Tag Archives: Coronavirus COVID 19

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Oil Industry, Oil prices, Oil storage

Oil prices dip below zero as producers forced to pay to dispose of excess

US crude has negative value for first time in history as stockpiles overwhelm storage facilities

The Guardian, by Jillian Ambrose and Martin Farrer, April 20, 2020
A record 160m barrels of oil are currently being stored in oil tankers outside the world’s shipping ports. Photograph: US Department of Energy/EPA

US oil prices turned negative for the first time on record on Monday as North America’s oil producers run out of space to store an unprecedented oversupply of crude left by the coronavirus crisis.

The price of US crude oil collapsed from $18 a barrel to -$38 in a matter of hours, forcing oil producers to pay buyers to take the glut of crude which they cannot store, as rising stockpiles of crude threaten to overwhelm oil storage facilities.

“The problem of the global supply-demand imbalance has started to really manifest itself in prices,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil at research firm Rystad Energy. “As production continues relatively unscathed, storages are filling up by the day. The world is using less and less oil and producers now feel how this translates.”

The Guardian reported over the weekend that a record 160m barrels of oil was being stored in “supergiant” oil tankers outside the world’s largest shipping ports, including the US Gulf, following the deepest fall in oil demand in 25 years because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The last time floating storage reached levels close to this was in the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, when traders stored more than 100m barrels at sea before offloading stocks when the economy began to recover.

The price collapse in US oil market – known in the industry as the West Texas Intermediate price – accelerated because it is the last day oil producers can trade barrels that are scheduled for delivery next month, when oil storage is expected to reach capacity.

The US price for oil delivered in June, which will become the default oil price from tomorrow, is also falling due to the economic gloom caused by the coronavirus, but has managed to remain above $20 a barrel. On Monday the price for brent crude, the most widely used benchmark, fell 8% to $25.79.

Concerns over the economy, which directly affect oil demand, have been heightened by the growing standoff between the US president and state governors over whether the US can begin to lift restrictions on movement and businesses.

Global oil prices are expected to begin recovering over the second half of the year as tight restrictions on travel to help curb the spread of the virus are lifted, raising demand for fuels and oil.

The world’s largest oil-producing nations have agreed a deal to hold back between 10m to 20m barrels of oil a day from the global market from May, and many oil companies are likely to shut their wells as financial pressures mount.

Cailin Birch, global economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “US crude oil production has begun to fall in the last two weeks, and will continue to fall in the coming months as already heavily indebted shale firms scale back activity or are forced into bankruptcy or consolidation.”

Despite the historic production cuts, most analysts believe that oil prices will fail to reach the same price levels recorded at the beginning of the year before the outbreak. The global oil price, under the brent crude measure, reached highs of almost $69 a barrel in January before plummeting to less than $23 a barrel at the end of March.

California Department of Public Health, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Long-term care facilities, Nursing homes, Solano County CA

Solano Nursing Homes do not appear in State’s “snapshot” of homes with COVID-19 – good news?

By Roger Straw, April 20, 2020
Gateway Care & Rehabilitation Center, Hayward CA | KTVU.com

In light of news reports of serious regional [SF Chron] and national [Washington Post] outbreaks of COVID-19 in long term care facilities, we have been listening intently for information about Solano County nursing homes and congregate retirement facilities, without much luck.

On Friday, April 17, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released a “snapshot” listing of all known skilled nursing facilities reporting COVID-19 among staff or residents.  The list did not include any facilities in Solano County.  No news is good news, presumably.

However, according to the CDPH, the data is incomplete.  “The data is comprised of a point in time snapshot of the 86% of SNFs [skilled nursing facilities] who reported their data within the last 24 hours.”

It is possible that Solano facilities are among the 14% of California facilities who did not report during that time frame.

There are 1224 skilled nursing facilities in California.  In Friday’s CDPH listing, 258 reported having one or more COVID-19 case.

In an April 17 newsletter, Solano County Public Health stated “Solano Public Health staff is checking in with long-term care facilities and skilled nursing homes to ensure that these agencies are prepared to handle outbreaks and that seniors continue to be protected.”  It is not clear whether County officials plan to share publicly what they find.

California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) does an excellent job of describing the missing elements in the State’s report:

California Identifies 261 Nursing Homes with Residents and Staff Who Have COVID-19
What Data’s Missing; What Action is Needed Now?

Excerpt:
“It is critical that California start treating outbreaks in long term care facilities with the same urgency it does for wildfires. The state should deploy multi-agency strike teams that have command of all available public and private resources to every facility with an outbreak and appoint commanders to lead efforts to save residents lives and to keep the public well informed about their actions and outcomes on a daily basis.

“Beyond containing tragedies, California officials must do much more to prevent them. […continued]

Medicare identifies 9 nursing homes in Solano County, 4 in Fairfield, 3 in Vallejo and 2 in Vacaville.  Other types of long-term health care facilities are listed on the CDPH’s Cal Health Find Database.

Perhaps the best listing of congregant retirement facilities in Solano County is a simple Google search for retirement communities in solano county.

California, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Nursing homes

California Identifies 261 Nursing Homes with Residents and Staff Who Have COVID-19

What Data’s Missing; What Action is Needed Now?

California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), April 18, 2020

Californians finally got a partial glimpse of COVID-19’s epidemic impact within the state’s nursing homes on April 17th when state officials released an incomplete list of nursing homes that have residents or staff who are infected with the virus. Released on a Friday evening, the list identifies 261 nursing homes that have reported COVID-19 infections involving either a resident or a staff member. In total, those facilities reported that 1,740 residents and 1,290 workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

Most likely, many nursing homes with COVID-19 outbreaks are not included on the state’s list. Some facilities are in the dark about the presence of the virus due to lack of testing. Other nursing homes are not on the list because they have failed to report outbreaks. California has no system to ensure that nursing homes are reporting outbreaks as required. Even Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, the Riverside nursing home that had all 83 of its residents evacuated last week due to a major outbreak, is not on the list.

The state’s reporting system has other gaping holes. The newly published list gives no information on the rapidly escalating death toll in California nursing homes, no information on outbreaks in assisted living facilities and no information on any facilities in Kern, Fresno and other counties.

What Does the List Tell Us about the Safety of California Nursing Home Residents?

California nursing home residents are in grave danger right now. Despite its limitations, the state’s list identifies nearly 50 California nursing homes that have between 11 and 91 residents who are infected with the virus. Many nursing homes are woefully unprepared to keep residents safe due to their lack of leadership, staff, testing, attention to infection control protocols, personal protective equipment and other resources.

Actions Needed Now to Save Residents’ Lives in California

Public health officials throughout the world have expressed alarm that COVID-19 spreads like wildfire in long term care facilities. It is critical that California start treating outbreaks in long term care facilities with the same urgency it does for wildfires. The state should deploy multi-agency strike teams that have command of all available public and private resources to every facility with an outbreak and appoint commanders to lead efforts to save residents lives and to keep the public well informed about their actions and outcomes on a daily basis.

Beyond containing tragedies, California officials must do much more to prevent them. First and foremost, the state should order long term care facilities without COVID-19 patients not to admit outside patients with infectious COVID-19. Equally important, the state should assign a CDPH surveyor to conduct daily onsite monitoring visits at each facility with residents or staff who have COVID-19 and at each facility with a history of poor care to ensure infection control practices and staffing levels are safe and to sound the alarm on the need for immediate intervention if they are not. CANHR’s Emergency Action Plan to Save Lives of Residents of California Long Term Care Facilities gives other critically important recommendations.

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19

Benicia Bakery Provides Comfort Food And Kitchen Staples In Stressful Times

Local News Matters, Casey Cantrell, Bay City News Foundation 4/11/20
“In moments of stress and panic, I always go to food for comfort,” said Hannalee Pervan, co-owner and head baker at One House Bakery. “I wanted to make sure that people in Benicia have some comfort, some sense of normalcy.” (Photos courtesy of One House Bakery)

As a veteran of Le Cordon Bleu, as well as Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery and The French Laundry, Hannalee Pervan is used to high-pressure situations. But the co-owner and head baker of One House Bakery in Benicia wasn’t ready for a crisis of this magnitude.

On a normal day, the popular cafe on First Street would be bustling with customers stopping in for a morning coffee or during their lunch break. Now designated an essential service, the expansive restaurant stands nearly empty except for a skeleton crew of about half a dozen employees, all of whom don cloth face masks and gloves while doing their best to maintain social distance in the open kitchen.

Pervan, who opened the restaurant in 2018 and runs it with her parents, wrestles with new obstacles seemingly on a daily basis.

“I’m terrified for the safety of my parents [and] employees,” said Pervan, 34. “It’s scary having your livelihood on the line every day. … But there’s no other way to go than forward. You just go forward.”

Like other eateries in the area, One House Bakery has transitioned from a sit-down service to online and phone orders and curbside pickup, with limited delivery options for the town of Benicia. But as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered non-essential Bay Area businesses and sent residents flocking home, Pervan knew it wasn’t enough just to keep the doors to her restaurant open.

Hannalee Pervan of One House Bakery in Benicia.

“In moments of stress and panic, I always go to food for comfort,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that people in Benicia have some comfort, some sense of normalcy.”

Where many restaurants have shrunk their menus, Pervan has expanded hers. On March 19, she added ready-to-bake meals — frozen pot pies, mac and cheese, shepherd’s pies — alongside her traditional assortment of breads, pastries, sandwiches, soups and salads, and coffee drinks. To serve residents struggling to prepare food for their households, she put together the “Family Meal” — a daily prix fixe dinner special of wholesome and delicious food that serves four for $50. And she opened up her inventory of kitchen staples for purchase — milk, butter, eggs, flour and sugar.

For residents like Vicki Wilson, 45, that was a lifesaver. “Sugar, flour, and yeast … are almost impossible to find in any store,” she said. “One House has been amazing during this time. My husband and I believe in supporting local businesses as much as possible, so going to One House is a no-brainer.”

“We truly care for them,” said Pervan. “It’s my community, and I want them to be nourished and happy.”

And she continues to supplement her offerings, adding staples such as baking soda, yogurt, and bacon and regularly modifying her menu to better serve the region.

“We’re incredibly grateful. People have stuck with us,” said Pervan. “We’re not perfect, but we’re trying to improve every day. We’re grateful that we still get to feed them.”