Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
In a Year of Zoom Memorials, Art Exhibit Makes Space for Grief
After his father died, artist Taiji Terasaki created a ritual to memorialize him. Now, Terasaki honors front-line health care workers who succumbed to covid with an exhibit inspired by “Lost on the Frontline,” the investigation by KHN and The Guardian. (Anna Almendrala, )
California To Get Big Piece Of $1.9 Trillion Covid-Relief Bill: The massive relief bill Congress approved Wednesday will pump more than $150 billion into California’s economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said Wednesday. How much will you receive? Check here. Read more from AP and the Los Angeles Times.
In more news about the legislation —
Los Angeles Times: L.A. expects to receive $1.35 billion from the relief bill. Garcetti is ‘ecstatic’
San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland poised to get up to $192 million in federal funds as it struggles with massive deficit
The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento to gain $121 million in stimulus. ‘We will put this money to work,’ Steinberg says
CalMatters: ‘Revolutionary’ federal stimulus bill could cut California child poverty by half
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
The Desert Sun:
COVID-19 Vaccine Now Available At Select Target Stores In California
The COVID-19 vaccine is now available in more than 600 CVS in-store pharmacies at Target stores across 17 states, including California. Target announced the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday, saying it would also make its fitting rooms at select stores available to CVS for appointments, which are booked through the drug store chain. The retailer closed fitting rooms in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. (Tyko and Sestito, 3/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Tensions Mount Over California’s Vaccine Distribution Plan
The battle over who distributes California’s coronavirus vaccine grew even more tense Wednesday when the state insisted health insurer Blue Shield will play a significant role in determining how vaccines would be allocated in communities around the state, regardless of local objections. A spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health said Wednesday that counties would not retain control over how vaccines are distributed within their borders under the state’s new, centralized vaccination system. Instead, the spokesman said, the state would determine which hospitals, clinics and other groups get vaccine supply, relying on recommendations from Blue Shield. That declaration infuriated Santa Clara County officials, who have balked at Blue Shield’s new role in distributing vaccines and earlier in the day believed the state was backing away from forcing counties to sign vaccine contracts with Blue Shield. (Kelliher and DeRuy, 3/10)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
County Refuses To Say Why San Diego Hasn’t Joined Blue Shield’s Vaccine Program
County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher refused to clearly answer multiple questions Wednesday on why San Diego has yet to partner with Blue Shield, the health insurance company tapped to run California’s vaccine program. Blue Shield was supposed to begin gradually taking the state’s role in deciding coronavirus vaccine allocations to counties and health care providers. Instead, nearly all 58 counties (San Diego included) have yet to sign a contract with Blue Shield, with some openly refusing to do so and pushing for a separate deal with the state. (Wosen, 3/10)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
ACLU Sues San Diego County Jails To Get Inmates Vaccinated
A lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court asks a judge to require Sheriff Bill Gore to either vaccinate a sufficient number of people in his jails to prevent further COVID-19 outbreaks or reduce the inmate population to a level that allows for adequate social distancing “at all times. ”The filing comes less than 24 hours after the Sheriff’s Department announced that at least 46 people incarcerated at the George Bailey Detention Facility, the county’s largest jail, had tested positive for the virus. (Davis, 3/10)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Diary Of A Recovery: Vaccinations Bring Hope For An Exhausted City Heights Neighborhood
It’s been a year since the coronavirus laid waste to San Diego’s nightlife scene. But on a recent Friday evening, the crowd at Brooklyn Bar & Grill in City Heights seemed at ease in their surroundings. People pulled down face masks as they sipped drinks on the establishment’s recently reopened patio. Many patrons had been vaccinated against the still lurking virus. “It’s important to get out a little bit. It’s a little sanity,” said Sara Gonzalez, who shared pleasant drinks with a friend. The 39-year-old school counselor from National City recently received a COVID-19 vaccine but said she remains cautious. (Smith, 3/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Dramatic Change In COVID Hospitalizations In The Bay Area, California
Just a couple of months ago, hospitals across California were overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. But the situation has changed dramatically: Hospitalizations have plummeted throughout California and the Bay Area since the height of the winter surge. (Hwang, 3/10)
LA Daily News:
For Some Southern Californians, Coronavirus Pandemic Routines Here To Stay
While working from home this past year, Matt Olsen hasn’t had to contend with nightmarish traffic on the 91 Freeway to navigate his 29-mile commute from Corona to Orange County. “It certainly has enabled me to see a lot more of my family,” said Olsen, who is married and has three children, and works as technical director for a Cypress technology company. “At the end of a workday, I just go downstairs,” he said. “And I don’t have to worry about what is going on with the freeway that day. ”Now that coronavirus hospitalizations are falling across Southern California and the COVID-19 vaccine is getting into people’s arms, Olsen said preparations are being made for a return to the office. But when he goes back, it likely will be for two or three days a week. (Downey, 3/10)
Stanford Medicine:
Over First Year Of Pandemic, Confronting Uncertainty With Action At Stanford Medicine
As the novel coronavirus spread across the country in the early days of 2020, the faculty and staff of Stanford Medicine worked around the clock to ensure their patients and the public were educated, protected and cared for. “Even though there were so many unknowns, our people came rolling in the door to help,” recalled Alison Kerr, chief administrative officer of clinical operations for Stanford Health. (Conger, 3/11)
The Bakersfield Californian:
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Dip To Lowest Point In Months
Local hospitals are finally seeing a reprieve, with the number of COVID-19 patients falling to the lowest point in months following a major surge in cases that began just after Halloween. COVID-19 hospitalizations in Kern's 10 hospitals reached a high point of 453 people on Jan. 11. On Tuesday, the number hospitalized was less than a quarter of that amount, standing at 104. "It's a good week. And the reason it's a good week is because most of the indicators we've been tracking throughout the pandemic are going in the right direction," said Bakersfield Memorial President and CEO Ken Keller, who noted it was one year ago that local hospitals began to see their first COVID-19 patients. (Shepard, 3/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Still Unclear When Indoor Dining Will Be Allowed In L.A. County Despite COVID-19 Gains
Los Angeles County is poised to potentially lift some coronavirus-related economic restrictions as soon as this weekend, but whether indoor dining will be among the reopenings remains an open question at this point. Restaurant dining rooms have been largely off-limits to the public countywide since July. But with the county set to progress into the red tier — the second rung up California’s reopening ladder — those spaces could once again be open at limited capacity, provided health officials sign off. (Money and Lin II, 3/10)
Sacramento Bee:
Tutoring, Meals And More: What California’s School Reopening Plan Has For Families
Schools must use at least 85% of the money for in-person instruction, and at least 10% should be used to hire paraprofessionals for supplemental instruction, with a focus on rehiring those who were subject to layoffs. Otherwise, there’s a wide range of ways schools can use the funds. They can extend the school day or year, launch summer school programs, provide meals to vulnerable students, create extra programming and instruction for students, hire mental health professionals, or create extra training for educators, among other things. (Korte, 3/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Preschoolers Will Return To Campus After N.Y.'s High Schoolers. Here's How U.S. Cities Compare
San Francisco hopes to reopen its public elementary schools in April. But its latest plan still puts it behind many other major school districts across the country. After months of tense negotiations, San Francisco Unified School District officials have released a plan to get the city’s elementary and early education students back into school buildings starting in April. (Neilson, 3/10)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID Reopening Plan For L.A. Schools: What To Know
A plan to finally reopen Los Angeles schools is coming into clearer view. It would mean a return to campus, but school life will feel very different. Here is what we know. (Blume, 3/10)
Los Angeles Times:
School Reopening: Why Some Parents Reject COVID Return
Katy Meza knows full well the pain distance learning is causing her son Matthew. The third-grader struggles with isolation, gets frustrated sitting in front of the computer for hours and is stalling academically. Still, Meza says she’s not prepared for him to return any time soon to in-person schooling at Bryson Elementary School in South Gate. Almost every family she knows has someone who has fallen ill with COVID-19. (Esquivel, 3/10)