Hospitals Ask For Holiday Events to Be Held At-Home 12-23-20 07:06 DC

In an extraordinary plea to their patients, three of California’s top health care providers Tuesday asked residents to resist the temptation to hold in-home family Christmas events this week. The hospitals predicted those events will trigger yet another patient surge on top of an existing wave of new COVID-19 infections.

Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Dignity Health, operators of major hospitals across California, held a joint call with reporters so they could plead with residents to “take stringent, common-sense precautions” in the coming days. They warned Californians that intensive care units and emergency rooms already are jammed with record numbers of patients and can’t handle much more.

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They’re calling it a “Don’t Share Your Air” campaign for the Christmas and New Year’s period. State officials said the current record numbers of hospital patients stems in good part from family gatherings during Thanksgiving, in defiance of state mandates not to hold get-togethers in family homes

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San Benito Restaurants, Volunteers, and Church Help Feed Kids 12-22-20 23:30 DC

San Benito restaurants and volunteers have given hundreds of San Benito County families meals just before Christmas. The groups partnered with the Community Foodbank of San Benito to distribute bags full of spaghetti, salads, and cookies to those in need. The group handed out enough food to feed 1,300 people.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints donated the pasta, according to Sarah Nordwick, director of community outreach for the Community Foodbank of San Benito.

The chef for the project was Raul Escareno, the co-owner of Mangia, an Italian restaurant in Hollister.

Escareno said that he has kids of his own and can't imagine his own kids going to bed with empty stomachs. He didn't want to have anyone else go through that.

Escareno said the groups will be working to put another food distribution together for San Benito County residents after the New Year.

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Watch for Possible COVID Vaccine Scams 12-22-20 22:51 DC

Local officials have issued warnings of potential COVID-19 vaccine scams as the first doses arrive this week. San Benito County is one such agency, and to avoid becoming the victim of a scam, the county shared these tips with citizens:

• Do not pay to put your name on a list to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Do not pay for early access.
• Do not give out your social security number or credit card numbers.
• Ignore vaccine offers that ask for personal or financial information.

Officials say that so far there have not been any reports of scams related to the vaccine in San Benito County, but county officials say residents should remain alert and be cautious.

If you suspect fraud related to COVID-19, you are asked to call 800-447-8477.

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State Coronavirus Stats 12-22-20 17:00 DC

California has recorded a half-million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks, overwhelming emergency rooms in urban centers and rural areas.

California is enduring by far its worst spike in cases and hospitalizations. All of Southern California and the 12-county San Joaquin Valley to the north have been out of regular ICU capacity for days.

California is averaging almost 44,000 newly confirmed cases a day and has recorded 525,000 in the last two weeks. It’s estimated 12% those who test positive end up in the hospital. That means 63,000 hospitalizations from the last 14 days of cases. The current figure is over 17,190.

The explosion of cases in the last six weeks has California’s death toll climbing. Another 83 fatalities reported Sunday raised the total to 22,676, though Newsom cautioned the daily figure was likely too low because of a normal weekend reporting lag.

The state has averaged 233 deaths each day for the last 14 days.

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