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This issue starts with the headline from Axios: “U.S. sets new coronavirus records while Europe bends the curve.” Here is the data supporting the headline:

On Dec. 7, 2020 in the U.S. there were 200,121 new cases, a 25 percent increase in new cases from data reported for Nov. 30, there are 15,370,567 total cases; this is a one week increase of 1,450,529 total cases. On the 7th there were 1,594 deaths (a week ago on that day there were 1,238 deaths) and the death total has reached 290,469.  

  • In Italy, there were 13,720 new cases (an approximate 3K decrease from data reported for Nov. 30, which was a 6K decrease from the prior week), 1,742,557 total cases. There were 528 deaths, 144 fewer deaths than the week before (60,606 total deaths).  
  • In France, 3,411 new cases, an approximate 15 percent decrease from Nov. 30. France has had 2,295,908 total cases. On the 7th, there were 366 deaths, 40 fewer deaths than Nov. 30, with a total of 55,521 deaths.
  • In Germany, there were 15,161 new cases, an increase of 105 cases over Nov. 30 (1,200,006 total cases), and deaths increased by 51 to 380 over data reported here last week (19,539 total deaths). 
  • The United Kingdom had 14,718 new cases ( approximately 1,400 more cases than Nov. 30) and 1,737,960 total cases On Nov 23 there were 189 deaths, 16 fewer than Nov 30) increasing their Covid death total to 61,434.

The Atlantic reports, as the data above predicts, that “The pandemic’s final surge will be brutal. Over the weekend, the seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths passed the spring’s peak.” And as our lead states and the data illustrates we have as linked to The Washington Post “Analysis: Europe is starting to beat the pandemic’s surge. The U.S. is not.” 

A picture speaks a thousand words and, in this instance, a chart shows millions of cases in this link to StatNews' Covid tracker. And back to The Atlantic for is close examination of the failure to do nothing and trust politics over science in the tragic story of “Iowa is what happens when government does nothing. The story of the coronavirus in the state is one of government inaction in the name of freedom and personal responsibility.”

The great New Yorker writer and now member of the Biden Covid Task Force Atul Guwande, MD, offers via print or podcast “Coronavirus vaccines and prospects for ending the Pandemic. ”Vaccine is here, yet vaccine hesitancy is a key challenge – a look at the history and current politics of vaccinations we return to The New Yorker for “The deadly cost of America’s pandemic politics” by the also practicing physician Dhruv Khullar. Dr. Khullar writes in the conclusion of this most valuable read: “As a physician, I recognize that I’m also part of a tribe—one that celebrates science, authority, expertise. It’s easy for me to empathize with the suffering I see—hospitals full, patients dying, health care workers overwhelmed—and harder to grasp the suffering I don’t: job loss, social disintegration, rising crime. By belittling or dismissing such concerns, instead of engaging and explaining, we divide the country further and compound the challenges of bringing the pandemic to heel. The Biden Presidency is an opportunity to reset how we talk about the virus, not just at the federal level but also in statehouses, hospitals, and public-health departments across the country.”
 
We closed last week’s issue with the question: “Who could run HHS?” Today we answer the question with two articles on the selection of and some background on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and one article on what some key health care organizations think he should do. 

Watching from home offices in California, Michigan, and Pennsylvania as the pandemic surges, American politics shift, and potent vaccines arrive and as the focus in hospitals and care facilities now moves to handling another round of enormous protocols and work; for Dec.. 9., 2020, this is Revitalize:
Revitalize: The week in health-care news you need
The pandemic’s final surge will be brutal: Over the weekend, the seven-day average of Covid-19 deaths passed the spring’s peak.

Analysis: Europe is starting to beat the pandemic’s surge. The U.S. is not. U.S. sets new coronavirus records while Europe bends the curve

The Covid-19 tracker to consult.

Iowa is what happens when government does nothing.
The story of the coronavirus in the state is one of government inaction in the name of freedom and personal responsibility.

Atul Gawande on Coronavirus vaccines and prospects for ending the pandemic. Or listen as a podcast here.

The deadly cost of America’s pandemic politics, by the also practicing physician Dhruv Khullar. Vaccines are on the way, but until they arrive tens of thousands of lives depend on the battle for public opinion.
Biden picks California Atty. Gen. Becerra for Health and Human Services Secretary. As California Attorney General, Becerra battled the Trump administration over Obamacare and confronted rising health care costs.

Biden has selected Xavier Becerra as his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Organizations urge Biden's HHS nominee Becerra to hit ground running on COVID-19 response.
Jerry Seelig, CEO
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