California surpasses astonishing 6 million COVID infections as Omicron wave expands
LA Times, LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II/MARISSA EVANS: "More than 6 million cumulative coronavirus cases have now been reported in California, according to data compiled by The Times, as the Omicron variant continues its staggering spread.
The record-setting pace of infections is putting pressure on hospitals, schools and other institutions, which are struggling to maintain full services even as some employees take time off to deal with COVID-19.
On Monday, the state reported 308,820 new infections, a colossal figure that includes data from Saturday and Sunday. State officials said more than 600,000 COVID tests are being reported daily. Los Angeles County hit its own milestone Monday, topping 2 million cases."
Sonoma County bans large gatherings, advises residents to shelter in place for next 30 days
The Chronicle, ERIN ALLDAY: "Sonoma County is banning large gatherings — anything over 50 people indoors or 100 outdoors — and recommending that all residents shelter in place and avoid contact with those outside their households over the next 30 days to help slow down an omicron-fueled coronavirus surge, health officials said Monday.
The ban goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and will be in place until Feb. 11. Residents are not being ordered to shelter in place but the county issued an appeal that they stay home as much as possible.
Sonoma County is the first in the Bay Area to reinstate a ban on gatherings and issue new recommendations to stay home in response to the omicron surge. Shelter-in-place orders were used statewide before vaccinations became widely available to curtail spread of disease, in particular during the first wave of disease in March 2020 and during last winter’s surge."
COVID outbreaks reported at Placerville, Auburn nursing homes as California sees surge
MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee: "At least two nursing homes in the greater Sacramento area are experiencing significant COVID-19 outbreaks as senior facilities across California are now seeing a steep rise in transmission amid the omicron surge.
The Pines at Placerville, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in El Dorado County, in an update to its website said it had 32 residents with COVID-19 in its coronavirus isolation unit as of Sunday, as well as 12 staff members testing positive in the past month.
Westview Healthcare Center in Auburn, a larger facility with 205 beds, had 19 COVID-positive residents in isolation Sunday and has had 30 employees test positive in the past month. Of those 30, eight remained unavailable to work as of Sunday due to active infections.
California poised to remove all immigration status rules for Medi-Cal healthcare
LA Times, MELODY GUTIERREZ: "California would allow all income-eligible residents to qualify for the state’s healthcare program for low-income people regardless of immigration status under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal unveiled Monday.
Newsom’s plan calls for the state to spend $2.2 billion a year to close the final gap in Medi-Cal eligibility after years of incremental progress toward offering coverage to people living in the country illegally by first allowing children and seniors to qualify.
If approved by the Legislature and included in the final budget signed by Newsom in June, California would further chip away at barriers to accessing safety net programs for people living here illegally. The proposal would go into effect after Jan. 1, 2024."
COVID-19, children, climate change are focal points in Newsom’s budget plan
LA Times, JOHN MYERS: "Built on projections of a ninth consecutive year of surplus tax revenue — a streak that has made California’s deficit-ridden past a distant memory — the $286.4-billion spending plan Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled Monday builds on the state’s recent efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and a worsening drought while surpassing K-12 school funding records set just last year.
In all, the governor’s plan lays out close to $10 billion in new spending on what a fact sheet from his office calls “five of California’s biggest challenges: COVID-19, climate change, homelessness, inequality, and keeping our streets safe.”
In broad terms, Newsom’s proposal to the Legislature is consistent with budgets written in recent years. Although it would direct surplus tax revenue toward the state’s cash reserves and pay down some long-term debts, there would be plenty left over for programs championed by the Democratic governor and legislators from both major parties — such as enhanced security at clinics that provide abortions and cancellation of an increase in California’s gas tax that was scheduled for July."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Chris Hoene – Budget Ahoy!
Capitol Weekly Staff: "California’s proposed new Budget is about to drop. We decided to get ahead of the game and invited Chris Hoene, Executive Director of the California Budget and Policy Center, to talk about what to expect.
The California Budget and Policy Center prepares fact-based, nonpartisan analyses of state budget and public policy issues, and is informed by California’s demographic, economic, and social contexts, while also advancing public policies they believe will help all Californians achieve shared prosperity. Chris spoke with us about what he expects to see in the new Budget, how it was shaped, the surplus, and the Gann Limit.
Coronavirus-infected hospital staff without symptoms can stay on the job in California
The Chronicle, JOHN KING: "Faced with an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases across California, the state’s Department of Public Health now says that health care workers who test positive for the virus can remain on the job — at least through Feb. 1.
The policy shift is prompted by the need to keep hospitals functioning during the current surge, the department said. Allowing infected health workers to continue their duties is needed “due to the critical staffing shortages currently being experienced across the health care continuum,” according to the health department’s letter, posted online Saturday, to acute care and psychiatric hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.
The loosened requirements apply only to health care workers who are asymptomatic, and they will need to wear N95 respirators rather than standard medical face masks. The department wants such workers to treat only patients who already have tested positive, the letter said, although it acknowledges that “this may not always be possible in settings such as the emergency department” where everyone’s infection status is not always known."
Home COVID tests to be covered by insurers starting Saturday
AP, ZEKE MILLER: "Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid rising frustrations.
Under the new policy, first detailed to the Associated Press, Americans will be able to either receive home testing kits for free under their insurance or submit receipts for the tests for reimbursement, up to the monthly per-person limit. A family of four, for instance, could be reimbursed for up to 32 tests per month. PCR tests and rapid tests ordered or administered by a health provider will continue to be fully covered by insurance with no limit.
President Biden faced criticism over the holiday season for a shortage of at-home rapid tests as Americans traveled to see family amid the surge in cases from the more transmissible Omicron variant. Now the administration is working to make COVID-19 home tests more accessible, both by increasing supply and bringing down costs."
In a first, U.S. surgeons transplant a pig heart into a human patient
AP, CARLA K JOHNSON: "In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life, and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.
While it’s too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.
The patient, David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland handyman, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work, but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told the Associated Press."
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN: "The year had barely started when a major Bay Area freeway saw its first burst of gunfire, right at the onset of rush hour.
On the afternoon of Jan. 4, a bullet fired by a yet-unknown shooter hit Alameda County sheriff’s recruit David Nguyen as he drove his Toyota Prius west on Interstate 580 toward the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Nguyen apparently slumped over the wheel and crashed his car into a guardrail, becoming one of the latest victims of a surge in highway violence.
Over the past three years, shootings have more than tripled on the arterials that knit the region together — from 49 Bay Area freeway shootings in 2018, to 165 through October last year, according to California Highway Patrol in response to a public records request from The Chronicle. Limited available records also show a spike in deaths — from two fatal shootings for the whole Bay Area in 2018, to six gun deaths on Oakland freeways alone in 2021."
State prison officials investigate death of inmate from Contra Costa as a homicide
The Chronicle, ANDRES PICON: "A man incarcerated at California State Prison in Sacramento County was found dead in his cell on Saturday, and his cellmate, a convicted murderer, is the suspect, officials said.
Officers found Deandre A. Lewis, 37, unresponsive in his cell at 6:53 a.m. Saturday and he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later. Lewis’ cellmate, Shamar L. Thornton, 36, is believed to have killed him, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement Monday.
The department did not provide any information as to how Lewis died. The cause of death will be determined by the county medical examiner."