Today's edition of quick hits:
* Things might get worse: "Coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant are rising in a "very steep fashion" across the United States and may double in the coming weeks to 200,000 cases a day, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday. The country could be 'in trouble' entering the fall unless a large portion of unvaccinated Americans decide to get the shots, with the real possibility a new variant emerges that challenges the effectiveness of existing vaccines, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden said in an interview with McClatchy."
* An important mistake: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday he regrets signing a bill into law that banned local mask mandates in the state.... Hutchinson has called on the state legislature to amend the law to let school districts decide whether to require face coverings when they return to in-person learning this fall."
* Excellent, now keep going: "President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration has shipped more than 110 million Covid vaccine doses abroad, more than the donations of all other countries combined."
* Texas: "A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Texas from enforcing an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that would restrict travel by undocumented immigrants."
* He sure is terrified of disclosure: "Lawyers for Donald Trump urged a federal judge Wednesday to block the Treasury Department and the IRS from handing his tax returns over to the House Ways and Means Committee."
* Notable asymmetry: "Tennessee has sent nearly half a million dollars to farmers who have vaccinated their cattle against respiratory diseases and other maladies over the past two years. But Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who grew up on his family's ranch and refers to himself as a cattle farmer in his Twitter profile, has been far less enthusiastic about incentivizing herd immunity among humans."
* An initiative worth watching: "More than a dozen CEOs of major health systems sent a letter to Congressional leaders Wednesday calling for support of President Biden's proposal to fund $5 billion in hospital and community-based gun violence intervention programs. The letter from some of the top health systems in the country — including CommonSpirit Health, RWJBarnabas Health, Sanford Health and Intermountain — comes as gun violence reaches critical levels.... The goal is 'keeping the pressure on Washington' Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health told Axios."
* Oh my: "A small county in Missouri undercounted the number of fatalities caused by the coronavirus after a coroner agreed to remove covid-19 as a cause of death from some death certificates upon being asked by families of the deceased."
See you tomorrow.