Public Health

When the ominous beep of an emergency alert roused Mark and Kathy Allen out of bed in Sebastopol on Oct. 9, 2017, the Tubbs Fire was heading toward Santa Rosa.  So the Allens did too. They knew the assisted living facility where Mark’s mother lived was in the path of fast-moving flames. They sped toward […]

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, August 10. Second top resignation in two months The director of California’s public health department resigned late Sunday night, less than a week after state officials reported a tech glitch that resulted in an undercount of coronavirus cases and confusion about the scope of infections as the state’s death toll […]

Too many California workers are not provided sufficient paid sick days or job-protected leave, putting patients and their families in impossible situations.

It may be an agonizing decision — but the only way to get care their insurance won't cover.

Given California’s rich cultural diversity, the state needs contact tracers that are able to speak with patients in their native language and with cultural sensitivity.

State health officials were caught off guard by the federal government’s plan, as the tests are less accurate and may be of limited use in California’s nursing homes.

Once a rarity, state takeovers of on-the-edge nursing homes are expected to become more common as the pandemic tips facilities further into chaos.

Latino children are testing positive at higher rates than other groups of children, accounting for the majority of all California cases among those under 18. Experts say close contact with essential workers and crowded living conditions play a role.

Public health leaders must be free to follow the science where it leads, and speak uncomfortable truths.

Luego de semanas de diversos mensajes y de permitir que los condados tomen la decisión, el estado dijo hoy que se exigirá el uso de cubrebocas en muchos lugares para detener la propagación del coronavirus.