COVID-19 Reopening Roundup: Pac-12, Mountain West Call Off Fall Sports; SF Budget Woes; Santa Clara County Imposes Mask Fines
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The tsunami of news about the current coronavirus outbreak and now the reopenings can be overwhelming. To help you navigate through what you need to know here's a news roundup of the top coronavirus and reopening-related stories from the last 24 hours.
Pac-12 Decision A Blow For Stanford Athlete, Vendors Hoping For A Lucrative Fall Football Season
PALO ALTO -- A normally lucrative season for colleges has disappeared after the Pac-12 announced on Tuesday to halt all sports until at least the beginning of next year because of COVID-19. "It was tough," said Stanford University defensive back Treyjohn Butler. "It was really, really tough, I was hoping that we could find a way." The vote by the Pac-12 CEO group was unanimous. Their reasons, which they laid out in a released PDF document, were for travel, testing and health concerns brought on by the pandemic. Butler is part of the Pac-12 unity group of about 400 athletes who were demanding better medical protocols and safer conditions before Tuesday's decision. Among the demands were support for the student-athletes, including preservation of this year's eligibility. Butler is a senior this year, and was eager to get back on the field after leaving last season with injuries. Read More
Santa Clara County Supes Vote To Extend Eviction Moratorium, Impose Fines For Mask Violations
SAN JOSE -- Amid a ticking "eviction time bomb" in Santa Clara County, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an extension on the eviction moratorium for both private and commercial tenants and to impose fines for COVID-19 health order violations. Violations include not wearing masks, or social distancing. The fines range from $500 for non-business violations to $5,000 maximum for business violations, and are effective immediately. Violators have a 24-72 hour grace period to respond to the county and avoid the ticket. They can also appeal in writing within 10 days. The moratorium extends protections toward tenants who cannot pay their rent or mortgage because of job or wage loss related to COVID-19 beyond its current expiration on Aug. 31. However, the exact date for the new eviction ban will be decided at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 25 and may include additional protections for tenants and fines for landlords who do violate the moratorium. Read More
Berkeley Tries Out New User-Friendly COVID-19 Test
BERKELEY -- A Silicon Valley startup developed a new system for coronavirus testing that is more accurate and "user friendly," as it doesn't require users to stab their brains with q-tips and requires little technical assistance. The walk-up, self-test kiosk from Curative debuted Tuesday in the parking lot of the Berkeley Adult School. It was the first example of walk-up, self-testing in the country. To use the system, called an oral fluid test, clients cough three to five times before stepping into a kiosk. They then take a swab sticking out of a slot, wipe the inside of their mouths for 20 seconds and put the swab in a plastic vial. From there it is collected by a technician and sent off for testing. Users seemed happy with the system as it wasn't as harsh as the tests commonly used for COVID-19, which requires a 6-inch cotton swab shoved up the subject's nose. Read More
New 24-Hour Street Crisis Response Team To Replace SF Law Enforcement On Mental Health Calls
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced the creation of a new 24-hour Street Crisis Response Team that would be used to respond to behavioral health emergencies in the place of law enforcement. Under the pilot program, the team would provide appropriate responses to 911 and 311 calls regarding people experiencing intoxication, psychosis, or any other mental health or substance abuse-related emergencies. The effort aims to divert those individuals away from emergency rooms and jails and instead place them in behavioral health treatment facilities. The response teams will be equipped with at least one paramedic from the Fire Department and a behavioral health clinician and behavioral health peer from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Read More
CoCo County Adds Testing Capacity, Contends With Data Issues
MARTINEZ -- With area laboratories overwhelmed by a growing volume of COVID-19 coronavirus testing, resulting in "significant delays" in test result returns, Contra Costa Health Services is beefing up its lab capacity and opening up two new testing centers this week in West County, health officials said Tuesday. The news came as the spread of the coronavirus continues, especially in Contra Costa County's communities of color, according to Dr. Erika Jenssen of Contra Costa Health Services. Both Jenssen and Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa's health officer, spoke Tuesday morning to the county Board of Supervisors as part of Health Services' regular COVID-19 update to the board. Farnitano said high testing volumes have resulted in delays in getting test results out to the public, in some cases as long as three weeks. That, he said, limits the very usefulness of those tests. Read More
Napa Co Supes Affirm Support for Health Officer Criticized By Locals
NAPA COUNTY -- Napa County supervisors affirmed their support for county Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Relucio on Tuesday after a group of parents lambasted her for not reopening some schools during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Relucio appeared before the Napa County Board of Supervisors to give an update on COVID-19 and the county, which has had one of the lowest case totals in the greater Bay Area since mid-March. However, the county's relatively low number of cases, 1,074 as of Monday, obscures that the county's case total doubled from 480 to 960 in just 26 days during the month of July, according to Napa County Public Health data.The quick rise in cases landed Napa County on the state's coronavirus watchlist, which prevents businesses like salons and gyms from operating indoors and also prevents schools from holding in-person classes until their county is off the list for 14 days. Read More
Pac-12, Big Ten Conferences Scrap Fall Seasons Over COVID-19 Pandemic Concerns
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Pac-12 Conference announced Tuesday it would postpone all fall sports competitions, hours after the Big 10 Conference issued a similar announcement, because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decisions take two of college football's five power conferences out of a crumbling fall season amid the pandemic. Members of the Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the 2020 calendar year, the decision coming after consultation with athletics directors and with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee. "We met with students, we met with our ADs constantly, our coaches, with the medical advisory board," said University of Oregon president Michael Schill, head of the Pac-12 CEO Board. "We listen too all of the views and we determined that there are just too many questions. Too much uncertainty right now that we would be comfortable beginning contact sports." Read More
SJSU Sports On Hold; Mountain West Conference Suspends All Fall Programs
SAN JOSE -- San Jose State University student-athletes will not play sports this fall following a decision by the Mountain West Conference to indefinitely postpone all fall sports contests due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The conference's board of directors made the decision on Monday. Along with football, cross country, women's soccer and women's volleyball have also been suspended, the university said in a statement. Last week, the conference had canceled fall competition in golf, tennis, women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, softball and baseball. Conference officials said they will begin exploring the possibility of rescheduling fall sports contests in the spring. Discussions are ongoing about the status of sports that are normally played in winter. Read More
San Francisco Mayor Breed Outlines City's Budget To Battle Coronavirus Pandemic
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayor London Breed on Tuesday offered up some details on the city's fight against COVID-19 and its financial impact in the months to come. Mayor Breed laid out a $446 million plan to battle the coronavirus, though she noted the figure doesn't factor in another major surge in cases. Of the $446 million allotted for coronavirus-related services, $185 million is designated for healthcare and outbreak mitigation and another $185 million slated for housing. $62 million would be allocated to cover food expenses with an additional $16.5 million designated for emergency operations. Breed said the plan assumes the reimbursement of 50 percent of eligible funds and appropriates the remaining dollars needed from the CARES Act relief fund. Read More
President Donald Trump Slams College Football Cancellations As 'A Tragic Mistake'
CHICAGO -- The college football season remains up in the air as the Big Ten and Pac-12 are reportedly leaning towards cancelling, while the ACC and SEC appear ready to forge ahead and the Big 12 remains uncertain of what to do. Amidst this conversation about the season, players across the country have united around the #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay campaigns pushing for a plan to safely conduct the season and allow them to organize a players association. President Donald Trump weighed in with his thoughts on the cancellation rumors swirling around the sport on Fox Sports Radio Tuesday with Clay Travis. The president said that he believes it would be a "tragic mistake" to cancel the season because he doesn't believe that the athletes will have problems if infected by coronavirus. Read More
