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Our 166th Year
57,000 COVID-19 test kits arrive Across the state, case numbers are starting to decline, but county Public Health Department says transmission rate remains significant By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
As on Friday, 57,000 of the 200,000 COVID-19 antigen test kits requested by the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department have been delivered. The kits, which came from the U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration, will be distributed to community partners countywide. The remainder of the kits are expected to be delivered in the coming weeks. “Through the receipt of these initial test kit shipments, we are on the road to community members having regular access to free, at-home test kits. It is only through the many partners that have agreed to assist in test kit distribution that we are able to ensure equity of access for all of our Santa Barbara County communities,” said county Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso. The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District began distributing at-home COVID test kits late this week. The remaining tests will be distributed throughout the remainder of the year, according to Kenny Klein, the school district’s public information officer. Despite the statewide surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few weeks, statewide numbers are finally starting to decline. Should this downward trend continue, it will prove what health officials predicted that despite the surge, the numbers would be declining by February, as the News-Press previously reported. As of Thursday, the state transmission rate dropped below 1.0 to 0.77, indicating that each person with COVID-19 is transmitting the disease to an average of less than one person, according to the California Department of Public Health COVID Assessment Tool. “We can now confidently say that we are on the beginning of a downward trajectory,” said Dr.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
California’s Second District Court of Appeal upheld a previous decision granting the city of Santa Barbara immunity from a wrongful death lawsuit raised by the mother of Davies Kabogoza, a 30-year-old who drowned while paddleboarding in the Santa Barbara Harbor in 2017. He was a native of Uganda, a soccer coach and a Westmont
The Santa Maria Joint Union School District distributes COVID-19 test kits.
Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s director of health, according to a report by KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. In addition to the state transmission rate falling, the case rate is also falling. As of Thursday, California averaged 104,000 cases per day, which is a 13% decrease from the previous week. “This comes as a new California bill was introduced that would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, the youngest age of any state,” according to a report by another Los Angeles TV station, KABC. “COVID-19 transmission remains significant even as case counts appear to be plateauing at a high level,” the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said in an emailed response Friday to the News-Press’ questions. “It will take more time
By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – California teens would be able to get vaccinated without parental consent under a new bill proposed by state lawmakers on Thursday. A group of California legislators filed the measure late Thursday. If enacted, it would allow young people ages 12 and older to get vaccinated without parental consent. Under existing law, individuals under age 18 must obtain parental consent to be vaccinated unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. The law, outlined in Senate Bill 866, would apply to all vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration and meet all recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The change would include vaccines approved under emergency use. Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill Thursday along with several other Democratic lawmakers to expand access to kids who want to be vaccinated but are “prevented from doing so due to their parents’ political views or inability to find the time.”
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to truly determine whether cases are indeed trending downward. “The best things community members can do as we continue to see omicron circulating in our community are to get vaccinated and boosted, wear a high quality mask, and stay home if they are sick,” the health department told the News-Press. “As we have seen during previous COVID-19 case surges, hospitalizations are the next to surge, followed by deaths. This is what we are experiencing. “There is much speculation about what the next phase of the virus will mean for communities,” the department said. “While the omicron surge is still ongoing, it is difficult to say exactly when this virus will reach a more manageable stage. There is always the concern for another variant.” email: kzehnder@newspress.com
“Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health,” Sen. Wiener said in a statement. “COVID-19 is a deadly virus for the unvaccinated, and it’s unconscionable for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either refuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.” Legislators supporting this bill noted that it would have implications outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to a rise in measles cases in 2019 that occurred among mostly unvaccinated individuals. According to CDC data, more than 1,200 people contracted Measles in the U.S. in 2019, the most the country has seen since 1992. By allowing teens to get vaccinated without parental consent, medical professionals said it would help increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among 12-to-17-year-olds. According to the latest data from the California Department of Public Health, nearly 64% of teens ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, with another 8% partially vaccinated. As of Jan. 19, the California Department of Public Health reports 1,019,177 COVID19 infections among people aged 5-17. The department attributes 31 deaths to the virus in that age group.
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California’s universal healthcare proposal with $300 billion price tag clears another hurdle By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Santa Barbara County has received more than a fourth of the 200,000 COVID-19 test kits that it requested from the U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration.
“We know how important vaccines are for protecting the health of teens and their families and communities,” San Francisco Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax said in a statement. “Our San Francisco teens have some of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the state and nation with more than 90% fully vaccinated, and they are now getting boosted. This age group has been a critical part of our response to ending the pandemic.” SB 866 is supported by several advocacy groups, including ProtectUS, Teens for Vaccines, GenUP and MAX the Vax. In a statement, Crystal Strait, board chair of ProtectUS, called the bill a “natural extension” of existing laws to prevent the spread of disease. “Teens have the right to protect themselves from preventable death and disability. Under existing California law, minors 12 and older may independently consent to treatment for infectious diseases,” Ms. Strait said. “It’s just common sense that they should be able to consent to vaccines that will prevent serious illness in the first place.” According to a release from Sen. Wiener’s office, several states already allow minors to access vaccines without parental consent. They include Alabama, South Carolina, Washington, Oregon and Rhode Island.
College graduate. His mom, Agnes Nabisere Mubanda, alleged the city failed to warn paddleboarders about the dangers of the activity, was negligent and could not be immune because it collected 10% of rental fees. The Santa Barbara County Superior Court originally granted the city of Santa Barbara summary judgment based on the Hazardous Recreational Activity Doctrine. Please see IMMUNITY on A2
(The Center Square) – A proposal to create a single-payer health care system in California received a key approval that will set the bill up for debate on the Assembly floor next week. The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed Assembly Bill 1400 on Thursday, which would create a government-funded health care system in California known as “CalCare.” The proposal would expand medical coverage to all California residents under a single-payer structure. According to a fiscal analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the bill could cost California between $314 billion to $391 billion in health care spending annually – a total that eclipses Gov. Gavin Newsom’s entire budget proposal of $286 billion for the coming fiscal year. Supporters of the proposal, however, say that a universal health care system would cost less than what California workers and employers currently pay for private insurance. “With CalCare, we have the opportunity to move California to a single-payer system of pay for health care services – a system that countless reputable academic studies have concluded time and again will save our state tens of billions of dollars a year in health care costs,” Assemblyman Ash Kalra, DSan Jose and the bill’s principal author said during a hearing in the Assembly Health Committee last week. With approval from the Appropriations Committee in hand, the bill next needs approval on the Assembly floor. Because AB 1400 was initially introduced in February 2021, it must pass the Assembly by Jan. 31 to meet legislative deadlines and stay alive. The proposal will likely spark debate when it is heard in the Assembly, particularly among legislators who raised concerns about the cost of the system on
Thursday. “Disregarding the estimated $391 billion price tag, Sacramento Democrats pushed a government-run health care system to the next step,” Assemblyman Vince Fong, RBakersfield and vice chair of the Assembly Committee on Budget, said Thursday. “With so many unanswered questions remaining, this proposal remains fiscally irresponsible and poor public policy.” The universal health care proposal comes in two pieces of legislation – one that contains the policy to create CalCare, and the other is the funding mechanism. AB 1400 outlines the procedure for single-payer health care, while another bill, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 11, would implement the new taxes. Assemblyman Kalra unveiled ACA 11 earlier this month, which would fund universal health care by raising taxes for certain individuals and businesses. According to the proposal, the plan would raise taxes for individuals making more than $149,500 per year, with incremental increases of up to 2.5% depending on income level. The proposal would also levy additional payroll taxes on businesses based on size and impose a 2.3% excise tax on gross receipts exceeding $2 million. When ACA 11 was announced, the nonprofit CalTax said it would be the largest tax increase in state history, culminating in an increase of $163 billion annually. If AB 1400 is approved, ACA 11 would be considered separately by lawmakers and requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber to pass. It would then go to voters for approval. Should one fail, neither measure would be implemented. Assemblyman Kalra told the Assembly Health Committee last week that, if passed, the universal healthcare program likely wouldn’t be fully implemented until 2024 at the earliest.
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Appeals court upholds City of SB immunity from paddleboard suit By ANNELISE HANSHAW
California law would let teens to get COVID vaccine without parental consent
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Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-25-27-46-47 Mega: 24
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