Los Angeles Times: California COVID Cases Rising As Easter, Coachella Arrive 
A recent uptick in cases is fueling some concern about the trajectory of the coronavirus in California, especially as April brings both a bustling holiday season — including Easter, Ramadan and Passover — and a social calendar packed with spring break travel plans and major events like the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals. After plummeting from the all-time-highs seen during last winter’s surge, the number of newly reported coronavirus infections is rising modestly in some parts of the state, including Los Angeles County. The numbers remain fairly low, and officials said it’s far from clear the state will see another major spike. (Lin II and Money, 4/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: A Bay Area School Group Went To D.C. Fifty Kids Came Back With COVID
Marin County eighth-graders got to visit Washington, D.C., last week, renewing a favorite spring break tradition that had been on a two-year pandemic hiatus. But dozens of them returned with more than souvenirs: Over the past two days, about 50 students have tested positive for the coronavirus, swept up in an East Coast swell in COVID cases that has hit high-ranking policymakers and the D.C. elite. (Allday, 4/12)

Los Angeles Daily News: 27 LAPD Employees Have Long COVID, Chief Says 
At least 27 Los Angeles Police Department employees have long COVID, the chief of police said Tuesday. Chief Michel Moore told the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday that all of those employees, who included sworn officers and civilian staff, were still suffering COVID-19 symptoms after first being infected with the virus “weeks or months ago.” He said all would continue to be considered “long-term COVID recoveries” until they’re able to come back to work. (Cain, 4/12)

Orange County Register: Coronavirus: L.A. County Reported 795 New Cases And 13 More Deaths, April 12
Los Angeles County public health officials reported 795 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 2,847,097 as of Tuesday, April 12. Officials reported 13 more deaths linked to the coronavirus, for a total of 31,819 deaths since tracking began. There was five more hospitalizations reported since Monday, bringing the total count of people hospitalized with coronavirus to 270. (Goertzen, 4/12)

Sacramento Bee: ‘Stealth’ Omicron US Cases Rising. Few Say COVID Is A Crisis
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are on the rise again as infections from the “stealth” omicron subvariant, BA.2, are ramping up. Despite this, most of the country doesn’t consider the COVID-19 pandemic a crisis as of April 11, a new Axios-Ipsos poll found. This comes as omicron BA.2 cases make up approximately 85% of infections nationwide for the week ending April 9, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data estimates show. (Marnin, 4/12)

The Hill: Omicron Subvariant Now Almost 90 Percent Of US COVID Cases: CDC
Nearly 90 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the United States are now a more transmissible subvariant of omicron known as BA.2, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The data, for the week ending April 9, shows that 86 percent of cases were the BA.2 variant, showing how the variant has risen in the United States to now make up almost all new cases.  (Sullivan, 4/12)

Sacramento Bee: Costcos Across California To Scrap Special COVID Operating Hours. Here's What To Know
Costco’s special operating hours will soon join the other tossed COVID-19 mitigation tools originally set in place at the beginning of the pandemic. Starting Monday, April 18, member-exclusive warehouse Costco will scrap its more than two-year special hours policy for customers ages 60 and up, healthcare workers and first responders, noting shoppers uncomfortable with the change could shop online, according to a statement on its website. (Taylor, 4/13)

The New York Times: The World Surpasses Half A Billion Known Coronavirus Cases, Amid Concerns About Testing.
The coronavirus is continuing to stalk the world at an astonishing clip, racing past a grim succession of pandemic milestones in 2022: totals of 300 million known cases around the world by early January, 400 million by early February and, as of Tuesday, half a billion. There have almost certainly been far more infections than that among the global population of 7.9 billion, with many going undetected or unreported, and the reporting gap may only grow wider as some countries, including the United States, scale back official testing. (Hassan, 4/13)

Bay Area News Group: Over 400 VTA Employees Are Unvaccinated Ahead Of An April 29 Deadline
For months, the Valley Transportation Authority lacked a COVID vaccination requirement, even as the virus surged and every other Bay Area transit agency cracked down. But now that cases have plummeted, it is about to implement a tough policy that could lead to the firing of hundreds of unvaccinated employees. (Kamisher, 4/13)

VC Star: Lockdown Hurt Ventura County Nursing Home Residents, Loved Ones Say
Marites Bennett hugged her mother goodnight at a Ventura County nursing home in March 2020 with a promise to return the next day bearing Filipino noodles. "That day never came," Bennett said, voice breaking as she spoke at a symposium on the scars of the pandemic lockdown at nursing homes and assisted living centers. (Kisken, 4/11)

City News Service: LA County Stepping Up COVID Boosters At Nursing Homes 
Amid slowly rising infection numbers and continued spread of the BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19, Los Angeles County health officials said on Tuesday, April 12, that they are accelerating efforts to provide additional booster doses of vaccine to residents of skilled nursing facilities. According to the county Department of Public Health, 91% of nursing facility residents are fully vaccinated, while 85% are vaccinated and have received one booster dose. Among nursing facility staff, 98% are fully vaccinated and 85% are vaccinated with one booster dose. (4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccines Carry Low Risk Of Heart Conditions, Studies Find 
The risk of developing inflammatory heart conditions after Covid-19 vaccination is relatively low, two large studies found, especially when compared with the heart-related risks from Covid-19 disease itself and from vaccines against other diseases. One study, an analysis of 22 previous studies, found that the risk of the conditions including myocarditis in people who received a Covid-19 vaccine wasn’t significantly different from that for non-Covid-19 vaccines such as those against flu, polio and measles. And the heart risk associated with Covid-19 shots was lower than the risk after smallpox vaccination. The results of the analysis, which included data on the effects of more than 400 million doses of various vaccines, were published online Monday by The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. (Loftus and Onque, 4/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: A Thousand Backpacks Displayed At SJSU Challenge Stigma Of Mental Illness, Suicide
One thousand backpacks were placed across Tower Lawn at San Jose State University on Tuesday, each bag representing a person who survived a suicide attempt or lost a loved one to suicide, a leading cause of death for college-aged adults, officials said. In the shadow of the iconic Tower Hall, third-year student Madison Mañez, 20, took to the lawn at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday with nearly one dozen other students and laid the backpacks, one by one, on the grass and neighboring benches. Mañez and other executive board members of SJSU’s chapter of Active Minds — a national nonprofit that aims to challenge the stigma associated with mental illness — had planned the on-campus installation for months, but the reality of what each backpack represented suddenly struck her. (Hernández, 4/12)

Bay Area News Group: Suicide Prevention: 1,000 Backpacks Fill Lawn At SJSU To 'Send Silence Packing'
Each backpack told a story. And there were 1,000 of them displayed Tuesday on the lawn at San Jose State, part of a national campaign by the nonprofit group Active Minds calling for greater attention to suicide prevention efforts. Among college-age adults, suicide is the second-leading cause of death, says Active Minds. The backpacks, scattered in the quad area between Tower Hall and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, were used to relay personal stories from both suicide victims and survivors. (Mondon, 4/12)

AP: Mental Health Panel Raises Doubts On Youth Suicide Screening 
An influential U.S. group is raising doubts about routine suicide screening for children and teens even as others call for urgent attention to youth mental health. In draft guidance posted Tuesday, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said there’s not enough evidence to recommend routinely screening kids who show no obvious signs of being suicidal. The document is open for public comment until May 9, and opposing voices are already weighing in. (Tanner, 4/12)

Reuters: Screening For Anxiety Should Begin At Age 8, U.S. Panel Says 
Children as young as 8 years old should be screened for anxiety and those ages 12 and over for depression, according to new recommendations by the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The guidance for healthcare providers, still in draft form, applies to children and teens who are not showing signs or symptoms of these conditions. (Lapid, 4/12)

City News Service: Orange County Judge Junks Major Insurance Fraud Case After 8 Years Of Litigation 
Following eight years of litigation, an Orange County Superior Court judge threw out a major insurance fraud case that also alleged involuntary manslaughter stemming from an infant’s death. All charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony insurance fraud-related counts were dismissed against Kareem Ahmed, Andrew Robert Jarminski and Michael Rudolph, according to court records. (4/12)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Community Demands Better Protections For San Diego Jail Inmates
One day after the seventh inmate death this year was reported in San Diego County jails, community advocates urged the civilian board that oversees the Sheriff’s Department to do more to protect the men and women in custody. Speakers at the county Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board meeting on Tuesday night said too many people are dying behind bars — claims that were validated by a new report released this week. (McDonald and Davis, 4/12)

Bay Area News Group: Woman Forced To Give Birth After Pacific Coast Highway Crash Comes Home After Months In Hospital
Norma Shea remembers a “wall of black” coming at her while she was sitting in the back seat of a Honda Civic waiting to make a left turn from Pacific Coast Highway onto Cherry Ave in Long Beach on Feb. 9. Then, shards of glass appeared to float by her face, as if in slow motion. The next thing she recalls was pleading with any “guardian angels” who might be listening for the safety of her baby. She was eight months pregnant. (Licas, 4/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Blind S.F. Skateboarder Relearning Daredevil Tricks After Being Shot In The Face
On a recent Wednesday, before Zion Williams hops on his skateboard and begins flipping it around his feet, he counts his steps. There are 10 to 12 steps between the entrance of the Hilltop skate park in Bayview and the beginning of his route, which he counts out while tracing a wall with his cane. It’s part of a system that the 19-year-old aspiring pro skateboarder has been mapping out since he lost his vision last year. He now relies on his memory, sounds and landmarks in a sport where a half-inch mistake can mean a cracked skull. (Cassidy, 4/12)

Sacramento Bee: What Is Salmon Poisoning Disease? How To Protect Your Dog 
Dogs living in Northern California are at risk for Salmon Poisoning Disease, a potentially fatal condition that kills 90% of dogs that show symptoms, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. In a recent statement from the state department, officials reminded Northern California dog owners to protect their pet against the disease seen only in dogs after the consumption of certain types of raw or cold-smoked fish infected with Neorickettsia helminthoeca. (Taylor, 4/13)

Los Angeles Times: Full Body Burials At Sea Are Becoming More Popular
Years before her death last summer at the age of 85, Lois Woodburn cornered a mortician at a party to ask if she could be buried in the ocean. Lots of people want their cremated remains scattered in the sea, but that’s not what Woodburn, a fun-loving commercial artist, had in mind. “She said, ‘My whole body in there. Just throw me in the ocean. That’s what I want,’” said her daughter, Teresa Stremcha. (Netburn, 4/12)

CalMatters: California Unveils Proposed Rule To Ban New Gas-Fueled Cars
California’s clean-air regulators today unveiled a far-reaching proposal requiring a ramp-up in sales of zero-emission cars, culminating in a ban on new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. The rules to force Californians to end their dependence on conventional cars are a critical component to California’s goals to tackle climate change and poor air quality. If adopted by the California Air Resources Board this summer, the regulations would be the first in the world and could pave the way for nationwide standards. At least 15 other states pledged to follow California’s lead on car standards on previous clean-car rules, and the federal government usually follows. (Becker, 4/12)

Los Angeles Times: Deadly Overdoses Spiked Among Teens, UCLA Researchers Find
Deadly drug overdoses among U.S. teenagers have more than doubled in frequency in recent years, even as those in the age group became less likely to use illegal drugs, researchers from UCLA and elsewhere found in a newly published analysis. The findings underscore the fact that teens face serious danger from the kinds of drugs circulating in the United States, including the powerful opioid fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and benzodiazepines, said Joseph Friedman, a UCLA addiction researcher and lead author of the study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (Reyes, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Syphilis, Gonorrhea Cases Increased In 2020 As STD Rates Remain High
The number of cases of some sexually transmitted diseases increased during the first year of the pandemic, officials said Tuesday, continuing a rise seen over the last decade. Syphilis and gonorrhea cases increased in 2020, as screening clinics closed and people put off regular doctor visits, according to an annual report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. Fewer chlamydia cases were recorded than in past years, but experts say that decrease was due to reduced testing rather than a true decline in the disease’s prevalence. (Shepherd, 4/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Bon Appétit’s Latest Cooking Video Is ‘Extremely Dangerous’
In his Bon Appétit series, “It’s Alive,” chef Brad Leone plays up his rough-and-tumble, everyman personality as he demonstrates food preservation and fermentation methods. Leone and former colleague Claire Saffitz were the stars of the magazine’s previous era, drawing in millions of viewers and acolytes with their off-the-cuff instructional videos. His fast-and-loose style is fun to watch, but the negative reception to his latest work, an April 4 demo of making pastrami at home, speaks to the sometimes at-odds relationship between popularity and credibility in food media. In the video, Leone walks through the process of making pastrami at home, with results that have many speculating about whether the recipe could make them sick. (Ho, 4/12)

Sacramento Bee: Can California Cities Sweep Homeless Camps? What To Know About A Key 2018 Court Decision
After Sacramento cleared a highly-visible homeless encampment on the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue Monday, activists argued the sweep’s legality, citing a 2018 federal appeals court decision. The decision, known as Martin vs. Boise, has prevented the city in the past from sweeping homeless camps on publicly owned land without providing shelter to individuals. (Adatia, 4/12)

CapRadio: California Bill Would Ban Homeless Encampments Along American River Parkway 
Three Democratic state lawmakers from the Sacramento area are backing legislation they say would speed up the removal of homeless encampments along the American River Parkway — and eventually ban the camps from the 23-mile natural corridor. Assembly member Ken Cooley (D–Rancho Cordova) said his Assembly Bill 2633 will authorize Sacramento County park rangers “to actually remove campers, campsites [and] fire pits,” something critics say will further criminalize homelessness. (Nichols, 4/12)