COVID-19 State Policy Update 04.08.20

Governor Gavin Newsom began his daily briefing by thanking the National Guard for transporting California’s 500 loaned ventilators to states in need, including Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, and DC.

The Governor also offered details on the announcement he made last night regarding inked deals that will provide 200 million medical masks a month for the state.  “We’ve been competing against other states, against other nations, against our own federal government for PPE — coveralls, masks, shields, N95 masks — and we’re not waiting around any longer,’’ he said in a television interview.   According to the Department of Finance (DOF) letter sent to lawmakers, the state plans to spend $1.4 billion in state funds on all types of personal protective equipment (PPE), with the masks as a key part of that.  Cal OES Director, Mark Ghilarducci, also spoke about this effort at the briefing.  Ghilarducci said these masks are coming from a variety of sources, including nonprofits (Direct Relief, Americares, California Endowment) and large vendors like McKesson and the company BYD USA.  In addition to purchasing new masks, Ghilarducci says California is also working on a plan to sterilize up to 80,000 used masks per day.

The Governor noted masks are needed by health care professionals, but also grocery store workers and others who must interact with others as part of their jobs.  He also reiterated California will share PPE resources if it has excess.  He says California’s efforts to buy PPE on its own are not an implicit criticism of the federal government.  “On that point, quite the contrary,” he stated. “We’ve been working extraordinarily well with our federal partners.”

Consistent with past briefings, the Governor provided the latest COVID-19 hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) patient figures.  The number of coronavirus hospitalizations is now 2,714, a 3.9 percent increase from the previous day.  The number of coronavirus patients in ICU beds is 1,154, a 4.2 percent increase. 

Governor Newsom also said the state is starting to disaggregate data by race but has only processed about 37 percent of cases so far.  The data is limited to the sample size, he acknowledged, but currently, California is not seeing the racial disparities seen in other parts of the country.

On unemployment insurance (UI), the Governor said 2.4 million Californians have applied for benefits since March 12th.

During the Q&A, Governor Newsom was asked about an updated timeframe for when the stay-at-home orders will be lifted.  In response, he declined to provide a definitive date saying it is still too early to determine.  “It depends on you, it depends on 40 million others in the state of California and their commitment to follow through on stay at home orders…”

Yesterday, April 7th, the Governor issued an Executive Order (EO) to help the state procure necessary medical supplies to fight COVID-19 by suspending sales tax on public health supplies sold to or purchased by the state.  A copy of the EO can be found here and the text of the order can be found here.  A copy of the Governor’s press release can be found here

Additionally, late Tuesday, Governor Newsom also issued an EO that provides additional support for older adults and vulnerable young children.  A copy of the Governor’s executive order can be seen here and the text of the order can be found here.  A copy of the Governor’s press release can be found here.

As of April 6th, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the most recent statistics on COVID-19.  There are a total of 15,865 confirmed positive cases and 374 deaths in California.  Also, as of April 6th, local health departments have reported 269 confirmed positive cases in health care workers.  Approximately 157,800 tests had been conducted in California. At least 143,172 results have been received and another 14,600 are pending.  More information regarding the most recent COVID-19 statistics can be found here.

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