U.S. regulators are allowing emergency use of the first rapid-response coronavirus test that can be done entirely at home, according to the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced the critical step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for COVID-19. But the test will require a prescription, likely limiting its initial use.
The FDA granted emergency authorization to the 30-minute test kit from Lucira Health, a California manufacturer. Previously the FDA had only allowed the use of a handful of tests that allowed people to collect samples at home, which then had to be shipped to a lab to be processed.
2:54 p.m: Agricultural industry asks to make farmworkers priority for potential vaccines
California farm workers would be among the first people to receive a coronavirus vaccine if the agriculture industry has its way.
Robert Guenter is with the Washington D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association. On CapRadio's "Insight" Wednesday, he said industry leaders have written a letter to President Donald Trump and have had discussions with President-elect Biden's transition team, “with the thought process of including agriculture workers, agriculture industry as a high priority in the vaccines,.”
Along with farm workers, Guenter says people who work in food processing and distribution should also be among the first to get the vaccine.
"Early on in the COVID pandemic, agriculture, food was designated a high priority and as part of the nation's critical infrastructure," he said.
Health care workers will likely be the first-in-line to get a vaccine once it becomes available, followed by workers in essential sectors like law enforcement and adults with high-risk medical conditions.
2:04 p.m.: Nevada residents get new app to report service requests, COVID-19 violations
County officials in Nevada have launched a new reporting tool allowing residents to make requests for general services and bring attention to issues such as COVID-19 restriction violations, according to the Associated Press.
The FixIt app in Clark County allows residents in Las Vegas and surrounding suburbs to report issues based on their location by submitting pictures and written descriptions of their concerns. The app does not only focus on the coronavirus but also allows residents to report issues such as potholes, graffiti, street lights, trash, short-term rentals, and also COVID-19 violations. Residents can also track the progress of their reports.
County staff will be able to view and manage requests. It’s unclear how quickly requests are expected to be resolved or how many staff members are dedicated to staying on top of reports.
10:46 a.m.: Yuba City businesses flout new state COVID-19 restrictions
California has imposed new coronavirus restrictions on businesses in most of the state’s counties after a surge of new cases, according to the Associated Press.
The new rules require retailers to limit customer capacity to 25% during the busy holiday shopping season. They also require restaurants to halt indoor dining.
But on Tuesday in Yuba City, there was little evidence that the rules have changed anything. Many restaurants were open with customers eating inside. Some of the diners said they would follow the rules by wearing masks and keeping their distance from others, but they were unwilling to stop visiting struggling local businesses.
10:41 a.m.: Top state medical association officials attended same dinner party as Newsom
Two top officials at the California Medical Association attended a birthday party alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month as the state was seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases, according to the Associated Press.
CMA spokesperson Anthony York said the group’s CEO Dustin Corcoran and Senior Vice-President Janus Norman were at the Nov. 6 dinner.
It was held at the upscale French Laundry restaurant in wine country to celebrate the 50th birthday of Newsom’s friend and lobbyist Jason Kinney. Newsom has apologized for attending and said he made a bad mistake.
California guidelines urge people to gather in groups of three separate households or less.
9:59 a.m.: Los Angeles County prepares for a mandatory curfew, new business restrictions
Los Angeles County has seen daily confirmed cases more than double in the last two weeks to nearly 2,900. On Tuesday, the county ordered nonessential retail businesses to limit indoor capacity to 25% and restaurants to 50% capacity outdoors.
All those businesses must close at 10 p.m. The changes will take effect on Friday, Nov. 20. If daily cases rise to 4,500 or hospitalizations top 2,000, the county will impose a three-week lockdown that will restrict people to their homes for all but essential trips.
The nighttime curfew would run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Tuesday, November 17
6:00 p.m.: California childcare providers say they may close without state support
California’s childcare providers are sounding the alarm that they need more state support, and they may not be able to weather the pandemic without it.
Charlotte Neal runs a daycare in Sacramento. She says parents start dropping their kids off as early as 3 a.m.
"These are essential workers who don’t have the option of staying home with their kids," Neal said. "They need childcare, or they can’t work."
Neal says childcare providers haven’t had an easy go during the pandemic. More than 5,000 day care centers have closed this year, due in part to increased costs for things like cleaning supplies and wi-fi for distance learning, according to their labor union, a partnership with SEIU.
"Without us, California would grind to a halt, and that’s what’s going to happen if the state doesn’t wake up and deal right now with this crisis in our childcare system," Neal said.
Neal and other childcare providers are asking the state to reimburse some of their additional bills. They say if more daycares close, there’ll be a child care shortage when California’s economy starts to recover.
2:19 p.m.: Dr. Fauci recommends 'uniform wearing of masks'
Dr. Anthony Fauci has recommended that Americans adhere to a “uniform wearing of masks” to help curb the surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert told CNN on Tuesday that “we need to intensify public health strategies,” which includes mask-wearing, hand washing, and avoiding crowds and gathering places.
On Friday, the U.S. hit a record daily high of more than 184,000 COVID-19 cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on Monday that early data suggests its vaccine candidate provides strong protection against the virus. Last week, their competitor, Pfizer, announced that their vaccine was similarly effective.
"From a scientific and potential public health standpoint, this is an extraordinarily important advance," Fauci told Rachel Martin on Morning Edition Tuesday.
All vaccine candidates must go through independent data and safety monitoring before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it for use.
Fauci said it’s important for people “to be motivated to hang in there a bit longer and double down on public health measures” in the meantime.
“I just can’t understand why there’s pushback against that. They’re not that difficult to do. And they save lives,” Fauci said.
The U.S. leads the world in both coronavirus cases and deaths, totaling 11.2 million cases and 247,000 deaths, respectively.
11:38 a.m.: Las Vegas schools will continue with remote learning for now
Surging COVID-19 cases in metro Las Vegas have prompted the Clark County School District to reconsider their partial in-person learning plans, according to the Associated Press.
The school district has decided to postpone any resumption of partial in-class learning and will continue with remote learning through at least the end of the calendar year. District Superintendent Jesus Jara announced Monday that teachers and staff would continue to work at home through Dec. 18, when the first semester ends.
Jara said a reopening plan will be presented to the district board in early January. Since mid-March, the district has used remote learning, but officials have been discussing how to reopen safely for in-person learning since last summer.
11:28 a.m.: COVID-19 vaccines still need human volunteers before release
While two COVID-19 vaccines are nearing completion, scientists said it’s critical to recruit enough volunteers to finish the studies, according to the Associated Press.
Moderna and competitor Pfizer recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appear to be strongly effective. Still, more vaccine types will be needed to meet global demand due to how different vaccine types may work better in different people. This can only be confirmed after more testing.
“We still need volunteers,” stressed National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, urging Americans to sign up.
Most vaccines in late-stage testing worldwide target the “spike” protein on the coronavirus surface, but many scientists are using a variety of technologies, some new, and some are sticking with older vaccine development approaches.
Monday, November 16
6:34 p.m.: Food insecurity increases during the pandemic
Around 50 million American households are struggling with food insecurity, and many are above the poverty line and thus ineligible for benefits that help low income families.
The number of homes experiencing food insecurity — at least one person not having enough to eat for a year — has jumped from 37 million two years ago to 50 million now. Blake Young is with the Sacramento Food Bank. He says California's numbers are in line with the nation's — and it's all tied to the pandemic.
"Unfortunately for Sacramento, it's higher than the state and national average, Young told CapRadio's Insight. "We had a crisis on our hands prior to the pandemic. And you overlay a pandemic, it's just been — and with the uncertainty — it's been really challenging for people."
You can hear the entire interview on Monday's Insight program here.
3:12 p.m.: California facing fastest surge of COVID-19 cases since start of the pandemic
During a live-streamed press conference on Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that health officials are “sounding the alarm” over the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.
The state on Tuesday moved forty counties back to more restrictive reopening tiers and tightened the rules on mask-wearing in public. Newsom also announced some changes to the state’s tiered reopening system.
Under the new system, counties will move back levels within one week instead of two, and some counties may move back multiple tiers. Counties will also have to make changes through the affected industries more swiftly instead of the previous 72-hour waiting period.
“The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes,” Newsom said in a news release. “That’s why we are pulling an emergency break in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Now is the time to do all we can — government at all levels and Californians across the state — to flatten the curve again as we have done before.”
Newsom said the state is currently facing a 4.6% 14-day average and a 5% 7-day average test positive rate during the live-streamed press conference, which he said is better than the 9.8% national 7-day average but still worrisome.
Out of the 40 counties sliding back to more restrictive tiers, 28 of those will be going back into the most restrictive purple tier, signaling widespread COVID-19 transmission. That means 94% of Californians will be facing these new restrictions by Tuesday, if not already in the purple tier.
Some Northern California counties like Humbolt, Napa and San Francisco will be moving back two tier levels.
3:04 p.m.: Meatpacking plant fined by Cal/OSHA for COVID-19 safety violations
Cal/OSHA has fined a Smithfield Foods of Virginia-owned meatpacking plant in Southern California due to COVID-19 safety violations, according to the Associated Press.
The huge Los Angeles Farmer John meatpacking plant flouted safety violations and exposed more than 300 workers to COVID-19 infections, including three who were hospitalized. The plan was fined more than $58,000.
Smithfield Foods of Virginia said it has done to great lengths to protect its employees from the virus and will appeal. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said its complaints prompted the investigation after failing to get a satisfactory response from Farmer John.
The company is well known for its hot dogs, sausages, bacon and other pork products.
2:24 p.m.: David Copperfield suspending Las Vegas show after crew member tests positive for COVID-19
Illusionist David Copperfield is suspending his Las Vegas stage show after a crew member tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Associated Press.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Monday that the legendary magician had “no idea yet” when his production at the MGM Grand will resume.
According to the newspaper, an internal email from MGM Resorts International officials on Friday said that one of his illusion techs had been exposed to the virus. Copperfield confirmed the backstage crew member’s diagnosis on Sunday.
In a statement, Copperfield said his entire crew would be tested again. His stage show was one of several residency productions across MGM Resorts that reopened Nov. 6.
11:30 a.m.: Holiday travel is expected to plummet due to pandemic
While Thanksgiving is a major travel holiday, there are predictions that fewer people will be hitting the road, flying, or taking the train especially since health officials are urging people to stay home.
The American Automobile Association expects airlines to be hard hit despite the steep price cuts in holiday plane fares — the lowest they have been in two years. Only 2.5 million people are expected to fly to their destinations, the lowest one-year drop on record.
AAA spokesperson Doug Shupe said that he expects there to be a 10- to 13-percent overall drop.
“That’s the largest year-over-year decline since the 2008 recession when Thanksgiving travel dropped 26%,” said Shupe.
Bus, train, or cruise travel is predicted to drop 76% to just 350,000 travelers.
Shupe stressed that even though travel will be down, the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving will still see the highest road traffic, and drivers can still expect delays at popular bottlenecks.
He also warned drivers to make sure their cars are ready for a road trip because AAA expects to rescue more than 400,000 vehicles stuck on the roadside this holiday.
10:50 a.m.: Folsom Mayor tests positive for COVID-19
City of Folsom Mayor Sarah Aquino tested positive for COVID-19 and announced the news with residents on Nov. 14 through the city’s official Facebook page.
Aquino said that she was exposed to the virus by somebody in her office. After an expedited test and positive result, she decided to self-quarantine in her bedroom and described her symptoms as similar to “a mild case of the flu.”
The rest of the Facebook post describes how the Sacramento County Department of Health Services is partnering with UC Davis Health to provide free COVID-19 testing to county residents.
The mayor did not give out any further details about her condition.
10:24 a.m.: Nevada faces record number of cases, Gov. Sisolak says he feels no COVID-19 symptoms
Nevada hit a record number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row on Saturday. Gov. Steve Sisolak said that the state is at a “critical juncture” and implored residents to stay home and do what they can to protect themselves.
Since Sisolak has tested positive for COVID-19, he has told reporters on Friday that he was not feeling any symptoms and would enter into a quarantine.
9:27 a.m.: Sacramento County COVID-19 hospitalizations double in one week
The number of Sacramento County residents hospitalized with COVID-19 cases nearly doubled over the past week, according to the county health department dashboard.
From Nov. 5 to Nov. 12 the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 jumped from 90 to 177 cases. ICU patients also doubled, from 20 cases to 41. Across the state hospitalizations have increased 51% in the past week, according to CalMatters.
The rise came in the same week Sacramento County was moved to the most restrictive tier in California's COVID-19 reopening plan, requiring many businesses to suspend indoor activities.
Coronavirus cases are also rising nationally, with around 1 million new cases recorded in the past week.
Sunday, November 15
2:14 p.m.: San Diego restaurants, gyms sue for right to operate indoors
Four San Diego County restaurants and gyms have filed a lawsuit seeking an emergency injunction so they can continue their indoor operations.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of all restaurants and gyms come as 11 California counties are forced to impose stricter limits on businesses after coronavirus cases rose above thresholds established by the state.
Under the purple level of the state's COVID-19 reopening system, restaurants, gyms, churches and bars will be limited to only outdoor operations.
The businesses assert that the state and county orders interfere with their rights and violate the California Constitution. They are asking a judge to allow them to operate indoors.
—Associated Press
Saturday, November 14
4:06 p.m.: California adds 2,521 new cases, 11 more deaths
California reported 2,521 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 1,018,373.
There were also 11 deaths reported. In all, 18,225 Californians have died.
Over the last seven days, the state averaged 7,358 cases per day, with 4.4% of tests coming back positive, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The U.S. added more than 184,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, the fourth day in a row that the country has set a record for daily infections, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Friday, November 13
4:54 p.m.: Gov. Newsom says he shouldn’t have attended restaurant gathering
Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing criticism for attending a posh dinner party at a restaurant last week despite urging Californians to stay home during the pandemic.
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom attended a birthday party for a friend and political adviser with at least 10 other people at The French Laundry, a renowned Napa Valley restaurant.
Newsom’s spokesman initially said everyone in attendance followed the restaurant’s health protocols and that the gathering did not violate COVID-19 rules.
That may technically be true, but the episode exposes gaps in the state’s pandemic guidance: Private gatherings of more than three different households are discouraged, but nothing prevents restaurants from seating larger groups together if they ask.
While our family followed the restaurant’s health protocols and took safety precautions, we should have modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner,” the governor said in a statement.
4:10 p.m.: Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak tests positive for coronavirus
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday said he has tested positive for COVID-19. He is the fifth governor to test positive for the coronavirus this year.
As part of a regular testing protocol, I underwent routine COVID-19 testing on Friday, November 13 in Carson City. A rapid test provided a positive result. I also received a diagnostic PCR test and those results are pending at this time. pic.twitter.com/bfI16HlTpk
— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) November 14, 2020
Sisolak said he was not experiencing any symptoms and was swabbed for a rapid test on Friday morning as a matter of routine. After it yielded a positive result, he also underwent molecular testing and his sample is still being processed. He is the third person in his office to test positive for the virus since early October.
Sisolak’s announcement comes on a day that Nevada reported 1,857 additional coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic.
2:59 p.m.: Nevada’s Clark County School District says employees will work remotely due to pandemic
The Clark County School District in Nevada has announced that most of its employees will work remotely after Gov. Steve Sisolak urged people to stay home and limit the spread of COVID-19, according to the Associated Press.
The district is expected to transition to work from home starting on Thursday and continue through Nov. 30. The decision comes as the school board is considering a plan to bring students back to classrooms two days a week starting in January.
Sisolak urged residents to stay home as much as possible for the next two weeks and work from home, or the state might be at risk of a lockdown.
2:53 p.m.: Head of Nevada COVID-19 response team is calling out local officials for not doing enough
The head of Nevada's COVID-19 response team, Caleb Cage, called out the state's local elected officials, according to the Associated Press.
Cage said that these officials are undermining efforts to slow the coronavirus's spread to avert more aggressive statewide mandates and potential business closures in the weeks ahead. On Thursday, he also raised concerns about the lack of restrictions enforcement at businesses in Elko County.
Cage also said that some local leaders have adopted a politically expedient but irresponsible strategy to criticize even the least intrusive efforts to protect Nevadans from a dramatic spike in cases underway statewide. He said that some officials have decided it's easier to blame Gov. Steve Sisolak for any potential shutdowns.
12:21 p.m.: Georgia Tech releases a COVID-19 risk assessment tool for in-person gatherings
The Georgia Institute of Technology has recently released an interactive map that details county by county risk of an in-person gathering by party size.
The map breaks down infection risk by county, party size, and the "ascertainment bias" in the U.S. The ascertainment bias assumes that there are five or 10 times more cases than being reported. Toggling between these options can show the likelihood of being in a room with somebody who may be infected.
In Sacramento County, a gathering of 10 people with an ascertainment bias of 10 shows that there is a 15% chance somebody at the gathering would likely have the coronavirus. Counties surrounding Sacramento show similar risk levels ranging from 7% in El Dorado County to 16% in Sutter County.
According to this map, the highest risk county in California with the same scenario is Mono County, with a 75% chance of somebody with the infection attending a 10-person event.
Some of the country's riskier parts under the same set-up include Jones County, Iowa at greater than 99%, and Dewey County, South Dakota, and Walsh, North Dakota are both at a 99% likelihood of a room with 10 people having at least one currently infected person.
When in-person gatherings get as high as 25 people, the risk in Sacramento jumps to 33%, reaching 56% for gatherings with 50 people.
9:00 a.m.: California issues coronavirus travel advisory
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he and the governors of Oregon and Washington have issued travel advisories urging people entering their states or returning from travel outside those states to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
A statement from Newsom’s office Friday says the advisories urge against non-essential out-of-state travel, ask people to self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving from another state or country and encourage residents to stay local. Here is the official advisory from the state Department of Public Health.
"Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians," Newsom wrote. "Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives."
Newsom notes that California just surpassed the sobering threshold of 1 million COVID-19 cases with no sign of the virus spread slowing. This week was the first that no counties moved up in the state's tiered reopening system, with 11 counties moving backwards.
Thursday, November 12
6:15 p.m.: UC Davis Health can now perform rapid result test for COVID-19, flu
UC Davis Health is now giving some patients a 20-minute test that can determine whether they have COVID-19, the flu or both.
Point-of-care tests can produce results immediately after a screening. Right now, they’re mostly available in hospital settings. Doctors at UC Davis Health started using them last week in the emergency room and in some clinics, but only for patients showing symptoms. COVID-19 and the flu can present similarly.
“There is nothing else right now that is as fast and accurate as this test,” said Lydia Pleotis Howell, medical director of the UC Davis Health clinical laboratories and chair of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, in a press release.
UC Davis already had the tools to perform this type of test, but they had to get FDA approval to be able to use it for coronavirus. They have 50 instruments to do the screening, but expect a shortage of reagents, or chemical solutions, to limit capacity.
Doctors or nurses can perform this test, and the samples are processed in the emergency department.
3:31 p.m.: California reaches 1 million confirmed infections
California has reached an unwelcome coronavirus milestone: 1 million confirmed infections.
The nation’s most populous state is the second to pass that mark after Texas reached it earlier this week. The U.S. now has more than 10 million confirmed cases.
California’s early stay-at-home order successfully curtailed the spread, but each time restrictions have relaxed, cases have risen. With cases increasing quickly in the state and nationwide, health officials warn people to limit travel during the holidays and rethink their annual gatherings.
3:10 p.m.: Fresno mayor-elect tests positive for COVID-19
Fresno’s mayor-elect Jerry Dyer has tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an election-night dinner with a few elected officials, according to the Associated Press.
Dyer, who served as the city’s longtime police chief, told the Fresno Bee he went into quarantine after receiving the test results on Tuesday. He said he experienced mild symptoms after attending a dinner on Nov. 3 with Fresno’s current mayor, a city councilman, and a county supervisor who tested positive for COVID-19 late last week.
The supervisor’s diagnosis led the county to close the offices of the County Board of Supervisors while health officials contact trace anyone who came in contact with him.
2:16 p.m.: 709,000 people still seeking unemployment benefits
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the United States fell last week to 709,000, the fourth straight drop, and a sign that the job market is slowly healing, according to the Associated Press.
The figures coincide with a sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to above 120,000 cases a day, an all-time high. In 49 states, cases are rising, and deaths are increasing in 39.
More than 240,000 virus-related deaths have been counted across the nation, and 10.3 million confirmed infections.