Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Can a Subscription Model Fix Primary Care in the US?
Medical subscriptions, a $199 million CEO payday and the race to fix primary care in the U.S. One Medical is betting big that a subscription model can fix primary care. But the firm faces competition from CVS, Target and large hospital systems. (Bernard J. Wolfson, )
California Announces Final List Of Color-Coded Tiers: California health officials on Tuesday released the final list of counties’ covid-19 reopening tier levels, with the state scheduled to do away with them June 15. Six counties were promoted: Alameda, Napa, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara moved into yellow; Stanislaus moved into orange. Read more from The Sacramento Bee. Continued coverage, below.
Reversing Trump Rule, Biden Administration Will Collect Asbestos Data: The Biden administration, in response to a suit by California, other states and environmental advocates, has agreed to collect and disclose information from companies whose products contain the cancer-causing mineral asbestos, reversing a 2017 decision from the Trump-led EPA. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
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
Bay Area News Group:
California’s COVID-19 Tier System Is Ending. Did It Work?
When California retires the color-coded tier system next week that it has used to set coronavirus regulations for most of the pandemic, six of the Bay Area’s nine counties will have reached its least-restrictive stage. Alameda and Napa counties found out Tuesday that they are advancing to the yellow stage that indicates “minimal” coronavirus spread in the state’s final update of tier assignments before most rules limiting business capacities and the size of gatherings are lifted June 15. (Savidge, 6/8)
Southern California News:
Most COVID-19 Restrictions Will Vanish June 15 – But Not Everywhere In LA County
While the bulk of COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted on June 15, Los Angeles County’s public health director warned that rules requiring masking and physical distancing will remain in place in some settings — most notably in schools, on public transit and in health-care facilities. “There are a few sectors where masking and distancing protections will be retained given the high risk of either unknown vaccination status, large number of people who are not vaccinated or the fact that they are, by their very nature, high-risk settings,” Barbara Ferrer told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 8. (6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Two More Bay Area Counties Advance To Yellow In California's Final Tier Assignments
A week before California retires its color-coded pandemic reopening plan, Alameda and Napa counties joined others in the Bay Area that have advanced to the least restrictive tier. By moving into the yellow tier, Alameda and Napa counties will have six days of somewhat relaxed restrictions — such as indoor service resuming at bars and wineries, and more people allowed in movie theaters and gyms — before the state fully reopens and every industry drops its capacity limits and goes back to pre-pandemic business. (Vaziri and Allday, 6/8)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego County Earns A Sliver Of Yellow As Tier System Nears End
Downward-trending coronavirus infection rates have put San Diego County on the cusp of joining the least-restrictive yellow tier of the state’s reopening system, though the change is anticlimactic with the entire structure set to expire on June 15. San Diego County has an adjusted rate of 1.2 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the state’s latest weekly tier report. It was the second week under 2 cases per 100,000, meaning that the region will automatically move from orange to yellow on Wednesday. (Sisson, 6/8)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County Finally Makes It To COVID Orange Tier
Stanislaus County moved into the orange tier of California’s coronavirus regulations Tuesday, serving to loosen restrictions on businesses and activities. It comes a week before the state is scheduled to remove capacity limits from businesses and do away with the tier system. In a presentation to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer, said the county’s COVID-19 case rate and test positivity data qualified for orange status for a second consecutive week. (Carlson, 6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
'We Are Opening San Francisco' - Bay Area Lining Up With State In Dropping COVID Rules
The Bay Area will be wide open along with the rest of California when the state lifts almost all pandemic restrictions next week. Even San Francisco, which has had among the strictest public health responses in the country, plans to align with the state, city officials said Tuesday night. Health officials in all nine Bay Area counties have said that with very few exceptions, they plan to go along with the rest of the state in lifting mask mandates, capacity rules and pretty much every other order meant to force social distancing and prevent spread of the coronavirus in public settings. (Allday, 6/8)
CapRadio:
California’s Low-Income Essential Workers Are Feeling Unheard In State Reopening
While California may be set to reopen in a week, many of the state’s low-income essential workers feel concerned about their safety. Even though restaurants, grocery stores and other essential low-wage workers have worked through the pandemic, regardless of the state’s reopening status, many are now concerned about the confusing reopening guidelines. (6/8)
Bloomberg:
Fauci Warns U.S. Of Threat From New Covid Variant
U.S. health officials warned that a more harmful Covid-19 variant known as Delta has surged in the U.K. (a country with high vaccination levels) in a grim warning to America as demand for inoculations in some states fades (only 42% of the U.S. is fully vaccinated). White House adviser Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that the variant first reported in India dominates new infections in Britain. “It’s essentially taking over,” he said. “We cannot let that happen in the U.S.” Delta has been reported in 60 countries including America, which is still the world’s worst hit by number of coronavirus infections and deaths, the latter totaling almost 600,000. That’s about one-sixth of all confirmed virus fatalities worldwide. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. (Rovella, 6/8)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern County's Case Rate Continues To Drop In Week Before General Reopening
Kern County’s rate of new coronavirus cases continued to drop as the county moves within one week of the general statewide reopening on June 15. At 2.2 new cases per 100,000 residents each day, the county’s case rate slipped lower once again. It is down from 2.4 new cases per 100,000 residents reported last week, according to the Kern County Department of Public Health Services. (Morgen, 6/8)
inewssource:
San Diego County Misses Review Deadline For COVID-19 Hotel Program
County staff missed a deadline set by the Board of Supervisors to produce an independent review of the troubled COVID-19 hotel sheltering program. The board ordered the review in early March, eight days after an inewsource investigation uncovered poor care and oversight issues at the main isolation hotel, the Crowne Plaza in Mission Valley. San Diego County has been using the Crowne Plaza and other hotels since March 2020 for people who have nowhere else to isolate from the coronavirus. But the program has been plagued with problems from the start. (Dulaney, 6/9)
ABC News:
Pfizer Advances Clinical Trials For 5- To 11-Year-Olds At Lower Doses
Pfizer is advancing Phase 2/3 clinical trials for young kids at lower doses than vaccines for adults, the pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday. Based on safety, efficacy and tolerability data from Pfizer's Phase 1 trial, the company will use 10 micrograms of each vaccine dose for kids between the ages of 5 and 11 in Phase 2/3 trials, and 3 micrograms of each dose for those 5 and younger. People ages 12 and older received 30 micrograms in each dose. (Schumaker, 6/8)
Orange County Register:
Vaccination Percentages By Age In Southern California Counties And Tier Assignments As Of June 8
As of Tuesday, June 8, the California Department of Public Health’s vaccine dashboard showed about 46.9 million doses have been shipped throughout the state (about 700,000 more than a week ago) and of those, 38.6 million have been administered. (Snibbe, 6/8)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID-19 Vaccine Site Opens At L.A.'s Union Station
A COVID-19 vaccination site opened Tuesday at downtown Los Angeles’ Union Station as the effort to get shots into more residents’ arms ramped up ahead of the state’s planned reopening next week. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti highlighted the convenience of the site at a news conference, noting that the transportation hub is widely used by commuters. Before the pandemic, roughly 110,000 people traveled through the station every day, he said. (Seidman, 6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Residents Among Most Eager In U.S. To Travel As Pandemic Eases, Survey Finds
As coronavirus vaccination rates rise and transmission rates fall in the Bay Area, San Franciscans appear to be eager to get back to traveling. Over 1 million adults in the San Francisco metro area — almost one-third of the total adult population — have plans to take an overnight trip at least 100 miles from home in the next four weeks, according to new survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s more than the California average of 26% and the national average of 28%. (Echeverria, 6/8)
Bloomberg:
US State Dept Eases Travel Warning For Canada, Mexico, France, Germany
The U.S. State Department loosened its travel warnings for dozens of nations including France, Canada and Germany, in a move that could ease airline restrictions for people wanting to go overseas as the coronavirus pandemic wanes in parts of the world. The department changed its travel warnings Tuesday for nearly 60 nations and territories from level 4, or “do not travel,” to level 3, “reconsider travel,” according to the agency’s website. In a statement, the department said it was updating the advisories after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the methodology for its travel health notices. (Wadhams, 6/8)
CNN:
CDC Issues New Advice For More Than 120 Countries
As more people get vaccinated and the spread of Covid-19 becomes more controlled, public health officials are issuing new travel advice for more than 120 countries. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its international travel guidance on Monday to give specific advice for both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers. The update includes moving 33 countries, including Iceland, Israel and Singapore, into the lowest risk category. (Prior, 6/9)
NPR:
U.S. Lowers The Travel Risk Rating For Japan, Where COVID Still Shadows The Olympics
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department have issued new travel advisories lowering the threat of COVID-19 in more than 90 countries and territories, including Japan, which is in the grips of a new wave of infections ahead of the Olympics next month. The CDC lowered Japan from its highest risk category — Level 4 — to a Level 3, on Monday, Reuters first reported. It also moved 61 other countries to the same tier and another 50 were dropped to Level 2 or Level 1. Additionally, the CDC has revised its rating for the United States from Level 4 to Level 3. (Romo, 6/8)
AP:
UN Urges Action To End AIDS, Saying COVID-19 Hurt Progress
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a declaration Tuesday calling for urgent action to end AIDS by 2030, noting “with alarm” that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and pushed access to AIDS medicines, treatments and diagnosis further off track. The declaration commits the assembly’s 193 member nations to implement the 18-page document, including reducing annual new HIV infections to under 370,000 and annual AIDS-related deaths to under 250,000 by 2025. It also calls for progress toward eliminating all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and for urgent work toward an HIV vaccine and a cure for AIDS. (Lederer, 6/9)
The New York Times:
A U.N. Declaration On Ending AIDS Should Have Been Easy. It Wasn’t.
The United Nations on Tuesday adopted new targets for ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, seemingly a goal most countries could easily have agreed to. But consensus had been elusive. In early negotiations over the agreement, called a political declaration, the United States and the European Union fought to ban policies and laws that stigmatize, or even criminalize, high-risk groups — and drastically scaled back moves to relax patent protections for H.I.V. drugs. (Mandavilli, 6/8)
CNN:
People With Diabetes Who Sleep Badly Are At Greater Risk Of Dying Prematurely, Study Suggests
People with diabetes who had trouble falling or staying asleep were 87% more likely to die of any cause over the next nine years than people without diabetes or sleep problems, a new study finds. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Sleep Research, analyzed data from nearly half a million middle-aged participants in the UK Biobank Study, which houses in-depth genetic and health information on UK residents. (LaMotte, 6/8)
Berkeleyside:
People's Park Kitchen Springs Up To Ease Food Insecurity During Pandemic
Nicholas Alexander was up and cooking by 5 a.m. Wednesday, preparing juicy tri-tip, stuffed cheesy peppers and pork roast in the center of People’s Park at a new kitchen and pantry that debuted this spring through community efforts. Though organizations like Food Not Bombs, Dorothy Day House and local churches have been serving meals at People’s Park for decades, the roughly 15-square-foot cooking and food storage space is the first of its kind at the park, which has become home to over a dozen people sleeping overnight in tents during the pandemic. (Yelimeli, 6/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SFPD's Fentanyl Bust: 'Enough Lethal Overdoses To Wipe Out San Francisco's Population Four Times Over"
San Francisco police arrested five men and seized 16 pounds of fentanyl — enough to kill the city’s population four times over — in a narcotics operation in Oakland meant to block deadly drugs from entering the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, authorities said Tuesday. The arrests and seizures last Thursday involved two semi-automatic guns that were not registered, more than $45,000 in cash and nearly 30 pounds of drugs, including the fentanyl. (Hernández, 6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Apple And Google Want To Force Remote Workers Back Into Cubicles. That Friction Could Lead To A Job Exodus
With the arrivals of vaccines and relaxed health protocols, some workers transitioned back to offices, albeit masked and distanced and part time. But with a statewide June 15 reopening date fast approaching some companies are squeezing more workers to get back to their swivel chairs and microwaved office lunches. But who has to come back to work — and when and where — is proving fraught as millions of workers face having a new way of living and working ripped away by managers requiring them to show up in person, or else. That tension could mean some workers leave for companies offering more flexibility and the ability to shed burdensome commutes in favor of time with family and friends. (DiFeliciantonio, 6/9)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Workers Are More Burned Out Now Than At The Height Of 2020's Pandemic
San Diego workers are reporting increased feelings of burnout — even while the threat of the pandemic weakens — due to increased workloads, a lack of real vacations and an inability to disconnect from work. That’s according to a nationwide survey of thousands of workers by staffing giant Robert Half. (Meiling, 6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco's Latest Feud: What To Do About Toilets For Homeless People
San Francisco officials are battling over bathrooms. Early in the pandemic, the city filled the streets with nearly three dozen portable toilets, mostly to serve the increase in the homeless population as shelters emptied out, but the number of toilets has dropped by two-thirds since last summer. As San Francisco cleared tent encampments and housed thousands of homeless people, the head of the city’s homelessness emergency response has pushed the Department of Public Works to remove toilets at some sites to avoid re-encampment, emails show. (Moench, 6/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Stopped 'Poverty Tows' During The Pandemic. Homeless Advocates Want To Keep It That Way
For the growing numbers of San Franciscans like Mikich and Martin living in cars, trucks and RVs, tow-truck bills aren’t just a financial headache. They can amount to a sudden eviction. And it’s a practice that homeless advocates are fighting to stop amid a much bigger post-COVID reckoning. On Tuesday, lawyers for nonprofit advocacy group the Coalition on Homelessness asked a county Superior Court judge to halt so-called “poverty tows” that result from five unpaid parking tickets, according to a copy of a legal motion provided to The Chronicle. (Hepler, 6/8)
KQED:
Faster, Cheaper: How California Is Revolutionizing Homeless Housing — And Why It Might Not Last
Though Homekey is barely a year old, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a massive $7 billion, 46,000-unit expansion of the program. Half of the funding would be dedicated to housing for people with acute behavioral and mental health needs. It's all part of his $12 billion proposal to combat homelessness over the next two years. Policy experts, service providers and others who work on homelessness in California have lauded Homekey as a monumental step in creating desperately needed new, subsidized housing for the state’s more than 161,000 homeless residents. But they’re only cautiously optimistic about its future. (Baldassari, 6/9)