As Fumes Continue, Carson Residents Urged To Curb Outdoor Exercise: After more than two weeks of breathing noxious fumes that can cause headaches and nausea, Carson-area residents are now being advised to avoid prolonged outdoor exercise at night and in the early morning. The amount of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from decaying vegetation and marine life in the Dominguez Channel has exceeded state nuisance thresholds in some locations but is not considered “imminently dangerous,” Los Angeles County said Tuesday. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Bay Area Covid Cases Dropping: All nine Bay Area counties as of Tuesday had moved out of federal health officials’ worst category for community coronavirus transmission — setting them apart from most other counties in the U.S. and indicating progress toward lifting local mandates on indoor masking. 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
Los Angeles Daily News:
LAPD Employee Vaccination Rate Now At 71% As City Haggles With Labor Groups Over Mandate
More than 70% of Los Angeles Police Department employees are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the city’s chief of police. During Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting, Chief Michel Moore said that exactly 71% of the department’s civilian and sworn employees reported they got both shots. A larger number of employees have gotten one shot, though he didn’t say precisely what that number was. (Cain, 10/19)
KQED:
Many Police Officers And Their Unions Are Pushing Back Hard Against Vaccine Mandates
For hundreds of public employees in the state of Washington, where a new vaccine mandate for state employees went into effect this week, Monday was their last day on the job. That includes a sergeant with the Washington State Patrol, who told KUOW, Seattle's NPR station, that he had made an appointment to turn in his patrol car and equipment. In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced earlier this month that he would not carry out the county's mandate for his department's 18,000 employees, warning that the nation's most populous county could lose "5, 10% of my workforce overnight." (Sullivan, 10/19)
Sacramento Bee:
California Isn’t Ordering CHP To Get Vaccinated. Here’s What Happened In Another State
California state workers have to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly tests per a governor’s order. But in another West Coast blue state, workers are quitting over a more restrictive policy. In Washington, nearly 130 people left their jobs after the deadline for state employees to either be vaccinated or receive an exemption passed on Monday, according to the News Tribune. The Washington State Patrol announced Tuesday 67 troopers, six sergeants, one captain and 53 civil servants would be leaving the agency for not complying with the order. (Jasper, 10/19)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. City Employees Could Get Until Mid-December For Shots
Los Angeles city workers who have yet to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or tell the city that they’re seeking an exemption by Wednesday could have additional time to get the shots under a plan being put forward by city officials. During that additional time, they would get tested twice a week for the coronavirus — and the cost of the tests would be deducted from their paychecks at $65 per test, according to the plan. That would add up to $260 per pay period. The COVID tests would be taken on the employees’ time, not while they were being paid for city work. (Alpert Reyes, 10/19)
Los Angeles Times:
San Francisco In-N-Out Closed Over Vaccine Requirement
An In-N-Out Burger in San Francisco was forced to temporarily close earlier this month after failing to comply with the city’s proof-of-vaccination requirements. On Oct. 14, representatives of the city’s Department of Public Health shut down the chain’s location at 333 Jefferson St. in Fisherman’s Wharf, according to a statement by Arnie Wensinger, In-N-Out’s chief legal and business officer. (Yee, 10/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
In-N-Out Blasts S.F. Over Vaccine Mandate Shutdown: 'We Refuse To Become The Vaccination Police'
Beloved California burger chain In-N-Out is firing back against San Francisco’s vaccine mandate. The company blasted the city after the Department of Public Health temporarily shut down its Fisherman’s Wharf location on Oct. 14. for not checking customers’ vaccine cards. It’s the only San Francisco restaurant that’s been closed for violating the indoor vaccinate mandate, the health department said. Despite multiple warnings, In-N-Out employees continued to let customers into the restaurant without verifying their vaccination status since at least late September. (The city’s indoor vaccine mandate for businesses, including restaurants, went into effect on Aug. 20.) In-N-Out acknowledged the enforcement violation, calling San Francisco’s indoor vaccination requirement “intrusive, improper, and offensive” governmental “overreach.” (Kadvany, 10/19)
Orange County Register:
Woman Who Refused To Wear Mask In Costa Mesa Grocery Store Goes On Trial
A maskless woman accused of refusing to leave a Costa Mesa grocery store has become the only person to go on trial in Orange County after allegedly refusing to follow face-covering mandates at local businesses during the Coronavirus pandemic. A jury will soon decide whether Marianne Campbell Smith is guilty of a pair of misdemeanor charges, including trespassing and obstructing a business or customers, for allegedly refusing to leave busy Mother’s Market near the Triangle Square during an anti-mask protest on Aug. 15, 2020. (Emery, 10/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
More Muni Operators Are Vaccinated, But Riders Should Brace For 'Unexpected Gaps In Service'
With two weeks left before the city’s employee mandate goes into effect, more frontline workers at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency have rushed to get vaccinated. But the transit agency is still bracing for “unexpected gaps” in Muni service starting Halloween weekend if it has to fire the more than 100 transit operators who’ve yet to comply with San Francisco’s order. As of Tuesday, 70 of the transportation agency’s 1,470 transit operators remain unvaccinated, and another 48 operators have yet to report their vaccination status, SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin told the agency’s Board of Directors. (Cano, 10/19)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto Junior College Won’t Have A COVID Vaccine Mandate
Community college district trustees are proposing a COVID-19 testing requirement — but not a vaccine mandate — for students and staff at Modesto Junior College and Columbia College near Sonora. The Yosemite Community College District board is slated Wednesday to consider setting the policy for the spring semester when thousands of more students are expected to return for in-class learning. (Carlson, 10/20)
SF Gate:
SF Residents Could Win Free Tuition At San Francisco State University
A new lottery for SF residents ages 12-17 could earn them free tuition at San Francisco State University just for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Unvaccinated students must register to receive their first dose on-site at one of six vaccination sites in order to be eligible to win. Those that have already been vaccinated can enter too — they’ll just have to enter their vaccination status at one of the designated sites. (McLean, 10/19)
Modesto Bee:
How Well Do Pfizer Vaccines Protect Kids From Hospitalization?
Early controlled clinical trials showed the two-dose Pfizer coronavirus vaccine offered strong protection against COVID-19 hospitalization in children, but little has been known about how well the shots work in the real world. A new study published Oct. 19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers more good news. Research on more than 460 hospitalized people between 12 and 18 years old found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were 93% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization during June to September, when the highly infectious delta variant was spreading. (Camero, 10/19)
CapRadio:
California Hired A Border Wall Company For COVID-19 Response, Including Vaccinating Migrants
The Newsom administration hired contractor SLSCO to screen, test and vaccinate migrants crossing California’s southern border this year, not far from where the company built large sections of border wall to keep migrants out. The state awarded a no-bid contract to SLSCO — the company former president Donald Trump tapped to build his border wall in California — for COVID-19 response and health care staffing. The contract is currently worth up to $350 million. (Rodd, 10/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kaiser Permanente, BPD Host Drive To Discard Expired Pills, Other Items
Kaiser Permanente and the Bakersfield Police Department will host a drive-thru for the community to properly dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Community members can drive through Kaiser Permanente at 3501 Stockdale Highway. The drive-thru will also accept eyeglasses, hearing aids, electronic waste, clothing, furniture, cell phones with chargers, sit down walkers, walkers, scooters, power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs and bath transfer benches. (10/19)
Sacramento Bee:
New Charges In Fraud Scandal At California Office Of AIDS
A second state worker has been charged in connection with a scandal inside California’s Office of AIDS that prosecutors say has cost the state $2 million in fraudulent billings. Christine M. Iwamoto, who was a manager inside the office at the California Department of Public Health until March 2018, was charged in federal court in Sacramento last week with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court records say. (Stanton, 10/19)
USA Today:
FDA Rule To Allow Americans To Buy Hearing Aids Without Prescription
Millions of American with mild to moderate hearing loss would be able to buy hearing aids at stores or online without a doctor's referral under a Food and Drug Administration proposal to broaden access to these widely used devices. The FDA's proposed rule, released Tuesday, aims to encourage competition and lower costs of hearing aids that can run more than $2,500 and aren't covered by Medicare or many private insurers. The proposed rule would allow hearing aids to be sold in stores or online without an exam or fitting by a specialist and could potentially lower costs if competition materializes, regulators say. (Alltucker, 10/19)
AP:
Pig-To-Human Transplants Come A Step Closer With New Test
Surgeons attached the pig kidney to a pair of large blood vessels outside the body of a deceased recipient so they could observe it for two days. The kidney did what it was supposed to do — filter waste and produce urine — and didn’t trigger rejection. “It had absolutely normal function,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the surgical team last month at NYU Langone Health. “It didn’t have this immediate rejection that we have worried about.” (Johnson, 10/20)
City News Service:
Portion Of Huntington Harbour Closed After Sewage Spill
A 250-gallon sewage spill in Huntington Beach forced Orange County Health Care Agency officials to close a portion of the harbor Tuesday night. The closure, announced at 5 p.m., encompasses all water contact 100 yards north and 100 yards south of the Warner Public Dock until further notice. Water quality monitoring procedures are underway, and the closure will not be lifted until the water meets acceptable standards. (10/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Japantown Hotel Will Not Turn Into Homeless Housing, Following Months Of Backlash
A tourist hotel in Japantown will not turn into desperately needed homeless housing in San Francisco, after the owner backed out of selling the property to the city amid fierce neighborhood backlash. The investment group that owns the 131-room Kimpton Buchanan Hotel, KHP Capital Partners, said in a Tuesday statement that it will no longer sell the building to the city “after a lot of consideration and feedback from the community.” (Thadani, 10/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Elizabeth Holmes Trial: Former Product Manager Details Shortcuts As Devices Failed
Testimony from a former Theranos Inc. product manager in the criminal fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes has shed light on the startup’s race to court investors and business partners and the shortcuts it took when its blood-testing devices failed. Daniel Edlin has testified over two days about the five years he spent at Theranos, starting with his recruitment by Ms. Holmes’s brother, Christian Holmes, a friend from Duke University. He stayed until December 2016, a year after The Wall Street Journal began reporting on problems with Theranos’s technology. (Randazzo, 10/19)
Bay Area News Group:
Elizabeth Holmes Trial: Theranos Claims To Rupert Murdoch Disputed
Claims made by Elizabeth Holmes’ failed startup Theranos to media mogul Rupert Murdoch and other investors about the accuracy of the firm’s blood tests were under dispute within the company, jurors heard Tuesday during Holmes’ criminal fraud trial. Federal prosecutor John Bostic showed the jury an investment pitch Theranos sent to Murdoch. Theranos, in the presentation, said its machines could run “any test available in central laboratories” using “1/1,000” of the amount of blood traditionally used, and produce results with the “highest levels of accuracy and precision.” Central to the pitch was the assertion that blood was gathered via a finger-stick rather than a needle. (Baron, 10/19)