California’s Air Quality Hits Bottom: Californians are experiencing the worst air quality in the nation as wildfires across the West produce dangerous levels of smoke that can damage developing lungs and increase risk of heart attack and stroke. Some preliminary studies show breathing particulate pollution from wildfires can make people more vulnerable to being infected by the coronavirus. Read more from the Fresno Bee and LA Daily News.
Officers Ordered To Use Body Cameras When Interacting With Disabled Prisoners: For the first time, California correctional officers must use body cameras while interacting with inmates inside a state prison, a federal judge ordered Tuesday. The ruling comes amid evidence of physical abuse of disabled prisoners at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. The order applies to interactions with all inmates with disabilities. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage and the best of the rest of the news.
More News From Across The State
LA Daily News:
Thousands Without Power In LA And Orange Counties; LA Council Is Pressing DWP
Thousands of Southern California Edison and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers remained without power Tuesday, and electricity for some was not expected to be restored until Wednesday, as the LA City Council began seeking answers to the problem. Both utilities were plagued by widespread failures over the Labor Day weekend as temperatures soared to record levels across Southern California. (9/8)
AP:
PG&E Trying A New Tactic In Power Cuts To Prevent Wildfires
The nation’s largest utility said Tuesday it is executing smarter and shorter power shutoffs after receiving widespread criticism last year when it turned off electricity to 2 million people to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires. (Har, 9/9)
LA Daily News:
LADWP Reports 244 Without Power, SCE Reports 1,671 In LA And Orange Counties
Hundreds of Southern California Edison and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers — a huge reduction from Tuesday — are still without power Wednesday morning. Both utilities were plagued by widespread failures over the Labor Day weekend as temperatures soared to record levels across the Southland. (9/9)
The Bakersfield Californian:
With Change In The Wind, Bakersfield Could See A Brief Respite From Wildfire Smoke
Bakersfield and other communities on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley should get a break from the unhealthy wildfire smoke that has blanketed the region for days on end. But the respite will be short-lived, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Bill South, who works out of the weather service's Hanford station. (Mayer, 9/8)
Fresno Bee:
Inmates Battling Creek Fire With Low Pay, High Danger
State prisoners are providing a key source of labor on the out-of-control Creek Fire in Fresno and Madera counties, as well as dozens of other fires around the state. Inmate “hand crews” have for decades been used to fight California’s wildfires, but, lately, they’ve become controversial as the nation debates criminal justice reforms. Some critics call them a form of slave labor since the inmates earn just dollars a day doing the dangerous work. (Sabalow, 9/8)
Ventura County Star:
Ventura County Weather: Labor Day Weekend Temperatures Break Records
The heat wave on Labor Day weekend not only felt crazy hot. It was historically so, according to meteorologists. (Wenner, 9/7)
LA Daily News:
Officials To Watch Coronavirus Cases Closely After Labor Day Weekend
Following a record-shattering heat wave over Labor Day weekend that sent wave upon wave of beachgoers to the coastline, Los Angeles County Public Health officials were not sure on Tuesday, Sept. 8, of the overall effect the weekend’s activity had on efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Officials said Tuesday the 439 new cases and seven additional deaths associated with the coronavirus were a reflection of both a lag in reporting and less testing availability over the holiday, but there was no comment yet provided on complaints over the weekend. (Rosenfeld, 9/8)
Ventura County Star:
67 Inmates Test COVID-19 Positive At Ventura County Jails In Ventura, Near Santa Paula
Sixty-seven Ventura County jail inmates tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday — a jump from the 20 cases identified last week. Ventura County Sheriff's Sgt. Marta Bugarin said 64 of the accused being held at the main jail in Ventura have tested positive. Another three tested positive at the Todd Road jail near Santa Paula, said Bugarin, a spokeswoman for the agency. (Diskin, 9/8)
Ventura County Star:
COVID-19 Update: County Reports Youngest Death Yet Attributed To Virus
A 25-year-old man was among five new deaths in Ventura County linked to COVID-19 over the holiday weekend, according to local health authorities. He became the youngest Ventura County resident to die of complications associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The age range previously stretched from 29 to 107. (9/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Latinos Make Up 71% Of Coronavirus Cases In Largely White Marin County. Will New Equity Efforts Help?
First came the unshakable fatigue. Then came the extreme pain in her eyes, followed by migraines, fevers and chills. Within days, Aurelia Vargas was bedridden. Vargas, a housekeeper from San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, thought the illness would pass. “I didn’t think that it could be the virus because I’ve always worn a mask, used hand sanitizer and limited my outings,” she said. “I never imagined it would be that.” (Sanchez, 9/8)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Hospital Numbers Improving
Coronavirus hospitalizations are down significantly in the Sacramento area and across California, representing progress in the continuing struggle to diminish spread of the coronavirus. In Sacramento County, half as many patients are hospitalized with the respiratory disease as the peak total reached at the end of July. The figure went from 281 on July 30 to 141 in Tuesday’s data update from the California Department of Public Health. Fifty-one of those patients are in intensive care units, down from a peak of 91. (McGough, 9/8)
Los Angeles Times:
No Large Gathering Limits Placed On Sacramento Prayer Event
State and local health officials said Tuesday they were troubled to learn that the California Highway Patrol allowed thousands of people to attend a worship event over the weekend outside the state Capitol without following social distancing or mask guidelines, noting that the rally is likely to lead to new cases of COVID-19. CHP officials approved a permit for the organizers to use state Capitol grounds for the event, prompting questions about why safety guidelines were not enforced as the crowd grew Sunday to at least three times the number of attendees approved. CHP estimated 3,000 people attended the event, while event organizer Sean Feucht tweeted drone footage claiming a crowd of 12,000 people. (Gutierrez and Luna, 9/8)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: State Puts Brakes On Marin’s Plans To Resume Reopening
Businesses hoping to advance the reopening process in Marin will have to wait until Friday to learn whether state health officials consider it safe to do so. Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, said state health officials assured him as late as Sunday that the county was on a trajectory to move from “tier 1” – the state’s most restrictive COVID-19 status – to “tier 2,” which would have allowed a number of businesses to resume indoor activities on a limited basis. (Halstead, 9/9)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno DA Declines To File Charges Against Four Restaurants
The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file criminal charges against four Fresno County restaurants who were accused by the state of failing to comply with California’s mandated regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rodriguez, 9/8)
Los Angeles Times:
More California Counties Can Loosen COVID-19 Rules
The continuing statewide decline in new coronavirus cases will allow five additional California counties to accelerate the reopening of their economies, putting them a step closer to possible in-classroom learning at schools, under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s retooled effort for easing restrictions on communities. The Newsom administration on Tuesday announced that COVID-19 conditions have improved enough in Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Placer and Amador counties to move them to the second tier of California’s four-tier reopening plan. (Willon, 9/8)
Orange County Register:
O.C. Restaurateurs Welcome The Return Of Dine-In Customers
With Orange County officially upgraded from the “purple list” to the “red list,” restaurateurs rejoiced as restrictions were lifted off dining indoors. The announcement came Sept. 8 in a noon news conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom restoring these businesses to fully functioning again, albeit with social distancing, reduced capacity and other safety guidelines. “We have new counties moving into new tiers, which provide more activities and more opportunity to get us closer to normalcy,” Newsom said. (Valdespino, 9/8)
Los Angeles Times:
Orange County OK'd For More Openings As COVID-19 Risk Dips
Orange County received some much-anticipated and welcome news in its battle against the coronavirus on Tuesday as it officially moved into the second stage of California’s four-tiered, color-coded reopening system. The reclassification allows for more businesses — including movie theaters, restaurants and places of worship — to ease restrictions and open in limited capacity. Four other counties also moved from Tier 1 (purple) to Tier 2 (red) on Tuesday: Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Amador and Placer. (Shalby, 9/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Kids And Teachers Showed Up For First Bay Area School Reopening, But Class Was Canceled
The excited kindergartner arrived just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, a new Spider-Man backpack over his shoulders with matching Spider-Man pull-on shoes ready for his first day of school. But instead of hugging his parents goodbye and heading to class, the Sausalito student, 5-year-old Majesty, was sent home. Majesty’s school, Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, was supposed to be one of the first public campuses in the Bay Area to reopen to in-person learning this fall, but had to reverse course after a staff member’s coronavirus test result came back questionable Monday, said Principal David Finnane. (Tucker and Arredondo, 9/8)
LA Daily News:
6 Nutrition And Exercise Tips For Children And Students Distance-Learning At Home
Throughout Southern California, this back-to-school time has been like no other. With local COVID-19 metrics not meeting the standards for face-to-face instruction, distance learning is a fact of life at least for now in Los Angeles County and many places nearby and across the nation. While the best way to navigate this challenging time is different for each family, what’s clear is that distance learning is not easy. (Weintraub, 9/8)
Ventura County Star:
12 Ventura County Schools Approved To Reopen For In-Person Learning
Twelve private schools have been approved to reopen for in-person learning in Ventura County as of Tuesday morning. (Patel, 9/8)
CNN:
Trick-Or-Treating Is Banned In LA County This Halloween Because Of Coronavirus Risk
Trick-or-treating won’t be allowed in Los Angeles County this Halloween to protect against the spread of Covid-19. Door-to-door trick-or-treating is banned “because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a news release. (Moon and Holcombe, 9/9)
LA Daily News:
LADWP Transparency Broke Down In Midst Of Sun Valley Methane Leak, Officials Say
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Tuesday, Sept. 8, formally acknowledged a failure to notify the public about a methane leak at its Valley Generation Plant — a leak officials knew about for at least a year before coming to light, hitting the agency's board and the public off-guard. The department pledged a full fix to the leak, increased methane monitoring and quicker and more transparent communication with the public about such issues. (Carter, 9/8)
Fresno Bee:
Face Masks Can Cause Dry Eyes, Doctors Say. Here’s How To Get Relief
Face masks help to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, but wearing them may also lead to an uncomfortable side effect. Some people who regularly wear face coverings have reported having dry, irritated eyes, the Centre for Ocular Research & Education in Canada said last month in a news release. Health experts call the condition mask-associated dry eye (MADE). (Jasper, 9/8)
Bay Area News Group:
Coronavirus: Another Reason For That Mask: You’ll Get Less Sick
The much-publicized rationale behind wearing a face mask is to protect others from your sprayed droplets. There’s now another good reason: That mask may help you, too. (Krieger, 9/9)