latimes--2020-05-02--Column: These researchers aren't waiting for COVID-19 answers, they're finding them

In Las Vegas , an ER doctor infected by COVID-19 was critically ill and getting worse , and his chest X-ray gave him a fright .
“ I looked at it and thought , ‘ My God , I ’ m gon na die.
’ ” But a call went out to a California pathologist , and soon a medical courier was driving from Santa Maria to Nevada with a container of frozen plasma packed in a cooler box .
Meanwhile , as the COVID-19 death toll rose , with first responders and healthcare workers among the victims , UCLA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wait around for government support for something she thought could help crack some of the mysteries of the coronavirus and save lives .
So she launched the effort on her own .
These two stories , one in Las Vegas and one in Los Angeles , are not directly related but there ’ s an obvious connection .
We ’ re in a scary , uncertain place at the moment , and may be for quite a while .
But it ’ s comforting to know that when it comes to the science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to keep people alive in the meantime , the race to beat the virus is being waged on many fronts .
Let me start with the UCLA effort and then get back to the Las Vegas doctor who feared he might not pull through .
Before I spoke to Dr. Rimoin , The Times had reported that 3,100 healthcare workers in California had tested positive for COVID-19 in California .
Ten of them had died .
“ We have a moral duty ” to protect those workers , Rimoin said .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lines is that they ’ re terrified , they ’ re living in hotels , they ’ re making out wills , they ’ re living in garages not knowing about their status , ” and not wanting to expose loved ones , she added .
Rimoin , an infectious disease expert who developed a healthcare worker monitoring program in Democratic Republic of the Congo , told me she wanted to replicate that model here .
Rather than write grant proposals and wait months to hear back , she went to a trusted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a virology immunology expert who oversees 200 research labs in 18 countries — and together they started the UCLA COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative .
The effort will try to determine how many workers test positive without symptoms , look for signs of pre-symptomatic infection , seek to better understand how the body builds immunity and how durable that protection is , examine the prevalence of reinfection , begin building a plasma bank to provide antibody serum to patients , and aid efforts to develop vaccines and other therapies .
“ The body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ army .
It makes antibodies that go and neutralize a virus , ” Aldrovandi said , and the research is about developing an arsenal of ammunition .
Rimoin and Aldrovandi tapped “ every resource we had between us ” for start-up money .
Donations came from — among others — Hollywood A-listers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson , both of whom are COVID-19 survivors .
In its first phase , the program has already enrolled several hundred UCLA healthcare workers , including doctors , nurses , medical aides and room attendants , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saliva samples and blood draws .
They ’ re hoping to increase that number to 4,000 workers , the doctors said .
And then , if they can raise more money , they ’ d like to add 4,000 first responders to the study , along with 4,000 more healthcare workers from community hospitals .
“ I ’ m a big fan of this and it ’ s going to give us some information we don ’ t currently have , ” said Dr. Clayton Kazan , medical director of the L.A. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have a few thousand employees participate in the research as the UCLA effort ramps up .
The county fire department has already had 17 employees test positive , Kazan said .
He said that despite strict personal protection requirements for paramedics and other employees , many firefighters consider themselves invincible , and he worries that , as time passes , they will start being more lax , on the theory that they have probably already been exposed , built immunity to COVID-19 and are now safe .
Regular screening , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isolate infected employees , limit the spread of the virus and remind first responders they they can ’ t relax self-protection protocols .
Let me get back now to the story of Dr. Garrett Emery , the ER physician who took ill in Las Vegas .
I heard about Emery from Dr. George Yu , the Camarillo lung specialist I wrote about two weeks ago when he recruited a convalescing COVID-19 patient to donate plasma that was given to two critical COVID-19 patients .
The first recipient died ; the second , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the brink of death but is still hospitalized .
“ I began feeling ill the first week of April , ” Dr. Emery told me by phone .
He ’ s a traveling ER doctor but lives in Las Vegas .
“ I had difficulty breathing , a cough … some unusual sensations throughout my body and a burning in my chest .
It almost felt like I could feel my lungs being damaged , ” said Emery , who also had a horrible metallic taste in his mouth .
A doctor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been in the news as a possible cure with potentially harmful side effects , and Zithromax , an antibiotic .
Emery only got worse .
He has an oximeter , the finger clip that measures the level of oxygen in the blood , and saw that he was in the low 80s .
“ It should be in the high 90s , ” Emery said .
“ My respiratory rate increased , I was breathing very quickly and at that point I realized , ‘ I got ta go to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morning of April 16 .
His lab work was not great and a chest X-ray showed moderate lung congestion .
He wanted to go home and nurse himself , but kept getting worse , to the point he feared he might have to be intubated and put on a ventilator .
Doctors tried high-flow oxygen for a day , then took another chest X-ray .
“ It was one of the worst X-rays I have seen with this disease .
Both my lungs were filled with gunk , ” Emery said .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recommended an infusion of convalescent plasma .
One of them called Marissa Li , a California-based pathologist with Vitalant , a nonprofit blood donation company that ’ s accepting and distributing plasma donations .
Li located some plasma that matched Emery ’ s blood type at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria .
A courier drove the plasma to Las Vegas on April 19 and the infusion began around midnight .
“ So the next day was the 20th and I was still bad , but in the afternoon things started to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Emery said .
“ On the morning of the 21st , 36 hours after the infusion , I felt 30 % to 40 % better .
… I had no fever for the first day in two weeks .
… I got my taste back and was able to get the oxygen turned all the way off.
” When someone recovers from COVID-19 , it ’ s not clear why they improved , or whether they would have gotten better without medication .
But Emery said he strongly believes the serum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a phone conversation with Dr. Yu made him all the more certain .
Yu told me he studied Emery ’ s lab work in collaboration with Emery ’ s doctors in Nevada .
He said Emery was in the midst of a cytokine storm , an often fatal condition in which the body attacks its own cells .
“ As a lung specialist and critical-care specialist , I ’ ve never seen a turnaround like this , ” Yu said .
“ I ’ ve seen many cytokine storms , but I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stage and then make a U-turn.
” Emery went home a few days after receiving the infusion and told me he plans to return to work on Friday .
So here ’ s hoping he continues to soldier on , that the UCLA researchers find ways to better understand what we ’ re up against , and that we continue to fight back with everything we have .

Those on the COVID-19 front lines are at high risk of contracting the disease. A new effort by UCLA professors aims to monitor their health.
In Las Vegas, an ER doctor infected by COVID-19 was critically ill and getting worse, and his chest X-ray gave him a fright.
“I looked at it and thought, ‘My God, I’m gonna die.’”
But a call went out to a California pathologist, and soon a medical courier was driving from Santa Maria to Nevada with a container of frozen plasma packed in a cooler box.
Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 death toll rose, with first responders and healthcare workers among the victims, UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin was not about to wait around for government support for something she thought could help crack some of the mysteries of the coronavirus and save lives.
UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin. (Jilly Wendell)
So she launched the effort on her own.
These two stories, one in Las Vegas and one in Los Angeles, are not directly related but there’s an obvious connection.
We’re in a scary, uncertain place at the moment, and may be for quite a while. But it’s comforting to know that when it comes to the science of developing vaccines, and valiant efforts to keep people alive in the meantime, the race to beat the virus is being waged on many fronts.
Let me start with the UCLA effort and then get back to the Las Vegas doctor who feared he might not pull through.
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Before I spoke to Dr. Rimoin, The Times had reported that 3,100 healthcare workers in California had tested positive for COVID-19 in California. Ten of them had died.
Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 people tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work for their own safety last month in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“We have a moral duty” to protect those workers, Rimoin said. “The first thing about people on the front lines is that they’re terrified, they’re living in hotels, they’re making out wills, they’re living in garages not knowing about their status,” and not wanting to expose loved ones, she added.
Rimoin, an infectious disease expert who developed a healthcare worker monitoring program in Democratic Republic of the Congo, told me she wanted to replicate that model here. Rather than write grant proposals and wait months to hear back, she went to a trusted colleague at UCLA — Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, a virology immunology expert who oversees 200 research labs in 18 countries — and together they started the UCLA COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative.
Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, a virology immunology expert. (Handout)
The effort will try to determine how many workers test positive without symptoms, look for signs of pre-symptomatic infection, seek to better understand how the body builds immunity and how durable that protection is, examine the prevalence of reinfection, begin building a plasma bank to provide antibody serum to patients, and aid efforts to develop vaccines and other therapies.
“The body sees a pathogen and rallies up an army. It makes antibodies that go and neutralize a virus,” Aldrovandi said, and the research is about developing an arsenal of ammunition.
Rimoin and Aldrovandi tapped “every resource we had between us” for start-up money. Donations came from — among others — Hollywood A-listers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, both of whom are COVID-19 survivors.
In its first phase, the program has already enrolled several hundred UCLA healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, medical aides and room attendants, for repeated viral screening that includes nasal swabs, saliva samples and blood draws.
Advertisement
They’re hoping to increase that number to 4,000 workers, the doctors said. And then, if they can raise more money, they’d like to add 4,000 first responders to the study, along with 4,000 more healthcare workers from community hospitals.
“I’m a big fan of this and it’s going to give us some information we don’t currently have,” said Dr. Clayton Kazan, medical director of the L.A. County Fire Department, which is prepared to have a few thousand employees participate in the research as the UCLA effort ramps up.
The county fire department has already had 17 employees test positive, Kazan said. He said that despite strict personal protection requirements for paramedics and other employees, many firefighters consider themselves invincible, and he worries that, as time passes, they will start being more lax, on the theory that they have probably already been exposed, built immunity to COVID-19 and are now safe.
Regular screening, he said, will make it easier to quickly isolate infected employees, limit the spread of the virus and remind first responders they they can’t relax self-protection protocols.
Let me get back now to the story of Dr. Garrett Emery, the ER physician who took ill in Las Vegas.
Dr. George Yu, a pulmonologist in Ventura County, recruited a convalescing COVID-19 patient to donate plasma that was given to two critical COVID-19 patients. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
I heard about Emery from Dr. George Yu, the Camarillo lung specialist I wrote about two weeks ago when he recruited a convalescing COVID-19 patient to donate plasma that was given to two critical COVID-19 patients. The first recipient died; the second, a Santa Maria resident, has come back from the brink of death but is still hospitalized.
“I began feeling ill the first week of April,” Dr. Emery told me by phone. He’s a traveling ER doctor but lives in Las Vegas.
“I had difficulty breathing, a cough … some unusual sensations throughout my body and a burning in my chest. It almost felt like I could feel my lungs being damaged,” said Emery, who also had a horrible metallic taste in his mouth.
A doctor prescribed hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug that’s been in the news as a possible cure with potentially harmful side effects, and Zithromax, an antibiotic. Emery only got worse. He has an oximeter, the finger clip that measures the level of oxygen in the blood, and saw that he was in the low 80s.
Dr. Garrett Emery is an ER physician who became seriously ill with the coronavirus and thought he was going to die. (Handout)
“It should be in the high 90s,” Emery said. “My respiratory rate increased, I was breathing very quickly and at that point I realized, ‘I gotta go to the hospital.’”
That was on the morning of April 16. His lab work was not great and a chest X-ray showed moderate lung congestion. He wanted to go home and nurse himself, but kept getting worse, to the point he feared he might have to be intubated and put on a ventilator.
Doctors tried high-flow oxygen for a day, then took another chest X-ray.
“It was one of the worst X-rays I have seen with this disease. Both my lungs were filled with gunk,” Emery said.
He continued to deteriorate, and his doctors recommended an infusion of convalescent plasma. One of them called Marissa Li, a California-based pathologist with Vitalant, a nonprofit blood donation company that’s accepting and distributing plasma donations. Li located some plasma that matched Emery’s blood type at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria.
When Dr. Garrett Emery continued to deteriorate, his doctors recommended an infusion of convalescent plasma. (Handout)
A courier drove the plasma to Las Vegas on April 19 and the infusion began around midnight.
“So the next day was the 20th and I was still bad, but in the afternoon things started to improve and I was requiring less oxygen,” Emery said.
“On the morning of the 21st, 36 hours after the infusion, I felt 30% to 40% better. … I had no fever for the first day in two weeks. … I got my taste back and was able to get the oxygen turned all the way off.”
When someone recovers from COVID-19, it’s not clear why they improved, or whether they would have gotten better without medication. But Emery said he strongly believes the serum did the trick for him, and a phone conversation with Dr. Yu made him all the more certain.
Yu told me he studied Emery’s lab work in collaboration with Emery’s doctors in Nevada. He said Emery was in the midst of a cytokine storm, an often fatal condition in which the body attacks its own cells.
“As a lung specialist and critical-care specialist, I’ve never seen a turnaround like this,” Yu said. “I’ve seen many cytokine storms, but I’ve never seen one progress to this stage and then make a U-turn.”
Emery went home a few days after receiving the infusion and told me he plans to return to work on Friday.
So here’s hoping he continues to soldier on, that the UCLA researchers find ways to better understand what we’re up against, and that we continue to fight back with everything we have.
Steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-05-02--Baby-sitting, dog walking, grocery runs: How some med students are helping future colleagues

When they enrolled in medical school , baby-sitting wasn ’ t part of the curriculum .
But the coronavirus has upended just about everything , including the lives of young people studying to be doctors .
Classes and exams have been moved online , while those who were learning in hospitals and clinics have been banned for their own safety , and to make room for doctors treating patients afflicted with COVID-19 .
Sidelined during a defining moment in medical history , future doctors across the nation are scrambling to find other ways to help fight COVID-19 .
Hundreds are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and picking up prescriptions for colleagues on the front lines .
Others are making face masks , organizing blood drives and helping test homeless people for the virus .
“ I always wondered , ‘ Why is it so difficult to go to medical school ?
Why do they expect so much from undergrads , with all these extracurriculars ... and things outside of how well you can take a test ?
” said Joseph Kidane , a third-year medical student at UC San Francisco .
“ I ’ ve seen so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these innovative , creative ideas and solutions and be helpful and identify communities at risk during these difficult times , and now it makes sense.
” As governors in March began to issue stay-at-home orders to stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus , medical students across the country began brainstorming .
Students from dozens of schools shared ideas in a chat room on Slack called “ Med Students vs. COVID-19 , ” which now has more than 800 members discussing ways to be useful beyond patient care .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the hospital right now , ” said Elyse Conley , a third-year medical student at UCLA .
“ Frankly , we ’ re a waste of PPE.
” Conley and other UCLA medical students joined forces in March to begin collecting , volunteering at food banks and offering child care to healthcare workers as schools and day-care facilities shuttered indefinitely .
To set up the baby-sitting program , Conley sought guidance from medical students at the University of Minnesota , who were among the first to offer such a service .
Students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out to the Minnesota team for advice on forming similar programs , its leaders said .
UCLA ’ s program now provides about 700 hours of baby-sitting services weekly for children of essential workers , Conley said .
The service is offered for free , but families can pay the students if they wish .
In March , Samantha Peache began panicking when she could no longer take her 8-year-old son , Jordan , to school .
A single mom , Peache works as a patient navigator in UCLA ’ s radiation oncology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she said .
She initially dropped off Jordan for play dates at friends ’ houses , but finding parents to watch her son became more difficult as fear about COVID-19 spread .
Peache became desperate .
She installed a nanny cam in her son ’ s room and adjusted her work schedule so she worked only mornings .
She watched her son sleep in their apartment while she was at work and then tried to return home shortly after he woke up .
“ I don ’ t have any family or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in California , ” she said .
“ It ’ s super frustrating — very stressful.
” Since she connected with the child-care program , a medical student comes to her apartment on weekdays to watch Jordan .
Two students rotate shifts : One plays video games with him ; another bakes and plays hide-and-seek with him .
With the help of the volunteers , Peache is looking to switch her work schedule back to full-time , she said .
Usually , due to concerns about the virus , child-care programs match each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t work with anyone else .
Healthcare-worker parents and medical-student sitters are well aware of the risks from exposure to new people , said Hope Schwartz , a UC San Francisco medical student who oversees that university ’ s child-care program .
“ Working with small kids , you can ’ t keep six feet of distance , ” Schwartz said .
We encourage “ a lot of hand washing — to make that an activity that they do with the kid very frequently — and things like that just to mitigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medical students across the country also have sewn cloth face coverings and held collection drives to gather N95 masks that people had in their garages and closets .
At UCLA , volunteers meet regularly to build sterile face shields that are then donated to providers , said Rose Paneno , a medical student who oversees the PPE effort .
“ I ’ m not trained to be of much help in the hospital settings , but of course sitting this out didn ’ t seem like a plausible option for me , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know if I could ’ ve lived with myself if I didn ’ t do something.
” Many medical students say the pandemic has reaffirmed their desire to work in healthcare but also has exposed cracks in the system .
Inequities in access to medical care and a profit-driven healthcare system are more problematic than ever , they said .
As news of the coronavirus began to spread , Kim Lau , a first-year medical student at California Northstate University , worried about homeless encampments .
Many unsheltered people are already in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a way to seek medical care .
Lau formed a group of medical students who are now triaging people at homeless encampments in Sacramento County and testing them for COVID-19 , as well as providing basic first aid and other healthcare to those without the coronavirus infection .
The team now consists of 23 medical students from Northstate as well as UC Davis .
“ COVID was just kind of like the breaking point in the system , ” Lau said .
“ Building PPE and doing child care for healthcare workers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to volunteer to pick up these things .
...
The reality is , this should not be a need.
” “ We ’ re having a lot of conversations about how this isn ’ t a long-term solution , ” she said .

UCLA medical student Vivian Hu makes face shields with other volunteers at Geffen Hall last week to help support doctors on the front lines.
When they enrolled in medical school, baby-sitting wasn’t part of the curriculum.
But the coronavirus has upended just about everything, including the lives of young people studying to be doctors. Classes and exams have been moved online, while those who were learning in hospitals and clinics have been banned for their own safety, and to make room for doctors treating patients afflicted with COVID-19.
Sidelined during a defining moment in medical history, future doctors across the nation are scrambling to find other ways to help fight COVID-19. Hundreds are baby-sitting, dog walking, grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions for colleagues on the front lines. Others are making face masks, organizing blood drives and helping test homeless people for the virus.
Advertisement
“I always wondered, ‘Why is it so difficult to go to medical school? Why do they expect so much from undergrads, with all these extracurriculars ... and things outside of how well you can take a test?” said Joseph Kidane, a third-year medical student at UC San Francisco. “I’ve seen so many of my classmates come up with all of these innovative, creative ideas and solutions and be helpful and identify communities at risk during these difficult times, and now it makes sense.”
As governors in March began to issue stay-at-home orders to stop the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, medical students across the country began brainstorming. Students from dozens of schools shared ideas in a chat room on Slack called “Med Students vs. COVID-19,” which now has more than 800 members discussing ways to be useful beyond patient care.
“It’s not right for us to be in the hospital right now,” said Elyse Conley, a third-year medical student at UCLA. “Frankly, we’re a waste of PPE.”
Conley and other UCLA medical students joined forces in March to begin collecting donations of protective gear , volunteering at food banks and offering child care to healthcare workers as schools and day-care facilities shuttered indefinitely.
To set up the baby-sitting program, Conley sought guidance from medical students at the University of Minnesota, who were among the first to offer such a service. Students from more than 120 schools have reached out to the Minnesota team for advice on forming similar programs, its leaders said.
Advertisement
UCLA’s program now provides about 700 hours of baby-sitting services weekly for children of essential workers, Conley said. The service is offered for free, but families can pay the students if they wish.
In March, Samantha Peache began panicking when she could no longer take her 8-year-old son, Jordan, to school. A single mom, Peache works as a patient navigator in UCLA’s radiation oncology department, which is busier than ever, she said.
She initially dropped off Jordan for play dates at friends’ houses, but finding parents to watch her son became more difficult as fear about COVID-19 spread.
Peache became desperate. She installed a nanny cam in her son’s room and adjusted her work schedule so she worked only mornings. She watched her son sleep in their apartment while she was at work and then tried to return home shortly after he woke up.
“I don’t have any family or any kind of other help out here in California,” she said. “It’s super frustrating — very stressful.”
Now that she has connected with the child-care program, a medical student comes to her apartment on weekdays to watch Jordan. Two students rotate shifts: One plays video games with him; another bakes and plays hide-and-seek with him. With the help of the volunteers, Peache is looking to switch her work schedule back to full-time, she said.
Usually, due to concerns about the virus, child-care programs match each family with one sitter, who doesn’t work with anyone else. Healthcare-worker parents and medical-student sitters are well aware of the risks from exposure to new people, said Hope Schwartz, a UC San Francisco medical student who oversees that university’s child-care program.
“Working with small kids, you can’t keep six feet of distance,” Schwartz said. The program encourages “a lot of hand washing — to make that an activity that they do with the kid very frequently — and things like that just to mitigate the risk as much as possible.”
Medical students across the country also have sewn cloth face coverings and held collection drives to gather N95 masks that people had in their garages and closets. At UCLA, volunteers meet regularly to build sterile face shields that are then donated to providers, said Rose Paneno, a medical student who oversees the PPE effort.
“I’m not trained to be of much help in the hospital settings, but of course sitting this out didn’t seem like a plausible option for me,” Paneno said. “I don’t know if I could’ve lived with myself if I didn’t do something.”
Many medical students say the pandemic has reaffirmed their desire to work in healthcare but also has exposed cracks in the system. Inequities in access to medical care and a profit-driven healthcare system are more problematic than ever, they said.
As news of the coronavirus began to spread, Kim Lau, a first-year medical student at California Northstate University, worried about homeless encampments. Many unsheltered people are already in poor health and don’t have a way to seek medical care.
Lau formed a group of medical students who are now triaging people at homeless encampments in Sacramento County and testing them for COVID-19, as well as providing basic first aid and other healthcare to those without the infection. The team now consists of 23 medical students from Northstate as well as UC Davis.
“COVID was just kind of like the breaking point in the system,” Lau said. “Building PPE and doing child care for healthcare workers, the fact that medical students are having to volunteer to pick up these things. ... The reality is, this should not be a need.
“We’re having a lot of conversations about how this isn’t a long-term solution,” she said.


latimes--2020-05-02--Thousands of healthcare workers are laid off or furloughed as coronavirus spreads

Healthcare workers , championed as heroes of the COVID-19 crisis and applauded for risking their lives to protect others , have been hit especially hard by the severe economic fallout wrought by the pandemic .
In California , thousands of nurses , doctors and other medical staff have been laid off or furloughed or have taken a pay cut since mid-March .
The pain has been felt broadly , from major facilities such as Stanford Health Care to tiny rural hospitals to private practitioners .
Across the nation , job losses in the healthcare sector have been second only to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to federal labor statistics .
Hospitals and doctors ’ offices lost billions in revenue when they canceled elective surgeries and non-emergent visits to prepare for a possible surge in COVID-19 patients and to reduce the spread of the virus .
Patients also began scheduling fewer appointments and avoiding the hospital , even for medical emergencies , creating another hit for providers who were already hurting .
The surge , in places where it did arrive , was not enough to compensate for the losses , experts say .
American healthcare is a business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fewer patients means less money .
And though some California hospitals are beginning to schedule elective surgeries again , experts say the healthcare industry is unlikely to bounce back immediately , as large swaths of the population are now struggling to make ends meet and may continue to avoid or put off medical care .
“ For 35 years , job prospects in healthcare have been great , ” said USC health economist Glenn Melnick .
“ This time , I think it ’ s going to have to slow down quite a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cope with lower revenue “ in a permanent way.
” Marvin O ’ Quinn , president and chief operating officer of CommonSpirit Health , described the current financial crunch as “ extraordinarily severe.
” CommonSpirit , which has hospitals and other care centers in 21 states and is the parent company of San Francisco-based Dignity Health , has seen an average revenue drop of about 40 % .
“ I have never seen anything like this , ” O ’ Quinn said .
“ Healthcare typically has been a resilient entity even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recession , because no matter what ’ s going on in the economy , people still need healthcare .
But this thing hits everybody.
” For the past five years , Lori Isham has helped patients prepare for and recover from surgeries as a pre-op nurse at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido .
She was furloughed when all elective procedures were canceled in March .
On Wednesday , she was permanently laid off , along with 316 others .
Isham noted the irony in state leaders summoning thousands of health workers to volunteer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge numbers were losing their jobs .
In some hospitals , the same nurses asked to prepare to pitch in at departments treating COVID-19 patients are now facing cuts .
“ It ’ s embarrassing , ” Isham said .
“ Everyone was like , ‘ Come out of the woodwork : If you haven ’ t finished nursing school , we need you , and if you ’ re retired we need you , ’ and we ’ re like , ‘ We ’ re laid off.
’ ” Palomar Health , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Diego County , lost $ 5.7 million in March alone due to a 50 % drop in patient visits that began mid-month , according to the health system .
The losses in April are expected to be much worse , officials said .
“ No one could have predicted the tragic impact this virus would have on our economy , ” said Palomar Health Chief Executive Diane Hansen in a call with reporters this week .
“ This year was supposed to be about growth for Palomar Health , and us taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now forced to take a step back.
” Melnick estimated that California hospitals typically generate $ 8 billion in revenue monthly , but in the first month of the pandemic , they earned about $ 6 billion .
Those losses were compounded by unexpected expenses to prepare for a surge , such as bringing in extra staffing and renting hotel rooms for doctors treating COVID-19 patients , he said .
Financial assistance from the federal government is expected to help healthcare providers stay afloat , but it is unclear how long cuts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic will be a stress test that is especially challenging for rural hospitals and private practices , already working with slim margins .
When Dr. Sumana Reddy , a family medicine doctor in Salinas , noticed a significant drop in people seeking routine care at her private practice , she began offering telehealth visits to her patients and even offered to treat them in the parking lot so they wouldn ’ t have to come into the office .
Revenue at private practices in California has dropped by an average of 64 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent survey of 3,246 practices conducted by the California Medical Assn .
Half of the practices have furloughed or laid off staff , 65 % have reduced their hours , a third have instituted pay cuts and 11 % have closed temporarily , the survey found .
Reddy recently received advances from Medicare and a forgivable loan through the Small Business Administration ’ s Paycheck Protection Program that covers two months of her employees ’ salaries .
But the pressures have not disappeared .
She knows that after the 60-day cushion of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to find ways to build back up .
“ It doesn ’ t solve four months from now , but it gives me the confidence to keep going , ” Reddy said .
The shortfall could persist as long as the financial recession wears on , Melnick warned .
Millions of Californians lost their jobs and therefore their health insurance due to the pandemic .
Those people will likely remain uninsured or will switch to Medi-Cal or Covered California , coverage options that bring in less revenue for providers than do commercial insurance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goes back to where it was , there ’ s going to be a permanent shift in the landscape , ” Melnick said .
“ I ’ m going to get a lot less money for the same service.
” New furlough requirements at Stanford Health Care mean that Sarah Jane Von Wettberg , a hospital cook , must take 12 days off ; she chose a mix of paid and unpaid leave .
Von Wettberg , who earns $ 66,000 per year , worries that the financial crunch will make it much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and care for her elderly parents .
“ It ’ s just going to be detrimental to the whole family , ” said Von Wettberg , a member of the labor union Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West .
“ Simple food , major stuff that I need to provide .
It ’ s going to be tough.
” Nonunion Stanford employees could choose between using paid time off for furlough days or taking a 20 % pay reduction over a 10-week period .
In all , approximately 14,000 workers are affected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not make sense to me in a time of pandemic , ” said Von Wettberg , 43 .
“ How come Stanford — it ’ s a renowned hospital that really claims to go for the community and serve the patients and really do a lot of good research and development — and all of a sudden , a 20 % reduction ?
” In a statement to The Times , Stanford officials called the cuts a “ difficult but necessary decision to sustain the long-term health of the organizations.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ globally , and we are no exception , ” they said .
Experts say rural hospitals , many already on their last legs , are likely to suffer the most .
The pandemic could permanently reshape the hospital landscape , O ’ Quinn said .
“ My guess is that , financially , some hospitals will not be able to recover , ” he said .
Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata , in Humboldt County , furloughed 100 staff members last month due to a 50 % drop in revenue because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
The hospital has yet to admit a single COVID-19 patient , said spokeswoman Pamela Floyd .
Even if the hospital begins doing elective surgeries tomorrow , it typically takes months to receive payment from insurers , she said , so it will be a while before the hospital climbs out of the hole .
The hit has forced the hospital to reconsider its model and the services it provides , she said .
“ We only have a profit margin of 2 % to 3 % .
Take away 50 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” she said .
Times staff writers Anita Chabria and Ben Poston contributed to this report .

The Stanford Health Care system is making across-the-board cuts due to the financial squeeze from the pandemic.
Healthcare workers, championed as heroes of the COVID-19 crisis and applauded for risking their lives to protect others, have been hit especially hard by the severe economic fallout wrought by the pandemic.
In California, thousands of nurses, doctors and other medical staff have been laid off or furloughed or have taken a pay cut since mid-March. The pain has been felt broadly, from major facilities such as Stanford Health Care to tiny rural hospitals to private practitioners. Across the nation, job losses in the healthcare sector have been second only to those in the restaurant industry, according to federal labor statistics.
For the record: This article has been updated to clarify that Stanford Health Care cook Sarah Jane Von Wettberg chose a mix of paid and unpaid leave to comply with new furlough requirements.
Hospitals and doctors’ offices lost billions in revenue when they canceled elective surgeries and non-emergent visits to prepare for a possible surge in COVID-19 patients and to reduce the spread of the virus.
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Patients also began scheduling fewer appointments and avoiding the hospital, even for medical emergencies, creating another hit for providers who were already hurting. The surge, in places where it did arrive, was not enough to compensate for the losses, experts say.
American healthcare is a business, and the economics are simple: Fewer patients means less money. And though some California hospitals are beginning to schedule elective surgeries again, experts say the healthcare industry is unlikely to bounce back immediately, as large swaths of the population are now struggling to make ends meet and may continue to avoid or put off medical care.
“For 35 years, job prospects in healthcare have been great,” said USC health economist Glenn Melnick. “This time, I think it’s going to have to slow down quite a bit” as hospitals and clinics learn to cope with lower revenue “in a permanent way.”
Marvin O’Quinn, president and chief operating officer of CommonSpirit Health, described the current financial crunch as “extraordinarily severe.” CommonSpirit, which has hospitals and other care centers in 21 states and is the parent company of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, has seen an average revenue drop of about 40%.
“I have never seen anything like this,” O’Quinn said. “Healthcare typically has been a resilient entity even in the midst of a depression or recession, because no matter what’s going on in the economy, people still need healthcare. But this thing hits everybody.”
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California Newsom teases announcement in ‘days, not weeks’ on reopening California The governor has described the next phase of his stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of coronavirus as allowing some lower-risk businesses to reopen in communities across California, including retail locations, manufacturing sites and small businesses.
For the past five years, Lori Isham has helped patients prepare for and recover from surgeries as a pre-op nurse at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. She was furloughed when all elective procedures were canceled in March. On Wednesday, she was permanently laid off, along with 316 others.
Isham noted the irony in state leaders summoning thousands of health workers to volunteer on the front lines against COVID-19 while huge numbers were losing their jobs. In some hospitals, the same nurses asked to prepare to pitch in at departments treating COVID-19 patients are now facing cuts.
“It’s embarrassing,” Isham said. “Everyone was like, ‘Come out of the woodwork: If you haven’t finished nursing school, we need you, and if you’re retired we need you,’ and we’re like, ‘We’re laid off.’”
Palomar Health, which runs three medical centers in northern San Diego County, lost $5.7 million in March alone due to a 50% drop in patient visits that began mid-month, according to the health system. The losses in April are expected to be much worse, officials said.
“No one could have predicted the tragic impact this virus would have on our economy,” said Palomar Health Chief Executive Diane Hansen in a call with reporters this week. “This year was supposed to be about growth for Palomar Health, and us taking two steps forward. Unfortunately, we are now forced to take a step back.”
Melnick estimated that California hospitals typically generate $8 billion in revenue monthly, but in the first month of the pandemic, they earned about $6 billion. Those losses were compounded by unexpected expenses to prepare for a surge, such as bringing in extra staffing and renting hotel rooms for doctors treating COVID-19 patients, he said.
Financial assistance from the federal government is expected to help healthcare providers stay afloat, but it is unclear how long cuts can be avoided. Experts say the pandemic will be a stress test that is especially challenging for rural hospitals and private practices, already working with slim margins.
When Dr. Sumana Reddy, a family medicine doctor in Salinas, noticed a significant drop in people seeking routine care at her private practice, she began offering telehealth visits to her patients and even offered to treat them in the parking lot so they wouldn’t have to come into the office.
Revenue at private practices in California has dropped by an average of 64% since March 1, according to a recent survey of 3,246 practices conducted by the California Medical Assn. Half of the practices have furloughed or laid off staff, 65% have reduced their hours, a third have instituted pay cuts and 11% have closed temporarily, the survey found.
Reddy recently received advances from Medicare and a forgivable loan through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program that covers two months of her employees’ salaries. But the pressures have not disappeared. She knows that after the 60-day cushion of the loan wears off, she will need to find ways to build back up.
“It doesn’t solve four months from now, but it gives me the confidence to keep going,” Reddy said.
The shortfall could persist as long as the financial recession wears on, Melnick warned. Millions of Californians lost their jobs and therefore their health insurance due to the pandemic. Those people will likely remain uninsured or will switch to Medi-Cal or Covered California, coverage options that bring in less revenue for providers than do commercial insurance programs.
“So even where volume goes back to where it was, there’s going to be a permanent shift in the landscape,” Melnick said. “I’m going to get a lot less money for the same service.”
New furlough requirements at Stanford Health Care mean that Sarah Jane Von Wettberg, a hospital cook, must take 12 days off; she chose a mix of paid and unpaid leave. Von Wettberg, who earns $66,000 per year, worries that the financial crunch will make it much harder for her to cover her mortgage and care for her elderly parents.
“It’s just going to be detrimental to the whole family,” said Von Wettberg, a member of the labor union Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. “Simple food, major stuff that I need to provide. It’s going to be tough.”
Nonunion Stanford employees could choose between using paid time off for furlough days or taking a 20% pay reduction over a 10-week period. In all, approximately 14,000 workers are affected by the cuts.
“It just does not make sense to me in a time of pandemic,” said Von Wettberg, 43. “How come Stanford — it’s a renowned hospital that really claims to go for the community and serve the patients and really do a lot of good research and development — and all of a sudden, a 20% reduction?”
In a statement to The Times, Stanford officials called the cuts a “difficult but necessary decision to sustain the long-term health of the organizations.”
“The current pandemic has affected many organizations globally, and we are no exception,” they said.
Experts say rural hospitals, many already on their last legs, are likely to suffer the most. The pandemic could permanently reshape the hospital landscape, O’Quinn said.
“My guess is that, financially, some hospitals will not be able to recover,” he said.
Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata, in Humboldt County, furloughed 100 staff members last month due to a 50% drop in revenue because of the cancellation of procedures due to the pandemic. The hospital has yet to admit a single COVID-19 patient, said spokeswoman Pamela Floyd.
Even if the hospital begins doing elective surgeries tomorrow, it typically takes months to receive payment from insurers, she said, so it will be a while before the hospital climbs out of the hole. The hit has forced the hospital to reconsider its model and the services it provides, she said.
“We only have a profit margin of 2% to 3%. Take away 50% of our income — it is devastating,” she said.
Times staff writers Anita Chabria and Ben Poston contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-02--In rural Northern California, pandemic crushes newspapers that delivered news and warmth during wint

In rural Northern California, pandemic crushes newspapers that delivered news and warmth during winter cold

Eight days after the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in rural Plumas County , something happened that sent shock waves through the small health department trying to keep people updated during the pandemic .
The publisher of all four of the Northern California county ’ s newspapers stopped the presses .
The Plumas County Public Health Agency had relied on them to provide residents with information about COVID-19 .
“ It ’ s been difficult trying to provide information about the pandemic ...
Unfortunately , not having a newspaper makes a difference , ” said Lori Beatly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In this region where winter can be brutal , the papers published by family-owned Feather Publishing did more than deliver the news — they literally kept people warm .
Sold in bundles , they crackled aflame in wood-burning stoves .
“ You get people upset about the content , and you get the people who worry about how they ’ re going to start their fires , ” said Debra Moore , managing editor of the Plumas County newspapers .
“ It ’ s a big , big deal .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in case we don ’ t start printing again.
” Based in the Gold Rush town of Quincy , Feather Publishing stopped printing its Plumas County papers , as well as the only two newspapers in Lassen County , in early April .
Like many other news organizations , it has been battered by staggering losses in advertising with businesses closed .
Now , there is one editor working in each county , updating their websites about COVID-19 .
“ We ’ re primarily the only game in town ; that just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said publisher Mike Taborski , who runs the business with his wife , Keri , whose parents ran it before them .
“ It was extremely painful , both for the impact it was going to have on the community , to shutter their only means of getting local , reliable news , and the impact it was going to have on our family of employees.
” The loss of a newspaper in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak has been especially painful in a mountainous region with a population that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and has less access to reliable cellphone service and the internet than urban locales .
In Plumas County , 28 % of residents are 65 or older — double the state average .
Senior citizens face the greatest risk of contracting the virus .
After the Feather River Bulletin , the Indian Valley Record , the Portola Reporter and the Chester Progressive stopped printing , the health agency sent postcards to every county resident detailing COVID-19 symptoms and stay-at-home orders .
“ It was very expensive and time-consuming , ” Beatly said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekly newspapers now call the county ’ s coronavirus phone line every few days for updates .
Perhaps the saving grace has been that the virus has spread more slowly in the vast , sparsely populated northern reaches of California .
As of Thursday , Plumas County had four confirmed cases of COVID-19 .
Lassen County had none .
Officials from a growing number of rural Northern California towns and counties have called on Gov .
Gavin Newsom to let them reopen their economies .
When a Quincy barber opened this week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County Supervisor Jeff Engel , who posed for a photo in an American flag barbershop cape while a masked man trimmed his hair .
With some 75 employees , Feather Publishing is one of Plumas County ’ s largest employers .
The publisher laid off all but two .
Feather Publishing ’ s Lassen County Times and Westwood Pine Press were the only two newspapers in Lassen County .
Sam Williams , their managing editor , is now the only person on the payroll there .
Williams has been with the company for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the graphics department , had been there for 31 before being laid off .
“ We ’ re hoping we will return when all this craziness is over , but there ’ s no guarantee , ” Williams said .
“ You ’ ve got a six-newspaper chain .
That ’ s a big ship to push back in the water.
” Over the last 15 years , the U.S. lost one in four newspapers — some 2,100 — as the internet became a primary source of information , said Penny Muse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor who studies news deserts .
The communities that lost newspapers , many of them rural , had a disproportionately high poverty rate and never fully recovered from the 2008 recession , she said .
“ The tragic part about that is these are the very communities that need the kind of information that a local newspaper provides , ” Abernathy said .
“ If you lose your local newspaper , and you ’ re in a small or mid-sized community , nobody ’ s showing up at the local school board meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Nobody is covering everyday life.
” With no newspapers in Plumas and Lassen counties , all of the counties ’ legal advertisements — the legally mandated notices of public hearings and other government business — now are sent to the nearest publication , the Mountain Messenger in neighboring Sierra County , said owner Carl Butz .
The Messenger , for which Mark Twain once wrote , is the state ’ s oldest weekly newspaper .
It has been printed on the Feather Publishing press in Quincy for the last four decades .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ saving it from closure .
After the Los Angeles Times wrote in December about the newspaper ’ s probable closure because of previous editor-publisher Don Russell ’ s struggle to sell it before retiring , subscriptions increased 20 % , Butz said .
He now mails copies to people in 36 states .
The Feather River Bulletin in Plumas County , a dutiful chronicler of the times when logging and gold mining reigned , has been around in some form since 1866 .
It never missed a week of publication before last month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hail , was convicted of manslaughter after shooting an attorney on Main Street in Quincy in 1913 .
Hail , whose wife was on the school board , had bickered with the attorney over the proposed location of a new high school and the attorney ’ s rejection from the local Masonic Lodge .
After the shooting , Hail ’ s son took over the newspaper .
Mike and Keri Taborski , both 68 , have worked for the papers since 1974 .
When the Taborskis were in high school , they hung @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Keri ’ s parents were the publishers .
Taborski said that while the paper had lost employees through attrition in recent years , he was proud of never having to do layoffs .
Stopping the presses , he said , was a gut punch .
“ Us being at the helm and having to be the ones to make that decision was awfully hard , ” he said .
Some 86 % of Feather Publishing ’ s income came from local advertising , he said .
Those ads evaporated during the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Always have been about our industry , ” Taborski said .
“ Always felt community newspapers would be alive and well for many decades to come .
This completely caught me by surprise but opened my eyes to how fragile we are.
” It ’ s hard , he said , coming to an empty newsroom every day .
Sometimes , laid-off employees pop in to use the internet and “ look at their desk.
” Managing editor Debra Moore , who now runs plumasnews.com alone , took her first job at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and earning the nickname “ Fluff ” from a crime reporter .
Her license plate reads LUV NEWS .
A few weeks ago , she assigned a reporter to pore through century-old newspapers to research how the 1918 Spanish flu affected Plumas County .
The fact that there will be no physical archive of this pandemic has hit her hard .
After the papers stopped , the phones rang nonstop .
Callers wept .

The printing office for the Plumas National, which preceded Feather Publishing, in Quincy, Calif., pictured during a snowy winter in the late 1800s.
Eight days after the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in rural Plumas County, something happened that sent shock waves through the small health department trying to keep people updated during the pandemic.
The publisher of all four of the Northern California county’s newspapers stopped the presses.
The Plumas County Public Health Agency had relied on them to provide residents with information about COVID-19.
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“It’s been difficult trying to provide information about the pandemic ... Unfortunately, not having a newspaper makes a difference,” said Lori Beatly, a spokeswoman for the health agency.
In this region where winter can be brutal, the papers published by family-owned Feather Publishing did more than deliver the news — they literally kept people warm. Sold in bundles, they crackled aflame in wood-burning stoves.
“You get people upset about the content, and you get the people who worry about how they’re going to start their fires,” said Debra Moore, managing editor of the Plumas County newspapers. “It’s a big, big deal. We’ve had people come in to stock up in case we don’t start printing again.”
Based in the Gold Rush town of Quincy, Feather Publishing stopped printing its Plumas County papers, as well as the only two newspapers in Lassen County, in early April. Like many other news organizations, it has been battered by staggering losses in advertising with businesses closed.
Now, there is one editor working in each county, updating their websites about COVID-19.
“We’re primarily the only game in town; that just made the decision that much more difficult,” said publisher Mike Taborski, who runs the business with his wife, Keri, whose parents ran it before them. “It was extremely painful, both for the impact it was going to have on the community, to shutter their only means of getting local, reliable news, and the impact it was going to have on our family of employees.”
Lassen and Plumas counties in Northern California (Matt Stiles / Los Angeles Times)
The loss of a newspaper in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak has been especially painful in a mountainous region with a population that is generally older, more geographically isolated and has less access to reliable cellphone service and the internet than urban locales.
In Plumas County, 28% of residents are 65 or older — double the state average. Senior citizens face the greatest risk of contracting the virus.
After the Feather River Bulletin, the Indian Valley Record, the Portola Reporter and the Chester Progressive stopped printing, the health agency sent postcards to every county resident detailing COVID-19 symptoms and stay-at-home orders.
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“It was very expensive and time-consuming,” Beatly said.
Some people who would otherwise read the weekly newspapers now call the county’s coronavirus phone line every few days for updates.
Perhaps the saving grace has been that the virus has spread more slowly in the vast, sparsely populated northern reaches of California. As of Thursday, Plumas County had four confirmed cases of COVID-19. Lassen County had none.
Main Street in Susanville, Calif., the seat of Lassen County. Both of the newspapers for the county have ceased print publication because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Officials from a growing number of rural Northern California towns and counties have called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to let them reopen their economies. When a Quincy barber opened this week, one of the first customers was Plumas County Supervisor Jeff Engel, who posed for a photo in an American flag barbershop cape while a masked man trimmed his hair.
With some 75 employees, Feather Publishing is one of Plumas County’s largest employers. The publisher laid off all but two.
Feather Publishing’s Lassen County Times and Westwood Pine Press were the only two newspapers in Lassen County. Sam Williams, their managing editor, is now the only person on the payroll there.
Williams has been with the company for 21 years. His wife, head of the graphics department, had been there for 31 before being laid off.
“We’re hoping we will return when all this craziness is over, but there’s no guarantee,” Williams said. “You’ve got a six-newspaper chain. That’s a big ship to push back in the water.”
Over the last 15 years, the U.S. lost one in four newspapers — some 2,100 — as the internet became a primary source of information, said Penny Muse Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies news deserts.
The communities that lost newspapers, many of them rural, had a disproportionately high poverty rate and never fully recovered from the 2008 recession, she said.
“The tragic part about that is these are the very communities that need the kind of information that a local newspaper provides,” Abernathy said. “If you lose your local newspaper, and you’re in a small or mid-sized community, nobody’s showing up at the local school board meeting. Nobody is covering local team sports. Nobody is covering everyday life.”
With no newspapers in Plumas and Lassen counties, all of the counties’ legal advertisements — the legally mandated notices of public hearings and other government business — now are sent to the nearest publication, the Mountain Messenger in neighboring Sierra County, said owner Carl Butz.
The Messenger, for which Mark Twain once wrote, is the state’s oldest weekly newspaper. It has been printed on the Feather Publishing press in Quincy for the last four decades.
Butz bought the Messenger in January, saving it from closure. After the Los Angeles Times wrote in December about the newspaper’s probable closure because of previous editor-publisher Don Russell’s struggle to sell it before retiring, subscriptions increased 20%, Butz said. He now mails copies to people in 36 states.
The Feather River Bulletin in Plumas County, a dutiful chronicler of the times when logging and gold mining reigned, has been around in some form since 1866. It never missed a week of publication before last month.
Felix Grundy Hail, owner and publisher of what was then the Plumas National-Bulletin, in the early 1900s. In 1913, Hail shot his attorney on Main Street in Quincy. His son took over the paper and ran it for years afterward. (Plumas County Museum)
One former publisher, Felix Grundy Hail, was convicted of manslaughter after shooting an attorney on Main Street in Quincy in 1913. Hail, whose wife was on the school board, had bickered with the attorney over the proposed location of a new high school and the attorney’s rejection from the local Masonic Lodge. After the shooting, Hail’s son took over the newspaper.
Mike and Keri Taborski, both 68, have worked for the papers since 1974. When the Taborskis were in high school, they hung around the press room, back when Keri’s parents were the publishers.
Taborski said that while the paper had lost employees through attrition in recent years, he was proud of never having to do layoffs. Stopping the presses, he said, was a gut punch.
“Us being at the helm and having to be the ones to make that decision was awfully hard,” he said.
Some 86% of Feather Publishing’s income came from local advertising, he said. Those ads evaporated during the pandemic.
“I am the eternal optimist. Always have been about our industry,” Taborski said. “Always felt community newspapers would be alive and well for many decades to come. This completely caught me by surprise but opened my eyes to how fragile we are.”
It’s hard, he said, coming to an empty newsroom every day. Sometimes, laid-off employees pop in to use the internet and “look at their desk.”
Managing editor Debra Moore, who now runs plumasnews.com alone, took her first job at the paper in 1993, covering lighthearted news and earning the nickname “Fluff” from a crime reporter. Her license plate reads LUV NEWS.
A few weeks ago, she assigned a reporter to pore through century-old newspapers to research how the 1918 Spanish flu affected Plumas County.
The fact that there will be no physical archive of this pandemic has hit her hard.
After the papers stopped, the phones rang nonstop. Callers wept.


latimes--2020-05-01--With no coronavirus cases, a California county defies Gov. Newsom and reopens

Modoc County , which has fewer than 9,000 residents and reported zero cases of the coronavirus , is set to become the first county in California to ease stay-at-home rules Friday , despite Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s urging to keep them in place for now .
The remote county in far Northern California , which borders Oregon and Nevada , announced that businesses , schools and churches may reopen starting Friday , as long as .
“ Our businesses are dying and people need to be able to feed their children and pay their rent , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the county ’ s Office of Emergency Services .
“ We live a different life than the rest of California .
We ’ re very rural and naturally socially distanced in our everyday lives.
” “ The health and safety of Modoc County residents is and continues to be our number one priority .
This reopening plan was made in the best interest of residents ’ physical , mental and economic health , ” the statement said .
Restaurants and bars will be allowed to host diners , but only at half the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ older and residents with underlying health conditions will still be required to stay home except to conduct essential business , and large gatherings where people can not stay six feet apart will still be banned .
Modoc County is one of four California counties that have not reported a single case of coronavirus infection .
“ This is a plan , this is not an order , ” the Modoc County Sheriff ’ s Office said in a statement .
“ This is simply what we are proposing that is eligible to open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want the option to be given to business owners so that when they feel the time is right , they can make that decision .
... We need to do this in a smart and strategic way to keep us all healthy.
” Officials have said maintaining public health will be a top priority .
“ We ’ re doing it very strategically and in stages just as the governor is recommending and we feel confident in that , ” Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy told KRCR-TV News .
“ The county in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without us , so it was in our best interest to get some framework out there and some guidelines for them to follow.
” Just because the county has started to reopen doesn ’ t mean it ’ s back to business as usual , though .
“ We encourage you all to continue to practice social distancing , good hand hygiene and to comply with the other recommendations of our public health department and with the reopening letter that Modoc County has issued , as well , ” Modoc Medical Center Chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement Friday .
“ If you are elderly or immuno-compromised , please stay at home as much as possible.
” Restaurant owner Jodie Larranaga told the Associated Press that employees were preparing to open Friday and sending out word to customers .
“ My bar tables are already far apart .
But if people pull their stools together , I ’ m not going to stop them , ” said Larranaga , who owns the Brass Rail .
“ As far as I ’ m concerned , right or wrong , that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Reopening Modoc schools , however , doesn ’ t seem to be on the agenda just yet , officials said earlier this week .
“ School districts and [ the ] Modoc County Office of Education have and will continue to work closely with Modoc County Public Health , other county agencies and stakeholder groups on plans that would bring students and staff safely back to campuses , ” county Supt .
Mike Martin wrote in a community message Wednesday .
However , “ at this time , there are no return @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the county , he added .
Martin could not be reached for additional comment Friday morning .
Not every institution that could reopen plans to do so , though .
“ It ’ s an unsure thing , ” said Ken Entwistle , senior pastor of GracePoint Church of the Nazarene in Alturas .
“ We , of course , want to open things back up but , at the same point , it ’ s that unknown.
” Entwistle said the stance of the Nazarene denomination is to follow the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll continue streaming services and devotionals via Facebook Live .
“ We need to pay attention to the prompting of the spirit and we need to look toward our authorities for some answers or some OKs , ” he said .
“ For us , Jesus Christ is the absolute authority.
” on Wednesday to stay home and practice physical distancing , saying they should avoid spoiling the progress the state has made in the coronavirus fight as he prepares to allow some businesses to reopen gradually .
“ Why put ourselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a week or two away from significant modifications of our stay-at-home [ order ] , where we can begin a Phase 2 , beginning to reopen sectors of our economy that are low risk ?
” Newsom said .
This week , the governor unveiled the to slowly ease restrictions on Californians in four stages in the weeks and months ahead .
He also announced that in July or early August , which caught some educators off-guard .
Newsom introduced the four-phase plan two weeks after he unveiled six before gradually lifting restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospital capacity and having plans in place to safely reopen businesses as well as prevent and prepare for the possibility of a second wave of infections .
He has not offered a specific timeline for the changes to be implemented .
It ’ s not yet clear how the state will respond to Modoc ’ s move .
The governor ’ s media office did not immediately answer a request for comment Friday .
When it comes to matters of public health , the state has wide powers to enact regulations and restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constitutional law professor at the University of San Francisco .
Counties and other local governments “ may enforce health and safety and sanitation rules , ” she said , “ so long as they do not conflict with the state ’ s general law.
” That doesn ’ t seem to be the case with what Modoc County has proposed , she said Friday .
“ From everything I can tell from the governor ’ s orders and what the county has said it plans to do , it appears to directly conflict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ And I think , as a matter of governmental power , the county ’ s likely to lose against the state.
” If such a conflict exists , the county could conceivably argue that the state ’ s rules are unreasonable , but Nice said that would likely be an uphill battle .
“ Just thinking logically , a contagious infection does not respect county boundaries , ” she said .
“ And so I would be very surprised if any court would find the state ’ s statewide rules to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very low bar.
” Should Newsom decide to intervene , Nice said the governor could negotiate directly with county officials to hammer out a resolution or , barring that , the state could turn to the courts to block the reopening plan .
“ The general police power of a state , and particularly when it ’ s applied in the public health context , puts the courts in a position of really being extremely reluctant to second-guess the judgment calls of the scientific experts , ” she said .

Leila Miller, Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money

The old county courthouse in the Modoc County seat of Alturas, Calif.
Modoc County, which has fewer than 9,000 residents and reported zero cases of the coronavirus, is set to become the first county in California to ease stay-at-home rules Friday, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s urging to keep them in place for now.
The remote county in far Northern California, which borders Oregon and Nevada, announced that businesses, schools and churches may reopen starting Friday, as long as people stay six feet apart .
“Our businesses are dying and people need to be able to feed their children and pay their rent,” said Heather Hadwick, the deputy director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services. “We live a different life than the rest of California. We’re very rural and naturally socially distanced in our everyday lives.”
“The health and safety of Modoc County residents is and continues to be our number one priority. This reopening plan was made in the best interest of residents’ physical, mental and economic health,” the statement said.
Restaurants and bars will be allowed to host diners, but only at half the businesses’ capacity. People 65 and older and residents with underlying health conditions will still be required to stay home except to conduct essential business, and large gatherings where people cannot stay six feet apart will still be banned.
The Niles Hotel in Alturas, seat of Modoc County in far northeastern California, where there have been no coronavirus cases reported, ( Carol M. Highsmith / Getty Images)
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Modoc County is one of four California counties that have not reported a single case of coronavirus infection.
“This is a plan, this is not an order,” the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “This is simply what we are proposing that is eligible to open if preventative measures are possible. We want the option to be given to business owners so that when they feel the time is right, they can make that decision. ... We need to do this in a smart and strategic way to keep us all healthy.”
Officials have said maintaining public health will be a top priority.
“We’re doing it very strategically and in stages just as the governor is recommending and we feel confident in that,” Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy told KRCR-TV News. “The county in itself, the businesses are moving forward without us, so it was in our best interest to get some framework out there and some guidelines for them to follow.”
Just because the county has started to reopen doesn’t mean it’s back to business as usual, though.
“We encourage you all to continue to practice social distancing, good hand hygiene and to comply with the other recommendations of our public health department and with the reopening letter that Modoc County has issued, as well,” Modoc Medical Center Chief Executive Kevin Kramer said in a video statement Friday. “If you are elderly or immuno-compromised, please stay at home as much as possible.”
Restaurant owner Jodie Larranaga told the Associated Press that employees were preparing to open Friday and sending out word to customers.
“My bar tables are already far apart. But if people pull their stools together, I’m not going to stop them,” said Larranaga, who owns the Brass Rail. “As far as I’m concerned, right or wrong, that’s their choice. They are adults.”
Reopening Modoc schools, however, doesn’t seem to be on the agenda just yet, officials said earlier this week.
A hay barn in Modoc County, which has fewer than 9,000 residents and planned to ease stay-at-home restrictions on Friday. ( Carol M. Highsmith / Getty Images)
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“School districts and [the] Modoc County Office of Education have and will continue to work closely with Modoc County Public Health, other county agencies and stakeholder groups on plans that would bring students and staff safely back to campuses,” county Supt. Mike Martin wrote in a community message Wednesday.
However, “at this time, there are no return dates set by any school district” in the county, he added. Martin could not be reached for additional comment Friday morning.
Not every institution that could reopen plans to do so, though.
“It’s an unsure thing,” said Ken Entwistle, senior pastor of GracePoint Church of the Nazarene in Alturas. “We, of course, want to open things back up but, at the same point, it’s that unknown.”
Entwistle said the stance of the Nazarene denomination is to follow the state’s order — which means he’ll continue streaming services and devotionals via Facebook Live.
“We need to pay attention to the prompting of the spirit and we need to look toward our authorities for some answers or some OKs,” he said. “For us, Jesus Christ is the absolute authority.”
Newsom again urged Californians on Wednesday to stay home and practice physical distancing, saying they should avoid spoiling the progress the state has made in the coronavirus fight as he prepares to allow some businesses to reopen gradually.
“Why put ourselves in that position when we are just a week or two away from significant modifications of our stay-at-home [order], where we can begin a Phase 2, beginning to reopen sectors of our economy that are low risk?” Newsom said.
The Modoc County Library in Cedarville. Social-distancing guidelines will remain in effect even as stay-at-home orders are relaxed, county officials said. ( Carol M. Highsmith / Getty Images)
This week, the governor unveiled the broad outline of a plan to slowly ease restrictions on Californians in four stages in the weeks and months ahead. He also announced that schools could potentially reopen in July or early August, which caught some educators off-guard.
Newsom introduced the four-phase plan two weeks after he unveiled six criteria California must meet before gradually lifting restrictions — including more widespread testing, increased hospital capacity and having plans in place to safely reopen businesses as well as prevent and prepare for the possibility of a second wave of infections.
He has not offered a specific timeline for the changes to be implemented.
It’s not yet clear how the state will respond to Modoc’s move. The governor’s media office did not immediately answer a request for comment Friday.
When it comes to matters of public health, the state has wide powers to enact regulations and restrictions, according to Julie Nice, a constitutional law professor at the University of San Francisco.
Counties and other local governments “may enforce health and safety and sanitation rules,” she said, “so long as they do not conflict with the state’s general law.”
That doesn’t seem to be the case with what Modoc County has proposed, she said Friday.
“From everything I can tell from the governor’s orders and what the county has said it plans to do, it appears to directly conflict with state law,” she said. “And I think, as a matter of governmental power, the county’s likely to lose against the state.”
If such a conflict exists, the county could conceivably argue that the state’s rules are unreasonable, but Nice said that would likely be an uphill battle.
“Just thinking logically, a contagious infection does not respect county boundaries,” she said. “And so I would be very surprised if any court would find the state’s statewide rules to be unreasonable, because that’s a very low bar.”
Should Newsom decide to intervene, Nice said the governor could negotiate directly with county officials to hammer out a resolution or, barring that, the state could turn to the courts to block the reopening plan.
“The general police power of a state, and particularly when it’s applied in the public health context, puts the courts in a position of really being extremely reluctant to second-guess the judgment calls of the scientific experts,” she said.


latimes--2020-05-03--Earthquake: magnitude 3.3 quake hits the San Fernando Valley

The epicenter of the earthquake , which hit at 3:19 a.m. , occurred in Chatsworth .
Light shaking was felt in the northwest section of the Valley , while weak shaking was felt in the rest of the Valley and into downtown Los Angeles and the Westside , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
Light shaking , as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale , can wake people up and rattle dishes and windows , can rock stationary motor vehicles , and can feel like a truck hitting a building .
Within 20 minutes of the earthquake , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and reported it to the USGS ’ Did You Feel It ?
crowdsourcing survey .
Residents reported feeling it as far away as Simi Valley , Santa Clarita , and Santa Monica .
In the last 10 days , there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby .
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area , according to a recent three year data sample .
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.3 miles .
Did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what you felt to the USGS .
Even if you didn ’ t feel this small earthquake , you never know when the Big One is going to strike .
Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit .
The first version of this story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published , and it was updated by a Times journalist .
If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the system , visit our list of frequently asked questions .

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was reported in the San Fernando Valley early Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A magnitude 3.3 earthquake shook up the San Fernando Valley on Sunday morning.
The epicenter of the earthquake, which hit at 3:19 a.m., occurred in Chatsworth. Light shaking was felt in the northwest section of the Valley, while weak shaking was felt in the rest of the Valley and into downtown Los Angeles and the Westside, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Light shaking, as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, can wake people up and rattle dishes and windows, can rock stationary motor vehicles, and can feel like a truck hitting a building.
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Within 20 minutes of the earthquake, hundreds of people reported feeling the earthquake and reported it to the USGS’ Did You Feel It? crowdsourcing survey. Residents reported feeling it as far away as Simi Valley, Santa Clarita and Santa Monica.
EARTHQUAKE. — Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 3, 2020
I’m very awake here in Northridge, and I see some neighbors in the next building turning on their lights. — Julian Lozos (@seismogenic) May 3, 2020
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.3 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
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Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.
The first version of this story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published, and it was updated by a Times journalist. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-05-03--Two more California counties to defy stay-at-home order, allowing businesses to open Monday

Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California are set to allow many businesses to reopen on Monday in defiance of Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s statewide six-week-old stay-at-home order .
The twin counties near the state ’ s capitol would join a sparsely populated county in California ’ s northeastern corner , Modoc County , with fewer than 9,000 residents , that on Friday allowed all businesses , schools and churches to reopen as long as people inside can stay six feet apart .
The move by Yuba and Sutter counties — with a combined population of 171,000 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths — comes as other California counties on the Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley are demanding to reopen more businesses .
On Friday , Newsom said he could make an announcement within days about easing the state ’ s stay-at-home order .
Newsom ’ s stay-at-home order , issued March 19 , was the first to be issued by any governor in the nation , and experts credit that with helping California see a fraction of deaths of places like New York state , with more than 24,000 deaths .
This compares @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Golden State , with 55 % of those occurring in Los Angeles County .
But Newsom said on Friday that he wanted to “ be crystal clear ” that he understood there were different circumstances in rural areas .
“ We hear you , ” he said .
“ We ’ re paying attention to you.
” Dr. Phuong Luu , health officer for Yuba and Sutter counties , on Friday issued new orders that on Monday will allow restaurants , retailers , shopping malls , gyms , fitness studios , salons , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Those buildings will need to limit the number of people inside to ensure people can stay six feet from one another and provide hand sanitizer at the entrance .
But businesses that will remain ordered shut include bars and nightclubs that don ’ t serve food , museums , movie theaters , bowling alleys , arcades , live performance venues ; places of worship and other mass gathering spaces ; schools ; community centers ; beaches and piers ; and summer camps and residence halls .
All social gatherings of more than 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funerals and weddings .
Those aged 65 or older or those with underlying medical conditions are ordered to remain at home as much as possible .
A new local order also requires wearing face coverings in public when residents can ’ t keep six feet away from people from other households .
No one with a confirmed diagnosis of the coronavirus has been hospitalized in Yuba or Sutter counties since April 14 , according to data released by the California Health and Human Services Agency .
“ We can not wait for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to our community .
The consequences of waiting will be additional health concerns brought on by stress and the very real dilemma for those with limited resources whether to buy life-saving food or life-saving medicines , ” Luu said in a statement .
Officials in Sutter and Yuba counties noted that the local health order conflicts with the state ’ s .
In a statement , the counties suggested owners seeking to reopen in accordance with the local order — but not yet allowed to reopen under the state order — “ seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in considering their options.
” One of California ’ s least populated counties , Modoc County , which was the first to announce that businesses , schools and churches could reopen as long as people stay six feet away from each other , issued an order that went into effect Friday .
Modoc County is one of four California counties that have not reported a single case of coronavirus infection .
Some officials representing Modoc County ’ s neighbor to the west , Siskiyou County , are hoping to reopen some businesses soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ northernmost county on the Interstate 5 corridor and home to Mt .
Shasta , has reported five confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no deaths .
The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a plan from the county ’ s health officials on how some businesses might reopen , with new guidelines that still call for seniors aged 65 and older or those with underlying health conditions to stay at home as much as possible , the banning of large gatherings , and ensuring people can stay six feet away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Siskiyou County health officials seeks the governor ’ s approval to open lower-risk businesses as soon as this week — opening retail stores with curbside pickup , allowing factories to resume operation , and opening offices and hotels .
The plan envisions opening up higher-risk businesses tentatively around June 1 , such as opening restaurants and bars with inside dining at half capacity .
Schools would be able to reopen .
Hair and nail salons , gyms , massage parlors , spa services , and tattoo parlors would be able to reopen if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of patrons and allows social distancing to continue .
In this plan , churches and weddings would be allowed , and families could sit together , but people in different households would need to remain at least 6 feet apart from one another .
Movie theaters would be allowed to reopen at half capacity , and social distancing would be enforced there .
Sports without live audiences would also be able to resume .
Siskiyou County supervisor Michael Kobseff said in an interview Saturday he hoped the governor will have some flexibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have not been hit hard by the coronavirus .
Kobseff said the county meets Newsom ’ s requirements to move ahead to reopening lower-risk businesses except for one — the ability to test widely for the virus , because the county has been unable to get a sufficient supply of tests .
As of Friday , there were no confirmed coronavirus patients in hospitals in Siskiyou County , home to about 44,000 people .
“ Hopefully , he ’ ll have flexibility .
It ’ s not one-size-fits-all , ” Kobseff said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsible in how they react.
” He said residents and business owners don ’ t know how they ’ re going to pay their bills and said that while big box stores remain open as essential businesses , many mom-and-pop shops have been shut .
“ There ’ s got to be a balance , and we ’ re going to try and find , hopefully , a balance that won ’ t kill our economy but provide public safety as well.
” Some of California ’ s most populated areas have emphasized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area that had implemented a stricter stay-at-home order than Newsom ’ s have decided to slightly ease some restrictions that went beyond the statewide mandate .
On Monday , the region will allow all construction projects to resume , as well as certain outdoor businesses that follow social distancing protocols .
But the counties — San Francisco , Santa Clara , Alameda , Contra Costa , San Mateo , and Marin — will otherwise largely retain its existing shelter-in-place order through May 31 , affecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is home to more than half of the COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in California , even though it makes up one-quarter of the state ’ s population .
The weekly death toll in L.A. County has exceeded 300 in each of the last three weeks .
The Los Angeles County public health director , Barbara Ferrer , said Friday there will still be a need for local coronavirus public health orders for the county of 10.1 million people after the current version expires May 15 “ that help us make sure that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we avoid any huge outbreaks.
” “ Ninety-five percent of us have still not been infected .
And until there ’ s a vaccine , most residents in L.A. County can be infected at any time over the months to come , ” Ferrer warned .
“ Without taking extraordinary measures to reduce our exposures to people who are infected , and to keep our distance as much as possible , we could easily see a big spike in new cases.
” A recent statewide poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California voters want to go slow on ending stay-at-home orders .
By 70 % to 30 % , the state ’ s voters say they ’ re more worried that shelter-in-place orders will end too soon , causing the illness to spread more , than they are that such orders will continue for too long and damage the economy .
Nearly 7 in 10 voters fear the possibility of getting sick with COVID-19 , the illness caused by the coronavirus .
The poll found 16 % of California voters already reporting that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , April 16-20 , and that nearly 4 in 10 expect they may lose their job as a result of the pandemic .
Times staff writers Anita Chabria , John Myers , Phil Willon and David Lauter contributed to this report .

Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California are set to allow many businesses to reopen on Monday in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide six-week-old stay-at-home order.
The two counties near the state’s capital would join a sparsely populated county in California’s northeastern corner, Modoc County, with fewer than 9,000 residents, that on Friday allowed all businesses, schools and churches to reopen as long as people inside can stay six feet apart.
The move by Yuba and Sutter counties — with a combined population of 171,000 people and just 50 coronavirus cases and three deaths — comes as other California counties on the Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley are demanding to reopen more businesses. On Friday, Newsom said he could make an announcement within days about easing the state’s stay-at-home order.
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Newsom’s stay-at-home order, issued March 19, was the first to be issued by any governor in the nation, and experts credit that with helping California see a fraction of deaths of places like New York state, with more than 24,000 deaths. This compares with more than 2,100 fatalities in the Golden State, with 55% of those occurring in Los Angeles County.
A truck passes into Modoc County, which allowed businesses to reopen Friday if they maintain social distancing. (Scott Sonner / Associated Press)
But Newsom said on Friday that he wanted to “be crystal clear” that he understood there were different circumstances in rural areas. “We hear you,” he said. “We’re paying attention to you.”
Dr. Phuong Luu, health officer for Yuba and Sutter counties, on Friday issued new orders that on Monday will allow restaurants, retailers, shopping malls, gyms, fitness studios, salons, spas and tattoo parlors to operate.
Those buildings will need to limit the number of people inside to ensure people can stay six feet from one another and provide hand sanitizer at the entrance.
California Rural California is demanding to reopen now even as Newsom urges patience Six weeks into the governor’s order, pressure has mounted for officials to begin phasing out restrictions. Nineteen counties from Humboldt to Tuolumne have recorded no fatalities from the virus.
But businesses that will remain ordered shut include bars and nightclubs that don’t serve food, museums, movie theaters, bowling alleys, arcades, live performance venues; places of worship and other mass gathering spaces; schools; community centers; beaches and piers; and summer camps and residence halls. All social gatherings of more than 10 people are banned, including parties, funerals and weddings.
Advertisement
Those aged 65 or older or those with underlying medical conditions are ordered to remain at home as much as possible. A new local order also requires wearing face coverings in public when residents can’t keep six feet away from people from other households.
No one with a confirmed diagnosis of the coronavirus has been hospitalized in Yuba or Sutter counties since April 14, according to data released by the California Health and Human Services Agency.
“We cannot wait for a vaccine without seeing extreme economic damage done to our community. The consequences of waiting will be additional health concerns brought on by stress and the very real dilemma for those with limited resources whether to buy life-saving food or life-saving medicines,” Luu said in a statement.
Officials in Sutter and Yuba counties noted that the local health order conflicts with the state’s. In a statement, the counties suggested owners seeking to reopen in accordance with the local order — but not yet allowed to reopen under the state order — “seek their own advice from private legal counsel in considering their options.”
One of California’s least populated counties, Modoc County, which was the first to announce that businesses, schools and churches could reopen as long as people stay six feet away from each other, issued an order that went into effect Friday. Modoc County is one of four California counties that have not reported a single case of coronavirus infection.
Some officials representing Modoc County’s neighbor to the west, Siskiyou County, are hoping to reopen some businesses soon. Siskiyou County, California’s northernmost county on the Interstate 5 corridor and home to Mt. Shasta, has reported five confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no deaths.
The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a plan from the county’s health officials on how some businesses might reopen, with new guidelines that still call for seniors aged 65 and older or those with underlying health conditions to stay at home as much as possible, the banning of large gatherings, and ensuring people can stay six feet away from one another.
The plan by Siskiyou County health officials seeks the governor’s approval to open lower-risk businesses as soon as this week — opening retail stores with curbside pickup, allowing factories to resume operation, and opening offices and hotels.
The plan envisions opening up higher-risk businesses tentatively around June 1, such as opening restaurants and bars with inside dining at half capacity. Schools would be able to reopen. Hair and nail salons, gyms, massage parlors, spa services, and tattoo parlors would be able to reopen if they have a plan that limits the number of patrons and allows social distancing to continue.
In this plan, churches and weddings would be allowed, and families could sit together, but people in different households would need to remain at least 6 feet apart from one another. Movie theaters would be allowed to reopen at half capacity, and social distancing would be enforced there. Sports without live audiences would also be able to resume.
Siskiyou County supervisor Michael Kobseff said in an interview Saturday he hoped the governor will have some flexibility in easing the stay-at-home order in areas that have not been hit hard by the coronavirus. Kobseff said the county meets Newsom’s requirements to move ahead to reopening lower-risk businesses except for one — the ability to test widely for the virus, because the county has been unable to get a sufficient supply of tests.
As of Friday, there were no confirmed coronavirus patients in hospitals in Siskiyou County, home to about 44,000 people.
“Hopefully, he’ll have flexibility. It’s not one-size-fits-all,” Kobseff said. “Counties are trying to be responsible in how they react.”
He said residents and business owners don’t know how they’re going to pay their bills and said that while big box stores remain open as essential businesses, many mom-and-pop shops have been shut.
“There’s got to be a balance, and we’re going to try and find, hopefully, a balance that won’t kill our economy but provide public safety as well.”
Some of California’s most populated areas have emphasized caution as they contemplate loosening stay-at-home orders.
Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area that had implemented a stricter stay-at-home order than Newsom’s have decided to slightly ease some restrictions that went beyond the statewide mandate. On Monday, the region will allow all construction projects to resume, as well as certain outdoor businesses that follow social distancing protocols.
But the counties — San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin — will otherwise largely retain its existing shelter-in-place order through May 31, affecting 6.6 million people.
Los Angeles County is home to more than half of the COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in California, even though it makes up one-quarter of the state’s population. The weekly death toll in L.A. County has exceeded 300 in each of the last three weeks.
The Los Angeles County public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said Friday there will still be a need for local coronavirus public health orders for the county of 10.1 million people after the current version expires May 15 “that help us make sure that we’re opening slowly and carefully so that we avoid any huge outbreaks.”
“Ninety-five percent of us have still not been infected. And until there’s a vaccine, most residents in L.A. County can be infected at any time over the months to come,” Ferrer warned. “Without taking extraordinary measures to reduce our exposures to people who are infected, and to keep our distance as much as possible, we could easily see a big spike in new cases.”
Tracking the coronavirus in L.A. County The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, including cases, deaths, closures and restrictions.
A recent statewide poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that large majorities of California voters want to go slow on ending stay-at-home orders.
By 70% to 30%, the state’s voters say they’re more worried that shelter-in-place orders will end too soon, causing the illness to spread more, than they are that such orders will continue for too long and damage the economy. Nearly 7 in 10 voters fear the possibility of getting sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The poll found 16% of California voters already reporting that they were unemployed when the survey was taken, April 16-20, and that nearly 4 in 10 expect they may lose their job as a result of the pandemic.
Times staff writers Anita Chabria, John Myers, Phil Willon and David Lauter contributed to this report.