Santa Clara County

The number of people in California hospitals testing positive for the novel coronavirus is soaring. Photo via iStock

WhatMatters

Restrictions ramp up as California coronavirus hospitalizations soar to new heights

Starting today, millions of Californians will be subject to new stay-at-home orders amid a third wave of COVID-19 infections that has hospitalized a record number of residents. Under Los Angeles County’s new stay-at-home order — which lasts through Dec. 20 — almost all gatherings are banned, and retail stores must further limit capacity. Santa Clara […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• November 30, 2020

Voting Centers opened across Los Angeles County, including Grand Central Market, on October 24, 2020. Voters can drop-off ballots or vote in person before Nov. 3rd. Photo Credit by Los Angeles County via Flickr

Elections

Counties, cops making sure you’re safe at the polls

California's election officials don't expect intimidation or interference at the polls Tuesday but they're asking law enforcement to step in pronto if it happens.

By

Lewis Griswold

• October 30, 2020

Taylor Craig stands for a portrait on the edge of his family’s property outside of Vacaville on Oct. 2, 2020. Charred trees and ground on the adjoining property were caused by the LNU Lightening Complex Fire in August; Craig was able to fight off the flames and protect his home from the fire after not receiving an evacuation warning. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

California Wildfires

‘Totally inadequate’: Most Californians in wildfire-prone counties aren’t signed up for emergency alerts

The systems that warn people about evacuations have dangerous drawbacks. Millions of Californians are relying on alerts that may never arrive. In some counties, only 1% of adults are signed up.

By

James Bikales

• October 7, 2020

Tracy Tran and Steven Tran, owners of La Orquidea Salon and Spa pose for a portrait on Aug. 25, 2020, in Los Gatos. While most of the state’s businesses have been able to resume some activity, nail salons have remained largely closed under state and local health orders since the start of the pandemic. Photo by Dai Sugano, Bay Area News Group

California Divide

Coronavirus shutdowns are hitting Vietnamese-owned nail salons hard

Tracy Tran’s years of savings are gone. Most went into the nearly $13,500 monthly rent she says she’s been paying for her shuttered business since March, when coronavirus public health orders forced her to close. La Orquidea Salon and Spa has been sitting empty ever since on busy North Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos. So […]

By

Laurence Du Sault

• September 5, 2020

As coronavirus case counts climb — and many Californians are unable to return to work or school — Gov. Gavin Newsom suggests he may get more aggressive about trying to address the crisis. Image via iStock

WhatMatters

Newsom: California on “the edge of a cliff” — more executive orders likely

With a series of temporary protections that helped Californians get through the first few months of the pandemic set to expire soon, Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted he will today extend some programs in another flex of executive power. Additional federal unemployment benefits of $600 per week end July 31, foreshadowing a wave of evictions and […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• July 24, 2020

A Clinica de la Raza staff member sanitizes her hands after administering Covid-19 tests in a parking lot along 35th Avenue near the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on July 7, 2020. According to data provided by the Alameda County Public Health Department, Fruitvale’s 94601 ZIP code has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases of any ZIP code in Alameda County. Photo by Jane Tyska, Bay Area News Group

Coronavirus

A grim tally: Newsom puts brave face on California’s COVID-19 surge

After being the first state to impose a stay-at-home order, California faces a battery of grim statistics as the state reopened - and is now poised to potentially send millions of children back to school next month.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

and

Ana B. Ibarra

• July 8, 2020

Cleverson Davis, a waiter at Palermo Italian Restaurant in San Jose tends to customers while wearing a mask on June 5, 2020. Photo by Dai Sugano, Bay Area News Group

WhatMatters

State cracks down on bars, restaurants

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, July 7. Newsom ramps up enforcement Amid intense criticism for reopening California’s economy too quickly, Gov. Gavin Newsom is ramping up enforcement of his coronavirus orders following the 16th straight day of record hospitalizations. Twenty-three counties are now on the state’s coronavirus watch list, with new additions Colusa, Madera, Marin, […]

By

Emily Hoeven

• July 7, 2020

Coronavirus

California just hit all-time high number of people hospitalized with coronavirus

Lea este artículo en español. Updated June 22, 2020 Climbing over the past week, California’s numbers for statewide coronavirus-related hospitalizations this weekend exceeded the record levels set in late April, CalMatters’ hospital data tracker shows. The tracker, which pulls from state data, shows that on Sunday, 3,702 patients who’ve tested positive for the novel coronavirus were […]

By

Ana B. Ibarra

• June 18, 2020

Orange County Chief Health Officer Dr. Nichole Quick resigned June 8, after receiving threats over her order for residents wear to face masks in public to protect against the coronavirus. Quick is one of several local health officers in California to quit since the pandemic began. Photo by Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP

Coronavirus

‘Things have gotten ugly’ — pandemic pushback drives health directors to quit

Local public health officers haven’t been this important in a century. They’re also being second-guessed, harassed and threatened by residents angry about pandemic precautions.

By

Barbara Feder Ostrov

• June 16, 2020

Maria Castellanos, 75, cares for her grandson Valentino, 5, while he is out of school. Elk Grove Unified closed all district schools until March 13 after a student tested positive for COVID-19. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Health

Quarantine grandma? California families scramble as coronavirus hits

Government policy is one thing, real life another. What happens if your germ-carrying preschoolers suddenly pose a lethal threat to their elderly grandparents? What becomes of your teenagers’ future if their education is disrupted, long-term? How protected are we if schools cancel class but kids then disperse to malls and bounce houses and movie theaters?

By

Elizabeth Aguilera

and

Judy Lin

• March 11, 2020