Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Post-COVID Clinics Get Jump-Start From Patients With Lingering Illness
Pop-up care facilities bring together a range of specialists to address the needs of patients who survive but continue to wrestle with COVID-19’s physical or mental effects, including lung damage, heart or neurological concerns, anxiety and depression. (Julie Appleby, )
Newsom Signs Bill Allowing State To Make Generic Drugs: California could make its own insulin and other prescription drugs in an effort to lower costs under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he signed into law Monday. California wouldn’t develop new drugs under the law but would instead try to make cheaper versions of generic drugs, or drugs that are no longer protected by patents. Read more from the Sacramento Bee and STAT.
Good News: No Labor Day COVID Surge In L.A.: The numbers are in, and it appears Los Angeles County did not experience a surge in coronavirus cases after Labor Day similar to the spikes seen after Memorial Day and July Fourth, officials said Monday. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said it was due to residents washing their hands, practicing social distancing and wearing face coverings. Read more from the LA Daily News.
California Healthline wants to hear about workplace COVID testing policies. Does your job require you to show up in person or is it transitioning away from remote work? Share your experiences here.
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
San Francisco Chronicle:
Empty North Bay Lodgings Fill Up As People Flee Glass Fire In Wine Country
Knowing that Northern California hotels could soon be inundated by evacuees fleeing the fast-moving Glass Fire, Steve Page is doing his best to increase amenities at the 50 Acres Campground by the Sonoma Raceway, near San Pablo Bay in southern Sonoma County. Page, president and general manager of the raceway, announced Monday that the track’s huge campground would open as a refuge to evacuees. He is working to secure National Guard services — medical and security help for evacuees — and shower trailers that can be difficult to find, especially since hotels in the area are suddenly slammed after being nearly empty for six months. (Narayan and Simmons, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘It’s Like God Has No Sympathy’: Wine Country Residents Shaken By Relentless Onslaught Of Wildfires
Residents of the North Bay’s Wine Country have become tragically familiar with fast-moving wildfires that erupt in the dead of night amid intense autumn winds, forcing them to flee for their lives. The reactions have varied: Some people have moved away. Some have stayed and pushed fire-safety reforms. Most are simply trying to cope with a new seasonal fear and frustration. (Morris, 9/28)
Sacramento Bee:
‘Sorry, Sasha, We Don’t Have A House Anymore.’ Wildfire Devastation Unfolds In Napa Hills
Just hours after the Glass Fire churned through the hills above St. Helena and Napa Valley, Antonio Velazquez walked past the ruins of his neighbors’ homes toward his house, a chain saw in hand and his German shepherd-mix, Sasha, by his side. When they got to the homestead at Deer Park and Sunnyside roads, Velazquez turned to his dog. ”Sorry, Sasha, we don’t have a house anymore,” he said. “Oh well, we’re alive. But our house is burned. I cannot believe this.” (Stanton and Bizjak, 9/28)
LA Daily News:
Behavioral Health Center For Firefighters Opens In Arleta
At a time when the suicide rate among firefighters increasingly concerns officials, fire crews and their families have a new center in a former firehouse where they can go for behavioral health treatment. United Firefighters of Los Angeles City and Los Angeles Fire Department officially opened the Center for Health & Wellness in Arleta at Old LAFD Fire Station 7 on Monday, Sept. 28, during National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. (Reingewirtz, 9/28)
EdSource:
Even When The Smoke Clears, Schools Find Student Trauma Can Linger
For some students, the fire is only the beginning. The nightmares, the grief and an all-consuming dread can persist for months or even years. That’s what teachers and school employees have observed among students in California’s fire-ravaged areas, especially Sonoma and Butte counties, where deadly wildfires have struck repeatedly in recent years. (Jones, 9/29)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Is A Third COVID-19 Surge Coming? Experts Say It’s Likely, Unless Behaviors Change
After spring and summer brought persistent surges in COVID-19 cases, California’s rates appear to be on the decline for the fall. But as businesses reopen with modifications, some children go back to school and the weather slowly cools, health experts have a uniform message: It’s not over. About 2.8% of tests conducted statewide are currently coming back positive — the lowest it’s been since the pandemic started, according to the latest state data. Experts say that’s due to public health messaging about mask-wearing, 6-foot distancing and handwashing. (Caiola, 9/28)
LA Daily News:
Coronavirus State Tracker: Age 18-49 Are 59.9% Of Cases And 7.3% Of Deaths In California On Sept. 28
According to the California Department of Public Health several counties could be lowered by a tier on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Once a county is lowered, or raised, a tier it must remain there for at least three weeks. A county must also meet criteria for the next tier in daily coronavirus positive cases per 100,000 and testing positivity – meaning the rate at which tests are coming back positive – for two consecutive weeks in order to progress down a level. (Snibbe, 9/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
25 New COVID-19 Cases Reported In Kern On Monday
Just 25 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths were reported Monday by Kern County public health officials. That brings total cases to 30,219 while the number of virus-related deaths remained the same at 369. (9/28)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Hospitalizations In Bay Area Decline At Fastest Rate Of Pandemic
Following its largest reduction in hospital patients on record — both over the past two weeks, as well as the past 24 hours — the Bay Area’s number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 fell to its lowest point since late June, according to data from the California Department of Public Health compiled by this news organization. (Webeck, 9/28)
Fresno Bee:
An Improving COVID-19 Outlook? Charts Show Trends In Fresno And Nearby Counties
More than 330 new coronavirus cases surfaced in Fresno County since Friday, but the number of patients being treated in hospitals for the respiratory disease is nearly at its lowest point in three months. The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19, both in Fresno County and across neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley, also is down sharply from August, when more residents died from the disease in a single month of the pandemic than over the previous five months combined. (Sheehan, 9/28)
LA Daily News:
After Digital Contact Tracing Stalls Out Nationwide, L.A. County Backs A Controversial Crime App To Track Virus
Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles County is partnering with a crime-reporting app to provide mobile contact tracing, but the rollout of the app and others like it highlights the nation’s slow, controversial and sometimes patchwork approach to replacing fallible human memories with cold, hard electronic facts. (Henry, 9/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
As Temperatures Cool, Bakersfield Waives Fee Allowing Restaurants To Expand Outside
As temperatures start to cool and air quality improves, more and more people may be turning to shopping and dining outside. The city of Bakersfield says it is helping restaurants and other businesses be in as good of a position as possible to take advantage of this potential shift in behavior. The Bakersfield City Council recently waived an $86 fee for a COVID-19 special event permit that allows businesses to expand into the sidewalks or streets. (Morgen, 9/28)
LA Daily News:
Los Angeles Comic Con Says Event Will Go On At LA Convention Center With Coronavirus Safety Measures
Los Angeles Comic-Con is moving forward with a plan for an in-person event in December, making it one of the first Southern California festivals or conventions to attempt to do so since the coronavirus pandemic shut things down in March, organizers announced Sunday. (Larsen, 9/28)
Los Angeles Times:
How Coronavirus Is Reshaping L.A. Campaigns
Knocking on doors. Mingling at meet-and-greets. Crowding into campaign offices with volunteers. Weeks ahead of the November election, many of the familiar rituals of stumping for votes are off the table during the COVID-19 pandemic, drastically changing what it looks like to run for office in Los Angeles. (Alpert Reyes, 9/28)
Fresno Bee:
Check Out What Businesses Are Doing Well Despite COVID-19
Despite the negative impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on businesses and the economy, not everyone is struggling. Here’s a look at some local businesses and industries that are thriving during the coronavirus pandemic. (Hodenfield, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Another Scary Thing About COVID: Survivors Aren’t Fully Recovering
Rick Sullivan met the “monkey man” a month after falling ill with COVID-19.Sullivan, 60, had been cleared from quarantine and had started venturing outside his home in Brentwood. But he was far from healthy. Though he didn’t know it at the time, Sullivan is among the so-called long-haulers, a grim and expanding club of coronavirus survivors who suffer debilitating symptoms long after the virus has left their body. (Allday, 9/28)
LA Daily News:
Attendance Falling For LAUSD’s First Graders
The overall attendance rate for first graders in Los Angeles Unified is down 3.7% compared to a year ago — and down by two or three times that rate for some of the highest-needs students — according to the latest data from the district. (Tat, 9/28)
Bay Area News Group:
California ‘Zoom Out’ Protests Against Distance Learning Planned This Week
A week-long “Zoom Out” protest by families and students frustrated with distance learning began on Monday, Sept. 28, a member of the organizing group Reopen California Schools said. The protest calls for families to inform schools of their participation in the “Zoom Out,” request homework for students and log off distance learning online platforms, said Syndie Ly, an organizer with Reopen California Schools and a parent of four boys in the Tustin Unified School District. (Albano, 9/29)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
To Address Homelessness Crisis, Sacramento Considers Converting Private Land Into Temporary Housing Sites
Sacramento is considering a formal permitting process to allow for the creation of more privately-owned temporary housing sites, similar to the current tent city set up in the Alkali Flats neighborhood of downtown. The potential ordinance could help streamline the process for more private organizations like churches or nonprofits to offer temporary housing, according to Tom Pace, the city’s community development director. (Mizes-Tan, 9/28)
CalMatters:
California’s Rent Strike: Who Pays And How It Works
As the pandemic stretches into its seventh month, tenants and landlords have found themselves facing the same question: Who’s going to pay the rent if unemployment continues to hover north of 11%? (Duara, 9/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Gavin Newsom Gets Flu Shot During Live-Streamed News Conference
Gov. Gavin Newsom encouraged Californians to do their part to prevent a potential “twindemic” of the coronavirus and the flu this fall by getting his flu shot in the middle of a live-streamed news conference Monday. After providing his regular updates on the wildfires ravaging the state and the latest figures on new coronavirus cases, Newsom reminded viewers that “flu season’s just around the corner.” Then he stripped off his jacket and walked over to a doctor who had been waiting off-camera with the vaccine. (Koseff, 9/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Trump’s EPA Criticizes Newsom’s California Gas Car Ban
The Trump administration on Monday asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to back down from the executive order he announced last week that would phase out the sale of gas-powered passenger vehicles by 2035, arguing California’s power grid can’t handle a surge in demand from battery-powered vehicles. The letter, written by Environmental Protection Agency Chief Andrew Wheeler, also warned that California is unlikely to receive permission from the Republican administration to proceed with Newsom’s plan. (Sheeler, 9/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Rural Californians Worry About Gavin Newsom Ban On Gas Cars
It’s a long drive to just about anywhere Gary Wright needs to go. A rancher in the far northeastern corner of California, he sometimes has to drive nearly 100 miles, one-way, to get to where his cattle graze. It’s 36 miles to Klamath Falls, Ore., for a significant errand run. There are only a few gas stations along the routes through the forests and high deserts in Modoc County — let alone electric vehicle charging stations. There are none near the rangeland where Wright’s cattle graze. So he was baffled when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that California would require all new passenger cars and trucks to be electric or “zero-emission” by 2035 to combat climate change. (Sabalow and Reese, 9/28)