California
California casino linked to tuberculosis cases, customers urged to get tested
California health officials are recommending anyone who spent time in a Bay Area casino in the last five years be tested for tuberculosis after 11 confirmed cases have been linked to staff and customers.
Contra Costa Health (CCH) put out the suggestion Thursday, and a county health spokesman told KTVU FOX 2 the most recent case was discovered Oct. 31.
“Of the 11 confirmed TB cases, 10 are genetically linked, and the majority are associated with staff or customers at the casino. The 11th case has not yet been genetically tested,” the health officials said. The source of transmission last the casino has not been identified.
“We are making this recommendation now because there is new evidence that TB may have spread among people who spent time at the casino from 2018 to 2023,” Dr. Meera Sreenivasan said. “TB can live inside someone for years without showing signs of its presence. That is why it’s important to take a test, even if you do not feel sick. TB can cause serious illness, but it is treatable and curable with medicine, especially when caught early.”
Symptoms of active tuberculosis may include persistent or bloody cough, unexpected weight loss, night sweats and fatigue, CCH stated.
TB spreads when a person exhibiting symptoms coughs or breaths out droplets containing the bacteria, most commonly in an enclosed space over a long period of time, such as several hours, CCH says.
Patrons outside the gambling establishment told KTVU they had not heard the news prior to their interaction and did not see any warning signs or notices about the bacterial disease that affects a person’s lungs.
“Doesn’t sound like it’s cool, but people still here though, so didn’t scare too many people away,” Anthony Brown from Richmond said.
“That’s the first I’ve heard anything about that,” customer Bob Lewis from Lafayette said.
Fox News reached out to the casino for comment but did not immediately hear back. The business did release a statement to KTVU.
“Our foremost commitment is to ensure the safety of our customers and employees. According to Contra Costa Health, none of the linked cases are currently contagious, nor do they involve our staff. Additionally, Contra Costa Health has not identified any ongoing sources of transmission at the card room. We are actively collaborating with the county on notifications and testing to uphold public health and safety.”
California saw a decline in public school enrollment for an eighth consecutive year, amid falling birth rates and the migration of families with children out of state.
Why It Matters
Declining enrollment in California has been an issue since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is an indicator of some of the issues facing the state, including falling birth rates, high housing costs pushing families out of the state and lasting impacts from the pandemic
On top of this, lower enrollment has major financial and social consequences for California’s public schools.
What To Know
In the academic year 2024-25, California schools had a total of 5,806, 221 students enrolled, according to data released by California’s Department of Education on Wednesday. This is a 7 percent decrease from the 6,235,520 recorded a decade ago.
There is also more than a 20 percent difference between the size of the number of students leaving school (488,295) and those starting it (384,822).
Stanford University education professor and economist Thomas Dee told The Los Angeles Times: “These losses largely reflect the fact that there are now substantially fewer school-age children in the state.
“This demographic decline is due to both lower birth rates and net migration of families with children out of California — e.g., due to housing costs and the growth of work-from-home employment.”
Indeed, California, like much of the rest of the United States, has a declining birth rate.
In 2023, the most recent year for which the California Department of Public Health records birth data, there were 400,129 births. This is down almost 100,000 births from a decade ago, when there were 494,392 births.
AP
The state’s fertility rate was 49 per 100,000 residents in 2023—down from 60.6 per 100,000 residents in 2013.
However, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond stressed that there has been growth in transitional kindergarten (TK) enrollment—a new grade that serves four-year-olds.
What People Are Saying
Thomas Dee also spoke about “the students who fled public schools at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic who still have not returned.”
“The public school enrollment losses also reflect an enduring increase in private and home-school enrollment,” he added.
Tony Thurmond said: “While we have more work to do, the dramatic growth in TK is inspiring and shows that providing rigorous and quality programs can be a key ingredient to bringing more families back to our schools.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether enrollment will continue to decline in California and what impacts that will have.
California
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