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October 9, 2024

California’s COVID Surge Is Finally Over. But Expect Another Spike In The Coming Months

California’s protracted summer COVID surge has finally ended, a welcome window that provides a key opportunity to prepare for yet another expected resurgence of transmission this autumn and winter, doctors say. Key to thwarting that threat is the availability of updated vaccines, which have been formulated to boost protection against recently dominant circulating coronavirus strains — the same approach used to develop the annual flu shot.  That’s why doctors are urging everyone age 6 months and older to get an updated COVID vaccine, ideally before Halloween. And unlike last year, the new shots have arrived on time and are plentiful. “The single most effective thing that [people] can do to protect themselves as we get into fall and winter is to get vaccinated,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a recent briefing. “We have an updated COVID vaccine, an updated flu vaccine, an RSV vaccine — all of those can help protect ourselves, our families, our communities.” LA Times Read more

CDC Launches New Way To Measure Trends Of COVID, Flu And More

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a new way for Americans to look up how high or low levels of viruses like COVID-19 and flu are in their local area for 2024. This year's new "community snapshot" is the CDC's latest attempt to repackage its data in one place for Americans deciding when to take extra precautions recommended in its guidelines, like masking or testing, going into the fall and winter. It centers around a sweeping new weekly metric called "acute respiratory illness." The metric's debut fulfills a goal laid out by agency officials months ago, aiming to measure the risk of COVID-19 alongside other germs that spread through the air on a single scale from "minimal" to "very high." "The biggest thing we're trying to do here is not just to have a dashboard. It's not just putting a bunch of information in front of people and kind of expecting them to navigate all of that," said the CDC's Captain Matthew Ritchey. CBS News Read more



Several Bay Area Cities, Counties Receiving State Money To Combat Homelessness

In a virtual news conference Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced more than $130 million to help combat the state's homelessness crisis. "We need to take back the streets, and these encampment resolution grants are a part of that," Newsom said. In total, 18 cities and counties across the state will be receiving part of the money. That includes several locations here in the Bay Area, like San Francisco and Contra Costa County. Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said his county plans on using the $5.7 million it's receiving to clear an encampment near the city of San Pablo. Gioia said the county will provide permanent housing for those currently living in the encampment as well as wrap around services. It's something that wouldn't be possible without the state's help. "It costs money to move people off the street, into shelter and permanent housing. Especially those who have mental health or substance abuse issues and need supportive services to remain in housing," Gioia said. ABC7 News Read more

S.F. Adopts New RV Parking Restrictions To Deal With Homeless People. Critics Call It "Inhumane"

San Franciscans living out of large recreational vehicles could face towing if they don’t accept shelter, the latest move by Mayor London Breed to address homelessness. Beginning Nov. 1, large RVs and trailers parked from midnight to 6 a.m. on city streets where signage is posted could be towed after a 6-1 vote Tuesday by the board of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. In instances where someone is living inside the vehicle, city officials must offer shelter to the occupants before towing the vehicle. “It really is truly a service-first approach,” SFMTA Director of Streets Viktoriya Wise said Tuesday evening during the board meeting. “But what my colleagues found is that until there’s very clear and meaningful enforcement, such as having a vehicle towed, people don’t always want to accept shelter or services.” SF Chronicle Read more

San Rafael Opens Authorized Camp For Homeless

Emily Ann Mendoza, 58, said she had been waiting patiently for San Rafael to open its new sanctioned homeless camping area so she could get on the path to housing. On Friday, Mendoza was among the first residents welcomed to the site between Lincoln Avenue and Andersen Drive at the northern part of the Mahon Creek Path. The opening day marked the next chapter in the city’s complicated effort to address homelessness. “I’m pretty excited,” Mendoza said. “It’s nice, clean. They gave us cots and tents. It’s wonderful. This was so needed.” The program, which is expected to operate for 12 to 18 months, comes after a federal judge dismissed a yearlong lawsuit in August. The suit challenged a city ordinance restricting the size and location of homeless camps. The ordinance was adopted when the encampment along Mahon Creek, the site of the county’s largest homeless congregation, began to grow. Officials said the ordinance aimed to curb violence, crime and littering related to larger camps.

Marin Independent Journal Read more



Amid Dire Shortage Of Therapists, Asian Health Clinic In Oakland Trains Staff In "Lay Counseling"

In her first months as a community health worker, Jee Hyo Kim helped violent crime survivors access supportive services and resources. When a client with post-traumatic stress disorder sought a therapist, she linked him to one that fit his needs. She helped clients afraid to leave their homes obtain food delivery vouchers. As one client described her, Kim was a “connector.” Then, Kim learned to go further. Through a training program, she gained the know-how and confidence to provide emotional support. She learned evidence-based mental health counseling skills such as asking open-ended questions. She also discovered that some things she was already doing, such as listening attentively and restating what she hears, are core to communicating empathy — a vital component of a successful relationship between a client and their mental health provider.Asian Health Services, where Kim works, is a part of a fledgling movement trying to address a dire shortage of therapists by training community health workers and other non-licensed professionals who have trusted relationships with their communities to add mental health counseling to their roles. This approach, already implemented abroad and proved to help address some common mental health conditions, is called lay counseling.

SF Chronicle Read more

Scientists May Have Found The Reason Why People With Schizophrenia Hear Voices

Schizophrenia is a poorly understood illness, but scientists now have greater insight into one of the disorder’s hallmarks, auditory hallucinations, thanks to new research published Thursday. People with schizophrenia often “hear” voices and sounds even when there are none — up to 80% of people with the mental illness have auditory hallucinations. Scientists have theorized that this happens when a person with schizophrenia struggles to recognize inner speech as self-generated. But nobody had been able to fully explain the mechanisms behind this phenomenon until now. “If you look into the cognitive neuroscience research on auditory hallucinations, they always talk about the patients losing the self, losing their agency, that they may have a breakdown in the inhibition function that separates the external world and internal world,” said Xing Tian, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of Neural and Cognitive Sciences at NYU Shanghai. “But something has to generate these ‘weird feelings.’” STAT Read more

A Young Doctor’s Final Words Offer A Mental Health Warning For Others

David West barely slept the night his older brother, William Ballantyne West Jr., called him from his D.C. apartment, sounding worried. His brother had earned the nickname “Iron Will” for the tenacity he showed when faced with challenges. He had rock-climbed, gone on a religious mission to Italy and competed in overnight relay races. But during that call earlier this year, Will talked about how his problems felt too big to solve: He was not getting the training he needed to prepare him to practice medicine. He was not getting enough time to sleep or recharge after long shifts. Happiness, he felt, would elude him always. Will was a doctor in his third year of ophthalmology surgical training at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences I n D.C., and David, six years younger and following the same path, was in his first year of medical school in Utah. David considered asking someone to check on his brother, but during their next two phone calls, Will eased his concerns. He laughed and seemed lighter. Days later, Will was gone. He died by suicide at the age of 33. Washington Post Read more



A Controversial But Effective Treatment For Meth Addiction - Gift Cards - Gains Ground

Bernard Groves has spent five years trying to quit methamphetamine. He lost his job. He lost his car. He nearly lost his apartment. Worse than that, he says, his addiction has hurt his family. “I went [to lunch] with my auntie and I saw such sadness in her eyes,” Groves said. The 35-year-old checked himself into several rehab programs in San Diego and San Francisco hoping "to be that Bernard I used to be for the people that I love." But each time, Groves felt the progress he made in therapy morphed into people talking at him, telling him what to do. Eventually, he would always return to meth. Unlike opioid addiction, there are no FDA-approved medications for the more than 3 million Americans addicted to stimulants like meth and cocaine. Instead, the most effective treatment is low-tech — and more controversial: Give people retail gift cards usually worth less than $30 in exchange for negative drug tests. Research shows that it works, and after more than three decades of resistance, policymakers are finally giving that strategy a chance. NPR Read more

As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do The Harms

In midcoast Maine, a pediatrician sees teenagers so dependent on cannabis that they consume it practically all day, every day — “a remarkably scary amount,” she said. From Washington State to West Virginia, psychiatrists treat rising numbers of people whose use of the drug has brought on delusions, paranoia and other symptoms of psychosis. And in the emergency departments of small community hospitals and large academic medical centers alike, physicians encounter patients with severe vomiting induced by the drug — a potentially devastating condition that once was rare but now, they say, is common. “Those patients look so sick,” said a doctor in Ohio, who described them “writhing around in pain.” As marijuana legalization has accelerated across the country, doctors are contending with the effects of an explosion in the use of the drug and its intensity.  NY Times Read more

Amsterdam-Style Cannabis Cafes Coming To California After Newsom Signs Bill

Your cannabis purchase may soon come with a side of fresh food and live music, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Tuesday legalizing Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes. Under the new law, local jurisdictions can permit licensed cannabis retailers to prepare and serve food and drinks and host live performances on-site. “Lots of people want to enjoy legal cannabis in the company of others,” said Assembly Member Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who authored the bill. “That is now finally legal in California, and there’s no doubt that cannabis cafes will bring massive economic, cultural and creative opportunities and benefits to our state.” Currently, cannabis retailers are only allowed to sell prepackaged, non cannabis-infused food and beverages, like candy and bottled water, a law that some have criticized as stifling small cannabis businesses. The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, giving local governments permission to approve cannabis cafes as early as the new year. SF Chronicle Read more



Is The Snooze Button Ruining Your Sleep?

The snooze button should be charged with false advertising: It sells us more sleep and a brighter day but often delivers worse sleep and a drowsier day. Still, we fall for it. According to one survey of 20,000 people who wore an activity-tracking watch, 50 percent hit snooze at least once every morning. “Hitting snooze can be harmful, because the sleep you get between alarms is usually fragmented and low-quality. Instead of getting restful sleep, you’re dipping into lighter sleep stages, which can make you feel even groggier when you finally get up,” says Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and director of sleep health at Sleepopolis. “Over time, this can lead to poor sleep hygiene and feeling more daytime sleepiness, which can have a negative impact on your overall health and energy levels.” AARP Read more