Prices aren’t the only thing going up ahead of the holidays. Covid cases are following a similar path. After weeks of declines, U.S. Covid cases have stalled at a high level. Cases seem to be surging in places where it’s already cold. But the spread is spreading. California’s COVID fortunes reverse as cases begin to climb.

+ Cases are one thing. Deaths are another. NYT: The partisan gap in Covid’s death toll has grown faster over the past month than at any previous point. (Living for politics is bad enough. Please don’t die for them.)

+ Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic: Getting Back to Normal Is Only Possible Until You Test Positive. I was ultracareful for 18 months. Then I got COVID.