Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Public Health Officials Are Our COVID Commanders. Treat Them With Respect.
This pandemic is like war, and California’s local health officers are leading the state's response. Yet unlike war heroes, who are lionized, they are facing unprecedented attacks and death threats. (Angela Hart, )
Color-coded COVID System Starts Today: Gov. Gavin Newsom's new color-coded reopening system for California counties, which he unveiled Friday, begins today. Under the new ranking system, counties fall into four color-coded categories — purple, red, orange and yellow — depending on the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and the percentage of tests that come back positive, Newsom said. For example, in purple-tiered counties, where COVID is deemed most widespread, restaurants will only be allowed to operate outside. Restaurants in red-tier counties can operate at 25% capacity indoors. Read more from the Sacramento Bee, KCRA, SFGate, Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
Smoke From Fires Won’t Clear Out Quickly: Firefighters on Sunday continued to gain the upper hand on lightning-sparked blazes across California, but the blanket of smoke that has choked the region for the past two weeks is likely to linger, the National Weather Service warned. Winds will slow, and warm, dry conditions will be the norm this week. Read more from the Bay Area News Group and The New York Times.
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
CalMatters:
Indoor Haircuts Are Back As California Tries Reopening Again
On Friday, they got a glimmer of hope: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that starting Aug. 31, hair salons and barber shops across the state will be allowed to reopen indoors with health precautions in place. It seemed like good news for one of the last states to reopen salons, but Jill Cromwell and fellow salon owners were left scrambling to figure out how, exactly, they would be allowed to get back to work. (Hepler, 8/28)
Orange County Register:
South Coast Plaza Reopens Monday As Indoor Mall Limits Lifted
The giant South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa will reopen on Monday, August 31 along with many Southern California indoor malls as the state relaxes some of its pandemic-fighting business limitations. South Coast Plaza says it will reopen its shopping malls with more than 100 shops and 20 restaurants awaiting customers. Mall hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Sunday, when it will be open noon to 7 p.m. (Lansner, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Hair Salons, Malls And Libraries Can Reopen Monday Under New Rules
Hair salons, libraries and shopping malls in Kern County can reopen as soon as Monday with certain restrictions under a new process for reopening businesses unveiled by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday. The newly announced four-tiered, color-coded system is the state’s second attempt at finding a way to allow businesses and other activities to resume in California in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, though this time Newsom said it will happen in a “slow and stringent” way. (Shepard, 8/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Convalescent Plasma Drive To Be Hosted At Kern County Fairgrounds On Sept. 2
Kern County Supervisors Leticia Perez and Mike Maggard are partnering with Houchin Community Blood Bank to host a COVID-19 convalescent plasma drive on Sept. 2 at the Kern County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In order to donate, recovered patients must meet regular blood donation requirements, have tested positive for COVID-19 or for the antibody, as well as have been symptom free for 14 consecutive days. (8/27)
Ventura County Star:
Study Finds Prevalence Of Coronavirus Antibodies In Ventura County
A recent study of COVID-19 antibodies in Ventura County found 1.3% of participants tested positive, although researchers say more data is needed to determine the overall spread. The antibody study took place between June 22 and July 6, during which antibody testing sites were offered in every city in the county on a first-come, first-serve basis. The research found 87 Ventura County residents tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies out of the 6,794 participants. (Childs, 8/30)
The Desert Sun:
Rapid COVID-19 Testing Machines Coming To Coachella Valley
The Desert Healthcare District plans to purchase about a dozen rapid-diagnostic COVID-19 test machines for the clinics in the Coachella Valley that provide low-cost and free health care services. The machines produce test results in 5-13 minutes, quicker than the current diagnostic tests that are offered to the general public at county- and state-run sites. (Hayden, 8/30)
CalMatters:
Why Won't Counties Report Workplace COVID Outbreaks To The Public?
From meat-packing plants to construction sites to lettuce fields, coronavirus has exploded in essential workplaces across California. But since the state lacks a uniform policy for reporting workplace outbreaks, the job of notifying the public, particularly workers, has fallen to county public health departments. That results in statewide inconsistencies, raising questions about who exactly — employer or employee — ends up protected. While some officials err on the side of transparency, others refuse to disclose outbreaks in order to preserve cooperation from employers who aren’t legally obligated to report outbreaks. (Botts, Du Sault and Tobias, 8/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Local Couple Launches Effort To 'Mask Up To Open Up'
In the hopes of getting back to some semblance of normal life, a Bakersfield couple is hoping to appeal to a particular trait well-known among locals: coming together for a good cause. Shanna Treanor, a dermatologist with Bakersfield Dermatology, and her husband, Fernando Fan, local chief of pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente, have started a campaign to encourage mask wearing, which they believe is essential to stop the spread of COVID-19. With their two teenage sons, the family designed a logo of a masked emoji and a slogan — Mask Up to Open Up — and had yard signs made. For $20 — the cost to print the sign — anyone who wants to spread the message can get one. And coming soon: face masks and decals. (Shepard, 8/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
No Masks Required For November's Election As Elections Division Expresses Confidence In Process
It may not seem like it, but this year’s election is just around the corner. County elections divisions around the state are preparing for Nov. 3, when residents will not only cast their votes for a slew of local politicians, but also the president of the United States. This year, however, the process promises to be unlike anything in the country’s history. The coronavirus pandemic has changed social norms and upended expectations about how voters can expect to participate in November’s election. Several states have already experienced issues with primary elections that have been changed because of COVID-19, with long lines and delays happening in places such as Wisconsin and Kentucky. To help answer some of the questions that local voters may have about the election, Kern County Auditor-Controller Mary Bedard, who oversees the Elections Division, sent out a news release answering some of the most frequent inquiries her office receives. (Morgen, 8/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento, Elk Grove School Districts Report COVID-19 Cases
More employees at local school districts have tested positive for coronavirus, according to officials. Sacramento City Unified confirmed two different employee infections across the district. At Woodbine Elementary School, north of Meadowview, an employee who worked during a materials distribution event in preparation for upcoming school year of distance learning tested positive for the virus recently. (Moleski, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
What The First Week Of Distance Learning Looked Like In Kern County
Every year, Mira Monte High School Principal William Sandoval mentally prepares himself for things to go wrong when school starts, but this year worried him more than usual. The first big bump in the road came Monday morning with the worldwide Zoom outage that brought the first hour of distance learning screeching to a halt for thousands of students in the county. “That first morning was like, ‘Oh, God,’” he laughed. But by the end of the week he was breathing a sigh of relief: “This time last week, I didn’t think I’d be sitting here today feeling the way I feel now.” (Gallegos, 8/29)
Orange County Register:
Saddleback Valley District Sends Layoff Notices To 174 Employees
The Saddleback Valley Unified School District has sent layoff notices to 174 of its employees. The notices, which went out as reduction-in-force notices, were made out of concern those employees won’t be needed if in-class instruction doesn’t resume in coming weeks, Assistant Superintendent Connie Cavanaugh said. Capistrano Unified and Los Alamitos Unified recently made similar layoff decisions. (8/30)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Cal Fire Takes Public Health Measures To Protect Firefighters Battling LNU Lightning Complex Blazes
Before entering the Cal Fire base camp at Calistoga Fairgrounds, firefighters and other personnel must pass through a tent containing a mass fever screening system using thermal imaging to measure their skin temperature. The line for fever screening, a necessary precaution in the age of COVID-19, tends to be longest before 7 a.m., when firefighters begin their 24-hour shifts. (Murphy, 8/30)
Fresno Bee:
Wildfire Smoke Amid The Pandemic Hurt California Farmworkers
Already facing a brutal summer of triple-digit temperatures and the coronavirus pandemic, the region’s 420,000 farmworkers faced dangerous air during the peak harvest season. And while air quality in the central San Joaquin Valley improved as the week went on, it remains unhealthy. San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District urged residents to stay indoors over the weekend. (Lopez, 8/30)
CalMatters:
California Governor Signs Bill To Ban Flavored Tobacco
Cotton candy vape, tropical fusion cigarillos and menthol cigarettes will be extinct in California after a bill aimed at stopping kids from getting addicted to tobacco sailed through the Legislature today— and the governor almost immediately signed it. Even so, it’s been an uphill battle for the bill, whose supporters have tried to ban flavored tobacco statewide before and failed. This time, the bill was helped along by skyrocketing vaping among teens, several marijuana vape-related deaths last year, concerns about respiratory health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortened legislative session and a supportive governor. (Aguilera, 8/28)
Los Angeles Times:
California Lawmakers Vote To Phase Out Toxic Firefighting Foam
California lawmakers voted Sunday to phase out the sale and use of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and have contaminated drinking water throughout the state. The measure, put forward by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), requires municipal fire departments, chemical plants and oil refineries to gradually stop using the foam, replacing it with alternatives that don’t contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals commonly known as PFAS. (Phillips, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
With Renters On The Verge Of Eviction, Lawmakers Push Compromise Bill To Stall Wave Of Possible Homelessness
For the past four months, Taft resident Norma Arias has watched helplessly as the bills piled up on a small shelf next to a couch in her living room. A stroke left her partially paralyzed and unable to work in 2013, and ever since she has depended on her son for help paying the mortgage. But when the coronavirus pandemic swept across the United States earlier this year, she says her son, who is a fieldworker, suddenly found work sporadic to nonexistent. (Morgen, 8/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
Covid-19 Transforms Lawmaking, Lobbying In California’s Capital
Every August, lobbyists here typically zip between lawmakers’ offices or park themselves in the halls of the state Capitol, seeking to shape bills that pass in the closing days of the legislative session.But this year, the coronavirus pandemic has upended the California capital, with most staff and advocates working from home as access to the building has greatly diminished. The result is a striking shift in the way laws are made in the nation’s most populous state and world’s fifth-largest economy. (Mai-Duc and Lzao, 8/30)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Residential Care Homes For Elderly In Sonoma County Struggle With Deadly Coronavirus Transmission
Before the coronavirus entered Primrose assisted living center in Santa Rosa, executive director John Wotring said he and his staff had done everything they were supposed to do: screen employees daily, take their temperatures and measure oxygen levels in their blood. In early August, a single resident spiked a fever and tested positive for the highly contagious infectious disease. That triggered widespread testing of all workers and residents and a tortuous public health odyssey Wotring is still trying to figure out. (Espinoza, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Health Care Worker Food Distribution Fosters Community Connectivity
Hundreds of meals were donated to local front-line health care workers Thursday courtesy of RiverLakes Community Church, Life Saver Safety and Hodel’s Country Dining. RiverLakes Pastor Angelo Frazier said it was the fifth meal giveaway his church has taken part in as a way to show appreciation to various sectors of the community. (Wilson, 8/27)
Bay Area News Group:
Santa Clara Church Holds Indoor Service Despite County Ban
The South Bay church that has already racked up thousands of dollars in fines for defying public-health orders against indoor gatherings held another service Sunday, garnering a new citation even as parishioners spoke out in defiance. The COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of more sanctions against the church didn’t stop parishioner Priscilla Montes from attending service Sunday morning at North Valley Baptist Church, a controversial Santa Clara ministry that has continued to hold indoor worship in violation of a county public health order. (Woo and Almond, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Latino COVID-19 Taskforce Formed In Attempt To Quell Disproportionate Rates
A task force has been formed that aims to provide outreach, education and awareness on COVID-19 to the Latino community, which has been disproportionately impacted by the virus. The Latino COVID-19 Taskforce was co-founded by Jay Tamsi, attorneys H.A. Sala and David A. Torres, as well as Matt Constantine, director of the Kern County Public Health Services Department. The coalition will consist of at least 28 members from different industries throughout Kern County, with many of them being “prominent leaders” in the Latino community, according to Tamsi, who is serving as the project manager. (Wilson, 8/30)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Black People Say Racism Takes Toll On Mental Health
Being Black and living in Fresno takes a mental and physical toll for people of color trying to make it in a city that has privileged its white residents, people interviewed for the Fresno Voices project say. The weight from constantly facing dismissive, demeaning or otherwise hostile environments or people in historically white spaces has been called “Racial Battle Fatigue,” a term coined in 2008 by critical race theorist William Smith. (Miller, 8/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
'Ankle-Biter' Mosquito Now A Permanent Resident Of Kern
One benefit Bakersfield has long enjoyed — a benefit millions of Americans do not have — has been the ability to take a walk on a spring or summer evening, or sip a drink on an unprotected porch, without being “eaten up” by swarms of mosquitoes. Residents who have moved here from places like New Hampshire or Florida, Louisiana or Georgia, are thrilled to learn they have more freedom to be outdoors in arid Kern County. But recent changes to the mosquito population in the southern San Joaquin Valley could force residents to get serious about spraying on mosquito repellant along with their perfume or aftershave. (Mayer, 8/28)