AP: World struggles as confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 40 million
“The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the planet has surpassed 40 million, but experts say that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true impact of the pandemic that has upended life and work around the world. The milestone was hit Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University, which collates reports from around the world…” (Cheng, 10/19).

New York Times: As the Coronavirus Surges, a New Culprit Emerges: Pandemic Fatigue
“When the coronavirus began sweeping around the globe this spring, people from Seattle to Rome to London canceled weddings and vacations, cut off visits with grandparents and hunkered down in their homes for what they thought would be a brief but essential period of isolation. But summer did not extinguish the virus. And with fall has come another dangerous, uncontrolled surge of infections that in parts of the world is the worst of the pandemic so far. … The virus has taken different paths through these countries as leaders have tried to tamp down the spread with a range of restrictions. Shared, though, is a public weariness and a growing tendency to risk the dangers of the coronavirus, out of desire or necessity…” (Bosman et al., 10/17).

USA TODAY: U.S. and Italy — current and former COVID-19 centers — are worlds apart in pandemic approach (Lyman, 10/17).

Washington Post: Coronavirus surge tests U.S. and European resolve (Tharoor, 10/19).

Washington Post: Covid-19’s first wave largely missed southern Italy. The second wave is hitting it hard (Harlan/Pitrelli, 10/17).