latimes--2020-03-23--Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for coronavirus infection, source says

Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the coronavirus inside a New York state prison , according to a state source with knowledge of the matter .
The positive test came back Sunday at the Wende Correctional Facility , where Weinstein is being held , roughly 30 miles outside of Niagara Falls , N.Y. , according to the source , who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss Weinstein ’ s medical status .
The president of the union that represents New York state correctional officers also told Reuters that Weinstein had tested positive and that several prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
State corrections officials have not responded to requests for comment from the Los Angeles Times .
On Sunday , the department issued a statement confirming two people had tested positive for the virus at the facility where Weinstein was being housed .
Weinstein ’ s closest confidantes had not been told of his medical status until midday Monday , according to Donna Rotunno , lead defense counsel in his New York trial .
The attorney said she had been making calls to prison officials about Weinstein ’ s status since Sunday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman , released a statement saying his team had been made aware of his medical status but would not be disclosing it to the public .
“ While his team is now fully aware of his current medical condition , since Mr. Weinstein executed the proper Dept .
of Corrections Healthcare Information Release Form , we are going to continue protecting his privacy and maintain his privacy , ” the statement read .
“ As such , we will not discuss this matter any further.
” Weinstein , 68 , was transferred to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serving his 23-year prison sentence after he was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault in Manhattan .
It was not clear when exactly Weinstein was tested , where he contracted the virus or how many other people he had been in contact with .
He has been placed in isolation , and was never held in the “ general population ” at the facility , according to the source .
The story was first reported by the Niagara Gazette on Sunday , citing anonymous sources .
Weinstein had been held in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York City before his transfer upstate last week .
At least 38 people have tested positive for the virus at the jail , according to media reports .
The former mogul ’ s deteriorating health was a constant issue throughout his six-week criminal trial .
Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan courtroom with the aid of a walker each day , the result of spinal decompression surgery he underwent in December , his spokesman previously said .
After Weinstein was convicted last month of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haley and once-aspiring actress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courtroom that Weinstein was undergoing injections to maintain his eyesight , while arguing for him to be placed on house arrest .
Twice since he was convicted , Weinstein had to be hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital after suffering heart palpitations .
Weinstein still faces sexual assault charges in Los Angeles County related to two alleged attacks that took place in Southern California hotels in 2013 .
Los Angeles County Dist .
Atty .
Jackie Lacey said last month she would immediately begin extradition proceedings , but that the process normally takes months and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus and Weinstein ’ s plans to appeal his conviction in New York .

Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for the coronavirus inside a New York state prison, according to a state source with knowledge of the matter.
The positive test came back Sunday at the Wende Correctional Facility, where Weinstein is being held, roughly 30 miles outside of Niagara Falls, N.Y., according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss Weinstein’s medical status.
The president of the union that represents New York state correctional officers also told Reuters that Weinstein had tested positive and that several prison employees had been quarantined as a result.
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State corrections officials have not responded to requests for comment from the Los Angeles Times. On Sunday, the department issued a statement confirming two people had tested positive for the virus at the facility where Weinstein was being housed.
Weinstein’s closest confidantes had not been told of his medical status until midday Monday, according to Donna Rotunno, lead defense counsel in his New York trial. The attorney said she had been making calls to prison officials about Weinstein’s status since Sunday.
Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein’s chief spokesman, released a statement saying his team had been made aware of his client’s medical status but would not be disclosing it to the public.
“While his team is now fully aware of his current medical condition, since Mr. Weinstein executed the proper Department of Corrections healthcare information release form, we are going to continue protecting his privacy and maintain his privacy,” the statement read. “As such, we will not discuss this matter any further.”
Weinstein, 68, was transferred to the state facility last week to begin serving his 23-year prison sentence after he was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault in Manhattan.
It was not clear when exactly Weinstein was tested, where he contracted the virus or how many people he had been in contact with. He has been placed in isolation and was never held in the “general population” at the facility, according to the source.
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The story was first reported Sunday by the Niagara Gazette, citing anonymous sources.
Weinstein had been held in an infirmary ward on Rikers Island in New York City before his transfer upstate last week. At least 38 people have tested positive for the virus at Rikers, according to media reports.
The former mogul’s deteriorating health was a constant issue throughout his six-week criminal trial. Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan courtroom each day with the aid of a walker, the result of spinal decompression surgery he underwent in December, his spokesman previously said.
After Weinstein was convicted last month of a first-degree criminal sexual act against former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and the third-degree rape of once-aspiring actress Jessica Mann, his lawyers told a courtroom that Weinstein was undergoing injections to maintain his eyesight, while arguing for him to be placed on house arrest. Twice since he was convicted, Weinstein had to be hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital after suffering heart palpitations.
Weinstein still faces sexual assault charges in Los Angeles County related to two alleged attacks that took place in Southern California hotels in 2013. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said last month she would immediately begin extradition proceedings but added that the process normally takes months and could be slowed further because of the virus and Weinstein’s plans to appeal his conviction in New York.
In a statement, the district attorney’s office said Monday that it had “initiated its request to New York for the temporary custody of defendant Weinstein.” It remains unclear when Weinstein would appear in a Southern California courtroom.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to say if Weinstein’s positive test for the virus had impacted their actions Monday.
“As for any concerns given the coronavirus pandemic, our office expects that each agency responsible for processing, transporting and housing defendant Weinstein will follow its protocols and public health guidelines,” the statement read.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-03-23--Here are the latest L.A. County communities with confirmed COVID-19 cases

With more testing , the number of coronavirus infections in Los Angeles County continued to spike over the weekend , @ @ @ @ @ on Sunday reported an additional death related to COVID-19 , the disease caused by the @ @ @ @ @ county ’ s fifth .
The Culver City resident was older than 65 and had @ @ @ @ @ county Department of Public Health said .
The county recorded 71 new cases of the @ @ @ @ @ to 409 .
Of the total , 319 were ages of 19 to 64 .
@ @ @ @ @ , public health officials said .
“ Please know that the actions you take today @ @ @ @ @ from others and limit all nonessential activities outside your home are the best way for @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 and save lives , ” Barbara Ferrer , the county public health director @ @ @ @ @ .

Rhonda Summerlin, 70, of Carson pushes her wheelchair down a Long Beach sidewalk on Sunday to pick up medicine and food.
With more testing, the number of coronavirus infections in Los Angeles County continued to spike over the weekend, growing by 132.
Officals on Sunday reported an additional death related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus; it was the county’s fifth. The Culver City resident was older than 65 and had underlying health conditions, the county Department of Public Health said.
The county recorded 71 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 409. Of the total, 319 were ages of 19 to 64.
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Eighty-four people have been hospitalized, public health officials said.
“Please know that the actions you take today to stay 6 feet away from others and limit all nonessential activities outside your home are the best way for us to slow the spread of COVID-19 and save lives,” Barbara Ferrer, the county public health director, said in a statement.
California Boris Johnson orders UK coronavirus lockdown The latest updates from our reporters in California and around the world
Cases by community:
Alhambra 3
Altadena 3
Arcadia 2
Athens 1
Baldwin Hills 3
Bellflower 1
Beverly Hills 8
Beverlywood 6
Boyle Heights 5
Brentwood 23
Burbank 2
Calabasas 2
Canoga Park 1
Carson 4
Castaic 1
Century City 4
Century Palms/Cove 1
Cerritos 2
Covina 1
Crestview 5
Culver City 4
Del Rey 2
Diamond Bar 2
Downtown 1
Eagle Rock 1
East Hollywood 1
East Los Angeles 2
Echo Park 1
El Segundo 1
Encino 10
Gardena 1
Glendale 6
Glendora 1
Granada Hills 4
Hancock Park 5
Hawthorne 2
Hollywood 12
Hollywood Hills 5
Inglewood 3
Koreatown 2
La Canada Flintridge 1
La Mirada 3
La Verne 2
Lake Balboa 1
Lakewood 1
Lancaster 4
Lawndale 1
Lomita 8
Long Beach -- 15
Los Feliz 1
Lynwood 2
Manhattan Beach 7
Mar Vista 5
Melrose 17
Miracle Mile 4
Monterey Park 3
North Hollywood 5
Northridge 1
Pacific Palisades 7
Palms 1
Paramount 1
Park La Brea 4
Pasadena 3
Playa Vista 2
Rancho Palos Verdes 1
Redondo Beach 4
Reseda 2
San Dimas 1
San Fernando 1
San Pedro 1
Santa Clarita 4
Santa Monica 7
Santa Monica Mountains 2
Sherman Oaks 7
Silverlake 3
South El Monte 1
South Gate 1
South Pasadena 3
South Whittier 1
Stevenson Ranch 1
Studio City 4
Sun Valley 1
Sunland 1
Sylmar 1
Tarzana 8
Temple 1
Torrance 3
Tujunga 1
University Park 1
Valley Glen 6
Van Nuys 2
Venice 7
Vermont Knolls 1
Vermont Vista 1
Vernon Central 1
Walnut 1
West Adams 1
West Covina 1
West Hills 4
West Hollywood 19
West Los Angeles 3
West Vernon 2
Westchester 3
Westlake 1
Westwood 5
Whittier 2
Wilmington 1
Winnetka 1
Woodland Hills 5
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)


latimes--2020-03-23--L.A. County increases coronavirus testing capacity, securing 20,000 new tests

Los Angeles County officials announced Monday they have secured 20,000 new coronavirus tests , with a processing capacity of 5,000 tests per day .
The kits will be free , and healthcare workers and first responders will be given priority for testing .
L.A. City Councilman David Ryu said that officials are working with a South Korean company to provide 100,000 coronavirus tests to the area per week , with the ability to run 30,000 tests per day .
“ With increased testing comes an increase in reported infections .
This does not necessarily mean we ’ re having an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing is helping us identify our current problem , ” Ryu said .
To date , Ryu said , roughly 25,200 tests have been conducted in California .
County officials confirmed 128 new cases and two more deaths on Monday , bringing the total number of deaths in the county to seven and the number of COVID-19 cases to 536 .
Of the two new deaths , one was a Glendale man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions , and the other was between the ages of 30 and 50 from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the county , 80 % of those who have tested positive are between the ages of 18 and 65 and 42 % are ages 18-40 .
“ This virus can infect people from across the board , ” said Barbara Ferrerr , director of the L.A. County Public Health Department .
Ninety people who have been infected in the county — 17 % of those who have tested positive — have been hospitalized while sick , she said .
Ferrer also acknowledged “ a number of outbreaks in some of our senior facilities.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections and deaths in California rises , federal , state and local officials are ramping up unprecedented restrictions on people ’ s movements in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and increasing resources to assist during the crisis .
Parks have been closed throughout the state , following a weekend that saw packed hiking trails and beaches as people flocked to outdoor spaces , defying statewide instructions to “ shelter in place.
” All the while , the call for help from the federal government has remained a constant need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up their response to the pandemic , President Trump on Sunday approved a request from Gov .
Gavin Newsom to declare a major disaster and for the federal government to provide “ mass care , ” emergency aid , unemployment assistance and disaster legal services .
The president said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would ship mobile hospital units to California within the next 48 hours .
The state is in line to get eight of these units , for a total of 2,000 beds .
The Navy hospital ship Mercy , based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Los Angeles , Adm. Michael M. Gilday , the chief of naval operations , said in a tweet Monday .
Though its facilities will not be used to treat COVID-19 patients , it will accept those with other medical issues to relieve the burden on local hospitals , FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor said .
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt .
Austin Beutner announced Monday that schools , which closed along with others across California last week to help quell the outbreak , will remain shuttered through at least May 1 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , teachers are teaching in different ways and families are struggling to support their children in their studies while balancing other responsibilities , ” Beutner said in a statement .
“ I wish I could tell you it will all be back to normal sometime soon , but it does not look like that will be the case.
” Beutner also announced that Verizon will provide free internet for all students who do not have access .
The district is working on a plan to distribute more computers to students and instructions for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monday , at least 1,940 cases of coronavirus infection had been reported in California , and at least 38 people had died .
The number of confirmed cases is expected to grow as more testing occurs statewide and more deaths are recorded On Sunday , San Diego County public health officials reported the region ’ s first fatality .
The man had traveled to Hawaii and was hospitalized in Santa Clara County , but it was not clear whether he had been on a cruise or a plane , said Tim McClain , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Health and Human Services Agency .
“ Our sympathies and condolences go out to the individual ’ s family and friends , ” said San Diego County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten , noting the man was in his early 70s .
The Alameda County Public Health Department on Monday announced the county ’ s first virus-related death .
The person was elderly with underlying conditions and had no history of travel or known contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case , health officials said .
There were 112 cases of coronavirus infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with evidence of widespread community transmission .
Long Beach also reported its first fatality linked to the virus Monday .
The woman who died was in her 50s and had an underlying health condition .
“ We ’ ve been dreading this day and were hoping it would never come , ” Mayor Robert Garcia said .
“ We extend our deepest condolences to the victim ’ s family , friends and loved ones .
We are all mourning this incredible loss to our community.
” And Ventura County reported a virus-related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their 70s and had health conditions that made them more vulnerable to the virus , according to the county health department .
Other details about the person were not released .
The county also reported four new coronavirus cases , bringing its total to 30 .
Most are concentrated in Simi Valley , where there are 10 confirmed cases .
Thousand Oaks has the second most number of cases , with five .
Sacramento County on Monday announced the fourth death of a COVID-19 patient .
The individual , like three others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county , was older than 70 and had underlying health conditions .
Sacramento County is offering updates three times a week and last reported on Friday its number of confirmed cases was at 53 .
On Monday , that number had risen to 88 , health officials said .
Orange County reported a total of 125 new cases , up from 30 .
Despite the jump in the number of confirmed cases , there have been no reported deaths in the county .
As the death toll increased across the state , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On Sunday , the Los Angeles Community College District reported its first confirmed case of the virus , at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park .
A student there was tested Wednesday after reporting symptoms and is in quarantine and recovering , a letter from interim President Raul Rodriguez said .
Rodriguez said the student was believed to have been exposed while at UCLA during the week of March 8 and last came to the East L.A. College campus on March 12 .
All faculty and staff who were supposed to come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from home unless otherwise notified by their supervisors .
A ground-support employee responsible for handling luggage at Hollywood Burbank Airport also tested positive for COVID-19 , according to a statement released Monday by the company that employs the worker .
A fifth Transportation Service Authority employee at San Jose International Airport has also contracted the illness .
The employee last worked at the airport March 11 at a passenger screening checkpoint And an inmate in the state ’ s prison system , along with five prison workers , also tested positive .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in stable condition and was being treated on site as of Sunday night .
Elsewhere , healthcare workers are increasingly feeling the toll of their work .
In a video message recorded Sunday night , Marin County ’ s Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis announced that he tested positive for the virus that afternoon .
Willis said he has been self-quarantined from his family since his symptoms first appeared late last week .
“ My case is further proof that COVID-19 is with us , ” Willis said .
“ While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most people ’ s will be , we also know that for many , especially our elders , this same illness can be life threatening.
” Willis ’ source of exposure is unknown , since he has actively met with healthcare workers around the Bay Area for work .
Meanwhile , as more testing becomes available , the need for increased capacity has not dissipated .
The city of Hayward opened a free public testing center Monday that officials say should be able to screen up to 350 people a day and provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joint effort between the Alameda County city and Avellino , a Menlo Park-based precision medicine company , the center at city Fire Station No .
7 will be open daily and staffed by personnel from the Hayward Fire Department .
No doctor ’ s referral is required , but people will be screened for symptoms of the disease — such as fever , cough and shortness of breath — before they ’ re tested .
As of Monday morning , there were “ dozens of people who have presented themselves for testing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” city spokesman Chuck Finnie said .
In Los Angeles , Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday admonished Angelenos who hadn ’ t taken orders to practice social distancing seriously , announcing the closure of the city ’ s golf courses and parking lots at Venice Beach and called a halt to organized group sports at city parks , which were continuing to attract throngs of people .
“ This weekend we saw too many images of too many people crowding beaches or canyons beyond their capacity .
Too many people , too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Garcetti said during his daily briefing on the impact of the novel coronavirus .
“ The longer we do that , the more people will get sick , and the more people will die , ” he said .
“ There ’ s no way to sugarcoat that.
” Parking lots near Venice Beach and the boardwalk were closed Monday , he said .
In Santa Monica , the city also decided to close its beach parking lots .
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva closed beach parking lots throughout Malibu ’ s 26 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to allow for social distancing .
Among the parking lots shut were Topanga , Surfrider , Corral Canyon , Point Dume , Zuma , El Matador , La Piedra , Nicolas Canyon and Leo Carrillo .
On Sunday night , Long Beach Mayor Garcia announced the closure of Long Beach ’ s public basketball , tennis and volleyball courts , as well as its dog parks , playgrounds and skate parks .
Officials in Orange County also were tightening regulations after groups of people descended on beaches and public trails over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Laguna Beach City Council voted in a closed session Sunday night to close trail access to county wilderness parks as early as Monday morning .
The council also directed staff to close all city beaches by Monday night and request that the county do the same for all stretches of sand in its jurisdiction .
“ We were unanimous that these steps must be taken now in our city to slow the spread of COVID-19 , ” Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said .
“ I urge everyone to comply with our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our community and beyond.
” The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority announced over the weekend that it was closing all of its parks and trails , including parkland owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy .
Access roads and parking lots also will be closed .
Many were packed over the weekend as people — eager to get out of the house and into the warm weather after days of rain — flocked to the outdoor destinations .
In Marin County , health officials have ordered the immediate closure of all county parks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The measures build on Newsom ’ s sweeping order , issued Thursday , urging Californians to stay home — with — and put distance between themselves and others to slow the spread of COVID-19 .
Garcetti issued similar orders last week , which have closed most businesses in the city .
Many who flocked to public areas over the weekend insisted they needed time outdoors to maintain their sanity .
Clifford Aquino and Ryan Castro , both 28 , couldn ’ t go to their gyms in Cerritos , as they had closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go to Long Beach instead , where there are plenty of outdoor gyms and paths for running .
“ This is only Day 2 , ” Castro said .
“ It sucks.
” “ It does suck , ” Aquino replied , “ but you have to find different ways to stay active.
” Aquino said he felt safe using the outdoor machines because he was able to keep a safe distance from others .
If one area is too busy , he finds another , he said .
He said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wipe before using it .
Trump announced that he had signed paperwork to have the federal government pay for National Guard deployments in California , New York and Washington .
Newsom on Friday deployed the California National Guard to assist food banks statewide in serving residents whose needs had not been met due to food shortages .
The governor said the guard would focus on both humanitarian and public safety needs .
Newsom pointed out that the state wanted to ensure that “ food delivery is happening appropriately ” and expressed concern about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other essential household goods .
California ’ s National Guard force of roughly 22,000 troops has often been activated in times of disaster and crisis , particularly in response to devastating wildfires and earthquakes .
Meanwhile , Garcetti urged residents with disposable income to donate to the city ’ s emergency crisis response fund , which will help pay for childcare for medical workers , grants for families and individuals who need financial assistance and meals for seniors .
Times staff writers Richard Winton , Nina Agrawal , David Cloud , Luke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report .

Colleen Shalby, Ruben Vives, Hannah Fry, Patrick McGreevy

Mayor Garcetti announced that the city of Los Angeles has expanded its temporary ban on evictions during the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The city of Los Angeles has expanded its temporary ban on evictions during the novel coronavirus outbreak by prohibiting landlords from removing tenants from rent-stabilized apartments for the purposes of converting them to condominiums, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday afternoon.
Garcetti said at a news conference that he was enacting an executive order prohibiting such evictions under the Ellis Act, a state law that allows people to be ejected from rent-stabilized apartments if the landlord is getting out of the rental business, which can include turning the building into condos.
“This is necessary to protect additional tenants from being displaced from their homes at the exact same moment we’re asking them to stay at home,” Garcetti said.
Between 2001 and 2018, more than 25,000 apartments that had been covered by the city’s rent control laws were removed from the market through the Ellis Act, according to city statistics. Garcetti’s order applies to tenants who have already received eviction notices under the act but whose date for vacating their apartments has not occurred.
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Monday’s order follows one Garcetti announced last week, which prohibits the evictions of any tenant in the city that can’t pay rent due to health or economic effects caused by the virus outbreak.
Garcetti’s action still require tenants to pay any back rent that accumulates within six months of the expiration of the emergency order. He emphasized Monday that tenants should still pay their rent if they can because landlords need to pay their bills as well.
“It’s important to remember that everyone is struggling right now,” he said. “Not all property owners are large companies, and many get by on the month-to-month checks they collect.”
Garcetti’s announcement Monday will provide relief to renters such as Paula Peng. The 39-year-old lives in a bungalow court with four apartments in South Robertson and had been facing an Ellis Act eviction in May.
She lost work as a substitute teacher at a private school because of the closures and has already applied for unemployment. She has laid in bed at night, worrying that she would need to go against public health advice to try to find another place to live. That she no longer faced immediate eviction gave her relief.
“I was just freaking out and wondering where I’m going to be,” Peng said. “Now I feel like I can tackle it like a normal person.”
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The L.A. City Council had planned to advance some broader protections against evictions on Tuesday, but it’s unclear when that vote will be held after Council President Nury Martinez canceled the scheduled meeting, citing logistical problems and safety concerns over the virus.
More testing, more cases
Los Angeles city and county officials announced Monday a partnership with Seegene Technologies, Inc., a South Korea-based test kit manufacturer, to buy and process 20,000 new tests for the coronavirus.
The first 20,000 tests will be directed toward first responders and medical professionals. In Los Angeles, only 325 residents “on the front lines” — critical city workers, healthcare professionals and those working with the homeless — have been tested, according to city officials.
City and county officials plan to work out a larger agreement with Seegene, which has committed to provide 100,000 tests per week to Los Angeles. All tests will be made free to the public, the officials said in a media briefing.
“We cannot beat a pandemic we cannot see, and we cannot properly address this crisis until we better understand it,” L.A. City Councilman David Ryu said. “The United States has fallen behind other nations in response to this pandemic, and we can’t wait on the federal government to fix it.”
Ryu said Seegene, which was responsible for a majority of the coronavirus testing in South Korea, can process 5,000 tests a day locally and is working to build a national network of laboratories to run 30,000 tests a day. The company produces 1 million test kits a week and is working to expand that to 2 million a week, Ryu said.
To date, Ryu said, roughly 25,200 tests have been conducted in California, with only 2,400 completed in L.A. County.
“We know nations that have gained the upper hand in this pandemic have prioritized testing,” Ryu said.
Officials have cautioned residents that as testing increases, so will the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
County officials confirmed 128 new cases and two more deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to seven and the number of cases to 536.
Of the two new deaths, one was a Glendale man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions, and the other was between the ages of 30 and 50 from an area still under investigation.
Across the county, 80% of those who have tested positive are between the ages of 18 and 65 and 42% are ages 18-40.
“This virus can infect people from across the board,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Public Health Department.
Ninety people who have been infected in the county — 17% of those who have tested positive — have been hospitalized while sick, she said.
Ferrer also acknowledged “a number of outbreaks in some of our senior facilities.”
As the number of confirmed coronavirus infections and deaths in California rises, federal, state and local officials are ramping up unprecedented restrictions on people’s movements in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and increasing resources to assist during the crisis.
Parks have been closed throughout the state, following a weekend that saw packed hiking trails and beaches as people flocked to outdoor spaces, defying statewide instructions to shelter in place.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday night also ordered the immediate closure of all state parking lots, including nine in L.A. County. The state parks themselves will not be closed, and Newsom encouraged people to enjoy the outdoors with “intention and purpose.”
“We need to practice common sense and socially distance,” Newsom said. “That means we need to help you help yourself.”
All the while, the call for help from the federal government has remained a constant need. To help cities in California beef up their response to the pandemic, President Trump on Sunday approved a request from Newsom to declare a major disaster and for the federal government to provide “mass care,” emergency aid, unemployment assistance and disaster legal services.
The president said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would ship mobile hospital units to California within the next 48 hours. The state is in line to get eight of these units, for a total of 2,000 beds.
The Navy hospital ship Mercy, based in San Diego, has been deployed to Los Angeles, Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, said in a tweet Monday. Though its facilities will not be used to treat COVID-19 patients, it will accept those with other medical issues to relieve the burden on local hospitals, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor said.
Newsom said Monday that the state is working to rapidly scale up its capacity to treat COVID-19 patients. There are 75,000 licensed hospital beds in California right now, he said, and the state needs an additional 50,000 to meet anticipated healthcare needs. The state itself will provide 20,000 of those beds.
“All told, we’ve got about 3,000 beds that we have lined up and identified in the short term,” Newsom said.
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Austin Beutner announced Monday that schools, which closed along with others across California last week to help quell the outbreak, will remain shuttered through at least May 1.
“Students are learning in different ways, teachers are teaching in different ways and families are struggling to support their children in their studies while balancing other responsibilities,” Beutner said in a statement. “I wish I could tell you it will all be back to normal sometime soon, but it does not look like that will be the case.”
Beutner also announced that Verizon will provide free internet for all students who do not have access. The district is working on a plan to distribute more computers to students and instructions for accessing the Verizon program.
As of Monday, at least 1,940 cases of coronavirus infection had been reported in California, and at least 38 people had died. The number of confirmed cases is expected to grow as more testing occurs statewide and more deaths are recorded.
Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
Number of deaths increases
On Sunday, San Diego County public health officials reported the region’s first fatality. The man, who was in his early 70s, had traveled to Hawaii and was hospitalized in Santa Clara County, but it was not clear whether he had been on a cruise or a plane, said Tim McClain, public affairs coordinator for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.
“Our sympathies and condolences go out to the individual’s family and friends,” said San Diego County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten.
The Alameda County Public Health Department on Monday announced the county’s first virus-related death. The person was elderly with underlying conditions and had no history of travel or known contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, health officials said. There were 112 cases of coronavirus infection in Alameda County as of Monday, with evidence of widespread community transmission.
Long Beach also reported its first fatality linked to the virus Monday. The woman who died was in her 50s and had an underlying health condition.
“We’ve been dreading this day and were hoping it would never come,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family, friends and loved ones. We are all mourning this incredible loss to our community.”
And Ventura County reported a virus-related death on Sunday. The person was in their 70s and had health conditions that made them more vulnerable to the virus, according to the county health department. Other details about the person were not released.
The county also reported four new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 30. Most are concentrated in Simi Valley, where there are 10 confirmed cases. Thousand Oaks has the second most number of cases, with five.
Sacramento County on Monday announced the fourth death of a COVID-19 patient. The individual, like three others who died of the coronavirus in the county, was older than 70 and had underlying health conditions. Sacramento County is offering updates three times a week and last reported on Friday its number of confirmed cases was at 53. On Monday, that number had risen to 88, health officials said.
Orange County reported a total of 125 new cases, up from 30. Despite the jump in the number of confirmed cases, there have been no reported deaths in the county.
Confirmed cases increase
As the death toll increased across the state, the number of confirmed cases has skyrocketed. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Community College District reported its first confirmed case of the virus, at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. A student there was tested Wednesday after reporting symptoms and is in quarantine and recovering, a letter from interim President Raul Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the student was believed to have been exposed while at UCLA during the week of March 8 and last came to the East L.A. College campus on March 12.
All faculty and staff who were supposed to come to campus Monday were directed to work from home unless otherwise notified by their supervisors.
A ground-support employee responsible for handling luggage at Hollywood Burbank Airport also tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement released Monday by the company that employs the worker.
A fifth Transportation Service Authority employee at San Jose International Airport has also contracted the illness. The employee last worked at the airport March 11 at a passenger screening checkpoint.
And an inmate in the state’s prison system, along with five prison workers, also tested positive. The prisoner, housed in L.A. County, was listed as stable and was being treated on site as of Sunday night.
Elsewhere, healthcare workers are increasingly feeling the toll of their work.
In a video message recorded Sunday night, Marin County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis announced that he tested positive for the virus that afternoon. Willis said he has been self-quarantined from his family since his symptoms first appeared late last week.
“My case is further proof that COVID-19 is with us,” Willis said. “While my symptoms are now mild, as most people’s will be, we also know that for many, especially our elders, this same illness can be life threatening.”
Willis’ source of exposure is unknown, since he has actively met with healthcare workers around the Bay Area for work.
Meanwhile, as more testing becomes available, the need for increased capacity has not dissipated.
The city of Hayward opened a free public testing center Monday that officials say should be able to screen up to 350 people a day and provide results within 24 hours.
In a joint effort between the Alameda County city and Avellino, a Menlo Park-based precision medicine company, the center at city Fire Station No. 7 will be open daily and staffed by personnel from the Hayward Fire Department.
No doctor’s referral is required, but people will be screened for symptoms of the disease — such as fever, cough and shortness of breath — before they’re tested.
As of Monday morning, there were “dozens of people who have presented themselves for testing, arriving both by car and on foot,” city spokesman Chuck Finnie said.
Park closures
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday admonished Angelenos who hadn’t taken orders to practice social distancing seriously, announcing the closure of the city’s golf courses and parking lots at Venice Beach and called a halt to organized group sports at city parks, which were continuing to attract throngs of people.
“This weekend we saw too many images of too many people crowding beaches or canyons beyond their capacity. Too many people, too close together, too often,” Garcetti said during his daily briefing on the impact of the novel coronavirus.
“The longer we do that, the more people will get sick, and the more people will die,” he said. “There’s no way to sugarcoat that.”
Parking lots near Venice Beach and the boardwalk were closed Monday, he said. In Santa Monica, the city also decided to close its beach parking lots.
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva closed beach parking lots throughout Malibu’s 26 miles of coast as part of an effort to allow for social distancing. Among the parking lots shut were Topanga, Surfrider, Corral Canyon, Point Dume, Zuma, El Matador, La Piedra, Nicolas Canyon and Leo Carrillo.
On Sunday night, Long Beach Mayor Garcia announced the closure of Long Beach’s public basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, as well as its dog parks, playgrounds and skate parks.
Officials in Orange County also were tightening regulations after groups of people descended on beaches and public trails over the weekend despite warnings about social distancing.
The Laguna Beach City Council voted in a closed session Sunday night to close trail access to county wilderness parks as early as Monday morning. The council also directed staff to close all city beaches by Monday night and request that the county do the same for all stretches of sand in its jurisdiction.
“We were unanimous that these steps must be taken now in our city to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said. “I urge everyone to comply with our actions for the health of everyone in our community and beyond.”
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority announced over the weekend that it was closing all of its parks and trails, including parkland owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Access roads and parking lots also will be closed. Many were packed over the weekend as people — eager to get out of the house and into the warm weather after days of rain — flocked to the outdoor destinations.
In Marin County, health officials have ordered the immediate closure of all county parks to stem the tide of visitors.
The measures build on Newsom’s sweeping order, issued Thursday, urging Californians to stay home — with a few exceptions — and put distance between themselves and others to slow the spread of COVID-19. Garcetti issued similar orders last week, which have closed most businesses in the city.
Many who flocked to public areas over the weekend insisted they needed time outdoors to maintain their sanity.
Clifford Aquino and Ryan Castro, both 28, couldn’t go to their gyms in Cerritos, as they had closed under government orders. So they decided to go to Long Beach instead, where there are plenty of outdoor gyms and paths for running.
“This is only Day 2,” Castro said. “It sucks.”
“It does suck,” Aquino replied, “but you have to find different ways to stay active.”
Aquino said he felt safe using the outdoor machines because he was able to keep a safe distance from others. If one area is too busy, he finds another, he said. He said he wiped down each machine with a disinfecting wipe before using it.
Guard deployed
Trump announced that he had signed paperwork to have the federal government pay for National Guard deployments in California, New York and Washington.
Newsom on Friday deployed the California National Guard to assist food banks statewide in serving residents whose needs had not been met due to food shortages.
The governor said the guard would focus on both humanitarian and public safety needs. Newsom pointed out that the state wanted to ensure that “food delivery is happening appropriately” and expressed concern about grocery stores overwhelmed by customers hoarding food and other essential household goods.
California’s National Guard force of roughly 22,000 troops has often been activated in times of disaster and crisis, particularly in response to devastating wildfires and earthquakes.
Meanwhile, Garcetti urged residents with disposable income to donate to the city’s emergency crisis response fund, which will help pay for child care for medical workers, grants for families and individuals who need financial assistance and meals for seniors.
Times staff writers Richard Winton, Nina Agrawal, David Cloud, Luke Money, Sean Greene and Jaclyn Cosgrove contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-03-23--PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter over Camp fire

Pacific Gas & Electric announced Monday it has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter related to California ’ s most destructive wildfire that burned much of Paradise , Calif. , in 2018 .
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission , PG & E said it reached the settlement with the Butte County district attorney ’ s office on March 17 .
Under the deal , PG & E said prosecutors won ’ t pursue further criminal charges .
PG & E also pleaded guilty to one count of causing a fire in violation of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be sentenced to pay the maximum total fine and penalty of approximately $ 3.5 million .
The Agreement provides that no other or additional sentence will be imposed on the Utility in the criminal action in connection with the 2018 Camp fire , ” PG & E said in its filing .
“ The Utility has also agreed to pay $ 500,000 to the Butte County District Attorney Environmental and Consumer Protection Fund to reimburse costs spent on the investigation of the 2018 Camp fire.
” Last year , Pacific Gas & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment probably caused 10 wildfires this year in Northern and Central California .
The Camp fire , which raced through Paradise in 2018 , killed 85 people and destroyed more than 13,900 homes .
Both the California Public Utilities Commission and the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection .
The commission also noted that for years , PG & E failed to do climbing inspections of a century-old tower that malfunctioned , causing sparks where the fire originated .
Investigators said there was “ visible wear ” on the arms of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that PG & E crews had not climbed the tower since at least 2001 .
Such an inspection could have identified problems with a small metal hook that was supposed to hold up a transmission line and insulator on the tower , and “ its timely replacement could have prevented the ignition of the Camp fire , ” investigators said .
The omission of climbing inspections on the failed tower “ is a violation of PG & E ’ s own policy requiring climbing inspections on towers where recurring problems exist , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal jury found the utility guilty of violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area and then misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines .
Jurors convicted PG & E of obstruction and five of 11 counts of pipeline safety violations , including failing to gather information to evaluate potential gas line threats and deliberately not classifying a gas line as high risk .
The blast of the PG & E natural gas pipeline in 2010 sent a giant plume of fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and destroyed 38 homes in the city of San Bruno .

Matt Hamilton, Joseph Serna, Shelby Grad

In a federal filing Monday permanently documenting its role in causing California’s deadliest wildfire, Pacific Gas & Electric announced it has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2018 Camp fire in the Northern California town of Paradise.
PG&E, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it reached the settlement with the Butte County district attorney’s office on March 17. Under the deal, PG&E said prosecutors won’t pursue further criminal charges, an outcome that disappointed some utility watchdogs.
This is the second time PG&E’s guilt has been established in a wildfire legal proceeding. In 1997, a Nevada County jury found the utility guilty of causing a fire three years earlier that burned a dozen homes.
But while this chapter of PG&E’s role in the Camp fire is over, the plea‘s implications for other utilities is less clear, said Shon Hiatt, an associate professor of management and organization at USC’s Marshall School of Business.
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Hiatt said the plea “is a big thing” not just for Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, but for municipal utilities, which could face similar lawsuits for future wildfires.
Such municipal utilities include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, among others. They could now be subject to a part of California law, known as inverse condemnation, that mandates utilities are liable for fires their equipment caused, even if the equipment was properly maintained.
“If something were to happen with a city-owned utility, and they were on the hook now? Oh my gosh, you could see bankruptcies,” he said.
To that end, Hiatt said he’d expect to see utilities focus more on preventive work to limit their wildfire risks. Earlier this year, PG&E announced it was spending $2.6 billion each year over the next three years on upgrading and maintaining its grid, Southern California Edison said it would spend $3.8 billion in that time period and San Diego Gas & Electric officials say it will spend up to $1.5 billion.
While they’re working to mitigate those risks, Hiatt said, utilities will probably hire lobbyists to push for lawmakers to revisit inverse condemnation.
“I would be pushing hard for the Legislature to narrow that,” Hiatt said.
In PG&E’s case, however, its culpability in the Camp fire wasn’t just because its equipment caused the blaze, but because it acknowledged failing to properly maintain that equipment. Had it been, the fire may never have happened in the first place.
As part of the plea agreement, PG&E also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully causing a fire in violation of the state penal code.
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“The Utility will be sentenced to pay the maximum total fine and penalty of approximately $3.5 million. The Agreement provides that no other or additional sentence will be imposed on the Utility in the criminal action in connection with the 2018 Camp fire,” PG&E said in its filing. “The Utility has also agreed to pay $500,000 to the Butte County District Attorney Environmental and Consumer Protection Fund to reimburse costs spent on the investigation of the 2018 Camp fire.”
California PG&E power lines caused California’s deadliest fire, investigators conclude Investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection have concluded that Pacific Gas & Electric equipment sparked the devastating Camp fire that destroyed nearly 14,000 homes and killed 85 people, most of them elderly, last year.
Last year, Pacific Gas & Electric admitted in federal court that its equipment probably caused several wildfires in Northern and Central California, even while it undertook the controversial step of conducting preventative power shutdowns during high-wind events in high-risk fire areas.
“We cannot change the devastation or ever forget the loss of life that occurred. All of us at PG&E deeply regret this tragedy and the company’s part in it,” PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said in a statement. “We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident.”
Investors seemed buoyed by the news. After a long slide, PG&E‘s stock price jumped more than 12% Monday, to $8.12.
At least one consumer advocate Monday was disappointed that the utility’s executives won’t be held personally responsible.
“You know, if corporations are people as the Supreme Court has suggested, PG&E would be in jail right now. That is normally the penalty for manslaughter,” said Mindy Spatt of the Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based ratepayer advocacy group.
“I think from the customer end, it kind of feels like PG&E got away with murder,” she said. “There hasn’t been a lot of accountability.”
The Camp fire, which raced through Paradise in 2018, killed 85 people and destroyed more than 13,900 homes. Both the California Public Utilities Commission and the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection concluded that poorly maintained PG&E equipment sparked that blaze .
The commission also noted that for years, PG&E failed to do climbing inspections of a century-old tower that malfunctioned, causing sparks where the fire originated. Investigators said there was “visible wear” on the arms of a tower linked to the blaze, but that PG&E crews had not climbed the tower since at least 2001.
Such an inspection could have identified problems with a small metal hook that was supposed to hold up a transmission line and insulator on the tower, and “its timely replacement could have prevented the ignition of the Camp fire,” investigators said.
The omission of climbing inspections on the failed tower “is a violation of PG&E’s own policy requiring climbing inspections on towers where recurring problems exist,” investigators wrote.
In 2016, a federal jury found the utility guilty of violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area and then misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines.
Jurors convicted PG&E of obstruction and five of 11 counts of pipeline safety violations, including failing to gather information to evaluate potential gas line threats and deliberately not classifying a gas line as high risk.
The blast of the PG&E natural gas pipeline in 2010 sent a giant plume of fire into the air, killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in the city of San Bruno.


latimes--2020-03-23--Coronavirus tests are hard to get — unless you have money, fame and the right doctor

As people across the country were unable to get tested for COVID-19 , a Santa Monica pediatrician emailed the parents of his patients with a pricey but tempting offer .
For $ 250 , they could buy a cheek-swab test for the virus to be administered at home , Dr. Jay Gordon wrote .
The tests could be purchased by his patients ’ parents even if they showed no symptoms or had no other reason to fear they were infected .
Insurance most likely wouldn ’ t cover the cost , he wrote .
Because he was getting only 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limited to family members and “ household staff.
” Gordon said he sold out almost immediately and has ordered hundreds more .
“ People really wanted them , ” he said .
Though California is ramping up tests , a continuing shortage means that many people with symptoms are still desperate to get tested .
But some private physicians and “ concierge ” doctors are offering tests to their patients at a price .
It ’ s hard to know how widespread the practice is , but it has sparked outrage as celebrities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tested while others of lesser means wait .
Gordon acknowledges that his offer underscores inequities in the healthcare system .
“ There ’ s no way in hell it should be so , ” Gordon said .
“ This represents a massive failure of the federal government , of the healthcare system.
” Gordon said he is selling the tests to his clients because he has a duty to give them the best medical care possible .
“ I think it ’ s in the best interests of my patients , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticism for defending the rights of parents who want to delay or refuse vaccinations for their children — said he believed the lack of testing was going to get “ much much worse.
” Some physicians are skeptical that all the tests being offered are effective and criticize doctors who are charging fees for clients who want to be tested and have the money to pay .
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday publicly warned that it has not authorized any at-home tests for COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s pretty horrible , ” said Dr. Stanley Perlman , a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Iowa who studies coronaviruses and their treatments .
“ You don ’ t want people who have more money to be able to get tested for something that everybody is worried about .
It makes it seem like people who are rich are getting a break .
I can ’ t think of anything good about this.
” State Sen. Richard Pan ( D-Sacramento ) , a pediatrician who has strongly criticized Gordon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccinations , said he believed the practice was not widespread but denounced selling the tests at high prices to whomever can afford them , saying it was unprofessional conduct that the Medical Board of California should investigate .
Doctors , he said , should be following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that prioritize testing for people who have COVID-19 symptoms and are hospitalized ; have compromised immune systems or other factors that put them at high risk ; or recently traveled to countries with major outbreaks or had close contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ So in a crisis , this is how we handle it ?
We auction these tests ?
Is this how we want our society to operate ?
” Pan asked .
“ Our response should not be based on auctioning off scarce resources to the highest bidder.
” In Beverly Hills , Dr. David Nazarian , a primary care physician , said he ’ s been receiving an influx of calls since the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S .
But because he has a concierge medical practice — meaning he limits his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrities , and CEOs ” in exchange for more personalized care — he has been granting tests only to his existing clients .
Nazarian ’ s yearly membership fee starts at $ 5,500 and can go up to $ 10,000 .
About a month ago , when COVID-19 cases were still primarily occurring overseas , Nazarian began looking into obtaining extra nasopharyngeal swabs and viral transport mediums — the materials needed to test for the coronavirus .
As a result , he had about 50 available for his patients , which were administered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gear .
Because of a “ massive shortage ” of testing kits , however , Nazarian decided to place an order for the rapid-test kits he said have been used in China and South Korea that produce results in a matter of minutes instead of days .
Nazarian said he expects the rapid tests , which involve taking blood samples , to arrive from China this weekend , at which point he hopes to open a drive-through testing option available to any person willing to pay about $ 500 or $ 600 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ new patients contact us who money wasn ’ t a factor for ; they were willing to pay whatever was needed , ” he said .
“ But we ’ re not looking at this time in regards to ‘ How can we make more money doing testing ?
’ or ‘ Who we can charge more to do a test.
’ It ’ s actually really trying to take care of the patients we already have and then figuring out how we can increase testing and do things for the good of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , said there has been a surge of foreign companies rushing to develop new coronavirus blood tests in recent weeks .
He said he personally would not take such a test because of his concerns about their reliability .
A blood antibody test can indicate only if a person has had the virus , whereas the CDC-approved nasal swab tests can detect a current infection , Pekosz said .
If patients aren ’ t made aware of this key difference it could lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ The last thing hospitals need right now are people who are healthy going in saying they need medical care , ” Pekosz said .
The CDC recommends nasal swabs for coronavirus testing and says oral swabs are a lower priority and should be collected only if a nasal test is not available .
Oral swabs run a higher risk of people coughing or exposing the tester to the virus , Pekosz said .
Some doctors whose private practices treat celebrities and the wealthy say they are following the CDC guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Beverly Hills internal medicine physician , said he ’ s had to turn away numerous patients seeking testing .
“ Right now , I have to take care of my sickest people who could die , ” Cohan said .
Cohan said that roughly every 30 minutes , he checks with his nurse — “ she ’ s got friends everywhere ” — about when his office will be provided with additional testing supplies .
“ She rolls her eyes and says that Quest [ Diagnostics ] and LabCorp tell her , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
He said he doubted the reliability of some of the tests that are being offered to private patients and said doctors should not charge extra for them .
Federal legislation passed this month would expand access to free COVID-19 testing to the public .
Gordon , the Santa Monica pediatrician , said he is charging clients only $ 50 more per test than it costs him from the lab .
He said he had been trying for a while , for the most part unsuccessfully , to get some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But then the parents of one of his patients told him about a lab in San Dimas , KorvaLabs , that was selling COVID-19 tests .
Gordon said he vetted the lab and the test , and determined it was legitimate based on a small group study that he said showed the mouth swab test had the same results as the nasal sample .
The test can be self-administered at home .
Gordon said he sold the tests to clients whether or not they had symptoms but asked them to wait until they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner , who said he was a voluntary clinical consultant with KorvaLabs , said the tests meet standards set by federal regulations .
KorvaLabs did not return a call for comment .
Klausner said the lab was part of a broader effort to “ scale up ” testing capacity for COVID-19 in the U.S .
He said if more testing were available , the country could “ end this ill-informed , misguided , misdirected shut down.
” He also said that notions about free testing being available are an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been unwilling to fund a healthcare system that might have been better prepared for the crisis .
“ We need to rely on the free market for our health response , ” Klausner said .
“ That ’ s America .
”

A box of coronavirus testing kits in Huntington Beach. Some private doctors and “concierge” physicians are offering tests to their patients at a price.
As people across the country were unable to get tested for COVID-19, a Santa Monica pediatrician emailed the parents of his patients with a pricey but tempting offer.
For $250, they could buy a cheek-swab test for the virus to be administered at home, Dr. Jay Gordon wrote. The tests could be purchased by his patients’ parents even if they showed no symptoms or had no other reason to fear they were infected. Insurance most likely wouldn’t cover the cost, he wrote.
Because he was getting only 100 kits, he asked that testing be limited to family members and “household staff.”
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Gordon said he sold out almost immediately and has ordered hundreds more.
“People really wanted them,” he said.
Though California is ramping up tests, a continuing shortage means that many people with symptoms are still desperate to get tested.
1 / 29 Workers at the Ralphs grocery store in Westchester measure out social distancing guidelines for its customers with markers every six feet and limiting the number of customers it allows in to shop. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 29 At Echo Park Lake, friends gather with their dogs and enjoy a Sunday afternoon in the park. Social distancing and home isolation remain in effect due to the coronavirus. (Carolyn Cole/Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 29 During the coronavirus pandemic, people continue to walk and ride their bikes along the path at Junipero Beach in Long Beach. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 4 / 29 People run and walk on the Veterans Parkway in Manhattan Beach even with signage saying the space is closed to help minimize the spread of the coronavirus. (Dania Maxwell/Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 29 Jesus Mendoza sells roses on the sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles. Mendoza said his business was overwhelmed by hundred of boxes of roses they could not sell. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 6 / 29 Riverside County medical personnel administer a coronavirus test to a driver at a drive-though testing facility at Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 7 / 29 Drivers line-up to get a coronavirus test administered by Riverside County medical personnel at a drive-though testing facility at Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore. Those tested have symptoms or have had a risk of exposure. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 8 / 29 Xiao Ping, holding a tray of eggs, looks back at the long line of egg buyers on Saturda morning in Chino. Spooked by coronavirus people from nearby Inland Empire cities started lining up early morning at Maust’s California Poultry in Chino. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 9 / 29 Spooked by coronavirus fears, people from nearby Inland Empire cities lined-up to buy eggs at Maust’s California Poultry in Chino. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 10 / 29 The sparsely trafficked intersection of the 101 and 110 freeways in downtown Los Angeles is seen in a drone image. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 29 School buses sit idle since all schools have been closed in Los Angeles County. The image was taken by drone. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 29 In this drone image, the Westfield Topanga mall parking lot sits empty, as new regulations have closed all indoor shopping centers in Canoga Park. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 29 Vehicles flow smoothly along Interstate 5 and the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles in this drone image. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 29 The city of Santa Monica has closed the Santa Monica Pier, and few people were on the beach Friday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 29 Shops are shuttered on historic Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 16 / 29 The intersection of the 101 and 110 freeways in downtown Los Angeles. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 17 / 29 Hollywood Blvd. is devoid of the usual crowds as most shops are closed. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 18 / 29 Hollywood Blvd. is devoid of the usual crowds as most shops are closed. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 19 / 29 On the first day of L.A.’s ‘Safer at Home,” most major avenues and streets in downtown Los Angeles have very little traffic. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 20 / 29 Empty streets in downtown Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 21 / 29 The main entrance to Union Station is closed. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 22 / 29 Union Station was restricted to only ticketed passenger and main entrance closed. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 23 / 29 Commuter protect themselves with a face mask while riding a bus at El Monte Metro Station. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 24 / 29 Salvation Army volunteer Christina Cuevas sets up cots for homeless at Westwood Recreation Center in Westwood. (Brian van der Brug/Brian van der Brug/Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 25 / 29 Popular shopping destination Rodeo Drive is all but deserted as retail shops are shuttered in Beverly Hills. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 26 / 29 The Apple store is among all the stores which have closed during the coronavirus outbreak in Newport Beach. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 27 / 29 With all the stores closed, Fashion Island is a ghost town except for an occasional customer getting food for take-out Newport Beach. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 28 / 29 People walk the beach, but maintain “social distancing” during the coronavirus outbreak at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. (Gina Ferazzi/Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 29 / 29 During the coronavirus epidemic people continue to walk, ride thier bikes, and play basketball at Junipero Beach in Long Beach. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
But some private physicians and “concierge” doctors are offering tests to their patients at a price. It’s hard to know how widespread the practice is, but it has sparked outrage as celebrities and professional athletes without symptoms have gotten tested while others of lesser means wait.
Gordon acknowledges that his offer underscores inequities in the healthcare system.
“There’s no way in hell it should be so,” Gordon said. “This represents a massive failure of the federal government, of the healthcare system.”
Gordon said he is selling the tests to his clients because he has a duty to give them the best medical care possible. “I think it’s in the best interests of my patients,” he said.
Gordon — who has drawn criticism for defending the rights of parents who want to delay or refuse vaccinations for their children — said he believed the lack of testing was going to get “much much worse.”
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Some physicians are skeptical that all the tests being offered are effective and criticize doctors who are charging fees for clients who want to be tested and have the money to pay. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday publicly warned that it has not authorized any at-home tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“I think that it’s pretty horrible,” said Dr. Stanley Perlman, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Iowa who studies coronaviruses and their treatments. “You don’t want people who have more money to be able to get tested for something that everybody is worried about. It makes it seem like people who are rich are getting a break. I can’t think of anything good about this.”
State Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician who has strongly criticized Gordon and other doctors over their position on vaccinations, said he believed the practice was not widespread but denounced selling the tests at high prices to whomever can afford them, saying it was unprofessional conduct that the Medical Board of California should investigate.
Doctors, he said, should be following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that prioritize testing for people who have COVID-19 symptoms and are hospitalized; have compromised immune systems or other factors that put them at high risk; or recently traveled to countries with major outbreaks or had close contact with someone who has the virus.
“So in a crisis, this is how we handle it? We auction these tests? Is this how we want our society to operate?” Pan asked. “Our response should not be based on auctioning off scarce resources to the highest bidder.”
In Beverly Hills, Dr. David Nazarian, a primary care physician, said he’s been receiving an influx of calls since the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S.
But because he has a concierge medical practice — meaning he limits his clientele to “influential people, A-list celebrities, and CEOs” in exchange for more personalized care — he has been granting tests only to his existing clients.
Nazarian’s yearly membership fee starts at $5,500 and can go up to $10,000.
About a month ago, when COVID-19 cases were still primarily occurring overseas, Nazarian began looking into obtaining extra nasopharyngeal swabs and viral transport mediums — the materials needed to test for the coronavirus. As a result, he had about 50 available for his patients, which were administered during house calls by nurses wearing protective gear.
Because of a “massive shortage” of testing kits, however, Nazarian decided to place an order for the rapid-test kits he said have been used in China and South Korea that produce results in a matter of minutes instead of days.
Nazarian said he expects the rapid tests, which involve taking blood samples, to arrive from China this weekend, at which point he hopes to open a drive-through testing option available to any person willing to pay about $500 or $600.
“We have had a lot of new patients contact us who money wasn’t a factor for; they were willing to pay whatever was needed,” he said. “But we’re not looking at this time in regards to ‘How can we make more money doing testing?’ or ‘Who we can charge more to do a test.’ It’s actually really trying to take care of the patients we already have and then figuring out how we can increase testing and do things for the good of the community.”
Andrew Pekosz, a biologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said there has been a surge of foreign companies rushing to develop new coronavirus blood tests in recent weeks. He said he personally would not take such a test because of his concerns about their reliability.
A blood antibody test can indicate only if a person has had the virus, whereas the CDC-approved nasal swab tests can detect a current infection, Pekosz said. If patients aren’t made aware of this key difference it could lead them to seek additional treatment, he said.
“The last thing hospitals need right now are people who are healthy going in saying they need medical care,” Pekosz said.
The CDC recommends nasal swabs for coronavirus testing and says oral swabs are a lower priority and should be collected only if a nasal test is not available. Oral swabs run a higher risk of people coughing or exposing the tester to the virus, Pekosz said.
Some doctors whose private practices treat celebrities and the wealthy say they are following the CDC guidelines on tests.
Dr. Gary Cohan, a Beverly Hills internal medicine physician, said he’s had to turn away numerous patients seeking testing.
“Right now, I have to take care of my sickest people who could die,” Cohan said.
Cohan said that roughly every 30 minutes, he checks with his nurse — “she’s got friends everywhere” — about when his office will be provided with additional testing supplies. “She rolls her eyes and says that Quest [Diagnostics] and LabCorp tell her, ‘any day now,’” he said.
He said he doubted the reliability of some of the tests that are being offered to private patients and said doctors should not charge extra for them. Federal legislation passed this month would expand access to free COVID-19 testing to the public.
Gordon, the Santa Monica pediatrician, said he is charging clients only $50 more per test than it costs him from the lab.
He said he had been trying for a while, for the most part unsuccessfully, to get some of his patients tested for the virus.
But then the parents of one of his patients told him about a lab in San Dimas, KorvaLabs, that was selling COVID-19 tests. Gordon said he vetted the lab and the test, and determined it was legitimate based on a small group study that he said showed the mouth swab test had the same results as the nasal sample.
The test can be self-administered at home. Gordon said he sold the tests to clients whether or not they had symptoms but asked them to wait until they suspected they might be sick to use them.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who said he was a voluntary clinical consultant with KorvaLabs, said the tests meet standards set by federal regulations. KorvaLabs did not return a call for comment.
Klausner said the lab was part of a broader effort to “scale up” testing capacity for COVID-19 in the U.S. He said if more testing were available, the country could “end this ill-informed, misguided, misdirected shut down.”
He also said that notions about free testing being available are an “illusion” and that Americans have been unwilling to fund a healthcare system that might have been better prepared for the crisis.
“We need to rely on the free market for our health response,” Klausner said. “That’s America.”


latimes--2020-03-23--A pub opened for St. Patrick's Day. Its owner wasn't ready for the 'quarantine shaming'

The yelling and complaining outside the Griffins of Kinsale Irish pub in South Pasadena might have only seemed louder than the partying going on inside .
But bar owner Joseph Griffin definitely heard it on St. Patrick ’ s Day .
That night , he had committed what is for many now a cardinal sin : He opened his pub on the city ’ s iconic Mission Street right smack in the middle of the great coronavirus shutdown .
Some angry residents screamed at bar patrons and posted the video on Twitter .
Others lambasted Griffin on Facebook .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I ’ ve been here for eight years , ” Griffin said inside his bar two days later .
“ To have people call me and my business out online so viciously — in some cases , to have people screaming at me and the employees of this bar — was incredible.
” Since March 15 , Gov .
Gavin Newsom and local officials , including L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti , have ramped up a series of efforts to shut down nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a stiff drink during these trying times might disagree , bars were considered nonessential .
But if Griffin , a father of 11 , felt alone in the midst of the backlash , he was far from it .
Even if officials , including law enforcement , aren ’ t ready or able to crack down on everyone violating the shutdown orders , there ’ s always an abundance of online cops ready to be deputized to do the honors .
From California to Florida , the shaming has taken several forms — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of commerce shindig promoted on Instagram .
Individuals who have participated in large gatherings have also ended up on the pokey end of social media barbs .
Last week , “ CBS Evening News ” posted a 50-second clip on Twitter of daring — and possibly inebriated — college students flocking to Miami Beach for spring break and vowing , one after another , not to let the coronavirus rain on their party .
“ If I get corona , I get corona .
At the end of the day , I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me from partying , ” one declared .
The post received more than 900,000 views and hundreds of comments from Twitter users calling the spring breakers everything from “ selfish ” to “ stupid ” for disregarding COVID-19 safety precautions such as social distancing and staying home .
Eventually , mayors from Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale closed their beaches even though Florida ’ s governor did not .
In Griffin ’ s case , he said he didn ’ t know his pub was supposed to be closed when he opened it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before , the city of South Pasadena had issued a closure of all bars , but Griffin said that he wasn ’ t aware of the order and that no one from the city reached out .
He said he was careful to advise customers to make only takeout or delivery orders .
He also asked people not to sit down and eat food on the premises , Griffin said .
But some did anyway .
There was also live music playing in the pub .
By around 7 p.m. , South Pasadena @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , showed up to Griffins of Kinsale for the third time — and on this visit , they were accompanied by someone from the L.A. County Department of Public Health .
The pub was closed on what Griffin called his “ most important night of the year.
” The pub owner is convinced the complaints came from other businesses .
“ I ’ m not going to name names , because it doesn ’ t help , but we weren ’ t the only business open that night , ” Griffin said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaints until the day of , and I firmly believe those came from other area businesses and from a few people determined to shut us down.
” But the reaction on social media suggests the anger was broader than that .
South Pasadena resident Steve Zikman said that as he passed the pub , he was incensed by the crowd , the noise — and what he took as a lack of concern in the face of a pandemic that was causing mass layoffs and fear .
Zikman channeled his outrage on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not before calling South Pasadena police to report the pub .
Zikman was upset “ with everybody there sitting close to each other , drinking , socializing , and ignoring all of the social distancing rules that we ’ re all trying to get used to , ” he wrote .
“ We ’ re all making sacrifices and these guys can ’ t close on St. Paddy ’ s Day , ” Zikman later told The Times .
The earliest complaints came midday Tuesday when people on Facebook expressed their anger on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaints include accusations that Griffin “ put the community at risk for money , ” demonstrated “ dangerous behavior ” and made a decision that was an “ utter disgrace.
” Josh Albrektson said he yelled at bar patrons while posting a video on Twitter of the pub waiting on seated guests .
He also tagged South Pasadena police and gave live updates Tuesday from 6:45 p.m. until the bar closed down about 15 minutes later .
“ I opened the door and screamed at them that they were all … horrible people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The cops with county health came 5 minutes later to shut them down.
” South Pasadena Deputy Chief Brian Solinsky said police first visited the pub at 12:48 p.m. to deliver Griffin orders from the county telling the business owner his establishment could serve only takeout or delivery orders .
Solinsky said officers returned at 3:08 p.m. to issue a health and safety code citation carrying a possible fine of $ 1,000 .
The final meeting , according to Solinsky , was with police and a county environmental health specialist , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which carried a mandatory inspection by county officials before the bar could reopen .
Solinsky said Griffins of Kinsale was the only business fined that evening .
Griffin didn ’ t find sympathy from people who work at businesses that closed , including Teamorrow , a Taiwanese tea shop and eatery .
“ They were open and they didn ’ t change anything , unlike everyone else , ” said Juanita Diaz , 18 , a barista .
Teamorrow co-owner Yi Wang , 33 , was confused by what was going on at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t understand that there were some changes that needed to be made , ” Wang said .
“ I don ’ t know , but maybe they weren ’ t aware.
” Griffin said that he was caught flat-footed and that he had received several calls from residents who expressed their hope the Irish pub would open on St. Patrick ’ s Day .
He also said that with so many orders — from the state , from cities , from the county — it was hard to keep up .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ said on Sunday [ March 15 ] , and he said for restaurants to have less than 250 people and to do social distancing , ” Griffin said .
“ That night , we had probably 20 to 25 people , and there was proper spacing.
” Griffin added that diners who were sitting at tables did so only to wait for takeout orders .
Moreover , he ended up losing money , he insisted .
One thing ’ s for sure , Griffin said : Everything is moving so fast .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last couple of days has been amazing , ” he said .
“ I was open Saturday and Sunday and nobody said anything .
Nobody said anything on Monday .
Then Tuesday rolls around , and all of a sudden I ’ m this horrible person .
”

The Griffins of Kinsale Irish pub in South Pasadena was open Tuesday for St. Patrick’s Day after local and state calls for bars to close were issued.
The yelling and complaining outside the Griffins of Kinsale Irish pub in South Pasadena might have only seemed louder than the partying going on inside.
But bar owner Joseph Griffin definitely heard it on St. Patrick’s Day.
That night, he had committed what is for many now a cardinal sin: He opened his pub on the city’s iconic Mission Street right smack in the middle of the great coronavirus shutdown.
Some angry residents screamed at bar patrons and posted the video on Twitter. Others lambasted Griffin on Facebook.
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The “quarantine shaming” was on.
“I’ve been here for eight years,” Griffin said inside his bar two days later. “To have people call me and my business out online so viciously — in some cases, to have people screaming at me and the employees of this bar — was incredible.”
Since March 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, including L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, have ramped up a series of efforts to shut down nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Though many people feeling like they need a stiff drink during these trying times might disagree, bars were considered nonessential. But if Griffin, a father of 11, felt alone in the midst of the backlash, he was far from it.
Even if officials, including law enforcement, aren’t ready or able to crack down on everyone violating the shutdown orders, there’s always an abundance of online cops ready to be deputized to do the honors.
From California to Florida, the shaming has taken several forms — against bars, gyms, a chamber of commerce shindig promoted on Instagram. Individuals who have participated in large gatherings have also ended up on the pokey end of social media barbs.
Last week, “CBS Evening News” posted a 50-second clip on Twitter of daring — and possibly inebriated — college students flocking to Miami Beach for spring break and vowing, one after another, not to let the coronavirus rain on their party.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying,” one declared.
"I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying": Some spring break visitors in South Florida lamented the restricted access to beaches and entertainment as public health and government officials race against the clock to curtail the spreading coronavirus. https://t.co/8gBUuhcskw pic.twitter.com/LQKBQO5SwG — CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 18, 2020
The post received more than 900,000 views and hundreds of comments from Twitter users calling the spring breakers everything from “selfish” to “stupid” for disregarding COVID-19 safety precautions such as social distancing and staying home.
Eventually, mayors from Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale closed their beaches even though Florida’s governor did not.
In Griffin’s case, he said he didn’t know his pub was supposed to be closed when he opened it Tuesday at 7 a.m. The day before, the city of South Pasadena had issued a closure of all bars, but Griffin said that he wasn’t aware of the order and that no one from the city reached out.
He said he was careful to advise customers to make only takeout or delivery orders. He also asked people not to sit down and eat food on the premises, Griffin said. But some did anyway. There was also live music playing in the pub.
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By around 7 p.m., South Pasadena police, tipped off by angry residents, showed up to Griffins of Kinsale for the third time — and on this visit, they were accompanied by someone from the L.A. County Department of Public Health. The pub was closed on what Griffin called his “most important night of the year.”
The pub owner is convinced the complaints came from other businesses.
“I’m not going to name names, because it doesn’t help, but we weren’t the only business open that night,” Griffin said. “I didn’t hear any complaints until the day of, and I firmly believe those came from other area businesses and from a few people determined to shut us down.”
Pub owner Joseph Griffin, right, with employee Robert Vazquez, said he was not serving dine-in patrons Tuesday. He believes other businesses targeted him. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
But the reaction on social media suggests the anger was broader than that.
South Pasadena resident Steve Zikman said that as he passed the pub, he was incensed by the crowd, the noise — and what he took as a lack of concern in the face of a pandemic that was causing mass layoffs and fear.
Zikman channeled his outrage on a local, private Facebook page, but not before calling South Pasadena police to report the pub.
Zikman was upset “with everybody there sitting close to each other, drinking, socializing, and ignoring all of the social distancing rules that we’re all trying to get used to,” he wrote.
“We’re all making sacrifices and these guys can’t close on St. Paddy’s Day,” Zikman later told The Times.
The earliest complaints came midday Tuesday when people on Facebook expressed their anger on the pub’s page.
Some complaints include accusations that Griffin “put the community at risk for money,” demonstrated “dangerous behavior” and made a decision that was an “utter disgrace.”
Josh Albrektson said he yelled at bar patrons while posting a video on Twitter of the pub waiting on seated guests. He also tagged South Pasadena police and gave live updates Tuesday from 6:45 p.m. until the bar closed down about 15 minutes later.
The one bar in South Pasadena, Griffins next to the train station, was having a Saint Patrick’s day party. I opened the door and screamed at them that they were all sh!tty horrible people. The cops with County Health came 5 minutes later to shut them down. pic.twitter.com/ePYMoSJsf5 — Josh (@JalbyMD) March 18, 2020
“I opened the door and screamed at them that they were all … horrible people,” Albrektson tweeted at 6:45. “The cops with county health came 5 minutes later to shut them down.”
South Pasadena Deputy Chief Brian Solinsky said police first visited the pub at 12:48 p.m. to deliver Griffin orders from the county telling the business owner his establishment could serve only takeout or delivery orders.
Solinsky said officers returned at 3:08 p.m. to issue a health and safety code citation carrying a possible fine of $1,000.
The final meeting, according to Solinsky, was with police and a county environmental health specialist, who delivered the pub yet another citation, which carried a mandatory inspection by county officials before the bar could reopen.
Solinsky said Griffins of Kinsale was the only business fined that evening.
Griffin didn’t find sympathy from people who work at businesses that closed, including Teamorrow, a Taiwanese tea shop and eatery.
“They were open and they didn’t change anything, unlike everyone else,” said Juanita Diaz, 18, a barista.
Teamorrow co-owner Yi Wang, 33, was confused by what was going on at the pub.
“Maybe some people didn’t understand that there were some changes that needed to be made,” Wang said. “I don’t know, but maybe they weren’t aware.”
Griffin said that he was caught flat-footed and that he had received several calls from residents who expressed their hope the Irish pub would open on St. Patrick’s Day. He also said that with so many orders — from the state, from cities, from the county — it was hard to keep up.
“I was following what the governor said on Sunday [March 15], and he said for restaurants to have less than 250 people and to do social distancing,” Griffin said. “That night, we had probably 20 to 25 people, and there was proper spacing.”
Griffin added that diners who were sitting at tables did so only to wait for takeout orders. Moreover, he ended up losing money, he insisted.
One thing’s for sure, Griffin said: Everything is moving so fast.
“The way attitudes have changed just in the last couple of days has been amazing,” he said. “I was open Saturday and Sunday and nobody said anything. Nobody said anything on Monday. Then Tuesday rolls around, and all of a sudden I’m this horrible person.”