Los Angeles Daily News: Coronavirus Numbers Continue To Improve As Vaccination Rates Climb 
Nearly 50 percent of Americans have received at least one vaccine shot, and though the pace has slowed, the share is still growing by about two percentage points per week, a federal official said Sunday, May 23. Local trends are headed in the same positive direction — among Los Angeles residents aged 16 and over, 61% have received at least one dose, and 47% are now considered fully vaccinated, according to public health officials. “I think by June, we’re probably going to be at one infection per a hundred thousand people per day, which is a very low level,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday on the CBS show, “Face the Nation.” (5/23)

City News Service: LA County Officials Report More Cases Of The UK Coronavirus Variant 
Los Angeles County reported 265 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths on Saturday, May 22, as officials reported more cases of the UK variant B.1.1.7. Of the 40 specimens analyzed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health laboratory in the past week, 53% were the UK variant and none were the California variant. The lab also detected six Brazil (P.1) variants last week and one South African variant (B.1.351). (5/22)

Sacramento Bee: CA To End COVID-19 Social Distance, Capacity Limits In June 
California businesses will be able to open their doors on June 15 without the COVID-19 capacity and social distancing restrictions that have been in place for more than a year, according to the state’s top public health officials. During a Friday press call, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said California is on track to meet the reopening criteria Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in April. On Saturday, another milestone was reached as federal officials said half of Californians 18 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Wiley, 5/21)

Bay Area News Group: California, Texas, New York, Florida: Comparing COVID Rates
Perhaps no states represent the red-blue divide better than deeply Democratic California and New York and Republican-run Texas and Florida. And their approaches to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, from mask rules to shutdowns to online schools, have been quite different, with the Golden and Empire states more aggressive with public health mandates while the Sunshine and Lone Star states have been out front on reopening. But there is one thing they now share: COVID-19 case rates have been falling in all four of the country’s largest states, particularly over the last month, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And experts say their similar fates can’t simply be explained by the success of vaccines. (Woolfolk, 5/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: These California Metro Areas Now Have The Lowest Coronavirus Case Rates In The U.S.
The pandemic is in retreat across the U.S. — especially in California, which continues to record the lowest coronavirus case rate of all U.S. states and is home to four of the 10 metropolitan areas with the lowest rates. The Salinas area on Sunday had the lowest rate of daily new cases out of about 400 metro areas in the country, at 0.6 per 100,000 population, according to the nonprofit data website COVID Act Now. At No. 2 lowest was the Santa Cruz metro area, with 0.7 cases per 100,000. (Hwang, 5/23)

Bay Area News Group: Humboldt County COVID Resurgence Expected To Peak In July 
As California’s June 15 reopening quickly approaches, Humboldt County Public Health officials are preparing to lift masking guidelines amid a local resurgence of COVID-19. Humboldt County Public Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman told reporters Wednesday that, despite the resurgence, public health supports the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will follow the California Department of Public Health’s direction in lifting masking requirements next month. (Vanderheiden, 5/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: The Pandemic Will End, But The Coronavirus Is Probably Here To Stay. Here's Why 
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a long and rocky road, and two words have come to symbolize its exit ramp: herd immunity. Since the start of the vaccine rollout, public officials have stressed that immunizing enough of the population would eventually stop the spread of the coronavirus. Each day, an online dashboard tracks San Diego County’s progress toward that goal. But what happens once we reach it? If you’re expecting the virus to vanish, think again, says Natasha Martin, an infectious disease modeler at UC San Diego. (Wosen, 5/22)

NBC News: Faced With Anti-Vaccination Parents, Teens Are Helping One Another Get Covid Shots
Parental consent is something children have to contend with across the country, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach as states have differing rules. Nearly all states require consent from a parent or guardian to administer a Covid-19 vaccine shot to children ages 12 to 15, the group the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved for shots this month, according to a recent CNN analysis. ... In California, for example, minors can’t get the Covid-19 vaccination without their parents’ consent, according to the vaccine information website VaxTeen. (Gostanian and Siemaszko, 5/23)

The Bakersfield Californian: Vaccination Of Young People In Kern Is Increasing 
Coronavirus vaccinations among young people have doubled in the past three weeks in Kern County, as 12- to 15-year-olds became eligible for the inoculation. Doses administered to those up to age 17 in Kern grew from about 5,000 at the start of May to 10,000 on Thursday, according to state data. In total, about 2.8 percent of vaccines administered in Kern have gone to 12- to 17-year-olds, which tracks with the statewide rate of 3 percent. (The state groups vaccine data by age range, in this case 0-17, even though you currently must be at least 12 to get a vaccine). (Shepard, 5/21)

Roll Call: Parents Getting Kids Shots Left Out Of COVID-19 Paid Leave Options
The Biden administration and some employers have not extended COVID-19 vaccine paid leave policies to parents helping kids get shots, which children's health advocates say could make it difficult for some of the most vulnerable to get vaccinated. ... Unlike adults, most kids need help scheduling and getting to and from appointments. And some vaccine sites — including CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid— require an adult to accompany a teen to their COVID-19 vaccine appointment. But some caregivers do not have the option to take off work. (Cohen, 5/21)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern Employers Take Lenient Approach To Workplace Vaccination Policies 
Employees' gradual return to traditional workplaces around Kern is raising thorny questions about how — or in some cases, whether — to accommodate workers who resist getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In a county where the latest state data shows about 41 percent of eligible residents have been at least partially inoculated against the virus, some companies say they are working with employees reticent to get vaccinated. Even local hospitals report encouraging but not requiring their staff to get shots. (Cox, 5/22)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Some Sonoma County Businesses Saying No To ‘Vaccine Passports’
Mired in the orange tier for a month and a half now, many Sonoma County businesses are operating at limited capacity, a disadvantage that cuts into profit margins or, in some cases, has discouraged venues from reopening at all. (Barber, 5/23)

KQED: Oakland Coliseum Mass Vax Site Set To Shut Down
The mass vaccination site at the Oakland Coliseum is set to close on May 23, with city officials touting it as a huge success. The site was one of two in California operated in conjunction with the state Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Mizuguchi, 5/23)

KQED: South Hayward’s Trailing Vaccination Rate — And What’s Being Done About It 
South Hayward has one of the highest rates of per-capita deaths in Alameda County. It also has one of the lowest vaccination rates. Some aren’t sure whether they want the vaccine, but there are also many other barriers related to language, work and access. For volunteers, county officials and community clinics, addressing these barriers is central to a monthslong, on-the-ground effort to get more people vaccinated in a neighborhood with many immigrants and low-wage workers. (Katayama, et al., 5/24)

Orange County Register: Almost No Nursing Home In America Was Safe From COVID-19, Federal Study Finds 
Months after it became painfully clear that older people were the most likely to die from COVID-19, poor infection control resulted in multiple, sustained outbreaks at the overwhelming majority of the nation’s nursing homes, according to reports from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Of the 50 states and District of Columbia, California ranked 19th worst for sustained COVID-19 outbreaks lasting more than five weeks from May 2020 to January 2021. (Sforza, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Made IUDs Affordable — One Reason For California's COVID Baby Bust 
The humble IUD, shorthand for intrauterine device, is just one of many reasons California is expected to see almost 50,000 fewer births in 2021, the nadir of a national COVID-19 “baby bust” that has sparked political backlash and left young families and would-be parents drowning in demographic quicksand. While Californians put off pregnancy in many other ways — among them prescription-free pills, self-injected hormones, and higher rates of abstinence and abortion — experts say the tiny T-shaped device helped an unprecedented number ghost the stork in recent months. (Sharp, 5/24)

Los Angeles Times: Kevin McCarthy Might Have Had COVID-19 At Son's Wedding 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) earlier this year said he took “every precaution” before ignoring state rules and attending a maskless wedding ceremony and reception for his son during a December surge in COVID-19 cases in California. What McCarthy did not disclose in defending the San Luis Obispo County gathering was that he learned later that he had tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus. (Pringle and Lin II, 5/22)

Bay Area News Group: How Bay Area Families Are Coping With Post-COVID Social Anxiety
Sociologists and psychologists alike say this social anxiety makes sense: We’ve all lived through a traumatic global event. As a lethal virus raced through the population, we quickly rearranged our lives and adopted new daily habits. We became accustomed to wearing masks in public and not shaking hands — pandemic habits many believe could become new social norms. And we got used to not being with other human beings, as book clubs, parties, proms, first dates, 12-step meetings and holiday celebrations moved online. Right now, people are going through what Yale physician and sociologist Nicholas A. Christakis calls the “immediate post-pandemic period,” which he says will continue at least until vaccines become widely available or we achieve herd immunity. (Ross, 5/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Pandemic Disrupted Many Bay Area Lives. For Those With Dementia, It Was Catastrophic 
The pandemic has disrupted many lives over the past year. But for those with dementia, it’s been catastrophic. The pandemic forced assisted care facilities and nursing homes to close to the outside world and to confine residents to their rooms. The isolation was devastating. Data shows that 690,000 people aged 65 and older in California have Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Nationwide, Alzheimer’s and dementia deaths increased 16% during the pandemic. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the most frequent comorbidities associated with COVID deaths are influenza and pneumonia, which accounted for nearly 46% of all deaths, hypertension at 19.7%, diabetes at 16% and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias at 13.4%. (Ravani, 5/23)

The Bakersfield Californian: As Psychiatrists Turn To Psychedelics, Treatment Center In Bakersfield Says Ketamine Offers Patients Hope 
Deirdra O’Neill had nearly lost hope. The 44-year-old former paramedic had been diagnosed with multiple auto-immune diseases, a degenerative disc disease and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. She frequently battled intense pain that left her debilitated. “I had to quit working and was declared permanently disabled,” she said in a recent phone interview. “I was living for my kids. That’s the only reason I was trying to fight things to be able to live. ”But after undergoing a new form of psychiatric therapy, she says she feels like she has a new lease on life. Her pain has subsided, her PTSD has reduced, and she says she is able to stop taking some of the narcotic drugs she had been prescribed. (Morgen, 5/23)

USA Today: Protected To Death? COVID-19 Spurs Rally For Essential Caregiving Laws
In many long-term care facilities, there are the regular visitors – family members who arrive daily to talk, clip nails, ensure meals don’t sit untouched, comb hair and, in quiet moments, hold hands. Last summer, after several months of being locked out of facilities because of  the coronavirus pandemic, the regulars grew increasingly concerned that their loved ones were suffering from prolonged isolation. Through Facebook and Twitter, hundreds, then thousands of these caregivers joined efforts. From New York to Illinois to California, advocates have rallied state and federal lawmakers to enact laws that will permit such essential caregivers to enter long-term care settings, even during a public health emergency. They’ve organized email blasts, rallies, even a travelling yard sign campaign. (Marshall-Chalmers, 5/22)

KQED: Nurses At Chinese Hospital Plan To Strike, Denouncing Poor Working Conditions 
Nurses at San Francisco's historic Chinese Hospital say they plan to strike Tuesday to protest poor working conditions and to push for a fair contract with hospital management. Nurses say low staffing and issues with patient safety have hindered recruitment efforts for new registered nurses for the more than 100-year-old hospital, which aims to offer culturally sensitive and affordable healthcare to the local Chinese community. (Frenes, 5/24)

Visalia Times-Delta: Shuttered Pain Clinic Leaves Tulare County Patients Scrambling
Lags Medical Centers, which has multiple pain management clinics across the state including in Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Merced counties, have abruptly closed leaving patients coping with chronic pain scrambling to find alternative care. Lags, which on its website touts it operates 38 clinics in 25 counties with nearly 30,000 patients across California and Nevada, said it specialized in treating "a large base of underserved Medicaid/Medicare patients who often experience challenges in accessing healthcare."  (Ward, 5/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Hunger Remains At Pandemic-Crisis Levels As Officials Push For Food Hubs
Before the pandemic, 1 in 4 San Franciscans was at risk of hunger due to low income. As unemployment exploded, the problem only grew, with needs highest among communities of color, according to a city survey last year. The city pumped money into new programs, delivering millions of meals or bags of groceries through partnerships with food banks, restaurants, schools and community groups to seniors, low-income families and patients exposed to or infected with COVID-19. (Moench, 5/23)

CapRadio: ‘It’s Heartbreaking.’: Sacramento County’s Affordable Housing Shortage Continues To Squeeze Lowest-Income Renters 
The Sacramento County 2021 Affordable Housing Needs Report by the nonprofit California Housing Partnership found the county has a shortfall of 58,383 affordable homes for its lowest-income renters. That means a shortage for retail workers, janitors, child care workers and home health aides and more — all who make approximately $10 per hour less than what’s needed to afford the average rent. (Nichols, 5/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Touts Successes In Moving Homeless Off The Streets. But The Reality Is Complicated
Despite the hundreds of millions of local, state and federal dollars spent on emergency homelessness programs this past year, Mixon — and many others in the neighborhood — feel the Tenderloin has devolved during the pandemic. At the same time, city officials say they’ve made major strides: Thousands who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets are now sheltering in hotels or sanctioned tent sites, where they get three meals a day, services and around-the-clock security. Hundreds more have been moved into permanent supportive housing. (Thadani and Deloso, 5/24)

Sacramento Bee: Will California Students, Teachers Wear Masks In Fall Class? 
Mask mandates are rapidly changing, leaving many parents wondering what school policies will look like in the fall for their children.State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said California will effectively end its mask mandate on June 15, when the state plans to fully reopen. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already provided guidance saying vaccinated people shouldn’t be required to wear masks in most indoor situations. (Morrar, 5/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: How Much Longer Do Children Need To Wear Masks? Bay Area Experts Weigh In
Most Californians are looking forward to the day they can ditch their masks — a marker that the coronavirus pandemic is nearly over. But for parents with children not yet eligible for vaccination, the state’s June 15 date for dropping rules on face coverings, physical distancing and other mitigation measures may signal a new era of anxiety. (Vaziri, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: What Will The LAUSD School Openings Look Like In The Fall? 
What schooling will look like in Los Angeles Unified in the fall will be settled over the next few weeks amid escalating demands from parents, advocacy groups and unions — all pressing their agendas for the educational recovery of some 465,000 students.One group of parents on Sunday put their stake in the ground: They demanded that district officials commit to a normal, full-time schedule for the fall. Separately, the teachers union last week called for maintaining safety measures, hiring more union members and raising pay. Meanwhile, a coalition of community groups recently called for increased funding for schools that they identified as most in need. (Shalby and Blume, 5/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Why A San Diego Mother Is Blogging About Her Daughter's Cancer Journey 
When it started out, Jan. 18 looked like a regular Monday in the Fell household. There were three kids to get ready for school and two working parents juggling jobs and 24/7 child duty during the COVID-19 shutdown. It was busy, noisy and normal. By the end of the day, it was none of these things. By the time Bibi and Trevor Fell put their 4-year-old daughter, Maddie, to bed at 8:30 p.m., Jan 18 was shocking, terrifying and not normal at all. But it was also blessed. Weirdly, beautifully blessed. (Peterson, 5/22)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Sikh Community Sending Ventilators To India To Help
Twenty-five cardboard boxes stacked against a wall in Kusum Atraya’s garage held 7½ pounds of precious cargo: Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) kits that have been transformed into easy-to-use ventilators. On Sunday morning in a five-car garage in Morgan Hill, a dozen volunteers feverishly worked in to test the devices and assemble the kits to get them ready for shipment to India this week. The goal is to have 400 boxes ready for delivery to small non-governmental organizations and field hospitals. (Almond, 5/23)

AP: India Virus Death Toll Passes 300,000, 3rd Highest In World
India crossed another grim milestone Monday with more than 300,000 people lost to the coronavirus, while a devastating surge of infections appeared to be easing in big cities but was swamping the poorer countryside. The milestone, as recorded by India’s Health Ministry, comes as slowed vaccine deliveries have marred the country’s fight against the pandemic, forcing many to miss their shots, and a rare but fatal fungal infection affecting COVID-19 patients has worried doctors. (Saaliq, 5/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Intelligence On Sick Staff At Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin
Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory. The details of the reporting go beyond a State Department fact sheet, issued during the final days of the Trump administration, which said that several researchers at the lab, a center for the study of coronaviruses and other pathogens, became sick in autumn 2019 “with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illness.” (Gordon, Strobel and Hinshaw, 5/23)