USA Today: Biden Softens "They're Killing People" Remark On Facebook Misinformation
President Joe Biden on Monday softened his criticism of Facebook, days after he said the platform is “killing people” because of vaccine misinformation the social media giant allows to circulate on its platform. During an unrelated event on the economy, Biden jumped at the chance to clarify his previous remark, shifting the blame from Facebook to a dozen people he said are circulating most of the misleading claims. “Facebook isn’t killing people,” Biden said in response to a reporter's question. “These 12 people who are out there giving misinformation – anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it.” (Groppe, 7/19)

The Hill: White House Looks To Cool Battle With Facebook
The White House on Monday sought to cool its heated confrontation with Facebook, which had festered over the weekend after President Biden accused the social media giant of “killing people” with misinformation about coronavirus vaccines. The unusual attack by Biden had triggered a tough response from Facebook, and on Monday the president and his aides were clearly looking to bring down the temperature. (Rodrigo and Samuels, 7/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Seeks To Clarify Comments On Facebook, Vaccine Misinformation
White House press secretary Jen Psaki echoed Mr. Biden’s apparent effort to lessen tensions with Facebook. “We’re not in a war or a battle with Facebook. We’re in a battle with the virus,” she told reporters on Monday. Facebook has pushed back aggressively on criticism by Mr. Biden and his senior advisers in recent days, prompting a new level of tension between the social-media company and the U.S. government. (Restuccia, 7/19)

The Washington Post: Facebook Isn't Sharing How Many Americans Viewed Vaccine Misinformation 
Facebook’s back-and-forth with the Biden administration got ugly over the weekend. The social network scrambled to respond to the president’s striking accusation that the company is “killing people” for allowing the spread of misinformation about coronavirus vaccines. Shortly after President Biden’s comments to reporters, Facebook spokeswoman Dani Lever said the company wouldn’t respond to accusations that weren’t “supported by the facts.” ... But Facebook still isn’t sharing a key statistic: how many people have seen vaccine misinformation on the platform. It's part of a broader pattern of little transparency from the company, which has sought to downplay its role in spreading vaccine misinformation amid growing pressure from the White House and the surgeon general. Independent researchers and journalists have pressed the company for years to make more data available so they can study the impact of Facebook on society. (Zakrzewski and Schaffer, 7/19)

In related news —

NBC News: Twitter Suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Again, For Covid-19 Tweets
Twitter suspended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Monday after a pair of posts about Covid-19 that the company said violated its misinformation policy. Greene, who has compared mask mandates at the U.S. Capitol to the Holocaust and was suspended from Twitter earlier this year for making false claims about voter fraud, will be locked out of the social media platform for 12 hours. (Stelloh and Byers, 7/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Indiana University Can Require Covid-19 Vaccines, Federal Judge Says 
A federal judge has ruled that Indiana University may require its students to submit proof of Covid-19 vaccination before returning to campus this fall, dealing a setback to a brewing legal effort against vaccination requirements in higher education. In a 101-page decision handed down Sunday, U.S. District Judge Damon R. Leichty said the university system acted reasonably to protect public health when it required all of its students, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by July 1, with limited medical and religious exceptions. (Gershman, 7/19)

In other news about colleges and vaccines —

AP: Illinois College Boards Suggest Schools Require Vaccination
Two state agencies that oversee higher education in Illinois on Monday encouraged colleges and universities to require COVID-19 vaccinations of students heading to campuses this fall. The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board made the recommendation, which they say follows recently released guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. The state agencies contend the guidance will help facilitate the safe transition back to campus, as more students return to in-person learning. (7/20)

AP: Central Michigan University Sets Vaccine Scholarship Raffle
Students fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at Central Michigan University can enter to win full-year scholarships and hundreds of gift cards, the university announced Monday. The university will name winners Aug. 2 and 23, Sept. 13, and Oct. 4. Each drawing will have 100 students who will get a $75 gift card and one student who will win full-year scholarship equal to 30 domestic undergraduate credit hours or 18 domestic graduate credit hours to be used for the 2021-2022 school year. (7/19)

NBC News: Vaccine Mandates More Likely Once FDA Grants Full Approvals, Health Experts Say
The United States could see a wave of Covid-19 vaccine mandates as soon as the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval to one or more of the shots, public health experts predicted. The three vaccines authorized by the FDA for emergency use against the coronavirus have proven safe and effective under that expedited review process and in the real world, and doctors and the nation's top public health officials have said there's no need for anyone to wait to get inoculated. (Pettypiece, 7/20)

And Florida's governor vows to take his fight to the Supreme Court —

Axios: DeSantis Vows To Take Cruise Ships CDC Fight To Supreme Court If Required 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vowed Monday to appeal a court ruling in favor of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restrictions on cruise ships. The cruise industry is worth billions of dollars for Florida's economy and DeSantis filed a lawsuit against the CDC last April in an effort to see normal operations resume. DeSantis succeeded in winning an injunction, but a federal appeals court ruled Saturday that the CDC regulations should remain in place. (Falconer, 7/19)

The Hill: DeSantis Warns He'll Take Legal Fight Against CDC's COVID-19 Cruise Ship Rules To Supreme Court If Necessary
In his comments in Poinciana, Fla., on Monday, DeSantis said he thinks the state will “probably” take its legal fight “to the full 11th Circuit en banc.” “I think that most courts at this point have had their limit with the CDC issuing these dictates without a firm statutory basis. So I'm confident that we'd win on the merits at the full 11th Circuit,” he said. “Honestly, I'm confident we'd win at the U.S. Supreme Court,” the governor added, saying he thinks the ongoing legal battle is bigger than his state’s case. (Folley, 7/19)

The Daily Beast: Sean Hannity Begs Fox Viewers To ‘Please Take COVID Seriously,’ Says ‘I Believe In The Science Of Vaccines’
Fox News host Sean Hannity took some time out of his broadcast Monday night to deliver a direct message to Fox News viewers, telling them to take the coronavirus pandemic “seriously” and declaring that he believes in the “science of vaccines.” Amid a frightening surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant and stagnating vaccination rates, Fox News has come under intense fire in recent days over its hosts and pundits relentlessly peddling vaccine hesitancy and skepticism. With the unvaccinated making up over 99 percent of recent COVID deaths, critics have wondered aloud whether Fox’s anti-vaccine rhetoric is “killing people.” (Baragona, 7/20)

The Hill: Fox News Hosts Urge Viewers To Get Vaccinated Following Criticisms Of Network 
A pair of Fox News hosts on Monday urged viewers of the network to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, dismissing conspiracy theories about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. “Well, here’s the thing. And one of the CDC officials said yesterday, look, the pandemic right now is really just with people who have not been vaccinated. Ninety-nine percent of the people who died have not been vaccinated. What they are trying to do is make sure that all of the people who have not been vaccinated get vaccinated," Steve Doocy said Monday on "Fox & Friends." ... During a separate segment on Monday's "Fox & Friends," co-host and anchor Bill Hemmer asked Fox News medical contributor Marc Siegel: "The vaccine works, right? We haven’t budged on that, have we, doc?” "The vaccine works extremely well even against the delta variant, preventing infection in 90 percent of cases," Siegel responded. (Mastrangelo, 7/19)

CNN: Fox Has Quietly Implemented Its Own Version Of A Vaccine Passport While Its Top Personalities Attack Them 
Tucker Carlson has called the idea of vaccine passports the medical equivalent of "Jim Crow" laws. And other Fox News personalities have spent months both trafficking in anti-vaccine rhetoric and assailing the concept of showing proof of vaccination status. But Fox Corporation, the right-wing talk channel's parent company, has quietly implemented the concept of a vaccine passport as workers slowly return back to the company's offices. (Darcy, 7/19)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

Stat: States Are Sitting On Millions Of Surplus Covid-19 Vaccine Doses
Millions of unused Covid-19 vaccines are set to go to waste as demand dwindles across the United States and doses likely expire this summer, according to public health officials. Several state health departments told STAT they have repeatedly asked the federal government to redistribute their supply to other countries, many of which are facing a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials in Washington have rejected those requests, citing legal and logistical challenges. (Goldhill, 7/20)

AP: More Than 70% Of Mainers Age 20 And Older Fully Vaccinated
More than 70% of Maine residents age 20 and older are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that more than 67% of all the eligible people in the state are fully vaccinated. The number tracks higher for older age groups. It’s more than 80% for Maine residents who are age 50 and older. (7/20)

Axios: Coronavirus Vaccine Resistance Higher Among Mothers Than Fathers 
Mothers — particularly young ones — are still much more reluctant than fathers to the idea of getting their children vaccinated against the coronavirus, per a new report by the COVID States Project. Vaccine resistance among parents has decreased across most demographic groups since last winter, but there are still wide gaps between parents of different ages and genders. (Owens, 7/20)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: Most Unvaccinated Americans Won't Get The Shot For Any Reason 
Most Americans who still aren't vaccinated say nothing — not their own doctor administering it, a favorite celebrity's endorsement or even paid time off — is likely to make them get the shot, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. The findings are more sobering evidence of just how tough it may be to reach herd immunity in the U.S. But they also offer a roadmap for trying — the public health equivalent of, "So you're telling me there's a chance." (Talev, 7/20)

AP: Review Praised Vaccine Director's Leadership Before Firing 
Before a top Tennessee health official recommended firing the state's former vaccine director over claims that include shortcomings in her leadership, her supervisor had praised her “strong leadership” as recently as last month while her program faced “very intense scrutiny and performance expectations,” according to a state job performance evaluation circulated publicly on her behalf. The interim performance review sheds additional light on the circumstances leading up to the July 12 termination of Dr. Michelle Fiscus, who has spent the last week speaking nationally in rebuttal to a firing she argues was political appeasement for Republican lawmakers who were fuming over the department's COVID-19 vaccine outreach efforts for eligible minors. (Mattise, 7/19)

Also —

ABC News: COVID-19 Vaccines Protect You Better Than Infection, Doctors Say
With the delta variant surging in the United States, doctors are urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated -- including the more than 30 million people who have already had COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting vaccinated after recovering from infection leads to even stronger protection compared to infection alone. Meanwhile, studies show currently authorized vaccines are likely to offer protection for at least eight months, and likely longer, but much less is known about how long you'll be protected from reinfection after recovering from COVID-19. (Hanudel, 7/20)

Reuters: Rising Coronavirus Cases Fuel Resurgence Fears As Biden Ramps Up Vaccination Push
Swiftly rising coronavirus cases across the United States and abroad fueled fears of a pandemic resurgence on Monday and sent shockwaves through stock markets as the highly contagious Delta variant appeared to be taking hold. Many of the new outbreaks were in parts of the country where COVID-19 vaccinations have lagged, prompting political leaders to ramp up pressure on reluctant Americans to get the inoculations. (Caspani and Whitcomb, 7/19)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Don't Be Fooled Into Letting Your Guard Down Against Covid, US Surgeon General Says 
Although vaccinations have offered many in the US hope of curbing the Covid-19 pandemic, officials are struggling to get rates where they need to be. And having been tricked by the virus before, the US Surgeon General says now is the time to be cautious. "There have been multiple times when we have been fooled by Covid-19, when cases went down and we thought we were in the clear and then cases went up again," Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "It means we shouldn't let down our guard until cases not only come down but stay down, and right now cases are actually going up. Cases are going up, hospitalizations are going up, death rates are ticking up." (Holcombe, 7/20)

Also —

NPR: Outbreak Expert Points To Huanan Market Origin For Pandemic, Citing New Data
Back in May, a group of scientists — many at the top of the virology field — shifted the debate about the origins of COVID-19. They published a letter in the journal Science saying the lab-leak theory needs to be taken more seriously by the scientific community. Given the current evidence available, the scientists wrote, the outbreak is just as likely to have originated from a laboratory — specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which studies coronaviruses — as from an infected animal. "We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data," they concluded. (Doucleff, 7/19)

Stat: Covid-19 Restrictions On Family Hospital Visits Persist, Despite Concern
On an early summer morning in North Philadelphia, Marsha El sits on a bench outside Temple University Hospital, scrolling on her phone. Inside, doctors perform a heart procedure on her husband, Timothy. Barred from being by his side due to Covid-19 visitor restrictions, Marsha, a retired insurance company branch manager, anxiously waits for a phone call with any update on his condition. “I’m just praying that when they take him upstairs, I’m able to go up here and visit him for a while,” she says. (Lloreda, 7/20)

Fox News: Common Cholesterol Drug May Reduce COVID-19 Severity, Study Finds
Coronavirus patients taking statins prior to hospitalization substantially reduced their odds of in-hospital death and severe COVID-19, researchers found, confirming earlier findings. Statin drugs are frequently used to lower blood cholesterol levels and prevent cardiovascular disease. A team of scientists from University of California San Diego School of Medicine published findings in PLOS ONE last week, analyzing anonymized records on over 10,500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted across 104 U.S. hospitals between January-September 2020 and enrolled in the American Heart Association’s COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Registry. (Rivas, 7/19)

Fox News: Coronavirus Antibodies Persist At Least Nine Months After Infection: Study
A study in northern Italy found coronavirus antibodies persisted in detectable levels for at least nine months after infection, regardless of a symptomatic or asymptomatic course of illness, though results differed depending on test used. Researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Padova published findings in Nature Communications on Monday, stemming from an analysis in Vo’, Italy, where a mass testing campaign saw 86% (2,602 people) of the community tested in February/March and May 2020, about 6% of whom tested positive and were tested again in November. (Rivas, 7/19)

NBC News: Jacksonville Hospital Breaks Covid Record In Latest Florida Surge
With the state's Covid-19 cases roughly doubling each week, Florida has become one of the country's biggest hot spots for the latest surge fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, as well as vaccine skepticism. UF Health in Jacksonville said it broke its record for most hospitalized Covid patients Monday. At the start of Sunday, the hospital had 86. At one point Monday, the number reached 126, an increase of more than 40 percent in just one day. (Gutierrez, 7/19)

Health News Florida: Children Among Those Hospitalized With Delta Variant In Jacksonville
With COVID-19 cases spiking in Northeast Florida, local doctors say the patients filling up their hospitals are almost all unvaccinated. Children who are too young for the approved COVID vaccines are among those ending up in Jacksonville hospitals, according to UF Health Jacksonville Associate Chair of Pediatric Medicine Dr. Mobeen Rathore. “We don’t know that the delta variant causes any disease that is any worse than the regular coronavirus,” Rathore said. “But it is much easier to infect others, so it spreads much more easily.” (Boles, 7/19)

In updates from Mississippi and Arkansas —

AP: Health Officer: Mississippi Seeing '4th Wave' Of COVID Cases
Mississippi’s top public health official said Monday that the state is seeing a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in July. “4th wave is here,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer, wrote on Twitter. The Mississippi State Department of Health said 2,326 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Friday through Sunday. That is largest three-day increase of cases reported in the state since February. (Wagster Pettus, 7/19)

NBC News: Southern Surge: Hospitals Brace For Wave Of Covid Cases Not Seen In Months
For doctors at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, a rush of new Covid-19 cases and a dwindling availability of beds feels like the hospital is backsliding to how it was at the end of 2020. The latest projections from the school's college of public health suggests statewide Covid hospitalizations will triple in the next two weeks, which would mean a return to a chaotic period when staffing and resources were strained, elective operations were limited and it seemed like there was no end to the crisis in sight. (Ortiz, 7/19)

CBS News: Unvaccinated COVID Patient In Arkansas: Rejecting The Shot Is "Playing Russian Roulette With Your Life" 
Since January, 98% of people hospitalized because of COVID in Arkansas were unvaccinated. Their average age: 40. "I thought the vaccine was a hoax," said 42-year-old Lamonte Boyd, a married father of three. He said he didn't listen to doctors or even his wife when she got vaccinated and told him he should, too. He is now hospitalized at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. (7/19)

In updates from Texas, Oregon and California —

Houston Chronicle: Houston Methodist Hospital Records First Lambda Variant As COVID Cases Double Since July 1
COVID-19 hospitalizations at Houston Methodist Hospital have increased by 70 percent over the last week, including a large number of delta variant cases and the hospital's first recorded case of the lambda mutation, the hospital said Monday. As of Monday morning, Methodist was treating 184 people for COVID-19, double the number recorded on July 1, CEO Marc Boom wrote in an email to hospital staff that was shared with the Chronicle. At least one hospitalization was for the lambda variant, the first such case at Methodist. (Downen, 7/19)

The Oregonian: Coronavirus In Oregon: Cases Climb 54% In Past Week 
The state of Oregon reported 2,026 new coronavirus cases and 29 COVID-19 deaths in the past week, according to data released Monday. That’s a 54% increase from the previous week. But cases remain significantly lower than during much of the pandemic. 21,268 people have been newly vaccinated with a first dose in the past week, according to state data. (Schmidt, 7/19)

Bay Area News Group: COVID Case Spike Would Land Much Of California Back In Purple Tier
How bad is California’s Delta COVID-19 surge? If the Golden State was still using its four-color reopening blueprint for ranking counties by infection rates, at least a dozen, including Los Angeles, Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano now would be in the most-restrictive purple tier, and many businesses would not be fully open. And that’s using new metrics introduced in March that made it easier for counties with higher case rates to move into lower-restriction tiers once the state reached what it considered equitable vaccination rates. Using the state’s original tier definitions, 29 counties, including San Francisco, now would be purple, which meant that the virus was widespread, a Bay Area News Group analysis found. (Woolfolk and Blair Rowan, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Coronavirus Spike Hits Alarming Levels, With 10,000 Infected In A Week, As Delta Variant Spreads
Los Angeles County is now recording more than 10,000 coronavirus cases a week — a pace not seen since March — an alarming sign of the dangers the Delta variant poses to people who have not been vaccinated and heightening pressure on health officials to reverse the trend. A Los Angeles Times data analysis found L.A. County was recording 101 weekly coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents, up from 12 for the seven-day period that ended June 15. That means the county has surpassed the threshold to have “high” community transmission of the disease, the worst tier as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A region must hit 100 or more weekly cases per 100,000 residents to enter the worst tier. (Lin II, Greene and Suh Lauder, 7/19)

USA Today: Pediatrics Group Says Kids Should Wear Masks At School
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued recommendations Monday for the 2021-22 school year that include everyone older than age 2 wearing masks, regardless of vaccination status. The academy also "strongly recommends" in-person learning and urges all who are eligible be vaccinated to protect against COVID-19. AAP said it amplifies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for building ventilation, testing, quarantining, cleaning and disinfection in the updated guidance. (Bacon, Aspegren and Hayes, 7/19)

In news about mask mandates —

USA Today: Arkansas, Missouri And NY Discuss Mask Mandates As COVID Cases Spike
Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks indoors two months ago, experts now are calling for people to "vax it and mask it." Los Angeles County this weekend mandated that people mask indoors, though the county sheriff announced he wouldn't enforce it. Other California counties also recommended mask-wearing indoors. Arkansas, Missouri and New York are weighing mask mandates as cases spike in those states. And the American Academy of Pediatrics issued recommendations Monday for the 2021-22 school year that include everyone older than age 2 wearing masks, regardless of vaccination status. (Aspegren, 7/20)

Bloomberg: NYC Mask Mandates: De Blasio Won't Require Them Inside Despite Delta Variant, LA 
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has no plans to renew indoor mask mandates despite a spike in cases stemming from the delta Covid-19 variant and a move by Los Angeles to again require residents to wear masks inside. “The simple answer is no,” de Blasio said when asked about the issue during a Monday briefing. “Masks have value unquestionably, but they’re not going to the root of the problem. Vaccination is.” The seven-day average Covid-19 positivity rate in the city jumped to 1.69% on Saturday, more than double the percentage of residents who tested positive from last month. (Banjo, 7/19)

Newsweek: Kentucky Gov. Pushes For Masks After Fully-Vaxxed Lawmakers Catch COVID Amid Delta Surge
Democratic Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky issued new coronavirus recommendations Monday pushing for more mask-wearing amid a rise in Kentucky cases, even among the fully-vaccinated, driven by the Delta variant. During a press conference on Monday, Beshear said after months of dropping case rates, Kentucky is now seeing a rise in positive coronavirus cases, likely driven by the more contagious Delta variant. There has also been an increase in hospitalizations. (Pedroja, 7/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Another 4 Counties In Greater Bay Area Renew Call For Indoor Masking As Delta Variant Rises
Four more counties in the greater Bay Area on Monday joined their neighbors in recommending all residents, regardless of vaccination status, resume wearing masks indoors. Health officers from Napa, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties issued a joint statement advising people use masks in public indoor spaces “out of an abundance of caution,” as cases climb and the highly infectious delta variant begins to dominate. On Friday, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties issued similar recommendations. (Allday, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: Will Anyone Enforce L.A. County's COVID Mask Mandate?
Los Angeles County’s indoor mask mandate is now the law of the land. But how — or whether — it will be enforced remains an open question. Technically, those who violate the new mask rules, or any other provisions included in the county’s latest health officer order, can be cited or fined. But practically speaking, many health and law enforcement officials throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have favored educating residents about the rules and urging adherence rather than writing a flurry of tickets. (Money, 7/19)

The Boston Globe: Provincetown Issues New COVID-19 Advisory Amid Uptick In Cases, With ‘Vast Majority’ Detected In Vaccinated People
Provincetown officials have issued a new mask-wearing advisory after a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases at the height of its busy summer tourist season, in which a “vast majority” were detected in vaccinated people, alarming public health experts. The town is advising people to wear masks indoors, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, “where social distancing cannot be achieved.” The advisory also urges businesses to require customers show proof of vaccination when social distancing is not possible. From July 1 through July 16, the town has reported 132 confirmed positive cases to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the advisory said. Of those cases, 89 are Massachusetts residents, 39 of whom live in Barnstable County. (Kaufman, 7/19)

The New York Times: Biden Legal Team Decides Inmates Must Return To Prison After Covid Emergency 
The Biden administration legal team has decided that thousands of federal convicts who were released to home confinement to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 will be required by law to return to prison a month after the official state of emergency for the pandemic ends, according to officials. The administration has come under pressure from criminal justice reform activists and some lawmakers to revoke a Trump-era memo by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which said inmates whose sentences lasted beyond the “pandemic emergency period” would have to go back to prison. (Savage and Kanno-Youngs, 7/19)

USA Today: Biden Pressed To Grant Clemency To Inmates Sent Home During COVID-19
A bipartisan group of criminal justice advocates asked President Joe Biden to grant clemency to federal prisoners who were allowed to serve their sentences at home because of the pandemic but face the possibility of going back to prison. "This is your opportunity to provide second chances to thousands of people who are already safely out of prison, reintegrating back to society, reconnecting with their loved ones, getting jobs and going back to school," said the letter Monday from 20 advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and NAACP, which asked Biden to exercise his broad presidential powers by commuting the inmates' sentences.  (Phillips, 7/19)

And more Americans say they are victims of "directed energy attacks" —

CBS News: Biden Administration Investigates Mysterious "Health Incidents" Among Diplomats In Vienna 
The Biden administration is investigating a recent rash of mysterious health incidents reported by American diplomats and other government employees in Vienna, Austria, U.S. officials said Friday. Some of the symptoms are similar to those first reported by U.S. diplomats and spies in Havana, Cuba, in 2016 and 2017 for which no definitive cause has yet been determined, according to the officials, who said more than 20 new cases were being looked at by medical teams at the State Department and elsewhere, including the Pentagon and CIA. "In coordination with our partners across the U.S. government, we are vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents among the U.S. Embassy Vienna community," the State Department said. "Any employees who reported a possible UHI received immediate and appropriate attention and care." (7/19)

NBC News: As Many As 200 Americans Have Now Reported Possible Symptoms Of 'Havana Syndrome,' Officials Say
As many as 200 Americans have come forward to describe possible symptoms of directed energy attacks, part of a wave of fresh reports that includes newly identified incidents around the world, Western officials say. A U.S. official with knowledge of new potential cases of so-called Havana Syndrome said a steady drumbeat of cables has been coming in from overseas posts reporting new incidents — often multiple times each week. (Dilanian, Lederman and Kube, 7/20)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Stat: Advocates Urge Biden To Name Patent Office Director That Could Transform Drug Pricing 
As the White House readies to name a new head of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, a coalition of advocacy and nonprofit groups see an opportunity to overhaul the approach to issuing patents that may sometimes prevent Americans from accessing needed medicines. For the past several years, patent protection has become a flashpoint in the wider debate over the rising cost of prescription medicines in the U.S. The issue reflects concerns that drug makers have increasingly been granted patents that arguably add little to medical innovation, but extend monopolies that not only forestall lower-cost competition but also permit ongoing price hikes. (Silverman, 7/19)

Stat: White House Considers Out-Of-D.C. Address For New Research Agency
The White House isn’t worried about Congress underfunding the new biomedical research agency President Biden has pitched as a way to “end cancer as we know it.” Not yet, anyway, according to Tara Schwetz, the biophysicist who the administration has tasked with getting the new agency off the ground. In an interview, Schwetz said the $3 billion that House Democrats plan to spend on the new agency, to be known as ARPA-H, is “a substantial amount,” even though it’s less than half of the $6.5 billion the Biden administration had requested. (Facher, 7/20)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Proposes Raising Penalty For Hospitals That Don’t Publish Prices
The Biden administration on Monday proposed sharply higher penalties for larger hospitals that don’t make their prices public. The proposal would also clamp down on the use of special coding embedded in hospital webpages that prevents Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other search engines from displaying price pages in search results. (Evans, Mathews and McGinty, 7/19)

Modern Healthcare: Biden To Crackdown On Hospital Price Transparency Violations
The Biden administration wants to increase fines for hospitals that are not making clear, accessible pricing information available online, according to CMS' proposed outpatient pay rule on Monday. The agency has proposed increasing the minimum fine for violations of the hospital price transparency rule to $300 per day for hospitals with 30 or fewer beds. Hospitals with more than 30 beds would have to pay $10 per day for each bed up to $5,500 daily. Hospitals could face annual fines of $110,000 to more than $2 million, depending on their size. (Brady, 7/19)

Modern Healthcare: Few Hospitals Comply With Price Transparency Rule, Study Shows
Less than 6% of hospitals are fully compliant with the federal requirement that health systems publicly disclose the prices they charge for medical care, according to a newly published report. More than 80% of 500 randomly selected hospitals did not publish the charges negotiated with third-party payers, half didn't disclose any negotiated rates at all and around 40% did not disseminate discounted cash prices, according to a Patient Rights Advocate analysis conducted from May to July. The overwhelming majority of hospitals did not post all payer-specific and plan-specific negotiated rates. (Kacik, 7/19)

ABC News: Justice Department Has 'Concerns' About Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Exit Plan 
The Justice Department said Monday it has "fundamental concerns" with Purdue Pharma’s plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Purdue filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2019 as it faced thousands of lawsuits across the country over its aggressive marketing of OxyContin and other opioid products. (Katersky, 7/19)

NPR: Justice Department Blasts Purdue Pharma's Bankruptcy Plan
The U.S. Justice Department is condemning a proposed bankruptcy settlement for Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin. In court filings Monday, two divisions of the DOJ described the plan as fatally flawed. The DOJ's U.S. Trustee program, which serves as a national watchdog over the federal bankruptcy system, said the deal is unconstitutional and illegal. In a separate brief, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said the plan violated the "constitutional right to due process" for those with potential opioid claims. (Mann, 7/19)

The Washington Post: $21 Billion Settlement With Opioid Distributors Expected To Be Announced This Week
After months of gridlock and years of litigation, thousands of communities suing the nation’s three largest opioid distributors will announce this week they plan to move forward with a $21 billion global settlement that would resolve ongoing and future lawsuits filed by states, cities, counties, Native American tribes and other jurisdictions, according to three people familiar with the negotiations. The deal could set aside funds for governments as soon as the end of September, according to those familiar with the negotiations, and release McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen from the behemoth, nationwide litigation brought by communities devastated by the opioid crisis. (Kornfield and Bernstein, 7/20)

NBC News: Schumer Sets Wednesday Vote To Begin Senate Debate On Infrastructure Deal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer set a vote for Wednesday to begin debate on bipartisan infrastructure legislation, even as Republicans threatened to block the motion unless the agreement is finalized by then. "They have been working on this bipartisan framework for a month already. It's time to begin the debate," Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday, adding that the leading Democratic negotiators "support this approach." (Kapur, Thorp V and Caldwell, 7/19)

Politico: GOP: Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Has 'No Chance' On Wednesday 
In his floor remarks Monday evening, Schumer said the legislation could be amended as early as Thursday if the bipartisan group finalizes legislative text by then. If not, Schumer said the Senate could begin voting on legislation that has passed infrastructure-focused committees with bipartisan support. Schumer said all five Democrats negotiating the bill, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), supported his approach. He reiterated that Wednesday's vote is part of a "routine process" and that "it's a sign of good faith from both sides that negotiations will continue in earnest." (Everett and Levine, 7/19)

The Washington Post: Infrastructure Deal In Precarious State As Endgame Nears
President Biden on Monday took a subtle yet unmistakable dig at Republicans who have backed away from a major funding component in a bipartisan infrastructure package that is now starting to fray, saying pointedly that “we shook hands on it” even as he continued to promote the agreement. Biden’s comment, with its accusatory undertones, reflected the agreement’s precarious state at the outset of what could be a pivotal week. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to force a vote within days to advance the roughly $1 trillion plan despite the Republican hesitations, a high-stakes gamble that is intended to force agreement but that GOP senators on Monday warned they would reject. (Kim, 7/19)

KHN: Sen. Wyden: $3.5T Budget May Have To Trim But It Can Set A Path To ‘Ambitious Goals’
Exactly what American health care will look like if Democrats can pass their $3.5 trillion spending plan is unclear, but the senator negotiating its health-related provisions hopes what emerges will be dramatic: the first complete health care system for older Americans and significantly reduced costs for everyone else. “We are setting very, very ambitious goals,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told KHN. “And that’s appropriate because the fact is a lot of challenges have gotten short shrift — and I’m not just talking about the last four years, I’m talking about 10 years.” (McAuliff, 7/20)

And in other news from Capitol Hill —

Axios: 6th Texas Democrat In D.C. Tests Positive For COVID 
A sixth member of the Texas Democratic delegation that fled their state for D.C. in an effort to block a state GOP voting bill has tested positive for COVID-19, the Dallas Morning News first reported Monday night. State Rep. Rafael Anchia told the outlet that all 55 members of the delegation had been observing CDC guidelines, adding: "We're grateful that 100% of us were vaccinated in advance…. This delta variant is no joke." (Falconer, 7/20)

CNN: Harris Tests Negative For Covid-19 Following Meeting With Texas Democrats Who Tested Positive 
Vice President Kamala Harris tested negative for Covid-19 following a meeting with Texas state House Democrats, several of whom later tested positive, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. An official in the vice president's office said that Harris' testing occurred before her "routine doctor's appointment" at Walter Reed Hospital, not because of the meeting with Texas legislators. (Wright, 7/19)

AP: Florida Rep. Buchanan Positive For COVID Despite Vaccine
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan said Monday he has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus even though he was fully vaccinated against the disease. The Republican congressman’s announcement came as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said a “seasonal pattern” affecting mainly Sun Belt states is largely to blame for a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state. (Anderson, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: Same Hospitals, Same Surgeries, But Worse Outcomes For Black Patients Than White Ones
Black patients are significantly more likely to suffer dangerous bleeding, infections and other serious problems related to surgical procedures than are white patients treated in the same hospital, according to a new analysis from the nonprofit Urban Institute. The analysis, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, builds on earlier research showing that Black patients are more likely than white ones to endure injuries and acquire illnesses in the hospital. (Alpert Reyes, 7/20)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Tackling Gun Violence As A Public Health Issue
The "surge in gun violence" spurred President Joe Biden in June to introduce a new strategy to target gun crime prevention and response — including encouraging local governments to scale up "wraparound services" for crime victims and calling on Congress to allocate billions of dollars toward community-based violence intervention programs that provide such services among other measures related to gun control. Some hospitals have already taken on that mantle, launching programs that link patients with mental health services, community resources and other follow-up care in the aftermath of a firearm injury, with a goal of reducing future violent injuries by encouraging patients to change behaviors that might lead them down a similar path or to retaliate against the person who injured them. (Kim Cohen, 7/20)

Modern Healthcare: Artificial Cadavers, Daily Huddles Helping Hospitals Care For Firearm Injuries
Dr. Gainosuke Sugiyama was tucking his son into bed when he got a call: a teenage patient had been unexpectedly dropped off at his hospital's emergency department with multiple gunshot wounds. “I rushed (to the hospital) with a T-shirt and shorts and slippers,” he said. “I literally ran out of the house.” Sugiyama is not a trauma surgeon. He’s chief of general surgery at Northwell’s Long Island Jewish Valley Stream (N.Y.) hospital, and can typically be found performing a range of procedures like appendectomies and bowel obstruction surgeries. (Kim Cohen, 7/20)

In news about health care workers —

Modern Healthcare: Prime Healthcare, Dr. Prem Reddy To Pay $37.5 Million Over Alleged Kickbacks
For-profit Prime Healthcare and two of its doctors have agreed to pay the federal government $37.5 million to settle allegations of kickbacks involving implantable medical devices and the health system's purchase of a surgery center. The settlement agreement announced Monday is a joint resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice and the California Department of Justice. It centers on alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act and California's False Claims Act. (Bannow, 7/19)

Crain's New York Business: To Beat Worker Burnout, New York City Health-Tech Firms Expand Wellness Benefits
As the pandemic continues to take a toll, many businesses are finding it necessary to address worker stress. Given the nature of the services local health-tech startups provide, they are aiming to go above and beyond to help their employees manage their mental health needs. “Startups, in particular, are fast-paced and dynamic. Long hours and tremendous pressure are typical. The impact of this on mental health can be significant,” said Amy Cirbus, director of clinical content at Talkspace, a Lincoln Square–based mental health company. “Without adequate measures and systems in place that support and encourage self-care and healthy boundaries, the risks for burnout and fatigue skyrocket.” (Sim, 7/19)

Modern Healthcare: Buyer's Market: Physicians Are Weighing The Best Pitch
Doctors are leveraging a competitive market as more leave their private practices behind. Health systems, insurers, private equity firms, large physician groups and growing for-profit primary-care practices are making their best pitch to lure physicians and their referral networks. "We have to think about all of the choices they have and be competitive," said Renee Buckingham, segment president of Humana's care delivery division. "Most of the doctors expect compensation to be competitive; it is the clinical culture and support capabilities inside our practice that resonates—salary is kind of a given." (Kacik, 7/20)

Health News Florida: Lauderhill Pair Charged In Scheme To Sell Fake Nursing Diplomas 
Two South Florida residents face federal charges, accused of participating in a scheme to sell fake nursing degrees to people who had not completed the required courses or clinical training. According to an indictment, Geralda Adrien, 51, and Woosvelt Predestin, 35, both of Lauderhill, face charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. They face up to 20 years in federal prison on each count, federal authorities said. (7/19)

Stat: Kadmon Wins Approval For Drug To Treat Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Kadmon Pharmaceuticals won approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to market a new treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease — a debilitating immune condition that can affect as many as half of the blood cancer patients who undergo bone marrow transplants. The newly approved drug, called Rezurock, is Kadmon’s first internally developed medicine to reach the market. (Feuerstein, 7/19)

Stat: Cytokinetics Drug Improves Blood Flow In Patients With Form Of Heart Disease
Cytokinetics said Monday that its experimental drug demonstrated statistically significant improvements in blood flow for patients with an inherited form of heart disease — a result that compares favorably to a competing heart drug recently acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. In a small, mid-stage clinical trial, 13 of 14 patients, or 93%, treated with a higher dose of the Cytokinetics drug, called CK-274, achieved improvement in blood flow to a target level where they no longer met the threshold for being diagnosed with their disease — obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM. No concerning or unexpected side effects were reported. (Feuerstein, 7/19)

Stat: Dutch Authorities Fine Drug Maker $23 Million Over Rare Disease Drug Pricing
Antitrust regulators in the Netherlands have fined a drug maker $23 million for years of “excessive” price hikes for a rare disease medicine, the latest instance in which European authorities cracked down on the pharmaceutical industry for harming consumers and taxpayers. In this case, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets cited Leadiant for a complicated set of maneuvers that saw prices rise from the equivalent of $54 in early 2009 to more than $16,000 by 2017 (see more here). The escalating cost caused what the agency called a “large public outcry” until a major medical center in Amsterdam eventually made its own, cheaper version available in 2020. (Silverman, 7/19)

Also —

Stat: Scott Peters Collected Pharma Cash After Opposing Pelosi Drug Pricing Bill
The very next day after Rep. Scott Peters attempted to torpedo House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s signature drug pricing bill by gathering a cadre of moderates to challenge the measure, pharmaceutical industry executives and lobbyists flooded his campaign with cash, according to campaign finance disclosures. Peters, a California Democrat, made waves in early May when he co-led a letter with nine other moderate Democrats taking a stand against the part of Pelosi’s painstakingly crafted drug pricing bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices — especially because Peters voted for the same bill in 2019 and 2020. Democrats have control of the House by a narrow margin, so the signatories’ opposition would essentially mean the bill can’t pass as is. Drug lobbyists largely viewed it as a death knell for the package. (Cohrs, 7/20)

AP: Study: Wildfire Smoke May Add To COVID-19 Risk
Nevada-based scientists argue in a new study that wildfire smoke may increase the risk of contracting the coronavirus. A study published last week by scientists at the Desert Research Institute found that coronavirus infection rates increased disproportionately during wildfire season in 2020, when smoke from fires in neighboring states blanketed much of northern Nevada. (Metz, 7/19)

The Washington Post: Extreme Heat Bakes West Amid Elevated Fire Danger, Drought 
For the fourth time in the past month and a half, a strong heat wave is roasting parts of the western U.S., as wildfires run amok. High-temperature records could fall in parts of the northern Rockies on Monday, where the most exceptional lobe of warmth is concentrated. There are signs that the seemingly unrelenting heat that has proved a staple of summer 2021 won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, with prolonged hot, dry conditions likely for weeks over large areas of the western Lower 48. (Cappucci, 7/19)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: CDC Reports Salmonella Tied To Lettuce Salad, Other Foodborne Outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday reported a two-state outbreak involving eight Salmonella cases linked to BrightFarms Sunny Crunch lettuce salad that was produced in Rochelle, Illinois. The cases are in Wisconsin and Illinois, and the salad was distributed in "at least" Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the CDC said. The outbreak strain is Salmonella Typhimurium. Sick people range in age from 31 to 61 years, with a median age of 46, and five are women. Illness-onset dates range from Jun 10 to 15. No hospitalizations or deaths were reported. The CDC is advising people not to eat, sell, or serve BrightFarms brand Sunny Crunch salad. (7/16)

Austin American-Statesman: Lead Exposure In Childhood Can Result In Meaner, Crankier Adults, Texas Study Finds
Sucking on a silvery chunk of lead as a kid can, decades later, cause you to be mean and self-centered. While it might sound like a prophecy from a witch, this bizarre fact was the primary finding of a massive University of Texas study examining the effects of lead exposure on people’s personalities. The study, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigated the impact of lead on more than 1.5 million people in the United States and Europe. It found that lead exposure was linked to being less agreeable and less considerate as well as other personality issues. (Allf, 7/19)

North Carolina Health News: Even Before COVID, Almost Half Of Rural Adults Went Without Dental Care 
Millions of rural residents have not seen a dentist in over a year, a recent CDC report reveals. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic forced dentists to shut down, 42 percent of adults in rural areas did not receive dental care, according to the survey. In urban areas, roughly a third of adults did not see a dentist that year. (Engel-Smith, 7/20)

KHN: With a Diagnosis at Last, Black Women with ADHD Start Healing
Miché Aaron has always been a high achiever. The 29-year-old is in her third year of a planetary sciences doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University, where she researches minerals found on Mars. She’s a former NASA space grant scholar and hopes to become an astronaut one day. But last year, Aaron was barely keeping it together — missing classes, late on assignments and struggling to explain that she understood the required material to pass her qualifying exams. Her academic adviser warned that if she didn’t get professional help she would flunk. (Sibonney, 7/20)

ABC News: Soon-To-Be Youngest American In Space Shares How Surviving Cancer Helped Prepare Her For Mission 
Hayley Arceneaux's dreams of becoming an astronaut were crushed after being diagnosed with pediatric bone cancer at 10 years old, but now she's set to go to space in the world's first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth. Now, the 29-year-old St. Jude Children's Research Hospital physician assistant is set to make history as the youngest American, first pediatric cancer survivor, and person with a prosthesis to go to space as one of the crew members in SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission. (Rosa, 7/19)

And in cancer news —

The New York Times: Heart Failure Tied To Increased Cancer Risk, Study Finds 
People with heart failure may be at increased risk for cancer. Cancer patients are usually monitored for heart failure because some cancer drugs can damage the heart. Now a new study suggests that heart failure patients, who may live for many years with the condition, might benefit by being monitored for cancer. (Bakalar, 7/19)

Health News Florida: Police Chief, Wife Go Public With Her Cancer Battle In Hopes Of Inspiring Others
Many Tallahasseeans have fought cancer and lived to tell the tale. But one of the Capital City's more prominent couples is using their encounter with the illness to bring comfort and inspiration to others. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the memory of what happened to his wife, Kim, remains fresh and frightening. "She just knew something wasn't right for a while," he said. "And then trying to figure out what that was. Eventually, she was at vacation Bible school and felt a lump; just reached under to adjust her bra innocently and felt something that didn't feel right, and it went from there." (Flanigan, 7/19)

The Advocate: Anti-Transgender Legislation In Louisiana Prompts Veto Override Session That Could Split GOP
Louisiana legislators are convening a historic meeting at noon Tuesday motivated primarily by the governor’s veto of a bill that forbids transgender youth from participating in organized women’s sports. Though the decision by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is the target of the extraordinary veto override session, the transgender ban is an issue that also pits evangelical Protestants and conservative businessmen — two important Republican constituencies — against each other. (Ballard and Paterson, 7/18)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Abbott Plans To Ban Gender-Affirming Medical Care For Transgender Youth
Lacking the support to advance such a proposal in the state Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott says he has found another way to stop transgender children from receiving gender-affirming medical care. The Texas Legislature had considered a bill to ban transition-related health care for minors during the regular session. It passed the Senate but died in the House of Representatives in May — at the time, a temporary relief for activists who decried the legislation as an unnecessary attack on transgender youth. “I have another way of achieving the exact same thing, and it’s about a finished product as we speak right now and may be announced as soon as this week,” Abbott told Mark Davis, a conservative radio talk show host, in an interview Monday morning. (Harris, 7/19)

In news from California, Alaska, Georgia and Pennsylvania —

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Bans Sending Foster Youth To Faraway Treatment Programs After Chronicle Abuse Investigation
California has banned the practice of sending foster youth and teens charged with crimes to faraway residential treatment programs, following a Chronicle investigation into reports of violent abuse at some of these out-of-state campuses. The policy change, signed into law last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, commits $100 million over five years to create new programs closer to home for these vulnerable children and teenagers. (Palomino and Tiano, 7/19)

KHN: California Makes It Easier For Low-Income Residents To Get And Keep Free Health Coverage 
Getting clean drinking water cost Ignacio Padilla his health insurance. The World War II veteran needed to repay the loan for the water pump installed on his 1-acre property in rural Tulare County, the only source of water to his mobile home. He carefully socked away a few thousand dollars so he could make the payoff — only to find that those savings put him over the asset threshold to remain on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for low-income people. He was booted from the health insurance program in 2019. ... A provision in California’s newly approved state budget will eliminate the asset test for the 2 million Californians enrolled in both Medi-Cal and Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and people under 65 with certain disabilities. Instead, their financial eligibility will be based solely on income, as it is for the millions of other people in Medi-Cal. (Bluth, 7/20)

Anchorage Daily News: An Anchorage Anesthesiologist Is In Charge Of A Plan To Reimagine Homeless Shelters In The City. Who Is He, And How’d He Get Here?
A few days before the Anchorage Assembly put the brakes on his plan to rapidly build a large-scale homeless shelter, Dr. John Morris stood in a Midtown park, contemplating what he could get done. “We need to light a fire under some of this stuff,” he said. “Way too much thinking about it. We need to build it.” Morris, 43, is an anesthesiologist by profession. On July 1, he also became Anchorage’s homeless coordinator, a position that hasn’t been particularly high-profile in the past. (Theriault Boots, 7/17)

Georgia Health News: Deaths Of Despair: Two Georgia Counties Show Stark Contrast 
You might assume that states wrestling with premature death from suicide and substance abuse were places of failure and decline, where the human toll of disappointment illustrates bigger problems about life. But America is more complicated than that. Understanding the evolving human condition can require both flying overhead at 30,000 feet and walking the streets on your own two feet before rustling around in the data to see where the story’s hiding. (Suarez, 7/19)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia School District Air Purifiers Won't Help Much, Experts Say
Philadelphia school officials are planning to consult with more air quality scientists after meeting Monday with an expert critical of the district’s $4.5 million purchase of NASA-originated air purifier technology. The expert, a Drexel professor, said the purifiers were ineffective at reducing the spread of coronavirus and had the potential to create harmful chemicals. Preparing to welcome students in-person for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, district officials last week touted the multimillion dollar investment in air purifiers advertised to rid both air and surfaces of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. (Goodin-Smith, Graham and Kummer, 7/20)

The Washington Post: State Department, CDC Warn Against United Kingdom Travel As Coronavirus Cases Surge, Restriction Lift 
The U.S. government issued its most severe warnings against travel to Britain this week as coronavirus cases there soared to the highest levels in months and authorities in England scrapped nearly all remaining restrictions in a bid to restart the economy. The State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday urged all Americans to avoid visiting the country. “Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants,” the CDC said in an updated travel notice. (Cunningham, 7/20)

Fox News: CDC, State Department, Issue Highest Warnings Against Travel To UK Over Rise In COVID Cases 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. State Department on Monday issued their highest warnings against travel to the United Kingdom due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. They each raised their travel advisories to "level 4," telling Americans they should avoid travel there. (Aaro, 7/20)

Reuters: 60% Of People Being Admitted To UK Hospitals Are Unvaccinated - Adviser
Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said that 60% of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, correcting an earlier statement he made on Monday. Vallance earlier said at a news conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson that 60% of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 have had two doses of vaccine. (Holton, 7/19)

Axios: Rising Cases Cloud England's Coronavirus "Freedom Day" 
Rising new cases and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's journey back into quarantine dampened England's "freedom day" on Monday, when the country lifted most of its remaining coronavirus-related restrictions. Face masks and capacity limits are no longer allowed in England, freeing up people to attend large events again, though scientists have warned that it could be dangerous to fully reopen when infections are increasing, according to AP. (Knutson, 7/19)

Reuters: UK PM Johnson Dismissed COVID-19 Lockdown As Only Elderly Would Die, Ex-Aide Says
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not prepared to impose lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 to save the elderly and denied the National Health Service would be overwhelmed, his former top adviser said in an interview aired on Monday. In his first TV interview since leaving his job last year, excerpts of which were released on Monday, Dominic Cummings said Johnson did not want to impose a second lockdown in the autumn last year because "the people who are dying are essentially all over 80". (MacAskill, 7/20)

The UK also made a decision about vaccines for children —

AP: UK Opts Not To Vaccinate Most Under-18s Against COVID-19
The British government has decided not to inoculate most children and teenagers against COVID-19 until more safety data on the vaccines become available. Children as young as 12 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as those who are household contacts of individuals who are immunosuppressed, will be eligible for vaccination, the government said Monday. (Kirka, 7/19)

Also —

The New York Times: The Beta Variant: What Scientists Know
England lifted nearly all of its pandemic restrictions on Monday, which some Britons have hailed as “freedom day.” The British government, however, made a notable exception: People traveling to England from France must continue to quarantine upon their arrival, even if they are fully vaccinated. The rule, announced on Friday, was spurred by concerns about the presence of the Beta variant of the coronavirus in France and is intended as a precautionary measure, officials said. ... The Beta variant, formerly known as B.1.351, was first detected in South Africa last year. It contains several mutations, in a protein called spike, that help the virus bind more tightly to human cells. (Anthes, 7/19)

CBS News: Canada To Start Letting Fully Vaccinated U.S. Citizens Enter The Country On August 9 
Canada announced Monday that it will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on August 9, and those from the rest of the world on September 7. Officials said the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived as of August 9 for eligible travelers who are currently residing in the U.S. and have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada. (7/19)

In updates on the global vaccination effort —

CBS News: Biden Administration To Send 3 Million Vaccine Doses To Guatemala 
The U.S. plans to announce Monday that it is sending 3 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to Guatemala, according to a White House official. This shipment is going to the Central American country Monday as a part of an agreement between the U.S. and Guatemala and will arrive on Tuesday, the official said. The Biden administration has already sent millions of doses to Guatemala, a country at the forefront of the immigration debate. The last batch of 1.5 million doses arrived on July 8 in Guatemala City. (Gomez and O'Keefe, 7/19)

AP: Vaccine Inequity: Inside The Cutthroat Race To Secure Doses
No one disputes that the world is unfair. But no one expected a vaccine gap between the global rich and poor that was this bad, this far into the pandemic. Inequity is everywhere: Inoculations go begging in the United States while Haiti, a short plane ride away, received its first delivery July 15 after months of promises — 500,000 doses for a population over 11 million. Canada has procured more than 10 doses for every resident; Sierra Leone’s vaccination rate just cracked 1% on June 20.It’s like a famine in which “the richest guys grab the baker,” said Strive Masiyiwa, the African Union’s envoy for vaccine acquisition. (Hinnant, Cheng and Ghosal, 7/18)

Axios: Vaccine Boosters In Rich Countries Risk Longer Wait In Poorer Nations 
The rapid spread of the Delta variant around the rich world has injected increased urgency into the debate around booster shots, but the World Health Organization and public health experts are trying to keep the focus on getting vaccines to those who don’t yet have access. Israel last week became the first country to offer boosters to people with weak immune systems, and Pfizer is pushing for rapid approval of boosters in the U.S., citing preliminary data that suggests immunity may begin to wane after six months. (Lawler, 7/19)

CIDRAP: People In Poor Nations More Likely To Accept COVID Vaccines, Survey Finds
Eighty percent of survey respondents in 10 developing countries indicated a willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 65% in the United States and 30% in Russia, according to a study published late last week in Nature Medicine. Researchers from the University of Cape Town in South Africa analyzed data from surveys deployed from June 2020 to January 2021 from 15 studies conducted in Africa, Latin America, Russia, South Asia, and the United States. More than 20,000 people responded to the survey. (7/19)

In other global covid news —

Fox News: World Is 'Moving Further Away' From End Of COVID-19 Pandemic: WHO Official
A top scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the world is shifting further away from the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to factors like viral variants, social mixing, the flouting of public health measures and vaccine inequities. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, epidemiologist and WHO COVID-19 technical lead, noted an 11.5% increase in global cases over the last week, with a 1% increase in deaths. Europe saw a 21% uptick in infections last week, while the Western Pacific experienced a nearly 30% increase, for instance. Though data reflects a slight dip in the African region, Kerkhove warned Africa is experiencing a high level of cases and an approximate 60% increase in deaths. (Rivas, 7/19)

AP: Research: India's Deaths During Pandemic 10X Official Toll
India’s excess deaths during the pandemic could be a staggering 10 times the official COVID-19 toll, likely making it modern India’s worst human tragedy, according to the most comprehensive research yet on the ravages of the virus in the south Asian country. Most experts believe India’s official toll of more than 414,000 dead is a vast undercount, but the government has dismissed those concerns as exaggerated and misleading. (Saaliq and Pathi, 7/20)

Bloomberg: Half Of Australia Back In Lockdown As Delta Tests Covid-Zero
Half of Australia’s population is back in lockdown after South Australia state joined Victoria and New South Wales in ordering residents to stay at home as the delta variant leaks across the country. South Australia later Tuesday will impose Australia’s strictest lockdown since the start of the pandemic after recording two new cases in the community. Residents must stay within 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) of their homes and comply with a 6p.m. curfew as part of the draconian measures introduced to halt an outbreak seeded from a returned traveler. (Burgess and McKay, 7/20)

AP: Total COVID-19 Cases Rise To 71 At Tokyo Olympics
An American gymnast and a Czech beach volleyball player were added to the tally Tuesday of people accredited for the Tokyo Olympics who have tested positive for COVID-19 this month. Tokyo Olympics organizers said 71 people have now tested positive. The total includes 31 people among the tens of thousands of international visitors expected in Japan to compete or work at the Games, which open Friday. Positive tests for United States gymnastics alternate Kara Eaker and Czech team member Ondřej Perušič were announced Monday. Eaker was at a training camp in Chiba prefecture and Perušič stayed at the Olympic Village in Tokyo Bay. (7/20)

Reuters: Athletes' Village COVID-19 Infection Bubble Already 'Broken' - Health Expert
The so-called bubble to control COVID-19 infections at the Olympic athletes' village in Tokyo is already "broken" and poses a risk of spreading infections to the general populace, a prominent public health expert said on Tuesday. Games officials on Sunday reported the first COVID-19 case among competitors in the village in Tokyo where 11,000 athletes are expected to stay. There have been 67 cases detected among those accredited for the Games since July 1, organisers said on Tuesday. (Swift, 7/20)

AP: Samuelson Tests Positive For COVID-19, Out Of Olympics 
Katie Lou Samuelson is out of 3-on-3 basketball at the Olympics after contracting COVID-19 while training in Las Vegas. “I will not be able to go and compete in Tokyo," Samuelson said in a statement. "Competing in the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and I hope someday soon I can come back to realize that dream. I am especially heartbroken as I am fully vaccinated and took every precaution, but I know everything will work itself out in the way it’s supposed to. I wish nothing but the best to my USAB teammates as they go out there and crush it. I’ll be cheering you in every step of the way.” (Feinberg, 7/19)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Alternate Tests Positive For Covid-19 At Tokyo Olympics 
USA Gymnastics said that after the Covid protocols for the Games were reviewed, the local government put the gymnast who tested positive and one other additional alternate gymnast into quarantine. Neither athlete was named. The father of 18-year-old Kara Eaker confirmed on Monday that his daughter was the gymnast who had tested positive. Mark Eaker said in a text message that Kara had been vaccinated under the two-dose Pfizer regimen, and was not currently experiencing any symptoms. (Radnofsky and Beaton, 7/19)

In other news about Olympic athletes —

The Washington Post: This Deaf-Blind Paralympian Was Told To Navigate Tokyo Alone. So She Quit Team USA
Five years ago, Becca Meyers was on the floor of her room in the Olympic Village at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, balled up and sobbing, frustrated and terrified. She had stopped eating because she couldn’t find the athletes’ dining area. Even after her parents rescued her and pumped her full of calories and confidence in time for her to win three gold medals and a silver for Team USA, she made a promise to herself: She would never put herself through such a nightmare again. On Sunday evening, roughly five weeks before the start of the Tokyo Paralympics, Meyers, a deaf-blind swimmer with a chance to medal in four events, pulled the plug on her Olympic dream — most likely forever. With a click, she sent an email informing U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials of her decision to withdraw from Team USA. (Sheinin, 7/19)

Modern Healthcare: Why All Cybersecurity Breaches Could Pose A Threat To Healthcare
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the greatest public health emergency in the last century. But we now are at the precipice of another public health crisis–the impact of the increasing frequency and severity of cybersecurity breaches. This is a universal concern as virtually all of healthcare, from remote clinics to major research institutions, is now on a connected digital platform that is regional, national and international. (Dr. Mark P. Jarrett and Dr. Reuven Pasternak, 7/19)

The Boston Globe: The History Of Pandemics Is A History Of Denial 
When a smallpox epidemic struck Boston in 1721, officials attempted to control it by isolating the afflicted in a “pesthouse” and quarantining ships and their crews in Boston Harbor. Cotton Mather, one of the city’s leading citizens and the foremost Puritan intellectual in New England, urged a different course. For centuries, a form of inoculation called variolation had been practiced in India to ward off smallpox. It involved making a cut in the skin and then rubbing it with a drop or two of fluid squeezed from the pustules of someone with a mild case of smallpox. Mather had read a Greek physician’s description of how the procedure was employed in the Ottoman Empire as well. He also had a firsthand account of the treatment from Onesimus, an African-born slave who had been inoculated against smallpox in his native country and never came down with the disease. (Jeff Jacoby, 7/17)

Los Angeles Times: Why You Should Forget About That Pandemic Weight Gain And Cut Yourself Some Slack 
Buried in the sweetness of a return to some sort of pre-pandemic life is the dread of something less palatable: an uncomfortable date with my scale. I know it’s going to tell me I’ve gained 10 pounds. And with that knowledge, there’s a fleeting thought that maybe I’m not ready to put on a public face, at least not yet — not while I’m looking like this. Before you judge me, know that I’m really not a shallow person. Honest. I’m at a place in my life where I rarely worry about what other people think of me, because I know how rarely they do. I even teach mindfulness and self-compassion to other healthcare workers, showing them how to handle their negative self-talk with grace and gentleness. So why let a modest weight gain during a planetary crisis get under my skin? (Jillian Horton, 7/20)

Stat: Circumventing Covid-19 With Better Ventilation And Air Quality 
Gathering outdoors has provided people a safer alternative to meeting inside during the Covid-19 pandemic. But for those who spend their days in crowded indoor spaces — workers in office buildings and industrial facilities, students in schools, and the like — how can their indoor environments be made more similar to the outdoors? With better air quality and ventilation. (Leslie Boden, Will Raderman and Patricia Fabian, 7/20)

The Washington Post: Stop Pleading With Anti-Vaxxers And Start Mandating Vaccinations
It’s time to get serious about coronavirus vaccinations. Stop pleading and start mandating. For the past six months, President Biden, joined by every public health authority in the land, has been begging Americans to get vaccinated. The “pretty, please” approach isn’t working. According to The Post’s covid-19 tracker, in the past week, daily reported covid-19 cases rose 66 percent, covid-related hospitalizations rose 28 percent, and daily reported covid-19 deaths rose 20 percent. With the delta variant spreading across the country, every single state has seen an increase in cases over the past seven days. (Max Boot, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: It's Time To Get Tough On COVID Vaccine Evaders 
Last summer, when a new, deadly wave of COVID-19 infections gripped the nation, the only solace during that dark time was that a vaccine seemed possible, if not probable, within the year. It was the light in the proverbial tunnel, as distant and weak as it may have appeared at the moment. We should have reached the end of the tunnel by now, thanks to amazing feats of science and government that developed and mass produced several COVID-19 vaccines in record time. Yet it’s still agonizingly far away because of falling demand for the abundant and free shots, despite pleas and cash giveaways to nudge vaccine holdouts. Efforts to educate skeptics about the undeniable benefits of the vaccines must continue, and the social media platforms need to do a better job at cracking down on deliberate misinformation that serves solely to stir up confusion and doubt about the vaccines — or worse. (7/20)

The New York Times: How To Reach The Unvaccinated 
Late last week Michael Brendan Dougherty of National Review stirred up a mix of interest and outrage among journalists by arguing that more understanding should be extended to unvaccinated Americans, whose hesitancy about getting Pfizered or Modernafied often reflects a reasonable uncertainty and wariness after a year of shifting public-health rhetoric, blunders and misleading messaging. The alternative perspective, judging from responses to his column, regards the great mass of the unvaccinated as victims of deliberately manufactured paranoia, the blame for which can be laid partly on their own partisan self-delusion and partly on wicked actors in the right-wing media complex — from conspiracy theorists flourishing online to vaccine skeptics interviewed by Tucker Carlson to Republican politicians who have pandered to vaccine resistance. (Ross Douthat, 7/20)

The Boston Globe: Questions And Answers On The COVID-19 Vaccine 
Over the last months, we in Massachusetts have been fortunate to begin to return to many experiences of normalcy. People fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks outside, many beloved local restaurants and businesses have reopened, and we are gathering together more and more to reconnect with friends and family. These experiences have been made possible by the protective power of vaccination and our continued public health measures. (7/19)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Complained A Lot About The Fair Park Vaccine Hub, But The Results Deserve Our Respect
Now that everyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine can easily get one, we sometimes forget what it was like just a few months ago. There were only a few thousand doses per week, tens of thousands of people on a Dallas County waiting list, and endless headaches for the public and for the county officials in charge of administering doses. (7/20)

Bloomberg: Israel: Naftali Bennett Hedges His Bets With Covid Strategy
Naftali Bennett began his term as Israel’s new prime minister praising his predecessor for the successful Covid vaccination program and promising more of the same: “Vaccinations, not lockdowns” has been his mantra. The pivot from state-mandated measures to personal responsibility was straight from Boris Johnson’s playbook. Bennett will have noticed that “Freedom Day” hasn’t gone quite as hoped in the U.K. as the delta variant interferes with plans for a carefree unlocking. Now the Israeli leader is sounding a little less British too. In reality, though, the Israeli approach is just different enough from the U.K. one to allow Bennett to claim he’s both opened up and stayed vigilant. (Zev Chafets, 7/20)

The Star Tribune: Learn The Right Lessons From The COVID Response 
On July 11, this newspaper published an editorial commending to readers a book written by Andy Slavitt regarding the response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Slavitt may seem an inapt choice for such a book or editorial, given his frequent inaccurate predictions and observations regarding the course of the epidemic and his indefatigable support of suppression measures that have been shown to be largely futile and to have caused more harm than benefit to the population as a whole. An article in this paper in October noted Slavitt's support for a supposed virus-crushing — and soul-crushing — six-week complete shutdown of everything. He cited several nations that supposedly followed such a course with success, but almost every one of them, such as England, Italy, the Czech Republic, and currently Japan and Thailand, went on to have substantial waves of cases. (Kevin Roche, 7/18)