Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures
From cafeteria staff to doctors and nurses, hospital workers around the country report frustrating failures by management to notify them when they have been exposed to co-workers or patients known to be infected with COVID-19. (Jenny Gold and Markian Hawryluk, 5/13)
California State University Campuses To Stay Closed For Fall Semester In Hint Of Long Road Ahead: California State University, the nation’s largest four-year college system, plans to cancel most in-person classes in the fall and instead offer instruction primarily online, Chancellor Timothy White announced Tuesday. The vast majority of classes across the 23-campus Cal State system will be taught online, White said, with some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. “Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person … is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity,” White said at a meeting of Cal State’s Board of Trustees. “That approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now.” Potential exceptions at CSU may include nursing students who need clinical training to be on track to get licensed to work in health care, White said, or students who need access to equipment for their training. Read more from Nina Agrawal of the Los Angeles Times; Rosalio Ahumada of the Sacramento Bee; Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle; and Theresa Waldrop, Jon Passantino and Sarah Moon of CNN.
Newsom To Allow Pharmacies To Test For COVID: The waiver issued by the California Department of Consumer Affairs paves the way for thousands of pharmacies in California to begin collecting swab samples and ordering tests that have received clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It follows similar moves by 32 other states, including New York, Florida and Texas, that have tried to increase testing as they look to relax restrictions and begin to reopen their economies. The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this month that California had not tapped its pharmacies to begin testing despite the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services having clarified in April that licensed pharmacists could order and administer FDA authorized coronavirus tests. Read more from Cynthia Dizikes of the San Francisco Chronicle.
A Look At How Epicenter Of California’s Outbreak Switched From Bay Area To Los Angeles: In late February, health authorities reported the state’s first known coronavirus case at the time in Solano County. It was later discovered the virus was in the Bay Area much earlier, claiming the life of a San Jose woman on Feb. 6. By mid-March, the Bay Area was home to 67% of all California cases and Santa Clara County was the state’s COVID-19 epicenter with more than 300 cases. Shelter-in-place orders went into effect in the Bay Area on March 17, while Los Angeles County followed suit on March 19. By late March, Los Angeles County’s case count was catching up to the Bay Area. On March 29, L.A. County had more than 2,000 total cases. Two days later, it topped 3,000 and surpassed the Bay Area both in total cases and percentage of California’s cases. Read more from Kellie Hwang of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
Los Angeles To Extend Stay-At-Home Order Through July, While Two California Counties Are Cleared To Reopen
Los Angeles County, which has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in California, appears to be on course to keep stay-at-home orders in place for the next three months. County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday that stay-at-home orders will be extended “with all certainty” unless there is a major breakthrough with combating the virus. Her comments were first reported by the Los Angeles Times. (Hwang, 5/12)
Sacramento Bee:
State, Federal Judges Uphold Newsom’s Pandemic Orders So Far
State and federal courts have thus far reinforced California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic emergency authority, according to a review of the cases by The Sacramento Bee. Newsom has faced multiple legal challenges since he enacted a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19. Lawsuits have challenged Newsom’s authority to close churches to regular in-person gatherings, to issue financial assistance to unemployed undocumented immigrants and to close the Capitol to large-scale protests. (Sheeler, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Malls, Offices Get Newsom’s OK To Reopen, But Bay Area’s Closures Can Stay In Place
Malls and outlet centers will now be allowed to provide curbside pickup for customers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, calling it a sign of progress in efforts to speed California’s reopening. The governor said he was allowing enclosed malls, strip malls and offices where telework is impossible to reopen, a change from the statewide coronavirus shutdown he imposed March 19. Offices will have to make several safety changes under the modified state order — and places with their own shelter-in-place requirements, such as the Bay Area, do not have to reopen offices or malls yet, Newsom said. (Wildermuth, 5/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Placer, Nevada Counties In California Can Open From COVID-19
Moving quickly Tuesday afternoon, the governor’s office announced it is giving the go-ahead now to seven counties to reopen some businesses, including Placer County, the largest and most urban county in the state so far to get the green light. Placer officials said the move appears to allow the region’s largest shopping mall, The Galleria at Roseville, to reopen. The Galleria owner, Westfield Corp., however, could not be reached immediately for comment about when and how it might make that move. Also getting the go-ahead late Tuesday were Amador, Shasta, Nevada and Lassen counties, all small northern California areas where the coronavirus spread has been limited. (Bizjak, Kasler and Yoon-Hendricks, 5/12)
CalMatters:
California Cracks Down On Rogue Bars
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is proposing emergency powers to shut down bars and restaurants if they disobey the state’s public health order by serving mojitos and manhattans to patrons in an establishment. Not only could the alcohol cops suspend licenses, the owners would have to appeal to a superior court, a more difficult hurdle than the usual process of challenging the ABC’s appeals board... “Many businesses and citizens have demonstrated an unwillingness to abide by the public health orders and have instead opened for business, increasing risks to the public health, safety, and welfare,” the state wrote in justifying the rule change. (Castillo, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area, California Would Reap Billions Under House Democrats’ Coronavirus Bill
Facing dire budget shortfalls because of the coronavirus pandemic, California and the Bay Area could get more than $50 billion from the federal government to help — if House Democrats have their way. The House is scheduled to vote on its latest coronavirus relief bill Friday, and with Democrats in the majority, the measure is expected to pass. But a showdown is expected with the Republican-controlled Senate and President Trump, who say any further coronavirus relief should wait for a clearer picture of how previous measures have affected the economy. (Kopan, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
14 Dead In Northern California Nursing Home Outbreak
Fourteen residents of a Stanislaus County skilled nursing facility have died of COVID-19, officials said, marking one of the deadliest outbreaks at a Northern California nursing home. Nearly 150 people, including 100 residents and 49 staff members, tested positive for the coronavirus at Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as of Tuesday, according to an update from healthcare company Covenant Care. The positive cases include current and previous residents and staff, according to the company. (Bauman, 5/12)
CalMatters:
California Coronavirus Testing Up, But Nursing Homes Lag
As California ramps up coronavirus testing of the general population, the state is still about two weeks away from any mandatory testing of its most vulnerable residents: those in nursing homes. Testing has been a significant challenge for the state and the country since the beginning of the outbreak, and today, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state had passed a “milestone” of 1 million tests – now averaging about 35,000 a day. It needs almost double that to meet its next goal. (Ostrov and Ibarra, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
In Hopes Of Treatment, Santa Clara County Hospitals Transfuse Plasma From Recovered Coronavirus Patients
Santa Clara County hospitals have begun transfusing plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients into people who are critically ill from the coronavirus in hopes the fluid will save lives. The effort in one of the California counties hardest hit by the coronavirus is part of a national study from the Mayo Clinic to determine whether plasma — a liquid component of blood — can help people who are critically ill from COVID-19. Because the plasma comes from people who have recovered from the virus, it contains antibodies to the coronavirus and may help others recover from the disease. (Ravani, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s Gladstone Institutes Splits Research Work In Battle Against Coronavirus, Future Diseases
The top scientists at a prominent San Francisco research laboratory have taken charge of two new biomedical institutes designed to beat back the COVID-19 epidemic by finding drugs, therapies and ways to spark the human immune system to fight the disease. Gladstone Institutes announced this week that it will split the scientific work previously done by the Institute of Virology and Immunology, a laboratory established in 1991 to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, into two new institutes. (Fimrite, 5/12)
CalMatters:
Lawmakers Propose Sweeping Relief To Homeowners, Renters
As missed rent payments and delinquent mortgages pile up across the state, California Democratic lawmakers Tuesday introduced a series of sweeping proposals aimed at shielding homeowners, renters and landlords from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. A plan put forward by Sen. Toni Atkins, Democrat from San Diego and leader of the state Senate, would grant qualifying renters 10 years to repay missed payments directly to the state, which would in turn compensate landlords for the missed rent with tax credits that could be sold to pay mortgages and other bills. (Levin, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Rent Relief: Tenants Would Get 10 Years To Repay Under California Lawmakers’ Coronavirus Plan
State Senate leaders proposed a massive economic relief package Tuesday to guide California through its coronavirus budget woes by encouraging residents to prepay their future state income taxes and offering struggling tenants more than a decade to make up the rent they owe. The plan was Senate Democrats’ opening salvo in an abbreviated state budget negotiation that will require lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to close an expected deficit of tens of billions of dollars before a constitutionally mandated deadline of June 15 to pass a balanced budget. (Koseff, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Community Colleges Sue Betsy DeVos Over Coronavirus Aid
California’s community colleges chancellor and five college districts across the state sued U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday, claiming she is illegally excluding countless students from participating in billions of dollars of federal coronavirus relief aid. Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the college districts, including Foothill-DeAnza in Los Altos Hills, want a federal judge to set aside the eligibility guidelines that DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education established for the $14 billion in federal funding for college students during the pandemic. (Asimov, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Sports Is Plotting A Return. The Country’s Road To Recovery Could Be At Stake
The sports world has been locked down. The part of the American economy that annually generates an estimated $71 billion has been shuttered along with the rest of life, depriving athletes of their craft, workers of their jobs and fans of a diversion. Now, after two months of inaction, sports executives are plotting a return, with scenarios ranging from the absurd to the dystopian... Simultaneously as these scenarios are cautiously being probed, the nation’s leading expert on the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says that a fall outbreak of the COVID-19 is “inevitable” and that without the right precautions, “we could be in for a bad fall and winter.” (Killion, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus: New Protocols Outline Future For California Restaurants
Chefs and diners are getting a better glimpse at what California restaurants will look like when they reopen their dining rooms, thanks to statewide guidelines released by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. The 12-page document includes thorough disinfecting protocols, social distancing requirements and other recommendations, many of which have already been adopted by Bay Area restaurants that have remained open for takeout ever since six Bay Area counties and later the state made restaurant dining rooms off limits to customers in March. (Bitker, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Alameda County Agrees To Let Tesla Reopen If Certain Conditions Are Met
Alameda County officials said Tuesday they have agreed to allow Tesla to reopen as early as next week if the auto manufacturer agrees to certain safety conditions. The decision came after the county told Tesla earlier in the day to stop manufacturing at its Fremont plant, the strongest step local government has taken to check the electric car maker’s defiance of health orders. (DiFeliciantonio, 5/12)
Sacramento Bee:
California Dentist Offices Are Reopening. Are They Safe?
After nearly two months of shuttered offices or emergency-only work, California and Sacramento dentists are reopening this week to more patients. That puts dental offices squarely on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic and poses serious questions for patients, dental employees and dentists: How safe is a dental visit? What precautions are needed? Should some patients wait a few more weeks before going in? (Bizjak and Sabalow, 5/13)