Many Regions Seeing a Letup, but Not L.A

Though a peak in deaths Fewer cases elsewhere will usually lag behind the peak in infections by one to in the state have some three weeks, it’s hard to tell chafing under stay-at- whether Los Angeles County has bent the curve home order. Others on the virus’ spread. There want it extended. were 7,218 confirmed new cases for the seven-day pe- By Rong-Gong Lin II, riod that ended Sunday, Joe Mozingo compared with 3,152 the pre- and Melanie Mason vious week. But inconsistent testing and backlogs at laboratories The coronavirus is on the often make those numbers decline in many parts of Cal- unreliable. Another key ifornia but continues to measure of infection, the spread in Los Angeles number of hospitalizations, County, sparking new de- remained relatively stable bate about whether officials last week, neither rising nor Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times will need to begin easing falling. JUAN INFANTE, a certified medical assistant, takes a woman’s temperature before testing for the corona- stay-at-home restrictions in The differing situations virus in Madera, Calif. Los Angeles County uses Curative-Korva’s oral-based approach for much of its testing. certain sections of the state [See Cases, A1] while giving harder-hit regions time to flatten the curve. COLUMN ONE The state’s epidemiolog- ical map is starting to reflect Oral swab test in county the adage that California is HOURS many states in one. Nineteen Pandemic counties from Humboldt to Tuolumne have recorded no brings risks and rewards fatalities from the virus. And CUT? YOU has been even moderately populated counties such as Fresno and Monterey are holding single- MAY GET A Silicon Valley start-up’s less invasive method digit death tolls. a rough But Los Angeles County to verify the coronavirus isn’t favored by FDA has had 944 people die from COVID-19, with 315 passing FULL AID away last week alone. road for tients. nearly 6,000 samples per day Even adjusted for its By Maya Lau So they turned to a at dozens of pop-up sites larger population, its rate of and Melody Petersen brand-new Silicon Valley and claims to provide nearly 9.3 deaths per 100,000 people RELIEF truckers start-up with a novel ap- 20% of all testing for the is 58% higher than the next When the coronavirus proach that said it could pro- virus in California. hardest-hit urban county, hit, Los Angeles County vide a large number of drive- The company’s rapid Riverside, and 72% higher faced a testing crisis. through tests very quickly. growth owes in part to a than the epicenter of the Bay A quirk in the CARES Many report lower Officials had only one That company, Curative- unique approach that allows Area, Santa Clara County, test processing machine at Korva, now performs most patients to self-administer according to a Times analy- Act means some pay and more its laboratory in Downey of the public testing across the tests by swabbing their sis of coronavirus data. California employees dangerous working and had little hope of getting Los Angeles County for mouths after coughing. Half of all hospitalized help from the federal govern- COVID-19, the disease The advantages? It’s coronavirus patients in Cali- are eligible to earn conditions, including ment. Swabs were scarce. caused by the novel co- painless. Less protective fornia are being treated in more for working less. the threat of thieves. Laboratories were back- ronavirus. gear is needed. And patients Los Angeles County, which logged. And there weren’t The firm, started in Janu- and workers face less infec- is home to a quarter of the By Sarah D. Wire By Molly enough healthcare workers ary by a 24-year-old scientist tion risk. state’s population, the anal- Hennessy-Fiske to take samples from pa- and entrepreneur, processes [See Testing, A1] ysis found. reporting from WASHINGTON — Cali- stillwater, okla. fornia workers who see their hours cut as little as 10% due y the time Connie to the coronavirus outbreak Reynolds pulled are eligible to receive the en- her 18-wheeler into tire $600-a-week federal sub- B Cowboy Travel sidy offered in the $2-trillion Plaza, she’d made federal rescue package, the long haul up Interstate state officials and employ- 35 from the Texas border ment experts say. town of Laredo to central That means in some Oklahoma and was looking cases, workers in California forward to kicking back at a — and across the country — table and sampling the rest could end up temporarily re- stop’s Smokey Pokey bar- ceiving far more from the becue before heading to government for those lost Wichita, Kan. hours than they would have But the Smokey Pokey earned by working them. was closed — except for In practice, however, few takeout — because of the companies and workers so coronavirus. So was the rest far are taking advantage of stop’s bar, Western wear the benefits, partly because store and a special indoor of the unprecedented back- attraction: a pirate ship. log of unemployment claims Reynolds had to eat her in California and other sausage in her truck. states’ unemployment of- “We would like to just go fices, and partly because in and sit down and take a many business owners don’t break, have a meal. For a lot yet fully understand the in- of drivers, it’s a way to un- centives created by the Co- wind,” Reynolds said as she ronavirus Aid, Relief and sat in the truck’s cab re- Economic Security Act to cently, next to her new mask encourage businesses to re- and hand sanitizer. “It’s got duce employees’ hours a lot of drivers wound up.” rather than lay them off. About 70% of America’s “If employers knew about freight travels by truck, and Photographs by Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times this option for their workers, many of the country’s 3.5 A RESIDENT reads in peace at Palm Springs’ Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, closed during the pandemic. there’s a lot of free money million truck drivers are floating around, and it’s busier than ever during the shocking that so few people COVID-19 pandemic, trans- take it up,” said Till von formed into essential work- Wachter, a UCLA economics ers keeping shelves stocked A dramatic change in senior life professor. “There are sub- with medical supplies and stantial financial gains and groceries. opportunities for workers in “In the war against the the current environment, virus, America’s truckers Virus’ impact in retiree-dense Coachella Valley is widely felt and it’s just crazy that no- are really the foot soldiers body’s taking it up.” that are carrying us to vic- least one, that paycheck While it was widely By Maria L. La Ganga tory,” President Trump said means the difference be- known that the flat $600-a- during an event honoring tween shelter and the street [See CARES Act, A1] truckers on the White RANCHO MIRAGE, Cal- for her mother and younger House lawn this month. if. — It was a choice Lisa siblings. “Truckers are playing a Weaver wished she didn’t “I never thought I’d see A haunting worry critical role in vanquishing have to make. something worse than sum- about the virus [See Truckers, A1] Keep her restaurant mer,” Weaver said on a Sun- open. Risk contact with day during high season in Doctors have fears that someone who has the co- this resort and retirement COVID-19 could cause ronavirus. Bring the disease hot spot. Summer’s when long-term damage to Weather home. To her doubly vulner- temperatures soar, tourists the organs of some pa- Warm and sunny. able partner, who is 68 and disappear and business tients. PERSPECTIVES, A2 L.A. Basin: 85/60. B8 suffers from an autoimmune evaporates here. “I bought disorder. this restaurant a year ago. Lakers pay back Printed with soy inks on Or close Dickey’s Bar- It’s not something I’d do partially recycled paper. becue Pit and risk losing her again, knowing what I know federal relief loan investment in the place — now.” They received $4.6 mil- half the money she’d set The Coachella Valley lion as part of a program aside for retirement. Weaver LISA WEAVER bought Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in may be best known for music to help small businesses would have to lay off her re- Rancho Mirage, a city with a high percentage of festivals, tennis tourna- weather the COVID-19 maining employees. For at residents 65 and older. Now she has doubts. [See Seniors, A1] pandemic. SPORTS, B6

BUSINESS INSIDE: Airlines are stepping up their policies on masks for passengers. A8 A6 TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 LATIMES.COM Daily life changes in a dramatic fashion

[Seniors, from A1] ments and championship golf, but it’s also home to some of the densest concen- trations of senior citizens in California — the very same people with the greatest risk of contracting the coronavirus simply because of the year they were born. That fact has changed daily life here in dramatic fashion. Ten days before Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state, the Riverside County public health officer recommended that “those in the Coachella Valley who are elderly and have underlying conditions, including indi- viduals who are HIV-pos- itive, limit nonessential travel and avoid large public gatherings.” Dr. Cameron Kaiser’s tar- geted guidelines came just days after the county an- nounced its first case of lo- cally acquired COVID-19. Government and hospital officials did not identify the county’s “patient zero,” but she is believed to be an 83- year-old Rancho Mirage woman who was hospitalized on March 1, according to the Desert Sun. Photographs by Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times Many retired snowbirds, AN OLIVE Garden waitress delivers takeout in Rancho Mirage. The city offers aid to restaurants that stay open for delivery or pickup. who winter here to escape harsh weather, fled home Southern California desert, suage the disease’s impacts, while they were still able to has been particularly hard have been suspended. Gyms travel. Seniors who volun- hit. Because so many people have closed. teer throughout the region have been thrown out of Julie Drouyor misses are sheltering in place, so the work, the organization had them desperately. The 54- National Guard was called to add 19 new mobile distri- year-old was diagnosed with in to lend a hand at the val- bution sites. MS in 1992. She took disabili- ley’s regional food bank. “Seventy percent of our ty retirement from her job as The Rancho Mirage City volunteer base, about 5,000 a financial analyst with the Council has written $8,000 annually, are people over the University of California in checks to help hard-hit age of 65,” said Debbie S. Es- 2016, as her pain increased restaurants survive. The pinosa, president of the In- and her ability to move and main requirement? That dio-based organization. think plummeted. they stay open for food deliv- “They’re seniors and retired. In the winter, she and her ery or curbside pickup When shelter in place hap- husband live in a 330- through May 31. pened, we lost virtually all of square-foot recreational ve- This rugged valley at the our regular volunteers. To hicle on the border of Ran- foot of the San Jacinto top it off, the amount of peo- cho Mirage and Palm Mountains is home to three ple we’re serving is 30% to Desert. In the summer, they California cities with the 45% higher.” drive their home to Idyllwild. highest percentages of resi- About two dozen mem- They can’t do that now, be- dents 65 and older: Indian bers of the National Guard cause of the stay-in-place or- Wells comes in at No. 2, with have stepped into the ders. And Drouyor doesn’t 59% of the population eligi- breach, packing food in the have access to the adaptive ble for Medicare. Rancho warehouse, staffing the free yoga and aquatic exercise Mirage is No. 3 with 53%. community markets. And programs that help keep her Palm Desert comes in at No. Cardiff Limousine is now de- mobile. 8, with 34%. (Topping the list livering meals to about 75 “I have to actually think is Orange County’s Laguna BUSINESS HAS improved some, said Lisa Weaver, welcoming Clyde Munsell. elderly clients. It is a volun- about walking every step,” Woods, almost all retire- Many retired snowbirds in Rancho Mirage fled home; others are staying indoors. teer effort, Espinosa said. said Drouyor, who is ment housing, where 83% of Sadly, it’s not as if the drivers immunocompromised. “I’ve the population is 65 and old- partment reported 373 was closed the week of have much else to do, mid- been distracted before and er.) COVID-19 cases and 17 March 16 “out of an abun- pandemic. fallen.... That’s where the ex- At the pandemic’s start, ‘They’re the tail deaths in the Coachella Val- dance of caution.” “People are coming to our ercise with Act for MS helps “our demographics were end of the World ley’s nine cities; by Friday, The Rancho Mirage lines that have never been to me. When you’re on disabili- working against us to a cer- nearly two weeks later , the Chamber of Commerce can- a food bank line before,” Es- ty, you don’t have the same tain extent,” said Dr. Alan War II generation number of cases had risen to celed ribbon cuttings and pinosa said. “You’ll get a opportunities. It costs quite Williamson, chief medical of- 562, but only five new deaths business mixers and began gentleman who says, ‘I’ll a bit.” ficer at Eisenhower Health into the Korean had been reported. offering Zoom seminars — skip two days of eating so my Lisa Weaver stood be- in Rancho Mirage. Among War generation. “We’ve flattened the “Stimulus Package Ex- kids won’t have to.’ People hind a makeshift sneeze the hospital’s first patients curve. These words have plained,” “Retail & Restau- taking care of seniors who guard at midday in her bar- “were the country-club set A lot of smokers.’ suddenly become what rant Rescue,” “Crisis Lead- say, ‘I need to make sure my becue joint. On a table to her that traveled, got together Americans long to hear.... ership.” mom eats. I can no longer right was a display of paper and showed up COVID-pos- — Dr. Alan And we can say it for our val- Golf courses were locked take care of both of us be- towels, bleach, toilet paper, itive. Then very quickly Williamson, ley,” Eisenhower Health’s down for nearly three weeks, cause my hours got cut by Pampers and disposable thereafter, it became a com- on the virus’ threat to senior leadership wrote in an April their vast green expanses 75%.’ It’s hard. It really is.” gloves — restaurant staples munitywide disease.” citizens in Rancho Mirage 20 letter. “Thankfully, we’ve inviting but untouchable. Act for MS, which helps she is selling to help make Although many area sen- all been doing the right They were allowed to reopen Coachella Valley residents ends meet. iors are fit, active and heal- things, to the point where on April 20 with strict limita- diagnosed with multiple On the plus side, the thy, Williamson said, many the coronavirus. But Eisenhower is now treating tions. Gated communities sclerosis, has been hard hit $8,000 grant from the city of “have diabetes, lung disease Williamson credits the sen- only five (5) inpatients for and country clubs have been by the virus. The organiza- Rancho Mirage will help her issues, heart disease is- ior population with adher- COVID-19!” shut tight. Even cars in gro- tion offers strength training, pay her employees for the sues.... They’re the tail end of ing to stay-at-home guide- The virus’ impact, how- cery store parking lots ap- exercise programs and help next month or two. On the the World War II generation lines, helping to keep the re- ever, has been widespread pear widely spaced, as if to with electric bills, along with minus side, it was lunchtime into the Korean War genera- gion’s COVID-19 cases and here. keep a kind of automotive other services. on a Sunday in the Coachella tion. A lot of smokers.” deaths fairly stable in recent Eisenhower Memory social distance. The annual March fund- Valley’s high season, and Which means a lot of weeks. Care Center’s day-care pro- FIND Food Bank, which raiser has been rescheduled there were no customers. underlying conditions that On April 12, the Riverside gram for people with Alzhei- serves communities in a to December. Its exercise As she pondered how make people vulnerable to County Public Health De- mer’s disease and dementia 5,000-square-mile swath of programs, which help as- she’d live and still keep Dick- ey’s open, she talked about her plans to pitch in and help her community survive the difficult months of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This week, we’re going to Court passes on chance to expand gun rights feed the National Guard and the volunteers at the food “This is not moot. The and expand gun rights. 2nd Amendment cases with that held residents had a bank,” she said, with a bright Justices say N.Y. law city violated petitioners’ 2nd “I share Justice Alito’s petitions for certiorari now right to have a gun at home smile. “They have to eat Amendment right, and we concern that some federal pending before the court,” for self-defense. MREs like they’re in Af- is moot, sidestepping should so hold,” Alito wrote and state courts may not be he said. As an appeals court But since then, the court ghanistan.” a major decision. in New York State Rifle & properly applying Heller judge, Kavanaugh wrote a has repeatedly refused to go Weaver has donated Pistol Assn. Inc. vs. City of and McDonald,” he said, re- dissent arguing that Wash- further and rule on whether meals to the California High- By David G. Savage New York. ferring to the rulings in 2008 ington’s ban on semiauto- the 2nd Amendment pro- way Patrol and the staff at Brett M. Kavanaugh and 2010 that struck down matic rifles violated the 2nd tects a right to carry a gun in Eisenhower Medical Cen- wrote a short concurring city bans on private hand- Amendment. public or to own a semiauto- ter’s COVID-19 unit. She’s WASHINGTON — A 2nd opinion to say that while he guns in Washington, D. C., That leaves Chief Justice matic weapon. helped feed the region’s Amendment challenge to agreed with the majority and Chicago. John G. Roberts Jr. holding The chief justice is in- homeless population and is a New York City gun that the case was moot, he “The court should ad- the deciding vote in future clined to avoid rulings on scheduled to bring meals to ordinance fizzled in the also agreed with the conser- dress that issue soon, per- gun cases. major issues if the court is grocery store workers. Supreme Court on Monday, vatives on the need to clarify haps in one of the several He joined the 5-4 rulings not required to intervene. For a week or so, she lived but conservative justices with friends to keep her looked poised to expand gun partner safe. Now, she has rights in future cases. moved home — sort of. She In a brief unsigned opin- goes back-and-forth be- ion, the high court said the Insurers win healthcare reimbursement case tween the guest room and of- New York case was moot be- fice via sliding glass doors to cause the city had repealed tients. It said the federal part of the government, she Industry experts said the the backyard. She does not an ordinance that barred li- By David G. Savage government “shall pay” in- said. claims for past losses could venture into any other part censed gun owners from car- surers for their losses if the She said Congress could reach $12 billion. of the house. rying their weapons across WASHINGTON — The costs of the expanded cov- have said the payments were Dissenting alone, Justice “She makes me meals or town or outside the city. Supreme Court ruled Mon- erage outpaced the premi- contingent on future appro- Samuel A. Alito Jr. faulted brings me water,” Weaver Their permits allowed them day that when Congress ums. priations, but it had not the court for “providing a said of her partner. “She to have a gun at home, but makes a promise to pay, the But after Republicans done so. As a result, the gov- massive bailout for insur- leaves it at the door. One day, not to travel with it. government must indeed took control of Congress in ernment had a “legal duty” ance companies that took a she was gone, and I was hun- It’s only the latest disap- pay up, even if a later Con- 2014, lawmakers refused to to pay up. This holding “re- calculated risk and lost. gry.” pointment for 2nd Amend- gress changes its mind. appropriate the money to flects a principle as old as These companies chose to The solution? A Chipotle ment advocates. For a dec- That’s the essence of cover the losses suffered by the nation itself: The govern- participate in an Affordable Mexican Grill order. Deliv- ade, they have tried and what could be a $12-billion insurers. ment should honor its obli- Care Act program that they ered. Because the kitchen failed to get the Supreme win for health insurers who Writing for an 8-1 major- gations,” Sotomayor said. thought would be prof- was out of bounds. Court to rule squarely on joined the Obamacare pro- ity, Justice Sonia Sotomayor Four insurance compa- itable.” In 2012, Alito joined Business, she said, has whether gun owners hav gram in its first years and said Congress was not free to nies — from Illinois, North the dissent that would have improved some. April has e a constitutional right to lost money by doing so. renege on a past promise to Carolina and Maine — had struck down the Obamacare been looking up. A generous carry a firearm with them in When Congress passed pay. appealed to the high court law in its entirety. donor gave her $5,000, which public. the Affordable Care Act in The 2010 law “created a after an appeals court had Monday’s ruling has will pay for 1,000 meals for Monday’s decision re- 2010, it banned insurers from government obligation to rejected their claims. The nothing directly to do with people in need. “I cried,” she vealed that at least four jus- rejecting customers based pay insurers the full amount lower court said only Con- the current Obamacare pro- said. She’s been advertising tices are ready to rule for ex- on preexisting health condi- set out” in a formula, she gress had the power to dis- gram. However, the justices a special deal that’s brought panded gun rights. Justices tions. The program was set wrote in Maine Community pense tax money, and its lat- in the fall will hear a new in supportive customers: Clarence Thomas and Neil up to partially reimburse the Health Options vs. United er decision to refuse to pay challenge to the law that “Buy a meal and we’ll feed M. Gorsuch joined a 31-page insurance companies that States. “An obligation is defi- the insurers’ claims pre- arose when Texan Republi- the homeless a meal.” dissent written by Justice ended up with the sickest nite commitment that cre- vailed over the wording in cans sought again to have it She paused. Clarified. Samuel A. Alito Jr. and most expensive pa- ates a legal liability” on the the earlier law. struck down. “We’ll feed them regardless.”