Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
LA Hospital Seeks Vaccine Trial Participants Among Its Own High-Risk Patients
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center serves patients who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus: They are essential workers, have chronic diseases and are members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. When the safety-net hospital kicks off enrollment for its COVID-19 vaccine trial Wednesday, it will look to those patients to participate. (Arthur Allen, )
Evacuees Face Arduous Task Of Returning Home: Favorable weather helped firefighters battling three epic Northern California wildfires, but tens of thousands of people still under evacuation orders were left wondering: When can we go home? Some North Bay evacuees were allowed to return home Tuesday, but firefighters had no clear answer for nearly 80,000 residents forced last week to leave their homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “Please be patient with us, we’re doing the best we can with the resources we have,” said Ian Larkin, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s CZU unit in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. “We’re in this for the long haul.” Read more from John Woolfolk, Ethan Baron and Annie Sciacca of the Bay Area News Group.
For Students, ‘Trauma On Top Of Trauma’: Students in the Bonny Doon school district had been back in class — virtually — for two days before the wildfires forced them to evacuate, many fleeing for their lives in the middle of the night Wednesday. School had just started in this charming, wooded town in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But now, Superintendent Mike Heffner says he has no idea when teaching might resume and how the community will come back together. Read more from Jill Tucker of the San Francisco Chronicle.
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
NBC News:
'Disaster Inside A Disaster': California Wildfires And COVID-19 Form Twin Crises
The spread of the coronavirus across the Bay Area makes the already very challenging acts of firefighting and evacuating far more difficult. What's more, according to experts from the Washington State Department of Health, breathing in wildfire smoke may worsen the symptoms of COVID-19, make people more susceptible to general respiratory infections, and put strains on overall mental health. (Sottile and Arkin, 8/26)
KHSL:
What Does Smoky Air Consist Of And How Is It Measured?
The smoke we are breathing is mostly consisted of burnt wood matter or burnt carbon due to most fires burning in heavy vegetation. The air quality is mostly measured using beta attenuation monitors and Purple Air sensors. Air quality is in the unhealthy range for most people in our area. It is slowly improving in some areas but we continue to be surrounded by major wildfires putting out more smoke in the air. (Ramsey, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Elderly, Disabled California Family Got Overrun By Fire
A week ago, Mary Hintemeyer stood in the oak grove that surrounded her Northern California home and looked out at where a fire was burning a few ridges away, unsure of its threat. Normally, there is no cellphone signal in these parched hills that form the basin for Lake Berryessa, a reservoir that runs 15 miles across Napa County’s Vaca Mountains. But that evening, she was able to reach her oldest child, Robert McNeal, who lives 13 miles away in the closest town, Winters. He told her to get out. (Chabria, 8/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
It Was An Idyllic Escape From Coronavirus. Now, Lake Berryessa Is Ravaged By Wildfire
Marcia Ritz and Jerry Rehmke were the rare business owners who actually saw their sales double amid the COVID-19 lockdowns. Lake Berryessa was booming with activity — the lush green hills, turquoise lake and remote feel all added up to the perfect quarantine getaway for those cooped up in the city or suburbs. “Normally in the summer when I have to shop for the store I would just go Tuesday and Wednesday in one car,” said Ritz, who owns Spanish Flat Country Store and Deli on the south west side of the lake. “But this year I was shopping Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we needed two cars.” (Thadani, 8/25)
San Jose Mercury News:
Coronavirus: California Cases, Hospitalizations Continue To Sink
With its data snafu in the rearview mirror, California’s case load has now fallen below the recent false low set three weeks ago when hundreds of thousands of tests went unreported. The seven-day average Monday fell below 6,000 cases per day for the first time since the start of July and hit its lowest level since July 5, according to data compiled by this news organization. With another 106 deaths reported around the state Monday, that seven-day average remained about 130 per day, about where it has been since the beginning of August. (Webeck, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County COVID-19 Cases Continue To Drop, Setting Up Potential For Some School Reopenings
Los Angeles County continues to see a downward trend in confirmed coronavirus infections, setting the stage for a possible reopening of some elementary schools. The county’s coronavirus case rate has dropped below 200 per 100,000 residents over the most recent two-week span, a threshold at which the county can request waivers that would allow some K-6 schools to reopen for in-person classes. (Shalby, 8/25)
Orange County Register:
ICU Stays At Levels Not Seen Since Early May, Orange County’s Aug. 24 Update Reports
The Orange County Health Care Agency reported 353 new cases of the coronavirus as of Monday, Aug. 24, bringing the cumulative total of positive tests to 46,307 cases. An estimated 14,673 new cases have been reported in the last 30 days. There were no new deaths reported in Orange County on Monday, keeping the death toll to 897 people. The data on deaths in the county is compiled from death certificates or gathered through the course of case investigations and can take weeks to process, officials say. The most recent deaths were on Aug. 19. (Snibbe, 8/24)
The Desert Sun:
California 'Strike Teams' Issue Few Citations For COVID Protocols
California regulators contacted about 1 million businesses this summer to inform them of public health protocols enacted to stem the spread of coronavirus while allowing people to shop and eat beyond their homes — but less than 0.1% of businesses faced related enforcement action, with state regulators saying their goal is to educate owners on best practices instead of enforcing penalties. (Daniels, 8/25)
Bay Area News Group:
How Did Orange County Get Off The Coronavirus Watch List While Much Of The Bay Area Remains On It?
Residents packed beaches to protest shutdown orders. The sheriff said he wouldn’t enforce mask requirements. The health officer resigned after facing public harassment and intimidation. That was just a few months ago, when Orange County seemed intent on leading a rebellion against public health mandates intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And yet, this week, Orange County came off the state’s coronavirus watchlist while most Bay Area counties — which were among the state’s first to issue restrictive stay-at-home orders — have not. (DeRuy and Blair Rowen, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Judge Denies L.A. County's Bid To Stop Church From Gathering
A judge on Tuesday rejected Los Angeles County’s attempt to temporarily bar a large church in Sun Valley from holding indoor worship services where hundreds of unmasked congregants have continued to gather over the last five Sundays. The decision is the latest in a legal battle between the county and Grace Community Church, which has continued to hold services despite state and county health orders prohibiting indoor worship services. (Cosgrove, 8/25)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco To Close Crumbling, Unsafe County Jail Sooner Than Expected In Face Of Coronavirus Threat
San Francisco’s crumbling, seismically unsafe County Jail No. 4 will close its doors for good Sept. 5. COVID-19 policies to keep inmates out of the jail have helped clear the path to shutter the facility months ahead of schedule. The accelerated move was widely celebrated by city and county officials, who for years faced criticism for the jail’s decaying infrastructure and frequent sewage overflows. (Cassidy, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Takes A Toll On Latinos — And The Funeral Homes That Serve Them
The novel coronavirus has ravaged California’s Latino communities, with many people who are front-line workers catching COVID-19 and then spreading the disease to family and neighbors. This grim cycle of illness and death ends at places like Continental Funeral Home. Mortuaries that serve Latino communities have been overwhelmed by families in need of help since March, with bodies in some cases stacking up as operators tried to improvise funerals that previously might have drawn extended family and mourners from far and wide. (Vives, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Low-Profile Los Angeles Politico Swept Up In The Postal Service Dispute
The lone woman appeared one day last week at the stately San Marino home of John M. Barger, a small but sure sign that the growing furor over the U.S. Postal Service had arrived on his doorstep. Barger, a financier and Republican political donor, is one of six members of the service’s board of governors. The woman wanted to know if the Postal Service would deliver mail-in ballots this fall.Barger chatted with the woman over a lemonade. She listened politely and moved along. But on Saturday, demonstrators returned in force, about 70 of them milling about the normally staid neighborhood where Barger lives. “No postage, no peace!” chanted the outsiders. They didn’t leave so readily. (Rainey, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times:
California Moves To Stop Excessive Punishment Of Black And Disabled Students At Three Districts
Three school districts in Barstow and Oroville discriminated against Black students and students with disabilities by excessively disciplining them, prompting the state to impose five-year corrective plans, California Atty. General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday. The California Department of Justice found that Barstow Unified School District, Oroville City Elementary School District and Oroville Union High School District had a “systemic over-reliance on punitive, exclusionary discipline against Black students and students with disabilities,” according to a news release from Becerra’s office. It also found that the districts failed to respond adequately to complaints of harassment and discrimination, including in some cases the use of racial slurs. (Agrawal, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times:
UC Berkeley Reopens Amid Coronavirus Fears, Online Learning
This fall, UC Berkeley expects 1,600 students to move into campus dorms — short of filling 3,000 available spots as many canceled housing contracts after learning that almost all classes will be remote. As of Sunday, only three of 1,340 students had tested positive for COVID-19, [Chancellor Carol] Christ said. All students are required to sequester for a week, then take another test, and follow strict masking and social distancing rules. Students living in off-campus apartments are being urged to do likewise. (Watanabe, 8/26)
Fresno Bee:
Judge Says Fresno-Area School Can Hold In-Person Classes
Immanuel Schools in Reedley, the private Christian school that has defied Fresno County’s health officials’ orders not to reopen, can continue to operate classes, a judge ruled Tuesday. Judge D. Tyler Tharpe denied the Fresno County Environmental Health Department’s request for a temporary injunction. County officials tried to stop the district from teaching on campus, arguing that the private school was putting its students, staff and community at risk. (Rodriguez, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. School Officials Have 3 Weeks To Devise Emergency Child-Care Plan, Board Orders
Alarmed by the city’s child-care crisis, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday called for an emergency plan to help parents navigate the challenge of working while supervising their children who are learning from home because of the coronavirus pandemic. The board called on L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner to deliver a plan by Sept. 15. (Blume, 8/26)
San Bernardino Sun:
5 San Bernardino County Schools Get Waivers To Reopen
Five elementary schools received a waiver from San Bernardino County that allows them to reopen while the county remains on a state coronavirus watch list. The schools all received approval since Thursday, Aug. 20, when only the Lucerne Valley Unified School District had been cleared to reopen in the county. (Hagen, 8/25)
LA Daily News:
School Is In Session From This Sylmar Teacher’s Hospital Room
A room at the maternity ward at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills is full of the sound of third-graders’ voices. They’re echoing from the speakers in Janet Udomratsak’s laptop. To her right, an IV stand is just out of view of the digital cameras. Welcome to the COVID-19 era, when a teacher’s hospital room can actually be her classroom, just days before giving birth to her second child. (Carter, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times:
California Bill Would Allow Duplexes On Single Family Lots
The California Assembly is considering a bill that would require local governments to permit duplexes on parcels now largely restricted to one house, in effect eliminating single-family zoning that dominates in most suburban residential neighborhoods. The measure, Senate Bill 1120, is pitched as a way to ease a long-running housing shortage that has hammered low- and middle-class families throughout California but is drawing criticism from homeowners concerned it will fundamentally change their neighborhoods. (Khouri, 8/26)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Advocate Sets Up Illegal Homeless Camp Amid COVID-19
Santa Clara Street always attracted a large unhoused population, because of its proximity to the Poverello House, Spees said. But before the coronavirus outbreak, the homeless task force ensured nobody set up a permanent home by conducting daily wake-up calls to clear out tents. Amid COVID-19, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the Center for Disease Control, recommended cities stop clearing encampments to reduce the spread of the virus. Encampment clean-ups have continued throughout the city except for the Santa Clara Street area. (Tobias, 8/26)