California Isn’t Changing Guidance For Wearing Masks Indoors: State health officials are not ready to ask people to wear masks indoors again, despite the fast-spreading threat of the delta variant and the recommendations from L.A. County health officials. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Continued coverage, below.
More Undocumented Adults Will Be Allowed To Receive Medi-Cal Coverage: California plans to extend Medi-Cal health coverage to about 235,000 low-income undocumented immigrants older than 50 – offering the most expansive health coverage in the nation to people without legal residency. Read more from the Southern California News Group/Orange County Register and KQED.
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 Times:
Fears That Delta Variant Could 'Wreak Havoc' In L.A. Prompted Call To Wear Masks Indoors
California is just two weeks into its long-awaited reopening, but already a new coronavirus threat has prompted Los Angeles County health officials to request a voluntary rollback of one of the freedoms fully vaccinated people only recently began to enjoy. The county’s recommendation this week that everyone — regardless of inoculation status — should wear face coverings in public indoor settings as a precaution, given the presence of the worrisome Delta variant of the coronavirus, underscores that speed bumps may still lie ahead on the road to pre-pandemic normalcy. (Money and Hernandez, 6/30)
LA Daily News:
Ferrer: LA County Mask Advice Is ‘Sensible’ Step To Fight Coronavirus Variant
Stressing the move is only a recommendation, Los Angeles County’s public health director said on Tuesday, June 29, that a call for residents to wear masks in indoor public settings is partially aimed at preventing an already contagious COVID-19 variant from becoming even more dangerously infectious. The county Department of Public Health on Monday “strongly” recommended that all residents — regardless of vaccination status — resume wearing masks in indoor public places, citing the rapid spread of the highly contagious “Delta” variant of COVID-19. The agency recommended masks in settings such as grocery or retail stores, theaters, family entertainment centers and workplaces when the vaccination status of other workers isn’t known. (6/29)
Bay Area News Group:
L.A. Urges Masks Inside For Vaccinated. Bay Area To Follow?
Mask freedom for the vaccinated has proven short-lived in Los Angeles, where county health officials are urging everyone to keep wearing face coverings in grocery and retail stores, theaters and other indoor places in which state and national guidance now says the immunized don’t need them. And while state and Bay Area health officials aren’t signaling a similar walk-back of the mask rule they loosened just two weeks ago, several infectious disease experts said with the troubling COVID-19 Delta variant on the rise, a recommendation such as L.A. County’s wouldn’t be a bad idea. (Woolfolk and Oh, 6/29)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Unlike L.A., San Diego Will Not Recommend Indoor Masking For Vaccinated
Saying that it continues to monitor Delta coronavirus variant cases, San Diego County signaled Tuesday that it will not follow the lead of its neighbor to the north and push for indoor mask wearing. On Monday, Los Angeles County public health officials said they were urging that residents — even those who are fully vaccinated — mask up indoors as Delta variant cases increase. (Sisson, 6/29)
La Opinión:
How COVID-19 Swept California’s Mariachis
Hundreds of mariachis come to Boyle Heights in Los Angeles from across the United States and Mexico, in search of work. They gather at Mariachi Plaza, a small park with a bandstand and kiosk that holds a special place in their hearts because it was donated by the Mexican State of Jalisco, the birthplace of this music. They wait for people to call or stop by to hire them. But the pandemic hit mariachi bands brutally. Most work dried up, as events were canceled through the spring and summer of 2020. Some musicians performed at gatherings that defied California’s shelter-in-place rules and social distancing protocols. Without any other source of income, musicians felt they had no choice but to accept jobs even at the risk of coronavirus exposure. (Garcia, 6/29)
The Mercury News:
COVID: Google Re-Starting Worker Shuttle Buses Amid Bay Area Reopening
Google will restart its shuttle-bus service for employees along with its famed free-food cafeterias as it begins reopening Bay Area offices in two weeks. The Mountain View-based digital advertising and internet-search giant said Tuesday it would start bringing workers back to its offices and campuses in the region July 12 on a voluntary basis, ramping up to a broad reopening in September. (Baron, 6/29)
Los Angeles Times/Daily Pilot:
After 16 Months Of An Un-Fair Pandemic, O.C. Fair Organizers Say It'll Soon Be 'Time For Fun'
Costa Mesa’s Orange County fairgrounds stayed busy throughout the coronavirus pandemic — offering COVID-19 tests, vaccinations and hosting a number of drive-thru events — but for the first time in a long while, the site is getting back to what it does best. The 164-foot La Grande Wheel XL is being assembled, carnival game booths are coming into being and farm animals are being groomed for showing in preparation for the 2021 O.C. Fair, which runs July 16 through Aug. 15. (Cardine, 6/29)
Sacramento Bee:
Moderna COVID Vaccine Appears Effective Against Contagious Delta Variant, Company Says
New results from a laboratory study showed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant first discovered in India, as well as other variants tested, with just a “modest reduction” in antibody levels compared to the original strain. The Tuesday announcement offers the first evidence that the Moderna shot can offer protection against emerging variants that appear to have increased transmissibility and risk of hospitalization in countries around the globe. (Camero, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
Moderna Says Coronavirus Vaccine Works Against Delta Variant
Moderna said that blood samples from fully vaccinated individuals produced antibodies against multiple variants and that researchers measured only a “modest reduction in neutralizing titers” against the particularly virulent delta, which was first identified in India. “As we seek to defeat the pandemic, it is imperative that we are proactive as the virus evolves,” Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. “These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants.” (Cunningham, 6/30)
Los Angeles Times:
Will L.A. Require City Employees To Get Vaccinated?
During a meeting between Mayor Eric Garcetti and his city department heads Monday, a conversation about how to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among city employees veered at one point to vaccination mandates — including the one being implemented in San Francisco. Whether L.A. will follow San Francisco’s example, however, is unclear. (Rector, 6/29)
AP:
Supreme Court Leaves CDC Eviction Moratorium In Place
U.S. Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington had struck down the moratorium as exceeding the CDC’s authority, but put her ruling on hold. The high court voted 5-4 to keep the ban in place until the end of July. In a brief opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he agreed with Friedrich’s ruling, but voted to leave the ban on evictions in place because it’s due to end in a month and “because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds.” (6/29)
Sacramento Bee:
Number Of Homeless Families In Sacramento Continues To Grow
Sacramento’s homeless picture is drawn in so many ways, and families now make up a growing part of it. A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report released this year said 1,148 homeless people in families with children live in Sacramento. The number ticked up from 1,132 a year earlier, reflecting the difficulties of housing established families here. (Clift, 6/30)
Sacramento Bee:
Federal Government Says Number Of Homeless Continues To Grow
The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban development released an extensive report on the state of homelessness in the country. It says: “The number of people experiencing homelessness nationwide increased by 2% between 2019 and 2020, or 12,751 more people. This marks the fourth consecutive year that total homelessness has increased in the United States.” (6/30)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Backs New Plan For Restricting Homeless Encampments
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to draft new rules barring homeless people from camping near schools, parks, libraries and other “sensitive” facilities, a sudden change in direction for a city struggling to address a humanitarian crisis while also restoring access to its public spaces. On a 12 to 3 vote, council members asked the city’s lawyers to quickly draw up a law prohibiting sleeping, lying and storing possessions near a variety of public facilities, including public schools and homeless shelters. It also would bar tents and encampments from blocking sidewalks in ways that prevent wheelchairs users from traveling on them, in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. (Zahniser and Oreskes, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Newsom's GOP Rivals Say California Must Clear Camps To Solve Homeless Crisis
Republican Kevin Faulconer said Tuesday that if he’s elected governor in a recall contest this fall he would help solve California’s homelessness crisis by requiring cities to forcibly clean up all tent encampments. Under Faulconer’s plan, the state would create a “right to shelter” law requiring it to provide enough shelter beds for tens of thousands of unhoused people. He said the law would enable California to require local governments to clear people out of encampments that have filled sidewalks, parks, freeway medians, beaches and other public spaces. (Gardiner, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Leaders Try To Strike Balance In Funding Police And Alternative Responses In Debated Budget
Caught in the middle of a debate over policing, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed agreed late Tuesday to a budget that increases police spending to maintain staffing levels and boosts investments in alternative responses to homelessness, mental health crises and drug overdoses. The plan will also dramatically reduce the number of sheriff’s deputies guarding the city’s health facilities. The final plan doesn’t increase the police budget as significantly as Breed originally proposed and will aim to hire 135 instead of 200 officers requested by the Police Chief over the next two years. (Moench, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Lava Fire Near Mount Shasta Explodes To More Than 13,000 Acres
The Lava Fire, ravaging through steep and rugged terrain near Mount Shasta and Lake Shastina in Siskiyou County, tripled in size overnight and was burning across 13,300 acres as of Tuesday morning. Wind gusts as high as 50 mph contributed to the wildfire’s spread Monday to the east and southeast toward Mount Shasta, said Michelle Carbonaro, spokesperson for the inter-agency team managing the fire. (Rashad, 6/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Lava Fire Forces Evacuations As Heat Wave Slams California
In what is perhaps an ominous harbinger of the coming fire season, crews are battling multiple wildfires across California while much of the region remains mired in treacherous heat and bone-dry conditions. The largest of the fires, the lightning-sparked Lava fire in Siskiyou County, forced the evacuation of at least 8,000 residents Monday afternoon as gusty red flag conditions fueled the searing flames. (Smith and Miller, 6/29)
KQED:
Record-Shattering Heat Waves Are An 'Alarm System For The Climate Emergency'
The latest in a seemingly endless series of heat waves around the world hit the Pacific Northwest last weekend and will continue through the week, showing that even regions with cool coastlines and lush forests cannot avoid the blistering extremes of global warming. Temperatures across most of Oregon and Washington spiked 20 to 30 degrees Celsius above normal, with even hotter conditions expected through Tuesday driving concerns about impacts to human health, infrastructure and ecosystems. (Fahys and Berwyn, 6/29)
KQED:
Russian River Drought: Sonoma And Mendocino Residents Save The Little Water They Have
Official efforts are now underway to preserve what’s left in both Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma. Water managers are keeping more water in the reservoirs by cutting flows in half and experimenting with updated weather modeling to guide their decisions. Meanwhile, some communities are rationing water, and others are mandating water restrictions. The goal is to have enough water to weather a third, fourth or even fifth year without significant rain. But even with all that work, wells are dry, showers are short and crop yields may be smaller for the foreseeable future. (Romero, 6/29)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Budget Punts Public Health Investments Until Next Year
Before COVID-19 hit California, public health funding in California largely plateaued for a decade. One in four public health labs also closed their doors in the two decades leading up to the pandemic, leaving local jurisdictions without robust resources to mitigate an infectious disease outbreak in their communities. As lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom approve a new state budget this week that spends a multibillion dollar budget surplus, public health officials who wanted immediate cash to help rebuild their infrastructure were left disappointed. (Wiley, 6/30)
The Bakersfield Californian:
BC To Offer Public Health Certificate For Non-Health Workers
Bakersfield College is offering two free one-week online courses this summer that give participants the opportunity to earn a Certificate of Achievement in Public Health. Students will learn about public health and the organizations that shape responses, health information and its communication/promotion, health care in the United States and throughout communities, according to a BC news release. (6/29)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Startup Raises $276M In Bid To Rival Illumina’s DNA Sequencing Supremacy
San Diego startup Element Biosciences announced Tuesday that it raised $276 million to bankroll its bold bid to develop a new and disruptive DNA sequencing platform. That puts the company in direct competition with Illumina, the world’s leader in genetic sequencing, also headquartered in San Diego. And while observers don’t expect Illumina to lose its position as top dog any time soon, they’re impressed by the team Element has put together and say there’s plenty of room for new players in the sequencing market. (Wosen, 6/29)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Suicide Hotline Replacing Armed LAPD Officers On Some Calls Could Expand To 24 Hours
A hotline providing an alternative to Los Angeles Police Department officers responding to suicide attempts and other mental health emergencies could soon expand to 24 hours a day. The Los Angeles Police Commission voted Tuesday to recommend increasing the city’s contract with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, which is still under a one-year pilot program that started in February. The contract now goes to Mayor Eric Garcetti to approve. (Cain, 6/29)
Los Angeles Times:
LAPD Program Diverting Suicide Calls To Counselors Expands
A pilot program to divert 911 calls from people experiencing suicidal thoughts to certified mental health providers instead of Los Angeles police officers is being expanded into a 24-hour operation. The amended contract, approved by the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday, increases the LAPD’s one-year pilot with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services from an eight-hour per day operation to an around-the-clock service. The expansion increases the cost of the program from $378,522 to $838,522. (Rector, 6/29)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
County Approves $7.2 Billion Budget With Big Investments In Mental Health, Public Safety
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a $7.2 billion budget that boosts money for mental health services, pandemic recovery and other programs. The spending plan adds $200 million to the originally proposed budget of just over $7 billion, with big spending increases for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency and its Public Safety Group. (Brennan, 6/29)
Sacramento Bee:
CA To Give Workers’ Comp Benefits For Skin Cancer To Rangers
California game wardens and park rangers are at elevated risk for skin cancer by the nature of their work outdoors. Now, lawmakers are advancing a bill that would remove barriers to workers’ compensation benefits associated with that diagnosis for them. Assembly bill 334, authored by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, would make it easier for game wardens and park rangers with skin cancer to receive workers’ compensation benefits by creating what’s a called presumption for the disease. (Sheeler, 6/30)
AP:
California Advances Decriminalizing Psychedelic Substances
California on Tuesday moved another step closer to decriminalizing psychedelics — amid a debate over whether their prohibition is an outdated remnant of the War on Drugs — after the author removed a substance from the bill that opponents said can be used as a date-rape drug. The bill would allow those 21 and older to possess for personal use and “social sharing” psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component of so-called magic mushrooms. It also covers psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline excluding peyote, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, often called ecstasy). (Thompson, 6/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How The Pandemic Positioned S.F. To Become 'the Napa Valley Of Cannabis'
As many San Francisco businesses struggled — or shuttered — under the harsh economic effects of the pandemic, one sector in particular saw its fortunes bloom. San Francisco’s cannabis industry saw an enormous boom during, and perhaps in part because of, the pandemic. (Vainshtein, 6/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How Does San Francisco's Overdose Crisis Compare To The Rest Of The U.S.?
The rate at which people are dying of accidental drug overdose in San Francisco has soared in recent years. That increase is largely due to the rise of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is exponentially more powerful — and lethal — than heroin. Recently released data show that overdose deaths in San Francisco have now surpassed the rates of many East Coast and Midwest communities that encountered the deadly fentanyl epidemic years before it came to San Francisco. (Jung, 6/30)