Movies
Pets
Pence Gallery looks toward February — Page B1
Hercule Poirot’s little gray cells can’t solve this mess
Dominic is waiting for a new family
— Page B2
— Page A3
Arts
enterprise THE DAVIS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
UC Davis antibody helps block COVID Special to The Enterprise SACRAMENTO — Researchers at UC Davis Health have engineered a novel antibody, FuG1, that can directly interfere with the cell-to-cell transmission ability of SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. FuG1 targets the enzyme furin, which the virus uses for its efficient chain of infections in human cells. The approach could be added to existing SARSCoV-2 antibody cocktails for greater function against emerging variants. A study evaluating the efficacy of the engineered antibody was published today in Microbiology Spectrum. “We developed an approach that interferes with the transmission chain of SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 vaccines are a great lifesaver in reducing hospitalizations and severe illness. Yet, we are now
See ANTIBODY, Page A5
County to lift universal mask mandate next week By Anne Ternus-Bellamy
county continues to recommend that everyone wear face masks indoors.
Enterprise staff writer Yolo County’s universal mask mandate will be lifted along with the state’s on Feb. 15, the county announced Wednesday. The local health order requiring everyone to wear face coverings in indoor public settings and workplaces, regardless of vaccination status, has been in place since July 30. Going forward, only unvaccinated individuals will be required to wear face coverings, though the
In addressing the change on Thursday, Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said, “I still strongly recommend that everybody continue to wear a mask indoors. “The real difference here is that it is being recommended but not required, and part of that is a transition into a new phase of COVID in which we are learning to live with the virus and we will be shifting our government response
away from mandates and more toward the traditional public health role of making recommendations. “Masks do work,” Sisson added. “We’re just not going to require it.” She highlighted research showing just how well masks work. “There was a study that was just published last week that showed people who consistently wore an N95 or KN95 when they were in indoor public spaces were 83 percent less likely to be infected,” Sisson said.
“We now know that my mask protects me and you and your mask protects you and me. So it’s quite possible for an individual to wear a mask to protect themselves when nobody is masking in that
See MANDATE, Page A3
Schoolyard rules changing as well By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer
Lauren Keene/Enterprise photo
A CHP officer and towing crew inspect a crashed pickup whose driver allegedly fired gunshots at two other vehicles on Mace Boulevard this morning.
Police detain suspect in Thursday morning road-rage shooting By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer Authorities combed the Mace Ranch area by road, foot and air this morning, searching for a suspect who fired gunshots at two motorists in Davis this morning. Andre Chevill Wilson, a 53-year-old Elk Grove resident, was later taken into custody along Second Street, according to the California Highway Patrol. The ordeal began shortly after 6 a.m., when the CHP began receiving calls of a solo vehicle collision along westbound Interstate 80 west of Mace
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“So I want to emphasize the benefits of one-way masking. We messaged very early on in the pandemic when we were using masks for source control that... your mask protected me and my mask protected you.
INDEX
Arts ������������������B1 Forum ��������������B4 Pets ������������������ A3 Classifieds ������B3 Movies ��������������B2 Sports ��������������B6 Crosswords ������B5 Obituary ���������� A4 The Wary I �������� A2
Boulevard, Officer Rodney Fitzhugh said. Subsequent calls added more detail, noting that two pickups were traveling westbound and took the Mace Boulevard exit, where “one of those vehicles’ drivers opened fire on the other vehicle,” Fitzhugh said. At about the same time, a third vehicle was traveling northbound on Mace Boulevard “and they had rounds hit their car,” Fitzhugh said. No one was injured in either shooting. “We believe there was a road rage, or what we call highway violence, incident” that preceded the shooting, Fitzhugh added.
WEATHER Saturday: Sunny and warmer. High 74. Low 44.
“What led up to it, we don’t know.” After the shootings, the suspect attempted to get back on the freeway but lost control of his Dodge Ram pickup, which ran off the road, crashed through a fence and came to rest partially on the bike path that runs along the freeway. The suspect fled from the crash scene, spurring a widespread search that included Davis police officers, the Yolo and Solano County sheriff ’s deputies, multiple K-9 units and a CHP helicopter. The Davis Police Department issued
See SHOOTING, Page A5
Yolo County’s health officer is no longer recommending that K-12 students wear masks outdoors at school, provided a majority of the student population is vaccinated. Previously Dr. Aimee Sisson had recommended everyone wear masks outdoors on school campuses and some school districts — including the Davis Joint Unified School District — made outdoor masking mandatory. What changed? “Students who are ages 5 through 11 are now eligible to be vaccinated,” said Sisson. “When this school year began, children 5 to 11 were not eligible for vaccination and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has recommended that unvaccinated persons wear a mask outdoors when they are not able to maintain six feet of distance from others. “So that was the basis for my recommendation for outdoor masking in students in Yolo County.” Now, however, “we have had uptake of vaccines, we have had availability of vaccines for kids 5 through 11, so yesterday I issued an updated recommendation for K-12 schools that if a majority
of their student population is vaccinated, that I would no longer recommend that they mask outdoors,” said Sisson. “But nothing has changed for indoor masking at our K-12 schools,” she added. “The state continues to require all students and staff on K-12 campuses to wear masks indoors and the state has indicated that will not change before Feb. 15.” Students have been removing their masks outdoors during lunch, of course, and Sisson said Thursday that there hasn’t been much in the way of virus transmission during those periods. “I think there have been close contacts and a lot of students who have been sent home to quarantine because of exposures outdoors at lunchtime, but we’re aware of very few students who have actually converted to positive as a result of those outdoor exposures,” Sisson said. “In general, outdoor exposures are much lower risk than indoor exposures and that’s the reason why kids are eating outdoors. “So while we’ve had a lot of kids sent home on quarantine because of those outdoor exposures,
See SCHOOLYARD, Page A3
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