latimes--2020-04-17--Residents of Mexicali's Chinatown face prejudice, blow to culture with coronavirus

For Mexico ’ s biggest Chinatown , the ribbon cutting for a new cultural hub felt like the start of a long-hoped-for renaissance .
There were lion and dragon dancers .
Student musicians played tanggu , a traditional Chinese drum , beneath a string of red lanterns .
New murals depicting local heroes who helped establish the community were unveiled .
And there was a booth where people could learn how to write their names in Chinese characters .
Cultural events were planned out for the next three months .
That was in February .
The novel coronavirus was already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had not yet become a crisis in Mexico or the United States .
How quickly things changed in the place known in this sprawling border city as La Chinesca .
About 75 % of Chinese restaurants in Mexicali ’ s Chinatown have temporarily suspended their services with few offering limited take-out .
The Chinese Assn .
of Mexicali , which offers Mandarin language classes and helps newly arrived Chinese migrants settle in the city , shut its doors last month .
“ Every event has been canceled until this situation passes , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Assn .
of Chinese Descendants in Mexicali who is third-generation Chinese Mexican .
“ It ’ s been lonely in the Chinesca .
Only some businesses are open , but those are very few.
” In Mexicali , a city of some 690,000 people bordering the much smaller California town of Calexico , there were ` 216 confirmed and 122 suspected cases as of Thursday afternoon .
By then , the number of deaths had grown to 22 .
Mexico has seen a growing number of infections and deaths .
In La @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contend not just with fear of contracting the new coronavirus — which was first detected in Wuhan , China , in December — but also with a hyper-awareness of their Asian roots as reports of the pandemic have fueled anti-Chinese sentiment and racist attacks around the globe .
Walking down the street in Mexicali , some Mexicans are quick to pull their eyes to the side with their fingers and dance , mimicking a Chinese person walking on the same street , some residents say .
In grocery stores , Chinese people are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were shut down , Mexican students stopped socializing with Chinese students on campus , especially if they sneezed or coughed .
Emmanuel Sámano , a 38-year-old martial arts and lion-and-dragon dance instructor for the Chinese Assn .
of Mexicali , said he and his students who are of Chinese descent have felt maligned .
“ When we arrived at an event to show our lion and dragon dances , as soon as they saw our dragons , we ’ d get comments like , ‘ Oh , they ’ re bringing the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he tried to change the topic to avoid conflict .
“ It ’ s sad .
...
It could be a way to cope with the stress and fear COVID-19 provokes , ” he said .
“ But from our end , we ’ re focusing on continuing our work in showing that the Chinese culture is just another part of the world where you can find a lot of beautiful things.
” Despite this , many Chinese Mexicans say they have largely avoided the kind of scapegoating and personal attacks that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , including the U.S .
Most Mexicans acknowledge the important role the Chinese community has played in shaping Mexicali .
For years , La Chinesca has struggled to keep its identity alive and vibrant , making the blow caused by the coronavirus feel especially painful .
Chinese people still live in Mexicali but no longer live inside the businesses they owned or worked at in the downtown area .
According to the association , there ’ s an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Chinese residents , including mestizos and descendants , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ census count .
Young people of Chinese descent are mainly Mexican-born , unlike their parents who were born and raised in Canton .
“ Our roots have slowly been lost because there was a point in history where in one way or another we experienced certain discrimination and families preferred speaking Spanish over Chinese and no longer taught their kids , ” said Yee , of the Assn .
of Chinese Descendants in Mexicali .
Mexicali ’ s Chinese roots go back to the late 19th century .
That ’ s when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mexicali home after they helped create railroads in the U.S. in the late 1800s .
These immigrants joined other Chinese laborers who helped develop the Mexicali Valley under the Colorado River Land Co. , whose top leaders included Los Angeles Times Publisher Harrison Gray Otis and his son-in-law Harry Chandler .
Laborers created La Chinesca , an ethnic hub within a two-block perimeter of the city , where they found success with shoe stores , laundries , restaurants and cafes .
That helped set the building blocks for the Chinese Assn .
of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1919 .
About 60 years ago , it opened a school on its second floor to educate students of Chinese descent about their language and culture .
By late February , as the worldwide pandemic grew , the school , which could be packed with about 200 students on a typical weekend , quickly started seeing a drop-off in attendance until only several dozen pupils remained .
In March , the school closed like others across Mexico .
Esteban León , the association ’ s academic director and third-generation Chinese Mexican , tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept tabs on families who had traveled abroad to China .
He kept a thermometer on hand in case students started showing symptoms .
It did little to allay their fears .
Students who attended Mandarin classes had felt the pandemic provided an opportunity to show support for their parents ’ motherland .
A pinboard located on the first floor in the association ’ s hallway displayed the names of parents and the amount of money they donated to help purchase masks to send to Wuhan , China , the epicenter of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit the U.S. hard , and eventually Mexico .
Cristina Chen , 42 , the association ’ s director of teachers , said her 12-year-old son Erick attended the Mandarin classes .
“ I have friends in Tijuana whose kids don ’ t speak Mandarin , ” Chen said .
“ They can ’ t read Chinese characters because they don ’ t have a school where they can learn.
” For the last seven years , Alexia Ma dedicated her weekends to perfecting her Mandarin .
The 13-year-old sat attentively through classes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made her stop going because they were afraid she ’ d get infected with COVID-19 .
Eventually , the family ’ s flights to visit family in China were canceled by China Southern Airlines .
The dual doses of bad news hit the teenager hard .
She was born in this sprawling Mexican border city but had longed to revisit the homeland of her mother and father in Guangdong , a coastal province in southern China .
“ I was born here and I like Mexico but I ’ m just so proud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I cried a lot .
...
I hadn ’ t seen [ my family ] in a long time , and it had been even longer since my mom had seen her mom .
”

For Mexico’s biggest Chinatown, the ribbon cutting for a new cultural hub felt like the start of a long-hoped-for renaissance.
There were lion and dragon dancers. Student musicians played tanggu, a traditional Chinese drum, beneath a string of red lanterns. New murals depicting local heroes who helped establish the community were unveiled. And there was a booth where people could learn how to write their names in Chinese characters. Cultural events were planned out for the next three months.
That was in February. The novel coronavirus was already taking its deadly toll in China but had not yet become a crisis in Mexico or the United States.
How quickly things changed in the place known in this sprawling border city as La Chinesca.
Advertisement
Students wait for their parents to pick them up after class at the Chinese Assn. on March 8 in Mexicali, Mexico. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
About 75% of Chinese restaurants in Mexicali’s Chinatown have temporarily suspended their services with few offering limited take-out. The Chinese Assn. of Mexicali, which offers Mandarin language classes and helps newly arrived Chinese migrants settle in the city, shut its doors last month.
“Every event has been canceled until this situation passes,” said Ramón Yee, a representative of the Assn. of Chinese Descendants in Mexicali who is third-generation Chinese Mexican. “It’s been lonely in the Chinesca. Only some businesses are open, but those are very few.”
In Mexicali, a city of some 690,000 people bordering the much smaller California town of Calexico, there were `216 confirmed and 122 suspected cases as of Thursday afternoon. By then, the number of deaths had grown to 22. Mexico has seen a growing number of infections and deaths.
People pass murals painted on La Chinesca alley in Mexicali. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
In La Chinesca, Chinese Mexicans have had to contend not just with fear of contracting the new coronavirus — which was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December — but also with a hyper-awareness of their Asian roots as reports of the pandemic have fueled anti-Chinese sentiment and racist attacks around the globe.
Advertisement
Walking down the street in Mexicali, some Mexicans are quick to pull their eyes to the side with their fingers and dance, mimicking a Chinese person walking on the same street, some residents say. In grocery stores, Chinese people are accused of eating dogs. Before schools were shut down, Mexican students stopped socializing with Chinese students on campus, especially if they sneezed or coughed.
Emmanuel Sámano, a 38-year-old martial arts and lion-and-dragon dance instructor for the Chinese Assn. of Mexicali, said he and his students who are of Chinese descent have felt maligned.
“When we arrived at an event to show our lion and dragon dances, as soon as they saw our dragons, we’d get comments like, ‘Oh, they’re bringing the coronavirus,’” Sámano said, adding that he tried to change the topic to avoid conflict.
A Mexicali street sign has both Spanish and Chinese characters. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s sad. ... It could be a way to cope with the stress and fear COVID-19 provokes,” he said. “But from our end, we’re focusing on continuing our work in showing that the Chinese culture is just another part of the world where you can find a lot of beautiful things.”
Despite this, many Chinese Mexicans say they have largely avoided the kind of scapegoating and personal attacks that have been recorded in other parts of the world, including the U.S. Most Mexicans acknowledge the important role the Chinese community has played in shaping Mexicali.
For years, La Chinesca has struggled to keep its identity alive and vibrant, making the blow caused by the coronavirus feel especially painful.
Chinese people still live in Mexicali but no longer live inside the businesses they owned or worked at in the downtown area. According to the association, there’s an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Chinese residents, including mestizos and descendants, though there hasn’t been an official census count. Young people of Chinese descent are mainly Mexican-born, unlike their parents who were born and raised in Canton.
“Our roots have slowly been lost because there was a point in history where in one way or another we experienced certain discrimination and families preferred speaking Spanish over Chinese and no longer taught their kids,” said Yee, of the Assn. of Chinese Descendants in Mexicali.
Mexicali’s Chinese roots go back to the late 19th century. That’s when a wave of Chinese immigrants began to call Mexicali home after they helped create railroads in the U.S. in the late 1800s. These immigrants joined other Chinese laborers who helped develop the Mexicali Valley under the Colorado River Land Co., whose top leaders included Los Angeles Times Publisher Harrison Gray Otis and his son-in-law Harry Chandler.
Laborers created La Chinesca, an ethnic hub within a two-block perimeter of the city, where they found success with shoe stores, laundries, restaurants and cafes. That helped set the building blocks for the Chinese Assn. of Mexicali, which began its mission in 1919. About 60 years ago, it opened a school on its second floor to educate students of Chinese descent about their language and culture.
Huilin Li, center, reviews students’ work at the end of a general Chinese class at the Chinese Assn. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
By late February, as the worldwide pandemic grew, the school, which could be packed with about 200 students on a typical weekend, quickly started seeing a drop-off in attendance until only several dozen pupils remained. In March, the school closed like others across Mexico.
Esteban León, the association’s academic director and third-generation Chinese Mexican, tried to reassure parents. He said teachers kept tabs on families who had traveled abroad to China. He kept a thermometer on hand in case students started showing symptoms. It did little to allay their fears.
Students who attended Mandarin classes had felt the pandemic provided an opportunity to show support for their parents’ motherland.
A pinboard located on the first floor in the association’s hallway displayed the names of parents and the amount of money they donated to help purchase masks to send to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus. This was before the outbreak hit the U.S. hard, and eventually Mexico.
Cristina Chen, 42, the association’s director of teachers, said her 12-year-old son Erick attended the Mandarin classes. “I have friends in Tijuana whose kids don’t speak Mandarin,” Chen said. “They can’t read Chinese characters because they don’t have a school where they can learn.”
Alexia Ma, 13, after class at the Chinese Assn. Ma is of Chinese heritage but was born in Mexicali and has lived there her whole life. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
For the last seven years, Alexia Ma dedicated her weekends to perfecting her Mandarin. The 13-year-old sat attentively through classes every Saturday and Sunday until her parents made her stop going because they were afraid she’d get infected with COVID-19.
Eventually, the family’s flights to visit family in China were canceled by China Southern Airlines.
The dual doses of bad news hit the teenager hard. She was born in this sprawling Mexican border city but had longed to revisit the homeland of her mother and father in Guangdong, a coastal province in southern China.
“I was born here and I like Mexico but I’m just so proud to be Chinese,” she said. “I cried a lot. ... I hadn’t seen [my family] in a long time, and it had been even longer since my mom had seen her mom.”


latimes--2020-04-17--Coronavirus forces deep cuts to L.A. Metro bus and rail service

Facing precipitous drops in tax revenue and transit ridership , Los Angeles County ’ s busiest transit agency will make major cuts to bus and rail service starting Sunday .
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority ’ s scaled-back service plan will resemble the agency ’ s usual Sunday schedule , meaning passengers may face longer waits between buses and trains than they usually would on weekdays .
The cuts are the equivalent of a 29 % annual reduction in bus service and a 14 % reduction in rail service , officials said .
Most rail lines will run every 12 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every 20 minutes at other times .
The last train of the night will start its run around midnight , officials said .
Most bus lines will operate on a Sunday schedule during the week .
Metro will also operate 15 Metro Rapid lines and 22 local lines during the week .
Both weekend days will operate on a normal Sunday schedule , officials said .
Full details are available on Metro ’ s website .
Metro ’ s ridership has plummeted since the start of the pandemic , with bus ridership falling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % , officials said .
Officials said they may also close some entrances to seven subway stations where riders can enter from multiple locations , including Union Station , 7th Street/Metro Center and Universal City .
That will reduce the number of surfaces that people touch , which will reduce the need for janitors and cleaning supplies , Metro said .
Metro may lose $ 700 million in local and state sales tax revenue and at least $ 11 million a month in lost fare revenue , and the cost for labor and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thoroughly could be at least $ 35 million , Chief Executive Phil Washington told members of the county ’ s congressional delegation in a letter .
Transit advocates voiced concern Thursday that the cuts could leave Metro ’ s remaining buses too crowded , violating the guidance from public health officials that people practice physical distancing and stay six feet away from one another in public .
In an email sent to Metro directors , the Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles asked Metro ’ s operations staff to closely monitor the system to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not possible due to level of use , ” adding , “ Social distancing is not a privilege that all L.A. residents have.
” During a public meeting held by phone Thursday , Metro Deputy Executive Officer Conan Cheung said the agency had analyzed “ every trip , every stop , of every line ” during March to ensure that the new service plan would address demand where it still exists .
Under the new plan , most 40-foot buses — which can seat 36 to 40 people — will have 15 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ If there are routes which start to pick up more people , and we want to put a little more service out , we ’ ll be able to do that on a day-to-day basis , ” said Chief Operating Officer Jim Gallagher .
Metro has asked passengers to wear homemade masks or face coverings .
Riders have also been asked to board through the rear doors rather than the front door , where the fare box is located .
During the phone meeting , Washington said Metro is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ describing the system as free .
Even if riders are not going to the fare box when they board the bus , they should still carry the proper fare , he said .
Declaring the Metro system free could have “ unintended consequences with regards to big crowds on our buses , and people just riding around for free , ” he said .
“ It flies in the face of social distancing.
” The cuts mirror decisions by transit agencies in other major cities , where stay-at-home orders have decimated ridership .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has closed 19 stations indefinitely .
San Francisco slashed its city bus lines from 68 to 17 .
The $ 2-trillion stimulus bill that Congress approved last month includes $ 25 billion in emergency grants for public transit agencies , of which the Greater Los Angeles region will receive almost $ 1.22 billion .
As of Thursday at noon , Metro had reported 29 cases of COVID-19 among employees , contractors and vendors .

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will cut bus service by 29% and rail service by 14% starting Sunday.
Facing precipitous drops in tax revenue and transit ridership, Los Angeles County’s busiest transit agency will make major cuts to bus and rail service starting Sunday.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s scaled-back service plan will resemble the agency’s usual Sunday schedule, meaning passengers may face longer waits between buses and trains than they usually would on weekdays.
The cuts are the equivalent of a 29% annual reduction in bus service and a 14% reduction in rail service, officials said.
Most rail lines will run every 12 minutes between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and every 20 minutes at other times. The last train of the night will start its run around midnight, officials said.
Most bus lines will operate on a Sunday schedule during the week. Metro will also operate 15 Metro Rapid lines and 22 local lines during the week. Both weekend days will operate on a normal Sunday schedule, officials said. Full details are available on Metro’s website.
Advertisement
Metro’s ridership has plummeted since the start of the pandemic, with bus ridership falling 65% and rail ridership down 75%, officials said.
Officials said they may also close some entrances to seven subway stations where riders can enter from multiple locations, including Union Station, 7th Street/Metro Center and Universal City. That will reduce the number of surfaces that people touch, which will reduce the need for janitors and cleaning supplies, Metro said.
California Construction problems delay Metro’s $2-billion Crenshaw Line opening until 2021 The 8.5-mile line through Inglewood, Leimert Park, Hyde Park and other areas is about 95% complete. But construction won’t finish until the end of 2020 or early 2021 because crews are fixing problems and redoing work, Metro said.
Metro may lose $700 million in local and state sales tax revenue and at least $11 million a month in lost fare revenue, and the cost for labor and materials needed to clean the system more thoroughly could be at least $35 million, Chief Executive Phil Washington told members of the county’s congressional delegation in a letter.
Transit advocates voiced concern Thursday that the cuts could leave Metro’s remaining buses too crowded, violating the guidance from public health officials that people practice physical distancing and stay six feet away from one another in public.
In an email sent to Metro directors, the Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles asked Metro’s operations staff to closely monitor the system to identify “any lines where social distancing is not possible due to level of use,” adding,
“Social distancing is not a privilege that all L.A. residents have.”
During a public meeting held by phone Thursday, Metro Deputy Executive Officer Conan Cheung said the agency had analyzed “every trip, every stop, of every line” during March to ensure that the new service plan would address demand where it still exists.
Under the new plan, most 40-foot buses — which can seat 36 to 40 people — will have 15 or fewer riders on board, he said.
“If there are routes which start to pick up more people, and we want to put a little more service out, we’ll be able to do that on a day-to-day basis,” said Chief Operating Officer Jim Gallagher.
Metro has asked passengers to wear homemade masks or face coverings. Riders have also been asked to board through the rear doors rather than the front door, where the fare box is located.
During the phone meeting, Washington said Metro is not checking fares, but he balked at describing the system as free. Even if riders are not going to the fare box when they board the bus, they should still carry the proper fare, he said.
Advertisement
Declaring the Metro system free could have “unintended consequences with regards to big crowds on our buses, and people just riding around for free,” he said. “It flies in the face of social distancing.”
The cuts mirror decisions by transit agencies in other major cities, where stay-at-home orders have decimated ridership. The Washington, D.C., Metro system has closed 19 stations indefinitely. San Francisco slashed its city bus lines from 68 to 17.
The $2-trillion stimulus bill that Congress approved last month includes $25 billion in emergency grants for public transit agencies, of which the Greater Los Angeles region will receive almost $1.22 billion.
As of Thursday at noon, Metro had reported 29 cases of COVID-19 among employees, contractors and vendors.


latimes--2020-04-17--Coronavirus strikes California hospital workers hard, including 175 cases at UCLA

The coronavirus has infected California medical workers with much greater intensity than has been publicly revealed , including more than 175 cases at UCLA , according to records reviewed by The Times and a source with knowledge of the situation .
The virus has spread in UCLA ’ s outpatient clinics , geriatric and labor and delivery units , and in the pediatric intensive care unit , the source said .
The infections at healthcare facilities include at least eight cases involving medical workers at Providence St. John ’ s Health Center in Santa Monica ; 30 at Providence Little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pedro who are positive or awaiting results ; six at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in Silicon Valley , including one death ; 10 at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento ; five at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ; and hundreds scattered among numerous elder care and assisted living sites throughout the state .
“ Because hospitals are not being forthcoming with the information on their employees , I am sure there are clusters that nobody even knows about , ” said Steve Trossman , public affairs director of Service Employees International Union-United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which represents nearly 100,000 healthcare workers .
“ That is just wrong for people not to know that their local hospital has an outbreak.
” In multiple instances , the cluster of cases could not be confirmed beyond interviews with administrators , staff and those infected .
Hospitals and other medical facilities are not required to disclose known clusters ; no law mandates it , and state and county authorities have largely left it to facilities to self-report .
Medical professionals interviewed by The Times suspect staff members may be passing the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they said , shortages of personal protective equipment may be an apparent cause .
All of the hospitals with outbreaks said their staff has access to appropriate protective gear .
Dr. Mark Ghaly , Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s top public health advisor , said Thursday that the well-being of medical workers was “ of the highest concern.
” But he acknowledged that California does not comprehensively track possible outbreaks at hospitals and other medical facilities and that the state needs to do so .
Ghaly , head of the California Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state is in direct communication with only some hospitals when it comes to clusters of cases and doesn ’ t get reports from every one .
When presented with The Times ’ general findings , he said the state “ absolutely ” should receive reports about outbreaks from all facilities .
In the absence of state or local oversight , many facilities — including publicly owned ones such as UCLA — have chosen to remain silent until the toll becomes so great that information can ’ t be withheld , or whistleblowers come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about sick staff , they often offer a caveat : There is no way to prove the employee testing positive contracted the illness at work .
Asked how many employees have tested positive for the virus , a spokesman for UCLA Health replied in an email , “ I don ’ t have information for you about specific groups of COVID-positive cases.
” The spokesman noted that UCLA reports data to the county Department of Public Health .
Providence Southern California , which owns St. John ’ s and Little Company of Mary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work-related COVID-19 exposures across its 35,000 employees in 11 hospitals , but it declined to name specific facilities .
Cedars-Sinai spokesman Duke Helfand disputed that the hospital had a cluster of cases but acknowledged that some staff may be affected .
He added that all staff were being screened before their shifts .
UC Davis declined to say how many workers were infected , citing privacy reasons .
One blind spot involving the health of medical professionals is the death toll .
Though state officials said that , as of April 8 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of causes related to COVID-19 , they were unable to say exactly where those deaths occurred .
One of the dead is Valeria Viveros , a 20-year-old medical assistant who worked in a Riverside County nursing home with an outbreak and died last week after contracting COVID-19 , according to her uncle , Gustavo Urrea .
Urrea believes that healthcare workers should have better access to testing , training and information .
When Viveros became ill , her employer sent her home for two weeks but did not offer further help , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these kind of people who are risking their lives , and they are not , they are not doing it , ” said Urrea , who described his niece as compassionate and driven to become a nurse .
“ She was young and didn ’ t deserve this , ” he said .
A Los Angeles Times data analysis found wide variation in rates of healthcare worker infections across the state , suggesting some regions are having a more difficult time keeping medical staff safe than others .
Officials from California Health and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections among healthcare workers April 10 at the request of The Times .
At that time , the workers accounted for at least 7.8 % of the confirmed cases across the state , though that figure could be misleading because some may have easier access to testing than other residents .
As of Wednesday , 2,974 healthcare workers in California were positive for COVID-19 , out of more than 26,000 confirmed cases — about 11 % of all cases in the state .
The rates of COVID-19 cases involving medical staff examined by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with healthcare workers accounting for about 20 % of all cases in Placer and Humboldt counties , for example , but only a fraction of those in Kern and Riverside counties .
Los Angeles County , at 6.4 % , had among the lowest rates in the state .
County-by-county statistics on the numbers of healthcare workers aren ’ t readily available , making it hard to understand what the numbers mean to the overall population of healthcare workers in each area .
Among the more than 700 healthcare workers infected in Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a hospital , according to county health director Barbara Ferrer .
About 19 % worked in a skilled nursing facility .
An additional 11 % worked in primary care offices , and about 5 % were first responders .
Positive COVID-19 diagnoses are almost evenly split among patients and staff in institutional settings , such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities , according to L.A. County data .
Ferrer said Thursday that 1,050 patients in institutional settings have tested positive , as well as 913 staff members .
She was unable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers were employed .
“ I don ’ t have that information , ” she said .
“ At this point in time , we ’ re capturing the information more by the type of job that the healthcare worker is doing and their exposures than we have been capturing it by facility.
” Dr. Christina Ghaly , the head of L.A. County ’ s Department of Health Services , said people should not worry that a visit to a hospital will result in them being infected with COVID-19 .
“ Hospitals have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ghaly said in a news conference Wednesday .
“ I think people should have a high degree of confidence in the ability of healthcare and hospital settings to maintain those infection prevention and control guidelines and keep people safe.
” But those working inside the facilities aren ’ t as sanguine , and they are increasingly losing trust in the public health officials and administrators charged with protecting their safety and that of patients , especially in light of the shortage of protective gear that many have been forced to work under .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a large public hospital in Silicon Valley , administrators stayed silent as an outbreak of the virus ripped through nursing staff on a second-floor medical unit .
An anonymous whistleblower complained to county officials last week .
By then , six women had become sick ; four of them had tested positive and one was dead .
Since then , employees have learned from one another of an outbreak among workers in the boiler room .
“ Management has been very hush-hush about it , ” said one employee who recently talked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive .
“ I understand them not wanting to cause hysteria in the hospital .
I get that .
But I think people who have been exposed have the right to be notified and quarantined.
” The rumor mill about who on the staff is sick runs all day and night , the employee said .
“ It ’ s something we are all talking about , and the frustration is that management isn ’ t putting anything out to keep us informed , so we have to figure it out , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman for the Santa Clara County public health system , said that boiler room employees had been offered testing and that officials were considering changes in how administrators communicate with staff .
“ We are currently reviewing our policies and practices in light of the concerns that have been raised , ” he said .
Angela Gatdula , a registered nurse at Providence St. John ’ s Health Center in Santa Monica , tested positive for COVID-19 last week .
As the outbreak has grown in Los Angeles County , her ward has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients , excluding those that need to be in the ICU , she said , but nurses have not had access to N95 masks .
Gatdula believes she fell ill while treating COVID-19 patients and wearing a surgical mask .
Earlier in the outbreak , the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been recommending that all healthcare providers wear N95 masks , but it loosened the guidelines recently , in part to stretch limited supplies nationally .
Gatdula said there has been no transparency from the hospital around staff members falling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nurse on her unit who is also sick , but that nurse informed Gatdula herself — the hospital did not share that information .
“ There is a lack of transparency in terms of who are the caregivers who are sick , ” she said .
“ No one knows what ’ s true , what ’ s fact .
”

Anita Chabria, Harriet Ryan, Soumya Karlamangla, Matt Stiles

The coronavirus has infected California medical workers with much greater intensity than has been publicly revealed, including more than 175 cases at UCLA, according to records reviewed by The Times and a source with knowledge of the situation.
The virus has spread in UCLA’s outpatient clinics, geriatric and labor and delivery units, and in the pediatric intensive care unit, the source said.
The infections at healthcare facilities include at least eight cases involving medical workers at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica; 30 at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in San Pedro who are positive or awaiting results; six at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in Silicon Valley, including one death; 10 at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento; five at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and hundreds scattered among numerous elder care and assisted living sites throughout the state.
Advertisement
California 20 heartwarming photos show gratitude for healthcare workers Firefighters and law enforcement officers from L.A. to Laguna Beach express their gratitude to healthcare workers for their efforts in fighting COVID-19.
“Because hospitals are not being forthcoming with the information on their employees, I am sure there are clusters that nobody even knows about,” said Steve Trossman, public affairs director of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which represents nearly 100,000 healthcare workers. “That is just wrong for people not to know that their local hospital has an outbreak.”
In multiple instances, the cluster of cases could not be confirmed beyond interviews with administrators, staff and those infected. Hospitals and other medical facilities are not required to disclose known clusters; no law mandates it, and state and county authorities have largely left it to facilities to self-report.
Medical professionals interviewed by The Times suspect staff members may be passing the virus among themselves. In some cases, they said, shortages of personal protective equipment may be an apparent cause. All of the hospitals with outbreaks said their staff has access to appropriate protective gear.
Heidi Choi a UCLA Human Biology & Society undergraduate, along with nurses and supporters gather to protest the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the UCLA Ronald Regan Medical Center. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Dr. Mark Ghaly, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top public health advisor, said Thursday that the well-being of medical workers was “of the highest concern.” But he acknowledged that California does not comprehensively track possible outbreaks at hospitals and other medical facilities and that the state needs to do so.
Ghaly, head of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the state is in direct communication with only some hospitals when it comes to clusters of cases and doesn’t get reports from every one. When presented with The Times’ general findings, he said the state “absolutely” should receive reports about outbreaks from all facilities.
Advertisement
In the absence of state or local oversight, many facilities — including publicly owned ones such as UCLA — have chosen to remain silent until the toll becomes so great that information can’t be withheld, or whistleblowers come forward.
When healthcare employers provide information about sick staff, they often offer a caveat: There is no way to prove the employee testing positive contracted the illness at work.
Asked how many employees have tested positive for the virus, a spokesman for UCLA Health replied in an email, “I don’t have information for you about specific groups of COVID-positive cases.”
The spokesman noted that UCLA reports data to the county Department of Public Health.
Providence Southern California, which owns St. John’s and Little Company of Mary, said Thursday that it had 49 work-related COVID-19 exposures across its 35,000 employees in 11 hospitals, but it declined to name specific facilities.
Cedars-Sinai spokesman Duke Helfand disputed that the hospital had a cluster of cases but acknowledged that some staff may be affected. He added that all staff were being screened before their shifts. UC Davis declined to say how many workers were infected, citing privacy reasons.
California So much is unknown about the pandemic because the government keeps a lid on it California and its local governments are selective about what information they provide about the coronavirus crisis. What does the public have a right to know, and why is some information being held back?
One blind spot involving the health of medical professionals is the death toll. Though state officials said that, as of April 8, 10 healthcare workers in California had died of causes related to COVID-19, they were unable to say exactly where those deaths occurred.
One of the dead is Valeria Viveros, a 20-year-old medical assistant who worked in a Riverside County nursing home with an outbreak and died last week after contracting COVID-19, according to her uncle, Gustavo Urrea. Urrea believes that healthcare workers should have better access to testing, training and information. When Viveros became ill, her employer sent her home for two weeks but did not offer further help, he said.
“You have to protect these kind of people who are risking their lives, and they are not, they are not doing it,” said Urrea, who described his niece as compassionate and driven to become a nurse.
“She was young and didn’t deserve this,” he said.
A Los Angeles Times data analysis found wide variation in rates of healthcare worker infections across the state, suggesting some regions are having a more difficult time keeping medical staff safe than others.
Officials from California Health and Human Services released the county-by-county data on infections among healthcare workers April 10 at the request of The Times. At that time, the workers accounted for at least 7.8% of the confirmed cases across the state, though that figure could be misleading because some may have easier access to testing than other residents.
As of Wednesday, 2,974 healthcare workers in California were positive for COVID-19, out of more than 26,000 confirmed cases — about 11% of all cases in the state.
The rates of COVID-19 cases involving medical staff examined by The Times varied widely by county, with healthcare workers accounting for about 20% of all cases in Placer and Humboldt counties, for example, but only a fraction of those in Kern and Riverside counties. Los Angeles County, at 6.4%, had among the lowest rates in the state.
County-by-county statistics on the numbers of healthcare workers aren’t readily available, making it hard to understand what the numbers mean to the overall population of healthcare workers in each area.
Among the more than 700 healthcare workers infected in Los Angeles County, about 42% worked in a hospital, according to county health director Barbara Ferrer. About 19% worked in a skilled nursing facility. An additional 11% worked in primary care offices, and about 5% were first responders.
Positive COVID-19 diagnoses are almost evenly split among patients and staff in institutional settings, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities, according to L.A. County data. Ferrer said Thursday that 1,050 patients in institutional settings have tested positive, as well as 913 staff members.
She was unable to give more detail on where those workers were employed.
“I don’t have that information,” she said. “At this point in time, we’re capturing the information more by the type of job that the healthcare worker is doing and their exposures than we have been capturing it by facility.”
Dr. Christina Ghaly, the head of L.A. County’s Department of Health Services, said people should not worry that a visit to a hospital will result in them being infected with COVID-19.
“Hospitals have very strict infection control guidelines,” Ghaly said in a news conference Wednesday. “I think people should have a high degree of confidence in the ability of healthcare and hospital settings to maintain those infection prevention and control guidelines and keep people safe.”
But those working inside the facilities aren’t as sanguine, and they are increasingly losing trust in the public health officials and administrators charged with protecting their safety and that of patients, especially in light of the shortage of protective gear that many have been forced to work under.
At Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a large public hospital in Silicon Valley, administrators stayed silent as an outbreak of the virus ripped through nursing staff on a second-floor medical unit. An anonymous whistleblower complained to county officials last week.
By then, six women had become sick; four of them had tested positive and one was dead.
Since then, employees have learned from one another of an outbreak among workers in the boiler room.
“Management has been very hush-hush about it,” said one employee who recently talked to a boiler room operator who had tested positive. “I understand them not wanting to cause hysteria in the hospital. I get that. But I think people who have been exposed have the right to be notified and quarantined.”
The rumor mill about who on the staff is sick runs all day and night, the employee said.
“It’s something we are all talking about, and the frustration is that management isn’t putting anything out to keep us informed, so we have to figure it out,” the employee said.
Maury Kendall, spokesman for the Santa Clara County public health system, said that boiler room employees had been offered testing and that officials were considering changes in how administrators communicate with staff.
“We are currently reviewing our policies and practices in light of the concerns that have been raised,” he said.
Angela Gatdula, a registered nurse at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, tested positive for COVID-19 last week. As the outbreak has grown in Los Angeles County, her ward has become filled with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, excluding those that need to be in the ICU, she said, but nurses have not had access to N95 masks.
Gatdula believes she fell ill while treating COVID-19 patients and wearing a surgical mask. Earlier in the outbreak, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been recommending that all healthcare providers wear N95 masks, but it loosened the guidelines recently, in part to stretch limited supplies nationally.
Gatdula said there has been no transparency from the hospital around staff members falling sick. She said there is another nurse on her unit who is also sick, but that nurse informed Gatdula herself — the hospital did not share that information.
“There is a lack of transparency in terms of who are the caregivers who are sick,” she said. “No one knows what’s true, what’s fact.”


latimes--2020-04-17--L.A. County suffers a disproportionate share of coronavirus deaths amid a grim week

Even as the growth of coronavirus cases appears to be slowing in California , the numbers of dead reached new highs this week with the toll being particularly grim in Los Angeles County .
Coronavirus-linked fatalities hit another one-day high in Los Angeles County on Thursday as health officials confirmed 52 additional deaths for a total of 457 .
It marked the the county has seen a record number of deaths , according to the county ’ s tally .
While the coronavirus crisis began in the Bay Area , Los Angeles County now accounts for an outsized number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county represents a quarter of California ’ s population but has been the site of almost half of the deaths due to COVID-19 , a Times data analysis found .
The five-county Southern California region accounts for roughly 60 % of the deaths in California due to the coronavirus , even though it makes up just 48 % of California ’ s population .
Those numbers led to California recording its worst one-day death total on Wednesday , at 101 reported fatalities .
“ The increase this week on the number of deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stark reminder of the devastation caused by COVID-19 , ” said Barbara Ferrer , Los Angeles County ’ s public health director .
In Los Angeles County , 88 % of those who have died as a result of COVID-19 had other health problems .
That underscores “ the need for all of us to work together to make it possible for those who have underlying health issues to remain in their homes , ” she said .
County officials have said that while strict stay-at-home orders have slowed the spread of coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of more outbreaks .
They forecast last week that up to 30 % of the county ’ s 10 million residents could be infected by midsummer without more behavioral changes , such as reducing shopping trips .
Institutional settings such as nursing homes have been major hot spots for the virus in Los Angeles County .
Roughly 30 % of the deaths in L.A. County have occurred in nursing homes .
In Long Beach , that number is more than 70 % .
All of Pasadena ’ s 16 fatalities have been associated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been a crisis point elsewhere .
Bay Area prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hayward , where 13 people have died .
Forty-one residents and 26 staff members there have tested positive .
State and local officials have said that California ’ s coronavirus outbreak should be peaking over the next few weeks and are already beginning to talk about the conditions needed to lift some of the restrictions .
If those forecasts hold , the state would fare dramatically better than places such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
New York has seen more than 14,000 coronavirus deaths , compared to more than 970 in California .
Officials have attributed early adoption of stay-at-home rules for part of that difference .
Daily tallies of new cases in California suggest the spread of the virus is slowing .
So does the number of COVID-19 patients in , which has remained between 1,100 and 1,200 since April 7 .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom said Thursday that 1,191 Californians were in intensive care as of Wednesday — a 1.4 % day-to-day increase — but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ticked down by almost 1 % to 3,141 .
“ That ’ s good news but , again , I caution everybody : One day ’ s data does not make a trend , ” he said .
The increase in hospitalizations over the first 15 days of April appeared to be driven by the five counties in Southern California , where the number of those hospitalized doubled from 1,058 to 2,161 .
But the nine-county Bay Area has seen a flat number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 for those two weeks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first two weeks of April have been more stable than the rapid increases in new cases seen in March .
The Southern California region has added between 500 to 1,000 cases daily during the first two weeks of April , while the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has added between 100 to 300 cases daily .
San Diego County has added fewer than 150 cases daily , and the seven-county Sacramento area hasn ’ t added more than 100 cases since April 1 .
But as the death toll increases , there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims .
The California Department of Public Health released data this week showing that the coronavirus is in disproportionate numbers — a trend mirrored by Los Angeles County and other local cities .
In numbers released this week , black Californians accounted for 7 % of the state ’ s COVID-19 cases and 12 % of its coronavirus-related deaths .
Blacks make up 6 % of the state ’ s population .
State officials said a fuller picture of racial demographics are coming into perspective as more information is included in COVID-19 reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said data on race and ethnicity were complete for 65 % of cases and 87 % of deaths reported to the state .

Sean Greene, Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money, Priscella Vega

Even as the growth of coronavirus cases appears to be slowing in California, the numbers of dead reached new highs this week with the toll being particularly grim in Los Angeles County.
Coronavirus-linked fatalities hit another one-day high in Los Angeles County on Thursday as health officials confirmed 52 additional deaths for a total of 457. It marked the third straight day the county has seen a record number of deaths, according to the county’s tally.
While the coronavirus crisis began in the Bay Area, Los Angeles County now accounts for an outsized number of deaths despite its large size.
The county represents a quarter of California’s population but has been the site of almost half of the deaths due to COVID-19, a Times data analysis found. The five-county Southern California region accounts for roughly 60% of the deaths in California due to the coronavirus, even though it makes up just 48% of California’s population.
Advertisement
Those numbers led to California recording its worst one-day death total on Wednesday, at 101 reported fatalities.
“The increase this week on the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 is distressing and a stark reminder of the devastation caused by COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s public health director.
In Los Angeles County, 88% of those who have died as a result of COVID-19 had other health problems. That underscores “the need for all of us to work together to make it possible for those who have underlying health issues to remain in their homes,” she said.
County officials have said that while strict stay-at-home orders have slowed the spread of coronavirus, they remain worried about the possibility of more outbreaks. They forecast last week that up to 30% of the county’s 10 million residents could be infected by midsummer without more behavioral changes, such as reducing shopping trips.
Institutional settings such as nursing homes have been major hot spots for the virus in Los Angeles County. Roughly 30% of the deaths in L.A. County have occurred in nursing homes. In Long Beach, that number is more than 70%. All of Pasadena’s 16 fatalities have been associated with long-term care facilities.
Advertisement
Nursing homes have been a crisis point elsewhere. Bay Area prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hayward, where 13 people have died. Forty-one residents and 26 staff members there have tested positive.
State and local officials have said that California’s coronavirus outbreak should be peaking over the next few weeks and are already beginning to talk about the conditions needed to lift some of the restrictions.
If those forecasts hold, the state would fare dramatically better than places such as New York, New Jersey and Michigan. New York has seen more than 14,000 coronavirus deaths, compared to more than 970 in California. Officials have attributed early adoption of stay-at-home rules for part of that difference.
Daily tallies of new cases in California suggest the spread of the virus is slowing. So does the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units , which has remained between 1,100 and 1,200 since April 7.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that 1,191 Californians were in intensive care as of Wednesday — a 1.4% day-to-day increase — but that the overall number of patients hospitalized ticked down by almost 1% to 3,141.
“That’s good news but, again, I caution everybody: One day’s data does not make a trend,” he said.
The increase in hospitalizations over the first 15 days of April appeared to be driven by the five counties in Southern California, where the number of those hospitalized doubled from 1,058 to 2,161. But the nine-county Bay Area has seen a flat number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 for those two weeks, staying between 397 and 471.
The first two weeks of April have been more stable than the rapid increases in new cases seen in March. The Southern California region has added between 500 to 1,000 cases daily during the first two weeks of April, while the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has added between 100 to 300 cases daily. San Diego County has added fewer than 150 cases daily, and the seven-county Sacramento area hasn’t added more than 100 cases since April 1.
But as the death toll increases, there are growing concerns about racial disparities among coronavirus victims.
The California Department of Public Health released data this week showing that the coronavirus is killing black residents in disproportionate numbers — a trend mirrored by Los Angeles County and other local cities.
In numbers released this week, black Californians accounted for 7% of the state’s COVID-19 cases and 12% of its coronavirus-related deaths. Blacks make up 6% of the state’s population.
State officials said a fuller picture of racial demographics are coming into perspective as more information is included in COVID-19 reporting. As of this week, officials said data on race and ethnicity were complete for 65% of cases and 87% of deaths reported to the state.


latimes--2020-04-16--Southern California mountain lions get temporary endangered species status

The state Fish and Game Commission on Thursday set the stage for a fierce environmental battle by granting temporary endangered species status to the several hundred cougars still roaming Southern California and the Central Coast .
The protection came with the 5-member panel ’ s unanimous decision to consider a petition filed by environmentalists to list as threatened or endangered six , isolated clans of cougars hemmed in by sprawl and freeways .
The move is considered preliminary under terms of the state Endangered Species Act .
Next , the commission will hold public hearings .
A permanent decision could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the big cats are permanently listed , the law requires state wildlife managers to devise a recovery plan for them , raising the prospect of constraints on development and highway construction from Santa Cruz to the U.S.-Mexico border , according to the petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation .
Before the panel voted , California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton Bonham urged them to overlook objections from critics including the California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Cattlemen ’ s Assn .
and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Biological Diversity and the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation .
“ We can do this , ” Bonham said .
“ The department knows how to collaborate .
Ecological objectives and housing development are both doable objectives.
” “ This is an important step that commits the state to ensure that these magnificent animals can continue to exist at edges of our cities as well as deep in our wildlands , ” he said .
“ We know what the threats are and what to do to address them .
“ Critics unsuccessfully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hearing on the petition until the coronavirus lockdown was lifted , to ensure as much participation as possible , and to avoid a decision that might compound economic woes currently afflicting the state due to the pandemic .
Beyond that , critics feared that offering the estimated 500 mountain lions protection under the California Endangered Species Act would make it more difficult to obtain a depredation permit to remove a lion that threatened the safety of humans and livestock .
“ The big question raised by ranchers right now , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pacific Legal Foundation , a nonprofit established to protect individual rights and private property , “ is this : ` If mountain lions are listed , will they still have a right to remove a lion , if necessary ?
“ The chances of litigation will be substantially increased , ” he added , “ if the commission says the endangered species act supersedes existing law when it comes to depredation.
” Other opponents warned a listing could put a drag on the economy by limiting commercial and residential development in areas deemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition , the California Department of Transportation would not be able to build highways in core mountain lion habitat without implementing adequate measures to ensure linkages and safe passage under and over them .
Another concern is that protections offered mountain lions under the state endangered species act may supersede existing regulations governing the circumstances under which one or more big cats can be legally killed for threatening humans or livestock .
“ My chief concern with a candidate listing is how the commission would reconcile the protections afforded candidate species under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules already applicable to the mountain lion under Proposition 117 , ” said Schiff .
“ Under Prop 117 , a farmer or rancher whose livestock has been attacked by a mountain lion has the right to obtain from the Department of Fish and Wildlife a permit to ‘ take ’ the depredating mountain lion , ” he said .
“ In contrast , there is no parallel authorization under the state endangered species act to take depredating animals that have been designated as endangered species .
“ My own view is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added.
`` As codified , Prop 117 provides : ‘ Neither the commission nor the department shall adopt any regulation that conflicts with or supersedes a provision of this chapter . '
” Others , however , believe the government is acting too timidly in the face of a mountain lion crisis that virtually no one denies .
“ If mountain lions are listed , ” said Fred Hull , a staff attorney with the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation .
“ It won ’ t be harder to get a depredation permit to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ methods .
But it will be much more difficult to get a permit to kill a lion.
” Mountain lions are not listed as threatened statewide .
But the petition cites recent scientific studies showing that the lions roaming the Santa Ana , San Gabriel , Santa Monica , Santa Cruz and Tehachapi ranges make up a genetically distinct subspecies that is approaching what some experts call an “ extinction vortex.
” There ’ s an almost 1 in 4 chance , scientists say , that mountain lions could become extinct in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50 years .
That ’ s because they continue to be poisoned by rodenticides , hit by cars , legally shot with depredation permits and illegally slain by poachers as human and cougar lives become more entangled .
An even greater concern , scientists say , is loss of landscape connectivity between ranges and large blocks of open space on private land .
But the commission ’ s action comes amid a severe housing crunch that has caused rents to rise dramatically in cities such as Los Angeles and made the undeveloped foothills @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the fastest growing and affordable parts of Southern California .
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved a proposal to develop 1,330 acres along the 5 Freeway corridor near the community of Castaic .
That came over the objections of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy that it would degrade a wildlife linkage between Angeles National Forest and Los Padres National Forest .
Similarly , the board has approved the proposed 12,000-acre Centennial development on the unincorporated northern fringe of the county , despite concerns that it would sever a habitat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The massive Newhall Ranch project in Santa Clarita Valley is expected to accelerate commercial and residential growth in remnant mountain lion habitat even more .
There is no reliable estimate of the total number of mountain lions in California today .
But a rough estimate of between 1,500 and 5,000 big cats statewide are currently classified as a “ specially protected species ” by state wildlife officials .
An ongoing multi-agency survey led by state wildlife biologists is expected to provide better regional and statewide lion population estimates in 2022 .
Recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from nearly 1,000 pumas captured alive , found dead or legally killed by authorized agencies for livestock depredation or public safety identified nine distinct puma populations in California .
Lions in northern California and the western and eastern Sierra Nevada ranges , the study found , are among the healthiest in the state .
Some populations in Southern California , however , had levels of genetic diversity nearly as low as the federally endangered Florida panther .
But until their fate is known for certain , the petition is asking state wildlife authorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
California voters banned mountain lion hunting in 1990 .
But sport hunting of pumas is used as a management tool in several western states where the rationale is that it provides recreational opportunities and reduces the risk of attacks on humans and livestock .
The Washington state Fish and Wildlife Commission a week ago voted in favor of expanding cougar hunting season and the number that can be killed .
Now , researchers from Western Oregon University and California State University , Sacramento are reporting that their analysis of records from wildlife @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence that sport hunting of pumas has produced desired outcomes aside from providing a recreational opportunity .
The findings were formally presented in February in the online scientific journal PLOS ONE .
In California , listing cougars as threatened would likely constrain the issuance of depredation permits to kill mountain lions in protected populations , said J.P. Rose , an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity .
The ecological effects of such a designation could be far reaching .
The presence of mountain lions helps support the overall health of California ecosystems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an important food source for a host of wild animals including California condors , gray foxes , myriad species of insects and songbirds that eat them .

The state Fish and Game Commission on Thursday set the stage for a fierce environmental battle by granting temporary endangered species status to the several hundred cougars still roaming Southern California and the Central Coast.
The protection came with the 5-member panel’s unanimous decision to consider a petition filed by environmentalists to list as threatened or endangered six, isolated clans of cougars hemmed in by sprawl and freeways.
The move is considered preliminary under terms of the state Endangered Species Act. Next, the commission will hold public hearings. A permanent decision could go into force in 2022.
If the big cats are permanently listed, the law requires state wildlife managers to devise a recovery plan for them, raising the prospect of constraints on development and highway construction from Santa Cruz to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation.
Advertisement
Before the panel voted, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton Bonham urged them to overlook objections from critics including the California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Cattlemen’s Assn. and accept the petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation.
“We can do this,” Bonham said. “The department knows how to collaborate. Ecological objectives and housing development are both doable objectives.”
Brendan Cummings, the center’s conservation director, agrees.
“This is an important step that commits the state to ensure that these magnificent animals can continue to exist at edges of our cities as well as deep in our wildlands,” he said. “We know what the threats are and what to do to address them. “
Critics unsuccessfully lobbied to persuade the commission to postpone the hearing on the petition until the coronavirus lockdown was lifted, to ensure as much participation as possible, and to avoid a decision that might compound economic woes currently afflicting the state due to the pandemic.
Beyond that, critics feared that offering the estimated 500 mountain lions protection under the California Endangered Species Act would make it more difficult to obtain a depredation permit to remove a lion that threatened the safety of humans and livestock.
Advertisement
“The big question raised by ranchers right now,” said Damien Schiff, senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit established to protect individual rights and private property, “is this: `If mountain lions are listed, will they still have a right to remove a lion, if necessary?
“The chances of litigation will be substantially increased,” he added, “if the commission says the endangered species act supersedes existing law when it comes to depredation.”
Other opponents warned a listing could put a drag on the economy by limiting commercial and residential development in areas deemed critical to the lions’ survival. In addition, the California Department of Transportation would not be able to build highways in core mountain lion habitat without implementing adequate measures to ensure linkages and safe passage under and over them.
Another concern is that protections offered mountain lions under the state endangered species act may supersede existing regulations governing the circumstances under which one or more big cats can be legally killed for threatening humans or livestock.
“My chief concern with a candidate listing is how the commission would reconcile the protections afforded candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act with the rules already applicable to the mountain lion under Proposition 117,” said Schiff.
“Under Prop 117, a farmer or rancher whose livestock has been attacked by a mountain lion has the right to obtain from the Department of Fish and Wildlife a permit to ‘take’ the depredating mountain lion,” he said. “In contrast, there is no parallel authorization under the state endangered species act to take depredating animals that have been designated as endangered species.
“My own view is that Prop 117 should control,” he added. “ As codified, Prop 117 provides: ‘Neither the commission nor the department shall adopt any regulation that conflicts with or supersedes a provision of this chapter. ‘ ”
Others, however, believe the government is acting too timidly in the face of a mountain lion crisis that virtually no one denies.
“If mountain lions are listed,” said Fred Hull, a staff attorney with the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation. “It won’t be harder to get a depredation permit to deal with a troublesome lion with nonlethal methods. But it will be much more difficult to get a permit to kill a lion.”
Mountain lions are not listed as threatened statewide. But the petition cites recent scientific studies showing that the lions roaming the Santa Ana, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, Santa Cruz and Tehachapi ranges make up a genetically distinct subspecies that is approaching what some experts call an “extinction vortex.”
There’s an almost 1 in 4 chance, scientists say, that mountain lions could become extinct in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains within 50 years.
That’s because they continue to be poisoned by rodenticides, hit by cars, legally shot with depredation permits and illegally slain by poachers as human and cougar lives become more entangled. An even greater concern, scientists say, is loss of landscape connectivity between ranges and large blocks of open space on private land.
California As anti-fur sentiment grows, California’s oldest trappers are calling it quits After a lifetime spent trapping animals in California’s western Sierra Nevada, Tim Wion traveled to Oregon recently to make one big, final sale at the annual Klamath Falls fur auction.
But the commission’s action comes amid a severe housing crunch that has caused rents to rise dramatically in cities such as Los Angeles and made the undeveloped foothills and desert scrublands of Northern L.A. County among the fastest growing and affordable parts of Southern California.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved a proposal to develop 1,330 acres along the 5 Freeway corridor near the community of Castaic. That came over the objections of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy that it would degrade a wildlife linkage between Angeles National Forest and Los Padres National Forest.
Similarly, the board has approved the proposed 12,000-acre Centennial development on the unincorporated northern fringe of the county, despite concerns that it would sever a habitat linkage between Highway 14 and Interstate 5.
The massive Newhall Ranch project in Santa Clarita Valley is expected to accelerate commercial and residential growth in remnant mountain lion habitat even more.
There is no reliable estimate of the total number of mountain lions in California today. But a rough estimate of between 1,500 and 5,000 big cats statewide are currently classified as a “specially protected species” by state wildlife officials.
An ongoing multi-agency survey led by state wildlife biologists is expected to provide better regional and statewide lion population estimates in 2022.
Recent genetic analysis of tissue and blood samples from nearly 1,000 pumas captured alive, found dead or legally killed by authorized agencies for livestock depredation or public safety identified nine distinct puma populations in California.
Lions in northern California and the western and eastern Sierra Nevada ranges, the study found, are among the healthiest in the state. Some populations in Southern California, however, had levels of genetic diversity nearly as low as the federally endangered Florida panther.
But until their fate is known for certain, the petition is asking state wildlife authorities to devise a plan to save it.
California voters banned mountain lion hunting in 1990. But sport hunting of pumas is used as a management tool in several western states where the rationale is that it provides recreational opportunities and reduces the risk of attacks on humans and livestock. The Washington state Fish and Wildlife Commission a week ago voted in favor of expanding cougar hunting season and the number that can be killed.
Now, researchers from Western Oregon University and California State University, Sacramento are reporting that their analysis of records from wildlife agencies in 10 Western states found no evidence that sport hunting of pumas has produced desired outcomes aside from providing a recreational opportunity. The findings were formally presented in February in the online scientific journal PLOS ONE.
In California, listing cougars as threatened would likely constrain the issuance of depredation permits to kill mountain lions in protected populations, said J.P. Rose, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
The ecological effects of such a designation could be far reaching. The presence of mountain lions helps support the overall health of California ecosystems. The carcasses of their kills provide an important food source for a host of wild animals including California condors, gray foxes, myriad species of insects and songbirds that eat them.