Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Easier-to-Use Coronavirus Saliva Tests Start to Catch On
Regulators and scientists have been leery of introducing the tests, preferring to rely on tried-and-true methods, but evidence is mounting that the spit and swab tests may be more convenient and just as accurate. (David Tuller, )
Sacramento Native Wins Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Dr. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Sacramento native Charles M. Rice on Monday for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a breakthrough the Nobel committee said had “made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.” Rice graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of California Davis in 1974 and earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1981, according to his biography on The Rockefeller University website, where Rice is a professor. Read more from The New York Times, CNN and ABC7 News.
Trump’s Joy Ride Called ‘Massively Irresponsible’: Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, sharply criticized President Trump’s brief motorcade ride near the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center hospital on Sunday to greet supporters — a trip that experts say endangered those in the car with him. “So massively irresponsible,” he wrote on his Twitter feed, which has 137,000 followers. Wachter’s deduction is that the president has “a moderately serious case of COVID, including involvement of his lungs.” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Keep reading for more on President Trump’s condition, as well as a roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. Also, check out KHN’s Morning Briefing for today's national health news.
More News From Across The State
The New York Times:
Trump’s Treatment Suggests Severe Covid-19, Medical Experts Say
President Trump’s doctors offered rosy assessments of his condition on Sunday, but the few medical details they disclosed — including his fluctuating oxygen levels and a decision to begin treatment with a steroid drug — suggested to many infectious disease experts that he is suffering a more severe case of Covid-19 than the physicians acknowledged. In photos and videos released by the White House, there is hardly any sign that Mr. Trump is sick. But at a news conference at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Mr. Trump’s doctors said his oxygen levels had dropped to a level that can indicate that a patient's lungs are compromised. The symptom is seen in many patients with severe Covid-19. (Thomas and Rabin, 10/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump On Dexamethasone; Steroid Prescription Indicates More Serious Illness
President Trump, hospitalized with COVID-19, received supplemental oxygen on Saturday — a previously undisclosed episode — and is being treated with a powerful steroid amid indications that his lungs may have suffered some damage, the White House physician said Sunday. As questions continued about the severity of his illness and its progression, Trump late Sunday afternoon staged a motorcade drive-by outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and could be seen through the window of his massive black SUV, masked and waving to supporters who gathered outside. The brief trip drew sharp criticism from medical experts who said Trump had endangered the Secret Service agents in the car with him. (King and Megerian, 10/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Why Trump's Doctors Treated His COVID-19 With Dexamethasone
Overly aggressive treatment of very important patients is a time-honored tradition, doctors say. But if the decisions of President Trump’s physicians are guided by strong and publicly available research, they suggest his early response to his coronavirus infection prompted serious worry about his prognosis. Although the use of the anti-viral remdesivir is now standard for a wide range of COVID-19 patients, the steroid dexamethasone is considered safe only when a patient appears to be at high risk of developing the kind of overactive inflammatory response that can lead to organ failure and death. (Healy, 10/5)
Fresno Bee:
UC Davis Conducting Clinical Trials Of Experimental Drug That Trump Took For Coronavirus
Dr. Timothy Albertson said Friday evening that he hopes COVID-19 patients at Sacramento’s UC Davis Medical Center will be willing to join a clinical trial of the experimental antibody cocktail that President Donald Trump said he’s taking to combat the disease. “There are trials where they focus on outpatients, and Dr. Stu Cohen (also with UCD) is involved in one of those trials where patients who have been exposed to family members or workers who have known disease can enroll in that trial,” Albertson said. “My trial with this drug is with patients who are sick enough to be admitted to the hospital but not sick enough to be in the ICU, at least initially.” (Anderson, 10/3)
Politico:
Trump Team Under Fire For Confusion About President’s Condition
The White House took flak throughout the weekend over its mixed messaging on President Donald Trump’s health. That blowback continued into Sunday evening because of a lack of any messaging or information before the president briefly departed Walter Reed Medical Center in a motorcade. Trump, a 74-year-old, overweight patient who has been hospitalized with Covid-19 since Friday, surprised supporters — and the reporters who track his movement — by waving to a crowd of cheering well-wishers as his motorcade drove past the hospital. (McCaskill, 10/4)
USA Today:
'Imagine Having A Literal COVID Parade': Critics React After Trump Leaves Walter Reed To See Supporters
Doctors, critics, and other Twitter users reacted after President Donald Trump ventured outside Walter Reed Hospital Sunday night to wave at supporters, calling the move "reckless" and saying he endangered the Secret Service members riding in the vehicle with him. Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted that everybody in the vehicle with Trump should be quarantined for 14 days. "They might get sick. They may die," he tweeted. "For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity." (Behrmann, 10/4)
The Hill:
White House Says 'Appropriate Precautions' Were Taken For Trump's Outing To See Supporters
The White House on Sunday night insisted that proper precautions were taken ahead of President Trump's motorcade visit outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he is being treated for COVID-19. “Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it, including PPE. The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do," White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters. (Seipel, 10/4)
NPR:
Pence Working At Home Now, Plans To Travel Monday, Source Says
Vice President Pence — who has tested negative for the coronavirus — has been working from home rather than going into the White House complex since President Trump was diagnosed with the virus late on Thursday, a senior administration official told NPR. "Out of an abundance of caution, he worked at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory to avoid any potential exposure to the virus," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Pence led a conference call of the White House coronavirus task force on Saturday from his residence. (Silva and Ordonez, 10/3)
The Hill:
Biden Again Tests Negative For COVID-19
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday, his campaign said. Biden was administered a PCR test, his campaign said, and COVID-19 was not detected. It marked the second time Biden has tested negative since President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he had contracted the coronavirus. The former vice president initially tested negative on Friday, hours after Trump tweeted that he and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Biden did not make a public appearance on Sunday. (Samuels, 10/4)
The Washington Post:
Positive Tests For Senators Raise Doubts About Fast-Track Confirmation Of Trump's Supreme Court Choice
From the start, Senate Republican leaders have known their ambitious timeline to get Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before Election Day offered little room for error. But that tightly crafted schedule has now been thrown into uncertainty with the coronavirus diagnoses of at least two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the fear that other senators could test positive in the coming days. A handful of other GOP senators, on and off the committee, are also isolating as a precaution after being exposed to infected colleagues. (Kim, 10/4)
LA Daily News:
Officials Warn Of Unhealthy Air In San Gabriel And San Fernando Valleys
Air quality will be unhealthy Sunday for everyone in the east and west San Gabriel Valley, San Gabriel Mountains and San Fernando Valley, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The advisory was largely due to the Bobcat Fire, which has burned more than 114,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest. (10/3)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: What Does California’s New “Equity” Metric Mean For The Bay Area?
California is taking its biggest step so far to grapple with racial and socioeconomic disparities in the impact of the coronavirus, declaring that counties with high infection rates in disadvantaged neighborhoods must reopen their economies slower than their peers. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has long acknowledged that COVID-19 infections and deaths have taken an uneven toll on poorer areas, often overlapping with communities of color and essential workers. But the state thus far has stopped short of pressing counties to address the problem. (Kelliher and Webeck, 10/2)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Caregivers, Advocates Push For Indoor Visits To Resume At Nursing Homes
Family caregivers visiting loved ones in skilled nursing facilities offer much more than companionship. The time they spend together also ensures that their relative’s needs are being met. Yet for more than six months, California skilled nursing homes have had strict lockdown rules against indoor visitors in hopes of preventing residents from contracting COVID-19. Since March, family members have only been allowed to see their loved ones in nursing homes for compassionate care or end-of-life visits, with some nursing homes orchestrating visits outdoors, through windows or by using video chat applications like Zoom and FaceTime. (Mapp. 10/4)
Bay Area News Group:
California’s Filipino American Nurses Are Dying From COVID-19 At Alarming Rates
Becoming a nurse was the obvious choice for Oliver Isleta. The economy in the Philippines, his home country, was sluggish, and he wanted to make a better living abroad — without going through civil engineering school all over again. So after studying nursing in the city of Davao, he emigrated to the U.S. in 2006 to take his board exams. (Kelliher, 10/4)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Latino COVID-19 Taskforce Formally Kicks Off Campaign With Community Partners
The Latino COVID-19 Taskforce held a press conference at the Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield on Friday to formally kick off its campaign to end the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on the local Latino community. Co-founders Jay Tamsi, H.A. Sala and David A. Torres all spoke urgently to the importance of the campaign alongside many other task force members. “No one could have anticipated the effects of this self-isolation, being quarantined and other unfortunate impacts this virus has had on our Latino community,” said Tamsi. (Wilson, 10/3)
LA Daily News:
LA County Reports 933 Coronavirus Cases, But Fewer In Hospital
Los Angeles County reported 933 new cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths on Sunday, Oct. 4, bringing the county’s totals to 274,565 cases and 6,647 fatalities. The lower number of deaths reflected reporting delays over the weekend, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (10/4)
LA Daily News:
San Fernando Valley Residents File Claim Against LADWP After No Warning Of Methane Leak
Several San Fernando Valley residents and an area nonprofit are seeking damages from the Los Angeles Department of Water Power, charging that the utility withheld public information about leaking methane from its San Fernando Valley power plant for more than a year, according to a claim filed this week against the agency. (Carter, 10/2)
San Diego Union-Times:
Coming Back From COVID-19: 'Your Mind Is Active, But You Cannot Talk, You Cannot Write, You’re Stuck Inside'
Dr. Jay Buenaflor slowly wound his way through a spacious rehabilitation room on a recent afternoon, reaching high and low to pick numbered yellow Post-It notes from walls, doors and equipment. He got them in order, and he got them without stumbling, a victory that would have seemed improbable back on June 12 when the pediatrician from Brawley was admitted to a local hospital after spotting telltale patchy spots on his own chest X-ray. To this day, though he and his family members report taking all possible precautions, it is not clear how he became infected. What followed was a bare-knuckled brawl with COVID-19. (Sisson, 10/5)