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Newsom Orders 40 Million Californians To Stay At Home As State's Outbreak Escalates: Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all Californians on Thursday to stay home and leave only for essential trips, escalating efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which state officials estimate could infect more than half the population if drastic steps are not taken. The order is similar to the shelter-in-place rules that Bay Area residents have been living under since Monday, allowing people to visit the grocery store, seek medical care, walk outside and exercise if they maintain social distance from others. It will force countless businesses in the state deemed nonessential to close their doors temporarily. The order exempts workers in 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors, including food and agriculture, healthcare, transportation, energy, financial services, emergency response and others.

Newsom said he hopes not to have to enforce the order, instead encouraging Californians to influence one another to do the right thing. "I don't believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement to home isolate, protect themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, Newsom, in a letter to President Donald Trump, predicted that more than half of California's population could contract coronavirus in the next eight weeks if the state isn't effective in curbing its spread. That 56 percent rate of infection means that roughly 22.4 million Californians would come down with the virus. But a spokesperson for Newsom clarified that dramatic figure does not account for the types of aggressive "mitigation efforts" that jurisdictions around California have adopted.

Read more from Alexei Koseff and Erin Allday of the San Francisco Chronicle, Taryn Luna of the Los Angeles Times, Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee, Judy Lin of CalMatters; Maggie Angst and Jason Green of the Bay Area News Group; and Jeremy B. White of Politico.

In related news:

Los Angeles Times: Californians Ordered To Stay At Home: Here Are The New Rules

San Francisco Chronicle: Text Of Newsom's Stay-At-Home Coronavirus Executive Order For California

When Great Recession Hit, California's Public Health Spending Plateaued Even When Economy Recovered: Fourteen years ago, California made a huge investment in public health by creating a standalone state department and seeding it with tens of millions of dollars in special funding for emergency supplies. In 2009, former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put it to work, using the new department to lead the state's response to a swine flu outbreak that year. Then, the Great Recession hit, and California's spending on its public health department plateaued, even as a 10-year economic expansion swelled the state's budget by nearly $100 billion. Read more from Hannah Wiley 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

Coronavirus

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Health Care Workers Dealing With Coronavirus Short Of Crucial Face Masks
A nationwide shortage of protective equipment that prompted hospital workers in Seattle to craft their own masks out of supplies bought at Home Depot is also forcing health care workers in the Bay Area to take drastic measures and prepare for the worst, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow. Doctors and nurses in Bay Area hospitals are rationing and repeatedly reusing the most-protective masks, known as N-95s, sharing goggles and, in some cases, settling for less protective gear when dealing with patients being treated for coronavirus symptoms. (Fimrite, Cassidy and Gafni, 3/19)

Sacramento Bee: Coronavirus: Lack Of Tests In Sacramento, Northern California
Sacramento's top health official said Thursday that testing for the coronavirus in the region is so far behind where it should be that the actual number of people infected with the virus here could be 20 to 100 times higher than what's been reported. The federal government has been "woefully inadequate" in delivering test materials like swabs and reagents, county health director Peter Beilenson said, forcing public health officials and healthcare providers to ration tests to the most vulnerable cases. (Yoon-Hendricks and Bizjak, 3/20)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento CA To Shelter Homeless To Slow Coronavirus Spread
Sacramento officials plan to open cabins and state-issued trailers for homeless people who are most at risk of contracting the coronavirus at three city sites, Mayor Darrell Steinberg told The Sacramento Bee Thursday. "This has now become my priority 1A for the next number of days," Steinberg said. The mayor said Sacramento County is expecting to receive at least 50 emergency trailers from the state. (Clift, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Billions Of Dollars, Hundreds Of Thousands Of Bay Area Jobs At Risk From The Coronavirus
Nearly a half a million people work in Bay Area restaurants, stores and venues that have been required to shut down or drastically scale back operations to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Chronicle review of federal data released by the Associated Press found. Another 69,500 people work in the hotel and air travel industries, which have been severely hampered by a sharp drop in tourism and flights, data show. Those employees received about $4.7 billion in wages during the first quarter of 2019, underscoring the severe blow the pandemic could cause to the local service economy. (Palomino and Dizikes, 3/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Closes Many Bay Area Hotels: 'Worse Than 9/11 Or 2008'
The Bay Area's usually booming hotel industry has been brought to its knees in the two weeks since the coronavirus erupted across the region, and at least eight hotels have closed temporarily. Occupancy rates in San Francisco have plunged from more than 80% two weeks ago to below 10% at some hotels, said Kevin Carroll, CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, which represents owners and operators. (Li, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: 'Terrified' Bay Area Workers At 'Essential' Businesses Weigh Risks
Cash Caris couldn't take it any longer. The shift lead at Peet's Coffee in Campbell handed pastries and coffees to customers who were sometimes coughing — and took their cash. He brushed arms with co-workers in close quarters. All the while, he worried he was putting the sister he lives with — who has asthma, allergies and a history of catching pneumonia — at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. (Moench, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Toilet Paper Shortages Caused By Coronavirus Blamed For Spike In Raw Sewage Spills
When a foul-smelling slop began bubbling out of a manhole in Tiburon the other day, the leafy streets of Marin County became an unlikely spot for what may be the latest fallout from the coronavirus: sewage spills. The shortage of toilet paper that's come with the pandemic-induced shopping panic has prompted many people to get creative on the commode. They're flushing the likes of disposable wipes and paper towels into sewer lines, wastewater officials say, and creating blockages that are leading to messy system overflows. (Alexander, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Unemployment Is Slamming Southern California
In the working-class city of Pico Rivera, Melanie Santos, 26, made ends meet as a substitute math teacher for $120 a day and had an occasional gig dishing food-truck chicken wings. Thirty-seven miles away, in a leafy Pacific Palisades enclave, Louise Sandy, 52, ran a one-woman business baking custom-designed cakes for birthdays and baby showers that sell for as much as $800 each. (Roosevelt and Khouri, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: Asian American Groups Compile Hate Crime Reports As Trump Persists In 'Chinese Virus' Attacks
Distressed by the rise in xenophobia and racism during the coronavirus pandemic, a coalition of Asian American groups based in California have created a reporting webpage for victims of virus-related hate crimes. The Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action and San Francisco State University Asian American Studies Department are asking anyone who's been harassed, intimidated or otherwise discriminated against for their race to share their stories on the website. (Cabanatuan, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: An Inmate Died In Santa Clara County Jail. Now, Officials Are Checking To See If He Had Coronavirus
An inmate died Thursday morning at a Santa Clara County jail and officials are investigating whether the death was related to COVID-19, authorities said. The 58-year-old man was booked into the county's main jail on Monday for violation of a court order and drug charges, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. Deputies at the Elmwood Correctional Facility responded to a report of a ill inmate at 5:22 a.m. in a housing unit where they found the man unresponsive and not breathing, officials said. Milpitas Fire Department and paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at 5:38 a.m. (Bauman, 3/19)

Fresno Bee: Fresno CA Evictions To Be Postponed For Coronavirus Response
Fresno residents will get a month moratorium from evictions and foreclosures with six months to catch up on deferred payments if their income has taken a hit due to the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the City Council declared on Thursday. The council unanimously approved the emergency measure, which will also keep water services flowing to every resident, regardless of whether they are behind on fees. (Miller, 3/19)

Fresno Bee: Devin Nunes Repeats Coronavirus Guidance, Blames Media
Rep. Devin Nunes this week in a series of interviews with conservative news organizations has said the coronavirus outbreak would pass within weeks and cast doubt on local government orders asking people to stay home. He has spoken to Fox News and KMJ Radio, and he sent a letter to constituents on Wednesday that referred to Fresno's coronavirus shelter-in-place recommendation as "controversial" and noted that one neighboring city, Clovis, had not yet asked people to stay home. (Irby, 3/19)

Viewpoints

Los Angeles Times: Your Hoarding Could Cost Me My Life — A Doctor's View From The Coronavirus Front Lines
At hospitals across the country, masks are being rationed in preparation for the upcoming surge of patients. Instead of using a new mask with each potentially infectious patient, we are allotted one or two per day. Up until last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that medical professionals treating patients suspected of having coronavirus use N95 masks, which confer the highest level of protection. Then it changed that guidance to advise the use of surgical masks, which don't offer nearly as much protection. (Erica Patel, 3/15)

Sacramento Bee: Community Service Must Thrive In The Time Of Social Distance
As the First Partner of California and as the Chief Service Officer of California, our first priority is to lift up California's families and most vulnerable communities. We believe wholeheartedly in elevating the value of service and creating a sense of community where the health and well-being of all of us is as important, if not more important, than our individual success. Embracing California's values of inclusivity, generosity and community – and understanding that our fates are intertwined – is critical as every Californian faces the unprecedented crisis posed by COVID-19. (Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Josh Fryday, 3/18)

Sacramento Bee: Sacrifices Made To Curb Coronavirus Spread Are Worth It
We have entered an important new chapter in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic: After a week filled with school closures and the cancellation of major public events of all kinds, Congress and President Donald Trump are hopefully close to a deal to address the spread of the dangerous coronavirus. This clear-headed collaboration by our political leaders is welcome for the immediate relief it will bring and because it restores — for at least a moment — the primacy of public health over hyper-partisan politics. (Sandra R. Hernandez, 3/18)

Los Angeles Times: Industry Bailouts And Tax Cuts Won't Fix Coronavirus Crash
As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, my fellow economists have reached deep into their bare cupboards of old ideas, and what have they found? Models that do not work: bailouts for big companies. Tax cuts for people well-off enough to owe taxes. Cash-grant schemes, a favorite of the universal-income crowd. These tactics won't be effective. We cannot predict how bad the economic situation will get. And however bad it is, you cannot fill the hole with money alone. (James K. Galbraith, 3/19)

Sacramento Bee: All Sacramentans Must Help Stop Spread Of New Coronavirus
Our region and state are already taking extraordinary measures to slow the spread of COVID-19... To protect ourselves, our families and our community, we must join together in keeping apart to slow the spread of this infection. But all of these measures won't decrease the spread of the virus unless we all follow several simple practices. (Richard Pan and Peter Beilenson, 3/17)

Sacramento Bee: Voters Must Punish McClintock's Vote Against Coronavirus Bill
Rep. Tom McClintock's cruel and despicable vote against a bipartisan economic relief bill to help workers and businesses suffering due to the coronavirus makes one thing clear: He has lost touch with reality. Only 40 of the House of Representatives' 435 members voted against the bill. McClintock, a Republican from Elk Grove, is one of them. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump put aside partisan enmity to united in support of the economic stimulus. (3/17)

Los Angeles Times: How Do We Keep Coronavirus From Ravaging L.A. Homeless?
Nothing would exacerbate the public health crisis of homelessness like adding the public health crisis of the coronavirus. Homeless people in Los Angeles County, who already are beset by health problems both chronic and acute, have lifespans two to three decades shorter than people who are housed; last year, more than 1,000 homeless people died on the streets. A substantial portion of the homeless population is 55 or older. All these factors make homeless people especially vulnerable to getting sicker or dying of the disease caused by the virus. (3/20)

CalMatters: California Should Structure Funding For Skilled Nursing To Promote High-Quality Care
When you work with vulnerable individuals, you notice the small things about their lives. You notice when they carry on with their ability to independently perform the routine activities of daily living. You notice when they maintain a healthy weight and a healthy outlook on life. You notice these things, and you take pride in knowing that the work you do contributes to these positive outcomes. (Erika Castile, 3/16)

CalMatters: California Will Feel Impact If Supreme Court Repeals Affordable Care Act
In California, repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement would mean that one in three of the state's residents covered by Medi-Cal could lose their health insurance or face substantial coverage limits. That could mean delays in care and foregoing preventive measures, causing more deaths, serious illnesses and higher costs. (Elizabeth Benson Forer, 3/19)