Report: Emails Show SoCal Hospitals Refused COVID Patients: Several large Southern California hospital systems improperly refused or delayed accepting Covid-19 patients based on their insurance status, according to internal emails among local and state government, hospital and emergency-response officials, leaving severely ill patients waiting for care and adding strain on hospitals overrun by the pandemic. The emails identified four major hospital systems, but the number could be higher. Read more from The Wall Street Journal.
California Will Do Own Review Of FDA-Approved COVID Vaccines: California will independently review the safety of any coronavirus vaccine that receives federal approval before distributing it, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. Newsom announced the creation of an 11-member scientific review committee that will provide a recommendation about whether to administer the vaccine to the public. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle, Fresno Bee and Los Angeles Times.
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
SF Gate:
Newsom Tells Calif. To Not Expect 'Mass Availability' Of Vaccine Until 2021
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday under the best-case scenario, an extremely limited supply of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration will be available by November or December, countering President Donald Trump's repeated assurance to the American people that a vaccine could be widely available before the year's end. Newsom expects California to receive 1 to 2 million doses in the first vaccine delivery, and this would be the amount needed to inoculate people working in the health care system. (Graff, 10/19)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID-19 Death Toll Nears 17,000 In California
While the number of daily COVID-19 deaths has fallen dramatically in California in the last few months, the state’s death toll has become the third-highest in the nation, with nearly 17,000 lives lost. California ranks behind only New York and Texas in total deaths linked to the coronavirus, with 16,980 as of 5:19 p.m. Monday, according to data compiled by The Times. (Money, 10/19)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Reaches More Than 30,000 Coronavirus Cases
Fresno County has experienced its largest one-day increase in confirmed coronavirus infections in more than a month, the California Department of Public Health reported on Monday. Based on testing results reported to the state by laboratories, 140 new cases of COVID-19 were revealed in the county as of Sunday night. That’s more than any single-day report from the state for Fresno County since Sept. 13, when 159 cases were reported. It also brings to more than 300 the number of new cases that surfaced over the weekend in Fresno County. (Sheehan, 10/19)
Ventura County Star:
Ventura County COVID-19 Update: 131 New Cases Over Weekend
Orange County Register:
California To Issue Theme Park Reopening Guidelines — But Disney And Universal May Not Be Happy
Gov. Gavin Newsom said long-awaited COVID-19 health and safety guidelines for the state’s theme parks will be announced Tuesday, Oct. 20, but Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and other larger parks may be unhappy with the new reopening plans. Newsom said during a news conference on Monday, Oct. 19 that amusement parks reopening guidelines will be released by California Health and Human Services secretary Mark Ghaly on Tuesday. (MacDonald, 10/19)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Clubs Face Doomsday Scenario With COVID Stimulus Stalled
Over the summer, Dave Grohl often drove around L.A. with his 14-year-old daughter, just to have a change of scenery from lockdown. Before COVID-19 struck, the Foo Fighters frontman expected to be touring to mark the band’s 25th anniversary this year. But one night, as the two passed by the boarded-up Troubadour in West Hollywood, Grohl’s daughter turned to him and, as he recounted, grew melancholy. “Oh, no, the Troubadour,” she told him. “God, it’s so sad, I hope it survives.” (Brown, 10/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
BCHS Students, Teachers Will Return To Campus Oct. 28
Bakersfield Christian High School will resume in-person campus instruction on Oct. 28. In a news release, the school said it will continue offering online instruction to students who have concerns about returning to campus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the school said the majority of its families have expressed excitement in returning to a traditional classroom setting. (10/19)
Fresno Bee:
Here Are The Latest Fresno, Clovis Schools Allowed To Reopen Even If COVID-19 Cases Spike
While schools in Fresno County don’t technically need a waiver at the moment, many schools have applied for waivers as a safety measure in case Fresno County slides back into the most restrictive purple tier under California’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The California Department of Public Health has granted several elementary school waivers. (Dieppa, 10/19)
LA Daily News:
LAUSD Superintendent Beutner Questions L.A. County’s Coronavirus Priorities
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner called into question Monday, Oct. 19, the priorities of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Board of Supervisors in choosing to allow certain business sectors to reopen before the vast majority of schools. As schools largely remain closed, the department allowed a series of openings in recent weeks including at outdoor casino cardrooms, breweries and parks as well as indoor malls and nail salons in accordance with state guidelines while the county was still under the most restrictive Tier 1 category. (Rosenfeld, 10/19)
Fresno Bee:
Immanuel Schools Ends Legal Fight With State, County Over In-Person Classes Amid COVID-19
Immanuel Schools recently agreed to a settlement with Fresno County and the California Attorney General’s Office over a legal dispute stemming from the government’s requirement for the private, Christian school to stop in-person classes. The three sides last week agreed to drop all pending legal matters. That includes a contempt of court hearing against Immanuel plus a cross-complaint by the schools against Fresno County. (Rodriguez, 10/19)
Fresno Bee:
DeBoer On How COVID-19 Has Changed Football
Fresno State coach Kalen DeBoer discussed some of the ways COVID-19 has changed football, addressing the locker room and building chemistry within a team. (Kuwada, 10/19)
The Washington Post:
California Ballot Box Burns In Arson Attempt, Officials Say
Outside a public library in Baldwin Park, Calif., the smoke streaming from the intentional fire set inside an official ballot collection box made the deposit slot look like a chimney. Firefighters first tried to pry the sides of the metal container open with a crowbar and an ax. After a few minutes, they pulled out a saw and began cutting through the frame. As a sheet of metal finally fell away from the box, a thick cloud of smoke billowed out. “We’re going to save as many ballots as we can,” a firefighter said in a live stream of the incident posted to Facebook Sunday night. (Shepherd, 10/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Dodgers To Host World Series Drive-In At Dodger Stadium
Take me out to the ... parking lot? On the heels of the Dodgers’ National League Championship Series win against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, the team has announced it will host World Series viewing parties with 60-foot screens in the Los Angeles stadium parking lot. The event will be operated in accordance with L.A. County’s coronavirus protocols, which allow for drive-in moviegoing experiences as long as attendees remain in their cars. Tickets cost $75, with one ticket per car and no more than six people in one vehicle, and must be purchased in advance. (Smith, 10/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern County Receives Second West Nile Virus Case Of 2020
Kern County has received its second case of West Nile Virus this year, according to the website WestNile.ca.gov. The site updates its West Nile data every Friday. The Kern County Public Health Services Department announced Kern’s first case of 2020 on Oct. 6. (10/19)
AP:
Los Angeles Faces Lawsuit Over Marijuana Delivery Licenses
Two marijuana trade organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the nation’s largest legal pot market over restrictions on stand-alone delivery services that have blocked them from obtaining licenses until 2025. The lawsuit against Los Angeles and its Department of Cannabis Regulation seeks to overturn rules enacted earlier this year that postponed the availability of those licenses for certain businesses, even though broad legal sales began in the state in January 2018. (Blood, 10/20)
Ventura County Star:
Oxnard Free Flu Shot Event Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Targets Uninsured
During a COVID-19 pandemic that has doctors urging people to protect themselves from the flu, farmworkers, home caregivers and others bared their arms on an October Tuesday outside an Oxnard free clinic. Along with free flu shots, people took home food and clothes from an evening event outside the weekly Westminster Free Clinic at St. Paul's United Methodist Church. (Kisken, 10/19)
Fresno Bee:
San Joaquin Valley Family Sues Over Toxic Pesticides
Seventeen-year-old Avenal resident Rafael Cerda Calderon has always struggled with severe seizures, autism, and a developmental disability. He will likely need care for the rest of his life. According to a lawsuit Cerda’s family recently filed in Kings County Superior Court, the multibillion-dollar agribusiness company Corteva, Inc., is to blame. (Tobias, 10/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Protesters Dump Dirt At Courthouse To Oppose Exide Plant Abandonment
Residents of the massive cleanup zone surrounding the shuttered Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon marched to downtown Los Angeles on Monday evening to protest a bankruptcy court’s decision to allow the company to abandon the heavily contaminated site. Some brought plastic bags of dirt from lead-polluted yards, throwing them over a fence onto the steps of the federal courthouse at North Main and West Temple streets. (Barboza, 10/19)
Politico:
California's $100M Dialysis Battle Comes With Ancillary Benefits For Labor Union
In initiative-happy California, one set of ads stands out — those involving dialysis clinics, an industry that's historically been a lower-profile player in politics. The ads are unusual not only because of their unlikely topic but their volume, which is high because industry opponents of a labor ballot measure are spending more than any group opposing the other 11 proposals California voters must decide on. (Colliver, 10/19)
Fresno Bee:
CA Victims Urge Others To File Claim In Boy Scout Bankruptcy
For most of his life, Johnny O’Bannon buried the physical and sexual abuse he endured by his Boy Scout troop leader who was also a Fresno youth pastor. It all came rushing back to him when he was at church in Oregon, where he now lives. His son ran up to him crying and said a youth pastor threw him to the ground. (Calix, 10/19)
The Desert Sun:
Riverside County Sheriff's Sergeant Dies Of Heart Attack During Training Exercise
A Riverside County sheriff's sergeant suffered a fatal heart attack while on duty training with the K-9 team, Sheriff Chad Bianco announced Monday. Sgt. Harry Cohen, 48, died Sunday night. He was a 24-year veteran of the department, and is survived by his wife and two children, according to sheriff's officials. (10/19)
Bay Area News Group:
For Many Californians, The Pandemic Marks The End Of ‘Barely Making It’
Rivas makes just below the median household income in the U.S. and hasn’t lost her job due to pandemic closures. Yet her inability to financially survive the pandemic is the manifestation of a foundational economic fracture between California’s haves and have-nots. And for many middle-income workers, the pandemic marked the end of “barely making it.” (Du Sault, 10/19)
LA Daily News:
California Gig Workers Hit Hard During Coronavirus Pandemic, Says UCLA Study
A UCLA study published Monday found that 80% of gig workers cannot meet household expenses and nearly half received no personal protective equipment from gig companies during the pandemic, worsening conditions for an already struggling segment of the workforce. The crisis points to a need for structural change in the industry, according to the report, a collaboration between the UCLA Labor Center, a unit of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. (10/19)
LA Daily News:
Compton To Launch Nation’s Largest City-Led Universal Basic Income Pilot Program
Compton is set to launch the nation’s largest city-led universal basic income pilot program later this year, officials announced Monday, Oct. 19. About 800 low-income residents in the city of roughly 95,000 people will receive regular payments of anywhere from $300 to $600 for two years. The frequency of the payments will vary, but participants will be informed of their payment schedule ahead of time so they can budget accordingly. (Munguia, 10/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
New National Homeless Plan Cracks Down On ‘Housing First,’ Puts More Emphasis On Rehab Programs
A new national strategic plan on homelessness is mostly a get-tough document that is already rankling experts and program managers who favor giving hard-core street people housing with few conditions so they’ll stay inside. The plan, titled “Expanding the Toolbox: The Whole-of-Government Response to Homelessness,” was released Monday by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the main federal agency guiding homeless policy and advising the president. (Fagan, 10/19)
By Area News Group:
Hundreds Seek Payouts In Lawsuit Over Caltrans Homeless Camp Sweeps
Hundreds of homeless people who lost bicycles, tents and even their loved ones’ ashes when Caltrans cleared their East Bay encampments are applying for restitution as part of a multimillion-dollar legal settlement. Advocates hope that by reaching so many people, the fund will be a step toward protecting the property rights of unhoused residents in the future. But plaintiffs’ lawyers worry they aren’t finding everyone eligible for a payout and say it remains to be seen whether the settlement will lead to long-term changes. (Kendall, 10/20)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Supervisors To Consider Funding Delano Homeless Shelter On Tuesday
The Kern County Board of Supervisors will consider funding a new homeless shelter in Delano at its meeting Tuesday. Intended to help unsheltered individuals in a rural part of Kern County, the 30-bed facility is slated to open at 531 High St. in the first part of November. (Morgen, 10/19)