Latest California Healthline Stories
Daily Edition for Friday, May 15, 2020
Note to readers: As a valued subscriber we would love to hear your thoughts on our California Healthline's Daily Edition: What do you like? How can we improve? What topics interest you most? Please click here for a short survey, which should take you less than 10 minutes to complete. Your answers will remain anonymous.
Daily Edition for Thursday, May 14, 2020
Seventeen Counties Get Green Light From Newsom To Start Reopening: The counties largely encompass rural areas in Northern California and the Sierra, with the exception of San Benito County south of the Bay Area. All met state-set benchmarks in containing the coronavirus pandemic to qualify for early reopening. Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that some counties would be allowed to reopen sit-down restaurants and permit some in-store shopping if they implemented new social distancing procedures. Schools can also reopen. As of late Wednesday, counties that received the go-ahead were San Benito, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yuba and Sutter. Read more from Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, May 13, 2020
California State University Campuses To Stay Closed For Fall Semester In Hint Of Long Road Ahead: California State University, the nation’s largest four-year college system, plans to cancel most in-person classes in the fall and instead offer instruction primarily online, Chancellor Timothy White announced Tuesday. The vast majority of classes across the 23-campus Cal State system will be taught online, White said, with some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. “Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person … is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity,” White said at a meeting of Cal State’s Board of Trustees. “That approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now.” Potential exceptions at CSU may include nursing students who need clinical training to be on track to get licensed to work in health care, White said, or students who need access to equipment for their training. Read more from Nina Agrawal of the Los Angeles Times; Rosalio Ahumada of the Sacramento Bee; Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle; and Theresa Waldrop, Jon Passantino and Sarah Moon of CNN.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Newsom Joins With Other Western States To Ask For $1T In Aid From Congress: California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined with the governors of Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado, as well as legislative leaders from the five states, in asking the House and Senate for the aid. The governors said the funds would be critical for public health programs, law enforcement and schools. “Without federal support, states and cities will be forced to make impossible decisions — like whether to fund critical public healthcare that will help us recover, or prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other first responders,” the letter stated. Last week, the Newsom administration announced that California’s government faces a $54.3-billion budget deficit through next summer due to a drop in tax revenue related to the coronavirus. Read more from Phil Willon of the Los Angeles Times, Andrew Sheeler of the Sacramento Bee, and Fiona Kelliher of the Bay Area News Group.
Daily Edition for Monday, May 11, 2020
Newsom Administration Threatens To Block Aid For Rural Counties Disobeying Stay-At-Home Orders: Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, sent nearly identical letters dated May 7 to Yuba, Sutter and Modoc counties, where local officials lifted restrictions and allowed gyms, restaurants, shopping malls, hair salons and other businesses to open their doors again, ahead of the state’s plans. Ghilarducci said disaster funding is predicated on jurisdictions needing help in extraordinary circumstances, and if the counties believe there’s no emergency and choose to defy the governor’s order, then they won’t be able to prove they need such funds. In a joint statement, the counties said they are “working to do what is best for the overall health of our communities and coordinating with governor’s representatives on achieving balance with his order,” and look forward to discussing their Stage 2 application. Read more from Taryn Luna of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Friday, May 8, 2020
California Projected A $6 Billion Budget Surplus In January. Now, Its Deficit Forecast Tops A Daunting $54 Billion: The updated projection, released Thursday by the state Department of Finance, is the latest sign of how badly California’s economy has been battered since the pandemic took hold less than three months ago. Gov. Gavin Newsom said a multibillion-dollar budget reserve would be of some help, but he also pleaded for Washington to come to the state’s rescue with bailout money. “This is not a cry by any stretch. We are proud of this state and our capacity to meet the moment and to be resilient,” Newsom said at a news conference. “But this is bigger than all of us, and we really need the federal government to do more and to help us through this moment.”
Daily Edition for Thursday, May 7, 2020
California Is Spending Billions In Mask Contracts, Some With Untested Firms: In a frantic effort to secure face masks and respond to the coronavirus crisis, California has committed to spend more than $3.7 billion on no-bid contracts, scores of them with businesses that have no track record with the state. A Los Angeles Times data analysis found that nearly a third of those funds — about $1.2 billion — has been earmarked for suppliers of goods and services that do not appear in the state’s database of contracts prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. There have already been examples of questionable deals and alleged fraud across the country. The Times reported last month that California officials are paying more than 300% above list prices for masks. And a powerful California union that claimed to have discovered 39 million masks for healthcare workers fighting the novel coronavirus was duped in an elaborate scam uncovered by FBI investigators, authorities alleged. Read more from Gutierrez, Elmahrek, Poston and Christensen of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, May 6, 2020
California Records First Week-Over-Week Decline In Deaths, But What Will Happen If State Reopens?: California is seeing signs that the increase in coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations is slowing, but there remains wide debate about whether the progress is enough to dramatically ease Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. The state has recorded its first week-over-week decline in reported COVID-19 deaths, according to a Los Angeles Times data analysis. Even hard-hit parts of the state have seen some relief. Los Angeles County, home to 55% of California’s COVID-19 deaths despite having only one-quarter of the state’s population, saw its reported weekly death toll flatten for the first time: 315 deaths in each of the past two weeks. Read more from Rong-Gong Lin II, Taryn Luna and Hannah Fry of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, May 5, 2020
California To Take Tentative Steps Toward Reopening By End Of The Week: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that some retail stores across the state can reopen with modifications as early as Friday amid growing pressure to ease the stay-at-home order that has cratered the California economy. The new changes are part of a four-stage plan the governor laid out last week to gradually transition back to normal in a state of nearly 40 million people whose lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are entering into the next phase this week,” Newsom said at his Monday news conference to provide an update on the state’s response. “This is a very positive sign and it’s happened only for one reason: The data says it can happen.” Read more from Taryn Luna and Phil Willon of the Los Angeles Times and Michelle Wiley of KQED.
Daily Edition for Monday, May 4, 2020
Lawmakers Return To Sacramento To Face Daunting Budget Deficit, Deal With Coronavirus Legislation: Lawmakers must handle bills ranging from compensation for sick essential workers to planning for a November election that’s likely to be done mostly by mail. They also must work with Gov. Gavin Newsom to address a shortfall that could total $35 billion. And they don’t have much time to get it all done. They must pass a balanced budget by June 15 or go without pay, and will have only a couple of months after that to consider other bills before the legislative session is scheduled to end. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said he is resisting calls to focus only on coronavirus response. The Assembly returns Monday, while the Senate has extended its recess one more week. Read more from Dustin Gardiner and Alexei Koseff of the San Francisco Chronicle.