SACRAMENTO – The Biden-Harris Administration has approved California’s request to use Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) funding to pay for voluntary COVID-19 testing for low-income students covered by the program, further supporting schools in underserved communities to reopen for in-person instruction.
Governor Gavin Newsom made the announcement Wednesday, on the heels of announcing a $6.6 billion school reopening agreement with the Legislature.
“I am grateful to our federal partners for approving our request to expand testing for low-income students to ensure schools can reopen safely in underserved neighborhoods that are bearing the brunt of pandemic hardships,” Newsom said. “Our top priority is getting students back in the classroom to not only meet their learning needs but also their mental health and social-emotional needs.”
Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Wednesday confirmed 116 new deaths and 1,759 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, as Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia reported its 144th fatality since the pandemic began.
The Santa Clarita Valley now counts 26,240 total cases only 28 more than Tuesday and 269 deaths due to COVID-19 since L.A. County marked its first confirmed case on January 26, 2020.
To date, Public Health identified 1,195,913 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 21,669 deaths.
The seven-day average number of daily deaths continues to decline yet remains far too high. On January 13, the average peaked to 254 daily deaths, and today, as with far too many days during the week, over 100 deaths are reported. In early-November, average daily deaths averaged 14. Public Health officials hope that as hospitalizations decrease, fewer people will die.
Hart District Aims To Return Students To Classroom By End Of March
Members of the William S. Hart Union High School District governing board said Wednesday that they were aiming to get students back into the classroom by the end of the month.
The Hart District’s governing board met on Wednesday to discuss schools re-opening, with a range of public comments on different sides of the issue.
“I’m grateful for all the plans that have been put in place by the district,” one person wrote in a positive comment on schools opening. “With social distancing, handwashing and masks, there should be no reason why we can’t safely start back at school once given that opportunity.”
Beginning in fall 2021, students in the Nazarian College’s
Department of Systems and Operations Management can earn a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with an option in
business analytics, or minor in the subject.
“We are in the middle of a new industrial revolution one that involves data and information,” said department chair Seung Paik, who has worked with the department faculty to create the new undergraduate major and minor in business analytics. “From mobile phones to social media to retail websites, more and more data is being created and stored every day. All this data allows us the opportunity to make better-informed decisions, whether in the private or public sector, if we can analyze the data and convert that to information for high-quality decision making. But to make the right decisions, business, governmental agencies and nonprofits need skilled professionals who know which data to look at and how to interpret it.”
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday 91 new deaths and 1,407 new cases of COVID-19, with 26,212 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.
To date, Public Health identified 1,194,242 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 21,554 deaths.
There are 1,502 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 32% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 5,844,000 individuals with 19% of people testing positive. Tuesday’s daily test positivity rate is 2.6%.
Los Angeles County Remains in the Most Restrictive Tier
Los Angeles County remains in the most restrictive purple tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In order to move into the less restrictive red tier that allows for additional re-openings, L.A. County’s daily case rate must be at or below 7 new cases per 100,000 people and the County’s test positivity rate must be at or below 8%.