Mandy Oaklander | October 07, 2026

This week, we’ve been following a concerning story out of Russia, where a 28-year-old employee of an anti-plague research institute contracted pneumonia and died. Local reports alleging that she contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube have sparked alarm about the pathogen responsible.

There’s still a lot we don’t know. Today my colleagues Veronique Greenwood and Dominique Mosbergen asked researchers who work in public-health policy and infectious diseases what worries them about the situation.

TODAY’S TOPICS

What to say when someone shows up sick
Growing support for Medicare for All
A leading expert on preparedness and plague
A grieving mother’s hope for healing

TIME TO TALK

What to say when someone shows up sick

Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Image: Igor Suka—Getty Images)

Your feverish colleague has plopped down beside you for a meeting. Or your dinner guest announces—right after hugging you—that they’ve felt terrible all day. Asking them to leave can feel rude, but it’s possible to say something tactfully. —Angela Haupt, Editor, Health & Wellness

Give them a graceful way out

At work, offer a concrete solution: “I’ll take notes and send them to you,” or “Would it help if I handled the client follow-up so you could head home?”

If they insist they’re fine…

You don’t have to win an argument about whether they’re contagious. Say: “I’m being extra careful right now, so I’m going to keep some distance.”

Read the full story here.

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BIG NUMBER

66%

The percentage of Americans who now support Medicare for All, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll.

The survey, which polled more than 1,300 Americans of any political affiliation who plan to vote in the midterms this fall, found that two thirds of U.S. adults now support the idea of single-payer health insurance, up from 53% who supported it in 2020. –Alana Semuels, Senior Correspondent

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THE QUOTE THAT STUCK

❝

We are not nearly as ready as we need to be.

Dr. Ashish Jha, co-founder of BioRadar

This week, Dr. Ashish Jha told me that the U.S. is unprepared for situations like Russia’s “plague” incident, which my colleague Veronique Greenwood and I wrote about today. Even if it doesn’t evolve into something more concerning, this incident reveals that we are ill-equipped for future outbreaks, no matter the pathogen. —D.M.

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WHAT WE’RE READING

Three years since the horrific Oct. 7 attack, Rachel Goldberg-Polin writes for TIME about the pain of losing her son, Hersh, and her hopes for healing.
Voters trust Democrats over Republicans by a two-to-one margin regarding health care costs, according to a new KFF poll, Nathaniel Weixel reports for the Hill.
Scammers are building fake health insurance websites ahead of open enrollment period, Jill Schlesinger reports for CBS News.