Coronavirus

California Reaches Grim Milestone in COVID-19 Deaths as State Reopens

Published

4 years ago

June 25, 2020

As the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that total COVID-19 cases reached 9 million worldwide, California reported 5,019 new cases, the highest number of infections in the state in one day.

Texas also reported a record high of infections in a 24-hour period with 5,489 cases Tuesday.

California also surpassed the grim milestone of more than 5,000 deaths on June 14 and reached 5,580 March 19. Despite these numbers, California has entered the second phase of re-opening since Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the stay-at-home order March 19.

In this phase of the re-opening, retail stores, and restaurants, then churches and hair salons were allowed to reopen with restrictions.

On June 19, hotels, zoos, museums and movie theaters were among the businesses cleared to reopen.

Starting June 18, Californians must wear face coverings in common and public indoor spaces and outdoors when distancing is not possible.

Cloth face coverings or masks help reduce the spread of coronavirus, especially when combined with physical distancing and frequent hand-washing.

In the Bay Area, including Santa Cruz County, the number of coronavirus cases now tops 20,000.

Alameda County now reports more than 5,000 coronavirus cases, the first county in the Bay Area to exceed 5,000 cases. There have been 120 deaths.

On June 19, Alameda County allowed outdoor restaurant dining to resume. It is the last Bay Area county to take this step. Indoor and outdoor religious services, in-store shopping, outdoor museums, and outdoor fitness classes are also now allowed.

Hair salons and barbershops in Contra Costa County were allowed to reopen for business June 17.

Nail salons and other personal care services that do not involve the face can reopen in Contra Costa County July 1, along with dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms, museums, hotels, indoor religious services and more.

However, with 62 deaths reported Contra Costa County is now on a watch list with the California Dept. of Public Health because of increasing coronavirus hospitalizations.

On June 29, hair salons, nail salons, tattoo shops, massage parlors, museums, zoos, outside swimming pools and outdoor bars can reopen in San Francisco. The original date to open these businesses was July 15. The earlier opening is contingent on San Francisco receiving state approval for a variance.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium announces it will reopen July 13.

Marin County now allows people to form social bubbles, defined as “a stable group of 12 people or less who have collectively agreed to limit their in-person social activities to only each other for at least three weeks.” There have been 946 cases reported there and 18 deaths.

Los Angeles continued to be the epicenter for new infections and deaths in the state. As of Tuesday, there were 78,227 confirmed cases and 3,027 deaths.

ABC News, KRON-4, COVID-19.ca.gov are the sources for this report.

Post Staff

Posts by Post Staff

Bay Area

Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

4 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

Oakland Post

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California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

12 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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