Latest California Healthline Stories
Daily Edition for Friday, October 23, 2020
COVID Strikes Megachurch That Defied Orders: An evangelical megachurch in Los Angeles that has defied L.A. County public health orders and held indoor worship services for the last several weeks has been struck with an outbreak of the coronavirus, public health officials confirmed Thursday. Grace Community Church in Sun Valley has seen three confirmed cases. The church has an estimated attendance of 7,000. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Thursday, October 22, 2020
Your Ballots Really Are Safe, Elections Officials Say: Nervous voters in California are walking their mail-in ballots into elections departments so they can hand them to an official. But there’s no need to worry once a ballot is mailed or placed in an official drop box, elections officials say, because the state’s safety protocol is rigorous. “Our teams go out daily and use GPS on their phones to be tracked via satellite, and we have random routes every day,” said Neal Kelley, registrar of voters in Orange County. Plus, he says, “we are the only county that put in fire suppression and liquid protection.” Read more from CalMatters.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, October 21, 2020
California Bucks National COVID Trend: While new cases of coronavirus and hospitalizations spike in the majority of the U.S., infections in California are decreasing or flat. “The decisions made during summer and the end of summer are paying off,” Ryan Panchadsaram, COVID Exit Project co-founder, told the San Francisco Chronicle. The state has also reached a low-point in positivity rates, the Bay Area News Group reports. Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly called the state’s progress “tremendous” in a virtual brief Tuesday. Get more details from the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay Area News Group.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Report: Emails Show SoCal Hospitals Refused COVID Patients: Several large Southern California hospital systems improperly refused or delayed accepting Covid-19 patients based on their insurance status, according to internal emails among local and state government, hospital and emergency-response officials, leaving severely ill patients waiting for care and adding strain on hospitals overrun by the pandemic. The emails identified four major hospital systems, but the number could be higher. Read more from The Wall Street Journal.
Daily Edition for Monday, October 19, 2020
California Submits Vaccine Distribution Plan: California has prepared an unprecedented vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 virus, according to a plan submitted to federal authorities Friday, a major step along the Golden State’s roadmap to protect 40 million residents from the deadly disease. That plan, while not yet made public, specifies who will first get the vaccine, where it will be distributed, and how it will be stored and transported. Read more from the Bay Area News Group.
Daily Edition for Friday, October 16, 2020
Trump Denies California’s Plea For Help: The Trump administration has rejected California’s request for disaster relief funds aimed at cleaning up the damage from six recent fires across the state. The decision came late Wednesday or early Thursday, the governor’s Office of Emergency Services said. It did not provide a reason for the federal government’s denial, but Trump has threatened to withhold federal dollars in aid before, including in 2019 when he said state officials must “get their act together, which is unlikely.” Read more from the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN and CBS.
Daily Edition for Thursday, October 15, 2020
Harris Halts Travel After Two Near Her Test Positive For COVID: Democrat Joe Biden's campaign is halting the travel of his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, until Monday after two people — a flight crew member and Harris' communications director, Liz Allen — tested positive for coronavirus. Harris was not in close contact with either person, Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement. Harris' planned trip to North Carolina on Thursday was scrapped. Read more from CNN, AP and the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Trump Urges California GOP To Keep Using Unofficial Drop Boxes: President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to urge the California Republican Party to “fight on” in its move to collect ballots in unofficial “drop boxes’’ around the state, in defiance of legal threats from state officials. Trump’s comments come a day after top California officials sent the state party a cease-and-desist notice. Read more from Politico and the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Voters, Beware: Fake Drop Boxes Are Out There: California’s attorney general and chief elections officer on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Republican Party officials demanding that they immediately stop using private — and possibly illegal — ballot collection containers marked as “official” drop boxes. The real boxes, which are offered in every county, are being used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during voting. Read more from the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, The New York Times and CNN.
Daily Edition for Monday, October 12, 2020
California Eases Restrictions On Outdoor Gatherings: State health officials late Friday released rules allowing social gatherings for the first time since the pandemic began, enabling up to three households to get together outdoors. Participants must stay 6 feet apart and wear masks except while eating or drinking. Events should last no longer than two hours, and singing is "strongly discouraged." Read more from Politico, the Fresno Bee and the Desert Sun.