DOJ Warns Newsom That California's Reopening Plan Unfairly Discriminates Against Churches: The measures Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus and his plans to unwind them may discriminate against religious groups and violate their constitutional rights, the Justice Department warned in a letter Tuesday. Eric S. Dreiband, an assistant attorney general and the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said Newsom had shown “unequal treatment of faith communities” in restricting their abilities to gather and ultimately reopen. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Dreiband wrote. Under Newsom’s plan counties will be allowed to let some businesses and activities start up more quickly than state rules currently allow, but the governor said it would be weeks before religious services could resume. Read more from John Wildermuth of the San Francisco Chronicle; and Matthew Ormseth and Alex Wigglesworth of the Los Angeles Times.
Positive Trends Show Outbreak Might Finally Be Ebbing In California: While deaths remain a stubborn challenge, other metrics analyzed by the Los Angeles Times show significant progress — enough that even some of the most cautious local health officials have agreed to begin reopening the economy. The number of newly identified coronavirus cases across California has declined last week from the previous week, dropping to 12,229 cases from 13,041 the previous week. That’s a notable achievement, given the amount of increased testing. And across California, hospitalizations have dropped more than 15% from its peak six weeks ago, The Times analysis found. Read more from Rong-Gong Lin II, Iris Lee and Sean Greene of the Los Angeles Times.
In related news from the Los Angeles Times: L.A. Surge Hospital For COVID-19 Patients To Close By The End Of June
State Health Officials Work To Train Up An Army Of Contact Tracers As California Reopens: Health experts say contact tracers, combined with more robust testing, are the necessary one-two punch that will hold the virus at bay as the economy reopens. For now, the state is building its contact tracing army mainly with existing government employees transferred from other jobs. Some are librarians, sheriff deputies and school nurses temporarily reassigned to the vital task. But others may be new hires at low wages, and some may even be volunteers. Each tracer is receiving 20 hours of online training. But it is uncertain how many tracers the state needs or how quickly they can be integrated into each county’s coronavirus monitoring team. Read more from Tony Bizjak and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks of the Sacramento Bee.
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:
After Brief Respite, Coronavirus Deaths Rise Again In Bay Area
Nine Bay Area counties recorded zero deaths from COVID-19 for two consecutive days on Sunday and Monday — the first time since March that has happened — but health experts warn that the plateau may just be a blip as the numbers soared again on Tuesday. San Mateo County reported nine additional deaths, Alameda County recorded three and Santa Clara County two more before 3 p.m. The 14 new deaths pushed the Bay Area total past 400 with several counties not yet reporting for the day. (Vaziri, 5/19)
Fresno Bee:
What Phase Are We In? Here’s How California Is Reopening
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the plan to reopen the state in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency, he said recovery would take place over four phases. Weeks later, it can be easy to forget just where the state currently stands. It was in April that Newsom announced California was in Phase 1, which involved the state building up stockpiles of personal protective equipment, training contact tracers and expanding its testing capabilities. Now, California is working its way through the second phase of the reopening, though some counties are even further along in the phase. (Sheeler, 5/20)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento To Allow Restaurants, Malls, Parties To Open
Sacramento County announced Tuesday afternoon it has been given state go-ahead to reopen restaurants for indoor and outdoor dining, as well as stores for in-store shopping. That includes reopening Arden Fair mall and strip malls for the first time in two months, and allowing families and friends to begin gathering outdoors in groups of up to 10 people just in time for Memorial Day weekend. County health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson, however, said he is not giving the green light for those businesses or activities until Friday afternoon when he publishes a new county health order with detailed information about restrictions involved in those activities. (Bizjak and Yoon-Hendricks, 5/19)
Sacramento Bee:
Northern CA Card Room Reopens, Defies Newsom’s Order
Shut down by the coronavirus pandemic for two full months, one Northern California card room is taking a gamble. Towers Casino in Nevada County appears to be California’s first non-tribal gambling establishment to reopen for business amid the COVID-19 crisis, doing so at the start of this week in violation of the statewide stay-at-home mandate. (McGough, 5/19)
KQED:
What Lawmakers Learned From The Last Budget Crisis
As the state Legislature takes up Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget — the one with $19 billion less than before the coronavirus pandemic struck — some legislators say they're hoping to put to use lessons learned from the last state budget crisis in hopes of avoiding some of the same mistakes. Mark Leno was elected to the state Senate in 2008, just as the economy was in free fall. What he remembers are the lines of people who came to the state Capitol to plead for their favorite programs before the Health and Human Services budget subcommittee. (Shafer, 5/19)
CalMatters:
California Pandemic Food Stamps Offer Up To $356 Per Child
Families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at their schools — regardless of immigration status — may notice something in the mail to help them buy groceries. California is issuing one-time food stamps with credits of up to $365 per child to help qualifying families get through the coronavirus outbreak. The Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer card, or P-EBT, from the Department of Social Services is an emergency disaster benefit that can be used to buy food and groceries, including online at Walmart and Amazon. (Garcia, 5/19)
CalMatters:
California Budget Cuts May Force Seniors Into Nursing Homes
Linda Jacobs worked for non-profit organizations in California for years, including directing a substance abuse program for women. She never made much money. Now, Jacob lives off her monthly Social Security checks, and at 71, she suffers from many health problems, among them diabetes, asthma, heart disease and arthritis. The one thing keeping her out of a nursing home, she believes, is a state program inelegantly named the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, or MSSP. (Ostrov, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus Testing Slow To Come To Nursing Homes, Despite 35% Of COVID-19 Deaths
As nursing home deaths continue to drive many of the fatalities in California — 35% of COVID-19 deaths have occurred there — state health officials are moving too slowly to require senior living facilities to test all residents and workers, advocates and families say. The California Department of Public Health on May 11 gave each of the state’s 1,224 skilled nursing homes until June 1 to submit a plan for regularly testing residents and staff. But waiting until June — months into the pandemic that has already killed 1,143 residents and workers at the state’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities — is too late, those critics say. (Ho and Ravani, 5/19)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Uneasy On Order To Move Homeless People From Freeways
A federal judge’s sweeping order to move thousands of homeless people away from freeways in Los Angeles is drawing objections from advocates and Mayor Eric Garcetti who fear it could lead to confrontations with police and endanger the health of those living on the streets during the coronavirus outbreak. In the order issued last week, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter called for the relocation of up to 7,000 people living near overpasses, off-ramps and on-ramps, saying they face severe health risks from tailpipe emissions and car crashes. (Oreskes and Zahniser, 5/20)
Sacramento Bee:
California Democrat Challenges Newsom COVID 19 Contract Power
A top-ranking Democratic lawmaker is pushing back against part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal, arguing it would curtail the Legislature’s power over COVID-19 spending decisions. Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, raised concerns during a Monday budget hearing about nearly $3 billion that Newsom is proposing to spend on COVID-19 response, including on protective equipment like masks, critical medical supplies and hospital surge preparations. Lawmakers should be involved in the decisions to spend that money, but the governor’s proposal doesn’t give them enough of a say, said Mitchell, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. (Bollag, 5/19)
CalMatters:
Valid Assumptions Or Tacky Bluff: Newsom's Economic Forecast
Ten out of ten economists agree: COVID-19 is absolutely lousy for the California economy. Forecasters across the state have run the numbers and found that — at least in the next three months — overall economic activity will decline and the joblessness rate will remain at an historic high. No Ph.D required to deduce why: Statewide shelter-in-place orders coupled with the reasonable fear of a deadly pathogen have slowed the regular churn of transactions that make up the world’s fifth-largest economy. (Christopher, 5/20)
San Francisco Chronicle:
UCSF Virus Expert Answers Questions On COVID-19 Treatments, Including This Request: ‘Tell Me Something Hopeful’
A global team of scientists led by UCSF has discovered drugs that block the coronavirus, paving the path for a possible treatment for COVID-19. On Monday, May 18, that team’s leader, Dr. Nevan Krogan, joined The Chronicle’s Jason Fagone to answer questions live on Reddit. Fagone has been covering Krogan and the UCSF lab’s work since March, when he first spotted their research on the website biorxiv.org. (Fowler, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus: Muni Slowly Restores Bus Lines In Parts Of San Francisco
After slashing service to 17 bus lines at the start of April due to the coronavirus outbreak, Muni is slowly starting to recover. San Francisco’s transit agency resumed bus service Monday on the 9-San Bruno Rapid between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and a community shuttle bus started operating on May 4 between the Balboa Park and West Portal stations on the M-Ocean View line. Parts of the 12-Folsom/Pacific and 34-Felton lines were extended in late April, and buses continue to run more often on several lines to provide better access to health care facilities and other essential services to allow for physical distancing. (Cabanatuan, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
State Approves Napa County To Reopen Dine-In Restaurants, Schools
Dine-in restaurants, schools and other businesses in Napa County can resume operations after state officials on Tuesday approved the county’s petition to push ahead the next phase of reopening. The California Department of Public Health gave Napa County the green light to move further into phase two of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s post-shutdown reopening plan, county officials said, marking the first Bay Area county to take this step during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Bauman, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus: Trump’s Tweet On $700 Million For BART, Muni, SFO Surprises Local Officials
Bay Area transportation officials were temporarily bewildered Tuesday by President Trump’s announcement in a tweet that the Bay Area will receive more than $700 million in federal funds to support San Francisco International Airport, Muni and BART during the coronavirus pandemic. “This money will aid in economic recovery!” Trump said in the tweet. The confusion stemmed from the fact that the president was referencing the first distribution of transportation money included in the $2 trillion Cares Act package passed by Congress in March, according to a spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. Of that amount, $1.3 billion was allotted for Bay Area transit agencies. (Cabanatuan, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Childhood Vaccinations Drop More Than 40%, Thanks To Coronavirus Fears
The number of vaccinations for kids in California dropped nearly in half this April compared to last April, following a worrying national trend as parents avoid doctors’ offices during the coronavirus pandemic, public health numbers show. In April, the first full month after California’s mandated shelter-in-place order took effect, and as fears of a coronavirus surge swept the state, the number of children vaccinated for diseases such as chicken pox dropped more than 40% compared to April last year, the state’s public health department announced Monday, but it has not provided the number of vaccinations behind the plunge. (Moench, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why Has Coronavirus Taken Such A Toll On SF’s Asian American Community? Experts Perplexed Over High Death Rate
The coronavirus has taken a grim toll on San Francisco’s Asian American community, which accounts for half of the fatalities from COVID-19 and has a high death rate among those who have tested positive for the disease. Eighteen of the 36 people who had perished from COVID-19 in San Francisco as of Sunday were Asian American, even though the group makes up just over a third of the city’s population. Meanwhile, 6.6% of the confirmed coronavirus cases among Asian Americans in the city have been fatal, compared with 1.7% for the population at large, according to a recent research brief by the Asian American Research Center on Health, or ARCH. (Palomino, 5/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Airlines Use Diplomacy, Not Threats, To Enforce Mask Rules
Wearing a face mask has become as much a part of flying on commercial planes as cramming too much in the overhead bin, wrestling your seatmate for the armrest and trying to charm an extra bag of peanuts from the flight attendant. The nation’s six largest carriers are requiring passengers to wear face masks or some other suitable nose-and-mouth covering during all flights to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Martin, 5/20)
Sacramento Bee:
More Money On Way For Unemployed Gig Workers, Contractors
More emergency benefits started coming Wednesday to gig workers, self-employed people and others who lost their jobs or had their hours cut because of the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s Employment Development Department began Phase 2 of its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which will not only boost payments to those eligible for more money, but pay them retroactively for benefits they missed. (Lightman, 5/20)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus Has Altered The Global Warming Trajectory. But For How Long?
The disruption caused by the coronavirus has been so profound that it’s altered the trajectory of global warming. Not since World War II — and perhaps never before — have the emissions of heat-trapping gases dropped as much around the planet as they have during the COVID-19 outbreak. The latest and most detailed study yet on the pandemic’s impact on climate pollution, published Tuesday and authored by the research group Global Carbon Project chaired by Stanford University’s Rob Jackson, finds that the Earth will see up to a 7% decrease in carbon dioxide this year. (Alexander, 5/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
BART To San Jose Opening On June 13, Pandemic Or No
The long-awaited BART extension to San Jose will open June 13, officials at the transit agency said Tuesday, in concert with their partners at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Politicians and transit leaders made the announcement at a podium outside Berryessa station, the new end of the line in north San Jose. The 10-mile segment into Silicon Valley also includes a station in Milpitas, at a former truck yard now surrounded by the skeletons of new apartment buildings. (Swan, 5/19)