latimes--2020-04-29--Column: Don't endanger your friends and family. Patience, please, and stay off the beach

I ’ ll admit it .
I ’ m going a little stir crazy , and I would love to walk at the ocean ’ s edge or wade into the surf .
I ’ ve been tempted to go to Ventura or Orange County beaches , where that ’ s being allowed by local authorities , despite Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s call to stay home .
But it would be selfish , irresponsible , dangerous and stupid of me to do so .
And the same applies to everyone else .
Get off the beach already !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as dangerous to go to a grocery store as it is to catch a wave .
But we have to eat .
We do not have to hang out on the sand en masse .
In weekend photos and videos from Orange and Ventura county beaches , some people appeared to be attempting to stay isolated .
But given the crowds , that wasn ’ t always possible , and many didn ’ t even seem to be trying .
What were these nitwits thinking ?
And shame on the leaders of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cracking down on violators .
Even Newsom , who led the charge on social distancing , said Tuesday that a gradual , phased return to normal could begin in weeks rather than months .
I ’ ll be watching closely to see how that plays out , because if Newsom opens the gates too soon , we may all regret it .
Yes , we ’ re all tired of being cooped up .
Yes , we ’ re going a little nuts .
Yes we want to return to work and routines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can pay our bills , put food on the table , see our friends .
But it ’ s too soon .
In case you haven ’ t noticed , deaths from the virus in Los Angeles are still coming at an alarming rate .
Newsom warned us of a “ learning loss ” if schools don ’ t reopen in July or August .
I ’ m warning you of a life loss if we don ’ t have basic protections in place first .
Sure , step outside and go for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or run with the dog , as long as you ’ re wearing a mask and maintaining that six feet of distance .
And at some point , it will make more sense to open some trails and parks , and even beaches , so long as there ’ s some way to control crowds .
But managing the pandemic is like driving .
The faster you go , the greater the risk of disaster .
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has now surged past 1 million .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the U.S. during the Vietnam War .
The curve is flattening , but only because we stayed home .
And if we want to fully bend the curve , we have to keep doing that .
More activity and mingling means more death , and although most victims are older and have preexisting health conditions , younger people are dying , too , with minorities particularly hard hit .
I know it ’ s tough for people who own businesses to hear that we need to be a little more patient , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and employees who are suffering .
And that ’ s certainly a reason we should double or triple the amount of federal stimulus money and streamline the unemployment system .
But normal will put more people at risk .
Don ’ t believe me ?
Maybe you ’ ll believe Dr. Anne Rimoin , a UCLA epidemiologist and expert on global health emergencies .
“ As people begin to ” back off the isolation and social distancing now in place , ” said Rimoin , “ we will see an increase in cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as simple as that , Rimoin said .
We risk sacrificing the gains we ’ ve worked so hard to achieve .
There is no vaccine and we don ’ t know when there will be one , she said .
Reliable testing with fast results is not yet widely available , and the supply chain is very much a work in progress .
There is no tracing , which would track and curtail the spread of the virus .
And there is no proven cure .
Until those things are in place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at risk , and the virus doesn ’ t respect the borders between Orange , Los Angeles and Ventura counties or any other borders .
“ The virus anywhere in the United States is the virus everywhere in the United States , ” she said , meaning that a quick return to normal in states like Florida and Georgia could ultimately harm people in other parts of the country .
There ’ s still way too little federal and state direction and oversight of pandemic response standards and protocols , which means that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procurement and policy .
As my colleagues Maya Lau and Melody Petersen reported , L.A. County banked on a Silicon Valley testing startup that uses a mouth swab rather than a nasal swab .
Now there are concerns about the accuracy of those tests and the lag time , and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger told me she and others are working on getting more labs up and running .
One month ago , I made the rounds with Dr. Susan Partovi , who does homeless street medicine and was warning patients to social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week I learned that she was feeling “ viraly , ” as she put it .
She was tested for COVID-19 at the so-called expedited drive-through testing site near Dodger Stadium .
She was tested a week ago Tuesday with a mouth swab .
She didn ’ t get the results until Monday .
If it takes a week for a front-line doctor to get results , we ’ re in deep trouble .
Partovi ’ s test turned out to be negative , and when she felt better , she returned to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she was tested , Partovi told me .
The first time , she had her results — also negative — from Kaiser in 48 hours .
Three weeks ago I wrote about three emergency room doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital who were rooming together to avoid exposing their families to COVID-19 .
One of the three , Andrew Herzik , later got sick , and a week ago , he tested positive for the virus .
His results took about 36 hours , and he ’ s now recuperating at home .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but Partovi told me she has a doctor pal in Pennsylvania who got test results in 45 minutes .
So it ’ s anywhere from one week to 45 minutes , depending , and there are still questions about false negatives .
We need better , faster , more reliable tests .
That ’ s especially true because people can be positive for days , and infect others , without having any symptoms .
Only when that ’ s in place should we start resuming normal routines , beginning with businesses and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and expanding only when we ’ re sure there ’ s not a new curve ahead of us .
Until then , try to find a little more patience and resolve , stay safe and healthy , and keep off the beach .

The swings are locked up in Manhattan Beach during the coronavirus pandemic.
I’ll admit it. I’m going a little stir crazy, and I would love to walk at the ocean’s edge or wade into the surf. I’ve been tempted to go to Ventura or Orange County beaches, where that’s being allowed by local authorities, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to stay home.
But it would be selfish, irresponsible, dangerous and stupid of me to do so.
And the same applies to everyone else.
1 / 27 Thousands of beachgoers enjoy a warm, sunny day on the sand in Huntington Beach amid state-mandated stay-at-home restrictions. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 27 An aerial view of beachgoers Saturday in Newport Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 27 A woman walks on deserted Venice Beach, which is among closed beaches in L.A. County. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 27 An aerial view shows beachgoers in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 27 A man plays fetch with his dog on Rocky Beach in Topanga despite law enforcement efforts to keep people away. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 27 Huntington Beach police patrol the beach near the pier. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 27 In Santa Monica police keep watch over the empty beach and closed bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 27 People crowd the bike path around the pier in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 27 The beach near Veterans Park in Redondo Beach remains closed Saturday because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 27 Trying to beat the heat in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 27 Kennedy, 2, and her 6-year-old brother Jackson play in the sand near the Strand in Manhattan Beach. The Bobo family drove in from Perris. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 27 Beachgoers fly a kite in the surf in Ventura. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 27 Bowie Davis, 3, plays in her kiddie pool with her father, Ed Davis, by her side at their home near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 27 A surfer catches a wave in Newport Beach, where the sand drew a crowd weary of isolation. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 27 Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the weather near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 27 Elizabeth Robles of Laguna Beach got a $30 ticket after parking in a no-parking zone to visit Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point to surf. “The ticket is worth it to me. I broke my arm recently and haven’t surfed in eight months,” she says. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 27 Parking was restricted severely along Pacific Coast Highway over the weekend, with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies trying to keep people off closed beaches. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 27 Beachgoers, ignoring social distancing rules and beach closures, walk in groups to the stairs leading to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 27 A man pleads his case with a Santa Monica police officer on the closed oceanfront bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 27 A group of young people make a political statement as they pedal a surrey bike down a crowded bike path in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 27 The bike path on Ocean Front Walk in Venice was open, but police officers were out in force to keep people off the beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 27 Tyler MacFarland reads a book under the pier at the beach in Ventura. “I am still working and for the last month and a half it has been just work, home, work, home,” MacFarland said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 27 A pedestrian pauses to video chat on the empty beach in Manhattan Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 27 Adam Choi, at center with mask, and Grace Kim walk along a trail at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 27 Santa Monica police keep watch over the empty beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 27 Brian Chapman, of Santa Monica, plays Frisbee with friend Kris Sims, of Santa Clarita, at the beach in Ventura. “We came up because all of the beaches in Los Angeles are closed,” Chapman said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 27 The words “love” and “be kind” are woven into a fence with yellow police tape at a closed beach in Venice. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Get off the beach already!
Yeah, I know it may be as dangerous to go to a grocery store as it is to catch a wave. But we have to eat. We do not have to hang out on the sand en masse.
Advertisement
In weekend photos and videos from Orange and Ventura county beaches, some people appeared to be attempting to stay isolated. But given the crowds, that wasn’t always possible, and many didn’t even seem to be trying.
What were these nitwits thinking?
And shame on the leaders of those counties for not shutting the beaches and cracking down on violators.
Even Newsom, who led the charge on social distancing, said Tuesday that a gradual, phased return to normal could begin in weeks rather than months. I’ll be watching closely to see how that plays out, because if Newsom opens the gates too soon, we may all regret it.
Yes, we’re all tired of being cooped up. Yes, we’re going a little nuts. Yes we want to return to work and routines as soon as possible, so we can pay our bills, put food on the table, see our friends.
But it’s too soon. In case you haven’t noticed, deaths from the virus in Los Angeles are still coming at an alarming rate.
Workers direct drivers at a test site for COVID-19 at a Veterans Administration parking lot in Los Angeles on April 7, 2020. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Newsom warned us of a “learning loss” if schools don’t reopen in July or August.
Advertisement
I’m warning you of a life loss if we don’t have basic protections in place first.
Sure, step outside and go for a walk, ride a bike, or run with the dog, as long as you’re wearing a mask and maintaining that six feet of distance.
And at some point, it will make more sense to open some trails and parks, and even beaches, so long as there’s some way to control crowds. But managing the pandemic is like driving. The faster you go, the greater the risk of disaster.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has now surged past 1 million. We’ve exceeded the death toll suffered by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. The curve is flattening, but only because we stayed home. And if we want to fully bend the curve, we have to keep doing that. More activity and mingling means more death, and although most victims are older and have preexisting health conditions, younger people are dying, too, with minorities particularly hard hit.
I know it’s tough for people who own businesses to hear that we need to be a little more patient, and I’ve talked to employers and employees who are suffering.
And that’s certainly a reason we should double or triple the amount of federal stimulus money and streamline the unemployment system.
But normal will put more people at risk.
Visitors to Point Mugu ignore no parking as well as coronavirus and social distancing restrictions on April 11, 2020. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Don’t believe me? Maybe you’ll believe Dr. Anne Rimoin, a UCLA epidemiologist and expert on global health emergencies. “As people begin to” back off the isolation and social distancing now in place,” said Rimoin, “we will see an increase in cases and in deaths.”
It’s as simple as that, Rimoin said. We risk sacrificing the gains we’ve worked so hard to achieve.
There is no vaccine and we don’t know when there will be one, she said. Reliable testing with fast results is not yet widely available, and the supply chain is very much a work in progress. There is no tracing, which would track and curtail the spread of the virus. And there is no proven cure.
Until those things are in place, Rimoin said, we are all at risk, and the virus doesn’t respect the borders between Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties or any other borders.
“The virus anywhere in the United States is the virus everywhere in the United States,” she said, meaning that a quick return to normal in states like Florida and Georgia could ultimately harm people in other parts of the country.
There’s still way too little federal and state direction and oversight of pandemic response standards and protocols, which means that different locales are winging it on equipment procurement and policy. As my colleagues Maya Lau and Melody Petersen reported, L.A. County banked on a Silicon Valley testing startup that uses a mouth swab rather than a nasal swab.
Now there are concerns about the accuracy of those tests and the lag time, and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger told me she and others are working on getting more labs up and running.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Susan Partovi, middle, and nurse practitioner Jen King, right, administer aid to a man in a Home Depot parking lot in Los Angeles on March 26, 2020. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
One month ago, I made the rounds with Dr. Susan Partovi, who does homeless street medicine and was warning patients to social distance as much as possible. Last week I learned that she was feeling “viraly,” as she put it. She was tested for COVID-19 at the so-called expedited drive-through testing site near Dodger Stadium.
She was tested a week ago Tuesday with a mouth swab. She didn’t get the results until Monday.
If it takes a week for a front-line doctor to get results, we’re in deep trouble.
Partovi’s test turned out to be negative, and when she felt better, she returned to work. That was the second time she was tested, Partovi told me. The first time, she had her results — also negative — from Kaiser in 48 hours.
Three weeks ago I wrote about three emergency room doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital who were rooming together to avoid exposing their families to COVID-19. One of the three, Andrew Herzik, later got sick, and a week ago, he tested positive for the virus. His results took about 36 hours, and he’s now recuperating at home.
I guess 36 hours isn’t bad, but Partovi told me she has a doctor pal in Pennsylvania who got test results in 45 minutes. So it’s anywhere from one week to 45 minutes, depending, and there are still questions about false negatives.
Emergency medicine Dr. Andrew Herzik sits by the fireplace in his backyard before sharing dinner with his family while social distancing on March 30, 2020 in Redondo Beach. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
We need better, faster, more reliable tests. That’s especially true because people can be positive for days, and infect others, without having any symptoms.
Only when that’s in place should we start resuming normal routines, beginning with businesses and institutions that require minimal human contact, and expanding only when we’re sure there’s not a new curve ahead of us.
Until then, try to find a little more patience and resolve, stay safe and healthy, and keep off the beach.
steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-04-29--L.A. County records biggest one-day increase in coronavirus cases

Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday announced the largest increase in new coronavirus cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began , pushing the county ’ s total number of infections past 22,400 .
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer announced 1,541 new confirmed COVID-19 cases , nearly 1,000 more than what was reported the previous day .
The large increase is mostly the result of a boost in testing as well as a lag in weekend reporting , Ferrer said .
County health officials also reported 56 additional fatalities linked to the virus , bringing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Of those who most recently died , 41 were older than 65 , nine were 41 to 65 and two were 18 to 40 .
Information about the other cases wasn ’ t immediately available .
Residents in institutional settings , including assisted living facilities and nursing homes , account for 47 % of all county deaths , Ferrer said .
Despite the increase in confirmed cases and new deaths , Ferrer said , the county ’ s rate of hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for the virus have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 4,715 people who have tested positive for the virus countywide have been hospitalized at some point during their illness .
This represents about 22 % of positive cases in Los Angeles County , Ferrer said .
“ This is because of all the work you ’ re doing to slow the spread , ” she said .
“ As we prepare for recovery , tracking the information on the number of new hospitalizations every day will be critically important to assessing how well we ’ re continuing our work to slow the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there has been increased testing at prisons throughout the county , which has also led to an increase in the number of confirmed cases .
The news comes after nearly half of the inmates at the federal prison at Terminal Island in San Pedro tested positive for COVID-19 in what has become the nation ’ s worst outbreak in a federal penitentiary .
As of Tuesday , 443 of the prison ’ s 1,055 inmates had the virus , along with 10 staff members .
Two inmates have already died of complications related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bureau of Prisons .
Ferrer said the “ large increase ” in those testing positive at the Terminal Island prison is a reflection of a boost in testing within the federal penitentiary for those even without visible symptoms .
That testing began there last week , she said .
“ The vast majority of them are asymptomatic , ” she said .
She did not say how many of those testing positive have been hospitalized .
Los Angeles County continues to be the coronavirus hotbed of California , accounting for an outsize number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of coronavirus infections statewide surpassed 48,000 on Wednesday , while the number of deaths passed 1,900 .
Officials have said in light of those figures that restrictions on movements must continue for now .
Still , officials are developing a plan to ease the Safer at Home order , which is set to expire May 15 .
Ferrer said this week that there were no plans to extend the current order but that , as the deadline approaches , officials would reevaluate what was best for the county .
The Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to establish a plan to work with businesses , labor partners and community leaders to lift restrictions .
Officials have emphasized that lifting restrictions will happen gradually rather than all at once .
“ Restoring the local economy and uplifting employees and employers throughout the region is at the forefront of all of our conversations , ” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Wednesday .
“ I ’ m proud that we ’ re taking concrete actions and moving forward with plans in place .
In addition to prioritizing economic recovery we remain deeply focused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our residents.
” The push to ease stay-at-home restrictions and open public amenities is also being widely felt in Orange County .
Laguna Beach city officials on Tuesday voted to reopen the city ’ s beaches for several hours on weekday mornings after a six-week closure .
A few miles north in Newport Beach , city leaders voted to keep their beaches open despite a stern rebuke from Gov .
Gavin Newsom after crowds swarmed the beaches over the weekend .
The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region , seeking to “ strike a balance between the need for continued protection from the disease and the need for the economy to function again , ” Supervisor Don Wagner said .
The guidelines , which outline physical distancing requirements in the workplace , also note that employers should require customer-facing workers to wear disposable gloves or wash their hands or use hand sanitizer every 30 minutes .
Face coverings should be provided to all employees and workers should also have their temperatures taken before starting a shift , per the guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the ultimate say on when and how businesses can get back up and running is up to Newsom , who imposed the nation ’ s first statewide stay-at-home order last month .
Newsom has that he said could have some businesses running in weeks and some schools reopened by the summer .
But the outline , officials acknowledge , still has many uncertainties .
It is contingent on improvement in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak and on increased testing to assess how the illness is spreading .
Under Newsom ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , schools and open spaces could reopen first , with strict social distancing rules .
Down the line , some entertainment venues and religious institutions could reopen .
Live sports , concerts and other crowded events would be the last to resume .
While the state has recently begun to see the number of hospitalized patients flatten and become relatively stable , California saw a modest increase in those numbers Tuesday and again Wednesday , Newsom said .
During the question-and-answer portion of Newsom ’ s daily briefing Wednesday , Wagner got on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orange County ’ s vote on business guidelines from the previous day .
Supervisors had directed county staff to send their guidelines to Sacramento in an effort to show that “ it is possible for policymakers , medical professionals and the business community to be effective in a crisis , ” according to a news release .
Newsom responded by noting that Orange County has the fourth-highest number of people hospitalized statewide amid the pandemic .
The county had 175 patients in the hospital as of Wednesday .
“ I ’ m concerned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We have a lot of work to do to keep people healthy and keep people safe .
”

Hannah Fry, Richard Winton, Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II

A man relaxes next to caution tape at Griffith Observatory on Tuesday as Los Angeles remains locked down because of the coronavirus.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has long said that expanding COVID-19 testing to all Angelenos, including those without symptoms, is a critical milestone that must be met before leaders can consider lifting some restrictions.
And now, he says, that milestone is a reality.
During a news conference Wednesday evening, Garcetti announced that all city residents were now eligible for free COVID-19 testing — a first-of-its-kind step for any major city in the U.S., he said. The mayor urged all residents to consider getting swabbed, noting that some people who feel fine can still be asymptomatic carriers.
1 / 37 Drive-through COVID-19 testing in Boyle Heights. Experts say widespread testing is crucial for states to be able to safely reopen their economies. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 37 Testing in Boyle Heights. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 37 A testing sample is sealed. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 37 Putting on personal protective equipment before testing. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 37 Testing in Boyle Heights. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 37 A patient is screened before testing. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 37 Information is collected from a patient. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 37 Boyle Heights COVID-19 testing. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 37 Juan Infante, a certified medical assistant, takes the temperature of a patient before she gets tested. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 37 Carson City Mayor Albert Robles does self-testing at a new drive-up testing site for COVID-19 outside of a community center in Carson. Free COVID-19 testing is available to all city residents. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 37 Carson residents Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out the window of their car after their mothers helped them with self-testing at a drive-up testing site for COVID-19 in Carson. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 37 A Carson resident passes a sealed self-test to a health official at a drive-up testing site. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 37 Carson resident Melvin Smith, 64, does self-testing. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 37 A person drops a specimen at a COVID-19 mobile testing site in Bell. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 37 A person swabs their mouth at a COVID-19 mobile testing site in Bell. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 37 A man talks with a healthcare worker outside Kedren Community Health Center in South LA, where they are offering walk-up coronavirus testing along with other medical services. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times) 17 / 37 A specimen is turned in at the new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 18 / 37 A portrait and quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. overlooks a new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 19 / 37 Julie Montez, right, sits in her car as a nurse administers a coronavirus test at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 20 / 37 Nurses pose for a fun photo between breaks at a drive-through public testing for coronavirus at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 21 / 37 Healthcare workers tend to a driver in line at a drive-through Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing site at the Westminster Mall in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 22 / 37 Healthcare workers tend to a driver in line at a drive-through Coronavirus testing site at the Westminster Mall in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 23 / 37 Gessie Lurlay is working as a coronavirus screener at the Camarena Health Center in Madera. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) 24 / 37 Francis Gon-Gibbs, of LA County Fire Department Lifeguard Division, stands at the entrance of a new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 25 / 37 A man drops off his self-administered COVID-19 test in a blue bin at a drive-up test site at the Veterans Administration Parking Lot 15 outside of Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 26 / 37 Workers direct drivers at a drive-up test site for COVID-19 at the Veterans Administration Parking Lot 15 outside of Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 27 / 37 A man misses the blue bin while dropping off his self-administered COVID-19 test at a drive-up test site at the Veterans Administration Parking Lot 15 outside of Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 28 / 37 Workers help conduct drive-thru coronavirus testing at Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times) 29 / 37 A sign directs people to drive-thru coronavirus testing at Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times) 30 / 37 Cassidy Roosen, with Beach Cities Health District, holds up a sign that says, “We’re All In This Together,” while waiting to direct cars at a drive-through, appointment-only coronavirus testing location, at the South Bay Galleria, in Redondo Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 31 / 37 A woman shows her notice from her doctor that allows her to obtain a test for COVID-19 at a new drive-up testing site in a parking lot at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 32 / 37 Coronavirus CO drive-thru sample collection takes place at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan/Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 33 / 37 San Bernardino County health care worker takes a sample at a coronavirus drive-thru sample collection that took place at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 34 / 37 Motorists, line up on Stadium Way, near Dodger Stadium, waiting to enter a parking lot and be tested for the coronavirus. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 35 / 37 Members of the Los Angeles Fire Dept. wear protective gear while handing out kits to people to swab the inside of their mouths to test for the coronavirus, inside a parking lot on Stadium Way, near Dodger Stadium. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 36 / 37 Riverside County medical personnel screen a car of load of four people at a coronavirus drive-though testing facility for Coachella Valley residents in the parking lot of the Southwest in Indian Wells. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 37 / 37 Aerial views cars lined up for drive-through coronavirus testing inside a parking lot on Stadium Way near Dodger Stadium. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
“You can’t put a price on the peace of mind of knowing that you can’t infect somebody around you,” he said.
The mayor also said that L.A. County residents could be tested at sites run by the city of Los Angeles.
Garcetti’s announcement came hours after a grim update from health officials: L.A. County saw its largest increase in new coronavirus cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began.
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer announced 1,541 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, nearly 1,000 more than reported the previous day. The large increase, which pushed the county’s total number of infections past 22,400, is mostly the result of a boost in testing as well as a lag in weekend reporting, Ferrer said.
County health officials also reported 56 additional fatalities linked to the virus, bringing the county’s death toll to 1,056.
Of those who most recently died, 41 were older than 65, nine were 41 to 65 and two were 18 to 40. Information about the other cases wasn’t immediately available. Residents in institutional settings, including assisted living facilities and nursing homes, account for 47% of all county deaths, Ferrer said.
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.
Advertisement
Despite the increase in confirmed cases and new deaths, Ferrer said, the county’s rate of hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for the virus have remained fairly stable. As of Wednesday, 4,715 people who have tested positive for the virus countywide have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. This represents about 22% of positive cases in Los Angeles County, Ferrer said.
“This is because of all the work you’re doing to slow the spread,” she said. “As we prepare for recovery, tracking the information on the number of new hospitalizations every day will be critically important to assessing how well we’re continuing our work to slow the spread.”
Health officials also noted that there has been increased testing at prisons throughout the county, which has also led to an increase in the number of confirmed cases.
The news comes after nearly half of the inmates at the federal prison at Terminal Island in San Pedro tested positive for COVID-19 in what has become the nation’s worst outbreak in a federal penitentiary.
As of Tuesday, 443 of the prison’s 1,055 inmates had the virus, along with 10 staff members. Two inmates have already died of complications related to the virus, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Ferrer said the “large increase” in those testing positive at the Terminal Island prison is a reflection of a boost in testing within the federal penitentiary for those without visible symptoms. That testing began there last week, she said.
“The vast majority of them are asymptomatic,” she said. She did not say how many of those testing positive have been hospitalized.
Los Angeles County continues to be the coronavirus hotbed of California, accounting for an outsize number of deaths and total cases. The number of coronavirus infections statewide surpassed 48,000 on Wednesday, while the number of deaths passed 1,900.
Officials have said in light of those figures that restrictions on movements must continue for now.
Still, county officials are developing a plan to ease the Safer at Home order, which is set to expire May 15. Ferrer said this week that there were no plans to extend the current order but that, as the deadline approaches, officials would reevaluate what was best for the county.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to establish a plan to work with businesses, labor partners and community leaders to lift restrictions. Officials have emphasized that lifting restrictions will happen gradually rather than all at once.
“Restoring the local economy and uplifting employees and employers throughout the region is at the forefront of all of our conversations,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Wednesday. “I’m proud that we’re taking concrete actions and moving forward with plans in place. In addition to prioritizing economic recovery we remain deeply focused on the safety and well-being of all of our residents.”
The push to ease stay-at-home restrictions and open public amenities is also being widely felt in Orange County.
Laguna Beach city officials voted Tuesday to reopen the city’s beaches for several hours on weekday mornings after a six-week closure. A few miles north in Newport Beach, city leaders voted to keep their beaches open despite a stern rebuke from Gov. Gavin Newsom after crowds swarmed the beaches over the weekend.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a set of business guidelines for reopening the region, seeking to “strike a balance between the need for continued protection from the disease and the need for the economy to function again,” Supervisor Don Wagner said.
The guidelines, which outline physical distancing requirements in the workplace, also note that employers should require customer-facing workers to wear disposable gloves or wash their hands or use hand sanitizer every 30 minutes. Face coverings should be provided to all employees and workers should also have their temperatures taken before starting a shift, per the guidelines.
Regardless of what guidelines counties adopt, the ultimate say on when and how businesses can get back up and running is up to Newsom, who imposed the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order last month.
Newsom has released a four-part plan that he said could have some businesses running in weeks and some schools reopened by the summer.
But the outline, officials acknowledge, still has many uncertainties. It is contingent on improvement in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak and on increased testing to assess how the illness is spreading.
Under Newsom’s plan, some retail businesses, manufacturing, schools and open spaces could reopen first, with strict social distancing rules. Down the line, some entertainment venues and religious institutions could reopen. Live sports, concerts and other crowded events would be the last to resume.
Though the state has recently begun to see the number of hospitalized patients flatten and become relatively stable, California saw a modest increase in those numbers Tuesday and again Wednesday, Newsom said.
During the question-and-answer portion of Newsom’s daily briefing Wednesday, Wagner got on a reporter’s phone and mentioned Orange County’s vote on business guidelines from the previous day. Supervisors had directed county staff to send their guidelines to Sacramento in an effort to show that “it is possible for policymakers, medical professionals and the business community to be effective in a crisis,” according to a news release.
Newsom responded by noting that Orange County has the fourth-highest number of people hospitalized statewide amid the pandemic. The county had 175 patients in the hospital as of Wednesday.
“I’m concerned about that,” Newsom said. “We have a lot of work to do to keep people healthy and keep people safe.”


latimes--2020-04-28--You're devastated your wedding was canceled. So is your wedding band

Until a few weeks ago , if you got married in L.A. and hired a mariachi band , there was a good chance Susie Garcia ’ s family played you down the aisle .
The singer and bandleader has fronted her own group , the renowned all-female Mariachi Las Colibrí , for a decade and has seen generations of Mexican-American Angelenos through birthdays , baptisms , weddings and funerals .
Her husband , Pepe Martinez Jr. , leads his own band , Mariachi Ángeles , inspired by his father , the former leader of the legendary Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two were booked to perform traditional music at cultural events and regale young couples at weddings across Southern California .
That is , until early March , when COVID-19 turned everyone ’ s future around .
“ We crossed out about 15 gigs in a week , ” Garcia said .
“ Wedding after wedding , planners were calling me devastated , like , ‘ What do we do ?
’ ” The answer , as every musician and event planner soon learned , was nothing .
Life would be on hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While the virus has upended touring , shuttered venues and left artists scrambling to livestream living-room concerts , there ’ s much more to the live music industry than that spotlight .
Gigging bands and DJs , the kind who perform at thousands of weddings , bat mitzvahs and private parties across L.A. , don ’ t play globally broadcast all-star fundraisers but have been decimated just the same .
Their livelihoods may come back eventually , but the loss of reliable gigs at the peak of wedding season has been sudden and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lose a show .
They lose the backing music to the most important days of their lives .
“ Mariachi ties people to their family and values , that circle of life , ” Garcia said .
“ When that is cut off , that has such an impact.
” The wedding industry isn ’ t the first place most look to see the fallout of COVID-19 on the music business .
But it ’ s a huge sector that ’ s a clandestine livelihood for many studio and touring acts .
Around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last year , at an average cost of $ 30,000 each , according to industry analyst firm the Wedding Report .
Costs for live music vary widely — from a single DJ on a laptop to a dozen-strong band with horns and backing vocalists — but fees can run into the thousands for even a small group .
Compared to the financial gamble and myriad uncertainties of touring original material , playing Motown classics in a hotel ballroom is usually a steady gig .
COVID-19 , unfortunately , arrived just in time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve survived fires and mudslides at our locations , but to have every event for maybe six months all off the table , that really pulled the rug out from under us , ” said Jesse Kivel , a musician and co-founder of Dart Collective , an L.A. event-music firm that ’ s grown into a hub for indie musicians and DJs to make money between tours .
Kivel ’ s firm hires dozens of artists and instrumentalists and had booked around 200 weddings and events for the spring high season .
Many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 lets up .
Jen Nordine , 28 , was set to marry Keith Kniland , 37 , in March at the Hideaway country club in the Coachella Valley , where Nordine ’ s parents had a home when she was younger .
“ It ’ s our happy place .
Over Easter weekend last year , Keith and I hit the links , and on the second to last hole , he got down on one knee and told me he couldn ’ t live this life without me , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ booked Dart ’ s string ensemble for the ceremony and a Dart DJ for the after-party , after discovering the firm on wedding sites and Instagram .
Dart had the “ fun and classy ” vibes they wanted for their music , Nordine said .
Although they had to kick their wedding back nearly a year due to COVID-19 , they ’ re staying optimistic .
“ It felt selfish and trivial to be sad about it , ” Nordine said .
“ Letting go of something you ’ ve dreamed of is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but there is nothing quite like this global pandemic to put things into perspective .
If we can survive isolation together , we can survive anything.
” Other couples made it work with a little improvisation .
“ With a wedding , there ’ s a ‘ The show must go on ’ feeling , but we weren ’ t going to risk people ’ s lives , ” said Terry Case , 41 , an engineer in Silicon Valley who had booked his wedding for late March in the Santa Cruz area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he and his fiancée instead threw a socially distanced ceremony with six friends in a nearby park .
The band they had originally booked , Coffee Zombie Collective , still played their closing dance as new spouses .
“ I ’ m from West Virginia , and the last song of every wedding there is John Denver ’ s ‘ Take Me Home , Country Roads.
’ Everybody screams it and dances in a circle , ” Case said .
“ The band recorded a version and sent us a link so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so sweet and we were glad to still do it our own way.
” Right now , everyone in the industry is similarly scrambling .
Kivel , who cut his teeth in the L.A. rock group Kisses , knows it ’ s tumultuous when gigs fall through .
“ A lot of our touring musicians make a stable income from our gig work so they can do a tour that maybe breaks even .
Ultimately , we pay the bills , ” he said .
When that work ends too , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water .
“ Even if you get a good day rate [ playing weddings ] , when you break it all down , it becomes a very normal blue-collar income , ” he said .
“ How do you get from here to 12 or 18 months from now as performer if you don ’ t have other revenue streams ?
” Popular artists are used to the on-and-off cycles of touring and know what to expect as far as saving for the lean months .
Some acts in genres like hip-hop or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income .
Others take creative approaches to livestreaming that may keep fans ’ interest until shows resume .
Workaday musicians often have no such options .
Some can turn to composing or online instrument lessons to supplement their income for now .
But if you relied on playing for crowds , this is the first time since before the Jazz Age when all gatherings — even prosaic events like company holiday parties — are off the table due to a pandemic .
“ It ’ s such a unique thing .
Other economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been socioeconomic situations like wars , riots and strikes , but none of them required specifically not gathering in spaces , ” said Brian Pincus , a musician and bandleader whose family business , the Culver City-based Bob Gail Music , has booked dance and soul bands for weddings and other events in L.A. for 40 years .
“ We ’ re hunkering down and bracing ourselves , and there are going to be cash flow issues , ” he said , “ but if we can ever open back up enough to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ na be an insane last quarter.
” In the meantime , though , those musicians have to figure out how to make ends meet .
Bruce Garnitz , a singer and guitarist who has performed with bands at weddings and events around L.A. since the ‘ 90s , often becomes part of his clients ’ lives .
He ’ s sometimes played the same person ’ s bar mitzvah and wedding decades apart .
Right now , he would be playing a couple of weddings every weekend and four or five gigs throughout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pays backing musicians , lighting techs and roadies , helping many on the margins of the music industry stay afloat .
During the crisis , he ’ s teaching rock band classes and giving instrument lessons online .
But for him and many gigging musicians he works with , replacement wages are difficult to find .
“ I know how much income we generate for folks , ” Garnitz said .
“ This is a really tough time for working and performing musicians.
” It ’ s even more difficult for immigrant musicians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multiple threats of the loss of their livelihood to COVID-19 , the incredible difficulty of collecting unemployment benefits and a hostile attitude around immigration from the government .
“ Immigrants in L.A. comprise a lot of mariachis , ” Garcia said .
“ For those who don ’ t have anything else to fall back on , how are they expected to turn around and go into the workforce ?
Do they decide to take a chance and go to Mexico where no one ’ s working either ?
Musicians will have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Who knows how long the COVID-19 shutdown will last or what kind of gigs await on the other side .
Maybe couples will pare wedding expenses if the expected recession proves severe .
But even in the midst of a pandemic , people fall in love , children are born and loved ones pass away .
People will need to gather to commemorate it all .
When that day comes , they ’ ll need a band .
“ The last gig we played in March , I was like , ‘ Should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have come ?
’ ” Garcia said .
“ I felt very torn .
But music is a staple of our culture .
And that couple deserved their moment .
”

Susie Garcia and husband Pepe Martinez Jr. are renowned mariachi bandleaders who have played countless L.A. weddings over the years. Now, they wonder when their next gigs might come.
Until a few weeks ago, if you got married in L.A. and hired a mariachi band, there was a good chance Susie Garcia’s family played you down the aisle.
The singer and bandleader has fronted her own group, the renowned all-female Mariachi Las Colibrí, for a decade and has seen generations of Mexican-American Angelenos through birthdays, baptisms, weddings and funerals. Her husband, Pepe Martinez Jr., leads his own band, Mariachi Ángeles, inspired by his father, the former leader of the legendary Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.
Almost every weekend this spring, the two were booked to perform traditional music at cultural events and regale young couples at weddings across Southern California. That is, until early March, when COVID-19 turned everyone’s future around.
“We crossed out about 15 gigs in a week,” Garcia said. “Wedding after wedding, planners were calling me devastated, like, ‘What do we do?’”
Advertisement
The answer, as every musician and event planner soon learned, was nothing. Life would be on hold for months until the disease abated.
California Coronavirus updates: This is California’s reopening plan for stores, offices, schools, sports, concerts The Los Angeles Times will provide around-the-clock updates on COVID-19 from across Southern California and around the world.Tracking the coronavirus in California: latest numbers | Support our journalism with a subscriptionHave a question about coronavirus? Send us your questions here. | You also can sign up for our newsletterSee latest photo galleryCoronavirus updates for April 27 are here
While the virus has upended touring, shuttered venues and left artists scrambling to livestream living-room concerts, there’s much more to the live music industry than that spotlight. Gigging bands and DJs, the kind who perform at thousands of weddings, bat mitzvahs and private parties across L.A., don’t play globally broadcast all-star fundraisers but have been decimated just the same. Their livelihoods may come back eventually, but the loss of reliable gigs at the peak of wedding season has been sudden and staggering.
Fans don’t just lose a show. They lose the backing music to the most important days of their lives.
“Mariachi ties people to their family and values, that circle of life,” Garcia said. “When that is cut off, that has such an impact.”
The wedding industry isn’t the first place most look to see the fallout of COVID-19 on the music business. But it’s a huge sector that’s a clandestine livelihood for many studio and touring acts.
Advertisement
Around 250,000 couples tied the knot in California last year, at an average cost of $30,000 each, according to industry analyst firm the Wedding Report. Costs for live music vary widely — from a single DJ on a laptop to a dozen-strong band with horns and backing vocalists — but fees can run into the thousands for even a small group.
Compared to the financial gamble and myriad uncertainties of touring original material, playing Motown classics in a hotel ballroom is usually a steady gig. COVID-19, unfortunately, arrived just in time to vaporize those jobs.
“We’ve survived fires and mudslides at our locations, but to have every event for maybe six months all off the table, that really pulled the rug out from under us,” said Jesse Kivel, a musician and co-founder of Dart Collective, an L.A. event-music firm that’s grown into a hub for indie musicians and DJs to make money between tours. Kivel’s firm hires dozens of artists and instrumentalists and had booked around 200 weddings and events for the spring high season.
Many of those couples will reschedule eventually when COVID-19 lets up. Jen Nordine, 28, was set to marry Keith Kniland, 37, in March at the Hideaway country club in the Coachella Valley, where Nordine’s parents had a home when she was younger. “It’s our happy place. Over Easter weekend last year, Keith and I hit the links, and on the second to last hole, he got down on one knee and told me he couldn’t live this life without me,” she said.
The San Francisco tech-industry couple booked Dart’s string ensemble for the ceremony and a Dart DJ for the after-party, after discovering the firm on wedding sites and Instagram. Dart had the “fun and classy” vibes they wanted for their music, Nordine said. Although they had to kick their wedding back nearly a year due to COVID-19, they’re staying optimistic.
“It felt selfish and trivial to be sad about it,” Nordine said. “Letting go of something you’ve dreamed of is always a tough pill to swallow, but there is nothing quite like this global pandemic to put things into perspective. If we can survive isolation together, we can survive anything.”
Other couples made it work with a little improvisation.
“With a wedding, there’s a ‘The show must go on’ feeling, but we weren’t going to risk people’s lives,” said Terry Case, 41, an engineer in Silicon Valley who had booked his wedding for late March in the Santa Cruz area. After California issued its stay-at-home orders, he and his fiancée instead threw a socially distanced ceremony with six friends in a nearby park. The band they had originally booked, Coffee Zombie Collective, still played their closing dance as new spouses.
“I’m from West Virginia, and the last song of every wedding there is John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads.’ Everybody screams it and dances in a circle,” Case said. “The band recorded a version and sent us a link so we could play it. It was so sweet and we were glad to still do it our own way.”
From left, Tim McKay, Gabe Martin, Alekos Syropoulos and Kyle Woods, a group assembled by Dart Collective, play at a wedding. (Dart Collective)
Right now, everyone in the industry is similarly scrambling. Kivel, who cut his teeth in the L.A. rock group Kisses, knows it’s tumultuous when gigs fall through.
“A lot of our touring musicians make a stable income from our gig work so they can do a tour that maybe breaks even. Ultimately, we pay the bills,” he said.
When that work ends too, it’s an enormous challenge to stay above water.
“Even if you get a good day rate [playing weddings], when you break it all down, it becomes a very normal blue-collar income,” he said. “How do you get from here to 12 or 18 months from now as performer if you don’t have other revenue streams?”
Popular artists are used to the on-and-off cycles of touring and know what to expect as far as saving for the lean months. Some acts in genres like hip-hop or pop can rely on streaming revenue for income. Others take creative approaches to livestreaming that may keep fans’ interest until shows resume.
Workaday musicians often have no such options. Some can turn to composing or online instrument lessons to supplement their income for now. But if you relied on playing for crowds, this is the first time since before the Jazz Age when all gatherings — even prosaic events like company holiday parties — are off the table due to a pandemic.
“It’s such a unique thing. Other economic downturns have occurred or there’s been socioeconomic situations like wars, riots and strikes, but none of them required specifically not gathering in spaces,” said Brian Pincus, a musician and bandleader whose family business, the Culver City-based Bob Gail Music, has booked dance and soul bands for weddings and other events in L.A. for 40 years.
“We’re hunkering down and bracing ourselves, and there are going to be cash flow issues,” he said, “but if we can ever open back up enough to have parties, it’s gonna be an insane last quarter.”
Dart DJ co-founder Jesse Kivel, left, speaks with colleagues while DJs Aaron Castle, center, and Dan Terndrup spin records during a gig at the Ace Hotel in downtown LA. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
In the meantime, though, those musicians have to figure out how to make ends meet. Bruce Garnitz, a singer and guitarist who has performed with bands at weddings and events around L.A. since the ‘90s, often becomes part of his clients’ lives. He’s sometimes played the same person’s bar mitzvah and wedding decades apart.
Right now, he would be playing a couple of weddings every weekend and four or five gigs throughout the week. When hired, he pays backing musicians, lighting techs and roadies, helping many on the margins of the music industry stay afloat.
During the crisis, he’s teaching rock band classes and giving instrument lessons online. But for him and many gigging musicians he works with, replacement wages are difficult to find.
“I know how much income we generate for folks,” Garnitz said. “This is a really tough time for working and performing musicians.”
It’s even more difficult for immigrant musicians all over L.A., who face the multiple threats of the loss of their livelihood to COVID-19, the incredible difficulty of collecting unemployment benefits and a hostile attitude around immigration from the government.
“Immigrants in L.A. comprise a lot of mariachis,” Garcia said. “For those who don’t have anything else to fall back on, how are they expected to turn around and go into the workforce? Do they decide to take a chance and go to Mexico where no one’s working either? Musicians will have to find other ways to support themselves.”
Who knows how long the COVID-19 shutdown will last or what kind of gigs await on the other side. Maybe couples will pare wedding expenses if the expected recession proves severe. But even in the midst of a pandemic, people fall in love, children are born and loved ones pass away. People will need to gather to commemorate it all. When that day comes, they’ll need a band.
“The last gig we played in March, I was like, ‘Should we be here? Health-wise, should we have come?’” Garcia said. “I felt very torn. But music is a staple of our culture. And that couple deserved their moment.”


latimes--2020-04-30--A record one-day spike in coronavirus cases shows challenges facing L.A. County

Los Angeles County is seeing a surge of new coronavirus cases as testing expands , with institutional settings such as nursing homes and prisons being particularly hard hit .
Health officials Wednesday announced the largest increase in new coronavirus cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began , pushing the county ’ s total number of infections past 22,400 .
Los Angeles County continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in California , with cases and deaths jumping significantly even as other parts of the state see cases declining .
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , nearly 1,000 more than what was reported the previous day .
The increase is mostly the result of a boost in testing as well as a lag in weekend reporting .
One of the hardest-hit areas is the federal prison at Terminal Island , where more than half of the inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 .
The Los Angeles facility now has nation ’ s system .
As of Tuesday , 570 of the prison ’ s 1,055 inmates had the virus , along with 10 staff members .
Two inmates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , according to the Bureau of Prisons .
Both had pre-existing medical conditions , officials said .
Nationwide , 1,534 federal inmates and 343 Bureau of Prisons staff members have tested positive .
Inmate Michael Fleming , 59 , died of COVID-19 symptoms at a hospital Sunday , according to the Bureau of Prisons .
Fleming was serving a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine .
He tested positive for the coronavirus April 8 .
His death follows that of 73-year-old Bradley James Ghilarducci , who died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight-year sentence for receiving and distributing child sexual abuse imagery .
Ferrer said the “ large increase ” in those testing positive at the Terminal Island prison is a reflection of a boost in testing for those even without visible symptoms .
That testing began there last week , she said .
“ The vast majority of them are asymptomatic , ” she said .
She did not say how many of those testing positive have been hospitalized .
Inmates told their families that a military-style medical facility was being erected in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of sick .
One inmate serving time for a white-collar offense told a family member in a letter that he contracted the coronavirus .
“ If I don ’ t make it I ’ ll see you upstairs , take care of mom , my girl and the kids , ” he wrote .
The wife of an inmate , who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation , said the inmate told her that “ it was really bad and worse than they are saying.
” Inmates are locked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lunches .
On one night , he told her , a dozen inmates were taken to the hospital .
Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan ( D-San Pedro ) , who represents the area , wrote on Twitter : “ This is not acceptable .
It is clear they are not making sure these inmates are protected .
The government has a responsibility to protect people in its care , including inmates.
” Sen. Kamala Harris ( D-Calif. ) called on federal officials to “ provide immediate care and treatment ” at Terminal Island .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing at nursing homes , where 40 % of Los Angeles County ’ s deaths have occurred .
County health officials also reported 56 additional fatalities linked to the virus Wednesday , bringing the county ’ s death toll to 1,056 .
Of those who most recently died , 41 were older than 65 , nine were 41 to 65 and two were 18 to 40 .
Information about the other cases wasn ’ t immediately available .
Residents in institutional settings , including assisted living facilities and nursing homes , account for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ferrer said .
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday that all county residents can now get free coronavirus testing at city-run sites .
Until now , only residents with symptoms as well as essential workers and those in institutional settings such as nursing homes could be Officials say expanded testing is essential to getting a better sense of how many people have the virus — data that could be used to ease stay-at-home rules .
Under the new guidelines , priority for the same- or next-day testing will still be given to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fever , cough and shortness of breath .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom on Wednesday urged Californians to stay home and practice physical distancing to avoid spoiling the progress the state has made to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he prepares to allow some businesses to gradually reopen .
“ 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The governor has been critical of Orange County , where tens of thousands flocked to the beaches last weekend .
Laguna Beach officials on Tuesday voted to reopen the city ’ s beaches for several hours on weekday mornings after a six-week closure .
Several miles north in Newport Beach , city leaders voted to keep their beaches open despite Newsom ’ s rebuke .
Times staff writers Taryn Luna , Jaclyn Cosgrove , Iris Lee , Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money contributed to this report .

Richard Winton, Marisa Gerber, Hannah Fry

Volunteers prepare to deliver hot meals to homebound seniors and low-income residents in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Los Angeles County is seeing a surge of new coronavirus cases as testing expands, with institutional settings such as nursing homes and prisons being particularly hard hit.
Health officials Wednesday announced the largest increase in new coronavirus cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began, pushing the county’s total number of infections past 22,400.
Los Angeles County continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in California, with cases and deaths jumping significantly even as other parts of the state see cases declining.
Advertisement
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer announced 1,541 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Wednesday, nearly 1,000 more than what was reported the previous day. The increase is mostly the result of a boost in testing as well as a lag in weekend reporting.
One of the hardest-hit areas is the federal prison at Terminal Island, where more than half of the inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. The Los Angeles facility now has nation’s worst outbreak in the federal penitentiary system.
As of Tuesday, 570 of the prison’s 1,055 inmates had the virus, along with 10 staff members. Two inmates have died of complications related to the virus, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Both had pre-existing medical conditions, officials said.
Nationwide, 1,534 federal inmates and 343 Bureau of Prisons staff members have tested positive.
Inmate Michael Fleming, 59, died of COVID-19 symptoms at a hospital Sunday, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Fleming was serving a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He tested positive for the coronavirus April 8.
Advertisement
His death follows that of 73-year-old Bradley James Ghilarducci, who died last week. Ghilarducci was serving an eight-year sentence for receiving and distributing child sexual abuse imagery.
Ferrer said the “large increase” in those testing positive at the Terminal Island prison is a reflection of a boost in testing for those even without visible symptoms. That testing began there last week, she said.
“The vast majority of them are asymptomatic,” she said. She did not say how many of those testing positive have been hospitalized.
Inmates told their families that a military-style medical facility was being erected in the prison yards to cope with the burgeoning number of sick.
One inmate serving time for a white-collar offense told a family member in a letter that he contracted the coronavirus. “If I don’t make it I’ll see you upstairs, take care of mom, my girl and the kids,” he wrote.
The wife of an inmate, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said the inmate told her that “it was really bad and worse than they are saying.” Inmates are locked down and are getting food in sack lunches. On one night, he told her, a dozen inmates were taken to the hospital.
Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-San Pedro), who represents the area, wrote on Twitter: “This is not acceptable. It is clear they are not making sure these inmates are protected. The government has a responsibility to protect people in its care, including inmates.”
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called on federal officials to “provide immediate care and treatment” at Terminal Island.
Officials are also trying to step up testing at nursing homes, where 40% of Los Angeles County’s deaths have occurred.
County health officials also reported 56 additional fatalities linked to the virus Wednesday, bringing the county’s death toll to 1,056.
Of those who most recently died, 41 were older than 65, nine were 41 to 65 and two were 18 to 40. Information about the other cases wasn’t immediately available. Residents in institutional settings, including assisted living facilities and nursing homes, account for 47% of all county deaths, Ferrer said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday that all county residents can now get free coronavirus testing
at city-run sites. Until now, only residents with symptoms as well as essential workers and those in institutional settings such as nursing homes could be tested.
Officials say expanded testing is essential to getting a better sense of how many people have the virus — data that could be used to ease stay-at-home rules.
Under the new guidelines, priority for the same- or next-day testing will still be given to people with symptoms, such as a fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday urged Californians to stay home and practice physical distancing to avoid spoiling the progress the state has made to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he prepares to allow some businesses to gradually reopen.
“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 governor has been critical of Orange County, where tens of thousands flocked to the beaches last weekend.
Laguna Beach officials on Tuesday voted to reopen the city’s beaches for several hours on weekday mornings after a six-week closure. Several miles north in Newport Beach, city leaders voted to keep their beaches open despite Newsom’s rebuke.
Times staff writers Taryn Luna, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Iris Lee, Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-04-30--All Californians have a right to their beaches. Even during the coronavirus crisis

Every Californian has an unalienable right to a day at the beach .
Or at least an hour or two .
OK , maybe just a few minutes daydreaming in a car while marveling at the foaming breakers .
Of course , beach parking lots are now closed to you and me .
Going to the beach is our birthright as native Californians — and our promise to newcomers .
It ’ s our gift from the Creator — a trade-off for all the quakes , wildfires , mudslides and smog .
Yeah , I know : Every right has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right to free speech but shouldn ’ t wade into the surf and yell “ shark.
” And we shouldn ’ t be spreading germs to other sunbathers .
So hire some beach patrols and enforce the rule about plopping down no closer than six feet apart .
Maybe after a couple of warnings issue a citation for enough bucks to cover the administrative costs .
Although , honestly , I can ’ t envision a young couple adhering to the six-foot rule for more than five minutes .
And forget about wearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ocean ’ s appeals is breathing in that salt air drifting in on a soft breeze .
My parents left Oklahoma and Tennessee in the 1920s searching for the California Dream .
They met at a Ventura beach party .
I practically grew up on beaches between Ventura and Santa Barbara — Hollywood Beach , the Rincon , Carpinteria , East Beach — while sheltering in Ojai .
At Ventura College , I often took my reading assignment down to a secluded beach on the Rincon .
Later at San Jose State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ northern students were at summer ’ s end compared to Southern California beach worshipers .
In Santa Cruz , the sun shined less and the water was colder .
But it was still paradise .
Recently , it was reassuring to notice that Ventura politicians still get it .
Beaches are the substance of local peoples ’ lives .
The City Council decided to open them on the first spectacular weekend of the season “ in support of balancing residents ’ physical and mental health , ” it announced .
Yes , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little body surfing will do wonders for the mind , relaxing it and enabling the toleration of all manner of aggravations while sheltering at home .
You can ’ t find therapy like that good no matter the fee .
Of course , leaders of my old beach town weren ’ t very hospitable to outsiders .
They told Angelenos to stay out .
“ To our L.A. County brothers and sisters , normally we like you to come here , but not right now , ” county Executive Officer Mike Powers was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which gave me my first daily newspaper job while at VC .
“ If you have to travel , keep it to essential travel where you live.
” Guess you can ’ t blame people in Ventura , which has avoided being hard hit by COVID-19 , for fearing being overrun by residents in more densely populated L.A. , where the coronavirus continues to spread .
L.A. has kept its beaches closed .
But they were opened in Orange County .
And the Newport Beach City Council rejected a proposal to close down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there on the hot weekend .
Unfortunately , city parking lots at the beach were closed , so beachgoers invaded nearby neighborhoods .
“ I think you should reopen them , ” state Sen. John Moorlach ( R-Costa Mesa ) said Tuesday .
He ’ s a former Orange County supervisor who represents some beach communities .
“ People should have access to facilities.
” Moorlach says he understands why people flocked there on a beautiful weekend .
“ You need to trust people , ” the senator says .
“ If they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve got to let people be people .
If you ’ re part of a vulnerable group , shame on you for going to the beach .
For everyone else who ’ s sheltering in place , the beach may be the best medicine.
” “ We haven ’ t seen the ‘ surge ’ ” in virus contagion that was feared , he continues .
“ And I ’ m not seeing a wide band of people in ICUs .
I see hospitals in my district struggling because they don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Maybe people are seeing that too.
” What Gov .
Gavin Newsom saw — those crowded beach scenes — made him angry .
“ Those images are an example of what not to see…what not to do , ” the governor declared during his Monday virus briefing .
“ You didn ’ t see those images at L.A. beaches and San Diego beaches and [ in ] Northern California because we had strong guidelines that were not only adopted but were abided by.
” So amend the guidelines and loosen up .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and made the beaches look more crowded than they really were , Moorlach says .
“ Everyone did social distancing .
[ It ] was real cooperative and very respectful .
They just wanted to get out and get some sun , which is really healthy.
” If it ’ s unhealthy , if people are being infected with the virus by being drawn to the ocean as humans always have , show us some data .
Do people who go to the beach contract the virus more than people who don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Until then , here ’ s my declaration of independence from shallow thinking : “ We hold these truths to be self-evident , that all Californians are endowed with certain unalienable rights .
Among these are sun , surf and a day at the beach.
” Newsom could use some beach time .

Newport Beach on Tuesday. Newport Beach City Council members opted against closing the city’s beaches for the next few weekends despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s criticism of the large crowds and lack of social distancing.
Every Californian has an unalienable right to a day at the beach.
Or at least an hour or two.
OK, maybe just a few minutes daydreaming in a car while marveling at the foaming breakers. Of course, most beach parking lots are now closed to you and me.
Going to the beach is our birthright as native Californians — and our promise to newcomers. It’s our gift from the Creator — a trade-off for all the quakes, wildfires, mudslides and smog.
Advertisement
Yeah, I know: Every right has limits. We’ve got the right to free speech but shouldn’t wade into the surf and yell “shark.” And we shouldn’t be spreading germs to other sunbathers.
So hire some beach patrols and enforce the rule about plopping down no closer than six feet apart. Maybe after a couple of warnings issue a citation for enough bucks to cover the administrative costs.
Although, honestly, I can’t envision a young couple adhering to the six-foot rule for more than five minutes.
And forget about wearing masks on the beach. One of the ocean’s appeals is breathing in that salt air drifting in on a soft breeze.
My parents left Oklahoma and Tennessee in the 1920s searching for the California Dream. They met at a Ventura beach party. I practically grew up on beaches between Ventura and Santa Barbara — Hollywood Beach, the Rincon, Carpinteria, East Beach — while sheltering in Ojai.
Advertisement
At Ventura College, I often took my reading assignment down to a secluded beach on the Rincon. Later at San Jose State, I immediately noticed how pale most northern students were at summer’s end compared to Southern California beach worshipers. In Santa Cruz, the sun shined less and the water was colder. But it was still paradise.
Recently, it was reassuring to notice that Ventura politicians still get it. Beaches are the substance of local peoples’ lives. The City Council decided to open them on the first spectacular weekend of the season “in support of balancing residents’ physical and mental health,” it announced.
Yes, a warm sun, calm breeze and a little body surfing will do wonders for the mind, relaxing it and enabling the toleration of all manner of aggravations while sheltering at home. You can’t find therapy like that good no matter the fee.
Of course, leaders of my old beach town weren’t very hospitable to outsiders. They told Angelenos to stay out.
“To our L.A. County brothers and sisters, normally we like you to come here, but not right now,” county Executive Officer Mike Powers was quoted in the Ventura County Star, which gave me my first daily newspaper job while at VC. “If you have to travel, keep it to essential travel where you live.”
Guess you can’t blame people in Ventura, which has avoided being hard hit by COVID-19, for fearing being overrun by residents in more densely populated L.A., where the coronavirus continues to spread.
L.A. has kept its beaches closed. But they were opened in Orange County. And the Newport Beach City Council rejected a proposal to close down the beach in May after people swarmed there on the hot weekend.
Unfortunately, city parking lots at the beach were closed, so beachgoers invaded nearby neighborhoods.
“I think you should reopen them,” state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) said Tuesday. He’s a former Orange County supervisor who represents some beach communities. “People should have access to facilities.”
Moorlach says he understands why people flocked there on a beautiful weekend.
“You need to trust people,” the senator says. “If they exercise proper social distancing, you’ve got to let people be people. If you’re part of a vulnerable group, shame on you for going to the beach. For everyone else who’s sheltering in place, the beach may be the best medicine.”
“We haven’t seen the ‘surge’” in virus contagion that was feared, he continues. “And I’m not seeing a wide band of people in ICUs. I see hospitals in my district struggling because they don’t have patients. Something’s amiss. Maybe people are seeing that too.”
What Gov. Gavin Newsom saw — those crowded beach scenes — made him angry.
“Those images are an example of what not to see…what not to do,” the governor declared during his Monday virus briefing. “You didn’t see those images at L.A. beaches and San Diego beaches and [in] Northern California because we had strong guidelines that were not only adopted but were abided by.”
So amend the guidelines and loosen up.
Instead, sadly, the governor announced Thursday he’s closing Orange County beaches. Thankfully he backed away from closing all beaches in California.
“The TV angles were bad” and made the beaches look more crowded than they really were, Moorlach says.
“Everyone did social distancing. [It] was real cooperative and very respectful. They just wanted to get out and get some sun, which is really healthy.”
If it’s unhealthy, if people are being infected with the virus by being drawn to the ocean as humans always have, show us some data. Do people who go to the beach contract the virus more than people who don’t? Show us the numbers.
Until then, here’s my declaration of independence from shallow thinking:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Californians are endowed with certain unalienable rights. Among these are sun, surf and a day at the beach.”
Newsom could use some beach time.


latimes--2020-04-30--Newsom poised to close beaches throughout the state to slow coronavirus spread

Gov .
Gavin Newsom was poised to order beaches to close in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus , a source said Wednesday .
A memo sent to California police chiefs said the governor intends to make the announcement Thursday .
A law enforcement source confirmed to The Times that authorities were briefed on the plans and that might also include closure of some parks .
The governor ’ s office declined to comment Wednesday night .
But earlier in the day , Newsom said he was mulling more action on beaches .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ And a lot of our other partners -- Coastal Commission , State Lands [ Commission ] and others -- to really figure out what our next steps are .
And I can assure you that , that , that clarity will come in a very short period of time.
” Until now , cities and counties up and down the state have been left to make the tricky decision of balancing public health risks while also providing equitable access to the outdoors .
Many counties , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partial closures but have struggled with overcrowding .
Local officials decided this week to close Lovers Point Beach along Monterey Bay , for example , due to overcrowding .
The California Coastal Commission , usually the gatekeeper of the state ’ s beach access law , has been granting emergency waivers to local officials to make the decision whether to close their beaches .
Newsom on Monday criticized Californians who defied the statewide stay-at-home order and flocked to beaches over the weekend , saying that ignoring restrictions could prolong the spread of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s comments came after thousands of beachgoers descended on the coasts in Orange and Ventura counties despite his pleas last week to avoid doing so during the warm weekend .
“ This virus doesn ’ t take the weekends off , ” Newsom said during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Sacramento .
“ The only thing that will set us back is people stopping to practice physical distancing and appropriate social distancing .
That ’ s the only thing that ’ s going to slow down our ability to reopen this economy.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their beaches during a meeting Tuesday night .
But after hours of discussion , the council decided against it .
Laguna Beach will reopen city beaches for several hours on weekday mornings beginning Monday , allowing water activities and walking or jogging along the shore .
On Tuesday , Newsom unveiled a broad outline of a plan to lift his stay-at-home order and slowly ease the restrictions on Californians in four stages in the weeks and months ahead .
The governor also announced that schools could potentially reopen in July or August , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the first time off guard .
In the meantime , he urged Californians on Wednesday to stay home and practice physical distancing to avoid spoiling the progress the state has made to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he prepares to allow some businesses to gradually reopen .
Eric Nunez , president of the chiefs ’ association , told the Associated Press that the memo was sent to give police leaders a heads-up before a Thursday announcement .

Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to order the closure of all California beaches in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a source said Wednesday.
A memo sent to California police chiefs said the governor intended to make the announcement Thursday. A law enforcement source confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that authorities were briefed on the plans and that they might include closure of some parks.
The governor’s office declined to comment Wednesday night. But earlier in the day, Newsom said he was mulling more action on beaches.
Advertisement
California Photos show county lines separate packed beaches from empty ones Southern California had its first big heat wave over the weekend, but L.A. County beaches are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Beaches in nearby counties were open, however. Here are a few scenes from the weekend.
“I’m working with state parks and others,” he said. “And a lot of our other partners — Coastal Commission, State Lands [Commission] and others — to really figure out what our next steps are. And I can assure you that ... clarity will come in a very short period of time.”
Until now, cities and counties up and down the state have been left to make the tricky decision of balancing public health risks while also providing equitable access to the outdoors. Many counties, such as Santa Cruz and Monterey, have been doing partial closures but have struggled with overcrowding.
Local officials decided this week to close Lovers Point Beach along Monterey Bay, for example, due to overcrowding.
The California Coastal Commission, usually the gatekeeper of the state’s beach access law, has been granting emergency waivers to local officials to make the decision whether to close their beaches.
Newsom on Monday criticized Californians who defied the statewide stay-at-home order and flocked to beaches over the weekend, saying that ignoring restrictions could prolong the spread of the coronavirus in the state.
Advertisement
Newsom’s comments came after thousands of beachgoers descended on the coasts in Orange and Ventura counties despite his pleas last week to avoid doing so during the warm weekend.
“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off,” Newsom said during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Sacramento. “The only thing that will set us back is people stopping to practice physical distancing and appropriate social distancing. That’s the only thing that’s going to slow down our ability to reopen this economy.”
City leaders in Newport Beach debated closing their beaches during a meeting Tuesday night. But after hours of discussion, the council decided against it.
Laguna Beach will reopen city beaches for several hours on weekday mornings beginning Monday, allowing water activities and walking or jogging along the shore.
On Tuesday, Newsom unveiled a broad outline of a plan to lift his stay-at-home order and slowly ease the restrictions on Californians in four stages in the weeks and months ahead. The governor also announced that schools could potentially reopen in July or August, catching educators who were learning about it for the first time off guard.
In the meantime, he urged Californians on Wednesday to stay home and practice physical distancing to avoid spoiling the progress the state has made to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he prepares to allow some businesses to gradually reopen.
Eric Nunez, president of the chiefs’ association, told the Associated Press that the memo was sent to give police leaders a heads up before a Thursday announcement.


latimes--2020-04-29--Face masks thrown on freeway cause traffic jam in California

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , a Bay Area freeway suffered a mini-traffic jam Wednesday when someone tossed @ @ @ @ @ the road and some motorists stopped to grab them , the California Highway Patrol reported @ @ @ @ @ CHP officers received a report that a white truck had stopped on Interstate 880 in @ @ @ @ @ out boxes of medical masks , the CHP reported .
Hundreds of the prized masks @ @ @ @ @ authorities said .
As many as 1,000 masks may have been dumped , KPIX-TV reported @ @ @ @ @ and stepped out of their vehicles to pick up the masks , ” the CHP @ @ @ @ @ in a Facebook post .
One photo posted on the site showed about two dozen @ @ @ @ @ stashed in the back seat of a car .
It took about an hour before @ @ @ @ @ all the masks , authorities said .
There were no reported injuries and no arrests @ @ @ @ @ .

One of the spilled masks is visible on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 880 in Union City. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the freeway suffered a mini-traffic jam when someone tossed hundreds of face masks onto the road and some motorists stopped to grab them, the California Highway Patrol reported.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Bay Area freeway suffered a mini-traffic jam Wednesday when someone tossed hundreds of face masks onto the road and some motorists stopped to grab them, the California Highway Patrol reported.
About 1:30 p.m., CHP officers received a report that a white truck had stopped on Interstate 880 in Union City and someone tossed out boxes of medical masks, the CHP reported.
Hundreds of the prized masks spread across southbound lanes, authorities said.
Advertisement
As many as 1,000 masks may have been dumped, KPIX-TV reported.
Several motorists “stopped and stepped out of their vehicles to pick up the masks,” the CHP’s Hayward bureau said in a Facebook post.
One photo posted on the site showed about two dozen of the thin blue masks stashed in the back seat of a car.
It took about an hour before a road sweeper picked up all the masks, authorities said.
There were no reported injuries and no arrests or citations were immediately made.


latimes--2020-04-29--3 million coronavirus masks arrive in California as part of quiet deal with Chinese company

The first shipment of protective masks purchased from a Chinese company by advisors to Gov .
Gavin Newsom arrived in California over the weekend , part of a still-confidential agreement costing California taxpayers almost $ 1 billion .
Newsom briefly mentioned the delivery in his remarks Wednesday on the state ’ s coronavirus response , and it was later confirmed by the Governor ’ s Office of Emergency Services .
In all , the state received some 3 million surgical masks made by BYD , a company known for building electric vehicles with an assembly plant in Los Angeles County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ night , got into the state warehouse on Sunday , started getting distributed to 18 specific sites yesterday , ” Newsom said .
“ And as more protective gear comes in , more quickly , we ’ ll get it out.
” Newsom has said BYD agreed to make 200 million masks a month for California , a contract that runs through the end of June at a total cost of $ 990 million .
Most of those will be N95 masks , highly sought by emergency responders and healthcare workers .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks .
Those that arrived Saturday on a flight from China to Los Angeles were traditional surgical masks , of which the state expects to receive 50 million .
The exact details of the lucrative contract have been kept under wraps since the governor revealed its existence during an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on April 7 .
The following day , The Times asked for the agreement and the details of the purchase , a request has not yet been fulfilled by the Governor ’ s Office of Emergency Services .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including members of the Legislature , exactly how much each mask is costing the state .
In two separate public hearings , Democratic and Republican lawmakers have criticized the secrecy surrounding the BYD contract .
The same night that Newsom touted the deal on national television , administration officials asked the Legislature ’ s joint budget committee for permission to waive an existing 72-hour rule to spend $ 495 million for a first installment on the purchase .
On Monday , officials told lawmakers a $ 104.7-million payment was due — bringing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ healthcare supply subsidiary to $ 599.7 million .
BYD launched its effort to enter the protective mask-making business in March .
Though the products are being made in China , the partnership with the state involves the company ’ s California subsidiary — the operator of a vehicle assembly plant in Lancaster that was awarded a $ 3-million state tax credit in 2015 .
“ This is an organization that has a manufacturing capability that is specifically designed to meet this need .
And this is a great partnership because it is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , director of the Governor ’ s Office of Emergency Services , on April 8 .
State officials have insisted that the undisclosed contract requires the N95 masks made by BYD to first be approved for effectiveness by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health .
A BYD spokesman said Wednesday that the certification could come as soon as the end of the week and that the first shipment of surgical masks was slightly ahead of schedule .
Communities across California have an urgent need for masks and other protective gear .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Garcetti announced the city will purchase 24 million N95 masks from North Carolina manufacturer Honeywell .
The first 100,000 masks in that order are expected to arrive in May and will cost 79 cents each , Garcetti said .
The cost per mask of those made by BYD could be much higher .
State officials have declined for more than three weeks to provide additional details , citing concerns that the masks could somehow be commandeered by an outside entity during the process of delivering them to California .
Newsom hinted at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ successive public events this week but never mentioned the company by name .
On Wednesday , he said the masks will be a key component of California ’ s pandemic response .
“ We recognize the totality of the need is in the tens of millions , ” he said .
“ And that ’ s why we went forward with a rather substantial procurement .
”

BYD, a Chinese automaker with an assembly plant in L.A. County, agreed to make 200 million masks a month for California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has said, though details of the deal are under wraps.
The first shipment of protective masks purchased from a Chinese company by advisors to Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived in California over the weekend, part of a still-confidential agreement costing California taxpayers almost $1 billion.
Newsom briefly mentioned the delivery in his remarks Wednesday on the state’s coronavirus response, and it was later confirmed by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. In all, the state received some 3 million surgical masks made by BYD, a company known for building electric vehicles with an assembly plant in Los Angeles County.
The masks “arrived on Saturday night, got into the state warehouse on Sunday, started getting distributed to 18 specific sites yesterday,” Newsom said. “And as more protective gear comes in, more quickly, we’ll get it out.”
Newsom has said BYD agreed to make 200 million masks a month for California, a contract that runs through the end of June at a total cost of $990 million. Most of those will be N95 masks, highly sought by emergency responders and healthcare workers. The contract reportedly calls for 150 million N95 masks. Those that arrived Saturday on a flight from China to Los Angeles were traditional surgical masks, of which the state expects to receive 50 million.
Advertisement
The exact details of the lucrative contract have been kept under wraps since the governor revealed its existence during an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on April 7. The following day, The Times asked for the agreement and the details of the purchase, a request has not yet been fulfilled by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Administration officials have declined to tell anyone, including members of the Legislature, exactly how much each mask is costing the state.
Three million masks made by Chinese electric-car maker BYD arrived in California this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. (California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services)
In two separate public hearings, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have criticized the secrecy surrounding the BYD contract. The same night that Newsom touted the deal on national television, administration officials asked the Legislature’s joint budget committee for permission to waive an existing 72-hour rule to spend $495 million for a first installment on the purchase. On Monday, officials told lawmakers a $104.7-million payment was due — bringing the total paid to BYD’s healthcare supply subsidiary to $599.7 million.
BYD launched its effort to enter the protective mask-making business in March. Though the products are being made in China, the partnership with the state involves the company’s California subsidiary — the operator of a vehicle assembly plant in Lancaster that was awarded a $3-million state tax credit in 2015.
“This is an organization that has a manufacturing capability that is specifically designed to meet this need. And this is a great partnership because it is a California-based company,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, on April 8.
State officials have insisted that the undisclosed contract requires the N95 masks made by BYD to first be approved for effectiveness by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A BYD spokesman said Wednesday that the certification could come as soon as the end of the week and that the first shipment of surgical masks was slightly ahead of schedule.
Communities across California have an urgent need for masks and other protective gear. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city will purchase 24 million N95 masks from North Carolina manufacturer Honeywell. The first 100,000 masks in that order are expected to arrive in May and will cost 79 cents each, Garcetti said.
The cost per mask of those made by BYD could be much higher. State officials have declined for more than three weeks to provide additional details, citing concerns that the masks could somehow be commandeered by an outside entity during the process of delivering them to California.
Newsom hinted at the first installment of BYD masks in three successive public events this week but never mentioned the company by name. On Wednesday, he said the masks will be a key component of California’s pandemic response.
“We recognize the totality of the need is in the tens of millions,” he said. “And that’s why we went forward with a rather substantial procurement.”