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The Supreme Court will this March will hear arguments centered on the government’s role in communicating — and sometimes censoring — pertinent public health information in the midst of a pandemic. At the core of the lawsuit is whether the federal government’s requests for social media and search giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to moderate Covid-19 misinformation violated users’ First Amendment rights. (Owermohle, 1/29)

U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra defended federal COVID isolation guidelines Monday that California earlier this month announced it was deviating from to shorten the amount of time people who test positive should stay home — a change that so far hasn’t led to a new spike in cases. ... “The CDC’s information is guidance, it is not mandatory, it is the best judgment of the experts who have been reviewing the evidence and data on what COVID is doing,” Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services, said in an interview Monday with the Bay Area News Group during a stop in San Jose. (Woolfolk, 1/29)

At least one king penguin is suspected to have died from bird flu in the Antarctic. If confirmed, it will be the first of the species killed by the highly contagious H5N1 virus in the wild. Researchers have previously raised alarm about “one of the largest ecological disasters of modern times” if bird flu reached remote Antarctic penguin populations. ... Separately, at least one gentoo penguin has been confirmed to have died from H5N1 on the Falkland Islands – 900 miles (1,500km) west of South Georgia – with more than 20 chicks either dead or also showing symptoms. (Weston, 1/29)

Dogs are falling sick with a mystery illness across the United States, with cases being recorded in at least 19 states, according to the latest figures from Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine. Cases of Atypical Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (aCIRDC), as it has been dubbed until the cause of the illness is established, have appeared in Maine, North Dakota and Texas most recently, after being found among dogs in 16 states in mid-December. It was previously documented in 14 states as of the end of November. (Phillips, 1/29)