The City of Benicia is sponsoring a free, 30-minute webinar on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. titled “Understanding the Economic Disruption to City of Benicia as a Result of COVID-19” with speaker Dr. Robert Eyler. Details below. Register here.
[Editor: This story describes Southern California beaches, but I witnessed similar high usage of our Benicia 9th Street Alvarez Park beach and grounds yesterday. Benicia currently follows Solano County’s recommendation that we all wear face coverings when in public. – R.S.]
Heat wave draws ‘summer day crowd’ to California beach
Several people utilize a beach, Friday, April 24, 2020, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spring heat wave drove an uptick of people to California beaches, golf courses and trails on Saturday, leading to the closure of one coastal park as authorities warned people not to swarm recreational areas for fear of igniting a deadly coronavirus surge.
Temperatures soared into the 80s and 90s in many areas from Sacramento to San Diego on Saturday. While most recreation remains shuttered under various stay-at-home orders, officials are wary that those still open could draw crowds that will ignore social distancing rules and seek sun and air after being mainly confined indoors for more than a month.
“We’re seeing a summer day crowd,” said Brian O’Rourke, a lifeguard battalion chief in Newport Beach in Orange County, which saw an estimated 40,000 people on Friday. A similar crowd was expected Saturday as the fog burns off.
Police in Pacific Grove said they had to close the picturesque Lovers Point Park and Beach at the southern end of Monterey Bay because of a lack of social distancing.
Los Angeles city and county beaches, trails and playgrounds were closed, and officers on horseback were patrolling those areas to enforce social distancing rules. The city also opened cooling centers for people “who might not be able to survive the heat wave at home,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
Everyone else should stay home rather than gathering outside, he pleaded.
Otherwise, “more people will be sick, and more will die,” Garcetti said, which could delay the city’s reopening because any spikes in virus cases could show up weeks later.
California has more than 41,000 coronavirus cases and more than 1,670 deaths, half of them in the Los Angeles area, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
This week, health officials announced a Santa Clara County woman died in early February from COVID-19 — weeks before the first previously known U.S. death from the virus. An autopsy released by the county Saturday concluded she suffered a massive heart attack caused by coronavirus infection, which also spread to her trachea, lungs and intestines.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.
Cases continue to grow in California but at a manageable pace that hasn’t overwhelmed hospitals, health authorities have said. State and local stay-at-home orders have been cited as successfully slowing the rise in coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths. Recent polls show Californians overwhelmingly support them.
In San Francisco, church bells rang as people stepped outside in masks for a noontime rendition of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to thank front-line workers responding to the pandemic.
“It’s such a great way to bring community and unity to the city,” Justine Fox told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The song is a little sad, about leaving your heart behind, but that’s all right. It’s a little bit of a sad time right now.”
There have been several protests by people who want to reopen the state, contending their liberty and livelihoods are at stake. Three people were arrested at a rally in Encinitas, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of San Diego, Saturday and cited for violating health orders, San Diego County Sheriff’s Lt. Ricardo Lopez said.
South of Los Angeles in Orange County, the city of Laguna Beach closed its beaches. But a neighboring county beach was open, and city Mayor Bob Whalen was concerned that out-of-towners might spill over.
“Stay at home,” he pleaded. “Please don’t overwhelm us here.”
Police warned that violators could face misdemeanor citations that carry fines of up to $1,000.
Beaches in Ventura County, northwest of LA, were open but with some restrictions.
“Basically, you must keep moving. No sunbathing, chairs, blankets, coolers, sunshade umbrellas,” a county statement said Friday. “You must keep moving (while) walking, running, surfing and swimming.”
There already have been large crowds, and more people were anticipated, especially from neighboring LA County. But if they ignore restrictions, the beaches could be shut “for the foreseeable future,” said Mark Sandoval, director of the county Harbor Department.
San Diego County officials said beaches will reopen Monday to swimming, surfing, paddleboarding and kayaking, but not recreational boating. Strict social distancing rules still apply, meaning beachgoers cannot sit, lie down or engage in group activities.
Beaches operated by the state remain closed.
Some places were still tightening their social distancing rules.
On Friday, the city of San Jose announced it was barring people from using playgrounds, sports areas and exercise equipment at local parks.
Solano County extended its shelter-at-home order through May 17. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the order there would likely be extended by several weeks.
Concerts, sports and other events that draw large crowds have been among the pandemic’s casualties. On Friday, officials announced the July cancellation of the annual California State Fair in Sacramento for the first time since World War II.
In my April 23 post, “Headlines in search of stories…” I raised 10 significant coronavirus issues worthy of further inquiry and reporting here in Benicia & Solano County.
Noting that the Benicia Independent is a one-person enterprise, dependent on the wider community for rigorous investigative reporting, I wrote, “…here is my list of headlines in search of stories. Please. Someone out there – get on the phone or otherwise track down the information that the public needs to know.”
Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 – present
Wouldn’t you know, our intrepid Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson forwarded my list of concerns and questions to Solano County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, and many of my concerns were evidently addressed in the County’s weekly phone call with City staff and mayors.
Mayor Patterson followed up with an email to me. I share it here with the Mayor’s permission, as a contribution to understanding the current status of Benicia and Solano County as we move through our collective efforts to control and deal with this historic health crisis.
From: Elizabeth Patterson Sent: Friday, April 24, 2020 4:32 PM To: Roger Straw Subject: Fwd: Questions being asked by Benicia Independent
Roger,
I learned a few things today at the city officials’ call with Solano County staff:
There is one nursing home with tested and confirmed COVID-19 cases (tested because of symptoms). All of these cases to date are not threatening – which of course could change. All cases have been traced. The state keeps the data base for nursing homes, congregate care facilities (6 residents or more) and is seeking information on those with less than 6. Data gathering is expensive and people-intense, and officials must choose whether to deploy people for contact tracing or data processing. The reason the state maintains the data is because they are the ones who license these facilities.
Testing in Solano County is ramping up as it is elsewhere. The state is sending more resources so that the county can and will be expanding testing. They are considering migrating from drive through testing to existing medical facilities. Again this takes human resources with certification.
Testing in Benicia may be possible if we have the right certified people and PPE. I will be talking off line with Dr. Matyas about this. The testing has to be available for symptomatic people or at risk people and therefore must be available almost daily rather than once in a while. As I say, we will explore this.
PPE equipment is arriving: 10K N95 masks, 1000 face shields, 60K masks are on the way from state. Local manufacturing has been retooled to produce 2000 gowns – one size fits most, and Gallo is providing hand sanitizer.
Unemployment numbers are from the state. Not until after they process the unprecedented number of applications with nearly 2,000 processors from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, can they “mash” the numbers and provide details on a county basis. It will take even more work to sort it by zip code. No amount of investigation will speed that up.
Re-opening: It appears that “managed and controlled reopening is closer to May 17th” because Solano needs to follow state guidelines and because we may need another two weeks to “test” the flattening of the curve.
Local revenue losses: Benicia’s City Manager provided a report (which I included in my e-Alert) projecting Benicia’s loss of revenue for this fiscal year – about $3 million. And projected loss for next fiscal year 2020/21 is about $12 million. I got support for establishing a Benicia economic recovery task force at the April 1 meeting, and the City Manager has gathered staff and is reaching out to various people including IDEO for brain power to help with recovery ideas. It is clear the City needs to continue to invest because history has shown that government investment is what restores economic activity. Some will want to furlough employees and/or cut back on investments. One investment that should go forward is the hotel investigation project. That is a perfect project to keep going because we can measure the return of visitors and business and, at the same time, be ready for business in a couple of years. In short, lots of thinking and planning for economic recovery for the City as well as for the city retail and industrial businesses.
Gathering details and planning is underway. Look for a stakeholder subcommittee for working with the staff economic recovery task force. We need to be strategic and innovative and make investments. The real work is developing a road map and sticking to it…and probably massive debt.
The County has the Solano Economic Development Board with a program of Solano Forward, and it will need to be tuned up to adapt to the new conditions. Again, lots of data is being gathered and since this is new, never happened before, there will need to be some brave people to get out of their comfort zone to do what was demonstrably successful during the New Deal.
Those of you who are familiar with the Benicia Independent know what it is and what it isn’t.
I’m a one-person journalist. For over 13 years here on the BenIndy, I have published news and opinion from a Benicia California perspective.
I am NOT an investigative reporter. Mostly I repost interesting and important stories written by others. I am an environmental advocate and an old time liberal on issues of race and gender, peace, justice, poverty and more. I tend to focus on a single issue for weeks or months – or even years – at a time. I’ve reported at length on hazardous oil trains, gun violence and the need for gun control legislation, local and national electoral politics, and so on.
Recently I’ve taken on the COVID-19 pandemic here in Solano County. And that’s where I want to take you today.
Every day now since the second week of March, I’ve posted Solano County’s numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. Most days I spend hours combing through local, regional and national news about the virus and posting it here on the BenIndy.
Your response has been amazing. At the height of our successful effort to stop our local refinery from importing dirty and dangerous crude oil by rail, almost 1,800 of you paid a visit to my pages one day – a record for the BenIndy that lasted for about 5 years. Since I started reporting on COVID-19, more than 3,000 of you have checked my pages on 9 occasions, and on April 1 you set a new all-time record of 8,105 views. A huge and unexpected leap!
Thank you!
Now what does all that have to do with the title of this piece, “Headlines in search of stories… coronavirus in Benicia and Solano County”?
Here’s the deal: every morning I get up and flip back and forth through about 7 local and national news channels on the tv. I spend about an hour like that while I drink too much coffee and lean my sore back on an electric heating pad. And I take notes – ideas about important stories that I really SHOULD cover on the Benicia Independent.
Now if I were an editor in chief with staff, I’d assign reporters to make phone calls and conduct interviews and come back with stories, important stories that really should be written.
Alas, that’s not me, and that’s not the BenIndy…
So, with all that lengthy introduction, here is my list of headlines in search of stories. Please. Someone out there – please get on the phone or otherwise track down the information that the public needs to know, for instance…
There’s a NATIONAL crisis in nursing homes – how many are sick in Solano County’s congregant facilities? Where ARE our nursing homes and retirement facilities? (None here in Benicia – so where do Benicians go when we get old and in need of care? And how are those facilities doing???)
Testing in Solano County long term care facilities – numbers, results?
Solano has recorded 3 coronavirus deaths, 2 among those aged over 65. Did they die in a hospital? And before that, were they living at home or in a long term care facility?
Solano County is testing fewer than 50 per day – why?!!!
Today’s news: Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma and San Francisco are expanding testing – why not expanded drive-through testing in multiple cities in Solano?
Unemployment numbers in Solano and Benicia? Local numbers on those unemployed? And local numbers of unemployed with no health insurance?
Bolinas and SF Mission District are testing EVERYONE – why not here in Benicia? (Yes I know Bolinas is tiny and wealthy, but can’t we think big? Who are a few philanthropists and billionaires with ties to Benicia who could fund such a project?)
Reopening moves are beginning to appear in Bay Area counties. Who is planning the reopening of Solano County, and what are the plans? And will they be open to public comment?
Coronavirus and guns – with schools closed, March was the first month with NO SCHOOL SHOOTINGS in the US since 2002. Rather a bittersweet statistic – do we celebrate, or weep? (This despite an uptick in gun purchases. And what’s that all about?!)
Surely there is a dire fiscal impact of the coronavirus lockdown on Benicia and Solano governmental cash flow and operations. Details needed, and possible solutions.
Etc., etc… You get the idea. But who can take it on? The huge problem with all this is the horrific times our local news media, journalists and reporters were suffering even before the pandemic. Too many cutbacks, too few local journalists, too few local newspapers, and now too many absences, too much loss of revenue during these historic pandemic times. (So yes, there’s another headline in search of a story.)
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