I hope you and your families are all well and keeping positive in these unprecedented times.  While the economic ramifications could be significant, even more of an issue may be the social and emotional ramifications COVID-19 will have on us and our loved ones.  The future is unknown, so think about where you can make a difference and focus on that – that is in your home, with your family, with your community.  While you social distance and wash your hands, be sure also to keep the toxins in your body low and your immune system strong, so if you do get sick you can come through it well.  Stay healthy and be positive.

One of our lobbyists, Roxanne Gould, compiled xxxxxxrmation on the most recent announcements related to the COVID-19 outbreak in California.  I wanted to share this with you as they are a great summary.  Please feel free to share them with credit.

Governor Newsom held a press conference last evening to provide an update on California's response to COVID-19, after which he issued his newest Executive Order. Newsom began by recognizing this has been a remarkable week, and this is a very challenging time with a lot of anxiety. He commended the mindset of Californians, and those all across the country, highlighting the collaborative spirit that exists amongst government and the private sector, as well as the California community at large.  

General Update

• During today’s press conference, Governor Newsom made several announcements:

• Apple CEO, Tim Cook, is working to provide 1 million masks for California.

• Elon Musk’s Tesla is working overtime to manufacture components for ventilators.  Musk will also provide 250,000 masks for health care workers in California.  

• The Governor emphasized the state’s vulnerable populations, specifically the homeless and senior populations, assuring the public the state is prioritizing the most vulnerable in the effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

• 2,400 hotel rooms secured, many in San Diego County, to get people off the streets as quickly as possible

• 51,000 hotel rooms for the homeless is the goal

• The first trailers have been deployed with an additional 1,200 on the way

• Dormitories at CSU/UC System may be made available, and sport teams are offering up their Arenas

• He recognizes the people of California are struggling, citing the rise in unemployment claims, with the total number of claims hitting 135,000 two days ago.  

• In conjunction with state and local health officials, California is moving to smart, targeted testing for COVID-19, prioritizing community surveillance to understand what the spread of the virus is and if we are now bending the curve of its trajectory.

• Regarding enforcement of the statewide shelter in place orders, the state has the ability to take action and will, if necessary, specifically citing licensure. At this point, the Governor hopes social pressure will help change people’s behavior, but hinted that stronger enforcement could be used if unchanged behavior compromises public health.

• In his latest Executive Order, amongst other provisions, Newsom:

• Waives licensure and staffing requirements for any clinic, adult day health care, hospice or mobile health care unit.

• Suspends local ordinances including those related to noise limitations to the extent it restricts, delays or otherwise inhibits the delivery of food products, pharmaceuticals and other emergency necessities distributed through grocery stores, hospitals, jails, restaurants and schools.

• Waiving of requirements that affects the execution of laws relating to care, custody and treatment of persons with mental illness committed to or in the custody of the State Department State Hospitals, for 30 days.

• Authorizes the denial of admission or the delay of discharge of all individuals judicially or otherwise admitted, committed or ordered to facilities under the direction of the Department of Developmental Disabilities

• On Friday, the Governor signed an Executive Order to permit vote-by-mail procedures to be used in three upcoming special elections in order to protect public health and safety during the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, the order “extends the deadlines for ballot counting, tabulation, and other responsibilities related to the official canvass of California’s Presidential Primary Election that could risk undermining social distancing measures, and suspends the timeframes for public hearings required by political subdivisions that are in the process of changing from an at-large method of election to district elections.”

• Also on Friday, Newsom launched the statewide “Neighbor-to-Neighbor” campaign, a partnership between Nextdoor.com & California Volunteers to safely deploy volunteers to help the most vulnerable Californians. The Governor lauded the intrinsic good of the people of California, saying “it’s in these times of crisis that Californians are at their best, coming to the aid of those in their community who are most in need. I ask all Californians who are able to join our Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign to safely assist those in need in your community.”

• As part of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign and in order to allow time for AmeriCorps, CA Conservation Corps and Local Conservation Corps members to mobilize, the California National Guard will initially deploy personnel and logistical equipment to a food bank distribution warehouse in Sacramento County, where they will “conduct immediate site assessments statewide for those counties that have requested short-term support and stabilization.”

• The State also released additional xxxxxxrmation about resources for Californians who are experiencing food insecurity amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

• There has been a great deal of confusion related to the state’s shelter-in-place order, versus those directives issued at the local level. The state order applies to everyone, with the exception of where local directives are more stringent – in those instances the stricter, local directives are to be followed. 

• Per Governor Newsom, “go outside and get exercise but use common sense.”

• California’s consumer COVID-19 website continues to be updated daily. Those seeking more xxxxxxrmation are encouraged to visit the site, or call the state’s toll-free hotline which makes available the same xxxxxxrmation for those who lack internet access. The hotline is available in both Spanish and English.

Hospitals/Health Care Update

• Per the Governor’s evening press conference:

• 1,000 new beds have been procured over the last several days.

• Due to partnership with the Trump administration, California will be receiving 8 field medical units, the first of which arrived in Riverside last night.

• California currently has a bed capacity of 78,000, with projections indicating the need for an additional 19,500 beds to meet moderate projections.

• Today, Governor Newsom announced the direction of $42M in emergency funding to support California’s health care infrastructure, as well as secure equipment and services needed to aid in the state’s COVID-19 crisis. The letter from Newsom’s Department of Finance to the Legislature outlines specific details of the spending, and a brief overview of the expenditures can be found below.

• $30 million to lease and operate two facilities and to expand the state’s hospital capacity.

• Seton Medical Center in Daly City, which is currently operational and will expand capacity to provide care for up to 120 COVID-19 patients beginning as soon as next Wednesday.

• St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, which closed in January but will reopen and begin providing care for up to 366 COVID-19 patients as soon as possible.

• $1,420,000 to expand capacity of the state’s public health lab in Richmond.

• $8,647,000 to purchase new ventilators, as well as IV fusion pumps, and refurbish additional ventilators.

• $2 million to contract with American Medical Response to provide patient transportation.

• Newsom also announced the state has begun receiving shipments of needed supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile. Those supplies received by the state include:

• Personal Protective Equipment:

• 358,381 N95 masks

• 853,730 surgical masks

• 162,565 face shields

• 132,544 surgical gowns

• 678 coveralls

• 471,941 gloves

o   California also requested additional supplies from the National Stockpile. The additional request includes:

o   Personal Protective Equipment:

§  20 million N95 masks

§  10 million surgical masks

§  600,000 surgical gowns

§  600,000 face shields

§  600,000 gloves

§  300,000 goggles

§  100,000 coveralls

o   Medical Supplies:

§  10,000 ventilators

o   Lab and Diagnostic Supplies:

§  2 million swabs

§  200,000 RNA extraction kits

• On Friday, the CA Dept. of Public Health issued an All Facilities Letter (AFL) to California General Acute Care Hospitals, which notified hospitals of a temporary waiver of regulatory requirements due to the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The waiver is in place until June 30, 2020, unless extended by Executive Order. Per the AFL:

• Hospitals shall continue to comply with adverse event and unusual occurrence reporting requirements specified in HSC section 1279.1 and Title 22 California Code of Regulations section 70737(a).

• Hospitals shall report any substantial staffing or supply shortages that jeopardize patient care or disrupt operations.

• Hospitals shall continue to provide necessary care in accordance with patient needs and make all reasonable efforts to act in the best interest of patients.

• Hospitals shall follow their disaster response plan.

• Hospitals shall follow infection control guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) related to COVID-19.

• Hospitals shall comply with directives from their local public health department.

• CDPH will continue to investigate and conduct enforcement activities for allegations of the most serious violations impacting health and safety, pursuant to Executive Order N-27-20 (PDF).

• For capacity tracking purposes during COVID-19, hospitals seeking initial licensure or to change beds or services to their license shall submit an application online at the CDPH Health Care Facilities Online Application webpage. This shall not require approval before the hospital may provide care, although CDPH will reach out to provide technical assistance to ensure patient safety and the quality of care.

Business Update

• Via the state’s COVID-19 website, California has released additional guidance for Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers who are exempt from the shelter-in-place order in order to “help state, local, tribal, and industry partners as they work to protect communities, while ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security.”

• During his evening press conference, Governor Newsom cited the 10,000 open jobs today in the grocery industry for those looking for work as a result of unexpected lay-offs/cutbacks during the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 By the Numbers in CA 

The following xxxxxxrmation is current as of 2pm on March 20, 2020. Your local jurisdictions may have more updated numbers pertinent to your area.

• 1,224 positive cases

• 23 deaths (including one non-California resident)

• Ages of all confirmed positive cases:

• Age 0-17: 19 cases

• Age 18-64: 876 cases

• Age 65+: 321 cases

• Unknown: 8 cases

• 1,200 cases not related to repatriation flights

• 96 travel-related

• 122 person to person

• 325 community transmission

• 657 under investigation

• 24 positive cases related to federal repatriation flights

• Testing in California

• Approximately 25,200 tests have been conducted in California, including those conducted in both commercial and private labs.

• Roughly 12,528 results have been received and another 12,700+ are pending.

• 22 state and county health labs are currently testing.

Per the CA Dept. of Public Health, “in order to better focus public health resources on the changing needs of California communities, on March 18, the state is no longer collecting xxxxxxrmation about California travelers returning from countries that have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks. Community transmission of COVID-19 has been identified in California since late February, and since early March, most of the confirmed cases in the state were not related to travel outside of the United States.”

More xxxxxxrmation can be found on CDPH’s website.

Governor’s Directives to Date

·       March 21, 2020 Executive Order - Expanding the Capacity to Combat COVID-19 in Health Care Facilities

• March 21, 2020 - Takes Action to Strengthen California’s Health Care Delivery System to Respond to COVID-19

• March 20, 2020 Executive Order - Protect Public Health by Expanding Vote-by-Mail Options and Extending Deadlines for Presidential Primary Canvass

• March 20, 2020 - Deploys California National Guard to Help Distribute Food at Food Banks & Protect California’s Most Vulnerable

• March 19, 2020 Executive Order – Stay at Home Order

• March 19, 2020 – Request for Deployment of USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to Los Angeles

• March 19, 2020 - Governor Newsom Requests Federal Assistance to Support California’s Efforts to Prepare for COVID-19 Surge

• March 18, 2020 Executive Order - $150M in Funding to Protect Homeless Californians from COVID-19  

• March 18, 2020 Executive Order – Waiving Statewide Testing for CA Students

• March 18, 2020 Executive Order - Safety Net Services

• March 17, 2020 Executive Order - Ease restrictions on commercial drivers engaged in support of emergency relief efforts

• March 17, 2020 Executive Order - Guidance for K-12 Schools & CDE Guidance

• March 17, 2020 $1.1 billion in emergency funding can now be used to increase hospital capacity, clean schools and protect those most vulnerable to the disease

• March 17, 2020 California Requests Federal Government Waiver to Cover Medi-Cal Recipients and Expand Tele-Health Options

• March 16, 2020 Isolation – Adults with Elevated Risk

• March 16, 2020 Executive Order – Protect Renters and Homeowners

• March 13, 2020 Executive Order - State Funding for Schools Even in Event of Physical Closure

• March 12, 2020 Executive Order - Enhancing California’s ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

Be positive, stay safe and love those around you.

C

Christina Hildebrand

President/Founder

A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.

www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org

408 835 9353

WWW.AVOICEFORCHOICEADVOCACY.ORG

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