Will Mask Mandates Return To California? With coronavirus cases continuing to rise in some parts of California, the big question is: When will local governments decide a wave is big enough to intervene with new rules? Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Medi-Cal Offering Housing Help: Some Californians now can get housing help from an unlikely source: their health insurance plans. Under the new approach, certain high-risk and low-income Medi-Cal recipients can use their insurance plans for more than doctor’s visits and hospital stays — they can get help finding affordable or subsidized housing, cash for housing deposits, help preventing an eviction, and more. Read more from the Bay Area News Group.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Times:
Abortion, Inflation And Crime: How Newsom Would Spend Record-Setting California Surplus
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $300.6-billion state budget proposal was sent to the California Legislature on Friday, a far-reaching plan to use a historic tax surplus to boost both government services and the size of the state’s cash reserves. Lawmakers are required to send a final plan to Newsom’s desk by June 15. California government’s fiscal year begins on July 1. (Myers, 5/13)
AP:
California Governor: $98B Surplus Backs True Pro-Life State
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pledged to use the state’s record-breaking $300 billion budget, including an unprecedented nearly $100 billion surplus, to “future proof” the state from the impacts of a volatile midterm election cycle that he fears will undermine abortion access, gun safety and privacy protections across the country. The first-term governor of the nation’s most populous state — and a potential Democratic presidential candidate — used his budget presentation on Friday to prop up his progressive credentials while attacking his rivals in conservative states. (Beam and Ronayne, 5/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Gavin Newsom’s $300 Billion Budget Funds Tax Rebates, Abortion Care, Nurse Bonuses And More
The flush budget largely reflects a continued surge in tax revenue driven by income gains in high-earning households. The “simply without precedent” surplus is the latest windfall for state coffers, which swelled by tens of billions of dollars in a short two-year period. (Holden, 5/13)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Marijuana Growers Would See Tax Relief In Newsom Budget
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to give marijuana growers a break by eliminating a tax they’re required to pay even before they make a sale. Newsom announced Friday in a 2022-23 budget that he intends to seek for the elimination of the cannabis cultivation tax, paid for by the growers. (Sheeler, 5/13)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Newsom Wants $65 Million For CARE Court Homeless Plan
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is prepared to invest significant state funds in his ambitious mental health courts plan — $65 million this year and $50 million annually for years to come. Newsom has been pitching his Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, or CARE Court, proposal since March. But his May budget revision on Friday was the first time he put a dollar amount on it. (Holden, 5/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Pro-Choice Marchers Throng S.F.’s Market Street, Demand Abortion Protections
The demonstration was the largest women’s rights-focused march in San Francisco this year, drawing an estimated 10,000 people, said Sophia Andary, co-chair and director of leadership at Women’s March San Francisco, which co-sponsored the event. Participants came from across the Bay Area and were united in their desire to shape the national conversation around reproductive health care and related issues. The right to have an abortion “shouldn’t even be any form of law in the government,” Andary told The Chronicle. “This is about women’s autonomy and (people’s) right to choose. We need people to stay engaged and march, but more importantly, we need people to go beyond that.” (Picon, 5/14)
Modesto Bee:
Hundreds March In Modesto CA To Support Abortion Rights
Hundreds of abortion rights supporters in Modesto joined thousands across the country to take part in the national Bans Off Our Bodies rallies to protest the anticipated reversal of Roe v. Wade. More than 200 people gathered Saturday morning in front of Planned Parenthood on McHenry Avenue to listen to speeches, chant and march for abortion rights. (Rowland, 5/15)
The Hill:
Pelosi: Current Supreme Court ‘Dangerous’ For Families, Freedom
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said the current Supreme Court is “dangerous” for families and freedom in the U.S., as justices appear poised to overturn the 1973 landmark decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. Pelosi, during an interview with co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said if the court scales back abortion rights on the federal level, restrictions on marriage equality could be next. (Schnell, 5/15)
Bloomberg:
Abortion Misinformation Surges On Facebook, Twitter After Leak
Conspiracy theorists have latched on to the debate over US abortion rights on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, leading to a spike in misinformation around what is already one of the most politically-charged topics online — and signaling the complex decision-making that lies ahead for social media companies if the procedure becomes illegal in some states. For years, social networks have been criticized for hosting user posts and advertisements that seek to confuse people about their right to access abortion or about the safety of the procedure. Since May 2, when Politico published a draft Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade if finalized, researchers have seen a surge in posts connecting the leak itself to already-problematic conspiratorial storylines. (Alba, 5/13)
Berkeleyside:
City Of Berkeley Urges Indoor Masking As COVID-19 Cases Spike Again
COVID-19 cases are rising again in Berkeley, fueled by contagious Omicron subvariants. As the city faces its second-largest surge of the pandemic, the city’s health department is recommending that residents once again wear masks in indoor public places. The case rate per 100,000 residents (56.2) and the average number of positive COVID-19 cases recorded over the last seven days (62 per day) are the highest they’ve been throughout the pandemic other than during the omicron surge. Case rates have risen in the Bay Area as a whole, which has higher case rates than anywhere else in California. (Markovich, 5/13)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
COVID-19: Riverside County Cases Skyrocket 736% In Just Two Weeks
Riverside County COVID-19 case numbers have jumped 736% in just two weeks, and now hospitalizations have also started to climb. Between Tuesday and Friday, Riverside County added 1,279 COVID-19 cases. Compared to the previous week, that is a 70% increase from the 751 cases reported between May 3 and 6. Further, it represents a 736% increase from when there were just 153 COVID-19 cases reported between April 26 and 29. (Sasic, 5/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why Is The SF COVID Case Rate So Much Higher Than The US Right Now?
For almost the entire pandemic, San Francisco’s COVID-19 case rates have been lower than the nation’s as a whole. But not anymore. Earlier this spring, the city’s confirmed new case rates climbed above those of the U.S. Then, on May 3, San Francisco’s case rate doubled that of the U.S. As of May 10, the national daily case rate was at about 23 new cases per 100,000 people, whereas in S.F. the rate was at 42 per 100,000, according to data from the New York Times analyzed by The Chronicle. (Neilson, 5/14)
Bay Area News Group:
How The Bay Area Kept Its COVID-19 Death Rate Low
Six-hundred-fifty-thousand Americans would still be alive. If the United States had the Bay Area’s death rate from COVID-19, 350,000 people would have died so far — not 1 million, the astounding number of deaths the country will reach this month, about as many as the entire population of San Jose. (Rowan and Woolfolk, 5/15)
Bay Area News Group:
When U.S. Shot Past World On Way To 1 Million COVID Deaths
Two years ago, COVID-19 was killing Western Europeans faster than Americans. Even in early 2021, the virus wasn’t taking U.S. lives at the clip it was in the United Kingdom, Italy or Belgium. But that changed last fall. (Woolfolk and Rowan, 5/15)
The Mercury News:
COVID: How Many Would Have Died If U.S Had Your State's Death Rate?
The difference between your state and my state has become an obsessive U.S. pastime on social media. COVID comparisons, of course, are no exceptions. Tragically, the disparity in death rates is both ripe for discussion and downright chilling. (Rowan, 5/15)
ABC News:
Without COVID-19 Vaccines, Death Toll Would Be Much Higher: Pfizer Analysis
In the wake of the tragic milestone of 1 million official COVID-19 deaths in the United States, a new analysis found that without vaccines, the virus would have likely claimed more than 100,000 additional lives in 2021. The analysis, sponsored by Pfizer, estimated that the Pfizer vaccine alone likely saved more than 110,000 lives in 2021, the first year of the vaccination campaign. (Fujimora, 5/16)
The Hill:
Pelosi Calls Title 42 Hold-Up In COVID-19 Bill ‘Blackmail’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said holding up a COVID-19 relief bill as a way to demand a vote on Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic public health policy that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border and prevents them from seeking asylum, is “blackmail,” but she appeared open to the notion of Congress holding a vote on the controversial measure. (Schnell, 5/15)
CIDRAP:
Omicron COVID-19 Variant Tied To Croup In Children
Boston Children's researchers have found evidence that the COVID-19 Omicron variant is more likely to cause croup in children that previous SARS-CoV-2 iterations, according to a study today in Pediatrics. The investigators noted that, from Mar 1, 2020, to Jan 15, 2022, 75 children were diagnosed as having COVID-19–associated croup at Boston Children's Hospital. Of those, 61 (81%) were diagnosed during the Omicron period. One child tested positive for rhinovirus in addition to SARS-CoV-2. (5/13)
East Bay Times:
Why Won’t More Older Americans Get Their COVID Booster Shots?
Even as top U.S. health officials say it’s time America learns to live with the coronavirus, a chorus of leading researchers say faulty messaging on booster shots has left millions of older people at serious risk. Approximately 1 in 3 Americans 65 and older who completed their initial vaccination round still have not received a first booster shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers have dismayed researchers, who note this age group continues to be at the highest risk for serious illness and death from covid-19. (Bertolone, 5/15)
Los Angeles Times:
With Old-School Technology, Can Novavax Win Over COVID Vaccine Skeptics?
Since their debut just 18 months ago, three COVID-19 vaccines have saved an estimated 2.2 million American lives, changed the trajectory of a pandemic and inspired all manner of conspiracy theories. Two of those shots prompt a recipient’s own cells to manufacture a key piece of the coronavirus by following instructions encoded in messenger RNA, or mRNA for short. The vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna have revolutionized our approach to immunizations, and they’ve done so with blinding speed. (Healy, 5/16)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
E-Bike Injury Rate Increasing In Some Locations With Scooter Trauma Expected To Spike Again This Summer
Over the past month, the emergency department at Sharp Coronado Hospital has seen an uptick in the number of e-bike riders coming through its doors. Though she did not have any formal statistics to perfectly pinpoint the trend, Dr. Megan DeMott, an emergency specialist at the region’s only island-based medical center, said the pattern has been pretty clear: Most are vacationers who decided to rent a bike and venture off the city’s bike path to reach popular destinations served only by regular roads, those often filled with cars. (Sisson, 5/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay To Breakers Reverses Course, Provides Award For Nonbinary Runners
Bay to Breakers honored the race’s top nonbinary finishers this year, reversing course from earlier plans to give awards only to runners in traditional male and female categories. In the weeks leading up to the San Francisco footrace, organizers had faced criticism for not being willing to recognize nonbinary athletes. Participants could register as nonbinary but were told they were not eligible for winning a separate award. (Bravo, 5/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Suspected Overdoses Leave 4 Men Unconscious In Chico Park; 2 Die
Four men were found unconscious at a Chico park Sunday afternoon, and two of them died there in what police said appeared to be drug overdoses. Chico police started receiving 911 calls at about 1:25 p.m. about “four subjects who were unconscious and turning blue,” said Lt. Omar Pena, the police watch commander. (Said, 5/15)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Potentially Harmful Blue Green Algae Found In Howarth Park’s Lake Ralphine
Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks officials are warning people to stay out of Lake Ralphine in Santa Rosa’s Howarth Park and to keep their pets away because of blue-green algae observed in the water there. Though naturally occurring, blue-green algae — technically, cyanobacteria — can produce toxic substances that attack internal organs, resulting in severe illness or death if ingested. (Callahan, 5/14)
Los Angeles Times:
California Airbnb Guests Get Little Warning Of High Fire Risk
The cellphone began buzzing before dawn. Becca Rutledge looked outside and saw the orange glow of the Woolsey fire as it roared toward her family’s Airbnb rental home in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was their host calling to tell them to evacuate because the fire was headed their way. They made it out safely, but the wildfire destroyed the house on Mulholland Highway in November 2018.They had no idea the property was in a very high wildfire hazard zone or how to evacuate prior to their stay. (Poston and Wigglesworth, 5/15)
Fox News:
SIDS Breakthrough? Possible Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Biomarker Identified
Babies at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) could be identified through a biochemical marker, a new study published in The Lancet’s eBioMedicine finds. SIDS is the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy baby less than a year old, typically during sleep, according to the Mayo Clinic. The CDC reports SIDS accounted for 37% of infant deaths in the United States in 2019. Researchers investigating the cause of SIDS at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) in Australia said they identified the first biochemical marker that could help detect babies more at risk of sudden infant death syndrome while they are still alive. (McGorry, 5/13)
Stat:
Puzzling Pediatric Hepatitis Cases Echo An Earlier Mysterious Illness
In early April, when word began to circulate that hospitals in the United Kingdom were seeing unexplained hepatitis cases in very young children, some physicians and researchers on this side of the Atlantic experienced a moment of déjà vu. Kevin Messacar and colleagues at Children’s Hospital Colorado found themselves remarking on how reminiscent the unfolding investigation was of a medical mystery they’ve been enmeshed in for the past eight years — acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, a polio-like condition in children. (Branswell, 5/16)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Stroke Risks And Prevention For Seniors
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the world. As you age, the higher your chances of having a stroke become, almost doubling every 10 years after age 55. About 66% of hospitalized stroke cases are people older than 65. For people who are at least 80 years old, atrial fibrillation can be the direct cause for a stroke. AFib, in fact, causes about one in seven strokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Dr. Nima Ramezan-Arab, 5/16)
CBS News:
Skittles, Starburst And Life Savers Gummies Recalled Over Possible Metal Strips
Certain varieties of Skittles, Starburst and Life Savers gummies have been voluntarily recalled over the possibility of "a very thin metal strand embedded in the gummies or loose in the bag," Mars Wrigley announced Friday. The company said it hasn't received any reports of anyone falling ill from the products, which were made a third party and distributed in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. (Tursi, 5/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Considers Limiting Where Homeless Can Camp
Wrestling with a growing homelessness crisis, Sacramento County officials are working on an ordinance that would limit where unhoused residents could camp in the unincorporated area. Although specific ordinance language is still being drafted, the proposal would prohibit camping near “sensitive infrastructure,” which could include flood-control facilities and highway overpasses, and near sites the county creates to house homeless residents, such as tiny home communities, Supervisor Rich Desmond said in an interview last week. (Riley, 5/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Ambitious S.F. Plan To Shelter All Unhoused Homeless People Hits Resistance
A plan to require San Francisco to offer enough shelter for all of its homeless residents who currently sleep outside is being reworked after advocates for unhoused people pushed back against the effort. Opponents felt the plan would encourage encampment sweeps that clear the streets of tents without advancing longer-term solutions to homelessness. (Morris, 5/12)
Reveal:
A Reckoning At Amazon
The past few years have brought profits and growth to Amazon, but it’s come at a cost to many workers. Amazon warehouse employees are injured on the job at a higher rate than at other companies, even as the company has claimed to prioritize safety. Host Al Letson speaks with Reveal’s Will Evans, who’s been reporting on injuries at Amazon for years. By gathering injury data and speaking with workers and whistleblowers, he has focused national attention on the company’s safety record, prompting regulators, lawmakers and the company itself to address the issue more closely. (5/14)