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"Widely available." That's how Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota's respected state epidemiologist, sums up the current supply of antiviral treatments — in other words, pills or outpatient therapies prescribed soon after a positive test for those at risk for severe COVID. Good news has too often been a rare commodity during this long, exhausting pandemic. But one medication in particular — dubbed Paxlovid — delivers a welcome double shot of that. It's plentiful and potent, being close to 90% effective against hospitalization and death when taken during a limited window of time. (4/24)

Rapid antigen tests have been among the tools many public health experts and politicians have to ease into “living with Covid.” But many people are still skeptical about the tests’ reliability. The bigger problem may be with the advice people are getting on how to use them. It’s never been clear to the public precisely when to test or how to act on the results if you’ve been exposed or feel sick, or whether a negative test can shorten an isolation period for someone who’s been infected. And what counts as an exposure — what if you were with a friend who got a cold but never got tested? (Faye Flam, 4/22)

In late March, just before Shanghai locked down its western half, I called my mom who lives in the city and told her to stock up. I warned her that the standstill the government was going to impose could last longer than the scheduled four days. She’s a minimalist and brushed me aside, saying there was just so much room in the fridge. (Shuli Ren, 4/24)

Right now, we are at a manageable point in the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of new U.S. cases has significantly slowed since the first Omicron surge. Although Omicron’s BA.2 variants have increased cases, particularly in the Northeast, hospitalizations and deaths have declined or leveled off. Vaccination and prior infection by the earlier Omicron surge seem to be protecting most Americans against severe illness. As a result, some public health pundits are urging Americans to go back to “normal.” But in fact, we should focus broadly on prevention against future variants and airborne illness. Not battling hospital surges right now gives us space to think long-term. This approach is all the more urgent because we cannot rely on individuals to test or isolate constantly and masking is decreasingly enforced, especially since federal officials are battling over the travel mask mandate. (Abraar Karan, Devabhaktuni Srikrishna and Ranu Dhillon, 4/24)

Should the federal government have the power to address broad public health emergencies? Last week, a federal judge effectively answered no. The judge, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who serves on a Federal District Court in Florida and was appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued a nationwide injunction blocking the government’s mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and other forms of public transportation. (Lawrence Gostin and Duncan Hosie, 4/25)

A federal judge 1,200 miles away from me just decided that my first flight since the pandemic started would be a risk to me. I have multiple sclerosis and am on treatment for it, so I’m one of the 3% of Americans who are immunocompromised. Even before the pandemic, I used to wear a mask on planes because if I caught a cold, it would last for several weeks. But now, studies show that immunocompromised people don’t respond well to the vaccines, we have a higher risk for hospitalization and death, and our isolation period if we get COVID-19 is longer – making us at risk for mental health complications, job loss and spread to our families and to our communities. (Ada Fenick, 4/23)