Category Archives: Covid 19

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Vallejo CA

Vallejo and Solano County: COVID-19 is bad, but not as bad as the 1918 flu pandemic

Brendan Riley’s Solano Chronicles: Old reports show pandemic impact in Solano County

Spanish Flu victims were treated at the Navy’s hospital on Mare Island and at other facilities on the island and in nearby Vallejo. (Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum files)
Vallejo Times-Herald, by Brendan Riley, May 10, 2020

My recent column on the Spanish Flu of 1918 outlined its deadly impact on Vallejo and Mare Island. After the column was published, I was able to locate two century-old state reports that have a lot more information about the pandemic, one of the worst in history, including details on influenza-related deaths throughout Solano County.

According to the old California Board of Health reports, the Spanish Flu killed 341 people in Solano County between 1918 and 1920 – more than half of them in the first wave to hit our area, between late September and early December 1918. Another 169 deaths in the 1918-20 period were caused by pneumonia, probably linked to the influenza in most cases. Three-quarters of all the known victims were from Vallejo and Mare Island while the rest were from smaller communities.

After the first cases of Spanish Flu were reported, Mare Island and Vallejo responded by banning large gatherings, barring liberty for sailors in Vallejo, shutting down theaters, dance halls, libraries, schools, churches and other sites used for “public assembly.” Emergency hospitals also were opened and face masks were mandated. Restrictions also were imposed in other towns in the county.

The 1918 flu deaths totaled 163 in the Vallejo area and 53 elsewhere in Solano County. Victims included Marian Turner, a nurse in charge of one of the Navy’s influenza wards on Mare Island; and Adolph Widenmann, member of a well-known Vallejo family. Other victims included Morris Buck of Vacaville and Dan O’Connell of Benicia, prominent farmers in Solano County; and three daughters and one son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Evins, Dixon farmers.

By early December the crisis seemed to be ending and restrictions were lifted. But a second wave of influenza developed in January 1919 and the restrictions had to be imposed again, lasting in Vallejo until the end of the month. The 1919 total of flu deaths was 35 in Vallejo and 18 in the rest of the county. The victims who died during January included B.F. Griffin, president of the First National Bank of Vallejo – whose daughter-in-law, Mrs. Roscoe Griffin, had died from the virus a few months earlier.

The state Board of Health reports, published in 1921 and 1923, show that the third wave hit in early 1920, with 58 flu deaths in Vallejo and another 14 deaths elsewhere in Solano County. A ban on indoor public meetings and other restrictions were imposed again, remaining in place in Vallejo and on Mare Island until mid-February. A week later, similar restrictions were ordered in Vacaville. The 1920 victims included a Navy doctor, Lt. Edward McColl.

The state reports give a Solano County breakdown only for Vallejo. With a 1918 population of about 14,145, it was well above the 5,000-population cutoff for California towns and cities listed in the documents. Fairfield, Vacaville, Benicia and other communities in Solano County were all under 5,000 residents per town at the time. Their combined population totaled 16,251.

In addition to the total of 341 flu-related deaths in Solano County, the state reports also provide the totals for neighboring counties in the 1918-20 time frame: Marin, 135; Napa, 159; Sonoma, 317; and Contra Costa, 453.

Those numbers were dwarfed by the number of influenza deaths from 1918 to 1920 in the Bay Area’s most populous counties, Alameda with 2,004 and San Francisco with 3,829. The Spanish Flu death total for the entire state of California in the 1918-20 period was 20,801.

Those in the 25-to-34 age group suffered more than any other age group in the state. “In 1917 the average Californian died at the age of 52 years,” the 1921 Board of Health report stated. “In 1918 this dropped to 40.6 years, showing clearly the ravages of influenza among the young.”

“As in all other parts of the country, a feeling of impotence in the face of a rapidly spreading infection on the part of the health officers (in California) was responsible for much confusion and lack of proper utilization of what scanty means of control were available,” the report said. Adding to the problem was “the invocation of many peculiar and useless measures that were intended to check the epidemic,” the report added.

Around the U.S., many doctors prescribed whiskey for people sickened by influenza. Dubious tonics, promising protection or relief from the flu, included Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets, Dr. Bell’s Pine Tar Honey, Schenck’s Mandrake Pills, Beecham’s Pills, Pepto-Mangan and Miller’s Antiseptic Snake Oil. There were accounts of mothers telling their children to stuff salt up their noses and wear bags of camphor around their necks. A four-year-old girl from Portland, Ore. was said to have recovered from the flu after her mother dosed her with onion syrup and covered her with raw onions for three days.

“Back in 1918, the basic treatments that were offered were enemas, whiskey, and bloodletting,” Dr. Jeremy Brown, director of emergency care research at the National Institutes of Health, said during a recent CBS interview.

The Spanish Flu killed an estimated 675,000 people in the U.S. and as many as 50 million people worldwide. Now the world is threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, but because of the advances in science Dr. Brown argues that 2020 won’t be another 1918.

“Hospitals as we know them today were quite different,” Brown said. “There were no intensive care doctors who really understand how to treat the very sickest patients. There were no antibiotics to treat any secondary infection. So, it was a very, very different time, and a very different way of practicing medicine back then.”

— Vallejo and other Solano County communities are treasure troves of early-day California history. The “Solano Chronicles” columns, running every other Sunday in the Times-Herald and on my Facebook page, highlight various aspects of that history. Source references are available upon request. If you have local stories or photos to share, email me at genoans@hotmail.com. You also can send any material care of the Times-Herald, 420 Virginia St.; or the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, 734 Marin St., Vallejo.
American Samoa, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Keeping Watch on Earth News

A Place in the U.S. With No Covid-19? Look to American Samoa

The territory, which has sealed itself off from the outside world, has no confirmed cases.

Some credit American Samoa’s good fortune to its enduring memories of the 1918 influenza epidemic, which wiped out much of neighboring Samoa’s population.
Some credit American Samoa’s good fortune to its enduring memories of the 1918 influenza epidemic, which wiped out much of neighboring Samoa’s population. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
The New York Times, by Simon Romero, May 6, 2020 (Updated 5/820)

The coronavirus death toll in the United States is climbing past 70,000, with thousands of new cases every day. But there is still one part of the country without a single confirmed case, much less a fatality: American Samoa, a palm-fringed Polynesian archipelago that has sealed itself off for nearly two months from the outside world.

Other U.S. islands lost their early battles to keep the infection out. But American Samoa’s success so far has been no accident, public health officials say. The territory moved swiftly to halt nearly all incoming flights, rapidly boosted testing ability and took advantage of social distancing strategies that had already been adopted in response to a measles outbreak at the end of last year.

The enduring trauma of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which left American Samoa relatively unscathed but wiped out a fifth of the population of neighboring independent Samoa, has also influenced aggressive anti-contagion moves at each stage of the crisis.

“Life in our bubble is somewhat unique compared to the rest of the world,” said Bishop Peter Brown, leader of the Roman Catholic church in American Samoa. Church services were quickly shut down when the coronavirus began its spread across the United States, he said.

Schools had been preparing to emerge from a measles closure in effect from December through early March when a “continuing” public health emergency was declared, effective on March 23.

“Apart from that, life is pretty normal, but supplies are somewhat sparse with shipping restricted,” Bishop Brown said. He added that many American Samoans were anxiously following the surging death toll on the mainland. “They need the help more than us,” he said.

The 55,000 people in the territory have been allowed to go to bars, nightclubs and restaurants, albeit in smaller numbers over the past month, with a limit of 10 customers at a time. Civil servants are working part time but have not stopped going into offices. The largest private employer, a tuna cannery with more than 2,000 workers, has continued to hum along.

A village road in Nu’uuli. Without plane traffic, the skies over the island have become eerily quiet. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
Riders on a bus in Fagatogo. Capacity on buses was limited to promote social distancing.
Riders on a bus in Fagatogo. Capacity on buses was limited to promote social distancing. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
Children sell their produce at the Fagatogo Market.
Children sell their produce at the Fagatogo Market. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

In telephone interviews, text messages and social media postings, people in American Samoa described experiencing a surreal mixture of relief, isolation and apprehension over what the future holds for the territory, which lies about 1,600 miles from New Zealand and 2,200 miles from Hawaii.

“Since flights were suspended in March, the silence of the skies is eerie,” said Monica Miller, the news director at an operator of radio stations in the territory.

Eying the spread of the virus in parts of Asia, Gov. Lolo M. Moliga moved assertively weeks before some of his counterparts elsewhere in the United States to shield his constituents.

In early March, Mr. Moliga halted the territory’s two weekly flights to and from Hawaii, then did the same with flights to Apia, the capital of neighboring Samoa. Since then, one of the territory’s only lifelines is a cargo flight arriving with medical supplies and food once a week from Hawaii.

“We’ve been preparing for the big one for some time,” said Iulogologo Joseph Pereira, the head of American Samoa’s coronavirus task force.
“We’ve been preparing for the big one for some time,” said Iulogologo Joseph Pereira, the head of American Samoa’s coronavirus task force. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

The territorial government also quickly formed a coronavirus task force in March, introducing a variety of moderate social distancing measures in addition to the church and school closures. For instance, public gatherings in bingo halls and theaters were suspended, and the territorial correctional facility was closed for visitation.

At the time, anxiety was running high over the potential for the virus to devastate American Samoa. Large parts of the population have conditions that could heighten the risk of dying from Covid-19, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

Moreover, the territory has a shortage of medical workers and only one hospital, the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center, with the capacity to treat about 10 coronavirus patients at a time.

When suspected cases began emerging in March, officials worried about having no way to analyze coronavirus tests except by submitting them to the nearest American public health laboratory, thousands of miles away in Hawaii, and waiting for the results.

“It was a really frightening and scary time, like flying blind in a storm,” said Larry Sanitoa, a member of the Fono, American Samoa’s bicameral legislature, and chairman of a nursing home called Hope House.

None of the tests came back positive. But tension over a sense of helplessness was building in the territory, which the United States annexed in 1900 while assembling an empire in the Pacific; Germany, then New Zealand, took possession of neighboring Samoa, part of the same archipelago.

Church services in American Samoa were quickly shut down when the coronavirus began its spread across the United States.
Church services in American Samoa were quickly shut down when the coronavirus began its spread across the United States. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
Fliers urge residents to combat Covid-19 at the A.P. Lutali Executive Office Building in Utulei.
Fliers urge residents to combat Covid-19 at the A.P. Lutali Executive Office Building in Utulei. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
A Manu’a store employee wears multiple layers of masks in Tafuna.
A Manu’a store employee wears multiple layers of masks in Tafuna. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times
Utueli Beach is closed.
Utueli Beach is closed. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

The people of the territory are U.S. nationals, not citizens, meaning they can fight in the armed forces and live in the rest of the United States. But they are ineligible to hold many public jobs and cannot vote for president or run for office outside of American Samoa.

In a letter to President Trump in March, Mr. Moliga, the Democratic governor, said the territory needed assistance and was doing its part to help other Americans, including the hundreds who were aboard the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship when it was allowed to refuel in American Samoa after being turned away at ports in Fiji and French Polynesia.

Since then, the territory has obtained at least $35 million of federal aid to deal with the pandemic, along with more than 1,000 test kits and a machine to analyze them.

Iulogologo Joseph Pereira, the head of American Samoa’s coronavirus task force, said the dozens of tests performed since the machine arrived in mid-April were all negative.

With those results and no signs of local transmission of the virus, the territory remains the only part of the United States that is not under a major disaster declaration. Mr. Pereira said the territory’s response to recent disease outbreaks — Zika in 2016, dengue in 2017 and 2018, and measles in 2019 — influenced decisions early in the crisis.

“We’ve been preparing for the big one for some time,” he said.

Health officials were already on high alert after the measles outbreak in December, and watched with some horror as 83 people, the vast majority children younger than 5, were killed by the disease in neighboring Samoa.

A tent outside Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center’s emergency room in Faga’alu sits empty. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

Swift action during that outbreak prevented deaths from measles, evoking for many in American Samoa the response to the influenza pandemic a century ago. At that time, New Zealand, which ruled what is now independent Samoa, allowed the virus to spread. The flu killed about 8,500 in the colony in just two months.

In contrast, the naval governor of American Samoa isolated the territory, much as leaders are doing now. American Samoa was one of the few places in the world to emerge from the 1918 pandemic without any flu deaths.

“Stringent measures kept American Samoa free of deaths then, and we cannot afford to deviate from the same today,” said Tamari Mulitalo-Cheung, a writer who teaches at American Samoa Community College.

Being a far-flung archipelago in the Pacific may help. Other places in Oceania that have taken measures similar to American Samoa, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and independent Samoa, also remain among the world’s few places without confirmed coronavirus cases.

The virus has reached other parts of the United States in the Pacific, though with less devastating effects than parts of the mainland. Guam has had five deaths, while the virus has killed 17 people in Hawaii and two in the Northern Mariana Islands.

In Puerto Rico, the most populous United States territory, the virus has killed 99 people. Early action by Puerto Rican authorities, including imposing curfews and shutting businesses, is thought to have staved off a much higher death toll.

At this point, some in American Samoa are urging the authorities to relax some measures.

Cargo ships are still allowed to dock and unload at the port in American Samoa. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

In a session of the legislature last week, Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui noted that he had already seen crowds at banks, restaurants and government offices. He questioned whether distancing measures were being broadly enforced, and called for an easing of restrictions.

There are also a few exceptions to American Samoa’s self-isolation. In addition to the cargo ships that are still allowed to dock and unload at the port, a private jet carrying three engineers for StarKist was permitted in April to land at the airport in Pago Pago, the capital, for repairs at the tuna cannery. The engineers had previously tested negative for the virus, said Mr. Pereira of the task force.

He insisted that the authorities were “erring on the side of caution.” Last week, the governor said that current restrictions would be maintained at least until June.

More American Samoans live outside the territory, in places like New Zealand, Hawaii and the mainland United States, than in the territory, making the travel restrictions especially challenging for families that find themselves separated.

“It’s extremely difficult,” said Eddie Vaouli, 42, an American Samoan who has been stranded in Hawaii since March 20. “It’s expensive in Honolulu.”

Some in the territory are also dealing with financial fallout. Donna Gurr, the owner of the largest flower shop in American Samoa, said her business volume had declined by about 50 percent since the distancing measures were introduced. Her store relies heavily on sales of leis for church services every Sunday.

“If this lasts for a year, I could feel different. But right now I feel safe and secure,” said Donna Gurr of Island Flowers.
“If this lasts for a year, I could feel different. But right now I feel safe and secure,” said Donna Gurr of Island Flowers. Credit…Gabby Fa’ai’uaso for The New York Times

Still, Ms. Gurr said she approved of the government’s pandemic response. “When and if this virus arrives, it will be devastating on us,” she said.

Going further, Ms. Gurr said she did not feel too isolated at the moment. “Maybe it hasn’t been long enough,” she said. “If this lasts for a year, I could feel different. But right now, I feel safe and secure.”

Simon Romero is a national correspondent based in Albuquerque, covering immigration and other issues. He was previously the bureau chief in Brazil and in Caracas, Venezuela, and reported on the global energy industry from Houston. @viaSimonRomero
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: For American Samoa, Opting to Slam Shut Its Doors Has Worked.
Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Economy, San Francisco Bay Area, Unemployment

Solano County leads Bay Area with highest unemployment at 5% – How to get help

Bureau of Labor statistics comparing March to February

San Francisco sees biggest increase: 31%

KQED News, by Nina Sparling, May 9, 2020
Restaurant and retail workers have been hard hit during the pandemic. (Getty Images)

Gary Darst lost his job at Pläj in late March. The Scandinavian restaurant in Hayes Valley in San Francisco depends on nearby institutions like the opera, symphony and SFJAZZ Center for much of its business. When those venues went dark in early March, Darst started to worry.

“The thing about the restaurant industry is that you’ve always got a job,” he said. “It’s relatively safe. At least it used to be.”

First, the restaurant furloughed Darst for a few weeks in mid-March. Not long after, all 20 employees were laid off. Darst filed for unemployment insurance immediately — one of hundreds of thousands of Bay Area workers to do so.

But county-level unemployment data show the pandemic is impacting each Bay Area county in a unique way. Those with the lowest unemployment rates have also seen the highest increase in unemployment insurance claim filings — and vice versa.

San Francisco, for instance, has a high percentage of professional and white-collar workers, many of whom continue to work from home and receive a paycheck. The unemployment rate in the county was 3% at the end of March, on the lower end for the Bay Area, according to a KQED and Associated Press analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

“It could be driven by the fact that you have white-collar jobs that have kept their jobs, kept their pay, and other workers who haven’t,” Sylvia Allegretto an economist at the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley said.

Many Bay Area workers have lost their jobs, but the region as a whole is faring much better than the national average. The unemployment rate for the Bay Area as a whole was 3.5% in March compared to 4.5% nationally at the same time. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the April national unemployment rate at 14.7%, the highest since 1948.

While that number is alarming, Allegretto emphasizes the context behind the numbers. “We came together as a nation collectively to shut down the economy as we start to try to deal with a pandemic,” she said. “If I didn’t see high rates of unemployment I’d wonder why are all these people working.”

San Francisco saw a 31% increase in how many unemployment claims were filed in March compared to February. That could reflect the large numbers of restaurants and bars in San Francisco, which were among the first businesses to shutter after the Bay Area-wide shelter-in-place order on March 16, Allegretto says.

“It can hold both ways,” Allegretto said.

Meanwhile, the eastern Bay Area counties show the opposite trend: higher rates of unemployment, but lower increases in unemployment insurance claim filings from February to March.

Solano and Sonoma counties have the highest percentage of workers in construction and retail, industries that have been heavily impacted by COVID-19.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers are not seasonally adjusted, meaning they don’t account for expected increases around the busy holiday season for retail workers or seasonal fluctuations in construction.

Allegretto warns that it’s early yet to draw definitive conclusions. The April report reflects unemployment insurance filings through the end of March, just when the economy started to wind down. The full implications of COVID-19 on the workforce have only grown more acute.

April saw furloughs at Bay Area oil refineries. Tech companies like Uber and Airbnb announced layoffs in early May. City and county budgets are suffering, too. California cities project losses of $6.7 billion in the two years, and Bay Area cities know layoffs might be in the future.

Darst, the restaurant manager, first started working in restaurants at age 14. But he isn’t counting on being able to return to work in the industry any time soon.

“It’s a disaster,” he said. “It’s really bad.”

Below are various KQED resource guides that can help those who have lost their jobs and income due to the pandemic:

How to File for Unemployment in California During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Californians who are missing work because of the novel coronavirus can access benefits, including unemployment. Benefits are not only for people who have been laid off, they also apply to caregivers, those who are quarantined and workers whose hours have been reduced.

Emergency Funds for Freelancers, Creatives Losing Income During Coronavirus

Some self-employed people will not qualify for unemployment insurance, particularly artists who rely on informal, direct cash payments or practice without a business license. With those challenges in mind, KQED compiled a list of mutual aid funds that distribute emergency grants to artists, creative professionals and freelancers facing financial hardships.

Here’s What’s Available to Help Small Businesses Survive the Coronavirus

From restaurants and bookstores to dry cleaners and hair salons, small businesses are a big deal in the U.S., employing nearly half of the nation’s workforce. Most of these institutions, which were already operating on razor-thin margins, have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. And without major assistance, many simply won’t be able to weather their economic losses. This guide lists some of the lifelines Bay Area businesses can try to take advantage of.

A Guide to Bay Area Eviction Moratoriums During the Coronavirus Crisis

Some of who’ve lost their jobs might be worried about paying their rent. This guide has some answers to common questions about renters and tenants protections in the Bay Area.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Nursing homes, Solano County CA, Vallejo CA

UPDATE: Windsor Vallejo Nursing Home now at 102 infected, 3 dead

Families concerned after Vallejo care center reports 103 COVID-19 infections, 3 deaths

KRON4 Bay Area News, by: Maureen Kell, May 8, 2020

VALLEJO, Calif. (KRON) — There’s been a third coronavirus death and more positive cases among residents at the Windsor Vallejo Care Center.

That means there are now 103 confirmed infected cases at that nursing home.

KRON4’s Maureen Kelly talked to the family of a patient who’s now in ICU because of the virus.

“They thought he would not make it to the through the night,” the aunt of William Bennett III said.

She said the 31-year-old COVID positive patient is now out of Windsor Vallejo Care Center and in ICU at Sutter Solano.

“He coded twice and they put the incubator in and the feeding tube,” she said. “And today they thought he was gonna be brain dead or have some brain issue, but today he recognize a doctor he opened up his eyes.”

Bennett has been living at the nursing home for over a year after suffering a series of strokes and being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder.

He is one of 80 residents who have tested positive at the facility over the last two weeks — three have died. 23 staff members have have also been infected.

His aunt had him moved to a room near a window so she and other family members could check on him. She said she was worried about him and wanted him hospitalized because he seemed lethargic.

“We knew he needed to be out of there,” she said.

He was transported by ambulance a few hours after her concerns were aired on KRON4 News.

It’s a skilled nursing home that was already having problems.

A medicare inspection report from the Department of Health and Human Services from April 12 found 23 health citations. Including one which found that the facility failed to ensure that the infection control principals were being followed. It was given a rating of much below average.

“You need to be mindful of people who cannot do for themselves,” she said. “And if you don’t have the compassion for it then you’re in the wrong business.”

A Windsor Vallejo Care Center issued a statement this week that staff are constantly getting updated training on best practices in regard to infection control and that they adhering to all federal and state recommendations to minimize the spread of this virus.

Bennet’s aunt says the doctors hope to wean him from the ventilator over the next two days. She says when her nephew is out of hospital, he will not be going back to that nursing home.

See previous BenIndy reports on Windsor Vallejo Care Center…
NOTE: Windsor Vallejo’s website does an excellent job of sharing extensive information about coronavirus, including an easy way for families to schedule Virtual Visits, but does not disclose numbers of positive or active cases.