Contributed

New research warns that the United States could experience a severe influenza outbreak after public health measures like face masks and social distancing are lifted. These measures have protected people from COVID-19 and influenza—incidence of influenza declined 60 percent during the first ten weeks following the implementation of the measures—but is also leading to greater numbers of Americans susceptible to the flu as immunity to the virus wanes.

The pandemic may eventually subside but health reporters will be writing about the impacts of COVID-19 well into the future, aided by researchers who are already gathering a bevy of data points to cite in those stories.

On October 11, 2021, about 7:22 AM, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Moreno Valley Station, responded to the report of a major-injury traffic collision on Box Springs Road, east of Clark Street, in the city of Moreno Valley. Deputies arrived on-scene to find a pedestrian laying in the roadway suffering from severe, life-threatening injuries after being struck by a tow truck. Paramedics from CalFire and American Medical Response arrived at the location of the collision and transported the pedestrian to a local area hospital where he was subsequently declared deceased.

On October 8, 2021, at about 7:06 p.m., deputies assigned to the Perris Sheriff’s Station were dispatched to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 19600 block of Seaton Ave., Mead Valley. Upon arrival, deputies found a male victim on the property suffering from a gunshot wound. Shortly after, the victim succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The area was secured as a crime scene and station investigators responded to begin the investigation. The Central Homicide Unit also responded and assumed the investigation.

The forever war between America’s pharmaceutical industry and America’s public interest is approaching a climactic moment. At stake is whether Big Pharma and its allies will keep drug prices zooming upward, or whether the federal government can slow that rise by negotiating prices for some expensive drugs taken by Medicare beneficiaries. The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to vote on legislation requiring such negotiations in the next few days as a crucial element of the $3.5 trillion budget plan, and the drug industry is in overdrive to make sure that doesn’t happen.