San Francisco Chronicle: Justice Department Appeals Order Voiding Travel Mask Mandate
The Justice Department on Wednesday filed an appeal seeking to overturn a judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs, according to the Associated Press. The notice came minutes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision handed down by a federal judge in Florida earlier this week. A notice of appeal was filed in federal court in Tampa. (Fracassa and Vaziri, 4/20)

NBC News: Justice Department Appeals Ruling Lifting Transit Mask Mandate After CDC Request
The Justice Department has not asked the appeals court to block the judge's order that lifted the federal mask mandate on transit systems, meaning passengers will be able to continue traveling maskless while the decision is litigated. (Richards, 4/20)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Transit Agencies End Mask Mandate Days After Federal Judge Strikes Down National Mask Requirement
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Caltrain and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced Wednesday they were dropping their mask requirements aboard buses, trains and paratransit vehicles and at facilities. The news comes after a federal judge in Florida voided a mask mandate on mass transit and airplanes Monday, prompting airlines to roll back their masking requirements. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously extended the mandate through May 3. The CDC announced Wednesday it would appeal the ruling, declaring in a statement “at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.” (Lin, 4/20)

KQED: Do I Need To Wear A Mask On BART? Current Mask Rules For Bay Area Public Transit 
The federal travel mask mandate — originally set to expire on April 18 — was ruled unlawful on Monday by a federal judge in Florida. A few hours later, the Transportation Security Administration announced it would no longer enforce mask rules inside airports and airplanes and on public transportation. The Justice Department has announced it is considering appealing this decision. In the meantime, this means private and public transportation agencies now can drop their own mask mandates. Most major airlines, along with the San Francisco, Oakland and San José international airports, now have made masks optional. Rideshare giants Uber and Lyft also have dropped their masking requirements for passengers and drivers. And private bus companies, like FlixBus and Megabus, have followed suit. (Cabrera-Lomelí and Brekke, 4/20)

Napa Valley Register: State Of Mask Rule On Napa County Buses Unclear Amid Battle Over Federal Mandate
On the day California lifted its requirement to wear masks on public transportation, the future of a similar mandate for Napa County buses remained up in the air particularly after the federal government appealed the court ruling that struck down a nationwide mandate earlier this week. On Wednesday, California announced it will no longer require masks on public transit and at transit hubs like bus stops and airports. Dr. Tomas Aragon, the state’s public health officer, said in a statement that California is modifying its masking guidance — in force for more than two years during the coronavirus pandemic — to align with that of federal health officials. (Yune, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Mask-Optional Public Transit Alarms Immunocompromised People 
Among those who were alarmed at a federal judge’s decision this week to lift the mask mandate in airports and on planes, trains and buses are immunocompromised people and their families. Many medically vulnerable people are now questioning whether to go through with plane trips and are worrying how to navigate public transportation after a federal judge struck down the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s order requiring masks on public transportation. (Reyes, Money and Lin II, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Masks Are Still Effective Even When Many Aren't Wearing Them 
Californians seem to be shedding masks at a rate not seen since last June, just before summer’s Delta surge. The odds are good that at least one person on a crowded flight would test positive for the coronavirus. In the UC San Francisco hospital system, for instance, the asymptomatic positivity rate as of Tuesday was about 2% — meaning 1 in 50 people were testing positive despite not showing any signs of illness, according to Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the university’s Department of Medicine. (Lin II, Money and Reyes, 4/20)

AP: Most People In US Want Masks For Travelers: AP-NORC Poll 
A majority of people in the United States continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to that requirement that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of those surveyed favor requiring people on planes, trains and public transportation to wear masks, compared with 24% opposed and 20% who say they are neither in favor nor opposed. (Kolpack, 4/20)

NBC News: Delta To Allow Passengers Banned For 'Mask Non-Compliance' Back On Airplanes
Delta Air Lines will begin allowing passengers who were banned from flying for “mask non-compliance” back on its airplanes after a federal judge struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for air, rail and other travel, the company said Wednesday.     In a statement, Delta said it will restore flight privileges for customers who demonstrate “an understanding of their expected behavior when flying with us.” (Stelloh and Blackman, 4/20)

The Hill: Biden Appeal Of Judge’s Mask Mandate Ruling Risks Backfiring 
Legal experts who criticized a judge’s controversial decision this week striking down the federal mask mandate for travel say the Biden administration faces a grave risk if it moves forward with an appeal. These court watchers warned that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, which has already upended several pandemic-era health measures, could use the Trump-appointed judge’s narrow view of the government’s public health powers to create a far-reaching precedent. (Kruzel and Gangitano, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: Mask Wearing Will Still Be Required At Hospitals And Doctors Offices
Doctors offices and hospitals are the last large holdouts requiring masks following a federal judge’s ruling that ends the federal requirement to wear them at airports and on airlines, buses and trains. (Diamond, 4/20)

AP: California Set To Keep Workplace Pandemic Rules Through 2022
California workplace regulators are poised to extend mandatory pay for workers affected by the coronavirus through the end of 2022, more than two months after state lawmakers restored similar benefits through September. The decision expected Thursday again pits management against labor as the seven-member Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board renews revised workplace safety rules that would otherwise expire in early May. (Thompson, 4/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Hospitalizations Fall In California Despite A Rise In Infections
The number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19 has dipped below an average of 1,000 this week — the first time that’s happened since the pandemic’s summer lull last June. Patients hospitalized with coronavirus infections numbered 964 as of Tuesday, according to state data. Hospitalizations are continuing to fall despite a recent statewide rise in cases. The case growth follows months of declines since the peak of the omicron surge in January. California is now averaging about 2,800 confirmed cases per day, up from about 2,300 at the beginning of the month. (Vaziri and Ho, 4/20)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Daily COVID-19 Case Totals Jump; Local Mass Transit Drops Mask Requirements 
The San Diego County health department announced 405 new cases in its weekly COVID-19 report Wednesday, nearly double the 220 posted just one day earlier. To be sure, it’s nowhere near the kind of spike seen in late December when the Omicron variant arrived, crushing local emergency rooms and pushing lines into parking lots at testing centers. (Sisson, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: How Long COVID Upended The Life Of An L.A. Teen 
Week after week, 13-year-old Ami Korn holed up in his Tarzana bedroom with his dog, Barley, to quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, waiting for the nagging headache and earaches to dissipate. “I just thought I was going to be fine,” Ami, now 14, recalled. “Most kids were fine.” Instead, the teen grew sicker. He suffered nausea and dizziness, headaches, lung inflammation, body aches and fatigue. He struggled to walk a block without tiring. His parents shuttled him to doctor after doctor for help. (Reyes, 4/21)

Los Angeles Times: 'Beyond Outrageous': L.A. Company Accused Of Faking Hundreds Of COVID Test Results 
A company accused of handing out fake results for hundreds of coronavirus tests will pay more than $20 million under a settlement deal announced by Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer. Feuer and Dist. Atty. George Gascón accused Sameday Technologies and its chief executive, Felix Huettenbach, of sending fake results to hundreds of people, telling them they had tested negative for the coronavirus when laboratories had not actually run their tests. Some tests were never processed at all, according to the complaint filed in court Wednesday. (Reyes, 4/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Two Northern California Women Charged In Fake Remedy Pill, COVID Card Scheme
Two Northern California women are facing federal charges for allegedly selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and phony “immunization pellets” in a scheme with a Napa naturopathic doctor who has already pleaded guilty in the fraud, authorities said. (Hernandez, 4/19)

Modesto Bee: COVID Wage Relief For Farmworkers In Sacramento: How To Apply 
A state program that gives up wage relief for Sacramento County farmworkers, food processing workers, agriculture laborers and food stand vendors sick with COVID-19 ends this month. Cosecha Sana, also known as Housing for the Harvest, is designed to help food and agriculture workers isolate if they test positive for COVID-19 by providing wage reimbursement for time off. Workers can also use the funds to book a hotel to isolate from family members. (Yoon-Hendricks, 4/21)

CNN: CDC Advisers Mull What's Next For Covid-19 Boosters 
Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to mull over what the future of Covid-19 booster shots might look like – and they acknowledge that entirely different vaccine formulations could be needed. At their meeting Wednesday, the members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed their next steps around recommending additional booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the general public. (Howard, 4/20)

Bloomberg: Should I Get A Covid Booster? Most Under 50 Should Wait, Says CDC Panel
Most Americans under 50 should wait for the next generation of booster shots rather than getting a fourth dose now to prevent Covid-19 infections, according to several members of a panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal of booster shots should be to limit severe outcomes rather than to prevent transmission of the virus, the advisers said in a meeting Wednesday. That means people with high risk of grave illness from an infection should consider an extra shot, but most people should hold out for better vaccines later this year, they said. (Rutherford and Castronuovo, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Boost Now? Boost Later? Tricky Calculation For A 4th Coronavirus Shot. 
The booster issue reveals some tension between public health priorities and individual interests. The disease experts worry about epidemic waves that can overwhelm the health-care system. To a doctor, a vaccine has worked fine if it keeps a person out of the hospital, with just a mild to moderate case — which can mean anything from a few sniffles to a miserable week in bed utterly flattened by the virus. Many people, though, don’t want that bad week — with the attendant risk of long covid — and will do anything to keep it off their calendar. (Achenbach and Johnson, 4/20)

NBC News: Should People Wait Until The Fall For A Second Booster? CDC Panel Weighs In.
"My sense is that omicron [and its subvariants] BA.2, 3 and 4 will be major players this fall," Moderna's chief medical officer, Paul Burton, said Tuesday during a meeting of the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C. The company is working on a redesign of its vaccine to specifically target the omicron family of variants. (Edwards, 4/20)

The Hill: 137 Million In US Live With Unhealthy Levels Of Air Pollution: American Lung Association 
More than 40 percent of the U.S. population — or 137 million people — are living in areas with unhealthy levels of particle pollution or ozone, according to the American Lung Association’s newest “State of the Air” report card. That’s 2.1 million people living in counties with unsafe air compared to last year’s report card — and 8.9 million more people impacted by daily spikes in potentially deadly particle pollution, the authors found. (Udasin, 4/21)

ABC News: Almost Half Of Americans Breathing More Unhealthy Air Than Ever Before: Report 
Almost half of Americans -- 137 million people -- are experiencing more days of "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" air quality than in the previous two decades combined, according to a report published this week by the American Lung Association. The annual "State of the Air" report looked at Americans' exposure to two types of air pollution: ozone, also known as "smog," and particle pollution, also known as "soot." It found that over 63 million Americans are now impacted by deadly particle pollution, an increase of nearly 9 million people from previous years. (Meltzer, 4/21)

CIDRAP: Air Pollution May Raise Risk Of Positive COVID-19 Test 
An observational JAMA Network Open study today involving young adults in Sweden suggests that short-term exposure to even relatively low levels of air pollution is tied to a higher risk of later testing positive for COVID-19, likely by worsening symptoms in those already infected. (Van Beusekom, 4/20)

Fox 40: Marijuana Industry Warns Legal Market Could Collapse
While 4/20 is a notable day for marijuana businesses, industry leaders continue to warn California’s legal market could collapse. Marijuana growers and sellers said while Wednesday will be good for businesses, they’re at a tipping point with the state’s taxes and regulations. “It’s gotten worse as an overall demand, and revenue being driven to the legal market has gotten worse,” said Jerred Kiloh, president of the United Cannabis Business Association. (Zavala and Fabian, 4/20)

Sacramento Bee: California Has A Legal Marijuana Glut. And Farmers Are Taking A Hit
Marijuana farmers in California are now receiving the lowest price for their crop since cannabis was legalized in 2018 — calling into question whether what was once thought to be a slam dunk cash crop is even still worth planting. The problem: There’s simply too much legal weed on the market. The glut is such that it has depressed the value in some cases by more than half of what farmers once reaped. Dispensaries are also seeing less business from reduced demand, but unlike farmers, aren’t making major cuts in pricing. (Diamond, 4/20)

Reuters: California Cannabis Mega-Factory Eyes Federal Legalization Of Weed 
The company behind a cannabis mega-factory in California is hoping federal legalization of the substance will allow it to expand distribution of joints, oils and edibles beyond the borders of the most populous U.S. state. (Lavelle, 4/19)

ABC10.com: 420 Day In California: What's Next For The Cannabis Industry 
There’s a push from California lawmakers to reduce taxes on legal cannabis shops because they can be expensive to operate, lawmakers and industry experts say it’s also driving illegal sales. Marijuana became legal for recreational use and some sales in California in 2016.Without an investor backing Maisha Bahati, she said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to start her own dispensary. She applied to the city of Sacramento's Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity Program that's meant to help get minorities into the industry.  (Rynor, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: The Future Of Weed Isn’t In California. It’s Somewhere Totally Unexpected
What does the future of cannabis look like in California and across the nation? A possible answer lies in an unlikely place. Oklahoma is a politically conservative, medical-marijuana-only state in the South that’s a beacon of hope, a cautionary tale and a strategic long game all at once. When Sooner State voters legalized medical marijuana at the ballot box in June 2018, business exploded thanks to combination of factors that included low infrastructure costs; a low cost of entry to the market (business licenses cost just $2,500); no cap on the number of dispensaries (there are currently 2,301 in the state compared to 913 in California, which has 10 times the population); and the relative ease with which state residents can obtain a medical card (around 10% of Oklahoma residents now have one). (Tschorn, 4/20)

The Guardian: The Black Women Redefining California’s Cannabis Market – One Curated Store At A Time 
When Kika Keith and her daughter opened a cannabis dispensary in South Los Angeles last year, they faced a design challenge: how could they create a store where older Black customers, who had seen all the ravages of the “war on drugs”, would feel comfortable making a purchase? It had been a tough battle for Keith to open a dispensary as a Black woman, in a post-legalized marijuana market where most of the business owners had become white men. She and her daughter, Kika Howze, wanted their store, Gorilla Rx Wellness Co, to reflect their focus on neighborhood investment and their hip-hop aesthetic. (Beckett, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Rising Marijuana Use Presents Secondhand Risks 
The risks marijuana can pose to people—and even pets—near users is getting more attention from researchers, as consumption rises along with legalization efforts in parts of North America. ... New research examines the possible health effects of wider use. Bong smoke contains tiny pollutants that can linger indoors for up to 12 hours, one study showed. Secondhand marijuana smoke may harm people outdoors or children in adjacent rooms, other research has suggested. And the legalization of marijuana in parts of North America has coincided with an increase of cannabis poisonings in dogs and other pets, a study published on Wednesday in the scientific journal PLOS ONE reported. (Onque, 4/20)

CNN: Copycat Packaging Of Marijuana Edibles Poses Risk To Children, Study Says
At first glance, it looks like a single serving bag of Nerds Rope that your child might eat as a treat. But take a closer look. See the word “medicated” and the small white box at the bottom that says 600 milligrams of THC? Those three letters stand for tetrahydrocannabinol, the part of the marijuana plant that makes people high. Eating even a small fraction of that bag would “overwhelm a child,” said Danielle Ompad, associate professor of epidemiology at NYU School of Global Public Health and senior author of a new study investigating copycat packaging in cannabis sales. The study was published Tuesday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. (LaMotte, 4/19)

CNN: Marijuana Pet Poisonings Are On The Rise, Study Says
More pets are being poisoned by marijuana plants and edibles than in the past and some even die, a new study finds. A survey of veterinarians found cases of poisoning occurred most frequently in dogs, but cats, iguanas, ferrets, horses and cockatoos also fell victim to the hallucinogenic effects of marijuana. ... Veterinarians reported a rise in poisoning cases, which could be due to increased access to legal marijuana products in some US states and Canada, which legalized cannabis in 2018. (LaMotte, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Cannabis Quiz: How Much Do You Know About The Science Of Marijuana?
The seedy reputation of weed is changing — quickly. First of all, the correct name is cannabis, and most states have legalized it in some way. Earlier this month, the House passed a bill that would decriminalize it across the entire country. Legal sales around the world are expected to top $35 billion this year, according to industry tracker BDSA. But the science lags behind the movement, largely because studying cannabis is so difficult. Truth is, there’s a lot science doesn’t know. (Berkowitz and Steckelberg, 4/20)

CalMatters: Abortion Rights Bills Advance Despite Capitol Protests
Hundreds of protesters descended on the state Capitol on Tuesday for two separate rallies to oppose abortion- and COVID-related bills facing key votes in the Legislature — underscoring the extent to which some California voters are dissatisfied with the policy proposals emanating out of Sacramento. (Hoeven, 4/20)

Orange County Register: Aliso Niguel High Therapy, Wellness Program Has New, Inviting Space 
Four years ago, there were two school counselors tasked with providing both mental health and academic support to the almost 3,000 students at Aliso Niguel High School. Noticing the gap in needed resources, Assistant Principal Sue Puccinelli said she began working with her district and the Wellness and Prevention Center of Orange County, which was already providing therapy at other district campuses, to expand available counseling services. (Toohey, 4/20)

The Bakersfield Californian: Bakersfield Urges State To Continue Funding Homeless Resource Grant Program 
The city of Bakersfield is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to maintain state funding officials say is critically needed for homelessness prevention. At a press conference on Wednesday, Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh urged the governor to continue funding homeless services that have been used by Bakersfield and other cities in the past to pay for new shelter beds, provide case-management services to homeless individuals and improve homeless services. (Morgen, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Says It Can't Take Care Of Its Sickest And Most Vulnerable. The County Isn't Buying It 
Earlier this month, with much fanfare, Los Angeles officials announced a partial settlement of a 2-year-old federal lawsuit over homelessness. The city pledged to create housing, either permanent or interim, for 60% of the city’s unsheltered homeless population. Lawyers representing L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, the group that filed the lawsuit, endorsed the agreement. Conspicuously absent from the event were representatives of Los Angeles County, which is also being sued by the group. (Oreskes and Smith, 4/21)

Bay Area News Group: Students Demand San Jose State Fix Homelessness Response
Student advocates are calling on San Jose State University leaders to make good on their promise to provide resources for students who are sleeping in cars, couches, the campus library and even the streets because they can’t afford housing in one of the country’s most-expensive housing markets. The group is demanding more transparency from university officials, two years after San Jose State agreed to provide emergency funds and a shelter to students struggling with homelessness. (Jimenez, 4/20)

Los Angeles Times: Tenants Complain About Mold And Broken Pipes At South L.A. Apartments, Even After City Intervention 
Sabrina Dolan is convinced that her apartment is poisoning her. Black, mold-like spots dot the windowsill in her living room. They appear on her bedroom windows along with signs of termites. The spots also cover a corner of her bathroom, and no amount of scrubbing can make them go away. Recently, she’s been coughing up chunks of thick, dark mucus. And no matter how many times she says she complains to her landlord at the South Los Angeles apartment she shares with her fiancé, nothing ever gets repaired. (Dillon, 4/21)

KQED: For Many Tenants, Section 8 Is A Broken Promise. Fixing It Could Help Keep More People Housed 
As California grapples with its housing crisis, and many people are barely hanging onto their housing by the grace of eviction moratoriums passed during the coronavirus pandemic, stopping evictions is a key way to keep people housed. And the primary reason people get evicted is because they can’t pay their rent. But the main federal rental assistance program, Section 8 vouchers, doesn’t always work the way it was intended. And, it's widely misunderstood by the public. For example, Section 8 is not the same thing as public housing. Instead, Section 8 vouchers are money paid directly to private landlords to help income-qualifying people pay their rent. And far more people are eligible for the program than actually benefit from it. (Schwartz, 4/21)

CBS News: Americans Often "Forced" To Pay Medical Bills They Don't Owe, Feds Say 
It may come as little surprise that many Americans are besieged by medical bills, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic grinds on. Perhaps more eye-opening is that this is often for debt they have already paid or do not actually owe. In a new report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that people's most common debt collection complaints last year had to do with efforts to collect on a bill that they said did not belong to them. (Sherter, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Warns Of 'Exceptionally Aggressive' Ransomware Threat
A cybersecurity center at the Health and Human Services Department is warning healthcare and public health organizations to guard against an "exceptionally aggressive" ransomware group that encrypts and steals data from its victims. "Hive is an exceptionally aggressive, financially-motivated ransomware group known to maintain sophisticated capabilities who have historically targeted healthcare organizations frequently," according to an analyst note published this week by the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center, a center in HHS' Office of Information Security. (Kim Cohen, 4/20)