San Bernardino County Again Slides Further Away from Looser Coronavirus Tier – San Bernardino Sun
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10/13/2020 San Bernardino County again slides further away from looser coronavirus tier – San Bernardino Sun LOCAL NEWS •• News San Bernardino County again slides further away from looser coronavirus tier By JENNIFER IYER || [email protected]@scng.com || RedlandsRedlands DailyDaily FactsFacts PUBLISHED: October 13, 2020 at 4:40 p.m. || UPDATED:UPDATED: October 13, 2020 at 4:40 p.m. ThisThis criticalcritical coveragecoverage isis beingbeing providedprovided freefree toto allall readers. Support reporting like this with a subscription to The Sun. Special Offer: 99¢ for the first 3 months. Support local journalism San Bernardino County is again slipping further away from from a less- restrictive coronavirus riskrisk tier,tier, statestate datadata releasedreleased Tuesday,Tuesday, Oct.Oct. 13,13, show.show. The countyʼs numbers worsened in all three metrics the state uses to determine thethe tier.tier. TheThe numbernumber ofof newnew casescases perper dayday perper 100,000100,000 residents,residents, adjustedadjusted forfor testingtesting volume,volume, climbedclimbed fromfrom thethe 9.69.6 announcedannounced lastlast TuesdayTuesday toto 10.3.10.3. TheThe percentage of tests that come back positive went from 6.4 to 6.5., and the positivity rate in socioeconomically challenged neighborhoods rose from 8.1% toto 8.7%.8.7%. The data from the state is based on results from the week ending Oct. 3, which allows the state to account for reporting delays. Case and positivity rates moved up last week as well.. https://www.sbsun.com/2020/10/13/san-bernardino-county-again-slides-further-away-from-looser-coronavirus-tier/?utm_medium=social&ut… 1/4 10/13/2020 San Bernardino County again slides further away from looser coronavirus tier – San Bernardino Sun On a positive note, the county is testing more people than it had the previous week. San Bernardino County conducted 197 tests for every 100,000 residents thethe weekweek endingending Oct.Oct. 3.3. ThatʼsThatʼs upup fromfrom 190190 thethe previousprevious week.week. TheThe statestate median is 239. If a county does not meet the state median, that countyʼs case rate is adjusted upwards, putting them further away from a lower, less restrictive tier. Here are the latest numbers, according to county and state public health officials. San Bernardino County Confirmed cases: 58,57958,579 total,total, upup 454454 fromfrom Monday,Monday, Oct.Oct. 12,12, averagingaveraging 294294 reported per day in the past week Deaths: 986986 total,total, nono changechange fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 2.92.9 reportedreported perper dayday inin thethe pastpast weekweek Hospital survey: 186186 confirmedconfirmed andand 5050 suspectedsuspected patientspatients hospitalizedhospitalized Monday, including 42 confirmed and 8 suspected patients in the ICU, with 22 of 25 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is unchanged from a week earlier. People tested: 694,275694,275 total,total, upup 3,6173,617 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging 5,6275,627 reportedreported per day in the past week Resolved cases (estimate): 55,60655,606 total,total, upup 256256 fromfrom Monday,Monday, averagingaveraging perper dayday inin thethe pastpast weekweek Reopening plan tier:tier: PurplePurple (widespread(widespread riskrisk level,level, manymany non-essentialnon-essential indoorindoor business operations are closed) based on these metrics as of Tuesday: New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 9.6 Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 10.3 Test positivity rate: 6.5% (8.7% in socioeconomically challenged neighborhoods) Whatʼs next: San Bernardino County is not meeting the criteria to move to a less-restrictive tier. When it has met them for two consecutive weeks, it can advance. The state updates numbers and tiers on Tuesdays. To see a map and list of cases, deaths and per-capita rates by community, click here.. Here is a look at how the countyʼs numbers have changed each day: https://www.sbsun.com/2020/10/13/san-bernardino-county-again-slides-further-away-from-looser-coronavirus-tier/?utm_medium=social&ut… 2/4 10/14/2020 Want to reopen California? Keep coronavirus out of poor areas - Los Angeles Times ADVERTISEMENT OPINION Op-Ed: Reopening California depends on keeping the virus out of low-income neighborhoods https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-14/coronavirus-pandemic-reopening-equity-california 1/10 10/14/2020 Want to reopen California? Keep coronavirus out of poor areas - Los Angeles Times Cars at the drive-through coronavirus testing site at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 12. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) By ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL AND MANUEL PASTOR OCT. 14, 2020 | 5 AM In Monterey County, 26% of the county’s COVID-19 cases are in East Salinas, a largely Latino community of farmworkers, service employees and others living in crowded conditions as they work on the pandemic front lines. It’s a very different story in the county’s wealthy seaside communities, including Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove. Combined, these locales have a population that slightly exceeds that of East Salinas — but they have only about 2% of the county’s coronavirus cases. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-14/coronavirus-pandemic-reopening-equity-california 2/10 10/14/2020 Want to reopen California? Keep coronavirus out of poor areas - Los Angeles Times In Los Angeles County, Bell, a city that is 93% Latino, has had more than 4 times the number of cases as Manhattan Beach, which has about the same number of residents but is 81% white. Until last week, these sorts of stark differences would not have stood in the way of a county’s reopening process. As long as the inequalities averaged out to a decline in the county’s overall case rates and test positivity rates (that is, the share of tests that are positive for the virus), the county would be allowed to move to the next tier of business activity. ADVERTISING Ads by Teads Now, with a first-in-the-nation public health strategy, California counties won’t be able to fully reopen until they prioritize reducing COVID-19 in communities hardest hit by the pandemic. This new equity metric, which emerged from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery, is a powerful idea for both advancing racial justice and creating a sustainable path to economic recovery. Before a county is allowed to move to https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-14/coronavirus-pandemic-reopening-equity-california 3/10 10/14/2020 Want to reopen California? Keep coronavirus out of poor areas - Los Angeles Times a less restrictive tier in the state’s reopening framework, the bottom quartile of census tracts in that county — as measured by a Healthy Places Index based on 25 indicators of economic, social, education, transportation, housing and environmental health — must separately meet specific reopening criteria. In particular, this approach requires counties to reduce test positivity rates in the least well-off communities to match or come close to the county average — which gives counties incentive to test, trace contacts and launch prevention and clinical care programs in the communities that need it most. Right now, counties are riding a roller coaster of reopening and closing the economy that isn’t good for business owners, workers or families. The ups and downs are caused in large part by failing to confront the racial inequities of the pandemic. ADVERTISEMENT SPONSORED CONTENT The Halftime Pep Talk You Can’t Miss By Sanofi Watch our new heroes suit up to continue the fight against COVID-19 by searching for a vaccine. We’re rooting for you. Latinos, for example, make up 43% of the state’s prime working-age population (18-49), but they are 64% of the cases and 75% of the deaths in that age group. Latinos, Black and Pacific Islander Californians are also more likely to be home healthcare aides, cashiers, truck drivers, meatpackers, agricultural workers and other critically important front-line workers. When infection occurs in their workplaces, they end up taking the virus home to families that often live in crowded neighborhoods where social distancing can be https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-14/coronavirus-pandemic-reopening-equity-california 4/10 10/14/2020 Want to reopen California? Keep coronavirus out of poor areas - Los Angeles Times difficult and protective gear is in short supply. Higher case rates result, feed back into the workplace, and stand in the way of economic reopening for everyone. Bringing positivity rates down among the least advantaged does not guarantee equality — but it will force testing capabilities to be driven to the highest-need areas. And one brilliant aspect of the equity metric is that effort counts: If a county demonstrates faster progress in reducing test positivity in the least advantaged communities, then the state will approve an accelerated reopening process even if some overall average county metrics are still lagging (given the dynamics of the disease, they are likely to catch up). California’s Department of Public Health is in the process of setting up a technical assistance team that will share best practices and resources that can help counties carry out their action plans. There are examples on which to draw, including in San Francisco, where the city has invested heavily in free testing, contact tracing, outreach and assistance for infected people in the Mission District, a historically Latino neighborhood. ADVERTISEMENT Some may worry that an equity metric is burdensome and could slow down the reopening process. But if we prioritize safeguarding the health of disadvantaged Californians, there will likely be less disease as they go to their workplaces. Consumer confidence will rise, business vitality will improve and all neighborhoods will be better off. The equity measure is an idea that should be adopted by other states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal agencies as an essential strategy for COVID-19 recovery.