Category: California

Racial Status And The Pandemic: A Combustible Mixture

The novel coronavirus is affecting black Americans disproportionately, which some community leaders and public health experts say is not surprising. So why didn’t anyone sound an alarm?

Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures

From cafeteria staff to doctors and nurses, hospital workers around the country report frustrating failures by management to notify them when they have been exposed to co-workers or patients known to be infected with COVID-19.

Keeping The COVID Plague At Bay: How California Is Protecting Older Veterans

Even as COVID-19 has ravaged nursing homes around the country, California has managed to keep the virus at bay at its eight state-run homes for frail and older veterans. What exactly went right?

Trying Out LA’s New Coronavirus Testing Regime

Los Angeles is the first big U.S. city to offer COVID-19 testing to anyone who wants it. Will it help restore normal life to the 10 million residents of the city and surrounding county?

Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care

Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.

COVID-Plagued California Nursing Homes Often Had Problems In Past

Nursing homes with COVID-19 infections tend to violate health rules more often and have more complaints and fines, records show. But infections also plague highly rated facilities — while sparing some low-ranked ones.

As COVID-19 Lurks, Families Are Locked Out Of Nursing Homes. Is It Safe Inside?

“The awful truth is families have no control over what’s happening,” one advocate says.

Do-It-Yourself Cheek Swab Tested As Next Best Thing To Detect Coronavirus

Los Angeles County is providing thousands of coronavirus self-testing kits to its citizens, but public health officials are leery of the shortage of data on whether this easier method ― in which an individual swabs his or her own cheek ― is as reliable as a less comfortable but well-established technique.

Health Insurers Prosper As COVID-19 Deflates Demand For Elective Treatments

With most nonemergency procedures shelved for now, many health insurers are expected to see profits in the near term, but the longer view of how the coronavirus will affect them is far more complicated and could well impact what people pay for coverage next year.

Fear Of Coronavirus Propels Some Smokers To Quit

Increasing evidence suggests people who smoke are more likely to become severely ill and die from COVID-19 than nonsmokers. Some people are using that as inspiration to quit.