California’s Not ReOpening Any Time Soon

I was perusing through COVID-19 case information on the COVID-19 sites for California and Orange County, and noticed there was a disproportionate amount of deaths in assisted living facilities. An astonishing 44.6% of the 1,093 COVID-19 related deaths reported in Orange County, CA are from assisted living facilities (488 from ALF). Nearly half of all COVID-19 related deaths in the county!

Directly below that, I saw that an even greater percentage of COVID-19 related deaths in nursing homes in the daily count. The counter said that 11 of 12 COVID-19 related deaths reported yesterday (today is yesterday’s information) were from nursing homes. It made me wonder if this is commonplace for the latter part of the pandemic death count and if the majority of daily deaths, that are maintaining an active positive case and death counts, are in nursing homes.

Governor Newsom of California had ordered nursing homes to take COVID-19 patients, like New York Governor Cuomo did. The original order from April 15th specifically stated, “Residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection may be placed in single occupancy rooms (or in multi-occupancy rooms with other residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection), with the door closed; symptomatic residents with suspected COVID-19 infection may remain in their room (if multi-occupancy room, with 6ft, or as far as possible, between beds and curtains closed) while testing is pending.” This allows for the transmission of symptomatic suspected COVID-19 to the healthy people in their room.

Then June 26th, he added an amendment that would prevent protection of people in ALFs by not allowing the nursing homes to discriminate against people that have COVID-19, and must accept them into theirs.

“Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Scalise, along with the other four Republican members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, sent letters to the governors of five states that forced nursing homes to take in COVID-positive patients as part of their pandemic response.”

I havent been able to find an update to that order though, which is troubling because it may not have received the attention Cuomo did, and the pressure to make changes, because there werent nearly as many COVID-19 related deaths in California. It begs the question: is California still forcing nursing homes to accept patients?

If you didn’t notice, we aren’t “flattening the curve” at this point. He isn’t using numbers for positive cases of the population, positive cases of total cases, or deaths to population. The plan he set forth has us at most having, “most business operations open with modifications.” To achieve this, we must get to less than 2% of tests coming back positive AND, I kid you not, “LESS THAN ONE daily new cases (per 100k).” His goal to completely open involves eradicating COVID-19. Even with a vaccine (that only needs to be 50% effective to be approved by the FDA), that may not even be possible.

Being that we have been under the epidemic threshold for the entire state since the first week of May (pictured), I dont see how California is able to even be under a State of Emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic; with him issuing unrelated orders that he usually connects to COVID-19 by way of  not being able to do things under the current Executive Orders.

These impossible requirements for reopening makes mask mandates another aspect of their New Normal, along with social distancing, no large gatherings, and businesses being shut down. Is it worth living in California, the most expensive state to live in the entire nation, when you’re only allowed to survive? Governor Newsom has sucked the fun out of life for Californians with unconstitutional, impractical orders. It’s no wonder so many people are moving out of the state.

I will leave you on a positive note: of the 49,775 total cases reported by the state of California for Orange County there have been 45,126 people who are reported as recovered. Also, as a state we have lowered the positivity rate of those tested to 3.9%. Sometimes, we have to look for the silver lining.

Sources:
☆https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/CDPH%20Document%20Library/AFL-20-25-Attachment-05-SNF-Assessment-Checklist.pdf
☆https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/Pages/AFL-20-25.aspx
☆https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/Pages/AFL-20-32.aspx#
☆https://update.covid19.ca.gov/
☆https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc