A Tale Of Two Cities: While San Francisco Took Swift, Aggressive Action, Los Angeles Hesitated: A look at the coronavirus outbreak in San Francisco and Los Angeles counties, offers additional evidence that early intervention played a key role in slowing the rate of infection in the Bay Area. The rate of infection in both counties started slowly. At one point, Los Angeles County and much smaller San Francisco, which is a contiguous city and county, were neck and neck. Los Angeles reported its first case of COVID-19 on Jan. 26. San Francisco reported its first two cases on March 5. And on March 10, the counties had the same number of cases: 17. But since announcing its shelter-in-place rules on March 16, San Francisco has seen a slower rate of increase than has Los Angeles. Los Angeles’ cases have risen more than 48 times as high, while San Francisco’s have gone up about 10 times higher. Read more from Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle.
In related news for the Los Angeles Times: 15 More Coronavirus Deaths In L.A. County As Cases Jump To Nearly 6,000
Newsom Expedites Child Care Help For Front Line Workers: People on the front lines in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic — from grocery clerks to health care professionals to firefighters — will get priority in arranging child care based on an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The order allows parents in essential jobs to bypass administrative and eligibility requirements in order to enroll their children in programs when they are working. Health care and other essential workers have been scrambling for child care since schools shut down several weeks ago and many child care and preschool centers closed their doors. “This can be a real game-changer,” Sal Rosselli, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, said in a statement. “We’ve seen too many health care workers, including nurses and respiratory therapists, who are critical in caring for infected patients cut back hours because they have no one to care for their children.” Read more from Sam Whiting of the San Francisco Chronicle and Elizabeth Aguilera of CalMatters.
Three-Judge Court Says It Doesn’t Have Authority To Release Thousands Of Inmates: A federal court has rejected an emergency plea on procedural grounds to release thousands of California prison inmates to protect them from coronavirus, saying they do not have authority under a 2009 order limiting the state’s prison population levels. The three-judge court, which held a hearing on the issue Thursday, issued an order late Saturday declaring that the current crisis does not fit under the original ruling. “That order was never intended to prepare Defendants to confront this unprecedented pandemic,” the judges wrote. “Nor could it have, given that the entire world was unprepared for the onslaught of the COVID-19 virus,” the judges wrote. Read more from Sam Stanton of the Sacramento Bee.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
Which Coronavirus Patients Get Ventilators, And How Will California Hospitals Decide?
Any day, the unthinkable could happen. Coronavirus cases could surge in California — as they did in China, Italy and now New York. Hospitals overwhelmed with patients desperately sick with COVID-19 would have to choose who gets limited resources such as ICU beds or ventilators. (Said, 4/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Missing In Bay Area’s Battle Against Coronavirus? Detailed, Reliable Data
In San Francisco — where more than 500 people have tested positive and eight have died from COVID-19 — public health officials have released little more than basic statistics on the spread of the coronavirus for months, despite calls for more information on how the pandemic is affecting local communities and hospitals. As of Saturday afternoon, no information was prominently posted on the ages or genders of people who had died of the respiratory virus, or whether they had underlying medical conditions. If a cluster of cases had broken out in a neighborhoocod, or a hospital was seeing a surge in critically ill patients, it was impossible to know from looking at the city’s website. (Palomino and Dizikes, 4/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Shelter In Place During Coronavirus? Bay Area Does It Best, Tracking App Shows
Data compiled by a location-tracking app suggest that when it comes to sheltering in place, Bay Area residents have been particularly compliant. Since the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., location technology company Foursquare has been tracking the changing habits of residents in the Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, comparing the foot traffic data it collects from millions of them with the data gathered the week of Feb. 13-19, the last seven-day period when the vast majority of U.S. cities were still operating as usual. (Dineen, 4/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How The Bay Area Got A Jump Start On The Coronavirus — And The CDC Missed A Chance
A small survey in early March of Santa Clara County residents who had respiratory symptoms but did not have the flu found that 11% of them tested positive for the coronavirus — striking findings that helped trigger an aggressive public health response and eventually the Bay Area shelter-in-place orders, according to a report released Friday. The study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was among the first in the United States to use community surveillance — which involves testing large groups of individuals — to determine how widely the virus was spreading. (Allday, 4/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
The Waiting: Bay Area Braces For Coronavirus Surge
If you could forecast an earthquake weeks away, then waited those weeks in dread — that might feel like the moment now, before the coronavirus surge. Even as the outbreak has shuttered Bay Area schools, closed public parks and sickened thousands locally, experts say the worst is still to come. (Feldberg, 4/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus Outbreak At SF’s Largest Nursing Home: Early Missteps, Delayed Response At Laguna Honda
Miles LeBoeuf, a supply clerk at Laguna Honda, San Francisco’s biggest nursing home, wasn’t concerned about the new coronavirus when he first read about it in January. There were only a few cases in the country at the time, he’s a healthy 43-year-old, and everything at the nursing home seemed normal. But as the weeks went on, and he delivered nursing supplies throughout the sprawling facility, he started to notice strange and troubling things, he said. His job gave him a unique vantage point on Laguna Honda, and it seemed to him that the facility was dangerously unprepared for what might be coming. (Fagone and Thadani, 4/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
What Bay Area Residents Can Expect After Coronavirus Stay-Home Orders Are Lifted
Whether it’s a month from now or two or three, when the Bay Area finally emerges from its long collective isolation, the world everyone re-enters may look dramatically different from the one left behind. It seems likely now that the regional epidemic will be mostly resolved sometime in May or June, but the coronavirus threat won’t have fully passed. Public health officials will mount a massive defense to contain potential flare-ups — sparks of individual cases that could reignite another outbreak. (Allday, 4/5)
Sacramento Bee:
When Will Coronavirus Cases Peak In Sacramento, Placer, CA?
It’s the moment we are all waiting for. And worrying about. When will the growing wave of coronavirus infections peak in the Sacramento region and California? Experts say the next few weeks are critical: The magnitude of the virus’ sweep is about to come into focus. “This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe,” Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the White House’s response to the pandemic, said Saturday. (Bizjak and Yoon-Hendricks, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Outbreak Is An Historic Event That Will Change America
The Social Security check that arrives each month. The unemployment benefits that help tide workers over between jobs. The security lines snaking through airports, back when millions of Americans were still flying. They are so deeply embedded in today’s society that we take them for granted. All were the product of crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, which made sweeping changes — political measures that once seemed politically untenable — suddenly viable and even necessary. (Barabak, 4/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How SF Battle With HIV/AIDS Shaped Today’s Coronavirus Response
Before there was coronavirus and a city shut down, there was an AIDS crisis and a city struggling to keep up with a mounting death toll. Nearly 40 years may separate the two crises. But San Francisco’s response to AIDS then informs how the world is tackling a new pandemic today. (Kost, 4/5)
Bay Area News Group:
UCSF Genetic Analysis Finds Many COVID-19 Strains In California
Where did the Bay Area’s COVID-19 virus come from? All over. There is no single smoking gun. No lone Patient Zero. No one case ignited an epidemic that has now infected more than 11,000 and killed nearly 250 Californians. (Krieger, 4/5)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: New Stanford Research Reveals If You've Been Exposed
Long motorcades of volunteers converged at three Stanford University research sites this week, donating blood for a new test that identifies the prevalence of coronavirus in our community – and could help reveal the full scope of Santa Clara County’s epidemic. The 2,500 test slots on Friday and Saturday filled up within hours, as news of the project — the first large scale study of its type in the U.S. — spread quickly through the county.The test detects protective antibodies to the virus rather than the virus itself. (Krieger, 4/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Why Coronavirus Kills Some People And Not Others
The new coronavirus is not an equal opportunity killer. We know COVID-19 is more deadly the older you get. It’s also more dangerous for those who have chronic lung disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, weakened immune systems and other underlying health issues. And yet our news feeds are full of stories about seemingly healthy young people who are quickly struck down, like 32-year-old Jéssica Beatriz Cortez or a 25-year-old pharmacy tech from La Quinta. (Netburn, 4/4)
CalMatters:
Coronavirus Unravels Safety Net For California's Severely Disabled
Thousands of families have had to start caring for severely disabled loved ones at home, including some with serious autism, prone to violent outbursts. Coronavirus has unraveled their safety net. (Morain and Chabria, 4/5)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus Prompts California To Speed Up Homeless Housing
Before California had a coronavirus emergency, it had a homeless crisis. Gov. Gavin Newsom devoted nearly all of his Feb. 19 State of the State address to homelessness, calling the California’s situation “a disgrace” normalized by years of disinvestment and “institutional failures.” This week, the Democratic governor announced that the state has found a way to house — at least temporarily — thousands of people as the coronavirus pandemic takes hold in California. (Wiley, 4/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Coronavirus Crisis On Its Way To Becoming A Financial Crisis, Too
Numbers tell the story of the coronavirus crisis in San Francisco — most sobering are the more than 500 people who have been infected and the billion-dollar-plus budget deficit facing the city. But there are some numbers below the radar that have drawn a dour conclusion from San Francisco’s controller, the city’s top money man. “This is not simply a health emergency — this is now almost certainly a recession,” San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield said in summing up the impact of the coronavirus shutdown on the city’s economy. (Matier, 4/5)
Fresno Bee:
Coronavirus Downturns Could Hurt California State Contracts
Six weeks ago, things looked good for the unions representing 70,000 California state workers with expiring labor contracts. A humming economy offered leverage to press Gov. Gavin Newsom for raises. The state was shopping around creative new perks such as a health insurance stipend, and Newsom seemed willing to provide hefty pay bumps for hard-to-keep workers. The outlook is dimming quickly as the state’s economy absorbs the shocks of the coronavirus. (Venteicher, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus: Waste Workers Keep Sorting Trash, Despite Risks
On Friday morning, Noel Turner — gloved, masked, and dressed in an apron and hard hat — attacked the refuse stream rolling by her on a fast-moving conveyor built, pulling out plastic bags and loose plastic films, and tossing them into a metal bin by her side. She’s a sorter at San Francisco’s Recology recycling center. (Rust and Barboza, 4/6)
Bay Area News Group:
San Francisco: 39 Test Positive A Day After Coronavirus Cases Top 500
A day after the city exceeded 500 confirmed coronavirus cases, public health officials on Sunday announced 39 new positive tests for the virus. San Francisco public health officials did not report any new deaths, though yesterday one new death brought the overall total in the city to eight. (Toledo, 4/5)
Bay Area News Group:
San Mateo County Officials Report 17 New Cases Of Coronavirus
San Mateo County reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total of confirmed infections in the county to 555. County officials did not report any new deaths from the novel coronavirus, leaving the total number of fatalities at 13. (Almond, 4/5)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Santa Clara County Reports 59 New Cases
Santa Clara County public health officials reported 59 new cases of coronavirus Sunday for a total of 1,207 positive cases. On Saturday the total number of cases in Santa Clara County reached 1,148 after reporting 54 new coronavirus cases. The county reported 75 new cases on Friday. (Toledo, 4/5)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Coronavirus Cases Increase To 108
Coronavirus cases in Fresno County rose by five more people on Sunday, county health officials reported. The total number of confirmed and presumptive positive results for COVID-19 in the county stands at 108. Travel-related exposures remain the most common at 28, followed by community spread (24) and person-to-person contact (18). Another 38 cases remain under investigation. (Valenzuela, 4/5)