Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Employers Require COVID Liability Waivers as Conflict Mounts Over Workplace Safety
While Congress negotiates liability protection for reopening businesses as part of its latest pandemic bailout package, some employers are already requiring workers to sign waivers agreeing not to sue if they get COVID-19 on the job. (Harris Meyer, )
Nursing Home Inspectors Say They Weren’t Tested For COVID: Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, California health officials have required nursing homes to bar entry to outsiders who might bring the coronavirus in with them. But there’s one group California health officials have knowingly sent from nursing home to nursing home without first testing them for the lethal virus: state inspectors. In interviews, eight registered nurses working as inspectors said they are exposed to the virus on an almost-daily basis and that they could easily be spreading the disease. Read more from Jack Dolan and Brittny Mejia of the Los Angeles Times.
Vitalant Refusing Blood Donations From Gay, Bisexual Men: Many gay and bisexual men are still being turned away when they volunteer to give blood, even if they meet federal donor criteria. Vitalant, one of the largest blood providers with about 125 donation centers nationwide including six in the Bay Area, won’t take their donations. The blood supplier has yet to update its rules even though it’s been more than three months since the FDA changed its requirements. “I don’t know if it’s pure homophobia, or bureaucracy or what,” said Kirk Read, a nurse in San Francisco who has spoken with the company several times. “There’s no excuse for them to be taking this long when there is a blood shortage.” Read more from Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage and the best of the rest of the news.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Needs To Shut Down Again To Contain Coronavirus, Bay Area Lawmaker Warns
A Bay Area lawmaker is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to put most of California under a second shelter-in-place order, arguing that the state’s management of the coronavirus pandemic is spiraling out of control. State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, put forth a proposal Thursday that would require every county to keep residents at home again, except for essential trips, until the rate of positive tests over 14 days drops below 2% in both the county and its neighbors. As of Wednesday, the statewide positive test rate for the previous week was 7.6%. (Koseff, 7/23)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Lawmaker Calls For New Shelter-In-Place Order For Most Of California
Recent efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus have not worked in California, a Democratic state lawmaker argues, and the state should implement a fresh round of stay-at-home orders. (Nixon, 7/23)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy Dies From COVID-19 Complications
An Alameda County sheriff’s deputy died Thursday evening after a battle with the coronavirus, authorities announced late Thursday. Deputy Oscar Rocha died at 6:45 p.m. from COVID-19 complications, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. “He put up a courageous fight to the end and will never be forgotten,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement. “May he rest in eternal peace.” (Hernandez, 7/23)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Adds 344 Cases COVID-19. No New Deaths
Fresno County reported 344 new cases of the coronavirus and no new deaths on Thursday, according to numbers from the state Department of Health. The new cases bring Fresno County’s total to 11,756 positive cases and 104 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. At least 2,706 people have recovered after testing positive. (Miller, 7/23)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County City Risks Aid Over Business Reopening
California’s Office of Emergency Services director is asking the city of Coalinga in Fresno County to rescind a local resolution to keep businesses open or risk being ineligible for state coronavirus relief funding. Mark Ghilarducci, the CalOES director, sent a letter to the Coalinga city manager on Thursday asking her to rescind the resolution, which currently make the city ineligible for more than $200,000 in state aid. (Calix, 7/23)
Fresno Bee:
Emails Reveal Negotiations Over Fresno County Reopening
In late May, pressure from the local business community was building to reopen Fresno County’s economy after two months of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of records obtained by The Fresno Bee through a Public Records Act request detail the often contentious discussions that took place behind the scenes leading up to the county’s reopening plan request to the state, and soon after. (Amaro, 7/24)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Pediatricians Say Kids At Risk Of Coronavirus
The coronavirus may affect children differently than adults — but they are still susceptible to getting the potentially fatal virus and passing it around, officials with Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera said Thursday. Pediatricians and other officials said they are troubled by a narrative being parroted by some individuals, that children are not prone to getting sick or worse. (Miller, 7/23)
Fresno Bee:
Where Is COVID-19 Rising In San Joaquin Valley Cities?
It’s to be expected that Fresno and other larger Valley cities would be bearing the burden of many of the confirmed coronavirus cases that are part of the global COVID-19 pandemic. But smaller Valley towns are also seeing the impact of hundreds of cases of the virus. (Sheehan, 7/23)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus Updates: 425,600 Infected In California, More Than Any Other State
More people in California have now been infected with the coronavirus than in any other state, surging past the previous record holder New York this week. Over 425,600 Californians have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began, according to the latest state public health data released Thursday morning, compared to over 409,000 in New York. (Yoon-Hendricks, 7/23)
Los Angeles Times:
With Coronavirus Surging, California Workplaces Come Under Greater Scrutiny
With coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths hitting new records this week in California, officials are pushing for greater enforcement of workplace safety rules as a key step in slowing the spread. Cases exploded beginning in June as the state rapidly reopened the economy and people went back to summer routines such as parties and other social gatherings. Community spread is occurring in many areas, but officials have been particularly concerned about workers getting sick at their jobs and then infecting others at home. (Money, Reyes-Velarde and Sisson, 7/24)
Sacramento Bee:
State Workers Face Layoffs At Cal Expo In Sacramento
Cal Expo plans to lay off at least half its staff after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the California State Fair and intensified what was already a difficult financial situation. Tom Martinez, the agency’s chief deputy general manager, said Thursday that Cal Expo expects to lay off more than half of its full-time staff. The agency employs about 75 workers. He said he couldn’t provide exact numbers on the layoffs. (Kasler and Venteicher, 7/24)
Orange County Register:
Disneyland Tightens COVID-19 Mask Requirements At Downtown Disney
Disneyland has tightened requirements on COVID-19 face masks in Downtown Disney with an eye toward strengthening health and safety protocols as three additional locations reopened at the outdoor shopping mall next to Disney’s Anaheim theme parks. The resort has updated two face covering policies at Downtown Disney to prohibit neck gaiters and bandanas and close the so-called “sip and stroll” loophole. (MacDonald, 7/23)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How Stanford Plans To Use Pooled Testing To Prevent Bay Area Coronavirus Outbreaks
Stanford Medicine plans to start a promising method of testing for coronavirus that could significantly speed up efforts to identify cases in the Bay Area. “Pooled testing” — in which a lab processes specimens from multiple people at one time, rather than just one specimen at a time — could potentially be used to conduct frequent, large-scale tests at schools, dorms, nursing homes and prisons. That would make testing faster and more efficient, and thus help prevent outbreaks in those settings. (Ho, 7/23)
Sacramento Bee:
County Says COVID-19 Lab Used Faulty Tests In Prisons
Health officials in Lassen County said state contractors testing for COVID-19 in prisons have been using unreliable methods to collect samples, a misstep that officials worry could have exacerbated an outbreak in the rural California county. In a letter to the state health department this week, Lassen County’s top health official said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation also has allowed infected nurses to transmit the disease — including to a prison healthcare worker — by not using personal protective equipment properly and monitoring themselves for signs of infection. (Pohl, 7/24)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County COVID-19 Contact Tracing Faces Big Case Load
Stanislaus County COVID-19 investigators are struggling to keep up with cases. The state of California is providing contact tracers, but the county reported a backlog of coronavirus recoveries. (Alfaro, 7/23)
Sacramento Bee:
Lincoln Potters Season Ends Due To Positive COVID-19 Test
The Lincoln Potters, a wood bat baseball team located in Lincoln, terminated the remainder of their 2020 summer season on Thursday due to a positive COVID-19 test within the organization. An unidentified player on the team was tested Monday and has been in self-isolation since showing symptoms. No one on the team has been in contact with the player since Sunday, when the Potters played a game against Bay Area Force. (Salerno, 7/23)
Fresno Bee:
Coronavirus: Fresno Elementary Schools Could Reopen In Fall
California school districts in counties on the state’s coronavirus watchlist - like Fresno - have a chance to reopen elementary schools in the fall. Under the school reopening guidelines Gov. Gavin Newsom released Friday, school districts on the watch list can submit a waiver that would exempt elementary schools from closures, according to a statement from the Santa Clara Office of Education. (Velez, 7/23)
Sacramento Bee:
How Sacramento Private Schools Are Weathering COVID-19 Shutdown
As public school districts navigate the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, attending a private school in Sacramento County may seem to provide more assurance. But the severe economic and social turmoil from the pandemic has weighed on the fortunes of private schools as well. Some schools say they have seen an increased demand for enrollment, while others have had to close their doors permanently. Administrators are reporting that parents can no longer afford tuition and fewer donations to support religious private schools. (Hoplamazian, 7/24)
Los Angeles Times:
Schools Need Union Support To Apply For Waivers To Reopen
School districts, charters and private schools in L.A. County may begin applying within days for waivers that would allow them to reopen elementary schools in person — but public schools will have to show they have union support, county public health officials said Thursday. The requirement to show union support will likely give some charters and private schools — most of whose teachers are not unionized — an advantage in qualifying for a waiver, potentially exacerbating the divide between well-off students and their more disadvantaged peers, which has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Agrawal, 7/23)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Learning Hubs’ Opening Across SF To Help 6,000 Kids In Need With Distance Education
San Francisco officials are readying an unprecedented educational assistance program for the fall meant to help up to 6,000 children with their distance-learning needs, as parents and students confront the reality of starting the school year without classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in September, dozens of recreation facilities, libraries and community centers across the city will be transformed into “learning hubs,” spaces where young students who may struggle with remote instruction can go each day to access their digital classwork and the social interactions that virtual schooling cannot provide. (Fracassa, 7/23)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Pandemic Pods’: Good Alternative To Distance Learning Or Unfair Option For The Privileged?
The fear and desperation erupted just over a week ago as parents realized schools would not reopen in August as hoped, and their kids would be stuck in front of screens, again, learning to read and solve equations despite a largely disastrous two months of distance learning in the spring. Privileged parents — those with money and connections — banded together to do something about it. (Tucker, 7/24)
CalMatters:
Families Seek More Access To Loved Ones In Long-Term Care
Maitely Weismann moved her 77-year-old mother from New York into a Los Angeles assisted living facility in mid-March, planning frequent visits to help her settle in. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as California’s pandemic lockdown had just banned virtually all visits in long-term care homes. (Feder Ostrov and Wiener, 7/23)
Sacramento Bee:
Latinos, Diabetes And COVID-19: What You Need To Know
Medical researchers are still studying exactly how the coronavirus affects people with diabetes. One thing, however, is already clear: both diabetes and COVID-19 are affecting Latinos more than other Californians. “In the United States, members of racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by diabetes,” according to David Kerr, a physician and director of research and innovation at the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara. (Bojorquez, 7/24)
Sacramento Bee:
Gavin Newsom May Need To Impose Another COVID-19 Shutdown
Another day, another opportunity for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to demonstrate stunning incompetence in its handling of California’s coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, the Newsom administration announced that the state’s coronavirus emergency is so out of control that the “contact tracing” considered essential to halting the virus’ spread won’t be possible. Newsom didn’t deliver the bad news himself. Instead, he skipped his usual “Newsom at Noon” press briefing and forced California’s Director of Public Health to make the dreadful announcement. (7/23)
CalMatters:
COVID-19 Clobbers Weak Transit Systems
We certainly know that COVID-19 strikes hardest, sometimes fatally, at those who already have weakened bodies, such as the elderly. That’s equally true of the COVID-19 recession. Businesses with weak balance sheets may not weather the sudden loss of income from government-ordered shutdowns and/or customers afraid to venture out. Public services, particularly those dependent on patronage, are not immune, as the state’s public transit systems are proving. (Dan Walters, 7/22)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why Wealth, Privilege And COVID-19 Fear Could Dismantle Berkeley’s Public School System
I live in Berkeley, a city with deep roots in progressive politics and social change movements. Berkeley prides itself on civically minded public schools — the district thrives with adored teachers, well-oiled PTAs, extensive extracurricular programs and hefty financial giving committees. This status is both fortunate and tenuous for a public school district. (Jessica Brown, 7/20)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Woman Hunkers Down To Wait Out COVID-19 Pandemic
The first week of March, I drove to my daughter’s house in Granite Bay, the day of her knee surgery. It felt good as a mother to be needed by my grown daughter. She had called upon me to help her after the birth of their two daughters and to assist with packing during their move to their most recent home. All other visits were mostly holiday and birthday visits. But this one was special. She needed me. (Pauline Sahakian, 7/19)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Program Aims To Diversify Medical Profession
As rising second-year medical students in the UCSF San Joaquin Valley (SJV) program for medical education (PRIME), we spent time during our first year learning how structural racism propagates health-care inequities. Now, we’re seeing structural racism in action with the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic and unjust murders of Black individuals. (Rey Berry, Amitoj Singh, Alejandro Alejandrez and Marcus Cummins, 7/19)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Supervisors Should Be Called Out On COVID-19
We can’t go to movies or plays anymore, but there’s always political theater.Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, two of our more thoughtful, mild-mannered local politicians, were the central players in a fairly heated confrontation over the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Marek Warszawski, 7/21)
Fresno Bee:
When Will Fresno Finally Take The Coronavirus Seriously?
Here’s a question for everyone living within the sound of my keyboard: Are we, as a region, finally ready to take this pandemic seriously? I used “we” intentionally because it’s inclusive. Because it’s going to take each of our combined efforts to rid Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley of COVID-19 and return to some sense of normalcy. (Marek Warszawski, 7/19)