Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
The Challenges Of Keeping Young Adults Safe During The Pandemic
Even while playing the role of quarantine enforcer for your teens and 20-somethings, recognize that they are as anxious and worried as you are — and with good reason. (Bernard J. Wolfson, 4/29)
California ‘Weeks Not Months’ Away From Making Meaningful Strides Toward Reopening: California businesses seen as presenting less risk of spreading the coronavirus could open in the near future under a plan Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled Tuesday, the first of what he suggested were several slow steps toward easing the statewide shutdown order. “We believe we are weeks, not months, away from making meaningful modifications” in the current restrictions, Newsom said. But Newsom’s announcement of a four-phase plan did not come with a guaranteed timetable. He said while current public health indicators such as hospitalizations and testing capacity look promising, additional progress needs to be made toward slowing the spread of the virus. Read more from John Myers, Taryn Luna and Phil Willon of the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, Newsom also said California schools could reopen as early as July to help make up for a “learning loss” caused by early closures and a switch to online classes in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Schools typically start the academic year in mid- to late August, but the governor said that might be moved up if the pandemic is under control. He acknowledged that many students have been unable to continue their education properly because of a lack of digital resources and support at home. Read more from Alexei Koseff of the San Francisco Chronicle and Ana B. Ibarra of CalMatters.
In related news:
Los Angeles Times: Talk Of Reopening Grows In L.A. And Orange County Despite Rising Coronavirus Death Toll
Los Angeles Times: Criticism Grows Over Gov. Newsom’s Management Of Coronavirus Crisis
UCSF, Stanford Launch Massive General Population And Health Workers Studies To Better Understand Virus Spread: UCSF and Stanford University will launch two studies in May that are among the nation’s first large-scale, long-term coronavirus research projects. They will follow participants over several months, retest them regularly and report real-time data to health officials — potentially shaping California’s phased reopening of the economy. The studies will together test 7,500 Bay Area residents who previously tested negative for the coronavirus. One study will follow 4,000 members of the general population, and the other 3,500 health care workers. Read more from Catherine Ho of the San Francisco Chronicle; Lisa M. Krieger of the Bay Area News Group; and Eric Westervelt of NPR.
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:
Bay Area Hospitals Slash Workers’ Pay As Losses From Coronavirus Pile Up
Stephanie Lum Ho lost half her work hours when the coronavirus pandemic forced UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Walnut Creek to halve the number of its physical therapy patients this month and send the rest to telemedicine. Lum Ho and hundreds of other workers at UCSF Children’s Hospitals, Stanford Health Care and Marin General Hospital have lost hours and pay as business has dried up during the shelter-in-place order, hospital executives and workers’ unions said. The University of California said it may begin laying off employees at the end of June. (Moench, 4/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Inside SF’s Main Emergency Room, A Nurse Faces Coronavirus Patients — And Fears Of What’s To Come
Before coronavirus made going to work feel like stepping into a war zone, emergency room nurse Christa Duran just rolled out of bed, put on her scrubs, threw her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her lunch and rushed out the door. But these days, she has to start getting ready for her early-morning shifts at San Francisco General Hospital the night before. She follows a carefully coordinated routine of packing, sanitizing — and preparing for the worst. With a husband and two little kids at home, the consequences of exposure to the coronavirus — even to just one tiny droplet — could be devastating. (Thadani, 4/29)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Bay Area Sees More Deaths, Sharp Rise In Cases
A day after seven Bay Area jurisdictions extended a stay-at-home order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the novel coronavirus offered a reminder of how deadly and tricky it can be. San Mateo County added seven more people to its death toll, while Santa Clara and Alameda counties put three more on their lists in information released by their health departments Tuesday. Two of those three counties also had a considerable increase in the number of positive cases confirmed in their counties from the days prior. (Hurd, 4/28)
Los Angeles Times:
Americans Killed From COVID-19 Surpass Fatalities In Vietnam War
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 reached a somber milestone on Tuesday, surpassing the number of American fatalities in the Vietnam War. More than 58,300 Americans have died from the disease, compared to the 58,220 deaths from the Vietnam War, according to the National Archives. (4/28)
Stat:
Gilead Says Critical Study Of Covid-19 Drug Shows Patients Are Responding To Treatment
A government-run study of Gilead’s remdesivir, perhaps the most closely watched experimental drug to treat the novel coronavirus, showed that the medicine is effective against Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.Gilead made the announcement in a statement Wednesday, stating: “We understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint.” The company said that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is conducting the study, will provide data at an upcoming briefing. (Herper, 4/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Marin County Health Officer Says New Stay-Home Order Will Be Issued Wednesday
Marin County will issue its new shelter-in-place order Wednesday at noon, health officer Matt Willis told county supervisors during a virtual meeting Tuesday. Health officials in the six Bay Area counties and city of Berkeley announced Monday that stay-at-home orders aimed at curbing spread of the coronavirus will be extended through May and will “largely” keep the current restrictions in place when issued this week. (Kawahara, 4/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
71% Of Bay Area Business Leaders Want Shelter In Place Lifted In Next Month
Almost three quarters of Bay Area companies want shelter-in-place orders to be lifted in the next 30 days, according to a survey by the Bay Area Council, a business group. Survey company QuestionPro polled 178 CEOs and executive leaders between April 21 and April 27, and 71% of respondents said the orders should be lifted within the next 30 days or sooner. The remaining 29% supported sheltering in place for two months or longer. (DiFeliciantonio, 4/28)
Fresno Bee:
Supervisor: Kings County CA Lifts Its Shelter-In-Place Order
The Kings County Board of Supervisors lifted the county’s shelter-in-place order during the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, according to Supervisor Richard Valle. In a Facebook video posted Tuesday, Valle said the removal of the county order does not do away with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order. “We have a long way to go. We need to remain vigilant and work together,” he said. “My colleagues and I today see a way out.” (Miller, 4/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus: Should California Brace For A Meat Shortage? Not Exactly, Say Industry Experts
Is the coronavirus crisis pushing the U.S. toward a meat shortage? There’s not a shortage, exactly, say industry experts, though interruptions to the supply chain mean that it’s taking a little longer than usual for meat to get from a farm to your grocery store shelf.“ We will have a short period where we have fewer packages of meat in the case,” said Daniel A. Sumner, director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. (Mobley, 4/28)
Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Economy, In Sign Of Recession, Shrinks In 1st Quarter
In the broadest measure so far of COVID-19’s economic damage, the government said Wednesday that total U.S. output in the first quarter fell 4.8% — faster than at any time since the Great Recession. But economists quickly noted that even this decline was likely the tip of the iceberg because the first quarter number included January and February, and reported coronavirus cases did not begin to surge until March. The full dimension of the pandemic’s economic damage will not be visible in the data until the second quarter. (Lee, 4/29)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Eldercare Homes Make Up 40 Percent Of COVID-19 Deaths
Residents of long-term care homes in California make up nearly 40 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in the state, new public health data shows, making skilled nursing and assisted living facilities by far the deadliest hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic. At least 578 nursing home residents in California have died of complications caused by the new coronavirus, according to state health department data quietly published over the weekend and updated Tuesday — representing approximately one-third of all confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the state. (Pohl, 4/28)
Fresno Bee:
Coronavirus Nursing Home Deaths, Cases Grow In Visalia, Fresno
A total of 24 residents at a Visalia nursing home have died from COVID-19 as more coronavirus cases surface at other nursing facilities in the central San Joaquin Valley and other facilities aren’t reporting data to the state. There was one new coronavirus patient death Tuesday at that nursing home, Redwood Springs Healthcare Center, and one coronavirus patient death at Lindsay Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility, Tulare County health officials said Tuesday. A third individual, a community member unrelated to skilled nursing facilities, also died in Tulare County on Tuesday, officials said, bringing that county’s COVID-19 death total up to 35. (George, 4/28)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Councilman Says Businesses Need To Be Opened
Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld said Tuesday the city’s leaders are acting authoritarian and should allow businesses to open immediately amid the coronavirus pandemic. Bredefeld said businesses should be able to operate while following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including the use of masks, as well as social distancing and routine cleaning. A number of Los Angeles-based businesses filed a lawsuit last week saying the state is applying its nonessential business orders unevenly, a lawsuit Bredefeld touted on Tuesday. (Miller, 4/28)
Fresno Bee:
COVID-19 Cases Surge In Fresno Area, Now Beyond 1,300
A spate of new cases of COVID-19 has put Fresno County at more than 500 confirmed infections since the coronavirus pandemic reached the central San Joaquin Valley less than two months ago. Tuesday afternoon’s update from the Fresno County Department of Public Health reported 23 new patients since Monday. Those cases bring the total confirmed cases in the county to 521. Seven deaths of patients in the county have been blamed on the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. (Sheehan, 4/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Tears, Frustration Greet Those Applying For Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
It wasn’t easy, but self-employed people who had the patience and perseverance to deal with the California Employment Development Department’s overloaded website Tuesday were finally able to apply for federally funded unemployment benefits. Late Monday, EDD tweeted that it “will be able to take applications for PUA benefits at 10 a.m. Tuesday.” The federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program provides up to 39 weeks of benefits to self-employed and other workers who don’t qualify for regular state benefits and lost work as a “direct result” of the coronavirus. (Pender, 4/28)
Los Angeles Times:
Essential Workers Describe Coronavirus Pandemic Experiences
Lines snake through parking lots at grocery stores. Buses carry people to essential jobs. Packages wait outside doorsteps. And doctors and nurses gear up for long shifts in packed hospitals. While many people work from home and await the end of stay-at-home guidelines, some workers continue to brave the COVID-19 pandemic to go to work to keep essential parts of society running. “I just want to thank everybody who’s out here working because at the end of the day, people are laying their lives on the line,” said Alonzo Wells, a security guard in Alhambra. (Nishimura, Maxwell, Armond, Angotti-Jones, 4/28)
Sacramento Bee:
El Dorado County Asks Newsom To Loosen Stay-At-Home Order
El Dorado County is urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to loosen his statewide stay-at-home order for residents with the blessing of its public health officer, who said the county’s low rate of coronavirus cases means it’s time to start modifying restrictions. The appeal came hours after the county announced its countywide stay-at-home directive would expire Thursday. (Yoon-Hendricks, 4/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Coronavirus Spurs CA Government Contracts, Limits Oversight
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart first wondered if his satellite-launching company could help California build more ventilators on a Saturday morning in March while reading about shortages forcing doctors in other parts of the world to ration the lifesaving machines. He reached out to a friend who knows Gov. Gavin Newsom personally. By about 8 p.m., after a flurry of emails, Hart was meeting with the state’s top emergency medical services official and a UC Irvine doctor working to develop a simplified version of the machine called a bridge ventilator. (Bollag, 4/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
From Bad To Worse: California Schools Face Devastating Budget Cuts Due To The Coronavirus Crisis
Schools across California face a devastating fiscal future, with a loss in revenue of $1,400 per student — or more, state education experts said Tuesday. That figure is perhaps optimistic. With the state heading into what could be a severe recession, the loss may be closer to $2,000 per student — a 15% reduction from the current funding level of $13,000. That will likely mean larger class sizes, layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and other ways to curb spending, officials said. (Tucker, 4/28)