California Healthline Daily Edition

Latest California Healthline Stories

Daily Edition for Monday, March 2, 2020

California Confirms At Least 5 New Coronavirus Cases As U.S. Reports 2 Deaths: Bay Area health officials announced five new coronavirus cases Sunday, reinforcing warnings from the Centers for Disease Control that the outbreak may become a pandemic. The diagnoses include two East Bay health care workers who probably have the virus, public health officials in Alameda and Solano counties said. In Santa Clara County, officials with the Public Health Department identified three new cases Sunday, bringing the county’s total number to seven. One case is an adult woman with chronic health conditions who is hospitalized, the county said in a statement. The other two are a husband and wife who recently traveled to Egypt. Both individuals are hospitalized, and the husband has chronic health issues. Meanwhile, since a COVID-19 patient was admitted to UC Davis Medical Center on Feb. 19, 124 nurses and health care workers who were at high risk of having been exposed to the coronavirus were told by the hospital to quarantine themselves at home. The workers are being paid during this period. Read more from Tatiana Sanchez of the San Francisco Chronicle, Ariana Remmel of KQED, and Soumya Karlamangla of the Los Angeles Times.

Daily Edition for Friday, February 28, 2020

California Coronavirus Case With No Travel Link Shines Light On Deep Flaws In CDC's Early Testing Strategy: A woman in Solano County, California, who hadn’t traveled abroad or had contact with another known patient with the illness was diagnosed with the virus Wednesday, raising concerns that cases are going undetected because of the federal government’s narrow testing protocols. Eventually, more than 10 days after she went into hospital, the CDC agreed she could be tested. Dozens of health workers who may have come into contact with her at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, in Vacaville, Calif., are now being monitored. Even before the announcement on Wednesday, frustration had been mounting among health providers and medical experts that the agency was testing too few Americans, which may slow preparations for an outbreak and may obscure the scope of infections.

Daily Edition for Thursday, February 27, 2020

New California Coronavirus Case Could Be First In U.S. Not Linked To Travel Abroad: A person in California who was not exposed to anyone known to be infected with the coronavirus, and had not traveled to countries in which the virus is circulating, has tested positive for the infection. It may be the first case of community spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital on Feb. 19. The staff requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California," said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health.

Daily Edition for Wednesday, February 26, 2020

San Francisco Declares State Of Emergency Despite Lack Of Any Coronavirus Cases In City: Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency for San Francisco Tuesday, which will ramp up the city’s efforts to prepare for and confront potential cases. There have been no confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco to date, but as infections continue to rise across the world, “we need to allocate more resources to make sure we are prepared,” Breed said at a press conference announcing the emergency declaration. “To be clear, this declaration of emergency is all about preparedness. By declaring a state of emergency we are prioritizing the safety of our communities by being prepared.” Read more from Dominic Fracassa of the San Francisco Chronicle and Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times.

Daily Edition for Monday, February 24, 2020

California Defends Authority To Require Insurers To Cover Abortion As Protecting Women's Rights: California disputed a Trump administration assertion that the state is violating U.S. law by requiring insurers to cover abortion, after federal officials threatened to withhold funding if it doesn’t change its policy. California Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra wrote in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services that the state’s abortion-coverage requirement wasn’t in violation of federal law. It also noted that California provided a religious exemption in 2015 to the mandate. “California has the sovereign right to protect women’s reproductive rights. Political grandstanding should never interfere with that,” Mr. Becerra said in a statement before the letter was sent. “The Trump Administration’s threats not only put women’s health on the line, but illegally threaten crucial public health funding that Californians rely on.” Read more from Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Noam N. Levey of the Los Angeles Times.

Daily Edition for Thursday, February 20, 2020

Good morning! Tensions boiled over at the latest Democratic debate, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren dismissing rivals’ health care plans as paper-thin and unrealistic. Read more on that below, but first here are your top California health stories for the day.