Bay Area scientists hope COVID-19 antibody tests reveal the key to immunity
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH: "In a new frontier to fight COVID-19, Bay Area researchers are racing to develop new blood tests that can not only help diagnose the disease, but could help determine whether people become immune after catching it and lay the groundwork for a vaccine.
Scientists at UCSF and the San Francisco Vitalant Research Institute are among several across the country developing tests. UCSF hopes to start using its test as early as this week, although it won’t be widely available to the public.
These serological tests detect antibodies, a blood protein that forms as the immune system’s response to an infection. In this case, antibodies will show whether someone has or has had COVID-19. If so, researchers hope to learn whether people who had COVID-19 become immune to it, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease specialist."
In emergency meeting, state stem cell agency OKs $5 million for coronavirus research
DAVID JENSEN in Capitol Weekly: "California’s stem cell agency, in an emergency action, has allocated $5 million for research into treatments for Covid-19 and set the deadline for the first applications for one week from today (March 31).
The agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), approved the funding Friday during an emergency meeting of its governing board.
In an item yesterday on the CIRM blog, Maria Millan, CEO and president, said,”California researchers have made us aware that they are pursuing potential stem cell based approaches to the Covid-19 crisis, and we felt it was our responsibility to respond by doing all we can to support this research and doing so as quickly as we possibly can.”
SF Supervisors approve payout to journalist whose home, office were raided
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $369,000 payout to freelance journalist Bryan Carmody, whose home and office were illegally raided by San Francisco police last year.
The unanimous vote came nearly a month after the city of San Francisco agreed to settle Carmody’s claim. The suit stemmed from a May 10, 2019, incident in which police sledgehammered the front gate of his Outer Richmond home, held him in handcuffs for hours and seized his phone, computers and other equipment. Officers were looking for the source of a leaked police report that contained details on the February 2019 death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi."
"This was a shame to the city and county of San Francisco, and I am delighted that we are settling this case,” Supervisor Aaron Peskin said Tuesday. “And I hope that we never in this town, ever again, suppress the rights of the free press."
Pelosi suggests lifting deduction cap on state and local taxes in next pandemic bill
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "The next legislation to respond to the coronavirus pandemic could include a restoration of the full state and local tax deduction that many Californians lost two years ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says.
The San Francisco Democrat floated the proposal in an interview with the New York Times published Monday night, saying that one way to get stimulus money directly to Americans hit hard by the pandemic would be to retroactively lift caps on the deductions. The limits were imposed by the tax bill the Republican-controlled Congress passed and President Trump signed in late 2017.
“We could reverse that for 2018 and 2019 so that people could refile their taxes” Pelosi told the Times. “They’d have more disposable income, which is the lifeblood of our economy, a consumer economy that we are.”
Newsom on California virus numbers: 1.6M file for unemployment, 657 in ICUs
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "At his daily briefing Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out the latest California coronavirus numbers. Here’s a look at some of the most significant ones he highlighted.
As the state scrambles to slow the spread of the coronavirus, 1.6 million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance, Newsom said. More than 150,000 people filed Monday, setting a record.
“We’re going to have to do more to meet this moment for employees and employers,” Newsom said. “Process this moment, get through it, then get this economy back and growing.”
READ MORE related to COVID-19 Pandemic: US sees biggest jump in confirmed cases, 26,400 in a day -- The Chronicle's STAFF; People in recovery struggle without their daily congregation -- The Chronicle's SAM WHITING; UC Berkeley leads team of scientists to open advanced, 'pop-up' virus testing lab -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE; Megachurch pastors defy pandemic, insisting on right to worship -- LA Times's JAWEED KALEEM; New COVID-19 death rate estimates show how sharply the risk rises with age -- LA Times's KAREN KAPLAN; Seven patients were an early sign the virus was on the loose in LA County -- LA Times's KAREN KAPLAN
Rising seas threaten Bay Area economy, infrastructure, environment, says most detailed study yet
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "A 48-inch increase in the bay’s water level in coming decades could cause more than 100,000 Bay Area jobs to be relocated. Nearly 30,000 lower-income residents might be displaced, and 68,000 acres of ecologically valuable shoreline habitat could be lost.
These are among the findings in the most detailed study yet on how sea level rise could alter the Bay Area. The newly released, 700-page official report argues that without a far-sighted, nine-county response, the region’s economic and transportation systems could be undermined along with the environment.
The study by a consortium of state and local agencies concedes that “the findings in this report may cause some alarm.” But it argues that coordinated action is needed sooner rather than later — unlike how the Bay Area neglected its housing needs for decades, creating today’s high rents and mortgages that are driving lower-income residents out of the region."
Coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier: Captain gets Navy's help after plea
The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI/JOE GAROFOLI: "The U.S. Navy took action Tuesday to address the deteriorating situation aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier docked in Guam with coronavirus spreading aboard, promising to isolate crew members ashore for rotating quarantine and possibly move many into hotels within 24 hours.
Crew members speaking to The Chronicle praised their outspoken commanding officer, who aired the dire situation in a stark letter Monday addressed to Navy command and first reported Tuesday by The Chronicle. They reiterated his concerns that it is impossible to properly quarantine sailors on board the Theodore Roosevelt and stop the spread of COVID-19. A senior officer told The Chronicle more than 100 sailors had tested positive in less than a week.
U.S. Pacific Fleet Adm. John Aquilino said Tuesday that the Navy is developing plans to get a number of sailors off the ship “as soon as possible” and to quarantine them in appropriate, isolated shelters on Guam. There is little infrastructure available, he said, so the effort includes asking the local government for spare hotels."
IRS slow to tell taxpayers how to get stimulus checks
Sac Bee's KATE IRBY: "The Internal Revenue Service has not released information on how people should prepare to get the checks Congress promised when it passed a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package last week.
The IRS says it will deposit your stimulus check to your bank account or mail it to your address based on your 2019 or 2018 filed tax return. But if you need to change or update your information – ensuring you’ll receive it sooner and in the right place – they have no answers on how to fix that yet.
The checks should be $1,200 for most adults and $500 for most dependents. At the section of the IRS website meant for coronavirus updates, which the IRS has directed people to visit, it specifically says there is no new information on the checks."
READ MORE related to Economy: Lottery jackpots could be less than advertised in a COVID-19 slump -- Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER; SF projecting buget shortfall as high as $1.7B because of the pandemic -- The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA
Pandemic will keep schools from reopening, state superintendent says
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Schools in California will be unable to physically reopen this academic year due to concerns of the coronavirus, according to a letter from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who encouraged educators to pivot quickly to online as students are expected to shelter in place through May 1 and possibly beyond.
The state’s top education official, Tony Thurmond, sent the letter to district superintendents Tuesday, saying it “currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year.”
“This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year,” Thurmond wrote. “But rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning."
Can you sell your California home during the virus shutdown? Here's the latest advice
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "Many Californians and Sacramentans who put their homes on the real estate market weeks ago are now taking them off, choosing to sit out the coronavirus crisis and hope for better times soon.
But not all. In fact, there is a modest spring selling season underway. And that has provoked a divisive question in one of the state’s biggest industries: If you’re a real estate agent, do you stop showing clients through houses until government officials declare us past the worst of the epidemic? Or do you grab some hand sanitizer, put on gloves and go for it?
Pettit Gilwee, who sells throughout the Sacramento region, is going for it. She says she’s doing it because she feels she has an obligation to clients, some of whom need to sell or buy a house because of their financial, personal or job situations."
Sacramento Superior Court extends closure to slow spread of the virus
Sac Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "Sacramento Superior Court will remain closed through the middle of April, except for emergency matters, the court’s presiding judge announced late Monday.
The new order extends Sacramento Superior Court Presiding Judge Russell Hom’s March 19 temporary order that shut down court operations through Monday.
Citing the “unsettled nature of the current public health risk from the COVID-19 virus,” Hom said in a statement that he will extend closures for two weeks at which time he will reassess whether to restrict court access and shrink staff at court facilities."
READ MORE related to Public Safety/Crime: California granting early release to 3500 inmates, says no order needed to force more over virus -- Sac Bee's SAM STANTON
Trump praises California for its virus curve. Newsom holds his breath
Sac Bee's MICHAEL WILNER/SOPHIA BOLLAG: "The White House praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday for early efforts against the spread of the coronavirus, pointing to pandemic models that indicate the state has, for now, successfully stopped the number of cases from sharply increasing.
Although early numbers indicate California may be slowing the rate of infection, however, Newsom has declined to declare California’s efforts to flatten the curve a success.
President Donald Trump echoed that caution at a briefing with reporters."
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