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.
Jobless Total Takes Another Brutal Hit With New 3.2 Million Americans Filing For Unemployment Last Week: Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the business shutdowns caused by the viral outbreak deepened the worst U.S. economic catastrophe in decades. Roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close their doors and slash their workforces. The Bay Area alone has seen more than 92,000 layoffs in just over two months, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis. More than 2% of the Bay Area's approximately 4.1 million jobs have been lost. Search the Chronicle’s job loss database and read more from Roland Li and Eric Blom.
In related news from the San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Gig Workers Join 3.2 Million Filing For Unemployment
Organization Muscle Behind Stay-At-Home Protests Comes From Well-Practiced Anti-Vaccination Advocates: The activists have handled logistics such as applying for protest permits, planning bus caravans from Southern California, and ordering portable toilets and hand-sanitizer stations. And they have often acted as spokespeople for the patchwork of groups taking part in the rallies, from anti-government factions on the right to anti-corporatists on the left. Stefanie Duncan Fetzer, an Orange County resident active in the campaign against mandatory childhood vaccinations, said it’s inaccurate to characterize the “Reopen California” effort as made up mainly of anti-vaccine forces or Trump fans. Those groups are part of a broader movement united by concerns about the shutdown’s economic toll and broader government intrusion into people’s lives, she said. Read more from Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
State Court Allows Newsom’s $75 Million Coronavirus Aid For Undocumented Immigrants
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge by conservatives to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s allocation of $75 million in state funds to undocumented immigrants affected by the coronavirus pandemic and ineligible for federal aid. Plaintiffs represented by attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican national committeewoman and founder of the nonprofit Center for American Liberty, sued Newsom on April 22 over his order directing funds to nonprofits for distribution to as many as 150,000 undocumented residents. (Egelko, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Federal Agency Delays Medical Mask Shipments In California’s $1 Billion Contract With Chinese Company
Delivery of many of the medical masks that Gov. Gavin Newsom secured in a nearly $1 billion deal with a Chinese company has been delayed because a federal agency has yet to certify they meet safety standards, according to documents released Wednesday night. The situation led California to seek repayment of half the $495 million that it paid upfront to manufacturer BYD for N95 particulate-filtering respirators intended to protect medical workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. It will have to pay the money if and when the company wins federal approval for the masks. (Gardiner, 5/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Certification For N95 Masks CA Ordered From China Delayed
Federal certification for the N95 masks California ordered from Chinese company BYD has been “delayed,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. California paid $3.30 per N95 mask in its deal with BYD, according to an invoice provided to The Bee and other news outlets Wednesday morning. Last month, the state wired BYD a $495 million up front payment for the masks, which are believed to be the best protection for doctors, nurses and other critical workers against the coronavirus. (Bollag, 5/6)
CalMatters:
Newsom Gets 'Partners' In Med Supply Deals: Fed Investigators
At least California didn’t lose its half-billion dollars. That was the quasi-upbeat message Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered today over the mounting scandal surrounding a politically-connected medical supply company now reported to be under federal investigation. (Rosenhall, 5/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Inside California’s Rush To Contract For Coronavirus Masks
A massive shortage of masks to protect doctors, nurses and other critical workers from the coronavirus sent California officials scrambling to vet companies on an unprecedented timeline, documents the State Treasurer’s Office released Wednesday show. In at least two cases, high-dollar contracts for medical equipment fell apart after the state cut checks for them. One $456 million deal was with a company now under investigation by the Justice Department. Another for $8.75 million went to a Brazilian company that has been selling medical equipment for the past couple of months. (Bollag, Wiley, Sabalow and Venteicher, 5/6)
CalMatters:
Ironic Twist: California Health Care Workers Face Layoffs
When Aimee Paulson, a nurse practitioner, learned in late March she was being temporarily laid off from the private family practice she’d worked at for the last three years, she was disappointed but not surprised. Patient visits in the San Ramon office had gone down by almost 80% as the coronavirus outbreak kept people at home. (Ibarra, 5/6)
CalMatters:
California's Essential Workers To Get Benefit Of The Doubt If They Contract COVID
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order today that presumes workers who contracted COVID-19 were infected on the job and therefore entitled to workers' compensation. Labor advocates applaud the order while business interests say the costs could be prohibitive. (Ostrov, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Santa Clara County Alone Needs Army Of Coronavirus Contact Tracers
Santa Clara County needs to hire an army of 1,000 people, roughly double the size of its current public health department, to properly investigate and contain every new coronavirus case once the Bay Area finally emerges from sheltering in place. Public health officials revealed the scope of their expanded contact-tracing program at a Board of Supervisors meeting this week, during which Health Officer Sara Cody said her staff must be prepared to manage up to 75 cases a day after the economy is reopened and people return to work or school. (Allday, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
New State Website Lets Californians Enter ZIP Code, Find A Coronavirus Test Near Them
California has created a website where residents can enter a ZIP code, city or address and find nearby coronavirus testing sites, including many where they can get tested for free, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. The website, which can be reached from a link at covid19.ca.gov, includes a map with hundreds of sites across the state that provide diagnostic testing. At least 80 of the sites — run by two health companies with state contracts — will offer free testing. (Ho, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Gives Methadone, Alcohol, Cannabis To Some Addicts And Homeless Isolating From Coronavirus In Hotels
San Francisco’s health department confirmed Wednesday that the city was administering alcohol, tobacco, medical cannabis and other substances in an effort to prevent a handful of people quarantined or isolating in city-leased hotels from going outside to get the substances themselves. The hotel residents are also receiving medications such as methadone — delivered by methadone clinics — to tamp down heroin cravings. It’s all part of a widely used “harm reduction” approach to helping addicts stay inside and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus while coping with the loss or reduction of their core drugs. (Fracassa and Fagan, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s New Plan On Tenderloin Homeless Crisis Confronts Staggering 285% Jump In Tents
San Francisco Mayor London Breed unveiled a plan Wednesday afternoon for stemming the appalling increase in homelessness in the troubled Tenderloin neighborhood that has had residents there — and the homeless themselves — on edge for weeks as everyone crams in too closely on the sidewalks. Breed rolled out the plan just two days after the city was sued by residents and business owners in the Tenderloin, seeking to force the city to clean up the camping, garbage and brazen drug dealing that have radically worsened during the pandemic. (Fagan, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area To Ease Shelter In Place Slowly As Other Counties And States Rush To Reopen
Across the Bay Area, coronavirus cases and deaths have reached a stubborn plateau after seven weeks of sheltering in place, and public health leaders in most counties say they are committed to a slow reopening of the economy — even as the state prepares to relax some restrictions and a handful of local businesses are pushing for a quicker recovery... The sobering truth is that the Bay Area is still in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, public health experts said. And if counties emerge too quickly from sheltering in place, they risk a resurgence of cases and an outbreak far more dramatic than the one narrowly avoided by early and aggressive social distancing orders. (Allday, Tucker and Kawahara, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Support For Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Is Strongest In California. Here's Why
Even as the Bay Area flattens its curve of coronavirus infections, reduces its number of hospitalizations and takes its first small steps toward eventually reopening the economy, most people remain willing to cooperate with lingering shelter-in-place orders. Bay Area residents support those mandates at a higher rate than any region in California, according to a poll conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. (Kroichick, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
State Moves To Crack Down On Rural Counties Defying Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Order
Residents of Sutter and Butte counties got a sweet taste of near-normal life this week when local officials allowed people in the rural Sacramento Valley to stop sheltering in place, and businesses began to operate again. Pub-goers toasted their freedom. Diners ordered big meals at their favorite lunch spots. And many people finally got haircuts. (Alexander, 5/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Yuba And Sutter CA Counties Reopen Businesses, Defy Newsom
The battle between California’s governor and two counties over reopening businesses amid the coronavirus crisis escalated this week when Alcoholic Beverage Control regulators visited a handful of restaurants in Yuba and Sutter counties, telling them to shut down. The visits came on Tuesday, the day after health officials in those counties allowed a partial reopening of businesses, notably restaurants, stores, hair salon and gyms, despite a March order by Gov. Gavin Newsom that all such businesses in California should close to reduce potential spread of the coronavirus. (Bizjak and Ahumada, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Tesla Said To Be Gearing Up To Restart Fremont Car Manufacturing, In Possible Shelter-In-Place Violation
Electric car maker Tesla is preparing to restart some car production in Fremont, potentially in violation of local and state shelter-in-place orders, The Chronicle has learned. Some workers returned to the company’s Fremont plant Wednesday to prepare for a planned reopening of some production lines between now and next week, according to a person familiar with factory operations who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. The person was granted anonymity in accordance with The Chronicle’s anonymous source policy. (DiFeliciantonio, 5/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Walk-Up Site Opens In East Oakland With Free Coronavirus Testing
A free walk-up testing site opened Wednesday in East Oakland to offer COVID-19 testing for anyone worried they might have been exposed or infected, city officials said. Testing is available in the parking lot at the Roots Community Health Center at 9925 International Boulevard from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, officials said. (Bauman, 5/6)
Fresno Bee:
SCCCD, Fresno City CA Face Budget Cuts Due To COVID Pandemic
The State Center Community College District is preparing for a potential $36 million budget loss as it grapples with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The projected loss is an estimate based on information from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, according to Cheryl Sullivan, the district’s vice chancellor of finance and administration. (Panoo, 5/6)
Fresno Bee:
COVID-19 Cases Climb In Fresno, CA Region
The COVID-19 case count continues to grow at a significant pace in the central San Joaquin Valley, as Fresno and Tulare counties each added at least 50 new confirmed positive cases on Wednesday. Tulare County’s Health and Human Services Agency reported 58 additional cases, and one more death, as of Wednesday morning. That increases the cumulative number of coronavirus infections to 916 since the global pandemic reached the county in March. That figure includes 41 deaths from complications related to the virus, and 150 patients considered recovered by health officials. (Sheehan, 5/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus CA: Case Reported At Amazon’s Sacramento Warehouse
Another employee at Amazon’s warehouse near Sacramento International Airport has tested positive for COVID-19, at least the second worker there with a confirmed case of the disease. In a text message alert to employees, Amazon notified staff of the infection but said the affected individual had not been at the site, referred to internally as SMF1, since April 13. (McGough, 5/6)
Fresno Bee:
How The Coronavirus Is Impacting Fresno CA 2020 Census Count
Even before the global coronavirus pandemic reached the central San Joaquin Valley, there were concerns the region was in danger of being seriously undercounted in the 2020 Census. Every 10 years, the nation tries to count every one of its people. But Valley counties typically have a larger share of what Census officials call “hard-to-count” populations – people for whom English is not their primary language, immigrant communities who may be more distant or distrustful of the government, and those who simply don’t consider the nationwide count a priority in their lives. (Sheehan, 5/7)
Sacramento Bee:
How To Get Your Stimulus Checks Safely And Avoid Scammers
As people continue to receive their stimulus checks from the IRS, California’s attorney general is cautioning people to look out for scammers who might be trying to cash in. Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert and offered tips in a news release Wednesday to help people get their stimulus checks safely and avoid scams aimed at taking advantage of the federal funds. (Sullivan, 5/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus Will Worsen Effects Of Summer Heat Waves
Staying indoors without air conditioning is hard enough during a heat wave. But with stay-at-home orders in place across California due to the coronavirus pandemic, vulnerable people could be at even greater risk, state health officials say. (Wolford, 5/6)