Hospital Workers Go On Strike In Redwood City: Hundreds of support workers at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City walked out of the job Monday to strike for better wages, benefits, and working conditions after negotiations with Dignity Health for a new contract stalled. The group included 300 nurses’ assistants, aides, surgical techs, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks, and other essential workers. Read more from Bay Area News Group.
Bay Area Protesters Demand Better Monkeypox Response: Several San Francisco LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations descended on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ regional office Monday to protest what they said was the federal government’s anemic response to the monkeypox outbreak and the lack of available vaccines. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Scroll down for more on the monkeypox outbreak.
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
Los Angeles Times:
California's Summer COVID Wave Could Top Winter Surge
New coronavirus infections in parts of California may be surging even higher than winter’s Omicron wave, potentially explaining why so many people seem to be infected simultaneously. The concentration of coronavirus levels in San Francisco’s wastewater is at even higher levels than during the winter, according to data tweeted by Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor in environmental health at Emory University. (Lin II and Money, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Cases Soar In L.A. County, But This Is Different
Super-contagious Omicron subvariants that can reinfect people within weeks are fueling a new wave of the pandemic across California. Hospitalizations are rising, and Los Angeles County is moving toward an indoor mask mandate, perhaps by the end of the month. (Lin II, Money and Reyes, 7/18)
NPR:
COVID Patients Find Dangerous Advice And Pills Online
When Stephanie caught COVID-19 just before Thanksgiving of last year, her daughter Laurie suggested that she get help. "She was really not feeling well, and I was like, 'Just go to the doctor,'" Laurie recalls. (Brumfiel, 7/19)
The Washington Post:
CDC Stops Reporting Covid Cases On Cruise Ships
“CDC has determined that the cruise industry has access to the necessary tools (e.g., cruise-specific recommendations and guidance, vaccinations, testing instruments, treatment modalities, and non-pharmaceutical interventions) to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 on board,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said in an email. (Finnegan and Hiatt, 7/18)
VC Star:
Ventura Courts Initiate COVID-19 Mask Mandates As Cases Rise
Because of a recent increase in new COVID-19 infections, the Ventura County Superior Court has implemented a mask mandate for all persons entering any courthouse, courtroom or other court facility, regardless of their vaccination status, beginning Monday. (Talbot, 7/18)
Los Angeles Daily News:
UCI Latest School To Resume Indoor Masking On Campus, Others Say Monitoring COVID-19 Spread
As local universities and colleges review masking requirements on campuses amid rising rates of coronavirus transmission, UC Irvine is the latest to start requiring face coverings again indoors, as of Monday, July 18. (Sheets, 7/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area Counties Are Not Now Looking To Follow L.A.’s Mask Mandate — Here’s Why
COVID-19 case numbers are surging, hospitalizations are up and at least one California county — Los Angeles — is moving toward a new indoor mask mandate. But the Bay Area isn’t planning to follow suit, at least not yet. Health experts in the region say that approach makes sense for now. County health departments across the Bay Area told The Chronicle they have no plans to resume requirements that people don masks in indoor public places. They haven’t set benchmarks for when that might or should happen. The story is different in Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, where public health officials said they’ll return to indoor masking requirements as of July 29 unless the number of COVID hospitalizations drops. (Cabanatuan, 7/19)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Unified Opens Vaccination Clinic Ahead Of School Year
As the new school year approaches, students entering kindergarten and seventh grade will need to provide proof of vaccines to attend class. (Thronton, 7/19)
The New York Times:
The Novavax Vaccine Could Clear Its Final Hurdle In The United States This Week
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet this week to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Novavax, whose latecomer shot would offer unvaccinated Americans another choice as the vaccination rate has leveled off. (Olson, 7/18)
CNN:
New Covid-19 Vaccines Aim To Put The Brakes On Virus Spread
Injected vaccines against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 have been hugely successful, saving nearly 20 million lives globally in their first year of use and slashing the pandemic's death toll by an estimated 63%, according to a recent study. (Goodman, 7/18)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Health Department Reports First Case Of Monkeypox
The Fresno County Department of Public Health Monday evening reported the first case of monkeypox in the county, and noted that although the risk of contracting the disease is low, residents should “assess their own risk ... by considering the ways in which it can be spread.” The county’s top public health officer, Dr. Rais Vohra, predicted on July 1 that it was but a matter of time before a monkeypox case was reported in the county. (Guy, 7/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Records 7 New Monkeypox Cases, 21 Total
Health officials reported seven new probable cases of monkeypox in Sacramento County residents on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 21 likely or confirmed infections since late May. The county has reported 13 cases in the past week: two cases last Tuesday and four Wednesday, prior to Monday’s seven. (McGough, 7/18)
Reuters:
Analysis: Years Of Neglect Leaves Sexual Health Clinics Ill-Prepared For Monkeypox
Sexual health clinics on the frontline of the monkeypox response are already financially stretched, leaving the United States and UK ill-equipped to tackle the first major global health test since the COVID-19 pandemic. Infectious disease experts say sexual health clinics - which offer confidential walk-in diagnosis and treatment – are best placed to identify and treat cases of monkeypox, which is largely affecting men who have sex with men. (Steenhuysen and Rigby, 7/18)
Stat:
With Monkeypox Spreading, Many Experts Believe Virus Can't Be Contained
It has been a mere nine weeks since the United Kingdom announced it had detected four cases of monkeypox, a virus endemic only in West and Central Africa. In that time, the number of cases has mushroomed to nearly 13,000 in over 60 countries throughout Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, new parts of Africa, South Asia, and Australia. (Branswell, 7/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
New 988 Hotline Sees Increased Call Volume For Kern BHRS Crisis Hotline
Kern County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services said Monday call volume for the new suicide and crisis lifeline — which is reached by dialing 988 — has increased after being implemented for about a week. (Desai, 7/18)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Carmona Chosen To Lead Pasadena Health Department While Goh On Leave
Manuel Carmona, Pasadena’s deputy public health director has been appointed to serve as interim public health director while Dr. Ying-Ying Goh takes a one-year leave of absence for a prestigious fellowship in Washington, D.C. (7/18)
Sacramento Business Journal:
More Than 1,000 Sutter Employees Could Be Transferred To Financial Services Contractor
As part of Sutter Health’s ongoing effort to decrease costs, it’s contracting out a portion of its revenue management to a Utah-based technology company, in a move that will impact more than 1,000 employees. (Hamann, 7/18)
Oaklandside:
Highland Hospital Needs Your Help Naming Its Red-Tailed Hawks
For the last few months, hospital staff and patients at the Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus on 14th Avenue in East Oakland have been delighted by the sight of two red-tailed hawks who frequently fly over the hospital. The Oaklandside wrote late last month about how the hawks settled down in an old cedar tree on campus and raised a couple of red-tailed fledglings until the birds felt confident enough to leave their nest—and Oakland—behind. (Rodas, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Stillborn Baby Tossed In The Trash At California Funeral Home
A contractor for a funeral home in Lodi tossed the body of a stillborn baby into the trash, and now police have started an investigation. Employees at Cherokee Memorial Funeral Home contacted police Saturday after discovering the body was missing from storage, Lodi police said in a statement. (Hernandez, 7/18)
Times Of San Diego:
K-9 Helps Border Patrol Agents Nab Fentanyl Smuggler On I-8 In Campo
Agents with U.S. Border Patrol caught a motorist trying to smuggle hundreds of pounds of fentanyl through eastern San Diego County Monday, the agency reported. The federal officers pulled over the driver on eastbound Interstate 8 near Golden Acorn Casino in the Campo area about 3 a.m., according to USBP public affairs. (Ireland, 7/18)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
Yucca Valley Man, Joey's Home Animal Rescue Provide Healing Environment
More than two decades ago, Jeff Eamer was living the Hollywood dream: landing a multi-million dollar movie contract, working with the top creative minds in the industry and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle. But that didn't fulfill him. (Sasic, 7/17)
Voice Of San Diego:
Beaches Are Failing Water Quality Tests, But They’re Still Open
Even though San Diego beaches are failing water quality tests after public health officials implemented a new, more sensitive testing technology, the County of San Diego is leaving them open. At least, open to interpretation. Summer beach closures cascaded over Imperial Beach and Coronado like never before after May 5, when the County of San Diego deployed a first-in-the-nation water quality test that counts bacteria by its DNA. That triggered backlash from elected officials concerned about losing access to beaches over the Fourth of July holiday. (Elmer, 7/18)
Voice Of San Diego:
The Science Behind San Diego’s New Beach Water Quality Test
Today we’ll unpack the science behind a brand-new technology to measure water quality. San Diego is first in the world to use it, and it’s already sparked controversy. The more sensitive test shows there’s more poo plaguing San Diego’s southernmost beaches than we could ever tell before — especially in summer when coastal cities like Coronado virtually never failed water quality tests using the old tests. In the case of South Bay, there is an obvious source of human sewage that’s plagued the coastline for decades: Tijuana. (Elmer, 7/18)
Oaklandside:
Most Of Wood Street Homeless Camp To Be Closed Following Massive Fire
The California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, has announced it will close large portions of the Wood Street homeless encampment—Oakland’s biggest unhoused community, stretching across numerous blocks and under freeways in West Oakland—by Aug. 1. (Orenstein, 7/18)
The Guardian:
As Police Crack Down On Homelessness, Unhoused End Up In Mojave Desert
In a remote stretch of southern California desert, at least 200 unhoused people live outside, battling the extremes: blazing hot temperatures in the summer, snow in winter, rugged terrain inaccessible to many vehicles, a constant wind that blankets everything with silt, and no running water for miles. For Candice Winfrey, the conditions almost proved deadly. (Levin, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Move Thousands Of Homeless People Into Landmark Los Angeles Sears Building? Some Say No Way
Bill Taormina had 17 minutes to convince the crowd in the auditorium of Boyle Heights Resurrection School to back his plan to turn their shuttered neighborhood Sears into a giant homeless services hub. The "Los Angeles Life Rebuilding Center" that Taormina wants to build would house up to 10,000 homeless people and provide medical and mental health services, job training, immigration help and drug abuse diversion programs. (Campa, 7/18)