California coronavirus updates: The latest on the pandemic

Students walk across campus at California State University East Bay. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Higher Education

Cal State deadline could lead to unvaccinated students on campus and missed classes

The California State University system decided in late July to require students to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately for students, the deadline to get vaccinated and the start of classes conflict in potentially problematic ways.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• August 10, 2021

COVID-19 patient Brian Parisi, 53, from Orange County, is treated by staff in the ICU at Providence St Joseph Hospital in Orange, on July 23, 2021. Photo by Omar Younis, Reuters

Health

COVID patients have doubled in California hospitals

More than 5,300 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in California on Sunday, almost twice the number two weeks earlier.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

and

Ana B. Ibarra

• August 10, 2021

Rising first graders sanitize their hands before entering the classroom during summer session at Laurel Elementary in Oakland on June 11, 2021. Laurel is a hub program for five district schools hosting 120 kids for the summer with a focus on resocialization in addition to academics. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Education

California lawmakers and teachers unions stop short of a vaccine mandate

Even as the delta variant causes spikes in COVID-19 case numbers just weeks before the new school year, state lawmakers have yet to issue a vaccine mandate for public school teachers.

By

Joe Hong

• August 9, 2021

Personal care assistant Riza Green receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Carefield Assisted Living Facility in Castro Valley on Feb. 3, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Coronavirus

California first in nation to mandate vaccinations for health care workers

California’s vaccination mandate for medical workers is the toughest in the nation. California also ordered all visitors at hospitals and other medical facilities to be vaccinated or test negative for COVID-19 beginning next Wednesday.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• August 5, 2021

An East Palo Alto resident is inoculated against COVID-19 during a community vaccination clinic run by Ravenswood Family Health Network at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on April 10, 2021. Ravenswood clinics serve low-income populations with more than half of their patients participating in public health coverage programs such as Medi-Cal. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Coronavirus

COVID vaccinations lag for people on Medi-Cal

In all California counties, Medi-Cal enrollees have been vaccinated at substantially lower rates than the overall population. Experts point to several factors for this economic divide, like the inability of low-income people to take time off work.

By

Ana B. Ibarra

• July 30, 2021

Customers at Wa Wa Restaurant in Long Beach are wearing masks. The CDC now advises vaccinated people in areas with high COVID infection rates to wear masks. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

Coronavirus

New CDC advice: Most vaccinated Californians should wear masks indoors

Under the CDC’s new mask recommendations, vaccinated people in 45 California counties — all of its most populous areas — are advised to wear masks in public indoor places.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• July 27, 2021

Gov. Gavin Newsom gives a press conference at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Union City on April 15, 2021. Today, Newsom announced state employees and health care workers must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and wear masks. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Health

California orders vaccine or testing for health care workers, state employees

The vaccination verification process will begin for health care workers on Aug. 23. All state employees also must be vaccinated or undergo weekly tests.

By

Ana B. Ibarra

• July 26, 2021

Students wear masks and sit one to a two-person desk in order to social distance during summer classes at Laurel Elementary in Oakland on June 11, 021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Education

Small California school districts will refuse to follow mask mandate

Some school officials are flouting the updated state rules, saying students will be allowed to return to the classroom with or without a mask.

By

Joe Hong

• July 15, 2021

Maskless patrons enjoy tropical cocktails in the tiny interior of the Tiki-Ti bar as it reopens on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on July 7, 2021. California COVID cases are climbing, especially in Los Angeles, just weeks after the state's broad reopening. Photo by /Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

Coronavirus

COVID cases surging in California a month after reopening

Lea este artículo en español. A month after California’s reopening lifted most pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising, worrying public health officials as they contend with the more infectious Delta variant and the lagging pace of vaccinations in some communities. Los Angeles County has drawn particular concern, with five straight days of more than […]

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• July 15, 2021

Coronavirus

Cost of fighting COVID in California: $12.3 billion

An influx of taxpayer money has paid for everything from masks, hospital beds and student laptops to extra workers for unemployment hotlines and tracing contacts.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• July 12, 2021