latimes--2020-12-12--Several UC chancellors call for tuition increase amid pandemic-fueled budget crisis

As the pandemic throws the University of California into one of the worst financial crises it has ever collectively faced , top leaders at the majority of campuses say it ’ s time to consider a tuition increase for fall 2022 .
Chancellors and senior leaders at five of the nine UC undergraduate campuses told The Times that the staggering financial hit to their operations triggered by the coronavirus crisis and a $ 300.8-million proposed state budget cut this year have underscored the pressing need to open talks about tuition rates — which regents have increased just once for California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has prompted campuses to slash budgets , dig into reserves , borrow funds , substantially halt hiring — and , at UC Riverside , propose axing its athletic program , drawing hundreds of protest letters , emails and calls .
Last March , UC regents had been expected to vote on a proposed five-year plan to raise tuition and fees that would have begun this past fall .
Under the proposal , tuition and fees would have increased by inflation plus 2 % for new UC students and guarantee them that same tuition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have raised more financial aid , effectively lowering the cost of attendance for more than 100,000 needy students , and give both families and campuses financial predictability .
But the proposal was shelved after the coronavirus crisis upended the economy .
No tuition hike has been proposed for next fall , so the earliest one could take effect would be for fall 2022 .
California students currently pay $ 12,570 in annual tuition and fees ; nonresidents pay an additional $ 28,992 , but financial aid covers tuition for the majority of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eating at our fat for a long time and what I ’ m saying now is that we ’ re down to the bone , ” UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said .
“ Even though this is not a perfect time for a tuition increase , it is a good time to start thinking about it.
” The UC Student Assn .
opposes any tuition increase — especially now , when many students and their families are struggling with job losses and housing and food insecurity , President Aidan Arasasingham said.l @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , students need more financial aid , mental health services , broadband access and academic preparation programs .
“ Because students and families are hurting so much now , we can ’ t put the burden of closing budget deficits on their backs , ” Arasasingham said .
What ’ s more is that in lawsuits across California and the nation , some students are demanding tuition refunds , saying they are being shortchanged by the wholesale move to online learning .
UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez did not comment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to talk about tuition but said the issue has not been scheduled for a board discussion at this time .
Systemwide , UC took a $ 2.7-billion financial hit between March and October — about 6.5 % of its $ 41.6-billion operating budget , mainly from lost income from medical centers , housing and dining and added costs for coronavirus testing , tracing , personal protective equipment , deep cleaning and the move to online instruction .
As a result , campuses are scrambling to make ends meet .
UC President Michael V. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up with their own budget plans but directed them to preserve jobs as much as possible and ensure that higher-paid employees make bigger salary adjustments than lower-paid workers “ in the spirit of equity and fairness.
” At UC Riverside , the pandemic has magnified funding inequities , Chancellor Kim Wilcox said .
Riverside receives the lowest level of state support per California resident among UC undergraduate campuses — even though it educates the largest proportion of low-income and underrepresented minority students along with UC Merced .
Wilcox said the $ 175-million financial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ budget is “ by far the worst ” of his career , exacerbating what he described as the campus ’ historically fragile operation .
Unlike UCLA , Berkeley or San Diego , UC Riverside does not attract many higher-paying students from other states and countries .
Nor does Riverside have a large endowment — about $ 250 million compared with UCLA ’ s $ 5.4 billion .
To close the budget gap , Riverside has imposed some layoffs and is asking campus officials to reduce spending by up to 15 % — among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Axing athletics and study programs abroad , in Washington , D.C. , and in Sacramento would diminish the college experience for UC ’ s neediest students , he said .
“ It ’ s just really frustrating to me that you can be a student in the University of California ... and depending on which city you happen to be residing in you have access to athletics and all kinds of other things that you wouldn ’ t somewhere else , ” Wilcox said .
He said UC needs a plan for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The sooner we can get to it , the better , ” he said .
At UC Berkeley , Chancellor Carol Christ also urged that the earlier conversation on small and limited tuition increases resume to help the campus address what she called the most severe financial crisis of her career — the first time nearly all revenue sources have been affected at once .
Berkeley had just dug itself out of a $ 150-million budget hole when the pandemic created a new shortfall of $ 340 million — driven by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million , fewer tuition dollars due to a last-minute enrollment loss of about 800 students , higher costs for coronavirus testing , cleaning and online education , plunging housing and dining revenues with about 2,000 students filling just 20 % of campus beds and huge losses from canceled sports events and arts performances .
That budget gap is now down to about $ 200 million after Berkeley imposed a hiring freeze , cancelled merit raises and ordered a budget cut of 3 % across many campus units .
Christ said more actions will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week to begin reducing work hours in February — and ultimately Board of Regents approval of a new tuition plan .
“ Regular , small tuition increases really need to be part of the solution , ” she said .
UC Santa Cruz was hammered with not only the coronavirus crisis , but also wildfires that forced a campus evacuation in late August — delaying plans to ramp up coronavirus testing and requiring extra measures to make sure buildings were safe for the new fall term .
Santa Cruz ended up housing only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some nonresident tuition revenue and took a 10 % state budget cut .
Chancellor Susan Larive said she favors the tuition plan proposed earlier this year because it would help cover rising campus costs while raising more financial aid for needy students .
Santa Cruz ended up housing only 950 of 2,300 expected students , lost some nonresident tuition revenue and took a 10 % state budget cut .
“ People don ’ t like the idea that tuition is going up but we can do it in a fair , equitable and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At UCLA , Chancellor Gene Block was circumspect , saying tuition was an issue for regents to decide .
Among UC campuses , UCLA has faced the biggest financial squeeze of $ 725 million .
Some of the losses involved its medical operations , which have since rebounded ; enrollment , philanthropy and research have all remained strong , said Gregg Goldman , chief financial officer .
But UCLA took a $ 60-million cut in state funding and lost significant revenue by housing only 700 of 16,000 students who normally live on campus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the usual 32,000 .
Block said the financial shock initially made him feel ill and a bit frightened , as he wondered whether UCLA could continue to deliver a quality education remotely and protect its employees from layoffs .
But the campus was able to make ends meet through a hiring slowdown , voluntary separations , an internal loan and a longer winter break .
UCLA also launched a program to retrain and reassign idled workers — redeploying food service workers to make meals for low-income families in partnership with the Venice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions helped Block recently commit to no pandemic-related layoffs through next June .
“ This is not inexpensive , but we just feel this is the right thing to do , ” he said .
“ I think we ’ ll all get through it.
” UC Irvine ’ s interim provost , Hal Stern , said he agreed “ a hundred percent ” that it was time to talk about tuition rates , even though the campus was able to fill a $ 67-million budget shortfall and achieve its UC-imposed $ 12-million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ layoffs this year .
Stern said the campus instead dug into reserves , made a 2 % budget cut and dramatically slowed down hiring , including largely pausing midway through a plan to add 250 new faculty .
UC San Diego officials also moved swiftly to address the financial havoc created by the coronavirus crisis , which resulted in funding losses of more than $ 300 million .
Khosla and his team eliminated 370 positions through attrition , asked most units to make a 4 % budget cut , took out a loan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ projects .
But the campus saw tuition revenues rise above expectations with record fall enrollment —a gain of 840 students instead of an expected loss of 800 .
Khosla attributed the influx in large part to its management of the pandemic , which allowed San Diego to house 9,300 students , filling 55 % of bed capacity — the highest proportion in the UC system .
Khosla also was able to rule out pandemic-related campus layoffs through next June .
But he reiterated that the tuition conversation should begin now to preserve the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all Californians .
“ By investing in UC , you ’ re literally investing in the state and job creation , technology creation , economic development , ” he said .

UCLA is grappling with the pandemic’s financial fallout in part by redeploying workers, such as those in food service who are now making meals for low-income families as campus demand has plunged.
As the pandemic throws the University of California into one of the worst financial crises it has ever collectively faced, top leaders at the majority of campuses say it’s time to consider a tuition increase for fall 2022.
Chancellors and senior leaders at five of the nine UC undergraduate campuses told The Times that the staggering financial hit to their operations triggered by the coronavirus crisis and a $300.8-million proposed state budget cut this year have underscored the pressing need to open talks about tuition rates — which regents have increased just once for California students since 2011.
The financial squeeze has prompted campuses to slash budgets, dig into reserves, borrow funds, substantially halt hiring — and, at UC Riverside, propose axing its athletic program, drawing hundreds of protest letters, emails and calls.
Advertisement
Last March, UC regents had been expected to vote on a proposed five-year plan to raise tuition and fees that would have begun this past fall. Under the proposal, tuition and fees would have increased by inflation plus 2% for new UC students and guarantee them that same tuition level for six years. The plan would have raised more financial aid, effectively lowering the cost of attendance for more than 100,000 needy students, and give both families and campuses financial predictability.
But the proposal was shelved after the coronavirus crisis upended the economy. No tuition hike has been proposed for next fall, so the earliest one could take effect would be for fall 2022. California students currently pay $12,570 in annual tuition and fees; nonresidents pay an additional $28,992, but financial aid covers tuition for the majority of undergraduates.
“We’ve been eating at our fat for a long time and what I’m saying now is that we’re down to the bone,” UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “Even though this is not a perfect time for a tuition increase, it is a good time to start thinking about it.”
The UC Student Assn. opposes any tuition increase — especially now, when many students and their families are struggling with job losses and housing and food insecurity, President Aidan Arasasingham said.
Rather than higher fees, he said, students need more financial aid, mental health services, broadband access and academic preparation programs.
“Because students and families are hurting so much now, we can’t put the burden of closing budget deficits on their backs,” Arasasingham said.
What’s more is that in lawsuits across California and the nation, some students are demanding tuition refunds, saying they are being shortchanged by the wholesale move to online learning.
Advertisement
UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez did not comment on whether he believed it was time to talk about tuition but said the issue has not been scheduled for a board discussion at this time.
Systemwide, UC took a $2.7-billion financial hit between March and October — about 6.5% of its $41.6-billion operating budget, mainly from lost income from medical centers, housing and dining and added costs for coronavirus testing, tracing, personal protective equipment, deep cleaning and the move to online instruction. As a result, campuses are scrambling to make ends meet.
UC President Michael V. Drake has largely empowered campuses to come up with their own budget plans but directed them to preserve jobs as much as possible and ensure that higher-paid employees make bigger salary adjustments than lower-paid workers “in the spirit of equity and fairness.”
At UC Riverside, the pandemic has magnified funding inequities, Chancellor Kim Wilcox said.
Riverside receives the lowest level of state support per California resident among UC undergraduate campuses — even though it educates the largest proportion of low-income and underrepresented minority students along with UC Merced.
Wilcox said the $175-million financial hit to Riverside’s$1-billion budget is “by far the worst” of his career, exacerbating what he described as the campus’ historically fragile operation.
Unlike UCLA, Berkeley or San Diego, UC Riverside does not attract many higher-paying students from other states and countries. Nor does Riverside have a large endowment — about $250 million compared with UCLA’s $5.4 billion.
To close the budget gap, Riverside has imposed some layoffs and is asking campus officials to reduce spending by up to 15% — among the system’s most severe measures. Axing athletics and study programs abroad, in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento would diminish the college experience for UC’s neediest students, he said.
“It’s just really frustrating to me that you can be a student in the University of California...and depending on which city you happen to be residing in you have access to athletics and all kinds of other things that you wouldn’t somewhere else,” Wilcox said.
He said UC needs a plan for “reasonable and consistent” tuition increases. “The sooner we can get to it, the better,” he said.
At UC Berkeley, Chancellor Carol Christ also urged that the earlier conversation on small and limited tuition increases resume to help the campus address what she called the most severe financial crisis of her career — the first time nearly all revenue sources have been affected at once.
Berkeley had just dug itself out of a $150-million budget hole when the pandemic created a new shortfall of $340 million — driven by a state budget cut of $42 million, fewer tuition dollars due to a last-minute enrollment loss of about 800 students, higher costs for coronavirus testing, cleaning and online education, plunging housing and dining revenues with about 2,000 students filling just 20% of campus beds and huge losses from canceled sports events and arts performances.
That budget gap is now down to about $200 million after Berkeley imposed a hiring freeze, cancelled merit raises and ordered a budget cut of 3% across many campus units. Christ said more actions will be needed — she announced plans this week to begin reducing work hours in February — and ultimately Board of Regents approval of a new tuition plan.
“Regular, small tuition increases really need to be part of the solution,” she said.
UC Santa Cruz was hammered with not only the coronavirus crisis, but also wildfires that forced a campus evacuation in late August — delaying plans to ramp up coronavirus testing and requiring extra measures to make sure buildings were safe for the new fall term. Santa Cruz ended up housing only 950 of 2,300 expected students, lost some nonresident tuition revenue and took a 10% state budget cut.
Chancellor Cynthia Larive said she favors the tuition plan proposed earlier this year because it would help cover rising campus costs while raising more financial aid for needy students.
“People don’t like the idea that tuition is going up but we can do it in a fair, equitable and predictable way,” she said.
At UCLA, Chancellor Gene Block was circumspect, saying tuition was an issue for regents to decide. Among UC campuses, UCLA has faced the biggest financial squeeze of $725 million.
Some of the losses involved its medical operations, which have since rebounded; enrollment, philanthropy and research have all remained strong, said Gregg Goldman, chief financial officer. But UCLA took a $60-million cut in state funding and lost significant revenue by housing only 700 of 16,000 students who normally live on campus; daily meals are down to 1,000 from the usual 32,000.
Block said the financial shock initially made him feel ill and a bit frightened, as he wondered whether UCLA could continue to deliver a quality education remotely and protect its employees from layoffs. But the campus was able to make ends meet through a hiring slowdown, voluntary separations, an internal loan and a longer winter break.
UCLA also launched a program to retrain and reassign idled workers — redeploying food service workers to make meals for low-income families in partnership with the Venice Family Clinic, for instance.
Those actions helped Block recently commit to no pandemic-related layoffs through next June.
“This is not inexpensive, but we just feel this is the right thing to do,” he said. “I think we’ll all get through it.”
UC Irvine’s interim provost, Hal Stern, said he agreed “a hundred percent” that it was time to talk about tuition rates, even though the campus was able to fill a $67-million budget shortfall and achieve its UC-imposed $12-million savings target with no pandemic-driven furloughs or layoffs this year.
Stern said the campus instead dug into reserves, made a 2% budget cut and dramatically slowed down hiring, including largely pausing midway through a plan to add 250 new faculty.
UC San Diego officials also moved swiftly to address the financial havoc created by the coronavirus crisis, which resulted in funding losses of more than $300 million. Khosla and his team eliminated 370 positions through attrition, asked most units to make a 4% budget cut, took out a loan and froze $1.7 billion in capital projects.
But the campus saw tuition revenues rise above expectations with record fall enrollment —a gain of 840 students instead of an expected loss of 800. Khosla attributed the influx in large part to its management of the pandemic, which allowed San Diego to house 9,300 students, filling 55% of bed capacity — the highest proportion in the UC system.
Khosla also was able to rule out pandemic-related campus layoffs through next June. But he reiterated that the tuition conversation should begin now to preserve the quality of the renowned university system for all Californians.
“By investing in UC, you’re literally investing in the state and job creation, technology creation, economic development,” he said.


latimes--2020-12-12--From healthcare worker to patient: Death in Room 311

Case No .
09567 died alone in an overheated hotel room in West Covina .
She was a surgical tech at Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital .
She had tested positive for the coronavirus and was in isolation at the Days Inn by Wyndham on busy East Garvey Avenue South .
She was scheduled to check out Oct. 13 , but she never made it down to the lobby .
She did not answer her phone or respond to repeated knocking on her door .
When the manager let herself into Room 311 , she found the 58-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covered her legs .
Her right hand rested on her abdomen .
MSNBC played on the television set .
Chouphaphone “ Judy ” Bounthong had been cleared to return to work that same day , a sweltering Tuesday in the San Gabriel Valley .
But she had already begun to decompose .
“ She ’ s probably been here a couple of days , ” says Kristina McGuire , as she stands over the lifeless body , noting the dehydration around the dead woman ’ s lips , how her fingers have begun @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lower half of her face have begun to turn green .
McGuire is an investigator with the Los Angeles County Dept .
of Medical Examiner-Coroner .
Her job on this day is to piece together the puzzle of Bounthong ’ s life and death — and to stay healthy .
The COVID-19 pandemic , which has killed more than 8,100 people in Los Angeles County alone , has had a dramatic impact on the coroner ’ s office .
But not in the way you might expect .
Yes , investigators and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the field , take extra precautions so as not to contract the virus .
But then again , they are always careful , because they never know what they might encounter on a corpse .
The coronavirus is one possibility , but there ’ s also tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS .
Some death scenes are contaminated with drugs like fentanyl , which can be inhaled from the air and cause great harm .
The most significant change wrought by the pandemic is in the department ’ s caseload , which has soared by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly march through California ’ s most populous county early in 2020 .
But most of the increase is not caused by people dying of COVID-19 .
In fact , it is unclear what has fueled this jump in coroner cases , particularly in drug- and alcohol-related accidents , natural deaths and homicides .
“ The pandemic is certainly a big part of it , ” says Brian Elias , the county ’ s chief of coroner investigations .
“ I think fewer people are seeing doctors , going to hospitals .
… @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behavior versus other coping mechanisms that maybe aren ’ t healthy ?
” Elias , however , calls such an explanation “ just my conjecture.
” On the day McGuire enters Room 311 , it is just one of many mysteries .
The motel manager called the West Covina Police Department .
Police called the coroner ’ s office .
McGuire arrives on the scene at around 2:30 p.m. and sets to work .
She always gloves up when she goes to a death scene .
Her blond hair is scraped into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that stay in the office when her shift ends at 10 p.m. , because , she says , “ these come into contact with blood and decomposing bodies .
And I don ’ t touch them with my bare hands.
” She does not want to bring contamination back to her house in Lancaster .
She shares it with her immunocompromised mother , soon to turn 66 , who was just diagnosed with cancer for the fourth time .
McGuire knew before entering the cluttered room that Bounthong had tested positive for COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a heavy-duty respirator with big , pink filters , two bright spots in the dim light .
Normally she ’ d wear an N95 mask , but greater comfort means less protection .
Since the pandemic began , she maintains at least six feet of distance from everyone she meets on the job .
She is more concerned about contracting the coronavirus from the living than from the dead .
“ They still haven ’ t done studies to determine what ’ s the likelihood of me catching COVID from a person that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , snapping photographs of the room , the dead woman and her belongings .
“ My jacket goes on when I touch a body , because I don ’ t want them touching my bare skin .
But I ’ m not in a full Tyvek suit .
I know some people who are.
” McGuire examines the stuffy motel room , tinged in the afternoon heat with the scent of death .
She documents the prescription bottles , the bunch of rotting bananas on the desk , the piles of clothing on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diapers .
Every detail adds to Bounthong ’ s story .
Even though medical paperwork at the scene shows she contracted COVID-19 , it is not yet certain whether the virus killed her .
“ Something looks so simple : 58-year-old nurse found unresponsive in her bedroom after testing positive for COVID , ” McGuire says .
“ Automatically , you go , ‘ COVID.
’ But I don ’ t know that .
...
I don ’ t know anything about her .
Everything is an assumption , and you find out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it is time to roll Bounthong ’ s body over to look for signs of trauma .
This is a particularly tricky moment , because when a body is moved , air and droplets of moisture from the lungs can spray out — into the room and onto McGuire and her partner , forensic attendant Jerry Meza .
McGuire puts on her jacket — black with “ INVESTIGATOR ” in yellow letters on the back — and stands on the bed .
With Meza ’ s help , she rolls the body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her gloves , pulls Bounthong ’ s pink , floral nightgown up with her left hand to expose the dead woman ’ s back .
She snaps photos with the camera in her right .
She is careful and gentle .
The bed ’ s white sheets are soiled .
Bounthong ’ s skin is wrinkled in a way not seen on a live person .
Her blood has pooled on her back and the backs of her legs , dark and telling .
She has been lying there for several days .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of trauma , ” McGuire says .
“ I don ’ t see anything on the back of her head .
You can see her lividity , from how she was laying and how she died .
I don ’ t feel any fractures to her skull.
” Meza lays a clean , white sheet on the floor , then places a plastic sheet on top of it .
They cover Bounthong ’ s face with a towel .
McGuire takes her feet ; Meza , her hands .
They ease her off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They wrap Bounthong in the protective layers , tie them at her head and feet .
Then they lift her onto the gurney and roll her out the door .
Karmen Parga holds out her smart phone , and the text conversation with her longtime friend fills the tiny screen .
Parga : Are you okay ?
?
I haven ’ t seen you all week Bounthong : Yes I ’ m okay working extra .
Parga : Hey !
You ok ?
Did you test positive for Covid ?
Bounthong : Yes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m I ’ m on isolation 14 days The women met nearly 30 years ago while working at a hospital in Paramount .
Parga , a scrub tech , lives in Lakewood and describes the tiny Laotian woman as her children ’ s second mother .
They have lived together on three separate occasions , most recently at the time of Bounthong ’ s death .
Bounthong ’ s son William , a school social worker , lives near Chicago with his wife , son and daughter .
Bounthong ’ s father died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , and since then , “ Judy had a hard time with depression , with life .
...
But she ’ s always been very caring , very giving .
She wants to feed the world.
” She brought food and supplies to the homeless people in the park near her West Covina hospital .
She would work 12 hours and race back to Lakewood to make dinner for Parga ’ s youngest son , Joseph .
Each of Parga ’ s children had a favorite Bounthong specialty : Joseph ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s was sticky rice and mango , Krystal ’ s was laarb , a meat salad , the unofficial dish of Laos .
“ She would definitely always make sure we were taken care of , ” says Parga , who is Latina .
“ I don ’ t think she ever made a dish I didn ’ t like .
I don ’ t think she ever made a dish anyone didn ’ t like .
... Now we have a pantry full of Thai ingredients I know nothing what to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bounthong made sure to change out of her scrubs at the hospital when her shifts ended .
She did not want to bring contamination home to her second family .
She checked into the Days Inn when she was diagnosed with the virus .
The hotel has been a home away from home for healthcare workers throughout the San Gabriel Valley , both healthy and infected .
To William Bounthong , the need for such accommodations during the pandemic “ is like the underworld of nursing and COVID.
” “ I know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worried about it , ” William says .
“ She felt her immune system was compromised .
... She didn ’ t go home because she had roommates .
That ’ s why she didn ’ t quarantine in her own home.
” When McGuire had to inform Bounthong ’ s family that the surgical tech had died , she dialed Parga .
“ The initial shock of her being diagnosed with COVID was so scary , ” Parga says .
“ If I could turn back time , I think I would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The hardest thing to deal with is that she was isolated for 14 days.
” There is no privacy in death — especially when your demise is investigated by the coroner ’ s office .
Not everyone ’ s is .
About 60,000 people die in Los Angeles County each year .
Elias ’ staff takes on about 15 % of those cases : the violent , the sudden , the unusual .
People who die with no known medical history , exposure deaths , homeless people , the unidentified .
In 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ office worked 9,668 cases , according to data supplied by the agency .
By Nov. 15 , 2020 , with six weeks left in the year , the caseload had already reached 10,267 .
If the pace keeps up — and it shows no sign of abating — the department could reach nearly 12,000 cases this year .
The agency ’ s crypt , where bodies are stored awaiting autopsy or final disposition , holds about 525 bodies ; it is beyond full .
When the pandemic hit , the department ordered a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trailers , space for another 2,000 bodies .
At the end of November , the beginning of the most recent COVID-19 surge , the containers held about 60 bodies .
Drug- and alcohol-related accidental deaths are on track to rise about 15 % over 2019 ; homicides , 29 % , according to statistics provided by the coroner ’ s office .
Suicides , however , have not risen , although the pandemic has definitely influenced some of the people who took their own lives in 2020 .
“ We do know we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they directly attribute to , the pandemic , ” Elias says .
“ ‘ I ’ m isolated .
I ’ ve lost my job .
I don ’ t have those connections I once had.
’ ...
There ’ s notes left or this person has communicated these thoughts to others or will send emails , messages , things along those lines.
” McGuire returns to room 311 after she and Meza escort Bounthong ’ s body down to the white van that will take her back to the office , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pathologist .
Her face is flushed with heat .
Wisps of hair have escaped from her ponytail .
Off comes the jacket .
With the body gone , McGuire is able to swap the heavy respirator for an N95 mask .
She changes gloves again and heads in to examine and inventory Bounthong ’ s possessions .
Two smart phones .
Her work badges .
Jewelry .
Clothing .
A turquoise makeup bag printed with bright-red lips .
Black-and-white school pictures of unnamed children .
Cash — $ 131.89 in bills and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sofa cushion .
Pawn slips .
Cash-out vouchers from a July trip to a casino .
West Covina police Officer Anthony Huacuja , who is working the case , yawns .
It ’ s his last call of the day .
“ This is my first call , ” McGuire says .
“ I had a guy light himself on fire yesterday , over by County Hospital .
...
I ’ m assuming he ’ s got schizophrenia .
He was found sitting in a dirt lot , smoldering.
” She goes back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a spiral notebook , Bounthong ’ s journal from months earlier , entries about a relationship gone bad .
Nothing about how she picked up the virus .
But there is plenty of evidence that Bounthong was ill. Gatorade and cough syrup and surgical masks .
A 5-gallon jug of water .
Ibuprofen .
A prescription sleep aid ; ditto , a muscle relaxant .
A baggie , holding a handful of white pills , marked “ Anti deppresent Anti Anxiety.
” The investigation has just begun .
McGuire will need to find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family .
A pathologist will examine the body .
That , however , will take time .
When McGuire got to work , there were 103 bodies awaiting autopsy .
By the time she leaves the Days Inn , there are still 70 to go .
Six days after case No .
09567 ’ s body was discovered , at least one mystery was solved .

Case No. 09567 died alone in an overheated hotel room in West Covina.
She was a surgical tech at Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital. She had tested positive for the coronavirus and was in isolation at the Days Inn by Wyndham on busy East Garvey Avenue South.
She was scheduled to check out Oct. 13, but she never made it down to the lobby. She did not answer her phone or respond to repeated knocking on her door. When the manager let herself into Room 311, she found the 58-year-old lying on the bed. A pillow covered her legs. Her right hand rested on her abdomen. MSNBC played on the television set.
Bounthong died of COVID-19 complications, near the end of her isolation period. She wasn’t discovered for several days. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Chouphaphone “Judy” Bounthong had been cleared to return to work that same day, a sweltering Tuesday in the San Gabriel Valley. But she had already begun to decompose.
Advertisement
“She’s probably been here a couple of days,” says Kristina McGuire, as she stands over the lifeless body, noting the dehydration around the dead woman’s lips, how her fingers have begun to mummify and how her chest and the lower half of her face have begun to turn green.
McGuire is an investigator with the Los Angeles County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Her job on this day is to piece together the puzzle of Bounthong’s life and death — and to stay healthy.
“I think fewer people are seeing doctors, going to hospitals. … How many people are engaged in healthier behavior versus other coping mechanisms that maybe aren’t healthy?” — Brian Elias, L.A. County’s chief of coroner investigations
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 8,100 people in Los Angeles County alone, has had a dramatic impact on the coroner’s office. But not in the way you might expect.
Yes, investigators and technicians, the people who handle bodies in the field, take extra precautions so as not to contract the virus. But then again, they are always careful, because they never know what they might encounter on a corpse. The coronavirus is one possibility, but there’s also tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Some death scenes are contaminated with drugs like fentanyl, which can be inhaled from the air and cause great harm.
The most significant change wrought by the pandemic is in the department’s caseload, which has soared by 20% since the virus began its deadly march through California’s most populous county early in 2020. But most of the increase is not caused by people dying of COVID-19. In fact, it is unclear what has fueled this jump in coroner cases, particularly in drug- and alcohol-related accidents, natural deaths and homicides.
Advertisement
“The pandemic is certainly a big part of it,” says Brian Elias, the county’s chief of coroner investigations. “I think fewer people are seeing doctors, going to hospitals. … How many people are engaged in healthier behavior versus other coping mechanisms that maybe aren’t healthy?”
Elias, however, calls such an explanation “just my conjecture.”
Brian Elias, chief of coroner investigations for L.A. County, in front of donated freezer containers behind his office in Los Angeles. Elias says the new containers have increased storage capacity from around 500 bodies to around 2,500. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
On the day McGuire enters Room 311, it is just one of many mysteries.
::
The motel manager called the West Covina Police Department. Police called the coroner’s office. McGuire arrives on the scene at around 2:30 p.m. and sets to work.
She always gloves up when she goes to a death scene. Her blond hair is scraped into a ponytail. She wears sturdy black shoes that stay in the office when her shift ends at 10 p.m., because, she says, “these come into contact with blood and decomposing bodies. And I don’t touch them with my bare hands.”
Kristina McGuire reviews a journal she believes was written by the deceased, Judy Bounthong. McGuire has to document all of Bounthong’s property in the motel room and create a report of her findings. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
She does not want to bring contamination back to her house in Lancaster. She shares it with her immunocompromised mother, soon to turn 66, who was just diagnosed with cancer for the fourth time.
McGuire knew before entering the cluttered room that Bounthong had tested positive for COVID-19. So her face is obscured by a heavy-duty respirator with big, pink filters, two bright spots in the dim light. Normally she’d wear an N95 mask, but greater comfort means less protection.
Advertisement
Since the pandemic began, she maintains at least six feet of distance from everyone she meets on the job. She is more concerned about contracting the coronavirus from the living than from the dead.
“They still haven’t done studies to determine what’s the likelihood of me catching COVID from a person that’s deceased,” she says, snapping photographs of the room, the dead woman and her belongings. “My jacket goes on when I touch a body, because I don’t want them touching my bare skin. But I’m not in a full Tyvek suit. I know some people who are.”
Kristina McGuire reviews prescriptions and other personal items, looking for clues about the life of Judy Bounthong. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
McGuire examines the stuffy motel room, tinged in the afternoon heat with the scent of death. She documents the prescription bottles, the bunch of rotting bananas on the desk, the piles of clothing on the floor, the box of adult diapers.
Every detail adds to Bounthong’s story. Even though medical paperwork at the scene shows she contracted COVID-19, it is not yet certain whether the virus killed her.
“Something looks so simple: 58-year-old nurse found unresponsive in her bedroom after testing positive for COVID,” McGuire says. “Automatically, you go, ‘COVID.’ But I don’t know that. ... I don’t know anything about her. Everything is an assumption, and you find out the truth later.”
At 3:55 p.m., it is time to roll Bounthong’s body over to look for signs of trauma. This is a particularly tricky moment, because when a body is moved, air and droplets of moisture from the lungs can spray out — into the room and onto McGuire and her partner, forensic attendant Jerry Meza.
Advertisement
McGuire puts on her jacket — black with “INVESTIGATOR” in yellow letters on the back — and stands on the bed. With Meza’s help, she rolls the body over. She steps down, changes her gloves, pulls Bounthong’s pink, floral nightgown up with her left hand to expose the dead woman’s back. She snaps photos with the camera in her right.
Forensic attendant Jerry Meza rolls the gurney, as Kristina McGuire comes over to help. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
She is careful and gentle. The bed’s white sheets are soiled. Bounthong’s skin is wrinkled in a way not seen on a live person. Her blood has pooled on her back and the backs of her legs, dark and telling. She has been lying there for several days.
“There’s no external signs of trauma,” McGuire says. “I don’t see anything on the back of her head. You can see her lividity, from how she was laying and how she died. I don’t feel any fractures to her skull.”
Meza lays a clean, white sheet on the floor, then places a plastic sheet on top of it. They cover Bounthong’s face with a towel. McGuire takes her feet; Meza, her hands. They ease her off the bed and onto the plastic.
They wrap Bounthong in the protective layers, tie them at her head and feet. Then they lift her onto the gurney and roll her out the door.
::
Karmen Parga holds out her smart phone, and the text conversation with her longtime friend fills the tiny screen.
Advertisement
Friday, Sept. 25:
Parga: Are you okay?? I haven’t seen you all week
Bounthong: Yes I’m okay working extra.
Karmen Parga, a scrub tech at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, shows her last text interaction with Judy Bounthong, her friend for decades who had tested positive for COVID-19. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Thursday, Oct. 1:
Parga: Hey! You ok? Did you test positive for Covid?
Bounthong: Yes I got exposed at work I’m I’m on isolation 14 days
The women met nearly 30 years ago while working at a hospital in Paramount. Parga, a scrub tech, lives in Lakewood and describes the tiny Laotian woman as her children’s second mother. They have lived together on three separate occasions, most recently at the time of Bounthong’s death.
Advertisement
Bounthong’s son William, a school social worker, lives near Chicago with his wife, son and daughter. Bounthong’s father died two or three years ago, Parga says, and since then, “Judy had a hard time with depression, with life. ... But she’s always been very caring, very giving. She wants to feed the world.”
She brought food and supplies to the homeless people in the park near her West Covina hospital. She would work 12 hours and race back to Lakewood to make dinner for Parga’s youngest son, Joseph. Each of Parga’s children had a favorite Bounthong specialty: Joseph’s was a spicy seafood soup, Junior’s was sticky rice and mango, Krystal’s was laarb, a meat salad, the unofficial dish of Laos.
Karmen Parga, left, a scrub tech at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, gets a reassuring smile from her granddaughter Lauren Ward. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
“She would definitely always make sure we were taken care of,” says Parga, who is Latina. “I don’t think she ever made a dish I didn’t like. I don’t think she ever made a dish anyone didn’t like. ... Now we have a pantry full of Thai ingredients I know nothing what to do with.”
Because of the pandemic, Bounthong made sure to change out of her scrubs at the hospital when her shifts ended. She did not want to bring contamination home to her second family. She checked into the Days Inn when she was diagnosed with the virus. The hotel has been a home away from home for healthcare workers throughout the San Gabriel Valley, both healthy and infected.
To William Bounthong, the need for such accommodations during the pandemic “is like the underworld of nursing and COVID.”
Advertisement
“I know when it first started, she was worried about it,” William says. “She felt her immune system was compromised. ... She didn’t go home because she had roommates. That’s why she didn’t quarantine in her own home.”
When McGuire had to inform Bounthong’s family that the surgical tech had died, she dialed Parga.
“The initial shock of her being diagnosed with COVID was so scary,” Parga says. “If I could turn back time, I think I would rather have had her at home. The hardest thing to deal with is that she was isolated for 14 days.”
::
Judy Bounthong pulls granddaughter Ember in a wagon at her son William’s 2017 wedding in Wisconsin. “She had a big heart, giving, caring,” said William, 35, a school social worker.
(Courtesy William Bounthong)
There is no privacy in death — especially when your demise is investigated by the coroner’s office.
Not everyone’s is. About 60,000 people die in Los Angeles County each year. Elias’ staff takes on about 15% of those cases: the violent, the sudden, the unusual. People who die with no known medical history, exposure deaths, homeless people, the unidentified.
Advertisement
In 2019, investigators from the coroner’s office worked 9,668 cases, according to data supplied by the agency. By Nov. 15, 2020, with six weeks left in the year, the caseload had already reached 10,267. If the pace keeps up — and it shows no sign of abating — the department could reach nearly 12,000 cases this year.
The agency’s crypt, where bodies are stored awaiting autopsy or final disposition, holds about 525 bodies; it is beyond full. When the pandemic hit, the department ordered a dozen refrigerated storage containers and five refrigerated trailers, space for another 2,000 bodies. At the end of November, the beginning of the most recent COVID-19 surge, the containers held about 60 bodies.
Drug- and alcohol-related accidental deaths are on track to rise about 15% over 2019; homicides, 29%, according to statistics provided by the coroner’s office. Suicides, however, have not risen, although the pandemic has definitely influenced some of the people who took their own lives in 2020.
Work badges for Judy Bounthong are found on a dresser, after her body was discovered at the Days Inn by Wyndham in West Covina. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
“We do know we’ve had suicides due to, that they directly attribute to, the pandemic,” Elias says. “ ‘I’m isolated. I’ve lost my job. I don’t have those connections I once had.’ ... There’s notes left or this person has communicated these thoughts to others or will send emails, messages, things along those lines.”
McGuire returns to room 311 after she and Meza escort Bounthong’s body down to the white van that will take her back to the office, where she will be examined by a pathologist.
Her face is flushed with heat. Wisps of hair have escaped from her ponytail. Off comes the jacket. With the body gone, McGuire is able to swap the heavy respirator for an N95 mask. She changes gloves again and heads in to examine and inventory Bounthong’s possessions.
Two smart phones. Her work badges. Jewelry. Clothing. A turquoise makeup bag printed with bright-red lips. Black-and-white school pictures of unnamed children. Cash — $131.89 in bills and a splash of coins — spread across the sofa cushion. Pawn slips. Cash-out vouchers from a July trip to a casino.
Kristina McGuire enters the room at the Days Inn by Wyndham where Bounthong’s body was discovered. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
West Covina police Officer Anthony Huacuja, who is working the case, yawns. It’s his last call of the day.
Advertisement
“This is my first call,” McGuire says. “I had a guy light himself on fire yesterday, over by County Hospital. ... I’m assuming he’s got schizophrenia. He was found sitting in a dirt lot, smoldering.”
She goes back to the inventory. There’s a spiral notebook, Bounthong’s journal from months earlier, entries about a relationship gone bad. Nothing about how she picked up the virus.
But there is plenty of evidence that Bounthong was ill. Gatorade and cough syrup and surgical masks. A 5-gallon jug of water. Ibuprofen. A prescription sleep aid; ditto, a muscle relaxant. A baggie, holding a handful of white pills, marked “Anti deppresent Anti Anxiety.”
The investigation has just begun. McGuire will need to find medical records, talk to friends and family. A pathologist will examine the body. That, however, will take time.
When McGuire got to work, there were 103 bodies awaiting autopsy.
By the time she leaves the Days Inn, there are still 70 to go.
Six days after case No. 09567’s body was discovered, at least one mystery was solved.
“This 58-year-old female, Chouphaphone Bounthong,” wrote a deputy medical examiner, “died of COVID-19.”
Times staff writer Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-12--After hitting L.A., COVID-19 wave now battering Southern California's suburban counties

When the autumn COVID-19 surge erupted more than a month ago , the epicenter was once again Los Angeles County , where the large population of essential workers and others living in densely populated neighborhoods made the region particularly vulnerable to the rapid spread of infections .
But now , Southern California ’ s more suburban counties are rapidly catching up , fueled by Thanksgiving gatherings that have pushed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels and left hospital intensive care units at critical levels .
The numbers of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Los Angeles , San Diego , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ventura counties have all doubled since the week of Thanksgiving , according to a Times analysis .
The suburban counties are also tallying record levels of new daily infections — all substantially worse than the summer surge , and in many cases , at a rate of increase worse than L.A. County .
While L.A. County has seen its latest average daily number of cases nearly triple from its summer peak , counties in even worse shape relative to their summer highs include Ventura , San Bernardino and San Diego counties .
Riverside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to its summer maximum , more than quadrupling its average daily number of cases from its peak in August .
On Thursday , Riverside recorded an average of nearly 3,500 cases a day over the past week , far worse than the comparable peak of nearly 800 in August .
On a per-capita basis , L.A. County has tallied more coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over the last week than Ventura , San Diego and Orange counties but fewer than Riverside and San Bernardino counties .
Intensive care unit capacity continued to deteriorate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern California falling to 6.2 % from 7.7 % a day earlier .
“ The velocity of the increase — or the steepness of the curve — is much more prominent now than it was earlier , ” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley , medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health .
“ I think that it is a result of the widespread transmission that was occurring over the Thanksgiving holidays such that so many people — either asymptomatic or presymptomatic people — were spreading the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own families , ” Kim-Farley said .
That ’ s why it is so important for Californians to follow the stay-at-home order as much as possible in the coming weeks , Kim-Farley said , to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus and prevent even worse calamity as winter begins .
Unless current trends change , the University of Washington ’ s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that California ’ s cumulative COVID-19 death toll could more than double by the end of winter to more than 50,000 .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have died .
It may take even longer to begin seeing average daily coronavirus cases start to flatten compared to the spring surge , Kim-Farley said , because there are now so many households battling the virus .
For the next week or two , there will be more household members coming down with the disease , infected by roommates or relatives who left their home during Thanksgiving .
Orange County officials this week said the healthcare system faced an unprecedented “ crisis ” as coronavirus patients streamed into hospitals .
There were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; 265 people were in intensive care , according to the .
“ At the current rate of deterioration , the EMS system may collapse unless emergency directives are implemented now , ” Dr. Carl Schultz , emergency medical services director for the county Health Care Agency , wrote in a memo this week to hospitals and ambulance and paramedic providers .
Some immediate steps , he said , include allowing ambulances to travel longer distances to take patients to hospitals that can accept them , and permitting them to take a patient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been waiting outside with the patient for more than an hour .
Hospitals also should consider activating their surge plans , establishing alternate treatment areas and canceling elective surgeries , he added .
Dr. Clayton Chau , Orange County ’ s health officer and Health Care Agency director , also encouraged residents “ who can get services through urgent care , can get services through their primary care physician [ to ] please go ahead and do so , and not just show up to the emergency room.
” Orange County , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical systems across the state feel intense pressure .
Californians are testing positive for and falling ill and dying from COVID-19 at unprecedented levels .
The state has and about 150 daily deaths over the last week .
The timing and acceleration of the surge indicate that many ignored officials ’ and experts ’ calls to — a potentially chilling prospect , given the wider winter holiday season is in full swing .
The state has responded by placing a new stay-at-home order on Southern California and the Central Valley .
Some parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined the restrictions , which now are in place for 36 million Californians .
The order suspends outdoor restaurant dining , bans most gatherings , prohibits hotel use for leisure and tourism , limits most retail capacity to 20 % , and shuts down hair salons , nail salons , cardrooms , museums , zoos , aquariums , theaters , wineries and overnight stays at campgrounds .
Los Angeles County reached another alarming milestone Friday , when the case count surged dramatically in a single day by 13,507 — breaking the all-time single-day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the county ’ s cumulative cases .
“ We ’ re seeing daily numbers of cases and hospitalizations that we ’ ve not experienced and , frankly , did not anticipate , ” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer .
“ Our intensive care unit bed capacity continues to drop .
We ’ re on a very dangerous track to seeing unprecedented and catastrophic suffering and death.
” As of Thursday , the most recent day for which complete data are available , there were 3,850 COVID-19 patients hospitalized countywide , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ records .
The number of people hospitalized in L.A. County with coronavirus infections has doubled since Thanksgiving and quadrupled since a month ago , when there were 942 .
“ The best thing we can all do right now is stay in our homes whenever possible and away from people we don ’ t live with , ” Ferrer said during a briefing Friday .
Officials fear the situation will only worsen as more people who may have been exposed during the Thanksgiving holiday become sick .
There is still hope that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it will take weeks before it ’ s known whether people are following the rules and if the effects become apparent .
“ We can not undo what ’ s already been done , and collectively , we ’ re going to all pay a very high price for the actions we were taking in the past , ” Ferrer said .
At this point , she added , “ it ’ s not a question of if we ’ ll see a large increase of hospitalizations and deaths ” but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will get .
Officials have often said that rising numbers of infections lead to increased hospitalizations two to three weeks later .
Two weeks ago , L.A. County was seeing an average of 4,500 new coronavirus cases per day .
That wave is fueling the current record-high hospitalization numbers .
Should the same proportion hold , the recent average caseload of 13,500 new infections per day will trigger a tidal wave two weeks from now — possibly doubling the number of people in L.A. County hospitals to 7,300 , including nearly 1,700 in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2,100 ICU adult beds across all county hospitals , according to Ferrer .
“ We are at a very critical juncture in the pandemic due to the fact that we have come so close to overcapacity of our ICU beds , ” Kim-Farley said .
“ And that ’ s why it ’ s imperative for everyone to follow the guidelines and directions of public health officials , so that we don ’ t have a situation where loved ones are dying of COVID or , for that matter , of other serious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the inn ’ in hospital and ICU beds .
”

When the autumn COVID-19 surge erupted more than a month ago, the epicenter was once again Los Angeles County, where the large population of essential workers and others living in densely populated neighborhoods made the region particularly vulnerable to the rapid spread of infections.
But now, Southern California’s more suburban counties are rapidly catching up, fueled by Thanksgiving gatherings that have pushed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels and left hospital intensive care units at critical levels.
The numbers of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties have all doubled since the week of Thanksgiving, according to a Times analysis.
Advertisement
The suburban counties are also tallying record levels of new daily infections — all substantially worse than the summer surge, and in many cases, at a rate of increase worse than L.A. County. While L.A. County has seen its latest average daily number of cases nearly triple from its summer peak, counties in even worse shape relative to their summer highs include Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
Riverside County is in the worst shape relative to its summer maximum, more than quadrupling its average daily number of cases from its peak in August. On Thursday, Riverside recorded an average of nearly 3,500 cases a day over the past week, far worse than the comparable peak of nearly 800 in August.
On a per-capita basis, L.A. County has tallied more coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over the last week than Ventura, San Diego and Orange counties but fewer than Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Over the past seven days, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are reporting higher numbers of coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents than L.A. County. (Los Angeles Times)
Intensive care unit capacity continued to deteriorate across Southern California, with availability in Southern California falling to 6.2% from 7.7% a day earlier.
“The velocity of the increase — or the steepness of the curve — is much more prominent now than it was earlier,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“I think that it is a result of the widespread transmission that was occurring over the Thanksgiving holidays such that so many people — either asymptomatic or presymptomatic people — were spreading the disease not only among themselves but within their own families,” Kim-Farley said.
That’s why it is so important for Californians to follow the stay-at-home order as much as possible in the coming weeks, Kim-Farley said, to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus and prevent even worse calamity as winter begins. Unless current trends change, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that California’s cumulative COVID-19 death toll could more than double by the end of winter to more than 50,000. More than 20,700 Californians infected with the coronavirus have died.
Advertisement
It may take even longer to begin seeing average daily coronavirus cases start to flatten compared to the spring surge, Kim-Farley said, because there are now so many households battling the virus. For the next week or two, there will be more household members coming down with the disease, infected by roommates or relatives who left their home during Thanksgiving.
Orange County officials this week said the healthcare system faced an unprecedented “crisis” as coronavirus patients streamed into hospitals. There were more than 1,100 coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized countywide; 265 people were in intensive care, according to the latest available data .
“At the current rate of deterioration, the EMS system may collapse unless emergency directives are implemented now,” Dr. Carl Schultz, emergency medical services director for the county Health Care Agency, wrote in a memo this week to hospitals and ambulance and paramedic providers.
Some immediate steps, he said, include allowing ambulances to travel longer distances to take patients to hospitals that can accept them, and permitting them to take a patient to another hospital if they’ve been waiting outside with the patient for more than an hour. Hospitals also should consider activating their surge plans, establishing alternate treatment areas and canceling elective surgeries, he added.
Dr. Clayton Chau, Orange County’s health officer and Health Care Agency director, also encouraged residents “who can get services through urgent care, can get services through their primary care physician [to] please go ahead and do so, and not just show up to the emergency room.”
Orange County, however, is far from an outlier as medical systems across the state feel intense pressure. Californians are testing positive for and falling ill and dying from COVID-19 at unprecedented levels. The state has averaged nearly 29,000 new coronavirus cases a day and about 150 daily deaths over the last week.
The timing and acceleration of the surge indicate that many ignored officials’ and experts’ calls to eschew traveling and gathering for Thanksgiving — a potentially chilling prospect, given the wider winter holiday season is in full swing.
The state has responded by placing a new stay-at-home order on Southern California and the Central Valley. Some parts of the Bay Area have also voluntarily joined the restrictions, which now are in place for 36 million Californians. The order suspends outdoor restaurant dining, bans most gatherings, prohibits hotel use for leisure and tourism, limits most retail capacity to 20%, and shuts down hair salons, nail salons, cardrooms, museums, zoos, aquariums, theaters, wineries and overnight stays at campgrounds.
Los Angeles County reached another alarming milestone Friday, when the case count surged dramatically in a single day by 13,507 — breaking the all-time single-day record, yet again — which pushed the county’s cumulative cases beyond 500,000 .
“We’re seeing daily numbers of cases and hospitalizations that we’ve not experienced and, frankly, did not anticipate,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “Our intensive care unit bed capacity continues to drop. We’re on a very dangerous track to seeing unprecedented and catastrophic suffering and death.”
As of Thursday, the most recent day for which complete data are available, there were 3,850 COVID-19 patients hospitalized countywide, including 856 in the ICU — both records.
The number of people hospitalized in L.A. County with coronavirus infections has doubled since Thanksgiving and quadrupled since a month ago, when there were 942.
“The best thing we can all do right now is stay in our homes whenever possible and away from people we don’t live with,” Ferrer said during a briefing Friday.
Officials fear the situation will only worsen as more people who may have been exposed during the Thanksgiving holiday become sick. There is still hope that the new stay-at-home order will make a difference, but it will take weeks before it’s known whether people are following the rules and if the effects become apparent.
“We cannot undo what’s already been done, and collectively, we’re going to all pay a very high price for the actions we were taking in the past,” Ferrer said.
At this point, she added, “it’s not a question of if we’ll see a large increase of hospitalizations and deaths” but a question of how severe the numbers will get.
Officials have often said that rising numbers of infections lead to increased hospitalizations two to three weeks later. Two weeks ago, L.A. County was seeing an average of 4,500 new coronavirus cases per day. That wave is fueling the current record-high hospitalization numbers.
Should the same proportion hold, the recent average caseload of 13,500 new infections per day will trigger a tidal wave two weeks from now — possibly doubling the number of people in L.A. County hospitals to 7,300, including nearly 1,700 in intensive care.
There are only about 2,100 ICU adult beds across all county hospitals, according to Ferrer.
“We are at a very critical juncture in the pandemic due to the fact that we have come so close to overcapacity of our ICU beds,” Kim-Farley said. “And that’s why it’s imperative for everyone to follow the guidelines and directions of public health officials, so that we don’t have a situation where loved ones are dying of COVID or, for that matter, of other serious illnesses, without having a ‘room at the inn’ in hospital and ICU beds.”


latimes--2020-12-12--Coronavirus outbreaks at Foster Farms plants make a comeback

Foster Farms , one of the West Coast ’ s largest producers of poultry , is facing scrutiny for new clusters of coronavirus infections at its facilities in California ’ s Central Valley , which follow a months-long , deadly outbreak this year .
California-based Foster Farms has reported that at least 193 people at its Cherry Avenue plant in Fresno have tested positive for the coronavirus over a recent two-week period , as have 12 people at a nearby plant on Belgravia Avenue .
And a union official said at least 37 workers at the company ’ s Livingston @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since Nov. 30 .
With about 1,000 people working at the Cherry Avenue facility in Fresno , that penciled out to about 20 % of that plant ’ s workers testing positive , the company said .
The plant was closed last weekend for deep cleaning and reopened this week .
The disclosures come after a long-lasting coronavirus outbreak at the Livingston facility over the summer left nine workers dead .
And , union officials allege , the company isn ’ t meeting its obligation to share information about the current Livingston outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday that 21 Livingston workers had tested positive for the virus in a recent two-week period .
About 1,900 tests had been administered at that plant during that period , and roughly 4,000 people work at that facility .
But under emergency rules newly enacted by California ’ s Division of Occupational Safety and Health , or Cal/OSHA , companies are required to keep track of all coronavirus cases among their employees and make a detailed log available to workers and their representatives .
In major outbreaks — which Cal/OSHA defines as 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — employers are also required to evaluate ventilation and other conditions that could be driving transmission .
Elizabeth Strater of the United Farm Workers union , which represents employees at the Livingston plant , said union officials have repeatedly asked the company for details about the outbreak .
She said the company provided a brief email citing 37 cases as of Thursday night but no detailed log .
“ This is the sequel to a real-life horror story with no happy endings , ” Strater said .
“ Workers at Foster Farms have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Valley has faced a rapid increase in coronavirus hospitalizations lately .
Nearly 500 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Fresno County , a number substantially higher than during the summertime surge , when no more than 313 coronavirus patients were hospitalized at any given time .
Merced County has seen a quadrupling of COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks .
Foster Farms spokesman Ira Brill said Tuesday that given the regionwide surge , at least some of his workers probably were infected in the community — or perhaps while carpooling to work — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the company is cooperating with Fresno County health officials to determine whether the virus is spreading within the plant and whether additional health and safety measures need to be taken .
Brill said the company has instituted a stringent policy of testing and screening employees for symptoms and has implemented “ every mitigation that has been recommended ” by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Such measures include installing plexiglass dividers in the workplaces , staggering employee breaks , providing masks to workers and continuously cleaning worker areas .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to identify asymptomatic cases and send those workers home “ so they can protect the health of the people that are in the plant , ” Brill said .
On Friday , Brill said he was tied up in meetings for the rest of the day and was unavailable to respond to the union ’ s allegations about the Livingston site .
Meatpacking plants have been identified across the nation as high-risk workplaces for coronavirus transmission .
The CDC reported in July that among 23 states reporting outbreaks in meat and poultry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 16,000 coronavirus cases and 86 deaths associated with 239 facilities .
Of those infected , 87 % were people of color .
CDC officials recommend increasing space between workers , encouraging workers to take sick leave when needed , encouraging hand hygiene and the use of face coverings and screening workers for infection .
The workers at the Livingston plant are predominantly Latino and Punjabi Sikh , said Deep Singh , executive director of the Jakara Movement , a Central Valley youth and family nonprofit aimed at the Punjabi Sikh community .
Many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Foster Farms plants .
“ Why do we continue to see outbreaks at the same places if safety measures have been put in place ?
” Singh said .
“ What we actually know is that this virus — the virility is compounded by the conditions that are there at the poultry factory , with people working in really cramped quarters.
” “ Unless we have a larger conversation about ... safety for these workers , we ’ re continuously putting them in jeopardy .
And many of these workers are older @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have other comorbidities , ” Singh said .
A family member of a Foster Farms worker in Fresno who recently tested positive for the coronavirus told The Times that company communication has been poor and primarily in English , even though many in the workforce have limited English proficiency .
The family member asked not to be named for fear of retaliation .
Community leaders also told The Times that the company has been asking employees to work overtime to keep production lines running amid absences .
Labor experts have questioned whether government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from COVID-19 .
In the San Joaquin Valley , only one county public health department — in Merced County — is publicly identifying workplaces where outbreaks occurred , and even there , the information shared is limited and does not list the number of people infected , said Ana Padilla , executive director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center .
Padilla welcomed newly passed laws intended to protect workers from COVID-19 .
Assembly Bill 685 will require employers to share with workers if they were exposed to the coronavirus and notify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2043 will require Cal/OSHA to make agricultural workplace safety investigations public .
Those rules need to be followed by robust and strategic enforcement , Padilla said : “ If they ’ re not implemented and enforced widely , then it ’ s not going to mean much .
”

Foster Farms, one of the West Coast’s largest producers of poultry, is facing scrutiny for new clusters of coronavirus infections at its facilities in California’s Central Valley, which follow a deadly, months-long outbreak this year.
California-based Foster Farms reported that at least 193 people at its Cherry Avenue plant in Fresno tested positive for the coronavirus over a recent two-week period, along with 12 people at another Fresno plant. And a union official said at least 37 workers at the company’s Livingston complex in Merced County have tested positive since Nov. 30.
About 1,000 people work at the Cherry Avenue facility, meaning that about 20% of that plant’s workers tested positive, the company said. The plant was closed last weekend for deep cleaning and reopened this week.
The disclosures come after a long-lasting coronavirus outbreak at the Livingston facility over the summer left nine workers dead. Union officials allege the company isn’t meeting its obligation to share information about the current Livingston outbreak.
Advertisement
Foster Farms told The Times on Tuesday that 21 Livingston workers had tested positive for the virus in a recent two-week period. About 1,900 tests had been administered at that plant during that period, and roughly 4,000 people work at that facility.
But under emergency rules newly enacted by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, companies are required to keep track of all coronavirus cases among their employees and make a detailed log available to workers and their representatives. In major outbreaks — which Cal/OSHA defines as 20 or more cases within a 30-day period — employers are also required to evaluate ventilation and other conditions that could be driving transmission.
Elizabeth Strater of the United Farm Workers union, which represents employees at the Livingston plant, said union officials have repeatedly asked the company for details about the outbreak. She said the company provided a brief email citing 37 cases as of Thursday night but no detailed log.
“This is the sequel to a real-life horror story with no happy endings,” Strater said. “Workers at Foster Farms have reported no information being shared.”
The Central Valley has faced a rapid increase in coronavirus hospitalizations lately. Nearly 500 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Fresno County, a number substantially higher than during the summertime surge, when hospitalizations peaked at 313. Merced County has seen a quadrupling of COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks.
Foster Farms spokesman Ira Brill said Tuesday that, given the regionwide surge, at least some of his workers probably were infected in the community — or perhaps while carpooling to work — rather than in the factories.
Advertisement
He said the company is cooperating with Fresno County health officials to determine whether the virus is spreading within the plant and additional health and safety measures need to be taken.
Brill said the company has instituted a stringent policy of testing and screening employees for symptoms and has implemented “every mitigation that has been recommended” by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Such measures include installing plexiglass dividers in the workplaces, staggering employee breaks, providing masks to workers and continuously cleaning worker areas.
“Our strategy is to test people” to identify asymptomatic cases and send those workers home “so they can protect the health of the people that are in the plant,” Brill said.
In a statement provided to The Times on Friday, Brill wrote that the company has completed more than 5,000 tests at the Livingston factory over the last two weeks and attributed the rise in positive cases to “significant increases in Merced County.”
Meatpacking plants have been identified across the nation as high-risk workplaces for coronavirus transmission. The CDC reported in July that among 23 states reporting outbreaks in meat and poultry processing facilities, there were more than 16,000 coronavirus cases and 86 deaths associated with 239 facilities. Of those infected, 87% were people of color. CDC officials recommend increasing space between workers, encouraging workers to take sick leave when needed, encouraging hand hygiene and the use of face coverings and screening workers for infection.
The workers at the Livingston plant are predominantly Latino and Punjabi Sikh, said Deep Singh, executive director of the Jakara Movement, a Central Valley youth and family nonprofit aimed at the Punjabi Sikh community. Many of his group’s members work at Foster Farms plants.
“Why do we continue to see outbreaks at the same places if safety measures have been put in place?” Singh said. “What we actually know is that this virus — the virality is compounded by the conditions that are there at the poultry factory, with people working in really cramped quarters.”
“Unless we have a larger conversation about ... safety for these workers, we’re continuously putting them in jeopardy. And many of these workers are older immigrants, live in multigenerational households and have other comorbidities,” Singh said.
A family member of a Foster Farms worker in Fresno who recently tested positive for the coronavirus told The Times that company communication has been poor and primarily in English, even though many in the workforce have limited English proficiency. The family member asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. Community leaders also told The Times that the company has been asking employees to work overtime to keep production lines running amid absences.
Labor experts have questioned whether government officials are doing enough to protect workers from COVID-19. In the San Joaquin Valley, only one county public health department — in Merced County — is publicly identifying workplaces where outbreaks have occurred, and even there, the information shared is limited and does not list the number of people infected, said Ana Padilla, executive director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center.
Padilla welcomed new laws intended to protect workers from COVID-19. Assembly Bill 685 will require employers to share with workers if they were exposed to the coronavirus and notify public health agencies, and Assembly Bill 2043 will require Cal/OSHA to make agricultural workplace safety investigations public.
Those rules need to be followed by robust and strategic enforcement, Padilla said: “If they’re not implemented and enforced widely, then it’s not going to mean much.”


latimes--2020-12-12--Court orders Orange County sheriff to cut jail population in half to prevent spread of virus

A Superior Court judge has ordered that the Orange County jail population be cut in half , ruling that the sheriff had failed to reduce the number of inmates to ensure adequate social distancing .
The move came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union against Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes , seeking the release of medically vulnerable and disabled inmates as well as necessary measures to protect those remaining in the jails from the coronavirus .
Judge Peter Wilson ruled Friday that the sheriff had shown “ deliberate indifference ” to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to medically vulnerable people in custody , violating their state constitutional rights .
“ The uncontested facts found here include that conditions in the jail do not permit proper social distancing , there is no mandatory testing of staff or asymptomatic detainees after intake , and no strictly enforced policy of requiring masks for all staff interaction with inmates , ” he wrote .
Barnes said in a statement that the order would result in the release of more than 1,800 inmates , many of whom have been convicted of or are awaiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was evaluating options for appeal .
“ This order put our community at substantial risk and does not take into account the impact on the victims of these crimes , ” he said .
Since March , at least 691 inmates have tested positive for the virus in the county ’ s jail system .
The ruling came a day after the Orange County Sheriff ’ s Department announced an outbreak involving 74 inmates , reporting a total of 102 cases of the virus .
“ This very unfortunate development confirms the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensure that if an outbreak occurs at the Jail , that outbreak is contained to the fullest extent reasonably possible , ” Wilson wrote .
The judge ordered Barnes to reduce the population in all congregated living areas by 50 % , including all dormitory and barracks-style housing and multi-person cells .
He also instructed Barnes to provide a release plan by Dec. 31 that lists all medically vulnerable inmates , and to identify measures to protect all people in that category who won ’ t be released or transferred from jail .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ until the current COVID-19 emergency is declared terminated ” and to impose a strict policy for staff members to wear face masks anytime they are within six feet of an inmate .
“ The court ’ s decision to alleviate the pressure on the jail by depopulating will help prevent the medical infrastructure — in the jail and in the surrounding community — from becoming totally overwhelmed , ” Daisy Ramirez , jail conditions and policy coordinator at the ACLU of Southern California , said in a statement .
“ This order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanity of incarcerated people , and they should not be put in mortal danger .
”

Since last March, at least 691 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus in the Orange County jails.
A Superior Court judge has ordered that the Orange County jail population be cut in half, ruling that the sheriff had failed to reduce the number of inmates to ensure adequate social distancing.
The move came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union against Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, seeking the release of medically vulnerable and disabled inmates as well as necessary measures to protect those remaining in the jails from the coronavirus.
Judge Peter Wilson ruled Friday that the sheriff had shown “deliberate indifference” to the serious harm that the virus can pose to medically vulnerable people in custody, violating their state constitutional rights.
Advertisement
“The uncontested facts found here include that conditions in the jail do not permit proper social distancing, there is no mandatory testing of staff or asymptomatic detainees after intake, and no strictly enforced policy of requiring masks for all staff interaction with inmates,” he wrote.
Barnes said in a statement that the order would result in the release of more than 1,800 inmates, many of whom have been convicted of or are awaiting trial for violent crimes, and that he was evaluating options for appeal.
“This order put our community at substantial risk and does not take into account the impact on the victims of these crimes,” he said.
Since March, at least 691 inmates have tested positive for the virus in the county’s jail system. The ruling came a day after the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced an outbreak involving 74 inmates, reporting a total of 102 cases of the virus.
“This very unfortunate development confirms the need to take all reasonable steps to ensure that if an outbreak occurs at the Jail, that outbreak is contained to the fullest extent reasonably possible,” Wilson wrote.
The judge ordered Barnes to reduce the population in all congregated living areas by 50%, including all dormitory and barracks-style housing and multi-person cells. He also instructed Barnes to provide a release plan by Dec. 31 that lists all medically vulnerable inmates, and to identify measures to protect all people in that category who won’t be released or transferred from jail.
He ordered Barnes to maintain the reductions “until the current COVID-19 emergency is declared terminated” and to impose a strict policy for staff members to wear face masks anytime they are within six feet of an inmate.
Advertisement
“The court’s decision to alleviate the pressure on the jail by depopulating will help prevent the medical infrastructure — in the jail and in the surrounding community — from becoming totally overwhelmed,” Daisy Ramirez, jail conditions and policy coordinator at the ACLU of Southern California, said in a statement. “This order recognizes that we must not forget the humanity of incarcerated people, and they should not be put in mortal danger.”


latimes--2020-12-11--Deputies involved in Andres Guardado shooting relieved of duty in unrelated case

The two Los Angeles County sheriff ’ s deputies involved in the controversial , fatal shooting of Andres Guardado were relieved of duty this week in connection with a traffic crash that occurred two months before the 18-year-old ’ s death .
Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered Deputies Miguel Vega and Chris Hernandez to be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into the crash , Lt. John Satterfield said .
He would not elaborate , citing the ongoing investigation .
It was unclear why Villanueva opted to sideline the deputies now , eight months after the incident .
The lengthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sheriff ’ s officials had enough information about the crash to act sooner and if the deputies should have been removed from the field before their deadly encounter with Guardado in June .
The crash occurred shortly before 5 p.m. on April 13 , while Vega was driving with a man in custody in the back seat , said Officer Simeon Yarbrough from the California Highway Patrol .
CHP officers were called to an alley near Mona Boulevard and 130th Street in Willowbrook , Yarbrough said .
Vega told the officers that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he suspected of carrying a gun , according to Yarbrough .
With the bicyclist about 30 yards ahead , Vega accelerated as he attempted to pass a parked car , but crashed into the vehicle and a concrete wall .
The man in the back seat , who was in custody for reasons that are unclear , sustained minor injuries .
Vega and the detained man gave different accounts of how fast he was driving .
Vega told CHP officers that he accelerated from 30 to 35 mph , while the man told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 mph when he crashed , Yarbrough said .
A check of arrest and jail inmate records show no indication that the man , who the CHP identified for The Times , was ever formally arrested or booked into custody in the L.A. County jail system , raising questions of whether Vega let the man go after the crash .
After the crash , there was a search for the bicyclist whom Vega had been chasing , Yarbrough said .
It ’ s unclear whether investigators found him .
Yarbrough said the CHP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hernandez .
His role in the incident is unclear .
It is also unknown what allegations of misconduct have been made against Vega .
Guardado ’ s shooting prompted weeks of large protests and an increased scrutiny of the Compton sheriff ’ s station , which has been roiled by allegations that a gang-like clique of tattooed deputies who call themselves the Executioners run roughshod over the station and celebrate deputies who use force on suspects .
Following the Guardado shooting , a whistleblower claimed Vega and Hernandez were prospective members of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Calls by community leaders for transparency and an independent investigation into the shooting led the coroner ’ s office to conduct an inquest earlier this month to determine the cause and manner of Guardado ’ s death , even though the office had already concluded that the 18-year-old sustained five fatal gunshot wounds in his back .
Neither Vega nor Hernandez showed up to the hearing — Vega was out of the country — but indicated through their attorneys that they would invoke their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and not answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same .
Vega ’ s attorney has previously said that Guardado was shot while reaching for a gun .
Vega , who joined the Sheriff ’ s Department in 2009 , has faced prior allegations of misconduct .
In 2017 , he was accused of making false statements in an investigation , according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the events , and was eventually suspended for four days .
Capt .
John Burcher , Villanueva ’ s former chief of staff , previously told The Times that investigators determined the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that the discipline was for a lesser infraction regarding Vega ’ s failure to properly screen a jail inmate .
Burcher said three complaints have been lodged against Vega while he was assigned to Compton station .
Department officials determined that one complaint , for using unreasonable force , had no merit , he said .
The two other complaints alleged that he was discourteous .
In one , officials determined his conduct “ could ’ ve been better.
” The outcome of the second case is unclear .

The two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies involved in the shooting of Andres Guardado were relieved of duty this week in connection with a traffic crash unrelated to the 18-year-old’s death, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
The two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies involved in the controversial, fatal shooting of Andres Guardado were relieved of duty this week in connection with a traffic crash that occurred two months before the 18-year-old’s death.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered Deputies Miguel Vega and Chris Hernandez to be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into the crash, Lt. John Satterfield said. He would not elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
It was unclear why Villanueva opted to sideline the deputies now, eight months after the incident. The lengthy gap in time raises questions about whether sheriff’s officials had enough information about the crash to act sooner and if the deputies should have been removed from the field before their deadly encounter with Guardado in June.
Attorneys representing both deputies declined to comment Friday.
The crash occurred shortly before 5 p.m. on April 13, while Vega was driving with a man in custody in the back seat, said Officer Simeon Yarbrough from the California Highway Patrol.
CHP officers were called to an alley near Mona Boulevard and 130th Street in Willowbrook, Yarbrough said. Vega told the officers that he had gone in pursuit of a bicyclist he suspected of carrying a gun, according to Yarbrough. With the bicyclist about 30 yards ahead, Vega accelerated as he attempted to pass a parked car, but crashed into the vehicle and a concrete wall.
The man in the back seat, who was in custody for reasons that are unclear, sustained minor injuries.
Vega and the detained man gave different accounts of how fast he was driving. Vega told CHP officers that he accelerated from 30 to 35 mph, while the man told officers Vega was going between 55 and 60 mph when he crashed, Yarbrough said.
A check of arrest and jail inmate records show no indication that the man, who the CHP identified for The Times, was ever formally arrested or booked into custody in the L.A. County jail system, raising questions of whether Vega let the man go after the crash.
After the crash, there was a search for the bicyclist whom Vega had been chasing, Yarbrough said. It’s unclear whether investigators found him.
Yarbrough said the CHP report of the crash does not mention Hernandez.
His role in the incident is unclear. It is also unknown what allegations of misconduct have been made against Vega.
Advertisement
Guardado’s shooting prompted weeks of large protests and an increased scrutiny of the Compton sheriff’s station, which has been roiled by allegations that a gang-like clique of tattooed deputies who call themselves the Executioners run roughshod over the station and celebrate deputies who use force on suspects. Following the Guardado shooting, a whistleblower claimed Vega and Hernandez were prospective members of the group. Their attorneys denied the allegation.
Calls by community leaders for transparency and an independent investigation into the shooting led the coroner’s office to conduct an inquest earlier this month to determine the cause and manner of Guardado’s death, even though the office had already concluded that the 18-year-old sustained five fatal gunshot wounds in his back.
Neither Vega nor Hernandez showed up to the hearing — Vega was out of the country — but indicated through their attorneys that they would invoke their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and not answer questions. Two homicide investigators did the same.
Vega’s attorney has previously said that Guardado was shot while reaching for a gun.
Vega, who joined the Sheriff’s Department in 2009, has faced prior allegations of misconduct.
In 2017, he was accused of making false statements in an investigation, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the events, and was eventually suspended for four days.
Capt. John Burcher, Villanueva’s former chief of staff, previously told The Times that investigators determined the allegation of false statements to be untrue and that the discipline was for a lesser infraction regarding Vega’s failure to properly screen a jail inmate.
Burcher said three complaints have been lodged against Vega while he was assigned to Compton station. Department officials determined that one complaint,for using unreasonable force, had no merit, he said. The two other complaints alleged that he was discourteous. In one, officials determined his conduct “could’ve been better.” The outcome of the second case is unclear.


latimes--2020-12-11--Riverside County grand jury indicts father for 8-year-old's murder and torture

A Riverside County grand jury has indicted a Corona resident for the murder and torture of his 8-year-old son , Noah McIntosh , who went missing in March 2019 .
An indictment unsealed Friday charged Bryce McIntosh , 34 , with one count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of torture and one count of willful child cruelty .
In a news release , officials said Riverside County Dist .
Atty .
Mike Hestrin will decide whether to seek the death penalty .
McIntosh pleaded not guilty plea to both counts and denied the special circumstance allegation at an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a spokesman for the district attorney ’ s office .
McIntosh ’ s attorney did not return a request for comment .
Prosecutors decided to present the case to a grand jury after previously filing the same charges against McIntosh due to “ numerous delays in the case moving forward to a preliminary hearing , ” according to the release .
The boy ’ s mother , Jillian Godfrey , pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child endangerment in connection to Noah last December and has not yet been sentenced .
Prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called Corona police and told officials that McIntosh had said Noah had been missing for several days .
A day into their investigation , authorities searched McIntosh ’ s apartment and arrested him .
Investigators tracked McIntosh ’ s movements using his cellphone ’ s data and searched an area of Aguanga , Riverside County .
They found a trash can , a paper that said “ Noah M , ” latex gloves , empty bottles of drain cleaner and a plastic bag with residue consistent with blood , according to prosecutors .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by holding him in hot and cold water for hours at a time , the release said .
Authorities discovered McIntosh had purchased four gallons of acid , bolt cutters , a trash can and other items around the time the Noah disappeared .
In June 2020 , a lawsuit filed on behalf of Noah ’ s older sister against Riverside County alleged that social workers were aware of allegations of abuse against the boy almost two years before his death but had failed to intervene .
It said that “ horrific abuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least three referrals by Riverside County Child Protective Services .
The siblings lived for several years with their maternal grandparents until July 2017 , when they went to visit their father in Corona , the lawsuit stated .
He refused to return them , and a month later , social workers were called to investigate claims of abuse .
According to the complaint , workers learned that Noah ’ s hands and feet had been zip-tied together for long periods of time and that his head had been dunked underwater , among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers acknowledged in writing that McIntosh had “ inflicted serious physical harm on Noah ” but that when the boy ’ s parents refused to cooperate with the investigation , the workers closed their file .
Noah ’ s body has not yet been found .
Times staff writers Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Hannah Fry contributed to this report .

Noah McIntosh, 8, is shown in a photograph released by the Corona Police Department, left, and in a family photo.
A Riverside County grand jury has indicted a Corona resident for the murder and torture of his 8-year-old son, Noah McIntosh, who went missing in March 2019.
An indictment unsealed Friday charged Bryce McIntosh, 34, with one count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of torture and one count of willful child cruelty. In a news release, officials said Riverside County Dist. Atty. Mike Hestrin will decide whether to seek the death penalty.
McIntosh pleaded not guilty plea to both counts and denied the special circumstance allegation at an arraignment Friday, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office. McIntosh’s attorney did not return a request for comment.
Advertisement
Prosecutors decided to present the case to a grand jury after previously filing the same charges against McIntosh due to “numerous delays in the case moving forward to a preliminary hearing,” according to the release. The boy’s mother, Jillian Godfrey, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child endangerment in connection to Noah last December and has not yet been sentenced.
Prosecutors said that in March 2019, Godfrey called Corona police and told officials that McIntosh had said Noah had been missing for several days. A day into their investigation, authorities searched McIntosh’s apartment and arrested him.
Investigators tracked McIntosh’s movements using his cellphone’s data and searched an area of Aguanga, Riverside County. They found a trash can, a paper that said “Noah M,” latex gloves, empty bottles of drain cleaner and a plastic bag with residue consistent with blood, according to prosecutors.
McIntosh had been abusing Noah, including by holding him in hot and cold water for hours at a time, the release said. Authorities discovered McIntosh had purchased four gallons of acid, bolt cutters, a trash can and other items around the time the Noah disappeared.
In June 2020, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Noah’s older sister against Riverside County alleged that social workers were aware of allegations of abuse against the boy almost two years before his death but had failed to intervene. It said that “horrific abuse and neglect” by his father triggered at least three referrals by Riverside County Child Protective Services.
The siblings lived for several years with their maternal grandparents until July 2017, when they went to visit their father in Corona, the lawsuit stated. He refused to return them, and a month later, social workers were called to investigate claims of abuse.
According to the complaint, workers learned that Noah’s hands and feet had been zip-tied together for long periods of time and that his head had been dunked underwater, among other abuses. It held that the workers acknowledged in writing that McIntosh had “inflicted serious physical harm on Noah” but that when the boy’s parents refused to cooperate with the investigation, the workers closed their file.
Advertisement
Noah’s body has not yet been found.
Times staff writers Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Hannah Fry contributed to this report.