Sacramento Bee: COVID-19 Numbers Improving In CA; Death Toll Reaches 95,000
As the calendar flips from summer to fall, California’s coronavirus numbers appear to be continuing a long and steady trend of improvement, with key transmission and hospitalization metrics having now declined for about two straight months. The California Department of Public Health in a weekly update Thursday reported the latest case rate for COVID-19 at 11 per 100,000 residents, a 12% decrease from the previous week. (McGough, 9/22)

Palm Springs Desert Sun: COVID-19: Coachella Valley; Riverside County Cases Continue To Decline
As the fall season arrives, Riverside County and the Coachella Valley continued to see declines in new COVID-19 cases in the past week. (Sasic, 9/22)

Times Of San Diego: County's Daily Count Of New COVID Cases Cut By Half Within Past Week
San Diego County public health officials on Thursday reported 2,634 new COVID-19 cases over the prior week, along with four more deaths. (9/22)

Los Angeles Daily News: LA County Lifting COVID-Era Mask Requirement On Mass Transit 
COVID-19-spurred mask mandates continue to ease in Los Angeles County as health officials announced on Thursday, Sept. 22, that face coverings will no longer be mandatory on buses, trains and other mass transit vehicles — as well as at travel hubs such as train and bus stations and airports — starting Friday. (Merino, 9/22)

Bay Area News Group: BART's Mandatory Mask Policy Set To End Next Month After Vote
One of the last remnants of the Bay Area’s pandemic-era lockdowns – BART’s mandatory face covering policy – could become a relic after agency leaders voted to effectively end the mandate after Oct. 1. (Kamisher, 9/22)

CNBC: WHO Warns Ability To Identify New Covid Variants Is Diminishing
The World Health Organization on Thursday warned that it is struggling to identify and track new Covid variants as governments roll back testing and surveillance, threatening the progress made in the fight against the virus. (Kimball, 9/22)

AP: 4.4M Americans Roll Up Sleeves For Omicron-Targeted Boosters
U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the updated COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden’s recent remark that “the pandemic is over.” The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states. (Johnson, 9/23)

Reuters: COVID Raises Risk Of Long-Term Brain Injury, Large U.S. Study Finds
People who had COVID-19 are at higher risk for a host of brain injuries a year later compared with people who were never infected by the coronavirus, a finding that could affect millions of Americans, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. The year-long study, published in Nature Medicine, assessed brain health across 44 different disorders using medical records without patient identifiers from millions of U.S. veterans. (Steenhuysen, 9/22)

Axios: New Analysis Supports Paxlovid Use
Here's one more data point to consider in the back-and-forth about Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid: A new analysis found it can meaningfully reduce COVID hospitalizations and deaths, even in those younger than 65. (Reed, 9/22)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Sees Decline In Monkeypox Cases, Mirroring Wider Outbreak Trends
Monkeypox infections appear to be stalling or slowing in Sonoma County, according to weekly case rates and wastewater surveillance. (Espinoza, 9/22)

KQED: 'Our Community Has Been Very Responsive': Oakland LGBTQ Community Center's Joe Hawkins On Managing The MPX Outbreak
California and other parts of the country look like they've turned a corner on the spread of MPX, also known as monkeypox. "The rate of increase is definitely slowing down," said UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. He frames the slowdown as "probably driven by the epicenters, which are parts of Europe and the big cities in the U.S., on the coasts and New York and LA and San Francisco." (Venton and Gonzalez, 9/22)

Los Angeles Times: California Voters To Decide Whether To Strengthen State's Abortion Law
California voters will decide whether to reinforce the state’s abortion protections under Proposition 1, a measure that is expected to drive voters to the polls this November. And that was the whole point, opponents say. The state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature placed Proposition 1 on the ballot in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, with lawmakers arguing that the ruling made it clear Californians need a safety net for their own reproductive rights. The meagerly-funded opposition campaign argues that the measure is simply a ploy by Democratic lawmakers to latch onto a hot-button issue that will motivate liberal voters still reeling from the ruling. (Gutierrez, 9/23)

Axios: DOJ: States Can't Penalize VA Doctors And Nurses For Legal Abortions
States cannot impose civil or criminal penalties on Department of Veterans Affairs doctors and nurses who provide abortion services that are allowed by federal law, a Department of Justice task force said in a new memo released Thursday. (Knutson, 9/22)

NBC News: VA Performs Its First Abortion Weeks After Saying It Would In Certain Cases
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told senators Wednesday night that the procedure was performed at one of the VA’s medical centers. A spokesperson, citing the client’s privacy, declined to provide the location or give further details. (Kube and Burke, 9/22)

AP: White House: GOP Abortion Ban Would Mean A Nationwide Crisis
The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Thursday that a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks would endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians. “If passed and enacted, this bill would create a nationwide health crisis, imperiling the health and lives of women in all 50 states,” according to a preliminary analysis of the bill by Jennifer Klein, the White House Gender Policy Council chairwoman, that was obtained by The Associated Press. “It would transform the practice of medicine, opening the door to doctors being thrown in jail if they fulfill their duty of care to patients according to their best medical judgment.” (Long, 9/22)

Bloomberg: 44% Of Women Say They'd Quit If Employer Doesn't Agree On Abortion
A company’s stance on abortion rights matters when it comes to retaining female talent. In a  new survey from the women’s investment platform Ellevest, 44% of US women said they would leave their current job if their employer’s views on reproductive rights didn’t align with their own. That number jumped to 56% for millennial women, who are the largest generational cohort in the workforce. About one in three, or 35% of workers are millennials. (Ceron, 9/22)

Los Angeles Times: Proposition 31 Will Let Voters Decide Whether They Want To Ban Flavored Tobacco Products
California voters will decide in November whether to uphold or block a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2020 that banned the sale of certain flavored tobacco products, an effort by anti-tobacco advocates to stop a youth vaping crisis and weaken the industry’s influence in the state. Senate Bill 793 would have prohibited retailers in California from selling flavored tobacco products, popular among teens, with exceptions made for hookah, some cigars and loose-leaf tobacco. The bill passed the Legislature with bipartisan support, despite intense lobbying by the tobacco industry and other interest groups. (Wiley, 9/23)

Sacramento Bee: When Will California Pay Out Health Care Worker Bonuses?
When will California’s health care workers receive their promised retention bonuses from the state? It looks like the funds — roughly $1.1 billion — will arrive just in time to help pay off holiday shopping bills. The California Department of Health Care Services said it will begin disbursing the funds to private-sector and public-sector health care workers in January 2023. (Anderson, 9/23)

inewsource: Imperial County’s Serial Psychiatric Holds May Be Violating State Law
Imperial County officials routinely keep people on psychiatric holds for longer than 72 hours, often in ill-equipped facilities and without a formal hearing that’s required by law, an inewsource investigation found. Data shows the county has continued to record dozens of such cases each year despite consultants warning officials about the risk of civil rights violations, and inewsource also found that lax oversight of this practice statewide makes it impossible to determine how many other counties around the state allow it to happen. (Bowman, 9/22)

The Bakersfield Californian: CSUB Nursing Students Help Underserved Communities In Peru 
When nursing student Leslie Lopez-Mendoza signed up for a nursing outreach trip to Peru, she didn't know what exactly she had gotten herself into. Not only would it be her first time using her newly acquired nursing skills outside of the clinical setting, but the trip was also the first-ever study abroad opportunity for California State University, Bakersfield's nursing students. (Ardis, 9/22)

Orange County Register: Tustin Doctor Accused Of Illegally Prescribing Dangerous Drugs Agrees To Plead Guilty
A doctor accused of illegally prescribing large quantities of powerful narcotics to dozens of patients has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors, according to a new court filing. Dr. Dzung Ahn Pham, owner of the Irvine Village Urgent Care, is expected to admit to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, according to a plea deal filed by prosecutors on Wednesday in federal court. (Emery, 9/22)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Once-Per-Week Insulin Shots? New Research By Scripps Doctor Showing Promise 
Long-acting insulin took another step towards the marketplace Thursday with the latest research results howing that once-per-week shots may arrive within the next few years. (Sisson, 9/22)

The Bakersfield Californian: Seeing An Opportunity: Advanced Center For Eyecare Welcomes Lost Hills Students 
On her way to the Advanced Center for Eyecare, Lost Hills Elementary sixth-grader Blanca Leon shared her optimism about the trip with Principal Veronica Sanchez-Gregory. The 11-year-old girl recalled how she was looking for a metal object in her backyard her mother had asked her to find. After spending time scouring the grass, her mom saw her struggling, walked over and found it without too much trouble. (Smith, 9/21)

Pasadena Star-News: California Must Lead The Nation In Defending Abortion Rights
It’s all fun and games, this states’ rights business, until the Arkansas National Guard won’t let Black students into a Little Rock high school under a federal order to integrate. That’s when a president only mildly interested in racial civil rights, as Dwight Eisenhower was in 1957, drew the line and sent in 1,000 U.S. Army troops from the 101st Airborne Division to allow the kids of the Little Rock Nine to go to class. (Larry Wilson, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Don’t Leave California Reproductive Rights To Chance. Vote Yes On Prop. 1
The right to an abortion is currently protected in California in two ways. In 2002, the Legislature passed the Reproductive Privacy Act, which made the right to obtain an abortion the official law of the state. Should voters pass Proposition 1 in November, it would add an even more formidable layer of protection, by enshrining these existing abortion rights into the state Constitution. (9/18)

Modesto Bee: Newsom Signs Bill Legalizing Composting Of Human Bodies. Thanks, Governor
I’ve never been thrilled about spending eternity in a casket and now, thanks to a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, I have another option. It’s called human composting — or natural organic reduction (NOR). (Stephanie Finucane, 9/19)

Capitol Weekly: Time To Strengthen California’s Programs For Aged And Disabled 
Look around. California’s population is aging and growing more diverse. Aging independently in one’s own home with economic security has become particularly challenging for too many older adults who for years have endured discrimination, inequities and health disparities. (Susan DeMarois, 9/20)

Los Angeles Times: Should Our Aid-In-Dying Laws Be Expanded, Or Are We Moving Too Far Too Fast? 
To take advantage of California’s narrowly drawn assisted suicide law one must be terminally ill, with only six months to live, as certified by not one but two doctors. (Nicholas Goldberg, 9/19)

Los Angeles Times: No, Mr. President, The Pandemic Isn’t Over
On “60 Minutes” on Sunday, President Biden declared “the pandemic is over.” Well into our third year of battling COVID-19, we all wish that were true. But unfortunately, that is a fantasy right now. All the data tell us the virus is not contained. Far too many people are dying and suffering. And new, worrisome variants are on the horizon. There are 400 to 500 Americans dying of COVID each day, and that high daily death toll has remained constant for the last six months. In July 2021, we were down to just over 200 deaths per day, half of where we are now. A daily toll in the hundreds is a tragedy, because most COVID deaths could have been prevented by vaccinations, boosters and early treatments. (Eric J. Topol, 9/19)

Los Angeles Times: Optometrists, Ophthalmologists Square Off Over Bill 
There’s a nonsensical disconnect in California’s efforts to provide universal healthcare. There aren’t enough doctors willing to accept the state’s small fees for treating low-income patients. (George Skelton, 9/22)

Modesto Bee: In California, Tobacco Is Waging A Losing Political Battle
I spent the past few weeks trying to chase down someone from the tobacco industry to speak to a group of opinion editors from McClatchy’s California newspapers, which include The SLO Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee and Modesto Bee. (Stephanie Finucane, 9/21)

Sacramento Bee: California Democrats Still Won’t Call Off The War On Drugs
The leaders of this supposed promised land of progressivism and pot legalization might be “very, very open” to abandoning our counterproductive, half-century-old drug war. But don’t mistake that for any intention of actually doing so. “Certainly very, very open” was the phrase Gov. Gavin Newsom used back in 2018 to describe his position on a bill to allow safe injection sites, a thoroughly proven means of reducing overdoses, discouraging public needle use and litter, and otherwise mitigating the harms of substance abuse. (Josh Gohlke, 9/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Toxic Chemicals Are Everywhere. California Can Limit Our Exposure
Most parents take extra precautions to protect their children from toxic chemicals — from locking cabinets of cleaning supplies to scrutinizing ingredient labels. But some toxic chemicals are near impossible to limit their exposure to. California can change that. (Rebecca Fuoco and Arlene Blum, 9/21)

The Mercury News: California Should Lead On A Second Amendment Overhaul
I served in the U.S. Army as an officer during Operation Desert Storm, and understand the importance of firearms in the defense of our nation. I am also a surgeon who has treated civilian gunshot victims for more than two decades. I cannot reconcile the senseless injuries I see with what is interpreted as a constitutional right to maintain “a militia” as laid out in the Second Amendment. The answer to America’s firearm injury epidemic must start with rewriting the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. A nationwide movement to begin that debate by calling a constitutional convention could start with California. (John Maa, 9/22)