Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Apple Aims to Push More Patient Data to Doctors. But Who Can Gauge Its Impact on Health?
The Silicon Valley giant has been cryptic about its plan for the growing mound of health data available through its iPhones and watches. Health systems have experimented with the company’s health app, but it hasn’t yet become central to treatment. (Sarah Kwon, )
Newsom Will Order Teachers To Get Vaxxed Or Tested, Sources Say: California school employees must either be vaccinated against covid or submit to a regular covid test under a pending order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, sources told several news organizations Tuesday. Read more from the Los Angeles Times, Bay Area News Group and Politico.
Starting Today, Visitors At Hospitals, Nursing Homes Must Show Vaccine Card: Starting Wednesday, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities across California will begin turning away visitors unable to show that they are fully vaccinated or, alternatively, that they have tested negative for coronavirus infection in the preceding 72 hours. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune and Orange County Register.
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 Daily News:
LA County Takes Step Toward Potential Indoor Vaccine Requirement
Propelled by surging coronavirus caseloads and enduring resistance to vaccinations, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Aug. 10, set the wheels in motion on a possible vaccine mandate that would require proof of vaccination before entering places such as restaurants, entertainment venues, gyms and other public business spaces. The action, approved unanimously just weeks after a county health order required masks at indoor public spaces, does not yet create a binding vaccine mandate, but it paves the way for a potential health order. (Carter, 8/10)
Bay Area News Group:
More Places Are Requiring Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccination. Is A Vaccine Passport Coming To California?
Starting Wednesday, hospitals and nursing homes in California must verify that visitors are vaccinated or have tested negative for the coronavirus within the last three days — the Golden State’s latest COVID requirement amid a pandemic with no end in sight. The shift could offer another indication of things to come as hospitals pivot from screening visitors for symptoms to checking vaccination cards and QR codes. With the delta variant surging across the state and employers from Facebook to the federal government now mandating workers get vaccinated, an increasing number of businesses from bars to concert halls are barring the unvaccinated. (DeRuy and Oh, 8/11)
Capital & Main:
Why Young Adult Vaccination Rates Are Stagnating
“I think our messaging for young people is less powerful because the benefits of vaccination for them are just not as clear,” said Dr. Jeanne Noble, an emergency care physician who directs COVID response at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. A recent study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, puts the issue into bold relief. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, they found that 83% of respondents in the 18-25 age group said they weren’t vaccinated — and nearly a quarter of them didn’t plan on doing so. (Kreidler, 8/5)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Health, Appreciation The Focus Of Outreach To Vineyard Workers Tuesday
The red flame seedless grapes hung plump and ripe on the vine as a small army of farmworkers 30 miles south of Bakersfield braved triple-digit temperatures Tuesday to bring the fruit to market. As lunchtime approached, a caravan of cars arrived on the narrow dirt road. Within minutes, a shade structure was erected and a table was spread with enough lunch and beverages to feed 70 hungry workers. As Norteño and banda music was piped through speakers, and the workers lined up for lunch, a team of health professionals stood by to answer any questions and concerns. "We recognize that vaccine hesitancy has become a huge issue, particularly in these vulnerable populations," said Stacy Ferreira, CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista, which hosted the event in partnership with volunteers and staff from the Chavez Radio Group and its La Campesina FM station. (Mayer, 8/10)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Chief Says Hospitalized LAPD Worker Credits COVID Vaccine For Saving His Life
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday that a vaccinated LAPD employee was hospitalized with COVID-19, but “he and the doctors are convinced that the vaccination ultimately saved his life. ”The employee had received the Moderna vaccine but contracted the Delta variant of the virus, Moore said. “As much as his hospitalization occurred and it was a serious and critical need for his recovery and he was in the ICU for a portion of time, he and the doctors are convinced that the vaccination ultimately saved his life in lessening the impact of the Delta variant,” Moore said. (8/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Oakland Unified School District Requiring Coronavirus Vaccines Or Weekly COVID Tests For Teachers, Staff
All Oakland Unified School District teachers and staff members are required to get the coronavirus vaccine or face weekly coronavirus tests as part of a mandate announced by school district and teachers union officials late Tuesday night. Staff members — including remote workers, contractors and volunteers — must get vaccinated or face weekly coronavirus tests effective September 7, the day after Labor Day, school district officials said in a statement to the school district community. (Hernández, 8/10)
KQED:
SFUSD To Require COVID Vaccinations For Staff — Or Weekly Testing
The San Francisco Unified School District will require all of its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested for the coronavirus at least weekly, district officials announced Tuesday. The new policy, which takes effect on Sept. 7, affects approximately 10,000 workers, but does not apply to students. (8/10)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Rosedale Board Urges State To Overturn Mask Mandate In Schools
The board of the Rosedale Union School District unanimously agreed to pen a letter to state officials, urging them to overturn a state mandate that requires universal masking inside schools. The move came Tuesday after the board heard about 40 minutes of public comment, which was entirely against the mask mandate. With few exceptions, most of the speakers described themselves as parents in the district. One student from Centennial Elementary also spoke, calling masks "stinky and hot." (Gallegos, 8/10)
Modesto Bee:
CA Public Health Won’t Get Letter From Turlock School Board
The trustees of Turlock Unified School District won’t send a letter they had drafted to state officials asking to lift statewide COVID-19 mandates for K-12 schools. The letter did not receive enough support from the board to bring it to a vote, though it was the only item on the agenda for the special meeting held Monday evening. (Isaacman, 8/10)
CapRadio:
Stockton High School Students Return To Class In Big Numbers
Stockton high school students are returning to class in big numbers. San Joaquin Regional Transit yesterday began increasing their routes as the number of passengers swells. At Chavez High School 2,400 students returned to in-person classes—only 80 opted for online instruction. (8/10)
CapRadio:
How To Keep Your Child Safe From The Delta Variant
It's inevitable that when kids mix — returning from camp or heading back to school — germs spread. And in a pandemic year fueled by the delta variant, some of those germs may cause COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advice for keeping your child protected from this highly contagious version of the coronavirus now and this fall: Mask up in schools and other crowded venues, and make sure everyone age 12 and older in the family gets a COVID-19 shot. But what if your kids are younger than that? What if they develop symptoms or come into contact with someone who tests positive for the coronavirus? (Huang, 8/10)
KQED:
Getting Ready To Teach In Person Again
Bay Area teachers have been preparing to teach in-person again. There’s so much to get ready for — whether it’s taking steps to keep people safe from COVID-19, or figuring out how to navigate student group projects. But above all, these two Bay Area teachers are excited to return to what was lost: connecting in person with their students. (Katayama, Cruz Guevarra and Montecillo, 8/11)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. COVID Surge Slowing, But School May Spark More Cases
The latest COVID-19 surge is showing some signs of slowing in Los Angeles County, but cases are likely to continue rising in the weeks ahead as the hyper-transmissible Delta variant continues to loom as a major threat, Los Angeles County’s top health official said Tuesday. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said she expects recorded infections will increase in part as a byproduct of ramped-up testing when schools, colleges and universities welcome students back for the new term. (Money and Lin II, 8/10)
Los Angeles Times:
California Doing Better With Delta Variant Than Florida, Texas. Here's Why
Despite a significant surge in both coronavirus cases and hospitalizations this summer, California so far has managed to avoid the sky-high infection rates and increasingly overcrowded hospitals some other states are now experiencing. California’s coronavirus case rate remains below the national average and significantly less than that of Florida and Texas: two common points of comparison given their population size and distinctly different pandemic responses. (Lin II and Money, 8/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Devastating Impact Of COVID On Pregnancy Highlighted By Large UCSF Study
Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus are at significantly higher risk for adverse complications, including preterm birth, according to a University of California San Francisco analysis of all documented births in the state between July 2020 and January 2021. In the largest study of its kind, researchers found the risk of very preterm birth, which occurs at less than 32 weeks of gestation, was 60% higher for people infected with the coronavirus during their pregnancy. The risk of giving birth at less than 37 weeks — which is any preterm birth — was 40% higher. (Vaziri, 8/10)
Modesto Bee:
Delta Causes A Wave Of COVID Cases In California Children
More children are contracting COVID-19 since the highly contagious delta variant took over in California, an analysis of state data shows. The number of children and adolescents who tested positive nearly tripled the second half of July compared to the first two weeks last month. The jump in pediatric cases is troubling as schools reopen for in-person learning. (Carlson, 8/11)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Emergency Rooms See Increase In COVID Visits
Doctors and nurses at Mercy San Juan Medical Center had hoped, maybe even believed, that the days of being crowded with coronavirus patients were over. The Dignity Health hospital even closed its designated COVID-19 unit, preparing to convert that part of the observation floor back to its original purpose. There were no virus patients left to occupy it. That was hardly three weeks ago, said Dr. Nicole Braxley, medical director of Mercy San Juan’s emergency room. (McGough, 8/11)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Local Hospitals Resort To Postponing Elective Procedures To Save Room For Coronavirus Patients
Some Kern County hospitals have responded to the recent increase in local COVID-19 cases by postponing non-emergency medical procedures as a way of ensuring space and resources remain available to treat patients sick with the virus. Other medical centers that have not taken that step said it’s possible they will soon do so if case rates continue to escalate. (Cox, 8/10)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Coronavirus At Highest Level In Kern County Since Early February
Coronavirus is spreading in Kern County at a rate not seen for months. Over the last two weeks, an average 22.3 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported each day per 100,000 residents, according to data released by Kern County Public Health Services on Tuesday. That is the highest case rate since Feb. 10, when the county was recovering from the winter surge. (Morgen, 8/10)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus Has Another Jump In Hospital COVID-19 Cases
Hospital cases of COVID-19 shot up again in Stanislaus County on Tuesday. The county’s five hospitals had 170 patients, compared with 152 on Monday, the Health Services Agency reported. The count had dipped to the 30s in mid-July and exceeded 300 during the worst of the winter surge. (Holland, 8/11)
Orange County Register:
Orange County Reported 640 New Cases And Two New Deaths On Aug. 10
The OC Health Care Agency reported 640 new cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, Aug. 10, increasing the cumulative total since tracking began in the county to 271,837. There have been 9,313 new infections reported in the last 14 days. The number of new cases per 100,000 county residents in the past 14 days works out to 20.6 a day. (Goertzen, 8/10)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID-19 Hospital Cases Climb In Southern California As Surge Continues
COVID-19 hospitalizations have essentially doubled across much of California over the last two weeks — a troubling trend officials say illustrates the pandemic’s continued potency amid an ongoing surge in infections. Increases of that magnitude have been seen in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, state data show, straining healthcare systems to an extent not seen in months. (Money and Lin II, 8/10)
Marin Independent Journal:
Marin County Outlook Uncertain On Delta-Fueled COVID-19 Spike
Whether Marin County’s surge in COVID-19 infections from the delta variant is waning remained unclear Tuesday, said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer. “We see that there has been somewhat of a plateau in our case rates in the past seven to 10 days,” Willis told the Board of Supervisors. “We haven’t seen that same meteoric rise that we saw through July when there was an exponential increase in cases every day.” (Halstead, 8/11)
inewsource:
Five Takeaways From SDSU Report On County’s COVID-19 Hotels
Last week, a scathing report from San Diego State University shed new light, confirmed previous inewsource reporting and raised questions about the future of a county COVID-19 hotel program. San Diego County has been using hotels over the past 16 months to house thousands of people who have COVID-19 or have been exposed to it and don’t have a safe place to isolate. (Dulaney and Castellano, 8/10)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Nonprofit To Hold Vigil Saturday For Those Impacted By COVID-19 Pandemic
The nonprofit COVID Survivors for Change is hosting a candlelight vigil at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to honor those who passed away from COVID-19 and spotlight survivors of a COVID-19 infection. Individuals can gather in front of the Liberty Bell at the Kern County Superior Courthouse located at 1415 Truxtun Avenue. Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh and a grief specialist will also partake in the event. Event organizers said participants must wear a mask. (8/10)
Sacramento Bee:
CA State Workers: Fill Out Sacramento Bee Coronavirus Survey
Uncertainty still abounds in many California state government offices a year and a half into the coronavirus pandemic. The surge of the delta variant is driving new infections in California at the quickest rate yet, introducing new questions about returning to state offices. Departments are working out details of new vaccination mandates. There’s no permanent telework policy. Employees who couldn’t telecommute are waiting to find out if they’ll receive hazard pay. (Venteicher, 8/11)
Chico Enterprise-Record:
Dixie Fire: Dry Conditions, Possible Dry Thunderstorms Could Bring Increased Fire Activity
The Dixie Fire consumed an additional 2,441 acres Tuesday and its containment is now 27 percent contained, a two percent rise from Tuesday morning’s incident report. Cal Fire previously lowered the acreage spread of the Dixie Fire on Monday from 489,287 acres to 482,047 acres due to better mapping by fire officials. However as of Tuesday night’s Cal Fire incident report the acreage has grown to 490,205 acres. (Couchot, 8/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Dixie Fire Generates Fire Whirl, Pyrocumulonimbus Cloud
Nearly a month after igniting, the monstrous Dixie fire burning in Northern California has destroyed nearly 900 structures and continues to exhibit extreme behavior, officials said. The fire, which has seared 487,764 acres across four counties north of Sacramento, is continuing to generate its own weather. (Seidman, 8/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Wildfire Smoke Preparation And Protection Safety Tips
Wildfire season is already off to a record-breaking start, and experts are warning that smoke from the state’s biggest blazes may be as dangerous as the flames themselves. In 2020, smoke from California’s wildfires blanketed the state in ash, soot and thick, hazy skies for weeks, with some plumes from the fires reaching as far away as Europe. Already this year, smoke from the region’s fires have spread across much of the U.S. and Canada. (Smith, 8/10)
Long Beach Press-Telegram:
LA City Council Asks For Report On Cause Of Hyperion Sewage Backup Within 90 Days
Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment will provide a more detailed report to the City Council within 90 days on what caused a debris backup at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant last month — ultimately causing the facility to flood and 17 million gallons of untreated sewage to spill into the ocean — and what steps officials can take to prevent future crises. The City Council unanimously directed sanitation officials to prepare that report during its Tuesday, Aug. 10, meeting, during which the elected officials also heard a presentation from the agency about what happened after an inordinate amount of debris caused the plant to flood. (Haire, 8/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Water Recycling Impaired By Hyperion Sewage Disaster
Problems at a Los Angeles sewage treatment plant that caused a massive sewage spill into Santa Monica Bay last month have severely reduced the region’s water recycling ability, forcing officials to divert millions of gallons of clean drinking water at a time of worsening drought conditions. Even as California Gov. Gavin Newsom urges a voluntary 15% reduction in water usage, the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant‘s inability to fully treat sewage has forced local officials to divert clean drinking water to uses normally served by recycled Hyperion water. Among those uses is an effort to protect coastal aquifers from seawater contamination, as well as the irrigation of parks, cemeteries and golf courses across southwest Los Angeles County. (Lopez, 8/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Study Links East San Jose Airport To High Lead In Children, But Can It Be Closed?
East San Jose residents and community leaders gathered Tuesday to demand answers and action following a study that detected high levels of lead in thousands of children living near Reid-Hillview Airport. The study, commissioned by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and released last week, analyzed 17,000 blood samples from children under the age of 18 who lived within a mile and a half of the airport from 2011 to 2020. It found significantly higher levels of lead in their blood, especially for those living within a half-mile of the 180-acre airport. (Narayan, 8/10)
Sacramento Bee:
Live Music Is Back. This Is Not Sacramento’s ‘Hot Vax Summer’
Ruth Cisneros and Adrianna Jarquins were conspicuous at Cal Expo’s Heart Health Park. The friends were there Aug. 6 for the Summer Sad Festival featuring Emo bands, one of the city’s largest gatherings since the start of the pandemic. It wasn’t their rose-gold-and-green plaid masks that made them stand out from the crowd. It was the fact that they wore masks at all while they hung around the outskirts of the crowd. (Delianne, 8/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Has The Delta Variant Raised Outdoor Transmission Risk? Here's What The Experts Say
Throughout the pandemic, health experts have generally agreed that outside is safer than inside when it comes to coronavirus transmission. But the highly infectious delta variant has spurred a new look at that tenet — especially after recent outbreaks in the U.S. tied to large outdoor gatherings, including music festivals in Oregon and Michigan. (Vainshtein, 8/10)
KQED:
Stevie Nicks Cancels BottleRock Set, Citing COVID Concerns
Stevie Nicks fans won’t be seeing the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman at BottleRock this year after all. The musician announced today that she’s canceling all five of her 2021 live appearances, which included the Napa Valley music festival slated for Labor Day weekend Sept. 3–5. “These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made,” Nicks said in a statement published by Variety. “I want everyone to be safe and healthy and the rising Covid cases should be of concern to all of us. While I’m vaccinated, at my age, I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the five performances I had planned for 2021.” (Voynovskaya, 8/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Homeless Encampment Grows On Apple Property In Silicon Valley
Apple promised to help quell the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis with a series of big-ticket investments, but the tech giant soon may have to get more directly involved — addressing a problem that has spread to the company’s front door. A large homeless encampment is growing on the site Apple earmarked for its North San Jose campus, two years after Apple made waves with a $2.5 billion pledge to combat the Bay Area’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis. (Kendall, 8/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Report Says No To Homeless Facilities At Key L.A. Parks
Los Angeles should not pursue plans for overnight camping or other homeless facilities at Westchester Park, Mar Vista Park and a parking lot next to Will Rogers State Beach, city policy analysts said Tuesday. In a four-page report, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo said six locations floated by City Councilman Mike Bonin as possible sites for homeless facilities would be be too expensive or otherwise unsuitable — and should be disregarded. (Zahniser, 8/10)
San Francisco Chronicle:
The Bay Area Battle Over COVID-19 Evictions Has Arrived
When the national eviction protections lapsed last week, renters and their advocates got a chaotic preview of what they fear might be coming on a much larger scale. Some 92,000 households are still at risk of eviction in San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, data company UrbanFootprint found in a July report. “The name ‘moratorium’ is really a misnomer, because it’s not stopping all evictions,” said Nassim Moallem, a housing attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. “Recently we’ve been seeing more of these cases, absolutely.” (Hepler, 8/10)
Bay Area News Group:
Theranos: Elizabeth Holmes' Mental Health Records Could Be Made Public
More details about the mental state and legal maneuverings of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes could emerge in coming weeks, as a federal judge on Tuesday asked lawyers in her criminal fraud case to begin reviewing files that should be released to the public. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila did not make a final decision on a motion by lawyers for Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, to unseal documents concerning independent psychological evaluations of Holmes and efforts to have separate trials for the startup founder and former company president Sunny Balwani. (Hansen, 8/10)