Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Postcard From The Edge: L.A. Street Vendors Who Can’t Stop Working
Foot traffic in L.A. has fallen off a cliff amid the COVID-19 crisis, driving many street vendors away. But some are still on the streets, peddling their wares out of economic necessity. Many are undocumented immigrants who won’t get any help from the recently approved $2 trillion federal assistance package. (Anna Almendrala, 4/8)
'We Decided Enough’s Enough': California Secures 200M Masks A Month At Cost Of $1B: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that California has secured a monthly supply of 200 million N95 respiratory and surgical masks to help protect healthcare workers and other essential personnel at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. “We decided enough’s enough. Let’s use the power, the purchasing power of the state of California, as a nation-state,” Newsom said. “We did just that. And in the next few weeks, we’re going to see supplies, at that level, into the state of California and potentially the opportunity to export some of those supplies to states in need.” The masks are among the most coveted supplies needed in hospitals and medical facilities that are treating people infected with the coronavirus amid a nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. They will come from a consortium of suppliers, including a California nonprofit, a California manufacturer with suppliers in Asia and from a company sterilizing used masks, according to Nathan Click, the governor’s spokesman. Read more from Phil Willon of the Los Angeles Times and Carla Marinucci of Politico.
In related news from the Los Angeles Times: Fed Up With Scammers, Los Angeles Moves To Create Clearinghouse For Medical Supplies
Newsom Warns That Although The Curve Is Bending, It’s Also Stretching: Bending the curve means reducing the transmission of the virus to prevent a sudden and large spike of patients with COVID-19. Instead of a rapid surge, infections grow more gradually, essentially “stretching” out a bell curve over time, as Gov. Gavin Newsom said, to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system with more seriously sick patients than resources to treat them. There are now 2,611 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, a 4.1 percent increase from Monday, and 1,108 patients in ICU beds, a 2.1 percent increase in the same 24-hour time frame. “2.1 percent, we’ll take,” Newsom said. “Of course, too many, we want to see that number go down, not up, but these are not the double-digit increases in hospitalizations or ICU rates we saw even a week or so ago.” Read more from Taryn Luna of the Los Angeles Times and Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group.
LA Residents To Be Required To Wear Masks When Visiting Essential Businesses: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an order Tuesday evening requiring all residents to wear a face covering when visiting the majority of essential businesses, in hopes that it will protect workers and slow the spread of the coronavirus. Effective Friday, residents must wear a mask, bandanna or other type of covering over their noses and mouths when in grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, coin-operated laundry services, restaurants, hotels, taxis, ride-hail vehicles and several other essential businesses. California's most populous county has become the state's focal point in the past two weeks. Deaths and infections are climbing there at a faster clip than in the San Francisco Bay Area, the state's initial epicenter. Read more from Emily Alpert Reyes, Sarah Parvini and Jaclyn Cosgrove of the Los Angeles Times; David Douglas and Dennis Romero of NBC News; and Alexander Nieves of Politico.
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
Los Angeles Times:
California Still Way Behind In Coronavirus Testing Despite Recent Advances
State health officials have ramped up coronavirus testing in recent days, but California still lags behind most other states, leaving potentially thousands of undiagnosed patients to unknowingly spread the infections. As of Tuesday, California said it had results for 143,172 tests — or 362 per 100,000 people. That’s a sharp increase from two weeks ago when just 39 of every 100,000 residents had been tested. Yet for all its deep sources of innovation, the state is behind the national average of 596 tests per 100,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project. (Petersen, Ryan, Mason and Gutierrez, 4/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Exclusive: Coronavirus Cleanup Crews On Infected Navy Ship Using T-Shirts For Masks
As the Navy races to contain a coronavirus outbreak on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, sailors left onboard to maintain and disinfect the ship are doing so with minimal protective equipment, fashioning homemade masks out of T-shirts at the direction of the Pentagon. Some are working while they await test results, not knowing if they are spreading or catching the virus. Multiple family members of sailors aboard the carrier confirmed to The Chronicle that their relatives were making face coverings of what they had on hand, including torn T-shirts. (Kopan, Gafni and Garofoli, 4/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Finally Shares Crucial Data On Coronavirus Hospitalizations, Demographics
San Francisco released a torrent of demographic data and other details about the city’s coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday, after repeated requests from residents and health care leaders for more complete information about who is being hit hardest by the disease. Every county health department in the Bay Area except Alameda now publishes similar information, although only San Francisco breaks down cases by race and ethnicity. Alameda County public health officials said they planned to release more data on Wednesday. (Thadani, Palomino and Allday, 4/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
UCSF Lab Accelerates Processing Of Coronavirus Tests In Bay Area, All For No Cost
UCSF has opened a lab in San Francisco that can process thousands of coronavirus diagnostic tests from all nine Bay Area counties’ public health departments for free — significantly increasing the Bay Area’s testing capacity at a time the state is working aggressively to get more residents tested and obtain test results faster. UCSF created the lab in Mission Bay over eight days in March, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order March 12 that loosened restrictions on clinical labs. It is dedicated solely to processing COVID-19 tests, can run up to 2,600 samples a day and report results in as fast as 24 hours. (Ho, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Northern California Hospital Is Approved As Site For Coronavirus Drug Trial
A North Coast hospital is testing the experimental drug that UC Davis doctors and researchers used to save the life of the Solano County woman who was the first U.S. citizen to contract COVID-19 through community spread. St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka has joined two national clinical trials of the antiviral drug Remdesivir to treat moderate and severe cases of COVID-19, St. Joseph officials announced Tuesday in the Times-Standard, a Eureka-based newspaper. (Smith and Anderson, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Hospital Inventory Raised Alarms As Coronavirus Hit State
On March 18, as a wave of new coronavirus-related shutdowns crashed across California and hospital equipment shortages raised concerns around the country, the Sutter Health hospital chain was portraying optimism. There were “a number of proactive measures in place” to make sure supplies didn’t run out, a hospital spokeswoman told The Sacramento Bee at the time. Sutter’s hospital nonprofit network of two-dozen facilities were “working together to prepare for and address issues that may unfold.” But behind the scenes just one week beforehand, Sutter officials had already begun raising alarms with the state, records obtained by The Bee show. (Pohl, 4/8)
Los Angeles Times:
'A Crisis Within A Crisis': Black Americans Face Higher Rates Of Coronavirus Deaths
At first, COVID-19 did not seem to discriminate. The patients who walked into Dr. Uché Blackstock’s urgent-care clinics in Brooklyn, N.Y., with coughs and fevers were white, black and brown. But in the last few weeks, she has witnessed a notable shift: Fewer white people have showed up, while there has been a dramatic uptick in the number of black and brown patients. (Jarvie and Hennessy-Fiske, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
California Offers Mental Health Support, Hotline Numbers
With unemployment soaring, a statewide stay-at-home order and no end in sight for the coronavirus pandemic, this is a trying time for the mental health of all Californians. To that end, the state maintains a resource at covid19.ca.gov that includes advice and multiple hotlines to call.The site also offers some advice to people struggling at home. (Sheeler, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Extends Coronavirus Stay At Home Order
Sacramento County’s health chief on Tuesday extended his order for residents to stay at home for another three weeks during the coronavirus crisis — at the same time loosening some restrictions and tightening others, including a new mandate that all non-essential gatherings in peoples’ homes stop. The previous version of the ordinance allowed up to six non-relatives to gather in a residence. The new order prohibits “all non-essential gatherings of any number of individuals.” The revised and extended order, which is set to expire May 1, now clarifies that real estate agents can show houses for sale, if done safely, and funerals can take place, if limited to 10 attendees. (Bizjak and Yoon-Hendricks, 4/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Battling Coronavirus: Bay Area Lines Up Hotel Rooms, Shelters For Vulnerable, Sick Homeless People
This week is crunch time for the worst-hit Bay Area counties to ramp up efforts to bring vulnerable and infected homeless people into hotels and overflow shelters during the coronavirus crisis, and the verdict is: So far so good. Generally. From Santa Clara County to Alameda and San Francisco counties, thousands of hotel rooms and temporary shelters are coming on line, and, thanks to a delay in the surge of COVID-19 cases that health experts had expected to begin statewide around now, they are nowhere near full yet. (Fagan, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento CA: 1,000 Beds For Homeless In Coronavirus Crisis
Sacramento city and county elected officials are approving a $15 million plan to open 990 beds for homeless individuals and provide services at encampments to try to prevent a coronavirus outbreak among the thousands of people sleeping outdoors in the county. The plan includes $13.7 million for new beds, including 850 in motels, 60 in state RVs at Cal Expo and 80 in existing shelters, according to a report from a city/county task force. That’s up from the 663 new beds officials announced last month. Clift and Yoon-Hendricks, 4/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Meals On Wheels Adapts To Coronavirus Crisis, But Situation In Sacramento Is Unclear
The Meals on Wheels program has a long history of helping housebound senior citizens get the nutrition they need while living independent lives at home. Organizers believe those services are essential now more than ever as the world confronts an infectious disease that is most deadly among older people with underlying medical conditions. (Anderson, 4/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus: Consider Pulling Residents From Nursing Homes, L.A. Leader Says
With coronavirus sweeping through nursing homes at a deadly pace, Los Angeles County’s public health director on Tuesday took the extraordinary step of telling families it would be “perfectly appropriate” to pull loved ones out of long-term facilities for their safety. More than 120 nursing facilities and other communal living institutions in Los Angeles County alone are suspected of having coronavirus infections, including a home in Redondo Beach where four people have died and 38 others have confirmed cases. (Dolan and Hamilton, 4/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Ordered By The State, SF Nursing Home Prepares To Accept Coronavirus Patients
At least one San Francisco nursing home, the Campus for Jewish Living, could begin accepting patients infected with the new coronavirus who no longer need to be in a hospital — but are either in recovery or need hospice care, according to a letter obtained by The Chronicle. The 378-bed nursing home in the Excelsior has prepared its own wing where it can accept COVID-19 patients, said Marcus Young, a spokesman for the nursing home. (Thadani, 4/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Orinda Nursing Home With Coronavirus Outbreak Had Sanitation, Staffing Violations
The owner of a nursing home in Orinda with nearly 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 operates a network of California long-term care facilities with a lengthy record of health and safety violations, records show. Crystal Solorzano, owner of the Orinda Care Center, hit by a coronavirus outbreak last week, owns 11 long-term care facilities near Los Angeles and in the Bay Area. One nursing home advocacy group called the record of violations at her facilities “extraordinarily alarming.” (Bauman, 4/7)
Fresno Bee:
Fears Of Child Abuse In Fresno Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Fresno County child welfare investigators worry many child abuse cases may be left unreported while residents shelter amid the coronavirus pandemic – leaving young victims locked inside with their abusers. Tricia Gonzalez, director of child welfare at the Fresno County Department of Social Services, said abuse reports are down about 36% since mid-March when Fresno County began shuttering all nonessential functions. But she said she doesn’t believe there’s been less abuse. She said she worries the pressure of the public health crisis, coupled with growing financial struggles, has left many children stuck in a bad situation. (Amaro, 4/7)
Fresno Bee:
No Evictions, Foreclosures In California Until Summer
On Monday the California Judicial Council approved emergency orders essentially halting most evictions and foreclosures through the summer. The order is a welcome respite for many renters and homeowners struggling to pay their rent and mortgage this month due to job losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is no rent forgiveness on the table — and renters are urged to learn their rights in these uncertain times. (Bergstrom, 4/7)
Bay Area News Group:
Santa Clara County Could See 12,000 COVID-19 Cases By May 1
Santa Clara County, a hotspot of the coronavirus outbreak in the Bay Area, could see between 2,500 and 12,000 positive COVID-19 cases by May 1, but the outlook could have been far worse, health officer Dr. Sara Cody said Tuesday morning while revealing new projection models. “Had we not done anything, our case counts would be somewhere in the 50,000 range” by May 1, Cody said in an update to county supervisors, noting that the numbers are estimates that could vary. (Geha, 4/7)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County CA Says 3 Have Now Died From Coronavirus
The number of Fresno County deaths related to coronavirus rose to three Tuesday, and health officials reported another 22 positive cases. The county through Tuesday has confirmed 146 positive coronavirus cases, according to the Fresno County Department of Public Health. Information on the third and latest person to die in the county was not immediately available. (Miller, 4/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
It’s Official: Public Schools In 6 Bay Area Counties To Stay Closed Through End Of Academic Year
Schools across six Bay Area counties will remain shuttered through the rest of the academic year, officials announced Tuesday. The decision officially confirms what state and local officials already said was all but inevitable given the ongoing rise of coronavirus cases across the region and the need to continue to shelter in place. (Tucker, 4/7)
San Gabriel Valley Tribune:
California Man Arrested For Alleged Price Gouging During Coronavirus Fears, Selling Box Of N95 Masks For $300
Baldwin Park police had received a tip about a Craigslist advertisement of N95 respirator masks for sale. The listed price for a single box of 20 masks, which are currently in short supply in hospitals across the nation during the new coronavirus pandemic: $300. Detectives wearing plain clothes and posing as buyers contacted the man behind the post and met with him on Tuesday morning at a shopping center parking lot in West Covina, police said. (Valdez, 4/8)