California coronavirus updates: CDPH announces changes to masking, other COVID-19 guidelines – Capital Public Radio News
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Latest Updates
CDPH announces changes to masking, other COVID-19 guidelines
Pandemic food assistance in California is ending March 26
COVID-19 conspiracy theories soar after lab leak origins report
Here’s what the scientific community says about the origin of COVID-19
Some pandemic food assistance programs come to an end
COVID-19 By The Numbers
Tuesday, March 7
11:35 a.m.: CDPH announces changes to masking, other COVID-19 guidelines
The California Department of Public Health recently announced updates to several state public health orders related to vaccination, masking, isolation and quarantine.
CDPH stressed that getting vaccinated and wearing masks are still the best ways to protect yourself. Here are some of the incoming changes to existing COVID-19 guidance:
- Masking in high-risk and health care settings: Starting April 3, masks will no longer be required in indoor high-risk and health care settings.
- Vaccine requirements for health care workers: Starting April 3, the state will no longer quire vaccination for health care workers, including those in adult care, direct care, correctional facilities and detention centers.
- Reduced isolation time after positive COVID-19 test: Starting March 13, a COVID-19-positive person may end isolation after five days if they are feeling well, have improving symptoms and are fever-free for 24 hours.
In recent weeks, California has begun to wind down some underutilized emergency COVID-19 support across California. This includes state-funded testing and test-to-treat sites, vaccine staff, outbreak response teams, mobile vaccine units and pop-up vaccination events.
Oregon and Washington have recently made similar announcements related to masking.
Monday, March 6
12:24 p.m.: Pandemic food assistance in California is ending March 26
Since the pandemic started, people receiving CalFresh benefits in California have gotten the maximum benefit for their household size, meaning that those already receiving that highest amount became eligible or at least another $95 a month.
However, those extra payments end this month. The last installment will be deposited in household EBT accounts on March 26.
CalFresh benefits are one of the many things changing as the country inches toward the expiry of the federal COVID-19 emergency declaration, which expires May 11. With hundreds of thousands of people impacted, food banks and mutual aid groups in the Sacramento area re preparing for increased need.
Friday, March 3
11:28 a.m.: COVID-19 conspiracy theories soar after lab leak origins report
Online speculation about the origins of COVID-19 is soaring after a new report from the Energy Department concluding the coronavirus that caused the disease leaked from a China lab.
According to the Associated Press, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News the virus’ origins are “most likely a potential lab incident.”
The report has not been made public, and officials in Washington stressed that a variety of U.S. agencies are not in agreement on the origin.
Many scientists believe the likeliest explanation is that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 jumped from animals to humans, possibly at Wuhan’s Huanan market, a scenario backed up by multiple studies and reports.
While the World Health Organization says this is the most likely reason, the possibility of a lab leak must be instigated further before it can be ruled out.
Thursday, March 2
1:29 p.m.: Here’s what the scientific community says about the origin of COVID-19
Since the coronavirus pandemic, originally named SARS-CoV-2, began three years ago, its origin has been a topic of much scientific and political debate.
Two main theories exist: the virus spilled over from an animal into people, most likely in a market in Wuhan, China, or the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and spread due to some laboratory accident, NPR reports.
The Wall Street Journal added to that debate this week when they reported that the U.S. Department of Energy shifted its stance on the origin of COVID. It now concludes with “low confidence” that the pandemic arose from a laboratory leak.
The agency based its conclusion on classified evidence that isn’t available to the public.
And at this point, the U.S. intelligence community still has no consensus about the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Four of the eight intelligence agencies lean toward a natural origin for the virus — meaning hopped from animal to person — with “low confidence,” while two of them, the DOE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, support a lab origin with “moderate confidence.”
However, at the end of the day, the origin of the pandemic is also a scientific question.
Virologists who study pandemic origins are much less divided than the U.S. intelligence community. They say there is “very convincing” data and “overwhelming evidence” pointing to an animal origin, most likely from a market in Wuhan.
Wednesday, March 1
11:24 a.m.: Some pandemic food assistance programs come to an end
Millions of Americans will have less to spend on groceries as emergency food assistance that Congress enacted early in the pandemic has ended, according to NPR.
On average, individuals will get back $90 less this month in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Some households will see a cut of $250 a month or more, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research institute.
About 40 million people in the U.S. use SNAP, so the cut in benefits coinciding with food prices rising might feel like a shock to many.
At the start of the pandemic, nearly 9.5 million older adults ages 50 and up were considered “food insecure,” meaning they sometimes struggled to afford all the food they needed. In addition, an estimated 9 million children live in food-insecure homes, according to nonprofit group No Kid Hungry. Overall, about 10% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity at some point in 2021.
Find older coronavirus updates on our previous blog page here.
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