latimes--2020-05-04--As beaches remain closed, second heat wave bears down on Southern California

Southern California ’ s second heat wave in as many weeks is poised to bring scorching temperatures that could break records in Los Angeles County by midweek .
The warm-up will begin Monday afternoon , with temperatures in the low to mid-70s along the coast and highs in the mid-80s to low-90s in the valleys .
Temperatures are expected to peak Thursday , when it could reach nearly 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles , according to the National Weather Service .
“ We have a ridge of high pressure , which is a dome of warm air that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along with a little bit of an offshore push out of the northeast that ’ s going to suppress our cooling sea breezes , ” said David Sweet , a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard .
The result is a scorcher that will bake inland cities across L.A. and Orange counties with temperatures 20 to 25 degrees above normal through Friday , Sweet said .
Temperatures on Wednesday are expected in the mid-70s at the beaches , the lower 90s in inland communities and up to 100 degrees in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with the mercury rising to the mid-80s along the coast , Sweet said .
The heat wave could topple records in portions of Los Angeles County on Thursday .
The record high temperature for the day in downtown L.A. —set in 1941 — is 97 degrees .
Forecasters say it ’ s possible temperatures could surpass that .
The skyrocketing temperatures come amid the coronavirus outbreak and public health orders that have closed many outdoor recreation areas , including parks , pools and beaches where people typically flock to cool off during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reminded the public ahead of the heat wave that beaches remained closed through May 15 under the county ’ s Safer at Home order .
People should stay home as much as possible , venturing out only for essential activities , officials have said .
The last Southern California heat wave triggered crowds at some Orange County beaches that spurred Gov .
Gavin Newsom to take action last week , calling for a “ hard close ” of all state and local beaches for the foreseeable future .
“ My job as governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Newsom said last week .
“ I have to make this adjustment .
I hope it ’ s a very short-term adjustment.
” The move triggered a legal battle and protests in several coastal cities , including Huntington Beach , where roughly 2,500 protesters used megaphones and signs to demand that the state reopen its economy and allow life in public to return to normal .
Ventura and San Diego counties have been gradually opening their beaches and haven ’ t attracted the same crowds or scorn from Sacramento as Orange County has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heat wave , forecasters say , people should drink plenty of fluids , stay in an air-conditioned space , stay out of the sun and check on relatives and neighbors when it ’ s safe .
When possible , strenuous outdoor activities should be done in the early morning or evening , when temperatures are at their lowest .

Cece Lewis and her golden retriever, Lala, play in the waves at Laguna Beach.
Southern California’s second heat wave in as many weeks is poised to bring scorching temperatures that could break records in Los Angeles County by midweek.
The warm-up will begin Monday afternoon, with temperatures in the low to mid-70s along the coast and highs in the mid-80s to low-90s in the valleys. Temperatures are expected to peak Thursday, when it could reach nearly 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service.
“We have a ridge of high pressure, which is a dome of warm air that’s pushing up over the area, along with a little bit of an offshore push out of the northeast that’s going to suppress our cooling sea breezes,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The result is a scorcher that will bake inland cities across L.A. and Orange counties with temperatures 20 to 25 degrees above normal through Friday, Sweet said.
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1 / 23 The fountain at Music Center Plaza in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 23 Majid Bradshaw, 33, in Santa Monica on Wednesday. Beaches in Los Angeles County remain officially closed. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 23 A bicyclist in West Los Angeles on Wednesday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 23 Rachel Dehaven, center, and Stephanny Quintero make a popsicle toast at Bluff Park in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 23 A deserted Hollywood Boulevard. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 23 A woman rides a bike past a mounted police officer in Santa Monica on Wednesday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 23 Justin Young at Anthony C. Beilenson Park in Van Nuys. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 23 Sunset at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 23 Laguna Beach on Tuesday morning. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 23 Ian Hanna, 15, at Laguna Beach on Tuesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 23 Surfers waiting for a wave at Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 23 Ty Beadle, 13, enjoys morning waves at Laguna Beach on Tuesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 23 Cece Lewis and her golden retriever, Lala, at Laguna Beach on Tuesday morning. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 23 Goff Stepian rides a wave on his paddle board at Laguna Beach on Tuesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 23 Django, wearing a cone after surgery, looks for lizards while owner Jared Talla relaxes on a grassy patch near the Silver Lake Recreation Center on Monday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 23 Sam Kiamehr, 3, has a little fun with the yellow caution tape cordoning off playground equipment at Lake Balboa/Beilenson Park. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 23 Trevor Voeltner wipes his brow as he walks with wife Betty Voeltner and their 2-year-old son Carter at Lake Balboa Beilenson Park. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 23 Anna Henke and 1-year-old daughter Galinda, right, with Bella Ghazaryan and her 1-year-old daughter, Eva, at Lake Balboa/Beilenson Park. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 23 Ileanna Sanchez, 7, plays with her new puppy, Roxy, at Lake Balboa Beilenson Park. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 23 Kirill Matweer, 4, clears sand from his shoes as he plays at Lake Balboa Beilenson Park. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 23 A woman takes the steps at Disney Hall on Monday as a heat wave dials up temperatures in downtown L.A. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 23 Lake Balboa/Beilenson Park is a draw in the San Fernando Valley, where temperatures Monday reached into the 90s. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 23 With the heat on full blast, people strip down to the bare essentials, which include face masks, as they make their way around Silver Lake Reservoir on Monday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Temperatures on Wednesday are expected in the mid-70s at the beaches, the lower 90s in inland communities and up to 100 degrees in the valley. Thursday will be even hotter, with the mercury rising to the mid-80s along the coast, Sweet said.
The heat wave could topple records in portions of Los Angeles County on Thursday. The record high temperature for the day in downtown L.A. —set in 1941 — is 97 degrees. Forecasters say it’s possible temperatures could surpass that.
The skyrocketing temperatures come amid the coronavirus outbreak and public health orders that have closed many outdoor recreation areas, including parks, pools and beaches where people typically flock to cool off during warm weather.
Officials in Los Angeles reminded the public ahead of the heat wave that beaches remained closed through May 15 under the county’s Safer at Home order. People should stay home as much as possible, venturing out only for essential activities, officials have said.
A significant heat wave is expected next week, with temperatures nearing 100 in some valley areas. As a reminder, the @MayorOfLA’s ‘Safer at Home’ order remains in effect. Beaches in L.A. remain closed. https://t.co/HNpOB4lYNuhttps://t.co/YycLfvSzXn https://t.co/aA8YKDq3AR — LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) May 3, 2020
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The last Southern California heat wave triggered crowds at some Orange County beaches that spurred Gov. Gavin Newsom to take action last week, calling for a “hard close” of all state and local beaches for the foreseeable future.
“My job as governor is to keep you safe,” Newsom said last week. “I have to make this adjustment. I hope it’s a very short-term adjustment.”
The move triggered a legal battle and protests in several coastal cities, including Huntington Beach, where roughly 2,500 protesters used megaphones and signs to demand that the state reopen its economy and allow life in public to return to normal.
Ventura and San Diego counties have been gradually opening their beaches and haven’t attracted the same crowds or scorn from Sacramento as Orange County has in recent days.
During the upcoming heat wave, forecasters say, people should drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned space, stay out of the sun and check on relatives and neighbors when it’s safe. When possible, strenuous outdoor activities should be done in the early morning or evening, when temperatures are at their lowest.


latimes--2020-05-04--A pivotal week for California reopening, as communities and businesses revolt against Newsom

This is shaping up to be a pivotal week in the efforts to reopen California as Gov .
Gavin Newsom said there could be some easing of stay-at-home rules even as several communities and individual businesses were taking matters into their own hands .
The governor announced Monday that the first of restrictions in the state could be lifted by mid-week , even as counties continued to report new cases linked to coronavirus .
Los Angeles County officials confirmed an additional 568 cases and 28 new deaths linked to the virus , bringing the county ’ s total number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those who died were residents of institutional settings .
The majority of that group were living in nursing facilities .
The total number of individuals who have been infected by the virus in L.A. County is 26,217 .
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that officials will outline plans to modify restrictions in L.A. County later this week , but reminded the public that while social distancing practices have slowed the spread of the virus , it still remains easily transmissible .
“ The virus has not changed , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County every day from COVID-19 than any other disease.
” Roughly 5,019 who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized at some point , Ferrer said .
There are currently 1,819 individuals who are hospitalized , including 30 % who are in intensive care .
Newsom ’ s bid to keep Orange County beaches closed this weekend appears to have worked .
Although the beaches drew some protesters and much media attention , they were not overrun by visitors , and officials said those who did venture out usually practiced social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beach cities have been granted permission to reopen their beaches .
Laguna Beach and San Clemente submitted plans last week that would allow the public to immediately access the coastline for swimming , surfing and running on the sand , among other recreational activities .
The plans include measures to avoid overcrowding .
“ We appreciate the governor ’ s willingness to work with us to provide a responsible , gradual approach to reopening all beaches in Laguna Beach for active recreation , ” Mayor Bob Whalen said in a prepared statement .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to walk , jog , swim and surf and get some fresh air and exercise on a limited basis , but not congregate or gather in large groups.
” Under new guidelines , Newsom said that bookstores , music stores , toy stores , florists , sporting goods retailers and others can reopen for pickup as early as Friday .
He said more detailed guidelines on the businesses that can reopen would be released later this week .
“ This is a very positive sign and it ’ s happened only for one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happen , ” the governor said .
The plan allows some communities to move further into the second phase of the order .
Such counties would first be required to meet certain requirements for hospitals beds , testing kits and the ability to track infected individuals and trace their contacts , Newsom said .
Polls have shown support for the governor ’ s stay-at-home rules , even as they have devastated the economy .
The governor has previously urged Californians to stay the course , saying the state is moving in the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight against the spread of the coronavirus .
“ I just want folks to know we ’ re getting very close to making really meaningful augmentations to that stay-at-home order , ” Newsom said Friday .
“ I want to say many days , not weeks , as long as we continue to be prudent and thoughtful.
” Dr. Deborah Birx , coordinator of the Trump administration ’ s corornavirus task force , also urged caution in reopening .
“ Federal guidelines are a pretty firm policy of what we think is important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Birx said Sunday on Fox News .
“ As states reopen , we really want them to follow the gating criteria.
” Birx said people still needed to practice social distancing .
California has not yet seen a steady two-week decline in cases .
The weekly number of new infections appeared to flatten for several weeks in early April , with about 8,000 to 8,500 cases every week .
But from April 19 to April 25 , the state recorded 11,777 new cases , and in the seven days ending Saturday , 11,041 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started to see a week-over-week decline in deaths .
Whether that trend will continue , however , is uncertain .
Between April 19 and April 25 , 547 coronavirus deaths were reported in California , and last week , 497 fatalities were reported , a 9 % decrease .
Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California were set to allow many businesses to reopen Monday in defiance of Newsom ’ s statewide stay-at-home order .
The two counties near the state ’ s capital join a sparsely populated county in California ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fewer than 9,000 residents , all businesses , schools and churches to reopen Friday as long as people inside could stay six feet apart .
The move by Yuba and Sutter counties — with a combined population of 171,000 people and just 50 coronavirus cases and three deaths — came as other California counties on the and were demanding to reopen more businesses .
In Victorville , 24-hour fitness studio the Gym reopened Friday with an 8-by-10-foot printout of the Constitution posted by the front door .
Employees changed the colors of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white and blue and hung banners that read # GymsAreEssential and # ReopenAmerica , according to owner Jacob D. Lewis .
Lewis said he chose to reopen after hearing from members who were struggling with issues ranging from flare-ups of chronic health conditions to declines in mental health since they had been unable to patronize his gym .
He also feels that some media outlets and government officials have exaggerated the scope of the COVID-19 outbreak to justify what he views as an overblown response that infringes on people ’ s personal freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for dine-in service at noon Friday .
The owner , Jeff Gourley , could not be reached for comment Sunday .
The restaurant has been outspoken about the reopening on its Facebook account .
On Friday , it posted of a flag recalling the “ Don ’ t tread on me ” logo , except the snake was wrapped around a bottle of tequila .
“ Take back your freedom , go for a surf , open your business , have a cold beer with your friends , ” it read .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Friday visited Nomads Canteen with officials from the Orange County Health Care Agency , said Carrie Braun , spokeswoman for the county sheriff ’ s department .
“ Our Environmental Health division was able to reach the owner , who understood that he is operating in violation of the governor ’ s order , ” Jessica Good , public information manager for the Health Care Agency , wrote Sunday in an email .
“ A written warning will be issued , which could lead to permit suspension.
” Newsom ’ s stay-at-home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first to be issued by any governor in the nation , and experts see a fraction of the deaths of places like New York state , which has recorded more than 24,000 fatalities .
That compares with over 2,100 deaths in the Golden State , with 55 % of those occurring in .
A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that California voters gave broad approval to Newsom amid the coronavirus crisis , despite widely felt economic pain .
Voters want officials to take their time in ending restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 70 % to 30 % , the state ’ s voters say they ’ re more worried that shelter-in-place orders will end too soon , causing the illness to spread more , than they are that such orders will continue for too long and damage the economy .
Two weeks ago , wanted the order to continue as long as it was needed , according to a California Health Care Foundation/Ipsos survey .
Only 11 % wanted to stop the stay-at-home order , while 13 % had no opinion .
Among low-income residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % supported the stay-at-home order , and only 3 % opposed it .

Alex Wigglesworth, Rong-Gong Lin II, Colleen Shalby

Weekend beach crowds, such as those in Huntington Beach, spurred alarm among some officials. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A motorist makes a statement via a back window as pedestrians walk past a store display in Newport Beach that features a mannequin in a mask. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A man in a protective mask walks his dog past a closed park near the pier in Newport Beach on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A surfer catches a wave while joining some of the thousands of beachgoers over the weekend in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view shows visitors enjoying the sun and sand near the pier in Newport Beach on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of Huntington Beach after Gov. Newsom announced the “hard close” of all Orange County state and local beaches. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Emergency room nurse Rebecca McFarlane, of Covina, relaxes on her one day off from treating COVID-19 patients, on an open stretch of sand far away from other beach-goers on the last day of open beaches in Huntington Beach. “As a nurse, I have to wear all the PPE and on my one day off, I just want to relax on the beach,” McFarlane said. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Surfers ride the waves on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier Friday, May 1, 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Orange County beaches closed on Thursday despite opposition from local leaders. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Steve Christopher, right, reads a book in the shade of the pier as a beach-goer does flips across the beach on the last day of open beaches in Huntington Beach. “I think it’s what needs to be done,” Christopher said. “I saw it last week and it was packed.” (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Huntington Beach lifeguards patrol with a boat to try to get surfers to stop defying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “hard close” order. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of a mostly empty Huntington Beach following Gov. Newsom’s “hard close” of Orange County beaches. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Protesters wave a variety of flags, including a Confederate one, along Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Saturday’s beach closure did not keep surfers out of the water in Newport Beach. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Surfers and others ventured to the beach in Newport Beach on Saturday despite the governor’s closure order. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
A motorcycle officer watches the bike path near the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday. California Gov. Gavin Newson ordered a hard closure of Orange County beaches this weekend. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
A couple walks along the sand while others venture into the surf in Newport Beach even though Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Orange County beaches closed. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Under the watchful eyes of police officers, protesters against beach closures walk along Newport Beach even though a beach closure went into effect Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
People enjoy the sun near the pier in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
People walk on the sand in Newport Beach despite the beach closure that went into effect Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Protesters against beach closures walk in Newport Beach even though a beach closure went into effect Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Huntington Beach resident Kyle Richardson, 35, holds a sign telling California Gov. Gavin Newson to lift stay-at-home orders and reopen beaches, parks and the California economy, during a protest near the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Newport Beach lifeguards and police clear the beach during a closure that went into effect Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
A surfer climbs over a barrier meant to keep visitors off the beach in Newport Beach on Saturday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Bill Beukers and his wife, Teresa, claim their constitutional rights as they speak to Newport Beach police officers. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of the Newport Beach pier, where a few surfers and beach-goers enjoy a nice day at the beach despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure, which is still in place in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Bicyclists and pass the closed Boardwalk Sports store on the boardwalk in Newport Beach, on Monday. The business is only renting bicycles but is hoping to fully open after Gov. Newsom’s announcement that some businesses will be able to reopen. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of a few surfers and beach-goers enjoying a nice day at the beach despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure, which is still in place in Newport Beach on Monday. (Allen J. Schaben/Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of a few surfers and beach-goers enjoying a nice day at the beach despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure, which is still in place in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of beach-goers playing volleyball on a nice day at the beach despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure, which is still in place in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
People stroll along Laguna’s Main Beach after it reopened its beaches for active use only. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Cathie Lawler with her dogs, Milo and Charlie, said “Absolutely fabulous. So good to see the beach” as she walked along Laguna Beach after it reopened for active use only. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Mathew Hanna jumps on a skim board at Laguna’s Main Beach on Tuesday morning as city reopened its beaches for active use only. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
People stroll along Laguna’s Main Beach after it reopened its beaches for active use only. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
After days of protest and a spat over the use of Orange County beaches, Gov. Gavin Newsom signaled the first concrete steps toward a return to a more normalized California on Monday when he described how some of the state’s stay-at-home rules could be eased.
Newsom’s announcement came as several communities and individual businesses began to reopen early in defiance of local and state orders.
Some businesses — including bookstores, florists and sporting goods retailers — could reopen as early as Friday, Newsom said.
But as Newsom struck an optimistic tone in Sacramento, Los Angeles County officials confirmed an additional 568 cases and 28 new deaths linked to the virus, bringing the county’s total number of deaths to 1,256.
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About 49% of those who died were residents of institutional settings. The majority of that group were living in nursing facilities.
The total number of individuals who have been infected by the virus in L.A. County is 26,217.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that officials will outline plans to modify restrictions in L.A. County later this week, but reminded the public that while social distancing practices have slowed the spread of the virus, it still remains easily transmissible.
“The virus has not changed,” she said. “More people die in L.A. County every day from COVID-19 than any other disease.”
Roughly 5,019 people who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized at some point, Ferrer said. There are currently 1,819 individuals who are hospitalized, including 30% who are in intensive care.
Newsom’s bid to keep Orange County beaches closed over the past weekend appears to have worked. Although the beaches drew some protesters and much media attention, they were not overrun by visitors, and officials said those who did venture out usually practiced social distancing.
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State officials announced Monday that two beach cities have been granted permission to reopen their beaches.
Laguna Beach and San Clemente submitted plans last week that would allow the public to immediately access the coastline for swimming, surfing and running on the sand, among other recreational activities. The plans include measures to avoid overcrowding.
“We appreciate the governor’s willingness to work with us to provide a responsible, gradual approach to reopening all beaches in Laguna Beach for active recreation,” Mayor Bob Whalen said in a prepared statement. “This will allow people the opportunity to walk, jog, swim and surf and get some fresh air and exercise on a limited basis, but not congregate or gather in large groups.”
Under new guidelines, Newsom said that bookstores, music stores, toy stores, florists, sporting goods retailers and others can reopen for pickup as early as Friday. He said more detailed guidelines on the businesses that can reopen would be released later this week.
“This is a very positive sign and it’s happened only for one reason: The data says it can happen,” the governor said.
The plan allows some communities to move further into the second phase of the order. Such counties would first be required to meet certain requirements for hospitals beds, testing kits and the ability to track infected individuals and trace their contacts, Newsom said.
Polls have shown support for the governor’s stay-at-home rules, even as they have devastated the economy.
The governor has previously urged Californians to stay the course, saying the state is moving in the right direction but needs more time in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
“I just want folks to know we’re getting very close to making really meaningful augmentations to that stay-at-home order,” Newsom said Friday. “I want to say many days, not weeks, as long as we continue to be prudent and thoughtful.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the Trump administration’s corornavirus task force, also urged caution in reopening.
“Federal guidelines are a pretty firm policy of what we think is important from a public health standpoint,” Birx said Sunday on Fox News. “As states reopen, we really want them to follow the gating criteria.”
Birx said people still needed to practice social distancing.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also said Monday that different cities will need to take different steps to emerge from the pandemic-induced shutdown.
“Our timing on opening may vary from other parts of the state,” he said. “I will reopen our city with careful consideration, guided by public health professionals.”
Garcetti said he did not expect city businesses to be able to offer curbside delivery on Friday in step with Newsom’s comments. The city’s “Safer At Home” order is in effect until May 15, and Garcetti said he hoped steps restricting commerce could begin to be rolled back by then.
California has not yet seen a steady two-week decline in cases. The weekly number of new infections appeared to flatten for several weeks in early April, with about 8,000 to 8,500 cases every week. But from April 19 to April 25, the state recorded 11,777 new cases, and in the seven days ending Saturday, 11,041 new cases were recorded.
Statewide figures have begun to show a week-over-week decline in deaths. Whether that trend will continue, however, is uncertain. Between April 19 and April 25, 547 coronavirus deaths were reported in California, and last week, 497 fatalities were reported, a 9% decrease.
Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California were set to allow many businesses to reopen Monday in defiance of Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order.
The two counties near the state’s capital join a sparsely populated county in California’s northeastern corner in reopening. Modoc County , with fewer than 9,000 residents, allowed all businesses, schools and churches to reopen Friday as long as people inside could stay six feet apart.
The move by Yuba and Sutter counties — with a combined population of 171,000 people and just 50 coronavirus cases and three deaths — came as other California counties on the Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley were demanding to reopen more businesses.
In Victorville, 24-hour fitness studio the Gym reopened Friday with an 8-by-10-foot printout of the Constitution posted by the front door. Employees changed the colors of the studio’s sign to red, white and blue and hung banners that read #GymsAreEssential and #ReopenAmerica, according to owner Jacob D. Lewis.
Lewis said he chose to reopen after hearing from members who were struggling with issues ranging from flare-ups of chronic health conditions to declines in mental health since they had been unable to patronize his gym.
He also feels that some media outlets and government officials have exaggerated the scope of the COVID-19 outbreak to justify what he views as an overblown response that infringes on people’s personal freedom.
San Clemente restaurant Nomads Canteen reopened for dine-in service at noon Friday. The owner, Jeff Gourley, could not be reached for comment Sunday.
The restaurant has been outspoken about the reopening on its Facebook account.
On Friday, it posted a meme of a flag recalling the “Don’t tread on me” logo, except the snake was wrapped around a bottle of tequila. “Take back your freedom, go for a surf, open your business, have a cold beer with your friends,” it read.
In San Clemente, sheriff’s deputies on Friday visited Nomads Canteen with officials from the Orange County Health Care Agency, said Carrie Braun, spokeswoman for the county sheriff’s department.
“Our Environmental Health division was able to reach the owner, who understood that he is operating in violation of the governor’s order,” Jessica Good, public information manager for the Health Care Agency, wrote Sunday in an email. “A written warning will be issued, which could lead to permit suspension.”
Newsom’s stay-at-home order, issued March 19, was the first to be issued by any governor in the nation, and experts credit that with helping California see a fraction of the deaths of places like New York state, which has recorded more than 24,000 fatalities. That compares with over 2,100 deaths in the Golden State, with 55% of those occurring in Los Angeles County .
A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies last week showed that California voters gave broad approval to Newsom amid the coronavirus crisis, despite widely felt economic pain.
Voters want officials to take their time in ending restrictions on business and public gatherings. By 70% to 30%, the state’s voters say they’re more worried that shelter-in-place orders will end too soon, causing the illness to spread more, than they are that such orders will continue for too long and damage the economy.
Two weeks ago, 75% of people surveyed wanted the order to continue as long as it was needed, according to a California Health Care Foundation/Ipsos survey. Only 11% wanted to stop the stay-at-home order, while 13% had no opinion. Among low-income residents, support was even stronger: 78% supported the stay-at-home order, and only 3% opposed it.
Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-04--California reopening would start slow, not be complete for a year or longer, expert estimates

So when might California be ready to really loosen up its statewide stay-at-home order ?
One expert told The Times it would be a slow process that could take more than a year .
But as some counties have pushed to reopen faster , Gov .
Gavin Newsom is moving ahead with initial steps in the second stage of his previously outlined four-stage plan .
Newsom , who has said he understands frustrations with the projected pace of reopening , announced on Monday plans to allow some retail businesses to reopen as early as Friday for curbside pickup .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to move faster than others to reopen more types of businesses .
Some health experts on the local and national level have cautioned that some coronavirus restrictions — like sports teams not being allowed to play to packed stadium crowds — may need to continue through the rest of this year and into next year .
Dr. Deborah Birx , coordinator of the Trump administration ’ s corornavirus task force , also urged caution in reopening .
“ Federal guidelines are a pretty firm policy of what we think is important from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Fox News on Sunday .
“ As states reopen , we really want them to follow the gating criteria.
” Birx added that the American people needed to continue California has not yet seen a steady two-week decline in coronavirus cases .
The weekly number of cases appeared to flatten for several weeks in early April , with 8,000 to 8,500 cases every week .
But from April 19 to 25 , the state recorded 11,777 new cases , and in the seven days ending Saturday , 11,041 new cases were recorded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week-over-week decline in deaths .
Whether the trend will continue , however , is uncertain .
From April 19 to 25 , 547 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in California , and last week , 497 fatalities were reported , a 9 % decrease in weekly deaths .
Here ’ s a rundown of the governor ’ s plan , and what one expert thinks of it .
The expert is Dr. Robert Kim-Farley , medical epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health .
He ’ s also a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County Department of Public Health , the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and the World Health Organization .
From 2004 to 2018 , he was Los Angeles County ’ s director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention .
This is the stage we ’ ve been in .
The governor issued the first statewide stay-at-home order in the nation March 19 , three days after six San Francisco Bay Area counties implemented the first shelter-in-place order in the country .
Dr. Sonia Angell , the state health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to talk about reopening the state , given that hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are stable in California .
Some regions have already begun loosening local orders that were stricter than the state ’ s .
Expert forecast : By the end of May or into mid-June , Kim-Farley expects that places that have effectively maintained physical-distancing measures will see significant reductions in the numbers of cases .
He also suspects that , around this time , there will be enough capacity to offer tests for the virus and antibodies — to determine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to meet the demand .
More than 2,200 Californians have died and more than 54,000 have been confirmed as having been infected with the coronavirus .
Los Angeles County has the most deaths of any of California ’ s 58 counties — more than 1,200 , or over 55 % of the state ’ s total — even though it represents one-quarter of the state ’ s population .
Opening up with new restrictions : • Factories , such as those that manufacture toys , clothing and furniture • Offices , where telecommuting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to lower risk Expert forecast : Kim-Farley said last week he suspected California would be headed to Stage 2 in mid-June through the month of July .
Kim-Farley said the government ’ s moves could come sooner or later , depending on the status of the pandemic .
On Monday , Gov .
Gavin Newsom , faced with calls to reopen faster by officials in sparsely populated counties that have not been hit hard by the pandemic , picked up the pace .
State officials said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initial signs of decreasing .
Newsom said some initial parts of Stage 2 would begin as soon as Friday — such as allowing curbside pickup at nonessential stores that had been ordered shut , including bookstores , clothing stores , music stores , toy stores , florists , sporting goods retailers .
Factories that supply those businesses also would be allowed to resume .
He said more-detailed guidelines on the businesses that could reopen would be released Thursday .
San Francisco ’ s director of public health , Dr. Grant Colfax , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mother ’ s Day .
Other parts of Stage 2 are still on hold — offices , shopping malls , and seated dining at restaurants are still ordered shut .
Counties can choose to accelerate reopening of businesses in Stage 2 — “ not into Phase 3 yet but well into Phase 2 , ” Newsom said .
To accelerate their moves through Stage 2 , counties would need to have their plans certified by the local health official along with their county board of supervisors , Newsom said , which would permit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seated dining at restaurants and the opening of more hospitality businesses .
Newsom said areas that chose to go slower in reopening businesses , like the San Francisco Bay Area , could still do so .
Pandemic conditions vary widely throughout the state , Newsom said .
Some counties — Modoc , Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California — have defied Newsom ’ s orders and allowed more or all kinds of businesses to reopen .
Newsom declined to say on Monday whether there would be consequences for those counties but said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 58 counties were doing the right thing .
There are potential risks for businesses that reopen in accordance with local orders but are still at odds with the state order .
Officials in Yuba and Sutter counties suggested business owners in this gray area contact legal counsel for advice before proceeding .
Newsom said some 80 bars in California that reopened shut down again after state officials threatened to pull their operating licenses .
In Los Angeles County , the public health director , Barbara Ferrer , said Monday that officials would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and said “ wherever it ’ s possible to safely reopen , we ’ ll be doing so as quickly as possible.
” There will need to be much more modification to these workplaces to make them safer , state health officer Angell said last week .
“ We need to know much more about the movement of disease to be able to make data-informed decisions about what ’ s safe for folks , ” Angell said .
Expert forecast : In general , Kim-Farley suspects Stage 3 may occur around August or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or early fall .
He expects social-distancing measures — like wearing face coverings and limiting the number of people inside a store — to continue .
Again , the timing could be earlier or later , depending on how the pandemic is progressing .
The full end of the stay-at-home order , allowing the resumption of : Expert forecast : This may not be implemented until the middle or latter part of 2021 , Kim-Farley said .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ optimistic scenarios , it would take 12 to 18 months for a vaccine to become available .
Last week , Fauci said it might not be possible for sports teams to resume play this year .
“ Safety , for the players and for the fans , trumps everything , ” Fauci said in an interview with the New York Times .
“ If you can ’ t guarantee safety , then unfortunately you ’ re going to have to bite the bullet and say , ‘ We may have to go without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Protesters in Laguna Beach on Saturday call for California to reopen.
So when might California be ready to really loosen up its statewide stay-at-home order?
One expert told The Times it would be a slow process that could take more than a year. But as some counties have pushed to reopen faster, Gov. Gavin Newsom is moving ahead with initial steps in the second stage of his previously outlined four-stage plan.
Newsom, who has said he understands frustrations with the projected pace of reopening, announced on Monday plans to allow some retail businesses to reopen as early as Friday for curbside pickup. And he said some counties would be able to move faster than others to reopen more types of businesses.
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1 / 30 Over 1,500 people attended a rally at the capitol in Sacramento, May 1, 2020. asking for the reopening of the economy, closed due to the coronavirus. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 30 Over 1,500 people attended a rally at the capitol in Sacramento, May 1, 2020. asking for the reopening of the economy, closed due to the coronavirus. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 30 Over 1,500 people attended a rally at the capitol in Sacramento, May 1, 2020. asking for the reopening of the economy, closed due to the coronavirus. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 4 / 30 Alicia Cruz, center, of Elk Grove, Calif., takes part in a protest at the California State Capitol. She said she was there to protect civil liberties, her children’s future and future livelihoods. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 30 A protester holds a U.S. flag outside his car while joining a rally at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen beaches and lift stay-at-home orders. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 30 Gareth Davies of Aliso Viejo waves the U.S. flag in Huntington Beach while protesting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s closure of Orange County beaches. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 30 Huntington Beach lifeguards patrol with a boat to try to clear surfers out of the water while protesters rallied nearby. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 30 An aerial view of surfers in the waters off Huntington Beach on Friday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 30 Mounted police line up to keep protesters on the sidewalk at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 30 Motorists join the protesters at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 30 Hundreds of protesters rally at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 30 Protesters rally at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 30 Mounted police line up to keep protesters on the sidewalk at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 30 California Highway Patrol officers take into custody a woman who refused to follow orders to move off the Capitol grounds during a protest Friday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 30 More than 1,500 people took part in a protest at the Capitol in Sacramento, seeking a reopening of the California economy. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 30 California Highway Patrol officers take into custody a woman who refused to follow orders to move off the state Capitol grounds in Sacramento during a protest Friday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 30 Hundreds of protesters gather at the state Capitol in Sacramento to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 30 Protesters converge on Huntington Beach on Friday to demand stay-at-home rules be lifted. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 30 Protesters at Huntington Beach on Friday demand stay-at-home rules be lifted. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 30 Protesters demand that California’s stay-at-home rules be lifted at Huntington Beach on Friday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 30 Hundreds of people converge in downtown Los Angeles to call on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift stay-at-home orders and reopen the state economy, saying the coronavirus lockdown has hurt workers. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles) 22 / 30 A proponent of opening the economy as quickly as possible, right, gets into a verbal altercation with a counterprotester at Los Angeles City Hall. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 30 A protester calling for the end of stay-at-home restrictions, left, argues with a counterprotester outside L.A. City Hall. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 30 A Los Angeles police officer stands outside City Hall on Friday as protesters call on the city and state governments to lift stay-at-home orders. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 30 Protesters demanding that stay-at-home rules be lifted gather outside L.A. City Hall on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 30 Protesters call for the end of coronavirus stay-at-home orders outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 30 Protesters in downtown Los Angeles call for the end of stay-at-home orders. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 30 Protesters demanding the end of the coronavirus lockdown wave flags in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 30 Hundreds of people converge in downtown Los Angeles to demand the reopening of the California economy. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 30 A protester walks into the water in Hermosa Beach following a rally voicing their disagreement with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s closure of beaches. The residents were joined by about 100 people in chanting to “open the beach,” and then a march to the sand and eventually water, near the Hermosa Beach Pier. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
Some health experts on the local and national level have cautioned that some coronavirus restrictions — like sports teams not being allowed to play to packed stadium crowds — may need to continue through the rest of this year and into next year.
Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the Trump administration’s corornavirus task force, also urged caution in reopening.
“Federal guidelines are a pretty firm policy of what we think is important from a public health standpoint,” Birx said on Fox News on Sunday. “As states reopen, we really want them to follow the gating criteria.”
Birx added that the American people needed to continue to practice social distancing.
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California has not yet seen a steady two-week decline in coronavirus cases. The weekly number of cases appeared to flatten for several weeks in early April, with 8,000 to 8,500 cases every week. But from April 19 to 25, the state recorded 11,777 new cases, and in the seven days ending Saturday, 11,041 new cases were recorded.
California has started to see a week-over-week decline in deaths. Whether the trend will continue, however, is uncertain. From April 19 to 25, 547 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in California, and last week, 497 fatalities were reported, a 9% decrease in weekly deaths.
Here’s a rundown of the governor’s plan, and what one expert thinks of it.
The expert is Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He’s also a former senior official for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. From 2004 to 2018, he was Los Angeles County’s director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention.
Stage 1: Continue with the stay-at-home order
This is the stage we’ve been in. The governor issued the first statewide stay-at-home order in the nation March 19, three days after six San Francisco Bay Area counties implemented the first shelter-in-place order in the country.
Dr. Sonia Angell, the state health officer, said it was the right time to talk about reopening the state, given that hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are stable in California. Some regions have already begun loosening local orders that were stricter than the state’s.
Expert forecast: By the end of May or into mid-June, Kim-Farley expects that places that have effectively maintained physical-distancing measures will see significant reductions in the numbers of cases. He also suspects that, around this time, there will be enough capacity to offer tests for the virus and antibodies — to determine whether people may have some immunity — to meet the demand.
More than 2,200 Californians have died and more than 54,000 have been confirmed as having been infected with the coronavirus. Los Angeles County has the most deaths of any of California’s 58 counties — more than 1,200, or over 55% of the state’s total — even though it represents one-quarter of the state’s population.
Stage 2: Gradual opening of lower-risk workplaces
Opening up with new restrictions:
Retail, with adaptations, like offering curbside pickup
Factories, such as those that manufacture toys, clothing and furniture
Offices, where telecommuting is not possible, but with modifications to lower risk
Modified school and child-care programs reopen
Expert forecast: Kim-Farley said last week he suspected California would be headed to Stage 2 in mid-June through the month of July. Kim-Farley said the government’s moves could come sooner or later, depending on the status of the pandemic.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, faced with calls to reopen faster by officials in sparsely populated counties that have not been hit hard by the pandemic, picked up the pace. State officials said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to be stable and show some initial signs of decreasing.
Newsom said some initial parts of Stage 2 would begin as soon as Friday — such as allowing curbside pickup at nonessential stores that had been ordered shut, including bookstores, clothing stores, music stores, toy stores, florists, sporting goods retailers.
Factories that supply those businesses also would be allowed to resume. He said more-detailed guidelines on the businesses that could reopen would be released Thursday.
San Francisco’s director of public health, Dr. Grant Colfax, said florists could make deliveries in time for Mother’s Day.
Other parts of Stage 2 are still on hold — offices, shopping malls, and seated dining at restaurants are still ordered shut.
Counties can choose to accelerate reopening of businesses in Stage 2 — “not into Phase 3 yet but well into Phase 2,” Newsom said. To accelerate their moves through Stage 2, counties would need to have their plans certified by the local health official along with their county board of supervisors, Newsom said, which would permit openings — with coronavirus modifications — of seated dining at restaurants and the opening of more hospitality businesses.
Newsom said areas that chose to go slower in reopening businesses, like the San Francisco Bay Area, could still do so. Pandemic conditions vary widely throughout the state, Newsom said.
Some counties — Modoc, Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California — have defied Newsom’s orders and allowed more or all kinds of businesses to reopen. Newsom declined to say on Monday whether there would be consequences for those counties but said the overwhelming majority of California’s 58 counties were doing the right thing.
There are potential risks for businesses that reopen in accordance with local orders but are still at odds with the state order. Officials in Yuba and Sutter counties suggested business owners in this gray area contact legal counsel for advice before proceeding.
Newsom said some 80 bars in California that reopened shut down again after state officials threatened to pull their operating licenses.
In Los Angeles County, the public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said Monday that officials would be sharing publicly recovery plans this week, and said “wherever it’s possible to safely reopen, we’ll be doing so as quickly as possible.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Monday said she could not say definitively what kinds of businesses could resume opening on Friday. “We have to do so responsibly,” Breed said. “It is important that we rely on the facts, we rely on the data, we rely on the advice of our county health officers.”
Stage 3: Opening of higher-risk workplaces
There will need to be much more modification to these workplaces to make them safer, state health officer Angell said last week. “We need to know much more about the movement of disease to be able to make data-informed decisions about what’s safe for folks,” Angell said.
Hair and nail salons
Gyms
Movie theaters
Sports without live audiences
Churches
Weddings
Expert forecast: In general, Kim-Farley suspects Stage 3 may occur around August or September — sometime in the late summer or early fall. He expects social-distancing measures — like wearing face coverings and limiting the number of people inside a store — to continue.
Again, the timing could be earlier or later, depending on how the pandemic is progressing.
Stage 4: Full opening
The full end of the stay-at-home order, allowing the resumption of:
Sports with live audiences
Convention centers
Concerts
Expert forecast: This may not be implemented until the middle or latter part of 2021, Kim-Farley said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said that, even under the most optimistic scenarios, it would take 12 to 18 months for a vaccine to become available.
Last week, Fauci said it might not be possible for sports teams to resume play this year.
“Safety, for the players and for the fans, trumps everything,” Fauci said in an interview with the New York Times. “If you can’t guarantee safety, then unfortunately you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’”


latimes--2020-05-04--'The fight is always somewhere in us': Asian American history and a Little Tokyo combo meal

The chashu shumai combo from Tokyo Gardens holds a place of honor among the taste memories of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles , a fabled casualty of Little Tokyo ’ s evolution over the years .
It ’ s a generous serving of caramelized chashu pork paired with four shumai , rice and pickles that has not been served since 2013 , when Glen Ishii ’ s grandma hung up her apron to make way for Ishii ’ s restaurant , Jist Cafe .
Then the pandemic struck .
Business fell by more than 50 % , Ishii said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ chef of the restaurant at the Omni Hotel decided to try something new that was also something very old : his grandmother ’ s recipe .
Hundreds of orders of the beloved combo meal sold out in less than half an hour .
The taste sparked remembrances from nostalgic diners all over the Southland .
And for a few moments , a community accustomed to mourning the steady disappearance of its cultural touchstones instead got to taste the return of something once thought lost .
“ Before we started doing this , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of depressing .
Starting this has really rejuvenated everybody at the restaurant , ” Ishii said .
The chashu shumai combo has been a much-needed bright spot in this pandemic .
It ’ s also the best illustration of a community ethic that has rallied a small army of volunteers and social service organizations to Little Tokyo ’ s aid .
Put simply , history matters , said Kristin Fukushima , managing director of the Little Tokyo Community Council .
Valuing history means that restaurants are not just businesses but invaluable capsules of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seniors are not just vulnerable and in need of help , but also the keepers of the community ’ s stories and the teachers of history ’ s lessons .
It means that every inch of 1st Street real estate is precious and worth fighting for , because you remember when this country took it away , and how much your ancestors sacrificed to get it back .
So , when quarantine conditions were ordered , a veritable squadron of community groups including the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Little Tokyo Community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately organized donation programs that paid restaurants to provide free meals to homebound seniors , frontline workers and those who ’ ve lost money or jobs to the quarantine , a strategy that last month became an official state program .
When emergency information and aid information was disseminated only in English and Spanish , volunteers translated it into Japanese as well as Korean , reflecting the area ’ s changing demographics .
Every week , volunteers take turns delivering meals , spreading information and fulfilling requests .
“ We rely on each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other .
And we were like this before the crisis , ” Fukushima said .
Little Tokyo has always stood out among this city ’ s ethnic enclaves for the value it places on history .
The Japanese American National Museum is the largest museum of its kind in the nation .
Curator Karen Ishizuka says the focus of its latest exhibit is not just about preserving history , but showing how its lessons are relevant to the present .
“ We ’ re trying to use the past to serve the present @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also written a book about the Asian American movement in Los Angeles in the 1960s , the era of student activism during which the term “ Asian American ” was coined .
Part of this focus on history is because Japanese Americans have a history they can not forget .
Mass incarceration — and the traumatic reminder that American citizenship and belonging can be summarily revoked — leaves an indelible mark .
And I ’ ve been thinking a lot about history and its role lately , and not just because May is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans are facing a historic wave of racism fueled by nationalism and pandemic fear .
A tracker by A3PCON and Chinese Americans for Affirmative Action recorded 1,497 incidents in its first month , with more than 8 % of reports involving physical violence .
More than 30 % of Americans have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the pandemic , according to a survey from the Center of Public Integrity .
All this is happening as Asian Americans , disproportionately represented in the medical field , are hit especially hard by COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ where one out of every four Filipino Americans is employed in the healthcare industry , at least 30 Filipino healthcare workers have died of complications from COVID-19 , according to a ProPublica investigation .
We have responded to this historic moment in many admirable ways .
Many Asian American elected officials have forcefully and consistently condemned the casual association of virus danger with Chinese identity , called upon the FBI to investigate the violence and pushed for more resources to battle hate crimes .
Asian American volunteers and organizations have been instrumental in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This month , the Asian Pacific Community Fund is launching a campaign to raise money for the organizations that have served as unofficial life support for ethnic enclaves .
But I ’ ve also seen responses from Asian Americans that fill me with despair .
We have calls , again , to fight racism by proving our American-ness .
In an op-ed , former presidential candidate Andrew Yang cited the sacrifices of the Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II as an example of patriotism but failed to state that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And the other day I saw a post advertising T-shirts for sale with the slogan “ I ’ m Asian but not Chinese.
” During the L.A. uprisings of 1992 , T-shirts were signs taped to the doors of Asian businesses that said “ I ’ m not Korean.
” Those businesses burned anyway .
During the mass incarceration , these signs were buttons worn by Chinese Americans that said “ I ’ m not Japanese.
” The feeling of déjà vu is unavoidable .
Here we are again , trusting in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect us .
It seems we have forgotten the lesson that no amount of T-shirts , signs , buttons or patriotism has ever kept anyone safe from racism in the long run .
But Little Tokyo remembers .
And Historic Filipinotown remembers .
Chinatown , Thai Town and pretty much every other ethnic enclave in Los Angeles contain the memory of a time when the threat of racism forced us into the same neighborhoods and reminded us that we needed one another .
I think that time is here again .
If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mistaken for Chinese , you can feel the eyes on you at the grocery store or on your daily walk .
If you haven ’ t witnessed or experienced this yourself , you know another Asian American who has .
On your feeds , you can sense the political discourse shifting against people who look like you .
As the consequences of this virus deepen , and as our president continues to single out minorities and blame China for America ’ s disastrous response to the virus , I ’ m worried that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s more important than ever for us to understand and accept our history .
And PBS is making it easy : Next week it is releasing a five-hour film series on the histories of Asian Americans .
Not everyone took Asian American studies in college or has time to become a race scholar .
But if we look for answers in our past , we can find hope for our future , as Glen Ishii did .
A good place to start is understanding that ethnic enclaves are not just good places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighborhoods , there is a historic fight for rights and equality that has never ended .
It ’ s a fight in which many of us have declared victory and then withdrawn .
But others have continued it , like Traci Kato-Kiriyama , an artist and organizer in Little Tokyo who co-founded the Tuesday Night Project , the longest-running Asian American mic series in the United States .
After mass incarceration , Japanese Americans took up the fight for redress and reparations , Kato-Kiriyama said .
Then they fought to rebuild Little Tokyo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposal to build a 510-bed jail in the historic community and weathered intense gentrification .
And when Muslim Americans were targeted after 9/11 , or when this current administration placed immigrants in cages at the border , many Japanese American activists took up that fight too , because they understand that the fight against racism is much larger than just the Asian American community .
“ We ’ ve always had to fight to know where we come from .
We ’ ve always had to fight to be who we want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Kato-Kiriyama said .
“ The fight is always somewhere in us .
”

Chashu shumai, a classic dish served by Tokyo Gardens in the 1940s, was recently revived by chef Glen Ishii, whose grandmother made the recipe for the family restaurant in Little Tokyo.
The chashu shumai combo from Tokyo Gardens holds a place of honor among the taste memories of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles, a fabled casualty of Little Tokyo’s evolution over the years.
It’s a generous serving of caramelized chashu pork paired with four shumai, rice and pickles that has not been served since 2013, when Glen Ishii’s grandma hung up her apron to make way for Ishii’s restaurant, Jist Cafe.
Then the pandemic struck. Business fell by more than 50%, Ishii said. So last month, the former executive chef of the restaurant at the Omni Hotel decided to try something new that was also something very old: his grandmother’s recipe.
Hundreds of orders of the beloved combo meal sold out in less than half an hour. The taste sparked remembrances from nostalgic diners all over the Southland. And for a few moments, a community accustomed to mourning the steady disappearance of its cultural touchstones instead got to taste the return of something once thought lost.
“Before we started doing this, to be honest, it was really kind of depressing. Starting this has really rejuvenated everybody at the restaurant,” Ishii said.
Advertisement
Caroline Shin serves a customer several orders of chashu shumai at Jist Cafe. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The chashu shumai combo has been a much-needed bright spot in this pandemic. It’s also the best illustration of a community ethic that has rallied a small army of volunteers and social service organizations to Little Tokyo’s aid.
Put simply, history matters, said Kristin Fukushima, managing director of the Little Tokyo Community Council.
Valuing history means that restaurants are not just businesses but invaluable capsules of untold histories and human experience. That seniors are not just vulnerable and in need of help, but also the keepers of the community’s stories and the teachers of history’s lessons. It means that every inch of 1st Street real estate is precious and worth fighting for, because you remember when this country took it away, and how much your ancestors sacrificed to get it back.
So, when quarantine conditions were ordered, a veritable squadron of community groups including the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Little Tokyo Community Council descended on the neighborhood. They immediately organized donation programs that paid restaurants to provide free meals to homebound seniors, frontline workers and those who’ve lost money or jobs to the quarantine, a strategy that last month became an official state program.
Advertisement
When emergency information and aid information was disseminated only in English and Spanish, volunteers translated it into Japanese as well as Korean, reflecting the area’s changing demographics. Every week, volunteers take turns delivering meals, spreading information and fulfilling requests.
“We rely on each other. We show up for each other. And we were like this before the crisis,” Fukushima said.
Little Tokyo has always stood out among this city’s ethnic enclaves for the value it places on history. The Japanese American National Museum is the largest museum of its kind in the nation. Curator Karen Ishizuka says the focus of its latest exhibit is not just about preserving history, but showing how its lessons are relevant to the present.
“We’re trying to use the past to serve the present,” said Ishizuka, who has also written a book about the Asian American movement in Los Angeles in the 1960s, the era of student activism during which the term “Asian American” was coined.
Chef Glen Ishii, left, Ana Elias and Caroline Shin in the kitchen at Jist Cafe. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Part of this focus on history is because Japanese Americans have a history they cannot forget. Mass incarceration — and the traumatic reminder that American citizenship and belonging can be summarily revoked — leaves an indelible mark. And I’ve been thinking a lot about history and its role lately, and not just because May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Asian Americans are facing a historic wave of racism fueled by nationalism and pandemic fear. A tracker by A3PCON and Chinese Americans for Affirmative Action recorded 1,497 incidents in its first month, with more than 8% of reports involving physical violence. More than 30% of Americans have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the pandemic, according to a survey from the Center of Public Integrity.
All this is happening as Asian Americans, disproportionately represented in the medical field, are hit especially hard by COVID-19. In the New York-New Jersey area, where one out of every four Filipino Americans is employed in the healthcare industry, at least 30 Filipino healthcare workers have died of complications from COVID-19, according to a ProPublica investigation.
We have responded to this historic moment in many admirable ways. Many Asian American elected officials have forcefully and consistently condemned the casual association of virus danger with Chinese identity, called upon the FBI to investigate the violence and pushed for more resources to battle hate crimes. Asian American volunteers and organizations have been instrumental in equipping unprepared hospitals with protective equipment. This month, the Asian Pacific Community Fund is launching a campaign to raise money for the organizations that have served as unofficial life support for ethnic enclaves.
But I’ve also seen responses from Asian Americans that fill me with despair. We have calls, again, to fight racism by proving our American-ness. In an op-ed, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang cited the sacrifices of the Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II as an example of patriotism but failed to state that the reward for that patriotism was mass incarceration.
Japanese Americans wait with their luggage at the Santa Fe rail station in Los Angeles for trains that will take them to an incarceration camp in the Owens Valley in April 1942. (Russell Lee / Library of Congress)
And the other day I saw a post advertising T-shirts for sale with the slogan “I’m Asian but not Chinese.” During the L.A. uprisings of 1992, T-shirts were signs taped to the doors of Asian businesses that said “I’m not Korean.” Those businesses burned anyway. During the mass incarceration, these signs were buttons worn by Chinese Americans that said “I’m not Japanese.”
The feeling of déjà vu is unavoidable. Here we are again, trusting in the poisoned promise that our prosperity will protect us. It seems we have forgotten the lesson that no amount of T-shirts, signs, buttons or patriotism has ever kept anyone safe from racism in the long run.
But Little Tokyo remembers. And Historic Filipinotown remembers. Chinatown, Thai Town and pretty much every other ethnic enclave in Los Angeles contain the memory of a time when the threat of racism forced us into the same neighborhoods and reminded us that we needed one another.
I think that time is here again. If you are an Asian American who can be mistaken for Chinese, you can feel the eyes on you at the grocery store or on your daily walk. If you haven’t witnessed or experienced this yourself, you know another Asian American who has. On your feeds, you can sense the political discourse shifting against people who look like you. As the consequences of this virus deepen, and as our president continues to single out minorities and blame China for America’s disastrous response to the virus, I’m worried that things will only get worse.
It’s more important than ever for us to understand and accept our history. And PBS is making it easy: Next week it is releasing a five-hour film series on the histories of Asian Americans. Not everyone took Asian American studies in college or has time to become a race scholar. But if we look for answers in our past, we can find hope for our future, as Glen Ishii did.
A good place to start is understanding that ethnic enclaves are not just good places to eat. In each of these neighborhoods, there is a historic fight for rights and equality that has never ended. It’s a fight in which many of us have declared victory and then withdrawn. But others have continued it, like Traci Kato-Kiriyama, an artist and organizer in Little Tokyo who co-founded the Tuesday Night Project, the longest-running Asian American mic series in the United States.
After mass incarceration, Japanese Americans took up the fight for redress and reparations, Kato-Kiriyama said. Then they fought to rebuild Little Tokyo, fended off the city’s proposal to build a 510-bed jail in the historic community and weathered intense gentrification.
And when Muslim Americans were targeted after 9/11, or when this current administration placed immigrants in cages at the border, many Japanese American activists took up that fight too, because they understand that the fight against racism is much larger than just the Asian American community.
“We’ve always had to fight to know where we come from. We’ve always had to fight to be who we want to be, for existence, for community,” Kato-Kiriyama said. “The fight is always somewhere in us.”


latimes--2020-05-04--'My long goodbye': Already coping with her husband's Alzheimer's, a wife now faces coronavirus locko

'My long goodbye': Already coping with her husband's Alzheimer's, a wife now faces coronavirus lockouts

Felice Blair knew two things for certain about the man she met that December day in Tel Aviv — he looked good in a red sweater and he was quite late .
After apologizing profusely for having gotten lost , her blind date , Bernard , a friend of her cousin , suggested they grab something “ cheap and cheerful , ” a phrase revealing his British roots .
Want to get Chinese food , he suggested .
“ I ’ m in love !
” she blurted , telling him that it was her favorite .
He flashed her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were swapping stories about divorce and children over orange chicken and lo mein .
They met up a couple more times before Felice ’ s weeklong trip ended and she returned home to Woodland Hills .
“ That was it , ” Felice said , recalling the fateful trip in 1986 .
“ It really was a fairy tale story.
” Now 74 , Felice has had a lot of time recently to reflect on her and Bernard ’ s life together — on those early memories and all the hard and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus outbreak and its unprecedented shutdowns , which have kept her from visiting Bernard ’ s skilled nursing facility in Reseda , Felice had begun to consider the end .
“ It ’ s part of my long goodbye , ” she says of her husband , 77 , who has advanced Alzheimer ’ s .
For Felice , like countless other spouses and children in her situation across the country , the quarantine has compounded the feelings of guilt and helplessness that sometimes come with moving a loved one into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the possibility of a months-long lockdown , Felice has begun to confront the painful possibility that Bernard could die without her in the room to hug him or whisper assurances .
Her husband ’ s eyes no longer glimmer with recognition , but when she kibitzes with him he still smiles at times .
She finds herself thinking about when , if ever , she might see that smile again and about the life she and Bernard built together .
When the couple met , Bernard , then in his early 40s , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started flying standby to LAX to visit Felice , then 40 and working as a first-grade teacher .
The couple wed at the Marriott in Woodland Hills in the spring of 1988 , but Bernard stayed in Israel until the summer of 1991 , when he moved into the condominium Felice shared with her mother and two teenage daughters .
She thinks about the walks by the pond near their home , the trips to London , where Bernard grew up , the way her husband , a quiet romantic , liked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She reread old anniversary cards — “ I love you more than you will ever know , ” he told her — and laughed about how her singing annoyed Bernard , who is tone-deaf .
She ’ s been reflecting , too , on how Bernard supported her during hard times .
In the early 2000s , Felice ’ s journal started to fill up with troubling details about how her mother had again left the stove on or how she ’ d forgotten her keys .
After her mother was diagnosed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking her on walks by the pond and reading aloud from her Danielle Steel novels or the Jewish Journal .
He was gentle and compassionate , Felice said , but he told his wife that if he was ever in such a condition , he wouldn ’ t want to live .
That memory crushes Felice , because years after her mother ’ s sickness , she realized that Bernard ’ s mind was slipping too .
She sobbed herself to sleep for a month .
Bernard couldn ’ t remember how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she wrote in her journal .
As the disease progressed , she learned small tricks that helped ease frustrating situations .
A See ’ s lollipop would keep him preoccupied for 37 minutes , she learned , which was especially helpful on trips to the doctor ’ s office .
She sometimes coaxed him into the shower with chocolate chips or Monopoly money , and when it was time to change clothes , she ’ d mimic pulling at her pants and repeat a short command .
During challenging moments , she reverted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finding a melody mantra .
As a girl , when she walked alone to piano class in New York City , she soothed herself by singing “ I Whistle a Happy Tune ” from “ The King and I.
” Years later , she picked the Beatles .
“ Ob-La-Di , Ob-La-Da , ” she ’ d sing , when her husband refused to change clothes or shower .
“ Life goes on.
” Bernard didn ’ t seem to mind the singing as much .
Maybe he could sense how much she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he moved into the L.A. Jewish Home , where he ’ s lived for the ast year and a half , Felice was washing dishes in their split-level condominium .
“ You OK ?
” she shouted down the stairs .
When she asked again two minutes later and heard silence , she ran outside , shouted his name and rushed to a nearby park .
A neighbor checked the pond .
Nothing .
What if he got hit by a car ?
Felice feared .
After 35 minutes , another neighbor found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at home , Felice called Alzheimer ’ s LA , which helped her install special locks .
Whenever she thought about moving Bernard into a facility , she felt pangs of guilt .
She reflected on their loving marriage and how she didn ’ t want to live apart from him , but she also reminded herself that she could still visit him as often as she wanted .
Indeed , before the lockdown , she visited every Tuesday , Thursday and Sunday , walking with Bernard around the facility and feeding him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Home looks different now .
It involves a lot of testing , including of asymptomatic staffers , at least one of whom was sent home to quarantine Nearly all visitors , including community groups that come to entertain residents , have been barred from the facility .
Instead of eating in the dining room , Felice said , Bernard is now fed in his room , which he shares with another resident .
It ’ s been more than a month since her last visit — a stretch that included his birthday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handful of patients and staff at the Jewish Home have tested positive for COVID-19 , and although Felice says the facility has handled it well and taken extreme precautions , she knows what the virus is capable of .
“ It brings finality close to mind , ” she says .
FaceTiming would confuse Bernard , she says , so she writes him notes and replays her memory of her last visit , sitting by his side in the lounge , reading aloud from the Jewish Journal .
She almost never leaves home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guard shack at the facility twice , once to leave fiber bars , since Bernard wasn ’ t having regular bowel movements , and again to drop off a card and a plate of brownies decorated with a ribbon .
“ I left it at the guard station and drove off , ” she said , tearing up at the memory of her husband ’ s 77th birthday .
Talking on the phone with Tori Boyer — a care counselor with Alzheimer ’ s LA , who often calls her to check in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic .
She tells Boyer about how she misses Bernard ’ s smile and about how helpless she feels knowing that she ’ s not there to walk with him .
Boyer listens patiently , validating her feelings .
“ It ’ s been pretty devastating , ” said Boyer , who regularly checks in with dozens of people who have a loved one with Alzheimer ’ s .
Anxiety and fear seem especially high , Boyer said , among people with loved ones in facilities .
The pandemic has spread with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confined , elderly residents with underlying health issues are especially vulnerable .
At a facility in Kirkland , Wash. , one of the first hot spots in the nation , nearly two-thirds of the staff and residents got sick and 37 people died .
In California , that more than 575 nursing home residents have died after contracting the virus — nearly 40 % of the state ’ s death toll .
Felice also finds solace in slow walks around the pond and glimpses of the geraniums in her garden , in long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bite of Trader Joe ’ s Cocoa Meringue cookies .
And , of course , when she ’ s craving familiarity , she calls the Chinese spot in the strip mall near her home and orders takeout orange chicken .

During the coronavirus lockdown, Felice Blair, 74, shown outside her home in Woodland Hills, hasn’t been able to visit her husband, Bernard, 77, who lives in a skilled nursing facility.
Felice Blair knew two things for certain about the man she met that December day in Tel Aviv — he looked good in a red sweater and he was quite late.
After apologizing profusely for having gotten lost, her blind date, Bernard, a friend of her cousin, suggested they grab something “cheap and cheerful,” a phrase revealing his British roots. Want to get Chinese food, he suggested.
“I’m in love!” she blurted, telling him that it was her favorite.
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He flashed her a baffled look and laughed and soon they were swapping stories about divorce and children over orange chicken and lo mein. They met up a couple more times before Felice’s weeklong trip ended and she returned home to Woodland Hills.
“That was it,” Felice said, recalling the fateful trip in 1986. “It really was a fairy tale story.”
Now 74, Felice has had a lot of time recently to reflect on her and Bernard’s life together — on those early memories and all the hard and happy ones since then. Even before the coronavirus outbreak and its unprecedented shutdowns, which have kept her from visiting Bernard’s skilled nursing facility in Reseda, Felice had begun to consider the end.
“It’s part of my long goodbye,” she says of her husband, 77, who has advanced Alzheimer’s.
For Felice, like countless other spouses and children in her situation across the country, the quarantine has compounded the feelings of guilt and helplessness that sometimes come with moving a loved one into a nursing home.
Now, faced with the possibility of a months-long lockdown, Felice has begun to confront the painful possibility that Bernard could die without her in the room to hug him or whisper assurances.
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Her husband’s eyes no longer glimmer with recognition, but when she kibitzes with him he still smiles at times. She finds herself thinking about when, if ever, she might see that smile again and about the life she and Bernard built together.
Felice and Bernard Blair on their wedding day in 1988. (Felice Blair)
When the couple met, Bernard, then in his early 40s, worked for now-defunct Trans World Airlines and started flying standby to LAX to visit Felice, then 40 and working as a first-grade teacher. The couple wed at the Marriott in Woodland Hills in the spring of 1988, but Bernard stayed in Israel until the summer of 1991, when he moved into the condominium Felice shared with her mother and two teenage daughters.
She thinks about the walks by the pond near their home, the trips to London, where Bernard grew up, the way her husband, a quiet romantic, liked to keep a candle lighted in the home. She reread old anniversary cards — “I love you more than you will ever know,” he told her — and laughed about how her singing annoyed Bernard, who is tone-deaf.
“Put a sock in it!” he’d say.
She’s been reflecting, too, on how Bernard supported her during hard times.
In the early 2000s, Felice’s journal started to fill up with troubling details about how her mother had again left the stove on or how she’d forgotten her keys. After her mother was diagnosed with dementia, Bernard helped constantly, taking her on walks by the pond and reading aloud from her Danielle Steel novels or the Jewish Journal. He was gentle and compassionate, Felice said, but he told his wife that if he was ever in such a condition, he wouldn’t want to live.
That memory crushes Felice, because years after her mother’s sickness, she realized that Bernard’s mind was slipping too.
She sobbed herself to sleep for a month. Bernard couldn’t remember how to get to Trader Joe’s, she wrote in her journal. As the disease progressed, she learned small tricks that helped ease frustrating situations. A See’s lollipop would keep him preoccupied for 37 minutes, she learned, which was especially helpful on trips to the doctor’s office.
She sometimes coaxed him into the shower with chocolate chips or Monopoly money, and when it was time to change clothes, she’d mimic pulling at her pants and repeat a short command.
“Down, down, down.”
During challenging moments, she reverted to a habit from her childhood: finding a melody mantra. As a girl, when she walked alone to piano class in New York City, she soothed herself by singing “I Whistle a Happy Tune” from “The King and I.” Years later, she picked the Beatles.
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” she’d sing, when her husband refused to change clothes or shower. “Life goes on.”
Bernard didn’t seem to mind the singing as much. Maybe he could sense how much she needed it.
About six months before he moved into the L.A. Jewish Home, where he’s lived for the last year and a half, Felice was washing dishes in their split-level condominium.
“You OK?” she shouted down the stairs.
“Yes.”
When she asked again two minutes later and heard silence, she ran outside, shouted his name and rushed to a nearby park. A neighbor checked the pond. Nothing. What if he got hit by a car? Felice feared. After 35 minutes, another neighbor found Bernard at a different pond. Back at home, Felice called Alzheimer’s LA, which helped her install special locks.
Whenever she thought about moving Bernard into a facility, she felt pangs of guilt. She reflected on their loving marriage and how she didn’t want to live apart from him, but she also reminded herself that she could still visit him as often as she wanted.
Indeed, before the lockdown, she visited every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, walking with Bernard around the facility and feeding him dinner.
But life at the Jewish Home looks different now.
It involves a lot of testing, including of asymptomatic staffers, at least one of whom was sent home to self-quarantine after testing positive. Nearly all visitors, including community groups that come to entertain residents , have been barred from the facility.
Instead of eating in the dining room, Felice said, Bernard is now fed in his room, which he shares with another resident.
It’s been more than a month since her last visit — a stretch that included his birthday, her birthday and their anniversary. A handful of patients and staff at the Jewish Home have tested positive for COVID-19, and although Felice says the facility has handled it well and taken extreme precautions, she knows what the virus is capable of.
“It brings finality close to mind,” she says.
FaceTiming would confuse Bernard, she says, so she writes him notes and replays her memory of her last visit, sitting by his side in the lounge, reading aloud from the Jewish Journal.
She almost never leaves home, but she has driven to the guard shack at the facility twice, once to leave fiber bars, since Bernard wasn’t having regular bowel movements, and again to drop off a card and a plate of brownies decorated with a ribbon.
“I left it at the guard station and drove off,” she said, tearing up at the memory of her husband’s 77th birthday.
Talking on the phone with Tori Boyer — a care counselor with Alzheimer’s LA, who often calls her to check in — has been a huge encouragement during the pandemic. She tells Boyer about how she misses Bernard’s smile and about how helpless she feels knowing that she’s not there to walk with him. Boyer listens patiently, validating her feelings.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” said Boyer, who regularly checks in with dozens of people who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Anxiety and fear seem especially high, Boyer said, among people with loved ones in facilities.
The pandemic has spread with devastating and deadly precision through many nursing homes, where confined, elderly residents with underlying health issues are especially vulnerable.
At a facility in Kirkland, Wash., one of the first hot spots in the nation, nearly two-thirds of the staff and residents got sick and 37 people died. In California, officials confirmed last week that more than 575 nursing home residents have died after contracting the virus — nearly 40% of the state’s death toll.
Felice also finds solace in slow walks around the pond and glimpses of the geraniums in her garden, in long sips of chai tea and each savored bite of Trader Joe’s Cocoa Meringue cookies.
And, of course, when she’s craving familiarity, she calls the Chinese spot in the strip mall near her home and orders takeout orange chicken.