Survey: 34% Of Women Say They Are Deciding To Delay Pregnancies Because Of COVID

NPR: Survey: Women Are Rethinking Having Kids As They Face Pandemic Challenges 
Whether it's online-only consultations, closed pharmacies or having to wonder whether going into an office is safe, the coronavirus has upended access to health care. And it has presented particular challenges for women and reproductive health. A new survey released Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that advocates for reproductive rights, finds 34% of women said the pandemic was causing them to delay getting pregnant, or to have fewer children. (McCammon and Pao, 6/24)

The New York Times: Study Raises Concerns For Pregnant Women With The Coronavirus 
Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus are more likely to be hospitalized, admitted to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator than are infected women who are not pregnant, according to a new government analysis. Pregnant women are known to be particularly susceptible to other respiratory infections, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has maintained from the start of the pandemic that the virus does not seem to “affect pregnant people differently than others.” (Mandavilli, 6/24)

Detroit Free Press: Appeals Court Says Michigan Gyms Must Stay Closed For Now
A federal appeals court Wednesday night agreed to delay implementation of a judge's order that would have allowed indoor gyms to reopen in Michigan beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling shortly before 9 p.m., saying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's order keeping indoor fitness facilities closed during the coronavirus pandemic needed to remain in place while an appeal of U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney's decision of last week to reopen them was heard. (Spangler, 6/24)

Detroit Free Press: U-M: We Don't Owe Students Refund For Switching To Online Instruction
The University of Michigan doesn't owe students any refunds for switching to online instruction in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely because it has the authority to decide any instruction method it wants to use, according to a court filing. In the filing earlier this month, university lawyers argued a lawsuit filed by  students seeking money for being forced to take classes online needed to be thrown out by the state's Court of Claims. (Jesse, 6/24)

ABC News: At Least 25 State Fairs, Drivers Of Local Economies, Have Been Canceled Or Postponed Due To COVID-19 - ABC News
Normally this time of year, Stacey Pittroff-Barona would be in the middle of fair season. Her dad would be back from Australia, having run their carnival ride, the Giant Slide, and food stand, Cheese on a Stick and Fresh Lemonade, at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. August would see 11 days of the Wisconsin State Fair followed by another 12 at the fair in her home state of Minnesota... This year, all three fairs were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Deliso, 6/25)

Los Angeles Times: Disneyland Reopening Is Delayed Beyond July 17 
Disneyland’s reopening will be delayed beyond July 17, Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday, saying it will wait for state guidelines before specifying a new target date. The Anaheim destination, along with sister park Disney California Adventure, has been closed since mid-March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the newly announced delay, it was slated to reopen in time for its 65th anniversary. (Martens, 6/24)

NPR: What Contact Tracing Tells Us About Cluster Spread Of The Coronavirus And Protests 
As the U.S. begins to open back up, coronavirus clusters — where multiple people contract COVID-19 at the same event or location — are popping up all over the country. And despite drawing massive crowds, anti-police protests in Washington state weren't among those clusters. (Silva, 6/24)

WBUR: Pandemic Could Mean Fiscal Peril For Many State Colleges And Universities 
Colleges and universities across the country will suffer financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic — public institutions included. The question is how hard they’ll be hit. An independent review published Tuesday found that eight of Massachusetts’ 24 state universities and community colleges would have trouble covering their own costs in the next year if enrollment numbers were to tumble by 15% and appropriations from the state were to shrink by a comparable amount. (Larkin, 6/24)

NPR: What Parents Can Learn From Child Care Centers That Stayed Open During Lockdowns 
Throughout the pandemic, many child care centers have stayed open for the children of front-line workers — everyone from doctors to grocery store clerks. YMCA of the USA and New York City's Department of Education have been caring for, collectively, tens of thousands of children since March, and both tell NPR they have no reports of coronavirus clusters or outbreaks. As school districts sweat over reopening plans, and with just over half of parents telling pollsters they're comfortable with in-person school this fall, public health and policy experts say education leaders should be discussing and drawing on these real-world child care experiences. (Kamenetz, 6/24)

Kaiser Health News: Cities Brace For ‘Collision Course’ Of Heat Waves And COVID-19
Aaron McCullough brought his 3-year-old daughter, Ariana, to a playground in a leafy neighborhood of Rochester, New York, on a day in mid-June when the temperature topped out at 94 degrees. The playground is one of seven spray parks in the city that offer cooling water whenever temperatures exceed 85 degrees. (Dahlberg, 6/25)

ABC News: Social Distancing Isn't A Nuisance – It's A Privilege 
While many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic have reported feeling fatigued and frustrated over extended periods stuck at home, a new study shines light on how social distancing is a privilege afforded to too few. Researchers at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health have uncovered a worrying trend: Across New York City, as many workplaces transitioned to working remotely to minimize exposure to the coronavirus, there have been substantial signs of inequality when it comes to social distancing. This comes in addition to the reports of worrisome COVID-19 health disparities in communities with higher percentages of minorities, many of whom tend to have lower incomes. (David, 6/25)

KQED: As Coronavirus Cases Surge At San Quentin, Lawmakers Demand An Explanation 
The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Quentin State Prison have been increasing at a dizzying rate. Over the course of one week, 46 confirmed cases among inmates ballooned to more than 400 in the state’s oldest prison, which houses almost 4,000 people. So far, at least two inmates have been transported to Marin hospitals for treatment. (Wolffe, 6/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Health Experts: San Quentin Coronavirus Outbreak Could Pose Threat To Entire Bay Area 
A team of UC Berkeley and UCSF health experts warned prison medical officials nearly two weeks ago that they’d need to cut the population of San Quentin State Prison in half to avoid a potentially “catastrophic” outbreak there. But prison officials didn’t heed the warning and, since then, confirmed coronavirus infections among prisoners have rocketed from 48 to 456, far outpacing any other facility in the state and overwhelming a system that waited too long to react. (Fagone and Cassidy, 6/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Alameda County Grand Jury: Jail Projects Mismanaged
The mismanagement of improvements and upgrades to Alameda County facilities, including the jail, delayed projects that have cost the county millions, according to a grand jury report. Delays got so bad at one point that the frustrated sheriff’s office went to Costco to purchase their own video security system, and installed it themselves in the jail. (Ruggiero, 6/24)

In other public health news —

CNN: Salmonella Outbreak: One Person Has Died And 465 People Have Gotten Sick After Interacting With Pet Poultry
One person has died and 86 have been put into the hospital in the latest outbreak of salmonella connected to pet poultry, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. The CDC says 368 people have reported getting sick since May 20, bringing this year's total to 465 poultry-related salmonella cases reported in 42 states. That's about twice as many as were reported at the same time last year, the CDC said. (Christensen, 6/24)

CNN: Whole Foods' Bottled Water Has Harmful Levels Of Arsenic - Consumer Reports 
Consumer Reports warned that bottled water made by Whole Foods contains "potentially harmful levels of arsenic," amounting to three times the level of the chemical compared to other brands. The consumer watchdog group said Wednesday that Starkey Spring Water had "concerning levels of arsenic," ranging from 9.49 to 9.56 parts per billion. Federal regulations limits the amount of arsenic to 10 parts per billion, although Consumer Reports has been pushing it to be lowered to 3 parts per billion for safety and health reasons. (Valinsky, 6/24)

Stat: Researchers Studying Food Insecurity See A New Concern: Eating Disorders
When Carolyn Black Becker, a psychologist who studies eating disorders, used to explain her research to colleagues, she would get blank stares. The field, after all, was disproportionately focused on young girls and women who were underweight, white, and from middle-class families. Becker herself had spent most of her career focused on the prevention of eating disorders among sorority members. In that light, her decision to study eating disorders in people who were facing food insecurity — that is, people without reliable access to sufficient food — seemed unusual, even bizarre to some. (Arnold, 6/25)