covid-19

Madeline Maye, a video editor based in Burbank on Feb. 12, 2023. Maye lost $5000 to the Bank of America EDD debit card fraud of 2020. She had been laid off from her job just months earlier and was struggling to find freelance video editing work in the pandemic. The situation was compounded for Maye by the fact that she had just come out as transgender, was navigating hormone therapy, and trying to pay for essentials like rent and feminine-presenting clothes and products. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

WhatMatters

Why thousands of Californians are in limbo for jobless benefits

Many Californians who lost jobs during the pandemic have been facing ongoing battles to receive unemployment benefits. During the first few months of the COVID shutdown, the state Employment Development Department became inundated with 29 million jobless claims. Since then, it has paid out $188 billion in unemployment benefits. But as CalMatters’ investigative reporter Lauren […]

By

Lynn La

• May 16, 2023

A young boy peers through the border wall as migrants gather between primary and secondary border fences in San Diego as the United States prepares to lift COVID-19-era restrictions known as Title 42, that have blocked migrants at the U.S.- Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020, near San Diego on May 8, 2023. Photo by Mike Blake, Reuters

WhatMatters

What Title 42’s end means for California

From Wendy Fry of CalMatters’ California Divide team: A pandemic-era public health policy known as Title 42, used to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border, is coming to an end just before 9 p.m. tonight, prompting concerns about unprecedented migration flows. Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants have been waiting outside between border walls in […]

By

Lynn La

• May 11, 2023

An unhoused person holds pieces of fentanyl in their hand in Los Angeles on Aug. 18, 2022. Use of the powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced in other drugs, has exploded. Because it's 50 times more potent than heroin, even a small dose can be fatal. It has quickly become the deadliest drug in the nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo

WhatMatters

Showdown on California fentanyl bills

During a dramatic hearing Thursday at the state Capitol, seven fentanyl measures finally received a verdict: Four bills passed, but the two most sweeping failed and a third was put on hold. Watching closely: Grieving families who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning, recovering addicts and advocates for criminal justice reform. To get inside the […]

By

Lynn La

• April 28, 2023

Mindy Lym has been living with long COVID since the summer of 2022. After months of bed rest, she's now living in Camas, Washington, where her symptoms are improving but are still a day to day challenge. Photo by Celeste Noche for CalMatters

Health

Long COVID in California: ‘A pandemic of loneliness and social isolation and rejection’

As many resume their pre-pandemic lives, those with long COVID struggle with debilitating symptoms. In California, there are no legislative proposals to help despite long wait times for care and expensive treatments.

By

Kristen Hwang

• April 27, 2023

Beth Kenny at Crab Cove in Alameda, Calif., on Friday on Apr. 8th, 2023. Photo by Felix Uribe for CalMatters

Coronavirus

The California mask mandate is gone. Now some patients fear for their health.

The state ended masking and vaccination requirements, including in high-risk settings such as health care facilities. Some patients with chronic illnesses say they may avoid treatment rather than risk contracting COVID-19.

By

Kristen Hwang

• April 11, 2023

Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis at the State of the State ceremony on March 8, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

WhatMatters

What Kounalakis gets to do as acting California governor

Monday, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis issued a proclamation honoring labor activist Dolores Huerta on her 93rd birthday. But it was Gov. Gavin Newsom who announced the state has secured an emergency stockpile of as many as 2 million Misoprostol pills in response to a federal judge suspending FDA approval of another abortion pill on […]

By

Lynn La

• April 11, 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media after a meeting with local leaders on homelessness in Sacramento on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

Politics

A failure to communicate: California government cuts back press access

Accelerated by the COVID pandemic, a shift by state officials toward emails and written statements is making it more difficult for journalists to be watchdogs for Californians.

By

Alexei Koseff

• April 6, 2023

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, left, speaks to the media after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles on March 11, 2021. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

WhatMatters

Why it’s tougher for California press to inform the public

In response to the COVID pandemic, many workplaces shifted from in-person to virtual communications, including state government offices. But as the impact of COVID-19 continues to wane, CalMatters’ politics reporter Alexei Koseff found that officials and their media offices in some ways remain just as inaccessible to the press. Before the pandemic, reporters could attend […]

By

Lynn La

• April 6, 2023

Meredith Reyes, a lab technician, labels COVID-19 test swabs before processing at the Sonoma County Department of Public Health in Santa Rosa. California counties are fighting for more state health funds. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Commentary

California reinvested in public health. Newsom put it back on the chopping block

As the emergency declaration for COVID-19 expired, local public health officials are criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed budget cuts to a workforce program attempting to rebuild a system weakened by years of disinvestment.

By

Guest Commentary

• March 1, 2023

Eddie Daniels administers rapid COVID-19 tests at Greater St. Paul Church in downtown Oakland on Jan. 4, 2022. Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

Coronavirus

COVID disparities grow as California ends state of emergency

As public health funding winds down, gaps in vaccination rates are increasing. Particularly for booster doses, the gap among racial and ethnic groups is widening significantly.

By

Kristen Hwang

• February 28, 2023

Covid-19