What seemed like a Herculean task just months ago is now here: the COVID-19 vaccine. For the next several weeks, vaccines will be available in limited amounts in California and across the nation — and only to high-risk individuals, with supply expected to ramp up in the months to come. Experts estimate vaccines will be […]
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California’s COVID-19 Vaccine Plan
California is in the throes of another COVID-19 surge — cases are skyrocketing and hospital beds are filling up quickly. On Tuesday, hospitals had 3,300 more COVID patients than at the beginning of this month, state health officials said. But a glimmer of hope has emerged in the last leg of 2020: The first batch […]
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Behind the ‘Wild West’ of School Reopenings
An academic year in which public education will intersect with public health has created back-to-school shopping lists unlike any other for California’s schools as they attempt to transition toward in-person instruction once they have the state’s blessing. Bakersfield’s Panama-Buena Vista Union School District plans to hire a manager to handle contact tracing for a system […]
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Hit or Miss: Californians Describe Vastly Different COVID-19 Testing Experiences
It’s the new conversation starter: Have you been tested? Was it hard to get an appointment? How quickly did you get results? As Californians rush to get tested to reassure themselves and their families they aren’t carrying the virus, many have echoed frustrations: Appointments that are weeks out. Tests being denied. Growing delays for results, […]
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California Could Reopen Schools in July, Newsom Says
California could reopen for an earlier school year, perhaps as soon as late July, to make up for lost learning time, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today in laying out a course for easing his shelter-in-place order. Pointing to the state’s stable hospitalization data, the governor delivered hopeful news for throngs of parents struggling with distance […]
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What Next for California Cities? Deficits, Bailouts and Long Recoveries
Cities have been ground zero in California’s coronavirus response — with many initiating shelter-in-place orders, organizing emergency housing for homeless people and supporting health and essential workers. But even before restrictions get lifted, mayors, managers and city councils are being tested in a new way: pandemic-induced budget deficits. Already, unemployment is projected to be higher than […]
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These California Medical Workers Are Signing Up for Newsom’s Health Corps — Despite Risks
It’s people like Stephen Kamelgarn, a family medicine doctor, who answered Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for help preparing the state for a surge in coronavirus patients. Kamelgarn, 69, still practices part time in retirement. He signed up immediately for Newsom’s California Health Corps, even though he’s in the age group most at risk of falling […]
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Legislature Passes $1.1 Billion COVID-19 Funding Bill, Leaves Capitol
In an urgent attempt to prepare California for a surge of critically ill coronavirus patients, state lawmakers Monday allocated up to $1 billion for an unprecedented ramp-up of hospital capacity, and then, in an extraordinary move, went home for a month — or perhaps longer — effectively shutting down business at the state Capitol as […]
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What You Need to Know About California’s Lockdown of Seniors and the Chronically Ill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday called for seniors and people with chronic conditions to isolate themselves during the coronavirus pandemic, raising questions about the state’s capacity to ensure delivery of food, medicine and services to some of its most vulnerable residents. Newsom pledged that his office would address specific issues related to this directive […]
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How California is Responding to the Coronavirus (Video)
As more Californians test positive for the novel coronavirus, state health officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom are trying to control the outbreak. The U. S. response to the problem got off to a rocky start. Faulty tests and a shortage of test kits kept many people from being diagnosed. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tested […]