Los Angeles Times: Monkeypox Cases More Than Double In L.A. County
The number of cumulative monkeypox cases has more than doubled in Los Angeles County in the last two weeks as officials race to better track the virus and more widely vaccinate more vulnerable communities. (Money, Lin II and Toohey, 8/19)

USA Today: Monkeypox State Cases: New York, California Numbers Amid US Emergency
The U.S. had reported 14,115 confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases as of Friday, per the CDC. Highly-populated states are leading the numbers – with 2,744 confirmed cases in New York, followed by 2,668 confirmed cases in California. (Grantham-Philips, 8/20)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County Reports Total Of 192 Monkeypox Cases 
San Diego County’s monkeypox case total hit 192 Friday as the state’s top public health official said more than 66,000 vaccine doses have now been distributed across the state. (Sisson, 8/20)

CIDRAP: Evidence Of Monkeypox Virus Found On Household Surfaces 
A study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows multiple surface sites testing positive for monkeypox virus genetic material in a household of two people infected with monkeypox in Utah. ... The swabbed areas included those from all three porous items (cloth furniture and blankets), 17 of 25 (68%) nonporous surfaces (handles and switches), and one of two mixed-surface types (chairs). (8/19)

Fox News: Los Angeles County Health Department Offering Free COVID-19 Testing For Pets
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is offering free COVID-19 testing for pets who may have been exposed to the virus. Los Angeles health officials announced the initiative on Aug. 20, stating that it has recently received funding to conduct the free COVIS-19 testing on pets. (Sabes, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: Are Omicron Subvariants BA.4.6 Or BA.2.75 Threats To California? 
As the latest coronavirus wave fueled by the super-infectious Omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to recede, health officials are turning a wary eye to what might come next. Experts in California are closely tracking two newer subvariants, BA.4.6 and BA.2.75 — themselves members of the Omicron family. It isn’t clear whether they will eventually spread to worrisome extents in the state, but there’s reason to pay attention as they’ve caused concern elsewhere in the world. (Lin II and Money, 8/22)

Bay Area News Group: Mountain View School Booted 4-Year-Old For Not Wearing Mask
In a sign the pandemic policy wars that have riven school communities still simmer, a Mountain View district that was among a few to mandate face masks in an effort to keep COVID-19 in check kicked a 4-year-old out of class over the last week for not wearing a mask in class. (Woolfolk, 8/20)

Fox News: Public School Districts Implementing COVID Restrictions Meet Ferocious Community Pushback 
School districts have re-implemented mandates for children for the 2022-2023 academic year, against the wishes of many parents across the U.S., who have been fighting it tooth and nail at board of education meetings. Most recently, a 4-year-old boy in San Francisco, California was kicked out of school for not wearing a mask, Fox News Digital reported Friday. (Grossman, 8/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: FDA Authorizes Novavax COVID Vaccine For Kids 12-17
Biotech company Novavax said the FDA granted its COVID vaccine emergency use authorization for children ages 12 to 17. It was already granted emergency approval for adults 18 and over. (Fracassa, 8/22)

CNBC: FDA Authorizes Emergency Use For Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine For Ages 12 To 17
Biotechnology company Novavax announced on Friday that its Covid-19 vaccine has been authorized for emergency use by the U.S Food and Drug Administration for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. ... Having more vaccine options for adults and children will “hopefully help increase vaccination rates, particularly as we prepare for ongoing surges of Covid-19 with the start of fall and the back-to-school season,” Stanley C. Erck, president and CEO of Novavax, said in a statement. (8/20)

CNBC: Omicron-Specific Covid Booster Shots Are Just Weeks Away. Here’s Who Will—And Won’t—Be Eligible
Newly updated Covid booster shots designed to target omicron’s BA.5 subvariant should be available within the next three weeks. That begs an important question: Who’s going to be eligible to get them? The short answer: Anyone ages 12 and up who has completed a primary vaccination series, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson tells CNBC Make It. It’s unlikely to matter whether you’ve received any other booster doses or not before, the spokesperson says — but if you’re unvaccinated, you won’t eligible for the updated formula until you complete a primary series with the existing Covid vaccines. (Constantino, 8/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Variant-Targeted Covid-19 Boosters Test The Promise Of MRNA Technology 
In the U.S., modified Covid-19 booster shots are unlikely to be cleared for several more weeks because health authorities decided in late June they wanted modified vaccines to target different Omicron subvariants than those rolling out in other countries. As a result, the makers of the leading Covid-19 vaccines—Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. with its partner BioNTech SE—got a later start producing the new shots that are planned for the U.S.  (Loftus, 8/21)

Fresno Bee: Why Gavin Newsom Thinks This High School In Fresno Is A Role Model For Student Support
For more than three decades, California’s education law covering student counseling “made no reference” to mental health support, but with the stroke of a pen — as well as a $4.7 billion price tag — Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week the state’s schools would “overhaul” the system. (Thornton, 8/22)

Stat: FDA Approves Axsome’s Fast-Acting Treatment For Major Depression
After a lengthy review, the Food and Drug Administration approved a fast-acting depression treatment from Axsome Therapeutics on Friday, clearing the way for the first new oral therapy for major depressive disorder in decades. (Garde, 8/19)

Axios: Surprise Billing Rule Gets New Rules For Working Out Disputes
A year and a half after Congress protected patients from surprise medical bills, the Biden administration has finalized the process for deciding who'll actually pick up the tab. Billions of dollars are at stake — either for providers or for insurers and employers. (Reed and Bettelheim, 8/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon Among Bidders For Signify Health 
Amazon.com Inc. is among the bidders for healthcare company Signify Health Inc., joining other heavy hitters vying in an auction for the home-health-services provider, according to people familiar with the matter. Signify is for sale in an auction that could value it at more than $8 billion, the people said. Bids are due around Labor Day, according to the people, but it is always possible an eager bidder could strike a deal before then. (Cooper, 8/21)

Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Has New Borrego Health Center For East Valley Residents
Excitement and joy filled each space in the new Coachella Valley Community Health Center in Coachella as Ana Hernandez led a small group of visitors through the clinic. (Sasic, 8/19)

Sacramento Business Journal: Blue Shield Sells, Leases Back Half Of El Dorado Hills Campus 
Blue Shield unveiled the El Dorado Hills campus in 2001. (van der Meer, 8/19)

Voice Of San Diego: US And Mexico Sign Promises To Curb Cross-Border Sewage Spills
The U.S. and Mexico agreed Thursday on how to spend $470 million in hopes of stopping Tijuana sewage from spilling into San Diego and closing beaches. With the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement in 2020, Congress designated $300 million for border projects like those needed in the Tijuana River watershed. Though that money could be spent on both sides of the border, it became clear over time the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would spend it in San Diego. (Elmer, 8/19)

The Bakersfield Californian: Valley Fever Cases Up, Deaths Decline In 2021 
The Kern County Public Health Services Department and the Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical released this week valley fever case and death statistics for 2021, which indicate that the number of cases rose over the last year but the number of deaths declined. (Desai, 8/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Mothers Rally To Stop The Fentanyl Deaths Of Their Children
Roman Vardanega has been in county jail for five months, and his mother, Tanya Tilghman stood on the steps of City Hall Sunday to beg that he be left there. “If they release my son, he will die and be one of these pictures on the steps,” Tilghman told a crowd of about 150 gathered on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. It also marked the first anniversary of Mothers Against Drug Deaths, a Bay Area coalition formed by women whose children are either on the streets or have died of overdoses. (Whiting, 8/21)

Reveal: American Rehab: A Desperate Call
Reporter Shoshana Walter gets a message from a stranger: Penny Rawlings has just read one of Walter’s stories about Cenikor, a drug rehab with a facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rawlings is desperate to learn more because her brother Tim Roe is a participant there. Rawlings helped send him to Cenikor — but didn’t realize getting him out of treatment was going to be the bigger problem. Cenikor’s model has its roots in Synanon: a revolutionary, first-of-its-kind rehab that started in the 1950s on a California beach. Its charismatic leader, Charles Dederich, mesmerized the nation by claiming to have developed a cure for drug addiction. But as it spread across the country, Dederich wanted the rehab to turn into something else: a business. (Walter, 8/20)

Voice of OC: In Wake Of ‘Pay To Play’ Fine At OC’s Health Plan For The Poor, Legislators Consider Action
In the wake of a “pay to play” state fine raising questions about Orange County’s health care plan for the poor, state legislators are now considering banning county supervisors like Andrew Do from working for the agency in the year after they leave office. The legislation is now set to come up for final legislative approval in the coming weeks, according to its lead author, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton). (Gerda, 8/17)

Oaklandside: Senior And Disability Advocates Want A North Oakland Intersection Made More Pedestrian Friendly
Nikki Brown-Booker fears crossing 55th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in her wheelchair. With cars speeding off Highway 24 onto the three-lane MLK Way, she says many drivers treat pedestrians like an afterthought. “I often have to stop in the middle of the crosswalk because I can’t make it all the way across,” she told The Oaklandside. Brown-Booker uses an electric wheelchair that moves at slow speeds. Her chair and her physical condition don’t allow her to maneuver quickly to avoid drivers who might not be paying attention or are speeding or driving hazardously. (Fermoso, 8/18)

The Wall Street Journal: It Now Costs $300,000 To Raise A Child 
The cost of raising a child through high school has risen to more than $300,000 because of inflation that is running close to a four-decade high, according to a Brookings Institution estimate. It determined that a married, middle-income couple with two children would spend $310,605—or an average of $18,271 a year—to raise their younger child born in 2015 through age 17. The calculation uses an earlier government estimate as a baseline, with adjustments for inflation trends. (Torchinsky, 8/19)