Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
As Temperatures Rise, So Do the Health Risks for California’s Farmworkers
Workers who harvest crops ranging from grapes to cauliflower in the Coachella Valley are accustomed to temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This summer the thermometer has already hit 122, and heatstroke is becoming more common. (Miranda Green and Heidi de Marco, )
Northern California Smothered In Smoke, Ash: Smoke from a dozen major wildfires is spreading across Northern California, darkening skies, dropping ash and creating health hazards from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco. Officials have issued air quality alerts that could last into the weekend. Read more from the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and The New York Times. Need a break from all that smoke? Here's where to go if you need some fresh air. More wildfire coverage, below.
State Supreme Court Rejects O.C.’s Challenge Of Mask Mandate: The California Supreme Court has denied a petition from the Orange County Board of Education that sought to end Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “state of emergency” and ultimately the mandate that masks be worn indoors in classrooms. Read more from the Orange County Register, Marin Independent Journal 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
Orange County Register:
Santa Ana To Require Vaccines For All City Employees
Santa Ana plans to mandate city employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, joining at least two other cities in Orange County ordering vaccinations or regular testing. In requiring its 1,413 employees be vaccinated, Santa Ana follows the lead of Irvine and Laguna Beach, as well as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena and other major California cities that have announced similar plans. (Kopetman, 8/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Moves To Suspend Police, Fire And Sheriff's Employees Who Refuse To Report Vaccination Status
San Francisco is moving to suspend 20 employees in the police, fire and sheriff’s departments who refused to disclose whether they are vaccinated against the coronavirus, demonstrating how seriously officials are taking the city’s vaccine mandate for its employees. The employees will receive a letter from their department heads Thursday that outlines the consequences for failing to report their vaccination status by the Aug. 12 deadline. According to the Department of Human Resources, the city is recommending a 10-day unpaid suspension for the 11 employees in the Police Department, seven in the Fire Department and two employees in the Sheriff’s Department. (Thadani, 8/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Not Likely To Update Workplace Pandemic Standards Until December
With on-the-job outbreaks of the coronavirus on the rise across California, state workplace safety regulators once again find themselves racing to update rules on vaccines, masking and a host of other virus prevention measures. During a meeting of the Cal/OSHA Standards Board Thursday, members said the soonest they are likely to vote on new rules potentially designed to tamp down outbreaks is December, after the surge in cases driven by the highly infectious delta variant are expected to spike. (DiFeliciantonio, 8/19)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Old Globe Announces New Vaccine Rules For Ticket-Buyers Beginning Next Week
The Old Globe, San Diego’s oldest and largest live theater, announced Thursday that it will introduce a new policy next week that requires ticket-buyers to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result. Beginning Tuesday, all showgoers arriving at the 87-year-old Balboa Park theater for its recently opened production of the musical “Hair” will be required to submit proof of full vaccination to enter the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Face masks will remain optional at “Hair” for now, but when performances of “The Gardens of Anuncia” begin inside the main Old Globe Theatre on Sept. 10, masks will be mandatory for all. (Kragen, 8/19)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto’s Gallo Center Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination, Masks
The Gallo Center for the Arts will require patrons provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test beginning Monday, Sept. 20. Beginning Friday, Aug. 20, people will be required to wear masks inside the building. (Clark, 8/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Pastor Offers Exemption Letters For COVID Vaccine Skeptics
A year after defying statewide health orders by continuing to hold indoor services, a Sacramento-area megachurch pastor is offering religious exemption letters to those who don’t want a COVID-19 vaccination. “The vaccine poses a morally compromising situation for many people of faith,” Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian Church said in a written statement to The Times. “The religious exemptions we are issuing speak to that, honor that, and affirm that.” (Estrin, 8/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Why Delta Variant Makes Mask And Vaccine Mandates Essential
The rise of the Delta variant has upended previous optimistic projections of herd immunity and a return to normal life, with many health experts believing mask mandates and tougher vaccine requirements will be needed in the coming months to avoid more serious coronavirus surges. While there are promising signs that California’s fourth COVID-19 surge may be starting to flatten, the fall and winter will bring new challenges as people stay indoors more often and vaccine immunity begins to wane. (Lin II and Money, 8/20)
Southern California News Group:
74 Students In Quarantine After Reports Of COVID-19 At Saugus Union School District
A little more than a week after the first day of school in the Saugus Union School District, 74 students from three classes are in quarantine after positive COVID-19 cases were reported. Colleen Hawkins, the Saugus Union School District superintendent, said in an email none of those cases stemmed from exposure in schools. Nonetheless, the students in each class who were exposed to a student with a positive COVID-19 test were required to quarantine for seven to 10 days per district and Los Angeles County Department of Health policies. (Haddock, 8/19)
KQED:
What If Your Kid Brings COVID-19 Home? Here's How These Families Dealt With It
Johnson is relieved she had her shots protecting her against a more severe case of COVID-19. But the fact that kids are transmitting the coronavirus to family members is unnerving many parents as children head back to school, especially as a coronavirus vaccine for kids under 12 is not yet available. During the first week of school, 58 students and 10 staff members tested positive in Oakland Unified School District schools. The tallies are much higher in other parts of the country. Last week, more than 3,000 students and staff had to quarantine in Florida’s Brevard Public Schools. And in Hawaii, many schools are pulling the plug and returning to remote learning. (McClurg, 8/19)
Bay Area News Group:
Vaccinated Vs. Unvaccinated: How California’s COVID Rules Are Making A Difference In High School Sports
High school football teams in the Bay Area are quickly realizing a reality of the upcoming fall season: get vaccinated, or potentially put yourself at a competitive disadvantage. “It does have an effect,” said coach Aaron Becker of San Ramon Valley, who’s already had some of his top players exposed to COVID-19 in the classroom. “The real question is … are they vaccinated? If they are, it’s one set of rules and if they aren’t, it’s another set of rules.” (Webeck, 8/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Free COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic To Be Held At KHSD's District Office
Kern Medical will be offering free COVID-19 vaccines to the community Friday afternoon at the Kern High School District office. The Pfizer vaccine will be available to anyone 12 years and older from 1 to 5 p.m. The vaccinations will happen in the board room at 5801 Sundale Ave. (8/19)
The Mercury News:
Los Angeles County Surpasses Grim Milestone Of 25,000 COVID-19 Deaths
Los Angeles County Public Health officials confirmed 35 new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, Aug. 19, lifting the overall death toll from the virus past the tragic milestone of 25,000. The resurgent death toll was just the latest indicator of the sweeping impact of the unpredictable, swiftly spreading delta variant. (8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County COVID-19 Deaths Top 25,000 As Delta Spreads
Los Angeles County reported 35 additional COVID-19 deaths Thursday, pushing the region past 25,000 total fatalities over the course of the pandemic, officials said. The single-day death toll is among the higher ones in recent weeks and represents the devastating domino effect of the coronavirus, with increases in new infections triggering rises in hospitalizations and, eventually, fatalities. (Money and Lin II, 8/19)
Orange County Register:
Coronavirus: Orange County Reported 572 New Cases And Four New Deaths, Aug. 19
The OC Health Care Agency reported 572 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, Aug. 19, increasing the cumulative total since tracking began in the county to 278,417. There have been 10,059 new infections reported in the last 14 days. (Goertzen, 8/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area COVID Surge Stalling At High Level, But Experts Are Hopeful
After a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the Bay Area over the summer, the numbers appear to be plateauing or even dropping — although they remain at worryingly high levels. “Cases are leveling off in the Bay Area because we’ve been aggressively trying to control this through a variety of means,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. (Vaziri and Echeverria, 8/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern Public Health: Two New COVID-19 Deaths, 483 New Cases Reported Thursday
The Kern County Public Health Services Department reported two new coronavirus deaths and 483 new cases on Thursday. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Kern County is now 1,443 and the total number of cases is 119,277. (8/19)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Second COVID-19 Death Reported At Santa Rosa Homeless Shelter
A second person has died from complications of COVID-19 at Santa Rosa’s Samuel L. Jones homeless shelter, the city said Thursday. The person who died had been hospitalized, had underlying health conditions and was vaccinated, according to an emergency alert issued by the city. The Sonoma County Department of Public Health confirmed the death to the city late Wednesday, according to Adriane Mertens, chief communications officer for Santa Rosa. (Coates, 8/19)
Modesto Bee:
Hospital COVID-19 Cases Finally Decrease In Stanislaus
Hospital cases of COVID-19 declined in Stanislaus County for the first time in a few weeks Thursday. Meanwhile, the county announced four more deaths, for a total of 1,116 residents since April 2020. There have been 21 reported deaths in August, the highest total in one month since 22 in May. (Holland, 8/20)
Bay Area News Group:
COVID: Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran May Have Exposed Colleagues
Mayor Rich Tran and Councilmember Evelyn Chua attended an in-person City Council meeting Tuesday after possibly being exposed to COVID-19 at a local bar last week , according to Chua, comments on Tran’s Facebook page, and other city officials. Tran knew about the potential exposure at least as early as Monday night but attended the meeting anyway and did not inform any of his council colleagues about it, multiple city officials said. (Geha, 8/19)
Bay Area News Group:
If We Need It -- Why Wait For The COVID-19 Vaccine Booster?
The Bay Area’s big rollout of COVID-19 booster shots can begin as soon as federal and state authorities give the go-ahead, but that won’t be until late September, according to county officials, hospitals and health care systems. But faced right now with growing evidence that our vaccines are losing their edge to fight off the highly contagious delta variant, the anxious inoculated are asking: Why wait? (Krieger, 8/20)
Chico Enterprise Record:
Lungs: The Latest Victim Of The Dixie Fire
As northwestern winds passed through the Dixie Fire, large portions of Northern California have been waking up to smoky conditions that seem to build day by day. With the layer of smoke overhead, not only is the air becoming more difficult to breath, it’s also more hazardous. The air quality index is the chart used to measure either how safe or dangerous air conditions are. Air quality conditions for Friday in Chico are expected to rank at 164 on the air quality index, considered unhealthy. For reference, 0 to 50 on the air quality index is considered good. Wednesday’s average air quality was 162, with Thursday’s expected average clocking in at 161. In Oroville, Thursday’s air quality measured up to 211, considered very unhealthy. (Blake, 8/20)
Modesto Bee:
Health Cautions In Effect In Modesto Due To Wildfire Smoke
Health cautions remain in effect for Stanislaus County and surrounding areas as a result of wildfires in the northern parts of the state. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution District issued its advisory Aug. 16, to remain in effect for “San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties until the fires are extinguished or until smoke is no longer affecting the Valley.” (Karisch, 8/20)
CapRadio:
Caldor Fire's 'Explosive Growth' Following Dixie Fire's Playbook
The area burning is expansive, with trees towering over thousands of homes often only seen at ground level. This “wildland urban interface” as fire experts call it is at high risk for wildfires, because it’s not just trees, overgrown brush and excess debris on the forest floor — nearly a quarter of California's population lives in those areas. At one point on Tuesday, the fire was growing so fast that officials said they could not get an accurate mapping of how widespread it was burning. (Hooks and Secaira, 8/19)
Bloomberg:
Extreme Heat Is Clear And Growing Health Issue, Two Studies Find
More than 356,000 people died in 2019 as a result of extreme heat and that number is likely to grow, according to a study published in The Lancet this week. The Global Burden of Disease review, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found while cold temperatures still cause a greater number of deaths, mortality rates attributable to heat are growing faster, particularly in hotter regions of the world. (Leon, 8/19)
Sacramento Bee:
About Half Of Covered CA Enrollees Pay $1 A Month In Premiums
Close to half the people who bought health insurance through Covered California this year — 46.7%, to be exact — are paying $1 a month for coverage as a result of new subsidies from the American Rescue Plan, the agency announced Thursday. Peter V. Lee, the executive director of Covered California, said: “We are seeing clear evidence that the law is helping families by lowering premiums, increasing enrollment and addressing health disparities.” (Anderson, 8/19)
Sacramento Bee:
Sutter Health Has $636 Million In Second-Quarter 2021 Income
Sacramento-based Sutter Health reported income of $636 million for its second quarter ending June 30, far exceeding the $220 million it made in the same period last year but also dwarfing the $134 million it earned for the whole of 2020. In a news release, Sutter Health leaders said: “Despite the improvement, Sutter Health’s balance sheet remains vulnerable and, as such, we continue to stay the course on our plan to stabilize our system’s financial health to help ensure fiscal resiliency and sustainability going forward.” (Anderson, 8/19)
Modesto Bee:
Newsom Recall: Candidates Views On AB 5, COVID Leave, Unions
Erica Sandberg sees Gov. Gavin Newsom recall election as a chance to kick him out of office and overturn a law he signed that she says threatened her livelihood. She’s among the independent contractors who mobilized to fight Assembly Bill 5, the 2019 law that requires employers to give benefits to more workers. She ultimately became exempt from the law as a freelance writer, but she worries it still jeopardizes the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of freelancers from musicians to translators. (Park, 8/20)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Did Algae Bloom Kill Family Hiking In Mariposa County? Authorities Checking All Possibilities In Mysterious Deaths
Authorities are considering whether a dangerous algae bloom may have killed a young family whose bodies were found here on a hiking trail this week, and friends and investigators are pinning their hopes on a pending toxicology report for answers. Mariposa County sheriff’s officials are awaiting toxicology results and told The Chronicle that they aren’t ruling out any potential causes of death. (Gafni and Cassidy, 8/19)
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Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Homeless Housing COVID Program Fell Short Of Goal
There can be opportunity in disaster. That certainly appeared to be the case in California when the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to most discretionary travel and sent the hotel industry into a tailspin. Thousands of rooms, sitting empty. Could they provide a temporary solution to homelessness? At the least, could they provide a safe haven for the homeless people most vulnerable to COVID? (Oreskes and Smith, 8/20)
Sacramento Bee:
Placer County Extremists Endanger Roseville Students
Thirty-one children, age 17 or younger, have died in California due to COVID. If you’re a parent or educator, how could you not be terrified? Astoundingly, parents within the Roseville Joint Union High School District seem more concerned with political ideologies than the highly contagious delta variant, which is running rampant. Recent guidance from the California Department of Public Health requires that all public school students wear masks while indoors. RJUHSD is abiding by this requirement — students who refuse to wear face coverings will be placed in independent study. Yet vocal district parents are prioritizing politics about individual freedom at the expense of student health. This is occurring during the reign of the delta variant, which we still don’t fully understand. (Hannah Holzer, 8/18)
Fresno Bee:
If The Choice Is Fresno Students Wear Masks, Or Stay Home In Quarantine, That’s Easy
The new school year had barely begun when Fresno Unified School District officials had to put students from 10 classrooms into quarantines due to COVID exposure. According to Isabel Sophia Dieppa’s report for The Bee’s Education Lab, the quarantines resulted when students came in close contact with others who tested positive for the respiratory virus. Cheri Perry told Dieppa how her daughter, a third grader at Malloch Elementary School, had to endure distance learning isolation in her first- and second-grade years. “This is devastating for her to not be at school with her friends.” (8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
What's Better Than A COVID Vaccine Booster Shot? A 1st Dose
There is only one reason, many scientists say, why a booster shot of one of the mRNA vaccines could make sense as public health policy: Not to safeguard the vaccinated, who are still getting robust protection from their first two doses, but to protect the unvaccinated around them from COVID-19. That’s because the very high viral load of the Delta variant makes transmission of the coronavirus more likely, even from vaccinated people. (8/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Mandate Vaccines For All To End COVID-19 Nightmare
In June, gunmen in eastern Afghanistan killed five medical workers administering polio vaccinations to children. The murderers also wounded several other members of polio vaccination teams in three separate attacks that day. (George Skelton, 8/19)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Viral Lessons From Tiny Imperial County
Imperial County, the rural, agricultural area in California’s southeast, is rarely mentioned statistically in the same categories as the upscale Bay Area counties of Santa Clara, San Francisco and Marin. Yet in the battle against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Imperial is right up there with them in the crucial statistic of percentage of residents vaccinated against the disease. About 86% of Imperial residents have taken the step that is by far the most helpful for us all in battling the novel coronavirus that has killed so many Californians and rattled our economy, tied with San Francisco and just behind the other two counties, for best in the state in percentages of residents who have had at least one shot on the way to full vaccination status. (8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID Unit Doctor Low On Compassion For Unvaccinated People
My patient sat at the edge of his bed gasping for air while he tried to tell me his story, pausing to catch his breath after each word. The plastic tubes delivering oxygen through his nose hardly seemed adequate to stop his chest from heaving. He looked exhausted. He had tested positive for the coronavirus 10 days ago. He was under 50, mildly hypertensive but otherwise in good health. Eight days earlier he started coughing and having severe fatigue. His doctor started him on antibiotics. It did not work. (Anita Sircar, 8/17)
Los Angeles Times:
After The Hospital, Covid Patients Worry Over Next Breath
After the hospital, some COVID-19 patients confront a life tethered to oxygen machines and carrying spare tanks to breathe. (Frank Shyong, 8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID Tests Are Supposed To Be Free. A Loophole Leads To Fees
Free testing was supposed to be a fundamental aspect of America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act explicitly state that patients aren’t responsible for the cost of being tested for the virus. (David Lazarus, 8/19)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Should Be Comfortable Sharing Trauma Of Annual Wildfires
Ever since the pivotal 2019 California wildfire season, when I awoke more fully into the reality of the climate crisis, I’ve often felt alone. This is odd, considering I live in a community surrounded by family and friends and many in my circle work directly on climate issues. But when it comes to talking about my raw, undeniable fears and concerns as a Californian facing more wildfires each year, there has been a well of near silence. As a psychotherapist, I’m particularly curious about how other people experience their own vulnerabilities about wildfires, and how this influences choices and behaviors. In talking to other people — parents, therapists, neighbors, friends and clients — I’m struck by how much Californians don’t want to talk about wildfires, even as we anticipate them every day from May to November. (Ariella Cook-Shonkoff, 8/20)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Newsom Says Mandatory California Water Restrictions Can Wait Six Weeks. Gee, Wonder Why?
Surveying the recently scorched earth of Big Basin Redwoods State Park with the nation’s top environmental official this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that it might be time for mandatory statewide water restrictions — in six weeks or so. What is he waiting for? It’s certainly not evidence of extraordinarily dry conditions that has yet to materialize. California is in its worst drought in about half a century, with 88% of the state experiencing at least extreme drought, the second-driest classification on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s scale. Nearly half the state, including the East Bay and North Bay, are at the driest level, exceptional drought. (8/18)