Barbara Feder Ostrov

From maggots to sex abuse, nursing homes sue California to overturn citations, fines

December 6, 2021 at 11:58 a.m.

California nursing homes have filed more than 400 lawsuits since 2016 to appeal state citations and fines alleging poor patient care. Regulators downgraded nearly a third of sanctions involving a...

The coronavirus as it appears under a microscope. (CDC Image Library)

The Lambda COVID variant is in California: 5 things to know

August 13, 2021 at 10:21 a.m.

A new strain of the coronavirus has been found in California. But no need to worry, experts say, since lambda is rarely detected, and delta dominates.

COVID patients have doubled in California hospitals

August 10, 2021 at 1:28 p.m.

More than 5,300 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in California on Sunday, almost twice the number two weeks earlier.

Personal care assistant Riza Green receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Carefield Assisted Living Facility in Castro Valley on Feb. 3, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

California first in nation to mandate vaccinations for health care workers

August 6, 2021 at 1:55 p.m.

California’s vaccination mandate for medical workers is the toughest in the nation. California also ordered all visitors at hospitals and other medical facilities to be vaccinated or test negative for...

Baseball fans cue up outside Oracle Park for the first full-capacity crowd of the season, Friday, June 25, 2021, in San Francisco. (Karl Mondon — Bay Area News Group)

COVID cases surging in California a month after reopening

July 15, 2021 at 9:24 a.m.

On Wednesday, nearly 3,100 new COVID-19 cases were reported, compared to 700 on June 15. And the state’s test positivity rate – a measure of how much virus is circulating...

(Illustration by Anne Wernikoff — CalMatters/ iStock)

Cost of fighting COVID in California: $12.3 billion

July 12, 2021 at 10:29 a.m.

An influx of taxpayer money has paid for everything from masks, hospital beds and student laptops to extra workers for unemployment hotlines and tracing contacts.

Medical assistant Letrice Smith fills syringes during a community COVID-19 vaccination clinic run by Ravenswood Family Health Network at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on April 10, 2021. (Anne Wernikoff — CalMatters)

Breakthrough COVID is rare in California

July 1, 2021 at 9:44 a.m.

Most of the 7,553 infections were minor, although 62 people have died. The rate of COVID-19 infections and deaths among unvaccinated people is far higher.

Meredith Reyes, a lab technician 1, labels COVID-19 swab tests before processing at the Sonoma County Department of Public Health on June 8, 2021. (Anne Wernikoff; CalMatters)

County health agencies — fighting disease — also have to fight for state funds

June 11, 2021 at 2:20 p.m.

As the governor and lawmakers wrangle over the budget, local public health departments are underfunded and overwhelmed. Outdated equipment and insufficient staff hamper handling of everything from asthma to syphilis.

Since its launch in early March, few opportunities have been listed on the MyTurn Volunteer site. Photo via Alamy Stock Photo

Willing to help but nowhere to go: State’s recruitment of COVID volunteers fell short

May 20, 2021 at 10:56 a.m.

More than 251,000 Californians signed up on MyTurn to volunteer at vaccine clinics. But only 379 people have been able to book shifts through the state’s problem-plagued website.

About 5,800 people who have been vaccinated against coronavirus have become infected anyway, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells CNN. (Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)

Pediatricians can bypass MyTurn as they vaccinate children

May 7, 2021 at 9:58 a.m.

In an effort to accelerate vaccination of teens, California health officials say they will allow pediatricians to obtain doses without going through the state’s problematic registration site. Children ages 12...

All Stories