Latest California Healthline Stories
Daily Edition for Monday, June 15, 2020
Infections In More Than Three Dozen Health Workers Linked To One Unit At Bay Area Hospital: More than three dozen workers connected with a single unit at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward tested positive for the coronavirus in late May, a spokesman disclosed Friday. Of the hospital’s 780 employees, 37 tested positive and a majority—26—were workers on the same medical/surgical/telemetry unit. Two additional workers who had the virus interacted regularly with that part of the hospital and nine had occasional contact. “We are continually assessing the facility’s implementation of measures to protect staff and patients from COVID-19 and prevent its further spread within the facility,” said Alameda County spokeswoman Neetu Balram. Some nurses on the hard-hit unit disputed there was enough personal protective gear and testing before the outbreak to keep them safe. They want more information about how many employees got sick and who might have been exposed. Read more from Mallory Moench of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Friday, June 12, 2020
LA Officials Attribute Biggest Single-Day Jump In Cases Partly To Backlog Of Tests: A day before Los Angeles County is set to allow businesses in several industries like gyms, day camps, zoos, film production and more, to reopen after forcing them to close to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, officials reported the highest single-day jump of coronavirus cases to date. LA County public health officials announced 1,857 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, June 11, bringing the total number of positive cases identified in the county as of Thursday to 68,875. Although the number of new cases reported Thursday was the biggest single-day jump to date, about 600 of them were from a backlog of test results, officials said.
Daily Edition for Thursday, June 11, 2020
‘We’re Still In The Middle Of The Woods’ Officials Say, But Reiterate Confidence With Reopening Strategy: As California coronavirus deaths and new cases continue to rise, officials say they have no plans now to slow the efforts. Despite the upward trajectory of cases and a growing death toll, there are no plans to reverse course, officials said. Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed to the state’s increased testing ability, hospital capacity and an available supply of ventilators — key metrics in the decision to ease statewide modifications — as reasoning for pressing ahead. State officials are working with county leaders to assess whether their jurisdictions are ready to move further into the reopening stage. Read more from Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Newsom Reiterates Confidence In California’s Ability To Manage Coronavirus Cases As They Continue To Climb: California recorded at least 2,000 new coronavirus cases for the 17th consecutive day Tuesday as the state topped 136,000 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic. With 90 new deaths announced Tuesday — including 11 in the Bay Area — the state death toll reached 4,746. “As we phase in, in a responsible way, a reopening of the economy, we’ve made it abundantly clear that we anticipate an increase in the total number of positive cases,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “But we also made it abundantly clear that the concurrent recognition and commitment that we are in a substantially different place than we were 90 days ago. We have hundreds of millions of masks now in our possession.”
Daily Edition for Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Newsom’s $1B Mask Deal Moves Forward After Firm Granted Safety Certification: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s medical mask deal with a Chinese manufacturer will proceed after the company succeeded in obtaining federal safety certification, following two missed deadlines. Newsom’s office said the N95 masks, part of a $990 million deal, will be distributed to medical workers and others on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. California will likely begin receiving the first shipments of N95 masks in a matter of days, officials said. “This new supply of N95 masks, as well as the surgical masks this contract has already provided, are game-changing and play a crucial role in our state’s public safety and reopening strategy,” Newsom said in a statement. Read more from Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Chronicle and Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee.
Daily Edition for Monday, June 8, 2020
California See Increase In COVID Cases As Counties Reopen, Protesters March In Streets: California set a new single-day record for confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, as a surge of new positive tests pushed the number of cases statewide above 125,000. According to data compiled by this news organization, public health officials throughout the state reported 3,603 new coronavirus cases and 83 new deaths Friday. California has now confirmed 126,204 cases, and 4,536 people are known to have died from COVID-19. The number of new reported cases has been climbing at an alarming clip in recent weeks — Friday’s new record shattered the previous single-day high of 3,131 cases, which was set on Monday.
Daily Edition for Friday, June 5, 2020
Newsom Warns California Residents To Brace For Surge Of Cases Following Protests: “If you’re not [concerned], you’re not paying attention to the epidemiology, to the virulence of this disease,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. Newsom added that he’s concerned about the virus’ disproportionate impact on California’s black community, which accounts for nearly 5% of all positive cases but 10% of virus-related deaths. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services agency, said the effects of the protest on the spread of the virus will not be known for weeks. He emphasized the “importance of the freedom and liberty to protest,” but said, “it does create infectious disease concern that we weren’t contending with before.”
Daily Edition for Thursday, June 4, 2020
‘The Bottom Dropped Out Overnight’: Hospitals Reeling From Pandemic’s Financial Blow: California hospital revenue plummeted by more than a third in the first four months of the pandemic as costs to care for coronavirus patients rose, a shocking financial blow that threatens to raise health care prices, according to a recent report. The report, published Wednesday by the California Health Care Foundation, said hospital revenue fell by a cumulative $13 billion from March to June — a 37% reduction from pre-coronavirus levels — as state and local shelter-in-place orders nearly eliminated surgeries and halved emergency room visits. Even with some patients now returning to hospitals as restrictions ease, dire financial losses persist. The report projected that beyond immediate financial losses, the state’s economic recession could reshape health care as jobless Californians lose employer-sponsored coverage and shift to either Medi-Cal or stay uninsured, which means less reimbursement for hospitals. Read more from Mallory Moench of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, June 3, 2020
For Protestors, Health Risk Is Worth It: ‘COVID Or No COVID, You Go And Do What’s Right’: Public health experts are anxious as they watch thousands of Americans pouring out onto the streets after months of painful, yet successful, shutdowns to curb the outbreak. “My heart is just broken because, one, the fact that we still have those [police brutality] issues, but the other thing I’m looking at is young people without masks,” said Sandra Poole, interim director of California Black Health Network. “They’re not social distancing, and those kids are going to go home. They’re going to go home to mothers and grandmothers, and it’s not just the impact it’s going to have on them but their families.” Although the risk of becoming infected is lower in outdoor spaces, epidemiologists say the factors that come along with protesting—such as changing and yelling—heighten the risk once again. “I’m very scared, but I’m willing to take the risk for my people,” said Jamie Lopez, 19. Read more from Cathie Anderson and Kim Bojorquez of the Sacramento Bee.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Health Experts, Leaders Acknowledge Black Trauma Even As They Worry Protests Will Undo Hard-Won Victories From Painful Shutdowns: In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, mass gatherings are about the least advisable activity for controlling spread of a highly infectious disease. But public health experts acknowledge that in a time of national civic unrest and deplorable social injustice, the drive to speak out may supersede the desire to lie low and stay safe. Large crowds are prime sources of so-called super-spreader events, where dozens of people may be exposed to the virus at once then disperse to their home communities, where they may infect many others. Meanwhile, some testing sites are reportedly closing because of the protests.