Updating . .   

PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter over Camp fire -- Pacific Gas & Electric announced Monday it has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter related to California’s most destructive wildfire that burned much of Paradise, Calif., in 2018. Matt Hamilton, Joseph Serna, Shelby Grad in the Los Angeles Times$ Michael Liedtke and Olga R. Rodriguez Associated Press -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus tests are hard to get — unless you have money, fame and the right doctor -- As people across the country were unable to get tested for COVID-19, a Santa Monica pediatrician emailed the parents of his patients with a pricey but tempting offer. Adam Elmahrek, Amy Kaufman, Ben Poston in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

In a matter of days, San Francisco hires 82 new nurses as it prepares for looming coronavirus surge -- As coronavirus threatens to overwhelm San Francisco’s hospitals, The Department of Public Health hired 82 permanent nurses over the past two weeks to prepare for the looming surge in cases of the deadly virus, officials said Monday. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Predicting coronavirus? SF emergency workers wear state-of-the-art rings in new study -- At least 2,000 San Francisco emergency medical workers will begin wearing rings this week that track their body temperature and other vital signs in a first-of-its-kind study to try to identify the early onset of COVID-19 and help curb its spread. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

California companies jump in to supply ventilators needed in coronavirus fight -- Last week, Bloom Energy Chief Executive KR Sridhar realized his fuel-cell business could help alleviate the state’s critical shortage of ventilators. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Insurance rates will spike without US action on coronavirus costs, Covered California says -- Without federal action, insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket by as much as 40 percent or more in 2021 because of the costs of testing and caring for patients with COVID-19, Covered California reported Monday. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

‘It’s busier than Black Friday:’ Gun sales boom in San Diego amid fears over coronavirus -- Fear of a societal breakdown amid the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a surge in gun sales across San Diego County. Firearm dealers from El Cajon to San Marcos reported last week a massive uptick in sales, saying the demand was being driven by first-time buyers, and was depleting their stock of guns and ammunition. David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/23/20

Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety -- Yuanyuan Zhu was walking to her gym in San Francisco on March 9, thinking the workout could be her last for a while, when she noticed that a man was shouting at her. He was yelling an expletive about China. Then a bus passed, she recalled, and he screamed after it, “Run them over.” Sabrina Tavernise and Richard A. Oppel Jr. in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/20

Spread

80% of COVID-19 patients in L.A. County are ages 18 to 65; fatalities rise to 7 -- Los Angeles County on Monday provided new information about the spread of coronavirus as well as the demographics of the patients. Colleen Shalby, Alex Wigglesworth, Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus cases in Orange County jump to 125 -- The number of coronavirus infections in Orange County cracked triple digits on Monday. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Sacramento County coronavirus count jumps to 88 cases. Fourth death reported -- Sacramento County officials disclosed the number of coronavirus cases in the county has seen its biggest jump yet on Monday, with 88 reported cases and a fourth death. That represents an increase of 35 cases since the previous report during the weekend, mirroring increased cases statewide and nationally. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

Long Beach reports first death from coronavirus, 19 total cases -- A woman in her 50s, with underlying medical conditions, died from “complications of COVID-19,” the city said in a Monday afternoon, March 23, statement. She was a Long Beach resident. The city also upped the total number of positive coronavirus cases to 19. Chris Haire in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

L.A. County increases coronavirus testing capacity, securing 20,000 new tests -- L.A. County has secured 20,000 new coronavirus tests with a processing capacity of 5,000 tests per day, officials announced Monday. The tests will be free and healthcare workers and first-responders will be prioritized. Patrick McGreevy Hannah Fry, Ruben Vives, Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus testing center in Hayward draws hundreds on first day, some turned away -- As the number of coronavirus cases in the Bay Area climbed above 800 Monday morning, hundreds of people lined up near Fire Station No. 7 in Hayward, hoping to get tested for COVID-19. Joseph Geha in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Free private coronavirus drive-thru testing begins in Sacramento via online appointments -- A free drive-up coronavirus testing program will launch in Sacramento on Tuesday, sponsored by Google’s parent company Alphabet and aimed at relieving the testing burden at hospitals and government labs by giving people with milder symptoms a mobile site to be checked. Michael McGough and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

Marin County’s public health officer has coronavirus and a message for his community -- In a video message recorded Sunday night, Dr. Matt Willis announced that he tested positive for the virus that afternoon. Willis said he has been self-quarantined from his family since his symptoms first appeared late last week. Rong-Gong Lin II, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: 185 U.S. cases linked to Princess Cruise ships -- Another 60 Americans were infected while aboard a ship traveling on Egypt’s Nile River on Nile and other cruise ship voyages, it found. These passengers are now completing federal quarantines and are completely safe, posing no risk of transmission to others. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Groceries

Coronavirus: Safeway reaches new agreement for pay raise, protections for workers -- Albertsons Companies, the nationwide grocery chain that owns Safeways, pledged to give a $2 an hour pay raise for California grocery workers at Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Pavilions stores. Safeway will also pay workers up to two weeks if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are told by a doctor to quarantine or self-isolate. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: East Bay Raley’s closed Monday after an employee tested positive -- A Raley’s in Antioch closed late Sunday night and remained closed through Monday after an employee tested positive for coronavirus, a spokeswoman for the grocery retailer said. Rick Hurd in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

California asks feds to let CalFresh recipients order online -- As Californians stay home to avoid the coronavirus, many now rely on online food ordering to avoid crowds at supermarkets. But people who buy groceries with CalFresh, the state’s version of food stamps, are barred from using the benefit for online or delivered orders, meaning that they or their helpers can only buy food in person at stores. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Social Distancing

L.A. City Council president cancels upcoming council meetings -- Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez canceled council meetings that had been scheduled for Tuesday and next week, saying that the city needed to ensure it was ready to meet “recommended safety standards.” Emily Alpert Reyes, David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Here are the latest coronavirus restrictions on beaches, hiking trails, parks, recreation spaces -- The city of Los Angeles city and other civic agencies announced new restrictions on movements due to the coronavirus. They took the actions amid concerns over people continuing to jam trails, beaches and parks despite orders to stay home when possible and to practice social distancing. Alex Wigglesworth, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Economy, Jobs

Kaiser nurses decry lack of coronavirus safety preparation at LA facility -- Several nurses at Kaiser-Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center said Monday, March 23, that their hospital is underprepared to protect front-line workers. In response, Kaiser-Permanent officials said their top priority is patients and staff members. Ryan Carter in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus to cost California 125,000 hotel jobs, more than any other state, trade group says -- The hotel industry in the Golden State is expected to be hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak because California has the most hotel jobs — about 285,000 — according to the American Hotel and Lodging Assn. trade group. Hugo Martín in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus relief: $11 million fund launches in Santa Clara County -- The money will help low-income households pay rent and other crucial bills in an effort to prevent them from losing their homes during the crisis. Companies and nonprofits including Cisco, Destination: Home, Adobe, Zoom, Facebook and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have contributed, and the county and the city of San Jose are considering supplying another $2 million each — which will be discussed at their respective meetings Tuesday. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: Glassdoor survey finds people confident about long-term working from home -- As many Californians have unexpectedly found themselves working from home due to the statewide shelter in place edict that’s part of the effort to control the spread of coronavirus, the practice of working remotely is having an impact on employees that could last beyond the end of the current worldwide pandemic. Rex Crum in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus Sparks Hiring Spree for Nearly 500,000 Jobs at Biggest Retailers -- Walmart Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and CVS Health Corp. are among about a dozen large companies looking to hire nearly 500,000 Americans in coming weeks, a spree that would mark a major shift of the U.S. workforce from smaller businesses and others that have cut staff to survive the coronavirus. Sarah Nassauer and Jaewon Kang in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/20

Homeless  

As coronavirus spreads, Orange County to use former juvenile center as homeless shelter -- A former juvenile correctional facility in Orange County will be used as a shelter for older individuals who are homeless but not showing signs of coronavirus infection, officials said. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

A Postcard From The Streets: Living Unsheltered As Coronavirus Spreads -- Rodney Stanhope is used to sleeping in a tent on cold nights and struggling to find a hot meal. But now, the unsheltered Sacramento resident has a new burden to bear: The threat of coronavirus. Scott Rodd Capital Public Radio -- 3/23/20

Housing

Coronavirus will make California’s affordable housing problems worse, experts say -- California already faced a shortage of more than 1 million homes for low-income families before the novel coronavirus hit. And now many advocates, economists and politicians say the pandemic is only going to make the situation worse. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus help: Landlords urged to freeze rents, halt evictions by their own trade groups -- California Apartment Association said Monday, March 23, it has told its member landlords that through May 31 they should freeze rents; stop evictions “absent extraordinary circumstances’; wave late-payment fees for impacted residents; and offer flexible repayment options for those late rents. Jonathan Lansner, Jeff Collins in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

Education 

Closures at L.A. Unified, other districts extend to May 1; Verizon to offer free student internet to all who need it -- Los Angeles public schools will remain closed until May 1 in response to the coronavirus outbreak as Supt. Austin Beutner announced Monday that Verizon will provide free internet access for all students who do not currently have it so learning can continue. Howard Blume, Sonali Kohli in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Also . . . 

Coronavirus deadline extensions: income taxes, DMV, smog check, student loans -- Deadlines have been extended for some taxes, fees and license renewals because of coronavirus shutdowns. Here is the status as of March 23: The item in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Flights canceled between Sacramento and Hawaii amid coronavirus shutdown on islands -- One of the three airlines that flies between Sacramento and Hawaii - Hawaiian Airlines - has announced it will close down flights between islands and the mainland starting Thursday in reaction to Hawaii’s coronavirus “shelter in place” announcement. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: Bay Area air quality is improving as people stay home -- Shelter-in-place orders are only about a week old, but air pollution experts say they are seeing drops in smog across the Bay Area — a pattern that has already played out in China, Italy and other parts of the world where efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus have significantly reduced motor vehicle traffic and industrial activity. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Fox: It is a Good Time to Pave the Roads if We Listen & Stay at Home -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order to isolate at home means citizens should take the opportunity to catch up with reading, TV viewing, walks and spending time with family. Assuming people adhere to the governor’s order—more on that in a moment–there is an opportunity for government as well—with little traffic it’s a good time to pave the roads. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 3/23/20

Beltway 

Trump flirts with a less-aggressive coronavirus response, echoing Fox News -- Since Sunday night, Trump has telegraphed newfound sympathy for the idea of a less-aggressive effort to combat the coronavirus once the current 15-day plan expires. Aaron Blake in the Washington Post$ -- 3/23/20

Trump Considers Easing Social-Distancing Guidelines to Boost Economy -- Easing the guidelines would run counter to public-health experts who have said sustained social distancing is needed until the U.S. develops a vigorous testing regime to identify and isolate cases. Widespread testing is still a long way off and labs now are struggling with supply issues that are further hampering the ability to identify cases. The virus can be spread when people are asymptomatic. Michael C. Bender and Rebecca Ballhaus in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/23/20

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Coronavirus

Trump approves declaration of major disaster in California over coronavirus -- President Trump approved a request Sunday from Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a major disaster in California to help the state respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with “mass care,” emergency aid, unemployment assistance and disaster legal services, among others. Patrick McGreevy, David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: Foster City’s Gilead puts access to experimental coronavirus drug on hold -- Gilead Sciences said on Sunday it was temporarily putting new emergency access to its experimental coronavirus drug remdesivir on hold due to overwhelming demand and that it wanted most people receiving the drug to participate in a clinical trial to prove if it is safe and effective. Reuters -- 3/23/20

The man behind the sequencing of the coronavirus could have keys to the disease -- The new NextSeq 550 sequencing machine at UCSF’s clinical lab on Berry Street looks like a microwave with a computer keyboard, but to microbiologist Charles Chiu, it is the key to California’s fight against the deadliest, most invasive virus to strike humanity in decades. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

California courts paralyzed by coronavirus, with justice hanging in balance -- When he strode to the bench inside the Compton courthouse Friday morning, Superior Court Judge Michael J. Shultz was wearing two items more necessary than his pleated black robe: a pair of latex gloves and a face mask. James Queally, Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Courts give governments wide latitude when epidemics, like coronavirus, threaten public health -- One of the few certainties about the coronavirus pandemic is the prospect of lawsuits concerning exposures, medical treatment, and future quarantines and vaccination orders. But one lesson from past outbreaks is that courts have seldom interfered with government authority to clamp restrictions on private citizens, as long as they have some connection with public well-being. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Anheuser-Busch to make hand sanitizer to fight coronavirus at its Van Nuys plant -- Anheuser-Busch, which has been making beer for 165 years, is now going to produce bottles of hand sanitizer at its Van Nuys and Baldwinsville, N.Y. facilities in addition to suds, in response to shortages spurred by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Mike Sprague in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

Will California’s shelter in place work to slow the coronavirus pandemic? -- “We’re doing everything we can. The next level up is closing public transportation, maybe a couple more draconian levels,” said Dr. George Rutherford, head of the division of infectious disease and epidemiology at UCSF. “But we’ve used our big weapon.” Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Walters: Virus crisis changes how we work -- As fate would have it, California’s coronavirus battle flag was hoisted just as CalMatters was vacating its temporary offices and moving into permanent new quarters near the Capitol. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 3/23/20

Spread

First inmate in California’s prison system tests positive for coronavirus -- The prisoner is at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, state corrections officials announced on Sunday night. The officials also said that five prison workers have COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Two are at California State Prison, Sacramento, outside of Folsom; one is at Folsom State Prison; and two are at the California Institution for Men in Chino. Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: Here’s how it spread in Santa Clara County -- The very nature of Santa Clara County puts it at risk, she said. We’re diverse, with residents from all over the globe. And we’re travelers, with easy access to three international airports. Other Bay Area counties share those same characteristics, helping to explain why our region’s total case count soared to 694 on Sunday. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

The numbers behind the coronavirus pandemic demand an urgent response -- Since mid-February, the number of new coronavirus cases reported in the Bay Area each week has been doubling or tripling the total from the week before — a phenomenon known as exponential growth, which means the regional outbreak is on a steep, and concerning, upward trajectory. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: ‘We’re going to be fine’ -- Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, began analyzing the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide in January and correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted. Now he foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world. Joe Mozingo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

What you should know about wearing gloves and a mask if you can’t work from home -- As the virus spreads and more people become infected, you may be wondering how to stay safe. Here’s the best information we have from Southern California public health experts. Nicole Santa Cruz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

LA County update: Another person dies from coronavirus, 71 new cases reported -- A Culver City individual is the fifth person to die of novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County, the Department of Public Health reported Sunday. In addition, 71 new cases of coronavirus were reported, according to the department’s daily update. Mike Sprague in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: San Francisco cases grow by nearly a third overnight, reaches triple-digits -- San Francisco confirmed 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the city’s total to 108, according to public health officials. The newly confirmed cases mark the city’s largest overnight jump, with a 29% spike from Saturday to Sunday morning. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: 2 new deaths, 39 new cases in Santa Clara County for total of 302 cases -- The deadly novel coronavirus also has claimed the lives of two more residents, identified only as a woman in her 60s who died Saturday and a woman in her 40s who was hospitalized March 16 and died Saturday, for a total of 10 fatalities. Both women suffered from underlying health conditions. George Kelly, Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus: 17 new cases reported in San Mateo County, total at 117 -- San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties and San Francisco each now tally coronavirus cases in the triple-digits. Santa Clara County is still the hardest-hit in the Bay Area, with 302 cases and ten deaths. San Francisco has confirmed 108 cases and Alameda County totals 106. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

Cases of coronavirus infection in Orange County are up to 95 -- Orange County reported Sunday that coronavirus infection cases had risen to 95. Although cases of COVID-19 have been rising steadily, no deaths have yet been reported. On Saturday, UC Irvine announced that a non-student resident living in campus family housing tested positive for the coronavirus infection but was in good condition. Alex Wigglesworth, Lilly Nguyen, Matt Szabo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

5 more San Diego shipboard sailors test positive for COVID-19 -- Five more Pacific Fleet sailors stationed on San Diego-based ships tested positive for COVID-19, the Navy announced Sunday, doubling the number of such cases on the waterfront. Andrew Dyer in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/23/20

COVID-19 claims first life of San Diego County resident -- San Diego County public health officials reported the region’s first fatality from COVID-19 on Sunday while the city of San Diego prohibited all gatherings at public parks and beaches. Gary Warth, David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/23/20

• How do you become infected with the coronavirus? -- How did a virus that didn’t even exist just a few months ago manage to infect more than 300,000 people and cause more than 13,000 deaths? How exactly does this pathogen spread? Here’s what scientists have learned so far about the virus known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

Social Distancing

As crowds gather despite coronavirus rules, some parks, trails and beach parking lots are closed -- California’s sweeping stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus resulted in a weekend like no other, with people staying indoors and, when outside, keeping at least six feet apart. But there were exceptions — including at the state’s beloved beaches. Santa Monica closed its beach parking lots because of the crowds. Nicole Santa Cruz, Phil Willon, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ Christopher Weber Associated Press -- 3/23/20

Marin County closes all of its parks in response to massive crowds despite pandemic -- One day after scolding the public for packing its beaches and parks despite a statewide shelter-in-place order due to the coronavirus pandemic, Marin County on Sunday announced it was closing all of its parks. Greg Keraghosian in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/23/20

Southern Californians who fail to heed coronavirus warnings run into new restrictions – especially at the beach -- But Sunday, the public found yellow caution tape draped off a popular basketball court in Laguna Beach; piers in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach blocked to visitors; volleyball courts stripped of their nets on the sand across Los Angeles County. Roxana Kopetman, Lisa Jacobs in the Orange County Register -- 3/23/20

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Out of work: Coronavirus pandemic turns into a Bay Area jobs crisis -- The Villalobos are among the tens of thousands of Californians who abruptly lost their jobs when Bay Area counties enacted mandatory shelter-in-place orders Tuesday requiring all nonessential businesses to close, and Gov. Gavin Newsom followed Thursday with an order encompassing the entire state. For many, particularly low-wage workers, the orders were a swift and devastating blow. Experts say the damage may linger long after the COVID-19 outbreak dies down. Marisa Kendall, Ethan Baron, Erica Hellerstein in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 3/23/20

LA Council to consider making it more difficult to fire employees amid coronavirus crisis -- Los Angeles City Council at its Tuesday meeting is expected to take up a number of measures setting restrictions on businesses and their ability to fire their employees in light of the coronavirus crisis. Council members Mike Bonin, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Paul Koretz and separately, Gil Cedillo have introduced motions to protect employees. The actual language still must be drafted. Mike Sprague in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 3/23/20

State treasurers: Fed must step up as municipal bond market craters -- As the Covid-19 crisis batters state economies, more than a dozen state treasurers are urging Congress to authorize the Federal Reserve to buy municipal bonds — a key tool to finance necessary infrastructure and public projects. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 3/23/20

Bretón: Farmworkers pick our food. Shouldn’t we care about their health and coronavirus exposure? -- For generations we have tolerated that our food supply in California – our No. 1 industry – is fully dependent on undocumented labor and low-wage workers too often bereft of paid sick leave or health care or unemployment insurance or overtime benefits or wages robust enough to afford homes. Marcos Bretón in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/23/20

‘It’s like losing a family’: An L.A. nightclub and its workers fight for survival during the coronavirus outbreak -- On March 12, Johnny Luna showed up for work at Lodge Room in Highland Park. The 33-year-old father of two is the lighting director for the club, a 500-capacity independent music venue right off a popular stretch of Figueroa Street. August Brown in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Scams

Beware the coronavirus scams: Colloidal silver, herb remedies and fake test kits -- In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, public health officials have made it clear: There is no pill, vaccine or supplement that can cure or prevent the virus. But that hasn’t stopped scam artists from trying to take advantage of people’s fears. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Homeless  

‘You know about the coronavirus?’ Homeless outreach workers have a new reason to worry -- On a recent morning, Katrina Johnson, Ralph Gomez and Kenya Smith are eager to hit the streets. Outreach workers for a homeless agency serving South Los Angeles, they want to catch up with their clients before the weekend, to make sure everyone is safe for the days ahead. Thomas Curwen, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Education 

Teachers find many obstacles as they try to keep kids learning amid coronavirus -- But only three or four of her 28 students accessed their schoolwork last week, she said. Some don’t have computers and others are without internet access. One student can only open assignments on her father’s phone when he gets home from work. Arit John, Sonali Kohli, Paloma Esquivel, Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Students hit hard as L.A. community colleges scramble to respond to coronavirus -- At the nation’s largest community college district, communication about the coronavirus has been confusing. Less than half of the faculty had been trained in “distance education” before the pandemic hit. Employees lacked access to systems to enable working from home. There were not enough laptops for students and teachers to access online instruction. Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

Also . . . 

Coronavirus halts California ballot measure signature-gathering in its tracks -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order will not only keep people off the streets, but also could keep some initiative measures off the November ballot. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

Signature gathering halted for $5.5 billion stem cell initiative -- Backers of a $5.5 billion stem cell research initiative in California have suspended their efforts to gather signatures to place it on the November ballot, but are expressing confidence that the proposal will qualify. David Jensen Capitol Weekly -- 3/23/20

Coronavirus leads Bay Area residents to fill little libraries with food, toilet paper -- Little Free Libraries in the Bay Area, once a charming home for dog-eared Tom Clancy novels or an extra copy of “Goodnight Moon,” are turning into coronavirus supply stations — filling with food, soap and rolls of that most sought-after item: toilet paper. Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/23/20

POTUS 45  

Fauci gets frank about Trump: ‘I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down’ -- Amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, Anthony S. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been charged with a herculean task: trying to keep President Trump’s public statements about the novel virus rooted in fact. Now it appears that Fauci’s frustration is showing. Allyson Chiu in the Washington Post$ -- 3/23/20

Governors and mayors in growing uproar over Trump’s lagging coronavirus response -- President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic sparked uproar and alarm among governors and mayors on Sunday as Trump and his administration’s top advisers continued to make confusing statements about the federal government’s scramble to confront the crisis, including whether he will force private industry to mass produce needed medical items. Robert Costa and Aaron Gregg in the Washington Post$ -- 3/23/20

Trump Bets Business Will Answer Call to Fight Virus, but Strategy Bewilders Firms -- Corporate executives say they face a bewildering number of requests from dozens of nations around the world, along with governors and mayors around the country, for scarce supplies. The White House has not said who will set the priority list for deliveries. And it is not clear that any of it will arrive in time for the cities and the states that are hit the hardest, including New York. David E. Sanger, Ana Swanson and Maggie Haberman in the Washington Post$ -- 3/23/20

Trump wants to defeat coronavirus — and make sure he gets credit -- President Donald Trump spent the weekend vacillating between casting himself as an empathetic leader and wartime president as the coronavirus spreads through the United States. But above all, he still wants credit. Credit for cutting off travel from China. Credit for giving up money to run for office. Credit for uniting the nation. Nancy Cook Politico -- 3/23/20

Beltway 

Dems seize on 'slush fund' to oppose Republican rescue package -- As Senate Democrats went to the floor Sunday night to vote — the first time they’d been there in days — they had one thing on their minds: a secret “slush fund” for Corporate America. John Bresnahan and Marianne Levine Politico -- 3/23/20

Biden Addresses a Visibility Question: ‘How Do We Get More of You?’ -- As President Trump appears at daily briefings, the Democratic front-runner faces the challenge of raising his profile in a presidential race that has moved almost entirely into the digital realm. Thomas Kaplan in the New York Times$ -- 3/23/20

Skelton: Biden is right to pick a woman for vice president. Now he has to make the right choice -- Joe Biden made a smart move by promising to choose a woman as his running mate. Next he needs to be smart again and choose the right woman. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/23/20

 

-- Sunday Updates 

Californians urged to stay home as experts warn coronavirus-related death toll will rise -- As the number of California coronavirus infection cases reached 1,500, state officials called on residents to stay home as much as possible, raced to get more people tested and enlisted the support of tech titans. Experts, meanwhile, warned that the number of U.S. deaths would rise in the months ahead. Phil Willon, Alex Wigglesworth, Richard Winton, Laura King in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

• How do you become infected with the coronavirus? -- How did a virus that didn’t even exist just a few months ago manage to infect more than 300,000 people and cause more than 13,000 deaths? How exactly does this pathogen spread? Here’s what scientists have learned so far about the virus known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

With coronavirus, California’s economy is in uncharted territory -- COVID-19 is almost certain to cause the first pandemic-induced recession of the postwar era. For millions of Californians and their families, that may mean less work, lower income and more financial stress. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 3/22/20

The U.S. Shut Down Its Economy. Here’s What Needs to Happen in Order to Restart -- Whole sectors of the United States economy have gone dark to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Here’s what comes next. Jim Tankersley in the New York Times$ -- 3/22/20

Top Economists See Some Echoes of Depression in U.S. Sudden Stop -- But as business activity halts and layoffs surge, some prominent economy watchers -- including former White House chief economists Glenn Hubbard and Kevin Hassett and former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan Blinder -- have drawn comparisons to the Great Depression, though they’ve stopped well short of forecasting another one. Rich Miller and Reade Pickert Bloomberg -- 3/22/20

CalPERS loses $69 billion in biggest market losses since Great Recession -- The pot of invested money used to pay for hundreds of thousands of California public employee pensions has shrunk by $69 billion as coronavirus has squeezed global markets. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s fund balance stood about $335 billion Thursday, down from a record high of $404 billion one month ago, according to CalPERS officials. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 3/22/20

Are 826 ventilators enough for San Diego? Yes, but only if you stay home -- It’s hard to overstate exactly what access to mechanical ventilation buys for the small percentage of patients who end up needing them, said Dr. Jess Mandel, director of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine at UC San Diego Health. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 3/22/20

LAPD expected to cancel vacations, work 12-hour shifts to combat coronavirus -- The Los Angeles Police Department is expected to switch to 12-hour shifts for its officers in the coming weeks and cancel all vacations as a way to staff up in response to the coronavirus outbreak, a law enforcement source told the L.A. Times. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

• This online toilet paper calculator will tell you just how long your supply will last -- Howmuchtoiletpaper.com is a website created by student software developer Ben Sassoon and artist Sam Harris, both based in London, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The tool calculates just how long your stash of TP will last you during a quarantine. Leah Asmelash CNN -- 3/22/20

Fed Response

FEMA head says masks are being sent but declines to be specific -- Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor said Sunday that masks are currently being shipped to states, particularly hot spots like New York City and California — an announcement that comes as health care workers grow increasingly desperate for critical medical gear. However, Gaynor was unable to give more detail on when the masks would arrive or provide specific numbers. Rishika Dugyala Politico -- 3/22/20

Desperate and angry state leaders push back on Trump admin claims of mass mask shipments -- Governors, mayors and front-line health care workers confronting rising numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients said Sunday they have not received meaningful amounts of federal aid, including the shipments of desperately needed masks and other emergency equipment that administration officials say they have already dispatched. Alice Ollstein Politico -- 3/22/20

Bipartisan talks falter on massive economic rescue package -- Negotiations on massive $1.6 trillion-plus emergency economic package to deal with the coronavirus crisis stalled on Sunday, with Senate Democrats objecting to the bill before a key procedural vote. Democrats emerged from a closed-door lunch saying the emergency package had serious shortfalls and provided a "slush fund" to large corporations. Marianne Levine and John Bresnahan Politico -- 3/22/20

Lobbyists Pile On to Get Wins for Clients Into Coronavirus Stimulus Package -- From Boeing Co. to Verizon Communications, scores of U.S. companies and industries are furiously lobbying Congress to add measures to the Trump administration’s massive stimulus package to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, some of which address issues that long predate the outbreak. Brody Mullins and Ted Mann in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 3/22/20

Social Distancing

Hoping to escape coronavirus, city dwellers are fleeing to California’s deserts and mountains -- As the coronavirus pandemic tightens its grip on California’s largest cities, some residents are fleeing urban sprawl and seeking shelter in isolated communities in the Mojave Desert or rugged Sierra Nevada. Their hope, they say, is to avoid possible public unrest and limit their exposure to the virus. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

People pack Marin County beaches and parks, officials to close most of Point Reyes National Seashore -- Amid warm, sunny weather, people flocked to the beaches and parks of Marin County on Saturday despite California's shelter-in-place order asking residents to stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/22/20

East Bay parks may be next to close as huge crowds create health, safety issues -- A deluge of visitors this weekend, many not practicing recommended coronavirus “social distancing” practices and parking illegally after finding full lots, is forcing Bay Area officials to close popular areas and consider shutdowns. Tom Stienstra in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/22/20

Crowded California beaches pose a challenge for strict coronavirus stay-home rules -- California’s sweeping stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus resulted in a weekend like no other, with people staying indoors and keeping six feet apart when outside. But there were some exceptions — including the state’s beloved beaches. Nicole Santa Cruz, Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

Will California’s shelter in place work to slow the pandemic? -- Rutherford and most of his peers think the Bay Area probably acted swiftly and assertively enough to tamp down the worst of the outbreak — to flatten the curve, so to speak. The same may be true for California too. But the entire country is on a steep trajectory toward a disastrous epidemic, they say. And California can only isolate itself from the rest of the world for so long. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 3/22/20

What you should know about wearing gloves and a mask if you can’t work from home -- As state and local officials have issued strict stay-at-home mandates to curb the spread of COVID-19, there are many workers who don’t have the luxury of staying home. There’s the neighbor working at a grocery store with an elderly parent at home, or the gas station clerk keeping the pumps running. Nicole Santa Cruz in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

Eerie drone photos reveal California’s new stay-at-home landscape -- The staff of the Los Angeles Times has been documenting the changing landscape of everyday life. Here are views from on high of the Southland in the time of the coronavirus. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

Spread

Here is the latest list of L.A. County communities with coronavirus infection cases -- Los Angeles County health officials Saturday confirmed two more coronavirus-related deaths and 59 new cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the county to 351. Alex Wigglesworth, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20

Sen. Rand Paul tests positive for coronavirus -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday announced he has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first senator and third member of Congress known to have contracted the disease. Sarah Ferris and John Bresnahan Politico -- 3/22/20

Beware the coronavirus scams: Colloidal silver, herb remedies and fake test kits -- In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, public health officials have made it clear: There is no pill, vaccine or supplement that can cure or prevent the virus. But that hasn’t stopped scam artists from trying to take advantage of people’s fears. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 3/22/20