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Fatal overdoses in the first six months of 2021 rose by nearly 10% compared with the same period last year, putting Philadelphia on track to see its highest-ever overdose death toll by year’s end. Some of the same disturbing trends noted in 2020 -- a rise in overdoses outside Kensington, the epicenter of the crisis, and a spike in overdoses among Black and Hispanic Philadelphians even as overdose deaths among white residents have decreased -- are likely still at play, city officials said. (Whelan, 11/30)

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration said Tuesday it wants lawmakers to quickly allocate $300 million in federal pandemic rescue funding to support COVID-19 testing at schools amid a fourth surge of infections in Michigan. The money was included in the relief law approved by Congress and President Joe Biden in March. It is set to expire next summer and is part of a $2.5 billion supplemental spending request that state budget director Christopher Harkins sent to the Republican chairmen of legislative appropriations committees on Nov. 19. (Eggert, 12/1)

The closing of a prominent gender-affirming care program for children in Dallas has dismayed parents across Texas who say that options for their children’s care are few and far between — and they don’t know what comes next for kids who need similar care. The program, run by Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, will no longer provide care like hormone treatment and puberty blockers to new patients after dismantling its program dedicated to that care and removing all reference to the program from its website this month. (Rummler, 11/30)

Mandy Cohen, the physician who has led North Carolina through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and a massive transformation of how Medicaid is administered, told her staff at the state Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday that she would try not to cry while letting them know she was stepping down as the state’s top public health official. They shed virtual tears for her, instead, during the all staff Webex meeting. Cohen, who became widely known as the “three Ws lady” — which stands for wear a mask, wash hands and wait six feet apart — during the first year of the pandemic, informed those she works closely with of her decision to resign on Monday. (Hoban and Blythe, 12/1)

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the head of North Carolina’s health department and face of regular updates on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state for two years, is stepping down from her post, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday. “Mandy Cohen has shown extraordinary leadership during her tenure and she has worked every day during this pandemic to help keep North Carolinians healthy and safe,” Cooper said in a news release. (Foreman Jr., 11/30)

With winter coming and federal funds drying up, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday she’ll call a special session of the Legislature Dec. 13 to approve state funding for rental assistance and extend eviction protections issued because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is clear that a state solution is needed to address the urgent and immediate needs of Oregon renters,” Brown said. (Selsky, 12/1)

The Board of Supervisors approved spending $64 million to fund an existing program that buys small apartment buildings where residents are at risk of displacement. But Mayor London Breed opposed the plan and announced ahead of the vote Tuesday that the city would work on reforming the program. The city budgeted $77 million for the program this fiscal year. Supervisors had already set aside another $10 million to the program, and Breed pledged Tuesday to allocate up to $10 million more. (Moench, 11/30)

A Towson Catholic priest spoke out against vaccine mandates while delivering his homily two Sundays ago, saying “nobody” can dictate what enters someone’s body. Fr. Edward Meeks, who is the pastor at Christ the King Catholic Church in Towson, gave an almost 20-minute homily Nov. 21 interpreting several Bible verses from Corinthians as indicating that vaccine mandates go against Jesus’ teachings. (Oxenden, 11/30)

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday he does not plan to mandate booster shots for certain workers or reissue statewide indoor mask mandates in stores and restaurants. That’s despite new COVID-19 infection numbers that are the highest in nearly a year and news of the omicron variant being identified in different parts of the world. The Democrat, however, said he does expect that masking requirements in schools will remain in place for now. (11/30)

A pilot program that would allow unvaccinated Chicago Public Schools students to test their way out of COVID-19 quarantine if they come in close contact with an infected person is slated to start at an elementary school this week. Few details about the test-to-stay program — including the names of schools interested in participating in the pilot — were given at a news conference Tuesday that comes amid concerns about omicron, a new coronavirus variant that has yet to be detected in the United States but experts fear may be more transmissible than the highly contagious delta variant. (Swartz, 11/30)

A new online system for residents to self-report results of the rapid antigen tests they use at home makes Marin County’s public health department the first in California to try to track this hard-to-measure testing universe that typically isn’t included in local, state or federal COVID surveillance systems. The move comes as rapid antigen tests like the over-the-counter Abbott BinaxNow, which generates results in 15 minutes, are becoming more available and widely used. Many people are taking these tests before social gatherings — such as to attend a wedding or holiday dinner — or as part of frequent testing programs at schools or workplaces. (Ho, 11/30)