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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the United States, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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California is once again at the forefront of the pandemic conversation. |
To catch us up on the virus situation in the state, we spoke to Soumya Karlamangla, who writes the California Today newsletter. |
What was the summer like in California? |
On June 15, when everything opened up, it felt like people were nervous. But a lot of people were also really ready to do things they hadn't done in a year and a half. It felt like everyone I knew in California, from people my age, to my parents and others, were out there living life and feeling good about the vaccines. Then Delta came and it kind of shifted. When the case numbers started going up there was this creeping dread, and you're asking people like, "Where have you gone? How many people are we going to have indoors?" |
How did the state weather Delta? |
California did better during Delta than it did during last year's winter surge. Once cases started ticking up, there was a wave of places that put in place indoor mask mandates. First it was L.A., then San Francisco, and then there was a new place like every day. |
The pace of vaccinations also rose during the Delta surge. The last week of July, there was a 40 percent increase in vaccinations. And lots of places began either mandating vaccines in workplaces or incentivizing them by passing laws. For example, San Francisco requires vaccinations to dine in and Contra Costa County, which is one of the biggest counties in the Bay Area, you can only go to restaurants if you are vaccinated or show a negative test. And now L.A. seems like it's on track to do that, too. |
Have the mandates been working? |
Tomorrow is a big test. It's the deadline for health care workers to be vaccinated. I think people who didn't want to get vaccinated felt like they could possibly get out of the mandate. But it seems like they really can't. So now they're going to have to make a decision about whether to get vaccinated or lose their jobs. |
Has there been a lot of pushback to the mandates? |
We've managed to pass so many vaccination mandates across the state, and generally, there hasn't been a lot of pushback. In many ways, the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom was a referendum on how people felt about the state's strict pandemic policies. He won with 62 percent of the vote. So it seems pretty clear that while Californians may like to complain about virus policies, they don't think that they're bad decisions. |
How are Californians feeling now? |
It feels like we're back. But it's less joyous than when everything first opened up this summer. It feels like maybe people are just comfortable again hanging out with people indoors, and I think that's because our case numbers are so low. |
Vaccine mandates seem to work |
As New York's statewide mandate for nursing home and health care workers went into full effect on Monday, 92 percent had received at least one vaccine dose, up from 82 percent of the state's nursing home workers and at least 84 percent of hospital workers a week prior. |
Many hospitals or health systems with their own mandates have seen only a small number of holdouts. At Trinity Health, which operates in 22 states, the vaccination rate increased to 94 percent from 75 percent. Novant Health, in North Carolina, says it has a rate above 99 percent and suspended just 375 workers. Only 150 of Houston Methodist's 26,000 employees left. |
A few departures could still compound major staffing shortages, particularly in rural areas. But healthy, vaccinated workers may also ease shortages during outbreaks, since they will be less likely to take sick leave. |
Outside the health care industry, United Airlines is firing about 600 employees over noncompliance with its mandate, less than 1 percent of its work force. The vaccination rate at Tyson Foods, which is scheduled to put its mandate into effect Nov. 1, has increased to about 80 percent from 50 percent in August, The A.P. reported. |
What else we're following |
I just got back from a trip to see my best friend, who lives and works in Ontario. Crossing the border was like crossing into another world. The masked border agent took my passport and negative Covid test, and I had to fill out an app and submit pictures of my vaccination card prior to arriving. Any time we had to go inside — from rest areas, to grocery stores, to private homes — every person wore a mask. Then I came home. The U.S. border agent had a mask — below his nose. None of the people in the rest areas wore masks. It felt like I was leaving a place where people actually cared about each other and coming to a place where avoiding discomfort is more important than preventing the illness and death of those around you. It makes me angry and frustrated and sad. — Lauren Woodruff, Dayton, Ohio |
Let us know how you're dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
| Correction: Monday's email incorrectly described California's vaccine mandate for health care workers. Workers can opt for regular testing instead of a vaccine if they have a medical or religious exemption, not if they avoid vaccination without an exemption. |
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