The United States recorded our 500,000 confirmed death from COVID-19 on Sunday.
PASADENA reached a grim milestone Thursday as public health officials reported the city’s 300th COVID-19 death. Pasadena reported two new fatalities on Saturday, increasing its death toll to 305; 10 new cases raised the city’s total to 10,752.. Pasadena Director of Public Health Dr. Ying-Ying Goh urged continued vigilance against the virus.
According to city data, more than 2,400 Pasadenans had received their initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while another 7,325 had been inoculated with both doses.
L.A. County coronavirus numbers continue to drop though officials are still urging caution, owing to continued spread of U.K. virus variant.
Los Angeles County officials continue to report a decline in new coronavirus cases but say the emergence of a more transmissible, potentially more virulent variant underscores the importance of sticking with safety measures like masking and distancing. Public health officials on Saturday recorded 2,393 new cases of the virus and 136 related deaths, as well as two more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K. that has since spread to at least 42 U.S. states. Experts predict it will become the dominant coronavirus nationwide by the end of March. That’s a cause for concern because it is believed to be 50% more transmissible than the conventional variety and may also be more deadly.
Los Angeles County has now recorded a total of 14 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, but experts have said there are likely more, as only a small portion of samples undergo the genetic sequencing necessary to determine the variant.
The variant has also been reported in Alameda, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo and Yolo counties.
Although research has indicated that vaccines on the market remain effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, some officials have expressed fears its contagiousness could fuel another surge, particularly if a comprehensive vaccination campaign is slow to roll out and people become fatigued and disregard public safety rules.
There were 2,369 COVID- 19 patients in L.A. County hospitals as of Friday, a decline of nearly 44% from two weeks before, when there were 4,186 patients.
Orange County has reported a similar downward trend, on Saturday recording 391 new cases of the virus, 44 deaths and 591 hospitalized patients, a decline of about 46% from two weeks before.
CALIFORNIA RELIEF PROGRAM: Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers have reached a spending deal on small-business grants, stimulus checks for individuals and housing for farmworkers infected by the coronavirus, Newsom said Wednesday.
It includes a fresh $24 million for a program that puts farm and food processing workers up in hotels if they contract the virus and have no place to isolate, Newsom said as he spoke at a community vaccination clinic in the Coachella Valley, a region that’s home to many farmworkers.
“It’s candidly been underutilized, and we recognize that,” Newsom said of the farmworker housing program. “And the purpose of this new appropriation is to maximize its effectiveness.”
Newsom and lawmakers released a joint statement with details on the other spending items, including money for grants of $5,000 to $25,000 for small businesses, nonprofits and cultural centers.
The deal will also cover Newsom’s proposed stimulus plan to give a $600 one-time payment to low-income Californians.
The governor’s visit to the Coachella Valley was his latest stop in a tour around the state to highlight vaccination efforts as California’s virus numbers continue to improve. Local and county governments have teamed up with nonprofits and community groups in the valley to vaccinate farmworkers and atriskpopulations. Details of the stimulus package include:
Fee waivers: Two years of fee relief that can range annually from $455 to $1,235 for roughly 59,000 restaurants and bars licensed through the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The deal also includes fee relief for more than 600,000 barbering and cosmetology individuals and businesses licensed through the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Resources for child care: More than $400 million in new federal funds will provide stipends of $525 per enrolled child for all state-subsidized child care and preschool providers serving approximately 400,000 children statewide.
The new funding extends care for children of essential workers through June 2022. That money also increased access to subsidized child care for more than 8,000 children of essential workers and at-risk children — who are not currently served in the system — through June 2022.
More aid for families: A combined $35 million for food banks and diapers.
Community colleges: An additional $100 million in emergency financial aid will to qualifying low-income students carrying six or more units, with award amounts to be determined locally and made available by early April.
The deal also provides $20 million to reengage students who have either left their community college studies because of the pandemic or to engage students at risk of leaving.
CalFresh student outreach: Roughly $6 million will support outreach and application assistance to University of California, California State University and California Community College students made newly eligible for CalFresh. The program provides supplemental food assistance.
VACCINE
Here is a short preliminary summary of what is in the recently announced deal for Blue Shield to oversee vaccine distribution in California: The contract delineates goals to increase distribution and specifies that vaccine doses will be sent directly to providers, who will have to sign model contracts to participate.
Blue Shield will also implement a vaccine provider credentialing and enrollment system. Data reporting is a key component of the contract, requiring doses to be reported in a timely manner and uploaded to the state vaccine progress dashboard.
The contract specifies most Californians should have to travel 30 minutes or less to receive a vaccine and sets an administration goal of 3 million/week by March 1 and 4 million/week by April 30.
Pasadena: Due to insufficient vaccine supply, the City of Pasadena is not able to offer appointments for the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at this time. Local pharmacies, however, are launching COVID-19 vaccine programs after receiving vaccine directly from the federal government.
See the links below for more information:
CVS: https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine
Eligible individuals without internet access can call CVS at 800-746-7287 for assistance on scheduling.
Rite Aid: https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier
If you have any additional questions or need more information, please contact the Citizen Service Center at (626) 744-7311, or by email at csc@cityofpasadena.net. Agents are available by phone Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Los Angeles County-Operated Vaccination Sites Remain Open for Healthcare Workers, 65+ Due For Second Dose at These Sites
Los Angeles County-operated COVID-19 vaccination sites are open and continue to vaccinate healthcare workers and residents who are 65 and older and are due for their second dose of vaccine at these sites.
For the rest of this week, these vaccination sites are only providing second doses to those who are due for their second dose and who received their first dose at these sites
The County operated sites are:
- Pomona Fairplex in Pomona (Pfizer)
- The Forum in Inglewood (Pfizer)
- California State University, Northridge (Pfizer)
- L.A. County Office of Education in Downey (Pfizer)
- Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia (Pfizer)
- Balboa Sports Complex in Encino (Moderna)
- El Sereno Recreation Center in Los Angeles (Moderna)
More on the virus: New evidence from China is affirming what epidemiologists have long suspected: The coronavirus likely began spreading unnoticed around the Wuhan area in November 2019, before it exploded in multiple different locations throughout the city in December. Chinese authorities have identified 174 confirmed Covid-19 cases around the city from December 2019, said World Health Organization researchers, enough to suggest there were many more mild, asymptomatic or otherwise undetected cases than previously thought. Many of the 174 cases had no known connection to the market that was initially con-sidered the source of the outbreak, according to information gathered by WHO investigators during the four-week mission to China to examine the origins of the virus. Chinese authorities declined to give the WHO team raw data on these cases and potential earlier ones, team members said.
Economic Recovery: Southern California is expected to regain more than half of the 755,400 jobs it lost in 2020 as COVID- 19 tightened its grip on the region’s economy, but low-income workers, minorities and women will face a slower recovery than those earning higher wages, a new report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Center says. An economic forecast by the LAEDC Institute for Applied Economics dubs the comeback “A Tale of Two Recoveries.”
Businesses with ready access to capital and workers who earn good wages have suffered less disruption from the health crisis and will recover faster, the report said, but low-wage workers many minority- owned enterprises that operate on thin margins will face a longer recovery.
Low-income workers are experiencing job losses at significantly higher rates during the pandemic because many of those positions — including jobs at restaurants and hotels — rely on person-topersoninteraction.
Knowledge-based industries, by contrast, have often been able to transition much of their workforce to a remote work arrangement, the report said. That includes such industries as software development, accounting and digital media.
At the worst point of the unemployment shock in April 2020, high-wage workers across the U.S. experienced a 12.9% decline in employment compared to January 2020 levels. Low-wage workers saw a decline of more than 38%.
The report likens the disparity to contrasting recoveries experienced by small and large businesses on Main Street versus Wall Street. Low-wage earners are less likely to have equity investments, the study said, while high-wage earners gained wealth as their investments increased in value, further widening the wealth gap.
The report also notes that women are leaving the labor force at a higher rate, often to care for children and oversee their online education.
Minorities impacted more
Minorities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the virus in terms of cases, deaths, jobs lost and business insolvencies, the study said. Many minority business owners have been forced into high-risk, low-margin sectors such as food service because of limited access to capital.
The Center for a Competitive Workforce, a program that partners 19 Los Angeles-area community colleges and the LAEDC with employers from high-growth industry sectors, aims to funnel low-wage workers into higherpaying careers via training, mentoring and on-the-job experience.
Southern California lost 755,400 jobs in 2020. The region is expected to recover 383,300 jobs this year and 237,300 next year, the report said, but that will still fall nearly 135,000 short of full employment recovery.
No full recovery until 2024: The LAEDC report does not anticipate that we’ll be back to pre-pandemic levels until about 2024, assuming that everything goes well and that we don’t have an additional strain of COVID- 19 or more peaks of coronavirus cases that would require additional business restrictions.
Southern California’s unemployment rate for 2020 was 11.28%, up from 4.13% the previous year. The region’s gross domestic product — or total value of all its goods and services — also took a hit, falling to -3% compared with 3% in 2019.
Housing permits also tumbled although the median listing price for a home was $726,822 last year, up from $687,703 in 2019.
California’s GDP slide was less severe, dipping -0.6% last year compared with 3.4% in 2019. The Golden State had a jobless rate of 10.38% in 2020, up from 4.05% the previous year.
SNF Small Business Growth and Recovery Fund: National Community Reinvestment Committee + Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Deadline: March 19, 2021 at 11:59 PM (EST)
The SNF Small Business Growth & Recovery Fund aims to help provide impactful solutions to a chronic problem. The Fund’s mission is to help U.S. small businesses, especially those owned by people of color, women, and veterans as well as those in lower-income communities, find their footing in a challenging economic landscape. By distributing grants, the program will offer awards up to $20,000 each, which do not need to be repaid, to U.S.-based small businesses, accompanied by complementary training and mentorship for business owners. Click Here to Learn More + Apply
INTERESTED IN CONTRACTING WITH LA COUNTY?
Contract Connections: Building Together
County of Los Angeles Internal Services Department
February 25, 2021 | 10-12:00 PM (PT)
The Contract Connections Event will offer three (3) sessions consisting of five (5) breakout rooms per session.
Sessions:
10:25 am - 10:45 am
10:55 am - 11:15 am
11:25 am - 11:45 am
Breakout Topics:
ISD Contracting Opportunities
ISD Purchasing Opportunities
ISD Facilities Reinvestment Program Opportunities
Doing Business With Public Works
OneLA - Building Business to Win Contracts
*Please register for only ONE breakout topic per session.