latimes--2020-04-25--Younger blacks and Latinos are dying of COVID-19 at higher rates in California

Black and Latino Californians ages 18 to 64 are dying more frequently of COVID-19 than their white and Asian counterparts relative to their share of the population , a Times analysis of state health department data shows .
Newly released figures on the grim toll of the novel coronavirus show once again profound disparities in people ’ s odds of survival that fall along racial and ethnic lines .
In this case , the data also belie the conventional wisdom that old age is the primary risk factor for death .
When accounting for each group ’ s percentage of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the age of 65 had a higher share of fatalities than even older blacks and Latinos .
The trend is particularly noticeable among those age 18 to 49 , The Times analysis found .
Preliminary racial data released by health officials in California and L.A. County earlier this month suggested Latinos were not facing any higher rate of infection or death from the virus .
But experts warned that those findings were likely skewed by the fact that Latinos , California ’ s largest ethnic group , are typically younger than other demographics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerge once more complete data came out .
That seems to have been borne out in recent days , as the state health department began providing more detailed data , broken out into age groups , to account for the variation among racial and ethnic groups .
“ What we ’ re seeing is that in the younger population … the differences for both blacks and Latinos , now , became very evident , ” said Dr. Sonia Angell , director of the California Department of Public Health .
As the pandemic wears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcomes have highlighted socioeconomic inequities between races and unequal access to healthcare .
Recent deaths also reveal the major role that underlying health conditions such as heart disease , obesity , diabetes and asthma play in the amplified suffering of black and brown communities .
“ None of us knew what the numbers would look like .
But we know that this is going to disproportionately affect communities that have fewer resources , have higher rates of underlying disease , ” said Angell .
“ That ’ s the reality of inequities in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we ’ re working very hard to address .
It ’ s not acceptable .
It ’ s not just.
” Among patients ages 18 to 49 , black residents are dying nearly two and a half times as often as their share of the state ’ s population .
By comparison , black people 65 and older are dying twice as often as their share of that age group .
Latino death disparities also go down as patients get older , the analysis found .
The trend goes in the opposite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the analysis found .
As those two groups get older , their death ratios go up , roughly double for patients 65 years or older compared to the 18 to 49 age group .
To calculate these ratios , The Times divided the percentage of total deaths in each age group by the share of population for that age range .
For example , blacks aged 18 to 49 represent 15 % of total deaths , but just over 6 % of the population , meaning they were over-represented by a ratio of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deaths are missing demographic information , according to the state health department .
The oldest Californians are being hit hardest , with seniors representing more than 75 % of the deaths , or over 1,000 people , state figures show .
More than 300 younger people have died , including 165 Latino and 42 black patients .
Overall , Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders are dying the most disproportionately — at four times their share of the state ’ s population .
They are followed by black and Asian Californians .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lowest proportional rate , representing 32 % of the deaths but 39 % of the population — that ’ s partly because the ethnic group skews young and no one in California under age 18 has died yet of COVID-19 .
African Americans have been found to have higher rates of diabetes , high blood pressure , obesity and smoking-related deaths than whites , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
They have a lower life expectancy and are more likely to not see a doctor because of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a lower death rate overall than whites , but a 50 % higher death rate from diabetes along with higher rates of poorly controlled high blood pressure and obesity , according to the CDC .
Medical experts said data showing heightened racial disparities for younger people in California and other states go against the conventional wisdom earlier in the outbreak that old age was the main risk factor , and that younger people who contracted the coronavirus would experience something similar to the common cold or a mild flu .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that put people at risk , ” said Dr. Clyde Yancy , a professor and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University ’ s Feinberg School of Medicine .
“ They are not immune to risk just because they are young .
Once hypertension is present , once obesity is present , and especially this pre-existing cardiovascular disease , irrespective of age , there ’ s a higher risk , and the California Department of Public Health data seemingly are bearing that out.
” California is not the only place where emerging health data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ color are suffering disproportionately .
The coronavirus is killing black and Latino people at higher rates than whites in New York City and other cities , he said .
“ As a civil society we should not be willing to tolerate disproportionate suffering by any segment of our population , ” Yancy said .
“ This is unacceptable and we can do better than this.
” Scott Blanks , a 34-year-old dental assistant from Whittier , died last month from COVID-19 .
He was sick for two weeks before going to the emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his family .
Karen Blanks doesn ’ t think that knowing the virus was killing black and Latino people at higher rates would have prevented the death of her brother in law .
What would have made a true difference is if federal officials had taken the virus more seriously and pushed for stay-at-home orders sooner , she said .
“ It attacks who it ’ s going to attack , ” she said .
“ I don ’ t think that knowing that would have saved Scott or any black person or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black , or Latino or Asian , it doesn ’ t pick who it wants to make sick .
It just attacks.
” Dr. Nadine Burke Harris , California ’ s surgeon general , said COVID-19 has brought into sharper focus the increased risk that communities of color face as a result of underlying health conditions .
“ When there is something like a pandemic virus that sweeps across all of our communities and we see that black and brown folks are dying at a greater rate , ” she said , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all be concerned about , right , about what it says about whether we ’ re adequately meeting the needs of our entire population.
” Underlying health conditions combined with a lack of access to affordable healthcare puts blacks and Latinos at greater risk overall , said Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola , director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities .
When it comes to higher coronavirus death rates for blacks under 50 , he said a variety of factors may explain it .
They generally tend to work in service jobs that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earn a living , increasing their risk of exposure , he said .
“ They don ’ t have the luxury to be able to survive by working from home , ” Aguilar-Gaxiola said .
“ Their jobs require their presence , which puts their lives on the line by being infected.
” That ’ s compounded by them not recognizing symptoms immediately or seeking timely healthcare because of distrust of hospitals and public health messaging .
Latinos under 50 are also a vulnerable age group due to the higher rate of blue-collar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Also , Latinos have lower rates of health insurance coverage , especially in the undocumented community .
Both groups experience overcrowded housing conditions at higher rates and are often expected to provide care for older parents and grandparents , said Aguilar-Gaxiola .
A recent Times report found that Los Angeles County has five of the 10 most crowded ZIP Codes in the United States and public health officials said such housing conditions can accelerate the spread of the virus .
Whites and Asians tend to be more educated , which translates to highly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remotely .
Even if they are able to access healthcare , blacks and Latinos face longstanding barriers in medical providers taking their ailments as seriously as other groups .
“ It ’ s important to recognize the history of mistreatment of communities of color by our healthcare institutions also may play a role in the level of trust that some communities may have , ” Burke Harris said .
Marta Segura , a Los Angeles-based environmental justice and public health consultant , said the latest data “ are definitely showing that Latinos are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s because of the historical inequities in these black and brown communities.
” Segura said communities of color are also more vulnerable to COVID-19 because they have greater exposure to an array of societal and environmental ills that amplify their risk for disease .
“ Latinos and African Americans live nearer to freeways , in neighborhoods where there is a lot more pollution and oil drilling , so that causes more diseases like asthma , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , diabetes and heart disease , ” she said .
To prevent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Segura said , state officials must fix the root causes , and go beyond expanding testing and treatment and other measures that respond only to the immediate health emergency .
“ That ’ s the band-aid to mitigate the ravages of this particular pandemic , ” Segura said .
“ However , if we want to deal with disasters and pandemics of the future , we need to address the larger failures of our policies and economic frameworks in all communities , but particularly in communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said California has moved to counter racial disparities during the pandemic , even before it had confirmed it through patient data .
That includes steps to provide testing and treatment to recipients of Medi-Cal , California ’ s version of Medicaid , public service announcements targeting undocumented immigrants , and a push to open dozens of testing sites in “ testing deserts ” in predominantly black and brown communities across the state .
“ While we have this data , ” Angell said , “ we didn ’ t need this data @ @ @ @

Ben Poston, Tony Barboza, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Black and Latino Californians ages 18 to 64 are dying more frequently of COVID-19 than their white and Asian counterparts relative to their share of the population, a Times analysis of state health department data shows.
Newly released figures on the grim toll of the novel coronavirus show once again profound disparities in people’s odds of survival that fall along racial and ethnic lines. In this case, the data also belie the conventional wisdom that old age is the primary risk factor for death.
When accounting for each group’s percentage of the population, blacks and Latinos under the age of 65 had a higher share of fatalities than even older blacks and Latinos. The trend is particularly noticeable among those age 18 to 49, The Times analysis found.
Preliminary racial data released by health officials in California and L.A. County earlier this month suggested Latinos were not facing any higher rate of infection or death from the virus. But experts warned that those findings were likely skewed by the fact that Latinos, California’s largest ethnic group, are typically younger than other demographics. Experts predicted that higher rates would emerge once more complete data came out.
Advertisement
That seems to have been borne out in recent days, as the state health department began providing more detailed data, broken out into age groups, to account for the variation among racial and ethnic groups.
“What we’re seeing is that in the younger population … the differences for both blacks and Latinos, now, became very evident,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health.
As the pandemic wears on, stark disparities in COVID-19 health outcomes have highlighted socioeconomic inequities between races and unequal access to healthcare. Recent deaths also reveal the major role that underlying health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and asthma play in the amplified suffering of black and brown communities.
“None of us knew what the numbers would look like. But we know that this is going to disproportionately affect communities that have fewer resources, have higher rates of underlying disease,” said Angell. “That’s the reality of inequities in our country. It’s something that we’re working very hard to address. It’s not acceptable. It’s not just.”
Among patients ages 18 to 49, black residents are dying nearly two and a half times as often as their share of the state’s population. By comparison, black people 65 and older are dying twice as often as their share of that age group. Latino death disparities also go down as patients get older, the analysis found.
The trend goes in the opposite direction for white and Asian patients, the analysis found. As those two groups get older, their death ratios go up, roughly double for patients 65 years or older compared to the 18 to 49 age group.
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To calculate these ratios, The Times divided the percentage of total deaths in each age group by the share of population for that age range. For example, blacks aged 18 to 49 represent 15% of total deaths, but just over 6% of the population, meaning they were over-represented by a ratio of 2.4 to 1.
About 7% of deaths are missing demographic information, according to the state health department. The oldest Californians are being hit hardest, with seniors representing more than 75% of the deaths, or over 1,000 people, state figures show. As of April 23, more than 300 younger people had died, including 165 Latino and 42 black patients.
Overall, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders are dying the most disproportionately — at four times their share of the state’s population. They are followed by black and Asian Californians.
Whites are slightly under-represented and Latinos have the lowest proportional rate, representing 32% of the deaths but 39% of the population — that’s partly because the ethnic group skews young and no one in California under age 18 has died yet of COVID-19.
African Americans have been found to have higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and smoking-related deaths than whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They have a lower life expectancy and are more likely to not see a doctor because of the cost, CDC data shows.
Latinos have a lower death rate overall than whites, but a 50% higher death rate from diabetes along with higher rates of poorly controlled high blood pressure and obesity, according to the CDC.
Medical experts said data showing heightened racial disparities for younger people in California and other states go against the conventional wisdom earlier in the outbreak that old age was the main risk factor, and that younger people who contracted the coronavirus would experience something similar to the common cold or a mild flu.
“That was before we understood the other variables that put people at risk,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, a professor and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “They are not immune to risk just because they are young. Once hypertension is present, once obesity is present, and especially this pre-existing cardiovascular disease, irrespective of age, there’s a higher risk, and the California Department of Public Health data seemingly are bearing that out.”
California is not the only place where emerging health data have made it clearer that communities of color are suffering disproportionately. The coronavirus is killing black and Latino people at higher rates than whites in New York City and other cities, he said.
“As a civil society we should not be willing to tolerate disproportionate suffering by any segment of our population,” Yancy said. “This is unacceptable and we can do better than this.”
Scott Blanks had asthma as a child but didn’t exhibit symptoms or require treatment as an adult. He died from COVID-19 last month. (Jessie Funes-Macdonald)
Scott Blanks, a 34-year-old dental assistant from Whittier, died last month from COVID-19. He was sick for two weeks before going to the emergency room and being tested, according to his family.
Karen Blanks doesn’t think that knowing the virus was killing black and Latino people at higher rates would have prevented the death of her brother in law. What would have made a true difference is if federal officials had taken the virus more seriously and pushed for stay-at-home orders sooner, she said.
“It attacks who it’s going to attack,” she said. “I don’t think that knowing that would have saved Scott or any black person or Latino person. Because you’re black, or Latino or Asian, it doesn’t pick who it wants to make sick. It just attacks.”
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California’s surgeon general, said COVID-19 has brought into sharper focus the increased risk that communities of color face as a result of underlying health conditions.
“When there is something like a pandemic virus that sweeps across all of our communities and we see that black and brown folks are dying at a greater rate,” she said, “it’s something that we should all be concerned about, right, about what it says about whether we’re adequately meeting the needs of our entire population.”
Underlying health conditions combined with a lack of access to affordable healthcare puts blacks and Latinos at greater risk overall, said Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities.
When it comes to higher coronavirus death rates for blacks under 50, he said a variety of factors may explain it. They generally tend to work in service jobs that require them to leave their home to earn a living, increasing their risk of exposure, he said.
“They don’t have the luxury to be able to survive by working from home,” Aguilar-Gaxiola said. “Their jobs require their presence, which puts their lives on the line by being infected.”
That’s compounded by them not recognizing symptoms immediately or seeking timely healthcare because of distrust of hospitals and public health messaging.
Latinos under 50 are also a vulnerable age group due to the higher rate of blue-collar and service labor, he said. Also, Latinos have lower rates of health insurance coverage, especially in the undocumented community.
Both groups experience overcrowded housing conditions at higher rates and are often expected to provide care for older parents and grandparents, said Aguilar-Gaxiola. A recent Times report found that Los Angeles County has five of the 10 most crowded ZIP Codes in the United States and public health officials said such housing conditions can accelerate the spread of the virus.
Whites and Asians tend to be more educated, which translates to highly skilled jobs that often can be done remotely.
Even if they are able to access healthcare, blacks and Latinos face longstanding barriers in medical providers taking their ailments as seriously as other groups.
“It’s important to recognize the history of mistreatment of communities of color by our healthcare institutions also may play a role in the level of trust that some communities may have,” Burke Harris said.
Marta Segura, a Los Angeles-based environmental justice and public health consultant, said the latest data “are definitely showing that Latinos are more affected than previously thought, and it’s because of the historical inequities in these black and brown communities.”
Segura said communities of color are also more vulnerable to COVID-19 because they have greater exposure to an array of societal and environmental ills that amplify their risk for disease.
“Latinos and African Americans live nearer to freeways, in neighborhoods where there is a lot more pollution and oil drilling, so that causes more diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and heart disease,” she said.
To prevent such uneven outcomes in the future, Segura said, state officials must fix the root causes, and go beyond expanding testing and treatment and other measures that respond only to the immediate health emergency.
“That’s the band-aid to mitigate the ravages of this particular pandemic,” Segura said. “However, if we want to deal with disasters and pandemics of the future, we need to address the larger failures of our policies and economic frameworks in all communities, but particularly in communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted.”
Angell, the state health director, said California has moved to counter racial disparities during the pandemic, even before it had confirmed it through patient data.
That includes steps to provide testing and treatment to recipients of Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, public service announcements targeting undocumented immigrants, and a push to open dozens of testing sites in “testing deserts” in predominantly black and brown communities across the state.
“While we have this data,” Angell said, “we didn’t need this data to act.”
Times staff writer Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-04-25--Did a Bakersfield nursing student invent hand sanitizer? Coronavirus reignites the Lupe Hernandez de

Did a Bakersfield nursing student invent hand sanitizer? Coronavirus reignites the Lupe Hernandez debate

Over the last decade , the legend of Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield has bounced around the medical world .
Haven ’ t you heard ?
She ’ s the student nurse who invented hand sanitizer .
Or so the story went .
Most accounts give a specific date for her breakthrough : 1966 .
Some say Hernandez did it at Bakersfield College , prompted by a lack of soap and hot water .
Others claim that this novice Florence Nightingale registered a patent for her concoction , but bigger companies such as Gojo Industries , the makers of Purell , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
Nearly all tellings identify Hernandez as a woman , but a few insist that Lupe — short for “ Guadalupe ” — was a man .
Nursing textbooks , college professors and presenters at medical conferences repeated the tale , but the story didn ’ t circulate far beyond their circles .
Media outlets worldwide started to report on Hernandez ’ s “ discovery.
” They began to call Bakersfield historians and librarians — and Lupe Hernandezes ( public records show at least 30 people with that name live in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sanitizer company wants to pay me $ 50,000 , I ’ ll tell them whatever they want .
But that ’ s not my mother , ” said Eric Gaona , 53 , the son of a Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield .
Even a Russian journalist reached out to inquire about his mother , Gaona said .
Far from being a nurse , she was a former singer in a 1960s girl group called the Rev-Lons .
There are no U.S. patents for hand sanitizer under that name .
None of the articles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sources .
In Bakersfield , a town that proudly promotes its celebrities — Buck Owens , Merle Haggard , Dolores Huerta — few had even heard the story of “ Lupe ” — until recently .
Cal State Bakersfield archivist Chris Livingston has searched newspaper archives and databases and found nada .
Bethany Rice , curator of collections at the Kern County Museum , did the same with the same result .
“ At this time , I ’ m treating the story as a great example of why to check sources when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facts in an article , ” she said , even recording a video to emphasize this point .
“ I would love for the story to be true and it would be an incredible boon to the community if it were , but at this point there is nothing supporting that.
” Oliver Rosales , a history professor at Bakersfield College , said Kern County medical histories are often administrative and “ whitewashed.
” “ It ’ s a fantastical story because of how important hand sanitizer is now , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m skeptical , but I ’ m curious .
If it is true , why hasn ’ t somebody written about her ?
” They have .
But at this point , the truth — Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield is almost certainly a modern-day urban legend — is not so important to those who continue to spread the story .
Lupe is now a folk hero in the most literal sense , glorified because of what her “ story ” and its creation mean to them .
In the wake of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out store shelves nationwide , some Latinos brag on social media about how one of their own invented it .
Digital posters with a photo purported to be of Hernandez flourished throughout March in honor of Women ’ s History Month .
When Cindy Collier , director of Bakersfield College ’ s Health and Wellness Center , recently heard the tale , it didn ’ t surprise her that a nurse might think of an idea such as hand sanitizer .
She sees how a fully plausible saga about a nurse ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twisted and passed down over the years .
“ Nurses in general , because of desperation when we don ’ t have what we think we need , we tend to be very ingenious , ” Collier said .
“ Every one of us will have a story where we created something to make our life easier or our patients safer , and we never did anything about it.
” If a Latina nurse did invent hand sanitizer , Collier said , that “ would really be a neat thing to be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with what ’ s going on right now in the world.
” The earliest mainstream publication to peg a Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield as the inventor of hand sanitizer is probably the Guardian , which referred to the “ student nurse ” in a 2012 article In an email , reporter Laura Barton says her notebooks from the time are in a storage facility she currently can ’ t get to , but that her “ suspicion [ is ] my source may have been American .
I just can ’ t remember @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from.
” There is nothing that indicates “ Lupe ” was known anywhere before this .
Not in Bakersfield lore , not in the annals of nursing , not even among Latinos , where tall tales about the purported connection of Hispanics to glory — did you hear the one about how Walt Disney was a Spanish orphan ?
— abound .
Whatever the case , Barton ’ s article percolated through the American nursing world .
Angela Barron McBride , former dean of the Indiana University School of Nursing , included Hernandez @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for nurses .
In an email , McBride said she “ wanted to give concrete examples of nurse inventors and was pleased to come across a Latina student nurse ’ s name .
I don ’ t know anything more about what happened to her.
” Rachel Walker , a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing , has name-dropped Hernandez in speeches as someone she tries to emulate .
“ But when I went back to try to substantiate the story , ” she said , “ I , too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a professor of folklore at the University of Arizona , isn ’ t surprised that even professionals would repeat a historical anecdote with an unclear provenance .
“ This story is indexing something in the culture , ” she said .
“ People want to believe it because it explains something in their world.
” That ’ s why , Alvarez explains , “ Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield ” has now taken on a second life among Latinos .
“ Crises are the Petri dish of folklore , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They flare up in hot spots , and then they disperse.
” The story of “ Lupe ” is spreading as Latinos disproportionately suffer from the pandemic — as victims of coronavirus , as workers in jobs deemed “ essential ” with little protection , and also from its economic impact .
In such times , affected communities look for a hero — and so people comfort themselves with “ Lupe , ” Alvarez said .
“ The legend always works in a reversal mode .
El que está arriba está abajo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mighty fall ; the meek rise ] .
In this case , Lupe has a possession that others need .
What does that tell you ?
It talks about all the things we don ’ t value that mexicanos bring.
” But Alvarez also stresses that most folklore has “ bits and pieces of a truth .
Each one of those pieces — the nurse , the Bakersfield , the name — probably together add to a bigger picture of what the real story is.
” For now , Lupe Hernandezes and their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with strangers wondering if they ’ re that Lupe .
In Colorado , Leshi Hernandez , the daughter of the woman whose photo has circulated online as the Lupe behind the sanitizer , has dug through her late mother ’ s belongings to try to verify any connection .
The chances are slim : Leshi ’ s mother spent her life in Wyoming and Colorado as a homemaker and housekeeper .
In 1966 , she would have only been 13 .
“ We ’ re kind of just stunned because my mom ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hernandez said .
“ How did she end up linked to all this and where did they get that picture ?
” On an online obituary page for a Lupe G. Hernandez , who passed away in 2007 , someone left a comment last year that reads : `` [ Thank ] you for hand sanitizer .
It helps a lot of people be germ free !
” Meanwhile , Bakersfield ’ s Lupe Hernandezes and their relatives are taking their brush with celebrity in stride .
Lupe Hernandez Turner , a 62-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s gotten a handful of calls from reporters over the last few weeks who have asked if she invented hand sanitizer .
Even one of her friends sent her a message .
“ They said , ‘ Hey , is this you ?
’ ” Hernandez Turner said .
“ I was like , ‘ Uh , nope , first I ’ ve heard of it.
’ ” Though she is a nurse , Hernandez Turner would have been only 8 in 1966 .
She became a nurse in 1979 and used her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Hey , who knows ?
” she joked .
“ I could have been a child prodigy !
”

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Gustavo Arellano

A photograph of Lupe Hernandez, left, has been circulating online with the story of a Latina who supposedly invented hand sanitizer in Bakersfield. At right: Gojo Industries, creators of Purell hand sanitizer, said its founders produced early versions of the lotion.
Over the last decade, the legend of Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield has bounced around the medical world.
Haven’t you heard? She’s the student nurse who invented hand sanitizer.
Or so the story went.
Most accounts give a specific date for her breakthrough: 1966. Some say Hernandez did it at Bakersfield College, prompted by a lack of soap and hot water.
Advertisement
Others claim that this novice Florence Nightingale registered a patent for her concoction, but bigger companies such as Gojo Industries, the makers of Purell, appropriated it. (Gojo denies it.) Nearly all tellings identify Hernandez as a woman, but a few insist that Lupe — short for “Guadalupe” — was a man.
Nursing textbooks, college professors and presenters at medical conferences repeated the tale, but the story didn’t circulate far beyond their circles.
Then the coronavirus outbreak hit.
Media outlets worldwide started to report on Hernandez’s “discovery.” They began to call Bakersfield historians and librarians — and Lupe Hernandezes (public records show at least 30 people with that name live in the city).
Column One A showcase for compelling storytelling from the Los Angeles Times. More Stories
“If a hand sanitizer company wants to pay me $50,000, I’ll tell them whatever they want. But that’s not my mother,” said Eric Gaona, 53, the son of a Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield.
Even a Russian journalist reached out to inquire about his mother, Gaona said. Far from being a nurse, she was a former singer in a 1960s girl group called the Rev-Lons.
There are no U.S. patents for hand sanitizer under that name. None of the articles that recount her story cite any primary sources. In Bakersfield, a town that proudly promotes its celebrities — Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Dolores Huerta — few had even heard the story of “Lupe” — until recently.
Cal State Bakersfield archivist Chris Livingston has searched newspaper archives and databases and found nada. Bethany Rice, curator of collections at the Kern County Museum, did the same with the same result.
“At this time, I’m treating the story as a great example of why to check sources when reading something online and how to verify facts in an article,” she said, even recording a video to emphasize this point. “I would love for the story to be true and it would be an incredible boon to the community if it were, but at this point there is nothing supporting that.”
California The volunteer operation to produce hundreds of gallons of hand sanitizer for Bay Area’s most vulnerable A hand sanitizer shortage during the coronavirus outbreak has prompted a group of volunteers to produce enough for every inmate, homeless person and elderly person in the Bay Area. The main production center is a UC Berkeley lab, and the distribution site is a San Francisco house.
Oliver Rosales, a history professor at Bakersfield College, said Kern County medical histories are often administrative and “whitewashed.” “It’s a fantastical story because of how important hand sanitizer is now,” he said. “As a historian, I’m skeptical, but I’m curious. If it is true, why hasn’t somebody written about her?”
Advertisement
They have. But at this point, the truth — Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield is almost certainly a modern-day urban legend — is not so important to those who continue to spread the story. Lupe is now a folk hero in the most literal sense, glorified because of what her “story” and its creation mean to them.
In the wake of a run on hand sanitizer that has cleared out store shelves nationwide, some Latinos brag on social media about how one of their own invented it. Digital posters with a photo purported to be of Hernandez flourished throughout March in honor of Women’s History Month.
Lupe Hernandez, was a Bakersfield nurse who was concerned about the availability of water & soap to use before seeing patients, so she invented the hand sanitizer that keeps us healthy today! 👩🏽⚕
CA leads the way in innovation! TOGETHER we'll get through this. #WHM2020 pic.twitter.com/9lfjcaKa5m — California Endowment (@CalEndow) March 19, 2020
Hand sanitizer was invented by a Latina!

In the year of 1966, Lupe Hernández, who was studying to become a nurse came with the brilliant idea of inventing hand sanitizer. #handsanitizer #coronavirus #handwashing #lupehernandez #latina pic.twitter.com/c4zZWqohOO — BELatinaNews (@be_latina) March 18, 2020
Remembering the Life-Saving Lupe Hernandez, Hand Sanitizer Inventor https://t.co/BACfl4WrpT via @remezcla — will (@9musicjunkie) April 19, 2020
When Cindy Collier, director of Bakersfield College’s Health and Wellness Center, recently heard the tale, it didn’t surprise her that a nurse might think of an idea such as hand sanitizer. She sees how a fully plausible saga about a nurse’s MacGyver moment decades ago could have been twisted and passed down over the years.
“Nurses in general, because of desperation when we don’t have what we think we need, we tend to be very ingenious,” Collier said. “Every one of us will have a story where we created something to make our life easier or our patients safer, and we never did anything about it.”
If a Latina nurse did invent hand sanitizer, Collier said, that “would really be a neat thing to be able to say as a nurse, especially with what’s going on right now in the world.”
The earliest mainstream publication to peg a Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield as the inventor of hand sanitizer is probably the Guardian, which referred to the “student nurse” in a 2012 article
In an email, reporter Laura Barton says her notebooks from the time are in a storage facility she currently can’t get to, but that her “suspicion [is] my source may have been American. I just can’t remember who or what or where it came from.”
There is nothing that indicates “Lupe” was known anywhere before this. Not in Bakersfield lore, not in the annals of nursing, not even among Latinos, where tall tales about the purported connection of Hispanics to glory — did you hear the one about how Walt Disney was a Spanish orphan? — abound.
Whatever the case, Barton’s article percolated through the American nursing world.
Angela Barron McBride, former dean of the Indiana University School of Nursing, included Hernandez in a 2019 update of her textbook for nurses. In an email, McBride said she “wanted to give concrete examples of nurse inventors and was pleased to come across a Latina student nurse’s name. I don’t know anything more about what happened to her.”
Rachel Walker, a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing, has name-dropped Hernandez in speeches as someone she tries to emulate.
“But when I went back to try to substantiate the story,” she said, “I, too, ran into challenges.”
Maribel Alvarez, a professor of folklore at the University of Arizona, isn’t surprised that even professionals would repeat a historical anecdote with an unclear provenance.
“This story is indexing something in the culture,” she said. “People want to believe it because it explains something in their world.”
That’s why, Alvarez explains, “Lupe Hernandez from Bakersfield” has now taken on a second life among Latinos.
“Crises are the Petri dish of folklore,” she said. “Rumors and legends act like viruses. They flare up in hot spots, and then they disperse.”
The story of “Lupe” is spreading as Latinos disproportionately suffer from the pandemic — as victims of coronavirus, as workers in jobs deemed “essential” with little protection, and also from its economic impact.
In such times, affected communities look for a hero — and so people comfort themselves with “Lupe,” Alvarez said.
“The legend always works in a reversal mode. El que está arriba está abajo; el de abajo sube [The mighty fall; the meek rise]. In this case, Lupe has a possession that others need. What does that tell you? It talks about all the things we don’t value that mexicanos bring.”
But Alvarez also stresses that most folklore has “bits and pieces of a truth. Each one of those pieces — the nurse, the Bakersfield, the name — probably together add to a bigger picture of what the real story is.”
For now, Lupe Hernandezes and their families across the country continue to deal with strangers wondering if they’re that Lupe.
In Colorado, Leshi Hernandez, the daughter of the woman whose photo has circulated online as the Lupe behind the sanitizer, has dug through her late mother’s belongings to try to verify any connection. The chances are slim: Leshi’s mother spent her life in Wyoming and Colorado as a homemaker and housekeeper. In 1966, she would have only been 13.
“We’re kind of just stunned because my mom’s picture came up,” Leshi Hernandez said. “How did she end up linked to all this and where did they get that picture?”
On an online obituary page for a Lupe G. Hernandez, who passed away in 2007, someone left a comment last year that reads: “[Thank] you for hand sanitizer. It helps a lot of people be germ free!”
Meanwhile, Bakersfield’s Lupe Hernandezes and their relatives are taking their brush with celebrity in stride.
Lupe Hernandez Turner, a 62-year-old nurse from Bakersfield, said she’s gotten a handful of calls from reporters over the last few weeks who have asked if she invented hand sanitizer.
Even one of her friends sent her a message.
“They said, ‘Hey, is this you?’” Hernandez Turner said. “I was like, ‘Uh, nope, first I’ve heard of it.’”
Though she is a nurse, Hernandez Turner would have been only 8 in 1966. She became a nurse in 1979 and used her married name Lupe Turner by then.
“Hey, who knows?” she joked. “I could have been a child prodigy!”
Times staff writer Scott Wilson contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-04-25--Looking to escape 'endless' litigation, L.A. is open to federal oversight for homelessness

The Los Angeles City Council has authorized City Atty .
Mike Feuer to begin discussions about requirements for sheltering the city ’ s homeless population — a move that could once again place the city under federal oversight .
In a hearing before U.S. District Judge David O. Carter this week , Councilman Joe Buscaino said his colleagues are interested in a settlement agreement with the homeless advocates and downtown stakeholders that would require the city to provide a specific number of shelter beds for each of the council ’ s 15 districts .
Any such agreement would probably be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consent decree .
If the city meets the requirements , Buscaino said , it could establish a way for the city to be able to enforce anti-camping rules and other laws that federal rulings have blocked in recent years .
“ What my colleagues agree upon is that we need to stop this endless cycle of litigation , ” he said .
Carter has been presiding over a lawsuit filed by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights , a group of downtown business owners and residents who allege that the city and County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the public and provide adequate shelter for those living on the streets .
The case has taken on added urgency with the COVID-19 pandemic .
Already one skid row shelter has experienced a major outbreak .
In an order issued Friday , Carter said he had been told that Buscaino and council President Nury Martinez would be directly involved in the settlement talks with the plaintiffs .
“ The court has been advised that a settlement in this matter will best be achieved by a global settlement implemented on a district-by-district basis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he wants to forge a broader , more permanent solution to L.A. 's homelessness crisis , one that could be modeled after a settlement he brokered in Orange County based on a lawsuit over the clearing of homeless encampments .
Under that settlement , Orange County and several cities can not enforce their anti-camping ordinances until they have provided enough shelter beds to take 60 % of the local homeless population off the streets .
Matthew Umhofer , an attorney for the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights , said he is encouraged by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But attorney Carol Sobel , who represents the Los Angeles Community Action Network and Los Angeles Catholic Worker , both of which have intervened in the lawsuit before Carter , said any agreement to help 60 % of the city ’ s homeless population would not go far enough .
She also questioned the idea that the enforcement of anti-camping laws could be meted out differently in different council districts , depending on the number of beds available .
“ I don ’ t think it ’ s right to look at Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city , because they ’ re all subject to the same laws , ” she said .
A spokesman for Feuer declined to discuss details , saying only that the city would continue working to resolve the case and address its homelessness crisis .
But Councilman Bob Blumenfield , who represents the west San Fernando Valley , said he and his colleagues are “ very intrigued ” by the idea of a federal consent decree that acknowledges the needs of individual council districts and tracks efforts to add shelter beds , overnight parking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We ’ re still fighting a losing battle .
More people are falling into homelessness than are being housed .
That ’ s not a recipe for success , ” Blumenfield said .
“ So we ’ ve got to do something different.
” In recent weeks , Carter has said that a strategy that works to address homelessness in one part of L.A. might not work in another .
He also has started talking with council members about homelessness in their districts .
Two weeks ago , Blumenfield gave the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shelter in Woodland Hills and encampments under the 101 Freeway and along the Los Angeles River .
“ You have to treat these [ council districts ] like separate cities almost , ” Carter said Thursday .
The judge has said L.A. County should be included in the talks , too .
In court , the county ’ s attorney was receptive to the idea .
If a settlement does happen and the city ’ s compliance with it is supervised by federal judges , as Carter has signaled , it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming under oversight .
In 2001 , the Los Angeles Police Department was placed under a consent decree in the wake of the Rampart Division scandal , when dozens of police officers were accused of tampering with evidence , perjury and other misconduct .
A judge did not fully conclude the federal oversight until 2013 .
A year later , the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would seek to oversee L.A. County ’ s jails , following a surge in suicides that drew attention to the treatment of inmates with mental illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which runs the jails , ultimately ended up being bound by four different federal settlement agreements under the consent decree .
City Councilman Mike Bonin , who represents several Westside communities , said he supports the current talks about shelter beds and other strategies , but warned that there could be obstacles to tailoring requirements to each council district .
Boundaries for those districts will be redrawn over the next two years and have the potential to change dramatically , he noted .
Bonin also argued that other cities in Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share to address the homelessness crisis .
“ If we do everything [ to address it ] , then what ’ s to prevent the other cities from moving homelessness into Los Angeles ?
” he said .
Times staff writers Emily Alpert Reyes and Doug Smith contributed to this report .

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, left, walks on skid row with LAPD Officer Deon Joseph and the Rev. Andy Bales, chief executive of the Union Rescue Mission.
The Los Angeles City Council has authorized City Atty. Mike Feuer to begin discussions about requirements for sheltering the city’s homeless population — a move that could once again place the city under federal oversight.
In a hearing before U.S. District Judge David O. Carter this week, Councilman Joe Buscaino said his colleagues are interested in a settlement agreement with the homeless advocates and downtown stakeholders that would require the city to provide a specific number of shelter beds for each of the council’s 15 districts.
Any such agreement would probably be monitored by a federal judge under a consent decree. If the city meets the requirements, Buscaino said, it could establish a way for the city to be able to enforce anti-camping rules and other laws that federal rulings have blocked in recent years.
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“What my colleagues agree upon is that we need to stop this endless cycle of litigation,” he said.
Carter has been presiding over a lawsuit filed by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a group of downtown business owners and residents who allege that the city and County of Los Angeles have failed to protect the public and provide adequate shelter for those living on the streets.
The case has taken on added urgency with the COVID-19 pandemic. Already one skid row shelter has experienced a major outbreak.
In an order issued Friday, Carter said he had been told that Buscaino and council President Nury Martinez would be directly involved in the settlement talks with the plaintiffs.
“The court has been advised that a settlement in this matter will best be achieved by a global settlement implemented on a district-by-district basis,” he wrote.
Carter has said he wants to forge a broader, more permanent solution to L.A.’s homelessness crisis, one that could be modeled after a settlement he brokered in Orange County based on a lawsuit over the clearing of homeless encampments. Under that settlement, Orange County and several cities cannot enforce their anti-camping ordinances until they have provided enough shelter beds to take 60% of the local homeless population off the streets.
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Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, said he is encouraged by the City Council’s overture.
But attorney Carol Sobel, who represents the Los Angeles Community Action Network and Los Angeles Catholic Worker, both of which have intervened in the lawsuit before Carter, said any agreement to help 60% of the city’s homeless population would not go far enough. She also questioned the idea that the enforcement of anti-camping laws could be meted out differently in different council districts, depending on the number of beds available.
“I don’t think it’s right to look at Los Angeles as 15 different cities within a city, because they’re all subject to the same laws,” she said.
A spokesman for Feuer declined to discuss details, saying only that the city would continue working to resolve the case and address its homelessness crisis.
But Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the west San Fernando Valley, said he and his colleagues are “very intrigued” by the idea of a federal consent decree that acknowledges the needs of individual council districts and tracks efforts to add shelter beds, overnight parking lots for RVs, and low-cost apartments.
“We’re still fighting a losing battle. More people are falling into homelessness than are being housed. That’s not a recipe for success,” Blumenfield said. “So we’ve got to do something different.”
In recent weeks, Carter has said that a strategy that works to address homelessness in one part of L.A. might not work in another. He also has started talking with council members about homelessness in their districts. Two weeks ago, Blumenfield gave the judge a tour of an emergency homeless shelter in Woodland Hills and encampments under the 101 Freeway and along the Los Angeles River.
“You have to treat these [council districts] like separate cities almost,” Carter said Thursday.
The judge has said L.A. County should be included in the talks, too. In court, the county’s attorney was receptive to the idea.
If a settlement does happen and the city’s compliance with it is supervised by federal judges, as Carter has signaled, it would be the latest instance of local government operations coming under oversight.
In 2001, the Los Angeles Police Department was placed under a consent decree in the wake of the Rampart Division scandal, when dozens of police officers were accused of tampering with evidence, perjury and other misconduct. A judge did not fully conclude the federal oversight until 2013.
A year later, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would seek to oversee L.A. County’s jails, following a surge in suicides that drew attention to the treatment of inmates with mental illness. The county Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jails, ultimately ended up being bound by four different federal settlement agreements under the consent decree.
City Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents several Westside communities, said he supports the current talks about shelter beds and other strategies, but warned that there could be obstacles to tailoring requirements to each council district.
Boundaries for those districts will be redrawn over the next two years and have the potential to change dramatically, he noted. Bonin also argued that other cities in Los Angeles County will need to do their fair share to address the homelessness crisis.
“If we do everything [to address it], then what’s to prevent the other cities from moving homelessness into Los Angeles?” he said.
Times staff writers Emily Alpert Reyes and Doug Smith contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-04-25--'What if I run out?' Cost of diapers and rush to potty train strain low-income parents

Irma Juárez peeled back her sunshine-colored curtains one drizzly recent morning to count cars at the 24-hour self-service laundry across the street from her Pico-Union apartment .
She would have to be quick : Weekends were always busy , and now only 10 people at a time were allowed in .
Fights broke out over the washers .
Fear hung like dryer exhaust in the air .
It was also the first time in weeks that she ’ d scraped together enough quarters for laundry , and her children were quickly running out of clean clothes .
Recently , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4-year-old Beatríz ’ s outgrown shorts and inked a spider over them for her 3-year-old , Máximo to entice him to wear his sister ’ s hand-me-down .
The success was short-lived .
Since she ’ d run out of diapers , nothing stayed dry very long .
“ They just opened a store right here — they ran out of diapers like this , ” Juárez said with a snap , nodding to a market across from the laundry center .
“ I went down here to MacArthur Park , they didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Costco , they didn ’ t have any .
I went to Target , sold out .
I ’ m here with the kids , going store to store , and they didn ’ t have any supplies.
” In desperation , she began hand-washing dirty disposable diapers and hanging them to dry in the shower .
At that point , she felt she had no choice .
“ On that day , I started potty training him , ” she said .
Toilet training is difficult under the best of circumstances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressure on poor parents like Juárez , who pay about as much to diaper a child as an average L.A. family spends on their electric bill — about $ 80 a month .
Here , as elsewhere , poverty extracts a premium , limiting where families can get supplies and their ability to buy in bulk , experts said .
With store shelves stripped and more than half of Angelenos out of work , families like hers are scrambling to cut that cost .
Federal safety-net programs don ’ t pay for diapers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assistance program is too limited to fill the yawning need .
Those without cars now avoid public transit , meaning they must rely on local markets where inventory is tight and prices have soared .
“ The smaller markets on the corner , they ’ re jacking the price of the Pampers up so you can only afford the six-pack instead of the 12-pack , ” said Alan-Michael Graves , national program director for the Good+Foundation , a nonprofit organization providing diapers in Los Angeles and New York .
“ If you add @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very challenging for parents to provide these diapers to their kids.
” Juárez counts herself luckier than most — her children attend a daycare center run by Pathways LA , a nonprofit that recently partnered with Children ’ s Bureau and the boutique baby company Hello Bello to distribute 56,000 diapers to families like hers .
A recent drive-through distribution event started at 7:30 a.m. , half an hour ahead of schedule , because the line of cars was already looped around the block .
By 10 a.m. , most sizes had run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gold to the families we serve , ” said Norah Weinstein of Baby2Baby , a local diaper bank that has partnered with the L.A. Unified School District to provide supplies to families in need .
“ Parents in our program are emptying out diapers , hanging them to dry and putting them back on their babies .
They ’ re using newspaper as a substitute for diapers , they ’ re not eating so they can provide diapers and food for their children.
” Baby2Baby distributes about 800,000 diapers a month .
Since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in March , they ’ ve handed out more than 3.6 million .
“ The need in L.A. is just astronomical , ” said Lisa Truong , co-founder of the Bay Area nonprofit Help a Mother Out , which runs the San Francisco Diaper Bank .
“ There ’ s a tsunami of need.
” But she warned against rushing to potty train , as some L.A. families say they are doing now .
“ If you ’ re thinking about whether you ’ re going to eat or diaper your baby , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of money to do your laundry every week , ” she said .
“ The families we serve , they ’ re already dealing with so many stressors — [ potty training is ] the last thing we want to ask them to do.
” That ’ s because the path out of Pampers winds through the coin laundry , where cloth diapers are forbidden and potty-training accidents become costly extra loads .
Like most children their age , both Beatríz and Máximo still wet the bed .
Juárez has been washing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her son ’ s Spiderman comforter by hand , but they don ’ t really get clean without regular runs through the Speed Queen on hot .
“ I had piles of clothes full of everything , ” Juárez said .
“ If I wash it , then the next day they ’ re peeing on the bed .
Then you have to wash everything all over again.
” But the alternative to potty training — Máximo ’ s soft toddler skin flecked with the crystallized filling from a reused disposable diaper , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unbearable to her .
“ I have to change clothes for them two to three times a day , ” Juárez said .
“ I ’ m stressed , because what if I run out of diapers again ?
” In environmentally conscious California , cloth diapers would seem the obvious answer .
That was Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez ’ s first thought when she began championing subsidized diaper programs in 2013 .
“ This is a struggle so many working-class women face all the time , ” the San Diego Democrat said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but I gave up that [ cloth diaper ] fight.
” The reason is that the same families who can ’ t afford disposable diapers also lack the resources that make cloth diapering possible .
It ’ s illegal to wash reusable diapers in a self-serve laundry , and publicly subsidized childcare centers like the one Juárez ’ s children attend require low-income working parents to provide disposable ones .
“ We would get hate mail ” for distributing disposable diapers in San Francisco , Truong said .
“ But it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that option [ of cloth ] .
I have a washing machine and a dryer .
I ’ m not going to ask a mom living in an SRO [ a rented room , often without appliances ] in Chinatown to do cloth diapers.
” California is also the only state that provides any public funding for diapers .
In San Francisco , families receiving CalFresh or CalWORKs benefits get free diapers through local distribution centers .
Elsewhere in the state , such parents get $ 30 a month in diaper assistance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Diego , Orange County and Fresno offer a limited number of state-funded supplies to families in need .
But those resources were stretched before the pandemic .
Since coronavirus hit , the long-simmering crisis has boiled over .
“ We wanted to have one more child , but diapers are expensive ” Juárez said as she counted her quarters into the washer .
“ That was our main discussion , that it ’ s just too much money with diapers .
We said , forget it , we ’ re not going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of others , Juárez lost her small business to the pandemic , and has watched her husband ’ s work evaporate as stay-at-home orders were extended .
Choosing between laundry and diapers with no money for either has put a strain on both parents .
“ Sometimes we ’ ll end up fighting because he doesn ’ t have any [ clean ] clothes and he needs to go to work .
He ’ s stressing himself right now , not only with laundry , not only with diapers , but overall , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brief glimmers of hope — a diaper giveaway , an Angeleno card — but most are quickly snuffed out .
Instead , she ’ s turned to her faith , replacing lullabies with “ Ave Maria ” and praying the rosary with her children .
Juárez prays in the dark every night as Beatríz cuddles against her and Máximo drifts off to sleep .
She prays for the pandemic to end .
She prays that her husband finds work , that they ’ ll have money for rent and to keep the lights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are spared from the virus .
She prays that they don ’ t wet the bed .

Mary Silva, left, of the nonprofit group Pathways LA hands out diapers and hand sanitizer to Irma Juárez, who has two young children.
Irma Juárez peeled back her sunshine-colored curtains one drizzly recent morning to count cars at the 24-hour self-service laundry across the street from her Pico-Union apartment.
She would have to be quick: Weekends were always busy, and now only 10 people at a time were allowed in. Fights broke out over the washers. Fear hung like dryer exhaust in the air.
It was also the first time in weeks that she’d scraped together enough quarters for laundry, and her children were quickly running out of clean clothes. Recently, she’d picked the princess decal off 4-year-old Beatríz’s outgrown shorts and inked a spider over them for her 3-year-old, Máximo to entice him to wear his sister’s hand-me-down. The success was short-lived. Since she’d run out of diapers, nothing stayed dry very long.
“They just opened a store right here — they ran out of diapers like this,” Juárez said with a snap, nodding to a market across from the laundry center. “I went down here to MacArthur Park, they didn’t have any. I went to Costco, they didn’t have any. I went to Target, sold out. I’m here with the kids, going store to store, and they didn’t have any supplies.”
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In desperation, she began hand-washing dirty disposable diapers and hanging them to dry in the shower. At that point, she felt she had no choice.
“On that day, I started potty training him,” she said.
Toilet training is difficult under the best of circumstances. But the pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on poor parents like Juárez, who pay about as much to diaper a child as an average L.A. family spends on their electric bill — about $80 a month. Here, as elsewhere, poverty extracts a premium, limiting where families can get supplies and their ability to buy in bulk, experts said. With store shelves stripped and more than half of Angelenos out of work, families like hers are scrambling to cut that cost.
Federal safety-net programs don’t pay for diapers, and California’s first-in-the-nation diaper assistance program is too limited to fill the yawning need. Those without cars now avoid public transit, meaning they must rely on local markets where inventory is tight and prices have soared.
“The smaller markets on the corner, they’re jacking the price of the Pampers up so you can only afford the six-pack instead of the 12-pack,” said Alan-Michael Graves, national program director for the Good+Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing diapers in Los Angeles and New York. “If you add cost plus availability, it makes it very challenging for parents to provide these diapers to their kids.”
Juárez counts herself luckier than most — her children attend a daycare center run by Pathways LA, a nonprofit that recently partnered with Children’s Bureau and the boutique baby company Hello Bello to distribute 56,000 diapers to families like hers.
A recent drive-through distribution event started at 7:30 a.m., half an hour ahead of schedule, because the line of cars was already looped around the block. By 10 a.m., most sizes had run out.
“They’re like gold to the families we serve,” said Norah Weinstein of Baby2Baby, a local diaper bank that has partnered with the L.A. Unified School District to provide supplies to families in need. “Parents in our program are emptying out diapers, hanging them to dry and putting them back on their babies. They’re using newspaper as a substitute for diapers, they’re not eating so they can provide diapers and food for their children.”
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Baby2Baby distributes about 800,000 diapers a month. Since California’s Safer-at-Home order came down in March, they’ve handed out more than 3.6 million.
“The need in L.A. is just astronomical,” said Lisa Truong, co-founder of the Bay Area nonprofit Help a Mother Out, which runs the San Francisco Diaper Bank. “There’s a tsunami of need.”
But she warned against rushing to potty train, as some L.A. families say they are doing now.
“If you’re thinking about whether you’re going to eat or diaper your baby, you probably don’t have a lot of money to do your laundry every week,” she said. “The families we serve, they’re already dealing with so many stressors — [potty training is] the last thing we want to ask them to do.”
That’s because the path out of Pampers winds through the coin laundry, where cloth diapers are forbidden and potty-training accidents become costly extra loads. Like most children their age, both Beatríz and Máximo still wet the bed. Juárez has been washing her daughter’s Frozen sheets and her son’s Spiderman comforter by hand, but they don’t really get clean without regular runs through the Speed Queen on hot.
“I had piles of clothes full of everything,” Juárez said. “If I wash it, then the next day they’re peeing on the bed. Then you have to wash everything all over again.”
But the alternative to potty training — Máximo’s soft toddler skin flecked with the crystallized filling from a reused disposable diaper, red and angry with rash — is unbearable to her.
“I have to change clothes for them two to three times a day,” Juárez said. “I’m stressed, because what if I run out of diapers again?”
Irma Juárez does her laundry at a self-service laundry in her Pico-Union neighborhood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
In environmentally conscious California, cloth diapers would seem the obvious answer. That was Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s first thought when she began championing subsidized diaper programs in 2013.
“This is a struggle so many working-class women face all the time,” the San Diego Democrat said. “I’m a big environmentalist, but I gave up that [cloth diaper] fight.”
The reason is that the same families who can’t afford disposable diapers also lack the resources that make cloth diapering possible. It’s illegal to wash reusable diapers in a self-serve laundry, and publicly subsidized childcare centers like the one Juárez’s children attend require low-income working parents to provide disposable ones.
“We would get hate mail” for distributing disposable diapers in San Francisco, Truong said. “But it’s a position of privilege to have that option [of cloth]. I have a washing machine and a dryer. I’m not going to ask a mom living in an SRO [a rented room, often without appliances] in Chinatown to do cloth diapers.”
California is also the only state that provides any public funding for diapers.
In San Francisco, families receiving CalFresh or CalWORKs benefits get free diapers through local distribution centers. Elsewhere in the state, such parents get $30 a month in diaper assistance, while food banks in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and Fresno offer a limited number of state-funded supplies to families in need.
But those resources were stretched before the pandemic. Since coronavirus hit, the long-simmering crisis has boiled over.
“We wanted to have one more child, but diapers are expensive” Juárez said as she counted her quarters into the washer. “That was our main discussion, that it’s just too much money with diapers. We said, forget it, we’re not going to have any more.”
Irma Juárez washes clothes and bedding at a coin laundry in her Pico-Union neighborhood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Like millions of others, Juárez lost her small business to the pandemic, and has watched her husband’s work evaporate as stay-at-home orders were extended. Choosing between laundry and diapers with no money for either has put a strain on both parents.
“Sometimes we’ll end up fighting because he doesn’t have any [clean] clothes and he needs to go to work. He’s stressing himself right now, not only with laundry, not only with diapers, but overall,” she said.
There have been brief glimmers of hope — a diaper giveaway, an Angeleno card — but most are quickly snuffed out. Instead, she’s turned to her faith, replacing lullabies with “Ave Maria” and praying the rosary with her children.
Juárez prays in the dark every night as Beatríz cuddles against her and Máximo drifts off to sleep.
She prays for the pandemic to end.
She prays that her husband finds work, that they’ll have money for rent and to keep the lights on.
She prays that her children are spared from the virus.
She prays that they don’t wet the bed.


latimes--2020-04-24--In a poor corner of the Bay Area, the pandemic has yet to rage. Is that due to little testing?

By all accounts amid this pandemic , the city of Richmond should be sitting at the precipice of disaster .
Situated between the Berkeley Hills and the San Francisco Bay , Richmond is a densely populated community predominated largely by people of color , high unemployment and a large transient population .
Its roughly 110,000 residents have limited access to emergency healthcare , and they live in the shadow of a Chevron refinery and just down the road from four others — increasing their chances of respiratory distress , a risk factor for people sick with COVID-19 .
So far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen the kind of outbreaks documented in other parts of Contra Costa County .
Community advocates think there is a reason for that .
There ’ s been little testing in Richmond and other economically challenged , isolated cities and towns around the state .
“ I don ’ t think we really know what is going on , ” said Claudia Jimenez , a political activist in Richmond , who said that roughly half of the city ’ s residents live in rentals , and more than 60 % are African American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elsewhere have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom for several days has vowed to increase coronavirus testing and medical care in 86 “ testing deserts ” statewide , places that have little access to health services .
As of Thursday , his office had not released names of communities that would get the testing , the quantity of testing and how quickly tests would be offered .
Contra Costa County officials said Thursday that they were taking steps to create four new testing sites , including one in San @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But county officials said they haven ’ t heard any news about state testing in Richmond or elsewhere .
Richmond and West Contra Costa were dealt a blow in 2016 , when the region ’ s only hospital , Doctors Medical Center , closed .
That spawned fears that health conditions would deteriorate and make the population even more vulnerable to diseases , including viral infections .
There is a Kaiser center in Richmond that offers emergency services .
The closest trauma center is in Walnut Creek , a 25-mile drive that winds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Area announced its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 31 , there were concerns that communities such as West Contra Costa would be hit hard .
So far , Richmond seems to be holding .
As of Friday , the city accounted for just 83 of Contra Costa ’ s 763 positively identified cases .
As of April 1 , at least three people have died in the city .
The numbers on layoffs , as well as missed rent and mortgage payments , are also unclear .
A drive-through tour of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shops were closed , and like elsewhere in the nation , the streets appeared relatively empty .
People seemed to be indoors , or outside on their lawns , tending to their gardens , or in their driveways working on their cars .
On Wednesday morning , scores of cars were lined up along the west side of 23rd Street , slowly inching south toward the Richmond High School entryway .
They were in line to receive bags of food — containing produce , prepackaged meals and milk — from school officials and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ School District is providing three meals a day to every person under 18 — regardless of school attendance .
Since the shelter-in-place rules began in the Bay Area on March 16 , more than 500,000 meals have been handed out , said Barbara Jellison , food coordinator for the district .
Seventy-two percent of the kids in the district — which includes 54 schools across five cities — qualify for free lunch ; 92 % at the high school .
According to Richmond High ’ s principal , Jose De Leon , of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , roughly 400 have been there for less than two years .
Statistics from New York to California show that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to die from the disease than whites or Asians .
They are also more likely to contract it , largely because they are over-represented in high-risk industries , such as support staff in nursing homes , postal work and restaurant service .
Many are unable to shelter in place at home .
“ The alarming COVID-19 mortality rate in America ’ s communities of color can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access and resources , ” said Tracey Brown , chief executive of the American Diabetes Assn.
, in a statement .
“ Those with the fewest resources are the least likely to have access to quality health care , and COVID-19 testing is no exception.
” A new report from the Commonwealth Fund , a nonpartisan public policy foundation , found that in communities with high densities of black residents , both coronavirus case counts and deaths were higher than in communities with fewer .
For instance , while only a third of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classified as having a high concentration of black residents , more than half of all COVID-19 cases and more than 60 % of deaths occurred in those counties .
“ The results are stunning , ” said Laurie Zephyrin , an expert in vulnerable populations with the Commonwealth Fund .
“ What we are seeing unfold in front of us is really a compounding of already existing disparities that are heightened when you add a pandemic to the mix.
” Jimenez , who was working from home on Wednesday morning , said she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her two children , Antonio , 11 , and Alicia , 6 , worked on their school lessons in her living room , and her husband , Eli Moore , fielded work calls from their bedroom , she noted the demographics that make the city susceptible : a high percent of the population below the poverty level , around 15 % — and that was before the pandemic — and a large number of foreign-born residents , roughly 35 % .
She also brought up the recent drop in oil prices .
Although @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the air quality in Richmond , which sits right next to a Chevron refinery , she recognizes the oil company is a major employer in the city .
And with the industry so battered right now , she suspects the city ’ s major employer is going to start laying people off .
“ Chevron ’ s U.S. refineries are currently making adjustments to their operational plans to match their production with the lower market demand , ” said Sean Comey , a Chevron spokesman , when asked about the refinery ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while Chevron is the largest employer , other businesses in Richmond — many of which are minority owned — are suffering , too , said Jimenez .
At Rich City Rides , on MacDonald Avenue , owner Najari Smith said he ’ s had to reduce hours , and the shop is now closed two days a week .
In recent days , however , he said things have started to tick up .
“ I think people are riding their bikes more , ” he said .
“ If it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with lots of other people , or riding alone on your bike , people are choosing to ride.
” But for Miguel Garcia , finding enough money to make his rent is major concern .
On Thursday , Garcia was standing in the parking lot at the Home Depot in El Cerrito , on the border of Richmond .
He was one of dozens of day laborers in the lot , looking for work in landscaping , painting or minor construction .
He said that before the pandemic , he ’ d usually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , at a rate of $ 15 an hour .
But now , “ there ’ s nothing , ” he said , speaking through a red bandanna tied around his face .
“ People are afraid to have us in their home.
” He lives in an apartment in Richmond with his son , daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter .
And while his family was able to make the rent on April 1 , he ’ s not sure they ’ ll have the $ 2,100 they need for May .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an item onto the council meeting agenda that would have suspended all rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the shelter-in-place orders .
It was voted down .
However , , which prohibits all evictions during this time , still stands .
Garcia , who came here 14 years ago from Guatemala , said if things get worse , he may have to go back .
“ I can ’ t believe I ’ m saying this , but things may be better there.
” When he heard about the food service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and called his daughter to let her know .
Los Angeles Times reporter Susanne Rust and photographer Carolyn Cole are embarking on a road journey throughout California .
They aim to give voice to those in remote parts of the state as they grapple with the worst health and economic calamity of our lifetimes .

By all accounts amid this pandemic, the city of Richmond should be sitting at the precipice of disaster.
Situated between the Berkeley Hills and the San Francisco Bay, Richmond is a densely populated community predominated largely by people of color, high unemployment and a large transient population.
For the record: The original version of this story misstated the unemployment rate in Richmond. As of March, it was 4.3%. The percent of population below the poverty line was around 15%.
Its roughly 110,000 residents have limited access to emergency healthcare, and they live in the shadow of a Chevron refinery and just down the road from four others — increasing their chances of respiratory distress, a risk factor for people sick with COVID-19.
So far, however, Richmond hasn’t seen the kind of outbreaks documented in other parts of Contra Costa County. Community advocates think there is a reason for that. There’s been little testing in Richmond and other economically challenged, isolated cities and towns around the state.
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“I don’t think we really know what is going on,” said Claudia Jimenez, a political activist in Richmond, who said that roughly half of the city’s residents live in rentals, and more than 60% are African American or Latino — two groups that have elsewhere have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic.
From Point Richmond you can look across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Gov. Gavin Newsom for several days has vowed to increase coronavirus testing and medical care in 86 “testing deserts” statewide, places that have little access to health services. As of Thursday, his office had not released names of communities that would get the testing, the quantity of testing and how quickly tests would be offered.
Contra Costa County officials said Thursday that they were taking steps to expand four new testing sites, including one in San Pablo, next door to Richmond. But county officials said they haven’t heard any news about state testing in Richmond or elsewhere.
Richmond and West Contra Costa were dealt a blow in 2016, when the region’s only hospital, Doctors Medical Center, closed. That spawned fears that health conditions would deteriorate and make the population even more vulnerable to diseases, including viral infections.
There is a Kaiser center in Richmond that offers emergency services. The closest trauma center is in Walnut Creek, a 25-mile drive that winds through congested Oakland.
Since the Bay Area announced its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 31, there were concerns that communities such as West Contra Costa would be hit hard. So far, Richmond seems to be holding.
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As of Friday, the city accounted for just 83 of Contra Costa’s 763 positively identified cases. As of April 25, there have been at least 25 deaths in the county. The numbers on layoffs, as well as missed rent and mortgage payments, are also unclear.
A drive-through tour of the city on Wednesday and Thursday indicated many shops were closed, and like elsewhere in the nation, the streets appeared relatively empty. People seemed to be indoors, or outside on their lawns, tending to their gardens, or in their driveways working on their cars.
On Wednesday morning, scores of cars were lined up along the west side of 23rd Street, slowly inching south toward the Richmond High School entryway.
They were in line to receive bags of food — containing produce, prepackaged meals and milk — from school officials and volunteers.
Rocio Bahena hands out boxes of food at Richmond High School, where 6,000 meals were distributed April 22. Bahena normally works as a food service aide in one of the elementary schools. Her husband was laid off and now she is the only provider for her family of four. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
The West Contra Costa Unified School District is providing three meals a day to every person under 18 — regardless of school attendance.
Since the shelter-in-place rules began in the Bay Area on March 16, more than 500,000 meals have been handed out, said Barbara Jellison, food coordinator for the district.
“We’ve been pretty busy,” Jellison said.
Seventy-two percent of the kids in the district — which includes 54 schools across five cities — qualify for free lunch; 92% at the high school.
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According to Richmond High’s principal, Jose De Leon, of the 1,500 children that attend his school, roughly 400 have been there for less than two years.
Richmond High School Principal Jose DeLeon said that of the 1,500 students who attend his school, roughly 400 have been there for less than two years. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Statistics from New York to California show that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to die from the disease than whites or Asians. They are also more likely to contract it, largely because they are over-represented in high-risk industries, such as support staff in nursing homes, postal work and restaurant service. Many are unable to shelter in place at home.
“The alarming COVID-19 mortality rate in America’s communities of color can be directly attributed to problems with health access and resources,” said Tracey Brown, chief executive of the American Diabetes Assn., in a statement. “Those with the fewest resources are the least likely to have access to quality health care, and COVID-19 testing is no exception.”
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan public policy foundation, found that in communities with high densities of black residents, both coronavirus case counts and deaths were higher than in communities with fewer.
Coronavirus Journal Two Times journalists are embarking on a journey throughout California to cover the nation’s most populous and diverse state during the coronavirus crisis. More Stories
For instance, while only a third of the U.S. population lives in 681 counties classified as having a high concentration of black residents, more than half of all COVID-19 cases and more than 60% of deaths occurred in those counties.
“The results are stunning,” said Laurie Zephyrin, an expert in vulnerable populations with the Commonwealth Fund. “What we are seeing unfold in front of us is really a compounding of already existing disparities that are heightened when you add a pandemic to the mix.”
In Richmond, the Chevron refinery is one of the major employers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Jimenez, who was working from home on Wednesday morning, said she was concerned about her city.
As her two children, Antonio, 11, and Alicia, 6, worked on their school lessons in her living room, and her husband, Eli Moore, fielded work calls from their bedroom, she noted the demographics that make the city susceptible: a high percent of the population below the poverty level, around 15% — and that was before the pandemic — and a large number of foreign-born residents, roughly 35%.
She also brought up the recent drop in oil prices.
Although she’s been concerned for years about the air quality in Richmond, which sits right next to a Chevron refinery, she recognizes the oil company is a major employer in the city.
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And with the industry so battered right now , she suspects the city’s major employer is going to start laying people off.
“Chevron’s U.S. refineries are currently making adjustments to their operational plans to match their production with the lower market demand,” said Sean Comey, a Chevron spokesman, when asked about the refinery’s status and production output.
In Richmond, 6-year-old Alicia Moore won’t be attending kindergarten for the rest of the school year. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
And while Chevron is the largest employer, other businesses in Richmond — many of which are minority owned — are suffering, too, said Jimenez.
At Rich City Rides, on MacDonald Avenue, owner Najari Smith said he’s had to reduce hours, and the shop is now closed two days a week.
In recent days, however, he said things have started to tick up.
Advertisement
“I think people are riding their bikes more,” he said. “If it’s a choice between sitting in a bus with lots of other people, or riding alone on your bike, people are choosing to ride.”
But for Miguel Garcia, finding enough money to make his rent is major concern.
On Thursday, Garcia was standing in the parking lot at the Home Depot in El Cerrito, on the border of Richmond.
He was one of dozens of day laborers in the lot, looking for work in landscaping, painting or minor construction. He said that before the pandemic, he’d usually get work three or four days a week, at a rate of $15 an hour.
At Home Depot in El Cerrito, Miguel Garcia, originally from Guatemala, said that before the pandemic he would get work three or four days a week earning $15 per hour. But now, “there’s nothing.” He is supporting a family of four and worried how he will be able to pay his rent, which is over $2,000 per month. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
But now, “there’s nothing,” he said, speaking through a red bandanna tied around his face. “People are afraid to have us in their home.”
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He lives in an apartment in Richmond with his son, daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter. And while his family was able to make the rent on April 1, he’s not sure they’ll have the $2,100 they need for May.
On Tuesday night, two city councilmen introduced an item onto the council meeting agenda that would have suspended all rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the shelter-in-place orders. It was voted down. However, an emergency order from March 17 , which prohibits all evictions during this time, still stands.
Garcia, who came here 14 years ago from Guatemala, said if things get worse, he may have to go back. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but things may be better there.”
When he heard about the food service offered by the schools, he brightened, and called his daughter to let her know.
Times staff writer Anita Chabria contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times reporter Susanne Rust and photographer Carolyn Cole are embarking on a road journey throughout California. They aim to give voice to those in remote parts of the state as they grapple with the worst health and economic calamity of our lifetimes.


latimes--2020-04-25--Ventura and Orange County beaches fill up as people seek relief from the heat and weeks of staying h

Ventura and Orange County beaches fill up as people seek relief from the heat and weeks of staying home

Ventura and Orange county beaches that were open Saturday drew big crowds hoping to cool off and enjoy the views .
Officials reported few incidents and said people were doing their best to social distance .
In Ventura , the opening of city and state beaches brought out hundreds , an unseasonably large crowd , said Ventura Police Cmdr .
Tom Higgins .
Most people , drawn by comfortable temperatures that hovered in the mid 70s under pale-blue skies , stuck to the bike and running paths just above the sand .
But hundreds also made their way down to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After being cooped up , we understand people want to enjoy the outside , ” Higgins said .
But with restrictions .
The beaches in Ventura County are only partially opened and poster-size signs offer constant reminders of what is and isn ’ t permitted .
Parking lots , playgrounds , restrooms and restaurants all remain closed , as does the Ventura pier , which separates city and state beaches that are operating under slightly different rules .
The rules forbid beachgoers from sitting or lying on the sand , but that wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At midday , Ventura police Sgt .
Mike Anselmo walked along the sand politely asking people with children to take their umbrellas down but allowing them to sunbathe .
“ Technically you ’ re not supposed to sit down .
But they ’ re with kids .
I ’ m not going to ask some 50-year-old parents to run around with kids all day , ” Anselmo said .
The lack of shade , he added , would encourage them to move on .
The goal , Higgins said , was to apply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue citations .
“ We ’ re in a mode of educating right now , ” he said .
Even dogs were given a long leash , allowed to wander freely as a solitary lifeguard in a red bathing suit stood outside her tower scanning the turquoise water with binoculars .
Although few people — including the lifeguard and police — wore masks , most observed social-distancing rules , reminded to stay six feet apart by a flashing road sign outside Santa Buenaventura State Beach .
At the north end of the beach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ atop the 3- to 4-foot swells .
By midafternoon , with the beach largely emptied , Robin Hoag and Paige Leichtnam finally made their way over from their nearby home .
They have been hiking county trails and riding their bikes to work since their favorite beach was closed last month , but they waited for the visitors from L.A. County , where beaches are still closed , to leave before coming back Saturday to play paddle ball .
“ It ’ s pretty laid-back now , ” Hoag said .
“ People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Heather Rangel , press information officer for the Newport Beach Police Department , said there had been no arrests or citations related to the stay-at-home orders , despite an uptick in beachgoers .
“ The beaches are crowded and look like a summer day in Newport Beach , ” she said in an email .
Huntington Beach also elected to open its coastline , though the pier , beach parking lot and some metered parking remain closed .
Angie Bennett , spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department , said that beaches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no significant incidents , and no one was cited for violating social-distancing guidelines .
“ What the patrol officers are seeing is that people are staying within their own groups and appropriate distances apart , ” she said .
“ It ’ s been a nice , warm day , and it sounds like people are complying and doing what we are asking of them .
”

The words “love” and “be kind” are woven into a fence with yellow police tape at a closed beach in Venice. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Brian Chapman, of Santa Monica, plays Frisbee with friend Kris Sims, of Santa Clarita, at the beach in Ventura. “We came up because all of the beaches in Los Angeles are closed,” Chapman said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Adam Choi, at center with mask, and Grace Kim walk along a trail at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
A pedestrian pauses to video chat on the empty beach in Manhattan Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Tyler MacFarland reads a book under the pier at the beach in Ventura. “I am still working and for the last month and a half it has been just work, home, work, home,” MacFarland said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
The bike path on Ocean Front Walk in Venice was open, but police officers were out in force to keep people off the beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A group of young people make a political statement as they pedal a surrey bike down a crowded bike path in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A man pleads his case with a Santa Monica police officer on the closed oceanfront bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Beachgoers, ignoring social distancing rules and beach closures, walk in groups to the stairs leading to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Parking was restricted severely along Pacific Coast Highway over the weekend, with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies trying to keep people off closed beaches. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Elizabeth Robles of Laguna Beach got a $30 ticket after parking in a no-parking zone to visit Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point to surf. “The ticket is worth it to me. I broke my arm recently and haven’t surfed in eight months,” she says. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the weather near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
A surfer catches a wave in Newport Beach, where the sand drew a crowd weary of isolation. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Bowie Davis, 3, plays in her kiddie pool with her father, Ed Davis, by her side at their home near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Kennedy, 2, and her 6-year-old brother Jackson play in the sand near the Strand in Manhattan Beach. The Bobo family drove in from Perris. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Trying to beat the heat in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The beach near Veterans Park in Redondo Beach remains closed Saturday because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
People crowd the bike path around the pier in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In Santa Monica police keep watch over the empty beach and closed bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A man plays fetch with his dog on Rocky Beach in Topanga despite law enforcement efforts to keep people away. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A woman walks on deserted Venice Beach, which is among closed beaches in L.A. County. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Thousands of beachgoers enjoy a warm, sunny day on the sand in Huntington Beach amid state-mandated stay-at-home restrictions. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Ventura and Orange county beaches that were open Saturday drew big crowds hoping to cool off and enjoy the views.
Officials reported few incidents and said people were doing their best to social distance.
In Ventura, the opening of city and state beaches brought out hundreds, an unseasonably large crowd, said Ventura Police Cmdr. Tom Higgins.
Most people, drawn by comfortable temperatures that hovered in the mid 70s under pale-blue skies, stuck to the bike and running paths just above the sand. But hundreds also made their way down to the water’s edge.
“After being cooped up, we understand people want to enjoy the outside,” Higgins said.
Advertisement
But with restrictions. The beaches in Ventura County are only partially opened and poster-size signs offer constant reminders of what is and isn’t permitted.
Parking lots, playgrounds, restrooms and restaurants all remain closed, as does the Ventura pier, which separates city and state beaches that are operating under slightly different rules.
“We’re coordinating so they’re consistent,” Higgins said.
Beachgoers fly a kite at the beach Saturday in Ventura, CA. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
The rules forbid beachgoers from sitting or lying on the sand, but that wasn’t being strictly enforced Saturday.
At midday, Ventura police Sgt. Mike Anselmo walked along the sand politely asking people with children to take their umbrellas down but allowing them to sunbathe.
“Technically you’re not supposed to sit down. But they’re with kids. I’m not going to ask some 50-year-old parents to run around with kids all day,” Anselmo said. The lack of shade, he added, would encourage them to move on.
Advertisement
The goal, Higgins said, was to apply common sense and seek cooperation rather than issue citations.
“We’re in a mode of educating right now,” he said.
Even dogs were given a long leash, allowed to wander freely as a solitary lifeguard in a red bathing suit stood outside her tower scanning the turquoise water with binoculars.
Although few people — including the lifeguard and police — wore masks, most observed social-distancing rules, reminded to stay six feet apart by a flashing road sign outside Santa Buenaventura State Beach.
At the north end of the beach, several dozen surfers fought to get atop the 3- to 4-foot swells.
By midafternoon, with the beach largely emptied, Robin Hoag and Paige Leichtnam finally made their way over from their nearby home.
They have been hiking county trails and riding their bikes to work since their favorite beach was closed last month, but they waited for the visitors from L.A. County, where beaches are still closed, to leave before coming back Saturday to play paddle ball.
“It’s pretty laid-back now,” Hoag said. “People will go wherever it’s open.”
Heather Rangel, press information officer for the Newport Beach Police Department, said there had been no arrests or citations related to the stay-at-home orders, despite an uptick in beachgoers.
“The beaches are crowded and look like a summer day in Newport Beach,” she said in an email.
Huntington Beach also elected to open its coastline, though the pier, beach parking lot and some metered parking remain closed.
Angie Bennett, spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department, said that beaches appeared somewhat busy, but there were no significant incidents, and no one was cited for violating social-distancing guidelines.
“What the patrol officers are seeing is that people are staying within their own groups and appropriate distances apart,” she said. “It’s been a nice, warm day, and it sounds like people are complying and doing what we are asking of them.”