A pedestrian walks past a mural which reads "Stay at Home, Life is Beautiful" Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Los Angeles. California. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
While warning residents not to take the information as a trend, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state's number of ICU hospitalizations had fallen nearly two percent over the past 24 hours
However, Newsom also revealed that cases now total 18,309, with 492 deaths up by 50, in the same period, and the number of people hospitalized up to 2,825, slightly more than a four percent increase from yesterday.
"These are not statistics, behind every stat is a real person, real lives that have been torn apart," he said.
Despite the casualties and nearly three weeks after ordering the entire state to begin social distancing, the Golden State governor said “stay-at-home is working in the state of California.
"I caution anybody to read too much into that one point of data, but nonetheless, it is encouraging and it just again reinforces all of the incredible work that all of you are doing to practice physical distancing," Newsom said, warning against complacency. The state now expects the peak of cases to extend into May.
“The curve has been bent in this state, but it also, again, has been stretched. We continue to be vigilant," and California needs to do more to take care of the “deeply stressed out, deeply stretched” healthcare workforce, including psychological support, according to the governor.
Newsom announced a program to fund lodging for those "stretched" healthcare and frontline workers. He said the state will provide vouchers and stipends for workers who need to stay closer to patients or away from their own families. For low-wage workers, he said the state will provide 100 percent reimbursable cost at hotels. The voucher program will be funded with help from FEMA.
The governor also said 350 people should receive letters today to begin work in California's Health Corps and will be considered part-time state employees.
Meanwhile, in the past few days, California sent 500 ventilators across the country to help other states struggling to keep up with the coronavirus pandemic. In response to criticism he sent ventilators out-of-state, Newsom said those states have committed to returning them when California has its own needs and said there are more than 8,000 ventilators not in use currently within its hospital system. Newsom said this does not include the number of ventilators in the state's storage or those that have been sent out.
“We can’t just sit on assets when we can save lives and help our fellow Americans,” he said, stating it was the moral and ethical decision to lend aid.
Perteet Spencer, Co-Founder of AYO Foods, joins ChedHER to discuss how the brand is bringing West African cuisine to the frozen food industry and building a grocery aisle her daughters can be proud of.
Crystal Etienne, Founder and CEO of period apparel company Ruby Love and Co-Founder of VC firm CaJE, joins ChedHER to discuss her experience bootstrapping her company to $10 million, and how she's creating a new era of venture capital and empowering Black women with 'soil' funding to start and grow their businesses.
E-commerce platform for construction and building materials RenoRun has raised $142 million in a Series B round, which the company says is the fourth largest Series B round in Canadian history. RenoRun’s platform offers same-day delivery of construction materials to job sites in Canada and the United States. The company aims to revolutionize the construction industry by maximizing productivity and efficiency. RenoRun co-founder and CEO Eamonn O’Rourke joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Like so many other cities, Miami experienced a tourism boom over the summer after vaccines were distributed. But, the Omicron variant has thrown the travel industry for a loop. David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined Cheddar to discuss the city as a tourist destination, and how it has handled headwinds from the pandemic.
Rockstar Energy, a subsidiary of Pepsico, unveiled its new beverage brand, Rockstar Unplugged, changing up the energy drink formula with hemp seed oil as an ingredient. PepsiCo Energy CMO Fabiola Torres joined Cheddar News to talk about how the product promotes “good vibes” and allows consumers to unwind and discuss partnering with "MTV Unplugged" for a concert series. "We couldn't find a better partnership that MTV," she said. "MTV Unplugged has been such an iconic proposition … and we believe that we're the right partners because the insight of our proposition for Rockstar Unplugged comes from music.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, NJ and Ayana Morris, co-director of the documentary 'Why Is We Americans?,' join Cheddar News to discuss the new documentary highlighting the impact of the Baraka family.
Former New York City mayor and lawyer to Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani made his singing debut on a taping of Fox’s The Masked Singer. However, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, two judges on the competition show, reportedly left in protest when Giuliani was unmasked upon being eliminated.
All Hands celebrates Black History Month by highlighting achievements in inclusivity and paying homage to those who have fought for equal rights. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins Cheddar News to discuss voter suppression; Damali Peterman, CEO of Breakthrough ADR, elaborates on the biggest barriers for Black professionals; Andre Perry, senior fellow of Brookings Institution, dives into student loans and the racial wealth divide; and lastly, BET CEO Scott Mills discusses the company's initiatives for 2022.
