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California Healthline Original Stories

The High Cost Of Being Trump's Enemy

The ongoing feud between President Donald Trump and California's Democratic leaders is costing the Golden State hundreds of millions of health care dollars — with billions more at stake. (Rachel Bluth, 3/13)

  News Of The Day

Newsom Expands State's Power To Address Coronavirus Outbreak As Confirmed Cases Nears 200: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Thursday that readied the state to potentially commandeer hotels or medical facilities to quarantine patients and allowed city councils and other local and state government bodies to move their public meetings to teleconferencing. It also aimed to ease some impacts of the outbreak by waiving a requirement that applicants for unemployment wait a week before receiving benefits and giving people up to 60 additional days to file their state tax returns if the virus prevents them from doing so in a timely manner.

The order also directed Californians to follow new guidelines issued late Wednesday night by state public health officials recommending that all events of more than 250 people be canceled or postponed until at least the end of the month. Newsom said Thursday the new guidance would likely be extended into April. The state has recorded 198 cases of the new coronavirus as of Thursday, up from 177 the day before. Read more rome Alexei Koseff of the San Francisco Chronicle; the Los Angeles Times; and Hannah Wiley of the Sacramento Bee.

In related news from the Sacramento Bee: California Considering Temporary Ban On Evictions As Coronavirus Hits Economy

Meanwhile, Disneyland, which had been ground zero for the massive 2015 measles outbreak — succumbed within minutes to state pressure and announced it would close its parks in Southern California until April, starting Saturday. Most professional and collegiate sports organizations suspended play. The NCAA's March Madness basketball tournaments were cancelled. Live Nation Entertainment and AEG Presents, the huge California-based concert promoters, suspended all their North American tour engagements. Public hearings were postponed in municipalities throughout the state. Read more from Laurel Rosenhall and Ana B. Ibarra of CalMatters and James Rainey, Hailey Branson-Potts, Anita Chabria and Luke Money of the Los Angeles Times.

California Has 8,000 Coronavirus Tests, But They're Lacking Necessary Chemical Component: California has more than 8,000 coronavirus tests, but county public health labs can't use all of them because many test kits lack necessary chemical components, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday. That discrepancy has forced some county public health labs, including Sacramento's, to rely on private labs to work down a backlog of tests. Newsom at press conferences this week twice likened the coronavirus test kits the state received from the federal government to "printers without ink," meaning the kits can't work as designed without essential materials. Meanwhile HHS said on Friday it is awarding $679,000 to DiaSorin Molecular, of Cypress, California, to help accelerate the development of its tests. Read more from Sophia Bollag and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks of the Sacramento Bee, and The Associated Press.

In related news from the San Francisco Chronicle: Why The Hold Up With Coronavirus Testing In Bay Area? What You Need To Know

Trump Administration Rejects California's Pleas To Use Medicaid Funding To Address Coronavirus: Despite mounting pleas from California and other states, the Trump administration isn't allowing states to use Medicaid more freely to respond to the coronavirus crisis by expanding medical services. In previous emergencies, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 flu outbreak, both Republican and Democratic administrations loosened Medicaid rules to empower states to meet surging needs. Read more from Noam N. Levey of the Los Angeles Times.

Bay Area Hospitals Worried They'll Have To Make Tough Choices If Surge In Cases Overwhelms System: Infectious disease experts estimate the U.S. is about two to four weeks behind Italy, where hospitals are being flooded with patients with severe respiratory illness, and a shortage of beds and medical supplies is forcing doctors to have to choose which patients to treat. "We're hearing reports out of Italy of shortages of ventilators and ICU beds, that's really concerning," said Dr. David Eisenman of UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health. "We're hearing reports of health care teams, doctors and nurses, having to make choices about who gets a ventilator and who does not. ... That's exactly what we worry about, that's the exact scenario — if there's a 50-year-old person who's sick and needs an ICU bed and a ventilator, and a 75-year-old person who needs an ICU bed and a ventilator, and you have to make choices." Read more from Catherine Ho 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

Coronavirus

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Gives City Workers Advance On Sick, Vacation Time To Curb Virus Spread
San Francisco city employees will be allowed early access to sick time and vacation time to make it easier for people to leave work if they're sick from the new coronavirus, vulnerable or caring for someone who is. Amid a growing global pandemic, Mayor London Breed "strongly encouraged" the private sector to follow suit when it comes to giving employees greater flexibility to stay home. (Fracassa, 3/12)

Sacramento Bee: How To Get California Unemployment Because Of Coronavirus
As the new coronavirus continues to spread, many people will face the prospect of losing income or even jobs as a result of quarantines, illness or caring for loved ones. Others could lose work in the upheaval the virus is inflicting on the global economy even if they stay healthy. The global pandemic is already hurting travel, energy and hospitality industries as people change their habits to avoid getting sick. California has several benefits available for those struggling with the virus' impact on their lives, and Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced some changes to make it easier to collect unemployment. (Sheeler, 3/13)

Sacramento Bee: No Co-Pays, Deductibles For CalPERS Coronavirus Tests
The 1.5 million people with CalPERS health insurance won't have to pay for medically necessary coronavirus tests, according to a spokeswoman for the retirement system. The CalPERS policyholders won't have to pay deductibles or co-pays for screening or tests for COVID-19, the disease that can result from coronavirus, spokeswoman Deborah Reyman said. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last week ordered insurers to waive cost-sharing for people who need the tests. (Venteicher, 3/12)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Live Catches A Chill As Lakers, Clippers, Kings Shut Down For The Coronavirus
The shutdown of L.A.'s marquee professional sports teams in the shadow of coronavirus is bad news for Jenna Lawrence Rodriguez and her co-workers at Paxti's Pizza. The restaurant, on South Figueroa just down the street from the L.A. Live complex and Staples Center, home to the Lakers and Clippers basketball teams and Kings hockey team, usually fills up for lunch. But on Thursday around 12:30 p.m. — a day after the National Basketball Assn. suspended its regular season, and the same day the National Hockey League did the same — it was nearly empty, with a handful of customers at just two tables. (Hussain and Vincent, 3/13)

Sacramento Bee: California Capitol Still Open In Coronavirus Outbreak
Democratic leaders in California's Capitol said there are no known positive coronavirus cases among staff and they have not canceled tours, public hearings or other events. On Thursday, just hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Californians to postpone or cancel large public events, the Capitol was operating with a full schedule of committee hearings. Newsom at a press conference Thursday said he was working with legislative leaders on a plan for the Capitol building, and one could be announced on Friday. (Wiley, 3/12)

Sacramento Bee: Medical Professionals Face Risks In Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic confronts physicians, nurses and others with a time-honored dilemma: We have a social contract with society to provide health care in both good times and bad, but what about our own health in the face of infectious pandemics? For most of the past 100 years, times have been good. Antibiotics and public health interventions have kept the American public generally healthy... Enter the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. (Wilkes, 3/13)

CalMatters: California Food Banks Face Volunteer Shortage As Coronavirus Spreads
As the coronavirus pandemic grows, food banks across the state, which serve about 2 million Californians annually, are facing precipitous drops in volunteers... "This is critical for us because we use volunteers to sort and pack huge trucks of produce," said Leslie Bacho, chief executive officer of the Silicon Valley Second Harvest Food Bank, which provides food to a quarter of a million people every month who otherwise would struggle to find enough to eat. (Botts, Duara and Hellerstein, 3/13)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County CA Announces New Coronavirus Cases
Seventeen people in Sacramento County have now been afflicted with the coronavirus, county heath officials disclosed Thursday afternoon. That is up from 11 cases previously reported on Monday. One of them is a woman at an Elk Grove assisted living home who died on Tuesday. County officials declined to release details on the six new cases. The first case of the virus in Sacramento occurred on Feb. 19, when a seriously ill woman was transported from Solano County to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for treatment. (Bizjak, 3/12)

Fresno Bee: Tulare County, CA Reports First Coronavirus Illness.
One day after Tulare County confirmed its first case of coronavirus (COVID-19), health officials are working to determine who the patient came in contact with while he was showing symptoms. Karen Elliot, public health director for the Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency, said the county became aware of the case Wednesday evening after the patient went to Sierra View Hospital in Porterville, where tests confirmed it was COVID-19. It is the latest known case of COVID-19 in the central San Joaquin Valley, where Stanislaus, Madera, and Fresno counties have also reported infections. (Rodriguez, 3/12)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento California Unified District Schools To Close
The Sacramento City Unified School District is closing all of its schools starting Monday through Wednesday, district officials announced Thursday night. The news came when a substitute teacher tested positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks after teaching for a day at Sutterville Elementary School. District officials are encouraging medically fragile students and staff to stay home Friday. Attendance is voluntary for everyone else. (Breton and Morrar, 3/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: School Districts Around The Bay Area Announce Closures Affecting Tens Of Thousands Of Students
San Francisco's 113 public schools — serving 54,000 students — will shut down for three weeks starting Monday to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the city struggles to prevent a surge in cases, the district announced Thursday. The district was the first of six Thursday in the Bay Area to announce the closing of schools serving tens of thousands of students — and there were almost sure to be more in the coming days, along with other measures across the region reflecting the rapidly expanding response to the COVID-19 crisis. (Tucker and Fagan, 3/12)

Fresno Bee: Yosemite High School In Oakhurst Closes Due To Coronavirus Concern
Yosemite High School in Oakhurst will be closed Friday after a staff member showed flu-like symptoms after visiting an area where Coronavirus has spread. The staff member visited an area in the state where there is "some level" of COVID-19 spreading, a statement released by the high school Thursday said. The staff member has not been working at the school this week and is awaiting test results. The decision to close the school was made out of an "abundance of caution," according to the statement, and was recommended by the Madera County Department of Public Health. (Velez, 3/12)

Los Angeles Times: What If Schools Are Closed For Weeks? That's Reality In Parts Of Asia
Homework delivered via WhatsApp. "Minecraft" and Netflix instead of lectures and gym classes. Refrigerators as blackboards, harried parents, bored children — and no end in sight to what one 7-year-old calls a "nightmare." School closures are just beginning to ripple across the United States as authorities try to contain the spreading coronavirus, but across swaths of Asia, the Middle East and Europe, children have already been kept home from classes for several nerve-racking weeks. (Bengali, Pierson and Kim, 3/13)

Fresno Bee: False Emails Say Clovis CA Schools Canceled By Coronavirus
The Clovis school officials warned parents of "hoax" emails falsely claiming area schools were canceling classes in connection with the spreading Coronavirus. It's not true, officials said in a statement Thursday. Classes in Clovis and most of the rest of Fresno County remained in session Thursday. (Velez, 3/12)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Schools Suspend Sports Over Coronavirus, Class Continues
Fresno Unified Schools will restrict sports and other student activities but will continue holding classes on campus, officials announced Thursday at a news conference. Clovis and Central school districts made similar announcements, saying sports were on hold, but classes continue. (Panoo and Galaviz, 3/12)

Bay Area News Group: San Jose Sharks Say SAP Center Worker Has COVID-19
Sharks Sports & Entertainment announced Thursday evening that a part-time employee at SAP Center at San Jose has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The organization issued a news release that said it received notification of the person's positive test late Wednesday, and that the person "is under self-quarantine and receiving care from medical professionals. We have been informed that this employee is recovering and feeling better." (Pashelka, 3/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: What The NBA Shutdown Means For The Warriors: 'Too Many Questions'
Several hours before head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers were scheduled to speak with reporters Thursday afternoon about the NBA's decision to suspend the season, the Warriors announced that they'd be canceling the news conference. "No media today," Raymond Ridder, Golden State's vice president of communications, wrote in a text message. "Too many questions that we don't have answers to yet." (Letourneau, 3/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: 49ers Will Shut Down Levi's Stadium, Team Facility Due To Coronavirus
The 49ers announced they will shut down operations at Levi's Stadium and the team facility starting Friday in an effort to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Employees, with a few exceptions, have been instructed to work remotely. Coaches and scouts who are currently on the road doing work in preparation for the NFL draft in April have been asked to return home by the weekend. Public and private team events have been canceled. (Branch, 3/12)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Restaurants Weather Coronavirus Outbreak, Some With Devastating Losses
A San Francisco fast-casual eatery with Michelin cred was forced to close, and business at a swanky SoMA restaurant is down 70 percent. But for one popular chain of gourmet burger joints, it's business as usual in Marin, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek. The coronavirus outbreak — declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization Wednesday — is affecting Bay Area restaurants in dramatically different ways. The hardest hit businesses are in city centers, like San Francisco, where large venue closures and event cancellations have caused dining and catering to plummet by as much as 70 percent, the worst drop since just after 9/11. (Yadegaran, 3/12)

Bay Area News Group: COVID-19: How Bay Area Is Coping With Disruption And Anxiety
First it was her job. The parts from Chinese factories that Nhu Doan ordered for her company's educational products weren't showing up. This week, it's her husband's catering company that is suffering as Bay Area tech companies send workers home and more events are cancelled. On Monday, her two boys were heartbroken when the fishing expedition for their Boy Scout troop was canceled. On Tuesday, 14 members of her extended family learned that the San Jose Shamrock Run they all signed up for had been scrapped. (Sulek and Ross, 3/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Realtors: Coronavirus Expected To Dampen California Home Sales, Prices And All-Cash Offers
California home prices and sales are likely to fall as a result of the coronavirus, but they could still eke out gains this year if lower mortgage rates offset tumbling stock prices and economic uncertainty, according to the California Association of Realtors. The forecast comes as the real estate market enters its crucial spring selling season. The association said Wednesday that it will revise its 2020 forecast downward, "but not dramatically." (Pender, 3/12)

The Bakersfield Californian: Coronavirus Worries Prompt Shoppers To Go 'A Little Nuts'
Jennifer Blankenship was in for a shock Thursday at the Walmart on Rosedale Highway. The mother of five had stopped in to do some everyday shopping and decided she'd also pick up some canned goods in case the new coronavirus hits locally and necessities become hard to find. But other shoppers beat her to it. The toilet paper aisle was completely empty and bottled water was in short supply. She couldn't find beans, rice or ramen. (Cox, 3/12)

Bay Area News Group: 4 San Jose Firefighters Test Positive For COVID-19
Four San Jose firefighters have tested positive for the coronavirus, and the impact of the disease on the fire department could grow in the coming days with more awaiting tests and the revelation that family members of the ill firefighters have also been infected, officials said. As it stood Thursday afternoon, city officials reported that 80 firefighters may have been exposed to COVID-19, meaning that more than 10 percent of the city's 750-member firefighting staff was affected. (Salonga and Kelliher, 3/12)

Sacramento Bee: Coronavirus Travel Ban Challenges Return From Middle East
Sacramento Library Director Rivkah Sass may be one of the first Americans to test how President Trump's suspension of travel from Europe may affect travelers this week. Sass was in Amman, Jordan, Thursday after spending several days working with librarians at the Za'atari Camp, the largest Syrian refugee center in the world located on the Syrian border, before planning to fly back to the United States through Europe. "I am hopeful that I will get home safe and sound on time," she said by cell phone Thursday morning Sacramento time. "I fly from Amman to Paris to Los Angeles and from Los Angeles to Sacramento." (Stanton, 3/13)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Self-Quarantine: When And How To Do It
You're doing everything right to avoid getting the coronavirus — avoiding handshakes, eschewing large gatherings and, of course, washing your hands several times a day. And yet, you're worried. Maybe you sat next to someone who was coughing in a movie theater. Or your spouse just returned from a business trip in Europe. Perhaps someone in your office building was diagnosed with COVID-19. Now you can't help but wonder: Do I need to self-quarantine? (Netburn, 3/13)

Los Angeles Times: Stadium Workers Union Asks Teams To Pay Wages During Shutdown
Sylvia Sosa measures her time working at Dodger Stadium by the stars. She is a bartender now, but she started at a humble concession stand."Taking care of the mustard, relish, ketchup and nachos," she said, "during the Fernando years." She has worked at the ballpark for 45 years. She is retired from her full-time job, so the money from her Dodger Stadium job is important. The health insurance is critical. And, as of Thursday, she has no idea when she might work there again. (Shaikin, 3/13)

Sacramento Watch

San Francisco Chronicle: New State Bill Aims To Soften Closures Of Homes For Mentally Ill, Homeless And Drug Addicted
As San Francisco and the rest of California rapidly lose their board-and-care homes, a new state bill aims to lessen the blow of closing these long-term facilities for the homeless, mentally ill and drug-addicted. The bill, written by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Mayor London Breed, outlines a protocol that adult residential facilities must follow when they decide to shut their doors. The hope is that the new requirements will increase transparency and give residents ample notice that they are going to have to move. (Thadani, 3/12)

Viewpoints

San Francisco Chronicle: Trump's Virus Response Only Worsens The Chances To Stop The Pandemic
It's not a European blockade, a dose of xenophobia or a vague call for public support that this country needs to handle the coronavirus. President Trump isn't offering useful answers to a fearful country. His mishmash of thoughts in his White House address isn't quieting a jumpy economy, if the stock market's Thursday plunge is any measure. Mainstay allies in Europe are justifiably furious at his announced travel ban from the continent. His late-arriving resolve to stem the outbreak isn't convincing medical experts. (3/13)

Los Angeles Times: Why Government Can't Order Insurers To Cover COVID-19 For Free
The health insurance industry, several states and the federal government have been falling over themselves to assure Americans that they should have no fear about getting tested for the novel coronavirus — tests will be administered for free, they say, without deductibles or co-pays.Problem solved, right? Well, not really. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: Emergency Room Doctor Calls For Calm And Perspective
As a frontline health care provider, I have been barraged with constantly changing information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the San Francisco Department of Public Health regarding the novel coronavirus. To be honest, I have been dismayed by the failure of public health officials to effectively calm the rapidly rising panic over this issue in our country. Clearly, there are many unknowns regarding this virus: its prevalence in our community, how infectious it is relative to influenza, its true mortality rate. (Judy Klein, 3/11)

CalMatters: We Are Nation's Ground Zero For Coronavirus
California's role as a major crossroads in the global economy created enormous wealth and influence, so much that we were no longer compared to other states, but to other nations, boasting of the world's fifth-largest economy. Today, however, our global positioning makes us America's ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak that threatens to become a pandemic disaster. (Dan Walters, 3/11)

Los Angeles Times: We've Entered The Coronavirus Economy
As hard as it may be to believe, cheap gas isn't always a good thing. For instance, after Saudi Arabia announced a deep discount in its crude oil prices, global stock markets plummeted, with the Dow dropping nearly 8% Monday. If history is any guide, gas prices will recover from this clobbering far sooner than the value of your 401(k). The stocks on the S&P 500 index have now lost a collective $5 trillion since the index's peak just a few weeks ago, suggesting that the 11-year bull market may finally have turned bearish. (3/10)

Sacramento Bee: Panic, Closing CA Schools Will Not Prevent Coronavirus
If you're scared about the coronavirus, please calm down and consider this: Famed labor leader and feminist icon Dolores Huerta was going to appear at Sacramento State on Friday. She was scheduled to talk about the importance of participating the U.S. Census. But Huerta's foundation canceled her appearance on Tuesday by citing concerns about the coronavirus. (Marcos Breton, 3/11)

Fresno Bee: Social Distancing Can Help Slow Coronavirus In Fresno CA
There's a word for people who prefer solo walks in nature to hanging out in crowded shopping malls, restaurants and movie theaters. Who would rather spend a quiet evening at home than among a crowd of thousands at a concert, street fair or sporting event. They call us "introverts." Or in extreme cases, "antisocial." But that was before you or anyone you know had heard of the coronavirus. (Marek Warszawski, 3/11)

Sacramento Bee: A Sacramento Native's Coronavirus Experience In Vietnam
Dear Sacramento: Greetings from coronavirus future. Being in Vietnam, I am 14 hours ahead of you. I have also had months of experience living through this viral epidemic before it finally spread to the 916 area code. People in Vietnam first met news of the COVID-19 virus with some curiosity in January. Then, a handful of patients tested positive for the disease. This was followed by the panicked stockpiling of food and hand sanitizer gel, school closures and reduced business. (Lien Hoang, 3/12)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Students Need Hand Soap To Stay During Coronavirus
When 17-year-old Ulysses Figueroa created an online petition calling on the Sacramento City Unified School District to cancel all classes due to worries about the coronavirus, he never imagined it might get 6,000 signatures in two days. "I was honestly surprised to get to over 5 thousand votes and to see that many other students had the same problems and concerns," wrote Figueroa, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, in an email to The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board. "I am not worried of getting the virus and getting sick. I am worried about the lack of hygiene products, lack of nurses, and those nasty bathrooms here." (3/10)

Los Angeles Times: Our Government Is Using Migrants' Therapy Against Them
Kevin Euceda, a 17-year-old Honduran boy, arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border three years ago and was turned over to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services until his request for asylum could be decided by immigration courts. During that interim period, he was required, as are all unaccompanied minors in custody, to meet with therapists to help him process what he had gone through. (3/10)

Sacramento Bee: After Newsom's Death Penalty Moratorium, Legislature Must Act
I know that California's death penalty system is plagued by racial bias. I know it, not only because of the solid data and multiple research studies that have documented it, but also because I lived it myself. I was sent to San Quentin's death row for a crime I did not commit. It took me five long years to prove my innocence and win my freedom, but if the state of California had had its way, I would not be alive today. (Shujaa Graham, 3/11)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Needs Crisis Management For Residents, Not More Jails
Thousands of people in her circumstances today end up on the street or in jail, with little hope of rebuilding their lives. Denise is not real either, although there are hundreds of people like her in Los Angeles County who have lived through crisis and have the experience and skill to pinpoint the times and places — the "intercepts" — at which people otherwise hurtling headlong into the costly criminal justice system could be reached. Full-service courthouse resource centers aren't real either, nor is a decentralized, health-based community-based system of care that could reach people in crisis long before they even get to a courthouse or are encountered by a law enforcement officer. None of it is real. (3/8)