California
Bay Area COVID case rates are once again lower than California’s
After 4 months of getting to say the very best COVID charges in California, the Bay Space has dropped again to its acquainted place by means of a lot of the pandemic — among the many state’s lowest an infection charges.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles and San Diego each surpassed the nine-county Bay Space because the extremely contagious BA.5 variant unfold all through the state. The change comes as L.A. considers reinstating an indoor masks mandate, which some campuses in Southern California akin to UC Irvine have already finished.
The Bay Space’s uncommon flip atop California’s case charges defied the sample seen in all however a handful of days throughout 2020 and 2021 because the area benefited from aggressive shutdowns and social distancing. However the omicron waves and the lifting of practically all mandates has modified issues.
From late February to early July, the Bay Space was reporting a better case price than the state, at instances greater than 50% increased. At one level, the area’s price was among the many highest within the nation.
Now case charges within the Bay Space seem like modestly declining, dropping from over 50 circumstances per 100,000 residents at first of June to the low 40s in July. Case charges in L.A. have now topped 55 per 100,000. COVID hospital sufferers have additionally soared in Southern California, whereas the Bay Space’s rise in hospitalizations is slowing.
So what’s occurring now that’s inflicting the Bay Space to as soon as once more fall under California’s case price?
“Any cause I give goes to be a guess,” stated Dr. John Swartzberg, medical professor emeritus of infectious illnesses and vaccinology at UC Berkeley’s College of Public Well being. “After I look over time at this pandemic, we’ve seen that outbreaks by no means happen in a uniform trend,” he stated, “they occur in a stochastic trend,” an epidemiologists manner of claiming they occur randomly.
Swartzberg stated that what is going on now could be “the identical phenomenon” we’ve been seeing for years now. “One area has an issue, and it stays an issue for 3 months or so, after which it begins to get higher.”
However what actually issues lately, consultants say, is the dramatically higher outcomes for individuals who take a look at optimistic for COVID, because of vaccines and anti-viral therapeutics and new variants that trigger much less extreme sickness.
There was no higher indication of that than Thursday’s information that President Biden had examined optimistic.
“My rapid response was that I didn’t really feel anxious,” stated Swartzberg, when his spouse instructed him the information. “That’s a exceptional shift in my emotions from 9 months in the past,” he stated, “with delta, if somebody received COVID, somebody 79 years previous, I anxious about them dying.
“I feel the probabilities of somebody like Biden dying now will not be zero, however they’re getting near zero.”
When President Trump examined optimistic greater than 20 months in the past, the nation held on each replace in a pre-vaccine world wherein medical doctors relied on experimental therapies to focus on a deadlier variant of the virus.
Hours after the 79-year-old, fully-vaccinated and double-boosted Biden examined optimistic on Thursday, many individuals akin to Brandon Shirley hadn’t even heard the information.
Shirley, who was strolling round Lake Merritt in Oakland, was not overly involved for the president’s well being. “I feel he’ll be OK,” Shirley stated. “He’ll get the absolute best care.”
Shirley has had the virus twice now. And his three daughters have all had it. Though he was as soon as skeptical about getting vaccinated, his first bout with the virus scared him sufficient to vary his thoughts. “I believed I used to be going to die,” he stated. “That’s what made me get vaccinated.”
Despite the fact that he’s totally recovered, “it takes a toll,” Shirley stated, “bodily, and emotionally.” Getting COVID once more is “nonetheless a priority,” however he does his finest to restrict his publicity, and his second spherical with the virus, post-vaccination, was not a giant deal.
California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says state will provide rebates if Trump removes tax credit for electric vehicles
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will provide rebates to residents if President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration does away with a federal tax credit for electric vehicles.
In a news release issued Monday, Newsom said he would restart the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which provided financial incentives on more than 590,000 vehicles before it was phased out late 2023.
“We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” Newsom said. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”
The federal rebates on new and used electric vehicles were implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. When Trump’s second term in office begins next year, he could work with Congress to change the rules around those rebates. Those potential changes could limit the federal rebates, including by reducing the amount of money available or limiting who is eligible.
Limiting federal subsidies on electric vehicle purchases would hurt many American automakers, including Ford, General Motors and the EV startup Rivian. Tesla, which also builds its automobiles in the United States, would take a smaller hit since that company currently sells more EVs and has a higher profit margin than any other EV manufacturer.
Newsom also announced earlier this month that he will convene a special session “to protect California values,” including fundamental civil rights and reproductive rights, that he said “are under attack by this incoming administration.”
“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom said on X on Nov. 7.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time California will be taking action against the Trump’s administration concerning clean transportation legislation.
In 2019, California and 22 other states sued his administration for revoking its ability to set standards for greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for vehicles, The Associated Press reported.
California sued the Trump administration over 100 times during his first term, primarily on matters including gun control, health care, education and immigration, the Los Angeles Times reported.
California
45 Years Later, California Murder Mystery Solved Through DNA Evidence
A 45-year-old cold case of a 17-year-old girl brutally raped and murdered has been resolved, bringing closure to the family. On February 9, 1979, Esther Gonzalez walked from her parents’ home to her sister’s in Banning, California, roughly 137 km east of Los Angeles. She never arrived. The next day, her body was discovered in a snowpack near a highway in Riverside County, California. Authorities determined she had been raped and bludgeoned to death, leading to an investigation that spanned decades.
The lab was able to match the DNA to a man named Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, who died in 2014. Williamson, a US Marine Corps veteran, called authorities on the fateful day to report finding Ms Gonzalez’s body. At the time, he claimed he could not identify whether the body was male or female. Described as “argumentative” by deputies, Williamson was asked to take a polygraph test, which he passed, clearing him of suspicion in the pre-DNA era. He had faced assault allegations in the past but was never convicted of any violent crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Despite limited leads, the Riverside County cold case homicide team didn’t give up. A semen sample recovered from Ms Gonzalez’s body in 1979 was preserved but remained unmatched in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for decades.
In 2023, forensic technology finally caught up. The homicide team collaborated with a genetic lab in Texas that specialises in forensic genealogy. A sample of Williamson’s blood from his 2014 autopsy provided the DNA match needed to confirm him as the 17-year-old’s rapist and killer.
The Gonzalez family had mixed emotions—relief at finally having answers and sadness knowing Williamson would not face justice, as he died in Florida ten years ago. Ms Gonzalez, remembered by her family as a shy yet funny and mild-mannered young woman, was the fourth of seven children. Her oldest brother, Eddie Gonzalez, wrote on Facebook, “The Gonzalez family would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on a job well done. After 40 years, the Gonzalez family has closure.”
“We are very happy that we finally have closure,” Ms Gonzalez’s sister, Elizabeth, 64, shared with CNN. “We are happy about it but, since the guy has died, a little sad that he won’t spend any time for her murder.”
California
Bird Flu Virus Identified In Raw Milk Sold In California
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has detected the avian influenza or “bird flu” virus in a sample of a raw milk product. The product which was for sale at retailers at the time of the testing has now been recalled by the producer after the state of California requested it’s withdrawal from sale.
The affected product is cream top, whole raw milk produced and packaged by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County with lot code 2024110. The best buy date of the batch is 11. Nov, 2024 meaning consumers could still have it in their homes. No illnesses have currently been reported from this batch of milk, but people can take several days to develop bird flu after exposure. According to the World Health Organization, most people develop symptoms within 2-5 days, but can take up to 17 days to develop.
According to the CDC, bird flu symptoms may include fever or feeling feverish or chills, eye redness or irritation, and respiratory symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and tiredness.
Customers should not consume any product matching the description above and should return the product to stores or dispose of it. The CDPH is also in the process of informing re also in the process of informing retailers about the infected product to notify them to remove it from their shelves. The CDPH has since visited both locations of the company’s farms and has found no further evidence of bird flu. The CDPH will continue to test the farm’s milk twice a week.
The CDPH stresses that there is no risk of consuming pasteurized milk as the milk is heated to temperatures which inactivate bacteria and viruses. However raw milk does not go through this process, meaning any bacteria or viruses in the milk can be transferred to the consumer. Public health departments, as well as the CDC have long warned against the dangers of consuming raw milk, which has been responsible for outbreaks of Listeria, E. coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella, among other microbes.
California has been hit with bird flu outbreaks in both dairy cow herds and poultry farms with over 400 dairy herds affected as of 22. November. Twenty-nine human cases have also been recorded in the state, mostly individuals who have had close contact with infected livestock. The numbers of infected individuals are likely to be under reported and very little is known about the severity of disease in humans so far. Just two days ago, the CDC confirmed a case of H5N1 bird flu in a child in California with no known contact with livestock.
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