First Edition: July 14, 2021

KHN: Dying Patients With Rare Diseases Struggle To Get Experimental Therapies 
At 15, Autumn Fuernisen is dying. She was diagnosed at age 11 with a rare degenerative brain disorder that has no known cure or way to slow it down: juvenile-onset Huntington’s disease. “There’s lots of things that she used to be able to do just fine,” said her mom, Londen Tabor, who lives with her daughter in Gillette, Wyoming. Autumn’s speech has become slurred and her cognitive skills slower. She needs help with many tasks, such as writing, showering and dressing, and while she can walk, her balance is off. Autumn has been turned down for clinical trials because she is too young. (Bennett, 7/14)

KHN: Red State, Blue State, Twin Outbreak: Behind Wyoming And Colorado’s Anomalous Covid Spikes 
Brandon Graves said covid-19 arrived in Wheatland the way new movies do in this High Plains farming town: months after hitting the big cities and without much fanfare. “It kind of trickled in and it never really exploded here,” said Graves, a lifelong resident and mayor of the town of about 3,500, the largest in Platte County. (Bichell, 7/14)

KHN: As Congress Wrestles With Plans To Expand Medicare, Becerra Says Any One Will Do 
The Biden administration will support whatever expansions to Medicare Congress is willing to make, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working on plans both to add benefits to the health program for seniors and to lower its eligibility age from 65 to 60. But the efforts are mired in competing priorities among different wings of the party as they try to push through a spending plan this year that Republicans have vowed to oppose. President Joe Biden called for the change in Medicare age eligibility while campaigning in 2020. (Rovner, 7/13)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Becerra Urges Congress To Expand Medicare, Address Rx Prices 
The Biden administration stands ready to work with Congress to address drug prices and expand Medicare, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a wide-ranging interview with “What the Health?” on Tuesday. The former California attorney general also said his top priority while in office is to attack health disparities. “There are a whole bunch of Black and brown communities that have never had the kind of access to care that others have,” he said. “And when they come to the doctor, they come with the kind of conditions that show they didn’t have health care before.” (7/13)

USA Today: Senate Democrats Reach $3.5 Trillion Deal For Biden's 'Human Infrastructure' Agenda, Medicare Expansion
Senate Democrats reached an agreement Tuesday night on a $3.5 trillion budget plan that would expand Medicare, fund climate-change initiatives and fulfill other parts of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass on top of a bipartisan infrastructure bill. After a lengthy meeting among Democrats on the Senate’s Budget Committee, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., announced the agreement for a budget reconciliation package that would fund what Biden has called "human infrastructure." (Behrmann and Garrison, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Senate Democrats Reach $3.5 Trillion Budget Deal
Senate Democrats on Tuesday reached an early agreement to pursue a sweeping $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that would expand Medicare benefits, boost federal safety net programs and combat climate change, aiming to sidestep Republican opposition and deliver on President Biden’s top economic priorities. The wide array of planned health, education and social programs would represent a historic burst of federal spending if lawmakers ultimately adopt it, as Democrats aim to seize on their slim but powerful majorities in Washington to expand the footprint of government and catalyze major changes in the economy. (Romm, Kim and Stein, 7/13)

NBC News: Senate Democrats Reveal $3.5 Trillion Plan To Invest In Health Care, Climate Change And More
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the $3.5 trillion would be in addition to the $579 billion in new spending in the bipartisan infrastructure agreement. He said the deal would include a "robust expansion of Medicare" that would include new benefits like dental, vision and hearing coverage, along with major funding for clean energy. "If we pass this, this is the most profound change to help American families in generations," he said. (Kapur and Thorp V, 7/13)

Bloomberg: Marijuana Legalization Put On Congress's Agenda By Senate Democrats
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Finance Chairman Ron Wyden and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker will release a discussion draft of their marijuana legalization bill at a press conference Wednesday, according to a person familiar with their plans. The bill will be called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and is expected to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. The bill would also tax and regulate marijuana on the federal level, while leaving states able to enforce their own laws regarding the drug. (Dennis, 7/13)

AP: Biden Picks Ex-West Virginia Health Official As Drug Czar
The nomination drew bipartisan praise from West Virginia officials. Republican Gov. Jim Justice called it “great news,” and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said the pick “means someone with firsthand knowledge of the opioid crisis, especially in West Virginia, will be coordinating the national fight against the drug epidemic that continues to ravage our nation.” “Dr. Gupta will bring over a decade of extensive experience combatting the drug epidemic to ONDCP – the office charged with addressing the drug epidemic that has killed over 90,000 Americans just last year,” Manchin said in a statement. (Miller, 7/13)

CNN: Justice Clarence Thomas Rejects Longshot Bid To Disrupt Biden's Mask Mandate For Public Transport 
Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday rejected an emergency request to block Biden administration's Covid-19 mask requirement for public travel. The request was brought by a man seeking to leave Florida by airplane, who said his Generalized Anxiety Disorder prevented him from wearing a mask. While the Supreme Court has been willing to disrupt other coronavirus-related regulations, particularly as they affected religious gatherings, there was no apparent appetite for disturbing the public transportation mask mandate. (Sneed, 7/13)

The Hill: Seven Mississippi Children Hospitalized As Delta Variant Surges
Seven Mississippi children are currently in the hospital due to COVID-19 infections, with two of the young people on life support, the state’s top health official announced Tuesday. Mississippi State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said in a tweet that seven children infected with the virus were in the intensive care unit (ICU) and two of them were on ventilators. (Castronuovo, 7/13)

USA Today: COVID-19 Outbreak Rattles Missouri: Patients Are 'Younger And Sicker'
The COVID-19 crisis in and around Springfield, Missouri, where hospitals are now flooded with coronavirus cases, is likely a preview of what's in store for the rest of the state as the delta variant continues to spread. That's the belief of Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, a key health care system in southwest Missouri. Cox is currently treating 127 patients, similar to the number it had during last winter's horrific surge, and nearly a tenfold increase from the 14 such patients seven weeks ago. Edwards said he hopes people in other parts of Missouri, whose vaccination rate ranks in the bottom 20 among states, "begin to realize that we're kind of a harbinger for the rest of the state." (Ortiz and Bacon, 7/13)

NPR: COVID-19 Cases In Parts Of Missouri And Arkansas Rebound To Winter Levels
In Springfield, Mo., firefighters are giving vaccine shots. Churches are scrambling to schedule vaccine clinics. Students and staff at summer school at the public schools are back to wearing masks. Dozens of traveling nurses are due to arrive at one of the city's two biggest hospitals over the coming weeks; extra ventilators from around Missouri and Arkansas were transported to the other major hospital after it ran short over the July Fourth weekend. The outbreak of COVID-19 in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas has become the nation's largest and is mostly driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Officials warn it could continue to grow unchecked if vaccination rates stay low. (Sullivan, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Covid-19 Case Counts Have Doubled In Recent Weeks
New Covid-19 cases are on the rise in a number of states across the U.S., worrying health officials and epidemiologists as many Americans remain unvaccinated and the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads. The U.S. is averaging more than 23,000 new cases a day, double the seven-day average of around 11,300 cases three weeks ago, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. On 17 of the past 18 days, the seven-day case average was higher than the 14-day average, also suggesting cases have been rising nationally. (Ansari, 7/13)

AP: US COVID-19 Cases Rising Again, Doubling Over Three Weeks
The COVID-19 curve in the U.S. is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases per day doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings. Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And all but two states — Maine and South Dakota — reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks. (Hollingsworth and Funk, 7/14)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Cases Surge In L.A. County, Fueled By ‘Enormously Selfish’ Unvaccinated
For the fifth consecutive day, Los Angeles County has recorded more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases. Health officials say the upward trajectory is almost entirely driven by transmission among those who have yet to be vaccinated for COVID-19, as well as increased circulation of the easily spread Delta variant of the virus. “It’s clear that the threat of COVID-19 is still with us and that we are dealing with a more infectious variant that causes it,” county Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said. “The best collective action that each of us can take is to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if you’re eligible, and to take sensible precautions if you are not eligible or choose not to get vaccinated.” (Money, 7/13)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: As COVID Cases Tick Up, New Orleans Officials Weigh Mask Rules For Fall Events For Unvaccinated
With cases of the more transmissive delta variant of the coronavirus rising in Louisiana and across the U.S., New Orleans officials on Tuesday warned residents to take precautions and asked them to get vaccinated if they haven't already. “Delta is here, delta is dangerous, and delta is killing people. This should scare the hell out of you,” said Beau Tidwell, spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, during a news conference. “The message from the mayor is that this is very serious, and you need to get your shot. We can’t be more clear or more stark than that.” (Sorapuru, 7/13)

Fox News: St. Louis County Urges Masks Regardless Of Vaccination Status
St. Louis County health officials are urging residents to mask up while in indoor public settings and even while at large outdoor gatherings when social distancing is not possible regardless of vaccination status amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The update, posted Monday, follows an advisory issued July 1 warning about increases in community transmission due to the Delta variant.  The official guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has remained that vaccinated individuals do not need to wear a mask while indoors, or while in large gatherings. However, amid the variant spread, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been pressed on whether the guidance will change. (Hein, 7/13)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals In Low-Vaccination States Struggle As COVID-19 Surges
More than two dozen states have experienced increases in COVID-19 cases over the past seven days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Coronavirus Tracking Center. States with the highest seven-day average increases in cases also have some of the country's lowest vaccination rates. In Missouri, the rate of new cases over the past week was 127 for every 100,000 residents, only 46% of the state's population have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and just 40% have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S. overall, new cases were 31 per 100,000, 56% of people have gotten at least one shot and 48% are fully vaccinated, CDC data show. (Ross Johnson, 7/13)

CNN: What Hospitals Look Like In US Covid-19 Hot Spots Right Now 
Dr. Sergio Segarra says when Covid-19 patient numbers in the Miami hospital he works in dipped below 20 last month, he began feeling optimistic. "I remember seeing articles in the news about hospitals in California with empty Covid units and I longed for that experience," Segarra, the chief medical officer with Baptist Health's Baptist Hospital, said. "It's an experience we were working our way towards that unfortunately has taken a rather sad turn." (Maxouris, 7/14)

NBC News: Coronavirus Strains' Spread Boosted By Superspreader Events
Superspreader events that first seeded the coronavirus in the United States are keeping the pandemic smoldering, with experts pointing to human behavior and social circles as the main drivers. The problem persists even as the country nears the milestone of having half of its population fully vaccinated. At a church camp in South Texas in late June, an outbreak was linked to more than 125 cases of Covid-19. Eighty-five infections in central Illinois were traced back to a summer camp in mid-June. (Chow, 7/14)

Stat: Vaccine Developer Sees Booster Shots As Key To Exiting Covid-19 Pandemic
The world will not get the Covid-19 pandemic under control without using booster shots for messenger RNA vaccines, one of the key figures involved in the development of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine said Tuesday. Ugur Sahin, co-founder and CEO of BioNTech, insisted booster shots are going to be necessary, despite caution from some experts. “At the end of the day it really matters that we get this pandemic under control. And we will not get it under control without boosting. That’s my strong opinion,” Sahin said. (Branswell, 7/13)

CBS News: Carnival Cruises Requiring Unvaccinated Passengers Be Insured Before Boarding
Unvaccinated passengers who want to board a Carnival-owned cruise ship must first buy a travel insurance policy worth at least $10,000, according to a recently announced company rule. The insurance requirement takes effect July 31 and applies to excursions leaving from Florida, Carnival said on its booking website. Carnival has four Florida ports, in Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. (Brooks, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Florida Gov. DeSantis Sells Anti-Fauci Merchandise As Doctor Draws Republican Ire 
“Don’t Fauci My Florida,” read drink koozies and T-shirts that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign team rolled out just as his state sees some of the highest coronavirus hospitalizations, new infections and deaths per capita in the country. It’s the latest example of Republicans running on their opposition to virus-fueled shutdowns and mask mandates. A pandemic hero to some and villain to others, Fauci has become a high-profile target. (Knowles, 7/13)

Boston Herald: Boston College Faces Fury Over Vaccine Exemptions Denied Over Abortion Link
Boston College is facing a wave of Catholic parents and students “disgusted” by religious exemptions being denied over a link to aborted fetal tissue used to test the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines. Some of those parents told the Herald Monday they are rallying together in a desperate attempt to change the Jesuit school’s stance before fall classes begin on August 30. Some are also concerned top athletes could drop out. “This is a nightmare,” said one mother. “This is not what BC taught me when I was there,” said an alumna. “Even my priest couldn’t believe it.” (Dwinell, 7/13)

Crain's Chicago Business: UChicago Medicine To Require COVID Vaccine For Workers
The University of Chicago Medicine system is requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to an internal memo obtained by Crain's. The mandate follows a UChicago announcement today that all university employees are expected to get vaccinated, unless they’re exempt for medical, religious or another authorized reason. Three-hospital Loyola Medicine also is mandating COVID vaccines for employees, a move its Michigan-based parent announced last week. (Goldberg, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Organizations Call For Requiring Health Workers To Get Coronavirus Shots 
A coalition of health-care organizations called on medical facilities Tuesday to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus, saying the strategy has worked to fight influenza and other infectious diseases and is necessary to contain the pandemic. “COVID-19 vaccination should be a condition of employment for all healthcare personnel,” the coalition’s statement reads, warning that “a sufficient vaccination rate is unlikely to be achieved” without a vaccine mandate. (Diamond, 7/13)

Modern Healthcare: Nurses Ask CDC To Reinstate Universal Masking Rule
National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses, is urging the CDC to reestablish its recommendation for everyone to wear masks in public, regardless of vaccination status, to prevent COVID-19 infections and variants from spreading. In a letter sent Monday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NNU asked the agency to reinstate universal masking, update its COVID-19 guidance to fully recognize aerosol transmission and require infection tracking and reporting among essential workers as well as those who are fully vaccinated. (Devereaux, 7/13)

AP: Ex-Tennessee Vaccine Leader: Firing Put Politics Over Health
Tennessee’s former top vaccinations official said Tuesday that she couldn’t stay silent after she was fired this week amid scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers over her department’s outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers against COVID-19. Dr. Michelle Fiscus, who was the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said the state’s elected leaders put politics over the health of children by firing her for her efforts to get more Tennesseans vaccinated. (Mattise, 7/14)

USA Today: Tennessee Halts Vaccine Outreach To Minors, Not Just For COVID-19
The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Tennessean. If the health department must issue any information about vaccines, staff are instructed to strip the agency logo off the documents. The health department will also stop all COVID-19 vaccine events on school property, despite holding at least one such event this month. The decisions to end vaccine outreach and school events come directly from Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, the internal report states. (Kellman, 7/13)

CNN: Young Children Will Pay The Price If Enough US Adults Don't Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19, Expert Says 
Children will likely pay the price for adults in the US not getting vaccinated at high enough rates to slow or stop the spread of Covid-19, which has been surging in most states, a vaccine expert said. Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN's Anderson Cooper Tuesday that if vaccination rates among adults and kids 12 and older continue to lag amid increased spread of the virus, the youngest members of the population will be most affected. (Holcombe, 7/14)

Fox News: 'Foolish' Not To Vaccinate Young Kids If COVID-19 Shots Found Safe, Effective, Expert Says
If ongoing clinical trials and regulators conclude COVID-19 vaccines in younger children aged 6 to 11 are safe and effective, an expert with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) said "we would be foolish not to vaccinate" kids. The comments from Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at University of Utah School of Medicine, adjunct professor of internal medicine, professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah and fellow at IDSA, come as the debate over school reopenings intensifies. "As somebody who takes care of very sick kids, it drives me crazy to hear over and over again that the virus is not serious for children," Pavia told a virtual IDSA, CDC briefing Tuesday. "It’s not nearly as serious as it is for adults and particularly for older adults but by every measure, the impact is greater than the impact of influenza." (Rivas, 7/13)

Bloomberg: CDC Vaccine Panel To Discuss J&J’s Covid Vaccine, Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Covid-19 vaccine safety, including the possible risks from a rare immune-system disorder, will be the focus of an advisory panel meeting scheduled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on July 22. The announcement by the CDC comes a day after the fact sheet for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 shot was revised by federal regulators to warn about a “small possible risk” for Guillain-Barré Syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nerves. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, includes medical and public health experts that advise the agency on vaccine use and safety. (Rutherford, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Pfizer COVID Vaccine Shows 78% Efficacy In Pregnancy
Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were safe and 78% effective in preventing infection in pregnant women in a real-world study in Israel. Led by researchers at Maccabi Healthcare Services in Tel Aviv, the retrospective, observational study was published yesterday in JAMA. It involved analyzing data on 15,060 women in a pregnancy registry of a large, state-mandated healthcare system who were vaccinated with a first dose from Dec 19, 2020, to Feb 28, 2021. (Van Beusekom, 7/13)

Modern Healthcare: Premier, Honeywell To Boost Supply Of U.S.-Made Exam Gloves
Premier and Honeywell will team up to increase the supply of exam gloves made in the U.S., the organizations announced Tuesday. The group purchasing and consulting organization and the manufacturing conglomerate initially will produce 750 million nitrile gloves over a year. While the supply of most personal protective equipment has replenished since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical-grade exam gloves are still running short amidst global raw material scarcity, port closures and delays, and higher-than-average demand. (Kacik, 7/13)

Stat: Judge Rules Insulin Makers And PBMs Must Face Racketeering Claims
A federal judge dropped allegations that three drug makers engaged in antitrust practices by scheming to overcharge for insulin, but the companies will continue to face racketeering claims in a lawsuit brought by pharmaceutical wholesalers. In the lawsuit, the insulin makers — Eli Lilly (LLY), Sanofi  (SNY), and Novo Nordisk (NVO) — were accused of inflating prices by paying kickbacks in the form of rebates and various administrative fees to pharmacy benefit managers in exchange for favorable placement on formularies. These are lists of medicines for which coverage is provided by health insurers that hire PBMs to negotiate on their behalf. (Silverman, 7/13)

The Boston Globe: ‘This Is Unprecedented’: Several Private Insurers Won’t Cover Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug
At least half-a-dozen private health insurers in some of the nation’s largest states are balking at covering Biogen’s controversial drug for Alzheimer’s disease, saying it is an experimental and unproven treatment despite being approved by the federal government one month ago. Six affiliates of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Florida, New York, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania say in newly adopted policies they will not cover the Cambridge biotech’s drug, Aduhelm, because they consider it “investigational” or “experimental” or because “a clinical benefit has not been established.” Aduhelm, which is priced at $56,000 a year, is intended to slow cognitive decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s symptoms, regardless of their age. (Saltzman, 7/13)

Stat: Patient Data Company Truveta Raises $95 Million, Lands Hospital Partners
A company formed to aggregate and sell de-identified data on millions of American patients has attracted a trio of new hospital partners, adding providers in Dallas and Washington, D.C., to a national network that now includes 17 health systems. Truveta, helmed by former Microsoft executive Terry Myerson, has signed on D.C.-based MedStar Health and the Dallas-based health systems Baylor Scott & White and Texas Health Resources. The hospitals now participating in the company’s efforts account for about 15% of care delivered across 40 U.S. states. (Ross, 7/13)

CNN: Drinking Alcohol Linked With Cancer, Study Finds 
Over 4% of all new cancer cases in 2020 were attributable to alcohol consumption, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The researchers analyzed available data on population-level alcohol use in 2010 and on cancer cases in 2020. They assumed a 10-year period between alcohol consumption and the appearance of cancer, since the types of cancer included in the study -- lip and oral cavity cancer, laryngeal cancer and breast cancer (among females) -- have lengthy development periods and previous evidence of a causal relationship with alcohol consumption. (Rogers, 7/13)

Philadelphia Inquirer: More Black Patients Are Participating In Clinical Trials For Cancer Treatment At Penn Thanks To This Effort
Health care professionals have been wrestling with various inequities in their field, with varying results. One success story is a five-year effort by the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania to enroll more Black patients with cancer in clinical trials. The trials give more Black patients access to the latest cancer treatments -- and promise wider benefits too. In 2014, Black residents comprised 19% of the 12-county area around and including Philadelphia. And 16.5% of cancer patients were Black. Yet at Abramson, only 12.2% of patients in cancer treatment trials were Black. After the five-year effort, the number of Black patients enrolled in the trials nearly doubled – to 20.9%. (Bauers, 7/14)

Stat: Extending Gene Therapy's Reach Means Hurdling Scientific And Price Barriers
While Covid-19 struck a blow to a vast number of clinical trials around the world, the pandemic may turn out to be a boon for bringing gene therapies to more people in the coming years. “Who would have predicted three years ago that we’d now be having billions of doses manufactured of mRNA packaged in a lipid nanoparticle?” Sekar Kathiresan, CEO of Verve Therapeutics said Tuesday during the STAT Breakthrough Science Summit. (Molteni, 7/14)

CBS News: 18 Attorneys General Call For Improved Car-Seat Standards Following CBS News Reports
Attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia are demanding federal regulators create a side-impact crash-test standard and better labeling standards for children's car seats. In a letter sent Tuesday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steven Cliff, the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the attorneys general called for "NHTSA to take swift action." (Van Cleave, 7/13)

AP: West Virginia Opposes Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Plan
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he will oppose OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan, arguing that his state, one of the hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, would get shorted in settlement money. “I remain vigorously opposed to a proposed allocation formula that would distribute settlement funds largely based on a state or local government’s population – not intensity of the problem,” Morrisey said Tuesday. (7/14)

AP: Maine Governor To Hold 3rd Annual Opioid Crisis Summit
Maine’s governor plans to host the a virtual summit about the opioid crisis this week. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said she has scheduled the third annual Governor’s Opioid Response Summit for Thursday. She said the event is designed to assemble health care providers, policy experts, law enforcement officials and members of the public to work together on the opioid crisis. (7/14)

USA Today: American Fitness Index: Arlington, Virginia, No. 1; Oklahoma City Last
Americans were shut out of gyms and other indoor exercise venues for much of last year as COVID-19 raged and leaders locked down group gatherings. The annual ranking of the fittest U.S. cities released Tuesday shows Americans’ options to stay physically fit during the pandemic hinged on geography. Those who lived in communities with walkable neighborhoods, trails and bike paths had more ways to stay active and stave off high blood pressure, obesity or heart disease. The American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation publishes the annual American Fitness Index ranking the nation’s 100 most populous cities by 34 variables of personal health behaviors, outcomes and community indicators such as air quality and walkability. The report aims to evaluate a community’s strengths and resources to bolster healthy living and barriers that prevent people from staying fit. (Alltucker, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Wildfire Smoke Clogging Skies In Western U.S., Canada 
Tens of millions of Americans and Canadians have been greeted by gray skies, eerily fiery sunrises and sunsets, and a dingy veil of haze obscuring the sky overhead. The culprit? Dozens of raging wildfires burning across the West, emitting smoke some 40,000 feet into the atmosphere and signaling what may be a long, devastating fire season. The smoke is also compromising air quality in areas near the blazes. (Cappucci, 7/13)

CBS News: 17 Million Gallons Of Sewage Discharged Into The Ocean After Power Outage In California
Seventeen million gallons of untreated sewage was discharged into the Santa Monica Bay on Sunday after a power outage, officials said Monday night. The sewage has forced beaches across Southern California to close to the public this week. Los Angeles County's largest and oldest sewage plant, Hyperion Water Reclamation, said Monday that it "became inundated with overwhelming quantities of debris, causing backup of the headworks facilities." The spill into Santa Monica Bay lasted for eight hours, where 6% of the plant's daily load was released, the plant said. (Powell, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times: Long Delay In Alerting Public To Massive Beach Sewage Spill Raises Alarm
After 17 million gallons of raw sewage were discharged into the ocean off Los Angeles beaches early Monday, county officials waited hours before notifying the public to avoid swimming in areas potentially affected by high levels of bacteria. The delay occurred even though officials from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which is responsible for notifying the public, were at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey during the emergency discharge procedure that began Sunday evening and ended Monday around 4:30 a.m., according to interviews. (Lopez and Kuo, 7/13)

AP: 'Some Crumbs': Critics Urge Rejection Of $641M Flint Deal
A federal judge listened Tuesday to Flint residents who were victims of the city’s lead-contaminated water, a step in determining whether she should sign off on a $641 million deal that would settle claims against the state of Michigan. More than a dozen people without lawyers signed up to speak, all in opposition. Thousands more are represented by attorneys who negotiated the settlement with Michigan and other parties and urged approval a day earlier. (White, 7/13)

AP: Hospital: Patient Gets Kidney Meant For Someone Else
An Ohio hospital has acknowledged that a patient received a new kidney meant for someone else. Officials at University Hospitals in Cleveland on Monday apologized for the mistake and said two employees have been placed on administrative leave. The kidney given to the wrong patient is compatible and the person is expected to recover, officials said. (7/13)

Fox News: Boy, 3, Dies At Dentist After 'Unanticipated Reaction To Medicine,' Report Says
A 3-year-old Kansas boy died after what police said was an "unanticipated reaction to medicine" given to him during a dental procedure, a local report said. Abiel Zapata-Valenzuela, of Scott City, was reportedly at the dentist to have teeth extracted. "The last thing I told him was cause he cried cause he felt the needle and stuff, so I told him, ‘Papi, everything is going to be okay.’ I’m like ‘You’re fine,’ and as a mother, you just feel like I failed him," Nancy Valenzuela, the boy’s mother, told KWCH.com. (Hein, 7/13)

AP: Death Toll Rises To 210 From February Cold Wave In Texas
State officials on Tuesday added 59 deaths to the toll wrought by the Feb. 14 cold wave and the ensuing collapse of the Texas electric power grid. The deaths newly tallied by the Texas Department of State Health Services boost the toll from 151 to 210 deaths, most from exposure to the sometimes-subzero temperatures. Still, some were blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning as freezing Texans sought warmth from cars and outdoor grills. (7/14)

The New York Times: N.Y.C.’s Plan To Move Homeless People From Hotels Is Blocked By A Judge
New York City’s plan to move 8,000 homeless people out of hotels and into barracks-style shelters was disrupted on Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that officials were not adequately considering the health of those being moved. The ruling blocks the city from transferring anyone with a disability to another site until evaluating whether it meets their needs. Because the city does not know who might qualify for such so-called reasonable accommodations, the entire program must pause for at least a week, said Joshua Goldfein, a staff lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, which filed a legal challenge to the moves. (Newman, 7/13)

Bloomberg: Indonesia’s Daily Cases Surpass India, Marking New Epicenter
Indonesia surpassed India’s daily Covid-19 case numbers, marking a new Asian virus epicenter as the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant drives up infections in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country has seen its daily case count cross 40,000 for two straight days -- including a record high of 47,899 on Tuesday -- up from less than 10,000 a month ago. Officials are concerned that the more transmissible new variant is now spreading outside of the country’s main island, Java, and could exhaust hospital workers and supplies of oxygen and medication. (Hong and Jiao, 7/14)

AP: French Rush To Get Vaccinated After President's Warning
More than 1 million people in France made vaccine appointments in less than a day, according to figures released Tuesday, after the president cranked up pressure on everyone to get vaccinated to save the summer vacation season and the French economy. Some bristled at President Emmanuel Macron’s admonition to “get vaccinated!” immediately, but many people signed up for shots, accepting that getting injected was the only way to return to some semblance of pre-pandemic life. (Gouvy and Charlton, 7/13)

Reuters: Masks To Remain Mandatory On London Transport After National Rule Easing 
Masks will remain mandatory on London's public transport network after July 19, the city's mayor said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government plans to lift most COVID-19 restrictions from that date in England despite rising cases. The public will be expected, rather than compelled by law, to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces across the country from next week, as rules decided upon by the Conservative administration are eased. (7/14)

Fox News: COVID-19 Infects About 100 Vaccinated Crewmembers On HMS Queen Elizabeth: Report
About 100 vaccinated crewmembers aboard the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier have been diagnosed with COVID-19 but the outbreak is being managed, a report said Wednesday. The BBC reported that there are more infections on warships in the carrier group, which consists of about 3,700 personnel. The flagship of the Royal Navy has entered the Indian Ocean and will eventually head to Japan. A spokeswoman told the BBC that the cases were discovered during routine testing and there "are no effects on the deployment." (DeMarche, 7/14)

Bloomberg: Russia And Serum Institute Of India Sign Deal To Boost Sputnik V Covid Vaccines
Russia signed a deal with the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer to boost annual production of Sputnik V coronavirus shots by 300 million doses in India, as the South Asian nation struggles with supplies. The Serum Institute of India Ltd., which is already producing AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine, aims to deliver its first batch of Sputnik V by September, the company and the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which backed the vaccine’s development and is in charge of its foreign sales, said in a joint statement Tuesday. (Kay, 7/13)

AP: Pope Francis Seen Leaving Hospital 10 Days After Surgery
Pope Francis was seen leaving the hospital on Wednesday, 10 days after undergoing planned surgery to remove half his colon. Associated Press journalists saw a car carrying Francis, 84, leaving Rome’s Gemelli Polytechnic hospital Wednesday morning. He was sitting in the front passenger seat. (7/14)

Reuters: COVID-19 Cases Found At Olympic Hotel As IOC Hails "Historic" Games
A coronavirus cluster at a Japanese hotel where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members are staying has raised new concern about infections at what the world's top Olympics official promised on Wednesday would be "historic" Games. Just over a week before the opening ceremony of the postponed Games, seven staff at the hotel in Hamamatsu city, southwest of Tokyo, had tested positive, a city official said. (Park and Slodkowski, 7/14)