Extending the federal transportation mask mandate that applies to airplanes, buses and trains is "absolutely on the table," Ashish Jha, the White House's new COVID-19 response coordinator, said Monday on the Today Show.
Why it matters: The transportation mask mandate was extended last month but is currently set to expire on April 18.
A pair of senators is prodding the FDA to issue a final rule to allow a new category of hearing aids to be sold over the counter without a medical exam or audiologist fitting.
Why it matters: The change could give some of the estimated 38 million Americans with hearing loss more affordable choices and allow consumer electronics companies to enter the market.
Pedestrian deaths rose precipitously in almost every state in the first 15 months of the pandemic, according to preliminary Governors Highway Safety Association data.
GHSA projects 3,441 pedestrians were killed in collisions with vehicles in the U.S., a 17% increase from 2020.
Zoom in: South Carolina had the highest rates of pedestrian deaths, with 2.95 fatalities per 100,000 people in the first half of 2021 — up 30% from 1.44 fatalities per 100,000 people in the first half of 2020.
Guangzhou, a major manufacturing city in China, has closed itself off to arrivals amidst a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country's big eastern cities, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
Driving the news: Guangzhou has not been put under a lockdown like the one in Shanghai, where many citizens are confined to their homes, but it is a major city with top companies and China's busiest airport, per AP.
The White House Correspondents Association will require those attending its annual dinner to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
State of play: The association was already requiring attendees to provide proof of a same-day negative COVID test. It is now also encouraging guests to get a second booster shot if they are eligible as soon as this week for "maximum protection."
Maryland lawmakers voted over the weekend to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill that would expand abortion access and direct health insurers to cover the cost of getting the procedure.
Americans were more vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID in part because of our poor health status heading into the pandemic.
Now, preparations for future public health emergencies have to include chronic diet-related illnesses, including those stemming from the obesity crisis, health experts say.
Why it matters: Obesity and related diseases like diabetes were closely linked with a far higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID.
That was particularly true among older adults, communities of color, and disadvantaged communities, Anand Parekh, chief medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Axios.
A Texas district attorney announced Sunday his office will drop a murder charge against a woman for an alleged "self-induced abortion."
Catch up fast: Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested Thursday and held at the Starr County jail in Rio Grande City until Saturday. She was charged with murder for causing "the death of an individual by self-induced abortion."
