User:Oughtta Be Otters/COVID-19 pandemic in California

Equipment shortage
Further information: Shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic

California formerly had a strategic stockpile of medical supplies for responding to epidemics. In 2006, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered creation of an epidemic-ready medical equipment stockpile, including three 200-bed mobile hospitals with 50 million N95 respirators, 2,400 ventilators, and 21,000 additional patient beds. Governor Jerry Brown cut the budget for warehousing and keeping up the reserve in 2011, responding to the Great Recession economic downturn.

Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers
As early as January, 2020, a survey by the California Department of Public Health found that many Californian health care providers were having trouble obtaining adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, gowns, and eye protection. By mid-March, 2020, when Governor Gavin Newsom issued the first statewide shelter-in-place order, 220 of 292 California hospitals surveyed already reported that they were having to limit use of masks, often severely. Even with limitations in place, the governor's administration estimated that California healthcare facilities were still using about 46 million masks each month during the pandemic.

As safety equipment shortages continued throughout the first months of the pandemic, many doctors, nurses and emergency medical service workers expressed fears and frustrations at being asked to reuse safety gear or wear homemade and less effective masks and at the overall lack of proper PPE, which does not provide adequate protection from COVID-19 exposure. As of July 18, local agencies reported 107 deaths from among a total of 19,487 healthcare workers confirmed positive for COVID-19 in California.

Governor Newsom's administration made several attempts to procure masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers, including:


 * multiple attempts at large-scale mask purchases, including failed deals with Blue Flame Medical (now under investigation by the US Department of Justice) and Bear Mountain Development Co., as well as a successful, if initially delayed, purchase from BYD ; and
 * a marketplace portal where individuals and businesses could offer PPE for donation or sale, attracting many small donations and fraudulent business posts that overwhelmed the site managers.

As of July 22, 2020, California's stockpile reached approximately 86 million N-95 masks and 111 million surgical and procedural masks.

Hospitals and ventilators
At the start of 2020, California had 416 hospitals, yielding a statewide capacity of about 78,000 beds. In mid-March, 2020, when the state was preparing for a surge of COVID-19 cases, Governor Newsom submitted an unfulfilled request for 10,000 ventilators from the federal government. The state government continued to acquire ventilators, but was able to flatten the curve enough that on April 6, 2020, California donated 500 ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile for use in other states. As of July 13, 2020, hospitals statewide reported that 36% of ICU beds were available still, as were 72% of ventilators. However, the hardest-hit counties were quickly reaching capacity, and reported borrowing ventilators from neighboring hospitals to meet demand.

Effects on prisons
Main article: Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on prisons


 * Alameda County: On March 20, Alameda County officials announced that 247 people would be released from Santa Rita Jail, located in Dublin.
 * Los Angeles County: On March 17, the county Sheriff's Department announced that it had reduced the inmate population by 600 during the previous two weeks in an attempt to keep prisoners from being infected by coronavirus.
 * Santa Barbara County: As of April 17, the county jail had released 324 prisoners. The Sheriff announced on a Friday night that one inmate has tested positive for COVID-19.
 * San Diego County: On March 16, the Sheriff's Department said it had started reducing the number of people being accepted into the county's seven jails and had received approval for early release of some prisoners. Other measures included in-cell meals, a suspension of visitation, and suspension of jail programs.