Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California Prisons Are COVID Hotbeds Despite Billions Spent On Inmate Health
At $3.6 billion a year, California spends more on prison health care than other states spend to run their entire prison systems. But despite the spending, and federal court oversight, prisons across California are struggling to contain deadly outbreaks of COVID-19. (Dan Morain, )
'More Than Physical Health': Gym Helps 91-Year-Old Battle Isolation
For Art Ballard, the local gym was like his second home. The 91-year-old former jeweler relied on his near-daily workouts to stay healthy and for social interaction. But when California instituted its stay-at-home order, Ballard’s physical health suffered. So did his mental health. (Heidi de Marco, )
Breaking News: Supreme Court deals a blow to abortion opponents, rejects Louisiana clinic law (Los Angeles Times)
Bars Are Forced To Shut Again, And Some Owners Aren’t Happy: Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered seven California counties where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly to close their bars Sunday. He also recommended but did not require that bars close or remain shuttered in eight other counties, including Santa Clara and Contra Costa in the Bay Area. “COVID-19 is still circulating in California, and in some parts of the state, growing stronger,” Newsom said in a statement. “That’s why it is critical we take this step.” At least one bar owner in Fresno, Tim Ferrigan, owner of Tower District Speakeasy The Library at Detention, said he was not happy with the decision. “It’s very difficult to do business in California,” he said. Read more from Alexei Koseff, Matt Kawahara and Matthias Gafni of the San Francisco Chronicle and Yesenia Amaro of The Fresno Bee.
So Far, So Good: Contact Tracing Succeeding In Bay Area: The Bay Area’s efforts to track coronavirus cases and prevent the spread of disease are showing early signs of success, although plans to directly contact a vast majority of people who tested positive still face daunting challenges. Still, the region’s early progress is encouraging, even as coronavirus cases spike across California. “We knew early on that there were going to be challenges with effectively doing case investigation and contact tracing with this number of cases in a pandemic of this scale,” said Dr. Nick Moss, acting director of Alameda County’s Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention. “This is really unprecedented compared to what health departments are usually doing.” Read more from Mallory Moench of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Times:
California Mask Order Tests Limits Of Newsom's Power
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order June 18 requiring all Californians to wear face masks came as welcome news to those in the state concerned by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum instead greeted the mandate with a message of defiance. “Our governor does NOT have that unilateral power to make such orders,” Senum said in a Facebook post, joining sheriffs in Orange, Riverside, Sacramento and Fresno counties who have said they will refuse to enforce Newsom’s decree. (Willon, 6/29_
Los Angeles Times:
Despite Alarming California Coronavirus Spike, Don’t Expect Stay-At-Home Orders To Quickly Return
Despite an alarming spike in both coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, California health officials appear to have little appetite at least right now for a widespread retreat from reopening of the economy. Over the last few weeks, California has seen itself go from coronavirus success story to cautionary tale as COVID-19 cases hit new record daily highs and the number of people getting sick enough to require hospitalization spiked. (Lin II and Greene, 6/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Charts Show The Hot Spots Driving California’s ‘Sobering’ Coronavirus Surge
California reported record new daily coronavirus case counts this week and a surge in hospitalizations, as the state continues to reopen businesses and allows for more outdoor and indoor activities. But what about in the Bay Area?Cases here have nearly doubled in the past month, and sharp spikes this week indicate an alarming trend. But a Chronicle analysis of county-by-county data shows that the Bay Area has not been among the biggest contributors to the statewide surge thus far, with cases-per-capita remaining below the state average for the past 14 days and well below the hot spots driving the surge. (Hwang and Massa, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
With Coronavirus Cases Surging Across California, Where Can The Bay Area Look For Answers?
Walking along the sunny streets of the Bay Area last week, one might think the coronavirus had finally retreated. Restaurants and cafes, from San Francisco to Sonoma, resumed business on newly fashioned sidewalk patios. Retailers welcomed customers back inside. Even some breweries offered cold beer and crowds in place of solitary shelter. (Palomino, Fagan and Saracevic, 6/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Rural California More Likely To Defy Gov. Newsom’s Mask Order
Perched behind the counter of his cramped memorabilia shop in downtown Placerville, co-owner Lorenzo Smith isn’t about to tell his customers they have to put on a mask. It’s a matter of principle, he isn’t convinced it’s necessary, and he doesn’t particularly care that Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered Californians to wear them. (Kasler, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
As California Opens Up, Companies Want Workers Back. Some Are Afraid To Return
Companies are reopening in California, and employees are returning to work. But with the global pandemic still raging and cases of coronavirus infection rising disturbingly in San Francisco and other parts of the state, many are worried about exposure on the job. For Emily Hering, a part-time barista at Philz Coffee in Palo Alto, a big fear is that she might get laid off for declining to return. (DiFeliciantonio, 6/28)
Los Angeles Times:
Hugo's Tacos Closes After Employees Face Harassment Over Masks
Hugo’s Tacos announced Sunday that it will temporarily close its two locations in Los Angeles after employees reported a mounting onslaught of harassment from customers angered by the business’ “no mask, no service” policy. The harassment, ranging from racial epithets to drinks being hurled at workers through order windows, has taken an emotional toll on the mostly Latino employees, Hugo’s Tacos part-owner Bill Kohne told The Times. (Newberry, 6/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Three New Midtown Sacramento Bars Close For COVID-19
Two nightclubs are shutting down just a week after reopening, citing concerns over a patron who tested positive for the coronavirus, as other midtown Sacramento bars are closing their doors amid a surge in reported cases statewide. Badlands and The Depot, well-known in Lavender Heights as institutions popular with the LGBTQ community, will be closing for at least a week in order to deep clean after a customer who visited one of the bars confirmed that they had acquired the highly contagious virus. (Moleski, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento CA Corti Brothers Open After Coronavirus Closure
Longtime East Sacramento grocery store Corti Brothers reopened Sunday after closing Friday. Someone who had been inside the store “regularly” had tested positive for the coronavirus, the store reported. A white sign posted on the front of the market Friday said there was a positive test for COVID-19 “from someone who has been inside our market regularly.” The parking lot of family-run operation at Folsom Boulevard and 59th Street was empty Friday afternoon. (Ahumada and Patrick, 6/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus CA: Paesanos Restaurant Closed Due To COVID-19
As reported coronavirus infection numbers continue to rise, a string of businesses in midtown Sacramento have voluntarily closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the community. Paesanos is the latest to temporarily shut down after learning of an infection among staff. (Moleski, 6/28)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno County Coronavirus Case Count For June 27, 2020
In about one month since the city of Fresno ended its shelter-in-place orders, Fresno County’s coronavirus-related death total as well as confirmed cases of COVID-19 have almost tripled. In addition, the county has had nearly as many additional people hospitalized due to COVID-19 than it had registered during the first three months of the pandemic when the city of Fresno’s shelter-in-place was enforced. (Anteola, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento, Yolo Counties Run Out Of Key Coronavirus Drug
As the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients surges, Sacramento and Yolo counties have run out of their allotment of the only antiviral drug that has been proven effective in clinical trials against severe cases of the respiratory disease. “We currently do not have remdesivir,” said Carolyn Jhajj, the interim public information officer for Yolo County, in an email response to The Sacramento Bee’s query. “We have requested an allocation from the state, but cannot estimate as to when it will be received since allocation is based on greatest need across the state.” (Anderson, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘There’s A Cocktail Out There That Can Cure This’: Inside A UCSF-Led Quest To Exploit The Coronavirus’ Weak Spots
How, exactly, does the coronavirus hijack and reprogram human cells to sicken and kill? This question has obsessed Nevan Krogan since February, when the UCSF virus expert and his colleagues realized, before many did, that things in America would get very bad very fast. Since then, the question has only grown more urgent, and for the past four months, Krogan and an ever-expanding team of scientific collaborators in San Francisco and around the world have turned their labs upside down, prying out secrets of the virus that might point to a cure. (Fagone, 6/28)
CalMatters:
Where To Get Financial Help During Coronavirus In California — And Is It Enough?
From hotel rooms for people who are homeless to restaurant meals for seniors isolating for their lives, California has rapidly expanded its safety net in an attempt to catch millions of residents impacted by the coronavirus and its economic aftershocks. In daily press conferences during the pandemic’s first months, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new “first-in-the-nation” plans to protect vulnerable Californians from illness or financial distress at a dizzying pace. But months in, the pandemic safety net strains and sometimes snaps under the weight of Californians’ needs. (Botts, 6/29)
Sacramento Bee:
Kaiser Leads $100 Million Effort To Fight Systemic Racism
Kaiser Permanente is leading a $100 million effort to expand economic opportunities, combat systemic and structural racism, and break the cycle of trauma for African Americans and people in other underrepresented communities. “The tragic murder of George Floyd and so many others has reverberated around the world, pushing us to demand overdue change to a status quo that keeps communities of color in the margins and holds us all back as a society,” said Greg A. Adams, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, in a news release. (Anderson, 6/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Activists Demand Release Of Andres Guardado Autopsy Report
A coalition of community activists gathered Sunday at a street memorial in Gardena for Andres Guardado, who was fatally shot June 18 by an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy, and called on Sheriff Alex Villanueva to release the autopsy report of the 18-year-old. “Villanueva has to be held accountable,” Najee Ali of Project Islamic Hope said in a phone interview. “He is saying the investigation will be transparent, but he had blocked release of the autopsy. It is important not just for the family, but the whole city is watching this case.” (Curwen, 6/28)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Chief District Judge Steps Down Over Comments About Black Clerk
The chief judge for the Central District of California, the nation’s largest federal court jurisdiction, which includes Los Angeles and its neighboring counties, has stepped down from that post, citing his racially insensitive comments regarding the court’s top administrative official, a Black woman. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who began a four-year term as chief district judge June 1, announced his decision to step down from the top post but remain a judge in an email Friday to court staff and fellow judges, and offered a public apology to Kiry K. Gray. (Hamilton, 6/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
London Breed: Black Mayor. Raised In Poverty, Surrounded By Violence. How Will She Handle Police Reform?
The country is in the midst of a sweeping and historic national reckoning over police brutality, and for San Francisco Mayor London Breed, the political has perhaps never been more personal. Born poor and raised in a Western Addition housing project so dangerous and decrepit it earned the nickname OC, for “out of control,” she saw much of her upbringing marked by violence, death, and a constant, often hostile police presence, fueled in part by a flourishing drug trade. (Fracassa, 6/29)
Fresno Bee:
Kings County, CA Reports Two Coronavirus Nursing Home Deaths
Two more residents of nursing homes have died of coronavirus-related complications in Kings County, the Department of Public Health in Hanford reported Sunday. Deaths in skilled nursing facilities rose to 13, increasing total fatalities in the county to 24 when including the general population (eight) and Avenal State Prison (three). The county added 32 positive test results in the community, increasing the caseload among the general population to 1,090, with 561 recovered. (Valenzuela, 6/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Employee At Sacramento School Tests Positive For COVID-19
An employee at a middle school in Meadowview tested positive for coronavirus, according to district officials. In a statement, the Sacramento City Unified School District said that the employee worked at John Still Middle School, located near Interstate 5 and Cosumnes River Boulevard. The school district learned that the employee — whose identity is not being released due to health privacy regulations — tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, and Sacramento County health officials confirmed the results on Friday. (Moleski, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
What Are The California School Rules For Online Learning?
When it comes to education, the new state budget goes beyond providing $70.5 billion in funding for K-12 schools — it sets fundamental accountability rules for a new era of distance learning in California by requiring teachers to take online attendance and document student learning. The budget bill, which Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign, anticipates that schools will continue to rely heavily on online instruction when campuses reopen in the fall. It also implicitly acknowledges the deep learning losses of the last semester, especially among students from low-income families, when school systems struggled to get all students online. (Blume and Esquivel, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Transfer Of Inmates From San Quentin Halted After 2 Test Positive For Coronavirus
In the midst of a major coronavirus outbreak at San Quentin State Prison that has thrown the facility into turmoil, an emergency transfer of incarcerated men to a prison in the Bakersfield area has been halted after two people on the transfer list tested positive for the virus, The Chronicle has learned. “Additional testing for COVID-19 being conducted on the inmates scheduled for transfer revealed two positive cases,” Dana Simas, a state corrections spokeswoman, said in an email. “Those inmates are now in isolation and under medical watch.” (Cassidy, Fagone and Swan, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
California Program To Assist Immigrants Affected By Coronavirus Continues To Be Plagued By Delays
Two months after Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged money to help as many as 150,000 immigrants without legal status who have lost work or wages during the coronavirus crisis, fewer than half that number have received the $500 payments, officials say as the program nears its original end date. The state deadline to apply for the funds is Tuesday and only 69,000 debit cards providing the cash have been issued as of Thursday. In all, about $33 million has been paid out from a total of $75 million allocated by Newsom, officials said. (McGreevy, 6/26)
Sacramento Bee:
TMZ Catches Jabari Parker Playing Tennis In Chicago
The Kings are looking into reports that forward Jabari Parker was caught on camera playing tennis in a Chicago-area park Saturday, just three days after revealing he had tested positive for the coronavirus. TMZ reported Parker was seen playing tennis without a mask at Longfellow Park in Oak Park, Ill., adding he was also spotted in a Chicago restaurant recently. Parker reportedly explained he had completed a required period of isolation, but he might have broken NBA COVID-19 protocols that require players to refrain from physical activity for a minimum of 14 days. (Anderson, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
For Bay Area Fitness Fans, Working Out Virtually At Home A Big Trend
One thousand percent. That’s how much kettlebell sales are up in the United States since this time last year, according to a study by eBay, Google and Gymcatch. The popularity of the round weights with a handle, favored for their flexible uses in workouts, is just one indicator of how much people are relying on at-home fitness, either because gyms are closed or they fear going out during the coronavirus pandemic. (Simmons, 6/27)