San Francisco Chronicle: Fauci Weighs In On Whether BA.2 Variant Will Cause Another COVID Surge
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday predicted the BA.2 coronavirus subvariant rampaging in parts of the world will spark an upswing in U.S. infections, but he played down any likelihood of another surge. “We can expect to see an increase” in case numbers, the senior White House medical adviser said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “We likely will see an uptick in cases as we’ve seen in the European countries, particularly the U.K., where they’ve had the same situation as we’ve had now,” with a relaxation of restrictions like indoor masking, and a waning of immunity as people get further from the dates of their vaccinations. (Hwang, 3/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: China Is Seeing Its Worst COVID Outbreak Of The Pandemic. Should California Be Worried?
As with Europe, China is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, largely fueled by the incredibly infectious BA.2 subvariant of the omicron coronavirus. While China’s COVID public health policy differs significantly from that of Europe and the U.S., experts say there are still lessons to be learned from the country’s outbreak — its worst since the beginning of the pandemic. (Echeverria, 3/19)

Politico: Surgeon General: No Need To Panic Over Latest Covid Spike In Europe
“Our focus should be on preparation, not on panic,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday in discussing the latest rising wave of Covid-19 cases in Europe. The emergence of a new subvariant has led to a steep rise of cases in Britain, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and other European nations in recent weeks. While the United States has not yet seen a noticeable increase, experts warn that a spike in cases is pretty much inevitable. (Cohen, 3/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Two Bay Area Futurists Predict We’ll Stop Talking About The Pandemic, And Have More Poop Surveillance
As we reconcile with the past, it’s worth wondering: What will the future look like in a world still suffering from the pandemic? Well, it’s probably going to be a time when we’re putting ourselves, and our society, back together. That’s a recurring theme in the forecasts from two Bay Area futurists — author Annalee Newitz and Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute for the Future. We asked each of them to offer thoughts on what life in the Bay Area will be like six, 12 and 24 months from now. They paint a picture to come of hope and denial, of struggle and celebration, of housing solutions and poop surveillance. (Morast, 3/19)

CIDRAP: Study Highlights Durability Of Antibodies In Kids After SARS-CoV-2 Infection
The vast majority of children previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed natural circulating antibodies that lasted for at least 7 months, but they declined after that, according to a study today in Pediatrics involving 218 Texas children. Researchers from UTHealth Houston examined data from children across Texas aged 5 to 19 years who were enrolled in the Texas CARES survey, which began in October 2020 with the goal of assessing COVID-19 antibody status over time. They assessed the duration of the nucleocapsid antibody response— a measure of past infection rather than vaccination, which elicits antibodies to the virus's spike protein. (3/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Vulnerable Patients Scramble To Get Lifesaving Anti-COVID Drug
Operating room nurse Jennifer Spring spends her days caring for critically ill patients, aiding in emergency surgery at a major San Francisco hospital. But for the last two months, the tables were turned as she struggled to track down a potentially life-saving treatment for herself. Spring is one of an estimated 7 million immunocompromised Americans who stand to benefit from an injection drug, Evusheld, that dramatically reduces the risk of COVID-19 for those who cannot get vaccinated or do not mount an immune response to vaccination. (Ho, 3/19)

Orange County Register: Pills To Fight COVID-19 Coming To A Drugstore Near You 
The president launched a nationwide “Test to Treat” Initiative on March 8 that seeks to make treating COVID-19 simple: You get tested at a pharmacy-based clinic. If you’re positive and at high risk, you can get antiviral pills on the spot, which can cut the chance of developing severe disease by some 85%. (Sforza, 3/20)

Reuters: AstraZeneca COVID Drug Neutralizes Omicron Sub-Variants In Lab Study
AstraZeneca said on Monday its antibody-based cocktail to prevent and treat COVID-19 retained neutralizing activity against Omicron coronavirus variants, including the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant, in an independent lab study. This is the first data looking at the impact of AstraZeneca's Evusheld treatment on "cousins" of the Omicron variant following a recent global spike in cases. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said in December that another lab study found that Evusheld retained neutralizing activity against Omicron. (3/21)

NBC News: Is Tinnitus A Rare Side Effect Of Covid Vaccines?
It was the shock of a loud whistle that almost caused Gregory Poland to veer off the road as he was driving home after getting his second Covid-19 vaccine. "It startled me," said Poland, who is 66 years old. "I thought it was a dog whistle going off right next to me. "It was not a dog whistle; it was a piercing sound his brain conjured up for an unknown reason. Poland suspects it may have been a side effect of the vaccine. That was one year ago. The noise, he said, has been unrelenting ever since. (Edwards, 3/20)

CNN: Where The US Stands On Covid-19 Vaccines For Children Under 5 
A month after the US Food and Drug Administration delayed key steps toward authorizing Covid-19 vaccines for children under 5, many parents are more eager for the shots than ever. Dr. Daniel Leonard, a pediatric hospitalist who is working on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial for these kids, said people are driving in from several states away to take part. "We're here in south central Nebraska, and while many may not think that this would be the epicenter of scientific progress, the influx that I've had with people from Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa -- some driving eight or nine hours each way overnight to participate in the study," he said. "They are dedicated." (Christensen, 3/19)

CBS News: "We Trust The COVID Vaccine," Heads Of Top Medical Groups Say In Ads Targeting Parents 
The heads of some of America's largest professional health care associations are urging parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19, as part of a new advertising push by the Biden administration to persuade millions of families that have yet to do so. The ads — a pair of 60-second spots titled "Oath" and "Trust" – feature pleas from Dr. Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association; Dr. Moira Szilagyi, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Ernest Grant, president of the American Nurses Association; and Dr. Ada Stewart, chair of the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians. (Tin, 3/17)

Orange County Register: $50 Million Gift Helping Hoag Expand, Specialize Care In Irvine
A $50 million gift from the Sun Family Foundation is helping Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian create three new medical institutes at its Irvine campus, expected to open in 2025, hospital officials have announced. Catering to women’s health, cancer care and digestive illnesses, the institutes will be housed in three-story buildings being built to blend into the nearby landscapes, officials said. Each of the buildings will have atriums and surrounding gardens to make the facilities seem less clinical. (Ritchie, 3/20)

CalMatters: Overdue: State Owes Community Clinics Millions For COVID Vaccinations
Community clinics in California that have been waiting for more than a year to be reimbursed for COVID-19 vaccinations may soon be flooding state officials with tens of millions of dollars in bills. The clinics, which serve California’s poorest and most vulnerable residents, may be owed as much as $408 million for the 6.1 million vaccinations they have administered to patients. Now many clinics say they’re teetering on the edge of a financial cliff and desperately need the money from the state Department of Health Care Services. Some say they have already been forced to cut back patient services by reducing their hours or postponing doctor’s visits. (Hwang, 3/19)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Since 2015, Only 10 People In San Diego Have Been Forced Into Mental Health Treatment Under Laura's Law 
When Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced his idea for a new mental health court earlier this month, he singled out a program that repeatedly has been criticized for failing to treat the most seriously ill people. He specifically pointed to Laura’s Law, created in 2002 to allow the state to mandate mental health treatment. The results, he said, have been disappointing. Just 218 people in the state were subject to it last year. (Warth, 3/20)

Lake County News: Mendocino College Establishes Basic Needs Department To Support Student Success
Mendocino College has received $188 thousand in grants to support students’ access to basic needs such as food, housing, transportation, health care and education. Assembly Bill 132, the Postsecondary Education Trailer Bill, provides $100 million in one-time funding to help California community colleges provide comprehensive basic needs services to reduce equity and achievement gaps among traditionally underrepresented student populations across California. (3/20)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Down Syndrome Celebration Reminds Families They Are Not Alone 
San Diego resident Katie Smith didn’t know anyone with Down syndrome when she found out her own unborn child had the extra chromosome that causes the disorder. But Smith said she learned very quickly she was not alone and was one of hundreds who gathered Sunday at Nobel Athletic Fields and Recreation Center in University City to celebrate Monday’s annual World Down Syndrome Day. (Schroeder, 3/20)

Los Angeles Times: ‘The Law That Swallowed California’: Why the Much-Derided CEQA Is So Hard to Change
The landmark 1970 law for preserving California’s beauty has a long history of backfiring. Although the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, has made it harder to drain wetlands, pave nature preserves and build oil refineries, it has also stymied the construction of bike lanes, affordable housing and public transportation. (Dillon, 3/19)

The Washington Post: U.S. Food And Farming Costs Could Be Pushed Higher By War In Ukraine 
Even though only a fraction of the food eaten in the United States is imported, with much of that coming from Mexico and Canada, the ripple effects of the conflict in Ukraine will conspire to further drive up food prices and keep them high into next year, analysts say. And because Russia is a main producer of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals, the conflict is likely to have an impact what is grown this year on American soil. (Reiley, 3/19)

The Washington Post: California Agriculture Battered By Drought 
California’s drought is intensifying as it enters a third year, and along with much else here in the San Joaquin, the hope that a wet end to 2021 would bring more water has disappeared, too. The same sentiment holds across much of the parched American west. ... The hard truth here, the one that fundamentally shapes the lives of those in the valley, is that water is disappearing. So is a way of life, a core of California economic culture, and a place that provides a nation struggling under the rising rate of inflation with a quarter of its food. (Wilson, 3/21)

MarketWatch: California — The 5th Largest Economy In The World — Must Prepare For A 3rd Straight Drought Year 
There’s little relief in sight for the multiyear megadrought that’s sapped Western U.S. reservoirs, intensified wildfires and helped drive up costs in California’s bread basket for the nation, forecasters say. The region faces another spring and summer of dwindling water resources and rising temperatures, according to an outlook this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. From April to June, chances remain high that little rain or snow will fall from Northern California and Oregon across a wide swath of the Rocky Mountain states to Texas and the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, which is part of the National Weather Service. (Beals, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: Where To Buy Composting Worms Near Los Angeles 
Wriggly, voracious Eisenia fetida — red wiggler worms — could be the new livestock for Southern California gardeners ... if only they were easier to find. The demand for composting worms skyrocketed during the pandemic, when people stuck at home discovered (or rediscovered) the joys of gardening. On top of that, a new state law requiring food waste stay out of landfills has generated more interest in worm composting. (Marantos, 3/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: In Wake Of COVID, Advocates For HIV Care Seek Return To Spotlight
San Francisco’s aggressive, nationally recognized push to drive HIV infections to near zero and improve the health of those living with the virus took a discouraging hit during the COVID pandemic, as attention citywide focused on a new and different public health crisis. HIV cases continued a decade-long decline during the pandemic, but testing also fell off dramatically and health officials worry they missed some infections in 2020 and 2021. Prescriptions for drugs to prevent HIV also decreased, potentially leaving some San Francisco residents vulnerable. (Allday, 3/20)

The Bakersfield Californian: When Children Suffer: California To Funnel Billions Into Mental Health Overhaul 
Amanda Arellano felt a heavy weight pressing down on her chest. It was May of 2021, and the teenager struggled to breathe. Maria Arellano rushed her 17-year-old daughter to the pulmonologist. Amanda has cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, asthma and a heart murmur. With COVID on the prowl, they couldn’t be too careful. This wasn’t an asthma flare-up, the doctor told them. This was anxiety. (Wiener, 3/20)

EdSource: A Child Development Expert Talks About Parenting Through The Pandemic
Lauren Shuffrey is a developmental neuroscientist researching child development at New York’s Columbia University. She’s an expert in maternal perinatal health, infant neurodevelopment and autism who has published groundbreaking research on the impact of the pandemic on baby brains. She’s also a mom. However, her extensive training in developmental psychology and her doctorate in biobehavioral sciences in no way prepared her for the extreme challenge of trying to convince her toddler, Maisie, to wear a mask. And, yes, she tried offering a variety of different colors, patterns and designs. There’s nothing like parenting in a pandemic to keep you humble. (D'Souza, 3/21)

CBS News: Most Medical Debt Will Be Dropped From Consumers' Credit Reports 
Medical bills have become a source of major financial trouble for millions of Americans, amounting to the largest source of personal debt in the U.S. Now, the top three credit reporting agencies plan to drop most medical debt from consumers' credit reports starting this summer.  Equifax, Experian and TransUnion on Friday said that they are making a number of changes to the way they handle medical debt on credit reports, which is a record of a consumer's borrowing and repayment. Lenders use credit reports to determine whether a consumer is a good bet for a loan, which means a poor credit score can make it hard to get a mortgage, car loan or other products. Credit reports can also affect people's ability to rent an apartment and even get a job. (Picchi, 3/18)

inewsource: San Diego County Extends COVID-19 Hotel Shelter Program
Days before residents with nowhere else to go were preparing to be removed, San Diego County extended its troubled COVID-19 hotel sheltering program through June 30. The federal money used to pay for the program was supposed to run out next month and the 99 remaining residents were expected to be out of the hotels by Sunday, but it was announced this week that President Joe Biden extended federal coverage of COVID-19 response costs until July. (Dulaney, 3/18)

Los Angeles Times: San Mateo County Wants To End Homelessness In 2022
A Bay Area county has made a bold pledge to end homelessness — by the end of 2022. Getting everyone currently living on the street into housing in the next nine months may sound like a reach for places such as San Francisco or Los Angeles, which have wrestled with the issue for decades and where tens of thousands of people are unhoused. (Mejia, 3/20)

CNN: Justice Clarence Thomas Hospitalized 'after Experiencing Flu-Like Symptoms' 
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, on Friday evening "after experiencing flu-like symptoms," the court's public information office said Sunday evening, but he does not have Covid-19. "It is not COVID related. The Justice does not have COVID," a spokesperson for the Supreme Court said. "He underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics," the court's press release said. (Biskupic, Sneed and de Vogue, 3/20)