Texas has requested five mortuary trailers from FEMA to help deal with an expected surge in COVID-19 deaths, NBC News reports.
The big picture: The trailers will be based in San Antonio and sent around the state as needed. Officials ordered them at the start of the month after data showed deaths in Texas are surging, Department of State Health Services spokesperson Doug Loveday told NBC.
The National Park Service announced on Monday that all visitors and employees will be required to wear a mask inside NPS buildings and in crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
The big picture: Coronavirus restrictions in the parks were relaxed earlier this year but the new policy will go immediately into effect.
A Tennessee investigation found evidence that the state's fired vaccine chief, Michelle Fiscus, purchased a dog muzzle that she previously claimed someone had mailed in an attempt to intimidate her.
Why it matters: Fiscus, who denied sending herself the muzzle in a Monday tweet, has characterized her firing as a political move driven by Republican state officials after she shared a memo citing state law about whether adolescents can seek medical care, including a COVID vaccine, without their parents' permission.
New York City will require people to provide proof of vaccination before being admitted to indoor venues beginning Aug. 17, according to an executive order signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday.
Why it matters: The "Key to NYC" plan, which will be formally enforced beginning Sept. 13, will make New York the first major city to impose a vaccine mandate for the general public to be able to participate in a wide range of indoor activities.
We now know some people in the U.S. are going to get additional doses of COVID vaccines after the CDC and FDA signed off on shots for the immunocompromised last week.
The big picture: As Andrew Badley, chairman of Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 research task force, put it to Axios: "It’s not the end of the story."
Why it matters: The health care industry claims it is in favor of price transparency, but in reality, the industry has fought attempts to unlock the black box of prices.
The Texas Supreme Court granted an emergency stay to the state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, over his ban on face mask mandates on Sunday.
Why it matters: The stay overrides lower court rulings in favor of local authorities in the counties of Dallas and Bexar, which includes San Antonio, to temporarily impose mask mandates despite Abbott's May executive order.
NIH Director Francis Collins told "Fox News Sunday" claims that undocumented immigrants crossing the Southern border have played a major role in the U.S. spread of COVID-19 are a "distraction."
What he's saying: "It's an issue, but it is certainly not the cause of our current dilemma," Collins told host Chris Wallace. "We've got enough of a problem with our own citizens who have refused to roll up their sleeves, so maybe that would be a better thing to focus on if we are trying to end this."
