Coronavirus updates: California deaths reach 110 as nurses complain of unsafe conditions
As the number of U.S. coronavirus cases begins to surge ahead of even China and Italy, California’s death count has surpassed 100.
Although the latest figures from the California Department of Public Health show more than 4,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state and 101 deaths as of Saturday, Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker is now reporting 110 dead statewide.
As of Friday, just over 80 people had been killed by the virus in California before increasing by almost thirty deaths overnight. The rate of death nearly doubled from the last several days.
Globally, more than 660,000 people have tested positive for the virus, over 30,000 have died and more than 139,000 patients have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In just two days, the U.S. death count has doubled, topping 2,000. More than 121,000 patients have been confirmed positive for coronavirus in the country.
As the number of cases rises, health care workers across the country on the front lines of the pandemic are voicing complaints of inadequate working conditions.
National Nurses United, a union that represents 150,000 registered nurses, announced Friday that it filed complaints with OSHA against more than 125 hospitals in 16 states.
Most of the complaints allege that hospitals have failed to provide personal protective equipment for nurses treating patients who may be infected with the deadly virus.
Additional complaints allege that hospitals’ protocol regarding infected persons poses a risk to nurses as well, as they aren’t putting them into proper isolation rooms.
Earlier this month, a New York City nurse manager at a Manhattan hospital died after testing positive for coronavirus.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the nurse manager was a 48-year-old man with asthma. Nurses at the hospital he worked at were given only one protective gown per shift, despite regular protocols directing nurses to change gowns after interacting with infected patients.
A 42-year-old Georgia mammogram technician was also reported dead of coronavirus this week.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that the state’s hospitals were facing a shortage of critical medical supplies, including ventilators to treat patients suffering from coronavirus, but also protective gear including gloves and masks.
“Far too many hospitals are still failing to ensure that our caregivers who are placing their own safety at grave risk have the protections they need to stay at the bedside for their patients,” National Nurses United executive director Bonnie Castillo told The Sacramento Bee.
ICU numbers spike
Gov. Newsom said on Saturday during a tour of a Bloom Energy facility — a fuel cell manufacturer that is helping to repurpose old ventilators for use in California — that hospitalizations in intensive care units rose 105 percent overnight.
General hospitalizations also rose somewhat overnight, marking an increase of 38.6 percent, Newsom said.
As of now, 410 people are being treated in ICUs across the state.
A report recently published by The Sacramento Bee shows that many counties in Northern California have a severe shortage of ICU beds, posing a problem for hospitals which will soon be responding to an influx of cases.
Neighboring Amador County, for example, has a mere six ICU beds in the whole county.
Beilenson optimistic
Despite the surge of coronavirus cases both in California and worldwide, Sacramento County’s top health official said that he believes the county has been taking adequate steps to combat the spread of the virus.
He told The Sacramento Bee that the highly contagious disease shouldn’t be underestimated — but social distancing efforts may be helping to flatten the curve locally.
Sacramento County has thus far fared better than some of its Bay Area neighbors. At least 164 Sacramento-area residents have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and six have died, while Santa Clara County has seen 20 deaths.
As of Saturday morning, Los Angeles County was still the epicenter of infection in the state, with 26 deaths reported by Johns Hopkins University.
“We are doing well,” Beilenson said, but suggested that county residents should increase social distancing efforts wherever possible.
“There is more than we can do. Simple things can make a huge difference. One visit to the grocery store a week, instead of two,” he said. “Work from home.”
Starting next week, Beilenson said, code enforcement will be heading out to businesses violating state and local orders to close.
Beilenson warned residents not to expect things to return to normal anytime soon.
“I’m not saying we need to keep this in place 18 months,” he said, “but I am saying another month and one-half probably makes a lot of sense.”
El Dorado County update
El Dorado County is now reporting 12 positive cases of coronavirus, including near Lake Tahoe.
County health officials announced Friday that cases were identified on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada and at South Lake Tahoe.
The number of cases jumped from nine to 12 overnight, after county health officials reported the first case in the area on March 20.
Many of South Lake Tahoe’s major ski resorts — a key source of tourism revenue for the city — shut down earlier this month in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
UC Davis cases
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May announced that a university faculty member and a student tested positive for coronavirus.
The faculty member had previously been traveling in Europe and showed symptoms of COVID-19 on March 19, after they had returned.
The infected faculty member is self-isolating at home and has not been on campus since March 5.
The student, whose infection is unrelated to that of the faculty member, had been studying abroad in Spain since last summer, and tested positive after returning to the U.S.
The student made a brief visit to UC Davis in early January, according to May.
“We wish them both a full and speedy recovery,” May said in a prepared statement. “It is likely that more cases will be confirmed in our community.”
Last month, another UC Davis student who lived on campus was suspected of having coronavirus after being exposed to a patient, but later tested negative.
Lottery offices to close
The California State Lottery ordered all district offices to shut down for cleaning after a Sacramento employee tested positive for the virus.
The lottery employee, according to a staff email obtained by The Sacramento Bee, was tested this month and received test results Friday, but has not appeared in the Sacramento district office since the first week of March.
The email, however, tells employees that they may have been exposed to coronavirus.
All nine district offices will remain closed until further notice and the Sacramento office will be cleaned within 72 hours.
The offices, which normally serve to facilitate claiming lottery prizes, had previously been closed to the public due to coronavirus, but this latest closure means employees will be sent home.
Earlier this week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles also announced it would be closing all its district offices in response to the outbreak.
NRA sues Newsom
The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit in an attempt to have gun stores classified as essential businesses after Gov. Newsom ordered all ‘non-essential’ establishments to close during the pandemic.
Newsom has left enforcement of his order regarding gun stores up to county sheriffs, some of whom — such as Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva — have contended that gun stores are not essential.
The NRA argued in its complaint that enforcing the closure of gun stores is an attack on the Second Amendment.
“The circumstances posed by the outbreak are noteworthy, but do not excuse unlawful government infringements upon freedom,” the lawsuit said. “The need for enhanced safety during uncertain times is precisely when (the plaintiffs) and their members must be able to exercise their fundamental rights to keep and bear arms.”
Newsom’s clemencies
Newsom, meanwhile, has been granting clemency to California prison inmates.
In a Friday announcement, the Governor’s Office said it was commuting the sentences of 21 inmates, 10 of whom were convicted of homicide, and granted pardons to five more.
Many of the inmates who were granted clemencies committed their crimes when they were young — but the possibility of coronavirus spreading in state prisons also was a factor.
“In addition to the public safety and justice factors that the governor normally considers when reviewing clemency cases, he also considered the public health impact of each grant, as well as each inmate’s individual health status and the suitability of their post-release plans, including housing,” Governor’s Office spokeswoman Vicky Waters wrote in a press release.
Two Sacramento County inmates will now be eligible for parole.
Dominic Johnson, 40, has served 20 years of his life sentence for shooting into a vehicle and injuring a passenger.
Shyrl Lamar, 68, has served 33 years of her double-life sentence for participating in a robbery that resulted in two deaths.
SMUD extends relief
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is extending its previous relief measures by now allowing customers to keep the lights on despite nonpayment through April 17.
The measure applies to both residential and commercial customers, many of whom have been feeling economic pressure amid the pandemic as local businesses have had to lay off employees or shut down altogether.
“We made this decision due to the impact that COVID-19 is having on our local communities,” SMUD CEO Arlen Orchard said in a prepared statement. “We want to ensure that our most vulnerable customers have access to power during these times.”
Customers will still owe payments for service after April 17, and SMUD suggests that customers who find themselves in a pinch to ask about assistance programs.
The local utility provider announced measures for continued service on March 13.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: California deaths reach 110 as nurses complain of unsafe conditions."
