COVID-19 and the Tragedy of the Open Access Health Commons
Why libertarians (and everybody else) should socially distance, wear masks and get vaccinated.
Public Health
Los Angeles Will Shut Off People's Utilities For Hosting Parties, Not For Failing To Pay Their Utility Bills
Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan to shut off utility service to violators of bans on private gatherings poses grave civil liberties and due process concerns.
Nashville Promised a Crackdown on Mask-Defying Partiers. Then They Arrested a Homeless Man with a Drug and Drinking Problem.
This is what it looks like when you get the police involved in public health issues.
Newly Identified COVID-19 Cases Are Falling in Sunbelt States Where They Spiked This Summer
The trend means we should see declining daily deaths in the coming weeks.
De Blasio Orders Creation of Coronavirus Checkpoints To Interrogate Visitors to New York City
The city’s contact-tracing efforts don’t appear to be going well, so prepare for more top-down mandates with confusing justifications.
Trump's Naked Megalomania Continues a Bipartisan Trend
Will his blunt self-aggrandizement reinvigorate concerns about presidents who exceed their powers?
Why Americans Fear the COVID-19 Vaccine
Government failure eroded public trust. Fact-based persuasion and brutal honesty about scientific uncertainty are the only way to win it back.
Australia Imposes Curfews, Closes Internal Borders To Slow COVID-19 Pandemic.
Will the U.S. be next?
Linda Greenhouse Thinks COVID-19 Rules That Favor Casinos Over Churches Raise No Constitutional Issues Worth Considering
The former New York Times SCOTUS reporter does not seem to understand the arguments she is criticizing.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Tells Retailers To Call the Cops on Customers Who Don't Wear Masks
Armed agents of the state shouldn't be enforcing mask mandates.
Miami Police Setting Up 'Mask Traps,' Issuing $100 Fines to People Wearing Masks Improperly
The theoretical case for government mask mandates has to be weighed against the reality of their enforcement.
There Is More Than One COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate
The wide range of estimates reflects real variations as well as methodological differences.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wants President Donald Trump To Impose a Nationwide Face Mask Mandate
Whitmer's argument is short on facts and legal reasoning.
Kentucky Couple Reportedly Placed Under House Arrest After Failing To Sign COVID-19 Quarantine Notice
Elizabeth Linscott, who tested positive for COVID-19, says she objected to the wording of the health department's isolation orders.
COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Is About To Really Rev Up
Cheap, rapid antigen tests may be on the way—and the FDA has finally approved test pooling.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Continue to Rise
Meanwhile, the case fatality rate is still falling.
This Health Care Law Bars Competition And Drives Up Prices, Even as a Pandemic Rages
During COVID-19, many states have rolled back their “certificate of need” laws. Now is the time to abolish them.
The Pandemic Is a Lucrative Revenue Opportunity for Incompetent Politicians
If there's one thing at which governments have excelled during this crisis, it's been collecting fines from anybody who steps out of line.
A Pandemic of Surveillance
Americans are increasingly monitored, and COVID-19 health concerns aren’t improving the situation.
COVID-19 Deaths Are Now Rising in the U.S., but Case Fatality Rate Continues To Fall
We are starting to see the fatal consequences of the recent infection surge.
Churches, Which Account for 0.02% of COVID-19 Cases, Are a 'Major Source' of Infection, The New York Times Says
The paper's claim reflects the same arbitrary distinction between religious and secular activities that churches are challenging in court.
Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Manipulators Are More Likely To Engage in 'Virtuous Victim Signaling,' Says Study
Plus: Protesters sue over alleged mistreatment by arresting officers, a new ruling on robocalls, and more...
As COVID-19 Cases Surge, Daily Deaths and the Case Fatality Rate Continue To Fall
Expanded testing, a younger mix of patients, and improved treatment help explain the seemingly contradictory trends.
Post-Pandemic Americans May Be Done With Taking Orders
Governments overplayed their hands with mandates that they are losing the ability to enforce.
Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Self-Flattening, or Will It Grind Relentlessly on?
Stanford epidemiological model predicts self-flattening while MIT forecasts continued epidemic growth.
Don't Let the Pandemic Kill Religious Freedom
COVID-19 control measures violate the First Amendment when they arbitrarily favor secular conduct.
Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Reach Back in Time to Affect Behavior Before They Were Imposed?
Trends in Massachusetts highlight the importance of voluntary changes in behavior.
Were COVID-19 Lockdowns Worth the Cost?
The evidence suggests Americans are right to wonder.
COVID-19 Pool Testing Is a Stopgap Measure To Track and Curb the Pandemic
It could quickly amplify coronavirus testing by tenfold.
Interstate Travel Restrictions Are Just Political Posturing
We should feel free to ignore travel restrictions imposed by political clowns using the public as pawns in their feuds.
As New Lockdowns Loom, How Did We Get Here Again So Quickly?
Plus: E.U. considers travel restrictions for Americans, more...
Reopen the Schools!
These big disruptions to the education system are not necessary to fight COVID-19.
CDC Antibody Studies Confirm Huge Gap Between COVID-19 Infections and Known Cases
The difference implies that the virus is much less deadly than it looks, but it also makes contact tracing a daunting challenge.
New York's Pandemic-Inspired Restrictions on Church and Synagogue Services Are Unconstitutional, a Federal Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe finds that the state's COVID-19 control measures arbitrarily discriminate against religious conduct.
Florida and Texas Close Their Bars In Response to Surge in New COVID-19 Cases
Rising rates of new cases and hospitalizations have seen both states' governors reverse course on reopening businesses.
As New York City Reopens, Businesses Balance Public Health and Staying Afloat
Phase 2 of Bill de Blasio's plan lets 300,000 New Yorkers start working again. But not all of them will rush back to the office.
The Pandemic's Economic Carnage Looks Worse Than Expected
Get ready for more pain caused by COVID-19 as well as by the policies intended to hold it in check.
As COVID-19 Infections Rise, Patients Are Getting Younger
The trend, which may reflect growing defiance of social distancing in some age groups, implies a lower death rate.
Trump Worries That More Coronavirus Testing Makes America Look Bad
Testing provides clarity and critically useful evidence about the spread of the disease that the president doesn’t seem to want.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Have Fallen Dramatically Since April
The downward trend continued after states began lifting their lockdowns.
'People Should Have the Fundamental Right To Change Their Consciousness'
Rick Doblin, a leading force in America's psychedelic renaissance, imagines a world of "mass mental health" facilitated by formerly demonized drugs.
What Do Recent COVID-19 Trends Tell Us About the Merits of Lockdowns?
New infections are down nationwide but rising in some places as people rebel against government-recommended precautions.
Treating Mental Illness With Care, Not Punishment, Goes Beyond Defunding Police
We need to remove all the ways that government deters people from seeking treatment.
Another Judge Rules That Ohio's COVID-19 Lockdown Is Illegal
The decision says the "unbridled and unfettered consolidation of authority in one unelected official" violates due process and the separation of powers.
Mask Wearing Correlates Strongly with Declining COVID-19 Transmission, Says New Study
Airborne transmission is the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19.
The Government Was Wrong About Masks
Plus: "fictional pleas," COVID-19 in migrant detention centers, and more...
Will a Rise in Coronavirus Numbers in 14 States Refocus Attention on the Pandemic?
Plus: Protest updates, a small blow against qualified immunity, a lesson in not feeding the trolls, and more...
