latimes--2020-12-24--Column: California isn't 'hemorrhaging' people, but there are reasons for concern

That sound Californians are hearing from beyond the Sierra and as far away as the Gulf of Mexico is bragging .
The announced headquarters relocations of Silicon Valley stalwarts Oracle and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have Texas and other states boasting about their success at drawing entrepreneurs and businesses out of the Golden State .
Farewell , Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX , decamped to Texas .
Goodbye , Larry Ellison , now a resident of Hawaii .
One can even detect hand-wringing from this side of the state line .
As my colleagues Hayley Smith and Hailey Branson-Potts reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the year ended July 1 fell to 0.05 % , a level not seen since 1900 .
The trend was attributed in part to a “ continued exodus ” of residents exasperated by the cost of living .
The Sacramento Bee mined the same data and pronounced California “ no longer a boom state.
” The narrative of California ’ s decline almost writes itself .
In just the last month three major corporations have announced headquarters relocations or other moves out of California : Hewlett Packard Enterprise will move its headquarters from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Redwood City to Austin .
Musk says he ’ s moving himself from Los Angeles to Texas because his two signature companies have operations there .
Other tech companies are pondering whether they need , or want , to stay in California .
But can we get real for a moment ?
Yes , the state ’ s population growth has slowed to a trickle .
So has job growth , as my colleague Margot Roosevelt reports .
The flattening out of population growth looks like a “ sea change ” in historical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California .
Johnson also notes , however , that “ in some ways , the latest year ’ s data is just an incremental change from what we ’ ve been seeing over a couple of decades , which has been slowing population growth rates for California.
” He adds that the population trend isn ’ t anything like the hollowing-out suffered by the upper Plains states and Rust Belt cities such as Detroit , Cleveland and St. Louis , which lost more than half their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ California doesn ’ t look like any of that , ” he told me .
“ We don ’ t have areas where boarding up and demolishing houses is one of the big city government challenges .
What we have in California is high housing prices because we haven ’ t been able to build enough housing .
So we ’ re not able to attract more people to our jobs than we would have otherwise.
” That points to the most important challenge facing California government — housing .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to say that California , for all its pluses , has no cause to be complacent about the future .
First , let ’ s put the state ’ s economic and demographic trends in perspective .
History teaches us to be wary of hasty declarations that the California dream is over .
From the days of the Gold Rush and the earliest years of statehood , visitors to California have noticed dross mixed with the glitter .
In an 1855 screed titled , “ The Land of Gold : Reality Versus Fiction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ named Hinton R. Helper cursed the state ’ s “ rottenness and its corruption , its squalor and its misery , its crime and its shame.
” Horace Greeley , famous for having counseled young men to “ Go West , ” bemoaned the spiritual and civic poverty of the Golden State following his own sole visit , in 1859 .
“ In the course of several hundred miles ’ travel through the vest settled portions of this state , ” he wrote , “ I remember having seen but two school-houses outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waxed poetic about the richness of the arable land but warned that “ the deplorable confusion and uncertainty of land titles , ” dating from the era of Mexican governance prior to U.S. annexation in 1848 , “ is the master-scourge of this state.
” The land disputes wouldn ’ t be settled for years to come — a portent of the role that real estate has played in the state throughout its history .
As it happens , by 1860 Greeley warned that opportunities in California were almost tapped out .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; and of those who come hereafter , nine-tenths will go back disappointed or impoverished , or stay here paupers.
” Turning to population inflows versus outflows , it ’ s proper to keep in mind that California has experienced net out-migration to other states since about 1989 .
In some years the gap is wider than in others , but it is almost always an infinitesimal percentage of total population .
In 2019 , for instance , net out-migration from the state was 173,340 residents , the second highest net outflow in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But it came to only 0.4 % of the state ’ s population of 39.1 million .
In other words , when Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-Texas ) claimed during a Senate debate in 2018 that California was “ hemorrhaging population , ” he was lying .
Who comes to California , who leaves and who stays ?
The state has consistently attracted more college graduates than it loses , a phenomenon that Johnson termed the “ brain gain ” in an article last year .
In 2012-17 , he found , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people with bachelor ’ s or graduate degrees , while losing net population in every other educational category .
Almost all the net gain was among college graduates aged 20 to 29 .
“ From a labor market perspective , ” Johnson wrote , “ attracting young college graduates is especially advantageous .
Young adults with college degrees are at the start of their careers and provide the state with much-needed highly educated workers.
” The state also shows a net gain among people with incomes of $ 110,000 and higher , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lower earnings .
It ’ s unsurprising that younger and lower-income residents are leaving the state .
California ’ s high rents , home prices and other costs of living pose a particular burden on those cohorts , who tend to be less settled and therefore more mobile than older households .
Among the remaining factors in population are births , deaths and foreign immigration .
California statistics are turning down in all three categories .
The fertility rate , roughly defined as the average number of children per woman of childbearing age @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 2.49 in 1990 , according to the Department of Finance , which projects the rate to continue falling to 1.50 by 2040 .
Among the factors are shrinking immigration and the gradual aging of the population .
The latter also account for a rise in the mortality rate .
What does all this say about the California economy ?
Not as much as you might think .
Figures on the number of companies leaving California are easy to find — corporate relocation firms , which make their money by facilitating those moves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a way of soliciting more business .
But they tell only half the story .
It ’ s one thing to say 1,800 businesses left the state in 2016 , the most recent year available ; quite another to observe that in the same year , 5,290 new businesses were formed , according to business applications .
Since 2016 , more new businesses have been launched in California than Texas every year except 2020 ( thus far ) .
California ’ s rate of economic growth has largely paralleled that of Texas since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mid-2009 , but its economy remains much larger — $ 2.8 trillion in California gross domestic product as of the third quarter this year , compared with $ 1.8 trillion in Texas .
Thus far , the investment scene in Silicon Valley appears to have kept up well in this pandemic year .
That ’ s according to Fenwick & West , a Mountain View law firm that tracks venture capital flows .
In its most recent survey , the firm found that venture financing was especially strong in life sciences , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comparison to 2019 .
These statistics provide some useful context for lobbyists ’ complaints about California ’ s poor business climate .
The objections generally boil down to high taxes and intrusive regulations .
Things are never that simple , however .
California ’ s personal income tax is high — especially for top earners such as CEOs , who have a strong voice in relocation decisions .
Earners of more than $ 1 million a year face a 13.3 % marginal state tax rate in California , but would pay nothing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however , is relatively low ( thanks to Proposition 13 ) .
Oracle , Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Tesla won ’ t escape much in the way of California corporate taxes because those are based on the share of sales taking place in the state .
More than 40 % of Tesla ’ s domestic sales are in California .
Oracle and HPE say they are leaving most of their California staff in place , but planning on doing more hiring elsewhere .
California labor and environmental regulations are undoubtedly irksome for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are designed for the welfare of the community .
Musk has groused plenty about labor and public health rules , of which he ’ s a serial flouter .
Tesla has been accused of safety violations on the factory floor and defied government orders to shut down during the pandemic .
Perhaps Texas will be more indulgent if Musk opens a factory there , but that might not be entirely to his workers ’ benefit .
Lurking within all these statistics , to be sure , are grounds for concern about California ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a persistent and intensifying drag on growth .
It ’ s a challenge that the state ’ s leaders and voters have been utterly unable to get their arms around .
Oracle , Hewlett Packard and other companies should be believed when they say that they find it easier to recruit young workers to locations such as Austin or Miami than to the Bay Area , where owning a home is a forlorn dream for all but the highest earners and those already with a foothold in the California housing market .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they want to , but because the cost of living leaves them no other option .
There are limits to what can be done about California ’ s housing crisis .
Plainly the state has not built anywhere near enough affordable housing to accommodate growth .
But that ’ s not entirely because of planning and regulatory issues .
To some extent , the problem is geographic : San Francisco , which is surrounded by water on three sides , has nowhere to expand , in part because its residents demand restrictions on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the gentrification of the city , which has placed much of its real estate outside the reach of the middle class .
Much of the rest of urban California has run out of room within sane commuting distance of central cities or nearby suburbs .
Some of the pressure might be alleviated by better mass transit , but progress on that front has been painfully slow and public acceptance has been weak .
One imponderable for California ’ s future is the long-term impact of COVID-19 .
The work-from-home habit has liberated millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ near a central office and may have relieved pressure on California rents , if not home prices , but how much that lifestyle will last beyond the end of the pandemic is impossible to say .
It may be that the future will be one of slower growth for California than the state has seen in the past .
Whether that might even be a good thing is a question that demographers will be watching closely .
For now , they ’ re dealing with a historic anomaly .
“ For a Western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with zero population growth , ” Johnson told me , “ is something we haven ’ t seen before .
”

Bye, Elon Musk: Tesla’s boss says he’s moving to Texas, but his company’s best domestic market is still California.
That sound Californians are hearing from beyond the Sierra and as far away as the Gulf of Mexico is bragging.
The announced headquarters relocations of Silicon Valley stalwarts Oracle and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have Texas and other states boasting about their success at drawing entrepreneurs and businesses out of the Golden State.
Farewell, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, decamped to Texas. Goodbye, Larry Ellison, now a resident of Hawaii.
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No more merchants or clerks are wanted; and of those who come hereafter, nine-tenths will go back disappointed or impoverished, or stay here paupers. — Horace Greeley, of California in 1860
One can even detect hand-wringing from this side of the state line. As my colleagues Hayley Smith and Hailey Branson-Potts reported, California’s population growth in the year ended July 1 fell to 0.05%, a level not seen since 1900. The trend was attributed in part to a “continued exodus” of residents exasperated by the cost of living.
The Sacramento Bee mined the same data and pronounced California “no longer a boom state.”
The narrative of California’s decline almost writes itself. In just the last month three major corporations have announced headquarters relocations or other moves out of California: Hewlett Packard Enterprise will move its headquarters from San Jose to Houston and Oracle from Redwood City to Austin.
Musk says he’s moving himself from Los Angeles to Texas because his two signature companies have operations there. Other tech companies are pondering whether they need, or want, to stay in California.
But can we get real for a moment?
Yes, the state’s population growth has slowed to a trickle. So has job growth, as my colleague Margot Roosevelt reports.
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The flattening out of population growth looks like a “sea change” in historical terms, observes Hans Johnson, a demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California.
Johnson also notes, however, that “in some ways, the latest year’s data is just an incremental change from what we’ve been seeing over a couple of decades, which has been slowing population growth rates for California.”
He adds that the population trend isn’t anything like the hollowing-out suffered by the upper Plains states and Rust Belt cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis, which have lost more than half their population in the last 50 years.
“California doesn’t look like any of that,” he told me. “We don’t have areas where boarding up and demolishing houses is one of the big city government challenges. What we have in California is high housing prices because we haven’t been able to build enough housing. So we’re not able to attract more people to our jobs than we would have otherwise.”
That points to the most important challenge facing California government: housing. We’ll return to that shortly. Suffice to say that California, for all its pluses, has no cause to be complacent about the future.
First, let’s put the state’s economic and demographic trends in perspective.
History teaches us to be wary of hasty declarations that the California dream is over. From the days of the Gold Rush and the earliest years of statehood, visitors to California have noticed dross mixed with the glitter.
In an 1855 screed titled “The Land of Gold: Reality Versus Fiction,” a transplant from North Carolina named Hinton R. Helper cursed the state’s “rottenness and its corruption, its squalor and its misery, its crime and its shame.”
Horace Greeley, famous for having counseled young men to “Go West,” bemoaned the spiritual and civic poverty of the Golden State after his own sole visit, in 1859. “In the course of several hundred miles’ travel through the less settled portions of this state,” he wrote, “I remember having seen but two school-houses outside of the cities and villages.”
California’s GDP (blue line) has grown faster than low-tax Florida (red), Nevada (green) and Texas (purple) since 2012. (Federal Reserve of St. Louis)
Greeley waxed poetic about the richness of the arable land but warned that “the deplorable confusion and uncertainty of land titles,” dating from the era of Mexican governance prior to U.S. annexation in 1848, “is the master-scourge of this state.”
The land disputes wouldn’t be settled for years to come — a portent of the role that real estate has played in the state throughout its history.
As it happens, by 1860 Greeley warned that opportunities in California were almost tapped out. “No more merchants or clerks are wanted; and of those who come hereafter, nine-tenths will go back disappointed or impoverished, or stay here paupers.”
Turning to population inflows versus outflows, it’s proper to keep in mind that California has experienced net out-migration to other states since about 1989.
In some years the gap is wider than in others, but it is almost always an infinitesimal percentage of total population. In 2019, for instance, net out-migration from the state was 173,340 residents, the second-highest net outflow in this decade, next to 2018. But it came to only 0.4% of the state’s population of 39.1 million.
In other words, when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claimed during a Senate debate in 2018 that California was “hemorrhaging population,” he was lying.
Who comes to California, who leaves and who stays? The state has consistently attracted more college graduates than it loses, a phenomenon that Johnson termed the “brain gain” in an article last year. In 2012-17, he found, the state gained a net 162,000 residents among people with bachelor’s or graduate degrees, while losing net population in every other educational category.
Almost all the net gain was among college graduates ages 20 to 29. “From a labor market perspective,” Johnson wrote, “attracting young college graduates is especially advantageous. Young adults with college degrees are at the start of their careers and provide the state with much-needed highly educated workers.”
Business Column: Stephen Moore’s ranking of states’ economies has been wrong for 12 straight years If you happened to check out the latest ranking of states for their “economic outlook” published last week by the right-wing political group ALEC, you would be excused for concluding that California is deep in an economic hole and digging itself deeper.
The state also shows a net gain among people with incomes of $110,000 and higher, while suffering a net loss in those with lower earnings.
It’s unsurprising that younger and lower-income residents are leaving the state. California’s high rents, home prices and other costs of living pose a particular burden on those cohorts, who tend to be less settled and therefore more mobile than older households.
Among the remaining factors in population are births, deaths and foreign immigration. California statistics are turning down in all three categories.
The fertility rate, roughly defined as the average number of children per woman of childbearing age, fell to about 1.65 in 2019 from 2.49 in 1990, according to the Department of Finance, which projects the rate to continue falling to 1.50 by 2040. Among the factors are shrinking immigration and the gradual aging of the population. The latter also accounts for a rise in the mortality rate.
What does all this say about the California economy? Not as much as you might think. Figures on the number of companies leaving California are easy to find — corporate relocation firms, which make their money by facilitating those moves, are happy to provide them as a way of soliciting more business.
New business applications in California have increased in seven of the last 14 years since at least 2007, sometimes by double-digit percentages. (U.S. Census Bureau)
But they tell only half the story. It’s one thing to say 1,800 businesses left the state in 2016, the most recent year available; quite another to observe that in the same year, 5,290 new businesses were formed, according to business applications. Since 2016, more new businesses have been launched in California than Texas every year except 2020 (thus far).
California’s rate of economic growth has largely paralleled that of Texas since the end of the last recession in mid-2009, but its economy remains much larger — $2.8 trillion in California gross domestic product as of the third quarter this year, compared with $1.8 trillion in Texas.
Thus far, the investment scene in Silicon Valley appears to have kept up well in this pandemic year. That’s according to Fenwick & West, a Mountain View law firm that tracks venture capital flows. In its most recent survey, the firm found that venture financing was especially strong in life sciences, while software financings were holding their own in comparison to 2019.
These statistics provide some useful context for lobbyists’ complaints about California’s poor business climate. The objections generally boil down to high taxes and intrusive regulations.
Things are never that simple, however. California’s personal income tax is high — especially for top earners such as CEOs, who have a strong voice in relocation decisions. Earners of more than $1 million a year face a 13.3% marginal state tax rate in California, but would pay nothing in Texas. California’s property tax, however, is relatively low (thanks to Proposition 13).
Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Tesla won’t escape much in the way of California corporate taxes because those are based on the share of sales taking place in the state. More than 40% of Tesla’s domestic sales are in California. Oracle and HPE say they are leaving most of their California staff in place, but planning on doing more hiring elsewhere.
California labor and environmental regulations are undoubtedly irksome for many employers and entrepreneurs, but they are designed for the welfare of the community. Musk has groused plenty about labor and public health rules, of which he’s a serial flouter.
Column: If California’s a ‘bad state for business,’ why is it leading the nation in job and GDP growth? State and federal statistics released as recently as Friday make it clear: California is smoking hot, economy-wise.
Tesla has been accused of safety violations on the factory floor and defied government orders to shut down during the pandemic. Perhaps Texas will be more indulgent if Musk opens a factory there, but that might not entirely be to his workers’ benefit.
Lurking within all these statistics, to be sure, are grounds for concern about California’s future.
The cost of housing is a persistent and intensifying drag on growth. It’s a challenge that the state’s leaders and voters have been utterly unable to get their arms around.
Oracle, Hewlett Packard and other companies should be believed when they say that they find it easier to recruit young workers to locations such as Austin or Miami than to the Bay Area, where owning a home is a forlorn dream for all but the highest earners and those already with a foothold in the California housing market. Most don’t leave California because they want to, but because the cost of living leaves them no other option.
There are limits to what can be done about California’s housing crisis. Plainly the state has not built anywhere near enough affordable housing to accommodate growth. But that’s not entirely because of planning and regulatory issues.
California has lost population to other states in every year for three decades. The question is: Who’s leaving and who’s arriving? (California Legislative Analyst’s Office)
To some extent, the problem is geographic: San Francisco, which is surrounded by water on three sides, has nowhere to expand, in part because its residents demand restrictions on density. That has been exacerbated by the gentrification of the city, which has placed much of its real estate outside the reach of the middle class.
Much of the rest of urban California has run out of room within sane commuting distance of central cities or nearby suburbs. Some of the pressure might be alleviated by better mass transit, but progress on that front has been painfully slow and public acceptance has been weak.
One imponderable for California’s future is the long-term impact of COVID-19. The work-from-home habit has liberated millions of employees from the necessity of living near a central office and may have relieved pressure on California rents, if not home prices, but how much that lifestyle will last beyond the end of the pandemic is impossible to say.
It may be that the future will be one of slower growth for California than the state has seen in the past. Whether that might even be a good thing is a question that demographers will be watching closely. For now, they’re dealing with a historic anomaly.
“For a Western state to join the ranks of states with zero population growth,” Johnson told me, “is something we haven’t seen before.”


latimes--2020-12-24--Inland Empire now California coronavirus hot zone even as its leaders battle safety restrictions

Two makeshift hospital rooms sit outside the ambulance entrance to Arrowhead Medical Center in San Bernardino County , a hint of how dire things have become as the county faces a surge of COVID-19 cases .
Things have gotten so bad at times that paramedics and ambulance drivers have had to wait up to six hours to offload COVID-19 patients , many of them often struggling to breathe .
“ We had patients who were taking 40 to 50 breaths per minute .
The average is 20 , ” said Dr. Joel Labha , who has taken care many of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being overwhelmed by the coronavirus surge , but the conditions in San Bernardino County and the Greater Inland Empire are particularly acute .
New cases of the coronavirus in San Bernardino County are growing faster than in any other county in California on a per capita basis , according to .
Over the last seven days , there were about 1,800 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents in San Bernardino County .
By contrast , hard-hit Los Angeles County reported about 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents during that period .
A Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities for which data are available found that , of the top 50 , about half of them were in the Inland Empire , including Riverside , San Bernardino , Perris , Moreno Valley , Jurupa Valley , Bloomington , Barstow , Colton , Rialto , Victorville , Fontana , Highland , Adelanto and Hesperia .
Experts and public health officials say there are several factors that have made San Bernardino County so vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus .
Like Los Angeles County , San Bernardino is home to many essential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where the virus has spread .
Data show poorer , more non-white parts of the Inland Empire are among the areas being disproportionately hit hard .
But San Bernardino County has also been more resistant to state mandates than L.A. , with officials clashing with Gov .
Gavin Newsom over the latest stay-at-home order .
Edward Flores , sociology professor with the UC Merced Community and Labor Center , said the Inland Empire was one of the nation ’ s hubs for the logistics industry , with Amazon and many other companies operating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warehouse boom has played out for more than a decade , and the pandemic has made shipping more vital to the economy than ever .
“ These are critical , essential industries in which workers commonly work in close proximity to each other , and so , it ’ s easy for the virus to spread , ” Flores said .
“ And especially now during the holiday season , when everybody is staying at home and buying packages online ... it wouldn ’ t be surprising if all of that activity is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data also suggests that visits to retail sites in the Inland Empire have fallen by only about 20 % compared to a baseline , a smaller drop compared to L.A. , Orange and San Diego counties , where such visits have fallen by about 30 % .
San Bernardino County leaders have repeatedly pushed back against rules advanced to stymie the spread of the coronavirus , and the latest surge arrived just days after the county asked the California Supreme Court to overturn Newsom ’ s stay-at-home order .
County Supervisor Curt Hagman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Newsom , stood by the decision Wednesday .
“ I respect what [ Newsom ] is trying to do with some of these orders , but I think that the state of California is too big for one-size-fits-all solutions , ” said Hagman , who is also chair of the board .
He said basing shut-down decisions on one metric only — intensive care unit capacity — was the wrong approach , and argued that although county officials wanted people to avoid risky behavior , those decisions should be made on local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s going to be different solutions for different areas , ” he said .
But some experts say the county ’ s resistance has a cost .
“ If someone is seeing their local leadership saying the rules don ’ t make sense , then they might feel as if they don ’ t need to follow the rules , ” Shira Shafir , an associate professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health , said Wednesday .
San Bernardino County is hardly unique when it comes to occasionally standing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Riverside and Orange counties have also periodically pushed back against restrictions and rules handed down from Sacramento .
Richard Carpiano , a professor of public policy and sociology at UC Riverside , said local attitudes about the coronavirus are formed through a national lens : “ We in the U.S. think in very individualistic terms : It ’ s our bodies and our choices , ” he said .
People look to leaders for what to do , Carpiano said , so their actions can influence behavior .
Whatever the cause , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reached a crisis point .
“ It ’ s just surging all around us in our county , and that ’ s why we ’ re so deeply concerned , ” county Public Health Director Corwin Porter said Wednesday .
“ It hasn ’ t peaked yet .
It hasn ’ t stopped increasing.
” He said there is no single sector that is driving the dire situation in San Bernardino .
“ It ’ s like throwing a pebble in a pond , ” Porter said of the surge , which began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s been broadening out ever since.
” There is , however , a hierarchy : Small gatherings among family and friends are “ by far ” the driving factor , he said , followed by religious gatherings , funerals , out-of-county travel , weddings , work and restaurants .
Schools , which remain mostly closed to in-person classes , are lower down the list .
One area that has been particularly hard hit is Bloomington — a small , unincorporated community outside Fontana .
According to Times data , it has the highest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far .
Porter attributed Bloomington ’ s spike to the fact that the area is home to many essential workers , as well as multi-family , multi-generational homes and concentrations of nonwhite populations , all of which have suffered disproportionately since the start of the pandemic .
According to census data , 83 % of Bloomington ’ s population is Latino , a number 1.5 times higher than the surrounding metro area .
Nearly 20 % live below the poverty line .
It ’ s a pattern that is beginning to be reflected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said Dr. Timothy Jenkins , medical director and chief of staff for Kaiser Permanente ’ s San Bernardino County service area .
He noted that social determinants of health — including food security , housing security , lower income levels and poverty — are challenges that can contribute to spread .
“ I think that is directly tied to the severity of the pandemic in the county , ” Jenkins said .
“ In general , some of the other surrounding counties may have less of those factors , and so overall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer Dr. Edward Blews III , also of Kaiser Permanente ’ s San Bernardino County service area , echoed Jenkins ’ findings , noting that regional data show higher incidence of the virus in Latino and Black patients , obese patients and patients who are essential workers .
“ Individuals who are living paycheck to paycheck have to go to work , ” Blews said , “ and so there ’ s an increased risk of exposure.
” Kaiser ’ s area hospitals have been setting records for COVID-19 patient numbers “ virtually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and what they are experiencing now is far worse than the numbers they saw over the summer .
Thousands of new patients are entering the system every week , and hundreds are already there .
“ It really is just one patient after the next with COVID , with just enormous amounts of equipment , ” he said .
“ It really just creates a sense of disaster.
” Yet the messaging coming from county leadership can be confusing and frustrating for those hardest hit by the surge .
Jenkins emphasized the importance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unnecessary travel and group gatherings , and wearing face masks .
Blews said he hopes people will be willing to get the vaccine as soon as it ’ s available to them .
But Porter , the county health director , said he ’ s now worried that holiday gatherings and increased travel will add to an already “ scary situation ” in the county .
“ COVID fatigue has set in , ” he said .
“ I ’ m not sure if everyone ’ s listening anymore.
” Back at Arrowhead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope people are still listening .
Hospital staff say they are worn out .
They are sometimes working past their 12-hour shifts , and some come in just to help colleagues get a break for lunch .
Sometimes when things get bad , they take on extra patients .
“ It feels overwhelming at times , ” Labha said .
“ But we do the best we can .
It ’ s all part of that team effort.
” Times staff writers Matt Stiles and Sean Greene contributed to this report .

Ruben Vives, Hayley Smith, Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II

ER nurse Jennifer Caspary, left, and emergency department medical director Dr. Leroy Pascal attend to a COVID-19 patient at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville on Dec. 17.
Two makeshift hospital rooms sit outside the ambulance entrance to Arrowhead Medical Center in San Bernardino County, a hint of how dire things have become as the county faces a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Things have gotten so bad at times that paramedics and ambulance drivers have had to wait up to six hours to offload COVID-19 patients, many of them often struggling to breathe.
“We had patients who were taking 40 to 50 breaths per minute. The average is 20,” said Dr. Joel Labha, who has taken care many of those patients.
Hospitals across California are being overwhelmed by the coronavirus surge, but the conditions in San Bernardino County and the Greater Inland Empire are particularly acute. New cases of the coronavirus in San Bernardino County are growing faster than in any other county in California on a per capita basis, according to The Times’ tracker .
Over the last seven days, there were about 1,800 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents in San Bernardino County. By contrast, hard-hit Los Angeles County reported about 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents during that period.
A Los Angeles Times analysis of coronavirus case rates in communities for which data are available found that, of the top 50, about half of them were in the Inland Empire, including Riverside, San Bernardino, Perris, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley, Bloomington, Barstow, Colton, Rialto, Victorville, Fontana, Highland, Adelanto and Hesperia.
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Experts and public health officials say there are several factors that have made San Bernardino County so vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus. Like Los Angeles County, San Bernardino is home to many essential workers and some dense working-class Latino communities where the virus has spread. Data show poorer, more non-white parts of the Inland Empire are among the areas being disproportionately hit hard.
But San Bernardino County has also been more resistant to state mandates than L.A., with officials clashing with Gov. Gavin Newsom over the latest stay-at-home order.
Edward Flores, sociology professor with the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, said the Inland Empire was one of the nation’s hubs for the logistics industry, with Amazon and many other companies operating vast warehouses in the region. The warehouse boom has played out for more than a decade, and the pandemic has made shipping more vital to the economy than ever.
“These are critical, essential industries in which workers commonly work in close proximity to each other, and so, it’s easy for the virus to spread,” Flores said. “And especially now during the holiday season, when everybody is staying at home and buying packages online ... it wouldn’t be surprising if all of that activity is contributing to the spread.”
Google mobility data also suggests that visits to retail sites in the Inland Empire have fallen by only about 20% compared to a baseline, a smaller drop compared to L.A., Orange and San Diego counties, where such visits have fallen by about 30%.
San Bernardino County leaders have repeatedly pushed back against rules advanced to stymie the spread of the coronavirus, and the latest surge arrived just days after the county asked the California Supreme Court to overturn Newsom’s stay-at-home order.
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County Supervisor Curt Hagman, a leading voice in the lawsuit against Newsom, stood by the decision Wednesday.
“I respect what [Newsom] is trying to do with some of these orders, but I think that the state of California is too big for one-size-fits-all solutions,” said Hagman, who is also chair of the board.
He said basing shut-down decisions on one metric only — intensive care unit capacity — was the wrong approach, and argued that although county officials wanted people to avoid risky behavior, those decisions should be made on local and regional levels.
“There’s going to be different solutions for different areas,” he said.
But some experts say the county’s resistance has a cost.
“If someone is seeing their local leadership saying the rules don’t make sense, then they might feel as if they don’t need to follow the rules,” Shira Shafir, an associate professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said Wednesday.
San Bernardino County is hardly unique when it comes to occasionally standing apart from the state. Its neighbors in Riverside and Orange counties have also periodically pushed back against restrictions and rules handed down from Sacramento.
Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy and sociology at UC Riverside, said local attitudes about the coronavirus are formed through a national lens: “We in the U.S. think in very individualistic terms: It’s our bodies and our choices,” he said.
People look to leaders for what to do, Carpiano said, so their actions can influence behavior.
Whatever the cause, public health officials said San Bernardino has reached a crisis point.
“It’s just surging all around us in our county, and that’s why we’re so deeply concerned,” county Public Health Director Corwin Porter said Wednesday. “It hasn’t peaked yet. It hasn’t stopped increasing.”
He said there is no single sector that is driving the dire situation in San Bernardino.
“It’s like throwing a pebble in a pond,” Porter said of the surge, which began shortly after Thanksgiving. “It’s been broadening out ever since.”
There is, however, a hierarchy: Small gatherings among family and friends are “by far” the driving factor, he said, followed by religious gatherings, funerals, out-of-county travel, weddings, work and restaurants. Schools, which remain mostly closed to in-person classes, are lower down the list.
One area that has been particularly hard hit is Bloomington — a small, unincorporated community outside Fontana. According to Times data, it has the highest community-level case rate in the county by far.
Porter attributed Bloomington’s spike to the fact that the area is home to many essential workers, as well as multi-family, multi-generational homes and concentrations of nonwhite populations, all of which have suffered disproportionately since the start of the pandemic.
According to census data, 83% of Bloomington’s population is Latino, a number 1.5 times higher than the surrounding metro area. Nearly 20% live below the poverty line.
It’s a pattern that is beginning to be reflected among many COVID-19 patients in the county, said Dr. Timothy Jenkins, medical director and chief of staff for Kaiser Permanente’s San Bernardino County service area. He noted that social determinants of health — including food security, housing security, lower income levels and poverty — are challenges that can contribute to spread.
“I think that is directly tied to the severity of the pandemic in the county,” Jenkins said. “In general, some of the other surrounding counties may have less of those factors, and so overall those communities do better.”
Infection control officer Dr. Edward Blews III, also of Kaiser Permanente’s San Bernardino County service area, echoed Jenkins’ findings, noting that regional data show higher incidence of the virus in Latino and Black patients, obese patients and patients who are essential workers.
“Individuals who are living paycheck to paycheck have to go to work,” Blews said, “and so there’s an increased risk of exposure.”
Kaiser’s area hospitals have been setting records for COVID-19 patient numbers “virtually every day,” Jenkins said, and what they are experiencing now is far worse than the numbers they saw over the summer. Thousands of new patients are entering the system every week, and hundreds are already there.
“It really is just one patient after the next with COVID, with just enormous amounts of equipment,” he said. “It really just creates a sense of disaster.”
Yet the messaging coming from county leadership can be confusing and frustrating for those hardest hit by the surge.
Jenkins emphasized the importance of following social distancing guidelines, avoiding unnecessary travel and group gatherings, and wearing face masks. Blews said he hopes people will be willing to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available to them.
But Porter, the county health director, said he’s now worried that holiday gatherings and increased travel will add to an already “scary situation” in the county.
“COVID fatigue has set in,” he said. “I’m not sure if everyone’s listening anymore.”
Back at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, doctors and nurses hope people are still listening.
Hospital staff say they are worn out. They are sometimes working past their 12-hour shifts, and some come in just to help colleagues get a break for lunch. Sometimes when things get bad, they take on extra patients.
“It feels overwhelming at times,” Labha said. “But we do the best we can. It’s all part of that team effort.”
Times staff writers Matt Stiles and Sean Greene contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-25--There's only one way to join this exclusive COVID-19 club

They wrote their promises in big block letters on a portable chalkboard and held it up to the nursing home window : WE WILL BE BACK TOMORROW .
WE ARE BUYING YOUR FAVORITE FOODS !
The tiny woman on the other side of the glass was busy eating pudding from the tray in front of her , but she nodded at the messages and the smiling women who held them up .
She was dwarfed by the hospital bed , swimming in a pair of white pajamas printed with black , gray and red Scottish terriers .
You wouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but Marjorie Leach belongs to one of the most exclusive clubs around , women and men whose mere existence warrants breathless headlines across the globe .
Dues are high , membership requirements stiff : You must be at least 100 years old .
And you must have survived COVID-19 .
Leach belongs , and she has definitely paid .
Even though she was largely free of virus symptoms , the 101-year-old retired bookkeeper bounced back and forth between hospitals and nursing homes for three months .
But on this bright Thursday in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bring her home .
In time for Christmas .
And a new year with a new president — she voted by absentee ballot for Joe Biden .
And yet another birthday .
On Jan. 5 , she will turn 102 .
To celebrate , she wants vanilla ice cream and sliced strawberries .
The frail centenarian ’ s experience underscores two brutal truths about COVID-19 , which has killed more people 85 and older than any other segment of the population and ravaged nursing homes throughout the country .
As the pandemic drags @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Leach , who were admitted for other ailments but ended up in COVID wards because they happened to be infected .
And even though the elderly woman did not test positive until Dec. 1 and has largely avoided COVID-19 ’ s worst direct effects — the scarred lungs , the shortness of breath , the coughing , the blood clots , the loss of taste and smell — its indirect impacts have taken a terrible toll .
COVID-19 “ displaced her from her loved ones , ” said Dr. Marwa Kilani , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holy Cross Medical Center .
Kilani cared for Leach during two stays at the Mission Hills hospital — one for a broken hip , the other for a kidney infection .
“ It was a one-two punch for her , ” Kilani said .
If the pandemic had not happened , “ she may have just broken her hip , bounced back , went to rehab for a bit and gone back to the time when she would wake up , go for the [ television ] remote and start her day.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 .
She wondered whether it might shorten Leach ’ s life .
She struggled for words .
Then her answer came quickly .
Leach moved in with her daughter , Kathleen Hill , in 2004 .
They live with Hill ’ s daughter Marguerite in a cream-colored ranch house on a leafy street in Granada Hills .
Leach would get herself up in the morning , get dressed , brush her teeth , brush her hair .
Then she ’ d grab her walker , head to the living room , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CNN .
Until her eyesight worsened and she began to have mild dementia , she would knit and paint western scenes — cowboys and American Indians in oils .
Leach , her late husband and a couple of friends owned a “ record , television and hi-fi store ” in Indio , where she kept the books , Hill said .
They also repaired electronics , because “ back in the day , you didn ’ t throw things away.
” She has three children , loves television and crossword puzzles .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for at least 10 years , ” Hill said .
“ It ’ s like someone followed her with an eraser , and everything was gone .
...
But you could talk to her , have an intelligent conversation .
There was no loss to her intellect .
“ If we watched ‘ Jeopardy !
’ or ‘ Wheel of Fortune , ’ ” Hill added , “ she ’ d guess the answers to the puzzles often before anyone else did .
She was in the moment.
” And then , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ walker and reaching for the remote when she overbalanced and fell on her left hip .
Hill called 911 .
An ambulance took Leach to Holy Cross .
Surgery repaired the damage .
Leach began to heal .
She was transferred to a rehabilitation center .
That ’ s where things began falling apart .
She contracted a kidney infection .
Her roommate tested positive for the coronavirus .
Leach tested negative and was moved to an isolation room .
The infection worsened .
She returned to Holy Cross .
On Dec. 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she , too , was positive for the coronavirus .
Three days later , she was well enough to be discharged from the hospital .
But because she had COVID-19 and was under strict quarantine orders , her rehab facility would not take her back .
And she couldn ’ t quarantine at home , because Hill and her daughter are among those most at risk for the coronavirus .
The 73-year-old has heart problems and diabetes .
Marguerite , 42 , has thyroid cancer and is immunocompromised .
Enter nursing home No @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Sylmar , where Leach stayed until she was out of quarantine .
Hospitals and nursing homes had strict no-visit rules to help stanch the spread of the disease .
In all , the elderly woman was largely separated from her family for more than three months .
Her only familiar companion was a stuffed dog named Poofey Woo .
From institution to institution , she held on to the scruffy creature for dear life .
Hill would sometimes intercept her mother when the nursing home took her to a doctor ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figures she saw Leach in person only four brief times in three months .
“ On one of those visits , I brought her ballot , ” Hill recounted .
“ I said , ‘ Mom , do you want to vote ?
’ She said , ‘ No.
’ I said , ‘ Mom , do you want to make changes to the government ?
’ She said , ‘ Yes.
’ ” Hill read the names : Donald J. Trump .
Joe Biden .
Leach , a self-described yellow-dog Democrat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice .
The next time Hill visited her mother through the nursing home window — and the time after that — she reported the election results .
“ It was good news a couple of times in a row , ” Hill said .
Because of her dementia , Leach would not remember the conversations .
So Hill would remind her each time that Biden had won , and each time Leach would give her a thumbs up .
There was one other piece of repeated news that had the same effect .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mama , guess what ?
The Dodgers won the World Series !
’ Her face would light up .
She ’ d make a little , ‘ Oh !
’ face .
She was obviously excited .
She was very happy.
” But those good times were the exception .
Over the lengthy separation , the older woman began to withdraw .
She lost strength and mobility .
She got angry when nurses tried to wake her up .
Hill blames the combined insults of illness and isolation .
“ If there wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hip , we could go and sit with her all day , ” Hill said .
“ We ’ d go in shifts .
I ’ d go in for a while , and my sister would go in for a while .
That emotional support makes a big difference .
COVID just takes that away.
” But 11 days before Christmas , Leach ’ s long exile came to an end .
Just after 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 , Hill and her sister , Laura Leach-Palm , drove up to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the San Gabriel Mountains .
Before leaving home , they had turned the back seat of the black Honda SUV into a comfortable nest .
There was a pillow encased in white flannel and printed with dogs in holiday gear — antlers , scarves , Christmas sweaters .
Leach ’ s favorite blanket , sky blue and white fleece with a snowflake pattern , was folded neatly on the seat .
A nurse rolled Leach out in a wheelchair .
She wore bright red pajamas and purple fleece socks .
Her hair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Poofey Woo on her lap .
Hill : “ Guess how many days until you go home ?
” Because Leach has been inactive for so long , she can not stand or walk or even sit up without help .
Getting her from wheelchair to car was a lengthy ordeal , the cozy back seat an impossibility .
The drive home was slow and careful , the trip from car to wheelchair another delicate operation .
Hill watched Marguerite roll Leach up a ramp and into the house .
“ I told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home , ‘ Not everybody who comes here gets to go home , ’ ” she said .
She was pensive but happy .
“ We ’ re lucky kids , ” she said .
“ We get our mom .
It ’ s a great Christmas present .
”

They wrote their promises in big block letters on a portable chalkboard and held it up to the nursing home window:
WE WILL BE BACK TOMORROW.
WE ARE BUYING YOUR FAVORITE FOODS!
YOU ARE COMING HOME.
Marjorie Leach’s daughters Kathleen Hill, left, and Laura Leach-Palm visit their mother, who was in quarantine after being diagnosed with COVID-19. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The tiny woman on the other side of the glass was busy eating pudding from the tray in front of her, but she nodded at the messages and the smiling women who held them up. She was dwarfed by the hospital bed, swimming in a pair of white pajamas printed with black, gray and red Scottish terriers.
You wouldn’t know it from looking at her, but Marjorie Leach belongs to one of the most exclusive clubs around, women and men whose mere existence warrants breathless headlines across the globe. Dues are high, membership requirements stiff: You must be at least 100 years old. And you must have survived COVID-19.
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Leach belongs, and she has definitely paid. Even though she was largely free of virus symptoms, the 101-year-old retired bookkeeper bounced back and forth between hospitals and nursing homes for three months.
Dr. Marwa Kilani, medical director of palliative care at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, strokes Marjorie Leach’s hair. Leach was in the hospital’s COVID ward and had not seen her family members in person for three months. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
But on this bright Thursday in mid-December, her daughters were preparing to bring her home.
In time for Christmas. And a new year with a new president — she voted by absentee ballot for Joe Biden. And yet another birthday. On Jan. 5, she will turn 102. To celebrate, she wants vanilla ice cream and sliced strawberries.
The frail centenarian’s experience underscores two brutal truths about COVID-19, which has killed more people 85 and older than any other segment of the population and ravaged nursing homes throughout the country.
As the pandemic drags on, hospitals are seeing more patients like Leach, who were admitted for other ailments but ended up in COVID wards because they happened to be infected.
Marjorie Leach, 101, speaks with with her daughters over an iPad. COVID-19 “displaced her from her loved ones,” said Dr. Marwa Kilani, medical director of palliative care at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
And even though the elderly woman did not test positive until Dec. 1 and has largely avoided COVID-19’s worst direct effects — the scarred lungs, the shortness of breath, the coughing, the blood clots, the loss of taste and smell — its indirect impacts have taken a terrible toll.
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Especially the isolation.
COVID-19 “displaced her from her loved ones,” said Dr. Marwa Kilani, medical director of palliative care at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Kilani cared for Leach during two stays at the Mission Hills hospital — one for a broken hip, the other for a kidney infection.
“It was a one-two punch for her,” Kilani said. If the pandemic had not happened, “she may have just broken her hip, bounced back, went to rehab for a bit and gone back to the time when she would wake up, go for the [television] remote and start her day.”
Marjorie Leach, a 101-year-old COVID survivor, eats lunch in a Sylmar nursing home, where she’d been in quarantine. When her daughters Kathleen Hill, pictured, and Laura Leach-Palm visited, they had to stay outside the facility. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Kilani thought about loneliness, a byproduct of COVID-19. She wondered whether it might shorten Leach’s life. She struggled for words. Then her answer came quickly.
“I’d put money on it.”
Leach moved in with her daughter, Kathleen Hill, in 2004. They live with Hill’s daughter Marguerite in a cream-colored ranch house on a leafy street in Granada Hills.
Leach would get herself up in the morning, get dressed, brush her teeth, brush her hair. Then she’d grab her walker, head to the living room, find the remote control and switch on CNN. Until her eyesight worsened and she began to have mild dementia, she would knit and paint western scenes — cowboys and American Indians in oils.
Leach, her late husband and a couple of friends owned a “record, television and hi-fi store” in Indio, where she kept the books, Hill said. They also repaired electronics, because “back in the day, you didn’t throw things away.” She has three children, loves television and crossword puzzles.
Kathleen Hill, right, prepares to take her 101-year-old mother Marjorie Leach home from a skilled nursing facility in Sylmar. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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“She’s had short-term memory issues for at least 10 years,” Hill said. “It’s like someone followed her with an eraser, and everything was gone. ... But you could talk to her, have an intelligent conversation. There was no loss to her intellect.
“If we watched ‘Jeopardy!’ or ‘Wheel of Fortune,’” Hill added, “she’d guess the answers to the puzzles often before anyone else did. She was in the moment.”
And then, in late August, she was using her walker and reaching for the remote when she overbalanced and fell on her left hip. Hill called 911. An ambulance took Leach to Holy Cross.
Surgery repaired the damage. Leach began to heal. She was transferred to a rehabilitation center. That’s where things began falling apart.
“I would lead with, ‘Mama, guess what? The Dodgers won the World Series!’ Her face would light up. She’d make a little, ‘Oh!’ face. She was obviously excited. She was very happy.” — Kathleen Hill, daughter
She contracted a kidney infection. Her roommate tested positive for the coronavirus. Leach tested negative and was moved to an isolation room. The infection worsened. She returned to Holy Cross.
On Dec. 1, she got the bad news: she, too, was positive for the coronavirus.
Three days later, she was well enough to be discharged from the hospital. But because she had COVID-19 and was under strict quarantine orders, her rehab facility would not take her back.
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And she couldn’t quarantine at home, because Hill and her daughter are among those most at risk for the coronavirus. The 73-year-old has heart problems and diabetes. Marguerite, 42, has thyroid cancer and is immunocompromised.
Weak but determined, Marjorie Leach, 101, gets into her daughter’s car. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Enter nursing home No. 2, Mountain View Convalescent Hospital in Sylmar, where Leach stayed until she was out of quarantine.
Hospitals and nursing homes had strict no-visit rules to help stanch the spread of the disease. In all, the elderly woman was largely separated from her family for more than three months.
Her only familiar companion was a stuffed dog named Poofey Woo. From institution to institution, she held on to the scruffy creature for dear life.
Hill would sometimes intercept her mother when the nursing home took her to a doctor’s office for an appointment. But she figures she saw Leach in person only four brief times in three months.
“On one of those visits, I brought her ballot,” Hill recounted. “I said, ‘Mom, do you want to vote?’ She said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Mom, do you want to make changes to the government?’ She said, ‘Yes.’”
Hill read the names: Donald J. Trump. Joe Biden. Leach, a self-described yellow-dog Democrat, put her finger on her candidate of choice. The next time Hill visited her mother through the nursing home window — and the time after that — she reported the election results.
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Marjorie Leach, 101, is going home. Her daughter Kathleen Hill is at the wheel. Leach had been separated from family for three months because of the pandemic. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
“It was good news a couple of times in a row,” Hill said.
Because of her dementia, Leach would not remember the conversations. So Hill would remind her each time that Biden had won, and each time Leach would give her a thumbs up.
There was one other piece of repeated news that had the same effect.
“I would lead with, ‘Mama, guess what? The Dodgers won the World Series!’ Her face would light up. She’d make a little, ‘Oh!’ face. She was obviously excited. She was very happy.”
Marjorie Leach holds her stuffed animal Poofey Woo and her favorite blanket. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
But those good times were the exception. Over the lengthy separation, the older woman began to withdraw. She lost strength and mobility. She got angry when nurses tried to wake her up.
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Hill blames the combined insults of illness and isolation.
“If there wasn’t COVID and she broke her hip, we could go and sit with her all day,” Hill said. “We’d go in shifts. I’d go in for a while, and my sister would go in for a while. That emotional support makes a big difference. COVID just takes that away.”
But 11 days before Christmas, Leach’s long exile came to an end.
Just after 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 14, Hill and her sister, Laura Leach-Palm, drove up to the low-slung tan nursing home in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Before leaving home, they had turned the back seat of the black Honda SUV into a comfortable nest. There was a pillow encased in white flannel and printed with dogs in holiday gear — antlers, scarves, Christmas sweaters. Leach’s favorite blanket, sky blue and white fleece with a snowflake pattern, was folded neatly on the seat.
Marjorie Leach’s granddaughter, Marguerite Hill, left, pushes her up a ramp as Marjorie’s daughter Laura Leach-Palm, right, assists. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
A nurse rolled Leach out in a wheelchair. She wore bright red pajamas and purple fleece socks. Her hair was wispy and white. She clutched Poofey Woo on her lap.
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Hill: “Guess how many days until you go home?”
Leach, pausing to think: “Two?”
Hill: “Zero! You’re going home!”
Leach: “Right now? Oh, boy. Goody, goody.”
Because Leach has been inactive for so long, she cannot stand or walk or even sit up without help. Getting her from wheelchair to car was a lengthy ordeal, the cozy back seat an impossibility. The drive home was slow and careful, the trip from car to wheelchair another delicate operation.
Hill watched Marguerite roll Leach up a ramp and into the house.
“I told the nurse before we left the nursing home, ‘Not everybody who comes here gets to go home,’” she said. She was pensive but happy.
“We’re lucky kids,” she said. “We get our mom. It’s a great Christmas present.”


latimes--2020-12-25--L.A. County hospitals running dangerously low on oxygen, supplies as ER units are overwhelmed

Christmas arrived in Los Angeles County with hospitals in a full-blown coronavirus crisis .
There are now so many patients that some hospitals are running dangerously low on oxygen and other supplies critical to treating those with COVID-19 .
Patients are waiting as many as eight hours in ambulances before they can enter the emergency room .
With intensive care units at 0 % available capacity , health officials are urging that people avoid emergency rooms or dialing 911 for assistance unless absolutely necessary .
And in a grim reminder that the worst is still likely to come , one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reach out to patients who have serious illnesses or are medically frail to review their advanced-care directives and ensure forms are on file detailing their end-of-life care .
As dire as the conditions are now , there ’ s growing concern that large numbers of people may opt to once again ignore health guidance and gather with other households to celebrate the holidays — a potentially disastrous outcome experts say would all but certainly trigger another coronavirus surge that would further hammer hospitals already reeling from the Thanksgiving-fueled wave .
The stakes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already devastating .
On Thursday , L.A. County saw its most-ever COVID-19 deaths in a single day : 140 .
As the coronavirus continues to spread widely and send unprecedented numbers of Angelenos to the hospital , hospitals in L.A. County are running dangerously low on their supplies of oxygen , a person familiar with the matter told The Times .
Oxygen is critical to treating severely ill COVID-19 patients who have begun to suffocate on account of their virus-inflamed lungs .
Doctors and nurses have learned since the early days of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , avoid placing patients on ventilators , which involves sticking a breathing tube down the throat .
Many patients instead receive a high-flow oxygen treatment , where oxygen is sent through plastic tubes placed in the nose .
And the need for that assistance is high .
While a non-COVID patient may receive six liters of oxygen per minute , COVID-19 patients need 60 to 80 liters a minute .
So now , hospitals need 10 times more oxygen than they did before .
There have been periods of time where hospitals have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oxygen before obtaining additional supplies , said the source , who spoke on the condition of anonymity .
Hospitals are also running short of other key supplies , such as the special plastic tubes used to bring the oxygen into the lungs .
The county this week sent a letter to healthcare providers urging them to take additional measures to deal with the flood of patients requiring hospital-level treatment .
“ Hospitals have implemented their surge plans and are adjusting staffing and space to try to meet the needs of their community , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s chief of communicable disease control and prevention , wrote in the memo .
“ It is critical that as a healthcare community we look at all available opportunities to help decrease the surge on hospitals and our 911 system , where possible.
” Balter asked providers to talk to patients with ongoing medical problems about when it was appropriate to visit the ER or call 911 , and to do so only when it is a true emergency .
She also encouraged the quick discharge of hospitalized patients to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wards , citing a “ steep increase ” in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations .
“ There are very limited hospital and ICU beds available and emergency departments are strained to capacity , ” Balter wrote .
There were about 6,700 coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized countywide on Wednesday , according to the latest state data , with 1,329 of them in the ICU .
Those numbers have spiked by 85 % and 62 % , respectively , over the past two weeks .
Dr. Brian Gantwerker , a neurosurgeon in Santa Monica , said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold .
Already , the community hospital where he works is “ swamped by COVID cases , ” with physicians fearing they will soon due to shortages of beds and staff .
Each day that the number of COVID-19 patients grows also increases the likelihood that more neurosurgery patients may have to wait for care or find it elsewhere , he said .
This puts doctors in the uncomfortable position of determining who receives the limited resources remaining at the hospital .
A large brain tumor would probably be operated on immediately , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smaller , less dangerous one might be delayed .
“ Then it becomes a question of : ‘ Where is the breaking point ?
When do we have to start sending patients out to other places ?
’ And the nightmare scenario is : ‘ What happens if there are no beds available in the county ?
’ ” he said .
“ Everything we ’ ve worried about and talked about and warned people about since February is coming to fruition — we ’ re at that point now.
” As hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to heart their urging to avoid gatherings and parties on Christmas Day .
Should large numbers of people flout that guidance and gather with those they don ’ t live with over the coming winter holidays , officials and experts alike warn that will likely lead to a “ surge on top of a surge ” — meaning more people will become infected , fall ill and , eventually , die .
Dr. Christina Ghaly , L.A. County ’ s health services director , forecast this week that nearly 7,000 more people might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January if current trends continue .
Already , the disease countywide .
“ We know that this emergency is our darkest day , maybe the darkest day in our city ’ s history , ” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said .
“ But we must find the fortitude , we must summon the strength to make sure that we save lives.
” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said that crowded shopping malls are a big concern .
Under the state ’ s regional stay-at-home orders , shopping malls are supposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity , but it ’ s clear that those limits are not being followed .
“ We ’ re going to take a hard look this weekend at the shopping malls because the pictures we ’ ve been seeing are … another little mini disaster , ” Ferrer said .
“ The occupancy is supposed to be down to 20 % .
But when you look around , they look way more crowded than 20 % .
And that just means a complete breakdown of what we are requiring.
” Inspectors will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , “ and we ’ re going to have to take a hard look at what we see.
” She added : “ The only way that those malls conceivably could be opened is because there wasn ’ t going to be any crowding .
So if there ’ s a lot of crowding , that ’ s a situation that we have to actually get fixed right away .
That can get fixed by shopping malls taking more responsibility , or that can get fixed … by us going ahead and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ health ] orders .
But I think the right place to start is to go and take a hard look at what ’ s going on.
” The county Department of Public Health also issued a plea Thursday for people of faith to forgo gathering indoors to worship any winter holidays , and instead attend remotely streamed or outdoor services .
Though county health officials last Saturday — following a series of court rulings involving houses of worship that argued pandemic-related restrictions violated religious freedoms — they said in their statement that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” right now .
Times staff writers Jaclyn Cosgrove and Hayley Smith contributed to this report .

Rong-Gong Lin II, Soumya Karlamangla, Luke Money

Nurse Michelle Goldson works inside the ICU at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital last week. ICU availability in Southern California is at capacity amid deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Christmas arrived in Los Angeles County with hospitals in a full-blown coronavirus crisis.
There are now so many patients that some hospitals are running dangerously low on oxygen and other supplies critical to treating those with COVID-19.
Patients are waiting as many as eight hours in ambulances before they can enter the emergency room. With intensive care units at 0% available capacity, health officials are urging that people avoid emergency rooms or dialing 911 for assistance unless absolutely necessary.
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And in a grim reminder that the worst is still likely to come, one L.A. County health official has asked providers to reach out to patients who have serious illnesses or are medically frail to review their advanced-care directives and ensure forms are on file detailing their end-of-life care.
As dire as the conditions are now, there’s growing concern that large numbers of people may opt to once again ignore health guidance and gather with other households to celebrate the holidays — a potentially disastrous outcome experts say would all but certainly trigger another coronavirus surge that would further hammer hospitals already reeling from the Thanksgiving-fueled wave.
The stakes are already high, and the toll already devastating. On Thursday, L.A. County saw its most-ever COVID-19 deaths in a single day: 140.
As the coronavirus continues to spread widely and send unprecedented numbers of Angelenos to the hospital, hospitals in L.A. County are running dangerously low on their supplies of oxygen, a person familiar with the matter told The Times.
Oxygen is critical to treating severely ill COVID-19 patients who have begun to suffocate on account of their virus-inflamed lungs. Doctors and nurses have learned since the early days of the pandemic to, as much as possible, avoid placing patients on ventilators, which involves sticking a breathing tube down the throat.
Many patients instead receive a high-flow oxygen treatment, where oxygen is sent through plastic tubes placed in the nose.
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And the need for that assistance is high. While a non-COVID patient may receive six liters of oxygen per minute, COVID-19 patients need 60 to 80 liters a minute.
So now, hospitals need 10 times more oxygen than they did before. There have been periods of time where hospitals have run dangerously low on their stores of oxygen before obtaining additional supplies, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Hospitals are also running short of other key supplies, such as the special plastic tubes used to bring the oxygen into the lungs.
The county this week sent a letter to healthcare providers urging them to take additional measures to deal with the flood of patients requiring hospital-level treatment.
“Hospitals have implemented their surge plans and are adjusting staffing and space to try to meet the needs of their community,” Dr. Sharon Balter, the county’s chief of communicable disease control and prevention, wrote in the memo. “It is critical that as a healthcare community we look at all available opportunities to help decrease the surge on hospitals and our 911 system, where possible.”
Balter asked providers to talk to patients with ongoing medical problems about when it was appropriate to visit the ER or call 911, and to do so only when it is a true emergency. She also encouraged the quick discharge of hospitalized patients to try to create as much space as possible on wards, citing a “steep increase” in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
“There are very limited hospital and ICU beds available and emergency departments are strained to capacity,” Balter wrote.
There were about 6,700 coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized countywide on Wednesday, according to the latest state data, with 1,329 of them in the ICU. Those numbers have spiked by 85% and 62%, respectively, over the past two weeks.
Dr. Brian Gantwerker, a neurosurgeon in Santa Monica, said he dreaded what the next several weeks would hold. Already, the community hospital where he works is “swamped by COVID cases,” with physicians fearing they will soon have to ration care due to shortages of beds and staff.
Each day that the number of COVID-19 patients grows also increases the likelihood that more neurosurgery patients may have to wait for care or find it elsewhere, he said.
This puts doctors in the uncomfortable position of determining who receives the limited resources remaining at the hospital. A large brain tumor would probably be operated on immediately, he said, but surgery for a smaller, less dangerous one might be delayed.
“Then it becomes a question of: ‘Where is the breaking point? When do we have to start sending patients out to other places?’ And the nightmare scenario is: ‘What happens if there are no beds available in the county?’” he said. “Everything we’ve worried about and talked about and warned people about since February is coming to fruition — we’re at that point now.”
As hospitals struggle, officials are hoping people take to heart their urging to avoid gatherings and parties on Christmas Day. Should large numbers of people flout that guidance and gather with those they don’t live with over the coming winter holidays, officials and experts alike warn that will likely lead to a “surge on top of a surge” — meaning more people will become infected, fall ill and, eventually, die.
Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County’s health services director, forecast this week that nearly 7,000 more people might die from COVID-19 by the end of January if current trends continue. Already, the disease has killed 9,305 people countywide.
“We know that this emergency is our darkest day, maybe the darkest day in our city’s history,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “But we must find the fortitude, we must summon the strength to make sure that we save lives.”
L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said that crowded shopping malls are a big concern. Under the state’s regional stay-at-home orders, shopping malls are supposed to be capped at 20% of capacity, but it’s clear that those limits are not being followed.
“We’re going to take a hard look this weekend at the shopping malls because the pictures we’ve been seeing are … another little mini disaster,” Ferrer said. “The occupancy is supposed to be down to 20%. But when you look around, they look way more crowded than 20%. And that just means a complete breakdown of what we are requiring.”
Inspectors will be out over the post-Christmas weekend, Ferrer said, “and we’re going to have to take a hard look at what we see.”
She added: “The only way that those malls conceivably could be opened is because there wasn’t going to be any crowding. So if there’s a lot of crowding, that’s a situation that we have to actually get fixed right away. That can get fixed by shopping malls taking more responsibility, or that can get fixed … by us going ahead and looking at whether we need to change [health] orders. But I think the right place to start is to go and take a hard look at what’s going on.”
The county Department of Public Health also issued a plea Thursday for people of faith to forgo gathering indoors to worship any winter holidays, and instead attend remotely streamed or outdoor services.
Though county health officials lifted a ban on indoor religious services last Saturday — following a series of court rulings involving houses of worship that argued pandemic-related restrictions violated religious freedoms — they said in their statement that attending services indoors is “too risky” right now.
Times staff writers Jaclyn Cosgrove and Hayley Smith contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-25--How an L.A. indie bookstore's GoFundMe inspired a small business lifeline

On a Tuesday morning in September , Raymond Wurwand was in his Southern California home sipping tea and reading the newspaper when he happened upon a story about struggling independent bookstores .
The print headline read : “ Spine-tingling bookstore woes : Some shops , including Diesel , are turning to fundraising to survive .
Shelve 2020 as horror.
” He turned to his wife , Jane Wurwand , and said : “ We ’ ve got to do something.
” In partnership with Pacific Community Ventures and TMC Community Capital , the owners of skin-care company Dermalogica decided to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a $ 1-million grant program to help small minority-owned businesses in Los Angeles County stay open during the pandemic .
Among the eligibility requirements : Applicants must own at least 50 % of a brick-and-mortar shop , employ fewer than 20 people , and provide evidence of profitability before the pandemic .
The Wurwands received 2,430 applications for the first round of grants — from restaurants , salons and cafes as well as gyms , retail stores and day-care centers .
Ten were randomly selected .
Applications for the second cycle open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through selling to small salons , so we built our business through selling to small entrepreneurs who have been devastated by COVID-19 , ” said Jane in a recent Zoom interview .
“ So as we read the piece , we realized that could ’ ve been our story , but we ’ ve been extremely fortunate .
Our salons were exactly like Diesel , ” she said .
Diesel , a Bookstore , with locations in Del Mar and Brentwood , is one of many businesses that have made public pleas for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employs the neighborhood.
” The longtime philanthropists typically offer minority businesses micro-loans through their Wurwand Foundation , but Diesel ’ s pandemic struggle put into sharp focus the need for direct , no-strings assistance — some small businesses just can ’ t on any more debt .
Some 7,500 businesses in L.A. have permanently closed since March 1 , according to a local economic impact report published by Yelp in September — the largest number of closures in any U.S. metropolitan area .
Stores and restaurants represent the bulk of closures , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ university study published in May found that 41 % of Black-owned businesses across the country shut down between February and April .
The number of shops owned by Latinos , Asians , immigrants and women dropped 32 % , 26 % , 36 % and 25 % , respectively .
These closures are what worry Jane Wurwand .
“ The thing I ’ m fearful the most of after this is , when we lift our heads and look around our communities and neighborhoods , I think we ’ re going to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rebuild our main streets in our neighborhoods because otherwise we just don ’ t have a point of connection , ” she said .
“ I want to live near the local bookstore and the local salon .
I don ’ t want to live next door to the Amazon warehouse.
” One new beneficiary , Rice and Noodle , has been holding on by a thread this year .
Lunch sales at the tiny Thai and Vietnamese restaurant fell by more than 60 % after offices in the area closed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to lay off all her employees .
She hasn ’ t been able to pay full rent since May , and she didn ’ t qualify for Paycheck Protection Program or economic injury disaster loans .
Cleaning and sanitizing supplies have added more costs .
But with her partner and chef , Son Ongjampa , she ’ s managed to hang on , her 8-year-old son , Hugo , and 6-month-old baby , Ethan , at her side .
When she found out Monday night via email that she would receive a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I was so happy , ” Chotikulthanachai said tearfully in a phone interview Wednesday .
“ It ’ s like I won the lottery.
” Hugo joyously jumped and screamed .
She called her mother in Thailand — who cried , too .
“ I ’ m working so hard , ” she said .
“ This time has been incredibly difficult , but I can not give up .
I don ’ t want to close my restaurant.
” Owning a business has been a dream for Chotikulthanachai .
She grew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where her mother ran her own place .
She opened Rice and Noodle in 2018 with the help of family , and hopes someday to hand it down to her son .
“ I can not let my family fail with me.
” Adrianna Cruz-Ocampo also sighed with relief this week .
The owner of U-Frame-It Gallery , a custom frame shop with locations in Tarzana and North Hollywood , closed her store for four months at the start of the pandemic .
Sales dropped up to 50 % after movie and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a reliable source of revenue .
She received PPP and Small Business Administration loans , but the latter money was sent to the wrong person ; she doesn ’ t have the funds , but she ’ s getting invoiced for payments .
Through it all , she kept her employees on the payroll , building cabinets , tables and other pieces to organize the store while the doors remained closed to the public .
Cruz-Ocampo , 55 , kept working , too , despite fears of contracting the virus .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes her vulnerable to severe complications from COVID-19 .
On Tuesday morning , while she was getting ready for work in the bathroom of her Northridge home , Cruz-Ocampo opened an email : “ Congratulations on the L.A. Small Business Recovery Fund , ” it read .
“ U-Frame-It Inc. has been awarded a FOUND/LA Recovery Grant for the amount of $ 22,500.
” “ I ’ ve been behind on rent , and this will help me keep my employees , ” she said in a phone interview .
“ This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get through a very , very hard year .
This is a blessing.
” Cruz-Ocampo left Colombia for the U.S. with her family when she was 9 .
After getting her associate ’ s degree in business administration from Pierce College , she bought the frame shop in the 1980s with savings and a business loan .
She opened a second location in Tarzana in 2000 .
“ It ’ s like a Christmas present , a huge Christmas present , ” said Cruz-Ocampo .
“ It makes me feel something good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s been , it ’ s ending really well .
”

Jane and Raymond Wurwand at a local restaurant. The Dermalogica owners have committed $1 million in grant support to L.A. small businesses struggling due to the pandemic.
On a Tuesday morning in September, Raymond Wurwand was in his Southern California home sipping tea and reading the newspaper when he happened upon a story about struggling independent bookstores. The print headline read: “Spine-tingling bookstore woes: Some shops, including Diesel, are turning to fundraising to survive. Shelve 2020 as horror.”
He turned to his wife, Jane Wurwand, and said: “We’ve got to do something.”
In partnership with Pacific Community Ventures and TMC Community Capital, the owners of skin-care company Dermalogica decided to launch Found/L.A. Small Business Recovery Fund, a $1-million grant program to help small minority-owned businesses in Los Angeles County stay open during the pandemic. Among the eligibility requirements: Applicants must own at least 50% of a brick-and-mortar shop, employ fewer than 20 people, and provide evidence of profitability before the pandemic. The Wurwands received 2,430 applications for the first round of grants — from restaurants, salons and cafes as well as gyms, retail stores and day-care centers. Ten were randomly selected. Applications for the second cycle open Jan. 11.
“We built Dermalogica through selling to small salons, so we built our business through selling to small entrepreneurs who have been devastated by COVID-19,” said Jane in a recent Zoom interview. “So as we read the piece, we realized that could’ve been our story, but we’ve been extremely fortunate. Our salons were exactly like Diesel,” she said. Diesel, a Bookstore, with locations in Del Mar and Brentwood, is one of many businesses that have made public pleas for support. “That’s who employs the neighborhood.”
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The longtime philanthropists typically offer minority businesses micro-loans through their Wurwand Foundation, but Diesel’s pandemic struggle put into sharp focus the need for direct, no-strings assistance — some small businesses just can’t take on any more debt.
Some 7,500 businesses in L.A. have permanently closed since March 1, according to a local economic impact report published by Yelp in September — the largest number of closures in any U.S. metropolitan area. Stores and restaurants represent the bulk of closures, with owners of color disproportionally affected. A university study published in May found that 41% of Black-owned businesses across the country shut down between February and April. The number of shops owned by Latinos, Asians, immigrants and women dropped 32%, 26%, 36% and 25%, respectively.
These closures are what worry Jane Wurwand. “The thing I’m fearful the most of after this is, when we lift our heads and look around our communities and neighborhoods, I think we’re going to see a lot missing, and we have to rebuild our main streets in our neighborhoods because otherwise we just don’t have a point of connection,” she said. “I want to live near the local bookstore and the local salon. I don’t want to live next door to the Amazon warehouse.”
One new beneficiary, Rice and Noodle, has been holding on by a thread this year.
Lunch sales at the tiny Thai and Vietnamese restaurant fell by more than 60% after offices in the area closed. Owner Kwan Chotikulthanachai, 43, was forced to lay off all her employees. She hasn’t been able to pay full rent since May, and she didn’t qualify for Paycheck Protection Program or economic injury disaster loans. Cleaning and sanitizing supplies have added more costs. But with her partner and chef, Son Ongjampa, she’s managed to hang on, her 8-year-old son, Hugo, and 6-month-old baby, Ethan, at her side.
When she found out Monday night via email that she would receive a $5,000 grant, she cried.
“I was so happy,” Chotikulthanachai said tearfully in a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s like I won the lottery.” Hugo joyously jumped and screamed. She called her mother in Thailand — who cried, too.
Kwan Chotikulthanachai, left, inside Rice and Noodle with her family. (Curtis Dunwoody)
“I’m working so hard,” she said. “This time has been incredibly difficult, but I cannot give up. I don’t want to close my restaurant.”
Owning a business has been a dream for Chotikulthanachai. She grew up in the restaurant world in Bangkok, where her mother ran her own place. She opened Rice and Noodle in 2018 with the help of family, and hopes someday to hand it down to her son. “I cannot let my family fail with me.”
Adrianna Cruz-Ocampo also sighed with relief this week. The owner of U-Frame-It Gallery, a custom frame shop with locations in Tarzana and North Hollywood, closed her store for four months at the start of the pandemic. Sales dropped up to 50% after movie and television studios shut down, stripping her of a reliable source of revenue. She received PPP and Small Business Administration loans, but the latter money was sent to the wrong person; she doesn’t have the funds, but she’s getting invoiced for payments.
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Through it all, she kept her employees on the payroll, building cabinets, tables and other pieces to organize the store while the doors remained closed to the public.
Cruz-Ocampo, 55, kept working, too, despite fears of contracting the virus. She has scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that makes her vulnerable to severe complications from COVID-19.
Adrianna Cruz-Ocampo inside her framing business, U-Frame-It Gallery. (Jennifer Daigle)
On Tuesday morning, while she was getting ready for work in the bathroom of her Northridge home, Cruz-Ocampo opened an email: “Congratulations on the L.A. Small Business Recovery Fund,” it read. “U-Frame-It Inc. has been awarded a FOUND/LA Recovery Grant for the amount of $22,500.”
She screamed.
“I’ve been behind on rent, and this will help me keep my employees,” she said in a phone interview. “This is like a bridge, a lifeline, to get through a very, very hard year. This is a blessing.”
Cruz-Ocampo left Colombia for the U.S. with her family when she was 9. After getting her associate’s degree in business administration from Pierce College, she bought the frame shop in the 1980s with savings and a business loan. She opened a second location in Tarzana in 2000.
“It’s like a Christmas present, a huge Christmas present,” said Cruz-Ocampo. “It makes me feel something good about this Christmas. As bad as it’s been, it’s ending really well.”


latimes--2020-12-24--L.A. County health officials make last-minute Christmas plea: Don't attend indoor church services

On Christmas Eve , Los Angeles County public health officials made a last-minute plea to residents preparing to celebrate the holiday : Don ’ t attend indoor church services — it ’ s not safe .
In a statement posted Thursday on the Department of Public Health ’ s website , officials said they recognized that people have a “ sincere desire ” for a return to normalcy and to attend in-person indoor services as they have in the past .
“ Now , most unfortunately , is not the time to attend indoor religious services , ” the message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles is in the midst of its highest surge of COVID-19 cases .
The local emergency rooms and hospitals are over-capacity .
And there are no indications of an end in sight to the current surge.
” The statement added : “ Attending an indoor service will result in transmission of COVID-19 and additional hospitalizations that the healthcare system can not handle at this time.
” L.A. County reported one of its deadliest days in the pandemic Thursday with 148 additional deaths — a new daily record .
Officials warn the deaths will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Houses of worship in the county have the right to meet inside after officials this week for religious services , allowing for socially distanced and mask-wearing gatherings indoors .
The move came after a series of judicial rulings across the country , including by the U.S. Supreme Court .
They involved religious organizations claiming that public health orders violate their constitutional right of freedom of religion .
The Supreme Court in late November ruled in a case about New York ’ s restrictions on houses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more stringent limits on religious organizations than on other places where large numbers of people gather .
This month , a Kern County judge , citing the Supreme Court decision , also ruled that restrictions on indoor religious services in California are unconstitutional .
Despite lifting the ban , L.A. County officials for days have told residents that meeting for religious services indoors over the holiday will increase chances of contracting the virus , saying that failure to follow guidance against gathering on Thanksgiving helped bring the deadliest wave of the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In a issued this week , Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said that although indoor worship was now permitted within the county , outdoor gatherings were safer and still strongly encouraged .
Najuma Smith-Pollard , pastor at Word of Encouragement Community Church in Pico-Union , said her congregation held a virtual pre-Christmas worship Wednesday night .
Smith-Pollard , who pastors about 160 families and knows three people who died from the virus in the last month , led the service from a studio with a musician .
“ If there is anybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gathering , they ’ re not paying attention to the numbers , and they ’ re not paying attention to the infection rate , ” she said .
“ It ’ s really high , and it ’ s very close to home.
” In their Christmas Eve statement , public health officials said people can spread the virus before they get symptoms or even if they are asymptomatic .
Activities such as talking loudly or singing indoors increase the concentration of suspended small droplets and particles carrying the virus , they said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court judge says and given what ’ s happening now , it is simply too risky to gather indoors with other people who do not live with you , ” the statement said .
“ Public Health urges you to continue to more safely worship as you have during the pandemic by attending remotely via streaming service or at outdoor services only .
”

On Christmas Eve, Los Angeles County public health officials made a last-minute plea to residents preparing to celebrate the holiday: Don’t attend indoor church services — it’s not safe.
In a statement posted Thursday on the Department of Public Health’s website, officials said they recognized that people have a “sincere desire” for a return to normalcy and to attend in-person indoor services as they have in the past.
“Now, most unfortunately, is not the time to attend indoor religious services,” the message said. “The County of Los Angeles is in the midst of its highest surge of COVID-19 cases. The local emergency rooms and hospitals are over-capacity. And there are no indications of an end in sight to the current surge.”
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The statement added: “Attending an indoor service will result in transmission of COVID-19 and additional hospitalizations that the healthcare system cannot handle at this time.”
L.A. County reported one of its deadliest days in the pandemic Thursday with 148 additional deaths — a new daily record. Officials warn the deaths will continue to mount unless residents take steps to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Houses of worship in the county have the right to meet inside after officials this week loosened their own guidelines for religious services, allowing for socially distanced and mask-wearing gatherings indoors.
The move came after a series of judicial rulings across the country, including by the U.S. Supreme Court. They involved religious organizations claiming that public health orders violate their constitutional right of freedom of religion.
The Supreme Court in late November ruled in a case about New York’s restrictions on houses of worship that states could not place more stringent limits on religious organizations than on other places where large numbers of people gather. This month, a Kern County judge, citing the Supreme Court decision, also ruled that restrictions on indoor religious services in California are unconstitutional.
Despite lifting the ban, L.A. County officials for days have told residents that meeting for religious services indoors over the holiday will increase chances of contracting the virus, saying that failure to follow guidance against gathering on Thanksgiving helped bring the deadliest wave of the pandemic.
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Many religious leaders have echoed the advice. In a letter to priests and pastors issued this week, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said that although indoor worship was now permitted within the county, outdoor gatherings were safer and still strongly encouraged.
Najuma Smith-Pollard, pastor at Word of Encouragement Community Church in Pico-Union, said her congregation held a virtual pre-Christmas worship Wednesday night. Smith-Pollard, who pastors about 160 families and knows three people who died from the virus in the last month, led the service from a studio with a musician.
“If there is anybody still trying to have an in-person service gathering, they’re not paying attention to the numbers, and they’re not paying attention to the infection rate,” she said. “It’s really high, and it’s very close to home.”
In their Christmas Eve statement, public health officials said people can spread the virus before they get symptoms or even if they are asymptomatic. Activities such as talking loudly or singing indoors increase the concentration of suspended small droplets and particles carrying the virus, they said.
“No matter what a Superior Court judge says and given what’s happening now, it is simply too risky to gather indoors with other people who do not live with you,” the statement said. “Public Health urges you to continue to more safely worship as you have during the pandemic by attending remotely via streaming service or at outdoor services only.”
Times staff writer Jaclyn Cosgrove contributed to this report.