Orange County Register: Irvine Rolls Back One Of Its Last COVID-19 Related Restrictions
Irvine will drop COVID-19 vaccine requirements for its seniors’ meal program effective May 11. The city has required proof of vaccination for those looking to avail of the daily congregate meal program — a group meal that helps senior citizens meet their nutritional requirements — at the Lakeview Senior Center. (Farzan, 4/6)

Los Angeles Times: Masking Up In Hospitals Didn't Stop COVID Spread, U.K. Study Finds 
In a world moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and medical offices have been the last bastions of mandatory masking. But new research finds that in communities where pandemic precautions have been largely abandoned, mask mandates in healthcare settings do little to prevent coronavirus infections among patients. The findings, presented on Thursday at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, suggest that hospitals, nursing homes and clinics could adopt “mask optional” policies without putting their patients at increased risk. (Healy, 4/6)

CIDRAP: Two Infants Born To COVID-Infected Mothers Suffer Severe Brain Damage
The infants, born to COVID-19–positive mothers, had seizures on the day of their birth, microcephaly (small head size), and substantial developmental delays over time. Repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated severe brain damage. Both mothers were infected in the second trimester, and one was reinfected in the third trimester. While neither newborn was COVID-positive at birth, both had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and elevated levels of blood inflammatory markers. The placentas showed abnormalities such as inadequate blood flow to the fetus and increased inflammatory markers. One infant died unexpectedly at 13 months, the brain showing evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. (Van Beusekom, 4/6)

Reuters: COVID Caused Brain Damage In 2 Infants Infected During Pregnancy -US Study 
Researchers at the University of Miami reported on Thursday what they believe are the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed a mother's placenta and caused brain damage in the infants they were carrying. Doctors previously had suspected this was possible, but until now, there was no direct evidence of COVID-19 in a mother's placenta or an infant's brain, the team told reporters at a news briefing. (Steenhuysen, 4/6)

Bloomberg: Covid Is 60% Deadlier Than Flu, Study Of Hospital Patients Finds
Covid-19 isn’t “just a flu,” with a study of hospital patients finding that the virus was still 60% deadlier than influenza last winter. Greater immunity against the coronavirus, better treatments, and different virus variants lowered Covid’s mortality risk to about 6% among adults hospitalized in the US last winter from 17-21% in 2020, researchers at the Clinical Epidemiology Center of the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri found. That was still much higher than the flu’s death rate of 3.7%. (Gale, 4/6)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Deputy Health Officer Takes Over For Departing Sundari Mase
Dr. Kismet Baldwin-Santana, who served as deputy health officer during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been named interim health officer, replacing for now the county’s outgoing public health chief, Dr. Sundari Mase. (Espinoza, 4/6)

Sacramento Business Journal: Sutter Health Considering $750 Million Bond Sale In Second Quarter  
Sutter Health is looking at raising $750 million from a bond issue it is considering this quarter, according to a notice to current bondholders. (Hamann, 4/6)

USA Today: Education Department Issues Proposed Title IX Rule On Sports Inclusion
Schools and colleges largely could not ban nonbinary and transgender students from sports teams, the Biden administration said Thursday in a long-promised proposed rule to protect these students from discrimination. “Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement that included details of the rule. (Jimenez, 4/6)

The New York Times: Biden Plan Sets New Rules For Transgender Athletes And School Sports
Under the Department of Education proposal, “categorically” barring transgender athletes in that way would be a violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding. But it would give universities and K-12 schools the discretion to limit the participation of transgender students, if they conclude that including transgender athletes could undermine competitive fairness or potentially lead to sports-related injuries, a key part of the debate about transgender athletes in women’s sports. (Mervosh, Tumin and Sasani, 4/6)

KQED: San Francisco Has Doubled Participants Of This Opioid Treatment. Here's Why 
The first time Alyssa Ibarra tried to get suboxone, a medication proven to treat opioid use disorder, she bought it from someone off the street. After an ankle injury in 2014, she started using Vicodin and Percocet recreationally and later developed an addiction to opioids after experiencing postpartum depression. “When I tried to stop, I remember just feeling really hopeless,” Ibarra said. “I didn't even think, ‘I'm having withdrawals.’ I just thought it was the postpartum.” (Johnson, 4/4)

Modesto Bee: Narcan In Modesto: Proposed Bill Says Bars Should Carry It
Bars, libraries, gas stations and hotels in some counties experiencing an opioid crisis could be required to carry free Narcan in their employee break rooms if a proposed bill in California’s legislature gets signed. The emergency response: opioid antagonists kits bill, or Assembly Bill 24, was introduced by Asm. Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, to help save the lives of people experiencing an opioid overdose. (Williams, 4/6)

Los Angeles Daily News: LA County Ramps Up Incentives To Recruit Mental Health Workers For Street Teams 
In Los Angeles County, the need for mental health services is great. The funding is available. The infrastructure has been created in the form of mobile response teams designed to aide the homeless, foster youth and K-12 students. (Scauzillo, 4/6)

Military.com: VA Delays Rollout Of Troubled Electronic Medical Records System To More Hospitals
The Department of Veterans Affairs has put the introduction of its new electronic health records system on hold at the hospital system slated to adopt it this summer -- a pause that extends to all future rollouts, VA officials said Thursday. In a memo to staff at the VA Saginaw, Michigan, Health Care System, Veterans Integrated Services Network 10 Director Laura Ruzick said Thursday that the training scheduled to begin April 1 on the Oracle Cerner Millennium records system has been postponed. VA confirmed to Military.com the postponement applies to all planned deployments. (Kime, 4/6)

Military Times: VA Delays Rollout Of Health Records System To Next Scheduled Sites
The delay is the latest in a series of setbacks for the 10-year, $16 billion health records overhaul project, launched by President Donald Trump in 2017. Only five of the department’s 170-plus medical sites have begun using the software, and new deployments have been delayed for months amid concerns with the new system. In the last few weeks, lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced a series of legislative proposals to delay future deployments until VA officials can verify that certain patient safety, staff training and software usability standards have been reached. (Shane III, 4/6)

Los Angeles Times: California Rains Could Bring Masses Of Mosquitoes: Here's Why 
After a parade of storms battered the state, Californians are enjoying an extended stretch of sunshine and warmer temperatures. But the return of pleasant weather this year could bring more than suntans as the deluges provided fertile ground for mosquitoes. “More water means more mosquitoes,” said Joel Buettner, general manager of the Placer Mosquito & Vector Control District in Northern California. (Martinez, 4/6)

Los Angeles Daily News: You Can Save The Life Of A Heart Attack Victim, Without Mouth-To-Mouth
Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health launched its L.A. County Heart Heroes 2023 campaign  on Thursday, April 6 at the Hollywood/Wilshire Wellness Center. Medical experts joined top sports teams to promote hands-only CPR, including representatives from the Dodgers, Rams, Chargers and Los Angeles Football Club. (4/6)

KQED: A Program In Oakland Is Helping Khmer Rouge Survivors Heal
Nearly 320,000 Cambodians live in the US, and about 1/3 of the population lives in California. Many are survivors or descendants of those who fled the country during the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s. An estimated 2 million people died under the communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot, leaving survivors with emotional, physical and psychological trauma. Barriers like language access or cultural stigma often prevent survivors from accessing mental healthcare to address the trauma. But one program in Alameda County has spent the last 20 years providing culturally sensitive mental health care to the Cambodian community, letting survivors lead the way — and participants say it works. (Guevarra, Montecillo and Esquinca, 4/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: He Says A Wellness Drink Destroyed Seven Years Of Sobriety. Now, He’s Suing
A Sonoma man has sued a beverage company after its “wellness tonic” allegedly caused him to relapse following seven years of sobriety. Romulo Torres, a recovering alcoholic, filed a class-action lawsuit against Botanic Tonics, alleging the Santa Monica company misrepresented its Feel Free beverage as a “safe, sober and healthy alternative to alcohol.” (Lander, 4/6)

The Mercury News: ‘Confusing’: Jennifer Lopez Launches Alcohol Brand As She, Ben Affleck Tout Sobriety
It’s hard to imagine why Jennifer Lopez thought she’d be the perfect celebrity to launch a brand of bottled cocktails, given that she’s long claimed she eschews alcohol for health and beauty purposes, and her husband, Ben Affleck, has long battled addiction to alcohol and been to rehab multiple times. Lopez’s fans and others have gone on her Instagram to let her know they aren’t thrilled about her attaching her name to a new product, Delola, which features three ready-to-drink spritzes made with vodka, tequila and amaro, People reported. The brightly colored, fruit- and rose-infused spritzes retail for $23 for a 750-milliliter bottle and will arrive in grocery stores, restaurants and bars this month. (Ross, 4/6)

Los Angeles Daily News: LA’s Indoor Vaccine Mandate Was Supposed To Boost Vaccination Rates And Reduce COVID-19 Cases. It Didn’t.
When Los Angeles imposed one of the nation’s strictest indoor vaccine mandates in November 2021, city officials were adamant that the measure was essential to public health. Americans have been debating these policies for years, but what matters now is evidence, which we now have. (Vitor Melo and Liam Sigaud, 4/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Keep California Schools Open, No Matter What
We may have good reasons to close our local K-12 schools for days or weeks. But we should keep them open anyway. (Joe Mathews, 4/2)

East Bay Times and Mercury News: Make Condoms Available At California's Public Schools
Californians need to talk about teens and sex. Specifically, why the state should require public and charter schools to make condoms available for high school students by the start of the 2024-25 school year — no questions asked — and why it should fund vaccinations for our youth against a sexually transmitted virus at the root of a rapidly increasing cancer. (4/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: These Groups Of Kids Struggle To Access Dental Care 
Few things bring such unbridled joy as a child’s smile. Yet far too many of these young smiles are put at risk every day because the importance of oral health to overall health remains overlooked within our health system. (Brett Parks, 4/5)

Los Angeles Times: Why Our Life Expectancies Are Shrinking
Years of widening economic inequality, compounded by the pandemic and political storm and stress, have given Americans the impression that the country is on the wrong track. Now there’s empirical data to show just how far the country has run off the rails: Life expectancies have been falling. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that life expectancy at birth fell in 2021 to its lowest level since 1996, a decline of nearly a year on average from 2020. That was after a decline by 1.8 years from 2019 to 2020, producing the worst two-year decline since 1921-23. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/5)

Military.com: Why A Small Motto Change Could Have A Big Impact On Female Veterans' Health 
I enlisted in the Army in 2003, spending four years as a medic, including a 12-month deployment to Iraq. My body and mind paid the price and, when I separated from the service in 2007, I had both seen and unseen injuries that I wouldn't share with a Department of Veterans Affairs health care provider for years. I waited for many reasons, but one lives in a moment. (Andrea Renee Sandoval Rathbun, 3/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: State Senator On Mission To Change How California Treats Its Most Severely Mentally Ill Residents
If you are concerned about reducing the number of mentally ill Californians living and dying on our streets, state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman is the person to watch right now in Sacramento. The Stockton Democrat is the leader of a growing movement to finally change the 56-year-old laws that Gov. Ronald Reagan signed — and make it easier to get help for people with the most severe mental illness. Even if that help has to be given involuntarily. (Joe Garofoli, 4/2)

Los Angeles Times: A Looming Crisis: The Crushing Cost Of Elder Care And The Crippling Effects Of Low Wages
Caregiver Maria Diaz leaves her South Los Angeles home well before the sun rises and returns long after it sets. Days off, even on weekends, are rare. At 46, having recovered from a series of strokes, she is her family’s primary breadwinner and she needs the hours. “It’s the only way I can make ends meet,” said Diaz, whose husband is disabled. (Steve Lopez, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: As A Doctor, I Thought I Knew About Death. Here’s What I Was Missing
Dear Patient: I know now what I didn’t know then. My 16-month-old son died unexpectedly last summer, and I experienced life on the other side of the exam table, in horrid slow-motion technicolor. I sat on the other end of a 911 call. I rode in the ambulance as a caregiver, not a first responder. I waited outside the emergency room as I heard the doctor call out for vital signs and medications, and most tellingly to my ears, a social worker. I experienced the silence after the gloves came off and the team walked wearily out of the room. This time, I was the one to wail. (Bonnie Chen, 4/4)