Bay Area Monkeypox Numbers Rising: With monkeypox cases continuing to trend upward across the Bay Area and the rest of the country, many epidemiologists believe it’s only a matter of time before the virus that has primarily circulated within the LGBTQ community spreads to the general population. Read more from the Bay Area News Group.
California BA.5 Infection Rates Seem To Be Improving: California's BA.5 surge may have peaked, with new cases trending down, according to state data analyzed by The Chronicle. The state reported an average of 43 new daily cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday, down from 49 per 100,000 two weeks ago. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthlne’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Sacramento Bee:
Some CA Departments Now Require In-Office Work In Outbreaks
Several California state departments have been insisting for months that employees come to the office at least once a week, aiming to wind down full-time telework and establish permanent hybrid models even as COVID-19 variants circulate. Among the departments requiring in-person work, a new point of friction has emerged between managers and employees: what to do when there’s an outbreak in the office. (Venteicher, 7/27)
inewsource:
San Diego County COVID-19 Hotel Security Exceeded Food Costs
San Diego County officials spent more money on security guards at a COVID-19 hotel shelter than they did on food for people who were isolated there while sick, according to an inewsource analysis of invoices. And newly obtained information shows the meals provided to quarantined guests came from restaurants that have been cited multiple times by county health inspectors for food handling and storage violations, in some cases potentially serving hazardous food. (Dulaney, 7/26)
Stat:
White House Summit Sets Lofty Goals For New Covid Vaccines
Top White House officials spent Tuesday laying out a vision for a Covid vaccine utopia. In the future they depicted, vaccines will be cheap and widely available. Instead of merely providing protection against hospitalization and death, they will stop infections from occurring in the first place. Instead of requiring a needle injection, they will be administered by nasal mist or skin patch. Only on a few fleeting occasions, however, did President Biden’s top pandemic response advisers acknowledge the elephant in the room: money. (Facher, 7/26)
AP:
Doctor: Biden's COVID Symptoms 'Almost Completely Resolved'
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, wrote in a new note that Biden has improved enough that he’s able to resume his regular exercise routine. Biden’s symptoms “have now almost completely resolved,” and all of his vital signs are good. Biden took his fifth and final dose of Paxlovid, which is intended to prevent severe symptoms from COVID-19, on Monday night. (Megerian, 7/26)
Los Angeles Times:
New Studies Say Wuhan Market Is The Only 'plausible' Source Of COVID-19 Pandemic
Not long after the World Health Organization and China released a report last year dismissing the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a lab leak, scientists from major research institutions around the world noted the paucity of the published data, and advocated for a rigorous scientific investigation into the pandemic’s origins. An international team of experts responded to that outcry Tuesday with two complementary papers published in the journal Science. Using different analytical approaches, both papers identify Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market as the epicenter of the pandemic that has since killed more than 6.4 million people worldwide. (Purtill, 7/26)
San Gabriel Valley Tribune:
LA County Indoor Mask Mandate Could Be Postponed If Cases, Hospitalizations Drop
Los Angeles County is prepared to reinstate a universal indoor mask mandate starting on Friday, unless COVID-19 infections and rates of hospitalizations drop dramatically in the next few days. (Scauzillo, 7/26)
Southern California News Group:
Long Beach, Pasadena, Beverly Hills Will Not Enforce Indoor Mask-Wearing Mandate
On Tuesday afternoon, the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena — which both operate their own health departments separate from Los Angeles County — announced they will not be imposing mask mandates, should they be rekindled by county officials on Friday. (Bray, 7/26)
Bay Area News Group:
Masks Back At BART? Agency To Vote On Renewed Mandate Thursday
With Bay Area COVID cases surging over the past months, BART is considering a renewed mask mandate as part of the rail agency’s seesaw effort to keep riders safe from virus spread. (Kamisher, 7/27)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
5 Additional Monkeypox Cases Reported In Eastern, Western Riverside County
Riverside County Public Health on Tuesday reported an additional five probable and confirmed monkeypox cases in the eastern and western portions of the county. (Sasic, 7/26)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
Palm Springs Area Residents Frustrated Over Monkeypox Vaccine Supply
Rancho Mirage resident Daniel Phelan has woken up each day with new lesions found in his mouth and on his neck and face caused by the monkeypox virus. They "hurt nonstop" and "they're sensitive to the touch," he said, and the ones he has in his mouth make it difficult to talk, chew, drink, swallow and sleep. (Sasic, 7/26)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
Monkeypox In Palm Springs: Where To Get Vaccines; What Are Symptoms?
As more monkeypox cases emerge locally — there have been at least 18 probable and confirmed cases reported in Riverside County as of Tuesday — many Coachella Valley residents might wonder how they can best protect themselves, including how to get their hands on vaccines. (Sasic, 7/26)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
County Offers Additional Monkeypox Vaccination Clinics
With San Diego County experiencing an increase in monkeypox cases, the county will offer a second round of vaccines Thursday and Friday, this time making 800 doses available. (Sisson, 7/26)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
UCSD, Scripps, Sharp Earn National Rankings In Latest U.S. News 'Best Hospitals' Report
Three local hospitals earned national rankings in the “Best Hospitals” report published Tuesday by U.S. News and World Report. (Sisson, 7/26)
Patch:
Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare Named Among Best US Hospitals: US News
Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare in Pleasanton was ranked the 46th best overall hospital in the United States, tying with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center locations in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Leandro, among others. (Wittner, 7/26)
The Sacramento Bee:
UC Davis Ranked As Top Hospital In Sacramento Area, 6th In CA
U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Davis Medical Center as the best hospital in the Sacramento region and sixth overall in the state of California in its 2022 evaluation of more than 4,400 institutions nationwide. Last year, Sacramento-based UC Davis also topped the local list but had tied for seventh place in the 2021 state ranking. (Anderson, 7/26)
Becker's Hospital Review:
Nonprofit Hospitals' Charity Care Often Lags Behind For-Profit Competitors
Nonprofit hospitals benefit from billions in tax breaks in exchange for providing critical care to their communities, but experts question whether communities are reaping enough benefits. An analysis of the most recent annual reports that hospitals file with the federal government shows that nonprofit hospitals wrote off, in aggregate, 2.3 percent of their patient revenue on financial aid for patients' medical bills. For-profit hospitals wrote off 3.4 percent, according to a July 25 report from The Wall Street Journal. (Tucker, 7/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Opioid Maker Teva To Pay $4.25B To Settle With CA, Others | The Sacramento Bee
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that 12 states have negotiated a tentative $4.25 billion settlement with opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical Industries over its marketing and distribution of potent and addictive painkillers. “This agreement is another major step toward addressing the opioid crisis and healing our communities,” Bonta said. “Nothing can undo the harm opioid makers like Teva have inflicted on families across the country or the lives lost to the opioid epidemic. But this agreement will provide much-needed relief for its victims and importantly, critical funds for overdose prevention and opioid addiction disorder treatment.” (Anderson, 7/27)
Bay Area News Group:
San Jose Milk Bank Help Mothers Cope With Formula Shortage
Breast milk banks have long served an important role in communities across the United States, helping provide affordable human milk to families and hospital newborn intensive care units (NICU). Amid the recent formula shortage, the banks have taken on an increased role, helping provide milk to families who may be unable to access or afford the increasingly scarce supply of formula. (Bagdasarian, 7/27)
KPCC:
LA Is Attempting To House People Through A Federal Voucher Program. Where Do Things Stand And What Are The Challenges?
The city of Los Angeles received more than 3,000 emergency housing vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last July. The goal was to get some of the city’s most vulnerable people off the streets and into permanent housing. Although the vouchers have been dispersed, not everyone has made it into housing, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Times. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles or HACLA, the agency working to process the vouchers but there are several hurdles that make it challenging. Connor Sheets, investigative and enterprise reporter at the Los Angeles Times, and Doug Guthrie, president and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, join guest host Sharon McNary to discuss the latest. (7/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Audit Report: State Board Drags Feet On Providing Clean Drinking Water To Nearly 1 Million Californians
A California state auditor’s report slammed the State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday for what it called a lethargic approach to funding projects that should be getting safe drinking water to nearly 1 million state residents who do not have it, many of them in disadvantaged communities. (DiFeliciantonio, 7/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Railroad Workers Aren’t Entitled To State Sick Leave Benefits, Court Rules
A California law requiring paid sick leave for workers who miss time because of their own or a close relative’s illness does not apply to the thousands of railroad workers in the state, who are covered by a federal law with fewer benefits, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. (Egelko, 7/26)