COVID-19 peak has not arrived. Musk strikes to Texas. wither Coachella?
Plus: Lawmakers are again in session and mad about EDD fraud. Additionally they need masks for farmers and extra assist for student-athletes.
Greetings from Palm Springs. I’m Robert Hopwood, on-line producer for The Desert Solar, bringing you a each day roundup of the highest information from throughout California.
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Prime state well being official: Now we have not peaked but
California added 23,000 new virus circumstances on Tuesday, and Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state secretary of well being and human providers, stated he would not imagine the state has seen the height in new each day circumstances but.
California’s seven-day common for brand new each day virus circumstances has doubled over the previous two weeks, whereas the positivity charge jumped 55%, Ghaly stated. Hospitalizations rose 70% over the identical interval with strain mounting on intensive care models that depend on specialised employees to make life-saving choices for coronavirus and non-virus sufferers, he stated.
The state has seen a roughly 70% enhance in ICU admissions in simply two weeks, leaving simply 1,700 of the state’s 7,800 ICU beds obtainable. With some California hospitals near reaching their breaking factors, Gov. Gavin Newsom is bringing in lots of of hospital employees from outdoors the state and beginning to put together to re-start emergency hospitals.
California has requested almost 600 well being care staff to assist in ICUs way of a contracting company and the federal authorities. It’s beginning a two-day program to coach registered nurses to look after ICU sufferers and establishing hyperlinks for docs to seek the advice of remotely on ICU sufferers.
In one other try to assist, the state is activating the primary two of 11 various care websites which have a complete capability of 1,862 beds. These two websites are in Imperial and Sacramento counties.
Different need-to-know COVID-19 information:
- BUZZZZ! At midday Tuesday, tens of millions of individuals throughout the state obtained an emergency alert on their cellphones reminding them of the state’s stay-at-home order and urging them to put on a masks, apply social distancing and keep residence apart from important actions. The alert was issued the Governor’s Workplace of Emergency Companies in areas which can be topic to the order, together with the 11-county Southern California area and the 12-county San Joaquin Valley area.
- BUSTED! The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division busted a “huge underground social gathering” in Palmdale over the weekend, the L.A. Instances reported. Greater than 150 arrests have been made and a number of other weapons have been confiscated. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has pledged to crackdown on super-spreader occasions.
- DINNER PARTY 5 California Assemblymembers have been noticed consuming collectively at Maydoon, a Sacramento restaurant, on Monday. Based on the Sacramento Bee, they have been Adrin Nazarian, D-West Toluca Lake; Chad Mayes, I-Rancho Mirage; Tasha Boerner Horvath, D-Encinitas; Marc Levine, D-Marin County; and Chris Ward, D-San Diego, together with Mayes’ fiancée.
Do you reside within the San Joaquin or Southern California area, that are underneath stay-at-home orders? You most likely have questions on what’s allowed and what’s not. This is a FAQ.
Vaccines are coming, is the state prepared?
States are preparing for the most important medical enterprise many have ever tried with most of the particulars nonetheless up within the air. Days earlier than the primary COVID-19 vaccine is cleared to be used, an unique USA TODAY Community survey of well being officers in all 50 states revealed a patchwork of preparations and completely different distribution plans which will imply broad variations in what the rollout seems to be like because it expands throughout the nation.
The FDA is predicted to OK Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as early as Thursday evening. The White Home has promised to get the vaccine shipped inside 24 hours. Distributing these vaccines is as much as every state and falls on the backs of chronically underfunded public well being techniques.
Moreover figuring out who will get the vaccine first, challenges confronted the states embrace retaining the doses saved in subzero temperatures, discovering the employees to offer injections, lack of funds to pay for the initiative, conducting the rollout through the winter, retaining the vaccine protected, and extra.
Lawmakers goal EDD fraud
Financial institution of America stated Monday it’s probably California paid at the very least $2 billion in fraudulent unemployment advantages. Whereas the $2 billion estimate is lower than 2% of the $110 billion California has paid in unemployment advantages since March, Financial institution of America stated the size of fraud in California was distinctive in comparison with different states.
State lawmakers, who returned to Sacramento on Monday to start out a brand new legislative session, launched a number of payments to handle the issues on the Employment Growth Division. A proposal from Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, would require California to supply an choice of receiving unemployment advantages through direct deposit as a substitute of a debit card to cut back the potential for fraud.
Republican Sen. Shannon Grove stated she is going to creator a invoice requiring the state to cross-check unemployment claims towards state jail information.
Different proposals brewing in Sacramento: Masks for farmworkers throughout fires, extra assist for pupil athletes?
State Assemblymember Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, desires the state to accumulate a stockpile of N-95 masks and arrange a strike crew to distribute them to farmworkers after they proceed to work underneath harmful situations throughout wildfires with the intention to preserve the nation fed.
Meeting Invoice 73, which has no funding connected, would
- Require instant deployment of specialised strike groups from every Cal/OSHA regional workplace throughout main unhealthy air high quality occasions. These groups shall be composed of present division staff who will present technical help and guarantee staff are adequately protected.
- Require the Division of Industrial Relations, in coordination with different state businesses, to ascertain a stockpile of N-95 masks that may be distributed to farmers throughout a wildfire outbreak.
- Require Cal/OSHA to develop and distribute info on wildfire security to agriculture staff in each Spanish and English.
In the meantime, Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who wrote what grew to become the primary state legislation designed to permit faculty athletes to become profitable from their identify, picture and likeness, has launched a invoice to broaden the legislation’s affect.
The 2019 legislation, which has not taken impact but, included provisions which can be much less restrictive than proposed name-image-and-likeness (NIL) guidelines adjustments that the NCAA unveiled final month in preparation for a vote in January 2021.
Skinner’s new invoice may create further variations, and it might make the legislation efficient as quickly as Aug. 1, 2021 — 17 months sooner than in her unique invoice. Particularly, the invoice would change the legislation’s efficient date to both Jan. 1, 2022, or on the beginning date of the NCAA’s NIL guidelines adjustments. As presently proposed, that might be Aug. 1, 2021.
It additionally would add a provision to the legislation that claims colleges can not deny athletes any rights afforded to all different college students, besides in relation to recruitment.
Can the Coachella music pageant occur in April?
Will the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Competition in Indio go ahead this spring? That’s a giant query for music followers throughout the state, and it’s not trying promising.
There’s been no official affirmation of the pageant’s postponement Goldenvoice, the corporate that produces the pageant, however with 4 months till the mega music pageant is about to happen, the prospect it is going to occur in spring 2021 is getting slimmer the day.
Town of Indio has not been advised Goldenvoice that the April date is off. However the Coachella web site options little to no element a few 2021 live performance.
At the moment of 12 months, there are sometimes almost-weekly conferences between town of Indio and Goldenvoice employees, representatives from regional utilities and Riverside County, safety personnel and others. These conferences aren’t taking place.
And a number of other media experiences this fall, triggered a Rolling Stone article and feedback from unnamed “music-industry insiders,” speculated that Coachella, which was delayed twice final 12 months, could be delayed for a 3rd time, till October 2021.
Elon Musk says he is moved to Texas, says California takes innovators with no consideration
Tesla CEO Elon Musk advised The Wall Road Journal in an interview Tuesday that he has moved to Texas, saying that California has taken innovators with no consideration.
He additionally might be shifting as a result of Texas has no earnings tax. Musk’s 18% stake in Tesla is value billions.
The newspaper didn’t say the place he had moved in Texas, however it’s more likely to be near Austin, the place Tesla is constructing a brand new manufacturing unit. SpaceX, one other Musk-led firm, has operations close .
That is all for this Tuesday. We’ll be again in your inbox tomorrow with extra headlines from the Golden State.
In California is a roundup of stories from throughout USA At this time community newsrooms. Additionally contributing: Related Press, Wall Road Journal, Los Angeles Instances, Sacramento Bee.
