The government officials who can't wait to clean out stadium toilets
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Those in charge of So Fi Stadium have two days to clean out So Fi Stadium between the United States’ thumping of Paraguay on Friday and a face-off on Monday between Iran and New Zealand. They can count on the L.A. County Department of Health to help with the grossest part. County health officials are already removing wastewater from the stadium before, during and after every match played at So Fi Stadium, to test for the presence of various viruses. The county health department — which is responsible for the well-being of ten million residents — developed its syndromic-surveillance capacity during the Covid pandemic, but is now deploying it for the first time it at a sports facility. You can read more in a fascinating report from POLITICO health-care reporters from coast to coast, led by my Sacramento-based colleague Rachel Bluth, about how public-health authorities have prepared for a World Cup unfolding amid an Ebola outbreak, rising measles cases in the United States, and continued fears of hantavirus. Click here for the whole story.