California Watch
News stories in this section spotlight activities in California, including actions by the state Assembly and state Senate; proposed legislation; regulators like the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance; and the state ACA exchange, Covered California.
A new study has found that COVID-19 vaccines may be somewhat vulnerable to the California “Epsilon” strain of virus. The variant has three spike protein mutations it uses to weaken current vaccines by up to 70 percent, according to researchers from University of Washington and the San Fransisco-based lab Vir Biotechnology. The strain’s mutations break down ...
The coronavirus has reliably disregarded all hopes that it would observe human holidays, deadlines or elections. Across California, evidence is once again accumulating that it responds only to caution and consistency. Despite high vaccination rates and low case numbers, the Bay Area saw infections rise quickly enough in recent weeks to rank on a federal ...
One hour after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Northern California on Thursday, the California Hospital Assn. tweeted that it’s “time to update seismic standards — to focus on all the services people need after a disaster of any kind.” But the association’s tweet omitted that its proposal circulating in the state Capitol would actually weaken existing standards, ...
After more than a decade of fruitless entreaties from public health advocates, Democratic lawmakers have secured a landmark agreement that promises $300 million a year in new state funding to fortify and reimagine California’s hollowed-out public health system, a complex network of services shouldered largely by the state’s 61 local health departments.
For weeks, experts have warned that the highly infectious delta variant would become the dominant coronavirus strain in California. Now the latest data show their prediction has come true. According to the state’s variant tracker, the delta variant, first identified in India, has gained momentum and accounted for 35.6% of cases sequenced in June. That’s ...
A contract dispute being waged in a Northern California courtroom is complicating the re-election plans for state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who two years ago suspended all fundraising amid a campaign finance scandal uncovered by The San Diego Union-Tribune. The lawsuit involves Lara’s one-time boss and political mentor, former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. It ...
New coronavirus cases have jumped more than 20% in California and the Bay Area since the state’s June 15 reopening – a sign that even as residents embrace a return to normalcy, the virus can still spread among unvaccinated people and will likely linger for months to come. Statewide, new cases crept up from about ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom routinely boasts that California has “one of the highest vaccination rates in the United States of America.”
The Delta coronavirus variant is now the third-most common in California, new data show, underscoring the danger of the highly contagious strain to people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. The variant makes up 14.5% of California coronavirus cases analyzed so far in June, up from 4.7% in May, when it was the fourth-most ...
The California Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of business groups are urging state legislators to restore the net operating loss deduction and business incentive tax credits that were suspended and capped by AB 85 last year. The action was taken as part of last year’s strategy to close an estimated $54.3 billion budget deficit ...