By Jondi Gumz
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency after the state’s first fatality on March 4, a man in Placer County who had taken a Princess cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico. The next day, Newsom announced that millions of Californians are eligible for free COVID-19 testing when it is deemed medically necessary.
The state Department of Managed Health Care, which regulates commercial insurers such Kaiser Permanente, Anthem and Blue Shield, and Medi-Cal health plans such as Central California Alliance for Health, directed them to eliminate co-pays for visits for COVID-19 testing ordered by a medical practitioner.
“This action means that Californians who fit the testing requirements can receive the test at no charge.
The California Department of Public Health reported receiving an unspecified number of new test kits for coronavirus Feb. 28 from the Centers for Disease Control, which had been the only agency authorized to do testing, and expects to receive 1,200 more kits for 11 state labs.
Before this, California had only 200 test kits, according to the California Hospital Association.
There is no state lab in Santa Cruz County so tests are sent to Santa Clara County or Monterey County.
On March 4, the California Department of Social Services began a weekly call to provide protocols to assisted living and child-care facilities and home health agencies with state licenses.
The outbreak has led to shortages of respirator facemasks for medical professionals nationwide.
On March 3, the state reported federal approval to use some of the 21 million N95 filtering facemasks in storage for emergencies. Some masks are past the manufacturer’s expiration date, according to state health officials, who said they were in climate-controlled storage to prevent the elastic that goes around the ears from losing its stretch.
“Releasing this supply of masks will help keep our health care professionals safe on the job,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health and state health officer.
On March 2, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams asked the public to not buy face masks unless they are sick, so as to make masks available for health care workers.
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For general information on COVID-19 call 211, or text coronavirus to 211211, or visit www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus for updates and links to state and federal guidance.
Here are some more information sources:
Health Professionals: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- nCoV/hcp/index.html
Schools and Communities: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.go v%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fpreparing-individuals-communities.html
Higher Risk: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/index.html
California Department of Public Health: www.cdph.ca.gov