Coronavirus updates: Trump sending aid to California, deaths in Yolo and Sacramento

President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for California on Sunday to help the state handle the economic and health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

The declaration will provide additional aid to the state, including food assistance and more financial help for people who have lost work or faced business losses because of the outbreak. It came hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Trump requesting the action.

Among other provisions, the declaration will allow people like business owners who do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance to apply for disaster unemployment insurance. Trump also approved Newsom’s earlier request to deploy the Navy medical ship Mercy to Los Angeles to help relieve strain on the hospitals there.

COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm California hospitals, and the measures to slow the disease’s spread have ground much of the state’s economy to a halt.

Latest numbers

According to California Department of Public Health numbers last updated Saturday at 2 p.m., at least 1,468 people in the state have tested positive for coronavirus, with at least 28 deaths, including Sunday’s report out of Yolo County.

Of 1,444 cases not related to repatriation flights, the cause for 778 of the infections remains under investigation; another 408 are believed to be community acquired; 113 were associated with recent travel; and the other 145 involved person-to-person contact with a known case.

Worldwide, as of 6 p.m. Sunday, more than 335,000 people have been confirmed infected and the death count is over 14,600, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 98,000 have recovered.

First death in Yolo County

Yolo County announced its first COVID-19 death Sunday afternoon. The patient was older and had underlying health issues.

“Our first COVID-19 death in Yolo County marks a grim turn in the local course of this disease. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family and friends,” Yolo County Chair Gary Sandy said. “It is a sad reminder that everyone must shelter in place. It is imperative that we stop the ongoing spread of this virus. It is the personal responsibility of every Yolo County resident to observe the health protocols. It is now a matter of life and death.”

The patient was the sixth and latest case of coronavirus in the county.

“To slow the spread of this virus, we all need to stay inside as much as possible and severely limit person-to-person interactions. We must do everything we can to protect our communities and prevent our health care system from becoming overwhelmed with sick people,” Yolo County Health Officer Dr. Ron Chapman said.

Death reported in Sacramento area

Faith Presbyterian Church, located in the Pocket neighborhood, has reported a second coronavirus deaths among congregants.

The first victim was a substitute kindergarten teacher who was active in the church as a children’s choir instructor. She died on March 15, while several other church members tested positive for COVID-19.

Pastor Jeff Chapman announced that the latest death was Don Sperling, 85, who died Saturday.

Chapman himself has tested negative for coronavirus, and the church has since been shut down completely in favor of virtual worship services.

Sperling was a former assistant city treasurer, former president of the Sacramento Retired City Employees Association and was a member of the Sacramento Golf Council.

Thus far, five members of Faith Presbyterian have tested positive for coronavirus.

“We became aware on March 12, which is when we acted on this. We went above and beyond strict precautions,” Chapman told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday. “There’s no way to know from our perspective how it started, any more than anyone else does in the community.”

Prisons affected

As the coronavirus continues to spread across an increasingly isolated California, the virus threatens to infect the one place where people cannot help but remain in close proximity with one another – prison.

Two more prison workers at the California Institution for Men in Chino have tested positive for COVID-19.

Previously, an employee at California State Prison, Sacramento tested positive, while another worker at San Quentin State Prison suspected of infection tested negative.

As of yet, officials maintain that none of the state’s 117,000 inmates has tested positive for the coronavirus, despite many inmates’ families reporting quarantine-like conditions in corrections facilities where inmates show possible coronavirus symptoms.

The news comes on the heels of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Saturday afternoon statement regarding the state’s scarcity of medical supplies in the face of the pandemic.

Newsom’s response to the virus

In Saturday’s press conference, Newsom described a shortage of respirator masks, ventilators and gloves at hospitals across the state.

In response, he said he has been working with private business partners to assist in the crisis. Companies Newsom has been in talks with include clothing manufactures like Gap, which has helped to produce masks and other protective equipment.

San Jose-based Bloom Energy, which manufactures solid oxide fuel cells, has been helping to update old ventilators for further use, Newsom said.

The governor also touted a partnership with Tesla mogul Elon Musk, who has committed to send more than 1,000 ventilators to California.

Newsom added he is working with pharmaceutical companies Genentech and Gilead to possibly develop treatments for coronavirus patients.

“We are, in the state of California, in deep partnership with those companies,” Newsom told reporters. “California is trying to amplify that research.”

Economic downturn intensifies

As state officials work frantically to contain the virus, the global economy has been struggling to keep up.

Amid the pandemic, local businesses, restaurants and bars have had to lay off staff, make significant cuts or close up shop altogether.

The latest blow to California’s economy comes at the expense of state workers, whose retirement fund has weathered a severe blow in the face of the coronavirus crisis as markets the world over cope with insecurity.

The balance of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System reached a record high of $404 billion just a month ago, but has since dropped down to $335 billion as of Thursday.

The CalPERS losses – which are likely reflected in The California State Teachers’ Retirement System as well – could fall on taxpayers in the years to come, barring an exceptionally bullish recovery.

The $69 million drop is the largest seen by the fund since the Great Recession.

Housing industry fights back

Between the economic downturn and various protective measures enacted in California, such as Newsom’s stay-at-home order and his directive to close down restaurants and bars, construction executives have been fighting to ensure that housing keeps being built.

After the Great Recession, new construction ground to a halt for years, a detriment that intensified the housing crisis that persists to this day.

Local leaders eager to avoid that same pitfall lobbied the state and convinced officials to classify construction workers as essential, and therefore exempt from Newsom’s directives.

“We need to keep this engine humming, so when we come out of this we have housing,” Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Erika Bjork told The Sacramento Bee. “We don’t want to see what happened in the recession.”

In light of the state’s revised position, construction sites across California remain active during the pandemic.

School district employee tests positive

The Folsom Cordova Unified School District alerted parents and community members Saturday that an employee at a local school tested positive for the coronavirus.

The employee, who is not a classroom teacher, worked at Riverview STEM Academy, a K-5 school in Rancho Cordova with a focus on the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

School officials said the employee worked with a small group of students, and last came into work March 12.

The employee, who is now in self-isolation at home, began showing symptoms March 13 and called out of work that day.

“We understand this is a stressful situation for everyone. We are vigilant about working with county public health officials to investigate all reported or suspected cases of COVID-19,” the district said.

New Northern California cases

One new cases of coronavirus was identified in Butte County on Saturday, marking the county’s first positive test.

Butte County health officials do not know how the patient, who is over 65 and has a chronic medical condition, contracted COVID-19. The virus has a disproportionately higher mortality rate in older people.

The patient’s symptoms, however, are mild, and is self-isolating at home, according to health officials. A family member who lives with the patient will also be under a 14-day quarantine.

“In order to protect the health and well-being of all Butte County residents and to decrease impact on critical healthcare services, if you are sick with mild symptoms, please isolate at home,” Butte County Health Officer Dr. Andy Miller said in a prepared statement. “If you develop severe symptoms, call your medical provider immediately.”

Siskiyou County, which lies along the Oregon border, also reported its first cases on Saturday.

Siskiyou County health officials announced it had received two positive coronavirus tests from unidentified patients.

“We are expected to see the cases of COVID-19 rise in Siskiyou County and have been planning and preparing accordingly,” Siskiyou County Health Officer Dr. Stephen Kolpacoff said in a prepared statement.

Siskiyou County has conducted 33 coronavirus tests thus far, 14 of which have come back negative. Health officials are still awaiting the results of 17 more.

Yuba County likewise shared positive coronavirus test results for two residents on Saturday.

Both patients are self-isolating at home and appear to be recovering well, according to health officials.

The cases are not related, although both cases were determined to have been contracted via community transmission.

“We knew that confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Yuba-Sutter were not a matter of if, but when,” Yuba-Sutter Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said in a prepared statement. “Our bi-county Public Health/Emergency Operations team, in collaboration with our healthcare partners, is working to ensure that these individuals are properly isolated, monitored and receive the best care while recovering.”

Yuba-Sutter health officials have identified people close to the patients who may have been exposed and are taking steps to monitor, isolate or quarantine them as needed.

One patient believes they contracted the virus through family members who attended a large community gathering in Sacramento, according to Sutter County officials.

“This is understandably a time of high anxiety for our community, much like elsewhere in the state,” Luu said. “We need to use this time to work together and take measures to protect our fellow community members through continued social distancing.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 11:26 AM.