Coronavirus updates: Concerns over cost of prison agency’s masks; weekend protest at Capitol

California has been attempting to acquire masks and other medical equipment rapidly in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But it turns out that one stage agency has been selling masks to others at a price that is raising questions.

Procurement records obtained by The Sacramento Bee show that the California Prison Industry Authority, which relies on inmate labor, has sold its cloth masks to at least 14 state departments for up to $3.10 each.

The prison agency’s prices are five times higher than the price paid by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to Chinese manufacturer BYD, which has sold its surgical masks for just 55 cents each, per state contracts.

The prison agency, however, said that its prices are below market averages, and the Governor’s Office said that the BYD contract was just a particularly good deal.

But Newsom has acknowledged that the market for emergency supplies and personal protective equipment is a “wild, wild west” — and some taxpayers advocates see the discrepancy in cost as a point of contention.

“It seems excessive,” Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association, said of the prices. “But there’s so much about this virus response that seems excessive to us. We just hope that there’s transparency, which has been a big problem for Gavin Newsom, and that people are doing the best they can, given the exigent circumstances.”

The California Prison Industry Authority, which is intended to help prepare inmates for post-release careers, sells masks with ties for $3.10 and masks with elastic loops for $2.45.

The agency said that its total manufacturing costs average $2.31 for each tie-back mask and $1.66 for the elastic masks. Inmates are paid 40 cents to $1 per hour for mask manufacture work, but may receive overtime of up to $1.50 per hour.

Brian Ferguson, a Governor’s Office spokesman, said the prison-made masks offer a “steady, reliable source of PPE at a time when the supply is hard to come by.”

Coronavirus by the numbers

On Saturday, the worldwide tally of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 4 million. On April 27, the world hit 3 million cases. On April 15, less than two weeks before that, the world reached the 2 million mark. Two weeks before that, on April 2, it was 1 million.

By Sunday afternoon, the number of global infections was nearing 4.1 million.

The United States accounts for more than a quarter of the worldwide total, with over 1.3 million cases as of Sunday afternoon, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 79,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, the respiratory disease causes by coronavirus, and 216,000 patients have recovered after infection.

The epicenter of infection in the U.S. remains in New York state, where 335,000 people have been infected with coronavirus and 26,000 people have died. More than 184,000 of the state’s confirmed cases were in New York City.

New York state has seen more infections that even the hardest-hit European nations. Spain has seen 224,000 cases and 26,000 deaths thus far.

The United Kingdom also surpassed Italy in cases by a slim margin. The U.K. has seen 220,000 cases and nearly 32,000 deaths, while Italy has seen 219,000 cases and 30,000 deaths.

California currently has more cases of coronavirus than India, but less than Canada. The state had more than 67,000 cases and 2,715 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Southern California has seen the worst infection rates. Los Angeles County still leads the state in cases, with 31,000, and has seen more than 1,500 killed by the virus.

As of Sunday afternoon, Sacramento County health officials were reporting 1,167 cases of coronavirus, up by two, and 50 deaths.

Yolo County reported one new case Sunday and has 173 infections and 20 deaths. Placer County reported 169 cases, with one new confirmation Sunday, and eight deaths. El Dorado County reported 54 cases and no deaths.

Weekend protest at Capitol

Demonstrators appeared at the state Capitol in downtown Sacramento for another anti-lockdown protest Saturday.

Several groups appeared outside the Capitol grounds, including one comprised of men wearing military fatigues that called itself the 2nd Regiment of the California State Militia.

The protest, along with the handful of others preceding it in recent weeks, was directed at Newsom’s stay-at-home orders, which protesters variously decried in terms of economics and civil liberties.

After the California Highway Patrol’s ban on permits for demonstrations at the Capitol, protesters were forced to remain on the 10th Street sidewalk. CHP officers in riot gear formed a defensive line behind a barricade to prevent entry onto the grounds.

At one point, the protest swelled to about 300 people, many of whom were sporting signs and banners in support of President Donald Trump.

The militia appeared to be unarmed and the protest went on without incident or arrest.

On May 1, a similar protest resulted in the detention and citation of 32 demonstrators for creating a public health hazard.

El Dorado County plans to move toward opening

El Dorado County leadership sent a letter to Newsom over the weekend in an attempt to reopen its local economy quickly.

The governor said Thursday that counties that meet certain criteria will be allowed to open open up through Phase 2 of the state’s coronavirus timeline ahead of others

“I believe El Dorado County meets or exceeds the criteria the state requires for us to move fully into Stage 2 as quickly as the governor permits,” county health officer Nancy Williams said.

The governor’s guidelines dictate that counties that hope to open must prove their infection rate has been less than one infection per 10,000 people in the last two weeks and that there have been no deaths in the same time span.

El Dorado County has reported no deaths thus far and has some of the lowest numbers in the state with just 54 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

However, state guidelines also require that a county of El Dorado’s size to have testing capacity for nearly 300 patients per day and have 29 contact tracers in its medical staff.

Earlier this week, El Dorado County had only 3 1/2 contract tracers, but in its letter to the governor, officials said they now have more than 30 staff members trained or scheduled to be trained in contact tracing.

Phase 2 authorization would allow El Dorado County to reopen restaurants, stores, some offices and shopping malls, but would still limit nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and other high-contact establishments.

California lawmaker lashes out at Tesla chief

After tech mogul and Tesla chief Elon Musk threatened to move the electric vehicle company out of California over the state’s coronavirus response measures, one lawmaker was not pleased.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, offered a laconic, yet pointed, rebuttal to Musk’s potential departure:

“F*ck Elon Musk,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter on Saturday night.

Musk, irritated by Alameda County’s moratorium on manufacturing work and the current closure of Tesla’s Fremont factory, said he would be moving company headquarters and operations to Texas and Nevada.

He also said that Tesla will be filing a lawsuit against Alameda County over the closure, as county leadership attempted to smooth things over.

“This has been a collaborative, good faith effort to develop and implement a safety plan that allows for reopening while protecting the health and well-being of the thousands of employees who travel to and from work at Tesla’s factory,” Alameda County officials said in a statement. “The team at Tesla has been responsive to our guidance and recommendations, and we look forward to coming to an agreement on an appropriate safety plan very soon.”

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 May 10, 2020 at 11:30 AM.