Coronavirus updates: 10 dead in Sacramento County; California homeless concerns high
The staggering numbers continue to grow.
The coronavirus has now infected more than 1 million people worldwide, with more than 277,000 cases across the United States, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
In California, more than 12,000 have been infected and at least 278 have died of the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, according to a Bee survey count of data released by individual county public health departments as of Friday afternoon.
While case numbers and death totals are rising at exponential rates, the crux of the crisis remains the same for Californians. Experts have for weeks stressed the importance of physical distancing, a critical tool to mitigate spread of the highly contagious virus and “flattening” its growth curve to a manageable level. It was for this reason that Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19 issued a mandatory stay-at-home order that barred residents from leaving the house for nonessential reasons.
The California Department of Public Health was officially reporting 10,701 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday and 237 deaths.
Some early data, and modeling projections, suggest Californians are doing a good job distancing and that the growth curve is indeed flattening. But the economic impact has been massive. With the shutdown of effectively any business not considered essential to food, supplies, health care, critical infrastructure and a few other sectors, unemployment claims have skyrocketed well beyond their previous record highs.
10th death reported in Sacramento County, 7th in city
Sacramento County health officials in a Friday update reported 49 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and one new death from the disease, for a total of 10 countywide.
The most recent death came in the city of Sacramento, where now 216 of the county’s 390 total infections and seven of the 10 deaths have been reported. The other three have died in Elk Grove among 43 cases there, according to the county.
The county website continues to say all who have died of the coronavirus have been either age 65 or older, or had underlying health conditions.
Nevada County first death
Officials on Friday reported Nevada County’s first death due to complications from COVID-19 respiratory disease. They said the elderly person who died was a resident of eastern Nevada County.
The person had underlying health conditions and had previously tested positive for coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, according to a news release. Officials did not release any further details about the person who died.
“This is a tragic reminder of the seriousness of COVID-19,” County Public Health Officer Dr. Ken Cutler said in the news release. “To slow the spread of this virus, we all need to stay inside as much as possible and severely limit person to person interactions, as hard as that is.”
As of Friday afternoon, Nevada County had 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases — 20 in the eastern part of the county and 10 in the western part. It had 12 confirmed cases a week earlier.
Sacramento, Placer schools close for rest of school year
The Sacramento and Placer county offices of education announced Friday that all campuses will be physically closed for the remainder of the current academic year.
Each will transition to online, “distance” learning programs, school officials said.
California’s growth curve flatter than other large states
One widely referenced prediction model shows California experiencing fewer coronavirus deaths than states like New York and Florida.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has released dynamic projections showing when deaths from COVID-19 will peak in each state, assuming social distancing continues until the end of May. It is updated regularly as new data about the spread of the disease is reported.
The model currently predicts California will see its worst day between April 26 and April 30, with each date showing 119 dying from COVID-19, according to the model. By comparison, New York will see its worst day on April 10, when 855 of its residents will die. Florida will peak May 4, when around 175 residents will die, the model shows.
The model shows a flatter curve of deaths in California than in several other heavily-populated states. California was the first state to issue stay-at-home orders that are now common throughout the rest of the nation.
Newsom, during a Friday news briefing, said California will likely hit its peak of new cases in “first few weeks of May,” though he declined to give a more precise date.
“Everyday it’s dynamic, everyday we’re iterative in terms of incorporating new data sets, new trend lines and updating our modeling,” he said.
High number of cases at one Sacramento-area church
As of Friday morning, Sacramento County had reported nine deaths among 341 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
County public health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson on Thursday disclosed that one large church, Bethany Slavic Missionary near Rancho Cordova, has been a local epicenter of the virus: 71 people connected to the church — about 22 percent of all the county’s cases to this point — have been infected with the virus. At least one parishioner has died and its bishop, the Rev. Adam Bondaruk, has been hospitalized by the disease.
Beilenson said the church stopped holding its weekly services in-person at the church, but members have continued to meet in groups in people’s homes for fellowship meetings. Beilenson called ceasing these types of in-person gatherings “a very serious public health matter” and urged these type of faith meetings to be done online instead.
But several parishioners and church officials disputed Beilenson’s claims, telling The Bee on Thursday that the church halted all in-person services two weeks ago when Newsom’s order came. Church member Daniel Nechitaylo said the congregation initially began limiting meetings to small groups of 10 or fewer, but as far as he knows, those meetings stopped as people became more aware of the severity of the virus. “We took it really seriously,” he said.
Beilenson said the positive COVID-19 cases linked to Bethany Slavic included Yolo and Placer county residents as well.
As of Friday afternoon in the remainder of the Sacramento region, Placer County has reported 97 infected and two deaths; Yolo County has reported a total of 37 confirmed cases and one death; and El Dorado County health officials say there have been 22 confirmed cases and no reported fatalities.
27 cases linked to outbreak at Bay Area senior facility
Contra Costa County health officials in a Friday news release said that at least 27 people have tested positive for COVID-19 “at a facility that houses seniors” in Orinda. The facility, Orinda Care Center, is a 45-bed residential nursing facility.
None of the 27 had died as of Friday morning, the news release said. Health officials said they were tipped off to the potential outbreak after two workers sough medical treatment. In all 24 patients, including some in elder care, and 3 staffers have been confirmed infected, and more tests are ongoing, officials said at an afternoon news conference.
“The situation is very serious, and we are deeply concerned about residents of our senior care facilities in Contra Costa County,” said county health officer Dr. Chris Farnitano. “That is why we need everyone to follow the stay-at-home order, social distancing guidance and other measures in recent health orders — to protect the people in our community who are vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19.”
Farnitano said that the department was investigating two nearby senior care facilities, as well.
Davis closes equipment, sports courts at parks
Davis announced Friday morning it has closed “all play structures, exercise equipment, water fountains and sports courts” across its city parks due to COVID-19.
“These areas cannot be adequately sanitized for your family’s protection,” the city said in a community advisory message emailed through its Everbridge alert system.
Nearby West Sacramento, the city of Sacramento and Sacramento County Regional Parks have all recently closed down playground equipment at their parks, in some cases even cordoning them off. The statewide and Sacramento- and Yolo-countywide stay-at-home orders allow for outdoor activity and exercise, including in those parks’ open spaces, but ban things like group sports, picnics and other gatherings.
Homeless not yet moved into motels in Sacramento
No homeless people have yet received beds in Sacramento County, where officials have identified 221 beds across three hotels for that purpose.
Homeless will likely not start moving into those hotels until mid-April, said Eduardo Ameneyro, Sacramento County’s division manager for homeless services. In several other California counties, including Fresno and hard-hit Santa Clara, hundreds have moved into motels since Newsom’s order two weeks ago.
County officials say the delay comes in part because they are working to incorporate service for the homeless population at these sites, such as assistance in finding permanent housing. Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Chair Phil Serna said the county has to be “extraordinarily deliberate” about how it allocates resources.
Local officials announced some progress Thursday in their effort to shelter the homeless during the coronavirus crisis. Roughly two dozen trailers were placed at Cal Expo to shelter “at-risk people,” city officials said. Sacramento officials expect to eventually receive 63 trailers from the state.
But homeless advocates are not pleased with the county’s pace.
“There’s no excuse for it to be this slow,” said Bob Erlenbusch of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. “They should’ve started thinking about this as soon as the governor’s order came.”
Relief for Sacramento businesses, family leave for state workers
City of Sacramento officials selected 101 small businesses to receive no-interest loans from a $1 million COVID-19 economic relief fund, created as companies throughout the state face significant financial losses. Qualified applicants were selected by the city on a first-come, first-served basis after completing all required documents. More than 1,400 small businesses completed applications.
Last month, the city began accepting applications for the emergency relief fund, which will distribute the loans of up to $25,000 for small businesses.
The businesses that received the loans provide more than 700 jobs, including newly opened and longstanding restaurants, retail business with store fronts, daycare providers and nonprofits, city officials said. They include 49 “micro” businesses, 52 other businesses, 12 childcare operations and six nonprofit organizations.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he was happy these small businesses “can now breathe a little easier.”
Separately, California state workers with children stuck at home may take up to 12 weeks of paid leave under a federal law that went into effect Wednesday, according to the California Department of Human Resources, which clarified that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act does apply to those employees.
The law provides two weeks of sick leave at full pay for people who meet certain conditions: having a child whose school or daycare has been canceled; being placed under a quarantine order from a public health official or a doctor; taking care of someone who is quarantined; or experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis, according to the law.
After those two weeks at full pay, state workers can get 10 weeks of family and medical leave at two-thirds pay. Those 10 weeks are available after two unpaid weeks of leave, which may concur with the two weeks of paid sick leave.
School officials, teachers unions reach major agreement
The state as of Friday has not officially directed schools to stay closed through summer, but Newsom on Wednesday announced an agreement between labor unions and school districts statewide, aimed at minimizing the negative impact on students and educators in the very likely event that physical campuses remain closed for the rest of the school year due to the coronavirus.
Key elements of the agreement include pay and benefits continuing for all school employees through the rest of the current school year; employees not needing to use accrued leave to self-quarantine or care for someone within their household; and meals continuing to be provided to students.
It also included frameworks for distance learning and independent study programs.
Target to limit occupancy inside its store
Target is joining a number of nationwide essential retailers to implement new measures designed to increase social distancing at its stores.
Stores will remain open, but Target’s nearly 1,900 locations on Saturday will begin limiting the number of guests allowed in at one time, the company said in a news release. Occupancy limits will vary by location.
Distancing efforts could already be seen this week at Target locations in the Sacramento area. A sign outside of the Rancho Cordova store ahead of its 8 a.m. opening Wednesday, a day of the week on which Target is now reserving the first hour for elderly guests and those with health concerns, advised shoppers to keep adequate distance.
Those lined up to enter, minutes before 8 a.m., were complying. At 7:40 a.m. Friday, about two dozen customers waiting outside Sacramento’s Broadway Target location could be seen observing social distancing. A handful could be seen with some form of covering over their face.
Employees at all Target stores and distribution centers will receive “high-quality disposable face masks and gloves” to wear during their shifts, Target said in its news release. Each location will receive the masks and gloves within two weeks, the company said.
Target is also among the many chains to reduce its hours, doing so in mid-March in closing all stores by 9 p.m.
Employees at Target were given $2 per hour raises last month.
Latest world numbers: New York still U.S. epicenter
More than 58,000 people have now died from COVID-19 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins data map. Italy, where more than 119,000 infections have been confirmed, had reported more than 14,000 deaths as of Friday afternoon, and Spain with a similar infection total surpassed 11,000 fatalities.
The United States on Friday afternoon surpassed 7,000 fatalities, the Johns Hopkins map shows. New York state, where more than 102,000 people have been infected, accounts for nearly 3,000 of those deaths. Nearby New Jersey, where over 29,000 cases have been reported, has passed 600 dead.
France has reported more than 6,500 dead among just over 65,000 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins.
China, where the rate of reported new cases and deaths has drastically slowed, stands at slightly more than 82,000 cases and 3,300 fatalities. Iran and the United Kingdom have each reported more than 3,000 dead. The Netherlands was approaching 1,500 dead, and Belgium and Germany are each just over 1,100 reported fatalities.
What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: 10 dead in Sacramento County; California homeless concerns high."
