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What South Korea did right to combat coronavirus
South Korea provides lessons the U.S. and other countries could have learned to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
From Iran’s hot zone, Afghans flee home, spreading virus
Mahdi Noori, a young Afghan refugee in Iran, was left jobless when the factory where he’d worked cutting stone was shut down because of the coronavirus outbreak. He had no money, was afraid of contracting the virus and had no options. So he headed home.
He joined a large migration of some 200,000 Afghans and counting who have been flowing home across the border for weeks — from a country that is one of the world’s biggest epicenters of the pandemic to an impoverished homeland that is woefully unprepared to deal with it.
The massive influx of returnees — who are going back untested and unmonitored to cities, towns and villages around the country — threatens to create a greater outbreak in Afghanistan that could overwhelm its health infrastructure wrecked by decades of war.
Fired captain of aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt reportedly tests positive for COVID-19
The Navy captain who was removed from command of the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Capt. Brett Crozier, fired from his post last week, had tested positive, citing two Naval Academy classmates of Crozier’s who are close to him and his family. A Navy spokesman declined to comment on Crozier’s health status.
The commander began exhibiting symptoms before he was removed from the warship Thursday, two of his classmates told the newspaper.
The San Diego-based Roosevelt is in port in Guam fighting an outbreak of COVID-19 among its crew.
1 dead, 13 hospitalized from cruise ship in Florida
Authorities say 14 people have been taken to hospitals from a cruise ship that docked in Florida with coronavirus victims aboard and one of them has died.
Two fatalities were reported earlier aboard the Coral Princess, which docked Saturday in Miami. The ship had more than 1,000 passengers and nearly 900 crew members.
Authorities did not immediately disclose whether the 14 people removed for immediate medical attention had a confirmed coronavirus link.
The Princess Cruises line ship began disembarking fit passengers cleared for charter flights Sunday. The cruise line said it was delayed by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy preventing passengers from being placed on commercial flights.
Anyone with symptoms of the disease or recovering from it were being kept on ship until medically cleared.
U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic
As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment.
A review of federal purchasing contracts by the Associated Press shows that federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line healthcare workers.
By that time, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for shipments from the Strategic National Stockpile. That federal cache of supplies was created more than 20 years ago to help bridge gaps in the medical and pharmaceutical supply chains during a national emergency.
Now, three months into the crisis, that stockpile is nearly drained, just as the numbers of patients needing critical care is surging. Some state and local officials report receiving broken ventilators and decade-old rotted masks.
Pastor who refuses to cancel Sunday services greeted by police
On Sunday, the pastor of Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi, Calif., was greeted by several police officers in the parking lot about an hour before he intended to hold an in-person service despite coronavirus restrictions.
Pastor Jon Duncan, whose small evangelical church leases space in Bethel Open Bible Church, arrived Sunday morning to find that Bethel, which stopped having in-person services on March 15, had changed the locks on the building to prevent his congregants from entering, Lodi Police Lt. Michael Manetti told The Times.
Duncan had continued to hold in-person services for Cross Culture Christian Center amid the coronavirus outbreak.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hospitalized with COVID-19
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was diagnosed with the coronavirus more than a week ago, was admitted to a hospital Sunday for tests.
Johnson’s office said he was hospitalized because he still had symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus.
Downing Street said it was a “precautionary step†and that he remained in charge of the government.
Before his hospitalization, Johnson, 55, had been quarantined in his Downing Street residence. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26.
Queen delivers message of hope to U.K. amid coronavirus outbreak
Britain needed a message of hope Sunday. The queen delivered it.
Queen Elizabeth II offered support to a country locked down in the coronavirus pandemic, promising the nation that it would rise to the challenge and overcome the outbreak.
In a rare address to the nation, the 93-year-old monarch acknowledged the suffering that many families have experienced because of the coronavirus crisis, which has infected more than 47,806 people in the U.K. and killed at least 4,934 of them. She drew upon wisdom from her decades as Britain’s head of state to urge resolve in a time of crisis.
“While we have faced challenges before, this one is different,†she said. “This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavor, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.
Cameo videos let NBA stars connect with fans during self-isolation
Lakers center JaVale McGee has done the autograph thing countless times.
Fans line up at a collectibles shop or at a convention booth with jerseys, basketballs — whatever — all to get a few seconds from an NBA player and his autograph.
For McGee, it was a grind. The same pleasantries, the same Sharpie marker, the same autograph, over and over.
Like a lot of NBA players, though, he’s found an alternative way to connect with his fans — to help wish your girl a Happy Valentine’s Day, to shame you for a fantasy draft performance, to embarrass you for jumping on bandwagons and to share a small slice of his day thanks to cellphone video and Cameo, a Chicago-based company that books and delivers personalized messages.
“Sometimes, you’d go to signings and people would want stuff personalized and you’d have to say ‘No.’ If we personalized every one — we have 3,000 people waiting,†McGee said earlier this year before social distancing and self-isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “With Cameo, it’s personalized.â€
Amid coronavirus outbreak, Pope Francis celebrates Palm Sunday Mass without the public
Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in the shelter of St. Peter’s Basilica without the public because of the coronavirus pandemic, while parish priests elsewhere in Rome took to church rooftops and bell towers to lead services so at least some faithful could follow the familiar ritual.
Looking pensive and sounding subdued, Francis led the first of several solemn Holy Week ceremonies that will shut out rank-and-file faithful from attending, as Italy’s rigid lockdown measures forbid public gatherings.
Normally, tens of thousands of Romans, tourists and pilgrims, clutching olive tree branches or palm fronds, would have flocked to an outdoor Mass led by the pontiff. Instead, Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which seemed even more cavernous than usual because it was so empty.
SoCal megachurch pastor tells people to attend church online
Amid stories that several megachurch pastors in recent weeks have defied calls to cancel gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump tweeted this weekend that he would be “tuning in†Sunday to listen to Greg Laurie, a Southern California megachurch pastor, online.
And so, from his empty Riverside campus at Harvest Christian Fellowship, a church of 15,000 people that would normally be bustling Sunday morning, Laurie filmed a greeting for “a very special guest to our service today.â€
“Thank you for talking about the importance of the church in your press conferences,†Laurie said to Trump. “I know you had mentioned earlier that it was your hope that maybe we would be meeting in person on Easter, and unfortunately that has not worked out. But the amazing thing is we’re able to reach a lot of people now online.â€
Across the country, pastors have revolted against stay-at-home orders, pitting public health concerns against claims of religious freedom.
Last week, a preacher in Tampa, Fla., was arrested for continuing to gather hundreds of people, with police saying he showed “reckless disregard for human life†by potentially exposing his congregation to the coronavirus.
Still, most churches have been improvising and taking services online.
California judicial leaders to adopt emergency order setting bail at zero for some offenses
In a move aimed at reducing the jail population to limit the spread of the coronavirus, California judicial leaders are set to meet remotely Monday, where they’re expected to adopt a statewide emergency order setting bail at zero for misdemeanor and lower-level felony offenses.
The Judicial Council, the policymaking body for California’s court system, also is expected to vote to suspend evictions and foreclosures and to allow for the expansion of court hearings held by video or telephone.
For criminal and juvenile proceedings, including arraignments and preliminary examinations, the council will direct courts to prioritize the use of technology to meet legal deadlines and ensure that defendants and children are not held in custody without timely hearings, according to a report prepared for Monday’s meeting.
In criminal cases, the defendant must agree before a court hearing can be held remotely.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer last week called on judicial leaders to issue a statewide order requiring preliminary hearings be held remotely. Orange County Public Defender Sharon Petrosino countered that clients had a constitutional right to appear in person for preliminary hearings. During preliminary hearings, prosecutors must show there is sufficient evidence to believe a crime has been committed.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic,†the report says, “trial courts must protect defendants’ constitutional rights to have the assistance of counsel and to be personally present with counsel, and at the same time take steps to protect the health of defendants, judicial officers, court staff, counsel, and all those who are required to be present in court.â€
Defense lawyers say defendants must be able to see the witnesses testifying against them and confer with counsel.
Public defenders have complained that a previous emergency court order extending legal deadlines for arraignments and preliminary hearings have forced their clients to stay in potentially virus-infested jails.
The Judicial Council also is expected to order courts to give juvenile delinquency cases priority.
“Every state and territory in the country has now delayed jury trials,†the report says. “But courts must provide court access for defendants in custody who are entitled to timely pretrial appearances.â€
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye heads the council, which is primarily made up of judges. Gov. Gavin Newsom has given her and the council extraordinary temporary powers to suspend laws to deal with the health crisis.
Death toll, number of infections in coming week may be ‘shocking to some,’ Fauci says
Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, warned Sunday that the numbers of deaths and COVID-19 infections in the coming week would be “shocking to some†but stressed that all Americans must do what they could to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Across the country, lives and livelihoods have been upended by restrictions on daily activities — measures that Fauci described as painful but necessary to ease the toll of the pandemic.
“We are struggling to get it under control, and that’s the issue that’s at hand right now,†he said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.â€
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said everyone must “continue to do the physical separation, because we’ve got to get through this week that’s coming up.â€
It would be “false,†he said, to state that the outbreak is under control.
There are preliminary signs that stay-at-home directives and social distancing have been effective, Fauci said, but “we’re still not at that apex.â€
“Within a week, eight, nine days or so, we’re hopefully going to see that turning around,†he said.
Fauci, who said last week he did not understand why there was not a nationwide stay-at-home order in place, said Sunday that states that did not take such measures harmed the overall effort to stem the outbreak.
“It isn’t that they’re putting the rest of the country at risk as much as they’re putting themselves at risk,†he said. “Every time I get to that podium in the White House briefing room, I plead with people to take a look at those very simple guidelines of physical separation.â€
President Trump has said he wants to leave it up to governors rather than imposing a nationwide stay-at-home order. The federal government has issued voluntary guidelines that call for steps including maintaining physical distance.
Governors, criticized by Trump, seek help: ‘States can’t possibly do what the federal government can do’
Days after President Trump criticized states for being ill-prepared for the coronavirus outbreak, several governors on Sunday renewed pleas for more federal help in procuring necessary medical supplies and equipment. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the lack of national coordination in fighting the coronavirus had been “ludicrous.â€
Inslee, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,†cited good communication with Vice President Mike Pence and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But without mentioning President Trump by name, he blasted the president’s contention that the federal government was meant to serve as a “backup†for states’ efforts to obtain needed supplies.
“I mean, the surgeon general alluded to Pearl Harbor,†said Inslee, a Democrat. “Can you imagine if Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘I’ll be right behind you, Connecticut. Good luck building those battleships.’ Look, we need a national mobilization of the manufacturing base of the United States.â€
The governor of Illinois, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, said states lacked the power to invoke the Defense Production Act and therefore could not compel manufacturers to meet critical needs.
“The president does not understand the word ‘federal’ -- Federal Emergency Management Agency,†Pritzker said on CNN. “We have a state emergency management agency, but if he were right, why would we ever need a Federal Emergency Management Agency?
“It’s because individual states can’t possibly do what the federal government can do,†he said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who, like Inslee, has been the target of heated personal attacks by Trump, said Sunday that more robust testing efforts were needed to help public health experts tamp down scattered outbreaks before they became major conflagrations.
“My job is to do everything I can to protect the 10 million people of Michigan,†she said on “Fox News Sunday.†“Michigan is a hot spot; we need assistance, and I’m grateful for any partnership at the federal level.â€
Some GOP governors who have avoided criticizing Trump or the federal response cited worsening situations in their states. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson talked about the challenges of procuring personal protective equipment for medical personnel.
“It’s difficult,†the Republican governor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.†Arkansas, he said, had sometimes been “outbid by another state after we’ve had the order confirmed.â€
He added: “It literally is a global jungle that we’re competing in now.â€
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said his state was running out of ventilators and hospital beds. New Orleans is weathering one of the nation’s worst outbreaks.
“We now think it’s probably around the 9th of April before we exceed our ventilator capacity, based on the current number on hand,†he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.†Edwards said the state was “a couple days behind that on [intensive-care] bed capacity being exceeded.â€
In New York, however, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said there were potential signs of hope. The state has suffered the nation’s worst outbreak.
He said at a news briefing on Sunday in Albany that the number of deaths had been dropping in the last few days, along with the number of new hospitalizations,. He said, however, it was “too early to tell†what that signaled.
Surgeon general calls coming week ‘our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment’
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday the coming week was going to be “the hardest and saddest of most Americans’ lives,†likening the projected toll from COVID-19 to “our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment.
â€More than 310,000 cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus have been reported, and the nationwide death toll is nearing 8,500.
Adams, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,†urged Americans to follow social-distancing guidelines and to wear face coverings in public to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week called on Americans to wear masks when outside their homes, but Trump said Friday: “I don’t see it for myself.â€
“The president is making a choice that is appropriate for him,†said the surgeon general, who has released a video showing how to make a simple homemade face covering with fabric and rubber bands. Wearing a mask, he cautioned, is not a substitute for social distancing.
Adams also deflected questions about the need for a nationwide stay-at-home order. Trump has said he prefers to leave the decision to governors, nine of whom have not issued such a directive in their states.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, said last week he did not understand why there was no nationwide stay-at-home order. Adams said in the Fox interview that the federal government’s guidelines, which are voluntary, were “essentially†a national order.
“Over 90% of the country is staying home,†he said.
On the road in the Southwest during the coronavirus pandemic. Shelter in place? Keep driving?
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — They didn’t pack masks or latex gloves before their morning hike, trusting that the increasingly empty trails amid the vast mountain vistas would provide more than adequate protection.
For R.W. Van Arsdale and his son, Robert, an impromptu respite in the Southwest has become an unlikely antidote to riding out the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s also their only option for now.
Van Arsdale’s Ford F-150 broke down two weeks ago during their father-son road trip from Oregon to the Grand Canyon. It took several days to locate a mechanic who wasn’t booked up for several more days, but he finally found one and planned to be back on the road to the Pacific Northwest soon.
In the meantime, however, the pair has remained quarantined inside their travel trailer: father, son and two golden retrievers, Watson and Fink, cooped up inside a 24-foot rectangle. But Van Arsdale’s not complaining. He’s glad they have their own place in which to isolate.
“What is happening is really real and it’s terrifying,†Van Arsdale, a retired pharmacist, said one recent morning. “If people don’t take proper precautions, it can and definitely will get even worse.â€
The question for Van Arsdale and other Americans traversing the country in RVs and campers this spring is what, exactly, are proper precautions during a health crisis that even a month ago — when many of them set out on their adventures along Route 66 — seemed inconceivable.
Federal court panel denies motion to force California prisons to move inmates out of harm’s way
A federal court panel has denied an emergency motion to force California prison officials to move thousands of inmates out of harm’s way of the coronavirus.
“We are living in unprecedented times. The spread of COVID-19 is a global crisis, a crisis that is heightened in the most vulnerable groups among us,†the 15-page ruling begins.
The request by prisoners’ attorneys for mass releases in the face of that virus is “understandable,†and inmates have an 8th Amendment right to be protected from disease, the ruling states. But the three-judge panel ruled it is the wrong judicial panel to decide such a case.
The federal panel was created in 2007 to address chronic prison overcrowding, and affirmed in 2009 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The judges Saturday said the question of protecting prisoners from COVID-19 belongs before a single court, such as one overseeing inmate medical care.
“We take no satisfaction in turning away Plaintiffs’ motion without reaching the important question of whether Defendants have implemented constitutionally adequate measures to protect the inmates of California’s prisons from the serious threat posed by this unparalleled pandemic,†the judges wrote. And they add, “It is likely that only through significant effort will California’s prisons be able to minimize the spread of COVID-19.â€
Video: Spyder Surfboards sets up build-your-own skateboard drive-through
With the coronavirus leading to stay-at-home orders for most businesses, Dennis Jarvis, owner of Spyder Surfboards, and his family decided to think outside the box and set up a build-your-own skateboard drive-through.
Delaware police use checkpoints for governor’s travel order
WILMINGTON, Del. — Delaware police are enforcing Gov. John Carney’s latest order to blunt the spread of COVID-19 in part with checkpoints designed to discourage out-of-state visitors from entering the state.
Carney’s order allows any Delaware law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle with out-of-state tags except when they’re traveling on interstates.
State police did just that as they stood outside a Claymont shopping center on Friday. Officers asked out-of-state drivers among the 500 that passed through whether they had essential business at the shopping center, and turned them back if they didn’t, The News Journal of Wilmington reported.
No citations issued or arrests were made during Friday’s operation. Violating an emergency order is a misdemeanor, and can be punishable by a fine or prison time.
Troopers also performed similar patrols on roads in the Claymont area on Thursday night, a police news release said.
Carney’s order also tells out-of-state travelers, with some small exceptions, to self-quarantine for 14 days if they arrive in Delaware. A stay-at-home order has been in effect for almost two weeks.
As of Saturday, evening Delaware reported close to 600 positive COVID-19 cases and at least 14 deaths. The number of people with the virus who were hospitalized neared 100.
Two sisters were inseparable for 9 decades. Now the coronavirus lockdown keeps them apart
Since childhood, 91-year-old Corrine Casserly and her 95-year-old sister Ruth Sorney have been the closest of friends.
As young women coming into their own in Hollywood in the late 1940s, they’d put on their little black dresses most Saturday nights and pretend to be rich by treating themselves to chicken a la king at Tom Breneman’s restaurant by Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street.
They’d celebrate their Italian American heritage later in life at “Club Italiano†socials at St. John Eudes Catholic Church near their homes in the San Fernando Valley.
There were hair appointments every Friday at 10 a.m. at a salon in Woodland Hills, and twice a year the sisters would take the shuttle with their church’s senior club to a casino in San Bernardino, always splitting their winnings 50-50.
It seemed as if nothing could keep the sisters apart, not even the family’s decision to move Sorney into a long-term care home at the beginning of the year. Casserly, who lives only a few blocks away in Tarzana, visited every day.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he ‘owns’ coronavirus testing lapses, announces task force
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom said California will significantly increase COVID-19 testing capabilities, adding that he “owns†testing lapses in the state that have made it difficult to track the deadly virus. In a Saturday news conference, Newsom announced a task force that he said will work toward a fivefold increase in daily testing in the state by identifying supply shortages and adding testing locations.
The announcement comes as California continues to see dramatic increases in people hospitalized with the virus, with 2,300 patients in the state. Another 3,267 people hospitalized are suspected of having COVID-19, but are awaiting testing results.
Overnight, the number of coronavirus patients in California’s intensive care unit beds rose nearly 11% to 1,008 people.
In all, Newsom said 126,700 people have been tested in California, a state of nearly 40 million people. Of those who have been tested, 13,000 are awaiting results.
“The testing space has been a challenging one for us and I own that,†Newsom said. “And I have a responsibility as your governor to do better and do more testing in the state of California.â€
Pandemic exposes low pay and scant protections for nursing assistants and home-care aides
When she heard friends working at Lowe’s were in line for $300 hazard-pay bonuses, Allanah Smit wondered why her employer, Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss., had no such plans. “Healthcare workers deserve hazard pay too,†she declared on Twitter. “Yes, we chose this profession, but we didn’t sign up to fight a global pandemic with ONE N-95 respirator and improper PPE.â€
As a certified nursing assistant, Smit makes just over $14 an hour to bathe, feed, and reposition patients recovering from car accidents, strokes, and major surgeries like hip replacements. When elective surgeries were suspended last week as the coronavirus spread from hot spots such as New Orleans, Smit began caring for patients with symptoms of COVID-19.
As the healthcare system braces for the full impact of the pandemic, the shortage of doctors and nurses in epicenters like New York has gotten massive attention.
Less scrutiny has been paid to home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants — who collectively represent the largest category of healthcare workers in the country, nearly 5 million people working across a fragmented landscape that includes teaching hospitals and nursing homes, as well as homes and apartments. These are jobs that do not require an associate’s degree.
Even in hospitals, where wages are higher and full-time employment is the norm, these workers are typically paid less than $15 an hour. The pandemic has highlighted the low pay, lack of equipment and scant job security for these workers.
Thanks to coronavirus, these costumers are now Hollywood’s ‘mask crusaders’
Like many of his colleagues in Hollywood, costumer Nickolaus Brown felt helpless when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
He had been working on Netflix’s big-budget action movie “Red Notice,†making sure Dwayne Johnson’s clothes fit right on set in Atlanta, before filming was shut down.
The crisis hit home for Brown, president of the Motion Picture Costumers Local 705. His sister, a nurse in Winston-Salem, N.C., had sent him a photo of her son waving goodbye to his dad through a window — a necessary physical separation because her radiologist husband was exposed to COVID-19 at work. Medical providers, she said, faced a severe shortage of masks and other protective equipment.
Brown was determined to do something. So he took to Facebook and put out a “call to arms,†rallying 250 designers, sewers and cutters to make masks for healthcare providers and others.
“It breaks my heart,â€Brown said, his voice breaking in a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. “So I have a personal reason for doing this as well.â€
The motion picture industry has been decimated by the coronavirus crisis, which has halted film and television productions worldwide. More than 100,000 cast and crew have lost work and are turning to relief packages set up by unions, independent Go Fund Me efforts and various Hollywood foundations.
With no end in sight to the crisis, costumers — whose job is to create and fit costumes for actors on sets — are plying their sewing and design skills to help address the very real shortages of face masks and other protective clothing among medical workers.
Trump pushes for return of sports, says it will happen ‘sooner rather than later’
President Trump, who spoke to commissioners from various sports leagues earlier in the day, said at Saturday news briefing that he was eager to have fans back in the arenas “whenever we’re ready, as soon as we can.â€
“The fans want to be back too. They want to see basketball and baseball and football and hockey,†he said. “They want to see their sports. They want to go out to the golf courses.â€
Trump added: “I can’t tell you a date, but I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later.â€
At the news briefing, Trump said there was no contingency plan for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 24-27 in North Carolina.
“We think by the end of August we’ll be in good shape,†he said.
California starts to arrest and charge violators of Safer at Home orders
As California officials try desperately to keep people inside to slow the spread of the coronavirus, authorities are beginning to crack down on scofflaws.
The crackdown has escalated in recent days, with nonessential businesses that refuse to shut down as well as people who defy orders to stay out of the water finding themselves in the crosshairs.
Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday filed criminal charges against two smoke shops, a shoe store and a discount electronics retailer, accusing them of refusing to shut down despite orders imposed to fight the coronavirus. It marks the first time the city has filed charges for violations of the “Safer at Home†order, which requires businesses deemed nonessential to close their doors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
A paddle boarder was arrested Thursday after ignoring lifeguards’ orders to get out of the ocean near the Malibu Pier despite beach closures. County lifeguards patrolling the shore by boat tried to get the man to come ashore. Despite repeated orders to exit the water, the man continued paddle boarding for at least 30 minutes. Lifeguards eventually flagged down Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who responded by boat to help, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Israel cracks down on enforcement of coronavirus orders
Israel has ramped up its enforcement of strict measures intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
In Tel Aviv, three-person teams of police officers patrolled the beaches on a sunny Saturday, said an officer who, according to protocol, asked not to be identified. They issued “many, many, many†fines of $135 to beachgoers, cyclists, picknickers, and at least one father who brought his two young children on scooters to the seaside promenade and none of them were wearing masks, which this week became mandatory in Israel.
Helicopters were heard overhead on Saturday, the first full day of a complete lockdown imposed on the adjacent ultra-Orthodox Jewish township of Bnei Brak, where the rate of COVID-19 infections is seven times that of nation.
The officer who could not be identified foresaw a major police deployment on Wednesday night, the beginning of the Passover holiday.
Spain starts to see slowdown in new cases
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that his nation, ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, is “starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.â€
Sánchez said that, if the current slowdown of the outbreak continued, Spain was on course to reduce its cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Current numbers show Spain has 124,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 11,000 deaths.
Sánchez gave a televised address to the nation Saturday and said Spain was close to reducing the spread of the virus. He implored citizens “to make more sacrifices†during the crisis.
Sánchez used the address to announce that the government planned to extend the lockdown of the country until April 26. Spain has been under lockdown orders for three weeks.
Strict limitations that have kept people at home except for shopping for food and medicine, as well as the closure of nonessential businesses, are believed to have helped Spain reduce its rate of contagion, which topped 20% last week, to 6% on Saturday.
Sánchez warned that when restrictions are loosened they will be rolled back gradually. He says it is unclear when all normal activities will be resumed.
New York to receive 1,000 ventilators from China, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that China was facilitating the shipment of 1,000 ventilators to his state and that he was continuing to shop for more of the lifesaving devices.
The number of people infected in the U.S. has exceeded a quarter of a million, with the death toll climbing past 7,000; more than 3,500 of those deaths were in New York state. Cuomo said the ventilators from China were expected to arrive Saturday.
“This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us,†Cuomo said, adding that the state of Oregon also is sending 140 ventilators to New York. Cuomo is also looking for ventilators closer to home and has issued an order that forces even private hospitals in the state to redistribute ventilators to the hospitals most in need.
“I want this all to be over,†Cuomo said. “It’s only gone on for 30 days since our first case. It feels like an entire lifetime.â€
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Saturday that Oregon planned to send 140 ventilators to New York.
President Trump announced late Friday he would prevent the export of N95 protective masks and surgical gloves to ensure they were available in the U.S. — prompting neighboring Canada’s prime minister to respond that cross-border aid goes well beyond supplies.
“I think of the thousands of nurses who cross the bridge in Windsor to work in the Detroit medical system every day,†Justin Trudeau said. “These are things Americans rely on.â€
China honors virus victims with 3 minutes of reflection
With air raid sirens wailing and flags at half-staff, China held a three-minute nationwide pause for reflection on Saturday to honor those who had died in the coronavirus outbreak, especially “martyrs†who fell ill while fighting what has become a global pandemic.
Commemorations took place at 10 a.m. in all major cities but were particularly poignant in Wuhan, the industrial city where the virus was first detected in December.
Wuhan was placed under complete lockdown on Jan. 23 in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. It’s been lauded as a “heroic city†by the nation’s communist leadership for the sacrifices made by its 11 million citizens.
People have gradually been allowed to travel into and out of Wuhan under strict conditions. The quarantine in the city is to be formally lifted on Wednesday.
In Beijing, President Xi Jinping led other top officials, all dressed in black suits with white carnations, as they bowed before a flag at half-staff in the leadership compound of Zhongnanhai.
On Saturday, China reported one new confirmed case in Wuhan and 18 among people arriving from abroad, along with four new deaths, all in Wuhan. China now has recorded a total of 81,639 cases and 3,326 deaths, although those figures are generally considered to be understated because of a lack of testing and a reluctance to report the scale of the original outbreak.
China’s slow, cautious emergence from the global pandemic comes as the U.S. is struggling to deal with an outbreak that has taken more than 1,860 lives in New York City alone. Hard-hit European nations Italy, Spain and France are also seeing rising numbers of cases and deaths, although strict social distancing measures such as those adopted by China appear to be having an effect.
The State Council, China’s Cabinet, ordered that national flags be flown at half-staff around the country and at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad, and the suspension of all public recreational activities. The horns of automobiles, trains and ships joined in what China’s official Xinhua News Agency called a “wail in grief†for three minutes. China has held such moments of silence in the past, often to mark World War II-era atrocities by Japan, but rarely on a national scale.
Despite lockdown, Argentines awaiting government assistance line up in droves
Argentines left their homes in droves as banks reopened their branches to give out government assistance.
Thousands of pensioners and citizens who receive government welfare lined up outside banks to get their monthly payments. Branches, which have been closed since a nationwide lockdown began March 20, reopened Friday so citizens who couldn’t receive the payments on debit could get their cash.
The long lines underscore some of the strains that have been created by the coronavirus pandemic in a country where less than half of the population has a bank account. About 4% of pensioners don’t have a bank account, according to data from the pension agency Anses.
“It’s disappointing to see so many pensioners out; the largest risk group is on the streets,†said Damian Otuono, who runs a local food company, while he stood in line outside a branch of Banco Supervielle to deposit cash for his company. “It makes the lockdown feel worthless.â€
The banks is open over the weekend so people can continue to receive their funds, according to a notice published by the central bank.
“The situation was overwhelming,†central bank chief Miguel Pesce said in an interview with Radio La Red. “We’re facing a situation that’s unprecedented around the world; there isn’t a guide to handling this situation.â€
Argentina was one of the first countries in the region to order a lockdown, allowing citizens to leave their homes only for essential tasks. The lockdown was extended until April 12 as the government aims to avoid a full-scale health crisis. Argentina has 1,265 confirmed cases of the virus and 37 deaths.
“We’re asking that only pensioners with an urgent need go to the banks,†said Alejandro Vanoli, head of the state-run pension agency Anses, in an interview with local TV. “We’re calling for those who can resolve their needs online to use those channels.â€
Trump administration tries to narrow stockpile’s role for states
The Trump administration has abruptly changed its description of the Strategic National Stockpile and put forward a narrower vision of the role the federal government’s repository of life-saving medicines and equipment should play in supplying states’ needs.
The change comes as the White House already is facing growing anger and worry from governors over federal assistance to fight the coronavirus outbreak. But it conforms with President Trump’s insistence that the stockpile is only a short-term backup for states, not a commitment to ensure supplies get quickly to those who need them most during an emergency, the latest front in a concerted White House effort to try to put the onus for battling the crisis on the states, with Washington meant to play more of a supporting role.
Trump angrily defended the approach in his Friday news conference, his early sunny demeanor darkening as he was pressed on expected death rates and comments by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, suggesting the national stockpile was not intended for states. He sparred with reporters and insisted his administration was “doing our best for New York,†the pandemic’s epicenter, even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned the state is in danger of not having enough ventilators to help patients stricken with coronavirus in a matter of days.
Sean Penn’s nonprofit boosts COVID-19 testing efforts in Los Angeles
As the need for COVID-19 testing grows, the city of Los Angeles received an unexpected boost from actor Sean Penn and his nonprofit organization, Community Organized Relief Effort. The group, known as CORE, has been working with L.A. officials to run operations at some coronavirus drive-through testing facilities.
“We are accustomed to working in foreign places supporting other communities,†Penn said in an emailed statement. “In this situation, every single one of us responding, including myself, are also experiencing the impact of this crisis in our own personal lives.â€
According to Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell, CORE’s efforts will allow more city and county residents to be tested while freeing up first responders, including firefighters, for other emergency services.
39 million masks for hospitals never materialized. Federal officials are investigating
They had seemingly done the impossible. The union that represents healthcare workers in California announced it had arranged the purchase of 39 million N95 masks for hospitals and government agencies that badly need the protective equipment.
Among the intended recipients was Kaiser Permanente, which placed orders for 6 million masks.
A week later, none of those masks have materialized, and Kaiser is cooperating with a federal fraud investigation into the deal, a spokesman for the health plan confirmed.
Economy in shambles, Trump scrambles for new 2020 message
WASHINGTON —When President Trump battled impeachment early this year, his reelection campaign staff blasted out Facebook ads, texts and emails to donors and supporters, arguing that he was delivering gonzo job figures and a soaring stock market in the face of bitter partisan obstruction.
Those ads drew Trump’s highest audiences on Facebook, his campaign’s chief advertising platform, which it has used to test out thousands of messages and images since the 2016 election.
Now with the nation’s economy reeling, more than 10 million Americans out of work and the stock market plummeting 30%, Trump and his aides are struggling to find a new message he can take to Americans for the November election.
14 cases of COVID-19 among California homeless population
There have been 14 cases of COVID-19 in the homeless population across the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday.
The cases came from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Ventura and Fresno. Newsom made clear that there were likely more cases lurking out there as testing ramps up.
“By the way, that’s an undercount,†he said during his news conference outside a motel in Sacramento that would be housing vulnerable homeless individuals.
“We know that’s just what’s been reported to us, but there’s heightened concern around the need to do more in our congregate facilities to isolate people into shelters like this and provide those basic essential services as we work through this crisis. â€
This count includes one homeless man who passed away in Santa Clara county last month.
The state hopes to lease up 15,000 rooms for homeless people, and counties have gotten 869 homeless individuals who are vulnerable to the virus into shelter.
So far 6,867 hotel and motel rooms have been committed to this effort.
During her news briefing Friday, Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said there were seven homeless individuals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county. That was down from nine the day before, because upon further investigation, two of the people that were included in the count the day before were not actually homeless.
CIF announces high school spring sports season is canceled
The California Interscholastic Federation announced on Friday that the remainder of the high school spring sports season has been canceled.
The 10 section commissioners from around the state held a teleconference and confirmed they had run out of options in the face of a growing number of school districts announcing this week that their schools would remain closed because of social distancing measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The big remaining state championship was in track and field, which was scheduled for May 29-30 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
Preakness Stakes postponed
The Preakness Stakes, normally the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, was postponed Friday, but no new date was announced. The move was expected given the uncertainty of everything in the wake of the coronavirus. The race was supposed to be held on May 16.
Last month the Kentucky Derby, scheduled for May 2, was moved to Sept. 5. At the time, Churchill Downs suggested that the Preakness and Belmont Stakes would follow. But, at the time neither The Stronach Group, which runs the Preakness in Baltimore, nor the New York Racing Assn, which puts on the Belmont, had made any decisions about the races.
Supreme Court postpones April oral arguments
The court said Friday it is postponing the arguments scheduled for later in April, including cases from Colorado and Washington on whether the unknown “electors†who are chosen by their state’s voters in November must follow the wishes of those voters.
But the court said it has not resolved how or when it will decide the cases from March and April. Earlier this week, the court had been scheduled to hear arguments on whether House Democrats may obtain President Trump’s tax returns. That dispute is now on hold.
Friday’s statement was a bit vague.
“The court will consider rescheduling some cases from the March and April sessions before the end of the term, if circumstances permit in light of public health and safety guidance at that time. The court will consider a range of scheduling options and other alternatives if arguments cannot be held in the courtroom, “ it said. Usually, the court hears arguments through the end of April and decides all of those cases by the end of June. But the summer recess is a tradition, not a legal requirement. The justices could remain in Washington for July or August.
They also may opt to decide the cases from March and April based on the legal briefs and without a public oral argument. Meanwhile, some business continues as normal. The court has been holding Friday morning conferences remotely, with only Chief Justice John Roberts present at the Court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who turned 87 in late March, is still going to her private workouts sessions at the Court with her trainer Bryant Johnson.
He told the legal website Law 360, “The only reason why I didn’t shut the justice down is because, hey, she ain’t having it.â€
Attempts for Middle East ceasefires amid the crisis have not stopped the fighting
BEIRUT —With governments worldwide increasing health measures to keep the spread of the deadly coronavirus at bay, one might think there would be virtually no time for waging war.
But it hasn’t turned out that way, at least not in parts of the Middle East.
Despite calls for a global ceasefire — “It’s time to put armed conflict on lockdown,†said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement in March — regional conflicts appear to be immune to the coronavirus even as more than 4,000 have died across the Middle East and almost 90,000 people have confirmed cases.
The outbreak complicates California wildfire preparation; raises worry over evacuation shelters
With the traditional start of California’s dreaded wildfire season rapidly approaching, the spread of the coronavirus has threatened to complicate state firefighting efforts.
Although top emergency officials say they are hopeful that the spread of COVID-19 will taper off by the time serious fire weather arrives in the fall, the outbreak has already forced departments to put a hold on large training exercises, cancel controlled burns and delay inspections of fire-prone properties in Los Angeles.
Of greatest concern to Red Cross officials is preventing the spread of illness at evacuation centers, which can quickly grow crowded with evacuees of all ages.
Column: Could unemployment reach Great Depression levels? Yes, but ...
The sudden, devastating rise in U.S. joblessness during the coronavirus crisis has evoked images from the Great Depression — abject destitution leading to bread lines and apples sold on street corners, and so on.
Comparisons of the surging unemployment rate to that of the 1930s have become commonplace: “Coronavirus could lead to the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression,†declared Vox in an example picked at random.
Economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis raised eyebrows and blood pressures with what he called a “back of the envelope†projection of a 32.1% unemployment rate for the second quarter of this year. That would exceed the peak of 24.9% reached, according to some estimates, in 1933.
Cases increase dramatically in L.A. County in 48-hour period as testing ramps up
Los Angeles County is seeing a rapid increase in coronavirus cases, with hundreds of new cases reported over a two day period, as testing ramps up and more infections are identified.
The county confirmed 13 new coronavirus-related deaths Thursday, bringing the toll to 80, and 534 new cases overall, bringing that total to more than 4,000. The number of new cases increased by more than 1,000 in 48 hours.
Statewide, the number of coronavirus cases swelled to more than 11,000 on Thursday — with the death toll topping 240. Of those cases, 40% have been reported in L.A. County.
Opening a new restaurant during a pandemic? Why some chefs are moving forward with business
Even during ordinary times, opening a restaurant is a harrowing ordeal — a stressful whirlwind of inspections, permitting, trainings and test runs.
Now, with many restaurants shut down completely, launching a new business seems illogical if not downright insane.
Still, a few restaurants have forged ahead, opening their doors at a time when customers can’t even dine inside. The decision was reached after a lot of deliberation and strife, owners and chefs say, with all of them grappling between providing for their employees and community, and acting in the interest of public safety.
Experimentation. Reflection. Wild ensembles. Photos show 5 L.A. artists working under quarantine
Artist Ron Athey stands on the steps of his Silver Lake apartment building during the second week of California’s stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He is decked out in a billowing velvet gown that once belonged to performance artist Leigh Bowery.
“I don’t want to die in my pajamas,†Athey says with a laugh. “I’ll be looping in eternity in a bad look.â€
Previous pandemics — smallpox in the Americas, the plague in Europe — reshaped the ways artists worked. It’s too soon to know the long-term effects of the current coronavirus on the art world, but it’s already having a major effect, closing public institutions and sending artists retreating into studios, some of them rather makeshift.
Chef Nancy Silverton tests positive
Mozzaplex chef Nancy Silverton has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Silverton’s partner Michael Krikorian made the announcement in an essay on his personal website Friday.
Silverton and Krikorian were tested for the virus on March 27 after learning that they had been in contact with someone who had the virus, he said. They received their results three days later, and hers came back positive. The couple is now in quarantine at their Los Angeles home.
Mozzaplex chef Nancy Silverton has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Silverton’s partner Michael Krikorian made the announcement in an essay on his personal website Friday.
Silverton and Krikorian were tested for the virus on March 27 after learning that they had been in contact with someone who had the virus, he said. They received their results three days later, and hers came back positive. The couple is now in quarantine at their Los Angeles home.
Angeles National Forest is closing popular trails until July
Popular forest roads and trails in the Angeles National Forest, including those leading to Mt. Baldy, Mt. Wilson and Echo Mountain above Altadena, will close Saturday until July 1 over coronavirus concerns, a U.S. Forest statement said.
The 700,000-acre forest north of Los Angeles is one of the city’s closest and most popular recreation areas for hikers, trail runners and bicyclists. Closures affect 81.5 miles of trails, including four trail heads, 23 trail access areas and 19 forest roads.
“In alignment with current federal, state, and local guidance for social distancing and to ensure health safety of its visitors, volunteers and employees, the Angeles National Forest will temporarily shut down portions of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Los Angeles Gateway Ranger District,†the statement said.
Individuals will be fined $5,000 and organizations $10,000 for violating the trail closures or face imprisonment up to six months.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he’ll seize ventilators not in use from private hospitals and companies
With coronavirus deaths surging in New York, the governor announced Friday he will use his authority to seize ventilators and protective gear from private hospitals and companies that aren’t using them, complaining that states are competing against each other for vital equipment in eBay-like bidding wars.
“If they want to sue me for borrowing their excess ventilators to save lives, let them sue me,†Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. He added that he will eventually return the equipment or compensate the owners.
The executive order he said he would sign represents one of the most aggressive efforts yet in the U.S. to deal with the kind of critical shortages around the world that authorities say have caused health care workers to fall sick and forced doctors in Europe to make life-or-death decisions about which patients get a breathing machine.
The number of the people infected in the U.S. reached a quarter-million and the death toll climbed past 6,500, with New York state alone accounting for more than 2,900 dead, a surge of over 560 in just one day. Most of the dead are in New York City, where hospitals are getting swamped with patients and are facing shortages of ventilators.
The move by Cuomo came as the outbreak snapped the United States’ record-breaking hiring streak of nearly 10 years. The U.S. government said employers slashed over 700.000 jobs in March, bringing a swift end to the nation’s 50-year-low unemployment rate.
The true picture, though, is far worse, because the government figures do not include the last two weeks, when nearly 10 million thrown-out-of-work Americans applied for unemployment benefits.
Worldwide, confirmed infections surged past 1 million and deaths topped 55,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say both numbers are seriously undercounted because of the lack of testing, mild cases that were missed and governments that are underplaying the crisis.
Europe’s three worst-hit countries — Italy, Spain and France — surpassed 30,000 dead, or over half of the global toll. The crisis there was seen as a frightening portent for places like New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, where bodies are being loaded by forklift into refrigerated trucks outside hospitals.
Shortages of such things as masks, gowns and ventilators have led to fierce competition among buyers from Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.
A regional leader in Paris described the scramble to find masks a “worldwide treasure hunt,†and the French prime minister said he is “fighting hour by hour†to ward off shortages of essential drugs used to keep COVID-19 patients alive.
Cuomo warned on Thursday that New York could run out of ventilators in six days. He called for a coordinated national approach that would send supplies and people to different areas as their needs peak.
John Prine remains in the ICU with pneumonia in both lungs
As John Prine remains in the hospital fighting COVID-19, his wife tweeted an update Thursday night that went into some detail about what’s going on with the esteemed 73-year-old Americana singer-songwriter.
“This is John’s 8th day in ICU,†she wrote in a lengthy Twitter thread. “He is receiving excellent medical care and being treated with kindness and compassion by the entire team looking after him day and night. I cannot be with him which makes this nightmare all the more distressing.â€
Prine, who was put on a ventilator on Saturday, has pneumonia in both lungs and “still needs quite a bit of help with his breathing,†Prine Whelan said. Some peripheral issues are being treated with medications including antibiotics.
The two-time Grammy winner, who was also given a lifetime achievement Grammy this year, was hospitalized March 26 after a “sudden onset†of COVID-19 symptoms.
“He is very ill and yet I remain hopeful that he can continue to fight this devastating virus and come home where we can care for him. I don’t have the words to adequately Thank You all for the outpouring of love and prayers that John and our family have received this last week,†she said, asking fans to please continue to send positive energy to her husband.
Family unable to attend 13-year-old British boy’s funeral
LONDON — A 13-year-old British boy who died from the new coronavirus has been buried at a ceremony his family was not able to attend.
Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab died Monday at London’s King’s College Hospital. He is the youngest known victim of the pandemic in Britain.
He was interred Friday in a Muslim burial ground in Chislehurst, south London. Mourners wearing face masks stood apart from one another to observe social distancing rules as the boy’s coffin was lowered into the ground by four people wearing in protective body suits and face masks.
None of Ismail’s immediate family could attend because they are in isolation after two of his six siblings developed symptoms of the virus.
Family friend Mark Stephenson said Ismail’s younger brother and older sister have developed mild symptoms including a fever and loss of taste.
He said Ismail’s family was “devastated†at not being able to attend the funeral but had been “very moved by the warmth and very positive messages of support from people†after his death.
Second Riverside County sheriff’s deputy dies
A second Riverside County sheriff’s deputy has died due to the coronavirus, officials reported Friday morning.
Deputy David Werksman, who served in the department for 22 years, died Thursday, officials said. He began his career with the department in April 1998 and worked on assignments at the Robert Presley Detention Center, Jurupa Valley Station and Lake Elsinore Station. He was most recently assigned to the sheriff’s administration, according to officials.
Workers at grocery stores, others must wear face coverings, San Diego County orders
SAN DIEGO —San Diego County is requiring employees who regularly interact with the public to wear face coverings, the latest push across California to have people cover their faces as another measure to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Los Angeles, Riverside County and the Bay Area have urged residents to wear some type of face covering when doing essential business, but San Diego County is going further.
Under the San Diego County order, effective midnight Saturday, all employees who may have contact with the public in any grocery store, pharmacy or drug store, convenience store or gas station shall wear a cloth face covering as described in the California Department of Public Health guidance for face coverings.
Will New York rebound from the pandemic?
NEW YORK —The flags at Rockefeller Center fly over a desolate concrete canyon. Photojournalists with long-lens cameras wander through Times Square to capture the solitude on one of the world’s busiest thoroughfares. White tents have been erected on the northern section of Central Park to accommodate the overflow of patients from Mount Sinai Hospital — a grim tableau evoking a previous century.
As the national death toll of more than 4,000 from the pandemic passes the number of fatalities from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York has been transformed, and new habits formed. Many of the 4 million people who come to work in Manhattan are now staying connected with their jobs remotely. The restaurants and cafes that remain open have become takeout stops as they struggle to stay afloat. Public transportation has seen as much as an 80% drop in passengers.
California lags in reducing number of felons with firearms as gun sales pick up
SACRAMENTO —California has made little progress in reducing the number of felons and mentally ill people who improperly own firearms even as state agents have confiscated thousands of weapons from prohibited owners, according to a new report from the state Department of Justice.
The new report was released at a time when Los Angeles County and other local jurisdictions have ordered gun stores closed over concerns about crowds of gun buyers gathering to stock up on firearms and ammunition during the shutdown over COVID-19.
The FBI this week separately reported a 41% jump last month in background checks for people seeking to buy guns in the U.S., compared with March 2019.
San Bernardino County confirms 8th death as case count climbs past 300
San Bernardino County reported its eighth coronavirus-related death Thursday as its overall case count climbed past 300.
The county, like many in California, has seen a sharp uptick in people testing positive for COVID-19 over the last week and a half. There were about 50 confirmed cases of the viral disease countywide as of March 25, but that number has since risen to 304.
U.S. uses “wild west methods†to obtain protective equipment, Berlin’s top security official says
BERLIN — Berlin’s top security official is accusing the United States of using “wild west methods†to obtain personal protective equipment. The claim came after a delivery of face masks destined for the German capital was diverted en route from China.
German media reported Friday that hundreds of thousands of masks purchased from manufacturer 3M and intended for Berlin police were diverted to the U.S. as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand.
Berlin officials confirmed that about 200,000 FFP2 masks already paid for by Germany were seized at a Bangkok airport and didn’t reach their intended destination. The masks are the equivalent of the U.S. N95 standard.
Andreas Geisel is the interior minister for Berlin state. He says the diversion of the masks is “an act of modern piracy. This is no way to treat trans-Atlantic partners.â€
“Even in times of global crisis there should be no wild west methods,†Geisel said.
He added he wants the German government to demand the United States adhere to international rules.
The U.S. embassy in Berlin didn’t immediately comment.
Warring parties in 11 countries have responded positively to appeal for a global cease-fire, UN says
UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says warring parties in 11 countries have responded positively to his appeal for a global cease-fire to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
But there are enormous difficulties in turning words into peace. Fighting has escalated in major conflicts including Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan.
Guterres called on all governments, groups and people with influence “to urge and pressure combatants around the world to put down their arms.†He called the need is urgent because COVID-19 is now headed to all conflict areas.
Guterres told a briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday that his appeal 10 days ago was rooted in the recognition that “there should be only one fight in our world today: our shared battle against COVID-19.â€
The U.N. chief cited a growing number of endorsements for the cease-fire from 70 countries, civil society, religious leaders including Pope Francis, and more than one million people in an online appeal.
He said parties to conflicts in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Libya, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen have also expressed their acceptance.
But Guterres said: “There are enormous difficulties to implementation as conflicts have festered for years, distrust is deep, with many spoilers and many suspicions.â€
Paddle boarder arrested in Malibu after flouting closures
A paddle boarder was arrested Thursday after ignoring lifeguards’ orders to get out of the ocean near the Malibu Pier despite beach closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said.
County lifeguards patrolling the shore by boat tried to get the man to come ashore. Despite repeated orders to exit the water, the man continued paddle boarding for at least 30 minutes. Lifeguards eventually flagged down Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who responded by boat to help, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Huntington Beach closing grass areas along beaches
All grass areas along the Huntington Beach sand will be closed to the public starting Friday in an attempt to stop crowding during the coronavirus outbreak.
The city is installing 500 closure signs spaced 50 feet apart at grass areas along the beaches, according to city spokesman Eric McCoy.
The large grass area between Ninth and 11th streets will be fenced off. The grass along the bike path between Seapoint Street and Ninth Street, as well as the picnic area south of Seapoint, also will be closed, McCoy said.
“The city is constantly evaluating the situation at our beaches to determine if safe social distancing can be practiced,†McCoy said.
However, the beaches themselves and city parks remain open.
WNBA postponing start of the season
The WNBA announced Friday it postponing the start of the 2020 season indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As developments continue to emerge around the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of the social distancing guidelines in the United States through April 30, the WNBA will postpone the start of its training camps and tip of the regular season originally scheduled for May 15,†WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “While the league continues to use this time to conduct scenario-planning regarding new start dates and innovative formats, our guiding principle will continue to be the health and safety of the players, fans and employees.â€
How badly will the outbreak hit San Francisco?
MILLBRAE, Calif. —A top San Francisco health official warned that hospitals still could be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, even as officials elsewhere expressed cautious hope the statewide stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the virus was working.
San Francisco has recorded 450 cases and seven deaths, according to The Times coronavirus tracker. By comparison, Los Angeles County has recorded 10 times that amount, while nearby Santa Clara County has recorded more than 1,000 cases and over 30 deaths linked to COVID-19.
You’re a parent with COVID-19. Your partner is also sick. What do you do?
Michael Yeates came home from work one afternoon in early March to pick up his 21-month-old daughter, Zoe, for swim lessons. His wife was sick, and in the few hours he’d been gone, she’d gotten much worse.
Yeates was coming down with something, too — a cold, he thought — but at that moment he was focused on getting his wife help. From their home in Corona, they called their medical provider’s nurse helpline.
Yeates’ wife described her symptoms: Shortness of breath, dry cough, fever, body aches, intense fatigue. She explained that she’s a labor and delivery nurse at a major hospital in Los Angeles. She had already tested positive for the flu that season.
Disaster movies and disaster rations: A food and film pairing
I’ve twisted myself into a yoga pretzel on Zoom. I’ve downloaded the meditation apps. I’ve watched koala bear naps on the San Diego Zoo’s koala cam. (OMG, the baby.) All of it has helped soothe my simmering coronanxiety to some degree, though none quite as much as streaming a film festival’s worth of disaster flicks and diving into a pile of snacks.
“Armageddon.†“The Towering Inferno.†“San Andreas.†“28 Days Later.†If it in some way features the end of humanity — or a piece of humanity — I will watch it. And I will it find it relaxing. Mainly because nothing makes me feel better about my station in life than knowing that at least a bunch of zombies aren’t gnawing at my dangling entrails. I’m also a Scorpio and we have dark, dark souls.
Here’s where you can get tested in Los Angeles County
Three new drive-up coronavirus testing locations are up and running in Los Angeles County as officials work to expand their capacity to detect infections in the region.
The COVID-19 screening sites — which opened Friday and will be available by appointment only — are at Gate 17 of the Pomona Fairplex; the South Bay Galleria, at 1815 Hawthorne Blvd. in Redondo Beach; and Antelope Valley Mall, 1233 Rancho Vista Blvd. in Palmdale.
“The goal is to increase testing capacity as quickly as possible in Los Angeles County to meet the community’s needs, which are growing every day,†Dr. Clayton Kazan, medical director of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said in a statement.
L.A. moves to prosecute eight businesses that refuse to close
Mayor Eric Garcetti said eight businesses had been referred for criminal prosecution for failing to comply with the city’s strict Safer at Home order that prohibits nonessential work in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
“We had a smoke shop that just refused to close,†Garcetti said. “And even when police officers were there, they said, ‘Forget you’ — probably not in as nice words — ‘we’re not going to do it.’â€
The city is moving to shut off the smoke shop’s power, he said.
Stocks hold steady after dismal jobs report; energy climbs
Stocks on Wall Street are holding relatively steady Friday morning, even after a report showed the U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs last month, the first drop in nearly a decade.
The government’s jobs report is usually the most anticipated economic release each month, but it didn’t pack much of a market punch because investors around the world were fully expecting to see astonishing losses. Treasury yields, European stocks and futures for U.S. stock indexes even cut their losses after the jobs report was released, which was before U.S. stock markets opened.
Deputy who died likely contracted it from jail inmate, Riverside sheriff says
Terell Young, a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy who died of coronavirus, likely contracted COVID-19 from an inmate, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said.
Young, the sheriff said, was as a compassionate deputy in working with the public and inmates.
“He was a fantastic role model for his kids, especially for his daughter,†Bianco said. “Employees knew they could count on him for good advice. Terell was always on time and very well liked by his peers and supervisors, and always willing to lend a hand. He was always smiling. According to many, he was known for his smile and he will be deeply missed.â€
NASCAR’s iRacing format brings excitement of virtual track to TV
As he drove to Fox Sports’ Charlotte studios Sunday morning, Jeff Gordon felt that familiar buzz of race day.
“I got excited when I woke up,†the retired NASCAR legend and current television analyst said. “Knowing that I was going to get to go see a race, I was going to get to broadcast a race, be a part of it.â€
Not a real race, of course. Not now, anyway. Like the rest of the sports world, NASCAR has suspended its schedule because of the coronavirus outbreak, its drivers stuck at home while its monolithic venues sit empty and eerily quiet.
20 easy ways to manage stress eating during quarantine
Being tethered to our homes, as so many of us are right now, can have some perks, like family board game sessions in the middle of the day and finally cleaning out that junk drawer.
But erratic eating, extending to foraging through the pantry for potato chips or nursing a tub of rocky road while freaking out at the news, is wreaking havoc on diet plans — and waistlines — everywhere.
As celebs shelter at home, paparazzi hustle to find new angles
In his more than two decades working as a paparazzi photographer, Giles Harrison has gone to some wild extremes to get the shots he wanted. He was once chased across the Gulf of Mexico by law enforcement personnel in gunboats while trying to photograph Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston on vacation. He hung outside a helicopter to snap aerial photos of the 1997 wedding of Andre Agassi and Brooke Shields.
Still, nothing prepared him for the unprecedented challenge of working as a paparazzo in the middle of a global pandemic. “I don’t think anybody saw this coming,†Harrison, 51, said last week.
As virus rages, Berkeley’s ‘Mother Goose’ aids homeless people abandoned by the system
BERKELEY —Roughly 150 or so men and women sleep near the Interstate 80 freeway here, sometimes encountering head-to-toe staph infections or families of rats living inside their mattresses. When that happens, they know who to call.
Andrea Henson’s phone has been ringing for weeks, ever since this bustling university town effectively shut down earlier this month to halt the spread of the coronavirus. With local governments slow to house the homeless, activists such as Henson have stepped into the breach, providing food and other supplies to people sleeping on the street.
“This is the first time I’ve heard people say, ‘Andrea, we’re hungry,’†said Henson, who said that in socially conscious Berkeley, donated food is normally never in short supply.
Japanese families can receive cash handouts
TOKYO — Japanese families demonstrating need will receive cash handouts of 300,000 yen ($2,800) to help get through the economic woes caused by the new coronavirus pandemic.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga says an emergency financial package will be announced next week. It is expected to include cash help and aid for small businesses.
There is no lockdown in Japan but people have been asked to stay home. Tourism has nose-dived and concerts have been canceled.
The pandemic upended local TV news overnight. It may never be the same again
For more than two years, Rita Garcia has co-hosted KTTV Fox 11’s “Good Day L.A.†from the station’s vast set in West Los Angeles, delivering headlines and news while engaging in breezy banter with the rest of the team providing updates on weather and traffic.
That dynamic turned upside down last Monday.
While most Angelenos were sleeping, Garcia and a few other members of the news operation were scrambling to set up an impromptu studio in an upstairs bedroom of her Mid-City home, where she was planning to co-anchor the three-hour newscast, which airs weekdays at 4 a.m. It was part of the station’s move to incorporate social distancing and other preventive measures into its operation in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The CDC suggests deep breathing to stay calm. Try it. It’s oh-so soothing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends taking deep breaths to improve your emotional health during the coronavirus outbreak. But how? There’s a technique to making the most of your deep, cleansing breaths — and it’s pretty easy to learn.
Here are four steps to shed stress and anxiety, and find that oh-so soothing comfort in every breath.
Flying now is scary. Flight attendants want you to stop
The flight attendant spoke from a hospital bed, with oxygen tubes coming out of her nose.
In an Instagram post, the young woman in black-framed glasses, identified as April Rodriguez, looked into the camera and urged her fellow flight attendants to stop flying.
“It’s not worth it,†she said between deep breaths. “Forget your mortgage, forget your bills. Stay home.â€
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to claim new victims, frightened flight attendants, including some stricken by the virus, are pushing airlines that have already slashed capacity by as much as 90% in the last few weeks to reduce the number of flights even more to slow the spread of the deadly disease.
Hot dog! How a Dodgers’ minor league team relishes helping
The Dodger Dog is not available at the ballpark right now, but the Dodgers will be distributing hot dogs from their ballpark.
The Oklahoma City Dodgers, that is. In this time of coronavirus crisis, the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate is engaging in community outreach with relish, and some extra mustard too.
The outbreak could leave U.S. with a lasting imprint: Masks as normal part of life
Amid the confusion from Washington, D.C., to Sacramento and parts in between, one thing has become abundantly clear in the era of COVID-19: The mask is having a moment.
On Thursday, President Trump announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would soon issue new guidelines, softening an earlier anti-mask stance. This came 33 days after the U.S. surgeon general tweeted that masks “are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.â€
Gov. Gavin Newsom hewed to a similar path at a noon coronavirus briefing. He stopped short of telling Californians that they have to wear face coverings whenever they leave their homes, but he didn’t discourage use of the increasingly ubiquitous masks either.
Why working actors are anxious about paying their next bills too
Actress Kathleen Wise had just started dress rehearsals for a play she was directing at the Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City when she was given three hours to shut down the production and vacate the theater.
It was March 12 and Broadway went dark, joining Hollywood in a wholesale work stoppage in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I had a TV job that I was going to shoot the next day and two other acting gigs lined up,†Wise said. “Within 48 hours, they were postponed indefinitely and the show at Lincoln Center was canceled.â€
21 great places for Mexican food delivery and takeout
There is hope in the sight of Wes Avila’s sweet potato taco splotched with almond salsa. It’s a patch of sunshine on days when we may not be otherwise noticing blue sky.
I gobbled one recently while picking up an “emergency taco kit†from Avila’s Guerrilla Tacos in the Arts District. I paid for my order online, naming a specific window of time to claim my meal. At 5 p.m., I stood at the restaurant’s entrance behind a line of thick black tape and, as instructed by a sign, texted my name to a staffer. She came out, waved hello and smiled, placed a bag on a precisely distanced table and disappeared back inside. I grabbed the food and bolted; the process felt about as safe and seamless as is humanly possible right now.
‘The $2 is insulting’: Retail workers fight for more pay
Work has changed for Daniel Reyes-Velarde, an employee at a CVS in Lakewood, Calif.
Lines are longer than ever, leaving him little time to restock the shelves and label items. Hand-washing is mandated, timed, and sometimes overseen by a manager. Customers are panicked, and every conversation feels like an added risk.
“I get nervous talking to so many strangers on a daily basis,†Reyes-Velarde said. “I just have my guard up — try not to touch my face during my shift.â€
Jobs report is expected to end record hiring streak
WASHINGTON —A record-long streak of U.S. job growth ended suddenly in March after nearly a decade as employers cut 701,000 jobs because of the viral outbreak that’s all but shut down the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%.
Last month’s actual job loss was likely even larger because the government surveyed employers before the heaviest layoffs hit in the past two week. Nearly 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March, far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.
Virus-induced shutdowns have forced widespread layoffs throughout the economy, from hotels, restaurants and movie theaters to auto factories, department stores and administrative offices.
A spring break in Cabo ends with 28 students testing positive
AUSTIN, Texas —In the days leading up to her trip to Cabo San Lucas, Rajya Atluri started to get nervous.
A senior at the University of Texas, Alturi was seeing warning signs from school and public health officials not to travel because of the coronavirus. But as the spring break trip approached, there was still no warning from the Centers of Disease Control regarding Mexico’s risk of coronavirus exposure.
Feeling doubtful, Alturi ultimately decided to forfeit the $1,900 she had paid for the trip and not take the risk of exposing herself to COVID-19.
Virus death toll in Spain nears 11,000
Spain is closing Friday a black week with its death toll for the new coronavirus nearing 11,000, more than half of those during the past seven days, and more infections than any other country in Europe.
The bottleneck in Spanish labs conducting the tests has led to relatively low levels of testing in Spain compared to other European countries, authorities have acknowledged.
But even with statistics that are believed to be conservative in showing the extent of the epidemic, Spain on Friday neared 118,000 cases, second only to the United States. Official Health Ministry data showed that 7,472 of those infections had been in the past 24 hours.
Italy, with more than 115,000 reported cases as of Friday morning, has seen new infections leveling off after three weeks of the West’s first nationwide shutdown.
Spain also registered 932 new deaths, 18 less than its daily record of 950 the day before.
Mosques stay open in Pakistan even as virus death toll rises
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Mosques were allowed to remain open in Pakistan on Friday, the day when Muslims gather for weekly prayers, even as the coronavirus pandemic spread and much of the country had shut down.
Pakistan, with 2,450 confirmed cases and 35 deaths, has been sharply criticized for moving too slow to curb large gatherings, including a gathering of tens of thousands of Muslims from several countries in March.
To help contain transmission, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is relying on restricting the size of congregations attending mosques and advice to stay at home from religious groups like the country’s Islamic Ideology Council.
However, some provinces have issued lockdown orders to prevent Muslims from gathering for Friday prayers. In southern Sindh province, a complete lockdown is being enforced from noon until 3 p.m., the time when the faithful gather for prayers. Anyone found on the streets will be arrested, a provincial government minister said in a statement.
In eastern Punjab province, where 60% of Pakistan’s 220 million people live, checkpoints have been set up in major cities stopping people from congregating.
Still, mosques remain open in Pakistan, even as they have been shut down across much of the Middle East and elsewhere. The Middle East has confirmed more than 85,000 cases of the virus and more than 3,700 deaths, most of them in Iran.
The mass gathering of Tableeghi Jamaat missionaries in Pakistan last month has been blamed for several outbreaks of the new virus elsewhere in the world. The first confirmed cases that emerged in Gaza were traced to the gathering.
Some in U.S. may not get stimulus checks until August, memo says
The federal government expects to begin making payments to millions of Americans under the new stimulus law in mid-April, but some people without direct deposit information may not get checks until mid-August or later, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
The document from the House Ways and Means Committee says the IRS will make about 60 million payments to Americans through direct deposit in mid-April, likely the week of April 13. The IRS has direct deposit information for these individuals from their 2018 or 2019 tax returns.
Then, starting the week of May 4, the IRS will begin issuing paper checks to individuals, says the memo obtained by AP on Thursday. The paper checks will be issued at a rate of about 5 million per week, which means it could take up to 20 weeks to get all the checks out. That timeline would delay some checks until the week of Aug. 17.
Why China’s wildlife ban is not enough to stop another virus outbreak
SHANGHAI — When SARS hit the world in 2003, China went after the civet.
The weasel-like animal, eaten as a delicacy in southern China, was suspected of being an intermediary host of the virus that infected 8,000 people and killed 800 in China and across the world. Tens of thousands of civets were drowned or electrocuted.
China also banned the hunting, trading and consumption of wildlife. But that restriction was lifted three months later. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced that 54 types of wildlife, civets included, could be consumed and sold, as long as they were raised on farms.
By 2019, the wildlife trade was thriving. In November, the forestry administration republished a news report from Jiangxi province on its website, boasting that it had helped 1,700 people in one town alone to take up civet breeding and “embark on the road to riches.â€
Stories of success read like fables: “The cold winter wind was screaming on Nov. 27, but Zhang Zhilin, a poor farmer in Shaping town of Wanan county had a ‘warm sun’ in his heart. The 33 civet cats he bred would come out for sale next year, bringing in $7,000 of income,†the report read.
Two months later, another coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2, as it is officially called — was sweeping the nation. The disease it causes, COVID-19, would soon devastate the world, infecting more than a million people and killing more than 52,000 so far.