AP: Florida Breaks Record For COVID-19 Hospitalizations
A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available. The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (Schneider, 8/1)

Miami Herald: South Florida Hospitals See Rise In Young Patients As COVID Resurgence Gains Steam
As Florida’s pandemic resurgence gains steam, with cases and hospitalizations rising sharply in July, South Florida hospitals report a startling rise in younger patients with COVID-19, with many of them needing intensive care and nearly all of whom are not vaccinated. (Cetoute and Chang, 8/1)

Bloomberg: Florida Daily Covid Cases Hit Record, Becomes U.S. Epicenter
Florida reported 21,683 new cases on Friday, breaking a daily record for the entire pandemic, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s previous one-day record was more than 19,100 in early January, according to CDC data. As the highly infectious delta variant has spread around the U.S., new infections in Florida have skyrocketed over the last month, from a low near 1,000 new daily cases last month. Florida, the third most populous state, now accounts for about one in five new virus infections in the entire U.S., making it the country’s new epicenter for the outbreak. (Fisher, 7/31)

CBS News: Florida Reports Highest Number Of New COVID-19 Cases In A Single Day Since The Start Of The Pandemic 
Over the last seven days, Florida saw a 50% weekly increase in new cases, reporting 110,477 cases from July 23 to July 29, according to the Florida Department of Health. In July, Florida was one of four states that accounted for 40% of the country's total infections, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. During that time, the Sunshine State recorded one out of every five of the nation's new cases, he said. "There is no higher risk area in the United States than we're seeing here," Florida International University infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty told CBS Miami. "The numbers that we're seeing are unbelievable, just unbelievably frightening." (Powell, 8/1)

In related news about mask-wearing in Florida schools —

Axios: DeSantis To Bar Florida Schools From Mandating Masks For Students 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday issued an executive order that bars local school districts from requiring students to wear masks when they return to the classroom next month. The spread of the Delta variant has led to a spike in new infections across the United States, triggering another round of debate about COVID guidelines in schools. (Chen and Gonzalez, 7/30)

WUSF 89.7: Florida Universities Plan 'Normal' Operations Amid COVID-19 Spike 
State universities are staying on track for a return to normal “pre-pandemic” operations as the fall semester approaches, while Florida grapples with a surge in COVID-19 cases. Classes begin Aug. 23 for most universities. While universities remain poised to keep mask-wearing optional and discontinue limits on the numbers of people in classrooms, they are encouraging students, faculty and staff members to get vaccinated. Most universities began publishing plans for a return to normalcy around the time the university system’s Board of Governors issued guidance in May. (Dailey, 8/1)

NBC News: U.S. Passes 35 Million Covid Cases As California Tops 4 Million
The number of U.S. Covid-19 cases has surpassed 35 million as California became the first state to pass 4 million, according to an NBC News tally late Sunday. Almost 616,800 people have died from the disease in the U.S., according to the calculations. With schoolchildren returning to classrooms soon, many of them too young to be vaccinated, the pandemic is revitalizing. The most recent seven-day average of daily new cases, 66,606 for the week that ended Friday, jumped by 64 percent compared to the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, up from 40,597. (Johnson, 8/2)

Stat: What Delta Has Changed In The Covid Pandemic 
In some respects, the Delta variant has changed everything in the Covid-19 pandemic. In others, the same rules still apply. Before the variant of SARS-CoV-2 began spreading rapidly in the United States, Covid-19 vaccines were drastically cutting the number of cases. They were preventing people from being infected. And vaccinated people who got infected were unlikely to infect others. That’s all still true, even with Delta — if just to a lesser extent. (Joseph, 7/30)

In more news about the spread of the coronavirus —

The Washington Post: Six Passengers On Royal Caribbean Cruise Test Positive For Covid Despite Vaccine Requirement, Testing
Four vaccinated adults and two unvaccinated minors tested positive for covid-19 during routine end-of-trip screening Thursday on Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas. All six passengers were quarantined right away, and their travel companions and close contacts tested negative. The passengers left the ship Friday with their travel groups in Freeport, Bahamas, and they were sent home on private flights, with transportation provided directly to their homes, according to the cruise line. USA Today’s Morgan Hines, who was on the ship, was the first to report the news. (Sampson, 7/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Millennials Are Driving San Francisco's Coronavirus Surge
Coronavirus cases are surging in San Francisco and infections among adults aged 25 to 39 are the main driver of the increase. In May, 25- to 39-year-olds accounted for just over 35% of monthly new cases, but in July, they’re up to 50%. This surge is part of a general spike in the number of coronavirus cases in San Francisco, which has outpaced the statewide infection rate. “It’s a perfect storm,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases at UCSF. (Jung, 8/1)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Cases Continue Upswing In L.A. County Amid Concerns About Delta Variant
The resurgence of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, continued Sunday with 3,045 new cases and five more deaths tallied, according to county public health officials. Authorities cautioned, however, that the latest figures might not be complete because of reporting delays on weekends. More than 1,000 people are now hospitalized with the virus in L.A. County, according to the latest update issued by the county Department of Public Health. (Alpert Reyes, 8/1)

Anchorage Daily News: ‘Sicker And Younger’: Unvaccinated People Are Driving A New Hospitalization Trend In Alaska’s COVID-19 Wave
Alaska’s latest and still growing COVID-19 wave involves a jarring new trend: younger hospital patients, at times sicker than the older people who needed medical care last year. Last winter, as the peak of the coronavirus pandemic ripped through the state, the infected patients seen by Dr. Nick Papacostas in his Anchorage emergency room tended to be older, in their 70s and 80s. Now the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 is driving up case counts around the country and in Alaska, where as of Friday barely 44% of the total population was fully vaccinated. And now Papacostas is seeing people in their 40s, 50s and 60s with more serious respiratory problems, who need additional oxygen or even mechanical ventilation, he said. None are vaccinated. (Hollander, 7/31)

Also —

The Washington Post: Micheal Freedy Texted Fiancee Before Dying Of Covid-19, ‘I Should Have Gotten The Damn Vaccine’ 
Micheal Freedy was not opposed to vaccination, his fiancee said. Like many Americans who have yet to get their coronavirus shots, the 39-year-old father just wanted to wait and learn more about how people reacted to the vaccines. “All we were doing is waiting one year,” Jessica DuPreez, 37, told The Washington Post on Sunday. Then everything changed. This weekend — DuPreez’s grief days old and her voice breaking — the Las Vegas mother of five gave interview after interview to spread the same message: Get the vaccine. She said Freedy came to the same conclusion early on in the fight with covid-19 that put him in an intensive care unit in July. (Knowles, 8/1)

Houston Chronicle: Vaccinated Galveston County Woman With Pre-Existing Conditions Dies Of COVID-19, Authorities Say
A Galveston County woman who was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has died of the virus, the Galveston County Health District said. The woman, who was between 61 and 70, had pre-existing medical conditions. She died July 15, but county officials reported the death on Friday. The health district did not provide any additional information about the woman. Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the United States are among the unvaccinated, the Associated Press reported. While “breakthrough” infections of vaccinated people are possible, the news organization found they accounted for just 1.1 percent of all virus hospitalizations at the end of June. (Despart, 7/31)

Health News Florida: Sarasota Memorial Hospital: No Visitors Beginning Monday Due To COVID Surge 
Sarasota Memorial Hospital will begin a no-visitor policy on Monday in an effort to protect patients and staff from rising cases of COVID-19. “We know how important visitor support is to our patients, but these new restrictions are for everyone’s protection,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Fiorica said Friday. (Glenn, 8/1)

Houston Chronicle: Houston-Area Hospitals Roll Back Visitor Policies, Mull Other Changes Amid Fourth COVID Wave
Local hospitals are limiting visitors and pondering the reinstatement of other peak-pandemic policies amid a new wave of COVID-19 cases. And though no area hospitals have yet limited elective surgeries, there is some concern that hospitals could be overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients and others who are seeking medical care that was postponed during the height of the pandemic. More than 5,600 Texans are currently hospitalized for COVID, and the state recorded an additional 10,082 confirmed cases on Wednesday — the largest daily counts for both metrics since February, according to a Chronicle analysis of state health data. (Downen, 8/1)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: UMMC, Other Jackson-Area Hospitals Out Of Beds As COVID-19 Cases Rise
As the delta variant ravages the state, patients are waiting in hallways at Mississippi’s largest hospital as staff scramble to care for the influx of COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization. All 92 beds in the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s intensive care unit, the state’s largest, are full. The hospital's emergency department is overwhelmed and doctors and nurses are working around the clock to get sick patients into hospital rooms. “There just aren’t enough nurses, physicians and hospital beds to treat the cases this wave is causing,” said Jonathan Wilson, UMMC’s chief administrative officer. (Sanderlin, 7/30)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Hospitals Filling With COVID Patients – Again
Hospitals across the Las Vegas Valley once again are straining to care for rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, only this time while facing new challenges contributing to record-high patient counts. “The hospitals are very, very busy,” said Mason Van Houweling, CEO of University Medical Center and incoming chair of the Nevada Hospital Association. “Hospitals have seen record, record volumes that they’ve not seen in their history.” (Hynes and Scott Davidson, 7/30)

AP: Missouri Hospital Treats Record Number Of Virus Patients
A Springfield hospital reached a “sad new record” on Sunday when the number of coronavirus patients in its care rose to 187, an administrator said. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards urged residents via Twitter to get vaccinated “to protect others, to protect children, to protect our community.” (8/1)

AP: Texas Health Systems Feeling Crunch Of Latest COVID Surge
The resurgence of COVID-19 in Texas has put some cities’ health systems in dire circumstances, as intensive care unit beds fill up, officials say. In Austin, the health department said there were only nine ICU beds available on Friday in the 11-county trauma service region that includes the city and serves 2.3 million people. (8/1)

The New York Times: A New Surge At A Santa Monica I.C.U. 
Los Angeles County is recording more than 2,500 new cases daily, and among the unvaccinated, hospitalizations and deaths are mounting. Even in affluent Santa Monica, where about 80 percent of residents are now vaccinated, dozens of people each day are testing positive for the virus, and hospitals like Saint John’s — a 266-bed facility that typically serves the ordinary needs of the beach communities around it — are being inundated again. (Kosofsky and Hubler, 8/1)

AP: Arkansas Doctors, Nurses Pushed To Breaking Point By COVID
Some doctors and nurses in Arkansas say they are dealing with burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder after more than a year of battling the coronavirus pandemic, including a new wave of cases with younger patients. Dr. Kathy Parnell, an internal medicine specialist at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette she has cried every single day the past week because she is losing young patients. (8/1)

CBS News: Kroger, Walmart Reverse Their Mask Policies As Delta Variant Spreads 
Kroger and Walmart, two of the nation's biggest retailing chains, are changing their mask policies as the nation contends with less-vaccinated regions getting hit by high infection rates due to the Delta variant. Kroger is now "strongly" encouraging all individuals, including those who are vaccinated, to wear a mask when in its stores and facilities, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based supermarket operator said Friday, citing updated recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previously, Kroger had required unvaccinated employees wear masks and requested that unvaccinated shoppers do the same. (7/30)

AP: Conn. Urges Masks Indoors; Young Adults In Mass. Lead Cases
The state Department of Public Health on Sunday issued an alert that strongly recommends all Connecticut residents over 2 years old wear face masks in indoor public spaces, whether they’re vaccinated or not, given the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks because of the Delta variant. (8/1)

AP: Louisville Government Buildings To Begin Requiring Masks
Louisville officials are requiring masks in government buildings, prompted by a rise in COVID-19 cases. The new Metro Government policy takes effect Monday. It also extends to city-owned vehicles when another person is present. The city said the policy applies to everyone, regardless of their vaccinated status. (8/2)

Politico: Biden’s New Mask Guidance Too Little, Too Late For Parts Of The Country, Officials Say
Top Biden health officials have spent recent days debating how much more they can prod Americans to wear masks again — and acknowledge the fact that they have not been able to break through in more rural, conservative parts of the country. (Goldberg and Banco, 7/31)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Parent Groups Reject Required Masks In Letter To Gov. Evers
In an open letter to President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers, 38 Wisconsin parent organizations rejected "forced masking and lockdowns" detailing that the actions of lawmakers were "objectively cruel." Following newly revised mask guidance from the CDC, parents from school districts across the state said they would no longer submit to restrictions of their freedom through mask requirements. In their letter, parents said, "We will not allow you to use your private sector counterparts to enforce invasive mask mandates on our children in various stores or at community activities and subject our children to any further local, regional, or national lockdowns or movement restriction." (Fowlkes, 7/31)

In other news about masks —

The Washington Post: Protester Tests Covid Positive After Mask Mandate Meeting In St. Louis County, Missouri 
Less than a week after an “angry mob” swarmed a St. Louis County council meeting to oppose a new mask mandate, public health officials in Missouri announced on Saturday that at least one person has tested positive for the coronavirus and may have exposed others who attended the meeting. The City of St. Louis Department of Health said it is trying to identify anyone who had close contact with the infected person and urged everyone who attended the council meeting to quarantine for nine days and look out for possible covid-19 symptoms. (Shepherd, 8/2)

The Washington Post: GOP Lawmaker Who Once Spurned Masks Urges People To Take Covid-19 Seriously After Eight-Month Illness
A Tennessee legislator who went from unmasked gatherings with fellow legislators to being placed on ventilator days later has emerged with a message for constituents after a harrowing eight-month experience with long-haul covid-19: Take the coronavirus seriously. “It is a disease that wants to kill us,” state Rep. David Byrd (R) said in a statement Friday. Byrd, 63, described an ordeal that included 55 days on a ventilator in which covid-19 ravaged his memory, his muscles and his organs — it led to him having a liver transplant in June; his condition was so grave that his family at least once began planning for his funeral. Stressing that covid-19 is real and “very dangerous,” Byrd encouraged people to get vaccinated. (Bellware, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Where Should You Wear A Mask When Traveling? What The CDC Says About 14 Top U.S. Cities.
Of the top 25 destinations this summer for flight bookings on the Hopper app, only two (Detroit and Minneapolis) fell in the “moderate” category as of Friday, according to CDC data. Officials recommend masking indoors for the other 23, a list that contains popular cities across the country that are seeing cases rise rapidly as the delta variant spreads. (Sampson, 7/30)

CNN: White House Frustrated With 'Hyperbolic' And 'Irresponsible' Delta Variant Coverage, Sources Say
The White House is frustrated with what it views as alarmist, and in some instances flat-out misleading, news coverage about the Delta variant. That's according to two senior Biden administration officials I spoke with Friday, both of whom requested anonymity to candidly offer their opinion on coverage of the CDC data released that suggests vaccinated Americans who become infected with the Delta coronavirus variant can infect others as easily as those who are unvaccinated. At the heart of the matter is the news media's focus on breakthrough infections, which the CDC has said are rare. In some instances, poorly framed headlines and cable news chyrons wrongly suggested that vaccinated Americans are just as likely to spread the disease as unvaccinated Americans. But that isn't quite the case. Vaccinated Americans still have a far lower chance of becoming infected with the coronavirus and, thus, they are responsible for far less spread of the disease. (Darcy, 7/31)

Axios: Biden's Quick-Trigger COVID Problem 
The Biden administration's handling of the Delta surge has left Americans confused and frustrated, fueling media overreaction and political manipulation. The past year and a half have left Americans cynical about the government's COVID response, and — in many cases — misinformed or uninformed. We're getting fog and reversals when steady, clear-eyed, factual information is needed more than ever. (Allen and Owens, 7/31)

The New York Times: To Fight Vaccine Lies, Authorities Recruit An ‘Influencer Army’ 
Ellie Zeiler, 17, a TikTok creator with over 10 million followers, received an email in June from Village Marketing, an influencer marketing agency. It said it was reaching out on behalf of another party: the White House. Would Ms. Zeiler, a high school senior who usually posts short fashion and lifestyle videos, be willing, the agency wondered, to participate in a White House-backed campaign encouraging her audience to get vaccinated against the coronavirus? (Lorenz, 8/1)

The New York Times: How Local Media Spreads Misinformation From Vaccine Skeptics
The Freedom’s Phoenix, a local news site in Phoenix, and The Atlanta Business Journal, a news site in Atlanta, both published the same article about coronavirus vaccines in March. The author was Joseph Mercola, who researchers and regulators have said is a top spreader of misleading Covid-19 information. In the article, Dr. Mercola inaccurately likened the vaccines to “gene therapy” and argued against their usefulness. A month later, The Freedom’s Phoenix and The Atlanta Business Journal also published another article by Dr. Mercola. This time, he blamed the billionaire Bill Gates for the pandemic, claiming Mr. Gates had “shadow control” of the World Health Organization. (Frenkel and Hsu, 8/1)

Bloomberg: Anti-Vax App Squares Off With Google, Apple Over Misinformation
A new social app designed as a community for the unvaccinated is testing Google and Apple Inc.’s policies concerning the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Unjected, started by two women from Hawaii, bills itself as a community for “like-minded people that support medical autonomy and free speech.” The app allows users to make a profile, match and message with other members. It launched in May shortly after the largest online dating sites, including Match Group’s Tinder and Bumble Inc., introduced perks to encourage users to get vaccinated. Sometimes dubbed the “Tinder for anti-vaxxers,” Unjected has since racked up 18,000 downloads, according to Apptopia, and plenty of jokes on Twitter. (Davalos, 7/31)

Also —

KHN: Claims That CDC’s PCR Test Can’t Tell Covid From Flu Are Wrong 
Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop using its covid-19 test because it cannot differentiate between the covid virus and flu viruses. “CDC has just announced they will revoke the emergency use authorization of the RT-PCR tests first introduced in 2/20,” reads a July 25 post, which goes on to quote from the agency’s lab directive: “CDC encourages laboratories to consider adoption of a multiplexed method that can facilitate detection and differentiation of SARS CoV-2 and influenza viruses.” It continues: “Translation: They’ve been adding flu cases to Covid cases when using that test.” (Knight, 7/30)

AP: Fauci: More 'Pain And Suffering' Ahead As COVID Cases Rise
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that more “pain and suffering” is on the horizon as COVID-19 cases climb again and officials plead with unvaccinated Americans to get their shots. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, also said he doesn’t foresee additional lockdowns in the U.S. because he believes enough people are vaccinated to avoid a recurrence of last winter. However, he said not enough are inoculated to “crush the outbreak” at this point. (Mattise, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Surge Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better, Experts Predict
The newly resurgent coronavirus could spark 140,000 to 300,000 cases a day in the United States come August, fueled by the highly transmissible delta variant and the widespread resumption of normal activities, disease trackers predict. The nation is already reporting more than 70,000 cases a day, according to The Washington Post’s rolling seven-day average — an increase of nearly 60,000 in the daily average in less than six weeks. Cases, measured as that rolling average, have risen to levels last seen in February. (Guarino and Diamond, 7/31)

CNN: Expert Hopes The Rise In Covid-19 Vaccinations Means The US Is Waking Up To The Dangers Of The Delta Variant 
The Delta variant is wreaking havoc through much of the United States, but the "silver lining" is that more Americans appear to be at the tipping point of understanding the importance of Covid-19 vaccinations, one expert said. "People are waking up to this," Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins told CNN Sunday. "That's what desperately needs to happen if we are going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it is having a pretty big party in the middle of the country." (Holcombe, 8/2)

In other news from Drs. Fauci and Collins —

CBS News: Fauci Says Unvaccinated Americans Are "Propagating This Outbreak" As Delta Spreads
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, said Sunday that Americans who remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus are "propagating" the latest outbreak of cases of the highly contagious Delta variant. "We have 100 million people in this country … who are eligible to be vaccinated, who are not vaccinated," Fauci said in an interview with "Face the Nation." "We've really got to get those people to change their minds, make it easy for them, convince them, do something to get them to be vaccinated because they are the ones that are propagating this outbreak." (Quinn, 8/1)

Politico: Fauci: 'I Don't Think We're Going To See Lockdowns' 
The nation's top infectious diseases expert said Sunday he did not expect the U.S. will need to reenter lockdown, as the Delta strain of the coronavirus drives surges in new cases across the country. "I don't think we're going to see lockdowns," Anthony Fauci said on ABC's "This Week." "I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country, not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he added. (Tamborrino, 8/1)

Fox News: Fauci 'Respectfully Disagrees' That Masks Are A 'Choice': 'Infection Is Impacting Everyone'
White House Chief Health Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has rejected the idea that face masks are a "personal choice" in the face of the increasingly severe delta variant of the coronavirus. The United States on Thursday recorded almost 80,000 new COVID-19 cases – well below the January peak of nearly 300,000 new daily cases, but a stark rise from a month ago when daily cases were under 10,000. (Aitken, 8/1)

The Hill: NIH Director: Mask Guidance Is 'Mostly About Protecting The Unvaccinated'
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said on Sunday that the new mask guidance released last week urging fully vaccinated people to wear face coverings indoors in coronavirus hot spots is “mostly about protecting the unvaccinated.” “Can you clear this up? Do most vaccinated Americans need to wear mask indoors in order to protect themselves and other vaccinated Americans, or is this primarily about protecting unvaccinated Americans, including children under 12 or people who are refusing to get vaccinated?” host Jake Tapper asked Collins on CNN’s “State of the Union.” (Schnell, 8/1)

Bloomberg: Fauci Says Shots Work Despite Cases Among Fully Vaccinated
Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s top infectious-disease doctor, said Covid-19 vaccines work extremely well and that a return to the lockdowns of 2020 is unlikely despite reports of recent outbreaks among fully vaccinated people. “The likelihood of your getting a severe outcome of the infection is very low” when a person is fully inoculated, Fauci said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It is much more likely that you will be either without symptoms or minimally symptomatic. So the vaccine is doing what you want it to do. It’s protecting people from getting sick.” (Fisher, 8/1)

Fox News: CDC 'Worrisome' COVID-19 Data Cited In Mask Update Included Breakthrough Cases In Massachusetts Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released "some" of the evidence behind a reversal in guidance issued Tuesday advising fully vaccinated populations to wear masks in public indoor areas in places with high and substantial viral spread. The data, released in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, stemmed from recent outbreaks in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in which 74% of some 469 COVID-19 cases occurred in fully vaccinated individuals. Sequencing from 133 patients suggested the delta variant was behind nearly all (89%) of samples. (Rivas, 7/31)

CBS News: CDC Says "Pivotal Discovery" About Delta Variant Prompted New Mask Guidance And Urges Universal Masking In Some Places 
The CDC, in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also published more details about the "pivotal discovery" that prompted federal health officials to ramp up their masking guidance earlier this week. Tests used to diagnose cases linked to the Massachusetts outbreak had similar "cycle threshold" values among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated "breakthrough" cases, suggesting both groups could be carrying similar loads of the virus. "High viral loads suggest an increased risk of transmission and raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with Delta can transmit the virus," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. (Tin, 7/30)

Roll Call: CDC Report Shows Vaccinated People Can Spread COVID-19 
One of the most nagging questions about the COVID-19 pandemic for public health authorities, policymakers and the public was whether the vaccines stop transmission. New Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that in breakthrough cases of the highly transmissible delta variant, the answer is no. The newly released report showing that vaccinated people can still be superspreaders drove the recent decision by the CDC to once again recommend masks for vaccinated people indoors where case counts are high or substantial. (Kopp, 7/30)

The New York Times: Vaccinated People May Spread The Virus, Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports 
In yet another unexpected and unwelcome twist in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Friday a report strongly suggesting that fully immunized people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant can spread the virus to others just as readily as unvaccinated people. The vaccines remain powerfully effective against severe illness and death, and the agency said infections in vaccinated people were comparatively rare. But the revelation follows a series of other recent findings about the Delta variant that have upended scientists’ understanding of the coronavirus. (Mandavilli, 7/30)

CNBC: CDC Study Shows 74% Of People Infected In Massachusetts Covid Outbreak Were Fully Vaccinated
About three-fourths of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid-19 outbreak were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus with four of them ending up in the hospital, according to new data published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new data, published in the U.S. agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also found that fully vaccinated people who get infected carry as much of the virus in their nose as unvaccinated people, and could spread it to other individuals. (Lovelace Jr., 7/30)

CNN: A Covid-19 Outbreak In Provincetown Helped Motivate The CDC's Mask Guidance Change. Here's What Residents Learned And How They're Responding 
The July 4 holiday is always a huge celebration in the small town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, with a long lineup of parties and festivities that usually bring in thousands of visitors from across the country to the top edge of Cape Cod. "That's what we kind of say is the official start of summer," said Christopher Roberts, who owns a puzzle and game store in Provincetown. "July 4 is just packed ... and then really from that day on, it's like that." Provincetown, home to roughly 3,000 year-round residents, was thrust into the national spotlight last week after it became the subject of a study that persuaded the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its face mask guidelines. (Maxouris, 8/2)

Bloomberg: In Provincetown, Covid Hits 14 Friends In Show Of Delta’s Might
Danny Barefoot and 23 friends traveled to Provincetown, Massachusetts, to dine, hit the beach and party, secure in the knowledge they were all fully vaccinated. Fourteen left as potential vectors. They tested positive for Covid-19 after a week-long Independence Day getaway -- none badly ill, but all shocked by how the virus ambushed them, according to interviews with four who got sick. Health investigators are scrutinizing discrete outbreaks like this one, fanned across four cottages blocks off the ocean, in hopes of demystifying the delta variant. (Goldberg and Querolo, 8/1)

Stat: FDA Plans ‘Sprint’ To Accelerate Formal Review Of Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine
Under heavy pressure, the Food and Drug Administration center that reviews vaccines is planning to deprioritize some of its existing work, like meetings with drug sponsors and plant inspections, in an effort to accelerate its review of Pfizer’s application for the formal approval of its Covid-19 vaccine, a senior agency official told STAT. Pfizer’s vaccine is currently cleared under a so-called emergency use authorization, which allows the company to sell the vaccine for as long as Covid-19 is considered a public health emergency. (Florko, 7/30)

Vaccinations tick up in some critical places —

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccinations Are Increasing. So Are U.S. Cases. 
More than 816,000 doses were reported administered as of Sunday evening over the day’s prior totals, and among them were about 517,000 getting vaccinated for the first time, according to Cyrus Shahpar, White House covid-19 Data Director. “Since the week of July 5, there has been a steady increase in the number of people who are getting vaccinated in the U.S.,” Shahpar said. (Pietsch and Suliman, 8/2)

Axios: White House: Over 500,000 New Shots Recorded Friday, Highest Since July 1 
The United States recorded more than half a million new COVID-19 vaccine shots on Friday, the highest number since July 1, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The Delta variant is continuing to spread across the United States and it now comprises over 80% of the coronavirus cases in the country, Jean-Pierre said. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that "vaccination is the most important strategy to prevent severe illness and death." (Gonzalez, 7/30)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

Axios: Broadway Theaters To Require Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccination For Guests 
All 41 Broadway theaters in New York City will require guests to provide proof they are fully vaccinated and wear masks to attend performances, the Broadway League announced Friday. The announcement comes as cases of the Delta variant continue to rise, prompting mask mandates and requirements to reemerge nationwide. Broadway theaters are set to open late summer, 16 months after theaters shuttered their doors due to the pandemic. (Doherty, 7/30)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Health Resources Mandates Vaccines; Parkland Says It Can’t Because Of Governor’s Order
The faith-based, nonprofit Texas Health Resources system announced Friday that its 23,000 employees must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 10 — making it the third major North Texas employer to enforce a mandatory requirement. Meanwhile, the region’s largest public hospital, Parkland Health & Hospital System, said it agrees with the decisions made by the other hospital systems but is restricted by Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order. (Gonzales, 7/30)

The Washington Post: Maryland Gave Away $2 Million To Boost Vaccinations. Did It Work? 
Maryland officials have hailed the state’s $2 million VaxCash lottery as an “unqualified success,” a promotion that helped the state reach its goal of inoculating 70 percent of its adult population with at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine by Memorial Day. It worked so well at boosting vaccinations that they decided to start another one: VaxU Scholarship, which offers 20 vaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds a chance at winning a $50,000 in-state public college scholarship. It runs until Labor Day. (Wiggins, 8/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: These Bay Area Counties Are Seeing The Biggest Vaccination Increases Amid The Delta Surge
The week of July 3-9, when the state hit its lowest point in coronavirus vaccinations since they began, an average rate of about 70 per 100,000 Californians were receiving a first dose of the vaccine per day. By July 27, the seven day average rate had jumped to 91 per 100,000 people, a 31% increase. The uptick in shots comes as the delta variant tightens its hold, sending coronavirus cases climbing across the region, state and nation, filling hospitals in hard-hit parts of the country like Missouri and Arkansas. (Echeverria, 7/31)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Vaccination Rates Highest Among Asians In Philadelphia. The Rest Of The State Doesn't Have Complete Data
Pennsylvania’s vaccination numbers appear to show an alarmingly low rate of coronavirus vaccination among Asian American residents, but state officials said this week that the numbers they publicly report are likely incorrect and that they believe the real rate is higher. Asians are among the most-vaccinated racial groups in the United States, leading white, Black, and Latino residents in their uptake of the coronavirus shot. But Pennsylvania’s data for the 66 counties outside of Philadelphia indicate that only a quarter of Asian American and Pacific Islander residents have gotten one or both doses of the vaccine. (McDaniel, McCarthy and Lai, 8/2)

Also —

NBC News: Officials Set Up A Mobile Center At A Missouri Fair To Boost Vaccinations. No One Showed Up
Officials at the St. Charles County Health Department in Missouri said they were disappointed after no one showed up to a mobile Covid-19 vaccination center offering vaccines to those attending a local annual fair this week. The St. Charles County Fair kicked off Tuesday at the Rotary Park in Wentzville, a St. Louis suburb. Attendees had the chance to get the Pfizer/BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday and Friday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to county health officials. After spending two days at the fair, workers at the mobile vaccination site did not vaccinate a single person. (Acevedo, 7/31)

The Washington Post: Oklahoma GOP Leader John Bennett Compares Holocaust, Star Of David To Vaccine Mandates 
On Friday, John Bennett, the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, posted on the group’s Facebook page and made a striking comparison: Private companies requiring employees to get the vaccine, he said, are just as bad as the Nazis forcing Jews to sew the yellow Star of David onto their clothes. “Those who don’t KNOW history, are DOOMED to repeat it,” read the caption, below an image of the Star of David patch with “Unvaccinated” written across the top. (Peiser, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Senate Finishing Crafting $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Proposal, Setting Delicate Debate In Motion 
Senate Democrats and Republicans unveiled on Sunday a roughly $1 trillion proposal to improve the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections, setting in motion a long-awaited debate in the chamber to enact one of President Biden’s economic policy priorities. The package arrives after weeks of haggling among a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers, who muscled through late-night fights and near-collapses to transform their initial blueprint into a roughly 2,700-page piece of legislation. The fate of their labors now rests in the Senate, where proponents of infrastructure reform have little margin for error as they race to adopt the sort of bill that has eluded them for years. (Romm, 8/1)

Politico: Senate Negotiators Finalize Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill 
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday evening took the next procedural step to move the legislation forward, predicting it would pass the chamber in a “matter of days.” But first it will need to go through an arduous amendment process. “It’s been decades since Congress passed such a significant standalone investment and I salute the hard work done here by everybody,” Schumer said. “Given how bipartisan the bill is and how much work has already been put in to get the details right, I believe the Senate can quickly process relevant amendments.” (Levine, 8/1)

The Hill: Senators Introduce Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill In Rare Sunday Session
Senators unveiled a $1.2 trillion, eight-year infrastructure bill during a rare Sunday session after negotiators worked through the weekend. The 2,702-page bill, spearheaded by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and a larger group of roughly two dozen negotiators, is substantially narrower than the multitrillion-dollar plan envisioned by President Biden earlier this year but includes a wide range of funding for roads, bridges, transit, broadband and water. (Carney, 8/1)

What's included in the infrastructure plan? —

AP: It's In And It's Big: Senate Unveils $1T Infrastructure Bill
A key part of Biden’s agenda, the bipartisan bill is the first phase of the president’s infrastructure plan. It calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels, what could be one of the more substantial expenditures on the nation’s roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years. (Freking and Mascaro, 8/2)

The Hill: READ: The $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act 
A bipartisan group of senators on Sunday unveiled the finalized legislative text of a $1.2 trillion, eight-year infrastructure bill. The 2,702-page measure is substantially narrower than the multi trillion-dollar plan envisioned by President Biden earlier this year but includes a wide range of funding for roads, bridges, transit, broadband and water. (8/1)

And senators count the votes —

Politico: Susan Collins: Infrastructure Bill Has Enough Republican Support To Pass In Senate 
Sen. Susan Collins predicted Sunday that the bipartisan infrastructure package will have enough Republican support to pass the chamber this week. "I think we will be able to lay down the bill later today and begin perhaps consideration of some amendments," the Maine Republican said on CNN's "State of the Union" ahead of senators' expected return to session Sunday afternoon. "My hope is that we'll finish the bill by the end of the week." (Tamborrino, 8/1)

Politico: Manchin: No Guarantee Reconciliation Package Will Pass 
Sen. Joe Manchin would not guarantee Sunday that a Democratic-led reconciliation package would garner the necessary votes for passage, even as he predicted the bipartisan infrastructure package would pass the Senate this week. "I can't really guarantee anybody," the moderate Democratic senator from West Virginia said on CNN. "And I have not guaranteed anybody on any of these pieces of legislation. Would we like to do more? Yes, you can do what you can pay for. This is paid for, our infrastructure bill is all paid for." (Tamborrino, 8/1)

AP: Pelosi, Democrats Call On Biden To Extend Eviction Ban
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leaders on Sunday called on the Biden administration to immediately extend the nation’s eviction moratorium, calling it a “moral imperative” to prevent Americans from being put out of their homes during a COVID-19 surge. An estimated 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some as soon as Monday. (Mascaro, 8/2)

Politico: Pelosi Turns Tables On White House, Urges Eviction Ban Extension 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team on Sunday urged President Joe Biden to immediately renew and extend the eviction moratorium until Oct. 18 after House Democrats failed to marshal the votes to prevent its lapse this weekend. Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) issued a joint statement Sunday night putting the ball back in the Biden administration’s court, after the White House on Thursday said it could not extend the eviction ban and urged Congress to do it. (O'Donnell, 8/1)

Politico: Progressives Press Biden To Extend Eviction Ban 
Progressive House lawmakers on Saturday urged President Joe Biden to extend a nationwide eviction moratorium before it expires at midnight, after Democrats in Congress failed to muster the votes to renew it themselves. Eight Democrats led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Cori Bush of Missouri told Biden in a letter that a looming eviction crisis demanded "an urgent government response.” (Guida, 7/31)

AP: Evictions Expected To Spike As Federal Moratorium Ends
Evictions, which have mostly been on pause during the pandemic, are expected to ramp up on Monday after the expiration of a federal moratorium as housing courts take up more cases and tenants are locked out of their homes. Housing advocates fear the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium could result in millions of people being evicted in the coming weeks. But most expect an uptick in filings in the coming days rather than a wave of evictions. (Casey, 8/2)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Housing Officials Brace For Wave Of Evictions With End Of Moratorium
Courts and housing officials nationwide are ramping up to deal with millions of tenants who are on the verge of losing their homes now that the federal eviction moratorium has expired.  The question is will it be a tsunami or merely a flood of evictions. "Pick any term you want —it's going to be bad," said Matt Mleczko, a graduate research assistant at Princeton University's Eviction Lab. The Eviction Lab was founded by Matthew Desmond, who wrote "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" after studying the situation in Milwaukee. (Spivak, 7/31)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Judge In One Metro Atlanta County Extends Ban On Evictions
The nationwide eviction moratorium has expired. But one metro Atlanta judge has extended another lifeline to renters in her county. DeKalb Chief Superior Court Judge Asha Jackson recently signed a new emergency order creating a ban on evictions throughout the county for another 60 days. The order was based on the continued COVID-19 public health emergency and the cyberattack that targeted DeKalb’s Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition earlier this year, dramatically slowing its distribution of federal aid. (Estep, 8/1)

In related news about covid's economic toll —

CBS News: These States Cut Unemployment Aid Early To Supercharge Hiring. It Isn't Working. 
In May, Missouri Governor Michael Parson explained he was directing the state to cut off $300 in weekly jobless payments, months before the federally funded benefits were due to expire in September. The "excessive" aid had "incentivized people to stay out of the workforce," he said. But Parson's plan to supercharge hiring by curtailing jobless benefits may not be paying off, based on a new analysis of hiring data from Gusto, a company that handles payroll and other services for small and midsized businesses. So far, a dozen states that were the first to cut pandemic jobless benefits have experienced hiring growth on par with states that kept the federal benefits, the Gusto analysis found. (Picchi, 7/30)

The Hill: GOP Report On COVID-19 Origins Homes In On Lab Leak Theory
A House Republican lawmaker’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 is raising concerns that the pandemic outbreak stemmed from a genetically modified virus which leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese city where the disease was first detected in December 2019. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released on Monday a third installment in his investigation into the origins of the virus and the missteps by the Chinese government in Beijing in alerting the world to the risks of the pandemic. (Kelly, 8/2)

Reuters: Republican Report Says Coronavirus Leaked From China Lab; Scientists Still Probing Origins
A preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility, said a report by U.S. Republicans released on Monday, a conclusion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached. The report also cited "ample evidence" that Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) scientists - aided by U.S. experts and Chinese and U.S. government funds - were working to modify coronaviruses to infect humans and such manipulation could be hidden. (8/2)

In related news —

The New York Times: Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back
A batch of early coronavirus data that went missing for a year has emerged from hiding. In June, an American scientist discovered that more than 200 genetic sequences from Covid-19 patient samples isolated in China early in the pandemic had puzzlingly been removed from an online database. With some digital sleuthing, Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, managed to track down 13 of the sequences on Google Cloud. When Dr. Bloom shared his experience in a report posted online, he wrote that it “seems likely that the sequences were deleted to obscure their existence.” But now an odd explanation has emerged, stemming from an editorial oversight by a scientific journal. And the sequences have been uploaded into a different database, overseen by the Chinese government. (Zimmer, 7/30)

Bloomberg: Virus Flares Again In Wuhan As Delta Challenges China’s Defenses
China is confronting its broadest Covid-19 outbreak since the pathogen first emerged there in late 2019, with the delta variant spreading to places that had been declared virus-free for many months, including original epicenter Wuhan. Delta has broken through the country’s virus defenses, which are some of the strictest in the world, and reached nearly half of China’s 32 provinces in a number of weeks. While the overall number of infections -- more than 300 so far -- is still lower than Covid resurgences elsewhere, the wide spread indicates that the variant is moving quickly. (8/2)

Billings Gazette: Workforce Shortage Wreaks Havoc On Montana's Behavioral Health Providers
A severe workforce shortage for behavioral health and developmental disabilities service providers has left some organizations with vacant positions in 20-50% of their jobs, leading to reductions of critical services they say could be just the tip of the iceberg if state government doesn't step in. “The system’s hanging on by a shoestring right now,” said Matt Bugni, the chief executive officer of AWARE, Inc., an Anaconda-based organization that provides services statewide for children and adults with developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs. (Michels, 8/1)

NPR: Caregiving During The Pandemic Takes A Toll On Mental Health 
Caregivers in the "Sandwich Generation" have reported a steep decline in mental health, as did others who had to juggle changes in the amount of caregiving they had to provide to loved ones. Caregivers have struggled with anxiety, depression and PTSD at rates much higher than those without caregiving roles. NPR correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee talks about the study and her reporting with Emily Kwong. (Chatterjee, Kwong, Lu and Hanson, 8/2)

Modern Healthcare: From Then To Now: Quality And Value-Based Care
For all the talk about a future of only paying for healthcare using value-based models, the tried-and-true fee-for-service reimbursement system is still the main way that most providers are paid. Brian Esser, associate principal at consulting firm SG2, remembers a healthcare system client in the Midwest that invested heavily in quality and value reimbursement starting around 2011. It was one of the first CMS accountable care organizations, and eventually about 30% of its patients were in a model. “But they quickly realized that they couldn’t sustain it, because they were undercutting so much of their fee-for-service business that they had to pull back,” Esser recalled. “It comes down to, can you make your bond payments? And are you driving enough margin to sustain that legacy business model? That’s a tightrope you have to walk effectively.” (Gillespie, 8/2)

Stat: High-Tech Headphones Drown Out The Scary Noises Inside An MRI
For many people, entering the confinement of an MRI machine can be harrowing: Scans can take hours and patients must lie very still in cramped machines that produce deafening sounds. But a new, high-tech effort aims to ease claustrophobia and deaden the noise to make it less like a scary scan and more like entertainment. (Aguilar, 8/2)

In obstetrics news —

Carolina Public Press: Options Becoming Limited For Giving Birth In WNC 
Melissa Fehling’s second child is due Aug. 3. She delivered her first child, River, at the WNC Birth Center in Asheville two years ago, and she said she was looking forward to a similar experience there. But on June 19, she received an email from the center, announcing an indefinite closure on July 20, just two weeks before her due date. (Green, 7/31)

KHN: 12,000 Square Miles Without Obstetrics? It’s A Possibility In West Texas 
The message from Big Bend Regional Medical Center was stark: The only hospital in a sparsely populated region of far West Texas notified local physicians last month that because of a nursing shortage its labor and delivery unit needed to temporarily close its doors and that women in labor should instead be sent to the next closest hospital — an hour’s drive away. That is, unless the baby’s arrival appears imminent, and the hospital’s unit is shut down at that point. In that case, a woman would deliver in the emergency room, said Dr. Jim Luecke, who has practiced 30-plus years in the area. (Huff, 8/2)

In news about high medical bills —

The Washington Post: Study Paints Stark Picture Of How Some Get Mired In Collections Because They Can’t Pay Medical Bills 
Medical bills can be stressful. Some are surprises. Others are intimidatingly large. And many Americans just cannot pay on time. Now, a study in JAMA sheds light on just how much medical debt has been sent for collection in the United States. Researchers used data from a randomly selected group representing 10 percent of all people with TransUnion credit reports — about 40 million individuals — between 2009 and 2020. Though the average amount of medical debt fell to $429 by 2020, 17.8 percent of people had medical bills that were past due. (Blakemore, 7/31)

KHN: At Urgent Care, He Got 5 Stitches And A Big Surprise: A Plastic Surgeon’s Bill For $1,040
It was a Sunday morning in late November when Bryan Keller hopped on a bike for a routine ride to pick up his groceries, cruising with ease in a relatively empty New York City. The surprises came fast and hard: a fall that sent his head into the pavement and left him bleeding profusely and in shock, a trip to an urgent care clinic for five stitches and then a $1,039.50 bill. (Pradhan, 8/2)

KHN: Watch: Cyclist Hits Olympic-Size Medical Bills After Crash 
“CBS This Morning,” in partnership with KHN and NPR, interviews Phil Gaimon, a cyclist who had hoped to be in Tokyo next week as a competitor in the track events on the USA Cycling national team. Instead, a crash on the velodrome track in Pennsylvania in 2019 ended his Olympic dream and left him with huge medical bills — even after his two insurance policies paid portions of the treatment. KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal said Gaimon hit three health care land mines: out-of-network hospitals, out-of-state care and gold-plated charges from the hospitals. Two years after the crash, Gaimon is still fielding calls from collection agencies. (7/31)

Billings Gazette: Billings Woman Has Healthy Baby Boy After Groundbreaking Uterus Transplant Surgery
The stars aligned to bring Telden Jovanovich into the world. His birth defied all imagination as his mother, Chelsea Jovanovich, started down her path to motherhood with no uterus at all. The condition is called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome and it occurs when the uterus doesn’t fully form during fetal development, leaving women with uterine factor infertility, UFI, from birth. The condition affects over 72,000 women in the United States, and until recently UFI was considered an irreversible form of infertility. (Schabacker, 8/1)

Axios: Over Half Of Car Crash Fatalities In 2020 Involved Unbelted Occupants 
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans drove less but engaged in far riskier behavior on the road, government data shows. More than half of all crash fatalities last year involved unbelted drivers or occupants, the highest level since 2012, The Wall Street Journal notes. An estimated 38,680 people died in car crashes last year, 7% more than in 2019, despite less cars being on the road. The number of unbuckled vehicle occupants killed in crashes jumped an estimated 15% from 2019. (Frazier, 7/30)

CIDRAP: Raw Cake Batter Linked To Multistate E Coli O121 Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week announced that an Escherichia coli O121 outbreak associated with cake mix has sickened at least 16 people in 12 states. So far, all of the identified patients are female, and 75% are children younger than 18—a group known to experience more severe E coli infections. Seven people have been hospitalized, and one developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially fatal kidney complication. No deaths have been reported. ... Of eight people interviewed about the foods they ate, six said they tasted or ate raw batter made from a cake mix. No specific brand or type has been identified, though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting a traceback investigation to assess if a common source is involved. (7/30)

The Washington Post: Eating Too Many Eggs Can Still Be Risky, But Most People Don’t Have To Give Them Up Entirely, Experts Say 
In recent years, worries over eating eggs seem to have receded from public consciousness. But has the thinking about eggs really changed? Not if you ask nutrition experts. “The egg issue remains relevant,” says Linda Van Horn, professor and chief of the nutrition division in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. For those already at risk for heart disease and diabetes, “the choices to eat eggs remain especially important,” she says. It’s still risky to eat too many eggs, but you don’t have to give them up entirely. How many you can eat depends on your health status. (Cimons, 7/31)

KHN: Why Is The South The Epicenter Of Anti-Abortion Fervor? 
Not so long ago, laws governing abortion in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were far more restrictive than those in the Deep South, as state legislators throughout New England regularly banned the procedure, no matter the circumstances, during the 1960s and ’70s. Nowadays, however, the American South represents a hub of anti-abortion fervor, home to a series of laws and regulations that have eroded Roe v. Wade, as liberal states in the Northeast and elsewhere have enacted laws to codify that landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision. (Varney, 7/30)

KHN: Restoring A Sense Of Belonging: The Unsung Importance Of Casual Relationships For Older Adults
In May, Vincent Keenan traveled from Chicago to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a wedding — his first trip out of town since the start of the pandemic. “Hi there!” he called out to customers at a gas station where he’d stopped on his way to the airport. “How’s your day going?” he said he asked the Transportation Security Administration agent who checked his ID. “Isn’t this wonderful?” he exclaimed to guests at the wedding, most of whom were strangers. (Graham, 8/2)

Axios: Obama Plans Martha’s Vineyard Birthday Bash As Delta Variant Rages On 
Former President Obama is hosting a 60th birthday bash for himself and hundreds of guests on Martha’s Vineyard this coming weekend amid heightened public health concerns — locally and nationally — about the COVID-19 Delta variant. The recent breakthrough cases in nearby Provincetown, Massachusetts, after the July Fourth holiday showed the continued risk of spread even between vaccinated people — prompting new masking guidelines from the CDC. (Mucha, 8/1)

In updates on wildfires and air pollution —

AP: Smoke Triggers Pollution Alerts In US West, Midwest
Numerous areas of the U.S. West and Midwest were under air quality alerts on Sunday as wildfire smoke lingered over much of the country. Alerts were in place across much of the northern U.S. Rockies, including portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Washington state and Idaho. Further to the east, smoke from fires burning into Canada triggered pollution alerts in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. (8/1)

Des Moines Register: Air Quality Alert Issued For Iowa Until Noon Monday; Wildfires Blamed
The Air Quality Index is currently at 109, which is in the range categorized as "unhealthy for sensitive groups" by the Environmental Protection Agency. Until the plume clears about noon Monday, sensitive groups are advised to take precaution due to fine particulate levels above the acceptable EPA standard. Sensitive groups include anyone with respiratory or heart conditions, the elderly and children. These groups are encouraged to avoid prolonged activity outdoors until the air quality improves. Current air quality can be tracked at fire.airnow.gov (Soni, 8/1)

The Oregonian: Gov. Kate Brown Will Veto Bills On Kratom And Mental Health Services, Citing Federal Conflicts 
Gov. Kate Brown said Sunday she intends to veto two bills passed during the 2021 legislative session — one addressing mental health and substance use disorder services and the other dealing with the regulation of kratom. Brown said in a statement that her office has determined Senate Bill 721 and House Bill 2646 conflict with “federal regulations or federal authority.” SB 721 would modify the member appointment process for the Consumer Advisory Council that assists the director of the Oregon Health Authority on mental health and substance use disorder services. (Tabrizian, 8/1)

Oklahoman: Marijuana Patients, Workers Rally At State Capitol In Oklahoma City
Medical marijuana patients and people who work in the fledgling industry rallied at the Oklahoma state Capitol on Friday to show support for the state's marijuana laws and to call for increased transparency from the state entity that regulates cannabis. Despite intense summer heat, rallygoers vented about the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and criticized new emergency rules that add temporary regulations to the industry as a result of legislation passed this year. (Forman, 7/31)

North Carolina Health News: Appeals, Deals Delay Assisted Living Centers Paying Fines 
When Ashe Gardens Assisted Living in Pender County “failed to provide supervision for 11 residents with assaultive, aggressive, sexually expressive and wandering behaviors,” state officials fined the facility $70,000 for that and other lapses, state records show. But the center hasn’t paid a dime of the fines levied in December 2019. All of those fines remain under appeal to the state Department of Health and Human Services more than a year and a half later. A representative from the facility said they could not comment on this situation. (Goldsmith and Dougani, 8/2)

The Washington Post: Utah Police Find Hammocks In Electricity Towers
Northern Utah’s twisted canyons, sheer mountains and Great Salt Lake are rife for the Instagram age, and for some people, the beauty may be worth dangerously lounging in a hammock atop an electric power line tower. Now police in Weber County will be looking for people hanging their hammocks from the tall steel structures — an “extremely risky” action that can end with a court hearing or a potentially deadly outcome. (Paul, 8/1)

Fox News: Michigan Detects First Candida Auris Case: What Is The Rare, Deadly Fungus?
Michigan health officials documented the state’s first case of a rare and potentially serious fungus in an older adult, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News – but what is Candida auris? The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Laboratories on May 27 confirmed Candida auris in a sample taken from ear drainage of a 76-year-old man with chronic ear infections and no overseas travel history in the prior three years, according to a MDHHS health alert shared with Fox News. "There was no threat to the public and the patient’s healthcare providers were aware and took the proper precautions. There have not been additional cases identified at this time," Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for MDHHS, wrote to Fox News in an email on Friday. (Rivas, 7/31)

San Francisco Chronicle: Assisted Death Is Legal In California, But Some Patients Die Waiting. A New Bill Could Help
Once unthinkable, assisted death has established itself as a widely accepted option at the end of life since first becoming available to Californians in June 2016. But it remains a rare act: Only about 400 people on average die each year in the state by taking the doctor-prescribed drug. Now, halfway through a decade-long trial run, state legislators are moving to streamline the assisted death process and remove some of the barriers that advocates say have prevented the law from becoming more widely used, particularly among low-income residents and people of color. (Koseff, 8/1)

KHN: Facing Recall, Newsom Draws Support From Health Care Allies
Californians upset with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic rules — which shuttered businesses, kept schoolkids at home and mandated masks — helped fuel the September recall election that could spell the end of his political career. But among the allies rushing to Newsom’s defense are doctors, nurses, dentists and other health care interests who credit those pandemic measures for protecting them as front-line workers and saving the lives of countless Californians. (Young, 7/30)

In school news from Georgia and Oklahoma —

Oklahoman: Parent, Teacher Concerns Grow As Oklahoma Schools Reopen In COVID Surge
Every time the school bus passed by 7-year-old Cole Sandlin's house, he would break down in tears. He missed school. He yearned for the bus. He missed all of it. After a year of frustrating virtual learning, Cole would have gone to summer school if he could, his mother Chantil Baldwin said. Baldwin and her husband decided the mental and academic toll would be too great to keep Cole home another year, but as COVID-19 cases show an alarming rise, the family has grown worried about his safety in a school setting. Without action by the governor, mask mandates are outlawed in Oklahoma public schools, and that's Baldwin's greatest worry. (Martinez-Keel and Branham, 8/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro Atlanta High School To Start Year Virtually Due To COVID Cases
As many metro Atlanta students return to school this week, one high school will hold virtual classes due to the number of staff members with the coronavirus. North Clayton High School in College Park will begin the school year virtually Monday through Wednesday, Principal Eldrick Horton said in a letter posted online. The move was necessary because of the number of staff members currently in quarantine, Horton said. (Stevens, 8/1)

Politico: Governors Want Biden To Explain Why The U.S. Border Is Shuttered To Canadians
Nine governors want the Biden administration to explain why it is keeping the U.S. border closed to most Canadians. "It is our strongly held view as Governors that the public health data, science and advice of our own experts support a responsible, timely reopening plan,” the border state governors wrote in a joint letter, dated Friday, to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Blatchford, 7/30)

The Washington Post: Two Airline Passengers Fined After Using Fake Covid-19 Vaccination Cards To Fly To Toronto, Canada
Before two passengers flew from the U.S. to Toronto last month, they submitted required copies of their vaccination cards and negative coronavirus test results to a portal reviewed by Canadian authorities. But it wasn’t until they arrived in Canada the week of July 18 that officials discovered the documents the pair presented were fraudulent, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a news release Friday. (Salcedo, 8/1)

In other global developments —

NPR: Tokyo's New COVID-19 Infections Hit A Record Again, Topping 4,000 For The First Time
Records have been set nearly every day lately in Tokyo, but not all of them have been by athletes competing in the Olympics. Japan's capital has exceeded 4,000 coronavirus infections for the first time — 4,058 cases, to be exact. That's a record high and nearly four times as many cases were reported just a week ago. Tokyo set new case records every day from Monday to Wednesday, experiencing just a slight dip on Thursday, when they totaled 3,300 — still one of the city's highest daily counts on record. (Fischels, 7/31)

Bloomberg: Forecaster Who Saw India’s Covid Peak Sees New Wave Coming
India is likely to see a rise in Covid-19 infections building into a new -- though smaller -- virus wave that may peak in October, according to a mathematical model by researchers who accurately predicted the tapering of a brutal surge of cases earlier this year. The country may see a worsening of its outbreak as soon as this month, with the next wave peaking in the best-case scenario with less than 100,000 infections a day, or nearly 150,000 in the worst scenario, according to estimates by researchers led by Mathukumalli Vidyasagar and Manindra Agrawal at Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad and Kanpur respectively. (Shrivastava and Kaur Makol, 8/1)

AP: 2 Rare Sumatran Tigers Recovering After Catching COVID-19
Two rare Sumatran tigers at the zoo in the Indonesian capital are recovering after being infected with COVID-19.Nine-year-old Tino became ill with shortness of breath, sneezing, and a runny nose on July 9. He also lost his appetite. Two days later, 12-year-old Hari was showing the same symptoms. Swabs were taken and results came back positive for COVID-19, Suzi Marsitawati from the Jakarta Parks and Forestry Agency said in a statement on Sunday. (Tarigan, 8/1)

CNBC: Ireland Turns To Vaccine Passes To Reopen Its Hospitality Industry
Despite the spread of the highly-contagious delta coronavirus variant, Ireland is betting on “vaccine passes” to fully reopen its bars and restaurants. Ireland’s tourism and hospitality trade has been dealing with stop-and-starts on reopening throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Indoor service resumed on July 26 in something of a photo finish with the government and the hospitality industry finalizing guidelines for the reopening on that very morning. This included final tweaks to restaurants’ contact-tracing requirements. (Keane, 8/2)

Axios: French Police, Anti-Health Pass Protesters Clash In Paris 
Police in Paris deployed tear gas Saturday during clashes with thousands of demonstrators protesting a new law mandating universal vaccinations for health workers and pandemic passes for all restaurants and domestic travel. While thousands of people protested across France, the Washington Post notes that polls show most people in the country back the pandemic measures, introduced to curb spiking COVID-19 cases driven largely by the Delta variant. (Falconer, 8/1)

CNBC: Health Experts Fear England May Become Incubator For Covid Variants
England’s relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions is risking the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous variants of the virus, scientists have warned. England lifted most of it last remaining restrictions on July 19, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still have some restrictions in place. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously described the easing of restrictions as “irreversible.” (Taylor, 8/2)

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Fox News: Canadian Doctor Accused Of Using Own Sperm To Inseminate Patients To Pay $10.7M In Tentative Settlement
Hundreds of victims of a former Canadian fertility doctor, who allegedly used the wrong sperm and sometimes his own while artificially inseminating patients, will be awarded $10.7 million in a tentative agreement reached this week, according to reports. The class-action lawsuit was brought in 2016 by Dan and Davina Dixon and later joined by more than 200 others who found through DNA tests that their child’s biological father was not who they thought, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Dr. Norman Barwin, 82, was allegedly found to be the father of at least 17 children conceived at his office, including the Dixons’ daughter Rebecca. (Stimson, 7/31)

USA Today: COVID Vaccine: Require Restrictions, Higher Insurance Of Unvaccinated
People are free to make all the bad choices they want when it comes to themselves, but not when they put others in danger and incur costs that we all must pay. This is where we find ourselves today with the COVID-19 vaccine. Until now, the default has been to err on the side of liberty, allowing individuals a maximum of free choice and personal responsibility. But as the pandemic has evolved, this model is no longer viable. With the highly infectious delta variant surging, the unvaccinated are posing direct risks to the health and well-being of the immunocompromised, the frail and the elderly, and especially young children, who cannot yet be vaccinated. The ethical challenge is crystal clear: The actions – or, in this case, the inactions – of the unvaccinated pose clear risks for society writ large. As the old saying goes: Your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins. (Richard Florida and Arthur Caplan, 8/2)

Scientific American: How A Remote Indigenous Community Fought The Pandemic 
Over a choppy phone call to the remote Nicobar archipelago, I told Indigenous leader Ayesha Majid that my friends in Delhi were dropping like flies. A horrific second wave of COVID-19 was ravaging India; crematoria were running out of wood and graveyards were running out of space. “Brother, how did this happen?” she asked in disbelief. Earlier this year, COVID resurged in India with a vengeance. For a week in May, the country contributed over half of the daily COVID cases reported globally. COVID deaths in urban India are now abating, but people in rural India have been dying in droves. (Ajay Saini, 7/31)

Houston Chronicle: Universities Will Be 'Turbocharged Petri Dishes' Without Masks And Vaccination
Among the many crises Americans now confront is one of trust. And thanks to the polarization of our politics and the politicization of our pandemic, that crisis is about to worsen. One of the hot spots will be university campuses. As we write, the fourth wave of the pandemic is already rolling across Texas. Rather than seeking to stem its rise, Gov. Greg Abbott has instead strengthened it. This will be the inevitable result of his executive orders preventing state agencies and entities, including state universities, from requiring employees and students to show vaccination passports and wear masks. Abbott declared that these are matters of personal, not institutional, responsibility. (Robert Zaretsky and George M. Alliger, 8/1)

Kansas City Star: Delta Changes To Stay Alive And Missouri Won’t Get Vaccines
A “concerned Canadian” wrote to me the other day, “dumbfounded,” he said, to read that so many Missourians are rejecting a lifesaving vaccine even amid this dangerous new wave of COVID-19. He said, as some health experts have, that refusing to get vaccinated is like deciding to stay on board the world’s most famous sinking ship: “Yes, Titanic passengers had every right to stay aboard, but none chose to do so. Why? Because the freaking thing was sinking! Put on a lifejacket (mask) and get into a lifeboat (vaccination). Unlike on the Titanic, there is enough lifesaving equipment for everybody. Otherwise, you will end up in some cemetery like Rose and Jack.” (Melinda Henneberger, 8/2)

The New York Times: Unvaxxed, Unmasked And Putting Our Kids At Risk 
For days now, vaccinated Americans have been trying to come to terms with the new advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the rapidly spreading Delta variant and a spike of Covid cases in states with high populations of unvaccinated people. Officials encouraged everyone in high-risk areas to start wearing masks in public indoor spaces again and recommended that all teachers and students wear masks in schools. It’s difficult not to be angry at the irresponsible behavior of those who got us here. For parents with children with health problems or who are too young to be vaccinated (or both), it’s doubly infuriating. (Jessica Valenti, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Require The Vaccine. It’s Time To Stop Coddling The Reckless
P­­­ay people to get vaccinated, no matter whether that is unfair to those who didn’t receive checks for jabs. Require them to do so as a condition of going to work or enrolling in school. Do whatever it takes — and, recent weeks have shown, it is going to take steps like these — to get the pandemic under control. Those of us who have behaved responsibly — wearing masks and, since the vaccines became available, getting our shots — cannot be held hostage by those who can’t be bothered to do the same, or who are too deluded by misinformation to understand what is so clearly in their own interest. (Ruth Marcus, 7/30)

The Atlantic: Vaccine Refusers Don’t Want Blue America’s Respect 
Something very strange has been happening in Missouri: A hospital in the state, Ozarks Healthcare, had to create a “private setting” for patients afraid of being seen getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In a video produced by the hospital, the physician Priscilla Frase says, “Several people come in to get vaccinated who have tried to sort of disguise their appearance and even went so far as to say, ‘Please, please, please don’t let anybody know that I got this vaccine.’” Although they want to protect themselves from the coronavirus and its variants, these patients are desperate to ensure that their vaccine-skeptical friends and family never find out what they have done. (Brooke Harrington, 8/1)

Dallas Morning News: Cole Beasley And Other Vaccine Doubters Are Misleading This Country At The Worst Possible Time
We know a couple of things about Cole Beasley, the former Dallas Cowboy turned Buffalo Bill. One, he’s terrific at making catches over the middle in tough situations. Two, he is not a doctor or scientist. When it comes to who we get our information from, we should always consider the source. And the best sources of information — the doctors, scientists and institutions we trust with our public health every day — have made it clear that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing the disease. (8/2)

Newsweek: Public Abortion Coverage Helps My Patients 
Mrs. K was a refugee who recently arrived in the U.S. to reunite with her husband and children. They arrived safely a few weeks ahead of her. On her initial refugee health exam, Mrs. K discovered she was six weeks pregnant. She had just arrived after escaping persecution in southeast Asia and faced the tremendous task of settling herself and her family in a new home. It was impossible for her to contemplate bringing another child into her family at the time. When Mrs. K came into the primary care clinic where I work seeking a medication abortion, I was happy to help her through the process. (Mai Fleming, 7/30)

Modern Healthcare: How Science And Education Can Bring A Golden Age Of Healthcare 
We are moving into what could be a golden age for both health systems and healthcare. We will have electronic information on every patient. That data, funneled through artificial intelligence, care algorithms and connected caregivers, can significantly enhance and improve diagnosis, treatment plans, care coordination, and an extremely wide range of settings for receiving care. (George Halvorson, 8/2)

CNN: Biden Is Keeping His Promises To Americans With Disabilities
After the accident, Tyree Brown could barely write her own name. The 2015 car crash injured her spine and rendered the 26-year-old Maryland artist quadriplegic, paralyzing parts of her upper and lower body. Lengthy stints in rehab and a nursing home followed, coupled with painstaking occupational therapy. Beautiful portraits that had once taken Tyree five days to draw can now take her up to a month. Yet, earlier this week, I marveled as Tyree shared with me her remarkable black-and-white drawings. Inspired, I watched Monday as she was wheeled to a low table in the White House Rose Garden and confidently introduced the President of the United States. (Susan E. Rice, 7/30)

The Boston Globe: To Stop A Controversial Electric Shock Therapy, The Disability Community Is Owed Better Alternatives 
The Judge Rotenberg Center, once again the center of national controversy over its use of painful electric shocks to treat intellectually or developmentally disabled patients, is a place of last resort. Desperate parents and guardians from all over the country send students to the Canton facility when nothing else has worked: when their loved ones have been kicked out of or rejected by other programs, hospitalized for weeks at a time, or subjected to medications that left them unresponsive. (8/1)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Must Remember The Complex Needs Of Those Who Live With Disabilities
“I never thought of that.” This is a common response I get when I explain that disability belongs in any conversation on equity, diversity and inclusion, along with racial equity, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status and more. In Chicago, 1 in 10 people have a disability, and two-thirds of that group are brown and Black. Disability has typically been portrayed as a one-dimensional identity, when in fact intersectional identities as a whole can and do impact the experience and access a person with a disability has. I work every day to reshape this narrative in my role as commissioner for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. (Rachel Arfa, 8/2)

Newsweek: Home Care Workers Can Help Me Stay In My Own Home
I'll never forget my first nursing home placement in Ohio. As I entered the facility, I was hit with the smell of feces and a screaming ventilator alarm that no one answered. I knew I was not in a safe space, and that I would not last long there. That was 20 years ago, and I've been in and out of nursing facilities ever since. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991. As my MS has progressed, home care aides have helped me cook, wash dishes and get safely into and out of the bathtub. Sometimes I also need assistance with daily household chores and maintaining my personal hygiene. They help me with that as well. (Elaine Shelly, 7/30)

The New York Times: Nobody Wants To Live In A Nursing Home. Something’s Got To Give
Few people dream of living out their golden years in a nursing home. The very idea sparks existential dread in many Americans, conjuring images of grim, institutional dumping grounds where society’s frailest and most vulnerable members aren’t so much cared for as warehoused. Scattered horror stories of neglect and abuse supercharge more prosaic fears about losing one’s autonomy. (Michelle Cottle, 8/1)