San Jose Mercury News: Coronavirus: Much Has Changed As California Hits 10,000 Cases
California marched past a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic Thursday with more than 10,000 confirmed infections — one in four of them in the Bay Area — and the outbreak looks almost unrecognizable from where it stood just a month ago. At the beginning of March, the Bay Area — and Santa Clara County in particular — had become the biggest hot zone in a state that was leading the country in cases. Yet even then, the outbreak seemed manageable. Santa Clara County reported its ninth case March 2, and the state that has now reported 200 deaths had yet to record a COVID-19 fatality. (Woolfolk and Angst, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Scientists In Race To Stop Coronavirus — Collaboration May Be Secret Weapon 
Bay Area doctors, scientists, infectious disease specialists, software developers and molders of public opinion are using their skills to fight the COVID-19 pandemic — sequencing genomes, processing laboratory tests, conducting drug trials, mapping the spread and mutations of the mysterious pathogen. The research, conducted by top minds in their fields, is moving as fast as has ever occurred during a medical crisis, but those involved say this dynamic collaboration among professionals is what will stop the spread of the virus. (Fimrite, 4/3)

Sacramento Bee: 71 Members Of Sacramento, California Church Have Coronavirus 
One church in Sacramento County is now the epicenter of a major outbreak of coronavirus, and frustrated county officials say church leaders are refusing to listen to their demands to stop fellowship meetings. Seventy-one members of the Bethany Slavic Missionary Church near Rancho Cordova or people associated with congregation members have been afflicted with the virus, county officials say, making this one of the larger outbreak clusters in the country. One parishioner has died, officials said, and the pastor is sick. (Bizjak, Stanton, McGough and Kasler, 4/2)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Cases Often Clustered, Should You Be Told?
As the deadly coronavirus spreads, infections are emerging in alarming clusters among people who were in close contact, often before anyone felt sick. It’s happening at Bay Area nursing homes, Sacramento churches, a Vacaville hospital, on cruise ships and at a Santa Clara County workplace referenced in a recent study where five were infected. But how much the public is allowed to know about these and other hot spots depends on the health official in charge where you live. (Woolfolk, 4/2)

Sacramento Bee: See The Estimated COVID-19 Death Curve For California, Other States
California will have fewer COVID-19 deaths on its worst day than New York, Texas and Florida will have on their peak days, even though California has far more people than any of those places, according to a widely-cited prediction model. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, founded in 2007 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the state of Washington, has released dynamic projections showing when deaths from COVID-19 will peak in each state. The model assumes social distancing continues until the end of May. (Reese, 4/2)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Could Deliver Blow To Struggling Rural Hospitals
Rural hospitals nationwide are bracing for a wave of high-risk coronavirus patients that could break an already fragile healthcare system, one facing shortages of supplies and a scarcity of doctors so dire that some centers might have to shut down if a single physician contracts the disease. “There is literally no room for error here,” said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Assn., which represents 21,000 healthcare providers and hospitals. “Rural America is a tinderbox of a healthcare crisis for those most in need.” (Wilber, 4/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: UCSF, Seton Nurses Call On Newsom To Send Protective Equipment 
Nurses on the front lines of the Bay Area’s coronavirus response on Thursday called on the state to provide more personal protective equipment, warning that a shortage of masks and gowns could have devastating consequences for medical personnel and their patients. The registered nurses from UCSF and Seton Medical Center in Daly City — members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United — protested outside their hospitals to highlight a shortage of N95 respirators and other protective gear critical for health care workers treating patients infected with the virus. (Sanchez, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Resumes Disclosing How Many Health Workers Have Coronavirus 
The California Department of Public Health is again reporting daily counts of health workers infected with the coronavirus after The Chronicle reported its decision this week to withhold the data, prompting outrage from nurses and other medical professionals. A Chronicle reporter also asked Gov. Gavin Newsom why the state stopped sharing the data. “Happy to provide information, and we’ll make sure you get that,” Newsom responded during his daily news briefing Wednesday. (Moench, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: Bay Area Medical Practices Face Uncertain Future As Patients Disappear 
As the coronavirus crisis surges, many private medical practices in the Bay Area have seen a steep drop in patients and revenue that could force them to go out of business, leaving their workers — physicians, nurses, assistants and staffers — unemployed and patients in the lurch. The term private practice may conjure images of the lone family doctor who runs his or her own office with a nurse and an assistant, but it covers everything from practices with a handful of physicians and staff to those with hundreds of doctors and staff members. They include specialists and surgeons as well as primary care doctors. The slowdown is also affecting dentists and optometrists and ophthalmologists. (Cabanatuan, 4/2)

Sacramento Bee: California Using ‘Video Visits’ To Inspect Assisted Living Homes 
In a reversal from last month, California senior-care inspectors have begun using Zoom, Skype and FaceTime to make sure managers at thousands of assisted living homes are properly following rules to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The change in favor of virtual visits came about a week after the California Department of Social Services told inspectors to physically go to every assisted living facility in the state. The goal of the visits, officials said, was to provide “technical assistance” to employees and make sure, among other things, staff had properly posted hand-washing technique signs. (Pohl, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rural Californians’ Plea To Bay Area Residents During Coronavirus Pandemic: Stay Home 
In California’s north state, residents have a clear message for people in the Bay Area and Sacramento during the coronavirus pandemic: Don’t come here. “People shouldn’t be leaving their counties,” said Matt Romaine of Weaverville, who helps run several now-closed recreation properties. “We’re opposed to people coming in from outside areas that have higher infection rates.” (Stienstra, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Students With Special Needs More At Risk During The Coronavirus Closures 
For the state’s 725,000 students with special needs, the closure of classrooms for a five-month stretch will not mean the absence of just academics, but also of critical therapy and specialized services that they can’t get from home. Parents fear the five-month loss of personal interaction with trained special education teachers and therapists could set their children back well behind their peers. (Tucker, 4/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Doctors Treating Coronavirus Patients Rush To Draw Up Wills, Just In Case: ‘We Have To Be Brave’
Imagining the future is often a luxury for parents with little kids who have immediate needs like eating, getting their diapers changed and finding that lost toy — right now. But many families, particularly those helmed by doctors and nurses, are realizing the coronavirus pandemic means planning for the worst-case scenario and they must jump to the top of the list. They are scrambling to create wills and advanced health care directives, knowing they might not survive this tragedy. (Knight, 4/3)

Sacramento Bee: Amid COVID-19, No Homeless Moved Into Sacramento Motel Shelter 
It’s been two and a half weeks since Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan to move homeless into motels to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but no homeless people have yet received beds in Sacramento County. Sacramento County officials have identified 221 beds in three hotels for the homeless, but people will likely not start moving in until mid-April, said Eduardo Ameneyro, Sacramento County’s division manager for homeless services. (Clift and Yoon-Hendricks, 4/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Shelter Reports First SF Homeless Person To Test Positive For Coronavirus As City Seeks Contacts 
The first homeless person to test positive for the coronavirus in San Francisco was living in a city shelter, officials announced Thursday, setting off a race to trace everyone the individual has recently interacted with, as officials tried to contain a potential outbreak among the city’s most vulnerable residents. Health officials said they isolated the person — who was at the Division Circle Navigation Center — in a hotel room, where they were described as being in “good condition.” Officials said it was unclear where or how the person got the coronavirus. (Fagan and Serrano, 4/2)

CalMatters: Amid Pandemic, Some California Sheriffs' Departments Still Evicting Renters 
Fresno County alone performed 20 lockouts over the past week and a half. Tenant groups say Gov. Gavin Newsom is to blame. (Levin, 4/3)

CalMatters: Non-English Speakers Struggle To File Coronavirus Unemployment Claims 
Candelaria Pablo Perez picked up the phone recently and heard what is now a familiar story. The man on the other line, a non-English speaker, had lost work due to the coronavirus shutdown and had questions about how to file for unemployment. But in Perez’ case, the situation was a little more unusual: The man spoke Mam, a Mayan language native to Guatemala that is becoming increasingly common in the Bay Area. (Hellerstein, 4/2)

Fresno Bee: Social Distancing Violators Could Face Fines In Fresno
Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez said he will propose a city ordinance to fine residents who are violating social distancing and other public health measures during the coronavirus pandemic. The draft ordinance says violating the city’s shelter-in-place emergency order creates an “imminent threat to public health and safety.” The ordinance prohibits residents from hosting “nonessential gatherings” for activities such as parties, sports, games or professional and social purposes. It also requires businesses to direct customers to social distance. (Calix, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why The $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Was Not Enough
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “needs to stand down” on talk of a sequel to the $2 trillion stimulus enacted last week to stem the economic ravages of the novel coronavirus. His advice did not age well. The next day, the U.S. Labor Department reported that a superlative-defying 6.6 million Americans had filed unemployment claims during the previous week, twice the record set just the week before and nearly 10 times the number in the worst pre-pandemic week. (4/3)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Seems To Think Money Is Free Right Now. It Isn't
President Trump proclaimed himself the “king of debt” during the 2016 campaign, and he does have a long history of borrowing huge amounts that he often repays. So it was curious to see a tweet from him on Tuesday that grossly misstated the cost of federal borrowing. In the tweet, Trump reaffirmed his on-again, off-again support for a giant federal effort to improve roads, bridges and other infrastructure in this country. (John Healy, 3/31)

Los Angeles Times: Economists Warn Against Lifting The Coronavirus Lockdowns
Until now, the voices warning against prematurely lifting stringent social regulations to combat the novel coronavirus have been those of doctors and epidemiologists. But a blue-ribbon group of economists has just weighed in, and they agree -- virtually unanimously. The panel of 44 economists assembled by the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago was asked to opine on coronavirus policy in three respects. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/30)

Sacramento Bee: COVID-19 Makes Clear California's Error In Scrapping Ventilators 
“What’s out there is darkness, uncertainty, decline and recession,” said Gov. Jerry Brown after unveiling his final state budget in 2018. “So good luck, baby.” Brown grew fond of such pessimistic utterances during his final years in office. He spoke often of economic headwinds, climate change and nuclear war. He issued repeated warnings on many scary topics, but he missed a big one. Pandemics like the coronavirus didn’t rank highly in his hierarchy of dooms. (Gil Duran, 4/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Health Care Workers Inspire; Their Working Conditions, Not So Much
In a humbling display of courage and altruism, more than 25,000 health care workers answered California’s call for help responding to an expected surge of patients sickened by the novel coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week — and that was just in the first day. The governor put it well when he said, “I’ve never been more damn inspired in my life.” By Wednesday, the list of potential volunteers had grown to 34,000. Given that they were signing up to treat a highly contagious and potentially lethal disease that has already sickened and killed too many of their colleagues worldwide, they bear comparison to wartime enlistees. Moreover, as Newsom noted, they came forward despite widespread and well-documented failures to equip our existing health care workforce with adequate masks, gloves and other protective gear. (4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Doctors Treating Coronavirus Patients Rush To Draw Up Wills, Just In Case: ‘We Have To Be Brave’
Imagining the future is often a luxury for parents with little kids who have immediate needs like eating, getting their diapers changed and finding that lost toy — right now. But many families, particularly those helmed by doctors and nurses, are realizing the coronavirus pandemic means planning for the worst-case scenario and they must jump to the top of the list. They are scrambling to create wills and advanced health care directives, knowing they might not survive this tragedy. (Heather Knight, 4/3)

Los Angeles Times: During Coronavirus, Take Back Streets From Cars And Let People Walk
My 15 years of living and walking in Los Angeles have taught me at least one important lesson: Stop signs here are more of a suggestion than a rule. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, that lesson has gone from being a useful insight to an indispensable pro tip for survival. From what I’m seeing, the L.A. rolling stop has been replaced by blowing through intersections like your house is on fire. (Matthew Fleischer, 4/2)

Los Angeles Times: Stop Treating L.A. Farmers Markets Like Coronavirus Spring Break
The outraged messages cascaded down my Nextdoor and Facebook sites on Sunday, all prompted by photos of throngs of people gathered at what looked like a street festival. It was the Brentwood farmers market on Sunday, and, clearly, shoppers were not practicing social distancing. “Why are people in Brentwood not abiding by social distancing guidelines?? This is NOT okay!” someone posted on Central Brentwood Nextdoor. (Carla Hall, 4/1)

CalMatters: With Impact Of Coronavirus, Chefs Cook Up A Plan To Feed The Hungry
For many of us working in restaurants, it’s about community, the whole community.  We are woven into a city’s social fabric as places for people to celebrate, negotiate, argue or fall in love. That is what hospitality does best — bring people together. Even though the coronavirus pandemic is forcing us to keep our physical distance to stay healthy, people still need to eat, nourishing body and soul. And chefs still need to cook. But the coronavirus prevents us from doing that when many people are not getting enough to eat. The disruption from the pandemic has sent shock waves through the economy, from farmers to our wait staff to people who go hungry every day. (Patrick Mulvaney and Brad Cecchi, 4/3)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom, Give California Renters An Eviction Moratorium
When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide moratorium on evictions last week, there was a collective sigh of relief from renters across the state. At a time when unemployment has skyrocketed and incomes have plummeted because of the COVID-19 closures, tenants could rest assured that they would be able to keep a roof over their heads. Or so they thought. (4/3)

Fresno Bee: Calif. Renters Need More Protections From Coronavirus Evictions 
No one should lose their home because coronavirus infected their paycheck. Unfortunately, that’s the likely scenario for untold numbers of Fresno renters who’ve lost their jobs or had hours slashed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because measures put in place by Gov. Gavin Newsom and locally don’t go far enough to protect them from evictions. (Marek Warszawski, 3/31)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Pandemic: What We Must Do For The Homeless
Our health and our destinies are inextricably tied. Nothing demonstrates that like the current COVID-19 pandemic. As with most catastrophes, the coronavirus will have a disproportionate impact on the poor and homeless. But unlike events bound by geography, this pandemic crosses the borders of race, gender, class and status. With approximately one-quarter of the nation’s homeless population residing in California, homelessness was already at crisis proportions. And now, our homeless communities — living in close proximity, in unsanitary conditions and frequently with underlying health conditions — are more likely to contract, transmit and die from coronavirus. (Karen J. Hanrahan, 3/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: It’s Time For CEOs To Come To The Aid Of Their Country
I was a federal prosecutor, not a CEO. Closest I came was leading a start-up. (Full disclosure: It was a school for disabled kids.) But this is a plea to real CEOs: You are the most important people in the country right now. Your voices can help save lives in the days ahead. Our president listens to CEOs, as do his key advisers: Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow. In numbers, you can convince those with power (and a bully pulpit) to take actions needed immediately to stem the tide of this pandemic and a greater economic downturn. (Dennis Aftergut, 4/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: What Prisoners In Solitary Confinement Can Teach Us About Social Isolation
Tens of millions of Californians are sheltering in place — a passive form of social isolation that radically limits the amount of social contact they are supposed to have with others. There are a number of unanticipated, unintended, but potentially very serious consequences of this form of social distancing, no matter how absolutely necessary it is. I’ve spent the past several decades studying the harmful effects of solitary confinement, and we can learn several things from prisoners who have been able to survive the worst possible variation of this kind of confinement. (Craig Haney, 4/3)

Fresno Bee: Rep. Devin Nunes Has Dangerous Points Of View 
Rep. Devin Nunes, one of the GOP’s top leaders in the House, thinks it is more dangerous for people to shelter at home right now from the coronavirus than to be exposed to the contagion itself. And keeping schoolchildren from returning to classes? The Republican from Tulare thinks that is ridiculous. Actually, the most dangerous aspects of Nunes’ latest Fox News appearance are his ill-informed and flat-wrong comments as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic. (4/1)

Sacramento Bee: FDA Should Expedite Approval Of Psychedelics For PTSD & Trauma 
Pandemic strikes mean physical illness for many and trauma for all. The 2003 SARS outbreak led to terrifying increases in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among caregivers, those quarantined and people affected in other ways. How can we prepare for the mental health impact of the coronavirus pandemic? (Morgan Campbell, 4/2)