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Stay-at-Home Order Lifted; COVID Death Toll 136, By Jondi Gumz
COMMUNITY NEWS Stay-at-Home Order Lifted; COVID Death Toll 136
By Jondi Gumz
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To speed up California’s fractured COVID-19 vaccine rollout lagging behind most other states, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a new vaccine czar, a statewide eligibility system based on age starting in mid-February, a statewide network to hasten delivery to providers, and a new website, https:// myturn.ca.gov where people can learn when they can get a shot.
On Monday, he lifted the stay-at-home order statewide after intensive care unit availability projections surpassing the required 15 percent, bringing some relief to local businesses such as restaurants and hair salons, whose operations had been curbed since Dec. 3 with the goal to slow spread of the contagious coronavirus during the holidays.
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 37,500 Californians and 136 Santa Cruz County residents, with the death toll highest at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Locally, 65 percent of deaths are at care homes; 76 percent of those who died had other health conditions.
The surge of post-Christmas and postNew Year’s cases seems to be over. In Santa Cruz County, cases per day peaked at 264 on Jan. 4 and have fallen to around 100, comparable to before Thanksgiving.
The virus spreads mainly via gatherings of friends and family, and from one household member to another. People living in “overcrowded” conditions — more than one person per room — are particularly susceptible, and such conditions are pervasive in Santa Cruz County, where housing is among the most expensive in the nation. College student rentals are often crowded, and in Watsonville and in the Santa Cruz Beach Flats, multi-generational households are common, or families double up or rent out rooms to afford a place to live.
Local COVID hospitalizations are down from a peak of 84 after New Year’s to 58 on Jan. 25, and five people are in ICU beds, down from 20 after New Year’s, giving hope that the worst may be over.
When’s My Turn?
The vaccine rollout, which started in mid-December and divided responsibility among various groups, hospitals, large medical groups, pharmacies, safety net clinics, and independent providers, left local residents eager for a vaccine in the dark.
They asked their neighbors on the social network NextDoor for their insights, puzzled why the distribution was so slow.
Part of the problem is the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, so some was held back for that second shot.
Everyone knew healthcare workers should be first in line, and in Santa Cruz County that’s 14,700 people in “phase 1A.”
When the Trump administration, eight days before leaving office, called for states to allow people age 65 and older and those with health conditions to be eligible, the question on NextDoor became “When is my turn?”
California has come up with an answer, using technology from Salesforce and Skedulo, https://myturn.ca.gov.
Piloted in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, MyTurn allows people to sign up for a notification of eligibility and schedule a shot when it’s their turn.
The official title for vaccine czar Yolanda Jackson is secretary of the Government Operations Agency. She procured personal protective equipment and led the team to transition state employees to work from home. She has health plan leadership experience and is known for her “get it done” style.
Supply Shortage
Locally, the biggest obstacle to providing vaccine to more people is the unpredictable supply of vaccine.
Mimi Hall, director of the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency, said one week 200 doses came in, the next week 2,000.
As a result, she’s been reluctant to schedule vaccinations for people over 65 and over 75, she said a press conference on Jan. 22.
“We don’t have enough supply for everyone who wants one,” she said.
To prioritize people in Watsonville, which has 53 percent of the COVID cases, the county started a free drive-through vaccine clinic at the county fairgrounds in Watsonville. Hours will be Mondays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It’s by appointment. Register at mhealthcheckin. com/covidvaccine to find out if appointments are available.
Once the fairgrounds site has a steady supply, Hall expects to be able to vaccinate 1,000 people a day.
At that rate, it would take some time to reach the 47,000 county residents who are 65 and older.
Hall expects the supply to improve once vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are available. Johnson & Johnson plans to report next week on its phase 3 clinical trial results of its one-shot vaccine.
The UK has approved the one-shot AstraZeneca vaccine, and a clinical trial in the U.S. with nearly 30,000 people is ongoing. Dr. Gail Newel, the Santa Cruz County health officer, expects FDA approval in April or May.
California held up a batch of Moderna vaccine for a few days over questions about allergic reactions, then determined it was safe.
People who want a vaccine won’t be able to pick a brand because it depends on what’s available, according to Dr. David Ghilarducci, the Santa Cruz County deputy health officer.
Medical Groups
Large medical groups such as Dignity Health Dominican Hospital, Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente have been getting their own vaccine supplies but county officials have been in the dark as to how many vaccinations have been given, getting only a total for the corporation as a whole, not a county figure, and not knowing how many vacations have been given at nursing homes via pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens.
“It’s kind of a blind spot,” Ghilarducci
Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Sutter Health’s drive-through vaccine clinic at the former flea market on Soquel Drive aims to get doses to health-care workers. said.
Dominican Hospital shed light on the situation, announcing Friday that it has given 5,000 COVID-19 vaccinations to Phase 1A health care workers in Santa Cruz County.
That’s going beyond its own staff.
Dominican focused initially on rontline clinical staff, then offered vaccine to all hospital employees and affiliated physicians. As of Friday, nearly 80 percent—more than 2,000 hospital staff members —who wanted the COVID-19 vaccine have received it, with many already having been administered their second and final dose, according to Dominican.
More recently, Dominican opened up its vaccination clinics to frontline health care workers across the community -- including paramedics/EMTs, hospice workers, behavioral health and safety net clinic staff, mortuary services employees, and staff in local physician offices. All told, the hospital reports nearly 3,000 vaccinations for essential workers.
“Our health care team has faced months of unimaginable adversity and exhaustion,” said Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz, president of Dominican Hospital. “Yet, when asked to help get the COVID-19 vaccine to as many of their clinical colleagues in the community as possible, they didn’t think twice. They dug deep and responded with an enthusiasm I didn’t think was possible.”
Newel applauded Dominican’s efforts, saying, “They are helping to pave our path out of this historic emergency.”
“COVID Update” page 23
“Trowbridge” from page 19
With baked goodies created by his church’s congregation members this past year, he’s expanded and eclipsed prior years by a wide margin.
“There are so many important causes worthy of support,” says Andrew’s dad, Todd Trowbridge, a vice president at Palace Business Solutions. “But feeding people is so important. “
It’s a family tradition.
“The reason Andrew started three years ago was because he wanted to help people who were on the side of the road holding signs asking for food,” Todd explains. “He’d heard what Palace had
—Andrew’s father, Todd Trowbridge
been doing for Second Harvest and asked if there was a way he could help. He has a deep desire to help people and has always been like that. He has always wanted to help others and make sure they were comfortable and taken care of. His lemonade stand started as just a small way he could help feed people and has grown into something many in the community have gotten behind. Andrew looks at the world and sees people who are hurting and wants to figure out how to help them.”
Andrew doesn’t have much to say about his enterprise other than, “It’s something I can do about the problem. I get more people fed,” he explains.
He certainly does.
This year Andrew’s donation will generate 8,700 meals for people in need in our county.
One dollar’s donation to Second Harvest translates into four healthy meals, given the food bank’s purchasing power. Dollars are far more effective in fighting hunger than purchasing donated food at retail.
This year, due to the economic fallout from COVID and wildfires, the food bank is feeding double the number of people per month than in years past.
“You can clearly see we have a community in need,” says Jan Kamman, Second Harvest’s Corporate & Community Relations Director. “And people are responding with their generosity in so many wonderful ways.” n
“COVID Update” from page 22
The big medical groups are using pop-up drive-through clinics to provide vaccine to their patients.
Capitola residents Molly and Micky Ording applauded Dignity Health’s drivethough clinic at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, calling the experience joyfilled, efficient and stressfree.
On Jan. 14, Sutter Health, parent of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a large provider in the county, set up a drive-through vaccine clinic in the former drive-in-turned flea market on Soquel Drive, a property Sutter Health owns.
The drive-through operation is open only to Sutter patients by appointment, and Kathy Cheer of Santa Cruz raved, calling it effortless.
Newel said Kaiser has also opened up its “phase 1A” vaccinations of health care workers and residential care workers to serve people outside of its insurance plan.
On Jan. 20, county officials announced a partnership with Safeway to help distribute vaccine to health care workers, providing 1,200 doses for four stores to be used for those eligible. Safeway agreed to provide scheduling support to accommodate up to 500 people a day at a location to be announced.
Partnerships with pharmacies and dental offices are being explored.
One misstep occurred when Dr. Newel, the Santa Cruz County health officer, ordered a suspension of elective surgeries at hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers on Jan. 5 as ICU capacity was shrinking.
Three days later, she amended her order to be less restrict and match the state health officer’s order, and on Jan. 17, she rescinded the order altogether, allowing elective surgeries and procedures to resume.
Even though the stay-at-home order is lifted, a travel advisory remains in effect, with the state encouraging people to skip visits more than 120 miles from home to slow the spread of the virus.
People arriving in California should self-quarantine for 10 days, based on a change in federal guidance from 14 days.
What Can Open
Santa Cruz County is in the Purple Tier, as it was back in early December.
Outdoor restaurant dining and winery food services outside is allowed, although with a mega-rainstorm forecast, few people were dining outside Tuesday.
Hair salons, barbershops and nail salons can open, so can massage services.
Retail and shopping centers are allowed at 25 percent capacity, with food courts closed.
Of courses, masks and social distancing are still required to prevent spreading the virus.
To see what business activity is allowed see: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/ CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20 Library/COVID-19/Dimmer-FrameworkSeptember_2020.pdf
Places of worship can have services outside. A federal appeals court ruled Friday against South Bay United Pentecostal Church in San Diego County, which argued the ban on indoor worship was discriminatory.
The state presented evidence that large groups gathered indoors for an extended period, singing and chanting, pose risks that justify a ban to protect the public from coronavirus.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Judge Kim Wardlow said, “It is difficult to see how allowing more people to congregate indoors will do anything other than lead to more cases, more deaths and more strains on California’s already overburdened health-care system.”
Capitola Woes
Local small businesses are in dire straits, judging from a City of Capitola survey that found 58 of 132 businesses said they are in danger of closing in next 12 months.
Eight said they would close in 1-2 months, 18 in 3-4 months and 33 said they’re not sure how long they can stay open.
Asked to elaborate, 81 cited a decline in consumer demand; only 12 have seen their business increase.
Because of COVID, 71 are closed temporarily.
Most got some federal aid, 40 got SBA disaster loan, 62 got Payroll Protection Program forgivable loan, 40 got an SBA disaster loan that must be repaid, and 20 got Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
To survive, they want grants -- not loans --lower fees and lower rent.
One venue reported 33 weddings on the books in 2020 were cut to 5 and scaled down -- “We schedule 2021 but it’s only penciled,” the owner said.
A variety of businesses responded, 23 salons/massage, 21 in food/wine, 20 retailers, and 18 catering to tourists with the rest in other sectors.
A whopping 86 would take a city grant from federal funds if offered, with . 39 saying $15,000 to $20,000 would help. The survey was slated to be discussed by the Capitola City Council Thursday night.
To move into the less restrictive Red Tier, where restaurants and fitness centers could open indoors with capacity limits, the adjusted case rate would have to drop below 7 percent, and the positivity rate would have to be below 8 percent.
The current positivity rate is 7.8 percent but the current adjusted case rate is 28 percent.
California is picking up the pace of vaccination but lags behind most states, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker, which is at https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/ covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/ n ••• County COVID Deaths 136
As of Jan.25
Race/Ethnicity
White: 80 • Latinx: 41 • Asian: 12 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1 Unknown: 1
Underlying Conditions Yes: 103 • No: 33
Gender Male: 55 • Female: 81
Skilled Nursing/Residential Care Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 16 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 7 Sunshine Villa: 5 Montecito Manor: 3 Valley Convalescent: 3 • Aegis: 3 Maple House 1: 3 De Un Amor: 2 Dominican Oaks: 2 Hanover House: 2 Watsonville Nursing Center: 2 Driftwood: 1 • Maple House II: 1 Paradise Villa: 1 Rachelle’s Home 1: 1 Rachelle’s Home II: 1 Total: 87 Not at a facility: 49
COVID Cases by Town Aptos: 631 • Ben Lomond: 85
Boulder Creek: 115 • Capitola: 346 Felton: 119 • Freedom: 825 Santa Cruz: 3,018 Scotts Valley: 313 Soquel: 290 • Watsonville: 6,956 Unincorporated: 177 Under investigation: 213 Total: 13,088
Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health •••
Editor’s Note: Would you like to share your family’s COVID-19 story? Email Jondi Gumz at jondi@timespublishinggroup.com or call 831-688-7549 x17.
To find out more about Yolanda Richardson visit https://www.govops.ca.gov/departments/ executive-staff/richardson/
