Sacramento Bee: Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, Mendocino, 8 Other California Counties Move To CDC’s ‘High’ COVID Level. Is It Mask Time Again?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday placed more than a dozen California counties into the “high” community level for COVID-19 danger. Thirteen California counties were placed in the high level: Del Norte, El Dorado, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Placer, San Benito, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. (McGough, 6/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County's COVID-19 Numbers Jump Again 
After falling over the past week, daily coronavirus reports surged again Wednesday, with 1,620 new cases reported to the county health department. Though health officials did not attribute the latest weekly spike to infections picked up during the Memorial Day weekend, the timing would be in the ballpark given that recently published studies have estimated the time between the onset of illness from one person to the next averages three days for the Omicron variant. (Sisson, 6/2)

CapRadio: Sacramento City Unified To Require Masks Indoors Starting Monday
The Sacramento City Unified School District will require masks indoors starting Monday for all students and staff after the county was placed in the highest COVID-19 risk level by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. "This decision was made with careful consideration of the current data trends and is intended to limit the spread of Covid-19 in schools and the community," the district wrote in an update to parents Thursday evening. "At this point, it is unclear how long the mask mandate will remain in place." (Hagan and Salanga, 6/2)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Moves Closer To Possible Mask Requirement As Coronavirus Hospitalizations Rise 
With coronavirus-positive hospitalizations in Los Angeles County on the rise, officials said the nation’s most populous county could be poised to see a new universal indoor mask mandate later this month if the upward trends continue. “Our weekly case rate and the rate of increase in hospital admissions are of concern,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. “If we continue on the current trajectory … we’re likely to move into the CDC high [COVID-19] community level within a few weeks towards the end of June, indicating increased stress on the healthcare system.” (Lin II, 6/2)

Orange County Register: Coronavirus: Orange County Is 71.9% Fully Vaccinated, June 6
The OC Health Care Agency reported 2,318,150 county residents were fully vaccinated as of Friday, June 6. This represents about 71.9% of Orange County’s total population. There have been 1,292,844 booster doses administered. (Goertzen, 6/2)

inewsource: San Diego County COVID Vaccine Clinics Now Accept More Forms Of ID
San Diego County changed its public-facing COVID-19 vaccine policy to say its vaccine clinics will accept a broad range of documents to verify identity after an inewsource investigation found health staff turned away individuals who wanted a vaccine but could not provide a photo ID. In April, inewsource reported that a north San Diego County Latino immigrant rights group, Universidad Popular, saw members of the community denied vaccinations for not being able to provide a photo ID. At the time, the county’s public-facing literature said people seeking vaccinations must show a photo ID. (Mejías-Pascoe, 6/2)

Reuters: Pfizer's Paxlovid Reduces COVID Risk In Seniors Regardless Of Vaccine Status -Study 
Pfizer Inc's antiviral treatment Paxlovid reduces COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients 65 years and older, according to a new study in Israel conducted during the rise of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The treatment, however, was not found to prevent severe illness among younger adults, according to research from Clalit Health Services, Israel's largest healthcare provider. (Rabinovitch, 6/2)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Vaccine During Pregnancy May Protect Infants 
COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy protects babies from SARS-CoV-2 infection in their first 4 months of life, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. In the cohort study, which included all infants born in Norway late last year and early this year, COVID-19 incidence was lower in babies born to women who received either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. (Wappes, 6/2)

CBS News: Why Boosted Americans Seem To Be Getting More COVID-19 Infections
As COVID-19 cases began to accelerate again this spring, federal data suggests the rate of breakthrough COVID infections in April was worse in boosted Americans compared to unboosted Americans — though rates of deaths and hospitalizations remained the lowest among the boosted. The new data do not mean booster shots are somehow increasing the risk. Ongoing studies continue to provide strong evidence of additional protection offered by booster shots against infection, severe disease, and death. Instead, the shift underscores the growing complexity of measuring vaccine effectiveness at this stage of the pandemic. (Tin, 6/2)

Los Angeles Daily News: Q & A: What You Need To Know About Monkeypox After Likely First Southern California Case 
Los Angeles County public health officials were waiting for confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, June 2, on what they believe is the region’s first case of monkeypox. Why is that a big deal? Because monkeypox cases are usually more common in African nations.  Media reports detailing its appearance in the United States and other nations where is is not usually found have generated concern, confusion and myriad questions among Americans weary of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Stewart, 6/3)

CIDRAP: Experts Highlight Sexual Aspect Of Monkeypox Spread 
Researchers today at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting spelled out the sexual transmission component  of a monkeypox outbreak that has affected hundreds of people—mostly men who have sex with men—in at least 27 countries outside of Africa. ... In a presentation made to the WHO by Gianfranco Spiteri, MD, MDH, of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, he detailed the initial cases in Portugal and suggested that close skin-to-skin contact during sexual relations is the primary mode of transmission for these cases. Spiteri explained that the clinical manifestations of a genital rash were the first telltale sign that sexual activity was playing a role in transmission. (Soucheray, 6/2)

PoliticoPro: U.S. Undecided About Sharing Monkeypox Vaccines
The U.S. has not decided whether it will answer the World Health Organization’s call to pool monkeypox vaccinations as case numbers continue to rise around the world, a Department of Health and Human Services official told POLITICO. Last week, WHO officials asked countries with stockpiles of monkeypox and smallpox vaccines to distribute to countries based on their need, nodding to a 20-year-old vaccine-sharing agreement designed for a smallpox emergency. (Payne and Mahr, 6/1)

Reuters: Test Makers Target Monkeypox Market As Cases Surge 
Diagnostic companies are racing to develop tests for monkeypox, hoping to tap into a new market as governments ramp up efforts to trace the world's first major outbreak of the viral infection outside of Africa. The scramble started last month, much like early 2020 when companies rushed to make kits to help diagnose COVID-19, creating a multibillion-dollar boon for test makers. (Grover, 6/3)

Stat: What To Make Of The Many Mutations On The Monkeypox Genome 
When scientists investigate the spread of an infectious disease, one area they look at is the genetic sequences of the pathogen. But there’s a snag when it comes to the monkeypox virus, which is now causing an unprecedented outbreak of several hundred infections in some 30 countries where it’s not typically seen. DNA viruses, particularly those with relatively big genomes like poxviruses (the family that includes monkeypox), generally accrue mutations much more slowly than, say, an RNA virus like SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19. That means that examining the sequences might be less fruitful in terms of tracking how the virus is spreading from person to person. There are fewer changes to the virus’ genome that might shine a light on transmission chains. (Joseph, 6/2)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Local Health Care Providers Worry About Escalating Violence
The word “unthinkable” is often used to describe the terror of mass shootings, but to those who work in the medical profession, the killing of four people Wednesday at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was distressingly “thinkable.” Clearly, nowhere is safe these days. Not a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, or an elementary school in small-town Texas, or a hospital in Tulsa. And probably not in the North Bay, either. (Barber and Sarfaty, 6/2)

AP: Pain Management: Tulsa Shooting Exposes Threats Doctors Face 
The deadly mass shooting at an Oklahoma medical office by a man who blamed his surgeon for continuing pain following an operation on his back underscores the escalating threat of violence doctors have faced in recent years. Michael Louis, 45, fatally shot Dr. Preston Phillips and three other people in Tulsa on Wednesday before killing himself. Police said Louis had been calling the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and that he specifically targeted Phillips, who performed his surgery. (DeMillo, 6/3)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Shootings Spur System Safety Measure Review
"These tragedies show us that no one is exempt from the violence. We have seen an uptick in our communities," said Scott Strauss, vice president of security at Northwell Health, which has 21 hospitals throughout New York. "I don't know why people are killing people at the rate they are. These are crazy times, I haven't seen anything like it before." St. Francis said in a statement that it was grieving the loss of its four community members and thanked emergency personnel for their quick response. The health system has mass shooting "training and educational modules," but executives "couldn't speak to actual drills." (Kacik and Berryman, 6/2)

Forbes: Disgusted By Shootings, Doctors Push Congress On Gun Violence
The American Medical Association and a parade of medical care provider groups are intensifying their calls for Congress to pass gun control legislation, frustrated at the mounting death toll of Americans including children, teachers and – just this week – physicians. The AMA, which said it has more than 20 years of policy positions designed to reduce firearm trauma, injury and death, is expected to renew and strengthen its push for gun control measures when its policy-making House of Delegates meets for its annual conference later this month. The AMA is among several healthcare provider groups that are repeatedly bombarding Congress and media outlets with their calls for legislation to address firearm violence with gun control legislation. (Japsen, 6/3)

NBC News: Biden Calls On Congress To Act On Gun Control, Saying 'Too Many' Schools Have Become 'Killing Fields'
President Joe Biden laid out specific actions he wants Congress to take on gun control legislation Thursday, calling Republican congressional opposition to the measures “unconscionable.” ... He said lawmakers should reinstate the ban on so-called assault weapons, like AR-15s, and ban high-capacity magazines. If those weapons aren’t banned, the age to purchase them should be raised to 21 from 18. Biden said Congress should also strengthen background checks, including requiring them at gun shows and in online sales; enact safe storage and red flag laws; and repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability. (Pettypiece, 6/2)

Bloomberg: Democratic Bill To Address Gun Violence Clears House Committee
A House committee approved a package of gun legislation that would raise the minimum age to purchase some semiautomatic rifles and prohibit sales of high-capacity ammunition magazines in the latest attempt by Democrats to respond to mass shootings across the nation. The Judiciary Committee voted 25-19 along party lines Thursday to move the legislation to consideration before the full House, which could come as soon as next week. But it’s not likely to get traction in the Senate because of Republican opposition to many of the provisions. A bipartisan Senate group is negotiating other measures. (Dillard and Dennis, 6/2)

ABC News and Medpage Today: What Happens When Kids Experience A Traumatic Event? 
Three days after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, social worker and child therapist Bonnie Rumilly arrived in Newtown, Connecticut, to help with crisis counseling. It quickly became obvious that this would become "a long-term deployment," said Rumilly, who spent 4.5 years working with children who survived the attack. While she feels a fierce loyalty to her young patients and their privacy, Rumilly said her experience with Sandy Hook revealed that pediatric trauma is highly individualized, and that children are not just little adults when it comes to the way trauma manifests. (D'ambrosio and Fiore, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: The Altered Lives Of America’s School-Shooting Survivors 
At 15, Brittney Thomas saw a close friend get shot to death at school. Twenty-five years later, she was in a grocery store near her Kentucky home when her phone flashed an alert about the elementary-school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Ms. Thomas started hyperventilating. A stranger asked if she needed help. Ms. Thomas sobbed that she couldn’t find the creamed corn, left her groceries behind and ran out to her car. (Elinson, Campo-Flores, McWhirter and Frosch, 6/2)

CalMatters: Medi-Cal Income Limit Leaves Some Seniors Without Health Care 
California living is expensive. So imagine having to get by on $600 a month. That’s essentially what some seniors and people with disabilities have to do in order to access Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income residents. Individuals with significant medical expenses — but whose income is too high to qualify for free Medi-Cal — may still access the program if they pay some of the costs. (Ibarra, 6/2)

AP: Go-Broke Dates Pushed Back For Social Security, Medicare 
A stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the pandemic has pushed back the go-broke dates for Social Security and Medicare, but officials warn that the current economic turbulence is putting additional pressures on the bedrock retirement programs. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released Thursday says Social Security’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035, instead of last year’s estimate of 2034. The year before that it estimated an exhaustion date of 2035. (Hussein and Murphy, 6/2)

The Hill: Medicare Funding Outlook Improves Slightly
The financial outlook for Medicare improved in the past year, and the program’s funding to pay all the costs for hospital services of older and disabled beneficiaries won’t run out until 2028, two years later than last year’s estimated date. Once the program’s reserves are depleted, it would only be able to cover 90 percent of the expected costs, according to the annual report from Social Security and Medicare trustees released Thursday. (Weixel, 6/2)

The New York Times: Social Security And Medicare Funds Improved, But The Long Term Is Dire
The forecast for Medicare’s hospital trust fund improved. It is now expected to encounter a shortfall in 2028, two years later than forecast in last year’s report. That change is due mostly to the improved economic forecast, since the program is funded through payroll taxes. The actuaries do not expect the pandemic to have any substantial long-term impact on the trajectory of Medicare spending, according to the report. Spending on many elective services declined during the pandemic, while spending on vaccines and treatment for Covid-19 increased. The actuaries said they expected medical spending to return to its normal trend in a few years. But they noted that there was “a large degree of uncertainty” about the future of spending related to the virus. (Bernard and Sanger-Katz, 6/2)

The Hill: Progressives Slam HHS Decision To Keep Higher 2022 Medicare Premium 
Progressives are criticizing the Biden administration’s recent announcement that the 2022 Medicare premium will not be cut despite lower-than-expected costs for a new Alzheimer’s medicine. The cost of a premium jumped by $21.60 to a minimum of $170.10 and a maximum of $578.30 in 2022, the largest increase in the program’s history. Premiums are based in part on income and tax-filing status. (Choi, 6/3)

ABC News: Gun Suicide Soars As Cause Of Death Among Youth: Report 
The rate of young people taking their own lives with firearms in the U.S. has increased faster than for any other age group, and the youth suicide rate is at its highest point in more than 20 years, according to a new gun violence prevention report by Everytown For Gun Safety and first obtained by ABC News. While firearm suicide overall increased about 2% during the pandemic, the rate among young people increased 15% and nearly half of all suicide attempts by young people involve a gun, researchers with Everytown For Gun Safety found. Experts have not pinned down exactly what is causing more young people to turn to suicide with guns, the report notes. But increased anxiety and depression, likely exacerbated by the pandemic, along with the impacts of social media and cyberbullying are among the theorized drivers. (Owen, 6/2)

Stateline: Child Suicides By Poisoning Rose During Pandemic, Studies Show
Suspected suicide attempts by young people ages 6-19 reported to U.S. poison centers increased 27% between 2015 and 2020, according to a new study from the University of Virginia. The findings are based on cases reported to the National Poison Data System as suspected suicides, which includes attempted suicides and deaths. The total number of suspected child suicides by self-poisoning rose from 75,248 in 2015 to 93,532 in 2020, with girls accounting for 78% of cases. (Vestal, 6/1)

AP: Melatonin Poisoning Reports Are Up In Kids, Study Says 
Researchers are drawing attention to a rise in poisonings in children involving the sleep aid melatonin — including a big jump during the pandemic. Last year, U.S. poison control centers received more than 52,000 calls about children consuming worrisome amounts of the dietary supplement — a six-fold increase from about a decade earlier. Most such calls are about young children who accidentally got into bottles of melatonin, some of which come in the form of gummies for kids. (Stobbe, 6/2)

Los Angeles Times: After 3 Teens Overdose, L.A. Schools Warn Of Fentanyl-Laced Ecstasy Pills
The Los Angeles Unified School District is sounding an alarm about fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills after three high school students overdosed. Three teenage girls were found unconscious in a Los Angeles County home on May 25 after taking ecstasy pills that were contaminated with fentanyl, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a Twitter post this week. (Alvarez, 6/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Could Be First State To Hold Social Media Companies Liable For Harm To Children
But two parents and California state lawmakers — Assembly Members Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland — are taking the issue head on with proposed legislation that would require tech companies to provide online protections tailored for kids. Their proposal, composed of two bills, would be the most sweeping package of children’s internet law in the country. It could give momentum to similar efforts in other state as attempts to pass child internet protections have largely fizzled at the federal level.(Gardiner, 6/2)

KQED: Healing Through Nature At The National AIDS Memorial Grove
Visit the AIDS Memorial Grove at Golden Gate Park's eastern end and you’ll see tall redwoods, green ferns, an open field and evidence of lots of loving care. Descending into the grove is like entering a different world, a calmer place than the hustle and bustle of the street above. When Tom Jensen first came to the National AIDS Memorial Grove in 2002, how much it would change his life. (Stupi, 6/3)

Reveal: Migrant Children Died On Border Patrol Chief’s Watch. Then She Ran An Emergency Shelter Under Biden
The woman who led the U.S. Border Patrol and oversaw family separation under President Donald Trump later landed a job ensuring the care of migrant children as border crossings increased in early 2021. Former Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost became site director at the Pecos Children’s Center, a 2,000-bed privately run emergency shelter in West Texas for migrant children, according to records obtained by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. (Bogado, 6/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: A Girl Fled Her War-Torn Homeland, But Found More Trauma In San Francisco
The morning began like most in the Saleh family’s tiny studio six floors above Turk and Hyde streets in the Tenderloin. The four children rose from their mats on the floor as their parents emerged from the closet where they shared a small mattress. Abu Bakr Saleh, the father and sole earner in the family of refugees who fled the war in Yemen, rushed to begin a 16-hour double shift at a grocery store and a KFC. His wife, Sumaya Albadani, began an isolating day of cooking, cleaning and waiting for the others to return. (Knight, 6/1)

Los Angeles Times: California Proves Tough Gun Laws Reduce Deaths
The most predictable response by the gun lobby and its political mouthpieces to calls for stricter gun laws in the wake of mass shootings is that tough laws don’t work. You’ve probably heard all the arguments: That we already have tough laws on the books, that the problem is they aren’t enforced. Or that the legislation most often proposed wouldn’t have stopped the latest perpetrator of the latest gun-related horror, such as Uvalde gunman Salvador Ramos. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/2)

Los Angeles Times: Americans Are Living In Fear Of Gun Violence. And We Don't Have Security Like Ted Cruz
Spurred by rising violence with firearms, the nation began work to write into law “the strongest gun control measures in over 40 years.” Alas for Americans, that nation is Canada. Here in the United States, we’ve had three massacres in under three weeks — in Buffalo, N.Y., Uvalde, Texas and Tulsa, Okla. And those are just the worst of 37 mass shootings in that short time. (Jackie Calmes, 6/3)

Sacramento Bee: The Uvalde, Texas, Shooting Finds Us Tired Of Saying It’s The Guns. It’s Still The Guns
It’s frustrating, exhausting and defeating to tell the same truth again and again to no avail. That doesn’t make it untrue. We don’t have to survey the broad scope of modern American violence to determine that we have a gun problem. We don’t need a decade of statistics or two years of pandemic-driven dislocation. We only have to consider the past cruel month — or just one of its abominable days. (Josh Gohlke, 5/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: There’s A Gruesome Missing Link In The Media Coverage Of The Texas School Shooting
The U.S. news media, without a lot of discussion, have adopted a more or less sweeping policy of downplaying and even withholding the names of mass killers from their reports of the horror they wrought. It’s an element of the curious restraint the news media choose to exercise in their mass shooting coverage. To be sure, there are good reasons for suppressing names — chiefly a wish to deny the killers the notoriety it is believed they murdered to achieve and which might inspire copycats — just as there are reasons of taste and decency for the even more widespread practice the media have unthinkingly adopted: withholding from the public the pictures of the dead. But in both cases media restraint is a mistake. (Edward Wasserman, 5/31)

Sacramento Bee: Kevin Kiley Bemoans Gun Politics While Shooting Threat Grows In His Placer County District
On Tuesday evening, at the same time Assemblyman Kevin Kiley was downplaying gun violence in a debate hosted by KCRA 3 and CapRadio, a student at Granite Bay High School, Kiley’s own alma mater, allegedly told another student that they were going to “shoot up the school.” Meanwhile, the three candidates running to represent California’s 3rd Congressional District were asked at the debate about the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Kiley, Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones and Navy veteran and physician Dr. Kermit Jones were asked: “Why do you believe it is only in the United States these mass shootings happen so frequently?” (Hannah Holzer, 6/3)

Los Angeles Times: Live With A Gun Owner? Researchers Say That Makes You Less Safe
People buy handguns to protect themselves and their families. But guess what? Living with a handgun owner makes a person less safe. That conclusion is derived from two research projects. One is a national survey of gun owners, including why they buy firearms. The other is a lengthy study of California homicides. (George Skelton, 6/2)

Los Angeles Times: After The Supreme Court Overturns Roe Vs. Wade, What’ll It Do For An Encore?
Got a Supreme Court precedent you don’t like? Is there a liberal decision that’s always stuck in your craw? Think the court has flipped too far to the left and needs to be flipped back? Now’s your chance! That’s the message of the draft opinion on abortion that leaked to the press in May: The court, with its newly empowered conservative majority, is ready and willing to entertain challenges to long-standing precedents. So find yourself a case you hate and get in line. (Nicholas Goldberg, 6/2)

Los Angeles Times: The Supreme Court Should Try To Catch The Leaker. But That Won't Fix What's Broken
The Supreme Court’s investigation into the leak of the draft opinion overruling Roe vs. Wade is reaching a boiling point, with law clerks reportedly being required to turn over their cellphone records and sign affidavits — under penalty of perjury — disavowing any role in the leak. According to one CNN commentator, the strong-arm tactics have the nearly 40 clerks “freaking out,” and they contemplate lawyering up. The court’s hardball investigative moves have drawn harsh criticism: Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post called the actions an “unseemly dragnet,” and lawyer and legal commentator Leah Litman (no relation) termed them “insanity.” (Harry Litman, 6/3)

Los Angeles Times: Expect The Battle For Civil Rights To Move To Statehouses. LGBTQ Rights Are At Risk
The imminent reversal of Roe vs. Wade is likely to be the first step in a campaign to rescind a raft of legal rights and protections that the Christian nationalist right in America finds objectionable. The strategy is to turn constitutionally protected rights into political questions at the state level. In addition to state-by-state fights over abortion access, expect a battle to be waged by GOP evangelicals against LGBTQ rights state by state. (Andrew Reynolds, 6/3)

Sacramento Bee: Why The First Pride Event In Conservative Placer County Was Historic And Cathartic 
For many, the event was significant not only for its celebration of the LGBTQ+ community but also because it showed that Placer County is not the conservative monolith that people in Sacramento and other nearby communities believe it to be. (Hannah Holzer, 6/1)

East Bay Times: Newsom Should Develop Backbone To Curb Ag's Water Waste
With limited options for new California water sources, it’s time to stop wasting the precious supply we have. Gov. Gavin Newsom should muster the political will to enforce Article X, Section II of the state Constitution that requires “reasonable and beneficial” use of the state’s water supply. The current waste must not continue. (6/2)

Capitol Weekly: California Remains Inaccessible For Drivers With Disabilities 
Reliable transportation is an important part of everyday life, from getting to work, to going to the doctor, to staying connected with friends and family. However, for nearly 8 million Californians with disabilities, transportation can be anything but reliable, especially for those who drive. Take, for example, filling up at a gas station. (Jennifer Kumiyama, 5/27)

Voice of OC: Food As Medicine – Cooking With MaxLove Project's Fierce Foods Academy
I welcomed the opportunity to sit in on a special cooking class that’s a part of the Fierce Foods Academy (FFA) curriculum created by Orange-based nonprofit MaxLove Project. The project’s mission is to empower communities, families and youth fighting childhood cancers with whole-body nutrition and wellness in treatment, prevention and survivorship. As someone who lost multiple relatives to cancer, I believe one of the most attainable ways to preserve one’s health is by treating food as medicine. (Anne Marie Panoringan, 6/3)