“Nothing is safe here in California,” said Danny Yu Chang, a 59-year-old travel agent knocked unconscious in San Francisco’s Financial District while carrying lunch from Trader Joe’s. “Especially for the old people.” By @rachelswan sfchronicle.com/crime/article/… @rachelswan Powerful photo by @stephenlamphoto

The ‘nightmare scenario’ for California’s coronavirus strain: Here is what we know: latimes.com/science/story/… Story by @LATMelissaHealy • The California variant (B.1.427/B.1.429, sometimes referred to as 20C/L452R) spreads more readily than its predecessors
• California variant also has the ability to evade antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection

lat.ms/3pR2jpc By @LATMelissaHealy

California hits new 1-day COVID-19 death record as hospitals plan for potential rationing latimes.com/california/sto… @LukeMMoney @seangreene89 Everyday life has changed because of the coronavirus surge. One funeral homes has quadrupled its caseload. A nursing school is postponing the spring semester for incoming students because faculty need to be redeployed to public hospitals. latimes.com/california/sto…

‘Aren’t you going to help him?’ L.A. hospitals serving the poor and people of color hit hardest by COVID-19 latimes.com/california/sto… @stiles @Emily_Baum @jaclyncosgrove @campadrenews At Kaiser Downey, patients were “piled in administrative hallways, stuffed in the corners, hanging over chairs.” Staffers treated people in the waiting room.
“It was like practicing Civil War medicine. It was the worst shift of my life,” a worker said. latimes.com/california/sto…

L.A. was uniquely vulnerable to this COVID catastrophe. Here is what went wrong latimes.com/california/sto… @skarlamangla Interviews with 31 epidemiologists, health experts and public officials offer clues: L.A. was far more vulnerable to an extreme crisis than nearly anywhere else in the nation. latimes.com/california/sto…

Trump could still be infectious with coronavirus at next debate. It's also still possible he could take another turn for the worse. Watch for euphoric side effects of the steroid. And more insights from @UCSF's @Bob_Wachter, @annieluet, @PCH_SF & others latimes.com/politics/story… Some key takeaways from @UCSF professors on the Trump-COVID crisis:
• There is no certainty Trump won’t still be contagious at the Oct. 15 debate with Biden.
• Trump probably started being hyper-contagious the day after 1st debate.
latimes.com/politics/story…

California may be finally hitting its 2nd plateau in the coronavirus pandemic, but don't expect the economy to rapidly reopen. Some say we should prioritize getting schools open first, rather than bars and indoor dining. And cases are still *really* high latimes.com/california/sto… COVID-19 hospitalizations in California also saw its first decline in a long time, but we're still at a level that is more than double the first plateau in the May latimes.com/california/sto…

So why is California stuck in a stubborn plateau of coronavirus cases despite the stay-at-home order? Here are two reasons why latimes.com/california/sto… Not only are people fatigued by the stay-at-home order, yearning to see people and get to beaches, but there's a lot of people who must leave home to work because they carry on essential businesses. latimes.com/california/sto…

This is what a devastating earthquake in California would look like 👉🏽 I went to Christchurch, New Zealand, which suffered a devastating quake in 2011, to get a peek at what lies in California’s future when a big quake returns to our state. Some lessons: latimes.com/california/sto… • The “recovery” from a big one will be far harder than we all imagined. Hopes for a quick, full recovery are fantasies and set us up for disappointment. Know that a big quake will leave forever scars; and the more we can do before the quake, the better latimes.com/california/sto…

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake was actually centered in Kern County near the town of Ridgecrest, California. It might've felt scary to those in L.A. County, but it was really only intensity 2 or 3 shaking--"weak." Not strong enough to set off ShakeAlertLA latimes.com/local/lanow/la… Yes, L.A. County residents note that ShakeAlertLA didn't issue an earthquake early warning for L.A. County. But actually, it didn't fail. ShakeAlertLA is programmed to only issue a warning if stronger, or "light" intensity 4 or greater shaking, hits L.A. County.

Was the destruction of the Northern California town of #Paradise by #fire 🔥 unforeseeable? The answer is no. Paradise sits at the edge of a big crack in the Sierra Nevada, California's greatest mountain range, through which every fall, big winds come roaring. (thread) It's this part of California's version of the Santa Ana winds of Southern California, or the Diablo winds of the Bay Area. It's part of the rhythms of California, as high pressure in the Great Basin seeks a way to send wind down to low pressure areas toward the California coast.