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Will Covid sick leave return to California? By Sameea K amal CALMATTERS
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2021)
NorthBay Healthcare pharmacy student Genaro Solorio draws up doses of Covid-19 vaccine during a vaccination
event at NorthBay’s Green Valley location, Thursday, April 1, 2021.
State’s hospitals predict Covid admissions to peak in 4-6 weeks By Kristen Hwang CALMATTERS
SACRAMENTO — California’s hospital system is in danger of collapse as skyrocketing Covid-19 cases, severely ill patients and sick staff push hospitals past their capabilities, the California Hospital Association warned last week. Hospitals are expecting Covid19-positive patients to triple by the end of the month, with admissions peaking in the next four to six weeks. The surge in infections and hospitalizations is expected to last until the end of February. “We find ourselves on the precipice of the most challenging time to date for California’s health
care system,” California Hospital Association CEO Carmela Coyle said. “Our capabilities may soon be eclipsed.” The state health department’sprojections indicate the surge in California will peak at 40% more Covid-19 hospitalizations than last winter, bringing the daily total number of hospitalized patients to well over 70,000 by the end of January, Coyle said. Last year, 54,000 people were hospitalized in California during the peak, about 40% of whom had Covid. State projections also indicate 7,000 patients will require ICU hospitalization, nearly twice as many as last year. While major cities like New York, Boston and Chicago are
beginning to seeinfection numbers stabilize, California’s infection and hospitalization numbers are still climbing. The strain on the system is compounded by staffing shortages.National estimates indicate 20% of the health workforce have left during the pandemic, and omicron has resulted in hundreds of workers calling out sick. More than a third of hospitals in California reported “critical staffing shortages” last week, a number that continues to grow. One hospital in the state told the association that more than half of its staff was out sick due to Covid-19 illness or exposure. See Hospitals, Page A7
SACRAMENTO — Labor unions and their Democratic allies in the Legislature want to bring back extra paid sick leave for Covid-19. Gov. Gavin Newsom is also proposing to revive supplemental leave in his budget. But as with so much else in the pandemic, it’s not a simple proposition. There’s opposition from powerful business groups. And key details of the leave still must be worked out, including whether companies would get any help to offset their costs. Under the state law in effect from last March until Newsom and the Legislature let it expire Sept. 30, any employer with more than 25 workers was required to offer as much as 80 hours of leave for quarantines or vaccine side effects. Employees received as much as $511 a day, or a maximum of $5,110 total, with hours accrued retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021. The California Labor Federation made clear Thursday it wants a oneyear extension of the additional paid leave, which would be three months longer than it was in effect in 2021. The supplemental
leave last year – on top of the minimum three days of paid sick leave a year that all employees get – was funded by a federal tax credit equal to a worker’s paid time off, including any health care costs. That credit also expired Sept. 30. The state law didn’t contain a provision to reimburse businesses – and it’s not in Newsom’s proposed budget, or in his emergency $1.4 billion request for Covid response. Ashley Hoffman, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said her group continues to have concerns about the costs to business – and raised the argument that paid sick leave encourages workers not to get vaccinated. “Businesses are already doing a lot to help fight the pandemic. There’s been a lot of mandates through Cal/ OSHA,” she told CalMatters. “There’s this general issue of: How much does the business community have to continue to subsidize those workers who are choosing to continue to be unvaccinated? That seems to cut against the state’s message to get vaccinated.” The governor’s office said it would not See State, Page A7
Free tests? As Covid-19 surges in state, rapid results cost up to $300 By Ana B. Ibarra CALMATTERS
SACRAMENTO — When Rebecca Santucci of Lakewood learned that her sister, Stacy, may have been exposed to Covid-19, she set out to look for a rapid test. She needed to know quickly whether their 88-year-old father was at risk. Pharmacies had been wiped out
of home test kits, and testing clinics were booked solid for at least two weeks. On Amazon, she found a set of two at-home tests for $38, but they wouldn’t arrive until next month. And anything that required waiting hours in line wouldn’t work for her sister, who has Down syndrome and anxiety. Eventually she found a slot for
a rapid antigen test at a private drive-thru clinic on the city of Lakewood’s website. But it was five days after Stacy learned of her potential exposure. The price tag for the test: $129. “We ended up paying the money but it killed me to do it,” Rebecca said. Stacy tested negative, so at See Tests, Page A7
Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters
Eddie Daniels administers rapid Covid-19 tests at Greater St. Paul Church in downtown Oakland, Tuesday.
Fairfield-Suisun district taps top teacher for 2021-22 Daily Republic Staff
DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — A special education teacher at Fairfield High School is the Fairfield-Suisun School District’s teacher of the year. The district announced Christopher Romo as its 2021-22 honoree during a School Board meeting Thursday. “Mr. Romo is very deserving of this recognition,” Superintendent Kris Corey said in a prepared statement. “Mr. Romo’s focus is always on what
is best for his students. He builds strong, meaningful relationships with his students and helps them achieve their full potential.” Corey described Romo in the state- ROMO ment as “a gifted educator” and said the district “is blessed to have him in our organization.” Romo has been teaching for almost 20 years. He has dedicated his career to serving students with special needs. In addition to teaching
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in the classroom, Romo has shared his talents as a consulting teacher and program specialist. “Teaching is about revisiting the past, reviewing the current state and looking into the future,” Romo said in the prepared statement about his teaching philosophy. “But at our core, we often value the same elements that steered us into this profession: a passion and love for serving students, their
families and this community. It isn’t about being your best, it’s about the constant forward motion of surpassing your best.” Romo has taken this passion and steered it toward addressing the holistic needs of students. He expressed how important it is to not only meet their educational needs, but their social-emotional needs as well. “Addressing SocialEmotional Learning (SEL) requires a whole school approach and the conversations that have been happening in the past
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couple of years are a good thing,” Romo said in the statement. “The silver lining through this
pandemic is that the topic of SEL is helping See Teacher, Page A7
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