In California: Bill prioritizes farmworkers for vaccination; inside a COVID-19 ward

Hello, and happy Thursday! I'm housing, health and ag reporter Kate Cimini with The Salinas Californian, bringing you your daily headlines. Here's a quick look at what happened today in California. 

In California brings you top Golden State stories and commentary from across the Paste BN Network and beyond. Get it free, straight to your inbox.

New bill would prioritize food sector workers for vaccines

While the number of those diagnosed with COVID-19 continues to climb, a new California bill would prioritize farmworkers, grocery store employees and other food sector workers for vaccine distribution and rapid testing during this pandemic and future ones, The Desert Sun's Rebecca Plevin reported.

AB 93 is intended to ensure that food sector workers, classified as essential workers and among some of those hit hardest by the virus, are near the front of the line for vaccination.

“It’s those handling our food that are most exposed to, and spreading, the COVID-19 virus,” Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) one of the bill's authors, said. “We want to make sure that as we’ve labeled them essential, that they are part of the first rounds of vaccination.”

A July report by the California Institute for Rural Studies found Monterey County farmworkers were three times more likely to catch COVID-19 than workers in any other industry. Grocery workers, too, face high rates of infection.

2018 fire season cost U.S. economy $150 billion

In an article published in the journal Nature Sustainability, scientists worked to show the hidden costs of what –– at the time –– was California's worst fire season. That was the year Paradise burned. A haze hung thick over California, prompting the use of N-95 masks and the cancellation of football games, half-marathons, and more.

Findings show the fires ripped through the U.S. economy and cost the country an estimated $148.5 billion in losses, both direct and indirect. That breaks down to $27.7 billion in capital losses, $32.2 billion in health costs and $88.6 billion in indirect losses, scientists said.

The majority of economic impacts proved to be indirect, such as agricultural productivity losses or disruption of supply chains. More than 50% of the indirect losses were outside California. 

An inside look at COVID-19 in one Central Coast hospital 

Monterey County is one of the latest counties to willingly enter lockdown, as Health Officer Dr. Ed Moreno ordered the region shut down all nonessential activities starting Sunday amid a new surge of COVID-19 cases.

Photographer David Rodriguez of The Californian newspaper went inside Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital to document nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals tending to the flood of patients. What he saw was sobering. 

"I saw full rooms being used in one of the COVID units," Rodriguez said. "I saw nurses running around, tired. You could see that they had been there for a long time. A lot of them were a bit burned out, and you could see the necessity of nurses right now."

One nurse was nervous about going into a COVID room, as it was her first time going in, Rodriguez said. He watched another nurse walked her through the space, teaching her the procedures. 

In Monterey County, more than 17,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Almost 150 have died. More than 12,000 of those found to have COVID-19 in the Central Coast county are Hispanic or Latino; they also account for about 75% of the deaths. About 60% of county residents are Hispanic or Latino.

How L.A. eats

If you, like me, obsessively read food writing from cities you've never been to, featuring restaurants you'll probably never lay eyes on, you'll love this L.A. Times food story. I've had this collection of LA's 101 restaurants, dishes, people and ideas of 2020 open for days. When the world gets too much for me, I go back and read a new entry — and it's always the right choice. 

It's lovely, it's kind, and it's good food writing, much in the spirit of Jonathan Gold, the LAT's late food critic. Moreover, it does a great job detailing the food trends that, in a few years, will wind their way up the 101 and throughout California, morphed for local ingredients, talent and palate, but still recognizable. 

Quick hits

• A Stockton boy battling leukemia wants nothing more than to be Santa's letter carrier ... and his wish came true this week. Mateo, 5, collected letters and waved at cars for several hours outside Stockton's Macy's as part of the Make-A-Wish foundation's wish fulfillment program.
• Tuesday was California's deadliest day for COVID-19 patients to-date, with 219 succumbing to the virus. An L.A. Times investigation that dropped Thursday showed the majority of COVID-19 related deaths in California occur in the Central Valley and Southern California. Of nearly 950 deaths reported in California in the last week, the Times noted that more than 300 fatalities were reported in L.A. County, followed by San Bernardino County with nearly 80.
• In wonky water news, two new Imperial Irrigation Board members who were already at odds with sitting board members to begin with over a labor agreement, skipped their swearing-in ceremonies, instead opting to hold their own, the Desert Sun's Mark Olalde reported. 
• In Fresno, a retired deputy helped rescue a Fresno City College instructor who was being held hostage at gunpoint by a former student in her home.
• San Diego is fighting back on restrictions that allow strip clubs to stay open during the shutdown. The clubs themselves say all dancers are safe, staying six feet apart and wearing masks, and so far, a judge has allowed them to remain open as they are "constitutionally protected speech," the Associated Press reports. San Diego County officials voted 3-2 Wednesday to appeal the ruling. 

In California is a roundup of news from across USA Today network newsrooms. Also contributing: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, and Nature Sustainability.

Kate Cimini is a journalist for The Californian covering ag, housing and health. Share your story at (831) 776-5137 or email kcimini@thecalifornian.com. Subscribe to support local journalism.