California to get more than 200 million masks a month in coronavirus fight, Gov. Newsom says
PHIL WILLON, LAT: "Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that California has secured a monthly supply of 200 million N95 respiratory and surgical masks to help protect healthcare workers and other essential personnel at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
“We decided enough’s enough. Let’s use the power, the purchasing power of the state of California, as a nation-state,” Newsom told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. “We did just that. And in the next few weeks, we’re going to see supplies, at that level, into the state of California and potentially the opportunity to export some of those supplies to states in need.”
The masks are among the most coveted supplies needed in hospitals and medical facilities that are treating people infected with the coronavirus amid a nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. They will come from a consortium of suppliers, including a California nonprofit, a California manufacturer with suppliers in Asia and from a company sterilizing used masks, according to Nathan Click, the governor’s spokesman"
READ MORE about coronavirus supplies: Fed up with scammers, Los Angeles moves to create clearinghouse for medical supplies -- ANITA CHABRIA, DAKOTA SMITH, LAT; California to spend nearly $1B for 200 million masks per month -- CARLA MARINUCCI, Politico; California strikes deal to buy 200 million masks a month, says Gavin Newsom -- AMY GRAFF, SF Chronicle
Flushing out the true cause of the global toilet paper shortage amid coronavirus pandemic
From the Washington Post's MARC FISHER: "When the history of the coronavirus pandemic is written, the vanishing of toilet paper might rank as just a footnote in an otherwise dark and frightening account. But it might be a very long, complex and even wise footnote, because toilet paper — or rather, the lack of it — turns out to reveal a great deal about who we are and how we behave in a crisis.
It showed David Cohen something about the nature of humanity: As a checkout guy at a supermarket in Asheville, N.C., he saw people buying absurd amounts of toilet paper, but he also saw people reach the cashier’s counter and decide suddenly to consider those who have less.
“Some people said, ‘Wait, I’m going to put these rolls back on the shelf so somebody else can get some,’” said Cohen, who was happy to wait while his customers made a quick return visit to Aisle 14."
Coronavirus: Staying home is slowing the disease, Newsom says, showing new optimism
From The Mercury News' MARISA KENDALL, JOSEPH GEHA and KERRY CROWLEY: "Sounding his most optimistic tone since the coronavirus crisis enveloped California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said the latest numbers and projections point to a compelling conclusion: Sheltering in place is making a difference, and we must keep it up.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by just 4% Tuesday to 2,611, and the number of ICU beds in use increased by 2% to 1,108 — a far cry from the double-digit jumps the state was seeing a week ago, Newsom said.
Newsom said that as California’s curve starts to bend, it is also stretching, pushing the state’s peak back to late May. But those projections are at odds with some other recent estimates that the state could hit its peak in hospitalizations and deaths over the next week and a half, underscoring that even the state’s success to date has not clarified its path forward."
California's virus curve is flattening, but 'it's also stretching' longer, Newsom says
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/ANDREW SHEELER: "Californians’ efforts to stay at home and limit physical contact are flattening the coronavirus infection curve, but also pushing the peak of infection further into the future, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.
“It’s bending, but it’s also stretching,” Newsom said during his daily news briefing.
It’s a development we can be optimistic about, Newsom said, but it also means Californians need to continue taking aggressive measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: NorCal hospital is approved as sight for virus drug trial -- Sac Bee's DARRELL SMITH/CATHIE ANDERSON; Some Asian Americans become first-time gun owners for protection amid the pandemic -- Sac Bee's THEODORA YU
Coronavirus: In Alameda County, dozens of nursing home staff and residents test positive for COVID-19
ANNIE SCIACCA and THOMAS PEELE: "In what appears to be the largest Alameda County coronavirus outbreak, a skilled nursing facility in Hayward could have more than 40 cases of COVID-19, while another facility in Castro Valley has almost two dozen confirmed cases across staff and residents.
The Hayward facility, called Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center, has 21 positive cases among its 49 residents, said administrator Andre Aldridge. He was not immediately clear on how many staff members have tested positive, but said it was about 20, or more.
That could bring the number of positive cases above 40. He said the center is still awaiting test results, which are being conducted through both Kaiser and the Alameda County Public Health Department."
Coronavirus: California scrambles to issue extra $600 jobless payments
From GEORGE AVALOS, L.A. Daily News: "More than 2 million Californians have recently filed for jobless benefits, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, and state officials are scrambling to get newly out-of-work residents the larger unemployment benefits enabled by the federal CARES Act to ease coronavirus-spawned economic devastation.
Gov. Newsom estimated at a news briefing on Tuesday, April 7 that about 2.3 million people have filed claims for unemployment insurance, a grim assessment that is likely only to intensify pressure to begin the larger payments for jobless benefits. In his prior estimates for the avalanche of jobless claims, the governor has used March 12 as the starting point for the running totals, which are based on daily tracking by state labor officials.
The federal CARES legislation included a provision that added $600 in unemployment payments, paid by the federal government, to whatever jobless benefits state agencies would typically pay to people who were out of work, but it isn’t clear when those additional benefits would be received by those who lost jobs."
READ MORE on coronavirus and employment: Two Bay Area cities approve paid sick leave for workers during coronavirus emergency -- JOHN KING, Chronicle; Newly eligible California workers in limbo over unemployment benefits -- SARAH D. WIRE, LAT; Tesla to furlough workers, cut employee salaries due to coronavirus -- TINA BELLON, Reuters
Pandemic stimulus checks are coming to California: Here's who gets money, who doesn't
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "While about 85 percent of all California tax filers — a total of 14 million households — should see federal stimulus benefits starting later this week, a lot of people won’t get the instant cash right away.
That could include people with newborn babies, certain college students and immigrants, divorced parents and others who in some cases will eventually get the cash and others who will not. They need to check with their tax preparers or the Internal Revenue Service.
Overall, the payments should mean $25 billion to $30 billion in cash aid to California residents, says the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office."
A dozen new COVID deaths announced in San Diego
From the U-T's PAUL SISSON: "Two women, ages 23 and 100, are among a dozen COVID-19 related deaths announced in San Diego Tuesday.
The news, delivered by public health officials, pushed the total number of deaths attributed to novel coronavirus infection from 19 to 31.
Though every life on the list is an equal loss to the community, the two women, whose lives were separated by more than 75 years, starkly illustrate the current reality: This disease hits the oldest hardest, but men and women in their 20s have plenty to fear."
Sacramento County extends stay-at-home order to May. Travel, recreation restrictions added
From the SacBee's TONY BIZJAK and ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS: "Sacramento County’s health chief on Tuesday extended his order for residents to stay at home for another three weeks during the coronavirus crisis — at the same time loosening some restrictions and tightening others, including a new mandate that all non-essential gatherings in peoples’ homes stop.
The previous version of the ordinance allowed up to six non-relatives to gather in a residence. The new order prohibits “all non-essential gatherings of any number of individuals.”
The revised and extended order, which is set to expire May 1, now clarifies that real estate agents can show houses for sale, if done safely, and funerals can take place, if limited to 10 attendees."
For the first time ever, California Supreme Court hears arguments remotely due to coronavirus
MAURA DOLAN , LAT: "For the first time ever, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday held oral argument remotely, with three of the seven justices and all of the lawyers participating by video link due to the state’s coronavirus lockdown.
The San Francisco courtroom was empty except for four justices spaced six feet apart on the dais, a few staff members and the California Highway Patrol, which provided security.
For the most part, the unprecedented hearing appeared to work."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Steve Wiegand on America’s most improbable museum
Capitol Weekly Staff: Longtime journalist and author Steve Wiegand joins John Howard and Tim Foster on the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about his latest book, “The Dancer, the Dreamers, and the Queen of Romania: How an Unlikely Quartet Created America’s Most Improbable Art Museum.”
The book tells the remarkable tale of the Maryhill Museum of Art in Klickitat County, Washington. It is a story of wildly different individuals, including eccentric visionary Sam Hill, S.F. socialite Alma Spreckels and Queen Marie of Romania, whose lives and dreams came together to create Merryhill against difficult and unusual challenges.
