NPR: Fauci Warns Dangerous Delta Variant Is The Greatest Threat To U.S. COVID Efforts
The dangerous Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading so quickly in the United States that it's likely the mutant strain will become predominant in the nation within weeks, according to federal health officials and a new analysis. At a White House briefing on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said 20.6% of new cases in the U.S. are due to the Delta variant. And other scientists tracking the variant say it is on track to become the dominant virus variant in the U.S. "The Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19," Fauci said. (Stein, 6/22)

Fox News: Delta Coronavirus Variant Doubling Biweekly, Now 20% Of Samples, Fauci Says
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday that the highly transmissible Delta variant has climbed to now account for over 20% of sequenced samples. The variant, first detected in India and now found in over 80 countries, is becoming the dominant strain worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The B.1.617.2 strain spreads more readily than the B.1.1.7 Alpha variant and the wild-type virus, and has been linked to an increased hospitalization risk. (Rivas, 6/22)

CapRadio: Yes, Gov. Gavin Newsom Has The Authority To Continue California’s State Of Emergency, Legal Experts Say
Amid a game show backdrop, Gov. Gavin Newsom said early this month that California’s state of emergency is here to stay for now, even as the Golden State moved forward with its reopening plans. Days after the announcement, a prominent anti-mask activist from Orange County questioned whether the governor has the power to keep the emergency declaration in place. (Hupka, 6/22)

Sacramento Bee: Many In CA Still Wearing Masks Despite End Of COVID Mandate
A funny thing happened when Gov. Gavin Newsom told Californians they could finally ditch their masks. Many of them have continued wearing them. It’s been a week since the state’s mask mandates were lifted for shops, restaurants and most other public places for Californians who’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Yet a spot check around Sacramento this week showed plenty of people behaving as if it were still 2020. (Kasler, 6/23)

Bay Area News Group: Californians Still Hesitant To Toss Out Masks After Lifted Mandate
As the Bay Area snaps back to life with almost all pandemic restrictions now in the rearview mirror, residents can’t seem to shake off the mask-wearing habit. When the state fully reopened last Tuesday, allowing vaccinated people to go out to restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and bowling alleys without face coverings for the first time in more than a year, many who viewed masks as a necessary evil greeted the news with a welcome sigh of relief. But for others, masks have become a social norm and habit that will be hard to kick, as evidenced inside Bay Area grocery stores teeming with shoppers who continue to hide their noses and mouths behind face coverings while pushing their sanitized carts down the aisles. (Toledo, Angst, Geha and Mukherjee, 6/22)

The Bakersfield Californian: Public Health Services To Stop Releasing Daily Coronavirus Update 
The Kern County Department of Public Health Services will no longer release daily coronavirus updates due to the falling case rate. On Tuesday, Department Director Brynn Carrigan said during a Board of Supervisors meeting the California Department of Public Health has issued guidance on patient confidentiality. According to the guidance, Carrigan said the county could only release detailed information on specific groups with 11 or more involved cases. (6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Vaccine Boom, Santa Clara County Drops Last COVID-19 Order 
Buoyed with optimism and a high vaccination rate, officials in Northern California’s most populous county phased out its last local COVID-19 health order Monday. “I feel very grateful today. And I feel very hopeful today,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the local health officer and public health director of Santa Clara County. The home of Silicon Valley was also the home to the first recorded COVID-19 death in the nation. (Lin II, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Los Angeles COVID Death Rate Is Below S.F.'s Right Now. Here's What That Means
As California reopened from COVID-19 restrictions this month, the state’s two major coastal metropolitan areas found themselves in a remarkably similar place by all coronavirus measures. Throughout most of the pandemic, San Francisco and the Bay Area managed to contain the spread of the virus to a far greater degree than Los Angeles County — especially during the winter surge, when Southern California became the nation’s hot spot. But now, after the dramatic plunge in case rates, positive test rates and deaths that accompanied the rollout of vaccines, the paths of the two metropolitan areas have converged closely. (Hwang, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. School Board OKs $20-Billion Budget For COVID Recovery 
The Los Angeles Board of Education late Tuesday approved a record $20-billion budget for the upcoming academic year — a massive influx of funding made possible by two unprecedented occurrences: pandemic relief money and record state tax revenues. How specifically that money is spent on a school level will play out in months ahead, but the budget will include the projected hiring of thousands of new employees in a school system where students have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, with their grades dropping and their mental health suffering. (Blume, 6/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Navy Teams Up With San Diego Biotech To Deploy COVID-19 Tests And Treatments 
San Diego biotech Sorrento Therapeutics is working with a U.S. Navy research lab to test new coronavirus treatments and tests, according to an announcement from the company on Tuesday. The deal gives U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, a laboratory based in Italy, access to several of Sorrento’s COVID-19 tests and therapies, which the Navy can use to monitor and treat coronavirus cases at field sites and hospitals throughout Liberia, Nigeria, Djibouti, Egypt and Ghana. There’s clear need for such efforts in Africa, with only around 1 percent of the continent’s residents fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the World Health Organization. (Wosen, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: CDC Panel To Examine Heart Inflammation Cases In Young People After COVID Vaccinations
Advisers for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are set to meet Wednesday to consider possible changes to COVID-19 vaccinations of adolescents and young adults as a result of reports of heart inflammation among a small number of younger vaccine recipients. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the CDC on vaccine policy, could recommend adjusting the dosing regimen for people in a certain age group, pausing administration of the shots to certain age groups, or adding a warning label. It could also opt not to recommend any changes. (Ho, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can A Dog Smell COVID-19? Testing And Training Is Now Under Way To See
It can sniff out the location of a buried landmine. Get a whiff of a human armpit and find its owner a quarter mile away. It can even direct conservation researchers toward fresh killer whale poop floating in the ocean. Now the super nose of Canis lupus familiaris — your basic dog — is also detecting COVID-19 in people who may not know they have it. (Asimov, 6/22)

Bay Area News Group: How COVID-19 Can Damage The Brain
Stanford researchers have found signs of inflammation, genetic changes and impaired circuitry in the brains of people killed by COVID-19, important clues to the mysterious “brain fog” and mental struggles reported by many patients. The research also reveals haunting similarities between the brains of those killed by COVID and other degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. (Krieger, 6/23)

LA Daily News: Already Had COVID-19? LA County Health Officials Say You Still Need A Vaccination 
Continuing to urge residents to get vaccinated, particularly as a highly infectious “Delta” variant of COVID-19 spreads, county officials stressed on Tuesday, June 22, that people who were previously infected with COVID still need to get the vaccine, because their natural immunity won’t last. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said during Tuesday’s board meeting that she asked a parent over the weekend if his children were vaccinated, and he said no because “they’ve already had COVID.” (6/22)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Marin County: 90% Of Eligible Residents Vaccinated
Marin County has now vaccinated 90% of eligible residents with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of Tuesday, nearly 201,000 of Marin’s approximately 223,000 eligible residents have received at least one dose. Some 81.6% of eligible residents have completed their vaccine series. “Reaching the 90% mark is very well timed. It coincides with our wide reopening last week, while we see variants of concern circulating in our community” said Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer. (Coates, 6/22)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern County Mass Vaccination Site At Fairgrounds Set To Close Following Decreased Demand 
The mass vaccination site at the Kern County Fairgrounds is set to close July 5 after a precipitous drop in use. The adjustment follows similar efforts across California as counties look to move past individuals who actively sought out the vaccine to those who are more hesitant. In May, Alameda County and Los Angeles County ceased vaccinations at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and Dodger Stadium, two venues that had administered thousands of doses per day. Recently, LA shut down four other large-scale vaccine distribution sites throughout the county. (Morgen, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Commission Requests LAPD COVID Vaccine Mandate Report 
The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday requested the LAPD report back to it on the possibility and legality of a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for officers and the work assignments of its unvaccinated personnel — who represent nearly half the department. The commission’s civilian members requested the information during their weekly virtual meeting after citing reporting in The Times over the weekend that showed that vaccination rates in public safety agencies in L.A. and across California lag behind those of the state’s overall population. (Rector, 6/22)

East Bay Times: Why Do So Many Los Angeles Cops Refuse COVID Vaccines? Politics, Conspiracy Theories, Distrust, Chief Says 
Only around half of Los Angeles Police Department employees have received at least one vaccine dose protecting them against COVID-19, the chief of police said Tuesday. That rate lags far behind the general public — as of last week, 67% of L.A. County residents have had at least one dose, according to the most recent numbers from the Department of Public Health. At least 58% were fully vaccinated. And LAPD fell behind despite employees having priority access to vaccine appointments for months — with some getting shots in January that were left over from L.A. city firefighters, who had the earliest access — before most people were able to sign up. (Cain, 6/23)

CapRadio: Interview: Privacy Rights Advocacy Group Raises Concerns About Digital Access To Vaccine Records 
A privacy rights advocacy group is raising concerns about California’s program giving residents digital access to their coronavirus vaccination records. Last week, California introduced an online portal for residents to obtain a digital copy of their COVID-19 vaccine record. As California reopens more and more businesses may begin asking for proof of vaccination. Emory Roane, is a policy advocate for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. He’s concerned the state is leaving it up to residents to limit the use of their information. (Fletcher, 6/22)

CalMatters: Medi-Cal Expansion Included In Legislature’s Budget 
The California Legislature has approved several Medi-Cal budget items that would remove barriers to care, such as the asset rule. Now it’s negotiating with Newsom. (Ibarra, 6/22)

AP: California Oil Regulators Delay Health, Safety Rules Again
It’s been a year and a half since California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed oil regulators to consider new health and safety measures to protect people living near oil and gas drilling sites. But those regulators missed another deadline Monday for releasing the rules, frustrating environmental advocates who say communities can’t wait any longer for change. The California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, hasn’t set a new timeline for the rules, which Newsom originally mandated be out last December. Regulators delayed but said they would come out in the spring. (Ronayne, 6/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Scripps Health Faces Four Class-Action Suits Citing Ransomware Records Breach 
Class-action lawsuits are starting to pile up around the ransomware breach that impacted Scripps Health facilities and patients in May. Two such cases were filed in federal court Monday, joining two already on the books in state court from early June. Though filed on behalf of different Scripps patients, all reference the same set of basic facts, noting that Scripps began sending letters to more than 147,000 of its customers on June 1, warning them that their personal information may have been compromised during the attack that kept electronic systems down for nearly a month. (Sisson, 6/22)

Orange County Register: Blood Shortages Fuel The Drive For More Donations In OC 
UCI Health is hoping to bulk up its blood supply with five upcoming bloodmobile drives in Orange County this summer. The university health system runs its own blood program and likes to have a 3-to-5-day supply. Keeping self-sufficient is important, Dr. Minh Ha Tran Do, clinical professor of pathology, said, because it doesn’t want to have to tap vendors such as the Red Cross, which are dealing with a critical shortage of blood supplies. (Schauer, 6/22)

WBUR: Wait Lists For Children's Mental Health Services Ballooned During COVID 
Early last year, as the coronavirus threat spread, a 9-year-old named Miles turned into a raging boy his parents did not recognize. The family pediatrician referred Miles to a therapist. His mom, Emily Johnson, says her son needed help right away, but the earliest appointment was one to two months away. Three weeks after seeing the pediatrician, Miles was in a hospital emergency room. It would be the first of six trips to an ER over the next four months. (Bebinger, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Segregation Is Worsening, UC Berkeley Study Finds
Despite its reputation as one of the most progressive regions in the country, the Bay Area grew more segregated over the last three decades, according to a new UC Berkeley study. Conducted by the university’s Othering and Belonging Institute, the study found that “nearly 81 percent (of) American cities and metropolitan regions are more segregated today than they were in 1990, after more than two decades of federal policy applied to this problem.” (Narayan, 6/22)

KQED: Segregation Is Getting Worse In The US. The Bay Area Is No Exception 
More than 80% of large metropolitan regions in the United States,  including the Bay Area,  have become more racially segregated in recent decades, with detrimental economic, health and educational outcomes for many communities of color. That’s according to findings from a UC Berkeley housing study and map released Monday that uses a new methodology to determine the degree of racial segregation in local and regional areas throughout the country. The report goes on to identify vast disparities in income and poverty levels, home values, rent prices and life expectancy between highly segregated communities of color and white communities. (Green, 6/22)

Orange County Register: Big Waves, Extreme High Tides Could Cause Flooding, Dangerous Surf This Week 
Beach hazards will be looming this week as summer officially gets underway, with a south swell bringing beefy waves and an extreme evening high tide that could cause flooding. The National Weather Service issued a Beach Hazard Statement starting Tuesday, June 22, that remains in effect through Thursday evening for the Southern California coast as far north as Ventura County. Combined with waves in the 4- foot to 6-foot range, it could spell trouble for areas prone to flooding such as low-laying harbors and coastal areas, including the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. (Connelly, 6/22)

LA Daily News: LA County Supervisors Vote 4-1 To Close Men’s Central Jail 
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday, June 22, to set up a team to implement the long-promised closure of Men’s Central Jail. Supervisor Hilda Solis said it was time to stop studying the issue and take action, co-authoring a motion finding that the decrepit downtown lockup must be demolished and that no replacement jail is needed. “We have long talked about why we need to close this jail. The jail has been tainted by mismanagement, corruption (and) mistreatment of people incarcerated in its cells,” Solis said. (Marcellino, 6/22)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern Behavioral Health Hosting Open House Of Recovery Stations In Delano, Bakersfield 
Kern County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is holding an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at two recovery stations in Delano and Bakersfield in celebration of their one-year anniversary. The recovery stations provide a safe space for individuals intoxicated by drugs or alcohol to recover. Once sober, individuals work with staff to "begin their recovery journey" through services provided by Behavioral Health. (6/22)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Adds To California Yoga And Wellness QAnon Problem 
A world that has long embraced love, light and acceptance is now making room for something else: QAnon. More commonly associated with right-wing groups, the conspiracy theory is spreading through yoga, meditation and other wellness circles. Friends and colleagues have watched with alarm as Instagram influencers and their New Age peers — yogis, energy healers, sound bathers, crystal practitioners, psychics, quantum magicians — embraced QAnon’s conspiratorial worldview and sprayed it across social media. (Nelson, 6/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. To Extend Eviction Moratorium As Negotiations Over State Rent Protection Continue
San Franciscans struggling to pay rent in the pandemic will have another six-month reprieve after the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend a city eviction moratorium that mirrors the state’s protections. The ordinance will protect against evictions for nonpayment of rent due to the pandemic for tenants who pay a quarter of their rent. The Board unanimously passed the ordinance on first reading, meaning it will require another vote, but is all but guaranteed to pass. The protections have already been in place as an emergency order for 30 days, but will now be extended until Dec. 31. (Moench, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Extends COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Through September 
Fearing a “potential tsunami” of evictions, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor voted Tuesday to extend an eviction moratorium through the end of September. The moratorium bars landlords in the county from evicting tenants who cannot pay their rent because of financial burdens related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to announce an agreement later this week with legislative leaders for an extension of the state’s eviction moratorium, which expires June 30. (Cosgrove, 6/22)

Bay Area News Group: As More Bay Area Homeless Camps Are Closed, Activists Fight Back
As the Bay Area continues to move closer to a pre-COVID-19 normal, officials are starting to disband many of the homeless encampments that had been allowed to stay in place — and expand — throughout the pandemic. But some camp residents aren’t going without a fight. A coalition of activists and unhoused people representing encampments throughout the Bay Area joined forces Tuesday to demand local agencies stop displacing people from their camps. They argue COVID-19 remains a threat, and federal health guidelines — which recommend allowing camps to stay where they are if individual housing is not available — are still in place. (Kendall, 6/22)

CalMatters: Fire Risk Amid A Housing Crisis — California's Challenging New Reality 
California has a lot of moratoriums it needs to worry about. Even as Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers rush to extend California’s eviction moratorium before it expires next week, another big deadline looms on the horizon. In November, the state’s moratorium on insurance companies dropping coverage for Californians living in wildfire-prone areas is set to end — meaning at least 2.1 million residents could soon find themselves without homeowners’ insurance. That doesn’t bode well for a state whose fire season is starting earlier and lasting longer. (Hoeven, 6/22)