L.A.’s Black And Latino Students Didn’t Fare Nearly As Well As Others Online, District Records Show: As schools across the state struggle to decide whether to reopen, a first-of-its-kind report by the Los Angeles Unified School District shows that more than 50,000 Black and Latino middle and high school students did not regularly participate in the school system’s main platform for virtual classrooms after campuses closed in March. The report shows participation rates between 10 and 20 percentage points lower than their white and Asian peers. Read more from Paloma Esquivel and Howard Blume of the Los Angeles Times.
Frustrated Over Restrictions, Californians Lash Out At One Another: So far during the pandemic, Californians have focused their anger at the president, governor and county health officials. But now, in the early days of another shutdown, they are turning on each other like never before. “I’m angry with people that refuse to protect others,” said Dee Lescault, a hair salon owner in Costa Mesa. “They’re being selfish and ignorant.” But Bahre Freeman, a personal trainer in Manhattan Beach, said he is upset with “cookie-cutter responses” to the coronavirus that he says punish everyone. “I don’t want to kill your grandma. I don’t want to kill my mom,” he said. But “everyone is under this notion that they’re doing this” — shutdown orders and mask mandates — “to save us. But they’re not looking at the long picture. The long picture is that small businesses will close.” Read more from Brittny Mejia, Maria L. La Ganga and Sonali Kohli of the Los Angeles Times.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage and the best of the rest of the news.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Times:
Next Two Weeks Critical For California As Coronavirus Rages Unchecked Around State
The next two weeks are shaping up to be critical for California as officials wait to see if the sweeping restrictions imposed in late June and July show any signs of slowing the rapid spread of coronavirus in communities across the state. This week was marked by a series of grim milestones as California shattered a one-day record for new coronavirus cases — more than 11,000 on Tuesday — as well as rising infection rates and growing numbers of hospitalizations. Because the coronavirus can take weeks to incubate, much of the current surge is still tied to people exposed to the virus in June, as counties rapidly reopened the economy and many returned to old but now dangerous routines such as bar-hopping and attending parties and other social events. Many also returned to workplaces that didn’t implement new safety protocols. (Lin II and Dolan, 7/16)
Bay Area News Group:
More Bay Area Counties Appear Headed For State Coronavirus Watch List
For the first time, the entire Bay Area could soon be on California’s coronavirus watch list — an ominous trend that can trigger new restrictions and business closures. According to a Bay Area News Group data analysis, every county in the region has now crossed the state threshold for elevated disease transmission, meaning they are reporting 10 coronavirus cases for every 10,000 residents. Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties all recently crossed the closely watched threshold for new cases. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sonoma and Solano had all already topped it in recent weeks. (Deruy, 7/16)
Sacramento Bee:
UC Health In California Builds Coronavirus Patient Database
The University of California Health has gathered information on all COVID-19 patients treated at its five academic health systems into one secure database that UC researchers can study to quickly advance new theories and potential treatments. The database contains more than 460 million pieces of information, all stripped of details that could identify a single patient, as federal law requires. Researchers will be able to see things such as medication orders, blood sugar and other test results, admission details, discharge details, COVID test results, vital signs, race, ethnicity, and sex of the patients. (Anderson, 7/16)
Bay Area News Group:
Bay Area's Sleuth Finds Fake COVID-19 And Other Research Images
To the untrained eye, the photo of a sliced rodent brain looks like a piece of Melba toast, with crusty scattered crumbs that seem utterly random. But Elisabeth Bik sees something else: tiny patterns in the crust that are oddly repetitive — created, it appears, by Photoshop. Bik’s discovery — while reading research papers on a Friday night at the dining table of her South Bay home — further heightened suspicions about the integrity of Illinois surgeon Sapan Desai, who after publishing the “Melba toast” research paper about rodent ears in 2005 went on to co-author a troubling study about hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug hyped by President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19. (Krieger, 7/16)
Fresno Bee:
FEMA Teams To Fresno, Visalia To Relieve Coronavirus Burden
Hospitalizations of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease continue to rise in Fresno County and the central San Joaquin Valley, spurring the arrival of federal medical teams. The increasing number of cases also is boosting the anticipation by emergency management leaders that they may need to activate a makeshift field hospital that’s in standby mode at the Fresno Convention Center. (Sheehan, 7/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Here’s What Happens If Bay Area Hospitals Run Out Of Space, And How Close They Are To Capacity Right Now
As coronavirus cases fill hospital beds in record numbers across the Bay Area, health care and government leaders warn that a continued surge could edge facilities close to capacity. For now, regional hospitals say they remain in a stable place and are able to manage the influx of patients. But that could change, in a dramatic way. (Moench, 7/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Confused About New Restrictions In Bay Area? Here’s The Latest On Reopening In Each County
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, most of the Bay Area was in sync with shelter-in-place and other health mandates. Then as counties began reopening, they took divergent paths, especially smaller areas and those with fewer cases. But a virus surge statewide has led some counties to halt or even reverse their reopening plans. And on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a sweeping measure ordering the indefinite, immediate statewide closure of indoor restaurants, movie theaters and wineries, and both indoor and outdoor bars. (Hwang, 7/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Have We Reopened Too Soon? Bay Area Food Community Weighs In
The Bay Area has been slowly lifting social distancing restrictions on businesses and gathering places, though the full reopening of restaurants has garnered a mixed reaction. Some diners are excited to get out again, while for many others, the prospect of eating next to strangers sparks a great deal of anxiety. Reactions among restaurant owners and workers is similarly mixed, with some eager to get back to work and others decrying the systemic failures that led them to a “lose-lose situation.” (Ho, 7/17)
Bay Area News Group:
As California Rolls Back Reopening, Key Question Looms: Will It Be Enough?
New questions loom over California now that bars and dining rooms have once again closed their doors and most of the state no longer can go to the gym or get a haircut: Will this reversal of reopening be enough? Or will California need to make a full retreat into lockdown if it wants to stop the surge of new coronavirus cases and deaths? As Californians grappled with losing freedoms that in some cases they only very recently had regained, epidemiologists said Wednesday the answer likely will depend on where you are. (Savidge, 7/15)
Sacramento Bee:
California Jail Board Vows To Publish COVID-19 Case Data
California’s jail oversight board on Wednesday said it would collect and publish data about COVID-19 cases in county facilities, a response to months of public criticism and an apparently faltering effort to get similar information from the state’s health department. The Board of State and Community Corrections in a letter to sheriffs asks them to provide data about COVID-19 deaths as well as positive cases among employees and inmates. (Pohl, 7/15)
Sacramento Bee:
Galt Is A Coronavirus Case Hot Spot In Sacramento County
A sharp increase in coronavirus cases has emerged in recent weeks within the agricultural city of Galt in Sacramento County, but finding targeted solutions to tackle the surge is proving challenging for local and county officials. Just under 1 percent of Galt residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, or 240 people in the roughly 25,000-person city, according to county data released Wednesday. No deaths have been reported in the city. (Yoon-Hendricks and Bizjak, 7/16)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Region Reaches At Least 308 Deaths From COVID-19
Fresno County added 123 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and no new deaths, according to statistics from the state Department of Public Health. Now at 8,941 cases, Fresno County leads the counties in the central San Joaquin Valley with the most cases, the state numbers show. The county also has 91 deaths. Fresno County officials have taken to reporting new numbers only on Tuesday and Fridays, a change from previous weeks when reports came out six days a week. (Miller, 7/15)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: More Than 130 Positive Tests At Tesla Factory, Report Claims
Tesla, which earlier re-opened its Fremont electric car factory in defiance of a coronavirus health order, has had more than 130 employees test positive for the deadly virus, according to a blog claiming to have received company information. “An internal data leak shows that Tesla is seeing a spike in COVID-19 ‘exposure,’ primarily at its Fremont factory in California,” the blog Electrek reported. “So far, more than 130 Tesla workers have tested positive with more test results pending, and a dozen more contractors and temporary employees involved with Tesla’s operations have also tested positive.” (Baron, 7/15)
Fresno Bee:
Selma Unified Students Will Start The 2020 School Year Online
The Selma Unified School District will start the 2020 school year all online after trustees voted Tuesday to pivot from recent plans that would have put students on campus a few days a week. Superintendent Tanya Fisher brought the plan to the board after a lengthy meeting with other school officials in Fresno County, doctors from Valley Children’s Hospital, and public health officials. (Panoo, 7/15)
Sacramento Bee:
California Starts Buying Child-Sized Masks For Schools
California has begun buying masks made for children as the state continues to adapt to life with the coronavirus. The state has been sending masks to school districts since the start of the pandemic, and began purchasing child-sized masks last month based on feedback from the districts, said Governor’s Office spokesman Brian Ferguson. “They fit better,” Ferguson said. (Venteicher and Wiley, 7/16)
Fresno Bee:
How Will Clovis Schools Protect Students During Reopening?
Clovis schools are expected to announce more information as early as next week about how they will keep students and teachers safe when campuses reopen next month. The Clovis Unified school board voted unanimously late Wednesday to reopen campus five days a week on Aug. 17. Parents not comfortable sending their children back to the classroom as the coronavirus pandemic develops will have the option of keeping their children home for online learning full time. (Dieppa, 7/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Will Opening California Schools Increase Coronavirus Cases?
Coronavirus infections are skyrocketing in California, yet some school districts around the state are making plans to reopen. Is this a deadly mistake? In this episode of the California Nation podcast, The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board talks to Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Beutner drew criticism from President Donald Trump this week for announcing that L.A. Unified schools would remain closed until it’s safe to reopen. (Duran, 7/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Could Small Schools Play Football Amid COVID 19 Pandemic?
Last month, I was certain high school sports would play out in California this fall, even if in an abbreviated form. I wasn’t naive. I was hopeful, as were the sea of coaches, administrators, parents and student-athletes I regularly spoke to. (Davidson, 7/15)
Bay Area News Group:
In Bay Area, Pressure Mounts Against Bringing Kids Back To Class
When schools shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic let out for summer after months of often dismal efforts to teach students online at home, most assumed they’d welcome the kids back for the new school year with face masks, social distancing and lots of sanitizing. But as COVID-19 surges across the state, major districts from Los Angeles and San Diego to Oakland are announcing plans to bring kids back to their home computers instead of the campus, and worried teachers are forcing others like San Jose to reconsider a return to the classroom. (Woolfolk, 7/15)
Sacramento Bee:
Do California Republicans Still Want To Repeal Obamacare?
Democrats trounced Republicans in the battle districts of California in 2018, largely by focusing on health care and the GOP efforts to dismantle Obamacare. They cited the many times Republican congressmen tried to repeal Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, and the failed effort to put in a Republican replacement. They drew attention to President Donald Trump’s attempts to pull down Obamacare piece by piece, portraying Republicans as uncaring about health care for low-income Americans. (Irby, 7/16)
CalMatters:
How California Seized Control Of Two Troubled Nursing Homes
His paycheck was more than a week late, and by January, Kritsana Liamkrajang was growing more and more worried about the situation at the Legacy Healthcare and Rose Garden Healthcare nursing homes in Pasadena, where he had worked as a business manager for three years. Some of his coworkers, also unpaid, simply walked off the job. Vendors called and called to demand the money they were owed. (Ostrov, 7/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Total War’ On Polio In The Bay Area: Archive Finds On The ‘K.O. Polio’ Vaccination Campaign
As scientists search for a vaccine to end the coronavirus pandemic, I remembered when a major vaccination campaign to stop polio came to the Bay Area. My family and I walked a short distance from our house to the local high school and received a sugar cube that contained a polio vaccine. I knew there had to be more to the story, so I went to The Chronicle’s archives and found coverage and great photos of the “K.O. Polio” campaign that haven’t been seen in decades. (Van Niekerken, 7/15)