—Voice of OC
Orange County officials are pushing back against the state’s new coronavirus business reopening metric, saying it’s too stringent and will prevent more business reopenings.
The new state metric requires counties to smooth out transmission rates in working class, minority neighborhoods before more businesses can reopen.
“This addition to the state’s tier criteria is troubling in that it places another unfair burden on counties like ours that have already been working hard on assisting communities that have been hardest hit,” Supervisor Chairwoman Michelle Steel said at a Thursday news conference.
“Sacramento’s one-size-fits-all approach to this crisis does not work for the 58 counties across this large state. Not all regions are the same,” she said.
County CEO Frank Kim joined Steel’s opposition to the new metric.
“I think what we’re asking the state for is for additional flexibility,” Kim said.
He said colleges can also lead to case bumps because people from all over are coming back to campuses.
“So each county has different capacity to manage that. To understand it. We also have different demographics. I don’t think that we should all be treated exactly the same. We should be given a certain amount of flexibility,” Kim said.
Yet the last time that Orange County officials had that kind flexibility, they backed off key virus containment efforts – such as restaurant enforcement and a mandatory mask order – that left certain communities vulnerable until statewide orders were issued.
Latinos, while making up roughly 35 percent of OC’s population, have 47 percent of the total Covid confirmed cases, according to county Health Care Agency data.
Latinos also make up nearly half – 44 percent – of Covid deaths.
Public health experts said the virus’ sharp disproportionate impact on Latinos in Orange County is due to lack of healthcare access, overcrowded housing and not having the option to work from home….
President Trump vowed to “drain the swamp.” Instead, Mr. Trump built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics
—NYT
✅Justice Department cancels diversity training, including for immigration judges -- The U.S. Justice Department has suspended all diversity and inclusion training and events for its employees, according to a memo obtained by The Chronicle, which would include judges in San Francisco and elsewhere hearing cases of immigrants seeking to avoid deportation. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/10/20
✅Deep pockets: Here’s who is spending big money in California elections this year -- Campaign finance records fall quickly these days, as big money gets bigger and new records are set each election cycle. Still, what’s happening in 2020 is staggering. Harriet Blair Rowan in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/10/20
✅Southern California suburban counties failing COVID-19 benchmarks for communities of color -- A swath of California is failing to meet a new state health equity metric for coronavirus cases that’s intended to ensure counties are helping poor communities of color, which are disproportionately affected by the virus. That failure is creating new barriers to further reopening of the economy. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/10/20
✅Coronavirus could worsen in winter, remain major threat through 2021, Fauci says -- Fauci warned that a sense of normality post-coronavirus may not come to the U.S. until late 2021, adding that the arrival of a vaccine will not suddenly bring the U.S. lurching back. Rather, it’ll be a gradual transition over a long period of time. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/10/20
✅Prospects for more stimulus checks, coronavirus relief fade as Trump’s offer draws bipartisan opposition
The criticism from Democrats and Republicans suggests the chances for a deal before the election are growing extremely remote.
—WashPo
✅Trump criticizes Barr and calls for Justice Dept. action against Democrats
—WashPo
✅OC Covid numbers: 186 new cases (low); 24 new deaths (high!)
