The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Outbreaks In Sonoma County Show COVID Isn’t Gone Yet
Kristopher Cosca spent several months as director of COVID rapid response for the Sonoma County Office of Education, helping schools and districts around the region deal with reported outbreaks. By early spring of this year, as virus rates bottomed out and public health mandates disappeared, he felt he was wasting the county’s money. (Barber, 5/18)

AP: A Third Of US Should Be Considering Masks, Officials Say 
COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States — and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking. Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions. Right now, about a third of the U.S. population lives in areas that are considered at higher risk — mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. Those are areas where people should already be considering wearing masks indoors — but Americans elsewhere should also take notice, officials said. (Miller and Stobbe, 5/18)

Los Angeles Times: Jimmy Kimmel Tests Positive For COVID, Lines Up Guest Hosts
COVID-19 has continued to plague the late-night TV circuit, this time hitting Jimmy Kimmel — again. “I’m such a positive person, I tested positive AGAIN,” the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” tweeted Tuesday. “I am feeling fine.” While Kimmel recovers, fellow comedy stars John Mulaney and Andy Samberg “have graciously agreed” to guest host his show on Wednesday night. Kimmel has previously disclosed that he is vaccinated and boosted. (Carras, 5/18)

Bay Area News Group: Concerns grow that COVID-19 may ‘rebound’ after taking antiviral Paxlovid
Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid has been hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against the disease, promising fast, convenient and dramatic protection from severe illness in older adults and others at higher risk from the virus. But in recent weeks, there have been growing concerns that some people who finish the five-day course of prescription pills are becoming ill and testing positive again soon after. (Woolfolk, 5/19)

CIDRAP: Kids With Heart Conditions Prone To Severe COVID-19
Congenital and acquired heart conditions such as biventricular defects, cardiac arrest, and heart failure are associated with increased COVID-19 severity in US children, suggests a multicenter study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (5/18)

The Oaklandside: Oakland Drops COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement At Indoor Establishments
Beginning Wednesday, Oakland will no longer require people to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering restaurants, bars, gyms, entertainment venues, and other indoor establishments. However, individuals must still show their vaccination cards to enter senior centers and assisted living facilities. Also beginning Wednesday, masks are required at large indoor events with 2,500 or more attendees. (DeBolt, 5/18)

Bloomberg: Long Covid Patients’ Symptoms Helped After Vaccination In Study
Fewer Covid-19 patients reported lingering symptoms from the infection after getting vaccinated, according to a study that suggests the shots could help alleviate the burden of long Covid. A first vaccine dose after infection with the virus was associated with a 13% decline in the odds of having long Covid and a second shot with a 9% drop in the study published Thursday in the BMJ. Over the course of seven months in 2021, researchers regularly visited the households of more than 28,000 people to ask whether they were experiencing symptoms long after infection. (Fourcade and Hernanz Lizarraga, 5/18)

The New York Times: Biden Invokes Defense Powers In A Bid To Ease Formula Shortage 
President Biden took urgent action on Wednesday to address the nationwide baby formula shortage, invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production and creating “Operation Fly Formula” to deploy Defense Department planes and speed formula shipments into the United States from overseas. The moves are Mr. Biden’s first major initiative to respond to a crisis that has sown fear and frustration among parents across the country and prompted Republicans and Democrats alike to demand action. (Karni and Cochrane, 5/18)

AP: Biden Invokes Defense Production Act For Formula Shortage 
The Defense Production Act order requires suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill orders from those companies before other customers, in an effort to eliminate production bottlenecks. Biden is also authorizing the Defense Department to use commercial aircraft to fly formula supplies that meet federal standards from overseas to the U.S., in what the White House is calling “Operation Fly Formula.” (Miller and Freking, 5/19)

Bloomberg: House Passes FDA Baby Formula Bill, But Senate Fate Is Uncertain
The House passed a $28 million emergency funding bill for the Food and Drug Administration to address the shortage of infant formula in the US and provide tighter oversight of the industry. The legislation was approved Wednesday night on a 231 to 192 vote. Democrats argued that increasing funding for inspections would help bolster supplies by expediting sourcing of formula from new domestic and international suppliers, which must be FDA-approved. (Wasson, 5/19)

The Hill: Here Are The Republicans Who Bucked The Party On Baby Formula Bills
A handful of Republican lawmakers bucked their party on Wednesday in votes on two separate bills aiming to address the nationwide baby formula shortage causing rising concern for parents across the country. The main bill, dubbed the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act, passed in a 231-192 vote that mainly broke along party lines. Four Republicans and one Democrat did not vote. (Schnell, 5/19)

The Hill: Harris To Meet Virtually With Abortion Providers 
Vice President Harris on Thursday will meet virtually with abortion providers from around the country to highlight the Biden administration’s support for reproductive rights after a leaked draft opinion showed the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade. Harris will be at the White House and will meet via video stream with four abortion providers: Dr. Rebecca Taub, who practices in California, Oklahoma and Kansas; Dr. Bhavik Kumar, who is with Planned Parenthood in Texas; Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, Missouri; and Helen Weems, the founder of All Families Healthcare in Montana. (Samuels, 5/19)

The New York Times: Justice Dept. Employees Urge Administration To Grant Leave For Out-Of-State Abortions 
Justice Department employees pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday to grant federal employees time off if they or their family members need to travel out of state to obtain abortions. The request puts the administration in a potentially tricky position: either denying a benefit even as several large companies have made accommodations in the area, or granting one that pits it against state governments that restrict access to the procedure. (Benner, 5/18)

KQED: California Wants To Be The Nation's Abortion Haven 
While half the states in the U.S. plan to ban or restrict abortion care if and when the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, California is positioning itself to be an abortion sanctuary and preparing to welcome patients from around the country. The state’s Democratic Legislature is considering 13 bills that would: reduce the costs of abortion, make abortions easier to access, and protect people in the state who have an abortion, or who help provide one, from law enforcement action. The governor is pledging $125 million in state funds to back these efforts. (Dembosky, 5/18)

Politico: Abortion Counteroffensive Could Buoy California Dems 
California’s push to ensure abortion rights could also boost Democrats across the ballot. The Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will give Democratic candidates nationwide a clarifying issue to run on. But unlike most other states, California Democrats can deploy the state’s storied ballot initiative system to drive voters to the polls — with a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. (White, 5/18)

NPR: 64% Of U.S. Adults Oppose Overturning Roe V. Wade, Poll Says
About two-thirds of Americans say they do not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Seven-in-10 U.S. adults, however, say they are in favor of some degree of restrictions on abortion rights. That includes 52% of Democrats. The issue of abortion rights was once again thrown into the hot spotlight of American politics after the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court earlier this month that showed the majority-conservative court ready to overturn Roe. (Montanaro, 5/19)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Santa Rosa Mental Health Emergency Response Program Marks First 4 Months
InRESPONSE, Santa Rosa’s behavioral health emergency response program, has handled nearly 500 crisis calls since the civilian mobile support van hit the streets in January. That figure was among the data reported in the first public meeting on the program, held online Monday evening, where city officials described insights they’ve gained in the first four months of inRESPONSE operations and took feedback from members of the community. (Wilder, 5/18)

AP: Jill Biden, Selena Gomez Lead Talk On Youth Mental Health 
Selena Gomez joined first lady Jill Biden and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy at the White House on Wednesday for a conversation about youth mental health. The singer/actor has been public about her struggles and revealed in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Biden, Murthy and Gomez held a conversation in the East Room with several young people, including a mother and a recent Rutgers college graduate, who shared how they had improved their mental outlook. (Superville, 5/18)

Capitol Weekly: Helping Mentally Ill People: The Debate Over 'Involuntary Treatment’ 
Lee Davis says flatly that without involuntary treatment for her raging psychosis, she would be dead. “It saved my life.” A mental health activist, she chairs the Alameda County Mental Health Advisory Board, which advises the board of supervisors and county officials on mental health policy. Davis acknowledges hers is not a popular view among disability rights advocates, who largely oppose any kind of “forced” treatment for mental illness. (Bathen, 5/18)

CNBC: Americans Are Stressed About Money And Finances, Hurting Mental Health
Americans are more stressed about money than they’ve ever been, according to the American Psychological Association’s latest Stress In America Survey. “Eighty-seven percent of Americans said that inflation and the rising costs of everyday goods is what’s driving their stress,” said Vaile Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association. More than 40% of U.S. adults say money is negatively impacting their mental health, according to Bankrate’s April 2022 Money and Mental Health report. (Morabito, 5/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Frustration With Private Ambulance Provider Prompts San Diego To Explore Shift To In-House Service
San Diego is studying the financial feasibility of taking the city’s ambulance service away from private provider Falck and merging it into the city’s Fire-Rescue Department. The bold proposal, which a consultant will spend the next four to six months studying, was prompted by frustration over Falck’s poor emergency response times and other problems since the company took over in November. (Garrick, 5/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Despite More Shelters, Outreach, Programs, Homelessness On The Rise In San Diego County 
 The numbers have confirmed what many already suspected. Homelessness has increased in San Diego County, and it’s especially apparent in several cities where tents and makeshift structures fill sidewalks, canyons and freeway offramps. (Warth, 5/19)

Voice of San Diego: Oceanside Now Has The Highest Unsheltered Homeless Population In North County 
The latest results of the annual homeless census show that Oceanside’s unsheltered homeless population significantly increased since 2020, while Escondido’s decreased.  The point-in-time count wasn’t conducted for unsheltered residents in 2021 because of the pandemic, and the count should be viewed strictly as a “minimum,” according to the director of the Regional Homelessness Task Force, which conducts the federally mandated count.  (Layne, 5/19)

The Oaklandside: Hundreds More Oaklanders Are Living In Cars And RVs These Days
Facing crushing rents and home prices, more Oakland residents are now living in cars, trucks, and RVs. Newly released data from the 2022 point-in-time homeless count corroborated what’s visible along many major streets and freeway underpasses throughout the city—that hundreds more people have sought shelter in vehicles in recent years. As of February, an estimated 1,031 people were living in cars and vans in the city, and another 907 were sleeping in RVs, altogether representing more than half of Oakland’s unsheltered population. (Orenstein, 5/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeless Families Living In Vehicles Are Filling This Quiet S.F. Neighborhood. Here’s What The City Plans To Do
San Francisco officials are pushing to open a “safe parking” site for at least 50 homeless households living in their vehicles on the streets surrounding Lake Merced. Over the last few years, the neighborhood has become one of the hotspots for people living in RVs, vans and cars. The Portola, Balboa Park and the Bayview have also grappled with the problem as the housing crisis has pushed struggling residents to the edge of the city. (Moench, 5/18)

Bay Area News Group: Sprouts Farmers Market Closing Fremont, Mountain View Stores
Two Bay Area Sprouts Farmers Market stores that have served residents for about a decade will close on June 3, the company announced this month. The grocer said it will permanently close both its Fremont store at 3900 Mowry Ave. in the Fremont Plaza Shopping Center and its Mountain View store at 630 San Antonio Rd. in the World Savings Plaza. (Geha, 5/18)