Latest California Healthline Stories
Daily Edition for Friday, August 7, 2020
California Surpasses 10,000 COVID Deaths: The death toll from the coronavirus in California surpassed 10,000 people on Thursday, a mark that underscores how a state that was once hailed as a pandemic success story is now struggling to slow outbreaks. As of Friday morning, California had at least 541,494 confirmed cases and 10,028 deaths. Adding to the problem, the virus is now severely affecting rural and agricultural areas. “The epidemic is moving from urban Latino populations to rural Latino populations,” said Dr. George Rutherford, epidemiologist and infectious-diseases expert at UC San Francisco. Read more from Sean Greene, Rong-Gong Lin II, Colleen Shalby, Iris Lee and Alex Wigglesworth of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Thursday, August 6, 2020
COVID Watchlist Comes To A Screeching Halt: California has stopped removing or adding to a list of counties facing more restrictions on businesses and schools as it tries to resolve a technical problem with the state’s coronavirus testing database, health officials said Wednesday. The state has recorded a highest-in-the-nation 525,000 positive tests, but health officials say the true number is even higher. Read more from Amy Taxin of the Associated Press and Katie Dowd of SFGate.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Decline In COVID Cases May Be A Technical Glitch: A steep decline in California’s coronavirus infection rate announced this week by Gov. Gavin Newson may not be accurate, according to the state’s top public health official who said Tuesday that the state’s data system used to process COVID-19 test results is marred with technical issues. The problems have caused delays in analyzing test results and cast doubt on Newsom’s announcement Monday of a 21.2% decline in the seven-day average rate for positive infections compared with the average from the week before. Read more from Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times and Michael McGough, Tony Bizjak and Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Newsom Unveils Rules For Elementary Schools: Some California elementary schools may be able to reopen for in-person classes this fall under a strict waiver system announced Monday by state officials. But because of the detailed rules, smaller schools — especially private and parochial campuses with more flexibility — will probably be among the most successful at meeting the special guidelines. The highly anticipated guidance follows Gov. Gavin Newsom's mid-July announcement that the state would generally require fully online learning for public and private schools located in counties on the COVID-19 watch list. Read more from Anita Chabria and Nina Agrawal of the Los Angeles Times and Katy Murphy and Jeremy B. White of Politico.
Daily Edition for Monday, August 3, 2020
A Difficult Month Comes To An End: July was a coronavirus disaster in California. The state recorded 8,669 new cases per day on average in July, more than twice the figure for June, according to state data analyzed by The Chronicle. Daily death counts also rose dramatically, from 64 in June to 101 in July. California also marked another ignominious milestone in July: The state became the first in the United States to exceed 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday. Read more from Lauren Hernandez of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Friday, July 31, 2020
San Francisco Opens Overflow Facility For Non-COVID Patients: Predicting a “major surge” in critical coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, San Francisco officials said Thursday they will shift non-COVID-19 patients to a new inpatient facility in the Presidio if it becomes necessary to clear hospital beds for virus patients. The temporary medical center will be set up in a pair of warehouses behind the Palace of Fine Arts on Gorgas Avenue and will treat up to 93 patients, county officials said. Read more from Tatiana Sanchez of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Thursday, July 30, 2020
California Sets COVID Record—Again: For the third time in the past week, California set a new record for daily deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, sparing few corners of the state. Six counties reported at least 10 fatalities, including 51 in Los Angeles. The seven-day average climbed higher than it has ever been, 119 deaths per day over the past week, even as the number of new cases has plateaued around 9,215 per day, with another 10,006 reported on Tuesday. The state previously set a daily record last Wednesday, then broke that mark the next day. Read more from Evan Webeck of The Mercury News.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Newsom Blocks Funds For Defiant Cities: Gov. Gavin Newsom is using new powers to withhold money from two cities in California’s Central Valley that are defying his health orders by allowing all businesses to open during the pandemic. Newsom blocked nearly $65,000 from Atwater in Merced County and more than $35,000 from Coalinga in Fresno County, the first installments of $2.5 billion in federal funds that cities and counties across the state risk losing if they don’t toe the line on coronavirus safeguards. The city councils in both cities met Monday and stuck with their resolutions. Read more from Don Thompson of The Associated Press.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Smoke From Burning Ship Likely Contained Toxic Chemicals, Health Officials Say: Air sampling recently revealed that the Navy ship that burned in San Diego Bay early this month blanketed nearby communities with smoke containing toxic chemicals. As black smoke poured off the USS Bonhomme Richard, people in portside communities complained of headaches and nausea, and residents as far north as Escondido reported smelling smoke from the blaze. The findings from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District contradict statements by the Navy that “there’s nothing toxic in there.” Testing found more than a dozen potentially harmful substances, such as benzene, chloromethane and acetonitrile. Read more from Joshua Emerson Smith of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Daily Edition for Monday, July 27, 2020
Stop Partying At Lake Merritt, Oakland Officials Warn: Oakland officials pleaded with residents Friday to stop gathering at Lake Merritt as hundreds more Alameda County residents tested positive and pushed the number of coronavirus cases to more than 10,000 — the first Bay Area county to reach that milestone. Although city officials outlawed vendors and weekend parking at parks in May, they have not enforced the ban. Nearly 60 vendors sold food, alcohol, cannabis and merchandise at Lake Merritt last weekend, and people showed up by the hundreds. “It’s exploded,” said Joe DeVries, an assistant to the city administrator. He said the city will first warn, then fine, vendors who show up by slapping administrative penalties on their vehicles. Read more from Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle.