First Edition: July 2, 2021

KHN: Hospital Prices Must Now Be Transparent. For Many Consumers, They’re Still Anyone’s Guess. 
A colonoscopy might cost you or your insurer a few hundred dollars — or several thousand, depending on which hospital or insurer you use. Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires hospitals to post a range of actual prices — everything from the rates they offer cash-paying customers to costs negotiated with insurers. (Appleby, 7/2)

KHN: Unprecedented Lobbying Effort Scores Big Win For California Public Health
After more than a decade of fruitless entreaties from public health advocates, Democratic lawmakers have secured a landmark agreement that promises $300 million a year in new state funding to fortify and reimagine California’s hollowed-out public health system, a complex network of services shouldered largely by the state’s 61 local health departments. The deal, outlined this week as the Democratic-controlled legislature approved a record $262.6 billion state budget for fiscal year 2021-22, marked a dramatic reversal for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had rebuffed requests the past three years to bolster annual spending on public health, arguing that federal funding would suffice. At Newsom’s insistence, the infusion for public health won’t kick in until July 2022. (Hart, 7/2)

KHN: California Lawmakers Push Feds To Allow A Therapy That Pays Meth Users To Abstain
In his multiple attempts to overcome a methamphetamine addiction that ground through two decades of his life, Tyrone Clifford Jr. remembers well the closest he came. “The most success I had,” he said, “is when my dealer was in jail.” Then Clifford walked into a rehab clinic in San Francisco called PROP, the Positive Reinforcement Opportunity Project. There, he encountered an approach so simple he sounds slightly bemused explaining it. The secret? The program paid him to show up and stay clean. (Kreidler, 7/2)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Un-Trumping The ACA 
The Biden administration this week proposed a series of changes aimed at boosting insurance enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, undoing changes made by the Trump administration and adding a few new ones. Meanwhile, Congress is launching investigations of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Aduhelm, a controversial drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease that may (or may not) slow its progression. The drug’s price — an estimated $56,000 per year — and the fact that most Alzheimer’s patients are on Medicare mean the federal program could end up footing most of the drug’s bill, threatening the finances of the rest of the health program. (7/1)

CBS News: Hundreds Of Deaths Blamed On Heat Wave In U.S. And Canada 
Hundreds of deaths in Canada and the U.S. are being blamed on a historic heatwave broiling the West.  About 100 deaths have been confirmed so far in the Western U.S., while in British Columbia, Canada, nearly 500 sudden deaths have been reported. Officials believe the fatalities are likely linked to the extreme weather. "I worried that people were just going to think of it as a nuisance but it really has been life-threatening," said Multnomah County health officer Dr. Jennifer Vines. (Luciano, 7/1)

AP: Hundreds Believed Dead In Heat Wave Despite Efforts To Help
Many of the dead were found alone, in homes without air conditioning or fans. Some were elderly — one as old as 97. The body of an immigrant farm laborer was found in an Oregon nursery. As forecasters warned of a record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada last weekend, officials set up cooling centers, distributed water to the homeless and took other steps. Still, hundreds of people are believed to have died from Friday to Tuesday. (Selsky, 7/2)

Reuters: U.S. West Faces Little-Known Effect Of Raging Wildfires: Contaminated Water
Early this spring, water bills arrived with notes urging Fort Collins Utilities customers to conserve. The Colorado customers may have thought the issue was persistent drought in the U.S. West. But the problem was not the quantity of water available. It was the quality. Utilities are increasingly paying attention to a little-known impact of large-scale fires: water contamination. (Bryson, 7/1)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Health Effects Of Extreme Heat Underscore Equity Gap 
In May, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed a chief heat officer. The position is the first of its kind statewide and nationally. Levine Cava says the role was created due to the rising heat index and its disproportionately adverse effects on marginalized communities in South Florida. The rising heat index is part of the overarching issue of climate change in South Florida. Extreme heat affects all Floridians on some level. (Salazar, 7/1)

The Washington Post: Biden Talks Of His Own Anguish As He Meets Family Members In Florida 
President Biden on Thursday recalled the anguish of the hours after a car crash killed his first wife and infant daughter, and not knowing whether his two sons would survive — just as relatives now are desperately hoping their loved ones are still alive amid the rubble of a collapsed condo building. “It just brought back so many, so many memories,” Biden said, his tone serious, his cadence slow. “It’s bad enough. It’s bad enough to lose somebody. But the hard part, the really hard part, is to not know whether they’re surviving or not, just not having any idea.” (Sullivan and Gearan, 7/1)

AP: 'Waiting Is Unbearable': Biden Consoles Surfside Families
The Bidens arrived in Florida a week after the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South beachfront condominium killed at least 18 people and left 145 missing. Hundreds of first responders and search-and-rescue personnel have been painstakingly searching the pancaked rubble for potential signs of life. No one has been rescued since the first hours after the collapse. ... “There’s gonna be a lot of pain and anxiety and suffering and even the need for psychological help in the days and months that follow. And so, we’re not going anywhere,” Biden said. (Jaffe and Lemire, 7/1)

NBC News: Miami Condo Collapse Stirs Painful Memories For Families Of 9/11 Victims
Monica Iken-Murphy has barely slept through the night since the collapse of Champlain Towers South last week. She has been glued to cable news coverage of the disaster every day, often breaking down in tears. She is experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The reports from the scene fill her with sorrow and rage. "It's pure torture for me," Iken-Murphy said in a phone interview Wednesday. The building collapse has devastated the community of Surfside, Florida, and gripped much of the nation. But the pain is particularly acute for Iken-Murphy, whose first husband was working inside the World Trade Center's South Tower on 9/11. (Arkin, 7/1)

NBC News: 72 Units Of Central Florida Condo Complex Deemed Unsafe, Residents Relocated
Residents at a condominium complex in Central Florida were forced to relocate Wednesday after an inspection deemed the structure unsafe because walkways were at risk of collapsing, authorities said. Osceola County officials said 72 units in multiple buildings were deemed safety threats at Images Condominiums in Kissimmee, about 20 miles south of Orlando. (Plan as, 7/1)

The Washington Post: House Passes $760 Billion Transportation And Water Bill, Making Its Pitch On Infrastructure
The House passed a roughly $760 billion transportation and water infrastructure bill Thursday, a measure that stakes out the chamber’s position in a debate over how to rebuild the nation’s roads, transit networks, water pipes and sewers. The package provides $343 billion for roads, bridges and safety programs, $109 billion for transit agencies and $95 billion for rail. It also includes $117 billion for drinking water programs and $51 billion for wastewater infrastructure. Amendments adopted over two days of debate added at least $44 billion to the bill’s price tag, mostly to support the adoption of electric vehicles. (Duncan and Laris, 7/1)

The New York Times: Justice Dept. Pauses Federal Executions, Reversing Trump Policy
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Thursday imposed a moratorium on federal executions pending a review of the Justice Department’s policies and procedures, reversing the Trump administration’s decision to resume executions of federal death row inmates last year after a nearly two-decade hiatus. “The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely,” Mr. Garland said in a memo to Justice Department leaders. “That obligation has special force in capital cases.” (Benner, 7/1)

Axios: White House Deploys COVID-19 Surge Response Teams To Address Delta Variant 
COVID-19 surge response teams will be sent to areas of the country with low vaccination rates to assist communities amid rising concerns about the Delta variant, COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Thursday. Vaccinated Americans have so far been deemed safe from variants, including the Delta variant. But several communities are reporting upticks in new cases and hospitalizations from unvaccinated individuals. (Fernandez, 7/1)

Los Angeles Times: Delta Variant Impedes Biden's July 4 COVID-19 Vaccine Goal
Los Angeles County’s top public health official expressed growing alarm about increasing circulation of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, particularly as the region grapples with an uptick in new infections. While the situation in the nation’s most populous county is nowhere near as dire as over the fall and winter, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the increases seen recently are nevertheless concerning — and are at the heart of this week’s recommendation that even residents vaccinated for COVID-19 should resume wearing face coverings in public indoor settings as a precaution. (Money and Lin II, 7/1)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: Why U.S. Won't Hit Fourth Of July Goals
All the free beer, doughnuts and baseball tickets won’t be enough to keep up the pace of vaccinations. President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one shot in the arms of 70% of U.S. adults before the Fourth of July holiday is set to fall short. At the current pace of vaccinations administered, about 67% of adults will be at least partially vaccinated by then, according to a CNBC analysis of CDC data. (Dickler, 7/1)

CIDRAP: 180 Million Americans Have Had At Least 1 COVID Vaccine Dose
Today during a White House press briefing, Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 coordinator, said 180 million Americans now have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci, MD, reassured the country that the three vaccines with emergency use authorization in the United States are likely effective against the Delta (B1617.2) variant. "Going into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Americans have good reason to celebrate," Zients said, explaining that 67% of adults have at least one shot, 3% short of President Joe Biden's goal of 70% of Americans ages 18 and up having at least one dose. (Soucheray, 7/1)

CNN: J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Lasts At Least 8 Months, Protects Against Delta Variant, Studies Find 
The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine provides immunity that lasts at least eight months, and it appears to provide adequate protection against the worrying Delta variant, the company said in a statement Thursday night. "Current data for the eight months studied so far show that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of research and development at J&J's Janssen vaccine arm, said in a statement. (Fox, 7/1)

CIDRAP: MRNA Vaccines Ease Breakthrough COVID; Novavax Helps Block Variant 
The few adults who receive a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine but still become infected have a milder, shorter illness and lower viral RNA loads than their unvaccinated peers, finds a real-world US study yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The journal also features a UK study confirming that the Novavax vaccine offers 90% overall effectiveness and protects against the highly transmissible and potentially more deadly Alpha (B117) SARS-CoV-2 variant. (Van Beusekom, 7/1)

Politico: CDC Director: Delta Variant Is Growing Threat To Unvaccinated People
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky issued her gravest warning yet Thursday about the highly contagious Delta variant, which has driven a sharp increase in new Covid-19 cases across the country. Nearly 25 percent of new infections have been linked to Delta, she said, up from 6 percent in early June. (Banco, Cancryn and Goldberg, 7/1)

CNN: Local Officials Sound The Alarm Over Another Possible Wave Of Covid-19 Infections 
Local officials are sounding the alarm over an increase in Covid-19 infections just as the nation prepares to celebrate a Fourth of July holiday that many hoped would mark the start of the resumption of normal life. In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, cases are surging, officials said. In Los Angeles County, where the vaccination rate is slightly above the national average, officials warned about a possible new wave of infections, especially given the rapid spread of the Delta variant. (Elamroussi, 7/2)

USA Today: US COVID-19 Cases 10% Higher This Week
New cases of COVID-19 are on the rise compared to last week as the delta variant spreads throughout the U.S., health officials said Thursday. The weekly average of new daily cases was 10% higher, even though cases were down 95% from the nation's peak in January, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a briefing. The delta variant, which is thought to be more contagious, is the second-most prevalent variant circulating in the U.S. and is expected to become the most common "in the coming weeks," Walensky said. (Aspegren and Hauck, 7/1)

AP: Arkansas Again Has Biggest Daily Virus Case Jump In 4 Months
For the second day in a row, Arkansas reported Thursday its biggest one-day spike in four months of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, an increase officials have blamed on the delta variant of the virus. The state reported 700 new virus cases, bringing its total since the pandemic began to 350,085. The state’s active cases, meaning those that don’t include people who have recovered or died from the virus, increased by 496 to 4,199. (7/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Cases Up More Than 20% In Bay Area, California Since June 15 Reopening
New coronavirus cases have jumped more than 20% in California and the Bay Area since the state’s June 15 reopening — a sign that even as residents embrace a return to normalcy, the virus can still spread among unvaccinated people and will likely linger for months to come. Statewide, new cases crept up from about 900 on June 15 to nearly 1,100 on June 30, according to seven-day averages of new daily infections. In the Bay Area, cases ticked up from 187 to 225 during the same period, according to Chronicle data. (Ho, 7/1)

The New York Times: Military And V.A. Struggle With Vaccination Rates In Their Ranks
Denis McDonough, the secretary of veterans affairs, said this week that he was considering a move to compel workers at V.A. hospitals to get vaccinated, fearing that centers with low vaccination rates were risking the health of veterans seeking care. The military is also struggling to fully vaccinate more troops across all service branches. While the Army and Navy are outpacing the civilian population in vaccine uptake, the Air Force and the Marine Corps have faced greater challenges. About 68 percent of active-duty members have had at least one dose, officials said. (7/2)

Reuters: Sick As A Dog? Pets Often Catch COVID From Humans, Study Finds 
If you think you have COVID-19, it might be best to stay away from your pets, says the author of a Dutch study that found a surprising number of dogs and cats may be getting infected. "About one out of five pets will catch the disease from their owners," said Dr Els Broens of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, although there are no known cases of the disease spreading from pets to humans. "Luckily, the animals do not get very ill from it." (7/1)

Bloomberg: Facebook Probe By DC Official Targets Vaccine Misinformation
Facebook Inc. is under investigation by the attorney general for the District of Columbia over whether it has taken adequate steps to curb the spread of misinformation about vaccines. Attorney General Karl Racine is seeking internal documents that show how the social media giant penalizes users who violate its misinformation policies around vaccines, as well as materials related to a Facebook study about vaccine hesitancy among users, according to a copy of a subpoena issued by Racine’s office last month. The subpoena also demanded data on the total volume of content that has been removed or demoted by Facebook for violating its vaccine misinformation policies. (Yaffe-Bellany, 7/1)

Politico: D.C. AG Subpoenas Facebook In Escalating Probe Of Covid-19 Misinformation 
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has subpoenaed Facebook for records related to the platform’s handling of coronavirus misinformation as part of a previously undisclosed investigation into whether the tech giant is violating consumer protection laws. What he is demanding: Racine, a Democrat, is calling on Facebook to release by the end of next week an internal study it conducted looking into vaccine hesitancy among its users, as first revealed by news reports in March. (Lima, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: Medical Societies, Associations Silent On Vaccine Mandates
When Penn Medicine announced its vaccine mandate May 19, the health system didn't do so because it had received guidance from professional medical societies or national trade associations. At the time, they hadn't made any. "Professional societies' positions have not come into play honestly. Not many have staked out a position," said Dr. Patrick Brennan, chief medical officer and senior vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which is part of Penn Medicine. "It's not that it didn't matter. We would have liked to have them on board." (Christ, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: As Nurses Strike, U.S. Lawmakers Demand Details Into Tenet's COVID-19 Grants
Four Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers are demanding that Tenet Healthcare disclose how it spent COVID-19 relief funds, accusing the health system of enriching its executives and shareholders instead of supporting its providers and communities. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Edward Markey, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Lori Trahan blast the company for accepting federal money while shortchanging its workers, including nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, who currently are on strike. (Bannow, 7/1)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Worker Shortages Are Real In The Philly Region’s Nursing Homes
Nursing homes have long had a problem attracting staff. Now, arguably, it’s gotten harder. As employers in just about every service industry struggle to hire workers, nursing home operators in New Jersey are facing a special challenge of increased staffing requirements for nursing assistants under a law that took effect Feb. 1. The new standard requires one certified nursing assistant for every eight residents during the day, with lower ratios for evening and night shifts. Increasing staff is seen as a clear way to improve care for patients. The New Jersey Department of Health has already cited eight facilities for not meeting the regulation. (Brubaker, 7/2)

The New York Times: Frontline Health Care Workers Aren’t Feeling the ‘Summer of Joy’
A largely unmasked nation will celebrate the nation’s return to near-normalcy this weekend with a ticker-tape parade in New York City, a dazzling fireworks display over the Washington Monument and countless Independence Day gatherings in cities and towns across the country. “A summer of freedom. A summer of joy,” is how the White House tried to promote a new national mood in a letter encouraging local officials to hold public events during the July 4th holiday. ... But the summer is turning out to be fairly joyless in places like CoxHealth Medical Center in Springfield, Mo., where nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists have been grappling with a resurgence in coronavirus cases that forced the hospital to reopen the 80-bed Covid unit it had shuttered in May. (Jacobs, 7/1)

The Washington Post: A Doctor Was Penalized For Wearing Hoop Earrings During Her Med School Exam 
How do you define “professionalism” in the workplace? That’s a conversation being had among women of color in medicine after a tweet about a Latina doctor being docked for wearing hoop earrings during a practical exam in medical school went viral. For Briana Christophers, a fourth-year MD-PhD student at the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York, the story resonated. “There’s a big movement to police women of color and how they present themselves in medical spaces,” said Christophers, who identifies as Latina. “I think in part it’s as a way of trying to make people who don’t usually fit the mold, fit the mold.” (Hatzipanagos, 7/1)

Stat: Scientists Create A Temporary Pacemaker That Can Be Absorbed By The Body
Scientists have designed a temporary, battery-free pacemaker that can be broken down by the patient’s body when its work is done, the latest advance in the emerging field of bioelectronics. In a paper published this week in Nature Biotechnology, researchers report that the device reliably kept the heart’s pace in check in tests on mice, rats, and other animals, as well as in human heart tissue in a dish. And while the research is still in the early stages, the scientists say the pacemaker was able to overcome key limitations of existing devices. (Lin, 7/2)

Stat: Old Medicare Rules Threaten Access To Home Medical Equipment 
Pandemic-related breaks in global supply chains for drugs and essential medical supplies are affecting the more than 4.5 million people who receive health care at home and the companies they count on to provide and service their oxygen machines, wheelchairs, hospital-style beds, prosthetic devices, and other durable home medical equipment. Compounding the crisis are federal rules that have long underpaid companies providing home medical equipment and that are now forcing them to swallow the pandemic-related cost increases they’re facing. If those rules don’t change, countless people could lose access to home care. (Marx, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: FTC Antitrust Probes Eye Hospitals, PBMs And Drug Companies
The Federal Trade Commission is focusing its antitrust sights on the healthcare industry, primarily hospitals, drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers. The agency on Thursday voted to prioritize investigations into healthcare, tech and digital platforms over the next decade and authorized the use of subpoenas and other "compulsory" methods to obtain information. No further details were announced about specific companies it would investigate. (Hellmann, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: Shifting Priorities Stall Insurers' Digital Transformation
Health insurers are digitizing their operations by taking notes from, say, people who shop at Warby Parker. But while member claims can provide a window into a patient's health, personalizing coverage and healthcare is not as simple as picking up a pair of spectacles. A recent Deloitte survey of 35 technology leaders at health plans with 50,000 members or more highlighted this challenge, with 49% of respondents saying a lack of clear vision around how to best engage patients and providers presents the biggest blind spot in their digital transformation. (Tepper, 7/1)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Closes On Brookdale Majority Stake. Here Are Five Things To Know
HCA Healthcare said Thursday it has closed on its purchase, announced in February, of a majority stake in Brookdale Senior Living's home health, hospice and outpatient therapy arm. Here are five things to know: 1) Nashville-based HCA bought an 80% equity stake in Brookdale Health Care Services for $400 million. Brookdale owns the remaining 20%. 2) Going forward, HCA and Brookdale Senior Living will operate Brookdale Health Care Services as a joint venture, which HCA says will boost quality, patient experience and access to services. (Bannow, 7/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Election Rules 
The Supreme Court upheld a pair of Arizona voting rules against Democratic claims that the state discriminated against minority voters, a decision that could make it more difficult to challenge new state efforts to tighten election regulations. The court, in a 6-3 opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, ruled Arizona was on solid legal ground in enforcing rules that prohibit third parties from collecting mail-in ballots and disallow votes cast in the wrong precinct. (Kendall and Bravin, 7/1)

The Hill: Kagan Rips Colleagues In Blistering 41-Page Voting Rights Dissent 
Justice Elena Kagan ripped her conservative colleagues on the Supreme Court on Thursday in a blistering 41-page dissent, accusing them of ignoring the legislative intent of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as well as the high court’s own precedents. ... Kagan said the court in its 6-3 decision penned by stalwart conservative Justice Samuel Alito gave “a cramped reading” to the “broad language” of the voting law and used that reading to uphold two Arizona voting restrictions “that discriminate against minority voters.” One is a 2016 Arizona law that prohibits the transporting of another person’s absentee ballot to election officials unless done by a family member or caregiver, a practice which critics call “ballot harvesting” but proponents say is necessary to give voters with limited mobility or in remote areas access to the polls.

The Hill: Supreme Court Ruling Shocks Voting Rights Activists, Academics
Political scientists and voting rights advocates reacted with horror on Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld two Republican-backed voting restrictions in Arizona, the latest in a series of blows the high court has dealt to the 1965 Voting Rights Act under Chief Justice John Roberts. One of the Arizona provisions allowed election officials to discard provisional ballots cast if a voter showed up at the wrong precinct. Another barred so-called ballot harvesting, when third-party groups collect and deliver absentee ballots. (Wilson, 7/1)

NPR: Boy Scouts Of America Reaches Historic Settlement With Sexual Abuse Survivors
The Boy Scouts of America has reached an $850 million settlement with more than 60,000 men who sued the iconic institution over alleged sexual abuse by adults in scouting over several decades. The agreement, announced on Thursday, is the first legal settlement in a long list of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020. (Romo, 7/2)

NPR: Pinterest Bans All Weight Loss Ads
Pinterest is saying goodbye to weight loss ads. It's banning them altogether, becoming the first major social platform to do so. The National Eating Disorders Association guided Pinterest in updating its policy as searches for healthy eating, healthy lifestyle and fitness tips grew within the past year. "A lot of people are facing challenges related to body image and mental health, particularly as we're emerging from COVID restrictions," says Sarah Bromma, the company's head of policy. "People are now feeling added pressure to rejoin their social circles in person for the first time in a year." (Sicurella, 7/1)

CIDRAP: CDC Issues Alert About 3 US Melioidosis Cases
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday warned health providers about three melioidosis cases involving patients in three states that appear to be linked, though investigators are still looking for the source. In a Health Advisory Network (HAN) notice, the CDC said the patients affected by the rare infections don't have a foreign travel history. They are from Kansas, Texas, and Missouri. Two are adults, and one is a child. The first illness was identified in March, and the patient—who had underlying risk factors—died. Two others were identified in May, and one is still hospitalized, while the other was discharged to a rehabilitation facility. (7/1)

The Washington Post: CDC Probes How People Contracted Dangerous Infection Found In Tropics Without Leaving U.S. 
When a 63-year-old Texas man who had not left the United States in 30 years sought treatment for a fever, chest pain and difficulty breathing in November 2018, doctors discovered a surprising culprit: a bacteria that is endemic to Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Nearly three years later, doctors and researchers remained flummoxed by the man’s melioidosis diagnosis, because nothing in his medical or personal history suggested that he had been exposed to soil or water infected with the disease-causing bacteria called Burkholderia pseudomallei. (Shepherd, 7/1)

Reuters: High Levels Of Cancer-Causing Chemical Found In Parts Of Houston -Report 
High levels of a cancer-causing chemical have been detected in air monitors in Houston neighborhoods near the busiest U.S. petrochemical port, according to a report issued on Thursday by Houston health officials and environmental groups. The report by the Houston Health Department and One Breath Partnership said concentrations of formaldehyde were found at levels 13 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s minimum level for health threats. (Seba, 7/1)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Urges TCEQ To Tighten Emissions Rules Following Study Of Formaldehyde In City's Air
Residents who live along the Houston Ship Channel are more likely to develop cancer and other health issues than the average population, according to city officials and a coalition of environmental groups that found heightened levels of formaldehyde during a recent year-long air monitoring study. The federally funded study measured formaldehyde levels from September 2019 through September 2020 at sites in Cloverleaf, Galena Park and just east of Channelview. All three sites registered concentrations of formaldehyde, a potent carcinogen, that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s baseline of 0.17 parts per billion — the point at which air pollutants would generate one additional cancer case per million people. (Scherer, 7/1)

The Hill: Woman Convicted In 'Slender Man' Stabbing To Be Released Early From Mental Institution
One of the women convicted in the 2014 "Slender Man" stabbing has been granted conditional release from a mental institution where she's been since December 2017, NBC News reports. Anissa Weier, who with Morgan Geyser attempted to kill their friend Payton Leutner in 2014, will be released early from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin. (Polus, 7/1)

AP: India Confirms 400K Dead, Half In Past 2 Months
India has confirmed 400,000 deaths from COVID-19, half of them in the past two months as the virulent delta variant infected hundreds of thousands daily. Still, the grim figure announced Friday is believed to be a fraction of the true total. It is second only to the United States and Brazil. (7/2)

Bloomberg: 6 Fully Vaccinated People Died Of Covid-19 In Seychelles, Most-Vaccinated Nation
The coronavirus has killed six fully vaccinated people in the Seychelles, which is suffering heightened Covid-19 infections despite inoculating a greater proportion of its people than any other nation. Of those, five had taken Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine made in India, and one had been given Sinopharm, Jude Gedeon, the island nation’s public health commissioner said at a press conference on Thursday. Covishield has mainly been reserved for people over 60 in the Seychelles. All of those who died had serious underlying conditions, he said. (Gappy and Sguazzin, 7/1)

Bloomberg: Africa Faces Worst Week Of Pandemic As Delta Variant Of Covid Spreads
Coronavirus cases in Africa are rising so quickly that the continent will soon face its worst week since the start of the pandemic, with the more infectious delta variant of the disease becoming more widespread. Almost 202,000 new cases of the illness were reported in the past week, and infections are doubling every three weeks, World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said in an online briefing Thursday. More than 5.4 million cases have been reported on the continent, with 141,000 deaths, she said. (de Bassompierre, 7/1)

The New York Times: Portugal Announces Curfews As Delta Variant Spreads 
Portugal’s government on Thursday announced that it would reintroduce nighttime curfews in municipalities where the coronavirus case rate has risen fastest — including some of its tourism hubs — as it struggles to cope with the spread of the Delta variant. In the past 14 days, the average number of daily cases in Portugal has nearly doubled to over 1,600, according to a New York Times database, though they remain far below their January peak of over 12,000 per day. (7/2)