health professionals, but honestly not so much anymore," Trump told a crowd of supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Everyone appreciates these are the greatest professionals in the world at what they do. We're actually helping a lot of other countries." (Chalfant, 3/2)

CBS News: Trump Considers New Travel Restrictions To Prevent Spread Of Coronavirus
President Trump said amid the coronavirus outbreak that there may be more travel restrictions coming, "from certain countries where they're having more of a breakout." He did not specify which countries, however. On Saturday, Mr. Trump announced restrictions on visitors from Iran and further screening of people traveling from South Korea and Italy. Monday's disclosure came during a meeting he and Vice President Mike Pence were having with top pharmaceutical company representatives at the White House, as the federal government and private industry scramble to come up with a vaccine and treatment for coronavirus as quickly as possible. (3/2)

10. Lawmakers Barrel Toward $7.5B Emergency Funding Plan With Unusual Speed For Divided Congress

Negotiators worked through the weekend to try to finalize the spending bill, which is looking like it will far exceed the amount President Donald Trump requested. But disagreement over provisions intended to ensure affordability of vaccines and other medications may hold up agreement. Meanwhile, local and state health departments, already stretched to their limits, are eager to get the aid.

The Washington Post: Congress Closes In On $7.5 Billion Coronavirus Emergency Spending Package
Bipartisan negotiators on Capitol Hill are closing in on a $7.5 billion emergency spending bill to fight the coronavirus, two people familiar with the negotiations said Monday. The legislation is likely to be made public on Tuesday and pass the House later this week, before moving to the Senate. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of its public release. Negotiators worked through the weekend to try to finalize the spending bill, working with a sense of urgency as the deadly new virus spreads inside the United States and worldwide. On Monday, health officials in Washington state reported six deaths from the virus. (Werner, 3/2)

The Hill: Congress Closes In On Deal For $7.5 Billion In Coronavirus Funding
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said they were "that close" to the deal, while holding up two fingers close together to indicate the small space left to negotiate. "I think we're so close that we're going to get a deal," Shelby said, adding that he hoped the agreement could be finalized as soon as Monday night. Shelby was cagey on what the final figure could be, only telling reporters when pressed about going above $7 billion that he would support a "high" number. (Carney, 3/2)

Politico: Hill Leaders Close To Striking Emergency Coronavirus Funding Deal
In a sign of the gravity of the situation, Republicans and Democrats appear likely to sidestep a major political fight over reauthorizing FBI surveillance powers that are set to expire on March 15, which had threatened to complicate the passage of any funding package on the floor this month. And GOP leaders have agreed to drop any demand that Congress fully pay for the package, eliminating another major hurdle for the bill's passage. Both chambers are also moving at a much faster clip than typical funding packages, with the House slated to vote mid-week, followed by a Senate vote as soon as this week. (Ferris and Emma, 3/2)

Roll Call: Coronavirus Funding Talks Held Up Over Drug Price Language
Disagreement over provisions intended to ensure affordability of vaccines and other medications is holding up agreement on an emergency funding package to fight the novel coronavirus-caused illness that has killed over 3,000 worldwide, sources familiar with the talks said. Republicans are raising concerns that Democrats' proposals would chill research and development and interfere with the development of a vaccine, according to sources who spoke without being identified so they could talk freely. Republicans say they share the goal of making sure a vaccine is affordable, but do not want to suppress its development. (Krawzak, 3/2)

Roll Call: Jayapal Warns Against Mixing Coronavirus Aid And Surveillance Extension
How difficult could the vote counting be for an emergency spending bill to respond to the coronavirus if leadership tries to attach an extension of expiring surveillance powers? Just ask one of the lawmakers whose constituents have been near the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak in Washington state. Seattle-area Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal told reporters at the Capitol on Monday that the question of whether to tie up the expected $7 billion to $8 billion supplemental spending package for the COVID-19 response with the debate over extending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorities "really just drives me nuts because I had six people die today and over the last couple of days from coronavirus." (Lesniewski and Tully-McManus, 3/2)

USA Today: 'This Is Not Sustainable': Public Health Departments, Decimated By Funding Cuts, Scramble Against Coronavirus
As state and local public health offices scramble to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, they do so against a backdrop of years-long budget cuts, leaving them without the trained employees or updated equipment to adequately address the virus' growing threat, former public health officials say. In the last 15 years, public health, the country's frontline defense in epidemics, lost 45% of its inflation-adjusted funding for staff, training, equipment and supplies. (O'Donnell, 3/2)

The Associated Press: Pence Tells Governors Money For Coronavirus Costs Is Coming
The Trump administration on Monday reassured governors that they will be reimbursed for at least some of the costs of responding to the spread of the coronavirus, as several states began setting aside millions of dollars to head off a public health crisis. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Vice President Mike Pence addressed state needs for equipment and funding to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a call with governors. He told them the administration would find the money to reimburse them. (Gomez Licon, 3/2)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Roll Call: House OKs Constituent Mailings On Coronavirus Despite Blackout Period
The House has eased the strict ban on franked mass mailings ahead of elections to allow lawmakers to communicate with constituents about the coronavirus. A Dear Colleague Letter from the House Administration Committee, referenced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the weekend, specified that coronavirus is a significant enough threat to trigger an exception to the mailing standards. (Tully-McManus, 3/2)

11. 'You Can't Afford To Make Mistakes': Will Pence Emerge From Coronavirus A Hero Or A Scapegoat?

No one is denying the pressure that Vice President Mike Pence faces after President Donald Trump put him in charge of the country's coronavirus response. So far, Pence has borrowed a page from his gubernatorial playbook by attempting to control government messaging as it relates to coronavirus, and that lack of transparency is drawing criticism. But the vice president is expected to ramp up communications staffing in the coming days. Meanwhile, top health officials in the Trump administration are all adjusting to living under the microscope.

Politico: 'This Is The Equivalent Of War': Pence Faces The Toughest Test Of The Trump Era
Behind Vice President Mike Pence's steady demeanor and steely look since taking charge of the U.S. government response to coronavirus is a cruel truth: He will emerge either as the architect of a successful containment strategy — boosting his own resumé and President Donald Trump's reelection odds — or deal a potentially fatal blow to his political aspirations. In the days since Trump tapped his right-hand man to lead the administration's coronavirus task force, people in Pence's orbit have been warning him of the gravity of this moment. Some have offered encouragement and advice from afar. Others have used Twitter and TV appearances to tamp down concerns about public health risks and economic disruptions. (Orr, 3/2)

Politico: 'You Don't Want To Go To War With A President'
Anthony Fauci might be the one person everyone in Washington trusts right now. But at 79, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is in the thick of one of the biggest battles of 35 years in the role: The race to contain coronavirus when the nation is deeply polarized and misinformation can spread with one tweet — sometimes, from the president himself. (Owermohle, 3/3)

Politico: Trump's Team Shifts Tone From Preventing Coronavirus To Containing It
Top Trump administration officials are shifting their message on the coronavirus outbreak, emphasizing efforts to contain, rather than prevent, the disease. The tone at a Monday afternoon White House briefing with Vice President Mike Pence and members of Trump's coronavirus task force marked a notable change from earlier efforts to tamp down fear of community spread of the disease — a tacit acknowledgment of a surge in new cases over the past two days and six reported deaths. There are currently 43 confirmed cases in the U.S., including 26 involving people who had no known exposure to the virus. (Ehley, 3/2)

Politico: HHS Taps Kadlec To Run Department's Coronavirus Response
HHS is putting its top emergency preparedness official in charge of coordinating the department's coronavirus response — a sign of renewed urgency toward combating the worsening outbreak, according to an internal announcement obtained by POLITICO. The directive circulated this afternoon designated Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec with managing the response across the government's health agencies. (Cancryn, 3/2)

CNN: Spread Of Coronavirus Gives White House A Grave Stress Test
The White House's capacity to control the coronavirus crisis, the credibility of its upbeat messaging and its efforts to build public trust are about to face a grave test as health officials report a spike in confirmed cases and new deaths on US soil. Reassurances by President Donald Trump and his top aides that Americans should remain calm went only so far on a day when the number of American fatalities jumped to six, the total of cases topped 100 and experts warned that the true scale of infections was likely far higher than the spotty medical testing carried out so far shows. (Collinson, 3/3)

And in other news —

The New York Times: Defense Secretary Warns Commanders Not To Surprise Trump On Coronavirus
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has urged American military commanders overseas not to make any decisions related to the coronavirus that might surprise the White House or run afoul of President Trump's messaging on the growing health challenge, American officials said. Mr. Esper's directive, delivered last week during a video teleconference call with combatant commanders around the world, is the latest iteration of Mr. Trump's efforts to manage public fears over the disease, even as it continues to spread around the world. (Schmitt and Cooper, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: What Can The Government Force People To Do To Fight Coronavirus?
What policy measures are available to stop the spread of disease in the United States? From the nation's borders to the thresholds of our homes, public health officials have a range of options for slowing or stopping the spread of an infectious disease. Think of it as a layered defense. Generally speaking, as those measures get closer to home, they sweep in more people and become more controversial. (Healy, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Major Airlines, U.S. Officials Clash Over Passenger Tracking Related To Coronavirus Cases
U.S. officials are pressuring airline executives to turn over the email addresses and phone numbers of international passengers as the Trump administration tries to track who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, according to five people briefed on the situation. Government officials have said they need the data so they can warn local authorities about who might have been exposed to the virus. But the airline industry has balked, saying the federal government should instead share information it already collects among different agencies and come up with a system for obtaining the rest. (Stein, Sun and Aratani, 3/2)

12. Some Experts Predict Coronavirus Could 'Burn Out' By Summer, But That Doesn't Mean It Will Be Gone For Good

Scientists aren't sure what the endgame is for the coronavirus, but looking at previous outbreaks can offer hints. Many think that, like the swine flu, it will end up in the seasonal circulation of flus that come back every year. Meanwhile, though most cases are mild, there are common themes for those patients who are becoming critically ill. Experts also explain how the virus is transferring, what you should do if you have symptoms, and more.

The Washington Post: How Is The Coronavirus Outbreak Going To End? Here's How Similar Epidemics Played Out.
When severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) hit Asia in 2002, it was pretty scary — with a fatality rate of about 10 percent and no drugs shown to be effective against it. (The current coronavirus by comparison has an estimated fatality rate of 2.3 percent.) But within months, SARS was brought under control, and for the most part stamped out, by international cooperation and strict, old-school public health measures such as isolation, quarantine and contact tracing. This would be an ideal outcome. But the difference is that SARS had more severe symptoms than the current coronavirus, so people went to the hospital shortly after being infected. (Wan, 3/2)

CNN: Not Sure What The Future Holds For The Coronavirus? Here Is How 3 Other Infectious Outbreaks Ended
It has been more than a month since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. Since the outbreak began, there have been more than 90,000 cases of the virus worldwide and more than 3,100 deaths from it. As officials work to stop the virus's spread, it is hard not to wonder what will happen next. When and how will this end? Here's a look back at what happened during other infectious outbreaks. (Holcombe, 3/3)

CBS News: Coronavirus May Infect Up To 70% Of World's Population, Expert Warns
The coronavirus death toll now tops 3,000 worldwide, with nearly 90,000 cases. But even those numbers are nothing compared to what could happen in the months ahead. CBS News spoke to one of the country's top experts on viruses, Marc Lipsitch from Harvard University, who cautions that 40-70% of the world's population will become infected — and from that number, 1% of people who get symptoms from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could die. The virus can spread rapidly and people can transmit it before they know they are infected. (Axelrod, 3/2)

Stat: Who Is Getting Sick, And How Sick? A Breakdown Of Coronavirus Risk By Demographic Factors
The new coronavirus is not an equal-opportunity killer: Being elderly and having other illnesses, for instance, greatly increases the risk of dying from the disease the virus causes, Covid-19. It's also possible being male could put you at increased risk. For both medical and public health reasons, researchers want to figure out who's most at risk of being infected and who's most at risk of developing severe or even lethal illness. (Begley, 3/3)

CNN: As Coronavirus Cases Worldwide Pass 90,000, WHO Chief Warns 'We Are In Uncharted Territory'
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that public health officials are operating in "uncharted territory" as they combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 90,000 people across 73 countries and territories as of Monday evening. The virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica since it was first identified in December last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Medical workers are now battling deadly outbreak clusters in South Korea, Iran and Italy, while other countries are working furiously to avoid a similar fate by readying public health authorities, alerting their citizens and enacting travel restrictions to affected areas. (Berlinger, 3/3)

The New York Times: Surfaces? Sneezes? Sex? How The Coronavirus Can And Cannot Spread
A delicate but highly contagious virus, roughly one-900th the width of a human hair, is spreading from person to person around the world. The coronavirus, as it's known, has already infected people in at least 60 countries. Because this virus is so new, experts' understanding of how it spreads is limited. They can, however, offer some guidance about how it does — and does not — seem to be transmitted. (Murphy, 3/2)

WBUR: Lessons From U.S. Hospitals Caring For COVID-19 Patients
As Americans begin to cope with the prospect that the novel coronavirus could spread more widely in the U.S., there are questions about how prepared and sufficiently funded most hospitals are to handle severe cases in a major outbreak. So far, several dozen people or so, across the country have been hospitalized with the virus, and at least six people in the U.S. have died. Government health officials now say they expect significantly more cases could arise, which means that hospitals need to be ready. (Neighmond, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: What Should I Do If I Think Have Coronavirus Symptoms?
With the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbing each day, many are wondering: What should I do if I have coronavirus-like symptoms, such as fever, cough and trouble breathing? It's likely a cold or the flu, but here are recommendations from public health officials and infectious disease experts on what to do if you are experiencing symptoms. (Ho, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Prevention: How Planes Fight The Outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak has spurred Delta Air Lines to new heights of cabin cleaning: spritzing the interior of flights from Asia and Italy with a mist of "a highly effective, EPA-registered disinfectant." The Atlanta-based carrier plans to expand the "fogging technique" to all inbound international flights from countries where coronavirus infections have been reported. Linen, dishes, headphones and food carts are also getting an extra round of disinfecting on those planes, the carrier said, adding that the jets' high-efficiency air filters already are capable of removing coronavirus from cabin air. (Martin, 3/2)

PBS NewsHour: Will COVID-19 Will Ruin Your Travel Plans? Follow These 3 Tips
After top U.S. health officials warned last week that the spread of COVID-19 "might be bad," many Americans began to ponder whether it was safe to take upcoming vacations and work trips. Since then, cases have cropped up in Washington state, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and California — some of which are linked to travel. Governments, companies and institutions have also taken new actions to limit the spread of the illness. (Santhanam, 3/2)

The New York Times: Worship In The Age Of Coronavirus: Prayer, Elbow Bumps, Hand Sanitizer
When it came time for the sign of peace ritual during Sunday Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church in southeastern Wisconsin, hundreds of parishioners did exactly what their pastor had asked. Instead of reaching across the pews to shake hands, they greeted each other with gentle bows. Fear of the coronavirus has rippled across the country and directly into places of worship. (Bosman and Smith, 3/3)

13. Coronavirus In The States: N.Y. Governor Warns Spread Is Inevitable; Texas Mayor Tries To Contain Quarantined Patients; Where Are Cases Confirmed?

Media outlets cover the gradual spread of the coronavirus through the United States.

The Associated Press: More Testing Sheds Light On How Virus Is Spreading In US
An increase in testing for the coronavirus began shedding light Monday on how the illness has spread in the United States, including in Washington state, where four people died at a nursing home and some schools were closed for disinfection. New diagnoses in several states pushed the tally of COVID-19 cases past 100, and New Hampshire reported its first case, raising the total of affected states to 11. Seattle officials announced four more deaths, bringing the total in the U.S. to six. (Johnson, 3/2)

NPR: Which U.S. States Have Confirmed Coronavirus Cases?
U.S. health officials have identified and tested 43 cases of COVID-19 as of March 2. In addition, 48 cases were found among people who flew back to the U.S. on flights chartered by the U.S. State Department, including those who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Renken, 3/2)

ABC News: As Coronavirus Spreads In The US, Employers Gear Up For Massive Work-From-Home Experiment
As the U.S. braces for possible wider spread of the novel coronavirus, health officials are warning business leaders to make preparations for managing a workforce that can't come into the workplace. "We're trying to figure out how to keep the business going when people can't get to the office," Peter Cappelli, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, told ABC News. (Thorbecke, 3/3)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In N.Y.: Outbreak Will Spread In City, Officials Warn
New York officials warned on Monday that the coronavirus was likely to spread in New York City, a day after confirming that a Manhattan woman had contracted the virus while traveling in Iran and was now isolated in her home. "Community spread is going to be real," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference, alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio. "That is inevitable." The patient, the city's first confirmed case, is not in serious condition, the governor added. (McKinley and Goldstein, 3/2)

The Hill: New York Insurers Ordered To Waive Costs Associated With Coronavirus Testing
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Monday evening that he would direct state health insurers to waive fees related to coronavirus testing in the state amid fears of an outbreak in the U.S. In a series of tweets, Cuomo wrote that cost should not be a barrier for New Yorkers receiving screenings for the novel form of coronavirus behind an outbreak that began in China and has since killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, infecting tens of thousands more. (Bowden, 3/2)

Politico: Texas Governor Slams CDC For Releasing San Antonio Coronavirus Patient
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday criticized a CDC decision to release a San Antonio patient who later tested positive for the coronavirus, highlighting growing tensions between federal and local officials as new cases of the respiratory disease are reported. The patient, who had been in Wuhan, China, was treated and tested negative twice before being discharged from the Texas Center for Infectious Disease, according to a Facebook post from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. (Rayasam, 3/2)

Houston Chronicle: CDC: Coronavirus Patient Released In San Antonio Later Turned Up Positive For Infection
An evacuee from Wuhan, China, believed to have recovered from the coronavirus was released from a San Antonio medical facility Saturday and went to a local hotel before officials learned she had again tested positive for the virus, possibly exposing up to a dozen people in the meantime. On Sunday, health officials said they are tracing the woman's contacts with people and notifying them of their potential risk of infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement issued to the San Antonio Express-News. (Christenson, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Coronavirus Cases Quadruple In Four Days As Testing Ramps Up
The number of new coronavirus cases in the Bay Area has more than quadrupled over the past four days since local laboratories started testing more people for illness, and public health officials expect the numbers to keep climbing dramatically over the coming days and weeks. There were only three local cases of COVID-19 — the illness caused by the new virus — between Jan. 31, when the first Bay Area resident tested positive, and Thursday, when local labs began testing. In the four days since, 11 more people have tested positive — seven in Santa Clara County alone. (Allday, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: 'Not A Matter Of If, But When:' SF Officials Plan For Local Spread Of Coronavirus
San Francisco officials said Monday that the city was moving to further bolster its ability to respond to what increasingly appears to be an imminent local diagnosis of coronavirus.Mayor London Breed, along with health and emergency management officials, said that amid a widening outbreak of the respiratory infection across the globe and a still-rising death toll, San Francisco was now able to test for coronavirus locally, drastically cutting down the time it takes to confirm a potential diagnosis. (Fracassa, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: 'Uneasy And Frustrated': California Health Workers Worry As Coronavirus Spreads
A third Northern California health care worker tested positive for the new coronavirus Monday, exacerbating concerns among already-worried nurses and staffers that hospitals need to better protect workers on the front lines of the growing public health crisis. All three health care workers, who are self-quarantining at home, are employees at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville, which initially treated the first known case of community spread in the United States — a Solano County woman who had neither traveled to countries where the virus is spreading, nor been in contact with a known coronavirus patient. (Ho, 3/2)

The Hill: Two Test Positive For Coronavirus In Georgia
Two people have tested positive in Georgia for a novel form of coronavirus behind a global outbreak, the state's Department of Health said Monday. At a press conference reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and state officials said that two state residents tested positive for the virus after returning from a trip to Italy, which is experiencing a significant outbreak. "I want to reassure you that they're at home, in home isolation with other household members, with minimal symptoms so they're not hospitalized," said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, head of the Department of Health. (Bowden, 3/2)

The New York Times: A School Administrator Contracted Coronavirus On A Class Trip. A Week Later, Parents Found Out.
Students and teachers at the private St. Raphael Academy in Rhode Island had recently returned from a study trip to Italy and two other countries last week when a travel advisory was issued warning of a coronavirus outbreak there. Few were worried, until reports began circling that a school administrator who had gone on the trip was sick, possibly with the flu or pneumonia. (Barry, 3/2)

Georgia Health News: Two In Fulton County Test Positive For Coronavirus
The new coronavirus has hit Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday night that two individuals in the state are confirmed as having the virus, known as COVID-19. The two are in the same household, and one had traveled recently to Milan, Italy, where there is a significant outbreak of the disease. "Georgians should remain calm,'' Kemp said in a late-evening news conference. (Miller, 3/2)

The Associated Press: Authorities Confirm New Hampshire's 1st Case Of Coronavirus
A hospital employee who recently traveled to Italy is the first person in New Hampshire to test positive for the new coronavirus, state officials said Monday. The male patient is experiencing mild symptoms and remains at home in Grafton County while health officials investigate, according to Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist. Hospital officials confirmed the patient is an employee of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which has set up an incident command center. (3/2)

Houston Chronicle: Houston-Area Retailers Struggle To Keep Face Masks In Stock Amid Coronavirus 'Pandemonium'
Retailers across the Houston area are struggling to keep up with a sudden spike in demand for face masks amid fears of the coronavirus. Face masks are flying off the shelves at local home improvement stores, pharmacies and medical supply shops, causing shortages at some locations, price gouging by unscrupulous resellers and forcing at least one major retailer to put a cap on customer purchases. (Takahashi, 3/2)

Atlanta Journal -Constitution: Coronavirus Convinces Some Metro Atlantans To Shop And Prepare
Shoppers — some sheepish and some emphatic — have packed at least some local stores in recent days for items to deal with a possible pandemic. Hot sellers included cases of water, hand sanitizer, disinfecting alcohol and cleaning wipes, facial tissues and paper towels, leaving some store shelves temporarily depleted, though more supplies are on the way, said workers at two local Costcos and a local Walmart. (Kempner, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Long Lines And Grocery Stores Emptied As Customers Prepare For The Worst With Coronavirus
The panic began slowly, with shoppers looking for face masks and hand sanitizer. But it hit a fever pitch over the weekend as crowds descended on supermarkets and big-box stores, snapping up cleaning supplies, toilet paper and nonperishable foods to prepare for the coronavirus. "It has gotten crazier by the day," said a Target employee who fulfills online orders at a store in Richmond, Va. "A lot of it is obviously panic-buying, people stocking up on eight gallons of water or 20 kinds of soups. Items are selling out immediately, as soon as they go up on shelves." (Telford and Bhattarai, 3/2)

14. 'Xi Has Been Stripped Of His Air Of Invincibility': Coronavirus Rattles Politics In China, But It's Not All Bad News For Leader

Although China's leader Xi Jinping is facing anger over the government's initial coronavirus response, the recent introduction of outbreak-related surveillance measures, many of them unlikely to disappear when the epidemic is over, have given Xi an opening to assert even tighter control over society. Meanwhile, as cases balloon elsewhere, Chinese are striking a more optimistic tone as recovered patients start heading home from hospitals.

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Tests Xi Jinping's 'Heavenly Mandate,' But Proves A Godsend For China's Surveillance State
Ancient Chinese doctrine has it that when heaven is unhappy with the emperor, it signals its displeasure by raining down disasters such as floods, plagues, and swarms of locusts. The philosopher Mencius said a ruler could lose his "mandate of heaven" if he neglected his responsibility to care for the ordinary people. These beliefs, still widespread, should concern China's modern-day emperor, Xi Jinping, as the country battles a coronavirus epidemic and braces for an invasion of locusts. There are no floods, although this winter Beijing recorded its highest rainfall in Xi's lifetime. (Fifield, 3/3)

The Associated Press: Virus Alarms Sound Worldwide, But China Sees Crisis Ebbing
Iranians hoarded medical supplies, Italians urged doctors out of retirement and South Koreans prepared to pump billions into relief efforts Tuesday as the virus epidemic firmed its hold around the globe. Mushrooming outbreaks in the Mideast, Europe and South Korea contrasted with optimism in China, where thousands of recovered patients were going home. A growing outbreak in the United States led schools and subways to sanitize, quickened a search for a vaccine, and spread fears of vulnerability for nursing home residents. (3/3)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Updates: Chinese Cities Announce New Travel Restrictions
Major cities across China have announced new travel restrictions on people who have recently visited countries where coronavirus infections are on the rise. On Tuesday, the authorities in Shanghai said that all travelers entering the city who have visited countries with significant outbreaks within the last two weeks must undergo a 14-day quarantine at home or at an approved isolation facility. Officials in Guangdong Province announced similar measures, the state media reported on Tuesday. (3/3)

The Wall Street Journal: European Nations Diverge On How To Curb Virus Outbreak
European governments are divided in their response to the coronavirus, which has rapidly hopped across borders on the densely populated continent, as they seek to balance protecting public health with economic disruption. Countries including Italy, France, Britain and Switzerland have taken an aggressive approach, banning large events and ordering large-scale blanket screenings. Germany, Austria, Spain and most Scandinavian countries, on the other hand, have stressed the need for moderation to limit the impact of the disease—and of the response—on society and the economy. (Pancevski, Legorano and Douglas, 3/2)

The New York Times: He Blames 'Evil' For South Korea's Coronavirus Surge. Officials Blame Him.
To his followers, he is a descendant of the ancient kings who ruled Korea centuries ago, "the angel" Jesus sent for mankind, and the one and only "counselor" who can interpret the symbols and secret codes hidden in the Bible's Book of Revelation. To officials and politicians, he is a villain, the leader of a religious cult who is thwarting the government's efforts to contain the exploding coronavirus outbreak in South Korea. (Sang-Hun, 3/2)

The Associated Press: North Korean Swagger May Conceal Brewing Virus Disaster
In these days of infection and fear, a recent propaganda photo sums up the image North Korea wants to show the world, as well as its people: Soldiers with black surgical masks surround leader Kim Jong Un, ensconced in a leather overcoat and sans mask as he oversees a defiant military drill. As a new and frightening virus closes in around it, North Korea presents itself as a fortress, tightening its borders as cadres of health officials stage a monumental disinfection and monitoring program. (Klug, 3/3)

Reuters: WHO Technical Team Arrives In Iran To Support Coronavirus Response
A team from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Tehran on Monday to support Iran's response to a coronavirus outbreak, the WHO said on Monday. "The plane carrying the technical team also contained a shipment of medical supplies and protective equipment to support over 15,000 health care workers, as well as laboratory kits enough to test and diagnose nearly 100,000 people," it said. (3/2)

Public Health And Education

15. New Guidelines Call For Hepatitis C Screening In U.S. Adults Ages 18-79 As Deadly Infections Rise

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, announcing Monday that infections are rising because of the opioid epidemic, said many people who have contracted the virus have no symptoms. Treatments are highly effective and left untreated the virus can lead to liver cancer.

The New York Times: New Guidelines Urge Most U.S. Adults To Be Screened For Hepatitis C
Most adults in the United States should be screened for hepatitis C, according to guidelines published Monday, as the opioid crisis and more prevalent use of illicit injected drugs have driven a nearly fourfold increase in new cases over the last decade. Despite substantial advances in treatment over the past five years, infections are on the rise. Roughly 44,700 new hepatitis C infections were reported in the United States in 2017, according to federal data. (Gross, 3/2)

The Associated Press: New US Guidelines Urge A Hepatitis C Check For Most Adults
Finding infection early is critical now that drugs are available that cure most people after two to three months of treatment. And the price of those costly medications has dropped sharply in recent years. Authorities estimate that only about half of people with hepatitis C know they're infected. The task force concluded that more widespread screening would be cost-saving, giving its recommendation a rating that requires insurance companies to cover testing without patient co-pays. (Neergaard, 3/2)

The Hill: Are You Between The Ages Of 18-79? Here's Why You Need To Get Tested For Hepatitis C
With a decade-long onset throughout the opioid epidemic, intravenous drug usage has been the primary catalyst of new HCV infections. In a prepared statement, Task Force Chair Douglas K. Owens, M.D., M.S., explained that infected individuals may not know they have HCV. "People with hepatitis-C do not always feel sick and may not know they have it," Owens continues. "Screening is key to finding this infection early, when it's easier to treat and cure, helping reduce illnesses and deaths." (Kelley, 3/2)

CNN: All Adults Ages 18 To 79 Should Be Screened For Hepatitis C, New Recommendation Says
The change comes at a critical time -- over the last decade, the most rapid increase in the incidence of acute hepatitis C cases has been in young adults ages 20 to 39 who have injected drugs, Dr. Camilla Graham, an infectious disease physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Stacey Trooskin, an infectious disease physician at Penn Medicine, wrote in an editorial that published alongside the recommendation statement in JAMA on Monday. (Howard, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: Hepatitis C Screening Recommended For Most Adults
The expert panel cited a stark rise in the number of hepatitis C cases over the past decade caused by an increase in injection drug use from opioids. The guidelines were last updated in 2013 and called for screening high-risk individuals and individuals born between 1945 and 1965. (Johnson, 3/2)

16. Scientists Meet In Havana To Discuss Mystery Illness Impacting Dozens Of U.S., Canadian Diplomats

While agreeing the health effects are genuine, researchers from the U.S., Canada, Scotland and Cuba said causes remain unclear. A Cuban official denied the diplomats were targeted in anyway. Public health news is on healthier lifestyles for restaurant workers, health care worries, e-scooter injuries, stressful commutes, benefits of spring cleaning, and dietary guidelines on dairy intake, as well.

The Associated Press: Scientists Meet In Havana On Diplomats' Mystery Illnesses
Some scientists who gathered Monday for a two-day conference on the mysterious illnesses suffered by U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana said they suspected pesticides as a possible culprit, although results remained inconclusive. The dozens of illnesses reported in recent years led the U.S. and Canada to sharply reduce the staffing at their embassies in Cuba. The phenomenon also led to increased tension between Cuba and the Trump administration, which accused Cuba of bearing at least some responsibility for the illnesses. (3/2)

The New York Times: The Hard-Knocks Restaurant World Discovers Wellness
Katie Button gives workers at her Asheville, N.C., restaurants an annual cash incentive of $300 if they get medical checkups and have their teeth cleaned. In Austin, Texas, the people who make bone-marrow tacos and mix carrot-juice margaritas at Comedor attend free yoga classes and run together. At West-bourne, an all-day cafe in Manhattan, service starts with meditation; soon the owners will offer credits at a nearby child-care center. At Honey Butter Fried Chicken, two counter-service spots in Chicago, workers get maternity and paternity leaves. (Severson, 3/2)

NBC News: 1 In 3 Americans Worry About Being Able To Afford Health Care, NBC News/Commonwealth Fund Survey Says
Nearly one third of American voters fear they won't be able to pay for health care in the coming year, according to an NBC News/Commonwealth Fund survey released Thursday. The survey found that 31 percent of respondents were worried about being able to afford their health insurance in the next 12 months, 29 percent feared they wouldn't have enough money to pay for out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and 32 percent worried about being able to afford other out-of-pocket costs. (Carroll, 2/27)

Reuters: Severe Eye Injuries Seen With E-Scooter Accidents
With the rising popularity of electric scooters, emergency rooms are seeing a lot of head injuries, many with vision-threatening damage to the eyes, a small study suggests. Researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) reviewed data on 34 patients treated in two UCSD emergency departments with facial injuries as a result of e-scooter use between June 2018 and May 2019. (3/2)

NBC News: How Your Stressful Commute Affects Your Health — And Strategies To Stay Sane
Diana Hernandez's morning commute from East Rutherford, New Jersey to Times Square was so stressful, she actually moved back to her home state of Florida. "It took 90 minutes to get 8 miles," she says. The 38-year old marketing professional started having anxiety attacks because of the unavoidable situations that constantly arose during her commute. (Page, 3/2)

CNN: Spring Cleaning And The Potential Mind-Altering, Life-Extending Benefits Of It
There's something about a deep clean and purge of dust, dirt and clutter that inspires a sense of rebirth, which must be why we traditionally tackle our clutter in the spring, as new buds bloom and newborn creatures scurry. And by starting anew in less cluttered space, we reduce our stress, improve our moods, and get more energy -- which in turn could give us the boost we need to eat healthy, exercise and get more sleep -- which in turn, could lengthen our lives. (Ravitz and LaMotte, 3/2)

CNN: There's No Evidence Full-Fat Dairy Is Bad For Kids, Study Says
There's little scientific evidence behind recommendations by US health organizations that kids should stop eating full-fat dairy after the age of two, according a new analysis of 29 peer-reviewed studies on the role of dairy and childhood obesity. "Taken as a whole, the limited literature in this field is not consistent with dietary guidelines recommending children consume preferably reduced-fat dairy products," said lead author Therese O'Sullivan, a clinical dietitian at Edith Cowan University in Australia. (LaMotte, 3/2)

Pharmaceuticals

17. Novartis' Generics Unit Agrees To Pay $195M To Resolve Criminal Charges Over Deals With Other Manufacturers

The payment has come in response to an investigation that has been exploring alleged schemes in which one generic company would decide to raise prices on a particular drug and others would follow suit.

Stat: Novartis Generic Unit To Pay $195 Million To Settle Price Fixing Charges
In the latest fallout from a federal probe into generic drug price fixing, the Sandoz unit of Novartis (NVS) agreed to pay $195 million to resolve criminal charges of conspiring with other manufacturers, the third company to be charged as part of the long-running investigation. The company, which is one of the world's largest purveyors of generic medicines, admitted to working with several rivals to set prices for several medicines, including a blood pressure pill, an eczema ointment, and a cystic fibrosis treatment between 2013 and 2015, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Sandoz admitted that sales affected by its activities exceeded $500 million. (Silverman, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Unit To Pay $195 Million In Generic-Drug Price-Fixing Case
Under the agreement, the four felony counts against Sandoz will be dropped after three years if it lives up to its commitments to the Justice Department. "Today's resolution, with one of the largest manufacturers of generic drugs, is a significant step toward ensuring that prices for generic drugs are set by competition, not collusion, and rooting out antitrust crimes that cheated American purchasers of vital medicines," said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department's antitrust chief. (Kendall and Hopkins, 3/2)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: FDA Urged To Recall Some Metformin Pills Over A Possible Carcinogen
An online pharmacy is calling for U.S. regulators to recall batches of the metformin diabetes medicine made by nearly a dozen companies after its tests found excessive amounts of a possible carcinogen, the same substance that has already prompted widespread recalls of blood pressure and heartburn pills. Metformin is used to control high blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. (Silverman, 3/2)

Reuters: Misleading Ads Turn People Away From HIV-Prevention Meds
Targeted advertisements on Facebook and television that overstate side effects of HIV-prevention pills might be the greatest threat to protecting people at high risk of infection with the virus, experts say. The ads, sponsored by law firms, call for participation in class action lawsuits against Gilead Sciences, a California-based drugmaker that sells the only two U.S.-approved regimens of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicines. (3/2)

Opioid Crisis

18. West Virginia Reaches Opioid Settlement Deal With Most Drug Companies For $1.25B

This would be the first deal among about 3,000 lawsuits that exist nationwide. Details must still be resolved on payments to local, state groups as well as hospitals and others. The plan also does not apply to two key drugmakers, Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt. News on the national drug epidemic is from California, as well.

The Associated Press: West Virginia Plan: Companies Pay $1.25B To End Opioid Suits
Communities in West Virginia say they would get $1.25 billion from the drug industry in a proposed settlement that would end most of the litigation stemming from the opioid crisis in the state. The deal would be the first of its kind, even as drug makers, distribution companies and pharmacies are considering settling about 3,000 lawsuits nationwide over what many — including the families of those who died of opioid addiction — say was their role in fueling a crisis that has been linked to more than 430,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000. (Izaguirre and Mulvihill, 3/2)

State Watch

19. State Highlights: Maine Voters Consider Overturning Vaccination Law Banning Religious Exemptions; Los Angeles Officials Study Ways To Overhaul Or Replace Agency On Homeless

Media outlets report on news from Maine, California, Illinois, Georgia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Maryland and Missouri.

The Washington Post: Maine's Stricter Law On Vaccination Requirements Up For A Vote
When Maine's voters head to the polls in the presidential primaries Tuesday, they also will cast a vote on an issue many physicians wish had never been politicized — a referendum to overturn a new law that would allow unvaccinated children to attend school only if they have received a waiver from a medical professional. The new law, which would take effect in September 2021, aims to boost immunization among school-age children in a state where just over 5 percent of kindergartners are unvaccinated not only for medical reasons but because of their parents' religious or philosophical beliefs. That puts Maine below the 95 percent threshold that public health officials say is necessary to stop the spread of preventable and sometimes deadly diseases like the measles. (Sellers, 3/2)

Kaiser Health News: Maine Voters Consider U-Turn On Vaccine Exemptions
As Mainers head to the polls on Super Tuesday for the presidential primary, they also will decide another issue: vaccine requirements. A statewide referendum asks if voters want to overturn a new law that eliminates religious and philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccines. Molly Frost of Newcastle wants the new law to stay. Her 11-year old son, Asa, has a compromised immune system. (Wight, 3/3)

Los Angeles Times: L.A.'s Top Homeless Services Agency Could Be In For Overhaul
Given its name, it's not surprising that many view the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as a one-stop shop for solving the county's homelessness crisis. Yet it's the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services that tends to people on the streets with physical ailments and the Department of Mental Health that serves mentally ill homeless people. And it's the city that has taken the responsibility of building permanent supportive housing, and it's the county that funds the services. And the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that works with homeless veterans. (Smith and Oreskes, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: What's At Stake In This Suburban Chicago Hospital Tax Tussle
Oak Lawn officials are fighting Advocate's bid for a tax break on a new outpatient center near its Christ Medical Center in the village. While hospitals owned by nonprofits like Advocate have long qualified for property tax exemptions, stand-alone outpatient centers usually pay property taxes. The dispute comes at a time when hospitals are opening outpatient centers across metropolitan Chicago amid pressure to bring down healthcare costs. (Goldberg, 3/2)

Georgia Health News: Debate On Ethylene Oxide Bill Adds To Furor Over Toxic Gas
The controversy over the toxic gas ethylene oxide spilled over into the Georgia General Assembly on Monday. A House panel approved legislation to require companies to notify state regulators of any "unpermitted release" or leak of the chemical, which is used to sterilize medical equipment. Releases of ethylene oxide from sterilizing facilities have sparked community protests in two areas of metro Atlanta in recent months. (Miller, 3/2)

The Oklahoman: OU Medicine Offers First Robotic Spine Surgery In State
With the addition of a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon who specializes in minimally invasive and complex spine surgery, OU Medicine has become the first health care system in Oklahoma to offer robotic spine surgery. Zachary A. Smith, M.D., who recently joined the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, has established his practice with OU Physicians and taken a key role in the newly formed robotic spine surgery team at OU Medicine. (Roach, 3/3)

Capital Gazette: Anne Arundel Medical Center To Open New $30M Health Care Facility
Receiving care for a mental health crisis in Anne Arundel County often comes in the form of an hours-long wait in the emergency room and a referral to a psychiatric hospital that's miles away or out of the county, health officials say. Anne Arundel Medical Center officials hope to mitigate that problem with its new, $30 million four-floor psychiatric hospital that includes 16 inpatient beds for residents in crisis. (Price, 3/3)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Buzz Kill? Missouri Lawmakers Have Their Own Ideas For Medical Marijuana Program
Lawmakers have begun digging through the constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana that nearly two-thirds of voters approved in 2018. In some cases, they don't like what they see — and they're intent on making changes. The House last week narrowly approved a plan to require an in-person doctor appointment for people seeking a state medical marijuana ID card. There is nothing currently stopping consultations done over the phone or on the internet. (Suntrup, 3/2)

Editorials And Opinions

20. Different Takes: New Investments In Health Care Infrastructure Could Make Coronavirus Much Less Scary; A Pandemic Threatens Our New Way Of Living

Editorial pages focus on the issues surrounding the coronavirus.

Stat: The Coronavirus Outbreak Exposes Our Health Care System's Weaknesses
A coronavirus is so tiny that 1,000 of them could be stacked in the thickness of a sheet of paper. It is an invisible threat, and it is making vivid the shortcomings of our health care systems. The world is a "a playground" for viruses like the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, infectious disease experts wrote last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. "We must realize that in our crowded world of 7.8 billion people, a combination of altered human behaviors, environmental changes, and inadequate global public health mechanisms now easily turn obscure animal viruses into existential human threats." (Matthew Herper, 3/2)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Will Test Our New Way Of Life
Constant connectivity defines 21st-century life, and the infrastructure undergirding it all is both digital (the internet and our social media platforms) and physical (the gig economy, e-commerce, global workplaces). Despite a tumultuous first two decades of the century, much of our connected way of life has evaded the stress of a singular global event. The possibility of a global pandemic currently posed by the new coronavirus threatens to change that altogether. Should the virus reach extreme levels of infection globally, it would very likely be the first true test of the 21st-century way of life, laying bare the hidden fragility of a system that has long felt seamless. (Charlie Warzel, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus And The Stupidity Of Trump's Healthcare Approach
Until now, President Trump's approach to healthcare was alarming chiefly to discrete populations such as low-income families, immigrants, people with preexisting conditions and seniors. They were in the crosshairs of initiatives to hamstring Medicaid, prevent undocumented residents from seeking medical treatment, destroy the Affordable Care Act and raise the cost of Medicare. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/2)

The Baltimore Sun: A Eulogy For Competence Amid Coronavirus Concerns
Consider this a eulogy for competence. It's an appreciation long overdue, but then, competence — the quality of being equal to the situation, of knowing what to do — was always easy to overlook. You learned to expect it, to take it for granted. Competence was not sexy. Another reason this eulogy is overdue is that the loss of competence — meaning federal government competence — is not recent. To the contrary, competence has been gone since January of 2017. (Leonard Pitts Jr., 3/2)

The Washington Post: Stockpiling Masks Hurts Nurses Painters And Construction Workers
This is embarrassing, America. Thanks to our collective refusal to listen to facts, paint department managers across the country aren't talking about eggshell, semigloss, sanding or chemically stripping so much right now. "Masks, masks, that's all I've done the past two days is tell people we're out of masks," said Bob Moore, an Air Force veteran who works in the paint department at a Lowe's in suburban Maryland. (Petula Dvorak, 3/2)

USA Today: Coronavirus, Stock Market Drops Disrupt Trump 2020 Campaign Narrative
He may lie, cheat and steal, but he has shaken up Washington and just look at that stock market. That (along with some help from foreign governments) is the formula President Donald Trump's team sees as his ticket to reelection. It's also the logic to appeal to battleground independents who might not much care for Trump. But independents and even Trump loyalists have a breaking point. It's one thing to purge and silence the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency and career government employees, as Trump has done. These are dangers to our democracy and to our planet, but they seem far off to some. It's quite another thing, however, for Trump to wipe out the chain of command for a public health emergency, end 80% of our pandemic prevention efforts, repeatedly try to reduce the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget, and propose to cut $3 billion in global health funds and 40% of our uniformed public health officials. And then watch the new coronavirus hit. (Andy Slavitt, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus And The Tragedy Of Iran
Nowhere other than in China is the coronavirus epidemic more severe than in Iran, where authorities confirmed Sunday that at least 54 people, including an 81-year-old former ambassador, have died from Covid-19. The real death toll may be considerably higher than that; on Friday, BBC Persian tallied 210 deaths from individual hospitals. Seven prominent officials have contracted the disease, including Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, who in her youth served as a spokesman for U.S. Embassy hostage-takers. Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi broke out in a sweat Feb. 24 as he assured the public that the epidemic was under control; the following day he announced he was sick. (Robert D. Kaplan, 3/1)

21. Viewpoints: Warren's 'Medicare For All' Plan Adds Up For Middle Class; Anti-Abortion Case Before Supreme Court Is About Protecting Women's Health This Time

Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.

The Wall Street Journal: Warren, Unlike Sanders, Makes The Medicare Math Add Up
Bernie Sanders released an updated plan last week to pay for Medicare for All. The plan is light on details, but leaves the senator at least $12.5 trillion short of covering the cost of his health-care proposal over 10 years. It calls for some tax increases on working families, but the real burden may be much higher than advertised: Mr. Sanders may have to raise taxes on American workers by 16 percentage points or more to avoid multitrillion-dollar deficits. Fortunately, Elizabeth Warren's financing plan for Medicare for All offers a better alternative. (Simon Johnson, 3/2)

The Hill: 'Fixing Healthcare' Is A Disservice To Society
We all know — and the presidential candidates keep reminding us at every debate and in the run-up to Super Tuesday — that our health care system is struggling to provide Americans with affordable care. While we broadly agree that health care needs to be fixed, the conversation on "how" is headed down the wrong path. Instead of looking for solutions to patch up the current system, we should think anew for higher efficiencies, lower costs and, most importantly, better outcomes. (Anat Lechner and Ian Mark, 3/2)

The New York Times: The Heartbeat Bills Were Never The Real Threat To Abortion
What if the heartbeat bills — those bans on abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy that made headlines last spring in states from Georgia to Missouri — were not the real story? What if the most serious threat to Roe v. Wade were far more subtle — and based on arguments similar to those that the Supreme Court has already rejected? (Mary Ziegler, 3/3)

The Hill: Reproductive Well-Being Of Future Generations Is Hanging In The Balance
On Wednesday, March 4, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a case with the potential to severely limit Louisiana women's access to abortion. The case before it is June Medical Services v. Russo and the court is considering the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring those who provide abortion care to have to admit privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they provide abortion services. There is no medical reason for requiring admitting privileges for those who provide abortion care. (Ginny Ehrlich, 3/2)

Stat: Precision Medicine: Course Correction Urgently Needed
An undeclared civil war is breaking out in biomedicine. On one side is precision medicine, with its emphasis on tailoring treatments to ever-narrower groups of patients. On the other side is population health, which emphasizes predominantly preventive interventions that have broad applications across populations. Which vision will provide the most durable and efficient path to improved health for all? (Richard Cooper and Nigel Paneth, 3/3)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore: Poised For A Revolution In Health Business
The region's politicians and business leaders are mourning the fact Baltimore stands to lose another headquarters of a prestigious, publicly traded company with the news that Legg Mason Inc. was acquired by Franklin Resources Inc. But investors should remain bullish about the city's business future. The acquisition of Legg Mason was part of a natural cycle of industry consolidation and not a measure of Baltimore's business climate. In fact, Baltimore and the surrounding region are poised to lead a business revolution in health. (Alex Triantis and Christy Wyskiel, 3/2)