First Edition: Feb. 17, 2022
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
State Constitutions Vex Conservatives’ Strategies For A Post-Roe World
Republican lawmakers in a handful of conservative states have stumbled on a roadblock to what they thought would be a clear path to setting new restrictions on abortion if the Supreme Court upends the landmark Roe v. Wade decision: right-to-privacy protections enshrined in their own state constitutions. In states where courts have ruled that their constitutions’ explicit privacy rights extend to the right of a woman to have an abortion, the procedure would continue to be legal even if the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling is overturned, legal scholars and abortion-rights advocates said. (Ehli, 2/17)
KHN:
As Politics Infects Public Health, Private Companies Profit
For some counties and cities that share a public health agency with other local governments, differences over mask mandates, business restrictions, and other covid preventive measures have strained those partnerships. At least two have been pushed past the breaking point. A county in Colorado and a small city in Southern California are splitting from their longtime public health agencies to set up their own local departments. Both Douglas County, Colorado, and West Covina, California, plan to contract some of their health services to private entities. (Ramachandran, 2/17)
KHN:
Teen Traveled To Philly To Get Vaccinated Against His Parents’ Wishes
High school junior Nicolas Montero stays busy. He runs track, works night and weekend shifts at Burger King, and keeps on top of his schoolwork at Neshaminy High School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. But Nicolas’ packed schedule is also strategic: It’s a way to stay out of the house. Nicolas and his parents are separated by a widening political and cultural rift: His parents are a part of a small but vocal minority who oppose covid-19 vaccinations and have refused to let him get the shots. (Feldman, 2/17)
ABC News:
Senators Introduce Bill To Limit Harmful Effects Of Social Media On Young People
Legislators on Wednesday introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting children from the potentially harmful impacts of social media. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., came as Congress held five hearings on the dangers of social media for children and teens aged 16 or younger in recent months, including one at which a whistleblower who testified against Facebook -- now Meta -- about internalized documents that showed the tech giant prioritized profits over the mental well-being of children. (Guevara, 2/16)
The Washington Post:
Senators Unveil Children’s Online Safety Bill After Months Of Pressure On Silicon Valley
The bill also establishes an obligation for companies to prevent the promotion of self-harm, eating disorders, bullying and the sexual abuse of children. And it would allow the federal government to create a program for researchers to access data from companies so that they can do more research about tech’s potential harm of children and teens. (Zakrzewski, 2/16)
Politico:
California Lawmakers Pitch Major Overhaul Of Kids' Web Privacy
Two California lawmakers are proposing a web overhaul to protect California kids when they’re online, the most sweeping privacy measure since voters approved the California Privacy Rights Act in 2020. The bipartisan proposal from Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) is modeled after a 2020 U.K. law requiring online products that children will likely use to adjust their design and operations to improve kids’ privacy and safety. (Luthi, 2/16)
Politico:
Biden Names 2 People To Replace Eric Lander In Top Science Roles
President Joe Biden has tapped two people to temporarily fill Eric Lander’s dual roles as the president’s top science adviser and the head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House announced on Wednesday. Biden named Alondra Nelson, the deputy director for science and society in the OSTP, as director of the office. The president also announced that Francis Collins, who retired in December from his role as director of the National Institutes of Health, would serve as his top science adviser and co-chair of the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (Ward, 2/16)
Stat:
Inside The Culture Of Fear In Eric Lander’s White House Science Office
An early sign that trouble was afoot in the White House science office came last November, when roughly a dozen of Eric Lander’s staff formed a “culture committee” aimed at improving morale. The group’s first action, five aides told STAT, was to create a “word cloud” depicting the adjectives they most often used to describe the work environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Of the dozens of words submitted, three in particular stood out: “hostile,” “siloed,” and “aggressive.” Three months later, Lander resigned as President Biden’s science adviser, after Politico reported a White House investigation that found “credible evidence” that he had violated workplace conduct rules. (Facher, 2/17)
AP:
COVID A Wildcard As Biden Prepares For State Of The Union
President Joe Biden is hoping to use his upcoming State of the Union address to nudge the pandemic into the nation’s rear-view mirror. But it could turn into yet another disruptive display of national tensions and frustration over trying to move past COVID-19. Biden’s March 1 address to Congress will play out against what Vice President Kamala Harris has called a “malaise” over the persistence of COVID and growing public impatience to get back to normal after two years of pandemic restrictions. Even Democratic-run state and local governments are lifting restrictions as cases, hospitalizations and deaths decline. (Miller and Mascaro, 2/17)
USA Today:
More Than 50M American Households Have Received Free COVID Tests
More than 50 million American households have received free at-home COVID-19 testing kits that started going out in late January, according to a White House official. “85 percent of the initial orders are now out the door. And in the next several days, we will complete the shipping of all of the initial orders,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at a news briefing Wednesday. (Santucci, 2/17)
USA Today:
CDC Wants To 'Give People A Break' From Mask Wearing
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, speaking at a White House briefing on COVID-19, said her agency was assessing data and "will soon put guidance in place" that encourages prevention measures while protecting public health and hospitals. The CDC recommends indoor masking in areas with substantial or high transmission. That includes 97% of U.S. counties, Walensky said. "We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better," Walensky said. "And then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen." (Bacon, Ortiz and Santucci, 2/16)
AP:
4-Year-Old Autistic Boy Allowed To Fly Without Wearing Mask
Lawyers representing the family of a 4-year-old boy with autism said Wednesday that they have received a temporary court order from a federal judge exempting him from having to wear a mask when flying from Florida to Boston for treatment. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti Saris in Boston scheduled an emergency hearing Wednesday after the lawyers said two airlines and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declined to grant a mask exception for the boy. His family lives in Sanford, Florida, and must travel for care at Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. (2/17)
AP:
No Mask Mandates As Louisiana Extends Emergency Status
With the state heading into the peak of Carnival season, Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana’s COVID-19 health emergency declaration Wednesday, but did not reinstitute long-expired mask mandates or gathering restrictions. New Orleans, however, plans to keep in place mask mandates and requirements for vaccines or negative tests for many indoor events through Mardi Gras, which falls on March 1. Carnival celebrations were largely canceled last year because of the pandemic. Officials now believe the 2020 celebration was responsible for making the city and state early Southern hot spots of the disease. (McGill, 2/16)
The Washington Post:
Virginia’s Youngkin Signs Law Requiring Public Schools To Make Masks Optional By March 1
Gov. Glenn Youngkin took to the steps of the Virginia Capitol on Wednesday to ceremonially sign a bill making masks optional in public schools, proclaiming before scores of cheering supporters that “we are reaffirming the … fundamental rights all parents have to make decisions for their children.”Youngkin (R) treated the bill-signing like a major campaign event, with schoolchildren brought in as a backdrop and Republican legislators on the steps of the Capitol portico behind them. (Schneider, Vozzella and Natanson, 2/16)
Detroit Free Press:
Michigan Drops Mask Guidance For Schools, Other Indoor Settings
Michigan health department leaders are no longer urging local school leaders and others to require masks in many indoor settings. The new guidance takes effect immediately, reflecting improving COVID-19 trends and similar moves from other administrations across the country amid fierce pressure from critics who argue that mask recommendations at schools are unnecessary. "While Michigan hasn't had statewide mask policies since last June, this updated guidance will underscore that we are getting back to normal," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a news release. (Boucher, 2/16)
AP:
King County Ending Vaccine Requirements At Bars, Restaurants
Washington’s most populous county will no longer require COVID vaccination checks to enter restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms beginning March 1. King County officials made the announcement Wednesday. The Seattle Times reports from March 1, businesses will be free to impose their own vaccination requirements if they choose, but there will be no countywide requirement. (2/16)
AP:
Omaha Lifts Mask Mandate As COVID Cases Plunge In Nebraska
The number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has improved enough in Nebraska that local health officials lifted Omaha’s mask mandate Wednesday, and some of the state’s largest hospitals said they were easing certain restrictions. The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus statewide has fallen steadily since hitting a peak of 767 on Jan. 28. State health officials said 436 people were hospitalized with the virus Tuesday — the lowest number since early November. (Funk, 2/16)
ABC News:
COVID-19 Live Updates: Deaths Increasing In 15 States
The U.S. is reporting an average of 2,200 lives lost to COVID-19 each day. Fifteen states are reporting at least a 10% increase in daily death rates over the last week: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. (Shapiro, Winsor and Deliso, 2/16)
The Hill:
Baltimore Parking Garage Turned Into Morgue For Over 200 Bodies
A parking garage in Baltimore has been converted into a morgue for more than 200 bodies because of a backlog of autopsies. Staffing shortages and an increase in deaths — caused by violence, COVID-19 and drug overdoses — are contributing to the backlog of autopsies in Maryland, according to The Washington Post. (Schnell, 2/16)
The Baltimore Sun:
With ‘Bodies Piling Up,’ Contractors Clearing Backlog At Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office For $850 An Autopsy
A yearslong staffing crisis in the state medical examiner’s office in Baltimore is leading to unprecedented delays in autopsies, an emergency request to federal officials for help and now a legislative push for more workers. To deal with “bodies piling up,” one lawmaker said the statewide agency that investigates sudden and unexpected deaths has turned to a ready source of labor — contractors “flown in from out of state” and recent retirees earning $850 per autopsy. (Cohn, 2/17)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Marks 30,000 Dead From COVID-19
Los Angeles County has marked its 30,000th death related to COVID-19. The milestone came on Wednesday, when 102 deaths were reported, the second-highest daily death toll recorded in 11 months. There have now been five days since late January when daily death tolls have reached triple digits. Daily death tallies are still high and have yet to begin a sustained drop, even as daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have started to decline. Over the past several weeks, L.A. County has been averaging 63 to 73 COVID-19 deaths a day, according to a Times analysis of county data. (Lin II and Money, 2/16)
AP:
Estimated 73% Of US Now Immune To Omicron: Is That Enough?
The omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defenses, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society. Millions of individual Americans’ immune systems now recognize the virus and are primed to fight it off if they encounter omicron, or even another variant. (Johnson, 2/17)
NBC News:
Air Force Can’t Compel Christian Officer To Get Covid Shot, Judge Rules
A federal judge in Georgia has temporarily blocked the U.S. military from enforcing its Covid-19 vaccine mandate against an Air Force officer seeking a religious exemption. The order was handed down a month after the unnamed officer, who is a Christian, filed a lawsuit alleging that the mandate violates her religious beliefs. (Kube, 2/16)
Bay Area News Group:
San Jose: Booster Mandate Deadline Extended After Employees Fail To Comply
San Jose has extended the deadline for its COVID-19 booster mandate after hundreds of employees failed to comply in time for the initial cutoff. The deadline for the new booster mandate — previously set to expire on Feb. 11 — has been pushed out two weeks to Feb. 25 to “allow for additional time for employees to be ‘up-to-date’ with their COVID-19 vaccination,” according to an email sent out to the city’s workforce Tuesday afternoon. While 95% of the city’s workforce is fully vaccinated, just 82% of its more than 6,000 actively working and booster-eligible employees have submitted proof of a booster shot, according to data from the city’s Office of Employee Relations. That leaves about 800 workers currently in defiance of the order. (Angst, 2/16)
Reuters:
Moderna Eyes COVID Booster By August, Not Clear Yet If Omicron-Specific Needed
An Omicron-specific booster could be ready by August, the CEO of U.S. biotech firm Moderna (MRNA.O) told Reuters, but the firm is still gathering clinical data to determine whether that vaccine would offer better protection than a new dose of the existing jab. Last month Moderna began clinical trials for a booster dose specifically designed to target Omicron but initial results from studies in monkeys show the Omicron-specific shot may not offer stronger protection than a new dose of the existing vaccine. (Guarascio, 2/17)
Reuters:
Pfizer And BioNTech Omicron-Targeted Vaccine Delayed - BioNTech CEO
Delivery of Pfizer and BioNTech SE's vaccine to combat the Omicron COVID-19 variant was delayed by several weeks due to a slower-than expected data gathering process, BionTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Germany's Bild on Thursday. Once the vaccine is ready, the company would assess whether it was still needed, Sahin said. (2/16)
Reuters:
Antacid Shows Promise Against COVID-19 Symptoms
In non-hospitalized, unvaccinated adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, treatment with a high dose of the antacid drug famotidine helped speed resolution of symptoms and inflammation in a small randomized controlled trial. Roughly half of those in the 55-patient trial took famotidine - the main ingredient in Johnson & Johnson's widely used over-the-counter Pepsid heartburn drug - three times a day for two weeks. The others took a dummy pill. Patients in the famotidine group had faster resolution of 14 of 16 symptoms assessed in the study, including loss of smell and taste, difficulty breathing and abdominal pain. (2/17)
The Atlantic:
The Pandemic Isn’t Over For Immunocompromised People
In the past, immunocompromised people lived with their higher risk of infection, but COVID represents a new threat that, for many, has further jeopardized their ability to be part of the world. From the very start of the pandemic, some commentators have floated the idea “that we can protect the vulnerable and everyone else can go on with their lives,” Seth Trueger, who is on immunosuppressants for an autoimmune complication of cancer, told me. “How’s that supposed to work?” He is an emergency doctor at Northwestern Medicine; he can neither work from home nor protect himself by avoiding public spaces. “How am I supposed to provide for my family or live my life if there’s a pandemic raging?” he said. Contrary to popular misconceptions, most immunocompromised people are neither visibly sick nor secluded. “I know very few people who are immunocompromised and get to live in a bubble,” says Maggie Levantovskaya, a writer and literature professor who has lupus, an autoimmune disorder that can cause debilitating inflammation across the entire body. (Yong, 2/16)
The New York Times:
Covid Patients May Have Higher Risk Of Mental Health Problems
Social isolation, economic stress, loss of loved ones and other struggles during the pandemic have contributed to rising mental health issues like anxiety and depression. But can having Covid itself increase the risk of developing mental health problems? A large new study suggests it can. (Belluck, 2/16)
CIDRAP:
COVID Vax–Related Myocarditis May Be Milder Than That Of Other Causes
While cardiac imaging shows that COVID-19 vaccine–associated myocarditis has a similar pattern as that from other causes, the abnormalities are less severe and result in less functional impairment, suggests a study yesterday in Radiology. Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) after vaccination is rare, but some cases have been reported after receipt of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. (2/16)
CIDRAP:
Physician Survey Reveals Cracks In The US Drug Supply Chain
Seven of 10 US physicians say that the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened drug supply chain problems, limiting their ability to provide quality patient care, according to a new US Pharmacopeia (USP) survey. "Physicians on the front lines observed the impact first-hand, navigating shortages in medicines, personal protective equipment and other supplies, on top of the demands of providing care to an unprecedented volume of patients," USP, an independent global scientific organization, said in the survey report. (Van Beusekom, 2/16)
Stat:
AstraZeneca Wins One Round In An Escalating Battle Over The 340B Program
In the latest twist in a closely watched legal battle, a U.S. judge ruled Wednesday that a federal agency incorrectly threatened AstraZeneca (AZN) with penalties for curtailing discounts to a controversial prescription drug discount program that serves mostly low-income patients. At issue is the 340B program, which requires drugmakers to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be much higher — on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that serve low-income populations. There are approximately 12,400 so-called covered entities, including 2,500 hospitals, participating in the program, a number that has grown substantially in recent years. (Silverman, 2/16)
Modern Healthcare:
Certain Specialty Pharmacy Drugs Double In Price At Hospitals, Study Finds
Hospitals, on average, charge double the price for the same drugs sold by specialty pharmacies, according to research from America's Health Insurance Plans. Upon analyzing the 10 drugs that amounted to the highest Medicare Part B spend from 2018-2020—and were purchased, stored and administered in a healthcare setting—an AHIP study published Wednesday found that drug treatments given in hospitals were marked up an average of $7,000, when compared to those purchased through specialty pharmacies. As these drugs typically do not have biosimilars or generics that provide cost competition, specialty pharmacies are responding to a crucial market need to lower drug prices, said Sergio Santiviago, vice president of drug policy at AHIP. (Devereaux, 2/16)
Politico:
Trump-Era Medicare Program Under Increased Scrutiny
The Biden administration is debating whether to overhaul a major Trump-era program tied to Medicare as soon as this week in the face of rising pressure from prominent progressive Democrats, more than a half-dozen people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The Trump program — known as a direct contracting model — allows private companies to participate in Medicare as part of a broader health department effort to improve care while limiting the government’s costs. (Levy and Cancryn, 2/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Pennsylvania’s Insurance Chief To Become Covered CA Leader
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman will succeed Peter V. Lee as the leader of Covered California, the agency charged with ensuring state residents get quality insurance coverage at an affordable price. Lee, the California insurance exchange’s founding executive director, leaves after more than a decade of service. “We have made tremendous progress in California and across the nation as a result of Peter’s vision, passion and leadership — and because of the great team he has brought together and our state’s commitment to work together on behalf of all Californians,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California’s Department of Health and Human Services. “That work has improved the lives of millions of Californians and meant that Covered California has served as a national proving ground. (Anderson, 2/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Blue Cross Of Louisiana Faces Class-Action Over National BlueCard Program
A Blue Cross and Blue Shield company faces a class-action lawsuit over a national program that requires providers contracted with Blue Cross Blue Shield Association members to accept rates negotiated by Blues plans from other states. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana must defend itself against a lawsuit representing providers from the Pelican State, Judge John Conery ruled Monday when he upheld a previous denial of the insurer's request for summary judgment. (Tepper, 2/16)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Nursing Home Owner Bob Dean Claims Dementia, Memory Loss Amid Legal Battles
Notorious nursing home operator Bob Dean has “significant dementia and cognitive impairment” and should not be forced to sit for depositions in the various lawsuits targeting him, according to letters recently penned by two Georgia doctors. The letters from a neurologist and hematologist were filed last month under seal in federal court, where Dean faces a slew of lawsuits over his decision to evacuate seven nursing homes for Hurricane Ida and warehouse their 843 residents in squalid conditions in Tangipahoa Parish. (Simerman and Gallo, 2/17)
USA Today:
Organ Transplants During COVID Set Records In 2021, UNOS Data Show
But the dearth didn't last for long. Last year, a record-breaking 41,354 transplants were performed, according to preliminary data from United Network for Organ Sharing, the first time the U.S. has ever exceeded 40,000 transplants. Dr. Matthew Cooper, president of the UNOS Board of Directors, said the organization continues to see transplantation “increase substantially." “There was a period of early March to the end of April (in 2020) where it was just crisis mode and nobody was doing anything,” said Jill Grandas, executive director of DCI Donor Services, which make up three organ procurement organizations in Tennessee, New Mexico, and California. “Things were pretty abysmal at that point. But in May, our donor programs quickly rebounded and transplantation began again.” (Rodriguez, 2/17)
Stat:
Altering The Blood Type Of Lungs Raises Potential For Universal Organs For Transplants
It was 4 a.m. on a humid night in St. Catharines, Ontario, and Elizabeth Ostrander couldn’t breathe. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, complicated by pneumonia, was suffocating her, doctors told her that day in 2016. If she hadn’t gotten to the hospital when she did, she would have died, Ostrander remembers them saying. She was in her early 50s. She would spend the next five years hooked to an oxygen tank, cords tangling around her in her sleep. The incurable disease worsened until she had just 25% of her lung capacity left. It was so difficult to breathe that she could barely lug groceries from her car to her kitchen, much less be the “avid camper” she was before. She had to stop working, and was placed on the lung transplant waiting list. (Cueto, 2/16)
Axios:
Bionic Eye Recipients Left In The Dark With Obsolete Tech
A nightmare scenario: A cutting-edge, life-changing device embedded in your body fails and the company behind it is all but gone. It happened to more than 350 people who are blind around the world who received artificial eyes only to be abandoned by the company that invented them, Second Sight Medical Products, the technology journal IEEE Spectrum writes. (Muller, 2/17)
Miami Herald:
FL House Approves 15-Week Abortion Ban. Senate Action To Come
The Florida House on Wednesday passed a historic and controversial bill banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In a nearly party-line, 78 to 39 vote, lawmakers dealt a stinging blow to abortion rights in Florida, which has some of the strongest protections in the South for those seeking the procedure. At the same time, Republicans delivered a long-sought victory for opponents of abortion. (Wilson, 2/17)
AP:
Arkansas Senate Tables Efforts For Texas-Style Abortion Ban
The Republican-dominated Arkansas Senate tabled efforts Thursday to enact an abortion ban modeled on Texas’ restrictive law, thus dimming prospects for it to come back up during this year’s session. The Senate voted 20-11 to table resolutions that would have allowed lawmakers to consider banning abortion except to save a mother’s life. Like the Texas law, the ban would be enforced by private citizens filing lawsuits. (2/16)
Columbus Dispatch:
Columbus Mayor Ginther Declares Gun Violence Public Health Crisis
After 2021 became the second-consecutive record year for homicides in the city, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and other city leaders announced Tuesday that they are taking the significant step of declaring gun violence a public health crisis within the city. For the first time in the city's history, Columbus Health Commissioner Myshieka Roberts will coordinate with other city departments to address the problem of gun violence from a public health perspective, Ginther said. (Lagatta, 2/15)
NBC News:
Cuts To California Cannabis Taxes Would Harm Low-Income Youths, Advocates Say
Amid concerns that California’s cannabis industry is overtaxed and on the brink of collapse, children’s and youth advocates say cutting marijuana taxes could put badly needed social service programs in jeopardy. Small cannabis farmers and business owners have repeatedly asked the state to overhaul the industry's tax system as they struggle to stay afloat with rising operating and regulatory costs. (Lozano, 2/16)
NPR:
How States Are Doing At Supporting Kids' Mental Health At School
There's a growing consensus that the pandemic has taken a big emotional toll on young people. Among other troubling signs, children's hospitals across the country have seen more kids showing up in their emergency rooms for mental health reasons, seeking care for everything from severe anxiety and eating disorders to suicide attempts. The vast majority of Americans – 87% – are concerned about the wellbeing of the next generation, according to a new poll. In response to the crisis, a group of 17 national mental health organizations are calling for a new investment in school-based mental health support for kids. The group published a new report this week rating states based on how well they are addressing the crisis through programs and services in schools. (Chatterjee, 2/16)
USA Today:
Youth Mental Health Is A Crisis. Why Aren't States Doing More To Help?
Young people’s mental health is in such bad shape that several of the country’s leading pediatric groups called it a national emergency last fall. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy even issued an advisory – a move reserved for the most urgent public health challenges – highlighting the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the already-dire state of children’s mental health. “It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place,” Murthy wrote, outlining recommendations on how agencies such as schools can take action. (Wong, 2/16)
NBC News:
Percentage Of LGBTQ Adults In U.S. Has Doubled Over Past Decade, Gallup Finds
Gallup found that the increase is due to ”high LGBT self-identification, particularly as bisexual, among Generation Z adults,” who are 18 to 25. It asked more than 12,000 U.S. adults how they identify during telephone interviews last year. It found that younger U.S. adults are much more likely to identify as LGBTQ than older generations. More than 1 in 5, or 21 percent, of Generation Z adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup found. That’s almost double the proportion of millennials, who are 26 to 41, at 10.5 percent, and nearly five times the proportion of Generation X, who are 42 to 57, at 4.2 percent. (Yurcaba, 2/17)
The Washington Post:
WHO Says Global Case Decline Affected By Drop In Testing, Deaths Still Alarmingly High
Newly reported coronavirus cases are dropping worldwide, but World Health Organization officials urged caution Wednesday, saying that a drop in testing may be contributing to that decline and that covid deaths remain alarmingly high. During the week starting Feb. 7, health officials reported 16.3 million new infections globally, an 18.2 percent drop from the prior week, according to WHO figures. Deaths, though, inched higher in the same period, to above 73,000, an increase of 0.5 percent from the previous week. (Jeong, Hassan and Timsit, 2/17)
The Washington Post:
Malaysia, South Korea Face Record Coronavirus Cases Amid Asia-Pacific Omicron Surge
As coronavirus cases and restrictions fall in the United States and Europe, parts of Asia and the Pacific are in the thick of a surge driven by the omicron variant, with Malaysia and South Korea reporting new daily records Thursday. Malaysia logged 27,831 new cases on Thursday, the country’s highest tally of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. South Korea reported 93,135 new infections on the same day, also its daily record. Indonesia and New Zealand marked new daily records Wednesday, while Vietnam, Singapore, Japan and Thailand all remain in the grasp of omicron with high case counts. (Jeong, 2/17)
NBC News:
Chinese Students Stranded In U.S. By Coronavirus
Tim Fan was so close to getting home. For the first time since before the pandemic, he was on a plane to China, looking forward to seeing his family and celebrating his recent graduation from a college in Washington state. But halfway into the 12-hour flight from Seattle to Shanghai in late December, the Delta Air Lines plane made a sudden U-turn back to the United States. The airline cited burdensome new disinfection procedures at the airport in Shanghai, which Chinese officials disputed. Almost two months later, Fan is still in Seattle, his journey home hindered by a lack of flights, exorbitant ticket prices and his own Covid-19 infection. Chinese rules prevent him from entering the country until well after he is recovered. (Chen and Yang, 2/16)
Stat:
Toxic Levels Of Pharmaceuticals Threaten The Health Of The World's Rivers
In one of the first attempts to examine pharmaceutical pollution in rivers around the world, a new study found numerous medicines at potentially toxic levels in more than one-quarter of the waterways, indicating the contaminants pose a global threat to environmental and human health. Moreover, the most contaminated sites were located in low-to-middle-income countries. In particular, the most troubling pollution was seen in areas with pharmaceutical manufacturing, poor wastewater, and inadequate infrastructure for waste management, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (Silverman, 2/16)