Coronavirus updates: Suspect arrested in sample theft from Davis hospital; donors step up

Amid the coronavirus pandemic in California, avarice becomes normalized as hoarding supplies becomes an everyday occurrence — but hospital thefts are a novel phenomenon.

The Davis Police Department arrested a man suspected of stealing a COVID-19 sample from Sutter Davis Hospital on Saturday that was scheduled for lab testing.

In a news release, police said the man entered the hospital around 1:35 p.m. and left on a bicycle, evading responding officers.

Police aren’t sure why the sample was stolen, but it was later found around 6:15 p.m. after a caller told officers they found a sealed COVID-19 specimen in a shopping cart at a CVS Pharmacy on West Covell Boulevard.

Officers retrieved the sample and returned it to the hospital.

Medical staff identified it as the missing specimen and determined, due to the condition of its layers of protective packaging, that the sample had not been tampered with.

A suspect in the theft, who was seen on security cameras in the hospital, was taken into custody by officers just before noon Sunday.

Shaun Lamar Moore of Davis was identified as the suspect after a patrol officer spotted him on a bicycle near the Richards Boulevard overpass.

Officers stopped Moore, 40, near the intersection of Cowell Boulevard and Research Park Drive shortly afterward without incident and booked him into the Yolo County jail on suspicion of burglary.

The Davis Police Department is familiar with Moore and are assessing whether mental health conditions may have been a factor in the theft.

“Although the incident is very serious, detectives do not believe he intended to harm himself or others,” the agency said.

Coronavirus by the numbers

Infection figures continue to bloom across the globe as the pandemic spreads.

On Saturday, the United States inched ahead of Italy — one of the hardest-hit by the virus among European countries — in total deaths.

As of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. has received positive test results from 550,000 patients. Nearly 22,000 have died, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University. Over 2.8 million people have been tested and more than 32,000 have recovered from COVID-19.

Italy, meanwhile, has seen more than 156,000 cases and nearly 20,000 deaths.

Spain has also suffered significant attrition via the contagion. More than 166,000 people have been infected and over 17,000 people have died.

Worldwide, coronavirus has infected more than 1.8 million people and killed nearly 114,000 people. More than 421,000 have recovered.

California maintains a relatively low morbidity rate compared to other states.

Thus far, nearly 23,000 people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19, while 641 have died. More than 190,000 people have been tested in the state.

New York is still the main hub of U.S. infections, leading the nation in raw numbers by a wide margin.

More than 189,000 positive test results have been received in New York State, while its death toll is nearing 9,400.

Nearby New Jersey has seen almost 62,000 cases of coronavirus, followed by Massachusetts with more than 25,000, Michigan with 24,000 and Pennsylvania at nearly 23,000.

As of Sunday morning, Sacramento County was reporting 707 cases and 26 deaths. As of Saturday, Placer County reported 124 cases and four deaths, Yolo County reported 88 cases and three deaths and El Dorado County reported 32 cases and no deaths.

Corporate donors 3D print PPE

As officials across the nation — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom — acknowledge the severe shortfall of medical equipment necessary to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses are pitching in to meet demand.

The answer to such a lack of equipment, including face shields to protect health care workers and ventilators used to treat patients, often comes in the form of high-tech solutions.

Some companies are using digital modeling and 3D printers to manufacture shields and key components of ventilators that can be difficult to acquire.

“There are a lot of heroes out there in the health care sector that needed help, and so we were looking at how we could help them,” Noah Kelly, a design technology manager based at the Sacramento office of healthcare architecture firm HMC Architects, told The Sacramento Bee. “Ultimately, the idea was: How can we help and do our part during this pandemic?”

HMC, using open-source designs from Columbia University, has printed out 880 plastic shields in California and Arizona so far.

Its printers are running around the clock, and have the capacity to print out up to 12 shields per day.

Locally-based businesses are joining in the effort as well. Folsom arcade cabinet manufacturer Dream Arcades and Sacramento print shop Time Printing have both repurposes their facilities to create face shields for medical workers.

Crafters step up

Companies aren’t the only ones addressing the crisis at hand. Local crafters are also undertaking a herculean effort to meet the needs for protective gear.

The Sacramento chapter of the American Sewing Guild has been making cloth face masks for community members and medical workers since the pandemic hit the region.

“When there is a need in the community or among the members, they are very quick to respond,” ASG Sacramento chapter president Beth Chambers told The Bee. “The whole mask-making frenzy started when our national headquarters posted a need for masks from the Seattle, Washington, area.”

Since then, the Sacramento chapter has created 2,275 cotton masks for local hospitals including Kaiser Permanente in Roseville, Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento and Woodland Memorial Hospital.

“Many of us decided that we should really focus on the needs of our local medical workers. A few of our members started reaching out to area hospitals to determine their needs, and other requests for face masks came through friends and relatives who are working in the area hospitals,” Chambers said.

What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?

Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.

This story was originally published April 12, 2020 at 11:25 AM.