San Francisco Pride officials announced Tuesday they were cancelling the 2020 Pride Parade and the weekend Pride 50 celebration over concerns raised by the continuing coronavirus outbreak in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The parade and weekend celebration of diversity and the LGBTQ community, originally scheduled to take place June 27-28, annually brings massive crowds to San Francisco, presenting a difficult challenge to organizers in these times of social distancing.
As 2020 is a historic 50th anniversary, upward of a million people were expected to attend, to witness more than 275 contingents march down Market Street toward Civic Center, where more than 20 community-programmed stages and gathering spaces highlight the diversity of all LGBTQ experiences.
The California Department of Public Health provided new data on the state’s positive COVID-19 tests on Wednesday, and provided the striking piece of information that health care workers make up nearly 10 percent of the state’s confirmed cases.
At the time of the report’s publication, there were 16,957 confirmed cases in the state, and 1,651 involved health care workers. However, just 299 of health workers were known to have acquired the virus in a “health setting,” while 462 were exposed via travel, close contacts, or community transmission, and a whopping 890 cases are of unknown origin.
“Since COVID-19 is moving rapidly within the community, health care workers now appear just as likely, if not more so, to become infected by COVID-19 outside the workplace,” the report states.
The report did not give any additional information on which workers are seeing higher infection rates.
“This larger number, which includes both occupational and non-occupational exposures, is important because it shows the overall impact of COVID-19 on the health care workforce,” the authors of the report write. “Regardless of the source of exposure, an infected health care worker needs to isolate from the workforce to prevent risk of infection to colleagues and the patients they serve.”
Researchers at Stanford Medicine are working to find out what proportion of Californians have already had COVID-19. The new study could help policymakers make more informed decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The team tested 3,200 people at three Bay Area locations on Saturday using an antibody test for COVID-19 and expect to release results in the coming weeks. The data could help to prove COVID-19 arrived undetected in California much earlier than previously thought.
The hypothesis that COVID-19 first started spreading in California in the fall of 2019 is one explanation for the state’s lower than expected case numbers.
As of Tuesday, the state had 374 reported COVID-19 fatalities in a state of 40 million people, compared to New York which has seen 14 times as many fatalities and has a population half that of California. Social distancing could be playing a role but New York’s stay-at-order went into effect on March 22, three days after California implemented its order.
“Something is going on that we haven’t quite found out yet,” said Victor Davis Hanson a senior fellow with Stanford’s Hoover Institute.
Hanson said he thinks it is possible COVID-19 has been spreading among Californians since the fall when doctors reported an early flu season in the state. During that same time, California was welcoming as many as 8,000 Chinese nationals daily into our airports. Some of those visitors even arriving on direct flights from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
“When you add it all up it would be naïve to think that California did not have some exposure,” said Hanson.
For years California has been the No. 1 travel destination for Chinese tourists in the United States. Even after the U.S. halted flights from China this winter Chinese travelers were still able to come to California on flights from Europe and Canada.
Hanson said through all of this the Chinese have been disingenuous about the timing of the initial outbreak of COVID-19.
“They originally said it was in early January, then it got backdated to December and then early December and now they are saying as early as November 17,” said Hanson.
If Californians were exposed earlier than the rest of the country to COVID-19 we may have had a chance to build up some herd immunity to the disease. We won’t know if that is the case until results from the Stanford Medicine study come back.
On Friday and Saturday, the study’s co-lead Eran Bendavid coordinated testing at sites in San Jose, Los Gatos and Mountain View. The teams used an antibody test from the company Premier Biotech. Technicians use a finger prick to draw blood for the test and it can tell within minutes if a person developed antibodies to COVID-19.
The same brand test is being offered at a lab in Monterey and healthcare workers there are closely watching the study. Spenser Smith with ARCpoint Labs is aware of the theory that COVID-19 arrived here as early as the fall and that some people may have had the virus unknowingly.
“Knowing the levels as to which that happened would be great and one of the tools you can use is this test,” said Smith
ARCpoint Labs started offering the antibody test in Monterey last week and has since tested 500 people. Smith said ARC has had some positive results for COVID-19 and is reporting all results to Monterey County’s Public Health Department.
Hanson said the testing could help us as we start the recovery process. He does not advocate lifting social distancing rules right now but said testing could help get some people back to work.
“It is going to allow us to get back to normal much more quickly because there will be many more people than we think that have anti-bodies,” he said.
Positive results in recovered folks could get nurses and caregivers back on the front lines of the pandemic as well as dishwashers and small business owners who keep our economy going.
The results of the study could also help us all to feel less scared of COVID-19. Limited testing has resulted in an artificially high death rate. The more people we can test who have mild symptoms, who are asymptomatic or who have recovered the less-lethal COVID-19 will seem.
The same brand test is being offered at a lab in Monterey and healthcare workers there are closely watching the study. Spenser Smith with ARCpoint Labs is aware of the theory that COVID-19 arrived here as early as the fall and that some people may have had the virus unknowingly.
“Knowing the levels as to which that happened would be great and one of the tools you can use is this test,” said Smith
ARCpoint Labs started offering the antibody test in Monterey last week and has since tested 500 people. Smith said ARC has had some positive results for COVID-19 and is reporting all results to Monterey County’s Public Health Department.
Hanson said the testing could help us as we start the recovery process. He does not advocate lifting social distancing rules right now but said testing could help get some people back to work.
“It is going to allow us to get back to normal much more quickly because there will be many more people than we think that have anti-bodies,” he said.
Positive results in recovered folks could get nurses and caregivers back on the front lines of the pandemic as well as dishwashers and small business owners who keep our economy going.
The results of the study could also help us all to feel less scared of COVID-19. Limited testing has resulted in an artificially high death rate. The more people we can test who have mild symptoms, who are asymptomatic or who have recovered the less-lethal COVID-19 will seem.
Despite encouraging signs that social distancing is working in California, where most residents are in their third week or more of sheltering at home, state officials are still projecting COVID-19 infections will peak in mid- to late May.
The reason for that is not because social distancing is failing — it’s an intended consequence of shelter in place. Social distancing is not meant to end the coronavirus outbreak; it’s meant to slow it down until a vaccine is widely available. By “flattening the curve,” California health officials hoped to buy time, preventing the type of overloading of the health care system that’s happening right now in New York City.
“We know that the bending or flattening of the curve means two things,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, on Tuesday. “It means our peak comes down, but it also means it goes further out. We move that lower and further out. So our thinking around May, and late May in particular, means it follows this idea of flattening. It’s not just a reduction down, it’s moving it out.”
A consequence of flattening the curve — unfortunately for those hoping to leave home soon — is that it lengthens the duration of the outbreak. This, however, is a tradeoff most governments are willing to make. The alternative, where people are allowed to leave their homes unfettered, means many people will become sick at the same time. Hospitals, already under strain, won’t have the supplies or beds to care for everyone. This worst-case scenario occurred in Italy, where resource-strapped doctors reported having to decide which patients lived or died.
“I’ve talked about the curve bending but also stretching,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. “And that’s why I just want to impress upon people that our modeling shows that we’re not at peak in a week or two. That we are seeing a slow and steady increase, but it’s moderate. And it’s moderate, again, because of the actions all of you have taken.”
One country that did briefly consider shortening its coronavirus timeline was the United Kingdom. U.K. officials floated the possibility of allowing up to 60% of the population to contract COVID-19, thus achieving “herd immunity.” At that point, enough individuals would be sickened and recover from the virus that transmission slows to an eventual halt.
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Los Angeles County, the City of West Hollywood continues to have the highest rate of infection of any city countywide.
According to the Los Angele Department of Public Health, as of April, 2 there are 68 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in West Hollywood. Public Health data shows that one out of every 529 West Hollywood residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the highest rate of any city in Los Angeles County. Across Los Angeles County, there are 4,045 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Nearly 40% of West Hollywood’s population identifies as LGBTQ, according to Visit West Hollywood, a Tourism Business Improvement District. Many public health experts say that LGBTQIA+ people and HIV positive individuals are likely at elevated risk for COVID-19 infection.
“Everyone is at risk of infection in this pandemic. But history shows that people who are marginalized and consequently experience disparities in health will suffer disproportionately greater harms than the general population,” said Sean Cahill, Director of Health Policy Research at The Fenway Institute. “Because of higher rates of chronic disease and risk factors like smoking and vaping, LGBTQIA+ people and people living with HIV should strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines and take care of their health as best they can right now.”
People with chronic health conditions, including HIV/AIDS, may be at elevated risk of serious complications from COVID-19. According to health experts, of most concern are people living with HIV who are not treatment adherent and virally suppressed.
“People living with HIV should make every effort to adhere to their treatment regimen by taking their HIV medication daily and engaging in other activities to remain healthy such as eating well, exercising, and avoiding tobacco and other substances,” The Fenway Institute said in a media release.
In addition, due to experiences of discrimination in health care settings as well as the impact of stigma and minority stress on health, many say that LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to have some of the underlying health conditions that could increase their vulnerability if they are exposed to the novel coronavirus.
According to The Fenway Institute, gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender women, have disproportionately higher rates of HIV. Lesbian women are more likely to have poor or fair health, multiple chronic conditions, heavy driving and heavy smoking compared with straight, cisgender women. Bisexual women are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions, severe psychological distress, and engage in heavy drinking and moderate smoking. Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals of all ages are more likely to be living with disabilities than the general population. LGBTQ youth have higher rates of sedentarism, pre-diabetes, and diabetes. LGBT people are more likely to smoke and vape, and to use substances.
“A real concern for LGBTQIA+ people during this pandemic is that we know that they avoid seeking needed health care due to previous experiences of discrimination in health care settings or the fear of experiencing discrimination,” Cahill said. “We’ve also seen new policies enacted at the federal level and in some states that make it easier for health care providers to refuse treatment based on religious or moral beliefs. Discrimination in health care is never acceptable. During an unprecedented global health emergency, this is especially true.”
Another vulnerable group of people are transgender elderly people. An estimated 162,300 LGB and 9,000 transgender people age 65 and older live in California and are at high risk for serious illness from COVID-19, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
Health officials have associated high risk with people age 65 and older and those with compromised immune systems or serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and lung disease. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, researchers found that 53,100 LGB people and 3,000 transgender people in California age 65 and older have fair or poor health.
“Social and economic vulnerabilities can also contribute to an increased risk of serious illness related to COVID-19,” said lead author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “In addition to age and health, California’s public health measures should consider these factors, as many elderly LGB and transgender people in the state live alone and in poverty and may need special assistance.”
Like other members of the service and gig economies, sex workers have been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Strip clubs across San Francisco have closed. Escorts’ and BDSM professionals’ clients have dried up. And those who continue operating face a smaller and more dangerous clientele, but often have no other options but to continue working.
Live online webcam modeling seems like a natural pivot for sex workers who are no longer able to see clients. VICE noted that popular cam site OnlyFans saw 60,000 new sign-ups in March, and The Chronicle recently reported on several underemployed Bay Area sex industry professionals and members of the gig economy succeeding on the site, but it isn’t always a natural transition.
A stripper from topless San Francisco institution the Condor, who we’ll call Jessica, requested anonymity to weigh in with a perspective of an erotic dancer. Jessica has explored online cam modeling, but found it just as physically taxing as dancing, for significantly less money. The $2 per minute wage advertised sounded appealing at first, but with most sessions lasting only 10 minutes, it didn’t add up to much.
Claire Alwyne, a professional dominatrix (or domme), echoes Jessica’s sentiments on it being difficult to pivot to cam work.
“What I hear from my colleagues is that everybody is trying to go online, and there’s already a well-established population of workers online,” says Alwyne. “And there’s probably far fewer online clients now, because people are home with their families. It’s kind of difficult to have a sexy chat.”
Kristen DiAngelo, executive director of the Sacramento Sex Worker Outreach Project, reiterates that going online isn’t an easy option.
“Camwork isn’t always a possibility. You’re taking a ton of industries and streaming them into one, which is geared toward a certain type of clientele. There are people who don’t photograph well, or don’t even have that technology.”
Cesar Espinoza-Perez, an SF-based escort, also found it difficult to adapt.
“A couple years ago, I was starting to do some online stuff, but I stopped, because it’s really something you have to build up to to have an audience. And it wasn’t monetizing as fast as I was used to with meeting people in person,” he says.
Like other industries affected by the coronavirus, sex professionals could use a bailout. Bay Area Workers Support is offering $50 to 200 grants for sex workers, and according to the SF office of economic and workforce development, the forthcoming $1,200 stimulus does apply to sex workers who file taxes, but the black market nature disqualifies many from unemployment benefits. Those who do run licensed businesses may be out of luck from additional assistance though, as the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program excludes businesses “of a prurient sexual nature.”
Maxine Doogan, who has done full-service sex work and served as a dominatrix in San Francisco for 30 years, takes issue with that exclusion. She founded the Erotic Service Providers Union in 2007 to advocate for this type of discrimination against sex workers.
“For a long time, we’ve advocated for a policy agenda. We think that there needs to be some specific anti-discrimination legislation for our community,” she says, stressing that prostitution is legal on the federal level. California made a big step last year with SB233, which allows sex workers to carry condoms without fear that they’d be used as evidence against them in a stop, but the act itself is still a crime. “The criminalization of prostitution leaves a bunch of people left out, without access to equal protection under the law,” she says.
Espinoza-Perez had been working on a campaign with a group of 10 other sex workers at the city level to decriminalize sex work, but in the wake of COVID-19, the project has shifted to advocating for emergency funding.
“We’re in a crisis, but this is also an opportunity to learn online organizing. A lot of people are feeling like the government isn’t really defending sex workers,” he says, and stresses that the criminalized status makes it hard for the department of public health to keep statistics and monitor the well-being of sex workers.
Another sex worker named Angel (who requested to be identified by her first name) has been doing full body massages and escorting for 15 years. Like Doogan, she’s still seeing at least one regular, who’s been a weekly client for five years and takes serious sanitary precautions. She pays taxes as an entertainer, so is eligible for the stimulus package.
“I’m one of those that can be helped, but other sex workers are the ones I’m concerned about,” she says. “We’re just like any other business, and just as important as any other business. There should be some help for sex workers.”
Like all dancers at legal strip clubs in California, Jessica from the Condor is considered an employee and not an independent contractor, a legal change mandated in 2018. The status led to a 50% decrease in earnings for Jessica to compensate for being on payroll, but now has had an unexpected benefit.
“It’s really not a very lucrative job anymore. But now, it’s a blessing in disguise, because I can apply for unemployment,” says Jessica.
Jessica’s considering returning to her previous career as a social worker, but could barely make ends meet on her former salary. Some dancers she knows immediately moved back in with their parents.
“We’re pretty much social outcasts, so people aren’t running to our rescue. People don’t really care; that’s what sets us apart from bartenders and waitresses.”
Doogan has a small amount of savings to weather the storm, but is still seeing her regular clients — a defiance of the shelter-in-place order that she justifies as a means of survival.
“I think it’s not reasonable to expect that people who have been cut out of the social compact to comply with all of the restrictions. We’ve been left to fend for ourselves,” says Doogan. “I don’t think it’s really reasonable to think that we’re going to have to suffer without their help.”
Doogan works indoors in private environments, but she thinks even street-based workers will be forced to continue during the coronavirus crisis.
“If I had to walk the streets tonight to get some money for food, I would definitely be doing that,” she says.
Angel agrees that some women simply can’t stop working.
“A lot of women still have to work through these times. They don’t have a choice. There’s going to be a lot of women who are going to take the risk. That might spread it.”
Jessica from the Condor noted that as the public became more aware of the coronavirus risks and started staying home, the clientele turned seedier.
“Strip clubs are about as high risk as it gets. The last day I was there, it was clear we shouldn’t be open. At that point, the people showing up just clearly didn’t care at all. They didn’t bother taking precautions.”
According to Jessica, the closing of strip clubs has led to many dancers to turn to prostitution.
“I know some girls are resorting to doing full service. I happen not to be one of those people. Anyone who’s doing full-service sex work, it’s a higher risk. The customers who are still seeking out sex workers, anyone who’s not social distancing, is pretty high risk,” she says.
Alwyne echoes Jessica’s sentiments on the remaining clientele being riskier.
“The few people who are seeking to purchase services at the moment are pushing the boundaries and seeking to negotiate a special rate. They think we’re desperate, and we are desperate, it’s true. In this situation, the good clients disappear, and the downright bad clients come out of the woodwork,” says Alwyne.
All of the people who spoke to SFGATE stressed that like other out-of-work service-industry professionals, they’re relying on the support and generosity of their regulars to get through the pandemic. If there’s one thing people can do to help, it’s reach out, as many don’t feel comfortable initiating contact with customers while they’re sheltered with their families. Without that support, the outlook for many sex workers is dire.
“The streets are like a ghost town out there. Which means they’ll do one of two things,” says DiAngelo. “They’ll negotiate down all their safety protocols in order to survive. You’ll try to outbid the person next to you. Then a lot of girls will begin to join up, they’ll seek out pimps and other people who can help them.
“For me this is one of the biggest arguments for decriminalization there can be – the safety of the workers and the community,” says DiAngelo. “It doesn’t only endanger the workers, it also endangers the community. But you can’t ask somebody to starve to death so other people can be safe.
“You might survive the virus, you won’t survive not eating for two months. If you ask any rational person if they’d rather take the virus, or not eat, that’s not even a thought.”
162,000 LGB and 9,000 transgender elderly people in California at high risk for COVID-19 illness, according to a recent UCLA study.
An estimated 162,300 LGB and 9,000 transgender people age 65 and older live in California and are at high risk for serious illness from COVID-19, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
The California Department of Public Health has associated high risk with people age 65 and older and those with compromised immune systems or serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, researchers found that 53,100 LGB people and 3,000 transgender people in California age 65 and older have fair or poor health.
“Social and economic vulnerabilities can also contribute to an increased risk of serious illness related to COVID-19,” said lead author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “In addition to age and health, California’s public health measures should consider these factors, as many elderly LGB and transgender people in the state live alone and in poverty and may need special assistance.”
KEY FINDINGS
162,300 LGB people (93,300 men and 69,000 women) and 9,000 transgender people age 65 and older live in California
53,100 LGB people (4,000 men and 19,000 women) and 3,000 transgender people age 65 and older in the state have fair or poor health
Asthma: 27,000 LGB people (12,800 men and 14,200 women) and 2,000 transgender people age 65 and older have asthma
Diabetes: 43,300 LGB people (30,300 men and 13,000 women) and 1,000 transgender people age 65 and older people have diabetes
Heart Disease: 34,400 LGB people, including 18,900 men and 15,500 women, and 2,000 transgender people age 65 and older have heart disease
64,600 LGB people age 65 and older (44,100 men and 20,500 women) and 3,000 transgender people in California live alone
40,700 gay/bisexual men, 23,000 lesbian/bisexual women, and 6,000 transgender people age 65 and older live below 200% of the federal poverty level
Want to know which California counties are evidently not doing a very good job of obeying the statewide shelter-in-place order that has been in effect for over a week now?
The data company Unacast, a firm that collects cell phone location data for private companies, created an interactive map that shows which counties in California and beyond are correctly “socially distancing” by staying at home.
Each county and state is graded on an A-F basis on the “change in average mobility,” or the decline in distance traveled since quarantine measures were first put in place.
“To calculate the actual underlying social indexing score we combine tens of millions of anonymous mobile phones and their interactions with each other each day – and then extrapolate the results to the population level,” Unacast writes in its methodology.
While it is somewhat unnerving to know we’re being unwittingly tracked at all times, the data is useful in providing a picture of social distancing at work.
The state of California received an “A” grade overall thanks to a 40 percent decline in average distanced traveled, but several counties — all in rural areas with few reported cases — have actually logged an increase in distance traveled since the shelter-in-place order was issued. However, this could be partially explained by the fact that residents of these counties have to drive further to reach grocery stores, restaurants for takeout and other essential services.
Every Bay Area county with the exception of Solano County received an “A” grade, and the region’s numbers for reductions in average distance traveled is in line with other national hot spots including New York City and New Orleans. Here are the nine Bay Area counties ranked in order of “best at social distancing” to worst:
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a statewide moratorium on eviction orders for residents affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The order lasts through May 31, and requires tenants to declare in writing they cannot pay parts or all of their rent. Tenants will still be required to pay their rent “in a timely manner” at a later date, and could still face eviction once the order expires.
Confirmed coronavirus cases are increasing faster than initially expected, California officials said, indicating the much-anticipated surge may be on the way.
“We originally thought that it would be doubling every six to seven days. We see cases doubling every three to four days,” California Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly said at a news conference Wednesday. Ghaly said at that rate, he expects hospitals will see a surge in one to two weeks.
As of Thursday morning, California has over 3,000 confirmed cases, far behind the U.S. coronavirus epicenter of New York. New York City alone has over 21,000 cases and the state is reporting nearly 400 deaths as hospitals reportedly face “apocalyptic” conditions. Ghaly said, at this rate, California now is on pace to match New York’s numbers.
Preparing for the worst-case scenario is on the minds of California politicians, who are warning residents to stay vigilant.
“The worst days are still ahead,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.
In a press conference yesterday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s public health director, said San Francisco hospitals need 1,500 more ventilators and 5,000 additional hospital beds to prepare for a potential influx of serious coronavirus cases in the city.
Breed said she reached out to Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration about securing additional resources.
“I hope they will deliver for the people of this state and the people of this country,” she said. “Time cannot be wasted on interactions that don’t lead to the kinds of results we need.”
Colfax spoke to the measures San Francisco has already taken, noting that the city has hired 80 new nurses, begun preparing non-hospital locations for patients, continued to obtain additional personal protective equipment supplies, and decreased the number of in-hospital visits for non-critical cases.
The city is preparing for “a scenario like what is playing out in New York this very day,” Colfax said.
