County Establishes Task Force on COVID-19 Infections at Nursing Homes

https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/public_safety/county-establishes-task-force-on-covid-19- infections-at-nursing-homes/article_824d5044-7873-11ea-a1d4-c37d6e4dbb4c.html

BREAKING County establishes task force on COVID-19 infections at nursing homes

Alejandro Cano, reporter, Redlands Community News Apr 6, 2020

In response to the recent outbreaks at a Yucaipa and Colton nursing facilities, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health established on Monday, April 6, a multiagency Nursing Facilities Task Force to avoid the spread of COVID-19 among the elderly population.

Acting County Health Ofcer Erin Gusfatson also ordered nursing facilities to take multiple steps to protect the elderly population and health-compromised clients.

The order requires nursing home staff to wear protective gear and to monitor staff members’ temperatures to prevent the spread. The order also forbids employees from entering facilities if they have symptoms of any contagious disease, Gustafson said.

“Without appropriate precautions and procedures, nursing homes can create a tragically ideal environment for the spread of viruses among those who are most susceptible to symptoms and complications,” Gustafson said.

According to the Department of Public Health, San Bernardino County has 171 state-licensed nursing facilities caring for at least 6,600 of the county’s most at-risk residents.

On Saturday, April 4, California Gov. Gavin Newsom identied San Bernardino County as one of four nursing home “hotspots” in the state. “The county is dedicating every resource we can to ghting the spread of COVID-19,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “This task force will focus on supporting our senior living facilities in their efforts to preserve the safety of their residents.”

The idea to create the task force began after the outbreak at Cedar Mountain Post-Acute Rehabilitation in Yucaipa where 75 residents and staff tested positive for COVID-19, a disease that has also killed ve residents at the same facility.

A different outbreak occurred at the Reche Canyon Rehabilitation and Health Center in Colton where eight residents and seven staff tested positive with COVID-19. One of the residents at the facility died from the disease.

Following the outbreak, San Bernardino County health authorities launched an aggressive testing campaign with the help of the state’s Department of Public Health.

As of Monday, April 6, the county had 373 conrmed cases of COVID-19 and 13 deaths.

James Folmer editor San Bernardino County creates task force after COVID-19 outbreaks in Yucaipa, Colton nursing facilities By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Apr 6, 2020 at 8:31 PM SAN BERNARDINO — The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health announced Monday the creation of a multi-agency Nursing Facilities Task Force aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 among the county’s most vulnerable residents.

The announcement included acting County Public Health Officer Dr. Erin Gustafson issuing an order that requires nursing facilities to take multiple safety measures to protect their elderly and health-compromised patients.

The order took effect Monday and will remain until at least April 30. The order could be extended, rescinded, superseded or amended in that time, the county DPH said in a statement.

There are 171 state-licensed nursing facilities in the county that care for at least 6,600 of the county’s most at-risk residents. On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom identified the county as one of four nursing home “hot spots” in the state, the county reported.

“The County is dedicating every resource we can to fighting the spread of COVID-19,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman in the statement. “This task force will focus on supporting our senior living facilities in their efforts to preserve the safety of their residents.”

Work on forming the task force began early last week after a concentrated outbreak of COVID-19 in the Cedar Mountain Post Acute rehabilitation facility in Yucaipa. Seventy-five residents and staff at the facility have tested positive, and five residents have died of causes related to COVID-19. The county’s COVID-19 dashboard showed 77 total cases in Yucaipa as of Saturday evening.

Later in the week, an outbreak was found at the Reche Canyon Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Colton, with eight residents and seven staff members testing positive for the virus. To date, one resident’s death is associated to COVID-19.

“The County of San Bernardino is moving quickly to get a handle on the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes, 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Rowe said. “This task force will be an integral component of the County’s ability to protect our vulnerable senior population.”

The Yucaipa and Colton facilities where the outbreaks occurred are located in Rowe’s district.

The task force includes officials from the county and state departments of public health, as well as other county agencies, CDC, Inland Empire Health Plan, and emergency management and hospital stakeholders.

“The task force will proactively identify, map and assess readiness for COVID-19 at nursing facilities throughout the county with the intent of identifying strategic sites that may act as COVID-19-positive sites to further mitigate spread among our most-vulnerable residents,” said County Public Health Director Trudy Raymundo.

Gustafson also issued an order requiring nursing facilities to employ any means necessary to cease the use of staff members who also work at other nursing facilities.

That order requires nursing home staff to wear protective gear to prevent them from spreading illness to residents, requires staff members to monitor their temperatures and forbids them from entering facilities if they have symptoms of any contagious illness.

As an immediate response to the Reche Canyon outbreak, county public health officials launched an aggressive testing campaign at the Colton facility and secured assistance from the state DPH, which regulates nursing facilities.

This week, the county Department of Public Health will provide testing supplies and staff assistance to other facilities in the county affiliated with Cedar Mountain to aid in the testing of symptomatic residents and staff. The county is also assisting the City of Yucaipa in its plans to conduct a community testing event this week.

Eunice Santiago, ward clerk at the Apple Valley Post Acute Care Center, told the Daily Press on Monday the 99-bed facility is taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of its employees and 88 at the facility on Apple Valley Road.

“We’re adhering to the measures set by public health officials,” Santiago said. “We haven’t allowed visitors here for over two weeks, and we’re also asking family and friends not to bring items into the building.”

Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz. San Bernardino County sees 3 additional coronavirus deaths, more than 150 new cases – Daily Bulletin

LOCAL NEWS • News San Bernardino County sees 3 additional coronavirus deaths, more than 150 new cases

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By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] |  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 5:39 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 5:39 p.m.

San Bernardino County reported three additional coronavirus deaths Monday, April 6, and the number of confirmed cases shot up by more than 150.

There are now 530 cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths, up from 373 cases and 13 deaths on Sunday, when cases rose only by one.

The jump could be due to positive cases getting confirmed after the Sunday evening update, said Lana Culp, county spokeswoman.

The positive cases include 75 among residents and employees at Cedar Mountain Post-Acute Rehabilitation in Yucaipa. Eight residents and seven employees tested positive at Reche Canyon Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Colton. Five residents of the Yucaipa facility and one at the Colton facility have died.

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...?utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com[4/6/2020 5:44:56 PM] San Bernardino County sees 3 additional coronavirus deaths, more than 150 new cases – Daily Bulletin

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Of the 5,670 people tested for COVID-19 in the county, 9.3% had positive results, the county’s data show. Of those who tested positive, 51.2% are male, 48.6% are female and .2 % were unknown.

Most of the cases, 219, were among people 18 to 49 years old, while 169 were 50 to 64 years old, 135 were older than 65 and six were 2 to 17 years old, according to the county.

Here’s where the San Bernardino County cases are RELATED LINKS located:

San Bernardino County coronavirus cases Adelanto, three inch up Alta Loma, four San Bernardino County now has 372 coronavirus cases

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Apple Valley, seven

Barstow, seven

Big Bear City, two

Big Bear Lake, three

Bloomington, seven

Blue Jay, two

Chino, 16

Chino Hills, 22

Colton, eight

Crestline, one

Fontana, 66

Fort Irwin, one

Grand Terrace, two

Hesperia, 18

Highland, 21

Joshua Tree, two

Loma Linda, 12

Mentone, four

Montclair, five

Oak Hills, two

Ontario, 28

Phelan, one

Rancho Cucamonga, 36

Redlands, 41

Rialto, 26

Rimforest, one

Running Springs, two

San Bernardino, 40

Upland, 18

Victorville, 20

Wrightwood, one

Yucaipa, 77

Yucca Valley, three

The location of 21 cases was unknown.

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This Keto Cereal Sold Out 4 Times Last Year. Here’s Why… The Cereal School http://www.hidesertstar.com/news/article_282ccf40-753f-11ea-ace2-4f7c3321910b.html Fireghters and Boys & Girls Club help kids celebrate Easter during pandemic

Apr 3, 2020

MORONGO BASIN — Easter is coming around the corner and while all of the annual egg hunts are canceled, the San Bernardino County re department and the Boys & Girls Club are offering alternative options for celebrating the holiday with your children.

Fireghters in Twentynine Palms will hand out pre-packaged eggs lled with candy and toys from 4 to 6 p.m. April 8 outside of the Luckie Park pool.

Parents can drive through to pick up one dozen eggs per child. The eggs are rst-come, rst-serve and are intended for children over the age of 3.

The eggs can be given directly to children or parents can set up an egg hunt in their house or in the backyard.

In Yucca Valley, the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Desert is organizing a drive-by Easter egg hunt. Parents, businesses and everyone else in the Basin is urged to color one of their egg coloring pages and hang it in their window or door or on their fence by Sunday, April 5.

The pages are on the club’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/yvkids.

Starting Monday, April 6, and continuing through the week families can take drives through their neighborhood so kids can try to spot the eggs from the safety of their vehicles.

Anyone participating can post a photo and join the fun by posting on Facebook and using the hashtag #BGCHDrideandhunt. National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino canceled due to coronavirus concerns – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS • News National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino canceled due to coronavirus concerns

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Fair-goers ride the “Wave Swing” during the 104th National Orange Show Fair at the National Orange Show Events Center in San https://www.pe.com/...concerns/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/6/2020 4:51:37 PM] National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino canceled due to coronavirus concerns – Press Enterprise

Bernardino, Calif., May 1, 2019. (John Valenzuela/ Contributing Photographer)

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 4:43 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 4:45 p.m.

The 105th National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns, organizers announced Monday, April 6, on Instagram.

“We’ll be back bigger & better in 2021!” the post reads.

San Bernardino’s annual homage to citrus and fun was scheduled for April 22-26 at the National Orange Show on South E Street.

The National Orange Show Fair typically follows Coachella and Stagecoach on the festivals schedule. The five-day fair brings rides, games, music and an assortment of concessions to the heart of San Bernardino. R

The festival always has citrus displays, art exhibits and RELATED LINKS photography setups showcasing student work.

Coronavirus updates for upcoming Legend has it the National Orange Show events center sits festivals and events in Southern California on an old American Indian burial ground, cursing the annual fair with rainy weather at least part of the time. Six Flags pauses membership payments during coronavirus closure

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https://www.pe.com/...concerns/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/6/2020 4:51:37 PM] After coronavirus outbreak at Colton nursing home, San Bernardino County issues new orders – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS • News After coronavirus outbreak at Colton nursing home, San Bernardino County issues new orders

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By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] |  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 4:46 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 4:47 p.m.

A second nursing home facility in San Bernardino County is seeing a novel coronavirus outbreak.

Last week, eight residents and seven employees at the Reche Canyon Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Colton tested positive for COVID-19. One residentd died, county officials said Monday, April 6.

The outbreak follows one at Cedar Mountain Post-Acute Rehabilitation in Yucaipa, where 75 residents and employees have tested positive. Five residents there have died, according to the county.

San Bernardino County has created a special task force and issued new orders to slow the spread of

https://www.sbsun.com/...m=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-sbsun&__twitter_impression=true[4/6/2020 4:51:24 PM] After coronavirus outbreak at Colton nursing home, San Bernardino County issues new orders – San Bernardino Sun

COVID-19 at the 171 state licensed nursing facilities across the county.

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READ MORE Harriet Glickman teacher who got ‘Peanuts’ its first The task force is comprised of public health and other county officials as well as officials from the state Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency management and hospitals, a county news release states.

“The task force will proactively identify, map, and assess readiness for COVID-19 at nursing facilities throughout the county with the intent of identifying strategic sites that may act as COVID-19-positive sites to further mitigate spread among our most-vulnerable residents,” County Public Health Director Trudy Raymundo said in a statement.

In response to the Reche Canyon outbreak, county public health officials, with the help from state public health officials, launched an “aggressive testing campaign,” the news release said.

This week, the public health department will give testing supplies and staff assistance to other facilities in the county affiliated with Cedar Mountain to help test symptomatic residents and staff, the county said.

The county is also helping Yucaipa with its plans to hold a RELATED LINKS community testing event in the city this week.

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51 residents, 6 staff at Yucaipa nursing Also on Monday, the county’s Acting Public Health Officer home test positive for coronavirus Dr. Erin Gustafson ordered nursing facilities to “employ any means necessary” to stop using staff members who also work at other facilities. The order also requires nursing home staff to wear protective gear to prevent spreading the disease to residents and monitor their temperatures. The order forbids them from going into facilities if they have symptoms of any contagious illness.

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Tags: Coronavirus, health, public health, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories PE, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun https://www.sbsun.com/...m=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-sbsun&__twitter_impression=true[4/6/2020 4:51:24 PM] Inland Empire housing at high risk to coronavirus fallout, by this math – Daily Bulletin

BUSINESSHOUSING • Analysis, News Inland Empire housing at high risk to coronavirus fallout, by this math Riverside County ranks third-worst among 50 big U.S. counties; San Bernardino County is No. 10.

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The Inland Empire had the strongest year-over-year price gains in the region. Riverside County’s median home price increased 6.9 percent to $358,000 in October. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)

By JONATHAN LANSNER | [email protected] | Orange County Register  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 9:01 p.m. | UPDATED: April 7, 2020 at 6:38 a.m.

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W https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow[4/7/2020 10:32:07 AM] Inland Empire housing at high risk to coronavirus fallout, by this math – Daily Bulletin

Attom Data Solutions graded U.S. counties for their housing market's financial stability based on three metrics: affordability (share of local incomes needed to buy a home takes); equity (how many homeowners were "underwater" -- where the mortgage is larger than the home's value); and payment-making abilities (foreclosure activity measured by filings as a share of homes, before coronavirus hit). M

The Inland Empire housing market is among the nation’s least-capable of withstanding coronavirus fallout, one ranking suggests.

Analysts at Attom Data Solutions graded U.S. counties for their housing market’s financial stability based on three metrics: affordability (share of local incomes needed to buy a home takes); equity (how many homeowners were “underwater” — where the mortgage is larger than the home’s value); and payment-making abilities (foreclosure activity measured by filings as a share of homes, before coronavirus hit).

On this scorecard, Riverside County was graded with the third-lowest stability of the 50 U.S. counties with the largest populations.

It’s not a cheap place to live. A $387,500 median selling price in the first quarter led to the 11th worst affordability with 61% of income required to buy. Owners are mid-range with debt-levels ranking No. 22 for underwater properties at 9.6% of all mortgaged homes. And payments were being missed ranking the county No. 11 for foreclosure activity — 0.12% of all homes.

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READ MORE Pick up an Easter feast at these Southern California San Bernardino County ranked 10th-least stable among the 50 counties. Its $335,000 median pushed it to No. 16 worst for affordability with 47.8% of pay needed to buy. The county ranked No. 26 for underwater properties — 7.7% of mortgaged homes. And No. 9 for foreclosure activity — 0.13% of homes.

Are you a real estate fan? Then sign up for The Home Stretch newsletter and its Bubble Watch edition. A twice-a-week review of what’s important for housing around the region! Subscribe here!

Los Angeles County was middle-of-the-pack at No. 25. Its $621,500 median price home ranked it ninth-worst for affordability at 64.1%. However, it was third-lowest for underwater properties at 4.5% and No. 28 for foreclosure activity at 0.07%.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow[4/7/2020 10:32:07 AM] Inland Empire housing at high risk to coronavirus fallout, by this math – Daily Bulletin Orange County was five rankings better than L.A. at No. 20. Its $735,000 median ranked it second- worst for affordability at 80.3% of income. On the upside, it ranked No. 41 for underwater properties (5.3%) and No. 41 for foreclosure activity (0.05%).

Compare those local scores with U.S. levels for all counties: a $252,500 median; affordability at 31.1% ; underwater properties at 13.8%; and foreclosure activity at 0.08%.

This grading of risk levels isn’t simply about high home prices.

Note that the lowest risk was found in Harris County in Texas (where Houston is) with a $219,688 median and No. 42 rank for affordability among the 50 counties. Most at risk? Florida’s Broward County (think Fort Lauderdale) with a roughly national average $257,000 median and a mid-range No. 30 affordability ranking.

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Ontario, San Bernardino in nation’s Top Efforts to contain the pandemic have 25 to receive coronavirus stimulus checks slammed the economy. Find out more HERE Coronavirus hiring: Rite Aid, Goettl Air Conditioning need workers Confused about how stimulus plans and payment deferrals may impact your Coronavirus biz news: Costco, Walmart finances? Then you should CLICK HERE cut back (again) on shoppers inside Will the virus pop the economic bubble? Coronavirus: Southern California Check out “Bubble Watch” columns HERE homebuying plummets 30% to 6-year low

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NEWS Sheriff: Riverside County residents can be ned, jailed for ignoring order to wear masks

by: Erika Martin Posted: Apr 6, 2020 / 09:34 PM PDT / Updated: Apr 6, 2020 / 09:38 PM PDT

Sheriff Bianco Update April 6, 2020 Riverside County ofcials are warning residents that they can face stiff consequences for63° outing an order that everyone must wear a mask or face covering when leaving their home amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“This is a valid order and enforceable by ne, imprisonment, or both,” Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a video message Monday.

Amid a rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases, including the deaths of two sheriff’s deputies from the virus, the county on Saturday expanded on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order with a requirement that people must cover their face when venturing out.

“While more and more Riverside County residents are getting COVID-19, not everybody’s getting the message,” county Public Health Director Dr. Cameron Kaiser said in a statement Saturday. “It started with staying home, social distance and covering your face. But now we change from saying that you should to saying that you must.”

The move aims to prevent asymptomatic people from spreading the virus unwittingly. Most citizens should use non-medical-grade coverings like bandanas, scarves or something homemade; N95 respirators and surgical masks should be reserved for health care workers.

The order remains in effect through April 30.

Bianco emphasized that residents “will not be stopped and ticketed simply because you’re not wearing a mask.” Deputies won’t be stopping vehicles or setting up checkpoints, and people won’t be stopped when out walking, running or hiking, he said.

Instead, Bianco pleaded for citizens’ cooperation and voluntary compliance: “If we must respond to violations of this order, our ability to respond to emergencies and critical calls for service will be greatly impacted.”

The sheriff also asked people not to call 911 to report potential violations. “While this order does have potential criminal and civil consequences, that is the last thing63° I want to happen while we deal with this crisis,” he said.

Bianco said residents can avoid consequences by practicing “good, old-fashioned common sense” — cover your face, stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and help neighbors as much as possible.

“The next two or three weeks are going to be very trying times for your rst responders and our medical personnel,” he said.

As of Monday, nearly 950 cases had been conrmed in the county. A total of 25 people had died from the disease, while another 60 had fully recovered.

On Sunday, authorities released information on what they believe to be the county’s largest outbreak site, a cluster of 30 cases among residents and staff at a nursing home in Riverside.

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Before You Renew Amazon Prime, Read This Riverside County running out of time to stop coronavirus surge, officials say – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Riverside County running out of time to stop coronavirus surge, officials say The county is still on track to see 1,000 deaths, 11,000 hospitalizations and 65,000 cases by early May

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By JEFF HORSEMAN | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise  PUBLISHED: April 3, 2020 at 1:59 p.m. | UPDATED: April 4, 2020 at 10:50 a.m.

Riverside County is running out of time to change a projected spread of the novel coronavirus that could infect more than 65,000 residents, hospitalize more than 11,000 and kill more than 1,000 by early May, public health officials warned Friday, April 3.

The warning came as they urged the public to stay at home and cover their faces when going out of the house to stop the transmission of COVID-19.

https://www.pe.com/2020/04/03/riverside-county-coronavirus-cases-not-slowing-down-health-officials-warn/[4/6/2020 5:45:36 PM] Riverside County running out of time to stop coronavirus surge, officials say – Press Enterprise

There’s been progress, but it’s not enough to change frightening projections that would overwhelm the county’s 17 acute care hospitals, doctors wearing medical masks said during a news conference at the county-run Riverside University Health System – Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

“To those who continue to work who are non-essential, who gather at churches, at home, at parks – please stop, we beg you,” said Dr. Mike Mesisca, medical director for the county hospital’s emergency medicine department. “Small decisions, though they seem, will lead to deaths by the hundreds and thousands – perhaps 2,000 or more in this county alone.”

M Dr. Geoff Leung, chief of family medicine in the county health system, said that while there are reports of COVID-19 cases slowing down in California, “that is not what we are seeing in Riverside County.”

“In Riverside County, our cases continue to rise exponentially and we have very little time to turn this around and prevent an impending surge,” he said.

Like the rest of California, the county is under a stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month that shuttered most businesses in an effort to fight the virus. A county public health advisory issued Tuesday, March 31, recommended that residents cover their noses and mouths while in public. Supervisor V. Manuel Perez and county public health spokesman Jose Arballo Jr., among others, wore face coverings during Friday’s press briefing.

As of Friday, the county had confirmed 638 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths. Fifty people have recovered.

Right now, the county’s COVID-19 caseload is doubling every 4.7 days. At that rate, the county expects to have 65,536 cases, 11,141 hospitalizations and 1,245 deaths by May 6, according to a chart shown at the briefing. To put 11,000 hospitalizations in perspective, Leung said residents should imagine half the spectators at a Staples Center basketball game being hospitalized.

Leung said four preventative measures – testing, covering the face, closure of non-essential businesses and gathering places and enforcement – can slow the doubling rate. Doing one of those measures well could extend the doubling rate to 6.7 days, leading to 30,585 cases instead of more than 65,000 and 581 deaths instead of more than 1,200.

If three of those measures are done well, the doubling rate grows to 10.7 days with just 248 deaths and 13,108 cases in the county.

“But we have to do (the measures) well and we have to do them now, because we have very little time left before the impending surge,” Leung said.

Mesisca said cell phone data show a 50% reduction in county movements, while emergency room activity has gone down 20% to 40% and 911 calls have decreased 15%.

While he thanked the public for what it’s done so far, “we still have much further to go,” Mesisca said, noting that movement in other counties has gone down 70%.

“We have not gone far enough in taking the advice that we’ve provided,” Mesisca said.

One in 20 of those infected with COVID-19 will become critically ill, he said as he showed an X-ray of normal, healthy lungs next to lungs infected by the virus.

“The lung itself fills with fluid and cells,” Mesisca said. “The oxygen we apply, if we have to put in a breathing tube, will not be able to oxygenate the lungs. It won’t transfer in.”

Families won’t be allowed to see hospitalized loved ones, RELATED LINKS he said, adding that the county is in the third phase of a

five-phase surge plan. The next phase stretches county Coronavirus: Riverside County projects to hospital capacity to its licensed limit and the final phase run out of ICU beds and ventilators this calls for 6,000 more beds. month

The county anticipates running out of ventilators by May, Riverside County recommends wearing mask to prevent coronavirus Mesisca said. Officials have already put out the call for

medical equipment donations and health care professionals How you can help Riverside County with to volunteer their service by going to the county’s coronavirus supplies, volunteers coronavirus website, www.rivcoph.org/coronavirus. Visitor restrictions at hospitals increase as Meanwhile, county spokeswoman Brooke Federico said coronavirus precaution https://www.pe.com/2020/04/03/riverside-county-coronavirus-cases-not-slowing-down-health-officials-warn/[4/6/2020 5:45:36 PM] Riverside County running out of time to stop coronavirus surge, officials say – Press Enterprise

officials are still looking for a location for a 125-bed field Second Riverside County sheriff’s deputy hospital in the county’s western half. A similar 125-bed dies from coronavirus facility to help handle the COVID-19 surge has been set up at the county fairgrounds in Indio.

“We are working with the City of Riverside, as well as our state and federal partners to identify the location and go through the inspection process,” Federico said via email.

The location could be announced in days and setup would then begin, she said.

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Jeff Horseman | Reporter Jeff Horseman got into journalism because he liked to write and stunk at math. He grew up in Vermont and he honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders “Paper or plastic?” After graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him “John” at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildfires, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know. He’ll do his best to answer, even if it involves a little math.

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https://www.pe.com/2020/04/03/riverside-county-coronavirus-cases-not-slowing-down-health-officials-warn/[4/6/2020 5:45:36 PM] Orange County response to census higher than state average, but 3 other counties lagging – Daily Bulletin

NEWS Orange County response to census higher than state average, but 3 other counties lagging Riverside, San Bernardino and LA response rate lower than 44.2% state average; OC tops 50.4%

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social[4/6/2020 2:41:59 PM] Orange County response to census higher than state average, but 3 other counties lagging – Daily Bulletin

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By TERI SFORZA | [email protected] | Orange County Register  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 2:34 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 2:34 p.m.

Orange County residents appear more eager than their neighbors to be counted in the 2020 Census, early data suggests.

As of April 4, more than half of O.C. households — 50.4 percent — had self-responded to the 2020 Census, either online, by phone or by mail, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s well above the statewide average of 44.2 percent.

Lagging behind were Riverside County, with a response rate of 42.2 percent; San Bernardino County, at 40.4 percent; and Los Angeles County, at 40.2 percent. M The nationwide average ,thus far, is 44.5 percent.

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READ MORE 5 California music festivals you can recreate at home April 1 was “Census Day” — the official freeze- frame for this once-every-decade snapshot of who lives in America.

“When you respond, you’ll tell the Census Bureau where you live as of April 1, 2020, and include everyone who usually lives and sleeps in your home,” the Census Bureau said. “You can respond before or after that date. We encourage you to respond as soon as you can.”

Census workers and local nonprofits are using phone banks, Invitations began arriving in mailboxes last texting and online tools to fill gaps in outreach efforts. Above, month, with instructions on how to fill out the community census educator Lazara Bustos, with the nonprofit Give for a Smile, leaves a flier about participating in the census

census questionnaire. It takes about 10 minutes. during a door-to-door walk on West Catalpa Avenue in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, to educate residents on the importance of participating in the census. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Census takers fan out May 27

Households that don’t respond will be contacted by census takers from May 27 to Aug. 14 in an effort to count everyone who lives in the country, according to the Census Bureau.

Coronavirus has added a layer of complexity — but the count must go on, officials say.

“The 2020 Census will provide a snapshot of our nation — who we are, where we live, and so much more,” the bureau says.

“The results of this once-a-decade count determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. They are also used to draw congressional and state legislative districts. Over the next decade, lawmakers, business owners, and many others will use 2020 Census data to make critical decisions. The results will show where communities need new schools, new clinics, new roads, and more services for families, older adults and children.”

Billions in funding at stake

The results also will inform how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to programs such as Medicaid, Head Start and many more.

Completing the census at home reduces the amount of in-person follow-up required and relieves a significant burden on Census Bureau operations already over-stressed due to COVID-19, said officials with The Fair Census Project.

Its “Undercount Impact Model” found that Los Angeles and Orange counties ranked No. 5 and No. 6

nationally in an analysis of those at greatest risk for an undercount of residents. That could cost Los Angeles County some $12.5 million in lost federal funding, with losses of some $5.2 million in Orange County, according to The Fair Census Project’s analysis.

In December, as required by law, the Census Bureau must deliver apportionment counts to the president and Congress.

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Teri Sforza | Reporter Teri Sforza is one of the lead reporters on the OCR/SCNG probe of fraud, abuse and death in the Southern California addiction treatment industry. Our "Rehab Riviera" coverage won first place for investigative reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, first place for projects reporting from Best of the West and is a finalist for the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation's print award, competing with the New York Times, the Washington Post and ProPublica. Sforza birthed the Watchdog column for The Orange County Register in 2008, aiming to keep a critical (but good-humored) eye on governments and nonprofits, large and small. It won first place for public service reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 2010. She also contributed to the OCR's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of fertility fraud at UC Irvine, covered what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in America‘s history, and is the author of "The Strangest Song," the first book to tell the story of a genetic condition called Williams syndrome and the extraordinary musicality of many of the people who have it. She earned her M.F.A. from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, and enjoys making documentaries, including the OCR's first: "The Boy Monk," a story that was also told as a series in print. Watchdogs need help: Point us to documents that can help tell stories that need to be told, and we'll do the rest. Send tips to [email protected].

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L.A. officials urge residents to avoid shopping, stay indoors this week as coronavirus deaths rise

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Wearing gloves and a mask, Robyn Freeman of Orange County prays after taking Communion on Sunday at the Godspeak Calvary Church in Newbury Park. Communion was given at the church using social distancing and other precautions. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

By HANNAH FRY, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, LUKE MONEY, COLLEEN SHALBY APRIL 6, 2020 | 8:13 AM UPDATED 2:57 PM

As coronavirus cases and deaths continued to spike across Los Angeles County, health officials urged residents to stay home this week, limit time outside the house and even avoid shopping if possible to slow the spread of the virus.

“If you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping all together,” said public health department director Barbara Ferrer.

The urgent guidance comes as officials desperately try to slow the spread of coronavirus through unprecedented social distancing rules that closed most parks and beaches as well as non-essential businesses.

Los Angeles County officials on Monday confirmed 15 new coronavirus-linked deaths, bringing the county’s total to 147, and said the county’s mortality rate had crept up.

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Learn More ⌃ Ferrer announced 420 new coronavirus cases in the county, bringing the total to at least 6,360. Twelve of the new deaths were among people over the age of 65, and seven of those had underlying health conditions. Three individuals were between the ages of 41 and 65.

With the addtional deaths, the mortality rate in L.A. County has increased to 2.3%, Ferrer said, up from 1.8% a week ago.

Roughly 32,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in L.A. County, and about 14% of those individuals have tested positive. There are 900 people hospitalized, Ferrer said.

Officials are investigating 109 institutional settings where there has been at least one coronavirus case, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, shelters, treatment centers and supported living correctional facilities. There are 512 cases in such spaces, Ferrer said, with about half of those among residents and the rest among staff.

Like other officials in California, Ferrer advised people to wear face masks when in public, but she cautioned that the masks do not necessarily keep individuals from becoming ill. Instead, they can prevent the spread of the virus from those who may be infected.

L.A County’s Dr. Christina Ghaly said this week is critical in understanding the trajectory of the virus. While modeling can’t predict an exact peak, she said that an analysis of the numbers can help officials anticipate what may come.

Across the state, the total number of confirmed cases has topped 15,000 and the number of deaths surpassed 350.

Fifty-three of California’s 58 counties have been affected by the virus. The toll has been particularly somber in Los Angeles County, which reported 28 deaths Saturday, the largest one-day increase since the coronavirus pandemic began. Los Angeles County on Sunday announced 15 additional deaths, raising the total to more than 130. Cases statewide As of April 6, 2:17 p.m. Pacific 15,823 372 confirmed deaths

County Cases Deaths Los Angeles 6,377 147 San Diego 1,326 19 Santa Clara 1,207 39 Orange 882 14 Riverside 799 19

Statewide deaths by day

0 Feb. 1 Mar. 1 Apr. 1

See the full California coronavirus tracker

“We have some very difficult days ahead, and now is the time for all of us to redouble our physical distancing efforts and look after our neighbors, friends and families who may be at the highest risk for serious illness from COVID-19,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

Orange County also continues to see a rapid rise in confirmed coronavirus infections, as its total case count hit 882 Monday — up more than 400 from a week ago. The county’s death toll remained at 14 in the latest update. Eight people who died were at least 65 years old, and three were between the ages of 45 and 64.

The county also reported that 137 people were hospitalized — the most to date. Of those, 56 were in intensive care, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

ADVERTISEMENT Sacramento County reported two more deaths Monday morning, bringing the total there to 18.

As the death count in the U.S. surpassed 10,000, according to figures tallied by Johns Hopkins University, counties across California continue to see dramatic increases in people hospitalized with the virus, with more than 2,300 patients in the state. An additional 3,267 people hospitalized are suspected of having coronavirus but are awaiting test results.

According to a White House official, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has earmarked $894.7 million for California, including $501 million in COVID-19 reimbursement.

As of April 2, the federal government has provided a variety of medical supplies to the state, including more than 830,000 N95 masks, nearly 2 million surgical masks, 1.3 million gloves and roughly 2,000 medical beds. Los Angeles alone has received 170 ventilators and more than 249,000 N95 masks.

Additionally, FEMA sold 105 travel trailers to California for a COVID-19 housing initiative. As the state works to increase hospital capacity by up to 50,000 beds, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has assessed eight facilities to house beds.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that California is redeploying ventilators back into the national stockpile while the state awaits more. He thinks it’s ethically responsible for the state to provide resources in real time to those most in need.

“If we need them back in a few weeks, we’ll get them back,” he said.

Newsom said the state will receive about 500 more ventilators as early as Tuesday. Meanwhile, Santa Clara County is asking for access to more of the breathing machines.

ADVERTISEMENT Newsom said that among California’s COVID-19 patients, 2,509 have been hospitalized and 1,085 are in intensive care.

So far, hospitals have not been overwhelmed by patients. And California officials believe strict social distancing measures are already helping the state when compared with coronavirus hot spots such as New York, where thousands have died.

However, Ferrer said Friday that Los Angeles County should expect to see 1,000 new coronavirus cases a day in the coming weeks.

This is the latest list of L.A. County communities with coronavirus cases

Whether the increase remains manageable, Ferrer said, depends on how well residents adhere to guidelines that they wash their hands frequently, stay home as much as possible, remain 6 feet away from others after leaving the house and avoid going out entirely if they are over the age of 65, feel sick or have underlying health conditions.

“The next few weeks are going to be critically important because we are going to see more cases of people who are positive with COVID-19, but it’s our hope that the rate of increase continues to be manageable and that we don’t overwhelm our healthcare system,” she said.

Officials are taking new steps to try to slow the spread.

Riverside County’s public health officer on Saturday ordered all residents to cover their faces when leaving home, marking a dramatic escalation by county officials in their attempts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Cameron Kaiser said despite previous pleas from county officials for residents to socially distance, cover their faces and stay home, “more and more” residents were getting infected with the virus, and “not everyone’s getting the message.”

“We change from saying that you should to saying that you must,” Kaiser said in a prepared statement published by the county.

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Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday filed criminal charges against two smoke shops, a shoe store and a discount electronics retailer, accusing them of refusing to shut down despite orders imposed to fight the coronavirus.

It marks the first time the city has filed charges for violations of the Safer at Home order, which requires businesses deemed nonessential to close their doors.

In another dramatic move aimed at slowing the rapid spread of the coronavirus, California judicial leaders are expected to adopt a statewide emergency order setting bail at zero for misdemeanor and lower-level felony offenses.

In a remote meeting Monday, the Judicial Council also is expected to vote to suspend evictions and foreclosures and to allow for the expansion of court hearings held by video or telephone.

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Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye heads the council, the policymaking body for California’s court system. Newsom has given her and the council, which is primarily made up of judges, extraordinary temporary powers to suspend laws to deal with the health crisis.

For criminal and juvenile proceedings, including arraignments and preliminary examinations, the council will direct courts to prioritize the use of technology to meet legal deadlines and ensure that defendants and children are not held in custody without timely hearings, according to a report prepared for Monday’s meeting.

In criminal cases, the defendant must agree before a court hearing can be held remotely.

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As coronavirus deaths surge, missing racial data worry L.A. County officials

L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. (KTLA)

By TONY BARBOZA, JOSEPH SERNA

APRIL 6, 2020 | 7:21 PM As cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia report stark racial disparities in coronavirus patients and fatalities, Los Angeles County officials say they are scrambling to collect missing data on the race or ethnicity of local victims.

The county’s public health director said Monday she was worried by reports from other states that suggested black patients were being infected and dying of COVID-19 in disproportionate numbers, but that missing data prevented her staff from determining if that was happening locally.

Officials have been unable to get complete information on the race or ethnicity of people hospitalized with COVID-19 because many providers are not reporting it, according to Barbara Ferrer, who directs L.A. County’s public health department. “We’re missing over 50% of respondents filling out that field.”

Data on the race or ethnicity of people who have died are also incomplete, she said. “So we’re trying to pull all of the death records so that we can actually see if we can get better information.” POLITICO Pro Sponsored

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Ferrer said her team is working hard to determine the demographics of those who have died, as well as hospitalization rates and “potential issues around who was getting tested and who had access to testing.”

“It’s not that we aren’t giving you data that we already have, it’s that we’re looking really hard to get that data ourselves,” Ferrer said.

Recently, a Los Angeles Times analysis found that many of L.A. County’s whitest and wealthiest enclaves were reporting far higher rates of infection than poorer neighborhoods of color. However, public health officials said those disparities did not necessarily mean the virus was spreading more widely through rich neighborhoods than in poorer ones. Instead, the reporting was likely skewed by uneven access to testing and, in some instances, by wealthy residents who traveled internationally and had some of the earliest confirmed infections. The finding, some experts said, could be bad news for local efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, as it suggests a disparity of testing along the lines of race, income and immigration status that could be obscuring potential hot spots in disadvantaged communities and giving them the false impression that they have less to fear from the virus.

County health officials last week acknowledged “geographic disparities” in coronavirus testing, but said they continue to have difficulties getting complete information on who has been tested. That’s in part because labs have only been reporting positive results, and not negative ones, making it impossible to determine whether the tests are being provided equally across the county.

On Monday, Ferrer acknowledged that the county was still working to understand who is being hit hardest by the outbreak.

“We have a lot of incomplete reporting, and it’s been a challenge,” she said. “So we need to go back now and do some medical record reviews so that we can actually get more accurate information.”

Ferrer promised to make such data available to the public, saying she hopes by the end of the week to have a more complete demographic report, both on deaths and hospitalizations, “that really gives us a better sense of who’s getting sick.”

“As soon as we have that information and we analyze it, it will be available for everyone,” she said.

“We care just as much as everyone about making sure that we address head-on any issues around disproportionality,” Ferrer said. “And we are worried, based on data that’s shown disproportionality in other places.” Ferrer said African Americans and Native Americans are among the groups in L.A. County that “have a disproportionate burden of illness going into a pandemic” and are “much more likely to have higher rates of almost every illness that we collect information on.”

“Having serious underlying health conditions makes you at much higher risk for serious illness, and even death, from COVID-19,” she said. “So we want to do everything we can to both understand the data, make sure that our communities have access to all the information that we have about any inequities, and then that we work together to try to minimize inequitable distributions of any disease, and certainly of death.”

Officials in other California counties signaled Monday that they are open to releasing demographic data on patients, saying it has simply been a matter of time and resources.

San Francisco’s director of health, Dr. Grant Colfax, said the city will provide a greater level of data about the spread of coronavirus “very soon,” including a data tracker that will provide demographic information, the number of hospitalizations and other details.

A public health department spokeswoman in Santa Clara County, where California’s first large coronavirus outbreak occurred, said that because they were an early epicenter, they have tried to give as much information as possible about who it has impacted most.

Data on patients’ racial and ethnic background could be released in the future, the county said.

Officials in San Bernardino County said that workers would comb through records to compile demographic numbers on coronavirus patients once the outbreak was more under control. ADVERTISEMENT

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More than half of Chicago’s coronavirus cases are in African American community, city officials say

People wait in line in their cars to get tested for COVID-19 at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago. (Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

By GREGORY PRATT, JOHN BYRNE

APRIL 6, 2020 | 3:51 PM CHICAGO — Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady outlined the city’s grim coronavirus statistics along racial lines.

Although only 30% of the city is black, more than half of Chicago’s COVID-19 cases have hit African Americans, and 72% of the dead were black, Arwady said.

That’s driven in part by already-existing inequities, Arwady said. In Chicago, there’s an 8.8-year gap in life expectancy between white and black residents, largely driven by chronic disease, she said.

But it’s also driven by economic disinvestment and other issues on the city’s South and West sides, Arwady said.

“Even if we had a perfect healthcare system in which anyone could access a doctor,” Arwady said, “we would still see significant health disparities because of food deserts and lack of walkable streets.

“By and large, this is not, I’m sorry to say, a surprising story. It is one that demands action in a short-term way and in the way we will be working for decades to come,” Arwady said.

Taking the podium, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “Those numbers take your breath away.”

“This is a call-to-action moment for all of us. When we talk about equity and inclusion, they’re not just nice notions,” Lightfoot said. “They’re an imperative we must embrace as a city.”

To address the issue, the city is ordering healthcare providers to collect total demographic information from patients, Lightfoot said. Some haven’t been collecting and sharing that information. “This is not negotiable,” she said.

Lightfoot also announced a task force comprising activists and community groups, including West Side United. They’ll be doing outreach, among other tasks, Lightfoot said.

The city will also start using bigger buses to promote social distancing and send inspectors into grocery stores and corner stores to ensure that they’re enforcing social distancing.

“If you do not, we will shut you down,” Lightfoot said.

Calling the situation a “public-health red alarm,” Lightfoot earlier on Monday pledged that her administration will address the coronavirus’ toll on black and brown Chicagoans after data showed they were being hit especially hard by the disease.

“It’s devastating to see those numbers and knowing that they’re not just numbers, they’re lives. There’s families and communities that have been shattered,” Lightfoot said. “That’s why we will be announcing a very robust and immediate comprehensive plan to address this.”

Speaking in front of a soccer goal inside an empty Soldier Field as part of a broader “stay home, save lives” public awareness campaign, Lightfoot said she would be unveiling a plan later in the day.

“This is something that is a public-health red alarm that we have to make sure that we are stepping up as a community to address it, and we are going to be activating every part of the black and brown communities, [from] the faith community to elected officials to neighborhood organizations and of course the network of health providers, not just the hospitals but also the doctors, the insurance companies,” Lightfoot said. “This is something we have to tackle as a community.”

She added: “Now, we’re not going to be able to erase decades of health disparities in a few days or a week, but we have to impress upon people in these communities that there are things they can do, there are tools at their disposal that they can use to help themselves, but we have to call this out as it is and make sure we’ve got a very robust multitiered response now and going forward, and we will.”

Lightfoot also said the numbers reflect a broader trend. “We have equity and health- access disparities all across our city, and particularly in black and brown neighborhoods,” Lightfoot said. “We know that problems of diabetes, of heart disease, of respiratory illness, are really prevalent in communities of black and brown folks. We know that access to healthcare is a similar challenge in a lot of those communities.”

West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, who chairs the City Council Black Caucus, said an “all- hands-on-deck approach” is needed to address the high rates of infection in the African American community. But he said it will be tough to cope with all the issues at play.

“There are myriad factors that go into this. Poverty is one, and people with underlying issues who don’t have ready access to appropriate health care,” Ervin said.

“You’ve got high rates of asthma and other respiratory problems in the African American community, and then you have high rates of non-compliance in some parts of the city with the stay-at-home orders,” he said.

Ervin also pointed to a recent Illinois State Police order ending the lab testing of narcotics and cannabis, which caused Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to announce she would stop prosecuting such cases for lack of evidence. That has emboldened drug dealers, whose outdoor sales in West Side and South Side neighborhoods with big black populations continue to bring lots of people into contact with each other in an unsafe way, Ervin said. “Another part of the problem is drug sales continue in parts of my ward, and with this state police directive, people know they aren’t going to get prosecuted unless they get caught with two or three kilos of heroin,” Ervin said. “These drug dealers know they can do what they want right now, and it’s another complicating factor in the transmission of the virus.”

On Saturday, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state’s public health director, said officials were looking at the issue.

“As we put on our health-equity lens, we already know, before COVID was ever established, that the health outcomes for various communities are already different. And those were already things the Illinois Department of Health and all local health departments have been very keyed in on how to narrow those disparities,” Ezike said. “So if you know those disparities exist in terms of health outcomes, you can imagine that overlaying a new disease is only going to exacerbate whatever inequities already exist. So the Department of Health at the local, state level will continue to try to address these disparities. But as I’m saying, it’s early; we’re still looking at our data. But if that were to bear out, we would not be entirely surprised, because we know what the existing baseline is.”

Pratt and Byrne write for the Chicago Tribune.

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Must-read stories from the L.A. Times Get all the day's most vital news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. LA County coronavirus deaths rise to 147, cases top 6,000 – Daily Bulletin

NEWS • News LA County coronavirus deaths rise to 147, cases top 6,000 15 new deaths and 420 new cases were announced Monday as the county readies for its toughest week yet

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...?utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com[4/6/2020 2:40:08 PM] LA County coronavirus deaths rise to 147, cases top 6,000 – Daily Bulletin

Los Angeles County Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer speaks at Friday’s coronavirus update.

By DAVID ROSENFELD | [email protected] | The Daily Breeze  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 2:24 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 2:25 p.m.

Los Angeles County health officials reported 15 new deaths and 420 confirmed new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, raising the death toll now to 147 people and the number of confirmed cases to 6,360.

While the number of confirmed cases has dropped slightly from a high on Saturday of 711 and Sunday of 663, Monday’s numbers should not give residents much hope that the curve that tracks new cases was in fact flattening. In fact, the message from county Health Director Barbara Ferrer was just the opposite.

The drop in new cases on Monday is likely a decline in tests processed over the weekend, Ferrer M said. Expect to see higher numbers this week, she added.

“We may see many more cases over the next few weeks but it remains important to continue to do https://www.dailybulletin.com/...?utm_medium=social&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com[4/6/2020 2:40:08 PM] LA County coronavirus deaths rise to 147, cases top 6,000 – Daily Bulletin

what we know works,” Ferrer said. “This would be the week to skip shopping altogether.”

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READ MORE 5 California music festivals you can recreate at home See a map of confirmed cases in LA County and across the region

Dr. Christina Ghaly, who heads the county’s Department of Health Services said it was difficult to tell when a projected surge might happen because models are constantly changing. The important thing, she said, was continue what people have been doing.

“If people get tired of social distancing and they see the bed numbers and think that this isn’t concerning and they see the case numbers come down,” Ghaly said, “that can push us up on a curve. It’s also important to keep in mind it’s not just to lower the peak but to spread out the peak.”

Among those who have perished from COVID-19 in LA County, roughly 83% had underlying health conditions and the vast majority were over 65 years old. Out of the 15 people who’s deaths were

reported Monday, 12 were over the age of 64, seven of whom had underlying health conditions. The others were between 41 and 65 and one person had an underlying condition.

“To everyone who’s facing a future without a person they love, we are deeply sorry for your loss,” Ferrer said.

The numbers reported by LA County Monday included 213 cases in Long Beach and 58 in Pasadena. Those cities operate their own health departments, so their numbers generally lag in the county count. Long Beach on Monday reported an additional 17 cases bringing its total to 230 cases and three deaths.

Ferrer on Monday also confirmed 12 cases among people experiencing homelessness, one of whom may have resided in a shelter while they were potentially infectious, she said. Health department officials were said to be looking into further who the person might have contacted.

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As cases continued to rise, Ferrer reminded people — especially this week — to stay home and continue social distancing measures.

“If every one of these 6,000 people are capable of affecting tow other people, you can see why we are worried that our numbers could start skyrocketing,” Ferrer said.

The numbers on Monday came as the region began a week foreshadowed by officials as one where bad news should be expected. But that does not mean efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 are failing. As researchers learn more about the virus, they are finding it can spread far easier than previously thought.

The greater numbers were also a function of increased testing. Despite a sluggish roll-out of

coronavirus testing in the county, as of Sunday more than 32,000 people have been tested with about 14% coming up positive. With more testing, logically comes more confirmed cases, Ferrer has said.

“We may see many more cases over the next few weeks but it remains important to continue to do what we know works,” Ferrer said. “This would be the week to skip shopping altogether.”

Roughly 21% of people who have tested positive were hospitalized at one time in LA County and about 900 people were currently hospitalized for COVID-19, according to Ferrer, who said the number has increased significantly since Friday. About 6% of those hospitalized were in intensive care units. More than half of those in ICU had underlying health conditions and slightly less than half were over the age of 64.

The department is also now investigating cases at 109 RELATED ARTICLES institutional settings. A total of 257 residents and 255 staff

Six Flags pauses membership payments members have tested positive at nursing homes and during coronavirus closure assisted living facilities, and 26 residents have died. Facilities where deaths or outbreaks of more than three Supt. Austin Beutner said more LAUSD cases have not been identified. students are online, though gaps remain as spring break begins Across the region, the numbers of novel coronavirus cases

Virtual It’s a Small World combines rides continued to tick upward. Orange County reported 882 from 5 Disney theme parks during cases and 14 deaths, Riverside County 799 cases and 19 coronavirus closure deaths and San Bernardino County with 373 cases and 13 deaths, as of Sunday. Young boxers in San Bernardino refuse to lose their dreams to coronavirus crisis In California, confirmed cases have reached 14,336 and

LA County giving $10,000 each to there have been 343 deaths related to COVID-19, businesses as coronavirus hits bottom according to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday. More than lines 2,500 people are hospitalized with 1,085 in intensive care units.

Newsom, during his daily noontime press briefing on Monday said the state would be returning 500 ventilators to the national stockpile to help out heavier hit states currently such as New York, with the idea being that California would have access to the stockpile when it was most in need. California is said to be about 14 to 17 days behind New York.

“With everything going in the United States and New York and other parts of this country, we want to extend not only thoughts and prayers but support in terms of ventilators,” Newsom said. “My prayers go out to everyone meeting this important week head on.”

Newsom said the state continued to do everything it could RELATED ARTICLES to acquire more personal protective equipment for

Six Flags pauses membership payments healthcare workers in addition to ventilators, but right now during coronavirus closure the need was greatest in New York.

Supt. Austin Beutner said more LAUSD “Make no mistake we are full force going around the globe students are online, though gaps remain trying to secure more ventilators and making sure that we as spring break begins are being innovative in how we use existing vents,”

Virtual It’s a Small World combines rides Newsom said. from 5 Disney theme parks during coronavirus closure The Governor delivered his address Monday from Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, where the Sacramento Kings Young boxers in San Bernardino refuse to played, which represents one of roughly a dozen sites lose their dreams to coronavirus crisis across the state to provide roughly 20,000 additional

LA County giving $10,000 each to hospital beds. Another 30,000 new beds are expected to businesses as coronavirus hits bottom come from the state’s 416 hospitals as they deploy surge lines capacity, although Newsom said hospitals have indicated they can create even more. The state currently has 75,000 licensed beds, but most of them are occupied.

A total of 4,613 beds at alternative care facilities have been secured statewide so far toward this effort, Newsom said, including beds at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles that will reopen next week with 266 beds dedicated to treating patients with COVID-19. The hospital will start accepting patients April 13 in a collaboration with Dignity Health and Kaiser Permamente. The LA Convention Center has also been converted into a field hospital in addition to other sites across the county.

More than 81,000 people have filled out a form to join the California Health Corps, an initiative began by Newsom to enlist more front line workers in the state. These are the indivdiauls who will staff the roughly 50,000 additional hospital beds in the first phase of the patient surge expected to be coming soon.

“Physical distancing is working, the more we work to tackle this head on by practicing social distancing and wearing the appropriate face coverings,” Newsom said, “if we continue to do that, then these models will continue to buy us time, because you by definition are bending the curve.”

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This is the latest list of L.A. County communities with coronavirus cases A view of downtown L.A. at dusk Monday, from 1st Street Bridge near Boyle Heights. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)

By COLLEEN SHALBY STAFF WRITER

APRIL 7, 2020 | 7 AM

Los Angeles County officials on Monday confirmed 420 new coronavirus cases in the county, bringing the total to at least 6,360.

Officials said there were 15 new coronavirus-linked deaths, bringing the county’s total to 147. Twelve of the people who died were older than 65, and seven of them had underlying health conditions. The three others were between 41 and 65.

The increase concerns officials, who urged residents to stay indoors this week and avoid shopping, if possible, to slow the spread. The effort to test as many residents as possible continues across the county.

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About 52,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in L.A. County, officials said — a number that accounts for 40% of all tests administered in California.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday evening that any Los Angeles County resident who has symptoms and wants to be tested for the coronavirus can now apply online. Testing was previously limited to vulnerable populations, including those 65 and older, and those with compromised immune systems.

Here is the latest list of communities with coronavirus cases. Check out The Times tracker for the latest.

Long Beach 230 Melrose 147 Glendale 142 Santa Clarita 106 Hollywood 100 Carson 93 Torrance 92 North Hollywood 90 West Hollywood 86 Inglewood 78 Burbank 77 Santa Monica 74 Pasadena 72 Downey 71 Sylmar 70 Redondo Beach 67 Beverly Hills 65 Lancaster 61 Silver Lake 58 South Gate 58 Sherman Oaks 57 Woodland Hills 53 East Los Angeles 51 Norwalk 50 Brentwood 49 Manhattan Beach 48 Palmdale 46 Palms 46 Hawthorne 44 Reseda 43 Lynwood 43 Encino 41 Boyle Heights 40 Hancock Park 39 Hollywood Hills 39 Canoga Park 39 Panorama City 38 Van Nuys 38 Bellflower 37 Tarzana 37 Compton 36 Unincorporated Florence-Firestone 36 Winnetka 35 Westlake 34 Koreatown 34 Rancho Palos Verdes 33 West Vernon 33 Glassell Park 33 Pico Rivera 32 Lakewood 32 Exposition Park 32 Pacoima 31 West Los Angeles 31 San Pedro 31 Gardena 30 Valley Village 30 Pomona 30 Crestview 29 Florence-Firestone 29 Granada Hills 29 Huntington Park 29 North Hills 28 Carthay 28 Culver City 27 Chatsworth 27 Del Rey 27 Wilshire Center 27 Westwood 27 Temple-Beaudry 27 Mar Vista 26 Paramount 26 Lake Balboa 26 Pacific Palisades 26 Altadena 26 Venice 26 West Adams 25 Beverly Crest 25 Palos Verdes Estates 25 Whittier 25 Westchester 25 Valley Glen 25 Pico-Union 24 Central 24 Athens-Westmont 23 Century City 23 South Park 23 Cerritos 23 Vernon Central 22 Bell 22 Northridge 22 Covina 22 Mid-city 22 Alhambra 22 Eagle Rock 22 Sun Valley 22 Harbor Gateway 21 Highland Park 21 Studio City 21 El Monte 21 Downtown 21 Baldwin Hills 21 Harbor City 20 Calabasas 20 Wilmington 20 El Sereno 20 Porter Ranch 20 Montebello 20 West Carson 20 Harvard Park 19 Los Feliz 19 Century Palms/Cove 19 Hacienda Heights 19 South Carthay 19 Monterey Park 19 Little Armenia 19 Agoura Hills 18 Little Bangladesh 18 Hermosa Beach 18 West Hills 18 Bel Air 18 East Hollywood 18 Leimert Park 18 Miracle Mile 17 University Park 17 Maywood 17 South Whittier 17 Arleta 17 Beverlywood 17 Cudahy 16 Lawndale 16 Watts 16 Arcadia 16 Glendora 16 La Mirada 16 Lennox 16 West Covina 15 Vermont Vista 14 Country Club Park 14 Wholesale District 14 Hyde Park 14 La Canada Flintridge 14 Sunland 14 Willowbrook 14 View Park/Windsor Hills 13 Diamond Bar 13 Vermont Knolls 13 La Puente 13 Victoria Park 13 Azusa 13 San Dimas 13 Adams-Normandie 13 Monrovia 12 Unincorporated Covina 12 Mission Hills 12 San Fernando 12 Tujunga 12 Lincoln Heights 12 Temple City 11 San Gabriel 11 Baldwin Park 11 Lomita 11 Bell Gardens 11 Cheviot Hills 11 Green Meadows 10 Cloverdale/Cochran 10 Playa Vista 10 South Pasadena 10 Ladera Heights 10 Lakeview Terrace 10 Rosemead 9 Echo Park 9 Harvard Heights 9 Park La Brea 9 Historic Filipinotown 9 Mt. Washington 9 Walnut 9 Crenshaw District 9 Malibu 9 Canyon Country 8 West Whittier/Los Nietos 8 Rancho Park 8 Walnut Park 8 Stevenson Ranch 8 Rolling Hills Estates 8 Rowland Heights 8 Marina Peninsula 7 El Segundo 7 La Verne 7 Atwater Village 7 Gramercy Place 7 Valinda 7 Vermont Square 7 East Rancho Dominguez 6 Castaic 6 Claremont 6 Toluca Lake 6 La Crescenta-Montrose 6 South San Gabriel 6 Thai Town 5 Elysian Park 5 Figueroa Park Square 5 Lafayette Square 5 Shadow Hills 5 San Marino 5 Covina (Charter Oak) 5 Del Aire 5 Marina del Rey 5 Unincorporated Monrovia 5 Santa Monica Mountains 5 Athens Village 1-4 Agua Dulce 1-4 Acton 1-4 Twin Lakes/Oat Mountain 1-4 West Puente Valley 1-4 Sun Village 1-4 View Heights 1-4 Unincorporated West L.A. 1-4 St Elmo Village 1-4 West Antelope Valley 1-4 Santa Catalina Island 1-4 Rosewood 1-4 Reynier Village 1-4 Rancho Dominguez 1-4 Quartz Hill 1-4 Reseda Ranch 1-4 Northeast San Gabriel 1-4 Regent Square 1-4 Playa Del Rey 1-4 Palisades Highlands 1-4 Valencia 1-4 Mandeville Canyon 1-4 Saugus 1-4 Wiseburn 1-4 Manchester Square 1-4 Longwood 1-4 Littlerock/Pearblossom 1-4 Little Tokyo 1-4 Lake Manor 1-4 Lake Los Angeles 1-4 Unincorporated La Verne 1-4 La Rambla 1-4 Unincorporated Hawthorne 1-4 Jefferson Park 1-4 El Camino Village 1-4 Faircrest Heights 1-4 East Whittier 1-4 East La Mirada 1-4 Elysian Valley 1-4 Desert View Highlands 1-4 Chinatown 1-4 Cadillac-Corning 1-4 Unincorporated Whittier 1-4 Alsace 1-4 West Rancho Dominguez 1-4 Westlake Village 1-4 South El Monte 1-4 Signal Hill 1-4 Sierra Madre 1-4 Santa Fe Springs 1-4 Bassett 1-4 Rolling Hills 1-4 Industry 1-4 Unincorporated Azusa 1-4 Hawaiian Gardens 1-4 Duarte 1-4 Artesia 1-4 North Whittier 1-4

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Southern California outpacing Bay Area in new coronavirus cases. So where’s the peak? Los Angeles police ocers clear people from using the skate park at Venice Beach on Monday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

By RONG-GONG LIN II, RYAN MENEZES, SEAN GREENE, JOE MOZINGO

APRIL 7, 2020 | 5 AM

The San Francisco Bay Area suffered one of the nation’s earliest outbreaks of COVID-19, but cases from Southern California and the Central Valley are outpacing it, threatening a much larger population, according to a Times analysis of county health data.

Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Stanislaus and Tulare counties are now seeing faster rates of newly detected coronavirus cases than any of the counties in the Bay Area, the Times analysis found.

And with more than 6,000 confirmed cases in L.A. County alone, chances of exposure are increasing rapidly. “If you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping altogether,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Monday.

“Without everyone taking every possible precaution, our numbers can start skyrocketing,” she said. “It really is time for those people who maybe haven’t taken this seriously before ... this would be the week to stay home ... and it may be next week as well.”

While California has yet to see the worst of the pandemic, there were signs that some of the more dire predictions might not come to fruition.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has tried to prepare the state for the worst-case scenario, said California had enough ventilators to lend 500 to the Strategic National Stockpile to help New York and other COVID-19 hot spots facing shortages of the desperately needed medical devices.

“We want to extend not only thoughts and prayers, but we’re also extending a hand of support with ventilators,” Newsom said during a news briefing Monday in Sacramento.

CALIFORNIA

Do you know someone who has lost the battle with COVID-19? April 2, 2020 Newsom said lending the ventilators was possible because hospitals throughout California have procured thousands of them in the last few weeks, increasing their ventilator inventory from 7,587 to 11,036.

Also Monday, the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent population health research center at the University of Washington, predicted a significantly lower death count in California than its earlier models, based on new data from Spain and Italy.

On March 26, the center forecast 6,109 deaths in California during this outbreak, a number seen by many at the time as overly optimistic. On Monday, the institute reduced that projection to 1,783, with a range of uncertainty of 1,400 to 2,400 and the last death occurring on May 20.

The peak in patients is forecast to roll through hospitals on April 15, and the worst day for fatalities two days later, with 70 deaths.

The numbers changed largely because seven locations in Italy and Spain “appear to have reached the peak number of daily deaths,” the researchers wrote in their update. They no longer had to rely solely on data from Wuhan, China.

“The time from implementation of social distancing to the peak of the epidemic in the Italy and Spain location is shorter than what was observed in Wuhan,” they wrote. “As a result, in several states in the US, today’s updates show an earlier predicted date of peak daily deaths, even though at the national level the change is not very pronounced.” Cases statewide As of April 7, 9:07 a.m. Pacific 16,412 395 confirmed deaths

County Cases Deaths Los Angeles 6,391 147 San Diego 1,404 19 Santa Clara 1,224 42 Riverside 946 25 Orange 882 14

Statewide deaths by day

0 Feb. 1 Mar. 1 Apr. 1

See the full California coronavirus tracker

New data also changed how the team weighed the effects of different social distancing factors — closed schools, stay-at-home orders, shutting down nonessential businesses — in its calculations.

The researchers’ model projects that the last death from the virus in the United States will occur on June 22 and that the nation’s total death toll will be 81,766, within a range of uncertainty of 49,431 to 136,401.

The states expected to be hit hardest: New York, 15,618 deaths; New Jersey, 9,690; Massachusetts, 8,254; and Florida, 6,770.

Epidemiologists have questioned the reliability of any prediction model, given the number of uncertainties plugged into the algorithms — erratic human behavior, spotty testing, possible under-reporting of deaths.

“When you multiply uncertainty with uncertainty, you get larger uncertainty,” said Dr. Loren Miller, a physician and infectious diseases researcher at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “And that’s where models are limited. They can make guesses about what will happen, but they can be way off in either direction. Too optimistic or too pessimistic.”

Other models have projected far bleaker statistics. And critics of the University of Washington model have expressed fears that the Trump administration relies on it too heavily because it paints a brighter picture than others.

And all this could be just the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Others could follow in weeks, months or years.

California state officials expect that the peak of this outbreak will not be reached until mid-May and high infection rates could last into summer.

CALIFORNIA

Inside the frenzied campaign to get coronavirus supplies to California. Will it be enough? April 6, 2020

The number of new cases in L.A. County has been rising steadily, with the number of daily new cases increasing from about 300 a week ago to between 422 and 720 in the last several days.

While the rate of growth slows near the peak, the sheer numbers get bigger every day. Doubling 10 cases in a single day is a high rate of growth. Doubling 6,000 cases in five days is a much slower rate of growth — with a much bigger impact.

Cases in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties are now taking about four to five days to double, while Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Solano are taking six to seven.

The pace is slowing down even more in San Francisco, where the doubling time is every 10 days, and in the original epicenter of California’s outbreak, Santa Clara County, where the doubling time is now every 11 days. In mid-March, this was happening every four days.

Los Angeles County saw its fastest rate of coronavirus cases in late March, when it was taking just about every two days for coronavirus cases to double, the Times analysis found.

The Inland Empire is seeing a sharp rise in infections, with San Bernardino County reporting 157 new cases Monday, for a total of 530, a 42% jump.

Part of the reason for the faster pace of coronavirus cases in Southern California could stem from the Bay Area acting earlier to implement a stay-at-home order, said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco.

The Bay Area shocked the nation on March 16 when it was the first region in the nation to announce a shelter-in-place policy ordering residents to stay at home as much as possible.

The measures extended to Southern California on March 19, when Gov. Newsom announced a statewide stay-at-home order on the same night Mayor Eric Garcetti issued his own for the city of Los Angeles. Case counts can be problematic in tracking the course of this coronavirus outbreak, given the limited availability of testing.

But they can still be helpful because they also translate to how many people are being seen in the hospitals to be treated for the COVID-19 disease, “so they’re reasonably accurate, and I don’t think there’s any big differential between Northern and Southern California in terms of ease of obtaining tests,” Rutherford said.

Times staff writers Ryan Murphy, Soumya Karlamangla and Phil Willon contributed to this report.

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CALIFORNIA

California has enough ventilators for now, Newsom says. Coronavirus peak not expected until May

× Newsom seeks to add more beds and facilities, including Kings arena

By PHIL WILLON STAFF WRITER

APRIL 6, 2020 | 2 PM UPDATED 2:45 PM

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that California was lending 500 state-owned ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile to help New York and other COVID-19 hot spots facing shortages of the desperately needed medical devices.

“We want to extend not only thoughts and prayers, but we’re also extending a hand of support with ventilators,” Newsom said during a press briefing Monday in Sacramento.

Newsom said lending the critically needed ventilators was possible because hospitals throughout California have procured thousands of devices in the last few weeks, increasing their total ventilator inventory from 7,587 to 11,036.

Given that coronavirus cases are not expected to peak until May, under current estimates, California could afford to lend the medical devices to parts of the country where they are in seriously short supply, Newsom said.

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Newsom emphasized that the ventilators are being lent to the Strategic National Stockpile on the condition that they will be returned if California needs them.

“These are lent. They are not given,” Newsom said.

Still, Newsom’s announcement came on the same day that Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez and other local leaders put out a plea for used ventilators, offering a $1,000 bounty for each device. Santa Clara County has been one of the hardest hit areas in California during the coronavirus outbreak.

The governor said the state also has continued searching worldwide for additional ventilators, as well as masks and other personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and others, to increase its stockpile.

About 1,000 additional ventilators are currently being refurbished by Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley fuel-cell company, nearly half of which could be available by Tuesday. “For all of those reasons, and the responsibility — the moral and ethical responsibility of providing resources in real time to those most in need — that’s why we thought it appropriate to send those,” Newsom said.

Newsom’s announcement comes after Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington also announced they would donate ventilators to areas of the country in need. Brown on Saturday said 140 ventilators were being sent to New York and Inslee on Sunday said the state would return more than 400 ventilators received from the Strategic National Stockpile to help New York and other coronavirus hotspots.

One reason California can afford to spare ventilators, at least for now, is because the vast majority of Californians have heeded orders to stay at home and, when venturing outside to buy essentials or for recreation, have also maintained the recommended social distancing from others.

If Californians maintain that behavior, California should have enough ventilators to care for those in need in the state for the near future, Newsom said.

“That will give us the time, well within the next few weeks, to have enough ventilators, we believe, to meet the needs of 40 million Californians that may be vulnerable to this virus,” Newsom said.

Newsom held his press conference at the Sleep Train Arena, former home of the Sacramento Kings, which is being transformed into a 400-bed hospital to treat coronavirus patients. The facility is one of many sites the state is using to add 50,000 hospital beds to the hospital system in California to treat a surge in coronavirus patients.

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Phil Willon

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Phil Willon covers Gov. Gavin Newsom and California politics for the Los Angeles Times. Willon grew up in Southern California and previously worked for the Tampa Tribune and the Capital in Annapolis, Md.

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Needed: Not just ventilators, but also the people who run them

Cynthia Fayne, 52, a respiratory care practitioner at Lakewood Medical Center, remains optimistic on her 16th day of being at home after being exposed to a COVID- 19 patient. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA STAFF WRITER

APRIL 7, 2020 | 9 AM A nationwide shortage of ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients has prompted governors to plead for more machines from the federal government as factories race to start building them.

But ventilators alone aren’t much use to patients without respiratory therapists — the medical workers trained to operate them. And the rapidly growing demand, combined with the limited number of licensed therapists, could impede efforts to treat COVID-19 patients as they begin to overwhelm hospitals and the pandemic worsens, experts say.

Each patient on a ventilator, which pushes air in and out of the lungs, needs care from a doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist.

“A ventilator without that stuff is a kinda cool paperweight,” said Dr. Lewis Rubinson, a New Jersey critical care doctor who has been treating COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit.

It’s difficult to estimate the exact number of ventilators and health workers needed to respond to COVID-19 since it depends on how many people ultimately catch the coronavirus and over what period of time, both of which are affected by the recently implemented social distancing measures.

But even if hospitals can get all the ventilators they need, they may not have the staffing.

A 2015 study found that a limited number of respiratory therapists would likely constrain how many patients on ventilators a hospital could treat during a pandemic.

“I have nurses reaching out to me — ‘Can you give me the crash course on the ventilator? Can you help me?’” said Andrea Tuma, a respiratory therapist who works at a hospital in Redding. “This isn’t something I can teach how to do in a 30-minute crash course.”

The coronavirus attacks the lungs, and the lungs are the respiratory therapists’ domain. The roughly 110,000 working in hospitals nationwide train for two years to learn how to care for patients on ventilators, but also to help people with asthma, emphysema and other conditions that cause breathing problems.

The pandemic is shining a light on a profession that typically goes unmentioned, with patients often mistaking respiratory therapists for doctors and nurses.

“I’ve never heard them use the word ventilator in the news as much as I’ve heard it in the last week or so, and talking about respiratory therapists in the news was relatively nonexistent,” said Jeffrey Davis, director of respiratory care services at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. “Now we’re in the news like crazy.”

Respiratory therapists in hospitals respond to “code blue” calls, an emergency alert that a patient isn’t breathing. They might do chest compressions or provide a breathing treatment to a child having an asthma attack. They closely watch patients on life support, adjusting the settings on their ventilators, monitoring their oxygen and blood pressure.

“I like to say anywhere where somebody needs to breathe in the hospital, a respiratory therapist may have to work that day,” Davis said.

The profession was established in 1947, but didn’t begin to grow until the 1970s, when schools offering formalized respiratory therapy training began popping up, said Tim Myers, chief business officer for the American Assn. for Respiratory Care. The median annual salary for respiratory therapists, who are licensed by each state, is about $60,000 nationwide and $80,000 in California, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even before COVID-19, there was a shortage looming in the field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has said there will be a 20% increase in available jobs over the next decade, but large numbers are reaching retirement age.

And in the coming months, respiratory therapists in the United States could be stretched thin by the sheer number of patients who need ventilators.

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Who lives and who dies? With ventilators limited amid coronavirus, doctors might face hard choices March 26, 2020

Critical care doctors can be supplemented by physicians from other, related specialties, such as emergency medicine, but it’s not as easy to boost the supply of respiratory therapists because of their specialized training.

In the 2015 study, published in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, researchers modeled different scenarios for how hospitals could staff up if they needed to care for more patients on ventilators during a public health crisis.

In the most extreme scenario, available beds nationwide increased tenfold and nurses were assigned six patients at a time instead of one to handle the workload. Respiratory therapists were assigned 12 patients at once, instead of a typical four, but that wasn’t enough to ease the shortfall.

“At the crisis capacity level, the number of available respiratory therapists was the key constraining component,” the authors wrote. “Even if bed capacity and some staff capacity could be expanded by including general ward beds and employing the services of noncritical care physicians and nurses, U.S. ventilation capacity would still be limited by the number of trained respiratory therapists.”

In California, nurses and other hospital staff beginning to see COVID-19 patients trickle in say they are terrified that a surge may mean they have to care for patients on ventilators without the guidance of a respiratory therapist. The AARC is promoting videos online showing people how to run the three types of ventilators that are stored in the Strategic National Stockpile and are being distributed to states.

“I could not even tell you what a respiratory therapist does, exactly. But I can tell you that we’d all be toast without one on hand, especially with COVID patients,” said a California Pacific Medical Center nurse, who was not authorized by her institution to speak to the media.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked health workers who are recently retired and in training to volunteer to help on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight. High on the list are respiratory therapists.

Already, respiratory therapists are feeling the effects of the pandemic on their hospitals. The nature of respiratory therapists jobs’ — bedside contact with very sick patients — puts them at high risk for exposure to the virus.

Cynthia Fayne, a respiratory therapist at Lakewood Medical Center, was paged on March 11 to do a breathing treatment for a patient gasping for air. The man had been admitted to the hospital with a fever, sore throat and shortness of breath.

Four days later, Fayne’s boss called to tell her the patient had tested positive for COVID-19. She hadn’t been wearing a mask while treating him , and she had to remove his own mask to do the breathing treatment.

“If you’re standing there with the patient, you’re of course going to inhale what he’s exhaling,” said Fayne, 52. “I had to quarantine my whole household.”

Her husband, brother and mother also had to stay home from work for two weeks due to their contact with Fayne. None of them developed any symptoms, and Fayne returned to work this week, she said.

“Of course I’m kind of worried, but I’m ready to get back to work,” she said.

Rich Kallet, who recently retired after decades as a respiratory therapist at UC San Francisco, said the COVID-19 epidemic will likely be the defining moment of many respiratory therapists’ careers.

For him, it was the AIDS crisis. When he started at the hospital in 1981, the ICU was filled with patients on ventilators who were struggling to breathe, he recalled.

“All we did was just run from room to room to room to just try to keep these poor guys comfortable and adjust their breathing machines,” he said. “That was a terrifying time and I think this is even more terrifying than that.”

Though still difficult to watch people suffer, it quickly became clear to medical staff treating AIDS patients that they could not get sick from the people they were caring for. The coronavirus, however, can be spread through saliva and mucus, putting health workers themselves at risk. Ten years ago, during the H1N1 flu epidemic, Kallet was adjusting the circuits on a patient’s ventilator when it split open and sprayed him in the face with mucus.

The fear he felt then is likely what younger respiratory therapists are experiencing now when caring for COVID-19 patients: “This could be me — one mistake, this could be me in a couple of weeks.”

Those fears have been exacerbated by a potential shortage of protective gear, concerns that have put even respiratory therapists with decades of experience on edge, said Tuma, in Redding.

“They’re saying for the first time in their career they’re afraid — they’re afraid because there’s a shortage of what we need to do our job,” she said.

Times staff writers Emily Baumgaertner and Harriet Ryan contributed to this report.

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Soumya Karlamangla has been a reporter at the Los Angeles Times focusing on health issues since 2013. She was raised in Thousand Oaks and graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in biology and English literature.

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CALIFORNIA CA judicial leaders set bail to zero, postpone foreclosure and eviction proceedings amid coronavirus pandemic

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye appears in an undated photo. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

by: Sareen Habeshian Posted: Apr 6, 2020 / 07:24 PM PDT / Updated: Apr 6, 2020 / 07:33 PM PDT 63° The Judicial Council of California approved 11 temporary emergency measures Monday, including one to set bail to zero in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure directs judges to remove bail nes for misdemeanor cases and low- level felonies, as the state moves to reduce jail populations amid spread of COVID-19, the Judicial Council said after a telephone meeting.

The decision comes after Los Angeles County implemented a zero-bail measure last week, which also aimed to reduce the number of people in county jails and courthouses, according to a statement from Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Monday’s emergency approvals also included the following actions, to go into effect immediately:

Suspend the entry of defaults in eviction cases Suspend judicial foreclosures Allow courts to require judicial proceedings and court operations be conducted remotely, with the defendant’s consent, in criminal proceedings Adopt a statewide emergency bail schedule that sets bail at $0 for most misdemeanor and lower-level felony offenses Allow defendants to appear via counsel or remote technologies for pretrial criminal hearings Prioritize hearings and orders in juvenile justice proceedings and set a structure for remote hearings and continuances Extend the timeframes for specied temporary restraining orders Extend the statutes of limitations governing civil actions Allow electronic depositions in civil cases

The emergency meeting was the second one for court and branch leaders in responding to the pandemic, after California courts were deemed an “essential service” under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. Some courts in the state are63° delaying trials and even temporarily closing their doors.

In a previous meeting, on March 28, the council approved a number of other temporary measures, including to give courts exibility to continue to provide essential services to the public.

“We are at this point truly with no guidance in history, law, or precedent,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, chair of the council, said. “And to say that there is no playbook is a gross understatement of the situation. In developing these rules, we listened to suggestions from our justice system partners, the public, and the courts, and we greatly appreciate all of the input. Working with our court stakeholders, I’m condent we can preserve the rule of law and protect the rights of victims, the accused, litigants, families and children, and all who seek justice. It’s truly a team effort.”

For a full list of emergency orders taken by the state’s court system in response to the coronavirus pandemic, visit https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/coronavirus- updates.

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READ MORE 5 California music festivals you can recreate at home “That’s not what the Wall Street Journal article said,” Feuer said Monday. “The FDA has not approved any home test kit.”

The city attorney’s office filed its complaint last week against Yikon Genomics and its U.S. CEO Brandon Richard Hensinger. Court documents show the company agreed to settle the lawsuit on Friday.

The settlement agreement included requirements that Yikon Genomics refund any customers who

bought the kits. And the company must immediately stop selling and advertising them.

Feuer said Monday that a one-step test kit that could accurately test for coronavirus exposure does not exist. He said the pandemic has led to a rise in companies like Yikon claiming they’ve developed a test that customers could easily administer themselves.

“Accurate testing for this virus — it involves carefully swabbing the nose or throat to collect a sample, placing it in a sterile tube, storing it below 46 degrees Farenheit, and shipping it to a lab within three days,” he said. “A number of things could easily go wrong if consumers fail to take any of these steps with precision.”

The FDA, too, noted a rise in claims of the availability of at-home test kits as the coronavirus pandemic continues to infects hundreds of thousands in the U.S. The nationwide death toll soared past 10,000 on Monday.

“Fraudulent health claims, tests, and products can pose serious health risks,” FDA officials said on their website. “They may keep some patients from seeking care or delay necessary medical treatment.”

The FDA left open the possibility of approval of an at-home test kit in the future, saying “we are actively working with test developers in this space.” In the meantime, officials said anyone showing symptoms of the virus should consult with their doctor about the process for getting a test.

The city and county of Los Angeles are providing residents with free tests. Feuer’s office said Monday that anyone who needs a test should sign up at lacovidprod.service-now.com/rrs.

By Monday, Yikon Genomics took down its tweets and a website touting the at-home test kit.

The company, based in China but with a U.S. arm operating out of Foster City, California, describes

itself as “a global genetic laboratory, responsible for introducing innovative solutions in reproductive genetics, oncology, life sciences, and more.”

Yikon specializes in genetic testing of embryos destined for in vitro fertilization. The company said it launched U.S. clinical operations last year.

Reached by phone, Hensinger said he was not immediately available for comment. In identical statements Monday, both the company and Hensinger said on their Twitter accounts that they were seeking FDA approval of the test kits.

“Yikon Genomics is committed to complying with all state & federal laws and regulations regarding the marketing & sale of medical devices,” the statement read. “We intend to pursue FDA approval for the market & sale of COVID-19 test kits, which we hope will aid in mitigating this global health crisis.

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Josh Cain | Reporter Joshua Cain is a crime and public safety reporter for the Southern California News Group, based at the L.A. Daily News in Woodland Hills. He has worked for SCNG since 2016, previously as a digital news editor in the San Gabriel Valley, helping cover breaking news, crime and local politics.

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 Follow Josh Cain @joshpcain

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com[4/6/2020 3:20:52 PM] https://nyti.ms/39NrcKi THE INTERPRETER A New Covid-19 Crisis: Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide Movement restrictions aimed to stop the spread of the coronavirus may be making violence in homes more frequent, more severe and more dangerous.

By Amanda Taub

April 6, 2020 Updated 1:03 p.m. ET

Add another public health crisis to the toll of the new coronavirus: Mounting data suggests that domestic abuse is acting like an opportunistic infection, ﬂourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic.

There was every reason to believe that the restrictions imposed to keep the virus from spreading would have such an effect, said Marianne Hester, a Bristol University sociologist who studies abusive relationships. Domestic violence goes up whenever families spend more time together, such as the Christmas and summer vacations, she said.

Now, with families in lockdown worldwide, hotlines are lighting up with abuse reports, leaving governments trying to address a crisis that experts say they should have seen coming.

The United Nations called on Sunday for urgent action to combat the worldwide surge in domestic violence. “I urge all governments to put women’s safety ﬁrst as they respond to the pandemic,” Secretary General António Guterres wrote on Twitter.

[Analysis: Peaks, testing and lockdowns: How coronavirus vocabulary causes confusion.]

But governments largely failed to prepare for the way the new public health measures would create opportunities for abusers to terrorize their victims. Now, many are scrambling to offer services to those at risk.

But, as with the response to the virus itself, the delays mean that irreparable harm may already have occurred.

Lockdown and ʻIntimate Terrorismʼ As cities and towns across China locked down, a 26-year-old woman named Lele found herself entangled in more and more arguments with her husband, with whom she now had to spend every hour in their home in Anhui Province, in eastern China.

On March 1, while Lele was holding her 11-month-old daughter, her husband began to beat her with a high chair. She is not sure how many times he hit her. Eventually, she says, one of her legs lost feeling and she fell to the ground, still holding the baby in her arms.

A photograph she took after the incident shows the high chair lying on the ﬂoor in pieces, two of its metal legs snapped off — evidence of the force with which her husband wielded it against her. Another image documents Lele’s injuries: Nearly every inch of her lower legs was covered in bruises, a huge hematoma blooming on her left calf.

Lele — her full name is not being used for her safety — said that her husband had abused her throughout their six-year relationship, but that the Covid-19 outbreak made things far worse.

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“During the epidemic, we were unable to go outside, and our conﬂicts just grew bigger and bigger and more and more frequent,” she said. “Everything was exposed.”

As quarantines take effect around the world, that kind of “intimate terrorism” — a term many experts prefer for domestic violence — is ﬂourishing. In China, a Beijing-based NGO dedicated to combating violence against women, Equality, has seen a surge in calls to its help line since early February, when the government locked down cities in Hubei Province, then the outbreak’s epicenter.

In Spain, the emergency number for domestic violence received 18 percent more calls in the ﬁrst two weeks of lockdown than in the same period a month earlier.

“We’ve been getting some very distressing calls, showing us clearly just how intense psychological as well as physical mistreatment can get when people are kept 24 hours a day together within a reduced space,” said Ana Bella, who set up a foundation to help other women after surviving domestic violence herself.

On Thursday, the French police reported a nationwide spike of about 30 percent in domestic violence. Christophe Castaner, the French interior minister, said he had asked ofﬁcers to be on the lookout for abuse.

“The risk increases due to conﬁnement,” he said in an interview on French television.

No Escape In Spain, with the help of women’s associations, The New York Times contacted women stuck at home with an abusive husband or partner and conducted interviews over WhatsApp.

One of them, Ana — who asked that her full name be withheld — shares an apartment with her partner, and says he has been regularly abusing her. He insists on total surveillance at all times. If she tries to lock herself in a room, he kicks the door until she opens it.

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“I can’t even have privacy in the bathroom — and now I have to endure this in a lockdown,” she wrote in a message sent late at night, to hide the communication from her husband.

Judith Lewis Herman, a renowned trauma expert at Harvard University Medical School, has found that the coercive methods domestic abusers use to control their partners and children “bear an uncanny resemblance” to those kidnappers use to control hostages and repressive regimes use to break the will of political prisoners.

“The methods which enable one human being to control another are remarkably consistent,” she wrote in a widely cited 1992 journal article. “While perpetrators of organized political or sexual exploitation may instruct each other in coercive methods, perpetrators of domestic abuse appear to reinvent them.”

In addition to physical violence, which is not present in every abusive relationship, common tools of abuse include isolation from friends, family and employment; constant surveillance; strict, detailed rules for behavior; and restrictions on access to such basic necessities as food, clothing and sanitary facilities.

Home isolation, however vital to the ﬁght against the pandemic, is giving still more power to the abuser, Dr. Hester said. “If suddenly people have got to be at home,” she said, “that gives him an opportunity, suddenly, to call the shots around that. To say what she should be doing or shouldn’t.”

The isolation has also shattered support networks, making it far more difﬁcult for victims to get help or escape.

Fragile resources, overwhelmed After her husband attacked her with the high chair, Lele limped to the next room and called the police. When they arrived, however, they only documented the attack, then took no further action.

Next, she hired a lawyer and ﬁled for divorce — only to ﬁnd that the epidemic had cut off that avenue of escape, too. Her divorce proceeding was postponed until April. She is still waiting for the court’s decision.

And ﬁnding a new home amid the outbreak proved difﬁcult, forcing Lele and her daughter to continue to live with their abuser for weeks.

It is a pattern playing out around the world.

Institutions that are supposed to protect women from domestic violence, many weak and underfunded to begin with, are now straining to respond to the increased demand.

Feng Yuan, a co-founder of Equality, the Chinese advocacy group, said she had one client who called an emergency line only to be told the police were too overstretched to help her. “We can come to your place after the crisis,” she recounted the operator saying. In Europe, one country after another seems to have followed the same grim path: First, governments impose lockdowns without making sufﬁcient provisions for domestic abuse victims. About 10 days later, distress calls spike, setting off a public outcry. Only then do the governments scramble to improvise solutions.

Italy was ﬁrst.

Its lockdown began in early March. Soon after that, domestic violence reports began to rise, but there was nowhere for newly desperate women to go. Shelters could not take them because the risk of infection was too great.

So the government said local authorities could requisition hotel rooms to serve as makeshift shelters where victims could quarantine safely.

Spain announced its lockdown on March 14; France’s began three days later. About two weeks later, with abuse reports soaring, ofﬁcials there announced that they, too, planned to turn vacant hotel rooms into shelters, among other emergency efforts.

In Britain, the authorities waited longer before imposing a lockdown.

Ten days before it began on March 23, The New York Times contacted the Home Ofﬁce about what it planned to do about domestic violence. The response: Only “existing sources of advice and support” would be available. The government later published a list of hotlines and apps that victims could use to call for help, but only one was speciﬁcally tailored for the Covid-19 crisis.

By a week into lockdown, Avon and Somerset, in the southwest of the country, said domestic abuse reports were already up by 20 percent, and local forces elsewhere were bracing for the same.

Last week, after dozens of civic groups signed an open letter to the government calling for action, ofﬁcials pledged to respond, without offering speciﬁcs.

“Supporting victims of domestic abuse is a priority for the home secretary, and she is fully aware of the distress and anxiety this period may cause to those suffering or at risk of domestic abuse,” the Home Ofﬁce said in a statement. “We are working with the police, domestic abuse charities, help lines and front-line workers to support and protect people,.”

It also said victims could “disregard orders to stay at home if they need to seek immediate refuge.”

Eventually, the lockdowns will end. But as the conﬁnement drags on, the danger seems likely to intensify. Studies show that abusers are more likely to murder their partners and others in the wake of personal crises, including lost jobs or major ﬁnancial setbacks.

With Covid-19 ravaging the economy, such crises are set to become much more frequent.

Reporting was contributed by Raphael Minder from Spain, Vivian Wang from Hong Kong, Constant Méheut from France and Elisabetta Povoledo from Italy.

The Coronavirus Outbreak Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

Updated April 4, 2020

• Should I wear a mask? The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reﬂecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people donʼt need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks donʼt replace hand washing and social distancing.

• What should I do if I feel sick?

READ MORE San Bernardino to pay $750,000 to settle suit by former city manager – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS • News San Bernardino to pay $750,000 to settle suit by former city manager

   

Former San Bernardino City Manager Andrea Miller, seen here in 2018, will receive $750,000 to settle a breach-of-contract suit filed against the city last year. (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun  PUBLISHED: April 6, 2020 at 11:51 a.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2020 at 3:29 p.m.

San Bernardino will pay former City Manager Andrea Miller $750,000 to settle a suit filed last year accusing elected officials of retaliating against her for exposing a “hostile” work environment created by Mayor John Valdivia and his staff.

The City Council unanimously approved the pact during a closed session meeting April 1.

Hired in 2017 to serve as city manager for five years, Miller was terminated last summer without S cause. She was making close to $270,000 annually in total compensation.

According to a joint statement released last week – the only public comment either side is permitted to offer on the case – Miller was fired “because the city wanted to go in a new direction.” https://www.sbsun.com/2020/04/06/san-bernardino-to-pay-750000-to-settle-suit-by-former-city-manager/[4/7/2020 10:16:59 AM] San Bernardino to pay $750,000 to settle suit by former city manager – San Bernardino Sun

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READ MORE New Coachella festival documentary traces the Teri Ledoux succeeded Miller as San Bernardino’s top administrator.

“The city appreciates the assistance that Ms. Miller provided,” the statement reads, “and her astute financial guidance in leading the City of San Bernardino out of bankruptcy.”

In her suit, Miller alleged that male decision-makers who RELATED LINKS took office in late 2018 began “a concerted effort” to

remove her as city manager. Ex-San Bernardino city manager says she was discriminated against, harassed for As a result, elected officials repeatedly interfered with her her gender in suit ability to lead the city and undermined her authority, she said. Ex-San Bernardino city manager alleges firing was retaliation for exposing ‘hostile’

The City Council suspended Miller on April 3, 2019, work environment following a mid-year budget review that projected a sizable San Bernardino is the latest in a trend of deficit in fiscal 2019-20. city managers being fired in the Inland Empire

San Bernardino council fires City Manager Andrea Miller

‘You are not a king,’ San Bernardino councilman tells mayor as tempers flare over scheduling of budget talk

On May 29, Valdivia and council members Theodore Sanchez, Sandra Ibarra, Juan Figueroa, Bessine Richard and Henry Nickel voted for Miller’s dismissal.

“As members of a board of directors, which is what a City Council is, effectively, we represent the constituency of the city,” Nickel said in an interview following Miller’s termination. “Our job is to make sure we hire the best chief executive we can and oversee the performance of that chief executive – in our case, the city manager. …

“After the budget presentation,” Nickel continued, “to me, we had no other choice as a board but to fire the chief executive officer.”

In September, Miller filed a breach-of-contract suit in San Bernardino County Superior Court accusing city leaders of retaliation, discrimination and harassment, as well as failing to take any corrective action to punish those who engaged in such misconduct.

She said her gender was a “substantial motivating reason” for discriminatory actions against her by her supervisors.

Drawn from reserves, the $750,000 settlement ends Miller’s claims without any admission of wrongdoing by the city.

In the nine months since Miller filed her initial claim against the city, several others, including two former elected officials, have taken legal action against Valdivia.

The mayor has been accused of retaliating against former City Attorney Gary Saenz and City Clerk

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/04/06/san-bernardino-to-pay-750000-to-settle-suit-by-former-city-manager/[4/7/2020 10:16:59 AM] San Bernardino to pay $750,000 to settle suit by former city manager – San Bernardino Sun Gigi Hanna, sexually harassing former city employees Mirna Cisneros and Karen Cervantes, as well as city commissioner Alissa Payne, and creating a hostile work environment for those in the Mayor’s Office.

Valdivia has denied the claims.

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Brian Whitehead | Reporter Brian Whitehead covers San Bernardino for The Sun. Bred in Grand Terrace, he graduated from Riverside Notre Dame High and Cal State Fullerton. For seven years, he covered high school and college sports for The Orange County Register. Before landing at The Sun, he was the city beat reporter for Buena Park, Fullerton and La Palma.

[email protected]

 Follow Brian Whitehead @bwhitehead3

https://www.sbsun.com/2020/04/06/san-bernardino-to-pay-750000-to-settle-suit-by-former-city-manager/[4/7/2020 10:16:59 AM]