Los Angeles hopes new mask mandate will reverse virus spike
Los Angeles County residents are again required to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status — a new mandate starting this weekend that health officials hope will reverse the latest spikes in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The vast majority of new cases are among unvaccinated people, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis said Sunday. San Francisco Bay Area health officials last week urged residents to again wear masks inside public buildings, offices or businesses regardless of whether they are vaccinated.
news.yahoo.com'Extraordinary' homelessness hearing held in LA's Skid Row
Marshals Service officers after holding a court hearing at the Downtown Women's Center in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. “This is an extraordinary hearing,” Carter said, acknowledging the setting but also the scope of the problem facing the court. “The only answer is housing!” said Pete White, an activist with the Los Angeles Community Action Network. A January 2020 count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported that there were more than 66,400 homeless people living in Los Angeles County — by far the largest single concentration in the state. Carter noted that 1,383 homeless people died in the city and county of Los Angeles last year, a 32% increase from 2019.
California: OK to use Moderna vaccine after illness reports
About 330,000 doses from the lot had been distributed to nearly 300 providers in California this month. “Under a Biden administration, our country has a fighting chance at defeating this virus,” California state Sen. Scott Wiener said Wednesday. More than 4 million doses had been shipped and about 1.5 million had been administered as of Tuesday, according to figures from the state public health department. “The chief obstacle we are facing is not enough doses,” said Roland Pickens, director of San Francisco’s public health care system, at a supervisors’ hearing Wednesday. The total of 694 new deaths is second to the record 708 reported Jan. 8, according to the state Department of Public Health.
California sees hopeful signs as counties fight for vaccines
The county health department received 12,000 doses last week and had expected the same amount this week, but it received only 1,775. “This unreliable source makes it very hard to plan,” public health director Dr. Grant Colfax said. Yet Yolo County Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said the state is “creating unreasonable expectations” by pushing to inoculate those age 65 and up when the county still lacks enough vaccines even for health care workers. Sacramento County Public Health has just 975 doses allocated for this week, leading Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye to call for patience. So far 3.2 million doses have been shipped to California and 1.5 million have been administered, Ghaly said.
California lifts stay-home order for Sacramento region
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lifted a stay-at-home order in the 13-county Sacramento region on Tuesday as hospital conditions improved, a rare turn of good news as the state pushes through what Gov. Three of the state's five regions — the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California — remain under the stay-at-home order because their intensive care capacity at hospitals is severely limited. To try to get the virus in check California, is moving more quickly to distribute vaccines. Newsom imposed the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order in March. Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer of Sutter County in the Sacramento region acknowledged as much when he reacted to the order being lifted.
Biden campaign 'flooding the zone' with celebrity backers
The four-time Grammy winner isn't the only Biden playlist mainstay helping his campaign against President Donald Trump. Still, Biden has gone beyond celebrities in search of campaign surrogates. Stars generate candidate buzz, help with fundraising and can build campaign event crowds even for those online. His reelection campaign has been holding its own online events with top supporters nearly every night for months and says its online events average 2.6 million views per broadcast, though its headliners are often the presidents children. The Trump campaign has also seized on Biden's preferred venue for participating in online events, a basement studio in his Delaware home accusing the former vice president of hiding from voters.
All travelers from mainland China being monitored for coronavirus in L.A. County
Los Angeles County public health nurses are closely monitoring all residents who have recently traveled to mainland China, regardless of whether they have any symptoms of the new strain of coronavirus, according to the countys top health official. This is an aggressive effort to touch all the people whove come into L.A. County, Ferrer said. The health department is also reaching out to employers and schools and asking them to accommodate the travelers with flexible leave and the ability to manage tasks from home. Ferrer said any traveler who has any concerns and was not screened at an airport can call 211 to be assigned a Department of Public Health contact. Globally, more than 43,000 people have contracted the virus, and 1,018 people two of them outside mainland China have died as a result.
latimes.comCounty introduces initiative to employ ex-criminals
By Wave News ServicesLOS ANGELES County supervisors and local business leaders have announced the Fair Chance Hiring Initiative, which is aimed at encouraging companies to employ people who have been rehabilitated through the criminal justice system. Everyone deserves a fair chance to get back on their feet, and when they do, everyone benefits, she said. Companies that sign the pledge will receive guidance from Los Angeles County business services representatives, who will work with them to recruit and retain qualified job candidates. Hiring justice-involved individuals is not only good for business but provides an opportunity to transform lives, County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said. The Fair Chance Hiring Campaign also seeks to raise awareness of the States Fair Chance Act, which took effect last year.
thewestsidegazette.comIs Trumps 4th of July celebration an abuse of power? Critics say it will be one big MAGA rally
Julin Castro, Obamas Housing secretary who is now running for president, was one of two Cabinet secretaries cited in the Obama years. He fielded a journalists questions about the 2016 presidential race and his own chances of being named as Clintons running mate during an interview in which he was acting in his official capacity. Also during the Obama administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was cited while Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was investigated before she resigned to become an L.A. County supervisor.
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