Photos of packed beaches in southern California over the weekend were condemned by the state governor Gavin Newsom, amid fears large crowds could reverse progress on containing Covid-19 in the US.
Many popular beaches have remained fully closed to the public, though a handful have taken steps to permit visitors in a limited capacity while adopting a range of restrictions, enforcement plans and recommendations
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Dr Deborah Birx reportedly had to convince Trump to come out against Georgia’s plan to start reopening non-essential businesses this Friday.
Trump said during yesterday’s press conference that he disagreed “strongly” with Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s reopening plan, which many public health experts have warned is dangerously hasty.
At a meeting before Wednesday’s briefing, task force members discussed the likelihood of being asked about [Kemp’s] controversial move to open up many businesses such as nail salons and bowling alleys, [a White House] source added. ...
During the meeting, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other task force members said if the scientists were not in agreement with Trump on the Georgia issue during the news conference it would pose a problem.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said she would likely extend the state’s stay-at-home order while looking at allowing some activties with restrictions in place, emphasizing that the state’s reopening would take place in waves.
“It will permit some activity if our numbers continue to go down and our testing continues to go up,” the Democratic governor told MSNBC this morning. “But It’s too early to say precisely what each wave looks like and when it happens.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says reopening has to be "strategic and thoughtful": "I've heard governors across the country, on both sides of the aisle, say it's not going to be like flipping a light switch, we're not just going to go back to pre-Covid 19 posture" pic.twitter.com/6gGHbUkFPC
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America’s addiction to mass incarceration could almost double its number of deaths from coronavirus, with jails acting as incubators of the disease and spreading a further 100,000 fatalities across the US.
The startling warning comes from groundbreaking modeling by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and academic researchers, released on Wednesday.
Related: Mass incarceration could add 100,000 deaths to US coronavirus toll, study finds
Continue reading...Officials say two people in northern California died from the virus in early February before the first reported death in the US
The coronavirus was killing Americans in the US weeks before health officials, doctors or the government realized, it emerged early on Wednesday.
Health officials now say two people died from Covid-19 in California in early February before the first reported death from the disease in the United States.
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New York governor Andrew Cuomo said it would be a “major, major undertaking” to develop a plan on reopening the state’s schools.
Cuomo emphasized no school district was allowed to reopen at the moment, as the state has mandated schools to remain closed for now.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said some hospitals in the state would send the results of its hydroxychloroquine trials to federal health officials today.
Cuomo declined to describe the results of the trials, focused on whether the anti-malaria drug can help treat coronavirus patients.
Continue reading...Non-peer reviewed study from Stanford found rate of virus may be 50 to 85 times higher than official figures
A new study in California has found the number of people infected with coronavirus may be tens of times higher than previously thought.
The study from Stanford University, which was released Friday and has yet to be peer reviewed, tested samples from 3,330 people in Santa Clara county and found the virus was 50 to 85 times more common than official figures indicated.
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Kari Paul here, logging out for the night. Below are some top stories to be aware of from the last few hours:
For those of us on the West Coast wondering “what’s next?” here is a pretty comprehensive look at what needs to be done to reopen California, written by two medical doctors.
In short, to reopen we will need much more access to testing so we can localize and isolate new cases of the virus, and restrictions on large gatherings will likely persist for awhile. In other words, we are all going to be working from home and washing our hands constantly for the foreseeable future.
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What does protest look like under a stay-at-home order?
This evening, activists are lighting a candle in solidarity with more than 90,000 people typically incarcerated in state prisons and jails in New York state, as coronavirus threatens to turn crowded, unsanitary prisons into death traps.
Lighting a candle for all incarcerated people tonight in solidarity with #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth pic.twitter.com/fzWJZ8O7Yj
It is inhumane to let people die in cages. That has always been true, and it is especially true now in the midst of a global pandemic.
6 y/o and I are joining the @FreeThemAll2020 campaign in calling on @NYGovCuomo to #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth. pic.twitter.com/vrAjImhUAe
#FreeThemAll4PublicHealth #FreeThemAll because people don't belong in cages pic.twitter.com/bWZGnmQQar
Advocates have been pleading for weeks that San Francisco move people out of homeless shelters and into hotel rooms, given that the conditions inside these facilities are often unsanitary and crowded, making it easy for a virus to quickly spread.
Now, there has been a major coronavirus outbreak inside a homeless shelter in San Francisco: nearly 70 residents at MSC South have tested positive, which is roughly half of all the people who were tested.
After 70 residents of a San Francisco homeless shelter test positive for Covid-19, advocates say others are trapped in lockdown in shelters with restrictions. "Telling them they cannot leave is not protecting them"-@Leahfsw. "People need to be moved to hotels, not just locked up" pic.twitter.com/YTfxVaMIGg
Continue reading...The effect of the three-week-long lockdown on daily life in San Francisco is revealed in drone footage showing empty streets and deserted landmarks. The city was the first in the US to announce a 'stay-at-home' order on 16 March, restricting all but essential activities
Continue reading...Prosecutors accuse film producer, serving 23-year sentence in New York, of sexual battery by restraint in 2010 incident
Los Angeles prosecutors have filed a new sexual assault charge against Harvey Weinstein, the film producer serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for rape.
The LA district attorney’s office, which filed its original case in January, announced on Friday that Weinstein was facing a new felony charge of sexual battery by restraint, stemming from an incident at a Beverly Hills hotel on 11 May 2010.
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Dr. Fauci said “I believe we acted early,” in response to a question about whether the US could have done more, earlier. But he conceded that earlier action could have helped.
Dr. Birx, as well, evaded the question, asserting that it remains to be seen whether the disease was spreading through the US in February or earlier.
Fact check: Hydroxychloroquine cure
Trump once again touted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus cure, asserting that it won’t kill people because it has already been used to treat other conditions. But the drug can have serious side effects even when it is used as recommended, to treat malaria, as well as lupus and arthritis.
Continue reading...A group of neighbours in Los Angeles threw a socially distanced welcome-home party for a teenager after she finished chemotherapy. Courtney Johnson, 15, was diagnosed with cancer in June and was receiving treatment at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The video was shared by her mother on social media
Continue reading...State has more than 2,500 cases and faces a shortage of protective equipment and hospital beds
Leaders in California are scrambling to prepare the state amid a shortage of hospital beds, limited access to masks and ventilators and a patchwork approach to testing, as a surge of cases in New York provides a warning of how quickly the coronavirus crisis could spiral out of control.
The number of cases in New York state had soared by Tuesday morning, with 25,665 confirmed infected and 210 deaths. “We are now, in New York City, the epicenter of this crisis in the United States of America,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. “The worst is yet to come.”
Continue reading...There are 415 pledged delegates up for grabs in California’s Democratic presidential primary vote on Super Tuesday, more than any other state. Income inequality, homelessness, healthcare, immigration, climate change and the economy are some of the key issues for Democratic voters in the state. Hillary Clinton won the state convincingly in the 2016 US election.
Continue reading...Several people hospitalized in Pasadena after Africanized bees emerge from hotel’s eaves: ‘Something set them off’
A swarm of as many as 40,000 Africanized bees sent several people to hospital and closed a street in California, after swarming from the eaves of a Howard Johnson Inn.
Related: Ursus urbinus: 'elderly' 400lb bear spotted roaming Los Angeles suburb
Continue reading...Queer activists were met with chants of ‘Boot-Edge-Edge’ after they disrupted a private fundraiser for Pete Buttigieg in San Francisco on Friday evening. The activists, escorted out of the event, reflected unease among the LBGTQ+ community over the Buttigieg campaign
Continue reading...The NBA, and much of America, was in shock on Sunday after Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players in history, died in a helicopter crash. He was 41.
Bryant was on board the helicopter with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, when it crashed at 10am local time near Calabasas, 30 miles north-west of downtown Los Angeles, in foggy weather. The crash ignited brushfires, making it hard for rescue crews to get close to the site. There were no survivors. Bryant, who lived in the area for most of his life often used helicopters to beat Los Angeles’ heavy traffic, and on Sunday he was taking Gianna to play in a basketball game at his academy outside the city.
Continue reading...Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, has died in a helicopter crash. He was 41.
Bryant was on board the helicopter along with four others when it crashed at 10am local time near Calabasas, 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, in foggy weather. The crash ignited brushfires, making it hard for rescue crews to get close to the site. There were no reported survivors, and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, is also believed to have died in the crash. Bryant had lived in the area for most of his life and often used helicopters to beat Los Angeles’ heavy traffic.
Continue reading...London Breed, San Francisco’s first black female mayor, joins campaign following support from Stockton and San Jose mayors
There’s nothing surprising about a billionaire winning the support of the mayor of San Francisco, a city flush with tech wealth and new money.
But when the billionaire is Mike Bloomberg – and the endorsement is the latest from a string of California mayors he mentored and supported – the vow of support raises some eyebrows.
Continue reading...Intervention of California governor helps Moms 4 Housing group score victory in fight against state’s homeless crisis
The homeless mothers who took over a vacant house in Oakland, California and occupied it for almost two months will be allowed to purchase the property – a major victory in a movement working to keep such homes out of the possession of speculators.
The group Moms 4 Housing entered the house on Magnolia Street on 18 November with the intent to stay. The house had sat vacant for more than two years before it was purchased in July at a foreclosure auction for $501,078 by Wedgewood Properties, a real estate investment company with a history of buying up foreclosed-upon houses cheaply, evicting the tenants, renovating the homes and then putting them back on the market at much higher prices.
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