Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif., and other churches in the state sued for relief from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on indoor worship throughout most of the state. A U.S. district court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state’s restrictions, but the Supreme Court on Thursday vacated those judgments and told the lower courts to reconsider.

In an attempt to get the coronavirus outbreak under control, President-elect Joe Biden plans to more aggressively require Americans to don face coverings outside the home. His transition website says Biden will be “asking the American people to do what they do best: step up in a time of crisis.”

But the requirements do more than just ask. Biden wants all state governors and local authorities to make public mask-wearing mandatory.

Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that December and January could “be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.” More than 3,100 Americans died of the coronavirus on Wednesday, more than the previous high of 2,603 set on April 15, according to Johns Hopkins University. The COVID Tracking project reported that the number of U.S. hospitalizations passed 100,000 for the first time.

BRITAIN: Keira Bell is the young woman at the heart of a landmark judgment issued by the U.K. High Court on Tuesday requiring doctors to seek a court order before administering puberty-blocking drugs to under-age youth.

Americans who choose to travel for Christmas should consider getting tested for the coronavirus a few days before leaving and after coming back, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. But the agency also repeated what it said about Thanksgiving: The best way to slow the spread of the virus is to stay home. Nearly 1.2 million Americans passed through U.S. airports on Sunday anyway.

At Ekklesia, a Baptist church in Philadelphia, 10 students from two private and three public schools take online classes under a full-time supervisor and rotating parent volunteers. Monday through Friday, the students sit 6 feet apart at tables in the small sanctuary with class schedules posted over their laptops. On breaks, they catch snakes and snails or play house in the empty lot next door.

In August, Rachel Carothers posted a back-to-school photo of her three children under a tree outside their home in McKinney, Texas, barefoot and holding laptops, with the caption, “No shoes necessary!” Earlier this summer, Carothers decided to switch her ninth-grade son Cai and sixth-grade daughter Adair from their local public school to an online charter school called iUniversity Prep. Now, Carothers devotes most of her time to homeschooling her youngest daughter Larkin, grade one, and checking in daily with Cai and Adair.