This week, California shifted 鈥� in a small but significant way 鈥� its approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effective Monday, the state Department of Public Health on , including test positivity, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations. It now publishes those numbers just two days a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Some counties with their local dashboards.
- A spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health told me in an email: 鈥淲e have learned over the course of this pandemic that it is more helpful to look at data trends over time and that public health recommendations should be based on consistent trends rather than day-over-day changes, which are impacted by various testing and reporting patterns over weekends and holidays.鈥�
- Last week, the state also .
Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento on Wednesday postponed a key hearing on that would, among other things, withhold state funding from law enforcement agencies that oppose public health orders 鈥� a not-so-veiled warning for sheriff鈥檚 departments .
- The bill is one of a handful introduced by a vaccine work group of Democratic legislators that, if enacted, .
- Edwin Kirby, Pan鈥檚 communications director, told me in an email: 鈥淚t is not unusual for members of the Legislature to reschedule hearings on their bills in order to continue to work with stakeholders. 鈥� The vaccine work group is working to advance legislation to protect Californians so that we can continue to have some of the lowest death and hospitalization rates per capita in the U.S. Californians continue to support common sense requirements to protect public health and save lives.鈥�
- But last week, Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Oakland to force companies to require workers and independent contractors to be vaccinated against COVID, citing a 鈥渘ew and welcome chapter in the pandemic鈥� and pushback from public safety unions.
- Indeed, the vaccine bills 鈥� contentious in the best of times 鈥� to push through the Legislature as California鈥檚 COVID picture improves. Five of the vaccine working group鈥檚 eight bills have yet to receive a hearing date, maintained by GOP Assemblymember Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, who opposes the proposals.
But California鈥檚 COVID picture is far from static. Although the state on Monday reported , cases are beginning to rise again in , likely fueled by the contagious omicron subvariant BA.2.
- And while some counties are relaxing their COVID policies 鈥� San Diego has stopped 鈥� others are tightening them. Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to empower the county personnel director to fire workers who don鈥檛 comply with vaccine mandates 鈥� and his department鈥檚 low inoculation rate.
- Further obscuring the clarity of California鈥檚 COVID situation, some counties, , are scaling back free testing sites as a result of the Biden administration for uninsured patients.
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